BCD Tofu House in Korea Town NYC, New York

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If you follow this blog, you may remember this wonderful moment I had at BCD Tofu House for their Grand Opening back in April (check out the post here!). I had the honor and privilege to be part of the ribbon cutting ceremony, standing next to the President and Founder of BCD Tofu House, Mrs Hee Sook Lee! 

Courtesy of AD Group Communique

So we decided to go back as regular customers. We went on a Saturday, for an early dinner and showed up there around 6:15pm. Believe me or not, but the place was packed! We waited 10 minutes and got our table, excited to try their food.

While looking at the menu, we noticed the table sets that had some sentences in Korean translated in English and with some help for the pronunciation. Reading it, I clearly realized that the couple of words I know in Korean might not be pronounced properly! Hopefully, I never offended anybody!!!

After we ordered, they brought to us some side dishes, called banchan, ritual that is typical of a Korean restaurant.

As we were looking, trying to figure out what was what, they gracefully explained each dish, although I admit that I do not remember the details for all of them.

Kimchi (fermented cabbage):

Squid:

Fried fish (first time ever I get that)!

Fish cakes:

Soy:

Seaweed (I do not like like it, but Jodi does):

Some dish made with veggies and gelatin:

The best for me was the kimchi (quite spicy) and the squid. 

As an appetizer, we ordered fried pork dumplings:

They were very good and the shell was crispy, but extremely hot! 

Then, this time, we wanted to try their bibimbap. Bibimbap is a rice bowl dish served in a piping hot bowl, so the rice gets this fantastic crust if you let it sit for some time!

Jodi ordered a vegetarian one, served with Tofu and a raw egg that cooked after being mixed in the bowl.

I ordered the regular one, with bulgogi beef. I asked or an egg and got a fried one:

Mine had tofu also and in term of ingredients, they were very close: mixed rice with vegetables, sauteed spinach, shitake mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, radish, served a red pepper paste that was not spicy. We also added some soy sauce to give some flavor. This was good, but it might not be the best bibimbap I ever had. In fact, when leaving, we noticed that most of the customers ordered the Soon Tofu Soup that we tried last time and that I really liked. So maybe we should have stuck with it! Well, I am sure I will go back anyway!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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The Pink Tea Cup in NYC, New York - CLOSED!

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I would not call our last visit to The Pink Tea Cup a revisit per se as it was the first time we went to their location near Union Square. Yes, close to the start of the blog, we went to their location downtown, that closed few months later. Then, few years ago, this one popped up and I promised myself to try it someday. That day had come! The place was for sure different: no communal table but a large painting taking an entire wall, pink walls in the back. 

This place serves comfort food and there was one particular Southern dish I really wanted to try there: chicken and waffles. Weird combination, but so good! It is like having an entree and dessert at the same time! What makes this place so particular is that they serve different proteins with waffles, such as catfish, shrimp...Also, they make all kind of waffles: plain, sweet potato, raspberry...

To start, we decided to share the fried green tomatoes. 

When the plate came, it did not look that appetizing. We had to ask for a sauce and they only had some caesar dressing that was pretty salty. We barely ate them! The tomatoes were a bit mushy and the breading we were expecting was breaking apart and quasi none existent. These are fried tomatoes! Don't be shy about the frying: we were not expecting a healthy dish!

Then, Jodi ordered the Mac and cheese. 

We could immediately see that they served it from a tray. It was good: lots of cheese (probably processed) and not dry. 

Them came my chicken and waffle:

Contrary to the first location I went to, there was a decent amount of chicken. Unfortunately, it was overcooked and so dry. The waffle, plain, was good but the syrup was so sweet (low quality) that at the end the waffle taste was lost in too much sweetness. 

So it was definitely not the best revisit for a restaurant and we left pretty disappointed. At least we tried!

Enjoy (...)!

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Dino & Harry's steakhouse in Hoboken, NJ

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Yes!!! A dinner at Dino & Harry, one of my favorite steakhouses in Hoboken! We were so excited to go there as we always had great food there (well except for Restaurant Week where the quality of the steaks was not that great...)! My only complaints would be the noise level, but we asked to be seated next to the windows where it is quieter (also for the light for the photos...).

So, the ritual is always the same: we get the bread basket and butter.

Then, we got our steaks! Jodi ordered her usual petite filet mignon, served with mushrooms.

She also ordered some delicious béarnaise sauce with it. I think it is great when steakhouses propose a petite version if a filet, because otherwise, the pieces of meat can be so big! So it can satisfy anybody with a small appetite (compared to me...). The filet was very good as usual, tender and perfectly cooked (Jodi asked medium-well). Also, we appreciated the fact that the mushrooms were not overpowering at all!

Then was my steak: ribeye!

That was huge! 24 ounces! Probably the size of my head...I ordered it medium-rare and it was fantastic: tender, juicy, with a nice char and this incredible taste of charred fat! This is one of the best ribeyes I had! I know: that's a statement I have to live with!

With the steaks, we were happy to see that they resurrected the Mac & Cheese, one of the best dishes with meat, I think, besides fries or mash potatoes.

Well it was not the Italian Mac & Cheese they used to serve and that I tried to reproduce (check this recipe), but still. It was deliciously creamy: definitely recommended. 

Last we got dessert. I admit that I saved myself for dessert this time by not eating the entire ribeye. At least, in the US, if we do not finish, we can take the food home and not waste it. It is a concept that does not exist in France (although quantities are smaller), except for wine in very limited number of restaurants because patrons were not ordering a bottle (wine by the glass is rare), thinking that it would be a waste. 

So, back to dessert, we decided to go for the Snowboken: vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, marshmallow, crumbled Oreo cookies and shaved coconut. 

I liked it, but Jodi not so much! It was a good take on a sundae and perfect for a warm weather.

It was a great dinner: great food and great service. Dino & Harry remains one of my favorites!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Vive La Crepe in Greenwich Village, NYC, New York

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Crepes: a typically French dish that some people call thin pancakes...I love crepes. In fact I learned how to make crepes at school, when I was probably 7 or 8... So I was really excited to try Vive La Crepe, located near Union Square! It is Jodi who found this place and we added it to the long list of places to try. 

This small place was fairly busy and the staff was efficient. At least, they had five crepe makers to work with!

The menu offers sweet and savory choices, French inspired for the most part. 

Jodi ordered the ham and gruyere crepe:

I ordered the raclette:

Raclette is a dish popular in France and Switzerland, where cheese is melted on potatoes. So this crepe was made of cheese, boiled potatoes and prosciutto. There was enough meat, but clearly not enough cheese! Also, the potatoes were bland; I would have preferred less potatoes or maybe skin on would have given a bit of taste. 

The ham and cheese did not have enough ham...and cheese either!

What was very disappointing was the crepe batter: weird taste! I do not understand how they can screw it up! It is so simple to make ( I should post the recipe!). 

For dessert, we ordered the sugar and butter crepe and the banana and Nutella one:

I could unfortunately not get past the taste of the batter. Too bad because there was a lot of nutella!

So it was clearly disappointing ! And pricey! Bar Suzette remains for me the best so far, although I am always amazed by the cost of this cheap dish!

Enjoy (...)!

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Brunch at Craftbar in NYC, New York

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I have become a fan of Tom Colicchio: not for his personality on TV, but his food! We tried Colicchio and Sons and the famous TC Burger that is for me the best burger so far in New York City. So, last time, we were close to Union Square, trying to find a place for brunch and decided to try Craftbar as it was on my wish list of restaurants (trust me: it is a very long list). The place is gorgeous: high ceilings, dark wood with a gateway across the restaurant joining the wine cellar that you cannot miss.

Similar to Colicchio and Sons, although a bit industrial looking, there is this sense of space, modernity and warmth. 

For brunch, the menu offers pretty standard brunch dishes, but just reading their description, you know that it is different and you wish you could order everything! After a difficult time to make up our mind, we ordered our food. Jodi ordered the croque Madame:

Croque Madame is a croque Monsieur with a fried egg. It was served with mustard and pickles.

What definitely made this dish successful is the sauce Mornay that is the Béchamel sauce with additional shredded or grated cheese. This was fantastic and very filling. 

On my side, I ordered the braised mushrooms and poached eggs:

Even if I preferred the croque Madame, I liked that dish: the eggs were perfectly poached (I hate when the yolk is overcooked), there was a lot of fontina cheese and lots of mushrooms that gave an earthy dimension to the dish and contributed to the balance of flavors.

This was definitely a great brunch and I look forward to going back to try their Craftbar “Double Stack” Burger!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Island Burgers and Shakes in Hell's Kitchen, NYC, New York

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Island burger is a burger joint located in Hell's Kitchen. This place has been there for years and I probably went there 8 years ago! I think that at the time, the menu was simpler. This time, I was very impressed by the wide variety of dishes: they have close to sixty different types of burgers with names like Bourbon Street, Hippo or El Camino, each being prepared with different ingredients and a different level of spiciness. They also propose the same dish in two ways: burger or churascos, that is grilled chicken.

I decided to pick The people's choice burger, made with swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions.

It came with slices of tomatoes, onions, pickles and lettuce. The bread was a potato bun with lots of sesame seeds, too many I have to say.

The burger was disappointing: the meat was flavorless and a bit dry (I ordered medium well because the waiter told me that medium would be pink in the center, but also all around). 

My friends Benny and Shaj ordered the Mulberry street churasco in ciabatta bread:

For sure the sandwich was big! I tried the chicken and it had a nice flavor coming from the grilling. Unfortunately, I found it dry.

Then we ordered fries:

as well as onion rings:

Both were very good. The onion rings were not too greasy, but some were a bit overcooked. The fries however were very good: crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside as I like them.

Last, to go with the burger, I decided to go with the black and white milkshake!

It looked beautiful and very appetizing. Instead of being a mix between a vanilla and a chocolate milkshake, it was chocolate sauce and a thick vanilla milkshake that was very tasty and had a perfect consistency. This was the best part of the meal in fact!!!

The dinner at Island Burger and Shakes was disappointing and pricey: I would have definitely preferred a smaller menu made to perfection. But it was not the case. The only highlight was the milkshake...I'll pass next time!

Enjoy (...)!

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