Ramen at Ippudo-NY in NYC, New York

0

Last Sunday, Jodi and I decided to go eat ramen at Ippudo a Japanese restaurant in New York City I heard about. It is interesting to note that ramen were not that known in France when I was living there: you could find them in the International food section of some supermarkets or in a few Japanese restaurants, but it was not that known. I understand that in the US, students use to eat them when broke; in France, it was more spaghetti... I really discovered ramen bowls when I tried it at Noodles 32 in Korea Town: it was incredibly good! I was sold later on when going to Momofuku Noodle Bar...

So we decided to go early to Ippudo as I knew that it was popular. Know that the original Ippudo opened in Fukukoa in Japan in 1985 and the New York location opened in 2008. Go figure why I waited that long to go there...We showed up at 11:40am and the restaurant was already full. We had to wait for a table for approximately 20 minutes, in the entrance, admiring a wall full of ramen bowls.

While waiting, we could hear people yelling something in Japanese and then people cheering back. We later understood that it was their way to introduce new patrons to the main room. They said in a nutshell: "these are our new guests, please say welcome to them".

They sat us in the first room, in a large table shared with other customers. The room was overlooked by a huge tree made of bamboo and there was bamboo everywhere. I was very excited to try as people around us seemed delighted to eat their noodles. Of course, do not be shy to slurp: it is mandatory! Interesting how when I grew up, we were taught how to eat soup and pasta a certain way, without making any noise. Sorry Mom and Dad...I have to slurp too! 

So, I started with Tako Wasabi or raw baby octopus as an appetizer.

Yes, I know, some of you think it is creepy. I wanted to give it a try as I love octopus but never had it raw. I thought it would be a nice training for the day I will eat live octopus (soon)!

It was served with fresh wasabi. So, with the chopsticks, I mixed the octopus and wasabi. Eating with chopstick was a bit challenging as it was small and slimy. But the taste was wonderful with a delightful crunch. I am used to having octopus that was fried, sauteed or grilled, giving a totally different taste. You can retrieve some of the taste but raw has some freshness you will not find when cooked.

For the ramen, I asked the waitress which one was the most popular and she mentioned the Akamaru Modern.

It is a "Tonkotsu" (pork) soup noodles topped with Ippudo's secret "Umami Dama" miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and garlic oil (not too much!). I loved it to the point where I finished my bowl!

It was very tasty: the soup was very flavorful (I would eat this over and over) with hints of miso and several bites were different because of the variation of ingredients you could get in your spoon! The pork was delicious and tender. The noodles, that I should not forget, were al dente as they continue to cook in the hot soup. You can notice on the upper right side of the photo that there is an egg: you can add some ramen toppings like bamboo shoot, pork belly...I went for a poached egg that disintegrated when mixed with the rest of the dish.

Jodi ordered the Wasabi Shoyu Ramen that is their vegetarian alternative.

It is a soy sauce and vegetable based noodle soup, topped with bean curd, wasabi, menma (bamboo shoots), nori (seaweed), scallions, and wasabi infused oil. She added a hard boiled egg to it that had a brown-ish color probably because cooked in soy. The colors were spectacular and appetizing.  The soup had the smell and the taste of miso. The noodles were thicker than the ones in my soup and cooked the same way, although, because of their thickness, they were still al dente when I tasted them. It was overall a very good dish.
As Jodi was not sure how spicy it would be, so she asked for the wasabi on the side.

It was the first time I saw fresh wasabi and did not find it as spicy as the wasabi paste.

Now, know that the quantity they serve is big and that there is a lot of soup. You can ask for extra noodles for $2 (Kaedama), but I have to say that I was full, especially after having eaten some of Jodi's dish...

At the end of the meal, they brought us some green tea: it was a nice way to end this meal and clean our palates!

I really enjoyed (yes I did!) Ippudo! They serve great food full of flavor and I can't stop thinking about that soup...because as you know: I Just Want To Eat!

Enjoy (I did)!

Continue Reading »

Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, NJ - Is the Cake Boss overrated???

0

Who does not know the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro? His show on TV is very popular and there is always a very long line in front of his bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. But know that if you live in Hoboken, you can skip the line: just show an ID that proves you are living there. My first experience with Carlo's Bakery was so so: couple of years ago, I bought a cannoli and did not like it. I thought at that time that it might have been because I did not eat it right away and put it in the refrigerator for few hours. Then, one of my colleagues brought a tiramisu and a chocolate cake at work: I loved the tiramisu but the chocolate cake was way too sweet. So we decided to try again.

The Cake Boss is known for his insane cakes that he is building on his show. For sure they look spectacular, but I am not sure they taste that good considering the amount of fondant and rice crispy treat he puts in it. 

When we were there, it was packed! The problem is that we could not go around and look at the cakes and cookies. So we had to blindly ask for a cannoli and a red velvet cupcake. Maybe they should let less people enter in the shop to allow their customers to look around!

Let start with the cannoli: the shell was a bit stale and the filling was a bit tasteless despite the chocolate chips. I clearly prefer the cannoli at Giorgio's in Hoboken (see the review of Giorgio's here).

The Red Velvet Cupcake was also very disappointing! First, there was not enough frosting: you need to keep a certain ratio cake / frosting. Anyway, the frosting had a very weird taste. The cake was also not good and dry. Clearly not to recommend! For cupcakes, Sweet Bakery in Hoboken is far better with a delicious and moist Red Velvet Cupcake that I would not stop eating (see the review of Sweet Bakery here)!

So, I guess all the buzz around Carlo's Bakery is because of the TV personality rather than the cakes...This was a forgettable experience!

Update: Here is the review of the Cake Boss Cafe at Port Authority NYC!

Enjoy (the photos)!

Continue Reading »

Lombardi, the oldest pizzeria in the US - NYC, New York

0

It has been a while since I wanted to go to Lombardi's Pizza, the oldest pizzeria in the US, located in New York City. We went last Saturday and the place was not packed, until 12:30pm where patrons started to come and even had to wait outside! I guess this place is in all the guides, explaining the sudden rush!

We saw two dining rooms there: the one at the entrance, with its bar, and the one in the back. We got seated in the first one. It definitely had a rustic and traditional feel with its brick walls and the white and red table clothes. The service was quick and courteous that is sometimes missing in popular restaurants!

I started off with an Italian Soda that is seltzer with vanilla flavored syrup and whipped cream.

This was the first time I tried this! It was interesting: the color of the drink itself was like crystal and had of course a strong vanilla taste thanks to the syrup. But the best was when mixing the whipped cream with the drink. It added more sweetness to it. Delicious, but not a drink I would crave!

Then we ordered a pizza: small size (6 slices) with wild mushrooms and homemade meatballs (beef and pork).

The pizza, cooked in a coal oven, smelled amazingly good! The crust was thin and crispy with a nice char in the bottom and the sides.

Each topping was $3 and they put a lot of it! The meatballs, although small, were moist and tasty.

They also did not cheat us on the wild mushrooms. Another thing I appreciated was the amount of basil they put on the pizza: usually, you get few leafs. At Lombardi's, they put a lot. This gave additional flavors to this great pie!

I definitely liked Lombardi's pizza! It is definitely a place to visit, with or without the title of oldest pizzeria in the US!

Be careful though: it is cash only, like when they opened...

Enjoy (I did)!

Continue Reading »

Press dinner at De Santos in NYC, New York

0

Courtesy of De Santos

I have been invited to a press dinner at De Santos, a new American cuisine restaurant in the West Village. I was very excited as it was the first invitation of that sort and intimidated at the same time, not knowing how it would be and who would be there! Plenty of questions came through my head: how will it be? Who would be there? Can I stay true to myself judging a restaurant who, in fine, invites me?

The answer to the last question is yes! Restaurants need people to comment on them to improve and it is pretty courageous to invite critics and bloggers to review your restaurant! The only important thing I need to do is to honestly mention that I was invited in my post so you understand that the food served to me was probably more carefully prepared and the service would be on his toes as the wait staff knew why people at the table were doing there!

So, the dinner was at 7pm. As I always try to be on time, I came a bit early. I noticed in front of the restaurant a person talking photos with a small camera and immediately thought that it was one of the people invited. I later learnt that it was Marc Shepard whose blog, New York Journal, has been around for a while. I respectfully let him take his photo of the restaurant and then took mine. 

I like the fact that the restaurant is in a townhouse. As I mentioned when going to Vetri in Philadelphia, it gives the impression to go a friend's place. The place was welcoming and bigger than what I expected: bar at the entrance, main dining room, then a second dining room next to a garden. The last intriguing room is a former speakeasy located downstairs, called the Janis room, used for private dinners and live performances. The name comes from Janis Joplin, one of the celebrities who lived in the building that is packed with memories, but hopefully no paranormal activity...

Courtesy of De Santos

We sat in the dining room on a large table. What was great was to put a face with a name like Malini from the Restaurant Fairy or Bradley from Amuse * Bouche, blogs that I read often! 

Anyway, back to the restaurant! We had the chance to meet with the Executive Chef, Angel Vela who worked at Pastis and came on board to reinvent the menu. He told us that his inspiration was to create a simple and basic menu. Trust me, what we tasted was far from that!

So, it was time to start to try the food from De Santos! They handed out a menu composed of three appetizers and three entrees. Portions would be smaller to accommodate a tasting (I am relieved)!

Warning: as they dimmed the light and I never take photos with flash, the photos are not as clear as I would have liked. The actual dishes had vibrant colors...I may have to rethink my strategy moving forward...

We started of with the Tuna Tartare:

The tuna was sitting on avocado and had some soy ginger vinaigrette on it. I love the combination tuna / avocado: it gives some additional freshness to the dish and one complement very well the other! It was good, but I would have liked more acidity. 

Then we got the Truffle Mac & Cheese:

Truffle Mac & Cheese is definitely a dish that appeals to people as it is an elevated version of a comforting food! This one was good: you could definitely taste the truffle and the bread crumbs added a nice crunchiness to the dish. 

The last (!) Appetizer was the Beef Carpaccio:

The carpaccio was served with some homemade potato gnocchi and a truffle cream. This was my favorite appetizer! The gnocchi were light and not potato-y. The sauce was also light and tasty. Loved it!

For the first entree, we got a Grilled Ribeye Steak:

The steak came with roasted potatoes and haricot verts. I loved the steak: it was cooked medium rare and had a perfect char. I was really surprised as I typically would never order steak in a restaurant other than a steakhouse! What I did not like however were the haricot verts, but I guess it is a question of taste: in France, we would cook them longer, making them soft and the taste is slightly different. These were slightly cooked and crunchy, but had an off taste for me. Having just the potatoes would have been perfect!

The second entree was the Scallops:

They were served with a wild mushroom risotto and the garnish was parsnip chips. When I saw the dish, I thought it would be the perfect dish for Gordon Ramsey to review as in his show, Hell's Kitchen, people always screw up on the scallops or on the risotto! Serving the two together was a great idea, although I loved the risotto that was cream with a bit of crunch and very tasty, I did not like the scallops that were a bit rubbery and very salty. However, the surprise was the parsnip chips that were fantastic! The scallops would have been better, it would have been a killer dish!

The last entree was the rack of lamb:

If you follow this blog, you now know that I love lamb. So I was excited to try that dish. The sides were a potato au gratin and a goat cheese salad. The potato au gratin were similar to the gratin Dauphinois that you can eat in France, where potatoes are thinly sliced and layered. It was perfectly cooked and seasoned. I also liked the salad that added some freshness to the dish and a Mediterranean flair. But, the main focus of the dish was the lamb: it was perfectly cooked for me, meaning medium rare, and juicy. They removed the fat and meat from the bone (frenched it), but I could taste a bit of the grilled fat that has some crispiness but also a delicious taste. 

Last came the desserts. At that point, I started to be a bit full, but could not resist...The first desserts was a Dulce de Leche crepe:

This crepe was fabulous! Thin and soft at the same time and not too sweet. I devoured it!

The second dessert was a banana cobbler. The photo is not that great so I will not publish it. It was good, but not as good as the crepe!

So, I had a great dinner there! Not everything was perfect, but it all depends on anybody's taste! I would definitely go back. They have a nice menu that is more for carnivores and features a lot of classic dishes that have been elevated for fine dining.

Enjoy (I did)!

Continue Reading »

Ken and Cook in NYC, New York

0

Jodi and I went to Ken & Cook recently for brunch. The place is very nice with a warm and modern feel. The front of the restaurant can be fully opened to the street so dinners can enjoy some people watching while eating, although the street the restaurant is located is not that busy.

A particularity I noticed in the decor is the two telephone booths that reminded me of what you see in very old movies! I should have tried to use them just to see if they were working...

When you know that the Executive Chef Richard Diamonte and partner Artan Gjoni are veterans from Jean Georges, then you for sure have high expectations! They offer a simple brunch menu with not that many items. Sometimes, less is more! I prefer a restaurant with a limited menu that is executed perfectly rather than a restaurant with ton of choices that are poorly prepared!

First, they served us some delicious bread with some olive oil.

The bread was fresh and crispy! I have to say that I love dipping bread in olive oil! It is a great and healthy alternative to butter, not that I am a healthy eater...

As we were going for a day full of food, Jodi decided to go with the bibb salad.

It was a nice quantity and was well made, although a bit overdressed, with nice croutons.

On my side, I started with oysters.

Ken & Cook has a raw bar and for brunch, they propose blue point oysters for $2 a piece. 

The oysters were very good and of good quality! They were served with a fantastic grapefruit sauce that provided a nice acidity to complement the oysters.

I then had fried chicken.

It was served with a biscuit and a honey based sauce (ranch dressing based maybe?). The presentation was beautiful with some fried lemon that was only for decoration (I tasted it...). It was also a nice portion with several pieces of chicken, with bone and boneless. The breading was perfect, not overcooked and not greasy. The chicken was moist and incredibly tasty paired with the sauce! Then there was the biscuit that came with it: warm and delicious! This was a succulent dish and I would just go back for that! One of the best fried chicken I ever ate! As an anecdote, the first time I had fried chicken was at KFC in...Paris...I went a couple of times with my friends after seeing a movie. I never went to any KFC in the US, but after trying this fried chicken at Ken & Cook, I doubt I would have the same experience...

I certainly recommend this restaurant for brunch and may come back. However, the food took a bit of time to come after we ordered, although there was only one couple besides us in the restaurant. Also, with an entree, you get a free drink for lunch: the waiter did not tell us, but told the other table. I did not care at that point, but I think it is something they should mention systematically to their clients!

Enjoy (I did)!




If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Brunch at La Petite Abeille in NYC, New York

0

We went to La Petite Abeille in the West Village on a Sunday. The restaurant was a bit crowded and the poor waiter was alone to attend all the patrons inside and outside. He did a good job!
I went to this place many years ago and wanted to go back specifically for "The Mitraillette" (machine gun) sandwich, a Belgian sandwich made with steak and fries. Where I come from, we use to have an equivalent: beef patty, French fries and ketchup in a baguette; we called it "The American". I remember that I loved it, although the idea of fries in bread can seem weird. 

So, La Petite Abeille (The Little Bee in English) is a Belgian restaurant. I was surprised to see some posters of Tintin as well as comic books from this Belgian hero (Tintin is big in Europe and has been big way before the Steven Spielberg's movie released last year). The atmosphere was casual and homey.

The menu was proposing a wide array of dishes that can satisfy anybody who would like to have a nice brunch: eggs, burger, salad, bread and of course waffles.

We started off with a fresh squeezed orange juice.

The OJ was just ok: it was a bit watered down!

Looking at the menu, I did not find the sandwich I was coming for! No Mitraillette! Apparently, they are making it in other locations! So I had to pick something else. I went for the egg cocotte.

The dish looked pretty good, but I was expecting something different. Oeufs cocottes are eggs that are baked. They made them with a layer of tomatoes, bacon, goat cheese, eggs and then gruyere cheese. I liked it although the tomatoes rendered water in the bottom, I would have preferred the yolk runny and there was not enough goat cheese. It was served with mashed potatoes that had some leeks in it: weird side! I would have definitely preferred a brioche toast or fries. Not sure I would order this next time!

Jodi ordered the croque monsieur.

This was pretty good: way better than the one we got at Pastis or Felix! There was a lot of cheese and they used a nice artisanal bread. It was served with some nice fries.

Of course, we could not leave without trying a Belgian waffle!

We went for a Liege waffle that is is a richer, denser, sweeter, and chewier waffle. It came very hot but was so delicious! A bit doughy, but still delicious! I did not regret that choice and would have easily eaten a second one (even a third...)!

La Petite Abeille is not a bad choice for brunch. Some items might be overpriced, but otherwise, it is decent. I would give it a second chance, especially to try the Mitraillette sandwich!

Enjoy (I did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Sourdough bread recipe

1

This is an easy recipe that my friend Benny's wife, Rufina, gave me and that I tried over the week end. It is easy but a bit long because of the time needed for the fermentation process that gives this bread such a distinct taste.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cup of water

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and knead until obtaining a firm dough.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 12 to 18 hours.

On a slightly floured surface, fold the dough 2 to 3 times. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.

Generously flour a kitchen towel and put the dough on it. Shape the dough the way you would like your bread to be shaped. Put some more flour on top of the dough and cover with another kitchen towel. Let stand for 2 more hours.

Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the dough on an aluminum foil and cover with another aluminum foil sheet. Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Then remove the aluminum foil that was on top and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Et voila! It will give you a bread similar to what you would buy in a bakery with a fantastic crunchy crust!

Enjoy (I did)!


If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »

Korean food at Korea Palace in NYC, New York

0

When you think about Korean food in New York, you immediately think about Korea town and its BBQ joints! But, there is a great place Midtown that serves some mouth watering Korean food that can satisfy the meat eaters as well as the vegetarians. This place is called Korea Palace.

Here is my history with Korean food: I went to Seoul more than 10 years ago, on a Business trip. I stayed few weeks and tried many of their specialties, some that I would probably not even mention on this blog! Of course, the most popular is the Korean BBQ (Bulgogi) where you will cook some marinated meat and eat it in a piece of salad with some red sauce on it. A variation of that dish is made with eel that is very good, but I remember that they were serving it not with lettuce, but with a leaf that had a thicker texture and a more pronounced taste.

I also remember eating a chicken ginger soup that Korea Palace has on its menu. It was a very hot day and we ended up in a restaurant where, after removing our shoes, we sat on the floor. There was no A/C and it was already uncomfortable. They brought this extremely hot soup that we ate and we were sweating like crazy because of the soup. Our Korean host told us that it was normal and very good for health as it allows the body to get accustomed to the heat. Well, it did not work for me...But the soup was delicious!

So, back to Korea Palace. I went to this restaurant in 2010, when my boss retired and although I liked the food, I never came back. This time I came with a bunch of co-workers for a nice celebration. Of course, when you enter into the restaurant, you cannot miss the golden crown that is displayed. It is a Chonma-Chong Gold Crown dated 5th to 6th Century A.D. 

Then, the restaurant has plenty of rooms and what I appreciate is the fact that they have separate private rooms, some for up to 8 people and some bigger, like the one where we were.

In term of food, we decided to order some appetizers to share. Of course, like most Korean restaurants, there were already some side dishes (banchan) that had various veggies such as potatoes or pea pods.

My all time favorite and present most of the time is Kimchi, a fermented dish made of vegetables, the most popular being cabbag,e and some seasoning that can make it spicy.

This kimchi was perfect, spicy but not too much. By the way, you can find kimchi is grocery stores like Whole Foods in case you want to try!

The soup was very good with some tofu on the bottom.

Then, we got the scallion pancakes (Pa Jun).

That was interesting because I always associated scallion pancakes to Chinese food! At Korea Palace, you can have them with either seafood or kimchi. We picked seafood. This was very good, although a bit greasy. The crust was crunchy and the seafood was a nice surprise inside the pancake.

The second appetizer was the vegetable dumplings (Man Doo).

These were fried. I loved it! The thin shell was deliciously crispy and the filling packed with flavor. This was perfect with some soy sauce as well as chili sauce.

The third appetizer was glass noodles (Jab Chae).

Glass noodles are fantastic. They are typically made with starch from mung bean, yam, potato or cassava. 

Then, came the entree: I picked the bibimbop with chicken (you can choose tofu or beef also).

Bibimbop is a rice bowl served with vegetables and a raw egg. The egg will not be raw for long as the bowl is extremely hot and the food continues to cook in it (you can hear it sizzle). It is so hot that it creates a crust with the rice that is fantastic!

Having this crust was great because it added some crispiness and taste to the dish. Anyway, to enhance further the taste, I also added some soy sauce and chili sauce. This rice bowl was really good and I really liked the different texture had between the burnt rice and the veggies that were crunchy. 

After all that delicious food, we skipped dessert! But definitely, Korea Palace is a great place outside Korea Town for some amazing Korean food.

Enjoy (I sure did)!

If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Continue Reading »