When Chef Matsui came out of retirement and announce he will be opening an outpost in New York, we were excited. The man dedicated his life (40+ years) in making one thing, and one thing only- tempura.
The city’s only tempura omakase restaurant is backed by the Ootoya group. Yes, the affordable and highly successful chained Ootoya in midtown; Tempura Matsui is their first attemp at “fine” dining establishment in NY, and they have been planning for a high end sushi place in mid-town, Sushi Ginza Onodera which just opened last week on 5th Ave (which, by the way is currently the second most expensive sushi place in the city at $400, just behind Masa).
We have the upmost admiration for Chef Matsui, he had been perfecting his craft since he was 17. We longed for the restaurant’s opening, until we took a peak at the price tag. A whopping $200 for the tasting menu. So after drinks, taxes and tips for two, it would be lucky if the bill come less than $500. As much as I love food…. I was not about to drop $500 for deep fried vegetables. So We waited. wait for the review to come out, wait for other people to report back. Then we learned that Chef Matsuri only stayed for a brief period of time and returned to Japan. Then we heard he got cancer. Then sadly, we heard the master had passed away. He was only 65. So a year in, a master chef less, the Michelin starred tempura stable is left manned by Chef Matsuri’s right hand man, Chef Kato. The place is still named after the celebrated Chef, but I am under the impression that it has always been the intention that the tempura counter would be run by Chef Kato.
Category: <span>Asian</span>
Danny Bowien- A Korean guy cooking (Americanized) Chinese food; a 2013 James Beard rising star Award winner. How does a long hair Asian dude take over down all the Italian chefs and won the pesto world champion (2008)? We are very curious.
We wanted to go to Danny Bowein’s place for quite sometime now. He made his fame in the west coast. After his move to this side of the continent, we now have Mission Chinese and Mission Cantina, both in Lower East Side.
So on a Thursday, we went for tacos. I should have done more reading before I went, apparently Mission Cantina had changed their menu to mostly burrito…. The only taco available on the day was fish taco. All those great cumin lamb taco, pork shoulder taco and mushroom tacos I’ve read so much about were “retired”, so was the chicken wings… Our server told us their menu frequently changes, and the items I mentioned were “winter season”. Disappointed but we still have high expectations about the sole taco on the menu. To be honest, there weren’t a lot of choices.
If you normally get your Indian curry fix in Murray Hill, aka Curry Hill, but crave for something more, it is time to take that short ride down about 30 blocks and get in line at Babu Ji.
Babu Ji, a not-so-new player in New York. The place opened last June, but this is New York, if there’s something good, news spread fast. And soon enough, lines/ crowd/ gangs are hanging around the block trying to get in. Yes, they do take reservations, but only for chef’s tasting menu. Not for a la cart. Price tag ($60) on the tasting menu is reasonable, cause although we didn’t order that, the bill came very close. So to ensure you get your table with the least amount of wait time, that might be an option.
I arrived at this corner spot on a rainy evening. It was just pasted 6pm; I was greeted at the tiny front door by the mustache man, whose facial hair is almost as flamboyant as Salvador Dali. Am I in the right place?? The mustache man said he can only seat me when all of us are here. No problem, I thought, as the place was still fairly empty. At around 6:30, I started getting worry. My co-eaters are not here yet, but tables were going fast. There were maybe 4 tables left but including me, there were about 5 different groups waiting outside. I overheard a gentleman told his dinning partner that he was here on a Saturday at around 6:30, but the wait was around 2 hours. And my worries were legit, when we sat down at 6:40pm, no more table was available, and we would have to wait at least half an hour – 45 minutes if we were one minute later.
So who is behind this popular joint? I did my research while I was waiting. Chef Jessi Singh and wife Jennifer came to us in Alphabet city from Australia. Chef Singh grew up in north Indian, had become a respectful chef in Aussie, where he had created several acclaimed restaurants. Last year, husband and wife team just packed their bags and came to New York. I’m guessing that’s because Jennifer is originally a native Brooklyn-er. Thanks to her, Chef Singh brought Babu Ji to us. Babu Ji is somewhat an extend from the one in Melbourne, although they sold that one too. Check out the Aussie website, deco is the same too. Same cool grandpa on the wall. Some Bollywood movie projected on the white wall above the bar. As you can imagine, it is loud. We found ourselves yelling at times. We were fighting with our fellow dinners, whom are fighting with the Bollywood music.
On the little light grey wood table, we each have a stainless steel plate/ container. Not very appealing, but that’s traditional Indian tableware. Menu is divided into 3 sections, and is printed on the back of a picture of a “handsome, well dress prince”? Could this be the cool grandpa when he was younger?
We got something from each sections, first, from the street:
A must try- that’s the description on the menu. I guess we have to have that. It is interesting. we weren’t sure what to make of it. Kinda like a salad or nacho. We got a bed of crispy popped wafers, then a mixed of different veggies lays on top with chickpeas. The sauce tasted like a sweet and sour sauce that is mildly spicy, and a little creamy by yogurt. it is healthy and delightful, but I wouldn’t necessary say it is “A Must Try”.
On the other hand, I would say the Yogurt Kebab is a must try. It is a simple but wonderful dish. It is not an actual kebab either. You would think this would be some sort of meat skewer with yogurt sauce, but it is not. It is a yogurt croquette on top of a pink-ish sauce that is amazing. The croquettes were nicely done. Crunchy on the outside, but moist inside. Dense, firm but still light and fluffy. The beetroot sauce already give color to this otherwise dull (for eyes) dish, and the kitchen added an orchid to give the dish a face. Now, it is a beautiful for our eyes, and our taste buds.
Raw papaya and nutmeg marinated Australian lamb chops, cumin roasted potato, Persian cucumber raita
Lamb chop here is outstanding. Tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The staff told us the lamb chops are very small piece. They are actually decent size. Yet it is so good that we wish we had more. And believe me, we were sucking on the bones. But if you don’t particularly like the distinctive taste of lamb, there’s the cucumber raita to dip on, it helps cut the heat, and smooth the lamb. In my opinion the lamb doesn’t really need the yogurt dip, but nothing is stopping you to lick it spoon by spoon. Oh, also, with the lamb chops, there were cumin roasted potato, they are the most awesome potatoes! Crispy, a little spicy, I wish all the potato hash everywhere taste like this! I would totally come here just for this dish.
From the pot are butter chicken and Lamb curry. We love the butter chicken. And yes, it is buttery without the grease. Tender, and moist. The tomato base curry is awesome. Sweet, creamy, I kinda wish there would be a little more spice, but it is good as it is. The lamb curry, on the other hand, needs work. The lamb was very nicely cooked, but the sauce lacks support. The taste and spice was there, but too watery. In the menu, it stated that there was a touch of coconut milk, perhaps there was too little of a touch. I didn’t taste any coconut at all, and the curry clearly need the creaminess to make is more dense.
So… Th curry dishes are meant to eat with naan or rice, and one would think, naan or rice would be come with. But nope. It is $4 for 1, $10 for 3. Rice is also extra charge for a small pot. A bit stingy?! And they weren’t the most fluffy naan.
Dessert-
Kulfi… Is the Indian version of ice cream. This one was named the most must try ice crEam in NYC by Grub Street. This weird looking thing is desert and creamier than ice cream. Pointy stainless steel container with frozen custard-like mixture that include honey, ginger, pistachio that’s all grounded up. It is … Sweet! Very sweet. Condense milk sweet. And those grounded up ingredients were not blending in with the mixture evenly. See, the thing is, when the Kulfi was put in the freezer, they were hang upside down. The grounded up mixture floats while the honey condense milk sink to the pointy bottom. So the tip is overly sweet, but the base was full of grinds but not sweet at all. It would be nice to find a way to balance it out.
Babu Ji, its like a cool grandpa that we would like to visit more often but not too often. Overall, we did enjoyed our meal, and hoping that next time when we visit, we would have new story to tell.
Babu Ji | 175 Ave B | Jan, 2016
When Chef Wu left Per Se and opened Fung Tu in lower east side back in 2014, we were curious what would be serve, but we putted off stepping through the door for a long time. Reason being we were worried that it would end up being another hipster American-Chinese restaurant that is overpriced and overhyped.
To be honest, I was still skeptical when I looked at the menu while making reservation for restaurant week. I meant, egg roll, rice noodle, curry pot pie, Char Siu braised short ribs? All hinted to me as “americanize”. But after last night’s meal, we decided that if this is the new evolved “American-Chinese”, we can get with the trend. Yes, we are impressed!
Located in lower east side, Fung Tu is in the middle of this trendy, gallery filled, hipster neighborhood with plenty of great food spots. The Fat Radish is right across the street; Mission Chinese food and my beloved Lam Zhou Hand-pull Noodles are right around the corner. Fung Tu could easily be overlooked and gone unnoticed if not because of it’s Per Se veteran chef reputation.
Like many places on the block, the place is long and narrow. Dimly lit, dark wood furnitures, with red leaf pattern wall paper, the place is intimate. I understand this is sort of a family business, with Chef Wu in the kitchen, his wife whom is a jewelry designer created the space. Thank you so much for not hanging any lantern!!! And I love those wired light fixtures! Wine racks double as décor hanging on one side of the wall, cleverly used of space.
The most expensive bottle on the wine menu is $120; by glass is about $13 each, there are also sake and interesting beer selection. But we are more interested in cocktails mixed behind the white marble topped bar. There are 9 on the menu, all look fantastic. As I was scratching my head having trouble deciding which, the very friendly staff noticed and came to rescue. He even suggested if I don’t know what I want, he would be happy to give me samples… wow… Check for service. With his help, we happily slipped our superb cocktails.
They are not kidding with that chili infuse. It is spicy. The good kind of spicy.
So we didn’t all ordered from the restaurant week menu, it’s not because my skepticism, but because we saw something more appealing. But first, let’s talk about the things we did get from the restaurant week menu. We selected the egg roll, Char Siu braised short ribs. And when the egg rolls arrived, we were surprised, by it’s portion. It is huge! The initial instinct was, did they make a mistake? Is this the portion for two orders??
No, it is one order. We confirmed. And they admitted it is a great value too. Look at it, how could we not mistaken it as 2 orders. And this is no ordinary egg rolls. First, those are not traditional egg roll skin, they are almost crepe/ puff-like. Crisp, layered skin wrapped. And is that olives in my egg roll? Feels like a egg roll shape of a very good pork pastry. It’s a bit salty, and even more salty with the mayonnaise dip.
I’m a bit of a Char Siu snob. To me, a piece of good Char Siu is a piece of art. The perfect cut of pork loin, just the right balance of fat and meat, preferably marbled cut, marinated for hours and slowly roasted on a long steel fork to the perfect charred outer rim and occasionally brushed with honey. It is a symbol of Hong Kong cuisine. And frankly, we cannot find any place in the East coast to even come close to the authentic taste. The Char Siu in New York are often all color but no taste, or too sweet. I could say I’m more than obsessed with Char Siu. So when I bit into this Char Siu braised short ribs, imagine my surprise. lightning had stroked, my brain is confuse. It is the right taste, not the right texture. It an extremely well cook piece of beef short ribs that has the perfect balance of sweet and saltness of a Char Siu. Short ribs is tender and melty. It even have the Char Siu aroma… wow! WOW!
This could easily be the highlight of our dinner, except what came next is even more impressive.
First, it took us by surprise that “WHOLE” fish is being offered. Whole as in head to tail. Tonight’s whole fish is sea bream. Yes, it looks simple, but it is easy to make, tough to master. Every elements needs to be perfect: right temperature, right amount of water, timing, even the plate, has to be perfect. Steam too long, the fish become tough; too short, it’s not cook. This is something that almost all moms in Chinese culture tried to master, some eventually did, some, never get it right. And even the most expert grandma wont get it right every time. These elements need to be adjust accordingly to the size and kind of the fish too. But it seems that Chef Wu is a master at this. The fish meat is … silky! The “right” steam fish would maximize its taste and color. And this sea bream is perfect in everyday. It is deboned, and stuff with fennel. The chili oil, scallion, black beans, soy sauce mixture helps highlight the aroma and taste of the fish and not overpower. The fish is still the star. I gotta tell you, out of all of China Town (Manhattan, Brooklyn and queens included), we have yet had such a perfect steam fish. We were utterly amazed and impressed.
Our dinner ends on another high note. The Oolong ice cream is “THE BOMB”. Before this meal, my favorite ice-cream was Earl Grey from Van Leeuwen. But this Oolong ice cream clearly won me over. It’s light, creamy with strong oolong flavor, and not too sweet. My dinning partner is one of those rare people who does not like ice-cream. But we did not only lick the bowl, we both ended up getting an extra container of ice-cream to go. Yes, we like it so much, we asked the staff if they would sell it to us. Our extremely friendly waiter so nicely accommodated our request. We each left with a quart of ice cream and a fully satisfied belly.
Once again, we are very impressed.
Fung Tu | 22 Orchard St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016