I love raw fish, sushi, sashimi, crudo, carpaccio, tartare, ceviche, hoedeopbap… I love them all. These are all easily found in New York. However, there is one that we have been lacking for years, the american one– Poke!!!! I can call it American right? I mean, Hawaiian is American. For years, New YorkCity, our great culinary palace of the east coast is missing this raw american dish. Yes, Noreetuh serve up great Hawaiian dishes, but we need a poke joint, like those in Hawaii. Relax, no frills and cheap. Our wish was granted. Late last year, the pacific cool breeze finally blew through New York City. Now, there are about 5 of them scattered on Manhattan Island. Last week, we found ourselves on the benches of Sons of Thunder, the first poke joint in decades that open in new york. We are hoping this is the first of many.
Very much reassembling a Japanese Tekka Don or Chirash or a Korean Hoedeopbap, Poke is a raw fish salad, mix with shoyu, green onion, sesame seeds, seaweeds and etc. At Sons of Thunder, we can get it over a bowl of white or brown rice, or warm tortilla chips. There is also a choice between shoyu or spicy sauce.
The place is like a chill surf shop, or a seaside shake. Distress floor, exposed brick wall painted in white with a surf board hanging with picture of Hawaii shores, its causal, relax, like it is suppose to, in Hawaii.
Sons of Thunder operates like a chipotle. Menu is on a black board hanging over the cash register. Order in the front, and the crew assemble the order down the line. There are other items on the menu, like burgers, hot dogs and shakes. But we are here for poke. We order 2 half and half bowls: one with ahi and tako with shoyu; the other with ahi and salmon with spicy. We were handed one of those buzzer device and proceed to the back of the restaurant.
It is very affordable. For 10.75 a bowl, there is plenty of poke. It is not premium quality, but it is decent enough. Tako was surprisingly good too. We both like the one with tuna and tako, preferably with shoyu. Spicy marinade is actually spicy mayo. Could use a little more kicks in it. The seaweed salad and and pickled cucumber were great. The only thing is … the warm tortilla chips was … awkward. While it is perfectly crispy, poke and salad isn’t things that we can exactly dip in. We ended up breaking it in pieces and try to stack poke and salad on it skillfully. Which fail all the time. Perhaps we should investigate to use the scope style tortilla chips. We ended up ate it as chips. And one more thing…. We would really much like to use chopsticks, please!
Cheap, healthy eats that we can keep coming back and not break the bank. If I live in manhattan, I’ll never have to cook again…
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.
Babu Ji- Represents honorable elder foodie… maybeBabu Ji, according to the internet, is an honorable term in India which loosely means “Sir”. There is a whole paragraph on Babu Ji’s website explaining the term, and this line caught my eyes, “A Babu Ji unashamedly indulges in food…” And that’s all we need to know.
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.
Papadi ChaatYogurt kebab
Tandoori Lamb Chops
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.
Southern India Lamb Curry Kulfi
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.
In recent years, David Chang, Rich Torrisi, Mario Carbone have taken over the New York culinary scene like a storm. All their establishments have been extremely successful, tables are continually high in demand, and food is outstanding too. They have become the new super stars in the culinary world, household names, even if you are not into the food scene, but if you live in New York, you would have heard of the names of at least one of their restaurants. They have changed the landscape of New York food scene. Behind the success of these rock stars, we have one guy to thank for (in part), a man who David Chang, Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone consider as mentor- Chef Andrew Carmellin. A lesser known name, but a name we should know, and his restaurants have been popping up in lower Manhattan too.
The 2 times James Beard Awards winning chef made his name during his time at Café Boulud. After his Michelin star winning venue A Voce, Chef Andrew Carmellin partnered with NoHo Hospitality group and gave us Locanda Verde, the Dutch, Lafayette (By the way, I adore Lafayette), Bar Primi, and most recently, Little Park at the Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca hotel The Smyth. All of these restaurants are participating in restaurant week, and we chose Little Park for lunch.
Little Park is a good looking place. Golden-wood toned, marble topped bar, golden lighting, flower box at the big window pouring in sunlight, to me, it very much resembled Lafayette, same vibe, different ways. It is posh and energetic.
This sleek, blondish hotel restaurant opened in November 2014. It is veggie/ health food focused. The vegetables here are excellent. It might not be as innovative or mind-blowing as Blue Hill, but it is still fascinating. The kohirabi salad is crisp, juicy as it can be. And the Brussels sprouts, so nicely done that we could have that as entrée. Honestly that was the highlight of my lunch. And I wouldn’t be mad if it ended there. I think the Brussel sprouts are poached before it is fried. Tender all the way to its core, while the outer layer is crispy as chips. And there were different sauce at the bottom of the bowl, I think on one side is apple cider vignette, and the other could be smoked mayo, every bite keep us guessing, and we truly enjoy it.
Arctic char- meyer lemon, mustard, pancettaSalmon is very nicely cooked, moist, tender, but the skin could be crispier. And I could use an extra drop of lemon juice. That’s just me, I like sour.
Grass fed hanger steak- apple, cabbage, beerThe steak looks a little dry, but it is at no fault of the kitchen. My friend like the steak done… well done. However, I do think it needs a little more seasoning. And the cabbage on the side stole the spot light, soft, sweet, and so juicy.
Chocolate cake (bottom)- orange pekoe ice cream Grapefruit sorbet (top)- old time fin, bruleed citrus
Chocolate cake is excellent. It’s crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. It’s not overly sweet. The grapefruit is lightly torched or bruleed. With sorbet, absolutely refreshing. The latte I had with dessert could use some more work.
Once again appetizers stand our more than entrée. The veggies are the stars here. It is a lovely lunch. And it was restaurant week menu only. I am excited to see what dinner would be like.
little park | Smyth Hotel, 85 W Broadway | New York restaurant week Winter lunch | 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.
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??
Pork belly egg roll
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.
Braised Char Siu beef short ribs with broccoli rabe and Koshihikari rice
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.
Whole Steamed Fish with Fennel, Tangerine Peel, Chili Oil, and Fermented Black Beans
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.
Oolong ice cream
Fung Tu | 22 Orchard St | New York Restaurant Week Winter | Jan, 2016
I love raw fish, sushi, sashimi, crudo, carpaccio, tartare, ceviche, hoedeopbap… I love them all. These are all easily found in New York. However, there is one that we have been lacking for years, the american one– Poke!!!! I can call it American right? I mean, Hawaiian is American. For years, New YorkCity, our great culinary palace of the east coast is missing this raw american dish. Yes, Noreetuh serve up great Hawaiian dishes, but we need a poke joint, like those in Hawaii. Relax, no frills and cheap. Our wish was granted. Late last year, the pacific cool breeze finally blew through New York City. Now, there are about 5 of them scattered on Manhattan Island. Last week, we found ourselves on the benches of Sons of Thunder, the first poke joint in decades that open in new york. We are hoping this is the first of many.
