ramen setagaya

new york, ny

link to yelp

we finally tried a try! a great ramen place near union square. although it purports to be the best ramen in japan, it doesn't taste like the ramen that derek and i had in tokyo. for that, i still suggest ippudo. nor does it taste as rich and meaty as the momofuku noodle bar's ramen. but i really enjoyed the setagaya ramen - it had a very light broth and a generous helping of yummy noodles. it doesn't feel as greasy as the ippudo or momofuku ramen. derek really liked the noodles.

for dessert, they only have mochi ice cream. it was either purchased in a local grocery store or made to taste that way. eh, just okay. but on a hot & humid evening, it was great way to cool down after a hot bowl of ramen.

update 8/1/2009: yes, we went again. it was that good. anyway, this time i got the tsukumen. a bowl of cold noodles that you can dip into your separate bowl of hot and sour soup with chunks of crispy fatty pork. um. yum.

shake shack

new york, ny

website

my favorite thing about rainstorms in new york city is that after the rain subsides, derek will run out to the shake shack and bring back burgers for us to eat in our apartment. i get the shack burger (no cheese) and fries - and if i'm feeling decadent - a concrete as well. a concrete is like a blizzard, but with frozen custard. yes, custard.

in nyc you can find every possible iteration of burger (i love this city), but this is hands-down no-contest by-a-long-shot my favorite burger. it's the combination of a soft chewy potato bun, flavorful juicy beef, juicy fresh tomato, crisp fresh lettuce, and light "Shack sauce." all for $5. sure, some people like thinner or thicker patties, brioche buns, charred meat, different toppings, different cheeses, etc. but for me, the shack burger is burger perfection.

and because it's the shake shack, i'm even writing more than two paragraphs. a short note about the line. from the first lamppost, it takes about 16 mins to get to the order window and about another 12 mins to get your food. yes, i've timed it. if the line is longer than that - and it usually is - it can take up to an hour or two to get your food. after a rainstorm? no line and 5 min wait for your food. sweet.

'wichcraft

new york, ny

website

'wichcraft is a great sandwich shop - not a lot of variety, but quality ingredients. my go-to sandwich is the mozzarella & fontina melt with olive tapenade (pictured with potato salad). best grilled cheese ever. derek likes the turkey club sandwich and their soups. we also tried the apple turnover - which honestly tasted like a fanchy version of mickey d's apple pie ...

they have locations throughout the city, usually near parks. we took our sandwiches to madison square park and ate them on a bench next to the playground. perfect nyc meal.

alta

new york, ny

website

the problem with this picture is that there's too much whitespace on my plate - it fails to capture the overwhelming quantity of amazing food that was consumed tonight. we had: beef rib, octopus, pork belly, chicken wings x 3, crispy brussel sprouts x 2, lamb meatballs, lamb skewers, roasted eggplant, fried goat cheese, deviled eggs, cheesy flatbread, beet salad, and pulled pork empanadas. oh - and two bottles of red wine. every plate was delicious. every plate.

i love the small-plates/tapas craze that's spreading through nyc. it's like a high-end buffet. thanks to puri for the excellent restaurant recommendation and excellent wine selection and to puri/vanita/jenny/derek/babyk for the excellent company.

primehouse

new york, ny

website

after reading about primehouse's burger from this article, derek and i decided to try this steakhouse just up the street last night. nice outdoor seating although it's right on park, so there's a lot of foot and car traffic. good for people-watching. i ordered the steakhouse burger (off their bar menu) - which as you can see, was quite the burger - topped with mushrooms, caramelized onions, and steak sauce. good, messy, but i liked derek's rib-eye better!

one of derek's restaurant pet peeves is when they put "fries" on the menu and end up serving potato wedges instead. as you can see, these "fries" were definitely on the wedge-end of the spectrum...

updated: mantao

new york, ny

CLOSED

see link for July 16 post.

attempt #2 was more successful. pictured is the curry chicken pancake roll. chicken was actually moist and the pancake is like a cong you bing but without the scallions. the egg mantao with xiang chang was pretty good, but it's difficult to screw up anything that has chinese sausage in it. the mantao itself was slightly more moist than last time. jenny ordered the sesame noodles which she said were just okay and could use more actual sesame flavor. her chrysanthemum tea was good, my milk green tea was not so good.

to summarize - it's still a hit or miss spot, but at least we had a few hits today. will probably go back again to try the rest of the menu. even so, the quality is nowhere near the level of the asian sandwich shops you can find outside of midtown east. oh midtown.

fatty crab

new york, ny

website

the best meal of the weekend. started with a rum + coconut water cocktail that was served in a coconut with a piece of sugar cane to chew on and a spoon to scoop out the flesh. yum. next came better-than-momofuku pork buns (imho). then a "salad" made up of fatty pork pieces on top of watermelon cubes. more yum. a duck dish which derek and his parents loved. the main course was the crab in spicy sauce. seriously finger-lickin' good. they don't have a dessert menu, but they serve complimentary coconut mochi cake slices - which derek doesn't like so i get an extra. yum yum yum.

it's quite pricey and the whole atmosphere screams "we're so cool and hip" which can be annoying, but the food is worth it. as a side note, it's a short walk to the new high line park where you can walk off some of the fattiness.

saint's alp tea house

new york, ny

link to yelp

best bubble tea ever. my fav is the taro bubble tea. although i have to remember to order the regular size next time. there's a chinese saying - "eyes bigger than stomach" - every time i go i order the jumbo size and i'm overwhelmed by bubbles. about 10 mins after eating said bubbles, they start to expand in my stomach, which can be painful. anyway - this is a reminder to myself - order the regular size!

pic is derek's minced meat + rice. good cheap small plates - anything with the minced meat is delicious. noodle soups with mi fun are also very good.

inside park at st. bart's

new york, ny

website

derek and i took his parents to "inside park" which is the restaurant adjacent to st. bartholomew's church on park avenue. it's a unique setting -- that and the 10% off coupon from derek's firm are the main reasons we went. again, outdoor seating -- that's the theme of the summer, apparently. it's a bit pricey but the food was pretty good. the small plate appetizers were too small and not memorable, but my scallops and derek's rib-eye were very well done.

the waiter informed us that their mulberry and pecan bread pudding was one of the top 3 desserts in new york city. so of course we ordered it -- although the waiter was unable to name the other two desserts on the list. i thought it was very good, but not as good as the a voce doughnuts. derek preferred the bread pudding and ended up eating the entire dessert! so we can add another one to the list of derek-approved desserts.

battery gardens

new york, ny

website

battery park in the summer is full of tourists and people who are selling things to tourists. still, it's beautiful to be in the park and near the water. and if you find yourself in battery park when it's time for your next meal, i'd say try battery gardens. jinny introduced me to this place and i went back again today with derek's parents after taking a quick tour of derek's office.

the pic is my prosciutto-fig tart. food is good but not worth the price. the service is terrible. but from the outdoor seating area you can see the statute of liberty, governor's island, watch the ferries go by and observe people fishing (??) in the murky waters around manhattan.

bouley bakery & market

new york, ny

CLOSED

jenny-recommended. it's my go-to place for a lowkey breakfast/brunch whenever i'm downtown. it's market-like with a pastry station, a sandwich station, a buffet station, a coffee station, etc. once you make your purchase you can take your tray to the next room which has comfortable chairs and a lovely view of people walking by with strollers.

i've never been able to resist the pastries so no idea if the buffet/sandwiches are any good. i had the vegetable quiche which was filled with carrots and i ate it so fast i almost forgot to take a picture.

a voce

new york, ny

website

derek and i took his parents to a voce - an italian restaurant near madison square park with lovely outdoor seating (and an awning which was helpful when it started raining...) we got a mix of appetizers, all of which were very good and rather cheesy (i'd recommend the asparagus appetizer). we all ordered pasta, which was also very good. nice service - friendly & fun waitstaff.

but honestly, the reason we went there and the highlight of the meal were these bomboloni -- sugary doughnuts filled with a sweet liquory sauce accompanied by chocolate dipping sauce. gooey sweet goodness.

manna kitchen

new york, ny

website

this is one of our favorite spots near our apartment to eat at when we're craving korean but are too lazy to walk 10 blocks north to k-town. i ordered the "cold noodles in soup" (aka naeng myun) which is perfect for hot summer nights like last night. instantly cool down your entire body while slurping noodles in icy spicy soup and crunching on pickled daikon and cucumbers.

very casual - order your food and they'll bring out your dishes on a tray. they have nice outdoor seating on a quiet-ish street if you want to escape the hubbub of union square. we ordered other dishes too - just okay - but the cold noodles are excellent.

mantao

new york, ny

CLOSED

a few weeks ago, jenny and i were walking back to our offices from lunch when we noticed the sign for a new restaurant opening up on the block - mantao chinese sandwiches! since then, we've been waiting waiting waiting for it to open. i finally went today and ordered the pork bun, short rib+kimchee bun, and shrimp chips. see pic. (it came with a salad too, but who wants to see that?)

eh. it was alright. meat was kind of dry and tasteless. shrimp chips were dense and cracker-y. i hoped for a mini-ippudo/momofuku/bao-like outpost near work, but i was just setting myself up for disappointment. that being said, it is right next to the office, so i'll probably go again and try something different on their yummy-sounding menu.

will update this post if i go again and if i can figure out how to update old posts.

back forty

new york, ny

website

based on this recommendation from TONY, derek and i walked allll the way to avenue b to try the burger at back forty. i really enjoyed the outdoor seating in the back, although the dead bugs clinging to my blueberry rickey glass (blueberry rum + lime + seltzer = yum) were a little disconcerting. i thought the burger was alright, the proprietary ketchup was pretty good, but the spicy mayo was excellent. derek really liked the burger, thought it had high quality meat, but that it lacked a good sauce.

however - the highlight - as you can see from the photo - was the doughnut dessert! for $7, three freshly cooked doughnuts with blueberry sauce. the sauce was perfect, not too sweet not too tart. the doughnuts were crispy on the outside and steamy and soft on the inside. delicious! notice that derek's fork was in the picture -- a dessert he actually likes!

num pang

new york, ny

website

yes - derek and i ate two banh mi-style sandwiches in two days. anyway - i ordered the pulled pork and derek ordered the pork belly special sandwich. i liked this one better than baoguette because the vegetables were more flavorful and more prominent. there was still a LOT of pork (as you can see in the picture), but once i removed (okay, ate) the larger pieces of pork, the proportions were perfect. derek's pork belly version was much juicier and greasier, but i was quite content with mine. the bread, however, was still off. and the portions were small. it's hard to tell from the picture, but this sandwich looked like a mini-banh-mi, maybe 3/5 the size of the baoguette.

btw - don't think that this is a cambodian version of a banh mi sandwich. derek says there's no such thing, but cambodians do eat vietnamese banh mi sandwiches.

baoguette

new york, ny

link to baoguette on yelp

ordered the baoguette from baoguette. derek and i are on a quest to find an authentic banh mi sandwich in manhattan (or if not authentic, yummy enough to overcome the inauthenticity.) baoguette had excellent barbecued pork (see dark red meat in the middle) and a good spicy sauce. but there was just too much pork and it overwhelmed the vegetables (i know, you're shocked that i thought there was too much pork, me too). plus the bread was underwhelming. that said, would probably eat there again to try their other sandwiches but the search for a good banh mi continues ...

also - note that my labels are inaccurate and will probably reflect a skewed understanding of geography, food, and prices. whatever.

welcome to my new blog!

okay - i have the memory of a goldfish and the appetite of, well, not a goldfish. therefore i have a hard time keeping track of the restaurants i go to and the dishes i order. also, i'll hear about a great restaurant from a friend or i'll walk by a cool place that i want to try, but i always forget the name and location. from now on, i'll try to remember to update this blog with names/locations of restaurants and berry pics of key items. just a warning, this will include a lot of pork, bbq, and doughnuts.

karendipity eats! will be a web log of past and future eats. so next time someone asks me -- "where should we eat?" -- i'll hopefully have an answer!