donburiya

new york, ny

link to yelp

cindy c chose this japanese comfort food restaurant in midtown east for lunch today. what is japanese comfort food? lots of bowls. bowls filled with various combinations of rice, egg, fish, meat, sauce, and pickles. all served with a salad and ridiculously good and mayonnaise-y potato salad. and very good tea.

yup, that's about it. solid spot. will definitely go again when i'm in the mood for some katsu. and potato salad.

tanti baci caffe

new york, ny

CLOSED

apparently this restaurant is located in the west village. derek and i have never seen it. it's one of our favorite places to order from on seamlessweb. order online, pay with your credit card, and the food is brought to your door. seamlessweb is daunting - it lists over 300 restaurants serving everything from malaysian to peruvian to dim sum. and that's just the restaurants that will deliver to my apartment. it can be hit-or-miss, so once we find a place we like, we'll usually order from there again.

tanti baci caffe has excellent homemade pasta. i prefer the egg fettucine with bolognese. derek likes the wheat pasta in pomodoro with a side of meatballs. the garlic bread is buttery garlicky goodness with flecks of red pepper flakes. i don't know how they do it, but the pasta arrives perfectly al dente and the garlic bread is crispy on the edge and soft in the middle. why bother cooking when high-quality meals can be delivered to your door?

karendipity cooks: kimchi fried rice

lest you think that my kitchen is used solely for storage and reheating leftovers, i will from time to time post items that i have cooked myself...

made a giant pot of kimchi fried rice, which derek loves. not as good as the restaurant version but that's probably because i use a little bit of olive oil instead of the sticks of butter that koreans prefer. ingredients: kimchi, sirloin steak, green onions, olive oil, eggs, rice, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, garlic, sesame oil.

chop kimchi into bite-size pieces. thinly slice steak, mix with cornstarch, then season with soy sauce/sugar. heat a bit of olive oil, add onions, then add steak. chop up cooked steak into bite-sized pieces. separately, do the same thing with the scrambled eggs. in a giant pot, heat onions and garlic in olive oil, add rice, season with a bit of soy sauce, fry for a while. add kimchi. add sesame oil. continue frying to preferred crispiness level. try not to burn anything. eat.

the redhead

new york, ny

website

tonight jenny, r.g. and i managed to escape from our respective offices for a night of good fun, great food, and strong drinks. the redhead is famous for receiving a rave review from frank bruni, his last as a ny times food critic. so we were worried about the wait when we showed up to the tiny restaurant at 8 pm on a thursday night (thursday being the new friday). the hostess said it was a 30-45 minute wait, but it didn't seem that long. it was just enough time for me to finish a redhead fizz (absolut mandarin, elderflower cordial, fresh lemon juice) and start on a revival (beefeater gin, white lillet, triple sec, fresh lemon juice). by the way, i recommend the fizz if you want something light & refreshing and the revival if you want a real drink.

properly liquored up, the girls and i sat down at the corner table (nice) for our meal. which was amazing. even the little dinner roll and soft butter they serve were delicious. i highly recommend starting with the mushroom flatbread and definitely add the sausage if you're a meateater. the consensus at the table was that the best entree was the shrimp with andouille sausage and grits. everyone in the restaurant was ordering the fried chicken, so we tried that too. good, but lacked flavor. the trout was good for a "lighter" entree. no need for dessert - they give complimentary chocolate espresso cookies at the end of the meal. this place definitely deserves the praise that it has received and i look forward to returning.

5/13/2010: updated with better photo of the mushroom flatbread.

menchanko-tei

new york, ny

website

last week, jinny, CR and i decided to schedule a get-together. jinny, in her infinite foodie wisdom, chose menchanko-tei. on the morning of our lunch, i was chatting with my neighbor while waiting for the elevator. suddenly she said: "i am SO glad that menchanko-tei is back!" i was shocked! i told her that i was planning to go there for lunch that very afternoon. as we marvelled over the crazy coincidence, she recommended the cold noodles, which menchanko-tei only serves in the summer months.

and so of course i ordered the cold noodles. although neither icy nor spicy like naeng myun, it was still quite good. the chicken, shitake mushrooms, and omelet strips were excellent toppings. but the very flavorful broth was a little too soy-saucey for my tastes. i'll have to try the sesame noodles next time. warning: the dollop of paste on the bowl is extremely strong and sinus-clearing wasabi. yow.

lombardi's pizza

new york, ny

website

one of derek's favorite pizza places. it's located right where chinatown and little italy intersect with the nolita and soho shopping districts. usually there's a crowd of tourists outside and a ridiculously long wait. the hostess actually has a loudspeaker that she uses to call out the names of parties. it's a nice corner - if you have to wait, sit on a bench outside and people-watch or do some quick shopping on mulberry and mott. but for some reason, on sunday night at 7 pm, it was only a five minute wait for the two of us.

perfect crust - thin and chewy. the sauce was a little too sweet for me, but i enjoyed the crispy and spicy pepperoni. i'd probably avoid it if there was more than a 20 minute wait. note: this place is cash-only. there's an ATM located outside, but since an ATM surcharge of $2.00 can buy an order of zha man tou, i ran to the nearest citibank on broadway, just south of broome.

congee village

new york, ny

website

i love congee. it's comfort food. my mom used to make it for me when i got sick and i even make it for derek when he gets sick. of course, i prefer to have someone else cook it, but it's hard to find. why aren't there more chinese restaurants serving this stuff? several years ago, cindy c dragged me out of morningside heights and downtown to get congee at congee village. it's still my favorite congee place in the city and fortunately now i live much closer.

derek and i come here frequently with friends for good cheap chinese food. a bowl of pork and preserved egg congee for $2.95 is enough to feed two people. you tiao (deep fried dough) to dip into the congee is only $1.00. zha man tou (fried bread) to dip into a plate of sweetened condensed milk (yum) for just $1.50. you can also order sauteed vegetables and noodles, but make sure you get the essentials.

blue ribbon sushi

new york, ny

website

turns out derek and i don't have as refined sushi sensibilities as we thought we did. we ordered the omakase menu at blue ribbon sushi and were underwhelmed because, well, everything tasted like fish. the salmon was melt-in-your-mouth good and there was a particular sashimi that reminded me of fishing trips my dad used to take us on when we were kids. good memories, good sashimi, but that's all i can say about the meal. i think derek and i prefer the unique sauces and preparation in sushi seki's omakase menu.

when we were done eating the sushi and sashimi, they deep fried the fish head and bones. for us to eat. i ate the meaty parts of the head but i could not eat a fish's head whole. derek crunched on a few fried fish bones. not fun. we kept coughing as if the bones were still stuck in our throats on our walk back uptown (where i got a custard at shake shack and derek stopped by mcdonald's because we were still hungry). maybe if we had more sophisticated palates and stomachs we would have been satisfied by the amazing spread of fresh fish at blue ribbon sushi. unfortunately we don't and next time we go, we'll probably order some spicy rolls and tempura.

momofuku milk bar

new york, ny

website

momofuku noodle bar has one dessert option - their excellent softserve created by momofuku's excellent pastry chef. i wasn't thrilled with the flavor they had on tap friday night, so we stopped by momofuku milk bar on our way home. the milk bar has additional softserve flavors, cookies, cake, and flavored milks. like the noodle bar, the atmosphere is very lowkey and casual. there's only one person to take your order, so you have to wait in a line while the people in front of you taste softserve samples and discuss the menu with the staff. don't freak out, it's not a long wait, and it's worth every minute. (yes, i'm talking to you, the person behind us in line who kept peeking over us trying to figure out if there was a faster way to get to the desserts).

milk bar is home to derek's favorite cookie -- the compost cookie -- which contains pretzels, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, and chocolate chips. it's a buttery salty sweet combination that's delicious and addictive. so we ordered four compost cookies, two cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookies, and a slice of chocolate chip cake (with passion fruit curd, chocolate crumbs, and coffee buttercream). not sure if it was the late hour, the amount we had purchased, or out of the goodness of their hearts, but the staff gave us an extra three cookies. mmm, free.

update 1/9/2010: i don't know what happened, but lately the compost hasn't been as good. derek's new favorite is the cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow cookie and my favorite is the blueberry cookie.

momofuku noodle bar

new york, ny

website

new york city is currently obsessed with david chang and his momofuku restaurants. he's probably the hottest chef in the city right now and has been for a few years. however, few outside of the city have heard of him because he doesn't have a show on foodtv. i'm not enough of a foodie (yet) to follow chefs that closely, but i appreciate the quality of the ingredients at momofuku and their unique approach to food. i'm definitely looking forward to the release of the momofuku cookbook. i might even (gasp) cook something in my own kitchen.

once you have a bowl of the momofuku ramen, you'll never be able to eat instant noodles out of a styrofoam cup again. okay, that's not true, but while you're eating your styrofoam noodles you'll be wishing you had a bowl of momofuku noodles. when compared to ramen setagaya and ippudo, momofuku wins as the porkiest and most "american." as you can see, there is crispy pork belly, shredded pork shoulder, and a perfectly soft-boiled egg. the broth is rich and fatty - amazing. derek had the chilled spicy szechuan noodles, which he really enjoyed. as part of the momofuku approach to dining, the menu changes frequently. the momofuku ramen is a constant, but derek really wants to go back before they replace the chilled spicy noodles...

bodhi tree

new york, ny

link to yelp

walking from wevill to evill, derek and i were hungry and tired. we decided that we were going to eat on this block, 3rd ave between 10th and 11th, because we just couldn't walk anymore. there were three options - expensive japanese, expensive asian fusion, and moderately priced thai. the menu at bodhi tree had some unique items (the pumpkin caught my eye) and derek happened to be craving thai food. so thai it was.

a lot of fried food on the menu. we went with the crispy duck in pumpkin peanut sauce. very good. the fried fish had a great sauce, but was actually breaded and fried filets rather than the crispy whole fish that we were expecting. i would recommend this restaurant if you're in the area and craving thai. we might go back and try some of the other dishes - there's a $7 lunch special that looks very promising.

magnolia bakery

new york, ny

website

after i made a small purchase in wevill, the saleswoman presented me with two coupons for free magnolia cupcakes! although excited by the prospect of free food (everything tastes better when its free), derek and i were hesitant. usually, there's a line outside magnolia that wraps around the corner and down the street, filled with tourists and satc fans (apparently carrie once ate a cupcake from here?). but with the possibility of free cupcakes, we had to check it out. if the line was too long, we would just give our coupons to two lucky tourists.

fortunately for us, there happened to be a very short line to get into the surprisingly small shop. once inside, you have two options. to the left is a self-service section where you can grab a cute cupcake carrier and choose two cupcakes. on the right, there's a line where you can ask for other dessert items (note - it is not the line to pay, you can actually go straight to the register). we went the self-service route. derek chose a mint-chocolate cupcake and i chose my standard yellow with chocolate frosting. we took our cupcakes to a nearby park where several women (and one man in a wig) wearing hot pink dresses were dancing an ode to cupcakes. the cupcakes themselves were tasty and indeed ode-worthy. maybe too much overly sweet frosting, but i'm just being picky - they were free, after all.

'inoteca

new york, ny

website

'inoteca was one of the first small-plates restaurants that i found in the city. the LES original is better than the gramercy version, but tends to be more crowded and lacks the "liquori" drink selection. when we first started going to 'inoteca, the entire menu was in italian and we had to have the waiter explain every single item. the waitstaff was always friendly and helpful, but its an unwieldy system. now they have a translation guide, but it only translates certain terms. oh well. by now, i've been here enough times for me to know what to order.

and that would be - the truffle egg toast with asparagus (pictured). it has declined in quality lately, but it's still good. derek likes the spicy spaghetti with pomodoro. my favorite drink is the luce del sole - grapefruit vodka, aperol, honey, freshly squeezed lemon & orange juices. it's served with these absurdly large ice cubes which i love and which keep the drink icy cold. so good. 'inoteca is reliable and close, but i think alta, sorella, and casellula are better choices for small-plates restaurants.

xie xie

new york, ny

CLOSED

asian ingredients on a baguette-like bread, but definitely not a traditional banh mi sandwich. it's okay, though, because the xie xie sandwiches are delicious. and very filling.

i had the shredded-chicken-smoked-egg-salad sandwich which came with pickled cabbage and cilantro. unique and tasty. to use the banh mi comparison, the cabbage took the place of the marinated vegetables and the smoked egg salad seemed to play the pate role. y had the make-your-own sweet glazed pork sandwich, which was also very tasty. the pork, sweet and sour "condiment" and steamed mantao buns came separately, but unfortunately she ran out of mantao buns before she ran out of meat. next time, we'll definitely have to ask for extra buns.

amy's bread

new york, ny

website

once again, i found myself in midtown west (hell's kitchen) and decided to stop by another one of y&a's recs. and no, i did not eat all of those by myself. my favorite was the yellow cake topped with chocolate frosting. the red velvet was also good and came topped with extremely light and fluffy frosting.

because i strive to be a cupcake connoisseur, i have to say that my yellow-chocolate cupcake was a little too crumbly and the frosting was too heavy and overly sweet. but let's be honest here, a cupcake is a cupcake and two cupcakes from amy's bread definitely put a smile on my face.

gyu-kaku

new york, ny

website

this was my first time trying japanese bbq. it's very similar to korean bbq (they even have kalbi, tofu chigae, etc.) except that it's a shabu-shabu version of korean bbq. you can choose various meats and vegetables and then you use your personal tongs to cook the food piece-by-piece to your liking.

okay, not as good as soon won galbi, but it was still very tasty. derek and i ordered the garlic kalbi, regular kalbi, brisket, and ribeye. you can choose what marinade you want on each meat. my favorite was the brisket, of course. derek's favorite was the garlic kalbi. we also ordered the tofu chigae soup which was not as spicy as koreans usually make it. another plus - they have excellent ventilation so we didn't smell like cooked meat afterwards.

landmarc

new york, ny

website

another excellent y&a rec. actually, i only travel to midtown west for their restaurant suggestions. landmarc is a great brunch spot and extremely kid-friendly - i think every table had a baby or toddler (including ours). it is located on the third floor of the columbus circle "mall". although it seems weird to call such a fancy location a mall, it is what it is. but for you TC folks, it's definitely a far cry from columbia center mall.

ricotta & smoked mozzarella fritters were delicious. my lobster salad made a lovely picture, but a not-so-great meal. derek's chicken burger was suprisingly juicy and flavorful. one of my favorite things to order here is the make-your-own mimosa - they serve it with a split of champagne and a small cup of orange juice. your server will pour it for you, but i prefer to do it myself so that it's in the perfect proportion (i.e., mostly champagne with a just a hint of juice...)

wildwood barbeque

new york, ny

website

this is a huge restaurant on park avenue south. the interior is so big and over-the-top that it seems to come straight out of frontierland from disneyworld. but the ribs are so good that i don't mind. derek and i have tried a lot of bbq places and wildwood's kansas city baby back ribs are our favorite ribs. i'm honestly not sure how authentic the ribs are, having never been to kansas city, but i know what i like. the ribs are covered in "spicy chipotle bbq" sauce which is just spicy enough to be tasty.

we usually order a whole rack and a few sides. i like their tater tots (again, i'm skeptical about authenticity here) and derek likes their fries. but it's really all about the ribs. the picture is a few ribs short of a full rack as i had to first hoard some on my plate. derek is a rib-eating machine and many times he has finished the entire order while i'm still gnawing on my second rib.