lamma hilton shum kee seafood restaurant

lamma island, hk

26 first st, sok kwu wan

it took about a half-hour by boat to get from kowloon's public pier to lamma island. it's a beautiful lush green island and we took a walking tour to see a temple and some caves. but this is a food blog and all that walking made us hungry.

the newlyweds and their families had arranged another huge feast for their guests. the freshest seafood that i've had so far on my trip: scallops, fish, giant crawfish, crab, and squid. amazing. pictured is one of my favorite dishes - swimming shrimp are plucked from the sea, thrown briefly into a steamer, and then served on a huge plate with a spicy soy sauce. delicious.

madison square market

new york, ny

website

for the rest of october, there's a daily outdoor food court just outside the northwest corner of madison square park. along the west side of the park, there's a crafts market which is a minature version of the union square holiday market, with most of the same vendors. this past weekend, derek and i bypassed the crafts and headed straight to the food court. it's a nice set-up. there are several tables and chairs in the middle of the square surrounded by about eight food booths.

after perusing the menu at hill country's booth, we decided on fatty crab's booth. i ordered the "fatty dog" with XO sausage, pickled radish, cucumbers, and cilantro for $8. it was about half the size of a normal hot dog at 4x the price, but worth every penny. derek had the chorizo taco and slider, which were also very good. small portions meant that we got to order from a second booth - we chose crepes from suzette. i requested a plain crepe with sugar which confused the crepe-maker ("are you sure you don't want bananas?"). derek really enjoyed his chicken-basil crepe. if only all nyc street fairs and markets had food this good.

father's office

culver city, ca

website

this burger was highly recommended by puri. indeed, he said it was his favorite burger. some caveats first - i went directly from the airport to father's office in culver city (thus, not the santa monica original). second - other than a small bag of jetblue cashews, i had not eaten for 11 hours. finally - i don't like bleu cheese at all, which is what father's office's burger comes topped with.

with all those caveats -- the burger was freakin' amazing. the meat - amazing flavor. the onions were juicy sweet goodness. the sub-style bun was perfect - buttered and toasted and just substantial enough to hold everything in. and i love arugula. even though i don't like bleu cheese, it matched the rest of the ingredients. i think if i wasn't so hungry, i would have been more bothered by the bleu cheese. but i inhaled this burger.

inside park at st. bart's

new york, ny

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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

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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.

manna kitchen

new york, ny

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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.

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!