Vanessa’s Dumplings April 15, 2008

This is a place to go if you need to try bad dumplings so as to appreciate the good ones i.e. Fu Zhou Cuisine a.k.a Dumpling House. Located a few doors down from Dumpling House on Eldridge St, I only went into this place because it was 9am, I was craving some dumplings and it was the only place open. Here is why I think it was bad.

a) They took a bloody long time to cook this making me stand around till my legs hurt.

b) They were real generous… with the skin!

Cute little dumplings. Looks can be are deceiving.

August April 11, 2008

August, on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, NYC, was a place recommended to me by a dear friend, Pau. Pau had a gift voucher valid only on weekdays and she was too busy with work so she gave it to me. August had a lunch Prix Fixe menu and I was decided the best way to try as much food from the restaurant was to take that option. I had their Grilled Curd Veal Tongue for starters, Seafood Boudin for the main course and an Earl Grey Prune and Kumquat Tarte for dessert.

I chose these three for several reasons. First I was real tempted by the Veal Tongue. I once tried Cow’s Tongue in Selfridges, London, and actually liked it so this time I wanted to see what Veal tasted like. For my main course, I had never heard of Seafood Boudin before so I ordered it to see what it was like. Last, the dessert choice because an Earl Grey tart just sounded amazing to me.

Fabian’s Cafe and Pastry April 11, 2008

Fabian’s Cafe and Pastry in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Bedford Avenue was a place I discovered by chance. Having arrived by the subway to Brooklyn at 9am, I reckoned no shops would be open and walked around aimlessly until I saw a Fabian’s that seemed to be open and had cute teacups hanging from a ribbon by their windows.

Walking in Fabian’s was gorgeous! The walls were light blue which matched the beautiful sky outside that day and there were light blue curtains with pretty, dainty tea cups hanging on every window.

I ordered a Cinnamon Spice Mocha. The smell of the cinnamon was heavenly. Even before drinking and placing it on the table, I was actually overpowered by the cinnamon. Not much chocolaty taste though. Still it was a brilliant hot drink for a cold day.

Chanoodle (updated) April 5, 2008

Located on 79 Mulberry Street, this was my trip’s biggest surprise. When I first walked in, most of the tables were occupied by Caucasians and I swore under my breath (there wasnt even chopsticks on the table!) I have this issue with Chinese restaurants being filled up with the non-Chinese but here I was visiting this restaurant from the recommendation from a Caucasian. I am my biggest irony. Anyway anticipating a bad meal, I was still eager to test Ed Levine’s reviews and sat down. Looking at the menu, I decided to order their fried clams with minced pork because Ed (yes I am on first name terms with him now, JK) said their pork and clam dishes were good. About 5 minutes later it arrived, oh and by the way, the staff were real friendly.

My first thought was, it looked good, and spent the first few minutes rummaging the pile of clams to see how much there was and boy oh boy were there a lot! Plus the clams were actually big and juicy (I am so deprived here in England.) The fried garlic was lovely too though I did not spot much minced pork. I happily tucked into this dish the whole time extremely pleased with myself.

Towards the end of my clam dish, I heard a gentleman behind me ordering an Egg Foo Yong and all of a sudden I was craving for an omelette. So I looked up the menu and realised there was no Egg Foo Yong so I asked the waitress who tells me it is off the menu. I ordered one nonetheless with pork, no less, and she said to wait 15 minutes. So I did. But roughly less than 10 minutes later, I saw her holding a big plate walking towards me. That plate did not look like it had omelette on it. Instead it was this…

Big Wong’s April 5, 2008

Located on 67 Mott Street, this was one place I was seriously unimpressed. Recommended by Ed Levine, I ordered their BBQ Spare Ribs which came in a small plate and at US$5.75, I really wanted it to be good. -Poof!- a serious let down.

New Chow Chao April 5, 2008

Located on 111 Mott Street in Chinatown, I descended upon New Chow Chao after reading from Ed Levine. He said the Wonton Soup was fabulous so I ordered a bowl. It arrived looking like this…

Prime Burger April 5, 2008

Prime Burger located on 5 East 51st Street is famous for their Coconut Layer Cake. This was recommended by Time Out New York. I love coconut and the thought of a cake filled with cream cheese icing and coconut sounded pure heaven to me. So I happily trotted up and into the restaurant. Walking in I instantly felt like I was transported back to the 60s. The decorations were brown and old-looking.

Anyhow getting back to my sole reason for coming to Prime Burger. Their Coconut Layer Cake.

It was so sweet I was so tempted to down a gallon of salt water. It was also so sweet, I did more than just cringe, I gritted my teeth and actually found it difficult to breathe. After I finished I could not wait to get out of this place but was on a sugar high. I quickly down two bottles of water which cleaned out the sweetness in my mouth, much to my relief.

Peter Luger April 5, 2008

A trip to Williamsburg, Brooklyn without visiting Peter Luger is a crime. Before my trip I had heard so much about their steak and highly recommended by NyTimes. I went during lunch, thank god because I was told by the manager there is a 6 weeks waiting list for dinner. When I was there, there were people calling to reserve a table for May 26th (!!!!). I also got a chance to see their waiting list for dinner on Saturday. 2 A3-sized sheets of little boxes all filled up. Basically impossible to score a table. The service was impeccable. When I walked in, I requested for a table by the window and there must be natural sunlight streaming in (I swear that is my only demand ever) so whilst I waited at the counter, the waiter ran around the restaurant finding the right table for me. When they did find a table, they personally brought my to see if it was good before sitting me down. I ordered a medium rare Rib-eye steak for US$40. It was expensive but when the steak arrived, it was bigger than my face. My face is big, by the way. And the bone was twice the length of my second finger.

The steak was also neatly cut and the waiter immediately showed me a piece to check if it was rare enough for me before putting it onto my plate.

Sweet Farm April 5, 2008

I was walking around sunny Williamsburg, Brooklyn, when I spotted Sweet Farm located on Bedford Street.

Walking in I saw they had a wide variety of cupcakes with the most elaborate and generous amounts of icing I have ever seen; which only added more to my excitement. I was also delighted to find a Vanilla Oreo Cupcake and quickly ordered one. They had put out samples of their large cookies which were soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Cookies tasted good but at US$2.50 for one, no thank you.

Joe’s Shanghai April 5, 2008

Joe’s Shanghai at 9 Pell Street is one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Chinatown. Walking into the restaurant, it is also plain obvious it is one of the most successful with their large tables and more expensive-looking chairs. But, damn, an Alicia Keys song was playing O_o

Anyhow Joe’s is famous for their Xiao Long Bao (XLB as I like to call it) and I did not hesitate to order one for myself. It took a while to arrive which made me think they were preparing it fresh.

When it arrived, the XLB looked lopsided to me, then I realised its because it had an unusually great amount of soup in it.

I honestly think Joe’s has one of the best XLB around. The soup was surprisingly flavourful to me and I had such a great time slurping all 8 of them up.