Lucky Cheng's

My guest blogger got hitched to one of my best friends last year. Since she had to celebrate her impending nuptials in style, she decided to make it happen in NYC. It was a ridiculously fun weekend and I wish we could do it all again!  The weekend started with a fabulous  dinner and show at Lucky Cheng's.  We ordered the family style dinner so a lot of delicious items started arriving on the table. Since we were famished, I had to dive in as soon a something landed on the table or risk it disappearing.  The Fried Veggie Spring Rolls were the first to arrive.

I wasn't particularly impressed.  They looked crispy but the inside was filled with mushy vegetables.  I was much happier with the Glazed Chili Lime Chicken Wings.

They were packed with flavor and definitely a table favorite. The Chicken and Mushroom Dumplings also got some love.

The dipping sauce was a simple sesame but really helped pull together the flavors.  As they started giving us previews of the show, our entrees made their way onto the table.  The Five Spice BBQ Chicken was an instant hit.

The rich tangy flavor was exactly as I imagined it.  It tasted even better when mixed with the Lucky Cheng's Veggie Fried Rice.

The rice was perfect for carb lovers like me, but also loaded with vegetables which tasted as though they were seasoned and cooked with the rice...not just thrown in as an afterthought.   I was not nearly as impressed with the Wok Seared Coconut Chicken.

It lacked flavor and chewing it was not worth the effort. Overall it was surprising to get a decent meal when that was definitely not the highlight of the place.  By no stretch of the imagination would I call this gourmet dining, but I'm glad they didn't let the food fall by the waist side.  They recently moved to near my office which is an odd location but could make for some interesting summer associate events....

Hungry yet?

Chinatown Brasserie

Wow…it’s been a really busy month at work. I can’t believe this is only post number 2 for January! Yikes.  I have been eating though…sort of.  Well before the month got crazy, Ms. O and I made plans to dine at Chinatown Brasserie during Restaurant Week, which is extra long this year.  I hustled out of work to make it for our 7:30 reservation, as I was walking south on Lafayette, I got a call from work and stood outside for 10 minutes on the phone. ::sigh:: Thankfully that didn’t throw off our reservation too much. We were seated pretty quickly at a cozy half moon booth in the back.  Ms. O raves about this restaurant so I was super excited to try it.  The Restaurant Week menu was very generous, so we decided to stick to it, for the most part.  I selected Dim Sum Assortment A.

Looks yummy right?!  Clockwise from bottom left: lobster dumpling, crunchy vegetable & peanut dumpling, shrimp & snow pea leaf dumpling, and shrimp dumpling.  I tried to take at least two bites of each dumpling so I could truly savor the flavors.  One bite was sans sauce and the other I dipped in one of the many sauces that arrived on our table. 

After eating the sampler, I realized I definitely need to make my way to a dim sum restaurant stat! Ms. O ordered Assortment B.

Clockwise from bottom left: spicy lamb dumpling, chicken & shrimp lollipop, pork potsticker, and vegetable spring roll.  Being the glutton that I am, I was thrilled when Ms. O suggested we add another dim sum.

The Spicy Duck & Flowering Chive Wontons were phenomenal! Crispy crunchy goodness on the outside and tender flavorful duck on the inside.  The best part was that it wasn’t greasy!  The Restaurant Week menu had several great main course options, but after being deprived at Petite Abeille, we definitely were not turning away the Lobster.

The Wok-Sautéed Lobster was served with asparagus. The sauce was sweet and a little spicy.  Every bit of the lobster was enhanced by the sauce. 

The lobster was also easy to eat because they had done most of the cracking for us! I must say it was one of my favorite lobsters.  Once our plates were filled with nothing but shells, it was time to move on to dessert. Ms. O ordered the Custard Bao.

These little steamed balls of custard were surprisingly flavorful. They were airy and had a smooth texture.  I was more interested in my Chocolate Mousse.

I lit up when the cake arrived, because I was definitely not expecting it.  The cake was excellent. The chocolate trio combination was perfect and the cookie crust was just the right touch.

Chinatown Brasserie was amazing and I definitely see why Ms. O is a fan.  Even though I had to return to the office after dinner, I had a smile on my face thanks to that fantastic meal.  I can’t wait to go back!

Hungry yet?

Do Hwa

I've been trying to get a little more variety in the types of cuisine I try when I go out to eat. So when blackboard eats had a coupon for Do Hwa I quickly grabbed the offer. Of course Bestie is always willing to try new places with me so we happily venture to the Korean restaurant.

Located in the village, it was a bit of a hike but on a convenient subway line so it was an easy trip. We walked into the dimly lit restaurant and were initially in the bar area which is separate from the main dining room. The hostess is on the other end of the bar so the poor set up was initially confusing. Once we got past that part, we were seated at the best table in the house. We happily settled in then attacked the menu. We were in agreement about ordering Mul Mandu to start.

The home-style boiled kimchi and shrimp dumplings were incredible. They were stuffed full of shrimp and kimchi. They had a spicy kick at the end of each bite. The dumpling wrapper was extremely light and there was never a point where I felt I was eating wrapper with no filling. I was truly sad when I ate my last bite because it was just that good. While we were waiting for our entrees, our sides arrived.

The entrees are served with seasonal side dishes. It was quite the spread that they brought out for us.  

Candied daikon and squid, jellied mungbean, 

Bean sprouts and broccoli 

then of course the cabbage and kim chi. 

Bestie ordered the Heymul gook su.  

Those sautéed udon noodles with shrimp and squid can be made spicy or not.  Obviously she chose spicy. The udon was remarkable. They were buttery goodness and definitely left sweetness to the spice. The shrimp tasted like it was just plucked out of the ocean, as did the squid. I definitely had a case of food envy! 

My entree the Dak Dori Tang eventually arrived.

The chicken stewed in chili sauce with potatoes and carrots was spectacular. They used dark meat, which made all the difference because the stew was quite filling and I actually ended up eating the rest the next day and it was spectacular.

We were stuffed silly by the time we finished so we couldn't even head across the street to Sweet Revenge. They did give us a slice of a Blood Orange to wrap up the meal.

The meal was incredible. When most people think about Korean food they think about BBQ. While Do Hwa does offer BBQ, you shouldn't feel limited to just that part of the menu.

Hungry yet?

Todd English Plaza Food Hall

This weekend was filled with out of town guests.  My RD was in town briefly and we met up at Sbarro in Times Square.  Alas, no food was consumed by me because I was still stuffed by the all-star brunch.  After wandering around Manhattan for more hours than I intended, VBRAT reconvened for a suuuuper late lunch (6:30!) because of our 10pm dinner reservation (more on that later).  I was surly because they were late, but once I ate everything was great.  I was excited about the prospect of eating at the Plaza Food Hall.  With so many options it was really hard to limit how much I ate considering the huge dinner that we would eventually consume. 

The Plaza Food Hall is pretty posh considering it’s a cafeteria, but then again it is The Plaza. There are different counter seating spaces by the cooking stations.  We were fortunate enough to sit by the noodle station.  I constantly wanted to jump over the counter and eat the food the chefs were preparing. Ms. A and I decided to order together since we wanted to sample a bunch of different dishes.  We started with the Chinese Chicken & Ginger dumplings.

They were served with lemon grass pesto.  I really enjoyed the dumplings.  They were light yet filling.   We watched the chefs make our dumplings and I may or may not have salivated when they were placed in front of me.  The dumplings also came with a side of Spicy Kimchi.

I usually shy away from kimchi because of the smell but this spicy one was really good! We also ordered a Shrimp Tempura Roll.

The shrimp tasted very fresh and wrapped with avocado and cucumber. I love seafood so even though we didn’t need the shrimp tempura, I had no regrets about ordering it.  Next up was the Classic Flat Bread.

It was basically a margarita pizza.  Roasted tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil.  The flatbread is incredibly thin so this was not as filling as it looked.  Ms. A and I definitely ate just the right amount and were satisfied with our meal.  Mr. S ordered Turkey Sliders.

I’m always suspicious of turkey burgers because I know that someone is usually trying to sneak some pig on there.  This time around, the sliders were served with grilled pancetta, whipped avocado, baby romaine and tomato.  I knew it! Grilled pancetta – hmmph.  Apparently it tasted good though because Mr. S cleaned it up.  He and Ms. G also ordered Parmesan Fries. I didn’t get a chance to sample or photograph it (because they ate it all!) and besides I was busy with my own food J Ms. G also ordered the flatbread special.

It didn’t photograph too well but that’s grilled portabello with spinach.  Apparently it tasted good, but it was not exactly what she was expecting.  Mr. K and his Ms. S (THEY’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!) were too far away and I missed the opportunity to photograph their lobster minestrone (yumm how good does that sound?) They also ordered the chicken dumplings though so I didn’t miss too much. 

Plaza Food Hall was the truth.  So much variety and all pretty affordable. I was very pleased and look forward to returning soon. We finished up at The Plaza Food Hall with our mission accomplished.  We had eaten, but we were still hungry for the super late dinner.  Tomorrow, I reveal the limited access birthday dinner.  Stay tuned…

Hungry yet?

Ping Pong Dim Sum

My second guest blog for Lady T! This time no cooking involved, just some dim sum at Ping Pong Dim Sum (the name itself is intriguing!) with Mr. K, Mr. S, and another Mr. K. This restaurant has a really nice and romantic ambiance, the guys voiced that they were happy to have a girl there with them. Ping Pong also has a great happy hour (if you can get a spot near the bar, which we couldn't, it was packed!) and delicious food. The dumplings were good, but the various types of "puffs" which are basically soft, fluffy stuffed pastries, were even better!!! They bring them out to you as they're made, and the dishes are for sharing, so they are hot and went quick.

Chive dumpling - King prawns and chives in green chive pastry. It was ok, I couldn't really taste chives and the texture of the pastry looked and tasted a little slimey to me.
French press coffee for 2 (I drank it all by myself): delicious
Chicken puffs - honey roasted barbeque chicken in hand-made puff pastries topped with pineapple: we ordered this multiple times, which just goes to show how delish it was. The pineappe was the perfect touch.

Spicy chicken dumplings - I didn't try these but they went fast and got good reviews. They come with a basil, ginger, and black sesame seed sauce.
Crabmeat and prawn dumplings. These are open, translucent dumplings filled with crabmeat, king prawns, and mixed herbs. This wasn't very popular, again the puffy pastries were a lot more appealing!
Char sui buns: these buns are a different texture, kind of soft and sticky, good for dipping because they absorb the sauce well.

Banana wantons with bittersweet chocolate dipping sauce - a delectable little bit of sweetness (still wrapped in fried goodness)

If you're ever in the Washington DC, Chinatown area, this restaurant is a must!!!

In my dim sum excitement I forgot to thanks for Mr. S for a great recommendation. He seems to know his restaurants!

Hungry yet? :-)

Pam Real Thai Encore

My Bestie Ms. R is in town!! Of course that means a feast was so necessary.  I had a hard time escaping from the office but finally made it out and we headed to Pam Real Thai Encore.  I had wanted to go to the original one, but was so caught up in running out of work that we kept walking.  No worries though I’ll make my way to the other location soon.

Encore has really lively walls and the music was decent.  But by now you know, I don’t choose restaurants for music or décor, it’s all about the food.  We decided to start with the Steamed Chicken Dumplings.

The dumplings were stuffed with ground chicken and shitake mushroom and served with dumpling sauce.  Simply divine! The dumplings were stuffed FULL. I couldn’t believe how much was in those little guys.  I also ordered Tom Yum Soup with shrimp.

It was pretty standard.  Still think the best one I’ve had was at Land Thai Kitchen.  Pretty soon our entrées arrived. 

The Jungle Curry with Fish was AWESOME.  It was not as thick as the one I usually have at Topaz, but it was equally spicy and the fish was a great alternative to the chicken. Spectacular!  We also ordered Crispy Duck with Chili Sauce.

Looks good right?  Tasted great!  The boneless crispy duck was topped with chili sauce, lime leaves and basil.  YUM!

I definitely enjoyed dining at Encore.  The food was incredibly tasty and unlike any other Thai food I’ve had before.  Of course having Ms. R there only made the experience that much more enjoyable.  I’ve missed my Bestie but I’ll be seeing her again soon J

Hungry yet?