Pastis & Saint's Alp Teahouse

I don’t know why it took me this long to finally have brunch at Pastis.

And it was good; not fabulous. Now, I know I’ve been a big negative of the places I’ve dined recently but let’s keep it real guys. $50/meal and/or 5 star restaurants never really guarantee excellent dining experience.

I am a huge fan of eggs benedict, especially the one that includes salmon. Every time I have brunch, I always get eggs benedict of sort if not an egg included dish. Why? I hate anything breaded. I’ll eat it but I don’t enjoy it. Therefore, especially for brunch, it eliminates pancakes, waffles, French toast … you get the picture. I am also a huge fan of brunch drinks. It is my absolute favorite. I die for bloody marys, mimosas, and prosecca and I heart fresh-squeezed orange juice, excellent cup of coffee, perfectly brewed cup of tea, foam-filled cappuccinos, and foam-less lattes (I know. I’m very specific when it comes to latte vs. cappuccinos).

So at Pastis, of course, I ordered eggs Norwegian, which was an eggs benedict with salmon. The portions were actually generous, which came as bit of a surprise. It was good but I still go by Sarabeth’s having the BEST eggs benedict thus far. The home fries were excellent and the bloody mary was decent. Maybe that’s why I love Sarabeth’s so much because … they have the best eggs benedict and the best bloody mary: my two most important items on a brunch menu. So perhaps, I am biased. But during the entire brunch, I was stealing fries from Maureen and Jen simultaneously because they were SO amazing. Perfectly crisp and not oily. Fabulous. I love fries. I will definitely go back to try their french onion soup and other appetizers. i heard great things, more so than their brunch menu.

Now, on to Saint’s Alp Teahouse. It is AMAZING. I think by far the best bubble tea place in the city. I’ve been to Ten Ren and random places all throughout Chinatown and Saint’s Alp Teahouse is excellent. It is excellent because it’s low in cost, perfect amount of chew in tapioca, and abundant in variety. I’ve gone there twice and both times I ordered pink grapefruit nectar. I’ve also tried the almond milk tea and taro milk tea and both are fabulously delicious as well. They seem to serve food as well from the neighboring tables and I’m curious to see how their food would be. That will be next time. That is all!

Jasmine

Bar Stuzzichini

Our team went to Bar Stuzzichini for holiday drinks and dinner last night. I’ve been here exactly a year ago for holiday dinner with SATC ladies and I remember not being too fond of this place?  Upon random meanderings around the area, not to mention our lack of options considering we were trying to reserve tables for party of 9 at 7:30pm, this is where we ended up eating.

We first ordered few appetizers including mozzarella, stuffed eggplants, pecorino cheese plate, arugula salad for the table – we requested it to be a serving of 2-3 people since we were waiting for the rest of the party to arrive. Little did we know that the serving that was supposed to be for 2-3 people could’ve been consumed by me alone in 2-3 bites. We doubled the order immediately and also ordered few pasta dishes. Gnocchi was absolutely delectable – I’m not a huge fan of gnocchi for the most part because it’s one of those dishes that are amazing for the first couple of bites and afterwards you can’t eat anymore because it’s too heavy (i.e. fettuccini alfredo). Gnocchi at Bar Stuzzichini is served in tomato sauce with a tint of chili spice, which finishes off each taste with an added spice, my favorite. Taglioni was also good except for the interesting (not exactly in a positive way) pistachio after taste with each bite. If you like pistachio, however, this may be a good choice for you. I ordered the linguine alle vongole which was a standard pasta dish with New Zealand clams in white wine and garlic sauce. I wished it was more flavorful because it seemed to be missing both the heartiness of pasta as well as the warm, garlic-filled taste of the sauce. The linguini was also a bit undercooked which added unto the unheartiness of the dish.

I still don’t get the hype of this place. It’s always rated highly with such great reviews but I still don’t see it.

I could’ve sat there and ate plates and plates of the pecorino cheese plate (it was AMAZING. TRULY AMAZING) but I mean, you can always buy a block from Whole Foods and create a plate at home. Not to mention their ridiculously tiny portions … sigh. See, the only excuse for a restaurant to have tiny portions is if a) the décor is phenomenal; b) service is beyond excellent; c) a restaurant with a celebrity chef but even so, their portions are quite generous; d) it’s an extreme trendy and celeb-filled restaurant. This place was unfortunately none of the above. Disheartening, I know.

Men Kui Tei - Japanese Ramen

I love ramen. Especially during the cold or rainy days, nothing beats sitting at home with a pot of spicy Korean ramen while watching Korean dramas. Oh and saving the now hardened egg until the end. You know exactly what I'm talking about. My favorite past time of all times!

I grew quite fond of Japanese ramen as well. Though I can't claim that I've been to enough Japanese ramen joints in the city to claim this place to be the best, Men Kui Tei stands out the most out of the ones I've been to. Justin introduced me to this place a few years back. It was actually after an interview I had and also the very first time he's bought me lunch (and then it went downhill thereafter because we now have a special givex3 takex3 relationship). A super small, hole-in-the-wall (my favorite!) place with amazing ramen! I went back a couple of times since, including last night with my beloved Grace, and the tonkatsu ramen I had was simply fabulous. It's beef-broth based ramen with Japanese vegetables along with chunks of tonkatsu. The meat was perfectly tender, capturing the right amount of juice and flavor with every bite. What differentiates this place from others is the quality of the meat and the flavorful broth, not to mention the chewy and perfect texture of their ramen noodle. Greatly priced and the only downside is that it's cash only and of course, no reservations since it can get pretty busy (tiny tiny place).

Have cash ready at hand! Definitely worth the potential wait and the unexpected run to the ATM if needed.

Jasmine

Zarela

I went for dinner and drinks to Zarela last night, thinking it would be a quaint little Mexican hole-in-the-wall. I wouldn't exactly call it that after dining at Zarela and it wasn't amazing, to be honest. Though I do feel that after dining at so many different places in all sorts of genre, its hard for restaurants to impress my unnecessarily spoiled taste buds but when I do highly recommend a place, at least you're completely safe in knowing that it really is just that good (i.e. Le Bilboquet. Sigh).

What I love about Mexican places are chips and salsa that they serve as automatic as the waiters bringing out the menu. Pico de gallo and green hot sauce were served in tiny plate/fluke of sort (how are you supposed to dip into a little shotglass-looking glassware?!) which slowed down the process of me thoroughly enjoying the food. I ordered fajitas. Now, I love fajitas. Especially the sauteed peppers and onions that are served alongside your choice of meat. With this fajita, only the meat, scoop of guacamole, and tortilla were served. That was extremely disappointing because.... well, that defeats the whole purpose of eating a fajita. Our side of rice, arroz con crema, which was a mixture of rice, sour cream, jalapeno peppers, etc was surprisingly good and a great complement to my bare fajita.

I rarely order cocktails and I have my own issues with this one ($15 for a fruity liquid in pretty glass with colored scheme and a tint of alcohol? No thanks. Bring me a lovely glass of sauvignon blanc. Thanks). But I did order a frozen pomegranate margarita with sugar. I guess I'm not a true margarita fan because I don't like the combination of salt and margarita. I think that tastes weird. The margarita was fabulous and I enjoyed every sip of it!

I would definitely go back for their amazing happy hour deal - $5 for margaritas from 5-7pm but not for a sit-down dinner. Thank God for the amazing people I was with because we were there seated for 4 hours! And the bill was extremely well-priced which made the bare fajita and undippable choice of diningware forgiveable.

Jasmine

Starbucks - Recession

Times are tough. And when times are tough, we need to make certain adjustments, unfortunately and in rare instances such as this, fortunately. A friend of mine, Peter Lee, has his own daily fix and distinct menu at Starbucks, as we all do. I have several of my own as well:

• Fall: Pumpkin spice latte – skim, extra hot, no foam
• Summer: Iced vanilla latte – skim, light ice
• No $ in the summer: Doppio over ice on grande cup – ask for soy milk at the counter and add along with 2 splendas

To add to my list of favorites from Starbucks, here is my new “No $ in the winter”

• No $ in the winter: Venti coffee with 3 pump white mocha

This is the special drink introduced to me by Peter. I love the fact that it’s inexpensive, especially in this state of our economy.  One of my favorite parts of ordering specialty drinks (i.e. lattes, cappuccinos, and alike) at Starbucks is that I don’t have to spend the extra time standing by the counter to add splenda, milk, etc.  It’s a complete grab-and-go procedure, which I came to believe, makes up for the extra money we spend towards heated and foamed milk. My “No $ in the winter” drink follows the same grab-and-go procedure: no need for additional milk or sweetener of your choice. It’s sweet for those who stray away from sweet coffee but for those who welcome it, it’ll be a treat! The white mocha pump works as both dairy and sugar a regular coffee may require but because it’s house-brewed coffee, it’s stronger than your regular white mocha latte. Also, because it’s house-brewed coffee, it stays heated longer than your “extra-hot” latte option, which makes it worthwhile especially for a venti-sized cup. If you’re not a regular venti-sized drinker, I believe getting a grande coffee with 2 pump white mocha would be a similar ratio, but I have yet to try it to compare the taste.

When life gives you lemons, go make lemonade.

When $5/cup for a delectable latte at Starbucks is overbearing, opt for “No $ in the winter” drink!

 

Jasmine