Ennju

It's hard to come across a good Japanese restaurant in the city that doesn't hurt your wallet significantly and that also delivers. Though I feel very unpatriotic writing this especially after last night's unfortunate game (be gone Ichiro and pil sung korea!), I must give the deserved credit to one of my top favorite lunch delivery places in Union Square: Ennju.

Located on 17th between Broadway and 5th, it is an unimpressive hole of a place serving Japanese food in cafeteria-style. I can't say many great things about their sushi except that it's cheap ... I mean, you get your money's worth for sure: average quality fish, greatly priced, fairly generous in portion. I always order their steamed vegetable udon for delivery especially in those rainy or brick cold days when you want nothing but a warm broth and chicken noodle soup just will never cut it. I am particular about udon because a great bowl of udon has to have an amazing chewy texture of the udon, powderless taste of the broth, and no fried flakes or tempura in the broth because it takes away from the clean taste and just makes it greasy, as if you're drinking oil. Ennju meets all of these qualities, surprisingly. The steamed veggie udon consists of steamed broccoli, carrots, string beans, and portobello mushrooms and when delivered, the broth is (obviously) packaged separately from the noodle and veggies to avoid any soggy-ness. It comes piping hot and perfect. Oh and it costs about $8 so after tip and tax, you've only just spent $10 for a hearty and warm meal rather than getting a sandwich/soup combo which is usually more than $10 if you want to be full but you find yourself opting for the lesser value option only to leave you a) wanting more of the stupid sandwich/salad; or b) wishing you had more soup. Yep. Been there and definitely done that many times.

I've only found out last week that Ennju also has sensei udon, which is my absolutely favorite kind because of those deliciously textured Japanese vegetables and I'm excited to try it! But I'm trying to save money so I've been resorting to cup noodles for lunch, which by the way is so fabulously delicious AT work because you feel super daring, especially eating something you're "not supposed to eat" because it's neither salad nor sandwich. Perhaps this is all in my head because few of my coworkers commented on my cup udon yesterday saying it smells delicious, which always makes your meal taste even better. Today is cup pho. You gotta love Koreans and their creative everything. Go pil sung Korea!

Ennju is located at 20 East 17th Street NYC - 646-336-7004

Jalapeno Fries and Benedict Restaurant

Dallas, I gotta say, has endless options of food. Driving down Bell Line Road, we were overwhelmed with the amount of different restaurants there were, and hardly any were franchises which peaked our interest even more. It saddens me that I wasn't able to try out more restaurants but the ones I did were simply amazing.

Thanks to Hannah and Andrew, a bunch of us had the opportunity to venture out to Dallas to celebrate their wedding. There was a gap between the ceremony and the reception so we decided to go to an outdoor bar (Ozone bar?)  to take advantage of the 78 degree weather. Not to mention the $6 pitcher specials they were having, we ended up ordering chip and dip as well as a magnificent find: jalapeno fries. I expected them to be fries with jalapeno seasoning but lo and behold, they were literally deep-fried jalapenos served with ranch dressing for dipping. I died. It was definitely spicy but I can withstand a tremendous amount of spicyness so it was delectable upon every bite. I can't even imagine just how unhealthy it must have been but hey, it's Dallas and calorie-filled meals seemed surely permissible down there.

Upon looking for a bar to meet everyone on our first night, we happened to drive past this restaurant called Benedict Restaurant. Seul and I absolutely adore egg benedicts. We decided to go here Sunday morning before heading out to the airport. The ambiance of the restaurant was exactly what we were looking for: homey, southern, and comfortable. I ordered now what I rate as the best eggs benedict dish I've ever had: Egg's Oscar - poached eggs with lumps of crabmeat and hollandaise sauce to top with asparagus spears on the side. I can't even put into words the juicyness of the crabmeat, not to mention the very generous portion of the crabmeat itself. The ratio of crabmeat to bite was equivalent each time, which is hardly the case when your dish is served with a "specialty" item and they end up skimping out so you have to almost save those pieces for the end (you know exactly what I'm talking about... this is almost true for every single shrimp dish that exists). Did I mention, that the dish was only $12? I smile at the thought of Egg's Oscar.

It's always very painful to come across these amazing places because the chances of you going back is slim to none because of the location i.e. Tacos Tumbras in Acapulco. Now I'm back to reality. It's almost breakfast time and I have to unfortunately resort to a near deli eggs sandwich and cry about it while thinking of Egg's Oscar.

Jasmine

Joe The Art of Coffee: how to discern a well made espresso

I'm finally fulfilling my promise to Jas that I would contribute something on this blog. Here you go...

I grew up in Seattle, which kind of explains why I sometimes wear skateboard shoes and unique colors -- Seattle has a counter-culture influenced style. And also why I'm a bit of a food/coffee/beer nerd -- micro brews and coffee bars are ubiquitous, as are nerds. So my friend Sarah suggested that I try a NYC coffee bar chain, Joe The Art of Coffee, which was influenced by Seattle's Espresso Vivace. Like Vivace, Joe treats coffee like it's going to be judged on Iron Chef. They emphasize the quality of their beans and equipment, the baristas pay close attention to details and precise technique, and most noticeably, each cup is a work of art. Soon after Joe opened their first location in the West Village around 2003 (I think?), there was a mini boom of haute coffee shops (and some supposedly better than Joe), such as Abraco, Ninth Street Espresso, and Gimme! Coffee. Most of these shops are concentrated in yuppie/bohemian areas like the West Village and Brooklyn so I haven't tried them out yet, but thankfully, Joe has a small location near my building at Grand Central.

a latte from Joe

(all pics from my camera phone, sorry for the low res)

Aesthetics aside, Joe's makes a really, really good espresso. My personal favorite coffee drink is an Americano (espresso and hot water), which I think is a good way to get all the flavor notes of an espresso. Lattes and capps, not as much because the milk fat neutralizes the bitterness and acidity. And a straight shot is too quick and too intense on the palate to tell what I'm tasting.

So how do you know if an espresso was well made? You can tell by just looking at it. A shot that's been made with proper pressure, water temperature, amount of carbon dioxide will produce a bubbly, chocolaty caramel looking brown foam on top that's called, crema. And the crema is the best part of the espresso -- it has an intense sweet roasted scent when you put your nose to it and a caramelized coffee flavor with a sharp bitterness and smooth finish due to the concentration of extracted oils on top. The crema will only last for the first few sips so you have to drink it with the lid removed, otherwise you'll lose most of the foam to the lid.




L: an americano from Joe - note the crema

R: an americano from Starbucks - lame

Good technique doesn't equal good coffee though -- you need good beans. Joe's espresso (which sources its beans from a small roaster in Massachusetts) has an excellent flavored crema, but the rest of the drink is just missing a little something. It has a nice medium sweet roasted initial flavor and a light acidity to keep the palate lively, but the body is a little flat so I wish it had a bit more complexity. Still, it's hands down the best americano I've had in New York and 10x better than Starbucks, which tastes over-roasted and over-extracted, and when combined with automated machines, produces a sorry excuse for a crema.

Joe The Art of Coffee - multiple locations in the city http://www.joetheartofcoffee.com/locations.htm

If you've read this, you're allowed to slap me for being pretentious. But if you learned something, a high five instead would be nice.