Morimoto + Extra Virgin

Over the years and lots of $$$ later, I’ve come to lose faith in fine dining but rather develop a heartwarming passion for hole-in-the-walls with fantastic food. Essentially, this is what Foodies are all about; hole-in-the-wall findings. However, this past weekend for Connie’s birthday, my girlfriends and I went to Morimoto for dinner and Extra Virgin for brunch. It’s been a long time since I raved on about a trendy and top new restaurant but Morimoto especially surprised me and I ended up leaving happy, full, and satisfied.

Morimoto

The décor is fantastic, very chic and modern, including the ceramic chopsticks and mini wooden box used as a hot towel holder. Immediately upon sitting, a hot towel is brought to you by the server and we were served a complimentary tasting of a tomato dish topped with pickled onions. Fantastic and a great start. Instead of ordering entrees, we opted for several appetizers to share amongst us four. As for drinks, we each ordered a cocktail – mine being Orange Blossom. It wasn’t amazing but I also decided to not order wine during dinners especially when specialty cocktails are available, so there’s that. Here are the appetizers we ordered:

Toro Tartar

The presentation alone was enough to make us gasp and stare at the beauty in amazement. Each person is given a mini flat scooper of sort to scrape the toro from the flat pan it is served in. Alongside, it is served with five different garnishes to complement the toro, which included wasabi, chopped scallions, sour cream (we think), melted seaweed paste, and little crunchy things (we have no idea). You can choose to mix it all together along with toro or use each garnish per bite. The first turned out to be better. As for the wasabi, we’ve noticed that it wasn’t as spicy as the normal wasabi that you might be used to but the texture and the taste is smoother, still with a kick. I’m sure there’s an explanation to this, though I did hear that the natural wasabi tends to be less spicy than the more commercial ones.

Spicy King Crabs

They are served pre-cut (obviously. Can you imagine sitting there trying to peel off each leg and then scraping the meat out of it?! HAH) and the crabmeat is coated with a delicious spicy sauce (tobanjan aioli), which seemed to be a fabrication of the spicy mayo served in your sushi restaurants. It was mixed with masago and layered just enough to enjoy the spice, however, not overwhelming to the point where it seemed mayo-filled. It was topped with cilantro, which Connie and I scraped off prior to eating. Connie = allergic; Jasmine = hates. I think this was one of my favorite appetizers out of the ones we’ve tried!

Tuna Pizza

We couldn’t figure out what the crust is made of but it tasted like a mixture of crackers and matzo. It was layered with fresh cut tuna sashimi and topped with white mayo-like mystery sauce (anchovy aioli), cilantro, olives, and jalapeno. Gihee and Angela loved it but I thought it was mediocre. I appreciated the concept more than the taste itself or maybe it was because the cilantro seemed a bit overpowering for me to fully enjoy the taste.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio & Steamed Scallop

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio is thinly sliced beef with yuzu soy, ginger, and sweet garlic sauce that seemed to just melt in your mouth upon entering. It was delicious, however, in comparison to all the other dishes’ creative presentation, there wasn’t anything amazing about the dish other than the quality of the meat itself, which for some people would be the ultimate reason why they’d enjoy this dish. Steamed Scallop is self-explanatory and the meat itself was super tender and juicy but again, there wasn’t anything special about this dish; so much that we actually forgot about it until I looked up the menu to write this entry and realized we had it too.

Tempura Calamari Salad

Given the high quality and profile of the restaurant, this salad surprised me because there was absolutely nothing special about it. The taste was average, the dressing was your everyday white miso dressing, and the insertion of the tempura calamari into a fresh green salad seemed a bit like an oxymoron, only because the greens and the dressing tasted too fresh and the calamari tasted too not. I hope I’m making sense? We ate it for the sake of eating it and it was good at the time but thinking back on it and reevaluating all the other dishes, this wasn’t nearly up to par.

Morimoto Sashimi

By far my favorite dish at Morimoto. The concept, the presentation, the quality, and even the portion is simply excellent The sashimi is served in blocks as you can see at the image below and each layer of the block is of a different fish: seared toro, salmon, eel, tuna, and hamachi. Five different sauces are served on the site using a pipette tube and you squirt the sauces onto a plate and dip the sashimi into it. I can’t remember what each sauce was sadly but eel sauce was definitely one of them. I can’t possibly describe the freshness of the fish because we felt like we literally went fishing and ate it immediately. Excellent Chef Morimoto, Excellent.

Because Angela & Connie’s cousin knew the manager, we received complimentary entrée and desserts. Entrée was a beef dish that tasted similar to galbi jjim and underneath the meat was candied sweet potatoes. It was such a peculiar and amazing combination! For dessert, we had the Warm Chocolate Cake with whiskey caramel, tobacco crème, and popcorn ice cream and Coconut Panna Cotta, which was a passion fruit kuzukiri (they’re similar to lychee jelly, only long like a worm) served with basil sorbet.

Will I go again? Most definitely

Anytime soon? Most definitely not

Why? I have no money.

Extra Virgin

One of my favorite brunch spots in the city, though I hardly end up going due to inconvenient location especially when it involves weekend parking. Weekend parking in SoHo on Saturday = death. This is where I first fell in love with Bloody Mary’s which ‘till this day serves as a staple for all of my brunches. Their Bloddy Mary is chunkier than others with lots of horseradish bits and spice, but because it is, it’s my absolute favorite. We ordered the Roasted Artichoke Provencal, Baked Eggs, Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese Salad, Omelette of the Day, and Fries with Gorgonzola Fondue. They were all so excellent with such richness in flavor and generous portions! I can’t go into all the detailed description as I did with Morimoto but it’s definitely a place you must try, especially their French Fries!! Enjoy the pics y’all!

Yet Another Entry on Benedicts ....

You know, I really can't help myself. I love Eggs Benedict.

It was a combination of exhilaration and annoyance when I went to Angelo's (1100 E. Catherine Ann Arbor, MI) this past weekend on my visit back to Ann Arbor, MI. Amongst all other great food I was able to wholeheartedly experience again (i.e. A.C. roll from Sadako, Potato Curry from No Thai, and Pancheros), the highlight food from my visit to Ann Arbor was, hands down, the Crab Cake Benedict. It was interesting to see a form of an eggs benedict dish on a thick homemade toast rather than an English muffin. I thought at first that the thickness of the bread will make the experience unwholly but it surprisingly wasn't an issue. The crabmeat itself? Different. Scrumptiously different. I asked the waitress prior to ordering whether the dish is good or not and all she said was "omg. the best. it's homemade by our chef for years!" The crabmeat almost tasted as if it was marinated for a quite a time being and perhaps this is their secret? It wasn't the fresh, lump, white, and juicy taste of a fresh crabmeat but a rather smoky and deep taste followed by each bite into their Crab Cake Benedict. The balance between the crabmeat and the hollandaise sauce was perfect, in that neither overpowered one another, which actually is difficult than it seems (crabmeat can easily be too fishy; hollandaise can easily be too creamy).

And you think this is over.

The BEST part of this meal was their secret Ann Arbor hot sauce that seemed available at each table: Clancy's Fancy Gourmet Hot Sauce. It has a deep and smoky spicyness unlike Tabasco, in which the spicyness tend to linger only at your taste buds. I think it's the smokiness of the sauce that complemented the Crab Cake Benedict so well because it really brought out the smoky taste of the crabmeat! We tried it with their ham (super thick and perfectly roasted) as well and it tasted just as fabulous.




Exhilaration = yet another great discovery!

Annoyance =

1. I lived in Ann Arbor for four consecutive years and my first time trying after two years being OUT of Ann Arbor.
   
2. I don't know when I will try this again.
3. The stupid sauce website is not working, therefore, preventing me from purchasing it (www.clancysfancy.com)
   

Defining BITTERSWEET,
Jasmine

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.

Fig and Olives - Meatpacking District

Nothing seems quite more welcoming than walking into a warmly lit atmosphere, greeted by floor to ceiling arrangement of assorted bottles of olive oil and imported olives from various parts of the Mediterranean. This was the exact way I entered Fig and Olives, Meatpacking District. As I was waiting for David, I couldn't help but to be astonished by the dimly lit and beautifully designed decor of the restaurant. The arrangement of wine bottles by the bar, situated at the center of the restaurant, mimicked the welcoming olive oil bottles, with abundant bottles of wine seemingly overflowing as a backdrop of the bartender. It is definitely your effortlessly chic kind of an ambiance, carefully denoting the ambiance of the surrounding location and boutiques.

Only if the food was as fabulous as the ambiance.

What was fabulous, however, was their creative efforts in incorporating the different olive oils into each dish. You're served immediately upon seating a basket of bread with three different types of olive oil for dipping. It was fun and intriguing, definitely set off our dining experience just as I had wanted. We ordered mushroom soup, paired with parmesan crostini, a dish of mixed olives, and fig & olive salad for appetizer. The mushroom soup was absolutely to die for: almost a grated texture-filled tasting of mushrooms topped with white truffle oil, complemented by the parmesan crostini which was topped with mushrooms. It was a perfect taste of a mushroom soup and I fell absolutely in love. The fig & olive salad was great with the combinations of goat cheese, gorgonzola, and parmesan cheese with obviously figs and olives on top of mixed greens. A different kind of oil was used for the salad, again playing on their creative usage of the oil.

See, it was the main dish that was disappointing, and it can be because of the dish I chose. I ordered trio del mar, a tasting dish of scallop, salmon, and branzino. It was the couscous that set it off on the wrong foot because I was surprised by the unexpected sweetness of the couscous and the salmon. It was almost a teriyaki tasting sauce of some sort, which could've been good, had I been prepared for it. With the smooth and a directional course my palate was taking from the appetizer, I was expecting something salty; not sweet. It just went downhill from here on and left me bittersweet (no pun intended). David, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed his grilled lamb skewers. Though not a huge fan of lamb, the quality of the meat was excellent, I must say. I can't comment much on the taste given the above circumstances. 

I concluded that Fig & Olive would be an excellent lunch bistro and one would leave absolutely ecstatic with their dining experience. See, I also think it's the decor that created more room for disappointment because you'd think the food would always be up to par with the ambience a place brings but that is unfortunately and hardly the case. Maybe that's why hole-in-the-wall places are just so good because you really have zero expectations and nothing seems promising that when they bring about a dish a bit greater than mediocre, it is deemed even greater because it's unexpected. Food for thought! (Again, no pun intended. I'm on a roll today!)

*i took the pics this time again!

Pancake House

I can't believe that I've been resorting to Fort Lee News Bar all this time for brunch to avoid a) going to the bagel shop on Bergen Blvd; b) diner; c) McDonald's, Burger King, and the whole fast food breakfast ordeal including Dunkin Donuts. It is not to say that the above listed places are not up to par. They're delicious in their own ways, when you're up for it. But a legit breakfast joint with array varieties of pancakes, eggs, sausages, etc. didn't exist for me nearby where I live.... until I discovered Pancake House.

My first time at Pancake House was unfortunately this past Valentine's Day with David, which we both proclaim for it to be the best Valentine's Day ever (99% due to the food!). I personally hate pancakes, which couldve been the reason why I never ventured out to Pancake House, especially when it is only a 5 minute drive from my house. When David and I went, we both ordered egg dishes: Eggs Michael and Eggs Benedict. Eggs Benedict is your everyday eggs benedict but Eggs Michael was a creative spin to the poached egg family but with mushroom sauce and sausage instead of ham and holladaise sauce. We devoured it in a heartbeat accompanied by the freshest squeezed orange juice I've honestly ever had along with the home fries that were seasoned and crisped with perfection, and not so greasy either!!! 

So after my fabulous dining experience, I brought my anti-Jersey Queens cousins and their immediate reaction upon their first bite was, "I'd come back to Jersey again just to go to Pancake House!" Thanks to my pancake loving cousin Jenn, I was able to try Banana Pancakes along with Jasmin's (my name twin cousin though we call her E since she lacks an e at the end of her name) Pigs in a Blanket of sort: sausage wrapped in pancakes! I must say that their pancake batter is quite fabulous, making a pancake hater enjoy the pancakes! 

Sausage wrapped in pancake!

Banana pancakes!

*I finally decided to take pics after stealing images off the web!

My only complaint is that they don't serve brunch beverages i.e. Bloody Mary, Mimosa, etc but I guess it helps the bill cost down because you'd hardly pay over $20 per person. And I wished that they had french fries to substitute for the home fries but I feel like if they did have french fries, it would be super greasy for some odd reason.

Maybe because it's the recession or the array of unimpressive bistros and restaurants I find myself going to but I truly adore and enjoy small joints such as this that prefaces good and quality food over the decor and scene.