New York – Page 3 – TheKua Does Food

Zarela’s New York

January 10, 2011 Patrick Mexican, New York, Restaurants

On this trip to the States, I didn’t get my burrito fix. The plan was to head to the Chipotle Test Kitchen where a former Iron Chef contender was currently working. Instead we ended up at Zarela’s, apparently one the places to first champion the Mexican cuisine. I thought I only knew about this place through reading until I walked inside and realised that Gerrod and Kristy took me there for a pre-dinner drink many years ago.

If I had one or two of their frozen marghertia’s that probably explains it since they were so strong. A tried the guava flavoured one this time, and almost went an instant red (Asian blush) from the first sip. Tasty though.

Whilst we perused the menu, they brought a bowl of corn chips with salsa and coriander-based sauce (don’t know the name of it). Based on these alone, things were going to be good. The corn chips were light and crisp, and thick that I hope indicates they’re home made. The salsa had layers of complexity and easily out did anything you could buy off a supermarket shelf. A good start.

We weren’t quite sure what to get off the menu, but in the in decided for Chilaquiles (Crisp corn tortilla strips, shredded sautéed chicken, sour cream and white cheese baked in a casserole with either a tangy tomatillo or ranchera sauce). Pretty delicious though I thought that was a bit of a cheese overload.

I try to eat mole whenever I can, understanding how difficult the process is that goes into this complex, chocolate based sauce so I ordered the Enchiladas de Pollo (Corn tortillas filled with chicken and cheese, baked with a mole). It came even with a salad on top but I really enjoyed the complex flavours that permeated the enitre dish. The chicken was tender, the sauce deep although I wish it had a bit more of chilli kick.

For mains I got the Barbacoa de Carnero (Shredded lamb barbacoa slow-roasted in an ancho chile adobo over avocado leaves). The lamb was pleasingly tender, already cooked to the point where it fell apart with a fork. I’m glad that it didn’t have all the fatty bits as well because the texture of the dish was all soft, particularly since the entire dish had been plated on top of two whole soft flour tortillas. The sauce was great though.

Whilst my dining companion took it a bit less challenging with the Manchamanteles de Pato (Roasted half duck served with a tomato red chile sauce with dried apricots, prunes, raisins and pineapple), a dish I’d be happier to call “Sweet and sour duck”. The duck was a bit too fatty for my liking, but at least it was tender and cooked really well.

I’d really like to go back and try a number of other dishes on their menu. It certainly deserved the recognition it’s got for good food. I can’t comment on how authentic the Mexican tastes are but it seems a whole lot better than the meagre one or two places we have in London.

Name: Zarela’s (closed)
Former location: 953 2nd Avenue, New York, NY, 10022

Norma’s

January 9, 2011 Patrick American, Brunch, New York, Restaurants

Norma’s at Le Park Meridian came up again and again as a great breakfast place. Located uptown near the MOMA, this restaurant does breakfast/brunch meals until 3pm. I had a look at their menu on the net before deciding we should try it out. The prices are the first thing to strike you with most of their dishes equivalent of a normal main mean (entree in the US) at any other restaurant. Fortunately they are different enough and portions, naturally, massive enough to justify them.

The dining room doesn’t look anything that special. In fact, we were puzzled by the strange mish mash of diner-like tables around. Was this a diner-style breakfast joint? Is it that popular that people’s backsides have worn down many of the seat covers? It’s like this place had a multiple personality disorder and no single one yet dominating, resulting in confusion.

A good example of this was the complemetary juice “shot” that arrived at the table when we sat down. A fruit concoction, I hadn’t received one of these since my stay in the Marriott in Calgary three years ago. Fresh and a nice start to the service. Unfortunately our waitress failed to impress us the rest of our meal with us needing to ask for water several times and waiting at least ten minutes before we could ask for the bill.

Out of all menus I looked at trip, Norma’s looked the most interesting. With subsections such as “Mom can’t make this”, “Eggs cellent”, and “This shsould do it” … how could you not smile at it? Look closer and you start to see some weird and wacky concotions, “PB&C Waffle ‘Wich” or a chocolate waffle with a peanut butter and toffee crunch filling or maybe you want to splurge for “The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata” with its most expensive incarnation costing you US$1000. I kid you not.

Anyway on to what we ordered. Here’s the Norma’s Egg Benedict (US$22) (buttermilk pancake layered with canadian bacon and grilled asparagus). Although the bernaise sauce was apparently very good the pancake apparently didn’t provide enough contrast that a classic toasted English muffin would and so the whole dish seemed a bit all of the same.

I went for the Irresitable Banana-Macadamia Nut Flap Jacks served with whipped banana brown sugar butter (US$21) . Thrown off by the use of flap jacks, I worried I would end up with these heavy, thick British style flapjacks that threaten to defeat you with a single bite. The waitress, almost immediately, assured me they are simply pancakes.

What arrived was a huge set of pancakes. This meal really should have been split in two. Even half would have satisfied for a meal on its own. However these pancakes, both dense and light at the same time were so more-ish they called to be eaten. And besides, does anyone do doggy-bags for breakfasts?

Name: Norma’s
Found at: Inside the Le Parker Meridien, 119 West 56th Street, New York, NY, 10019
Website: http://www.parkermeridien.com/normas.htm

D’Espresso New York

January 8, 2011 Patrick Coffee, New York, Where's the good coffee?

I first read about D’Espresso from a mailing list I subscribe to about interesting designs around the world. Seeing as I enjoy my coffee, I’m always up for some non chain coffee house that serves espresso.

We dropped into the one closest to Grand Central station, though struggled to find it as I was looking for it on Madison Avenue. It took us a while to triangulate it and find it located on 42nd Street. Watch out for that. They serve all kinds of coffees. I ordered a cortado being the closest thing they might make to a flat white.

They also had, on display, a great display of these bombolino’s – or donuts filled with various ones.

Although starting to get a little run down from all the people dropping in, this tiny store looks pretty amazing for the wallpaper that plasters the floor, walls and roof, effectively turning the store into a sideways library.

Pretty trippy but neat.

Name: D’Espresso
Found at: 317 Madison Ave on 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10017
Website: http://www.despresso.com/

Lunch at Gramercy Tavern

January 7, 2011 Patrick American, Michelin Starred, New York, Restaurants

I count myself extremely thankful to be able to dine at some of the places that we do on our trips. I have to admit this trip to New York has been one of our most decadent. My sister and I took our cousins out to lunch at the Gramercy Tavern, a combined restaurant and tavern awarded a one-michelin star for the past six years. Impressive!

Here’s a picture of their menu.

All of their plates and dishes had the same logo.

They provided butter and salt.

To go with a sourdough bread or the brown roll (which I went). Unfortunately we wanted more but the bread guy wasn’t around. This probably explains why the old man at the table next to us distracted the bread man when he came to our table.

This is the Cauliflower, red quinoa, prunes and peanuts dish.

Then the Red King Crab, Sunchokes and apples

Then the Calamari & Carrot Salad, Toasted Pine Nuts and Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

It was still really cold outside from the blizzard and I needed something to warm me up so for my appetiser, I chose Red Krui Squash Soup, Brussels Sprouts, and Apples. On first taste, the soup simply blew me away. It was everything a think hearty soup should be, perfectly seasoned (not in the way the Brits like) and the brussels sprouts centred in the soup with additional leaves topping it off. The toasted squash seeds added plenty of crunch and the drizzle of, what I’m guessing as, pumpkin seed oil deepening the flavours.

For mains, there was the Roasted Hanger Steak, Fingerling Potatoes, Russian Kale and Bourbon Sauce.

As well as the Red Snapper, Toasted Green Wheat, Kale, Trout Roe, and Squash Sauce

In addition to the Pork Croquette, Red Cabbage, Aji Dulce Pepers and Spiced Port Sauce

And finally my dish, Braised Lamb Shoulder, Heirloom Beans, Wild Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts. Lamb seemed to appear on many menus, much more than I remembered than ever before in the US. I hoped for a rich, deep, soft lamb minus all the fat and I got it in this umami-rich dish. I counted at least four different types of mushrooms and there was plenty of beans and sauce to go with the dish. I may have been the last to finish, savouring each mouthful.

On to desserts! Here’s the Dried Cherry Cheesecake, Black Pepper Cookie and Cherry Lemon Sorbet. Reports had it the black pepper didn’t really come through.

Next up, the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cocao Nib Ice Cream.

And apparently, a slightly disappointing Sticky Toffee Fig Cake with Coffee Ice Cream. It apparently didn’t have the toffee flavour it should have had with not much sauce. It does look rather dry doesn’t it?

Finally here was my dessert, Peanut Butter Semifreddo with a chocolate macaroon. Americans obsess about peanut butter, much to most Europeans distaste. I don’t mind it, so I always like to try it in different things. In this dessert it worked really well. You can see the semifreddo served atop half a macaroon and then complemented by yet another one on the side. It was also served with some lightly caramelised hazelnuts.

And finally, some petite fours with yet another macaroon and tiny orange chocolate tart.

I have to say, this place really earns its food. Despite the outward appearance of simple ingredients, each dish really came alive and other than a few misses on the desserts, everyone raved about each of their meals. They have a slightly more casual, dining tavern but I’d be pretty happy going back regardless.

Name: Gramercy Tavern
Found at:
Website: http://www.gramercytavern.com/

Hill Country Chicken

January 6, 2011 Patrick American, Fast Food, New York

I’d put Hill Country Chicken on the list because Hill Country also do some of the best BBQ in New York, and this Fried Chicken place had been getting some rave reviews.

Stepping in for a late lunch, most tables had people at them but we also didn’t realise there was a downstairs.

It took quite a while to digest what was on offer. Plenty of things screamed for attention although the people behind the counter had hugely warm faces and asked if we needed any help.

Here we are ordering their chicken, we tried one of each type – one piece, “Mama El’s Fried Chicken” was a skinless piece, dipped in buttermilk, herbs and then lightly batter before the deep fry, the other fried with skin on and dusted with a special seasoning.

The first thing you notice when biting into the thicken was the moistness of the bird. At least the chicken was well cooked. The skin on both pieces was a bit disappointing. Here I was expecting large crunch and although the one with the skin on just qualifies as crisp, wasn’t consistent throughout. The skinless batter seemed more like an artificial coat than anything.

The fries were nice though – you see them cut them in the open behind the counter and they are well known for freshly frying them and the buttermilk biscuit just as well done.

Name: Hill Country Chicken
Found at: 1123 Broadway (Corner of 25th) New York, NY 10010
Website: http://www.hillcountrychicken.com/

Second Trip to WD-50

January 6, 2011 Patrick American, Michelin Starred, New York, Restaurants, World's 50 Best

After cancelling plans at Daniel NYC due to the snow (they had a very limited menu based on deliveries not making it), we looked around at a few other options. I had previously eaten at WD-50 before, but my sister hadn’t so I called up and found that they had a table free for an early dinner at 6:30pm.

You can see from their fairly plain entrance that it doesn’t look that special from the outside. In fact, that small glowing neon light (their name) makes it fit into the rest of the neighbourhood. I remember walking past it last time in the heavy rain, so watch the street numbers at the same time.

We got a table that looked out on all the other ones. I felt it worked quite well until someone sat at the table directly next to us and fortunately they sat down as we were on our dessert courses. There’s some booths to the left as well that are kept for larger groups.

Mmmm. Here’s the menu. Not sure who’s lips they are. Maybe they should have had them licking their lips for what was about to come.

Here’s the wafer thin bread they brought for us to snack on. Covered in nutty toasted sesame seeds, it was a nice way to start the snack whilst waiting.

Our first dish, striped bass, gingerbread, plum and pickled ramp played around with a sweet and sour combination with earthy tones provided by the gingerbread sauce on the plate.

Next up was their playful take on a classic dish, the everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese. WD-50 is well known for taking classic ingredients and transforming them into things you’d recognise but not quite in the same way. Here, the tiny bagel is actually a small bit of ice cream. We wondered how they got it to look “toasted”. I wasn’t a big fan of the smoked salmon threads by itself, going much better combined with the other ingredients.

Next up, Foie gras, passionfruit, chinese celery. Here, they cleverly stuffed the foie gras with a passionfruit sauce, helping to cut through the richness of the dish.

Here’s another shot after opening the foie gras.

Another strange dish was the scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, kindai kampachi. On the side were tiny bits of crispy potato, all looking cut to the same perfection and toasted to a crisp shell. The scrambled egg “ravioli” looked like it’d been shaped in a mold. It wasn’t stuffed with anything though.

When asked about the next dish by our waiter, I told him the truth, that I wasn’t a big fan of the cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tobasco honey sauce, and caviar. I really liked certain elements to the dish such as the tobasco honey sauce which I could have eaten all day. It had a kick to it like normal tobasco wouldn’t. The chicken, whilst tasting delicious, didn’t have the crispness you’d hope for a fried chicken. I think the small bits of crispy chicken skin were supposed to make up for it. I guess that’s the thing about experimental food – some things work, others don’t.

This dish was a bit harder to see, bay scallops, bone marrow, parsnip and black sesame. I’m a huge fan of black sesame. In fact, you could almost call me addicted. Here the black sesame formed a paste/sauce on the bottom with the scallops and parsnips on top and the gooey bone marrow grated on top before the whole bowl was heated under a grill. The result was a rich and soft dish with deep meaty flavours.

I think we both agreed our next dish turned out as one of the best, the beef and bernaise. Inverting the textures you’d expect, here we have a deep flavoured beef consomme, surrounding three bernaise dumplings. I savoured each moment slicing a small part of the dumpling that almost oozed as a rich bernaise sauce would as you cut through it. Mmmm.

I’m guessing our next dish was a take on the seasonal offerings, squab breast, cheese pumpkin, corn bread and pickled cranberries. We didn’t have the sharpest knife to cut into the squab. It really needed it too being surprisingly chewy and had to slice.

Desserts next! First up, White beer ice cream, quince, caramel and caraway. Here, the flavours of the beer really came through though well tempered with both sharp and sweet flavours from the quince and caramel.

Curds win me over all the time, so this next dessert turned out my favourite. Here we ate grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus and sorrel The grapefruit curd is the solid, almost jelly like substance in the middle. Sorrel came in the form of a delicious ice cream with the sheets of hibiscus those rice-paper thin sheets. A mixture of hazelnuts and other crunchy stuff provided the addition of texture.

Almost done, I think the cocoa nibs won my sister over with soft chocolate, beets, long pepper and ricotta ice cream.

Finally as we had our coffee and tea, they finished up with cocoa packets and a milk ice cream coated in chocolate shortbread. The latter tasted like a small ball of cookie and cream, which I guess it is whilst the cocoa packets contained a powder-like crunchy substance that reminded me of milo.

Looking back at the meal, I think we did the best thing by going for the tasting menu. We sampled lots of different combinations and although I think some of the ingredients appealed to me more on the a la carte menu, it’s hard to really guess how a place like WD-50 delivers them. Next time, I would go back to the a la carte and then try the dessert tasting menu.

Name: WD-50
Found at:50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002
Website: http://www.wd-50.com/

The KFC Phenomenon – Bon Chon Chicken

January 21, 2009 Patrick Korean, New York, Restaurants

KFC (Korean Fried Chicken), not the southern Kentucky kind, is taking over the streets of New York, or at least according to the NY Times. Perhaps it’s the twice cooked, Chinese style frying technique that renders the skin super thin and crispy that makes it so appealing. Or perhaps it’s the care and the diligence that they have about only preparing the chicken fresh so everyone can enjoy the hot and aromatic smells.

Since I didn’t get to go to any Korean Fried Chicken joints on my previous trips to New York, I made some effort to have at least a lunch at one of them, and ended up in the Flushings location of Bon Chon Chicken, conveniently located very near to where I was staying with some relatives. Apparently the chicken is more popular at evening time, when people clock off from work and want a few beers which might explain how we were the only people eating here at lunch time. A few people did ring ahead for their takeaway orders since they have the refreshingly strict, only cook to order policy.

A waiter greeted us promptly when we entered, asking us if we’d been here before and gave us some time to peruse the menu. We thought we’d start with a small selection of wings, and pig out on the fries and popcorn shrimp as I’d read about how they seasoned the fries instead of simply pouring salt on them.

Strangely, he delivered the fries and popcorn shrimp first, as if it was an appetiser, although considering how large the serve was, it would have been plenty for lunch for the both of us. Sprinkled liberally with garlic and rosemary, the shrimp and fries were amazingly crisp and super tasty. Combined with three types of dipping sauces (sweet chilli, hot chilli and a tomato ketchup), we cycled through the different sensations as we finished off the large bowl.

Korean Fried Chicken Wings And Drumsticks at Bon Chon Chicken

It wasn’t too shortly after than he brought out the chicken wings and drumsticks, I think a combination of four pieces of each type. They offer a choice of sauces, and in order to trial both of them, ended up having half and half, the first, a sweet garlic soy, and the other, a hot chilli sauce.

I have to admit that the Korean fried chicken impressed me. The skin stayed super crisp for the entire time, with the insides succulent and juice. What sauce they had didn’t overpower the flavour of the chicken, instead adding a different dimension. They also make it so that the sauce isn’t like what you’d have on buffalo chicken wings – a messy covering that ends up everywhere including your hands and your face. Instead, it seemed like a thin-glaze that somehow stayed on the chicken itself to continually make the chicken stand out.

I have to admit I had a hard time trying to decide which one was my favourite flavours out of the two. The garlic soy was slightly sweet, and the perfect balance, neither being too sweet, nor excessively garlicky. The hot sauce, on the other hand, lived true to its name, even to the point it started to make me sweat. The sauce also wasn’t just hot, it had some nice flavours and I appreciated the fact that the sauce brought on a continual heat, rather than the mustard or wasabi inspired instantaneous hit you might expect.

After our meal, a very reasonable price as well, I can understand why it’s becoming more and more popular. KFC is not a fast food to be taken lightly. It’s a different spin on something very classic and manages to deliver in surprising ways.

Name: Bon Chon Chicken
Found at: 157-18 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354
Website: http://www.bonchon.com/
The Good: Crisp, amazingly fresh flavours and a unique twist on the classic fried chicken. This location is also a nice place to hang out, having been renovated recently and looking pretty stylish.
The Not So Good: Don’t be fooled by their website describing their chicken as healthy. It may not have as much coating to soak oil up, but fried chicken is still fried chicken.

Tapas at Alta

January 18, 2009 Patrick New York, Restaurants, Tapas

alta On my yearly catch up with Mike in New York, he arranged for us to visit an updated tapas place in the village called Alta. When you walk in, many people chose to eat the bar even though there are tables at the back. Since Mike booked, we were lucky to have one of the tables upstairs, and with an open view of the floor below us, was a really great place to perch for dinner.

The interesting thing about their menu is that it’s not classic moorish food, instead drawing upon a large variety of flavours. We ended up picking three to four dishes each to share, and got to enjoy a mouthful of each dish. Some of my more favourite dishes included the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, Grilled Chorizo Wrapped Gulf Shrimp, Pulled Pork Empanadas, and the Squid Ink Paella. Best of all they also had some amazing desserts including a trio of donuts each filled with a different flavour (chocolate hazelnut ganache, apricot lavender jam, and cardamom cream).

Between the five of us I think we ended up paying US$50 (including tax and tip) though we only had a bottle of sparkling water and two cocktails.

Name: Alta
Location: 64W 10th Street, NYC, 10011
Website: http://altarestaurant.com
The Good: Interesting variety of tapas. Nice spacing around the tables. They even offer a deal where you can order everything on the menu, though you’d want a larger group!
The Bad: Too many dishes to choose from

Manhattan’s Max Brenner

January 17, 2009 Patrick Dessert, New York, Restaurants

With some additional time to kill and some chocolate cravings, we decided to head to Union Square to try out Max Brenner’s. I’d heard about them in Sydney, and saw the store last time I was in Manhattan but couldn’t quite justify having a meal there. It’s location near Union Square is fairly large and definitely popular and even at 4pm seemed to be heaving with people having late lunches or just there for dessert.

Looking around, one of their most popular dishes seemed to be the fondue that included a flaming pot to allow you to “roast” marshmallows and other items that arrive with the hot chocolate pot. The two of us tried half a chocolate pizza (pictured above), though a quarter of it (for both of us) would have been enough. Imagine a light pizza base, smothered with chocolate sauce and then topped with hot chocolate marshmallows. Indulgent? Absolutely, and it was far too sweet for me.

They have some funky mugs like the hug me, and for iced drinks, the bizarrely shaped Alice mug with the words “drink me” on them. They also do other foods that you can follow up with the chocolate menus but given the desserts, they’re probably rich enough by themselves.

Name: Max Brenner
Location: 141 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
Website: http://www.maxbrenner.com/
The Good: Lots of interesting flavour combinations involving tons of chocolate. A nicely decorated store, airy with plenty of tables. Our waitress was excellent, even informing us that our pizza was still taking some time. Even have some cafe tables for those just wanting a dreamy hot chocolate.
The Not So Good: The round shapes of the room make for some very awkwardly positioned tables. Many of them crammed in right next to each other where you have to shift the table to the left or right unless you’re stick thin (which you definitely won’t be at the end of the meal)

Excess Serendipity

January 16, 2009 Patrick Dessert, New York, Restaurants

I’ve never had a chance to go to Serendipity 3 though it seems to be one of those places people want to go. They’re in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world’s most expensive dessert (something we didn’t try).

We arrived fairly late in the day and therefore missed the lunchtime rush crowd that apparently results in a long queue, indicative of that it’s one of the current “trends” in New York. The two of us even got to sit at a four person table, almost simply needed to peruse the larger-than-chest-size menu of offerings. Of course, you could have lunch here with plenty of sandwiches, salads and things to share. Well we were here to have dessert in the form of their famous Frozen Hot Chocolate.

Had I known how big it was, we would have shared a single one instead of both getting one although we would have had to get something to meet the $8 minimum order each. Topped with cream (which we both forgot to ask not to have), it was huge, as you can see for yourself in the picture above. How was it? Pretty good although I had to fight one of those ice cream headaches at more than one point, eager to taste it. You can tell that they use a hot chocolate powder, since it has that slightly gritty texture to it. Plentiful, sweet and definitely tasty, was it worth it the $8.50. Just this once.

Name: Serendipity3
Location: 225 E60th Street, NYC, 10022
Website: http://www.serendipity3.com
The Good: Kitsch decore make it an interesting place to sit. Frozen hot chocolate huge!
Not So Good: Waiters could have told us about the serving size. Can be busy at times