First Food in Shanghai

Arrived at the Holiday Inn Shanghai West at 6pm and the first thing I needed was to get my grub on. Unfortunately the hotel was an hour away from the center of the city so the food options were limited - things you need to worry about when booking a tour. Don’t worry my dudes and dudettes, we stayed in the center of the city later on in the tour so I definitely will turn in my full debriefing of true Shanghai food. Any who, we ended up hitting this neighborhood Hunan joint where there were loads of business people eating and getting completely hammered playing drinking games. The food I found was good, but oddly enough things you can find back in the States. Hunan food is slightly spicy, but with some sweetness – think Kung Pao chicken but with way more flavor. One thing you’ll notice is everyone smokes in China even in restaurants so it’s a pretty big pain in the ars. Still a fun way to start our eating journey - familiar but still better than the stuff back home.

Our Menu
Kung Shing Tsai *
Basically, sautéed water spinach (?) in garlic and loads of oil. Pretty good, but the ones in our fave Jersey City Vietnamese place Nha Trang are much tastier.

Spicy Beef in Hot Pot with Szechuan Peppers (no idea what this was called) *
The first thing you notice about Szechuan Peppers is how much more floral they are compared to bell peppers and even the peppers from Mexico. It has this nice combo of floral flavors, subtle sweetness, then mild heat. Pretty fun stuff, but the beef with odd bits was a wee bit too tough.

Pee Dan **
Basically marinated egg (thousand year old) with some thin, but sweet soy sauce. They use the same Szechuan style bell peppers which brings out this floral, sweet, plus heat thing. Really fun with white rice.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Shanghai and Hong Kong

Just got back from Shanghai / Hong Kong and was always curious to see how Chinese food from NYC/Flushing/NJ would compare to the motherland. While I was blown away by the balance and how delicate the food was in Shanghai, I was pretty surprised at how Cantonese food in the tri state area is a good representation of the stuff over in Hong Kong. Obviously it’s still better over there, but it’s not like Italy or Spain where I feel there’s a huge discrepancy between stuff you can get in NY versus stuff you can get over there. I always hear all the time the Chinese food here is no good and it can’t compare to the stuff back in China/Hong Kong and even the stuff in Vancouer, but in my opinion it’s pretty damn close. Granted some of the best Cantonese food you can get are the huge banquet style meals which we did not do, but we did eat as much as possible in a short amount of time. I’m going to share my experience as much as I can over the next couple of days, since I did a good amount of research on Chow and it’s pretty damn hard to navigate all the different opinions some time.

Room Service

Who doesn't like room service?  After a long day, you check into your hotel and the luxury of ordering food and having it delivered to you in your room is nothing short of fantastic! 

And its even better if you keep your expectations grounded... So when meals like this show up at your door, you are one happy road warrior.

The Sheraton in Burlington, VT -
I've stayed here before, and I tip my hat to them. The food here is pretty darn good. Nothing fancy, but the ingredients are always fresh and very tasty.

Well done chaps! 

Enjoying a rainy Saturday in VT

At the Burlington Wine and Food Festival.
Grilled meats on a stick with Dassai Sake.

Bacon Band-Aids

Amateur Night

I'm usually pretty lenient with neighborhood joints. The whole idea is that I want to like them because they are so easy to get to.
So that is pretty much why I gave Teppan another go at it within a month or so.
My first experience wasn't so hot, but perhaps I should have cut my losses short and just let it be for a while longer.

This place is literally around the corner from my place and it's just recently opened. Brand new everything. So logically, one would think the owners have some $$, they would hire some talent.

NOT THE CASE GUYS!!!
(this was my brief write up earlier this month...)

So I thought I'd give their sushi bar a try.
Even worse!
They have this roll called the "Oh My God" Roll... and literally OMG there was a loose staple in my first bite.

Depending on how deep the owners' pockets are, it's either another 3 to 6 months till they file bankruptcy.

Grand Opening.... Grand Closing

Lion Burgers in Arizona

In honor of the World Cup in South Africa, the owner of this Arizona restaurant picked up 10 pounds of lion burgers and selling out to all of those interested. I would love to try it out. Too bad it's for a very limited time only. There is a lot of outrage, however. He even received a bomb threat. Ironically, the lion meat was purchased in IL.

I wonder what a liger would taste like.

Click here for the video about the lion meat.

P.S. There are like 50 countries in Africa. So why do people refer to the entire CONTINENT as if it were one country??? The reporter even says "the country of Africa."

A Dude's Dinner in 20min

Pan Seared Skirt Steak
Sauteed (Brunoise) Potatoes
(Leftover) Mashed Potatoes
Cherry Tomato Salad

Couldn't be easier and oh so yummy. 
Skirt steaks were on sale at the local A&P so picked a pound of it up. 
I had some leftover potato salad in the fridge and to give it a little fresh kick, I stirred in 1/2 a teaspoon of lemon zest.
This totally transformed it into a summery dish. 
As for the Cherry Tomatoes, I just halved them and tossed in some olive oil, vinegar and season. 
And finally the sauteed potatoes were just an instant creation.  I was thinking I wanted something I could just constantly spoon feed myself so it had to be already chopped up. 
I finely chopped a single yukon gold into about 1/8 inch cubes.  Did the same thing with a shallot and about a tablespoon worth of green peppers. 
All cut into uniform tiny cubes and sauteed for about 3 min in the fry pan.  Once the starch started breaking down and clinging to the fry pan, I deglazed with some chicken stock and constantly stirred an additional 1 min.  Once all reduced to a slight thicker consistancy, I removed into a bowl and just waited on my steak to finish up. 

Plate and Voila!

Making Mochi 101

Have you eaten cold, refreshing mochi at an Asian place and wanted to make some at home? Leave it to the Japanese to make it efficient. Watch this video to learn how you, too, can make it at home, quick, fast, & in a hurry.

A tad too much egg

I committed the ultimate Italian American pasta foul...
OVER SAUCING

In my defense, 1 egg would have been too dry, and that second egg just drowned my Carbonara to oblivion.
Well, it still had nice flavor but just way too wet.
Until next time...

Remember, keep it simple and just get the timing down.

Eggs
Pecorino Romano
Pancetta
Onions
Black Pepper
and Spaghetti

Roboosh

I just went to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon the other night, and for goodness sakes... it's so damn good.

A buddy of mine is leaving the states and wanted to dine in a relatively "awesome" place... He asked if I had any recommendations, because he wanted a sure thing.


I've always loved Robuchon and when the game is on the line, you better bring out the big guns.
We were by ourselves... 2 dudes after work, so going to a 3 star restaurant would have been extremely gay.
Instead, Robuchon's place was the perfect place to get our eat on and not feel overly stuffy nor like we were on a date.

Dish after dish, we were completely satiated.
Can't say enough about the food there. Boy is it good.

Gen Tso's Chix

Once again, it's that time when I get a hankering for General Tso's Chicken. 
I feel it creeps up on me once every 2 months...
Luckily, I have this "go-to" place near my office that delivers the best $8 money can buy around the area. 

Dark chicken meat, battered and fried, then tossed in a tangy sweet, savory and spicy sauce.  Hallelujah! I love America. 

Totto Ramen

From the same guys who have brought you delicious Yakitori.. (The Totto Group...)
They now present Totto Ramen.

Here's something I learned in Economics class... It's called Comparative Advantage.
Say you have 2 countries. Country A and Country B. Country A is really good at making Product 1 and Country B is really good at making Product 2. Just because Country A is really good at making Product 1, it doesn't mean they are also good at making product 2. And vice versa.
I could continue on and explain in another 500 words, but you should just listen to me when I say, "Stick to what you are good at!!!"
I understand the guys at Totto have a ton (literally) of chicken bones and would love to salvage that waste to make even more money... but you guys are grilling experts, not Paitan Ramen experts.
And just because you fly in a dude from Japan to make your broth, it's a futile attempt because that particular chef isn't accustomed to all the intricacies of Manhattan yet.
Your vegetables, water source, cooking conditions, poultry quality, etc...

But I digress!
The bottom line :
Totto Ramen - Not Recommended
I ordered the Miso Ramen.
Basic Paitan Broth with a dollop of Miso and Ground Pork Mixed in.
The noodle in my Miso Paitan Ramen was an 18 gauge. (meaning relatively thick)
I also ordered it, "Kata-men", which means "al dente" in Japanese. But it wasn't very flavorful.
(interesting factoid : the noodles aren't just boiled in water, but some kind of broth, adding more flavor)
The ramen is garnished with chopped scallions and minced onions, with (only) 1 slice of Chashu, and 1 semi hard boiled egg.
And the final blow was the price tag... $10.50 for a weak bowl of noodles.
I give this bowl of ramen a 6.5/10

Best Cooking Scene Evah

Just wanted to share with y'all what I think is the best cooking scene on TV I've ever seen and why I adore Chinese cooking. It's sad to know that people think it's only fortune cookies at Panda like chalupas at Taco Bell is the only kind of Mexican food. Anyway, enjoy this clip! But you can stop there, since the movie, Eat Drink Man Woman, sucks - unless you fast forward to the cooking parts. Just like the Mexican remake, Tortilla Soup.

Brunch

Made brunch today with bits and pieces found in the fridge.
Saved myself 20 bucks.
YES!

Teppan (Jersey City)

This new Hibachi (Teppanyaki) Restaurant around the corner from my place just opened a month ago. 
I had (unrealistic) expectations and unfortunately fell short. 

The food, service and entertainment was pretty sub-par. 
The dessert (third party) was the best part of the meal. 

Can't go wrong with red velvet cake I guess. 

Teppan - Highly Not Recommended
319 Warren St
Jersey City, NJ 07302

White House Cheese

This is what the most powerful man in the world snacks on in the White House.
Yes, it's brain food... but come on Comerford! You can't plate Kraft American and Cabot Cheddar on THE man's plate and then let people take pictures of it?
I guess it's safe to say, the china and glassware are way more impressive than the food served.

(description from official White House press release)
A simple plate of cheese, crackers and carrots is set for for the table setting of the meeting of closed, off-the-record lunch with President Barack Obama and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs in the President's Private Dining Room, March 10, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Ginger Beer

It's no secret I love Root Beer, Ginger Ale, and yes, Dr. Pepper.
And when I get to try something more artisan, but with the same rooty/barky flavors, I'm a happy man.

This Regatta brand Ginger Beer I found in a cafe in Jersey City was quite spectacular.
Bright, Light, and finished with decent amounts of fresh ginger root flavor.
Plus the absence of high fructose corn syrup made the whole experience way more enjoyable as well. For all you US readers... if you don't know what I mean... try to find some Mexican (bottled) Coca-Cola. The ingredients are slightly different from what we use here in the States.

note to Corporate America :
Sugarcane guys... always use real sugar please!!!

Delicious Convenience

In Japan, they have these ready made curry packs where you just heat up by throwing the pouch into hot water and then pour it over some steamed rice.

This particular Japanese Curry is from Niigata. My new favorite prefecture of Japan.
Just about everything is delicious up there in snow country.

This particular curry pack was slightly on the sweeter side... but had a clean hotness to it towards the end. Deeeeeelicious.
Love it Love it Love it.

In-n-Out

Take a look at this and tell me you don't want one. Damn you California! Damn you.

Don't put that Coq in your mouth...

Bolivian President 'Eating Chicken May Turn You Gay'

AP

Evo Morales told a conference on climate change: 'The chicken we eat is loaded with female hormones that it can deviate men from their manhood.'

Male pattern baldness and the mysteries of human sexuality are no puzzles for the president of Bolivia, who has declared they are caused by eating chicken.

Evo Morales has claimed that both homosexuality and baldness can be caused by the humble chicken.

According to EFE, Morales also claimed that chicken treated with female hormones can be linked to baldness and early breast growth in girls in European

"Baldness, which seems normal, is a disease in Europe. Almost everyone is bald and it's related to the food they eat. Among the indigenous people there are no bald men, because we eat different things," he continued.

So by following that reasoning, if we put male hormones in a chicken and we make a homosexual eat it he will transform into a heterosexual?

Morales's theories do not appear to have been immediately accepted by the scientific community, to put it mildly, and have been criticized by Spain's National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals, which sent a letter of protest to the Bolivian embassy in Madrid describing the president's remarks as homophobic.

Could Morales' diet be affecting his brain?

http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/bolivian_president_eating_chicken_may_turn_you_gay/hof9236

Impromptu Dinner

One of the great things about living/working in NYC is the plethora of options one has at any given time.

I ran into a buddy late one afternoon and we decided to grab an early dinner at Porterhouse in the Time Warner Building.

Above is the Cowboy Ribeye Steak cooked perfectly (medium rare).

And to top it off, Roger Dagorn and Michael Lomanaco stopped by our table to say hi.

Solid Solid Meal. Always a treat.

Adobo Chicken Salad

I've found a great Filipino restaurant near me, so I've been hooked on adobo chicken. Figured why not give it a try on the grill. Another thing that the wife and I have been digging is the salad from Chipotle and Qdoba - basically rice, bean, meat, and romaine lettuce. This is my attempt to do both which works surprisingly well. Rich, salty, and vinegary chicken with the sweet grilled onions and corns. Add to that the crunchy romaine and the satisfying rice and you got a great summer meal.

Grilled Chicken Adobo Salad
Ingredients
Chicken thighs rinsed
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
6 cloves garlic crushed
romaine lettuce sliced into bite sized pieces
4 ears sweet corn shucked
2 vidalia onions sliced 1 inch horizontally
Peanut Oil
Salt and White Pepper
Cooked white Asian rice (or short grain)

1) Combine chicken, garlic, soy, vinegar, and oyster sauce in a ziploc bag. Marinate at least an hour.
2) Set up three zones on your grill if you can. One Medium heat, one low heat, and one off zone. On a clean grill over medium heat, rub grates with some oil to prevent sticking.
3) Coat corn in oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium part of grill until corn gets lightly charred - nice and browned, but not completely blackened. About 5-7 minutes with frequent turning. Remove from grill and remove kernels.
4) Toss onions with peanut oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook on the medium part of the grill. About 5-7 minutes until it's soft and sweet. You may need to use a vegetable grill grate to make sure it doesn't fall through the grates. Remove and keep with the corn.
5) Take chicken out of the marinade and pat chicken down with some paper towels. Place skin side down. Reduce marinate down 80-90%. Reserve.
6) Be careful to watch for flare ups and don't move it otherwise you won't get the nice grill marks.
7) After 7-10 minutes, flip the chicken over. You may need to move the chicken off to a low zone if it's burning up to quick. The key is to really watch the grill and chicken constantly to make sure you have control.
8) Cook for probably another 5-7 minutes but keep checking. I was doing the poke test to check if the chicken was done, but you could probably use a thermometer. Thighs should be about 170F or if you push the meat it should be slightly firm to the touch - not squishy. Another check is if you pick the chicken up the juices should run clear - if there's any blood throw it back on the grill. Chicken skin should be crispy.
9) When finished take the chicken out and drop in the reduced marinade skin side up. Let it sit for 3 minutes.
10) Add lettuce to the onions and corn. Shred chicken meat and add to the salad. Drizzle the marinade over. Serve on top of cooked white rice. Buono appetito!

Grilled Rosemary, Garlic, and Lemon Chicken

I recently hooked up my new grill and I've been having a blast grilling everything under the sun. My recent conquest has been whole chicken on the grill and this dish just just kicked so much ars. Smoky, garlicky, and bright from the lemon, but the most important aspect to cooking chicken is it should be cooked through, but still juicy. One tip I learned is keep the breastbone in as it kept the meat incredibly juicy. I served these with a side salad and some grilled potatoes (baked them 40 mins, then sliced em up and finished on the grill to get em nice and crispy) served with some bravas sauce and alioli. So eff'n good and perfect outdoor food weather. Apologies for the pictures - need to clean my droid lens every time I take a picture.

Grilled Rosemary, Garlic, and Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
1 whole organic chicken
4 sprigs Rosemary
3 lemons juiced
10 cloves crushed garlic
sea salt and pepper
extra virgin olive oil

1) Remove chicken backbone and butterfly - rinse. Take chicken and let marinate in lemons, garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper for at least a 1/2 hour.
2) Set up three zones on your grill if you can. One Medium heat, one low heat, and one off zone. On a clean grill over medium heat, rub grates with some oil to prevent sticking.
3) Take chicken out of the marinade and pat chicken down with some paper towels. Place skin side down.
4) Be careful to watch for flare ups and don't move it otherwise you won't get the nice grill marks.
5) After 7-10 minutes, flip the chicken over. You may need to move the chicken off to a low zone if it's burning up to quick. The key is to really watch the grill and chicken constantly to make sure you have control.
6) Cook for probably another 10-15 minutes but keep checking. I was doing the poke test to check if the chicken was done, but you could probably use a thermometer. Legs should be about 170F or if you push the meat it should be slightly firm to the touch - not squishy. Another check is if you pick the chicken up the juices should run clear - if there's any blood throw it back on the grill.
7) When finished take the chicken out, add more olive oil and lemon. This is a real powerfully flavored dish - bright from the lemon, rich from the olive oil, and the charred smoky skin tastes delicious.

Commerce - Review

Intro
Commerce- Highly Not Recommended
50 Commerce St, New York NY 10014
Btwn Bedford & Barrow St
Phone: (212) 524-2301

I've heard some good things about this place and was in the mood for some good eats. Unfortunately this place totally disappoints. As soon as you walk in, you notice the large space which looks straight out of a 1930's movie - pretty cool space. Then, the unpleasantness kicks in. The first thing was the heat in the place - it was so hot that multiple people complained and I even saw couples getting up and leaving before they got food served. Also, we had reservations but still had to wait an additional 45 minutes. Completely ridiculous - I wanted to leave, but we were chatting up a storm and lost track of time. Now, with all that craziness was the food worth the insanity - definitely not! Overall, I give the restaurant an 50/100.

Our Menu
Ragu Of Odd Things
oxtail, trotters and tripe with hand rolled orecchiette
This dish seemed like it would be right up my ally. I love oxtail, tripe, and trotters, but there were multiple things wrong with this dish. The first thing was the temperature of the food - it was so blistering hot, you couldn't taste anything at all. The next was the texture of the pasta which was way undercooked - very doughy. Then the oxtails, trotters, and tripe were crazy overcooked which made it uber mushy.

Fettuccini ---
with one hour tomato sauce & house made ricotta
A complete WTF dish in a bad way. The texture of the pasta was uber undercooked again and pretty gross - hand made fettuccini was so thick, which usually means you have to cook it longer. The tomato sauce was decent, but no idea why the eff talk about a one hour tomato sauce. It's basically tomatoes, ricotta, and a hella lot of parimigianno - decent, but nothing to write home about.

Degustation of lamb offal *
w/ kidney, liver & heart
This had some pretty solid flavor - liver was nice and rich, heart had a nice beefy flavor. Each had their different flavorings - liver was paired with lots of citrus, heart had nice creamy mashed potatoes. It was pretty damn rare, but not sure if it was supposed to be that way.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way
















Overall Restaurant Experience (50/100)

• Food (6.5/10) – Both pasta dishes sucked, but the offal was OK.
  
• Service (6.0/10) – Waiter was friendly but extremely pushy. He was constantly pushing for ordering more appetizers or sides after our initial order. After we said no, he mentioned what about this or that and finally had attitude after we kept saying no.
  
• Atmosphere (2.0/10) – See intro. On top of that, as soon as you walk in your treated with an extremely loud crowded bar. The place was still packed even with the hot weather and it was a mix of groups of 4's - either couples, all girls, or all guys.
  
• Price (5.0) – Prices were reasonable with most entrees in the low 20 range, but considering the terrible experience I was definitely not happy to pay.
  

Closing Comments
The crazy thing is right down the block is Casa, an excellent Brazilian place. If I'm ever in the area, to Casa I will go.

Ramen Setagaya Revisited

After the Memorial Day Flushing food massacre and the ethereal Kajitsu, our buddy Eric was craving some Ramen so we first tried Ippudo but as usual it was a ridiculous wait - 2 1/2 hours. So, we went to plan B around the corner in Ramen Setagaya. Pretty disappointing stuff and I don't know how this place got worse? Never ever stepping foot in that place again - either hit up Ippudo earlier or even try Men Kui Tei around the corner.

Our Menu
Shio Ramen
two slices of pork, bamboo-shoot, salt taste egg, seaweed, scallion, scallop powder, noodle
First thing that usually hits me with a bowl of ramen is the intense porky broth. Here it was way muted down with barely any flavor - I had to dose that m eff'er with chili oil and shichimi. Then, the next is the noodle which was pretty overcooked - too limp with no bounce back. Like last time, the pork was tender but not that flavorful.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Skinner's (Jersey City)

Skinner's in Jersey City (2min walk from Grove St. Station) is probably one of the worst Irish Pubs I've ever been to.
Now the circumstances may exagerate my disdain towards the establishment, but that's life. This flogger hates Skinner's with a passion.

Friday 8:30pm -
After landing in Newark and waiting for 40 min for my car, then dropping off my bags and walking over to the joint, I was seated and waited another 5 min 'til my drink order was taken.

Upon inspecting the menu once over, I thought ordering the "special" would be prudent.
Its a special for goodness sakes.

- BBQ Brisket with Corn Salsa and Stuffed Zucchini.
If I had to grade this dish, it would be Northwest Airlines (JFK to LAX) caliber.

Brisket wasn't well cooked (if you look hard enough, it's under the 2 giant onion rings). Then the pathetic tangy bbq sauce slathered all over.

And to top it off, the table was slanted and wobbly.

Long story short, Skinner's in JC gets "2 Forks Down"!

Memorial Day Weekend Food Rampage

Belated post, but it was such a blast that I had to share with the dudes and dudettes. We had our friends Wei-Yi and Eric over for Memorial Day Weekend and man those two can eat! We started in the Flushing Mall Food Court to try some Taiwanese dishes and ended up going a bit overboard (as usual) then we hit up two more restaurants for dinner - Kajitsu and Ramen Setagaya.

Our Menu

• Fried Pork Dumplings (guo tyeh) **
• Cold Sesame Noodles (liang myen) *
• 2 Orders of Stinky Tofu (Chou Dofu) **
• Garlic Chive Dumpling (Joe Chai Huh Zhe) **
• Hand Pulled Noodles (Chou Dofu) *
• Oyster and Egg Omelet (Oh Wah Zhen) **
• Some noodle dish with thick sauce? **
• Shaved Ice with Condensed Milk, Red Bean, Tapioca Pearls (Bao Bing) **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Winners included the juicy fried pork dumplings, the surprisingly delicious stinky tofu, and the garlic chive dumplings. All for a hella cheap price...good times!

Burger King

Just thought this was interesting.

Kajitsu - Review

Intro
Kajitsu - Highly Recommended
414 E 9th St, New York NY 10009
Btwn 1st Ave & Ave A
Phone: (212) 228-4873

We had our friends Wei-Yi and Eric in town, so I figured it was a perfect time to check out Kajitsu - a place Porthos has been raving about. Usually, vegetarian food does not sound exciting to me at all (unless it's Indian), but this was completely mind blowing stuff. I always laughed at all the fancy restaurants serving $60-70 on all vegetarian tasting menus, but now I kinda get it. Overall, I give the restaurant an 93/100.

Our Menu
(Kaze 4 course menu)

Tiny Vegetables and White Mushroom with Lotus Root Gelée and Sesame Cream ***
Tiny turnip, Tiny Parsnip, Fiddlehead Fern, Snow Pea, Lotus Seed, Lotus Rootlet, Ramp, Shiso shoot
1000% WTF moment. I had no idea what to expect of this place and the first dish brought me to Yasuda levels. As simple as this sounds, it was basically a whole bunch of tiny beautifully presented baby vegetables but with such an insanely powerful impact. Each vegetable was perfectly prepared and had the most pronounced flavor and texture - it totally reminded me of Yasuda where each fish was completely different from the rest. Obviously there was some aiding with some type of veggie dashi?, but the combo of the veg and the sesame cream made for such an earthy combination. Completely ridiculous for me.

Cauliflower Soup with Tempra Artichoke Hearts **
Sansho Leaves, Pink Peppercorn
The first thing you notice here is the intense aroma of cauliflower as you remove the cover from the bowl. At first, the aroma was much greater than the flavor of the soup which was a tad disappointing. But, then I realized I should stop taking baby sips and take a big boy pull which really opened up the flavors of the soup. It went from slightly muted to eleven on the flavor scale. Very rich and oddly citrusy with the sansho leaves. Eating the artichoke hearts really brought out the earthiness of the soup and even the batter added to the thickness and flavor of the soup as well.

Nama-Fu Croquette and Panko Fried Vegetables with House-Made Worcestershire Sauce ***
Egg Plant, Okra, Asparagus, Leek, Sweet Potato, Onion, Patty Pan Squash, Trumpet Royal, Tofu
Grilled Fresh Chick Pea
Cabbage and Shiso Salad
One thing that people usually mess up is tempura - I have no idea why but it happens a lot. Either it's too oily, too heavy, not crispy enough, or the flavor of the ingredient is lost somehow. Not hear my fellow dudes and dudettes...this was perfectly cooked, crispy, light, and with the most intense vegetable flavors. Winners for me were the onion (best fried onion ring of all time), squash, and sweet potato. On top of that, there was the cabbage and shiso salad which was just flavored by lemon juice - couldn't believe how good that was. Also, my first time for fresh chick peas and they were friggin delish.

Steamed Rice with Grilled Bamboo Shoots **
Mitsuba, Fava Beans
House-made Pickles
Perfect texture with the rice and the accompaniments were ridiculous. The grilled fava beans were maybe the highlight of the night. Rich, earthy, and an awesome smoky flavor from being grilled all with such an awesome texture. Add that to the nice and slightly sweet bamboo shoots and you had a knockout. The side pickles were killer too which woke up the entire dish.


House-made Soba Noodles *
After all those great dishes we didn't want to stop, so we figured we had to order the soba noodles. These had such a great texture, but my first couple of tries were disappointing due to the broth. What I learned though was you needed to soak the noodles in the broth - like for a good 20 second before pulling the trigger. After learning that fact, the dish was uber flavorful again. Still curious how do they make the tsuyu without bonito though...

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Overall Restaurant Experience (93/100)

• Food (9.3/10) – One of the best restaurant experiences ever for me and these were all friggin vegetables. Still can't get over it and completely shocked how I didn't need or even want meat the entire time.
  
• Service (8.0/10) – Waitress was attentive and the food came out quick, but slightly too quick in my opinion. No time to digest - as soon as we were done with one of the dishes, the next one came out in under 5 mins.
  
• Atmosphere (8.5/10) – Typical Japanese place with a sushi style counter in front where it looks like the chef will plate in front of you. There's also seats in the back which is where we sat. Place was on the tinier side which seats maybe about 30-40. As with most Japanese joints, the place had lots of wood on the wall. We got there at 6:45pm and reservations were required. In the beginning it was a bit dead, but towards 8pm it was maybe 70% full. Crowd consisted of couples only and they were all Japanese.
  
• Price (8.0) – My first thought was why am I paying $50 for 4 small sized vegetable dishes and then you eat the first course and you're like that is why. The technique and care going to each of those vegetables on the plate makes it worth the price of admission.
  

Closing Comments
It was so good that we were immediately talking about ordering the 8 course meal for next time. We would have ordered 8 courses, but we went a wee bit too nuts at the flushing mall ordering two huge plates of food per person. Next time, only light lunches beforehand.

EN Japanese Brasserie - Still Solid

Our home girl Charissa was in town and as usual she was craving some Asian food, so I figured with Lan sadly gone, the next best place would be EN Japanese Brasserie. EN puts out some solid dishes, but it's in a kinda crappy location - not near any trains and I'm not down with any of the bars in the area. But, after my first visit in a long time, the food was so good I may have to come back soon.

Our Menu

Fresh Yuba Sashimi **
delicate tofu skin served with ponzu citrus soy
Fresh tofu skin had such a phenomenal soft milky texture that was balanced by the salty sour ponzu dressing. Really great stuff.

Uni Tamago Dofu ***
egg custard in dashi topped with sea urchin
The first WTF dish and like the dish before it was a perfect balance of textures and flavors. The sweet uni played off the richness and sweetness of the fluffy egg custard. Add the rich/sweet dahsi broth and this was flavor overload.

Sato-imo Croquette *
taro root & iwa-nori seaweed croquette
Nice and crispy croquette without being overly oily like a lot of tempura joints in the city. Filling was very fluffy and flavorful.

Sea Bass Kara-Age **
sake-marinated medallions lightly fried
Had this before and like the croquettes, these were fried perfectly without masking the flavor of the fish. Pretty awesome stuff.

Saikyo Miso Black Cod *
black cod marinated in saikyo miso, grilled
You can find this dish probably in any Japanese restaurant in America now. This was good, but not great. The miso was not overpowering like at some places, but the fish here should have been more tender and buttery. But, still a good dish nonetheless...sadly, Lan always knocked this dish out of the park.

Sautéed Duck Breast **
with grated daikon in ponzu citrus soy
Nicely cooked duck that is covered in grated daikon in ponzu dressing. The greated daikon with ponzu was so intense, but unfortunately the duck should have been a wee bit juicier in my opinion. With that being said, I still ordered some white rice to eat with the fun daikon ponzu topping.

En Garlic Shiso Fried Rice **
Don't know why, but I really loved this dish at the end. It was perfectly cooked rice with a nice garlic flavor balanced all throughout the dish. The three of us were killing this dish and we wanted more!

Chocolate Cake and Green Tea Ice Cream
Decent, but don't know if I would necessarily recommend this. The cake was a bit too eggy for me, but the green tea ice cream was out of control good. Save your money and hit up L'Arte nearby instead.

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way