Vino and Sushi

It works for some people and definitely only for some styles of sushi. Fortunately at Jewel Bako, the already sauced pieces of sushi hold up well to the higher acidic wines of the western world. (as opposed to just Sake)

Jewel Bako

Aburi Toro. OMG.
マジでヤバイッス！

24 layer cake

Whaaaaa?

Not a fan of PETA... but a fan of the Meat

It is what it is...

Instant Ramen w/a Twist

Just add some homemade braised pork belly with marinaded hard tofu.
Kinda like Chinese food alla Sandra Lee.

Salad Sundays

Aging isn't always, but can be at times a dirty word.
For Whiskey or a Porterhouse, it's extremely sexy. As for humans, not so much.
So one important thing we can all do is to eat healthier.
Recently, I met this couple, and they do Salad Sundays every weekend.
The husband, like me loves a nice juicy steak, but his wife is a health nut and adamantly keeps her (awesome) figure by only eating veggies and occasional fish.

Now I, like the next dude would love to have a rock hard 6-pack to flash at the beach this weekend. But if you are a foodie like me, we are talking near impossibility. It would take a tremendous amount of will power, and a certain masochistic lifestyle to achieve a Brad Pitt-esque chiseled stomach.

But great things are never created in a day, so perhaps this humble salad I made this past Sunday, with things I find tasty is a small step towards healthier living.


(Arugula, Avocados, Grapefruit, Marinaded Burdock Root, and some Tsukudani style Clams)

Starbucks : Sandwich

If you work in Corporate America, and have an office job in a big building, how many times during the day do you hear, "Hey, I'm going to Starbucks, need anything"?

The biggest addicts grab a coffee in the morning, and then perhaps 2 or 3 more through out the day.
Whether people are truly addicted to caffeine, or just love their overly sweetened candy drinks, Starbucks truly cornered the American coffee market, and has gone global really fast.
Ever think how on earth Howard Schultz and a bunch of MBAs eradicate the office water cooler?
Truly remarkable.

Anywho, I actually wanted to bring your attention to the sandwiches at Starbucks. Or perhaps the sandwiches sold at Starbucks in the Tri-State Area; since I believe it's all prepared by contract at a common commissary.
I'm actually giddy about their sandwiches. Although I've only had 1 (very recently) to be honest, The Tarragon Chicken Salad, I have to say, is one yummy sandwich.
And considering I bought it at a freakin' chain, I couldn't be more surprised.

Initially, I wasn't expecting much. They don't look very good to be honest. But I needed something to eat, and was already at Starbucks killing time in between meetings.

There were other sandwiches in the open fridge for me to try, but let's be honest, I'd probably rather eat a bag of gummy bears over a Roasted Vegetable Panini.
So long story short, I got the Tarragon Chicken Sandwich and really enjoyed it.
Perhaps I will venture and try another sandwich from Starbucks one day. No matter how counter-intuitive that may seem.

Nanxiang Mantou Dian - Review

Intro
Nanxiang Mantou Dian - Not Recommended
Yuyuan Lu 85, Shanghai
Phone: 021-6355-4206

Our first day in Shanghai without the tour guide and we decided to hit up one of the most famous xiao long bao places in Shanghai. Yes, this was the place that Bourdain hit up and unfortunately it was pretty average. The first thing you’ll notice is the area where Nan Xiang is sucks pretty bad. It was made up for tourists to look like Old Shanghai and reminds me of Epcot center – insanely crowded and pretty fake looking.

When you finally work your way through you notice this place is kinda like Enter the Dragon where there are multiple levels to the joint. The first floor is where you line up and get the xlb to go – quality supposedly sucks there and the lines is at least 30-40 deep. The second floor you seat yourself, but you can’t get access to the crab xlb. Also, packed as hell. The third floor you have two choices either sit in the room where you have to spend 60rmb or the other room that you spend 30rmb. We chose the quicker line (30 rmb) since it was taking so friggin long. With such high expectations of getting xlb in Shanghai, I was highly disappointed. Cali definitely make better xlb and Din Tai Fung in Taiwan crushes this place. In fact there are multiple DTF joints in Shanghai, but I’ve been there multiple times and it’s a Taiwan joint so I want to check out a real Shanghai XLB place. Place is a little pricey compared to others around the city as well ($8 for 6 xlb), but still reasonable. Any who, not recommended based on the wait and quality of the xlb.

Our Menu

Crab, Crab Roe, and Pork XLB *
The first thing I notice about XLB is the skin and these were a little too thick and too doughy. The next is the soup base which was very pungent and flavorful. The final thing is the meat which was very pleasant – texture and flavor. Was this a terrible XLB – definitely not, but I was expecting so much more since this was such the most famous place according to our tour guides and concierge. It was packed with Chinese people and a couple of locals were even saying to go check it out. Kinda bummed that I had much better ones in Cali – it felt like if I went to Katz’s and the pastrami was better in the middle of North Dakota…something not quite right about that. One last thing, there was some crab shell in the xlb which is a big no no for me.


Tang Bao *
This is basically a huge ars xiao long bow with a straw in the middle where you drink the soup base. The skin is very doughy and not worth eating. The soup is good, but a little oily. Huge on flavor though and surprisingly there are pieces of crab in the base as well.












Mushroom XLB **
These were great and the skin was much more delicate – still a tad too thick, but still much better than the crab ones. The mushroom broth was phenomenal as was the filling. If you have to get one xlb here, then this is the one to get.

Fried Dumpling **
Nice and light batter that was perfectly crispy. The filling was so delicate and stuffed with soft tofu diced - pretty awesome.

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

Closing Comments
If this place wasn’t crowded, I would probably check it out for a first time, but because the line is so damn long I would avoid this at all costs. Pretty average xlb and thankfully we found better ones in the city.

Under Bridge Spicy Crab - Review

Intro
Under Bridge Spicy Crab - Highly Recommended
405-419 Lockhart Rd, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Phone: 852-2893-1289

For my last meal in Hong Kong, I wanted to try spicy crab since I’ve heard so much about it. Right near the underpass there’s a ton of joints that do spicy crab with pictures of celebrities plastered on the wall - that or just a bunch of random Chinese people in tuxes. It’s pretty hard to figure out which one to go to, so we went to some random one which included a picture and signature from Bourdain. This was maybe one of my favorite meals of the whole trip. I was expecting the crab to be covered in a rich sauce, but the crab was sauceless and insanely flavorful and delicious. This place is tiny like maybe 30-40 seats and was empty at 5pm. Although a bit pricy for HK food, it was well worth it - around $40 USD for the crab.

Our Menu
Spicy Crab ***
I was thinking this would be like the Malasian chili crab which is covered in a red sauce, but this was something completely different. The crab was topped with a ground mixture that had the consistency of bread crumbs but flavored with chilis and garlic. It was stupid good. My problem is I ordered it very spicy (there are 5 grades of spicy) and man that was a bad idea. It was hella spicy which I could normally handle, but the taste of the crab was completely lost due to the searing heat. The waitress was kind enough to lower it to a low spicy and this was like a complete ethereal wtf moment. The crab was cut into pieces for you with the shell still on. The parts that were exposed had a crunchy texture as it was probably coated in corn starch and fried, but the meat was succulent and insanely sweet. Add the crumb mixture which was nutty and a little spicy and you were in complete heaven. I kept on eating the crumb mixture alone with white rice and was totally floored at how good it was. Then you have the scallions that were buried in the spice crumb mixture which were amazing – sweet and more like an intensely sweet leek rather than the scallions we have back in the states.









Kung Shing Chai (water spinach) **
We’ve had this dish so many times on the trip and it always rocks. This again was using the chicken stock sauce method and had the perfect texture…just enough crunch but soft and pleasing.

Macau Restaurant - Review

Intro
Macau Restaurant - Recommended
87-93 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Phone: 852-2628-1990

This place is a pretty big chain but recommended by some Chinese tour books, so we figured why not give it a shot. Glad we did since this place served some pretty damn fun food for a cheap price. Service was pretty subpar, but the food was cheap and the items we ordered were pretty fun to eat - the amazing pork sandwich was $2.50 USD. Kinda strange vibe as you walk downstairs and enter what feels like a cheezy lounge...leather sofas, lcd's on the wall etc. But out comes the food and pretty solid for the price.

Our Menu

Fried Pork Sandwich **
The Portugese are known for their bread and after colonizing Macau, it looks like they’ve incorporated their breads in their cuisine. This bread was crispy on the outside, but so fluffy and flavorful on the inside. Add to that this nicely fried pork which was seasoned perfectly – some type of spice I couldn’t put my finger on. And the nice onions that were cooked till just sweetened, but still slightly crunchy. I could really eat 5 of these in one sitting. It’s tiny and delicious!











Oxtail Curry **
Perfectly tender oxtail with a nice curry sauce – kinda like a combo between a Japanese and Singapore stlye curry. Awesome with the white rice and I can’t say enough how tender this oxtail was.


Egg Tart *
The Portuguese are famous for their egg tarts, but this was just ok. The crust was buttery, but too firm and the egg filling was way too buttery. Still good enough to eat though!

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

Yung Kee Restaurant - Review

Intro
Yung Kee Restaurant – Highly Recommended
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 852-2522-1624

The wife’s cousin took us to another place highly recommended by the locals/tourists for their roast goose and pigeon. It’s four stories and looks like your standard Chinese Banquet hall with the velvet red curtains, plastic dragons, and nicely starched table cloths. Upon opening the menu, you have to flip through 5 pages of accolades for the restaurant - pretty funny and something I've never seen before. Any who, this is a Michelin star restaurant but feels like it could be any joint in Chinatown, then the food comes and you’re like oh that’s why the accolades. We’re not talking delicate stuff by any means, but in your face fat and flavor. Pretty awesome and highly recommended although I wish they served sides of Lipitor after the meal, since it was out of control fatty…aka good. Even our veg was covered with meat gravy! This was a pricey place for Asia, but not bad at all when compared to what we spend in NYC.

Our Menu

Roast Goose ***
Not remembering much about roast goose, I was expecting crispy skin, but the skin and the meat were nice and soft. The key to this is it’s tender, full of intense goose flavor, slightly smoky, and fatty as hell. This was spectacular with the rice and surprisingly we finished every last piece since it was so good. Now, it does have a quite similar flavor to the duck, though goose is slightly more pungent and way more fatty. There’s a sweet duck sauce that is optional as I dipped 50% of the time.

Kung Shing Tsai (water spinach) ***
My favorite vegetable and they use the same tried and true method of chicken stock, although I’m pretty sure they rock a little bit of fermented tofu in there as well for a more pungent flavor. Perfectly balanced in my opinion and again goes great with rice.


Roast Pork and BBQ Pork ***
What’s the difference between roast pork and bbq pork you’re probably asking? Roast pork here is basically crispy skin with fat – no meat at all. Another cholesterolrific invention by the Cantonese! It’s so full of porky flavor kinda like eating chicharrons or pork skins, but if it was done for a dirty porno as there’s a thick melty layer of fat underneath. The BBQ pork, aka cha siu, is pork meat that’s slightly sweet and very porky – very tender here and again spectacular with the rice.
















Eggplant and Meat Gravy **
Tender bits of eggplant smothered in mince meat and gravy. Really delicious although this was getting to be meat overload for me.


Roast Pigeon **
I really dug this dish a lot. Pigeon is a tad gamey and the meat isn’t as tender, but it is very very flavorful. The leg was so awesome and my favorite piece. Adding the salt/pepper mixture and vinegar amps up the flavor even more. Killer stuff here...

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

Ho Hung Kee - Review

Ho Hung Kee - Highly Recommended
2 Sharp Street East, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Phone: 852-2577-6558

Knocked out three of my childhood food memories here and this place friggin rocks. It’s soooo eff’n good. Pretty famous place where they make fresh Wonton Noodles and we picked up some other go to items as well. The place was packed but we went to the second floor where they have four tiny tables in what looks like a tiny mini attic. You’ll end up eating with other people, but the food was so good I didn’t care. If I spent more time in Hong Kong, I would come back for a second trip to sample some congee next time. Plus, it's hella cheap at what was an average of $4 USD per menu item.

Our Menu

Jung (Stuffed Rice Ball) ***
This might be the single Chinese dish that stands out in my childhood memory since my grandmother used to make this for me all the time and I would freeze a whole mess load of them and reheat them once a week. The ones here were shaped like a temple (or pentagon) which I’ve never seen before. This was by far the best version I’ve ever had. It was so flavorful and moist and chewy. The filling consisted of dried scallop, pork belly, and egg with the rice having so much flavor. I could probably eat that dish every day for the rest of my life and be a happy camper.


Gan Chow Fun (Beef Chow Fun) **
Another dish – another home run. Although this was oily, the flavor on the noodle was insane. I think this was due to using proper woks since I could never get this type of flavor at home. The Chinese usually say the wok hei is important (wok breath) to giving flavor to a dish. I never understood it before, but now I kinda get it. The noodle was perfectly cooked as well and the beef was uber tender.


Won Ton Meen (Won ton noodle with pig trotter) **
Won ton noodles were hand made here and had some great texture. The keys to this dish were the intense broth and the ridiculous wontons. I’ve never had wontons like this – the best silky skins ever, ridiculous meat texture which was slightly firm but then completely tender after the first bite, and the flavor was out of this world. I wish I had 10 of these in the bowl, but the pig trotter was the star unfortunately. They were good – nice flavor, completely falling off the bone, but I wanted more wontons instead.

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

It's all about service

I found this to be a great article by the NY Times resident imbiber.  Take a read when you have 5 min to kill.  Great inside to industry practices. 

When the First Sip Is the Sommelier's, Not Yours

By ERIC ASIMOV

Published: July 6, 2010

STEPHEN SILBERLING, a tax lawyer who considers himself a knowledgeable wine drinker, could not contain his astonishment as he told me of his recent experience in a New York restaurant. He had ordered a 2007 Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche, a wine he and his date had enjoyed so much the previous week that they decided to drink it again. As they sipped their first glass, however, they both thought the wine tasted different, and they debated whether it was flawed.

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Listening to the conversation, the sommelier piped up.

"He said, 'I've tasted the wine, it's fine,' " Mr. Silberling recalled. "He tasted the wine? I was very surprised. I had never heard of that being done before."

Few issues of wine etiquette seem to cause as much consternation as the increasingly common practice of a sommelier taking a small sip of wine, usually unbidden, to test for soundness. Diners often are surprised to learn that their bottle has in effect been shared with the restaurant, even if it's just the smallest amount.

The practice, which is more common at high-end restaurants with ambitious wine lists, can make diners uncomfortable. Some believe the restaurant may be taking advantage of them by consuming wine that they have bought. Others feel demeaned, that their role of assessing the wine has been usurped.

"I know I'd rather be doing the tasting because I trust myself," Mr. Silberling said.

It's a touchy subject, particularly because, from the restaurant's point of view, it's all for the consumer's benefit. Some restaurants believe that, since they are more familiar than most consumers with the wines they offer, they can save diners from accidentally accepting a bottle that is not up to standard. "I think it's an important service," said Daniel Johnnes, wine director for Daniel Boulud's Dinex Group. "We want the sommelier to assure that the wine gets to the customer as it is intended."

I have noticed this practice more often in the last decade, but in fact it was one of the original tasks of the sommelier.

"It goes back hundreds of years, when the role of sommeliers was to ensure that kings or royalty didn't get poisoned," said Evan Goldstein, a wine educator and former president of the American chapter of the Court of Master Sommeliers, an organization dedicated to raising the standards of beverage service. "My understanding is that the tastevin was put on a chain and put around the neck of the sommelier exactly for that purpose."

Ah, the tastevin, the shallow silver cup that today largely evokes the image of the supercilious sommelier. In the United States, where most restaurants have tried to relax the formality of wine service, one rarely sees a tastevin. Le Bernardin in New York is one of the few that still employs it as a working tool.

"I want to ensure the wine I serve is in perfect condition," said Aldo Sohm, Le Bernardin's chef sommelier. "We use it. It's not just for show."

Allowing the sommelier a sniff or small taste of a wine is a sensible precaution for a restaurant to take, I think, both from its own point of view and from the customer's. No good restaurant wants to serve flawed or bad wine, and tasting the wine first is a step toward preventing that.

Many people, even those who know something about wine, are not comfortable suggesting that a bottle is flawed. They might feel uncertain, or embarrassed, and would rather endure a bottle they are not enjoying than send it back. If a sommelier can prevent that, I think it's worth the sip that's sacrificed.

At RN74, a top wine-oriented restaurant in San Francisco, sommeliers check every bottle, said Christie Dufault, who is a sommelier there and a wine and beverage instructor at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley. She is still haunted by a southern Rhône wine she once served a table without having tasted it. After they left, having consumed only half the bottle, she checked it and found it was badly corked.

"I've seen consumers become way more knowledgeable, but I recommended a wine that was completely foreign to these people," she said. "They didn't recognize that the wine was flawed. We don't want that scenario to ever be repeated."

Nonetheless, some consumers, even educated ones, are suspicious of the practice.

"I've never seen it, and I would say I'm happy I've never seen it," said Joe Roberts, who blogs about wine at 1winedude.com. "I would imagine the first reaction would be, somebody's trying to cop a taste of my expensive wine."

Ms. Dufault realizes the practice may require sommeliers to step into delicate territory.

"We want customers to realize that good sommeliers are looking out for their best interests," she said. "It's our job to observe our guests. If I observe a guest who really knows wine, then maybe this service isn't necessary."

Fred Dexheimer, a master sommelier whose company, Juiceman Consulting, advises restaurants on wine service, believes sniffing and tasting before serving is a sound practice.

"I want the guest to have the best experience possible," he said. "It's like a chef making sure all the sauces are correct."

But Mr. Dexheimer said he has seen the ritual abused by sommeliers who have poured themselves a little more wine than perhaps was necessary. He said sommeliers have to understand that some wines are more prone to problems than others, and therefore are more important to check. He mentioned unfiltered white wines, for example, or wines whose cork might have some visible mold on it. I might add to that list wines like white Burgundies, which are prone to oxidation problems that some consumers may not recognize.

Even if a sommelier has tasted a wine and found it sound, that does not ensure that a customer will like it. So what happens if a sommelier believes a wine has no problem, but the customer rejects it, as was the case with Mr. Silberling?

"The rule is, if the customer is not happy with the wine, take the wine back," Mr. Johnnes said. "It doesn't happen so frequently that we can't do that."

He suggests engaging in conversation with the customer. It may be that a wine needs to breathe a bit, or needs to be gently cooled. But if those options are not satisfactory, he said, just take the wine back.

Some bottles are obviously flawed, but others can be borderline cases. What is undetectable to some people, even to experts, is off-putting to others. Above all, he said, sommeliers should never argue with customers, even if they believe a bottle is sound.

Mr. Dexheimer remembers doing just that as a young sommelier. "I still have guilty nightmares about that 10 years later," he said. "Take the rest of that bottle and educate your staff, or pour it by the glass. There are ways to recover from that, but if you make a guest unhappy, you'll never get that guest back."

One way of alleviating the mistrust that some customers may feel, he suggested, is simply to alert guests that you, the sommelier, are going to taste the wine to make sure it's all right.

That would work for Mr. Roberts, the wine blogger. "It would almost go from something that seems malignant to something that's viewed as good service," he said.

Communication, Mr. Dexheimer said, is one more way to remove the pretension from wine.

"If you communicate everything you do to the guests, you help to create an atmosphere of trust," he said. "If you don't ask permission, you're going to get in trouble."

City Hall Maxim's Palace - Review

Intro
City Hall Maxim’s Palace - Recommended
City Hall Low Block, 2nd Floor
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Phone: 852-2521-1303

The wife’s cousin and girlfriend took us to a famous dim sum place where all the locals take out of towner’s. As soon as you walk in, I felt like I was at some old school British restaurant in the 1800’s. The place had a bunch of gleaming chandeliers and walls were all cream colored. The joint definitely looked a little up tight with starched white table cloths and chairs looking like they were out of the Met. In addition, there was a ton of silver everywhere – teapots and even the friggin chopsticks looked like it had silver on the end. What removed some of the stuffiness is seeing the old school pushcarts which I know that most places abandoned in Hong Kong.

I’ve always heard people say dim sum is so much better in Hong Kong and Vancouver, but after eating here, to me NYC does a pretty good job at replicating the experience. And, some of my favorite dim sum items I actually like better in NYC at Oriental Garden; though overall, the dishes were better here. Any who, I definitely enjoyed the food and had a fun time hanging with great company – thanks again to Michael and Jasmine.

Our Menu

Fung Zhao (chicken feet) **
These were out of the park good. Way more flavorful sauce than the ones in NYC and the skin is more tender as well.

Pai Gwat (pork ribs) **
I’ve noticed the Hong Kong people love their meats fatty as hell and this was no exception. Way more fatty than the ones in the states and it was pretty fun to eat. Just make sure you drink your Po Lei tea as this helps absorb some grease…at least that’s what the locals say.

Pee Dan Jook (Thousand year old egg Congee) ***
This was definitely my favorite dish from Maxim’s. I’ve had this loads of times growing up, but the texture and the flavor of this dish was out of sight. Usually congee is either too thick or thin, but this had the perfect porridge texture. And the flavor was amazing how they could jam so much into a rice porridge.

Cha Siu Bao (Bbq pork buns) ***
I haven’t had these in ages, but this was ridiculously good. The filling was perfect – a harmonious combo of sweet and rich porkiness. The dough was so friggin good as well…light and airy with a nice hint of sweetness kicking in.

Law Bat Go (Turnip Cake) **
Another go to dish and this was better than the ones in NY as well. The key here is the slightly sweet soy at the bottom of the dish that is amazing when you mix with the turnip cake. This was a mixture of completely blended turnips with some long pieces of turnip as well. Pretty solid stuff as I don’t remember this great a sauce accompanying the cake back home.

Har Gao (Shrimp dumplings)
Not a big fan of the ones here as this didn’t have much flavor. The skins were definitely more delicate and maybe you could say the shrimp was not masked by anything, but in NYC there’s much more flavor going on. Maybe due to the marinade or maybe they sometimes mix other ingredients in, but I definitely dig NYC’s version better.

Gow Choy Gao (Garlic Chive Dumplings) *
Similar to the Har Gao, I dig the NYC version more. This could be considered more pure as there was nothing but garlic chive as the filling. Usually in NYC, there’s sometimes shrimp, egg, and vermicelli noodles which makes up huge flavors. Here it’s more pure though I don’t like it as much. The skin is more delicate though.

Siu Mai (Pork and Shrimp Dumplings) *
Another one where I like the NYC versions better. These are still good, but the flavor wasn’t as intense as the ones in NYC.

Lau Mai Gai (Chicken Rice) ***
Another dim sum classic and these completely rocked. So friggin delicious as the rice was cooked perfectly (nice chew and perfect moistness) and absorbed the chicken and bamboo leaf flavors. Way better than the ones in the states.

Crispy Taro Balls ***
I usually don’t order these much in the states, but these were amazing here. Crispy and extremely satisfying texture – think mashed potatoes but with more flavor in the taro.

Duck Feet
I ordered these by accident and I’m not a big fan of these. It’s basically similar to the fung zhao in that you can only eat the skin as there is no meat, but the texture on these are pretty terrible – more rubbery whereas chicken feet have a softer texture. Also, the flavor is a little more gamey and there’s not any sauce covering these suckers.

Sesame Balls **
Crispy, airy, light and filled with the same filling as the egg tarts. These were awesome – nutty from the sesame seeds and slightly sweet with the egg custard filling. Some nice harmonious things going on here.

Pea Shoot Dumpling *
These were extremely similar to the garlic chive dumpling. More pure, but missing the intensity of flavor. The skin texture was great though.

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