Day 1: So last weekend I went to NYC to visit my cousin Robby and my friend since Jr. High, Jezra. It was a culinary whirlwind! My first night there, I had a hankering for Thai, so Robby took me to this cute place in his neighborhood in the village. We had fresh spring rolls with shrimp and chicken, a little heavy on the lettuce, but the peanut sauce made it worth it. Mmm. And I got green curry since they didn't have yellow (is yellow Thai curry a west coast thing???) and Robby got the Pad Thai. The Pad Thai was made with flat rice noodles (sort of an Asian linguine) which works better than the vermicelli some places serve it with. No place is as good as Taste of Thai in San Diego though. Mmm.
Day 2: I met Robby at work (near the MOMA and Rockafeller Center) for lunch. We went to this Japanese noodle house, which served all manner of weird Japanese stuff in the noodle dishes. I offered to eat Robby's shrimp heads, since he clearly wasn't into it, but they were kind of chewy from sitting in the ramen, and I usually only eat them fried or sautéed. That's really the only reason why I order sweet shrimp sushi, so I can eat the fried shrimp heads. They're really good. You should try it! I chickened out and got a pork ramen (which I could not even come close to finishing), but Robby's came with all manner of weird stuff. There was this gelatinous ball, which reminded me a little of mochi balls, and hot pink fish cakes. For dinner, we went to this pub place somewhere in the village. We had chicken wings (see pic above) and Jezra and I split a burger. Pretty good for English food. For dessert, had beer. Lots of beer that night. And then some tequila. And then demanded Robby stop at the all night market so I could make eggs and toast at 2 in the morning.
Day 3: Jezra promised me her famous enchiladas and she delivered. :-) They had mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese, onion, cilantro, and zucchini. I almost ate all the vegetables, which is an accomplishment for me. :-) I really only eat them because I know I should. I mean who says, Mmmm what I crave right now is some steamed broccoli? NOBODY. Well, at least not me, and that's who counts, at least here. ;-) I crave cheese, steak, mashed potatoes. I only crave salads that come with bacon and blue cheese. Anyway, I digress. They were really delicious and she made them lickety split. Quite tasty. Then we went to this Lost In Translation style karaoke bar in Koreatown. Surreal to say the least. The Koreatown in NYC is way cooler than the one in LA.
Day 4: Jezra and I actually went for a run. She left me in the dust, as expected. We ran by along the Hudson, it was actually pretty. Well, except for the crap brown color. That evening, we went to Pistici. Jezra said it was her favorite Italian restaurant, so we had to go there. Now, I am always wary of people who tell me they want to eat Italian food. I am spoiled. My dad only takes me to the expensive places. Cheap Chinese food? I'm in. Cheap Italian? BARF. But, I was feeling especially trusting after the enchiladas, so we went. O.M.G. I can't believe how good it was. We started out with the Insalata Caprese (which I'm also wary of, they SAY it's mozzrella di buffala, but it never is). WOW. It really was mozzarella di buffala, from the buffalo! I felt like I had taken a plane straight to Campagna. Mmm. (That's where the best mozzarella di buffala comes from). After you have buffalo mozzarella, the cow's kind has no flavor AT ALL. So score 1 for Pastici. AND the olive oil was really extra virgin. (Like I can't tell the difference? So many restaurants LIE about this. Including the one I used to work at. SHHH don't tell!!!!) I had the house meatballs over polenta. I have a weak spot for homemade meatballs. It's so not really Italian, but they are SOOOO good. And these ones were no exception. Plus, I liked the fact it was served with polenta and not pasta. In the north of Italy, polenta used to be more popular than pasta. I LOVE polenta. But really, the stuff they serve in restaurants (outside of Italy) is so premade and weird. I want the fresh gloopy stuff! So this polenta was pretty good coming from and American restaurant. But mine is better. ;-) Robby ordered the homemade fettuccine with mushrooms and herbs, but he couldn't be talked into adding the truffle oil. I'm sure with the truffle oil it would have been extra fabulous, but alas not everyone's palate can handle the explosion of taste that is the truffle. (I'm talking about the fungus not the chocolates people... in case anyone was confused.) But the pasta was good and homemade, and the mushrooms were fresh. The sauce was a little boring and sparse. It needed salt or something, or maybe a dash of mushroom stock. Jezra got the prosciutto and spinach pasta which was very simple but quite good. THEN we had dessert. We got the Frangelico chocolate mouse, which was delicious. Frangelico is probably one of my favorite liqueurs, and it was the perfect flavor accompaniment to the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse. We also had the tiramisu, which was passably good. Nobody makes it like Mario from the Rex. ;-) So all in all, it was the perfect meal on my last night.
I miss you NYC! And Jezra and Robby too. :-) Luckily, they are both coming home to LA for Chrismakkah. P.S. Robby is much more attractive in real life, he just looks ridiculous in all photographs. And he's single ladies!!!
Day 2: I met Robby at work (near the MOMA and Rockafeller Center) for lunch. We went to this Japanese noodle house, which served all manner of weird Japanese stuff in the noodle dishes. I offered to eat Robby's shrimp heads, since he clearly wasn't into it, but they were kind of chewy from sitting in the ramen, and I usually only eat them fried or sautéed. That's really the only reason why I order sweet shrimp sushi, so I can eat the fried shrimp heads. They're really good. You should try it! I chickened out and got a pork ramen (which I could not even come close to finishing), but Robby's came with all manner of weird stuff. There was this gelatinous ball, which reminded me a little of mochi balls, and hot pink fish cakes. For dinner, we went to this pub place somewhere in the village. We had chicken wings (see pic above) and Jezra and I split a burger. Pretty good for English food. For dessert, had beer. Lots of beer that night. And then some tequila. And then demanded Robby stop at the all night market so I could make eggs and toast at 2 in the morning.
Day 3: Jezra promised me her famous enchiladas and she delivered. :-) They had mushrooms, jalapenos, cheese, onion, cilantro, and zucchini. I almost ate all the vegetables, which is an accomplishment for me. :-) I really only eat them because I know I should. I mean who says, Mmmm what I crave right now is some steamed broccoli? NOBODY. Well, at least not me, and that's who counts, at least here. ;-) I crave cheese, steak, mashed potatoes. I only crave salads that come with bacon and blue cheese. Anyway, I digress. They were really delicious and she made them lickety split. Quite tasty. Then we went to this Lost In Translation style karaoke bar in Koreatown. Surreal to say the least. The Koreatown in NYC is way cooler than the one in LA.
Day 4: Jezra and I actually went for a run. She left me in the dust, as expected. We ran by along the Hudson, it was actually pretty. Well, except for the crap brown color. That evening, we went to Pistici. Jezra said it was her favorite Italian restaurant, so we had to go there. Now, I am always wary of people who tell me they want to eat Italian food. I am spoiled. My dad only takes me to the expensive places. Cheap Chinese food? I'm in. Cheap Italian? BARF. But, I was feeling especially trusting after the enchiladas, so we went. O.M.G. I can't believe how good it was. We started out with the Insalata Caprese (which I'm also wary of, they SAY it's mozzrella di buffala, but it never is). WOW. It really was mozzarella di buffala, from the buffalo! I felt like I had taken a plane straight to Campagna. Mmm. (That's where the best mozzarella di buffala comes from). After you have buffalo mozzarella, the cow's kind has no flavor AT ALL. So score 1 for Pastici. AND the olive oil was really extra virgin. (Like I can't tell the difference? So many restaurants LIE about this. Including the one I used to work at. SHHH don't tell!!!!) I had the house meatballs over polenta. I have a weak spot for homemade meatballs. It's so not really Italian, but they are SOOOO good. And these ones were no exception. Plus, I liked the fact it was served with polenta and not pasta. In the north of Italy, polenta used to be more popular than pasta. I LOVE polenta. But really, the stuff they serve in restaurants (outside of Italy) is so premade and weird. I want the fresh gloopy stuff! So this polenta was pretty good coming from and American restaurant. But mine is better. ;-) Robby ordered the homemade fettuccine with mushrooms and herbs, but he couldn't be talked into adding the truffle oil. I'm sure with the truffle oil it would have been extra fabulous, but alas not everyone's palate can handle the explosion of taste that is the truffle. (I'm talking about the fungus not the chocolates people... in case anyone was confused.) But the pasta was good and homemade, and the mushrooms were fresh. The sauce was a little boring and sparse. It needed salt or something, or maybe a dash of mushroom stock. Jezra got the prosciutto and spinach pasta which was very simple but quite good. THEN we had dessert. We got the Frangelico chocolate mouse, which was delicious. Frangelico is probably one of my favorite liqueurs, and it was the perfect flavor accompaniment to the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse. We also had the tiramisu, which was passably good. Nobody makes it like Mario from the Rex. ;-) So all in all, it was the perfect meal on my last night.
I miss you NYC! And Jezra and Robby too. :-) Luckily, they are both coming home to LA for Chrismakkah. P.S. Robby is much more attractive in real life, he just looks ridiculous in all photographs. And he's single ladies!!!
