Monday, December 25th, 2006
Given the immigrant history of New York City, it’s not surprising that it is an amazingly diverse city — not just in terms of people and culture, but (you guessed it) in terms of food as well. We recently visited NYC for a short 3-day trip and experienced just a little bit of what the Big Apple had to offer.
The Times Square/42nd St. subway station. We took the subway to China Town, which was the first stop of our trip.
This was a street vendor selling chicken sticks, eggrolls, fried rice, and noodles. He smiled a lot and really wanted us to buy something, so we bought a chicken stick from him. This was him preparing our order.
Our first full meal in New York City — beef noodle soup and dumplings. Very delicious.
All the restaurants in China Town serve hot tea instead of water (probably because of the cold weather).
Another meal in China Town. The food was quite authentic and the prices were decent (maybe slightly cheaper than what you would pay here in Dallas).
Beef tendon noodle soup with some gigantic wontons
We never knew there was more than one kind of egg custard until we saw this place called Egg Custard King Cafe which offered 5-6 different types. We ate several of them the first night and came back a second time near the end of our trip.
This was also the first time we tried a bubble tea drink that was hot. It was not too bad but I think I still prefer it cold.
We were told Tai Pan is probably one of the best bakeries in the city, and having been there we can understand why. Definitely a good place to visit if you’re ever in New York City (it’s right in the middle of Canal Street so you can’t miss it).
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory was another recommended place that we’re glad we visited. They have a lot of exotic flavors, including durian which we wanted to try but were too scared to. And yes it was quite cold that night, but as the saying goes… there’s always room for ice cream.
Times Square is really not a good place to eat unless you’re willing to spend a lot of money. The food is expensive and the quality is mediocre at best. The slice of Famiglia pizza you see above cost $5 but it tasted bland and stale. The teriyaki beef bowl we got at another place was also a waste of money. The only place we went to that wasn’t super overpriced was the McDonald’s on Broadway (it was actually a very nice McDonald’s).
Another reason not to eat at Times Square — some of the restaurants lock the bathrooms and make you pay a quarter to get in. Even if you’re a customer there you still have to go up to the cashier and ask for a coin to use the bathroom — which we did. Kind of awkward in my opinion (it’s like when you were in elementary school and had to ask the teacher for a pass to go to the bathroom).
This is a Duane Reade store right across the street from the Port Authority bus terminal. There are a lot of locations throughout the city (it’s basically the NYC version of Walgreen’s or CVS Pharmacy). Good place to buy snacks, drinks, etc.
To get the really good food, you have to go to the neighborhoods where the locals actually live. The pictures above are from the Greenwich Village area and there are some really fantastic restaurants around there. The competition is pretty heavy and word-of-mouth travels quickly, so the restaurants have to consistently deliver high quality food at a decent price or they won’t survive for long.
One of the restaurants in the Greenwich Village we tried was called Palma. It was probably the best pasta (and Italian food) we’ve ever had. The food took awhile to prepare but our server explained that everything was homemade from scratch, including the pasta. Fortunately, while we were waiting they served some complimentary bread and olives that were excellent. I normally don’t like olives but these were mild and sweet — and very tasty. Prices were between $9 - $13 for an entree.
This was a famous cheese store we visited as part of a dining tour. We sampled a couple types of cheese and some olives. We also tried an interesting pepper that was both spicy and sweet at the same time.
A thin crust New York Style pizza we tried at John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. It was a bit pricey at $22 for a large but definitely worth trying at least once.
We did a lot of walking and that was the perfect opportunity to try a few of the many food stalls on the side of the road. You can get everything from hot dogs and fresh roasted nuts to lamb gyros and rice platters. Not all of the food stands are good though — look for the most crowded ones with people standing in line. They’re probably waiting in line for a reason.
And last but not least, this was one of the Cuban eateries we tried. The place didn’t look too clean but it was literally packed to the point where you couldn’t fit another person inside. We had to wait in line for awhile to get our food. It was pretty good, but if only it didn’t have the bananas…
So that’s about it. We wish we could have tried more places but we just didn’t have the time (or stomach capacity). The next time we go on a trip we need to learn how to expand our stomachs beforehand… so perhaps we can get some more meals in. Or maybe it would be easier just to stay a few days longer.
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Thursday, December 14th, 2006
After hearing about the famous cheese fries at Snuffer’s, we decided to give the place a try to see what all the fuss was about. The restaurant was pretty packed when we visited, and we had to wait a few minutes before we got a table. The menu is a simple two-sided piece of laminated paper, which was fine except for the fact that all of the menus seemed oddly greasy (we would shortly discover the reason why). We didn’t think too much of it at the time and proceeded to place our order. We ended up getting a large cheddar fries with bacon/chives/jalapenos, an order of nachos, a mushroom swiss chicken platter, and a bacon cheeseburger platter.
The cheddar fries were served about two minutes later, and initially the plate looked like a pretty good value with extremely generous helpings of toppings heaped on top of the fries and a cup of ranch dipping sauce on the side. The only problem was that the fries had absorbed so much grease that they were about twice as heavy as they should have been. It tasted ok for maybe the first bite, but after that the overwhelming amount of grease made each successive bite increasingly difficult to swallow (I guess if you’re used to eating this kind of stuff it might not be a problem — we saw some of the people sitting around us happily devouring the fries like they were stir-fried noodles).
Unable to finish the fries, we decided to set it aside and wait for the entrees to arrive, hoping that they would at least be a little better. Much to our dismay, we got more of the same fat-laden, ridiculously greasy “food” that was served earlier. The nachos were coated with a thick, oily layer of cheese, and the cheese was pretty much the only thing you could taste. These weren’t your typical nachos where you have tortilla chips with cheese on top; these were more like cheese globs with some tortilla chips inside.
As far as the platters we ordered, the grilled chicken tasted decent at least, but only in comparison to the other dishes. It didn’t taste like lard, but it was still smothered in an excessive amount of cheese. Even the toast that came with the entrees was quite heavily buttered. We ordered corn and black-eyed peas for the side dishes, and those were the only things that we could finish (sort of). The mashed potatoes were ok as well — nothing special but at least edible.
In the end, we took about half the food home simply because we couldn’t manage to eat any more of it. The food here makes a Double Bacon Cheeseburger at Jack In The Box look like a veggie sandwich. The food was so unhealthy that we decided to add a new rating category for our reviews — the healthiness of the food. We think this is an important factor to consider when eating out, and so we will be including it for all of our future restaurant reviews.
One thing to note: we certainly understand that a sports bar type restaurant can’t be expected to serve carrots and brussel sprouts, and that you don’t exactly go to this type of restaurant if you’re looking to help your diet. But the thing is, we’ve been to plenty of sports bars that have been able to serve up a decent plate of nachos or fries that didn’t taste like pure grease. We’ll leave it at that, whether you agree or disagree, but suffice it to say that Snuffer’s is now on our official list of “banned” restaurants.
Snuffer’s Restaurant and Bar
Ambiance: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cleaniness: 4
Value: 4
Health: 2
Overall: 4.4
Tags: Snuffer’s, cheddar fries, greasy food
Posted in Restaurant Reviews, American | No Comments »
Monday, December 11th, 2006
At a wedding reception the food and atmosphere are obviously very important aspects and are usually what make a great (or terrible) lasting impression for guests. But at the same time, the quality of service is just as critical, and in my opinion is probably the most difficult to get right. The food and decorations can be prepared beforehand (i.e., before the hordes of hungry guests arrive). But to achieve the kind of service expected at such an event — the type that is unobtrusive yet somehow omnipresent — requires not only preparedness but a certain degree of endurance and stamina. Let me explain. Imagine carrying a small plate of food with maybe 15 small one-bite servings, and walking into a throng of 350 ravenous Chinese folks crowded in a narrow hallway impatiently waiting to be seated for dinner. Imagine doing that not once or twice, but multiple times throughout the evening. I felt kind of sorry for the servers charged with this harrowing task. The people working behind the bar serving 50 drinks a minute certainly didn’t have an easy task either.
All in all though, I must say the wait staff did a commendable job. They managed to keep all the guests happy, and despite the rather long wait in the reception hall, the overall mood of the crowd actually seemed to improve as time passed. Some of the more “crafty” guests started learning where the servers would come out from and they would lie in ambush to get to the food first. But the servers caught on and started entering from different locations so that other guests could be served. Empty glasses and used napkins were removed quickly and without much interference, and the area was kept clean at all times. Overall, I was actually quite surprised by their efficiency.
While their efficiency is certainly to be praised, some of the servers seemed a bit lost though when it came to explaining the food (I don’t think they were too familiar with the menu). Not a big deal though. The food was good and it was served quickly, so everyone was happy. Maybe the next time they are hosting a crowd of Chinese people they can teach them a couple of games — like how to bob for apples with chopsticks. That should keep the crowd entertained for awhile.
I got a chance to taste test the lamb before the wedding reception, and it was just as good at the reception as it was at the tasting. The lamb meat was tender and it didn’t taste gamey at all. The red “sauce” on top was sweet mint tomato chutney, and I’m a big fan of sweet/salty combinations, so the pairing of the lamb and chutney was good. Served on the side were mashed bean and eggplant which tasted like a less starchy version of mashed potatoes, grilled quarter of a pita used to scoop up the mashed concoction, a rather bland corn tamale. The one thing I didn’t like about this dish was that the lamb portion was too small! At the tasting I got two pieces, and it was like an appetizer to me. Also missing were the fried plantain chips that I really liked from the tasting but didn’t make it to the final version.
The seafood and the vegetables were a nice surprise because they weren’t offered at the tasting. The seafood plate had a small sampling of shrimp, scallops, crab claws, and mussels. These were probably boiled in lightly salted water, then chilled before serving. Aside from the seafood cocktail sauce, no other flavoring was added to mask the delicate flavors of these tiny morsels. Drizzled on with a bit of lemon and lime juice, the seafood tasted refreshing after the rich lamb meat.
The vegetables came in their own plate, too. I think we were the only table to have all the food brought to us. Other tables had to stand in line for their vegetables and turkey. The vegetables were probably quickly steamed, then sauteed and served as is with a very faint hint of salt. I thought they were perfect because the broccoli, cauliflower, and the asparagus still had a crunchiness to them. The mushrooms and the tomato bursted with flavor. There was also a turkey dish that I didn’t take a picture of. Actually it was more like a turkey sandwich, and I nearly laughed when I saw it. It seemed so out of place after the previous three dishes. The turkey was dry, the bread was dry, so I didn’t particularly like the dish.
In keeping with the theme of small portions, the fruits were served in a martini glass. There was just enough to taste. If I remembered correctly, my glass had strawberry, blackberry, kiwi, star fruit, watermelon, and jicama. This fruit martini was somewhat exotic, and it looked colorful, but because this assortment of fruits do not all peak in flavor at the same time, it fails in the taste category.
Last but not certainly not least, who can forget the dessert portion of the wedding? Interestingly, the assortment of asian goodies were actually homemade and provided by close friends & family of the bride. Rather than going out to a local bakery to purchase these goodies, the bride & groom saved a lot of money by requesting homemade desserts as “wedding favors” instead of the customary gifts or money from these mommy chefs. Moving onto our dessert selection of the evening, first, there were the red bean (correction*) puffs - a crispy breading on the outside filled with red bean paste on the inside. Then we had the sweet biscuits and a special soft almond cookies treat made by one of the bride’s very own small group girls. The biscuits tasted similar to a very well-reknown Chinese delicacy, “Tai-Yang-Bing.” Perhaps both desserts share some of the same ingredients or have a similar “filling” inside but in any case, they were delectable. Finally, we had homemade spice cake. And needless to say, it was a big treat for everyone there. The outcome of the dessert portion that evening came to show that sometimes even the simplest foods, when they’re homemade, can be comparable if not better than catered or store-bought goodies.
Tags: wedding, dma
Posted in Eating Out, Miscellaneous, Food Events | 2 Comments »