Monday, July 30

apparently i'm underaged

so last weekend Oni (who has advised me that it should be spelled "unni" but i don't care. i like "oni") asked me to go speed dating w/her. it's not the 1st time i've been asked to go w/a friend but since Oni also made the offer to cover my registration and it was going to be Asian speed dating, i thought i'd give it a shot. plus, aren't you just a little curious about what it's like?
so the event was hosted by click2asia at M1-5, a bar/lounge close near the chinatown area. so i get sort of dressed up to go, not for the event but b/c afterwards i'm supposed to go to Spoon's law school graduation/took the bar exam party. i must look like such a schlub on a daily basis b/c Oni was shocked at how i looked. i'm not understating that she was genuinely surprised.

so we get to the event and i'm looking around and checking out the ppl. there is a disproportionate number of goodlooking girls vs. goodlooking guys. i mean, i would tell any of my guy friends to go b/c i'm pretty sure they would clean house, it's that reedonkulously disproportionate. so Oni and i get to sit next to each other, so every guy that she's talked to, i talk to right after. the whole experience is interesting but surreal. you really don't get a good feel about anyone, it's just for you to judge based on looks and then chat and make sure it's not awkward and they're not complete losers.

they give you a break about halfway into it and to add some comedy to the night, i get up to go outside for a cig break. it being kind of dark in the bar and me never having been there before, i go to walk and don't see the step and take a massive digger onto the ground. so embarassing. and then i'm expected to try to get 1 of these ppl to date me? yea right, like that's gonna happen. Oni tries to comfort me by claiming nobody saw. of course, when we go to the bar these 3 guys who aren't part of the event chat us up while we're getting drinks and 1 of them immediately asks if i saw the girl who fell. and i had to sheepishly admit it was me. sigh.

so after the event Oni and i head over to fiddlesticks. i will be boycotting this bar. so i get there and of course they ID me at the door. they take their time, look it up and down, and then refuse to let me in. they don't believe i'm over 21. i'm in complete shock! since i've never actually been in this situation it was the 1st time i realized that, if someone doesn't accept your ID you really don't have any other options. so i just had to suck it up. Egg was meeting us there so we waited for him to get there. he showed up w/a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand and put it down on the ground in front of me so he could go inside fiddlesticks and use their bathroom. while he's inside, the manager comes over to me and asks me if the bottle's mine. i say "no" and he confiscates it. i tell Egg this when he comes back outside and he gets infuriated and goes inside to get his bottle back. and he actually gets it! they give him a spiel about his "underaged" friend having the bottle in front of her and he retorts back how i'm not underaged and how the bottle was on the sidewalk OUTSIDE their establishment and they had no jurisdiction, etc.

we ended up just heading home after that where Egg and i promptly got into a fight.

Saturday, July 28

jumping on beds

so GJ had her birthday party at Duvet, which i haven't been to since ASW's bridal shower. Egg and i went there together and although girls get in for free, Egg had to pay $20 cover. it's been so long since i've been anywhere that requires a cover and i'm surprised places like this still exist.
turns out there's open bar from 8 pm-11 pm and we arrived w/about 15 mins left so we bee-lined to the bar to drink as many free drinks as possible. otherwise, the place was nice but not packed and the crowd's definitely very varied, from B&T crowd to very middle-aged. there was a hilarious older guy who was obviously out on the prowl and not afraid to dance (badly). the place played an eclectic mix of music ranging from 80s to R&B/hip hop, which i like. we all danced a lot, jumped on beds and GJ got a variety of birthday shots and was pretty drunk by the end of the night, which is the whole point right?
afterwards Egg and i walked to Reservoir near Union Square, which was one of the only places open after 2 am in that area. the place is an atypical dive bar, nothing special. the whole way there we walked past a multitude of street vendors selling kebabs and we were literally salivating tho neither of us were hungry. when we were getting ready to leave Egg realized he had left his credit card and ID at Duvet and we booked it back there before they closed to get it. luckily everything was ok.

Thursday, July 26

lobsters galore!

so last week Bubby, Kiks and i went to City Lobster and Crab Company for Restaurant Week. the place was pretty packed and it seemed like everyone was getting the Restaurant Week menu. we all pretty much knew what we were gonna order before we even arrived at the restaurant.

for starters Bubby and i split an order of raw oyster samplers. it's not part of the Restaurant Week menu but both Bubby and i were craving it. there were 5 kinds of oysters, 2 of each kind so it worked out perfectly as an appetizer for us to share. after, i got the lobster bisque while Kiks and Bubby both got the crabcakes. while the bisque was good, w/lots of lobster pieces, it wasn't as creamy as i usually like my bisques to be. the crabcake on the other hand was delicious from the bites i stole from Bubby. and it was huge. who doesn't love a whole lump of crab? we all got lobster as an entree although there was a steak and fish option as well. i'd wished i'd brought my camera b/c they give those giant plastic bibs to eat w/the lobster. although none of us wore them, if i'd had my camera i'd definitely would've made us just for the photo op (even if Kiks swears that b/c she's from Maine she's forbidden to wear the lobster bib). dessert was a choice of key lime pie w/coconut sorbet and chocolate cake w/vanilla ice cream. both desserts were super creamy, although creaminess isn't necessarily a great thing when discussing key lime pie and they forget the coconut sorbet.

overall, it was a yummy dinner and it was nice to have a quiet but still social night out w/o having to suffer a hangover in the morning.

Tuesday, July 24

DUMBO

so, a little bit ago, on a beautiful summer saturday, Egg invited me to go out to Brooklyn Bridge Park which is located at the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO. i'd never been before, so Egg and i wandered over. the park is actually very beautiful and the view is gorgeous. while we were there we saw at least 3 different wedding parties posing for wedding pictures, getting that perfect NYC Brooklyn Bridge background.

the weather was sunny w/a bit of a breeze so we just laid out and Egg read his book while i listened to my iPod and took a nap. such a pleasant way to spend time outdoors.

afterwards, we walked toward the other end of the park and watched a bit of the show they were presenting which was very Cirque de Soleil. we slowly meandered back to Feil, passing Bubby's, where we will definitely go and eat at some point b/c when we peeked in we saw some of the biggest burgers i'd ever laid eyes on, and Jacques Torres. apparently Jacque Torres is a famous chocolatier. walking into the shop was like walking into chocolate heaven. they had adorable homemade cookie sandwiches (peach, banana, vanilla, chai and mint flavored options) and the most attractive item was their frozen hot chocolate. you can choose between wicked (infused w/mexican chili) and classic. Egg ordered a classic and i guess there was a run on them b/c the guy making them ended up making extra. so Egg asked to have the extra one and they gave it to him for free! score free drink for me! and it was delicious.

Monday, July 23

Slate-another goodbye

argh...i knew today was gonna be a bad day. i just woke up and had a bad feeling. i think all my late night sleeping has finally caught up w/me b/c i was super-cranky when i first woke up. how did i know that i was super-cranky? well, when i woke up and smelled cig smoke i was immediately pissed at Wifey for smoking in her room at 9 am. that's when i figured i was gonna be a little touchey today. following this incident was the GINORMOUS field trip i got stuck behind trying to get down to the subway which caused me to miss my train.

but let's not dwell on bad things rights? so instead i'm gonna post about something i thought was fun (sort of) and has at least got hilarious pics.


so the last weekend before Gohm moved back to Cali (which btw i was made fun of for; doesn't anyone else refer to California as "Cali"? i can't be the only one), one of his MANY tongsen (and yes i know i butcher the english translation of korean words) had a bday party at Slate. Slate i actually like except for its location (Meatpacking/Chelsea) b/c it automatically means you have to wait in line if you don't have a table which is reedonkulous for what is essentially a giant billiards place w/a lounge above it. either way, shots abounded and everyone had fun.
Minchul in particular since he was drunk enough to jump on top of Um which Um wasn't expecting and ultimately caused him to fall over onto a wet spot on the sidewalk. we all decided to go to Gahm Mi Oak (as always) for some food and Gohm, Stitch, Um and i followed Oppa and Joebo to their cars, hoping for a ride. the Boys Club came as well, although Muscles kept mentioning that their car was parked in the opposite direction, but nobody really listened to him. so we'd finally walked about 5/6 avenue blocks to get to Oppa's car when Boys Club finally realized how far away from their car they were and they had to head back and they would meet us in ktown.

(Minchul on top and Um on the bottom. notice the wet spot...)

we all got to Gahm Mi Oak fine, but Boys Club arrived about an hour after us. why? b/c they got lost. Muscles made the mistake of using Minchul as a guide and 1st they got lost trying to find their car although it was parked only a block from Slate, then they couldn't find their way to ktown and somewhere along the way they had to take a cab back to their car. Muscles was so pissed when he finally sat down to eat his sul rul tang. i suspect Muscles was kinda drunk too tho b/c after his sul rul tang arrived, he starts eating, then asks the waiter for rice. he then turns to me and Dom and asks, "shouldn't there be rice in this?" he continues to eat and suddenly realizes, yes, there is rice at the bottom of the soup bowl. we go to Gahm Mi Oak almost every time we go out. and they always order sul rul tang.

you can see why i was so stunned by his questions, right?

Sunday, July 22

Cabana

so ASW and i met up for a belated birthday dinner last wkd, which was really good b/c i haven't really seen her since her wedding in Vegas. we went to Carne Vale in Alphabet City since ASW was in the mood for meat and this place is a rodizio, where you have buffet apps and when you've had enough you give the waiters the green light and they start bringing various cuts of meat to your table until you tell them to stop.

the setting is pretty romantic, dim lighting and candlelight and all that and in the summer they open the patio doors and since we got seats near the patio it was pretty cool to watch the crowds outside passing. if you're a guy, you would definitely love this place b/c around 9:30 pm they have a very scantily dressed woman-and when i say scantily i mean thong and bra top-come out and dance to, what i assume is, Brazilian music. pretty entertaining. the food was good, but the service was pretty slow. the waiters weren't as vigilant as they should be bringing around the skewered meat and serving us and ASW and i actually had to leave before we could get dessert b/c we were meeting ppl and it was getting late. i recommend coming to this place early (tho you'll miss the belly dancer) b/c i suspect the service is a lot better b/c the place is less crowded. i'm definitely gonna give this place another try tho b/c $35 prixe-fix for app buffet, all the meat you can eat and dessert is just too good a deal to just write off.

afterwards, we were going to meet FDR at One, which i'd never been to. ok, so i feel like i know the city pretty well by now, give or take a few spots. turns out Little West 12th is one of those spots that i don't know. it took me and ASW a while to find the place and even then we eventually had to ask somebody for directions. we finally found ASW a prime parking spot, but once we got to One, ASW took one look at the line and decided it wasn't worth and went back home to Jersey.

i continued on to Cabana to meet Oppa and Tina for Meegs' birthday party. i almost gave up tho when i saw how long the line for this place was. it actually wrapped around the corner onto 17th street. i prob would've left except i had already told Egg and Oni to meet me there so i just trucked it out in line and it was timed almost perfectly so that when i got to the front, Oni arrived in a cab. we had a good time but didn't really hang w/Tina/Meegs and Oppa had already left before we'd gotten in. either way, had a good time w/my BLS buddies and it was all worth it when Oni told me i looked skinny.

Thursday, July 19

launching Restaurant Week w/Pal

so i went to my first Restaurant Week dinner last night w/Pal at Brasserie 8 1/2. i should've steeled myself for the night ahead b/c my very first Restaurant Week meal ever had been w/Pal over 2 years ago at Sushi Samba and that night was insanity. this night wasn't much different.

initially i was extremely tired and decided to take a quick nap after work before going to meet Pal. this ended up being a big mistake b/c i overslept and woke up at 7 pm when our reservation was at 7:30 pm. oops. so i booked it over there and finally met Pal and we sat at the bar and waited to be seated. for some reason, even tho i wasn't starving, i was fixated on putting stuff in my mouth and just couldn't stop munching. luckily for me Brasserie 8 1/2 puts yummy spiced nuts and adorable little olives out for customers to munch on so i was content until we got seated.

Brasserie 8 1/2's Restaurant Week menu is actually very good. at the waitress' suggestion i got the Duck, Duck, Duck appetizer (that's just fun to say) and the steak entree. Pal got the Scallop Ceviche appetizer and the striped bass entree. the duck was very good b/c it was in this amazing but light cream sauce which perfectly complemented the soft poached egg and the saltiness of the duck prosciutto and cracklings. i got to try Pal's scallop ceviche and that was also very good w/a nice citrusy flavor and very light and refreshing. my steak was good, tho a little overcooked from the medium rare i'd requested. it came w/a piece of fried camembert which was so yummy (fried cheese? what's not to love?). for dessert, we both got the Chocolate Lounge Sampler which is the most perfect dessert ever w/mini portions of a devil's food cupcake, eclair, cannoli, and lemon tart. i was in heaven.

afterwards we meandered downtown and met w/Pal's "friend" Cherry Pie. we went over to Blue Fin to have a drink and discuss our next plan of attack before heading in a cab over to KeyBar Lounge. you'd never find this place if you didn't know about it b/c there's no sign and the door blends in w/the surrounding walls to be totally unremarkable. the place is pretty small but chill and we all had a good time. a little drama occurred between Pal and Cherry Pie but ultimately it all worked out and we ended up being the last 3 ppl there. that's when Cherry Pie got the idea to play truth-or-dare in the private booth at the back of lounge. of course, being a guy, Cherry Pie really just wanted to play the game so he could try and get me and Pal to do stuff. please. i'm not retarted (although Pal was pretty wasted. she kept threatening that she was going to throw up). the really redeeming part of this place were the Rolo shots we kept ordering, which is one of the most amazing shots i've ever had. it has the texture and taste of frozen hot chocolate w/a little kick after you've drank it. so amazing.
eventually we got kicked out b/c the bar was closing and we started to walk home when Pal started swerving and saying she had to pee. so we stopped at another bar and got her a giant cup of water while Cherry Pie and i had one last beer. when i finally got home and in bed it was 5:00 am. waking up for work was a nightmare.

Wednesday, July 18

happy birthday Debs!

so Debs turned the big 'ol 24 and decided to throw her party at 230 Fifth. i invited Egg, Kiks and Chen to come along and we all got ready together before heading out, albeit kind of late.

due to some misdirection by Egg we got out at the wrong subway stop and had to walk 8 blocks back to 27th and 5th where the party was. we slowly trundled along and was just a block away when i got a text message from Debs saying that 230 Fifth had been shut down and she was moving the party to Hotel on Rivington. sure enough, when i look up i see an enormous crowd outside of 230 Fifth. ppl are still waiting in line but it's pretty obvious that no one's getting in. to this day, no one knows what happened. it's a mystery.

so we hop back on the subway and once again get off at the wrong stop but finally get to Hotel on Rivington where we immediately feel like VIP b/c there's a line to get in but we get to jump in front of it b/c Debs has booked a table. love that feeling. while i definitely liked that place and had a good time seeing some of Debs' Tufts friends i haven't seen in a while, i'm not sure that i'll be back anytime soon. there's just nothing that's overly impressive/singularly unique about the place.

afterwards, Kiks decides to head home and Egg, Chen and i move onto Living Room right around the corner for another drink. was pretty buzzed by the time we got here and could only plop myself down on a bar stool and slowly slip by raspberry stoli and soda while i played 3rd wheel to Egg and Chen. we finished our drinks and headed home, where i made Chen some ramen to finish off the night.

Tuesday, July 17

a bug bit my butt last night

last night i made the very intelligent decision to go out for a beer w/Egg and Brantley after moping around my apt all day (plus i had refused their prior invitation to go to the park to watch To Sir, With Love). unfortunately i made the mistake of wearing a tank top and some loose jeans that ride real low.

and today i've discovered that a bug has bit me right above my bum.

actually 2 bugs. the other one's on my hip.

Saturday, July 14

let's just chill

so right in that time when mugginess was the weather craze, Egg convinced me to go to Prospect Park to listen to the NY Philharmonic. we trekked over on the train and laid down a bedsheet and just sat and listened to music, which was so nice.

the park was pretty packed and we looked around at all the lovely picnics everyone had. ppl are really ingenious when they want to be: they had bug candles, little tables, buckets/coolers for wine and beverages and even a paper lantern. we'll have to give that a shot next time. after the concert there was a fireworks display which made it a quintiessential summer night.

when we got back to the Heights we stopped at trout so Egg could get food w/Brantley and we found out that there would be a midnight showing of the newest Harry Potter movie. we thought about it for about 5 seconds and decided to go for it. the theater devoted about 4 theaters to playing the movie so we had good seats and watched the movie in comfort. overall i think the movie lives up to the expectation that the franchise has created but in terms of being true to the correlated book it takes a lot of liberties and changes a few significant things.

Thursday, July 12

tearful goodbye

saying goodbye to Gohm was a very tearful event obviously.

i made the decision to go w/Gohm to the airport to send him off b/c i didn't want him to be there alone. after all, he'd been here for over a year and it was sad to think that nobody could go w/him to the airport to see him off. everything was fine until it was time for Gohm to go into the gate. that's when the waterworks started. after he went in it just got worse. but not that sobbing-uncontrollably-can't breathe crying but those fat-soulful-tears-roll-down-the-face-dramatically type of crying.

then i had to ride the airtrain and the subway from queens to ktown. so embarassing.

Egg had been thoughtful enough to ask me to dinner before i'd gone w/Gohm to the airport b/c he didn't want me to be sad and alone and i was meeting him, Ryan, Wifey and Chen at Hanbat. aside from an initial tear at Egg's inquiry "are you ok?" i held myself together and had a good time out w/them. Ryan had never really been out for korean food so everyone ordered something different. Egg got the soonjooboo, i got kimchijigae and we got Ryan the atypical bimbimbap and we all shared pajjeun. i think he liked it.

random weird incident: while at Hanbat who walks in but Leegro! haven't seen him in a few years and always remember him as the goofy kid who would prank my house at midnight w/drive-by honkings and dirtbag his friends. so i chat w/him about what's going on and find out he's getting married in September. totally crazy. i can't believe Leegro's matured so much, enough to get married. later i call Jcrew and find out that 2 of the other guys in their goofy posse are also engaged. now i feel really old. and very single.

i introduced the crew to Pinkberry, even tho we were so stuffed from dinner and afterwards we headed towards the bar at the W for 1 more drink before i went home and slept alone for the 1st time.

Tuesday, July 10

the end of an era


after finally being able to talk w/Gohm, i feel much better and have hopes things will be ok. as such, i'm finally ready to share moments from those last few days together.




in honor of Gohm's departure Chow and Min got the crew together at 230 Fifth. they got 2 tables and 2 bottles which allowed everyone to get in on the guest list w/o having to wait in the insane line that was building around the block. it was really good to see everyone together and lots of ppl came to say their goodbyes.

of course, the boys all immediately dragged Gohm to the bar and then shots started flowing all over the place. Oppa made a promise to get Gohm retarted but at the end it ended up that Oppa got completely wasted and we eventually lost him at Third Floor in ktown where he was going to stay w/friends who were there and he had no idea where his car was parked. everybody definitely got a little toasted (at the least).
Urban was a little cold that night (it was windy on the rooftop) and she started to hug the little candles on the tables in order to keep warm. eventually she hugged it so close to her face that she set her bangs on fire and ultimately singed her hair. don't worry, Urban is fine and doesn't look any worse for the wear.

as always, we ended up at Gahm Mi Oak for sul rul tang. at some point, Guns decided to start chucking peppers at Johnson who was sitting pretty far away but was trying to catch them in his mouth. each one kept bouncing off Johnson's face and you could tell he was getting a little frustrated. eventually Johnson got to eat a pepper but he had to put it in his own mouth w/o Guns' help.
after a crazy and late night out, Gohm and i had to meet one of his old Cali co-workers for brunch. both of us were definitely hurting when we got to Hunter's and i couldn't really eat any of the food i'd ordered. after brunch we headed over to the Met in order to do the NY tourist thing. i haven't been there since my last school field trip so it was fun to be back there. of course, Gohm and i both acted as if we were on a field trip. after getting my museum map i rolled it up and kept smacking Gohm w/it. Gohm, like a typical boy, only got really excited when we went to the medieval armory, "cool, guns!" and "en garde" (at the sight of the swords). it was so funny but adorable.

after 3-4 hrs everybody was museumed out and we went to pinkberry. i have to admit that the 1st time i had pinkberry i wasn't a big fan. that was before trying it w/all those fruit toppings. so yummy. i have now become a complete pinkberry fan. deelish...

Sunday, July 8

surviving being single

so last night actually went well. Pal, being my go-to-gal for being single, has recently hit a snag w/her live-in boyfriend and has started to browse the bars which works towards my advantage. Chen also came out, which is a good step towards creating the single posse. We ended up going to Public House, which is a nice midtown trendy bar for working stiffs and just low key enough to not overwhelm me. As soon as Chen arrived we began catching up so there was no focus on trying to meet random boys/any such activity which is great b/c of the delicate Gohm situation.

after a while we all headed towards Crocodile Lounge to meet Bear, who i haven't seen/significantly talked to since Gohm and i started dating. luckily for all of us, Crocodile Lounge gives out free pizza for every drink you buy which was good b/c neither Chen/Pal/i had eaten any dinner. Pal quickly gave out and began to feel sick (there were some sneaky llager shots previously ingested at Public House from another guy) so she went home. Bear, Chen and i stayed, Bear mainly out of respect. i caught up w/Bear and then Chen came home w/me to Brooklyn to crash.

the next day i had another reason to go out. this time w/Gohm's friends. this was really important. i've definitely grown to like some of them as people and it would've been sad to not be able to be friends/hang out w/them simply b/c Gohm moved back to Cali. so Chen decided she needed to be social and stayed in Brooklyn so we could go out together. it was like living together b/c we went to brunch and shopping and took a giant nap (having not gone to sleep until 6 am the previous night) and then we headed to Katra to meet Oppa and Tina's party. Stitch and Um met us there along w/the Boys Club. it was a great opportunity to hang w/everyone and establish a presence and bond beyond just being Gohm's girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend). everyone had a good time; it wasn't awkward, and i genuinely hope that we can all do this again.

Chen got along well w/the Boys Club, which is the 1st time they've actually been really nice to anyone i've brought out. of course it helped that i'd brought a cute, good-looking Asian girl. she got pretty drunk, drinking well past her usual 3-drink limit and even taking a shot w/one of the guys. the final result was that we teetered back to Brooklyn on the subway and then she got a ginormous craving for cup-o-noodles and we stopped into the 24-hr deli to get her food. we finally find the cup-o-noodles and Chen grabs 2 then notices that next to the cup-o-noodles is a larger bowl-of-noodles and she immediately drops what's in her hand so she can go for the bigger portions. pretty hilarious to watch a drunken girl frantically look for instant noodles at 5 in the morning

Friday, July 6

baby steps

tonight's my first night out as a single person. so so so scary. after having known only Gohm for the past year and never thinking about anything else, i have no idea how it's going to go.

the plan is to meet up w/Pal and Chen at a bar for some random person's bday party and possibly see Bear later. we'll see how it all plays out.

i'm an idiot

you know what makes me feel really stupid? crying... i really really hate doing it b/c i never cry when i'm happy i only cry when i'm sad/hurt.

and i feel really stupid crying over something/someone that wouldn't/doesn't cry for me

Wednesday, July 4

happy birthday oppa

still not ready to delve into Gohm's departure so i'm gonna recap Oppa's birthday party instead b/c there are lots of fun pics from that night.

Oppa turned (an-unnamed-age; both for Oppa's sake and b/c i really don't know. my bad) and had a party at Ava lounge on top of Dream Hotel. I really really like this place b/c they don't require table service to get a table on the roof; you just have to make a reservation. unfortunately, we couldn't get the rooftop table b/c our party was too big, but we got a table in the back, which was nice b/c it was secluded from the rest of the bar.
it being Oppa's birthday, it was drinks all around for him. Min got a round of irish car bombs which Chow followed up w/a round of mind erasers. i'm sure there were other drinks being bought but those 2 were enough to get Chow drunk and sick all day the next day (ick-there was this 1 vomit incident that i'll have nightmares about). Gohm seemed to be doing well all night, but when we got back to the apartment he all of a sudden became super-drunk and immediately passed out.

eventually, the BLSers showed up and we danced the rest of the night away before going home. i had a great time and i guess the boys did too b/c they were all wasted by the end of the night. ironically, Oppa was pretty straight b/c he felt he had to be in order to host all the people who were coming from all over.

Monday, July 2

the last supper

so Gohm is leaving for Cali. not for a vacation, but forever. getting into it at this point is just gonna make me cry so i'm going to side-step that topic right now. instead, i'll talk about the last dinner Gohm and i had on his last night.

originally, we had plans to eat at Ninja, b/c Gohm had been really excited about the restaurant when it had first opened, but after reading reviews of the place (which ranged from cheesy but good food, to cheesy and not good food) we decided to go somewhere else. i suggested EN Japanese Brasserie. i've been dying to eat here for a while so it worked out well. we got the $100 tasting menu for 2 which was a 10 course meal. i can't remember all the courses but i'll recount what i can:

1.tofu sampler: yubu sashimi, yam gelee, fresh made tofu in ponzu sauce
i liked this but Gohm and i weren't too fond of the gelee b/c of the texture.
2. sashimi: o-toro, kampachi and something i didn't recognize
3. creamy avocado and shrimp salad
totally yummy salad drenched in mayo. so unhealthy but so yummy!
4.fried shrimp fritter and fish
5. chicken sausage
6.saikyo black miso cod
7.bershire pork
8.rice steamed w/salmon and topped w/salmon caviar and mint
9. fuji apple sorbet and black sesame ice cream
the sorbet really tasted like apple and the ice cream was so creamy and delicious. Gohm said the sorbet reminded him of his hamani.

we also added a fried chicken small plate as well since Gohm's such a big fan of japanese fried chicken. the meal was great and the setting was gorgeous and tranquil (not too crowded on a monday night at 6:45 pm). the only downside was Gohm got pretty buzzed/drunk from the large warm sake he had at the start of the meal and then the bottle of sake we ordered w/the tasting so he couldn't really eat much after the black cod course.

afterwards we went back to brooklyn to meet w/the BLSers to watch the premiere of transformers at 11:15. i actually really liked the movie except for the ending which was a little cheesy, but i thought for the most part the movie did well balancing some funny w/the action of the film. Gohm was pretty cranky by the end of the night from being tired so it was best we went to bed so he could get rested.