sheep dip

met up with Goldilocks for an impromptu dinner last night. she had initially suggested meeting in her neighborhood, Chinatown, but since i'm attempting to low-carb diet, i suggested Egg Shop in Little Italy instead.

i arrived early, and although the shop is small, there was plenty of space. the uber-chic waitress with hot pink hair was very friendly and inviting. it's definitely a trendy/hipster spot attempting to be casual. for instance, sit-where-you-like=casual. no jameson or average liquor choices behind the bar=hipster. you don't have jameson or dewars or any run-of-the-mill choices, but you have a Knob Creek maple bacon bourbon.

however, this snafu aside, the service and food was pretty great. looking for a reasonable alternative for whisky on the rocks, the waitress suggested Sheep Dip. it was a reasonable alternative,but only because my drink of choice wasn't available.

Goldilocks and i split the Poached Burrata ($14) as an appetizer. holy shit.  runny egg yolk encased in a ball of burrata to create the illusion of a poached egg, but SO much more delicious. the saltiness of the cheese was perfectly balanced by the tomato agrodolce, which are sweetly braised/stewed grape tomatoes.  the chickpeas could have been crispier, but were by no means mushy. and that truffle toast. i permitted myself to have a small piece of the crispy, garlicky bread and it took all my resolve not to gobble up the rest.

resolving to stay strong, i ordered the Prefab Sprouts ($15) which was a flavor packed bowl of healthy, low carb items. the best part was the pool of creamy tahini at the bottom of the bowl. there was ample sauce to coat and dip every item in the bowl.

Goldilocks, influenced by my healthy decision and thinking about her impending nuptials in May, opted for the Spandexxx ($15). unfortunately, the dish looked a little dry and the abundance of miso quinoa proved overwhelming for her. she struggled to eat the bowl and left a pretty sizeable amount of quinoa at the bottom of it. 

can't wait to go back when i'm not on a restricted diet. it is a little pricey for what you get but the flavor is spot on. note that alcohol can really rack up the bill and it seems that the best option is to order wine if you're looking to keep things under budget.

ummmmmami

i've always been a big fan of Japanese food.  it's probably one of my favorite cuisines. whether it's sushi, sashimi, or izakaya-style, i want to eat it all.

Bubby and i decided on a girls only dinner last night at Izakaya.  the choice of restaurant was perfect in light of my upcoming trip to Japan.  it's a small eatery, but when we arrived at 7 pm there was plenty of room and we were seated easily.  the place filled up an hour later, but was never packed.

the simple wooden fixtures and design fits perfectly with its simple and homey menu. and they have the most kawaii (adorable) hipster waiters! they make helpful food suggestions without being pushy and describe the ingredients of each dish when it is served. it's a great place for casual dinner with friends and almost a good date location except for its poor acoustics.  when the place began getting filled, the conversational noises become deafening and Bubby and i were pretty much shouting to each other at one point during the meal.

that aside, the food here is impeccable. it's tapas style eating so be prepared to share dishes.  we started with a special from their specials board: tofu and mushrooms ($11). the dish is a block of soft tofu with enoki mushrooms in a thick dashi gravy. it was the perfect gentle note to start the meal.  this was Bubby's and my favorite dish of the night. it was just... umami.

foods are served whenever they're ready, so halfway through our first dish, the grilled mackerel ($12), another special of the night, arrived. crispy and salty grilled skin containing tender flesh inside, Bubby and i pretty much ravaged the dish. it's served with a side of grated daikon and lemon wedge which help round out the savory salt.

next up was the addictive cabbage ($6), a simple raw cabbage dish dressed with salt and pepper and a very light dressing (perhaps of sesame oil and something else i can't place). you may want to dismiss this dish, but, aside from providing a nutritional balance to the meal, it's just damn good and just the kind of dish you want to munch on while drinking sake.

the scallop carpaccio ($12), another dish from the specials board, was the prettiest dish of the night. meaty slices of raw carpaccio were simply seasoned with just a little tang, and garnished with ikura.  the ikura were perfect little bursts of flavor to accompany the scallop.

before we could start on the scallop, the famous chicken nanban ($15) was delivered to the table. juicy pieces of boneless fried chicken dressed in a tangy sauce and generously topped with homemade tartar sauce. although the dish could have been crispier, the flavor was spot-on. a little sweet, a little tangy, with wedge of lemon for some nice acidity.

lastly, we were served a scallop, avocado, and pork roll ($12), a special of the night, and a last minute substitute for the miso grilled beef tongue we had initially wanted to order.  it was a recommendation of the adorably hipster waiter (he was japanese, with bleached blonde hair and thick-framed glasses. total hipster). the scallop and avocado are rolled up in the pork, breaded and fried. then sliced like a sushi roll. while the insides get a little mushy since it's heated avocado, the pork remains juicy and it creates an interesting flavor compilation.  this is probably the only dish that i wouldn't have ordered again.

Bubby and i slowly worked our way through the food, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over the simple yet complicated flavors of each dish.  although the noise level of the restaurant was sometimes overbearing, the food was always gentle and comforting. 

the food prices are very reasonable considering we were the perfect amount of full and the quality.  be aware that the sake prices are pretty steep, with glasses averaging $11-14 and bottles starting at $65. 

BRRRR it's finally winter

for Christmas, my sister gave me the Flexitarian diet book in an attempt to help me lose weight and facilitate my conversion to vegetarianism.  in the spirit of the new year, i decided to go for its 5-week diet menu with as much gusto as i can physically and monetarily accomplish.

which is how i found myself at Rego Park Center on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. worst mistake ever.  no surprise that the place was completely packed, as most people would think to go grocery shopping on Sunday, before the week starts. but when you team a Costco and an Aldi's in the same shopping complex, expect chaos to reign. Aldi's is on the 1st floor and Costco is on the basement level. if you make the unfortunate decision to park in the basement level and would like a shopping cart for your Aldi's shopping needs, be prepared to wait for an elevator.  there was actually a ridiculous line for the 1 working elevator. and of course, as happens all the time, there will always be assholes who attempt to cut the line, as if the rules of society and civilization don't apply to them. 

after surviving the hell and nightmare of that ordeal, we headed over to Trader Joe's in Forest Hills. because i like to make myself suffer. our entire trip was probably 35 minutes. 20 minutes to get there. 15 minutes inside the poorly laid out store, where the lines are outrageous, and because of the exorbitantly long lines, it's impossible to shop for anything in the aisles. i grabbed a free turkey chili sample and bolted out of there. it made me deeply appreciate the Trader Joe's on Atlantic near my apartment for the efficiency of their layout.

since we were in Forest Hills, Sandlot was clamoring for a stop at Eddie's Sweet Shop, the oldest ice cream shop in New York. however, since Sandlot's lactose intolerant, he needed to fortify his stomach before he filled it with lactose. luckily, there was a pizzeria just down the block so we stopped in for lunner/dinch. 

Dante's Pizza is clearly a local pizzeria. sparse decoration, the old school orange plastic booths and tables. clearly most of their business is delivery and take-out. the regular cheese slice had a layer of glistening grease on top, so i opted for the spinach mushroom slice instead, extra crispy. the mushrooms were canned (which i secretly like more than fresh) and the toppings were abundant, covering every inch of the slice. aside from a wish for more sauce, i was pretty satisfied with it overall. and they did the extra crispy request perfectly.

Sandlot got a meatball hero (no cheese), which was good if not generic. he also felt they were a little stingy with the sauce. but otherwise, no complaints about the food.

my only really complaint is that our entire meal was $14. the hero was $7 and my bottle of diet dr. pepper was $2. which made my slice $4-5. yikes.

next we walked over to a completely empty Eddie's Sweet Shop. the decor borders between nostalgic and old-like-it-needs-to-be-renovated. 3 teenage kids were hanging out behind the counter. friendly and attentive enough, although their presence seems contrary to the nostalgia of the place.  especially as they played songs from their iPod over the speakers i.e. hotline bling.

full from our prior meal, we each ordered a single scoop sundae: strawberry with hot fudge and vanilla with hot fudge and walnuts. the strawberry ice cream was average, without the frozen strawberries or homemade taste i tend to like. the color was that processed bright pink that blares unnatural. the vanilla on the other hand was pretty good, as was the hot fudge, although based on the yelp pictures i had expected some more of it. the walnuts were finely chopped, which was a nice touch. and the whip cream was definitely abundant. although by the end i was feeling a little whip-creamed out.

$13.75 for 2 scoops and 3 toppings is a little steep, but i guess it's worth it to sit in a part of history. once.