GI kicked off Restaurant Week 2013 by picking Delmonico's Kitchen. i recently went to Delmonico's for a post-Thanksgiving dinner with Sully which usually would have precluded going there again, especially for a limited menu.
however, Delmonico's Kitchen was one of the participating restaurants that offered a Sunday lunch option. i'm a big fan of participating in RW for lunch, since the menus are often similar to dinner and cost less. in addition, a Sunday lunch meant that Sully could also attend, since his work schedule during the week makes it so he would be too tired to attend a weeknight dinner.
so color me a little surprised that i have no Sunday lunch RW outings coming up. even when my friends chose a restaurant participating in RW Sunday lunch, they opted for a weeknight dinner instead. aarrgh.
is it because their weekends are too precious? or too precious to spend eating a meal with me? perhaps.
regardless, it was fun to meet up with GI, since i don't get to see him that often (his job often has him travelling and when he's not travelling for work he's travelling for fun) and it was perfect timing since he has a trip to Japan coming up and will be gone for a few weeks.
Delmonico's Kitchen is Delmonico's expansion into midtown, and while some of the aesthetics remain similar, the tone of the restaurant is very different, and definitely has a "midtown" feel to it. the service is less smooth and classic as the downtown location: the server we had at Delmonico's was polite and congenial but all business; the server at Kitchen was a little handsy and a little more personal-in a good and bad way. similarly, the sommelier we had at Delmonico's was a gruff older gentlemen who offered a little advice regarding the wine options, whereas Kitchen's sommelier simply provided us the large wine list and advised us of the RW wine special (which we ended up ordering. $30 for a bottle pinot noir? i'm in!).
the biggest difference between the 2 is the noise level and the spacing between tables. Kitchen likes to pack it in so that you can't enter or exit your table without inconveniencing your neighbors. in addition, the noise level at Kitchen was way too loud. as soon as we sat down i realized i would have to shout in order to converse with GI across the table. it was so loud that at times it was hard to hear what our waiter was saying.
surprisingly, we weren't offered any bread service. i don't know if that was because we ordered off the RW menu or just the service was so harried. as we left i noticed the table of "ladies-who-lunch" that sat next to us received an entire tray of assorted rolls and breads.
for appetizers, GI ordered the Scallop Risotto. the risotto was cooked perfectly al dente in that it wasn't too mushy or crunchy. it was slightly sweet and creamy and topped with 1 large scallop, which was well cooked and retained it's original seafood flavor. not a bad appetizer, just not a memorable one.
i ordered the pasta of the day which ended up being Parpadelle with Bolognese Sauce. the parpadelle was handmade and was paired with a flavorful bolognese that cut the salty, meaty aspect of the sauce with the lightness of tomato. i had been worried about ordering a pasta dish before attempting to eat a steak, but the appetizer, while substantial, managed to be light as well.
for entrees, GI ordered the Slow Braised Short Rib with Whipped Potato and Garlicky Spinach. this is definitely a filling entree. the short rib was just short of melt in my mouth but was still sufficiently tender. they provide an ample serving of the potato with the dish (and seem to trade it off with the spinach, which was a meager portion).
i opted for the Filet Mignon with Chef's Seasonal Vegetables (which ended up being carrots and green beans). the filet was cooked exactly how i'd ordered it: medium rare. they maintained the nice char on the outside but kept the inside warm but still rare. if it had been served with a side of potatoes i would have been in heaven.
for desserts, we ordered the New York Cheesecake which was served with blueberries in syrup and Beignets. the beignets were served with a chocolate dipping sauce and a creamy, subtley-lemon white dipping sauce that i can't identify. the beignets were served warm, dusted with powder sugar and were amazing, especially when dipped in the unidentified white sauce.
Winter RW 2013 has officially started! next stop: Locanda Verde...
during the holidays, while i was vexing about what presents to get people (ANOTHER sweater?), i stumbled upon the concept of subscription boxes.
and completely became enamored.
and a little subscription box crazy.
there's something about the idea of getting a surprise box every month that's SO fun. there was a promotion going on for Julep so i decided to purchase an intro box and 1 month for my sister as part of her christmas present.
and that's when the trouble started.
since i wanted the gift to be a surprise, and i wanted her to be able to receive it before the holidays, i decided to test out the subscription on myself and create one for her as well. as it turns out, you cannot receive more than 1 Maven box per address. so color me surprised when, although i purchased my subscription (and they charged me) on December 9th, more than a week later i had not received any confirmation of shipment.
a quick call to their customer service reps cleared up the misunderstanding and my sister received her introductory box in time for me to wrap it for christmas morning. and she received her January box shortly after the new year.
however, my boxes for December 2012 and January 2013 were still yet to arrive. another call to their customer service assured me that my boxes would be shipped out right away.
tick tock, tick tock. and hooray! my January 2013 box arrived! and it was a Gold Box, which means i received extras in addition to the January It Girl colors.
i haven't used any of them yet (i have a weird system when it comes to wearing clothes and make-up. probably something to do with having been scolded once as a child about only liking "new" things vs. "old" things). but 7 polishes (and 2 neon hair ties-the type that supposedly won't leave a crease in your hair) for $19.99 is not bad. not bad at all.
except for the fact that my introductory December box still hadn't arrived.
so another phone call to their customer service, a weird e-mail regarding a failed shipment, and 5 days later, i have my December Boho Glam box.
fun nail glitter and a cuticle balm in addition to the nail polish. for the introductory price of $4. again, not bad. but the hassle of getting these 2 boxes, and the fact that i have enough nail polish to last me the next 20 years, means i'll be stopping my subscription.
plus i still have other subscriptions to think about...
now-a-days, i have a regular happy hour tradition with BlackSesame and Kiddo on friday nights. however, if i think back, the tradition really started with Kiddo and me. due to the close proximity of our job locations, we would randomly ask each other to meet up for drinks or dinner, our schedules permitting.
on 1 such particular night, Kiddo asked me to meet him for drinks and dinner. suffering from a particularly nasty hangover that day, i had initially wanted to decline. however, Kiddo pressed me to attend, and something in the way he said, "i just need to drink tonight" convinced me to acquiesce, although i suggested a ramen restaurant for dinner in the hopes that the broth would soothe my stomach (there's just something so home-y about ramen and noodle soups. its the asian equivalent of the American chicken noodle soup).
my stomach was still acting up by the time i arrived at St. Marks to meet Kiddo. being the earlier party for once (it's very rare), i stopped into Spot Dessert Bar for some Condensed Milk Ice Cream, figuring the dairy would help to line my stomach for the alcohol i intended to put into it. when Kiddo arrived, he recommended we go to Soba-Ya for noodles instead of my ramen suggestion. soba sounded like a nice, gentle option for my tummy and was close to our current location, so we headed over.
holy jabroni what a good decision. Soba-Ya is a decently sized restaurant (not too big, not too small), but due to the popularity of it there's always a wait. ours wasn't that bad, about 20-30 mins.
since Kiddo's primary objective was to imbibe alcohol, he was very generous with the menu and allowed me to pick what we ate. we started with 2 special appetizers: uni with yuzu-ponzu gelee and fresh wasabi. being a big fan of uni, i was curious about this dish. the uni was very fresh and creamy and the gelee added a nice acidity/sweetness to the dish, with the wasabi rounding out the flavors with a slight kick. my only complaint would be that the dish is a little difficult to eat as the gelee melts extremely quick and the proportion of gelee to uni is very unbalanced leaving you with a dish of gelee at the end.
our other appetizer was ankimo (monkfish liver). this was the best rendition of this dish i've tasted to date. it's served cold and the texture is akin to pate, with an equally game-y, complex flavor. dressed with a little bit of ponzu sauce, this was my favorite dish of the night.
for entrees,Kiddo and i differed slightly for our preferences. since my tummy was still a little sensitive, i preferred to get a hot soba whereas Kiddo preferred a cold one. so in the end we ordered a large order of the Kamo Seiro ($16): sliced duck and tokyo negi in a hot dipping sauce and a large order of the Mori ($9.50). while the Kamo Seiro was very good, it was a little salty and distracted from the natural flavor of the soba. in the end, i preferred Kiddo's order of Mori, so it was lucky for me that we shared both entrees.
although i was happily satiated food-wise, i was intrigued by their offering of honey-wasabi ice cream and, with Kiddo's encouragement, ended up ordering a trio of ice creams for dessert. and i can't recommend the flavor enough! it's sweet with a little wasabi-mustard kick that isn't unpleasant!
by the end of the meal, i had discovered a restaurant i really loved, and Kiddo had managed to drink approximately 70-80% of a very large bottle of sake. as we exited the restaurant, Kiddo (a little intoxicated) convinced me to go check out Japadog, as he could "still eat," and he knew the restaurant was on my list.
which was how we found ourselves at Japadog. i ordered the Croquette (japanese croquette and arabiki sausage) while Kiddo ordered the recommended Terimayo (teriyaki sauce, mayo, and seaweed). while the Croquette had a little too much going on for a hotdog, i liked the Terimayo which was savory and sweet at the same time. next time, i would order the Oroshi. Kiddo wasn't as impressed.
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| The Terimayo |
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| The Croquette |
inquiring about what else was on my list, we found ourselves around the corner at Pommes Frites for my first time eating these crunchy french fries. at this point, i have no idea how i managed to fit any more food in my stomach and i can't recall exactly what sauces we chose although i remember there being 2. i do remember the weather was nice enough that we sat outside while we munched away and the french fries were salty and delicious and the dipping sauces were perfect.
oooo, just thinking about this night reminds me of why i'm such a fatty now.
Ryan Gosling's been making the late night circuit to promote his new movie Gangster Squad. i saw the preview for this and although it immediately struck me as just a flashy movie with a hip hop soundtrack that would be fun to watch but instantly forgettable, i still wanted to watch it. but only because of Ryan Gosling. he's just so shmexy and funny.
and how much do i wish i was Linda so that Ryan Gosling could whisper into my ear.
my sister can be a real douche sometimes. and i mean that. for reals.
i come from a typical asian family, which means my mom rules the household and that she's extremely overprotective. it used to frustrate and bug me to no end in middle school when i would ask to go over to a friend's house after school or for dinner or a sleepover. the usual response was, "why? why do you want to go to someone else's house? is our house not good enough?" such a frustrating discussion.
and it would be even more frustrating when, before i could get the requisite permission, i had to obtain a myriad of information about the friend, his/her parents, and a time-blocked itinerary/ agenda. however, as i got older, some of these requirements fell away as my mom became more accustomed to my requests and the friends i was requesting to see became familiar names.
with the advent of cellphones, i got more freedom. even then, the initial stages were cumbersome e.g. designated times to call home and a constant alert to always be able to answer my phone (the consequences of not answering it would lead to my mother in hysterics and an hour-long scolding when i returned home). but as with all rules, once you prove that you can be trusted to abide by them, you're no longer required to do so. for the most part, i still abided by them because they afforded me more freedom. as long as i followed them, my midnight curfew could be extended to 3 am or an overnight at a friend's house.
the key was to demonstrate that i could follow the rules and requirements.
my younger sister, on the other hand, doesn't seem to understand this concept.
she complains and complains about how my mom stifles her by constantly checking up on her and not letting her go out or attend things with her friends. however, let's look at her track record to get the big picture:
scenario 1: my mom requires my sister call her when she gets home after school. occasionally, my mom will then call back at a later hour to make sure my sister is still at home and hasn't snuck out before my mom gets home from work. of course my sister gets busted: she was going home after school and calling our mom, then forwarding all house calls to her cellphone so she could go out and still answer the phone if our mom called and pretend that she was at home.
scenario 2: our parents go away to Taiwan for their first vacation away from the house over Christmas and New Year's. so my sister decides to throw a house party. the cops come to bust up the party due to noise complaints (not to mention the underage drinking. but i'm from a lax italian/jewish suburb. since they know most of the families in town, they often let kids go with a warning). i get a frantic call from my sister at 1 a.m. but miss it since i'm out myself (i had called earlier at midnight to wish her happy new year. yeah, no disclosure that she was having a party at our parents' house-instead she claims she's at a party at her friend's house). so busted.
scenario 3: i decide to not disclose her indiscretion to our parents but sternly warn her that she needs to scrub the house down from top to bottom if she doesn't want to get caught. i arrive home the following weekend to be welcomed by the stale smell of cheap beer (yes, it smells different) and cigarettes, sticky hardwood floors, and random crushed cans of Busch under furniture and other places (but still in relatively plain sight). busted again.
scenario 4: i come home for Thanksgiving early and the first thing i'm greeted by is the smell of my sister engaging in an activity that is sanctioned by the state of California but not the federal government. busted. i've actually told her time and again not to engage in this and other smelly activities in the house due to the risk factor. she can take her indiscretion to the garage or the backyard. i mean really, let's use some common sense.
as a side note, i find out from my cousins that my sister spends all her time at college instagram-ing pictures of her new bong, dime and quarter bags of skunk, and other activities that you would never want evidence or proof of. ::face palm:: i already ran into and addressed this issue when she started her tumblr and inferred/implied all her sexual ::shudder at the thought:: escapades.
and then we come upon her latest antic. i get a call from my mother asking me about a concert my sister wants to go to at (and i'm quoting her) "some Western hall." really, she means Webster Hall but when i try to correct her, she tells me i'm wrong. regardless, my mom leaves it up to me to get the details from my sister about the concert and assess whether or not it's appropriate to let her go. so i get the requisite details and do a solid for my sister by recommending to our mother that she be allowed to attend her concert.
cut to the night of the concert: i get frantic phone calls from our mother at 10:30 saying my sister's not answering her phone and hasn't called our mother since 8 pm (when the concert allegedly started). of course, i have no answer for her since concert venues NEVER tell you when concerts end, only when they start. now i'm the one in a pickle since i'm the one that sanctioned her alleged attendance at the concert (i am saying alleged because with my sister there's no guarantee she actually attended this concert. she may have just picked a real event and claimed she was going in order to go to some orgy-marijuana-other drugs-fest).
sigh, i only wish i could train my sister as easily as this:
The Office - Pavlov's dog from
Rauno Villberg on
Vimeo.
i opted for a quiet new year this year in order to avoid the craziness and pressure of "making plans" in NYC. it's great when your friends are all 1 cohesive group, but mine tend to be a little scattered, which in turn makes it hard to decide what "event" to go to for NYE and which one will be the most "fun." inevitably, i end up wondering about the options i didn't pick which deprives of the whole purpose of making a "choice."
so instead i chose to spend a quiet evening with Sully at home. i'm starting to wonder if Sully thinks i'm uber-boring since i often request that we stay home and watch movies/television when we hang out. in my defense, i tend to have a great night out with Kiddo and BrownSesame on friday night and end up being a little hungover on saturday which results in me wanting to loaf around. then sunday rolls in and i dread the upcoming work week and decide i want to just relax and do nothing in preparation for the daily grind that monday represents.
so my NYE was a quiet one. the next morning, Sully and i headed to k-town for lunch (no surprise that this was Sully's choosing). he was also pretty excited because various restaurants were doing a New Year's Day special and offering a free bowl of TteokGuk to celebrate the new year. and that's how we ended up at New Wonjo for New Year's brunch/lunch.
after we ordered our Premium Gal bi ($35.95) and Sam Gyup Sal ($23.95) we were immediately provided our gratis bowl of tteokguk. while the bbq was good, the best part was the tteokguk. although i'm usually not a fan of clear korean soups because they require you to season them yourself (i'm looking at you sulluntang), this soup was perfectly seasoned and the tteok was cooked just right so as to remain chewy.
probably the BEST part of the meal (and day) was the 2 ajusshis (old men/uncle types) that had the table next to us. they were the epitome of korean drama ajusshi stereotypes. one of them was actually wearing aviator sunglasses the entire meal. inside the restaurant. and they were drinking soju mixed with bokbunja (a korean wine) at noon.
the waitresses and the owner of the restaurant kept coming over to their table to give them exceptional service, although i can't tell if they were actually important or just given deferential treatment due to their age (which wasn't that old, just older than the usual crowds that frequent these kinds of places in k-town). once the ajusshis started bbq-ing, they made every waitress who came over to flip/cook their meat do a shot of soju.
and no one could say no.
which was awesome.
just as the weather started to turn colder, Sully found himself with the beginnings of a cold/flu. as often happens to me when i get sick, this triggered an unquenchable desire to go out and eat up a storm of food (i have no idea why, probably because i've convinced myself that i need giant quantities of sustenance in order to beat whatever illness i have, whether it be a hangover or bronchitis). the motherly side of me decided we should check out Ganso, the newly opened ramen restaurant near my apartment which would kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
upon entering, we found ourselves facing a japanese izakaya setting that managed to both be trendy and home-y at the same time. simple wooden benches and furniture with minimalist furnishings and tableware. in the interest of time we chose to sit at the bar counter, which had its positives and negatives: we were stuck sitting in those teeny tiny stools with no back and no place to put our jackets/bags, HOWEVER, we were afforded an awesome view of the bustling kitchen and were thoroughly entertained by the symphony and efficiency of the chefs.
i wasn't particularly hungry so i opted out of ordering a ramen entree. instead, we chose Crispy Gyoza ($7) pork and garlic chive pot stickers with chili oil soy sauce dipping sauce and Buta Kimchi Buns ($9) braised pork belly, jalapeno kimchi, and spicy mayo.
the gyoza were similar to ones i'd had at Samurai Mama meaning that had that crispy webbing from the fried starch that had bled into the pan from the dumplings. and while these were really good, when compared to Samurai Mama's, they lose out by just a little. and Sully pointed out how odd it was to have an odd number of pieces (they give you 5) since it can't be evenly shared between 2 people.
the buns were a mixed blessing. they use pre-made frozen buns which can be purchased from any grocery store, and the dish suffers from it since we've all become accustomed to home-mode pillows of fluffy buns at other establishments. the inside pork and accoutrements had an amazing flavor of juiciness from the pork and spice from the seasonings. if only they had provided a larger portion. the mass-produced bun dwarfed the inner ingredients which is never a good bun-to-innard ratio.
for his entree, Sully chose the Short Rib ($15) soy-sauce beef broth, slow braised short rib, "onsen" egg, seasonal greens. it's a good portion for a single person and would leave you feeling satisfied and warm inside. however, the short rib was slightly overcooked, which made it a little dry (which is quite a feat considering it's swimming in soup). the "onsen" egg also suffered from the same fate.
on the walk home, i considered whether i would return to Ganso for another meal. Sully basically summed up the Ganso experience: the food was good, really good, but not amazing, and for the price point, i wouldn't be running back to Ganso but if i was ever craving ramen and didn't want to travel far, i'd consider returning.
Sully and i often get into debates about korean vs. chinese food. being the stalwart korean that he is, his cuisine of choice is always korean, and in particular, korean barbecue. i, on the other hand, have a wide and diverse palate that cannot be limited to any 1 or 2 cuisines, so i have a hard time picking a "favorite" anything and have cravings for different cuisines depending on my mood.
due to my lack of fortitude when it comes to these debates, Sully seems to come out the victor more often than not, and i don't really mind.
except when it comes to jajang noodles.
i am a BIG fan of korean food, mainly because i can finish a meal without ingesting a single carb which tricks my mind into believing that i ate "healthy." i mean how bad can a few pounds of pork belly and beef short ribs be? plus i always eat it with tons of lettuce wraps and banchan. so really, the 2 balance each other out.
the only time i can't do this is when i go out to eat korean-chinese food. which i rarely ever do, except that Sully likes korean jjajang noodles and the tangsuk squid/shrimp. and that's how we found ourselves at Son Ja Jang in k-town (a branch of which i'd previously visited in NJ). the k-town restaurant is interesting because Son Ja Jang and Muk Eun Ji seem to merge their offerings together since they share the same space. the 2 restaurants' offerings don't overlap, which provides a nice symbiosis for diners with differing agendas. also, and this is a BIG ALSO, sharing with Muk Eun Ji makes for awesome kim chi banchan since Muk Eun Ji serves something called maisan kimchi which is pretty delicious.
as such, i ordered the Kalbi Gobdol Bibimbab ($14.99) and Sully opted for the Handmade Noodle w/Bean Sauce w/Spicy Soup ($9.99). at my request, we also ordered Man Doo Gui ($7.99) which were the crispiest and plumpest fried dumplings i've had to date in k-town. the bibimbab was good, although i'm not the best judge since i don't usually order it (i wasn't very hungry at the time and knew that Sully loves kalbi and bibimbab so i figured he would eat most of it).
Sully really liked the jjajang noodles and went on and on and on and on and on about how korean jjajang noodles are so much better than chinese jajang noodles. which i totally disagree. don't get me wrong, korean jjajang is good. i just don't understand why it has to be so sweet. and have such a little amount of meat. and SO many beans. whereas chinese jajang has a generous portion of mince and an adequate savory flavor that can be adapted to spicy or not spicy versions. as lunch/dinner food should be.
i guess we'll have to agree to disagree.
