Grand Sichuan, Manhattan, NYC

Woohoo, I've finally found a place in Manhattan that serves a pretty decent Sichuan hotpot. Sure it's not as satisfying as the now defunct Xiaoping but it comes pretty close.

Here's the soup with enough oil and floating chilies to give it that kick. Somehow, I just felt the broth could be a tad bit spicier. Maybe I'll ask them to amp it up a few notches next time.

This is the beef and it's pretty decent in quality. There are enough streaks of white on this to make it pretty delectable once it's dipped into the hot broth. Thinly sliced enough for quick cooking (and quick eating) these were wolved down pretty quick as well.

The lamb had a little more white on it (white meat is healthier no? haha) but the flavor still shone through. Being someone who's always partial towards lamb, it's hard for me to find anything wrong with it.

The dumplings although bigger than Xiaoping's failed to deliver the same satisfaction. The skin was a little too doughy for my liking. Nevertheless, once it absorbed a fair bit of the spicy broth, it still had a pretty decent explosion of flavor when I bit in it.

I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered the Chinese sausage, these don't really get tender despite boiling them forever and it's a pain fishing them out as well. Next time I'll just get more lamb.

Here's where they have an edge over Xiaoping; besides the hotpot, they have a large array of cooked dishes as well. The sliced shank with spicy peppers and chili oil was pretty kickass. In fact this was as tasty as the stuff served at Ma Po Tofu Restaurant along Beach Road (Singapore) before their chef changed and the food became inedibly wussy.

The chicken fried with flower peppers and dried chilies were also decently spicy, except that there were bits of water chestnut thrown into this. I don't know if they were added for texture or just to bulk it up but I found it rather annoying that the chestnut bits took up almost 50% of the plate real-estate, which should have been exclusive to the meat.

Quick boiled spicy pork belly. Greasy, spicy and just salty enough. It was impressive that despite mult-tasking in both a hotpot and a cooked food joint, this place managed to perform in both categories.

The dandan noodle is perhaps one of the spiciest things here. Well maybe because I told the waiter to literally kill me with the chili but this really hit the spot. The chili hit only comes like 1-2 minutes after you've taken a first bite, for a chilly early Spring evening; this hit the bullseye.

Just make sure to get enough beverage ready if you're not used to spicy stuff. Alternatively, you could ask them to tone it down for beginner's and gradually work your way up because their max level is pretty strong.

D

Madison Square Garden Hotdog, Knicks VS Nets, Manhattan

Madison Square Garden is home to many big entertainment events. It's also supposedly home to some pretty decent hotdoggies.

I had a plain dog with mustard, mayonnaise and ketchup. Salty and greasy with a nice snappy casing. Maybe I was hungry, but these were actually pretty good.

The teams soon came onto the court for their warm-up.

After my warm-up, I decided to hit another dog. This time I went for the cheese and sauerkraut. Although it made it slightly more messy to eat, I did enjoy the tang that the sauerkraut imparted. The spiced sweet potato chips were also a refreshing change.

A pity, albeit not surprising; sad to say, the hotdogs were the only things which scored some points tonight.

D

Burgled in the 'Burg, New York Times

Thanks to another blogger's site, I decided to have a glance at the New York Times (which I do not read at all despite living here) and boy am I glad I did. Check out this article I came across

Excerpt: "At the other end of Manhattan’s culinary spectrum, how a blogger satisfied his nighttime craving for White Castle and Church’s Chicken. [Dancing Blue Seal]"

It's only really a small mention but that I was still like "Wow".
What can I say?

I'm a simple man with simple needs.

Read the full article here.

D

Sweet Spring Restaurant, Manhattan, New York

Although the Winter this time round was relatively mellow. We did have that occasional day or two of snow.

On a cold snowy day as such, nothing is better than a hot meal.

Sweet Spring Restaurant (25A Catherine Street, Chinatown) isn't really much of a restaurant really. Heck, with just three dingy tables, I would not even go as far to call it a cafe. But they do serve pretty decent Chinese snacks and little meals for the occasional homesick bloke. This is their version of the "cat ears" pasta in soup dish that I had in Hangzhou; hot and soupy, this was just the thing to break that Winter cold spell.

The first round of savories came in the form of an oyster puff. Crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy and filled with an oyster and some minced pork within, this sure brought back the memories of the snack I used to eat as a child.

Chinatown is known for their cheap dumplings and everyone has a shop which they swear by. Personally I feel that Sweet Spring does them the best. Although they come at a slight premium (we're talking at 1.25usd for five instead of a competitor's 1usd), I can actually taste meat in these. Their spicy dumpling soy sauce is extremely tasty as well.

All in all, three heart warming dishes and a bowl of fresh homemade soy bean milk for under five bucks. Complaints are impossible.

D

Papaya King, Manhattan, New York

Besides the quintessential bagel and thin slice, New York is famous for their hotdogs. You can obtain hotdogs in a variety of forms in New York; from the bare-bones street cart to fancier places. Papaya King has been around since 1931 (in particular this very one on 86th and 3rd), so obviously they must be doing something right.

Started off with the standard hotdog with relish and onions. Not too bad, the hotdog was pleasantly meaty with a snappy casing. The bun was also soft and not crusty.

The curly fries were a tad bit greasy but combined with the ketchup, these salty and crispy spuds were pretty good. I guess I was lucky because I caught them just as they finished frying a fresh batch.

Looking up against the wall, I saw this sign which spoke great words of wisdom. Apparently it's true.

To test the hypothesis, I ordered two chilidogs. The chili was just a little sweet for my liking and could have been much more hotter (in a spice sense). Nevertheless, these were still pretty good and I washed everything else with, you guessed it; a refreshing cup of papaya drink.

With this many locations available, it's good to know I can pickup a good dog when I need one. Besides, if it's good enough for Kramer (Seinfeld fans probably know this), it's good enough for me.

D

Cornelia Street Cafe, Manhattan, New York

Cornelia Street Cafe has been around for a quite a while (like a thirty years or so?). It's also a great place for some chill-out jazz at night and has been voted as one of the top 100 hundred jazz clubs in the world. That aside, they also have a pretty decent brunch menu, which was why we were here.

We were seated by the window allowing us to bask in some warm sunlight. I'm not usually a fan of sunlight but it was a rather chilly Winter's day, so any heat was welcomed. Besides, I've always enjoyed peering out onto Cornelia street.

I had the duck quesadilla. Definitely not an authentic Mexican dish but it was tasty and meaty without being too heavy. It was accompanied with a nice tangy salsa which balanced off the salty duck flesh and cheese.

She had the pâté platter which came with four thick slices of pâté; two coarse and two smooth. The bread biscuits which came along with the pâté was warm too, which was a nice touch.

To end the meal, we had the butter milk pancakes topped with fresh fruit dusted with icing sugar and doused with a lot of maple syrup. These light, fluffy pancakes infused with the flavor of the sweet molasses are the key to the perfect brunch.

Of course the only thing sweeter in this meal was my dining companion whom I hoped, thoroughly enjoyed the brunch as well.

D

White Castle and Church's Chicken, Manhattan, New York

So I was watching the trailer for Harold and Kumar 2 the other night, and then decided to watch the first one again. Somehow, one thing led to another and before I knew it I had to get some White Castle. A quick search on the internet revealed the closest one on 525 8th Ave, best part was they're opened 24hrs. I knew I would get my fix.

No crazy adventures between me and my slyders. Even though I didn't order 30; six for a little night snack was pretty sufficient.

Here's a close-up of their double jalapeño cheese burger. Sure brought back the memories of my first White Castle slyder in Malaysia like ages ago (anyone else remembered this?).

Some fried clam strips for the side is always good.

Heck, since this was one of those White Castle and Church's hybrid shops, I decided to get me a four piece with a biscuit too. Now, this night snack was definitely adequate.

D

Jaleo, Washington DC

Jaleo at 480 7th Street (Tel (202) 628-7949) is a pretty popular tapas restaurant in DC. The concept of tapas is to share a wide variety of appetizers with friends and it's pretty fun really because you get to taste a myriad of different flavors and textures.

We started off with a refreshing red sangria which was tart enough to whet our appetites and not excessively sweet.


Next up was the plate of breads, olive oil and pickled stuff. The breads were ok, they tasted pretty fresh even though it would have been better served warm. I'm slightly prejudiced against the whole "healthier" olive oil with bread thing preferring a slab of salted butter anytime but I guess this is a Spanish restaurant so it can be forgiven.


Next came the smoked salmon on cream cheese topped with salmon roe (ikura). Thankfully the cream cheese wasn't very salty which gave this dish a more balanced edge because smoked salmon and salmon roe always tends to be rather salty.


Then came some delightfully well-fried calamari. Fresh squid, crisp and light batter and dipping mayonnaise, this went fast.


The meat cannelloni baked with cheese was pretty hearty as well. Served whilst the cheese was still bubbling, this piping hot dish was great Winter comfort food.


Of course we had to order a chorizo tortilla (Spanish omelette) in a Spanish restaurant. Somehow the minced chorizo tasted a bit like beef hash and the the oil spilling out from the side was rather overwhelming (even for me), but nevertheless this was still pretty tasty.


The grilled sea bass was excellent with a crisp finish to the skin and a good serve of soft tasty spinach wedged between the slice of fish.


We had to order a straight-up chorizo on a bed of mash because of the lack of chorizo-ness in that tortilla. This tasted like chorizo.


The chicken croquetas was not too bad. A crunchy shell covering soft mashed spuds and shredded chicken. The slight hint of spices (curry powder??) in this made it quite flavorsome.


Deep-fried marinated shark was up next. As with the previous seafood dishes, this was executed excellently as well. The shark tasted like it was brined slightly which helped diminish any fishy flavors whilst still maintaining a nice bite.


Craving some mammal, we ordered the grilled lamb. Not too bad, albeit rather small a chunk but it was tender and succulent.


Another popular tapas dish is the albondigas which is a platter of meatballs. These were good meatballs possibly made with no or minimal filler hence tasting meaty enough to satisfy most carnivores.


Steamed mussels in white wine were next. Fresh mussels in a delicious broth. Served hot and steaming, we would have gotten some bread to soak up that broth if we weren't starting to feel a little full.


Here's another grilled pork sausage on a bed of potato chunks. As good as a coarse meaty sausage can get.


Deep fried potato wedges were pretty much the carbohydrate staple for this meal.


Since we were having such a good run with the seafood, we decided to cram in the grilled squid served on a layer of marinated olive puree. As with the rest of the seafood, this was done just nice as well.


Last but not least, because I love nutella, I couldn't help ordering the rich hazelnut mousse cake to finish off the meal. Rich but not too sweet, this definitely hit the dessert spot.

D