Buckhorn Exchange, Denver, Colorado

Going to the first steakhouse in anywhere can be like a mixed bag. On one hand, you have to respect the tradition but on the other, you risk getting caught in a tourist trap. That's why I was little suspicious at first when I stepped towards the Buckhorn Exchange; the oldest steakhouse in Denver, Colorado.

I was soon calmed by the decor. Apparently the original owner was an avid hunter and his trophies are proudly displayed throughout the dining hall.

The breads were served and although I'm not really into breads, these were very tasty. Soft and fluffy with a light and crisp crust, these paired very nicely with the warm, whipped salted butter.

The appetizer was a a game stew which was a medley if elk, buffalo and beef mixed with gravy and sauteed mushrooms. This was pretty tasty, the only drawback was it was really hard to distinguish which meat was which when everything was doused in the gravy.

One of the soup specials of the day was the cream of cheese soup. That's right, cheese soup! I had to try this out of curiosity if more than anything. Thick, creamy and cheesy, this was excellent for dipping the bread into. Great for anyone out there like me who loves cheese.

But ultimately, this is a steakhouse, so what does one do at a steakhouse? They order the biggest slab of animal on the menu. 24oz of boned in porter house cooked till medium rare. It's always such a beautiful sight to see the steak spilling over the edge of the plate.

Aged just long enough for the flavor to mature and with enough interstitial fat to make this a delectable and succulent bite, this was indeed good meat.

Another one conquered. Although I thought it rather funny it was paired with crisps and a funky fruit salad, the tart pineapple and berries actually helped me kept going at this slab till there was none left.

A good steak begs a good dessert. The homemade apple pie with a huge scoop of Haagen Daz vanilla was definitely a good finale to this tasty dinner.

Despite my qualms about Buckhorn being a tourist trap, most of the diners here seem to be regular locals. Decapitated animals, good steak. Nice to know that some traditions still stand strong.

D

Artichoke Basille's Pizza and Brewery, Manhattan, NYC

There's a new pizza joint in town. It's so new that the address on their card is actually printed wrong, they don't do delivery yet and their website isn't up as well. But one thing's real, they're located on 14th street between 1st and 2nd ave and they do make a pretty mean slice.

Here's the square Sicilian slice, their crust is slightly thicker here and crunchier which is a little different from those ultra thin New York slices. Italian basil, fresh tomatoes and a generous topping of cheese, the taste of good ingredients was evident from the first bite.

The Neapolitan didn't lose out to her Sicilian sister. The simplicity of ingredients here was revealed in this fresh tasting pizza. The crust seemed a little too thick though but that's something you don't always have to finish anyway.

Ok, now this is the slice worth the wait. Fresh and bubbling from the oven, their signature creamy artichoke and spinach slice is really tasty. After the two slices of tomato tangy pizzas, it's great to chomp down on something creamy and extra cheesy. Not to mention for three bucks, this slice was simply gianormous.

Did I mention how big their signature slice is? Even though, I'm surprised I actually enjoyed three slices without any meat on it, I'm glad that there's a new pizza joint which can give the multitude of pizza places in Manhattan a run for their money.

D

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