Featured Restaurant: Sushi Zen
Arthur Bovino — March 18, 2010
Clockwise from top: Seared Scottish Salmon Sashimi Salad, Chawan Mushi with Uni, Yellowtail Scallion Handroll, Bara Chirashi ‘Sushi Zen Style.’
On a red page in the Sushi Zen menu is a poem:
Tell me your long story,
Your journey may continue endlessly,
But today you have stopped at my place.
Welcome my friends, welcome.
Let us toast the wonderful evening.
The poem is slightly corny, but it’s also inviting. And when you sit down to a meal at one of the City’s best sushi bars it’s nice to feel welcome. We certainly did during a recent meal with the GutterGourmet.
Featured Restaurant: Five Leaves
Arthur Bovino — March 15, 2010
Grilled Sardines with Caramelized Cauliflower, Eggplant, Pine nuts, and Curried Date Dressing, and Affogato with an Intelligentsia Organic Espresso Shot at Five Leaves in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
There was a time not long ago, when those walking from the Bedford L toward McGuinness had already filled their bellies, or well knew the contents of their fridge. It was a hike past the Turkey’s Nest, the concrete baseball field, and the benches near the Automotive High School, to their vinyl-sided homes. Unless they planned to eat Polish, Thai, or at Wasabi, passing N 12th without having eaten was a no-no. But change comes fast in Williamsburg, and this energy has spread to Greenpoint. So it is that Five Leaves, a neighborhood joint, provides this hipster trail of tears a place to feast on the way.
Featured Restaurant: Chalet Alpina
GutterGourmet — March 12, 2010
Clockwise from top: Potato Pancake with Sour Cream and Apple Sauce, the Bavarian Platter, Pints of Spaten, and the Chalet Alpina coat of arms.
Metropolitan Avenue near Woodhaven Blvd and Forest Hills Gardens was once home to a large German immigrant population in the mid-50’s and 60’s. Chalet Alpina caters to the original, now elderly, residents, and those pining for a taste of Bavaria. As you walk in, an older German woman plays the accordion, flashing you back to those sixth grade auditions for “The Sound of Music.”
More Photographs of Food at Chalet Alpina >>
Featured Restaurant: Baohaus
GutterGourmet — March 10, 2010
The Royal Frush at Baohaus, and a can of Hey Song Sarsparilla Taiwanese Root Beer.
Eddie Huang’s Baohaus on Rivington is attracting Taiwanese (and everyone else) looking for Gua Bao buns—authentic Taiwanese street food.
Huang, a third generation Baozi-maker opened it partially as a tribute to his F.O.B. (“fresh off the boat”) mother, and partially to improve on the City’s Taiwanese steamed bun game. Mostly he wanted to serve New Yorkers, like his buddies at Artichoke (for whom he designed the T-Shirts, and the Led Zeppole logo), something fucking good to eat. With raves from the New York Times, and nods from the Food Network, people are lining up out the door for his real deal Taiwanese street vendor fare.
AlwaysInformed: Dim Sum Deal at Jing Fong
Arthur Bovino — March 09, 2010
Clockwise from top: Jing Fong in Chinatown, Beef and Shrimp Shao Mai, food carts, Tapioca Dessert.
An escalator up a passageway lit by crystal chandeliers spills you out into a vast, gilded dining room filled with blue neon, and table after table. There is a constant chatter in Cantonese, and different smells rising in clouds of steam from carts as they pass through the crowd.
_thumb.jpg)
So it is at Jing Fong Restaurant on Elizabeth Street, the Chinatown dim sum hotspot with an enticing weekday special (left) that should not be forgotten. Just be wary of the small print: “All promotions are subject to change without notice.” A meal can end with haggling the bill as if you had been transported to a market in Hong Kong. Even if you think you may have paid a few extra dollars for being a gweilo (foreigner), you can still walk out feeling as if you are about to burst with dim sum without having spent a fortune. It’s especially fun for a long lunch, if you can get away from the office.
For those who haven’t been, the more adventurous rites of passage include: Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce, Boiled Pig Stomach, and Honeycomb Tripe. Everyone seems to find at least one of these dishes enjoyable— at Always Hungry that’s the Tripe (chicken feet involve too much work for too little payoff). It may not be as pretty as some of the versions we love around town, but it’s still good.
Featured Restaurant: Banjara
Katie Reisert — March 09, 2010
Clockwise from top: Banjara, Lamb Dumpakht, Chicken Samosas, and Shahi Korma.
Banjara, which sits confidently on the corner of E. 6th Street, is more upscale than the low-ceilinged Indian restaurants nearby, which everyone jokes about sharing a kitchen. As noted, Banjara serves Dumpakht, a sweet, creamy stew in a dome of fluffy naan, which is one of our favorite Indian dishes. But there are other things at this spacious East Village restaurant that are worth checking out.
Featured Brunch: Momofuku Ssäm Bar
Arthur Bovino — March 05, 2010
From top clockwise: English Muffin French Toast with Thyme Rum Sabayon and Benton’s Ham, English Muffin with deep-fried soft poached egg, and Pork Scrapple.
Momofuku Ssäm Bar may not be the first place you would think of for brunch, but it kind of makes sense for a few different reasons. First off, their menu is filled with plenty of pork to help cure your hangover. There are four different types of country ham (Broadbent’s, Benton’s, Edward’s Wigwam, and Col. Newsom’s), and by ordering steamed pork buns you can do things dim sum style. The lunch prix fixe is offered every day— you get to choose three dishes for $25. And of course, there’s an obvious breakfast move, the Pork Scrapple with fried egg, Benton’s bacon, and fig mustard.
There is a different special every Saturday and Sunday, but the Holy Grail is one that we tasted at the end of January, which they made no promises to repeat: English Muffin French Toast with Thyme Rum Sabayon and Benton’s Ham. It was as if someone packed the savory flavors from the best Monte Cristo into French Toast squares just a bit smaller than tea sandwiches or conventionally cut squares of pork belly, then accented it with concentrated sweetness. As good as Buttermilk Channel’s Pecan Pie French Toast with Bourbon, Molasses, and Toasted Pecans is, this is even better.
If you need to console yourself for not being able to taste it, you could always swing through the Milk Bar for the famed Saturday and Sunday only special, the housemade English Muffin sandwich with deep-fried poached egg, caramelized onions, and lardons.
Featured Dish: Bereket’s Doner Kebab
GutterGourmet — March 04, 2010
Bereket’s Doner Kebab with the works.
It is late at night. You’re on East Houston. You stroll past Yonah Schimmel’s Knishes, then by Russ & Daughters. You stagger in the door, and tip the counter man who slices the perfectly spiced meat and overstuffs a sandwich for you. The bread disintegrates, unable to contain the mountain of meat inside. No, not Katz’s Romanian influenced pastrami on rye, I’m talking about the Doner Kebab on pita at Bereket Turkish Kebab House.
The lamb-beef fusion is covered with hot sauce and cacik, a Turkish yogurt sauce, which is runnier than its thicker Greek cousin, tzatziki. The meat, which is only a little bit thicker than prosciutto, absorbs their flavor the way pastrami soaks up Jewish deli mustard. The countermen expertly alternate the meat with tomatoes and onions inside the grilled pita before applying the red and white sauces.
The Turkish Doner is distinct though similar to the Greek gyro and the Middle Eastern shawarma. Basically they all involve lamb and/or beef rotated on a spit with the roasted meat sliced by hand and stuffed into pita bread with various vegetables and condiments. Perhaps if we set a long enough table and served all three (and threw in some Jewish pastrami for good measure) we could bring peace to the Middle East, or at least a helluva party to the Lower East Side.
Featured Brunch: Buttermilk Channel
Maryse Chevrière — February 26, 2010
Fried Pork Chop with Cheddar Waffles.
That Buttermilk Channel is a great brunch spot is no secret— the not insignificant number of people hovering outside on Sunday at noon is an obvious reminder. You’d think there was no other place else nearby to get poached eggs or a plate of decent flapjacks! Then you see a tall stack of fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes at the adjacent table, glistening with thick, drizzled maple syrup, and you know that the hour you spent waiting wasn’t for nothing.
At dinner, the Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Cheddar Waffles is not to be missed. But at brunch, the move is its cousin— the Fried Pork Chop. It’s served with the same chewy, cheese-crusted waffles, and a side of maple syrup. Try the syrup if you want that salty-sweet effect, but you don’t actually need it and you won’t want to soften the crust. It’s like the kind on great coconut shrimp— light, not greasy, and audibly crunchy. Combined with the chop’s thinness, it really makes for an enjoyable dish.
More About Buttermilk Channel >>
Featured Brunch: Bao Noodles
Maryse Chevrière — February 19, 2010
Clockwise from top: Exterior, Pork Banh Mi with Fried Egg, Interior, and Seafood Congee.
We’ve recently enjoyed Mexican and Italian spins on breakfast sandwiches, but how about a Vietnamese rendition? Well, the Pork Banh Mi with Fried Egg is the star of Bao Noodles’ new brunch menu.
The chewy baguette is loaded with long strips of breaded, fried pork that resemble ham steak. There’s tomato, slightly sour, pickled vegetables, and two fried eggs that put this sandwich in the morning meal category. Break the yolks first and let it act a sauce. The massive portion makes it great for sharing.
The other thing to get is the Congee. It’s a warm, satisfying, stick-to-your-ribs, winter porridge. Bao Noodles serves two— one with meat (duck, pork and chicken), and the other with seafood (shrimp, crab and squid). Both are very good, but if pressed to choose between them, opt for the meat. Soy sauce and fried garlic chips are served on the side for mixing in— and you should. The salt and crunch enhance the flavor and texture.
Of the other options, the braised Pork Belly, though visually unappealing, is savory and tender. The accompanying fat-laced sticky rice is reason enough to order it. During brunch, you can also order from the regular menu. If you’re in the mood for noodles, the Beef on Rice Vermicelli is the move. Regardless, at $9.99 per person for an entrée and cocktail, brunch at Bao Noodles is a great value.
Dish-by-Dish: Kittichai
Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — February 18, 2010
From top left: Kittichai exterior, Tuna Tartare, Ruby Red Chili Cocktail, and Braised Short Ribs.
It has been almost six years since Kittichai received two stars from The Times. These days Chef Pongtawat Ian Chalermkittichai spends more time in Thailand than he does near the kitchen in SoHo, and the mantle has been passed to Chef Lulzim Rexhepí. Judging solely on the basis of the crowds (female-dominated) packing the dimly-lit dining room, he seems to be doing something right. We recently accepted an invitation to see what it was.
AlwaysHungry: The Brooklyn Star
Arthur Bovino — February 17, 2010
Clockwise from top: Tripe Chili with Fritos, Jalapeño and Bacon Cornbread, looking onto Havemeyer Street, Country Fried Steak with White Gravy and Slaw.
It’s shocking to learn that just hours after we left last night, a disastrous fire struck The Brooklyn Star.
There we were, preparing to post a reminder about how the biscuits fill the restaurant with the smell of butter and pleasantly return to dough form in your mouth. How you could slather butter and honey on the cast-iron cooked, jalapeño and bacon cornbread, drop ice cream on it and call it dessert. How the Tripe Chili with Fritos is a great winter meal, and that the Fried Pig Tails are Williamsburg’s offal wings. The Country Fried Steak even had us pondering the order of our Top 5 Chicken Fried Steak.
It was the second consecutive meal in two weeks that we had enjoyed, with plans to return for the enticing brunch dishes (Biscuits and Sausage Gravy with Eggs, Apple Johnny Cakes, Fried Chicken and Waffles, and Shrimp and Grits). Thankfully, no one was hurt. In the interim months before they plan to reopen, here are some photographs of the food that will be missed.
Click Here for the Full Slideshow >>
Featured Dessert: Momofuku Milk Bar
Arthur Bovino — February 16, 2010
_thumb.jpg)
Clockwise from top: Self-constructed soft serve and cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Momofuku Milk Bar, Carrot Cake, PB & J Soft Serve, Candy Bar Pie.
We rejoiced in the English Muffin breakfast sandwich and mourned its move to the special board, got ourselves out of bed on weekends to get a Volcano before they disappeared, tasted the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie and lied to Mom that her cookies are the best.
We’ve made soft serve-and-cookie ice cream sandwiches, put coffee milk in our coffee, and debated the use of Crack Pie as the base for a potential power portmanteau dessert. We’ve eaten the menu item-by-item with girded determination, our challenge being not eating favorites over and over. Yes, along with many New Yorkers, we learned long ago that Momofuku Milk Bar may be one of the City’s best snack spots.
A visit to taste the Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Bun Pie, PB & J Soft Serve (looks like jelly, tastes like peanut butter), and Salt and Pepper Soft Serve, added several photographs to our collection. With recent news of a Milk Bar cookbook in 2011, it seemed like time to enjoy all these desserts. And because we also enjoy eating savory snacks after dinner, we’ve thrown in a few of those too for good measure. Feast your eyes.
Click for Full Slideshow of Momofuku Milk Bar >>
First Look: Totonno’s Reopens
Arthur Bovino — February 12, 2010
.jpg)
Cheese Pizza.
Frank Ciminieri filled the fridge with small bottles of wine while talking about how much he loves Cash Cab, “I watch it for two hours in the morning when I wake up and two hours at night.”
His sister, Cookie, bemoaned the lack of mirrors in the restaurant and said, “We need some music in here.” So a customer obliged by singing Louis Prima in between taking pictures on his iPhone. Eleven months after a fire shut it down, Totonno’s is back.
The large cheese pie ($19.50) was delicious. The center crust was as thin as the styrofoam plate it sat on, the edge’s crust was light, airy, and delicate, and the upskirt was covered with wonderful, large raised flecks. That thinness created a ratio of cheese and sauce that even makes sauce-monkeys happy. And with the opening, making New Yorkers happy with pizza will be routine once again in Coney Island.
Good luck, Totonno’s. Welcome back.
Click Here for the Totonno's Pizza Porn >>
Featured Restaurant: Xi’an Famous Foods
GutterGourmet and Arthur Bovino — February 12, 2010
Clockwise from top: Cumin Lamb Burger, Spicy Pork Spine Noodle Soup, Exterior.
The greeting card and federal holidays have been getting all the love. But this weekend also marks the Chinese New Year: The Year of the Tiger. And if you haven’t yet been to Xi’an’s new satellite, there’s not a more buzzed about place in Chinatown to visit for a meal to bring in the new year.
Xi’an Famous Foods is beneath the Manhattan Bridge near the corner of East Broadway and Forsyth, next to where the original Saigon Bakery used to be (for banh mi trivia experts). There’s as much room for customers as there is for one more person to squeeze into the last car of a Brooklyn-bound L at 1st Ave during rush hour. Stake out the tiny metal counter in the corner, or have a spot to eat nearby in mind. Hint: there are two Starbucks within about eight blocks (111 Worth St and 183 Centre St).
Of course, the dish that put the “Famous” in Xi’an Famous Foods is the incredible Asian cumin spiced lamb “burger” on flat bread. The muttony, powerful, cumin-flavored meat totally delivers on its reputation. The pork “burger” will make you forget about David Chang’s Momofuku buns (for a moment). They’re spectacular and are 50 cents less then the lamb at $2.00 and $2.50, respectively.
For the thrill seeker, there’s the Spicy and Tingly Lamb Face Salad. The cold, fatty, spicy meat has just enough greens mixed in to be put in that category. The Lamb Treasure’s Soup (exactly what you think), and the Stewed Lamb Spine and Rib are also not for the faint of heart. The noodles in the Stewed Lamb Spine Hand-Pulled Noodles in Soup are amazing, and the soup gets better and better as you reach the bottom. If they run out of the lamb spine, try the pig spine— it’s delicious too. Wash it all down with sour Hawberry tea made from the fruit of the Chinese Hawthorne tree and you’ll think you’re in Xi’an City instead of New York City.
<< Back to Thought For Food
"Unleash Your Inner Fat Kid."
Whet your appetite with a daily dose of AlwaysHungry's Thought for Food. We provide content that will improve your knowledge of food, and that will enhance your experiences with food. We do not write industry gossip.
Always Hungry Newsletter
