Restaurant Week

Hey guys! It's Restaurant Week in New York City and you know what that means, the food you usually can't afford just became affordable.

From now until August 18th, a variety of 390 restaurants will be participating in restaurant week in all five boroughs. For lunch, the deal is a three-course prix fixe menu for $29. For dinner, it's also a three-course prix fixe menu but it is $42.

Here is a list of my personal favorites.

1. Neta
2. Boulud Sud
3. Morimoto
4. The John Dory Oyster Bar
5. Tavern On The Green

It's awesome, and I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on this, so click here to find a restaurant in your area that is offering a restaurant week deal!

Bangkok Cuisine UES

Hey so I'm back with another restaurant recommendation. It is called Bangkok Cuisine and you must go asap. I found this place on Yelp after having an extreme craving for some good Asian food and this place certainly lived up to its high reviews and my high expectations. Here is what I ordered:

To start, I ordered a Thai Iced Tea, which is an awesome drink to have with spicy food because it cools down your taste buds due to the heavy cream. It was served in a tall glass which I think added to the atmosphere of the place, which you can also kinda see from this picture. Not to mention it was only $3! It was very clean and felt very southeast Asian. To top off the aesthetic of the restaurant, pictured below you will see a golden decoration. Guess who? Buddha.

As an appetizer, I had the Thai Style Pork BBQ. It was insanely good and came with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce that complemented the pork perfectly. It comes with 5 skewers, not three like pictured below. I ate two before remembering I needed to take pictures for my blog. They were THAT irresistible. $13.

Next, I had the Pad Prig Khing with beef. The picture is a little dark, but this dish includes veggies like carrots, string beans and red peppers all sautéed in a delicious curry paste. A perfect combination of flavor, which leaves me with nothing to critique.  $15. 

Finally, the Massaman Curry with chicken. A massaman curry includes coconut milk, butter beans, sweet onions and potatoes. Paired with chicken, this dish is irresistible. I probably could have eaten two, and I will definitely be returning to Bangkok Cuisine for this dish. If you have read my post on Up Thai, you might remember that I had this same curry, however, in comparison, Bangkok Cuisine wins, hands-down. $14. 

I have really no complaints about this restaurant, except one. On my bill, I was charged $3.50 for the Thai Iced Tea instead of $3 like it said on the menu. Although it is only $.50, it displays either a careless mistake, or the restaurant being sneaky and trying to make a few extra dollars. So watch out for things like this at any restaurant you go to! 

Please go here. I promise you won't regret it!! 

How To Pick a Restaurant

Hey Guys! So this post is hopefully going to help the next time you're asked the famous question "where should we eat". I'll tell you about a trick you can use with a friend or a date and I'll walk you through the best way to use Yelp. At the end, I'll include other apps you can use to help pick the perfect spot.

The Trick

Here is a simple trick you can use when you and your dinner companion can't decide on a place to eat. It's called the 5-3-1 tool and it works like this. First, you (or your companion) choose 5 restaurants they would like to eat at. Then, the other person chooses 3 out of the 5 that were just named. And last, the person who picked the initial 5, chooses out of the remaining three and BAM! You have yourself a mutually agreed on place to eat.

But maybe your problem isn't agreeing on a restaurant but choosing one in the first place. That's where Yelp comes in.

Yelp

Yelp is the number one app for restaurant selection in my opinion. It automatically picks up on your current location to list the restaurants in your area. You can type in "Restaurant" in general or a specific cuisine. You can even type in a certain dish and it will list all the restaurants that have that dish on their menu.

Another good thing about Yelp is the amount of filters they let you use to narrow down the options. The most useful choices in my opinion are the price options, open now, outdoor seating, happy hour, and free wifi. But they also have cool options like vegetarian friendly, wheelchair assessable, full bar and so many more. They even have a filter for a PokeStop nearby!

They also have a section where people can write reviews which the restaurant cannot delete. Of course, restaurants sometimes have their employees purposely write good reviews, but I like that they don't allow restaurants to delete the bad ones.

I highly recommend downloading Yelp on your phone to help with restaurant options.

Other Useful Apps

Besides Yelp, here is a list of other useful apps to use to find good places to eat (besides my blog!).

• Trip Advisor
• Foursquare
• Open Table
• Urban Spoon
• Chefs Feed
• Tastemade
• Matchbook

Happy Eating!

Sushi Gama

Hey Guys! So last night was Saturday night and I visited a restaurant called Sushi Gama on the Upper East Side. 

I sat in a corner table with a nice view of the outside. The atmosphere was nice, and it was decently busy for a Saturday. Here is what I ordered:

Ika Butter: This is a grilled whole squid in a butter sauce. It was cooked to perfection and the presentation was appealing. I would order this again, and recommend it to you. $12.

Soft Shell Crab: The whole point of a soft shell crab is so you can eat the shell. This crab was delicious and definitely met my expectations. $8.

Hamachi Kama: This is a grilled yellowtail fish collar. It is the best part of the fish, in my opinion, and this collar proved that to be true. The meat of the fish fell right off the bone and was tender and perfectly cooked. It was so good, the person I was eating with wanted to order a second one! I do feel, however, that presentation could be improved. $14.

Sashimi Platter: Chef's Selection of 18 different pieces of sashimi. This was the one big disappointment of the night. The raw fish they used was horrible compared to other sushi restaurants in the area. The raw salmon was too slimy and the raw yellowtail was too chewy. Overall, this dish left me feeling unsatisfied and grossed out. I do not recommend the sashimi or any of their raw fish after this dish. $24.

Overall, I would recommend Sushi Gama, just not for their sushi. The three appetizers were all delicious, but as I mentioned, the sashimi that I ordered was below par. 

My Rating: *** $$

"I Just Want To Eat"

I hate to call out another blog, but I cannot resist commenting on a blog post I saw on a fellow food blog called "I Just Want To Eat". Rated the #1 food blog on Zomato, "I Just Want To Eat" has been an active blog since 2011. Like most highly populated blogs, the blogger is sometimes invited for complimentary meals to different restaurants so their restaurant is featured on the blog, and receives exposure to large audiences. After reading one post about a restaurant that I too have visited, I was left wondering if the admin is blogging the truth, or is happy blogging positive qualities to continue receiving free meals.

The restaurant I am addressing above is called Uncle Jack's Steakhouse, which is located in Midtown West. You can find the post about it on "I Just Want To Eat's" blog here.

The first thing you see when you look at the blog post is that he (the admin) received his meal at Uncle Jack's for FREE. I am, however, glad that he mentioned this or else I would be even more suspicious of him fabricating the truth.

His review of the restaurant, in sum, was that everything was perfect. Maybe it was. The cooks were certainly aware that they were cooking for a food review and I am certain that they purposely put extra effort into ensuring perfection for his meal.

I visited Uncle Jack's with my mom, as a regular customer and my meal was not perfect. It was decent, but not perfect.

The part of his blog that left me the most astonished was when he said the restaurant offers different size steaks which therefore "makes a steak dinner affordable".

HAHA THAT'S FUNNY. The truth about Uncle Jack's is that is it outrageously expensive. The starting price for a steak is about $45 and it comes with... NOTHING. $45 for a piece of meat on a plate. Each side is at least $8 extra. Can you imagine?

Maybe this place is "affordable" for people who receive their entire meal for free, but for someone who has to reach into their wallet and pay-it is certainly the opposite.

Terakawa Ramen

I want to share with you guys one of my absolute favorite ramen spots in the city. It is called Terakawa Ramen and is located only two block south of Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. Here are some things you show know about this restaurant.

It is meant to be fast-paced. If you know anything about Japanese cuisine, eating ramen is like eating pizza in America. If you don't know anything about Japanese cuisine, check out my previous blog post: The Right Way to Eat Ramen.

It is a quick eat kind of place since it only sits 10 people at one time, and therefore it is not the right spot to go if you are expecting to talk to your friends and sip a beer. However the ramen is delicious! My favorite is the Spicy Tan Tan, which is spicy so beware.

Terakawa Ramen is relatively cheap running between $9-$14 for a large bowl. Also, it is cash only-so come prepared.

My Rating: $ *****

Pil Pil

I'm back with another restaurant review. This place is called Pil Pil and it is a small tapas restaurant on 78th street between 3rd and 2nd ave. The food taste was average and the prices were high.

Here is what we ordered:

The Ceviche: It was a hot day, so I was looking forward to a cold, refreshing seafood ceviche. This was a disappointment for a few reasons. First, I was hungry and the metal cocktail glass that the food was presented in served no purpose except making it difficult for me to put anything on my fork without knocking over the whole thing. And second, both the octopus and the shrimp were extremely overcooked.

The Mini- Paella: I would have to say that this was the best thing that I ordered. The seafood wasn't overcooked unlike the ceviche. The rice was very tasty, as was the shrimp.

The Pulpo (Octopus): In Spanish cuisine, Pulpo is by far one of my favorite dishes. The actual pulpo in this dish was good, however I can not say the same about the other components. The potatoes were EXTREMELY undercooked, not mushy at all and hard to bite into. I'm convinced they were raw.

The Lamb Skewers: I do not particularly like lamb as it is, and this dish certainly did not change my mind. The lamb and the zucchini were lacking in seasoning. The lamb meat was tough which means it too, was overcooked.

My Rating: $$$ ***  (see side gadget for further explanation)

Pil Pil displayed to me a lack of knowledge in the kitchen that should not be there given the price of each dish. The total bill, including tax and tip, reached $80! Not worth it. 

Instead check out Boqueria which is two blocks south of Pil Pil on 2nd Ave. You will pay a similar price, but leave much more satisfied and truly satisfy a craving for Spanish tapas.  

Photographing Food Is A New Trend

It's Saturday night. You and your friends are out to eat at a new restaurant in town. The waitress comes and places all the plates of food down on the table. Yet instead of eating it while it's hot, everyone takes a picture of it for social media instead.

Why has posting food become the new pre-meal trend?

Maybe it's because our generation is obsessed with advertising every aspect of our daily lives on social media, and since we eat three meals a day broadcasting our food becomes essential.

But it also could be due to the fact that food has become 'cool'. Just look at Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg's new show that aired November 7, 2016. Who would have ever expected Martha Stewart, a 75 year old woman who started a catering business in her basement in 1976, to pair with Snoop Dogg, a 45 year old American rapper? See a clip of their show here:

This show is the epitome of what the food culture has turned into in recent years. Maybe it isn't entirely a bad thing, as people are more conscious of what they are eating and care more about things like food presentation. But as people are snapping pictures of their food, they are failing to appreciate the moment as it happens and are once again living life through a glass screen.

I am just interested in how long the trend will last... 

The Art of Food Presentation

Before I began dating my food savvy cook of a boyfriend I never realized the intimacy and importance of food presentation.  Now that I pay attention to food presentation, I can not not pay attention to it. I have become extremely judgmental towards certain dishes and have learned that the better the food is presented, the better it tastes. Think of it this way: sloppy plating usually means sloppy cooking, which directly affects the taste of the food.

One restaurant that cares immensely about food presentation is an Upper East Side restaurant called Cafe Boulud, one of the many staple restaurants by Chef Daniel Boulud. With one Michelin Star and three stars from The New York Times, Cafe Boulud has to make sure their food presentation is always perfect.

Below is an image of one of the plates currently served at Cafe Boulud. With the help of my boyfriend, who prepares this plate daily, I am going to explain to you the process of creating such a beautiful dish.

This dish is composed of apricot honey glazed duck, honey seared apricot, chantarelle mushroom puree, chantarelle mushrooms, chickpea panisse, garbanzo beans, mustard frills, and chive blossoms.

Restaurants like Cafe Boulud are focused on a balance of flavor and symmetry when plating the ingredients. Since there is only one apricot in this dish, it is forced to be in the center due to their focus on creating balance on the plate. If you look closely, you will see that besides the apricot, there are three of each of the other ingredients: three pieces of duck and three components of the other ingredients.  After the apricot is placed, the puree is put into an almost perfect triangle surrounding the center. Then the other ingredients are carefully placed on top of the puree, using tweezers to maximize precision in order to create perfect symmetry. The three pieces of duck are placed last, because they need to be the hottest ingredient on the dish. Two pieces of duck are placed sideways to display the temperature (rare, medium, well) requested by the consumer. The last piece is placed upright to display the crispy skin, which is especially important when cooking duck. 

Another thought that goes into each dish is the color choice. For example, in the dish above bright colors are sued such as green, purple, orange and the pink center of the duck. (Summer colors!)

So next time you go out to eat, remember to pay attention to the food presentation. It is an important part of the restaurant experience that too many people overlook. 

Celebrate Pride Week at These 6 Restaurants

The Pride Parade was June 25th, but just because it's over doesn't mean you have to stop celebrating. Check out these 6 restaurants that are ready to continue the celebration with you!

1. Stonewall Inn: The Stonewall Inn is most famous for the riots that began the gay pride movement. Check out some of their deals for Pride and the weekends following.
2. Megu: Check out their rainbow dumplings! Not only are they beautiful, but they celebrate Pride and taste delicious.
3. The Meatball Shop: Order yourself a Kween cup: a cocktail consisting of Milagro tequila, coconut, lime, strawberry, cucumber and Peychaud's Bitters. They are even donating $1 for every cocktail sold. 
4. Ice and Vice: Last year they famously created the 'Love Wins:  ice cream sandwich and this year they came out with the 'Taste the Rainbow' menu, where each flavor is inspired by a color: red (hibiscus, rose, Swedish Fish fluff), orange (papaya, habanero, peach jam), yellow (buckwheat honey, turmeric, sunflower seed butterscotch chip), green (lemon verbena, cucumber, ginger basil seed), and blue purple (butterfly pea flower, coconut, yuzu). 
5. Big Gay Ice Cream: Located near the Stonewall Inn, Big Gay Ice Cream has delicious treats to combat this summer heat. They also do a lot of work for the LGBTQ community.
6. Hudson Terrace: With a retractable rooftop and rainbow lighting, this is the place to be to celebrate pride with your friends. 

I hope this post helps you and your friends to continue the Pride celebration!

5 Must Try K-Town Restaurants

Chances are if you live in New York City you have probably visited places such as Times Square, Central Park, Grand Central Station and Chinatown. However, there is a hidden street that is located in a lesser know area called Koreatown. It is 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Ave. This street is jam packed with Korean restaurants and below I have listed a few of my favorites.

1.  Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong:  <baekjeongnyc.com> This was my favorite restaurant in Ktown and has remained so even after my trip to South Korea in May due to its authenticity. The entire experience is very traditional to any Korean Barbecue in Korea itself. My favorite item on the menu is the Beef Combo. For $130 (tax and tip included), you can feed 4 people and trust me, you will be full and it will be worth it.
2. Jongro: <www.jongrobbqny.com>  Jongro is another good choice for traditional Korean Barbecue. A less pricy option than Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong, but still a solid option for some delicious Korean food.
3. Five Senses:  <fivesensesnyc.com> Five Senses is not a Korean Barbecue like the above two options, therefore the food is not cooked in front of you. However, the food at Five Senses is nothing short of delicious. It is a bit pricey, but the portions are large and certainly worth it.
4. Izakaya Mew: <mewnyc.com>  Izakaya Mew is a Japanese restaurant located in Ktown, which means it is really a fusion of both cuisines. The food is very good and well priced so this is a solid option if you find yourself hungry in Ktown. However, the place is small so I suggest a reservation. 
5. Barn Joo 35: <places.singleplatform.com>  Barn Joo 35 is a Korean gastropub. The food is good, but to be honest, this place is known for its cocktails more than anything else.

So there you are. 5 delicious restaurants all located in one small (tourist free) area. Next time you are hungry for some Asian food, one of these 5 places is the way to go. Enjoy!!

The Truth About the Chef's Table

So I was on Wikipedia and I noticed something worthy of changing in regards to chef's tables within the information page for "Restaurants." As someone who has sat at the chef's table before, I was unsatisfied with the information that was being displayed to readers if they saw this section on chef's tables. Here is the original version: 

A chef's table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant,^[2][3] reserved for VIPs and special guests.^[4] Patrons may be served a themed^[4] tasting menu prepared and served by the head chef. Restaurants can require a minimum party^[5] and charge a higher flat fee.^[6] Because of the demand on the kitchen's facilities, chef's tables are generally only available during off-peak times.^[7

This is wrong for a few reasons. First, the chef's table is not always located inside of the kitchen, although it could be at certain places. Sometimes the chef's table can be located in the center of the restaurant or on an elevated platform. It is also not only reserved for special guests and VIPS. The chef's table can be reserved by anyone who is willing to pay the cost. It is true, however, that the menu is preselected by the chef, usually based on what ingredients are in season at the time. So I went ahead and edited the section so that it now reads like this:

A chef's table is a special table in the restaurant that can be reserved for special events or special guests. In some cases, the chef's table could be located in the actual kitchen. Most of the time, if seated at the chef's table, the patron will be served a themed tasting menu that is preselected by the chef. Restaurants are allowed to require a minimum party and can charge a flat fee that is higher then one would pay sitting at a regular table. Reservations are usually always required for parties to sit at the chef's table.

If you have never eaten at a chef's table before, I highly recommend it. It is a dinner experience unlike any other due to the intimacy between the chef and the patrons. There is something special about watching the chef prepare the food and skipping the ordering aspect of eating out at a restaurant.  

Up Thai

The next restaurant I want to suggest is called Up Thai. It is a more upscale thai place than you would expect, with prices that coincide with its atmosphere. The food was average in my opinion, except the Massaman Curry with beef ($14). This was phenomenal and I would return to this restaurant specifically for this curry. I also ordered the Pad Thai Woonsen ($12), which is a cold glass noodle dish and the Moo Dang ($12) which is Roasted BBQ pork, pork belly and Chinese sausage over rice.

The one thing that I feel is important to mention is the service was slow. I finished my meal and sat waiting for the check for at least 15 minutes. Then I waited another 15 minutes for the waitress to take my credit card and 10 more minutes for her to bring it back. The perfect way to ruin an already average meal.





My Rating: $$$ ***       (see sidebar for further explanation) 

Find the menu here: http://www.upthainyc.com/front/menu

The Right Way to Eat Ramen

Hey guys. So my last post was a recommendation for a ramen spot, and I was asked a very good question, "What is the correct way to eat ramen?"

I was in Japan just a short two weeks ago, and I must of eaten at least 4 bowls of ramen in my short 5 day trip. Here are a few things to pay attention to:

• The bowl of ramen comes topped with different ingredients, but usually always includes bamboo, bean sprouts, and an egg.  Before eating your ramen, use your chopsticks to mix around all the ingredients, so no one ingredient is in one corner of your bowl.

• Ramen is eaten using chopsticks and a spoon (called a Chinese Spoon). You lift the noodles with the chopsticks high enough that they separate from the bowl and the rest of the noodles. Then, you dip them back in the bowl to re-wet them with the broth before eating them.

• Most importantly: SLURP! In Japanese culture it is a sign that the food is delicious and shows a sign of respect towards the cook. So do not be afraid to make as much noise as you want while slurping up those noodles. And when you finish, it is proper to raise the bowl with two hands to finish any remaining broth which is is also a symbol that you enjoyed the food down to the very last bite.

Remember that ramen is meant to be enjoyed and eaten quickly, like pizza in the United States. When in Japan, I witnessed a group of four teenage boys slurp up their ramen loudly and quickly and they all finished their bowls of ramen in under 5 minutes. It was incredible.

If you want to know more about ramen, look here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/09/the-serious-eats-guide-to-ramen-styles.html  for some super helpful tips.

Meijin Ramen

The first restaurant I want to suggest is one off the Michelin Guide. It is called Meijin Ramen and the food is delicious. It was a small place that was super busy by 7pm on a Saturday night. I ordered the Nagoya Spicy Pepper Chicken Wings ($8), Crispy & Spicy Sesame Chicken Don ($13), and Curry Soy ($14). I also ordered a Lychee Martini ($8 during Happy Hour). The chicken wings were super good, and I highly recommend them; pro tip: Japanese cuisine revolves around the creation of 'umami', which is the perfect combination of flavor that gently satisfies each of the 4 tastes: sweet, sour, salt, and bitter. Translation: The wings are not spicy. The chicken don was tasty, however the chicken pieces were too big and should have been cut into bite size pieces. The curry soy was definitely the best thing we ordered. The broth was addicting, and the noodles were perfectly cooked. This is a must try if you go here. 

The mojito was decently strong and reasonably priced during Happy Hour. Worth a try, but not a must have.

My Rating: $$ ****    (see sidebar for further explanation) 

Find the menu here:  http://www.meijinramen.net

What To Pay Attention To

Hey everyone! Before I start suggesting restaurants, I want to give you guys a heads up about some of the basic things you should pay attention to.

First, the DOH (Department of Health) visits restaurants randomly at least once a year to rate the cleanliness of the kitchen. They check that the restaurant is in compliance with regulations regarding food handling, personal hygiene, vermin control and other guidelines that are listed here:
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/about/healthcode/health-code-article81.pdf.

Every time a DOH officer spots a violation, he/she gives a certain amount of points. If a certain amount of points are reached, then the DOH can shut down that restaurant immediately. Otherwise,
at the end of the inspection, the points are totaled and a grade is given. The grading scale is A, B or C, with A being the highest score. The letter must be displayed in the window out front of the restaurant. Look for it!

Another thing to pay attention to is the staff. Restaurants are usually controlled by two sections. Front of House (FOH) and Back of House (BOH). The FOH staff are the people that you usually see, such as servers, bartenders, hosts and busboys. The BOH staff are the people who are actually preparing the food; usually consistent of a Chef de Cuisine, Sous Chef and the line cooks. If the initial impression given by the FOH staff is unimpressive or dissatisfying, it is usually a good reflection of the culture of that restaurant. If FOH isn't passionate about their position, it usually means that BOH doesn't care either- which will reflect in the quality of your meal.

Last, paying attention to how long a restaurant has been open can tell a lot about the quality. Due to the competitive nature and expensive rent in NYC, there is a 3 year mark in which many restaurants go out of business. Therefore, if a restaurant has made it past that three year mark- it is probably something worth considering as a viable dinner option.