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.

Wikipedia Follow Up

So about two weeks ago, I was searching on Wikipedia and I noticed a section under "Restaurants" that was incorrect. It was the section about Chef's Tables. So I went ahead and fixed it. You can see the original version and my edits here.

I went back on just now, out of curiosity to see if anyone made any edits to my edit, and they didn't!

Here is the link to the Wikipedia page if you're interested. Restaurant.

So glad I was able to change the entry to better educate people on the truth about the Chef's Table.

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.