As some of you, my readers, I have mixed feelings about brunch. I do love having a relaxed daytime, weekend meal at a restaurant but I dislike the fact of seeing ordinary breakfast food that I can make at home. Thankfully, since I’m in the melting pot of culture and restaurants in New York City, there’s hope for me.
Mercadito’s exterior and interiors
Stumbling upon Mercadito’s email about their brunch* it seemed like a good idea to try a Mexican brunch. I managed to convince my brother to get out of his apartment the past Sunday and meet up with him there.
Standing in front of this narrow restaurant that’s pretty easily standing out from the rest on this part of Avenue B, it’s already filled with diners. And it’s a few minutes past 12 PM.
Mimosa and guacamole
We started brunch with fruit flavored mimosas. (They serve off a prix fixe menu of $19 consisting of a fruit mimosa or cafe con leche, an entrée that comes with rice and beans.) The three featured were strawberry, mango, and pineapple. Both were good, bubbly drinks and you can tell they use real fruit instead of a mix. I would prefer the pulp being puréed or muddled down a bit more so I won’t have a large chunk of fruit in my mouth.
To go along with the drinks, we ordered the trio of guacamoles (traditional, pineapple, and mango) and fresh tortilla chips. All the guacamoles were fresh and delicious. I prefer the traditional but the mango (the brown colored one) was quite memorable for being the pretty unusual (a darker, sweet-savory guacamole). Continue reading “Brunch at Mercadito” »
After lamenting from the losses of Pastry Chef Pichet Ong’s P*Ong and Batch that was located in West Village, I have never felt happier when I read that he’s opening again in the East Village, named Spot.
Menu
I have been to both P*Ong (review here but I’m warning you the photos aren’t that great back then) and Batch (went there twice – here’s the photos I went a few weeks before it closed) and it is a hybrid of the former two places. The minimalist interior and plated desserts reminds me of P*Ong while the baked goods and the use of edible glitter reminds me of Batch.
Back when Motorino (the East Village location) started to serve lunch, I asked Giulia if we can meet up and try the pizza that everyone was talking about. I missed out on the opening week when dinner was served. But then again, I’d rather stick with the serene atmosphere that isn’t crushed by a ton of people who eat there after work and give the pizzeria some time to work out their kinks – service or the expensive brick oven that’s left behind from the former Una Pizza Napoletana.
Mixed salad
We decided on sharing the $12 lunch prix fixe and added an extra pizza, getting some healthy greens, the mixed salad to balance out the carbs from the pizza we’re about to consume. A large pile of fresh, tender leafy greens lightly dressed in vinaigrette was quite welcoming for us. Continue reading “Glorious Pizza Lunch at Motorino, East Village” »
Originally taken place on July 3, 2009. The first part is from Ssam Bar’s prix fixe lunch (it started with the beef tendon dish).
I didn’t have the intention of stuffing my face with a ton of Momofuku food that day…
Burnt honey + mustard croissant?!
But Seungmi was hungry and wanted something to eat. I was presuming Helen was coming downtown from work and Seungmi never went to any of the Momofuku places, I might as well introduce her to the “lighter” fare of Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery“>Milk Bar. When I looked up at the chalkboard, near the register, I noticed they might be selling a burnt honey and mustard croissant. Sounds tasty…
Seungmi’s first Volcano (or anything from Milk Bar)
Seungmi ordered the Volcano. Yes, that large pastry puck of potato puree and Benton’s cheese. I told her it would be tastier if she added some sriracha sauce to add some interesting dimension to this dense, sorta one-noted savory pastry. She agreed it tasted better. She’s happy and pretty stuffed that she saved the uneaten remnants for Helen. Continue reading “Epic Eating – Momofuku Milk Bar, Everyman Espresso, Bouchon Bakery, and Gus & Gabriel” »
I’m putting my HK/China posts on the back burner for now since I’m eating out NYC a bit more since it’s SUMMER here. If you’re anticipating the HK/China posts, just hang on for a bit. Sorry.
Back on June 11th, I had lunch at Marea, after reading positive reviews on this place. I like seafood and thankfully, I’m not allergic to them anymore. (I know weird, right?) So, I hauled my butt over and tried their tasting menu, which is four courses but you pick your own from the menu.
Dishes from Marea
I’m not going into depth since I’m waay behind blogging, I’ll succinctly say Marea is a very good seafood-centric restaurant. You can’t go wrong with pastas since Chef Michael White is great at making tender strands of noodles and it’s oversauced. If you want the break down of each dish, go to my set. It’s not Le Bernardin-level seafood but it’s close to it. Continue reading “Lunches at Marea & Momofuku Ssäm Bar” »
It’s been a loong time since I’ve seen any of my friends because of my mom’s hospitalization a few weeks earlier and prepping for my upcoming vacation. Julie commented on my blog recently wanted to see me before I’m leaving NYC, I made time last Friday to have dinner with her at 6:30. Almost by default, I’ve brought Helen along because she’s out from work early and can accompany for pre-dinner. (What I mean by “pre-dinner” is consuming food right before dinner just to kill time.)
It was a warm (finally) evening, Helen and I wanted ice cream. We thought of getting coffee but creamy, frozen dairy trumps caffeine during the later hours of the day. Anyway, we took the subway down to Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery. Yes, I know most of your are thinking this place is overrated but I like this place (implicitly, the Momofuku empire) a lot.
Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery’s Menus
When we arrived there, I looked up at the menu boards and spotted the “Coming Soon” section, indicating the possible existence of Arnold Palmer Tea Cake and Cookie Cookie Dough. My eyes were wide open and my mind screamed, “I WANT.” But going back to earth, I’ve made up my mind about getting the Bavarian cream soft serve with banana crumble topping and Helen wanted the chocolate donut soft serve. Continue reading “Pre-Dinner at Momofuku Milk Bar & Ssäm Bar, Dinner at Baoguette Cafe, and Dessert Truck” »
This dinner dates back on January 16, 2009. Yes, it’s a bit dated but it’s still valid when you look at their current menu.
About a month or so, in December, Patrick (if you look back at the Alta post, that’s when I knew him) and I chatted online like we usually do on a workday. The surprising thing he told me was he’s coming to visit New York City for the weekend. I was happy since I haven’t seen him for nearly a year or so and he wanted to eat dinner. Somewhere. I scratched my head a bit and tried to think of vegetarian-friendly places that would appeal to him and my meat-liking self. Of the bunch of places I’ve thought up of, we settled on Hearth for its delicious sounding menu. I also wanted the highly touted cider donuts. In case you don’t know this by now, I love desserts.
Interior & Menu
Hearth’s interior looked very handsome and welcoming. Brick walls with warm, wooden-beamed ceilings. The wall beside us (not pictured) were lined with large squares of felt or velvet. Also, if you looked toward the part of the room where it’s facing Second Avenue, there’s a large cauldron hung up on the wall.
When we’re seated and given menus, Patrick and I didn’t bother staring and contemplating much as to what we should order – we’ve made our decisions practically a week ahead. All we did was chat and catch up a bit until the waiter came back and inquired what we would like to have. Continue reading “A Great Dinner at Hearth” »
Apologies for not posting the past few weeks. I’m getting lazy with the posting and with the holidays coming, I’ve been busy buying and wrapping presents and writing Christmas cards. Damn the post office line being ridiculously long…
I went to Momofuku Ssäm Bar (yes, again) a few weeks ago with Giulia. Why did I go there again? Well, for two reasons: One, I kept mentioning about their luscious, fatty pork buns on a lot of different food conversations that it piqued her interest. And two, I never took her there. So, it’s about time to take her there as a de-stressing lunch after she took one of the many law school finals that will come on the later weeks, on Monday. Continue reading “Another Lunch at Momofuku Ssäm Bar & Bakery” »
Two weeks ago, Helen and I attended an event at Bryant Park where we sampled Canadian ice wine and two different hors d’ouevrs. Obviously, this didn’t make us full and the food was disappointing enough that we left under an hour and went to the East Village. Since it was a chilly evening and us being Asian, we craved a bowl of hot soup and noodles, which Helen said, “I want to go to Ippudo.”
By the time we got there around 8:15, it’s already packed – people were waiting by the door and the crowded bar area. I asked one of the hostesses that evening how long was the wait and she said, “an hour, hour and a half at least.” Disgruntled and not willing to wait that long for a bowl of noodles, I told Helen, “Let’s go to Momofuku [Ssäm Bar].” And off we walked.
Crowded…
Despite the fact that this place was packed and buzzing with activity, we were fortunate enough to snag a table a few minutes after we walked in. A four-top just finished and the guy before us didn’t have a complete party, we ended up getting the table. Woot. Continue reading “Impromptu Dinner at Momofuku Ssäm Bar” »
[I'm holding back on writing about Kuma Inn after this post...]
The past Saturday, November 15th, I met up with Helen and Dannie to try out as many things as our stomach can handle at Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery after reading Ed’s preview and seeing a few friends’ photos (they went in early for the Friends & Family preview), I’m salivating at the thought of eating there. So, I proposed to meet up at 11 AM for the sake of avoiding the crowds.
Menu
Despite the fact that it was rainy and early (in terms of the sleepyheads for a Saturday morning), this place was buzzing with activity. There’s a short line of people ordering their food whilst everyone else was spread all over the bakery’s tables that are on the tall side for my short stature. (Hey, I’m 5’3″ what do you expect?) Continue reading “Momofuku Milk Bar & Bakery” »
