La Promenade de Anglaise

So when I saw that Martha went here. Naturally it's fresh on my mind, and super curious!
Brandade Crostini prosciutto, spicy tomato concasse
Monk Fish In Fig Leaf potatoes, onions & bacon, roasted fig with bone marrow, balsamic reduction (the sauce is great, but wasn't sure if I should be having the fig leave. The bone marrow was stuck in the middle of the fig, that was only so-so. Wish it was on the fish instead.)
Chocolate mousse with toasted marshmallow on top with a piece of brittle. (of course I cleaned the cup)
Compliementary shortbread cookie (which you can taste spices instead of sweet) and lemon truffles (we were stuffed by this point, but it was zingy)

La Promenade des Anglais
461 West 23rd Street,
New York

Reservations is highly recommended

Laduree NYC macarons

As far as Macaron Fridays goes, this is the most exciting for me. I finally got to go to one of the Macaron Mecca to worship the macaron tree. Haha, not so severe, but it's pretty damn close to Eureka.
We walked and walked and the shop does blend in with the rest of the stores on Madison Ave. It's pretty and fancy. There's so many pretty macaron trees around, I just want one to take home.

Here's the inside. When we walked in, there's a line that snaked around between the front door to the counter. And I happened to squeezed myself into the doorway. From what I read, they don't have a commerical kitchen space here in NY yet, so they've been flying these macarons from France. Can you imagine? Macarons flown in daily for the wonderful macs.

Even the decorations are high class and boutique feel. I'm not going to lie, I did some major damage there. I think my friend thinks that I'm crazy for spending more money here than elsewhere... but to me, totally worth it.
The circle gift box holds 15, the pink box has a very special key chain for me. Not to mention I got some other gifties, also for me. So, yes, I'm crazy. The macs are nice and moist. Even though it's a pain to carry on to bring them home and they're slightly squished, it's still yummy!

Laduree NYC
864 Madison Avenue,
New York, NY 10021
Tél : + 1 646 558 3157
http://www.laduree.fr/en/maisons/monde-details

Cha Chan Tang

One of the newer find for me is Cha Chan Tang (茶餐廳) on Mott Street. At first we thought the place must be fusion something or another because by the look of the decor, it's updated and hip. They can't possibly have our old favorites.
We were proven wrong. The decor is definitely neat. If you see the wall made out of tea cups, you can see it here.
Aside from the cups, the back wall has the history of Cha Chan Tang and how it comes about both in English and Chinese. Because they didn't allow photos (blatantly taken) my sneaky photos weren't that great, so I'll spare you the view. The other cool thing about the decor, is their chandelier. It is a made out of Vitasoy bottles. As far as soymilk goes, it's refreshing in the summer and the vendors sell them heated up in winter. Brought back wonderful childhood memories.
Here in the back is my Yin Yang, which is mix of coffee and milk tea. Of course, things aren't never that easy. I remember my mom said that they used to use hoisery (clean ones of course) to filter the tea. And the mix is not a 50/50 mix. It's more of one than the other, but forgot the proportion.
Fish balls, it's basically mashed and then shaped into balls. The left ones are plain, the right ones are in curry sauce, super yummy. This is a typical street food. We used to buy them from street vendors who would be waiting right outside of school and for $1 (HKD) you get a skewer of 6 and they do have sauces that they dip in.
This is cola-marinated chicken wings. It is juicy, nothing like the American wings.

If you happen to notice the wall too, there's 4 fake window pane that looks out into an intersection in Hong Kong. And if there are cars going by, you'll see it go thru the 4 'windows' as though you're sitting in a real tea cafe looking out. The place does get popular and you do want to bring your patience for seats, but well worth it.

Cha Chan Tang
45 Mott Street
New York, 10013
(212) 577-2888

Morimoto pt.2

This is continuation from yesterday's post about my trip to Morimoto's restaurant in Chelsea.
If you recall, we did the tasting menu (omakase - which means leaving it to the chef's hand). They have one tier of $125 and another one at $200. You really are leaving it in the liberty of the chef.

pallet cleansing drink, it's a fresh basil ginger ale
Sushi

oyster

consumate with truffle (wasn't as good as I'd thought it'd be)

warm dish, it was fish, but forgot what kind

Steak with Lobster and creme fraiche. The sour of the creme really bring out the taste of the lobster.

This is a pineapple cake with a little rum squeeze (the cake was too sour and the rum tasted funny), chestnut ice cream (which was yummy), and fruit.

Pudding like thing, but the top layer to get there is like a carmel but sour and doesn't taste very well.

I think for us, paying that type of money we expected the dessert to be the big finish. So when both sets of dessert didn't deliver that was quite disappointing. The rest of the coursed tasted good. There's a few courses that were just ok, but the rest were quite good.

Morimoto pt.1

When my friend reminded me that Morimoto has a restaurant in NY, I was so thrilled. It had totally slipped my mind, but was I happy to get a reservation in. Since we both did a tasting, and it felt like food just kept on coming, I'll spear you the wording and just show you pictures.

This is the bathroom stall. How unique! Trust me, I don't usually take pictures of the bathrooms. And yes, they have heated toilet seats.
Beautiful glass wall that draps down to downstairs.
Tuna belly with accurement of fixin's
albacore and gelee (slippery little suckers)
don't remember what but the oil was wonderful.

Chicken broth with miso fondue. It's so yummy you want to lick the bowl, but don't! You get to dip veggies in there.

Cafetasia

A while back, when I was getting all sorts of random emails, one of them was about this new Asian eatery in NY. I save emails like that in the event that a, I get to go there, or b, they're still in business. I was happy to find that Cafetasia is one that is still doing well.
Located in the NYU district, Cafetasia's menu is mostly Thai based. That said, it has their spin on alot of the typical Thai dish, and more fusion too. The decoration is also very unusual. You have these picnic tables that you do end up sharing with stranger but that's doesn't stop you from enjoying good food.

I ordered the Cafetasia Lemonade. It has lychee in it, and it's not at all tart, and it's definitely refreshing with a hint of basil.
For their lunch special: $8 it comes with an appetizer and entree. I chose the gyo-za just because I haven't had any decent ones in a long time. To my surprise, it wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. It seems like it's been sitting out too long. The middle part is soggy and the sides are not crispy and a tad cool.
My appetizer, before I knew about the one that comes with my lunch. Was the salmon roll. The roll was so big that they give you a steak knife to cut it apart. I think it was bigger than a normal sushi roll that we get. Of course, those weren't fried on the outside, and it's not massive like this. It does taste pretty good with the peanut sauce from the bottom.
My main entree is the Spicy Beef Salad. See, when I got it, I didn't think it comes with rice. But it does compliement well with the rice. I swear, even if the rest of the dish isn't there, they can douse the chili-lime dressing on the rice and I'll eat that up. The salad is consisted of beef, which was a tad dry from the grilling. Water cress, chopped green apple, greens and cilantro.
Cafetasia
38 E 8th St(between University Pl & Greene St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-2363
www.cafetasia.com

Lulu

While we were walking, both my friend and I know all and well that NYC is the cupcake mecca. So as we were walking on 8th Ave, we were totally distracted by how pretty Lulu is. It is set up like a boutique, they have custom cake and of course cupcakes.
But they are not a one-trick pony. They also have their own spin of twinkies and snoball. Yes, those big o' pink fuzz ball from our childhood. Except, I'm sure they're tastier and haven't been in the vending machine for months.
I picked up a few cookies, like almond horn, marble and of course rugaluch. So good!

Lulu
112 Eighth Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets)
New York, New York 10011
212-242-5858
http://chelsea.everythinglulu.com

Yu Ka Sushi Restaurant

When my friend told me we're going to an All-You-Can-Eat Sushi place, I was kinda leary about that. If we wouldn't want to go to a sushi buffet, why would you want to go to an all-you-can-eat? Boy was I proven wrong here.
First of all, this is a hole in the wall. Situated on 2nd & 81st, it's a tiny little place next to a corner Starbucks. For $25, all you can eat, everything made to order and fresh! I'm super impressed! Of course, we went to town.
I let my friend do the ordering, I always let the locals do the leading because they have a better idea than I do. Even though, sushi is pretty much standard most places you go. We ordered 10 of several things, and at first I didn't think we'd finish. But we did polish them off. More so him than me. ^_^
The salmon was super fresh, the roe was neatly put together. Not to mention, the sushi chefs behind the counter and most of the staff are authentic Japanese. That's something we don't get in Houston. The chefs are pretty funky, one of them was singing and wiggling along to Brittany Spears while making our maki. Too funny.

And yes, you can order by the menu. But $25 all you can eat, including gratuity but not tax. It's a great deal for fresh fish.

Yu Ka Sushi
1557 Second Ave. (bet. 80th & 81st Sts.) next to Starbucks
Manhattan, NY 10028
212-772-9675