Eat Like Ushi

In amongst NYC's brutally expensive banh mi (USD10+ each before tax/tips and all those other sneaky bits) is Joju at least giving some modern touches with their version.

Even though noone else was sitting inside on this weekday mid-morning, there were plenty of takeaway orders coming in and a massive series of bags had been set up presumably for the lunch rush.

Good Morning banh mi (1/2 a toasted baguette, mayo, daikon, carrots, cilantro) with egg and grilled Vietnamese sausage (aka nem nuong). It was a pretty small version and just not the correct bread. It just doesn't have the crisp shell and airy centre.

Op la platter (bread, 2 eggs, scallion oil, daikon, carrots, cilantro) with Vietnamese ham, caramel pork, grilled pork sausage, house sauce was a much better offering, like a deconstructed banh mi meets sunnyside breakfast. In particular the caramel pork as a chunky mince was deep, sweet and flavoursome.

I bit too expensive for my liking but a good platter meal in the end.

The classic breakfast bagel from NYC - something to try. I've never been a big fan of bagels to be honest. This place was a bit more creative than your average (I expect, without actually knowing) in its many cream cheeses, coloured bagels and massive list of fillings to pick from.

Pretty sure I had The Works (egg, hashbrown, sausage, bacon, cheese) USD8.5 and I can't remember what was in the rainbow bread.

In any case they were fine without being particularly special. The queues of people there (locals it appeared) seemed to suggest otherwise.

I'd heard about this Michelin-starred dimsum restaurant from Hong Kong when they opened in London. Due to many things including the price and never getting around to it, I never got around to it.

After 2+ weeks of Middle Eastern food in Egypt and Jordan, it was time to get some variety and NYC was a fine place for that. Asian was first on the list and having so many restaurants near us around Times Square, yumcha brunch at this well known name seemed a good idea.

The restaurant opened at 10am, and there was a queue forming already. By 11am the place was full. People really go early for their dimsum here.

The menu items are pretty standard in addition to their well known ones of baked pork buns and egg cake.

- Baked BBQ pork buns USD6 - their specialty rather than the usual steamed bao. I have to say I wasn't a fan of this Cantonese sweet bread;
- Steamed egg cake USD5.5 - definitely wasn't expecting this but this tower looking sweet bread is also something I have tried previously and not liked that much. What's with all the sweet?;
- Pan fried turnip cake USD5.85
- Deepfried dumplings with pork & dried shrimp USD5.85 - nice hot chewy dumplings the way I like it;
- Steamed rice roll with shrimp & Chinese chives USD5.95 - a bit stingy to have 2 prawns rather than 3. But I guess the price is no different to the other dishes to make up for it;
- Steamed dumplings with shrimp & chives USD5.95;
- Steamed shrimp dumplings USD5.95 - smallish but still ok.

Hit the spot at a slightly higher price. If I'd choose better next time and avoid their sweet creations, I'd be happier.

(It's not in my top restaurants, but because they do have a Michelin star I suppose I should add it to the list.)

A friend who ours (Cantonese who likes expensive Chinese food) now living in New York gave us a few options to meet over dinner. Her favourite was Uluh, although she had been there the night before already. Considering she told us she goes there 1-2x per week anyway, she was quite happy to go again (and they certainly recognise her) and it definitely had the most interesting menu of the places recommended.

I remember Chinese food up until about 12 years ago was basically Cantonese - it was only when I discovered Hunanese and Sichuan did I realise there is so much more (and better in my opinion) Chinese regional cuisine out there. Sichuan has been my favourite since then and I'm always happy to try a new place for this especially one with some more modern touches. Actually our waiter said the menu was very traditional, although I would have to say it is definitely different to the standard menus, nicer ingredient options, and prices to match (even for NYC).

A drink of cold Uluh soymilk with red bean and mochi USD12 was a nice sweet starter to the hot, humid NYC weather. The mochi was very gooey. Definitely not a traditional start.

- Woodear mushroom salad USD10;
- Lobster with salty egg yolk USD46 - I really like salty egg yolk coatings but most often find them on prawns or tofu. This fancy lobster version stood out and definitely needing to try once in my life. The coating was crisp and mildly salty and not enough to overpower the lobster flavour (maybe that's why the prawn versions seem more flavoursome in the coat?), the lobster meat was good although maybe a touch on the chewy side. Still nice;
- Mapo duck blood tofu USD20 - I was a little hesistant to order this, not so much for myself but for my fellow 2 diners who didn't seem sold on it. It's my partner's favourite Chinese dish (minus duck blood) and so wanted to see how they did it. I am so glad I did, because this remarkable dish had silken tofu that was texturally similar to the silken blood cubes (discernible by colour obviously and a more earthy flavour) in a spicy oily coat topped with spring onion and angel hair chillies. Simply the best version I've ever had and one of my favourite dishes ever eaten;
- Vegetarian dry pot USD26 - a simple dish ordered for more vegetables. This was an outstanding dish with perfectly balanced flavours of spice, numbing and savoury. The textures of soft fungus, chewy tofu skin and crunchy lotus was a wonder;
- Stirfried okra in XO sauce USD18 - more tastiness in a more savoury and chewy sauce. Excellent once again;
- Mango juice sago pomelo with mochi USD12 - a sweet ending to wash down the salt and flavour.

It ended up being way too much food for 3. I suppose I expected smaller serves because of the more upmarket menu. Also the strong heavy flavour means you eat less overall anyway. Looking at their online menu now I can see all prices have gone up by about $2 (or in the case of the lobster $12!!).

It is simply one of the best Chinese meals I've had. I wish we had a fridge/microwave so I could have taken the leftovers home myself. I would come back for that mapo duck blood tofu alone though. Until (if there is a) next time...

I'd read a lot about NYC pizza, particularly that the most well known ones had long queues. As game as I was as a tourist, given there was only a few short days in NYC, queueing for pizza had to give way. Luckily a well reputed one was very near the hostel on the UWS. After arriving very late, we went the first night and tasted what I associate now as NYC pizza - large slices, thin crust, but very flavoursome/salty.

On the last night in NYC we went back. Just because we couldn't decide what to eat after some decadent meals already.

Really good. Look forward to queueing next time perhaps.

A famous bakery for cookies near Central Park. Quite simply the best cookie I've ever had and 7 years later in 2018 I was delivered some and they are still as good.

Maintaining their firm coat and soft moist centre even many days later.

The Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie remains unrivalled. Unsurpassed.

Perfect for food to take for a meal in the park.

I was lucky enough to dine at Eleven Madison Park at possibly the height (so far) of their acclaim - it was the night they became the first restaurant in the world to jump from one to three Michelin Stars. A few weeks ago it was also elevated to rank 10 in the world on Restaurant Magazine's 2012 list.

I picked this as my choice of fine dining options for NYC based upon it being the only restaurant that provided a different experience - all the rest seem to be variations on typical French fine cuisine. Eleven Madison Park has the exciting menu concept of picking a few ingredients and the restaurant will create a series of dishes. It is to be noted that the tasting menu negates this concept, but nonetheless I'm not disappointed in my choice.

Sadly all the detailed notes I had written on the night were obliviated when a Facebook album was deleted via iPhoto. However the photos remain and the memories of the experience still linger.

The main things that stood out were:
- not all dishes were delicious; some were a bit strange (the tomato tea, cucumber salad), but at least they were creative;
- the ingredients were the finest collection I've eaten together - matsutake mushrooms, white truffles, black truffles, caviar, sea urchin roe, thick slabs of foie gras...;
- the white truffle supplement of USD95 per person seems excessive, but my first experience with the explosive flavour was gourmet-life changing;
- the service and hospitality is impeccable (notice all the waiters only walk in one direction around the room) and being invited to the kitchen to watch and be served a liquid nitrogen cocktail was a fine touch;
- at the end they gave my partner a nice jar filled with housemade granola. 

Keep in mind to total bill for 2 with white truffle supplement and 2 glasses of wine was USD600. Added tip was USD120. This is not a cheap meal!

Next time I would order the tasting menu again. Although I want to pick from their matrix of ingredients for fun, the experience of the full courses is worth the money and all for the lust of food.

02-2016

Luck would have it that I decided to clear some space on my phone. I opened the deleted section of my phone's notes and found entries dating back to 2010. An entry popped up that made me smile "Eleven Madison Park" from 2011. All was not lost after all. Even though I can't quite remember dish for dish (with a couple of noticeable exceptions), at least this is something:

- Beetroot & goat cheese lollipop
- Tomato tea & parmesan
- Scallop ceviche & yuzu
- Raw tuna & black pepper on rice cracker
- Goat cheese croquette with vinaigrette
- Apple, sea urchin caviar, foie gras & dill
- Long island style clam chowder in a pot, clam with basil, clam with caviar, corn
- NYC flour bread with goat milk butter with dill, sheep & crispy faro milk butter and fleur de sal
- Cucumber with buttermilk dressing mustard seeds
- Foie gras terrine with pickled onion, plum & almonds
- Artichoke, sweet bread, truffle & jus
- Poached lobster, matsutake mushrooms, jus topped with fresh white truffle slices (probably the greatest dish of all time)
- Pork, butterscotch palms, scallion jus & plum
- Gooseberry EVOO, melon, peach & ricotta
- Egg cream drink, milk syrup, malt milk, EVOO & seltzer water
- Chocolate sponge, coffee cream, & hazelnut icecream 
- Petit four
- Liquid nitrogen passionfruit cocktail

01-2017

One day clearing out old travel documents stored for eternity, I came across the original menu from that night...