Japanese- It Ain't All Sushi

"Man, you guys loove the Asian" -Brother

And it's so true. I enjoy it and mainly because I have discovered so many different types of Asian food from meeting Mr. Broad. No longer is it only the Friday night Chinese food or my go-to Pad Thai (but still a favorite...). I have branched out to the many different regions. And Northern Thai is different than Southern Thai. And don't get me started on Japanese vs. Thai vs. Indian curries. Duh.

Oh and we're pretty sure that Mr. Broad was an Asian man in a former lifetime. Maybe he used to work the rice fields or managed a karaoke bar. Either way, he definitely was Asian.

Yakitorri Totto (aka Torys)
251 West 55th Street

So when Mr. Broad suggested Yakitori for last Friday night I was game. We had only done it once before with Mr. Broad's brother and sister-in-law and had a great time. Yakitori for the nonfoodie stands for grilled chicken. And it is several bite sized pieces of grilled chicken on skewers that they cook/marinade on an open grill. But of course, it's not only chicken anymore but includes different vegetables or meats. With some adventurous items in there as well. The menu even said, "Acquired taste" in some areas.

The skewers start around $3 and in theory it can be affordable depending on how many you order. So we went at it. But first the appetizers.

TAKO WASA: raw octopus marinated in mildly spicy wasabi sauce-
This is so not my thing and clearly I didn't order it but texture was all off. I was expecting smooth, silky diver scallop-like bites. What I got was slimy, smooth but at points crunchy. I don't know. Mr. Broad did mention that it was just eh after I made him admit that there can be Asian food he doesn't like.

JIDORI KARAAGE: Japanese style fried chicken
I have had Karage before (Mr. Broad had to remind me) and really liked it. This one, however, I loved. The presentation was very unique with all the meat on the top of the drumstick. A singular piece of chicken with the meat on top...

TEBA: Chicken wings

NATTO KINCHAKU: fermented soybeans in deep-fried bean curd w/ spicy mustard

And the inside...
YAKI NASU MISO DENKAKU: eggplant w/ miso paste
Definitely one of my favorites.



MISO DARE MUNE NIKU: chicken breast topped w/ scallion and special miso paste


CHICKEN OYSTER: rare part of thigh (sot l’y laisse)
Apparently a very rare cut of meat which I don't understand since I didn't realize chickens were so rare. But the oyster is a part of the thigh which. Well, it rocks. Extremely juicy.


Couldn't find this one on the menu online but it was a rice ball skewer covered in soy sauce.

ENOKI BACON: enoki mushroom wrapped in a slice of bacon

Review:
Torys is a lot of fun. And they have plenty of other options for those not wanting yakituri. Someone explained it once as Japanese tapas. Sure why not. We had some other skewers not photographed (or they were and didn't turn out as "pretty") from chicken wings to spare ribs. Oh and pork butt. How could I forget Mr. Broad ordered pork butt. Chewy.

Anyway, these places are a lot of fun. And would be great with a big group of people too. But yeah, that would require us to know a big group of people. Sigh...

In the meantime, Mr. Broad and I enjoy getting seated at the bar and watching them make the skewers right in front of us. And trying to get me to sit down and stop taking pictures. Oops.
Rating: 8

All our skewers at the end. We done good.

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"Please Pack Your Knives"

Go figure, I'm a huge Top Chef fan. Especially this season because they are IN NEW YORK CITY!! Duh. Mr. Broad and I watch geekily trying to find our building in the city shots, or figure out which Whole Foods they are at. HELLO!? First episode they went to LONG ISLAND CITY! ::fist pump!!::

Anyway so here's a restaurant rewind for you. Between all of the Ko madness, Mr. Broad and I decided to go out to dinner since it had been about 2 weeks since we ventured anywhere. (OH! that was why she did those filler posts on Ko...)

Craftbar
900 Broadway

I recently recommended this restaurant for my friends The Essamas when they visited NYC even though I had never been. It's Tom Colicchio's more "informal" restaurant. Ya know the bald guy on Top Chef? That's him. He has a couple of other restaurants "craft" restaurants with Craft being his high end restaurant. We have a fantabulous gift certificate there so we will be trying that one as well. It always gets rave reviews, and The Essamas loved it too so time for Mr. Broad and I to actually go.

The menu has pretty much everything you can want ranging from pastas to fish to meats.

Arugula, Market Pear, Goat Cheese, Hazelnuts
Very fresh arugula. A nice starter really.

Chicken Liver Pâté, Crostini, Pickles
Obviously Mr. Broad's pick.
I didn't try any but it was huge. Had a dark gelee (err, fat?) layer on top and underneath was the pate. Mr. Broad enjoyed it but did say it wasn't no 2nd Avenue Deli. I guess sometimes you can't touch a classic... (Oh that yellowing thing on the bottom right? It was apple butter. Umm, YUMM.)



Veal Ricotta Meatballs
So of all the crazy things on the menu Mr. Broad surprised us all with getting the Veal Ricotta Meatballs. The pasta was extra. Actually come to think about it, it was not a cheap bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. I know, Mom calm down. But the meatballs were huge!
The pasta was cooked very al dente but became a taste we loved. And the meatballs were amazing. Very filling.



Beef Short Ribs, Anson Mills Grits, Fried Egg, Bell Peppers
These were great- the grits were buttery and the short ribs were wonderful. They were tender, although still had to use a knife to cut. The peppers provided a nice flavor to the overall taste and man do I love to cut open the egg and ooze it everywhere. The meal became like a Thanksgiving day feast when you have a bunch of mush food and you try to get it all on one bite.



Review:
You can tell Craftbar is a very consistent restaurant. However, I love when people say that the restaurants are the "low end" version. I mean we had a great meal, however, it was not as "cheap" as people sometimes let on. I guess by looking back at our food, we could have picked things differently. Oh yeah, and the wine and beer. I ALWAYS forget that one. So yeah, it coulda been cheaper than we do. This is a great way to do dinner in the city without having to pay an arm and a leg. It's good. And definitely consistent.
Rating: 8

Note: And a Happy Inauguration Day! I just realized that the title can also apply to President Bush... :) Oh I'm so witty...

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Just Another NYC Power Lunch

So Mrs. Cardinal (a friend/coworker/and fellow foodie) was in NYC yesterday and I was in prime google search mode to find a fun place for us to do lunch.

Note to restaurant search query tools. PLEASE put an "open for lunch" drop down on your site to distinguish between the only dinner spots.

Anyway, I gave up and we hopped in a cab to SoHo because we are TRENDY and COOL and went to Balthazar.

Balthazar

80 Spring Street

On our way over I casually said to Mrs. Cardinal in that nonchalant way, "oh be on the look out for celebs this is their hangout."

And as we are getting led to our seats, Mrs. Cardinal had that smug "I see someone famous" look. Ya know where you are trying to not stare and be cool at the same time. Yeah I can't master that look either.

And then I see her. Good ol'Sandra Lee of Semi-Homemade Cooking! from the Food Network. Yes, I know this was no Bob Saget sighting... Sandra Lee, a B-list celebrity at best, however was right across from us.

Mrs. Cardinal did a good job eavesdropping on their conversation (something about magazines, 20 min meals, party ideas) while I had a good look at her the whole time.

And yes. I still took pictures of my food.

Oh right. the FOOD!

Warm Goat Cheese and Carmelized Onion Tartlet

Mrs. Cardinal and I shared this and it was nice and flaky. The tartlet was pretty good, however the real winner I thought was the side salad... mmmmm. grape tomatoes.

Just in case you want to see what it looks like cut open

Linguini with Shrimp and Olives
Mrs. Cardinal went with the special of the day. It looked good with some baby shrimp thrown in there. Her comment was that it was pretty garlicy but in a good way. Mrs. Cardinal also remarked that while it was good, it wasn't a "must have" again. Fair enough.


Roast Lamb Sandwich with Grilled Vegetables and Arugula
This was my order cause I do heart the lamb. The sandwich was served on a OMG I JUST MADE EYE CONTACT WITH SANDRA LEE!!!! Okay. Breathe. Omg. Did she just move that backpack over the baricade because she saw the flash go off and didn't want her picture taken!? Hmmm. Whatever. She's pretty annoying anyways. But at least she had a turtleneck on so her cleavage wasn't as annoying. Yeah I said it.

Oh so the lamb came on a hard roll making the sandwich difficult to eat. There was some zucchini in there and lots of onions. It was aight. The lamb was kind of tough-- hello, did we see Top Chef this past week?? You don't overtenderize lamb. Anyway. It was good, I was just slightly underwhelmed.




Review
I've passed this place many Saturdays and they are constantly packed. The ambiance has that cool NYC vibe with clearly lots of celeb sightings. But honestly? I think the food is overrated. Mr. Broad has been here before and likes some of the breads and they may have okay desserts? I don't know. Regardless, it's in a great location and if you want to put your name down, go shopping for 2 hours, and then grab a bite. This is your place. Who knows maybe next time, you'll see Ina Garten? Ooh, or the Neely's!
Rating: 6.5

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At a Loss for Words... Well, Not Really.

The front door of the elusive Ko

Momofuku Ko
163 First Ave. (btwn 10th and 11th)

What can I say about Sunday night? Clearly I had to digest it all before I could give a write up. Words like surreal, intense, overwhelming run through my head. This meal went above and beyond my comfort zone- but in the most incredible and passionate way. At one point Mr. Broad said to me, I’ve never even heard of half of these items- they are completely off my radar.

Not knowing how to approach this write up I’m just going to do my best to recreate the entire evening. And I can tell you this much. Mr. Broad and I may never have an experience like this again.

The day started off like a normal day as if a sports team was preparing for a big game. Errands. Check! Gym. Check! Nap. Check! We were ready.

We clearly allotted ourselves enough time to get there (oops, one hour early) and eventually ventured to restaurant. Ohso obscure besides the signature momofuku peach on the door it is easily unrecognizable. The entire restaurant looks like a sushi bar (an ‘L’ shape) with everyone sitting on a counter with stools. But make no mistake, this was not sushi.

After we got seated at what I thought was the best table in the house (really, there is no bad table). I took out the camera and that’s when it happened. One of the waitresses came up to me and said ever so nicely, “I see your camera there, we don’t allow pictures anymore.”

Say Whaaaat?

Yeah. So I will do my best to TELL you what it was like and try and scam a picture from the world wide web.

As we knew what to expect, they only serve one thing here- a 10 course tasting. We went with the “cheaper” of the three wine pairings. And luckily they only give you a half glass of wine or sake for most all of the tastings. We fell for the whole, “Most people like the pairing because it compliments the dishes and gives you the full experience” speech. Whatever.

Don’t get me wrong the wines were very good. Some even stood out as ah.mazing. But let’s be honest. We didn’t come here for wine. Or even the sake. Somewhere around the last course when I sniffed a glass full of sherry I pronounced to Mr. Broad, “I’m done”.

So let us begin. The meal.

Cicharron with Togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder).
This was a teaser really. Just a pork rind really with fun spices on top.

Biscuit with Mirin and Black Pepper Butter
My friends, I have scoured the internet to try to find this picture. It does not look like your normal biscuit, was a dense soft, MOIST small biscuit of goodness. One of my favorite dishes of the evening.

Matsutake Mushroom Soup with fresh matsutake mushrooms
Anyone who knows me knows that I don't do the fungi. I had a mental talk with myself beforehand that I will TRY EVERYTHING. And then this came out. I worked up the courage and had the soup but I could not eat the wrinkly mushrooms. The soup was good considering I am not normally a fan. I can't really comment on it however can tell you Mr. Broad got was happy he got an extra helping of the mushrooms.

Diver scallops with sea urchin (uni), yuzu, burnt apple sauce, and burnt rice krispies
The scallops were raw and marinated in yuzu which has a tart taste to it. They had that nice fresh taste to it and Mr. Broad was salivating over the sea urchin. Uni is his favorite and I have to say if all sea urchin tastes like this, I am now a convert. And the odd pairing of the burnt apple sauce with the fish pulled it all together. Oddly, but it worked.

Lamp belly spiced with Madras curry and celery seed, Smoked brussel sprouts, daikon soup, fried lily bulbs
Hello, my new favorite meat. Mr. Broad and I are fans of the pork belly, but now welcome a new meat to our family. Lamb belly with seasoning that tasted similar to Old Bay (?!). The whole thing really came together well and again. And can we say, BRUSSEL SPROUTS?!

Smoked egg, hackleback caviar, onion souvious, fingerling potato chips, sweet potato vinegar
I posted a picture of this the other day. Watching them make this is so innovative. How do you smoke an egg?! The Caviar was incredible and provided a nice salty taste with the sweet potato chips.



Hand torn Handkerchief pasta, gribenes, lardons, pecorino and snail sausage
Yes. That's right. Snail sausage. These were white cubed gelatin-like sausages that looked like a mold between snail and sausage, I guess?? I hesitated big time. And the result? Tastes an awful lot like breakfast sausage! Move over Jimmy Dean! But no really, the pasta was incredible and gribenes are fried chicken skins (aka Jewish soul food). This dish had a lot of components to it and it all worked.

Sea Bass, Basil seeds, Marigold Stew, and Artichokes

Oh how I wish I had a picture of this one. And not for the marigold stew, although it did provide a beautiful yellow/orange color. What you NEED to see a picture of is basil seeds. I did a little online research afterwards (thanks Wikipedia!) and if you combine basil seeds with water they become gelatinous. This is NOT a picture of the dish but of what basil seeds look like. And it covered the sea bass. Was a very interesting taste that all worked out. And the marigold stew? Not sweet, just a nice earthy flavor (err, duh).

Basil Seeds- Note this was not the dish, but what basil seeds look like

Shaved Foie Gras with Pine Nut brittle, lychee, and Riesling Gelee
This one and the egg dish are the only two dishes that are consistently on the menu. No shit. They put this in front of us, and the chef explained what we were eating and Mr. Broad goes in disbelief, "Come ON!" Apparently they freeze foie gras and then use a grater to shave it. It is paired with all of the flavors with the most exquisite taste. Genius, Mr. Chang, just genius. One of my favorite dishes of the tasting. I think lychee is often a forgotten food item. Was rather trendy a couple of years ago (lychee martinis anyone?) has gone the way of the flannel shirts and become yester-years fad. However, living in NYC I see flannel shirts are back IN again. So there's HOPE for lychees!!

Oh ye are so beautiful

Underneath was the lychee, the pine nut brittle the reisling gelee. Brilliance.

14 day Dry Aged Sirloin Beef, Sunchokes, and Horseradish Sauce
WHAT is a sunchoke? As it was served (and because the wine was now talking) I astutely observed that a sunchoke is the same thing as a potato! Oh Mrs. Broad and your naivety. Err, nope, not exactly! Apparently close to a rutabaga it was served with 2 or 3 slices of sirloin with that nice red color of "NOW THIS IS HOW MEAT SHOULD TASTE" look. Yeah it rocked. Note about the horseradish sauce. Not exactly the Passover variety you normally get. Much more creamier, and unlike Passover, this I did not skip over.

Mandarin Sorbet, Bitter Oranges, and Juniper
I don't know if it was the sake talking but Mr. Broad declared the oranges were too bitter for his taste. Oh really? Why is the plate cleared then?? It was a nice sorbet that you knew was just there to clear your palette for the last course. Sigh.

Pretzel ice cream, granny smith apple syrup, yogurt, and fried cheddar balls
The final course, however, I have to say Mr. Broad and I were ready for it. Not that we wanted to get out of there, just the complexity and the amazingness was overwhelming. Pretzel ice cream was subtle and cut the tartness of the granny smith apple syrup nicely. The fried cheddar balls were just a random touch but at this point, nothing surprised us anymore.

Review
This is going to be the restaurant that makes me redo my grading scale. Mr. Broad and I went to this restaurant with extreme high expectations. I was almost so afraid that it wouldn't live up to our standards because well, they were up there. The do not give you a menu (arg), create iems on the spot, with the simplicity of the night being all part of the experience.

The tasting was all a culinary treat. While most all of them wowed us, paired with the overall experience was a sure showcase of talent. Watching the chefs prepare your dishes, interacting with them and the waitresses, it was almost like a dance being performed. Cheaper than Per Se, some out in blog world have mentioned that this is better. Never been, but I can tell you it's cheaper! However, we'll sit out from Ko for awhile. Mainly because we can't get a reservation. And we're still recovering.

Rating: 10
Yes. I will be going back and redoing all of the grades to numbers where there is more variance.

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It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Time to GET PUMPED UP!!!!!

BRING IT!

We will be going to Ko in T-3 days!

So Mr. Broad and I have been doing some research to understand what to expect. AND I wanted to answer some of your questions about this place as well.
Ko is not recession cheap by any means. However, for the quality and innovativeness of food at the cost of $85/pp, it's "supposed" to be an amazing deal. Man, I love New York.

From what my google searching has told me, you get an 8 course tasting meal and romantic ambiance is not it's middle name. No table linens, hell, no tables. Everyone sits at a long bar on stools with no backs.

The food is innovative and according to the FAQs on the website it reflects "American Cooking". However, I'm willing to bet my meal is no american meal like my mother prepared. Shaved foie gras? How did he shave it? It's supposed to be smooth and silky? That type of creativity is what David Chang is known for.

There are not many pictures of the food on google. Which could be due to 2 things:

1) There ARE only 14 people that go a day

2) Err. I'm not sure if you can take photos inside Ko. Seriously, sources tell me it's banned. But have no fear.

I will find my ways. (I mean the banned guy had a DSLR camera! can you BE more discreet?!)

Here's one shot I was able to find of what we may be eating. Likely before the so-called ban was in place.

Coddled egg with soubise onions, sweet potato vinegar, hackleback caviar, potato chips

But okay. Enough. Mr. Broad and I have obviously decided (from all of your ohso snide "champion" comments and from emails) that we WILL keep the reservation.

Never before did I think I'd be excited for a Sunday night to get here already...

BRING IT!

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An Introduction to Mr. Broad: Thai Food

My wife, Mrs. Broad, was out of town this weekend, so she said, “Hey Mr. Broad, what do you think about being a guest blogger while I’m out of town?” At first I enjoyed Mrs. Broad doing all the writing, but then I lightened up to the idea and though I could write about some of my favorite food on the planet.  Here it goes...

On Friday night I wanted to relax and eat comfort food. Most people when they eat comfort food they think about mac n’ cheese, pasta, meatloaf, etc… When I think about comfort food, I think about Thai food. It’s that combination of salty, sweet, spicy, sour, and bitter that really gets me going. You can taste each one of these food components in every bite and the complexity of really good Thai food will make you long to move to Thailand.. How much do I actually like Thai food you ask? Well, if I were stranded on an island and I could eat one food for the rest of my life, Thai food it would be. Yum!

Normally when Mrs. Broad and I want Thai food we go to Sripraprai in Woodside Queens. We have been there numerous times and the food has always been excellent. I, however wanted to experiment with something new and had read good initial write-ups about a new Thai place right down the road in Elmhurt, Queens called Thai Ayada.
The place was small and inviting seating about 25. Only, two other couples were inside when I arrived for take out, but they appeared to be Thai. If the two other couples were Thai, how bad could it be? The takeout menu was huge with about seventy items on it! Wow! So I went for a dish that I know, Papaya Salad, and one that didn’t know, Kang Som Sour Curry with Cha-am Omlet. Whoa, this is why I live in New York. Because I know I couldn’t find this in a small podunk town.

As I waited for my food, the owner approached me and I knew instantly that she was from Thailand because she came over with a big smile on her face. Thailand is of course the land of smiles. I got talking with her and found out she was from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. I began to tell her how when Mrs. Broad and I were in Chiang Mai and how much we LOVED the northern food (Lanna Thai). It was different. More herbal and fresh. Not quite as heavy as the curries in the South. She told me if I come back, to call ahead and she’ll make me the Lanna Thai Noodles I love (and can’t find) so much. Clearly this got me fired up about the food ahead of me.

A quick drive home and I was hungrier than ever. First up, Papaya Salad (Som Tam). Papaya salad is in fact one of the most dishes in Thailand (unlike Pad Thai, which you can’t even find there). It comes from the Northeast (Issan) and is usually quite fiery. When I placed the order I made sure to ask for it Thai Spicy or Pet maak (these were the first two words I learned in Thailand). Papaya salad consists of shredded unripe papaya, cherry tomatoes, long beans, lime, a handful of chiles, sugar, and fish sauce. Now the taste test. Whoa! FIRE!!!!!! FIRE!!!!!!! It was delicious. The perfect blend of spicy, sour, sweet, and salty. Did I mention spicy? I was so spicy my face became flush, my nose started running, and it looked like my head was going to explode. This in fact, is the perfect way to have a Papaya Salad.
Next up was the Sour Curry with Cha-am omelet and shrimp. I had never had or heard of this dish before, but the owner recommended it, so I decided to give it a try. The omelet was made up of eggs and acacia root, which has an herbal quality. It was unlike anything I’ve had before. Combined with the sour curry and shrimp, it was the perfect combo. It was a great dish that I’ll be going back for.

I can’t wait to take Mrs. Broad to Thai Ayada and call ahead for the Lanna noodle the owner promised to make me.

Review: I’ll give it an A.

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WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!... My friend

Laaaaadies and Gentlemen.
Clocking in at 10:00:03 AM on Monday morning, Mr. Broad successfully got us into hands down the most sought out NYC restaurant.
Momofuku Ko!
THAT'S MY HUSBAND!!!

It's not often I give a teaser. But wow.

Let's rewind and explain for a minute.

In order to secure a reservation at Ko this is the criteria:
Reservations online only.
Starting at 10AM. momo
Book 7 Days in Advance only.
Oh, and only 14 seats a night.

SO Mr. Broad and I have been trying to go since last May for his birthday. But naive NYers we were this is not the type of place you can plan for. So ever since then about once a week or so one of us would hastly try at 10AM to get reservations online. And about 10 seconds after 10AM all of the 14 reservations were released for the day.
GAAAAH.
So as you may have read we went to Momofuku Ssam Bar which takes no reservations just to try some of the genius known as David Chang.

AND THEN. Because it's been almost a game at this point that you're trying to beat, I mean we haven't expected to ACTUALLY GET IN!...Mr. Broad secured a SPOT!
And as explained in the NYTimes story, you can't fixate on a time. Actually, you don't have TIME to even look what time you are signing up for! You just start clicking away.

SO. We didn't get exactly the most IDEAL time then. This Sunday night. At 9:30PM. AAAAH. Mr. Broad and I are going to try to get another day because we have NO idea how long we'll have to wait again.

BUT. This begs the question. Do we suck it up... or do we try for another 9 months??

Thoughts? Comments?

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Resolution, Schmesolution...

Before I forget!
Happy New Year everyone! May 2009 bring lots of happiness and health to you all. And all that good stuff.

Now for those of you trying to keep a New Years diet (New year, new YOU!) Here's a little food porn for ya because you can't eat it.

Although one scoop (or three) won't ruin anything... right??

La Salle is a gelato and ice cream store right in Murray Hill. It's apparently a brand of ice cream/gelato that has an egoogooplus amount of options. (I just wanted to use that word). Oh to work for an ice cream store. Carpel Tunnel FEH!

Sidenote: I knew a girl once who used to work for Ben and Jerry's and she told me that ice cream like chocolate chip cookie dough would be all vanilla at the end of the day because all of the cookie dough would be picked out by the workers.
How's that for office perks??

No rating, no review on this one. But unlike it's fat-free-no-calorie-chemical-laden neighbor (I'm look at you Tasti D-Lite) this one brings with it the guilt.

Cause this was the real deal. And the Ferrero Rocher flavor....just like eating the candy.

Note to Tasti D: I still heart you.

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