Showing posts with label restaurants. Show all posts

Smorgasburg: Brooklyn


Raindrop Cake - $8 Dollars
Finally the outdoor Smorgasburg Brooklyn has opened, it was their first day opening.  Unfortunately the weather didn't helped at all while trying new vendors.  With much hypes and anticipation majority of the people flocked over the Raindrop Cake that looks like a dew drop.  It's actually a Japanese dessert that made from water and drizzle of brown sugar syrup and a dusting of kinako, or roasted soybean flour.  My first impression, I personally think it's tasteless and tasted like water.  I guess it's probably me that I can't enjoy the art of this dessert and for $8 bucks it's wasn't worth the hype.  At least I tried and it'll be my last time.   
Wowfulls - Chocolate Egg Waffle with Strawberry and Vanilla Ice Cream with Banana Pocky

I can never say no to Wowfulls, this is my all time favorite vendor.  This vendor started out at industry city Smorgasburg and finally this is their first time outdoor appearance. I grew up eating Hong Kong egg waffles when I was a kid and topping it off with ice cream and pocky sticks certainly makes me feel like a kid again.  Below are some of other types of food I ordered and I highly recommend that you should check this place out.  It's a nice fun outdoor experience with family and friends.  I'm hoping the weather will get better eventually and it'll be a nice picnic outing. 

Now Open Every Saturday • Saturday 11am-6pm • All Food • 100 Vendors 
East River State Park (90 Kent Ave at N. 7 St.)

Oiji



Over the weekend I got the opportunity to try a new restaurant in New York City called Oiji located in East Village.  Oiji is a Korean Restaurant that serves authentic Korean cuisine with modern cooking techniques. The interior decor was very modern dim lit type of restaurant, which can be set comfortably causal or can be romantic atmosphere.

My order consist of: 
• Fried Chicken with spicy soy vinaigrette
• Homemade Tofu with scallion soy vinaigrette
• Slow Cooked Oxtail with root vegetables
• Gochujang Braised Chicken with winter vegetables
• Truffle Seafood broth with sizzling crispy rice

 Fried Chicken with spicy soy vinaigrette - I really enjoy the Fried Chicken, the fried texture and the meat really comprehend well together.

Homemade Tofu with scallion soy vinaigrette - Not a big fan of this dish, I felt that this dish was processed into a blender making this dish awfully dry. 

Slow Cooked Oxtail with root vegetables - Unfortunately I didn't get to try this, but my husband said it was pretty good.  The meat was soft and has a nice flavor to it.
Gochujang Braised Chicken with winter vegetables - It's very well braised and the chicken is very soft that the meat falls off on it's own, however, the sauce is spicy.  I feel that this dish is more of an indian/chicken masala  type of dish than a Korean dish.  I really don't taste the
Gochujang.

Truffle Seafood broth with sizzling crispy rice - I ordered this dish and it took pretty long to arrive.  I really enjoyed my main dish, the crispy rice was really good, I really like the texture and the flavor especially when you infuse the crispy rice to the soup it adds a good combo flavor to it.  The seafood was very good and fresh, however the portion was small.  This dish will taste great on a cold winter day.
Overall it was a great experience of trying this new place and I enjoyed every minute of it.  The food was very delicious and felt very homey.  I highly recommend that you check out this restaurant, however, want to inform you that this restaurant doesn't take walk-ins.  You have to make a reservation in advance.

OIJI • 119 1ST AVE • NEW YORK, NY • 10003

Krupa Grocery

P.E.I Mussels [Lamb Pancetta, Fermented Chili Paste, Leeks, Gruner Velitiner]
Over the weekend my family and I visited a new restaurant at prospect park, Brooklyn.  Our initial intention was to try out a Asian Fusion Chinese restaurant; however, it was closed that day.  Instead we tried this restaurant called Krupa Grocery.  I assure you that this place is not a grocery store, it's a trendy and unique restaurant that serves rustic type of food from lamb burgers to P.E.I mussels.  I always have a tendency to order seafood because it's one of my favorite dish on the list.  I decided to order the, P.E.I Mussels [Lamb Pancetta, Fermented Chili Paste, Leeks Gruner Velitiner], the hearty fermented chili paste was a bit spicy but that didn't stop me from finishing it and let me tell you I enjoyed every bite of it. Highly recommend this dish if you do visit this place.  This place has very comfortable seating indoor and outdoor.  I'm glad I had the opportunity to sit outside on a warm sunny day a high of 60's on a month of Dec.  As for my husband he ordered the Sunny side up with spinach and artichoke on toast & Crispy wings with Alabama white BBQ sauce. 
Crispy wings with Alabama white BBQ sauce
Sunny side up with spinach and artichoke on toast
Very enjoyable lunch I had and I personally think you should try this place as well if you ever stop by Prospect Park, Brooklyn one day.

KRUPA GROCERY • 231 PROSPECT PARK WEST (BET 16TH ST & PROSPECT AVE) • BROOKLYN, NY 11215

The Cecil



I had another opportunity to try out a new restaurant called - THE CECIL, which is located in Harlem.  This restaurant was recommended by my husband who wants to try this unique Afro-Asian-American brasserie over the weekend. We started our night slowly as we checked in and there wasn't many people in the restaurant yet.  The interior and decor designs was very exquisite.  While being seated, I came across a few unique paintings.  I took an opportunity to take a few pictures of the painting.  
 
BRAISED LAMB RIBs - Za'atar Spiced Goat Yogurt, Curry Crunch
Then we started with few appetizers. We ordered the BRAISED LAMB RIBs - Za'atar Spiced Goat Yogurt, Curry Crunch and AFRO/ASIAN/AMERICAN OXTAIL DUMPLINGS - Green Apple Curry, Crispy Taro Root.  The Braised Lamb Ribs was pretty good, due to the crispiness texture.  I have a tendency not to order lamb because of the gamy flavor, but with this appetizer the gaminess of the lamb wasn't over powering at all.  Second appetizer was the AFRO/ASIAN/AMERICAN OXTAIL DUMPLINGS which I really enjoy.  I really like the ingredients that was  infused with the oxtail, the dumpling wrap was nice and soft.  I personally and highly recommend The Afro/Asian/American Oxtail dumpling appetizer to start off with.
AFRO/ASIAN/AMERICAN OXTAIL DUMPLINGS - Green Apple Curry, Crispy Taro Root. 
As for the Entrées, I ordered the Grilled Bone-in Ribs with Crispy Okra, Black-eyed Pea Salad and Black Pepper Sauce, this Entree that I ordered was pretty disappointing.  The ribs was just over powering with salt and the texture of the ribs wasn't soft.  With combination of saltiness and the rough texture, I just couldn't finish this entree.  
Grilled Bone-in Ribs with Crispy Okra, Black-eyed Pea Salad and Black Pepper Sauce
My husband ordered the Feijoada - Spicy Black Beans, Oxtails, Merguez Lamb Sausage, he was a bit disappointed as well because it was spicy and the oxtails was extremely small.  
Feijoada - Spicy Black Beans, Oxtails, Merguez Lamb Sausage
My friend ordered the GRILLED AHI TUNA - Buckwheat Noodles, Yuzu, Bok Choy, Chinese Pork Sausage, Curry Crunch, which was pretty good.  I had a small piece of her Tuna and it was infused with citrus in the Tuna.  I should have ordered the Tuna instead of a meaty dish, at least this was in par with my palette taste.  
GRILLED AHI TUNA - Buckwheat Noodles, Yuzu, Bok Choy, Chinese Pork Sausage, Curry Crunch,
Highlight of the night was dessert and I highly recommend that you should order a dessert before leaving.  I ordered the BAOBAB - Baobab Ganache, Olive Oil Cake, Lavender Honey Ice Cream, Raspberries, Hibiscus Cream.  Each bite was heavenly sweet, I tasted what the descriptions described, it was refreshing and wasn't overpowering sweet.
BAOBAB - Baobab Ganache, Olive Oil Cake, Lavender Honey Ice Cream, Raspberries, Hibiscus Cream.
Overall it was a great experience of trying something different and ending with a sweet note.  I would recommend in trying this place out.  The atmosphere was just lovely and the staffs are pretty nice and friendly.

THE CECIL • 210 WEST 118TH STREET AT ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE NEW YORK, NY 10026 •  (212) 866-1262

Smorgasburg: Queens



My husband and I like to venture out to try new food and recently we have been hitting almost every Smorgasburg there is.  Normally we often always head to the one in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but for this summer Smorgasburg opened up a new location which is located in Queens. The Queens has more of Asian Fusion types of vendors.  The food itself is pretty outstanding and I enjoy every bite of the food items that I have gotten so far.

Some of the pictures items that I picked are: 
• Korean Fried Chicken  - Roosevelt Ave. Fare
• Ribs - Grandpa Val's BBQ
• Ramen Noodle - Ramen Shack 
• Lobster & Duck Confit - Brine
• Green Tea Chiffon cake with blueberry & Vietnamese Coffeee Milk Bread - Silk Cakes 

Be sure to check out these amazing vendors in Smorgasburg Queens 

SMORGASBURG QUEENS • SATURDAYS 11AM - 6PM • 43-29 CRESENT ST. (COURT SQ.), LONG ISLAND CITY

Spot Dessert Bar  


Golden Toast - honey buttered toast
Normally I don't really crave for dessert as much ever since I started exercising, but sometimes a good dessert hits the right spot makes my day brighter.  I recently got the opportunity to check out this dessert joint located at St. Mark area in New York City.  There are many times I always passed by but never had a chance to try this place and so I took my opportunity to try this place out. I ordered their dessert tapas and the dessert tapas that I ordered are:  Golden Toast - honey buttered toast, condensed milk,  Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake - warm soft dark chocolate cake, green tea ganache, green tea ice cream, walnut soil and lastly The Harvest - layers of berries, soft cheesecake, meringue kisses served with raspberry sorbet and black rose milk tea. The desserts that I ordered were very refreshing and it was interesting how each of the desserts complimented each other.  The desserts I like the most were Golden Toast and the Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake, because the two dessert dishes weren't overpowering sweet.  The Harvest was very interesting because it came in a garden pot, however it's very sweet and with layers of berries and soft cheesecake with meringue kisses really adds in the extra punch of being overly sweet. I personally think it was a nice experience and definitely would like to go back there again to try some of their other desserts that I haven't got to.
Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake
The Harvest

Spot Dessert Bar • 13 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003 • (212) 677-5670

Osteria Morini

Polpettine - prosciutto & mortadella meatballs baked in tomato sauce

I recently got an opportunity to try out an Italian Restaurant called Osteria Morini.  It's been hard juggling with two kids and being home bound this was a rewarding opportunity I had.  My first appetizer that I ordered is the Polpettine - prosciutto & mortadella meatballs baked in tomato sauce.  I really like how soft this meatball was and how each bite infused with so much juice and with a hint of panko in this meatballs.  The main dish I ordered was TORCIA - squid ink pasta, shrimp & seppia ragù, which was okay wasn't really expecting the type of pasta that they used.  I would preferably that they used linguine instead.  

TORCIA - squid ink pasta, shrimp & seppia ragù
As for my friend she ordered the GRAMIGNA - macaroni, chicken ragù, roasted figs, escarole, I personally like her dish more than mine.  I can tasted the roasted figs, it was very sweet and the pasta was more intriguing because it wasn't macaroni that was served. 
GRAMIGNA - macaroni, chicken ragù, roasted figs, escarole
I really enjoy trying this new Italian place and hopefully I'll get more opportunity to do many more restaurant reviews. 

Osteria Morini • Lafayette Street New York, NY 10012 • Telephone: 212.965.8777
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