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English Breakfast at the Breslin

After trying and failing to meet during the weekend of Labor Day, I met up with M for a Monday brunch at The Breslin. Being that it was a Monday, it was hard to know for certain what restaurants would actually be serving brunch on the last day of the long weekend.

It wasn’t too bad at 11am, our meeting time, and the restaurant was busy but not crowded. We both ended up ordering the same thing: English Breakfast. It was a toss-up between that and the Strawberry-Cornmeal Pancakes but I think we did make the better choice. One of the tables near us ordered the pancakes and though it looked good, it didn’t look very filling. I also considered ordering a scone as well but I’m not a big fan of blueberry pastries. Had it been strawberry, I would definitely have gotten it.

I love English Breakfast and honestly, I think I’ve gotten better ones here than across the pond (unless I finally make it to that one place in London that’s known for their English Breakfasts). And that’s also assuming one doesn’t count The Hawksmoor, which has an awesome breakfast spread (for two people) that is so much more than the standard English Breakfast fare and makes the regular breakfast plate seem more of an appetizer (I think my sister and I still dream about that meal sometimes). Meanwhile, the one at the Breslin comes with the usual foodstuffs: eggs, pork sausage, blood pudding, bacon, roasted tomato and mushrooms. It was all fine except the blood pudding was a bit more gritty and loose than I would like. And I wish there was a bit of buttered toast and some baked beans to go with all of it.

But it was more than enough food to get us going and we walked off the calories with some window shopping afterward.

September 9, 2014
Red Rooster

The nice thing about having friends who are running races in the morning is that we can meet up afterward for food, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or brunch. The earlier the race ends, the better, though not always so: some restaurants aren’t even open yet by the time racers have crossed the finish line.

In this case, the timing worked out pretty well. The race was up in the Hamilton Heights and Harlem area and that meant we could go to Red Rooster as soon as it opened. I arrived just after 10am and there was a line out the door; it turned out that many of the racers had the exact same post-race plans. Fortunately, the line moved pretty quickly and when I got in, I saw my friends (or rather one friend and a former coworker) already seated at a table.

It was hard to decide what to eat but the three of us ended up with different dishes. I settled on the Red Rooster Scramble, M had the Bloody Mary Eggs and U the Brioche French Toast. Everything was so delicious! I particularly liked the biscuit that came with my dish and U gave me a piece of the French Toast (also very, very tasty) while she had some of the sausage from my plate. Also of note was the black tea I ordered; co-owner Marcus Samuelsson created custom tea blends with Harney and Sons, so the tea served came from that collection. The one I chose that day was the Safari Breakfast. One can receive a free tea sample if the bill is paid with a Mastercard (we didn’t but it was fine; I have more than enough tea at home).

Finally, another restaurant crossed off my to-visit list!

September 4, 2014
Brooklyn Grange Farm

I’m back after a month-and-a-half of a somewhat self-imposed hiatus. August had been pretty insane with the amount of work at the office and I barely did anything fun or exciting over the summer weekends. I finally downloaded a batch of photos from my camera and saw there were a few things that might seem interesting.

Back in July, I met up with a friend one day and told her I was planning to head up to the Brooklyn Grange farm that afternoon. She decided to join me and we hopped on the subway to Queens (there is a farm in Brooklyn but the one is Queens is the flagship). Getting there was easy; trying to figure out how to get up to the roof required a bit more work but we managed in the end.

Once we stepped outside, we were greeted with a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline on one side and the Queens landscape on the other. There was one main aisle running through the middle of the roof, and rows of vegetables, herbs and fruit branched off toward the walls. Some of the vegetables that were grown included kale, lettuce, eggplants, peppers, chard and carrots. Off to the side, there was also a chicken coop and a beehive.

On Ssturdays, the farm in Long Island City is open to the public and one could buy fresh produce and other items. The vegetables, eggs, and honey for sale come directly from the farm. We arrived late in the afternoon so there wasn’t much left for sale but what I did see looked good. There were also some activities for children in the western corner; on my visit, there were a few kids either coloring or making something while others were learning more about how earthworms helped with gardening. It’s a nice way and place to spend a day.

September 2, 2014
Sweet Treat: Yuzu Verbena Soft-Serve

It was a hot, hot day yesterday and after a somewhat light lunch, all I wanted was something cold and creamy. The only that fit the bill and has been on my mind for several days was soft-serve ice cream. But I wasn’t interested in anything from the overpriced ice cream trucks parked around midtown. I wanted something better.

And that was how I ended up at the midtown location of Momofuku Milk Bar. There were two soft-serve flavors available: cereal milk and yuzu verbena. The former is available at all locations of Milk Bar but the latter differs. Why try the basic signature flavor when I could get something much more interesting? The yuzu stood out so much it seemed to overpower any other flavors in the ice cream base; it ended up tasting more like a lemony sorbet than ice cream. Overall, it wasn’t too bad and it was light and refreshing to eat as I walked back to the office in the heat but alas, it did not satisfy my cravings. I think I should just go to the grocery store and stock up on my other craving instead: a classic ice cream sandwich.

July 10, 2014
Elizabeth Street Garden

Tucked amid the boutiques, restaurants and apartments of Soho is the Elizabeth Street Garden. It’s a great place to stop and rest after a bit of (window) shopping and provides a nice counterpart to the hustle and bustle a few blocks over on Broadway. Whenever I’m taking the scenic route down to Chinatown, I love walking by and admiring the wonderful antiques, sculptures and myriad architectural elements scattered on the lawns. I am a sucker for architectural ruins that remind me of ancient Greece and Rome.

The Garden takes up the shorter length of a block though the entrance is located on one of the two streets it touches. A few weeks ago, I had walked past with a friend and there was a band playing inside for visitors of the Garden. During this visit, it was a much quieter affair with many people sitting on benches or lying on the grass; there was one woman leaning against the base of a statue, book in hand.

July 9, 2014
The Frick Collection

One of the best perks at my company (before the spin-off) was the free admissions to many of the city’s museums. Thanks to corporate admission, I would find myself visiting museums more often than I would had I been a paying guest (though yes, many do offer paying a “suggested” amount if one doesn’t wish to pay the full amount). Over the years, I’ve been a frequent visitor of the Met and the Cloisters, MoMA and the American Museum of Natural History. One of the museums that wasn’t on the corporate admission list but I’ve been meaning to visit is The Frick Collection. During frequent forays to the uptown Ladurée, I would walk by the entrance and gardens of the museum and always wonder when I’ll get around to finally seeing what lay inside.

Yesterday was finally the day.

On Sunday mornings, admission to the Frick is “pay as you wish”. I managed to get uptown during those hours and pay a fraction of what it normally costs (like the Met and MoMA, a ticket for the Frick costs as much as going to the movies). There were already plenty of people inside but it wasn’t too crowded once one gets past the entrance and reception halls. Even though there are many rooms in the mansion, for me it was more or less a straight path to get from one area to the next and not end up in the same room over and over again.

According to Gothamist (which was what prompted me to finally visit) the most-photographed room at the Frick is the beautiful Garden Court. That’s no surprise since the museum does not allow photographs anywhere else inside. The Garden Court is very lovely though, with plants, sculptures and a fountain situated on the former driveway; there were many people sitting on the benches and taking a break from all the art. While I liked it very much, it would have been nicer to take a walk around the gardens outside but alas, they were off-limits. I guess I’ll continue to admire the manicured lawns from the street then.

July 7, 2014
Celebrating the Fourth

It’s too cold and damp for any real partying and fun for this year’s Independence Day. I had hoped to spend the day outdoors but the weather has derailed those plans (though it hasn’t stopped determined grillers, judging by the smell of charcoal drifting in along the breeze).

So instead, I’ll be celebrating at home with a red, white and blue Mixed Berry Tart from Balthazar. One cannot go wrong with seasonal fruit currently in peak, cream and a pastry shell.

But in all seriousness, I did do something patriotic last week and that was checking out the Declaration of Independence. For one brief week, the New York Public Library had on display an original copy of the document written in Jefferson’s own hand. The exhibit was held inside the (rarely opened to the public) Celeste Bartos Forum and it was nice to revisit that room again.

As for the document itself, it was displayed in two large cases. Inside each case was a sheet of paper suspended inside to make it easier to view. Words were written on both sides of the papers and looking closely at each one, it’s not too difficult to make out the words written by our third President and all the things he underlined. (The brochure handed out at the exhibition contained a transcript of the entire document with the revisions included.)

July 4, 2014
NYBG Rose Garden Festival

I recently headed up to the New York Botanical Garden with a friend, finally taking advantage of a perk I’ve received not too long ago. I hadn’t been up to the Bronx (and the garden) in a while and with the warm weather and clear skies, the timing was perfect. We went specifically to check out the Rose Garden Festival that was held that weekend; I had been wanting to visit when the roses were in bloom but never got around to it until now.

It was exceedingly warm and with rainfall from a few days before, most of the roses were already at peak or just past. There were still plenty of buds yet to bloom but I thought it didn’t look as nice when so many flowers were already beginning to wilt and there were a lot of oversized blooms that were starting to droop. Visiting the garden a few days before the festival might have yielded an even prettier landscape. Ah well, lesson learned for next time (hopefully next year).

There was a lot of variety in the garden but I have to admit that the flowers started to all look the same after a while. And I was also getting bored with the color palette: too many pinks and pale colors, not enough bold hues for my tastes. It also didn’t help that the strong sunlight washed out the subtle shades on some of the plants. But at least I did find the time to stop and smell the roses!

June 17, 2014
Uncle Boons

Uncle Boons has long been on a to-visit list between me and my friend P. When we meet up for a meal, we have a habit of trying to check out new and/or interesting Thai restaurants in the city. So we finally went to Uncle Boons over the weekend as a late (but not belated since we had to work around our schedules) birthday dinner for her. The original idea was to go for brunch but the restaurant is only offering dinner service now.

We were seated in the back room, tucked into the cozy corner booth. It was still early afternoon but the lighting inside was very dim (hence the not so great photos below) and it was somewhat hard to read the menu; there was a window directly behind our seats so we had a little natural light to help us but a group at another table required the use of flashlights (a literal flashlight and using smartphones as well) in order to read the small text. The menu itself isn’t very long and with our various food requirements (e.g. allergies, or general dislike of certain ingredients), it wasn’t too hard to narrow down what we should get. Between the two of us and at the suggestion of the waiter, we chose two small plates and one large plate to share.

We both ordered the Tong Taa “Real Gold”, a cocktail with lychee liqueur, chartreuse and sparkling wine. The waiter described it as refreshing and light but it ended up being a bit too strong for us. I really should have stuck to my usual iced tea (or Thai iced tea, in this case). In the end, I didn’t even finish the drink but I went through copious amounts of water.

The first dish to arrive was the grilled Issan sausage, which was P’s choice. As the room filled up, I saw many other tables had also ordered the dish. It wasn’t bad but I’m not really a fan of the dish in general. The other appetizer we picked was the Mee Krob, which was a sweetbreads salad with crispy noodles, peanuts, dried shrimp and herbs. It was definitely better than the sausage and we were both pleasantly surprised at how great the sweetbreads were. Eating offal wasn’t a big deal for us and the Mee Krob was pretty tasty (I’m usually fine with offal as long as it isn’t haggis).

I was beginning to get full even before the main dish arrived. The Kai Yang Muay Thai is half of a rotisserie grilled chicken, served with green mango salad and two dipping sauces. We also ordered a side of sticky rice to accompany it. It was more than enough to feed the two of us and we did have a hard time trying to finish it. The chicken was good and we preferred dipping it into the green sauce (which was similar to a chimichurri) than to the brown one, which I think was some combination of tamarind and fish sauce. After the other dishes, I was on fish sauce overload and the taste was pretty overpowering; at that point I just ended up drinking a lot of water to try to cleanse the palette.

When the waiter first came to our table, P wisely asked if we could see the dessert menu first. I most definitely wanted something sweet at the end of our meal and it would be helpful to figure out how much food we should order but still leave enough room for dessert. There are only sweets offered: the traditional mango sticky rice and a coconut sundae. I had wanted to order both but we ended up only ordering the coconut sundae, given our full we were and having had sticky rice as an accompaniment to the chicken. One of the tables next to us did order the mango sticky rice so we were able to see what it looked like so at least we didn’t miss out. The coconut sundae, on the other hand, was pretty huge. It reminded me a lot of the shaved ice desserts that I see in the Malaysian restaurants in Chinatown.

It was coconut ice cream topped with whipped cream, peanuts, toasted coconut slivers and garnished with a butter coconut biscuit. We dug in and ate most of it, leaving mainly the biscuit (which I passed on, since I’ve eaten them often enough since I was young). We were so full at the end and the two of us totally needed to walk off all those calories after we left the restaurant. It was a nice evening and with the longer daylight hours, we ended up taking the scenic route to catch our trains home.

June 5, 2014
Sweet Treat: Soy Milk Blancmange

One of my favorite summer treats is the soy milk blancmange from Panya. It’s creamy without (or with less of) the fat of dairy and it reminds me a little of the Chinese sweet tofu I love to eat at the end of dim sum. The blancmange from Panya is sandwiched between a match base and a layer of yuzu gelatin topped with fruit. It’s light, smooth and refreshing and for me, there’s less guilt when it comes to wanting something sweet on a hot day. One of these days, I shall have to learn how to make it so I can have it whenever I want.

June 3, 2014