Thoughts & Reflections

Tag: Lunch

Lunch at Little Mo

There was a time not too long ago when getting friends to come into Brooklyn was a difficult thing to do. Even though my neighborhood is literally across the river from downtown Manhattan and just a stop away, not many people wanted to make the trek to one of the other boroughs of the city. But with all the gentrification, Brooklyn is now considered cool and trendy. I suppose that’s a good thing, though I do miss a bit of the quiet now.

One positive outcome of all the economic changes is the influx of new restaurants. With the rents going up, many businesses are cropping up further east of the river. One of these is Little Mo, an Asian restaurant in Bushwick. I’ve never heard of it, but my friend Q invited me to join her for lunch there one recent Sunday. We met up in the West Village after her work shift and took the train back into Brooklyn. Two others were to join us, G and J, but only G was able to make it. By coincidence, he ended up on the same subway as us though we didn’t actually meet up until we all arrived at the subway stop. I hadn’t seen G (or J) in a very long time, so it was nice to say hi and catch up.

Q had learned of Little Mo through a customer at the shop she works at and had been there before, but it was the first visit for me and G. I had taken a quick look at the menu beforehand but couldn’t decide what to order. Q told me she was planning to order pho though I thought the day was far too hot for that. The classic pho is a weekend-only special so that was her reason for choosing it. G and I were debating among the other menu items but in the end, we too ordered the pho as well; at least the restaurant had air conditioning which helped keep us cool while eating hot soupy noodles.

I must admit that the pho was really good. The broth is made of beef and oxtail broth and is very flavorful. Beside noodles were bone marrow, slices of rare ribeye beef and meatballs and the usual accompaniments of bean sprouts and scallions. And on the side were lime wedges, slices of chili peppers, and basil to add in (which I always do). And of course, there were bottles of sauces (hot sauce, hoisin sauce, fish sauce) on the table to make it as spicy, salty or sweet as one wants.

In addition to the pho, we ordered two appetizers as well: fried chicken wings with spicy Thai sauce and spring rolls. The latter were not what I was expecting. Spring rolls usually mean the crispy, fried rolls stuffed with meat and veggies served in Chinese restaurants. What arrived are actually the ones most Vietnamese restaurants around town call summer rolls. The rolls were fine but the chicken wings were definitely a highlight.

The food was really good and we were able to see what the rice bowls look like when they were brought out for other diners. They look just as delicious and G eventually ordered one to take away for dinner. The rice bowl looked very hearty and filling so maybe it was a good thing I didn’t order it for lunch. But I do want to try it one of these days, so there’s definitely a reason for me to return one day.

June 19, 2016
Lunch at Cocotte

I’ve been very impulsive with weekday lunches these days. Recently, I met up with my friend Maggie for lunch and I was torn between two French places I wanted to try. In the end, I settled for Cocotte but even that was a difficult choice. There is Cocotte, a sit down restaurant but they also have a café next door called Petite Cocotte. We looked at the menu for both and I ended up choosing the main restaurant.

It was a slightly late lunch, around 1:30pm but there were still some occupied tables when we sat down. The restaurant is located on a more residential street, further away from the office buildings and retail shops. It’s almost like a hidden gem in the middle of bustling Soho.

Cocotte serves French fare but with a subtle Spanish (from the Basque region) twist. The lunch menu had both a la carte and prix-fixe options. We settled on the latter, which was a short list full of tasty dishes. The prix-fixe was $22 for an entree and a side dish. Maggie went with the Cocotte Burger and the sautéed potatoes with duck fat. The burger arrived on a flat stone and was composed of beef, smoked bacon, cheese, onions and Guindillas peppers; instead of a normal hamburger bun, it was served on focaccia.

I chose the Cordon Basque, which was chicken breast rolled with baby spinach, pimentos and Idiazabal cheese served with peas and tomatoes. From the sides, I ordered the lentils with farro, bacon and the house vinaigrette. Both were absolutely delicious. I also ordered a pot of green tea to go with my meal.

Several of the menus were written in chalk on various bits of wall and columns. I eyed the short dessert menu but we were both too full for something sweet. We needed to walk off the very satisfying lunch before we could contemplate an afternoon snack. Cocotte was really lovely; it’d be nice to check out the cafe as well since there are slight variations to the menu. And I would love to return for weekend brunch or dinner one of these days…

November 3, 2015
Lunch at EN Japanese Brasserie

It’s been a while since I’ve had a meal at an upscale restaurant. When I met my friend Q for lunch one day, we couldn’t think of where to go until she suggested En Japanese Brasserie. I’ve walked by it before a few times but it’s usually further west than my usual haunts so I happily agreed to go there.

When we arrived, there were still a lot of people having their lunch (it was around 1:30pm or so when we got there). We were seated in the main room right beneath one of the soaring glass windows that let in a lot of light despite facing a tall building just across the street.

En offers lunch specials that are pretty reasonable considering the amount of food that arrives at your table. Compared to a different Japanese restaurant that offers similar lunch sets, this was definitely the better bargain.

I’ve been having a craving for fried chicken lately so I ordered the fried chicken lunch set. The miso cod set was very, very appealing but all I wanted was fried meat. There are also two daily specials available, one seafood and one land (beef, poultry or pork I assume). On the day of our visit, the land special was a chicken tempura set (I think the seafood special might have been salmon). Q ordered the chicken special after seeing it arrive at a nearby table.

There was a lot of food in the lunch set: chunks of crispy fried chicken, mizuna and watercress salad, freshly made tofu with wari joyu (a mixture of mix of soy sauce and fish broth), a small dish of mushrooms with daikon, housemade pickles, and bowls of steamed rice and house-made miso soup. We also ordered non-alcoholic specialty drinks: a red shiso leaf drink with berries, I think for Q and I had a fancy grape spritzer with lemon.

Thank goodness neither of us had plans afterward. Lunch was nice and slow; we were there for a very long time. A long lunch meant we could enjoy every bit of it, savoring the different flavors and textures. And I left room for dessert too. An ice cream sandwich with house-made matcha ice cream, red bean paste and mixed berries served between two thin wafers. It looked like a little jewel box and tasted delicious.

September 9, 2015
Lunch at Egg Shop

One nice thing about being free on a weekday is the ability to visit popular restaurants when they are not as busy (especially during weekend brunch). After discovering our original meeting place would not open until later in the day, my friend Q and I ended up walking over to Egg Shop. The last time we tried to visit Egg Shop was at the height of brunch time and meant a one-hour wait.

Not so this time. We arrived shortly before noon and found a restaurant partially full, with plenty of empty tables to choose from. Instead of sitting near the door and open windows, we opted for a seat in the back, away from the noise of active construction across the street.

Egg Shop is aptly named since it specializes in egg-based dishes. The menu comprises mostly of sandwiches or bowls. I ended up ordering the El Camino: a bowl of pulled pork, tomato, avocado, poached egg and fried tortilla strips. Q ended up with a custom sandwich: a sunny side up egg, homemade sausage, tomato jam, Gruyère on a biscuit. Her sandwich looked so good when it arrived, with egg yolk spilling out across the plate. My bowl was delicious too, though it was better when drizzled with some (possibly homemade) hot sauce available.

So that’s another restaurant I can finally cross off my list. And no long waiting queues this time, which was a definitely plus.

July 27, 2015
Bonjour Brussels

One thing I envy those living in Europe is how easy it is to hop on a plane or train for a few short hours and quickly end up in another country. In the brief time we were in France, P and I set aside one day for a quick trip to Brussels. It’s a 90-minute ride from Paris to Brussels and since our hotel was right near the Gare du Nord, it was a walk to the train station from our hotel on a mostly quiet Monday morning.

We arrived at Brussels-Midi station and then took a tram to the town center, which seems to be the only part of town that was busy. Like in France, the Monday we were there was a public holiday (coincidentally the same day as Memorial Day) so most stores and businesses were closed for the day. This at least made our itinerary pretty short and we were able to see the things we wanted to see in the few hours we were there.

The Grand Place dominates the medieval heart of the city, with all the gilded and ornate buildings surrounding the square. Again, there were cobblestones everywhere so yet another day for more aching feet (and alas, no change of shoes all day) but we managed to keep going. We walked along the side streets surrounding the square first, just to see what shops there were and to decide where to spend our Euros later in the day.

I was enamored with the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert with its wonderful glass-covered arcades and all the sweet shops inside. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen so many patisseries clustered together in one place ever. In general, there were so many delicious sweets on display both in the arcade and in the shops all around the main square.

But first, we needed lunch. P had visited Brussels before and was leading the way to a good restaurant she had dined at on a previous trip so we made our way there. We arrived only to find it wasn’t open that day. Oops. Fortunately, that street was lined with many restaurants so there were plenty of other options and we ended up at L’Huîtrière. Many restaurants had outdoor seating and we were seated in a white tent on Place Sainte-Catherine.

The menu offered a lunch set consisting of a starter, entrée and dessert and we went with that.

We both ordered the mussels as a starter (the other choices were a fish soup or shrimp and cheese croquettes). The Moules St Catherine is a plate of mussels gratin covered in tomato sauce and served with a herb and garlic sauce in the middle. It was pretty tasty, despite the cheese (fortunately, it was easy to scrape to the side) and I really loved the herb sauce; I kept dipping slices of bread into it.

For the entrée, I went with the cod (served with a white butter sauce and chive) while P chose the steak (with a pepper cream sauce). The fish wasn’t bad but I wasn’t a fan of the creamy sauce (that’s just me). P’s entrée came with a side of frites which was nice and honestly, her steak looked to be the better dish. And there was only one dessert available as part of the lunch set, which was the chocolate mousse. The mousse was delicious, but P and I had some trouble identifying the edible decoration on top. Definitely not a cherry but I think we concluded that it was a tomato of some sort. (Note – Dec 11): Many months after I wrote this up, I learned that the fruit is actually a cape gooseberry.)

Lunch done, we stopped to admire St. Catherine’s Church at the end of the plaza before making our way back to Grand Place. There were a few shops that were definitely on to-visit list, mainly because P came with a shopping list. One place we had to visit was Maison Dandoy, a bakery that’s over a century old. They sell prepacked boxes of biscuits as well as several varieties in loose form (sold by the gram). I bought a box of speculoos cookies and some ginger and Earl Grey biscuits.

The other place on our to-visit list was De Biertempel, which one can deduce from its name sells beer. P had to buy certain bottles for her husband; since I don’t drink, I ended up purchasing an inexpensive Trappist beer for my sister.

After most of our shopping was done, we made our way to one of the more famous landmarks in Brussels.

The infamous Manneken Pis. It’s tucked into a corner just off the Grand Place but there’s always a crowd in front of the fountain so it’s a bit hard to miss; I had to squeeze through the horde of people to get a decent photo. On the day we were there, the statue was shown in all its nude glory but at times, the boy will be wearing some very interesting costumes.

Once I took enough pictures of the fountain, it was time to sample one last Belgian specialty: the Belgian waffle. Mussels, chocolate (in mousse form), beer were already scratched off the list but we saved the waffle for last. One of the streets that lead to the fountain is lined with shops that sell waffles. We bought from a shop that was right near the fountain and had a high turnover. P bought a plain waffle, which costs €1 at all of the shops while I went with a strawberry and confectioners sugar topping. Hot and toasty, one can’t beat a waffle fresh off the grill.

After finishing the delicious snack, we returned to the Grand Place and started to make our way back to the train station. I think we had about an hour’s wait before boarding and we spent much of the time standing around and watching the departures board along with everyone else to see where to go. The trip back to Paris wasn’t too bad though there was an incident involving the two women who sat behind us (one spent too much time talking on the phone and annoyed the person who sat next to her) but for the most part, it wasn’t too bad. At least we could give our feet a rest.

July 12, 2015
Three Meals a Day in Paris, Part 2

I hope I didn’t make people too hungry with the previous post—I have a tendency to do that with food posts on every blog I’ve created in the past.

I had my first crêpe in Paris at Crêperie Suzette in the Marais district. It was lunchtime and tempting as it was to go sweet, I opted for a savory galette instead. Since I am anti-fromage, I ended up with the only one that did not include cheese (mine came with topped with spinach, cream tomato coulis and basil). And of course, I cannot say no to a pot of (Darjeeling) tea. P went for something different and ordered the colorful Niçoise salad.

For the second night in a row, we stuck to dinner near the hotel and it was more Middle Eastern food. This time, we went to Zarame, a Lebanese restaurant. The two of us ordered shawarma plates; I think P had the chicken and I went with a mixed plate of beef and chicken. The platters were huge: slices of marinated and roasted meats with sides of potatoes, hummus, baba ghanoush, and salad. There was also a basket of warm fluffy pita bread for dipping into those delicious mezzes. And I washed it down with a pot of mint tea.

We were gifted a free dessert: Katayef, a Lebanese crêpe with a cream or custard filling, sitting in a pool of orange blossom syrup. It was a very nice and thoughtful way to end the meal. The staff was very friendly and the food was good (and healthy too).

Sunday is traditionally a day when most businesses (food and retail) are closed; that somewhat limited our choices of where to eat from the (incomplete because I left the other pages at the office) list I brought with me. I definitely wanted to check out Poilâne and with multiple locations in Paris, at least one of them was open on Sunday so that’s where we went for lunch.

The Le Marais location of Poilâne offers meal sets for different times of the day. The lunch set includes a soup or salad as a starter, a tartine or a salad entrée, a drink (wine or water) and coffee or tea. One can order à la carte as well but the lunch set was a a good deal for €14,50. I opted for the starter salad and the tartine sardines (sardines, butter, horseradish, wine vinegar, and herbs on sourdough); I was tempted to go for the tartine ecrevisses (crayfish tartine) but the sardine one appealed to me more and it was different, interesting and delicious. I finished off with a pot of green tea while P (who chose the tartine poulet) had a cup of coffee; our drinks were served with a little spoon-shaped biscuit on the side.

We did have Asian food one night in Paris, and of course it simply had to be Vietnamese. Fortunately, Time Out recently published a list of recommendations and after narrowing it down, we ended up going to L’Indochine. We were handed the French version of the menu (they did have English versions but we didn’t know that until another party came in well after us) but it wasn’t too difficult to read even with lapsed lessons in French. I ordered the Pho Dac Biet, which has beef served in various formats, including beef balls. P had the Pho Tai, which is more what I’m used to ordering at home. The bowls came in two sizes and we both chose the small. There were the usual accompaniments but what I liked was inclusion of shacha sauce, which is not an option at my usual Vietnamese places. The only disappointment was the lack of tripe in our bowls, but we got over it quickly enough.

Hot bowls of pho were perfect for the cool evening weather and we washed it down with limeade (me) and a mango milkshake. And I left room for dessert too. From the menu, I went with the Che Khoai Mon: a bowl of tapioca pearls with taro, pandan leaves and coconut milk. It’s definitely not something I’ve seen in New York Vietnamese restaurants (most of them don’t offer desserts). The Che Khoai Mon was different and tasty.

The last dinner (if one wants to call it that) in Paris was so plain compared to all others. We ended up walking from our hotel towards the Metro station and discovered a tiny Halal crêperie inside/next to an electronics shop. For all our walking along that street every day for a week, it was the first time we actually saw the shop, probably because we were walking on the other side of the street for once. Like La Varangue, the crêperie was a one-man operation. There were savory and sweet crêpes available but I wasn’t terribly hungry and went with a simple sugar crêpe. I wish I was more hungry though; the chicken tandoori crêpe sounded most intriguing and I wanted to try it too.

But that wasn’t the very last meal I had in France. This was:

Breakfast at the airport: a cup of tea and a vanilla whole milk yogurt from Paul, and a day-old (but still tasty) croissant from a bakery near the hotel. The yogurt was delicious and came in a black terracotta cup that I considered keeping but couldn’t come up with any good use for it (and there was no resealable cover). Actually, all the yogurt I had in Paris was good and that’s why I’ve been craving it since I returned, though I have yet to find one at home just as good.

June 22, 2015
Three Meals a Day in Paris, Part 1

After five days in Paris, I returned home and refused to eat croissants, baguettes, other Viennoiserie and French desserts for about a week. It’s not that our local patisseries and bakeries churn out inferior goods, but I just had too many sweet things far too often during my trip so I needed a short break from them all. (Though, I did end up craving strawberries and yogurt once I was home because I ate a lot of those things and did not have enough.)

With the exception of breakfast (included with our hotel booking, so the first meal of the day was ever constant), pretty much every meal we ate was something slightly different. From the tiny French restaurant for dinner on our first night to the hole-in-the-wall crêperie on our last, the food was pretty delicious no matter what type of meal it was.

Here’s a look at our main meals in Paris.

Our very first meal in the City of Lights was dinner at La Varangue. My guidebook referred to it as a ‘one man shop’, though Philippe, the owner/chef did have a young assistant the night we ate there. Tiny restaurant, simple but good food, and very reasonable prices. P started off with an appetizer of cassolette d’escargots which was fine but really, I don’t get the hype about eating snails—it’s totally not my thing. Entrées were confit de carnad (duck leg) for P and I had the filet de poulet (a moist chicken breast with potatoes and rosemary sauce). And we finished off with a slice of gâteau au chocolat, though it was hard to choose between that and the crème brûlée. The chocolate cake was delicious and not too sweet. I normally can’t eat much the first night I’m abroad but this time, it worked out well and we didn’t overdo things on our first day.

We paid for breakfast at the hotel so that’s what we ate every day; I would have liked to have gone out to eat but with our crazy morning schedule, it made more sense to grab food downstairs and then head out to our first destination of the day. Each morning was a variation of eggs, meat (bacon, sausage or the charcuterie plate), beans, bread (mini baguette, croissants, or slices from rustic loaves), some veggies (tomatoes, cucumbers), fruit, and yogurt. And always a cup of tea and a glass of juice (orange or grapefruit). And this was why I avoided eating English or continental style breakfasts for at least a week after I returned home.

Lunch and dinner were slightly more interesting during the next several days.

A very late lunch at Fauchon on our second day meant there wasn’t as much variety left in the takeaway area of the café. I made do with a sandwich (smoked salmon with a yogurt dressing and mint), a green juice and a fruit cup that looked like a parfait of jewels. I was fascinated by the sandwich packaging; all of the sandwiches were stored in cute resealable bags ready to grab and go for an afternoon picnic.

The fancy takeaway lunch was followed by a very casual takeaway dinner. There are plenty of restaurants near our hotel and we ended up wandering down a street that had many eateries. Because of the late lunch, I wasn’t too hungry for dinner and ended up ordering a chicken sandwich (more of a wrap) at a Middle Eastern fast food place called Nassim. The sandwich was part of a set meal that also included fries and a soda; the mojito-flavored 7-Up tasted nothing like a mojito but a very sweet fizzy limeade. Maybe I should’ve grabbed the tropical flavored 7-Up instead.

Trying to cover all our meals in one post was a bit much so more food posts will be coming up, but I think we ate well enough on our first two days in France.

June 17, 2015
Arcade Bakery

I first learned about Arcade Bakery through my friends, Queenie and Jee. It’s received several write-ups in food blogs and magazines since then but it took me a long time before I got around to visiting. Like Patisserie Burrow, Arcade Bakery is one of those places open only on weekdays and since it’s located in Tribeca, it made it hard for me to visit when it’s actually open.

On the last day of my vacation, I went down to see Queenie and with some helpful directions from her, then headed down to Arcade. I might have walked right by the entrance had they not recently put a sign on the exterior of the office building the bakery is located in. As its name implies, Arcade can be found literally in the arcade of the building. The corridor is lined with dark wood paneling and set into niches are pull down tables where people can sit and eat, if not taking their food to go. There are also shelves with fancy loaves of bread for decoration.

The baked goods at the counter looked really good but I wanted something more savory for my lunch. There are a few sandwich selections as well as pizzas. The pizzas are made-to-order and I considered it but the individual pie was too large for me to finish then and there. Instead, I picked the vegetarian sandwich (can’t remember what was in it other than roasted carrots and chickpeas but it was really good) and an iced tea.

And after that, I headed right back to the counter to pick up something sweet to go. Queenie had recommended the chocolate croissant so I went with her suggestion and also ordered a lemon sugar brioche as well. They ended up being breakfast the following days and after popping them in the toaster oven to warm them up, they tasted just fine. The chocolate croissant was excellent and definitely one of the better ones in the city. If time permits (e.g. another vacation day), I’d like to go back and try some of the other items. I did see several office workers come in and leave with bags of baguettes under their arms, so perhaps I should try one those next time.

October 29, 2014
Jones Wood Foundry

When my friend Regina was in town recently, the two of us spent a very long and relaxing lunch at Jones Wood Foundry. I hadn’t been there in ages since it’s inconveniently (for me) located on the Upper East Side. We went on a weekday and there were no other customers except ourselves for a while, which was rather nice.

I ordered the Haddock and Chips and Regina thought the fish looked huge when it arrived at the table. I didn’t think it was that large; I’ve had much bigger portions when I was in London. She ordered the English Cheese Plate and Organic Scottish Salmon Burger. To me, the burger was pretty large and it looked really tasty. I’m not a fan of cooked salmon but I think I would enjoy that burger very much.

With full stomachs, we debated on ordering dessert but decided to go for it. The Sticky Toffee Pudding is the quintessential English dessert and it was very, very good. To accompany it, Regina ordered coffee and I had my second pot of tea in one sitting.

And it was well worth it, calories and all. (We did end up walking quite a bit afterwards so that helped too.)

May 4, 2014
Smile To Go

If I’m in Chinatown and looking for a quick bite to eat (that’s not Asian food), then I’ll drop by Smile To Go. It’s a tiny cafe, the takeaway shop of The Smile, a restaurant in NoHo. Smile To Go is on one of those side streets I often walk along when I’m heading east away from SoHo. And what I usually order is the Maple Bacon Slider and a cup of tea (in this case, it was Mariage Frères’ Earl Grey). The slider is tasty but not filling enough if one wants a more substantial meal; for that, they do serve rotisserie chicken, salads and sandwiches as well.

I never mind a smaller portion if I know I’ll be looking for something sweet to eat later.

April 19, 2014