Thoughts & Reflections

Tag: Manhattan

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
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
Ladurée Brunch Revisited

Nearly one month to the day of my first visit, I was back at Ladurée for brunch again. It was a different friend this time but almost the same meal as before: we both ordered the Champs-Elysées set but this time, I opted for two eggs with bacon instead of scrambled eggs. And I washed it down with a pot of Earl Grey. The service had improved only slightly and I was again seated in the front room (there was a private party in the nicer back room and the garden did not open until the following day). But at least the food was better on this second visit:

I think I prefer the eggs with bacon over the scrambled eggs; Ladurée makes a good version but I’m not much of a fan for the scrambled variety at any restaurant. And this time, I did get the fruit salad that was missing previously. All in all, another very good meal. Next up will ideally be cake (or some other pretty pastry) and tea in the garden. Anyone want to join me?

May 20, 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
Tea Drunk

What I wanted on Saturday afternoon was a cool and creamy antidote to the increasingly warm weather. I walked over to the Big Gay Ice Cream shop, looked at the long line that formed outside the store and decided I should get something else instead. Just a few doors down was Tea Drunk, a tea shop on my to-visit list. It is tea only (no food) and the tea is served Kung-Fu style if one is dining in, so to speak. There is a really short to-go menu of iced tea on the day I went but I wanted to sit down and rest my tired feet.

I chose the Shui Xian Oolong Tea and sat down at a table; the counter was packed with other tea drinkers so there wasn’t any room to sit up there. I really enjoy the rituals of serving Kung-Fu tea though I haven’t had it in years. It was fun to watch as one of the shop assistants rinsed the pot and the cup before steeping the leaves and pouring the tea into the teeny cup. The tea itself was excellent; I really liked the flavor of it. And the leaves were steeped several times and each time, the flavor changed subtly. Even though it was hot outside, I didn’t mind drinking hot tea as well. The whole experience was pretty relaxing and I would definitely go again and try something else next time.

April 22, 2014
Central Park North

Now that the weather is warming up, I’ll be embarking on other activities besides eating. On a recent warm weekend, I headed up to Central Park and rambled through the northern sections.

From my favorite part of the park, the Conservatory Garden, I wended my way through the paths around Harlem Meer and headed west. Usually, I exit the park around Lenon Avenue but I decided to continue on and exit at the northwest corner of the park, which I hadn’t been to before.

As I walked along the northern edge of the park, I noticed an unusual stone building at the top of a cliff. After dodging bikers and joggers, I climbed up and checked out the Blockhouse #1, which is the oldest structure in the park. It’s a small, squat, roofless fort with steps leading to a locked metal gate. Looking through the bars, the view reveals nothing much except for a grassy floor with a flagpole set in the center. From the pole hung both the American flag and the POW-MIA flag. I’m really glad I took the long way out of the park for once, otherwise I’d never have discovered something new (to me).

Not that there isn’t more; there’s plenty of attractions in the park I’ve yet to see in person.

April 20, 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
Sweet Treat: Religieuse Griottes Amande

This was one of the desserts I bought on my way out after brunch at Ladurée. I love cherries in desserts so this was a must get item. The religieuse was basically two cream puffs stacked on top of each other with cherries and an almond cream filling. It was very tasty! This is also the first dessert I’ve ever bought at Ladurée.

During my very first London trip, we stopped at the Ladurée store in Harrods Food Hall and I bought a large box of macarons and a croissant. I don’t think they had other pastries at the time though if they did, I opted for something I could easily bring back to the States. That croissant was my breakfast the next day, eaten in my hotel room before we headed to Heathrow for the return trip home. And since then, I’ve always wanted to try their other offerings that we couldn’t get until this SoHo location finally opened.

April 10, 2014
Brunch at Ladurée

Finally, I made it to Ladurée‘s Soho location. Well, I did drop in opening weekend but walked right out after seeing the crowds queued up for a table for lunch. The lines have been like that every weekend and my patience was rewarded when I saw one could make reservations via OpenTable.

In the span of a week, I’ve made or accepted bookings to Ladurée with different people. This is the first eat-in visit so there will likely be a follow-up post next month. This past Sunday’s visit was with a former coworker who’s now a good friend. We met at 10:30am and were seated in the front dining room. Both of us arrived prepared to devour a fancy French breakfast (though I will admit to having a small roast pork bun at home earlier in the day). From the many choices in the menu, she settled on a pot of tea, the French Toast and an order of scrambled eggs with truffles. I chose the Champs-Elysées breakfast set which came with a basket of baked goods (walnut croissant, pain au raisin, and a brioche—all of which I ate), a choice of eggs (I went with scrambled), a fruit salad, fresh juice (orange or grapefruit) and a hot beverage (a pot of the Thé de Othello for me).

The food was excellent, the servers were nice and polite but the service was a bit low. The restaurant’s only been open for about a month or so, so they still have some kinks to work out. Hopefully, things will improve by my next visit. I only realized later that I never did get my fruit salad… neither did the woman that sat at the next table who ordered the same set. It was a very good thing that the food that did arrive was filling, so I didn’t miss the fruit much though it would have been nice to have received it.

On our way out, we stopped at the retail counter. My friend loved the tea she ordered with her meal (the Thé de Vanille) and wanted to buy it. I browsed the desserts on display and did not walk away empty-handed: a few seasonal macarons, one pastry and some canelés. I think I bought enough sweets to last me for the week.

April 9, 2014