Midwinter Kitchen

First time coming here yesterday, and I really enjoyed their brunch.  I love brunch, but I feel I've gotten spoiled and am rarely impressed by brunch menus, but Midwinter Kitchen was a delightful surprise.  So good it's going on my NYC Eats list.

The braised steak hash and eggs dish was done very well.  The steak was tender and plentiful.  The potatoes were still a bit crispy.  The balance of flavor as well as food groups was perfect.  I usually get very excited about anything "hash" on menus, but most places give you a bunch of potatoes and not enough of everything else, but Midwinter has a winning combination.

We were also trying to decide between the popular spiced chickpea hash and the farmer's skillet special and ultimately went for the special since I'm sure the chickpea hash will still be on the menu next time.  The farmer's skillet was a mushroom ragu over polenta and braised kale, topped with a poached egg.  I really also liked this dish, although between the two, the winner was the braised steak hash.

Happy to say I'll definitely come back to try other things!

Braised steak hash and eggs

Farmer's skillet

Shanghai Mong

It's been years since I've been here, but I was craving Korean jja jiang myun (black bean noodle) yesterday, so I came.  My go-to is the combo noodle with the jja jiang myun and spicy seafood noodle soup.  Not your best noodles, but it's good comfort food that'll hit the spot.  And for whatever reason, there aren't really that many places (at least not in K-town) that have jja jiang myun, which is a pity.

I remembered other appetizers and entrees to be pretty mediocre though, and sadly that's still the case.  I tried the triple combo yesterday with the 2 noodles (jja jiang myun and spicy seafood noodle soup) and sweet and sour pork, and I should've just stuck with the combo noodles.  The pork was heavily battered and drenched in sauce, so it was soggy.  Just get the noodles.

Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

12 ounces cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar, to taste

Instructions

In a saucepan, dissolve sugar in the orange juice.  Stir in the cranberries and cook until cranberries start to pop.  Reduce heat and stir for another 2-3 minutes, or until desired consistency.  Remove from heat and  set aside in a bowl.  

Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened (bring to room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together the crushed cookies, pecans, and butter.  Press into the bottom of a 9-inch round springform pan.  Back crust 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla just until smooth.  Mix in eggs one at a time, blending well after each.  Set aside 1 cup of the mixture.  Blend 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg into remaining mixture.

Spread pumpkin flavored batter into the crust, and drop the plain batter by spoonfuls onto the top.  Swirl with a knife to create a marbled effect.

Bake 55 minutes, or until filling is set.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan.  Allow to cool before removing pan rim.  Chill for at least 4 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Note: use total 3 cups cookies + pecans if you prefer a crust that goes up entire side of cheesecake and not just the bottom

Maple-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecan Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts
1/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup toasted pecans (or hazelnuts, or other nuts of choice), coarsely chopped (optional)

Instructions

Heat olive oil in pan, and place brussels sprouts cut side down until lightly browned.  Stir-fry another 2-3 minutes, or until brussels sprouts begin to soften.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth.  Bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is evaporated.  Mix in maple syrup.  Mix in toasted pecans.

Queens Comfort

We went for brunch and enjoyed the food, but it was not so amazing that I would go out of my way to go or to wait in line.

Experience: 
We arrived at 10am on Sunday (when they open), and as expected, there was a long line already; unfortunately we just missed the first wave of seating and had to wait about 40 minutes (for a party of 4).  Host James Avatar was super friendly and fun(ny), making the time go by faster.  Getting a doughnut while waiting in line also helps tremendously.  Once inside, it was a fun vibe with the DJ spinning, but I thought the noise level was way too loud.  It felt like a club and less of a restaurant; we were all shouting to hear each other and ultimately just stopped talking.

Food: 
Overall, the small plates were great, but the entrees were not as exciting as they sounded.  The doughnut was terrific though -- it was almost like a cake and was served warm.  The flavor of the day was apple cider crumb with vanilla cinnamon glaze; delicious, although I can see how it can be hit or miss depending on the flavor.  

For small plates, I would highly recommend the atomic fireballs (fried mac & cheese ball), fried stuffing balls, the empanadas (we had shepherd's pie empanadas).  We also tried the disco tots after reading all the reviews, but they were nothing special, just tots with cheese.  

For mains, I tried the benedict over plantain (I forget what it's called...The Row Boat?  Big Row?) and that was pretty unique and tasty.  My husband got the Pig Mac.  The fried pork tenderloin (sort of like a schnitzel) was huge and very thin; on its own, it tasted a bit dry, but it was better with the sandwich.  Good but not great.  Another person in our party got the chicken and waffle, which is normally one of my favorite items; I can't comment on the taste since I didn't try it, but it looked pretty plain vanilla, sadly.
  

Momokawa

We tried a few appetizers and sushi tonight, and I would say the food is decent but not amazing.  It seems they are known for shabu shabu and sukiyaki, which we didn't order, so perhaps we'll come back to try and their ramen next time.

-Kaminari Konnyaku (spiced yam cake) -- very tasty and chewy

-Snow crab appetizer -- light and good crab; met but did not exceed expectations

-Kara age -- decent fried chicken, but personally I wasn't a fan of the batter (crispy outside, but a bit cakey on inside)

-Yellowtail collar -- I have a high bar since this is one of my favorite dishes, and this fell a bit short for me; flavorful, but a bit dry

-Sushi entree -- good assortment (even included chu toro (medium fatty tuna)); decent but not amazing quality; sushi rice a bit hard

Té Company

Very cute and quaint tea spot.  There's a huge selection of teas, so be prepared to spend some time reading through all the various descriptions, which are very helpful.

We had to try the pineapple linzer cookies after all the reviews, and I'd agree with other reviews that it's delicious (although not entirely convinced they're worth $3.75 per cookie...).  The shortbread cookie was well done, and the pineapple jam went very well with it; a good take on the traditional pineapple tart.  The seasonal pastry today was carrot cake, which was more like a muffin, but it was great and not too sweet.  Finally, we tried the chocolate cake, which was light and fluffy and not overly rich.  All good complements to the tea.

Root & Bone

We came for a late night fixing of fried chicken but found it pretty disappointing.

The fried chicken is dusted with a bit of lemon, which I thought was okay, but my husband found overly sour.  Personal preference.  The dark meat was okay.  BUT then I had a piece of chicken breast and it was incredibly dry and stringy.  We can disagree on flavor profile, but dry fried chicken is game over.

Cornbread souffle sounded more exciting than it actually was.  The texture was interesting; it was light and creamy and enjoyable the first couple of bites, but there wasn't enough cornbread substance and just felt like I was eating cream after that.

Deviled eggs were pretty good and unique though.

SakaMai

Excellent meal and creative menu with a twist on many classic items.  I also love that they have a whole section of the menu (the first section actually) dedicated to uni.

1. Egg on egg on  egg -- obviously had to try this; it's a small dish, but generous portion of uni and caviar (for the size of the dish) on top of perfectly fluffy scrambled eggs



2. Burrata special with fried gyoza skin (forgot what it's called) -- melted burrata was delicious with crunchy mountain yam worked surprisingly well; the fried gyoza skin cracker was fine but could've been easily substituted with any other carb



3. Yakisaba sushi -- we ordered this because it sounded different (grilled mackerel, lardo iberico, spicy sesame soy); it was pretty tasty, although the sushi rice was not the best...rice was a bit hard and fell apart/not sticky enough



4. Kara-age fried chicken -- this has almost become a staple to order at izakayas, and I'm usually not impressed, but SakaMai's kara-age surprised on the upside; large pieces of juicy chicken and not too much batter


5. Uni mazemen -- this was probably my favorite dish; I also try to order uni mazemen everywhere I can and am usually underwhelmed, but this was very good; generous helping of uni, creamy noodles, and on top of that, a big side of bone marrow that you add and mix in; great flavor overall



6. Beef curry special -- 18-spice curry was a delicious combination of hot, sweet, and salt


The cocktails sounded great as well although I didn't try any.

Canstruction

I had some extra time to kill today after my calligraphy class downtown, so I went for a stroll at Brookfield Place and was pleasantly surprised by a fun exhibit, Canstruction.  Canstruction is an annual design competition and food charity.  As the name suggests, teams have to create their designs out of unopened canned goods, and at the end of the exhibit, the cans will be donated to City Harvest.  There are currently 25 "cansculptures" on display at Brookfield Place until November 16.

My favorite one is probably the carousel (I love horses!), but they were all pretty cool and definitely unique.  The titles of the projects were just as interesting as the sculptures themselves.  I'd highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area, and bring a can of food to donate too!

Sakanaya

Great new sushi restaurant; omakase without breaking the bank.  There are only 2 menu options -- omakase with or without sashimi ($100 or $80, respectively).  

Here's what we had in our omakase without sashimi:
1. Appetizer trio -- daikon with beef (good), sweet potato (good), miso cod (a bit dry)
2. Shima aji (striped jack) with the usual scallion, ginger topping
3. Salmon with skin and sesame (very good)
4. Botan ebi (sweet shrimp) with herring roe
5. Chawanmushi with fried shrimp head (chawanmushi was decent but not special, fried shrimp head was yum)
6. Red snapper (surprised me on the upside)
7. Hirame (Fluke)
8. Chutoro (medium fatty tuna)
9. Uni topped with herring roe (one of my favorites)
10. Ikura (salmon roe) over rice, topped with some crunchy bits (crunchy bits made it especially good)
11. Miso soup with mushrooms and tamago on the side (soup was a bit salty)
12. Anago (sea eel)
13. Tuna hand roll
14. Matcha mousse with red bean paste

Overall good quality fish, great taste, although rice fell apart on a couple of pieces.  I enjoyed the appetizer trio and sushi but could've skipped the chawanmushi, soup, and dessert.

Black Seed Bagels (at Hudson Eats)

I've been meaning to try Black Seed Bagels for a while, but it was only okay.  Maybe the original location is better.  The bagel is smaller and more thin, which is fine (good for the carb conscious?) but it tasted pretty average.  I got the whitefish salad sandwich, which is my go-to sandwich when trying out any new bagel spot, and that was also nothing special.  Not bad, but not memorable.  The whitefish salad itself was a bit dry, but the pickled cucumbers added a nice, sweet touch.  I'd pick Ess-A-Bagel over Black Seed any day.