Tim Ho Wan

 
Arrived at 9:30am on a Sunday morning (party of 4) and just barely made it into the first seating, so pretty happy about that.

The pork buns were great and as good as I remembered and expected...definitely the highlight of the meal. Other items were pretty standard and quality was above average, but not so amazing that I would want to wait in line to eat dim sum here. I would just order the buns to go if that's an option (we did order some to go and were told we could place the order at the bar, but our waiter ended up just taking care of it; not sure if you can just walk in and place a take-out order, but that would be ideal).

Bessou

There's a long list of new restaurants I'd like to visit, but very few that I would care to go back to once I've tried; Bessou makes that short list.

Between two people, we ordered two small plates, three large, and two desserts.  Zero leftovers.  Plenty of other things on the menu I'd like to try next time.  Only negative is everything seemed to be a bit overpriced for what it was, but we enjoyed a good meal overall.

Grilled romaine with soy quail egg, jako, sesame dressing -- I was skeptical, but this surprised on the upside.  The salted jako fish and dressing paired really well with the grilled romaine.

Uni with crispy rice -- we went with the added ikura option too.  This was my favorite.  Crispy rice was crunchy on the outside and chewy and sticky on the inside.  Good portion of uni.  The spicy sauce wasn't really spicy, but it had a hint of sweetness that went well with the uni and slightly vinegary rice.

Inaniwa udon with tempura -- option to get udon cold or hot; we went for cold since that was the chef's recommendation; we also added prawn tempura.  The noodles were refreshing, but the tempura was amazing.  Definitely get the prawn tempura option.

Chicken karaage -- spices on the chicken were good and unique, and the chicken was pretty juicy.  Tzatziki sauce on the side didn't add much though; I actually preferred the chicken without the tzatziki.  The dish came with roasted kabocha on the side; I love kabocha, but found it to be a bit dry.

Beef short rib kakuni -- this dish was very well done as expected, but it was the least "special" and unique; we enjoyed it though, and the meat was very tender.

Dessert:
 Ice cream trio -- flavors of the night were cookies and cream (with shortbread cookies and soybean?), miso salted caramel, coconut red bean sorbet, and roasted matcha; we decided to skip the green tea and go for the other 3 since that seemed the least special, even though we were warned that people either love or hate the miso, but most people hate it (appreciate the honesty up front!).  I'd agree -- the miso was interesting and okay as a first flavor, but after having the other flavors, I couldn't stomach the saltiness and miso flavor again.  Best one was probably the cookies and cream.  I'm all for unique flavors, but not sure I'd care to order again.

Cannoli with black sesame shell and chocolate yuzu cream -- pretty good and glad I tried, but probably wouldn't order this again next time either.

White Gold Butchers

4 stars for food, but it was soooo slow that I'm rating it a 3 overall.  Good place if you're in the neighborhood, and I would definitely buy meat from the butcher if I lived closer, but not sure I would go out of my way to go.

Food (dinner):
Sourdough toast with mushrooms -- I was excited to try this given other reviews, but this was the most underwhelming dish.  It was fine, but really nothing special at all.  As my husband commented, "you ordered mushroom toast at a butcher...what did you expect?"

Beef heart -- we decided to try this since it's rare to see this on menus.  The meat is seared on the outside and rare on the inside, so the texture is a bit chewy.  I enjoyed it but can see how this could be an acquired taste.

Lamb -- this was the big winner.  Meat was very tender, and sauce paired perfectly.

Kale with chickpea -- pretty good.

Crispy layered potato -- delicious; highly recommend.  Cubes of thinly sliced potato layers.

Flourless chocolate cake with chocolate mousse -- pretty good although not the best presentation; I could've had more cake and less mousse.

Lamington Recipe

For those who don't know what a lamington is or haven't had the good fortune of trying one before, a lamington is a sponge cake filled with jam, dipped in chocolate, and rolled in shredded coconut.  It originates from Australia, and I rarely see it here in the States; even the many Aussie cafes in NYC don't have them regularly (trust me, I've searched).  So yesterday for Valentine's Day, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make a batch for my very Aussie husband.  Fortunately it was pretty fool proof and turned out a-okay, in my humble opinion.

Ingredients

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

Chocolate Frosting:
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk

Other:
2 cups shredded, dried coconut
Jam (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter and flour the bottom and  sides of an 8x8 inch square cake pan.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl (with electric mixer), beat the butter until soft.  Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Add vanilla extract.  Slowly add flour mixture and milk and mix well.

Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Cool the cake for about 10 minutes.  Remove cake from baking pan.  Slice entire cake in half to create two layers, and spread jam over entire bottom layer.  Place top layer back on top, sandwiching the jam, and then cut cake into 16 squares (roughly 2" each).

For the chocolate frosting, mix the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, butter, and milk in a heatproof bowl.  Place bowl over a saucepan of hot water.  Stir and mix well, until frosting is of a pouring consistency,

To assemble, place the coconut on a large plate.  Dip each cake square into the chocolate frosting, and then roll the cakes in the coconut.  Transfer lamingtons to a wire rack to set.

Lady Gaga Concert

 Having just enjoyed Lady Gaga's Superbowl halftime performance this past Sunday, I'm thrilled to hear she'll be going on a world tour.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The tour, "Joanne," takes its name from her most recent album.  She'll be in NYC on August 28, 2017.  That's more than half a year away, and I don't think I've ever planned or committed to a concert that far in advance, but how could I not be excited when so many of my karaoke favorites are fresh in my head?  Yeah...the timing of that announcement was definitely not a coincidence.  Go ahead, Lady Gaga, take my money.

The pre-sale is happening now (for Citi card holders), and the sale opens to the public tomorrow.

Time to listen to "Joanne" now.

Momofuku Má Pêche

  
It's been a number of years since I've been to Má Pêche, and the menu's changed quite a bit.  I recently came with a big group of friends to try the char siu pork rack.  The short: it was good but not amazing.  I prefer Momofuku Ssam Bar's bo ssam and rotisserie duck for large format meals.

The char siu is essentially a big rack of roasted pork belly brought to you whole, and then sliced for you.  As one would expect with pork belly, it's extremely fatty.  For me personally, a few slices of it are glorious, but making an entire meal out of it is overwhelming.  I'd prefer to have more meat than fat.  The flavor was good though, and the sauces were spot on.

As an aside, we also tried the matcha pancakes.  They were pretty, and the lavender honey was delicious, but the matcha flavor wasn't that strong.

Soft Swerve

I've been wanting to try Soft Swerve ever since I saw a pretty purple picture of the ube ice cream, but I was worried that it would not live up to the hype.  Fortunately, my worries were for naught (for once).  I tried the ube and black sesame flavors (they ran out of matcha), and both were very flavorful and very creamy.  Two thumbs up.  

As a chocolate lover, I also had to try the chocolate cone, but that fell a little short for me.  The chocolate flavor wasn't that strong, and the cone didn't taste all that fresh either (felt more like a store bought cone than a fresh bakery/ice cream shop cone).

But overall, I enjoyed it and certainly wouldn't mind going back!