Miznon

The roasted cauliflower was as good as people say -- perfectly cooked till soft without being mushy, with a bit of a charred top to add some crispness.  The pita was also the best pita I've ever had...so fluffy and airy.  I'll never be able to have store-bought pita again.  I only tried the mushroom pita sandwich so far because I was sharing with a vegetarian friend, but I will definitely be back to try the other sandwiches.

Una Pizza Napoletana

This pizza changed my outlook on pizza over 10 years ago, and I was devastated when they disappeared.  I'm happy to report that it's as good as I remembered, which is saying a lot.

When pizza is as good as it is at Una Pizza, you don't need any fancy toppings.  $25 is a bit expensive for an individual pie that doesn't have a bunch of toppings that most people are accustomed to, but I'm happy to splurge every now and then and pay for the quality and experience.

The dough is chewy and airy, and it would've been to wasteful to leave the crust, so I ate every morsel, as I would do for good bread.  We ordered the margherita and bianca, and I preferred the margherita.  There was something really addicting about that tangy sauce; I just wish there was a tad bit more of it.  The bianca was also good, but much heavier with all the cheese.  I could easily eat an entire margherita pie on my own, but would struggle to finish the bianca.  

I didn't try any of the appetizers or desserts this time since I was solely on a pizza mission, but perhaps I'll come with a larger party next time and try more things.

Le Coq Rico

Enjoyable meal and very friendly service, although portion sizes were smaller than we expected.

We started with the slow-cooked duck egg, which was perfectly cooked and nicely done.  For our mains, we went for the Rohan Farm Duck and also a single serving of the Brune Landaise (quarter chicken) just so we could try some of the chicken too.  The birds were not the most tender/juicy that I've had, but they were nicely flavored, and the jus on the side was great.  We were told the duck is a good portion size for 3 people, but our party of 2 pretty much cleaned it all up, along with the quarter chicken.  Unfortunately they don't include the duck legs and use it to make duck confit for their lunch menu.  For the price, I would've loved to get some duck confit, or to at least have the duck legs to complete the duck.

For dessert, the standout item was the I'Ile Flottante, which is a soft meringue.  It's beautifully plated, and I don't typically like meringue, but hats off to this one.  The profiteroles were good but less special for me, despite being a chocolate lover.  The profiteroles themselves were fine (2 chocolate ice cream, 2 chocolate coulis), but the best part of this dessert for me wasn't the profiteroles but the almond and hazelnut praline at the bottom.

The Little One

Lots of good flavors, and I would come more often if it weren't so out of the way.  Overall I really liked the kakigori, and the monaka ice cream surprised me on the upside too.  I wasn't sure how well the monaka worked as a sandwich, but it was nice and crispy and light, and it held together nicely.  The dorayaki was the least special for me.  I was excited to try the matcha cream and red bean cake one, but I think I would've liked it more as normal red bean paste, as the red bean cake was hard and dry.  I didn't try the other flavors though so not sure if those were better.

Don Angie

A meal and experience that was totally worth the trouble of fighting for a reservation a month early.  Everything from the food to the service was exceptional.  Don Angie totally lives up to the hype and then some.

We started with the stuffed garlic flatbread and the BBQ calamari, which comes with pepperoni fried rice.  The calamari was very nicely cooked, and the pepperoni fried rice was almost paella-esque and delicious.

Then we tried all of the pastas except for the garganelli, since our waiter mentioned that it was a bit similar to the lasagna.  The pinwheel lasagna was not just for show (although it was quite a show), and it was one of the best lasagnas I've had -- plenty of sauce and cheese without being overly heavy considering the ingredients.  Even the bread on the side was so good that I couldn't stop eating it and scooping up extra sauce, even though I intended to skip the bread since we had a lot of pasta.

Of the other pastas, I also quite liked the sopressini and smoked mussels -- a lighter pasta with more complex flavor to balance out the cheese and salt in the others.  The buffalo milk caramelle was also quite good, and I liked the creaminess of the buffalo, but the cantaloupe and black sesame flavors didn't really come through.  Finally, the gnocchi was a bit different from what I expected and was cheesier and heavier than what I'm used to; not bad, but different.

For mains, we only tried the chicken scarpariello, which was good but not as standout relative to the pastas.  The chicken was actually very well cooked and tender (not dry at all), but my favorite part was the sauce.

Finally, no meal is complete without dessert.  We had the black cocoa tiramisu and the honey zeppole, and A+ for both.  The tiramisu looked pretty boring, but it was one of the best I've had.  The black cocoa probably stained my teeth all black, but I couldn't stop eating it -- perfect combination of creaminess and crunch of the cake at the bottom.  The zeppoles were served nice and warm, and not only were they Instagram worthy, they were probably also the best zeppoles I've had, and up there with the best of the doughnuts.

So...clearly we enjoyed the meal, but I also wanted to give a shout out to the amazing service too.  Our waiter was so knowledgeable about the menu, gave great suggestions, and was just overall pleasant and helpful and friendly.

Two thumbs up!

Busan Gukbap

A small hole-in-the-wall spot with a Korean-only menu, so know what you want to order or come with Korean speakers to help you out. 

We tried the ramyun, spicy chicken stew, and the gamjatang.  As a dish, the ramyun was the most standout.  In terms of soups alone, the soup in the spicy chicken was my favorite, but as a dish, the chicken didn't carry as much of the flavor as the broth.  Similarly, the beef in the gamjatang was very tender, but it didn't have as much flavor as I would've expected given the broth.

That said, delicious meal, and I'd love to come back and try more items.

Bistrot Leo

Overall very enjoyable meal and great service.  Many seemingly classic or traditional-sounding items on the menu, yet everything is prepared in a very delicate way.

We started with the pork rillons and potato mille feuille, which were both terrific.  The pork rillons are first cooked sous vide and then flash fried, so you get a crispy bite before getting into very tender cubes of pork belly.  The potato mille feuille was equally impressive, if not more so, with paper-thin layers of potato.  It was fun to try the three different sauces that came with it, but I would've been happy just playing with the potato layers alone -- do I eat a big cross section bite, should I try to peel back and count the layers and eat them individually, or do I go somewhere in the middle?

The highlight of the entrees was definitely the grilled long rib, which was fall-off-the-bone-no-knife-required tender.  It was packed with flavor and delicious, but certainly on the heavier considering both the richness of the cut of meat and the preparation/sauce.

We also tried the Atlantic wild cod, which was the weakest link for me.  I was expecting a whole filet of fish, but it was actually chopped up pieces of the cod on top of a bed of the white bean puree.  It wasn't bad, but perhaps just too different from what I was expecting (and hard to shine next to the long rib).

Would love to come back another time to try more items!

White Bear

Made a pit stop to try their famous wontons in chili oil, and they were indeed delicious.  The wonton skins were so thin, there was plenty of delicious meat filling, and the sauce was great in terms of both flavor and texture (nice crunch from the scallions and pickled radish/veggies).

Would also be interested in trying some other dumplings and noodles next time, but this particular visit was already post lunch for us, and it was an extremely hot day, and there's no A/C at White Bear so no desire to linger.

They also have very reasonably priced frozen dumplings and wontons to go.  I currently have homemade dumplings in my freezer, but perhaps next time I'll buy a bag or two to try.

Babbo

Overall very good meal and great service, but not every dish was amazing.

For starters, we got the pig foot Milanese and grilled octopus.  The pig foot was very good; I've never had it "Milanese" before, but appreciated the textural difference between the soft and chewiness of the gelatinous pig foot itself versus the drier and slightly crispy fried, breaded exterior.  The sauce of the octopus dish was delicious, but it wasn't the best octopus I've had -- the octopus itself was too soft and didn't have its usual firmness and chewiness.

We decided to skip the secondi and go heavy on pastas...and shared 4 pastas between just 2 people.  No regrets.  My favorites were the beef cheek ravioli and the spaghettini with lobster.  The ravioli flavor had such a rich flavor without feeling heavy, and the pasta itself was still perfectly al dente even though I don't usually notice the texture of filled pastas as much.  The spaghettini was a nice and tart balance to the others we had, and the pasta was again perfectly cooked.  But the best part of the spaghettini was the large portion of lobster that came with it.  We also tried the gnocchi with oxtail, which had great flavor, but I thought the gnocchi was a bit too pillowy soft for my liking.  Finally, we added on the fettucine with pancetta and radicchio for dessert, and the pasta itself was good, but I didn't feel like the dish came together as a whole, and the bitterness of the radicchio overpowered everything else.

Enjoyable meal and experience overall though.

Davelle

Keep It Simple Smart.  Cute all day cafe with a somewhat limited menu, but it seems they do everything well, although I've only tried a few items so far.

I had high hopes for the curry, and it did not disappoint.  Although I was expecting meatier meat for the add-on options (as opposed to thinly sliced, hotpot-like meat), but the curry itself was delicious.  (And the meat was fine; I just would've liked katsu or thicker cuts of meat more, personally.)  I was skeptical of the spaghetti, but it was so good I wolfed it down.  The sweet-sour combination in the sauce was strangely satisfying, and I loved the grilled onions and peppers.  The Kyoto cold brew was also very refreshing.

Will certainly come back to try other pastas and their oden at dinner.

Empellón Midtown

Fun and innovative take on Mexican food.  The savory items were good, but dessert was the highlight.

We started with the guacamole with seven salsas, which was good, but not as special as it seemed (although very pretty).  Other places have better guacamole, but it was fun to sample all the salsas.  Then we tried the pastrami and octopus tacos.  The pastrami was very tender.  I remember enjoying the octopus at the time, but I guess it wasn't all that memorable because I can't remember much about it now, just a few days later.  The sea bream with chilaquiles was very good though.  The fish was perfectly cooked, and the chilaquiles chips topped the fish and had good flavor without being soggy.

The desserts were the most inventive.  We had to try the avocado, which really looked like a real avocado, but tasted more like a creamy key lime pie.  The look and texture were spot on, but the taste was not what you'd expect; although in retrospect, that's not too surprising since avocado doesn't have much flavor on its own.  The pineapple dessert with bee pollen and chamomile ice cream also was very unique and had great flavor.

Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare

After dining here, I jokingly asked my super critical husband how many stars he'd rate Chef's Table.  He replied, "three stars."  I laughed, thinking he wasn't serious, but he was totally serious.  "Three Michelin stars," he said. 

I feel like I should just end the review here, but if you're reading this, you're probably curious what we ate, otherwise you wouldn't be here.

Our meal was quite seafood intensive, and it was glorious.  Every dish was well planned and executed, and you could really savor all of the different ingredients, both individually as well as together as a whole dish.

1. Hamachi tartlet -- flavor explosion in my mouth, as I followed the instruction to eat it all in one bite.  It was pretty amazing how there are all these different flavors -- sweet, savory, sour, etc. going on at once, yet the freshness of the hamachi still shines through. 

2. Hookaido sea urchin -- served over perfectly baked brioche and topped with truffle.  So creamy, so fragrant, so many flavors working together again.

3. Kaluga queen caviar -- caviar "swimming" over the freshest tuna, and all complemented with cucumber and more creaminess.

4. Sawara -- beautifully presented with yet more edible flowers and the most delicious sauce.  The fish itself was perfectly cooked and very light; did not have any of the fishiness that mackerel typically has (which I normally enjoy, btw, but this fish was so delicate and delicious, I loved it too...even though I wouldn't have guessed it to be mackerel if I didn't know).

5. King crab -- even more edible flowers and creaminess to highlight the freshness of the seafood.  I'm starting to be very impressed by how all these creamy sauces don't mask the flavor of the seafood at all.

6. Chiba Akamutsu -- another perfectly cooked fish, this time served over a risotto-like rice, which had little uni bits mixed in!

7. Langoustine -- the best prepared langoustine ever.  And obviously super high quality langoustine -- you could taste the natural sweetness of it.  It was served over what looked just to be foam but was actually a mound of the richest, most buttery cauliflower ever.  But as delicious as the buttery cauliflower was, it was borderline too heavy for me, and I would've been quite happy to just eat that langoustine all on its own.

8. Fluke -- fish was good, but it was the white asparagus and snap peas that blew my mind. I don't think I've ever had such sweet snap peas and white asparagus before.  Key takeaway: quality ingredients make such a difference.

9. Quail -- grilled and seasoned to perfection.  I was a bit distracted here by the party next to us, as one of them was hesitant to eat this because she has an aversion to eating animals that had been strangled.  Took a lot of discipline for me to not ask for her portion.  I guess she had a lucky friend who got to eat two of these.

10. A5 Wagyu -- another perfectly grilled and seasoned dish, and the meaty mushrooms went so well with it.

11. Yogurt with fresh, wild Spanish Malaga strawberries -- those strawberries were so sweet, and that yogurt was so creamy.  Quite possibly my favorite dessert of the night, and it's not even chocolate.

12. Milk ice cream with a lot of nutty crunchies -- simple and delicious, although less memorable.

 13. Frozen chocolate souffle -- I've never had frozen souffle before, and it was quite a fun thing to try.  The texture is so airy, sort of like meringue but without the hard/crunchy exterior.  Probably the lightest chocolate dessert there ever was, and also the most delicious, chocolatey air you'll ever taste.

14. Bonus dessert -- the kitchen sent out an extra dessert for us, as we were celebrating our 5Y anniversary.  It was a sobacha mousse over a thin layer of chocolate cake, all covered by white chocolate...yum.

To sum it all up, very high quality ingredients and intricately prepared and presented dishes + immaculate service = amazing experience totally worthy of those 3 Michelin stars.

Bake Culture

Good selection of Asian bread, and very clean presentation.  They have a lot of standard breads, but there are also some more fun and/or Western-influenced pastries, e.g., croissants.

Of the breads, I tried the green tea bread with red bean filling as well as a purple rice taro bread, and both were very good.  The bread was light and airy, not dense or dry at all.  It was not warm, but the texture was still good, even the next morning.  The green tea bread had a strong green tea flavor, and the purple rice taro bread had actual pieces of soft taro...none of that artificial flavoring and coloring.

Of the pastries, I tried the taro puff and the egg yolk puff.  I liked the egg yolk puff more but will admit I'm partial to red bean fillings (although I clearly really like taro too).  Of the two, the egg yolk puff was more dense and a little more sweet.  The taro puff was nice and flaky, and the filling wasn't too sweet.  Both were good.

Moving on to the famous egg tarts.  I tried the normal egg tart and the German pudding one.  The regular one was good but not that special (I reheated at home because egg tarts should always be warm!).  The German pudding one was really good though.  The filling was a bit more like Portuguese egg tarts and was a little lighter/more custard-like/less eggy, although it didn't have the caramelized top.  Both were respectable renditions though.

Finally, I sold my soul to Instagram and got a hot dog bunny just because it's cute, full well knowing it probably didn't taste like much and I should go with the more traditional hot dog bun with scallions instead.  Well, I was right...the hot dog bunny was pretty average, but people like to see cute faces on their food I guess.

Mama Fina's

The service is as unorganized and frazzled as everyone says, and the food is pretty good on average but not so amazing that I'd want to come back anytime soon.

We enjoyed the sisigs the most, and out of the pork, squid, and chicken sisigs, the pork was definitely the best.  When I called ahead to order (more on that later), I was asked if we wanted it mild or spicy, and we got one spicy and the other mild, but when we got the food, we could barely taste the difference between spicy/mild...so what I'm saying is, don't be afraid to ask for spicy...if they ask you (when we tacked on a 3rd sisig, they didn't ask how we wanted it).

The lechon kawali (fried pork belly) was well fried, and I liked the crispy skin, but some of the pieces were so fatty (more than half fat), that even the best of our eaters couldn't handle it and had to cut out the fat by the end.

The kare kare was pretty good -- I liked the peanut flavor, and the oxtail was cooked well...very tender.

The lumpia shanghai were pretty standard...nothing special.

The short ribs were battered and fried, which I was not expecting.  This was an item we added on, so maybe I was just gassing out, but I didn't enjoy this dish that much (but will admit I'm not the biggest fan of fried beef).

The bihon was fine, but also nothing special.

Finally, for dessert we had the turon, and those were really delicious.

TLDR: get the pork sisig and turon.

Now, on to the experience.  We called to make a reservation, and were told to call ahead with our food order, as wait times (for food alone after being seated) could be over an hour, so I followed their advice and placed our food order earlier in the day.  

We noticed an empty table when we walked in, and rightfully assumed it was our reserved table, but no one got around to clearing the table or asking us to sit until 5 minutes after our reservation time, which isn't horrible, but it was the first sign of inefficiency (we were there early and just stood there staring at what was going to be our table).  

After being seated, our food did come out relatively quickly, but it was all lukewarm.  I guess it was made in advance and just left on a warmer somewhere.  The sisigs were definitely not sizzling.  We tried to ask a server for water, and he looked quite frazzled and said to go to the counter.  So we went to ask for water and reminded them of our iced tea order, which we placed right before sitting down.  The water came, but the iced tea didn't come until 2 reminders later, after we were almost done with our meal.  After a few initial bites, we did go back to the counter to place an order for more food, as the portion sizes looked to be on the small side.  The follow-on order came about 35 minutes later, which was better than we expected and actually hot this time.

All in all, food was decent, but given the hectic experience, I think I'd wait until they get their act together before visiting again.

Guan Fu Szechuan

Guan Fu was totally worth the hour-long trek to Flushing for me.  Everything we tried was good, from the quality of ingredients to the flavor.  They have a very extensive menu as well, and I'd definitely like to try more items.  The ambiance of the restaurant is more high end and classy, and the prices reflect that (not a small hole-in-the-wall place).

We had the cold mung bean jelly noodles (涼粉) in chili oil to start, and while it had a kick, it became the most refreshing item after all the heat in the other dishes.

The boiled fish with pickled cabbage (酸菜魚) was very flavorful, and you can pick whether you want tilapia (standard offering) or sea bass (more expensive...almost twice as much; can't remember).  I was expecting boneless fish filet, but there was actually quite a lot of fish bones to pick through.  The flavor was very good though, if you don't mind eating more slowly to pick out the small bones.

The chicken with double pepper (雙椒爆童子雞) was super spicy and delicious.  Chicken itself was still tender despite being heavily stir-fried.  We ended up with a bunch of leftover chili pepper, no surprise, and I decided to take it home and cook another meal with the pepper, and I'll just say those peppers are just as potent the second time around (in the best of ways, of course).

We also tried the dan dan noodles (擔擔麵) with mapo tofu, which was a fun 2-in-1.  The flavor was good, but the noodles were a bit on the soft side for me.

Overall very good first experience.

Heidi's House by the Side of the Road

Great neighborhood spot on the UES, although the line/wait time tends to be quite long.  The menu is quite small, but the food is above average and the service was really friendly.  That said, while overall it was quite enjoyable, I probably wouldn't wait hours for it (and they don't take reservations).

We started with an artichoke salad, which was fresh and well done.  Then we had the gnocchi (with red snapper), mac & cheese (with bacon and mushrooms), as well as the paella.  The gnocchi were larger than usual, but they tasted great -- doughy without being too dense.  The mac & cheese was nice and cheesy but not overly salty.  The paella was the weakest link and just seemed like normal rice on a plate (not served in a paella pan, so no crispy rice).  There's a good assortment of seafood and meat, but the dish didn't quite come together for me -- rice and chorizo were quite salty, but seafood was quite bland.  I normally don't like overseasoned seafood (good seafood should be able to stand alone), but the other flavors masked the seafood and it was hard to appreciate (hence tasted bland).

     

For dessert, we got the bread pudding, and it was as good as advertised.

Madame Vo

The pho is definitely the star of the show here.  The broth is very flavorful (a bit of sweetness and tartness to it), but still feels relatively light and "clean."  The extra short rib was worth it too -- it was so tender, I didn't even need the knife they gave us.

The other items were less memorable, which is not to say not good.  The papaya salad came with a lot of shrimp and was not spicy, as I had expected, but I enjoyed it.  The soft shell crab portion was pretty exciting, and it was nicely fried, but the dish didn't really stand out so much that I would order it again.  Finally, we also tried the tet noodle (egg noodle with crab and shrimp).  The noodles were a bit sweet, and the texture was softer than I normally like, but it was overall decent (but not that special).
    

Soogil

Overall a very enjoyable meal, beautiful plating, and attentive service.

Garden:
Sweet Potato Beignets -- my favorite in this section.  I'm not sure if beignet really describes it, as it's not an airy doughnut, and is essentially a fried sweet potato ball.  But it's nice and soft on the inside and not dense or dry at all.  The white kimchi soup actually pairs quite nicely with the sweet potato.

Brussels Sprouts -- shredded sprouts topped with grilled tofu.  It was an interesting take, and I liked the mix of flavors and textures (raisins, peanuts, seaweed, tofu).

Glass Noodle -- a pretty good japchae, albeit on the sweet side for me.

Mung-Bean Korean Pancake -- I was expecting a thin pancake more similar to the seafood pancakes, but this was actually quite thick, and the texture was quite meaty...like a meatloaf (and kind of dry...like a meatloaf).
      

Sea:
Spanish Mackerel -- small portion, but pretty well done.  Bite-sized pieces of grilled mackerel on top of rice wrapped in swiss-chard.  The mackerel flavor was not too strong (mackerel can be a "fishy" fish, but this did not have that, which is good for those who don't like mackerel, although I wish it had a bit more flavor).  The swiss chard was pretty much just a wrapper for the rice and didn't have much flavor on its own, but the rice was good.

Cod -- also very light.  My favorite was actually just sipping the broth.

  

Land:
Pork belly -- well cooked, but not as much flavor in the pork belly as I expected.  Really liked the crispy skin, and the meat was also tender without being too fatty (I dislike it when there's as much or even more fat than meat, but this had a good ratio of meat to fat).  The kimchi roll, however, was really delicious.

Short rib -- also pretty tender meat, and I liked the sweetness of the soy marinade. 

Chicken -- again, well cooked and tender, and this one was nice and spicy.
    

Dessert:
Korean-style Rice Stick -- delicious honey chestnut gelato and misugaru powder. The rice sticks are essentially fried mochi-like sticks, so you have a bit of a crunchy + chewy texture.  There were a lot of sticks though, and I could've used fewer sticks (or more ice cream). 

Passion Fruit Tart -- simple but well executed.  Nice and buttery and crunchy tart with a sweet and tart (but neither too sweet nor too tart) passionfruit filling.

  

Red Hook Lobster Pound

One of the better places to get lobster rolls in NYC, although not my favorite.  They do offer both classic Maine style as well as Connecticut style (hot and buttered), as well as a BLT and a Tuscan style (basil vinaigrette) that I've never tried.

The lobster cheese fries and lobster mac n' cheese are essentially identical, expect one carb is fries and the other is pasta.  Extremely cheesy and good for sharing for the table, as they're both very heavy, but sadly there were very few pieces of lobster in either (but are priced at $18 each).

We also tried the fried oysters rockefeller, which was also very creamy, cheesy, and heavy.

Overall, I would personally stick to the lobster rolls or lobster/seafood boils in the future.  Shouldn't need to cover up seafood with all those heavier items if the seafood is fresh!

Grace Street

Cute cafe to stop by for dessert and drinks.  The go-to item for me (and I'm assuming most people) is the ho-dduk, which you can get to go (either served whole or cut up into quarters) or have there.  I get great satisfaction ordering it to go (uncut) so that I can bite into it, see the liquidy, hot brown sugar syrup, and smell the cinnamon.  It's definitely prettier when cut up and served on a plate with ice cream, but then you don't get as much of the syrup and miss the surprise element of biting and then getting greeted with a strong cinnamon fragrance.  I don't even know if that makes sense.

Anyway, of the other desserts, the snow ice is surprisingly good -- nice and milky texture, not overly sweet either; the beignets are one of the betters ones (and relatively authentic) in the city, although hard to compare to the real deal in New Orleans; and there's a fun selection of waffles and drinks too, among other things.  The only thing I've been disappointed by is the mochi waffle, which barely had any mochi (I was expecting the waffle to have a more mochi-like texture, but it seemed like a pretty normal waffle with just a few sparse pieces of mochi here and there), and the toppings were a bit excessive (but I guess that's what people like to see).

Pelicana Chicken

Given all the hype, I was expecting this to be leaps and bounds ahead of all the other Korean fried chicken places, but while good, my expectations were not close to being met.

We tried the wings with their original spicy sauce and the boneless chicken, extra crispy, with the honey garlic sauce.  I was skeptical about the boneless chicken and was concerned it would be dry, but the guy taking my order convinced me to try it and said it was very popular.  Alas, I should've went with my gut, as the boneless chicken was on the dry side -- not horrible, but certainly not juicy (granted some pieces were better than others).  The wings were better.  

I think regular crispiness would've also been fine; you can definitely taste the difference in extra crispy vs. regular, but I don't think ordering it extra crispy really adds much.

As for the sauces, the honey garlic was as good as people say.  The signature was fine, but less memorable.

Overall, the chicken was fine, but I didn't feel like it was so stand-out to be in its own category.

Zha Jiang Mian 炸醬麵 Recipe

Zha jiang mian 炸醬麵 has always been a favorite, classic, comfort food for me.  I still remember my mom used to call it Chinese spaghetti, although Chinese bolognese is probably a more accurate description.  Either way, similar to spaghetti/bolognese, everyone's favorite rendition is probably his/her mother's recipe that he/she grew up eating, which means you can adjust ingredients and toppings as you see fit.  For me, the zha jiang sauce includes diced bean curd/braised tofu (豆腐干), which is a more Taiwanese twist to the Beijing classic.

Without further ado, here's my base recipe for the zha jiang sauce.  Feel free to customize to your liking!

Ingredients (~6 servings)
1 pound ground pork
3 oz. sweet bean sauce (甜麵醬), or  hoisin sauce
6 oz. yellow bean sauce (豆瓣醬)

1-2 squares bean curd/braised tofu (豆腐干), diced
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
5 slices ginger, minced
8 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks scallions, chopped, with green tops and white bottoms separated
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
White pepper, to taste
1 julienned carrot, optional
1 julienned cucumber, optional

Directions
Heat oil in pan, and add ground pork and salt.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, to brown.  Add ginger, garlic, and white bottoms of scallions and cook for another minute.  Add diced bean curd, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil and stir for another minute.  Add the sweet bean sauce and yellow bean sauce.  Simmer until pork is cooked through.  *No matter how you end up substituting ingredients, the key ratio for the sweet bean sauce to the yellow bean sauce is 1:2.

Serve over chewy noodles, and top with green parts of scallions, julienned carrots, and/or julienned cucumbers.

*The meat sauce keeps well, so feel free to freeze extra sauce for a quick reheated meal on another day!

Tea Pot Bubble Tea & Wheel Pie

I love "wheel pies" 車輪餅 and am so glad to have this (permanent) spot open in Chinatown, as opposed to relying on the occasional food truck.  

There are both sweet and savory flavors, and I tried the red bean, red bean with tapioca balls, taro, and oreo flavors.  The wheel pie itself was well "cooked" with a perfectly crispy outside, a light and soft texture for the rest of the pie, and a not-too-sweet filling, just the way I like it.  The tapioca balls were also nice and chewy, so I imagine their bubble teas must also be good.  Obviously, the cakes are best when eaten fresh, otherwise they lose the crisp exterior, but you can pop them into the oven to reheat.

Finally, the people are super nice.  I will definitely come back to support a fellow Taiwanese...and I genuinely enjoyed the wheel pies.