Water Moon

This weekend, while having lunch with a friend at Matsu on the Upper West Side, I picked up a menu from a neighboring Asian Fusion restaurant called Water Moon. With money being tight for many New Yorkers these days, I've found that restaurants are starting to offer some pretty generous lunch specials. Water Moon's menu looked great, so I decided to bring Read back the next day for lunch.

The decor was very chic--a long sushi bar leading to a raised dining area, decorated in black and white with accents of red and wood. We started with the Peking Duck Spring Rolls. While Read has had duck, and Peking style meat, he has not yet had a Peking Duck. The spring roll may not have been the best way to introduce him to this Chinese specialty, but it was definitely delicious.

The outside of the spring roll was perfectly crispy without being greasy. The duck was moist, and the hoisin sauce (a sweet, soybean based sauce) which the spring rolls sat upon, was so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon.

For our main course, Read and I shared Red Snapper, and a favorite from their "wok star" menu, Sesame Chicken.

Yes, I know that Sesame Chicken is a very boring order, but I have been looking for a good Sesame Chicken since I arrived in Manhattan—the so-called Mecca of Chinese food.

This chicken was the most gourmet spin on the dish I have sampled thus far. The outside was crisp and chewy, the sauce was treated as a sweet glaze, and the chicken pieces came piled delicately on top one another. A small side of Sriracha (Vietnamese hot sauce) was the perfect compliment.

The best part of the meal came last. The Red Snapper was out of this world. The fish was lightly floured and flash fried, then tossed in a ginger and scallion, soy based sauce. The snapper was buttery and fresh, served with baby bok choy and topped with crispy bits of white noodles.

Other tempting menu items also included a crispy calamari salad with a miso dressing, a spicy curry noodle bowl, and an array of ceviche. I will definitely be back to this place very soon!

Natural Tofu: Queens

This is Natural Tofu restuarant in Queens, a restaurant I heard about from Time Out New York.  Taylor and I were in Queens checking out Jonathan Horowitz's show at PS1.  It was a good excuse to also check out this hole in the wall Korean gem.  We were the only white people in the joint - always a good sign.  The menu was printed on the placemat and consisted of 18 items.

Prices ranged from $7-$18 per dish.  Everything looked phenomenal but we narrowed it down to three items.  The outstanding, extensive ban chan should have indicated to us that we'd only need two items, but we were too excited. We decided we'd try to make room for endless ban chan as well as three dishes.

My most favorite dish is Dolsot Bibimbap.  It's a sizzling bowl of rice topped with veggies and a raw egg.  The rice burns on the bottom of the pot as the diner mixes in a spicy sauce and breaks up the vegetables.

While the rice sizzled in the pot, another piping hot specialty arrived - Soon Du Bu.  This is a hearty stew of tofu and very spicy brothe.  The dish comes bubbling to the table and diners must first crack an egg into the bowl.  After breaking the yolk and stirring the egg around a bit, the entire stew transforms into a creamy, enriched casserole.

Rice is a must with every dish and in the case of this one, there is fresh rice on hand - a waiter rolls a rice cart throughout the restaurant.  Bowls upon bowls are filled with cooking rice.  When a bowl is cooked, he descends upon a table in need of a re-up.  He spoons some rice into a smaller bowl and continues his rounds.

Last but not least, we really could not resist the seafood pancake.

We could have solely ordered this and been plenty full. Ahh well, we'll know for next time... and bring more people.

Joobili

Not specifically related to food, Joobili, a new traveling site, is about the coolest thing I've seen. You can choose dates you want to travel and the site generates a list of events going on from food festivals to fashion to jazz to sporting events that might pull you to one destination or another. It's really incredible.  Did you know there's a Beer & Trotters festival going on right now?

Recession Cookbook Dinner

Last night, T and I ate at Anna Watson's house.  She's the powerhouse behind Recession Cookbook. She also used to be a Culinista.  We were in for a treat.

This is her being photographed by her boyfriend, Brandon.

We started off with some warmed pita triangles and baked feta.  A little thyme, olives and a drizzle of olive oil made the hors d'oevres feel very gourmet... not to mention the mini Le Creuset pot in which the fromage was served.

This is her stove. It's darling, huh?

The main course was grilled lamb kabobs.  She marinated them before we arrive and effortlessly pan-grilled them as we were chatting in the kitchen.  Anna served a simple tabbouleh salad with plenty of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes to go along with it.

We each topped our plates with a yogurt sauce of which there was barely any left  by the end of the evening.  We left with Buddha bellies.

Anna is a spectacular chef.  For her recipes and insights, check out the Recession Cookbook!

Ramp Arancini

Head to Cookshop now now now for ramp arancini.. possibly the best use of ramps this season. $4 gets you 3.

Fermenting 101

24/7 is teaming up with Kombucha Brooklyn to teach a class in fermentation. Stinky fun for all!

Dried Fruit with a side of Bread

Check out this loaf of bread! My mother, father and older brother were in Boulder over the weekend and discovered this dried fruit bread.  But seriously, it's more like dried fruit held together with little bits of bread.  It's out of control.  My mom was so excited about it she took photos of it with her iPhone on multiple visits and then insisted that my brother schlep home a half loaf (about 7 lbs) for me. Figs, walnuts apricots, prunes and enormous dates are crammed in every inch.

Summer Shrimp

Last Friday, Read and I took the train to Long Island to spend Memorial Day weekend in The Hamptons with his family.  His father’s birthday happened to fall on that Saturday, so Read and I decided to combine our culinary powers to create a birthday feast.  When the sun begins to shine, Read and I dust off the outdoor grill and use it almost daily until fall weather dictates otherwise.  Knowing that Read’s father loves seafood, we decided to grill shrimp and salmon.  Read and I headed out and picked up a beautiful piece of Atlantic salmon and a bag of frozen jumbo (11-14 count) shrimp.  I worked on the shrimp, and Read grilled the salmon.

I know the idea of frozen, pre-packaged shrimp isn’t exactly gourmet, but handled correctly, these shrimp can taste remarkably fresh.  I called my mom for her famous grilled shrimp recipe and caught her at the airport, waiting for a flight to Vegas.  She told me what she remembered, but I’m a big fan of improvising, so all I needed were the basics.

First, the frozen shrimp went into a bowl of water to defrost.  I change out the water about 4 times throughout the defrost process, replacing with room temp water each time.  They should be ready to handle in about 20 minutes.  In a bowl, I combined about 2:1 parts vegetable oil to soy sauce.  I also added a couple tablespoons of honey, a few dashes of Tabasco, and rock salt.  That’s it.  I butterflied the jumbo shrimp, which made them look colossal, and threw them (carefully) into the bowl to marinate.  I know this sounds simple, but they are delicious.  Every time I serve them, they’re a huge hit!

Next, I made a cool cucumber and dill salad to serve with the salmon.  I combined equal parts plain yogurt and sour cream, added fresh dill and paper-thin slices of seedless cucumber, salt and pepper.  When it’s hot outside, this is the perfect compliment to grilled salmon.

Shrimp, salmon, asparagus, and quartered sweet potatoes went down on the grill. We served the bounty on a massive wood chopping block and paired it with a crisp rosé.  It was a perfect summer meal.  Make this shrimp at your next BBQ and people will go crazy.  I’m not kidding, Read’s dad said it was better than lobster…

And now a Doodling Contest

At Birdbath in the West Village, you could win! ...via Twitter below..

Melissa's Cupcake Contest

I got an email yesterday from Baked by Melissa. There is a heavy contest underway. From now until Augst 15, if you submit a cupcake photo, you'll be entered to win a ton of prizes.  First place is a whopping $500 + 100 cupcakes. The prizes go down from there but they are all pretty good considering that all you have to do is take a really inventive photog of cupcakes.

The Dish's Dish is entering this contest and we are looking for suggestions.  What should I do for my photo?  Comment or email me!

NYWCA Potluck

The NYWCA's annual potluck was last night. Theme: Air Your Dirty Laundry... as in, what are your guilty pleasures? Food tended towards sweet or cheesy.

Coupla Guys

I've been sampling my way through Coupla Guys Foods tomato sauces and last night, after a long day out and about, the mushroom sauce was calling my name.

"Rich, earthy and slightly spicy" is how the guys describe it on their website and that's exaclty right.  I heated up some chiocciole (ie, snail-shaped pasta) and tossed it with an ample amount of the sauce. Wow. For someone used to making her own pasta sauces, I was very impressed. But after looking at the ingredients, I realized why I liked it so much - there's really nothing in there that isn't the usual sauce component... there's onions, garlic, rosemary... no preservatives whatsoever.

For pasta in a pinch, I'd keep a Coupla Guys in your back pocket.

La Palapa, Late-Night Style

After the Supper Club's Hudson Sky Terrace party last night, champagne and ri-fueled cocktails left us very, very hungry.  What to do when ravenous around 10:30pm?  We headed to La Palapa, an old favorite of mine. Dinner is served until midnight every night of the week - and going on the slightly later side will help shield you from the throngs of people all in on the La Palapa secret (that it's the best Mexican spot in town).  Though we'd been drinking all night, a watermelon margarita proved to be irresistible.

I grabbed this pic from the website, but we had everything on it. The guacamole is incredibly creamy.  And the salsa incredibly fresh.  Waiters will also bring three other types of salsas to augment any dish.  One is spicy beyond belief, another smokey and the third is a green salsa that's both cool and piquant.  The salsas were ideal paired with our appetizer, the setas a la diabla - my all time favorite.  The dish is comprised of a large portion of chile-stewed portobello mushrooms and comes with a basket of corn tortillas with which one can make numerous mushroom tacos.  Add some of the smokey salsa.... Bliss!

We also had the camarones con mole rojo (pictured) and a side of platanos.  We cleaned both plates. The red mole was outstanding.. even the rice and beans are made to perfection.  Ditto goes for the fried sweet plantains.  Sure, we can never get enough plantains but it's hard to cook them well - not a problem at La Palapa.

Surveying the room on the late Tuesday night, I noticed that everyone seemed very happy in the world of La Palapa.  Perhaps it's something about the architecture of the restaurant - meant to mirror a Mexican palapa, a beachside, palm-thatched hut.  In Mexico, it's shelter from an often oppressive sun; in Manhattan, La Palapa proves itself everytime as an oasis from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Senegalese Food

You know that Malagache is my specialty but if you are interested in making Senegalese cuisine, Lab 24/7 has got the program for you.  This Saturday.... you'll learn how to make yassa - chicken with lemon and onions - and maffe - a peanut and meat stew.

(So this may be from my time in Madagascar, but it's better than no picture at all.)

Sung's; My Cincinnati Favorite

So it's clear at this point that I was in Cincinnati over the weekend. And while it's true that I really prefer my mother's cooking to just about anything else, I must confess that there is one other meal I crave while in the Queen City: Sung's Korean. These are the top 10 Cincinnati restaurants... and why Sung's isn't on there, I cannot understand.  Sung's cuisine, decor and service uphold the quality and integrity that define a good restaurant.  On this last visit, we began with the dubu bokum as a starter to split and then followed up by each ordering dolsut bi bim bop.

Spices, flavors and textures all shine in unison.

Not to mention the ban chan - those little dishes of yummy delivered tableside a few minutes before the main course.  Radish, cucumber, potato and myriad other specialties augment the meal.

I never tire of Sung's while in Ohio... sometimes I even wish it was in New York!

Parked!

The Gowanus Canal is turning into a feeding frenzy this Saturday May 23rd when NYC's best and most loved food trucks will line up to dish out their tastiest fare.  Think Van Leeuwen, Green Pirate and Red Hooks finest.

(Here's a similar feeding frenxy but this one took place while I was in Mexico... yum... )

Mofongo at Slim's

I never expect much out of dining out in Cincinnati.  It's a combination of my past six years living in New York and the fact that my mother is such an excellent cook that nothing in my hometown could surpass her cooking.  Also, I really just crave Graeter's.  However, on a recent trip to Slim's Restaurant in Northside, I was treated to an excellent dish, the Shrimp Mofongo.  Mofongo is a Caribbean/Puerto Rican/Cuban kind of dish whereby plantains are mashed up, fried, seasoned with spices and then mixed with some form of pork.  The mixture is formed into a cup or mound on which chicken, beef or shrimp rest. In the case of Slim's, the pork was chorizo and the protein was shrimp.

Oooo pretty! Patrick McCafferty, owner of Slim's grows almost all of his produce in his garden. Edible flowers included.  I wouldn't praise this spot through and through... service was horrendous and most of the other food was bland if not amateur.  However, it's nice to see Cincinnati dipping it's toe into something ethnic, something experimental and something that, at least in theory, is progressive.

Mix like Milk & Honey

Been sipping on tasty elderflower cocktails lately?  Wanna learn how to make them?  At Union Square Wines, there's a full blown tutorial happening this Friday evening.  Kick off the night right by getting tips from the best.  Phil Pepperdine, Jason Littrell, and Matty Gee will all be there instructing aspirational mixologists on how to make the perfect drink.  Reserve today - this event is sure to fill up.

Chocolate Chips

This delightful tweet popped up in my feed this morning. Good news!

Three Tarts Scraps

Walking through Chelsea yesterday, a sign outside of Three Tarts Bakery advertising lemonade with elderflower honey drew me into the shop. Indeed, I satisfied my lemonade lust but as I was walking out the door, I was confronted by yet another irresistible urge.  Three Tarts has long been known for their variety of homemade marshmallows (ever heard of a basil marshmallow? they gots it.), but what caught my attention near the door was the enormous basket of "scraps."  Since Three Tarts is all about presentation, each and every one of their marshmallows is a perfect rectangle... which leaves a lot of scraps to discard.  Well, by someone's genius, they aren't throwing them out anymore.  A mere $4 can get you a hefty bag of irregular marshmallows.  Brilliant if you ask me.

Lumbershack

Shake Shack is now offering something called the Lumbershack. Much like a lumberjack at a diner, this involves bananas, bacon and maple syrup.  But this one is... different. Read what Ed Levine had to say about it.

WTW - Daddy's

Daddy's is the bar down the street from my apartment.  It's nothing too special and, if anything, verges on being a little too hipster for this edge of Williamsburg.  But I like them for the frozen margaritas and outdoor back patio.  What to wear?  Recently, I arrived wearing my grey Earnest Sewn jeans + Surface to Air graphic T.  There's my favorite black belt by Maria Cornejo hidden in there.  I slipped on my black strappy H&M (yup) shoes and enjoyed my frozen margarita in the sunshine.

Keste

These are rosetti that I devoured last night at Keste, which is, I think, my favorite pizza now. I've been saying that Co is in my #1 spot, but last night's dinner may have beat the bunch.  The quality of the dough was similar, but Keste had an irresistible char to it.  Also, I preferred the toppings offered at Keste, which balanced veggie pies with meat pies better than Co.

So, those rosetti. Little rolled strips of pizza dough filled with eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes and zucchini... 5 came with the appetizer and they were so good and filling that they could have been the meal.  But then we would have missed the pizzas.  It was tough to decide amongst the 17 options but we narrowed it down to 2: the funghi pie and the pizza del papa.

Viola the funghi!  Tomatoe, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and an ample heap of outstanding mushrooms.  The crust has that perfect char I mentioned up top and the toppings were superb - in terms of freshness and preparation.  The taste was incredible.

But the funghi was slightly beat out by the pizza del papa. Butternut squash cream (which turned out to be more of a puree) covered the pie in lieu of sauce.  It was loaded up with imported smoked mozzarella and tangy sliced artichokes.  Leaves of basil balanced the whole thing out.  We left no trace of this pie. Outstanding.

My only frustration with Keste is the noise level. A girl friend and I went on a Tuesday night, did not have to wait in any line and still were screaming across our teeny table in order to converse.  Granted, there was a table of 8 ladies beside us celebrating something or other and I know that added to the noise level.  But still, it's loud hands down in there.  I'd say go early before anyone is around so you can enjoy your pizza and talk to your companion, too.

Dumont Burger

Jason and I were at Dumont Burger over the weekend.  Saturday around 4p. It was about the best time to be there. Sunshine, outdoor seating, burger + onion rings + fried fish sammy.

I am making it official: Dumont B has the best onion rings in town.

And a good fried fish sandwich.  Great tartar sauce.

Half Off Sushi!

I know the idea of “50% off Sushi” may sound slightly concerning to some people.  And I’ll admit, discount raw fish could end badly in many circumstances, but at May’s Place Sushi, the massive discount and fresh fish are what keep me coming back.   Located in St. Mark’s Square on the lower east side, this little joint has been packed every time I’ve gone.  And I’m not talking just college students—there are consistently groups of Japanese diners, ordering plates full of fresh sashimi and glasses of cold sake.

I love sushi. And I can eat more sushi than anyone you know. Whenever I order, I have to stop the waiter from putting away his notepad, and assure him that I can, in fact, eat everything I’m ordering.  Last night, Read and I ordered three specialty rolls.  One was an inside-out roll with shrimp, crab, and cucumber, all wrapped in avocado and lightly doused in spicy mayo and sweet eel teriyaki sauce.  The second roll was tempura octopus, crispy romaine lettuce, and avocado.  The last roll was a massive combination of smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber.  The entire roll was tempura-ed, deep fried and drizzled with a mango sauce.  While the third roll tasted just a little too far off from sushi, we really enjoyed the first two.  We also ordered, drum roll please, tempura-ed sea bass, gyoza, tuna, salmon and yellow fin nigiri, a pork katsu appetizer, and an aloha musubi (which does include spam, a secret pleasure for a Hawaii girl like me).  All our fish was incredibly fresh, the tuna exceptionally so.

Keep in mind that single pieces of fresh fish nigiri, 5 pieces of gyoza, an order of edamame, kimchi, and so much more can be sampled for a dollar apiece.  Yes, they have a dollar menu!

And I can’t forget the drinks.  A pitcher of Sapporo will run you a mere 12 bucks. Believe it. We also ordered some sake, which was 7 dollars a bottle.

While I cannot say this is the best sushi you can find, it is certainly the best value I’ve come across so far.  Not to mention the most fun, with it’s bustling atmosphere and random mix of hip-hop and old school tracks.  A check for 70 bucks came at the end of our feast, which means, that’s right, it should have been more like $140.

Note: Half off sushi is only offered Sunday-Thursday.

Tonda

Last night, we ate at Tonda in the East Village.  Tonda was one of the pizza places to sprout in the last few months marking the new-found fervor for pizza in this city.  I was very excited to try it.  The web-video was so cool, charming, alluring... Afraid of throngs of people, we arrived earlish.  Maybe it was the neverending rain or maybe it was the fact that this space is quasi-cursed, but the restaurant was pretty empty.  They even sat us (4 people) at an 8 person table.

The menu has a small selection of appetizers, street food and salad plus a fairly extensive list of pizzas. We opted for fried polenta, cauliflower salad and arugula salad as our apps, rationalizing that we'd save room for the main event: pizza.

Fried polenta came with sauteed mushrooms.  The girls liked it; the guys didn't.  It was basic, which was somehow comforting to me and my girl friend.  But to the men, it was just bland.

Cauliflower, sliced tomatoes and olives.  I liked it okay.  No one else was into it. It was, again, basic. The cauliflower was lightly pickled.

Standard. Arugula and Parmesan.  I finished this off after everyone else had lost interest.

Next came the pizzas.  We opted for the quattro formaggio, the vegetarian and the shrimp pies.

We all liked the 4cheese. But no one raved.

The shrimp pie turned out to be a sauceless mozzarella pie dotted with cherry tomatoes and arugula with two skewers of shrimp atop it.  It was less shrimp-y than I thought it would be.  We took half of it home.

The only pie we finished á table was the vegetarian pie.  It came with string beans and eggplant and zucchini.  The string beans were a first for me to experience on pizza, and, while I do not think it entirely worked, I was glad to be eating vegetables.

Overall, none of us were impressed by Tonda, but we were mildly amused.  Walking out, my girl friend remarked that it reminded her of Chicago and then we ran into a girl from our Midwestern high school.  So maybe Tonda just isn't amazing by New York standards but it's alright by normal standards.