Sobaya 蕎麦屋 NYC

Met up with Janet and her friends in NYC for dinner on Friday. It's been ages since I've seen her! The restaurant they picked was Sobaya, which is in the East Village where I've passed by earlier back in May as part of this blog entry here. It's right across the street from Otafuku. The restaurant was a bit cramped, but then again, which restaurant in that area isn't? By the time I got there, they had already finished their main dishes! On a Friday night, driving into NYC and looking for parking in the East Village was not the easiest thing to do!


Goma Tofu - Chilled sesame tofu. For some reason, I was expecting it to taste like the toasted sesame or even the black sesame seeds that either taste nutty or sweet. It did not. It wasn't smooth as I expected tofu to be. I was disappointed with this tofu.


Gindara - Yuzu infused soy cured cod fish. This fish was smoother than the tofu! Cod reminds me of Chilean Sea Bass, with the natural oils of the fish. The yuzu flavor was ever so slight, providing a little citrus taste to the fish. This was my main dish...the tiny leaf has a piece of pickled garlic in it. Ironically, I did not order noodles at a noodle house??? Just gives me another reason to go back in the future! Now I'll know not to order the Goma Tofu again...


Milk tofu. My dessert for the night! The tofu had a slight hint of milk, and the strawberry syrup made it the perfect sweetness! I also had the piece of mint, which was incredibly crisp and fresh.


Need more be said? Good times!


After dinner we took a walk to a friend's apartment on 8th St. and Broadway, where you can see the Empire State Building and 3 bridges on the rooftop! (Pardon the fuzziness of this picture, I'm still trying to figure out how to take pictures at night with the DSC-T700!)

Steak Diane a la Paula Deen

Watching Food Network on Wednesday, it has finally inspired me to cook again after months of hiatus. On Homecooking with Paula Deen, she was making quick versions of complicated recipes. Who can resist steak? Her Steak Diane looked easy enough to make, and the reviews on FoodNetwork.com were all raving!


Steak Diane with Roasted Golden Potatoes - The tenderloin was thinly sliced and grilled in a frying pan on the stovetop, lightly seasoned right before going into the pan. The sauce was made with onions and lots of mushrooms with worcestershire and lemon juice. It tasted better than I imagined! Will definitely make it again in the future!


Cold Honey Lemon Drink - A classic Hong Kong drink perfect for summer! Thirstquenching and served in my US Open Grey Goose souvenir glass!

US Open Brunch 2009

In honor of the 2009 US Open, Kina and her family held a brunch last Sunday, which was originally the setting to watch the men's finals, but too bad the rainy week postponed it to a Monday. Nonetheless, the brunch carried on as scheduled!


Gotta love the menu at the table!!! It looked so professional. One "correction" is the Spinach and Feta Omelet was updated to Spinach Goat Cheese Omelet since ShopRite didn't sell Feta.


Behind the menu...it says US Open Brunch 2009! Loved it!


At the side table are glasses and Orange Juice...ready for the Mimosa...just waiting for the sparkling wine!


Ahh...Charlene finally arrived with the alcohol! The mimosa was about 90-10...with just a splash of OJ. Char bought 3 varieties of sparkling wine, they might've been Verdi...but I remember I didn't like the Extra Dry. The Mango Passion coupled with the Orange Pineapple juice was awesome! Yes...it was around noon time and we were drinking. I think we finished six or seven bottles of the wine...but it was so good! I only had about four or five glasses of mimosas....yes, ONLY.

Now onto the food!

This Pita Bites picture is out of focus...anywho, the two round circles have hummus, the middle swirl is made with tomato and cheese, like a pita pizza!


Banana Walnut French Toast - sandwiched in between is some fat free cream cheese with walnuts and bananas plus more on top for garnish! It tasted great...but Charlene had to ask for syrup since it wasn't sweet enough. After all, french toast should be eaten with syrup, right? Too bad by that time I had already eaten mine!


Honey Smoked Bacon - Crisped and cooked.


Spinach and Goat Cheese Omelet - loved the light flavor of the spinach, but since I don't eat lamb or goat, goat cheese reminded me of their gamey-ness.


Sausage and Peppers - This might've been my favorite at the brunch! The onions and peppers went perfectly with the sausage. Yummm...


Baked Macaroni and Cheese - This mac&cheese was finished off in the oven with bread crumbs baked on top, tasted great!


Home fries - This was left off the menu, but was part of the brunch! After the potatoes were boiled, they're sauteed in with the peppers and onions, just like they would in the restaurants! Awesome job, Kina!


Fruit Platter - Composed of cantaloupes, strawberries, and bluberries. So fresh and sweet! The cantaloupes were so juicy, Yuan almost choked on the juice!


Red Velvet Cupcakes - Topped with Cream Cheese frosting...Kina and Charlene had to take some of it off of their cupcakes...guess the frosting was too sweet.


After eating brunch, we taught Mike how to play "3-way" Mahjong!


Kina took over for Mike after he learned how to play.


It's been a while since I played...

For dinner...

Charlene's Barbeque "spareribs" cooked on the stove with Jack Daniel's Smoked Honey Barbeque sauce. Spareribs are in quotes because they weren't real spareribs, still pork, but no rib bones were visible.


Grilled buffalo wings! Cooked on the grill, they were later tossed with hot sauce.

We were watching MTV's VMAs that night when Kanye West stole Taylor Swift's thunder, and Lady Gaga's disturbing performance to her "Paparazzi" song. That was pretty...interesting. Thanks everyone for the wonderful meals and the great times!

Sakura (Millburn, NJ)

Last Sunday after going to my uncle's company picnic (DCH Auto Group), we had dinner at a local Japanese restaurant in Millburn called Sakura. Decor was pretty modern, and everything looked clean and decently new. Not surprisingly, the people working there were Chinese, and I speak the same dialect they do too.

Anywho, onto the food.


Salad with Ginger dressing - Tasted like a pretty normal Japanese salad you would find at a typical Japanese restaurant.


Calamari - This appetizer seems to be Brandon's favorite at any restaurant. Shhh, he doesn't know what's inside. He likes the crunchyness.


Soft-shelled crab - Fried tempura style. I'm more used to the crab cut in half rather than into 4 or 5 pieces, but it was good too.


Tobiki sushi - also for Brandon. He usually eats 4-6 pieces of these (special request without the seaweed wrapping), but he got sick after gulping down an entire cup of apple juice within about 5 minutes. He didn't put up his A-game that night.


Tiger roll - Didn't expect this to be so...overflowing. The roll had salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and eel on the top, spicy tuna inside, and tobiko, tempura flakes, scallion, and chef special sauce over the roll. The tempura flakes were actually more like panko bread crumbs. It DOES sort of look like a tiger, right?


Shrimp Tempura that came with the noodle dish below


Nabe Yaki Udon - I thought yaki meant stir-fried? I was confused when they said it was soupy.


Sushi and Sashimi boat for two - 10 pieces of sushi, 18 pieces of sashimi, eel avocado roll and rainbow roll. Some pieces of fish were...fishy. It wasn't because it wasn't fresh, I think that was just what the fish tastes like in general. Not sure what kind of fish it was though, maybe it was mackerel or something...

I also had a bubble tea that I forgot to take a picture of, the milk tea was extra foamy, but the bubbles were a tad too hard. I like my bubbles squishy!

Overall, Sakura was a nice place. Sushi was fresh, service was decent, decor was nice... it was a place rated 4 stars by New York Times and Star Ledger.

Michael Jordan The Steakhouse NYC

Wow, long time no update! Haven't really been eating any good enough food these days, but today we went to Michael Jordan The Steakhouse NYC for Restaurant Week. I knew that place was near Grand Central Terminal, but didn't think it was actually INSIDE! It was pretty interesting watching people below going to wherever they need to go to.

Lets first blog about the food! First time I'm posting pictures taken with the DSC-T700...love the fact that there's a "Scene Selection" for Gourmet Food!


The Restaurant Week menu...I was tempted to try the Ravioli, but why go to a steakhouse and not order steak? On a side note, the menu proclaimed that all steaks are USDA grade and aged for 21 days.



My cocktail...City Sunrise. The Jose Cuervo was somewhat strong, apparently my face turned red after half the drink, but I didn't feel the burning up. The drink was decent...had orange juice, pineapple juice, and a splash of grenadine. I wish they gave us a straw though.


The Restaurant Week appetizer - Crawfish Chowder. The chowder had potatoes, carrots, corn, tomatoes, bacon bits, and of course crawfish. Flavor was a bit too strong/salty for me.


The bread + butter. Not pictured is the onion bread which look like dinner rolls, with shreds of aromatic onions baked in, and sprinkled with poppy seeds. The mini-baguette and the crackers were good too.



My entree (& my mom's) - Filet Mignon with mashed potatoes and roasted garlic butter. The size of the filet mignon was what's expected for Restaurant Week, but the texture of the meat I wish was a bit better...maybe this tasted too much like a tenderloin? Actually, cutting into it felt like cutting into stew meat. I couldn't finish the portion even though the portion size was small. The roasted garlic butter I guess is the sauce on the plate...but that tasted like gravy more than butter. Mashed potatoes were good, but I again couldn't finish. The other piece of potato next to the mashed is Hashbrown potatoes. That side dish looked like it was pan-fried on a small frying pan, and then the waiter gave us each a quarter of the piece. The crispiness was good, but unfortunately it had rosemary infused in it.


My dad's entree - The porterhouse steak. Of course this is considered miniscule compared to what Mignon served, but this piece of meat was definitely cooked very nicely. This wasn't part of Restaurant Week, it was a la carte.


Jacky's entree - NY Strip Steak. This is also a la carte, the meat wasn't as tender as the porterhouse, but it was also better than the filet mignon. I've decided that filet mignon is not my favorite cut of steak!


My dessert - Warm Chocolate Brownie with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce. This brownie was reminiscent of the chocolate souffle from Pimaan, minus the gooey center. Maybe more like warm chocolate cake...paired with the ice cream, it was decadent!


My mom's dessert - Cheesecake. It was definitely creamy all right...but I think it was from the sour cream, since it didn't taste very cheesy as I'd expect a cheesecake to be.

Now time for people pictures!


Jacky & I waiting to order food...


I sat in the other seat so I can take a picture of the terminal in the background. This picture turned out a bit yellow in the background because of the flash.


Me again...my mom took a picture of me with the sunglasses on, but that didn't turn out too well.


My parents


The view of the ceiling of Grand Central Terminal from our table


Outside walking towards our car; GCT in the background.

Overall, I think the MJ Steakhouse is worth a visit. I loved being able to sit in Grand Central Terminal (my first time there!) and just look at the high ceiling! While I didn't particularly care for the filet mignon, the a la carte entrees were good. I wish the service was a tad bit better though. The waiter wasn't very attentive to our needs, when we got his attention as he was walking by, he gave off an annoyed-vibe. Then when we were all finished with the entrees and were ready for dessert, he never came by to ask what we wanted, and when we got him to come over, he snapped at us and said he'll bring us the dessert...without even asking what we wanted? Didn't really appreciate that. We also had to request for the check...seemed like other parties were also treated in a similar fashion, their plates were taken away, but they sat there and waited just like we did. Is it too much to ask that the waiter sense whether a table is getting antsy to leave or if they want to sit and chit-chat for hours? We clearly had the money ready, looking every which way for any waiter we could see, but no one noticed. That might be my biggest pet-peeve when eating out. The attentiveness of the waiter. Actually, he didn't even come by to ask us how the food is! Darn, gave him too much tip for the level of service...

Congee Village - The Sequel

As a thank you to everyone for their hard work on Saturday for a catering order (and because I didn't have work on Monday) we went out to Congee Village in Chinatown for dinner last night. It's been YEARS since we drove into NY for dinner that late! The good ol' days when we had 即叫即蒸 steamed-to-order dimsum.


椒豉炒石螺 Sauteed Snail with Chili and Soy Sauce - The snails were very very easy to get out without a toothpick! Thumbs up for that!!!


節瓜蝦米粉絲煲 - Dried Shrimp and Squash with Vermicelli in Casserole. In lieu of soup, we ordered the light and fulfilling soup that was served over a flame!


“石本”仔“火局”魚腸 Baked Fish Intestine in Clay Pot - The waitress claimed this is a Canto/Hong Kong dish...I guess I don't know much Hong Kong dishes than I originally thought because I've never heard of Fish Intestine before. Honestly, I couldn't taste the fish, just tasted the eggs and roast pork and the green herbs.


蒜香雞 House Special Chicken - Literal translation of the Chinese name is "Garlic Fragrant Chicken" and we surprisingly finished the entire chicken!!! The sauce was very good, not too salty, unlike some of the other dishes we ordered.




雜菌扒炸豆腐 Fresh Mixed Mushrooms and Fried Bean Curd - When we went to Congee Village for dinner the first night Meanie was back, we ordered the same dish, but I remember there being more variety of mushrooms than last night's dish...and this was one that was a bit too salty.


核桃蝦球 Walnut Shrimp - Haven't ordered this dish in a while, the glazed walnuts were good!!! Is it bad that I like those more than the shrimp?


風沙田雞 Deep fried frog with Salt Pepper & Garlic - Is it weird that this dish is listed under Seafood? Neither the Chinese or English names resemble seafood to me...the crispyness of the breading is where all the flavor is!


北菇牛肉伊麺 Beef and Mushrooms with Longevity Noodles - Another dish that was too salty...I wish we can make these noodles at home too! Time to look up some recipes again...and the beef wasn't the best either, my parents' were by far better!


海珊骨 House Special Shrimp Paste Spareribs - They supposedly forgot to put this dish in for us, but for some reason it came out a few minutes after we asked them about it and said that they don't have to bring it out. For some reason, the bill noted it as 蒜香骨/Garlic Fragrant Spareribs instead of the House Special version, and it actually didn't taste like what it normally tasted like. I decided to order this dish to "make up" for the 京都骨/Peking Style Spareribs that we ordered the last time because that was just way too sweet.

We went to dinner there too late that they no longer had any 例湯/House Soup or 糖水/Dessert Soup anymore...next time we have to go during normal dinner time. The food were too salty last night that I woke up in the middle of the night for a drink...normally Congee Village is good with the seasoning, maybe the chef was just in a "salty" mood last night? Will definitely go back to give them another chance!