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!