Easton Restaurant Week - Widow's Tavern

Second restaurant for Easton Restaurant Week was to Widow's Tavern. It wasn't exactly in Easton, but I think it was 10-15minutes away. The menu of the place had a story about a ghost that some patrons and employees see or felt. That was kind of creepy...but by the time I read that we had already ordered.


Bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and chili peppers.


House salad with honey mustard dressing. The ruffle-cut carrots were awesome!


First Course: Crab and Shrimp Spring Rolls - Crab and shrimp with sweet peppers, carrots, scallions served with sweet chili sauce. I wish the skin of the rolls were crispier. But the crab meat + shrimp filling was good.


First Course: Crab Puffs - Tempura dipped crab balls deep fried with saffron aioli.


Second Course: Crab cake - blend of jumbo lump crab, mayo, secret seasonings, touch of bread crumbs and a pinch of old bay. I don't know why, was in a very "crabby" mood that week...the crab cake from Vintage, crab+shrimp spring rolls, crab puffs, and another crab cake for main course. Out of all, I think the crab cake appetizer was the best. Is crab cake supposed to be served with mashed potatoes and black beans with white corn? It might've been better if it came with some different kind of vegetable; something less heavy.


Main Course: Osso Bucco - slow roasted veal shank with vegetables.


Third Course: Creme Brulee


Third Course: Chocolate Chip Cheese Cake - creaminess!

Easton Restaurant Week - Vintage

Found out about the Restaurant week in Easton from January 24 - 28, first stop was the Vintage restaurant located at the Club at Morgan Hill.


Bread...the one with nuts and raisins were good, just way too crispy. It got messy...


Fresh orchids on the table!!!


Amuse bouche: pickled vegetables on a biscuit. Loved the pickled taste of the carrots and red onions, it wasn't too sour and slightly sweet.


First course: Pan Seared Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes - the dips are caper, garlic, bacon malt vinegar aioli trio with spicy red carrot relish. I preferred garlic aioli the most; the bacon one tasted a bit too heavy, and caper didn't really taste like anything.


Main Course: Grilled Atlantic Salmon - served with Chorizo sausage, swiss chard, potato, whole grain mustard beurre blanc. Not exactly sure how whole-grain mustard differs from regular mustard.


Main Course: Chicken Under a Brick - served with country fried potatoes, baby carrots, white wine sage pan sauce. These were the real baby carrots! Not like the "bootleg" ones they sell in bags in supermarkets. Anyways, there's also pieces of (roasted?) garlic that went very well with the chicken and sauce. At first I had trouble picking between Pappardelle Bolognese and this chicken, and since the waitress said the people would go crazy if this was taken off the menu...it was a dish that needs to be tried! Besides, the name of the dish is funky!


Third Course + coffee : Cranberry Blood Orange Crisp served with vanilla ice cream


Third course: Bread pudding with white chocolate sauce and Jack Daniel's Whiskey - this serving was huge...even though the alcohol should've evaporated (right? otherwise kids can't eat the dessert!) I think I still got a little..."under the influence".

Bravo Italiano Cucina

Bravo! is a chain Italian restaurant, with most locations very far from here. Just found out there's actually one in Palisades mall! Definitely need to go to that one and see if it's the same as the one in Lehigh Valley mall.


Grilled scallops with Gnocchi - The potato gnocchi were served over roasted sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach with sherry-lobster sauce. Absolutely loved the spinach! The grilled scallops tasted like wood-grilled. Maybe I prefer pan-seared because of the caramelization.


Grilled Salmon - came with pan-roasted green beans, crispy potatoes, lemon caper butter sauce and pesto crumbs. The crispy potatoes were made from red skinned potatoes, it was definitely a new way to have potatoes!

The Frog and the Peach

Side note...yes, it's been a while...but better late than never, right? Updates are coming more frequently!

---

We rang in 2010 at The Frog and the Peach in New Brunswick! Love the little frog on top of the plate and the confetti on the table!

The 3-course Prix Fixe dinner started off with:
Chef's Amuse: Pickled Crimini Mushroom Skewer with Gribiche Sauce - The mushrooms and chick peas were slightly sour and salty. Can't remember how the Gribiche sauce tasted...it's been over 2 months...memory's getting fuzzy.


First Course: Black Truffle Ricotta Gnocchi Spicy Tomato Confit, Shaved Caciocavallo Provolone - the gnocchi were very soft! While I'm not a big fan of spicy food, but the spice level in the tomato confit was just right. For those who didn't know, confit (for meats at least) means the meat was cooked in its own fat, for tomatoes, pretty much means it's been preserved or cooked in a sauce. The strips of Provolone were delicious, not too cheesy, but just enough to taste the cheese.


First Course: Jumbo Lump Blue Crab Celery Root, Black Truffle, Parsley, Spicy Brown Butter Hollandaise - See the giant pieces of crab meat? Nothing else need be said! Juicy, plump, sweet crab meat.


First course: Braised Short Ribs Smoked Chili Glaze, Cipollini Onion, Shoe String Potatoes - Short ribs is usually a main entree, but this was a first course! The picture doesn't do the short ribs justice.


Main course: Long Island Duck Breast Mango, Scallion, French Red Rice, Spicy Duck Sausage, Dried Cherry Duck Jus - The duck may have been a bit too rare, but the mango and dried cherry duck jus was good! Funny thing, the sausage fell into my glass of water...that became duck jus too.


Main course: Classic Lobster Newburg Puff Pastry, Root Vegetables, Sherry Cream Sauce - The puff pastry was great! Root vegetables include carrots, turnip, potatoes. Sherry cream sauce was a bit heavy with pepper. I wonder if it'd be any better if they served the lobster/vegetables within the puff pastry, instead of just putting the pastry on the side like it's some sort of biscuit.


Main course: Braised Lamb Shank Goat Cheese Ravioli, Rosemary Lamb Jus - If you know me, you know I stay away from eating lamb or its cousins (aka goat), I can't really comment much on this entree, since I'm not a fan of lamb, goat cheese, or rosemary. But the verdict is that it's good.


Dessert: Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake Frozen Vanilla Soufflé, Dried Cherry-Red Wine Reduction - Valrhona is a French chocolate manufacturer, supposedly one of the best in the world today! This cake definitely tasted amazing.


Dessert: Chocolate Praline Napoleon Chocolate Ganache, Praline Puffed Rice, Caramel Ice Cream - Caramel ice cream isn't something you can get everywhere, and pralines just go so well with chocolate. The napoleon looks kind of like a sandwich, not the napoleon I've been so used to from Taipan Bakery...expected to see more layers, but then again, it's not like it's a mille feuille.


Dessert: Blood Orange Semifreddo Coconut Chiffon Cake, White Chocolate Foam Mousse - Surprisingly, the "blood orange" didn't make the chiffon cake look "bloody"! The citrus taste was pretty strong in the syrup though, might've overpowered the coconut flavor just a bit. The white chocolate foam mousse was so light it was almost like eating air.

Not pictured: Caramel Apple cocktail - Calvados, Van Gogh Caramel Vodka, Lime, Champagne Float. We also got a glass of champagne, and the complimentary champagne toast. Even though I only finished the first 2 drinks, it still took me a while to become well enough to drive home. Lightweight? Maybe. But the Caramel Apple cocktail was strong!

One thing to note about The Frog and the Peach is its one of the first restaurants to install solar-energy panels where 25% of the energy is generated from the sun.

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!