Ho Foods Visited 8/19/2018 4 Forks

Ho Foods  110 E 7th St., New York, NY 10009

The big trend these days in New York is the boom of Chinese noodle shops - specifically the Taiwanese beef noodle soup variety.  I've has this multiple times in Taiwan and when it's done right, it's spicy, flavorful and all kinds of deliciousness.  I met up with my friend Lily on a random Sunday night and the place was jammed.  Granted there are only 8 seats in the entire place but I always expect Sundays to be a slow night.  I guess this is what happens when you live in New York, there is never a slow night.  The wait was almost an hour, which is a bit annoying when you factor in that they pretty much only sell 1 dish, so it should be a pretty easy decision for most people. 

We finally sit down at 8:30pm (which is not super late) and they have already run out of the pork belly side dish and apple cider drink.  That's kind of annoying - clearly they need to plan their inventory a bit better.  As I mentioned, the place pretty much only has beef noodle soup on the menu - you can add the level of spiciness to it, extra meat or tendon for extra.  I got it with the wide noodle and rich and spicy broth ($14.50 + $2.50 for the rich and spicy).  They did still have the soft tofu side dish ($8) left which was fabulous - it was super rich, creamy and covered in bonito flakes and a century egg.  As for the noodle dish, it was pretty damn authentic.  The cuts of beef were tender and the broth was super flavorful and pretty spot on.  It's a classic comfort food dish.

My only complaint about this experience would be that it's a bit overpriced ($17 for a bowl of noodle soup) and that they ran out of the pork belly side and only drink option pretty early on in the evening.  That being said, I would still come back and it's definitely the kind of place where you can come alone on rainy night and feel wrapped in its comforting essence.  Total bill:  $27/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Shalom Japan Visited 8/18/2018 3 Forks

Shalom Japan  310 S 4th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

My friend Nathalie and I were finally going to meet up after randomly meeting up in Sweden a few months ago.  She told me she has never really been to Brooklyn before....what?!?  I felt like I had to show her around Williamsburg (plus she's super into real estate, so we wanted to walk around the 'hood) so  I'm super bummed that we ended up here because I feel like it didn't really do the neighborhood justice. 

The theme here is exactly what you would imagine - Japanese and Jewish food.  It's definitely not something you see anywhere but Nathalie Jewish and I'm Asian, so ha, it was worth a shot.  They have a very limited brunch menu, so definitely read up on the menu ahead of time to decide if there's anything you want to eat.  The brunch menu is 7 items that quite frankly aren't too brunch-y:  egg and cheese sandwich, matzoh ball ramen, lox bowl, burger and french toast.  So if you aren't feeling any of those things, you're SOL.  I got the egg and cheese sandwich, which don't get me wrong, I love a good egg and cheese but it feels kind of lame to get in a sit-down restaurant.  The sandwich was totally if fine, it not a bit uninspiring.  The bread was pretty dry but I will give it props for a beautiful presentation.  Nathalie got the lox bowl which was basically lox, rice, avocado, and cucumber - it looks fine but I'm not sure she left feeling super full or satisfied.  The food was by no means bad, it was just "fine" which doesn't quite meet the high standards of the other places in Brooklyn.

I appreciate the creativity of what they are trying to do here but the execution just wasn't there for me.  I heard that the ramen there is pretty good, so maybe that's the thing to try there.  Sadly, it's definitely not the place you want to bring someone who has never been to Brooklyn before either!  Total bill: $17/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

72 Hours in Seattle/Bellevue Part 2, Visited 8/9-8/12/2018 3.5-4 Forks

Mamnoon  1508 Melrose Ave., Seattle, WA 98122                                                                     4 Forks

I was able to stay a bit longer in Seattle to see some other friends over the weekend, which was great.  My friend Anthony suggested a delicious Middle Eastern place in a fairly cool looking part of the city (no idea what it was called) on a Friday night.  Definitely make a reservation in advance, especially if it's the weekend because this place was jam packed.

It's been a while since I was there so I apologize if my review/memory is a bit hazy but I know we got the triple dips which came with incredibly addictive soft pita, kefi, fried cauliflower, a large mixed grill plate and a fish stew that came with salmon.  It was all fantastic and super flavorful.  I remember the mixed grill having a lot of different kinds of meats to it and the stew being quite unique (who has stew with salmon - I probably wouldn't have it again but it was worth trying)?   But the star of the show was the famous fried cauliflower - it was covered in a tzatziki-like sauce and really played with the flavors in your mouth.

As I've said before in the past, Middle Eastern food is often an overlooked ethnic cuisine but it's really quite satisfying and with the exception of the pita, pretty healthy for you too!  $73/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Duke's Seafood and Chowder 500 Bellevue Way NE, Ste 212, Bellevue, WA 98004              3.5 Forks

When you get to my age, most of your friends are not only married but they have kids (often times several), and they don't really live in the city anymore.  Which is totally fine - sometimes being in a more suburban pace is nice.  I was staying with my good friend Neera and she lives about 20 mins outside of Seattle in a very picturesque suburb called Issaquah.  It's actually much closer to Bellevue than it is to downtown Seattle, so with the two girls, it was easier to grab food near there instead. 

We went to Duke's which is standard family restaurant found inside a shopping mall.  As you can tell from it's name, it's focused primarily on seafood and chowder which was great.  They have tons of different chowders to choose from:  traditional clam chowder, Northwest seafood chowder, lobster chowder, chicken and corn chowder, or a veggie one if you really don't eat seafood.  It almost makes you feel like you're in Boston.  I couldn't decide so I got the chowder sampler (triple dinghy - $10) and opted for the clam, seafood and lobster options.  They were pretty small in size but it was a nice concept so that you can try all 3 options.  I was feeling like I needed to be healthy again, so I opted for the seafood salad here as well ($20).  This one was also huge and came with scallops, prawns, avocado, feta, bail, lemon, and olive oil and it was super finely chopped.  It definitely wasn't as good as the one at Elliott's and it was way too heavily dressed.  It also didn't have quite the variety of seafood that I would have liked.  I don't remember even finishing it but it was probably more because of the amount of food than anything else.  

I did want to highlight that the waitress was super sweet and really great with the kids (again this is what happens when you go to a restaurant in the suburbs).  It was a great place to take a family because of the booths and they have a kid friendly menu.  The rest of the adult menu is also huge and frankly super overwhelming because there's literally every kind of seafood you can think of and then they put it all together in various combo dishes too.  If you love seafood, you'll definitely find something good here and even if you don't, they tons of other options too (even for vegetarians).  Total bill:  $242 for 3 adults, 2 kids with tip and tax

Photo Credit:  Yelp

72 Hours in Seattle/Bellevue Part 1, Visited 8/9-8/12/2018 3.5-4 Forks

Sushi Kudasai  10900 NE 4th St., Ste 270, Bellevue, WA 98004                                             3.5 Forks

I was excited to spend some time in the Pacific Northwest - I was in the Seattle/Bellevue area for work to visit the West team and then I tacked on a few extra days to hang out with Neera.  Shockingly, I had never been to Seattle before and I had heard the food scene it pretty good there, so I was excited to see what it was all about. 

I took the first flight out and needed some lunch before heading to the office.  I figured the fish and hence sushi should be pretty good, I looked for a place that was near the office/hotel I was staying at.  This place popped up as a 5 min walk from my hotel and it looked to be a popular lunch time spot for the Bellevue crowd.  It's a walk-up counter sushi place, so it's very informal and casual.  You order and pick up your food and then take it to a table.  They got a a pretty extensive line up of rolls and poke bowls.  I decided to try out the ichi roll  ($7) and a creamy poke bowl ($14).  The ichi roll was a tuna, spicy tuna, avocado and cucumber roll.  It was huge and way to big to eat in one bite.  The tuna was also too mashed up so I kind of left like I was eating bad tuna - even though it tasted totally fine.  The poke bowl was pretty tasty and had all of my favorite things to put in a poke bowl - tuna, salmon, crabmeat, seaweed salad, cucumber, avocado, scallion, ginger and masago.  The "creamy" sauce was ponzu sauce, spicy mayo and sesame oil, but it was a bit too heavy on the mayo part for my taste.  It was on a bed of salad and rice.  

Looking back, I would have been fine without the roll for lunch but I felt like I had to try it out.  It was definitely full by lunch time - there were people from Expedia, Microsoft and other tech companies in the area.  It definitely felt like a mini-SF scene with everyone looking like they walked off the set of "Silicon Valley".   Total bill:  $21 with tip and tax

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Elliott's Oyster House 1201 Alaskan Way Ste 100, Seattle, WA 98101                                       4 Forks

Everyone has been asking me how I like my new job so far and the answer is that I like it!  One of the reasons is because of the great people there.  It's always fun to be surrounded by like-minded folks who share your interests and luckily the one thing we all love is food!  The West team took me out to the Pier in Seattle and we all gorged on pretty delicious seafood (I mean, when in Rome right?).  

We started with a bunch of fantastic West Coast oysters and the celebration platter (chilled dungeness crab, more oysters, snow crab claws, and a variety of sauce - $90) while I got the white clam chowder ($5)  to start as well.  I got suckered into also getting the crab cakes because it was made with dungeness crab ($18) but to be honest, it wasn't that great as it had too much filler (when will I learn?!?!).  For my main, I had the seafood salad ($26) which I know is a bit unusual for me but I remember last time I was at a team dinner in NYC and I really wanted the seafood salad but got a lame steak sandwich instead and I really regretted that decision.  I figured if I was going to get seafood salad anywhere, it should be Seattle.  And you know what?  It was pretty damn good.  It was a huge portion, so I definitely felt full and it was full of shrimp, scallop, crab corn relish, avocado, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, mixed greens and a dijon-shallot vinaigrette sauce.  Not only did I enjoy it but it was pretty healthy too. 

The one negative to our meal was that the service was beyond painful.  It was so slow and we had to wave people down constantly.  I know it's a busy restaurant in a pretty touristy spot, but it really was ridiculous.  Someone else picked up the bill so I'm not sure how much the total bill was but I thought the prices were fairly reasonable for the quality and amount of seafood.  

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Din Tai Fung 700 Bellevue Way NE #280, Bellevue, WA 98004                                                4 Forks

Din Tai Fung has a pretty huge cult following and I know that in the past I kind of poo-poo'd it when I was in Taiwan but the truth is that it's pretty damn good.  I'm not sure it deserves the insane devotion that most people give it but if you're looking for a consistently solid, tasty Chinese food place, this is a winner.  Luckily for the Bellevue team, there is a location right across the street from them and it gets super packed at lunch time. 

We had to lie and say we had a smaller group of people just so we could get a booth and squeeze in about 8 people into it.  We pretty much ordered the entire menu:  every kind of soup dumpling, delicious green beans (I know it sounds lame to love green beans but there were amazing), spinach, shrimp shu mai, fried rice with pork, spicy wontons, and steam buns.  It looked like we had never eaten before judging by the amount of food we ordered.  But we devoured all of it.  The best part of the whole meal is that nothing is really that expensive - I think the most expensive thing on the menu is $12 or $13.  The joys of Chinese food. 

I'll admit that I really love the meal and wished that there was one in NYC but I can only imagine the shitshow it would be if there was one.  There aren't that many locations in the US and they are all on the West Coast, so for that reason alone, it's definitely worth a visit unless you'll be in Asia anytime soon. 

Photo Credit: Yelp

Strip House Visited 8/6/2018 4 Forks

Strip House  13 E 12th St., New York, NY 10003

One of my biggest clients was in town for a business review and since this was the first time I was meeting them, I felt like I had to take them to an over-the-top restaurant.  They're from Texas so it felt like the only right was to take them to a steak house.  I wanted to keep things close to downtown and since I had never been to the Strip House, it felt like the right time to go.

It's exactly what you would imagine of a typical old school steak house - it's dark, a bit stuffy, and lots of wood paneling.  The waiter was super friendly, very charming and talked us into really upgrading our meal (smart man).  The table split the shrimp cocktail, crab cake, creamed spinach, mashed potato and broccoli.  Most people got some kind of steak, while I split the special tomahawk dry aged steak for two with Farzana.  The shrimp cocktail was comically large - it was like they were on steroids but it was still tasty.  The crab cake was ok - again, it's hard for me to really be impressed with any crab cake outside of Maryland.  But the star of the show was clearly the meat.  The tomahawk was insanely large, beautifully pink and marbled in the middle.  It might scare some folks but I was in love with it.  Combine it with the delicious creamed spinach and mashed potato and I was in heaven.  I would usually not take meat home but there was so much of it that it felt wrong to leave it behind.  I had a full lunch the next day.  The broccoli was also a nice "healthy" touch if you need some greens.  Everyone was stuffed but we got suckered into (I told you our waiter was good)  the 24 layer chocolate cake.  As most of you know, I'm not a huge chocolate fan but this cake was pretty damn delicious.  It was legit 24 layers, moist and decadent but not overly heavy. 

Overall, it was a successful client meal and I was impressed with the quality of the steak even though it is a part of a larger chain (Landry's).  I would say that unless you're coming here on an expense account, you might be better off trying out other steak places in the city that are more reasonably priced.  I really burned a hole in my credit card and even my boss made a comment about it.  Opps. Total bill: $1,400 with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp 

Chinese Club Visited 8/5/2018 2 Forks

Chinese Club  208 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

Aarti and I both independently sent each other texts messages about this place because it's Indo-Chinese, which is totally us!  There are a few locations but we went to the one in Williamsburg and when we stepped in, I had visions of us being there before when it was some other SE Asian restaurant and remember it being bad.  So that was kind of a bad omen (Note:  this restaurant has since closed, so I guess my gut was right).  I've been to Indo-Chinese places before in the city (Chinese Mirch) and loved the combination, so I was excited to try this place out. 

Unfortunately, it just wasn't very good.  We split the bhel salad ($9),  I got the banana leaf fish ($25) and Aarti got the dry hakka chili with tofu ($14).  The bhel salad was bhel mix, chutney, avocado, chili, onion, cilantro, and cucumber.  Bhel is an Indian snack that's kind of like a rice puff snack with lots of spices and flavor.  The salad was waay to spicy and too sweet at the same time.  Neither of us enjoyed it very much.  Sadly the same can be said for our main entrees.  My fish dish was fairly expensive for what it was - white fish, steamed inside of a banana leaf with okra and onion.  The fish was covered in spices but not in a good way.  If it's possible, it tasted like an unhealthy fish dish.  The waiter had sold Aarti on the dry chili hakka dish saying it was a classic and really good.  All it was was stir fry with fried tofu - very meh too. 

Sadly, I'm not surprised this place closed down.   It had a lot of potential and Indo-Chinese isn't something that you see very often but it just wasn't executed very well here.  Total price: $31/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp

Hwa Yuan Visited 8/4/2018 4.5 Forks

Hwa Yuan  42 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

I'm usually not a huge fan of "nice" Chinese restaurants - I've always had a soft spot of the mom and pop places where they scream at you and there is like a bed in the bathroom.  But I'll admit, that sometimes they are kind of dirty and can gross me out.  So when I read about this luxurious Chinatown legend making a comeback earlier this year, I had to try it out. 

When you step in, you can automatically tell that it's different from most of the Chinatown places.  First, it's super clean, quiet and has fancy white tablecloths.  It's got a very elegant Western feel to it with a few Asian influences injected in the decor.  The crowd was mostly non-Asians and the GM is an older white guy, so you know it's fancy.  All of that made me a bit nervous that the food wasn't going to be great or that it was going to be Americanized and with the exception of one dish, the food was outstanding.   We started with a whole Peking Duck ($65), sautéed pea shoots ($18), jellyfish ($18), baked black cod ($38) and soup dumplings ($10).  As you can tell from the prices, it's definitely much more expensive than your typical Chinatown joint but the quality and cleanliness is so much higher.

The duck was delicious and they carve it at your table.  They bring the whole duck (head on) to show you, which is honestly a bit much, even for me.  It looked a bit skinny when they first brought it out but it was lean with the right amount of fat to it and the skin was really good.  The best part of the meal was actually when my dad asked if they could turn the bones and left overs into a soup.  They just combined it with some broth, veggie and tofu but it was really fantastic.  The sautéed pea shoots and soup dumplings were both tasty and delicious - standard Chinese fare but so damn good.  But the star of the night for me was the jellyfish dish.  It was so good - fresh with the right amount of crunch and tang of vinegar.   I could have ordered 3 more of them and eaten it on my own.  Sadly the one let down of the night was the black cod.  Usually I get a whole fish when I'm at Chinese restaurants (and with people who would eat it with me) but we decided to go cod filet and it was such bad dish, especially for the price.  It was like a total Westernized dish - a small piece of cod fillet marinated in soy and mirin.  It was overcooked and under-marinated - terrible combination. 

Overall, it was such a pleasant surprise and definitely reminded me that you don't have to settle for gross restaurants to get good authentic food - but you will have to pay up for it.  The staff was super nice and I know I kind of gave crap about it being a bit stuffy but it was a nice change of pace.  I wouldn't say I would come here everyday because of the prices but I can definitely seem myself taking my parents here when they are in town. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Vice Versa Visited 7/27/2018 3.5 Forks

Vice Versa  325 W 51st St., New York, NY 10019

If you're wondering did I have two dinners in one night?  The answer is yes.  I had double booked myself but I didn't want to cancel either of my plans so I had the early dinner with Allison at Kyma and then headed over to a birthday dinner at Vice Versa for my friend Dan.  I was originally just going to go for "1 drink" but since it was his birthday, I ended up staying for the whole dinner and ordering yet another full meal.  Opps.  Needless to say, I did not feel the best the next day.

I've been here before to meet Dan for drinks and it's a classic Hell's Kitchen/Pre-Theater joint.  The clientele is a bit older but the crowd always feels like they are regulars here with the staff.  The nice thing is that it's never super crowded and everyone is super chill here (maybe too much so).  The menu here is traditional Italian with a nice line up of antipasti dishes, vegetables, lots of home made pastas and fish and meat dishes.  So there is truly something for everyone.  The table split the grilled calamari and some other appetizers and I got the spaghetti with crab ($25) because lord knows I needed another full meal at that point.  The calamari was fine, nothing really special.  But the crab pasta was delicious and not too fishy.  Since it was Dan's birthday, we got several desserts and the stand-out was the tiramisu.

Overall, it was a fun night because it was such a lower stress place where you could really relax and hang out with friends.  The food got the job done but what docked this place half a fork was the shaky and uneven service.   It just felt a bit disorganized.  If you're looking for a low key place in Midtown, it's worth a visit but I wouldn't necessarily go with you're in a hurry or don't have a ton of patience.  Total bill:  $110/pp with tax, tip and lots of drinks

Photo credit: Yelp