Very Fresh Noodles Visited 3/23/2017 3.5 Forks

Very Fresh Noodles  425 W 15th St., New York, NY 10011

I have long been a sucker for hand pulled noodles and with the exception of Chinatown there are few places in the city that do it well - but then Xian Famous Foods opened up several years ago and it was a game changer.  They serve amazing authentic hand pulled noodles with a pleasantly spicy kick at the same time.   To be totally transparent, I gave them 3.5 forks at first too but I've subsequently gone back many many time afterwards and would probably now revise my review to at least 4 forks. They're also famous for their spicy lamb cumin dish which my friend Neel loves, so when a similar type of food stall opened up in Chelsea Market, Neel and I were super eager to try it and compare. 

Very Fresh Noodles place is tucked away in the back of the market all the way inside a cluster of other food stalls. It's small with no place to really stand or sit, so be prepared to fight for table space outside in the larger food hall.  The menu here is pretty limited:  you can choose from tingly lamb cumin noodles, tingly cumin beef noodles, vegan mock duck noodles, or Taiwanese beef noodle - all either in dry or soup version.  I got the Taiwanese beef noodle soup spicy ($12), Neel got the tingly lamb cumin noodle dry ($12) and we split a side of the smashed cucumbers ($5).  Once we battled through a sea of tourists and got a table, we were ready to dig in.  My first reaction was that it was a bit oily but I can over look that if the rest of the dish is spot on.  The noodles were definitely soft and chewy as they were supposed to be, so that was a positive.  The beef shanks were tasty but it felt like there wasn't enough of it but my biggest issue was that the dish wasn't spicy!  I used to be a total spice wuss and I've definitely gotten better in the past year but my palate isn't that sophisticated that I'm immune to high levels of spice - so it was a bit of a disappointment to dive into this dish and not find it spicy at all.  The flavors of the soup base were nice and aromatic so overall it was a solid dish but wasn't quite on the same level as the kind I've had in Taiwan.  Neel also felt the same way about his dish - it wasn't spicy enough and he felt like the lamb didn't have the same quality and characteristics of the lamb at Xian that make it delicious.  The meat here was more braised vs. a dry rubbed, salty variety and his dish wasn't very spicy either.   The spiciest dish was actually the smashed cucumbers - they were delicious although they could have cut the pieces into smaller pieces but the combination of chili, garlic and sesame vinaigrette was fantastic.  

As we both commented, we're very spoiled by living in NYC and to even have any option of authentic tasty handle pulled noodles is generally unheard of in most cities.  So in any other circumstance, this place would have been a true winner and to be honest, if I worked in the Chelsea Market, I would have this on my lunch rotation.  But the truth of the matter is, I've had better (and slightly cheaper) in the city and combined with the insanity of not having anywhere to sit, leads me to give this place just under 4 forks but I would still recommend it to anyone who has a love for hand pulled noodles to give it a try at least once.  Total bill:  $19/pp 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Paulie Gee's Visited 3/18/2017 4.5 Forks

Paulie Gee's    60 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222

Paulie Gee's is legendary and been on my list for years.  But it's in Greenpoint, which even though is super close to me mile wise, still takes a bit to get to so I never got around to going.  But this was on my double brunch date with Amy and Anuja and we got to the area just around 4:45pm, which is 15 minutes before it opened.  We figured we'd kill some time at Ovenly next door and get a cookie and walk back.  Lo and behold, by the time we walked back at 5:04pm there was already 20+ people in line.  Crap.  Unfortunately they wouldn't seat an incomplete party and we were still waiting for Aarti, so we had to wait around for another 45 minutes for a table, which actually wasn't so bad considering we had just come from Aita not too long ago. The one thing that was kind of annoying is that they are old school - no reservations and no texting or calling you when you're table is ready.  You have to be there when they yell out your name or else they move on to the next group. 

When we finally got seated, I could kind of understand why they don't seat incomplete parties - it's mostly communal tables and it's tight seating, so they really try to maximize the seats there.  In any case, we had been reviewing the menu while we were waiting, so we knew exactly what we wanted to order by the time we sat down.  Considering it's kind of a fancy artisanal place, they have a TON of options and they even have a bunch of vegan options.  Hey - it is Brooklyn after all.  We decided on the Sake Mountain Way as the veggie option ($16) and the Hell Boy ($17) as the meat option with half of it with real meat and the other half with vegan meat and we started with the Gates of Eden salad ($10). Similar to Roberta's, it's thin Neapolitan pizza cooked in a huge wood fired oven in the plain view of the kitchen.  The pizza comes out pretty quickly and the sake mountain came out first - it's got fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato sauce with garlic, onion, olive oil, basil, sake reduction and heavy cream.  It's it's a bit like a twist to a vodka sauce and it's just as delicious.  It's got a hint of sweetness to it and the crust on this pizza was oh so delicious.  I am usually not a crust girl at all unless I'm really hungry or really like it and here I ate almost every bite of crust.  The dough was just the right texture of chewiness but it's still soft and elastic.  But the winning pizza for me was the Hell Boy - everyone had mentioned this before we went there that this was their favorite and I can see why.  It's got fresh mozzarella, soppressata, parm and Mike's hot honey.  It was the perfect combination of sweet, salty, meaty and cheesy without it being overwhelming or confusing on the palate.  It kind of reminded me of when I used to put maple syrup on my breakfast sausages in college.  We were so anxious for our pizza that we forgot that we didn't get our salad but our waitress actually noticed it and was very apologetic and offered to give it to her for half price.  Now that's what I call service!  The salad was a nice combo of well dressed greens, pecans, cranberries, pear and gorgonzola cheese. 

But the best part of the night was when Paulie himself came around and talked to almost everyone in the restaurant.  You could tell that he was still super proud of his place and excitedly asked everyone what they were eating and what their favorite was.  So cute and sweet - even though this place has clearly blown up, it's nice to see the original owners still caring enough to interact with their customers. 

I left super happy and quite full from my two meals that day - clearly one was better than the other. Now that I see what the wait situation is at Paulie's I wouldn't hesitate to come back again at 5:00pm on the dot or even actually around 7:30 when we left, there was no line (granted it was raining too) as that's when the 1st round of people who came in had stared to leave.   Apparently they have an entire secret pizza menu online, so now I have to go back and try some of those pizzas out!  Who's with me?  Total bill:  $21/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Aita Visited 3/18/2017 3 Forks

Aita  132 Greene Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

The last time we hung out, we accidentally ended up having multiple brunches in one day, so Amy, Anuja and I decided it would be fun to do it again but intentionally this time.   We decided to start with an Italian pasta outing and then end at Paulie Gee's just in time for when it to opened.  Anuja had mentioned she heard that the pasta at Aita was delicious because of a former Top Chef contestant from Italy working there  - so that seemed like a great place to start. It's in an adorable part of Clinton Hill and I could see it being a good neighborhood standby if I lived near by. 

We decided to meet for a late lunch around 3pm but unfortunately they were still serving their breakfast menu and not their lunch/dinner which looked much yummier.  Sine it was their breakfast menu, they only had 2 pastas and only one was vegetarian, so we defaulted to the fresh spaghetti ($13) as our pasta option (on their dinner menu they had several more exciting pasta choices like oxtail ravioli and spaghetti with octopus ragu).  We then split the holy scramble ($13) as an egg option and for dessert we split 1 pancake side ($4).  The fresh pasta was nicely done - fresh tomato sauce, shaved parm and topped with fresh basil.  It was pretty basic and simple - so no complaints but no raves either.  The holy scramble consisted of scrambled eggs, shrimp, roasted mushroom, kale and a side of greens.  It was an interesting combination that hit on your salty taste buds but the eggs were a bit overcooked and not as fluffy as I would like my scrambled eggs to be.  The reason we ordered it was because we saw another table order an egg dish and the eggs looked light, fluffy and beautiful. Ours did not quite match up.  As for the pancake side, it was the exactly the size and portion that we needed.  One small pancake - it had a crispy edge to it but it was soft on the inside and had some berries cooked on the inside.  I wish more places did a side of pancake because sometimes all you want is just 1 or two small sweet bites. 

While the food was totally fine (good but not mindblowing), the reason I gave it 3 forks instead of something higher was the service wasn't very good.  The waitress was inattentive and could have cared less about us.  She asked if we wanted any coffee and before we could answer her, she had already walked away.  When Amy joined us late, she did the same thing.  I get that she was the only one there but she wasn't apologetic about it nor interested in going above and beyond.  

If I lived nearby, I would definitely give this place another shot.  It's cute, the menu has solid items and the food isn't bad.  But since I don't live nearby, it's unlikely I'll make the trek back on the G train in the near future.  Total bill:  $15/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

  

Daily Provisions Visited 3/12/2017 5 Forks

Daily Provisions  103 E 19th St., New York, NY 10003

I normally wouldn't review a cafe/take out place but this isn't just any take out joint.  It's a Danny Meyer take out joint and like everything he touches, it's god damn amazing.  I seriously don't know how he does it.  I want to write him off as just another celebrity chef/owner but I really can't say that at all. I've given 4+ forks to almost every single place he opens and it's with complete cause - his food is amazing and even better is the hospitality of the places he owns.  You can't have anything but mad respect for this man.

I was taking a walk back from Core Fusion when I remember reading that this place had just opened not too far from class.  I was staving and decided to check it out on the way home and it was the best thing I did all week.  It's right next door to the new Union Square Cafe and seemed to be equally as crowded.  It's not a restaurant at all and while there are tables, most of the time you will have to stand and eat - which is totally worth it for this food.  The menu consists of pastries, breads and sandwiches - they also have morning menu and lunch/day menu, so be sure to check out the website for when the menu switches over if you have your heart set on a specific thing. I was struggling to choose between all of their sandwiches - seriously they all sounded delicious and if I had someone else with me, I would have loved to split 2 different kinds.  Ultimately, I ended up with my all time favorite - roast beef ($12) and a side of their homemade truffle chips ($2).  Luckily, I was able to snag a seat at the coffee bar which was great.

Upon first bite of this sandwich, I knew I was in love.  It was mouth watering rare roast beef piled high on a delicious soft kaiser roll with horseradish mayo, fried onions, muenster cheese and beets. Who knew beets would taste so good with mayo and roast beef?  The fried onions gave it a nice crunch as did the beets.  I honestly had to slow myself down otherwise I would have inhaled this thing in under 5 minutes.  You know it's a memorable sandwich when you can't stop thinking about it when you get home and are already planning for it after your next work out.  The rest of their sandwiches also sound amazing and apparently their pastries are to die for.

While it's kind of annoying that there isn't more room to sit and hang out, when the weather gets nice, it'll be so easy to take it to go and sit in Union Square.  I can't recommend this place enough and am already looking forward to trying out the rotisserie chicken sandwich next week and the broccoli melt the following week and the chicken milanese the week after that.  Total bill:  $16 with tax

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Mala Project Visited 3/10/2017 4.5 Forks

Mala Project  22 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009

I used to be a total puss about spicy food (I know, I'm a terrible Asian) but I've definitely gotten better in the last couple of years.  So I was super excited to try this place with Laura last week since it was supposed to be authentic Sichuan food in dry pot format.  We went at 7pm on a Friday and was informed by the hipster hostess that it would be a 2 hour wait.  Grrrr.  We decided to give our name and call them on their bluff while we got wine next door.   Lo and behold, they called us 45 minutes later! Patience does pay off!

The menu here is the same concept as regular hot pot except there's no broth - so let's be honest, it's basically spicy stir fry.  Like hot pot, you get a whole long list of ingredients to choose from ranging from meat, chicken, seafood, veggie, tofu and noodles.  They also have a nice list of appetizers to choose from too which is a nice change from the traditional hot pot places where you're stuffing your face with just hot pot.  We started with the turnip and jelly fish salad ($8) and then each ordered our own bowl (although you can also share bowls too) - they recommend that 1 person order 3-6 ingredients or if you're two people 8-10 ingredients.  I was starving and wanted to order 10 ingredients on my own but tried to reign it in - I got the eye of round ($5), fish ball ($4), enoki mushroom ($4), tofu skin ($4) and fish cake ($6).  If I could, I would have ordered more mushrooms, bok choy, glass noodle, pork belly, and much much more.  The difference between here and regular hot pot is that it's not all you can eat, which was something I had to adjust to.  I got my mild spicy - I struggled if I wanted it spicy but I figured I didn't want to push my luck.  Laura got hers spicy and we're not sure if they toned it down because they didn't want to cause complaints but her spice level wasn't really that far off from my bowl.  Bummer. 

But in general, the food was excellent and at least for me, the right amount of spiciness.  Sichuan spice is not like Indian spice or Thai spice - it's like a numbing painful spice that can really get to you if you don't know your tolerance level well. They give you a side of rice which was nice to mix it all in and it helps to fill you up since you can't slurp up the soup like in hot pot. 

The jelly fish appetizer was also excellent.  I haven't had that dish in a long time and it's not found in a lot of Chinese places outside of Chinatown but it was perfectly crunchy and tangy from the vinegar in it.  I just wished the portions were bigger for $8.  And that's my overall problem with this place - while I am giving it 4.5 forks because I truly enjoyed my meal, the price I paid for it was definitely overpriced, especially when you think about how other places in Chinatown offer similar soup based meals at a cheaper all-you-can-eat price (granted, I will give you that their ingredients here are probably fresher and better quality).   That being said, I will definitely go back anytime and order it spicy next time!  Total bill:  $61/pp with tax, tip and a bottle of wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

4 Days in Lisbon - Day 4 - Visited 2/19/2017 4 Forks

A Praca  Rua Rodrigues Faria, 103, Lisbon

At this point in the trip, my poor mom was starting to feel nauseous but I was fine, so we continued exploring the city since it was our last day here.  I had really wanted to check out this place called LX Factory as I heard it was kind of a cool, hipster enclave with shops, restaurants and art installations and it wasn't too far from Belem. 

It was indeed right along the tram/bus line back from Belem, so I would definitely recommend that you take a small detour on your way back into the main city.  LX Factory is tucked away out of sight from the main street so definitely bookmark it in your Google Maps before heading out.  When you turn the corner of the back alley, you see the entrance which kind of reminds me of the entrance to Freetown Christiana in Copenhagen, but more artsy and with less anarchy.  There's a large outdoor space and then several abandoned loft buildings - very industrial chic.  There are several places to eat there but we were starving so we ended up going to the first restaurant we saw which was A Praca. The vibe there is also very much in the same vein as the overall compound - spacious, funky and hipsterish.  The clientele was actually a mix of locals, tourists, young and old which was interesting.  

My mom and I were pretty exhausted at this point and she was still feeling sick, so we went light on the food but the menu is huge and extensive if you want to have a full meal there.  I opted for the cous cous with salmon and a glass of sangria. The sangria was amazing - a huge glass with tons of fruit and wine in it.  I know we weren't in Spain but it seemed like a good of a classic recipe as any I've had before.   The cous cous dish was actually great and just what I was looking for in a light afternoon snack.  It was served with slices of grilled salmon, mozzarella and cherry tomatoes and pesto sauce on top.  It wasn't heavy but it was enough food to fill me up and fuel me up before dinner. My mom had a tomato soup with an egg because that was all she could really hold down - poor thing. 

The waitstaff was really nice and I could see it being a super fun Sunday Funday kind of place - lots of tables had big pitchers of sangrias at their table.  It's too bad that we weren't in the best shape to take advantage of this place (or the rest of LX Factory).  But it's definitely got a cool vibe and is certainly different from the rest of Lisbon which makes it worth checking out.  Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the hotel, I got the stomach bug/food poisoning and we didn't end up getting to have a last blow out dinner in Lisbon.  :(    Despite that, I will loved my time in Lisbon and while I wouldn't say it comes close to being foodie destination like Mexico City, it's still a lovely city for its history, beautiful textiles and general beauty.

Total bill:  28 euros

Photo Credit:  Yelp

4 Days in Lisbon - Day 3 - Visited 2/18/2017 2.5 - 4 Forks

Alpendre R. Augusto Rosa, 34, 1100-059 Lisbon                                                    2.5 Forks

My review here is going to a bit skewed as I think I may have gotten food poisoning here but I can't say with 100% certainty...although when there's raw fish hanging outside the window, you can't help but think that's the culprit.  I was actually excited to try this place because it was across the street from our hotel and it got great reviews on Yelp (see, you can't always trust Yelp).  Everyone said how it was a cute mom and pop place with friendly waiters and authentic food,  so I was down to give it a try. 

The decor was certainty local and no frills.  I was a bit annoyed that the menu came in 5 different languages - while I know restaurants do that out of the goodness of their heart to accommodate tourists (this place was located right on the main street to St. George's castle), I find it a bit tacky and reeks of a tourist trap, but I'm willing to look beyond it.  The waiters were very friendly and the menu seemed to offer typical Portugese food - which is basically bacalhau (salted cod) and other seafood. Up until this point, we hadn't had bacalhau, so I figured now was as good as any time to try it and we also got the seafood risotto, which is what most people seemed to be ordering at the restaurant. 

The bacalhau was a large piece of pan fried salted cod served with thinly sliced potatoes on top of it. It was kind of like their version of fish and chips but with the chips being more potato chips than fries.  I was happy to have tried it and it was a totally fine dish (it wasn't too greasy or oily) but it wasn't anything that I felt like I absolutely needed to have again.  Next we tried the seafood risotto and it was an impressive dish.  It was chock full of large bits of seafood and the broth was super flavorful.  It was a bit on the salty side but overall it was a solid risotto dish. 

Now mind you my mom and I didn't get sick until the next day and obviously we ate other meals after this that may have led to our sickness but I'll spare you the details and say based on what I felt and saw, most signs point to the seafood risotto being the culprit.  The waiters there are quite friendly and are jokesters - they kept telling people that the seafood risotto was chicken risotto but it's kind of hard to pull that off when there is kind of a language barrier with some tourists.  The table next to me totally didn't get the joke and actually seemed annoyed.  In any case, no one else on Yelp seemed to have mentioned getting sick and I would never want to harm a restaurant's brand without total proof but I'll just leave my review here as proceed with caution and care.  Total bill:  37 euros

A Cevicheria  Rua Dom Pedro V, 129, 1200-093 Lisbon                                                           4 Forks

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that I am a huge fan of ceviche.  I love the citrus tang of it, so I was thrilled when my friend Van told me about this place in Lisbon.  It's a little bit out of the main city center but its still in a pretty hip neighborhood with lots of cool looking bars and shops.  

There already has a 30 mins wait when we got there but you can order pisco sours at the take out window and hang out by the 2 tables outside while you wait or they also direct you to a sister bar down the street if you don't want to table outside (clearly if I wasn't with my mom I would have chosen that option).  The place is really cute and hipster-ish.  It's bright and airy with a very clean aesthetic which is always appreciated when you're eating raw fish.  There is a main circular bar and then maybe 5 or 6 tables behind it, so it is fairly small.  We got a seat at the bar which was great because we got to watch the "kitchen" in action.  I use kitchen in quotes because it was mainly this one chef plating a bunch of different raw marinated fish in a bowl.  Unsurprisingly the menu here is mostly ceviche focused with a few other items like duck croquettes, beef tartare and a mini surf and turf sandwich.  They also have a tasting menu which sounded awesome but my mom and I were super tired and still full from the late lunch we had, so we didn't really think we could appreciate a 6 course tasting menu (but it's a steal at 35 euros, so if you can do it, do it!).  We opted for the pure ceviche (12 euros), salmon ceviche (12 euros) and the beef tartare tacos (7 euros each).

The pure ceviche was a more traditional ceviche made with white fish and had a fantastic sour tang to it as it was served with the classic tiger milk base.  I was a bit concerned about this dish at first because it had these dollops of mashed sweet potato on top it which sounds kind of gross when its paired with marinated white fish but somehow it worked.  Next I tried the salmon ceviche and while it was also good, I still preferred the white fish version.  This had a smoked yogurt foam to it that I could have done without but I guess they were trying to fancy it up a bit.  Lastly we had the beef tartare taco - it came in hard shell taco with horseradish mayo cream.  Delicious although not as delicious as the ones we had at Minibar but still great texture and flavor to the beef.

This place was clearly happening and super popular with both the locals and tourists as it was non-stop people lining up to get a seat here.  I wish I had more of an appetite to try more stuff here because the couple next to us got the tasting menu and it looked awesome.  Definitely come early and hungry!  Total bill:  58 euro with wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp