Dominique Ansel Bakery
Nestled in Soho's Spring street, Dominique Ansel Bakery has been known to start various food trends, such as the "cronuts" and "cookie shots". I had heard stories of people lining up at the wee hours of dawn to sample some of Dominique Ansel's famed "cronuts" (a portmanteau of croissants and donuts), yet I never had the opportunity to try them myself. Unfortunately, the cronuts had all sold out by the time I arrived at the bakery, so I took the opportunity to try some of his other creations.DKA
DKA stands for Dominique's Kouign Amann, a flaky croissant-type pastry covered with a caramelized crust. My mother's favorite pastry at the bakery, the DKA has just the right balance of flaky and soft, and the flavors were rich yet not overbearing.
Cookie shots
We had arrived at the bakery at around 2:30, and decided to stick around until 3 in order to line up for the Cookie Shots. There is a quota as to how many Cookie Shots each customer can buy (2), and for good reason. The line grew long, fast. The Cookie Shot is certainly a novel creation- it's a chocolate chip cookie moulded in the shape of a shot glass, with a layer of milk chocolate on the inside. To top it off, vanilla milk is poured into the shot glass. This was my favorite dessert at the bakery- although the cookie itself tasted like a lot of other chocolate chip cookies I had tried before, the vanilla milk was extraordinarily rich, and the chocolate layer within the "shot" really contributed to the richness of the flavor.
Once again, like all of Dominique's other creations, the Frozen S'more is undoubtedly a novel idea. It's a dessert with a custard ice cream center, covered with chocolate wafers and frozen marshmallow concoction. I'm telling you, I am known to have a sweet tooth. However, this dessert was far too decadent and sweet. I definitely would not be able to finish a whole Frozen S'more by myself, although I wouldn't mind sharing it with someone else just to have a small bite of it.
Mercer Kitchen
By far one of my favorite restaurants in New York, Mercer Kitchen is one of acclaimed chef Jean-Georges' many restaurants. The ambiance and decor of Mercer Kitchen is full of character- the exposed brick walls, rustic "skylight", and open kitchen set a nice mood. Jean Georges is actually married to a Korean woman, hence I found that a lot of menu items fused both Western and Asian influences and ingredients.Sweet Pea Soup
The Sweet Pea Soup was nothing special- it didn't have any interesting flavors or a unique texture; it was simply a good, typical sweet pea soup. The texture was creamy, the croutons crispy, and the soup hot- exactly like a standard sweet pea soup should be. There definitely wasn't any wow factor with this dish.
Tuna Spring Roll
One of my favorite dishes of the day, the Tuna Spring Roll was crispy, flavorful and unique. It is a piece of tuna sashimi with a flaky wrap and soy bean puree on the side. The sauce on the side complemented the tender, juicy sashimi perfectly. The texture and taste of the dish easily rendered it the winning dish of the day for me.
Salmon with Crispy Rice
Another one of the dishes with an Asian twist, the Salmon with Crispy Rice came a close second for the title of the day's winning dish. The tenderness and juiciness of the salmon juxtaposed with the crispiness of the rice made for an extraordinarily distinctive dish.
Yet another dish with an Asian fusion twist, the Schaller and Weber Hot Dog has Kimchi relish scattered on top of the Schaller and Weber sausage. The fries were crispy and had just the right amount of salt and seasoning, while the hot dog itself tasted good. The Kimchi really helped neutralize the "heaviness" of the sausage dish, although it was a tad too sour (perhaps it wasn't fermented enough).
ABC Kitchen
Yet another one of Jean-Georges' restaurants, ABC Kitchen is located near Union Square. The restaurant has a rustic, minimalistic atmosphere and decor that made it seem like a very trendy, fun place to eat lunch with friends on a Sunday lunch.Crab toast
The crab toast is simply pieces of toasted bread topped off with lemon aioli and shrimp. The shrimp was succulent, juicy and fresh. It was a great flavorful starter that got our tastebuds excited for the meal to come.
Calamari
The two sauces that came with the calamari were great- one was zesty (the marinara sauce) and one was creamy and rich (the mustard aioli). The calamari itself was fried perfectly on the outside and juicy on the inside, and it had just the right level of seasoning.
According to the waiter, the squash pizza is one of the most popular dishes at ABC Kitchen. Although it was a new flavor pairing that my palate was not familiar with, I ended up enjoying it tremendously. One gripe that I have about the pizza was that the dough itself was rather soggy and didn't have the sort of crunchy texture that I like in a pizza.
Kasha and bowtie pasta
The Kasha and bowtie pizza came with small veal meatballs. Although the pasta was cooked well, the actual sauce was slightly too salty for my family's palates. Would likely not try again.
Lobster
My sister and my father are huge lobster lovers, hence it was no surprise that they wanted to order the lobster dish. The lobster was succulent, juicy and moist, while the seasoning on the lobster was flavorsome.
Once I saw this on the menu, I knew that I absolutely had to order it- it was a combination of a few of my favorite things- ice cream, caramel and popcorn. This really was the highlight of my meal (my sweet tooth is still apparent to this day), and tasted absolutely decadent. The popcorn was crunchy and sweet, and the contrast between the creaminess of the ice cream and the crunchiness of the popcorn really made the dessert all the more delicious.
Nobu Next Door
One of the many Nobu restaurants located around the world, Nobu Next Door is located in Tribeca, and offers many novel Peruvian-Japanese dishes. This is one of my family's favorite restaurants, as their flavor profiling really matched our family's preferences in food.Breakfast Tacos
A blend of Mexican and Japanese cuisine, these tacos are composed of washu, quail egg, onion and aji amarillo. My mother has a relatively weak stomach- she finds certain foods very "heavy" and greasy easily and simply doesn't eat them. Normally, tacos are one of them. However, these tacos were light and fresh, and were a hit at our lunch table.
Nobu tacos
I actually preferred these Nobu tacos to the Breakfast tacos. Mine had lobster in it, while the other two had crab in them. These simple tacos tasted very fresh, and the sauce was brilliant- my father actually spooned some onto his plate and dipped a lot of the other dishes in it.
Bagel and lox
The bagel and lox is simply salmon placed on top of a crispy rice "bagel". The contrast between the two textures- the crispy rice and the smooth salmon- worked harmoniously, and I would definitely try these again.
Crispy rice with spicy tuna
These crispy rice cubes can be dipped into soya sauce, and then topped off with spicy tuna. The waiter told us that this was one of their signature dishes, and although I liked it, it wasn't something that I would actively seek out to eat.
Salmon
The salmon was drenched in miso sauce, and was topped off with various thinly sliced vegetables. Overall, I really liked this dish. It was moist and flavorful, and overall I think that miso goes well with various fishes.
Lobster and "Grits" Soba, Poached Egg, Maine Lobster, Truffle
This was my favorite dish of the day. I loved Nobu Next Door's innovative take on traditional soul food. The grits tasted absolutely delicious- I wasn't sure what exactly they were made of, but I liked the gritty texture of it, as it complemented the other components of the dish very well.
Gaonnuri
Located on the top of a commercial building in K-Town, Gaonnuri is a trendy, modern and eclectic Korean restaurant that boasts an impeccable view. The second I stepped out of the elevator, I was greeted with white traditional Korean pots that hovered over the bar. As we walked into the main dining area, I was in awe over how stunning the view of the city was. It was then that I decided that I loved the New York skyline much more than the Hong Kong skyline.
The beef at gaonnuri was okay, but it wasn't (understandably) as tender as the KBBQ beef that you can get in Korea. My parents told me that if you order yangnyum galbi, the seasoning can mask the mediocrity of the beef quality. Hence, we decided to order more yangnyum galbi than just plain, unseasoned gogi (that you dip into sauce). Overall, the food was good, not great. However, I would go back just for the view and the decor.
Umami Burger
Umami Burger rose to popularity in 2013 for its' signature truffle burgers. Since we were only in New York for a week, we had to choose between Umami Burger and the cult-classic burger restaurant Shake Shack. However, seeing as we had tried Shake Shack in New York numerous times before, we decided to see what the hype around the Umami truffle burger was all about. The restaurant resembled a classic, all-American diner, while the waiters and staff were extremely attentive and friendly. What I found really unique about Umami Burger was that their drink choices were really interesting- instead of the standard Coke, Sprite and Fanta, they had Mexican Coke (which is said to be tastier as it is sweetened with cane sugar) and other drinks that I had neither seen nor tasted before.
All of the burgers at Umami Burger are stamped with their insignia- the letter U. The Umami Burger was juicy, tender and and meaty- all the characteristics that I like in a burger.
Truffle Burger
Since we had come to Umami Burger specifically for the truffle burger, I had high hopes for this dish. Like the original Umami Burger, the meat was tender and juicy, and the truffle flavoring was aromatic and strong. I really liked the flavor pairing of truffle with cheese and meat. The burger really lived up to its' hype!
