Pok Pok Ny

Address: 127 Columbia St, Brooklyn, NY 

Phone: 718 923 9322 

http://www.pokpokny.com

Recently, I overheard a man telling his friend that he knew someone who is planning to open a Balinese restaurant in the city. His friend asked if the Balinese restaurant's chef/owner was from Bali, and he said no. He was then asked how his chef friend learned to cooked Balinese food- did he live there for sometime or have at least eaten Balinese food? His answer, which didn't surprise me at all, was that his friend probably learned how to cook Balinese food from a cook book without actually been to Bali or have eaten Balinese food. (Note to self: Avoid new Balinese restaurant opening in the city whose chef is not Balinese at all cost!)  It's not always the case but sadly, there are chefs in the city who makes terrible South East Asia "inspired" cuisine which clearly did not work! One of the reasons why it did not work is because the secret to making good South East Asian dishes lies in the availability of fresh, local seasonal ingredients, which a lot of times are not available outside of the region. Even the so-called common ingredients such as lemongrass, lime and garlic which seem to be readily available in the US, do taste differently than those we have in South East Asia. As a result, recipes had to be carefully modified to bring back the true harmony of a dish which the original recipe has already been perfected over the years through trial and error by the locals, and it takes skill and true understanding of the recipe and ingredients to be able to do that well.

Zak Pelaccio certainly did not impress us with his so called Malaysian cooking at Fatty Crab, although Herold Dieterle fair a little better at his Thai restaurant, Kin Shop. But Andy Ricker's Pok Pok Ny from Portfolio Oregon is the one that really changed our minds on how a non-Thai chef can cook Thai food in the US really well, and in fact cooking it better than a lot of the typical Thai restaurants around town, that has modified their menu to adapt to the American tastebuds! First opened in 2005 in Portland before finally being exported to New York City in 2012, Pok Pok Ny (Pok Pok's name came from the sound that mortar and pestle makes and ny means "in the city" in Thai) is a true gem for any NY foodie who loves and appreciate good Thai food that are not modified in any form for the sake of just selling food.

Before having a brick and mortar restaurant, Pok Pok actually started out as a bbq shack set up outside of the chef's home in Portland, which later on expanded to an actual restaurant (and more) because the food was so good. The legendary Pok Pok madness finally arrived in our area in 2012 with Pok Pok Wings opening in Lower East Side (Pok Pok Wings is now closed and reopened as Phat Thai that serves only Pad Thai) and Pok Pok Ny opening in Brooklyn. Chef and owner Andy Ricker's journey to discovering real Thai cuisine (specifically Issan food, from the Northeastern region of Thailand) began when he traveled to Thailand and his friend brought him to a local restaurant to try a wild mushroom dish that was only available when wild mushrooms are in season. From there he realized that Thai food is much more than the typical Pad Thai and Green Curry that he is used to, and it can be seasonal too. He then became an avid student of the cuisine and went back to Thailand every year to learn how to cook. Local chefs there were willing to share their recipes and skills because according to the chef, since he's not Thai, he's no competition to them. Thanks to that and thanks to the chef's passion and relentless pursuit of perfection in the cuisine outside of Thailand (he's famous for only using fresh ingredients that he can import from Thailand or replicate exactly the same way here), we were finally able to get such good Issan food in NYC.

Pok Pok Ny is opened daily from 5.30pm-10.30pm, and there's usually a wait since the restaurant is tiny. Expect to wait more than 1 1/2 hour during the weekends, but once you've survived it, everything on the menu is a treat. Go early on a weekday and you can perhaps get seated in just a few minutes. True to the yaokui style, Gan and I ordered any dishes that stood out to us, which meant that we ended up with 5 entrees and a dessert for the two of us. We had the Khao Soi, a Northern Thai curry noodle soup similar to the Malaysian curry laksa, with chicken instead of prawns. That dish was by far our favorite and it's perfect. Pok Pok Ny prepared their Khao Soi using house-pressed fresh coconut milk and their own curry paste, which is how it's done back home, and they got it right. We also ordered their famous Ike's Pok Pok wings, which has the perfect blend of sweet and sourness, they were finger licking good. The Yam Makheua Yao dish, which is smokey grilled egg plant drenched in a spicy dressing made with fish sauce, palm sugar, chili and lime was a tease to our tastebud. Imagine babaganoush with papaya salad dressing. Delicious! Dessert was a nice plate of Mango and Sticky Rice soaked in luxurious house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Everything was so fresh and we were very satisfied. The only blemish of the night though was the Cha Ca "La Vong" dish, which is actually a Vietnamese (Hanoi specialty) dish and not Thai. We felt that the dish just didn't work for us as the turmeric marinate was too strong and there were too much dill on a small bowl. We can only hope the real dish in Hanoi is not like this one.

That aside, Pok Pok Ny and Chef Andy Ricker (who is James Beard's award 2011 Best Chef Northwestern) deserve a thumbs up for cooking Thai food so beautifully, and respecting the ingredients that makes Thai food amazing. I'm sure Thais who grew up in Thailand would think that it's outrageous to charge so much for "commoner" Thai food at the Pok Pok restaurants, but for us here in New York, the cost of getting the best bowl of Khao Soi is still cheaper than flying to Thailand to eat it. So the cost is totally justifiable.

Khao Soi - Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with Pok Pok Ny secret curry paste recipe. Amish natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with house pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili pasta.

Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings- Fresh Amish natural chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and palm sugar. deep ried tossed in caramelized fish sauce and peanuts made to order in the pok pok (mortar and pestle).

Cha Ca "La Vong" - Vietnamese Catfish marinated in turmeric and sour sticky rice, fried in turmeric oil with scallions and dill, served on rice vermicelli with peanuts, mint cilantro and mam nem.

Yam Makheua Yao - Smoky charcoal grilled long eggplant salad with spicy dressing of Thai chilies, lime, fish sauce, and palm sugar. topped with boiled egg, dry shrimp, shallots and crispy garlic 

Sticky rice and mango dessert 

Red Farm

Address: 529 Hudson Street, New York, NY

Phone: 212-792-9700

http://redfarmnyc.com

Chinese food history is perhaps just as colorful and complex as the Chinese history itself. The cuisine is approximately 5000 years old, and on a high level can be divided into northern Chinese and southern Chinese cuisine; and between these two regional cuisines, it can be further classified into Cantonese, Szechuan, Shandong and Jiangsu Cuisine. Growing up as a Malaysian Chinese who has never been to China, I won't pretend to be the expert of Chinese food but we do have a lot of good traditional Cantonese food in our country that I grew up eating. However, it's only after I moved to New York City when I was first exposed to Northern Chinese cuisines.

Compared to the other cuisines, Chinese cuisine is actually pretty adaptable; There are traditional cooking techniques that chefs will always use, but the dishes are often adapted to the local palate and preferences. You will notice differences between the Chinese food here in America and those in South East Asia, in Europe or anywhere else.

After becoming out of favor for a while (and after years of becoming just the reliable-but-not-exciting takeout cuisine), New Yorkers have once more find authentic Chinese food interesting, and have been flocking to flushing Queens, the mecca for adventurous foodies, to get a taste of real good Chinese food. As demand for good Chinese food becomes more prominent, and as people become more exposed to other types of Chinese food besides the ones you find at the takeout places, more and more good modern Chinese restaurants are making their way to New York City. Hakkasan from London and Mission Chinese Food from San Francisco should be opening here in Spring or Summer.

One of the most interesting development in modern Chinese food in New York City however, is the opening of Red Farm restaurant by Chef Joe Ng of Chinatown Brasserie and Chinese food expert Ed Schoenfel. Chef Joe Ng and co-owner Ed Schoenfeld's intention when opening Red Farm was not to create an authentic Chinese restaurant which competes with those in Flushing. Instead, Red Farm makes Chinese cuisine inspired dishes, using seasonal and local ingredients. Their main focus is to make food that is delicious, regardless whether it taste like Chinese food or not. I like that.

What I like even more are Red Farm's creative dishes that taste just as good as they look. Shu Mai Shooters, Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles, kowloon filet mignon tarts, Kumamoto Oysters with Yuzu-lemon ice, 'Pac Man' shrimp dumplings, pork and crab soup dumplings are just some of the dishes we ordered when we went there last time. The Kowloon filet mignon tarts were flavorful and the beef was cooked perfectly, the pork and crab soup dumplings are delicate and juicy, just like good xiao long bao should be and the 'Pac Man' dumplings are so cute and taste delicious as well. Our favorite dish there is none other than the Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles. A perfect example of combining Chinese and Western cooking technique and ingredients to create the most amazing and luxurious seafood noodles. We have similar dishes like this in Malaysia so this noodle dish at Red Farm definitely reminds me of home every time I eat it. Needless to say, Red Farm is one of our favorite restaurants right now.

The restaurant doesn't take reservation, so go early if you want to score a table!

Recommended dishes: Shu Mai Shooters, Kumamoto Oysters with Yuzu Lemon Ice, Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles, Pork and Crab Soup Dumplings, Kowloon Filet Mignon Tarts.

Shu Mai Shooters

Kumamoto Oysters, Yuzu-lemon Ice

Shrimp, Scallops and Mussels with Rice Wine, Tomatoes, Basil and Very Thin Rice Noodles

Pork and Crab Soup Dumplings

Kowloon Filet Mignon Tarts

'Pac Man' Shrimp Dumplings

Cocoron Soba

Address: 61 Delancey St, New York, NY (Between Eldridge St & Allen St)

Phone:  212-925-5220

http://www.cocoron-soba.com

This tiny soba shop on Delancey Street at Lower East Side call Cocoron is probably one of our favorite restaurants in New York City these days. Cocoron (which mean "warm heart" in Japanese), makes the most original and delicious soba dish in town. When the weather is cold and freezing, nothing beats a nice bowl of homemade soba served in the most amazing broth ever. Cocoron offers a selection of cold soba and hot soba soup, but our favorite there is the stamina dipping soba with chicken meat balls -- a bowl of homemade broth and chicken meat balls served on miniature hot pot, with a plate of cold soba on the side to be dipped into the lovely broth just before eating. Normally, there is a region where a certain style of soba/ramen are from in Japan; but when asked about where stamina soba was originated, the owner proudly told us that it was a NYC creation! Thumbs up!

Just like most soba restaurants, Cocoron does not take reservation and it can get pretty crowded during week nights. So make sure you go early!

Hakkasan @ Hanway Place

Address: 8 Hanway Pl, London

http://w3.hakkasan.com

Phone: 44 20 7927 7000

I like Hakkasan. Never mind that the restaurant has often been classified as "westernized" Chinese restaurant, the food is actually very familiar and yet creative. Quite often, chefs/restauranteurs who tried to create modern Chinese restaurants in the West got it all wrong; trying to create a haute Chinese restaurant without understanding the true origin of the cuisine, and the palate of the Chinese people often resulting in one dimensional and soulless Chinese restaurant. Sadly, New York City seems to have tons of these type of restaurants, for some reasons. But not Hakkasan, it is modern but really authentic at the core. The restaurant is sometimes called the Chinese Nobu of London, but honestly I feel it is better than Nobu (Sorry Robert DeNiro). I've heard about Hakkasan for as long as I can remember. Even though Alan Yau, the founder of the restaurant no longer owns it, head chef Tong Chee Hwee who has been running the kitchen since its inception in 2001 is still there. You can count on Chef Tong to continue serving his Michelin Star world class modern Chinese cuisine.

One word to sum up Hakkasan menu - exciting! I don't think I was able to contain my excitement looking at the menu, as there were so many interesting dishes to choose from. Hakkasan menu is a modern adaptation of traditional Chinese dishes that I am somewhat familiar with, but it sounds more fascinating than the traditional ones. Taste wise, it was even more satisfying. Roasted Silver Cod with Champagne and honey is chef Tong's answer to Nobu's famous Miso Cod. I think that Hakkasan's version is much better using Champagne and Honey! How can you go wrong with that combo? It's a lot more subtler than the Nobu version but still gives you the delicate balance between the sweetness of the honey and the tanginess from the champagne. I also really enjoyed the stir fry Venison dish we ordered. I remember growing up eating Venison in some restaurants in my hometown but haven't had it since I left Malaysia. Hakkasan cooked the meat perfectly, so tender and juicy. The dish that really surprised me most was the Japanese tofu with blue swimmer crab toban. A nice touch of vinegar made the tofu dish very appetizing. I could eat this tofu dish with rice anytime! Salt and pepper squid and ostrich wrapped in lotus leaf was really nice as well.

My only complain is that food photography is not permitted at the restaurant and the manager was so serious about it. I'm still puzzled as to why not? Are they not confident of their own dish? Other than that, I would say two thumbs up for Hakkasan! If only there are more modern Chinese restaurant like that in New York City! With that said, Hakkasan should have opened its first shop in the US in New York City instead of Miami. There's such a void in exciting high end, high quality modern Chinese restaurant here. Hopefully Tasameem, the Abu Dhabi-controlled property fund which owns Hakkasan will include New York City in its next expansion plan.

didn't get a chance to snap better photos of the dishes since the manager at the restaurant prohibits it. clockwise from the top: roasted silver cod with champagne and honey, stir fry venison, japanese tofu with blue swimmer crab toban, ostrich wrapped in lotus leaf, and salt and pepper squid.

Yauatcha

Address: 15-17 Broadwick Street. Soho, London

http://www.yauatcha.com

Phone: 44 20 7494 8888

Dim Sum is generally good in New York City but lacked options. There is a sufficient supply of good traditional dim sum places in Chinatown, ie Golden Unicorn and Oriental Garden but refined/high quality dim sum restaurants such as award winning Lai Wah Heen in Toronto and Ming Court in Hong Kong is almost non-existence here. Which was why I absolutely have to try the One Michelin Star Yauatcha when we went to London as Chinese food in London is said to be better than those in NYC.

Two dishes that you must not miss in Yauatcha is the restaurants famous Venison puff and Penang fried kway teow (kwetio on Yauatcha menu). In place of pork, the venison gives you a stronger flavor and leaner meat than you will find. It compliments well with the intense black pepper seasoning. We would even venture to say that this is even better than the five spice char siu (roast pork) fillings that we are so familiar with. Yauatcha's Penang fried kway teow is not as good as the actual ones in Penang, but it is darn close, and the kway teow here is famous among Malaysians in London. The refined touch that Yauatcha uses here is the scallops. Ask most Malaysians in London and they can tell you that Yauatcha's fried kway teow is their cure to kway teow cravings. The dim sums from the ala carte menu which we ordered, ie.  Roasted duck pumpkin puff,  Har Gau, Shiu Mai, Prawn and beancurd roll, Prawn and beancurd cheung fun, congee etc were equally memorable as well.

I was told that restaurateur Alan Yau who founded Hakkasan and Yauatcha no longer own both of these restaurants, Abu Dhabi's property investment company is the current owner. But it looks to be that the restaurants are doing just fine without Alan Yau. Hopefully he will open a restaurant in NYC, I think business will be just as good, if not better! 

圍蝦滑燒賣 Prawn shui mai with chicken

筍尖鮮蝦餃 Har gau

黑椒鹿肉酥 Venison puff

黑椒火鴨金瓜酥 Roasted duck pumpkin puff

香煎鮮蝦腐皮卷 Prawn beancurd roll

荷葉珍珠雞 Sticky rice in lotus leaf with chicken and shrimp

馬式炒貴刁 Stir-fry Penang kwetio noodle with prawn and scallop

腐皮蝦腸粉 Prawn and beancurd cheung fun

St. John Bar and Restaurant

Address: 26 St. John Street, London

http://www.stjohnrestaurant.com

Phone: 020 3301 8069 

 

It's fascinating to see how Gan's face lit up and how he behaved giddily like a kid in a candy store responding to the menu he just saw at St John. "Ox heart! Vennison offal! Woodcock! Roast Middlewhite! Hake! Arbroath! I don't know what they are or how they taste like but I want to try them all!" I guess I made the right choice picking this San Pellegrino top 50 restaurant over the rest in London! St John's menu is absolutely worth getting excited with; where else can you get a taste of traditional English dishes that make use of a whole animal, which most people now no longer prepare or eat since they are more affluent and can afford premium cut meats? Offals, animal heads, game birds which used to be staple proteins for the commoners were brought back by chef and owner Fergus Henderson and cooked in the most scrumptious way possible, no wonder the One Michelin star.

For starters we ordered the langoustines and mayonnaise, roast bone marrow and parsley salad, braised squid and salsify, snail and oakleaf to share between the four of us. And for main dish Gan ordered Woodcock and I felt adventurous and went with the Ox Heart with horseradish and beetroot dish. All the starters were actually not terribly impressive, but my ox heart dish, my goodness it was absolutely heavenly. Char grilled to perfection with just enough chewiness and tenderness to make anyone completely in love with the dish. Thank you St John for this wonderful introduction to ox heart! I am now and forever a fan of this "cut" of meat. Gan's woodcock dish was rather interesting, and extremely challenging to eat even for the most open minded eater. The bird's head was cut in half with the brain exposed so it could be eaten with the bird. I couldn't tell if he really liked it. For sweets, we had the traditionally prepared Eccles cake and treacle sponge cake that our English friend recommended. Yummy!

Dinner at St John was perhaps one of the more memorable dining experiences we have had in London. We'll choose this place over Fat Duck or Gordon Ramsay anytime. Would love to meet chef Fergus Henderson and shake his hand for this special dining experience, but was told that chef rarely comes into the restaurant due to his Parkinson disease. But good to see that the restaurant is still doing well despite his absence, with attentive and unfussy kitchen and front of house staffs. St John is doing admirably, trying to preserve ways of cooking which may not be as appreciated by the McDonald's generation. But for each of them, hopefully there's another yaokui out there who is open minded and willing to explore the origins of modern civilization cooking.

Native Oysters

langoustines and mayonnaise

Braised Squid and Salsify

Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad

Woodcock

Ox Heart, Beetroot and Horseradish

Steamed Treacle Sponge and Custard

Eccles Cake and Lancashire Cheese

Ai Fiori

Address: 400 Fifth Avenue, New York.  The Setai Fifth Avenue, Level Two 

http://www.aifiorinyc.com

Phone: 212-613-8660

Just when I thought I have tried all of Chef Michael White's restaurants (Convivio, Alto, Marea, Osteria Morini) and wonder if the chef could ever outdo his sea urchin malloreddus dish at Convivio, he surprised me with his sea urchin gnocchetti at his newest restaurant Ai Fiori. Located on the second floor of ultra luxury The Setai Hotel on Fifth avenue at Murray Hill, Ai Fiori is probably the most upscale restaurant the chef owns. When we went there, Ai Fiori customers seems to be the fur coat, fancy hat and expensive suit wearing kind of crowd. Albeit the crowd, ambience at Ai Fiori is not at all stuffy, which may be partly due to its friendly waitstaffs and maitre d'. The executive chef of Ai Fiori, Chris Jaeckle (who used to cook in Morimoto and Eleven Madison Park) even came out and chatted with us. Apparently, he has a friend who shares the exact same first and last name as me. Note to self: try convincing Chris Jaeckle that it'd be cool to have 2 friends with the same name. Always nice perk to know chefs or people in the food business, if only for their colorful personality. :-)

Since the big boys aka New York Times, New York Magazine, Eaters and Serious Eats have not yet officially published a review on Ai Fiori, we figured that explained why the restaurant was not fully booked when we went there on a Friday night. I'm glad that we had a chance to eat before it gets too popular, the food is really that good. With Michael White no longer affiliated to partner Chris Cannon and the Convivio and Alto restaurants, Ai Fiori will be the new best place for Michael White lux pasta and Osteria Morini will be the place to go for laid back comfort Italian food, and especially its pasta. Can you imagine MW was out of job just a few years ago? He sure is taking New York City by storm!

 Ostriche - poached wellfleet oysters, cucumber, sturgeon caviar, beurre blanc

Uovo with Fried Sweetbread

Just like in all of Michael White restaurants, the menu in Ai Fiori is simple and utilitarian (I think I've used the same description for Marea's menu), with adequate selections of wonderfully prepared Antipasto, Pasta, and Pesce/Carne main dishes to choose from. The menu here are French Riviera and Italian Riviera inspired, and they served a ligurian pasta called Trofie which is unique to places like Cinque Terre. I didn't order that but I had oysters for appetizer, sea urchin gnocchetti for pasta and poached lobster for pesce entree. Gan had the uovo (poached egg with sweetbreads), sea urchin gnochetti for pasta and rack of lamb for carne. I just have to say --- Ai Fiori's sea urchin gnochetti is absolutely heavenly, even better than Convivo's sea urchin malloreddus! Portion was larger and there were more crab meat to go with the rich creamy sea urchin sauce and the perfectly al dente gnocchetti. The poached oysters with sturgeon caviar dish delivered great satisfaction, and poached lobster dish for my third course was just butter-succulent. Gan's uovo was also pretty darn good - light foam with runny egg yolk complimented the fried sweetbreads nicely. Unfortunately he wasn't as impressed by the rack of lamb dish he ordered. For dessert, we ordered ligurian olive cake with ricotta and gelato al caffe, which was a nice finish to our perfect dinner at the restaurant. If you've been to MW's restaurants as much as we have, you should have noticed a few similar dishes reincarnated in slightly different versions such as the sea urchin pasta, uovo, and affogato. Say what you want, but MW knows what works and is adept in reinventing his food to keep it interesting and most of all, delicious.

Service was excellent throughout the night. We remember seeing some familiar faces in the front of house, and later on found out that Ai Fiori had in fact hired quite a few people from Corton, including Corton's director/maitre d' Susan Lee. Dessert chef Robert Truitt made the same trek uptown from Corton to Ai Fiori.  I guess besides ex partner Chris Cannon (who gave the chef his big break when he hired him at Convivio), Michael White will probably not be in friendly terms with Corton's Drew Nieporent any time soon? In the mean time, the restaurant war does not concern us diners, as long as we can still have good italian food and good pasta. Nobody does it better than MW!

Torchon - foie gras au naturel, spiced figs, ormeasco mostarda, pistachios, brioche toaste

Granchio - blue crab, avocado, grapefruit, tarragon, crispy farinata

Gnocchetti with sea urchin and crab meat

Ragu ravioli

Astice - butter poached nova scotia lobster, root vegetable fondant, chateau chalon sauce

Rack of lamb

Torta di Olio - ligurian olive oil cake, ricotta, pear confit, port, gelato al caffé