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!

Traif

Address: 229 S 4th St, Brooklyn, NY (between Havemeyer St and Roebling St)

Phone: 347-844-9578

http://traifny.com

Time flies! Gan and I have been living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for almost four months now and we are loving every minute of it. We moved there because we fell in love with the food, the people, the shops... basically everything there. So nowadays, instead of driving into the city for brunch on the weekends, we enjoy exploring our neighborhood and trying out good places that most Brooklynites have already discovered some time ago. Pies N Thighs, Dokebi, Samurai Mama, Diner, Marlow and Sons, Caracas Arepa and Egg are just some of the good restaurants in the area.

When most places concentrate on making the same old brunch menu to satisfy the NY brunch crowd, Traif differentiates itself by doing what it does best - unique and interesting small dishes/tapas style food. Roasted beets with yogurt and cheese, bacon wrapped stuffed dates on spinach, egg-in-a-nest, comice pear salad are some of the dishes we really liked. The sweet and savory comice pear salad and roasted beets with yogurt and cheese were light and appetizing, great starters to prep the palate before the heavier dishes arrive. The smoked salmon bravas was also a nice take on the traditional Spanish patata bravas dish, it was playful and delicious! We thought the fried chicken and biscuit dish was just alright, especially when compared to the ones served at the fried chicken temple - Pies N Thighs.

Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience at Traif --- dishes were creative, delicious and we had a nice table at the patio garden. Our waitress was fantastic and helpful as well. Can't wait for summer so we can enjoy the food at their open air garden seating.

Recommended dishes: Comice pears salad, smoked salmon bravas, egg-in-a-nest and roasted red beet, bacon-wrapped blue cheese-stuffed dates (this one especially is a surprise. it looks like some type of mutated bug but it tasted absolutely delicious.. even the crispy bacon outside and goeey and sticky cheese inside gives it a bug texture. yikes! be adventurous, it's worth it.)

Comice pears, Cranberries, Radish, Bacon, Blue Cheese, Pistachios, Greens, Truffle Vin

smoked salmon bravas, Traif version of Patata Bravas

Bellflower pasta

bacon-wrapped blue cheese–stuffed dates, spinach a la catalana (the bug dish)

egg-in-a-nest, brie-roast portabello panini, truffle cream

bacon-egg-cheese sliders, smoked belly, blue cheese, sweet potato fries

Roasted red beets, Burrata cheese, Pomegranate,Yogurt, Mint

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

Jewel Bako

Address: 239 East 5th Street, New York, NY

Phone: 212-979-1012

Jewel Bako, a One Michelin Star sushi restaurant in East Village is (ex) NYC couple Jack and Grace Lamb's first venture into the restaurant business, before they started Degustation Wine and Tasting Bar next door, Jewel Bako Makimono (which has since closed down) and Jack's Oyster Bar. The couple also owns a restaurant near their home in Greenwich Connecticut call Harvest Supper, run by a former chef at Hearth. When Jewel Bako first opened a few years ago, East Village was not a place to go for good sushi. The landscape has improved since, with places such as Kyo Ya, Kajitsu, Ushiwakamaru entering the Japanese food domain. But in terms of the place to go for world class sushi in the East Village, Jewel Bako perhaps still reigns over the rest.

The secret to Jewel Bako's success, aside from good sushi chefs and intense management (I felt the intensity of the lady manager when I went there), is its ability to get fresh fish directly from a purveyor in Japan and serving the fish next day after they are caught. The restaurant is perhaps the only in NYC which serves live Lobster Sashimi? I remember watching one of Andrew Zimmerman's Bizarre foods NYC episodes a few years ago, where he went to the restaurant and tried its signature dish - live lobster sashimi.  We did not order lobster sashimi when we went there (not sure if it's still on the menu), but the sushi ala carte (Uni, Toro, Unagi, Ebi etc) and spicy yellowtail sushi rolls we had were excellent!

Sushi ala carte

Spicy Tuna Yellowtail with scallions and cucumber

Restaurant interior

ABC Kitchen

Address: 35 E 18th Street, New York, NY

Phone: 212-475-5829

Of all the Jean Georges' restaurants in New York City, I probably dislike ABC Kitchen the most. Yes the restaurant has a nice contemporary shabby chic style interior, being that it's co-owned by ABC Carpet and Home next door, but to me, that's all there is. The dishes, which focus on local and organic ingredients were mediocre; they were cooked nicely, not burnt, not overcooked, undercooked or anything like that, but it was really pricey for the lack of inventiveness. For example the grilled lamb chops dish we ordered, which cost about $37 inevitably raised our expectation on the dish but they were short on the delivery. The cherry tomato barbeque sauce was rustic but lack the tanginess I was expecting. It's different than the typical mustard or mint sauce but I couldn't find my lamb in there. All there was was the sauce which was confused about being a pomodoro sauce or barbeque sauce.

Overall, ABC Kitchen is a pretty restaurant, with really pretty people dining there. But if you are looking for good food by Jean Georges, look elsewhere in his empire.

Fluke sashimi with sliced grapes, sea salt and tarrago

 Cauliflower Soup rye croutons and rupert cheese

Grilled lamp chops with cherry tomatoes barbeque sauce - it was ok, but pricey @ $37

Crispy Organic Chicken

Minetta Tavern

Address: 113 MacDougal St., New York (Between Bleecker and West 3rd Street)

http://www.minettatavernny.com

Phone: 212-475-3850

I doubt Keith McNally of Minetta Tavern really care that his restaurants were not awarded Three Stars Michelin or were not placed on the Top 50 San Pelligrino's World Best Restaurant list. His restaurants (yes - Odeon, Balthazaar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pulino's etc) are extremely successful and most of the time, difficult to get reservation.

I still remember when Minetta Tavern first reopened in 2009, getting a table for two was almost impossible. Not only was the phone line eternally busy, you practically need to be a celebrity to eat there. Thankfully, the hype and craziness had died down somewhat one year later, and we the commoners are finally getting our chance to dine at this McNally revived institution. A legendary speakeasy and restaurant which started in the 1930s, Minetta Tavern had deteriorate over the years and lost its charm, when McNally bought it over one year ago and revamped it back to its glory days.

Although I did not particularly like the food at Balthazaar and Pastis, I have to admit that McNally is a genius restaurateur who truly understands his clients and what works in this city, building his own successful trademark restaurants. You know when you are in a McNally restaurant: old school and it's so bloody popular (with pretty people).

Since it was only the two of us, we decided to order Côte de Boeuf (for two), rather than their famous black label burger. Minetta's dry aged Côte de Boeuf was truly the best steak we have ever eaten in the city. Move over Peter Luger, I don't think I will be seeing you much after this!  We also had an order of Pasta Za Za, another of the restaurant's famous fettuccine with pancetta dish, supposedly named after legendary sexy siren Zsa Zsa Gabor. This simple runny egg, pancetta and al dante fettucine dish is so satisfying!

 Pasta Za Za

fresh pasta with pancetta, sage, Parmesan, and a fried egg

 

 Dry Aged Côte de Boeuf for two, with roasted marrow bones and sucrine lettuce salad

Lunch @ Midtown

Ever since I started working in midtown Manhattan a few months ago, I've been exploring the lunch scene there tirelessly, checking out interesting food trucks/food carts and restaurants around the area. My midtown food experience has been wonderful, not good for my waistline, but I can diet when I'm done trying most of the places. My favorite food at this point are the buttery kati rolls from Briyani Cart, everything at Cafe Zaiya, kurobuta (black pig) katsu at Katsuhama, korean soup at Cafe Duke and quality salad at Chop't. Like most people working in midtown, I follow my favorite lunch trucks on twitter to find out their schedule, and midtownlunch.com to find out new places for food.

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Here are some of the places/carts/lunch trucks I have tried:
1) NYC Cravings Truck - fried chicken thigh/fried pork chops over rice, chinese zhong zi (rice dumpling)
2) Schnitzel and Things - pork schnitzel with potato salad
3) Briyani Cart - kati roll, briyani rice with chicken
4) Katsuhama - kurobuto katsu (breaded pork cutlet) with rice
5) Rickshaw Dumpling - chicken and basil dumpling with peanut sate dipping sauce wasn't my favorite, will have to try the pork and Chinese chive dumpling with sesame soy dipping sauce next time
6) Aunt Kim's lunch cart - fried fish over rice or bulgogi over rice @ 46th street and 6th ave
7) QBA lunch truck - cuban steak and plantains
8) Maze at the London NYC
9) Margon Restaurant - Serving good Cuban/Latin American food
10) John's Shanghai- xiao long bao (soup dumplings)
11) Cafe Zaiya - one stop Japanese lunch place - bento, sushi, bakery etc.
12) Wu Liang Ye - solid Szechuan dishes
13) Burger Joint - at Le Parker Meridien Hotel
14) Topaz Thai - Thai restaurant near 56th and 6th/7th Avenue
15) Cafe Duke - Korean deli with massive selections o salad, hot food buffet, sushi and sandwiches
16) Chop't - expensive but good quality salad
17) Pret a manger 
18) Chipotle
19) Monster Sushi - "monster" size sushi
20) Korean noodle soup cart - champong seafood noodle soup
21) Bulgogi and Kimchi street cart - I didn't like the spicy chicken and bulgogi beef over rice here

Some places near Midtown West thatI still need to try:
1) Ma Peche
2) Wafle and Dinges
3) Shake Shack Times Square
4) 53rd and 6th Halal cart
5) Hallo Berlin

Even though my lunch option has expanded tremendously, I'm starting to miss the limited but excellent lunch choices in Jersey City, especially Milano's Italian Deli, Krave Korean BBQ lunch truck, Louisianaa Spice truck, Taco truck and Grandma's Pizza. I'm also missing my yaokui lunch buddy, Gan; it would be even more exciting if he is there in Midtown to explore the lunch places with me!

Crab Boil at Back Forty

Address: 190 Avenue B, New York, NY (12th Street)

Phone: 212-388-1990

http://www.backfortynyc.com

Whether you enjoy eating crab or not, Back Forty restaurant's Crab Boil event is definitely a fun summer dining experience, worth the $42 per ticket if you ask me. But before you start calling the restaurant to make reservation, you need to know that in order to attend this special summer (Tuesday only) event, you'll have to purchase tickets online at brownpaper.com one week before, on Wednesday at 10am. And be sure to get the tickets on time if you want to attend earlier dinner, or they will be gone in seconds!

The crab boil at back forty is really All You Can Eat and our waitress was great in making sure that we have enough all the time -- buckets of blue crab steamed with house made spicy old bay spice were poured onto our newspaper covered table even before we can finish the previous batch! The dinner also comes with baked potatoes, string beans and corn bread as side dishes, but I suggest you skip those side dishes. You should save room for the seasonal fruit cobbler dessert though, it's a sweet finish to the crabby meal.

Blue crab steamed with house made spicy old bay spice

finger licking good!

raspberry cobbler dessert

The Breslin Bar and Dining Room

Address: 16 West 29th Street, New York, NY (Btw Broadway and 5th Avenue)

Phone: 212-679-1939

http://thebreslin.com

April Bloomfield is no doubt the queen of gastro pub in New York City. Her spotted pig restaurant has reached a cult like status, with diners and fans flooding its tiny restaurant daily for a taste of its world famous burger, shoestring fries and gnudi. The chef and her business partner Ken Friedman tried venturing into a more grown up seafood restaurant, John Dory last year. Unsuccessfully, they closed John Dory and opened Breslin a few months later at Ace Hotel near Flatiron.

Breslin is all about refined rustic food, and lots of meat. It's back to basic for the chef. The chef de cuisine Peter Cho and April created a pretty solid menu, especially the breakfast menu, where dishes such as Baked Egg on a cast iron pan, fish sausage, toasted almond pancake, Full English breakfast (which we didn't try) etc makes breakfast interesting again. The Baked Egg with spiced tomato and chorizo was truly awesome, the chorizo provided necessary saltiness and spiciness to the perfectly cooked egg. Homemade seafood sausage was also unique and delicious, light but flavorful, definitely carnivors approve. The toasted almond pancakes was pretty good too, but still can't beat Locanda Verde's almond pancakes.

I really want to go back to Breslin to check out their lunch and dinner menu, especially the suckling pig dinner (for minimum 8 people, so let me know if you are interested). And maybe hang out at their semi hidden bar on the mezzanine level after dinner, enjoying some "Liquid Swords", "Lust for Life" or "London Calling" etc cocktails.

Toasted almond pancakes

Homemade fish sausage

Baked Egg with spiced tomato and chorizo