Happy Birthday Txikito!

We've been going to Txikito for about half a year now, and it's one of our favorite restaurants in the city. Our friends love it too. Bartender Brian and manager Brett are amazing and always making sure that customers are well taken care of. Owners Alex and Eder are two very talented chefs who never fail to impress us with their signature dish and specials. The quality of the txokos at Txikito are also amazing; I still vividly remember the txoko co-hosted by guest chefs Ruben Garcia, Ramon Martinez, Will Goldfarb and Dave Cruz earlier this year and the dishes these chefs prepared. Among our favorites were baby sea cucumber with praline sauce by Ruben Garcia and Ramon Martinez from Jose Andres Think Food Group and wild Alaskan Halibut and Shellfish cream by Dave Cruz of Ad Hoc (a Thomas Keller's restaurant) supported by the Nobu crew. I missed Ashley Christensen's txoko in August because of Britney's concert (regrettably), but Gan couldn't stop raving about Ashley's dishes, especially the trio tomato soup.

Txikito is honestly one of the best thing that happened to NYC food scene. Thanks for making these past six months so "food" memorable for us yaokuis and we are looking forward to more good food and great times at Txikito. Zorianak!

Photos of food we ate at Txikito on November 15:

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Krave Truck Korean BBQ

Location: Hudson between Grand and York Street, Jersey City (Day)
Columbus and Marin, Jersey City (Evening)

http://www.kravetruck.com

For some of us here in NYC metro area who can't wait for LA's Kogi Korean BBQ Truck to arrive in the city (rumored arrival - 2010), Krave Korean BBQ is the answer to our prayers, at least to the jersey city folks for now. Of course, Krave does not have high caliber chef like Roy Choi (a Le Bernardin alum) nor does it have the same variety/creativity of the korean+mexican street food served at Kogi - think Kogi dog (hot dog) and black jack quesadilla, but the guys who cook at Krave definitely know their Korean BBQ meat, they are delicious! It used to be that Krave only serves dinner near Grove Street Path Station in the evening, but recently they join the line of amazing lunch trucks at Hudson Street. It didn't take too long for people to find out about Krave and its delicious Korean BBQ meat so lines are definitely forming (and getting longer each day) during lunch time at Krave's Truck!

Korean Taco and BBQ rice platter. BBQ rice platter with kimchi and a pick of 2 meats - spicy pork, sesame chicken and kalbi or Korean Taco and BBQ sampler ($10 with 3 meats and drinks).

BBQ pork and kalbi beef over rice with kimchi

Luke's Lobster

Address: 93 E 7th Street, New York, NY

http://www.lukeslobster.com

Phone: 212-387-8487

Seems like lately New Yorkers are crazy about Lobster rolls, again. It used to be that Pearl Oyster Bar, Mary Fish Camp and Mermaid Inn are the few good places in the city to grab good lobster rolls. But nowadays, you can go to Ed's Lobster Bar, Lure Fishbar and Ditch Plains for excellent seafood and lobster rolls. I haven't been to Lure Fishbar and Ditch Plains but Chef Paul Liebrandt from Corton gave those two places pretty good scores during his lobster roll tasting tour and his favorite was the one from Mary Fish Camp.

Gan and I definitely prefer Ed's Lobster Bar more than any other places; our friend Yao Hua brought us to Ed's a few years ago and we never went to other places for lobster rolls ever since (plus the wait at Ed's is shorter). We like Ed's Lobster roll because the lobster is fresh and well seasoned, and the roll is always nicely toasted. We also like that the lobster roll is light and refreshing but still satisfying.

At $27-$30 per lobster roll, we can't go to Ed's anytime we want. So I was especially excited when I found out there's a new lobster place in town that promises fresh lobster from Maine at affordable prices ($8/$14). The verdict? Luke's lobster rolls is definitely cheaper, but we were abit underwhelmed. We thought it was a little under seasoned and did not have enough mayo (maybe because "butter, mayo and seasoning are optional"?). But we like the bread alot, it was one of the better lobster roll's bread out there.

Since the restaurant is sandwiched in between caracas arepa and caracas arepa take out store, the space is tiny and there's not much dining-in space. It's definitely not a place for big groups. Although the best thing about Luke's (at least to me) is that the place is open till 1am on Friday and Saturday! Another place for me to pick up midnight snacks in the city!