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

Trattoria Gianni Franzi

Address: Piazza Marconi 5, 19018 Vernazza, Italy

http://www.giannifranzi.it

Phone: 0187-821003

A lot of people chose to park their cars at La Spieza and take the train to the villages but we thought we would just drive to Vernazza, which is located 4 villages away from La Spieza. It turned out to be one of the scariest driving experience; the road was narrow and winding, and we had many heart-stopping moments driving our stick shift rented car especially when facing speeding cars (drivers love to speed in Italy, even on narrow-one-lane mountain roads). Once we arrived at Vernazza, we were dead tired and all we wanted is food. Since our hotel Gianni franzi is also a popular restaurant in the village, we just went there and not expecting much; but the food there turned out to be really good! From their classic spaghetti polmodoro, to Fritto misto to beef ragu, all the dishes were cooked perfect and very flavorful. House wine was delicious too. Needless to say we went back again on our second night!

Frito Misto

Ravioli Pesce (two thumbs up!)

Pomodoro 

 
Spaghetti Vongole

 
Trofie al Pesto - a Lingurian specialty

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

Red hook ball field food vendors

Address: Red Hook Ball Fields (corner of Clinton Street and Bay Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn)

Phone: no phone

I have wanted to check out Red Hook ball fields food vendors ever since my friends Dahlia and Han Chun went there last year. I have waited one year for them to reopen, which was why I cleared my Saturday schedule on May 1 to do just that. Some of these vendors have been there since 1974, started out as street vendors selling Latino food during summer weekends to spectators watching semi pro soccer games played at the field. It's been a well kept secret for some time due to its location, and only to become popular recently, possibly after appearing in an Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservation"episodes. I am sure a lot of non-Brooklynites (like myself) found our way to the very unfamiliar territory of Red Hook Brooklyn just to get a taste of real authentic Latino food since we became aware of its existence.

NYC Health department and city park department had to tried to close down the vendors in 2007, but with support from people like Senator Chuck Schumer and Top chef judge Tom Colicchio etc, the vendors won a six year contract with City Park Department and will continue to operate until 2013. So, three more years left in the contract, you have got to go check it out at least once, just in case they don't return after 2013.

Soler Red Hook Food Vendor

Tamale and Pupusas from Soler Red Hook Food Vendor

Grilled corn with cheese

Grilled steak from El Olomega Food Vendor

Chalupas

QBA (Quick But Authentic) Cuban Lunch Truck

Phone: 973-687-2000

http://qbacubankitchen.net

Tuesdays & Thursday at Hudson and Grand Street

There's a new lunch truck in Jersey City waterfront area, and it serves one of my favorite cuisines - Cuban! For about $8, you can get their main entree of either bistec (steak and onions), pollo (chicken) and lechon (Cuban pulled pork) serves with white rice, black beans and a choice of unique sauces such as citrus garlic mojo, guava habenero bbq, cool creamy garlic aioli, jalapeno cilantro aji. QBA also offers cubano sandwich, empanadas, maduros and specialty chips, as well awesome drinks like guava juice spritzer, cortadito and cafe cubano. QBA sold breakfast when they first came to Jersey City, but it was discontinued, unfortunately. I would love to have that ham, scrambled eggs and maduros breakfast roll and cortadito for breakfast again!

Service with a smile :)

bistec lunch with white rice and black beans

cortadito with ham, scrambled eggs and maduros breakfast roll

Demel New York

Address: The Plaza Retail Collection, One West 58th Street, New York

Fax: 212-572-0989

http://www.demel.at

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, all I want to do is to hang out with close friends, drink tea/coffee and eat cake. But finding a nice tea, coffee house for dessert is not as easy as it sounds. Most of the tea houses/dessert places I like have closed: Toraya near Central Park (closed long time ago), Amai tea house near Union Square and Tafu at Midtown East. So my quest for a new tea place brought us to The Demel at the Plaza today and it was just the perfect tea/dessert place I was looking for!

Founded in 1786 in Vienna, Austria, Demel was the imperial and royal court confectionery for the Austrian-Hungary monarchy before it collapsed in 1918. Demel lived on, went through several change of ownership before it finally became part of DO & CO group, an international restaurant/catering company. There are only three branches of The Demel in the world, two in Austria and one here in New York City at the Plaza (the only shop outside of Austria, thank you The Plaza!)

Gan had Sachertorte: very traditional Austrian chocolate cake and I couldn't resist the Russische Punschtorte: biscuit/vanilla cream/rum. They also offer finger sandwiches so some of us ordered that as well. If you love coffee you will definitely love the Milan coffee here; it's incredibly smooth, possibly one of the smoothest/best tasting cappuccino -like coffee in New York City.

The Demel is definitely one of New York City's best kept secret. It's great to have pastry shop like this in New York City which makes amazing Austrian pastries, and we get to eat it without actually going to Austria. Now we just need Laduree to open a shop in New York City and I'll be so happy.

Russische Punschtorte: biscuit/vanilla cream/rum

Sachertorte: very traditional Austrian chocolate cake

We got these mini cakes complimentary of the Demel. They were cleaning up around 6pm for their closing and gave us these free mini cakes.

Hung's Delicacies

Address: Shop 4, G/F, Ngan Fai Building, 84-94 Wharf Road, North Point, Hong Kong (北角 和 富道84-94號銀輝大廈地下4號舖 )

Phone: 852-2570-1108

Hong Kong is a food haven, and one of the things you absolutely need to do when you visit Hong Kong is to eat. I was there a few weeks ago and I can hardly remember all the places Gan and I have tried because we were practically eating something at every hour. But some of the more memorable places I have tried during this trip were Hung's Delicacies, Ming Court at Landmark Hotel, Bo Innovation, For Kee pork chop rice and Lung King Heen at Four Seasons Hotel. There were some places such as Tim Ho Wan, a one Michelin star dim sum place in Mongkok and Tim's Kitchen, a two Michelin star restaurant in Wan Chai that I didn't manage to try because they were closed when I was there during Chinese New Year.

I like Hung's Delicacies. There are quite a number of Teochew/ChiuChow restaurants in Hong Kong but I heard Hung's is one of the best. The shop is tiny, with 4 to 5 tables only, and it was recently awarded One Michelin star, which explains the long wait. When we got there, there were already people waiting in line for more than an hour and they were still waiting. Gan suggested we join the take out line since it's quicker, and he was absolutely right; we got our food after waiting for just about an hour.

If you are not familiar with Teochew/Chiuchow cuisine, it's a regional Chinese cuisine originated from Chaoshan in Guangdong province. Teochew/Chiuchow cuisine is more delicate than other regional Chinese cuisine (such as Cantonese) and most dishes are cooked using poach, steam or braise techniques. Hung's Delicacies offers mostly braised items; they have braised goose, braised chicken, braised pork, braised pork knuckles, braised goose tongue, braised beancurd etc. We ordered half a braised goose, a jelly fish appetizer, a cucumber appetizer and a Chua Lam (蔡瀾) noodles. The braised goose was done nicely, one of the better ones I have tried. The other dishes like jelly fish appetizer and Chua Lam (蔡瀾) noodles were pretty good as well.

I have read some bad reviews about the restaurant's service on openrice.com but the lady who helped us with our takeout order was really nice and helpful. I would definitely go back there for authentic Teochew/Chiuchow food if I'm in the area.

Takeout menu at Hung's Delicacies

A photo of Chef Hung checking out the crazy lady taking photo of him and his restaurant

Jelly fish with sesame seed - one of the best jelly fish appetizers I've tried

cucumber appetizer

Gotta tried this Cai Lan (蔡瀾) noodles, it was supposedly created specially for Chua Lam (蔡瀾), the famous Hong Kong food critic (an Asian equivalent of Anthony Bourdain). Ingredients: oil, soy sauce, ginger, scallions, Chicken ham shang tan ( special soup stock made from Chinese ham)

Braised goose with eggs. Gan: We got the last braised goose of the night in the line. If we had waited for the table (probably another hour in addition to the 1 hour for take out line), we would have not tried it. Btw, there's a big population of Chiu Chow people in HK. The most famous is Li Ka Shing, who's the richest person in Asia.

San Shu Gong

Address: Jonker Street, Jalan Hang Jebat, Malacca

Phone: 6-06-281-3118

I don't usually go to Tan Kim Hock or San Shu Gong when I'm back in Malacca because it seems to be targeting tourist business with all the snack gifts sold in the shop. But I have a reason to go back there again next time, for its Durian chendol. The ice coffee at San Shu Gong was also very satistfying. The bottle came with an ice block at the bottom and they pour the coffee in right before serving. Definitely better and cheaper than the coffee I get in New York!

The famous Durian Chendol - doesn't look very presentable, but taste pretty good. If you like durian, this will be your favorite durian dessert.

We were told the San Shu Gong was opened recently in Malacca by the heirs of the Tan Kim Hock business family. It took up the entire corner building of what used to be the Chung Kiaw Bank building right below the bridge nearby Stadhuys.

Gan: Something has been bothering me during this recent trip back home. Lately, there's been an influx of tourism investments and a lot of all these new businesses have sprout up all over Malacca. Maybe it's the World Heritage prestige or maybe it's something else. Prosperity can be a double edge sword. It is always easier to lax and makes mistake into habit when the end goal is too easily obtained. One loss customer from a bad service or product can be replaced with many more willing customers. Fame and prosperity allows you that. We hope the heritage continues to be well preserved and not sacrificed in the process.

Bibik Neo Nyonya Restaurant

Peranakan Food

Address: No.6 Ground Floor, Jalan Merdeka, Taman Melaka Raya, Malacca

Phone: 6-06-281-7054

Peranakan are Chinese who came to Malacca in the 15th-16th century and they've created a unique Peranakan or Straits Chinese culture, where the customs, food and descendants are products of cross racial marriages with local Malays. These Straits Chinese descendants are called Baba (men) and Nyonya (women) and their cuisine is known as Peranakan or Baba-Nyonya food. Chinese food are mainly mild in flavor, outside of the famously spicy Sichuan food or heavily spiced Xinjiang food. You can see the influence of the South-East Malay spices in the Baba-Nyonya food. A lot of them are spicy or even strongly flavored. Sourcing of local ingredients or re-adjusting the flavor profile of the immigrants original dishes into local palate will always produce a unique blend of new cuisine. This is why we are so proud of our heritage in Malacca, due to the richness of its history, including food. Kangkung Belacan, Buddhist Delight, Ayam Ponteh, Ayam Buah Keluak, Assam Fish are some of the popular peranakan dishes. There are a number of peranakan restaurants in Malacca but the more famous ones are Bibik Neo, Ole Sayang, Nancy's Kitchen and Mrs. Lee. But my all time favorite peranakan food is still my good friend Ai Poh's mom's cooking. Compared to Penang's peranakan food, Malacca's more home cook style, and also has more Malay influence. But definitely satisfying!

clockwise from top: shrimp masak lemak (pineapple curry base), ayam pongteh (black bean sauce), cincaluk omelette (cincaluk is a local Malacca tiny shrimp), top hat

clockwise from top: shrimp masak lemak, ayam pongteh, cincaluk omelette, top hat, deep fried fish with sambal, kangkung belacan (shrimp paste), nyonya chap chai (nyonya style buddhist delight), ayam buah keluak