Back in New York City!

The yaokuis have just returned from our two weeks of non stop eating and feasting in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Bali. Stay tune for postings and photos!

Hungry ghosts on the prowl for food in Ipoh!

Marea

Address: 240 Central Park South New York, NY

http://www.marea-nyc.com

Phone: 212-582-5100

If you have read my posting on the Convivio restaurant in Tudor City, you'll know that Gan and I (as well as many of our yaokui friends) are big fans of Convivio and its chef/owner Michael White. We kept going back to Convivio for its consistently well executed and reasonably priced Southern Italian fare that we almost neglected his newly opened, already awarded one Michelin star seafood restaurant Marea, until now. While Convivio serves Southern Italian dishes and his other restaurant, Alto does Northern Italian, Marea serves mainly seafood with a limited selections of meat dishes for the carnivores out there. Some people compared Marea to Le Bernardin, but I feel although Marea serves exceptional seafood, it is no Le Bernardin. You can clearly see the 2 Michelin star gaps between Le Bernardin and Marea in its consistency across the menu. Having said that, the single Michelin star which Marea had garnered is certainly well deserved and had provided itself a great platform to continue to improve. Note: If you're feeling sorry for chef Michael White, don't. He's one of the most successful restaurateurs in the city, with a total of 4 Michelin Stars (2 for Alto, 1 for Convivio and 1 for Marea). To put it in perspective, legendary New York City chefs Eric Ripert only has a total of 3, Daniel Boulud has a total of 4, and Mario Batali has a total of 2. Tom Collicchio has 0.

OSTRICHE east and west coast oysters served with morellino mignonette & cucumber-lemon vinegar. Not part of menu

Just like Convivio, Marea has a rather utilitarian menu which is divided into crudo, ostriche, antipasti, pasta, secondi di pesce and carne. You can order dishes a la carte or the recommended $89 Four Course Prix Fixe which includes a choice each from the Crudo, Ostriche, or Antipasto (Appetizer) / Pasta / Pesce or Carne (Entree) / Dolce (Desert) section. I recommend going with the four course prix fix, which is always a good value in Michael White's restaurants. But be mindful that the portions of some dishes at Marea can be much bigger than the ones at Convivio. I didn't know that and ordered some of the heaviest dishes on the menu, ended up having a tough time finishing everything on the plate.

UOVO slow poached egg, crispy monkfish cheeks, wild mushrooms, garlic chips

SPAGHETTI crab, santa barbara sea urchin, basil

BRODETTO DI PESCE adriatic seafood soup, clams, langoustine, scallop, spot prawns, snapper

I had Uovo, which is a slow poached egg with crispy monkfish cheeks, wild mushrooms and garlic chips; spaghetti with crab, santa barbara sea urchin; and a huge bowl of brodetto di pesce for main entree. Among these three dishes, monkfish cheeks antipasti and crab and sea urchin spaghetti were my favorites. I like that they play with contrast in texture in this dish -- crispy monkfish cheeks paired with a smooth and runny poached egg. And oh my god, the spaghetti with crab and sea urchin was insane! Michael White is a pasta god. His handmade pastas are officially my favorite pastas especially those served with sea urchin!

ASTICE nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto, basil

FERRATINI manila clams, calamari, hot chilies

SCAMPI langoustine (new zealand) seared

AFFOGATO zabaglione gelato, espresso and amaro

Gan ordered Astice, which is nova scotia lobster, burrata, eggplant al funghetto and basil which he thought was really fresh and appetizing. He wasn't too crazy about his pasta dish Ferratini with manila clams, calamari and hot chilies. The dish was too light and a little bland in flavor even though the brightly colored red chili was in abundance. His order of seared New Zealand Langoustine scampi was somewhat of a disappointment. Slightly overcooked and with little meat to chew on. For dessert, I love Michael White's Affogato at Convivio and both Gan and I ordered that in Marea as well. It's like a higher end version of the same dolce dish in Convivio. A perfect Italian palate cleanser to finish up the meal.

ZUPPA lobster and butternut squash soup, porcini mushrooms, brown butter (other dishes ordered by the table)

BRANZINO seared wild striped bass, marinated salsify, roasted brussel sprouts, fresh pancetta, saba (other dishes ordered by the table)

PANNA COTTA vanilla bean panna cotta, lemon verbena sauce, blueberry sorbet (other dishes ordered by the table)

Marea is definitely more expensive and extravagant than Convivio and it's a daring venture when times are not that great. But just like the Romans do not build their empire by being conservative, Michael White is charging ahead with expansion of his own empire in the NYC culinary world. After being rewarded with the various accolades within just a year of its opening, and already gaining loyal customers, I think Chris Cannon and Michael White had done it again. Oh how I wish I have an expense account like the real food critics out there!

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!