yaokui

Tebaya

Posted by Sarah and Gan at 10/21/2007 | Labels: * star, $ price, New York City Food

Address: 144 W 19th St, New York

Phone: 212-924-3335

We were on our way to Pinkberry when we came across Tebaya. I've read about Tebaya Japanese Fried Chicken Wings in New York Magazine, and I thought we should check it out. We ordered some wings to go, but didn't get to eat them while they were crispy, so we can't really tell if they were good. Gan thought the sesame seeds didn't go well with the seasoning and the wings. Gan: so so only lah...

Ciao Bella Gelato

Posted by Sarah and Gan at 10/21/2007 | Labels: ** stars, $ price, New York City Food

Address: 285 Mott Street, New York

http://www.ciaobellagelato.com

Phone: 212-431-3591

Despite living in the city for almost 10 years, we only discovered Ciao Bella Gelato sometime last year. But ever since then, it became one of our favorite ice cream places in the city. We love Ciao Bella because they make absolutely delicious and high quality ice cream. Gan: For some reason, I always get the vanilla milk shake over here. Never ordered just ice cream or gelato. Quirky.

Sobakoh

Posted by Sarah and Gan at 10/17/2007 | Labels: ** stars, $$ price, New York City Food

Address: 309 E. 5th St., New York

Phone: 212-254-2244

We were supposed to have dinner with Shien Jin and Shaun at Spotted Pig restaurant tonight. But after finding out that there's a two hour wait to get a table at the restaurant, we went to SobaKoh on 5th and 2nd Ave for some good simple soba instead. Gan and I usually go there for the lunch special which includes soba, tempura, some appetizers and a dessert for about $20 per person. So when the bill came, we thought the dinner was not as worth it. I'll definitely recommend SobaKoh for lunch and not for dinner. Gan: Soba needs to be fresh and this place definitely have their soba done fresh as is demonstrated at the front of the restaurant

Grilled Matsutake Mushrooms appetizer

Agedashi Tofu

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass Marinated in Miso with yuzu-powders, shishito japanese pepper

Gan: This was yummy. Sea bass and miso goes well together.. as is made famous by Nobu's black seabass with miso.

Kinpira - Burdock roots appetizer

Candid shots of the guys

Ikura Oroshi Cold Soba - Soba with salmon roe and grated daikon

Kamonasu Soba - deep fried japanese egg plant with cooked ground duck

Assorted Tempura

Sushi Seki

Posted by Sarah and Gan at 10/14/2007 | Labels: *** stars, $$$ price, New York City Food

Address: 1143 First Ave., at 62nd St, New York

Phone: 212-371-0238

I have never heard of Sushi Seki until Chee-Ping told me about the restaurant. Apparently, the sushi chef/owner of this restaurant, Seki, used to work at the famous Sushi of Gari, and was trained under the sushi master himself - Gari Masatoshi. Seki's sushi were quite unique, especially they way they use non-traditional garnishes and seasonings. We had the Omakase, so from about 7pm to 11pm, we were served with amazing sushi one after another. Although I would love to eat at this restaurant again, the bill turned out to be pretty jaw-dropping, almost a le-bernadin price. I would rather pay the same price for more established Japanese restaurants such as Nobu or Morimoto. But overall, sushi seki serves good, unique but very pricey sushi.

Gan: Lol.. I was amused to see everyone's shocked expression when the bill came. Hey, when you want omakase, that means you leave it to the chefs to decide! :-P Doesn't help when we keep piling on the orders with bottles of sake and exotic sushi. But I must say.. the sushi here is pretty good. Gotta try Sushi of Gari one of these days. Good company and good sushi. Can't ask for more.

Wan Yin and Chee-Ping

Sashimi was fresh, the Kumamoto Oyster with vinegar and scallions was pretty good too. I was more excited to see the raw octopus since I don't usually see them in most NYC sushi restaurants.

Gan: I can still taste the milky kumamoto oyster... so yummy.

I kind of enjoyed the jalapeño seasoning on my hamachi

Gan: It's always thought that sushi is as good as the freshness of the fish. That was not the case in the past. Originally, sushi was made with preserved or fermentation of fish and vinegared rice. It would seem that the sushi of the past must taste much stronger than the typical modern sushi. This type of nigiri sushi (hand formed sushi) with stronger tasting condiments or seasonings, to me, seems like a modern take on trying to introduce stronger flavor into sushi, akin the old narusushi (old fermented sushi).

salmon sushi with avocado and toasted sesame seeds was not bad as well

Tuna with tofu sauce (center) - interesting

Gan: It actually taste really well together.

Eu Wen and Po Li

Tempura Ice Cream - one of the better tempura ice cream I've eaten.

Mochi ice cream was delicate and refreshing. I was questioning if they were pre-made, but Gan told me that everything here should be made fresh from the kitchen.

Gan: I liked the mochi ice cream a lot. The sticky rice cake around the ice cream was very soft and as you chew it, the cold ice cream below just oozes around your mouth.

Gan and Eu Wen
Gan: Mr Khoo and Mr Gan, mind you.

Nick's Hainanese Chicken Rice

Posted by Sarah and Gan at 10/07/2007 | Labels: Home Cooking

Nick's Hainanese Chicken Rice

Nick cooked us his famous Hainanese Chicken Rice dish yesterday and it was delicious! Everything from the chicken to the chili sauce was perfect! Now we can tell everyone we've tasted Nick's cooking too! :) Thank you Nick and Oi Yen for making us the wonderful lunch yesterday.

Gan: We've heard of the famous Nick's Hainanese Chicken Rice for quite some time. Was it as good as advertised? Hell yeah! Made the famous Nick's kitchen apocalyptic aftermath a minor distraction at the end of the meal.

Chef Nick and his sidekicks - me washing dishes and Oi Yen in charge of cutting the vegetables. We worked well as a team. :)

Gan: Nick's so lucky to have 2 cute sous chefs in the kitchen!

The heavenly chicken rice - Nick, now i know one of your secret ingredients!
Gan: The key to good hainanese chicken rice is the way you prep the rice.