Bun Rieu (crab cake poached in tangy pork tomato broth w/ rice noodles)
by Celia Cheng
April 29th, 2008
TET
83 Ave A
(5th & 6th St)
212-253-0800
$
Tet is the Vietnamese New Year, the celebration of a new beginning, and it’s a good name for Steven Duong’s new restaurant in Alphabet City. Mr. Duong also owns Nam in Tribeca and O Mai in Chelsea, both longtime local favorites. Nam is one of my top choices in Vietnamese restaurants, especially for the seafood dumplings in soup, so I was eager to try Tet and see what other treats were in store.
Modern, bold and dark, the décor of the restaurant makes me feel at ease while I enjoy the mouth-watering dishes coming out of the kitchen. At Tet, maroon and purple colored walls are accented by beautiful cream-colored, crocheted lampshades. All of which speak of good taste. Likewise, the menu is straightforward and the staff friendly.
I really enjoyed the food. The ingredients are fresh, and the flavors are balanced and subtle. My friend and I started with the chia gio, shrimp, pork, crab and vegetable spring rolls deep fried in rice paper and served with fresh herbs, lettuce wrap and lime dipping sauce. This is my favorite type of spring roll throughout Asian cuisine, and though they seem like a staple on most Vietnamese restaurant menus, good ones are not always easy to come by. Chinatown offers many that are greasy and laden with MSG. Other fusion Vietnamese restaurants often vary the stuffing and lose the balance of flavors. But Tet’s spring rolls are just right. The fried rice paper is thin and light but also chewy. There were only two pieces of lettuce for four spring rolls, and they were used as garnish sitting underneath everything else, which led me to believe that most people don’t use the lettuce as a wrap, but they should, as it tastes so good and fresh with some herbs tucked in.
On my second visit, looking for something a little lighter, I chose the banh xeo(coconut rice flour crepe filled with scallions, shrimp, chicken, bean sprouts, served with fresh herbs, lettuce wrap, and lime dipping sauce) as an appetizer. Though similar, this was even better than the spring rolls. The coconut rice flour crepe is so light and crisp, and the lettuce wrap and dipping sauce are the same, so depending on your mood, spring rolls or crepes are both good starters.
The goi sua, jellyfish, shrimp and cucumber salad topped with peanuts and tangy chili dressing was less spectacular. I like my jellyfish crunchy even though it’s slimy, but the jellyfish in this salad was a bit limp. Still the ingredients paired well, especially the crushed peanuts that added a nutty flavor and the crunch I was missing.
Dinner’s highlight was the bun rieu, poached crab cake, meatballs and rice noodles in a tangy pork tomato broth. In fact, I returned two nights later just to have this dish because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The juicy little meatballs are made with pork and a crab paste that’s ground and sautéed with lemon grass and hot peppers. Plump pieces of halved tomatoes complement the thin strings of rice noodles in a wonderfully tasty tomato pork broth. But the most fabulous part is the fresh crabmeat coated in egg, which, when poached, becomes incredibly tender and floats delicately to the surface. Bits of Thai basil add a burst of fresh flavor, and shreds of raw cabbage create a crunchy contrast. There are quite a few ingredients here, but the flavors, working in unison, are both luscious and subtle. It’s high-end comfort food at its best.
My companion ordered ga nuong, lemon grass chicken, for main, and, being a food snob, I wasn’t planning on touching it. In my mind, lemon grass chicken is as banal as Vietnamese food can get and the thought of a piece of boring roasted white meat arriving at the table was devastating. However, Tet’s lemon grass chicken is delicious. Both dark and white meat are served sliced, and while by nature white meat will never be as tender as dark, it was not dry and, in fact, very flavorful. Dipping the chicken in the garlic-heavy, tangy lime sauce made it even better. This is a real pleasure to have with white rice. What a pleasant surprise!
The only disappointment was dessert. We ordered a coconut tapioca soup with banana, palm seeds and jackfruit topped with toasted sesame seeds. It arrived lukewarm (it should either be hot or cold but not in between) and tasted rather bland with the tapioca too soft from overcooking. I’m a sesame seed fanatic and these should have been toasted so as to bring out the aroma and also create a crunchier texture. Instead, the seeds were stale.
I am happy to skip dessert, so if we don’t count that blunder, Tet is very good. I look forward to adding it to my list of Southeast Asian favorites, which also includes Fatty Crab and Café Asean.
Posted in Alphabet City , Noodles , Pork , Seafood , Vietnamese
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Salad-Topped Baked Potato
by Celia Cheng
April 28th, 2008
TOTALLY BAKED
8 West 18th St
(5th & 6th Ave)
646-336-6118
I love potatoes! I once designed a book called “Potatoes are Our Friends.” I even named my company “P. de Terre” short for pomme de terre, which is potato in French. Back in school, for a class project, I conceived of a potato restaurant, but apparently someone has beaten me to the punch.
Totally Baked is a baked potato bar located across from City Bakery on 18th Street. Jason Apfelbaum has revamped his original catering outlet Chef & Company, taking the concept of lowbrow baked potatoes, sprucing up the toppings, and creating a specialty fast food store. And it seems to work as there’s always a line whether it’s noon or 3pm. It’s comforting to know that in image-obsessed New York City, there are still hearty potato fans who refuse to take carbs out of their diet.
The menu offers baked potatoes in five categories: favorites (served in baked Yukon Golds with a small side salad), famous (reserved exclusively for the truffle), fresh (cold salads served over a large wedge of baked Idaho), sweet (sweet potatoes), and create (any three toppings of your choice).
Within favorites, besides the classic (chive, sour cream, applewood smoked bacon and cheddar), there are a handful of fun options such as pulled pork (pulled pernil pork and Mexican slaw), brisket (braised beef brisket, parsley and marsala reduction), and wild mushroom (chanterelle, shitake, oysters, crimini mushrooms, shallots, chives and shaved Manchego).
Most potatoes are between $7 and $11, but much buzz has been around the $55 truffle potato that’s topped with truffle compound butter, truffle oil, truffle salt and fresh truffle shavings.
My favorite is the fresh category — the salad potatoes. There are six choices: spinach, Caesar, chopped, chevre, seared ahi tuna or nova. On my first visit, I ordered the ahi. It’s sushi grade tuna, romaine, seaweed salad, sesame seeds and ginger vinaigrette. It sounded like a disaster to me, with too much going on, and trying too hard for an Asian bent, but in the large display photo, it looked appetizing, so I tried it. Ironically, this is now one of my top cravings.
I also tried the chopped, with romaine, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas, feta cheese and a creamy balsamic dressing. But when I got my potato, the avocado was missing, so I went back to the counter to inquire. They use guacamole instead of whole avocados, and they were happy to give me a side of it. Once I smothered the potato with guacamole, it was perfect. I like the fresh category because the salad dressing provides good seasoning and moisture for the potato so that it’s not so dry. And salad on a potato is lighter and healthier than the other alternatives. Baked potatoes actually aren’t bad for you; it’s just greasy toppings that make them unhealthy. The salad potatoes fill me up without leaving me stuffed. In fact, three to four hours later, my stomach starts to growl.
From the favorites, I tried the Cape Cod Chowder, but found it disappointing. The topping of creamed cod and potato, sautéed onions, parsley, garlic and grated Manchego was heavy and sparse, leaving me with a dry potato that I didn’t want to pick at anymore.
Totally Baked is predominantly a take-out business, and for those in a rush, the line moves fast and the staff is eager to please. But for those who want to eat in, there are seats along the wall across from the service counter. And don’t miss the framed 1970s storyboard sketches of a Mr. Potato Head commercial by the entrance. It’s not fine dining but it’s fun, and at the end of the day, I just can’t resist potatoes.
Posted in American , Flat Iron District , Potato
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Dim Sum
by Celia Cheng
April 16th, 2008
CHINATOWN BRASSERIE
380 Lafayette St
@ Great Jones St
212-533-7000
The more I eat at Chinatown Brasserie, the more I like their dim sum. It has to be some of the best in town. The prices aren’t cheap compared to Chinatown – ironically, the restaurant is not in Chinatown but in the trendier area of NoHo — but I certainly don’t mind paying for good food. Lately, when I crave dim sum or fried rice, Chinatown Brasserie is the first place that comes to mind.
I prefer Chef Joe Ng’s dim sum to the rest of the menu, because everything from the steamed dumplings to the pan-fried goods is just scrumptious.
I always start with the shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings. The steamed roast pork buns are fluffy and the pork juicy. The turnip cake with ham and XO sauce is near perfection with just the right consistency of crispy on the outside and creamy inside. XO sauce is a Hong Kong specialty of dried seafood cooked in chili oil. It makes everything taste good, as proven by another dish, the seafood and pork fried rice with XO sauce. This gogi berry-topped fried rice is spectacular, as the rice stays white and silky smooth, while the seafood and pork add rich flavor and aroma. Plus it’s not overly greasy. The shrimp rice noodle rolls are a staple favorite, and even though I don’t eat the ginger that accompanies, some friends love it.
The highlight for me is always the crispy taro root shrimp. Taro has a neutral flavor but is starchy in its consistency like potato, so the Chinese use it for both sweet and savory dishes. This one is savory and comes in the shape of a bird, served four to a plate. A long, thin piece of baked dough acts as the head attached to the body of the bird. The body is a complex mixture of ingredients that work beautifully together: shrimp are split, stuffed with a shredded mushroom mixture, and then covered with a chilled mashed taro paste. When deep fried, the exterior of the paste turns lacy, like a thousand delicate shreds, which form the body of the bird. And appropriately, the shrimp tail is proudly displayed as the tail of the bird. The sweet mustard sauce is a good complement.
And for the finale, I swear by the custard bao. These tiny bite-size custard-filled buns are dreamy.
This is definitely one of those restaurants where the food is first and foremost. Sometimes I find the service to be a little vacant, but that’s easily overlooked because there are so many dishes I crave. Hooray for good dim sum!
Posted in Brunch , Chinese , Dim Sum , Dumpling , East Village , Rice
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Shiromaru Ramen
by Celia Cheng
March 31st, 2008
IPPUDO
65 4th Ave
(9th & 10th St)
212-388-0088
For ramen-crazed New York City, we have another newcomer. Following in Setagaya’s and Santoka’s footsteps, another Japanese ramen chain has ventured into the U.S. market: Ippudo.
A mere two blocks away from me on 4th Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets, I was excited to learn that I had another noodle option in the East Village.
Ippudo officially opens on March 31st, but since it’s soft opening on March 24th, it’s been packed. I popped in at lunchtime yesterday to see if I could grab a quick bite, but there was a ten-minute wait and I was in a rush. Determined to have my Hakata ramen, I went back today and found myself sitting at a round communal table, full of strangers all equally eager to try this new joint.
Seating at Ippudo includes three large booths, a long rectangular table, a round table made out of a tree trunk, a bar-like seating that wraps around a pillar, and a hidden back room with tables that seems more like a lounge area. The atmosphere is that of a lively izakaya with modern décor and loud J-pop (Japanese pop) playing in the background. Both the atmosphere and the prices show that they obviously spent a lot more money on the place than their competitor, Setagaya. Also in contrast to Setagaya, whose wait staff seem to be mostly clueless, the all-Japanese wait and kitchen staff at Ippudo are polite and enthusiastic.
The man to my left speaking Japanese on his cell phone was saying that the ramen was overpriced and that it was targeted toward non-Japanese. He didn’t think Ippudo was going to survive based on the prices. Indeed, $12-13 for a bowl of ramen is high, and if you add any sides, lunch is easily over $20, which is pricey for fast food. Yet the restaurant was packed and bustling with activity. To my right, another lone diner stayed on his cell phone until his food arrived. I was annoyed at all the cell phone activity, but I suppose this is not a place that encourages true comfort since the ramen business is based on quick turnover.
Ippudo specializes in Hakata (Kyushu-style) tonkotsu (pork bone soup) ramen. The original flavor of tonkotsu ramen or Ippudo’s original version, shiromaru (white) moto-aji (original flavor), is served in a rich white broth with scallions, roast pork, cabbage and seaweed. They have two other types of ramen: akamaru (red) shin-aji (new flavor) that is even richer with a heavier umami flavor, and karakamen, which is spicy. At lunch, you can add a rice dish, such as mentaiko (spicy cod roe) rice or roasted pork rice, for an additional $3. I chose the former. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the rice to be that spectacular. According to their website, the overall menu has been modified to accommodate the American palate, but shreds of cabbage in the rice instead of the traditional Japanese pickles and seaweed just taste wrong. Like the side rice dish included in the lunch set at Soba Totto, these seem like afterthoughts and don’t really match in flavor with either the ramen or soba that they are meant to accompany.
Since my visit, Ippudo NY seems to have made other non-traditional modifications to the menu by adding shoyu (soy sauce) and miso ramen (both $12) and tsukemen ($16). These are not part of the repertoire at Ippudo’s Japan stores as they are not Hakata style ramen. My ramen fanatic friend Sarah told me that New York’s Ippudo is also missing all the table condiments that they have in their Japan stores, including karashi-takana — pickled leaf mustard with chili commonly eaten with Hakata ramen. How can they shaft us on the good stuff?! They need to get those condiments into the New York store! She’s also a stickler for katamen (al dente) and recommends getting an order of the kaedama (extra) noodles if you like your noodles extra springy.
You can read thorough descriptions of Ippudo’s history and philosophy as well as the history of ramen itself on Ippudo NY’s website. I hope they add their menu to the site soon; that’s what always gets my mouth watering. For the time being, here’s a look at the goods on the Japanese site.
All in all, the ramen and soup are good, and I’m sure, despite my neighbor’s comments about price point, Ippudo will do just fine. I’m glad it’s here, but for all this hype around it’s opening, I feel it’s just an ordinary neighborhood noodle shop.
Posted in East Village , Japanese , Noodles
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Porterhouse Steak
by Celia Cheng
March 31st, 2008
BENJAMIN STEAK HOUSE
52 E 41st St
(Madison & Park Ave)
212-297-9177
If there’s one thing a steak house should be, it’s grand! And Benjamin Steak House, in the century-old, Chemist Club-building-turned-Dylan Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, is exactly that.
Once inside the restaurant, a long, dark corridor leads to the heart of the restaurant, revealing the opulent main dining room with remarkably high ceilings, white columns, brass chandeliers, and a staircase that winds up to the second level dining area — a great seating option as it’s an open mezzanine overlooking the first floor. The lighting is dim to match the décor that I had read, “evokes a bygone era.” Before actually seeing the place, though, I was afraid that this characterization might translate to cheesy, but the restaurant interior is nothing short of gorgeous.
Benjamin Steak House is the collaborative endeavor of Peter Luger alumni: owner, Benjamin Prelvukaj and Chef Arturo McLeod. They are among a handful of Luger alum that have opened steakhouses in New York in recent years, paying tribute to the Luger tradition, but unlike the brash and dismissive treatment at Luger’s, Benjamin’s service is impeccable.
More precisely, our waiter was impeccable. His nametag read “Benny,” but his Eastern European accent suggested that “Benny” was probably a convenient Americanization of some other name. Benny, actually Besim Lajqi from Kosovo, seemed much younger than most of his colleagues, and perhaps because of that, at first my ageism got the better of me as I wondered if he knew what he was doing. However, at only twenty-two, Besim knows correct, old world service better than ninety percent of the servers I’ve encountered in New York. Throughout our meal, he was attentive but not overbearing and quick to pick up on details and jokes. The courses were well paced, and Besim divided the food evenly and expertly between mine and my sister’s plates. He did not appear offended when we didn’t take his recommendations, but we eventually realized our error in not trusting him. Professional and charming is what we hope every server can be, but that is most often not the case. We certainly lucked out with “Benny.”
My sister and I enjoyed a classic steak dinner, starting with iceberg wedges with blue cheese and jumbo shrimp cocktail. For main, the porterhouse for two was a combination of sirloin and filet mignon. I found the filet mignon a bit stringy, but the sirloin was stellar and there’s no doubt that the quality of the dry-aged beef was first rate, as the slices of steak were succulent and juicy. I was satisfied but couldn’t finish it all, so I took some leftovers home and gave them a second try. The only problem was that in heating them up, I cooked the initially perfectly medium rare cuts to medium well, which might have been a complete tragedy if the meat had not been able stand on its own. But they stood up to my overcooking, and still retained great flavor!
The side of German potatoes cooked golden brown was a cross between crispy and soggy and didn’t add anything to the meal, and the creamed spinach (a secret recipe, not made with cream) veered towards ordinary, too. I was excited for the homemade schlag (whipped cream) that came with the key lime pie and mixed berries for dessert, but that also disappointed as it was heavy and weighed down, not light or refreshing.
Potatoes and desserts aside, if you’re craving a steak in an elegant old school setting, do consider Benjamin Steak House. Have a cocktail at the bar while taking in the décor, and then enjoy a classic meal with quality meats and superb service. (And don’t forget to ask for Benny!)
Posted in American , Beef , Midtown East , Steak
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