Baby Lamb
by Celia Cheng
September 29th, 2008
BUN
143 Grand Street
(Crosby & Lafayette St)
212-431-7999
$
Bun is a pleasant surprise. I am consistently wowed by the delicious flavors of owner Executive Chef Tony Lam’s Vietnamese cuisine. The perfectly balanced ingredients bring out the natural vibrancy of the aromas, juices and flavors in his food. Much of the Vietnamese cuisine in the City either relies on MSG or is too dull in its repetitive use of seasoning. That is not the case here. The herbs, spices and sauces are not an afterthought just to embellish but are carefully orchestrated to match the ingredients in each dish.
Bun focuses on small plates for sharing, in addition to the signature bun (rice vermicelli with or without soup). And with so many fabulous dishes, the small plates are ideal, so you can try more.
For a starter, one of the most memorable dishes is the baby lamb. Tied together by a banana leaf, three pieces of the tenderest, most succulent baby lamb chops sit atop a bed of warm, soft eggplant, pear chutney and anise sauce. The chutney and sauce may make this dish sound “exotic” and overdressed in “fusion,” but believe me it’s not. The pure and simple flavors are subtle, home-style and satisfying.
Two other not-to-be-missed meat dishes are the short ribs and pork ribs (photo above). Served in the same style, they look like large lollipops. The thinly sliced short ribs are wrapped around lemongrass skewers, while the pork ribs are wrapped around sugar cane sticks. And once you bite into one, the meat almost melts in your mouth. My ribs were so tender and juicy that I kept asking Tony how he does it. But that remained a mystery as he told me to just enjoy them.
The Soho shrimp is another dish I crave. It’s tiger shrimp sautéed in coconut green curry accompanied by bun. I’m a sucker for green curry and shrimp, so the combination is ideal, and the bun soaks up all the sweetness and spices from the curry. Yum.
The spring rolls are ironically the only thing I did not love. I’m a stickler for the traditional crisp rice paper-wrapped spring rolls, but the rolls here feel thick and the sauces heavy. They seem to betray themselves by trying to be too creative.
On the lighter side, Bun vegetables is a lovely rendition of the typical Chinese vegetarian dish called Buddha’s delight, which is also on the menu, but instead of the stir fried Buddha’s delight, Bun vegetables is a cold dish. It’s a combination of king and shiitake mushrooms with tofu and herbs. Unlike the sad medley of sautéed vegetables at many Asian restaurants — barely a notch better than chop sui — this dish focuses on flavor and texture. The creamy and meaty mix of mushrooms and springy tofu skins is lightly dressed in a soy sauce and accented with fresh herbs. If there were ever a dish that could convert me to vegetarianism, this would be it.
In addition to the wonderful food, Tony also concocts fun cocktails. My favorite is the Bun Piña Colada. It’s a frozen drink with fresh mint, coconut milk, pineapple juice, organic protein drink, and vodka. The fresh crushed mint emanates throughout this blended drink enhancing the tropical flavors of coconut milk and pineapple juice. Drinks like these that taste like dessert are always dangerous since one hardly detects the alcohol, but it’s definitely there.
Speaking of desserts, I welcomed a change of pace with a hard-to-come-by dessert: durian panna cotta. Durian is the “stinky fruit” revered in Southeast Asia, and it’s definitely an acquired taste. As this exotic fruit is both uncommon in the U.S. and extremely expensive, Bun’s panna cotta may be a good introduction as the cream tames the durian flavor while still giving a feel for the pungent fruit.
As of last month, Bun is open around the clock for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so it’s now a place you can count on getting something delicious at every meal.
Posted in Lamb , Meat , SoHo , Vietnamese
Bacon, Egg, Cheese on an English Muffin
by Celia Cheng
April 20th, 2006
DEB’S CATERING
200 Varick St
(Houston & King St)
212-675-4550
There’s no doubt that Deb’s makes good food. The general gripe is that it’s overpriced, but then again it’s really an issue of supply and demand. If they’ve got what you want to eat and they make it well and there’s no other place nearby that does, then you end up paying the price.
I was on my way to work and looking for breakfast. I skipped past a couple of usual suspects because I wasn’t feeling it from those places. Then I passed by McDonald’s. I recently watched Supersize Me, but — funny enough — the only effect it really had on me was that it made me crave the breakfast at Micky D’s. But I knew I would feel really disgusted afterwards if I had a McDonald’s breakfast, so I tried my hardest to keep walking and convince myself that I have some semblance of will power. (I was staring inside, watching other people eat the whole time I was walking by. :( )
A block away, I spied Deb’s. Having never had breakfast there, I decided to try it out. And what did I do? I recreated my McDonald’s breakfast craving at Deb’s. I asked for bacon, egg and cheese on a roll —- a typical New York deli breakfast. But when I saw that they had English muffins, I changed the order so that I could get as close to an Egg McMuffin as possible (without losing the bacon, of course). I ordered coffee with this and it cost a very reasonable $2.95.
When I got to my office, I opened up the tin foil, which revealed a Deb’s egg muffin dripping with grease. I had visions of myself dying of a heart attack immediately after finishing it — my boss has coined the phrase “heart attack sandwich” for this sort of thing — but I dug in anyway. So let me just tell you, it was the best breakfast sandwich I’ve tasted. Sure it was greasy, but the bacon and eggs were cooked just right.
I love the concept of breakfast sandwiches. But, unfortunately, though they sound like they’ll taste amazing, most of the time the corner deli delivers a lame sandwich that makes you feel gross after eating it — kind of like how you feel after eating at McDonald’s. But Deb’s breakfast sandwich tasted great from beginning to end. There was no bad aftertaste or heartburn. While I’m not recommending this as breakfast everyday, it’s a good craving to satiate everyone once in a while.
Posted in American , Breakfast , SoHo
Smoked Trout Deviled Eggs
by Celia Cheng
February 17th, 2006
PEGU CLUB
77 W Houston St
2nd Floor
(W Broadway & Wooster St)
212-473-PEGU
The great thing about blogs is that you can add amendments, just like the U.S. Constitution, except you can do it whenever you feel like it.
So I went back to Pegu Club after a great first experience. Only this time, it wasn’t before the largest snowstorm in New York in twenty-six years, but on a normal Friday night. And here’s what I found.
I still love the feel of the place, the décor of a colonial Southeast Asian bar. However, a couple of things jumped out at me:
Pegu Club occupies the old space of Shanghai Tide, a Chinese restaurant whose main branch is still located in Flushing. It’s a long railroad-style space that spans the entire length between West Broadway and Wooster streets on the second floor. The strange space didn’t work to Shanghai Tide’s advantage, but for a bar/lounge it’s perfect. The entrance is downstairs, right next to Sweet Melissa’s, the Brooklyn-based patisserie. Pegu Club has used this two-floor complication to its advantage by placing the coat check downstairs. So when you enter, you are greeted by what seems like a bouncer, whose main duty seems to be to intimidate guests. On my way out this time, around 10pm on a Friday night, there were plenty of empty tables to choose from upstairs, but I overheard a party at the coat check asking about availability and getting typical New York attitude: “You might be able to find something.” I find that annoying. It’s unfriendly and pretentious.
This time, I tried two more dishes in addition to the smoked trout deviled eggs, which is still my favorite and so far the only thing I want to introduce. Service is slow although not entirely unpleasant. One thing that caught my eye that bothered me was the fact that they carry out Brita pitchers to refill your tap water. I find it to be supremely unnatural to see the waitresses walking around with Brita pitchers across the floor. There is just something not right about this picture. I guess I’m supposed to be glad that they actually filter their tap water, but I don’t need to see this.
I was less impressed this time and am not so excited to keep Pegu Club as a part of my regular repertoire. But at least I can say that I tried.
Posted in Drinks , Eclectic , SoHo
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The Old Cuban
by Celia Cheng
February 11th, 2006
PEGU CLUB
77 W Houston St
2nd Floor
(W Broadway & Wooster St)
212-473-PEGU
I consider myself a pretty open-minded person, but through documenting my food adventures, I realized that I am rather prejudiced. I tend to pre-judge a restaurant by its location, chef, owner, décor, reviews and recommendations even before I have had the chance to try it out. But then again, is it really prejudice or just trying to exert good judgment by assessing the situation with existing knowledge, information gathering, and plain intuition? Most of the time, I feel justified by my initial gut reaction, but occasionally, there are those places about which I have negative premonitions that are proven wrong by actual trial — those are always the best surprises.
Pegu Club is one such place — I was afraid it would be a trendy, pretentious and overly exotic bar that was all hype based on bought publicity — and I was happy to be proven wrong. Okay, so it is a little exotic since it aims to replicate the original Pegu Club, a British officer’s club in Burma from the late 1800s, but our SoHo version does have heart and soul. Its goal is to revive the cocktail culture. I’m not talking about the Sex and the City cocktail culture but the actual art of making good cocktails, the classic Savoy Cocktail Book type of culture — and they are doing a good job. The drinks are fun and delicious, the snack menu equally enticing and the colonial Southeast Asian décor comfortable and relaxing (when not overly crowded).
I only had about an hour and a half to spend here before dinner, but I did manage to have two rounds of The Old Cuban, a champagne mojito, (it was so yummy, one just wasn’t enough) and accompanied my drinks with the smoked trout deviled eggs, which were also supremely tasty. I had to rush off to dinner but was already planning my return to try more cocktails and snacks.
I like Pegu Club’s style. It’s elegant, with the drinks and food portions small, as the idea is to appreciate rather than gorge or get sloshed. The drinks are a bit pricey, but I find it to be the ideal place to meet up for drinks and a light bite before dinner any night of the week. The service was a bit sloppy, with waitresses gliding around as if to showcase their very cute dresses and less attractive attitudes rather than to serve, but at the end of the day, I was so delighted with my The Old Cubans and smoked trout deviled eggs, little could bother me.
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Classic Egg Salad Sandwich
by Celia Cheng
August 9th, 2005
OLIVE’S
120 Prince St
(Wooster & Greene St)
212-941-0111
This egg salad sandwich is the special sandwich available only every second Tuesday of the month. How very clever of Olive’s. Just once a month makes me crave it all the more! And while it’s called a classic egg salad sandwich, the combination of the roasted red onion’s caramel taste and the pungent flavor of the watercress make it unusual and delicious.
Although egg salad is one of those basic comfort foods that I do crave, I rarely order it in a deli or diner because they can be extremely bland and unfresh. Olive’s egg salad is a delightful surprise as it is original in taste and very fresh.
For such a small take-out place, I am always amazed at the consistency of quality and how yummy everything is. The menu is never boring given the variety of daily specials, and the fresh ingredients and outstanding recipes really make this institution a landmark in SoHo.
I had a half sandwich and soup for lunch today and by the time I finished that half sandwich I was already craving another.
Posted in American , Sandwich , SoHo
