Ramen at East Noodle and Izakaya in NYC, New York

As the weather is still good to enjoy ramen (meaning not in the heat of the Summer!), we decided to go have this delicious dish for lunch. At first, we wanted to go to Ramen Setagaya, even if it had a B rating...As we were there early, we decided to walk around the block. We then saw Ramen Misoya that had miso ramen with corn that, from what I understand, is typical from Hokaido. So we decided to go there instead, despite the same B rating. Again, as we had a bit of time, we walked further and this is how we found East Noodle and Izakaya with its A rating. Imagine that at that point, we had 3 choices and had to decide how to pick; well, it was not that complicated: we chose the restaurant with the highest grade! That is how we ended up at East Noodle and Izakaya.

It is a nice size restaurant compared to the other ones and was not very crowded. 

The decor is very colorful with beautiful lanterns surrounding the counter and dark wood for the floor and furniture.

Jodi ordered the Shoyu ramen, that is made of a pork broth with soy sauce, braised pork, vegetable and a boiled egg.

Lunch at Midtown Philly Steaks in Hoboken, New Jersey

Why aren't cheesesteaks as popular as burgers? I do not know! Because cheesesteaks are fantastic, as long as, for me, they meet three criteria:

• Soft bread,
• Tender and juicy meat,
• Lots of cheese.

I have been a big fan of cheesesteaks after I tried them at Geno's in Philly (check out my cheesesteak experience in Philly).

So we went to Midtown Philly Steaks on Washington street for lunch. The place used to be another cheesesteak joint called Philly Cheese Steak Hoboken. I never tried it, but decided to try the new one.

The place is small, with only 6 seats.

Two of the seats overlooking the street.

The menu offers cheesesteaks, but also chicken, salads and hoagies.

Japanese Burger at Kobeyaki in NYC, New York

A Japanese burger! Doesn't that sound cool? Well, that was something I had to definitely try! In fact, I noticed Kobeyaki few weeks ago, when we went to BRGR.

The place has a nice and simple decor that is a mix between a burger joint and a Japanese restaurant.

The way it works is that you first order the food and then pick it up at the pick up counter.

You can order burgers, rolls, bowls, salad or soups. We were there of course for the burgers! Once it is ready, just pick up your tray full of these nicely wrapped items you just ordered!

Each burger was served with  lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, scallions and kaiware (daikon radish). Jodi ordered the veggie burger:

Danish cuisine at Aamanns Copenhagen in NYC, New York

As I mentioned in my bio,  I tend to talk more about food than anything else when I come back from a trip, even if I was astonished with what I have seen...For me, traveling is a whole experience: I will not go to, let say for argument sake, Italy and eat French food or a burger! I will want to eat some local food. Traveling everywhere is a nice wish, if not a dream. But eating different cuisines is not, especially in New York City, where there are so many restaurants that serve food I would have never tried before. For instance, you do not need to go to Ethiopia to eat Ethiopian food! Well, now, you do not have to go to Denmark to try Danish food! We wanted to try Danish food because Jodi has a friend, a fellow artist named Anne (you can check Anne's website here), who lives in Denmark and we were curious about the Danish cuisine. Anne mentioned Aamanns-Coppenhagen in Tribeca; so here we are!

I have to say that I did not know what to expect from that place. This place has a spectacular setting: the ceilings are very, very high and they have an incredible bar with a shelf that goes so high that I doubt anybody would try to get the bottle on top! The furniture is modern and looks a bit like the furniture you would find at Ikea in term of style (well maybe a Scandinavian style?). What I truly appreciated there is the fact that there was space between tables (great, I did not have to hear the conversation of the other guests)!

After we sat, they brought us a bottle of water that had a black stick in it.

At first, I thought it was some sort of licorice to give a taste to the water, but there was no specific taste. So we asked the waitress and she told us that it was Japanese charcoal, used to purify water. I am glad that I did not try to take a bite of it! 

Of course, waiting for the food, I ordered a glass of Aquavit, a snaps distilled from grains or, in Denmark, from potatoes.

Croque Monsieur at La Maison du Croque Monsieur in NYC, New York

Union Square has lots of cheap and delicious eateries, probably because of the proximity of NYU. Our last discovery is La Maison Du Croque Monsieur, the place of Yves Jadot and Alberto Benenati from La Petit Abeille.

I do not remember that Croque Monsieur was that popular when I was in France. My Mom used to cook it from time to time, very simply, and there were even, sometimes, some variation of it, with Crème fraîche and a slice of tomato. Because Croque Monsieur was a quick and simple sandwich to make, we never put any Béchamel sauce. The original version of Croque Monsieur was with cheese (usually Emmental or Gruyère cheese) and ham. The béchamel inside and outside makes it a fancier version, not to mention when there is béchamel and cheese on top: even fancier!

So, La Maison Du Croque Monsieur is serving a simpler version, as well as some variation of it, using cheese from Murray's. 

It is a small place with two tiny floors. We ordered and then went upstairs where they brought us our food.

Of course, we decided to try the original Croque Monsieur, Croque Mr Henry, made with jambon de Paris (ham), Béchamel sauce and a choice of cheese (we picked Comté  from France).

Burger at Hoboken Bar & Grill in Hoboken, New Jersey

I was craving a burger and Hoboken, with its many, many bars, has a lot to offer. We could have gone to Five Guys, but I wanted to try something new. That is how we ended up at the Hoboken Bar & Grill on Washington street. The new part of the experience over there concerned the burger as we already ate there once. I remember that I had sliders and did not really like them because they were too dry; but I have to admit that cooking sliders is not that easy as the piece of meat is so small, it is easy to overcook it.

So here we are, in the dining room, close to the large bar. Of course, eating in a bar, the music was so loud that it was difficult to hear the conversation...

So, we ordered our food. Jodi went for the egg white omelet, made with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and goat cheese.

Neapolitan Pizza at San Matteo Pizzeria in NYC, New York

After watching the TV show "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" that took place in Naples, and seeing some mouth watering Neapolitan pizza, we decided to try San Matteo on the Upper East Side. What I did not know, before watching the show and looking on the internet, is that there are certain rules to follow for the pizza to be called Neapolitan. These rules can be found on the website of The True Neapolitan Pizza Association. For instance:

• The dough ball must weigh between 180 and 250 grams.
• ingredients should be flour type "00", sea salt and water with a Ph of 6 to 7 (with a temperature of 20 to 22 degree Celsius). The yeast must be compressed, biologically produced.
• The pizza is created with a single dough ball, with a motion from the center outward, and with the pressure from the fingers from both hands. From the center, the thickness must be about 0.4 cm (+ or - 10%) and the border 1 to 2 cm.

These are just few examples, but there are plenty of rules such as which tomatoes to use. And I do not know why, but knowing this made me look at the pizza differently!

So here we are on the Upper East Side, excited to go to a restaurant that is making such pizza. Walking there, I have to say that we could have missed it, also because we were not expecting such a tiny place!

I liked the place: small with a lot of character, it had some authenticity to it and a rustic feel.

Bibimbap at Bann in NYC, New York

You know, sometimes you taste a dish and it becomes The Dish you would like to try in many restaurants, to find out which one serves the best, if the flavors can be different from one restaurant to another or simply because you like it! For me, it is all of that for Bibimbap! What is strange is that I do not have the same reaction with fried rice, although Bibimbap could be compared to it in a certain way (I hope I am not offending anybody...).

One of my colleagues, Hamid, suggested to try Bann, a Korean restaurant that also has bar and lounge at the entrance, making it look fancy.

The layout of the restaurant is quite interesting in fact: when you enter, you pass the bar, then the kitchen with its counter, and then you see this big dining room that was very dark.

After we ordered, they brought us the usual Banchan, these small dishes they serve you in Korean restaurants.

Brunch at Zafra's in Hoboken, NJ

We went to Zafra few years ago for lunch and then dinner and decided to go back after we saw an article about the 15 best hot chocolate in the US where Zafra was nominated #15. So, we decided to complete out experience with brunch! 

Zafra is the creation of Cuban-born business partners and friends Maricel E. Presilla and Clara Chaumont and has been opened more than a decade ago in Hoboken. The place is small, with only 22 seats. We decided to go early so we would not have to wait as, previously, we saw people waiting outside. The place was still empty, but started to get packed at about 12:30pm. 

We, of course, ordered the hot chocolate and picked some dishes. Unfortunately, when ordering, they told us that their fryer died and they could not serve anything that was cooked in it! In fact, half of the menu was unavailable. I prefer when they tell us in advance, so I am not disappointed because I pick dishes that are not available. What was surprising though is that they did not even serve plantains because of the fryer! Don't they know that you can fry food in a regular pan???  After few minutes, we finally found some dishes they were able to make...

First came the hot chocolate. 

Press Dinner at Thalassa in Tribeca - NYC, New York

If you follow this blog, you will probably think that this is deja vu! No, you are not mistaken: I went to Thalassa already for a press dinner and the review was just ok as there were some mishaps. So, their PR proposed that I come back as they acknowledged that there were some issues that night I went. I accepted of course as, after I wrote my review and posted it, I checked other bloggers' reviews and they seem ecstatic about that place. After all, everybody can have a bad day and I wonder if, knowing that you will serve people who will write about your food, can add a bit of pressure to the kitchen.

As a reminder, when you will read this revisiting post, please remember that the restaurant knew who we were and served us a complementary tasting menu of their choice.

So what makes Thalassa different from other Greek restaurants in the city? It is definitely the fish selection. Anyway, doesn't Thalassa mean "The Sea"?

They have this great fish display where you can see the fish selection and you can order fish by the pound.

In fact, the Chef, Raphael Abrahante, told us that he tries to only buy wild fish as opposed to farm raised. Of course, the price will be different from the market to the plate.

So, here I was at Thalassa, still remembering the place: modern with a spectacular decor designed by a French architect, Jean-Pierre Heim. The bar still looked fantastic with the blue lights and I decided this time to order a ouzo mojito, as we were waiting for other guests to arrive.

The cocktail was pretty good, combining perfectly the anise flavor of the ouzo and the mint. They definitely score some points on the cocktails as I still remember the delicious Greek Pear Martini I had last time.

Once everybody was there, we sat at the table and started our dinner. It seemed very familiar: olive oil, olives, eggplant with roasted red pepper and crostini.

Then, started our culinary adventure that I thought would not stop...

The Cod Fritter:

It was a perfect bite: tasty and not greasy, this is the type of dish I would for sure eat at Happy Hour.

Otto Enoteca & Pizzeria in NYC, New York

I am a big fan of Chef Mario Batali and used to watch him on Iron Chef America. I love his spirit and creativity; he does not seems, at least on TV, to be one of these Chefs who think they are better than everybody else. What he did with Checf Bastianich at Eataly is phenomenal, bringing the best of Italian food in the heart of NYC!

So, this time, we went to Otto Enoteca & Pizzeria. The place is big, with three main rooms. The first one reminds me of Eataly with the high tables where you can have some delicious food:

We sat at the main dining room, that was very classy but had a rustic feel to it. 

Another similarity with Eataly is the way they serve bread, in brown paper, with some delicious olive oil:

Interestingly, they played some Italian opera, that sometimes was a bit too aggressive for my ears, but quite funny considering that I could easily imagine Chef Batali singing it while cooking.

We decided to share some antipasti (from my most to least favorite - clockwise):

Dinner at The Turtle Club in Hoboken, New Jersey

We were looking for a new dining experience in Hoboken and the name of that place, The Turtle Club, caught our eyes (ears? or even stomach?) This is a very old place for sure and I think the owners kept the old atmosphere alive inside: lots of wood and an arch between the two main rooms. The place was very dark and we only saw the room on the right side of the restaurant. In fact, I am not sure if I should call that a restaurant or a bar with a menu...

It was a Tuesday night and there was not that many people there at the beginning; people came later. We started off with bruschetta.

For $8, you can pick three different kinds. We decided to go with: 

• Gorgonzola and toasted garlic.
• Tomato and basil with olive oil.
• Goat cheese and balsamic honey glaze.

It took forever for the food to come and I do not mind if the food is exceptional, but it was not the case: this was so disappointing! The bread was barely toasted; the tomato and basil was dry. At the end, I only liked the other two because you can just spread the goat cheese or gorgonzola on a piece of bread and they would be good. No need to be a Chef to do it right!

Then, I ordered the fish tacos:

It was three tilapia tacos with a soft taco shell stuffed with corn salsa, romaine, cilantro and sour cream. On the side was a very average (and not homemade I guess) guacamole and a very dry rice and black beans. Let me start by telling you that I did not finish the dish. The fish was dry / overcooked and tasted very fishy. 

Jodi went for the ginger and soy glazed mahi mahi:

The mahi mahi was also dry / overcooked. Too bad because the sauce was pretty good.

So at the end of the day, it was not a great experience: the wait staff seemed overwhelmed although very courteous and attentive to our needs and I would think, based on what we got there, that the issue was the kitchen. This was really a forgettable experience and I think that they should probably stick to bar dishes instead of trying to make a food that is too elaborate. Although, one would think that fish taco are not that complicated....

Enjoy (the post)!

Lunch at Benoit in NYC, New York

I had lunch at Benoit recently! Benoit is a classic Parisian brasserie that Chef Alain Ducasse opened in 2008, replacing La Cote Basque. What I did not know is that there is an original Benoit in Paris that opened in 1912 by Benoit Matray. This family restaurant was then sold in 2005 to Alain Ducasse. I might have to check that out the next time I am in Paris, although, it seems to be a bit pricey (not that the one in NYC is not)...

I was excited for sure as I recently read some articles about Alain Ducasse who was ranked number 6 Most successful Chef by Forbes in 2012 and number 1 of the French Chefs in revenue: 120 Million Euros, 27 restaurants all over the world and 19 Michelin stars (the second is Joel Robuchon with 75 Million Euros, 16 restaurants and 28 Michelin stars). 

People often say that Benoit is a casual brasserie: I kind of disagree! It is an upscale brasserie with a splendid decor, especially the huge vase in the back of the dining room, the walls covered in mirrors and the old style ads.

While we were waiting for out meal to come, they brought us some delicious  gougères, that are cheese puffs (choux).

These savory delicacies were light and airy. They are a bad idea to serve before lunch, because you can't stop eating them!!!

Burger at BRGR in NYC, New York

It had probably been 2 years since I went to BRGR that used to be one of my favorite burger restaurant. You probably wonder why I did not come back if it was so good. The answer is simple: there are so many places that are serving burgers now, that I really wanted to try different ones. So, I was excited to go!!!

The restaurant is still the same: two large tables at the entrance (8 seats), seats at the counter or close to it, and the tables with a very colorful banquette made of cushion that looks like buns. 

Concerning the food, you first order at the counter and then they give you a number to identify where they have to bring the order. You can either pick the burgers they propose, or build your own. For this, you have to pick:

- the patty (grass fed beef, turkey or veggie),

- the bun (brioche or whole wheat),

- the cheese (cheddar, american...)

- the sauce (ketchup, mayo...)

- toppings (mushrooms, onions, pickles...)

Jodi got the beef patty with a brioche bun, cheddar, sauteed mushrooms and pickles.

Tasting of Chocolate by Ayo

One of my colleagues, Fabien, brought one day some chocolates that one of his friends, Ayo, was making and started to sell over the internet. I told him that I would be interested to do a review, as long as it was understood that if I did not like the chocolates, I would have to be honest about it (honest, not mean of course!). He said that he would speak with his friend and few weeks later, I met with Ayo Yusuf, the founder of Chocolate by Ayo who brought me a box of chocolates for tasting. 

What is interesting is that Ayo, who was born in Nigeria, is an architect and not a pastry Chef, who discovered a passion for truffles after reading an article about two sisters chocolatiers. Once he had perfected some recipes, he decided to offer them on the web. Think about it: the web is how lots of businesses started, allowing them to perfect their product(s) and see if there was a demand for it. That is how for instance Stick and Pop, that I visited back in 2012, started, before opening their first place downtown.

More interesting is that 15% of each purchase will either go as a donation to a charity that you pick, or to a charity that Chocolate by Ayo selects. I think that it is a fantastic concept: you cannot feel guilty of succumbing to the pleasure of eating these delicacies as you are surely doing it for charity, right?

So, here I am, ready for my tasting. Of course, I did not need to be pushed for that. First, I noticed that the packaging was very professional. I opened the box and discovered two layers of truffles, each layer made by four different truffles, some of them with a decoration on top (I love when there are layers because when you sadly think you are done, there are still some chocolates under...). All the truffles had a different shape: a dome, a heart, round...

Burger at Colicchio and Sons in NYC, New York

Last year, we went to Colicchio and Sons for Jodi's Birthday and had a memorable dinner there! In my post (check out my review of Colicchio and Sons here), I mentioned this guy at the bar who ordered a burger that looked delicious. So this time, we decided to try it out! 

Imagine this burger, called the TC burger: the blend of meat (apparently secret) is topped with drunken onions (in wine) and aged pecorino cheese, and then gently squeezed between a homemade brioche bun previously toasted. 

The burger was served with homemade BBQ chips and a pickle.