I wanted to try Talde, the eponymous restaurant of Chef Dale Talde in Park Slope, for a while, but I admit that I do not like to wait for hours to get a table. So, as I was off on a Monday, we decided to show up for an early dinner.

I was intrigued by the Asian-American menu considering the impressive resume of Chef Talde who worked in renown restaurants (Jean George's Vong in Chicago, Buddakan or Morimoto, to name a few), getting his inspiration from his Filipino's roots. You may have seen him on Top Chef, showing an incredible talent as well as a bad temper...

So, here we are, at Talde in Brooklyn. The 75 seats restaurant has a beautiful decor: black wood with Asian carving, definitely neat and slick.

image of kitchen at Talde in Park Slope, Brooklyn

In the back is the kitchen where you can admire the crew prepare uncommon dishes.

The concept is simple: small or large plates preferably for sharing. So we shared!

Our first appetizer was the yuzu guacamole.

image of yuzu guacamole at Talde in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Served on crispy rice, they propose it with ham or vegetarian. We chose the latter. Not only the presentation was sublime, but it also was scrumptious. I really liked the transition of texture, from the soft guacamole to the crispy rice.

Then, we got the Hawaiian bread buns.

image of Hawaiian bread buns at Talde in Park Slope, Brooklyn

As they come by three, we ordered the three proposed combinations that were served with garlic vinegar mayo and pickled shallots:

Filipino sausage:

Crispy market fish:

Shiitake mushroom:

These little sliders were fantastic, the three of them being packed in flavors. The sausage was my favorite.

Then, we ordered the glass noodle stir fry.

image of glass noodles at Talde in Park Slope, Brooklyn

Not sure what the Buddha style mentioned in the menu means, but it was very good. I admit though that I expected the noodles to be crispy, but it was not the case.

The last dish was the Korean fried chicken:

image of Korean fried chicken at Talde in Park Slope, Brooklyn

It was delicious pieces of chicken (crispy and moist), placed on a kimchi yoghurt sauce that was quite spicy, but so good that I did not care if my mouth was on fire.

It was served with grapes and mint that helped cool off my palate. If you like fried chicken, do not miss this dish.

Thrilled by the originality if the dishes, we were anxious to see the dessert menu. Unfortunately, there was none and they only proposed one dessert that, although original, did not appeal to me. This was really the only disappointment there, the rest if the meal being beyond my expectations. Now I know why there is so much buzz about Talde!

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

I had Momofuku Ssam Bar on my wish list for a while, being a fan of other Momofuku's locations and of their creator, David Chang. Problem is that they do not have that many vegetarian dishes, catering more to meat lovers, especially pork or duck, the later being another reason I wanted to go there, my love for this bird being incommensurable.

Chopsticks at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

We decided to go on a Saturday for lunch, early enough to get a table as they only take reservation for large group and specific menus served for three people or more, like the bo ssäm pork shoulder (serves 6-10 people), the whole-rotisserie duck (serves 3-6 people), or the dry aged ribeye (serves 3-6 people).

Dining room at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

When we arrived, luckily, there were not that many people in this zen and modern restaurant. Twenty minutes after, it was full of people coming to try their menu made of small plates, perfect for sharing, as well as large ones.

Kitchen at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

They sat us in front of the kitchen that is located in the back of the restaurant. It was definitely busy over there, the dishes leaving the kitchen at an incredible pace. Surprisingly, our first plates came within few minutes. The first one was the steamed pork buns, one of the signature dishes of

Momofuku Noodle Bar

and this place.

Steamed Pork Buns at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

These buns, made with pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions were succulent, the cucumber giving a nice crunch, the pork belly being tasty and heavenly fatty and the hoisin sauce giving a fantastic sweetness. Definitely a dish I recommend.

The second dish was the kimchi deviled eggs.

Kimchi Deviled eggs at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

Kimchi is fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables (the most common being cabbage) with a variety of seasonings. Mixing it with the mayo and egg yolk is genius! It was not spicy as I expected and you could taste bits of kimchi that added a bit of texture to the dish.

Then, we shared the edwards ham and egg sandwich:

Ham and egg sandwich at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

It was a nice take on a classic ham end egg sandwich, made with a delicious biscuit (I could eat these with just some butter and honey), a sunny side egg and a red-eye gravy (no idea how they made it, but it was very good). It was served with chicharron that is fried pork skin.

chicharron at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

This is another recommended dish.

The last dish was grilled duck hearts served with red cabbage, sunny side egg and toast.

grilled duck hearts at Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village

The presentation looked very appetizing and a bit surprising as I thought that they would just serve it on a piece of toast rather than breaking the bread into pieces. What I did was to pierce the yolk so it dripped in the bottom of the plate and soaked the bread.

I really liked the dish, the duck hearts not being chewy and having a nice grilled taste and the cabbage adding some crunch and texture. I thought that this was a better dish than the duck hearts dish I had at

Craftbar

last year.

We had a great brunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar. Not surprisingly, the food was original, elaborate and delicious. The only negative is the very limited vegetarian dishes, but I am sure that if you ask they can accommodate you.

Enjoy (I did)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!