Butoni Pasta

One last thing before I leave- I recently had a wonderful opportunity to try Buitoni Riserva pastas, courtesy of Foodbuzz. When I agreed to test out this new brand extension, I was apathetic about getting the product. My experience with supermarket pastas have not been good. I've had chalky store-bought tortellini and mushy pre-made ravioli before. I prefer getting take out from a restaurant or making my own. So when I received the box of Wild Mushroom Agnolotti from Foodbuzz in a UPS cooler, I was pretty sure that the fancy packaging was compensation for a poor product.

The expiration date on the package said May 24th but since I don't like having food sit in my fridge, I ate it as soon as I could. The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was that the agnolotti did not stick together. There are about 10-12 dumplings in a package so they had ample opportunity to amalgamate. The agnolotti were not frozen nor were they oily. The instructions on the package suggest adding olive oil to the boiling water while cooking to prevent them from sticking to each other but I didn't find that to be a problem at all.

I decided to eat them plain with a little olive oil since I wanted to capture the pure flavor of the product. The Buitoni website suggests a variety of sauces, made by Buitoni of course. I was shocked by how flavorful the plain pasta was. Each agnolotti is made with cremini and portobello mushrooms, garlic, parmasean and grana padano cheeses. There's a very strong earthy taste, so strong that I double-checked the package to make sure there wasn't any artificial flavoring. There is none. It's rather amazing how far a little bit of mushroom will go. The cheeses provided an additional layer of flavor. There's no need for sauce whatsoever.

This pasta is grand. I wonder how much it costs though. I haven't seen it in stores yet. I know the old Buitoni line of fresh pastas cost around $5-6 a package and they're not worth the price. I'm not obligated to say anything nice at all but the Wild Mushroom Agnolotti is quite good. I hope the other pastas in the Riserva line live up to this standard.

On Vacation

I'll traveling around the world for the next few weeks. I was going to shut down the site but there's so much here I want to keep just for posterity . So good-bye for now!

Sinigual

A few friends were in town for a wedding and so a bunch of us got together for dinner. In hindsight, eating at a Mexican chain restaurant was probably not the best idea since our guests were from the West Coast.

The Good

• Service was ok. Nothing to complain about. Since we didn't order drinks, we ended up leaving a big tip because our waiter spent a great deal of time trying to sell us drinks and specials. My only issue with the service was that it seemed unnatural. Everything our waiter said seemed rehearsed. When I asked for hot sauce after I got my food, there was a second where our waiter was trying to decide between protocol or service. It was like seeing the wheels churn in his head as he stood there pondering his next move. In the end, he got the hot sauce for me instead of making me wait for a server.
  
• Portions are big.
• There's lots of room. We were a party of 8 and we had our own booth.
  
• The decor is a like Dos Caminos and Rosa Mexicano. Fun, trendy but more upscale than say, Burritoville.
• There are Happy Hour specials on the the margaritas and drinks.
  

The Bad

• I don't know why but the restaurant doesn't know its own location. The address listed on the website is 150 East 42nd street and that's also the address that shows up on Google maps. It's on the corner of 41st and 3rd Ave. Most of my group had a hard time finding the place. I only knew where it was because I had walked by a few times before and didn't bother looking at the address.
• I ordered the fish tacos and so did my friend's wife. Instead of breaded cod, the tacos are made with grilled bass. One of my health - conscious friends said that was great since grilled fish usually carries a premium. I did not think it was great. My friend's wife, who's from the L.A. area, thought it was ridiculous. The taco was pretty bland. The rice and re-fried beans didn't help.The only thing I liked was the sweet corn cake, which was about an inch in diameter.
  
• Everything about the place screams chain except for the prices. Entrees are between $16 and $30. It's really expensive for this type of food. Granted, The Cheesecake Factory is about the same price but it bothers me because there's better Mexican food in NYC at a third of the price.
  

None of us were enthralled by the food. Dos Caminos and Rosa Mexicano have better guac. The food is plated nicely but lack flavor. Everything seemed very generic and the food was bland. I recently went to On the Border, which is a Mexican chain in the 'burbs and that tastes more authentic than this place. Cheaper too.Take what you will from that. I'm not sure I understand the value proposition of this restaurant.

41st and 3rd Ave

Omen

There's a Japanese pop singer named Utada Hikaru. She's only in her mid-20s but she's been singing for over a decade now. Recently, she released her 2nd American album, which generated a decent amount of press. She's a native New Yorker and went to Columbia University so in one interview she talked about her favorite Japanese restaurant in NYC. This place is significant to her because her parents came up with her name while eating here. Upon reading that, I was surprised that I've never heard of this restaurant before. It's a Japanese restaurant that's been open for at least 25 years. Always up for good Japanese food, V2 joined me on this exploratory mission.

The Good

• Having heard of this place in relation to Utada Hikaru, I was secretly hoping to see her. Instead, director Ang Lee was having dinner with a multi-platinum, award-winning, Taiwanese pop star/actor named Alexander Wang (not the designer), at the table next to me! That was pretty cool already but then we think we saw Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a few tables away. While this may have nothing to do with the restaurant or the food, these celebrity sightings definitely elevated my dining experience.
• The menu consists of 4 set menus and some a la carte items. The a la carte menu is scarce and if you do the math, it's worthwhile to get the set menu if you're hungry. The set menus change with the seasons. V2 and I chose the Deluxe Sashimi Dinner Set. The Regular Sashimi Dinner Set costs $79. The Deluxe was $6 more for better fish. We thought it was worth it. The set menu comes with a lot of food in small, cup-sized portions. It doesn't look like a lot but we were full after the 6 courses.
  
  • First course: I'm not sure what it was. I know there was strawberry and yam in it and it was like a pudding. I finished it in 3 bites.
  • Second course: A platter of vegetables cooked different ways. White asparagus with enoki mushrooms in sesame cream sauce, green asparagus in pepper sauce, yuba (tofu skin), shoots, and tuna topped with a raw quail egg. I really enjoyed that last dish. The egg yolk was raw but the the egg white had a sticky consistency like uni (sea urchin). I think it was mixed with uni. The initial taste was a little sharp but it mellowed out as I finished the small cup.
    
  • Third Course: Cherry blossom wrapped in sticky rice, with a dashi broth. I mistakenly believed cherries came from cherry blossoms and so I thought I tasted cherries. V2 said I was being stupid. It didn't have a cherry taste but it was sweet.
    
  • Fourth Course: Sashimi platter. We got swordfish, fluke, sea urchin, caviar, tuna and salmon. All fresh and cut well. Freshly grated wasabi was placed on the side
    
  • Fifth Course: It's the carb course. We had a choice between rice (white or brown) served with pickles, shoots and seaweed or udon with the same accouterments. V2 chose brown rice, I chose udon. This was the course that completed the meal. I was stuffed after the bowl of noodles.
  • Sixth Course: We were given a full dessert menu to choose from, which included ice creams and cakes. V2 got a Lady M chocolate mousse cake. I chose the citrus flan. I liked his dessert more. I've had the Lady M mille feuille before and I know even her low-end cakes cost around $50. The chocolate mousse is divine. It was a little bitter and truly captured the taste of chocolate instead of sugar. I didn't really like the flan. For whatever reason, I thought the flan was just normal flan with some citrus fruits on top but it was an orange flavored flan. I have a hard time eating citrus flavored foods that have creamy textures. The image of curddled milk comes to mind. I know people eat orangesicles and Key Lime pie but I just can't bring myself to accept it.
    

• Service was good. Typical Japanese customer service, which is always top notch regardless of venue.
• There's an extensive list of sake. Beer wasn't on the menu but we saw another table drink Asahi beer.
  

The Bad

• They only take cash or American Express.
• It's a tiny restaurant with 2 private rooms in the back, a small bar in the front and a handful of tables in the middle. Space is a little tight and you can hear your neighbors' conversations. Great for stalking celebrities though!
  
• It's only open for dinner. Reservations are recommended.

It's pricey. Dinner for 2 came out to be a little over $200 without alcohol. It should be reserved for special occasion dinners even though the atmosphere is casual. The food was excellent but it is a lot of money in this environment. It's a good place to try Kyoto style cuisine but there's better sashimi and japanese food for that price in the city.

113 Thompson (Between Prince and Spring)

Inti Raymi/Urubamba

Ceviche- Courtesy of http://www.urubambarestaurant.com/

V2 and I found ourselves near Laguardia airport last week and so we decided to take advantage of the situation and drove to nearby Jackson Heights for dinner. I'm going to Peru next month so I decided to take this opportunity to eat at the first Peruvian restaurant in NYC. Inti Raymi was the name of the original restaurant. However, that location is now a sushi restaurant. The owner combined his second restaurant, Urubamba, with the original one and now there is a single restaurant at the corner of the block where the original restaurant was. If you type in Inti Raymi restaurant in Google, the old address still pops up.

The Good

• We went on a weeknight at around 9pm and half the restaurant was filled. Everyone was Hispanic except for us
• I honestly didn't know what to get except ceviche. We got the Ceviche Mixto, which was a heaping plate of fish, calamari, octopus and shrimp ceviche. We got almost twice the amount of seafood shown in the picture above. Waves of red onions donned the white slices of meat. Our waitress asked us if we wanted it spicy, we did, and so a bowl of orange hot sauce came with the dish. In addition to the seafood, there were potatoes, large kernels of boiled Peruvian corn and popped Peruvian corn on the plate. V2 and I were amused by the "popcorn" and the kernels that were about twice the size of regular corn. The ceviche was extremely sour and spicy and I found it hard to eat too much of it. However, it was a perfect complement to my entree.
• Since we got a seafood appetizer, we both got meat entrees. I got crispy boneless fried chicken with white rice (yellow rice wasn't an option) and plantains. I had wanted the tripe stew but I was also in the mood for fried foods and plantains. It was a good choice because the fried breading canceled out the strong citrus taste of the ceviche. Plus the hot sauce that came with the ceviche was a superb sauce for the chicken.I also liked how the chicken oil dripped on the rice, giving it a delicious salty flavor. To be honest though, the fried chicken tasted good but it wasn't anything special. If a person was presented with the chicken by itself, it's highly unlikely he would know which ethnic cuisine the dish belonged to. V2 got medium rare sirloin steak with onions, tomato and rice. The dish came out on a foot long oval plate. It was a huge cut of steak for $12. The meat was cooked medium rare, with a little blood inside. V2, who eats 2 dinners on some days, could not finish his dish due to the sheer size of it.
  
• The restaurant is BYOB, which can be good and bad. V2 had wanted a beer but we didn't see any alcohol on the menu. Instead, he got Inca Kola. It's a gold colored soft drink that tastes like bubblegum. I got Chicha de Jora, which was described as an ancient Peruvian drink made with Peruvian corn and barley. When I took my first sip, I thought it tasted like beer with a sour aftertaste. But since there wasn't any alcohol on the menu, I didn't think much of it. Ten minutes later, my face turned red from "Asian flush". I told V2 and switched drinks with him since he had wanted alcohol. After I got home, I wiki-ed the name of my drink. Chicha de Jora has 1-3% alcohol. Chicha Morada, which is also on the menu, is sweet and unfermented.
  

The Bad

• There were only 2 people on staff when we went. Service wasn't terribly slow but they were hands-off. Our waitress brought us our food, asked how everything was and then we saw her again when we asked for the check. The tables next to us were constantly trying to find her. I didn't dislike the service but I hope they have more waitstaff on weekends.
  
• The coffee is made in the microwave so I don't suggest it

Overall, it was a pretty cool experience. Dinner came out to be about $50 for the 2 of us. We didn't finish any of our dishes. In hindsight, we would have been fine with the ceviche and 1 entree. Even though it was a good experience, I doubt I'll be back. The food is good but I like Pio Pio a little bit more. The Aji sauce there is addictive! I'm also not in Jackson Heights too often and there are so many great ethnic restaurants in the neighborhood that I want to try.

86-20 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights, Queens

Num Pang & Baoguette St. Mark's

This Bahn Mi craze is crazy! It's funny to me because for decades, my friends thought it was so odd that I ate it so frequently, especially because they thought the meats were disgusting. My mom used to buy Vietnamese sandwiches for me instead of American sandwiches because they were only $1.50 for a foot long. The prices have gone up by around $4 in the last 20 years but it's still a relatively cheap and interesting eat.

I'm at St. Mark's Place on most nights of the week so I was excited when I walked by a newly opened Baoguette one day. I liked the one on Lexington but never got to try their classic bahn mi. I went once a week, at various times, for a full month and they were always out. It's the cheapest sandwich on the menu so I thought that it was a ploy to sell the more expensive sandwiches. Fortunately, I was in luck at the St. Mark's location. Now I understand why the Lexington Avenue branch never had it in stock. It's an awesome sandwich and I believe the best one out of all the ones on the menu.

There are so many flavors to the classic bahn mi at Baoguette. There's a layer of mayo, cucumbers, carrots, daikon, pork rolls with pig ears and pate all on a toasted French baguette. Since I asked for the sandwich to be spicy, it also came with jalapenos and hot sauce. The owner, Michael Huynh's wife, asked me if I wanted spicy or really spicy. I think spicy means with jalapenos and really spicy includes hot sauce with the jalapenos. The bread here is better than the one on Lex. It tastes fresher and crispier. At $5, this sandwich is a real steal. (Though they do charge tax here so it's really $5.42)

In addition to sandwiches, they also sell pho and small plates like pork belly and rolls. I would have been more excited about the pho had I not walked by a soon-to-be-open Pho32 half a block away.

A few blocks west and north, there's another new sandwich shop, called Num Pang. It's from the same guy who opened Kampuchea. I've had the num pang, Cambodian sandwiches, at Kampuchea before but wasn't really impressed with the value proposition. The sandwiches are made with good ingredients but carry a hefty price tag. That is why I was stunned to see a line that was half a block long when I went to get a sandwich for lunch. Some middle-aged women who walked by me in line thought they were giving out free samples. When I told them that it was a line for $8 sandwiches, they had the most quizzical looks on their faces. Having tried a bunch of the sandwiches on the menu before, I opted for the new chicken liver and ramp sandwich, which costs $7.50. I thought the price was justified since it was chicken liver. However, when I got the sandwich, it was only about 6 inches long, which is half the size and almost twice the cost of a bahn mi anywhere else. I have to say the the sandwich is delicious though. The bread is toasty and crisp, the taste of mayo is masked by chili and the chicken liver just oozed out between the loaves. The ramps added a nice touch.

When I purchased my sandwich, the cashier upsold a grilled corn. Now I understand why since the sandwiches are so small. The corn's like Mexican elote, except instead of cotija cheese, coconut is sprinkled a top chili mayo. It was interesting to try but I can't say I liked it. The mayo is only found on one side of the corn and so the taste is not evenly distributed. Some parts of the corn were sweet and spicy while other parts were just corn. I thought I got a bad one the first time so I purchased another a few days later. It was the same, the mayo is only on one side.

Although num pang sandwiches are very similar to bahn mi, comparing Cambodian sandwiches to Vietnamese sandwiches does a great disservice for Num Pang. Why would anyone pay double for less? However, if you compare it to French bakery sandwiches then it's on the same price scale. Thus, in my mind Num Pang is a good place to try every once in a while but does not make my lunch roster. Whereas Baoguette may be a new bi-weekly ritual.

Baoguette (St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd)

Num Pang(12th street between University Pl and 5th)

Buffalo Wild Wings

Since I spent the past week blogging about burgers, BBQ and cheesesteaks, I might as well end the week on wings. Buffalo Wild Wings is a chain. I know foodies look down at chains but I'm always curious about what they have to offer. I believe desirability is a function of availability. The harder it is to gain something, the more desirable it becomes and vice versa. For example, the abundance of lobster in Maine led to its devaluation during colonial times. Lobster was mainly served to prisoners up until the last century. As a New Yorker, I don't get the opportunity to eat at chains all that much. I just never had access to places like The Cheesecake Factory, The Olive Garden, IHOP and the like until college/after-college and by then my friends were beyond that stage in their lives. Now that I get to hang out in the suburbs on occasion, I like to try chains that I've never been to before.

The Good

• The restaurants are set up like bars. You can sit where ever you want, there are video bar game machines set up at each table that have games like PhotoHunt. There's a nationwide tournament every week, where players around the country can play against each other. There are TV screens all around that play sports games. We went at the start of the NCAA championships so we got watch several games at once.
• Obviously wings are the specialty but ribs, burgers and sandwiches are also on the menu. V2 got a rib combo, which consisted of 8 traditional wings and half a pound of ribs.
  
• Sauces are of utmost importance when eating at a wings joint and they have quite a variety here. There are 14 sauces to choose from. Half of them are not spicy. There's Parmesan Garlic, Teriyaki, BBQ, Honey, etc. The hot sauces include Mango-Habenero, Asian zing, Caribbean Jerk, amongst others. The hottest sauce is the Blazin' sauce. While we were looking through the menu, V2 said that he was going to get the rib combo with Hot sauce, which is the 3rd spiciest sauce. I said I was going to go for the boneless wings with Blazin'. He looked at me as if I was crazy. I didn't understand why because we both love spicy food. In addition, American chains do not make spicy food all that spicy. At best, the level of hotness is that of a jalapeno. Upon receiving his look, I felt compelled to live up to his challenge. When the waitress came to take our order, I asked her what was comparable to the Blazin' sauce in terms of spiciness., was it like eating a jalapeno with seeds? Our waitress, who looked completely Caucasian and had a Midwest vibe, told us her entire family is Asian and they cry when they eat the wings with Blazin' sauce. When I heard that, I thought she was BS-ing because her entire family can not be Asian. Even if she is of Asian descent, there's at least one white person in her family tree. So I told her to bring it on! (While waiting for our food, we discussed the possibility that our waitress was adopted but it's highly unlikely for Asians to adopt white kids.) Well, she brought it. My first bite was fine. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of spiciness. It was spicy enough that I needed to wash the chicken down with lemonade. My entire mouth burned and even my nostrils felt some pain from the smell. By the 6th or 7th bite, I was dying. Our waitress refilled my glass of lemonade twice and I was eating the aioli that came with our appetizer just so that my tongue could find some relief. Unfortunately, the aioli was chipotle aioli and was useless even though it was creamy. I got through 4 wings and couldn't take it anymore. I was full from the spices and was crying too hard to go on. V2 will never let me live this one down.
  
• Service was great. Our waitress came by several times to refill water and drinks before I even attempted to wave her down.
• My friends tell me that the wings are even better if you ask for sauce on the side.

The Bad

• Because it's so casual, the food is plated on paper plates. There is silverware though. I guess plastic knives aren't strong enough to cut through some of the meat entrees.
  
• You have to sit yourself when you enter the restaurant, which is fine unless all the empty tables are dirty and then it becomes a hunt for a waitress to clear the table.
  
• The wings would be better if they were crispier. The wings are smothered with sauce and are very flavorful but not crispy. They're wet wings.
• I didn't go to the one in Brooklyn but friends tell me there is one. However, I've been advised not to eat-in at that one. Take-out is a better option for that location but be prepared to wait.
  

There are not many places where I feel like the food is too spicy. Most places disappoint. I can't believe I got pwned here. The food's reasonably priced. We spent under $50 for 2 entrees, an appetizer, beers, and drinks. Most entrees are between $8 and $15. Portions are big. The wings aren't big Asian style wings but they're pretty plump.

Various Locations
http://www.buffalowildwings.com/