Posts from the ‘Asian’ Category

Mar 22

Spice Market

Ah, the yearly birthday dinner. Over the past four years a pattern has
certainly emerged. James always chooses Nuevo Latino and/or meat heavy, and
I always pick Asian and/or the dreaded fusion. So, when Spice Market, and
its Southeast Asian street food shtick, opened a month or so before his
birthday, it was crying out for a try. Being new and disturbingly sceney, I
was afraid reservations might pose a problem. And they did, we were posed
the 6 or 10:30pm dilemma. Like it or not, 10:30pm it was (which worked out
well since I had class, mere blocks away until 9pm anyway).

They've captured the dark, teaky, temple quality well. Arches and
carvings that make you wonder if they're pre-fab or authentic (they're true
blue imports). It could be construed as Pier One or ABC Carpet and Home
depending on your point of reference. And despite our late reservation, we
were still made to wait what seemed like an unusually long time at the front
bar. I didn't immediately notice time passing because I was busy consuming
the abnormally fat wasabi peanuts set before me. Unlike the more typical
peas, these are thick with spicy spring green crust, fiery, addictive and
tooth-shattering as it turned out. (Part of James's tooth chipped off hours
later as he caught an early morning cab to JFK. He blames the wasabi
peanuts. I say bullshit. I also recently read how Nicole Kidman began
choking in the bar at Spice Market and had to be Heimliched. Wasabi peanuts
as culprit?) I assumed they were either made in-house or by some exclusive
purveyor, but on a recent New Jersey trek, I noticed them at Trader Joe's.
Definitely more Pier One.

Two things pleased and surprised me. No, not the clientele, they were
about as ick as expected (though no sightings despite all the reports of
Martha Stewart, Howard Stern and Tom Cruise making appearances that same
week). It's not outrageously expensive and the food is actually quite good.
There's a high-end vibe at work, perhaps it's in knowing that the restaurant
is a Jean-George creation, but the overall feeling is breezy and casual.
Some might say too casual, considering how they bring dishes to the table
all higgledy-piggledy with no regard for the appetizer first, entre second
convention. They make it sound like a conscious decision where it would be
easily interpreted as lack of coordination.

The oft-mentioned shaved tuna and chili tapioca balls in a coconut
kaffir lime broth was fresh, chewy and intriguing. (I know Amanda Hesser got
a lot of flack for using the phrase "the dish is eaten with a spoon" in her
review, but that is what the waiters tell you when the bowl arrives.)
Another talked about dish, the Ovaltine kulfi, also was more than a one-hit
wonder. The malty frozen rectangle was firmer and more pliable than ice
cream, almost like a dense, iced candy bar. Blah sounding ginger rice, which
I ordered just for the heck of it, was one of the more flavorful and light
fried rice renditions I've sampled. Pork vindaloo wasn't scorching (as I
might've liked it) nor the red curry duck, but both were equal or better
than what you'd get at many Indian and Thai restaurants around Manhattan,
and hardly priced higher.

It's hard to feel cheated by the prices, portions, quality or flavor,
which is important when you're a silly library student and splurges are few
and far between. Once the crowds have moved on to other Meatpacking
hotspots, Spice Market will probably be even more enjoyable.

SpiceMarket 403 W. 13th St., New York, NY

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Nov 6

Faan

1/2

I totally became sick to my stomach mere minutes after eating a Faan, but I
can't say for sure if it was their fault or not. The kung pao spaghetti
seemed enticing in a creepy way (I don't generally recommend Asian sauces
coupled with parmesan) but I opted for the oddball Hawaiian papaya beef
instead. I thought I liked papaya, maybe I was expecting green papaya, but
it was the sweet, ripe orange stuff and it tasted an awful lot like melon,
which threw me off. I can't eat melon. Rather, I just flat out refuse. It's
not a matter of allergy, it's a simple aversion. There's no medical reason
why my body would reject papaya/melon, but I almost instantly became queasy
after leaving the restaurant and wondered if it were a coincidence or if the
fruit was genuinely wreaking havoc on my gastrointestinal tract. With all
that said, I'd probably give Faan another go. If only because it's one of
the few late night dining spots in the new early-to-bed, family-friendly
neighborhood. (11/6/03)

Faan is Faan. There's totally nothing special about it. But it's not
expensive, it's open late, and vegetarian house guests don't complain when
you take them there. The kung pao spaghetti still fascinates me, but not
enough to order it yet.(4/27/04)

Faan* 209 Smith St., Brooklyn, NY

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Aug 24

Nooch

1/2

My final meal in Asia, appropriately untraditional. Well, maybe not for
Singpaore–malls seem ingrained in their culture-why not eat your last
supper wedged between Top Shop and Boots. I'm not even 100% sure it was City
Link Mall we dined in. After spending our entire last afternoon and evening
going up and down escalators, we lost track between Raffles Place and Suntec
City. I could've sworn there was an exact restaurant chain in Bangkok called
Noodi, but can't seem to find any evidence of it.

Nooch is a colorful, plastic-y youthful noodle bar with a menu split
between Thai and Japanese dishes. Not even very hungry (but wanting to eat
at the mall), I was intimidated by a giant steaming bowl of tom yam, but did
my best to slurp it down. I was stuffed on the plane.

Nooch* City Link Mall, Singapore

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Aug 24

Takashimaya Food Court

I seriously can't even begin to describe the wonder that is the Takashimaya
food court. First off, I was overwhelmed by the mooncake paradise, as it was
the mid-autumn festival season (on our way back through Singapore a week
later, there was a huge area outside the food court set up with mooncake
stalls. Every bakery in the city must've been there handing out little
samples on toothpicks and flyers.). There was a stall for everything, and I
can't even remember it all. Not much Western food, despite the presence of
Harrod's. But plenty of Asian purveyors and great chains I'd never heard of.
Places like Bengawan Solo,
which is a Malaysian kueh baker (with the most interesting mooncake
flavors), Tio Glutton, a Japanese cheesecake stand, and Beard Papa, a place
for filled puffs, also Japanese (duh, who else would name a store after a
gluttonous uncle and illustrate Beard Papa with a cartoon image of what
looked like a grunge Santa Claus). Of course there was Thai, Vietnamese,
Indonesian, various Chinese, and lots of bakeries. My favorite was a place
with a French name I can't remember (they had a place just like it in
Bangkok, but with a different French name that I also can't remember) where
you get to pick out all your goodies with tongs and put them on a tray. It's
not only sweets and pastries, there are curry puffs and buns with octopus,
corn and mayonnaise. I loved it. Anyway, I never got a chance to actually
sit and eat a meal because it was always so crowded. But I got plenty of
snacks to go.

This reminds me that I've never been to the Takashimaya in NYC because I
know it's not the same, and I'll be disappointed. I bought the cutest
umbrella in the world at the Singapore location, a tiny, apple green,
gingham number that barely stands up to rain-maybe it's for the sun? (They
seem to like using umbrellas as shade in Asia.) and it's doubtful they would
have such a sweet accessory here. I'm pretty sure the NYC Takashimaya is
priced beyond my means and houses a fancy teahouse in the basement.

TakashimayaFood Court * 391 Orchard Rd., Singapore

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Sep 4

United Noodle

Our third anniversary passed without much fanfare. Same as the second, and
most likely the fourth, if that comes to pass. I'm not sure why that is. At
least the meal was nice. United Noodle has all the makings of return visit:
it's mere blocks from James's apt., fusion-esque, but not out of control
(I'm a sucker for fusion) and reasonably priced.

We started with a tower of wontons with shrimp and an orange citrusy
sauce. I ordered a decidedly non-summery dish of short ribs with
papperadelle. It was wonderfully meaty and anise-scented with sweet cherry
tomatoes and a green (possibly Asian, it wasn't broccoli rabe). I was
actually more enamored of James's shrimp and scallops in what they menu said
was carrot pudding, which was really a rich, creamy, sweet sauce. There
might have even been vanilla in it, I couldn't put my finger on all the
flavors. Luckily, we switched plates at the half-way mark to get a little
variety.

Dinner was topped off with an ubiquitous molten chocolate cake. No big
shakes, but not bad. One of these days I'm going to play stupid and throw a
fit that my cake isn't properly cooked. "Send this back, I'm not paying for
a raw cake!" "If I wanted to eat batter I could do it at home and it save
the $7!" Eh, I don't think I have the nerve.

UnitedNoodle * 349 E. 12th St., New York, NY

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Aug 18

Pho Republique

This was the sort of place that made a fun Sat. night stop. Boston's weird,
or maybe I just didn't have any inside scoops. It's totally Ally McBeal.
Like everyone's in khakis or else they're Irish obsessed ruffians. The only
places that seemed remotely hip or interesting ended up being predominantly
gay. Are there no moderately cool people in their 20s in the entire city?
Everything's upscale or college-ish. I just wanted an unpretentious place
where culinary savvy youngsters could get a little dressed up, have a nice
cocktail and the like. Well, this was it pretty much.

We had shrimp spring rolls, which had a green (spinach?) and cream
cheese in the filling, served with a tangy/sweet dipping sauce. The
creaminess of the cheese was a nice contrast to the crisp eggroll skin. And
it's nice to see dairy in Asian food every now and then. For an entre I
tried the salmon and mussels with a coconut milk, tomato, saffron and bacon
sauce. Wow, this was really tasty, albeit rich (though not heavy). I ordered
a coconut martini and later a monkey bite. Whoo, both were strong. I'm a
sucker for foofy drinks with tropical fruit. By the time we finished dinner,
the bar scene was jumping so we headed to that half of the restaurant.

The amusing part was the "theme" or whatever you want to call it. The
waiters all wore camouflage in some form (shirts, shorts) and dog tags, and
James even got winked at (not that I should be surprised. He seems to get
more attention from men than I do. And it's not like he's some hot number
[though of course, I like him] he just has this gay aura. I thought he was
queer when I first met him). Vietnam War chic? Who knew. I also found the
clientele amusing. The men (which predominated) were typical, but the women
were all straight out of some bad '80s Hollywood movie art gallery scene,
complete with shaved, spiky, colored hair and zany geometric patterned
blousey shirts. Weird. And believe me, they weren't being new wave retro.
Most were in the late 30 to 40 age range and were certainly not trying to
pull some newfangled fashion coup. I was highly freaked out by the 4 ft.
nothing tan woman with the blue bangs and numerous piercings who sat next to
us as we were leaving. She probably had on a Swatch, but I didn't look. All
I know is that if I were a lesbian, Boston would be at the bottom of my
list.

PhoRepublique * 1415
Washingon St., Boston,MA

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Jan 1

Rangoon

A big part of going to Philadelphia was being able to try things they don't
have here. New York is totally a food mecca, but they aren't known for their
Burmese food (I know there's Cafe Mingala in the East Village, but I've
never heard a good word about it). I wanted to see what sort of items would
come out of a Thai-Indian cross breeding.

The curries, fritters and use of potatoes and flat bread seemed Indian,
while the basil, peanut sauce and lemongrass were clearly Thai. I'd say that
most of the dishes leaned towards the Indian camp, though.

We ordered an appetizer of bar-b-q beef with thousand layer bread, which
was kabobs of grilled beef, onions and peppers served over a buttery flat
bread (almost like a hammered out Pillsbury biscuit). We also had Rangoon
night market noodles, which were very plain, though not surprising since
this has been described as food for workers. The noodles were egg and had a
light sprinkling of scallions and pork and an oil dressing. It came with a
spicy, vinegary cabbage carrot condiment, but I wasn't sure if this was
supposed to be added or eaten separately like a slaw. Additionally, we tried
the pork with mango pickle curry, which was a curry of the thin soupy
variety that goes well with lots of rice.

James ordered Burmese tea since it was freezing outside, and I didn't
realize until after left that it was on the dessert menu. That made sense
since it was sweet and rich from condensed milk. What I didn't get was why
the tea was a creamy orange-pink color. I assumed it was from whatever
spices were in it, but who's to say.

I'd heard that Burmese food tended to be bland. Maybe bland wasn't the
exact word, but I'd agree that the flavors are not strong. Nothing was
heavily spiced or kicky. Many of the dishes appeared fairly straightforward
and simple, but this wasn't disappointing. There just weren't any extremes
such as hot, sweet or tangy, which I'm usually drawn to. It's the kind of
thing where you need to sample more than just a few items before coming to
any conclusions. I certainly can't say that my first meal of 2001 was a
bust. (1/1/01)

Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian-it's all southeast Asian food that I'm not
experienced enough with to be nit picky. I don't think the NYC renditions
are all that remarkable, so I wish I had more time to explore the menu at
Rangoon. I'm intrigued by the salads, particularly the tea leaf one. I think
I prefer Thai, but I'd probably choose Burmese over Indian. It's hard to
resist a their thousand layer bread with potato curry dip, which is really
the same thing as Malaysian roti canai. And they serve inexpensive wine,
which is a plus if you have your vegetarian visiting-from-England sister and
her boyfriend in tow. Those Brits like to drink (and eat lots of tofu).
(4/29/04)

Rangoon* 112 North Ninth St., Philadelphia, PA

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Dec 31

Pod

Oh, Pod…where to begin. Somehow the idea for a Philly excursion developed,
cheesesteaks were in there somewhere, but that's about as far as the
planning got. When it ended up that Philadelphia was going to be my New
Year's eve destination, a foofier meal choice seemed in order (though
cheesesteaks did not go unsampled). I tried coming up with a hip, trendy,
designy option–the sort of place that would rub me all the wrong ways in
Manhattan, but seemed palatable in a smaller city. Pod fit this bill to a
tee, all white, mod, squishy, gimmicky and seemingly fun. That sushi
conveyer belt and user-controlled colorful lighting really got me.

But they were booked for New Year's eve so I settled for Sat. the 30th.
However, that crazy nor' easter (what the hell is a nor' easter [however you
spell it] anyway?!) thwarted my travel plans and I had to scramble to try
and change our reservations. And without consulting each other, James just
happened to make reservations at the hotel attached to the restaurant
(actually the restaurant is more attached to the hotel) so this fateful
coincidence further cemented the idea that I had to eat at Pod.
Luckily, we finagled new reservations for 11:30, which seems late, but being
a midnight type holiday, it wasn't so bad.

The place was hopping, but not terribly packed and the pretention-level
was much lower than I'd expected. We got a mini booth against the wall and
ordered Blue and Green drinks (that's what they were called: Red, Purple,
etc.–some drunk girl wanted to know what I was drinking and I said Green,
which caused all sorts of confusion), which I was thrilled with on a purely
aesthetic level. Green is my favorite color, and the drink just happened to
be made with Stoli Vanil (my favorite liquor) and lime and orange juice
(none of which explained the emerald green color.

The waitstaff in their white turtle necks and blue and orange Dickies (I
was trying to figure out the meaning behind the people who wore blue pants
vs. the orange and came to the conclusion that it was arbitrary) were
friendly and helpful, if not a little too much so (I know, would I rather
have disagreeable and snotty?). They explained more than necessary (this
didn't really bother me, but James was irked that they used the term
"family-style" and described what that meant), but then, the restaurant is
new and maybe people in Philadelphia don't get out much.

I ordered the small sushi plate, which really wasn't all that small. I'm
not a sushi expert in the least so I can't say what all my rolls were. I was
impressed with the one filled with shrimp tempura, and was pleasantly
surprised by the tofu, which was very sweet and custardy. James had Peking
duck, which came with a hom bao and some little bits that I think may have
been sweet potatoes (I didn't taste them–breaking that family-style
suggestion). We split a gooey, caramely-chocolately hazelnut tart that was
all architecturally presented, and did a champagne toast at midnight.

All in all, it was a festive, appropriate choice. I would've enjoyed
staying longer, but as I often have to remind myself when travelling, the
entire world doesn't serve alcohol until 4am.

Pod* 3636 Sansom St.,
Philadelphia, PA

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Nov 10

Daily Chow

* I'm not sure how long Daily Chow has been closed, but it just now
occurred to me to mention it. (10/05)

This was a spur of the moment Friday night choice. New, in the
neighborhood, and I'd heard they had fancy cocktails like ginger kamikazes.
It's one of those Pan-Asian deals with Korean, Thai, and Chinese touches
plus a Mongolian grill to boot. The place had sort of a bar/clubby
atmosphere with emphasis on the drinks, loud funky beats, and a spacey
waitstaff.

With that said, the food wasn't bad. They have lots of finger type foods
and I didn't feel like a meal meal so I tried the country combo (as opposed
to the city combo, which was a vegetarian sampler–so city folks aren't
supposed to like meat?) which came with duck wraps, chicken satay, steamed
dumplings, fried calamari, egg rolls and a cucumber, red-onion salad. Very
tasty. I also had a bite of the beef with holy basil, which was surprisingly
hot and spicy for such a mish-mash restaurant.

But what really bowled me over was the Thai banana split. The
description said something along the lines of ice cream with lychee, longan,
jackfruit and bananas with chocolate sauce. Whoa, while fruit is my least
favorite food group (I know it's always lumped together with vegetables,
which are perfectly fine in my book), I did appreciate their use of exotic
Asian fruits in their cocktails and desserts. The mysterious part was
deciphering what the three scoops of ice cream were. One was clearly
coconut, the other was green tea (at least I think so because it was green),
but the middle scoop was sort of chunky and chalky and bad and good at the
same time. Very confusing, but sometimes I like a restaurant to leave me
guessing.

Daily Chow * 2 E. Second St., New York, NY

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