Stir-fry Clams

National Clam Day everyone:)

I love clams especially the flavorful ones. My favorite is certainly the stir fry clams with black bean sauce and scallions. Why? It is more juicy. Guess what you can find these delicious clams in some authentic dim sum or chinese restaurants. In the past, I have visited one of the dim sum restaurants called Hei Lam Moon located in Boston Chinatown. They have a variety of great dim sum and chinese dishes. The clam dish is totally my favorite dish to order from there.

Raw oysters!

What kind of oyster eater are you? There are many different kinds of oysters but which one you like the best? Personally I am not a big oyster fan but I don't mine trying it once in a while. Commonly, you will find east coast oysters and west coast oysters in most of the restaurants. For people who don't know the difference they will ask the server, "what's the difference?"

East coast oysters are more salty and bigger than the west coast oysters. The west coast ones are more creamy, smaller and sweeter.

Edible Plant?

Ever seen a dessert dish looked like a house plant? Trust me..this is absolutely edible even though it looks like a real plant. This dish is called "The Harvest" and you can get it from Spot Dessert Bar. They have several locations throughout the city and they are known for its dessert tapas.
So what's in it? It is made from oreo crumbs, soft cheesecake, berries, meringue kisses, raspberry sorbet and black rose milk tea.

Seafood Paella

Yesterday was also National Paella day besides Easter day. Paella is one of the popular dishes in most Spanish restaurants. It is a rice dish with meats and veggies that served in either a black casserole or flat pan. My favorite is the seafood paella and the best one I have tried so far is in Guantanamera located in midtown west. The entree comes with yellow saffron rice, mussels, shrimps, squids and a baby lobster tail.

Happy Easter

Foie Gras Inari Sushi

Mmmmh...inari sushi topped with foie gras. How can people resisted it? Inari sushi is basically japanese seasoned rice stuffed in a fried tofu pouch. In terms of the size, it is definitely bigger than the regular sushi. I found these delicious foie gras inari sushi in this japanese hotpot restaurant called Hakata Tonton located in the west village. The restaurant is a bit small but they served very good japanese food.

Chicken & Waffles

Ahhh...waffles! Waffles are everywhere that comes with different variations. You can eat it for breakfast, brunch, snack and dessert. I like all kinds of waffles but my favorite is waffles with chicken that I will never say no if I see it on the menu.  The best chicken & waffles entree I have tried so far is in Five Napkin Burger. For those of you never heard of Five Napkin Burger, it is one of the popular burger chains headquartered in New York City that is known for their burgers and sandwiches. It is also a great place for family and kids to dine in. They changed their menu once in a while but if you ask for their chicken & waffles I'm pretty sure they can make it for you. The dish comes with a big piece of waffle and topped with couple pieces of fried chicken and buttermilk gravy...yum! yum! Happy International Waffles Day everyone:)

Gingerbread Man Chocolate Cake Pop

Happy National Cake Pop Day! For those of you who have a sweet tooth, you must heard of Godiva.They have all kinds of yummy chocolates. My favorite is definitely the cake pop ones. During the holiday season they have gingerbread man chocolate cake pops and they are so cute and festive that you don't even want to eat it hehee

Super Nachos!!!

Happy National Chips & Dip day everyone:)

What would you think of for chips & dip day?...Nachos!!!

I love nachos especially dipping in fresh salsa, guacamole and cheese.

Avocado Fries?

We all have eaten french fries especially for people like us who grew up in the fast food nation lol

So what other fries out there that are not made from potato?

How about Avocado Fries?...mmmhh! When I see avocado fries on the menu my expectations are: green colored fries & soft in the inside and crunchy on the outside. Guess what I was right:)

The size of the fries are definitely wider than the usual fries similar to the size of your thumb. The best avocado fries that i have tried so far is in Toloache, an authentic mexican restaurant located in Manhattan with locations in the upper east side, midtown west and west village.

Crunchy Beef Bulgogi Tacos?

Happy National Crunchy Taco Day =D
Nowadays taco is almost everywhere with different variations. My favorite is definitely the crunchy/crispy taco. My #1 favorite go to spot for tacos is Mira Sushi & Izakaya. They are known for their beef bulgogi tacos because for those of you who don't know it is a Beat Bobby Flay Winning dish that made with kimchi slaw, korean pear, wonton shell, scallions, beef bulgogi and toasted sesame. I promised Mira's beef bulgogi tacos are scrumptious and crunchy that you won't be disappointed.

Lobster Ravioli

Happy National Ravioli Day everyone:-)

Who doesn't like ravioli? In Italian, "ravioli" means "to wrap." Ravioli pasta is all about the filling and the sauce but sometimes it really depends on what I'm in the mood for. My favorite is ravioli with seafood filling e.g. lobster, crab, etc. and topped with either creamy pesto sauce or fresh tomato & artichoke sauce.

I ordered this dish from an Italian restaurant..don't recalled the name but it's located in Little Italy. It was so creamy and delicious.

Macarons (dim sum style)

Macarons served in a bamboo basket?
This is my first time seeing an assortment of macarons served in a round shaped steamer made from bamboo aka mushiki. If anyone interested in trying the asian style macarons you should definitely go check out this authentic Cantonese restaurant, Hakkasan located in Midtown west. They served great well mixed cocktails and yummy Cantonese cuisines. It is a bit dark inside but very romantic setting with modern Asian wall interior decoration. There are total of 7 macarons in the bamboo basket but it would be cool if they can do 7 different colors just like a rainbow;)

Pecan Pie (irish style)

So far the best pecan pie I found in the city is in...you will never find out if you haven't been to this place...The Wheeltapper Pub.

It is an Irish restaurant that served great beers, cocktails and authentic Irish food.

I ordered their pecan pie for dessert since I was in the mood for it and it was sooo good. The pecan pie was topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and splashed with some caramel syrup. Mmmmhh:-p

They may have other ice cream flavor to go with the pie but I guess it depends on what they have for availability. When I was there, they had both vanilla ice cream and cinnamon ice cream.

Spinach Dumplings!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone   

Guess what I found in my neighborhood..Spinach dumplings! Mmmmh...green and yummy:) The dumplings' wraps are made out of real spinach so no worries about food coloring. I ventured to the Urbanspace Vanderbilt yesterday to meet with some friends for happy hour. We walked and shopped around bunch of food vendors and most of them make me mouth watering hehe

I stopped by Hong Kong Street Cart because I was drawn to the green color of the spinach dumplings and I decided to give it a try. It costed $5 for 4 pieces of dumplings but it was good and maybe because it's spinach dumpling so I was willing to pay for it. I know some people think it's a bit pricey for asian food because you can get cheap and yummy dumplings in Chinatown for $1 for 4 or 5 dumplings. But anyway, this food cart was great overall and they also served spinach noodles with peanut sauce..mmmhhh!

Korean Ice Cream bar

St. Patrick's Day is almost here!

Looking for something sweet and green to please your sweet tooth?

Check out these cute ice cream pop bars at Tous Les Jours, a korean-french bakery located in Korea town. I believe they have 5 different flavors e.g. strawberry, vanilla, coffee, honeydew melon and green tea.

My friend and I got the melon and green tea one...creamy and juicy.

Shaved Snow?

What is shaved snow? For those of you who never heard of shaved snow, it's basically a frozen dessert that is more creamier and fluffier than ice cream. This type of dessert is usually made by a shaved ice machine by inserting a big block of ice that was already infused with flavors and milk. The machine will then shave it very fine and you will start seeing slushy snow falling down so that's why it's called shaved snow.

Milk & Honey shaved snow
@Grace Street, NYC

Tornado Chips?

Happy National Potato Chip Day:)

Ever seen potato chips in a skewer? If you ever swing by Chinatown in Manhattan you should definitely check out this little bubble tea place, Bubbly Tea on 55B Bayard Street. They have great bubble tea with a variety of flavors and great prices as well. I got their watermelon slush with boboa and tornado chips. The chips was crispy and spicy. Not sure if they can do mild spicy for the chips but I will definitely stop by there again and ask for it.

Juicy Octopus

Tender and chewy grilled octopus served in II Palazzo, a fine dining Italian restaurant located in Little Italy. The portion was a great size and it came with argula,tomatoes, potatoes and onions. I'm glad that it wasn't dry at all because of the sauce so it's easy for me to chew it. For those of you who are octopus lover, this is definitely one of the best restaurants to try it.

Seared Scallops

Scallops are one of my favorite seafood. Most of my friends asked me do I like it seared or baked? You know what...I like the seared scallops better because it is more crispy on the outside and a bit rare in the center. Baked scallops can be dry sometimes but most importantly depends on how it's made. One of the best scallop dishes I tried was in Navy Beach, a seafood restaurant with a beautiful beach view located in Montauk, NY. The whole entree came with yellow rice, peas, shrimps and three big pieces of scallops...Nom..nom:-p

Eat your NOODLES day! Check out my homemade noodle dish:)

I love noodles!!! There are tons of different kinds of noodles out there but my favorite one is chinese egg noodles. Here's a quick and simple dish I made for dinner tonight:
Chinese egg noodles with turkey meatballs & brussel sprouts and splashed with some anchovies sauce.

Where did I get my ingredient from?

 -Chinese egg noodles: Hong Kong Supermarket on Hester Street

-Turkey Meatballs & Brussel Sprouts: Traders Joe on the upper west side

DUCK BURRITO?

It is very common to find places that served chicken burrito, steak burrito, and shrimp burrito but duck burrito is the rarest one. This is one of the popular dishes to try in this Mexican restaurant called Canyon Road located in the upper east side.The restaurant served this dish in a great size portion with tender duck breast meat inside the burrito and topped with a delicious mole sauce. It also served with rice, guacamole, diced tomatoes and onions. With this entree, you will definitely get filled up.

Cute Crab Salad

Happy National Crabmeat day everyone:)

Omg..this is one of the cutest salad presentation I've ever seen in an appetizer dish. About 4 years ago, my friend hosted her birthday dinner party in Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and I just randomly ordered a starter. It turned out great and I got a lot of compliments too. I don't really recalled the name of this dish but i hope Ruth's Chris steakhouse still served them. All I remembered is the delicious minced crab meat mixed with some veggies and dressing.

Fried Alligator?

A lot of people asked what does alligator meat taste like?...
Nowadays alligator is considered a new exotic but rare meat to try on the east coast. One of the popular spots to try fried alligator in NYC is Bo's kitchen and bar room, a New Orleans inspired restaurant located in midtown.

I have visited the restaurant once and their crispy fried alligator dish tasted like half chicken and half calamari.

It was pretty crispy and delicious.

Soft Serve with Frosted Flakes

Happy National Cereal Day everyone!

Instead of eating cereal with milk why don't we eat it with ice cream?

There's a very popular bakery place called Milk Bar (part of the Momofuku restaurants) located in east village that served great cookies, cakes, sweet drinks and other pastries. One of their popular items is the cereal milk soft serve with frosted flakes. It is delicious, creamy and crunchy.

Ice cream sushi

Guess what people.. ice cream sushi do exists! If anyone planning to go to Atlantic City for restaurant week (3/6-3/12) you should definitely check out Izakaya, a nice japanese restaurant located in Borgata. They served great japanese food and of course their popular dessert dish, crispy rice sushi roll aka ice cream sushi.

This dish was made by crispy rice with chocolate chips, peanut butter and vanilla ice cream for filling.

I absolutely love it...crispy and sweet ❤❤

Russian Sushi

We all know sushi is based in Japan so what's the difference between russian sushi and japanese sushi?

About 2 years ago, I visited an authentic restaurant called Rasha Nasha in midtown that served russian sushi as a cold appetizer dish. This type of sushi was wrapped by crepes with the following ingredients: cream cheese, chives, lox, and cucumber then topped with red caviar. Based on the ingredients, it really reminded me of the Philadelphia sushi roll except the caviar and crepe wrap.
The bad news is: Rasha Nasha has permanently closed:(

Skate Wing

For those of you who are seafood lovers, isn't it hard to find restaurants served skate fish nowadays?

I love seafood and skate is one of my favorite fish. I was invited by a friend for dinner at this restaurant called Mermaid Inn in the east village. While looking at the menu, I was so excited that they have the "local skate wing" as an entree dish in their menu. It came with kale and some other light veggies. The skate wing itself tasted really good but the kale was a bit more on the salty side. 

 

 

Sea Bass Tempura

Sick of veggies and shrimp tempura? Check out this yummy chilean sea bass tempura in this romantic restaurant called Koi.
It is located next to the Bryant Park hotel and the setting is very romantic.

We ordered the chilean sea bass tempura for starter and this is absolutely the most filling one out of all the appetizers. The taste was great; crispy and not too spicy.

Coco Ice Cream in a Chocolate Shell!!!

Wow..Too cute to eat( ◞･౪･)
An artistic dessert featuring a nice chocolate shell filled with coconut ice cream, topped with a cute palm tree cookie and surrounded by mixed fruit swirls. I visited this nice Latin American restaurant on the upper west side called #Calle Ocho. They served great cocktails and Latin food. I was very impressed by the dessert they made for me. The #cute design really brightened up my evening.

Sushi Burrito?

Sick of sushi? Guess what's the latest asian fusion food trend now?...
#SUSHI BURRITO!!!

It is basically a seaweed wrap with sushi ingredients filling inside. The first sushi burrito store in NYC is #Uma Temakeria. They have several locations throughout #Manhattan and my closest spot is in #Gotham West Market. Besides burrito, they also served hand rolls and rice bowl with options to design your own meal. If you choose to design your own there are 4 things you need to pick: type of rice, type of protein, type of sauce, and type of veggies.