Foodie for My Tastebuds

Since summer has been slow to approach this year, My sister and I thought to hurry it along with this Red Bean Ice. Took about four - five times to get it to the right taste. Thought the “Moo” cups were fitting. 

[Four spoonfuls of cooked red bean, lots of ice cubes and slush, three spoonfuls of sugar syrup, and unmeasured dashes of milk~]

Merleawe

Mentaikou ramen. The meat tender and the broth flavorful. A little too heavy for me to enjoy for dinner, but if you’re really hungry, this place is perfect.

I was so happy by the service provided. The staff were nice and polite and always made sure to ask every table if they needed anything…

Okay, so I’m not saying the full experience. We ordered ramen, spicy tuna roll, and special hand roll (that isn’t on their site menu). And when the hand roll (first time I tried, and it was really really good) came, our waitress gave us a complementary hand roll so my friend and I could each have one. (And this hand roll is huge. Seriously, I don’t think it’s typical to put that much fish and rice and wonderful goodie goodness in a dish. I don’t even see that in normal sushi. If I had two of these, I could be pretty satisfied.)

Here’s some sparkling sake we had. I tend to avoid alcohol but this really doesn’t have much alcohol content. Smooth and if you’re really new to drinking alcohol, this would be a good “step”. Anyway, something we also ordered that I didn’t take a picture of is the spicy tuna sushi (with a lot of spicy tuna in it). They used pepper flakes instead of wasabi to bring out the spiciness. 

Okay, so I still haven’t said everything. But honestly, I’d rather have you have your own experience eating here. I know my experience was very different from the people sitting next to my table and I have a really glowing review for this restaurant because of the service. I’m going to count myself as more biased then usual this time. Regardless, I’m planning to come again to get a more accurate picture of the food provided. Look for the part two of this review!

Merleawe

“Celebrating Taiwanese American Heritage Week in New York since 2002

[Super cute design on the flyer that I can’t replicate for my life]

Live Music and Dance Performances, Food, Shopping and More!”

MAY 26, 2013, 12PM - 5PM 
UNION SQUARE NORTH

More information @ http://p2tw.org/

Okay, before I say anything (besides this and the title), look at the picture. Really look at the picture.

So this thing is from Cutting Board, a relatively new reopened fusion restaurant. Okay so it’s officially name is “Meat Sauce” under the category “OmuRice” which means Omelet Rice. I have never seen such a pale thin oily omelet like this from any restaurant. No filling beyond literal meaning “badly cooked egg thing with rice underneath”. With additional measly green things I think they’re passing as parsley on top. And the “Meat Sauce”. Okay, so I know Chinatown doesn’t have authentic meat sauce, and in fact, if you have been to Chinatown you know that meat sauce is basically something from a can. But at least it was edible. THIS THING, not even close. Maybe it was a knock off brand, whatever it was, I don’t want to eat it again.

Item number TWO. Fried Calamari. Bland, too much salt, pepper. Sauces: Spicy Orange thing that was semi acceptable, COLD Marinara, Spicy Mustard. Not one sauce matched the dish (not that I think anything could save it beyond this point but still, could have earned some points for maybe heating up the damn sauce.)

I think this was the only “okay” thing from the menu. Cheese fries. Except you know, super overpriced. (And look! Another side of the tasteless omelet!)

This wasn’t the only thing that threw me off though because I’ve been victim to bad food, this doesn’t even rank the worst or even the top three worst if I’m honest. But why was everyone so miserable? From the cook, to the waiter, to the cashier, to the people delivering, to who knows what they do people, Each and Every One of them looked completely miserable. I see that occasionally among one or two of staff, and yea, they’re people. People are people. I get that. Except for a place that’s supposed to serve food, you don’t have to be that horribly unhappy. McDonald’s has a better atmosphere.

Which another thing, who helped design the restaurant? I peaked into the bathroom (unisex), which was awkward. Not awkward as in unisex, but just bad as in who made this? It’s like girl said “Hey I’ll pick what I want on one side of the room and you pick out for the other side!” Which echoes the architecture of the rest of the place, half girly half bachelor pad. And there are places that pull that off, but this…no.

Only semi redeemable feature is to thank whoever hooked up their Ipod to the stereo cause they had a nice variation of music.

Merleawe 

My lovely sister decided to spoil me for my birthday with this fantastic three part cake: green tea, mango, and lychee mousse with a thin layer of cake on the bottom. So happy~

Merleawe

It’s SUMMER! Which means stupidly sunny days and unbearable hot weather. I tend to like spring and autumn more, cause massive rain, wind, and clouds are much much more bearable than sun or snow. Regardless, the few good things about summer is the opportunity to fully enjoy slush and ice cream. So here is some Rose Slushy Tea with Bubbles from Teado. 

Merleawe

PART THREE! Yes, there is a part three. Yes, I really really like this place.

This was their Jasmine Pudding Lychee Mousse. The only word I can use to describe this is ‘refreshing’. They’re both very very light textures and flavors. It boarded close to ‘bland’ after a couple of bites if not for the little piece of cake at the very bottom, giving a sweet little kick to it and made the dessert perfect. 

Picture of blurry drink is Basil and Pineapple Juice and something else that I’ve forgotten at the moment. The smell was..not something I was used to (not a bad thing, just different), but very very delicious all the same. Perfect for spring and summer. 

And that’s the end of my Audrey’s Concerto collection (Part 1, Part 2). 

Merleawe

Second time I went (which was basically the next day, cause, this is delicious.) I chose Guava & Strawberry, Chocolate & Coffee, and Passion Fruit. 

These weren’t as impressive as the first run, not that they were bad, but there wasn’t anything like “Ohhhhh” experience I had first time around. Overall, Passion fruit was my favorite and Chocolate least favorite. Maybe run 3 will be better…

Their Facebook page and Part 1 of my Audrey’s Concerto collection.

Merleawe

Nearly every picture I’ve seen from Audrey’s Concerto mainly features their Green Tea Tiramisu, which isn’t surprising as it’s both fabulous in taste and doesn’t skimp out on matcha. But I feel like they don’t give credit to their other creations like the Osmanthus Panna Cotta Lychee Mousse. It’s part of their rotating menu so each day has something different. And it is unspeakably delicious! The combo goes so well together it’s surprising I’ve never seen it before.

Visit them on their Facebook. 

Merleawe

So I saw this deceptively easy looking recipe from Sorted Food. Not so much ingredients, I could probably make it myself. And if you don’t note my sarcasm now…sigh.

Demolition of cauliflower: why do they make it look so easy? then again, I could say this was the only thing I got right from the recipe.

These took way way longer to cook then I thought, then I noticed the temperature I set was too low, and that cut up this way, sausages could look pretty ugly.

Onto the cheese sauce. Burned the butter and flour, resulting in a chalky lump texture. Too much parsley. Forgot the pepper and salt. The cheese was nice.

As you can see, not completely cooked sausages, big chunks of cauliflower, several attempts of eating this, not recommended.

This of course was highlighted by my mom (who didn’t look at the video) asked why would I cut the sausages the way I did, since it wouldn’t cook right. And proceeded to try and salvage my plate of Stuff. In which, even in the hands of an experienced cook, it was unsalvageable.  

All in all, I learned that I’m a stubborn idiot and still haven’t realized I shouldn’t go by the book with online recipes (or cook)…even if they have helpful videos. Not that I didn’t have fun making this, but it would be nice to a fun and edible dish.

Merleawe

PS: To look at my previous inedible sortedfood dish look under my <sorted> tag for “Cake in Mug” recipe or click here.  

Merleawe

This year’s Japan Week is very very different from last year. It had a central location, local delicacies, etc. Sadly, I caught the tail end of it. As in the last day wasn’t any delicious food, or the cultural activities. I hope you’ve had better luck than me. I did however…

…buy this cute cow box with candy in it. It’s a little weird because all the candy is the same yet the packaging has pictures of sushi but it’s different…

…and ate some Oukashigure, a very sweet and soft crumbly texture. 

I’m catching the full Japan Week next year!

Merleawe

I first heard about cream puffs when I was watching Eyeshield 21. Mamori Anezaki, Devil Bats’ manager, is in love with cream puffs. Her craving for it made me very curious as to what was so good about them and lo and behold, a cream puff store in NYC, Beard Papa’s.  

My friend (who will forever hold a beloved place in my heart for recommending this to me) introduced me to this cafe. The menu and the desserts are cute. And the location of the store is not someplace I usually venture so it was fun exploring. Rambles aside, here are the food-gasmic pictures. 

I ordered a Azuki Bean (which I think is red bean) Mochi Ice Cream and a Dulce du Leche Vanilla Cream Puff. Serious mouth chewing was happening. The caramel isn’t overly sweet with a slight dark bitter undertone and the vanilla cream is yummy. Paired together… speechless.

I’ll be going back to try the Cocoa Puff, Eclair Puff, and maybe their coffee but for now I am very satisfied. 

Merleawe

At the food court/supermarket on 8th ave (Brooklyn’s Chinatown).

Merleawe

Went to Palais de Sweet and ordered Rose Tea, Hibiscus Lemon Tea, Chocolate Fondue with Pineapple, Strawberry, Banana, Green Tea Ice Cream, Marshmellows & Crackers, Black Sesame Tofu Cheesecake, & Green Tea Souffle.

The cheesecake had a really interesting texture and mellow taste. The souffle was a little too eggy. But the waitress was really nice and the atmosphere is pleasant. :]

Merleawe