Anywho, just wanted to give a heads up on a mini blurb about my quick trip @Saregama .
My first night I ate at Yakitori Totto. I got the Negima, Momo, Tsukune, Gyutan, Premium beef, hotate, ton toro, shishito peppers, shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, shishito tsukune, and the chicken oyster. I pretty much loved most things, though I’m a little more disappointed in the hotate (scallops) as I was expecting something like Raku’s butter scallop. Oh well, the best bite was the chicken oysters.
The following morning, got a nice HK breakfast set menu of macaroni and ham with two slices of buttered toast at Cha Chan Tang (okay, this stuff really isn’t meant to be high end lol).
For lunch I wandered into Joe’s Shanghai which they also claim is not related to Joe’s Ginger. I wasn’t too hungry at this point, so I just ordered the regular pork XLB (not the crab) as I wanted to just compare it to my meals at Dinesty and Din Tai Fung. Personally I am not a big fan of these massive XLB (being that big defeats the whole naming purpose of small…). The dumpling doesn’t fit in the soup spoon, rather it just spills out when you think of cradling the dumpling on it. I thought the meat was a bit more solid than I preferred and while the dumpling was quite soupy, I think its more due to how big it is. Ratio wise, its similar to DTF/Dinesty I guess, just its too big and cumbersome.
I eventually wandered for a small afternoon snack at Tim Ho Wan. I gave their baked bbq pork buns and siu mai a shot and quite enjoyed their buns. I actually can’t recall a good comparison with the HK version as its been like two years lol but I think Mott 32 is a good comparison (both the Las Vegas branch and Vancouver one) as I had them both these past two/three months. I thought the NYC buns had a little bit too much sauce for my taste but otherwise I quite enjoyed them (the buns weren’t that cheap though, still 6 bucks but still half the price of Mott 32 lol). I think Dragon Beaux/Palette Tea House if you’re in SF is equivalent to Tim Ho Wan’s version and the same price. The siu mai was good though there was a little bit of gristle in it. I was hoping they had soup as a special since I remember having some in Melbourne, but none at NYC. Random snack in between, I saw pasteis de nata from Joey Bat’s around the Rockefeller plaza and thought they did a really nice job. A little more powdered sugar and cinnamon than the one I recall eating at Margaret’s and Lord Stow’s in Macau but this might be more true to the actual Portuguese version (I’ve never been haha). Flaky crust and nice soft custard though a little bit sweeter than I preferred, still quite nice though!
Following that, for dinner I went to Ivan Ramen. Had their chicken paitan with two slices of tomatoes added thinking it might help cut down the richness. The ramen also had a wedge of lime that really helps but I only really added it towards the end of the meal. The first bite I really enjoyed the ramen, but as it goes on, the richness of the broth turned more salty than savory for me.
The next day, for breakfast I ventured towards Dominique Ansel’s bakery and grabbed a DKA and a Honey Rosemary with fig Cronut. DKA is delicious as ever and the Cronut filling was a little lighter than my previous one, but had a good fig note with savory rosemary essence. Quite good and probably terrible for my arteries.
Following breakfast, I eventually tried lunch at Peter Luger with their steak for one. This was just a day or so after that scathing NY Times review so maybe they reformed themselves a little bit, but I thought it was quite good! Medium rare and juicy with a nice sizzle when it arrived!
Eventually I wandered back and had dinner at Ramen Totto. Had their Spicy Mega Paitan and Spicy Tokyo fried chicken. Very enjoyable, I preferred this version over Ivan’s. Their fried chicken and ramen weren’t too spicy but perfect for the wet weather.
The last day for breakfast I went to Barney Greengrass and had their Eggs with side of Sturgeon and Nova Scotia Salmon. I think I preferred their sturgeon over the salmon as I found the salmon’s saltiness a bit too overpowering for my scrambled but quite good. Also I had no idea what people normally ordered here so I was thrown this way by my server.
For lunch I wound up at Eleven Madison Park and went for the a la carte lunch option. Had an interesting squid dish for an appetizer and their famed dry duck for lunch! For dessert went with an interesting pear plate and thought that was fantastic (loved the gelato/ice cream pear one).
Lastly for dinner I went to Atoboy since I was unable to secure a reservation at AtoMIX. They do pretty much a prix fixe menu so I opted for their Chrysanthemum salad, their steamed egg dish with additional uni, and their galbi. The meal came with two different kimchis (Pear and cucumber) and a special rice (seaweed). The salad was rather refreshing and a little light, had a nice savory note with the cheese but sweetness from the plum. Per the server, I added some fresh sea urchin to my steamed egg and honestly didn’t think it was really necessary. The egg dish itself was great and had bits of sea urchin in it as well. The seaweed rice reminded me of my meal at Benu actually, when they had added dehydrated green onions on top of the rice. In any case, went very well with the eggs. Lastly the galbi arrived and it was delicious, the meat didn’t have any overt gristly bits. Tender and not overcooked! My meal at AtoBOY was great, makes me wonder what I missed at AtoMIX though…
I didn’t get anything dessert related (like cakes or pies), but each night I visited the fantastic bar Existing Conditions. Regarding the food options, I got:
Kiev Nuggets (Crispy Chicken Thigh, Porcini Powder, Salted Butter, Herbs) I loved these things, the butter was within the chicken nugget and basically oozed out making the things juicy as well.
Peekytoe Crab Dip (Chili Oil, Peppadew Pepper, Parsley, Wonton Chips) This was probably the small plate that I really didn’t quite care for. Not that its bad, just not my thing.
Pickle Fries (I don’t remember exactly what they had but it was like cornmeal battered pickles that were fried). Quite good! It sounds really odd but there’s still a good crunch on the exterior with a pickle in the middle. Multiple sauces came with the dish to dip.
Pommes Deragon (French-Fried Mashed Potato Sticks, Everything Bagel Sauce, Spicy Carrot Aioli, Neonata Mayo): A toss up between the kiev and these, but I loved the pommes deragon! These fried mash potatoes had a nice crispy exterior, with soft potato fluff in the middle. Four sauces to choose from, and these were just an absolute delight.
Drink wise, I sorta went all out. I’ll start with the non-alcoholic ones:
Spruce Mousse (If you are pining fir some spruce. Spruce Tea, Clarified Grapefruit, Champagne Acid) Thought this was actually very nice. The Spruce element was something I didn’t expect and had a hint of bitterness that I enjoyed).
Serendipity (A savory tropical sipper for when you’re in an Old-Fashioned frame of mind. Clarified Tomato, Clarified Passionfruit, Grapefruit Twist): This was delicious and I ordered it on two different days. That passionfruit flavor is just sublime. The clarified tomato juice is actually rather interesting as it doesn’t immediately remind you of a tomato.
Stingless (Honeyed bubbles from the stingless Melipona honey bee, the only natural polinator of the vanilla orchids. Carbonated Melipona Honey, Clarified lime, Vanilla). I really liked this one, there’s this great hint of vanilla in sweetened honey with a hint of lime in the background that balances out the drink.
Grand Isle (Tasmanian honey from the rainforests of the wild west coast.
Carbonated Leatherwood Honey, Lime) This one is a tasty drink but a little too similar to Stingless which I thought was a tastier drink.
Next up are the alcoholic ones with the first two being carbonated drinks, and the last two are nitro muddled (herbal items are frozen with liquid nitrogen and then muddled and mixed with the rest of the cocktail):
Jack Rosé (Like bobbing for apples in a vat of sparkling rosé.
Apple Brandy, Blanche Calvados, Sweet Vermouth, Pomegranate, Lemon Cordial, Champagne Acid) Simply delicious for me, reminds me of well apples haha.
Cape Codder (We use fresh cranberries, not juice. Refreshing as hell.
Vodka-Cranberry Justino, Clarified Lime) As their blurb implied, super refreshing.
Hoja Santa (Fresh Hoja Santa, Mexico’s sacred leaf, highlights this summer crusher.
Tequila, Orange and Lime Juices, Green Chartreuse, Hoja Santa, Parsley): This was actually quite refreshing as well, its odd to have these herbal notes shine in the drink.
Purple (Who knew something so purple could be so refreshing?
Aquavit, Acid Adjusted Grapefruit, Purple Basil): The purple basil’s herbally notes are super apparent and quite delicious as well.
I did get a stirred drink called an Apple Martini 2.0 but I don’t think I took a picture of the description nor ingredients… oops. I thought it was quite nice, with a strong apple hint.
The last three drinks were part of their special menu. I had a shaved cocktail ice drink and the last two were drinks produced with the red hot poker. Just watching bartender shove this super heated metal and watching the alcoholic drink ignite was always fun to watch. The two warm drinks has the carmelized sugars from the burnt alcohol added, very interesting and great on these cold nights.
Overall, I still find NYC fun to visit and especially eat and drink!
oh edit: I was rather disappointed in visiting the orchard in brooklyn. I thought there would be different weird varieties of apples or maybe tropical fruits imported from across the world and I didn’t find the selection all too different than Whole Foods or like Brooklyn Fare Market. Manhattan’s Chinatown also had more tropical fruit selection as well.
I will give a great shout out to Kalustyan’s though! The sheer enormity and selection of different spices, additives, and herbs was mind boggling.
