What are the sweetbreads sitting atop of? More rice?
Yes, I believe so, but quite soft, and tasted a little sweet. Did not make a pic of the menu.
Oh. Well, that’s def a weird choice.
We are planning a group dinner the week before Thanksgiving — if you’d like to join, please dm me with what days work for you.
Overview of one week NYC.
Oceans (near Gramercy). Went there three times. They have a diverse menu: I have had a lobster roll, filet mignon and sushi rolls. It’s one of my go to places when I’m in NY - as a European this is what I want from a NYC restaurant. It’s just very American/NYC and without wanting to be anything else.
Los Tacos No1. Went there a few times for lunch when I had meetings nearby. Always hits the spot.
Pastis (Gansevoort). Went there for lunch (hamburger) and afternoon cocktails. Great place: buzzing at 4PM with people drinking cocktails and having oysters. Another very NY place to me.
Mari Vanna (Park and 20th). Russian friend brought me here and according to her it’s very authentic. I had a great borsjt and beef stroganoff. Buzzing on a Monday with a live dj and people celebrating.
35 Sushi West (uber eats). Pricey at 60 usd for a platter of I think 15 pieces but great quality.
Rosie’s (near Bowery). Mexican with a nice terrace outside on a lovely warm Saturday afternoon. Had a few tacos and margaritas.
Jin Ramen (UWS). Probably my favourite dish of the week. Outstanding bowl of ramen.
I was a bit under the weather so feel I could have done more but overall very happy with my choices!
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Takeout from INDO JAVA Grocery Store https://www.instagram.com/indojavagroceries/?hl=en
Our dinner tonight was a super delicious Nasi Ikan Dabu Dabu, roasted mackerel with fresh dabu dabu sambal, rice and other delicious accompaniments from the refrigerator case. The separate (cooked) sambal was wonderful. Meal included a delicious green vegetable and an egg and slices of fried tofu and temeh, as well as the fish with dabu dabu, rice and sambal . This dish came from Ramayana Restaurant and Grocery in Philly, which also seems highly recommendable. https://www.facebook.com/ramayanadepot
Indo Java sell fresh meals on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from different sources. highly recommend a visit.
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The Beef Rendang from Ramayana Philly via Indo-Java in Queens was also delicious.
More homestyle / less intense / less spicy than nyc-area restaurant options.
Generous portion of meat.
@JenKalb I’ll be curious how the other (nyc) rendang is when you try it.
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Here is the Ikan Rika, also from Ramayana I bought and we consumed tonight every bone licked (lots of bones but very removable and the white flesh was delicious) and every ounce of sauce. Ingredients say fish, red chili, coconut milk, turmeric. Yes - but kaffir lime, and other things too! It was great.
Had it together with brown rice, some cabbage cooked with south indian/malaysian ingredients and a baked sweet potato which was super with the sambal! forgot the turmeric that belongs in the cabbage will add it for the reprise Tuesday with the NY rendang.
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Deep-fried lasagna is a thing that I like. As long as someone else makes it (Cadence, here).
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Here is the NY beef rendang from Indo Java served with some reheated green chickpea/potato and cabbage curries (with some turmeric and cilantro added this time. The rendang had intense chili heat and deep spicing, and read more as a rice condiment than a “main dish” - typical. I liked the flavors but not the beef so much, overcooked as it often is. Much prefer lamb and goat (or fattier cuts).
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Spur of the moment early dinner at Maison Harlem after an event at The Apollo. It’s a very cute neighborhood place; the menus are attached to double album covers, there’s a lot of collage-y stuff on the bathroom walls, the floor’s a little cracked and beaten up, you get the idea. The menu’s straightforward bistro French (think L’Express or the other one, you know the one I mean), and what we had was very solid: Tagliatelle with seafood in a saffron cream sauce for him, dorade with sauce vierge, asparagus and fingerling potatoes for me. Reasonable prices and good service, too.
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French Roast. Now I know the one I mean.
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Whereas the subjects in that photo do look sedap sekali (very tasty, in Indonesian), dabu-dabu usually has more of a pico de gallo-look.
It’s a sambal from my favorite Indonesian food region, Manado, and typically made with raw ingredients including tomatoes, bird’s eye chilies, red onions/shallots, and salt. Occasionally I’d see chefs throw in cooking oil (blech), but it generally had that fresh heat from the cabe rawit (bird’s eye chilies).
Last year, I took a video at Beautika, one of my customary Manadonese restaurants in Jakarta, if anyone is interested in watching.
Unfortunately, the regional Indo cuisines I most crave – Manado and Batak – are nigh on impossible to find in the U.S., let alone anywhere but Indonesia and perhaps the Netherlands/Singapore. But I reckon they are the two spiciest ones!
Here’s a not-so-good photo of dabu-dabu from another Jakarta restaurant, called Ikan Tude Manado. The dabu-dabu is on top, followed by cakalang (smoked dried skipjack tuna, very popular in Manado), and finally kue lapis (a rice flour and coconut layer cake, this time with chocolate and pandan).
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@FindingFoodFluency, this purchase was of a “set” in a plastic box, with a sauteed green, sambal , mackerel layered over coconut rice, The dabu dabu was fresh chopped herbs, chile, scallions, lime etc and on top of and around the fish in the box but I had to take the set apart to put on a plate and reheat, so the look of the dabu dabu suffered. thanks for all the additional info
Dinner tonight at Masalawala in Park Slope. https://www.masalawala.com/
Really popping on a wet cold night. They have just introduced an updated menu - we had phuchka, tasty, served one by one, but IMO a little too big for one bit, the fish fry. , very delicate the filets were covered with an herb paste and the assembly was coated lightly and fried, along with the prize dish, kheema kaleji, made with minced goat and liver, topped with chopped egg, served with a paratha and marinated onions and beautifully , spicily seasoned. We ate this delliciousnesss as slowly as we could. Finally we had Bhapa Maach, a sizeable branzino partially boned (I think, there were still a fair number of bones) to which a mustard cream seasoning had been applied, and the whole thing steamed in a banana leaf. It was of a mild deliciousness, and served with some very lovely buttered rice, ghee bhat.
A very fine fish, we brought the leftover home for tomorrow The room is packed with two tops and rather noisy, and we were not there for long, with the quick service, we felt a bit rushed, but the staff were lovely and the meal dellicious. Will hope to find a quieter hour and return.
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This place used to be on Essex Street, and I think the menu was not so interesting then.
Different restaurant, same name. This is from the Dhamaka / Semma group.
Different restaurant, same name, same backers, yes?
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Pre- the Unapologetic Foods machine & team – Chintan Pandya was not involved, it was Roni Mazumdar & his father, and a mostly standard Indian restaurant menu.
(The Bk spot is under the UF group umbrella, rebranded, mostly different menu – “origin story” foods of where the UF founders are from, Calcutta and Bombay mainly.)
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Thanks for the clarification!
