nykeiko eats: Lots of udon options at TsuruTonTan Udon

Dave has taken a particular liking to udon lately. Sometimes, it is all he seeks to eat. A few weeks ago, when we were walking around Union Square and walked by TsuruTonTan, He read about this place opening a few months ago and was eager to try their their daily made in-house udon. Dave got all excited when he saw there was no line to eat. We got a table right away and marveled at the large selection of udon dishes. You can get your udon with or without soup. You can get curry udon or topped with fancy toppings like caviar or uni. They also offer appetizers and donburi if you're not here for their homemade udons. On the menu, it says you can supersize your udon serving to large at no charge. The waiter warned that we cannot bring leftovers home but wouldn't get charged for not finishing the noodles. We skipped the appetizers and got the large. We were pretty confident we would finish it all. I got a sizzling sukiyaki udon because I read that was pretty decent. Dave got the tempura one. The udon was very good but we don't know if it is worth the price. It was good to try and definitely hit the spot for udon craving.  I admit it was a struggle to finish the large bowl but had help from a third little mouth to feed but next time, maybe we won't both get large. We don't like to waste food!

nykeiko eats: Four Seasons Restaurant

Four Seasons Restaurant: The Grill room

A week ago, I mentioned that I had this Gilt City voucher for the Four Seasons Restaurant. At the time of purchase, I did not known it was not affiliated with the Four Seasons hotel which was the reason I wanted to buy it in the first place. Dave had brought me to a restaurant in a Four Seasons resort on my birthday in Hawaii and I thought it would be something special to try in the city.

There was a snowstorm last Tuesday but since the voucher was expiring on that day, we strapped on our warmest gear and made it to the restaurant. We were planning on getting drinks and appetizers and be on our way to grab dinner somewhere more affordable.  The voucher was for the Grill Room and included two drinks (cocktails, wine or champenoise), oysters (raw or fried) and 2 appetizers to share. A $95 value I paid $44 ($58-25% off) for. Well, we were determined not to succumb to the voucher's trap and purchase more food but after being slightly intoxicated by the strong cocktails as well as a discouraging snowstorm outside, we decided to stay for dinner and order just ONE entrée to share. We picked the bison and foie gras steak dish which cost $68 (insert shock emoticon here). Yikes at the price but we read it was da bomb digity and went for it. Even with the voucher, the meal costed me over $150! I was shocked. Imagine we did not have a voucher, the meal would have costed over $200. Oh well. This is the price to eating fancy in midtown Manhattan.

Overall, it was a pretty good meal but we were not totally satisfied. The Four Seasons is known for its power lunch and some celebrity sightings but at this price, I expected something more. The waiter of course treated us like coupon customers by not serving us bread until we asked as well as not asking us how we would like our bison cooked. I was pretty peeved but should have not been surprised. I tipped him accordingly...not 20% but still more than 15% so that I don't make voucher users look like cheapos. The tartares were good but not amazing. We did enjoy the tender bison and Dave couldn't stop eating the french fries. I could have brought him to McDonalds for them.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this place even with a coupon voucher.

Gimlet in a wine glass?

half a dozen oysters

Salmon tartare 

Beef tartare 

Dave couldn't stop eating these! 

What else is on the menu?

Bison and foie gras steak split in 2 

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nykeiko eats: $32 dinner pour deux in NYC [Jinya Ramen Bar]

Sometimes, to save money in New York, you have to be crafty. I got a Gilt City Voucher for Jinya Ramen Bar for a $57 + $25 off (credit for referral) dinner for 2. Sure, if we didn't get the voucher, we would have probably just ordered one tapas and two bowls of ramen and spend a bit less money. We had to tip on regular service, not $32. But since we did get the voucher, we got this entire meal for less than $50 AND bring home this bottle of sake we did finish. The bottle of sake alone cost $38.

This is what the meal looked like. We were pretty stuffed and satisfied. We got there at about 6 p.m. on a Saturday night and it wasn't packed at all.

-Bottle of sake
-1 tapas
-3 skewers
-2 bowls of ramen
-2 desserts

nykeiko eats: NYC gluttony-Things I have been eating recently...

With the family in town, eating out happened almost every day... Here are some highlights of some deliciousness that went into my tummy these past few weeks...not shown: Shake Shack burgers, cupcakes, lots of ramen, steaks and more!

Epic seafood hot pot and grill at Sik Gaek

For the grill

Baby octopus hot pot

Bone marrow at Porter House

Large portions at Tony D's..

First dish served at our wedding reception. A roasted suckling pig.

Family meals

Sashimi( including sea urchin and ikura!), maki and ramen (not shown) meal at Mitsuwa!

Giant oysters with vermicelli and black bean sauce at Royal Seafood Restaurant on Mott St

Serbian food: pork shoulder/lamb dish, blitva, lamb & spinach stew at Kafana NYC

BONUS: Cat picture!

My sister brought her cats from Canada. The white Love sign was a wedding gift and the black one I bought off someone off '100 layercake' that one and only time i visited the site. Great for pictures like this one!

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nykeiko eats: Sunday sweet treats- Pear and Port Wine macaron [Maison du Macaron]

La Maison du Macaron is still one of my favorite places to pick up these sweet treats. They offer new flavors each time I visit and I try to pick at least one flavor I have not tried before. I'm so glad I picked this one. Pear and Port Wine. It was so pretty and flavorful. I think I ate real pieces of pears? I also got a 'Rose' one.

Pear and Port wine macaron from Maison du Macaron

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nykeiko eats: Momofuku Ssäm bar [East village Eats NYC]

Momofuku Ssäm bar was awarded 2012's World's 50 Best Restaurants as top 37 and has been on the list for the past 4 years. Quite a title non?

There are about 5 NY restaurants which made it on the list this year including the usual pricy suspects such as Per Se ($300/person tasting menu) and Le Bernandin ($330/person with wine pairing menu). I don't know how the list is created and if they have this team of foodies traveling around the world eating up everything they can while taking notes but I'll take their word for it. Ok, of course not. Here's how they do it and that's that.

When I saw Momofuku Ssäm bar on the list, I was curious. I am familiar with Momofuku's reputation so I was not totally surprised it was on there but inquisitive because this small dark East village eatery is not in the expensive price range such as Per Se and other fancy schmancy eating places and is frequented by patrons of all stature. You know, not snobbish with dress codes. Also, I'm not trying to say that the BEST dishes in the world HAS to be expensive but it is an observation. The food must be really good I thought and well, Momofuku's owner David Chang runs 5 other restaurants in the city which one of them Momofuku Ko has picked up 2 Michelin stars and also Momofuku noodle bar which is well know for its ramen (though it is not on my top recommended ramen list).

So for me, Ssäm bar was just okay. I just know that I've had better meals. Heck, Momofuku Ko's dishes were so much better in my opinion. No review on that because no pics allowed but you MUST try it if you can get reservations! I'm not a food critique and pretend like I know what I'm talking about but I just know what I like.

The cheapest thing we ordered at Ssäm bar were the porc buns which is also still the the best porc buns I've had in the city. The other pretty dishes charred octopus and lamb, were delicious upon the first few bites but after that, the puree sauces that all the pieces swimmed in really made everything taste the same and it became blend. It's suppose to add and enhance the flavor but I didn't think so..for what I had anyway.

Bonus points for the nice presentation! Here's what we ordered, do you think we did good? Do you think that it is worthy of being one of the 50 Best restos in the World?

Ssäm bar santa barbara uni – heirloom tomato, cantaloupe, shiso

Ssäm bar steamed buns – pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers, scallions

Ssäm bar porc buns

Ssäm bar chicken liver mousse – olive berry, purslane, maitake

Ssäm bar

Ssäm bar roasted lamb loin & belly – bulgur,  lima beans, egg yolk

Ssäm bar charred spanish octopus – pine nuts, celery, black olive

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nykeiko eats: NYC Restaurant Week 2012-Park Avenue Summer

This Restaurant Week we tried two new places. 'Park Avenue Summer' is the first one and it was highly recommended by a couple of my colleagues. I was really excited about this one. I'm always excited about restaurants that serve recipes based on seasonal availabilities. You're guaranteed to taste the freshest of the crops. So I learned that 'Park Avenue' not only changes their menu with seasonal transitions but also the entire interior decor.  Subsequently, the name of the restaurant changes too...

  

The food itself was quite interesting. You can taste every flavor of every ingredient on your plate and there was definitively freshness in everything. 

We were 6 people and therefore got to order a lot of things from the menu and we shared a couple of bites from each other's plates. Surprisingly, the free range chicken was tender and flavorful but not so much can be said about the rest of the entrees. The puree that came with my salmon was not fantastic but I still ate all of it. Someone said..it has a little bit of a 'Windex' taste which is definitely NOT a good thing but it was more like wheat grass taste too which is really not a flavor that everyone can appreciate. My favorites were the appetizers since everything tasted delicious. 

The menu

A nice amuse bouche (watermelons) while we looked over the menu

The APPETIZERS

Muscle and Squid Ink pasta. Spicy and salty.

Crispy soft shell crab

A nice beet (yellow and red) salad

The MAINS

Free Range chicken

Organic salmon

The Trout

DESSERTS

Praline parfait with extra crunchie something

The Pana Cotta

Would I recommend this place? Yes but not for Restaurant week although the price is worth it!

Enjoy!

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