Apologies in advance for the blurry photos – I didn’t drink, so I’m not sure what caused the shake… excitement, perhaps?  Our appetizers arrived quickly, ‘bruschette’ were really a basket of crostini served with the topping you’d requested in a small dish on the side, for you to top yourself… and if you ordered more than one, to mix and match as you pleased.  Choice of one ran $5, but three came to $10, so we chose three: the red, roasted red peppers, smoked almonds and pecorino romano; the green, rapini pesto with walnuts and pecorino romano; the brown, lily confit – which a check with our server informed us that it was garlic, onions and shallots.  The lily confit was the surprising favorite, while the rapini pesto bordered on a bit too bitter at times.  I really enjoyed the red pepper one with its light smokiness, but mixing a bit of each on top of a piece of bread actually worked out fantastically as well, with the sweetness of the lily confit tempering a bit of the bitterness from the rapini pesto, yum.  Not a bad start to the night. 

Hungry chose to start with the bay scallop crudo, a light appetizer that I know she enjoyed, remarking that it was a good, light beginning to her meal, which is what she wanted. 

I love beets, so it was no surprise when I chose the roasted beets with candied fennel, radish vinaigrette and pecorino romano.  The sweetness of the beets with the creamy saltiness of the cheese was perfect, and I happily ate the entire thing pretty fast. 

We’d all heard the pastas at dell’anima were phenomenal, so we all chose pastas as our main course.  KC went with the orecchiette, with roast cauliflower, onion, celery, walnuts, parmigiano reggiano – and I know she really enjoyed it quite a bit.  I’m not sure why I didn’t try a bite, but she said a few times how good it was, and it certainly looks delicious. 

I believe Hungry chose the garganelli, though I’m afraid I don’t recall exactly, so I’ll let her insert her thoughts (or a link to her post!) in the comments section…

A side of broccoli rabe also appeared on our table.  A nice green counterpart to our heavier dishes, I wasn’t complaining. 

I chose the pappardelle integrale, with duck ragu, pancetta, mushrooms, asiago.  You might think it was too rich, but it was just perfect – every strand of pasta perfectly cooked, clearly fresh pasta, but the best part was definitely that it was topped with something crispy.  We thought it might be bits of pancetta – just perfectly crisp, offering an amazing textural contrast to the soft pasta, the rich, tender duck, and meaty, earthy tomatoes.  Everything was just so well-executed, thoughtfully put together… I was in heaven as I cleaned my plate.  Not a bite wasted, that’s for sure… delicious. 

Though we were all pretty full, the dessert menu beckoned with some appealing choices.  Unfortunately, the dessert menu doesn’t appear to be online, though I recall the word ‘espresso’ in the description – and all of us commenting that we thought a cake with espresso in it would be darker.  The cake was crumbly, almost like a cornmeal cake, but the ice cream pulled it all together very nicely, and we all enjoyed the cake very much.  I apologize for being unable to offer further details on the contents… I know the caramel drizzle was salted though   

Then we exchanged cookies and walked into the night, sated, happy, full… and having spotted Glenn Close in the restaurant!  She didn’t stay – I think there wasn’t enough privacy and a bit too many people staring at her, she’s much shorter than I thought she was! – but that was a pretty awesome celebrity sighting (props to KC for spotting her)! 

Yvo says: I enjoyed everything I ate here, though I particularly enjoyed the pasta – there’s something about a well-executed pasta dish that just makes my tastebuds sing.  With perfectly cooked pasta and exactly the right complementing textures and flavors, that dish is a really fond memory right now… and I will definitely be back to try more.  Lovely. 
recommended

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Post tags: Pasta

While we were waiting to order, one of the owners, Doug, handed us some free samples of a new ice cream flavor he created. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. It was quite good and would make the Reese family proud. I actually had my sweets craving satisfied with this little taste, but would have felt bad if I didn’t order anything.

They had quite a large selection of flavors based on Mister Softee Ice Cream. (Apologies for the blurriness, the shop was quite busy and it was hard to get a good pic without blocking the way.)

CT was feeling quite seasonal and order the Gobbler ($6). It had vanilla ice cream, pumpkin butter, pie pieces, maple syrup and whipped cream. She could have substituted the pumpkin butter for apple butter. I had a taste and it was quite good.

I wanted a taste of summer and ordered the Mermaid ($6). It also had vanilla ice cream, but with key lime curd, crushed graham crackers and whipped cream. I am a huge fan of Key Lime pie and this hit the spot. Not too sweet with just the right amount of tart. I inhaled this before I my stomach reminded my brain how full I was.

They were having a Festivus celebration while we were there to raise money for New York Cares. I can get behind any business that loves Seinfeld and also donates to worthy causes.

All in all, I was sad I didn’t visit the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop/Truck sooner. They are really creative with their flavors and have a fun time doing it. I highly recommend you check it out yourself, even if it is still freezing out.

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Post tags: soft serve ice cream

I suggested we try the special meatball in slider format – lamb meatball Mediterranean style.  Good thing, because neither of us really liked it – it was super gamey and I don’t know, I didn’t think it was a good showcase of the talent at Meatball Shop.  Ah well. 

DLS ordered butternut squash risotto for his side, and was surprised that it was as savory as it was.  Guess he thought it would be sweeter?  I tried a bite but didn’t find it interesting enough to try to hijack. 

DLS chose ‘naked’ classic (beef) meatballs with parmesan cream topped with ‘the family jewels’ (fried egg) – naked just means it arrives in a bowl with sauce and a piece of foccacia.  I know he liked his balls a lot, though I found them a bit harder than I prefer my meatballs, and there was something in them that I didn’t like.  He thought I was crazy though and just kept eating.  Hahaha. 

A classic root beer float with vanilla ice cream and Abita root beer for DLS – he liked it.  I opted not to have any because Abita root beer has caffeine in it and it was a little late in the day, and DLS doesn’t allow me to have caffeine late in the day… hahaha.

Since I really, really, really enjoy the spicy pork meatballs at Meatball Shop, I ordered the naked spicy pork meatballs with parmesan cream as well.  I loved the fluffy foccacia as a vehicle to eat more of that amazing parmesan cream – described on the menu as “alfredo on steroids” all I can say is YUP.  I swiped that piece of bread through it like my life depended on it, and wound up with a nearly-clean bowl, while DLS watched with amusement.  The ever so slightly spicy porkballs were tempered nicely by the creamy sauce, and just a really delicious and hearty meal on a chilly night (unfortunately it wasn’t chilly this night, but I can definitely see myself heading over there when it’s cold, for a big bowl of balls… mmm).  The porkballs were slightly softer than the classic meatballs, and just yielded easily to my bite… love.  This has to be one of my new favorite dishes… 

I also ordered roasted beets with ricotta salata, arugula and lemon juice.  Perfect- sweet with the lemon juice cutting through that to balance and bring it all together… fantastic. 

For dessert – you can’t go to Meatball Shop and NOT get dessert, given that you can order your cookies (mix & match!) and house made ice cream, come on! – so we got the peppermint chocolate cookies (special of the day) and the caramelized white chocolate ice cream (also a special).  The ice cream was interesting – a bit toffee-like, but the texture also was interesting, it came away in sheets – but that cookie was amazeballs.  Soft, but thick and chewy, with a nice peppermint bite to it, and chocolatey… I want the recipe for the cookies!  (Are the cookie recipes in their cookbook?  Anyone know?)  Their cookies are always perfect, not just for ice cream sandwiches but just for eating out of hand too… yum. 

Yvo says: Another fantastic meal at Meatball Shop – I’m not sure why I didn’t get the fried egg! I love fried eggs, and it looks like DLS’s was fried perfectly, swoon – I can say with certainty that I will definitely be back.  There are just an infinite number of combinations available to mix and match for the perfect meal, and while my porkballs with parmesan cream already seems like perfection, I may just keep seeking more and more… or maybe I’ll stop here and keep ordering that from now until the end of time.  I’m so glad there are multiple locations now – hopefully will cut down on the insane lines at each location… maybe.  YUM!!! 
highly recommended, for casual dining and delicious meatballs 

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Post tags: DLS, ice cream sandwiches, Meatballs

When we sat down, DLS got excited and started talking about mini fried buns.  I had no idea what he was talking about, so he ordered these – I guess they’re fried, though I wouldn’t have guessed that.  The outside texture was like it’d been glazed with sugar – slightly crunchy – but not really that sweet.  The inside was plain bread – mantou for those familiar with Chinese cuisine (a very plain baked bread that is like ‘poor food’ in China when eaten plain; it’s a great foil to very flavorful dishes, in the part of China that eats bread as its main carb).  And that little dish on the side?  Because the exterior isn’t sweet, you can sweeten it… with a little dish of sweetened condensed milk.  I ate one and was done – definitely not a dish invented for people like me.  And definitely not an appetizer in my opinion, but DLS was happy to have found this, and nommed away. 

When the soup dumplings arrived, I almost laughed out loud – look at them!  They’re so heinously ugly.  The one in the middle looks like someone got angry and just twisted off the top ‘nipple’ and didn’t care.  Really sloppy.  I shrugged though and soldiered on.  The wrapper was thick and slightly gummy, but even weirder, it was oddly dry, so they stuck to my lips as I tried to eat them – I really wanted to lick all around the outside so it would slide into my mouth more easily.  Instead, as I tried to shove the whole thing in my mouth, it just stuck to my lips and tore as it entered, which left greasy soup spilling out of the sides of my mouth.  DISLIKE.  And oh yes, the soup itself was greasy, oily, and not in that lovely luscious fatty porky way that soup dumplings should be – but rather in an unpleasant icky way.  I wasn’t too thrilled with these dumplings at all – they were pretty bad. 

For the sake of consistency, the rest of our order mimicked our order at Shanghai Cafe Deluxe.  Spicy double cooked pork, which was markedly spicier here, and the vegetables were an odd mix of cabbage, eggplant, and peppers.  I thought it was OK, but DLS didn’t like this dish much if at all. 

This time, our fried rice cakes were ordered with ‘subgum’ which basically means a mix of proteins – beef, pork, whatever.  The flavor here was better than it’d been at Shanghai Cafe Deluxe – someone who wasn’t afraid of salt (or soy sauce, really) had cooked this dish – but that person may have also absentmindedly left the rice cakes out somewhere to overcook.  They were mushy and lacked the chewy texture that Shanghai Cafe Deluxe had had, and in fact, the very characteristic of rice cakes that makes me like eating them – the chewiness – was obliterated into a gummy mess.  Blegh. 

Yvo says: More misses than hits, I don’t think I’ll be returning to Joe’s Shanghai in the near future or ever, really.  Not the one in Chinatown – I’ll do my journalistic duty and visit the one in Flushing for comparison’s sake (and to see if DLS deserves any food cred in my eyes, haha), but that’s it.  Joe’s Shanghai offered me nothing of value, and I don’t intend to return so he can laugh in my tastebud’s face again.  Dislike.
not recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DLS, dumplings, rice cakes, Shanghainese, soup dumplings

There has been a proliferation of Filipino restaurants in Manhattan over the past year of so, which I heartily welcome since our fantastic brunch at Maharlika. One restaurant, Sa Aming Nayon has been on our radar since it has opened a few months back. We knew we had to go once I read our friend Tia from Bionic Bites’ review that featured the Crispy Pata. This is a whole, fried pig’s foot. How could we not try that? For the icing on the cake, we bought a $25 gift certificate for ONE DOLLAR from Restaurant.com. Thanks Mom for telling me about that website.

After arriving, we knew this place was the real deal since many of the other customers appeared to be Filipino. Always a good sign when an ethnic restaurant has people of that ethnicity eating there. To drink we both had San Miguel beer. It was a nice, light pilsner that ended up pairing well with the food(as expected). When traveling I almost always try the local beer and usually do the same at restaurants.

I decided we should order the Sizzling Sisig ($12) to compare to the version I previously had at Maharlika for brunch. Here it was listed as an appetizer. It had three kinds of pig parts (ears, belly and snout). It came out steaming on the plate which made for a bad picture. Our friendly waitress offered to mix up the egg for us. The first thing I noticed was that the pork pieces weren’t as finely chopped as the Maharlika version, which gave it a better texture and less corned beef hash-like. I would definitely order this again.

All mixed together!

To counteract all of the pork, we also ordered one of the salads, Ensaladang Pipino ($5). This was simply sliced cucumber served with a special vinaigrette. Clean and refreshing, exactly what we wanted.

We also ordered one of the noodle dishes, Bihon Rice Noodle with Chicken & Shrimp. They offer a regular ($7) or large ($9), I think we ordered the regular. Since we weren’t very familar with Filipino food, we were a little surprised the noodles were served with some white bread. We didn’t end up eating the bread as we had too much food to eat already. The noodles were light and not very greasy, almost like lo mein. There wasn’t that much chicken or shrimp, but we didn’t need any more proteins. The veggies were good and plentiful.

The MAIN EVENT: Crispy Pata ($12). A whole pig’s foot deep fried. It was quite the sight to behold. I was happy to see so much crispy skin! Although the meat was only lightly seasoned, if at all, the accompanying chili vinegar gave it some great flavor. The meat was nice and juicy and pretty much all of the fat was rendered out. The rendered fat and cartilage had that lip sticking aspect to it that you get from eating connective tissue. I couldn’t believe how cheap this dish was, so I didn’t feel bad about leaving some leftover. I would also order this again, but my cardiologist said I can only have it once, maybe twice a year.

Almost like roast beef!

Crispy skin FTW!

It was served with some rice.

All in all, Sa Aming Nayon knows their pork! We were quite happy with all of the dishes, so much so that we inevitably overate and put ourselves in a pork-coma. It was also nice to have the gift certificate to save a few bucks. You should definitely check out the sisig and pata for yourself!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: restaurant.com