We each chose from the dessert tapas section of the menu, which meant that we got a discounted price for ordering 4 tapas – I think it was around $28, which is a good deal.  My memory is failing here (and I didn’t pay – thanks again to Hungry for sharing her Groupon [or similar] discount!).  My choice was the green tea tiramisu, which unfortunately wasn’t green-tea enough for me.  I also didn’t like the hard white chocolate pieces on top; the textural contrast was too great.  Something crunchy or crispy on top against the creaminess would have worked better in my opinion; cubes of white chocolate just made for awkward chewing while I tried to enjoy the dessert.  No one who tried mine liked it very much… I had the FAIL dessert of the night! 

TC chose a green tea molten lava cake.  I know he enjoyed it and I definitely enjoyed the green oozing out… the cake was moist and the green tea, though muted, was still present. 

After I mentioned to DLS that the yuzu eskimo was super popular among my friends, but that I really enjoyed the white miso semifreddo – which our server “warned” us is more savory than sweet – DLS chose the white miso semifreddo.  I was pleased to taste that it hadn’t changed much, if at all, since the first time I had it.  An extremely moist, dense “pound” cake sandwiching white miso semifreddo (like an ice cream), savory but still lightly sweet.  The tart raspberry ice cream on the side was good but just gilding the lily – I would be perfectly happy just eating the two slices of cake with semifreddo.  (And in fact, after a moment with my tiramisu, I said “I don’t want any more; you finish it” and pushed it across to DLS… and then asked him if we could trade because I liked the semifreddo better.  He said yes, hehehe)

Hungry’s Thai tea creme brulee was by far the most involved and most interesting of the night, I think – she had milk, Thai tea, and sugar syrup in small containers on the left, and then a Thai tea creme brulee on the right.  She was supposed to drink the shot and then eat the creme brulee, I suppose, to enhance the flavors.  I tried a bite of the creme brulee and found it really lovely – the Thai tea flavor shone through but was balanced by the creaminess of the creme, and the top crunchy sugar crust was great.  I really enjoyed this – if I came back with just one friend, I would almost insist that one of us get this and the other get the white miso semifreddo… nom…

Yvo says: It seems as though the secret is out, as the wait times have been getting progressively longer and longer each time I’ve visited. I’m glad they have a good fan base now! though obviously I would prefer not to wait, haha.  In any case, I am happy to see how Spot has developed as a cute dessert place on St. Mark’s Place, with great little bites for post-dinner nomming.  I think this is a fantastic date spot too, and I love how the desserts aren’t all sugar bombs. 
recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 10 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: creme brulee, DLS, molten chocolate cake, tiramisu

When I saw the FATE cocktail (on the left) on the menu, I had to have it.  Prosecco, pineapple, and elderflower.  Yeah, pretty much tailor made for me… and I loved it.  Perfectly balanced without being cloyingly sweet.  Delicious.  Jessica had the DREAM, which tasted like guava juice and not much else, but I’m sure packed a punch!  Excellent cocktails. 

We’d both done our research beforehand, and the edamame dumplings came highly recommended.  They were so cute! so delicate, and sitting in a mild broth of sorts.  Interestingly, each dumpling was super tender, soft, and earthy… almost like there was a tiny bit of truffle to them.  I’m pretty sensitive to truffle-earthiness, though I don’t recall seeing that on the menu description.  While these were tasty, I’m a big fan of textures in food, and these were fairly uniform in texture – soft – so I would probably not order these again. 

Jessica’s colleague had recommended a few more dishes for us to try.  Shrimp toasts were next: shrimp paste crusted in sesame seeds, then deep fried.  These reminded me of the deep fried shrimp balls you get at dim sum, and were pretty tasty dipped into the mustard on the right.  I enjoyed my share very much, reminded of dim sum as a kid. 

The other suggestion was Peking duck – $44. 

Served with small rice crepes, I layered hoisin sauce, cucumber, scallion, and slices of duck with the crispy skin in them.  I really enjoyed this – I’m actually not that familiar with Peking duck as a dish, having eaten it only a handful of times that I recall – but this was very tasty.  There was no visible fat, though the meat was tender and juicy, and the skin was separated already and very crispy.  Yum!

A blurry photo of the Dungeness crab sticky rice, which was topped with chunks of Dungeness crab meat.  The rice itself was very flavorful, and I would swear to you that it was mixed with dried scallops, which have this intense flavor that I kill for.  I’ve actually never even seen dried scallops used anywhere but real Chinese restaurants, so this was a pleasant surprise – the taste is meaty, ocean-y, and just really wonderful.  Win. 

Though by this time we were both rather full, dessert beckoned: almond bread pudding for Jessica, of which I tried only a few bites – good, but not my thing. 

I went with the rock sugar donuts with three dipping sauces – egg custard, royal strawberry jelly and gianduja chocolate.  The crunchy sugar on the outside of the donuts was great and the still-warm donuts were fab.  Dipped into each sauce was great, but then all three at once – the waiter’s suggestion – so good!  Love.  I can’t say the best donuts I’ve ever had, but these were very good – and for a dessert donut served at a fancy restaurant, one of the best. 

Since this meal was compliments of the PR firm, I can’t do a proper “Yvo says” – yes, service was great, but I didn’t look at any prices and we didn’t even get a bill.  I can say, however, that the cocktails were fantastic, and the food was good enough – though a little pricey, I think – that I wonder why I’ve never visited.  I would definitely not hesitate to go again with friends – the space is gorgeous, huge, and lovely! 

Thank you again to Jessica for the fantastic meal – I had a blast just chatting about everything! 

Please note that though this meal was courtesy of the PR firm, I was under no obligation to post about this meal, positively or negatively, nor did I receive compensation to do so.  This is my opinion.

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: donuts, dumplings, dungeness crab, Peking duck

I had the good fortune to be able to score tickets to Hamlet before the show closed… and I think I’ve only mentioned briefly my love of theater (watching, not participating!) here, but it is one of the things I absolutely adore about NYC.  (About 4 years ago, I set out to see one show a month, and did this for about a year before it got too expensive and I’d seen nearly everything I wanted to.  It was awesome.)  In any case, I just read Hamlet for English class this semester (nope, I never read it before), and watching it performed live was incredible.  But even better was just how amazing Jude Law’s performance was!  I had heard mixed reviews, but I didn’t expect him to be as good as he was.  The passion he brought to his Hamlet; the touch of crazy; the humor – oh yes, he was very funny! – the absolute brilliance was just amazing.  Even more amazing was getting to meet him after the show; I hung around for a short bit and when he came out, he signed my playbill, I said, “You were amazing,” (and I meant it! I never say that!) – and he looked straight at me, smiled this tired but genuine smile, and said simply, “Thank you.”  I wasn’t a huge Jude Law fan before, but this totally pushed my like of him higher.  *squee*  Okay, enough fan-girl gushing, the point was just that I was in need of food before Hamlet recently, and I ended up at Xie Xie.  Not for lack of choices, either – I posted on Midtown Lunch forums asking for suggestions and had a TON thrown at me (yes, I hang around the forums over there, even though I don’t work in Midtown… haha). 

You might recall I tried to go here before too, which definitely pushed it to the top of the list of suggestions… After glancing at the menu, I asked my buddy what we should get (we split everything).  Immediately chosen was the BBQ beef, but when I offered a choice between pork or lobster, my question was met with an eye roll and “Lobster, duh.” 

I saw these drinks in the fridge and had to grab one.  Ok, yet another testament to how weird my friends (and I) are – when I grabbed the mango/blood orange one, and my friend said “Damn I wanted that one.”  There’s more than one! but my friend chose a different drink anyway, which he wound up not liking.  I loved my drink and have been casually looking for it so I can buy more – there isn’t much carbonation to it at all, and it totally tasted like mango/blood orange.  So good.  The other one was too ginger-y for my tastes. 

The lobster roll was pretty good – enough lobster, and I loved the crunchy shallots on top! (They cut it in half at my request; it came whole otherwise.)  It was good, though not on the large (or small) side of things… just average.  I don’t know that I’d say it was worth the price paid… but it was very tasty with tarragon and all.  A little heavy on the mayo, which dripped down the side of my hand to my chagrin.  Of course, my friend had no such problems, so I chalked it up to me being a lil retarded. 

The BBQ beef sandwich – which was cut without my needing to request it -

The beef was very tender and aromatic.  In fact, it reminded me of that Chinese dish ‘aromatic beef’ – the beef is falling apart tender, but manager to stay together somehow.  It was that same kind of mouth-feel as you bit into it, and almost the same fragrance.  The carrot kimchee got to me after a while as too spicy, but luckily (depending on where you stand on this) there was a lot of basil mayo to cool my mouth down.  I really enjoyed the BBQ beef sandwich quite a bit…

One of the major pulls for me was the Thousand Year Old Ice Cream Sandwich. 

Let me first tell you something: I have never eaten a thousand year old egg.  Even though I was brought up to eat everything and very little ew’d me (I ate duck’s blood, intestines, chicken feet, ‘hair’ [it's a sea veggie that looks just like hair], turtle, snake, shark’s fin, etc. all without a complaint and in fact loved some of those dishes to no end), I took one look at a thousand year old egg and refused.  I don’t know why, maybe it’s the clear glassy green hue of the ‘white’ of the egg.  Maybe it’s just the way in which it was presented to me (I couldn’t tell you what way that is, honestly).  I just know that I have never eaten a thousand year old egg and don’t really have much compunction to change that. 

However, from the moment I saw this ice cream concoction, salted caramel in the description somewhere, I knew I had to have it.  I don’t care.  I want it.  Even if it looks slightly crazy with its black-green center (of black fleur de sel caramel) oozing out slightly.  AND I WOULD EAT IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.  The thin, crisp cookie on the exterior shattering gently beneath your teeth, revealing a silky, creamy ice cream that smacks lightly of smoke,with an ooey, gooey, salty-caramelly center just this side of burnt… oh my STARS.  Just writing that makes me woozy with desire.  Intense, passionate, I-want-it-right-now-and-you-can’t-stop-me desire.  The kind of desire that has driven far better (wo)men than I mad… oh… I think this might be the dessert of my dreams.  Well, this and the salted caramel mochi from Nobu.  Oh my gosh… I am seriously light headed right now with desire.  For the mochi now, because now I looked up that link and had to look at it and read it all over again… mmm…

(My friend’s opinion: “It was good, I liked the lobster one.  The beef tasted like [something] I had before… lobster was new to me at least.”)

Yvo says: I enjoyed our meal at Xie Xie very much so – and was amused to discover later that the cute guy who took my ice cream order was the chef himself.  Since when are chefs built like that?!  But anyway, while I enjoyed it, I couldn’t say it will become a place I frequent often (except maybe for my ice cream sandwich… which will still be a rare treat).  The sandwiches were good, but not like, I-crave-that good.  Since it’s not in an area I frequent, either, I can’t imagine purposely making a trip up there and then heading to wherever I’m going to hang out.  And it’s not cheap – not expensive, but not cheap by any means.  Still…
recommended, especially that ice cream sandwich

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: sandwiches

click to enlarge

Here’s the big one!  The dinner everyone wants to hear about… Outstanding in the Field, a giant warehouse, and a billion (okay, not a BILLION, but a lot) of food bloggers.  You’re going to have to ignore my awful photographs and look at someone else who probably has way better pictures, because cold warehouse + poor lighting + jabbering away + wine refills + plus plus plus… let’s just say my photographs leave something to be desired, mm’k? 

I watched them prep these awesome bowls of soup – mushroom dashi, maitake, shimeji and enoki mushrooms.  Very sweet and clear and yum.  (This pic was taken in the food prep area, so there was a LOT of light.) 

Here is my TERRIBLE photograph of my own bowl.  Oh – see those chopsticks?  Those were the only utensils given to us.  I was the only food blogger as far as I could see that requested a fork.  I have shamed my family!  In fact, when I asked, the server was totally like, “How many?” and I looked back at her, said “One,” and she looked so incredulous.  It was horrible (I’m joking; I don’t care!  I need to eat and chopsticks are not the fastest way for me to get food into my mouth, they just aren’t!).  Whatever!  I need to eat

A platter of assorted, pickled vegetables.  All totally yummy, but I really wished I had my own entire platter to devour… delicious…

Udon, grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction, cucumber, kaiware, frisee and yellow pear tomato with chojang and sesame vinaigrette.  This was especially hard to try to eat with chopsticks, and to serve oneself… and while the initial flavor was really good, it got progressively spicier in my mouth and I had to stop eating it, I was very sad. 

Horrible picture!  Wow, look at that blur.  Yes, that’s risotto. 

Slightly better photo of my own plate.  The menu says it’s sea trout but I think they had to switch to arctic char due to a source issue.  [fish] baked with dashikombu, fried garlic and Japanese curry powder; mushroom risotto with koshihikari rice, crispy maitake mushrooms.  The fish was succulent, delicious, though hard to scoop (as you can see by the mess I made!) but what brought it to a whole new level was the fried garlic.  Garlic chips, essentially, which had this intense garlic flavor (obviously) and acted as a great counterpoint in texture to the soft fish.  I’m totally going to try to fry garlic like that (though I know it can be hard to get that split second moment between ‘fine’ and ‘burnt’ for the ‘crisp’ moment…) and start topping everything with it.  My goodness.  SO amazing. 

The risotto was good, too, but stood no chance against the fish in terms of holding a place in my memory. 

Roasted brussels sprouts, ponzu fried garlic guanciale, bonito flakes, blurry. 

Brussels sprouts, not so blurry.  Yes, holy deliciousness.  But no surprise to me; I love Brussels sprouts when they’re roasted and caramelized; I love guanciale (essence of pork, I call it); and mmmmmm… let’s just say a couple other food bloggers and I were “fighting” over the leftover bits of guanciale in the serving dish

Soy braised beef cheeks and oxtails, baby carrots and fingerling potato, OB beer and denjang demi.  I love beef cheeks, another food I have trouble finding here so I can make it on my own whenever I want.  This was no exception; tender, delicious, wonderful, I was one very happy and full chica at this point…

But dessert was still to be had!  Koshihikari rice pudding, cookie crumble and warren pear

I don’t like rice pudding and I’m not a fan of pears like so (the firmer kind, and if you heat fruit, I’m always wary)… but the smell was fantastic and plenty of people seemed to really enjoy it – it just isn’t the kind of thing I personally enjoy. 

Overall, dinner was fabulous – chatting away with so many people who love food at least as much as I do (and some much, much more than I do), passing plates and breaking bread… awesome.  I was thrilled to be a part of this amazing event… thank you, Foodbuzz!!!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: fbzfest

After a lot of miscommunication and grumpy stomping around by me, I finally revealed to the BF that the reason for my moody sulkiness was because I was feeling woozy from not eating since the disastrous eggs benedict, which caused the bf to mock me quite a bit.  Whatever, low blood sugar is no joke!  However, it was coming up fast on 6pm, and we had plans to meet up with some friends of mine around 7 who happened to be in town for the very same reason as we were.  (It’s a little freaky… but I’ll explain that all in a few posts’ time, be patient!)  But I really needed to eat something, and BF understands that compulsion is the order of the day, and besides, he was down with hitting up a bar for a drink while I snacked on something small. 

We wandered around near the 6th Street Bridge on the south/east side, which was near the restaurant our dinner reservations were at, and stumbled upon this semi-trendy looking lounge/bar/whatever.  It looked fine, so in we went. 

The drink menu boasted some interesting offerings… I chose the pineapple caipirinha, while BF asked me about mojitos.  I don’t like mint unless it’s with chocolate, and told him that mojitos were not my thing… but he proceeded to order and down three of them successively.  Fun.  He noted at one point that they went a little crazy with the mint, to which I had to roll my eyes; come on! that’s the whole point of the drink!

My pineapple caipirinha – I fully admit I was thinking about the version I’d gotten at Kittichai almost 2 years ago now when I ordered it.  Let’s just say this couldn’t hold a tealight to the one at Kittichai, which had been pineapple-goodness, fresh pineapple juice, sugar cane pieces to chew on, just awesome.  This one was alright but tasted a bit too much like well liquor or bad vodka.  Yuck.

BF decided, of all things, that he wanted ceviche.  Now, I realize we were in a place called ceviche (with an S).  That S made me nervous.  It also made me nervous because we were essentially in a landlocked state (I looked it up and Wiki says it’s true; PA does not border the ocean whatsoever, therefore, it’s a landlocked state! stop arguing with me!).  Plus? Can I be totally honest? BF has a sensitive stomach, and often makes poor choices with regard to eating certain foods that I will only deign to order in the more trusted and more expensive restaurants.  Raw fish was not something I would recommend ordering from a place such as this. 

BF chose to ignore my concerns. 

He did, however, allow me to pick the style – he chose ahi tuna, and I chose tiradito (above menu has the description).  The ‘ceviche’ wound up being ‘ok’ – slices that were a bit hard to pull apart, the flavor was alright, and we didn’t get sick.  I like the jicama and calabaza slaw on the side better than the fish itself, which was slightly too mild.  BF liked it fine, inhaling his. 

I opted for something that sounded snacky and noshable, which meant the cheese tasting for me.  I like variety, and I wanted something small to munch on before dinner but not ruin my appetite!

Pretty darn yummy, is a little strangely plated.  I liked the cheeses, though, per usual, BF dogged the harder cheese (the small cubes in the back right).  When I’d finished the toasted flatbread above, I still had cheese leftover, but the person who’d taken our order appeared to ask me if I wanted more flatbread, which I thought was awesome.  I didn’t get a chance to see the bill (BF and I made a quickie bet on the Mets game that was being broadcast on the TV, and I won, so he paid for this), so I’m not entirely sure they didn’t charge us for it, but based on what the final bill was, I don’t believe they did.  So it was a nice touch. 

Speaking of service, though, we had this crazy bartender lady who kept hovering by us, trying to engage us in conversation, even when I politely made it clear that we were on a date and not interested in conversation.  She also brought up some really awkward topics that just made me feel really uncomfortable.  Some people may say this makes me an a-hole, but when I sit at the bar with my boyfriend, it doesn’t always mean I want to talk to the people around us, bartender included.  Sometimes that’s just where we want to sit; I don’t think it requires talking to the bartender.  (I’ve been the bartender before, and when people want to talk to me, I let them; I didn’t force myself into their conversation!)  She also would just stare at us, with no expression on her face, whenever we said anything… I think what also irked me was that when I’d say something, she’d flick her eyes over me, then continue talking to my boyfriend.  Very irritating.

Yvo says: It was a mostly suitable place for our purposes – grabbing a quick drink and a small snack before dinner, barring the annoying bartender who kept butting into our conversation.  I found everything pleasant enough, but do note that the place was pretty empty around 6:30 pm on a Saturday, I’m not sure how trendy or cool this place is if you’re a local.  Also, our tab came out to $60 including tax/tip, which was for the above, plus 3 mojitos… which seems a bit pricey – I mean, I’m used to paying $8-10 for cocktails… in Manhattan (and more in Las Vegas).  This is neither of those places.  Take that into account if you plan on drinking here.
it was okay

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Tapas