After a disappointing trip to Crif Dogs, I was in the mood for more food (when am I not?) so we headed to Dumpling Man, a cute spot right down the street:
I ordered six seared pork dumplings:
The great thing about Dumpling Man is that they prepare the dumplings right in front of your eyes:
And a shot of the meat filling of the dumplings:
The taste of the dumplings? Well, there’s something not complete about them – the filling is really tasty and a little juicy (the juice squirted out onto my face and slightly burned me!), but the dough is too thin, especially for the type of filling that was used. Dumpling Man should ask Mandoo Bar about their dough – the dumplings from Dumpling Man taste like something I could buy in Chinatown. It’s somewhere I would order from if they delivered to my area since it’s fast and not too expensive, but I don’t think I’d make a trip down to the east village just for Dumpling Man.
On Saturday, Chris and I headed to Crif Dogs in the East Village for some hot dogs and to compare them to Dash Dogs, a place we visited a couple of weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed. Crif Dogs is in a prime location for NYU/East Village bar-goers because it’s close to all the action. Crif Dogs’ outside:
We walked inside to a dimly lit area with all these East Village hipster types waiting for their hot dogs and a blonde-haired woman behind the counter impatiently waiting for us to decide what we wanted to eat. I had a bad feeling about the waitress – she looked a little too old to be happy working at a hot dog stand. :/ Anyway, we ordered their special – one crif dog, one New York dog, and a soda for $5.95. Pretty expensive for two hot dogs and a drink, don’t you think? Our dogs:
Relish, tomatoes, raw onions, spicy mustard, and ketchup on FRIED hot dogs. I think the reason Crif Dogs fries their hotdogs is to have a really crunchy bite to their dog. While we were waiting for our hot dogs, we were talking about the “phone booth” next to the bathroom door, which opens to a secret bar you can read about here. Apparently, you need to call to make a reservation for the place and the drink list was created by seasoned barman Jim Meehan. Here’s the entrance:
Chris tried to peek in and the waitress behind the counter was incredibly rude and yelled at Chris AND every other person that tried to look in! It kind of ruined the Crif Dogs experience for me…I don’t like rude waitresses.
I preferred Dash Dogs for the following reasons:
1. Toppings: the toppings were free at Dash Dogs and they were really creative and FREE whereas Crif Dogs charges 50 cents for each topping, even for diced tomatoes, which adds up really fast considering the hot dog costs like, $2.50 to begin with,
2. Customer Service: the people at Dash Dogs were incredibly nice and made recommendations on which dogs to order vs. Crif Dogs’ rude waitress that didn’t even bother taking my order,
3. Taste: I think this also has to do with their toppings – maybe we didn’t get the right toppings at Crif Dogs and we got the right ones at Dash Dogs, but the toppings at Crif Dogs seemed a little too odd (a hot dog wrapped in bacon? Gross!). Plus, the hot dog was so small that you really couldn’t taste it. They need to work on their hot dog to topping ratio.
If I ever went back, I would try going to the “secret” bar, PDT (please don’t tell), to try out their drinks (maybe their dogs will taste better with a little alcohol). Chris liked the dogs more than Dash Dogs, but I have the final word since I actually write the reviews. 馃檪
On Friday night, Chris and I headed to Extra Virgin for a nice meal outdoors. The weather in New York has been going all over the place – last week, it was incredibly hot (90’s, humid, and really gross on the subways) and then all of a sudden, it cooled off and now it’s a little chilly. In July! Extra Virgin is close to Chris’ place and we saw Gisele Bundchen with Tom Brady there one morning for brunch, so we figured if it’s good enough for Gisele and Tom, it’s good enough for Chris and Grace. 馃檪 Extra Virgin has outdoor seating right on West 4th Street, which is nice because you can people watch (especially on a Friday night). We waited about 45 minutes for a table (not bad for a Friday night without a reservation).
I was in the mood for pasta and ended up ordering the Fettuccine with Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms duck confit, butternut squash, pecorino, asparagus:
The pasta was cooked really well, but the sauce was way too heavy. Also, there were bones in the duck, which should have been taken out if the duck was going to be prepared within a dish. I don’t mind bones, especially with duck, but they’re not expected when you’re eating a dish with bits of duck, you know?
Chris had more luck with his Hanger Steak Au Poivre balsamic glazed onions, fries, b脙漏arnaise sauce:
The sauce was creamy and buttery, which seems like an odd topping for steak, but it was really tasty. The steak was really delicious on its own; a nice crust on the outside, juicy, flavorful, and tender on the inside. Extra Virgin’s dinner menu is pretty limited – there were only 6 or 7 entrees available, which was a little disappointing. Overall, Extra Virgin wasn’t great, but the atmosphere is nice and I think if I went again, I would check out their brunch options (it seems like people really enjoy their french toast).
By
grace.g.yang
路 June 28, 2007
Under:
My Life Today, I walked past the Apple store on my way home and saw the huge line that was forming for the launch of Apple’s iPhone. It was only about 6PM and the line was already snaked around the outside of the store. I was checking my daily blogs and saw pictures of the first guy in line, a scruffy single guy that started waiting on TUESDAY:
He’s a mini-celebrity! You can even check out his video here. Man, people really want these iPhones! If you plan on getting in line to buy it and sell it on ebay, you should know that you are limited to two. I guess you should’ve started working at Apple last year, because anyone that has worked for more than a year will get a free iPhone by the end of July. Good luck and let me play with yours because I don’t have enough money to buy my own! 馃檪
On Sunday, after a nice trip to Chinatown for dim sum, my mom and I headed to the UES to walk around the Met. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the largest museums in the world and also one of the best museums in the world. One of the things I wanted to check out was the new Greek and Roman Galleries, which opened in April. Pictures from the day:
Another piece from the Greek and Roman galleries:
We went on the general tour and saw lot of interesting works of art (you need at least a week to go through the entire museum – it is HUGE!) and here are some of my favorites:
The museum has so many great original pieces of art and it’s definitely a great place to take visitors. It’s definitely a must-see in NYC!
How to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 5th Ave
New York, NY 10028
212-535-7710
