Sarah, my friend from Fritos and Foie Gras, and I met up for a dinner and gossip session at Shalizar(now named Shalezeh) on the upper east side. I was surprised to learn there was a Persian restaurant on the Michelin list, but was intrigued since I haven’t had a lot of high-end Persian food in the city.
Sarah and I always have a ton to talk about and we definitely had a lot to catch up on when we met up for dinner. We started with their bread basket:
The bread basket/pita basket also had a side of dipping sauce (tahini) and while I wasn’t a fan of the pita, the breads in the back of the picture were much more interesting. They were textured like a Focaccia and were much more chewy than the pita bread.
For our entree, we shared the meatball:
The meatball is definitely a specialty of the restaurant; it’s filled with prunes, fava beans, and topped with a tomato-like stew. I thought the meatball’s meat was a little on the tough side and the prune flavor profile was a little too overpowering for the meat.
I enjoyed catching up with Sarah and thought the meal was okay, but we both agreed that it wasn’t anything like the other Michelin-starred restaurants we’ve been to. It was definitely closer to a Brooklyn-like Michelin restaurant than a Manhattan restaurant (more neighborhood-like, very casual, and food that’s good but not outstanding)
I really love the Japanese restaurants on the Michelin star list because the food is definitely a lot lighter than the majority of the French restaurants on the list. I made a last minute reservation to Kyo Ya and was definitely happy that I did; my date and I had a great time and loved the food and atmosphere.
We started off with the fugu with a pickled waxberry and grated radish:
The fugu was pan seared and a little on the dry side (this was probably my least favorite dish of the night but it wasn’t terrible).
Next, one of my favorite dishes: Famous Sweet Potato Tempura served with soy sauce and mongolian salt:
Japanese sweet potatoes have a better texture than regular American sweet potatoes and they have a hint of sweetness; these were lightly fried and tasted really great with the pinch of salt (the server recommended trying the it on its own first, then with some salt, then with some soy sauce).
Next, we had a lightly battered white fish in a broth with tempura vegetables:
The broth was very thick – it tasted as if fish were cooked down in the broth to use make the broth more gelatinous. I really enjoyed the dish and thought it was very soothing, especially for the harsh winter weather.
We also ordered organic chicken:
I really love the organic chicken at Sakagura and thought it might be somewhat similar; this chicken was a little on the dry side and also didn’t have much flavor or crispy skin.
Next, potato croquettes with dipping sauce:
And then the Kurobuta Kakuni slowly cooked pure pork belly:
And my favorite dish of the evening -Kani Ikura Donburi taraba king crab and dashi marinated salmon roe over rice:
Such a simple preparation of rice (uni, king crab legs, and salmon roe) but so unbelievably delicious. I could definitely eat this once a week (at least!)
For our last savory dish, we ordered the broiled tsubu miso marinated cod:
Another simple dish that was well executed and just as delicious as all of the other preparations of fish.
For dessert, we ordered chocolate chip ice cream that was a little bitter and not too sweet:
And their specialty, the black bean an mitsu:
It’s a combination of black beans, homemade vanilla ice cream, and different types of mochis and jelly. There’s also a special black sauce to pour on top of the dessert:
Not too sweet and it definitely reminded me of eating patbingsu in Korea.
I had a great meal at Kyo Ya (one of my favorites of the year) and definitely thought it was Michelin-worthy; the hostesses were very kind to us and offered us a table instead of having us sit at the bar (we decided to sit at the bar because we were pretty comfortable in our seats) and the servers were very knowledgeable in the different types of sakes they served.
I would definitely love to return to Kyo Ya – there are so many stand-out dishes at the restaurant that I really enjoyed. David ended up going there last weekend and enjoyed it just as much as me!
When Darren and Hanaya came to visit New York, I made reservations at Matsugen for us. Darren and I are friends from our consulting days and Hanaya is his fiancée (we’ve met through emails and my blog, but never in person!) We were originally going to Jewel Bako (they wanted to help me on my Michelin quest) but sadly, Jewel Bako was closed on the only day we could meet up.
I’ve been wanting to visit Matsugen since I met Cedric Vongerichten and he said it was his favorite restaurant (coincidentally, I ran into him and his family the night we visited!) I ordered the pre-fixe and Darren and Hanaya ordered the omakase (all of my dishes were on the omakase and Darren and Hanaya received two more dishes than my pre-fixe)
We started off with some edamame and fried soba:
The soba noodles were really addictive; generously seasoned and very crispy, I definitely polished off the majority of the plate by myself (thankfully, Hanaya and Darren were very generous dining partners).
Next, we all received the Appetizer Sampler – marinated tofu with seaweed, uni with yuzu gelee, spinach gomae, crispy shrimp:
My favorite of the four samples was definitely the uni with yuzu gelee and a close second was the delicate tofu with different types of seaweed. The spinach was a little off for me (I think there was some kind of sesame paste with the dish that made it taste a little odd), and the crispy shrimp was good, but it wasn’t anything special.
Hanaya and Darren received a mushroom soup with scallions:
Next, I had two pieces of tuna nigiri:
While Hanaya and Darren received a platter of different types of sashimi:
Hanaya’s favorite was the fatty tuna (it was cute the way she saved it for her last two pieces while Darren ate the fatty tuna first!)
Next, we both had the black miso cod:
And then to top off our meal, we all had the cold spicy sesame inaka:
The cold soba was recommended to us by the server and we all ordered it even though it was freezing cold outside. The soba is made in-house and was paired with a peanut-like sauce that had just a little heat (I was definitely imagining a much spicier broth). The server brought along some hot soba water for us to fill our bowls with so we could drink the broth – I was the only one that did it but it was actually really great!
For dessert, we had the vanilla caramel pudding:
The pudding was very dense at the top and then very mousse-like near the bottom. It was really quite delicious and it tasted like something I could recreate at home.
We had a great time at Matsugen and thought the decor was pretty nice (they kept the fish tank from when the restaurant was something else back in the 90’s). It wasn’t very packed, but I can definitely see it being a fun place to go after work for a quick bite to eat.
I met with a reader at Saul, one of the few Michelin-starred restaurants located in Brooklyn (the others for 2010 include: Peter Lugers, Dressler, and River Cafe). The restaurant wasn’t very large and I actually hadn’t read too much about the place (luckily, the reader I dined with had read up about the restaurant beforehand).
We started off with a bread basket:
After we placed our order, the server brought along an amuse bouche – mushroom soup with homemade croutons:
The soup was very light and a great way to start our meal, especially since the bread from the bread basket was way too tough to enjoy.
For an appetizer, I ordered the grilled octopus salad with bacon:
The grilled octopus had a very chewy texture – a little too chewy to be enjoyable – and the flavors of the sauce that accompanied the grilled octopus were very acidic, which made the salad taste very Asian (a little too much vinegar, I’m guessing) The brussel sprouts and other vegetables were definitely more enjoyable than the actual octopus.
My reader, Steve, ordered the seared foie gras:
The foie gras was slightly veiny and definitely didn’t have a clean texture or taste – it was also slightly muddled with so many sauces. Steve enjoyed both appetizers but I wasn’t a huge fan of either.
For my main course, I ordered the pan-seared skate:
Skate is definitely one of my favorite types of protein and the way the skate was prepared at Saul was enjoyable, but the sauces that the skate was paired with were too heavy and muddled.
Steve ordered the squab:
The squab was probably my favorite dish of the night – prepared well, simple sauces, and earthy vegetables that were paired well with the bird.
For dessert, we ordered the baked Alaska, what Saul is really known for:
I was afraid I wouldn’t like the dessert because I’m not a huge fan of marshmallows (I think they’re too sweet) but this baked Alaska was absolutely divine; marshmallows that were slightly browned for texture, ice cream on the inside, and a nice crispy chocolate cookie to add a little texture to the decadent dessert.
My coworker asked what I thought of Saul the next day and I said that I liked the food and it reminded me of a nice neighborhood restaurant, but definitely not worthy of its Michelin star.
I headed to Kunjip over the weekend after drinking across the street at IchiUmi’s lounge. I love eating Korean food because there’s always so much variety and the restaurants are always open 24/7. I’ve never been to Kunjip because I usually stay closer to Broadway (my favorites include Seoul Garden and Gahm Ni Oak), but my friend wanted to eat at Kunjip so I followed him. We ordered and a server brought along lots of banchan:
The fish cakes on the lower left hand side are usually my favorites but the ones at Kunjip were very oily and flavorless. Their kimchi also lacked any bite but their radishes and cucumbers were really delicious. I find that I’m always a fan of half of the banchan at Korean places but when I like one of them, I always order more than one plate.
For our late night dinner, we ordered the bibimbap:
The soondubu jigae:
And the kimchi pajeon:
The soondubu jigae was my favorite out of all of them, which was a little surprising because I was really in the mood for rice, but the bibimbap and the pajeon were really flavorless. I wasn’t expecting the pajeon to be really great because the kimchi was really plain but the kimchi used in the pajeon was actually spicier than the kimchi they served when we arrived. The soondubu jigae had lots of tender tofu and bits of shrimp and clams.
I think I’ll stick to my favorites in Koreatown – Kunjip wasn’t terrible but it definitely didn’t hit the spot and I left a little unsatisfied.
