Shoot First Eat Later

Xia Fei Shanghainese

I’m going to interrupt my blog entries of US restaurants with a series of new restaurants I tried in Hong Kong on my trip last October.
During the Christmas holiday season a lot of Filipinos flock to Hong Kong for a quick vacation. Just 1.5 hours by air from Manila, the weather in Hong Kong is much, much cooler and provides the closest thing to winter atmosphere for us. That’s why I thought that this is a good time to share these restaurants with all of you. You may discover something you would like to try.

We discovered this new Shanghainese restaurant tucked away at the very end of the basement of K11 mall in busy Tsim Sha Tsui.

Whenever we eat at a Shanghainese restaurant we have to try their xiao long bao. These dumplings had chunkier meat unlike the usual finely ground smooth meat filling. It wasn’t bad at all.

steamed minced pork dumplings HK$24

I really liked the soup which was very flavorful from long cooking with a smoked ham bone. The wonton was good too.

pork & vegetable wonton in soup HK$30

If you’ve been reading my blog regularly you’ve seen these baked pastries every time I eat dim sum because they’re my favorite. They’re usually filled with bbq pork. This one was filled with fine crabmeat that was very tasty. It was so, so heavenly. The crust was light and very flaky. I’ve never eaten a crab version before and it’s a new favorite. Of course it’s more expensive than the pork version but it was worth it.

baked crab pastries $49 (not sure)

Rice cakes are a popular Shanghainese dish and it’s takes getting used to. These were al dente and had a nice, firm texture. The rice cakes were bland that’s why the salty wild vegetables and shredded pork went well with it.

fried rice cakes w/ wild vegetables & shredded pork HK$52

The ‘spareribs’ were actually sliced pork chop. It was so ordinary and tasted like something you could cook better at home. The best salt and pepper spareribs in my opinion are the ones from Choi Garden in Greenhills.

fried pork spareribs w/ spicy salt HK$48

The food at Xia Fei wasn’t bad at all. But if you want to eat really, really, really good Shanghainese food then the place to go is Wu Kong, also in TST. They have one of the best xiao long bao in my books.

Xia Fei Shanghainese
Shop 26-27 Basement 2, K11,
18 Hanoi Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon
telephone: +852-2801-6111

Jin Fong & Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory

It was our last day in New York and what better way to say goodbye than to have dim sum in Chinatown.

My cousin Virgil picked us up from our hotel in Times Square and brought us to Jin Fong for dim sum brunch.

I was surprised how big the place was. I bet it’s a popular venue for wedding receptions and grand celebrations.

For us dim sum was equivalent to comfort food. Everything we ordered was very good! Almost as good as Hong Kong.

fried shrimp rolls

baked barbecued puff pastry

pork siu mai

beancurd rolls

shrimp rice rolls

ham sui kok

stuffed eggplant

I haven’t eaten this jelly roll dessert made from black sesame in a long time. Yum!

black sesame rolls

tofu fa pudding

All that food fed all these people for only $60. That’s what I call a good deal.

Thanks again to Virgil for treating us. You won the credit card fight this time. Wait til I go back to New York and I’ll beat you to the cashier. We had a wonderful time in New York thanks to the two of you.

NY cousins Jerome and Virgil

On the way to the car we passed by The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for some ice cream for Erin.

Bea treated Erin to some coconut ice cream. Was it good Erin?

Such bright colors!

If I wasn’t so full I would have tried the zen butter ice cream. Looks interesting and yummy.

Jing Fong Restaurant
20 Elizabeth St 2nd Flr.
New York, NY 10013
telephone: (212) 964-5256

The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
65 Bayard Street
New York, NY 10013
telephone: (212) 608-4170

Shake Shack

After watching Promises, Promises we all trooped to Shake Shack at the newly opened branch in the theater district to fulfill another one in ‘must eat in NY’ list.

It was a short walk from the Broadway theater at 53rd street.

It’s funny but it took me a while to get this picture. The words Shake and Shack lighted alternately at first then together. I couldn’t get the timing with my camera right away.

It was 11 pm when we got there and there was a line out the door. At least it was pretty short unlike at their Madison Square Park branch where they even have a webcam online so people can see the queue before they go.

The line went pretty quick.

Their bathroom was really hi-tech. There was a numeric keypad and you needed to punch a special code to enter. It took me and a waiter ages to open the door. Inside there was a futuristic Dyson Airblade hand dryer, the first and only one I’ve seen during my whole trip.

Is this really a fast food place? They served wine too!

Shake Shack’s menu

custard calendar

They even had something for doggies!

Poor Erin was so tired but she still managed to smile for the camera.

Bea, La and Erin

I loved the solid wood dining tables that have Shake Shack’s logo burned into the wood.

The surface of the table was once part of a bowling lane! Great way to recycle wood. So much character too.

They gave us pagers to let us know our order was ready to be picked up at the counter.

4 adults and 1 child shared two sandwiches, 2 shakes and an order of fries.

My favorite was the ‘shroom burger. The portobello mushroom was breaded and fried to a crisp. I loved the combination of muenster and cheddar cheeses on it. You’ll never miss a beef burger with this meaty vegetarian burger.

’Shroom Burger $6.75
Crisp-fried portobello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce.

On their web site they say that their burgers are made from a proprietary blend of meat and are ground daily. They also used potato buns.

It really shows. The burger was really beefy and delicious. This was one of the best fast food burgers I’ve ever eaten. It’s a lot better than Five Guys or In-n-Out in my opinion.

ShackBurger® $4.75
American cheese, lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce.

I didn’t like the thick and starchy fries though. I like my fries thin and crisp.

fries $2.75

This is the view from our hotel room at night.What a nice way to end a long day. Burgers, fries, shakes and heartburn. 🙂

Shake Shack (Theater District)
691 8th Avenue, Southwest Corner of 8th Avenue & 44th Street
New York, NY 10036
telephone: 646.435.0135
Hours: 11AM – Midnight

other branches

Dinner at Cafe Sabarsky

Before leaving Virginia I made sure all reservations were made for the restaurants we were going to eat at in New York. I looked through The Amateur Gourmet’s list of where to eat and New York and chose from there.

There were several restaurants in his list that I wanted to try but I couldn’t get a confirmed reservation. Since Cafe Sabarsky looked interesting and different I chose that for our last dinner in New York.

Cafe Sabarsky was actually located inside the Neue Galerie, the museum for German and Austrian Art. Too bad we didn’t have time to look around the museum.

The interiors made us feel like we were really in Austria.

Bea, a resident of NYC was a high school classmate of mine and La’s. She has lived in New York for 15 years but has never been to Cafe Sabarsky.

me, Bea and La

Sha and I had the cheese stuffed bratwurst. It was really, really good. The sausage casing had a nice, crisp snap. The sausage itself wasn’t too salty despite the cheddar cheese oozing out of it. The roasted potatoes and sauerkraut were just perfect with the sausages for a simple yet filling meal.

smoked bratwurst stuffed with cheddar cheese
w/ sauerkraut, roasted potatoes & Dijon $14

soft pretzel served with Händelmaier’s mustard $3.50
(traditional Bavarian honey mustard)

Bea had a mound of crabmeat salad. That’s all. She must be on a diet? She said it was good.

crabmeat salad w/ avocado and tomatoes w/ lemon-vinaigrette $18

La had the rich and flavorful beef goulash.

Hungarian beef goulash w/ fresh herbed quark spätzle $26

Erin being the little, dainty girl that she is finished the plate of spätzle. Was it that yummy Erin?

creamed spätzle w/ wild mushrooms, peas, carrots & tarragon $15

How can we end an authentic Austrian meal without ordering a sachertorte? The cake layers were a bit dry but the apricot conserve and chocolate coating made up for it.

sachertorte $8
classic Viennese dark chocolate cake w/ house made apricot confiture

We all wondered why the espresso was served in a tray with a glass of water. Can anyone explain this to us?

espresso with steamed milk and foam $5

Thankfully everyone enjoyed dinner. I think my cousins forgave me for the not so great lunch we had earlier.

I just had to share the view from our hotel room.

Cafe Sabarsky
1048 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10028-0111
telephone: (212) 288-0665

Hours
Monday and Wednesday – 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Tuesday – Closed

Christmas party catered by Choi Garden

Last night I attended a Christmas party at a friend’s house. The food was catered by Choi Garden, my favorite Chinese restaurant in Manila. I didn’t even know they did catering. That’s 10 Peking ducks in the picture.

They did the cooking and prep work in the basketball court above the house’s kitchen.

The food was cooked just before serving by one of Choi’s chef from Hong Kong.

They brought one high output gas burner which was essential for Chinese cooking.

mies en place

The assistant cooks and waiters happily posing for me.

Assorted roast meats ready to be served.

Seafood dumplings and wintermelon wraps waiting to be steamed.

Choi Garden also brought their own industrial double decker steamer.

The food was served buffet style. Pardon the blurry pictures. There was very little lighting and I was in a rush to take the food pics since there was an impatient mob behind me waiting to get food.

roast meat combination

hot prawn salad

fried fish fillet on toast

wintermelon wrap

Fookien misua

The hosts also provided more even more food even though the food from Choi was more than enough.

oriental salad

prawn salad in shell

There was also fried turkey, roast beef asides from the lechon. Now is that a Christmas feast or what!

lechon

They really knew how to throw a great party. There was even live music from a string quartet playing Christmas tunes and a fantastic singer who regaled the guests with Chinese songs.

Of course my favorite was the dessert table which was right behind me. 3 of the cakes were from Mara de la Rama’s Dessert du Jour. It was my first time to try her chocolate truffle torte, a heavenly and super rich flourless Belgian chocolate cake. But my favorite was still the queso de bola cheesecake. There was also 2 gateau de crepes. And of course the always popular mango torte from Dulcelin cannot be absent from any party.

Via Mare’s bibingka

I noticed that Choi Garden sent a manager to oversee everything for a stress free party. They even brought their own aluminum foil and styro boxes for all the leftovers. And there were a lot. I know since I brought home some misua and hot prawn salad. I forgot to bring home the leftover gateau de crepes. hee hee.

Choi Garden Seafood and Shark’s Fin Restaurant
12 Annapolis St. cor. Purdue St.
San Juan, Metro Manila
telephone: 727-6042

If you want some live Chinese music in your party or event, contact this friendly couple who are both singers and event hosts:

Shanda Lim-Uy 0917-8873738
Filbert Anory Uy 0906-4305106
http://www.filbertshanda.com
filbertshanda@yahoo.com

Má Pêche and Momofuku Milk Bar

One of my goals in New York was to eat at David Chang’s Momofuku Ko but after trying to reserve at all his four restaurants I only found success at Má Pêche.

My cousins gave me free reign to choose all the restaurants I wanted to eat at in New York. Our first lunch was at the French-Vietnamese inspired Má Pêche which means ”mother peach”.

When we opened the door the first thing I saw was Momofuku Milk Bar. I was so happy since this was also on my list of “must eat in NY”. I’ve seen their products featured on tv, magazines and countless blogs.

I bought several of their cookies namely the compost cookie®
(pretzels, potato chips, coffee, oats, butterscotch, chocolate chips),
chocolate-chocolate cookie (chocolate crumbs), and peanut butter cookie (peanut butter, peanut brittle).

steel baskets filled with cookies

I loved, loved all their cookies. My favorite was the compost cookies with the combination of different flavors and textures in one cookie. The peanut butter cookie was not like the ordinary pb cookie. This had bits of peanut brittle and the flavor was more intense.

The best part of our entire Momofuku experience was the Milk Bar but I’m getting ahead of myself.

peanut butter cookie

From the Milk Bar we took the stairs to go down to Má Pêche. The restaurant was located at the basement of the Chambers Hotel.

The lighting was very dim that’s why my pictures are grainy since I didn’t use flash except for the menu.

Maggi seasoning is very common in Manila and is present in many families’ dining table. This was the first time I’ve ever seen it in a restaurant in the United States. Thank goodness for it. I did put it to good use.

Wow calamansi in New York! I had to try the calamansi and lemon juice lemonade. It tasted just like expensive lemonade. I couldn’t really distinguish the calamansi from the lemon juice.

In case some readers don’t know what calamansi (Philippine lemon) looks like it’s the round, green fruit on my banner.

calamansi lemonade $5

La and I order the prix fixe menu which included an appetizer or salad and an entree for $25. I chose to start with the squid salad. This was the best thing in our meal. The squid rings were incredibly tender and the dressing was a light & mildly spiced vinaigrette. It was full flavored and the chopped peanuts added a nice texture to the salad.

squid salad

My entree was the rice rolls with spicy ground pork, bok choy and sawleaf, a Vietnamese herb similar to cilantro in aroma. This was a very dry dish. There was no sauce at all. Some of the rice noodle rolls were nice and al dente but there were also a lot of hard, crunchy rolls too. The spicy ground pork was good but it wasn’t enough to flavor the noodles.

This was where the Maggi seasoning came to the rescue. It made the dish good enough to finish. Without it I don’t think I could have eaten half of it. The veggies and sawleaf were good spiked with Maggi too!

rice noodles, spicy pork, bok chow, sawleaf

La and her daughter Erin shared the bland shrimp summer rolls. Sure it was stuffed full with all sorts of veggies and herbs but if it weren’t for the hoisin sauce it would have been a massive fail.

La’s grilled trout was well cooked and simply flavored and garnished. It was good but nothing extraordinary.

grilled trout, long bean, almond, chili jam

Sha, our resident carnivore, had a steak. Good choice since you can’t do wrong with rare steak. The sauce was really good. Béarnaise sauce I think.

The rice fries were a bit strange. It sticks to your teeth. At first I thought they were cassava fries. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I’ll stick to my sweet potato fries, thank you.

steak frites 12 oz “juliet cut” with rice fries $29

For dessert they gave us tiny samples of Milk Bar’s famous crack pie made with toasted oat crust, gooey butter filling. I was really planning to buy it after lunch but after trying it and finding it just ok I bought cookies instead. I couldn’t remember what the other dessert was. Since it didn’t make an impression I didn’t bother finding out.

So that was my experience at a famous restaurant in New York. It was disappointing. I’ve had much better meals in DC. Could it be just Má Pêche? Maybe the other restaurants in the Momofuku group are better? Should I give them another shot the next time I go back to New York? I would definitely go back to the Milk Bar for the cookies though.

Má Pêche
15 West 56th St. New York, NY 10019
(between 5th + 6th ave)

Magnolia Bakery

After walking around Times Square a bit we went to Magnolia Bakery to try their famous cupcakes and oter goodies.

I first heard about Magnolia Bakery from the famous skit on Saturday Night Live and scenes on Sex and the City. Since they made cupcakes famous a lot of bakeries have followed suit.

I bought a couple of cranberry chocolate chunk cookies. They were really chewy, fudgy and the dried cranberries gave it a nice tart flavor to cut the sweetness. I really liked it!

Sha got a slice of the chocolate icebox cake made homemade chocolate wafers layered with whipped cream. It was just ok for me.

La bought a red velvet cupcake which we all found really dry and crumbly unlike the super moist cupcakes of Georgetown Cupcakes. I was really disappointed with the cupcake that I forgot to take a picture of it.

Magnolia Bakery
1240 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
telephone: (212) 767-1123

Times Square, NYC

The next day we moved to Marriott hotel in Times Square. Thanks to Chester, La’s hubby for giving us the free room!!!

After checking in we walked to Times Square which was only a couple of blocks away. We passed by beautiful Bryant Park where they have concerts and different events. It’s great see all this green in the middle of all the buildings.

Bryant Park

I was surprised to see this really nice and modern subway entrance. It wasn’t like that the last time I was in New York.

After the car bomb scare in 2009 Mayor Bloomberg closed off Times Square to cars. Herald Square, Times Square and Broadway is now a pedestrian mall from 47th to 42nd Sts. and from 35th to 33rd Sts.

tres pinsans -Sha, me and La

I really liked the new Times Square. It was really a good move for all the tourists.

Also new to me are the steps right on top of the TKTS booth. It was a perfect place to sit and wait while your companions lined up for discounted theater tickets.

After lunch we joined the long queue to buy tickets for the musical Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.

Ticket prices and availability were shown on monitors beside the ticket booth.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

Some things you only see in New York, well maybe Las Vegas too.

the naked cowboy

TKTS Times Square
Located “under the red steps” In Father Duffy Square on Broadway and 47th Street.

For evening performances:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 3pm – 8pm
Tuesday: 2pm – 8pm
Sundays: 3pm until one-half hour before the latest curtain time being sold.

For matinee performances: Wednesdays and Saturdays: 10am – 2pm (Please note: no evening tickets are sold from 10am to 2 pm at Times Square) Sundays: 11am – 3pm

Halal Cart 53rd and 6th

After the wonderful and very filling dinner at Joe’s Shanghai my cousin drove us to the World Trade Center site for a drive by.

This is all we saw. I did say we didn’t have time for sightseeing.

In passing I mentioned that I had a list of places I would like to eat in New York but we didn’t have enough time. Virgil asked me what those were. The minute I mentioned Halal cart he immediately drove us there despite our protest that we were too full to eat again.

I first saw the famous Halal cart on 53rd & 6th featured in The Today Show a few years ago and filed it in my memory. Then a few weeks before going to New York my friend Allen posted pictures of the Halal cart on Facebook showing him and his family enjoying the food. It triggered my memory and made it to my ‘must eat in NY list.’

We arrived at 10:30 pm and saw this long line. What the heck, I don’t go to New York often so La and I stood in line to buy the famous platter.

The people beside us in the line told us that the line was even longer after midnight with club goers and night owls.

Make sure you go to the right cart which is across the Hilton hotel. There’s similar cart selling exactly the same food across the street and more in other streets. None of them had lines this long.

The production line was manned by several hard working people. The line moved really fast. There was no chit chat. State your order and pay for it.

There were 3 choices – chicken, lamb gyro or mixed. You can have it as a rice platter for $6 or as a sandwich for $5.

We chose the lamb and chicken platter with white sauce and bbq sauce. We skipped the hot sauce.

Allen told me to load up on the white sauce and he was right. The white sauce was what made the platter heavenly.

We all took a bite and groaned not only because we were still stuffed and were eating again. It’s because it was soooo freaking delicious! Both the chicken and lamb were tender, juicy and perfectly cooked. The sauce was a thick, rich garlicky sauce that complemented the meat and rice perfectly.

We took the rest home and had it for breakfast. A quick zap in the microwave and it was just as good. The best thing about the platter was the price. For $6 or P260 you get a generous serving of seasoned rice, meat and pita bread to feed 2 people or 1 really hungry person.

I’m so glad Virgil insisted on taking us to the Halal cart. It’s definitely a must eat when you’re in New York.

This is my niece Erin with Jennifer’s super cute and hyper active dog Olivia. Jennifer is Virgil’s pretty daughter.

Menu
Platter $6
Any combination of the following items:
Chicken, Gyro, Rice, Pita, Salad, Hot Sauce, White Sauce, BBQ Sauce.

The Ultimate: “Mix w/ Rice & Pita, Lotta White Sauce, Little Hot sauce and BBQ Sauce” (It includes all of the possible items)

Sandwich $5
Any combination of the following items:

Chicken, Gyro, Rice, Salad, Hot Sauce, White Sauce, BBQ Sauce wrapped in a full-size pita.

Drinks
Water, Soda, Snapple

Halal Cart
W 53rd st. & 6th
New York, NY 10079

The authentic 53rd & 6th cart is open from 7:30PM-4AM. During the daytime it is a different vendor who is totally unaffiliated.

Dinner at Joe’s Shanghai

Hello New York!!!! I was so excited to be finally in the city that never sleeps. We only had 2 nights and 2 days to eat as much as we can. We weren’t even planning to do any sightseeing or shopping. It was all about the food baby!

After the four hour drive from DC, which Sha handled magnificently, we arrived at our first stop, New Jersey. My cousin Virgil was nice enough to let us stay overnight in his house which was a stone’s throw away from New York City. Yes I have more cousins in the east coast. Virgil is my cousin on my father’s side.

When we got to Joe’s Shanghai the restaurant was packed. We listed our name and walked around looking for something to snack on. We were famished. Our last meal was hours and hours ago. Across the street we found the New Golden Fung Wung Bakery.

They must have a lot of Filipino customers.

There was very little left on display yet my two cousins went crazy buying all sorts of Chinese pastries to bring back to Virginia. They bought mini apple pies, egg tarts, raisin bread, mooncake and of course hopia.

In the store we ate pineapple tarts and coconut custard tarts which were really, really good and cost only $.75 each! You definitely won’t find that in Virginia.

The first time I tried Joe’s Shanghai was 10 years ago when Rochelle and I went to New York and my father’s friend brought us there for a late, late dinner. He picked us up from the airport and we got to the restaurant at around 10 pm. We insisted we weren’t hungry but he really wanted us to try the best Chinese food in New York. Rochelle and I wolfed down 2 baskets of xiao long bao, Shanghai noodles and fried string beans. It was the best crab and pork xiao long bao I had ever eaten at the time.

The next couple of times I went to New York I introduced Joe’s Shanghai to my cousins Virgil and Dexter. Both of them have been living in New Jersey and worked in New York for decades and haven’t been to Joe’s Shanghai. It has been one of their favorite ever since.

It was only natural that my first meal in NY be at Joe’s Shanghai in Chinatown.

90% of the diners were Americans.

my cousins Jerome and his brother Virgil

Sha had these turnip cakes at Joe’s Shanghai midtown branch and she raved about it.

Shredded Turnip Shortcake 2 pcs. for $3.65

Unfortunately it was very disappointing. It was cold, hard and the filling was dry. It was nothing like the hot, flaky, melt in your mouth turnip cakes in Hong Kong.

I wanted to know if my memory of the crab and pork xiao long bao was still the same. After eating a xiao long bao I felt it was good but not as good as the ones I had at Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Wu Kong in Hong Kong or Lugang Cafe in Manila.

Crab Meat with Pork Meat Steamed Bun or xiao long bao 8 pcs. $6.65

The skin was thicker and not as delicate as what I hoped for. The soup and filling wasn’t as flavorful either. But it wasn’t bad at all. I guess 10 years and several xiao long bao tastings in different countries have exposed my taste buds to finer flavors.

Virgil ordered the braised duck which was a first for me. We usually eat duck fried or roasted but never braised.

Braised Duck

What a revelation! It was fork tender and very, very tasty. The duck soaked up all the flavors from the spices and liquids it was braised in. All the fat had melted and what’s left was rich, flavorful and juicy duck meat.

I wonder if they have this dish in Manila and Hong Kong. I want to eat braised duck again.

Braised Duck 1/2 $15.15

The Shanghai noodles were as yummy as I remembered.

Shanghai Fried Flat Noodle $6.95

The string beans were fried dry and as a result they were firm yet tender and crunchy. Delicious!

String Bean Szechuan Style $8.95

For dessert we were given free orange wedges.

Next door is a familiar restaurant for Filipinos. Just like in Manila, Quickly served all kinds of milk teas and other refreshing beverages. My cousins had taro milk tea and red bean milk tea for dessert.

Thanks a lot Virgil and Jerome for treating us to a wonderful dinner in Chinatown. I didn’t realize I missed Chinese food already. Almost 6 weeks in the USA and it was only my second Chinese meal.

New Golden Fung Wong Bakery
41 Mott St, New York, NY 10013
telephone: (212) 267-4037

Joe’s Shanghai
9 Pell Street
New York, NY 10013
telephone: (212) 233-8888

Hours: 11am – 11pm
Reservations: Not Accepted

other branches