The Stanton Social

My last post for 2010!
I am grateful that I am able to try so many cuisines this year with the person I love~ ♥ I believe that it's not only the food, but also the moment that we share makes the dinning experience enjoyable. Let's discover more goodies for the year that follows ♥

We passed by this restaurant the other night, the environment looked great, we decided to come back, and here we are.

Little treats from the house, some kind of coconut dish. Sweet and soft.

First dish is Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcake 'Corn Dogs’... hmm, it's like corn dogs without the meat

One of my favorite is this Rhode Island Style Lobster Roll. Large lobster meat and fresh, small portion tho >__<

Then is this Old School Meatballs - basil & ricotta 'manicotti'.

I think this is the signature dish, the Stanton Social Beef Wellington, filet mignon wrapped in puff pastry, with foie gras sauce. It's either this dish or the waiter, when they bring this on, I swear there is a strong smell of truffle oil. Back to the dish, it looks like those Chinese roasted pork puff pastry (maybe that's where the idea comes from). Frankly, the taste is not very impressive, the meat doesn't go well with the foie gras sauce, and the sauce is salty. :(

In comparison, this 'Chicken n' Waffles' with corn and maple syrup is much better. The syrup and corn give the dish a sweet taste.

I am 80% full by now, but how can I skip the dessert. This is Chai Crème Brulee and spiced misfortune cookies. When the waiter brings us the Chai Creme Brulee, he forgets the cookies, we are joking maybe that's where the misfortune comes from. :)
Both are good.

For everyone who sees this post, I wish you a healthy and wealthy fortune New Year!


The Stanton Social (map)
99 Stanton Street
New York, NY
(212) 995-0099

Happy Holidays

I am having hotpot with families this Christmas.  We don't have a tradition to celebrate, but my cousin is so nice to buy a cake. :)

I haven't tried Paris Baguette's cake/bread before, although they look REALLY delicious. This special Christmas cake (coffee flavor) is a little dry and not as fresh (soft) as I imagine... Wonder how their signature cheese cake tastes like...

Kyotofu - Fall 2010

Do what you love and love what you do ..^‿^..

Kyotofu updates some of their menus for the season. Like the pumpkin and chestnut flavors on some desserts (yeah... it was way back to the Halloween)

However! Their famous cupcake (with variety of flavors) is all-year-round.

I get the green tea cupcake, which comes with a green tea & pumpkin flavor ice cream and some jam-like berries. The pumpkin flavor ice cream is quite special, although it kind of taking away the spotlight of the main character - green tea cupcake.

Then there is this Anmitsu. Azuki red bean, greatfruit agar and coffee agar, shiratama dango & kinako ice cream (there are choices between kinako ice cream and coconut ice cream) Since we don't know what kinako is, we pick the one we don't know ;P [from wiki: Kinako, aka soybean flour, is a product commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Kinako is produced by finely grinding roasted soybeans into powder] The first taste is weird, then it gets better :)

I also want to try their macaroon. Today the trio are Double Chestnut, Strawberry & Sesame. Sesame taste really good, crunchy out and chewy in. Strawberry is jelly inside. Chestnut however... can't taste much of chestnut.

A nice way to spend half of my afternoon. ..^‿^..

Kyotofu (map)
705 9th Avenue
New York, NY 10036
(212) 974-6012

Dressler

Temp updates. The Dressler restaurant that I went to recently really impress me, so I want to post an update for it!

An antique and warm feeling inside, I absolutely love their detailed design. You can't tell from the photo, but the lamp, the high chair, the decoration, they are very artistic, I can't stop looking around. >///<

(photo source - Dressler)

The food is also quite impressive. The purpose of this trip is to try their Oxtail Ragout. I suddenly want to try this dish so much.

This is not disappointing at all! The meat is so juicy and tender with the rich and delicious source, also the fresh cavatelli, herbed ricotta & parsnip. I can have this as my entree! ヽ( ≧▽≦)ノ♥

We also have the Mini Peekytoe Crab Cakes. In the crab family, I never know how peekytoe crab truly tasted...

Another highlight of the night is this Roasted Long Island Duck & Confit Crepinette - rarely cooked. The duck is richly infused with the delicious source. The sauteed spinach at the bottom and the baby turnips are also well prepared! Also the chestnut potato pudding itself is a wonderful dessert side dish. :P

The Pan Roasted Chatham Cod is rather plain compare to the duck, but it's all subjective, the duck is just outstanding tonight.

As for dessert, we try the seasonal Maple Panna Cotta with Coconut Cream & roasted Pecans. Such a lovely dessert to finish tonight's meal.

This place is definitely a neighborhood gem, worth a try. :P

Dressler(map)
149 Broadway
Brooklyn, New York 11211
(718) 384-6343

HIATUS

I still alive and eat a lot, recently been focusing on other things in life, will come back soon ..>__<..

Blue Fin

The restaurant locates at the Theater District. Waiter will ask if you have movie plan that night before seating you. (I wonder if they serve you more efficiently if I said yes XD )

The foods here are fresh and amazing!


Alaskan King Crab Salad, I am a plain crab lover ♥


The crab cake was okay (couldn't really compare with the Alaskan King Crab leg after all)

The Atlantic Cod, with sweet potato puree, beluga lentils and clementine marmalade. A very special combination with cod and marmalade! You could taste the orange peels in the dish as well!


The Parmesan Crusted Filet Mignon with creamed spinach, buttermilk onions and burgundy red wine sauce.


Dessert of the night was Pear Tart


We also got this Honey Crisp Apple Crumble, both tasted delicious, apple crumble was a bit sweet compared to the pear tart.


Parting gift was this House-made Truffle!

Blue Fin (map)
1567 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

Kittichai

While looking for good and tasty stuff, I also like trying weird stuff~

When I saw the menu of Kittichai, I wanted to give it a try :D

This restaurant had a very nice little pond in the center of the place. Too bad the dark (or romantic, your call) environment was hard to take a picture of :(

So here we go with the first dish.

It was the Coconut and galangal soup with chicken & straw mushrooms. What's more interesting than the soup itself was the paper container! Yes, it's paper holding the soup put on top of the fire stove. Somehow the soup (water) and fire together kept the paper safe, as soon as we finish the soup, the paper burnt. Ha!


Then it was the Chocolate baby back ribs with Thai spices. Chocolate with ribs?! I like the idea, yet the chocolate kinda lost it's flavor in the dish. Still interesting!


This was the entree Pineapple-braised short ribs in green curry. Terrific short ribs and not spicy at all! I liked the special flavor given by the green curry.


And the Thai omelette, lump crab meat with sriracha sauce. Too bad I didn't taste any crab meat. :(


Thai coffee, Thai tea & vanilla ice cream with palm seed & coconut jelly. Like their ice cream a lot!

While dinning there, I saw many dishes with interesting presentation, I tried recording what was on the menus so I could try them next time (maybe! XD )


Kittichai (map)
60 Thompson St
New York, NY 10012

Blue Elm

Been there a while back, they already changed their menu since I went, but I want to go back again for their other flavors!

It was a small place, yet kinda trendy. I went there as a group of 7, had pretty good food and good time.

I saw their menu online, the "Shared plates" section somehow made me think it's a groupy place, but not quite, not even their food had large portion. However, I still suggest this place for groups, to share the food and share the cost (o'u≦o)☆彡

The Pan-Seared Scallops with peas and sweet corns, my all time favorite, sauteed and soft, deeelicious~


The Crab Crusted & Rsted Portobello Mushroom. Yeah.. the blood sauce somehow looked weirdly pink in the photo... Little salty.


The Yellowfin Tuna Tartare, I tasted the tuna, where was the yellowfin?


The sashimi cocktail, too small to share, but it tasted good~


The Cotes d'Agneau, my friend said it's the cod (one of my love), and they ordered 2x, may I have 1 more piece? :P


The ribs, you couldn't go wrong with these!


The Kobe Beef Mafe Aux Legum, wonder if they still have this. I think I had 2 potatoes from this pot... :( also some very spicy pepper inside. My friends who had the meat said it was very good..


The Creme Brulee with strawberries on top and fruits inside :P


The Chocolate Explosion, another name for Lava cake XP


The Hazelnut ice cream and...


The Mocha ice cream~~

Blue Elm (map)
198 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

Jean Georges

After the recent visits to Jean Georges next door, I may as well post my memorable experience at the main dinning room of Jean Georges back in May.
P.S. Due to the restaurant environment, the photo quality of this set is ...um... not ideal... :(


The main dinning room is spacious, the best service I have yet came across.


It was an special occasion, I wasn't prepared and I afraid my little DC couldn't capture the beautiful of their food that night. That's being said, it was the complimentary starter. I only remember it was Fluke tartar on the right.


Sea Scallops, Caramelized Cauliflower. Their food was so fresh and tasted like no others. I love every one of their dish. ♥


Crispy Soft Shell Crab, Shiso-Yuzu mayonnaise


Sauteed Foie Gras, Young Ginger Puree & Passion Fruit.


Sweet Pea Soup, Croutons & Parmesan


Black Sea Bass with Nuts and Seeds, Sweet & Sour Jus


Maine Lobster, Potato dumplings, Smoked Butter & Pickled Chillis


The Citrus dessert platter (From upper left clockwise):
Warm Citrus Polenta with Dehydrated Grapefruit, Arugula and Crispy Fennel;
Soft Lime Gelee, Frozen Coconut, Kaffir Lime Sorbet;
Meyer Lemon Shaker Tart, Hazelnut Streusel, Meyer Lemon Sorbet;
Matcha Semi Freddo, Almond Praline, Seville Orange, Candied Kumquats (love this!)


The Rhubarb dessert platter (From upper left clockwise):
Frozen aerated Rhubarb, Creme Fraiche;
Strawberry-Rhubarb Soup, Mango, Passion Fruit and Yuzu;
Warm Honey-Rhubarb Tart, Crystallized Rose Petals;
Custard, Buckwheat Streusel.


The special dessert for our special occasion :) (how sweet is that!)


Macaron, homemade marshmellow, 2 sets of petit fours to follow.

I & G were very very pleased with our dinning tonight!


Jean Georges (map)
1 Central Park W
New York, NY 10023