My Daily Food Readings

So I often check Serious Eats and NY Mag maybe every day or one every two days. Its very... hypocritical of me.

I would occasionally see articles that say that "this place has the best" so and so. Or this restaurant has awesomely good food voted best by out taste testers.

I'm sorry but I'm beginning to think that these blogs are either selling out or have no taste.

Ny Mag:
1. David Chang
2. General Greene
3. The Vanderbilt

These guys have low rankings on yelp. Not only that but I think David Chang likes salt too much. Even my friend who drinks soysauce thinks his stuff is too salty.

Serious Eats
1. Little Red Hen for Best Cheesecake
2. Amy's Bread for Best Carrot Cake

I'm sorry but I'm tired of Two Little Red Hens getting rep in Red Velvet and Cheesecake. Its seriously not that good to me. but this is just one person's opinion. At least I want the hype turned down a bit. Just a bit.

As for amy's bread, I'm sure they have good bread and I have not tried their carrot cake yet, (though I am always willing to be proved right because if its actually good, then I'll be very happy.) However, Their red velvet had stellar rankings from multiple sources and as a foreigner that was so excited to try her first red velvet cupcake for the first time, theirs was a failure.

I'm just saying. Take things with a grain of salt and trust your instincts. I know what I like, but people can have different tastes. Just because people say certain restaurants are the best and its on a blog doesnt mean that they're not getting money from the place.

Chinatown Veggies

I always wondered why chinatown veggies are cheap. It was interesting.

from a chowhound forum, its because of two things:
1. its ripe NOW not later. Thus, it has a shorter shelf like unlike those in grocery stores. So apparently, Chinese people buy veggies everyday instead of once a week.
2. because its an incredible wholesale, its a lot cheaper.
3. they're from all over the place, and maybe the world. it being organic is questionable. however I saw a 2 for $1 on avocados the other day ;_;

Comparative Analysis: Almond Croissant

I have considered myself an Almond Croissant Connoisseur. It has been my slight obsession since I first tried one in Fall 2008. Shame on me on not trying more. But Most likely I ate a lot and repeated most of these places. I do love doing comparative analysis on things like cupcakes, ice cream, burgers, roasted pork bun, okonomiyaki and stuff like that. I get very obsessed with certain foods.

maybe I'll do more of it because i do it way to often.

Ranking:
5* MFING awesome
4* Not Bad
3* Average
2* Maybe Not
1* WTF this shit

Ones that I have tried:
1. Tarralluci e Vino - 3*
2. Tartine (SF) - 4*
2. Choice - 4* (its the crunchy top that gets me)
4. Bread Alone - 2*
5. Madeline - 3*
6. Almondine - 3*
7. La Bergamote - 4*
8. Balthazar - 4*
9. Ceci Cela (from Dean and Deluca) -2*
10. Angelique - 2*
11. Street Sweets - 3*
12. Colson Patisserie - 2* (ok. it was unmemorable.)


New Places to Try:

1. Patisserie Claude
2. J'Adore - 23rd and 5th
3. Financier - the macarons in this place are AWESOME
4. Payard
5. Chez Laurence - Madison ave and 38th
6: Bouley Bakery - Their Oatmeal Cookies arent bad.
7. Petrossian

Panya is Back and random things I eat

I dont know if people know but apparently, that popular Japanese bakery next to Sunrise Market is back. Its now bigger, better and has guys behind the counter instead of girls. (I dont know if you guys noticed that.)

Anyway, I forgot to take pictures of the inside but they are also serving onigiri and bento from sunrise market at a really nice price. They also have a kitchen there that serves sandwiches and a "traditional japanese breakfast."

I decided to celebrate this even by buying a Green Tea Custard Cookie. Apparently I cant find a recipe of this online. I'm too lazy to pay another 2.75 for this one.

I've been to Panya before. What can I say about it? I think its so-so. I think their baked goods are okay. I've tried the strawberry shortcake and some of the savory stuff like the yakisoba pan. I used to drink their Green Tea Au Lait a lot until I realized it was just green tea and milk and I can easily make it at home. I've never tried their bread though but I kind of always wanted too because it looked so tall and fluffy. But I guys cafe Zaiya is their competitor which is around the corner along Cooper Square.

But as for New Panya? I think its a lot better. They have nice substantial meals that would definitely beat old Jasmart (when jasmart used to have a cafeteria).


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Choice Market's Toffee Date Cake



the reason why I got this was because of the dates. How was it? incredibly sweet, dense and on the moist chewy side. What you would expect of toffee. It would be excellent if I drank black coffee but alas, I dont even drink coffee. (but I'll eat coffee ice cream.)

Would I eat it again? Not really. Now that i've tried it, I feel ok. Actually, it tasted like something I used to eat when I was a kid. Something like butterscotch brownies. But think... filipino butterscotch brownies. I've never tasted butterscotch in america yet.

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Fort Greene Market: Apple Cider Donuts



I bought apple cider donuts from a place near madison square park the other day and, man, it was bullshit compared to this one. First off, that place charged a dollar while this one charged 50 cents. Secondly, the people here were a lot nicer. But I actually kind of like it but I wish the flavor was stronger. Both of them, I had to really look for the flavor and they both tasted more like donuts than apple cider donuts.

So since that is the case, I recommend getting the one coated in cinnamon sugar at Fort Greene every saturday. :D I can imagine Shake Shack crumbling this up and mixing it into spiced vanilla custard. yum.

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Whole Foods Market: Buttermilk Scone


I'm not from america, so I generally dont really know how scones work. If its to be eaten alone or with tea or coffee or dipped or was it biscotti that I was thinking of? (<-- grammar fail!)

Anyway, I bought this just because I was curious to this "buttermilk" thing that is prevalent in many american baked goods recipes that are reminiscent of their grandmothers. I dont know what to make of it. I liked the outsides buttery crumbly goodness though and its its almost consistent inside out. But it doesnt really have its own distinctive flavor.

Would I get it again? No. But I have a feeling it would taste good for breakfast in replacement for biscuits. Poured with milk and sprinkled with some sugar. =9

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Red Mango: Pumpkin Fro Yo



So I left it at the sample. it wasnt good enough to purchase the whole thing. (I dont want to spend extra money). The pumpkin flavor of Phileo's Yogurt was stronger and tastier. However, Red Mango is doing a promotion for these seasonal flavors by giving away free crush graham cracker topping with it.

Food List

I miss going to new restaurants and bakeries. Its because I'm poor. Life sucks, but I have a list:

1. Definitely check out Levain. Their cookies are really popular and I've been hearing about it since way back. This article in Serious Eats completely reawakened my desire to go there. GAH! Cookies!!!

2. A new food truck is in town. Specifically some where in midtown east. Why I'm interested? Because Diabetes will be my eventual destiny. (Though I hope not, but I just said it.) Its called Street Sweet. I think the most interesting part is that the croissants have different types of fillings O_o; One of them is praline and marshmallow cream. I love how they put the word "clean" in all caps in their about section (with a capital E in their "extremely" in the middle of their sentence".

3. I think biscuits are in. Why? After looking at this picture of Biscuits with milk and sugar from thekitchn, it made me start craving it. OF COURSE THAT LOOKS SO GOD DAMN GOOD! ITS GENIUS! I've never had it before but it does look like the ultimate comfort food even if I'm not a native american. And then I thought, oh shit, I need to buy some biscuits from the best place in the city. Where? I have no idea. I was thinking Popeyes actually. (<-- guilty)

But no, I want quality and fancy. If I'll do it, I'll do it right. I'll get Fresh Milk from the farmer's market and buy the best place to buy biscuits from. But where is a really good question. Apparently Clinton St. Bakery Co. has a section of their Bakery called Neil's Biscuits. Oh shit. <3 They might put so much crack in that (and by crack, I mean butter) but it might be really, really good. I've only eaten biscuits once and for the sake of remembering, I'll but these if I have the time. If not, there's this JPs Big Daddy Biscuits Recipe.

ps. if you bake these biscuits call me. There's nothing like freshly baked goods in the early morning.

4. So there a new German Pretzel Shop in town called Sigmund Pretzel Shop. It made me think of my teacher, because he's german. If he ever misses german pretzels, I should tell him. And maybe he can proof it to me if they do taste german. Apparently, they bake a single batch each morning. The interesting flavors to me are: Jalapeno Cheddar, Cinnamon Raisin for $3.00. I guess that's okay (if its huge). I'm a bit worried about the pictures of pretzel sandwiches because pretzel are usually... salty. =s

Fat is the Key and Stopmotion videos rule

The other day, I finally made banana cupcakes after days of countless research on a recipe that had the lowest amount of fat required. After making it, I tried it and I realized that it was... okay. It wasnt bad, but it wasnt excellent. I dont think its my baking skills but I was pretty sure it was the lack of butter or fat in it.

Lately I have been craving for a crumbly delicious banana bread, and after that day's experience with "healthy" banana bread, I realized that I would rather gain ten pounds than eat something completely not worth my time. So, in the end, I threw what I made away and went out to buy a banana nut bread from Choice Market.

Their banana nut bread is pretty good and crumbly. I have mixed feelings about the occasional random plantain in it, though. Maybe if they roasted the plantain, I would feel better about it.

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For homework, we were required to make a stop motion PSA, so I just thought of sharing some stop motion videos that I liked. Enjoy!

Halloween Food Bonanza

So I ate a lot during halloween. I did not really party (though I attended a party). But yesterday, I spent some time in the city with a few friends and ate shit loads of food.

for breakfast was Shake Shack:



Shake Shack is a place I frequent. Though it was an important mission for me to go there on october 31 because it was the last day of the month that they would have the pumpkin spice ice cream. And can I say, it was one of the best pumpkin ice creams I've ever tasted. I can taste the diabetic amounts of cream and sugar they place in it. For me, it embodied american autumn-seasonal sweets. (american because of its huge amounts of sugar).



And, even if I've been to shake shake multiple times, (I mostly go there for the ice cream), I recently tried their Shack Stack, which was basically 2 beef patties and a shroom burger in one gigantic pile of cheesy goodness. I'll have to say that the shroom burger did most of the job in making this delicious. I felt that the saltiness of it just enhanced the flavor and brought everything into a pile of goodness.

For me, what is exciting about shake shack is the ever changing frozen custards calendar. Its like a game of wanting to try everything and discovering new flavors. Sadly I missed some flavors due to the cockblocker called "School." but, really, I could care less. Its just sugary fun when I look for gastronomic distractions in between school work.

Lunch was supplied by New York Coffee and Hotdog.
Generally, I've been wanting to come here for the longest time, because a few weeks ago, I missed on the korean taco cart from LA visiting new york. I will have my revenge. There were a lot of varieties on things that had kimchi bulgogi. There was a burrito-like thing, a burger, a hotdog. I let my friend decide and since we had burger for breakfast, we opted for hotdog.





What did it taste like? It tasted like kimchi with bulgogi and hotdog. I felt that the hotdog was too salty. The bulgogi had very weak flavor. And the kimchi was okay. Maybe a failure at the attempt of an interesting idea but I dont usually let these things stop me. Maybe I'll try to burrito looking thing next time (or the burger :D)

A nice note was that they had mini belgian waffles available. I was going to go for it but instead, my friend and I went to the replacement of Yogurtland next door: Phileo Yogurt



For those that missed Yogurtland, I feel like there was no difference between the two. (even if I had only been to yogurt land once.) But what caught my attention was the goodness that was their pumpkin frozen yogurt and lychee frozen yogurt. I was mucho happy.

Though I did go to L'arte del Gelato for a dessert (after dessert), I'm to lazy to talk about it.

Phileo Yogurt
267 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 206-1824

New York Hotdog and Coffee
245 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
(917) 388-3742

Shake Shack
E 23rd St & Madison Ave
New York, NY 10010
(212) 889-6600

Pumpkin Cheesecake Alert

For those of you who are feeling the autumn crisp in the air and is definitely hankering for some pumpkin sort of dessert, I would recommend pumpkin cheesecake from the clinton hill Choice Market.

Their cheesecake was usually the popular Pear Creme Brulee cheesecake (that I didnt really care for but other people did) but for this season, they have replaced it with the Pumpkin Cheesecake. their pumpkin cheesecake has a nise sort of cream cheesy-ness that the other pumpkin cheesecake from Billy's Bakery doesnt have. My sensitive friend, Mel, could care less for billy's cheesecake because it was apparently too "meat" like for her.

Pumpkin does have that weird sort of "meaty" taste. Must be because it is a squash? But I've read through many blogs that, that is the reason why people put shit loads of spices and sugar in pumpkin desserts.

So yes, if you're up for some pumpkin cheesecake, go to Choice Market instead of Billy's Bakery.
If you're going for ice cream, I highly recommend Shake shack's Pumpkin spice custard. The last day to get it is on Oct 31 (its every saturday this october.) Good Luck!

Choice Market
318 Lafayette Ave
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn NY

Is it cheesecake season too?

Though I have been craving pumpkin desserts, I stumbled upon a recent article on cheesecakes from Serious Eats concerning "New York's Best Cheesecake."

It's quite interesting really because they mentioned Two Little Red Hen's as the top. A bout a few weeks ago, my friend told me that TLRH had the best red velvet cake she's ever tried. (just so you know, she's a frosting person.) Its funny because I tried them last year for their red velvet cake and I threw it half way through because I didnt like it that much.

I'm always willing to be corrected or try a place again. Since my sister lives near there, guess I'll stop by and give them another chance. However, I really do wonder if I should eve stick to instinct.

In case if anyone was wondering, my favorite cheesecake thus far is Eileen's. As for red velvet, its kind of hard. I believe that any dish can taste good, you just have to find the right person to make it. Just like my belief that all restaurants are good, you just have to order the right thing.

I wonder why ice cream for breakfast is so good

Maybe its cause it has 17g of fat. haagen dazs Green Tea ice cream is one of the very few brands that do green tea ice cream well. (I think they're the only one.) The second would be people who make it at home. (Unless you're an american restaurant who things they're trying to be fusion. I'm definitely not pointing at General Greene.)

Breakfast was supposed to be healthy. I started with a banana, then kiwi, then corn, then 1/2 a pint of ice cream, then a kiwi again. I like greens and yellows. What can I say? I'm trying to compensate for the black and blue thats going on in my toe.

BTW: I made lentils the other day and it made me full.

Though please catch this thought train: lentils - long shelf span = is that sweet potato in my fridge still edigle?

So I stumbled on to a site that lists the shelf span of basic american grocery food. In these "organic" days, its scary to notice how some foods last so long. Btw, it did not answer my question about my sweet potato.

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The flu season peaked in last week for me and is dying down a little. However, I've still got a couple of the sneezes. (not sniffles). I do enjoy theraflu as my remedy. The kind that you can pour hot water on and enjoy as a drink. Though, I thought tylenol itself is a miracle when I first came to america. I have a few friends that dont believe in medicine. The sucky part about that is, you'll have to wait till the sickness is full blown in your body and you cant prevent it earlier.

i think that, if you have the free time to get sick, go for natural. Otherwise, if you have no time to get sick, take some medicine.

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My friend and I went to La Bergamote of Chelsea. This bakery has happy reviews of pastries and almond croissants (which is one of my obsessions.) Though, I feel a bit sad as oen of the waitress is not only bitchy but also, doesnt describe the product very well. But worry not, she's not bitchy to everyone. She's only bitchy to girls. She was pretty nice to guys. (even if they're obviously gay. I dont know what her angle is.)



IF ONE CAN LOOK CLOSELY: it is not just "a mousse cake." (She said there were no layers). However, I would describe this as: A layer of hazelnut mousse, topped with a thin layer of pistachio cake, topped with another layer of pistachio mousse, wrapped with a thin layer of pistachio cake. There are particles so its not a perfectly smooth mousse. (Which I like.) I was hesitant to buy it because it was 6 dollars of mousse. For me, mousse is essentially flavored whip cream, which is not that appetizing. I'm a fan of variety and textures.

I like my nuts. (tee-hee.) ANYWAY, I bought it because I like nuts and not mousse. I also wasnt letting her anal attitude ruin my diabetic experience. IT WAS: 3.5. It was oh-kay. Would I buy it again? No. Did I regret it? No. It wasnt that disappointing.

Though I do love the french for their pastries, I feel like america hasnt captured my favorite french pastries quite well. For example, I love almond croissants. However, I have tried a many almond croissants but havent found the perfect one yet. I have not been to france but I keep hearing that there is no equivalent else where.

For that cake to be 6 bucks, its kind of understandable. I would say 5 bucks is more like it. 6... is a bit much. (and I'm from a 3rd world country, so these prices are insane to me.)

New Favorite Patisserie and Type

The other day I had to take pictures of glass ceilings for research and ended up in the Winter Garden place at the Financial District.

As I stumbled around, I passed by a directory that said "Patisserie." I immediately went that direction (because I'm a sugar addict). So I stumbled upon Financier Patisserie.





I had or-gay-zms looking at the variety of selections at such a decent unexpected price. I dont know, I thought that place would be pricy but it wasnt. I found more expensive things in chelsea or the lower east side. (Surprisingly)

I decided that if I had to get one thing (because I finished a pint of ice cream for breakfast), I would get a pistachio macaroon.



And OHMYGODZ! It was such a steal at 2 dollars. It was the size of 3 macaroons. Even if it had the butter cream type of center, it was the best one I've had. The meringue that sandwiched it borderlines cookie consistency, but retains its nice light texture with a very perfect tint of density. I was extremely happy, to say the least.

I was also happy that it took me more than 2 bites to consume the whole thing. I feel like this place should lick madeline patisseries' ass because they charge 2.25 for a cookie a quarter of that size.

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I'm taking Michael Kelly for Type I in the ComD department in Pratt. He's pretty popular and will grade you a C in your first semester. Its almost a fact, no matter "how good you are." This weeks homework helped me reassess my definition of "good type" and "bad type."

But here are some interesting type links:

Typographic Posters
Hauser Lacour An interesting editorial design company. Love their stuff.
Simon C Page Another Graphic Designer
Design the News Information Aesthetics dude.

Productivity level = 0.

Forty Carrots and Dinner

On columbus day, after "work", I went to manhattan to buy the things students need to buy: a lot of expensive things. However, before my monthly unlimited ended, I decided to finally go to a place I've been dying to go since last year: Forty Carrots.



This little place was crowded at 2:30 in the afternoon. But then again, it was a holiday. I'm sure in a normal weekday, it wouldnt be crowded. But the point is, I finally got there. The menu gave 4 options but when I reached the front, there were 5: Chocolate, plain, mango, coffee and blueberries and cream.

Apparently if you got a large, you could get 4 flavors, a medium was 3, and a small was 2. I had to make a quick decision. I went with a plain and blueberries and cream. They were both freakishly delicious.



Usually, I would run to Red Mango for my frozen yogurt cravings but I think this place is my new favorite. Everything was very creamy. The plain wasnt as tart as Red Mango's but it was very smooth and rich but not too heavy. The blueberries and cream was my favorite. I was pretty sure that it might as well be a normal soft serve but I love the amount of richness that Forty Carrots had. Other places like 16 handles and Pink Berry tend to get slightly watery. (I guess its fine if you're on a diet) However, Forty Carrots was instant gratification and more.

The height of the fro-yo was the length of my hand. It was freakishly big for a small. And for 4.90 (tax included), it was a steal.

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For dinner, I decided to steal an idea for this place called Macaron Cafe. A sandwich composed of Goat Cheese, Cranberries, Honey, and greens.



I did the such but changed it a bit. Instead of a baguette was a ciabatta. Along with cranberries, I added dried figs. What I got is something I'm willing to make again for tomorrow. I made my later of goat cheese almost a quarter of an inch, instead of an inch I was served in the cafe.