NYC: Takashi

Friday night for our 2nd dinner. I had made a reservation at Takashi at 9:30PM. I normally don't eat this late, but to fit all these food places in... I guess that's a sacrifice I have to make. haha. :P 

Takashi 
456 Hudson St. 
New York, NY 10014 
(212) 414-2929 
http://takashinyc.com/ 
Price: $$$$+

This was recommended by a foodie friend. Unfortunately he had to work late and ended up cancelling last minute. We're so glad we still went though, despite being so full already. haha. I made a reservation for 6 people, and was able to fill that last spot before dinner. 

It's a small place. We almost walked past it because the sign outside is so small. But it's cute. Reminds me of the yakiniku places in Asia. Their menu is beef... all beef. Sounds pretty awesome to me! The beef comes from sustainably raised cattle with no antibiotics or hormones. On their website they list the farms where the beef comes from. 

Everything on the menu looked interesting and tasty. Unfortunately due to the uni shortage, they didn't have the one dish I really wanted. :( Oh well... maybe next time. Each of us ordered 1-2 things. 

Stewed Beef Tendon Casserole with White Miso $15~ 

 

This was my choice. As an appetizer for the table. It comes fully cooked. So freaking delicious. It's just just the chewy tendon parts, it was mostly the meat next to the tendons. Stewed to perfection, it was soooooo tender. And tons of flavor. 

Squid Ink Rice, Miso-Marinated Sweetbreads (spicy yuzu saffron aioli, served on a magnolia leaf) $20~ 

This was interesting. I'll eat sweetbreads but I'm not a huge fan. Normally they are just kinda mushy. For those who don't know, sweetbreads are either the thymus glad or pancreas of young animals like calf or lamb. I love offal, but I can live without this. I thought everything in this dish was good though. Really enjoyed the squid ink rice. 

Bakudan (rice bomb with Korean seaweed and pickled sesame leaf) $8~ This was to supplement the meats. It was pretty good, but we probably could've done without it. 

Sukiyaki-Style Round Steak (with tartare rice bomb and egg yolk) $30~ 

This was probably the coolest yakiniku dish of the night. It's like a DIY beef taco thing. You grill the meat, dip it in the egg yolk, put a ball of the tartare and rice and roll it up. The beef was super tender. I loved the tartare rice bomb on it's own too! Fun!! 

 

Kalbi (US Kobe Premium Short Rib) $26~ Really quality meat. 

Beef Belly (US Kobe Beef belly) $20~ Also delicious. 

Tan-saki, Tan-suji & Tan-moto (the tongue experience) $25~ The tongue tasting was interesting. I've had really tender beef tongue before but these were more chewy. But still good. 

Tsurami (beef cheek) $16~ The most bang for your buck. The slices were really thin though. It was like beef bacon. Yummers! 

It was so much fun! At first we thought we weren't going to have enough food since it was pretty expensive and the portions are not very big. But we were all satisfied at the end. The meats and flavors were all amazing, I totally recommend this place. The quality is comparable to the places I've been in Japan/Korea. Also, they have midnight ramen... yes, only starts at midnight. And you have to make reservations. Might be something fun to do next time. 

Oh yea... on the way back to the subway, we stopped at Big Gay Ice Cream, and several people got desserts. Wow. haha. I wish I had room! So I just watched them eat it. :P 

 

Quality of Food:

Service:

Ambiance:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

2015 NYC Food Tour: Day 2

FRIDAY: Day 2. 

I was so excited that we were going to be there for the last weekend of Madison Square Eats! Definitely needed to check it out. We went for an early lunch on Friday. 

Madison Square Park 
May 1 - May 28, 11AM-9PM Daily 
http://urbanspacenyc.com/mad-sq-eats/ 

Mexicue 
Blackened Brussels Sprouts $4~ 
Arnold Palmero (lemonade/iced tea) $3~ 

Roberta's 
Margherita Pizza (tomato, basil, mozzarella) $9~ Plus Speck +$2~ 

The Cannibal 
Pig Head Cuban $12~ Oh man... that pig head goooood!! 

 

Sigmund's 
Rueben (Corned beef, kraut, gruyer, mustard) 

Melt 
Crackly Chocolate Cookies + Malted Chocolate Rum Ice Cream Sandwich $4~ NOMS!

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Eataly was just across the street so I wanted my fiance to check it out. After walking around, it was time for a Coffee Break! 

 

--------------- 
Spot Dessert Bar 
13 St Marks Pl. 
New York, NY 10003 
(212) 677-5670 
www.spotdessertbar.com 

Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake (warm dark chocolate cake filled with green tea ganache served with green tea ice cream) $9.15~ 

Kabocha Cake (warm Japanese pumpkin served with condensed milk ice cream) $9.15~ 

The Harvest (layers of berries, soft cheesecake, meringue kisses, served with raspberry sorbet and black rose milk tea) $9.15~ Such a fun dessert! 

Pick 3 for $23. Essentially Buy 2, get 3rd at half price. We ordered wayyyyy too much. They said 3 desserts serves 2 -3 people. Unless those people are starving... I think it serves 4-6 people EASILY! We still ate it all... what can I say. We don't waste food! :P

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Levain Bakery 
167 West 74th St. 
New York, NY, 10023 
(212) 874-6080 
www.levainbakery.com 

I can't come to NYC and not go to Levain. They have, BY FAR, my favorite cookies in the world!! :) We got 6 cookies to go. $4~ each

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie 
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie 
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie 

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Jacob's Pickles 
509 Amsterdam Ave. 
New York, NY 10024 
(212) 470-5566 
http://jacobspickles.com/

This place came HIGHLY recommended. I can't believe it wasn't even on my radar. Amazing comfort food. In New York! What?!? 

Root Beer on Tap: Saranac Root Beer, New York (vanilla rich, creamy flavor, thick-bodied, caffeine free) $5~ 

Pickles 4 for $11~ (Big Dill Kosher Cukes, Dilly Green Beans, Candy Red Beets, Sweet & Spicy Carrots) 

Grit Crusted Fried Green Tomatoes (sour green tomato brine, house picnic sauce) $9~ 

Biscuits & Gravy (Sausage gravy) $9~ The sausage gravy is DIVINE! Please just gimme a tub of it.

Mushroom Gravy Smothered Chicken (buttermilk fried chicken, 2 year aged Vermont cheddar; served with Grain Miller Organic Cheese Grits) $14~ 

--------------- 
Takashi 
456 Hudson St. 
New York, NY 10014 
(212) 414-2929 
http://takashinyc.com/

This was recommended by a foodie friend. Unfortunately he had to work late and wasn't able to meet us. We're so glad we still went, despite being so full already. haha. Everything was great. 

Stewed Beef Tendon Casserole with White Miso $15~ 

Squid Ink Rice, Miso-Marinated Sweetbreads (spicy yuzu saffron aioli, served on a magnolia leaf) $20~ 

Sukiyaki-Style Round Steak (with tartare rice bomb and egg yolk) $30~ It's like a DIY beef/rice roll!

 

Kalbi (US Kobe Premium Short Rib) $26~ 

Beef Belly (US Kobe Beef belly) $20~ 

Tan-saki, Tan-suji & Tan-moto (the tongue experience) $25~ 

Tsurami (beef cheek) $16~ 

Bakudan (rice bomb with Korean seaweed and pickled sesame leaf) $8~ 

Another freaking amazing food day. Other than the Brussels Sprouts from Mexicue, I highly recommend everything else!! 

Oh yea... after Takashi, we stopped at Big Gay Ice Cream, and several people got desserts. Wow. haha. 

 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Japan 2013: Tokyo - Yakitori & Yakiniku

One of my friends put me in touch with her cousin before my trip. Her cousin lives in Tokyo and was a lot of help on suggesting places to eat. He even offered to meet up with us one night and take us somewhere off the beaten path. Awesome! 

I asked him where we could get some good yakitori (skewered food) since I didn't find one when I went to Japan last year. He took us to Sasaya in Meguro. It was about a 15 min walk from the station. We would've never found this place on our own! It's a small place, like most restaurants in Japan. The lighting was dim, good for after work drinking. hehe. I think this place specializes in chicken because all their skewers were parts of the chicken. We let the host do all the ordering, we're adventurous enough! :P 

 

But first, we started with some drinks! Can't go to a yakitori place and not get some sort of booze. :P I had some sort of yuzu cocktail. Very refreshing! 

We also got some pickled veggies and a daikon radish and egg mix to go with our skewers. It helps freshen things up since the skewers are more salty and greasy. 

 

I'll try to identify thing the best I can... 
Chicken Meatballs 

Chicken Hearts

Chicken Leg 

Chicken Liver 

Chicken Gizzard 

Chicken Skin 

Chicken Breast and Wasabi (it's only cooked on the outside and slightly raw on the inside!) Never had slightly raw chicken before but we were assured it's safe. Must be really quality chicken! 

 

Egg Yolk and Liver. This was interesting... the egg pops in your mouth. And the liver was soooo flavorful. I'm usually not a liver fan, but it was pretty tasty. 

Chicken Heart (fattier) Much more flavor than the first.

Thick Deep Fried Bean Curd 

Asparagus 

Shiitake Mushroom 

We were so full! Each person had their own skewer of the list above. Very delicious. Thank you so much to Jerry for taking us out and June for making the connection! :D 
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The last night in Japan, we wanted to get some yakiniku (bbq). Our first choice turned out to be way more expensive than we wanted to pay so we just got on the subway, exited Shibuya station and wandered around. We can across this small street with some restaurant signs. I noticed a sign for a yakitori place that said something about a set course for 3,500 Yen? So the bf said let's check it out! Every meal is an adventure. haha. 

 

We went up the elevator and came to this black door. We went in... the place was pretty empty but very cool. It had a disco ball! haha. The waitress who greeted us was very nice, but she spoke no English. But she seated us and another waiter came to greet us. He was SUPER welcoming and friendly. Introduced himself in English so we thought we found a place that spoke English! haha.. not so much. He didn't know much at all, but was definitely eager to help. After much gesturing and google translate on his iphone, he explained that they do have a set course for 3,500 Yen, but for TWO people. Not per person like we expected! Woot! That's a nice surprise! And then he asked if we ate organ meat, which we do, so he said "perfect!" 

Apparently the set is some beef, but mostly different cuts of organ meats. I have no idea which cuts but that also made it more exciting. haha. For all I know we could've had testicles and not known. Oh well. As long as it's cooked, I'll try it! :P 

The set comes with unlimited shredded cabbage and marinated scallions.

We also ordered a side of veggies. And a large bowl of rice to share. 

 

 

 

 

 

The cool thing about this place is the grill. It's above the table and they use charcoal. There's a giant suction thing above the grill so it sucks up all the smoke. We didn't smell like bbq at all when we left the place. We also didn't notice it was a smoking establishment until later because all the cigarette smoke was also sucked up. Awesome! 

We ended the meal by sharing a black sesame ice cream. 

It was a lot of fun. The waiters were all so accommodating and friendly despite the language barrier. Especially Lu! Our special helper. hehe. Great end to the trip! :) I still can't get over how nice Japanese people are!! 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~