ChubberBlub

#700

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:53:00 +0000

Yeah, I ate that. Muahahaha

Lucky lucky me was in Beijing the same time L was there. L is awesome because he hearts food like I heart food. As soon as I told him that I'll be in Beijing, he knew exactly where to go. We, along with 7 of his friends/co-worker were to eat at this restaurant hidden in the outskirts of Beijing. By hidden, I mean off the grid, behind iron gates (no joke), no streetlights, no signs. The restaurant is a standalone house surrounded by a budding pomegranate grove in the middle of no where. And yep, it was tasty. Oh so tasty.

The 9 of us ate so much food. Here's a random parade of just some of the dishes (yes, we ate a lot more but the rest of my pics are worse than the ones below. sorry kids!). Then we talk lamb.

'shrooms

The salt and pepper mushrooms were delicious. You dip these in salt and pepper then enjoy the light and crispy umami-ness of mushrooms.

#700 loves them fermented tofu. They use the super stinky kind and regular salty kind in all matters of sauces. Like this one:

eggplant!

White eggplant in fermented tofu sauce was super tender and savory but retained a nice bite.

brown food!

Shredded chicken in sesame sauce. Tasty and brown.

other shades brown

We like brown food. Yes we do. I loooved the cabbage salad on top. It was tangy, crispy and delicious. The bottom dish was stir fried black tofu. This was the first time I've ever had black tofu. It had a deeper flavor than regular tofu and and a chewier texture. Tasty.

And then there was lamb

we eat meat

Meat! In the tummy! So many flavors and textures beckoned. So answered, I did. The lamb was butterflied and spit roasted. The meat is intensely tender with a layer of awesome crispiness of the skin. The whole shebang was heavily seasoned with cumin and other spices. It's like eating a ginormous Xinjiang lamb skewer but with extra crispiness.

my first piece

Because the entire thing was butterflied, there was no un-crispy skin. Which meant maximum happiness. The fattiness of the lamb kept the meat incredibly moist.

This is going to be hard to believe due to the amount of lamb I eat, but I was not such a lamb freak until about 9 years ago until I visited Tianjing. The Xinjiang lamb skewers I had there were my gateway into this lovely lovely meat. So this was kind of like coming full circle. Except I'm going to keep eating as much lamb as possible. Hurm... Analogy fail.

done

Yep, we win! Yes, we had 9 very very powerful stomaches. The lamb stood no chance.

Thanks again to L for this amazing experience! This meal is definitely on my top 10 most memorable list!

Santiago Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 15:41:00 +0000

I love Santiago and those who live there. The food is damn good too. My favorite place that I visited this time was definitely Como Aqua Para Chocolate, modeled after the awesome novel and its tasty food.

Yummy bread began the meal

Then I had fish

The flaky white fish was perfectly grilled. The crispy skin was topped by a mango relish and supported by simple marinated mushrooms and drizzle of balsamic. Weird combo? Maybe, but it totally makes sense that tangy and sweet mango goes well with a light fish, balanced by earth mushrooms.

custardy

Then to completely undo the relatively light meal, I finished off a milky custard with bruleed cream and more milky sauce around it. Custard should really be in its own food group. Is there ever bad custard?

Chile's proximity to Peru means that there are awesome Peruvian foods to be consumed. Starting with the cutest cup of pisco sour at El Otro Sitio.

wooden goblet!

Wooden goblets are definitely underrated.

garaaagharhaagaa (ala the gourmand, homer simpson)

OMG, these ceviche empanadas were ridiculously good. Like revelatory good. The fried dough was so incredibly light. How did the fresh seafood innards not soggi-fy the empanadas, I will never know. But maybe if I eat it a few million times, I'll know enough to tell you. Who wants to sponsor my empanada study program?!

i heart soup

Peruvian chupe is really different from the thicker, stewier chupe of Chile. This particular seafood chupe was light but filling. Swirling the runny yolk into the murky broth, it was so satistfying. I also loved the huge corn kernels! Starchier and less sweet than the corn we're used to, it acted as additional carbiness.

and because i really needed dessert after all that

So I got a suspiro. Kind of a parfait thing made with condensed milk (my first love!), caramel custard. Some berries and fruits I couldn't identify were thrown in for health. Really, the menu had me at condensed milk, it's like my "hello".

Warsaw Soups and Stews

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:42:00 +0000

I went to Poland in death of winter. Good thing Poland is full of warm and tasty soups to sustain.

bigos

At Gospoda Poleca, I had bigos, full of sauerkraut and all matters of meat. The version I had was really salty. I did have bland bread to cut the saltiness. Hurm.

But things got better from there.

Kapuśniak

The next day, I chomped down on some yummy sour cabbage soup with ham at Ceprownia. This is what I'm talking about. Sour, savory, and hearty.

Sour is good. I was so enamored by this next sour soup that I had it twice.

Żurek

According to wikipedia, zurek is a sour rye soup with potatoes, sausages, and hard boiled eggs. What exactly sour rye is, I have no idea. But I loved the slightly murky texture of the soup, made even better by dunking bread in it.

Speaking of murky, one of my favorite soups was a hearty tripe soup at Pod Mesalką Restauracja.

Flaki wołowe

The tripe was tender and clean flavored. It was fully of tasty herby flavor. I would totally eat an entire pot of this.

At the same restaurant on a different night, I sampled another soup.

Rosół z kołdunami

It was like a Polish version of wonton soup. Meat dumplings in thin wrappers, soaked in beefy goodness of the broth.

A similar broth was used for a chicken noodle soup I had at Restauracja Delicja Polska.

Rosół z kurczaka

It was a clean and simple soup, perfect to warm up with after walking around in the cold. Soup does a body good.

Grand Hyatt Mumbai Eats

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:48:00 +0000

I was lucky to stay at the beautiful Grand Hyatt Mumbai for a week, which gave me lots of opportunities to gorge on their awesome buffet.

breakfast!

Like this spread I had at breakfast. Everything was tasty, but I loved the flat pancake thing on the top, a dal pancake (made with lentils). I liked the green chutney quite a bit too, it was a bit spicy and went well with the pancake.

brunch!

And then there was more food for brunch. Green rice with various butter chicken, curries, and breads. OMG, the roti was soooo good at the there. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. So flavorful that there was no need to eat anything with it. The plate on the left contained bunch of random Thai/Chinese noodles. And the small bowls on top were chutneys and raita.

desserts

Then I ate my way thru Indian desserts. Indian sweets are very very sweet. They are mostly almond paste, condensed milk, or coconut milk based. Super tasty, but you really don't need a full plate to feel satisfied.

more dessert!

And you definitely don't need a bowl of yogurt-y saffron-y dessert on top of the plate. But you should.

more!

More stuff! I really like the lentil soup in the little bowl and the aloo paneer on the top left. Love Indian cheese!

random spinach

Then I ate this random spinach salad thing. It was actually really good. The spinach was mixed with chopped nuts and came with a cherry sauce. Sweet and salty, my fav combo. The only weird thing was that the spinach was shaped into little hockey pucks. Who knew hockey pucks can be so tasty.

Dim Sum in Hong Kong

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:33:00 +0000

I love dim sum. Probably because I love anything wrapped in dough (dumplings, pierogies, raviolis, empanadas, etc) and dim sum has a lot of stuff wrapped in dough. So I was super excited when I had the chance to eat dim sum during my trip to Hong Kong a few weeks ago. And there were dough wrapped dishes aplenty.

dough wrapped!

Long noodles with shrimp is probably one of the most beloved dim sum dishes. Silky smooth rice noodles, succulent shrimp, doused in light soy sauce.

more dough!

Shu mai is another well known dough wrapped dish, this time with pork and shrimp.

fish balls

We also ate some non-dough related dishes, like this fried fish ball. It was full of stinky fish sauce loveliness. Which I'm a huge fan of. More fish flavor, condensed.

silver fish

It was my first time eating fried silver fish, but it won't be the last. Soft flaky fish fried to a light crispiness. Oh yes....

fried tofu

I've had plenty of fried tofu before, but this was very different. It was lightly breaded which gave it another savory flavor dimension. Definitely on my to eat again list.

more fish balls

One can never eat too many fish balls in Hong Kong. So we must have it in another form, this time, stewed in a slightly sour cabbage soup.

and more dough

More dough wrapped meat! I didn't eat this since I was getting full, but now I regret not trying this char shiu bao. I can almost imagine the fluffy steamed bun with the sweet bbq pork. Sad...

more fried!

There was also another fried tofu, this time topped with scallions. It was tasty but I preferred the fat pillowy ones above. The lightening quick chopstick action you see there was getting some lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice chicken. One of my favorite dim sum eats. Probably cuz I'm a slave to any sticky rice dish.

purdy

Another dim sum first was a jello dessert made with chrysanthemum and goji berries. It was fragrant and tasty. Nice light finish to the meal.

dessert 2

Oh wait, I lied, I had another dessert, in the form of mango pudding soup with tapioca. Maybe not a light finish to the meal, but definitely a very nice one.

Random Brussels Eats

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:38:00 +0000

I ate at Café Leffe twice while in Brussels. The food was good there, but really, I loved chilling in Sablon, sitting at their comfy outdoor area, and people watch.

shrimp salad

The food was fresh and clean, like the shrimp salad above. Sweet shrimp and salty parmesan were tossed lightly with bitter arugula. Perfect for a hot summer day.

Then I negated any healthy eating by ordering some frites to go with my salad. No regrets here. The fries were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. My only complaint would be that they were not as liberally salted as I'd like. In fact, I don't think they were salted at all. I sprinkled salt on them, but by that time, it was too late. Salt doesn't stick to non-straight-out-of-the-fryer fries. Remember that kids. Remember or your fry tastiness will not reach its full potential.

so much potential, wasted

Another day, I had a salad with lardon, grilled chevre cheese, and frites (or course), washed down with some of the cafe's namesake, Leffe.

lard-on

There were a generous amount of lardon. I also loved the walnut chunks sprinkled throughout. Despite the chunks of cheese and pound of lardon, the salad managed to be light. I was thankful for the light hand in dressing. The frites were again under salted, but overall, I was happy with the meal.

I ate lots of moules while in Brussels, it was the start of moules season! I had it for dinner one night at Restaurant a la Folie.

with frites of course

The mussels were prepared with onions, parsley, the usual. But it also had thinly sliced fennel, which I loved.

I also had disks of fried cheese. Yup. Another light meal sabotaged by a plate of fried fat.

ooze

The final night in Brussels, I ate at Chez Leon, a super touristy place that was known for their mussels. But I was fairly mussel out at that point, so I replaced one seafood with lots of seafood.

seafood, how i love thee

The bouillabaisse came with toast points, aioli, and cheese. It was hearty in its lovely seafood murkiness, but bright in its freshness. I especially loved the flaky fish and the prawn heads. People should really consider making a dish completely out of prawn heads, I'd eat it.

Bits o' Stuff - Cendol

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:40:00 +0000

Shaved ice is probably my favorite dessert. I can eat it for a meal. I can make room for it after a meal. In Malaysia, I tried to stuff as much cendol (the Malaysian version of shaved ice) down my gullet as humanly possible. My favorite was a drink/cendol combo from a street vendor near our hotel in C-town.

best dessert ever

It was a shaved ice made with topped with chewy "pasta" jelly, corn, oatmeal, coconut milk, condensed milk, and the star - gula (palm sugar). Then the whole thing was topped of with creamy chai tea. ALL MY FAVORITE THINGS IN ONE GULP. Holy cow, it was so good. So good that J-me and I walked around in 100 degree heat the next day looking for the vendor. We found him after much persistence. Then we returned everyday while there.

ice being shaved!

I miss it everyday....

Milano Eats

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Since I have such a backlog in photos, I'm just going to post random meals in non-chronological order. My blog, my rulez, with a z.

I had a delicious piadine with cotto, arugla, tuna, and cheese for lunch one day near the office.

piadine split

I don't know why toasty things are so tasty. But they are. Crispy tortilla-like shell shattered into the creamy cheesy and bitter arugula, a nice light lunch.

For dinner one night, we sat by the lovely Navigli enjoying the breezy summer night while chomping down on pizza.

pizza

I had one with mozzarella di bufala, prociutto, and porcini. I like prociutto, but it was a bit much for me. The crust had a great chew but got soggy in the middle. But the mozz and porcini were tasty.

I also ate various pasta dishes while in Milan. My favorite being the gnocci with shrimp and zucchini.

clouds of taters

The gnocci was like little pillowy clouds of potatoes. It was lightly tossed with olive oil. Definitely one of the lightest gnocci dishes I've had.

Going on my mushroom and shrimp kick, I also ate tagliatelle with shrimp and mushrooms.

noods

The noodles were good but I thought the dish was a little too buttery overall. It was an interesting mix of earthy mushrooms with the light shrimp.

At Malpensa airport, I scarfed down a simple but delicious sandwich.

sandwich

Just some nice crusty focaccia, smeared with a bright pesto and layered with slices of tomatoes and mozzaralla di bufala. Sometimes, the most satisfying meal is also the simplest.

Copenhagen is Mighty Tasty Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:29:00 +0000

Damn, I have so many delicious meals that have not joined the cyberworld of ChubberBlub. Sorry meals. You were tasty and should be shared with the world. First up, 3 more meals in Copenhagen, a mighty tasty city.

Dying for some roughage in the forms of greens after too much overindulgence, I happily stumbled on Riz Raz, an casual and cheap (in Nordic standards) in the Latin Quarters (according to the guidebooks) or Piss Quarter (according to the locals). Riz Raz was awesome. They had a veg-heavy lunch buffet to be enjoyed while sitting in a beautiful garden/courtyard.

i ate 2 of these

The food leans Mediterranean, with pita and falafels (eh), fresh hummus and tabbouleh (yum), and a number of salads. Unsurprisingly, my favorite was the watermelon and cucumber salad (bottom right). Look at those watermelon chunks! Aren't they gorgeous in their ruby glory?

For lunch one day, I randomly picked a place that had seats and looked traditionally Danish, and had the best name. Restaurant Puk. Interestingly, both Restaurant Puk and Riz Raz are featured in my guidebook, but I didn't know it until after the fact.

more herring!

I ordered their smørrebrød of herring with chives, onions, raw egg yolk. I loved it. I am very smitten by smørrebrød. It's perfect for a person who likes to dissect her sandwiches and plan the perfect bite each time. Also, you should remember that I love the hearty Danish bread, which was a perfect vehicle for the loads of stuff that topped it. The herring was light and slightly tangy, offset by the super fresh egg and pungent but sweet onions and chives. I want to eat it again now.

more fish

So smitten by smørrebrød, I ate it again the same day at Axelborg Bodega. This time I went for the whole shebang, smørrebrød with fried fish, grilled fish, and little shrimps. The avalanche of seafood completely covering the bread. The fried fish was so flaky and light. I especially loved the crispy edges. The little shrimps were refreshing, similar to the shrimp salad I had in Norway, with a squeeze of lemon to bring out the freshness. The grilled fish was nice and buttery, good but my least favorite of the three. And yup, that's a dollop of caviar and mayo on top on top.

Now, I'm on a hunt to find smørrebrød in NYC. Please do share if you know of any!

Copenhagen Part 1

Copenhagen is Mighty Tasty

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Copenhagen is a tasty tasty city. I don't know what I was expecting before I went there, but what I was greeted with was a whole lot of fresh and clean flavors, with an emphasis on seafood - my first and last love.

I'm very lucky in that I have some of the sweetest and most welcoming coworkers around the world, who all indulge me in my obsession for food. See that spread below? See that? Yep, I ate that, washed down by way too many glasses of beer and schnapps. (seriously kids, don't attempt a self-imposed schnapps tasting, no matter how intriguing schnapps dripped over amber sounds)

i blame the schnapps for my blurry pic

This awesome meal was partaken at København Caféen, a classic Danish restaurant. The spread above is for 4 to share and came with *deep breathe* pork chops-herring-salmon-fried fish-pickled veggies-cheeses-chicken salad, and probably other stuff that I can't remember. My favorites were the fried fish and various herrings. I LOVE HERRINGS! So fresh and tasty, with that tang that only herrings have. The fried fish was super flaky, moist, and tender. The platter came with a bunch of delicious Nordic breads - dense, hearty and studded with nuts. Slather on some lard, they were the perfect accompaniment to the meal.

Thanks guys for the awesome time!

Another night, we ate at Skipperkroen in Nyhavn, the beautiful harbor of Copenhagen. It was a beautiful late summer night to sit outside while enjoying... MORE HERRING!

obsessed

Yep, I got the herrings 3 way - curried, with capers, and traditional. I liked the curried and traditional the best. The sweet curry went well with the sweet and tangy fish. While the traditional one really lets the herring flavor shine.

Along with the herring sampler, I also got the half lobster salad.

roe roe roe

Just a super fresh lobster prepared simply garnished with a tangy mayo sauce. Check out that roe! That totally made my day.

I ate more herring during my stay in Copenhagen, but you'll just have to wait for the next post. muhahaha

Sweets of Belgium

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:23:00 +0000

Belgium is a tasty city. Really really tasty. Even the simple waffle is a revelation. I'm not a huge waffle fan, but now I know I'm not a huge American waffle fan, but Belgian waffles? Yes please!

oh so good

Belgian waffles are much denser, with a crackly outside and chewy inside. You can get them plain on the go, or topped with a bunch of stuff.

embellished!

Like strawberries and powder sugar, with a little bit of syrup....

pierre marcolini

Macarons are my favorite cookies. So when I went to Pierre Marcolini to get chocolates and saw macarons, I had to get a box for myself. Damn, they were good. There were a couple of pistachios, a mojito (bright and citrucy), vanilla, chocolate, and others. All of the flavors were awesome and all of them had the perfect texture - crackly outer cookies and creamy insides. YUM

pastries

I also ate a lot of pastries in Brussels. I pretty much ate a lot of everything. Exhibit A, my breakfast one morning was a pain au chocolat and an egg tart. The pain was perfectly light and flaky. The egg tart reminded me of the Chinese egg tarts that I love.

sweet finale

When you get an espresso or cappuccino in Belgium, they usually give you a small piece of cookie or chocolate to nibble. At some places, they also give you a bit of chocolate mouse and cream. Free dessert! I love Belgium.

L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:18:00 +0000

I ate at the most beautiful garden during a recent trip to Brussels. You don't believe me? Check out the view from my seat on the patio of L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont. Told you so.

L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont

For my eats on that beautiful day, I had the filet americain and frites, basically a steak tartare. It was delicious.

filet americain

Tender and fresh. Mixing in the gherkins, chopped onions, capers, and the mustardy mayo, it was the perfect light lunch. There was no stringiness and no gumminess, which are the common issues with steak tartare. A light salad rounded out the plate.

Golden Delicious

Gotta get frites with every meal in Brussels. Super crispy skin holding in the fluffy soft potato innards, dipped in some creamy mayo. So very simple and so very tasty. Look at those golden fries. Best when fresh, but still good to nibble on when cold while relaxing in L'Orangerie with a nice Belgium ale.

Dinner at Aldea

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 02:32:00 +0000

Aldea has been on my Must Eat List for a long long time and last Friday, I finally crossed it off my list! Actually, now that I've eaten there, I just moved it to my Must Eat As Often As Possible List. I completely respect that George Mendes, the exec chef, was there all night cooking the food I ate. You really don't see that much in NYC anymore. I think that dedication just made it all the more tasty.

he's the one without a hat

We opted for the 5 course chef tasting, but had to add on the sea urchin toast with cauliflower cream, sea lettuce, and lime.

kinda life changing

I'm a bit of a sea urchin whore. This was awesome. The creamy oceany roe was offset by the crunchy flat bread and seaweed. Too friggin good.

Then came the amuse bouche, not one, but three. Oyster w/pickled ramp vinaigrette, bacalao croquettas, lobster gazpacho w/ summer berries, wild herbs.

amuse bouche

Yes, THREE! Three delicious, incredibly fresh, incredibly flavorful dish. The oyster was briny and crisp. The croquetta was light and creamy. The lobster gazpacho was just awesome, sweet and acidic-y, summer in a little cup.

First course was foie gras mi-cuit with birch beer gelée, peanuts and cocoa nibs. It was served with thick slabs of toast.

foie!

This was genius. I loved the combination of the creamy and unctuous foie with the slightly bitter sweetness of the cocoa nibs and the birch beer gelée. nom nom nom.

Next up was the octopus a la plancha with balsamic, olive oil, and chickpeas.

octopus

The octopus was perfectly cooked, lightly chewy with a smokiness that was mellowed by the balsamic.

The third course was monk fish cheeks. Cheek meat! I heart cheek meat of all edible animals. I think cheeks is the flavor of that animal times 10. Like monk fish cheeks taste like monk fish meat times 10.

monk fish!

Then came my favorite of the night, arrozo de pato - duck confit, chorizo, olive, duck cracklings. Seriously you guys, I'm-in-love. I kind of want to marry this dish, or at least move in together.

will u b my valentine?

It was like a paella cooked in a shallow pan, so all you get is the good stuff. By good stuff, I mean the crunchy soccarat that you scrape up on the bottom of the pan. And then, just to make sure that there was to be too much awesomness, they mix in duck cracklings, then top with perfectly cooked duck.

Before the dessert, we were given a palate cleanser of mint and sorbet. Then we were presented with a banana cake thing with espresso ice cream. I'm sure it's not a cake thing, but I can't think of the term and it's not on the online menu. Fail! The top layer was bruleed. I welcome all desserts with crackly sugar layer.

dessert

Because that was not enough food, we also ate all of the petit fours. My ability to eat beyond capacity never ceases to amaze me.

more!

I really really enjoyed Aldea. The food was inventive and delicious. I loved the open kitchen and great service. I'm already planning my return trip.

The Many Empanadas of Santiago

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 04:02:00 +0000

I've been plotting this post in that brain of mine for awhile now. But too bad for my sad neglected blog, plotting does not equate to actual content. Better late than never right? Right??

Empanadas are to the Chileans as street hot dogs are to New Yorkers. Except that empanadas are actually fresh, homemade, and good. I ate a lot of empanadas in my two weeks, fried, baked, meat, seafood. Yep, all went in there *points to belly*.

Starting with the most popular of Chilean empanadas, the empanada de pino. It's basically a baked empanada stuffed with ground beef (kind of like taco spices), egg, and olives. I was getting mine from Castaño, an ubiquitous chain bakery. No, seriously, it's on every block. It's the Starbucks of Chile. But more fun, with baked goodies that made me go, oooOOoooOoo

it's the triangle one on the left

why, hello olive

I also got some fancy empanadas from Patagonia, a cute little restaurant I went to for lunch one day. Maybe it was the crab and cheese stuffing, maybe because they were deep fried, maybe because they look like little wonton, these were my favorite of the empanadas I sampled.

crabby goodness

In Valparaiso, I had another fried empanada, this time stuffed with random seafood, i.e. marisco. It was mostly clams. It was good, but I'm partial to the cheesy crab stuffing of the Patagonia ones.

marisco empanada

And I ate more fried empanadas, I think these were also crabs. I remember liking them but don't remember much else. They were from Azul Profundo, an awesome seafood restaurant in Bella Vista.

i like fried

I love empanadas since I'm partial to anything thing that consists of protein wrapped in carbs (dumplings, raviolis, burritos, arepas, I can go on). I also love how everywhere in Chile has its unique take. Can't wait to go back and expand my empanada repertoire.

Kyo Ya

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:33:00 +0000

Kyo Ya was one of those places that I've been dying to go to. Apparently, I also walk by it all the time without ever noticing it. So maybe dying is a strong word. But really, it was delicious and everyone should experience a kaiseki meal at least once. Another plus was the special printed menus that came with our 9 course meal. Horray! Lucky for you, I don't have to rely on that vague idea you call "memory" for the food descriptions in this post.

shrimp mousse

First course was crispy fried rolled bread with shrimp mousse. It was good, but definitely outshined by all the courses following it. The thin and crispy shell and the flavor of the mousse reminded me of my dad's favorite Taiwanese snack food, ji chuan (chicken roll). It was fried perfectly with no trace of greasiness.

squid babies!

Next up was one of my favorite of the night, hotaru baby squid and udo vegetable with mustard miso. The baby squids were so tasty, tender with a burst of ocean-y innards. The miso was sweet and mellow so it didn't overpower the delicate squid. Plus I love the seaweed on the bottom, more for me to mop up the yummy miso.

umm

Then came the daily special which had no description on the menu. So I'm at a loss. Oh memory, you fail me again. I think it was some sort of salmon maki. The outside was egg. I do remember the sushi rice being very tasty, perfectly vinegary.

first of many soups

The fourth course was clam mousse with spring vegetable. The green stuff on top was pureed peas. Don't ask me what the pink stuff was. I remember loving the pureed peas. So bursting of spring flavor. Ah spring, you rock my world. The chopped clams in the mousse ball was yummy, but they were unevenly distributed in the fish mousse.

lots of stuff!

Following that was a grilled skewered ayu summer fish, fried fiddle heads, grilled baby abalone with watercress miso. Next to the abalone was a piece of salmon and in the little pot, a chilled mountain yam soup. The summer fish tasted like a milder pike. I was hoping for some egg sac action, but was not granted with them. I loved the fried fiddle heads cuz I'm obsessed with the flavor of spring. The abalone was awesome. Like a chewier but still tender geoduck. Yum. The salmon was good, but forgettable. The pot of soup was probably my favorite. It was refreshing and tangy from the drop of umeboshi. I like how Kyo Ya upped the slippery/slimey quotient by putting a slice of okra on top. Awesome.

sancho power

Then it was another broth course, sake steamed tile fish with takenoko an (fresh bamboo shoots). The little tree branch you see there was a sancho leave. If you never had sancho leave, you should go seek some out now. It was intense. Spicy, minty, and numbs your whole mouth. I need to get me some of that,

more food!

Yes, more food ahead! The 7th course was asparagus, strawberry, and shrimp with yuba shira-ae . It was refreshing and tasty. I'm a fan of any type of yuba sauce/dressing. I was fan of this one.

pickled

The last savory course was seasonal kamadaki rice (salmon) cooked in clay pot with miso soup and pickles of the day (shitake and string beans)

more food!

I love rice but I am not a huge rice eater because I try to save my stomach room for stuff with more flavor. But I ate two bowls of this. It was awesome. The rice was cooked perfect - sticky and chewy. It had lots of umami from cooking with salmon. The little burst of briny salmon roe offset the sweet rice. I've never had pickled shitake before, but I hope there will be a lot more shitake in my life!

the end!

We are finally at the end! Sakura (cherry blossom) flavored tofu in sweet soup with vanilla ice cream. The tofu was very firm, almost a panna cotta like texture. Cherry blossom is subtle and fruity. This was a perfectly light dessert to cleanse our palates.

I really enjoyed Kyo Ya. I think it would be interesting to go late summer and see what yummy creations they come up with with all the seasonal bounties.

Mané

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:08:00 +0000

Peruvian is one of those cuisines that I need to eat more often. I think every week is probably a fair place to start. So I did just that in Santiago, breaking my own traveling rule and eating at the same restaurant twice. Mané, you had me at ceviche especial.

ceviche with corn!

There was a yellowtail-like fish that was sweet and buttery. And some shrimps. And slices of calamari. All living in perfect harmony in lime juice and thinly sliced red onions. To add more textures, there were hominy and these fried corn things that were soooo good. Like Cornuts on crack. OH CORN, HOW I LOVE YOU AND YOUR MANY INCARNATIONS. The two orange chunks were sweet potato. Did it go with the seafood, not really, but I love sweet potatoes, so I didn't care.

fish in shrimp sauce

My entree one night was fish layered between fried corn tortilla like things (but more flaky) and topped with a creamy shrimp sauce. This was awesome. The fish was pan fried, one of my favorite fish preparations (along with steamed and raw) The chips gave the dish a completely different textural contrast. YUM.

seafood and rice

Another night, I had the seafood stew and rice. It was tasty with lots of different seafoods, but I have very little recollection besides, "mmm, I'd eat it again". Blame the pisco sour!

chocolate cake

I have no idea what possessed me to order a chocolate cake for dessert one night. I rarely order dessert and even less likely to order chocolate cake (not a cake fan, more a custard/pudding or pie kinda girl). But I actually really liked it. Probably because it was soaked in rum or something other liquor, so it escaped the sad and unfortunate dry cake syndrome that so many other cakes have been inflicted with. This cake was so moist that it was almost a pudding! yay for puddings!

Completo and Domino

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:05:00 +0000

Food stuff between buns are often eaten for their portability and convenience. But here in Chile, the buns are less of a vehicle to keep you hands clean and the ingredients from your shirt. They try, oh how valiantly they try to contain and maintain order. But even the most brawny buns are no match for the overflowing layers of condiments. Here in Chile, sandwiches and hot dogs are tackled with knife and fork.

mechada sandwich

Domino is a popular sandwich and hot dog chain in Santiago. You get to choose a meat, like hot dog, roast pork, chicken, etc. and then condiments, like fried egg, bacon, bbq sauce. I opted for mechada, sliced stewed beef, with the most classic of all toppings, the Dinamica - guac, mayo, tomatoes, and Chilean's idea of cole slaw (Americana sauce). Basically what you would find on the famous Chilean completo. Do you see all that? The inch of guac and inch of mayo? Yep, I ate that. The stewed beef was really flavorful while the condiments were mild enough that the flavor of the meat really comes through. I thought the pound of mayo would have really weighed down the sandwich, but it was really light and fluffy, like it was whipped. I vote to trade our McDonalds for Domino. .

completo!

One Sunday, I ate a completo for breakfast. Don't judge me. At least it was a relatively "small" completo. See the unnaturally white mayo? Was it necessary to put half a jar of that on one hot dog? But if you can, why not. You can eat a completo for breakfast too, I won't judge.

Madrid Part 3 - El Cacique

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:00:00 +0000

Almost every meal I had in Madrid was memorable and El Cacique is WAYYY up there. My amazing co-worker learned about my love for all things of inner organ origin and proceeded to ordered up a menu so devoid of green roughage but so bursting of innard goodness. To solidify his amazingness, we ate everything family style so that meant I could try 2X amount of food. Sharing is caring, you guys.

We started the meal with classic meatballs. Tender, moist, full of big flavors and tomato tastiness = love.

meatballs

My favorite dish of the night had to be the callos, a very typical Madrileño stew. And what a stew it was! A big messy bowl of all my favorite nasty bits in a soul warming bubbling cauldron - tripes, blood sausage, gelatinous pig parts (feet i think), and other unidentifiable but oh so yummy animal parts. Every slightly spicy bite was a surprise in flavor and texture.

agarggurragaa (a la homer simpson)

After a bowl of innards, we needed more innards. Molleja, sweetbread, was in order. If you are a faithful reader of this blog (yes, that one reader out there!), you know my obsession with sweetbread (and uni! that's irrelevant here. but what if they mixed the two, omg, my head would explode). Pan fried sweetbread with a a dash of lemon. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, just like a good sweetbread should be.

bread so sweet

And there was more! A plate of pan fried kidneys to be exact. I really liked the kidney flavor, but sadly, this dish was overcooked so the kidneys were really chewy. Plus, how can kidneys compare when there are sweetbreads on the table.

not sweetbread

The meal concluded with a complementary plate of simple cookies and dulce de leche. A perfect nibble to end the meal.

dulce de leche and cookies

What an awesome last meal in Madrid. I hope to go back soon. So much more food left uneaten, so many pig parts untasted. Thanks to my wonderful and generous coworkers for showing me such a great time and ordering up the best food ever!

Madrid Part 1 - Sobrino de Botin
Madrid Part 2 - Tasting Meal

Bits o' Stuff - Muffin and Vørterøl

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:31:00 +0000

While in Oslo, I made my way up to Frognerseteren to check out the gorgeous views and the amazingly pristine snow. Oslo is seriously one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Our hotel front desk woman had highly recommended the muffins at the ski lodge, so I of course had to get one. While I'm at it, I decided to grab a bottle of what I thought was dark beer. Hey, cute bear! Beer bottle shape! I haven't met a beer I can't drink, so on my platter the cute bear beer bottle went.

muffin and... beer?

The muffin was okay. It was really sweet and dense. I did enjoy the crusty muffin top, but overall, it's a bit syrupy sweet for me.

My cute bear beer turned out to be vørterøl. Holy cow, it was crazy. Beer, it was not. It's some kind of fermented malty drink, non-alcoholic. I could not, for the life of me, finish the bottle. The flavor was so weirdly sweet and unpleasant for me. I tried, I really tried. I drank about 1/2 the bottle before surrendering. Let that be a lesson for everyone, not everything in a beer bottle is friendly.

marea

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:09:00 +0000

I had a belated dinner dinner with the girls at Marea a few weeks ago. I've been dying to eat at Marea for a long time since I'm a fan of Convivio and Michael White. The meal was really tasty, but like Convivio, the stars are the pasta dishes. The seafood dishes were great, but I think there are comparable places at lower prices.

Light was horrendous at Marea, so I was only able to salvage some pictures. Plus my feeble memory only remember a few dishes... So, yep, here are some of our dishes, with or without commentary.

amuse bouche

Our amuse bouche... fish for sure, but I can't remember! oops. Warning, maybe a recurring theme in this post!

scallops

Scallops and stuff. Yep, recurring theme.

peeky toe

peeky toe crab!

seafood sausage

Oh good, a dish I remember (tis mine). I remember loving the seafood sausage at Chanterelle and was intrigued by Marea's. It was good, very concentrated seafood flavor. Texture is similar to asian fishcakes. I did wish that the texture wasn't so homogeneous, some seafood bits would have made this dish awesome.

spaghetti with uni

Spaghetti with uni and crab. How can this dish be bad. It's similar to the Convivio dish. I would bathe in uni if it is more affordable, or less weird to be bathing in uni.

lobster ravioli

This was probably my favorite pasta dish of the night (well, that and the rigatoni with braised octopus and bone marrow probably tied, too mad my pics of the rigatoni was crap). The lobster ravioli was creamy extremely flavorful. I love the fish roe that dotted the dish. It added a contrast in texture in a otherwise very one textured dish. NOM.

um..

Right, so I have no clue what this was. It looks darn tasty yes? If any of you know, please let me know!

We now know that the delicious dish above is stice - lobster and burrata with eggplant,, slow roasted tomatoes, and basil seeds. Thanks Olivia!!

brodetto di pesce

This seafood soup was awesome. The different seafoods were perfectly cooked, not one overcooked component. I loved the clean flavor. Ocean-y, love that ocean-y taste.

fish

Fish. Yes. Bet you couldn't have figured that out yourself. You can just tell by looking at it that it was very well prepared. Much like this fish below.

fish 2

And that i'll have to say about the two fish dishes. OMG, why are you reading this? I sincerely apologize for wasting 10 minutes of your life.

affogado

Affogado with espresso and amaro, you just can't go wrong with that combo. I like.

gianduja

Gianduja, cocoa nib crema, hazelnut chocolate, fior di latte gelatto.

Right, so that concludes this very informative blog post on Marea. But really, there have been many many things written up touting the wonders of Marea, you didn't need one more, yes?

Bits o' Stuff - Dutch Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:12:00 +0000

Argh.. delinquent again! Blame it on Final Fantasy 13.

While in Amsterdam, we came across something called Dutch Snacks on the menu at one of the many random bars we visited. The waitress closed the deal when she said the secret magic word, "deep-fried"

snacks of the dutch

These fried little balls, better known as bitterballen, were very interesting. Inside was a runny curry flavored beefy mixture, kind of a stew texture. Fried to a crisp, it was eaten with mustard for a kick. I don't know if I will be craving this anytime soon, but it was a pleasant savory and crunchy companion to cold beers.

Madrid Part 2 - Tasting Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:04:00 +0000

I mentioned before that Madrid was one of the most exciting food cities I've ever been to. One night, I was treated to an amazing tasting menu. Unfortunately, my feeble grasp of Spanish hindered my brain from remembering the name of the restaurant. or where it's located. I'm so not helpful.

We started with a fish mousse. For some reason, I love fish in whipped form, as you all know from my love of bacalao. So I loved this. Creamy but light, salty, ocean-y.

fish whipped

The mousse was followed up by a jamon salad. Not just any jamon salad, this one came with foie gras and pomegranate.

genius

How do you improve the already incomparable jamon? why, just throw some foie gras on it! How can this salad be bad? No, it can't and it wasn't. The tangy pomegranate cut thru the unctuousness of the jamon and foie. *insert homer gurgling sound here.*

Next up was mushrooms sauteed with crumbled blood sausage and eggs. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The ingredients just complement each other so well. It kind of reminded me of Chinese food. Yum

tasty tasty

Then we ate more jamon. This time, sliced thin on top of a plate of fries and fried peppers. The fried peppers were so tasty. I could have eaten a whole plate of those salty peppers.

carbs and proteins and peppers

I was pretty full after the first four plates, but nope, they were just starters. On to our mains! First up, monk fish with cockles. It was in a tomato-y broth. I thought it was good. But monk fish isn't my favorite fish (but i love monk fish liver, mmmm). So I was ambivalent towards this dish.

monk fish and cockles

Following that fairly large piece of fish, was a fairly large piece of steak. It came with fried zucchinis (those tofu looking things) and mushrooms. The zucchinis were so tasty. Kind of like the korean style fried zucchinis, battered in eggs. The mushrooms were not so good. The steak was fine, but I was so full by that times to really enjoy it.

steak

We finished off the meal with our own plate of assorted desserts. I can't recall what was on that plate. Looks like there was flan, custard-y thing, and some cake-y stuff. Um.

assortment just for me!

Another decadent meal down, stay tuned for my meal of innards in Madrid. Sweetbreads, tripes, and kidneys, oh my!

Madrid Part 1

Bits o' Stuff - Chocolatería San Ginés

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:46:00 +0000

After dinner one night, I dragged my eating companion to the famed Chocolateria San Ginés for some additional but non-essential nourishment, fried dough and chocolate, or churros con chocolate.

churros!

It was good but wasn't life altering. Yes, I do expect my food to be life altering. You don't? The churros were great. Very crispy and light with a slightly chewy center. The chocolate was just okay. I would have liked it to be a bit darker and more chocolate-y. It had great texture though, rich and creamy. But since the churros were just a vehicle to scoop the chocolate into my mouth, I pinned a lot of hopes on the chocolate to change my life.

One portion is definitely too much for one person. But definitely come with a friend and try for yourself.

Madrid Part 1 - Sobrino de Botin

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:12:00 +0000

Food in Madrid was a revelation. It was exciting, eclectic, and bold. If Paris was about perfection in details, like the perfectly layered flakiness of a buttery croissant, then Madrid was all about the unexpected and explosive flavors and textures, like an addicting bowl of callos. I loved Madrid. Every meal was a culinary exploration. I was so lucky to have my wonderful and generous food-loving Madrid colleagues to show me the diversity is Madrid cruisine. Like in Paris, I was spoiled rotten.

My first real meal in Madrid was at the famed Sobrino de Botin and damn, is the fame well deserved. Botin is not only well known for being the oldest restaurant in Madrid (Goya, my fav artist, was a waiter there!) but also for their conchinillo asado (roast suckling pig).

baby pig, roasted

What is there left to say that hasn't already been said about this dish. OMG, it was awesome. Awesome to the 10000000th degree. The simply prepared suckling pig (very young, like barely out of womb young), was so tender and flavorful in its own juices, almost milky in texture. The melt-in-your-mouth meat was contrasted by the crispy and salty skin. I wished I had an whole pig instead of two slices. I want pig!

Before we devoured the awesomeness that was the suckling pig, we devoured the awesomeness that was jamon ibérico. I've dreamed of tasting this famed jamon for so long....

jamon

See the fat on every slice? Yeah, that was deliciousness. Jamon ibérico tasted very different from the familiar jamon I've had. It had almost a forest-y flavor. Both the meat and the fat were silkier than the average jamon, which resulted in almost none of that stringiness that you sometimes get with regular jamon. I wanted to buy a whole leg to bring back with me. Why didn't I?! Argh argh argh.

We finished the meal by sharing a trio of desserts - some sort of fritter with some sort of cream, cheesecake, and mascarpone-ish cheese with mangos.

desserts!

I don't remember much about the fritters. I remember thinking it was good, but not much else stuck with me. The cheesecake was more memorable, it was very light and fluffy, more Italian-ish than American. But my favorite was the mascarpone and mango. I basically ordered it because I am weak in the presence of mascarpone. And mascarpone did not let me down. It was thick and creamy yet light. It went perfectly with the mango puree, kind of like a tangy ice cream on top of mango puree.

After all that food and wine, we needed the very strong digestif that the waiter was dispensing. No, not really, but whatever. it was free digestif. You don't say no to free digestif, no matter how many cañas and glasses of wine you've had.

yes please!

Sobrino de Botin is one of a kind. They've been cooking in the same oven for the hundreds of years. I sincerely hope there are hundreds more years to come.

original oven

Bits o' Stuff - Café Gourmand

noreply@blogger.com (Chrispy) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:55:00 +0000

Since I'm once again extremely behind in posting stuff, I've decided to start posting random bits more often instead of putting together a whole post. I don't need that pressure of putting together long posts all the time, I tell you. So for the first Bits o' Stuff, I introduce to you, the awesome French invention - Café Gourmand.

wheee!

Damn, I wish I found out what café gourmand was a long time ago. I always thought it was a gourmet espresso or something, you know, like with whipped cream and sprinkles. But nope, it's a dessert for those who are indecisive, like moi! Café gourmand is basically a bunch of dessert bites with a side of espresso. The above picture came from a random Irish Pub in Paris, yep, Irish pub. And yet, random this Irish pub brought out a macaron, mini crème brulée, and a brownie thing with some cream. How awesome is that!? Much better than whipped cream and sprinkles. Much much better.