The Chocolate Room

I've read 5 stars reviews about this new The Chocolate Room, so i was tempted to see if it's living up to its rating. Special of the day, orange flavored tiramisu and chocolate pudding. Tick tick tick.... my friend's cappuccino-like macchiato and my tea pot are emptying out. After waiting for an 1/2 hour, our pre-made desserts had finally arrived .... tada.... with a piece of chocolate finished touch.

....... Disappointed. I can't taste any espresso in the orange flavored tiramisu and the texture is more like a custard. Nothing like a tiramisu. Being in an old Italian neighborhood and having tiramisu on the menu.... is already a nono, unless you can make an awesome twist to the tiramisu. And  the chocolate pudding is just ordinary.

Cobble Hill: 269 Court St, Brooklyn (btw Butler/ Douglass)

Israeli Brunch

If you're looking for a specialty brunch, Miriam might be a good choice. My favourity is the Mediterranean crispy dough with 2 eggs and sides of shredded tomatoes, spicy harissa, and pickles. Even though the crispy dough is fried, it was fried in high temperature which prevent the dough from soaking up the oil. 

Shakshuka 2 poached eggs in tomato pepper sauce with side of hummus and pita. The creamy homemade hummus and fluffy pita was large enough to be a brunch of its own. 

Cobble Hill: 229 Court St, Brooklyn (btw Warren - Baltic)

Ramen

It's unusual to see New Yorker line up for a chain restaurant. Ippudo is the exception. I stopped by 10pm but guess what, i still had to wait for 20 min. The fresh homemade ramen was perfectly prepared in flavorful meat broth. The down side is, for a $13 base price ramen, there are only 2 slices of pork and had to pay extra for a hard boiled egg. But if you're a noodlehead, you can drop another $2 for an extra noodle ball. 

East Village: 65 4th Ave (x E8th St), New York

Chilean Hot Dog

Hot dog is a popular street food in NY. Moving up from the street to fast food joint, you got Nathan's, Gray's Papaya, Papaya King,..... Surprisingly, San Antonio Bakery right off the BQE on ramp has hot dog in their menu but this is one of a kind Chilean hot dog. Rather then topping it with typical saucerkraut and ketchup, they made a twist with guacamole, mayo and homemade chili sauce. The dog was embedded in their homemade hot dog bun that didn't stick to the top of your mouth. Ending with the classic chilean sweet, Chilenitos con coco rallado, a sandwich cookies filled with caramel and coconut flakes. Amazing... 

Astoria: 36-20 Astoria Blvd, (x 35th St.), Queens

Most diverse world cuisine!

If you're one of those crazy NYC driver, you might have not noticed this peruvian restaurant, Chimu, right off from the BQE (Brooklyn-Queen-Expressway).  Even though it's located off the busy BQE, there is a nice garden at the back for you to enjoy a relaxing weekend dinner.  The dishes at Chimu were enormous, so don't be selfish ... be prepared to share, family-style. We've started our fiesta with the beef empanadas and Choros a la Chalaca - New Zealand mussels with marinated onion, red pepper and plum tomato. Then comes the popular peruvian seafood ceviche mixed: calamari, squid, soft shell crab, sweet potato and giant peruvian corn that's like the size of a popcorn. Then finally Chaufa de Mariscos, translated to mixed seafood chinese fried rice. The food were all very tasty and fresh but I was a bit disappointed with their ceviche. I have to say, I've had better. 

Williamsburg: 482 Union Ave (x Conselyea St), Brooklyn

Japanese Crepe

As we all know, crepe was origin from the french. But the japanese, Cecel Cafe Crepe, has retrofitted the crepe to a japanese crepe served in a rolled up fashion. The japanese crepe can be served sweet or savory. With my itching sweet tooth, i've picked the summer special: fresh mango, strawberry, japanese cheese cake, chocolate fudge and a generous amount of custard. It sounds fattening but i have to say it's very hard to resist.  

East Village: 135 1st Ave (x St. Marks Pl), New York, NY

K in the Village

New Korean restaurants have been popping up in the east village recently. Couple years back, you'll only find K-food in K-town, but that's not the case nowadays. Korean Temple Cuisine has a simple interior design dining room that only fits 18 people. The meal started off with a complimentary appetizer side dish, followed by the mini pancake, then the spicy squid dolsot served in hot stone bowl. Last but not least the classic spicy tender pork served on green lettuce. The Temple is not a bad choice if you don't want to wait in the over crowded queue in K-town and inexpensive k-food. 

East Village: 81 St. Mark's Pl (x 1st Ave.), New York, NY

Burger Tavern

Tavern on Jane is a popular burger joint in NYC especially for NYU students because it's cheap. The small old tavern is packed with people even on a early saturday afternoon. The express burger and fries came in no time and it were served on styrofoam plates. Classy presentation. But i have to say the middle bacon cheese burger was juicy and perfectly cooked.

West Village: 31 8th Ave (x Jane St.) New York, NY

Donut

Late for work? A donut might do it as for a quick breakfast. To feel less guilty, the banana pecan donut from Balthazar sounds like a bit more healthy then regular powder sugar jelly filled donut. 

Soho: 80 Spring St, New York (x Broadway)

Patois Brunch

Patois weekend brunch includes unlimited mimosa, virgin bloody mary, bread, and coffee for $12. With a charming garden at the back, it's a great way to start a morning. Poached eggs with duck confit was nicely presented but it was not as tasty as i had expected. Even though the food didn't meet my standards - i'll give it another chance, only because i saw the french toast brioche on the table next to us. . . 

Carroll Gardens: 225 Smith St (x Degraw St), Brooklyn

Allen x Delancey

An elegant restaurant with notable chef Neil Ferguson serving the unique contemporary American  in Lower East Side. The dimly lit windowless space was cozy decorated with comfortable horseshoe-like seating booth. Celebrating the special occasion with close friends, we started off with the old English favorite beef-bone marrow with caviar and puree shallot, seared fois gras, peekytoe crab ravioli, Hamachi topped with pink grapefruit beads, and yellowfin tuna were all amazingly prepared with its own distinct taste. The meals gets better as the night goes by. Even though we're stuffed after our entree, we all had our sweet tooth moment. So we ordered almost all the desserts from the menu and the combo cheese plate. We took our time enjoying the meal for at least 2 hours and was never rushed from our waitress. But on the other hand, our bus-boy really tried to keep our table clear before i can even lick my plate clean.

Lower East Side: 115 Allen St ( x Delancey), New York, NY

Chee Cheong Fun

Chee cheong fun = rice noodle is a cantonese breakfast dish in the South China and Hong Kong. The rice noodle is usually served with honsin, sesame sauce, and hot sauce. Some fancier chee cheong fun is filled with bbq pork, shrimp, beef, or shrimp but sometimes the simplier is better. You can find this in chinatown street carts for $1.75, so it's cheap and good. 

Sizzling Stone Bowl

Asian food is known to be cheap eat but for some reason Korean food is always over priced. This beef bi-bin-bab served in stone bowl from Express Manna Kitchen is one of a kind Korean cheap find.  The sizzling hot bowl kept the food steamy hot while your eating and it continued to cook the rice until it gets crispy.  The portion was very generous, it's enough to feed two. It's worth a stop if you're looking for cheap, fast K-food.

Union Square: 28 E18th St, New York (x Broadway)

Yum Chai = Dim Sum

Only Westerner will say "Going for Dim Sum" but Chinese will say "Yum Chai" = "Drink Tea". Traditionally, tea is the primary purpose of Yum Chai and dim sum is secondary. But the infinite variety of dim sum has gradually become the spotlight of Yum Chai. Yum Chai is a way to catch up with friends and family while enjoying the good cheap food. After waiting an hour for a table, I went crazy ordering dishes after dishes in just 1 minute. At situation like this, my eyes are always bigger then my stomach.

Pacifica: 8th Avenue x 55th St, Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Chewy Dried Ribs

I've read alot of good reviews on the latest Wildwood Barbeque located around Union Square, so i ventured out to see what's so great about it but at the end I was very disappointed. The ribs looked good with their glazed top but i can hardly get the meat off the bone.  The pulled pork was tasteless and sauce was too vinegary. To summarize ... it's Dry & Chewy, almost broke my jaw. Not worth the stars.

Union Square: 225 Park Ave South (x E18th Street)  

Beast

Beast, a rustic decorated bar has a great selection of beer and wine, and also serves fine American cuisine.  Moulard duck breast with port reduction was amazingly juicy and the sweet potato puree gave a slight sweetness to the dish. The braised short ribs was slowly braised with Blue Point Lager for hours. The meat was so tender that it falls off it's bone with a feather touch. The price was very reasonable for the quality of food you get. Worth a 2nd visit.

Prospect Heights: 638 Bergen St, Brooklyn (x Vanderbilt)