JGV Day 3 - Soho Experience

Mercer Kitchen is located beneath the trendy Mercer Hotel. JGV was offering a winter promotion in most of his restaurants with a prix-fixed lunch and dinner menu. Since the world is in recession, we took advantage. Apparently when we made the reservation, the staff was not clear about prix-fixed being served only before 6:30pm. But I was very pleased that the chef made an exception to accommodate us.
Glazed salmon with ribbons of celery root, capers, and creme fraiche was a great choice to start off lite. Then followed by the Grilled pork chop and spiced pears with wild rice and mushrooms. The pork chop was perfectly cooked with the juice contained inside which kept the chop moist. And the spiced pear gave a hint of sweetness to the over dish. Last but not least, the Spiced cake with egg nog ice cream with pineapple-mango salad was a great way to fullfill my sweet tooth craving with a healthy fruit salad. The experience was good but not amazing enough to be unforgettable.

Soho: 99 Prince St, NY (x Mercer St)

Red Egg - Peruvian Chinese Cuisine

Red Egg, is a Peruvian-Chinese restaurant with a modern edge located in between Chinatown and Soho. This type of cuisine is a rare find in nyc so i had to adventure out and see how the East meets the West. We ordered most of the authentic Peruvian dishes:

Choros a la Chalaca, mussels topped with the mix of tomatoes, union, corn, and hot pepper. Hew... it's spicy. But it's a great appetizer to sizzle up your palate.

Lomo Saltado, spicy soy sauce steak and fries. This is not the usual crunchy fries you see accompanying a steak frite. These are soggy fries soaked in the soy sauce with the tender beef. Even though it didn't sound too appetizing but in deed, it was pretty tasty.

Red Egg's signature dish, Curry Bread Bowl with crab, chicken, and pork. Believe it or not, the spotlight of this dish is the bread bowl because it soaked up all the curry sauce. It's totally worth cracking the crab to get to the bottom of the curry bowl.

Lastly, the coconut pudding served in a young coconut. This is the best coconut pudding i have had. I couldn't get enough of the fresh coconut water and its natural sweetness. I had to scrape the tender coconut meat from inside until i see the inner shells brown face.

Chinatown: 202 Centre St., NY (Hester St & Grand St)

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)

Pizza - Tarte

My colleague told me about Grandaisy Bakery's pizza that I must try. It's very similar to the real Italian thin-crust pizza and it's even good when it's cold. Cold pizza? Really? Before heading there I did a quick research on the bakery. It's the remaining half of the popular Sullivan Street Bakery after the divorce. I could smell the fresh baked bread from 3 doors down. There are different variety of vegetarian pizza and assorted pastry goods. The pizza looks too good to have only 1 slice. Fungi pizza and Cauliflower w/ Gruyere Pizza were my pick of the day. Surprisingly, the strong gruyere cheese didn't over power the freshness of cauliflower. The fungi - mushroom pizza was served in room temperature and it still tastes great. You can taste the sea salt hidden under the mushrooms. The pie crust were perfectly baked with a touch of crunch. After 2 slices of pizza, I had to pass on the pastry but i know i'll be back. Tick tick tick....2 hours after, my sweet teeth is craving for pastry but I was still full from the pizza. I headed to Balthazar anyway for a coffee break. Brioche, cheese cake, chocolate croissant, passion fruit tarte,..... How can i say 'no' to the refreshing Passion Fruit Tart. The sweetness and tartless was well balanced and the graham tarte crust bottoms it off.
Grandaisy Bakery: 73 Sullivan St, New York
Balthazar: 80 Spring St., New York

Dosas

Dosas is a crispy crepe originated from South India, commonly served as a form of breakfast or dinner. Hampton Chutney in Soho has expanded this simple crepe into an elaborate sandwich with a complementary chutney on the side. This place is quite popular as a lunch stop but there isn't much seat to accommodate chatty dates. If you're bored with your daily turkey cheese sandwich and you're willing a splurge a bit more, the dosas is a good alternative. As you can see the length of this Chicken Goat Cheese dosas can definitely be shared with a friend if you're not crazily hungry.

Soho - 68 Prince St., New York