The Wandering Eater

For the morning, I went to Amy’s Bread in West Village located on Bleecker & Leroy St. The only thing that appeals to me at the moment was the oat scone ($2.50). It’s crunchy on the outside, chewy and soft in the inside. It contained a ton of oats, raisins (both golden and regular), possibly chopped dates, and chopped walnuts. All of those fruits and nuts have a great combination of flavors: the walnuts and oats gives it a nice nutty flavor since both gets toasted while it bakes, and the walnuts gives it a subtle bitterness. The dried fruits gives it a sweet and chewy contrast to the crunchy, nutty flavor. It’s wonderful; I want to bake a scone like this.

The next stop is Joe’s coffee, yes again but this time it’s around Union Square off 5th Ave & E 13th St. As you can see, it’s packed with people for the morning rush (it was taken around 9 AM). It’s insanely crazy for how Manhattanites and local college kids (like myself) depend on caffeine to keep the pace of life that is greatly celeric: it seems like everyone has so little time to do everything and it’s very hectic.

The place itself has a casual, upbeat vibe. During the off hours of the morning rush, it’s a very calm place where anyone can hangout and chat or read the day’s paper. As for the coffee, their house, the Vienna Roast is soo good. It’s strong, bold and smooth. My type of coffee and it’s my favorite, hence me being a follower for over 5 years of Joe’s. When it comes to their espresso and espresso drinks, these days I’m finding it a hit-or-miss. Sometimes I can get a great espresso or there are days when I feel it’s a bit bland or diluted; back then it used to be spot on. Probably they need to retrain the new baristas again.

It’s about 4:30 when I met my friend, Kim for dinner before the Carnegie concert. We ended up deciding to go to Cafe Europa, located at 255 W 57th St., for the main entrée, since we both didn’t want to eat a huge meal. We ended up splitting a Sloppy Joe Pressata ($6.25, $6.77 w/tax). It’s a cross between a panini and a quesadilla actually, I think it’s more of a quesadilla than a panini.

It tastes like a sloppy joe with a Tex-Mex twist. It contains (possibly cheddar), chopped bell peppers, and onions. has a lot of ground beef, some cheese. It tasted like there’s salsa and a bit too salty. Also as Kim pointed out, there’s a “weird aftertaste.” As I tasted it again and paid attention to it, it had a warm, spicy, somewhat smoky flavor that lingers on the tongue. My analysis: too much cumin. Really, it just stays on your tongue for a while. Not my absolute favorite sandwich, panini, what have you but it’s not bad either. If I rate it from a scale from 1-10, I give it a 6.

For dessert, we went up a block to 7th Ave & 58th St to Le Pain Quotidien. I wanted to go to this place because it’s one of the recommendations from my favorite food forum, Chowhound.com, suggested to me when I asked, “where can I find the best brownie?” So, when entering this bakery/café, they had a beautiful display of pastries and it just makes us both salivating for them. But the most appealing was the Belgian Brownie and we bought that for $3 (no tax) to take out. The setting to eat our brownie was in Central Park. It’s been a while since both of us has been here (about 3-5 months) so, it’s a nice change of setting. Hence the greenery in the photo.
It looks so delicious! Actually, it looks like a chocolate souffle from the fallen, crackly crust on top. The interior looks moist, dense and fudge; my type of brownie! It smelled of good dark chocolate. The taste: it wasn’t very sweet (a very good thing when you eat a dessert), chocolatey, a slight hint of almond flavor. It’s one of the best brownies I have eaten in NYC. Then, it’s concert time at Carnegie Hall.

Today, I went to Bouchon Bakery because I had no patience waiting on line at Whole Foods that stretched down from their line to the registers down to their coffee bar. No way, I’m not that desperate like I was for the free Met Opera tickets. Also, the fact that I have a cold and under medication, standing still is not in my best interest. I just hope my nose and tastebuds still function properly…

So, onto the food. I’ve orderded a small coffee ($1.80), a CB&J sandwich ($6.25) and a Nutter Butter cookie ($2.75). The total, including tax, was $12.30. Yeah, it’s not a cheap lunch (also it was take out) but I have to eat something quick since I have 1/2 hour ’til class starts and I’m not in the mood for street cart food.

The organic, fair trade coffee is and so far, smooth and bold. The way I like it, with a touch of skim milk, no sugar. The CB&J is a cashew butter and apricot jelly sandwiched between 2 slices of toasted brioche. This is an “gourmet” version of a typical American childhood sandwich, the PB&J. It’s pretty good; the bread has a great golden brown hue, crunchy and it’s buttered and lightly salted. The cashew butter is very rich and perfectly roasted and the apricot jam is a nice tart contrast, that is subtle yet slightly sweet.

The Nutter Butter cookie is my favorite cookie from Bouchon Bakery. However, the cookie I gotten was actually, *gasp* refrigerated! It was cold and soggy; a major disappointment from a place that has supposed to have high standards. Shame on you Thomas Keller. For paying $2.75 for this cookie, it should’ve been fresh, not made way in advance! It still tasted fine but it lacked the crisp, nutty, chewiness that I have had from previous tries from this cookie.

The good news is that my palette is still functioning but I am truly disappointed about the darn cookie.

The past Tuesday, 9/19, I ventured out to Chinatown. The heartland of all things cheap in Manhattan and have real Chinese food; not those Americanized food like sesame chicken. Of course, some restaurants cater to the tourists of the city and do carry the Americanized foods but that’s not what I seek in Chinatown. The place of choice I went to is the Chatham Restaurant on 9 Chatham Square. This place is basically a dim sum place but more “rustic.” Not exactly, as you will see from the photo, a fancy restaurant.
This place is pretty well known in my family, since my dad recalled to his teenage years (during the late 1960s, early 70s) eating their baked roast pork buns. About ten years ago, he finally took the entire family there and actually bought the well fabled buns. It was wonderful. I wasn’t too aware of what was in it because I wasn’t a “foodie” (meaning, I didn’t care what or how it’s made) yet but all I remembered was that it was pretty damn good.

Back to the recent days. Well, I went there on my own and actually spoke Cantonese (most of my friends deny the fact that I had some knowledge of it), ordering a dai bao (literally translated, big bun) and the baked roast pork bun. The total cost was $1.70; the potk bun is 60 cents, the “big bun” is $1.10. Trust me, even though I didn’t order many items, it will fill you up if you’re not a big eater. Also, it’s a lot cheaper than spending $6 and up, plus tax for a sandwich from Whole Foods or the local deli.

The roast pork bun really has no comparison to any pork bun in NYC. The glossy, golden brown exterior is soft, sweet and a slight hint of a yeasty flavor that one would find in fresh bread. The inside contains a ton of chopped, lean roast pork meat, chopped onions and the right amount of sauce. It has a salty, peppery taste from the sauce. Very good - I know why I loved this thing. It kicks the Flushing version’s ass - practically no pork at all, just pork fat, onions, and bland gelatinous sauce.

Dai Bao: It’s called that because it is a big bun. It’s a steamed bun filled with a ton of ground pork, hard boiled egg, shrimp, chicken, and sometimes shitake mushrooms. Basically, it’s a bun that’s filled with the “kitchen sink” worth of meats or protein. You will not see or find any vegetables at all. This is a bun for a carnivore. There’s no such thing as a “big bun” for vegetarians, unless it’s Americanized. Anyways, it’s really filling and hearty from all that protein and it’s the traditional version of the bun.

I shared both of these buns amongst my lunch companions, Helen and Seungmi. When I asked them which they prefer, I got mixed reactions. Helen loved the hearty meatiness of the “big bun” while Seungmi enjoyed the wonderful flavors of the pork bun. Personally, I loved the pork bun more because of the flavors and textures and the fact that I ate this since I was a kid. The “big bun” is just meant for sustenance for me.

Ever since I’ve joined John Jay’s Student Government, life’s been too hectic to try to write my food blog unless I make a time for it. Fortunately, today’s Thursday and it’s usually my time to catch up with anything I’ve missed or work that needed to be done that I have procrastinated. So, on to the food; technically, sweets!

The last thing I’ve recorded on my food journal (yes, I have a food journal, not for dietary reasons; it’s more like my memories of what, when, where, and how that food tasted like than calorie/fat count) that I haven’t published yet was my cookie tastings. The first place I’ve went to was Bouchon Bakery in Columbus Circle. Just 3 blocks from school.

So, as you can see I really splurged the money and calories that day. The total tab was
As you can see they look pretty darn good…they’re not cheap either. All the cookies cost $2.75 a piece. So, yeah it was a stressful day and I needed the caffeine (from the large coffee), chocolate, sugar kick. The chocolate chunk cookie was sublime! It was crisp on the edges, soft, buttery but not greasy, and the bittersweet Valhrona chocolate just shines through…one of the best ccc in New York City.

The TKO cookie is a refined version of the Oreo cookie; without all those artificial flavors and preservatives…yuck. Anyways, this cookie is made of a chocolate shortbread sandwich with a rich white chocolate ganache. Once again, the chocolate is from Valhrona and a lot of butter. It’s really rich and yummy but not my personal fave.

My real favorite from this place is their Nutter Butter cookie (I didn’t eat it that day, I had it a few times for the past few months). My god that cookie blew my mind! I had peanut butter cookies before, but this one really is nostagic and really delicious. If you love peanut butter cookies; you never had one ’til you tried this!

Ok, back to the topic. The next place is Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Haven in SoHo, on Hudson & King St. I went there a week later, Monday, 9/18. Those of you who are familiar with this place that’s great, but I think you tried his ccc, the brownie, or the most recent addition from the summer: the cookie sandwich$10. Yep, the ccc and brownie was $2.50 each and the ice cream sandwich was $5. Even though the ice cream sandwich labeled espresso, there were other flavors like raspberry and banana. The fruit flavors aren’t calling my name. I love the flavors of coffee/espresso with chocolate; something about the bitterness of coffee/espresso complements the chocolate.

So, the first thing I tried was the ice cream sandwich. Holy cow! This is the BEST ice cream sanswich I have ever tasted my entire life! Or what Ed Levine (NY Times food critic) said on his blog, “I have found the ice cream sandwich of my dreams.” Soo true. The chocolate chip cookies are crisp, and chocolatey; not chewy or soggy that you would expect from an ice cream sandwich from your grocery store or what typically happens when it’s made in advance. The espresso ice cream has the robust flavor of espresso but the texture of the ice cream is not that creamy. The texture’s actually in between the creaminess of an ice cream and a sorbet. A tiny flaw but it can be overlooked. I really love this ics, but I was starting to get really full though. This thing is huge; 4 inches in diameter, 2 inches high.

The next thing I ate was the chocolate chunk cookie. It was extremely chocolatey, crisp on the edges, pliant, soft and chewy on the middle, and buttery.

The final thing, the brownie. This would be a chocoholic’s dream. Dense, chocolatey brownie with a chocolate ganache on top. The walnut’s crunchy bitterness was a nice contrast to the sweet, soft, chewiness of the brownie. My complaint is that the brownie is not fudgy enough. It’s a little too cakey for me and probably a little too sweet. It’s good but not my “perfect” brownie and I’m still searching for one.

After eating all of those 3 things, I needed a huge glass of water and a couple of miles to walk it off. Thankfully, Manhattan is a walkable city.

I should note that Jacques Torres also sell cupcakes. I haven’t tried it but it looks adorable and it cost $2.50. In the city where cupcakes are all the rage for the past few years, my favorite so far (after trying so many for that duration of time) is from Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the Lower East Side on Rivington St. But that’s a whole ‘nother topic.

The chicken bun looked appetizing; it had a nice shiny glaze and a beautiful golden brown color on the bread. After breaking it up in half with my hands, the bread is very soft, the glaze is actually a sugar/honey mixture (it’s a little sticky and tasted sweet) and slightly warm. The filling consisted of chunks of chicken (mostly dark meat, I think), scallion, and a certain gravy or brown sauce (thinking: soy sauce, a touch of oyster sauce and bound together with a cornstarch slurry). The problem is that there is a higher ratio of bread than filling. The taste, as a whole, is satisfactory. The soft, sweetness of the bread does counteract the salty, pepperiness of the filling but it’s not harmonious enough to my palate to say that it’s a great bun. But I have to say it’s way better than what I get from Flushing these days.

The pork and chive bing. Well, I had high expectations to have my mind blown off from this bing since everyone I read have said this is good stuff. I guess from this mind set, I thought it was very good, but not epiphany good. The crunchy exterior and the nutty flavor of the toasted sesame seeds goes very well with the salty (in a good way) pork & chive filling. The filling has a nice oniony flavor from the chives and a hint of garlic flavor. I really like it. If I ever eat here again (which will be likely) I will stick with their bings - which is what they’re known for.

I’ve went to Union Square twice today. Yeah, twice. The first time I was deprived of energy that I had enough time to go down there and hope to get a cup of coffee from my favorite joint, Joe. Unfortunately, it was 6:50 AM and they don’t work the same hours as Starbucks, so it was a lost cause.

Anyways, after suffering without coffee until 11 AM, I practically sprinted out of class, to the subways and down back to Union Square. A 20 minute commute (those of you who don’t know where John Jay is, it’s at 10th Ave and W 58th St.), that took a chunk off my lunch time. I chose to eat at Tisserie, yes again.

I wanted to try a different flavor of quiche. So, I ended up choosing the salmon quiche ($5) and out of spontaneity, a chocolate chip cookie ($1.50), ending up costing $7.06 with tax.

Well, obviously I ate my entreé, the salmon quiche. It contained a ton of cured salmon, eggs, bits of green bell pepper, possibly scallions (aka green onions), slices of potatoes, and a certain cheese (possibly gruyere from the creaminess and the pronounced sharp quality). At the first bite, I thought, “Holy cow! That was salty!” They should’ve had the forethought that the cured salmon has a substantial amount of salt in the first place and be more prudent to add any more salt to the egg mixture. The crust was good; a slight buttery taste and has crumbly texture. If they had added a lot less salt, I would’ve enjoyed this quiche.

The chocolate chip cookie (from now on, I’ll refer it as ccc) looked sad compared to the pastries on display. I didn’t realized that until I sat down and looked at it. Well, I paid for it and I will eat it. I just hoped that it doesn’t taste as bad as it looks. lol. The cookie was soft and had a cakey texture, which what I don’t seek in a ccc; it doesn’t have much chocolate chips (not the greatest chocolate I ever tasted) per bite. It had a slight hint of almond extract flavor and a bit of brown sugar flavor. The only good thing was that it’s not greasy. Obviously, I was not too hot with this cookie.

My ideal ccc would be what Ed Levine (one of the food critics of the NY Times) stated in his blog, it should be “moist and light, crisp and yet slightly chewy, even pliant. There should be enough high quality chocolate in the cookie so that you get some chocolate in every bite. I don’t want any chocolateless bites when I eat a chocolate chip cookie. They should be buttery without being greasy.” So, it’s still a search and this would be another topic for this blog.

Anywhoo, I washed all of this food down with what I wanted and needed this morning, Joe’s coffee…my savior for the day. Then I dashed back to the subway and to my next class…history.

Well, if you have read my previous post about Cafe Zaiya, it seemed I was standing in between the boundaries of like and dislike. Today I try confirmed my final thoughts on this much raved Japanese spot. Today, Tuesday, 9/5/06, I purchased the Mini Koshi An Pans (package of 5 for $2.75) and the Pork Cutlet Sandwich ($3.95 for 1 1/2 sandwiches; seen in photo). Both foods were made the day of and it looked appetizing; the problem is that this is a lot of food for me. Thankfully, I have arranged a little meet up for lunch with my long time high school & college friend, Seungmi ^^.

Ok, back to the food. Let’s start with the main course, the pork cutlet sandwich. It was pre-made but it was fresh enough that it had steam/condensation on the top of the package; it looks promising. The sandwich itself consists of plain white bread (no crust), shredded lettuce, slices of tomatoes, breaded (possibly fried?) pork chop, and it’s dressed with worcestershire sauce. Looks good (as you can tell from the photo) but it smells acidic, most likely from that worcestershire sauce. The big part of food, the taste & texture. Well, the pork was cooked perfectly, not too dry, slightly moist. The bread is soft and moist due to the sauce as well as the fact it has been 1 1/2 hours since I bought it. The major drawback about this sandwich was that it lacked flavor. You barely detect a hint of pork flavor, the worcestershire sauce was too overbearing for this sandwich. Too bad.

The next thing is well, dessert. It’s not chocolate but I need some variety in life. So, the koshi an pans were cute, pettite buns that is filled with red bean paste. It looked good from the packaging; the desirable golden brown hue that you would like to have for any type of bread. The other reason why I bought this type of bun or bread is that I happen to like red bean paste buns from Flushing, Queens; assuming that it would taste the same or similar. The first time I tried it, I shared one with a visiting friend, Bryan, who commented/contemplated on whether or not he likes red bean paste. I can see why he would mull over this matter (more on that later). Initially, I thought it tasted okay. The textures were fine, soft bread with smooth paste. However, eating it a few more times with my lunch companion, Seungmi, I started to dislike it. There’s not enough red bean flavor in the darn paste! All I can taste is the subtle yeasty flavor of the bread and the slight sweetness of sugar from the bean paste but there’s an absence of red bean flavor. I am truly disappointed.

Overall, I believe the purpose of Cafe Zaiya is to provide sustenance to the hungry Midtown lunch crowd who is on a budget and seek an accessible type of Japanese food. I really want to like their food but somehow I feel like I’m setting myself up for disappointment. The only thing I really loved eating from here was the mochi-an donut.

To go back on the Bryan’s contemplation on red bean paste, it’s usually a hit-or-miss kind of thing. Certain brands that make the bean paste or whoever is making this batch can get perfection, blandness, or just plain disgusting. I too, have this conundrum when it comes to these things. The only time I truly ever loved red bean paste was the time my parents made it from scratch 5 years ago. Slaving over a big wok of red adzuki beans, for about 2 hours…and was it worth it. It was truly divine and blissful. Unfortunately, with modern times, we all somehow feel time restricted so we never do that anymore. Even though I still dream of it…

Ok, this blog be about, as indicated for the title, food. Most people, who known me for quite some time, know that I love food. So, this is going to be a little blog of the most recent places I have eaten around.

For the past few days (Thursday & Fri), I have been eating the food from Cafe Zaiya, a small Japanese cafe located in Midtown East, on E 41st St between Madison & 5th Ave. This place serves inexpensive food like sushi, bento boxes, sandwiches, Japanese baked goods, and Beard Papa cream puffs. Seating is limited and it’s really crowded during the afternoon.
On Thursday, I have tried their grilled ham & cheese sandwich ($1.75). I bought this during the morning since I was time restricted and it looked good. When I actually got a good look at it when I ate it for lunch with a few of my friends. It was a half sandwich, made of thickly sliced whtie bread (about 1″ thick), filled with a tomato sauce, cheese and some chopped ham. Obviously from the size, my mouth cannot open that wide to fit that sandwich; so I ate it open face. I actually found out that the cheese was not melted, it’s just shredded, and there were some slices of tomato and peppers. When I actually ate it, it was different than what I would perceive as a “grilled ham and cheese sandwich.” The bread was dry, the filling itself tasted like salsa. The cheese was almost indistinguishable from the taste and the ham’s flavor just comes out slightly. I don’t really like this sandwich but it’s not awful. I guess my palate is more Americanized or I just set myself up for what would be the American version of the grilled ham & cheese.
Yesterday (Friday), I tried their pastries; the Mochi-An donut ($1.50) and a white or green bean pastry (I forgotten the actual name, cost $1.20). They’re both pretty substantial as a snack, about 3 inches in diameter. The first one I ate was the white bean pastry. The exterior crust had a pale white, cream color. The interior had a very pale, translucent green bean paste (think of the color of the leaf of an iceberg lettuce). I thought it tasted bland. I don’t really like it even though I really wanted to like it.
The mochi-an donut is a misnomer. It looked similar to the previous pastry; it’s not fried and there is no hole, in what you would expect in a donut. The only difference is that the crust has a coating of sanding sugar (those of you who don’t know what that is, think pretzel salt but opaque white in color) and it’s a bit flakier. The interior has the sweet, red adzuki bean paste. This “donut” is really good. The sweetness of both the crust and the bean paste worked harmoniously well together. The only problem that it’s a mess eating it. You get sugared on your clothes.

Another spot I also ate yesterday, was Tisserie in Union Square; located on Broadway & 17th St. This place is a Venezuelan pastry shop but it serves European based goods with a Latin twist and they also sell savory foods as well. This is technically the second time I ate here. The first time I tried their mini Tiger cake and financier ($1.50 each) with a friend who ordered this and a quiche ($5).
The quiche was quite tasty and they give you a pretty large slice, too. The crust was flaky and the filling was good; it had a cheesy flavor, probably goat cheese or some type of soft cheese. The tiger cake is an oval shaped butter cake with chocolate flecks in it and the center was concave, filled with chocolate ganache. It was good; it had a almondy taste and the ganache was dark chocolate, which I really like. The complaint from my companion was that it was too greasy. The almond financier, a French butter pound cake that is small and rectangular; the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not bad but I don’t taste anything nutty and it’s not as greasy as the tiger cake. I should mention that their coffee was actually good.
Today, I ate the turkey and cream cheese croissant ($3.50) and a small coffee ($2.50). I found out that their coffee is actually organic and fair-trade, so I’m helping out the coffee farmers out there and the environment. It still tastes good, bold and robust, not bitter. The croissant is somewhat, what I would call, a grease bomb. The paper bag that held my croissant had a grease stain (medium sized), holding it for a minute. I think it’s mainly from the cream cheese. Anyways, the croissant had the right shade of golden brown and it was flaky to the bite. The interior is what is the name stated, turkey and cream cheese. To my disappointment, the turkey is something in what you would find from a deli or prepackaged turkey from a supermarket. But overall, it’s pretty tasty. I guess from the butter from the croissant and fat from the cream cheese made it all palate appealing.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of the foods yet. But I’m working on remembering to bring my camera and take photos of my food with my phone.