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2010 夏日美食瘋

每年冬天跟夏天很多城市都會舉辦所謂的 "Restaurant Week” (簡稱 RW, 餐廳週), Ann Arbor 跟紐約也不利外.

紐約有許多平常很昂貴的餐廳在餐廳週時都推出午餐 $24.07, 晚餐 $35 的 3-Course Meal. 今年二月時跑去 One if by Land, Two if by Sea 吃他們的晚餐, 覺得超好吃的, 所以今年在夏天 RW 開始前就趕快定位. 因為大部分的餐廳只有週一到週五的午餐和晚餐, 而我又只有週末在紐約, 所以很難 「橋」 到好的時間, 結果後來訂到了兩家: Club A SteakhouseNougatine.

不過除了這兩家之外, 另外還因為有拿到一些 coupon / discounts 而跑去吃的餐廳 (「coupons 真是令人討厭的小東西阿~」- 大D).

以下就是一些今年夏天在紐約吃得一些餐廳 (精選, 還有其他很不錯的餐廳, 不過懶得寫評論). 基本上我只是把在 Yelp 上面寫得評論轉貼過來而已 (my Yelp) :P 不過大部分的評論都因為忘記菜名或是根本不知道菜名是什麼而沒有寫出來. 順序是照時間排列的, 從舊到新.

想看照片的同學們可以點 [my Album] 至我的相簿去看…

 

One if by Land, Two if by Sea (from 2010 Winter RW) [Yelp] *****

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1st Floor Dining Room @ One If By Land

The food was definitely one of the most delicious we’ve had. The ambiance was quiet, romantic, and classy.

We went there during the 2010 NYC Winter restaurant week for $35/3 course meal. Even though it’s restaurant week special, the size and quality were still top-notch, and it was definitely a good place for a date.

 

Club A Steak House [Yelp] ****

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Live Pianist Performing @ Club A Steakhouse

We went to Club A Steakhouse for 2010 NYC Summer Restaurant Week. We were craving for some steaks and this seemed like the best bang for the bucks based on their RW menu.

The appetizers were really nice, we liked the beef tartare. I ordered 10oz filet mignon for main course, and the meat was tender and nicely cooked (medium-rare). I wished the meat could be a little juicier but it was still not bad. Personally I think 10oz for filet mignon is enough to taste the meat and not too much that actually makes you sick.

The desserts were really good too. Both the home-made creamy puff and tiramisu were rich and delicious. If you don’t like creamy and richness dessert, they are probably not for you. But we really enjoyed the rich sweetness.

Sitting on the second-floor there were also live piano / singing performance, which really added to the entertainment value!

 

Nougatine [Yelp] [my Album] *****

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Table Decor @ Nougatine

We went there for the 2010 NYC Summer Restaurant Week. They have $26 3-course prix fixe menu year-round; however, the $24.07 RW lunch still sounded pretty tempting.

The food was terrific! We especially loved the tuna tartare and the chicken main dish. In addition to the restaurant week menu, we also ordered foie gras brulee appetizer, and…IT WAS D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S! We absolutely loved it!

The location of the restaurant is great (Columbus Circle / Upper West Side, you know what I meant) and when it’s sunny, the natural light really enhances the ambiance during day-time.

 

Park Avenue – Summer [Yelp] ****

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Dining Tables @ Park Avenue – Summer

We went there for the BlackBoardEats 5-course dinner special. The restaurant was pretty quiet at first when there weren’t too many people, but then it got energetic really quickly as people filled the space.

  1. Strawberry & Cherry Tomato: Very interesting combination. The mix of sweetness and sourness of balsamic vinaigrette was nicely done.
  2. Grilled Prawn: We liked this dish a lot. The prawn was huge and was seasoned well.
  3. Gnocchi with Truffles & Fresh Corn: It’s a little salty for us at first, but produced very nice balance when mixed with gnocchi and sweet corn.
  4. Grilled Filet Mignon with Blueberry Sauce: My medium-rare was cooked to order, and the blueberry sauce was definitely a nice touch.
  5. Sweet Corn & Rhubarb Sundae: Very generous portion! The mix of vanilla ice cream and caramel sesame sauce was great. Not sure what were the foam on the top of the ice cream, but it blended really well with the ice cream and caramel.

The food was very nice, and the service was great. Overall a very nice 5-course dinner, and we were absolutely full at the end.

 

Seasonal [Yelp] [my Album] ****

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Bar @ Seasonal

We went there for the 3-course prix fixe lunch for $27.

The portion size was just about right (a little on the smaller side). With bread and some drinks, it made a pretty decent meal.

The restaurant was surprisingly not too crowded for Saturday lunch, so we had a very chilled and relaxing time there. Overall it was a very nice experience, and I definitely recommend it.

 

Daniel [Yelp] [my Album] *****

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Main Entrance of Daniel

May be a 4.5 stars…

Don’t think my review matters in the mist of other 250+ (and growing) reviews on Yelp, but since I already wrote the review for OpenTable, why not just copy & paste :D

First of all, you really have to make reservation a month ahead of time. PERIOD.

We had the 3-course dinner with cocktails. The Rose Royal cocktail was very very nice. Both the scallop and duck terrine (foi gras) appetizers were to die for (personally I love mango, so the mango sides that came with the foi gras just fit my appetite perfectly).

I had the duo of beef for $16 supplement. The wagyu beef is just tender and cooked to perfection (@ medium-rare). The duo of squab is also very very good, especially the breast meat, so tender and juicy (with oil, yum!).

The desserts were very nice too, and the mini Madeleine (cake) that came after the dessert(s) were delicious.

The petite fours were less impressive compared to the main dishes. We’ve had better ones elsewhere.

黑色週末 :(

上星期六跟日, 是個黑色週末 (基本上這週末可能也差不多).

怎麼說是個黑色週末呢? 因為星期五加班, 而且星期六跟日也都要工作…

故事是這樣的…

星期五早上 9 點進公司 (不知道哪個天才把咪聽設在 9 點, 真是沒天良), 一直忙盲茫到晚上 11 點. 12 點回家後寫個 e-mail 報告進度, 睡前再 check 一下程式之後就跑去睡覺…

隔天早上起來又跟老闆通電話/e-mail/etc. 講完之後老闆又死纏爛打一直要我查出問題的原因想要修正. 跟他一直嚕到晚上 8 點之後終於可以稍微解脫跑出去透透氣.

說是黑色週末並不是隨便講講得, 星期六嚕到晚上 8 點並不是最慘的. 星期天才是重頭戲!

早上 8 點就爬起來為了 9 點的 conference call + WebEx 作準備 (很可惜, 不是這種. 9 點開始跟一群完全搞不清處狀況的上司跟阿三們開始開會, 試著找出問題然後做修改. 不過好死不死每次搞定一個就出現另外新的問題, 需要找另一個人來幫忙. 一整天下來總共有 6 個所謂的 "Status Call": 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 跟 9:30pm.

而且, 並不是 9:30pm 的結束就沒了歐! 12點跑去睡覺的我, 半夜 3:30am 又爬起來確定程式還在跑. 然後, 最不人道的是竟然早上 6 點還有一個 conference call 要確定一切都正常!!!X的!

6 點的咪聽結束之後又跑回去睡一下, 之後 9 點又到公司準備開會…結果竟然一個人都沒來, X!

星期一早上做得第一件事情: 用 Outlook Calendar 寄出請假的申請 –> 2/13 和 2/14…情人節週末…

(寫到這裡都覺得怎麼有這麼慘的人…是阿信附身嗎?!)

尾牙吃割包

呼呼!~ 狂賀!2010 新年第一噗!!

星期五晚上在公司加班時接到外婆打來的電話, 問說「有沒有吃割包?」當時有點不太知道為什麼突然要吃割包, 後來查了一下才知道原來是因為農曆 12 月 16 號是「尾牙」, 依照傳統都會吃潤餅跟割包 (真是枉費從小吃到大, 竟然不知道這點故).

剛好上星期有個同事跟我說紐約市的 Lower East Side 開了一家叫做「Baohaus」的店. 看到這名字就覺得他應該是跟某種包有關係. 跑去 Yelp 一下發現他是賣割包的. 當時就想說看起來很有趣, 改天一店要去吃吃看.

聽到外婆這樣一問, 就更想要也來應景吃一下. 剛好昨天是尾牙, 而且在家裡工作一整天 (這週末是個黑色週末, OH NO!, 週六週日都要工作 >_<), 好不容易告一段落, 就忙裡偷閒跟 Jing 跑去這家新開的店吃晚餐.

不知道是太冷還是太晚 (已經晚上十點了, 基本上過得是西岸時間), 整家店都沒人. 一開始還有點擔心是地雷, 不過既然都已經千里迢迢跑到市區了, 就硬著頭皮給他進去試試看.

點了兩份割包 (每份兩個, 豬肉牛肉各一份) 加薯條和兩杯茶. 以份量來說其實不便宜, 不過賣像還不錯, 吃起來也很道地. 不過吃來吃去還是要豬肉的好吃. 畢竟割包吃起來就是要有油油肥肥得感覺阿!!

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好吃的割包
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割包大頭照

而他們的薯條其實並不是真正的薯條, 而是把麵包拿去炸, 吃起來有點像是銀絲卷配上芝麻醬. 之前從來沒有這樣吃過, 還蠻好吃的說 :D (但吃到最後真的有點油膩…)

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銀絲卷薯條

不過話說回來, 在紐約這個地方可以吃到這樣不錯道地的割包已經很感動了 ^_^ 而最有趣的是,  在吃得時候就陸陸續續有客人來. 到最後整加店都是外國人, 只有我們是黑頭髮的. 完全跟我想像中不一樣. 沒想到阿度仔也覺得這「台式漢堡」不錯吃!

聖誕夜驚魂記

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因為覺得家裡都沒有聖誕節氣氛而跑去買得迷你聖誕樹.
在此祝大家聖誕節快樂

不知道大家聖誕夜都在做什麼? 去華納威秀看電影? 在家裡看小鬼當家2 (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)? 還是跑去夜店狂歡?

今年受到這篇部落格的影響, 決定要去買肯德雞來吃!這篇部落格格提到說日本人因為種種不明原因 (想知道的請自己去看), 在聖誕節要吃肯德雞配聖誕蛋糕 =) 因為家裡已經有從 Jing 生日一直到現在的蛋糕 (嗯, 好像已經過了一個月了…), 所以「剩」誕蛋糕就暫時不需要煩惱. 不過反正如果要買個像樣的日式正港聖誕蛋糕可能也要跑到 New Jersey 的 Mitsuwa 去, 所以就算了.

所以說在家當宅男一整天之後到晚上 8:30PM Jing 快下班時 (沒錯, 聖誕夜+聖誕節+聖誕節之後一天都要值班, 有夠ㄙㄨㄟ) 就打算開車去肯德雞買晚餐. 在家裡已經地圖查好, Coupon 也印好了, 一整個萬事俱全只欠東風阿!

好不容易開到離家最近的肯德雞之後看見燈還亮著就一整個小興奮 (YAY YAY YAY~ 還好有開~). 開到得來速 (Drive-thru) 停了一分鐘都沒人理我時就覺得大事不妙. 繞過去一看, 店員已經開始打掃收東西…-_-|||

原本想說, 好吧, 那也沒辦法, 只能回家吃泡麵+剩菜了. 但不知道哪來的堅持, (真的很堅持!) 一定要吃到肯德雞阿!!!所以就用 iPhone 上的 google map 查了一下 (在這裡再次重申 iPhone 的好阿~) 附近還有哪些 “KFC.” 好啦, 啪啪啪一下子出現了好幾家. 看到最近的一家就先打電話過去. 電話接起來, 還開著~ YAY~ 又很高興的開過去.

開了一下覺得怎麼這麼遠?!查一下地圖發現已經開過頭了.

「怎麼可能?!肯德雞爺爺那慈祥的臉孔我怎麼可能就這樣沒看見?」內心淡淡得 OS.

好吧, 繞回去看看. 開到 google map 上指定的地址仔細一看: 「Kennedy Fried Chicken」(大驚!)

趕羚羊咧!什麼垃圾?!這不是肯德雞, 這不是肯德雞…」心裡大罵.

不死心!在用 iPhone 查一次. 這次保險一點直接跑去肯德雞的網站查地點. 查到之後照慣例又打過去確認. 還開著, 這次就放心啦~

開過去之後看見肯德雞爺爺那熟悉的臉孔頓時覺得這世界還是溫暖的 (路人: 有這麼誇張嗎?~). 不過仔細一看發現….(放心, 這次真的是肯德雞爺爺, 不是什麼「肯的基」之類晃點的店)…發現這家店竟然沒有傳說中的得來速…

來點背景提要好了. 現在時間是晚上 9:30PM 在紐約市布朗克斯區的一家小小肯得雞. 而布朗克斯區, 據維基百科的說法, 是「居民主要以非洲拉丁美洲後裔居民為主,是紐約市有名的貧民區,犯罪率在全國乃數一數二…」. 原本的如意算盤是乖乖躲在車上用得來速買一下就閃人, 結果現在…

不過都已經花了這麼久的時間跑了這麼多地方, 總不能就這樣兩手空空的打道回府吧?! 所以就在附近的街上找位子把車停下來, 用最快的速度衝到店裡面.

一進店裡就發現整家店只有我一個人的祖先不是從非洲來的, 而且櫃台還用防彈玻璃隔住, 心裡一整個超ㄘㄨㄚˋ (暗自祈禱搶匪在聖誕夜也放假休息之類的). 而且前面超大隻的同學還買超久的, 等到我都想尿尿了. 好不容易到我時連講話都在抖阿~

不過這位店員可能沒看過我買得「Variety Bucket Meal」所以給我超多東西. 原本上面寫說 4隻炸雞+8 隻 hot wings+4個 biscuits. 結果他狂夾炸雞丟到桶子裡變成 5隻炸雞, 12隻 hot wings, 加上 8 個 biscuits. 一整個大爆滿.

拿到炸雞付完錢之後再次以 100 米 9.57 秒的速度衝上車!吸了一口氣, 感覺到「活著, 真好!

為了肯德雞這麼拼命的人應該不多吧! 下次如果要再去買一定要穿防彈背心…

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YAY~ 拼老命買到的耶誕節大餐~
肯德雞應該要搬一張獎牌給我說!

東京自由行 Day 6 – 回程嘍!

今天早上收拾完東西吃完早餐之後, 就到隔壁的 Prince Hotel 搭乘 Limousine Bus 到成田空港.

到了機場之後覺得這機場真是誇張的漂亮跟乾淨. 還有洗澡的地方!真是太爽 (不過我沒有去就是了).

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這是一個機場該有的 lounge 休息區嗎?!太誇張了!
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還可以洗澡咧~

在機場等待時就跑去麥當勞買了個「Ebi Fliet-O」(鮮蝦堡) 套餐當午餐吃. 大家一定都覺得明明從美國去為什麼要來吃麥當勞了? 這你們就不知道了, 像鮮蝦堡這麼特別的東西美國買得到嗎?~ 尤其又是蛯原友里廣告的當然要捧場一下嘍~

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鮮蝦堡套餐!好吃!ㄅ ㄦ 棒!

不過在吃得時候真的發現羅馬不是一天造成的. 在日本買套餐附得薯條跟可樂大概是美國兒童餐的大小吧. 難怪米國人會長那麼大隻. 嘖嘖嘖!

在機場把所有剩下的日幣現金都花完 (果然超像我的作風, 刺激經濟就靠我啦!) 之後就只好乖乖的等飛機出發飛回紐約了~

呼, 好累…花了好幾個月, 終於在宅了兩天之後把這六天的遊記寫完 :P

最後一天沒什麼有趣的相片, 不過如果真的有興趣 (兼很無聊) 的人還是可以到相簿區Picasa 看.