Eating Spree (Part Two): New York, New York..

WARNING: The following post is not suitable for anyone who dislikes food or on a diet to lose weight!

After hanging out in Flushing for a couple hours, we headed down to New York, New York for more FOOD….No joke, this trip was seriously dedicated to EATING EATING EATING!!! First stop, was again Chinatown and we headed to Singapore Cafe for lunch.

I read a review from Charlene’s blog about this place and had been craving to eat the Home-Style Stir Fried Radish Cake (left). The many times we’ve been to NYC, we never had the urge to step inside this Cafe. Charlene was right….the “Loh Pak Koh” was to die for! And I did not share! Haha! I ate the whole thing myself….yums! Husband ordered their Hainanese Chicken Rice (right). The chicken was good, the flavored rice that came with it was mediocre. We have had better ones in Penang Restaurant, but Singapore Cafe’s Hainanese Rice is affordable at $5.50!!

And something which I felt was rather a disappointment was the Roti Canai ($3) we ordered to share. It tasted like frozen ones I get from the store….=(….and I would pass on ordering this the next time! We did not chat with the staffs or owner there, but they were very friendly and the service was pretty decent! Husband and I spent less than $20 for lunch (we drank complimentary tea)and that includes 15% tips.

And we walked around Chinatown to enable us to digest quicker / better for the next round of food! Haha….Seafood and fruits are cheaper and I trust, fresher than in Boston. You get more selections on these and at great prices. Husband and I did eventually bought a few lbs of different seafood and some fruits at the end of the day (when we came back to Chinatown for dinner and before we headed back to Flushing where we parked the car!). To compare how cheap seafood was; Large Sea Scallops were at $6.80 /lb and in Boston it’s about $9-11/lb for the same ones. Jumbo shrimps (both White & Tiger Shrimp) were at $6.40 /lb and in Boston, they are about $8-9/lb (and sometimes not as big!).

We then headed to Time Square to do people watching and touristy thing as if it was our first time to New York, New York! Hehe… That meant, lots and lots of picture taking….=)…The weather was alright, not extremely frigid – so it was quite a nice day in the city! We sort of walked around quite aimlessly since we’ve been here tons of times and was only in NYC for FOOD….. I then suggested to hubby that we should get some dessert at the famed Serendipity 3 in Uptown New York. This place is supposedly famous for star sightings! Once we got there, there was a line in the shop and it’s a 2-1/2 hours wait to get a seat!!! CRAZY!!!! We’re not that crazy to stay in line for that long so we left and did more walking around.

That’s when we stumbled upon this Candy Store called “Dylan’s Candy Bar”, a little ‘Willy Wonka Paradise” for all things sweet! It’s 3 levels of sweet treats; the first 2 floor filled with candies and such and the third floor; a party room and a dessert parlor serving ice cream, cupcakes and shakes! So many different kinds of candies (unique ones, old-time ones, etc) here, I’m pretty sure you are able to find something you like! Let the little kid in you go crazy! By the way, this store is co-owned by Dylan Lauren – Ralph Lauren’s daughter!

After doing some window shopping around Times Square and Uptown, it was time for FOOD again…Dinner time before we headed back to Bean Town! Husband and I decided to indulge in some Wonton Noodles for dinner and off we went in a quest to hopefully find a little wonton treasure! And before we got to the Wonton Place, we bought some Chinese pastries. One from the street vendor selling freshly made Chinese Cakes (almost like waffle batter?) at 15 robin egg size cakes for $1. Batter was poured into this mold with 30 odd “robin egg size” indentations, covered with a similar mold, flipped around and cooked over coal fire! It reminded me of making Belgium Waffle with all the flipping action!

Then, we headed to Egg Custard King Cafe to get some egg tarts. This was again, after reading Charlene’s posting, that I decided to try it out too! Charlene was right, again…Egg Tarts were good! We bought 2 Portuguese Egg Tarts and 2 regular Egg Tarts. I prefer the regular one (even though we ate it one day later – cold; I’m sure it would have tasted better eaten fresh!) as the combination of the smooth sweet custard and the flaky savory crust was just right! Next time around, we’ll have to eat it fresh! My comment was the store being in the basement level was so stuffy and hot (even in winter). I could hardly wait to get out from the store to get a little breather, and can’t imagine spending 30 minutes or more eating in there! I hope it’s just the heater working very well, and won’t be as stuffy and warm in summer!

A few doors down, Wonton Garden caught our attention as the perfect place to fulfill our desire for some Wonton Noodles. I ordered Roast Duck & Wonton Noodle Soup, while husband ordered Roast Duck & BIG Wonton Shanghai Noodle Soup. This place is S.M.A.L.L. and again, slightly stuffy….The noodles and soup were ok…..the wontons were normal with meat and shrimp filling. Husband’s BIG wonton lived up to the name BIG and that was it. The skin of the BIG Wonton, was thick, the filling was slightly different than my regular wonton and did not taste that great. =(. I personally would not encourage you not to be fooled into ordering this the BIG Wonton Noodles…just go with the regular ones…..Oh yeah, we did also ordered “Xiao Long Bao” which was just ok as well…..Unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be back to Wonton Garden for any wonton fix! =(

Did some shopping after dinner and headed to the train station back to Flushing (where we parked our car). Upon arriving at Flushing, we stopped by the Flushing Mall again to get DORAYAKI, a favorite Japanese dessert/snack filled with red bean paste! These are made into little fishy which are just so adorable and surprisingly another cheap eats – 2 for $1.60! To give you an idea how this taste like, think sweetened red bean paste sandwiched between 2 pancakes! =) Yummy……

The drive home took us a little longer, nevertheless we had so much fun indulging in cheap delicious food! We will definitely be back for more eating spree in NYC!

Eating Spree (Part One): Flushing, New York!

WARNING: The following post is not suitable for anyone who dislikes food or on a diet to lose weight!

Another backdated post…..Husband and I decided to go down to NYC for more food (as if we did not have enough from Valentine’s Night) on Sunday. This trip was semi-spontaneous and our mission was to hunt CHEAP FOOD…..Cheap Chinese Food, to be exact! Our first stop was to Flushing, NY - we’ve heard so much about this other Chinatown outside Manhattan and have never been there. We started our journey from MA at about 6.45 am and arrived in Flushing, NY at about 10am – exactly 3 hours 15 minutes; door to door with a 10 minutes pit stop for coffee.

We were greeted with surprisingly a good size Chinatown and in my opinion a lil’ less crowded than Manhattan’s Chinatown! In fact, it’s even better and bigger than Boston’s and Chicago’s Chinatown!And our hunt for food began…..with a stop to get some Malaysian groceries located right in Flushing Mall….Then we walked around to find street vendors and the likes for some cheap eats and whatever that tempted us to part with our cash!!

We saw a old man selling skewers of traditional Chinese sweets (sweet and sour ones) in different candy coating and we had to get one to try! The candies are between $1-2. I’ve yet to actually try the one I picked and will do so, later… Besides that, we also bought 4 skewers of “Ka Li Yee Dan” (Curry Fishball) – about 5 fishballs on a bamboo stick for $1 each……..2 skewers of BBQ chicken….also for $1 each! I’m telling you…this is seriously cheap eats!!My absolute favorite was this Peking Duck (sliced Peking duck stuffed between steamed bun/pancake) for $1each….We bought 2 to try and it was so delicious that we came back for another 2 more!!!!….I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you guys to try this cheap eat $1 Peking Duck from Corner 28 a try when you’re in Flushing NY! Here’s the address (since they don’t have a website): 40-28 Main Street, Flushing, NY, 11355. I’m feeling HUNGRY looking at these Peking Duck pictures and the thought of devouring them yesterday!

After this round of eating, we took the train (which is about an hour’s ride) into Manhattan…..for eating round two! =)…and I’ll post more on that on separate post…

V For Valentine… “Vonderful” Valentine..

Sorry for my 2 days’ of absence from the world of blogging! Been so busy for the weekend between Valentine’s dinner and NYC Eating Spree…..I’ve finally found some time to do some blogging and will therefore backdate 2 posts…..starting with our lovely Valentine’s Day!We hung out at the Smith’s Residence after a Dim Sum affair in Chinatown……Chillin’ and drinkin’ Lychee Martini on a lazy Saturday afternoon while waiting for Rob to finish work and start grocery shopping with Kelvin(my other half). Both Seyda and I insisted that we tag along to help them shop in an attempt to find out what they are cooking and well also to give the two amateurs some shopping advice, as needed! Hehe!!

Once we got home, we insisted that we should help them again; in the kitchen! We volunteered (and were very persistent) to be their Sous Chefs, Dishwashers…..something……a reason to stay in the kitchen just to spy on them and also to make sure they don’t spend the whole night cooking……After some non-stop persuasions, the boys allowed us to stay in the kitchen and help out a little….cutting some vegetables (while drinkin’ more Lychee Martini), cleaning dishes and also be their “Kitchen / Cooking Consultants” giving some helpful cooking/kitchen tips! I AM PROUD TO SAY…….THESE TWO BOYS ARE KEEPERS!!!! They split 4 dishes between them; each taking up 2 dishes to cook and the end results were amazingly delicious!! Both Seyda and I were astonished, overwhelmed, surprised, speechless, etc etc with their culinary skills!! Well, let me share with you a couple more pictures of the fun time we had on V-Day!

Well, you must be curious what we had for dinner…….Here are more pictures to tickle your curiosity and some explanations to give you sense on what you’re looking at! =P

Left: Dinner Setting for the Night….Seyda helped the boys to arrange place settings for everyone!

Right: Rob made yummy Taramasala Dip (with Bread and Celery). I had a hard time trying to pronounce this Greek Dip..=P….It sounded like a tongue twister! I learned a new dish tonight! Yums!

Left: Can you say CHOW-DAH????? Husband made Clam Chow-Dah!!!You read it right, he made Clam Chow-Dah from scratch..using fresh juicy clams! Move aside Legal Seafood and Campbell Soup……There’s a new Clam Chowder Connoisseur in town!!!! Next time, all I need to do is butter up to my hubby whenever I want Clam Chowder.

Right: Baked Haddock with Wild Mushroom Marsala Sauce, served over a bed of home made Rice Pilaf and boiled Brussel Sprouts. Another yummy dish by the husband.….Rob and Kelvin came up with the presentation of this dish……..Seyda and I honestly had no idea how to plate this one! Kudos to them!

Last, but not least……..Baked Cheesecake (by Rob and all from scratch)…..There was so much cheese in it, but surprisingly the taste were quite mild – I like! I’m not a big fan of Cheese in dessert, but this…I took home for seconds!! Hehe…
What do you think? Don’t you think the two husbands did an excellent job preparing their wives Valentine’s Dinner? Both Seyda and I thought they did a terrific job cooking dinner from scratch, (for a change) and suggested that they cook for us once a month…..This idea somehow got shutdown by the husbands – quite quickly! =P..

So, how was your Valentine’s Day…..if I may ask?

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hope you enjoy this special day with the company of your loved ones be it other half, families or friends! I know I will be spending this day with husband and great friends……stuffing ourselves silly with home cook food!!! Happy Valentine’s Day! XOXO

Friday, The 13th

The day before Valentine’s Day and your truly was pleasantly surprised by her husband. He sent her a bouquet of Iris and Stargazer Lilies. I’m all smiles to find a little sweet surprise waiting at the door step today; a box of flowers and a box of chocolate! =)…..The flowers (still closed up) came well packed with a vase and “flower food” to help the flowers bloom. The food was effective as within hours, some of the flowers have started blooming. I think it that it will continue to bloom the next few days and will take another picture when it’s they are all in full bloom. =)

            

My vase of Iris and Lilies….=)… I’m glad husband knows me well…I questioned him on his choice of flowers and why had he not gotten me roses. He said he knew roses are not my favorite and I adore lilies and gerbera daisies =).. Although, he thought the purple flowers(Iris) were also lilies….I forgave him coz I also adore Iris.Thank you for the lovely Valentine’s Surprise, darling! XOXO

Since we’re in a lovey dovey mood, I decided to bake some red red red red red Red Velvet cupcakes…It’s so red, I’m surprise I did not accidentally color my whole kitchen red! Here’re pictures of the super red batter. It’s so red, it could pass as a Behr paint I used to paint my bathroom wall!!

             

The cake does look intimidating with it bold red color, but it’s so moist and goes well with the cream cheese frosting. Plus, it’s not that frequent that I have one of this devilish cake! I remember my first bite at a Red Velvet…it was in Disney World December 2001, more than 7 years ago….and unfortunately I don’t remember having another bite since!

Here are pictures of the red velvets fresh from the oven (left) and my piped chocolate hearts adorned with mini hearts for me to decorate the cupcakes later (right).

             

I cut the original (which I’ll share later) recipe into half and it still yields me 12 cupcakes, plenty for husband and I, for my friends and for my next door neighbor. =)…… I decorated 2 for my neighbor and will decorate a couple more to bring over to the Smiths for Valentine’s Day!