Day 14: Dim Sum (and then some)

I couldn't help myself with that title. On Saturday, after a long night at the bar/club/chicken and rice stand where I was taunted by my oh-so-wonderful friends, we ended up in Flushing for the night. The next morning, I dragged my very tired self to Dim Sum in Flushing. Being that weekends are prime time for the Tapas of Asia (as I like to call it), we beat the lunch crowd and got there just in time for all the goodies to be rolled past us.

Now, I have to say one thing about dimsum. For some reason, I had always assumed that a large majority of the food was centered around seafood. Shrimp rolls, Fried Shrimp Balls, etc. However, it turned out I was vastly mistaken. Congee had pork mixed in. Tons of pork dishes were wheeled by my sad unsuspecting nose. And even Chicken Feet, strange as it sounds, began to hold a big appeal.

We ended up with a mixture of items, which were placed at our table. How delicious! My favorite thing to do is take a ton of red sauce, lightly sprinkle it with soy sauce, and dunk my shrimp wrap/dumpling/etc. unceremoniously in it until it too becomes a nice reddish hue. Fantastic!

What also struck my fancy was the ginormous crab that was chilling out in their tank. Kudos for the freshness of their seafood.. but man that guy could star in the next Terminator movie.

Great food for a great price.. I'd always recommend Dimsum, especially for a rainy day where you feel like eating a lot!

Day 13: A short break from food

This would be typically where I discuss my food on Friday. Unfortunately, Friday turned out to be one of those days where the weather interfered, and drinking took precedence. Hence, I will take this post and turn it into.. a video blog! (Credit to Nikki for this find)

Favorite Video Ever:

Surprised Kitty - watch more funny videos

Day 12: The Day I Met the Lobster Roll

For dinner after a long day's of work, I decided to meet up with my old college buddies L & M. Originally we were going to go to K-town (which then would have been a repeat of the same pictures, same restaurant, and same food) - but then I decided to put a spin on it and go for something completely new to me: The Lobster Roll.

I had seen a friend's food blog rave about the Lobster Roll and how a simple sandwich was transformed into a majestic piece of finery, due to the immense chunks of lobster that was gently placed in a butter roll and lightly doused with mayo. I decided to give it a shot and go to Pearl's Oyster Bar located down towards the East Village:

My oh my, is this a rocking little joint. Not only were there only about 10-15 tables in the restaurant (and very cozy at that), I happened to see a friend from high school (who journeyed all the way from the 100s!) and another friend who both walked in at that time. After approximately a 30 minute wait, the 3 of us looked at the menu, and immediately ordered what caught our eye.

For me, it was the half-dozen Blue Point Oysters that began my experience at Pearl's. 30 seconds later, I can say that those were great, just enough salt and just the right flavor to whet my appetite for what was to come.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the big cahuna of lobster rolls. Coming in at about 27 bucks per sandwich, this is packed with chunks of lobster (including the tail), slathered in mayo, and accompanied by shoestring fries. I will give the following observations:
- The lobster was delicious but there was so much mayo I actually wiped a ton off on the plate itself. It was just so filling and rich that it actually took away from the lobster taste which I love so much
- The bread was richly buttered, which usually I'm not the biggest fan of, but it paired well with the lobster
- Again because of the mayo, I actually wished for more lettuce to balance the sandwich out
- The fries were thin and just crisp enough. Ranked quite highly in my book (they're similar to the fries found at Continental Midtown in Philadelphia).

All in all, I would say that the lobster roll is a great experience, but I doubt I would go back. That or I will need some sort of strainer to keep the sandwich in its purest form.

To end this post, I'll post up the video of Man V. Food where Adam Richmond takes on the oyster challenge. 180 in total.

Day 11: Ruminations on the 1st Quarter

As we've hit a fourth of my journey, I'd like to look at my eating behavior so far and its impacts on my social life, professional life, and general outlook on life.

Here's the thing people: IT SUCKS. Yes, most people say, "Oh, don't worry. Before you know it, you won't even realize that you're leaving meat out of your diet."

Uhh... yes, I do. Every time I'm faced with a menu, or every time that I'm peering into my freezer for a fast Hot Pocket, or even every time I have the 3:00 snack munchies (mmm yea that's right Shake Shack burger.. top it off!) I've really become so used to meat in my every day life that I'm acutely aware of its absence whenever I sit down to eat. Yes, I can still have seafood and there are plenty of alternatives.. but that's what it still remains to me. Alternatives.

In the real world, children dance around maypoles made of brazilian bbq carvings, while elsewhere, couples are starting in each others eyes over a big hulk of steaming steak. It's not just the main meal either -- I think I like have the enhancement of duck to accompany my curry, or having just the right amount of chicken to garnish my lunch salad. Without these additional "nice to haves".. it just doesn't feel the same.

So below I'd like to list out the things I am really craving at this moment:
1) Kalbi
2) Any sandwich with chicken
3) Duck Pad Thai, or Duck Dumplings
4) Bonchon/Kyochon Chicken
5) Gyros
6) Chicken & Rice
7) Lamb Kebabs
8) Mapo Tofu with Pork (This is KEY)

And these are just the ones that keep floating to the top of my head as I sit here.

Furthermore, I'd like to point that although I've given up meat.. I think I am having what is commonly known as the meat sweats. I.E... difficulty in consuming alcohol (without its bff, meat), lethargy and prone to open weeping, swearing and yelling at others with meat. But alas.. 30 more days of this await me, so until then.. I'll be munching down on french fries and soda to keep the depression at bay.

Day 10: New York Epic Tuesday

Hello readers,

So I apologize for my lack of updation in the past week. Whenever I travel to New York, any or all productive well-intentioned activities get thrown out the window and replaced with dissemination of currency, lapses in judgement, and well... dance-offs. All these things really don't benefit anyone (maybe the economy), but I have left you all hanging.. and so for that I will be blogging the remainder of my week to keep you all up to date. My apologies.

For my Tuesday, I keep a tradition with 4 friends called Epic Tuesday. Derived out of pure boredom, and the common thought that Tuesday is by far the worst day of the week (not quite Hump Day, but over the weekend high), we decided to create events that would make us look forward to this dreaded day. Even as I moved out of New York, we have kept it alive and have all attended every Epic Tuesday when the 5 of us are in the city. To keep our group anonymous, I will name the participants as follows: Fatty, Boo, High Five, and D.

We usually switch off our Tuesdays by drinking events or eating delights. For this particular Tuesday, we chose to go with culinary consciousness. More specifically... frequenting this place:

Sushi Yasuda. Simplistic Designs. Solid Food. We began the dinner with two appetizers; the Monkfish Liver and the Sea Bass.



The sea bass was lightly coated with a flaky crust and was so soft and supple.. it literally took me 3 times to get the fish on my fork. It was also gone in about 5 bites (one for each of us).

The monkfish liver had a unique taste, but was also incredible soft to the tongue and pleasantly with no sort of aftertaste.

I could really speak on and on about how much I love sushi.. or I could just show you the best part of the meal:

Ah yes. 5 different types of sashimi with 2 sushi rolls to accompany. I would compare this fish with Sugarfish's sashimi. Really fresh and tender, tons of flavor, really no need for any sort of acoutrement on top. However, I would say that the sushi rolls were a little lacking (plain fish inside, rice wasn't the best I've had).

For $22 bucks a person for this entree, it's not a bad deal.. and surprisingly, it leaves one feeling quite full (I know, I didn't think so either, but those fish have a way of sneaking up on you).


To finish up, my friend G had gotten our group some cupcakes (yes, 3rd time's a charm.. or an extra stomach roll) from Magnolia Cupcakes.

Chocolate, 2 Carrot Cake, 2 Red Velvet, and Coconut. They were gobbled up in approximately 30 seconds.

To finish up the night, we went to Leisure Time Bowl, a bowling alley located in the heart of Port Authority. Yes, the bus terminal. While it seems unlikely that this could be an appropriate place to show off the best that Miami, California, and New York could offer, it had a great Night Owl Special which was 29 bucks for 2 hours of bowling, shoes, and this maginificent yard of Yeungling.


Between the beer, the dancing, and the oh-so-mature name calling, another Epic Tuesday was successful in accomplishing its mission.. being hung over for Wednesday.

On to Hump Day!

New York I hate you (Monday)

Usually when I think of New York, the following things come to mind: Amazing friends, Epic Tuesday (more on that during tomorrow's post), and fooding. So much fooding. However, when it's all said and done, the elimination of meat really colors every relationship I have with the city. Doesn't matter that my friends are here... I want to slap them silly everytime they stick a delicious slider in my face or warble on and on about chicken and rice (YES I am speaking to you). Epic Tuesday is not so Epic when your very drunk self can't go to the normal kati roll joint and pick up some chicken tan-AWESOME. And fooding.. oh fooding. Let me give you just a short example of what I am missing:
Exhibit A: The beef. For dinner a bunch of colleagues and I decided to hit up the K-town classic BCD Tofu House. As fellow meat eaters, they decided to get some kalbi to supplement their tofu soups. It was placed RIGHT in front of me. I think my resolve almost broke when it was sizzling, smelling delicious...

I had to pretty much stick my face into this lovely thing to forget about my troubles:

Thank you soon dubu (with not-so-fresh oysters) for being so delicious. and salty. Although burping you up post-meal was not the best feeling in the world (especially when you're running on a treadmill) the high sodium and subsequent red overload was worth it.

Every slurpy spoonful.

Day 8: Pancakes and Green Things and Boils, oh my!

For brunch on Sunday, I went over to my friend J & K's house. They are fully stocked with a kitchen with tons of sauces and goodies, as well as counter space and tools galore. This would turn out to be quite useful for our brunch which included the following:
1) Home-made Korean Pancakes: This is one of the easiest things to make around. Take some pre-bought store mix, and basically add water and whatever you'd like for a fantastic pancake. Our version had these ingredients -Clams, Baby Shrimp, Scallions, Onions, and the kick in the pants winner, Kimchi. Faaaantastic.

2) Seafood Boil. A couple of days before, J&K had made their own version of a seafood boil, which basically meant that they threw any and all types of seafood into a large pot and stirred in some sort of cajun spices and sauces and let it sit for a million hours until everything just kind of combined into a delicious red mixture.. not unike the meals you see at restaurants.

Here it is... look at those sexy legs! To that, I say.. YES WE CAN (eat).
Nom to the max.

3) At the last minute I had thought to bring over about 15 stalks of asparagus that needed to be cooked and consumed before I went to NYC for the week. J went and took about 5 cloves of garlic, some of the leftover onion from our pancake mixins', and did a perfect steamed asparagus to complement and complete our meal.

At the end, here were the final products: The pancake close up:








And the money shot:
Yea to a fantastic Sunday brunch.. and what a great send-off before my gluttony in NYC. Wish me luck as I am tempted by a bunch of rowdy hooligans and beckoning food trucks, carts, and kiosks.