Tag Archives: chinese

Chinese, Downtown, Food Halls, Restaurant Reviews

Northern Tiger

October 4, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This stand at Hudson Eats slings some decent dumplings and noodles.

My wife, a friend and I came here after a crazy chocolate event at ICE to get something a little savory to balance the palate.

We tried an order of their special kung pao chicken dumplings.

These were chock full of good quality chicken, but they were a bit over-sauced and dense. Good flavors though.

The next dumplings we tried were some pan seared pork and chive fuckers.

These were much better. They had great texture and contained the right balance of juices and meat inside. Very nice.

Finally, we tried an order of sour and spicy chicken noodles.

This contained two types of noodles: spaghetti-like clear “glass noodles,” and wide, flat noodles.

I think they could have used a hit of spice to them, but the chicken meat was high quality and the flavors worked. This place is worth a shot if you’re in the area, especially for the pan seared pork dumps.

NORTHERN TIGER
At Hudson Eats
225 Liberty St
New York, NY 10281

Chinese, Midtown West, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Savour Sichuan

August 10, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Savour Sichuan serves up some authentic, spicy-as-hell Chinese food in the heart of midtown.

Executive Chef Zhong Qing Wang masterfully put together about 14 dishes for a press meal, showcasing not only his skills as a chef but the difficult-to-come-by and truly authentic cuisine of China’s Sichuan province.

The Lazy Susan in the center of the table displayed an array of about a dozen styles of pepper, including pickled peppers, dried peppers, fresh peppers, pepper powders and peppercorns.

Let me get right down to business, since there are a lot of dishes to discuss here.

APPETIZERS

Cold Chicken with Sesame Sauce

This was tender, sliced white meat chicken that was served in a somewhat sweet and savory sesame sauce.

Pork Belly with Garlic Sauce (aka “meat curtains”)

These thin slices of pork belly were also served cold, but with a hot (spicy) chili oil and garlic sauce for dipping. Really nice. I took to calling it “meat curtains” because, well, that’s what it looked like, and I have a weird sense of humor. It isn’t the official name on the menu.

Szechuan Country Smoked Pork Ribs (aka “pork wheelbarrow”)

I gave this the “pork wheelbarrow” name as well, because it looks like a little ox cart filled with small pork ribs. The meat was sweet yet spicy, and also dry yet succulent. A conundrum.

Baby Shrimp with Red Pickled Pepper

This was a spicy dish. The sliced up green fresh peppers packed heat, but the shrimp were cooked perfectly and retained a great seafood flavor with good texture.

Dumplings

These were classic, with a great pop of spice from the chili oil.

Crispy Cucumber (no photos)

Very simple: just raw sliced cukes with a dipping sauce.

ENTREES

Fish Filets with Spicy Green Peppers

Widely hailed as one of the best dishes of the night, this large, family style platter was filled with green peppers (not too spicy) and perfectly cooked medallions of fish.

Sliced Beef

As a beef guy, you know I was liking this spicy dish made from slices of tender beef that were lightly breaded and stir fried with hot peppers and served on a bed of cooked scallions.

Yellow Millets and Pork Ribs

This tasted like a broken sticky rice type of grain with small bones of pork that had tender meat still clinging to them. Very tasty.

Szechuan Pepper Chicken/Pork and Crispy Noodles

Another favorite of the night was this dish made of tender morsels of baby pork rib (our platter didn’t have chicken but it can be made with either) and fried noodle twists. This was almost like eating a bagged corn chip type of snack. I loved it.

Okra with Garlic and Pepper

I hate to say it, but I loved the okra. Yep. I loved the veggie dish. It’s a rare thing to get okra that isn’t slimy after being cooked. This was nice and fresh, even had a little crisp to it, absolutely no slime, lots of bright flavors and a good amount of heat.

Seafood with Tofu in Spicy Sauce

This was essentially shrimp in a spicy broth with fried tofu pillows, onions and bell peppers. It was herby and fresh, and it was presented with a glowing candle beneath the bowl.

Fried Soft Shell Crab

I’ve never really been a big soft shell crab fan, but these were excellent. My experience is always that the shells aren’t really that soft. They still retain a “shrimp shell” quality to them, which I don’t want to eat. These were soft through and through, and beautifully fried with a delicious batter that was reminiscent of fried chicken.

Fresh Frog Pot with Pickled Peppers (no photos)

Although I didn’t take photos, this was a nice dish as well. I would have liked more lumps of leg meat as opposed to the other bits, but the sauce was very nice for putting on top of a bed of rice.

DESSERT

Brown Sugar and Steamed Sticky Rice Doughnuts

These had the texture and consistency of a rice or tapioca cake, but with a crisped outer edge and some sugar on top. Very simple and mildly sweet.

Fried Yellow Bean and Rice Ball with Black Sesame Paste

We all loved these. The sesame paste inside reminded me of the red bean breakfast and dessert pastries I sometimes get from Asian bakeries downtown, only the outside was soft and powdered instead of crispy.

Here’s a 360 shot of the table, and then the dudes all together.

If you have any interest in who everyone is, check out their Instagram accounts:

@mattbruck
@thecakedealer
@ibitefood
@rebecca_chews_nyc
@jillish_
@sherrytao88
@thegrubfather
@boddenbites
@missyanacherie
@gramercygourmand
@nomnomnycgirls
@food_p.o.r.n_ny
@thefoodjoy

I’ll definitely be back here again, and probably soon, since I’d really like to get more than just a taste of some of the dishes that I liked most. If you like spicy Chinese food, this is the place for you!

SAVOUR SICHUAN
108 W 39th St
New York, NY 10018

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Flaming Kitchen

July 12, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

This joint offers a legitimately awesome Chinese food experience in the heart of Chinatown. The owner contacted me for a press meal, and I was quick to jump at it.

The interior is very bright, pretty, spacious and clean. The dining room was a cool and comfortable, with plenty of elbow room.

My wife and I turned over all control of our meal to our waiter, Griffin, after we poured ourselves some oolong tea.

Griffin asked a few questions, like “do you like spicy foods,” and “do you have any food allergies.” Yes, and no. “We are willing to try anything.” He was happy about that, as he was planning to feature some of their more signature dishes for us. And then we were off…

The first thing that came out was this plate of thinly sliced conch with spicy chili sauce.

The conch was cooked perfectly. It was tender enough to make you think you were eating chow fun noodles, but it still had snap to it, like you might associate with nicely cooked squid. My wife referred to this dish as “protein noodles.” I thought that was pretty clever, so we did a “lift” photo for all of you Instagram whores out there.

And the spicy chili oil with lemongrass was the perfect sauce to deliver all of this deliciousness. I can’t wait to go back and order more of this. $12.95.

Next up were these pan fried mini pork buns. Say what? Steamed pork buns that are also fried? Yup. Take a look:

They’re steamed first, and then one side is pan fried to give it a nice flat and golden brown crisp. I’ve never seen this before.

Inside was tender and lemongrass-spiced pork meat with scallions.

They were great. The bun was soft but not sticky and gummy, and the pan fried side gave them a nice texture mix that kept my taste buds interested from the first bite to the last. $5.95.

We tried four entrees! The first, and our most favorite, was the braised whole tilapia in spicy chili broth with peppercorns.

It may LOOK like a nightmare of spices for you heat pussies out there, but I assure you, this broth is drinkable. I love spicy foods, and I can handle a lot of heat, but my opinion is that this dish is accessible to all in terms of spice levels, so long as you don’t actually eat the dried red chilies. The peppercorns within are very herbal and only slightly numbing, like a milder version of the kind you might encounter in spicy hot pot. This was so addicting that we brought home whatever was left of this dish so that we could have at that broth again and again. It almost had a Thai tom yum flavor, but without the lemongrass.

But back to the actual fish: the meat was extremely tender and flavorful. Braised means it is fall-apart tender, and with some fresh cilantro on top, you feel like you are eating so fresh and healthy. Tilapia is a light fish to begin with, so this was a very good entree to start with. $24.95.

We even got some of the cheek meat out of the head. Mmm.

Next up was sauteed frog with spicy peppers.

The frog itself was mainly leg meat, with some occasional other parts mixed in, but chopped up coarsely so you had to be deft with not swallowing any bones. I found that eating in the front of my mouth, with my front teeth, was the trick to maneuvering the bones with ease. The meat was awesome. If you haven’t had frog, to me it tastes like a cross between tender chicken and a scallop, both in texture and flavor.

This was the spiciest dish of the day, too, as the chopped dried red chilies added a nice kick in the balls for heat. The green peppers aren’t that spicy but they have a great aroma and flavor. I even tasted traditional black pepper in there as well. $22.95.

The next dish was salt and pepper jumbo shrimp. These were presented butterflied, but with the shells and heads still on, on a bed of lettuce, peppers, sliced garlic and scallions.

While a few were slightly overcooked, the salt and pepper batter was delicious and crunchy. We dipped these into the sauce that came with the frog dish as well, for a little more spice. $21.95.

We treated the fourth entree as a side, since it came out alongside our fish dish. This was sauteed pumpkin with celery and artichoke.

The pumpkin was tender and slightly sweet, which went well with the fresh braised celery flavor. The artichoke added a bit of starchiness to the dish, so if you are not a meat eater, this will be nice and filling for you, and unique to boot. Not bad for vegetarian! $14.95.

We will definitely be back here, again and again. For a long time my wife and I were hunting for a good Chinese and spicy Szechuan joint in the area. This place will give us our fix, every time. When you come here, I highly recommend the pan fried mini pork buns, the braised whole fish and the sliced conch dishes. All three were amazing. I realize that frog is not everyone’s cup of tea, but we really enjoyed it. If you are up for trying something different, then go for it because I recommend that as well. They also serve dim sum, so if that’s your thing, I suggest doing that as well. Oh, and upstairs is a karaoke joint. So you can go up and sing your ass off after dinner.

FLAMING KITCHEN
97 Bowery
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Bite of Hong Kong

July 6, 2016 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

My wife and I have been on the prowl for a good Chinese place for quite some time. We were always in search of something more – something simultaneously unique and seemingly authentic, serving up good quality food without breaking the bank. Our criteria were numerous: (1) It had to be in Chinatown, but (2) not overrun by tourists (Wo Hop). (3) It couldn’t be some cheap, dirty and shitty joint (China Red), or (4) some gigantic dim sum warehouse dining room or buffet (Golden Unicorn). (5) We also had no room in our hearts for more than one visit to an overpriced and super trendy joint (Red Farm). (6) Finally, the menu couldn’t solely consist of Americanized Chinese dishes as the signature items (every other takeout/delivery Chinese joint in the city).

Don’t get me wrong; I love a good General Tso’s chicken from time to time. But like I said above, we wanted something more. I know that list above may seem like a diva’s demands, or the asinine pre-performance requests of a big Broadway star, but in NYC, where Chinese food is insanely abundant, one can start to become very picky and particular about what they want to eat.

So where to go? Enter Bite of Hong Kong.

This joint contacted me to come in for a press meal. When I read the detail sheet, I was instantly excited. This place seemed to meet all of our criteria in one fell swoop, perhaps because the menu contains more than just standard Chinese/Cantonese fare. There are lots of Hong Kong style dishes in there, of which I am, admittedly, not fully familiar. But my and my wife’s eyes and appetites naturally wandered to those things, because they were different from what we typically see at Americanized joints. They were more authentic, and, in turn, more unique for us.

Take this trio of appetizers that we munched on, for example. Jellyfish, duck tongue, and crispy pig intestines. I’ve had jellyfish before, and the best way to describe it is this: a cold salad made of slightly crunchier/snappier noodles.

The shit is delicious, so don’t let the “ickiness” of the actual protein fool you. If I gave it to you without telling you what it was, you’d think it was a kind of noodle or unique vegetable.

I found myself jumping back and forth between that and the crispy pork intestines pretty regularly.

These were crunchy on the outside and softer on the inside, kind of like pork skin with some meat attached, only halved in the crisp and succulence factors. These make for a great snack. As far as intestines go, and offal in general, these are pretty top notch!

The duck tongues were a bit more tricky. I popped one into my mouth and started to chew, thereby pulverizing the small bone that is attached. This was my first time having them, so I had no idea. Our host, Mike, then explained that you eat the meat off and around the small bone, kind of like how you would take down a chicken wing.

These had more juicy fat content to them than I expected from a muscle like the tongue. When I say fat content, I mean the edible, flavorful kind – like in the marbling of a steak. Up front is the meaty part, and in the back, around the bone, is the fatty part. Cooked with soy sauce and spices, this is a fairly simple dish, and the portion size is large for an appetizer.

I’m a huge fan of chow fun, the long, wide, broad noodle dish. Here, we went with the dry preparation, which is simply hit with heat in a wok and tossed with veggies and protein. We chose beef.

The beef was incredibly tender and flavorful, and the noodles were cooked perfectly. This dry version, when executed properly, leaves pretty much no oil in the dish, and leaves behind no greasy texture whatsoever.

That was certainly the case here, because Chef Fei is a master on the wok. This chow fun ranks among the best I’ve had.

Speaking of bests, our next dish was hands-down the best crab dish I’ve had in NYC. That shot of Fei above was taken as he was plating.

This is fried Dungeness crab. The legs are separated from the body and each part is coated with a light and puffy batter before hitting the wok.

That batter is amazing, by the way. It reminded me of the batter you sometimes get around Chinese fried shrimp, or shrimp toast. Perhaps a beer batter?

In any case, you can put the shell in your mouth and pull the crunchy batter off with your teeth for a nice hit of savory with each bite of juicy crab meat.

I seriously couldn’t believe it when it came to the table. Not only was it stunning to look at, but the method of cooking preserved so much of that rich crab flavor in each bite of meat. As you can see, the final product gets topped with crispy fried shallots, scallions, egg, and shredded carrot.

Even the super flavorful gutsy bits were left in the shell and fried. I passed those off to my wife, because she loves that stuff.

A crab of this caliber will run you about $50 here, as the market price is in the $20’s per pound.

I should note here that all of their seafood is pulled right from these tanks, which are situated between the front dining room and the rear dining room.

Rear dining room:

The seafood selection here is truly incredible, by the way.

Dungeness crabs:

Coral shrimp:

In addition to those critters, they also have fresh lobster and a variety of live fish, which they serve whole in various cooking preparations. We saw one coming out to another table and were blown away by the presentation.

And instead of the standard orange at dessert time, Bite of Hong Kong brings over some slices of fresh watermelon. Nice touch.

So long story short: it seems that my wife and I found our ideal place for good Chinese food that meets our demanding list of criteria. I highly recommend this place. I wish I had discovered it sooner, as it opened in March 2015. I’ve missed out on over a year of this delicious shit! And if you happen to live in the area, you should pop in to try one of their lunch special meals for under $6. That is an insane bargain!

BITE OF HONG KONG
81 Chrystie St
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Joy Luck Palace

March 7, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Joy Luck Palace is a new dim sum mega-hall in Chinatown that took over the space from older dim sum mega-halls Grand Harmony and 98 Crystal Palace.

In classic dim sum style, carts are pushed around the restaurant offering delicious bites of dumplings. Confusing wafts of hot sterno and crystal shrimp shumai overwhelm you when you enter the large space. But soon, your nose settles in and your stomach takes over.

There really isn’t a bad item here. There are just some that are way more successful than others. Some seem like they are purely for affectation or Instagram fodder, while others are truly inspired culinary genius. In addition to those fun items, there are plenty of tried and true dim sum classics. And everything is cheap!

Since we came here with a big group of food bloggers and high-traction Instagrammers, we were able to sample almost every item on the dim sum menu. As such, I’m going to hit you with a photo-dump style review, where I highlight my favorites here and there with extra words other than the identity of the dish. I will say that this is one of the better dim sum joints I have been to, so I definitely recommend giving it a try.

Shrimp and pork:

Stewed pork meat:

Sticky sweet rice inside these leaves:

Veggie dumplings:

Beef rolled up in wide, flat noodles:

Same thing with shrimp here – both were good:

Another shot of the shrimp and pork:

One of my favorites is next: a fried pastry cruller wrapped in a wide rice noodle and then topped with soy dumpling sauce, green onion and cilantro. The play of different textures here was awesome.

These doughy pig buns are deceiving. They look like they might be porky and savory, but they were very sweet with an egg filling; more like a dessert. Very nice for Instagram posting.

That was a kiss of death:

Savory yet sweet pork bun:

There’s BBQ pork inside this flaky dough:

Assorted shrimp dim sum:

I’m a huge fan of tofu skin. Below is tofu skin wrapped around chicken. Very nice as well.

Assorted shrimp dim sum:

Beef meatballs:

Dim sum for days:

The tripe was a bit rubbery for my liking:

Savory filling inside this noodle nest:

These had a savory filling inside as well, not the expected sweet red bean paste that you often see in Asian pastry shops and bakeries. The outside “shell” is more like that gummy rice flour dough:

This noodle dish just needed a bit more salt, otherwise the texture and flavors were great:

Another favorite here. This is called “Buddhist’s Paradise.” Inside the noodle wrapper is a fried vegetable spring roll. Another awesome texture combination with winning flavors.

Veggie dumplings:

Another home run was this shrimp roll. Chopped shrimp, shrimp paste “sausage” and veggies are wrapped up in tofu skin and then fried. At first I thought the tofu skin might have been an egg pancake or crepe, but I was mistaken. Absolutely awesome.

More Instagram fodder here. This carrot-shaped cake/bun is filled with a sweet mashed taro or lotus root type of filling. The outside “shell” is more that same gummy rice flour dough I mentioned in another dish above. But perhaps a savory rabbit meat filling would be a nicer play instead?

Here’s that carrot with The Hungry Rabbit in the background:

These short ribs were a bit too chewy/fatty and lacked a grilled or charred flavor, but the sauce and meaty bits were actually pretty tasty. A slight tweak here and there would make them great:

Shrimp ball ala Trump toupee noodle nest:

Curried cuttlefish:

Deep fried bacon wrapped around a shrimp ball with mayo? SURE! These were excellent with chili oil too, instead of the mayo:

Chicken feet:

Egg custard tarts:

Durian fruit pastries:

So I think that’s a good guide to this joint. If you stick with the basics, and try a few flourishes that I highlighted here and there, with any LUCK you will come away overJOYed… KNEESLAP!

JOY LUCK PALACE
98 Mott St
New York, NY 10013

Chinese, Midtown West, Restaurant Reviews

Xi’an Famous Noodles

February 9, 2016 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Xi’an Famous noodles are good even in take-out form. My wife brought home some nice wide, flat chow fun style noodles for dinner tonight: one with beef, one with chicken and one with pork.

A photo posted by Johnny Prime (@johnnyprimecc) on Sep 9, 2016 at 12:44pm PDT

I think the chicken was the best, because the meat was just so incredibly tender. The pork was tasty, but a little dry. The beef was spicy and had a more robust kick to it, but ultimately I kept going back to the chicken for the meat.

We also tried some sweet and sour tofu soup, which was pretty good as well:

But the most interesting item of the night goes to this “lamb burger.” It wasn’t really in patty form. It was more like a Sloppy Joe, with loose chopped meat and some peppers, onions and spices.

And what Chinese meal on lunar new year would be complete without a sweet, sticky rice new year “cake?”

RELATED: Noodle Pulling Class

UPDATE 7/5/17

I really do love these noodles. Picked up four on my way home from work. I killed two in one sitting.

XI’AN FAMOUS FOODS
24 W 45th St
New York, NY 10036

Chinese, East Village, Restaurant Reviews

Han Dynasty

December 3, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I stopped by “Handy Nasty” for a quick bite before a concert at Webster Hall. I’d heard good things about this place, so was eager to try it out.

We started with an order of pork belly with chili oil. This was served cold. The texture of the fat on each slice was noodle-like, and the meat was likely boiled and then sliced thin. It had good flavor, and I suppose all that oil is meant to be mixed into the big bowl of rice that comes with it. Honestly we could have been full just from that alone. Portion sizes are massive here.

We also tried the dry pepper chicken wings. These were a little greasy from the puffed up batter on the wings, but the addition of chili paste, fried ginger, fried garlic and dry peppers give it a great flavor. The meat itself was very juicy.

My wife had the dan dan noodles. The mildly spicy peanut sauce is mixed into the noodles table-side for this massive portion of starch.

I went with an old stand-by: chicken lo mein. I figured I would test the mettle of this joint by ordering something so insanely common just to see how they executed. It was great – probably close to my favorite of the night, right alongside the pork belly. Quality ingredients and correct proportions of each, along with a hit of spice and low grease content, all make this a winner:

HAN DYNASTY
90 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10003

Recipes

Asian Popcorn

October 14, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Nothing too crazy about this “recipe.” It’s just a great, simple way to take your couch potato movie nights and Netflix binge weekends to the next level.

The most basic form of this would be to just add some sesame oil and soy sauce to your melted butter, and then sprinkle generously on your popcorn with a little bit of Chinese five spice, garlic powder, salt and toasted sesame seeds (regular seeds are fine too). Add or remove ingredients as you see fit, but this general set of shit will give your snack a distinct Asian flavor profile, chock full of earthy goodness. I love it, and it beats the movie theater version by miles.

I usually make popcorn with a hot air popper and then add my seasonings, but you can simmer your kernels in the sesame oil if that’s your thing. The addition of pots and pans into my popcorn snacking is just too much clean up for my blood! Worst case, just add the additional seasonings to a bag of microwave popcorn.

If you like spicy heat, then add some chili flakes or cayenne pepper as well. Feel free to get creative with this. For example, I’m generally not a huge fan of nori, but I would imagine that those who do like it might want to crunch up some dried seaweed paper into flakes and shake that up with the mixture as well. Shit, I may try some fish sauce and cilantro on my next batch for a Vietnamese/Thai kick.

Carcass Club/Beast Feast, Chinese, Flash Deals, Lower East Side/Chinatown, Restaurant Reviews

Golden Unicorn

August 7, 2015 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife picked up a Living Social deal for an eight course Peking duck dinner at Golden Unicorn, which is otherwise famous for its dim sum service. I was pretty impressed overall. But let me babble about a few other things first…

First off, I absolutely love this part of town. East Broadway and the surrounding side streets encircling the Manhattan Bridge still feel like old NYC. Not much has changed, save for a few new buildings poking up here and there. Walking around, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time, possibly even into another country.

This area is the real deal Chinatown, unlike the tourist-laden, knock-off selling, shitty DVD purveying hustle on Canal street. Take a closer look in these parts, or allow a lingering eye to glance into some storefronts, and you’ll spy people working at a ground floor dumpling factory. You’ll see produce, dry goods and health products that most white people have no idea about, and you can’t even read the signs to get more info, because they’re all in Chinese. It has a busy, bustling vibe and I love it.

Okay on to the fucking food. First up was egg drop soup with chicken. This was pretty good, though I did have to add a little bit of hot sauce to punch it up slightly.

Next were two types of dumplings: crystal shrimp and siu mai. Both were excellent. If you swing by this joint for dim sum, these are some of the delights you can enjoy from the carts. Both were packed with ingredients and nicely steamed.

Then the spring rolls came out. They didn’t look like much, but they had great flavor. I was actually surprised, although they were a little bit too greasy on the shell.

Our waitress then brought out the Peking duck. YES!

She cut off a good deal of the crispy skin and more generous portions of meat, and, with that, assembled six steamed buns for us, accompanied by hoisin sauce, scallion and cucumber. They were awesome. Crispy, fatty, juicy… all around excellent.

The rest of the duck was chopped up for us and served on a plate:

The meal kept on trucking along with this ginger beef and broccoli dish. The ginger was fresh and sliced thin. The beef was tender and flavorful. I think it was a mix of flank and rib eye. And the broccoli was steamed in the sauce, so it tasted awesome.

There was also some fried rice with shrimp, roast pork, ham, peas, onion and egg. We were really too full to dig into this too far.

At the end of the meal, some honeydew and orange arrived at the table. A nice, refreshing, smiley-face looking end to the meal.

Excellent deal. Jump on it if you see another Living Social or Groupon offering for this place. And definitely check out their dim sum on the weekend for lunch.

GOLDEN UNICORN
18 E. Broadway
New York, NY 10002

Chinese, Commentary, East Village, Fusion, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Tuome

February 26, 2015 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

I had the pleasure of being invited to another awesome food party event hosted by Tabelog. Here’s a fun shot of some of the people who run the shit here in NYC:

This time, the location was Alphabet City Asian fusion restaurant Tuome, which is run by fellow Long Island boy-made-good, Chef Thomas Chen. It’s gotten a great deal of good press lately in the food world, and now I understand why.

When I asked him about what inspired him to craft this sort of menu, he said, “It’s all based on things I grew up eating.” Long island is a mixed bag, at least in some parts that are closer to the five boroughs. Lots of cultural fusion happens naturally there, so it makes sense. But the execution of these concepts was spot on. I was impressed with this young dude’s skills.

Well hang on a sec… I’m getting ahead of myself. First we had some cocktails that were specially made for the night:

Fire in the Sky – sake, thai chili, yuzu.

Tuome City Limits – sherry, kina, Chinese five spice

East Village Blossom – brut rose, hibiscus, blood orange

All three were fantastic, but since I have a pair of ball between my legs, I’d have to say that the Tuome City Limits was my favorite of the three. The other two were incredibly tasty as well though.

Okay now back to the food. Here’s a composed plate of all the items we sampled. Everything here is on the menu with the exception of the oxtail roll.

First was the beet with quinoa, five spice yogurt and pumpkin seed. This was a really fresh bite of food, with a crunch texture and complex flavors to mix things up.

Next was the chicken liver mousse spread onto milk bread and topped with NY maple. Fucking delicious. So smooth and decadent, yet light.

Then I had the oxtail egg roll with cumin mint dipping sauce. This was one of my favorites of the night.

There was a really delicious blue crab mac and cheese too, with karee and mascarpone. I could eat this shit all day long. In fact, I wish more steakhouses would swap king crab and lobster mac and cheese dishes out for blue claw. Them shits be better, yo.

Next favorite of the night was the crispy fucking pork belly. Hoooolyyyyyyy shiiiiiiit was this good. Before the water pulled away I tried three. One with no sauce, and one with each of the two sauces they were serving it with. One was a mignonette style, and the other was tomato based, I think.

The last savory item was a soon-to-be wildly famous crispy fried deviled egg with chili. This was by far the ultimate winning dish of the night. Unbelievable. So tasty. Creamy, crunchy, with a little spicy kick to it. Perfect. I apologize for the blurry photo. I was so excited that I started furiously jerking while trying to shoot the photo. Needless to say I was shaking a little.

And finally, there was an ice cream filled beignet. It was more like a cream puff to my taste buds, but filled with ice cream and sweet red bean instead of cream filling. It definitely reminded me of some classic Asian desserts, but with a cream puff twist to it. Nicely done.

It was a really fun night. As always, the folks at Tabelog always make us bloggers feel like kings and queens, putting us at the center of attention. They’re a great crew, and the website is truly a great resource for your dining research needs. Here’s a shot of all the bloggers with some of the Tabelog peeps: