mangia: "the egg custard" place to go

Dan Tah which means Egg Custard. My first time trying this bakery's Dan Tah was from an order of 6 regular egg custards & 6 almond flavored egg custards.

The regular egg custards blew my mom, grandpa, and whichever sibling was at home away. They weren't that crazy about the almond flavor.

For these you must go to Chinatown.

Egg Custard King Cafe has several different flavors of egg custard. The regular egg, the white egg, almond, honey dew, mango, banana, and strawberry. The mango egg custard was the only one where we noticed chunks of fruit.

Fast forward till New Year's Eve dinner compared the King's 6 regular egg custard and 6 white egg custard with the ones Mom took out Dan Tah's from her usual bakery, and compared the two, the Egg Custard King's had a flakier shell, & between the egg custard, the white one tasted less sweet, & we liked it more than the regular yellow egg custard.

I suggest you do your own tasting, walk down Canal and turn on Mott St. Go down the stairs and deal with the mob of people all craving for egg custards! Oh and across the street is Ten Ren's pick up a bubble tea while your at it.

Egg Custard King Cafe
76 Mott St (between Canal and Bayard)
212-226-8208

Update: We tasted the melon, the banana, the strawberry flavored egg custard. Among the 3, most of us prefered the strawberry ones! I can't wait for my next visit to this small egg custard heaven!

mangia: Chinatown Landmark

This is an old stand-by for Cantonese-fare:

Head downstairs & you step into a time warp, the uniforms, the photo wall, the serve them quick, send them out epitomizes the pervasive attitude of Chinatown dining.

Disregard the decor, this isn't your luxurious date venue, instead, come here for the good food, the loud din of diners, the happy smiles of people chowing down. Roll into Wo Hop after your evening out at the clubs, the bars, & indulge in whatever Chinese fare you crave. You can start with the fried dumplings, an egg drop soup, hot & sour soup or wonton soup, or order the garlic eggplant

Some love the clams in black bean sauce, also either the beef or shrimp in black bean sauce is delicious, others swear by the pepper steak or house lomein. Just order whatever it is you can think of, you won't be disappointed.

Oh yeah, mind the lines... depending on the time you are craving for a hit of Chinese food...

Wo Hop
17 Mott St
New York, NY 10002
(212) 566-3841
Cross Street: Between Pell Street and Chatham Square.

Wo Hop
15 Mott St Is an upstairs establishment. Some prefer the restaurant downstairs.
Directions: J, M, Z; N, R; 6 at Canal St.
Admission: $7-$19

For Shanghainese Fare:

Joe's & Goodies take the cake!

Goodies: Many swear by its steamed crab soup & pork dumplings. I think they don't look pretty, but taste divine. Soup dumplings are my favorite! In Shanghai, I've stood in line at the Yu Yuan Gardens for authentic Soup Pork Dumplings, as well as gone upstairs to their haven for Soup Crab Dumplings, and these New York renditions are just as tasty!


1 East Broadway
Cross Street: Catherine & Oliver St.
Phone:: 212-577-2922
Website: N/A
Price Range: $1.00 - $19.00

Hours: Sun–Thu: 11:00 am–10:30 pm; Fri – Sat: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Directions: J, M, N, Q, R, W, Z, 6 to Canal, F to East Broadway
Payment: Credit cards accepted

Joe's Shanghai: I have to admit, even my mom will take me here. & She's a tough critic when it comes to Chinese food, she's Taiwanese-Chinese after all, and the Taiwanese KNOW food! We like to go to the Flushing branch, but either places are the holy grail's for Steamed Soup Pork Dumplings (Shao Long Bao) or (Shay Ruo Bao) Steamed Soup Crab Dumplings. Once they bring out the Bamboo Steamers, get ready for the hot soupy dumplings. Don't forget to poke a hole in the dumplings and drain the soup, pay attention to how hot it is when they bring it out, a burnt tongue isn't a fun thing to do. So be warned!!!


9 Pell Street
Cross Street: Bowery and Mott Street
Phone:: 212-233-8888
Website:
Price Range: Appetizers $2 -$6.95; Entrees: $4.25 - $17

Hours:11am –11:30 pm
Directions: N, R, J, M, Z, Q, W, 6 to Canal Street
Payment: Cash only

Joe's Shanghai in Flushing
13621 37th Avenue
Flushing, New York 11354-4110

mangia: my wishlist

In New York City, the city of some of the finest restaurants in the world, I am starting my wishlist of places to try

Morimoto: 88 Tenth Avenue, at 16th Street (212) 989-8883

Gyu-Kaku: 34 Cooper Square (212) 475-2989

Sushi Yasuda, 204 East 43rd St. (2-3)
Blue Ribbon Bakery, 33 Downing St.
Blue Ribbon, 97 Sullivan St.
Pearl Oyster Bar, 18 Cornelia St.
Inoteca, 98 Rivington St. (Ludlow): truffled egg toast

NJ

Hanyang Sushi: 433 S Washington Ave Bergenfield, NJ 07621 (201) 384-9441

mangia: NYC's Turkish fix

Right at the Exit of the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Ali Baba Restaurant is the spot for some delicious authentic Turkish dishes.

They offer all the typical variations of kebab's. The iskender kebab:slices of excellent kebab served over fried pide bread in a tomato sauce and topped with fresh yogurt, their marinated chicken kebab is both importantly-tender and succulent. I had a chicken adana: spicy chicken on a skewer and grilled, because I wanted to cut down and eat as healthy as possible. Try the Yogurtlu Tavuk (Yogurt Chicken). It is really tender grilled chicken over pita with yogurt and tomato sauce over the top. All entrees come with white rice, homemade bread, salad, grilled green peppers, and grilled tomato.

They also offer: lahmacun, a turkish "pizza" made, instead of pizza dough, with flat bread, & topped with ground lamb & garden vegetables. They also offer the kusbasili pide: a thick dough the size of a small torpedo stuffed with spicy chopped baby lamb with peppers and parsley, tasty from the cheese to sausage. As well as Kaskaval: a dill-flavored feta cheese, parsley, eggs, and butter. For Appetizers try the imam bayildi: eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes, and spices

I love their Middle Eastern offerings of dips and spreads with puffy bread, and the usual offerings of chops & baklava. I also love baba ghannouj: eggplant dip, they also have deep-fried eggplant with a yogurt sauce, & and eggplant in a nearly spicy sauce of fresh vegetables

I had alot of fun here. It's great for groups or just a meal with a friend. I also tried their famous Turkish coffee. I am looking forward to another trip here with good company!

Neighborhood: Midtown
206 E 34th St. (2nd Ave. & 3rd Ave.)
Subway: 6 @ 33 St
212-683-0104

mangia: another day, another Nobu???

Walking into Nobu's sister in midtown: Nobu 57, you are in the midst of a Trendy bar scene.

Walk up the stairs and you are greeted by the host. The space is expansive, the booths were cozy, and the decor was what you didn't expect if you look back to it's Tribeca Nobu.

We tried all the usual Nobu signature dishes, the Sashimi Salad, the Miso Cod, the rock shrimp, a house specialty for Nobu 57-the Tempura Crab Legs, a handroll... & our usual dessert: mochi

The food is truly Nobu, the space, I miss the coziness of the original landmark. Still, if you could swing by to taste this Midtown 2 story establishment, you might never want to head south...

Verdict: It's Nobu, try getting reservations, because between the 2, there's always a waiting list. It's good to know we can get our Nobu fix here too!

Nobu 57
40 W 57th St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 757-3000

Cross Street: Between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue
Directions: F at 57th St; N, R, W at 5th Ave-59th St

mangia: Winter in NYC= Fondue!

Artisanal: "The Fondue" place in NYC.

Ignore the pungent force of cheese as you walk into this lively restaurant. Our table of 4 was placed in the most private space Artisinal can offer: Le Cave, surrounded on 3 sides were wheels, as well as small pucks of aged cheese, all protected behind clear doors.

We've dined in the main dining room before, and the atmosphere is similar to Pastis, lot's of noise, lot's of food, lot's of fun!

The specialty is of course the fondue. We chose the Artisinal Blend, & ordered apples. fingerling potatoes, kielbasa, & they brought out a basket of bread cut for fondue. We also added the small order of gougeres, or cheese puffs. We were pretty hungry so we added a 2nd petite fondue, same blend, and added orders of apples & kielbasa. The additional fondue tasted like swiss, so they graciously remade the artisinal blend and the pot was delicious...

We finished with coffee, the ice cream wasn't that impressive, in fact we couldn't finish it, & you have to understand, we usually finish all ice cream ordered...

End result: loved the hidden private room we were seated in, although it is really cozy, you might not want to be in there if you are afraid of enclosed spaces.

Skip the dessert. We had an awesome waitstaff, when one was busy, someone was always able to help us.

Located on:

2 Park Ave., New York, NY 10016
at 32nd St.
212-725-8585