Dallas Restaurant: Chino Chinatown

Chino Chinatown
Trinity Groves in Dallas
3 stars

As with most restaurants in Dallas, Chino Chinatown's food was ok.  Average.  Not outstanding or so amazing that I need to go back.  (And note that I didn't go in with high expectations. . .)

• Duck Fat Fries:  Our favorite thing that we ordered.  Yucca can be stringy, but these fries were great -- I think it was pureed yucca that was formed and then fried.

• Steam Buns:  Fine, like the buns I've had everywhere else

• YellowTail Hamachi:  Fine, nothing amazing about it

• Duck Fat Fried Rice:  Fine, nothing to write home about

• Drunken Noodles:  Probably the most disappointing food item we ordered.  The noodles didn't seem to take on the flavor of everything else in the dish.  I've had similar dishes that were better at most hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurants.

• Vietnamese Iced Coffee:  The worst Vietnamese iced coffee we've had -- not strong enough; tasted like watered down coffee with a strange aftertaste.

• Evita Peron Cocktail (Broker's Gin, Genepy des Alpes, jalapeno oleo, lime):  Not too sweet and good balance of flavors, but not worth $11

• The Good, The Bad, The Weird Cocktail (Sauza 901 tequila, Pu Ehr tea, lime, aguardiente): Same as above

Recipe: Double Chocolate Tart with Black Pepper Ice Cream

Double Chocolate Tart with Black Pepper Ice Cream
Bon Appetit, Sept 2011, p.131
4.5 stars

This recipe is from Lauren Fortgang, the pastry chef at Le Pigeon in Portland, OR.

Now this dessert is one you should serve to your foodie friends.  Talk about interesting flavors. . .

Tips:

• The store was out of whole skinned hazelnuts so we substituted them for macadamia nuts.  Bummer since the hazelnuts would have imparted a Nutella-like flavor to the dessert.
• Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafers are not readily available anymore.  I used Keebler fudge wafers instead.
• Bake time is about 12 min, not 15.
• Be sure to set aside a lot of time -- candying the nuts takes almost an hour active time.
• The ice cream was so peppery!  Next time, I'm going to reduce the amount of pepper in half and make regular vanilla ice cream base, instead of their ice cream recipe which calls for 9 large egg yolks.
• Take the dessert out of the freezer and put it in the fridge at least a few hours before you serve it.

Overall, a really nice dinner party worthy dessert!

Recipe: Nectarine and Blue Cheese Salad with Plum Vinaigrette

Nectarine and Blue Cheese Salad with Plum Vinaigrette
Bon Appetit, Aug 2012, p. 88
5 stars

Great salad -- a new favorite!!!
We need to make this a few more times before the peaches are gone from the grocery stores!

The plum comes through in the dressing; it's a nice subtle flavor.
Note: I used the rest of the plum solids in a cocktail.

Ingredients include just:  plums, mixed greens, nectarines or peaches, blue cheese, Marcona almonds, plum vinegar or red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

A great salad to serve at a dinner party.

NYC Restaurant: the bar downstairs

old fashioned and
cellar door cocktails

rock shrimp ceviche
(they were out of striped bass ceviche)

octopus a la plancha

the bar downstairs
hip.  cool.  dark.  inconspicuous.  trendy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, drinks, food and of course, company.  And it wasn't too loud like other bars.
(Note: I was so excited to eat the chicken and chorizo paella that I forgot to take a photo!)

The cellar door cocktail I had was really good, balanced.  I should try to make it, but it involves too many ingredients we don't have:
pimms no.1, lemon, bergamot syrup, sailor jerry spiced rum, st. elizabeth allspice dram

will go back. one day.

NYC Restaurant: Buddakan

Drinks to start off!

Edamame Dumplings

Roast Duck Noodles

King Crab Hot Pot

Lovely meal, ok, meal-that-exceeded-my-expectations at Buddkan in NYC near Chelsea Market.  Super cool vibe and lounge. Service was amazing.  Worth every penny.

Drinks
BENEVOLENCE - belvedere, watermelon, pavan, Thai basil
(pavan is a grape liqueur)

RIESLING


Food
EDAMAME DUMPLINGS - shallot-Sauternes broth
(rich, flavorful, perfect)

KING CRAB HOT POT - scallops, shrimp crackers
(2 huge scallops, 4 pieces of king crab, bok choy, Chinese root vegetables?; fried shrimp crackers, white rice, cilantro)

ROAST DUCK NOODLES - superior broth, duck wontons
(salty but flavorful broth, slices of duck cooked perfectly, duck shu mai, Thai red chiles, pickled ginger)

NYC Restaurant: Momofuku Ma Peche

the dessert cart

crack pie
and
candy bar pie (in the background)

Ever since I learned about David Chang and his Momofuku empire, I've wanted to dine at one of his restaurants, and I got the chance to do so on Saturday.  Momofuku Ma Peche is Chang's largest and newest restaurant -- and allows reservations via OpenTable.  (Note:  Ma Peche means "mother peach.")

Interestingly, the service is like dim sum -- carts come around with small plates and then you also have the ability to order larger plates to share.  With just two of us, we ordered 1 large shared plate, the fried chicken habanero-style.  It was the best, most tender (and fresh-tasting) fried chicken I've ever had.

My only 2 complaints of the evening:  we asked the server to box up our fried chicken which she didn't (must've forgotten), and the dim sum cart with cold plates never came to our table.  We ended up eating a lot of fried food from the hot small plates that evening.

Also, I'd heard MUCH fanfare about the crack pie which was just ok.

Here is what we ordered:

Cocktails

• seven spice sour - sake, lime, yuzu, togarashi
• mountainside - japanese whiskey, fennel, bitters

Dim Sum Cart

• pork bun
• trout bun
• cod fritters
• shrimp balls
• spicy rice cakes

Chef's Specials

• fried chicken - habanero

Dessert

• crack pie
• candy bar pie
• decaf coffee

All good food. However, I don't have a need to go back to ma peche; next time I would like to try Chang's noodle bar or ssam bar.

Recipe: Vietnamese Pork Chops

Vietnamese Pork Chops
Bon Appetit, June 2013, p. 46
5 stars

This is a great protein to add to an Asian-inspired meal.

I love the slight sweetness from the brown sugar along with the savory/salty flavors from the fish sauce.

Here's all you need:  thick cut bone-in pork chop, shallot, fish sauce, light brown sugar, unseasoned rice vinegar, vegetable oil, Kosher salt, black pepper, lime halves

Tips:

• We grilled the pork shop instead of cooking it in a large skillet on the stove
• Be careful not to overcook/over-reduce the marinade which is served with the pork chop