Restaurant Week: Yerba Buena Perry

NYC Restaurant Week is here again! To celebrate, Sd and I went out to Yerba Buena Perry in the West Village for dinner. To be honest, I had no idea what this place was going to be about... but those situations often make some of the best dining experiences. Sure enough, I returned home happy, satiated, and glowing (mostly due to the two generous pours of chilled Malbec Rose). More amazing pics on the next page!

Lobster Rolls

One of my favorite foods of all time is lobster. Chunky, perfectly intact, unadulterated pieces of claw or tail meat. Dipped in butter or nothing at all—the flavor and texture just can't be beat. It wasn't until a couple years ago that I discovered a new way to enjoy this delicious crustacean: meet the lobster roll. Earlier this month I had the honor of participating in the TastingTable Lobster Roll Claw-Off, which made all of my friends supremely jealous (whether they admitted it or not.) My verdict and more pics on the next page. 

What's for Brunch?

There are about a million different options in New York City for brunch. Long gone are the days when french toast and waffles were your best options. Most restaurants today have dedicated brunch menus and enticing "drink included" specials to lure you in on an otherwise sleepy Sunday morning. Here are some of my most recent brunch discoveries that are worth noting.

Slice: The Perfect Food

On a gorgeous Tuesday, I took a stroll up Hudson Street to a restaurant called Slice. I met up with A (a.k.a. @RavenousPanda) for lunch, a fellow tweeter who shared the same love for food and pandas. A currently works with Slice, so she was able to tell me about how the organic pizza company came to be. The concept of making healthy and delectable comfort food was initially aimed to satisfy the cravings of two ultra athletic women: Miki and Radha. They are sisters, the co-owners of Slice, and extreme sport enthusiasts. They wanted to create a speedy and simple hunger quencher that tasted great and was also good for you.

Morakote Siam

M and I have walked passed Morakote Siam on Carmine countless times and we've never thought to try it... that is, until now. Their lunch menu had a variety of Thai classics, including my favorite: Pad See Ew. While it wasn't as good as my go-to Pad See Ew source (Land Thai Kitchen), it wasn't bad! The salad and spring rolls included in the lunch special were also tasty. For $8 or so, it was a pretty solid working lunch find.

Lelabar

Lelabar is one of my favorite wine bars in the West Village. It also helps that it's just three blocks away from the office (can we say happy hour?) Convenience aside, I've also always enjoyed very good wines, foods and service there. Not to mention that on every Wednesday and Saturday, they also offer $1 oysters. They're known to serve Malpeques, but this time they had a local variety from Long Island (not Blue Point). When oysters aren't on the menu, I like to nibble on their cheeses and meats.

EN Japanese Brasserie

EN Japanese Brasserie began their lunch service three months ago and would advertise the menu in my office building's lobby. So every day coming into work, I would walk by it and predictably do a double take on the words: CRISPY FRIED CHICKEN. Well finally today, I got the chance to check it out with my good friend S. We practically had the entire front of the restaurant to ourselves, which made it quite a zen-like experience. I ordered the Unadon (grilled eel over rice, served with mizuna and watercress salad w/ ponzu dressing and housemade miso soup) for $13 and a side of Buta Bara to Renkon no Kinpira (thinly sliced pork belly & sauteed lotus root) for $5. S ordered the Crispy Fried Chicken (served with the same salad, freshly made tofu with wari joyu, chef's selection of obanzai & oshinko, steamed white rice and miso soup) for $13. While I thoroughly enjoyed my unadon and pork belly and lotus root, I was quite covetous of S's lunch set's presentation and variety. Fortunately, she was kind enough to let me sample everything on her plate. It was a great way to end an otherwise dreary (and rainy) Friday.

Cabrito

I enjoyed a colorful and spicy lunch at Cabrito with M on Thursday. For $10, you get two tacos and fixings. The corn tortillas are house-made and served with mexican rice and black beans. I tried the  Lengua y Tomatillo (braised tongue with avocado salsa) and Pork Belly (braised with tamarind-arbol glaze, jicama, green apple slaw). The Pork Belly taco was money. Braised tongue wasn't as tender as I thought it would be.

Bento Box Battles: Yama

Contestant: Yama

Location: 30-40 Carmine St., West Village

Order: Very Special Set Bento Box

Keste Pizzeria

For lunch today, M and I went to Keste Pizzeria to use the Blackboard Eats promo. I ordered the Prosciutto E Arugola personal pizza (as shown above) and it turned out to be absolutely delicious, but way too big. After the free appetizer (a filling caprece), I was only able to handle one slice!

Oysters: Raw vs Fried

On a whim, my new officemate S and I decided to hit up the Mermaid Oyster Bar for their Blue Plate Special (Lobster Sandwich, Blue Point Toasted Lager, and Old Bay Fries for $20) on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, S got called into an end-of-day meeting that finished an hour after the special was over. Being the determined eaters that we are, we ordered the Lobster Sandwich anyway and were rewarded with heaping piles of juicy lobster meat between two burger buns.

Out of the Kitchen

The Chicken Tangine and Cous Cous from Out of the Kitchen was surprisingly delicious. The meat was tender and packed with great Moroccan spices. I love the texture of Cous Cous in my mouth. It's like eating soft Pop Rocks to me. For about $12, it was enough food to have two filling lunches with.

Blue Hill

I was inspired to celebrate my birthday this year at Blue Hill after being exposed to an issue of national importance. No, the Obamas' date night didn't have anything to do with it. As of late December, I have been immersed in Michael Pollan's book, "The Omnivore's Dilemma" during my routine commutes to work. Prior to opening this book and watching Food Inc., I pathetically had little knowledge about the food industry. To make a long story short, I became captivated by the progressive, yet also ancient practice of sustainable (polyculture) farming and organic (grass-fed) meat production. Driven by the notion of eating with integrity, I felt compelled to seek out somewhere or someone in the city that also shared the same point of view. Luckily, Dan Barber of Blue Hill was well ahead of me. He has been leading the farm-to-table movement for nearly a decade. Upon browsing Blue Hill's understated website, I knew that this was the right place to start the next chapter of my 20-something year old life.

Do Hwa

This is the Ojingo Bibimbop (Spicy Squid) at Do Hwa. It is probably one of my favorite lunch places during the week. Whenever I have a free hour to spare, I try to hit this place up. Occasionally, I order delivery (it's not nearly as good as sit-down though). Not only do they have absolutely fantastic bibimbop, they offer a variety of fantastic lunch boxes. They also are set up to do Korean BBQ, but I prefer going to K-town for that. Price-wise, lunches are a solid deal ($12-14 for a lunch box or bibimbop), but their regular dinner menu is a bit pricey. I guess if you're craving for Korean food and want to stay in the West Village, this would be the place to go.

The Mermaid Oyster Bar

After being "twersuaded" by @MermaidInnNYC, I spontaneously decided to check out the $1 oyster special at The Mermaid Oyster Bar on Tuesday night. However, I had no idea that my simple endeavor would turn into a comprehensive oyster and beverage tasting. Thanks to Jonathan, my fantastic bartender/oyster navigator, I was able to experience some delicious new appellations and compliment them to a wide range of drinks. I also chit chatted with Steve, the general manager, about the restaurant and the world of food. They were both exceptionally knowledgeable and friendly people.