Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Year of the Rabbit

Hooray for the rabbits! To celebrate we feasted at Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown. Highlights include the crab and pork soup dumplings, whole steamed fish with ginger and scallions, shredded pork and preserved cabbage with dried bean curd and being denied dessert. I guess it wouldn't be Shanghai Cafe without waiting, customer-staff tension and dessert rejection. If, in a fantasy world, we were offered the option, we would've ordered the sweet red bean pancake and eight jewel sticky rice. Not even for the Lunar New Year... or especially not for the Lunar Year...

Shanghai Cafe

In the event that you cannot rest without having your sweets, keep walking south on Mott pass Canal Street and you will find Old Shanghai Deluxe. Not only do they have lazy susans, they will serve you both of these delightful desserts as you become mesmerized by Chinese television.

Shanghai Cafe
100 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 966-3988

Old Shanghai Deluxe
50 Mott Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 566-4884

Luv for Sachlav

It's as thick as the snow outside. They call it a drink, but it's more like a creamy warm custard to be eaten with a spoon. Popular Israeli coffee chain, Aroma Espressso Bar, brings us sachlav. Again, much like desserts from this region, it contains all my favorite ingredients: pistachios, coconut, rose water and cinnamon.


Aroma Espresso Bar:

Soho
145 Greene Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 533-1094

UWS
161 West 72nd Street
New York, NY 10023
(212) 595-7700

Midtown
205 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 557-1010

Filipino Adobo x 2 in New York Times

It's taken New York a long time to recognize adobo and last week the Times decided to highlight it twice in the Food Section:

The Cheat: The Adobo Experiment, January 5, 2o11 and a recipe Chicken Adobo by Sam Sifton who consults the city's pioneering Filipino restaurateurs Romy Doratan and Amy Besa of Soho's once Cendrillion fame and today's Purple Yam of Brooklyn.

Better late, than never...

Eat A Sunset

( Accabonac Harbor, Long Island, NY)

Eat a sunset in winter
Warmer than a stew

or mulled cider on a flame.

- E.L.M.

Happy New Year!

Making New Year's mochi at EN Japanese Brasserie

EN Japanese Brasserie
435 Hudson Street (at Leroy)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 647-9196

Gardena: The Valley of Good Eating

Once a fertile valley known for its strawberry farms, Gardena is now known for its proximity to LA’s major freeways, an aging Nisei generation and Hustler Casino. But with the gentrification of Little Tokyo and the over-crowded Sawtelle Blvd., Gardena may be Southern California’s best-kept Japanese food secret. And in addition to Japanese food, there are also quality Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Hawai'ian, Mexican and Chinese eateries. It's all here. But who am I kidding? Gardena is no longer a secret to those who care enough to do an ounce of research for something authentic, so here is my restaurant list (in no particular order):

Japanese:
- Sanuki No Sato (option of Japanese-style no shoes dining rooms as well )
- Otafuku Noodle House

- Azuma (humongous plates! grilled squid should not be overlooked!)

- Shinsen gumi (yakitori and Hakata raman)

- Tampopo - (great for lunch, good value and
- Marukai Market - (2 locations. The Pacific Market one has a takoyaki stand on some weekends)

Hawai'ian:

- Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop
- Local Place Bakery and Cafe (a King's Hawaiian outpost, ahh the )

Chinese:

- Sea Empress Seafood- (dim sum yum)

Vietnamese:

- Pho So 1

- Pho Consomme (full disclosure: they don't bus tables here until the end of your meal)

Korean:

- Yellow Cow Korean BBQ -

- Lee's Tofu - (fantastic bubbling tofu soup)

Italian:

- Eatalian Cafe (super fresh everything! nice open space in the middle of an industrial area)

Mexican:

- Ramona's - (no seating, but if you want your bean & cheese reliable and in bulk...)

- California Fish Grille - (fish tacos! think Chipotle, but way better)

- Josie's Place - (take out only)

Post-Yoga Pub Grub

Anticlimactic eating happens. After a cleansing yoga session SM and I headed to the British pub around the corner from the yoga studio in Santa Monica. ( Or maybe it was because our stomachs grew so accustomed to the large volume of food we've been eating all week that the Whole Foods food bar wasn't going to do.) The British restaurant/pub, Ye Olde King's Head, serves all the traditional fare one could ask for like bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, black pudding and fish n' chips. They even have a proper afternoon tea. There are actually three homey inn-style dining rooms, one of which has a fireplace for those chilly (not really) SoCal days. I had the Brum fish cakes served with peas and chips (fries). Brum fish cakes are basically fish croquettes, probably cod. They were delicious! At least I did the yoga and didn't have a pint.

It appears to be a British celebrity haunt according to the framed photos filling the walls, from Peter O'Toole to Oasis.

Ye Olde King's Head
116 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-1402