Playing Catch Up – Part 1
I know it’s been nearly two months ago since my last update. Once you stop regularly updating it’s a really slippery slope to falling way behind. I’m setting myself on a schedule. Mondays and Thursday! There!
So I did check out Inoteca Di Palo. But before that I went to Rainbow Cafe (where they have sticky rice stuffed chicken wings) with my friend Joey.
I decided get something more breakfast-y and get a the breakfast meat (Spam) and eggs on rice. There’s also lettuce underneath there. It wasn’t too bad but then again it’s hard to get this wrong. We also got an order of the chicken wings and I was stuffed. Those wings are really filling. Next time I’ll have to try something I haven’t had there before. I’m thinking the curry fishballs.
Afterwards we went into the Inoteca. It’s a really nice and small shop. I didn’t get any wine though. I know even less about Italian wines and I can’t afford any.
Then wandering around a bit we dropped by Papabubble, one of my favorite candy stores, to watch them make some candy and get some sweets.
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In Chinatown you’re always bound to find something you haven’t noticed or strange nearly every time. Take this coffee shop on Baxter between Canal and Hester streets.
From the looks of it it’s been around for a while but of all the years I’ve been going to Chinatown it’s only this March I came across it. But in somewhat imaginative wonder I was expecting something more than what I found inside. They don’t sell much besides random bags of chips and candy, sponge cake pastries, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Nearly everything is only 65 cents from what I remember. How are they still in business???
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I went back to Pho Bang on Mott Street after a long time. I usually get the pork chop on rice but decided to get a bowl of pho since I haven’t had it in a while. I don’t remember which one this was exactly but it was good!
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Part 2 coming soon!
(Not So) New Wine Store in Little Italy/Chinatown
Well new to me. Friday afternoon, on the way to meet up with some friends, I couldn’t help but notice Enoteca Di Palo on Grand street between Mott and Mulberry streets. I think it was how different it looked compared to the stores around it and the colors and hue of the interior that stopped me on a cloudy gray day. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go in because I was running late. Also I felt a bit weird that I had no intention of buying anything but just wanted to take photos.
It seems to be at the end of an extension of Di Palo’s with the middle still under construction. I couldn’t really discern anything peaking in so I’m wondering what that middle part will be.
I will check it out again and probably go into the enotica tomorrow.
[Update] Hmm it’s been open since Nov. Why haven’t I noticed it???
A New Drink I Like and Sunday Night’s Wine
Friday night I went to a birthday celebration for a friend of mine at Onieals (warning: music on site) in Little Italy. There, I decided to try a glass of Stella Artois ($6). I wasn’t really expecting much but I liked it. It didn’t have a bitter alcohol taste and was quite pleasant to drink. I would’ve finished it if I wasn’t stuff from dinner right before. Also if it wasn’t getting late (I got home at 2:45 am). So, I’ve added it on my very short list of alcoholic drinks I actually like (Guinness is the only other drink on the list). I also tried my friends Samuel Adams which had some spices in it which made it taste quite tasty. I would also add it to my list if I could remember what exactly the drink was called.
On to last night with a glass of red wine.
I didn’t spill the wine.
Don’t Worry, I’m Not Going to Be an Alcoholic
I’m into Asian dramas and some new ones I’ve been watching are Kami no Shizuku (Japanese) and Terroir (Korean). Both have to do with wine and have peaked my interest in wine and, to a more general extent, my casual interest in alcoholic drinks. Those shows, especially Kami no Shizuku, have shown me that like many things there’s a deeper level to wine and other alcoholic drinks.
So I’ve decided give wine another chance and to be more discerning when drinking alcoholic drinks. This won’t be a hardcore study and I’m not studying to be a sommelier but I’ll be thinking and analyzing what I drink and learning from dramas, the internet, and friends. I think I should also note that I don’t really like alcoholic drinks (the bitterness of the alcohol and burning sensation in my throat) and I don’t really know much about wine or tasting wine.
Anyway, Sunday night I had the above wine. My dad got it because he likes it and it’s cheap.
It wasn’t too bad. I was able to over look the smell and taste of alcohol to note the flavor. However I wasn’t able to sort what what that flavor was (pineapple and citrus, notes the back label).
The back label also says that it goes well with salads, fish, and light meats. Yeah – that wasn’t what I was eating – roast pork on rice from the guy on Chrystie Street. They totally did not go together.
Another thing, I’m not sure how exactly you drink wine but I think you sip it more than gulping it down like beer. It helped me taste it more.
The first of this excursion went well. I look forward to drinking more!
*CHOMP* Happy *NOM NOM* Thanksgiving *YUM*!
Sorry, I shouldn’t talk and eat at the same time.
I’ll be back Sunday night/ Monday with pics from a week of feasting! I already have one Thanksgiving dinner under my belt (quite literally). I have a potluck at church tonight, a family dinner tomorrow night, and a turducken dinner on Friday (and football to work all that off on Saturday).
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!
Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar
I got to check out the new Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar early. It was a friends and family/soft opening type of thing. Ed and Robyn went earlier in the day and brought back a bunch of stuff so I tried a several things already before going there myself.
The place is pretty much a bakery. There’s an open kitchen in the and a display case of cakes, pies, and cookies. Normally there isn’t a place to sit. There are waist level tables for standing and eating. On I guess special ocassions or reservations, the tables can be lowered and the wooden box stools stacked off to the side (just beyond the right side of the picture) are used as seats as a private dining room. There is a connection (to the left of the open kitchen in the picture) to Momofuku Ssam Bar.
My favorite dessert there, of the ones I tried, was the banana cake. It was banana bread, banana cream, hazelnut crunch, gianduja fudge, and I think peanut butter on the top.
It’s the one of many huge cakes that they have. So with the fact that they give you a big slice it’s kinda hard to finish. It’s probably best if you didn’t try to finish one slice in one sitting or by yourself. Though I’m not sure if they’d change how much they will serve.
The peanut butter cookies were really good as well. And, I don’t have any pictures of them, but the compost cookies were really interesting. Yeah I know compost cookies don’t exactly sound appetizing and what they’re made of doesn’t help either. It’s made of potato chips and pretzels, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. It’s not the most even of tastes when you bite into one as you will sometimes taste or feel the pretzels or sometimes get a slight taste of potato chip. But overall it tastes like a chocolate chip cookie, even though it’s made from just whatever scraps there may have been lying around.
Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar open officially tomorrow, Saturday. Here is their entire menu (via Eater).
Here are the rest of my pictures and here’s a much more extensive article and with better photos from Serious Eats NY.
