Tag Archives: ramen

my delicious weekend~

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my foodielicious weekend!

it’s been a while since I went nuts and went on a rampage feeding my cravings~ partially, my boyfriend and I are trying to save money.. but this weekend, we let loose a little :]  here we gooooo~

Friday night! – Moshulu (Philadelphia, PA)

foie grasFoie Gras on Griddle Brioche

this was my 2nd time having foie gras~ yuuummmy~ the port wine jus was the perfect complement!  the vinegrette taste of it evened out the powerful savoriness of foie gras.  i can still draw the taste from my memory.. but i can’t quite pin point the words to describe the complex taste of foie gras.. it’s very heavy… but delicious.  gooey but juicy.  haha anyway, this is the appetizer the waiter at moshulu highly recommended.  i wish there’s more of it for a pricey $20 :/

duckDuck with confit, whipped sweet potato, light curry sauce

the description on the menu definitly drew me in me~  i also ordered duck my first time at Moshulu and it was quite the dish to be remembered, so i thought, well can’t go wrong with that! … soOOoo the picture looks pretty amazing– but frankly, i was a bit disappointed with the quality.  the chef apparently suggests medium, but i think differently… perhaps it’s the way they cut it.. but i found the meat to be quite chewy 😦 normally, duck shouldnt be chewy. the texture should resemble chicken more or less– do you recall eating chewy chicken? lol anyway, the garishes were ok– whipped sweet potato went well with the confit.  the curry sauce added a little something extra to the seared duck, but i did wish the curry was slightly more potent to match the foie gras as a follow up.

IMG_0843chicken with truffle gnocchi and shiitake mushrooms in pesto sauce

I think my boyfriend picked the winning dish!  the chicken was cooked to perfection! so tender and juicy FAAAR from being dry.  my favorite part was the truffle gnocchi!! it’s like little balls of explosive truffle goodness in your mouth!! yuuummm wish they have that on the menu as a side ❤  please try!

like the last 2 times, we dined at Moshulu with the benefits of a Groupon.  lol just fyi– i’ve noticed that about every 6 months, Moshulu advertises on either groupon or livingsoical with the $25 for $50 worth of food.  I highly recommend catching this deal before making the reservation because this place is quite pricey!  the presentation of the dishes is fantastic! but it’s one of those places where looks can be a bit deceiving lol

Saturday grocery shopping! – Mitsuwa (Edgewater, NJ)

boy o boy do i loooove this place!! it’s been a very long time since i’ve been here since it’s so far away, but the trip this saturday was definitely well worth it!  the best part about shopping at Mitsuwa is that i get to pig out and rape the food court before walking off those excess calories I did not need to intake lolol

Santoka IMG_1767

Santoka – Shio ramen combo with negi rice

IMG_1766Katsu don setto! with a $2 tempura shrimp lol

everything was delicious if you ask me! :]  very simple japanese comfort food! the food court is a MUST when visiting Mitsuwa!!

now onto the grocery shopping part :3

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Onigiri!!IMG_1776

flowery pink sparkling sake~ this was actually quite delicious, tasted like soda almost hahaIMG_1775

vanilla and chocolate powder for baking – i didn’t buy them but they look so cute! i mean of course~ the japanese have to make even the most irrelevant item adorable! lolIMG_1773

croquettes!! yuuummm IMG_1774

my staple drink when I was in Japan for study abroad  – how nostalgic 🙂IMG_1778

the back of the bottle has winnie the pooh on it!! sooooo cuuuute!

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last item and absolutely a MUST! some wagyu beef!!! XD totally necessary for shabu shabu

Improptu visit to NYC!!

weeeeellllll…. since we were already up in North Jersey and just happened to be across the Hudson River— why not go into NYC? XD

We stopped by the local 508 Gastrobrewery in Tribeca for some drinks while catching the game on TV.  Sorry no pictures this time!

I ordered the black berry margarita and boy did it pack a kick in it! then again.. i’m a super light weight lol we also got the truffle mac and cheese as munchies~ yum yum yum — seriously, truffle ( like bacon) makes everything tastes better! lol

Afterwards, we went to Cha Chan Tang in Chinatown (Pell St and Mott st) for some late night grub~

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(left) Portuguese baked chicken with rice (right) pineapple fried rice

this is one of my favorite places to grab some cheap, homey, satisfying MSG filled food!  if you have tried it yet, you should definitely stop by this Hong Kong-ese cafe when you’re in the area!  for breakfast? lunch? tea? dinner? they got it ALL! A huuuuge menu and the majority under $10!

just a side note about this place: the sanitary rating for is now a C… so you might want to watch out lol don’t get anything not well cooked!

aaaannndd that’s it for now! more to come later! it’s restaurant week! 😀

Feeding the Monster (me)….

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So I guess you can call this another food tour lol … didn’t intend to have one.. but yea~ haha I got huuuuunnnngry~! :O~

Saturday

When you’re at Shake Shack, getting a Shack Stack is a MUST!!! Why else would you go to Shake Shack…?? Come on! It’s totally worth it YUMMMM the fried croquette of mushroom and cheese is DELICIOUS!

Hardly a line at the Battery Park one, I love it! 😀

This is one tasty and refreshing watermelon martini! The awesome part was that aside from using fresh juice as the ingredient, they also put diced watermelon cubes in your drink!

Didn’t intend to go into MORIMOTO… But we arrived at the “scene” too early and had to kill sometime… Lucky for us, Morimoto was right around the corner so we decided to swing by to check it out while enjoying a drink. Then the menu came out and seduced me with its enticing words. I was such a sucker, I fell into the trap and ordered the Tempura Rock Shrimp. So tasty! Perfect munchies to go with a drink! Wasabi sauce on the left and spicy mayo in the middle, both were very good! At first, I thought I like the wasabi coated ones more.. but it’s not exactly something I can keep eating. Thankfully, there’s a 2nd flavor to switch to which turns out so perfect for my pallet.

Sunday

I briefly mentioned it last time… The same story goes… we put our names down at Ippudo.. but there was a long wait, so what do we do? get TAKOYAKI!! I don’t know another spot in New York that specializes in Takoyaki.. but regardless, Otafuku is like.. 2 blocks away from Ippudo, a totally do-able side stop in the midst of your eternal wait for that ramen. These balls are delicious… what else do you need to hear?

Again, the o-so-addiciting bowl of noodles~ how I cannot live without you! At least this time I tried something different. This is the San Riku Miso Ramen (三陸味噌ラーメン). Oyster based Tokotsu soup based with chili oil on top paired with the regular braised pork and steamed oysters!  It was phenomenal! So glad I had the chance to try this.  This is a special edition made just on Sunday 3/11 to commemorate the disaster that fell upon Fukushima a year ago…. all the proceeds will go toward Japan to help the people in need.

I finished it!! 😀 it was tough, but I did it!  and you know what I realized…? Ippudo doesn’t serve salt and pepper or any other condiments or sauce at the table… so it’s either you get spicy.. or not spicy.. you got no way to tweak it according to your likes. A very prideful move– not allowing its customers to change the taste of the ramen.

Sundae and Cones

Cutest little ice cream shop 2 blocks away from Ippudo! They got many flavors and a great variety of Asian flavors like green tea, red bean, taro, sesame, honey and ginseng…. I’m lactose intolerant so I simply just took a picture of the taro ice cream and called it a day 😛

Happy hour!
While trying to eat on a budget, we still tried to take advantage of all those happy hour deals out there! We came to Yakiniku West and had such a fantastic experience. (ps. they make you take off your shoes!) We didn’t want to order too much.. but after we sat down, we realized there was a $10 minimum per person. SoooOOooo
How to pig out while spending the absolute minimum? we had 4 people so that’s $40 dollars…
-Pitcher of Kirin $9.50
-bibimbap $9.50
-okonomiyaki $7.50
and… 2 plates of (US) Kobe beef short rib!!!! 😀 special on sunday for $6.95 for 3 oz~

TOTAL= $40.40

mission accomplished! 😀

Came home… and there was soft shell crab waiting for me :D! I wasn’t hungry… but! If I didn’t eat it then.. I wouldn’t see it the next day so.. 😛 had to man up and chow down!

Seriously, how exciting was this weekend?! :D!

road trip to eat

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12:58pm Parked in NYC…. walking over to put our names down at Ippudou… 1.5 hour wait

1:10pm arriving at Otafuku…..

1:12pm Downing Takoyaki in order to cure hunger for now…. ($10 for a dozen)

2:03pm sat down at Ippudo….

2:20pm Slurping the Akamaru Modern – the signature of Ippudo ($17 USD)

5:14pm Shopping at Uniqlo and asking for Hello Kitty bags….

8:45pm Sat down at Shabu Tatsu East Village…..

9:03pm starting with the salad …..

9:10pm The beef was served to our table….

9:11pm at last the water is boiling!

9:12pm too busy to take another picture…..

10:15pm ice cream!

10:20pm very satisfied and beyond full!

10:25pm Check~! $213.54 for 5 people.. 8 servings of prime rib-eye and a pitcher of Sapporo.

new york food tour 1

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pick some booger or w/e

drink and eat

inevitable stage

This cartoon is cute, right? I think it explaines my daily routine perfectly when I was in nyc.  All i did was pull some silly stunts, eat and drink, and poop it all back out! It’s a perpetual cycle LOL “gross….” I know! but I’m still amused. 😛

Anywayz, in the past couple of weeks, I’ve been going in and out of NYC.  You probably have an idea of what I spent most of my time doing… Eat.  NOM NOM NOM NOM~  I feel so fortunate to be able to have a taste of the city each time.  Now I feel like I have the duty to share my experience with the woOORrld, which brought about “NYC food tour 2“, my first post. Quite frankly, the major stimulus for starting this blog is because I really needed a place to write down all the places I went to before I forget!  So now catching up with what’s going on.  Part 2 is already up, now comes part 1.  This list is definitely not as long, it’s a little less… diverse? but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t expensive lol and I assure you it was just as adventurous as part 2.  Again, for now they are linked to my yelp page with my reviews.  Maybe more on this later.

    1. PS 450 – typical pretentious midtown bar but with bangin’ food!
    2. Lavo – for Restaurant week
    3. Totto Ramen
    4. The Cupping Room – happy hour free wings
    5. Papatzul
    6. Original chicken and rice
    7. Ava Lounge – Gilt City’s 4 margaritas for $24
    8. Almond– brunch

Totto Ramen （鳥人ラーメン）

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I actually did one review on Totto already a while ago. However, I thought i revisit this topic, because lately I just tried more of their dishes. I do have to say, they are superb and nothing has changed since my initial review. 🙂  To make this as organized as possible, I’ll just go down the list according to their menu and things I’ve tried.

1) Chicken Paitan Ramen 丸鶏白湯ラーメン

Their original recipe and no doubt, hands down my favorite of the bunch.  It is so so so flavorful and savory.  With each bite, I just want to eat more!  Also, this bowl of ramen uses hand-battered ramen (I believe).  So it actually resembles the texture of soba.  But with this feature, it compliments the broth so well, because it absorbs the flavor of the soup and delivers the kick even more.  I personally like to eat this with their homemade “Rayu” sauce, which is their special hot sauce (as you can see on the left hand side).  It is fabulous to begin with.  In addition with the sauce, it is just off the charts, FIREWORKS!

ingredients: scallion, nori (seaweed), onion, Cha-sui (roasted pork), meat bites

3) Extreme Spicy Ramen 激辛ラーメン

This is good but not as good as the chicken ramen.  I don’t exactly remember if the broth is the same… the soup does look less cloudy than the chicken broth.. but I do remember this doesn’t come with as much meat as the chicken ramen.  Instead, they replace it with some beansprouts.  I like beansprouts, but they are not on the same level as meat, of course.  They do give you the hot sauce on the side.  So really it isn’t extremely spicy rather it’s like DIY spicy.

ingredients: scallion, onion, beansprouts, Cha-sui (roasted pork)

4) Miso Ramen 味噌ラーメン

Possibly the best miso ramen I’ve had yet.  I’ve been hesitant to get this for a while because I had it at Ippudo at St Marks and it somewhat ruined my impression of miso ramen.  Ippudo likes to add ginger to several of their ramen choices, which is the main reason why I didn’t enjoy my miso ramen, because i dislike ginger. 😛  So now, Totto’s miso ramen = scrumptious!  The broth is light allowing the miso to take charge.  I believe there is a hint of sesame oil too (or some form of seasoned oil).  The important note concerning this is that the noodle and soup are NOT the same as their original chicken ramen.  It makes sense, because it just wants to be miso ramen and not Totto chicken miso ramen.  The ramen used is the typical kind that you get at most ramen shops.  It is a lighter and bouncier texture.

ingredients: scallion, onion, beansprouts, half an egg, Cha-sui (roasted pork)

5) Cold Ramen 冷やし中華

I believe this is just a seasonal ramen dish. This bowl of noodle is soup-less, but comes a sauce (a light vinegrette soy sauce with a tad of sweetness).  It is very refreshing in the hot summer day, especially with the raw tomato and cucumber combo.  This can be easily made at home as well so I did question myself… “why should I pay over $10 dollars for this?”.  I really didn’t have a good excuse for it other than the fact I was really hungry.  All in all, there is nothing worth highlighting for the Cold Ramen.  The mix of ingredients is like the Chipotle burrito bowl but with Japanese style instead.  I really couldn’t depict certain tastes from what I was eating other than the taste of the sauce.  The egg shreds were so thinly cut, I couldn’t even taste the egginess of it.  I’m not saying this is bad Cold Ramen, but when you’re at Totto, you should just stick with what got them famous.

ingredients: cherry tomatos, scrambled egg shreds, cucumbers, beansprouts, chicken bites, seaweed, ginger

6) Niku Ramen にんにく肉ラーメン aka Meat Lover

I didn’t personally try this, but I’ll share what I saw with my eyes.  First, the bowl is extra large. Second, the bowl of ramen is covered! with thick slices of cha-sui.  The ramen used is the typical stringy ramen.  Unfortunately, I don’t know the taste of the broth but according to Totto, there is garlic in it.

ingredients: scallion, beansprouts, onion, garlic, cha-sui (roasted pork)

Side dishes:

A) Ika-yaki いか焼き – Grilled squid cooked by their handy-dandy torch.  It is cooked to just 50/50 done throughout so the meat isn’t chewy at all.  Sprinkled with peanut flakes with the earthy taste of scallion, it is a great appetizer.

B) Avo Tuna アボツナ – It’s almost like slices of tuna steak paired with avocado.  It also comes with beansprouts.  I’m pretty sure if this dish is to be served at an actual restaurant, it would not be a measly $4.50.  This appetizer is definitely worth getting.  The tuna is in the color of cherry red and again, prepared by the ubiquitous Totto torch.  The tuna tastes refreshing with its compliments.

*Totto Ramen is located at W52nd Street between 9th and 8th Ave, NY, NY.

new york food tour 2

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so why is this tour #2 and not #1??? well, i havn’t started my food blog yet when i was on tour 1! 😛 so here it goes as the grand opening of my return to interweb making.  this is a list of the places ive been to so far, will be updating as i go until i leave nyc.  I did leave reviews for them on yelp.. but it will take some time before this gets going here, but no worries! you can follow me on yelp! 🙂

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

  • Korilla food truck – first Korean taco/burrito food truck in nyc
  • Lizarran – happy hour
  • Totto Ramen

Friday:

Saturday:

  • Hale and Hearty
  • KFC – I really wanted fried chicken, don’t judge..
  • Paris Baugette – Green tea frapp is delicious!
  • chicken and rice

Sunday:

Monday:

Tuesday:
~Rained too much, didn’t do anything
Wednesday: