washington D.C. and NYC Favorites - Part 3

Mario Batali's Del Posto restaurant at Chelsea Market - prix fixe lunch

Amuse Bouche (Roman egg drop soup)

Handmade breads with butter and lard

Warm Cotechino with Umbrian Lentil Vinaigrette & Dried Fruit Mostarda

Seared Lamb Tenderloin with Sea Cucumbers

Roasted Winter Vegetables with Robiola Sformato & Truffled Hazelnuts

Seared Duck Breast, Apician Spices, Savor alla Francescana & Lovage

Roasted Lamb Rack with Tail Ragu alla Puttanesca & Sauteed Basil

Del Posto Agnolotti dal Plin with Parmigiano-Reggiano

Butterscotch Semifreddo Melon Agrumata, Crumbled Sbrisolona & Milk Jam

Chocolate Ricotta Tortino with Sicilian Pistachios & Extra Virgin Olive Oil Gelato

Tartufo al Caffe with Dark Chocolate, Sant Eustachio Coffe & Candied Lemon

Special desserts from the chef

Chocolate covered olive oil gelato and pastry with lemon custard

Cocoa nibs and candied grapefruit

Diana, Sam, and me outside of Del Posto

Washington D.C. and NYC Favorites - Part 2

East Village/St. Mark's - Ippudo Special Ramen

East Village - Momofuku Milk Bar Crack Pie

East Village - Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookie (top left), Cornflake and Marshmallow (top right), and Blueberry Cream (bottom right)

53rd and 6th Halal Cart - Combo Rice

East Village - Otafuku Takoyaki (top) and Okonomiyaki (bottom)

Washington D.C. and NYC Favorites - Part 1

Washington D.C. - Teaism Salty Oatmeal Cookie

Washington D.C. - Ben's Chili Bowl Half Smoke

Upper West Side - Levain Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

Midtown West - Kyotofu (clockwise from top) Housemade mango, blueberry, and jasmine green tea sorbet; Signature Sweet Tofu, Japanese Green Tea Fudge, Strawberry Shortcake, Green Tea Creme Brulee

Midtown West - Kyotofu Green Tea Brownie and Black Sesame Soft Serve

March in Review

1. Making chong yao bang (green onion pancakes) with Garrett.

I have better pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them here. Garrett says it didn't taste quite right; it could be because didn't actually use green onion, or because we didn't use lard or tons of oil, or because we used the wrong kind of flour. We'll try it again.

2. Din Tai Fung with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and I had a long drive to and from Santa Clarita, so it was great when Elizabeth though of stopping by Din Tai Fung in Arcadia for dinner. I'd never eaten there before, but I had heard all sorts of good things. We ordered crab and pork siu long bao and Shanghai pan-fried noodles. Both were pretty tasty, but I thought it was a little bit too long of a wait and slightly overpriced. But still, it was fun to hang out with Elizabeth.

3. Late-night pho with ROCK.

We've been trying to resurrect our Friday-night ROCK hangouts after fellowship. I missed the 85 C expedition, but I did join the ROCKers for late-night pho. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant (Pho Vynh Ky) off Brookhurst and Hazard in Little Saigon and ate half-priced bowls of pho. According to Daniel, the discount makes it taste better. They need to bottle that and sell it at Chinese grocery stores.

4. Mitsuwa festival booths with ROCK.

We're not sure what was going on (Spring Picnic Fair, perhaps?), but for some reason they had a bunch of different booths with Costco-like samples. The first one we came to was a teppan table where they were making fresh yakisoba. We couldn't resist. They also had someone making fresh mochi and gyoza. I wish they had that every week. I think a week or two later, we were back at Mitsuwa for ramen and curry. I was nearly seduced by a tempting custard bun. Pat me on the back; I resisted temptation.

5. Five Guys with Aryn and Sam.

Strangely, I have no pictures of the burgers, nor of Steven, Sam, or myself. But this picture of Aryn is too pretty to pass up. Sam and I were looking for "real food," as he calls it, in a location between my house and Aryn's. Despite the fact that we had all eaten pretty late and weren't that hungry, we decided to meet at Five Guys in Cerritos. I'd only heard Justin mention Five Guys, but I didn't really known anything about them.

I was intrigued by the free peanuts (would be really dangerous for anyone with anaphylactic allergies), and I appreciated the customizable burger concept. I think the whole "free toppings" thing is kind of deceiving because the burger ends up being pretty expensive anyways, plus more if you want to buy a drink or french fries. At least they're generous with the portions. It was yummy, but nothing special. I'd have to agree with most of the Yelpers that it can't really stand up against In-N-Out.

6. Bottega Louie macaroon at work.

Yes, I used my stack of sticky notes to display this macaroon. I don't know what flavor it was, but Christina was sweet enough to share her macaroons with me. They were a gift and came in a really pretty little box from Bottega Louie in downtown LA. By the way, check out their blog, which has lots of pretty food pictures.

The Filling Station (Orange, CA)

Tony scheduled our ROCK Core meeting a little too early; some of the guys were struggling to keep their eyes open. But the great part about scheduling an early meeting is that we got to eat brunch at The Filling Station, just a block or so away from the Orange Circle in Old Towne Orange.

I've heard that they don't have much indoor seating, but fortunately it was a nice enough day to sit outside. And they had heat lamps outside so Freddy didn't freeze. Tony recommended the omelets and scrambles, so I ordered the Old Towne scramble and added sausage to it. They mistakenly gave me a fruit cup instead of hash browns, but quickly remedied the situation.

The Filling Station is a little pricey, but the scramble was huge. It was yummy, but it wasn't like "oh my gosh this is the best thing I've ever eaten in my whole entire life." My scramble had sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell pepper, and cheese. Also shared hashbrowns with Garrett. My brother ordered the French toast with three thick slices of Hawaiian bread.

Freddy got the eggs benedict, but the only comment he gave was that it was difficult to keep everything on top of the English muffins. He let me try the grilled potatoes, and I think they were tastier than the hash browns. Tony accidentally ordered an omelet instead of a scramble, but he seemed to enjoy it anyways.

I think overall, you probably pay for the atmosphere and history; The Filling Station is an old converted gas station, which adds to its charming presence in Old Towne Orange. I think I'll have to try some of their other menu options in order to know what I really think about their food, but I was pretty pleased with our afternoon brunch (sorry for the pedestrian review; I guess I'm not feeling too inspired).

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The Filling Station

201 N. Glassell St.

Orange, CA 92866

714.289.9714

http://www.fillingstationcafe.com/

Asa Ramen (Gardena, CA)

Several weeks ago, I went for yum cha with my cousins, aunt, and uncle. Uncle Gary mentioned that he's really into ramen right now, which launched us into plans for possible ramen adventures. Being a ramen-lover myself, I suggested that we meet up in LA (where I work, Uncle Gary lives, and Tiffanie goes to school) and search for delicious ramen.

I searched Rameniac for high-scoring restaurant reviews in the Los Angeles area and stumbled upon Asa Ramen in Gardena and Gardena Ramen in Torrance (strange, I know) with scores over 20 points. I especially like shoyu ramen, so I was happy to read that that's their specialty.

I picked Tiff up a few blocks from where I work, and then drove another 20 or so minutes to Gardena. Fortunately, we had my trusty, albeit finicky (is that a contradiction?), GPS directing us to the restaurant. When we got there, we weren't sure which door was the ramen restaurant. We guessed correctly and entered through the door on the right side.

Asa Ramen is pretty small, with only room for a few tables and the traditional ramen counter with high chairs. Tiff and I both loved the decor and atmosphere of the restaurant; it's a dim little joint with bamboo and wood accents.

Tiffanie and I shared one plate of cheese mochi takoyaki, but I think the combination of cheese, bonito flakes, and sweet teriyaki sauce was a bit too much for us. It was my first taste of takoyaki, and I thought it was delicious, but I couldn't even eat my half of the six octopus balls. We figured it's because we're not used to eating that kind of Japanese flavor. I wonder if I could order it again without the sauce.

And of course, we can't forget the main course. We decided to order the kotteri shoyu tonkotsu ramen; Tiffanie added an egg. The bowls seem smaller than you would normally get, but it was actually plenty of food.

The soup was nice and murky, but for me, the best part of ramen is the texture of the noodles. And these super-thin noodles were perfect (I'm not a noodle connoisseur, but I know that I enjoyed eating them!). After a long day at work, it was just what I needed.

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Asa Ramen

18202 S Western Ave
Gardena, CA 90248
(310)769-1010

6pm - 2am (closed sundays)

Cho Dang Tofu & BBQ (Diamond Bar, CA)

"I had thought about trying it out, but I never thought it'd actually happen," my Dad said. Sam came to spend Valentine's Day weekend (it was also President's weekend and Chinese New Year--so don't take that the wrong way), but he was sick his entire time in Orange County. So when we asked if he wanted anything particular to eat, he requested Korean tofu soup.

Now be warned: my family rarely eats Korean food. My dad is not a soup guy. Nor is he a tofu guy. So we had very different experiences, since mom and I appreciate both soup and tofu. The restaurant is in the same plaza as Tealicious (where we sometimes go for watermelon juice, milk tea, and fried pork chops) and Green Bay Bakery. It's fairly spacious and was pretty empty when we got there late in the afternoon.

Sam and I each ordered soon doobu chiggae--Sam got the house special (with seafood, beef, pork, and veggies) and I got the beef. I was tempted to order the mushroom tofu soup, but the waitress recommended the beef. I can't speak for Sam (though you rarely hear him complain about food), but I was pretty excited when the soup came out boiling.

Mine was mildly spicy and had a really nice flavor. I had checked online to see which nearby Korean restaurant had the best soup. There were several recommended restaurants, but we decided the Yelp reviews of Cho Dang were the most convincing. Anyways, I really love eating the soup together with the rice.

Dad and Mom shared an order of bibimbap, a hot stone pot with rice, meat, and vegetables. They both agreed that it wasn't very tasty; they tried to add some salt, and my dad doesn't really like covering his food in spicy sauce. He really wanted to add some chinese sausage to it.

They had very little variety in the side dishes and they all had the same taste, except the fried fish. Then again, we didn't go there for the side dishes, but for the tofu soup. The most redeeming part of the meal, at least according to my dad, was the complimentary self-serve soft serve. When I expressed guilt over Dad's disappointing meal, he looked out the window and answered, "Nothing a Jumbo Jack won't fix."

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Cho Dang Tofu & BBQ

1155 S. Diamond Bar Blvd.

Diamond Bar, CA 91765

(909) 861-6565