Triple Pastry Wednesday at Magnolia Bakery

Wednesday is officially my least favorite day, because I have a three-hour lecture with no breaks and an overly tough professor. And for lectures over two hours, I think I deserve one pastry per hour in class. It's just common sense.

I had to get Magnolia Bakery's famous banana pudding. The custard itself is so creamy and rich, and not overly sweet. And there's chunks of cake it in, which is always nice. The slices of banana are okay, but I thought they were kind of mushy and had an odd, spongey texture. I would order this again, but I would prefer the bananas to just be pureed into the custard.

Magnolia Bakery is the only place I buy cupcakes from, because you can get buttercream instead of cream cheese frosting, which is gross. Their red velvet cupcake is so moist and fluffy, and the buttercream is so light. Honestly, I don't really know what red velvet cake is supposed to taste like, but I just love eating something that's so unnaturally red.

Fall means pumpkin pie! I got a small one--six inches, which I feel is still quite large, especially since I refuse to share. I like this quite a lot; most pumpkin pies are overly cinnamony and sweet, but this tastes very mild and creamy. The crust is also quite nice and flaky.

I really love everything at Magnolia Bakery--just make sure you go at a random time to avoid long lines. I can't wait for next Wednesday to get three of something else...

Magnolia Bakery
Various locations
http://www.magnoliabakery.com/

Cafeteria

Cafeteria is one of those trendy restaurants that aims to make comfort food fancy. They serve some classic things like meatloaf and fried Oreos; they retain the great homey taste and feel of comfort food, but they're just prettier because they're in an all-white restaurant.

My appetizer was the meatballs; beef meatballs in marinara sauce with toasted bread. These are so good--really moist and flavorful, and the sauce is really nice too. Although you don't have a lot of options in meatball dishes (they also have a pork meatball slider) these are definitely better than the ones at The Meatball Shop. My only criticism is that the bread was mostly crust, and was way too crunchy and charred to be good with meatballs--you need a soft, chewy bread to dip into the sauce.

My entree was the chicken and waffles--cheddar tabasco waffles with chili butter and maple jus on the side. The waffles were so good; they're incredibly fluffy, and they have a mild cheesy flavor. The fried chicken itself was great too--the skin was incredibly crispy and well-seasoned. You get practically a whole chicken; I got two legs and what appeared to be a wing still attached to the breast. The meat was really juicy--and as moist as chicken breast can be, this was it. Though, the highlights of this dish were really the skin and the waffles, and I would be really happy just eating them with the chili butter.

They're fancy and they grill the lemon, although I can't taste
any difference once you squeeze it on your food.

So fluffy!

For a side, I got the parmesan truffle fries. I've had a lot of truffle fries where the potato is actually fried in truffle oil--this was not one of them. These were just drizzled with truffle oil, and they really skimped on the oil, too. The result is less than a third of the fries having that amazing truffle aroma. I don't think it was worth the $6; you could just buy some McDonald's fries and a bottle of truffle oil and it would be better than this.

Cafeteria makes some really nice, classic American dishes. If you can only get one thing here, it would definitely have to be the chicken and waffles. I also recommend the meatloaf! Save your money on the side dishes though; they're not really unique or something you'll be particularly thrilled with.

Cafeteria
119 7th Ave., at W 17th St.
http://www.cafeteriagroup.com/

Katz's Delicatessen

My boyfriend very strongly dislikes eating out in New York, because all you can get is expensive, mediocre food. But there is one place that he thinks is worth the money, and is actually good, and that would be Katz's. When Harry Met Sally was also filmed here; I'm a bit too young to have watched that movie, but if you liked that movie, this is a historical landmark.

In true NYC deli fashion, Katz's is really grimy. This place is cash-only, and if you walk to the very back of the restaurant to the ATM, you'll see two Porta Potty/outhouse-looking bathrooms, and the floors outside in the seating area are really slippery. It's very unlikely to have been pure water, so I held my breath while withdrawing $20. Of course, after experiencing this, I had to duck out of there ASAP, so I got my sandwich to go.

I got the pastrami sandwich, which is probably Katz's most famous item. It is so good; super juicy and tender. It is a huge portion (enough for two meals), so the $17 is well worth it. Unlike a lot of deli sandwiches, this actually has flavor and does not taste like disease. The sandwiches usually come with pickles too, and I've heard that they're good, but I can't vouch for that, because I'm terrified of pickles.

Service is pretty awful here. Thank you's and please's will absolutely be ignored, and your sandwich maker will most likely not be paying attention to what you say, unless of course you're wearing a very low-cut top.

The Lower East Side has a reputation for being gross and slightly dangerous. But if want to go to Katz's at night, just be sober and wear a sweater; East Houston Street has so many bars that rapists will have skimpier-dressed, less-composed targets to focus on.

Katz's Delicatessen

205 E Houston St., at Ludlow St.

http://katzsdelicatessen.com/

Lafayette (Part 2: The restaurant)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I couldn't wait to come try it because it's owned by the same people who opened one of my favorite restaurants, Locanda Verde. Earlier this week, I posted about the bakery inside Lafayette--you can read the post here. This post will be about the actual meal.

For an appetizer, we got foie gras--fatty goose liver. Foie gras became illegal last year in California, because in order to get the geese to gain sufficient weight, farmers will force feed them by sticking a tube down their throats. It's a disgusting practice, but it's also delicious. The way you're supposed to eat this is you spread it over bread (or, if you're greedy like me, you'll eat it with a fork). For those of you who have never tried it, you're missing out. It tastes like salty butter, but better because it's creamier. The bread that comes with this dish, too, is really good. It's warm, buttered brioche that's chewy and light.

Our second appetizer was eggs Lafayette with smoked fish and caviar. It was just okay for me; the eggs were ice cold, which dulled a lot of the flavor. The smoked fish was also made into a mousse-type consistency, which I'm not really into. It's just seems a little dated for me.

My entree was duck au poivre ("with pepper"), with organic grains (mostly barley, among others), radish, and bacon. Although I requested my duck medium, it was a little less done than that, but it was nevertheless delicious. So tender and juicy, and slightly fatty. I thought that it was such a tease, cutting the radish to look like scallops (I'd forgotten that the dish came with radish, and got really excited when the dish came). I'm not sure if the dish really needed the radish, but it was still really good, especially with the bacon on top.

For dessert, I got beignets--basically donuts--which came with a chocolate mousse/cream and passion fruit syrup. These were quite nice, although it's large, large portion, but that just means you're getting your money's worth.

Overall, I was very pleased with Lafayette, both the restaurant and the bakery. I really want to come back for brunch or lunch, because they have a bunch of entrees that look really good. So far, I recommend the duck and the foie gras. Even though they're a little pricey ($29 for the duck, $20 for the foie gras) they are well worth the money--just share the foie gras with someone, and make sure to take a lot of it.

Lafayette

380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.

http://lafayetteny.com/

Thumbs down for Les Halles

This afternoon I was walking up Park Avenue looking for a restaurant to try. I decided on Les Halles in the Flatiron District; it's recommended by Michelin guides, and Anthony Bourdain (famous for shows like No Reservations) used to work here as executive chef. I didn't feel like eating anything too heavy, so I just got an onion soup and quiche. The onion soup was just fine, and not important to my story. The quiche, on the other hand, had tomatoes and goat cheese. I took one bite and spat it out. The cheese was more or less rotten, and it had taken me less than a second to taste it. I rinsed out my mouth, but I guess that wasn't enough, because just three hours later I got food poisoning. I'm not going to get graphic here, but I'm sure it's going to last for a while.

I was really expecting a lot more from a reputable restaurant. And I don't feel like two dishes is too few to form a solid opinion about Les Halles; a restaurant that serves its customers rotten, sour goat cheese and makes its customers sick cannot be forgiven.

Thanks, Les Halles. No like for you.

Les Halles
411 Park Avenue South, between 28th and 29th St
http://leshalles.net/

Lafayette (Part 1: The bakery)

Lafayette just opened on April 15th, and I was so excited to try it because it's opened by the same people who own Locanda Verde in Tribeca (post coming soon!). At the entrance, there is a mini bakery, and I ate at both the bakery and the restaurant. There's just a lot to talk about for each, so I'm going to split the review into two parts. This post is going to be about the bakery.

The bakery has some classic French pastries, like macarons and canele, as well as things like brownies and cookies.

They have some pretty unusual macaron flavors, like "birthday cake" and a signature Lafayette flavor. They all have a nice texture: crisp on the outside and gooey and dense on the inside. My standouts are the birthday cake (chocolate filling with sprinkles), Lafayette (I can't put my finger on the flavor, but it's like tea), and salted caramel. The one I didn't like so much was the pistachio matcha (green tea). It was kind of sour; not in a going-bad way, but it just has this off-note that green tea flavoring can have if it's not perfectly done.

I love that they know how to store each kind of baked good. Caneles should never be refrigerated, or else water condenses at the bottom, and you end up with a cold, soggy crust. I love these caneles for their texture; the shells are so crisp, and the insides are the texture of a bouncy, airy pudding (not the instant kind; more like Yorkshire pudding). I find that there's not much flavor variation between any canele; they all taste pretty light and slightly egg-y--really delicious, but what makes each one unique is the texture.

I also want to give a mention to their chocolate items. I think the mark of a great chocolate dessert is when it has a great, deep chocolate flavor, but isn't sweet (or at least not overly sweet) or cloying. I find that with a lot of chocolate desserts, I can only eat two bites because they're just so heavy. The brownie (you can get it with or without nuts) is the best one I've had in a long time; it's quite thin and flat, so the edges are nice and crisp. What ruins a lot of brownies for me, is when they make it too moist and too rich, and it just ends up being mushy and overly sweet. Lafayette's brownies, though, are just slightly denser than cake. The chocolate macaron is great, too. I'm almost never impressed by chocolate macarons, because they're just so basic and they all taste really sugary. This one, though, has a true chocolate flavor, which, ironically, is really rare in a chocolate macaron.

I hate that I will pass Lafayette everyday, because I am going to gain so much weight. I definitely will come back to try some of the other bakery items (like quiche and pain au chocolat) and I will do an updated post about those!

Lafayette
380 Lafayette St., at Great Jones St.

The Smith

My food friend and I love this restaurant, so we'll come here together once every month or so--so I have pictures and a review of my latest meal here. But it just so happened that one morning a few days later, I woke up very, very early and desperately needed breakfast that was not instant oatmeal. Hence, I have pictures and reviews for both breakfast and dinner for The Smith.

Let's start with breakfast. Apparently they give you a complimentary cheese scone, which was so good. It's flaky, moist, and not overly cheesy (which is nice first thing in the morning). Absolutely worth the calories.

I got the smoked salmon eggs Benedict, hot chocolate, and chicken sausage. The hot chocolate was pretty mediocre. It's a little too watery and thin for my liking, and that goes for the flavor and the foam on top as well. Plus, it was like $5, so I would rather have just made some instant hot chocolate instead for 50 cents.

I really don't think the smoked salmon eggs Benedict was anything special; although all the components were well-cooked, it wasn't particularly appetizing or good. I also found the smoked salmon to be way too salty, which in turn made the whole dish seem way too heavy for first thing in the morning.

For a side, I got the chicken sausage, which are in a medallion shape. These were my favorite part of breakfast; so juicy, and slightly sweet. My only complaint is that, for a side dish, the portion size was really big; each medallion was the size of my palm, and quite thick, and then you're getting three of them. I feel like, in this case, a "side dish" is a main course without garnish.

Now let's talk about dinner. I've been consistently impressed with The Smith's entrees. They used to have spaghetti and meatballs, which was the best thing on the menu; I'm not sure why they took it off the menu, but I'm just praying it'll come back. The Smith changes up their menu pretty often--about once a season--but there are basic items that will stay, and just the garnishes will change, like salmon and chicken. For this dinner, I got the pork chop (also a staple), with tomato chutney (aka. fancy tomato sauce), and a warm salad of grilled cauliflower, red onion, and mushroom. The pork itself was delicious; incredibly moist and tender, and it had so much flavor. I loved the garnish as well; the tomato chutney was so smooth and tart, and the vegetables were nicely cooked.

The Smith had just recently (quite dramatically) changed up their dessert menu--they used to just have sundaes--and I was so excited to try the sticky toffee pudding. However, I was just really disappointed at both the flavor and texture. It's so intensely sweet--they add dates in the pudding to enhance the toffee flavor, but it's just way too much. You can see in the picture (towards the right) that there's a small pool of toffee sauce as well, which was so heavy, sweet, and syrupy. It's baked in a small skillet, and the edges are quite nice and crisp, but the center was incredibly mushy and too moist--soggy, even. So you just end up getting warm, mushy, sugary batter in a skillet. I just don't get it; the entrees at The Smith are so nicely balanced, what happened to its desserts?

The Smith is a great restaurant, but certain items can be a bit hit-or-miss. Come here for dinner; they have some great entrees. In addition to the pork chop, I also recommend the chicken pot pie, salmon, and the potato waffle and chicken special on Wednesdays. The Smith also happens to be Jane's "sister restaurant," and you'll notice that the style of food and prices are pretty similar. However, I prefer The Smith just because there's a lot more variety on the menu.

The Smith
http://www.thesmithnyc.com/
Various locations

Jane

Jane is kind of an unassuming, plain-looking restaurant from the outside, but the interior is surprisingly sophisticated and fancy. I came here on an unseasonably cold day, because the green and white awning outside looked it would serve some good, comforting food. I never judge a restaurant like this, but hey, I have to eat.

My first course was the wild mushroom soup. I order things with truffle indiscriminately, and this soup had a generous--but not excessive--drizzle of white truffle oil. The soup itself was so incredibly flavorful, as it was mostly mushroom (a lot of mushrooms soups are cream with a few shreds of mushroom in it--this isn't one of those), and had this homey, lumpy-but-smooth texture. It's a really comforting thing to eat when it's cold outside.

I got the spaghetti, which was really, really simple--an olive oil-based sauce, tomatoes, garlic, chilis, and a handful of arugula on top. It was good, but really overpriced for how simple and small it is--$16. For the price, I could've gotten two more bowls of the mushroom soup, which I wish I did.

For a side I got the Brussels sprouts. They're fried, which is ironic, since people usually eat Brussels sprouts for its nutritional value. Culinary lesson: Brussels sprouts must be a bit charred, or else they stay bitter and disgusting. These fried ones are an unusual alternative to the sauteed-with-bacon variation that seems to be so popular now, although I have mixed feelings about these. The insides retain that Brussels sprouty sweetness, and aren't bitter; however, because it takes a relatively long time to get the insides cooked through, the leaves were burnt and bitter--kind of like charcoal.

I would classify Jane's food as overpriced comfort. My lunch, with tax and 20% tip, was just over $40, which is ridiculous. The spaghetti, which I could've made myself, was good but absolutely not worth $16. The Brussels sprouts were way overpriced as well, considering a) Brussels sprouts are cheap, and b) they were burnt. But I will definitely come back, when I'm not too hungry, to get the mushroom soup and a lot of complimentary bread for lunch.

Jane Restaurant

100 W Houston St.

http://janerestaurant.com/

Bodhi Tree

I always walk past Bodhi Tree and they always have a sign outside advertising some kind of fantastic deal, on lunch and noodles at dinner. I had to find out if it was really a bargain.

For around $8, you get a noodle/rice dish and two appetizers--the price will vary depending what protein you choose. My main dish was chicken pad thai. It definitely has a lot more flavor than most pad thais I've had in New York, but it's pretty heavy--it's so sweet and sticky, so it may not be suited for everyone's tastes. However, it's still good, and the chicken is quite moist, so it might be worth trying if you're feeling adventurous and want something a little heavier than the bland, Americanized Thai food that is so common.

My two appetizers were the crab cakes and tofu tom yum. The crab cakes weren't very good, I'm afraid. They don't have very much flavor; I'm not sure I would've known it was supposed to be crab if it wasn't called crab cakes. They're fried with some kind of batter too, and there is much more fried batter than filling. However, I liked the tom yum a lot. The tofu was nice and soft, and the vegetables were well-cooked but still had some bite. The broth itself was very flavorful, and the sourness really boosts your appetite.

Last week I posted about another Thai place, Spice. I would say the noodles at Bodhi Tree and Spice are pretty much the same "level;" they're well-cooked and flavorful. The tom yum at Bodhi Tree was better, but just ever so slightly. The fried appetizers at both Bodhi Tree and Spice were misses for me, and were really not worth getting. Although the food is pretty similar in these two restaurants, I would definitely choose Bodhi Tree, for the much more reasonable prices, as well as the decor; Bodhi Tree feels much more cozy and not as gimmicky-trendy as Spice is.

Bodhi Tree
58 3rd Ave. (between 10th and 11th St.s)

Spice

Sunday was Easter, and I was hard-pressed to find somewhere open for lunch. I tried three restaurants before finding one that was open: Spice.

I ordered quite a lot, but hey, it's a holiday. My first course was lemongrass tom yum with tofu (you can choose from various proteins for many of the dishes, including chicken, shrimp, and beef). It was nice; clear broth and really flavorful. However, the tofu was the horrible Western kind; crumbly, dry, and chewy. Americans need to learn that soy curd is not the same as tofu.

Next were the curry puffs. Man, these were some nasty curry puffs. Let's start with the pastry. It's very thick, and was fried at a very high temperature for, frankly, not enough time. The outermost part of the pastry was flaky and crumbly and completely fell apart when I pierced it with my fork--the crumbs flew all over the table and I felt like a four-year-old. The inside of the crust, on the other hand, was raw. It was translucent and chewy and impossible to cut with my fork. And then there's the filling. It was brown, but so bland and devoid of any curry flavor. And it had this odd, bitter saltiness that I could only taste in the back of my throat. It's also a lot worse plated than it looks in the picture. The little dish of sauce/juice is propped on top of the curry puffs, and as soon as you move one of the curry puffs, the tiny dish tips over, giving you no choice but to try the sauce. P.S., not good either.

My main course was chicken pad kee mao (rice noodles in a spicy sauce with egg and various vegetables). This is one of the better dishes here; it has a lot of flavor and all the components were well cooked. My problem with this dish is that it, like the curry puffs, is oddly plated. The noodles sit in a bronze-looking bowl that has a rounded, not flat, bottom, so it tips and wobbles whenever you try to pick up any food. And the metal handles are directly attached to the bowl, and are way too hot to hold to stabilize the bowl.

To drink, I got the Thai iced tea. It was not bad, but I would've preferred to save my money. But I will say, the glass towered well over my mouth; the straw was actually eye-level. Now, I know I am 5'1", but this glass is built for giants; you would need to have a very long torso to drink from the straw without holding the glass in your lap.

Spice is very popular, and I'm sure they have great dishes, but I didn't get to try many of them. However, one thing they really need to reconsider is plating. My meal was an example of a restaurant whose plating was so overthought that it interfered with my dining experience. And if a restaurant is making it hard for me to eat, and almost like they don't want me to eat their food, I would be more than happy to save $30 on a mediocre meal.

I just wanted to announce here that Thai people don't use chopsticks! People make the mistake of thinking that every Asian uses chopsticks, but one of the King Ramas switched the nation to using forks and spoons after dining with westerners and finding those utensils elegant. A guy at the next table (let's just say he's not Asian) decided to impress his friends by using chopsticks to eat his Thai fried rice. The Chopstick Rice Shovel is quite challenging for even very Chinese people to perform, and I watched him eat his rice grain by grain. Around twenty minutes after his friends had finished eating, he was still not even halfway done. He finally became too embarrassed and switched back to his fork.

After lunch, he started picking his teeth with his finger.

http://www.spicethainyc.com/spice/home/index.html

Various locations

Shilla

I have a rule against eating Asian food in America, because I can get it so much better back home, but I'm willing to break my rule at Shilla. This place has three floors, so you literally never have to wait for more than five minutes. It also helps that the other Korean places on West 32nd are overrated, so everyone in K-Town crowds in Woorijip or Gallery 32.

You know it's a legit Korean restaurant when they have terrifying, threatening signs like these:

"Shilla is NOT a playground or daycare. Please watch your children.
We check ID from EVERYONE. It's the LAW!"

They're very generous with the variety of small dishes, but whether the wait staff is willing to refill them, really depends on their mood.

We got the house special marinated beef ribs--kalbi or galbi, I can never tell the difference. Anyway, the beef is so juicy and flavorful, but a little on the salty side, so I eat it over rice (I never trust NYC restaurants' raw lettuce, and Shilla's looks a little limp and brown). It is quite a pricy item--about $30 for one portion that can feed two skinny Asian girls--but it is worth the occasional splurge.

My main dish was duenjangjigae--soybean paste stew--the pronunciation of which I've perfected, thanks to having ordered this a million times. This version is one of the better ones I've tried; it's very, very savory and not too thick, so you can drink it as soup. The ingredients are also a lot more appealing than some other ones I've had, with zucchini, potatoes, and tofu. There's also onions and some questionable shreds of beef in it, but I'm guessing they're only in there for flavor, because they're cooked to death and don't taste great on their own.

Overall, Shilla is kind of a pricy place, so come with a large group if you plan on getting barbecue. It does have great, authentic Korean food and fun drinks (yogurt soju, anyone?) so it can be worth the occasional fun night. The best part about Shilla, though, is that it is one of the few Asian restaurants in Manhattan where the waiters will not ask you for additional tip, which is really tacky. Two years ago some friends and I went to a different Korean place on the block, and we were literally chased out after leaving only 12% tip. I doubt they serve Chinese people anymore.

Shilla Restaurant
37 W 32nd St.

Cha-An Japanese Tea House

Cha-An is an occasional indulgence for me for afternoon tea. I would usually only get one item each trip, but for blogging's sake, I got two.

My first dessert was the scones. Each plate comes with one earl grey-flavored scone, one chocolate scone, sake-chantilly cream, and blueberry compote. The scones are very different from what you would expect from a regular, English scone. They're not flaky or buttery, but rather moist and crumbly, kind of like a dense cake. I prefer the earl grey scone; the chocolate is just a bit too sweet, while the earl grey is aromatic and has a mild, slightly woody flavor. The sake-chantilly cream is amazing--really light and airy, and just sweet enough to add flavor to the scones. The blueberry compote, on the other hand, is just fine. It has a nice, smooth texture and a warm, sweet flavor, but it's nothing special.

My second "dessert" was the smoked salmon toast. It's a thick toast with smoked salmon and watercress, and the sauce is mayo, mustard seeds, and lemon. It's one of the more expensive items on the menu--$12--but well worth it. The smoked salmon was perfectly fatty, and the bread was fluffy and moist and had an incredible buttery flavor. The dish was also nicely balanced--the sauce added an acidic kick, and the watercress added lightness and crunch.

Overall, Cha-An is not the most necessary place to go eat (you don't have to have dessert or afternoon tea) but it's well worth a trip and the price.

Cha-An Japanese Tea House
230 E 9th St, between 2nd and 3rd Ave.
http://www.chaanteahouse.com/