Ma Peche

On date night, Danny and I had tickets for the off Broadway show “Avenue Q.” I have been wanting to try 1 of David Chang’s restaurants for the longest time and Ma Peche was only 10 minutes away from the theater, so we decided on Ma Peche for dinner. When you enter the building, Milk Bar is the first thing you see. When I think of Milk Bar, I always think of Crack Pie. If we had enough time to get to the theater and if we were weren’t full, we would plan to pick up a slice of Crack Pie.

 

The atmosphere was upscale picnic. The lights were dim and the tables were long wooden tables, almost picnic like. For a Saturday night, Ma Peche wasn’t very crowded. As it got later, some more people showed up but a reservation was definitely not needed.

 

 

As an appetizer, I ordered the fried pig’s head. Basically it was a compacted fried shredded pig’s head in a rectangle. It was so good! The meat was so tender and went great with the wasabi mayo sauce that came with it. Since the mayo was spicy, the vegetables underneath the fried pig’s head was soothing to the palate. Danny didn’t like it but I really like this dish. Anything fried is delicious!

 

Danny ordered the Ceviche with butternut squash as his appetizer. The fish was fresh and the spicy mayo was spicy. The butternut squash and pine nuts cooled down the spicy mayo. The butternut squash was so soft and silky. When combined with the fish and the pine nuts, it was the perfect bite. Subtle but spicy and sweet at the same time. I did wish there was more on the plate though.

 

 

For my entree, I ordered the duck. There was duck breast and duck sausage with balls of rutabaga, pistachio, and orange sauce. This was just amazing! The duck breast was so tender and juicy and the sausage was just exactly what I expected from a sausage. It was super meaty and ducky with loads of spice! The rutabaga added a smooth texture and the pistachio added a great crunch. Overall, this dish was another knockout.

 

Danny ordered the monkfish. It came with sweet potato tubes, salsify ribbons, and a pine nut sauce. I’ve never heard of salsify but according to google, salsify is a European plant that looks like parsnip. The salsify ribbons were super crunchy and so earthy! The monkfish was cooked perfectly and just fell apart when you cut into it. The sweet potato tubes were slightly charred and smokey. The tubes were crunchy on the outside but moist and creamy on the inside. The pine sauce just brought everything together perfectly, earthy and sweet at the same time.

 

Unfortunately, we were running late for our show and couldn’t get Crack Pie at Milk Bar but there is always next time.
 

Ma Peche

15 West 56th Street

New York, NY 10019

http://www.momofuku.com/restaurants/ma-peche/

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16
Jun
2012

Elizabeth Street Night Market

I finally found the pictures from the Elizabeth Street Night Market, a fun filled night on August 25th. The Elizabeth Street Night Market was at Openhouse Gallery 19 Kenmare, with appearances by the Korilla BBQ food truck and vendors ranging from mini cupcakes to banh mi sandwiches to teriyaki balls. Fun night with yummy food and my loving boyfriend!

 

The first thing we tried were fishballs on a stick,

peking duck wrapped in bun, and Thai iced tea from HK Street Cart. We didn’t want to order too much from HK Street Cart because we wanted to try other food and didn’t want to be too full. The fishballs were yummy (seriously, how can anyone mess up fishballs?) and spicy. The peking duck was super juicy and had so much flavor. The bun was soft and moist. My only complaint was that it was a little small. The thai iced tea was light and refreshing!

 

The next thing we tried was Teriyaki balls from Mimi and Coco. They came in an order of 6 and we had 1/2 shrimp and 1/2 sausage. Both were equally good! They made the Teriyaki balls in cast iron grill, allowing the Teriyaki balls to be fried on the outside and super gooey on the inside. Then topped with sliced almonds and a blend of their special sauce (I’m assuming it’s teriyaki and maybe honey?). These Teriyaki balls were super good! The shrimp was super juicy and the sausage had so much flavor. These are a must try!

 

Next was the Korilla BBQ food truck. I ordered a set of 3 tacos and Danny ordered the burrito. For my 3 tacos, I wanted to try each of the meats that were offered, so 1 had ribeye, another had pulled pork, and the last one had chicken. Each taco was topped with tomato salsa, cheese, and kimchi. I don’t really like kimchi because it’s a little spicy but the kimchi added just enough heat to each taco. The tacos were yummy and flavorful but I did enjoy the ribeye the most. It was moist and super flavorful. The chicken was good but a little dry and the pork was really spicy, not my cup of tea. Next time, I would definitely order just the ribeye.

 

Danny ordered a pulled pork burrito. Had we known how spicy the pork was, we would’ve ordered the ribeye instead. The burrito was really big and definitely filled us up. There was also kimchi, sticky rice, cheese, and tomato salsa throw in there. The burrito was good but after a few bites, my mouth was on fire, so we had to eat in intervals of a few minutes. Overall, the burrito was good but next time, definitely order the ribeye and not the pulled pork (we’re not the biggest fans of super spicy food).

 

Unfortunately, we were almost full, so we didn’t want to overstuff ourselves with banh mi sandwiches from Justin Wang and the mini cupcakes from Filled with Sweets. Our mouths were on fire from the Korilla BBQ tacos and burrito, so we opted for some shaved ice from the Shaved Ice Shop. They shaved the ice from this huge block of ice right in front of you and you chose 3 different toppings (fruit, cereal, candy, etc…) and a scoop of either mango sorbet or green tea ice cream. We chose mango, kiwi, watermelon, and a scoop of mango sorbet, topped with condensed milk. This was super yummy and cold, especially after eating such hot food on such a hot night. The milk and the ice was just nice, cold and pleasant, while the fruit added nice texture and fresh fruity flavor. The mango sorbet was super good and mango’y.

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19
Sep
2011

Crossbar

I recently purchased a Thrillist certificate for Todd English’s Crossbar. The $68 deal consisted of any 2 appetizers, 2 entrees (excluding the Bone-in ribeye), a dessert to be shared, and 6 cask beers. I’ve wanted to try Crossbar for a while, so I figured why not go here for Danny and I’s 5.5 year anniversary! Crossbar was pretty easy to get to and is located at the iconic Limelight Marketplace. Crossbar was actually built in the Limelight Cathedral. It was dark, gothic, and had a working fireplace going. We had the choice of sitting outside or inside. We chose inside because I didn’t want to get bitten up by mosquitoes. When our waiter came by, I showed him the Thrillist certificate. We ordered 2 cask beers (I don’t remember which beers we ordered because I lost all of my notes!). I also asked the waiter about the head to tail pork entree (I remembered reading about it on Thrillist. It even had stuffed pig ears, tail, and much much more!). The waiter informed me that they don’t serve that anymore. I was super disappointed…if they don’t serve it anymore, shouldn’t they change that information when buying a certificate?

 

Anyway, we ordered our appetizers. I ordered the Duck sliders and Danny ordered the lobster guacamole. I was super surprised when he ordered the lobster guacamole, when I’m the one that absolutely loves lobster. I didn’t order it because I don’t think lobster and guacamole goes well together. Unfortunately, that came out to be true. The chips had a little spice on them, making them a little too spicy. The guacamole itself was mediocre (my boyfriend and his dad make THE best guacamole, so I’m biased). The guacamole also had lots of lettuce on the bottom, so there really wasn’t that much guacamole in the mortar. The lobster was cooked well but the portion wasn’t that big. Overall, the lobster guacamole didn’t really go well together and was overpriced. The duck sliders on the other hand, were delicious! The 3 slides came with duck bacon, foie gras sauce, and crispy shallots. They were juicy and delicious. I could eat them all day!

 

For our entree, I ordered the Serrano Wrapped Pork Tenderloin and Danny ordered the Pork Belly. My pork tenderloin was cooked nicely but I barely tasted the manchego, the picada sauce was too spicy and strong, and the apples were too sour. Overall, the pork was good but went better with Danny’s curry sauce. His pork belly was to die for! The pork belly was still slightly crispy and was swimming in this delicious sweet/spicy curry sauce. My only complaint was the cucumber balls (they tasted more like pickles and I’m not a fan of pickles). Other than that, I love pork belly in just about any form!

 

For dessert, Danny wanted to be a little daring, so we ordered the Pecan bacon pie. This came out with bourbon-caramel ice cream and sticky toffee. Surprisingly, this pie turned out to be absolutely delicious! The pie itself tasted as if bacon fat was drizzled all over and the ice cream was just yummy and bourbon’y. There was just enough bacon flavor in this amazing dessert!

 

Here’s a pic of our 6 cask beers (I don’t remember which ones were which) but 5 out of 6 were really good! The only 1 I didn’t like was this super dark lager (it tasted like black coffee that went bad). The beers were pretty good (some of them tasted like Sam Adams). I like a light beer, so next time, that’s all I will order. Danny and I will definitely be coming back to Crossbar but will probably order a few different things.

 

CrossBar

47 W 20th St

New York, NY 10010

http://www.crossbarny.com/

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12
Aug
2011