Wednesday, October 28, 2009

FC Nibble: Momofuku, I think I love u

Pin It Took my second trip to Momofuku this past weekend and it was just as good as I remembered it to be when I ate there more than a year ago. Even at 9:30 in the evening there was a wait, however, the hostess was surprisingly friendly and even allowed us to order drinks on line.

My cousin and I sat at the counter w/ a front row view of the ramen chef doing his thing, making delicious noodle soupy goodness, and sautéing pork to order....Our meal was simply delicious - comprised of fabulous pork buns, Momofuku ramen, sautéed cabbage and potatoes with a soft egg. Nothing was left on the plate when we were through. The simple good ingredients used, make each dish something special (the restaurant lists all the farms where they buy their ingredients on boards around space).

Momofuku is not a place for big crowds (unless you make a reservation for the fried chicken dinner (which I hear is fabulous)) during off hours and is not a place if you like dessert – they only offer frozen yogurt. However, Momofuku is an homage to salt and pork... If you need dessert and aren’t a salty fan than you may want to skip this one, but if you are, go immediately!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Best Paella in New York City....

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...is at Socarrat Paella Bar on 19th St (b/w 18-19th). http://socarratpaellabar.com/

This VERY cute two-table (one long communal table and 1 4-top in the front window) paella bar was amazing. We got the 4-top in the front and it was totally worth the wait (they actually took Danielle's cell phone number and said they'd call her when our table was ready!!).

Not only did they call us back on time – but they said that our table would be ready in 10 minutes – but to come back in 5 so that we could pre-order our paella. We got there – and after Danielle vigorously defended our table (go D!), we sat and ordered a nice Tempranillo and some tapas - which were fantastic (though I have yet to meet a patatas bravas I didn't like…).

And then came the paella. We got 2 dishes – one with seafood and one with meat. The hardest part was when the waitress told us to let it sit for 2-3 minutes to let the flavors fully soak into the rice (why bring it out to the table then?! We were like a pack of vultures….)

And the meat paella was INCREDIBLE (I don’t eat seafood – so I’ll let the others weigh in there). It was made with chorizo, pork, chicken and duck. It was this smoky, crusty delicious heaven! And then the waitress (from the Basque region – cue the crickets… I don’t know why…) came and scraped the bottom – the socarrat – which was THE BEST PART. I said to her that this was better than the paella I had in Spain and she said that’s because of 2 things: 1) the ovens in restaurants in Spain usually don’t have flames or really hot brick ovens – which is key in the crispy deliciousness; 2) People in Spain don’t go “out” for paella – they make it at home in brick ovens or over outdoor grill pits. Sounds like our version of a BBQ!

We topped off the dinner with this cheese “cake” (more like a mousse) – I didn’t think I would like it – but it too was heavenly. The perfect ending to a fabulous meal!

So THAT’S the story of the best paella I ever had!