NYC 2011 Part 1

After a much needed nap from my terrible red eye flight from Denver, i returned to my favorite Japanese noodle house Ippudo with my sister for lunch.  This place is consistently packed with long lines out the door and today was no different.  The noodles are definitely the star, housemade and al dente sitting in a flavorful pipping hot broth of your choice (traditional soy or soy and miso blends) with roasted pork and veggies.   If you like eggs, make sure to add the soft boiled marinated egg for $2!  I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a photo....

Ippudo Plate score: 9.5

Japanese is probably my sister's all time favorite so a fusion japanese compromise at Bond St was a good choice on Friday night before I headed to my hotel for the weekend conference.  We shared a few rolls, beef sushi (seared wagyu over rice), sashimi and the two dishes below.

The seared john dory on the right was cooked perfectly surrounded by a light chili lime broth with roasted beets and microgreens. There was no hint of japanese influence there but nevertheless excellent.  The braised short ribs which were oddly pressed into a square ring mold sat atop of columns of daikon radish.  The asian pear puree on top of the short ribs contrasted nicely with the saltiness from the meat.

Another reason I chose this place was for the dessert below, the green tea mille crepe.  As the name suggests, this a multi layer dessert is made with at least two dozen crepes filled with a green tea cream.    I ordered a nine inch one for my sister last year for her birthday from Lady M.  Needless to say she loves it.

Bond St Plate Score:  7.5

Beauty and Essex, according to my sister is NYC's hottest place these days.  She even mentioned the fact that there was champagne in the women's bathroom  on her last visit there.  With a focus on contemporary tapas which is easily my favorite way to dine.  It is so easy to mistake this for something else as you have to walk through a pawn shop to get to the actual restaurant.  The secret entrance leads into a dimly lit restaurant with big velvet couches, ceiling to floor drapes and chandeliers that fill the interior and reminded me of something you would see in one of Chuck Bass' Party (Gossip Girl).  

All dishes were good including the beef tartare, roasted bone marrow, lobster asparagus pizette and a chestnut and ricotta ravioli but won't necessarily bring me back for seconds on my next trip.  The molten chocolate bread pudding dessert was soft and decadent and paired nicely with the mild hazelnut ice cream and was a great end to the the weekend before fighting and running my way through the busy airport at JFK.

   Beef Tartare

                       Roasted Bone Marrow with red onion marmalade, microgreens and toasted ciabatta 

                                           Lobster and asparagus on a cracker thin pizette

                            

Miso-sake glazed sugar snap peas, and chestnut ricotta ravioli with butternut squash sauce and crispy pancetta

Beauty and Essex Plate Score: 8

Fun Fact: Chris Santos is the executive chef of B&E and also a regular judge on Food Network's Chopped!

Bones

Bones, an asian fusion noodle shop is located on the same block as Frank Bonnano's two other successful restaurants Mizuna and Luca D'italia. Very popular among denver food blogs and with just a dozen two top tables and a bar overlooking the small open kitchen, it was inevitable that we would be leaving with a new perfume in our clothes again.  Perhaps my expectations were too high.  We started with the popular steamed buns with suckling pig and pork belly. I was expecting something closer to the fluffy white bun you would find surrounding chinese bbq pork at dim sum.  The suckling pig was dry and the bun was chewy and dense, virtually inedible.

We split the ba mee with tofu, corn, leeks in a coconut coconut lemongrass broth and the ramen with slow cooked pork shoulder and a soft poached egg.  Both noodle bowls were solid with well developed broths and al dente noodles, however as a true fan of asian fusion, this concept just didn't work for me.  When i want ramen again, i will probably go to ototo or hands down the winner of ramen Ippudo in NYC.

Plate score: 5

Oshima Ramen

Tucked in the same shopping center as the most amazing whole foods ever, Oshima ramen attempts to serve up the traditional noodles you would find in a side street in Tokyo. To celebrate my last MCAT class off of Hampden Avenue, i decided to try a bowl of shoyu ramen for myself. The house made ramen was a little thin for my liking but the broth was a balance of sweet and savory but just a little too oily. Slices of pork, seaweed, beansprouts and a soy cooked hardboiled egg floated a top the small serving of noodles. I can't say it was the best i ever had but nonetheless satisfying. I would probably stick with the den deli version in the future

Plate score: 6