Friday, December 25, 2009
Red Lotus: Chopped fish with pine nuts
Tried the 'Chopped Fish with pine nuts' off the chinese menu at Red Lotus - good dish to try but I don't know that I'll get it again. It's tasty but wayyy too bland for my taste - it has to be bland so you can taste the pine nuts. So overall the dish is very well executed - it looks beautiful; white fish with finely diced few pieces of green & red pepper in a transparent sauce. The taste of the pine nuts is notiecable and the freshness of the fish can be appreciated but I need a kick of chilli and complexity of spicy flavors that this dish doesn't have.
Goa fish curry
I also in the past few months made the Goa Fish curry from Cameilla Punjabi's book pg 140 and it turned out to be awesome! It tasted just like any restaurant fish curry I had in India. I'll be cooking it again in the next 2 weeks while my parents are visiting. Shall post my modified version of the recipe. Last time I made it I put the fish in the curry per the recipe and I didn't care for this - as an end product you get an awesome curry but the fish is a boiled pieces of overcooked fish.. Instead this time I am thinking I'll take some small trimmings of fish and add it to the curry for flavor; but take fish filles and pan fry them separately. This way I can cook the fish perfectly and while serving I can have the rice with curry topped with a piece of pan fried/broiled fish ...yum.
Parsee Red Chicken Curry
This is a recipe I made using Cameilla Punjabi's book - pg 124. My main beef with the recipe is the cooking time for onion is wayyy off and since I can't get Kashmiri chili's my gravy instead of looking red looks like a grey/brown slurry. This gravy is very potent and has a pungent indian spice smell. Taste is good - but below that of the cashew gravy recipe. While this recipe might not be as tasty as the cashew gravy recipe it's quite a bit faster to cook so worth it on a weekend when u need to make a tasty chicken curry.
Indegredients:
1 1/2 lb chicken breast cubed into small pieces
2 tomatoes (small) finely chopped - I don't see why you can't use 1/2 a can of crushed tomatoes
5 dried Red chilis (recipe calls for 10 Kashmiri chilis - I just had standard dried red chilis which are hotter but don't have any color)
1 8oz can of coconut milk
Spice Mix:
1/2 teasp cumin seeds
1 teasp corriander seeds
1 teasp sesame seeds
4 cloves
8 peppercorns
1in cinamon stick
3 cardamon
1 in ginger - chopped into pieces
4 cloves garlic-
1 large onion - coarsely chopped
1 teasp red wine vinegar (recipe calls for apple vinegar)
1/2 teasp store bought garam masala
1) Roast spice mix in pan over low-medium heat for 5 min (heat up pan on low-medium and toss in spices - never have any oil or anything in pan. it should be a dry hot pan)
2) Soak the red chilis in bowl of luke warm water - 15 min
3) Put roasted spice mix, chilis, ginger, garlic, onion into a blender and make into paste - add water if necessary to make into paste.
4) Heat pan over medium heat - add oil to coat bottom of pan. Once oil is hot add blended paste from step 3. Let cook for 20 min - want onion to cook.
5) Add chicken tomato and cook for another 10 min
6) Add chicken and let cook for 10 min
7) Add coconut milk and let it cook for 10 min
8) Add the red wine vinegar and stir in the garam masala - cook 5 min
9) at this point recipe suggests if too spicy add in a bit of cubed boiled potato or add 1/4th cup of water - I didn't do either - and yes it was spicy!
My curry's color was not red it was a brown/grey slurry. So don't worry if 'Red Chicken Curry' is not red it still taste good.
Enjoy over rice or a chapati.
Indegredients:
1 1/2 lb chicken breast cubed into small pieces
2 tomatoes (small) finely chopped - I don't see why you can't use 1/2 a can of crushed tomatoes
5 dried Red chilis (recipe calls for 10 Kashmiri chilis - I just had standard dried red chilis which are hotter but don't have any color)
1 8oz can of coconut milk
Spice Mix:
1/2 teasp cumin seeds
1 teasp corriander seeds
1 teasp sesame seeds
4 cloves
8 peppercorns
1in cinamon stick
3 cardamon
1 in ginger - chopped into pieces
4 cloves garlic-
1 large onion - coarsely chopped
1 teasp red wine vinegar (recipe calls for apple vinegar)
1/2 teasp store bought garam masala
1) Roast spice mix in pan over low-medium heat for 5 min (heat up pan on low-medium and toss in spices - never have any oil or anything in pan. it should be a dry hot pan)
2) Soak the red chilis in bowl of luke warm water - 15 min
3) Put roasted spice mix, chilis, ginger, garlic, onion into a blender and make into paste - add water if necessary to make into paste.
4) Heat pan over medium heat - add oil to coat bottom of pan. Once oil is hot add blended paste from step 3. Let cook for 20 min - want onion to cook.
5) Add chicken tomato and cook for another 10 min
6) Add chicken and let cook for 10 min
7) Add coconut milk and let it cook for 10 min
8) Add the red wine vinegar and stir in the garam masala - cook 5 min
9) at this point recipe suggests if too spicy add in a bit of cubed boiled potato or add 1/4th cup of water - I didn't do either - and yes it was spicy!
My curry's color was not red it was a brown/grey slurry. So don't worry if 'Red Chicken Curry' is not red it still taste good.
Enjoy over rice or a chapati.
Cashew chicken with Kaala masala
Made this chicken by using a recipe from Camellia Punjabi's book (pg 112). Turned out to be pretty darn tasty but the color of my dish in no way matches the picture shown in the book. My curry looks like a grey slurry - something out of a gulag movie rathe rthan a burnt brown shown in the book... Well it taste great so I'll definitely be making it again. Below is the recipe with my modifications. I have found a pet recipe peeve - in all these recipes it says sautee onions for 10 min or 5 min! Heck no i'd be eating raw onions if I did this - i have to sautee them for almost 20-30 min to get any results. What gas/cooktop do these authors use?
Kaala masala translates into Black masala - this is a type of spice mixture used in Maharashtra.
Since I had 1/2 the chicken I halfed some of the indegredients (some :)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breast - cubed into small pieces (ask the butcher to do this to save you time)
1/2 cup of dry grated coconut (you can use fresh if you have it) - make sure you don't use the sweetened dry
6 large garlic cloves
1in piece of ginger - minced
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 teasp cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies (so the book says use kashmiri chilies - I use whatever crap dried red chilies I got from indian store - I think this is my culprit for no color to my gravy)
4 cloves
2 in cinamon stick
4 oz cashews (I used 1/2 a cup) - use non roasted, non salted, shelled
1 large onion - finely diced
oil
1) Heat a large pan on low-medium heat (4) , once heated throw in dry coconut, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, red chilies, cloves, cinamon. After 5 min add 1/2 of the cashews.Let the coconut toast (becomes brown). After coconut is brown take pan off heat and let it cool for 10 min. Put this mixture in a blender / food processor and make into fine paste.
2) Add oil to pan and throw in the 1 onion finely diced - let it cook for 20 min till brown. Add the diced onion into same blender as step 1 and blend into step 1 paste.
The recipe calls for adding the onion in step 1 but i found my coconut would burn before the onion cooked so I separated it.
3) Separately using a coffee grinder or mortar/pestle grind the remaining cashews into a fine powder and mix with litte water to form a paste/slurry and set aside.
4) In large pan over medium heat - heat some oil (oil enough to coat the bottom of pan in a thin layer) - add mixture from steps 1&2. Let it simmer for 10-15 min.
5) Add in the cashew slurry from step 3 and let it cook 5 more min.
6) Add the chicken and mix into gravy - cover and let chicken cook - 10 min
7) Add 1 1/2 cup water and let the curry simmer - add salt to taste
8) pour into serving dish and throw some whole cashes on top (roasted or non roasted cashews)
As I said it doesn't look all that great as my chilis didn't give off any color so there are no pics.
Kaala masala translates into Black masala - this is a type of spice mixture used in Maharashtra.
Since I had 1/2 the chicken I halfed some of the indegredients (some :)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breast - cubed into small pieces (ask the butcher to do this to save you time)
1/2 cup of dry grated coconut (you can use fresh if you have it) - make sure you don't use the sweetened dry
6 large garlic cloves
1in piece of ginger - minced
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 teasp cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies (so the book says use kashmiri chilies - I use whatever crap dried red chilies I got from indian store - I think this is my culprit for no color to my gravy)
4 cloves
2 in cinamon stick
4 oz cashews (I used 1/2 a cup) - use non roasted, non salted, shelled
1 large onion - finely diced
oil
1) Heat a large pan on low-medium heat (4) , once heated throw in dry coconut, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, red chilies, cloves, cinamon. After 5 min add 1/2 of the cashews.Let the coconut toast (becomes brown). After coconut is brown take pan off heat and let it cool for 10 min. Put this mixture in a blender / food processor and make into fine paste.
2) Add oil to pan and throw in the 1 onion finely diced - let it cook for 20 min till brown. Add the diced onion into same blender as step 1 and blend into step 1 paste.
The recipe calls for adding the onion in step 1 but i found my coconut would burn before the onion cooked so I separated it.
3) Separately using a coffee grinder or mortar/pestle grind the remaining cashews into a fine powder and mix with litte water to form a paste/slurry and set aside.
4) In large pan over medium heat - heat some oil (oil enough to coat the bottom of pan in a thin layer) - add mixture from steps 1&2. Let it simmer for 10-15 min.
5) Add in the cashew slurry from step 3 and let it cook 5 more min.
6) Add the chicken and mix into gravy - cover and let chicken cook - 10 min
7) Add 1 1/2 cup water and let the curry simmer - add salt to taste
8) pour into serving dish and throw some whole cashes on top (roasted or non roasted cashews)
As I said it doesn't look all that great as my chilis didn't give off any color so there are no pics.
Chicken Salil'Marsala (12/25 lunch)
My own version of chicken Marsala
Indegredients:
1 chicken cutlet (thinly pounded/cut chicken breast)
Capers (1/2-1 tbsp)
1/4 shallot very finely diced
2 cloves garlic - smashed
Lime zest - 2 -3 scrapes on zester (optional)
Coarse grain mustard
Anchovy paste
EVOO (3/4-1 tbsp)
Butter (1 1/2 teasp)
1) Marinate the chicken fillet: sprinkle with salt, put a drop of mustard and a drop of anchovy paste, drizzle with EVOO and some of the pickle water from the capers - rub the chicken fillet all over so mustard and anchovy paste are rubbed over the entire piece of chicken.
2) heat up a small heavy bottom pan (medium heat) drizzle to coat bottom with EVOO, toss in butter - let oil and butter heat up (you can smell it) and the butter gets bubbly
3) Toss in garlic - take off heat for a min, put back on heat after a min and toss in shallot. Let shallot brown up
4) Put in piece of chicken - let it cook on one side for 1.5 - 2 min (might differ depending on thickness, mine was very thin) put in capers and turn the piece of chicken over.
5) Pour in a dash (perhaps 2tbsp) of Marsala wine - wait for a min - the wine should cook off.
You're done! If you have a good home made pesto you can serve the chicken with a dollop of pesto. I had as my side wild mushroom ravioli tossed in home made pesto.
Indegredients:
1 chicken cutlet (thinly pounded/cut chicken breast)
Capers (1/2-1 tbsp)
1/4 shallot very finely diced
2 cloves garlic - smashed
Lime zest - 2 -3 scrapes on zester (optional)
Coarse grain mustard
Anchovy paste
EVOO (3/4-1 tbsp)
Butter (1 1/2 teasp)
1) Marinate the chicken fillet: sprinkle with salt, put a drop of mustard and a drop of anchovy paste, drizzle with EVOO and some of the pickle water from the capers - rub the chicken fillet all over so mustard and anchovy paste are rubbed over the entire piece of chicken.
2) heat up a small heavy bottom pan (medium heat) drizzle to coat bottom with EVOO, toss in butter - let oil and butter heat up (you can smell it) and the butter gets bubbly
3) Toss in garlic - take off heat for a min, put back on heat after a min and toss in shallot. Let shallot brown up
4) Put in piece of chicken - let it cook on one side for 1.5 - 2 min (might differ depending on thickness, mine was very thin) put in capers and turn the piece of chicken over.
5) Pour in a dash (perhaps 2tbsp) of Marsala wine - wait for a min - the wine should cook off.
You're done! If you have a good home made pesto you can serve the chicken with a dollop of pesto. I had as my side wild mushroom ravioli tossed in home made pesto.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Fatty Crab and China Town 2nd visit - Day 3 NYC
Fatty crab is over rated. Food was decent but not worth the cost - I'd rather go to a restaurant in China Town. I left very full but not overly satisfied.
The coconut water they served was canned - very disappointing especially for a chef driven fresh food restaurant! The waitress tells us that we can order appetizers and food all togehter and the chef can deliver it in any order they wish - per their thought of what goes well together. To me this says they are taking the easy way out.
We ordered the Short Ribs Rendang and Malay Fish Fry. The Maly fish fry extremely tasty - very little fish, The dish was small strips of fried fish over a curried rice (very flavourful spicy curry). Below is a pic of half eaten Maly fish fry. The Short Rib Rendang was a huge dish (should be for $25) but was off - it was very sweet instead of a spicy rendang I have had in the past so it threw me off and disappointed me. The pile of meat on top of rice with toasted coconut is the picture of the short ribs rendang.
We walked around Chinatown after this and I got hungry - it was 10:00pm and we headed into 'Singapore Cafe' after Singapore cafe. After Singapore Cafe we walked past a chinese bakery and I decided to pickup some rost pork buns and chicken curry puff for next day's breakfast - if you've not had a chicken curry puff , give it a try it's heaven in a littly pastry :)
At Singapore Cafe I had the standard Roti Canai and Avani had Mee something (noodles with shrimp and other stuff _) very tasty - all for under $10!!
The coconut water they served was canned - very disappointing especially for a chef driven fresh food restaurant! The waitress tells us that we can order appetizers and food all togehter and the chef can deliver it in any order they wish - per their thought of what goes well together. To me this says they are taking the easy way out.
We ordered the Short Ribs Rendang and Malay Fish Fry. The Maly fish fry extremely tasty - very little fish, The dish was small strips of fried fish over a curried rice (very flavourful spicy curry). Below is a pic of half eaten Maly fish fry. The Short Rib Rendang was a huge dish (should be for $25) but was off - it was very sweet instead of a spicy rendang I have had in the past so it threw me off and disappointed me. The pile of meat on top of rice with toasted coconut is the picture of the short ribs rendang.
We walked around Chinatown after this and I got hungry - it was 10:00pm and we headed into 'Singapore Cafe' after Singapore cafe. After Singapore Cafe we walked past a chinese bakery and I decided to pickup some rost pork buns and chicken curry puff for next day's breakfast - if you've not had a chicken curry puff , give it a try it's heaven in a littly pastry :)
At Singapore Cafe I had the standard Roti Canai and Avani had Mee something (noodles with shrimp and other stuff _) very tasty - all for under $10!!
China Town Day 2 NYC
On Thanks Giving day we went to eat supper in Chinatown.
We had couple of places in mind but started discovering that some places were closed. My selection was a Sichauan XO restaurant that turned out to be closed so we headed to Avani's pick from ChowHound called Shanghai Bakery - turned out to be a small vietnamese sandwich stand at the back of a jewelry store! But my god the sandwich was amongst the best i've had - sweet, sour, hot, spicy - a pure party in the mouth!! I'll definitely go here again and again if I could. GO HERE.
After this we decided to go to a dumpling shop from Avani's chow hound pick but it was closed :( so we looked on our list and a restaurant called 'New Green Bo' was close by - it's a pick by Guy Feiri from the Food Network. Dumplings great, but don't make our mistake of ordering chicken corn soup - it was good but a waste of appetite. We got two orders of different dumplings and salivated over the dishes we saw others ordering. Would I go to New Green Bo again? Probably not - it was good but not great. I'd give other restaurants a try before going back here.
After New Green Bo we simply walked around China Town - picked up some souvenier shot glasses and then headed back to the hotel .
Walking around China Town is an adventure you see all kinds of produce and people. You see fresh veges, fish, meat in varieties rarely seen anywhere else. For example in one place we saw them selling Alligator feet! What I wonder is what happened to the rest of the Alligator? does it taste like chicken?
We had couple of places in mind but started discovering that some places were closed. My selection was a Sichauan XO restaurant that turned out to be closed so we headed to Avani's pick from ChowHound called Shanghai Bakery - turned out to be a small vietnamese sandwich stand at the back of a jewelry store! But my god the sandwich was amongst the best i've had - sweet, sour, hot, spicy - a pure party in the mouth!! I'll definitely go here again and again if I could. GO HERE.
After New Green Bo we simply walked around China Town - picked up some souvenier shot glasses and then headed back to the hotel .
Saturday, December 12, 2009
NY Trip Post Day 3
Day 3 the 27th of Nov (Friday) consisted of heading out the Chelsea market in the hopes of seeing the studios of Food Network. The Chelsea market is an architectural gem - he building is interesting on the outside and very neat on the inside. At the Market we grabbed some lobster bisque at an amazing fish market - have never seen such variety of fish! Below is a pic of some lobster claws.... After the fish place we visited an Italian store with crazy varieties of cheese and cured meats! We got two types of cheese to eat and bring back. The one things we didn't get to do was go see the Food Network - turns out you have to go online and put your name in for a show ticket lottery, no ticket no see studio :(. 
After the Chelsea market we decided to hit the museums - the Natural history Museum and the Museum of Art - we wanted to see the MOMA but it was sheer madness at the MOMA we looked in and seeing the crowds decided we'd leave it for another trip. The Natural history museum was an accidental visit the A,C,E subway drops you off at the Natural History museum from where you take a bus through Cental park to get to the Museum of art. since we were there and you guessed it the tickets were covered by the NYCity Pass we decided why not - lets go see it. Well worth the trip specially for kids.
The planetirium at the natural history museum i sawesome looking - looks like a spaceship. After the natural history we headed over to the Art museum to see Monet's, Manet's, Van Gogh's, Rembrants, lots of royal palace rooms, greek and roman sculptures and amongst the best Armour and weapons collections!
After the museum we headed to central park to see the city from inside the park. It's a beautiful site and the park is gigantic!
After the park it was off to eat at 'Fatty Crab' - this deserves a whole new post. After 'Fatty Crab' we got hungry and headed back to China town :)
NY Trip Post Day 2
Ow our feet hurt from all day walking the previous day. Thursday the 26th was Thanksgiving day and a day to go see the Macy's Parade. We were told the previous night by the concierge that we should be up by 6:00am and be at 57th street by 7:00 to get a good position from where to see the parade. Offcourse we didn't get up till 7:30 and we headed out by 8:15 to see the parade.
We took the subway to 57th street (A, C, E) and got off and followed the crowds - well we should have gotten there earlier as we could hear the parade but there was no chance of seeing anything other than the balloons floating through the sky.
After some finagling we got through a bit of the crowd past the police car and about 6-7 rows from the street at this point we hung around say 5-6 balloons and decided this was not a great time - also before this horde of people headed out we wanted to get places. We saw the sky clearing and headed for the Empire State building. Again woohoo - there was absolutely no line at the Empire state everyone was at the parade and the sky wans't completely clear there was 5-6 miles visibility - not great but good enough.
One picture is that of the Chrysler building and another of downtown Manhattan. We also looked down on the parade from the Empire State building with our zoom lens.
FYI: a lot of people go to Top of the Rock to see sunrise and sunset - you can buy a dual ticket. We thought we would use City Pass twice but never made it at dawn. You can spend quite a bit of time up on top as there's an enclosed area and open area. There's also a cool room where you can move around and the room responds by doing different lights... After an hr on top we headed back down to grab some food - we were too tired and hungry to venture anyplace and do research so we grabbed some food in the mall below Rockfeller center and ate by the ice rink. Yes the famous ice rink by which the christmas tree is lit up ... it was a great site - sooo many movies have that particular scene. We visited the NBC store and found out that you can tour the studios - we decided we'd do this another day - it had been a long day and we were hungry again - where does one eat outside on Thanksgiving day and on Christmas day??? At a Chinese restaurant offcourse and where do you go for a Chinese restaurant in NYC? CHINA TOWN! This deserves its whole independent post. We visited China town twice day 2 and day 3. FYi: things in China Town close early on Thanksgiving day they start to close around 7:30pm.
We took the subway to 57th street (A, C, E) and got off and followed the crowds - well we should have gotten there earlier as we could hear the parade but there was no chance of seeing anything other than the balloons floating through the sky.
One picture is that of the Chrysler building and another of downtown Manhattan. We also looked down on the parade from the Empire State building with our zoom lens. 
After roaming around the observation deck it was 10:00am and we had a boat to catch at Pier 83. The weather was clearing and there was a 3hr boat tour around Manhattan by Circle Line Tours. The cruise was leaving at 12:30. We left Empire State and decided we would walk - hmm wrong decision many streets were closed off and we kept walking and got really really hungry. We now were stuck at Times Square and time was running out it was 11:40. We got into a restaurant and said lets atleast feed outselves - I don't recall the name - it was a store downstairs along with a counter serving sandwiches - the biggest chicken parmagiana sandwich I've ever had (we split it) and by the time we left the restaurant 12:05 the parade was over and we could cross the street - at this point we ran to pier 83.
Circle line cruise was worth it - again as it was paid for due to NYCity Pass. 
Circle line takes you close to the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and all around the island. the southern part is interesting the north part - no so much. Was surprised to see all the trees and the low level of development in the northern part of Manhattan. Also you get a mini history lesson on various parts of the island. While the 3 hr tour is slightly too long (as I said the Northern part gets boring) - the 2 hr 1/2 island tour might be the perfect length.
Circle line takes you close to the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, and all around the island. the southern part is interesting the north part - no so much. Was surprised to see all the trees and the low level of development in the northern part of Manhattan. Also you get a mini history lesson on various parts of the island. While the 3 hr tour is slightly too long (as I said the Northern part gets boring) - the 2 hr 1/2 island tour might be the perfect length.After a few hrs of crusising and getting cold we got back and since we were in midtown we decided to go see the Rockefeller center - offcourse we wanted to go see 'Top Of the Rock' - since our NYCity pass gave us free admission. Top of the Rock is the observation deck on top of the Rockefeller center. The views from here are much better than the Empire state - why? cause you see the lit up empire state!
FYI: a lot of people go to Top of the Rock to see sunrise and sunset - you can buy a dual ticket. We thought we would use City Pass twice but never made it at dawn. You can spend quite a bit of time up on top as there's an enclosed area and open area. There's also a cool room where you can move around and the room responds by doing different lights... After an hr on top we headed back down to grab some food - we were too tired and hungry to venture anyplace and do research so we grabbed some food in the mall below Rockfeller center and ate by the ice rink. Yes the famous ice rink by which the christmas tree is lit up ... it was a great site - sooo many movies have that particular scene. We visited the NBC store and found out that you can tour the studios - we decided we'd do this another day - it had been a long day and we were hungry again - where does one eat outside on Thanksgiving day and on Christmas day??? At a Chinese restaurant offcourse and where do you go for a Chinese restaurant in NYC? CHINA TOWN! This deserves its whole independent post. We visited China town twice day 2 and day 3. FYi: things in China Town close early on Thanksgiving day they start to close around 7:30pm.
Mario Batali Otto Enoteca
We went on the first night in NYC to Otto Enoteca - a casual dining joint by Mario Batali. An easy walk from the Subway station - we'd used the A,C, E line and gotten out in miserable weather. We used the handy Google Directions to guide us and ended up walking in a circle to get to the Restaurant. This is a busy place that is buzzing with energy. Lots of people, rucus atmosphere and looks like a good time. We get seated at a table which is in a row of tables - two seaters that are right next to each other.
At this point the waiter brings us what he says are breadsticks -they are in a package (like store bought) upon opening the package (which is an italian brand) theres two thin (straw thin ness) sticks that are crispy.. hmmm I am thinking this isn't a great start. Then I look a the menu - there's three pages of wines and 1 page of food.
The food is divided up into Appetizers which are further divided into several sections some being salads, meats (cured meats), and some small plates. The entrees are divided into pastas and pizza. Otto Menu is quite interesting and words fool you into thinking these are simple plates - don't be fooled.
We ordered the appetizer of 'Shrimp, Ceci, Chilis'. I thought this is kind of odd - but the dish was faboulous - extremely tasty. The shrimp were perfectly cooked - we found out they were poached with ginger. A very simple but extremely flavourful dish consisting of ginger and chili flavours with offcourse fresh olive oil. We'll definitely have to try this at home.
For the Entrees we ordered Spaghetti Alla Carbonara and Pizza Romana. All dishes were flavourful. The Spaghetti was strongly flavoured with Pancetta and the Pizza Romana was a pizza with a putenesca flavour. This way we got two classic italian flavours in pizza and pasta. Both dishes hit the spot and I was willing to come to this place again the next night.
At this point the waiter brings us what he says are breadsticks -they are in a package (like store bought) upon opening the package (which is an italian brand) theres two thin (straw thin ness) sticks that are crispy.. hmmm I am thinking this isn't a great start. Then I look a the menu - there's three pages of wines and 1 page of food.
The food is divided up into Appetizers which are further divided into several sections some being salads, meats (cured meats), and some small plates. The entrees are divided into pastas and pizza. Otto Menu is quite interesting and words fool you into thinking these are simple plates - don't be fooled.
We ordered the appetizer of 'Shrimp, Ceci, Chilis'. I thought this is kind of odd - but the dish was faboulous - extremely tasty. The shrimp were perfectly cooked - we found out they were poached with ginger. A very simple but extremely flavourful dish consisting of ginger and chili flavours with offcourse fresh olive oil. We'll definitely have to try this at home.
For the Entrees we ordered Spaghetti Alla Carbonara and Pizza Romana. All dishes were flavourful. The Spaghetti was strongly flavoured with Pancetta and the Pizza Romana was a pizza with a putenesca flavour. This way we got two classic italian flavours in pizza and pasta. Both dishes hit the spot and I was willing to come to this place again the next night.
After having such an amazing appetizer and entrees I had to go for a desert and the menu again didn't disappoint. The desert was pricier when compared to the entree but heck how many times are we going to be in NYC on my birthday? For desert we had the Olive oil gelato with Lemon sorbetto, Lemon curd and Candied anise. It also had an almond flavoured wafer, a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and tangerines - Good lord this was an amzaing party in the mouth. The olive oil gelato was creamy and smooth and the lemon curd and lemon sorbetto were a perfect pairing to cut through the sweet creamy texture of the gelato - this made the gelato great till the last spoonful and didn't overpower you with the creamy sweetness.
Two thumbs up for Otto Enoteca! A definite must go in NYC - value for money and AMAZZING FOOD.
Friday, December 11, 2009
NY Trip Post Day 1
This Thanksgiving weekend (2009) we visited NYCity. We stayed at the Mellenium Hilton in downtown. We booked on hotwire for a dirt cheap rate (well under $100/night).
Review of the Mellenium Hilton: Room was awesome, the view was overlooking the the unfortunate 9/11 WTC pit. The furniture, bathroom, TV all great! Location - walking distance from multiple subway lines we could get on the A,C,E lines or the 2,3 lines so getting to Midtown and the Museum district was a breeze!
First Day:
We flew into LaGuardia airport and took the M60 over to Manhattan. We got off at Columbia University and took the subway down to the Hilton. Dropped off the bags and headed out on the town - First stop was midtown Planet Hollywood in Times Square to pickup the NYC Pass. A 3 day pass that lets you into all the attractions without having to wait in ticket lines! Given the discount that was offered the pass was well worth it. One catch about the pass - their advertising states that you can go to an attraction multiple times - you can't - the folks at the attractions told us no sir can't do.
After a jaunt in Times Square we headed for lunch to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. On our Vegas trip we'd loved Mesa Grill and were craving to go back. Unfortunately NY didn't live upto Vegas Mesa Grill. Why? Well the service was sloppy, seating was very cramped and it didn't have a price fixe menu. The atmosphere of the restaurant and the service didn't seem worth the price. I'll post Mesa Grill food selections and pics in a later post.
After Mesa Grill we headed over to the Empire State Building and stopped at The Sex Museum on the way. The Sex Museum is a total ripoff. Since it was covered in the NY City pass we decided why not.
Since it was still Cloudy and raining we headed to the 'SkyRide' show at the Empire State Building (I won't say again but all attractions, museum's ;boat rides were all covered by City pass). The SkyRide show - not really worth the money. We got our tickets for the Empire State Observation deck but didn't go up due to the bad weather. But the great thing was due to the bad weather there was absolutely no line for the tickets. So we got the tickets and then would get to skip the ticket line the next day!
After the Skyride we wandered around 5th Ave towards Central Park - while walking to Central Park we stopped off and checked out the Apple Store and FAO Schwartz. Both are worth a visit.
After our feet started complaining that they didn't want to walk anymore we decided to go grab some more food and headed for Mario Batali's Otto Enoteca. This was one of the food highlights of the trip! Simply Awesome - price, service, food - all were great I'll post a separate entry with pics. After Otto we roamed around Greenwich village and then called it a night - boy were our feet sore!
Review of the Mellenium Hilton: Room was awesome, the view was overlooking the the unfortunate 9/11 WTC pit. The furniture, bathroom, TV all great! Location - walking distance from multiple subway lines we could get on the A,C,E lines or the 2,3 lines so getting to Midtown and the Museum district was a breeze!
First Day:
We flew into LaGuardia airport and took the M60 over to Manhattan. We got off at Columbia University and took the subway down to the Hilton. Dropped off the bags and headed out on the town - First stop was midtown Planet Hollywood in Times Square to pickup the NYC Pass. A 3 day pass that lets you into all the attractions without having to wait in ticket lines! Given the discount that was offered the pass was well worth it. One catch about the pass - their advertising states that you can go to an attraction multiple times - you can't - the folks at the attractions told us no sir can't do.
After a jaunt in Times Square we headed for lunch to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. On our Vegas trip we'd loved Mesa Grill and were craving to go back. Unfortunately NY didn't live upto Vegas Mesa Grill. Why? Well the service was sloppy, seating was very cramped and it didn't have a price fixe menu. The atmosphere of the restaurant and the service didn't seem worth the price. I'll post Mesa Grill food selections and pics in a later post.
After Mesa Grill we headed over to the Empire State Building and stopped at The Sex Museum on the way. The Sex Museum is a total ripoff. Since it was covered in the NY City pass we decided why not.
Since it was still Cloudy and raining we headed to the 'SkyRide' show at the Empire State Building (I won't say again but all attractions, museum's ;boat rides were all covered by City pass). The SkyRide show - not really worth the money. We got our tickets for the Empire State Observation deck but didn't go up due to the bad weather. But the great thing was due to the bad weather there was absolutely no line for the tickets. So we got the tickets and then would get to skip the ticket line the next day!
After the Skyride we wandered around 5th Ave towards Central Park - while walking to Central Park we stopped off and checked out the Apple Store and FAO Schwartz. Both are worth a visit.
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