Toshikoshi Soba 12-31-2008

"Year End Soba 2008"

Location: Somewhere in Astoria
Time: 7pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: It is a Japanese custom to eat soba noodles on New Year’s eve to reflect on the year. The long noodle symbolizes longevity of health and prosperity for the new year. The traditional meal is a bowl of hot or cold soba noodles, called Toshikoshi Soba (Year End or Year Passing Soba), which people have around midnight. This year, RB made his famous cold green tea soba with tofu patties, Nori and Wasabi. Delicious!

Happy New Year from Ramen and Friends!

Cookie Love from Long Island 12-31-2008

"Jess C's Christmas Cookies!"

Location: Somewhere in Long Island
Time: 5pm
People: Jess C made them!

Feelings: RB's cousin, Jess C makes Christmas cookies every year. This year, she kindly gave us an entire tin of her famous cookies. (After a small amount of begging.) The snowman tin was filled with the soft and buttery heaven of Raspberry and Apricot Lindsay Tart and Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies. The Lindsay Tart cookies were perfectly moist and not too sweet. They were simply the cookie perfection. If she had entered the Cookie Contest by MeSoHungry, she would have definitely won the prize. The Peanut Butter Chocolate cookies had surprisingly unique flavors. As I thought they were chocolate chunk cookies and bit into them, my mouth got filled with peanut butter mixed with warm chocolaty sweet kicks. I always welcome a peanut butter surprise.

Thank you Jess C for making such wonderful cookies. Can't wait for next year's batch!

Westville East and Tea Time 12-28-2008

"Lazy afternoon.."

Location: 173 Ave A
Time: 6pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: When we want vegetarian friendly American comfort food in East Village on a lazy Sunday afternoon, we usually head to Westville East. They provide serious comfort food with healthy options at a reasonable price and portions. RB got his usual Cod Fish Po' Boy with fries and beer. It usually comes on baguette, but it came on Hamburger buns this time, which made the dish a little bit soggy. But the homemade tartar sauce and the fish were a tasty combination, and the fries were fresh and perfectly seasoned.
I usually get veggie burger here, which is fresh and excellent. However, today I tried the "PLT" (Poached salmon, lettuce, tomato) on baguette with a side of mixed greens. It had the perfect texture, and the lemon dill dressing harmonized the sandwich.
The food here is very satisfying, but the waitstaff tend to be little too aloof. But that's the charm of this place, and we like it that way on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Tea Time: Sympathy for the Kettle, 109 St Marks Pl
Feelings: It's a wonderful small place to relax and sip many cups of authentic tea. Our hazelnut black tea was delicious and had an amazingly sweet aroma. They give you a huge pot of delicious tea, so you have to make sure to visit the bathroom before you leave this place.

Havana Central at Graphics Room 12-22-2008

"Felices Fiestas!"

Location: Havana Central, 22 East 17th Street (delivery)
Time: 1pm
People: RK, JO, KHash, PJB, RB, JL
Guest Writer/Reporter: RB

Feelings: RK and JO were kind enough to treat the graphics department to delicious bowls of Happy Holiday paella from Havana Central. As each member of the team opened his or her own over sized portion of chorizo, pork and chicken paella, the room filled with warm cheer. The chicken and pork added nice texture to the dish, but of course the chorizo was the star. The well cooked rice perfectly soaked up the slightly greasy chorizo with gentle spice and good home cooked flavor.
In addition, we split two empanada samplers (beef, chicken and broccoli) and a fresh avocado salad. The empanada crust was crisp, and the filling was tasty and flavorful - exactly the way a good empanada should be. The avocado salad was unimpressive, but quite fresh and nicely arranged.

Cookie Contest/Holiday Jamboree Night 12-19-2008

"Cookies!"

Location: The Glasslands Gallery 289 Kent Ave, Brooklyn
Time: 9pm
People: A lot of people

Feelings: MeSoHungry's annual cookie contest in association with This Frontier Needs Heroes was a major success. I have never seen so many home made cookies in my life! My tasty cookie discovery was the "Holiday Card Cookies" from Betty Bakery in Boerum Hill (The Photo of the cookie courtesy of MeSoHungry.) The holiday card cookies were not only creative but inventive. Instead of printing a photo on a cookie, these instead looked delicately hand painted. Another tasty delight was Ramen and Friends' dessert guru, MGru's "Cottage Cheese Cookies." They had wonderful textures: They were soft and perfectly moist inside. Great job MGru!

Yum Yum Bangkok Lunch with Showtime Ops! 12-12-2008

"Yes! Dolly Parton!"

Location: 650 9th Ave
Time: 12:30pm
People: Sa-Sha, PeeWee, BeBe, KeLe, GB, KarO, AP and myself

Feelings: This year's Showtime Ops' annual Secret Santa took place at a very reasonably priced Thai joint on 9th Avenue. I am not sure why there are three Yum Yum restaurants next to each other, but this Yum Yum Bangkok offers fast and cheap lunch specials with good proportions. My Tofu Pad Kee Mao was a bit on the sweet side, but it was fresh and not greasy. As I ate my sweet noodles, I felt very rushed and watched by the staff, proven by the waiter immediately grabbing my plate as I finished my last bite. But you really can't beat the $9 lunch specials (including tips, 2 spring rolls, salad and entree) in Hell's Kitchen. The speedie dining awkwardness was justified by its affordability. And I got a Dolly Parton vintage notebook from my Secret Santa, so it was a very good day. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Umi No Ie Holiday Spectacular! 12-10-2008

"Squid cooked in a sauce of its own liver SOUNDS interesting... SOUNDS."

Location: 86 E 3rd St
Time: 7pm
People: 21 Ramen and Friends : Sa-Sha, PeeWee, GB, BeBe, JLam from MeSoHungry, RB, MGru, SD, ALev, JT, Rich, JBH, BLee, TrishP, Jnu, CE, JAlt, KHash, MiK, JRath, and myself

Feelings: The first annual Ramen and Friends Holiday Spectacular took place at Umi No Ie (Beach House) in East Village. This small restaurant/ Shochu bar serves tapas that can be found at many local beach houses in Kyushu area of Japan. The $4 beer and $40 Shochu Happy Hour special excited many members of Ramen and Friends and left us in good spirits, but many dishes did not follow the excitement. The restaurant's Dashi was showcased most in the pumpkin with fried tofu, bringing the dish to a delicate balance of subtle sweetness and earthiness. Pork belly kakuni, meatballs, eel omlet and hijiki were all delightful and disappeared from our table rather quickly. However, their signature Udon noodles from Goto Islands were a disappointment. Although it was tasty, they lacked flavor and slightly overcooked to my taste. We also encountered quite unique dishes: dried fin of manta ray, bitter melon with tofu (quintessential Okinawa style cuisine), and squid shiokara (fermented seafood). They all had interesting textures and flavors, but many members did not go back for second bites.

Feelings towards their service: They were extremely accommodating for our holiday party. Our waiter, who was topped with a festive Santa hat, took care of his 21 customers with a smile and kept us happy and sufficiently liquored up. Well done, Santa.

Happy Holidays from Ramen and Friends!

Post Udon Dessert: Return of Dessert Truck
Feelings: We enjoyed Bomboloni, Macarons, Slow Baked Apple and Cinnamon, and really thick hot chocolate.

Republic Quick Bite! 12-03-2008

"Sit, Eat, No Talking, Go Go Go!"

Location: 37 Union Sq. West
Time: 6pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: This Union Square staple is a perfect casual noodle spot if any of the followings may apply:

1) You are in hurry.
2) You don't feel like talking.
3) You are starving.
4) You want to sit with strangers while dining.

Republic is plentiful, inexpensive, and loud. Our Vegetarian Vermicelli and Spicy Duck noodle soup were overpowered by flavors, but the portions were satisfying. They brought our orders within five minutes, and the check within 20.

This restaurant brings you the loudest communal dining experience at a good value. It is so loud to the point you cannot even hear yourself, reminding me of the cafeteria back in high school. Therefore, if you don't feel like talking, this is indeed the perfect spot: You can keep quiet, feed your face, and blame it all on the noise.