Papacitos 06-30-2009

Location: 999 Manhattan Ave.
Time: 7:30pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: While apartment hunting in Greenpoint area, we had to stop at the famous vegan friendly taco spot, Papacitos. Just for the sake of being so close to Papacitos makes me want to move to this area. They should list that as a benefit in the Craigslist listing. Ramen and Friends' member, TrishP mentioned that Papacitos was recently robbed, so I thought I should definitely stopped by to give them our support. Okay, perhaps people shouldn't mention Papacitos on Craigslist after all.

Unfortunately, due to the rain, the outdoor patio was closed, and it was packed with hungry people and taco aroma. We had to wait for 10 minutes to be seated, but I did not mind waiting considering how friendly and courteous the waitstaff was.

RB and I both ordered three tacos with three different fillings: soyrizo (vegan chorizo), spicy tempeh, and seitan asada, all with soy sour cream. Wow! They were all amazingly flavorful and strikingly spicy with a nice kick of cilantro. My tongue and stomach thought I was feeding on meat and dairy, but without any guilt or sick feelings. I had to keep telling myself, "This is not meat. This is not dairy." I never actually really tasted meat, but RB said these were even better than their chicken tacos he had previously, so I am assuming this is very close to real meat.

Unfortunately, they did not serve alcohol, but it is BYOB, and there are quite a few bodegas and corner shops around to buy a few tallboys to enjoy with your meal. RB decided not to go out and buy a beer but managed to really enjoy the tacos without one of his favorite Pacifico or Modelo. Ladies and gentlemen, that means the vegan tacos were really good. He is not a vegetarian nor would he dare to eat tacos without a good Mexican beer.

We left the place with $15 bill, again impressed by how reasonable Greenpoint dining is. What have we been doing in Astoria all these years? Is it time to for us move to Greenpoint? Is this a calling?

Chige Nabe Udon from Udon West 06-27-2009

Location: 11 St Marks Pl
Time: 6pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: We have not been to Udon West for quite some time, but to welcome a lovely sunny day (after a month of rain and gloom), I was craving my usual cold bukkake udon. While going through their menu, we realized that they made some changes and added more adventurous dishes such as chige nabe udon (kimchi hot pot with udon), cold udon with kimchi and a raw egg, and udon with fried squid.

I was tempted to try the cold noodle with kimchi, but the raw egg turned me off. We got a mini curry to share, and I got my usual cold noodle instead. RB usually orders nabe yaki udon, but he decided to try the new chige nabe udon.

The chige came with bright red soup with the intoxicating aroma of kimchi and udon broth. Vampires may be excited about this blood red stew. Not only it was red but the extreme temperature of the nabe burnt RB's tongue, even after he waited for it to cool down. This is when the Japanese noodle slurping sound could have come handy--it will cool off the noodle and prevent from burning your tongue. He enjoyed the dish despite his injury. It was spicy and flavorful but he would have preferred more meat. Perhaps he got too used to the giant meat portions at Döner Kebab in Williamsburg.

Thank you Serious Eats! 06-25-2009

These are wondrous times at Ramen and Friends. Our Wondee Siam GB's birthday lunch post was featured on Serious Eats! Thank you again Serious Eats & Happy Birthday GB!

Döner in Williamsburg! 06-24-2009

Location: 189 Bedford Ave. b/w 6th and 7th St.
Time: 6:30pm
People: JLam from mesohungry, RB and myself

Feelings: As we were walking on Bedford, I saw a sign said, "Döner Turkish Food" on a storefront. Döner, the European fast food favorite, is something you don't see very often around New York. Gyros are more of American favorite..until now!

It turns out this particular Döner shop was only open for five hours when we walked through the door. Feeling quite special, I ordered zucchini pancake döner ($4) while RB and JLam ordered the traditional lamb döner ($5). Along with delicious zucchini pancakes, fresh vegetables and sauce were filled in soft flatbread. The lamb döner was flavorful and over-packed with meat. All our döners were tasty and filling, and this would be perfect cart food for the lunch crowds as well as late night snacks.

RB reluctantly said "It's just like gyro on a pita." But I am a firm believer of döner over gyro. It's easier to eat, and I like that fixings are stuffed inside of flatbread like hummus sandwich. It is hard to walk around with gyro in your hand, but döner is easily portable. It is a perfect addition to Bedford Avenue.

Serafina Lunch 06-23-2009

Location: 210 West 55th St.
Time: 12:30pm
People: FA, AP and myself

Feelings: As I walk by Serafina on my way to work everyday with a bagel and coffee in my hand, their outdoor seating area and swanky interior always look very inviting. Instead of merely walking by and staring in, like Holly Golightly in front of Tiffany's, I was ecstatic to finally go in and try this Italian place.

The restaurant seemed upscale yet down to earth with a European restaurant vibe, which is perfect for business lunch or taking your out-of-town friends for brunch. FA mentioned that he saw Diddy once, who has his Sean John enterprise next door here, and I heard two fratty businessmen behind me name dropping Jim Cramer. I would say it seems to be an extremely "Jim Cramer is having lunch with Diddy" kind of a place.

The service was incredible and almost enlightening. The waitstaff was so experienced that I did not even feel like they were actually there. It was as if we had invisible waitstaff reading our minds and getting exactly what we needed at every moment. I also noticed that our waiter never lost a smile, not even once. The register area was right in front of our table, but he kept smiling even when he was not serving us. It is refreshing to see waitstaff with such integrity and professionalism, and I realized I need to use such mannerism at my work more.

They had extensive menu selections, so we had a difficult time choosing. We eventually ordered fried calamari and Buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil as appetizers. The calamari was fried in Italian peanut oil and came with spicy tomato dipping sauce. The dip complimented the subtle greasiness of calamari. For main dish, FA ordered lasagna, AP finished his seafood risotto quickly and without a word (It must have been great!), and I had my usual Italian favorite, gnocchi. I like my gnocchi a little more chewy, but it was tasty nonetheless.

Serafina makes people and service the stars, and it did not seem the food was their biggest attraction. The food was good, but it does not outshine the wonderful dining experience. It gives people an opportunity to meet and spend some time together with food. In this case, the food cannot be too adventurous or exciting because it might turn some people off. It needs to be your usual comfortable dishes so you can focus on your friends instead of food. If you enjoy nice decor and atmosphere with amazing service, and if you are looking for a nice spacious dining experience, then Serafina is the place.

Wondee Siam GB's Birthday Lunch! 06-24-2009

Location: 792 9th Ave.
Time: 1pm
People: Sa-Sha, AP, Jaye & Hubbie, Be-Be, PeeWee, Karen, Birthday Girl GB, and myself

Feelings: Happy Birthday GB! GB's friend, Jaye, arranged a birthday lunch for GB at midtown Thai spot, Wondee Siam. She mentioned they had a "Secret Menu that is only written in Thai," which made us very excited. What an enticing adventure for a foodblogger. Jaye even had a note written in Thai so we can order these mysterious secret Thai dishes. It turned out the secret menu was not to secret! The Menu, labeled "Secret Menu" sat on each table alongside the cocktail list. Not very secret. Perhaps something was lost in the translation. AP said frustratedly, "I thought we were getting something special!"

Our group ordered the crispy duck salad, whole fish with mango salad, pork with watercress and octopus from this not-so-secret-but-special menu. Sa-Sha liked the texture of the crispy duck salad and thought the whole fish was prepared very well. GB enjoyed her food and thought it was a bit more adventurous than ordering her usual red curry/drunken noodles. She said, "I expected it to be spicier, but I enjoyed the complexity of flavour, especially with the duck salad and the mango fish. I find often Thai food in New York can be monotone, so it's nice to have layers of many different tastes." Sa-Sha and I both thought Sripraphai was better when it comes to authenticity, but they were very good for Manhattan Thai joint. GB thought perhaps they water down the spiciness for a midtown flavor palette.

Karen's chicken red curry should have been called "bamboo shoots red curry with chicken." So loaded with bamboo shoots, and I had mistaken them for noodles. However, she enjoyed the presentation and its reasonable price. ($6.95 with salad)

PeeWee and I both ordered noodles. we both agreed that it was a bit too sweet and not spicy enough. BeBe, the self proclaimed Spice Wimp, thought her Rama chicken was too spicy, so they leveled out our spicy preferences. That's midtown for you--They level out the flavor and aim the middle so everyone will be happy. It might not be as adventurous as what Queens or Brooklyn may have to offer, but it sure can provide lovely birthday Thai lunch.

My Favorite Thing: Ben and Jerry's New Flavor! 06-22-2009

Feelings: Although severely lactose intolerant, RB and I occasionally enjoy Ben and Jerry's with handful of Lactaid. My favorite flavors are Fossil Fuel, Karamel Sutra, Phish Food, and Stephen Corbert's Americone Dream. Our neighborhood bodega named "Yankee Deli" on 30th ave in Astoria has quite an impressive stock of Ben and Jerry's, and we must have spent fortune buying ice cream and beer there. We are known as "The people who are on beer and ice cream diet."

Possibly because of us, they always stay well stocked on Ben and Jerry's new flavors such as Mission to Marzipan, which was average despite my love for marzipan. Another new flavor we tried was Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road. First of all, how can you deny Elton John when he stares at you from beyond the freezer? This is how I became obsessed with Stephen Corbert's ice cream. I love the combination of peanut butter cookie dough and white chocolate chunks with chocolate ice cream in Sir Elton's iced treat. It tastes creamy and nutty, and it takes you to the ultimate chocolate heaven. The Brickle candy pieces ruin the creamy texture, and I really wish they left it out. (Although then the title wouldn't make much sense.) Such is the charm of Ben and Jerry's: you can always avoid the pieces you don't want and dig for all the chunks you love. It's a bit like life really, in a tasty little pint.

Ramen Setagaya University Pl 06-19-2009

Location: 90 University Pl.
Time: 6:30pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: Setagaya opened their third ramen shop in Union Square area specializing in shio based ramen, so as a writer of something called "Ramen and Friends," I had a resposiblity to go. Their second location on St. Marks offers shoyu based ramen, which I have not tried. Although widely popular, I was not a huge fan of their first location on 1st Avenue, but I thought I would give this new conveniently located version a try.

I ordered shio tsuke men, a dish served with separate bowls for ramen and broth. The noodles were thicker than most other ramen joints and less egg-y, almost to the point where I felt I was eating thin udon rather than ramen noodles. The portion of noodles was quite large, and for $9.50, it is a great deal. Nowadays it is hard to find noodle soup for less than $10 unless you go to a hole-in-the-wall shop. However, the broth of this inexpensive dish was overly salty for my taste. I understand that they specialize in shio (salt in Japanese) ramen, but does it have to be that salty to be considered salt ramen? As I consumed a sip of fatty sodium induced broth, I felt my throat tighten up and my tongue became numb.

RB enjoyed his $12 chashu shio ramen although his dish came five minutes later than I received my ramen. He had Asahi beer to compliment the saltiness of his ramen, but he still thought the broth was too salty. But he said, "It's shio ramen. Of course it's salty."

We left Setagaya with full stomachs within our budget, but the thirst drove us to near madness. I thought I saw an oasis on the horizon, but it was only Jamba Juice. I feel Setagaya lacks the greasy feel I require in a great ramen joint. Setagaya is too clean and polished for the sake of ramen. (If you want to go posh, then go for Ippudo.) My favorite ramen joint in the city still remains to be Rai Rai Ken.

Mappa Mundi show tomorrow! 06-19-2009

We will see you at Mappa Mundi's next show!
Pete's Candy Store / Saturday /June 20th/ 10pm!

Shiratama Cream Zenzai from Menkui-Tei 06-16-2009

Location: 63 Cooper Sq.
Time: 7pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: Although the weather has been quite gloomy in the city these days, my stomach is more than ready for the summer. There is no better way to welcome the summer than a dish of shiratama cream zenzai. Shiratama is a kind of sweet mochi that is made with shiratama flour. They may look like cotton balls, but they are heavenly soft and chewy are subtly sweet. As soon as I saw the shiratama dish on the wall menu at Menkui-Tei, I had to order. Nothing was stopping me, not even the non stop cold rainy weather.

The traditional shiratama cream zenzai usually comes with vanilla soft serve, azuki beans and shiratama. When the soft serve starts to melt a little, you would gently mix it with azuki, which gives the greatest texture and flavor you could imagine. It is sweet, nutty, and creamy, and the chunks of azuki beans gives a nice, interesting texture. My love for ice cream with chunks started from here. Whoever thought of mixing vanilla and azuki is a genius.

Since Menkui -Tei did not serve the shiratama dish with vanilla soft serve, we decided to order it with green tea ice cream instead. Shiratama was sweet and chewy and complimented the bitter-sweet green tea ice cream very well. But it was not as good as the kind I am used to. I could not do the "azuki mixing" move with the green tea ice cream. Not only the taste would be different but the color would not be pretty either.

I hope to find my favorite shiratama dish with vanilla soft serve somewhere in the city (perhaps at Cha-An?) and welcome the summer properly soon.

Rin 06-13-2009

Location: 265 West 23rd St.
Time: 6pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: Formerly a Krispy Kreme and Burger & Cupcakes location is now the newest addition to the overwhelming Chelsea Thai scene, Rin. We were going to see Pixar's "Up" across the street, so we decided to try this conveniently located Thai restaurant. I absolutely love Thai food and eat it at least once a week, but when do we reach our quota of Thai restaurants in this city? Do we not have enough banks, fro-yo and Thai restaurants in Hell's Kitchen and Chelsea? I'm not a big fan of Krispy Kreme, but in this area, it would be a welcomed oddity. The only Krispy Kreme I know of these days is the one that smells like cheese in Penn Station. (Why does everything in Penn smell and taste like old cheese?) Where was I? Oh yes, RIN...

The decor of the restaurant was a bit corny, but the waterfall along the wall and the dim lighting gave a very relaxed ambiance to the place. It set the mood perfectly for a Pixar movie. Slightly, but not overly romantic, a bit cheesy and a bit corny, but you know it will satisfy you. And you will probably leave with warm and fuzzy feelings.

Unfortunately, my intuition was wrong. As we entered, we realized that it was staff's lunch time, which is of course perfectly reasonable. Despite this fact, the service was quite good. The veggie dumplings we ordered for appetizer, however, were not. Although presented very nicely, they were overcooked and hard to chew, and the sauce was extremely salty. Our Drunken Noodles were overcooked and over-sauced. It's fair to assume that if we returned during the regular dinner hour, the food would be better. Perhaps when Pixar releases their next movie, we'll try here again.

The High Line and Birdbath 06-13-2009

Location: Runs from Gansevoort St. to West 20th St.
Time: 4pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: After sassy MGru, Ramen and Friends' dessert connoisseur, recommended we visit the newly opened High Line in the Meat Packing district, RB and I headed out to the elevated architectural garden walk. I have never been very fond of the area, but I was convinced this was something I should experience.

It was a terribly rainy day, but there was still a Disneyland-esque serpentine line to get in. My favorite organic vegan friendly bakery, Birdbath was selling their baked goods along with City Bakery's coffee at the Gansevoort Street entrance, so the reasonable wait was made even easier.

The High Line is a breathtakingly beautiful piece of living sculpture even after walking through a downpour with a tiny umbrella in a hand, and harsh wind hitting our faces and messing our hair. They paid attention to every detail in this elevated park. I am not even sure if they should call this a "park" since you cannot walk on the grass. It is more a combination of a conceptual art piece and a public garden. For a high heel wearing nature phobic like me, this is a perfect amount of outdoor activity. It reminded me a lot of the Noguchi Museum in Long Island City in a similar way you can walk in their garden and enjoy Noguchi's sculptures.

I hope The High Line will bring a lot of people including tourists to the area, which will help the local business. We found a lot of interesting stores and sights while we were in the area, and our resentment towards the Meat Packing area slowly disappeared. Whether it is an interesting piece of urban planning, a precisely conceived architectural project, or a work of interactive sculpture, The High Line is a beautiful experience of downtown Manhatten.

Express Manna Kitchen 06-11-2009

Location: 28 E. 18th St.
Time: 1pm
People: Sa-Sha, BeBe and myself

Feelings: It was lunchtime in Union Square. After reading about the new Korean Taco cart on Midtown Lunch, we were desperately craving Korean food. The only place I could think for quick take out was Express Manna Kitchen. I have been to Manna for Omu Rice and noodles, and I remember it being solid, but a little pricey for a take out.

BeBe has been diligently adhereing to her no carb diet and passed on ordering. Yes, It is extremely hard to be carb free at Asian food joint! This is why I could never be on no carb diet, but I admire her dedication. Sa-Sha ordered Rock'n'Rice ($10.95), which is a cute name for bi-bim-bap served in hot stone bowl. I ordered tofu chap chae ($7.95 + $1.50 for tofu), which is pretty much what I order at any Korean restaurant.

Sa-Sha enjoyed her Rock'n'Rice. She said, "It's a huge portion, which is good since it's expensive. I like that it came with various banchan and soup as well. The only problem with getting take out is that you don't get the layer of crunchy rice that usually forms when you have the hot stone bowl bi bim bap. It is a little greasy, but I like it that way." She is also a known kimchi connoisseur, and she liked their kimchi stating, "It is crunchy and nicely spiced."

I also liked my tofu chap chae. Usually when it's without beef, the dish tends to be bland, but it was more flavorful than most Korean restaurants I have tried. It was not greasy, and the portion was just right. I still felt it was overpriced since if I spent $10, I could get a better Korean meal at K-town or perhaps at DoSirak nearby. But as far as Korean takeouts go, Manna is a solid choice since I really can't think of anywhere that does Korean takeouts around Union Square.

Thank you Serious Eats! 06-11-2009

These are splendid times at Ramen and Friends. Our Oh! SobaKoh! Night post was featured on Serious Eats! Thank you again Serious Eats.

Oh! SobaKoh! Night 06-09-2009

Location: 309 E. 5th St.
Time: 7:30pm
People: 18 Ramen and Friends: JLam from MeSoHungry, KaV, BLee, PunJ, SSam, JHays, Sa-Sha, BeBe, GB, JBH, JT, Rich, Alev, MLev, CarlL & friend, a little bit of sassy MGru, RB and myself

Feelings: Ramen and Friends' event for this month took place at Sobakoh, an authentic hand made soba restaurant in East Village. When I made the reservation for 15 people, the owner/manager was extremely courteous and asked if any special preparations were needed. I was immediately reassured that they maintained an excellent standard of Japanese hospitality. At the same time, I was a little nervous. The conversation confirmed the place to be a very traditional, authentic Japanese spot. Was I to act properly according to the Japanese manners I was taught as a child? Would my mother be proud?

Once we arrived at the location, I was relieved. The staff was flexible when three additional people showed up, and we got our beverage and food rather quickly. No one went water-less, and they gave us our bill without any confusion or miscalculation, which is almost unheard of at one of our events. I was stunned by their incredible service and attention to details. Bravo, the staff of Sobakoh!

Believe it or not, the food was even better than their superb service. For $10-$18, you can experience their freshly handmade soba noodles. When you order "hot" soba, you can get the noodles with Tokyo style soy based broth. In the region of Tokyo, soy sauce is more prominent while the broth served in the Osaka region has more of "Dashi" flavor with much less soy sauce. As Osakan, I am not used to having soba with soy based broth, but the noodle itself was so great that I completely forgot about the broth. It was chewy and fresh. The different textures created by the inexact cut of the hand made noodle touched my tongue with delight. As I swallowed the noodle, there was another sensation at the back of my throat. It was as if the soba was alive. If you want to enjoy the noodle itself more, I would recommend cold noodles without the distraction of Tokyo based broth...Unless you are from Tokyo and you enjoy that soy broth.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the side dishes as well. The tempura was light, crispy and flavorful. It complimented the taste of healthy soba wonderfully.

We left the place happy and full. As I left, I noticed a small printed paper on the window. Buckwheat, the paper read, is much closer to fruit than wheat - full of wonderful antioxidants that contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Soba is so healthy! We are so healthy! So yes, of course, we stopped at Milk Bar and got ourselves heavily buttered cookies without any guilty feelings.

Brunch at Westville East 06-07-2009

Location: 173 Ave A
Time: 4pm (yes, that's still brunch time, dammit!)
People: RB and myself

Feelings: As I mentioned on a previous post, RB and I are big fans of Westville East, especially on a lazy Sunday afternoon. When we realized we never tried their brunch, we decided to head out to our usual Sunday spot before going to see much anticipated Pixar's "Up."

As we sat down at their semi exposed seating area and enjoyed the nice June weather, we got the incredibly accommodating service. I remember getting a very "laid back" service in the past, but today, we got their 100% attention. Perhaps they are more attentive during the brunch hours. Our order of fresh and aromatic coffee appeared at the table in no time.

RB ordered the Ranchero eggs with chorizo and a side of hashed potatoes ($10), and I ordered the smoked salmon omelet without cheese with a side of organic mixed greens with balsamic lemon dill vinaigrette ($10). They both came with amazingly delicious and crispy seven grain toasts with butter. I almost wanted to forget about eating my proteins and just dive into the toast.

RB's over easy eggs were fluffy, but the yolk was still runny enough to add a nice creaminess to the spicy chorizo. My omelet was also quite fluffy and complimented well by the saltiness of the smoked salmon.

We both thought we were safe to enjoy our meal without taking Lactaid. Big mistake. There was no movie for us after the brunch. We got violently sick from all the dairy (milk in the eggs, butter on the toast and heavy cream in the hashed potatoes?) and had to run home. Silly RB and I. We will know better next time.

ALev & JLam with Joell Ortiz 06-06-2009

Feelings: I spend much of my free time writing random thoughts about food, but I am also a publicist for Brooklyn's greatest chamber pop band, Mappa Mundi. Over the weekend, JLam from MeSoHungry and Alev, the front man of Mappa Mundi, collaborated in Rik Cordero's video for Joell Ortiz and the Kickdrums.

R&F: What did you think about the shoot?
ALev: Rik is very professional and really kept things moving even though the whole basically had a backyard cookout/block party feel. Joell and his whole team were cool, and he was very professional too, always trying to get the perfect take. As for the band, we basically just jammed the whole time and since everyone had such different musical backgrounds what came out was really interesting.

You can read more about it on JLam's blog!

You can also catch Mappa's next show at Pete's Candy Store on June 20th, 10pm! We'll see you there.

Shojin Cuisine and I 06-07-2009

Feelings: When I learned that Kajitsu, the first authentic Shojin cuisine restaurant in NYC, opened in East Village 2-3 months ago, I had a nostalgic memory of my recent trip to Kyoto (pictured above). It is extremely difficult to find vegan cuisine in Japan since most dishes are based with fish broth, but Kyoto offers a lot of traditional Zen Buddhist's vegan cuisine, "Shojin Ryori." I look forward to trying this authentic cuisine at Kajitsu soon!

Indian Taj Jackson Heights 06-04-2009

Location: 3723 74th St.
Time: 7pm
People: JLam from MeSoHungry, RB and myself

Feelings: JLam and I have been talking about Jackson Heights for quite some time, and we finally ventured out to the area for some dinner and of course a stop at Patel Brothers, the Indian grocery store. We saw some Tibetan and Nepalese restaurants and debated going to famous "Colombian Hooters,"(wait for our future post about that one!) but we eventually settled down at Indian Taj. Indian Taj was one of the few restaurants in the area offering a $10 buffet (Jackson Diner and Delhi Palace only offer buffet during lunch and weekends).

The staff was so polite and attentive that I wanted to order food instead of walking to the buffet. Also, being almost an exclusively water drinker, I loved that there was a big pitcher of water at every table. It is every waterholic's dream, especially at a buffet serving spicy food.

I enjoyed various veggie dishes, naan and carrot dessert. Channa masala, alu gobi, and rice palau, they were all very delicious. All the dishes were hot (temperature) unlike many buffet meals I came across in the past. I usually have to stay away from Indian food because it is often greasy and hurts my stomach, but their dishes were not greasy at all. They were flavorful and well spiced. RB enjoyed the juicy chili chicken, tandoori chicken and goat curry and kept going back for some more as he sipped his slightly sweet flavored Taj Mahal beer. I am not sure what JLam thought, so you are going to have to read his blog. After you finish here of course;)

After dinner, at Patel Brothers, I came across my favorite snack, "Rusk" also known as milk toast. RB teased me for being interested in such boring looking snacks, but as soon as he bit into it, he was a Rusk convert. They are sweet, buttery and go perfectly with a cup of tea. RB also picked up some frozen whole wheat Paratha.

As we walked back to the train, we began planning our next trip out to Jackson Heights... for Colombian Hooters, of course.