Dinner at Ngam, Modern Thai Comfort Food!

I saw the head chef of Ngam competing on Iron Chef and her food seemed pretty good - I also saw that they have $1 oysters during happy hour so I had to give this place a try.

Thai Oyster Shot – Conn. Blue Point oyster, pomelo, Thai mignonette, kaffir lime, tobiko caviar – the dressing is very similar to nuoc cham (which I LOVE) but with the addition of Thai chilies to give it more heat.  The flavors balance out really nicely with the tobiko, though I do wish the pomelo was a little more prominent.  These oysters were delicious, we ended up getting 3 dozen (they were $.99 during happy hour)

"Peek Gai Tod” Brother Chai’s Chicken Wings – Ngam’s house marinade, tamarind chili sauce, freshly picked apple – pretty good wings, the tamarind sauce was very tasty

“Sai Oor Farang” Thai Burger – 7oz hormone free beef patty, homemade “sai oor” curry paste, cilantro lime mayo, green papaya kraut, Chiang Mai Fries – this is one of the best burgers I’ve had in a while – the flavors were really interesting and the patty itself was really juicy.  The Chiang Mai Fries were also really good - kabocha and sweet potato, served with homemade red curry mayo, and sweet and sour peanut relish.

Here’s a link to a burger piece that also has the recipe for Ngam’s burger:

http://bites.today.com/_news/2012/05/10/11639387-give-your-burger-international-flair-for-national-burger-month

Brussel Sprouts “Prik King” with Bacon – all the flavors were fine, but we both thought that the sprouts themselves weren’t cooked properly (texture seemed like it was overcooked, I’m not sure if they steamed/boiled a bunch before service and just added the other ingredients/sauce to order)

Overall, an excellent meal – I’ll definitely be back.

Ngam
99 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
http://www.ngamnyc.com/

Ceviche and Oyster Dinner at Desnuda, a Winebar & Cevicheria!

I’ve been meaning to check out Desnuda for a while because I love ceviche, and more recently I’ve developed a taste for oysters and saw that they had $1 oysters on Sunday and Monday.  I also know they do a tea smoked oyster dish and I was curious to see how that would be.  It was my friend’s birthday and she is obsessed with oysters, so I thought this place would be perfect for her birthday meal.

Complimentary popcorn with truffle oil and truffle salt – good start to the meal.

Two Dozen Oysters (from New Brunswick Canada) served with Three Sauces – chipotle mignonette, sweet and sour ginger shallot mignonette, and a chuka fu gelee.  All three sauces were amazing with the oysters, but my favorite was the chuka fu gelee.  Originally when I asked our server what it was, I thought he said tuzazu, which the head chef mentioned was a Japanese dressing.  I figured I would research the recipe later since I’ve never heard of a tuzazu dressing in Japanese cuisine.  The name is actually chuka fu, which is the Japanese name for a Chinese dressing made of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil, which they made into a gelee.  These were the best sauces that I’ve had with oysters, and we were both so impressed that we ended up ordering two dozen more.

Sichuan Tea Smoked Oysters: they also smoke it tableside for you – it’s definitely cool to try, but fairly pricey at 4 oysters for $18

Not my video, but you get a better idea of it here:

Tiradito of Hamachi with Sechuan Peppercorn Infused Ponzu and Sechuan Peppercorn Dust and Thai Chili Oil: this was one of the specials for the day – really good, but verging on being over salty – the balance between the ponzu and chili oil was a bit off and the scallions didn’t have enough punch to cut through the salt.  For me this dish was fine since I really like salt, but my friend thought otherwise.

Seared Foie Gras with Seared Tuna with Warm Pear Chutney and Balsamic Reduction: this was another special of the day.  Really fantastic dish – everything on the plate complimented the perfectly seared foie gras.  However, it’s really expensive for what’s basically an appetizer version of foie gras.

Overall, really good but too expensive – I feel like at the price point we were at, there’s a lot of other places we could’ve gone to have a better meal (though I will definitely be back for the oysters).

Desnuda
122 E 7th St
New York, NY 10009
http://www.desnudany.com

Japanese Italian Cuisine at Dieci!

Had a really spectacular meal at Dieci - Japanese Italian place in East Village.  Dieci is not quite fusion cuisine, but rather a Japanese interpretation of Italian cuisine.  It's a very interesting category for me so I was really looking forward to this meal:

Kumamoto Oysters with three different sauces - chives and wasabi cream, scallions and ponzu, and ceviche style with onions and bell peppers: really good but a bit overpriced

Buffalo Mozzarella with Uni Sashimi and Yuzu Foam: I'm a sucker for uni, so I really loved this dish.  All three ingredients worked really well together

Parmesan Brussels Sprouts with Miso and Walnuts: pretty good, though I wish the sprouts were roasted rather than sauteed.  This is a pretty easy dish to remake at home, except I'll be oven roasting mine when I try to replicate this

Homemade Black Tagliolini with Tomato Sauce and Calamari: squid ink pasta is another obsession - the pasta was cooked nicely and the tomato sauce was really good

Homemade Fettucini with Uni, Calamari, and Creamy Uni Sauce: this was SO SO good - they give you a big mound of uni so that you get some with every forkful.  It's been a while since I had the spaghetti with sea urchin at Marea so I couldn't do a proper comparison between the two dishes.  Regardless, Dieci's fettucini is amazing - I'll always order this whenever I'm back here

Strawberry Compote with Mascarpone Mousse and Truffled Balsamic Glaze: the mousse was more of a pudding consistency but tasted good regardless - my friend wasn't a big fan of the truffle flavor and said it overpowered the dish.  I agree somewhat, though I didn't mind that the truffle flavor was pronounced

They had an uni risotto with clams and a poached egg as one of their dinner specials but they ran out by the time we got there :(  I also had a Japanese beer called Beniaka, which is roasted with red-skinned Kintoki sweet potatoes.  Really interesting beer, very enjoyable.  Overall, a really great meal, albeit a bit pricey

Dieci
228 E 10th St
New York, NY 10003
http://www.dieciny.com/

Amazing 10 Course Meal at Degustation!

I had a really AMAZING 10 course meal at Degustation. Degustation has 19 seats that surround an open kitchen (similar to sitting at the counter for a sushi bar but a kitchen instead of sushi). You get to watch the chefs make each dish and then it’s served to you – we were seated in front of the plancha so we saw all the proteins cooked there, but the best seat of the house is near the entrance where they plate all the food. Pretty cool setup, it was really interesting to watch the chefs cook and plate everything.

The tasting menu changes every month, but from what the server told me, they only rotate a few dishes – about half the items we had were off the regular menu, so I’m guessing those will stay constant while the other half switch.


Amuse Bouche:

“Spanish Tortilla” – potato wrapper, shallot confit, and quail egg yolk inside – very playful item using potato as a wrapper and having the egg yolk run out once you bite into it

Bacalao Croquette with Aioli – pretty good as well, but more standard in delivery

Course 1:

Crudo of Mackarel – ginger, puffed rice, chive, crispy mackerel skin, champagne vinegar sauce – pretty good bite of food, lots of interesting flavors that melded together nicely.

Course 2:

Celery Root Soup, Chorizo Oil, Crouton – this was okay

Course 3:

Slow Poached Egg, Cauliflower Mousse, Uni, Microgreens - I didn’t realize egg and cauliflower paired so well together and I’m a sucker for uni – this dish was amazing.

Course 4:

Fried Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Beets, Carrots, Spicy Aioli, Hijiki Puree – really nice dish, this is the first time I’ve seen hijiki pureed and it works wonderfully with the fried Brussels sprouts and roasted beets.  A very unique and tasty dish absolutely delicious.

Course 5:

Shrimp a la Plancha, Puffed Rice, Fried Shrimp Head, Pimenton and Sherri Vinegar – the pimento and sherri vinegar was really good, but the best part was being served the fried shrimp head – restaurants need to serve fried shrimp heads more often.

Course 6:

Sea Snail with Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Fennel Mousse, and Crispy Quinoa – another great dish highlighting different textures and flavors - I was really impressed with the crispy quinoa.

Course 7:

Coca Mallorquina – Flatbread with spicy endive marmalade, chili paste, seared duck breast, black radish, and chive sauce – the spicy endive marmalade was so so good, and the duck breast was cooked perfectly - really nice dish.

Course 8:

Coffee Crusted Seared Venison, Black Beans, Farofa, Poached Cranberries, and Banana Tempura –this reminded me of an elevated version of Spanish food platters (rice and beans, plantains, and meat). The venison was cooked perfectly – granted, I haven’t had a lot of venison, but this is the best that I’ve had – nice temperature, texture, and really juicy.

Course 9:

Sangria Gelee, Fresh Mint, Blood Orange – this was decent for a palette cleanser, this is the only item that I thought was a bit gimmicky even though I like the idea of a sangria gelee.

Course 10:

Caramelized Torija (Spanish Style Bread Pudding) with Grapefruit – not really sure how this was made, but the texture of the bread was almost like the melted marshmallow from smores – very good with the brulee. A great end to a fantastic meal.

Degustation
239 E 5th St
(between 2nd Ave & Cooper Sq)
New York, NY 10003
www.degustationnyc.com