My first conversation on xiaolongbao was one-way. As I recall, it consisted of Boykji explaining to me: “You’ve never had xiaolongbao? They’re the bomb.” Typically, when “the bomb” is used is a predicate, I expect disproportionate amounts of irony or gravity. Not so in this instance: When Boykji drops “the bomb,” the delivery mechanism tends [...]
Pure Thai Shophouse has changed its name at Chipotle’s behest, but superior cooking – not to mention a fiercer chili – continues unabated at what is one of New York’s best thai restaurants. Pure Thai’s menu, especially its lunch menu, offers a variety of “snacks” that blend street food and home cooking under a chef’s [...]
I’ve been too beleaguered by a nasty cold to spread the word properly over the past week, but in case you haven’t heard from the rest of the city: Real Cheap Eats NYC now has 22 more recommendations under $10. This season we’re keeping things relatively lean, with one recommendation per blogger (except for newcomer [...]
First tastes are special. But the first taste of a favorite food – the first taste of a dish that gets everything right, lighting up an appetite unknown until that bite – is irreplaceable. It’s like watching the first scene of The Wire. The experience will always be enjoyable, but the thrill of being thrown [...]
After a recent trip to the Socrates sculpture garden, Girlfriend and I struck out for Arepas Cafe on the south side of Astoria. While we were there to enjoy the restaurant’s tasty Venezuelan arepas, Latin American drink menus are always eye-catching, and we couldn’t slip away without ordering cold glasses of chica and toddy ($4.75 [...]
Plenty of people move to New York with the full intent of conquering the big city. Whatever they believe happens next, conquest is not it. Agreement on this sentiment is a bond I share with Mike, the daytime cook at Kuti’s Place. As he carves slices of fatty lamb from the glistening, heavily stacked spit [...]
Rice is rarely this audacious. Jinro is rarely the right choice. At a modest Korean restaurant in the far reaches of Queens, the rare thrill dormant in both staples springs to life in one sizzling sitting. Containing white rice soaked in a spicy marinade, a portentous mixing bowl greets the happy diners at Flushing’s Tong [...]
It is possible to eat too much pork. One might not believe it, given the state of popular food today – especially in New York, where “pork belly” has become its own dining demographic. Enunciating one’s love for the pig was hardly a declarative act twenty years ago, when the very qualities of pork had [...]
If you’ve wondering where exactly I’ve been over the past few weeks, the answer isn’t “Chicago” – all of these Chicago meals (the last of which will be on Serious Eats national in the near future) took place at the end of July. For the past few weeks, the answer has actually been, “chained to [...]
Do Japanese kids ever beg their parents for a six-piece takoyaki meal? I suppose this question begs another: How often do Japanese kids beg their parents? McChildhood culture aside, Otafuku‘s takoyaki beckon the cravings center of my brain anytime I’m within a few blocks from E. 9th St. At this Japanese take-out counter, these fluffy, [...]
