Bar Masa
Masa, the 600USD restaurant. Insanely expensive, so much so that I really didn't want to fork out the money for it. However, while staking out Per Se, I noticed that they had what appeared to be a bar section. Turns out they accept walk ins here, and so I decided to hedge my bets. I'd come here, and spend less money than if I went to Masa itself. My goal was 300 - 400USD.
The otoro and caviar is their signature dish, and that's a generous pile of caviar! Wow! It also came with little toast things to spread the tuna on.
Oyster and uni shots! Luckily these weren't the alcoholic version so they were totally enjoyable! I would have preferred to have less of the liquid so that i could really savour the uni and oyster flavours, but even with the tanginess of the shot it still tasted great.
Some refreshing wakame salad with whatever fish was available to go with it. Current menu says sea bream, so I must have had something similar. I'd actually forgotten that it's not the green cheap stuff, this was actually really nice and all different varieties of seaweed!
I also ordered some nigiri, cause who doesn't try out the sushi at a sushi place. I ordered scallop, king crab, mirugai, aoyagi, lean tuna. This was the perfect chance to eat lots of shellfish! I especially liked the mirugai, that meat was really tasty and sweet, and exactly the kind of texture that I enjoy! However, it was interesting that when I received the sushi set, it felt rather underwhelming. It didn't quite feel like I was getting sushi the artform here, instead, just the food. I think there's a distinct difference when you get an omakase, because it just feels that much more special and personal, I think. Here, I felt like I received fish and rice. I think this is the main aspect where the dining room experience probably differs greatly from the bar, and what you end up paying for.
One thing to note, I forgot to mention the bar table. When I did research on Masa, I found out that the sushi bar itself is made of a single piece of really expensive wood. When I sat down at the bar counter, I think it was constructed of a similarly impressive piece of wood! It felt like one long intact piece of tree, finished in a way that made it a very nice table.
I'd finished all the food I'd ordered up to this point, since I wasn't quite sure exactly how much food I'd get per order. I felt like I could still eat, so I asked for the bartender/waitstaff's recommendations. After considering them, I went for my next round of food.
Watched some bartending in action! Another couple had sat down next to me, and started their meal. When the guy had finished his cocktail and offered another one, he accepted, but managed to motion his hand in a way that hit the straw and made some of the drink and garnish splash all over the place. It was so unexpected that he and the bartender started laughing about it, and he even asked me if I saw what happened, to which I responded that I did. He also said that usually he'd ask chef Masa to come out and greet everyone at the bar, but alas, chef Masa was in Japan! Oh well.
After that little event, it was time to get on with the meal.
Oh my goodness. Look at the spines on that sea urchin. Look at that bowl! Look at the urchin dish garnished with white truffle! What is this wonderful thing?!
Haha. It actually reminded me a lot of the "uni-corn" dish that I received at The Table at Kisume, since visually the two looked very alike. Instead of cauliflower and corn though, this was just one big custardy umami bomb. It was so good. So good that even though I was reminded of The Table, I feel like this far exceeded the tastiness of Kisume's rendition! I am so glad that the bartender recommended this dish!
I was pretty set on this rice dish, featuring mushroom rice, salmon and salmon roe. I think the bartender tried to persuade me away from this one, but I really really wanted it, because I love mushroom rice with salmon roe. Well, he might have been right. I did like this, but it wasn't quite the WOW factor that I was hoping for.
I also grabbed another mirugai as sashimi because it was just so tasty!
Finally, after that massive rice dish, I was actually full, and that meant it was time for dessert. I took a look at what was on offer, and a few different things caught my eye. After checking with the bartender how big the ice cream scoops were going to be, I told him what I wanted. He was a bit surprised that I wanted three things! Oh dear. I think I've scared the bartender!
First up, fresh fruit. I'd asked what was available, and he said mango. It wasn't in my top choices for what I might receive (melon was my first preference), and I was wondering where mangoes are sourced from since nothing but apples grew in New York right now. But... hey, I'm on holiday, I'm splurging, let's get the mango.
It was okay, but it wasn't a variety that I was used to eating in Aus. In Aus, I like Kensington Pride mangoes because they're super sweet, soft and juicy. These ones were firmer and had a stronger mango taste to it, much like the ones that my workmate gave me recently. Maybe closer to a Keith or Honeygold? I really do have to go try more mango varieties!
Then this was the grand prize of desserts. Truffle ice cream. Yeah, truffle. You know, the one that comes with a $45 price tag for a SINGLE SCOOP. Call me crazy! That being said, I think the actual price on the receipt ended up being $35. Still hefty!
This was nice. It was smooth and mellow, but I have trouble picking out truffle aroma at these super low temperatures. The actual ice cream didn't quite taste like truffle, but then again, truffle is mostly smell. It still tasted very good, and got better the more I ate it. Was it worth $35? Probably not, but I still appreciated it!
This was actually my favourite dessert (aren't I glad I picked three?). Soba ice cream. Yeah, good old toasty buckwheat flavour! This was really nice, light, and kind of reminded me a bit like what houjicha tastes like. It was the bartender's favourite too! Yay I have great taste!
I was so full after having all my desserts, but I looked over because the sight of the rice dish that the couple next to me just received, seemed to catch my attention. They'd ordered a beef sukiyaki don with foie gras and egg. It looked amazing! The bartender recommended that they mix everything together, and that it was his favourite way of eating it, and that he ate this dish a lot. The couple asked him to mix it for them as a result. So firstly, he split the foie gras between them and placed it on plates. Then, he went in with a spoon and started mashing everything up, letting the yolk mix in with the rice and for the sauce on the beef to infuse into every grain in the entire bowl. Just watching him mix the rice was so appetising that I couldn't help but blurt out "that looks so good, I could probably eat a bowl!"
The bartender looked at me and said something along the lines of "I told you so, but you didn't listen to me!" ahahaha. I guess that's what I get for sticking to the salmon rice! But then, the most amazing thing happened. After the rice got divvied out to the couple, there was half a bowl left. The guy picked up this bowl and handed it over to me. What?! Yes, he was really offering me to eat their food! He even grabbed a small dish that was there so that I could take what I wanted to try it. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes of course, they wouldn't be able to finish it anyway! So I took a little and told them I felt bad for not being able to share anything in return, but he said it was okay. He said, see, New Yorkers are a friendly lot!
The rice was actually really yummy, beef sukiyaki just has so much flavour that it's hard not to like. I even took a sneaky photo of this bonus dish!
Then we had a conversation where I said where I was from and that I'd had an excellent holiday in New York, and just had a wonderful chat overall. I said that I found New Yorkers to be pretty nice, and they seemed impressed at that! I guess the nice ones are self conscious about how they're perceived?
Well, now I was really full and ready for the bill. And it came in exactly on target, at 400USD including tip. I am awesome! And expensive. Hahahahahaha. What an amazing meal. Once again, I've experienced an amazing meal at a bar, instead of a dining room, and it was the people that made it such a memorable meal. I really should opt for bar seating more often (I already do), because there's so much more to foodie adventures than just eating food!
Hooray for fun dining experiences!
The New York Dream – Part 6 – You're on an island, but you're not stuck on it
Day 22 – 25/04/2019
With only two days left of my trip, it was time to decide how to finish up. I already knew what I'd do on my last day, but first, it was time to find breakfast. It was time to try for the maple cruller again, because why not! This time I got up early and headed over to Daily Provisions, and lo and behold, a maple cruller in its oil soaked glory! The waitstaff even recognised me from a couple of days earlier!
I also got a coffee and sausage and egg "sandwich" to fill up on too! It's funny how here they refer to these buns as sandwiches.
Just look at this place. My final "new" coffee destination was this place, called Felix Coffee Roasters. I saw pictures of their shop, and decided that the description, and some fancy coffees on the menu, it would make a good final experience.
Look, Thomas Keller chocolates! I wonder what they're like! Too bad I didn't actually buy any as they were quite pricey.
Looks like every good coffee shop stocks Supermoon pastries!
Their decor is seriously awesome.
And here is my espresso. I don't remember what origin it was, but it still comes with an interesting story. Their beans are roasted in Texas, but to the barista's specifications. Their roaster is fairly "new" so they're still inconsistent, and this batch wasn't as good as they wanted it to be. Nonetheless, it was good to drink, and the story helps me appreciate the espresso more!
Sticks! Interesting! These guys also do some theatric coffee, they had two specialties at the time, one of which was a s'mores latte. So I decided to order one to see it being made in front of me.
Yes, the smoker!
And behold, my latte art mooshed by a marshmallow! This was actually really nice, if somewhat awkward to drink. The warmth of the drink melted the outside chocolate, so that I could lick the outside too! The latte itself was really well made, good flavour and good milk texturing to survive that long. It was a fun drink! And yes, it was expensive too!
And more photos, just because I can! What a pretty place, with very nice coffee!
I was walking past Rockefeller when I noticed that things looked a bit different here today!
Wow, I think it must have been some sort of special event, because even all the flags were changed over!
There's a cool ice skater at the rink too! She was really fun to watch!
I also tried to make one more Person of Interest location. This was apparently the intersection where Reese stares at a camera and starts talking to the machine, but the camera either wasn't pointing the right way or had been changed, so I just took this shot anyway.
I passed the Trump Tower during the Easter Bonnet festival, but didn't go in at the time. However, my mum asked if I entered, and I said I hadn't, but since I had time, maybe I should pop in for a look to see what it was like. My first reaction? It's as orange as he is!
Well in that case, I can't spend any money here....
After walking around, it was time to get lunch. This area has heaps of food trucks all around!
I decided to get some Mexican since I hadn't actually had any since I got to America. I decided on beef tacos (they didn't have beef tongue so I got just the mince instead), and a tamale because I had no idea what a tamale was and felt like trying it out!
It turns out the beef taco was spicy so I had a hard time eating it lol. I wish I wasn't so chilli sensitive. The tamale was quite nice, I had no idea what to expect and it was a decent feed!
I love random food trucks! I wanted to try out more food too, but stayed sensible.
I also did a quick visit to St Patrick's Cathedral to check it out.
A photo of QB house, just cause I could! What a nifty haircutting place. Seems to be quick and affordable, would love to try one out at some point!
Anyway, I had headed back to Colombus Circle because tonight was my last dinner in New York, and I was going to make it big. Not quite $600 big, but close to.
Bar Masa it was, the walk in section of the famous and impossibly expensive Masa.
Day 23 – 26/04/2019
My last day in New York. Wow. What an adventure. I had planned to bookend my adventure by ending similarly to how I started, which meant that my final breakfast was going to be at Bluestone Lane in Amsterdam Avenue, the first place I'd actually marked to visit before I started my trip.
Here's a bacon and egg roll too, which was quite tasty!
Then it was off to Shake Shack. It was busy! But I needed my last cheap tasty burger fix, and lucky thing I came here, because today the chips tasted really good. Super crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Was it because it was my last day? Maybe they simply were delicious today!
But alas, look at that rain! It was a very wet day with heavy rain. Oh no, that meant the streets were going to be full of traffic, and since my luggage was too heavy for me to lift so I couldn't use the trains, this was going to be a challenge.
Finally it was time for me to check out. The rain proved to be a tough opponent. With the streets gridlocked, the taxis didn't want to take me to their airport - it simply wasn't worth their time. After having two taxis drive away, I had to use a card up my sleeve, so to speak. I resorted to bribery. What a feeling that was! I've never actually bribed a taxi driver before, but this was New York, where the divide between rich and poor was huge, and made very obvious to me, having lived here the last three weeks. I knew how tough it was to make it here, so I was going to make a taxi driver's day, hopefully. Money talks, and the taxi driver let me in.
I knew it was going to be a slow ride out, but I didn't really think that driving 8 blocks would take 45 mins! That's insane! I can walk that distance in less than 10 minutes! No wonder the usual flat fare to JFK wasn't cutting it for these guys. I totally feel for them.
The slow traffic had one upside, it was my final chance to soak up the New York atmosphere. Turns out MoMA has free entry on Friday nights, hence there was a line that stretched about four blocks. Crazy! Maybe I should check it out next time!
An hour and a half later, I finally arrived at the airport. Look, it's still so miserable! I hope the heavy rain doesn't delay my flight.
I'd given myself plenty of time to get to the airport, and so I got to explore a bit. Look at these mini offices that cost far too much per 15 mins!
They also have some pretty decorations up! In fact, there were a few areas that were supposed to be "Instagram-worthy" according to their own airport guide.
After looking at the various food outlets available, I chose the one that sold fried chicken wings. The Shake Shack at the airport didn't have chicken bites, I was so sad. I also didn't think to get a burger and nuggets from McDonalds, even though that's actually my goal every time I go to an airport! Oh well. I got some wings that were too spicy for me (I am really disliking my weakness towards chilli), and some vege sticks. Yay, I can eat something healthy! I didn't know what the sauce tasted like as a result, since it was enjoyable to munch on the vegetables as-is.
Finally, time to hop on the plane. Oh man what a shock. I'd chosen premium economy on the way back, since I couldn't afford full business both ways. All of a sudden, this felt really cramped! Oh no.
My Book the Cook meals are also now back into tiny boxes instead of pretty crockery :(
Ha, even my exit sign is broken and covered with duct tape! This is kind of depressing, really!
More depressing Book the Cook food.
The German breakfast was meh too.
I thought my stopover in Singapore would be a redeeming feature of this flight back down to reality, but even this bowl of beef noodles wasn't as good as I remember it to be the first time I was here. Maybe it was an off day, maybe I was just super tired from not really getting much sleep on a cramped seat.
And then my final sobering economy seat class. Why is there no space? Why are the screens so small and old??? Wow. Yeah. This was not fun.
And the standard in flight meal. look at how sad that broccoli is! What a disappointing return trip. I mean, I asked for it by glitzing up my forward trip and splurging like there was no tomorrow, so I have no one to blame but me haha! But I do remember economy being better than this, so I'll just attribute this to the huge contast between living the high life on holiday and then returning to the economy pleb that I am.
Overall, that was an amazing holiday. I ate so many things and explored so many interesting places! But the most enlightening part was seeing the people and the streets. New York is a surprisingly divisive city, some people love it and some people hate it. I'm definitely in camp love it, but only as a tourist. It's a great place with very friendly people - I've heard that some people perceive New Yorkers to be rude, but to me, they were simply efficient. Walking as a mode of transportation, they read pedestrians well and knew the traffic light system. They were actually amazing multitaskers too, often they had AirPods in their ears and were in a conversation, but could still nagivate the streets without bumping into others or in near-misses with cars - people who caused cars to beep were actually all tourists, unsure of whether to stay or go during a crossing. The only weird thing was that the locals would give you comments when you don't need them, and it was an interesting experience. Sometimes they were incredibly useful, for example, one man offered tickets to the Vessel because his wife couldn't make it or something similar, but stranger danger kicked in so I declined. I was with my friend at the time, so I have a feeling he was being genuine, but oh well. It wasn't meant to be one of my opportunities, since I feel my gut does pretty well at seeking out unexpected bonuses. Sometimes they were plain weird, like some guy commenting I had a nice dress in passing. Some people might find that creepy, but the tone didn't come across as *too* creepy. What was more awkward was a girl at Gramercy Tavern complimenting me on the same dress, but going on about it a bit too much and I had no idea how to respond! Then there was the girl who let me know my skirt was riding up (naturally since my bag's there, and I knew my skirt has two layers and that I wasn't actually showing that much skin XD). So yeah, a weird, but well meaning bunch.
Everyone was really nice, and some really chatty folk too at the restaurants. I definitely liked the people!
However, I wouldn't want to live here. There was too much that I saw that made me realise New York is too cutthroat, the gap between rich and poor was simply too big. To make it, you had to be exceptional. Anything less, and you would struggle to scrape by. I heard rich old men talking about Hudson Yards and seemed like they were always looking for a deal, dining at high end restaurants, but then I saw the ice cream vendors and the food truck vendors slaving away, $2 at a time, pushing their carts around early in the day and late at night. I also saw the fast food joints filled with coloured and black people, but not a single white person. That was weird to me - shouldn't there be a mix? So that any teenager who wanted some money could work at these stores? Why weren't there more coloured people at the restaurants I was going to? To their merit though, I did see fair employment at most of the restaurants I went to, like Omakase Room by Tatsu, Per Se, and Bar Masa (and possibly more but I wasn't as attentive to the staff). The divide is still real. But I'm not going to go too in depth here about this stuff. Just an observation into things.
New York, you've treated me well. I'll miss you!
Eleven Madison Park (bar)
Yeah. I'm crazy. Crazy for this place, and crazy in general. I can't explain why I love Eleven Madison Park so much, it's just one of those things I guess! But after my first visit, the seasons changed. Seasons changing meant winter to spring, to ramps, and to snails!! Minty snails!!! Yes?!?!
Yeah, I came here just for the snails. But I got so much more than that!
I opted for their abbreviated menu, and also wanted the salmon roe dish. I also asked about the menu and if I was going to get the snails, but apparently that wasn't on there, but the waiter said they could include it as an extra. Nice! Since I ordered so much food, I wasn't supposed to receive the bar snacks, but I accidentally got handed them, and I nibbled away at everything. The nuts were so good, and the olives were great too! The waiter even said that the chips would be good for my salmon roe!
I went for a drink pairing again, though I found out that the juices hadn't changed from two weeks ago, so I guess the juices don't have as much variation as the food.
And thus my way of eating the salmon roe dish! Salmon roe, avocado, and some sea urchin hidden right in the middle. There was a bowl with sides covered in radish to eat like a taco with the mix. After I used up all my radish slices, I took the waiter's advice and started piling some onto my chips!
Sitting at the bar allows you to see so many things, including the tiny little thing on the bottom right of the drinks shelf. If you look closely at the bottom shelf, rightmost section, there's a beam of light there. That's actually a mirrored hinged door thing, allowing the bar and kitchen to pass things to one another - mostly cocktails, but also used glasses for cleaning. Woah! How cool! That's actually a super amazing and neat method of sending drinks from one section to another!
Ah yes, the champagne pairing thing to go with my upcoming caviar!
EMP's iconic caviar tin. There was a heap of caviar in this, with some asparagus, hollandaise, and ham. It also came with some super tiny mini english muffins!
EMP's fluffy bread in a pouch! After having had Contra's bread, this one didn't quite seem as nice. The ramps butter, on the other hand, was delicious!
Oh no, I didn't get a massive ice cube block this time! Only 4 decent sized cubes. Later on, I had an opportunity to ask about the ice cubes, because one of the advantages of sitting at the bar, is actually seeing the ice. Does that sound weird? Well, this ice was exciting. It wasn't just any old ice. The big cubes actually all get branded with the EMP symbol! What? Yes! At first I thought each cube was pre-branded by way of a mold, but no, it's actually a hot brand put on the ice before the drink is poured onto it. Woah! I wish I'd taken a closer look at my mocktail from my last visit now! The other thing to note is that they also serve spherical ice cubes for some drinks. How do you get spherical ice? Usually it's those silicone molds yeah? No. Here, at EMP, the bartenders chisel away at the big cubes down into spheres!!! Crazy, but so beautiful to watch! I really love the craftsmanship and detail here! I knew there was a reason I loved this place so much! Bars are so fun to sit at!
Yeah crab season! This was the first of the "choose your own adventure" courses, and as soon as I heard crab, I knew this was what I wanted. Such nice delicate meat, paired with sorrel, something I haven't eaten since I left Adelaide, and some lovely dashi jelly and amaranth.
Ah, lobster. Yeah. Wow. This was soooo good! I love green tomatoes too, so that was an added bonus! This lobster was not what I expected at all. On the first EMP visit, my friend ordered the lobster dish, and I took a small bite of it. It'd tasted a bit overcooked at the time, but since I only had tiny little portion I was unable to conclude whether or not I liked it, but after tasting this one, they've shown they can cook lobster the way I like it. This reminded me of Saint Peter's yabbie scrambled eggs that I had - it was *just* cooked - so soft and tender and was just soooo nice! Yes! I love EMP spring menu lobster!
Oh, minted soda. Mint. Does that mean...?
YES. It's my snails dish! Woohoo! Such lovely, large and plump snails, that in last year's version, were fed with mint. I think they were still fed with mint, but my tastebuds aren't too great so I wasn't sure if I tasted mint in the snails themselves. Funny thing is, this wasn't actually my favourite dish even though it's the reason I made so much effort to do a revisit. It turns out I like snails loaded with heaps of flavour, while these ones were cooked in a way to let out their natural flavour. I loved the texture though, since they still had some bounce to them instead of being completely soft all the way through. I liked the different cooking style!
I am so glad I got to try this out since there aren't enough places that actually serve snail. EMP is amazing!
Yay the tea pairing! I really love the smell of this one, and that means my "meat" dish is coming up.
Haha, there's no meat in this one! This was the final choose your adventure option, and the choices were duck, leek, or veal (I think). I'd already had the duck, so I didn't want it again, and for me, leeks and mushrooms is too good of a combo to pass up so I chose it over the lamb. I never expected the presentation to look like this, but look, it's so pretty! And the mushrooms were pretty flavoursome too! I'm glad I went for the vege choice on this one!
Okay, dessert was one of two options. Strawberry wasn't one of them, so it was between lemon and chocolate. I'd heard the waiter say that he liked the lemon one to another customer, so when it came to my turn, I said that I'd choose lemon too as a result of his opinion. I wasn't disappointed! This was actually really nice! Look at that gooey lemon centre! This was a lovely dessert to end the night!
And the classic pretzel. I received another morning-after granola care package again too, which was really nice!
There of course, was one last thing to try. Last visit, I had an English Breakfast tea which was quite ordinary compared to some other teas I've had at high end restaurants, so now, let's try the coffee. I actually didn't have high hopes for this, but maybe they would do it well?
Hahahaha. What was I thinking! This was "okay" at the start, but didn't taste great at all after a while. The drinkability test is whether or not I can drink it black, and unfortunately, this one failed. I ended up having to add milk towards the end of drinking this because it was getting unbearably bitter, and that means the diner coffee I had fared better. Well, good to know! It means that EMP's best tea experience probably does revolve around their traditional Chinese tea service. No, that doesn't mean visit #3 in the works, I can't afford that! It just means I need to go to more teahouses :)
What a lovely revisit. I saw some extra things at the bar, and it was also way more relaxed. I think the room layout and the way all staff have to use the "roundabout" on the main floor made it feel busier than it actually was, whereas here, it was just a couple of bartenders doing their thing. There was also a discussion from my dining neighbours which ended up being about the best pizza in New York. That was an interesting conversation because they made a distinction between best pizza slice, and best pizza. Joe's pizza, they said, has the best slice (but that any slice was the best slice at 3am haha), but that Roberta's had very good pizza overall. Nice, I managed to try both of them and agree! But all that talk made me realise I didn't have long in New York left, and that I'd end up missing the street food. Fine dining I like experiencing anywhere in the world, but you can only get a New York hot dog in New York. Ah the wonderful world of food and culture!
Momofuku Ko (bar)
Originally I was going to incorporate Momofuku Ko into my normal posts, but considering that Ko is a big name/high end restaurant, it's getting its own post! I didn't actually dine in the restaurant, but rather, took a seat at their bar for some grub.
The menus are handwritten! Wow!!! I'd actually read about this ahead of time since I had to see if walk ins were okay and what kind of food they had, but seeing it in real life is pretty cool! I was a bit sad that the uni addons were crossed out for today though.
Took a few photos of the chefs. Action shots are difficult to take but this was fun to do!
First up, I had the sea bass with pickles. The sea bass is quite a nice fish, and those were Japanese style pickles. By that I mean that they were the salty kind, though they had the vinegared ones too. How interesting!
Teehee, lots of pictures of some cute fried prawns! What amazing tiger prawns. Heads deep fried, bodies sashimid, what more can I ask for? Plus look at those eyes! This was an excellent dish, I loved eating the prawn heads, and that sashimi was really nice, super sweet flesh, and it was also topped with dashi that was super addictive!
Ooo the buns!
Fried chicken! Well actually, it's cold fried chicken. Taken straight out of the fridge. It does seem a little odd to not serve a hot version, but it's David's Chang idea so why not! There was actually still some crispness to the chicken which was good, meaning it's not a completely soggified fridge chicken. The sweet glaze on it was also nice! However, the refrigerated version loses the hot juices that usually come out after a bite and that makes all the difference, so I missed that a lot as I bit into the drumstick. Undecided as to whether or not I like this, but the skin texture was something I actually appreciated!
More chef action, on pithivers and prawns!
And here it is, the David Chang version of the hamburger. Pattie and hot dog bun, with added foie gras. No leaves, no cheese, nothing else. And it was GOOD. Look that the inside of that pattie! The beef was full of flavour, it reminded me of why I love Burger Project and the David Blackmore full blood wagyu burger so much - it's the beef that makes the burger. The foie was also pretty tasty and added so much fatty goodness to this! So even if David Chang doesn't like Aussie burgers, I like both his and Aussie burgers!
I decided not to get dessert because it looked massive when I saw another table order it. Sure it was Japanese cheesecake with maple syrup, but I just felt like it would have been a bit too much, plus, if I wanted some, I could always try and find some in Japan itself later on.
The other thing I didn't get a picture of was the fact that these guys use Zalto glasses. Oh yeah. I actually wanted to order a drink just to handle one of those glasses again, but I also needed to be sensible! So no glass for me. Oh well. Maybe one day I'll come back to the main restaurant just so I can order a fancy glass of wine to go along with the food!
Lastly, these guys have a Japanese toilet! Seems weird to point out but when you walk in and the toilet seat cover automatically opens and you're not used to it! It was like, woosh! It also flushed the non-American way too! The things I notice XD
The bar was a cool place to be, and it was great that service was included so I didn't quite get bill shock at the end. Would love to come back and experience the restaurant!
Gramercy Tavern
I had no idea what kind of restaurant I was going to. Gramercy Tavern was a place that the waiter from Per Se suggested, and since I had no dinner plans, checking this place out felt like a good idea since good old Google said they served American fare.
There's some interesting decor here, including this star!
Bread and butter came first here, and this was a cool piece of bread that actually broke really cleanly across, making it easy and neat to pile on some butter.
I chose a mocktail here because of the name. This was the N/A-groni, a play on the negroni. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour here - it was not all that sweet, and had a nice bitterness to it. So this is what negronis taste like, and why people like it! I think non-sweet mocktails are so much easier to drink with food, and it reminded me of how complementary good non-alcoholic drinks are with food, like the time I had the Clamato juice at Waku Ghin.
Yum, clams to start off with! I think these might have also been top neck clams, the same ones from Wildair. I love all the clams I'm eating here!
Since it's been a while, I'm not sure exactly what this was, but using their website as a memory aid, this was probably the hamachi dish, which was really enjoyable with apple and kohl rabi.
Scallops with salsify, potato and mussels. I actually got the order wrong in my blog, I ate the salsify here before the one at Contra but I can't be bothered going back and changing the words around to fit. These scallops went so well with the broth!
Halibut and white beans. Woah, this halibut. Is it a crime to say I liked this one better than EMPs? The texture of this one was better, it felt more like "just cooked" and that made it so much more delicious. The service here was awesome too! Throughout my meal, I felt that I was really looked after, and that was really nice. I don't know exactly why it stood out at the time, but I just felt that I noticed it for some reason.
Ugly delicious time!!! Squid ink spaccatelle, langoustine and whelk! Yeeah that's a seafood bonanza that I love, with punchy flavours (and the slightest hint of spice) and really nicely cooked pasta. That pasta. Also, getting to eat whelk was a bonus too! Definitely the highlight of the night.
What a cool looking knife. Knife's about to say hello to some delicious red meat!
Beef with ramps. Yeah, another restaurant featuring ramps! I don't know why I get so excited about these oniony-garlicky flavoured spring greens, but possibly because I never see them in Aus. The beef was quite nice too!
After that, there was an optional cheese course. I wasn't sure if I wanted one or not, but the waitstaff said that the servings were quite small... so I ended up agreeing to have some. Here's some bread to accompany the cheese!
It was also time to have another drink, and when I asked what paired well with cheese that was non alcoholic, she recommended some cider! Remember that cider here is non alcoholic. I can't remember if it was pear or apple, but either way, I quite enjoyed this with the cheese!
The waiter was right, the servings were small, great as a taster for this all American line up. It was some soft cheese, washed rind, and a blue cheese. The blue cheese was quite tasty, and the washed rind had an interesting funk to it.
A cute little palate cleanser, but I don't remember what this was. Possibly some apple granita or the likes?
Dessert was a vanilla mousse with pomegranates. I haven't had a mousse for dessert in ages! This was heavier than I expected, but the flavour and texture were pretty good, and the richness was offset by the sauce,
And to end the night, some petit fours. What a lovely dinner!
Wow a morning after choc banana muffin care package! How nice! It tasted good too! I didn't realise heaps of restaurants offer care packages these days, since Vue de Monde was the only one that's done so before my trip to New York. What a nice place this was, I'm so glad I came here after the waiter recommended it.
I actually can't believe how nice it was since I hadn't heard about it before. The service was just so nice! And then I realised afterwards, oh, this has a Michelin Star. Oooh. That's why! I think I'm probably the only person who'd go to a restaurant without knowing its reputation hahaha. I love unexpected surprises so this was really fun! Would definitely come here again to try the cafe/bar seating too!