Why have I never been here before?!

Despite innumerable visits to Koreatown and walking by this place so many times, it wasn’t until a recent stroll in Brooklyn that I took the opportunity to stop in for lunch. Walking up 5^th Avenue, a couple blocks down from the Barclays Center, I spotted the bb.q Chicken location between Bergen Street and Dean Street.

I love Korean fried chicken and, from a place that established Chicken University in Seoul and has over 3,500 locations in 57 countries, this had to be good. In addition, the company makes the promise: “Our Korean fried chicken is crispier, juicier, and more tender than anything you’ve tasted before.”

Entering the restaurant, they had several tables set up, along with window seating, and K-Pop videos playing on the wall.

The menu is pretty daunting. The chicken alone—they sell whole chicken, traditional wings, and boneless wings—is offered in so many different sauces.I had to stand back before ordering to take it all in. Even when I finally made my way up to the counter, I forgot my order and had to go back through the menu.

In the end, I got traditional wings with a soy garlic sauce—a classic.

This was an impressive basket of chicken. The sauce glistened in the light and the coating looked amazingly crisp. I was definitely excited to bite into these wings.

To the touch, the wings were large but light in weight.

The wings had a wonderful crunch and the flavor was delicious. The promise definitely holds up.

In addition to chicken, bb.q Chicken also sells tteokbokki, the famous spicy rice cake speciality found all over South Korea. Now, I’ve had my fair share of the iconic dish and was drawn to their mala tteokbokki.

The rice cakes are presented in a big bowl with lots of fragrant sauce and a hard-boiled egg. The serving size is equivalent to a typical Korean restaurants (even bigger than some).

Now, I like spicy, but it wasn’t until after ordering “mala” that I remembered that usually means Sichuan peppercorn.

Yes, it was spicy. Not really the “numbing” sensation I had built myself up for, which was a good thing because sometimes it just overpowers the overall flavor. This was a delicious bowl of tteokbokki and it definitely got me sweating a bit.

With so many more flavors to try and all the side dishes I completely overlooked, I questioned why I had never visited bb.q Chicken until that day.

Conveyor belt sushi by Koreatown

Conveyor belt sushi has always been a draw for me. There mere vision of different kinds of sushi floating around a restaurant is like heaven. My first experience with this type of dining style was on a trip to Shanghai. I was wandering around, looking for somewhere to eat, and spotted this place on the lower level of a random shopping center.

Each seat featured a hot water dispenser for unlimited green tea, all the necessary condiments, and easy access to the belt full of sushi.

Everything was great but the question that remained in the back of my mind throughout the entire meal: How much is going to cost me? Especially, being in China, the signs weren’t completely clear to me. However, in the end, the price wasn’t bad (and I enjoyed a good number of plates).

The next time encountering conveyor belt sushi was in Osaka.

I wrote a short post about this spot that was located just a few blocks off the main Dōtombori strip.

This restaurant was amazing and they had fresh toro, described in the post as: “Almost hot pink in color, the acclaimed piece of fatty tuna was a gorgeous sight and an even more delicious morsel. It definitely lives up to the cliché, ‘it just melts in your mouth.'”

After learning about a conveyor belt sushi spot near Koreatown, I was definitely excited to give it a try. Located at the corner of 5th Avenue and W. 30th Street, Kaiten Zushi has, according to their website “redefined the concept of revolving sushi with advanced technology.”

Once seated, the ginger and wasabi arrives on the conveyor belt, and the server pours some water and offers hot tea.

The table is also equipped with soy sauce and dishes for dipping.

Now, at least during the lunch service (or maybe because it was a bit past the main rush), this restaurant was different from the previous experiences. Here, they didn’t have the belt full of sushi rotating around the restaurant. Instead, everything you ordered arrived directly to your table via the belt.

The most notable item on the table is the tablet; where all the action takes place.

As it was my first time there, the server explained how everything works. She showed me all the functions such as ordering, checking out, and the call button for assistance. She also pointed out, if in need of more ginger and wasabi, where to find it on the menu—free of charge.

Putting in my first round of orders. The whirring sound of the conveyer belt and the chime from the tablet heightens one’s anticipation for what’s to come.

The kani salad started things off.

Kaiten Zushi has a pretty extensive nigiri selection, including a lot of the flavors one would expect from a sushi place. I started with the scallop, then ordered salmon toro and unagi (eel).

The nigiri pieces were all delicious! They tasted fresh and am definitely looking forward to trying their other offerings.

Scrolling through the menu, it becomes obvious that the selection isn’t just limited to sushi; they also have plenty of appetizers, including chicken karaage.

It is of my favorite styles of fried chicken and the plate served at Kaiten Zushi is great!

That first bite was HOT—definitely needed a little bit of time for it to cool down. Once able to fully appreciate it, the chicken pieces were tender and juicy.

In addition to nigiri and gunkan, there are also a number of sushi rolls on the menu and I had to get a salmon avocado roll.

It was definitely exciting to see the fresh and tasty roll came out on the conveyor belt. Each piece was as good as one would expect.

There are also hand rolls and closed the meal with a spicy tuna.

I definitely need to order more of these on the next visit.

Kaiten Zushi describes the dining experience as “every bite is a delight and every moment is filled with culinary adventure!” It’s accurate (and the price isn’t too bad either).

A serene lunch in the Upper East Side

After attending a talk at The Asia Society, located at the corner of Park Avenue and E. 70^th Street, it was past 1:00 p.m. and time to find a place to have lunch. I’m rarely in this neighborhood but the last couple trips up this way, one was after an event at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other was an earlier visit to The Asia Society, I’ve enjoyed some delicious meals.

One of those meals was a brunch at The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges on E. 77^th Street (still one of my favorite restaurants in the city) and the other was at Match 65 Brasserie, a French restaurant on E. 65^th Street.

On this day, my intuition led me to another French spot: Sel et Poivre, located on Lexington Avenue, between E. 64^th and E. 65^th Streets. Established in 1989, the restaurant describes itself as “providing a charming and restorative dining experience.”

Given the choice between a window seat or interior, I went with a table inside, where I was presented with their lunch menu.

The restaurant owned by Chef Christian Schienle presents a number of appetizers, entrees, salads, sandwiches, and desserts—they also have a prix fix menu.

While it took a moment to narrow down my decision for lunch, I used that time to order a glass of malbec.

It took another couple minutes of going back and forth between entrees before finally making my choice.

After putting in my order, I began to settle in and, almost immediately, the bread and butter arrived to the table.

Good bread—soft and crusty—and good on its own. Before going nuts on the bread, though, a very special dish was served: escargot.

This was my second escargot experience. I really enjoyed it the first time and was looking forward to trying the dish again. Sel et Poivre serves their escargot de-shelled with a fragrant garlic herb butter.

It was delicious! The snails were wonderfully chewy and the butter sauce was amazing.

On top of the tasty snails, that butter sauce…

Yes! An INCREDIBLE dip for the bread!

There were so many entrees to choose from and it may require a trip back to taste the other items that interested me but, on this first visit, I went with the pan-seared pork chop.

Served alongside roasted potatoes, green beans, and calvados sauce, this was a lovely dish.

The potatoes were cooked perfectly and went well with that sauce. Then, that first bite of pork chop—excellent!

This was a fantastic meal! I cleaned up my plate and that bread also came in handy with sopping up the rest of the sauce.

I’m eyeing those venison medallions for the next visit.

Lunch at a handroll bar

Sunday morning. I attended the early mass as usual and decided to head into the city although I had no agenda in mind. On these days, I like to start at a random coffee shop where I can chill for a while as the city wakes up from Saturday night.

I ended up on 42^nd Street, in Midtown East.

After coffee at a café on Park Avenue, I ventured over to Bryant Park to find the Winter Village already up and running. Did a lot of browsing and it was soon time to check on a place to have lunch.

Pulling up Google Maps, I saw a place that has piqued my curiosity for a while now: Mari.ne, a handroll bar within a block from Bryant Park, located along W. 41^st Street.

I walked in and the restaurant is literally comprised of a long bar, with handrolls being prepared behind the counter. Luckily, I got there shortly after opening and was able to be seated without a reservation—the place gradually filled up as I sat there.

The menu is very straightforward.

There are handroll sets, ala carte handrolls, “add on” sides, and a variety of drinks.

In addition, the menu fits right into the cute caddy that is placed between each seat.

Chopsticks, napkins—what else do you need?

There’s also the box of sauces.

As the server explained, there’s a mari soy and mustard soy, which are intended for the handrolls. The mari soy is a perfect complement, while the mustard soy gave it that extra vinegar kick—I interchanged them between bites.

The box also features sauces for the “add on” dishes, intended for the phở and mandu (dumplings).

When it comes to drinks, in addition to beer, sake, and soju, Mari.re sells one of my favorites beverages in the world: Chilsung cider (Korea’s answer to Sprite).

It’s light and refreshing—a perfect accompaniment for the meal.

Now, I have never personally dined at a handroll bar before but I previously interviewed and did a trail for a job at a restaurant with a similar set-up, which offered some familiarity with how the meal would progress.

If sitting at a bar, there’s a dish where the chef will set down each handroll, made fresh and served immediately. Once done, there’s typically a marker indicating the meal is complete.

The first item to hit the plate was the fatty tuna.

This was a fantastic start! Such rich flavor from the fish and, something very noticeable, the rice is warm to the touch while the fish is cold—the contrast is delectable.

Lunch then continued with salmon and yellowtail.

Everything was so delicious. Each time another roll hit the plate, it was so exciting.

The handroll that really caught me by surprise was the fluke.

A type of flat fish, there was a unique tangy flavor with the roll, along with a light kick. It was definitely the most memorable.

Then, to keep the heat coming, spicy tuna concluded the set.

A delicious roll with spice that hit right towards the end.

Now, I also ordered an extra handroll: scallop.

This was one of the most delicious handrolls. The scallop was fresh and, using mari soy for the first bite and the mustard soy for the second, it was a very versatile roll—and a great way to end the meal.

The restaurant is modern and beautiful, while staff is very friendly and accommodating. The website notes: “Mari.ne is a fusion handroll bar where Korean and Japanese cuisines intertwine, offering a unique blend of flavors.” It’s truly an experience.

My second visit here

It was shortly after moving back to the New York City metropolitan area last year and I had already made quite a few trips into Koreatown. After hitting up multiple restaurants along the main strip of 32^nd street between 5^th Avenue and Broadway, I decided to try one of the spots located on an upper floor—a similar setup to cities like Seoul where not every business is situated on the ground level and one must look up to find a specific store or restaurant.

Jongro BBQ is on the second floor of a nondescript building. If you’re browsing windows, you’ll see a sign for the restaurant through the glass doors of a fairly ordinary lobby. Walk by the doorman sitting behind his desk—offer a greeting—and the elevators are right there to take you up.

In contrast to the lobby, once the doors open up to the second floor, you are greeted by an expansive restaurant.

After the host walked me passed several large tables, all equipped with barbecue grills, I was seated at one of the said tables.

Given the name and how everything is situated, their specialty is barbecue—and Korean barbecue is one of the greatest cuisines of all time. However, on this first visit, I was looking for something a bit more warm (as if sitting in front of a grill wasn’t warm enough).

Forgoing barbecue, the grill remained closed and they brought over the banchan.

First and foremost, the kimchi is great. It’s always the first bite whenever sitting down to a meal at a Korean restaurant. However, I’m a huge fan of the macaroni salad (always the first one that needs a refill).

Now, that first bite of banchan is always accompanied by soju.

It truly is the best way to whet the palate.

One of my favorite dishes (and one I have featured in other blogs about Korean restaurants) is haemul pajeon (Korean style seafood pancake). I’ve tried so many of these and am never disappointed.

The light batter used to make the pajeon is fantastic. On top of that, throw in all the tasty seafood, every bite is worth savoring.

Next, the meal that was going to warm me up on that chilly December day arrived to the table in a massive cauldron: yukgaejang (spicy beef soup).

This definitely had the desired effect—the yukgaejang was served hot with a good amount of spice. Additionally, there is nothing more satisfying than, after slurping up most of the meat, tossing in some rice and polishing off that bowl of satisfaction.

Now, I’m not sure why it took me so long to return—almost an entire year—but it was another one of those let-me-try-something-else days and I knew there was still more of the menu to explore.

Much like pajeon, another regular order (at least within the past year) has been yukhoe (Korean steak tartare).

The server brought it over on a tray and proceeded to mix everything together. The exceptionally savory quality and the chilled temperature makes this dish immensely special—it is in a league of its own. After that first bite, you keep coming back for more!

Also, there were two dipping sauces that added even more depth of flavor.

Then, I ordered tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes), which they offer with gimmari (crispy seaweed rolls).

I’m not sure when I first fell in love with gimmari but it is forever one of my favorite fried snacks. The crispy seaweed is heavenly and it’s filled with delicious springy noodles.

The best part: dip them in the tteokboki sauce and it’s a perfect bite.

The tteokbokki itself—a generous mix of chewy rice cakes and tasty fish cake slices—was great. That perfect sweet and spicy combination one expects from the classic Korean dish comes through nicely.

Honestly, I probably should have ordered a bowl of rice to sop up the rest of the delicious sauce.

After exploring the menu twice, I’m definitely doing barbecue on the third visit!

Got both the pig and khao

This journey started some time ago, while watching Food Network, and my first time seeing Leah Cohen on television. My friend pointed out that she has Filipino heritage and runs a restaurant in the Lower East Side. I needed to try this place and bookmarked it immediately.

It was finally time to hit up Pig & Khao, located near the corner of Rivington and Clinton Streets, and, I think, I may have been the first one in there for their Sunday brunch that morning.

Given my choice of seating, I got a table near the door.

There are several tables lining the right-side wall, along with a table for larger parties on the left.

Once seated, I noticed the counter seating by the window, which I would probably do for the follow-up visit; plus, there’s also a chef’s counter that faces the kitchen, along with a back area with more tables.

I was presented with the menu and asked if it was my first time—yes—and was provided with a rundown of their specialties.

While they do have a lengthy drink menu (along with bottomless mimosas, which I would have probably done if I wasn’t dining alone), I started on more conventional footing. I ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee, to which I was asked if condensed milk was fine—of course.

I’ve had my share of Vietnamese coffee before, including the ones served with the phin (the Vietnamese coffee filter contraption placed on top of glass), and it truly is one of the best cups of coffee.

Even though there’s condensed milk in it, the coffee comes out more creamy than sweet, which is what I love about it. Plus, on top of the flavor, it’s also a nice energy kick.

In terms of the food, before the server even said the sizzling sisig was one of their specialties, it was one that I needed to try.

As described, it arrived sizzling on a plate that I was informed would be hot. Now, there are even some places in the Philippines that don’t serve it on the sizzling plate, which, for me, defeats the entire purpose of the meal.

The menu description is as follows: “pork head, chili, whole egg”—perfect. Traditionally, the dish is made with chopped up pieces of pork face, then mixed with egg, and topped with a squeeze of calamansi.

Of course, when ordering my meal, my first question was: does it come with rice? So, I also put in an order of garlic fried rice (the “khao” part of the meal).

This was a bottomless bowl!

Now, I love rice and this seemed like a typical restaurant serving but I kept refilling my plate and there was always more rice in the bowl. Not sure how it was happening but I’m also not complaining.

I dug into this the only way I know how. Mixed the sisig, dropped some rice on my plate, and shoveled everything together into a delicious bite.

Those crunchy bits!

The sisig was fantastic and those hits from the chili made it even better! Whether you’ve had sisig before or it’s your first time, this is one everyone must try.

Again, those crunchy bits!

Now, I wasn’t leaving until I had one of their cocktails and I ended my meal with the Kentucky pig.

Bourbon, ginger, curry leaf, lime, angostura, and mint. The drink is so smooth and delicious, and that ginger lingers.

While eating, I was already texting a friend to plan a future trip to Pig & Khao. Cannot wait to come back!

Finally sitting down for a proper meal

My first visit to Shobu Sushi, located near the corner of 5th Avenue and 95th Street, just steps from the Bay Ridge-95th Street subway station, comes with an odd story. It was around the holidays last year, I just got out of the subway and I had to go to the bathroom really badly. It was the first place I saw and asked if I could use their bathroom–I also offered to buy something. The person I spoke with was a bit hesitant but said, “It’s the holidays, so, OK.”

What a relief! Plus, I left with an order of shumai.

I had yet to stop in for a proper meal until now. After attending mass at the nearby church, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church, I did a short walk around the area, picking up some supplies from the liquor store, then stopping for a coffee at Dunkin’.

It was a bit of a late lunch but there were still a good number of occupied tables. I was instructed to sit wherever and was provided with a menu.

The menu offers more than just sushi, along with a lunch special, which is what I ordered: three sushi rolls with a choice of soup or salad for $13.99.

As usual, the soy sauce was brought out to the table first.

Shobu Sushi also offers an array of beverages, from soft drinks to wine to beer and sake. Probably something I would enjoy on a later visit but, for today, I went with regular hot tea–which came with free refills.

Shortly after the tea was served, the first part of my lunch arrived: miso soup. Pretty standard with any sushi restaurant, it’s basically a staple with every meal.

Served piping hot, it was very tasty and a great start to the meal. It was also an effective way to warm up with temperatures beginning to dip.

In addition to the lunch special, I ordered a spicy kani salad.

This kani salad was exceptional!

I had an idea that this was going to be a special kani salad when the server asked if it was alright that they include apple. Honestly, I had never heard of that but it was fine.

First, the salad had a great kick–more than the typical hit of spice–and then the apple added an extra level of flavor and texture. Out of all the spicy kani salads I have ordered in my life, this was the best.

While going back and forth between the soup and salad, my platter of sushi arrived at the table.

Three pretty sizable sushi rolls–a beautiful sight.

First was the spicy tuna.

This is a classic roll. Delicious tuna with a spicy kick and delicious tempura crispies. There’s a reason why this is popular no matter where you go.

A favorite from when I first started eating sushi: eel.

Served with cucumber and that amazing eel sauce, this is always a satisfying bite.

I saved the best for last, not a traditional roll, but the shrimp tempura roll is a must.

Stuffed with a crispy shrimp tempura, avocado, and cucumber, each bite is overflowing with flavor. Even when visiting an all-you-can-eat place, there’s always room for (at least) one shrimp tempura roll.

Their hospitality during a holiday-time “emergency” was enough indication that this place deserved a visit and it was wonderful.