Wall Street

Today I walked on Wall Street to get to Luke's Lobster at 26 S. Williams Street, which I saw on How I Made My Millions on CNBC.  Supposedly, Luke's lobster roll is less watery than other lobster rolls.  You know I love my lobster, so I had to try it.  There were many tourists taking photos on Wall Street, so I joined in on the fun.  Take a look at the photos below. 

As for the Luke's Lobster, I splurged and had the Taste of Maine, with half a shrimp roll, half lobster roll, half crab roll with pickle, chips and soda.  I picked the Maine ginger ale, which was spicy and good.  They were out of Jonah crab claws, so I also got a clam chowder.  Yes, it was a big lunch, but I skipped breakfast (I swear).  The rolls were really delicious.  I think the shrimp roll is the best, then lobster second, and crab third.  I did see hardend pieces of butter on top of the seafood, which was kind of weird.  They put a sprinkling of Old Bay-like seasoning, which added to the flavor.  The pickle was only a quarter of a pickle, so not enough for the Taste of Maine feast.  The verdict?  I would go back to Luke's Lobster again. 

 

 

Bouley Restaurant Review

Bouley
163 Duane Street New York, NY 10013
(212) 964-2525


Cici and I love a great deal, so we decided to go for the $55 prix-fixe 5 course lunch at Bouley today. The restaurant was beautiful, with fresh flowers everywhere.  Cici commented that the waiters were serving like a well-rehearsed symphony. Once in awhile, you would get a whiff of truffles.


The lunch started with an amuse bouche: pumpkin soup with candied pine nuts. It reminded me of the soup I used to buy at the now closed Bouley Market. The soup was so creamy and pumpkin-y that I wished Bouley Market is still open.


For our first course, we both chose the Carpaccio Of Kampachi, Young Blue Fin Tuna And Striped Amber Jack prepared in a mediterranean manne.  The plate was so pretty, it looked like fish swimming in a pool of pretty green flowers.  The carpaccio was melt in your mouth fresh with the most wonderful sauces.


We were fascinated by the guy wheeling around the bread in a cart like one of those dim sum ladies. He was so into methodically cutting the bread that he belonged in a movie about Bouley, or bread, or just any movie. He suggested the Saffron walnut bread with the porcini flan. I also tried the apricot walnut bread (sweet, chewy and fresh) and olive bread. I still think Del Posto has the best bread in the city though.


The second course was the famous Porcini Flan with Alaska Live Dungeness Crab black truffle dashi in its own little pot.  The presentation was so cute. I can see why so many people recommend the flan. The crab meat was outrageously crabby and fresh.  I believe this dish is what makes the air smell like truffles every once in awhile, when someone is served the porcini flan and they open the little pot and let the aroma envelop them (an apparently everyone else) in a cloud of truffle bliss. 


For the third course, Cici picked the All-Natural Pennsylvania Chicken with carrot ravioli, chanterelles, pain d'empics dressing and I picked the Slow Braised Kobe Style Beef Cheeks with blue kale gnocchi.   Cici gave me a bite of her chicken and carrot ravioli. This was not the usual frozen chicken you get at other restaurants. I want, no NEED, the secret of how they make the chicken so tender.  Is it because it's all natural or from Pennsylvania?  We need to know. This chicken was so tender, it makes other so called "chicken tenders" taste like leather (Cici said "old shoe" but I'm not as gross as her).  "They are like chicken meltaways!" Cici later texted me as she finished her chicken that she took home in a doggie bag (more on that later).   Also, the carrot raviloli was so sweet and the pasta delectible, it tasted like pumpkin.  (Before this, my only other taste of a sweet vegetable ravioli are the butternut squash raviolis at Costco.  This aint no Costco ravioli, people!  I am not a snob, I just like good food.)   The beef was delicious as well, with gnocchi on the bottom, but by then I was too full to fully appreciate the beef, however yummy it was.


Next, came a palate cleanser of Honey Tangerine Soup with sancho pepper, lychee sorbet, crystallized honey.  Very refreshing and perfect after all the courses.


We both picked the Hot Caramilized Anjou Pear,valrhona chocolate, biscuit breton, hot toffee sauce, lemon verbena and tahitian vanilla ice creams for dessert.  I did not like the lemon verbena ice cream too much, reminded me of Lemon Pledge.  Sorry. 


The chef provided us an extra dessert: bulgur wheat ice cream. It was a unique taste, creamy and kind of salty.


Cici tasted the bulgur wheat ice cream and said that I would like it because it was salty.


I said, "I was raised on salty plums."


Cici said, "What do salty plums taste like?"


"Olives," I replied.


"Why would you do that to a plum? It's so sweet," wondered Cici.


The chef also presented some complimentary, gorgeous little macarons, wafer thin cookies, chocolates and nut crunch.  By then, we were so stuffed that Cici took one of the wafer thin cookies and said, "Have you seen that guy in Monty Python who was at a restaurant and ate a lot, and then he said, 'I'll just have one more bite, it's wafer thin,' and he exploded?"  I thought that was hilarious.


Not wanting to explode, we did not finish our desserts so we asked for doggie bags. The server who cleared the table acted like this was an unusual request. Yes, we are Hoi polloi.  We take doggie bags. We are not on a date and we don't care. Plus, it's a Michelin Star doggie bag.


If you think we are declasse for asking for doggie bags, witness what happened at the next table: The two guys next to us (not in jackets, as required by the restaurant rules) obviously tourists due to the hotel room key card on the table (see, no little detail escapes me, a skill I honed after watching almost all the Monk reruns), sat down later than us, so by the time their table was cleared for dessert, we were done with our meal.  One of the guys (with an accent) asked for *gasp* more bread.  The server said incredulously, "More bread, with DESSERT?"  Amateurs.  Tourists.  Didn't they know that we New Yawkers don't eat bread with dessert?  Suddenly, it was as if the perfect symphony came to a screeching halt for a second.  The bread guy was notified of the request, and he went over and asked which bread they would like to enjoy some more.  They chose the apricot walnut (good choice).  Bread Guy said, "Let me get you a plate, would you like butter with that?"  Then all was well again as the two bread-loving gentlemen were served their desserts. 


Note: The doggie bags were given to us by the receptionist/coat check girl.  Very discreet.  I like it.


Pardon the low lighting of the photos.  I took them with my iphone with no flash (BTW, does anyone's iphone flash actually take good photos?  Mine does not) and the restaurant was kind of romantically dimmed.   

Brads Raw Leafy Kale Review

I bought Brad's Raw Leafy Kale in the Naked flavor. It was not naked at all: it was coated with a lot of sweet red pepper and cashew nuts. It was very crunchy and tasted heavily of sweet red peppers. If you like Italian dressing, this snack is for you. The leaves are very green so it must be healthier than potato chips. However, at $8.99 a pack, not sure if this will be super popular. I would like to see an Asian soy flavor. That would be delicious.

Starbucks coffee prices are getting ridiculous. I recently paid $12.99 for a bag of Starbucks beans. Sure, gas prices have gone up so it costs more to ship the coffee, blah, blah, blah. I am looking for a cheaper, yet smooth and dark cup of black coffee.

At Whole Foods, I bought a can of Three Beans Dark Roast arabica coffee beans for $5.99 for 13 ounces. This morning, I ground up the beans and made the coffee in my drip coffee pot. As dark and rich as any dark roast coffee at Starbucks at half the price. Run and get some for yourself.

In Search of the Perfect Muffin

Billy's Bakery
75 Franklin Street
New York, NY


I am not a snob. I just like good food. I have to say, the best muffins are baked by Costco. They are like $6.99 for a dozen or some ridiculously low price and can feed the whole office.

I was craving a good muffin this morning, so I walked over to Billy's on Franklin Street. Billy's cupcakes are wonderful, so can their muffins be just as good? I got the muffins in cherry and apple and could not resist a slice of pineapple upside-down cake.*. The cake was $5 and the muffins were $2.50 each. Very sorry to say, the muffins were just ok, not as moist and full of flavor as Costco muffins. The pineapple upside down cake is also so-so. Go to Billy's for one thing: the cupcakes with the fabulous cream cheese frosting!

* I did not eat two muffins and a piece of cake. I just had a taste of each and will share the rest. I swear.

Kori Restaurant Review

Kori Korean Restaurant
253 Church Street
New York, NY 10013
212-334-0908

I had planned to eat light today and go for a walk for lunch, but my friend asked me to lunch today at Kori and I could not resist.

We arrived at 11:45 a.m. because my friend had to attend a meeting later. The restaurant was empty that early. We ordered the lunch boxes which included a spicy romaine salad, fried dumpling, pickled onion, japchae, rice and choice of meat. I chose beef Bulgogi and my friend had short ribs. They served us complimentary soup, endamame and kimchee. Any place that serves free kimchee is tops on my list!

The beef Bulgogi was tender and sweet and the kimchee, red onion, japchae and rice complemented the meat perfectly.

I wish they would sell the japchae noodles as a separate meal choice for lunch. The waitress said that japchae symbolizes long life so it is special to eat japchae. This does not explain shy they can't sell more japchae for lunch.

We finished our lunch at around 12.30 and there was a line almost out the door. Kori is a poplar place in TriBeCa as there are few other Korean places in the area. The ambiance is trendy yet friendly.