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Chinatown, Restaurants
Exploring Across the Street at Famous Sichuan – NYC
02.22.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

Whenever my family comes to visit me in Manhattan, we usually go to Joe’s Shanghai because we’re all addicted to their soup dumplings. Yes, I know everyone likes to hate on Joe’s Shanghai these days, but we still love their xialongbao. Sure, it’s not as delicate as the crabmeat buns at Din Tai Fung in Hong Kong, or as cheap as a million other places in Taiwan, but I have room in my heart and stomach for all kinds of xialongbao. Fill it with soup, and I will eat it. Last month, however, I told my family I wanted to go somewhere else, somewhere completely different… the place across the street from Joe’s Shanghai, Famous Sichuan! They didn’t seem very excited, but I promised them if it was bad we could always go to Joe’s, and they begrudgingly relented. I don’t believe in democracy when it comes to food. MORE »
Restaurants
The Overpriced & The Bad – Las Vegas
02.02.10 | Permalink | 7 Comments

Sorry for jumping back and forth, but sometimes deliciousness throws me off track. Linear blogging is so “aughts” anyway.

At any rate, “The Overpriced & The Bad” focuses on two of my not so great experiences in Vegas; one a semi-miss and one a complete and utter mother of all misses. Not every meal can be hit, and here’s proof. MORE »
Midtown, Restaurants
Lunch Specials at Lan Sheng – NYC
01.25.10 | Permalink | 14 Comments

Two weeks ago, as is the case when my coworker, Taiwai, and I both happen to be “bag lunchless,” a half hour before noon, we were busy plotting lunch. Usually we get Chinese, he being Chinese and I having been Chinese in a past life (in another I was Indian, another Jewish, and another Italian). Hing Won was considered — it usually is — but then I remembered I hadn’t tried Lan Sheng yet; the newish Szechuan place across the street from Szechuan Gourmet. He mentioned his wife tried it the week before, and said it wasn’t as good as Szechuan Gourmet, so I quickly moved on to researching new Indian lunch options, when Taiwai imed me, “a place that has rabbit at least deserves some respect.” Yes, true, especially in Midtown. Lan Sheng deserved a shot, so off we went. MORE »
Airports, Fast Food
Airport Food Round-Up – Hong Kong, Beijing, Incheon
01.14.10 | Permalink | 4 Comments

For those wondering if the end was nigh, well, it’s here. Until my next trip to Asia, this will be my last East Asian post, and it’s about airport food. Hell what?! Hell yeah, airport food! In East Asia, specifically in Beijing, Incheon, and Hong Kong, unlike here in the States, airport food is actually good. I ate roast goose, hwedupbab (회덥밥, similar to bibimbab, but with raw fish), and hot noodle soup; all within fifteen minutes of my departure gate. Not a single overpriced shrink-wrapped sandwich, stale bagel, or a generic hamburger was eaten. MORE »
Restaurants
I Did it All for the Duck – Beijing
01.08.10 | Permalink | 7 Comments

From the beginning, the stars weren’t aligning for me and China. My first application for a visa to China was denied. The reason, I work for a news/media company, and although I wrote on my application that I was going for pleasure, not business, I was rejected. Beijing may have hosted the Olympics, but that still doesn’t change the fact that China is a communist country. Foreign press is not welcome unless it is authorized. I argued and argued, but no one wanted to listen, and they just sent me to another line when they got tired of talking to me. Finally, after being shuffled back and forth between several windows, someone told me to come back with a letter from my work stating specifically that I was not going to Beijing on company business. An hour later, to the dismay of the people at the embassy, I was back with my letter, signed by my manager and on company letterhead. Another hour later, I had my visa. It took an entire day of waiting on line, running across town twice in the pouring rain, plus two application fees and one hefty expediting fee, but I got my visa. Unfortunately, I also got food poisoning from a bad gyro at the diner next door. I should I have seen it has a sign, but of course I didn’t. That would have been too easy. MORE »
Bite vs. Bite, Restaurants
Din Tai Fung aka Dumpling Heaven – Hong Kong
10.25.09 | Permalink | 8 Comments

I love xiao long bao (Shanghainese soup dumplings). It’s one of my favorite foods in the world. When I first discovered Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing, for about a year, if not longer, I would go there at least once a week for their famous soup dumplings. Once, I went four times in one week. So when planning our East Asia trip, xiao long bao was ever present in my thoughts. For a few days, I even considered making a detour to Shanghai just to eat xiao long bao directly from the source. Luckily for my bank account though, my brain overruled my stomach, and Shanghai was nixed. However, that didn’t mean xiao long bao was out of the picture. I was in Asia after all, xiao long bao were to be mine! So on our final night in Hong Kong, David and I made our way over to Din Tai Fung, or as I like to call the place, “xiao long bao heaven.” MORE »
Restaurants
Late Night Eats at Aberdeen Seafood – Hong Kong
10.12.09 | Permalink | 7 Comments

There seems to have been a crackdown on food vendors in Hong Kong recently. Friends who went to Hong Kong a few years ago came back with tales of delicious night market eats. However, in the three days I was in Hong Kong, I saw nary one street vendor selling anything of the edible variety. The tourist booklet I got at an information booth in Hong Kong even warned of eating at a street vendor if I were to ever find one. Needless to say, I had every intention of ignoring their advice, but coming up short after a thorough crawl up and down Temple Street, David and I settled at Aberdeen Seafood Restaurant, a street-side restaurant with fresh seafood practically crawling at our feet. MORE »