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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 »
Restaurants
Dim Sum at Victoria City Restaurant – Hong Kong
10.05.09 | Permalink | 9 Comments

When David first suggested a trip to East Asia, Hong Kong wasn’t part of the plans. That was completely my doing. Being a huge fan of Chinese food in New York, and hearing from my coworker how much more delicious it was in Hong Kong, I had to go. Of course, at the time, I didn’t realize it would extend the plane ride an additional five hours (fifteen hours and forty minutes total, one way!), but l’m glad to say it was definitely worth it. Thank god.

Our first day in Hong Kong, dim sum was obviously in order, so with a little help from Chowhound, I picked Victoria City Seafood Restaurant and off we went with fingers crossed. We were in Hong Kong for only three days, and we didn’t want any duds. MORE »
Murray Hill, Restaurants
Dinner at Chinese Mirch – NYC
07.16.09 | Permalink | 10 Comments

Taste is highly subjective and often influenced by nostalgia and fond childhood memories. For example, my brother loves General Tso’s chicken, the pervasive dish found at most Chinese take-outs in America, but found nowhere in China. Me, I wouldn’t order it unless it was the only thing on the menu at the last restaurant left standing after the apocalypse. That said, to a certain extent, I like similarly battered, fried, and viscous sauce-coated foods at Korean-Chinese restaurants. [Ganpoog sehwoo (깐풍새우, fried shrimp in a spicy soy ginger sauce) is my favorite, but tangsooyook (탕수육, sweet and sour beef) reminds me of eating out when I was a kid. We used to order it a lot because my brother liked it.] It is what is. Chinese fast-food interpreted for another culture. If you don’t expect an authentic gourmet meal, you won’t be disappointed.

This was the case when I went to Chinese Mirch (an Indian-Chinese restaurant in Curry Hill) with Simrit, one of my besties from Parsons. She warned me in advance. “You won’t like it, it’s something Indian people crave because they grew up with it” she said, but I didn’t really understood until a few bites into the meal. MORE »
Chinatown, Small Shops
Roast Pork at Wah Fung #1 Fast Food – NYC
06.29.09 | Permalink | 9 Comments

1) Delicious? Check.
2) Cheap? Check.
3) Abdominal Distress? Check.

Some things sound too good to be true. Like magic berries that make you lose weight without exercise, girl… you know it’s not going to happen. So when I first read about the $2.25 Roast Pork over Rice at Wah Fung on Serious Eats, I knew there had to be a catch. But I went anyway, and ordered the roast pork over rice, which by the way is now $2.50. If roast pork is not your thing, you can get chicken instead, but as you all know, pork is definitely my thing. Your protein of choice also comes with vegetables or noodles. Vegetables is either cabbage, broccoli, or yardlong beans, or some variation of whatever is available at the moment. When I ordered, a tray of broccoli was just brought out from the back, so I got broccoli and cabbage. MORE »