The Archives

• East Village, Restaurants

  First Dinner at Sa Aming Nayon – NYC

  11.12.11 | Permalink | 6 Comments

  Sa Aming Nayon is another Filipino restaurant to open in the East Village this year, and since I read about the crispy pata in the Village Voice, I’ve been longing for crispy pork leg. This past weekend, David and I finally dropped by for pork leg and a little bit more. MORE »

• East Village, Restaurants

  First Brunch at Maharlika – NYC

  09.03.11 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  

  Variations on brunch are always welcome in my book, so when I heard
  Maharlika — of past Filipino pop-up fame — opened a real restaurant on 1st Avenue, I was pretty stoked. Sizzling sisig for brunch? I’m down. So a few weeks later, I was there bright and early with David in tow. MORE »

• Alphabet City, Delis, East Village

  Sweet & Semi-Scary at Johnny Air Mart – NYC

  07.30.10 | Permalink | 7 Comments

  

  [NOTE: Semi-scary photo after the jump. Proceed with caution.]

  Last weekend it was crazy hot, ninety-eight mother-f*cking degrees hot. So hot that when the power went out in my apartment and the building manager questioned why I had two air conditioners, I went berserk. It wasn’t a meltdown, it was a complete blaze-up. I don’t even know how I managed. I was weak from barely eating for three days (I was sick, not dieting god-forbid), but somehow all of a sudden I was ready to open a can of whoop-ass. Thinking back, I realize I need to take a minute or two before reacting sometimes. The poor guy was just trying to figure out what happened, but the only thing running through my head at that moment was, ‘This is America, I can have two air conditioners if I want!”

  In any case, it won’t be as hot as heck this weekend, but a cool icy Halo-Halo ($4.50) from Johnny Air Mart will still hit the spot. The halo-halo at Johnny Air Mart is a milky concoction — more like a very icy frappé than shaved ice — full of soft beans (garbanzo and red mung beans), young coconut strips, caramelized diced plantains, chewy sugar palm fruit (kaong), and jelly-like nata de coco. It’s a gamut of textures. However, for me, the best part was the smooth square of flan swimming on top. I love Taiwanese and Korean shaved ice, but given the choice, why not have shaved ice with flan?! It just seems silly without it. Flan, where have you been my entire shaved icy life? MORE »

• Alphabet City, Delis, East Village

  Lechón Reminder & Fried Squid at Johnny Air Mart – NYC

  06.26.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

  

  Just a reminder, lechón is happening today at Johnny Air Mart. It usually starts at 11:10am, but I was told yesterday sometimes the lechón is late. So get there around 11:10am to 12pm for lip-smacking porcine goodness, they run out within a few hours.

  And while you’re there, check out the Fried Dried Squid ($4.50 for a small aluminum container) they sell at the counter. (People who “like” Bionic Bites on Facebook already got a heads-up on this one.) If you like dried seafood, you’ll love this. It tastes like charcoal grilled squid in chip form. Salty, slightly bitter, and hella’ crunchy, it’s great with beer. However, one caveat: It stinks. Not a good pre-date snack. Eat it alone or with other like-minded folks. Also, if you don’t finish it, it’s a good idea to transfer it to an air-tight container. I ate half and left it out in the same container it came in and for days my boyfriend complained about a strange odor emanating from the apartment. I had my mom take it back to Jersey when she came to visit just to appease him. MORE »

• Alphabet City, Delis, East Village

  Lechón at Johnny Air Mart – NYC

  06.15.10 | Permalink | 12 Comments

  

  A few weeks ago, Eating in Translation tweeted that Johnny Air Mart would start having roast pig on Fridays. The following Friday I was there, immediately after work. Unfortunately, they had grilled pork skewers but roast pig was nowhere to be found. It turns out Johnny Air Mart has lechón (roast suckling pig) every other Saturday (starting at 11:10am) and I just missed it the previous Saturday. I would have to wait another week.

  The next weekend, as soon as I woke up, I put on my clothes and told Alvin (David’s cousin who was visiting from out-of-town) that I was going out for roast pig. Having stayed with us before, he didn’t seem surprised. MORE »