Ramen, Sandwiches, Cookies, Burgers, Etc
- By Robyn Lee
- May 15, 2007
- Comments
- bowl of noods
Momofuku makes egg-flavored jello under the name "poached egg". So it's not really jello. But if I ever wondered what egg-flavored jello tasted like (which I haven't), now I know from having eaten the smooth yolk-filled semi-translucent globule of unborn chicken-ness that bobbed in the middle of my bowl of ramen. It's cool, soft, delicate, silky, with a texture that I would apply to a very fine dessert tofu made for babies in heaven (because earthly babies don't deserve this stuff) than a simple slow-cooked egg.
- the same bowl, from afaaaar
There was triple Momofuku ramen-madness when I ate there a few weeks ago with CP (who just graduated law school, woohoo!) and his friend Larry. We all ordered the same bowl of ramen accompanied by a chunk-o-pork, shredded pork, peas, chopped scallions, sliced fish cake, bamboo shoots, nori, poached egg, and maybe other stuff but that's all I can remember right now. The last (and only time) I went to Momofuku was a little disappointing, as my friend and felt like the broth gave us sodium poisoning. Luckily the broth on my second visit tasted didn't taste like someone dumped a salt lick in it! It wasn't mind blowing, but I did like it.
- chomp chomp
The noodles also had the "not mind blowing, but still good" quality. They were, you know, noodly...had a little bite to them...um...I don't know how to describe noodles.
- mushroom buns
We also shared an order of shiitake buns. They're like the pork buns, but filled with chopped shiitake instead of shredded pork pulsating with the goodness of animal-derived fat. So...it's still high on the tastiness scale, just different. As in, it's less likely to result in heart failure. Which is probably a good thing.
- Taralluci e Vino
After devouring our bowls of ramen (although Larry disappointingly did not finish his, TSK TSK), we hobbled over to the neighboring Tarallucci e Vino for gelato. Oh sweet sweet gelato. Nothing says deliciousness like ramen and gelato. ...Actually, nothing says deliciousness like [insert any food here] and gelato.
- pistachio and coconut
My little cup was nicely piled high with paddlefulls of soft pistachio and coconut gelato. The pistachio was sadly not full of roasted pistachio love, probably leaning more on the almondy side of the nut flavor spectrum, but at least it wasn't colored an unnatural fluorescent green. Coconut stayed more true to its name, as it did taste like...coconut. It wasn't my favorite coconut gelato/ice cream (which may be found at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory), but it was satisfying. It's pretty difficult for gelato not to be satisfying.
Then it was time to say goodbye to my foodie friend. FOREVERRR!...or at least until CP comes back to NYC. Or until I go to San Diego.
Sandwiches...or 'wiches?
I met up with the lovable Annie at 'wichcraft, where she recently started working, for an end-of-the-year/celebratory type of meal after finishing my last Food and Performing Arts class (miraculously, I got an A?) and picking up my cap and gown (which I've already used and returned, but I hesitate to believe that I've graduated until I get my diploma in the mail). Although 'wichcraft is right by my campus, I've only eaten there once. I guess my first experience was a bit lackluster, not that the sandwich wasn't tasty, but because it attacked my wallet. Second time around was better, not just because Annie gets an employee discount but because the sandwiches were heftier, a better fit for my belly that should be nicknamed "THE GINORMO."
- pastrami
I started with the pastrami sandwich [edit] NO I did not! This is totally the salami sandwich with marinated cauliflower (that's what it was?) & baby-beet greens on ciabatta. Getting the names pastrami and salami mixed up is very sad indeed, but maybe not that surprising if I've only knowing eaten salami or pastrami once in my life. Which might also be sad. Thanks for the correction, Tom! [end edit] The mustard (or...something else that is hot) was strong enough to blow out a few important nasal cavities. Like...all of them. Yipes. I have no idea how to rate pastrami as I eat it less than once a year, if that makes any sense (nope), but I found the sandwich pleasing enough that I wanted to finish my half. Actually, that may have due to challenging myself to fight through the pain of the mustard. Mm, masochism! Deeelicious.
- meatloaf!
The meatloaf sandwich made with cheddar, bacon & tomato relish on ciabatta roll fared much better by not harming any mucus membranes. Sweet! As with pastrami I'm not a very good judge of meatloaf, but I would label 'wichcraft's meatloaf as "pretty damn tasty". This sandwich with its gooey cheese and crispy bacon atop a soft loaf of compressed meat pleasingly attacked me with all kinds of different textures and animal-derived sources of fatty goodness.
- cookies!
For dessert we had sandwiches of the cookie and cream kind. The Oreo-esque cookie didn't do much for my taste buds, but most Oreo-esque cookies that aren't real Oreos tend to be disappointing because even if it's not trying to be an Oreo, the chocolate cookie and vanilla cream combination instantly shouts, "OREO!!!" and all I can think is, "This is not an Oreo." So much internal conflict over a little cookie. [sigh] On the other hand, there was nothing disappointing about the peanut butter sandwich cookie with its peanut chunk-speckled cookies hugging a light sweet and salty peanut buttery cream. ...No wait, I lied—it would've been better if it had been the size of THE MOOOOON!!!
Go to 'wichcraft and get yourself a meatloaf sammich. And a peanut butter cookie sandwich...or two.
mmm, cookiiiess
- bags of joy!
On my last day of interning at Serious Eats while I was twiddling away at my computer probably not doing much (as I'm ought to do), Adam burst through the door weilding a heavy bag of goodies from City Bakery outpost, Birdbath Bakery!
- cookies and stuffs!
Oooh yes, everyone at SE knows about my penchant for sweet baked goods, especially those of the CB variety. :] THANK YOU, SE! For the memories...for the calories...all of it.
- muffin of awesomeness
While CB does many things well, such as their muffin of awesomeness (not the real name, but still appropriate) made of baby nuggets of croissant dough snorgled together in a muffin tin whose demise is met by satisfyingly plucking apart each mildly sweetened dough chunk...
- croissant innards
...And their many-layered, buttery chocolate coissant, which is a smidge too heavy for me, but still acceptable if I try not to compare it to a light-as-air Parisian croissant...
- that is one sultry cookie
...It's their cookies that fill me with the most joy, in particular the flat, crispy, chewy, butter-laden (a theme that extends to all CB goods) chocolate chip cookie that would be better named "chocolate slab cookie". Sure, it may be overrated like many other tasty NYC foods (Shake Shack burger, anything at Momofuku), but it's only $2.50 and MY GOD IT IS SO DELICIOUS, don't pick on us CB cookie lovers. Maybe you like to treat yourself to a cappuccino every day, or a ciggie, or a steak, and MAYBE I LIKE COOKIES, COOOKIES, COOOOKIIESS!!! [eyes expand to 3x their size in cookie-induced glee]
I'm not that crazy. Actually, right now I'm a little sick in more ways than one (but I am grateful that my uterus stopped hurting, hooha!), so I'm trying to compensate for it by acting insane. Yeah. YEAH. That's my excuse. This blog is just a way for me to ignore the pain of my snot-filled head and crushed heart (psychologically crushed, not physically), hehehehehehe?
So, cookies. Chocolate chip is number one, but coconut is a close second. If possible, it has even more butter than the CC. Or maybe the coconutyness heightens the taste of butter. I'd put oatmeal next since it's...well, I like most oatmeal cookies. The peanut butter cookie is both good and bad, good for tasting like 200% peanut butter, bad for tasting like 200% dehydrated peanut butter. Just one bite knocks out your mouth with sticky peanut butter-ness. Some other cookies may go after that—I don't recall ever flavor—but last is the chocolate cookie, which I just plain didn't like. Sad.
BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS PRETTY AWESOME!!!
More ramen and ice cream
- Minca noooods
I already wrote about Minca on My review on Gothamist, so in case you didn't read that...there it is. I'm sadly too lazy to write about it again, especially since I do highly recommend it and their thick, throat-coating soup rich with tasty animal bone sqeezin's. I should probably review places on my blog before posting about them on Gothamist; certainly it makes sense that I'd want my blog to come first. :'[
- East Village Ice Cream
After our dinner at Minca, Nick and I went to East Village Ice Cream for dessert. They had nine flavors—vanilla, vanilla chocolate chunk, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chunk, pistachio, strawberry, mango, butter pecan, and coffee.
- mine, miiine!
I went with pistachio and strawberry. My rule is pretty much to always get pistachio when it's available, unless it glows a shade of green only seen in Nickelodeon slime. Strawberry fulfilled my craving for something fruity, better fulfilled by actual fruit, but...fruit flavored ice cream is the next best thing. Kind of.
Overall, I'd say it was good but not worth going out of your way for. I liked that the pistachio had little pistachio chunks in it, but it didn't have that "omg, awesome" roasted pistachio flavor. Few places do. I won't hold it against them.
- Nick's bowl
Nick got vanilla chocolate chip and coffee.
I felt like the scoops were kind of small compared to other ice cream shops for the same price (not counting Il Laboratorio and their flavor-packed micro scoops). A glutton (me) needs her bucket of ice cream! Kinda. Or not. Probably not.
Blue Smoke
A few weeks ago Joyce and I planned to meet at the Shake Shack for lunch, but instead of shackitude we were met with "THE SHACK IS CLOSED"...itude. Resulting in opposite-of-happyitude. An event in the park caused the shack to close, leaving us to wander around in search of burgerness.
- Blue Smoke
We ended up at Blue Smoke where neither of us had eaten before.
- we have reached burger
When you ask to split their $12 nine-ounce burger, they actually make it into two smaller burgers. Which makes me wonder what the original burger looks like and who can eat the whole thing. 50% of the burger is definitely enough for one person, and as A Hamburger Today already reported makes for an inexpensive lunch.
- innards!
We like our meat patty pink and juicy, like a sponge of liquified cow-ness. I didn't prefer this over Shake Shack's burger, which has a punch of sodium unmatched by most others, but it's good for the price and come with a side of "okay" fries.
- devilled eggs
We also ordered devilled eggs for an appetizer. I have no idea how much devilled eggs usually cost in a restaurant, but $3.50 for one egg seemed like a lot. Then again, we really liked it. So. [shrugs]
- chicken wings
Chipotle chicken wings were alright. I really suck at eating anything off the bone (which I think is a sign that I'm not really Chinese), so I don't think I got the full effect of the chicken-ness considering that each piece I attempted to eat probably still had 50% of its meat/skin on it before I gave up.
- banana cream pie
We finished with a slice of banana cream pie. Not bad, nor anything that will change your life. We were mainly saddened by the paltry wedge that $7.25 got us.
Sorry for pooping out at the end of this entry, but I'm quite tired. And sick. And not looking forward to spending my entire Wednesday moving into a new condo with my mum and unpacking all my earthly belongings. But my next entry will hopefully be more exciting and happy since it's about one of the final happy times I had before graduation. Le sigh.
addresses
Birdbath Bakery
7th Ave and Charles Street
223 1st Ave
Comments
You've been ramen-ed out; I've been burger-ed out this week. It's just that I'm bombarded with papers and upcoming finals that are preventing me from doing any blog related, besides just commenting.
Since I never had 'wichcraft's PB cookie before I have the odd hunch that Bouchon's Nutter Butter kind of outdoes 'wichcraft's...but that's my opinion.
I'm sorry that the pistachio gelato and ice cream didn't have awesomeness. You know I'm going to say. "Try Grom's!" but you know that ;) But the weird thing is that when I went there last Thursday, they leveled the darn cups!
I forgot to add this:
Aww...Adam's such a sweetie for giving you bags of Birdbath's stuff!
And your right, that CB cookie is damn sexy...or tempting.
Hmm. I graduated 2.5 years ago and have yet to pick up my diploma. Actually, I had forgotten about it until you mentioned diplomas...go me!
Congratulations on graduating! What are your plans for after? Living in the city still? Working? Travelling?
Why do people keep going to Momofuku for their god awful ramen??
Can't wait till setagaya opens, but it might be too ethnic for the Momofuku crowd.
RA-RA-RA-RAMEN!
RA-RA-RA-RAMEN!
OM NOM NOM!
Ramen makes me high. I'm so sorry, but it does.
uhhh.... me ... i ate an entire blue smoke burger... and it was good. even though it's the same meat mixture as the shack, it has a smokiness that the shack burgers do not have. both are good but they're 2 different animals. hmmm splitting a burger what a concept......
Hi Robyn, I like the look of those shiitake buns. My mum makes the usual with the stewed pork in those buns (I make her use lean pork which is sacrilegious I know but I can't do stewed fatty meat) - I am looking forward to a home trip in 3 weeks' time and asking her to make those. Yums...
Hi Robyn,
I found your blog a month ago and really enjoy it. Just wondering what you will be doing with your degree after graduation? And did you enjoy the program? I am getting my Masters in Gastronomy (the study of food and culture)in Adelaide, South Australia, and didn't know a bachelor degree existed that didn't solely focus on cooking until I read your blog. Good luck with everything! I really enjoy your food porn!
Tina: Oh, Bouchon's is better than 'wichcraft's. :) I thought about comparing the two, but..I didn't. It'd be hard for any PB cookie sammich to be as good as Bouchon's.
GROM! I WILL GO! EVENTUALLY! As for leveling the cups, that totally blows.
You know what can't be leveled? COOKIES! :D
Jeanne: Okay, maybe the piece of paper isn't...uber important. As long as you know you graduated. :D
Plans for after? Eeuh...not totally sure. Something involving working, but for now I'm just living at home. Yeey!
Adalmin: What kind of ramen are YOU eating?
Jo Jo: HAHAHAHA...aw. You ate the whole burger! Oh dear. I'm impressed!
bobogal: But stewed fatty meat is soooo goood! Except for your health. I wish my mum made pork buns. :[
Leena: Oh, I don't know what I'm doing with my degree! I guess there are a lot of things I COULD do, but I don't really plan on...going into the restaurant business or something like that. I did like my program, but I see room for improvement, which I heard the department is working on. Masters of Gastronomy sounds really cool! I suspect whatever I did in college is like a lighter version of what you did. Gastronomy sounds cooler than "food studies"!
blue smoke is only for bbq! i've been there several times and had no idea they even had a burger cause i always order ribs.
Oh crud, I've really got to stop reading these updates during my lunch hour.
Oh my goodness - coconut CB cookie?!! WAAAAH!
I cannot believe they sell a slice of pie that size for 7.25. I'd expect that in a craaaaazy restaurant with complicated desserts like Jean Gorges or Cafe Gray or something - but for a slice of pie?
I have to tell you, I went to dinner at A Voce for mothers day last sunday - oh my god. Go and get the bomboloni. They're these tiny little doughnuts filled with vanilla cream and tossed in powdered sugar, and they come in a little warm pouch and you DIP THEM IN CHOCOLATE. Pure joy.
great photos, as usual...but that pastrami looks like salami. Is that the way it looks at 'Witchcraft?
peas? Peas! THERE ARE PEAS IN THE RAMEN?! Oh,hell no! That is just wrong!
Những đậu Hà lan Cần phải Chưa bao giờ Bao giờ được đặt vào RAMEN. Địa ngục nào Bọn họ nghĩ!
Whew, sorry, had a flashback of the "NAM" there but I'm Ok now.
rEd
Good call on the Blue Smoke 50/50 burger split. I'd probably order that even if I was to eat it all by myself. Easier to handle.
redrhino - If peas are wrong, I don't want to be right.
MMMM.. i love soft eggs in my ramen.. your pictures look so delicious!
mmmm.. that beef bowl looks SO good right now!!!! I'd even be willing to try the egg part *grin*
You're making me miss NY so much. Perhaps the Momofuku poached egg is made in the onsen-egg way? The egg is covered with hot water in a flask for about half an hour or so...
Maya: We thought about getting ribs, but...were really in burger moods. I gotta admit, I'm not much of a ribs fan. However, my mum looooves them!
Carl: You should spend your lunch hour eating lunch!
Susannah: Go get the coconut cookie! Mmm fatty bliss!
I KNOW, dumb slice of pie! So not worth $7.25. :(
Aw, I want cream filled donuts. With dipping chocolate. I guess I can't go to A Voce and just get that though? Hehe...aw.
Tom: OMG I was totally wrong; it was a salami sandwich! Uh. Um. Yes, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for pointing that out to me!
Red: As Doug implied, peas are the shizz. The more the merrier.
Doug: I think if I ordered the whole burger I'd attempt to finish it myself. Which is bad.
YAY PEAS.
hungry in taipei: I love soft eggs in my ramen too! At least...now I do. Mmmegggoo,
Mia: Well, the tastiness of beef wins over the tastiness of the egg, but preferably there would be both for..double tastiness...from two animals.
Tommy: That might be how they make it! But I dunno, I haven't asked. Sooomeone must knoow...[tumbleweed rolls by]...euh...
you are a food SUPERHERO! i swear, you really have to let me tag along for one of your foodie adventures. i made some amazing orange blossom macarons, but only the first batch in the oven had that nice little foot. i think a trick might be to refrigerate them overnight after filling them, then let them get back to room temp. it makes them melt in your mouth kinda, but still missing a little of that crispness. once i get it down, i will send some to you. :) -sam
hey robyn! i'm suddenly craving donuts and wondering why i've never seen a donut post? haha and it didn't help the only awesome donut store in singapore requires at least 1 hour waiting time! its insaneeee..and i'm saying its awesome only cause there's always a queue and i heard good things about it, but i never did crave donuts enough to queue an hr for it. so yeah, the only great donuts i've ever had was krispy kreme my colleague brought back from HK. sad...
You just made all of us very hungry.
Current time in Los Angeles, Ca : 10:30AM
hey! congrats on graduation (not that diplomas mean something, but you made it to the end, fantastic!) I hope you keep on writing, love your style.
I've just spent a few days in NYC and tried to follow a few of your recommendations. Besides that, went to WD-50, which was great, and p*ong, which was not that great. Oh, 50-50, that's life.
Sam: Orange blossom macarons? Waaah! That sounds so good! How often do you make macarons? I want to try, but...I don't have all the right tools at the moment. Doh. Oh, I remember that at Pierre Herme, they sold macarons a day after making them, so maybe it does help to refrigerate them...
god is cupcake: Would you believe that I'm not a big donut fan? :O I see donuts a lot, but I'm not as compelled to eat them as much as, say, CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!! I am so not waiting an hour for a donut. Or most other foods.
exhibitioninvite: I hope you got some breakfast? .__.
Annix: Thanks! FOUR YEARS OF HIGHER LEARNING!...has not made me feel much smarter. Hm.
I'm glad my blog could help you out during your trip! So p*ong was just okay? I guess it's a good thing I haven't gone then. :\
It's interesting to me that an academic discipline studying food has emerged since I finished college... I chatted with my professors a long time ago, circa 1996, theorizing that I'd like to study the connections between food and radical political movements for a graduate program.
Of course, I had enough student loan debt at the time so it wasn't all that likely, but I think most professors suggested that a master's program in cultural anthropology was the way to go... and probably a natural transition for this East Asian Studies major...
Now I could study food. Hmm. Go figure.
paula deen puts chunks of butter in her hamburgers...
Jason: Sounds like you can be a FOOD STUDIES GRAD STUDENT! :D :D :D There are a lot of em. Yeah. And. I'm not going to become one of them. They're kind of intense. I just like to eat stuff.
Cultural anthropology ties in well with food! In my senior year of HS I read a few books about food as a project for my anthropology class. I don't remember what the point of paper was though. Um. Hm. Uhhhh.
Hey, you should combine anthropology and food in asia, YESSS.
Lauren: I'd eat that. Maybe.
blue smoke has great mashed potatoes! try that the next time :)
i was thinking maybe the egg-jello could be egg-tofu?
it's often marketed (in australian asian-grocery stores, anyway) as "japanese egg tofu"...
the description of the texture sounds about right... and it does taste eggy!
wait. i re-read the entry and realized how wrong i was.
but i guess i should say, egg-jello ... not a thing of your dreams alone!
try it in ma-po tofu. so good.
Louanne: Ooo I loved mashed taters, shall try next time.
Juji: Wellll from your misreading I learned something new...that such a thing called egg tofu exists! Hm. I'll be on the lookout for it. :)