Momofuku, New York

Buns 

I just got back from New York for a friends wedding which was wonderful fun & obviously whilst there I made sure that I went to some amazing restaurants. The first one that I rushed to was Momofuku noodle bar for dinner, http://momofuku.com/new-york/noodle-bar/. Along side me was my old friend Jateen who came out to NY also.

On first impressions the decor seemed like a nicer Wagamama's (a lot more wooden), packed full of people & very loud rock music blasting away. We sat at the bar so we could watch the chefs working & ordered a carafe of the Momofuku house sake. I expected a small carafe but they literally bought what seemed like a jug of sake. Pretty good & only $21.

Ramen

For starters we had to try there famous "Pork bun" with hoisin, scallion & cucumber. It was absolutely delicious. I could of ate quite a few of them but as it is there is 2 on a plate. It was almost like crispy duck pancakes or at least the hoisin sauce made it feel like that. Either way, Yummy!

Onto mains, I had the "Momofuku ramen" which consisted of pork belly, pork shoulder & a poached egg. It was again, delicious! Really tasty slices of pork belly, lovely noodles & the broth was really tasty without being to heavy, if that makes sense. Jat had some sort of veggy mushroom ramen & he seemed a bit dissapointed with his but didn't really give a reason.

For dessert we went round the corner to the Milk bar http://milkbarstore.com/, which is part of the Momofuku chain & does cake & coffee. I had the "Crack pie" which is a tart based cake. I was pretty tipsy from all the sake by this point so I don't remember much about it, but it was sweet & a bit salty & I scoffed it down. I remember thinking it was good.
Jat left by this point & I really needed the loo so I tried to sneak into a bar across the road from the Milk bar & got completely spotted by the bar staff so ended up having a $20 Negroni cocktail. It ended up also being a Momofuku place called Booker & Dax, http://momofuku.com/new-york/booker-and-dax/. Lovely Negroni but I was wasted!

Anyway the meal was so great I took my godmother there for lunch a few days later & we had the pork buns again (still delicious) but this time for main I tried the "Chilled Spicy Noodles" consisting of Sichuan sausage, spinach & cashews. The waiter said it was very hot but I didn't believe them as usually when people say it's hot I find it never is but this was one of the spiciest dishes I've ever eaten. It was really really tasty! there was a good crunch from the cashews which were sweet & salty & the combination of that with the heat was brilliant.

I had to finish on a ice cream to cool the mouth & they had a sort of Mr whippy machine with one flavour, which was "Cream Cheese Sage". It was really quite tasty & cooled the tongue down no end. Anyone going to New York should definitely visit one of the many Momofuku restaurants, Milk bars or cocktail bars. They all seem brilliant.

Rita's Bar & Dining at Birthdays

So me & Daisy were having a few drinks in a nice pub called The Fox in Dalston trying to decide where to go for dinner around the area. There's some brilliant kebab places but I was up for trying a place called Rita's Bar & Dining, http://birthdaysdalston.com/food/ which is in a bar & club venue called Birthdays. The menu seems to be a cross of American, Asian & European food & sounds delicious.

We got there about 9 & the bar was pretty pumping as well as the dining area so we ordered a Negroni, quaffed that at the bar & got shown to a table in around 10 minutes.

We went straight in for a starter of "Black Sauce Wings" & a "Piston Head Beer & House Shot" to get the ball rolling. I necked my tequila & Daisy necked her bourbon & then we tucked into the delicious wings. The sauce was really sticky & sweet, I kept on getting flavours of ginger & honey & it reminded me of spare ribs that my folks used to make when I was a kid made from a recipe by the TV chef Rustie Lee. A great start!

Onto mains which were equally great but we were both let down by the sides. For my main I ordered the "Fried Chicken Roll" which we shared. The chicken was lovely & crispy & had a good hint of spice to it & it didn't taste greasy at all. Daisy ordered a "Patty Melt" which unfortunately got lost somewhere in the business of the night but when they did bring it, it was definitely worth waiting for! It was basically a burger patty with cheese on inside toasted cardamom bread. It was very juicy & the cardamom bread was a great addition. I could of ate 2!

For the sides we ordered "Green Chilli Mac & Cheese" & "Mustard Greens". I couldn't eat much of either as they both tasted so buttery or margariney, I'm not sure which, that they were both a bit unpleasant which was a bit of a shame because everything else was ace. But that was the only complaint as there was loads of other things I would like to go back to try like the "Bacon Brittle" & the "Haggis Crumb, Candied Walnut Salad" sound both amazing. Good place for a boogie afterwards if you can move & the patty was on the house which was very nice of them!

Hello, been a while & Agata e Romeo

So have been gone a while, mainly being slack & working but this hasn't stopped me from scoffing my way through some amazing restaurants in the UK as well as abroad (some awful places too). I've got quite a few restaurants to write about & this place was quite memorable in Rome last summer maybe not for the best reasons though.

The restaurant was called "Agata e Romeo" http://www.agataeromeo.it/. I've never been to a Michelin starred restaurant in Italy so thought whilst seeing family in Rome it would be nice to check out a smart restaurant. There is a 35 Euro lunch menu so me & my pa strolled up one sunny lunch time to try it. We tried to open the door to which I realised you actually had to ring the buzzer, which I thought was a bit rubbish straight away. We were shown to a quite nice bright room, lame surreal paintings though & were shown to our table. The waiter gave us our menus which seemed to be missing the lunch menu so I called him back over & got the lunch menu off him. So for 35 Euro you got a glass of red or white wine, pasta or spaghetti as a starter, a choice of 2 fish mains & a coffee at the end. We both ordered a white wine which was fine, got given lots of home made bread & little pizzette's which were lovely & for my starter I ordered the "Chitarrine al ragu di pesce" & my pa ordered the "Rigatoni alla Bolognese". Mine was guitar string spaghetti with skate & broccoli which was delicious. The ragu was really flavoursome & the fish was very nicely cooked. My pa's pasta was equally tasty & went down a treat! 

"Driest fish finger in the world"

So it was a big shame when the mains came! My pa ordered "Orata al Limone" which is sole with lemon & I ordered perch. Both came with spinach & both fishes were completely overcooked & both very under seasoned. The sole was vaguely passable but my perch was wrapped in breadcrumbs & was basically a big, dry fish finger, only not as nice. I had to ask the waiter for a lemon & I think even he thought it was dry so he brought a whole lemon to the table slice up. The spinach was ok though. We had our coffees at the end, paid & left & decided that next time we'll go for a slice of pizza on the Spanish steps. Cheaper & a lot tastier!