Ippudo + Minca updates

Update: 1/26/2010

I was able to get into Ippudo as a walk in single at the bar, with no wait. I promptly sat down and got to business and ordered a Sapporo, Hirata Buns (Pork) , and the Shiromaru Hakata Classic Ramen. Overall the bun's lacked the finesse of Momofuku's buns, and the classic ramen was good, great broth and nice textured noodles however over priced at $14 dollars with only a small portion of their simmered berkshire pork (you can get an additional serving for $4 dollars). Overall good quality but you are mostly paying for the atmosphere.

Update: 3/7/2010

We decided to hit up Minca again (no wait) for some ramen and to order their Toroniku Ramen (slow cooked pork belly with fresh cabbage) along with their basic (pork) broth and thick noodles, as it was sold out the last time we visited. I must say that it was the best bowl of ramen I have had in NY hands down. It is one of their more expensive items on the menu at $14 dollars but the portion was overwhelming, with a large bowl of soup, noodles and approximately 2-3 large pieces of melt-in-your-mouth pork belly. A must try if you want to get the best ramen in the city.

Picnic Garden - 14742 Northern Blvd, Flushing

AYCE - All you can eat for $24.95, budget korean buffet, lots of raw meat all the major korean bbq players which include, kalbi, korean bacon, bulgogi, spicy pork, chicken, gizzards, liver, shrimp and a host of other items are available, also included is a bounty of hot and cold items. The place, is a narrow restaurant with bad ventilation systems(leave your nice jackets and coats in the car). I wouldn't consider their food the freshest or most flavorful, but for $24.95(price of 1 bbq dish in k-town) AYCE you get what you pay for, worth a visit at least once a year.

Little Manila

Sisig (banana ketchup), palabok, sinigang and rice $5.00
Lunch spot for the day(desk) job... Little Manila

NYY

Lets go~

2 new parks for 2 of New York teams. Each are expanding their food service lineups for their ball parks. Standard peanuts and cracker jacks are no longer general fare at these parks, in the Bronx food vendors such as Johnny Rockets, Brother Jimmy's BBQ, Moe's, Tommy Bahama, Famous Famiglia Pizza, Asian Noodle Bowl, Lobels, Mike's Deli, Hard Rock, NYY Steak and Delta's 360 headline at the New Yankee Stadium.

As for Queens, the Union Square Hospitality group will be introducing a food court of Shake Shack, Blue Smoke, Box Frites, Verano Taqueria, and Acela.

Hopefully I will be paying a visit to each of these new ballparks in the near future.

Battle of the Banh Mi - Bandwagon Trend

ref: nymag article: another banh mi in the oven


ref: nytimes.com: Building on layers of tradition.

Seems like the Banh Mi bandwagon trend is now in full effect here in the East coast as many magazines and articles are popping up on the net featuring these mouthwatering subs.

A famous west coast foodie couple/bloggers called "the white on rice couple", created the site "battle of the banh mi" to educate everyone on the great delicacy of the banh mi sandwich. It seems that on the west coast the banh mi has been famous for years (seeing that most trends pass through the west before they are set in here in the east coast) as seen by the abundant Lee's sandwich shop chains have been popping up all over since 2001 with over 31 chains!

The classic banh mi is a Vietnamese-French influenced sandwich, that is on a crispy baguette(classically made with wheat and rice flour) and made up of an addicting combination of salty, crunchy, moist and hot contrasting delacacies such as pickled carrots and diakons, onions, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapenos, meat fillings, headcheese, pate's, mayonaise, butter and sirracha sauce.

I am holding my own personal East Coast battle of the banh mi , as we have been recently scouring NYC for the best tasting banh mi, not necessarily the most authentic, but best overall based on price, quality and taste. Which may ruffle some purist feathers, but sometimes it is what it is~ Trend or not we enjoy ourselves a good banh mi~

We have found several variets which range from: classic, chinese-influenced, and modern/upscale banh mi's. None the less I will rate and value as many banh mi's as I can get my hands on.

So far my list is goes as follows:

Hanco's - 85 Bergan St, Brooklyn -$5.50 - Value: B-, Taste: A, Overall: A
Ba Xuyen - 4222 Eigth Ave, Brooklyn - $3.75 - Value: A+ , Taste: B, Overall: B
Baogette - 61 Lexington Ave - $5.00 - Value: B, Taste: B+, Overall: B+
Banh Mi Saigon Bakery - 138-01 Mott St - TBD
Nicky's - 150 E. 2nd St - $5.00 - Value B, Taste: C, Overall: C
An Choi's - 85 Orchard St - TBD
NhaToi's - 60 Havemeyer St, Williamsburg - TBD
Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich - 369 Broome St - TBD
Paris Sandwich's - 113 Mott St - TBD
Sau Voi Corp - 101-105 Lafayette St - TBD
Num Pang - 21 East 12th Street - TBD
Thanh Da - 6008 Seventh Ave, Brooklyn - TBD

Outside NYC:

Lee's Sandwich's - Various locations California - $$ - Value: B, Taste: B-, Overall: B-
Vietnamese Cafe - Philadelphia - $3.50 - Value: A, Taste: B, Overall: B

Arthurs Tavern

after a relatively short trip(we encountered a15 min delay due to rush hour traffic in the holland tunnel), we wound up on the other side of Manhattan, in NJ's Hoboken and specifically at Arthurs Tavern. I have been coming here since I was a child and remember stuffing my face with their classic ressesion proof($22.95) 24 oz steak served with potatoes and fresh oven toasted and ultra buttery garlic bread.

tonight the line up included:


24 oz Steak served with Arthur's famous potatoes


Classic Cheeseburger($6.95)


A full rack of mouth-watering bbq ribs, served with Arthur's famous potatoes, cole slaw, and extra sauce on the side ($16.95)

a very satisfying dinner indeed, we couldn't help ourselves and ended the night by going to yogurtland and stuffing our faces with delicious fro-yo + lots and lots of toppings~

LI Shooting Range

Our weekend consisted of shooting off some rounds in Long Island for a friends 30th birthday and then heading to chow down on some Picnic Garden (Flushing, Queens), an all you can eat Korean BBQ joint, which we all haven't been back to since our college days. Tip, do not bring any nice jackets into the restaurant as you will come out smelling like bbq for weeks~! .

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