Yum Yum Sae What?

If the US lacks culture, it makes up for it with the most diverse set of self-proclaimed new age 'fusion' restaurants, fusing all sorts of different types of dishes. Some restaurants end up losing any type of identity, whereas others veer very little away from their original culinary roots. Zutto, which calls itself a Japanese American Pub was more asian than American (C suspects the American pub aspect just comes from the fact that it's located in Tribeca) but was an interesting experience nonetheless. We began with the  Kobe beef steamed buns (steamed buns, by the way, are all the rage in these types of fusion restaurants thanks to Momofuku which if credited with anything, should be credited with elevating steamed buns through its signature pork belly buns):

The bun was quite substantial and had strips of seaweed salad (which I appreciated), a bit of red onion and spicy mayo. I kind of wished there was more spicy mayo or something because the beef was a bit dry and sort of reminded me of the beef in a mcdonald's cheeseburger (sorry Zutto-chef, you must be aghast if you read this). Next up was my favorite dish of the night: the most randomly named maki roll called the Yum Yum Sae Woo which was stuffed with tempura shrimp, crab, and spicy sauce in a lettuce wrap instead of the typical rice and seaweed. I was a bit unsure of this choice as it sounded pseudo-thai, but it ended up being a winner, with the lettuce pieces chosen carefully so that the skin was dry and tough enough to hold the chunky pieces of shrimp and crab inside. I liked the smear of spicy red bean sauce on the side which added a kick to the lighter roll. Yum yum indeed! J, bonus points to you if you can figure out where the name of this dish came from.

Last up was the seafood ramen which had healthy chunks of shrimp and clams. My favorite was the juicy clams inside. The broth was a bit on the salty side, but otherwise pretty tasty. I can't figure out whether I'm just not a big ramen fan because I haven't really been blown away by any ramen I've had so far. Overall, more Japanese than American, but appreciated the twist, thought the ambience was really nice and would like to try more yum yum yummy rolls again.

Too many dumplings!

Since i finally had a meal without my family, i decided to spoil myself with a dumplings feast at Din Tai Fung, a famous soup dumpling chain all over Asia. Apparently, C's home in Taipei is next to the original store, but we'll see how much better they can be because the ones here are pretty deeeeelish!

I usually have a standard menu when i eat here alone, the string beans with ground meat, 6 xiao long bao (soup dumplings) and a zha jiang mian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zha_jiang_mian)... but today i felt like dumplings so i had the following!

6 Xiao Long Bao

No commentary needed on these babies! delish. I usually bite a hole in the top then directly pour vinegar into the dumpling... i know, I'm like a pregnant woman -_-

6 Fish Dumplings (forget what kind of fish ><)

I was very curious about these and they were actually pretty good! Very light (100% fish chunk with some ginger strings) and there was a surprisingly tasty broth in each dumpling. Not a salt bomb like most dumplings and no extra vinegar needed (though of course i added some)

6 Shrimp and Pork Dumplings

This is a pretty standard dumpling at Chinese restaurants but DTF really elevated these... skin perfect as usual but the difference was the broth in each dumpling. i don't know how they do it, but the broth is a shrimpy/porky mix and it is DEEELISH.

And since i'm me, I had a giant plate of spinach too.

Spinach with garlic is spinach with garlic. Tastes like you'd imagine. Ate the whole plate -_-

Total bill was like 55 MYR which is >USD20... Not so cheap now that i think about it haha... but YUM! My type of comfort food! Don't worry C, I still had space for dessert ^^ which was ALSO taiwanese! Green Tea and grass jelly mmmm

(Not Kentucky) Fried Chicken and Waffles

While J romps around SouthEast Asia eating the likes of pad thai and tandoori chicken, I have been in the US, happily stuffing my face with good old American classics, such as fried chicken and waffles! Yes, although not as common as the hamburger, this Southern dish is quintessentially American and no doubt only found in this country. How fitting it was, then, that I dined at a restaurant in the nation's capital, aptly named the Founding Farmers, a restaurant that embraces the farm-to-table concept (and as a side note, always brings the 'we are farmers, bum ba da bum bum bum bum!' song in the insurance commercial to my mind when I hear the name). For brunch, I debated extensively with myself whether to order the signature Fried Chicken and Waffles dish since I don't fundamentally like fried chicken all that much to be completely honest with myself, but my sister convinced me to do it and I was quickly persuaded. The dish ended up being a complete winner! We asked for the eggs to come scrambled, and a thick piece of crisply battered fried chicken with thick, moist white meat inside sat on top of a thick waffle that was perfectly crunchy on the outside and light, yet substantial inside. Coated with a layer of syrup, the chicken, egg and waffle together provided a sweet and savory bite, resembling a more sophisticated version of the McGriddle. J, this was better than what we had at Buttermilk Channel!