No such thing as Red Lobster in Southampton

We are far too snobby to eat at chain establishments!!

J & C were finally reunited this past week, and one of the first snobby meals of course had to be at the #1 rated restaurant in Southampton on tripadvisor.com, which ended up having outrageously expensive things on their menu such as a $38 lobster roll for lunch. However, since we drove allll the way out to  Southampton, we figured we needed to go all out or else we would regret it for the rest of our lives. So that's exactly what we decided to do.

First off, Silver's is located on the main street of Southampton filled with chic shops and delis (you don't see Gap here! Only the obligatory Ralph Lauren and Vineyard Vines retail stores of course)

Thy offered us the best seat in the house facing the window, because we are kind of a big deal :)

Yelp and tripadvisor reviews are never wrong, and everyone said to order the lobster bisque, so J got it for us to share and mopped up the bowl with our complimentary basket of crusty baguette drenched in a pool of olive oil (the bread was surprisingly delicious, at least for the first few bites). We asked for a second basket of plain, un-oiled bread to go with the soup, and J was in carb heaven after that. The lobster bisque had healthy chunks of lobster meat in a creamy base with a very well-rounded and deep / hearty flavor, but was on the salty side in my opinion. 3.5/5 for this one.

Next up was my lobster roll, which was nothing short of amazing. It was stuffed and overflowing with huge, fresh chunks of lobster, lightly dressed in a dab of dressing and sprinkled with a few herbs here and there, letting the true lobster flavor shine through. Absolutely outstanding and worth every $38. The only thing i'd improve on would maybe be a softer or more flavorful bun which kind of paled in comparison to what it was holding. 4.5/5 for the lobster roll and i would possibly consider rounding to 5.

J got the roman sandwich which was grilled tomato, mozzarella and prosciutto in between two crusty pieces of white bread. J seemed to enjoy every last bite and the portion of the ingredients looked extremely generous. Carb heaven once again!

Overall this was one of my favorite meals in the Hamptons! I'm sure we would have bumped into many more people far snobbier than us, but it was still quiet season. J, your turn to post the next meal!

Japanese in Jersey

Who would have thunk? The best chirashi I've had so far is in Collingswood, New Jersey. The restaurant is called Sagami and it's located next to a lonely stretch of highway with a hidden sign and is surprisingly always packed with people who know about this neighborhood gem. 


Pauline and I shared a scallop salad to start ($7). Great value for the amount of fresh scallops!

We sat at the bar, so could watch the chefs prepare our dish. It was great that we had such fresh fish and a great variety as well, but it literally took more than half an hour for the chefs to meticulously assemble the bowl (it was like a work of art). The business school person in me kept wondering whether this was the most efficient process. HOWEVER, the chirashi was as fresh and delicious as I remembered, with thickly sliced, plump pieces of juicy sashimi with a healthy dose of fish roe, pinch of wasabi, and one of the tastiest tamago preparations I remember (it tastes very home cooked with just the right balance of sweet and saltiness). All of this was for $25. Only in NJ? Perhaps...

Sagami Restaurant
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sagami-japanese-restaurant-collingswood


Food: 4.5/5
Value: 4.5/5

The cupcake edition

There's something about cupcakes that makes me impulsively want to pick one (usually two) up. Maybe it's their portable size or their deceptively yummy descriptions, but it's been a temptation i've been unable to control particularly since J hasn't been around to remind me to "walk away..." So I thought I'd give a low down on all the cupcakes I've had in NY over the past few weeks and show something for all the taste-testing I've done.


Molly's Cupcakes: This might be my favorite so far. Molly's does fancy cupcakes in that they are usually stuffed with some kind of filling, which makes eating them more interesting and closer to a dessert than a cupcake. The one on the left is the birthday cake, with bits of birthday cake batter in the center, and the one on the right is the creme brulee, which has a slightly crispy burnt sugar top and is filled with custard. The birthday cake's frosting was too creamy (I would have preferred something more sugary) but the creme brulee cupcake was really unique and light, but satisfying at the same time with the custard providing a pudding-like texture to the cake. The one thing I didn't like was that the packaging didn't hold the cupcakes upright very well and the frosting got kind of all over the place. Overall score: 4/5

Crumbs Cupcakes: Crumbs has become prevalent throughout New York, and it's not uncommon to see one every several blocks in Midtown. Unfortunately, this means I get to walk past Crumbs every single day on my way to work, and apparently their strategy of using repeated reinforcement to attract customers worked on me, because I wandered after months of restraint and picked out an apple cobbler cupcake. According to the website, this is described as: Apple cinnamon cake with apple preserves filling topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and covered in streusel crumbs. Sounds delicious right? Well no, it was kind of a disappointment. The icing was too blandish and the cake was enormous, so it kind of went limp and fell apart after I cut through and scooped up the apple filling, which was arguably the best part after the streusel topping. Must avoid from now on. Overall: 2.5/5

Two Little Red Hens: I had heard about these cupcakes as one of the originals way back when I first moved to NY, but never thought about trying since it's all the way on the upper east side. However, when I realized they were being sold at Dean and Deluca, I knew I had to try. Unfortunately, I didn't know they came in mini-sizes in the original store (Dean and Deluca only carried the bigger ones that day), so I left the store with a box that literally weighed half a pound with the red velvet and Brooklyn Blackout, two flavors that are being raved about constantly on yelp. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of XL cupcakes, and the Brooklyn Blackout (while insanely indulgent), was way too intense for me to finish more than a few bites. The red velvet also was mediocre with an interesting, somewhat tangy and creamy cream cheese frosting.The packaging also left much to be desired and resulted in a messed up Brooklyn Blackout (although this might just be how Dean and Deluca packs it). Needless to say, I will not be making a trip up to the UES for these anytime soon. Overall: 3/5

Sprinkles: My first encounter with these was at the Dylan's Candy pop-up store near Bryant Park where they also were selling Spinkles cupcakes on the side. I wasn't too impressed with the red velvet (left), but the chocolate marshmallow was surprisingly light and unique with a fluffy marshmallow icing topped with chocolate ganache coating:

This past weekend, I ventured over to Sprinkles again because my buy 1 get 1 free coupon was expiring and decided to try the seasonal flavors: chocolate chip cake with raspberry frosting and caramel cake with salted caramel frosting. I liked how Sprinkles did a good job with the packaging so they wouldn't fall over in my bag. I also like how the frosting they use is sugary enough so that the frosting doesn't smear:

The verdict? I really liked the raspberry cupcake because the frosting had a sharp, tangy berry taste which made it stand out from the typical sugary sweet frosting. I also liked the chunks of chocolate chip inside the cake batter. The salted caramel one was good too, with a hint of sea salt that paired nicely with the caramel, but I thought it was a tad too sweet. The cake for both was moist and reminded me of birthday parties when I was little where moms would bring cupcakes in to celebrate. Overall: 4/5

J, I think I need a recording of you telling me to walk away...

Salt and Fat (and everything nice)

Now, J sometimes is a bit of a snob when it comes to venturing outside of Manhattan (I'm kidding!), but considering I live in the transportation hub of NYC, I have to remind myself that it isn't such a big deal to ride the train a few extra stops to access gastronomic deliciousness. One of my friends from high school suggested we try Salt & Fat, a restaurant known for their casual asian-fusion style small plates akin to the style of korean taco trucks, if you know what i mean. Their menu consists of whimsical dishes that blend a mix of east and west, like braised meat in sweet/spicy sauce with daikon radish or bass with plum sake-soy sauce. 


The restaurant does not take reservations and only opens for dinner at 6 pm, so we decided to meet right when it opened to avoid a long wait. Luckily, we scored a quiet table on the side before the crowd rushed in. We were first presented with a mini bag of perfectly crisp popcorn toasted with bacon fat, which provided a deep, smoky flavor. This  small touch should already provide diners with an idea of how well thought-out and executed the food here is. We then asked our server to recommend a few dishes for us to share. Although I think he recommended some outstanding dishes, I have a feeling that everything on the menu is pretty excellent.


We started with the persimmon salad, which was a bed of arugula (my favorite type of leafy green to have as a salad at restaurants), topped with slices of persimmon, italian speck, spicy candied walnuts and tossed with a lemon-honey vinaigrette. The persimmon provided just the right note of sweetness, and the candied walnuts provided a slight kick and crunch to the salad. It was overall both refreshing and flavorful at the same time.

Next up was the scallops with roasted carrot puree and truffled corn salsa. This was so good, we attacked the plate before I got to take a picture. The bits of sweet corn and the puree provided a creamy and comfort-food-like touch to the scallops. The carrot puree actually reminded me more of a butternut squash puree since it was so sweet and creamy.

The waiter recommended the pulled pork sliders and the oxtail terrine, which both turned out to be true winners. The pulled pork made a big impression on me, because there was a substantial layer of pork in between the two pieces of grilled brioche buns (which is sometimes a problem with sliders when there isn't enough filling) and the meat was incredibly tender, with a slightly tangy flavor from the siracha bbq sauce. It honestly reminded me of the delicious Taiwanese beef jerky that I love, in the form of soft pulled pork. The two slices of pickles on top provided the perfect tangy accent. Upon closer inspection, my friend pointed out that the restaurant had actually grilled smiley faces onto the tops of the buns! Another sign of the little details that this place really pays attention to in delighting their customers :)

Our fourth dish was the oxtail terrine, which resembled a brownie on a plate initially, but when we broke into it, realized it was actually a block of braised beef, that was perfectly crispy on the outside and then tender on the inside. It paired amazingly well with the tangy onion puree on the side as well as the roasted mushrooms underneath. This was a surprise hit for me and only because everything else was so outstanding, would hesitate to say it was my favorite.

We were then presented with a tiny square piece of paper which had the desserts and we ordered the lychee panna cotta with yuzu buttermilk sorbet. Again, this was attacked before a picture was snapped. The lychee panna cotta was extremely light (although I almost couldn't taste the lychee) while the star of the plate was clearly the yuzu sorbet which provided intense spurts of yuzu flavor with each bite.

At the end of our meal, we were presented each with a mini bottle of Yakult, the probiotic drink I had as a kid and grew up drinking. This was another display of the whimsical nature of this restaurant. Overall, I was truly impressed with Salt & Fat, and will be coming back to Queens if this is any representation of the quality of the food there!

J, how does this compare to Social Eatz?

C(h)iao For Now

...and to think we were giving ourselves credit for some originality...

Ciao For Now actually exists as a cafe/bakery in New York!

Serendipitously, this adorable cafe (how could it not be adorable, with such a fantastic name) has its main location in East Village with another location in West Village. Although it was pretty far East (12th street, between 1st Ave and Ave. A to be exact), I knew I had to make the trip over to see our namesake. The place had a slightly hipsterish feel, with cheerful flowers adorning the front window. As I wandered inside, I realized it was much bigger than it appeared, since the main seating for coffee/brunch was around the corner from the entrance where the bakery counter stood. Although I had just eaten lunch, I felt I needed to purchase something to justify the trek, so I got a blueberry scone which looked quite scrumptious and dusted in powdery sugar inside the glass display case. The guy taking my order must have seen me hesitate when I glanced over at the muffin stand, because he asked me if I wanted a muffin on the house given it was almost closing time. Of course I responded with an enthusiastic yes! Sadly, neither the scone nor the pumpkin loaf (aka the 'muffin' on the house) was anything to write home about, but the cute decor, cute delivery truck (see below), awesome name and the fact I got a free pastry is enough for me to give it a solid 3.5 stars out of 5. J, when the weather's nicer, we should come here for brunch.

Is a Cubano Really Cuban?

According to this wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_sandwich the exact origins of the Cubano are somewhat murky. A version of the ham and cheese sandwich was created for Cuban workers, but traveled with immigrants to Florida and evolved into a sandwich filled with melted swiss cheese, thinly sliced pickles, roast pork, ham, and salami sandwiched between 2 pieces of crusty Cuban bread (something halfway between Subway bread and a baguette).


C & J had been planning for the past few months to try Margon, a classy midtown hole-in-the-wall that was made famous by yelpers for their $6.95 Cubano. Unfortunately, work got in the way, and C didn't manage to make it over until today. The verdict? Two greasy thumbs up!

The joint resembles a slightly run-down deli/diner with absolutely no indication that it could possibly produce anything remotely delicious except for a crowd of blue-collar office workers lining up along the counter with open paper bags to catch the steaming hot sandwiches as they came off the grill. C was intrigued by the assembly-line efficiency perfected by a single sandwich master, who would first lay out huge loaves of cuban bread filled with the works (salami, roast pork, ham, swiss cheese), slice the sandwiches into segments, then would take off the tops and line them neatly onto one of the sandwich pressers to grill. The remaining half of the sandwich would go face down on another foil-covered sandwich press until they were flat and the cheese was sufficiently melted. Then, he would pull off the meat-laden half of the sandwich, squirt mustard, some kind of mayo-looking sauce and layer on thinly sliced pickles before placing back a grilled piece of bread on top. For each completed sandwich, he would thoughtfully slice it into 3 segments for ease of handling. All sandwiches came off the grill steaming hot and would be immediately wrapped in foil and dropped into eagerly awaiting paper bags.

My first impression of the sandwich was that it smelled phenomenal (if somewhat like grease), and the first bite reminded me of biting into a McDonald's cheeseburger (i think it was the effect of the pickles, cheese and magic sauce that tasted somewhat like big mac sauce). The roast pork, salami and ham with all of its drippings rounded out the taste profile to provide for a tangy, savory, and completely satisfying experience. This is definitely not a diet-friendly feast (no calorie-count offered here), but definitely a must-try for lunchers in midtown looking for a satisfying treat!