This is a funny sign outside a restaurant on our way through East Village. CHOMP.

Veselka, recommended by fellow blogger Watch Me Eat, specializes in Ukrainian cuisine and is the spot for late night snacking by East Village bar patrons. The prerogies were recommended here but we were still recuperating from the past 4 hours of eating, so I must place this on the to-go-list for my next trip to New York.

Looking around East Village, I appreciate and cherish the sheer diversity and complexity of all the stores, shops, restaurants, and people living and working here together in one small area no larger than a square mile. I wish one day Orlando could become like this, full of quirky shops and tasty treats all in walking distance of each other. Maybe one day…

Baoguette, inside

Crepe Cart in NYC!

Beard Papa’s – pastry puffs – found its way to NYC as well!

I continued my thoughts as we trodded down to St Marks Place, the late night bar hopping area of choice for New York University and surrounding college students, and met up with brother Ronny. He just got off of work and had been trying to catch up with us on our food expedition, but missed us by a few seconds each time.

After a quick pit stop at a cafe, we drudged onward to our next destination:

Gray’s Papaya
West Village, Manhattan NYC

Gray’s Papaya, opening as a spin off of Papaya King in 1973, sits on a corner in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

The festive displays inside Gray’s Papaya

Gray’s Papaya and their Hot dogs: ready to eat!

Gray’s Papaya is a simple concept: great hotdogs with great fruit drinks. The drinks, in addition to the papaya namesake, also include orange, grape, piña colada, coconut champagne (non-alcoholic), and banana daiquiri (non-alcoholic).

The wall of fruit drinks at Gray’s Papaya

Gray’s Papaya – Hot Dog with sauerkraut and ketchup

Gray’s Papaya – Hot Dog with sauerkraut and ketchup

Gray’s Papaya – Papaya drink

I choose the hot dog with sauerkraut and ketchup ($1.50) and a papaya drink to go along with it (Thanks Ronny!). Individually, the hot dog is a bit salty and the papaya drink is a bit too sweet, but together they make a marvelously good combination of sweet and salty. The combo is cheap coming in under $4.00 and there is even a recession special where you can save a dollar on two hotdogs and a drink.

Gray’s Papaya
402 6th Ave, New York – (212) 260-3532

Tasty Chomps rating!!!
4 out of 5 Tasty Chomps!!!!

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery
East Village, Manhattan NYC
Friday July 18 2009
4:06 PM

When we arrived, our friend told us that he was surprised because usually there is a line out the door at Artichoke, even at 2 am at night there is a line. We took the clue and decided to get in line, and shortly thereafter a small crowd grew behind us. The pizza must be damn good here.

Interesting Light fixture inside

The storefront is small and minimal, with pizza ovens taking up most of the space in the cramped store and pizza pies on display in the front in a glass case. The ceilings are a deep, dark red ceramic tile from the old world, giving the place a feeling of being from another time.

We order the signature artichoke and spinach pizza ($4) and the pizza maker swiftly places it in the oven and under 2 minutes the pizza is ready for us. This is a first time with artichoke on a pizza for me. My brother Andrew is wimping out and could only take a bite of pizza, after our long journey I guess I could understand. A man can only humanly take so much. good thing i have a super human appetite. chomp.

The cheeses are creamy on the pizza and thick sauce that they use with some parmesan as well as mozarella. The artichoke is a hearty tasting veggie topping and went excellent on top of the pizza along with the spinach. The crust is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, a tasty buttery, garlicky, flavorful bite. My one complaint may be that the pizza crust is a little bit too hard and too thick, if it was a little bit thinner it would be perfect.

Easily one of the best pizzas I have ever had and so much better than the rest.

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4.6 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!!

Artichoke Basille’s Pizza & Brewery
Neighborhood: East Village
328 E 14th Street
(between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-2004
http://www.artichokepizza.com/

Heading north towards 13th Street on 2nd Avenue, our merry band of merry foodies head towards another dessert place after Veneiro’s pastry shop: the Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar (which we later found out is attached to the Momofuku Ssam bar restaurant).

Inside, there are a few bar tables set up in the center of the room and display cases with pies and goodies framing the sides. On one of the walls is a photo of a man, who we found out is a pastry chef and a performance artist, fighting a mechanical fire breathing dragon machine. Nice.

Also, our good friend and a kind of mystical guide on our gastronomical journey reappeared here at Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar: Mr Sriracha sauce. He’s all over this place, no doubt a dose for their famed pork buns ($9).

Lemon Verbana soft serve ice cream

There are also soft serve ice cream here but not your typical flavors like vanilla, but rather, home made rosemary, apricot, lemon verbana (a tart, smooth soft-serve), and blackberry. They give out one free sample for each guest and of course, since they insist, we must oblige. 😀

Crack Pie: it’s addicting.

There are various original pies at Momofuku Bakery and Milk bar such as the candy bar pie, made with chocolate crust, caramel, peanut butter nougat, and pretzels. We order the crack pie ($5), described as a toasted oat crust with gooey butter filling

The pastry pie is savory and buttery rich, deep in the sweet-o-meter yet not overly sweet. Its like your taste buds were jolted with a high intensity dose of brown sugary pastry goodness.

Milk to wash it all down!

We also found that attached by a hallway to Momofuku Bakery and milk bar is the momofuku ssam bar, but they were closed at that time around 3:30pm because they had to get ready to re-open again for dinner at 5PM.

Momofuku Ssam Bar

We walked out and I took this shot of the concrete jungle of New York City, a juxtaposition of abandoned lot overgrown with greens against the backdrop of concrete East Village apartment buildings. Here, life grows.

We walked down further and turned a corner to stumble upon Ippudo, the Japanese Ramen Shop that was on my list but it too was closed for the afternoon to reopen again later for dinner. =

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4 out 5 TASTY CHOMPS !!!!

Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar
207 Second Avenue, New York NY 10003
(on 13th Street; map)
212-254-3500

Veniero’s Pasticcceria & Caffe

Veneiro’s Pastry Shop – Desserts – New York City
East Village, Manhattan, NYC
Friday July 18 2009
2:55PM

We left Katz Deli full and satisfied and began to walk back to 1st Avenue, turning north towards East Village. There we would meet one of Andrew’s old friends from Stuyvesant High School who recently graduated from Fordham University and lived in the area.

We walked and passed by Coyote Ugly on the way, the original Coyote Ugly, the one the movie was based on, filled with its tales of drunken late night mischief. We passed by and wondered what went on there at night (Andrew himself had been with a friend or two before and reminsced about an awkward moment there).

We met up with Andrew’s friend and quickly saw Veneiro’s Pastry Shop nearby and we couldn’t pass up the prospect of savoring a dessert after 6 meals already. Sweet surrender.

Veneiro’s Display case of pastry goodies

Veneiro’s Pastry Shop, a relic of Italian cafe’s past, founded in 1894 over 115 years ago here in East Village, would become our 7th food item on our hitlist today. It was approximately 2:55pm and 3 hours into our food binging New York experiment.

Inside, the dimly lit pastry shop showcased its pastry goodies from homemade cannoli to cheesecakes to pignoli cookies, tiramisus, specialty cakes and carrot cakes, this place is dessert paradise.

The girl behind the counter was courteous and kind, giving us suggestions and various tips on what to get. I was cautious but my friends must have been under a spell.

We had a delicious cannoli topped with green colored pistachios, a perfect creamy cheesecake topped with strawberries, and a heavenly raspberry mousse tart /cake. All were scrumptious and savory morsels of Italian pastries.

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4.5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!

Veniero’s Pastry Shop
www.venierospastry.com
342 E 11th St
New York, NY 10003-7417
(212) 674-7070

New York Foodie Adventure
Part 6 of ….

Katz’s Delicatessen
Lower East Side
Manhattan, New York City
205 E Houston St
New York, NY 10002-1098
(212) 254-2246
www.katzdeli.com

1888

Friday July 18 2009
2:01 PM

When I asked what was the one thing that I should eat when I came to New York, the almost unequivocable answer to quintessential New York food was the “best pastrami sandwich ever”, the pastrami sandwich at Katz Deli on the Lower East Side.

Many delicatessens have come and gone, but Katz Deli is one of the only left standing after more than a hundred years of existence and still has that old-world feel in its dining halls. This Jewish kosher deli, started in 1888, grew famous for its salami during World War II and its slogan “senda salami to your boy in the army.”

Chaos at Katz Deli

Lunch time clusterf***

Stepping inside Katz Deli is overwhelming at first: noisy crowds of people are lined up throughout the fluorescent-lit cafeteria-like room along the long deli counter, waiting to order, the boys behind the counter shouting about in the typical street-wise New York fashion. A chaotic world of deli mayhem and delights.

Passing through a turnstile, we receive a ticket at the entrance, which we are reminded not to lose as they were used for marking our orders on and would cost us $50.00 if we lose them. The staff obsessed about these tickets. The tickets are turned in at the register when you leave and used to calculate your bill.

Noticing the mayhem at the deli counter service, we decided to sit down by the wall where there was waiter service. I know its not the authentic way to eat at Katz, where you go up to the cutter (meat man) at the counter and place a dollar and tell him what you want and he trims it right there for you, but I really didn’t feel like waiting in that long line today. Service here however, is not the fine dining type but rather the curt, somewhat gritty “what do you want?” type attitude of the city. That was fine as we simply ordered our pastrami sandwich ($14.95) and it was quickly delivered to our table along with a side of pickles.

In addition to old photographs throughout the 120 year history of Katz and celebrities who have visited the deli, there is a sign dangling above the seat where you can sit where Meg Ryan infamously demonstrated her “acting” skills in the film “When Harry Met Sally.” Still today, thousands of tourists to New York City drop by every week to Katz Deli to “have what she’s having.”

In addition to their pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, Katz is also known for having some of the best hot dogs in the city, including the knoblewurst, having won several awards from New York magazines for the grilled, cheap delights. Each week, Katz’s serves 5,000 pounds of corned beef, 2,000 pounds of salami and 12,000 hot dogs in addition to chopped liver and tongue servings.

Pastrami Sandwich at Katz Deli – divine.

A mountainous heaping of juicy brined briskets of black pepper coated pastrami, hand sliced, gently smoked with a smear of mustard and placed between two slices of rye bread . The sandwich was luscious and generous: I understand why it is ranked among the best in the world. Stick with this and that’s all that you’ll need at Katz.

I was also happy to mark Katz off as the 2nd place I have visited on Anthony Bourdain’s List of “13 places to eat before you die.”

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4.5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS

The scene in When Harry Met Sally at Katz Deli on youtube:

New York Foodie Adventure Part 5 of …

Russ and Daughters
Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City
Friday July 18th 2009
1:26pm

I had first heard of Russ and Daughters from a recent episode on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations “Disappearing Manhattan” on the Travel Channel. I knew I had to check it out when I hit New York City this last weekend after seeing and reading about their bagel, cream cheese, and lox. Little did I know the epiphanies and delights that were really in store at this “appetizing store”, one of the best things I have eaten in my life.

Dried Fruits at Russ and Daughters

Russ and Daughters is a New York City institution (it’s even featured as a part of New York’s cultural heritage by the Smithsonian Institution and in the national registry of historic places). It has been on the block in the Lower East Side for almost a hundred years (1914) beginning from its humble beginnings out of a push cart and has since then began to faithfully and dutifully serve and specialize in excellent caviar, smoked and cured fish, dried fruit, and other items. Their storefront is situated just a few doors away from Katz’ Delicatessen on the south side of Houston Street. The feeling of pure peace and tranquility when we entered the store offered a stark contrast to the loud carnival atmosphere of Katz Deli later on.

Assorted Cheese Display at Russ and Daughters

Stepping into the Russ and Daughters store is like stepping back decades into an old-world class establishment. The walls feature their caviar in tin cans, dried fruits in glass jars, and their glass deli cases display vast varieties of smoked and cured salmon, fish, and cream cheeses.

Assorted Bagels at Russ and Daughters

Wasabi infused Flying Fish Roe? Got to try that next time.

The men working behind the counter are dressed in white lab coats, like surgeons meticulously and skillfully slicing and examining the highest quality of smoked fish cuts.

We picked up a number (it can get busy at times here in the small storefront) and luckily didn’t have to wait too long for our turn. My brother Andrew and I were relatively new at this ordering lox and bagel thing and so we asked the gentleman at the counter what he would recommend: the scallion cream cheese, everything bagel, and the nova lox. The total came to about $9.45.

When we stepped outside to enjoy our bagel on the bench overlooking the park, we noticed that the door had a recently laminated Anthony Bourdain article on the “13 Places to Eat at in the world before you die” from Men’s Health magazine. Russ and Daughters was featured at number 8 and I was glad to have enjoyed this place at least once in my life before I died.

The everything bagel is a soft bagel with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion, etc and is good, maybe not the best but still a good bagel. The scallion cream cheese was rich and creamy, tasty. The traditional gaspe nova lox is a rich, oily, slightly salted yet smooth tasting, smoked salmon that just melted in our mouths. Together the bagel, cream cheese, and nova lox were completely divine and absolutely delicious.

The rich yet mild taste lingered on my tongue, tantalizing my senses and enlightening my tastebuds to the point of a taste-nirvana. Mind-blowing.

The face of Manhattan may have changed over the last hundred years or so but the traditions and commitment of Russ and Daughters remains strong still today. We sit on the bench outside a little longer, savoring the flavors that we had just experienced in our mouths and watching the New York City streetscape pass by and enjoying life.

Next time, I will also try their herring fillets in cream sauce as I have heard that those are a specialty here at Russ and Daughters as well.

Russ and Daughters: Nova Lox and scallion cream cheese and everything bagel

Russ and Daughters: Nova Lox and scallion cream cheese and everything bagel

Russ and Daughters: Nova Lox and scallion cream cheese and everything bagel

Tasty Chomps RATING!!!!!
5 out of 5 Tasty Chomps!!!!!

Next up: Katz’ Delicatessan (just a few doors down!).

New York City Foodie Adventure Day 2 Part 4 of …. –

After our experience with the first pizzeria in America at Lombardi’s, we were noticeably slower in our pace as we continued our way up Mott Street to Houston St (pronounced How-ston). I think the dumplings, banh mi, and the coal-oven pizza were starting to take its toll on us, but we continued our gastronomical expedition and reached Tuck Shop, a small hole-in-the-wall dive near the NW corner Houston St and 1st Ave in Manhattan’s East Village.

Inside, the Tuck Shop looks like a perfect place to go for a late-night snack after a night of heavy drinking: darkly lit and cluttered, a single glass display case of the delicious Australian meat pies along the wall. The owner at the shop is Australian who appears as though he may had just waken up, still sleepy no doubt from a busy debaucherous night before.

After looking over the menu of beef pies, curry chicken pies, sausage rolls and more, we decide on the lamb and veg meat pie ($5).

Not Mrs Lovett’s Meat Pies: But The Lamb and Veg Meat Pie at Tuck Shop

Lamb and Veg Pie: Up Close and Personal

The homemade puffy, buttery pastry is filled with creamy lamb meat chunks, potatoes, and other good veggies. I thought the crust was excellent as well as the creamy texture of the fillings. However I did notice a bit of a lack of flavor but what’s this?…….

A dose of both of these bad boys helped the meat pies out alot and the result was just delicious.

The Tuck Shop was also featured in New York Magazine’s Best of Cheap Eats 2006.

Tuck Shop
68 E 1st St, New York, NY? – (212) 979-5200?
http://www.tuckshopnyc.com/home.php

Tasty Chomps Rating!!!
3 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!

As soon as we finished our tasty meat pie morsels, we were off and onward toward our next destination: Russ and Daughter’s for their famous and divine nova lox and bagel.

Luckily after finishing up our banh mi from Banh Mi Saigon, we didn’t have too far to go as our next destination was only a few blocks away past the fruit vendors and gucci prada bags of Chinatown and into Little Italy for Lombardi’s, the “first” official pizzeria to open in America.

Lombardi’s Pizza in New York City is widely known and recognized for popularizing pizza the way we know it today. Recently, the New York Magazine did a time line special of the pizza through time in 104 years of Pizza in New York in their Cheap Eats of 2009 issue.

1890s: With the influx of Neapolitan immigrants comes pizza sold on the streets. Unlike those from the old country, these are super-size specimens baked in coal-fired (not wood-fired) ovens

1905: Gennaro Lombardi’s grocery store at 53 1/2 Spring St. becomes first licensed pizzeria in America. Eventually recruits pizzaioli Anthony “Totonno” Pero, John Sasso, and Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri. Cost of pie: a nickel.

Though the current Lombardi’s is down the street from the original, there is still a continuum of sorts dating back to the original Lombardi’s. Over a hundred years of pizza history? I’ve got to check it out.

As we walked up on Mott Street approaching Spring Street, I noticed on the corner a huge mural of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa greeting us with a pizza pie and smiling, letting us know that we are “here at Lombardi’s”.

The reason why Mona Lisa smiles? Lombardi’s Pizza in her hands duh

There is a plaque: it must be true ?

There was a line of people waiting for the dining room area, but that was okay since we were on a mission and had to keep moving. We told the hostess that we wanted to get take out and she told us to head towards the back and make a right and then a left to order, right where the pizza oven was! What a surprise that our adventure led us into the Lombardi’s coal oven room, where pizza makers were hard at work putting their classic pizza creations together.

The Dining Room at Lombardi’s Pizza

Lombardi’s Coal Ovens for Pizza making

We were recommended by the man at the register to get the pepperoni as it is delicious here, and so we ordered a small personal pizza half pepperoni and half plain margarita (cheese and tomatoes) (about$18). It is important to note that they do not sell pizza by the slice here only by the pie made fresh to order.

Hello Mr Yeungling

Soon, the dining room’s waiting area filled up to the brim. I was glad that we were in the bar area and had placed our orders already to go. The pizza arrived and we downed our drinks before stepping outside to sit on another stoop to behold the famous pizza in our hands.

Pizza Box

The pizza came in six slices with a flat crust, slighty charred and smoky from the coal oven pizza. The pizza had fresh mozzarella, a red tomato sauce, fresh basil and on half the pizza were the little circular quarter pieces of pepperoni. It is important to note that the pizza, like all the pizza made here in New York is said to have a distinct light tasty goodness because they use the New York City tap water.

Lombardi’s The First Pizza in America!!

The pizza I thought was good, not the worst ever by far but not the best I ever had. The cheese was fresh but tasted a bit bland and the tomato sauce was a bit watery causing the crust to moisten and soggify. The pepperoni pieces on the pizza however was excellent, crunchy and spiced to a savory crisp satisfying the tastebuds.

Overall, it was okay but definitely a bit too hyped up. It is a good pizza, and it may be the first pizza, but it wasn’t the greatest.

With a pizza box carton half full, we proceed onward to our next stop: The Tuck Shop, a Australian Meat Pie shop.

Tasty Chomps Rating!!!!
3.5 out of 5 Tasty Chomps!!!

Friday July 18th 2009
12:01 pm

We leave Prosperity Dumpling and head north towards Banh Mi Saigon Bakery on Mott Street. We are conducting a drive-by eating of sorts.

You may have to do a double take when arriving at Banh Mi Saigon Bakery, because I did. I saw the sign awning above that showed its name but at first glance inside I thought it was a jewelry store!(?) Looking deeper into the store I find the Banh Mi Saigon stall all the way in the back, with a line of customers in waiting for their order of delicious sandwiches. Ah, the banh mi sandwich, quintessential street food of Vietnam, popular here in New York City as ever especially ever since the New York Times article on them and their recent “evolution”.

On the front door, there is a sticker stating that Banh Mi Saigon is on the list for comedian “Bill Murray’s Last Meal”. I know I am in for a treat at this point and there is no turning back.

The Jewelry Store / Banh Mi Sandwich Shop – a interesting symbiotic relationship similar to the idea of the mullet: “business in the front, and party in the back.”

While in line, we were advised by a gentleman that they are renown for their #1 Banh Mi Saigon with pork (it seems the number 1 is almost always a good choice). I take his advice and order it for me and brother Andrew. They ask you if you like it spicy and I often reply no and ask for it on the side. If you tell them that you will eat it tomorrow, they will put the picked veggies in a separate bag for you so it won’t soak the sandwich overnight. At only $3.75, this banh mi is a steal here in Manhattan and also a great value as the sandwich comes in about 10 inches long on a baguette.

Inside, the small store is filled with people waiting for their orders. I am guessing they take meticulous care of their sandwiches, like sushi chefs do, sort of?. While we wait, I notice the other items for sale here including gio cuon -Vietnamese spring rolls – and salads, che pudding desserts, as well as other small to go items.

After about 10 minutes in line, we finally receive our sandwich wrapped in wax paper inside a brown paper bag and cut in half. If you order this for yourself you can eat the first half and save the other half for a late afternoon snack if you’d like.

We decided to go outside and sit out in front of the store on a stoop, watching people walk by as we enjoyed our sandwiches.

I immediately notice that the banh mi saigon has sweet reddish crumbled pieces of dried marinated pork (nem nuong) on the bottom layer, with hints of fish sauce, something that is not found in any of the banh mi shops in Orlando. Usually there is the banh mi dac biet in Orlando which is a special combo of all the cold cuts, but the banh mi saigon is served with cha lua and also this pork

Andrew notes that he loves how fresh everything is and how distinct each of the tastes in the sandwich is. This is his first time eating banh mi, I think I just popped his banh mi cherry, and he likes it. Andrew notices also that the way they keep the pickled daikon and carrots from soaking through the sandwich is that they wrapped it inside of the cha lua pork meat cold cut to block the juices from seeping through.

This scintillating sandwich is one of the top five banh mi I have had in my life, beating all the banh mi in Orlando for sure and rivaling a few out west in Texas and California (as about close to Vietnam that you can get). The crisp outer layer and soft inner bread of the baguette, the fresh slivers of cucumber and pickled vegetables and meat cuts with a hint of fish sauce, all come together in perfect harmony. All is well in the universe.

It was well worth the wait. Alas, we can’t sit around for too long as we have miles to go before we let our stomachs sleep. Onward to Lombardi’s, the famous pizzeria!

Tasty Chomps Rating!!!!
4.5 out of 5 TASTY CHOMPS!!!!!

Friday July 17 2009
St Johns House – Flushing, Queens – 10:30 AM
I wake up and realize that it literally feels like sweaty balls in the room, looking around at my friends and remembering that most houses in New York have no central cooling, only central heating for air conditioning. It’s okay as I am used to the feeling of sweaty balls in Florida.

Today I will embark on a grand gastronomical journey into the inner intestine of Manhattan. I am dropped off at Main Street and Roosevelt in Flushing by my brother Victor Yin of Stonybrook University (who joins the crew at East Palace for dim sum). There on the corner I meet up with brother Andrew Kayserian of Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute, who is of Armenian descent and lives a few blocks away on Northern Boulevard. On our trip a few years ago, Andrew was the one who opened his basement for us to live in for a few days, all 8 of us on a fold up futon, and a place where I will forever remember his mother’s home made sausages. A graduate of Stuyvesant High School, Andrew is familiar with Manhattan but himself has never had a lot of the items on the list today and decided to join me on this epic journey. Good food always calls for good company. Besides, it’s no fun to eat alone!

The Plan
After making a mega list and google map of the places that I wanted to try out, mostly of cheap eats, we decide to start in the Chinatown area after getting off the Chinatown Van ($2.50) from Flushing to Catherine Street in Chinatown. From there we will walk up Eldridge St, up Mott St, Across Houston St, Up 1st Ave, and then all around East village. Its a plan partially planned and partially left up to the fates and the capacity of our tummies.

Tips
Don’t wear sandals like I did because you will get blisters from all the walking. Maybe it is better to wear sneakers. Dress light as it is hot and humid (think sweaty balls) in New York during the summer. Also, bring lots of cash: all the cheap places take cash only, even some of the not so cheap places take cash only, so bring cash! Also it is a plus to have an I-phone and the yelp app to search and detect where you are along the journey. Make sure you go with a friend or two, preferably two but no more than 4 as it can get cumbersome with too many people. Remember you are on a mission.

First Stop:
Prosperity Dumplings, 46 Eldridge St # 1
11:45AM

After taking the quick Chinatown van from Flushing, we hop off at Eldridge St and head north. Around us, Chinatown, after over 100 years of existence, is alive and kicking with fresh fruit markets and bakeries and all the fake chanel and louis vuitton bags hidden in back alleys you could ask for.

If you walk too fast, you just might miss Prosperity Dumplings where you can find the delectable items listed on the “Best of Cheap Eats 2009” list by the New York magazine.

There is not much to this store front operation: the decor is minimal and there are only 3 seats by the window and plastic utensils for wares. A hole within a hole in the wall, where sometimes the best foods in the world can be found.

For here they serve 5 pork filled dumplings for $1.00 ! What the heosauce?

We order one and it serves as an appetizer for the beginning of our trip.

The gentleman behind the counter quickly opens a wok and plops 5 out for us on a styrofoam plate.

stupid bloggers

the chef at work: whisk off a top and voila!

The dumplings are fried and crispy on the bottom yet soft from the top. The skin is slightly chewy and tasty, the pork and chived fillings are savory and delectable. Not bad for $1.00, I would say even better than some dumplings I’ve had for five times that amount.

Here as many places around Manhattan, I observe the reach of the California based spicy red sauce known as Sriracha aka the spicy Rooster sauce. This is the first of many times we will meet the Rooster along our trip. We add a dab to spice up our dumplings.

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4 out of 5 Tasty chomps !!!!

After our last bite of the dumplings, we get up and continue our journey up through Chinatown to get our next New York fix: the Vietnamese sub sandwich aka Banh Mi at Banh Mi Saigon on Mott St and Grand.

New York City, the city that never sleeps, the city that keeps moving, a gritty city full of millionaires and beggars, of street meat vendors and world-class dining, a beautiful “movable feast”. This isn’t my first time in New York, but it would be the first time for me there on a mission: to enjoy and taste the tastes of New York within the days that I am in NYC for business.

During my first trip to New York in 2006, my senses were immediately overwhelmed upon entering the city: the lingering pungent smell of hundreds of years of American civilization, the cacophonous sounds of car horns and the clatter of the subway on the train tracks, the push of millions of people shuffling through the streets, all came together to sucker punch me in the eyes, ears, nose and skin. After the 9th trip in three years however, I got used to it all and began to move like crowds did: quickly, stubbornly, on a mission.

The only sense left was my taste: all these trips had been a rush, a quick jot into the city and out again after a day or two unable to fully enjoy its culinary offerings. After days pouring over advice on message boards like chowhound, yelp, and emails and messages left on this very blog, this was my chance to get a taste of New York.

Thursday July 16th 2009
9:00 PM – Flushing, Queens
Touchdown at the Laguardia Airport in Flushing, Queens NY. Flushing…what a name for a city huh? We hop on a taxi cab to meet my partner’s family off of Main Street. The taxi driver doesn’t know how to get to Main Street. But luckily, we arrive safe and sound at the hotel.

The city is hot and humid, maybe I brought a piece of Florida with me here.

10:08PM – Prince Street, Flushing, Queens
A walk around the Best Western lands us in Canton Gourmet, a Cantonese style restaurant that luckily for us is open till midnight. Ah, the comforts and perks of living in a predominantly Chinese city in America: restaurants open late nights.

Upon entering the restaurant, we observe the offerings displayed in large brightly colored poster board photos along the wall. The images are crispy and make you salivate.

After a moment, the tables are ready for our party of 10. We begin with a traditional start to a Chinese meal: soup. We order the crab meat and fish maw soup ($10.95) which is a huge bowl enough for our whole group of 10 and divided into individual soup bowls by our friendly and often comedic waiters. Fish maw, if you haven’t had it before, has a foamy, springy texture with little taste.

Next to arrive is a plate of house style clam ($14.95), a heaping of clams and also fried garlic that they apparently love to use on every dish here at Canton Gourmet. Alot of garlic, not a lot of clam.

Famous silver golden egg fried rice ($10.95) – my favorite fried rice, made with golden raisins a la biryani style and topped with goodie chinese toppings.

Garlic Crispy Chicken ($10.95) – Garlic Crispy chicken was my favorite dish out of all, made peking duck style with a extra crispy skin and succulent flavorful chicken topped with that fried garlic that they use on everything here.

There is something homey about the place, as if the dishes could have been cooked by my grandfather if he were still alive today.

Overall I enjoyed Canton Gourmet, and although it may not have been the greatest thing I ever had, it was pretty good, a little bit above the offerings we have in Orlando and definitely with a lot more authentic dishes.

Tasty Chomps rating!!!!
4 out of 5 Tasty chomps!!!!

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After dinner, we head back to the hotel and I say farewell to my partner who will join her family on a tour of Niagara Falls and upstate New York for the next few days.

Friday July 17 2009
1:08 am I am picked up by one of my brothers, Andy Meng of St Johns University. I will be graciously staying at the St John’s house during this trip with 20 or so other brothers from Florida headed up this weekend for the National Pi Delta Psi Fraternity Inc. Summer Meeting.

Andy picks me up and we quickly zoom off to the city to hit up Club Touch in Manhattan. A party was going on and Andy was a promoter. Following Andy, we literally skip the line and walk through the doors into the clubs like big shot callers. Whoa.

Hip hop dance music bumped as the bodies of young men and women rhythmically grinded in the darkly lit night club.

At the club, I enjoyed a delectable corona and lime as well as a few generous shots of jaegerbombs. At the end of our night we rode away back to the house and I crashed on the third floor.