food panda

The Breslin I think by now, most people have assumed I'm a NYC based blogger or just really love the Big Apple. While I'd love to be living in NYC, the latter is more appropriate at this time. The city itself, the nightlife, the cocktail bars, and of course, the food scene here is truly out of this world. During my trips to NYC in the past few years, I've rarely had an average meal. Well.....probably except for just one. April Bloomfield Running the Line The brunch at The Breslin came about after the failed dinner attempt at The Spotted Pig a few nights prior, and after hearing many great things about Chef Bloomfield, I knew I had to try The Breslin. Pumpkin Pancakes with Spiced Chili Pecan Butter The pancakes were fine, but I wasn't feeling the Chili Pecan Butter. Next! Fried Peanut and Banana Sandwich with Bourbon and Vanilla This was one thing I didn't try, but from what I remembered, the person that ordered it wasn't in love with the dish either. Chargrille...

Chikalicious For most people, the thing to do after a heavy lunch would be a nice walk to digest the food they've ingested (In my case, it was lunch at Jean Georges and then a Chicken and Rice at the Halal Cart) so they would be hungry by dinner time. In the case of the fat ass Panda here, I went for a dessert tasting. Hey, I walked to the dessert tasting, give me SOME credit there (so I tell myself that). Given this was my last day in New York (trip from 2010), I figured I had to try ChikaLicious before I depart the Big Apple. Chika at Work Since ChikaLicious was comprised of mainly bar seating, I happily took a seat from my "court side" view to the open kitchen. The menu at ChikaLicious is quite simple: For $14, you get an amuse, a choice of dessert, and petits fours. There's also an optional $8 wine pairing for your dessert choice. Apple Sorbet in Caramel Soup We were all given the same amuse, which as shown above was a apple sorbet in a caramel soup. The refreshi...

Le Bernardin When you visit New York and have to pick one fine dining establishment to visit, it's hard to bypass Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin. Being this the last night of my NYC vacation, I decided to end it with a bang and dine at Le Bernardin. Me and four of my fellow dining companions were set to embark on an absolutely magical meal. Bar Snacks While waiting for the rest of my party to arrive, I was served some breadsticks at the bar, but I only munched on one, as the last thing I wanted to do was to ruin my appetite. Mojito After deciding to partner up with Aaron of Destination Eats , we decided to split the Le Bernardin Tasting Menu ($138) and the Chef's Tasting Menu ($185). After that part was settled, I ended up ordering my cocktail of choice, the mojito. Minty, "citrusy," and a touch of alcohol (though I probably preferred more). It was my kind of cocktail. Amuse Bouche - Crab and lobster salad with cauliflower soup At first, I thought we were being served...

Per Se Thomas Keller has been a chef I've been intrigued about for a long while, and even though I've lived close to his famed French Laundry, I was in no shape financially to visit that place back in College. Fast forward to 2010 as I was picking restaurants to visit in NYC, Kevin told me I shouldn't miss on Per Se, thus I took Kevin's advice. Per Se When I made my reservation, I had a request with the menu. Since I had zero interest in the tasting of vegetables, and having two chef's tasting seemed quite redundant, I asked for a separate, and hopefully an offals only menu. While the offal tasting menu ended when the ex-chef de cuisine Jonathan Benno left for Lincoln, I hoped the new chef de cuisine Eli Kaimeh would have something up his sleeves. Per Se Arriving before at the 5:30 reservation, the restaurant was fairly empty, but by the time dinner service ended, it was definitely a full house. Gin Rickey Since I wasn't too interested in wine pairing, I went a...