i am a food blog

We spent three days eating our hearts out in NYC and to be honest, it was the perfect length trips: long enough that we got to hit up all the places that we intended to go to and short enough that we were left wanting more. Here’s everything we ate!

Kopitiam

We took a red eye for the first time in ages; bleary-eyed we got off our flight and immediately dropped off our luggage and headed out for the day.
A brisk walk took us towards Kopitiam, a cute little Nyonya style coffee shop that serves Chinese-Malay food. I grew up eating Nyonya food – I have family from Singapore and Malaysia so the dishes and flavors were all super homey, comforting, and perfect. We started with the kaya toast: a super thick cut fluffy toast thickly spread with kaya (a pandan coconut jam) and butter. I’m an absolute kaya toast fanatic and this one was really good, especially washed down with the kopi tarik, a hand-pulled coffee sweetened with condensed milk. After the toast, which was messy in the best way possible, we had a bowl of pan mee, hand torn noodles in an anchovy broth topped off with minced pork, crispy fried anchovies, wood ear mushrooms, and spinach. Kopitiam’s pan mee was one of Eater’s standout dishes of 2018 and it didn’t disappoint. It was a super savory, homestyle bowl of noodles full of textures and sweet and salty flavors. Mike especially loved the anchovy broth and crispy anchovies. I loved the chewy thick hand torn noodles. Seriously good.

Davelle

After our little breakfast feast at Kopitiam next on our eating list – and not so far away – was Davelle, a cute little Japanese cafe that serves toasts and other Japanese comfort food classics like curry and napolitan spaghetti. We choose seats at the bar and watched our pour over coffees being made then ordered one of their adorable toasts. They have quite a few sweet and savory options; we went for the berry and cream cheese, artfully swooped on in overlapping dollops. I need to start making toast this way because it was almost too pretty to eat. Taste wise, the toast was excellent. They use Balmuda the Toaster to toast their thick cut milk bread. Balmuda the Toaster is THE BEST. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since it came out in Japan 2015 and it makes perfect toast: crispy on the outside and tender and fluffy on the inside. I’ve been wanting to get one forever but I can’t bring myself to. Back to the toast: the berry and cream cheese were pretty but not altogether anything special, other than the way it was prepared. Was it worth the hefty $9 price tag? I’m not sure. On the one hand, you’re getting to have toast made in a Balmuda (which for me is hands down the best toaster out there) but on the other hand, you could probably make yourself a reasonable facsimile of the berry and cream cheese toast. Still, we left caffeinated and toasty so I’d say it was a win.

Maman

I’ve been on a search for the best chocolate chip cookies in THE WORLD. Maman is one of Oprah’s favorite things so of course I had to try it. I’ll write a full review later, but for now, let it be known that I think Oprah and I don’t have the same taste in cookies.

Rezdora

Rezdora is small, intimate Italian spot known for it’s Emilia-Romagna inspired dishes, especially pasta. Emilia-Romanga is one of our favorite regions in Italy (think Bologna, Parma, Modena) and we were super excited to stuff ourselves silly with pasta. We were tempted by their pasta tasting menu, which sounded amazing, but after some agonizing, we created our own pasta tasting with some of the dishes that we really wanted to try. We had five plates of pasta and everything was amazing, but the rabbit ragu with spinach reginelle was especially so. I also really loved the anolini di parma (little round raviolis filled with meat in a parmigiano sauce) and the maccheroni al pettine (housemade macaroni with duck ragu). Their pasta was on point and the sauces were to die for. I don’t know anything more satisfying that pasta. Afterwards, I had my eye on the cheesecake but we ended up finishing with coffee because we had another place we wanted to check out.

Via Carota

After a quick wander around Eataly (clearly we had Italian food on our minds), we went to peep the wait at Via Carota, a friendly neighborhood West Village gastroteca focusing on Italian food. Luckily we were able score a bar seat almost immediately. Unluckily, we thought we’d be waiting a while (and building up an appetite for a second dinner or at least a light late night snack). It was not a bad position to be in but neither of us thought we’d be able to crush a plate of pasta so we had drinks and shared the via carota svizzerina, their hand chopped grass fed steak tartare. It was amazing. It looked like a burger patty with a good amount of sear on the outside, but when you took a fork to it, it feel apart into tiny hand chopped chunks of tender steak. Paired with the roasted garlic and fried rosemary, it was absolutely delicious. It made me happy and sad at the same time because I really wanted to try the pasta. We promised ourselves that we’d come back then headed home.

Joe’s Steam Rice Roll

The next day we headed out to Canal Street Market in between Soho and Chinatown so we could feast on some rice rolls. I’d been dreaming about Joe’s Steam Rice Roll for what feels like YEARS. Ever since I saw a plate of those glistening, thin rice rolls filled with egg, pork, beef, dried shrimp, and bean sprouts, I’ve been pretty much convinced that they were my noodle. We ordered a Joe’s signature for me and a pork for Mike. All the rolls are made to order with daily ground rice batter and take a while to get. We hung out watching the rice roll master churn out plates and plates of rolls. After what seemed like forever (I was dying-ly hungry) we got our plates and went to town. Smooth, slippery, and full of flavor – the rolls didn’t disappoint. I liberally spooned on chili oil and was SO HAPPY. I loved the flavors and textures. Mike dug them too but also didn’t understand what the fuss was. I on the other hand was so obsessed that I ordered a rice roll steamer so I could try making them at home.

Boba Guys

If you guys have a chance, Canal Street Market is definitely a fun visit. They have a bunch of retail shops, but the food hall is where it’s at: there’s kakigori, ramen, and next level boba/bubble tea from Boba Guys. I love Boba Guys so when I saw their stand, I had to get one: a hot coffee milk tea (classic milk tea with a brown sugar simple syrup with a healthy pour of house blend cold brew coffee) with freshly made boba. It was SO good and a much needed caffeine boost.

Chip

We wandered down to West Village after lunch so I could pick up a chocolate chip cookie for my chocolate chip cookie research. It was slightly warm from the oven and bigger than a hockey puck. I’m not going to review it here, but I had a bite, then popped it into a container that I had in my bag for the express purpose of collecting cookies.

Pizza Loves Emily

Since we were in the West Village we had to hit up Pizza Loves Emily. Well, actually the truth is we wanted to go to Nami Nori, but they only do dinner service. We saw Pizza Loves Emily, remembered their iconic Emmy burger and had to go in. We ordered an Emmy burger and the Colony, a Detroit-style wood fired pizza topped with housemade mozzarella, pepperoni, jalapeños, and honey. They were both AMAZING. The Emmy burger was a monster: 2 dry aged butter patties seared in clarified butter topped with melty American cheese, a mess of caramelized onions, and a dollop of EMMY special sauce. All that on a warm pretzel bun that added heft, yeastiness, and a special pretzel-y flavor that was the best canvas for all the flavors going on. It was seriously one of the best burgers I’ve eaten. Mike thought that the pretzel bun was going to be too overpowering but he loved it! And not to be forgotten, the pizza was pretty darn good too. Crispy caramelized corners, a tangy red sauce, crispy pepperoni cups and just the right balance of sweet and heat from the honey and jalapeños. I’m getting hungry writing about it right now…

Jacques Torres

We were stuffed after our two lunches (and bite of a cookie) so we walked it off by heading towards the Highline so we could walk towards the Hudson Yards. I didn’t want to pay to go up so we gawked at it from below, pet a couple of dog-fluencers, then went on our way towards Central Park to catch the last bit of sunset before walking to Levain. But before we even got there, I spotted a Jacques Torres, which was totally on the to-try chocolate chip cookie list. They were handing out tiny sample cups of hot chocolate that were so decadent. We bought a cookie (it wasn’t warm or anything) and I popped it into my cookie container for later because our real destination was Levain.

Levain

Not even five minutes away from the infamous Jacques Torres (he’s celebrated all over the internet for his 72 hour chocolate chip cookie) was Levain. Tucked away in an almost underground location was the bakery that’s been making it’s rounds on the internet as the best chocolate chip cookie in NYC. Luckily, there was no giant line – actually there wasn’t any line to speak of, which was nice. The cookies were HUGE and slightly warm. I took a bite for research and then it joined it’s chocolate chip cookie friends in the box so I could conduct more through research later.

Satsuki

After Levain, we stopped for a quick coffee and then headed back to the hotel to drop off our cookies before heading out to Satsuki. Normally we walk everywhere on vacation, but at this point I was exhausted so we took the train. Of course the trains were delayed leaving Mike and I running through Times Square like maniacs trying to make our reservation – which was decidedly un-moveable with a hefty deposit paid. It hilariously like one of those cheesy NYC movies where we were dodging tourists (I know, I know, we were tourists too) who were gawking at all of the lights. Anyway, we made it! Chef Satsuki was waiting for us…just us. Usually when you book omakase the entire bar is booked out but in this case, we made a late reservation and we were the only ones at the bar. It was fun and intimate and the sushi was FANTASTIC. Super fresh fish and the shari (that’s the rice) was on point. Satsuki-san started off a bit gruff (we were massively late after all) but we won him over and by the end we were chatting about how much he loves living in NYC and how the fish he orders from the new Tsukiji Market only takes 16 hours to arrive. Apparently there’s a secret hidden refrigerated tunnel that goes directly to Haneda Airport to be sent out to sushi shops around the world.

Les Compagnies des Vins Supernaturels

After sushi we wandered back home, stopping in at the cutest little wine bar. Mike ordered a glass of “guess what it is and you could win the bottle” and I had a glass of my new obsession, orange wine. We shared a slice of basque cheesecake too and it was just a cute way to end the night. The vibe was dark and intimate and cozy.

Sushi on Jones

The next day was our last day in NYC. One of the things that Mike and I like to do, if we can, is a high-low comparison. Satsuki was the high, and as the low, Mike found the cutest little outdoorsy counter spot called Sushi on Jones. It’s a small 6 person counter(2 seats are on the outside) that expanded to another brick and mortar because they did so well. They’re known for a $50ish omakase that you can do in 30 minutes. Of course we did the omakase and the highlights were the black angus wagyu sushi and the black angus wagyu with uni. I loved the aburi king salmon too. Super delicious and casual vibes.

Supermoon

We passed by Supermoon on our first day in NYC but we didn’t stop in because we were on a food mission. Today was the day that we decided to hop back in to try their kouign amann. I’m an absolute fiend for kouign amann and this one…was okay. It wasn’t the massive disappointment that Dominique Ansel’s was (notice I didn’t even mention that we went there, that’s how bad it was) but it also wasn’t anywhere near the level of Pâtisserie au Kougin Amann in Montreal. But, I loved their super pink and concrete interior and the sausage roll was AMAZING. I love me a good sausage roll and this one was hot and flaky, sprinkled with some sort of sesame spice mix and served with ketchup. I could have eaten 3 of them they were so good.

Prince St Pizza

For our last bite before heading to the airport, we slid on into the line for a slice of pepperoni at Prince Street. I LOVE those little pepperoni cups with pools of oil, the crisp yet soft and doughy fluff of the base, and the crispy edges. A super simple tomato sauce and cheese pulls galore made this the best slice to end on.

Stay sweet and savory NYC, everyone loves you!
xoxo
steph