FoodMayhem

Mishima Mishima is a good neighborhood sushi staple if you live in the neighborhood. They have fresh fish for reasonable prices and a clean atmosphere. Everyone was pleased with the appetizers, one of nicely cooked grilled squid, and one of spicy scallop tartar. My sushi sashimi combo came in a generous portion although one or two pieces were a bit tendonous. In the end, there’s nothing special enough to travel for but I would probably go occasionally if I lived nearby.

Aside from being over-priced, Rosa Mexicano Rosa Mexicano was a pretty good choice for lunch. I wanted to take a bunch of my cousins from out-of-town to a lunch near my apartment so we could hang out and play games at my place afterwards. And, one of my young cousins, Christopher, is a skinny Chinese boy who hates Chinese food and prefers Mexican. Weird huh?

So, we got the guacamole, famous for being served table side. I don’t like avocado so I can’t really comment but it was served with two salsas that I did like. Three people (Lon, my brother, and Jonathon) ordered the Arrachera con Camerones (Grilled Skirt Steak with Jumbo Shrimp Stewed in a Roasted Tomato-Chipotle Sauce and topped with Queso Fresco) and it was very good. Everyone tried to sop up the extra sauce with rice. I ordered Cabrito Tacos (Baby Goat) which was good and came with a great corn esquite and bean chili. Jeffrey seemed to enjoy his Pelona (Pulled Short Rib Sandwich). Christopher didn’t really like his Quesadilla but he pretty much hates food (I know! Not related to me right?) and Olivia’s Pescado Taco (Grilled White Fish) had no flavor. The fish also had too much char on it. I didn’t like their soft tortillas much either .

The place is nice and festive looking and the service was good so I’m glad we went once and had a good time. The presentation of dishes was very attractive but I still think their prices are too high, especially for lunch.

Grimaldi’s Grimaldi’s is known by many as the best pizza in NY. It’s another one of those places that I’ve been planning to go to forever but haven’t been motivated enough. First, it’s outside of Manhattan. Second, the long line is almost more famous than their pizza. And, what if the pizza wasn’t really that good? So many “best” places have disappointed me and I have little faith in popular opinion.

I am happy to say that Grimaldi’s was worth it. The pizza is fantastic! We ordered two large pies for four people and had no problem finishing it. The crust, sauce, and cheese are all the flavors and textures they should be, in the right proportions from each other. For toppings, we ordered one with mushrooms and garlic, the other with roasted peppers, onions, and pepperoni. The garlic is extraordinary and I highly recommend it with any other toppings you may like. My only complaint is that the amazing pizza tastes substantially less amazing once it cools and it cools very quickly due to the low amounts of oil and how thin it is. I wouldn’t want them to change a thing about the pizza though. You just have to eat quickly and maybe order one pie at a time.

When the pizza is piping hot, Grimaldi’s is possibly the best in NY. It’s hard to say for sure though since my other favorite, Numero 28, has a very different but equally good pizza.

Soba Totto Soba Totto, the new sister restaurant to the popular Yakitori Totto Yakitori Totto, just opened Christmas day. We went the next evening, while the smell of fresh paint still lingered and the wait staff seemed nervous.

I’m not going to spend too much time on this blog since the restaurant was neither impressive, nor disappointing. I do have a few notes though.

1.The soba, part of their name sake, did not look or taste like soba. It tasted and looked more like thin spaghetti.
2. Never order “grated yam with egg” in a hot soba unless you know what it is and sure you like it. The “grated yam” they are referring to is not the yam that we sometimes confuse with sweet potato. The grated yam has a texture like water chestnut and sits in a pool of raw egg white like substance. The slimy mixture is supposed to be mixed in to the soba broth which thickens it a bit but does not add any flavor. Now that I have made that mistake, I hope you don’t have to.
3. They have chicken oysters on their yakitori menu which is a nice touch.

Ahh…Norma’s Norma’s, the famous breakfast place. I think it’s been hyped up so much that it couldn’t have met my expectations. It seemed like the perfect place to go during the holiday season. It was almost a touristy thing to do but since I went to see the tree at Rockefeller Center yesterday, I guess I’m in the mood this year.

Sara had been to Norma’s already so she warned us of big portions. We decided to share two dishes and a smoothie between three people but The Full Monty Cristo and The Seafood Schooner Salad didn’t end up being that large. We did see other plates around the restaurant and the waffles, pancakes, and omelets did come in extremely large portions so maybe we ordered the wrong things? (It was already 1pm so we weren’t in the mood for breakfast anymore.)Quality is more important anyway so on that level, the food was good. But, not that good, considering the price.

That brought Angie and I to the discussion about how very few restaurants really hit the wow factor. So, the only way to evaluate restaurants is just to evaluate whether the food quality, quantity, atmosphere, and service are worth the price. The result is no, not at this visit. The Monte Cristo was good but should have been served with a little salad or some fries. The description (grilled brioche with turkey, swiss, and honey-cured ham dressed with mango chutney) had given me high hopes for either exceptional brioche or a distinctive chutney. None of the ingredients were noteworthy. The seafood salad was a better value and almost worth the price since it was a good portion of crab, lobster, and shrimp. The description included scallops but I didn’t taste any. Still, it was enjoyable and fresh. The good coffee (free refills) was surprisingly expensive at $6 per person. The $8 smoothie was too much as well and the decor and service are good but not special. Once seated, you are given a complimentary shot glass sized smoothie but that isn’t enough to put it over the top. I don’t want to make an ultimate decree after only trying two dishes but I’m not sure I’ll be motivated to try them again any time soon.

We met up with extended family, visiting for the holidays, for a family style meal in Flushing. My mom chose one of her favorite places, Maple Garden Maple Garden. I can understand why it’s one of her favorites after seeing a bill for under $200, that more than satisfied a table of 14 people.

I don’t know the English name for many of these dishes so I tried to take a lot of pictures to facilitate with descriptions. We started with some cold platters, a traditional way to start a proper Chinese meal.

The smoked chicken is one of my dad’s favorites. I didn’t care for the texture but Lon agreed with my dad.

Pig ears is one of my childhood favorites. It’s thinly sliced and marinated with fresh garlic and spicy oil. This sounds weird but I love the crunchiness of the cartilage.

This dish of tiny dried fish, peanuts, and chilis was delicious. I had to try hard to hold back and pace myself since it was only the beginning of the meal.

Yup, broccoli stems actually taste good. They’re super crunchy and should not be thrown away. This one is also marinated with a spicy oil.

…and that was just the starters. Now comes the hot dishes.

Ahh…soup dumplings. These weren’t the best but very good.

This was a really interesting stir-fry of shrimp, snow peas, and fish stomach. It’s hard to describe the fish stomach but the texture is like a crisp sponge that soaks up flavor from the surrounding sauce. It was something different and surprisingly good.

Perfectly cooked Dungeness Crab. One of the best dishes of the night!

Pretty standard sauteed shrimp.

To the left, there’s three dishes. A great Whole fish in a sweet scallion sauce. You can’t beat the flesh of fish that was just plucked out of the water. If you haven’t had “live killed” fish from a Chinese restaurant, you have no idea what fresh fish tastes like. Then there was the simple stir-fry of bean curd, shredded pork, and celery. It’s a nice blend of different textures. The string beans were also cooked nicely with chopped preserved vegetables to add a new flavor.

In all the excitement of eating, I missed taking pictures of two dishes. The Hot Pepper Beef, which is a classic and my cousin Steve’s favorite. It’s a simple spicy dish that’s great over rice. There was also a pork cutlet dish, my least favorite of the night. It was a boring dish and not attractive either.

Honey Ham served over Lotus Seeds is a sweet dish that’s served along side steamed white bread (originally steamed buns) so you can make little sandwiches. The ham here was a bit tough though.

Rice cakes with Shredded Pork and chopped greens (that I don’t know the English name of) is another standard. They did a good job with it but by now, I was so stuffed, I couldn’t eat as much of it as I wanted to.

Terrible picture but they make the best Turnip Pastry ever! It’s a savory pastry that is sometimes eaten as breakfast, sometimes a snack or appetizer, and sometimes an end to a meal, so I can’t really categorize but a must-have if you visit Maple Garden, which I think you should.