Day 7: National Tempura Day

Pretty sure any food holidays that involving fried goods will have me just go out and buy it. Such as this tempura. I've tried my hand at tempura before. 

The end results were not good.

So ordering it is.

Just an appetizer, because I'm usually weary of the stuff. Most times it's not done right and is greasy. This was done right. 

If you're wondering, I got this from Nishiki Sushi in Rensselaer. I'll have to check out some more of their menu soon.

Sushi Tei (Albany, NY)

The first day of spring. Cold and dreary… not how I wanted to start the day. But at least it ended on a good note. Not too long ago Albany Jane, R from Chopsticks Optional and I discussed having a girls night sushi fest. Along the way we got A, a cider donut tour veteran to join us. It was my first time going there, and I can’t believe I waited this long to do so.

I got to the restaurant early, and got a table. I timed it perfectly – soon after I arrived the place started to fill up. If you’re thinking about going here with a group, it wouldn’t hurt to call ahead and have them reserve a table. It’s a small dining area, but it didn’t feel cramped at all. While I waited for the rest of the group to arrive I flipped through the menu to figure out what to order. There is a lot of stuff on there, and of course I wanted to get everything.

But if I did that, then I wouldn’t have a reason to come back. Silly girl, tackle that menu in multiple visits!

Hiyayako – Cold silken tofu topped with bonito flakes, grated ginger, and scallions.

Mini Udon Bowl – Udon noodles in broth topped w/ shrimp tempura

Ika Maruyaki – Grilled squid w/ sauce

Oh, natto. You evil, evil stuff.



Finished off with green tea tempura ice cream, which I absolutely cannot pass up. 

Sarku Japan Teriyaki & Sushi Express (Paramus, NJ)

I really expected more from this place, I really did. But I should have known better – it is located inside of Bergen Town Center. And while not necessarily in the food court (is there even one at BTC? I’ve never searched out for one), the food presented to me was at food court level. I should have held out and went somewhere else, but it was there and blah blah blah.

I ordered the vegetable & tofu teriyaki ($5.95) which described on the menu board as “served with mixed vegetables” and I could choose white rice, brown rice, or noodles to go with it. I went with noodles by default. I didn’t have to wait long before my number was called and I grabbed my tray. The picture on the board looked nothing like what was in the plastic container in front of me. The main vegetable was cabbage, and a whole lot of it. I understand cabbage is cheap and makes good filler, but come on! Why not chop it a little finer? Throw in some red cabbage? No no no… none of that when it’s food court style. Still had a crunch to it, and had an oily sheen.

As for the tofu, it looked as if it had internally combusted as it was fried and then savagely chopped up. It almost reminds me of the tofu in tokwa’t baboy, except the tofu insides never look that crazy. Doused in what may have been teriyaki sauce, and barely warm. In fact, there were pieces that were cold. What. The. Hell. 

But wait! Before you think their description of the food was misleading, other vegetables were found! Three tiny broccoli florets, and very thin slivers of carrot when put together would make one little thicker slice of carrot. Such a mixture! Such variety! That might even be below food court standards.

Somewhere under there are the noodles, and an average portion. Like the vegetables, it was greasy and tasteless. I barely finished half of it and took it home. Whoever at it, I really do apologize.

The “saving grace” from this visit was the crunchy spicy salmon roll ($4.99). It was listed as a special on the register, but a quick look at the sushi menu revealed that most of their rolls were that price… so not really a special at all. It wasn’t heavy on the mayo like other spicy rolls, which I prefer. They were also very generous with the tempura flakes, which made it very crunchy (another plus). Salmon was fine, although it was cut into small pieces. Gotta stretch what you can, I suppose. Not too bad. If I ever go back (or visit another location) I may just order this.

The teriyaki, sushi, and small drink ($1.89) came out to $13.24 after tax.

Sarku Japan Teriyaki and Sushi Express
Bergen Town Center
2701 Bergen Mall
Paramus, NJ 07562
(201) 880-6551
http://www.sarkujapan.com

Yakisoba

Not only was the ramen on sale at Mitsuwa, but the noodle packs were on sale as well. Normally I don’t buy these because come on… yakisoba is similar to pancit and I don’t really need a kit for that. The recipe is in my DNA thankyouverymuch. But it was on sale and they had all these different flavors so yea, why not. This was the soy one, but I also got curry and miso. Added some carrot, cabbage, onion, garlic, and scallions. Cooked the vegetables first as the directions indicate and then set aside to cook the noodles. Throw the vegetables back in and tada! I used the whole bag, which had three servings. Three servings and that was pretty much all for me.

Still not used to tiny portions.

Speedy Meal

You've been banned from eating out and you've got a fridge full of leftovers. What do you do?

Yakisoba noodles

0.25 lbs ground beef

0.50 cup frozen mixed vegetables

salt and pepper to taste

siracha sauce for awesome

Brown meat in a pan with some olive oil. Add the vegetables and cook a few minutes longer. Remove from pan. Add yakisoba noodles and cook according to directions. Add meat vegetable mixture back to pan and season accordingly.

Anniversary Dinner

My parents recently celebrated a wedding anniversary. They’ve been married for over 30 years… impressive, no?

Late Lunch

Kim Chee Onigiri

After eating at Sushi Park, a classmate and I hit up Edgewater on our way home for some Mitsuwa goodness. He went and ate some gyu don and soba while I grabbed some marked down onigiri (seaweed, ume, and kim chee). Of the three, I think the kim chee (kim chi?) was the best. Will have to replicate this sometime soon, and lucky me… found my onigiri molds.

50% Off Sushi @ Sushi Park (New York, NY)

Went into the city Friday with some classmates to hit up a job fair thing. We got hit with the knowledge that we were basically wasting our time, since everyone there was applying to the same five places and we were better off looking outside of this area. We pretty much knew this, but at least she said it in a nice way… and with a puppet no less.

After a couple of loops around the room (I scored a lot of pens!), my group grabbed a couple of drinks and headed outside. We were all in a sushi mood so we headed over to Sushi Park to chow down on discounted food. I’m not sure if it’s all day Friday, but it’s definitely a weekly thing. They are a decent amount of options, but you have to order a minimum of $14.95 to get the deal. I don’t have a picture of it, but I ordered a Colour roll (tuna, salmon, avocado - $10.95) and a Sakekawa (salmon skin – $5.95) roll. Both rolls had six pieces each, and were exactly what you would expect. There were some interesting sounding ones, but I think I’ll save those for the next trip.

There were four of us, and we each ordered two rolls. Tack on a ginger ale, and the bill came out to 43 dollars. Not too bad.

Sushi Park (in case you can’t read it in the picture)
121 East 2nd Avenue (between 7th and 8th streets)
New York, NY 10003
212-533-8448
website

Ramen Combo

 

My grandparents went back to the Philippines for a nice long holiday and I offered to drive them to the airport. On the way back I decided to stop by Mitsuwa for some lunch.

I ordered the small miso ramen set. Everything was great, as usual. And even though I wanted to pick some things up in the grocery store, I refrained and just got some Hoji soft serve.

Gen Sushi (Montvale, NJ)

I wrote this a while ago and forgot it. Whoops.

Never thought I would get a sushi recommendation at the bookstore.

Mags and I were in the cookbook section of Borders when she blurted out, "You know, I haven't had sushi in a while."

I was flipping through the Momofuku book and automatically responded with "That's surprising."

"So yeah... let's get sushi."

Still going through the book, debating if I should buy it. "I guess so, where's a good place around here?"

So we're standing in the cookbook section trying to think of a place to eat, when one of the workers rounded the corner and walked toward us.

"I've heard of this really good place up in Montvale. I can't remember the name, but it's in this shopping plaza with the antiques place." She then proceeded to mention something Anthony Bourdain said about not trusting discount sushi. We thanked her for the recommendation and headed back north.

Gen has been open for eight years. And considering how long I've lived in this area, I keep forgetting it's there. Maybe it's because it just happens to be in the same shopping plaza as Peter Wong's, and I don't venture very much past that. Or maybe it's people like Matt who think it isn't that great that has kept me away.

But it was late, and we were hungry. So Gen it was. This first thing we noticed when we headed in? A cop car pulled up to the front of the restaurant, and asked the delivery guy if it was too late to order something. Mags and I thought he was going to say something about the cars parked there, but I guess his stomach came first (and if you were wondering, it wasn't too late to order dinner).

Their dinner service was winding down and only a few tables were occupied. The host/delivery guy brought us to a table in the back, to get us away from the draft. It was much appreciated and we had a nice view of the fish tank (right behind it is one of their hibachi tables, they've recently expanded so they might have a couple more). We took a quick look at their menu (which looked pretty big at the time) and placed our orders.

buttered squid. amazing.

winter roll. fried sushi. they really love their crab. i love it too.

green tea ice cream. very green tea flavored, and creamy to boot. may give peter wong's green tea a run for their money.

Gen Sushi (Montvale, NJ)

Mags and I were only going to Gen to get some green tea ice cream. It's pretty darn good, and we were in an ice cream mood.

We were supposed to go in, and get ice cream.

Really. That's what we said we would do.

We're suckers for this place. Mags ordered the sashimi appetizer.

I went with the grilled butter squid.

I had to.

It was so good! Crunchy tentacles!

And if you were wondering, we did end up ordering the green tea ice cream.

Buffalo Wagon (Colonie, NY)

It's a great feeling when someone gets you. Knows you better than you realize they do; and at times may know you better than yourself. M gets me. He gets me... and my stomach.

Tuesday was a perfect example of this. We headed over to Colonie to do some gift shopping and take a quick look to see what's on sale (btw, there is nothing in the stores that you can't find cheaper online). We dealt with traffic, we dealt with crowds... and sure enough, the happy me was slowly turning very hangry.

We were driving down Wolf Road when M asked where I would like to eat.

"I don't care... anywhere. I'm soooooo hungry." Yes. I'm well aware I turn into a whiny brat when I get hungry.

M remained silent, and kept on driving. When we reached Macaroni Grill, he slowed down and turned onto Metro Park Rd. I wasn't really paying attention and figured it was one of those short cuts only locals know. He slowed down the car again and pulled into one of the plazas that line the road.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Well, you're hungry so I figured we'd go eat somewhere you like."

Now I feel like such an asshat.

"Besides, someone told me that this was a good place."

Buffalo Wagon. I have no idea how long it's been there (edit: they've been open since February), but the only way you would know about it would be through word of mouth, or you just happen to be on that street. I don't think they do television ads, and I'm not sure if they have any in the local papers (edit: both the TU and Metroland have done reviews on Buffalo Wagon... and I'm guessing they've placed ads in them as well). So it's a hidden spot, possibly only known by people who work in the area.

Layout wise, it's a pretty big space with the dining area sectioned off in groups of four. Definitely roomy enough if you were considering a large dinner party. It might be a little too late, but if you still need to throw a holiday party, you may want to check them out. If you're having a quick lunch by yourself, there is more than enough space at the sushi bar. You'll find it at the front of the restaurant on the right hand side.

For their lunch menu, they offer 23 Chinese dishes, 5 Japanese lunch boxes, 10 rolls to choose from for the Maki roll special, and 2 options for sushi bar lunch. For their Pan-Asian options? The lunch menu boasts five to choose from, and they all have curry in them. Their regular menu gives you more options, but I'm sure you can order from there if you really want something curry free.

I was actually at a loss for what to pick when I saw it:

crispy. roasted. pig.

I've never tried the roasted pig at Emperor's, CCK, or the Asian Supermarket. And I've been meaning to, but something always got in the way. This time around? There was no excuse, I had to get it. If I didn't get it, it would haunt me forever. Okay, not forever... but I'd kick myself in the butt if I didn't. So crispy pig for me, vegetable tempura lunch box for M.

Chinese lunch specials come with soup (wonton, hot & sour, or egg drop) and either vegetable fried rice or white rice. The Japanese lunch boxes come with miso soup, salad, rice and either a California or cucumber roll. M was happy they gave him a fork for his salad and was surprised that his miso soup "actually has some taste to it." My hot & soup soup was just how I like it- spicy with just enough sour. And... to my surprise, it's meat free! So M may be able to have it (he always talks about some place back in Michigan that makes a vegetarian version). Not only is it meat free, but a large will only set you back three bucks. And if by large they mean quart, then BW's is cheaper than my take out place.

As for the sushi menu? Always interesting to see what different restaurants name their special rolls. Escalation roll? Predator roll? Naruto roll? lolz, BW. LOLz.

It could be the box its served in, but that's a lot of tempura, no? M finished it all, like a champ... and a couple of times mentioned that BW could possibly be up there with Okinawa (in terms of food for him). He denies it now, but when he was eating it, he was saying good things.

Crispy roasted pig! It came with a dipping sauce that unfortunately I cannot remember, but it was good. Some spicy vinegar would have been good too, but eh... that's the Filipino in me. A good portion of pork, moist for the most part (if it was dry I think would remember better). The sauce was great with it, and the rice... ooooh! I was such a happy person. I could not stop talking about it. The skin was very thin and crunchy and ohsowonderful. We tried to figure out what part of the pig it came from- M thinks its pork belly, but there was hardly any fat. I'm thinking it's pig butt. Pig rump? Pig tush? Pig yummy. I ended taking the rest back to apartment, where I crisped it up again and washed down with beer... pulutan style.

I also ordered a salmon skin roll that the staff apologized and let me know would come out after our food. No biggie for me. I think it was worth it, they must have just cooked up that skin because that first piece was warm and super crunchy. Really good. Will have to order that again.

So my crispy roasted pig? $5.95. Awesome, awesome, awesome. And lunch for under 20 bucks can't be beat.

Buffalo Wagon Pan Asian Cuisine & Sushi
Wolf Road Park
6 Metro Park Road
Colonie, NY 12205
(518) 689-0938
(518) 689-0939 fax
http://www.buffalowagon.com

Monday - Thursday 11AM - 10PM
Friday & Saturday 11AM - 11PM
Sunday 12PM - 9:30PM

Food Droid?

So last week I got a Motorola Droid. And while there is the occasional quirk that drives me insane, I love this phone. Not to mention some of their apps. For example, Pic Say. I used it on the picture above. Yay, now I have that cartoon feeling for my pictures!

Compared to my old phone, this one kinda sucks. But eh, whatever. So let me apologize in advance for some crappy looking pictures from this phone. The next update better fix this issue.

Stuffed

Lunch at East after clinicals. Tuna Thursdays.

Hikaru Sushi (Orangeburg, NY)

Magentix is back home! And good thing she got back when she did, she totally missed all that craziness that just went down out there. To celebrate her homecoming, I was able to convince her try out the all you can eat sushi at Hikaru. It's in Orangeburg Plaza, if you're familiar with the area, it's right where you take your road test (I went there and passed with flying colors). I don't remember when they started doing the all you can eat thing, but it was definitely around mid-summer. The other time I ate there it was pretty much dead. This time there were a few more customers, which makes me think they do better for the dinner service.

You get an appetizer with your AYCE, and if I recall, the choices are: clear soup, miso soup, garden salad, avocado salad, edamame, and haru maki (Japanese spring roll). Magentix went with the clear soup, which was clear and had plenty of sliced mushrooms. It smelled like the broth was made with katsuo dashi (broth made with dried bonito flakes), which I'm cool with, but Mags can be picky with her food and she only had about half before she commented that in its cool state is smelled like feet.

I went with the avocado salad that's pictured above. I was hoping that the avocado was actually ripe and was not disappointed. The salad was iceberg lettuce with a few tomato wedges, cucumber, chopped sun dried tomatoes, sliced almonds, sesame seeds and the small orange fish eggs that I don't remember what it's normally called. The ginger salad dressing came on the side and they didn't skimp with that either. The salad was pretty good, but I wish they used something other than iceberg.

There are quite a few rolls you can choose from (classic rolls, hand rolls, vegetable rolls, special rolls, and sushi by the piece) and you can get as much as your want, as long as you finish it all. There's a note on the menu about that which I'll talk about later. It's six pieces per roll, and they don't go heavy on the rice (very nice).

I started with the spider roll and spicy salmon crunch roll. I haven't had a spider roll in such a long time, but I just had to get it since it was one of their options. It was usual good, but compared to other places I've had that particular roll, the crab seemed a bit bigger. But still battered and crunchy. Yum yum. The salmon was the usual as well, so there's no need to really talk much about it. Mags, who was already feeling full after half of her soup, only had two orders of a very stripped down Philadelphia roll (as per her request). She was disappointed it didn't have something (which of course now I can't remember what it was) but then again she did ask for a lot of things not to be in it. There was enough room in my stomach to have one more roll, and I went with the mango avocado roll... and of course after picking it, I noticed the Salmon skin roll I originally wanted.

So that note on the menu I alluded to earlier? I scoured the menu for the fine print (because you know for something like this there has to be fine print) and it noted that you could not share the AYCE with a non-AYCE customer and that you shouldn't shouldn't take more than you can, otherwise you'll get charged for it. For the lefted over items.

But even with the RARRRRR! EAT YOUR FOOD, OR ELSE!! they end with a very mothering tone- just do your best, ok? And while you're at it, comb your hair.

All you can eat sushi is $19.95 per person, $12.95 for children (12 and younger). I didn't see any time limitations, so you may be able to get it all day.

You can check out their menu here.

Hikaru Japanese Fusion Sushi
7 Orangetown Shopping Center
Orangeburg,NY 10962
Phone: 845-359-4400
Fax: 845-359-0909

Open seven days a week. M-F 11:30 - 10:30. Saturday 12:30 - 10:30. Sunday 3:00 - 10:00.

Tappan Sushi (Tappan, NY)

**Note: I wrote this post... months ago. And I'm finally posting it now. Whoops.**

Oh. Hey.

I had a nice long break between classes last week, so I decided to check the Korean situation. If you are familiar with the Rockland/Northern Jersey area, then you know each and every Korean place right in that border area. It's not hard to know, since there is only ~5 (give or take an opening/closing). This restaurant is right next to what looks like an Asian (although probably a bit more emphasis on the Korean) grocery store... which is down the road from an H Mart wannabe and the Korean BBQ place. I can go on and on, but let's stop it there.

I dragged a classmate along with me and had to give her the heads up that I will be taking pictures of her food.

She thought I was kidding. Now you know, missy. Have you ever noticed that it's pretty much just the Korean restaurants have these spoon covers? Note the politeness and love of Lady Liberty.

My meal came with banchan... which is expected when you order a Korean dish. A little spicy, a little spicy-sweet. And then there was that omlette thing. Shredded carrot, celery, and sesame seeds. It was cold, and my biased dislike for eggs made me gloss over this one and give it to my friend to finish. She's an egg fan and thought it was pretty good. I'm thinking this would be something M would like.

Yes, I've said this before... but I don't learn my lesson when it comes to bibimbap. And once again, I forgot to ask for the egg well done. It was okay, ate almost all of it, and that's with ordering a roll.

Classmate went with the chicken teriyaki bento box. As you can see, it came with salad, gyoza, and California roll. Not pictured are the soup (which was done at that point) and the rice. She enjoyed her meal, and attempted to try and use chopsticks, but gave up and asked for a fork. Weaksauce.