How disappointing! The quality of food went way down, just like the size of their chicken wings! Yes...they are now the tiniest wings you will come across and the flavors are not as sharp as they used to be. Currently, the chicken looks like half the size that it used to be and tastes watered down. It was just a year ago that I gave UFC Chicken in Jackson Heights, Queens raving reviews. What happened!? Bring back the finger-licking goodness that is used to be!
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The favorite appetizer at Thanksgiving dinner
The Sriracha-and-Wasabi Deviled Eggs were the hit at Thanksgiving dinner this year. This simple to make, delicious recipe came from the Thanksgiving issue of Food & Wine Magazine (November 2010 issue). This recipe puts an “Asian” spin on the traditional deviled eggs with Asian spices such as “Five Spice Powder” and Sriracha hot sauce.
Recipe from foodandwine.com:
TOTAL TIME: 30 MIN Plus 4 hr marinating SERVINGS: 12
Ingredient:
1 dozen large eggs
2 cups soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
10 star anise pods
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup coarsely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Sriracha
2 1/4 teaspoons wasabi paste
1/4 cup snipped chives
Pinch of Chinese five-spice powder
Directions
1) In a large saucepan, cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute. Cover the saucepan, remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes.
2) Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine the soy sauce with the sake, star anise, chopped scallions, sugar and grated ginger. Add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and let cool completely.
3) Drain the water from the large saucepan and shake the pan gently to crack the eggs. Cool the eggs slightly under cold running water, then peel them under running water. Add the eggs to the soy mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the eggs for at least 4 hours.
4) Drain the eggs and rinse lightly to remove any bits of scallion or ginger; pat dry. Using a slightly moistened thin, sharp knife, cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Gently pry the egg yolks into a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Stir the mayonnaise, Sriracha, wasabi and 3 tablespoons of the snipped chives into the mashed yolks. Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a star or plain tip. Set the egg whites on a serving platter and pipe in the filling. Sprinkle the deviled eggs with the remaining 1 tablespoon of chives and the Chinese five-spice powder and serve. - The marinade made the eggs really salty already, so we sprinkled some brown sugar on top instead of the five spice powder. The brown sugar was a great substitute because it brings out a sweetness among the salty and spicy.
Wondering where you get these Asian Spices? There are many markets in the NYC area where you get them all:
-Hong Kong Supermarkets (various locations in
-Great Wall Supermarkets (Locations in
Google these markets to find your nearest location.
The BEST cake ever!
Lady M’s crepe cakes are by far the best cakes we’ve ever tasted! The many thin layers of crepes with cream spread in between each crepe slice is just heavenly. If you are looking for a unique cake with an out of this world taste – buy one a cake at Lady M’s. The one risky factor with Lady M’s cakes is that can’t stop eating them!...they are that good!
http://www.ladymconfections.com/
SushiSamba
We’ve been to this restaurant several times now – for happy hours, for dinners, for restaurant week – all just a mediocre experience. The drinks at this place never disappointed, but the food was another story.This last time we visited this restaurant, we had:
The Pacific Roll: Pacific king crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper, wasabi-avocado crema
This roll costs $16.00, but it was flavorless and it might as well be a $3.00 California roll. The Asian pear in the roll was more like tiny apple match sticks. This was a very forgettable roll. Not worth the money!
The El Topo™ Roll: salmon, jalapeño, shiso leaf, fresh melted mozzarella, crispy onion This roll costs $13.50 and its trademarked! We ordered it to see why its trademarked. It’s not actually a roll, its actually in rectangular pieces (rice on the bottom with the fish and sauce on top). Again, not worth the money. There was nothing uniqe about it. We guessed that was trademarked because of the shape?
Eal Avocado Roll: This was actually the surprise item of the night. This standard roll was actually our favorite (and costs only $6). The eel was very flavorful and cooked to perfection.
The next time I come here, it would just be for the drinks! The Caipirinha hits the spot.
www.sushisamba.com
Total Yummy Points: 6/10
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Essex House Restaurant
Essex House Restaurant is a place to come to back over and over again. This restaurant has been on our favorites list for many reasons. It has something to offer whatever the occasion is:
Weekend Brunch: nice menu selection. Almost all the items are $20, which comes with includes 3 bloody marys, screwdrivers or mimosas. The waiters are very generous with the drinks. You'll inevitably have more than 3 drinks. The menu changes from time to time, but we've liked all the dishes we've had so far (and that's a lot of them!)
Happy Hours: The sangrias are our favorites! Try the red pitcher. Happy hour is 6-9 Sunday - Thursday. The drinks are half price during Essex House's happy hour and there are $1 Oysters all night. The Oysters were not really worth it, they are really tiny. We always come for the drinks and the nice atmosphere. The place plays great music, but not so loud that you can't chat with friends or have to scream on the top your lungs.
Dinners: We love the regular menu items for dinner. The two items pictured here are the filet mignon with sweet potato fries, mixed greens & shallot red wine reduction ($25) and firecracker bbq short rib with cheese grits, collard greens & jalapeño hush puppies ($22). Both dishes were delicious! The filet mignon melts in your mouth and the short ribs come right off the bone. On certain nights, there are also dinner specials. For example, Wednesday nights is their Lobster Special - where you get a whole lobster with several sides for only $18. This is not worth it. When we tried it, the lobster was not fresh and it seemed like it has been cooked and left out for hours before it was served. We always enjoyed the regular menu items, but the lobster dinner special was a huge disappointment.
We would always come back here for the drinks, for brunch and for their regular dinner items! Go check out Essex House Restaurant!
http://www.essexnyc.com/index.html
120 Essex Street (@ Rivington Street) New York, NY 10002
Total Yummy Points: 8.5/10
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