So, despite the fact that I am already back home in Germany, I still owe you the final food and drink review. I also have some more thoughts to share and experiences to review, so the blog will live on for a bit (although I might not write as regularly).
Chicken over Rice from Halal Guys
You thought the hot dog was the most popular NYC street food? Or maybe pizza? Well, then you’re wrong. The top NYC street food is served by halal trucks, which can basically be found on every street corner. Nira Rahman from „Food and the Peopling of New York“ explains that the halal truck was born when the number of taxi drivers rose from 400 to nearly 4,000 in the mid-nineties. Since they worked long hours and most of them came from Pakistan and Bangladesh, street vendors started to cater to the taxi drivers’ needs and switched to halal hot dogs. Only later would they put on full halal meals and market things like chicken over rice or a falafel gyro as their main dishes. The foodie scene, however, discovered the halal truck only a few years ago, when the Halal Guys entered the stage. They are so popular now, that there’s numerous imitators all over town. On the Halal Guys‘ actual site, for instance, there’s also „The Original Guys“, which shamelessly also adapted Halal Guys‘ red and yellow branding.
I went to Halal Guys, kind of expecting a better version of a Dönerteller. You get rice, you get some salad, some chicken and lots of white and hot sauce. The hot sauce was delicious but unfortunately that was everything about the meal that was. I already got suspicious when I saw frozen chicken chunks of equal size in a big plastic bag and the bread was store bought as well. The chicken was bland, bread and rice were nothing special. It’s no surprise that you are given 3 packs of mayonnaise style white sauce to cover the tastelessness of the dish. If you gave me the choice between Halal Guys Chicken over Rice and a Dönerteller from my Local Lokanta, then I’d gladly pick Lokanta any day.
2/10 (the 2 points are for the hot sauce mainly)
Duck Chow Fun at Hop Kee
As the ultimate Bourdain fan girl, I also had to visit Hop Kee in New York’s Chinatown. According to the many photos on the „Bourdain Wall of Fame“, he must have been a true regular. It was only at second glance that I noticed that Bourdain was wearing the same shirt in every single photo and that they all said „May 2016“. Well, he might not have been a regular but I guess he liked the food nonetheless.
The menu was extensive and I didn’t really know what to get, so I asked the slightly grumpy waiter, what he would recommend. He pointed out the whole sea bass and the Chinese clams but I really wasn’t in the mood for sea food. So I went with his third suggestion: the Duck Chow Fun – thin fried noodles with duck on top. It was really tasty but looking around at the other tables, it dawned on me that I went for the most westernized dish. The clams to my left smelled wonderful and the sea bass on the table to my right looked amazing. Next time, I’ll listen to the waiter, no matter how grumpy he is.
7/10
Eileen’s Special Cheesecake
No New York trip without a cheesecake. According to numerous food tours on YouTube there is only one option for the famous dish: Eileen’s Special Cheesecake. A tiny shop which has been selling small portion sized cheesecakes for decades.
I went for the classic strawberry one and it was indeed a very nice cheesecake. Was a bit confused by the dough though because it didn’t really stick together and was extremely short and crumbly. More like cookie crumbs then a cake base but delicious nonetheless. Could have been a tiny bit more tart and tangy for me, but a solid cheesecake overall. (Although I shamelessly have to say that my homemade one is better.)
8/10
Spicy Cumin Lamb and Hand Ripped Noodles at Xi’An Famous Foods
Xi’An Famous Foods is another Chinese place and at this point you probably don’t ask yourselves anymore how it got on my list: Yes, Anthony Bourdain was here.
The place, which started out in Queens and has several locations all over town by now, specialises in hand ripped and hand cut noodles accompanied by delicious spicy and oily stews. I had the spicy cumin lamb and the noodles were just drenched in ruby red, shiny chili oil. Swimming on top of the oil were whole cumin seeds and similar spices. From looking at the plate, I knew that I would really like this. And I did! The noodles were really thick and had a good bite to them. The lamb was a perfect spice level, super tender and extremely well seasoned. Would highly recommend!
9/10
Sushi Omakase at Sekai Sushi
Omakase is Japanese for “I leave it up to you” and this is a big thing here in New York and – as far as I know – in other larger US cities as well. It means that you pay for a fixed menu and you will get anywhere from 10 to 20 individual bites of sushi. Some of the Omakase restaurants have dining rooms but the experience is better when you get a seat at the bar counter. I only did little research because I felt a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of Omakase places in New York and they all seemed to have 4.5+ star ratings on Google. So I just randomly opted for Sekai Omakase, a small place only doing Chef’s Counter seating for about 15 people at a time and offering a more minimalist approach to the Japanese delicacy.
I did enjoy the experience but I have to say that I should have opted for a more showy and glitzy place with more of this and that. Sekai focuses on fish alone and otherwise there was very little variation. For people, who are really, really into their fish, I guess this is perfect. But for me, I felt a bit left alone: Every bite was served by the chef simply announcing the name of the fish. (I got the feeling that he doesn’t really speak English and only learned the serving phrases by heart, so I did not actively ask for more information.) Although my dad is a fisherman and he grows carp, I am not well versed in the marine fauna. Don’t get me wrong: Every bite of sushi was delicious and the rice was phenomenal but I would have liked a bit more explanation and background knowledge on the different types of fish. Where are they from? What makes them special? Was sets them apart from other fish? I could have used a bit more storytelling, I guess… Plus: A written menu would have been nice. Couldn’t even tell you now, which types of fish I had there (except for two different parts of tuna with different fattiness levels and classic Unagi.)
6/10 (rating not really based on food but on overall experience)
Chicago Hot Dog at Portillo’s
You don’t know what a Chicago Hot Dog is? Well, until a few months ago I didn’t either. But in preparation for my 3 day trip to Chicago, I naturally checked out some YouTube food tours and apparently it’s a thing.
A Chicago style Hot Dog is an all-beef sausage on a soft poppy seed bun. What makes it even more special is that it is kind of the salad version of the hot dog. Or as the people from Chicago say: The hot dog was dragged through the garden. Whereas in New York, you get some mustard and relish as toppings, in Chicago they give you lots of green goodness. The toppings usually include mustard, finely chopped white onions, green sweet pickle relish, a large chunk of dill pickle spear, fresh tomato slices, some celery salt and – most importantly – whole size pickles sport peppers.
So all in all, it’s way fresher and a more substantial meal than a hot dog from New York (or IKEA). I loved the acidity added by all the pickled things and the super finely chopped onions added some spice. It’s definitely food inspo that I will take home, so next time I have a hot dog here, I will just add all the pickles I can find at home (except for my cat Pickles, obviously).
10/10
Deep Dish Pizza at Lou Malnati’s
Just like New York had to many Omakase places, Chicago has too many Deep Dish Pizza places. They all had fairly good Google ratings and in the end I just went with the Chicago based chain Lou Malnati because it was just around the corner and it served small deep dish pizzas for single diners.
I opted for the classic, which has Italian sausage, cheese and tomato sauce. When you order a full deep dish pizza, you shouldn’t be in a hurry as it is freshly cooked for you and this takes about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on size. Once the wait was over, the pizza arrived and I didn’t really think it looked that appetizing. I guess, my mind associates a good pizza with lots of cheese on top. The Chicago style pizza, however, has the cheese under to tomato sauce and you can only really see it when you cut the pie.
The tomato sauce was too sweet for my liking, the sausage was a bit bland and the crust was less like a pizza dough and more like a pie case. On top of that, the amount of cheese was not as overexaggerated as I had hoped. So, unfortunately I do not have cool instagrammable pics with oozy, gooey cheese strings.
But there’s a “but”: I do think that the cheese problem is due to the size of the small pizza. Tables around me ordered larger pizzas to share and I saw some oozy-gooey cheesiness going on. It kind of makes sense, when you think about the dimensions of my pizza. There’s just no way to get the cheese-crust-ratio right. So next time I’m in Chicago (and I most certainly will be back), I will just get a slice somewhere.
6/10 (rating based on the single portion pizza)
Joe’s Steam Rice Roll
The original Joe’s Steam Rice roll is in Flushing, Queens (about a 35 minute subway ride away from Manhattan), a neighourhood predominantly shaped by its Chinese and Korean population. The intersection between Roosevelt Avenue and Flushing Main Street is the third busiest intersection in the city (behind Times Square and Herald Square, both in Manhattan). Since I needed a hotel for a one-night layover in New York travelling back from Chicago, I consciously went with one in Flushing. It was cheap, extremely close to La Guardia airport and – most importantly – it is known as the greatest food mecca for Chinese regional cuisine outside of Asia.
On Halloween night, I went to Joe’s Steam Rice roll, a small “hole in the wall” type shop on Roosevelt Avenue. Rice rolls are made out of ground rice, which is then made into a dough, filled and steamed. Don’t make the mistake to think a rice roll is basically a summer roll. While the principle is the same, the flavours and textures are totally different. The hot, steamed rice roll is way chewier. Whereas a summer roll is often filled with fresh herbs and dipped into punchy fish sauce or a vinaigrette, the steamed rice roll is filled with more hearty ingredients such as minced pork and cooked veggies (similar to dim sum fillings). It is then topped with an egg and drowned in soy sauce and chili oil. All in all, it’s sort of the more hearty, Chinese cousin of the Vietnamese summer roll.
Joe’s Steamed Rice was not a random choice. It was on my list but not very high up. However, I am extremely glad I ended up going as this was one of the best dishes I have had on this holiday. It was proper comfort food: warm, salty, spicy, greasy and simply delicious. Hoping food trucks in Germany pick up this trend soon.
For those of you interested in prices: Being that far from Manhattan and not touristy at all, Flushing is extremely cheap (for New York anyway). The rice roll cost $6 and the hotel was $60 per night. It is certainly not the cleanest or fanciest hotel but for one night it was perfectly fine. I would even recommend it for a 5-7 day stay in New York if you are on a budget. A subway ride is $2.75 no matter how long the journey, so you can easily travel to Manhattan every day without breaking the bank. Plus: The food options in Flushing are really amazing.
10/10
More Asian Food in Flushing
Since my flight back home was scheduled for 5 pm, I decided to make good use of the Flushing based hotel and to check out more Asian cuisine. My choice fell on the food court in the New World Mall because I was hoping that I could sample lots of different foods there. And I did.
For starters I had Chinese soup dumplings with pork and crab meat ($1 each). Although I was theoretically aware that the dumplings were filled with hot broth, I managed to simply bite into one and to get a whole lot of soup on my scarf. It was the first time I had soup dumplings and I find it quite amazing how the thin dough managed to hold soup and to not be pricked by chop sticks. Comfort food again: delicious little pockets of flavourful broth and meat.
For my main course, I went with a Korean hot stone Bibimbap because I felt I needed something fresh ($14). The Bibimbap was served in a preheated stone bowl, which caused the rice at the bottom to get super crunchy. I really liked that! Unfortunately, I didn’t really like the rest of the dish. Some of the vegetables were raw and/or unseasoned and as there was no Kimchi the pickled/fermented ingredient was missing and that did make a massive difference. I sometimes make Bibimbap at home, pickling the veggies and adding lots of Kimchi and Gochujang. I prefer my version.
For dessert I had brow sugar milk tea from Gong Cha. I like bubble tea and this was easily one of the best that I had. The tea flavour came through nicely and the milk made it super creamy. I always go low sugar as the tapioca pearls are sweet enough for me and the balance here was just perfect.
On the overall atmosphere in the food court: It was loud and busy but there’s numerous seats and waiting times are short. A few of the stalls seemed a bit more westernized but most of them seemed to serve authentic Asian food (as far as I can judge) offering such things as stinky tofu (that’s what it’s called), tea eggs and lots of intestines. Sometimes there would be no English name for dishes and only photos and sometimes the servers didn’t speak English but in general that was not a problem. Some stalls take card, but I would recommend taking cash as well (that goes for all of Flushing).
10/10 (I know, I didn’t really like the Bibimbap but the food options in Flushing deserve a top rating overall. Highly recommend!)
Couch Potato Chronicles 