Ideya
349 W. Broadway between Broome and Grand Sts. (Soho)
NY, NY 10013
(212) 625 1441
http://www.ideya.net/index.html
A, C, E train to Canal Street; 1, 9 to Canal Street; W, N, R, Q, 6, J, M, Z to Canal Street (it’s pretty convenient to get to via subway…)

If you like no hassle, good service, a little noise, and can accept standard Latin American cuisine, Ideya might be the place for you. Unlike many of its West Broadway neighbors, Ideya somehow manages to keep a decent mix of young professionals drinking at the bar and eating casual dinners without overcrowding. For example, I planned a Friday night dinner for 19 people at 9:30pm and was able to get the reservation on Thursday evening, as in Thursday evening, the night before my dinner. That’s pretty impressive when I’m used to such New York-ness as calling a restaurant precisely one month in advance at the exact time the restaurant opens for a reservation or waiting around the block for over an hour for a table at a good but tiny downtown restaurant. Heck, New Yorkers wait an hour in line for a cupcake.

The menu at Ideya is very straightforward. There are about 10 entrée options and very few stand out. Out of the group of 19 of us, most got the Papaya-barbecued Argentinian skirt steak, a few got the Dorado a la Veracruzana (pan roasted mahi mahi with black olives and avocado salsa), and two got the Asopao de Mariscos (stew with shrimp, snapper, and mussels). For being barbecued with papaya, the steak was not sweet at all (I was pleased). It was a good size and came with french fries (but screw the fries and eat more of the yummy plantain chips they serve at the table in lieu of bread). If you told me that I was eating a skirt steak from a bistro, I would have believed you. It was $22. The mahi mahi was basic and I hate to say this, but the olives were definitely straight out of the can. The soup was the lightest of the three entrees I tried. It wasn’t outstanding, but I have no actual complaints.

If you must get sides, the rice and black beans and tostones are decent. DO get the pitchers of mojitos if you’re in a large group. They don’t seem like a great deal because of their hefty price tag ($60), but for a group, they are pretty cost effective. The mojitos are a 7 out of 10 taste and presentation-wise (I wasn’t expecting a fancy, Milk and Honey labor of love-type drink), but each pitcher fills about 7 to 8 large tumblers. If I were to choose a meal for my next meal at Ideya, I’d go with the free plantain chips, Argentinian skirt steak, the Banana Tres Leches cake for dessert, and a pitcher of mojitos.

For the location and the convenience, Ideya has great prices. If you can’t stand to eat just decent food, you may want to skip dinner here and just opt to sit at the bar for drinks. It may be the only place on West Broadway where real estate (read: a bar stool) is relatively cheap.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar
(Korean?)
207 Second Avenue at 13th Street (East Village)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-3500
Subway: 4/5/6/N/Q/R/W to 14th Street (Union Square); L to 3rd Avenue or 1st Avenue
Bus: M15/101/102/103 to 14th Street; M14A/14D to 2nd Avenue


I’ve been wanting to try David Chang’s Momofuku Noodle Bar for what feels like ages, but since my husband is has an aversion to Asian food, I’ve limited my consumption since we’ve been married (coincidentally, his aversion began AFTER we were married; prior to saying “I do”, my husband would eagerly accompany me on my Asian food forays). Now that he and I are bicoastal, my goal is to eat everything that he wouldn’t eat whenever I possibly can.

That said, a girlfriend and I made plans to meet at Momofuku Noodle Bar one blustery Saturday evening; on my arrival, a crowd had already formed around the narrow front, and I was told the wait would be anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour. She and I were both famished, so when the hostess suggested the newly opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar around the corner (and also told us there would be no wait), we started walking.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar sits on a great corner, with a much more contemporary Asian feel than the rest of the block. The restaurant opens up to the street with no doors or windows, and was refreshing, perhaps slightly chilly. A long bar runs the length of the room, but it seemed no one was serving at the bar that night. It looked deserted besides a few lone diners. I looked around, hoping to be seated, but then I realized the place was entirely cafeteria-style. We walked to the steam bar kitchen, and I perused the limited menu of ssäm, which is Korean for “wrap”. The options include a flour wrap (which I’ve never seen before on a Korean menu), lettuce wrap, nori (seaweed) wrap or just a plain old rice bowl or chap chae (Korean glass noodles) bowl. A list of addable items are both written out and shown to you; as you walk down the line, you choose which items you’d like to include in your ssäm (options include a form of protein (pork, chicken, beef brisket and/or braised tofu) and a number of veggies (bacon black beans, red azuki beans, edamame, roasted onions, pickled shiitakes, marinated cucumbers, slaw, bean sprouts, red kimchee puree, white kimchee puree and whipped tofu)). Basically, it felt like a choose-your-own-adventure bibimbap (Korean rice mixed with vegetables and beef). There is one pre-planned “original” Momofuku Ssäm that is rice wrapped in a flour pancake with the pork, onions, edamame, shiitake and red kimchi puree. Also, an item from the Noodle Bar menu, the steamed buns, were also included on this menu.

I went simple with the Bibb lettuce Ssäm with beef, red kimchee puree, shiitakes, cucumbers, bean sprouts and whipped tofu. The other additions just didn’t seem to sound as though they’d mix well together. We also chose an order of the steamed pork buns, since they were carryover from Momofuku Noodle Bar.

I find it curious when a chef leaves the diners’ fate in their own hands. A wrong combination and a meal can go completely awry. In my case, it was fine, but I felt that the beef could’ve been shredded or cut smaller to be easier to wrap in the lettuce. I loved the whipped tofu, but it required a healthy dose squirt of Sriracha. The pork buns were delicious and perfectly balanced, and I know now why people rave about them. But everything else was just fine, and unfortunately, nothing was memorable.

I’ll definitely try to get into Momofuku Noodle Bar again sometime, and perhaps even stop at the Ssäm Bar again, as they have grand plans to extend their hours, and I hope change or add to their menu. But for now, I’ll stick with good ol’ Koreatown for my ssäm cravings.

Seoul Garden
34 W. 32nd Street, 2nd Floor, between 5th Ave/Broadway (Garment District/Koreatown)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 564-8200
Subway: B/D/F/N/Q/R/V/W to 34th Street
Bus: M2/3/4/5/6/7 to 34th Street; Q32 to 6th Avenue/Broadway


Although I have a favorite restaurant in Koreatown (Kunjip), I am open-minded when it comes to food, so when a good friend recommended that we try Seoul Garden, I was game. Also known as Natural Tofu, this second floor establishment has a great location amongst the Korean restaurant biggies (Kum Gang San and Kang Suh). To be honest, I’m not quite sure how she found Seoul Garden; walking down 32nd Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, you’d be surprised to see how many Korean restaurants can be crammed into one small block. To try each of them (and to be disappointed, mostly) is an endeavor.

As I climbed the stairs with a rickety railing to enter the restaurant, there were a number of people climbing up or down, crowding the staircase. The stairway had a damp moldy smell and was dimly lit, but this did not deter me.

A table for two was hard to come by, and similar to Chinese restaurants in Chinatown, we were asked if we would mind sharing a table. The restaurant décor was definitely lacking; tables almost looked as though they had been set up cafeteria-style, which would benefit large groups or families. We were seated at a table for six, directly across from a waiter station, and a bit too close to the bathrooms (guarded and blocked by a screen).

We were asked twice within minutes of sitting down if we knew what we’d like to order. I wasn’t expecting stellar service, but this was ridiculous… we hadn’t even received menus yet! Since this restaurant’s other identity was Natural Tofu, I thought it wise to at least try one tofu dish on the menu. My friend ordered a combination plate of soon dubu (spicy soft tofu soup) and kalbi (beef short ribs). I had a very homestyle dish of kong biji chigae (ground bean stew with pork). The menu was relatively expansive, covering a fair number of Korean dishes. After we ordered, another twosome was seated at the other end of our table.

The kalbi was unfortunate: overcooked and sliced too thin, this was obviously budget kalbi (perhaps because it came with the well-priced combination dish?). The meat also had not been trimmed well, so bites consisted of chewy fat and gristle. It also tasted as if it had been cooked earlier, reheated and then served… perhaps, their method of getting people in and out quickly.

The soon dubu soup was unnoteworthy. My friend commented that the soup tasted like instant soup with MSG. And that was exactly how my kong biji chigae tasted, very MSG-laden. It also had a very murky color, which isn’t the way it’s supposed to look. When I had kong biji in Seoul (the best I’ve ever had… in Seoul they have places dedicated to one specific dish, like kong biji), the color was bright, and the finely ground beans still maintained an even color.

The best perk of Korean food is the banchan, the small plates that are served with your meal. Almost like a meal in and of itself, banchan accompanies all Korean meals, and they’re always free (unless you go to some of these new trendy Korean spots that will charge you for them). Unfortunately, this banchan was no perk. One of ours was a leftover cold chicken cutlet sliced. It tasted old. Nothing was exciting, nothing tasted good.

Overall, this was probably the worst Korean restaurant I’ve been to in America. Although our food was brought out quickly, we didn’t receive menus upon sitting, yet were asked to order. None of our banchan was replenished. And after we finished, we immediately received our check. We let it sit, in order to continue our conversation, but the waiters hovered over us, ready to clear us out and let the next twosome in.

The only compliment I can give Seoul Garden is that their busboys are well-trained. Our dishes were cleared immediately after we finished, and they continually refilled our water throughout our meal, a less common trait amongst Asian restaurants in general. And if that was the best part of the meal, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to try Seoul Garden.

per se
(French)
Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle at W. 60th Street, 4th Floor (Lincoln Center)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9335
Subway: A/B/C/D/1 to 59th Street-Columbus Circle
Bus: M7/10/11/20/31/57/104 to Columbus Circle


It’s a daunting experience as you approach per se, walking towards the grand blue door, knowing that you’re about to partake in the Thomas Keller experience. Thomas Keller has long been heralded as one of the greatest chefs in the world, and certainly, the greatest chef in America, and as I walked towards per se, my heart started to beat a little faster. Interestingly, the large blue door doesn’t open, and instead, sliding doors on either side of the blue door let you into the sleek, modern entryway. The hostess offered a warm and gracious greeting as we entered and immediately took our coats and ushered us to a sitting area to wait for our dining companions. Our sofa had a spectacular view, overlooking Central Park South and the bustle of Columbus Circle. While waiting for our table, we were offered a tome (their wine list) to peruse.

I gazed around the angular room in awe and wonder and thought about how lucky we were to be there. Normally, reservations are taken two months from the date of call, and when our friend offered to take us to per se, he received the same two-month response from the reservationist, that the first available reservation was December 14, 2006. This was obviously not good enough for me, especially since I could not even imagine when the next time would be that someone would offer to take us to per se. I called in a favor with a friend who works with Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco who somehow finagled a reservation for us for that Sunday evening.

When our friends did arrive, we were seated quickly at a window-side table overlooking the same amazing view as before. While we glanced through the different menus (I studied and memorized), we received Thomas Keller’s signature amuse-bouche: a canapé of salmon tartare with red onion crème fraiche in a savory tuile that looks just like a tiny ice cream cone, an idea inspired by a trip to Baskin-Robbins. The combination of flavors worked beautifully, and I knew it was a testament to the chef when my husband, who doesn’t like fish, particularly raw fish, gobbled the entire thing right up.

For the same price ($210 including gratuity), per se offers three different menus: the chef’s nine-course tasting menu, a nine-course vegetarian tasting menu or a seven-course menu. We all chose the chef’s nine-course tasting menu to really savor and enjoy our first Keller experience.

The first dish to appear was another Keller original “Oysters and Pearls”. This was my favorite: Island Creek oysters with Sterling white sturgeon caviar in a pearl tapioca sabayon (custard). The oysters were just barely cooked and creamy, and the caviar had that pop not common of farmed caviar. Luckily, my husband did not enjoy this dish, so it just meant more for me.

The second course gave us an option between a foie gras terrine or a Hawaiian hearts of peach palm salad. We all chose the terrine of Hudson Valley Moulard duck served with Bartlett pear marmalade, a pear chip and a balsamic glaze with frisee lettuce and toasted brioche (which my husband called Texan toast). The entire dish together was delicious, although I was surprised that a $30 supplement was charged for the foie gras. I was rather curious about the other option, because I’ve actually read amazing things about Thomas Keller’s hearts of palm source.

The third course that evening was a crispy skin fillet of barramundi served with a confit of globe artichokes, California crosnes (aka Chinese artichoke or chorogi) and piquillo peppers with a basil vinaigrette. The whitefish was delicate and light and well-balanced against the vegetables. My husband finished his before I did, and again, the chef impresses me when my husband will eat fish.

The fourth course was a sweet butter-poached Nova Scotia lobster served with a pumpkin puree, braised Cipollini onion and a toasted pumpkin seed persillade with a curry emulsion. This was my 2nd favorite dish as the lobster was succulent and tender, and I had never thought to pair lobster with a mild curry sauce, which worked incredibly well.

For our fifth course, we received a sautéed breast of quail from Cavendish Farm with a “jambonnette en crepinette” (basically a sausage shaped like a quail leg) with a fig compote, mizuna greens and red pepper-quail sauce. This was probably my least favorite dish, partly because I have never been a big fan of quail, but also because it wasn’t that interesting besides the jambonette, which I did enjoy with its burst of flavor with each bite surprising me.

The sixth course offered a choice between a beef and a veal. Despite the $75 supplement, I chose the Blackmore Ranch Australian Wagyu beef sirloin served with a small square of Wagyu beef brisket, potato-mushroom mille-feuille, carrots and bordelaise sauce. The beef was delicious, but I do not believe the taste warranted a supplement. In fact, I thought the small beef brisket served alongside the steak was better than the centerpiece itself. My husband thought the beef was phenomenal (as a Texan, he claims to know beef). The veal, on the other hand, was a masterpiece to me. A rib-eye of March Farm’s veal was the most delicious, milky, tender veal I’ve certainly ever tasted.

The seventh course was a cheese course, which was a Meadow Creek Grayson cheese, which I’d never heard of. It was not memorable at all.

The eighth and ninth courses were two dessert courses, first, a mango sorbet which acted partly as a palate cleanser to prepare the mouth for the "Snickers" dessert that followed. The Snickers dessert was a nougat ice cream with milk chocolate cream, salted caramel gelatin and a peanut nougatine, which I didn’t enjoy at all. This was the only dish that I did not finish because it didn’t work well together, particularly the salted caramel gelatin.

We thought the meal was over besides the tray of petits-fours (or mignardises... tray of small sweets) that is generally brought out at most nice restaurants, but suddenly they set another spoon in front of each of us. ANOTHER dessert course which was not on the menu was served; one was a Madagascar vanilla bean creme brulee that I thought was too sweet despite its powerful vanilla taste; the other was a yogurt, apricot and honey pot de crème that I think may have been the best dessert I have ever had in my life. It was tangy and light yet rich and exploding with flavor. It gave dessert a new meaning to me.

At this point, we had to leave because we had been sitting there for over four hours, and the couple we were with had to return to their babysitter. We were sent home with flavored meringues and interestingly-spiced chocolates.

I also have to note that we were offered four types of bread: the usual French baguette, a ciabatta roll, a wonderful pretzel bread and a potato sourdough roll; the latter two were so good and refreshing compared to the other restaurant standards. It was also a treat to receive two kinds of butters: a salted Vermont butter and an organic sweet butter.

This dinner was spectacular; however, I must note some points of contention. (1) During the entire dinner, I felt that the staff was rushing us. As my plate from one course was being cleared, I felt that the next course was already being served. Although a nine-course dinner imaginably runs long, considering the cost and experience, I was disappointed that I had the “rushed” feeling the entire night. (2) Perhaps it was because we dined on a Sunday night, but the service and staff was less than spectacular. One waiter poured the second wine into a partially-full glass of wine from the first bottle. Another described our Snickers dessert as the S’mores dessert. And she never even realized she made the mistake. These are just a couple examples, but I never felt catered to, as I should during a meal of this caliber.

As we exited per se, I was very full with an overly satiated belly and a mind full of glee; however, I can’t help but hope that Keller’s staff be more proud to work at and with an amazing restaurant like per se and truly exemplify the craftsmanship of this man.