Xi'an Famous Food

Xi'an is the name of an ancient city in China, a few hours from Beijing. Xi'an food isn't one of the more popular imports from China, compare to Cantonese, and Sichuan. Thanks to this 'restaurant', I think Xi'an food deserve to be recognized.

There are two locations. One is in Flushing, Queens, the other one is in Chinatown Manhattan. I found out that Anthony Bourdain visited the Flushing location and was impressed by it. Their signature dish is the "liang ping", which is a kind of room-temperature flat rice noodle. The second one is the cumin-flavored lamb "burger".

Antelmo, Daniel and myself liked the cumin lamb 'burger' a lot, but they are not crazy about the 'liang ping'. This place is definitely CHEAP, and the food is delicious. I would say it is on the "spicy hot" side. The problem I have with this place is that there is no place to eat. The 'restaurant' is more like a "closest". I don't know how they can cook in there but it kinda does remind me of my own kitchen space that I have survived for 6 years and counting. There is a park nearby where you can eat (which was what we did) or like most people, take the food home.

Location: Between Forsyth street and West Broadway. Directly under the Manhattan Bridge. The place is so small, you might miss it.

Burger or Brgr?

Serious restaurant critics who write for major newspaper/magazine visit the same restaurant 4-5 times before writing a review. Since I am not a restaurant critic, I will write about my experience at this new burger place after visiting it TWICE.

This is a burger restaurant called "Brgr". Yeah, creative, right? Drop the vowels and you get the name.

They claimed that the meat are from "grass-fed cows". Okay, a gimmick? Judge for yourself. All I care is this, "is the brgr delicious"?


YES


I had two different burgers on my visits. The first was a burger with a fried egg -"Fresh Morning Brgr". The yolk breaks into the meat and mixes with the goodness. The second brgr I had was "The Magnificent Meadow", which is a burger with mushrooms.

People who know me know that I am a die-hard fan of the Shake Shack. I still think Shake Shack burger is the best but there are a few reasons why I will be coming back to "Brgr".
First, location. This Brgr joint is located on 61th and Lexington Ave. a place that I walked by frequently. Also, it is 15 minutes walk from my apartment (the other location is in Chelsea). Second, there is NO line and plenty of seats. Third, the staff here are very easy-going.  Fourth, did i mention the burger was well-cooked?

The downer? The fries (two kinds are offered: sweet potato and russert potato) were too salty on my second visit, suggesting inconsistency. Also, I have heard complains about the greasy-ness of the burger. Oh well, it is a burger, what do you expect?

Since most of you reading this article attends Redeemer, I recommend that you check out this place with your friends. I would love to hear your feedbacks.

again, it is between on 3rd avenue, between 60th and 61st street

Caracas

You want good Arepas in the city, yeah they are not in Astoria.

http://www.caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php

I have a friend who is from Venezuela and he says that these are like the one from home.

They have a restaurant and then a to go place next door closer to 1st.

The problem with this place is that it always has a line, and the wait is always about 30 mins even for take out and all the Arepas are above 6 dollars, which being a Cali kid seem like to much for to little food. Nevertheless if you are with friends, you are payign for the experience and you can order it and then go to one of a few parks. Thompkins Park is just around the Corner, but if you want dessert later I would recommend to go to St Marks Church on 2 and 10th. It may be a longer walk but you are around a lot of ice scream places after that. There is a no dairy ice scream shop which tastes like jelato :) just across the street.

I digress while in Caracas try the A4 - La Guayanesa 6.50 the cheese is so good.

Also try the Tamarind water, I grew up with it and it is perhaps my favorite "Agua Fresca".

Image from the web :) someday I will get my own.

Battle Ramen

Who hasn't had Ramen before? please stand up! please stand up!

Ok, no one stood up...

Two ramen places in NYC came highly recommended - Ramen Setagaya and Rai-Rai Ken

Rai rai ken is a hole in a wall restaurant with ONLY 14 seats. The moment you enter this place, you feel immediately transferred to Japan. Ramen setagaya, on the other hand, has two locations in the city.

I went to Setagaya last week and rai rain ken two days ago. Two ramens in a week, it is time to write my review.

The most important ingredient in Ramen is the soup and I think both places are quite solid although Rai rai ken's soup has more intense flavor than Setagaya, which can only mean two things....a) they use better ingredients, b) they added more artificial flavoring. The second most important ingredient is the ramen (direct translation: pulled noodle). I think setagaya noodle has better texture than rai rai ken. However, I would love to one day have freshly made Japanese ramen.

As for the complete eating experience, Rai Rai ken definitely wins, because of the setting. Setagaya is good too but you are looking at St. Marks street's pedestrian (define it however you want).

The holy grail of Japanese ramen in NYC is Ippudo Ramen. I have never been. There is a 30-60 minutes wait at any given time. Ippudo better blow rai rai ken and setagaya FAR FAR AWAY to justify that wait.

Hoomoos Asli

I'm always looking for new lunch options around my office. One of my go-to blogs is Lunch with Front Studio, which blogs lunch and a 4pm snack every weekday and has been a fantastic source of ideas. Yesterday, looking for someplace new, healthy, and close, I checked out Hoomoos Asli on their recommendation. I tried the hoomoos sandwich (above), which was delicious and cheap at only $3.65. My friend had the falafel sandwich, which included the same ingredients as mine (hummus, Israeli salad, fresh warm pita), with the addition of some tasty falafel. They weren't too dry, as falafel sometime are, and when I go back, I'm definitely getting that sandwich. Their house-made mint lemonade is not to be missed.

100 Kenmare Street
(between Cleveland Pl & Elizabeth St)

Cafe Rio in Utah

The ONLY place, I was told, people in Utah go for Mexican food
is at Cafe Rio. It is a chain that has sprout all over Utah. According
to the locals, every Cafe Rio is packed from open to close.  I believe them based on what I witnessed at this place. People who works there are super friendly, and energetic. Everyone seems excited being there. You wait in line to get your food (like Chipotle) and there are plenty of comfortable tables and seats for you to enjoy. There were probably 8 people working behind the food line working in sync like a production chain.

Cafe Rio's signature and award winning dish is their Pork Burrito.
I skipped the burrito and had a Pork Taco as well as a steak taco. The pork is sweet, which was unexpected, too sweet for my preference. The steak, however, is delicious.

Chick-FiIl-A

Everyone from the South or has been to the South claimed that Chick-Fil-A has the best chicken sandwich.  Chick-Fil-A founder claimed that they invented the chicken sandwich.

Yep, I have to agree. Pretty darn good sandwich.