MAMAN - French Cafe

I had to come here as a Francophile! They did not disappoint me.  I now vote that MAMAN had the best most buttery, flackiest croissant and very light ever yet. Even better than most Parisian croissant.

I just could not stop with 1 croissant - since I could not, I had to buy 2 of the plain ones and a chocolate croissant to take home.

I saw the raspberry tarte as well. I wish I could eat bit as well.

I did have Maman's croque Monsieur with bechamel sauce.  It was very French as well. I was enjoying it that this all the piece I had left when I remembered to shoot a picture of it.

The squash soup was smooth. No photo in that as well but the chocolate chip cookies were large, chewy and crisp outside. 

 It just came out of the oven so the chocolate pieces ministered still swirling at every bite.

I wonder what it would be like to have dinner here?  Unfortunately it is a real cafe serving only light breakfast and lunch type meals. Dinner would be so wonderful!

Specials for the day are written on the mirror.

I need to tell you to order their latte. It's so good!

Superb!

MAMAN

Maman, 239 Centre Street (between Grand & Broome), mamannyc.com.

PEKING DUCK @Decoy

I' ve always loved Peking Duck.  Whether in China when we visited Beijing or Chinatown.

This time Peking duck is the featured dish at Decoy.  It is served first come first served if you don't have a reservation. You also don't have to order the prix-fixed menu which comes with 2 choices from a column and 1 on the right side for the menu as a side.  It is served with a duck consome and an amuse bouche if ordered prix-fixed.  If you don't want the prix-fixed menu with the duck, you can sit by the bar to order their fabulous decadent duck by itself IF you are early enough to get a seat before they runout of duck.

We opted for prix-fixed and below were what we ate:

1) the following amuse bouche above is pickled cucumbers on the left, mango with sauce, and a kimchee with a twist.

Above is crisp fish skin - so light crisp and delicate.

We chose the Kumamoto oysters above.

For uni lovers, this is a big bowl with giant uni inside on black noodles and chopped salad below.  Mixed together is so good!

Loaded with crabmeat and diver scallops, this Chinese crab fried rice was perfect!

The star of the show - our roasted Peking duck with light evenly cooked crisp skin!

The duck is served with home made wrappers scallions and cucumbers. The duck was not greasy at all. The skin was still moist.

DECOY

529 1/2 Hudson Street 

1-211-691-7500

Giant Shrimp for Dinner

This is an easy dinner but you have to have the right ingredients.

I started off with a giant shrimp a out .55 of a lb.

PREPARATION:

2 TB. Utter melted

1-1/2 TB of miso paste

Fleur de sel to season the shrimp with.

Cut the shrimp from head to tail in the back.  Split the body open and season the shrimp with fleur de sel. 

Generously  pour the butter miso mixture (make sure you incorporate the miso with butter well)  on too if the entire shrimp.  Broil in LI setting for about 6-7 minutes. Remove to cool off.

Don't overcooked the shrimp.

I served this with Padron peppers sautes in olive oil and seasoned with Fleur de Sel.

I happen to have left over crab fries rice, so here, you see it served with it.

Squeeze lemon and you have a wonderful dinner!

#FRENCH - Cherche de Midi

At the corner of Bowery and Houston Street is a restaurant owned by the same restauranteur of Balthazar in SoHo.  This area is called NoHo.

SoHo is supposed to be short for South of Houston Street and NoHo is North ofHouston  Street. But go figure why they consider this to be NoHo area.

Anyway, middle of the week lunch is the best time to get a table and just walk-in.

Above was my order of POT DE FROMAGE parmesan custard with anchovy butter toast. I love the toast and this cheese dish.

We also had ROASTED CHICKEN BREAST with baby leeks, black trumpets and gnocchi - actually I do 'to remember seeing the gnocchi. I saw arugula salad surrounding the grilled chicken.

Yup! I don't see the gnocchi in the picture.

The dessert was worth the calories. It wasn't very sweet:

Our dessert was:  CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO POT DE CRÈME. Scrumptious! Worth the sugar count shared.

CHERCHE DE MIDI

282 Bowery

New York City 10012

(212) 226-3055

info@cherchemidiny.com

 

FATTY FISH

This is an Asian fusion restaurant. It's a hit or miss.

I say that because when I ordered their cod po boy special sandwich for the day, one bite tasted like amonia.  When seafood taste like amonia, it means it's not good.  I returned it and ordered something else.  The waiter was surprised and seemed to be in disbelief.

Anyway, I am glad I ordered the Asian paella.  I wish I had as many clams as the  person that ordered next to me.

The rice part was delicious. There was a few shrimp in my dish.  The seafood paella had more chicken pieces in it.

I finished everything except for the rice which I ended up taking home.  Still good when I came back home.  It paired well with my home cooked pork cutlet.

This restaurant serves a variety of Asian dishes. Some are Thai, Japanese, Chinese and fusion.

Maybe I will go back to try something else in the future. 

FATTY FISH

1. 406 E 64 St, Manhattan, NY 10065
2. (212) 813-9338

   www.fattyfishnyc.com/

   
   

Roasting My Squab

First you wash the squab and trim off feet if it has any.  You may trim off the head too.

Season well with salt and let it hang dry by a meat hook for at least 2-3 hours.

Season well with 5-spice and ground star-anise in cavity and outside.  Or buy a  Chinese roast duck seasoning from Asian Groceries to season the cavity and all over the duck.

Brush all over with oil and place either on a baking rack.  You may also use a  roasting stand if you're making only 1 like myself for today:

Put hot water in the bottom of the pan.

Place duck in pan in preheated 350F degrees oven.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I cut the squab right in the center from head to end. Squeeze some lemon and ate it with cut up cilantro and scallions.

My favorite!

Using a chicken roaster makes a better golden brown skin bake evenly.

Moist and juicy scrumptious squab! 

THE BOATHOUSE in Central Park NYC

A great get away even Monet would love. The setting is pretty by the lake where boat rentals are accessible to set the mood.

Whether you are spending money in the main restaurant or the snack bar, it's a picture perfect place.

We opted for the light sandwiches and iced coffee. The prices are very reasonable.

If you want to be outside closer to the lake by the paddle boat rowers you pay a little bit more for food but you get a real menu like omelettes.

They also have a piano bar.

The Loeb Central Park Boathouse
East 72nd Street and 5th Avenue, New York, NY
Monday12:00 – 3:45 pmTuesday12:00 – 3:45 pmWednesday12:00 – 3:45 pmThursday12:00 – 3:45 pmFriday12:00 – 3:45 pmSaturday9:30 am – 4:00 pmSunday9:30 am – 4:00 pm

Menu:

viewmenu.com