SAKE BAR HAGI -Authentic Japanese

This place opens only in the evening but closes past midnight! I have not been here when it's never packed. In fact, at peak hours, there could be a line.

I guess good food, service and price will always succeed - if you are in the restaurant business.

I come here for good food.  It's basic and the atmosphere is basic.  It is located right in midtown Manhattan by the Theater district.  Fortunately, it is not on street level; otherwise their price would be higher.  I like it that it's not easy to see but if you know it; you'd eat here.

I heard that some chefs actually come here to eat after work.  I guess because they serve tapas size food and have a variety of sake to serve.

I sat at the bar area tonight. No one actually ordered the sake but beer or green tea.

Tonight, I went for the specials on the board.

This is the baby sardine in "jako" salad.  It is served on a heap of julienned radish, some lettuce and fried seaweed or nori. The dressing is under the salad made like a Japanese vinaigrette.

Above is the soft shell shrimp served with ponzu sauce.

And of course I couldn't help but order from their regular menu, barra.  It's sliced pork belly skewered in stick and grilled.  Another irresistible item was the shishito peppers.

I was happy to have the best meal for 2015 without breaking the bank.

HAGI SAKE

152 West 49th Street, New York, NY 10019

www.sakebarhagi.com

Open 5:30PM-3:30AM 7-days a week!

My Indian Okra Recipe

The staple ingredients in Indian cooking are:

Onion -- 1/4 of a large onion chopped

Garlic -- 1 large minced garlic

Ginger -- 1 inch peeled and minced 

Cardamom -- Indian variety 2 whole seeds

Fenegreek -- about 1/2 tsp

Tomato -- 1/2 chopped tomato

I sautéed the first 4 ingredients in a small frying pan in grape sees oil in medium heat. When it turned golden before browning, I added about 1/2 lb of whole fresh okra. Season with about 3/4 tsp salt.  Add about 1 TB of garam masala or Butter Chicken spice.

Cover the pan and stir from time to time. The mixture will create it's own sweat. Do not add water.

When done, serve.

Below I saw benefits of eating okra:

http://www.medicalhealthguide.com/herb/okra.htm

Enjoy your dish!

CHRISTMAS TEA PARTY FOR KIDS

First I picked paper plates with the little girl's favorite Frozen - the movie.

The night before, I made chicken sandwiches cut in quarters to form triangles; and cucumber sandwiches cut up in 6. 

I rolled the cheese and ham in the soft thin slices bread and twines it. Then I brushed it with melted butter and baked it at 359 degrees till golden Brian and turned it on the other side. Each side about 4 minutes. ( baked this on the day)

Deviled eggs were made as well and on the day, I rolled smoked in cream cheese.  For some reason, this was the favorite of the 2-4 year olds!

I served mini desserts with red colors and green and a small basket of stemmed strawberries.

Drink:  blood orange juice and peas soup in little cups.

Then they opened their presents!

And the 4-year old said: "Best Christmas ever!"

Children were happy!

VILLAGE TAVERNA

A rainy cold night in Greenwich Village looking for somewhere to dine is not easy. But we lucked out and the place looked crowded which is a sign of a successful tasty restaurant.  The only accommodation was at the bar - but as long as we can order our dinner and eat at the bar, we really don't mind.

Above is the bar area we sat down to order.

About 30 minutes later, my order arrived. This is the shrimp kabob which comes with a salad a a choice of your side order.

My side order was the vegetable rice below.

This is plenty of food. But you can take it back home. I'm having mine for lunch or make some lamb chops with my rice and left over vegetable. I can't wait!

1. Village Taverna
   $$ • Greek Restaurant • 1.9 mi
2. 81 University Pl, New York, NY 10003
3. (212) 982-3457
4. Open today · 11:00 am – 11:00 pm

PIZZA ROLLIO #pizzarollio

This is a new restaurant at The Plaza Hotel's Food Court in the Plaza Hotel's basement by Centrak Park in Nee York City.

This is not your ordinary pizza.  It's like a cracker that has crisp edge and soft by the center. They serve their pizza sliced diagonally to make rectangles about an inch wide so you can roll them when you eat it. Hence Pizza Rollio.

Their most popular order is the Big Bang Supreme which has pancetta, ham, pepperoni, onion, mushroom and mozzarella.  This order comes with a little bit of arugula and greens you assemble on top of each slice then roll to eat. It reminds me of a fresh Philippine egg roll using a thin dough similar to an Italian Piadina - a very thin Italian bread that you heat in very hot oven or toaster oven  to put cold cuts on and eat.

Since I can already visualize the flavor, I opted for Imeldific - their pizza version with mentaiko (spicy cod roe) which is not really that spicy. It just has a little spike. This pizza Rollio has some dab of secret cream they first bake in their hot oven and then some mentaiko spread here and there which creates the flavor.  It also has some peeled slices of cucumbers, and sparingly sprinkled with minced or chopped chives.  You roll each slice to eat it but it doesn't come with greens.  To me this was more like an appetizer portion but it tasted very good.

They added a new salad in the me in this afternoon which is arugula with  some slices of smoked salmon served with a mustard dressing which reminded me of the Scandinavian gravlax sauce , only less thick.

The place is innovative using existing ingredients modified to create a new look and it works!  Perhaps, I could rate this with 1 more star if not for the hefty price considering the fact that I am not being waited on. 

At least if you are staying away from carbs, this may be your answer to the usual pizza.  But to me this is more of a cracker than a thin pizza with a softer center. It's a melting pot or fusion of fresh Asian roll, Italian pizza and other ideas from other nations like the gravlax dressing instead of a sauce on one's salad mixed into one dish.

THE PLAZA FOOD COURT #theplazafoodhall

One East 59th Street, New York, NY 10019

Market Hours:

10:00AM-9:30PM

Sun 11AM-6PM

WHITE TRUFFLE PASTA #recipe

#foodyholic.com

I decided to see how much I would use from 1 one-inch diameter of white truffle to make a homemade pasta truffle.

I went to buy the white truffle which is in season.

Next, I bought a serving of fresh thin style linguine from the same Italian grocery store.

Prepare the sauce while cooking the pasta.

Fresh pasta is done al dente by dropping it in a big pot of salted boiling water with about 2TB of oil so they don't stick together - no more than 3 minutes and drain well fast reserving about 1/2 cup of the water.

Return to the old pot where you cooked the pasta adding about 3-4 TB of the reserved water and 1-2 TB butter. 

Stir and add the sauce you just made immediately till it thickens lightly.  You may put it in very little fire for just a fee seconds or you don't have to, if the sauce is already thickening.

SAUCE:

1 egg

3 TB of clotted cream or Devonshire cream or Italian boxed cooking cream

3 TB freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Seasoning salt and and pepper.

1-2TB butter

1TB truffle oil

Wisk the egg first and then add the rest of the ingredients incorporating it all well.

After you add the sauce to the freshly drained pasta with about 3 TB of the reserved water (to separate the drained noodles) - add the sauce mixture.

This serves 2 main course or 3 -4 first course meals.  Shave the white truffle for each serving on top and pass more Parmesan cheese if needed.

I found out that my inch diameter white truffle can expand well.  This means I just saved about 25% ordering a pasta dish from a restaurant.

In case you want to know - the truffle cost $52.  Restaurants charge 80-$120 each order of white truffled pasta.  I can make and serve it for two to three.

Here I had 2 meals out of it and even grated a little bit more of truffle on my omelette next morning.

Truffle is a mushroom and is very light.  Price per pound may be shocking but if you look at it this way, it shows a different light.

By the way, the fresh truffle has a very mild taste but strong smell when you smell it. This is the reason why I have to add a little truffle oil in the pasta mixture for truffle flavor!

Enjoy! I hope you can find where to buy the white truffle.  You can also use the black truffle.

EXCELLENT INDIAN FOOD INTRO

I recently went to Mumbai, India and was glad to have stayed at the Taj Land's End Hotel in BANDRA with beautiful views if the Arabian Sea.

This large hotel had several restaurants.  I tried 3 of them. 

At this modern designed restaurant inside the Taj Land's End Hotel in Mumbai, one may not realize it but this restaurant has so much to offer. Both in flavor and quantity.

I decided to have a light lunch ordering the appetizer plate that is non-vegetarian.

The above assortment also came with delicious spiced potatoes in a small bowl. And some onions with pepper below:

I also had an assortment of crispy "chips"  and dip.  This reminds me partially of the potato chip family and the Asian kropek.

You may also choose vegetarian appetizer:

At the end of my lunch, they brought me homemade "end if meal" digestives to try. Below are dates in special mixture wrapped in leaves garnished with grated fresh coconut and saffron on some

When you open it, inside is a mixture of spices with a very distinct taste.

Above is inside the leaf garnished with coconut.  One has to eat everything including the leaf.

At the end of the meal, they also gave me 3 bowls of different sweets to munch to help your digestion.  The ones in the left and right are a little similar - candy coated fennel and other spices. In the center are dates that they have prepared a special way.

The ambience is sleek modern.

Above is their floral arrangement at the bar area where I ate so I could watch their chef cook as shown below:

Masala Bay is this hotel's Indian food restaurant. The others are Chinese, Italian and one other where they serve a variety of dishes and offer buffet-style dinner or ala-carte.

Masala Bay

www.tajhotels.com

Band Stand, Lobby Level, The Taj Lands End, Mumbai, 400050

+91 22 6668 1346