Posts Tagged Sandwiches

Fatty Crab – West Village

January 13, 2009 at 7:33 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Asian Invasion

Dear Readers,

Sorry for my major flaking out of writing posts on eat for work. Partially to blame is the extreme cold wintry weather that has settled in to the New York area and prevented both reps and us from trekking out of our offices to grab lunch. Mostly, we’ve been inundated with lunch meetings catered in the office, which hasn’t been all that bad either.

First entry of 2009 – Fatty Crab.

Fatty Crab

www.fattycrab.com
643 Hudson Street
(212) 352-3590

Chinese and South East Asian food – Do not go to Fatty Crab if you are into bland tastes, or if you can’t handle spices. On the other hand, if you’re looking for explosions of taste in your mouth, exotic and authentic cusine, and are ready to try anything, then this would be a great place for you to check out. Also, I’d recommend ordering family style (where everyone shares dishes) to truly get a taste of all the different flavors in the menu. Plus, it’s more traditional.

Snacks (Appetizers):

  • Quail Egg Shooters – not for the faint of heart. I personally enjoyed them, but my fellow lunchers were not fond of its strange consistency and pungent tastes. Still an experience, nonetheless.

  • Jalan Alor Chicken Wings – “similar to a barbecue-style – tangy, sweet, tender, delicious” as commented by my co-worker.

  • Steamed Buns (Pork or Veggie, we got both) – Similar to the steamed bun sandwiches that are all the craze from Momofuku, I thoroughly enjoyed the pork buns because of the fattiness of the pork. The meat was almost creamy, melt-in-your mouth, and perfectly paired with the greens that you add in yourself.

  • Fatty tea sandwiches with pork belly and sambal aioli – Forgot to ask what sambal is, but there was definitely a taste of seaweed salad in the sandwiches. The tea sandwiches were a good appetizer because it prepared my palette by blasting it with a mix of spicy and sweet tastes.

Main Dishes

  • Assam Laksa with traditional spicy fish soup, laifun – a noodle soup that is large enough to share with three people. As much as I was looking forward to the Laksa (I have yet to find good Laksa outside of Hong Kong), I was not impressed with this dish. For me, it was too fishy (with mini dried sardines and anchovies floating around the soup), and there wasn’t enough of a curry flavor to it as I’m used to. The noodles were good – thick rice noodles – and there were lots of spices and even pineapple slices in the soup.
  • Wonton Mee with shrimp and pork wontons, fried noodles – I didn’t get to try this dish, but I would say it is a safer decision than the Laksa. Not spicy, and the crispy noodles were a good contrast to the soup.
  • Fatty Duck steamed, fried, toasted tamake – Absolutely divine. By far my favorite dish on the menu. The duck was perfectly season, with this great crispy textured skin yet tender and juicy meat. If you get nothing else on the menu – get this.
  • Chili Crab, a dungeoness crab with chili sauce and white toast – Although the restaurant is called “Fatty Crab”, I wouldn’t necessarily order the crab. It comes in the shell, steamed and covered in sauce, but the meat inside is not especially different from regular steamed crabs. Especially after all the work you do to get to the meat, what you get is not rewarding enough to justify the work.
  • Short Rib Rendang braised with Kaffir lime, coconut, chili – This is the second favorite dish of mine. It may have been the first if I hadn’t been too full to do anything but have a quick taste. The sauce that the braised ribs were smothered in was tangy, spicy and sweet. My favorite part was the coconut rice that it covered – mixed with rib sauce, was absolutely delightful.

Dessert

  • Complimentary Coconut pastry for all customers – I truly enjoyed this asian-style coconut pastry. It was like mochi – sticky – yet the top was crispy. Even though I was ridiculously full, I still managed to gobble up two squares of this dessert. A great way to end an ethnic meal.

Overall on a scale of 1-10: 8 – While some of the dishes were truly extraordinary (the duck and the rib), I wouldn’t say all of it was at the same level. However, if you are looking for an ethnic food experience, then definitely check it out.

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Bubby’s (Pie Co.) – Tribeca

August 21, 2008 at 6:16 pm · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Day Two – Getting situated

Experienced on August 19, 2008

After a gruelingly easy day one, I started day two full of ambition and excitement. Lunch was with a vendor rep at Bubby’s in Tribeca, about a 10 minute stroll from the office, or a 5 minute speed-walk, as a co-worker and I reluctantly and painfully discovered on a full stomach.

Bubby’s (aka Bubby’s Pie Co.)

http://bubbys.com
120 Hudson St.
212.219.0666

Bubby’s… didn’t know at first what to think of the name, but was delighted to discover delicious southern country-style food, and sweet home-like ambiance. Since there were six of us, we sat indoors, but outdoor seating is available. Apparently, Bubby’s is a great place to bring the family – when our rep friend called to make reservations, they asked her, “How many high chairs will you be needing?” Breakfast was still being served when we arrived at 12:30, but we chose to lunch instead.

The server recommended the burgers, and the specials of the day included Fried Catfish Po’ Boy and a regular specialty is Pulled Berkshire Farms Pork Butt. The “butt” aspect was slightly gross to a co-worker I had just met, but we got a good laugh out of it.

Here’s the breakdown of my meal:

  • Complimentary “Bread Basket” – Instead of the typical bread-in-a-basket that is complimentary, Bubby’s serves an assortment of biscuits and cornbread from their bakery with what seemed to me to be homemade strawberry jam. The biscuits were tasty, but the texture of the cornbread was more special. It was slightly crumbly, yet lighter than your usual cornbread.
  • Chicken Fried Chicken Sandwich – Not your typical fried chicken sandwich, the chicken fried chicken is extra crispy. I’m not sure exactly what the secret is behind the chicken that they had to say it twice in the name. At first I hypothesized that they used chicken fat to fry it, but that just sounded disturbing. There are many recipes for Chicken Fried Chicken online, if you’re interested in learning more.
  • Side of Crusty Macaroni & Cheese – Probably my least favorite part of the meal. I was expecting more of a fried mac & cheese type dish, but I found the mac and cheese to only be breaded on the top, and slightly sour for me.
  • Homemade Ginger Ale – I normally order ginger ale if I’m thirsty and in want of a carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage. Little did I realize that at Bubby’s they make their own ginger ale. This was hands down my favorite part of the meal. It is refreshing, light with just the right amount of ginger taste, and fizzes in your nose. So if you’re going to Bubby’s, don’t miss out on the Ginger Ale.
  • Freaky Fries – I did not personally order Bubby’s Freaky Fries, but they were so interesting to me that I wanted to make a note of them here. Freaky Fries are “Shoestring fries made out Zucchini, Carrots and Beets” (Bubby’s Staff Blog) A healthy alternative to French Fries made of potatoes

Favorite item: Like I said in the description above, the Homemade Ginger Ale was undoubtedly my favorite. The cornbread comes in second.

Side notes: It was a little bit noisy for a work lunch. Sitting at a round table for six, it was often difficult to hear the person two seats away. It’s probably a popular restaurant due to the kid-friendly items like Crusty Macaroni and Cheese, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, etc.

Price: Not too expensive for this side of town. Burgers are $14, but come with two sides to choose from. Sandwiches are generally around $14-$15 but comes with only one side.

Overall on a scale of 1-10: 8 I’d definitely recommend it if you’re in the mood for comfort food, or if you have children to feed.

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AQUAGRILL – SoHo

August 21, 2008 at 9:24 am · Filed under Uncategorized ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Day One – First days are the toughest?

August 18, 2008

I have to backtrack a little. The first day of work, ever. Freshly graduated from college (“university”, for all you in… well basically everywhere else in the world besides the US), and ready to take on the world. The “real world” didn’t seem so bad after all. My very kind co-workers welcomed me with open arms, and… lunch on the company! My first taste of SoHo…

AQUAGRILL

www.aquagrill.com
210 Spring Street
212.274.0505

A seafood-focused, little bistro on the corner of Spring and Sixth. Called at 11:30 to make lunch reservations for 3 people at 12:45, and surprisingly, when we showed up, the restaurant was still half empty. Outdoor seating overlooked 6th Ave, which was a tad noisy with the rambling trucks that drove by every 10 minutes or so, but it was a beautiful day, and who doesn’t love outdoor seating?

Appetizers: (No, I did not eat ALL three… we shared)

  • Seared Peppered Tuna Carpaccio with Avocado, Grilled Onions and Lemon Segments – delicious, delicate, fresh. I love avocado and the grilled onions were caramelized just enough not to overwhelm the taste of the tuna. Great blend of flavors.
  • Warm Octopus Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Peppercress in Roasted Onion Vinaigrette – unexpectedly great. The octopus was not at all that chewy consistency that you initially imagined it to be. There was also only a small hint of the normally overwhelming seafood taste of octopi (plural for octopus, clearly).
  • Crabcake Salad with Mixed Greens and Chive Vinaigrette – came with three delicious mini crabcakes, slightly crunchy on the outside, but soft and textured on the inside. Fresh mini-diced celery and carrots mixed in the crabcake added significantly to the taste. Also sprinkled with tiny cubes of french-fried potatoes.

Favorite appetizer: Warm Octopus Salad for its element of surprise

Main course:

  • Grilled Rare Yellowfin Tuna Sandwich with Avocado, Arugula, and Grilled Onions – a wonderfully light sandwich for a first day at work when you don’t want to stuff your face with heavy food on a sunny August afternoon. The tuna was fresh, the arugula not too bitter – although the grilled onions were delicious and a great addition, you might not want to have onion breath at work. Just a thought.
  • Side of French Fries – French fries are are fresh, cut and made at Aquagrill, and quite delicious. Of course you can sub the side of fries for a salad.

Side note: High tech restaurant – our waiter had a little PDA type device strapped to his wrist, through which he placed his order directly upon taking it. This minimizes the time necessary to get to a computer and then put in the order, and also increases the accuracy of each order. Also, they don’t have to worry about reading scratchy, hurried handwriting.

Price: Though I didn’t pay, I did get a glimpse of prices on the menu (didn’t want to be spending a ridiculous amount on my first day work lunch – that would be taboo). Reasonable prices with sandwiches between $10 – $14.

Overall on a scale of 1-10: 8.5 Very good. A good go-to for work lunches.

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