I was actually fooling around with OpenTable when I realized that Per Se opened up reservations for 2 this Sunday. I see it like a chance opportunity, so I booked it. (I originally booked it at 7pm, then realizing the dinner prices, I switched to 1pm for lunch. While I normally don’t believe in dressing up for food, or anything (I have a limited wardrobe that constantly require me to borrow clothes), I would make Per Se an exception, since it is one of the top three restaurants in New York, if not America (the two other biggies are Le Bernardin and Jean-Georges).  Consistently 3 Michelin stars since opening and named the 9th best restaurant in the world, I guess I should really try this place out before Jonathan Benno leaves next month to open his new restaurant. That, and Frank is a fan of Thomas Keller.

The view out the window was astounding (you could see Central Park), and I felt very welcomed. Frank wanted to get the nine-course tasting, but I knew I would be too full to stomach all that. He seemed reluctant, but he followed my lead for sparkling water and a non-alcoholic cocktail (I’m still staying away from alcohol for now).

The waitstaff was very attentive and asked about my allergies. I was actually willing to sacrifice rashes for tasting, but they urged me to switch a menu item due to an ingredient related to shiitake mushrooms (which I was very grateful later since it tasted so good). Frank ordered everything opposite of mine. We had a cheese ball and tuna tartare on a sesame cone to start off, and the cheese really stirred up my appetite.

This was the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin “Au Naturel,” which had Horseradish “Bavarois,” Fork-Crushed New Crop Potatoes, Mustard Cress and Garden Dill with Mustard “Aigre-Doux”. Simply put: Uni on mashed potatoes with wasabi. It was okay, I wasn’t a big fan of horseradish, but I could clearly distinguish the three tastes. I favorite taste of this dish was garden dill and mash potatoes because of the light flavor.

There were two types of butter. The one on the left was unsalted and the one on the right was salted. The waitress mentioned the regions of the butter, but I didn’t pay close attention. I just knew I found the unsalted one more to my taste while Frank preferred the salted one. Besides the fresh roll of bread, I didn’t find their bread too impressionable.

This was the switch I made from the Tuna Tartare, the Four Story Hill Farm’s Sweetbread “Cannelloni,” with Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Caramelized Salsify, Watercress Leaves and Parmesan Cream with “Sauce Perigourdine.” The Parmesan cream just complimented the sweetbread so well that it put a smile to my face. I never thought it would taste this good. ^_^

The fish was delicious, but it didn’t melt in my mouth (Frank’s prerequisite for good fish). The meat was a right amount of chewiness, but I loved the crispy top layer. This was the Sauteed Filet of Long Island Striped Bass, with Fennel Bulb, Persian Cucumbers, Meyer Lemon Confit, Romaine Hearts, Nicoise Olives, and “Pain de Campagne” Melba with Caper Emulsion. The contrast of flavors worked well in this dish.

This was my favorite dish of the day: the Liberty Farm’s Pekin Duck Breast, Sauteed Hudson Valley Moulard Duck Foie Gras, Cornbread “Pain Perdu,” Braised Swiss Chard, and “Ragout de Gesiers et Cerises.” The duck was cooked to perfection and it was the best foie gras I ever tasted, despite the political incorrectness of the offal. The cornbread, the greens, everything came together in this dish. It was one of the best duck dishes I ever had.

The dessert of the five-course lunch was the Chocolate Orange, Chocolate “Pave,” Peanut Butter “Cremeux,” Chocolate-Orange “Roulade,” and Candied Peanuts with Cara Cara Orange Sherbet. This dessert didn’t capture me. Maybe because I’m not a fan of chocolate. Maybe the flavors were too rich. I actually liked Chikalicious’ desserts better. Then again, I do have a lighter palate. I liked the sherbet and the candied oranges out of this whole dish. It also came with a cold chocolate drink, but I was indifferent to it.

On a complimentary dish, I love creme brulee, and they made it quite well. I actually liked this better than the main dessert, just wished the taste lasted a little longer.

I was full, but complimentary candies kept coming. Had to try some. It was okay.

We each when home with these, which I gave to Alice and Pete. I tried it later that day. It had a nutty orange chocolate taste to it. Alice and Pete didn’t really find the cake astounding, but maybe their expectations were too high.

On an end note, I like the restrooms a lot. Clean, shiny, noveau, and reusable towels. Every stall had a private sink, and there was no staff waiting for you there (I have a fear of bathroom waitstaff o_o;;). Would I go back again? Maybe in the summer, since my wardrobe is so limited… Did I have fun? Yes, I did. And I think every foodie would too. ^_^

There are an unexpected gathering on Friday night, and what better way to feed a group of people than to not cook it yourself? So I had a craving for rice casserole, and the closest place around that I wanted to try was Mellie’s Seafood, which just opened up earlier this year. I had no intentions of order Shrimp with Walnuts, but the table across from us ordered it and it looked so good.

I ordered the preserved meat rice casserole, and Tony ordered the chicken with mushroom rice casserole, Helen ordered Singaporean Mei Fun, and Ting+Duckie ordered Fried Udon. I realized there was a lot of starch and meat, but no veggies, so I decided to get the stir fried snow pea leaves. That’s always a favorite of everyone.

Tony’s chicken was a bit on the bland side, and the rice on the bottom wasn’t that crispy. He seemed to think it was okay though. I couldn’t try the mushrooms because I had a mild allergy to it. His rice wasn’t as flavorful as I hoped.

My preserved meat casserole was actually more flavorful than Tony’s. I liked it a lot, but I wished there was more rice and less seasoning. I actually like Yummy Noodles rice casserole more, but it’s all the way in Chinatown in Manhattan.

This was Ting and Duckie’s dish, the Beef Fried Udon. They weren’t really hungry so they shared a dish. It was the first thing that arrived on the table, and the first thing we picked on until I realized that I wanted to take a picture. Heh.

Overall, a pretty decent Cantonese-style seafood restaurant. Nice decor, lots of seating, friendly service and decent food. They also have something rare that most restaurants in Flushing don’t have: free parking. So, it’s probably going to survive. I’ll come back again if I don’t want to go to Manhattan for rice casserole.

After the Sakura Matsuri, Yuki and I chickened out from trying Setagaya Ramen and went for our comfort zone: Menkui Tei. Menkui Tei was always my favorite ramen shop. There was more seating, cheaper ramen, consistent quality, and a rotating “special” menu that I like to choose from. From the special, I ordered monkfish liver with ponzu sauce. Yuki stayed safe with gyoza. Monkfish liver surprisingly taste like foie gras, leaning towards the fishy end, and the ponzu sauced matched nicely.

For ramen, I ordered my regular, the Menkui Ramen. It’s their house special: seaweed broth with scallions, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and roast pork. I was so excited about my ramen I digged in before I took a  picture ^_^. I took my time eating it, but I managed to finish the whole thing besides the soup. I can never really finish the soup.

I wonder what’s going to be on the special menu next time…

I wasn’t too happy today, so I decided to cheer myself up with pastries. I always like to look at tarts and cakes but never buy them.

There’s a lot of cheesecakes, but I can only handle so much. I like cheesecakes, but not that much.

There were also chocolate cakes and brownies, but I’m not actually too much of a chocolate fan either. So what is my taste preferences? Fruits!

From left to right:
- Top Row: Chocolate Mousse, Coffee Mousse, Mango Mousse, Strawberry Mousse
- 2nd Row: Opera Cake, Raspberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Mousse Roll
- 3rd Row: Mixed Fruit Tart, Marble Cheesecake, Normandy Cheesecake, Chestnut Tart
- 4rd Row: Tiramisu Cup, Charlotte Mango Cup, Flan with Tapioca Cup

I bought the Mango Mousse, Mango Cup and Chestnut Tart for my sister (since I’m allergic to mango and don’t really like chestnut paste).

The taste results: The flan and tiramisu was pretty standard, though I thought the tiramisu was a bit too creamy. The Normandy cheesecake was unexpectedly delicious, and the also loved the fruit tart. The mousses also taste pretty good. I don’t know why people prefer Taipan more, I like Fay Da just fine.

*WARNING — Not all Fay Das are the same. Do not attempt to buy anything from the Fay Da by Hong Kong Supermarket. Most of their items are not fresh!

Nancy bought a lot of frozen flounder filets for me, so I decided to cook one today. And what better method for cooking flounder than steaming it?

Serving: 1-2

1 piece of flounder filet
1/8 cup of scallions, green tips, chopped
3 tbsp of bulgogi marinade

1. Thaw and wash filet. Pat dry.
2.  Cover filet with marinade on both sides.
3. Place on plate and sprinkle the scallions on top.
4. Steam in wok with bamboo rack for 10-15 minutes.

So the end result tasted pretty good, except I didn’t think the bulgogi marinade matched the fish (there was chili pepper in the marinade). If I actually had time to make my marinade next time, probably I’ll just use soy sauce, garlic, sugar, and maybe a touch of hoisin sauce for thickness.

I love the taste of steamed flounder.

It was Sunday Brunch at Jackson Heights, and we decided Indian cuisine. Since Jackson Diner was proclaimed as one of the best place for Indian food (Zagat, NYMag) I decided to put the taste to the test (Alice and Pete been here before and said it was good, and there was also dosa).

The dosa station was only making two types of dosas, vegetable and plain. I let Pete get my dosa since I didn’t want to wait in line ^_^. It looked so crispy and plain. Pete got me the sauce too; he said it’s suppose to go with the dosa.

The filling reminded me of vegetable samosas and there wasn’t as much spice as expected from any Indian dish. I wasn’t too thrilled. Maybe I expected too much. I like the dosa wrap itself. I always like pancake/crepe/spring roll-liked food though.

As for the buffet, I got some naan, chicken kadai, and sag paneer that I didn’t take a picture of (it wasn’t very photogenic but for the saag paneer, you can look at the tray of the first pic), but it tasted very good. The picture above was rice, tandoori chicken, tandoori vegetables, and chicken pakora. I didn’t really like the chicken pakora. Everything else was fine. Especially the saag paneer. That was good saag paneer.

I decided to finish my meal with a appetizer, vegetable bhajjia. With the sweet dipping sauce, I liked this a lot, didn’t miss samosas one bit. Overall, the lunch buffet wasn’t too bad. But I think it might be overrated. Maybe I should come back for dinner and skip the buffet. Food quality might be significantly better.

It was a last minute dinner for Simon’s big 27th, and a small group of friends went to Angelo and Maxie’s near Union Square. I forgot my Canon camera again, so I had to use my 2MP phone camera. The bread was good, albeit not fresh. Well, can’t be too picky about bread, I guess.

Helen’s decided to pick a group appetizer, fried calamaris, the special for the day. The squid was definitely fresh and moist, since the batter didn’t stick too well on the it. I had a few nibbles, but it wasn’t something that was crazy good, especially for the special of the day. Then again, it is a steakhouse. If only Helen would eat beef.

Now although the picture above looks nasty, that… actually taste very good. Garlic mash potatoes with fried onions. Creamy, fragrant, and flavorful. I took seconds. Now that I look at it in bright light, it does look freakish.

My main course: a 13-oz filet mignon topped with crabmeat and hollandaise sauce and some asparagus, aka the Filet Mignon Oscar. This was definitely and good dish. I’d definitely go back again for the steaks and try the desserts, not so much the appetizers though.

Restaurant Week turned into Restaurant Month, and later, Restaurant Months. With a great recession going on, less and less people are going out for food. Result? Restaurant Weeks extended indefinitely! Helen decided to take this opportunity to round up the old college gang and head out for Mexican. The guacamole there are sinfully good, and the tortillas are extra crispy.

I choose the Chupe de Mariscos for appetizer, or seafood chowder with fingerlings, root vegetables and aji amarllo mojo. It wasn’t really as thick as chowder(stew would have been a better translation) and it was a bit on the salty, watered-down side (even for stew). I wasn’t too thrilled with this.

I thought Frank’s tacos were tastier compared to mine, but he didn’t seem content with his because the tortilla sogged up. The beef was delicious though.

I chose the Pescado Veracruzana for my main course, which was a pan roasted market fish with tomato, olives, and serrano chiles. My market fish? The white sea bass. It was actually very tasty. My only gripe with it was that I wasn’t clicking with the sauce. But that’s just me not liking Veracruzana. I’m not a big tomato sauce fan.

I guess my favorite would have to be the coconut flan. I didn’t taste the coconut at all! I didn’t even mind that there was mango on top, I just brushed it aside! (I can’t digest mango.) This was the yummiest flan I had in a while. I guess it was a happy ending after all.

Note to myself – I think I do have a sweet tooth, even for savory items =)