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Korean: Arang

9 Golden Square
London
W1F 9HZ
020 7434 2073

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, May 13, 2007

The Victim: Dad

The Damage: About £50 with drinks

The Background: My Korean restaurant experience at Wonjo in NY was so fantastic that I was eager to have more Korean BBQ. My father looked a me like I was crazy. He needs to expand his culinary horizons. I had done my research ahead of time, and I had honed in on Arang, which had outstanding reviews on London-eating.

The Service: We were a tag on the early side, and the staff couldn't have been sweeter. My father announced loudly, many times, that his next girlfriend would be Korean. I tried not to run away and hide.

The Food:I totally got suckered into the £17-per-person set menu, and that was a big mistake because there was way too much food. We started with the pan chen (kimchee and radishes and other little bits), and then came along a tray of glass noodles and an assortment of Korean pancakes. And then came the BBQ and it was a HUGE plate of meat. My father chooses this point to tell me that he doesn't really eat red meat anymore.

This didn't stop him from helping himself to a couple of delicious beef tacos and scraping the bowl of bean paste clean, of course.

The Loos: Gross. I am giving more and more thought to that power-washing business.

The Verdict: Sweet service and good barbecue (although it's gas-fired, not charcoal). I think the pancake assortment could have been fresher, and I'd warn folks away from the loos. I also thought the interior was a little austere. But all in all, not so bad. 

I've Been Tagged. A Restaurant Meme.

I am very behind in responding to my very first meme, a tagging that occurred on May 9th. Yes, I am a London-food-blogger-slacker.

So here's the meme...name your five favo(u)rite places to eat out. And then tag five other people to name their five favo(u)rite places to eat out. And then post the trail as it got to you, and add yourself to the bottom, with a link to your own blog. And let Nicole Tan (Sydney, Australia) know about all of this, as she started it. Try to make it go around the world. Yes, this is a-modern-day-chain-letter, but with a much cooler name.

So here are this American's top five favorite restaurants in London, as of 25 May 2007:
1. Vinoteca. I love this place. I took my dad there the other week and we almost had an international incident when they attempted to take his nearly empty plate away from him.
2. The Providores. I also love this place. If you haven't caught on, I do enjoy wine. Particulalry when it's well-focused. I love the New Zealand-oriented wine list.
3. Crazy Homies. For my Tex-Mex fix in London. And margaritas.
4. The Fox. A gastro pub tucked away on a random street straddling the edge of the city and Shoreditch.
5. Pham. For my local crunchy tuna rolls.

And here is who I am tagging--five London food/restaurant/dining bloggers--and I am obviously failing in the attempt to make this go around the world:
1. Jess from Ripe London
2. Trig, from Aidan Brooks, Trainee Chef (This dude can wield a knife, I tell ya. I've seen it.)
3. Howard from Food & Drink in London
4. Ben from Food & Drink in London (Ok, so I'm listing them both separately both because I am pretty lazy and because I am very curious to see where their tastes part.)
5. Chris from Cheese & Biscuits. (He's the new kid on the London food blog block. Let's see what he's made of.)

OK, and now here is how I got tagged...
Nicole Tan (Sydney, Australia)
velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
Lotus (Toronto, Canada)
Yianna (Athens, Greece)
Melusina (Thessaloniki, Greece)
Vol Abroad (London, England)
Jen’s Den of Iniquity (London, England)
Krista in London/Londonelicious (London, England)

The End.

Windsor: Tea & Cakes at The Crooked House

The Crooked House
51 High Street
Windsor
SL4 1LR
Tel: 01753 857 534

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, May 6, 2007

The Victim: Dad

The Damage: Unknown! Dad paid.

The Background: I have never been to Windsor. So I took Dad. He was dubious. And it was raining. A poor combination.

Being myself, I had done by background research. And I knew where I wanted to eat. But it was raining. Did I mention that already? So Dad was having none of this walking around in wetness stuff. So we popped into the first place he saw--which was The Crooked House. Which I had read about online. I thought it would be a nice thing to do...tea and cakes, tea and crumpets, English tea, Americans in England...we were Fodors come to life!

But somehow, my father lost the plot. (Sorry Dad if you're reading this.) I ordered the "Earl of Sandwich" tea for £12--it came with two quarters' ham and two quarters' salmon. Plus some scones and jam. And of course some tea. It arrived and my father was jealous--what was this little assortment that I had received? Why had he not known about it? 

He had a chicken baguette. It looked very plain and boring.

His loss.

The Verdict: Cute. But if I were managing this place, here's what I'd do:

1. Lose the Kenny G. It sucks.
2. Lose the huge plastic menus. They are tacky. Do something that seems fresh and daily.
3. Teach your service people something about tea.
4. Dim the lights. Add candles.
5. Hang up some nice stuff on the walls. Make the most of the building. If you live in a crooked house...

Fish & Chips in London: The Golden Hind

73 Marylebone Lane
W1U 2PN
Tel: 020 7486 3644

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, May 12, 2007

The Victims: Dad, Ben, Gerry

The Damage: £35 for two for starters and fish and chips and peas! BYOB with no corkage...love it!

The Song In My Head: Ain't Misbehavin', Fats Waller

The Background: My dad is in town and it has occurred to me that during these last few years of food blogging in London, I've yet to have a proper London fish-and-chips. So I do a little research on other London food blogs and all signs point to The Golden Hind in Marylebone, which just happens to be my favorite little area of town. Dad and I hop on the bus--packing a bottle of Veuve Clicquot (Happy Birthday to Me!) and a bottle of Malbec. Ben & Gerry meet us there.

We are a tad early and they ask us to come back in 10 minutes. We do and the music is floating out onto the street. It's old jazz...I wish I had asked what they were playing because it was perfect. The decor of the Golden Hind is a bit retro--AS ARE THE FANTASTIC PRICES--so we were off to a good start.

The Food: Dad and I started off with fish cakes and calamari while we waited for Ben & Gerry to arrive. The fish cakes were really really good. Light, even though they were very fried. I was less convinced about the calamari, but that didn't stop me from eating it.

For mains, Gerry and I went with the cod and the chips and the garden peas. Dad went with the rock salmon, which wasn't salmon at all but rather dogfish. Learn something new every day! Our server was great about explaining what it was and making sure my dad would like it before confirming the order. Ben went for the Haddock and I really wanted to try some, but he managed to finish everything on his plate before I thought to ask.

I need to devote some time to the fish...they have the secret recipe for breading. It was really light, but still crispy. It was very well executed. I saw one guy just order a fish--all in its fried goodness--no chips, no peas, no anything else. An idea!

And a particlularly good idea because now I need to talk about the chips. They were crap. They were flavorless. I had read online that they have a tendency to make soggy chips, so I specifically asked for well-done. We all did, actually. Well, they weren't well done. They were still pale...maybe not overly soggy, but just not crispy and golden. They almost tasted like yesterday's chips, reheated. That's bad. This didn't stop me from eating them, but with fish THIS good, they could easily tweak the chips and make the place a real home run. (It sorta is already--the prices and the BYOB pretty much guarantee a return visit by this particular London food blogger.) 

The Loos: Modern. But could use a power wash.

The Service: SOOO friendly. My dad and the server chatted about Astoria (Queens). And the server was just so great about explaining the different fish on the menu. He was just so nice and smiley and friendly.   

The Verdict: I loved the music--although they need to wire the upstairs for sound too--I loved the service and the BYOB policy. I loved the fish and the fishcakes and the peas. And the prices really can't be beat. Just a couple of tweaks to the chips and this place will become a regular Londonelicious haunt.

NYC: More Bagels and Some Italian

Date of Last Visit: Monday, May 7, 2007

The Victims: Jen, Kim

The Damage: Less than $30 per person

The Song In My Head: Burning, Whitest Boy Alive

It is my last day in NYC. I would say that Jen and Kim and I stayed up late and chatted about all of life's possibilities, but the fact of the matter is that Kim and I fell asleep around 9:30 p.m. This is okay though because Kim had to get up very, very early to go to work. And as the international visitor, I can always plead jet lag. Plus, Kim's singing in the shower roused Jen and me at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. so it was time for MY LAST NYC BAGEL.

I checked in with the concierge. I wanted a NY bagel. Not a tourist bagel. (I'm not even going to write about the disasterous bagel in Times Square on Saturday morning.) He noted that I was within a few blocks of the world famous H&H. And so we set off, picking up Feathers--the bachelorette herself--along the way.

Now the H&H on 11th is not H&H's friendly storefront. Maybe it was when the Intrepid was still around, but even I know that the Intrepid is in dry dock. But I was not prepared for the sparseness of H&H. This was not a schmear sort of place. They did not toast your bagel for you. They did not put the cream cheese on for you. This was like the factory outlet.

And that was fine. Because I just wanted a salt bagel. And I got one. Actually, I got three. Plus two Garlic and two Everything. I put them all in my suitcase and they are now in my London freezer. I am blessed. Now, I'm a little worried about my blood pressure--the H&H Salt Bagel was a lot saltier than the one at Tal on Friday morning. I had to do a lot of scraping. But it was still good.

H&H Bagel
639 West 46th Street
New York, New York 10036
Tel: +1-212-595-8000
Fax +1-212-765-7391

After bagels, Jen and I went down to Ground Zero. I cried and I'll leave it at that.

From there, we wandered up through Wall Street and then over to the Fulton Fish Market (which sadly no longer exists in Manhattan and has relocated to the Bronx) and then under the Brooklyn Bridge. From there, we walked over to Chinatown, which I LOVE because everything is so FRESH. And then we walked and we walked and we walked some more. I had this hankering...a very touristy hankering...to go to Little Italy. I had this feeling that this would be a mistake, and that I would leave unsatisfied. So I forced Jen to wander up and down the street as we searched for the perfect venue.

And we found it. I had such low low low expectations. I expected to pay a lot, and I did.

But then...I expected to think the service was crap, and it wasn't. I expected that the food would be crap, and it wasn't. I expected that the bathrooms would be filthy and they weren't. In short, we had a very nice meal in a very nice courtyard on a very nice day. The wines by the glass were a TOTAL RIPOFF at $10.95 a glass, but the bread and the sun and the pasta and the sandwich more than made up for all of that.

My chicken and spinach and pasta was perfect. I'm serious. I had such terribly, terribly low expecations and the pasta and the chicken were both cooked perfectly. And my $10.95 glass of Valpolicella wasn't bad either. But I imagine what their business would be like if they served $4 glasses of Valpolicella and $5 bowls of pasta. They'd be packed. And happy. If I were an entrepreneur, I'd open a restaurant here that served cheap food and inexpensive wine with great service.

Il Palazzo
151 Mulberry St
New York, NY 10013
+1-212-343-7000

After lunch, Jen and I wandered up to Spring Street and then took the Subway up to Central Park. Kim left work early to come back into the city and hang out with us and we took some pictures. This one is from below, close to Columbus Circle. Seriously, could this day be any more perfect?

My flight left at 9:15 p.m.

NYC: Antiques and Bands of Time

Date: Sunday, May 6, 2007

The Victims: Many, who shall appear sporadicaly through this story.

The Damage: Please don't make me answer that.

The Song In My Head: Anything But Love, The Squirrel Nut Zippers

Monica has organized brunch and I would love to think is in my honour. Well, let's just say that my arrival in town has given many people an excuse to get together at the Antique Garage in Soho to catch up. It has been another one of those gorgeous mornings and in one of those "the world is too small" perfectly unplanned moments, I am walking down Spring Street, minding my own business, when I run into Arthur (Priviet!), who is in town from Moscow for two whole days and is also coming to brunch. (Later upon my return to London in an even smaller world story, I have dinner at Salt Yard with Dan, who tells me that Arthur introduced him to his girlfriend of three years.)

Let me also admit that I'm feeling a little fragile this morning and I don't have any Tylenol. I do not normally drink mixed drinks. But speaking honestly, I was too lazy the night before to fight my way up to the bar to order anything for myself ($10 beer anyone?), so I drank what I thought were very weak screwdrivers. Hmmm. Not so weak.

But the Antique Garage is the perfect oasis. And there is a three piece jazz band playing. And they are really very good. I could happily sit here all day. We nearly do. I feel absurdly romantic and more relaxed than I've been in ages.

Antique Garage is Turkish. We enjoy a couple of mixed meze platters and then quite a few of us enjoy some "dinner" salads, and I am very happy because it's hard to get a good dinner salad in the U.K. And this one is particularly nice...it's seared tuna with nicely marinated olives. Washed  down with a perfect little mimosa. I could live here, particularly if the jazz trio would play the soundtrack to my life.

Antique Garage
41 Mercer St
New York, NY 10013
+1-212-219-1019

If the morning has one of those lazy lyrical qualities to it, the afternoon is exactly the opposite. My brother and cousins come into the city for dinner, and I laugh so hard I nearly bust a gut. (My cousins are from Flatbush (Brooklyn) and you might remember that I (and my brother) grew up in the Rockaways and Long Island, and as my younger cousin Kim announces to me and anyone who will listen during our dinner, when you're from Brooklyn, you have to be quick.) We are at a restaurant called Hell's Kitchen on 9th, the bathrooms are co-ed, and my brother admits to using Crest Whitestrips. (Seriously, his teeth look fantastic.)

Hell's Kitchen
679 Ninth Ave.
New York, NY 10036
+1-212-977-1588

The kismet part about going to Hell's Kitchen is that I had asked at brunch for a dinner recommendation and Hell's Kitchen was Monica's first suggestion, but she couldn't remember where it was. On my way out of the hotel, I asked the concierge for a recommendation--thinking that I could also check on the address and details for Hell's Kitchen if it made sense. But then the concierge's recommendation WAS Hell's Kitchen. So it was decided. Too funny.

So we enjoyed chips and guac and quesadillas and pork chops and sweet potato puree and it was all very very good. And our server was one of the best I've ever had. Friendly, funny, knowledgeable. Didn't faff about. The sangria was nice--they put strawberries in it. And the company was priceless.

NYC: Soho, Hudson, Home

Date: Saturday, May 5th, 2007

The Victims: Too many to mention.

The Damage: I am trying not to think about this.

The Song In My Head, Naked If I Want To, Cat Power

I am, again, adrift in my own land. I belong here, but I belong elsewhere too. I want to go home, to help myself to what's in the fridge and put my feet up on the furniture, but I can't because home no longer exists. (Or, well, more correctly, it does exist, but other people live there and they'd be a little weirded out if I did that.) Luckily, I am sleeping in the Westin Heavenly Bed, and my shower has two heads. (I am serious. And I can't believe no one thought of this sooner.) This takes the edge off. A little. Now if only I could stop checking my Blackberry...

I lead the girls through Times Square and onto the subway down to Soho. Soho is so much cuter than what I remember. Gentrification is here. I buy gold shoes and lipgloss. And we stop for margaritas at the Soho Grand and it's peaceful and gorgeous and I feel expensive and worth it.

The Soho Grand Hotel
310 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013
Tel: +1-212-965-3000

We have dinner reservations at the Hudson Hotel--yes, two hotels in one day--and while I enjoyed the Soho Grand, I could happily spend all day in the courtyard of the Hudson. It is lovely. And warm. And dark. But with good lighting. We feel like movie stars. And the chandelier in the lobby is fantastic. Mental note to self: find good hotel bars in London. Hotel bars with courtyards.

Hudson Cafeteria
356 W 58th St
New York, NY 10019
+1-212-554-6500

For dinner, we have porcini pizza, crabcakes (absolutely fantastic), macaroni and cheese (!!!) and chicken and tuna. Apparently, they are famous for their mac and cheese, and now I know why--it was a huge serving and nice and crispy on top. I can't stop dipping into it, and I am not alone.

There is so much, and then there is dessert. The service is off and the wine expert hasn't tried the majority of wines on the menu, but I don't mind so much because the space is lovely and the music is perfect. And the company is even better.

We leave the Hudson for Home on 27th, and I think, "how appropriate." (Although at my house, you didn't help yourself to vodka anytime you wanted.) The DJ has a concentration problem, but that's okay. We dance and dance and dance some more, and then my feet hurt and I go home. 

Home Nightclub
530 W 27th St
New York, NY 10001
+1-212-273-3700

NYC: Beauty, Beer and Bobby Flay

Date: It's still Friday, May 4th, 2007

The Damage: It's still all on Amex, and I am still  very glad.

The Victims: Bryan, Stacey, Matt, Feathers, Ross, Julie, a number of girls named Jen, a couple of gals named Amy, Scott, Ali, Destri, Stacey, and I know I'm forgetting a bunch of people.

The Song In My Head, Rebellion (Lies), Arcade Fire

After enjoying our red velvet cupcakes at Magnolia, Stacey and I made our way down the street for some manicures and pedicures at the very wonderful SpaBelles, where I impressed (or alarmed) the staff with my knowledge of Korean. (Lest you over-estimate my fluency, let's just say my skills stop around "Beer, please.") The boys decided to head to the "store," which I correctly identified as the "beer store." The "beer store" turned out to be the very lovely White Horse at Hudson & 11th, where we later found the boys enjoying copious delicious White Horse drafts.

At this stage, it was getting a little late. And we had a dinner booking at Mesa Grill. Bryan and Julie have a friend from undergrad who works for Bobby Flay (he's now over at Bar Americain) so they were very excited to try one of Bobby's restaurants.

Mesa Grill
102 Fifth Ave
New York, NY 10011
+1-212-807-7400 

Julie and Feathers' Virgin flight from the UK was delayed by something like SEVEN hours because of mechanical difficulties. I felt so bad because we were there for Feathers, after all. So I headed over to the restaurant a tiny bit on the early side to secure the tables and make sure everything was in order. It was, and I helped myself to a Margarita in the process. A $10 margarita. And to be honest, it was just average. It was stirred, not shaken. I was disappointed. 

The gang all eventually arrived--Julie and Feathers setting a world record from Newark to shower to restaurant--and we started off with the  raw tuna nachos, which were excellent. Along with the barbecued pork quesadilla, which was lovely. Oh, and also the shrimp tamale, which I found to be the standout item. So we were off to a very good start.

For mains...I ordered the grouper and it was a nice piece of fish. However, my clock was either totally off (it was, after all, around 2 a.m. for me London time at this point) or the seasoning was just too over-powering, because I couldn't finish my food. I actually couldn't even start it. That is very weird. The entree was tasty, but it was really heavy and rich. And my jet-lagged taste buds couldn't deal. So I left it all there. Sadness. 

Service throughout was friendly and informative, and I scored points with the sommelier for finally knowing something about wine, and the wine he recommended was perfectly within our budget and my taste buds. I wish I could show you what this whole experience looked like, but most of my photos didn't come out--I have yet to master the art of food blog photography. This one of Scott's salmon is okay, but it's still a bit too dark for my liking.

The Verdict: All in all, it was a very nice night out. I would go back, but minus the jetlag next time. And I'll ask for my margarita shaken, not stirred.

NYC: Bagels and Cupcakes

Date: Friday, May 4, 2007

The Victims: Many. But mostly Bryan, Stacey, and Matt.

The Damage: Thank God for Amex.

I was a little worried about what I was going to do by myself on a Friday in New York. It's weird to be within 35 miles of home, but not be "home" anymore. Heck, I was even staying in a hotel--the very excellent Westin Times Square--but how weird. And nearly everyone I knew was at work and couldn't come out to play.

But you know what's funny about not having set plans? Sometimes, no plan (or a tentative plan that doesn't come to fruition through no fault of your own) is a GREAT PLAN. This would prove to be a continuous theme all weekend long.

I was up at the Crack O'Dawn and so were Bryan and Stacey so we agreed to meet at 56th & Lex at 10. (Which was not the crack-of-dawn, but I accomplished a lot between 5 a.m. and then, I swear.) I walked over along 5th and then along Park, and it was fantastic. I miss hot dogs (or dirty-water-dogs, as my cousin Kim calls them) and pretzels and knishes. And spring-y days like this.

Bryan and Stace took me to their favo(u)rite bagel place in town and it was absolutely fantastic. I had three bagels during the five days I was in NY, and the bagel from Tal Bagels was the absolute best. And you know what type I got? SALT!!! This may sound totally odd to some people, but trust me, if you get a salt bagel from a shop that knows what they're doing, it' s a revelation. Oh, and the cream cheese...it was SCALLION. When I was a kid, we had scallions in the backyard, and one of the best things to do was to chop some up into some plain cream cheese.

Tal Bagels
977 1st Ave
New York, NY 10022
+1-212-753-9080

This was a dense, firm, lovely bagel. As usual, I had to take off half the cream cheese, but that's okay. The service was particularly nice...I love it when total strangers are so happy to see me...and give me free food. The guy behind the counter saw me eyeing the smoked salmon and gave me a little piece...he would have given me more (so he said--and I believed him), but his boss was right there.

Stace and I did a little shopping after our bagel experience. Number of pairs of shoes purchased by 12 noon on Friday: FOUR.

It was time to give Amex a break, so I headed back to the hotel for a quick nap and made plans to meet Bryan and Stacey and Matt in the West Village around 3 for more adventures that would be good for my food blog. Our meeting point?

Magnolia
401 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10014
+1-212-462-2572

Maybe you know it? Yes, we stopped for a cupcake break. And it was good. And it was only 3:30 p.m. by this point. More to come...

   

NYC: Wonjo

23 W. 32nd St.
New York, NY 10001
+1-212-695-5815

Date of Last Visit: Thursday, May 3, 2007

The Victims: Shinny, Monica, Kim

The Damage: $50 USD per person.

The Background: Oh my God but did I get up at 4 a.m. on Thursday or what? I did. And it sucked, big big time. But see, I am always convinced that I am not fully packed, so extra time in the a.m. is key. And I was on the 9 a.m. flight out of Heathrow to NYC. Well, Newark actually. Same difference.

More Background: I was flying to NY specifically for Feathers' bachelorette (aka hen) party. (More on that to come!!!) But like I said to the guy at Immigration in Newark when he asked me, an American citizen, for the purpose of my visit to the U.S. of A., "Dude, I'm from here." (In NY-ese, I believe a more proper phrasing would be something like "Because I was born here, Jackass. Now let me in.)

I forget about New York sometimes. I forget about the peculiar way we have of talking to (at?) each other. I forget about the bizarre combination of friendliness-nosiness-rudeness. I forget about Yonkers and the Van Wyck and the Belt Parkway and Starrett City and the F train and the Babylon Branch of the LIRR. I don't recognize the area codes anymore. I have trouble remembering what comes before Wantagh-Seaford-Massapequa-Massapequa Park-Amityville-Copaigue-Lindenhurst-and-Babylon. And I don't know how to to describe where Breezy Point is anymore.

But it'll come back to me. I have hope.

The Restaurant: I make plans to meet up with Shinny and Monica at a Korean BBQ place in mid-town. Shin and I went to Korea together in 2004, and speaking very honestly, we ate very well. Very very well. She was a fantastic host. As Shin knows, I've been talking about the tofu soup I had somewhere in Korea for the last three years. So I was excited to relive the Korean experience with her at Wonjo, one of the few places left in the city where they still do charcoal-fired BBQ (as opposed to gas-fired).

The Food: Shinny is in charge and she loads us up with bolgogi--raw marinated beef that you barbecue at the table--Korean pancakes (rice flour and scallions and all sorts of good things made into an omelette), little dishes of kimchee and radishes (I will butcher the spelling but I think the collective little dish experience is known as pan chan) and lots and lots of bean paste. Love bean paste. We make Korean lettuce "tacos" and we are very happy. But we have terrible garlic breath.

The Drink: We wash this all down with OB beer (how unforunate for their Western marketing) and Kim goes for the Soju. 

The Verdict: Really enjoyable, although eating so much raw and cooked garlic was a bad idea...on the treadmill the next day, I could totally smell my own garlic sweat and so could the dude next to me. Yuk!