Summer in NYC

Assorted shout out and photos for H., T., and the lovely S. Cheers for good times and beautiful new found friendships.

Cheering on the Mets at Citifield
Take the 7 to Mets-Willets Point.
First Mets game for T. and S. The Mets may have lost 13-0 but the experience  of the beautiful stadium and lobster roll outweighed all of that.

Chilling with Comfort Food at Wonjo
23 W 32nd St. New York
http://newwonjo.com/
After a night of happy hour specials, I had the idea to get some good hearty food. While I’ve been to Wonjo for Korean BBQ a million times, I stayed from that this time. Cold noodles in beef broth was just the right dish for hot summer nights. I probably should have ordered the regular bibim bop instead of the cold veggie version (which was more like a salad with rice…) Made the right call to order a small seafood pancake for a group of four, just enough food to get people interested but not so much to get all greased out from them. We also ordered the tofu… (I still prefer BCD tofu house but found out they moved recently).

Waving to Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry
White Hall Terminal
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/ferrybus/statfery.shtml

Midtown Night from Brooklyn Bridge
Look for the benches near the middle and enjoy the skyline and the cool evening breeze. There’s nothing quite like crossing the bridge at night. It’s a completely different experience from the day.

Walking together on Summer Streets
This is a NYC city sponsored event where an entire stretch of the city becomes car-free, and the streets are clear for biking, roller-blading, and walking. My two favorite sections of the entire walk were the roadway leading up to Grand Central and the entire downtown section (below Astor or thereabouts). First Saturday I took the entire route from City Hall to 72nd (around 2.5h). Second Saturday I went with T., H., and S. and we had a blast walking south from 51st to 23rd or so. We also tagged on other activities along the way.

 

Eating Brunch at Spoon
17 West 20th street (between 5th and 6th avenues)
http://www.spoonnyc.com/
Three of us ordered the Hungry Man Special, which consisted of two sunny side up eggs, blueberry pancakes with the best syrup ever, toast, bacon and shitake hash browns (the best!). While I didn’t realize this at the time, Spoon is actually my first proper Manhattan brunch after I moved into the city. I guess this is what people call one of the essential city experiences, hanging out with good friends and catching up over good food. I liked it even better since I didn’t have to wait in a long line or anything.

Browsing Books at the Strand and the B&N
Strand 12th Street and Broadway.
http://www.strandbooks.com/index.cfm
B&N Straight on Union SQ north side
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2675/

Lounging at Ginger Man
11 East 36th Street
http://www.gingerman-ny.com/
Every bar should have comfortable couches in dim-lit corners and 60+ beers on tap. Feel so incredibly spoiled! Before you order any bottled beers, read this wise quote we found at the entrance:



Walking up the steps of NY Public Library at Bryant Park

Taking a break with Ginger and S’Mores Gelato from Ciao Bella in GCT

Admiring the Cloud City exhibit of the Metropolitan Museum
http://www.metmuseum.org/en/exhibitions/listings/2012/tomas-saraceno

Obviously the complete Met experience also included American Wing, Egypt Temple, the Knights and Armor Room, Chinese Garden, and even sitting on the front steps. Pleasantly surprised that T. liked this museum as much as I do.

Just an appetizer from Ooki Sushi
1575 3rd Ave. New York NY 10128  ( between 88th - 89th Street )
http://www.ooki-sushi.com
I can definitely recommend the tuna tataki here (next time will try toro) and it impressed both people in the table next to us (awesome!)

Haru Sushi

Haru Gramercy Park
220 Park Ave South (at 18th st)
646.428.0989
website

related blog review: Amber Sushi Lounge

decor and stuff
It had high ceilings, flowing water, and some candles. the dishes were ok. I never realized how pretty Amber was until I started to compare it with other places. Clearly, Upper East Side has its high points.

the food
//house tempura roll//shrimp, eel, salmon, asparagus
The above exceeded expectations. I think the asparagus was the reason.

//kiss of fire roll//super white tuna, salmon, jalapeño peppers and wasabi tobiko wrapped around crunchy spicy tuna and more jalapeños.
Actually spicy without dunking in wasabi first. Very nice. I loved the white tuna rolls from the kiss of fire. but since half came with tuna and half came with salmon, it is still not as good as "snow white" roll from Amber.

//dragon roll//eel and avocado wrapped around kani, cucumber, and kaiware.
The dragon roll is standard dragon roll (eel affair). I didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

//fusion platter//white tuna tataki (seared white tuna), salmon (with citrus jalapeño sauce), tuna ceviche (grape tomatoes, red onion, avocado, and green apple in a citrus ceviche sauce), and seabass ceviche.
The ceviches had good vegetable/fruit ingredients which was a win for me. However, the quality of red tuna and seabass seems so-so. The white tuna knocked my socks off, especially since I haven't had seared white tuna yet. It was smokey and almost a bit creamy. The salmon was greatly improved by its sauce. What can I say, I was spoiled on salmon shipped from Alaska by my relatives on their recent visit there. This dish does win the "beautiful arrangement" of the night though. The four parts were carefully placed on a white rectangular place with four divisions. The colors of the ceviches contrasted well with the white tuna and orange salmon pieces.

the dessert
//tempura cheesecake// cheesecake with tempura batter and berry sauce
while the tempura coating with berry sauce was impressive, I didn't care much for the cheesecake inside. maybe I should have gone for the black sesame ice cream after all. It was still interesting to try at least once though.

Amber Sushi Bar

1406 3rd Ave @80th St.
New York, NY 10022
212.249.5020
review on menupages

We had a shrimp tempura for appetizer (not in the online menu) and the following from the special rolls section of the menu.

*Snow White sake-miso flavored white asparagus roll topped super white tuna & wasati tobiko
This was a great find. I love white tuna. wonderful presentation with pearl white fish on top and a tiny of green roe

*Red Hot Dragon spicy crunchy tuna on top of tuna avocado roll
Not spicy and the tuna on top was not a great texture. the inside tuna avocado was good though.

*Veggie Fried Rice asparagus, mushroom, and long bean, lily root, and green squash.
The vegetable fried rice had some of my favorite veggies and was very light on oil and salts. It does contain eggs though so if you're vegetarian, beware.

The decor was very organic, with barks and trees and logs and seashells on the walls and lights. I really liked the woven mats on the walls as well. Great place to sit and chill near the window with the soft summer breeze.