I probably should be food blogging or something, but I just feel very fortunate that my friends and myself came out of Hurricane Sandy safely. I do want to get back to my routine, but work is closed. I suppose sometimes there are more important things to deal with than cartoons. I’ll get back to you soon with photos from the Fifth Annual Chili Cook-Off. It was a ton of fun and delicious food!
On our way to karaoke, a few of us stopped by Mario’s Pizza for a few slices. This place used to have Super Mario on their sign. They probably got in trouble since it’s blacked out now.
Two cheese slices for $3, bumped up from $2. Still not bad. I got a Lasagna Pizza slice ($3.50). It was definitely good for what it was. Pretty standard slice as New York pizza goes, but somehow much more satisfying than my pizza from Eataly.
…Sing Sing Karaoke was fun. For some reason, I thought bars closed at 2am on weekdays. Meanwhile, there was free karaoke at the San Gennaro festival.
Mario’s Pizza – 147 E Houston (btwn Forsyth & Eldridge) New York, NY 10002
Justice of the Unicorns was to play a few songs at Adam’s monthly comedy night (It is It) at Pianos last Monday. I totally forgot and had planned to go to the Faith No More concert. But it all worked out after I traveled all the way to the Time Square box office to find it was closed for the weekend and then come back home to find that tickets were sold out. I figured the Metal Rap Gods had something else in store for me this night.
Comedian Hannibal Burress had a few food bloggy jokes. One about Halal food. I don’t remember if there was a punch line, but he said “halal” and it was funny because I know that is.
Then upstairs they had karaoke, where they kept giving us tequila shots with every PBR. It got nutz. Christa rocked some Heart and I got my Faith No More fix.
One more stop at San Loco, where it was the perfect ending to all those tequilas and PBR. An aluminum tray of Gringo-Mex Enchiladas (beef enchiladas smothered in beef chili and topped with shredded cheddar, onions and sour cream). It’s everything you’d think it would taste like when you see it.
San Loco – 105 Stanton St (between Essex & Ludlow) New York, NY 10002
Sam and I stopped in at Puebla Mexican Food & Coffee Shop to fill our stomachs before karaoke at Mike & Annali’s b-day. I got the Cactus Burrito and he got the Shrimp Tacos. Both going for $7.50. Does that sound like a lot for tacos at such a place? I saw a used cup of green hot sauce on the counter that looked good and so I asked for some hot sauce when my burrito came out. The lady said it already has hot sauce in it. That was weird exchange. Well I can’t say it was really spicy like I wanted, but I could taste some spice. If there’s anything I learned that night it’s to learn BBD’s Poison for next karaoke and to just grab that used hot sauce next time. But it could have been p-p-poison… shit.
Puebla Mexican Food & Coffee Shop – 47 1st Ave (btwn 2nd & 3rd St) New York, NY 10003
We had pre-karaoke dinner at Natural Tofu. It’s interesting that there’s also BCD Tofu House on the same block. You get the usual Korean (banchan) side dishes, but the fish on the side is the some of the best I’ve had at a Korean restaurant. I believe it’s smelt and has a very fishy flavor. Much more interesting than the usual fried fishes. There’s some darker meat close to the head that shook me up with a strong oily flavor, similar to cod fish oil. I wonder if you can just order complimentary fish & side dishes, because that’s mostly what I like and just want to eat.
I ordered the Natural Tofu hot bowl + beef short ribs. The menu says you can get it “vagetarian”, but I went with the combination instead. You have to be quick and crack the egg into the hot bowl right when you get. I’m always too slow because I’m taking photos and the egg never really seems to cook. I don’t know about these tofu hot bowls (in general). It’s never as exciting or flavorful as it looks. Disappointing for being the entree. The beef short ribs were really tasty though.
Then karaoke at Duet 35. Lot’s fun. You can ask for the Jesus fish tambourine at the desk.
Natural Tofu – 34 W 32nd St (2nd floor, btwn 5th Ave & Broadway) New York, NY 10001
Karaoke Duet 35 -Â 53 W 35th St (2nd floor, btwn 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas) New York, NY 10001
Birthday dinner party in the private upstairs room at South China Garden (formerly known as Cantoon Garden). A big feast that had some throwbacks for me –the salty preserved fish had a strong flavor I recall as a child. I think my parents put it in my congee (juk). Carolyn thought it tasted like bleu cheese. Maybe I’m just thinking of buffalo wings. We all got little gifts from the hosts. Mine was a bottle of this liquid analgesic balm that’s used for sore muscles, but my parents used to put on my mosquito bites …You probably thought I was going to say butt. For dessert we had lotus paste buns (my childhood favorite) that were shaped like peaches. Some people thought they looked like another kind of peach.
Afterwards, we hit up Winnie’s Bar for karaoke. That’s where some of us were messing around with Chinese Hell Bank Notes. We got in trouble because it’s bad luck. To us it looked like Mike was putting Monopoly money down my shirt, but he was actually just wishing me death.
South China Garden Restaurant (Cantoon Garden) – 22 Elizabeth St (btwn Bayard & Canal St) New York, NY 10013
Winnie’s Bar – 104 Bayard St (btwn Baxter & Mulberry St) New York, NY 10013
A bite at Crif Dogs before karaoke. I was curious about the “Stoner Pack” which is a grab bag of food for $10. I couldn’t find any pics or contents of what people have gotten. I thought I would be the first to foodblog it, but I really wanted to try the Spicy Redneck – House Dog, Bacon Wrapped, with Chili, Cole Slaw, and Jalapenos… so chalk another one up to pussying out.
We brought some Japanese treats from JasMart to Toto Karaoke.
Here are Yoshie’s translations:
karaoke cheetos: “Umai-wa“Â – means “delicious ring”
uni flavored puff:　â€Huwamaru“ – loosely translates to “soft snacks”
edamame puffs: “Beano”
Even though karaoke was BYOB, that room ended up over $400 for 4 hours. Dang. At least the sun hadn’t risen when we walked out. That’s happened a few times before.
Crif Dogs – 113 St Marks Pl (btw Ave A & 1st Ave) New York 10009
Toto Music Studio – 38 W 32nd St #5 New York, NY 10001 …I often think back to my surprise b-day party at this Karaoke place when I want to get to an Attitude of Gratitude. Dimebag Darrell guitar cake with lightning boltz!
Ramen and Friends’ cross post
