Tag: lower east side

Categories
chinese

Fen Yang Corporation’s Chow Mein Fuzhou Style

I was out an about the other night after the 2nd Pulp show. I made my friends get into a cab and took them to a bar in LES/Chinatown. Right when we were going in, I sorta ditched them because I realized I hadn’t eaten. I said I’ll be back. I walked around for a while and the only place I could find open was that Chinese restaurant, Fen Yang Corporation, that had that menu of interesting exotic delights.

They didn’t take credit cards and no one knew where an ATM was. The waitress made me order the cheapest thing on the menu –Chow Mein Fuzhou Style Noodles ($3.75). I actually had more money …maybe not enough for Goose Intestine w/ Tender Leek. I do wish I had enough for the Live Shrimp. That sounds exciting.

The Chow Mein Noodles were just alright. Greasy like it should be …with pieces of pork in there. A good size portion for being the cheapest dish on the menu. I wanted to ask for hot sauce, but I felt like I was already on their bad side for coming in with only a few dollars and because I’m ABC (American-Born-Chinese). Sometimes I get the feeling that Off-the-Boat Chinese like white people more than me.

When I got back to the bar, there turned out to be a cover to get in. It was sweaty, loud and crowded and I think my friends just wanted to sit and talk. They had already left. I felt like a dick.

Fen Yang Corporation – 107 Eldridge Street (btwn Broome & Grand) New York 10002

This photo from my camera ain’t that bad. I shouldn’t be hesitant to use it, like the other day at Spritzenhaus beer garden, where my friend Jill had birthday drinks. I have a bad habit of not being able to eat anything new if I don’t have my camera to blog it. I need to stop worrying about that and also stop worrying about my camera making a big bulge in my pocket.

Categories
indian

Carb Diet Fail

I’ve been on a no-carb diet for the past three weeks and today was supposed to be my last day before I go on tour and gain all the weight back. But after band practice tonight, Matt and I went to Punjabi Deli and I ate the rice. So close to finishing the goal. Only a few more minutes until midnight. I fucked it all up. It tasted good though …but I do feel fat now.

Punjabi Grocery & Deli - 114 E 1st St (btwnn 1st Ave & Ave A) New York, NY 10009

I also got a new camera today …the Sony HX9V point and shoot. A lot of DSLR videographers are raving about the video quality …and from the videos, it looks sharper than the Canon DSLRs. Perhaps it doesn’t have the shallow depth of field, but at wide angle, it’s freaking amazing for such a small thing. Shoots 1080p at 60fps (only $350). That’s insane. Motion a little flickery on Youtube, but I think that’s a Youtube thing. Looks better on Vimeo.

Anyway, I bought this for pocketable quick video, but I’m really impressed at the stills …especially compared to my Canon S90 that I’ve been using for a year and a half now. The HX9V hardware and optics doesn’t seem as good (f/3.3 lens vs f/2.0), but I feel like the results is comparable and maybe a little better through the software trickery. For the low light, it takes multiple images and somehow composites them to look decent. It’s slow shooting this way, but the resulting photo is pretty good.

The faster lens on the S90 is a little brighter, but a little more washed out and more noise.

I know video is looking darker in low light compared to the S90, but I still can’t wait to shoot some sweet HD video with it. Look at what Cheesycam blog did with this camera…

Categories
chinese restauranting

Overseas Taste Malaysian Restaurant

After a Marcellus Hall & the Hostages set, we went out for Malaysian food at Overseas Taste Restaurant. Surprisingly good food here. Maybe the Princess Bean Curd dish was pricey at $15 for vegetables, but the other dishes were affordable.

I got the Double Boiled Chicken Thigh in Chinese Herb Noodle Soup ($7.50). Tasted medicinal, but really good at the same time. It made me feel warm and healthy …and I’m sure it was good for my yeet hay (in Chinese, means “hot air”. Something that makes the body sick. There’s no real medical translation in English. Something that I don’t think ABC’s or WebMD knows what it really is, except it’s something my parents told me I have when I’m sick and ate too many fried foods.)

I really liked the peanut satay sauce. That was my favorite flavor of the night. Although that probably gave me a lot of yeet hay.

Overseas Taste Restaurant – 49 Canal St (btwn Ludlow & Orchard St) New York City, NY 10002

Categories
crazy night

Oxtail and Roast Pork at El Castillo De Jagua

Anthony and I were out for a Boyz Night Out. Only thing was that we couldn’t remember what we were supposed to do. Wondered around the lower east side and after two beers, gave in for food at El Castillo De Jagua (see Mofongo and Sancocho soup).

Ordered the roast pork and oxtail stew. Bread was loaded with slaps of butter. The heavy food really got to us. We had one more beer and watched Dave play at Cakeshop. In bed by 11. Boyz Night out in NYC …some wild shit.

El Castillo De Jagua – 113 Rivington St (@ Essex St) New York 10002

Categories
pizza

Mario’s Pizza on Houston (NYC)

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

Categories
concert/event indian

Shit Horse & Punjabi Deli

Dave got us to go to the free Shit Horse show at the Mercury Lounge last week. It was really fun. The singer is a real character. He’s like the black Rusty 5 years from now.

Afterwards, headed across the street to fill ourselves up on cheap spicy Indian food at Punjabi Deli. $1 Samosas and $3 small bowl of rice with two veggies is such a good deal. It was perfect filler to end the night.

Punjabi Deli – 114 E 1st St (btwn 1st Ave & Ave A) New York, NY 10009

Categories
mexican

$4 Quesadillas at El Nuevo Amanecer Restaurant

Before our show at Cake Shop, we grabbed some $4 Quesadillas and $3 beers (the Mon/Tues/Wed deal) at El Nuevo Amanecer around the corner. The choices are chicken, beef or cheese. But if you say veggie thinking it’s the cheese, you’ll be paying $7. We learned that the hard way. It’s not amazing food, but a pretty good deal for the Lower East Side. I think chicken is the way to go. The red salsa is kinda bland. You ask for hot sauce and they give you Tobasco. Not knocking the Tobasco, but I’ve never seen that as the sole Mexican restaurant hot sauce ever. Oh yeah, Chipotle does that. That’s weird.

El Nuevo Amanecer Restaurant – 117 Stanton St (btwn Essex & Ludlow) New York, NY 10002

Categories
chinese

Baohaus’ Pork Belly Buns

I stopped over at the DERANGED FAN music video shoot in the Lower East Side and manned the keg. That was pretty fun. I acted like the bartender and I think I was pretty good at it. It doesn’t seem like hip hoppers drink beer much though, so it was easy …and tough because I felt like I had to help empty the keg.

So afterwards, I dragged my drunk ass over to try Baohaus (that Yoshie raved about) to fill my stomach up. I got into a conversation with one of the brothers of the Chinese bun shop. We made the connection of both being from Orlando and from families of Chinese restaurateurs. He knew of my family and even though I suspected they were somewhat important to the history of Chinese American food in Central Florida, I never thought about it much. It now makes me want ask my parents questions.

So as I went on talking to Evan from Baohaus, I felt like my dad when I saw him talking to strangers about the restaurant business. I know now that I have a food blog, my dad has kinda sparked interest in talking about food when I see him that one time a year. But it’s still tough …father and sons talks.

I ordered the Chairman Bao ($7.95 for two. Braised slow and low using Niman Ranch Pork Belly. Served with: Crushed peanut, cilantro, Haus Relish, and Taiwanese red sugar). The bun was nice and pillowy …and with the meat, it made a delicious snack for a drunk guy.

I don’t know how long I went on rambling, but they seemed to close on the early side. I suppose it’s not much of a late night spot. Before I left, they told me about the Chinese New Year Dinner. Sounds pretty good. They’re mother is coming in to help cook.

There’s a great post on the Baohaus blog —“We are not the Flying Dragon Lotus Panda Face Killah.” It’d be good for all reviewer/bloggers to read. It makes a good argument for the trendy hipster spots that are making higher priced food normally thought of as being cheap (i.e. Chinese dumplings) …and for those who question an ethnic food’s authenticity if it’s not in a small hole in the wall. I know I’ve been guilty of making the comparisons (i.e. Rickshaw Dumpling, M. Noodle Shop). If I can add anything: Sometime it’s all gonna have to change. The kids of the Chinatown restaurants have all become lawyers and engineers. No one to take over the shops. Chinese immigrants are fewer because they can get better jobs in China. Perhaps it’s the best time for the new hipster foodie revolution to stick their foot in the door. Now’s your time to shine.

Baohaus – 137 Rivington St (btwn Norfolk & Suffolk) Manhattan, NY 10002