Eleven Madison Park - New York, New York

Eleven Madison Park

http://www.elevenmadisonpark.com

Definitely one of the most interactive higher end restaurants I've been to, which I really appreciate. 

 Bright, clean interior with hints of yellow and hexagonal accents throughout the room.

BLACK AND WHITE: SAVORY COOKIE WITH APPLE AND CHEDDAR

 Amuse bouche already waiting at the table in a small white box

Display of hors d'oeuvres on a fun honeycomb presentation. We couldn't help but play, lift, and  dismantle the wooden blocks....

MOREL WITH RYE CRISP

I'm not the biggest fan of the congealed/creamy gelatin texture, but I liked the small crunch and flavor from the outside wafers.

WHITEFISH SALAD

I have to say, I really liked the little whitefish crisps (the little grains in the picture). We were provided one sugar snap pea and radish each, which we dipped into both containers. The combination of the veggies with the dips was definitely a highlight. By itself, I thought each vessel was too salty (but I'm generally more sensitive to salt), but the veggies definitely muted the taste and made for a refreshing bite. I wish they provided more of the veggies but we still spooned out all the food (regardless of the saltiness factor).

FAVA BEAN CROQUETTE

 If you like fava beans, this would be nice. Lightly fried. 

WELLFLEET OYSTER WITH CAVIAR

 I'm hoping the touched yogurt on my oyster was due to a chef tasting it, versus someone's finger mistakingly making contact with the food... Not fishy at all, just a fresh smooth bite. And I don't even really like oysters!

CAVIAR: BENEDICT WITH SPRING ONION AND HAM

Like I said before, I appreciate the interactiveness in making my own mini eggs benedict (although it was too salty and I informed the waitstaff to please lessen the salt on my future dishes).

One nice attention to detail would be perhaps to have a hand towel after this dish to clean our hands like at the beginning of the meal. I just haphazardly wiped my buttery fingers on my napkin...

BREADDDDDDDD

I took a few bites of this buttery croissant-like bread, but I was decently carbed out from the tiny english muffins of the eggs benedict just prior. My dining partner really enjoyed the bread though, and a waiter also brought another batch following the first two. The American cheese on top of the butter was also quite salty. There was also some salt on top of the bread. I hope people don't add more sea salt to the butter and bread... it'll be much too salty! 

FLUKE: MARINATED WITH PEAS AND GRAPEFRUIT

Peas congealed in a gelatin textured mix. The fluke (the thin clear skin you see), was much too salty for me again, but if you grabbed everything in one bite, especially the microgreens on top, everything balanced out. I usually like to taste things individually before going for a collective, but I was coming to terms that I need to have everything together at this restaurant.

SMOKED DAIKON SALAD

I didn't try this, but it was interesting how the daikon was so smoked that it came out looking like some kind of shellfish!

LOBSTER: BUTTER-POACHED WITH MORELS AD PEAS

I liked the mashed potato round. I also realize that I prefer my lobster boiled, white all the way so it can be bit through it in one go.  Slightly soft lobster (which I believe may be the recommended way to eat it), isn't the most appetizing in personal opinion.

FISH (Sorry I don't have the name to this one. Not part of my menu)

I preferred the fish to the lobster because I liked the fish consistency more than the lobster's, although it wasn't a show stopper. But I liked the fried potato round. Fried food...

ASPARAGUS: BRAISED WITH POTATO AND BLACK TRUFFLE

This came out in an interesting set up. The asparagus was cooked in a pig's bladder, as it supposedly is able to retain the moisture and flavor of the asparagus versus other methods. I had asked if the bladder imparts any pork flavor, but she informed me it didn't (although I think it'd be sort of cool...).

This was meant to be sipped like a tea. It was the broth of the dish to come, so for myself, a duck broth (the other, lamb).

DUCK: HONEY AND LAVENDER GLAZED WITH SPRING ONION AND RHUBARB, AND BROTH

 I liked the exterior of the duck, which is coated with the different spices, although the spices were a bit hard and physically sharp on the tongue.

LAMB THREE WAYS

This was done well. I enjoyed the romaine as well, and I rarely like it cooked!

NEW POTATOES: VARIATIONS WITH FLOWERS

This was one of the sides to share that came with the entrees. Potato everything! I unfortunately was a little too full to fully enjoy and eat it though...

MOREL: CUSTARD WITH SPRING GARLIC

More morrel mushrooms. The custard/creme/gelatin below was WAY too tangy and salty. I couldn't make it though this side.

BAKED ALASKA: STRAWBERRY, LEMON, AND VANILLA ICE CREAM

 Now for dessert, we had three choices. Two individual choices, such as poached strawberries and a sorbet I believe, but the third option of a baked alaska was meant for two. It was nice presentation of the alcohol torching of the exterior, as well as a nice explanation of how the baked alaska came about.

 The baked alaska was removed and two scoops each was presented. Definitely had the alcohol taste with the exterior. I enjoyed the strawberry ice cream below. My dining partner warned me to not eat all the cream...

CHOCOLATE: "NAME THAT MILK"

This was fun to try and decipher which chocolate was made from which animal milk! I was adamant we get this correct, which we did haha~ We were both very surprised how much the lamb chocolate had the lamb meat flavor.

PRETZEL WITH SEA SALT

And finally, some nice salted chocolate pretzels. These were surprisingly really good, and when I asked for a box to take one home, they gave me two fresh ones in a container! I brought all these back home and they're still pretty good almost two weeks later.

I love the goodies they provided us to take home and snack on the next day/week(s) haha~ Granola with lots of different seeds and various raisons (a bit sweet), a container which includes the menu of only the things I ate, and a box of salt water caramel/chocolate (sort of like a high end salted Twix) to commemorate our anniversary celebration (inside had a slip that said "Happy Anniversary"). 

Service was pleasant, with good conversations and check-ins with the manager (I forget her name -_-). The only qualm we had was we had a great location and view of the area, just smack dab in the center of the restaurant and elevated, but there was an incredible draft from the main door so we were constantly breezed upon and had to keep our jackets on the entire time. 

This memory definitely came at a cost, but I definitely won't forget it anytime soon!

Robert - New York, New York

Robert

http://arkrestaurants.com/robert/

Located on the 9th floor of the Museum of Art and Design, a window seat in Robert gives you a stellar view of Columbus Circle and Central Park. Even though I called in saying I'd be 15 minutes late from my reservation, and then even arriving 5 minutes after that (we stayed pretty far from the restaurant), we still got a prime window seat!

 Colorful menu cover! They had a lunch prefixe menu which I think is a good deal for the food and the meal. Robert is biased to Asian influences. 

 Columbus Circle yoooo~

 The edge of bushy Central Park!

Mixed Green Salad - Herbs and sherry vinaigrette 

Lightly dressed salad with radish. Refreshing start and a large serving. Much appreciated due to the lack of veggies from previous days...

Tiger Shrimp Stew - Lotus Root, Bok Choy, Scallion, Soy and Rice Cake

While a spoon was provided, there wasn't much soup/stew to scoop up. This wasn't a stellar dish, but it was light and the cook on the shrimp was the way I liked it. 

Scottish Salmon with Zucchini and Butternut Squash "Spaghetti"

The salmon had a crisp skin and the spaghetti luckily wasn't overcooked. Pleasant flavors. 

Cheesecake - Orange Caramel, Guava Gelee, Chocolate Ganache

The cheesecake had a good flavor, but not a very smooth texture. I couldn't quite appreciate the guava gelee, sort of a gooey foam, as the texture was a little off-putting because it didn't seem natural to me.

Complementary Coconut Cake Bite with Hazelnut (?)

This was actually really tasty and just the right amount of sweetness following the savory dishes. This presented the same time as the desserts. 

Mandarin Orange and Lemon Sorbet with a Cookie Crisp

I'm assuming this was actually lemon, which I preferred, but the mandarin orange was refreshing as well. A buttery tasting crisp/thin shortbread is also good to add texture.

The interior: nice and colorful!

Service was generally pleasant, except for the time when the waiter overshot and poured water onto the table and onto my sunglasses I had left on the side of the table. Serves me right for placing it there. Thankfully it was only water!

A nice spot to relax and take in the sights above it all. The MAD store located on the lobby had a lot of artisan products and creations that were really interesting as well as to look and interact with!

Ze Kitchen Galerie - Paris, France

Ze Kitchen Galerie

http://www.zekitchengalerie.fr/en/ 

Please keep in mind that it's been 8 months since I ate here, so it's definitely difficult to recall what I ate...

Provided menu, but it was a bit odd how it doesn't reflect the menu of the night. Some presented items were not included in the menu and some on the menu did not appear in the meal. 

Savory custard

Close up of beef croquette-like bite. 

This was actually pretty pleasing to the palatte, but who doesn't like something fried?

Lightly seared fish with pickled components. 

Potstickers. Good crisp on the skin

Candale pasta filled with a mushroom and accompanied with a parsley sauce

Panseared calamari steak, with deep fried veggies and a squid/cuttlefish ink sauce

If you're allergic to calamari (in which it was substituted to tuna in this case), I suggest you steer clear of the sauce which is still on the plate. This might also instigate any allergic symptoms. We learned this the hard way haha~

Fish of the day with citrus sauce. It seemed also suveed, which isn't my favorite kind of cook, but it was definitely a light dish. 

Large cut of what seems like bacon, but it had a crispy exterior. Meat itself was slightly chewy but that could be its nature. 

Soup de Coco - Coconut soup, vanilla and red berries

I personally am somewhat allergic to coconut, but I really enjoy coconut in general. The berries are a nice touch towards the end of the meal. 

Glace Chocolat Blanc - White chocolate, wasabi ice cream, banana, passion fruit, pineapple 

This was actually really good. I can't really eat too much pineapple (I have a lot of food restrictions it seems...), but it complemented the white chocolate and wasabi ice cream. It was one of the more interesting things I had, but it definitely all worked together! Wouldn't mind eating this again...

Figue Confite - Fig confit, almond ice cream, grape juice

Slightly too sweet, but can always do with more dessert! It's a nice little smile at the end of the meal ;) 

Service was pleasant, with both French and English speaking wait staff. I would say 80% of diners for our sitting time spoke English. At one point, there was a dish where a sauce had to be poured individually into our bowls. The server had dripped on the table because instead of having a towel to wipe up the edge of the small sauce vessel, she had placed the vessel back on a small wooden placeholder in her hand, letting any sauce to keep dribbling down the side. That's the only food comment I would have for them to make sure to keep things clean versus having having the "look". The sauce drip went unnoticed by the staff so we cleaned it up ourselves because it was bothering us haha~ We're crazy that way...

Besides that and the assumption that we were Japanese and I deserved a wink from a male waitstaff, it was a rather pleasant meal at a good value!

Bistro Boudin - San Francisco 

www.bistroboudin.com 

Bear with me, I just found the receipt from this today. I went to the restaurant as a celebratory day with a good friend of mine after our last final, on May 8, 2012!

Fancy a drink at the bar?

Extensive menu - I distinctly remember having a difficult time deciding what to get that afternoon

Never forget you're in the city!

I like water...

The iconic Boudin sourdough bread. I remember some older ladies in the neighboring table was able to charm their waiter into giving them a separate new loaf to bring back with them!

Check out the view and good weather! A nice spot for tourists to rest their feet without being too removed from the scene.

Lightly deep fried cod fish tacos with avocados!

Crab cake sandwich with fries! Avocados are the best!

I remember the food here wasn't bad, but it was slightly more expensive then I'd like, but what isn't expensive in tourist SF?

Holy smokes, I can't believe it's been so long since I've found my blog again! It's been 3 years since my past post in my final year at Berkeley!

There have been plenty of good eats since then, so to pick up where I left, get ready for a massive download of food pictures! I may have lost the flair to take appetizing pictures, but I'll do my best going forward :)