Park Avenue Summer - NYC

Park Avenue Summer has been on my list of restaurants in NYC to try so my friend and I went for Restaurant Week last month (although this summer, restaurant week has been extended until Labor Day weekend at a few restaurants).

First off, the waitress brought us an amuse-bouche of watermelon skewers with a yogurt topping. It was very refreshing and I loved the topping it was paired with. My friend and I also chose to get sangria - a $7 special with the Restaurant Week menu.

For my appetizer, I got salmon tartare - it was a lot of salmon so I was happy - although the two pieces of burnt toast (not pictured) that it came with was probably unnecessary.

For my entree, I got the organic Scottish salmon - yes, it was a lot of salmon for one meal, but I love salmon! And the salmon at Park Avenue Summer was perfectly cooked - with the top crispy and the meat extremely tender. I also loved the cucumber and daikon slaw it was paired with, very refreshing.

For dessert I got the Goat Cheese Mousse in Phyllo with Honeyed Raspberries. I love goat cheese so I loved this dessert - it was also very light, which is perfect because sometimes I walk away from Restaurant Week dinners too stuffed.

Annisa - NYC

Living in NYC means always having friends visiting from out of town. One of my college friends really likes Top Chef, and liked Anito Lo on Top Chef Masters - so last time she was in town, she really wanted to try Annisa. Unfortunately, the timing was off and Annisa was closed for renovations at the time. However, my friend was here this weekend again and the first thing I thought of was that we could now go to Annisa, which reopened to a lot of praise from critics.

First off, walking into the dining room at Annisa, I have to comment on how extremely awkward the dining room is. We were a party of three and seated at one of two tables in the middle of the tiny dining room - it really felt like we were in the spotlight and everyone was just staring at us. The people at the tables of two on the side were actually seated right next to each other (no seats were placed on the opposite side of the table), so they were staring out at the middle of the dining room. The seating made it seem like this would be a pretty awkward spot to bring a date, despite the nice subdued decor. I think this is a spot where people come for the food alone.

Starting off, the kitchen sent out an amuse bouche - we didn't quite catch what the server described it as - it was some sort of crab tart.

It was good, but not particularly notable.

Barbecued Squid with Thai Basil and Fresh Peanuts.

I am a big fan of squid and calamari, and I had heard good things about this appetizer so we ordered this appetizer to share. It was good paired with the Thai sauce and sriracha on the side - although I didn't feel like it was the best squid I've had. I guess since Sam Sifton called it a "marvelous dish" in the NYTimes, I was just expecting something more.

Seared Foie Gras with Soup Dumplings and Jicama.

I heard that this was one of their specialties - so despite the fact that none of us were particular fans of foie gras, we ordered this and all 3 of us loved it. It was definitely the most special and unique dish we had. It had a surprisingly sweet note and the "soup" in the dumpling was completely not what I expected it to taste like. My friend noted that it was a little on the salty side though - which I would have to agree with.

Miso Marinated Sable With Crispy Silken Tofu in a Bonito

Broth.

For my entree, I got the sable fish which was amazing. First off, it was a huge chunk of fish. The fish by itself, dipped in the broth was delicate and very tender. However, after having lots of the bonito broth, I got a little tired of how salty it was - although that made it a good pairing with the crispy tofu.

If you are going to dine at Annisa, you should take note that the food takes a long time though. I think my friends and I were at dinner for about 1.5 hours - which compared to some other dinners I've had, isn't bad at all - but something about the quiet setting at Annisa, made it feel like our wait was forever. The timing was definitely off because there was at least a good 30 minute gap between our appetizers and entree.

Millefeuille of Strawberries with Ricotta, Pink Peppercorns and

Aged Balsamic.

After having Lady M's green tea mille feuille at my friend's engagement dinner (see below), I was excited to try another variation of mille feuille. I also had never heard of pink peppercorns so I wanted to check it out. I was a little disappointed when it came out to the table. It was not the type of cake I expected, although I guess there are different variations of mille feuille. I really wanted crepes, not crunchy puff pastry I got instead. But it was a light dessert, which I am always a fan of.

Pecan and Salted Butterscotch Beignets with Bourbon Milk Ice

I liked my friends' dessert better (although one of my friends liked mine better!). I love desserts where there is something hot paired with something cold - and I guess you can't really go wrong with a fried dessert.

Along with the check came some palate cleansers - from the top, mini pineapple popsicles (very refreshing!), candied ginger (intense ginger flavor - my first time having candied ginger), and mint chocolate truffles (the clear winner of the group).

It might have been the rain or the long day I had, but I think the expectations I had for Annisa were just too high. Or maybe it was the extremely awkward seating arrangement...

En Japanese Brasserie - NYC

A few weeks ago my fiance and I hosted a small engagement dinner with our close friends at EN Japanese Brasserie. It was a quite a journey to select a restaurant for this event, but in the end EN won out because of its great quality food and classy ambiance. Honestly, I was a bit nervous and apprehensive before the dinner, but EN has completely won my heart with the dinner they served.

One of the great things about EN that many other japanese restaurants in NYC did not offer was its private rooms. Who wants to struggle to be heard against the other loud patrons? For $75-$100, they have uniquely decorated rooms for a more intimate dinner experience. We selected the Tatami room. It's traditional style tatami seating, but with a lowered space underneath the table so no one has to sit on their feet.

Entrance to EN Tatami room I

The staff at EN were so accomodating to our needs. I requested customized menu's and they happily obliged. They even personalized each individual menu with our guest's names! It made seating much quicker and easier.

Table setting with personalized menus

For a corkage fee you can bring in your own alcohol

Sake

It's no small fee, but if you can find a big enough bottle it will be a better deal than ordering a bottle off their menu. Their cocktails are actually quite delish. At our last visit I enjoyed the pineapple with sake, it was made with the freshly juiced pineapples!

Now finally, the food:

The set menus are served semi sharing style. Everyone gets their own portion but served on communal dishes.

Obanzai - Kyoto Style Appetizer

Unfortu, I was too busy stuffing my face to note the what these appetizers were. I know the red ones are  tomatoes in dashi and the bottom bowl is some kind of bean curd.

Sashimi served with fresh wasabi

The wasabi served at EN are freshly made, so if you mix it into your soy sauce there will be chunks of horseradish in your dish. A foodie friend remarked that you can tell whether a japanese restaurant is any good by whether they use fresh wasabi or from the tube.

Sea Bass Kara-Age

 This sea bass was marinated in sake and fried. Yum! <3 fried. For fried fish, it was light and delish.

Miso Black Cod with Daikon

Miso black cod is a fairly common dish at Japanese restaurants. EN's version is tender and flaky. My first time tasting this dish at EN, it had a crispy skin which everyone raved about. This time however the skin was soft, which was a bit of a let down, but still better than Matsuri's version.

Roasted Duck

Roasted duck served with radish and ponzu. I'm not a big fan of duck, but I tried this anyways. It tasted like chinese roast beef, which tastes good but really isn't anything special.

                                

Freshly made tofu

This dish is what EN is famous for. They make their own tofu at 6:00, 7:30, 9:00, and 10:30 nightly. You can choose to have it served warm or chilled served with wari-joyu, which tastes like a more flavorful soy sauce. I think the traditional way is to serve it warm. It's so silky, but has more depth than the packaged silken tofu you can buy at the supermarket.

Kakuni

Kakuni is described on the menu as "braised Berkshire pork belly in sansho miso, with a boiled egg, spinach, & daikon radish." I believe at this point in the dinner I was so full I couldn't even bring myself to eat the pork belly. I did try some of the daikon, egg, and spinach. This and the previous duck dish really tasted more like traditional chinese food.

Unagi Maze Gohan

This dish is eel with rice with some numbing spices that kinda hurt my tongue. It wasn't so appealing that night due to the abundance of food already in my stomach, but was sooo good for breakfast the next day with some tabasco sauce. 

Green Tea Ice Cream

The set menu dessert was the house ice cream, which was green tea. Tastes great but nothing special. I hear they have special seasonal ice cream flavors, like fig, that are really great. Hope to try that one day. 

So to completely overdo the food consumption we also ordered a cake from Lady M. EN has a special offer with them, where you can order a Lady M cake for dinner for an additional delivery and serving fee. The one we chose was a green tea mille feuille- hundred layer crepe cake held together with creme. 

They arranged the candles in the shape of a heart

Mille Feuille- Look at all the layers!

So delicious it gets another picture

This is a great dessert because its very light compared to a traditional cake, and everyone loves crepes!

After three hours, we finally finished our meal. 

We posed for a pic at EN's gorgeous main dining room with our food babies. ^_^

There's so much to love about this restaurant, even their entrance! see the huge wall of sake in the background

"come backkk"