Milano Eats

Since I have such a backlog in photos, I'm just going to post random meals in non-chronological order.  My blog, my rulez, with a z.

I had a delicious piadine with cotto, arugla, tuna, and cheese for lunch one day near the office.

piadine split

I don't know why toasty things are so tasty.  But they are.  Crispy tortilla-like shell shattered into the creamy cheesy and bitter arugula, a nice light lunch.

For dinner one night, we sat by the lovely Navigli enjoying the breezy summer night while chomping down on pizza.

pizza

I had one with mozzarella di bufala, prociutto, and porcini.  I like prociutto, but it was a bit much for me.  The crust had a great chew but got soggy in the middle.  But the mozz and porcini were tasty.

I also ate various pasta dishes while in Milan.  My favorite being the gnocci with shrimp and zucchini.

clouds of taters

The gnocci was like little pillowy clouds of potatoes.  It was lightly tossed with olive oil.  Definitely one of the lightest gnocci dishes I've had.

Going on my mushroom and shrimp kick, I also ate tagliatelle with shrimp and mushrooms.

noods

The noodles were good but I thought the dish was a little too buttery overall.  It was an interesting mix of earthy mushrooms with the light shrimp.

At Malpensa airport, I scarfed down a simple but delicious sandwich.

sandwich

Just some nice crusty focaccia, smeared with a bright pesto and layered with slices of tomatoes and mozzaralla di bufala.  Sometimes, the most satisfying meal is also the simplest.

Copenhagen is Mighty Tasty Part 2

Damn, I have so many delicious meals that have not joined the cyberworld of ChubberBlub.  Sorry meals.  You were tasty and should be shared with the world.  First up, 3 more meals in Copenhagen, a mighty tasty city.

Dying for some roughage in the forms of greens after too much overindulgence, I happily stumbled on Riz Raz, an casual and cheap (in Nordic standards) in the Latin Quarters (according to the guidebooks) or Piss Quarter (according to the locals).  Riz Raz was awesome.  They had a veg-heavy lunch buffet to be enjoyed while sitting in a beautiful garden/courtyard.

i ate 2 of these

The food leans Mediterranean, with pita and falafels (eh), fresh hummus and tabbouleh (yum), and a number of salads.  Unsurprisingly, my favorite was the watermelon and cucumber salad (bottom right).  Look at those watermelon chunks!  Aren't they gorgeous in their ruby glory?  

For lunch one day, I randomly picked a place that had seats and looked traditionally Danish, and had the best name.  Restaurant Puk.  Interestingly, both Restaurant Puk and Riz Raz are featured in my guidebook, but I didn't know it until after the fact.

more herring!

I ordered their smørrebrød of herring with chives, onions, raw egg yolk.  I loved it.  I am very smitten by smørrebrød.  It's perfect for a person who likes to dissect her sandwiches and plan the perfect bite each time.  Also, you should remember that I love the hearty Danish bread, which was a perfect vehicle for the loads of stuff that topped it.  The herring was light and slightly tangy, offset by the super fresh egg and pungent but sweet onions and chives.  I want to eat it again now.

more fish

So smitten by smørrebrød, I ate it again the same day at Axelborg Bodega.  This time I went for the whole shebang, smørrebrød with fried fish, grilled fish, and little shrimps.  The avalanche of seafood completely covering the bread.  The fried fish was so flaky and light.  I especially loved the crispy edges.  The little shrimps were refreshing, similar to the shrimp salad I had in Norway, with a squeeze of lemon to bring out the freshness.  The grilled fish was nice and buttery, good but my least favorite of the three.  And yup, that's a dollop of caviar and mayo on top on top.  

Now, I'm on a hunt to find smørrebrød in NYC.  Please do share if you know of any!

Copenhagen Part 1

Copenhagen is Mighty Tasty

Copenhagen is a tasty tasty city.  I don't know what I was expecting before I went there, but what I was greeted with was a whole lot of fresh and clean flavors, with an emphasis on seafood - my first and last love.

I'm very lucky in that I have some of the sweetest and most welcoming coworkers around the world, who all indulge me in my obsession for food.  See that spread below?  See that?  Yep, I ate that, washed down by way too many glasses of beer and schnapps.  (seriously kids, don't attempt a self-imposed schnapps tasting, no matter how intriguing schnapps dripped over amber sounds)

i blame the schnapps for my blurry pic

This awesome meal was partaken at København Caféen, a classic Danish restaurant.  The spread above is for 4 to share and came with *deep breathe* pork chops-herring-salmon-fried fish-pickled veggies-cheeses-chicken salad, and probably other stuff that I can't remember.  My favorites were the fried fish and various herrings.  I LOVE HERRINGS!  So fresh and tasty, with that tang that only herrings have.  The fried fish was super flaky, moist, and tender.  The platter came with a bunch of delicious Nordic breads - dense, hearty and studded with nuts.  Slather on some lard, they were the perfect accompaniment to the meal.

Thanks guys for the awesome time!

Another night, we ate at Skipperkroen in Nyhavn, the beautiful harbor of Copenhagen.  It was a beautiful late summer night to sit outside while enjoying... MORE HERRING!

obsessed

Yep, I got the herrings 3 way - curried, with capers, and traditional.  I liked the curried and traditional the best.  The sweet curry went well with the sweet and tangy fish.  While the traditional one really lets the herring flavor shine.

Along with the herring sampler, I also got the half lobster salad.

roe roe roe

Just a super fresh lobster prepared simply garnished with a tangy mayo sauce.  Check out that roe!  That totally made my day.

I ate more herring during my stay in Copenhagen, but you'll just have to wait for the next post.  muhahaha

Sweets of Belgium

Belgium is a tasty city.  Really really tasty.  Even the simple waffle is a revelation.  I'm not a huge waffle fan, but now I know I'm not a huge American waffle fan, but Belgian waffles?  Yes please!

oh so good

Belgian waffles are much denser, with a crackly outside and chewy inside.  You can get them plain on the go, or topped with a bunch of stuff.

embellished!

Like strawberries and powder sugar, with a little bit of syrup....

pierre marcolini

Macarons are my favorite cookies.  So when I went to Pierre Marcolini to get chocolates and saw macarons, I had to get a box for myself.  Damn, they were good. There were a couple of pistachios, a mojito (bright and citrucy), vanilla, chocolate, and others.  All of the flavors were awesome and all of them had the perfect texture - crackly outer cookies and creamy insides.  YUM

pastries

I also ate a lot of pastries in Brussels.  I pretty much ate a lot of everything.  Exhibit A, my breakfast one morning was a pain au chocolat and an egg tart.  The pain was perfectly light and flaky.  The egg tart reminded me of the Chinese egg tarts that I love.

sweet finale

When you get an espresso or cappuccino in Belgium, they usually give you a small piece of cookie or chocolate to nibble.  At some places, they also give you a bit of chocolate mouse and cream.  Free dessert!   I love Belgium.

L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont

I ate at the most beautiful garden during a recent trip to Brussels.  You don't believe me?  Check out the view from my seat on the patio of L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont.  Told you so.

L'Orangerie du Parc d'Egmont

For my eats on that beautiful day, I had the filet americain and frites, basically a steak tartare.  It was delicious.  

filet americain

Tender and fresh.  Mixing in the gherkins, chopped onions, capers, and the mustardy mayo, it was the perfect light lunch. There was no stringiness and no gumminess, which are the common issues with steak tartare.  A light salad rounded out the plate.

Golden Delicious

Gotta get frites with every meal in Brussels.  Super crispy skin holding in the fluffy soft potato innards, dipped in some creamy mayo.  So very simple and so very tasty.  Look at those golden fries.  Best when fresh, but still good to nibble on when cold while relaxing in L'Orangerie with a nice Belgium ale.

Dinner at Aldea

Aldea has been on my Must Eat List for a long long time and last Friday, I finally crossed it off my list!  Actually, now that I've eaten there, I just moved it to my Must Eat As Often As Possible List.  I completely respect that George Mendes, the exec chef, was there all night cooking the food I ate.  You really don't see that much in NYC anymore.  I think that dedication just made it all the more tasty.

he's the one without a hat

We opted for the 5 course chef tasting, but had to add on the sea urchin toast with cauliflower cream, sea lettuce, and lime.

kinda life changing

I'm a bit of a sea urchin whore.  This was awesome.  The creamy oceany roe was offset by the crunchy flat bread and seaweed.  Too friggin good.

Then came the amuse bouche, not one, but three.  Oyster w/pickled ramp vinaigrette, bacalao croquettas, lobster gazpacho w/ summer berries, wild herbs.

amuse bouche

Yes, THREE!  Three delicious, incredibly fresh, incredibly flavorful dish.  The oyster was briny and crisp.  The croquetta was light and creamy.  The lobster gazpacho was just awesome, sweet and acidic-y, summer in a little cup.

First course was foie gras mi-cuit with birch beer gelée, peanuts and cocoa nibs.  It was served with thick slabs of toast.

 foie!

This was genius.  I loved the combination of the creamy and unctuous foie with the slightly bitter sweetness of the cocoa nibs and the birch beer gelée.  nom nom nom.

Next up was the octopus a la plancha with balsamic, olive oil, and chickpeas.

octopus

The octopus was perfectly cooked, lightly chewy with a smokiness that was mellowed by the balsamic.

The third course was monk fish cheeks.  Cheek meat!  I heart cheek meat of all edible animals.  I think cheeks is the flavor of that animal times 10.  Like monk fish cheeks taste like monk fish meat times 10.

monk fish!

Then came my favorite of the night, arrozo de pato - duck confit, chorizo, olive, duck cracklings.  Seriously you guys, I'm-in-love. I kind of want to marry this dish, or at least move in together.

will u b my valentine?

It was like a paella cooked in a shallow pan, so all you get is the good stuff.  By good stuff, I mean the crunchy soccarat that you scrape up on the bottom of the pan.  And then, just to make sure that there was to be too much awesomness, they mix in duck cracklings, then top with perfectly cooked duck.

Before the dessert, we were given a palate cleanser of mint and sorbet.  Then we were presented with a banana cake thing with espresso ice cream.  I'm sure it's not a cake thing, but I can't think of the term and it's not on the online menu.  Fail!  The top layer was bruleed.  I welcome all desserts with crackly sugar layer.

dessert

Because that was not enough food, we also ate all of the petit fours.  My ability to eat beyond capacity never ceases to amaze me.

more!

I really really enjoyed Aldea.  The food was inventive and delicious.  I loved the open kitchen and great service.  I'm already planning my return trip.

The Many Empanadas of Santiago

I've been plotting this post in that brain of mine for awhile now.  But too bad for my sad neglected blog, plotting does not equate to actual content.  Better late than never right?  Right??

Empanadas are to the Chileans as street hot dogs are to New Yorkers.  Except that empanadas are actually fresh, homemade, and good.  I ate a lot of empanadas in my two weeks, fried, baked, meat, seafood.  Yep, all went in there *points to belly*.

Starting with the most popular of Chilean empanadas, the empanada de pino.  It's basically a baked empanada stuffed with ground beef (kind of like taco spices), egg, and olives.  I was getting mine from Castaño, an ubiquitous chain bakery.  No, seriously, it's on every block.  It's the Starbucks of Chile.  But more fun, with baked goodies that made me go, oooOOoooOoo

it's the triangle one on the left

why, hello olive

I also got some fancy empanadas from Patagonia, a cute little restaurant I went to for lunch one day.  Maybe it was the crab and cheese stuffing, maybe because they were deep fried, maybe because they look like little wonton, these were my favorite of the empanadas I sampled.  

crabby goodness

In Valparaiso, I had another fried empanada, this time stuffed with random seafood, i.e. marisco.  It was mostly clams.  It was good, but I'm partial to the cheesy crab stuffing of the Patagonia ones.

marisco empanada

And I ate more fried empanadas, I think these were also crabs.  I remember liking them but don't remember much else.  They were from Azul Profundo, an awesome seafood restaurant in Bella Vista.

i like fried

I love empanadas since I'm partial to anything thing that consists of protein wrapped in carbs (dumplings, raviolis, burritos, arepas, I can go on).  I also love how everywhere in Chile has its unique take.  Can't wait to go back and expand my empanada repertoire.  

Kyo Ya

Kyo Ya was one of those places that I've been dying to go to.  Apparently, I also walk by it all the time without ever noticing it.  So maybe dying is a strong word.  But really, it was delicious and everyone should experience a kaiseki meal at least once.  Another plus was the special printed menus that came with our 9 course meal.  Horray!  Lucky for you, I don't have to rely on that vague idea you call "memory" for the food descriptions in this post.

shrimp mousse

First course was crispy fried rolled bread with shrimp mousse.  It was good, but definitely outshined by all the courses following it.  The thin and crispy shell and the flavor of the mousse reminded me of my dad's favorite Taiwanese snack food, ji chuan (chicken roll).  It was fried perfectly with no trace of greasiness.

squid babies!

Next up was one of my favorite of the night, hotaru baby squid and udo vegetable with mustard miso.  The baby squids were so tasty, tender with a burst of ocean-y innards.  The miso was sweet and mellow so it didn't overpower the delicate squid.  Plus I love the seaweed on the bottom, more for me to mop up the yummy miso.

umm 

Then came the daily special which had no description on the menu.  So I'm at a loss.  Oh memory, you fail me again.  I think it was some sort of salmon maki.  The outside was egg.  I do remember the sushi rice being very tasty, perfectly vinegary.

first of many soups

The fourth course was clam mousse with spring vegetable.  The green stuff on top was pureed peas.  Don't ask me what the pink stuff was.  I remember loving the pureed peas.  So bursting of spring flavor.  Ah spring, you rock my world.  The chopped clams in the mousse ball was yummy, but they were unevenly distributed in the fish mousse.

lots of stuff!

Following that was a grilled skewered ayu summer fish, fried fiddle heads, grilled baby abalone with watercress miso.  Next to the abalone was a piece of salmon and in the little pot, a chilled mountain yam soup.  The summer fish tasted like a milder pike.  I was hoping for some egg sac action, but was not granted with them.  I loved the fried fiddle heads cuz I'm obsessed with the flavor of spring.  The abalone was awesome.  Like a chewier but still tender geoduck.  Yum.  The salmon was good, but forgettable.  The pot of soup was probably my favorite.  It was refreshing and tangy from the drop of umeboshi.  I like how Kyo Ya upped the slippery/slimey quotient by putting a slice of okra on top.  Awesome.

 sancho power

Then it was another broth course, sake steamed tile fish with takenoko an (fresh bamboo shoots).  The little tree branch you see there was a sancho leave.  If you never had sancho leave, you should go seek some out now.  It was intense.  Spicy, minty, and numbs your whole mouth.  I need to get me some of that,

more food!

Yes, more food ahead!  The 7th course was asparagus, strawberry, and shrimp with yuba shira-ae .  It was refreshing and tasty.  I'm a fan of any type of yuba sauce/dressing.  I was fan of this one.

pickled

The last savory course was seasonal kamadaki rice (salmon) cooked in clay pot with miso soup and pickles of the day (shitake and string beans)

more food!

I love rice but I am not a huge rice eater because I try to save my stomach room for stuff with more flavor.  But I ate two bowls of this.  It was awesome.  The rice was cooked perfect - sticky and chewy.  It had lots of umami from cooking with salmon.  The little burst of briny salmon roe offset the sweet rice.  I've never had pickled shitake before, but I hope there will be a lot more shitake in my life!

the end!

We are finally at the end!  Sakura (cherry blossom) flavored tofu in sweet soup with vanilla ice cream.  The tofu was very firm, almost a panna cotta like texture.  Cherry blossom is subtle and fruity.  This was a perfectly light dessert to cleanse our palates.  

I really enjoyed Kyo Ya.  I think it would be interesting to go late summer and see what yummy creations they come up with with all the seasonal bounties.

Mané

Peruvian is one of those cuisines that I need to eat more often.  I think every week is probably a fair place to start.  So I did just that in Santiago, breaking my own traveling rule and eating at the same restaurant twice.  Mané, you had me at ceviche especial.

ceviche with corn!

There was a yellowtail-like fish that was sweet and buttery.  And some shrimps. And slices of calamari.  All living in perfect harmony in lime juice and thinly sliced red onions.  To add more textures, there were hominy and these fried corn things that were soooo good.  Like Cornuts on crack. OH CORN, HOW I LOVE YOU AND YOUR MANY INCARNATIONS.  The two orange chunks were sweet potato.  Did it go with the seafood, not really, but I love sweet potatoes, so I didn't care.  

fish in shrimp sauce

My entree one night was fish layered between fried corn tortilla like things (but more flaky) and topped with a creamy shrimp sauce.  This was awesome.  The fish was pan fried, one of my favorite fish preparations (along with steamed and raw)  The chips gave the dish a completely different textural contrast.  YUM.

seafood and rice

Another night, I had the seafood stew and rice.  It was tasty with lots of different seafoods, but I have very little recollection besides, "mmm, I'd eat it again".  Blame the pisco sour!  

chocolate cake

I have no idea what possessed me to order a chocolate cake for dessert one night.  I rarely order dessert and even less likely to order chocolate cake (not a cake fan, more a custard/pudding or pie kinda girl).  But I actually really liked it.  Probably because it was soaked in rum or something other liquor, so it escaped the sad and unfortunate dry cake syndrome that so many other cakes have been inflicted with.  This cake was so moist that it was almost a pudding!  yay for puddings!

Completo and Domino

Food stuff between buns are often eaten for their portability and convenience.  But here in Chile, the buns are less of a vehicle to keep you hands clean and the ingredients from your shirt.  They try, oh how valiantly they try to contain and maintain order.  But even the most brawny buns are no match for the overflowing layers of condiments.  Here in Chile, sandwiches and hot dogs are tackled with knife and fork.

mechada sandwich

Domino is a popular sandwich and hot dog chain in Santiago.  You get to choose a meat, like hot dog, roast pork, chicken, etc.  and then condiments, like fried egg, bacon, bbq sauce.  I opted for mechada, sliced stewed beef, with the most classic of all toppings, the Dinamica - guac, mayo, tomatoes, and Chilean's idea of cole slaw (Americana sauce).  Basically what you would find on the famous Chilean completo.  Do you see all that?  The inch of guac and inch of mayo?  Yep, I ate that.  The stewed beef was really flavorful while the condiments were mild enough that the flavor of the meat really comes through.  I thought the pound of mayo would have really weighed down the sandwich, but it was really light and fluffy, like it was whipped.  I vote to trade our McDonalds for Domino.  .

completo!

One Sunday, I ate a completo for breakfast.  Don't judge me.  At least it was a relatively "small" completo.  See the unnaturally white mayo?  Was it necessary to put half a jar of that on one hot dog?  But if you can, why not.  You can eat a completo for breakfast too, I won't judge.