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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Friday 26 October 2007

Still alive..

We just moved to our brand new (literally) apartment in Tokyo (built this year, haven't been lived in before and we have to furnish it from scratch). Hence been extremely busy, and no internet at home for at least another week..

Thursday 18 October 2007

Magnolia Bakery, New York

One of the many things we've noticed about New York is just how much people follow fashion here. I'm not talking about clothes but about food. Yes, food. The popular gets more popular just by virtue of its popularity, and the ones not mentioned fail to get the recognition and publicity that they probably deserve. As much as both Rob and I love to buck the trend and go against the flow, when it comes to travelling to a foreign country, we usually have to go with the safe choice of what is popular. That means waiting in long lines.

Magnolia Bakery is one of these popular places. Apparently they make the best cupcakes, and they sure have a lot of loyal cupcake enthusiasts (or perhaps most are tourists). We first chanced upon this tiny little place during our first week in NYC two months ago; Rob was keen to try it out but when I saw how ridiculously long the line was, I said perhaps next time. Then my MIL came to visit, took a tour that brought her to this bakery, and she was told that Magnolia makes the best cupcakes in NYC. It piqued Rob's interest once again, so we dropped by again when we were around the area for our seafood lunch on our last Saturday in NYC.

The queue to get inside Magnolia was long and it was a good 20 minutes before we stepped inside. I read that they sell over 3000 cupcakes a day. It's a tiny bakery and only about 6 customers are allowed in at one time. The girls in front of us were regulars, and they informed us of their favourites. I think there is a limit of 6 cupcakes per customer, and each sells for $2. We bought 4 between us two: chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing, chocolate with choc icing, vanilla with vanilla, and a red velvet cupcake with plain icing.

How were they? Well, honestly, they were like any cupcakes with extremely sweet icing that towers as tall as the cupcakes themselves. I failed to see why these cupcakes in particular were popular, and it looks like I'm not alone. I am also not big on buttery icing/frosting, and I found myself scraping off most of the icing just to get to the cupcakes, which were only okay by our standards. Actually, the red velvet cupcake was quite yummy, moist and chocolatey and I liked it better than the best-selling cupcakes.

Inside the bakery, making our selection (notice the line outside? That's only 1/4 of the whole line); and our purchases:


Were the cupcakes worth the wait in line? Maybe if you're a huge cupcake follower to begin with. You may be disappointed otherwise.

Monday 15 October 2007

Lobster roll @ Mary's Fish Camp, NYC

Prior to our stay in New York, I'd never heard about lobster rolls. It's quite a popular seafood item in America, which apparently originated from the US state of Maine. It was mainly curiousity about lobster rolls that led me to do a search about the best place in NYC to have lobster rolls. It seems that there is a strong consensus amongst New Yorkers that two places in Manhattan make excellent lobster rolls, and one of them is Mary's Fish Camp. We paid a visit to Mary's Fish Camp for lunch on our last Saturday in NYC for an indulgence in seafood, and it was well worth the visit.

MFC is certainly popular as the tables were full when we arrived - not surprising since the dining area was quite small with the capacity to fit perhaps 20 people at once. It looked like the kitchen space was actually as big as the dining area, We waited perhaps 5 or 10 minutes before a table was available for us. Buzzing place, with plenty to offer on their regular menu as well as their daily specials. The waitstaff were friendly, but were always zipping around with orders to take and food to serve.

Rob knew what he wanted even before we sat down: Lobster Roll ($28), which was what we came for. The lobster roll consisted of a generous serving of lobster meat doused with herbed mayonnaise, stuffed into a small hotdog bun and served with a large heap of potato fries. The cheap feel and look of fast food aside, the lobster roll was scrumptious. You could taste the chunks of juicy lobster flesh in every bite, although I felt that it could have done better without so much mayonnaise - the subtle taste of seafood should be enjoyed as nakedly as possible. The other weakness of the dish was perhaps the serve of potato fries. I think that something more acidic, like salad with vinaigrette dressing, would have helped cut the rich taste of the mayonnaise dressing instead of adding to the fatty taste like the fries did.



I decided on a grilled Whole Black Sea Bass ($24) from the daily specials board. The grilled whole bass was quite a lovely sight to behold, and I enjoyed every part of the fish, head and all. I must have been quite a sight as I tucked into the fish using my fingers. The fish was stuffed with herbs and served on top of grilled onions, zucchini and yellow squash which accompanied the fish quite well. The fish was fresh, and superbly simply prepared with subtle ingredients.



To finish the meal, we went with 1/2 dozen raw oysters ($12). The oysters were fresh and yummy, but not as plump or juicy as the ones I've had in Perth, Sydney and Japan.



The lobster roll was pretty pricey, but it was a generous serving of lobster meat. Overall, it was a good experience.

A third Broadway theatre experience

Three Broadway shows in less than 2 months is impressive for someone who isn't a theatre-enthusiast. The last show I watched in Broadway was Phantom of the Opera with Honey. She wanted to watch it based on how much she'd liked the movie version, and I think she was probably more impressed with the theatre production. The show was held in the Majestic Theatre, which was pretty impressively decked with props for the show. I loved how the scenes with the crashing chandelier and gondola rides were executed. I was generally impressed with the whole production - a talented cast, great props and engaging plot. And having front-row seats certainly was fantastic. I guess it's not the longest running show in Broadway for nothing.

A shot of the theatre's interior before the curtained opened; the chandelier on stage after its crashing scene at the end of Act 1 (shot taken during the interval):


Front row seats meant we could see the ochestra below the stage; Times Square during the day:

Tuesday 9 October 2007

Back in Japan #2

In an earlier post, I mentioned that we have returned to Tokyo, so perhaps it is appropriate to show some photos of the Presidential Lounge at Newark Airport and the food on the business class flight. How does it compare to our first experience? The lounge in Narita Airport had more variety of food available, but we were served by Japanese flight attendants on the flight to Narita so we enjoyed great service. Food was the same - great presentation, lovely ingredients, but had "plane food" taste. Rob went for a non-seafood main course (steak) which was actually pretty nicely done. Me, always a sucker for seafood, I chose a lobster and fish dish - both the fish and lobster were overdone, but still tasty. Unfortunately, seafood is not a good ingredient for plane food as the heating appliances onboard is not so forgiving towards seafood. We also had the usual dessert, fruits and cheese after the meal. A full passenger is a quiet passenger...

Rob enjoying a bagel in the 'presidential' lounge at Newark airport:


Appetiser and salad: half lobster with Du Barry sauce and an assortment of sushi


Main dish of tilapia and lobster on rice:



Now for a bit of update for friends and family. We are staying in Chuo-ku, the centre of Tokyo. We are about 25minutes' walk east of Tokyo Station, the 30 minutes walk north east of Ginza, and fresh sushi in Tsukiji is only about a 20 minutes' walk south (yeah, we did a lot of walking yesterday). Certainly a nice change from inaka (rural) Japan where everything and everyone else is a 20 minutes drive away! The area we're staying in is a pretty nice area with river paths, and it is more quiet and less hustle-bustle than the more touristy spots like Shibuya, Akihabara and Ginza. Unfortunately, a central location in a big city doesn't come cheaply - if all goes well, soon we will be signing a long term lease to a nice albeit tiny 1-bedroom apartment which will cost a very dear 193,000yen (~AU$2000) per month.

As mentioned before, I secured a teaching job in Japan sometime during our stint in New York. I'll be teaching mainly kindy- and elementary-aged kids, and class sizes are pretty small (largest class is 4 kids) - it'll be great not having to deal with large classes of unmotivated teenagers! Pay is pretty good for what it is and work conditions are probably one of the best I've come across (although not as good as the JET Program, of course). The teacher I'm replacing leaves this position tomorrow, so I had to head to work on Saturday for my first day at work. She's a fellow Aussie and taught at this school for 5 years, so I have pretty big shoes to fill. The kids and parents all adore her, and my first day at work was pretty full-on with information overload, feeling overwhelmed and inadequate at the same time, and jetlag certainly didn't help at all. Let's hope I'll eventually get the hang of it.

Both Rob and I are working in Chiba but living in Tokyo, which is funny if you think about it. Is it worth paying high rent in Tokyo and commuting out for work? A lot of people do it the other way around - live outside of Tokyo and commute long hours into Tokyo for work. We have managed to convince ourselves that we are doing the smart thing here because Rob's office will eventually move to Tokyo, and it's a pretty straightforward no-train-transfer commute for the both of us to our respective workplaces, and the nearest train station is only 5mins walk away. And have I already mentioned that it is a really nice area?

This is the first time the both of us will be working full time away from home - I wonder how it will work out? I guess only time will tell.

Still playing catch-up with my photos, so more posts on New York to follow...

Monday 8 October 2007

Spanish @ Malaga, New York

With the exception of tapas, Spanish cuisine is sorely lacking in the Perth's dining scene. It must be Perth's isolation since it's not so much a problem elsewhere - Sydney has a Spanish quarter in its CBD, and I've even had paella in Chiba (although it was quite Japanised, as to be expected). Therefore we made it a point to visit a Spanish restaurant in NYC during our stay since there are many Hispanics living there and hence many authentic Spanish restaurants.

Honey was still visiting us, so it was a great first opportunity for her to try the Spanish cuisine. I chose Malaga because I was specifically looking for good paella, and reviews of this Spanish restaurant seem to agree that their paella is a must-try. We went to Malaga for Sunday lunch, and there was only one staff on the floor, but we were the only customers so we received pretty good attention from him. Service was very good and personable (I like being called seƱorita!), and the complementary fresh warm bread was scrumptious.

The menu was pretty extensive with a lot to offer, and once we'd placed our orders, we were each served with a plate of dressed salad. We had some tapas to begin with: Pasteles De Necorn (a spicy blue-claw lump crab meat cakes, $12.95) and some Spicy Spanish Sausages (chorizos, $7.95)). The chorizos were so-so (I'm not big on sausages) but the crabcake was really good - there were huge chunks of sweet crab meat.

Bread, salad and tapas


I knew what I wanted for my main dish even before sitting down: Paella Marinara (seafood, $19.95). My seafood paella came out in a large paellera with a serving big enough for two people. It was delicious, but for the first time dining out in NYC, I thought that the rice was somewhat under-seasoned (Americans love their salt here). I guess it was better for me to season the rice to my liking rather than not having the choice at all. The seafood mussels, prawns, clams and scallops.

The seafood paella, plated:


Rob went with Camarones a La Cazuela - roasted large 'shrimps' with orange butter vanilla and white wine sauteed mushrooms ($18.95). The prawns were a bit too buttery for my liking, but Rob and Honey loved it. They were cooked quite nicely and not too overdone.



Honey ordered Mariscada with Green Sauce (mixed seafood in sauce with parsley, onions, sherry and garlic, $19.95). The seafood came out in a large pot, and Honey got a large plate of saffron rice to eat with the seafood - once again, this was enough for two people. Once plated, it looked like a more saucy version of my paella. The sauce was deliciously garlicky, and went really well with the seafood. This was a good choice.

Mariscada, plated on saffronrice


After we were done with the main course, we were really stuffed (with leftovers to bring home), but both Honey and Rob insisted on having dessert. There wasn't much to choose from, so we settled on sharing two fruit sorbets ($6.25 each): pineapple and coconut. The presentation was so cute and very fitting since they were made with the real fruits. There were chunks of pineapple in the pineapple sorbet, and the coconut sorbet was very creamy.



It was a good experience, and I hope Honey enjoyed her first taste of Spanish food. I wish I could have more opportunities to eat authentic Spanish food.

Friday 5 October 2007

Back in Japan..

So, we said goodbye to New York a couple of days ago, and hello again to the land of jihanki (vending machines), combini (24-hour convenience stores) and wonderful sushi. It seems like I have done a lot of packing, unpacking and flying in the past 3 months (leaving Noto for Tokyo, then leaving Tokyo for New York, and finally leaving New York to return to Tokyo). Despite my initial apprehension about staying in New York for two months, I really enjoyed my stay there, and was quite sad to leave it behind. I have much to write in my livejournal, and lots of foodie experiences to show, but they may take awhile yet due to lack of time. I have found a teaching job at a good school in Chiba, and my first day is tomorrow - hopefully this jetlag will not affect my performance too badly (thankfully it's not as bad as the jetlag in NYC). We're also looking for apartments and hopefully we'll find a good one soon. Rent in Tokyo is expensive, and we're looking at paying around AU$2000/mth for a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. That's to be expected though, isn't it?

It is good to be back here.

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Italian @ Otto, New York

My MIL's flight back to Perth was last Saturday night, but she wanted to treat us to a nice meal before she left NYC. She's a pretty fussy eater, so we went with the safe choice of Italian food at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, one of the many restaurants opened by Mario Batali of the American Iron Chef fame. Otto is Batali's most casual restaurant, serving pizza, pasta and antipasti with a very extensive winelist. In fact, Otto also has a pretty impressive and big bar space at the front. I'd also heard from NY foodies that the best gelati in NYC can be had at any of Batali's establishments, so with this in mind, we eagerly anticipated having our meal at Otto.

The restaurant was quite spacious, and the decor was quite posh, yet not uncomfortably formal. The staff was professional and efficient, and our waitress was very helpful in explaining the menu (written mostly in Italian). I thought that the menu was somewhat limited in its offering of main courses, and in fact there were more items listed in the wine menu than on the food menu.

We shared two generous servings of Bruschetta ($6) from the daily specials menu - there are different toppings depending on the day of the week you dine at the restaurant. On Saturday, the topping was Lilies, a yummy combination of leeks, onion and ramps (wild leek used mainly in American cuisine). The bruschetta was delicious and quite filling. We also ordered antipasti of prosciutto and olives to share.



For my main course, I really liked the sound of Pizza Vongole ($14): clams, garlic and mozarella. And it was a sight to behold - the pile of unshelled clams atop a pizza. The pizza base was thin and crispy - like dry cracker-crispy. For those who are used to thicker and softer bases, you might not appreciate this crust, but I love crunchy cripsy stuff, so I liked this pizza. The mozarella was a bit dissapointing compared to Lombardi's, but at least the pizza wasn't as floppy. Sure the clams were a bit of a pain to shell, but at least they were fresh. Rob ordered the Rigatoni con Sausage and Chard ($9), which he ended up having to exchange with his mum's Spaghetti alla Carbonara ($9) because the carbonara was too eggy for her taste. Rob said that the rigatoni was a bit too al-dente to the point that he thinks it was too hard and undercooked. The carbonara was delicious, and indeed it was very eggy. And Honey ordered Pizza Quattro Stagioni ($14) with tomato and mozzarella and sectioned into four toppings: swiss chard, mushrooms, cotto and peppers (i.e. capsicum). She gave away half her pizza because she couldn't finish everything. My favourite sections were the ones with mushroom and capsicum toppings.

Pizza and pasta aren't too photogenic, so I'll post the only one worth showing - the clam pizza:


When we were finished with our respective dishes, the table was cleared and we were promptly presented with the dessert menu. And we weren't dissappointed. I'd heard that the Olive Oil Gelato is a must-try, and I know it sounds like it's an odd flavour for an ice cream, but it actually works. Both Honey and I ordered gelato ($7) where we can choose up to three flavours, and my choice of flavours were hazelnut stracciatella (deliciously nutty and chocolatey), ricotta (strong goat's milk flavour, not too pleasant for my palate) and concord grape sorbet. Rob ordered Olive Oil Coppetta ($9) which included olive oil gelato, passionfruit granita, raspberries, basil syrup and sea salt. The olive oil gelato tasted like olive oil, and the combination of the fruity granita and raspberries cut through the olive oil flavour quite nicely. Rob's mum ordered a strawberry mousse/meringue-type dessert, which was lovely and light. I eyed Biscotti ($6.50) on the menu and we all shared an order of the biscotti because no one would let me forego ordering gelato in place of biscotti (everyone else wanted to try as many types of gelato as they could without making pigs of themselves). They were yummy, although I wasn't too fond of the marzipan flavour in some of the biscuits.

My hazelnut, ricotta and grape combo; Rob's Olive Oil Coppetta:


My MIL's strawberry mousse/meringue dessert; and the Biscotti:


Overall, it was a pleasant experience, and it's like they say: the gelato is good.