Chinese Food Done Japanese Style.

I thought I would never actually try this place because my Japanese friends say that the ramen isn't good here. However they did tell me that some of their other food is decent, their fried rice in particular. So instead we went there to eat Chinese food. Not really, it happened more by coincidence. My friend Nick and I weren't all that hungry so we decided it best to share a few things, and not their ramen, which they are known for. We had the "green fried rice", which was fried rice with tsukemono, which are japanese pickles, and the "mabo tofu", which is basically a traditional standard chinese dish. They were both delicious, especially the fried rice, with its unique taste from the very japanese special ingredient. I would definitely recommend Menkui-Tei for these dishes, but can't speak to the ramen. I'm sure I will try it one day soon.

Menkui-Tei
63 Cooper Sq (near St. Marks)
New York, NY
(212) 228-4152

Not Your Average Dove.

La Colombe, which means "dove" in french, is Soho's new hidden gem. Until now Gimme was the only option to get a good coffee. And although I love Gimme, there's no place to sit down and hang with friends. This was a much needed addition to the area, located perfectly between Soho and Nolita, this will no doubt be my regular stop. The staff was super friendly, I chatted with the manager for a while and I could see we were definitely on the same page with coffee and culture. I loved the whole experience and the coffee tasted great! The cups are cute and give off this whole french cozy feeling. I thought it was a nice touch to contrast the quite modern interior. Luckily, it has no sign outside so its easy to miss, making it a bit transparent to tourists... but for you local coffee connoisseurs, go find it and enjoy! See you there.

La Colombe
270 Lafayette St
New York, NY
(212) 625-1717
lacolombe.com

Cambodian Catfish.

I have been meaning to check out Num Pang for some time now. It's another Vietnamese, pardon me, Cambodian sandwich shop near my place. Although the name and guy behind Num Pang is Cambodian, it does takes and feel like a banh mi so I put it in my line up of vietnamese sandwiches. Since coming back from Colombia, where I ate fish every meal, I've been trying to stay off meat so I tried the peppercorn catfish sandwich. It was awesome! The taste of the fish really came through. They use a special mayo sauce, which makes it really different from the vietnamese style and it has a huge cucumber pickle it in which was a nice fresh touch! It's basically a to go stand but they have a cute this seating area upstairs which I found to be a huge bonus, because I hate eating on the street. One thing to note though is that is it not cheap....all the sandwiches are around $7.50 and they are really small! It was actually the perfect size for me, because I usually only eat half a banh mi sandwich, but for those of you looking for a good size portion, this probably is more of snack stop for you.... but a yummy snack at that!

Num Pang
21 east 12th Street
New York, NY
(212)255-3273
numpangnyc.com/

That Baoguette is Packed!

A few weeks back a few of us from work decided to do the 10-15 minute trek to Baoguette to try their vietnamese sandwiches. A whole crew from Anna's work did the same and we met there. My first trip I tried the original pork banh mi, which was good but a bit too rich with the paté...i would try it again I think it just wasn't working well with my massive hang over I had that day=) I went back the next week and tried the catfish which I heard was amazing.... and it was! They ask you if you want it spicy, and usually I would say yes, but in the case of the catfish no need since it already packs a lot of heat as is. I think Baoguette is a good deal, prices are low and taste is really good. They just opened a new location near my house in the east village and I have yet to try their sandwiches. I did try their summer rolls and sadly there were not that good =(

Baoguette
61 Lexington Ave (between 25th St & 26th St)
New York, NY
(212) 532-1133
baoguettes.websiteanimal.com

Bánh Me!

I have to apologize for the massive delay in posts, I've still been shooting (and eating) just not posting.... so some of these are from a few weeks ago. Recently, I have been on this vietnamese sandwich kick, searching for the perfect one. It probably started after having them at An Choi and thought I would test out a few others. So finally went to try Banh Mi Bakery in Chinatown, it was cheap and delicious! Sandwiches range from $3.75 to $4.50. I had read somewhere to try their classic banh mi and it was indeed tasty, it had all the right traditional textures going on; the meat, the jalapenos and the crunchy baguette bread. This one didn't have paté in it, which was okay with me... sometimes the paté can get too rich. There's no where really to sit down in there so best to take it to go and eat in the nearby park.

Bánh Mì Saigon Bakery
138 Mott St (near Grand)
New York, NY
(212) 941-1541