On Wednesday, John and I went to one of his favorite lunch spots in Chicago - Roti. They’re known for having lots of Mediterranean foods that are healthy and easy on the wallet. John took me there around noon and the line was around the entire restaurant and out the door, but it moved really quickly. John recommended the Athenian Plate - a combo plate with steak roti, couscous, hummus, baba ganoush, and a cucumber and tomato salad (I also ordered a side of falafel):

John thought I might not like the hummus because it was too plain, but I thought it was way too salty. The couscous had dried currants and carrots and something that was sharp because it kind of hurt my mouth when I chewed. The steak roti was tender and flavorful (there was a hint of curry in the marinade), and the cucumber tomato salad was my favorite (because there’s no way you can get that wrong). The falafel wasn’t crispy enough and it didn’t taste like it was fried (it was too doughy for me).

John usually orders the same thing whenever he goes:

Two skewers of chicken, rice, and a tomato and cucumber salad. They also have great sauces, including a yogurt dill sauce that John really likes.

Here’s our video review:

Roti Review from Grace Yang on Vimeo.

Our quest for a good bowl of ramen continues. The last time I posted, we had just visited Ramen Setagaya, where we actually go to quite often. We’ve found another place, Ippudo, (which is absolutely amazing), but that post will be saved for later in the week. To get to the Minca story, I have to write about my new obsession with riding the bus. I started riding the bus because of the L outages during the weekends. Slowly, the M14 has become my best friend - it goes with me to the grocery store, to Chris’ house, to the gym, and surprisingly, to a lot of cool restaurants in the east village. On Saturday, we hopped on the M14 bus by Chris’ house and headed to Minca. The bus dropped us off practically in front of the restaurant (it was a 45 minute ride - sheeks!), and we headed in to order some gyoza and ramen. We started off with the pork gyoza:

The pork gyoza at Minca was actually better than the gyoza I’ve had at Ramen Setagaya, but I still don’t like the thin skin from gyoza’s and prefer Chinese dumplings.

There are a lot of options for ramen, but I decided on the Minca Ramen:

The ramen comes with a tea egg, which is a hard-boiled egg that’s cooked with soy sauce and other spices (quite easy to make and they’re very good since they already have a lot of flavor). The broth was very hearty and much thicker than other broth’s I’ve tasted in the city. Also, the pork Minca served had the most meat and least amount of fat; the pork was very flavorful and not overly salty. I really enjoyed the noodles as well:

The noodles are handmade and are flash cooked and perfectly chewy.

Chris ordered a different type of ramen with chicken instead of pork:

His broth wasn’t as hearty or tasty, but his chicken was very flavorful. Chris didn’t like the broth, but enjoyed the chicken and noodles.

So, it seems like we had a good experience at Minca, but about halfway through the meal, Chris mentioned that the broths were both very salty. At first I told him that he was trying to ruin my perfect ramen experience, but then I realized that I was drinking a lot more water than usual. By the end of the meal, I was completely dehydrated and needed several refills of my water before I was able to walk out of the restaurant. The broth I had was really good (better than Ramen Setagaya’s, I think), but it was just too salty and I probably shouldn’t have had all of it.

Tip: If you’re ever in the mood to eat by yourself, head to Minca - they have a bar area that’s perfect for one!

How to get to Minca:

Minca
536 E. 5th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B
New York, NY 10009
212-505-8001

To prepare for our Thomas Keller experience at The French Laundry (in a MONTH!), Chris and I went to Keller’s affordable bistro in Manhattan: Bouchon. Located in the Time Warner Center just below Per Se, Bouchon is a small cafe/restaurant that serves bistro goodies. The wait on a Saturday afternoon was about 20 minutes; not bad at all since there are so many stores to distract you while you’re waiting. We were promptly seated and given a bread basket while we contemplated what we wanted to order (we had a general idea of what we wanted, but had to narrow down the choices!).

Our bread basket with butter:

Each piece of bread was connected to the next so you could just break off a perfect-sized piece for yourself. The bread was extremely good, but would’ve been great if it had been hot (it’s asking a lot, I know). Also, the butter was really creamy and was the perfect spreading temperature (I love it when you can stick your knife in the butter and get exactly the amount you want without it being too hard or soft).

Chris and I decided to order a grilled cheese and tomato soup as well as a wagyu beef brisket sandwich (and dessert, of course). I started with the grilled cheese and tomato soup:

Grilled cheesy goodness:

The grilled cheese had two types of cheese (fontina and gruyere) sandwiched between two slices of brioche. The tomato soup tasted like fresh tomato puree and was very simple yet delicious. I read a couple of reviews before going to Bouchon and people usually complained that the food wasn’t hot (the kitchen is pretty small and it’s close to the bakery on the side of the restaurant), but my tomato soup was extremely hot - so hot that I burned my tongue!

Chris ordered the Wagyu Beef Brisket sandwich with side salad:

Initially, we wanted to order the lobster macaroni and cheese (since we both LOVE macaroni and cheese), but they only make a certain amount everyday and they were out by the time we got there. The wagyu beef brisket sandwich was okay, but not something I’d order again. The meat was a little dry, in my opinion. The side salad was overdressed and the dressing actually tasted a little bit like olive juice.

I was really interested in trying their desserts (there are so many to choose from!) and Chris and I decided to go with the Nutter Butter with vanilla ice cream:

Thomas Keller’s take on the nutter butter was soft, chewy, and and the filling inside was a lot better than what Nutter Butter offers. The cookie isn’t that sweet (even though it’s a ton of sugar and butter - I know because I recreated the recipe over the weekend), but the vanilla ice cream balanced the cookie out. It was amazing!

After our lunch at Bouchon, we walked over to the bakery to see what we could for take out:

They have TKO’s (Thomas Keller Oreos), sticky buns, and lots of macaroons. I didn’t order anything, but I’ll be back in a couple weeks for their macaroni and cheese!

What to order: Tartine Of Tuna Nicoise On Pain De Campagna, Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese, Vegetable Jardiniere On Toasted Multigrain, and the Nutter butter cookie for dessert.

How to get to Bouchon Bakery:

Bouchon Bakery
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019
212-823-9366

Ryan, the manager that took me to Morimoto last year, invited me to Artisanal last week to celebrate the end of a project we were both on (the project ended a long time ago but our schedules didn’t match until recently). We chose Artisanal because I’d never visited but heard good things from a coworker and Ryan agreed to go because he’s had their cheesecake and thought it would be a good choice for lunch. We started off with a little bread:

It was just the two of us but we wanted to try a lot of things on the menu, so we decided to order the macaroni and cheese as an appetizer (in addition to the cheese sampler we ordered). The macaroni and cheese came with a side salad:

The macaroni and cheese had a nice baked crust and large chunks of prosciutto. The combination of cheeses was really sinful and delicious - we finished about half of it and were already stuffed! Too bad we ordered two sandwiches AND a cheese sampler:

We ordered three different types of cheese, my favorite being the Coupole. I almost bought some to take home, but I stopped myself because I’m trying to be more healthy (AFTER this lunch).

For our main courses, we ordered two different sandwiches. Ryan ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with English Cheddar, Smoked Bacon & Apple:

The only thing the sandwich was missing was a nice bowl of tomato soup! It was a great grilled cheese sandwich (it should be at $15.50!).

I ordered a Berkshire pork sandwich with pickled cabbage and muenster cheese because I’m a sucker for Berkshire pork and I happen to love muenster cheese:

Berkshire pork/pulled pork sandwiches can be really great if they’re done correctly (see The Spotted Pig). Artisanal’s sandwich, however, was really terrible. Like, absolutely disgusting; the pork was really dry and the pickled cabbage just tasted sour. It kind of ruined my Artisanal experience, actually.

On the way out, we stopped by the fromagerie:

We also ordered a cheesecake to go (so we could share with people in the office AND because we couldn’t eat another bite) and the cheesecake was absolutely amazing. It comes with caramel sauce, a pecan-shortbread crust, and pecan praline crunch that was so f-ing delicious. You can order them online here. On our walk back, Ryan and I were trying to decide whether Artisanal was 3.5 Grace Face’s or 4 Grace Face’s. We decided it was 3.5 because my sandwich was pretty gross. If I go back, I’m going for another slice of their amazing cheesecake!

How to get to Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro:

Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro
2 Park Ave
New York, NY 10016
212-532-4033

Unlike Chinese food and Korean food, Japanese food can’t be found in a small neighborhood or street in Manhattan; it’s found on little side streets in midtown, inside grocery stores, or if you’re in the mood for disappointing small eats, in Astor place. Ennju, a small eatery near union square, serves Japanese food in a cafeteria style setting for nearby office worker bees and NYU students. I’m a fan of the place and have been going to ennju since I moved to New York. They offer cooked items (beef curry, pork cutlets, soups, etc) as well as sushi, salads, edamame, and other Japanese treats. I always end up ordering the same thing - curry with a pork cutlet:

The good thing about Ennju is that their curry already has beef inside (well, not good for vegetarians, but good for meat eaters like myself). The bad thing about having beef included: I ALWAYS forget there’s already meat in the curry so I end up ordering a pork cutlet on the side (which means double meat!!). Ennju is fast, convenient (especially after a Saturday filled with reading books at the Union Square Barnes and Noble), and they give you salads with your curry order. Another perk: half-off sushi an hour before closing!

How to get to Ennju:

Ennju
20 E 17th Street between 5th Ave & Broadway
New York, NY 10003
646-336-7004