One thing I have yet to talk about is how much I love good food. I am spoiled, stuck-up, and overly obsessive when it comes to good food. I eat at great restaurants and spend most of my money on food, and I love doing it. Last week was a great week of eating out for me.
It all started on Monday night at Momofuku Noodle. I absolutely love this place. Momofuku has 4 restaurants, Momofuku Noodle, Ssalm Bar, Momofuku Milk, and the famous Momofuku KO (a fifth one is opening any day now called Ma Peche). Anyway, I’ve been to all of them, but I frequent Noodle about twice a month. Momofuku Ko is the prix fixe 10+ course meal, which is outstanding, but I certainly am not running back; some of the courses are a little too out of the ordinary for me, such as cow’s cheek (which I just did not like at all). Noodle is much more casual, and the food is terrific. I usually get the Momofuku Ramen and multiple orders of the pork buns; the pork buns are absolutely incredible and if you’ve never tried them you need to get to Noodle ASAP (Momofuku Milk, the dessert bar, also serves them).
On Tuesday evening I stuck with the same Noodle/Pork theme, and went to Ippudo. I had never been but heard from the Wolfe (a very trusted restaurant and food source) that Ippudo has the “second best pork buns and pork ramen around, behind Momofuku Noodle of course.” The wait was just over an hour for 3 of us, which apparently isn’t too long for Ippudo. We ordered 2 orders of pork buns, Standard Ramen (with pork belly and shoulder), Chicken Wings, Pork Belly, and a cucumber salad. I prefer the ramen at Noodle, but don’t get me wrong, this was the second best ramen around. The pork buns were different than Noodle; they had a touch of mayo, hot sauce, and lettuce, making it a little more of an Americanized version of the pork buns. Wow are pork buns good. Overall, absolutely loved Ippudo. In fact, I loved it so much that I went back two days later.
Wednesday afternoon I had P.J. Clarkes for lunch; top 15 burger in the city, love the place. For dinner Wednesday I ate at Blue Water Grill. It is the same exact menu as Atlantic Grill and simply an overall great meal. On Thursday I had ‘wichcraft for lunch and ordered a hot turkey sandwich. I do find ‘wichcraft a little over rated, but nonetheless a very enjoyable sandwich. Thursday evening I had a 9:15 pm reservation at Nobu for my fathers birthday, but was starving at about 5 pm, so as I referenced above, I went back to Ippudo for a little snack with my mother. Again, wow are those pork buns good.
So, Nobu….Nobu is as good food as you will find anywhere, but frankly I find the combination of the prices and the portions insulting. The only thing that I find myself happy to pay for is the tuna sashimi salad. It’s a top restaurant in New York, and I absolutely love the dishes, but I am not running back there. And by the way, Mark Wahlberg was at the table behind us; he happens to be the man.
Now comes the best meal of them all…Milos. Friday was my fathers birthday and we decided to take advantage of the lunch special at Milos Estiatorio. I had never been to Milos, but it is widely considered one of the very best restaurants in New York (and one of the most expensive, they charge for fish by the pound). I ordered the crab cake appetizer than had the grilled salmon, while my father had a greek salad followed by the tuna burger. The meal actually exceeded my extremely high expectations. Milos has the freshest fish around, an amazing décor that makes you feel as though you are in Greece, and a bill that may make you faint (however the lunch special is amazing and only cost us about $80 total).
The week was capped off by a crappy Ranch1 chicken sandwich at the Knicks game Friday night (yes, I went back to the Knicks game). A perfect start to my Friday night out, which I thought was going to be at a bar in New York City. However…
My next meal after the Knicks game was an 8 AM breakfast in Atlantic City Saturday morning.
