yuerstruly

Welcome to my post where I cover literally every single order of food I had during my week-long stay in NYC :)

photos on tumblr

Kopitiam | Chinese/Malay Breakfast
Kaya Butter Toast: soooo good, so happy j convinced me to order this, and she said this was something she would have basically every time she came here!! might have to invest in some pandan-coconut jam myself…
Pulut Panggang: a little too savory for my liking, but a good contrast from the sweetness of the kaya butter toast
Kopi Tarik: i feel like I'm never the best job of the coffee because my taste lives on a spectrum where I can't taste anything in between but I liked this enough! it was very sweet though
Located in Flushing. $19 with individual orders, pulut panggang split

First Cup Cafe
Lox Toast: loved how it ended up looking, and always down for some salmon. i had to pick off the red (?) onions because i don't eat onions, but other than that, i loved it! pretty sure there was something else i usually wouldn't have eaten, but it was mixed with the cream (?) and i didn't hate it
Mango Matcha Latte: super sweet, did like it enough though. both the matcha and mango were very strong
Located in Astoria. $22

Sami's Kabab House | Afghan
- Afghan Naan: warm, went perfectly with the sauces. never had it before, so it felt crunchier than i was expecting?
- Mantu Dumplings: so good. sauce was great with the naan
- Lamb Kabab: feel like you can't really go wrong with lamb kabab? it was typical tasting, i would say, which isn't a bad thing at all! expectations within range
- Chicken Afghani Kabab: actually kind of shocked by the texture of the chicken, but looking back, it makes sense that a halal place would have better meat texture than the average chicken meat you find in america, olive garden or otherwise. it was tender, but not so much that it felt grainy, which is the biggest pet peeve i have with american chicken!! god, don't white people know how to make ANYTHING??
- Beef Kofta Kabab: liked this more than the lamb kabab, less than the korma chalao lamb … meat on the firmer side
- Korma Chalao Lamb: if i hadn't been wow'd by the chicken afghani kabab, i think the meat here would have been my favorite … there's just something about chewy meat made with the perfect heat and i can't really explain it well
- Firnee: got it for free after oomf left a review on … google? i want to say? i didn't love it, but i think it satisfied the mini dessert craving i had
Located in Astoria. $35 per person. Party of 4. Large portions.

Hojokban | Modern/Fusion Korean
Truffle Potato Pancake: probably my favorite order of that morning!! very crispy on the outside. once again, yes i did scrape off the onions before eating it. the texture on the inside was perfect because it contrasted enough with the exterior but wasn't too soft
Galbi-jjim: can't really go wrong with a more classic (?) order. had some tteok inside. the meat was tender but chewy and i thought the flavoring was perfect. wouldn't change a thing about it, and this is coming from someone who easily finds things too spicy or too [insert other flavor descriptor]. it was also nice of the workers to help cut up the pieces so we could easily grab bite-sized portions with our chopsticks instead of chomping it through like cavemen
Ramyun Fried Rice: a surprisingly good order?? they had shin ramyun bits in the fried rice, and i would say it was 50-60% of the taste? vs a typical kimchi fried rice
Perilla Oil Noodle: pretty good and apparently a popular/recommended order here. i guess i'm also stupid because i wasn't expecting it to be cold when i took my first bite, but i liked it :)
Located in K-town. $48 per person. Party of 3. Kind of too pricey for my liking.

Gulp | Classic Taiwanese Cuisine
Chicken Cutlet Rice Bento: actually one of the best chicken cutlets i've had, and it might rival some i've had in taiwan (not the super good ones though)!! and you might think, yuer, of course, you think it's good, and it's taiwanese! no, you don't understand!! chicken meat and pork are not cleaned up the same way in america the way they are in asia, so they end up tasting different, which is why i was pretty surprised by the texture of my chicken here. i also loved the glass noodles (?) on the side, especially because it wasn't mixed with too many vegetables that would have ruined the texture for me
Mala Fries: not so spicy that i was dying and i thought it was enough, but they should've gone harder on the numbing aspect, y'know, because it's called MALA fries not LA fries
Located in Long Island City. $16.5 per person. Takeout for 4. Mala fries split.

Peasant | Italian
Di Palo's Burrata: thought it was kinda small?? but i really liked it, enough that i didn't mind the garlic (yes, another thing i don't love, though funny of me to say that when i'm eating italian)
Rigatoni: a "can't go wrong" order in my eyes. made to my liking, and i think the breadcrumbs added to the texture
Bucatini Carbonara: least favorite of the 3 pastas we ordered, but i think it most definitely had to do with the fact that it was too al dente for my liking. i also felt like it lacked a bit of flavor…? kind of felt like i was just slurping cream and the taste didn't really last in my mouth
Rosette: favorite!!! the short rib was so good. unlike the carbonara, i could still taste some of it after drinking a few gulps of water. the short rib was saltier than i'm used to it, but wrapped with everything else, worked perfectly
Borlotti Beans: i don't have much to say, but in the sense that, i would have bigger problems if the beans WERE flop. probably would not order again though
Located in Nolita. $37 per person. Party of 4. Actually not bad price for Italian.

Phayul | Himalayn
Fried Momo: got the chili one…? it's very chonky, not sure if it is my favorite though
Thenthuk: okay, i'm a little bit unsure if the noodle texture is meant to be on the softer side, but i didn't mind it despite probably not being the biggest fan normally!! i do like soup though, and it was nice to have on a rainy day
we also ordered a mushroom dish with pork, but am fully blanking on what it is called and none of the menus i'm finding online sound like what we had. not a fan of the pork here! i did like the mushroom though
Located in Jackson Heights. $22 per person. Party of 3.

Izakaya MEW | Japanese
Purple Mellow (Cocktail): i kind of think i should've ordered something else but i also don't think anything else on the menu was screaming at me? but the vodka was really strong, and i couldn't taste much of the fruit flavors, which i felt was kind of a shame
Hotate Carpaccio: the texture was quite soft, that i almost felt like it would turn mushy into my mouth? thank god it didn't. ordered this because i'm a baby with raw seafood (and meat, for that matter), but glad we did order this
Age Dashi Tofu: agedashi tofu is one of my go-to orders half the time. i wouldn't say this one was bad, but i wish the skin had been a tad bit crispier. i did find it funny that each of the four pieces was topped with something different, and i had to shove the one with onions in k's direction
Kushiyaki Set: i don't mind the picks for the set, but i do wish these were easier to split between two people, especially the meat!! struggled a bit splitting the one on the far right. the middle two also had an odd number of pieces, which i get in theory, but once again, makes it hard to split
Dynamite Roll: pretty good!! for how much i don't care about tuna, or raw tuna for that matter. glad we got a roll that was on the heavier side to balance the other orders that tasted lighter
Located in Midtown. $55 per person. Party of 2. Cocktails were $15 each, so I don't think the price was crazy.

Raku | Japanese Udon
- Toriten Udon: well, i love it. i realized belatedly, many days after i had returned to california from nyc, that i ordered this exact same thing two years ago when i went to raku in east village. and how did i know? i stared at the picture i took of my udon for so long that i went, "oh this clear as fuck soup looks EXACTLY like a picture i took two years ago in nyc" and voilà, i look at my INSTAGRAM posts and there's a fucking toriten udon order… anyhow, i loved it, and there's nothing wrong with ordering something that tastes good again! ordered the chicken on the side, then put the chicken into the soup when i felt like i wanted to eat it, which i feel makes for the ideal experience
- Chamomile Mango Mousse: glad we ordered this because i wasn't really feeling the other stuff…there was a …. cookie? something? at the bottom and i think i should have eaten it with the mousse, but separate, it's just mousse. and very hard crunchy cookie. not that i /mind/ but i don't think i was getting the full experience here
Located in Midtown. $35 per person. Dessert split between 3.

Haidilao | Hotpot
my friend was running late, so it was very funny when the server was kind of going, "please sit down!! let me get you some hot tea!!" like actually i kind of want that cold drink even though i just came inside the building … good service though! one thing haidilao will never miss with it. i don't love how the pots are done. like, why is there a water option? the fuck? i'm so used to yuan yang being the default that water as an option didn't even occur to me. the last time i went to haidilao was whenever the one in cupertino first opened, so … i don't think there was anything novel about what haidilao has to be honest …? from the meat to the vegetables and the like (which are just classic orders), to the mini bar to the untouched shrimp chips that were about to go stale. obviously pricey too, but considering my friend had a birthday (which is, to me a humiliation ritual of sorts in a place like haidilao), i'm letting this all slide!!
Located in Flushing. $34 per person, but we didn't order much.

Zhengxin Chicken Steak | Chinese Street Food
- Original Chicken Cutlet w/ Cumin, Spicy Powder: actually so good, but i was dying a bit from how spicy it was. i also made the mistake of ordering an entire portion for myself when i could have split it with my friend, leaving me with no stomach to eat anything else!! but honestly, don't regret ordering this, and i think i might have to have this when i'm back in the bay, just to see if it'll give me that same spice rush
Located in Flushing. $13. VERY FILLING so I say it's worth the price.

Heytea
- Mochi Yingde Black Milk Tea: p good, would rate this a 8/10? not mind blowing, but i really liked the mochi and the salty tinge of the drink (girl who still hasn't figured out what the hell yingde is)
- King Jasmine Guava: new drink, which is so good. thank you alice and kristy for mentioning it! the only downside to this was the fucking STRAWS. they gave those flat straws where you sip from three tiny ass holes, which kind of ruins the experience. i'm not asking for a big straw where pearls can fit, just a straw that transports liquid into my mouth. normally. i heard there is location dependent maybe…? if so, that's evil and the LIC location (and every other shop that does this) needs to get rid of those straws!! 10/10
Went to Long Island City, Times Square locations.

Mixue
- Matcha Soft Serve: i loved this because it wasn't crazy strong on the matcha. ate this while almost getting lost navigating to the new kpop nara location and getting blast in the face with wind. 8/10
- Taro Ball Milk Tea: there was nothing wrong with the milk tea, which didn't stand out to me taste wise, but the taro balls were too hard for my liking. i'm not sure if it's because not enough people order this?? so the texture hardens over time … not ordering this again though!! 5/10
Went to Broadway, Canal Street locations.

Arteassan
- Orange Blossom Iced Tea: mj would hate me for this but this could've been a smidge stronger on the floral flavor. it was pretty sweet. quite liked it though. 7.5/10
Went to Long Island City location.

Mr. Wish
- Kumquat Green Tea: maybe not the order i should've gotten…? it was quite light and i didn't mind, but it also wasn't groundbreaking. 6.5/10
Order from Great Neck, brought to me by b.

Spring Hill Cafe
- Osmanthus Latte: well, i have never had so many issues with a drink in all my life! jk, quickly will probably always be the bane of my existence for how much it makes me want to throw up. anyway, i ordered an osmanthus latte because i was craving it, but the drink did not have osmanthus syrup OR osmanthus latte. the store sprinkled osmanthus petal bits onto the top of the drink and called it a day, and even after mixing it, it just tasted like floral crunch instead of osmanthus flavor SEEPED into the latte. even as a standalone latte, this was mid because they couldn't balance the coffee and milk right, and i felt like i was tasting either layers of coffee or milk, instead of … a latte. 2/10 and it only gets points in the sense that it didn't make me physically vomit
I came here for a Love and Deepspace event, and I felt that the cafe didn't take full advantage of the fact that there was … an event running there. It was advertised as a cupsleeve event. Usually, when you go to a cupsleeve event, you get a cupsleeve AS LONG AS you order a drink. But here, no? You had to order a specific drink corresponding to the love interest you wanted a cupsleeve of, and you had to pay $4 more for the "set." What?? Who decided this was a good idea? I am NOT paying $12 for a shitty osmanthus latte and a thick, flabby piece of cardboard. I wouldn't have minded ordering a specific drink to get the cupsleeve, but paying an extra $4 is crazy work. The baristas also seemed lost at times. I went with my friend, who specifically asked for oat milk instead of whole milk. They approached them after two orders of identically-looking osmanthus lattes were placed on the counter, asking which one had oat milk. The one who recieved the question wasn't the one who made the drink, so she turned to the other person there, who was in the middle of making another drink, and asked if they had made one of the orders with oat milk. I don't believe she got a straight-up response from her coworker, and five second later, turned back to my friend and asked what they ordered. Incompetence!! Sorry, but this shouldn't be happening!!
Located in the ether JK. Between Chinatown and … something? Very weird area of nothing.

Daniel Corpuz Chocolatier
- Cookie: honestly a very good cookie, and they heated it up for us!! love a warm cookie on a windy winter day. i think i'll have to go back for expensive chocolate at some point
Located in Chinatown.

Bao's Pastry
- Egg Tart: mj recommended this place to me, and alice also mentioned it. i do believe the egg tart texture was made just the way i like it, and i'm saying this as someone who did not like eating egg tart for so many years before figuring out what i liked! unfortunately, the egg tart i bought had kind of chilled. i wish i could eat a warm one to properly judge
Located in Flushing. $2 :)