THE TASTE OF NYC/

In my entire 2 week stay in NY, I didn’t have one bad meal. Not one. But there were three meals that really stood out.

Mark and I ventured out to the swanky meat packing district for the sole purpose of going to Morimoto- a Japanese restaurant whose interior was done by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. His works really blew me away. This restaurant is the only thing he did in the U.S. so I just had to see it. Little did I know that Morimoto is headed by the Iron Chef.

So, how did I find their food? All I can say after taking my first bite was “ANG TSARAP!”. I said that with the enthusiasm of a 6 year old going into Jollibee for the first time. The meal really was sarap- and to think I was talking about fish?! Who would have thought that a beef-eater like me would be so turned on by Sea Bass. There are no words to describe it. I could start by saying that it was tender... smoky... rich... but in the end, I'd just have to go with, "ANG TSARAP!". Ang tsarap talaga.

My second most memorable meal would have to be in this very classy restaurant aptly named, "Shake Shack". That's the great thing about this trip, we really pushed our budgets to the extremes, but whether you shell 10 dollars or a 100, you won't be disappointed. So for less than 10 dollars, I managed to savor a burger that rivals Hot Shots (when it first opened, atleast) and the best effin Hot Chocolate in the world. Maybe it was the combination of being outdoors and the 40 degree weather, that blew my mind away. But I highly doubt it. This hot chocolate was off the charts. It was creamy and soothing and must've been made of equal parts Lindt chocolate, marshmallows and cream. Yum.

It was so good I insisted that I have my last meal in NY there.

The third most memorable place would have to be Alice’s Tea Cup. It’s a small café resto near Central Park. The theme is Alice in Wonderland, but the real draw was the food. They had the most amazing ginger tofu salad dressing. I also had some eggs benedict that I loved. Their food was very meticulously prepared and it made a difference. Even after such a heavy meal, I felt invigorated... cleansed even.

Another great thing about this place was that it didn't treat itself like a restaurant. The waitresses wore their own quirky ensembles, and talked about the food like they had cooked it. Being there felt like being invited for tea at someone's home... you were a guest and they went out of their way to make you feel special. Just thinking about it makes me smile now.


Morimoto