Restaurant Review
04 Jun 2007

Dumpling House – New York City

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6 Comments

May 27 and 28, 2007
Cuisine: Chinese

118 Eldridge St, New York 10002
Btwn Grand & Broome St

Phone: 212-625-8008
Website: none

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Chives and Pork Boiled Dumpling (10/$2.00)

Chives and Pork Fried Dumplings (5/$1.00)

Sesame Pancake with Beef ($1.50)

Sesame Pancake with Tuna Fish ($1.50)

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Gastronomer: This past Memorial Day weekend, The Astronomer and I headed to New York City for a 36 hour food tour. The only items on our agenda were breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which kept us busy and well-fueled. Prior to embarking upon the city, I meticulously researched and composed an ambitious list of eateries I wanted to try or revisit:

  1. Babycakes NYC: 248 Broome St New York, NY 10002 (212) 677-5047
  2. Billy’s Bakery: 184 9th Ave New York, NY 10011 (212) 647-9956
  3. Bouchon Bakery: 10 Columbus Cir. New York, NY 10019 (212) 823-9366
  4. Doughnut Plant: 379 Grand St New York, NY 10002 (212) 505-3700
  5. Dumpling House: 118 Eldridge St New York, NY 10002 (212) 625-8008
  6. Magnolia Bakery: 401 Bleecker St New York, NY 10014 (212) 462-2572
  7. Momofuku Ssam Bar: 207 2nd New York, NY 10003 (212) 254-3500
  8. Momofuku: 163 1st Ave # 2 New York, NY 10003 (212) 475-7899
  9. N.Y. Dosas: W. 4th St. at Sullivan St New York, NY 10014 (917) 710-2092
  10. Peter Luger Steak House: 178 Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11211 (718) 387-7400
  11. Shake Shack: 11 Madison Ave New York, NY 10010 (212) 889-6600

Due to a combination of time and stomach constraints, we didn’t make it to all the places listed above. But seven unique delights in 36 hours isn’t too shabby! Our first and last meal was at Dumpling House located in my brother’s ‘hood—the Lower East Side.

Astronomer: Dumpling House was an amazing find—delicious northern Chinese cuisine at truly incredible prices. With my friend Miho in tow, the total dinner bill for three came out to a mere $8 for twenty pork and chive dumplings, two large stuffed sesame pancakes, and a bottle of water. Placing our order in the chaos of the crowded, tiny restaurant was not easy, but we eventually managed to communicate with the staff and received our food.

Gastronomer: While the wait at Dumpling House can be long due to its immense popularity and limited staff, the open kitchen provides great entertainment. There are a handful of stools located in the back of the restaurant for in-house diners, but the restaurant’s cramped space isn’t the most inviting. We took our dumplings and sesame pancakes to Roosevelt Park two blocks away to enjoy.

Astronomer: Both varieties of dumpling were flavorful and juicy; so juicy in fact that we were forced to eat standing up to save our clothes. I preferred the boiled dumplings, while the Gastronomer liked the pan-fried ones. We all agreed that both types were irresistible.

Gastronomer: The fried dumplings had the most wonderful texture that was both soft and chewy, especially along the crisped edges. The boiled dumplings’ exterior was delicate and subtle. The pork and chive interiors were seasoned fantastically; definitely no soy sauce required.

The sesame pancakes were an interesting creation—giant spheres of dough are deep fried and cut into triangular wedges. The wedges can either be eaten plain or sliced down the middle and stuffed with tuna, beef, or vegetables. Each sandwich is garnished with pickled carrots and cilantro, which reminded The Astronomer and I of bánh mì. The tuna filling was spicy, while the beef was smoky in flavor. I highly recommend the tuna sesame pancake.

Astronomer: We liked everything so much that we gave Dumpling House the honor of being the only place that we visited twice on our tour, returning the next evening after our plans to eat at N.Y. Dosas fell through.

Dumpling House on Urbanspoon

Recipe
02 Jun 2007

Apricot and Berry Crumble

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3 Comments

Berry and Apricot Crumble

An excerpt from Ruth Reichl’s Gourmet Weekly e-newsletter—

The first California apricots showed up at the market this week, which makes me absurdly happy. Fresh apricots, with their understated tartness, make the best—and easiest—desserts. You don’t even need a knife to cut them. Here’s my favorite crumble:

  • 2 pounds apricots
  • 1 stick butter
  • 3/4 C. sugar
  • 3/4 C. flour
  • Grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull apart 2 pounds of apricots, remove pits, and put apricots in a pie plate.

If you don’t have 2 pounds of apricots or want to include berries into the mix, add an assortment of blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc. to equal 2 pounds of fruit total.

Melt 1 stick of butter and stir in 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup flour. Grate in a bit of fresh nutmeg and cover apricots with the mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.

Berry and Apricot Crumble

Restaurant Review
01 Jun 2007

Audrey Claire – Philadelphia

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3 Comments

May 25, 2007
Cuisine: American (New), Tapas

276 S 20th Street, Philadelphia 19103
Between Rittenhouse Square & Spruce Street

Phone: 215-731-1222
Website: http://www.audreyclaire.com

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Course I: Spicy Hummus, House Cured Salmon and Mesclun with Herb Vinaigrette Flatbread ($9.50)

Course II: Buffalo Mozzarella, Plum Tomatoes, and Israeli Basil Flatbread ($9)

Course III: Grilled Octopus with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon and Fresh Herbs Over Greens ($8)

Course IV: Grilled Shrimp with Saffron Rice, Spring Peas, Chorizo and Paprika Vinaigrette ($11)

Course V: Spiced Lamb Meatball with Chickpea-Carrot Salad ($10)

Course VI: Sauteed Softshell Crabs with Black Bean and Roasted Corn Salsa ($23)

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After four years of arduous seminars, tough problem sets, and way too much stress, the madness that is Swarthmore College finally ended for The Astronomer late last week. To properly commemorate this red letter day, champagne, good food, and great friends were in order. The Astronomer and I, along with his BFF Matt and teammate Connor, headed over to Audrey Claire for a celebratory feast with a bottle of bubbly in hand (and a lot of beers too).

Due to the extensive wait for a table outside, we opted to sit indoors. Luckily our group was large enough to merit our own table rather than a communal one because I hate hearing other diners’ conversations, which is oftentimes unavoidable in this compact space.

I always have a blast eating at Audrey Claire because the menu encourages mixing and matching flavors and sharing food family-style. My dining partners were refreshingly open-minded eaters so it was a breeze choosing which dishes to order.

We started off with two of Audrey Claire’s signature flatbreads. The spicy hummus with house cured salmon did not disappoint. I’ve tried this dish once prior and it was just as good as I remembered. Truly a perfect summertime delight. The Buffalo mozzarella, plum tomatoes, and Israeli basil flatbread was excellent as well, but perhaps too closely resembled a pizza. High quality ingredients and simple flavors are what makes these flatbreads sensational.

The Astronomer insisted that we order the grilled octopus because he is mildly obsessed with the tentacled creature. When the dish arrived, we were all let down by the ratio of octopus to greens; from the menu’s description we thought the octopus would be the star. Expectations aside, the dish was pleasantly light and the octopus was decent in spite of being chopped up into bits.

Our fourth course was chosen by Matt—Grilled Shrimp with Saffron Rice, Spring Peas, Chorizo and Paprika Vinaigrette. The one shrimp I had was suitable, but not as jumbo or juicy as I would have liked. The vinaigrette added a lovely tang to the shrimp. We all agreed that the saffron rice was more or less blah. I’m always surprised by how mild saffron tastes because its dying properties are indeed phenomenal.

Our fifth course—Spiced Lamb Meatball with Chickpea-Carrot Salad—was the highlight of the evening and perhaps the best dish I’ve ever eaten at Audrey Claire. The meatballs were intensely savory and impressively retained a deep lamb flavor. The chickpea-carrot salad was sweet, cinnamon-y, and amazingly delicious. The Astronomer usually shuns chickpeas, but loved the salad a great deal. A subtle mint sauce brought the dish to a whole new level.

Our final course was one of the evening’s specials—softshell crabs. Two good-sized crabs were fried up nicely, drizzled with spicy mayonnaise, and paired with a black bean and roasted corn salsa. The individual elements of the dish were tasty, but the entree overall lacked a certain something to tie it all together. I’m always a sucker for ordering specials and unfortunately they always seem to be a let down; I need to stick to the tried and true menu items.

FYI: this post marks the 100th restaurant review on gas•tron•o•my!

Dessert at Capogiro

Audrey Claire on Urbanspoon