Rhong Tiam

What We Ate:

Banana Roti Crepe

On our last full day in New York we visited three restaurants, this being the last one. We have soldom enjoyed something sweet on the trip, so I wanted to get a good dessert in. Rhong Tiam definately satisfied this craving with their banana roti, an egg, banana, and sweetened condensed milk crepe. This could not have been a better end to our day. It was not too heavy but was sweetly satisfying. The outside of the crepe was exactly how it should have been- thin and crisp. It barely separated the velvety inside from the addictive sweetened condensed milk that draped the crepe. I could not tell the difference between the texture from the egg and the banana, but I could taste the distinct banana flavor. Both Nate and I enjoyed this crepe, and I would recommend it as a sweet snack/dessert for two.

Dong Yi Feng

Today we took a chance and got something called Dim Sum (a style of Chinese Food prepared as small bite-sized or individual portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates - Wikipedia) and it was definitely a new experience. After having a little difficulty actually finding the front door, we were surprised to walk in and see pink tablecloths accompanied by bright yellow chairs. Twenty seconds after arriving, a cart arrived table-side and a woman started offering us small bowls filled with various interesting looking Chinese cuisine. Our Persian hostess in Manhassett, Dree Kavoussi, was not hesitant to say "yes" to just about anything that the woman pulled out of that cart and consequently we were given some very strange dishes. This included shrimp dumplings, mango jelly, and even chicken feet. Many of the dishes I was very happy to try but the chicken feet I just couldn't bring myself to eat. Not many of my eating companions seemed to like it that much either. A lot of the other dishes tasted like nothing I'd ever tasted before. I sometimes didn't even know what I was putting in my mouth but was surprised to find some great flavors. I hadn't tried Dim Sum before but am definitely up to go again.
-Jack

Nothing beats Chinese food from the little white box with thin metal handles when you are really hungry and do not want to cook.  Dim Sum is not this type of Chinese food.  It is actually authentic cuisine and at Dong Yi Feng, most people that dine here speak Chinese.  Located in Flushing in Queens, Asian culture lines the streets.  Getting off the train here feels like arriving at a station in Beijing since there are predominantly Chinese-Americans that inhabit and run restaurants and stores in this area of New York.  There is almost no time between sitting and food arriving at your table.  A waitress tried to serve us a range of items from a cart to which we had to reply yes or no.  We tried many different dishes, many of which I am not able to name or describe the ingredients.  The best items I ate were the shumai with shrimp and some sort of meat, followed by black rice "dumplings."  The shumai meat was sweet and the shrimp added a firm bite to the otherwise chewy dish.  I do not normally eat black rice, but I was impressed with the complex flavor of this grain.  The rice stuck together, and it was sweet with an excellent grain flavor.  We ordered around 18 plates.  To our surprise the total for all of this food was about $45.  This was an affordable and interesting way to spend one of our last meals in New York.

-Nate

Guacuco

Later in the evening after Dong Yi Feng, we headed down to Brooklyn to a place famous for its arepas. This place was called Guacuco, and although it was not in the very best neighborhood, this gem gave us quite a meal. I ordered the Parrillada Arepa and a Carne Empanada, both overflowing with Venezuelan culture. My arepa was filled with both chicken and steak with peppers and onions in between a delicious roll. Although it was very hot, I had no problem plunging my face into this arepa for the amazing flavors. The empanada was also very good. We split this up between the three of us and all enjoyed it very much. It was about this size of a burrito, but taco-shaped and laid on its side on top of some amazing drizzled sauce. Overall, Guacuco gave us a last great dinner meal for our trip, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for some amazing Venezuelan cuisine.
-Jack



We crisscrossed New York on our last day to get to dinner at Arepera Guacuco in Brooklyn.  Starting in Queens for lunch, heading to Manhattan for some exercise in Central Park, we took the subway across the water to this Venezuelan restaurant.  We had an excellent experience with arepas the previous night at The Stanton Social, so we had some high expectations.  This time, though, the arepas would be much larger.  I ordered the A Pabellon, which contains shredded beef, cheese, beans, and plantains.  When the arepas arrived at the table, I was stunned by the bread packed with meat.  I noticed the bread most while eating the arepa.  Its warm, doughy texture perfectly holds the ingredients and makes for a soft texture that contrasts with the texture of the meats.  The shredded beef was delicious with a great balance of spice.  The beans were very filling and combined with the cheese, gave the dish the right amount of salt.  The sweetness of plantains were contrasted with the salty flavor of the beans and cheese.  However, I would have liked a few more plantains.  After enjoying the A Pabellon and having more room in my stomach, I ordered the A Pernil, which contains pulled pork shoulder and cheddar cheese.  The bread was once again incredible, but I enjoyed the A Pabellon more than this one.  The pork shoulder was great meat, but it did not have that much flavor.  I was hoping for the dish to be more spicy.  The cheddar cheese enhanced the presentation, but it did not add much to the dish.  I used the three sauces on the table to increase the flavor in this arepa.  There was what appeared to be a chipotle aioli, green sauce, and a spicy mustard.  My favorite sauce was the chipotle aioli, and it added spice and juiciness to the arepa.  While the A Pernil did not quite match the excellent taste of the A Pabellon, this was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip.  I will have to visit Arepera Guacuco again but before that, I need to find an arepa restaurant in Baltimore.

-Nate

The Stanton Social

What We Ate:

French Onion Soup Dumplings: 5 out of 5 stars

Red Snapper Tacos: 5 out of 5 stars

Hand Pulled Chicken Arepas: 6 out of 5 (no typo)

Nori Spiced Tuna Tartare Roll: 4.75 out of 5

The Youtube channel Chow first introduced me to The Stanton Social, and after learning that the bald judge on Food Network's show "Chopped" named Chris Santos owned the eatery, it was a must-go.  It was the most up-scale place that we would go, but going in athletic shorts and a polo, or sear-sucker shorts and a t-shirt as we did, is not highly suggested.  Because of this, they put us in a booth invisible from the street, but we were content with being seated no matter the location.  We were culinarily introduced to the restaurant with the water, which was the best water that has ever grazed my palette.  It may have been the heat, and I know humans cannot taste water, but this bottled water was crisp, clean, and possibly mixed up with the Holy Water from the church down the street.  But I digress... As I mentioned before, Chow did a spotlight on The Stanton Social, specifically French Onion Soup Dumplings, which turned out to be my favorite dish that we ordered.  Apparently after introducing these gems to New York, many places have tried to duplicate the dumplings but none have succeeded in doing so.  The dumplings are served in an escargot dish, six count, and are topped with gruyere and speared with a crouton to complete the new spin on a classic dish.  The presentation is stunning, one of the best I have seen in my short culinary career, and the flavor completely lives up to these high expectations.  Best-case scenario, you pop the dumpling on your plate before you indulge to release some steam, but I suggest you pop the whole thing in your mouth to savor all of its contents and not let any of the juices escape.  The soup inside is ridiculously flavorful, its components being complexly meaty and sweet broth and tender, translucent onions.  I have tried many french onion soups, but this one was the most flavorful of all of them.  The gruyere was not as gooey as I would have liked, but I guess they let it cool so we would not burn ourselves even more.  One difference between regular french onion soup and this one was that the crouton was suspended above it, so it did not lose any of its crunch which was nice. The one thing that made no impression on us was the dumpling dough itself, which may be good considering it is a rendition of a soup.  If you are ever in northern China Town and have some money to spend on delicious tapas style dishes, I urge you to check out The Stanton Social.

-Alec

Wow, where to start? We each had to decide which dish to review, and I felt confident that I would be nowhere close to doing any of these dishes justice with my blogging. Entering Stanton Social in our street clothes at first made me feel a little bit bum-ish, however when they decided to seat us out of view of the passersby I felt somewhat more comfortable. We knew that we were in for a more expensive meal judging by the upscale atmosphere of this renowned restaurant, but after the first few bites we were willing to pay any amount for more and more. We unanimously decided on the Red Snapper Tacos, the Chicken Arepas, and the French Onion Soup Dumplings. However after these three bite-sized yet flavorful-as-an-entire-buffet meals, we picked a fourth dish, the Nori Spiced Tuna Tartare Roll. I'm going to talk about the Arepas. This was my first encounter with this dish and my oh my it was a splendid encounter. The hand pulled chicken seasoned with a heavenly blend of spices and was served on top of the nice chewy dough. Topped off with a small slice of jalepeño pepper and cheese, these Arepas offered a plethora of flavors for my inexperienced pallet that was difficult to fully comprehend. This dish could not be outdone by any other in our trip and deservedly earned a 6 out of 5 stars. Stanton Social as a whole was by far my favorite spot in terms of flavor and presentation, and I highly highly highly recommend it to anyone (dressed in casual business attire please) looking for a knockout meal. 

-Jack

I knew The Stanton Social would be a pricey dinner and after enjoying the last bite, we all wished we had more money to spend.  The two dishes I will review our the red snapper fish tacos and the nori spiced tuna tartare roll.  I love red snapper, and these tacos perfectly utilized the fish.  It was sweet inside a crunchy corn shell, which gave great texture to the soft ingredients.  The tacos had creamy avocado and spicy mango.  These two ingredients were creamy and sweet, but I was expecting them to have a slightly firmer consistency.  This was one of my favorite dishes of the trip, I just wish there were a few more to eat.  We ordered the nori spiced tuna roll wanting more food to taste after the first three plates.  The presentation was great with small shredded nori covering the plate.  The fine tuna tartare had a strong spice that was not overpowering.  While I really like this dish, it was not my favorite of the meal.  That said, anything we ate at The Stanton Social was among some of the best food we tried on the trip.  If you are in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, make sure to visit The Stanton Social.

-Nate

S'mac (Sarita's Mac & Cheese)

What we ate:
Jack - Buffalo Chicken Mac (Cheddar and American Cheese, Chicken, Buffalo Sauce, and Bleu Cheese): 4.5 out of 5 stars
Nate - Alpine Mac (Gruyere, Bacon): 4.75 out of 5 stars
Alec - Cheeseburger Mac (Cheddar and American Cheese, Ground Beef): 4.75 out of 5 stars

Today we headed back down the the lower east side (again) for some famous Mac & Cheese. Sarita's had me pumped up from all the hype on the internet and even on Food Network the same day. It was a very small little shop that even had a takeout section two doors down. While I held our little table (one out of maybe 7 total), Alec and Nate ordered for themselves and for me. I decided on the medium sized Buffalo Chicken Mac. Definitely should've gone with the small. This pasta was so rich with three different cheeses that I could barely finish half. The Bleu, Cheddar, and American combined with the spicy hot sauce just overwhelmed my taste buds. I was very sad that I wasn't able to finish it, however next visit (and there WILL be a next visit) I may order something a bit creamier and more easily consumable. S'Mac was a fantastic spot that I'd recommend to any Mac & Cheese fan.

-Jack

S'mac was recommended to us by a New York resident, and being mac and cheese lovers/ aficionados we decided we urgently needed to go.  I decided on the cheeseburger mac, just because I have not had nearly enough beef in my diet this week.  When we received our food, I first noticed the great crust on top of the mac that I needed to break into as soon as possible.  Upon further investigation, the top was so well done that I dragged my fork across it and it made a nice crusty sound.  The interior of the mac and cheese was gorgeously done.  It was the perfect blend of creamy and firm.  Many mac and cheeses that I have come across (for example the one at Noodles and Company) are cheesy, but are runny at the same time.  The cheeseburger mac at S'mac I could pave my way across, leaving little cheese in my wake.  My one qualm with the dish was, of course, that I would loved to have had more ground beef; however, for $10.75 it was immensely satisfying.

-Alec




I do not have mac and cheese often, but I was looking forward to visiting a restaurant that specialized exclusively in this form of pasta.  The options were endless, but I settled on the medium size Alpine mac and cheese.  Upon delivery to the table, I immediately noticed the bread crumb baked crust on top.  It was a beautiful brown, which made it difficult to wait even a few seconds before digging into the dish.  The gruyere was incredibly rich and creamy.  The mac and cheese had just the right amount of thickly cut bacon, which added a great hard texture and salty flavor to the soft noodles and stringy cheese.  While the medium size is more than enough food, almost too much, I was the only one that was able to finish all of it.  This was by no means easy, and I had to take plenty of breaks, but I was able to polish the pan.  This was a delicious meal in a unique location that to which I will need to return to sample another one of their mac and cheese delicacies.