Category: Food

Mercat, Noho, NYC


The Bolt Bus got me to NYC in 4 hours last night. It’s our last long weekend at school (yikes..) and I decided it was time to head back to the city and see the boy. As soon as I stepped out at Tick Tock Diner, I knew the weather Gods had been kind. It was a perfect New York night – clear skies, full moon, warm enough for sandals, cool enough for sleeves.

After a quick stop at home, we headed over to Bond Street for dinner. I’d made the reservation on Open Table and was extremely surprised to discover that the awesomeness of Mercat was only a 3 minute walk from our apartment. What a place. Rustic but minimalist, dark but candle-lit, Mercat is warm, airy and unobtrusively positioned on one of NoHo’s more trendy cobblestone streets. The walls are red-brick and unfinished, the kitchen is open-plan and the music, like the menu, is decidedly Catalonian.

Our table wasn’t ready until 9.45pm but our waitress was friendly and the service was quick and helpful. Encouraged by Yelp’s glowing reviews, we made sure to order Patatas Brava, Croquetas de Pollastre, Fideua Negra and Coca D’Anec. We also decided to try the Vedella (hangar steak), Remolatxa (warm beet salad) and vegetable croquetas. While the steak was a little tough and the capers in the salad a little contradictory, the Coca D’Anec (coca bread topped with duck, pears, spinach and hazelnuts) was absolutely divine, combining distinctly interesting flavours with a beautiful assortment of colours and aromas. The Patatas Brava were predictably addictive, the Croquetas were crisp and perfectly gooey on the inside and the Fideua Negra (noodles with squid and squid ink) surpassed all expectations.




The dishes were definitely smaller, tapas-sized and perhaps on the saltier side, but I didn’t find that it detracted from their flavour in any way. I tried the first cocktail on the menu – a delicious concoction of watermelon juice, sauvignon blanc and mint, somewhat questioningly named “Gypsy Tears” – and quickly ordered a second, with less ice. The boys drank gin cocktails (“the Dandy”) and, for dessert, we shared the obligatory churros con chocolate.

The Damage: $180 for three with two drinks each. Definitely on the pricey side but to be expected with NY tapas.
The Verdict: Mercat is chic and stylish but not overly trendy. The menu is interesting, the food is delicious, the service is friendly and the location, in my opinion, is lovably perfect.

Spring Weekend of Gluttony


Cambridge is incredibly pretty in the spring time. Grassy lawns glisten with morning dew, blankets of fallen blossoms litter campus paths and cheery flowers peep their brightly coloured heads out from winter flowerbeds. The spring sun is sparklingly magical, the air is fresh, the light is soft and the whistle of the wind is sweeter than winter would have you remember. It’s a perfect time of year. Perfect also, for food.

With Suzanne visiting these past few days, we had a wonderfully indulgent weekend of fresh lobster, outdoor chili cook-offs and sunday morning dim sum. Lobster is something I lust after, but a disturbing reaction to shellfish prevented me from going near the darn things for a number of years. Now that I’ve eaten my way through my allergies, my obsession for hunks of lobster dressed in lemony mayonnaise and stuffed inside a crispy, buttery roll (particularly the kind served up at Ed’s Lobster Bar) has reached new heights. This Saturday I took the leap and attacked a freshly steamed lobster friend (shells and all) at Erin’s birthday party.

Sunday morning, we joined the resident Asian crew (hailing, of course, from Denmark, England, Australia, Canada and even China) in a gluttonous meal of dim sum. Upon discovering that “Empire Seafood”, the Beach Street institution we’d planned on visiting, had shut down, we decided to walk farther down to Hei La Moon – a busy, bright-looking place with a long, but fast-moving, line and fierce, microphone announcements. Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting at a large table, ogling at carts of giant white pearls, curious parcels and multi-coloured layer cakes. We started with congee – “soupy rice” – served in small bowls with chinese soup spoons and savory flavorings. This was followed by an assortment of steamed dumplings, grilled meats, soya drenched vegetables, rice cakes and puff pastry.

I discovered, to my amazement, that almost everything we ate was in some way, a derivative of rice. The gelatinous layer that enveloped every dumpling, the bread-like cushion around meaty goodness, heck even the desserts – all rice! I didn’t eat too much of any one thing, but my favourites included the char siu (spare ribs), which were succulent and smoky and the sweetcorn cakes, which tasted like sweetcorn/eggdrop soup.

Desserts included Jin Deui (a chewy dough filled with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried) which I found a little too sweet, egg custard tarts (which I thought were too eggy and not sweet enough) and some sticky, rice-based buns topped with coconut and flavoured with mango/peanut/pistachio (which I thought were pretty great). The two things I didnt try were the turnip cakes and the chicken feet (not sure I will ever try these!). I do wish though that they’d had soup dumplings and the traditional bready pork buns (bau) would’ve been really nice. Overall though, this place was pretty darn good, and at $13 bucks a head, I have absolutely no complaints.

The Verdict: Cheap, delicious, group-friendly and quick!

À bout de Souffle

I absolutely love dinner parties. When you invite someone to dinner, you invite them into your home and into your heart. Retrieving a recipe, obtaining the ingredients, monitoring the stove, laying the table and of course cooking the meal requires a degree of care and intimacy that no restaurant meal could ever match. So, as I rang the buzzer outside SFP 2, I smiled in anticipation of the happy French meal that lay ahead.

We started with prawn cocktail and pastry puffs, followed by a lovely salad of sliced strawberries, fresh arugula, slivered almonds and a sweet tangy vinaigrette. The main course was baked salmon accompanied by roasted zucchini and steamed rice.

And dessert! Shabs made individual dark chocolate souffles. They only took 12 minutes to bake and were deliciously light yet decadent. I haven’t done any baking in a while, but these mouthwatering souffles (and cute silicone baking cups) have inspired me to give it a go. Get the recipe here!

New York v Boston or Boston v Cambridge?

Every so often, when I’m in New York, someone will ask me “how do you like Boston?”. And, every so often, I will hesitate before pulling out my stock answer “it’s fine, you know, its a great student town, but really, it’s nothing like New York.” The reason behind my hesitation is that Boston is actually a great town…err city. It’s clean, it’s incredibly pretty (when not covered with snow and freezing rain), it’s safe and importantly, it’s within easy reach of some wonderful weekend road trips. Despite these and many more merits, Boston’s failure to deliver on the restaurant front has unfortunately landed it squarely in my “nothing like NY” bucket.

It’s not that Boston food is bad, by any means. In fact, the abundance of fresh seafood gives the city a unique advantage and character. However, the more I eat out, the more convinced I am that Boston’s dining experience consists of a few basic cuisines (Italian, Seafood, American), a staid, stuffier ambience and good, but not stellar, food. Underwhelmed by recent trips to Market Jean Georges, Stephanie’s on Newbury and Casa Romero, I decided to spend some more time exploring my own back yard – the small but upscale city of Cambridge, MA. And what a good decision it was…

I just got back from the Cellar, a cute but inconspicuous little place on Mass Av that rightly lives up to its unpretentious name. Much like a Nottinghill gastropub, the Cellar is split into a downstairs bar and a more upscale upstairs restaurant (“Garden at the Cellar”). Neither place takes reservations and the space is small, so you’d do well to get there before 9pm on a weeknight and before 7pm (I’ve been told) on a weekend. Eyeing the line at the restaurant, we decided to head downstairs and quickly found seats at the bar. There’s no waitstaff downstairs and the menu is slightly shorter, but our bartender was very friendly and told us we could order from either place. A quick look at the deliciously-worded list and we decided to order tapas style, choosing a few small plates to share. Our food arrived quickly and was absolutely divine. The Pancetta Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese and Apple Hash were scrumptiously juicy and bursting with flavour. The Chicken & Thyme Croquettes were crisp, grease-free and perfectly spiced. The Homemade Tater Tots were surprisingly delicate and the Mini Burgers on Brioche with Crispy Potatoes were melt-in-the-mouth delicious. Yum! To top it all off, our bill was less than $15 per person – absolutely incredible when you consider the rip off prices we usually end up paying for dinner. Are you listening Boston?

The Ambience: Dim-lighting, lively vibe, background music at perfect pitch. Crowd is mostly older students and young professionals. Perfect for small groups, drinks and dates.
The Verdict: Cellar – je t’adore! Your terrific menu, delicious food and great prices make you a firm favorite and I look forward to seeing you again soon 🙂

Greek Dinner at the Haigh’s

Last Saturday, Erin invited a group of us over for dinner. As a tribute to Athi’s Greek roots (not to mention Rachel Ray), our gracious host decided to cook chicken souvlaki sticks with tzatziki and orzo pasta with grape tomatoes and feta – yum! Needless to say, dinner was a big hit. The meal took less than half an hour to prepare and ranked highly on the taste vs. cooking ability scale.

Inspired by the Haigh’s success, I decided to rehash the meal last night, as a surprise for the boyfriend (who often ends up doing a lot of our cooking). Here are the results:

I’ve never cooked orzo before, but discovered that its surprising easy (and deliciously good) tossed with a handful of crumbled feta and a half pint of grape tomatoes halved and left to juice with fresh young basil leaves.

The chicken souvlaki is best prepared with tender chicken breast marinated for ten minutes in a mix of olive oil, garlic, herbs and spices and then threaded and grilled (either George Foreman style or out on the BBQ).

The tzatziki is surprisingly similar to raita – an Indian yoghurt concoction, especially desirable when trying to cut the intense spices of a curried meat – only based on thicker greek yoghurt rather than the more watery Indian kind. I whipped it up with some grated cucumber and spices before serving it as a dipping sauce for the chicken skewers.

Here are the original recipes in case you feel inspired 🙂

Chicken Souvlaki with Yoghurt Sauce

Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes (and some basil for good measure)