The Famous Shopsin’s

Chorizo, eggs and peppers

I’ve heard about Shopsin’s. My friend SC informed me that they had strict rules and their menu is CRAZY. There’s over 200 items on the menu, so it can be bit over-whelming. I met my co-workers PS and SB at the Essex Market. This was a first for me. I’ve walked past the Essex Market a number of times enroute to Sugar Sweet Sunshine. If you can’t tell, SSS is my favorite cupcake place in NYC! Yum. My co-workers agreed to meet me in the LES for lunch since I had to buy a dozen of cupcakes to bring to my friends in Seattle/Portland. Yes, I know, I’m an awesome friend!

Anyhow, after PS and I agreed on Shopsin’s I did my usual menu research. I couldn’t even focus on the menu because it was single spaced and so cramped with items. SC informed me of their famous dishes such as macaroni and cheese pancakes, blisters on my sisters, sneaky pete eggs, etc. I decided I wanted something with eggs and meat. The Zackzuka caught my eye because it had sizzling chorizo. Mmm. When I arrived at the Essex Market, I was a bit lost because I had not realized that Shopsin’s was located within it. I found my dining mates and we arrived at Shopsin’s little nook. There were a few tables available and we were seated promptly. We were a bit nervous because we didn’t want to get thrown out. We survived the ordering process and I thought our waiter was quite nice. PS ordered the Orange Julius so I could try it. I never had one during my childhood. It tasted like an orange juice smoothie, but lighter. It was pretty good I guess! I’m not much of smoothie drinker. When her smoothie arrived in the metal cup, we looked at each other wondering how we’d share it. I told her I was afraid to ask our waiter for a straw. He came by and asked, “What are you afraid to ask me?” So I nervously asked for another straw. He came back with two cups and straws. Wow! How kind.

Our meals arrived soon after. PS got a half order of the mac n cheese pancakes and SB got a BLT sandwich. I tried PS’s pancakes and they tasted exactly what I expected. I think they put in the mac in cheese after they put a portion of the batter on the griddle. It was delicious. It was a bit spicy too since she used some hot sauce. Since I lack creativity, I never thought about combining mac n cheese with pancakes. It surprisingly works quite well. My eggs were delicious. I’m usually not a fan of gooey eggs, but these were an exception. I popped the egg yolks and mixed them into my chorizo and veggies. It was perfect. There was plenty of chorizo throughout the dish. They definitely didn’t skimp!

My first meal at Shopsin’s was surprisingly enjoyable. We did not get thrown out and our waiter was quite friendly. When we left, there was a short line of people waiting to be seated. Please note that they will NOT take any parties larger than 4. If you have a larger party, you better split up and pretend not to know each other. Also, they only take cash. During the weekends, this restaurant is quite busy, so I recommend going for lunch during the week if possible.

Shopsin’s
120 Essex Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets)
South End of Essex Market
No Reservations
Cash Only
No parties larger than 4
Open Wednesday-Saturday: 9:00am-2:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am-3:00pm

Eating Pancakes for Dinner

I found that there was a lot of blueberries in these pancakes!

I can’t remember the last time I had pancakes at a restaurant for dinner. I’ve always enjoyed pancakes since I was a kid, but I’ve always associated it with breakfast at home. Whenever I go out for brunch or breakfast in the city, I always end up ordering eggs because I think it’s more filling and healthy. I heard a lot about Clinton Street Baking Company. I believe my family and I tried to go there for lunch a few times on the weekend, but the wait was much too long. Through the food blog grapevine, I also read about their Pancake Month, where they rotate different pancakes of the day for a full month. As I examined the pancake menu, I found out that they pancakes all day and night. My friend SC and I decided after a screening of “Cedar Rapids“, we’d venture to the LES for a pancake-filled dinner. Through the cold we trudged across town and after 15 minutes, we arrived at a fairly empty restaurant.

When our waitress came by and asked for drinks, I went ahead and asked if they were still serving their special pancake as I didn’t see the pancake month menu. She confirmed that it was still being served. From my seat, I had a good view of the kitchen and did see a huge bowl of bananas. I ordered the Crunchy (Fried) Bananas Pancakes and SC ordered their famous Blueberry Pancakes. Another reason I was interested in trying Clinton Street Baking Company was that I saw them featured on Bobby Flay’s, “Throwdown” show and they unfortunately lost to the cheater. I just think the show is so unfair and that Bobby has the upperhand because he prepares for the throwdown in advance and always ends up using fancy ingredients and taking the recipe up another level. I do recall the audience, who was suppose to be fans of Clinton Street Baking Company (don’t you think it’s strange how all these devoted fans switch teams so quickly?) mentioned that Bobby’s pancakes had so many more blueberries. Before our pancakes even came out, we received a plate of very delicious biscuits. SC mentioned that the two other times she had been to the place they even got free scones. Unfortunately, they were all out of scones, so I guess that’s for next time!

Who doesn't like fried bananas on pancakes with cinnamon chocolate sauce?

Our pancakes arrived soon after our busboy took away our biscuit plates. SC and I split the two dishes and they were both very tasty. The pancakes were fluffy, crispy and buttery. They both came with the famous maple butter. It was already melted so all you had to do was dip your pancake pieces in it if you wanted more butter. Since I found the pancakes to be buttery already, I didn’t use my maple butter that much. I do agree it was quite tasty! Quickly we became full since they take up a lot of space. I looked at the other customers and some had ordered dinner food. I had read that their fried chicken is actually very good. Perhaps the next time I go, I’ll try it since I love fried chicken! Since we were stuffed, we didn’t even look at the dessert menu. I did buy a cookie to eat later. I highly recommend going to Clinton Street Baking Company at night during the week if you’re interested in trying their pancakes and don’t feel like waiting 2 hours.

 
Clinton Street Baking Company
4 Clinton Street (between East Houston and Stanton Streets)
New York, NY 10002
646.602.6263
Cash Only and No Reservations

A Dim Sum Jewel in Flushing

I admit it. I’m a dim sum snob. I seem to enjoy dim sum only when there are many carts filled with all sort of little dishes. Dim sum is the only thing I haven’t had in Taiwan that is better than New York. I’ve heard great things about the dim sum in Toronto and Vancouver, but I have yet to experience it. I’m sure it’s awesome in Hong Kong as well. Anyhow, for those who don’t know what dim sum is, it literally translates into “snack” in Chinese. In Cantonese, most people say “yum cha”, which means “drink tea”. I think that the main reason I am a big fan of dim sum is that most dishes max out at 4 portions and this allows you to order many little dishes. Also, I love that I can see the dishes before I order. For a Taiwanese-American, I’m quite a picky eater. I only eat certain seafoods (no sea cucumber, abalone, clams, shark fin, bird’s nest, geoduck, etc.) and I despise mushrooms. This eliminates many Chinese/Taiwanese dishes for me. I like having the opportunity to ask the cart pushers what is in their dishes. Most of the time I have trouble understanding them because they always answer me back in Cantonese when I asked in Mandarin. If I knew Cantonese, wouldn’t I be asking in Cantonese?

Sticky Rice in a bowl - YUMMY!

Okay, I’ve been to many dim sum places in Flushing. I have distinct memories of spending my Saturday mornings at dim sum in Flushing or Boston. Once I moved out to Manhattan, Flushing became quite a trek, so I resorted to Chinatown. I was surprised to find that the dim sum in Chinatown pales to Flushing. I thought with Chinatown’s huge Cantonese population, I’d find superior dim sum, but I was soon disappointed. Not to say there isn’t “good” dim sum in Chinatown, it just can’t compare to all the creative dishes I’ve seen and had in Flushing. When I was a kid, my favorite dim sum place was called “KB Garden”. It was right by the huge municipal parking place on 39th Avenue. Their name and management has changed quite a few times and currently they are called Jade Asian, which I still think is a great Cantonese/Dim Sum restaurant. In fact, I was there twice last week.

On the day after Christmas, I convinced my parents and younger sister to brave the crowds to get dim sum at Ocean Jewel. I had only been to Ocean Jewel twice before in my life. My first experience was very disappointing. I found the shrimp dumplings (har gow) were lacking real shrimp and had too much filler. Also, the prices were more than my usual go-to dim sum place (KB Garden). To me, if a restaurant couldn’t get the basic shrimp dumpling right, then they must be a really bad place. However, years later, I kept reading raving reviews on Chowhound, so I wanted to know what was so good about this place? A year ago, my uncle and aunt took my little sister and I out for dim sum. Since they were paying, they picked Ocean Jewel. Being the polite niece that I am, I did not comment about their selection. Good thing I didn’t, I had a great meal!

I don't even know the official Chinese name for this dish. It's delicious!

In order to have dim sum on the weekend, one must arrive before 11am. This will minimize the time you’re waiting in the front area with all the other hungry guests. Once you arrive at any restaurant, you must fight your way to the front where the hostess is and inform your party size. You will receive a number (most of time it’s handwritten). Sometimes, they will be nice and tell you the estimated wait time. This is not always accurate, so I highly recommend that someone from your party stays and waits while others go elsewhere to kill time. Since this was my outing, I waited while my family walked around Flushing. Also, the hostess does not go in number order. Instead, they go by group size, so even though you might be 99 and they are only up to 75, don’t be discouraged! I was impressed with the accuracy of the wait time at Ocean Jewel. We arrived around 10:51am and were seated in our OWN table at 11:25 or so. If you do not want to share a table with strangers, it’s best to let the hostess know at the beginning.

Xia Chang Fen, one of my favorite dishes at dim sum!

My parents and I ordered a myriad of dishes: chicken feet, pork spare ribs, shrimp wrapped in rice skin, fried crueller wrapped in rice skin, sticky rice in a bowl, shrimp dumplings, shumai, Chinese broccoli, fried shrimp egg rolls w/mayo, baked roasted pork buns, etc. At most dim sum halls, it’s very difficult to get a plate of the delicious baked roasted pork buns. There are plenty of the steam versions, but my older sister D and I prefer the baked buns. I think it’s because it’s the perfect size for me. The real sized baked roasted pork buns found at local Chinese bakeries have too much fat in them and I can’t finish a whole bun. This sadly includes the famous Mei Li Wah Bakery in Chinatown. I just order the plain buns there because the bread is just so tasty. I was surprised to find the baked roasted pork buns on multiple carts at Ocean Jewel. I snagged three dishes early on in fear that I’d never see the cart again. Throughout our meal, I kept seeing more and more baked roasted pork buns. I was happy. No longer do I have to place a special order with the waiter to get this super popular dish. Overall, the quality of the dishes were good. I did find the shrimp dumpling skins to be a bit over steamed. They were sticky and hard to separate from each other. However, the filling was good. There was a good shrimp to filling ratio.

All in all, I would be more than happy to return to Ocean Jewel in the near future. They will definitely be added to my dim sum rotation in Flushing.

Ocean Jewel
133-30 39th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
718.359.8600
Supposedly takes credit cards, but I recommend bringing cash as Flushing is a cash-friendly environment.

My love for Alice’s Tea Cup

I have been to Alice’s Tea Cup probably too many times to count.  However, I will never forget my first trip ever to this “every little girl’s fantasy” restaurant.  About three years ago, my co-worker at the time, KG, and I spent a morning at a NYC spa because our boss was treating us for working so hard.  After our massages and sauna time, we were hungry for some good eating.  My friend then suggested “Alice’s Tea Cup”.  In fact, she had mentioned them previously to me about this amazing scones place.  I have never been a big fan of scones since they usually taste dry and are a bit boring in flavor.  However, on this fateful day, I decided to give this place a try.

We walked to the “Chapter III” location.  As soon as we entered this enchanting restaurant, I fell in love with the whole Alice in Wonderland theme.  There was a counter with all these delicious sweets: cookies, scones, cupcakes, cakes, etc.  Also, there were tins of tea.  As pleased as I was, there was VERY limited seating.  The hostess told us it’d be about an hour wait and that we could leave our number and they’d call us when our table’s ready.  We walked around the UES to kill the time.  When the call finally came, we rushed back to the restaurant.  We sat down at our table and drank water from our goblets.  KG suggested that we order the Madhatter.  And this began the tradition of ordering only this feast when I’m at Alice’s Tea Cup.  This set meal for two comes with two pots of tea (you get to pick from their extensive list of teas), two sandwiches, a dessert (your choice of mocha chip cake, lemon tart, or chocolate mousse with a selection of cookies), and most importantly your choice of THREE delicious scones.  Their list of scones changes daily, but they almost always have pumpkin and ham & cheese, which happen to my favorites!

Our delicious Sunday brunch!

When the food came out, we got our own three tier cake stand.  It was  a beautiful display.  The top plate had three over/American-sized scones, the middle plate had cute tea sandwiches and the bottom plate had our dessert (I don’t recall what we ordered) with cookies.  The sandwiches were very tasty, but the highlight of the meal are the scones.  I don’t remember what scones we ordered (perhaps pumpkin), but they were all delicious.  They were full of flavor and moist (maybe with lots of butter).  It was unlike any scone I’ve had before.  After gorging myself with both sandwiches and scones, I barely had any of the dessert.  Oh yes, I forgot all about the tea!  We each got a huge pot of tea of our choice.  I probably ordered the the Silver Needle Jasmine tea since I’m pretty much obsessed with Jasmine tea.

My pot of tea - Lover's Cup

A couple years later, I was at a new company and finally made my first “friend” at work after six months (she happens to be MM, my eating buddy).  We met up on a weekend and were looking for a brunch place.  I mentioned that there is a really cute tea place on West 73rd Street (Chapter I) and that I could take her there.  I warned that there would probably be a long wait, but we’d be able to go shopping and most importantly it’d be worth the wait.  Even though I love ATC so much, I wasn’t sure if MM would enjoy it even half as much as I do.  To my happiness, MM loved this awesome tea place just as much as I do.  In fact, she took all her college friends there and is now quite the regular at this location.  Just two weekends ago, we went since I haven’t been there in a very long time.  The waitress recognized MM and treated her like a celebrity.  We then returned last weekend and received the same VIP treatment.  We ordered like professionals and received our food ASAP.  It was great.

Some words of caution, please don’t expect the typical British Afternoon Tea.  I just visited my scientist cousin in London and we were lucky enough to dine at The Dorchester for Afternoon Tea.  I had a wonderful dining experience there and the service was impeccable.   ATC’s Afternoon’s Tea is like the “younger/hipper” version.  Since this place is usually packed on the weekend and there only seems to be two waitresses, service can get a little slow.  Also, I’ve been to all three locations and I think Chapter I (UWS) location is the largest.  I believe Chapter II (UES as well) has a second floor, so it could have decent seating.  The Chapter III is definitely the smallest.  Oh, and if you are not interested in getting the Madhatter Special, ATC does offer brunch on the weekend until 3pm and also a regular lunch menu.  I honestly have not even bothered ordering anything, but the Madhatter, but I have seen other customers ordering brunch and all the food looks good.
 
Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter I
102 West 73rd Street (between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues)
New York, NY 10023
212.799.3006
Takes Credit Cards

 
Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter III
220 East 81st Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
New York, NY 10028
212.734.4832
Takes Credit Cards

Are you a Friend of a Farmer?

The roommate and I enjoy having relaxing brunches during the weekend.  Usually, we stay near the apartment, but since the weather was so beautiful yesterday (sunny and about 50 degrees F), we decided to venture out.  VG suggested we go to A Friend of a Farmer.  I was intrigued by the restaurant name and so I was game.   We arrived around 1:30pm.  The hostess told me that there would be about a 45 minute wait and there was no name system.  All you do is wait in line and that’s it.  So we waited patiently. The line was about 10 people deep so we knew it’d be awhile before we sat down. Miraculously, the wait was only about 30 minutes.  There was a very country and rustic look to the restaurant.  It looked like a country house.  There was flower wallpaper and produce everywhere.  It was very cute!

My tasty omelette with Cheddar, bacon, onions and tomato

I ordered the Iriving Place Omelette (bacon, onion and tomato).  VG got the Eggs Bennie (Eggs Bendict w/Smoked Salmon).  We waited a very long time for VG’s juice.  I noticed that a party that had sat only a few minutes before us were already served their food and almost finished.  We stopped a bus boy to inquire about VG’s cranberry juice.  A few minutes later our waiter came out of hiding and we asked where VG’s juice was.  He then asked us if we received our food. Umm, why was he asking us?  Shouldn’t he know?  So we said nope we didn’t get any food.  Soon, a bus boy came with a small glass of cranberry juice.  Then another bus boy came out with a skillet of cornbread.  I confirmed that we would not be charged for this cornbread.  He said it was because our food was so delayed. Then our waiter came by again (to help his other tables) and VG stopped him to ask where our food was?  He said that the kitchen lost our order and it would be coming out soon!  By this time, we were both hungry and annoyed. We saw a table that had sat down after us already done with their meals!  Our food arrived a few minutes after and I devoured my omelette and home fries.   It tasted delicious!  I very rarely order bacon for breakfast, so it was definitely a treat for me.  I also think that since I was so hungry, anything tasted good at this time.

I really loved the apple sauce in the middle. YUM!

Even though we were still a bit dissatisfied by the bad service, we ended up giving our waiter a decent tip.  Hopefully he learned a lesson from us!  With tip and tax my meal came up to $15.  Not bad for a brunch in NYC!  I’d go back, but I’d try to avoid the brunch rush.  I’d go back after 3pm.  It seems to slow down quite a bit by then.
 
Friend Of A Farmer
77 Irving Place (between 18th and 19th Streets)
New York, NY 10003
212.477.2188
Takes Credit Cards