Vanessa's Dumplings

Today's review is based upon a single menu item, the Sesame Pancake Sandwich at Vanessa's Dumplings on 220 East 14th Street. Vanessa's Dumplings is located on 14th Street, close to Third Avenue and not far from all the student hustle and bustle at Union Square. I happened upon this place many times in the past, dismissing it as an overpriced Chinese Restaurant that migrated from Chinatown. I remember when they opened a couple of years ago, there was a prominent sign in front of the restaurant telling passersby of their inexpensive dumplings. As I passed by this weekend, I decided to give this restaurant a try.

I ordered the Sesame Pancake Sandwich with Vegetables as this was an item I've never tried before. The sandwich was made of a sesame pancake larger than an English muffin. It is pan-fried to a crispy brown texture, with sesame seeds embedded on both sides. The filling was made of carrots, cucumbers, lettuce and other vegetables I couldn't identify. These crispy veggies were mixed with a sweet gingery, light fish sauce based dressing. The sandwich was served hot, with the cold vegetables taking on the heat of the pancake. It was delicious, although I was a bit concerned about the sugar and salt content. The pancakes crispy outside was nicely balanced with a chewy inside.

Vanessa's is definitely a Pan-Asian restaurant aimed at students in the area. Most dishes are within a student's budget, with the vast majority of menu items going for under $5.99. The sesame pancake sanwiches range from $1.29 for just the pancake, to $2.99 for the Chicken Teriyaki sandwich. Based upon this one item, I can say that the quality of this item is good and that the other items may be worth trying. And besides, who isn't on a student's budget these days?

Search For Live Octopus In New York City

As I was surfing YouTube last night, I came across dozens of videos showing people who ate live octopus. Almost all the videos were recorded in Korea, so I'm assuming this is a common Korean meal.

Universally, the newbies said that pieces of octopus stuck to their tongues or to other parts of their mouths. In some of these videos, entire octopuses were consumed and in others, chopped up pieces of octopuses were eaten with a dipping sauce.

This really piqued my curiosity and was wondering if anyone knows of a restaurant that serves live octopus in New York City.

My Atlanta Experience

My wife and I decided to go down to Atlanta this past weekend to take in the sights and sounds of Atlanta along with some of my relatives who already live there. Although, this post is not related to New York cheap eats, I definitely had my share of degustation down in Dixie and want to share these delights with y'all.

On my first day, I was driven down to an area somewhere in Northeast Atlanta, I think on a road called Buford Highway. Although I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant that I went to, it was a fairly large Vietnamese restaurant known for Pho served in small, medium and large bowls. I ordered the $6.50 medium and it was delicious and as good as any had in New York. I was also told that Banh Mi was available is many places along the highway. Apparently, in this area of Atlanta, most of the Asian food markets and Spanish/South American cuisine were concentrated in this area. I counted two large clusters of Asian shops, one "Chinatown" complete with the typical arch and one large Spanish specialty mall.

Further along on our weekend, on a nonfood-related note, we took in the World of Coca-Cola, and the CNN Center in Atlanta. Both tours were excellent, reasonably priced ($15) and entertaining. World of Coca-Cola was fascinating in the sense of Coke's history and the enduring popularity of the beverage. There was no mention of any of the ingredients in Coca-Cola, not even the suspected cocaine. What we did learn was that the inventor of Coke, Mr. Pemberton, did invent many other drinks that weren't quite as popular. The museum included two movie theaters, including an eye-popping, 4D theater, a theater showing commercials, and exhibits showing vending and advertising paraphernalia through the years. The best part of the tour was the space right before the gift show. This area contained stations of Coke beverages divided by continental regions, which gave tourists a taste of drinks available around the world. I determined that if I were to live overseas, based solely on fizzy beverages, Asia would be the place for me. Asian beverages were consistently sweet, but not sweeter than the other regions, and stayed truer to their labels. I found that the African beverages tasted as if there were some artificial sweetener thrown in. The South American beverages all had a anise or cardomon bitterness. The European beverages didn't really have an identity and were all over the map. The one consistent good thing about all the continents was that no matter which continent, we were on, the ice tea beverages were all drinkable. The most notable was a Chinese ice tea which had a strong aroma of jasmine tea.

As for the CNN Center, for $15, we enjoyed another excellent, and this time, a fully-guided tour. We were able to see a couple of anchors, including Tony Harris and a lady from CNN Espanol, who waved at all the tourists behind the glass separating us from the anchor. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed, but I think we all got the sense that CNN was a fully functioning news gathering organization, although I was a bit surprised that it wasn't bigger. Since I'm a huge fan of CNN and all its channels, it was truly an exciting experience. But now, back to food...

The focus of our weekend was a pig roast. My brother-in-law roasted a pig for his neighbor's annual garden party and since I am a New Yorker and a million miles from being a do-it-yourselfer, it was quite impressive to see the cooking process firsthand. Before I arrived, I was spared the details on the dispatching of the pig and its cleaning. From what I've seen on tv, there is a well-worn process of cleaning and gutting the animal. I saw the end result of that cleaning and having viewed the carcass, has given me a greater appreciation as to the sacrifices animals make for humanity. Lifting and carrying an entire pig is much different that carrying a few slices of pork chops home from your butcher. The separation of our collective experience with food from its sources is vast indeed.

The pig was prepared with needle injections comprising of a secret wet mix. The outside was later seasoned by adobo and cajun seasoning. I had the pleasure of helping to butterfly the pig and mount it on a metal cooking rack. The entire pig was placed in a roasting box, which was then covered by another large piece of metal. Charcoal was spread on top of the roasting box and ignited. I was surprised that putting heat above the pig was enough to cook the meat. I was told that the radiant heat generated above, moved down and then up which creates an effect similar to an oven. As the pig cooked, we only needed to turn the pig over once and when the cover came off after 4 hours of roasting, the pig revealed a glamorous golden color and scrumptious aroma. The skin or cracklins were heavenly, and when he was brought to the garden party, it was unmercilously set upon by the guests. The meat was moist, roasted and tasty, and proved that any good meal is dependent on taking one's time in preparation. I'm sure that if this pig roast took place in New York, we would have surely had it catered.... to save time.

Finally, to round out our protein-filled extravaganza of a weekend, we were delighted that our hosts decided to bring us to two Southern culinary institutions, Mary Mac's Tea Room and Chik-fil-A.

Mary Mac's Tea Room is known for it's delicious traditional Southern Fried Chicken. We decided to have the 4 piece half chicken which consisted of a leg, thigh, wing and breast. For $11.95, you were also given a choice of 2 sides, which we all decided to choose different ones, so as to try as many as possible. The fried chicken was indeed impressive, as the chicken had a tasty, lightly spiced batter. The chicken was not greasy and held it's moisture well. As for the side dishes, I had the macaroni and cheese and vegetable medley. I was a bit disappointed with the macaroni and cheese mainly because it didn't have the thick creamy base that I usually like. It actually tasted like as if an egg batter had been mixed into the recipe. The other sides were excellent, especially the vegetable soup, collard greens with cracklin' cornbread, the fried green tomatoes, broccoli souffle, and sweet potato souffle. Finally, the sweet tea was excellent.

Chik-fil-A was the next stop before catching the plane back to New York. Luckily for us, the original Chik-fil-A was located just 3 miles from Hartsfield Airport, so we were able to linger at the restaurant. We were seated at a counter that had a classic 1950's style look to it. What made the restaurant modern were the video menus mounted above counters. We were told that Chik-fil-A was institution in the South that was still privately owned and is always closed on Sundays. I was also told that the white meat chicken filets were cooked in a pressure cooker. As such, when we were served our classic Chik-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, we were pleased with the divine moistness of the white meat. The filet was nearly three-quarters of an inch thick. The deluxe came with freshly-cut waffle fries with lettuce, tomato, and a pile of sliced pickles. The meal was easily satisfying and the breading on the filet was unobtrusive. The filet was really the center of attention in this meal. I'm starting to become a fan of pressure cooking! Has anyone tried pressure cooked rice? The beverage of choice at Chik-fil-A is the real hand-squeezed lemonade and it did taste like hand-squeezed lemonade! Finally, to end our meal, we enjoyed the fried apple pie, a la mode with Ice Dream. The fried apple pie was alright, but what knocked us over was the Ice Dream. It is by far, the best soft serve ice cream I've ever had. It had the right richness, sweetness and tasted like real milk. It had excellent texture. I was tempted to get another cup on the way out, but my wife stopped me cold!

In a final note, I want warn cost-conscious travelers to avoid LaGuardia Airport's Terminal D for food. The food costs were outrageous as I found $3 bagels, $10 set meals at every fast food joint. I would assume that this is true for all of the other terminals at LaGuardia, but I have never see the prices so high, even at JFK.

So there, was my weekend, filled with food and catching up with friends and relatives. What made the weekend more remarkable was the depth of appreciation of good food from those whom I dined with. It was a pleasure and surely there is more, much more to enjoy in Atlanta!

Doyers Vietnamese Restaurant

Chinatown has always had its share of good Vietnamese Restaurants. From the stretch of Vietnamese restaurants on Baxter Street from Bayard to Canal, to Nha Trang on Centre Street, Vietnamese food never disappointed me on taste or on price. Doyers Vietnamese Restaurant on 11 Doyers Street, was our new discovery two weekends ago. I always knew about this restaurant but however this weekend we finally decided to take the plunge. Maybe it was that one had to descend a flight of sketchy stairs to enter the restaurant or the gaudy chasing lights that turned me away but we finally went for it and boy were we glad we went in.

Upon entering the restaurant we were pleasantly surprised by the sizable dining room, despite the fact that the restaurant is inside a tenement building. The waitstaff is a group of 50 something men, who are attentive in filling your water glass and taking your order.

We tried three dishes, the Grilled Pork on Thin Rice Noodle, the Stewed Beef Noodle Soup and the Grilled Chicken Noodle Soup. The Grilled Pork on Thin Rice Noodle is a dish of a bed of thin rice noodles that are pan-fried and flattened. It is then topped with a thinly sliced, marinated pork chop with a hint of lemongrass. The noodles are not crispy but just noticeably fried. It came with a side of onions, lettuce, presumably to be used as a wrapper and a light orange Vietnamese sauce. This was utterly delicious and we agreed this was our favorite dish.

The Stewed Beef Noodle Soup was our second favorite. What set this dish apart from my other favorite Vietnamese restaurants was that the soup had the color of a deep-rich brownish translucent beef broth. When broth looks that way, you know they've thrown a ton of beef bones into the stockpot. The soup, as I expected, was delicious. To make matters better, the noodles were the round, white, gummy and translucent, somehow a cross between glass noodles and rice noodles. Once again it was utterly delicious. This was one dish where we wanted to finish both the noodles AND the broth!

Finally, the Grilled Chicken Noodle Soup was another yummy treat. This time, we were dealing with presumably, a pork bone-based soup. The broth was clearer, not as rich, but still tasty. The noodles were thin rice noodles, but what made this dish great was the grilled chicken. The grilled chicken was marinated dark meat, similar in taste to the grilled pork chop I had before.

When considering the quality of the food, I would easily pay $2 to $3 more for each dish, but this is what we actually paid for the meal:

Grilled Pork on Thin Rice Noodle $7.50
Stewed Beef Noodle Soup $4.50
Grilled Chicken Noodle Soup $4.95

After having this meal, I decided that this is probably the best Vietnamese Restaurant in Chinatown, based on the quality of the food. Other places are comparable in terms of price but when you consider quality AND price, this place is truly a bargain restaurant hunters dream and worthy of the Cheap Food Blog!!

L&L Hawaiian Barbecue Plate Lunches

Before reviewing L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, I did a little research about L&L and found that it's a Hawaiian-based franchise with stores located mainly in Hawaii and the West Coast. The lone New York store is located 64 Fulton Street, in the Financial District. of Manhattan. It's only two blocks from the South Street Seaport and about 3 blocks from Broadway.

L&L takes the multicultural nature of Hawaiian cuisine and simplifies it for mass consumption. You'll find Hawaiian food, side by side with Japanese (ramen, sushi, soba, udon and bento boxes), Chinese (bbq roast meats) and American (i.e. hamburgers). What they've done at this franchise, and the only one west of Texas, is to create a menu that attempts to appeal to everyone, even those who haven't been to Hawaii.

I took a look at L&L's online menu and saw that sushi wasn't available on their menu. I was thinking that their New York franchisee decided to add sushi to widen their appeal. Perhaps this is because many New Yorkers haven't been to Hawaii, as New Yorkers tend to view the Caribbean as their island paradise. So, in a store that is ostensibly selling Hawaiian cuisine, we have a store where the first thing one sees is a sushi counter and a sushi refrigerator. Hmm, is this really Hawaiian?

As for the food, I have tried L&L a couple of times and have ordered their Hawaiian BBQ Chicken, Chicken Katsu and Curry Chicken Katsu as these were in the Hawaiian "Plate Lunch" section of their menu. The plate lunches consists of rice, the meat, a green salad and a scoop of macaroni salad. The Hawaiian BBQ Chicken is an excellent dish, with a sweet tasting sauce that is very similar to teriyaki. The chicken (3 cutlets) is served over a bed of long grain white rice which is a tad stickier than regular rice. There is no sauce drizzled on the chicken, but the chicken is marinated well and goes well with the rice without sauce. As for the green salad, it comes with a creamy ginger sauce and which is quite average tasting. The macaroni salad however, is just like the kind you get in Hawaii, not too creamy, but with just enough mayo to glaze the macaroni and not sour. As for the Katsu dishes, each comes with sauces on the side, either traditional Katsu sauce or curry sauce. The chicken katsu itself, is well breaded and a regular order comes with two full and large cutlets. These are simply moist and fried to the perfect crispiness.

All plate lunches come in small and regular sizes. The regular size is what I described above and comes with multiple cutlets. It is a lot of food at $7.99. I have yet to try the small size, but I would assume that it would be a tad smaller, maybe one less cutlet. Overall, the experience was very satisfying, however, the only taste of Hawaii I experienced in the lunch was the macaroni salad. When I go again, I will try the Laulau, Kahlua Pork or the Spam Musubi. Hopefully they are as good as the plate lunches. At $7.99, a lunch at L&L Hawaiian Barbecue isn't cheap, but unique in terms of getting a taste of Hawaii in New York without the tiki cocktail glasses!

Excellent Pork Chop House

I'm always wary about restaurants that provide a self-critique in their names, so I tried the Excellent Pork Chop House (5 Doyers St.) with some trepidation. Upon entering the restaurant, you will find a dining room just a bit better than Spartan, though not much better. The dining room had approximately 8 tables and were not set uncomfortably close together. The one notable decoration in the dining room was a shelf full of dolls. As I recall, they weren't Asian-themed nor pork chop related, so it still baffles me.

I was told that this place makes a decent fried chicken leg and fried pork chop, so I decided to give it a try. I was in a party of three and we all ordered noodle soups, in addition to one pork chop and one chicken leg on the side. We decided to try the sides of the chicken and pork chop first. The fried chicken leg was nice and juicy and as I can fathom, was fried. It was skinless and fried to a barely crispy texture without breading. As I bit into the leg, the aromatics hit me and I knew that this place uses five spice powder as their secret ingredient. Overall, the leg was pleasant, salted just right and moist. As for the fried pork chop, I had high expectations because of the restaurant's moniker. I was not disappointed. The pork chop was a bone-in pork chop which usually retains plenty of moisture and richness. I noticed that there was barely a crispy texture again as with the fried chicken leg. I examined what I was eating and found from the way the meat was done, that the meat was probably boiled, then quickly deep-fried. This was very unique to me, so if you come here, don't expect your pork chop to have a deep brown crispiness. Because of their cooking technique, this was a unique experience and it didn't compromise on the flavor at all. I could also detect a hint of the five spice powder on the pork chop.

Now for the noodle soups... I ordered the wonton soup and my friends ordered chicken leg noodle soup and shrimp noodle soup. The soup noodles were thin and white, not vermicelli-like and had a nice rubbery bounce to them in the mouth. They tasted like they were freshly made. As for the toppings, since this noodle shop is not Southern Chinese, but northern, there was a healthy dollop of preserved vegetables in the bowl and other types of crispy vegetables. The stock was fine and tasted pork-based.

All in all, my experience wasn't bad at all. The service was attentive and fast. The food was pretty good, I guess a 7 out of 10. As for the cheapness factor, I would give this place a B+. The pork chops and chicken legs were $2.50 each and the noodle soup bowls were about $5.25. My only complaint is that the pork chop were not thick and the chicken legs were medium-sized. $2.50 is a bit steep when compared to what you could get at Asian food courts. If you could make it out to Manhattan's Chinatown, definitely give this place a try. I think you'll like it!