The Manhattan Cheap Food Blog: June 2011

Since 2008, New York has seen an explosion of 99 cent pizza restaurants particularly around Manhattan. This is surely due to the bad economy and in 2011, the trend continues as there is still strong demand for a cheap slice. This leaves the question, are any of these places good?

I remember seeing my first 99 cent pizza joint in Manhattan, a place called 2 Bros. Pizza on 32 St. Mark's Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenue in 2008. Of course my first impression was that this place couldn't be any good. The pizzas were stacked on a tower of racks, unlike your conventional New York Pizzaria which lays out each type of pizza on a long counter. I ordered a slice and found that the quality was a bit better than school lunchroom pizza. The crust was thick and a slice was about three-quarters the size of a conventional 16-inch pie slice. The cheese and sauce were passable. Both tasted as if it were the most basic cheeses and sauces you could buy.

Being the "Cheap Guy", I've tried many 99 cent pizzas throughout Manhattan and have found that each vary in quality. At some places, you will get a really good approximation of a true New York gas oven slice. At some places, the size of the slice is nearly the size of real slice. At some places, the sauce is excellent. At most places the mozarella is similar in taste and texture.

The point here is that no matter where you go for your 99 cent slice, you can get full for a buck or a little more. Most of these restaurants sell sodas for 75 cents and no more than a dollar. You can usually get an entire pie for $8! These restaurants usually do not provide seating and are small. They'll serve your slice on a paper plate, no tray. Finally, I noticed that most 99 cent pizzas are Middle Eastern run or Pakistani, different that the Central American and Mexican personnel you would see at traditional pizzarias.

So there, enjoy your slice, as New York bargains rarely get better than this!

During my most recent trip to Bangkok, I finally tried Din Tai Fung, the famous Taiwanese chain of dumpling houses. Din Tai Fung operates in several countries and has most recently opened its first branch in Bangkok, Thailand at the Central World Mall.

When my wife and I arrived at the end of May 2011, arrived a bit early, at around 11:30 a.m. during a weekday. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, we encountered a bit of a crowd. There were at lest 10 parties ahead of us on the waiting list. The restaurant didn't open until 12, so we sat for a few minutes, waiting to be called. What I did notice was that the crowd was very international, with Chinese, Japanese and prosperous-looking Thai locals waiting to get in.

Now about the dumplings: Since I live in New York, I have blogged that the best soup dumplings in New York are Joe's Shanghai and Joe's Ginger, which are incidentally, owned by the same owners. Having come to try Din Tai Fung - they have one Michelin star in Hong Kong - I came with high expectations. Din Tai Fung didn't disappoint.

We had a very simple meal which consisted of one order of pork dumplings, one order of crab meat dumplings and one order of sesame noodles (I can't get the Chinese-American out of me!) What I can say about the pork and the crab meat dumplings is that they are about 1/2 to 1/4 inch smaller than what we get in New York. My guess is that they are about 1 to 1 1/4 inches in diameter, which makes them truly bite sized. They are so small that the soup content makes for one sip. Having said that, the skins on both types of dumplings are truly sublime, thin, chewy and fresh. You know they are as, the exposed kitchen is right in front of the restaurant waiting area. I found that the meat is not that dense. The meat falls apart in your mouth but not loose either. It is definitely not the density of a meatball. The soup was clear and very flavorful!

As for the pork dumplings, I found that they are equal to Joe's in New York, however, as for the crab meat dumplings, I found that the yellow crab meat that is prevalent in New York, cannot be found in the fillings. Instead, there is a heavy taste of crab "tamale" or that oily crab mixture you would find inside a crab shell. This taste imparted a strong oily crab texture to the pork ball inside the crab meat dumpling. What was disappointing was that you couldn't really find any visible crab meat. Maybe that's the way they make it at Din Tai Fung.

As for pricing, the 10 pork dumplings are about USD$6 and the 10 crab meat dumplings are about USD$10.

With regard to the sesame noodles, this was not the type of peanut butter paste type of noodles you would get in the US. I ordered it out of curiosity and was pleased to see that it was actually a sweet hot chili soy sauce with sesame flavor on a bed of very fresh, high quality yellow noodles. Texture and flavor were the keys to this dish and I was very happy with the outcome!

In my final analysis, definitely try the pork dumpling as it is sublime and avoid the crab meat dumplings as they are overpriced and lack visible crab meat (unless you enjoy crab tamale). I would come here again to try the other dishes on the menu! I can't wait to come back to Bangkok!