More Weekend Scrumptiousness!

Well, another weekend has come to a close. I went out to NYC to visit one of my best friends from school. We ended up going to Totto Ramen for dinner on Saturday and Excellent Pork Chop House for Sunday brunch. Needless to say, it was another weekend of good eats!

First up, we have some photos of the food we ordered at Totto Ramen. We got there close to 2100 and there was still a line that stretched outside. After putting our names down on the wait-list, my friend and I decided to go down the street to Bamboo52 for drinks. There, we ordered some Blue Point beer from the tap. As a native Long Islander, I found it somewhat ironic that I had my first glass of Blue Point beer in NYC as it is brewed just a few miles away from where I live. After we finished our glasses, we followed up with some Jameson on the rocks. I usually like my Jameson without ice but since I hadn't eaten that night since lunch, it was a good thing.

After an hour or so of drinking and shooting the breeze, we went back to Totto Ramen. While there was still half a dozen names ahead of us, we lucked out with each name called since they gave up the wait. Too bad for them! Before we knew it, my friend and I were seated and reviewing the menu. For appetizers, we ordered the char siu mayo don and avo tuna.

Char siu mayo don

The char siu mayo don (broiled pork with yuzu mayonnaise over rice) was pretty good. I don't sound too enthusiastic about it since mayonnaise isn't really my thing; however, the char siu was nicely done. The avo tuna, on the other hand, has my enthusiastic approval. The slices of torched tuna sashimi with yuzu garlic sauce-marinated avocado looked beautiful on the plate and tasted even better in my mouth! I'm a big fan of sushi so I was of course going in already partial to the prospect of good sashimi.

Avo tuna

After the appetizers, we went on to the highlight of the night - the ramen. Since I hadn't been to Totto's before, I ordered the spicy ramen. At one point, I had the extra-spicy ramen in mind but since I didn't know what their scale was, I decided that I wanted an edible dinner. I went with the chicken variety and topped it off with more char siu chicken and a hard-boiled egg. Having both chicken and egg in the same dish makes me chuckle inside for some reason. I guess it's the irony of having both at the same time. Anyway, the ramen was delicious! The spiciness as perfect for a warm Autumn night and went down smoothly. The ramen was less "bouncy" in texture than I expected and actually felt more like spaghetti noodles but still good nonetheless. The broth was flavorful and enhanced by the chili oil. Next time, especially colder weather soon upon us, I'll be getting the extra-spicy version since "spicy" merely registered in my taste buds.

Totto spicy ramen (chicken) with char siu chicken and seasoned boiled egg toppings

After ramen, we finished the night at my friend's friend's party, which was at Copia. This self-described restaurant, lounge, and bar seemed like a nice hangout. Unfortunately, the liquor they serve there seemed to be heavily watered-down. The Jameson and ginger ale we had was definitely more ginger ale than Jameson and it felt like there was more alcohol in the Bud Light we had afterwards. I guess they think most people are inebriated enough at 0100 to not notice the water they serve. Major fail! At least the Patron shots seemed to be okay.

Shrimp and egg fried rice

The next morning, we decided to go to Chinatown for some dim sum. Unfortunately, the two places that we had intended to go had wait-times longer than our stomachs wanted to tolerate. We ended up going to a restaurant call "Excellent Pork Chop House", which seemed like a rather silly name. Regardless, we went in and ordered some food. I had a simple shrimp and egg fried rice, which was pleasantly tasty. Initially, I wanted a hot and sour soup because I'm a sucker for good soup but changed my mind since I caught a glimpse at the dessert side of the menu. For dessert, I ordered Taiwanese shaved ice with small red bean, taro, and roasted peanuts as toppings. This was a refreshing treat as it was almost 80ºF outside.

Taiwanese shaved ice with small red beans, taro, and roasted peanuts

Well, this does it for now. The photos I take while in NYC are usually with my phone's camera so the results aren't always the best but they get the job done. I always look forward to going out in the city because there is just so much delicious food to enjoy!