Social Eatz

I was searching for a quick and casual place to eat around the Bloomingdale’s area.  I searched Yelp because I am not a huge fan of the girly places near there, such as Serendipity and Alice’s Teacup.  I came across Social Eatz which I have been seeing in the Tasting Table newsletters and has had publicity from Top Chef (which I never watched).  Since I was meeting an adventurous friend, she agreed to try this new place with me.  They don’t open for dinner until 5:30 and we were trying to make it to a Good Friday service by 6:30.  The menu is quite witty and charming.  The food was introduced to us by our server as classic American fare with an Asian twist.  Although the Yelp reviews led me to believe it was going to be hit or miss, I thoroughly enjoyed the meal.  We started with Spring Roll appetizers and before the main course they gave us scented hot towels for our hands!  We had flavored unfiltered Ginger Ale- I only recommend this if you are a huge fan of ginger.  It was quite strong.  The Hanoi Burger was very tasty and my Tilapia Tacos were delicious as well.  Flavor, texture, taste, all good.  The fries, though, [insert dramatic pause here] the fries.  Seasoned and served with a spicy cheddar and sake sauce, these shoestring fries were out of this world.  At first what attracted me to the menu was the Korean Beef Tacos.  I’m glad I didn’t order it, though, because I would have been comparing them to the ones I had in L.A. off the Kogi Truck.  That is a post for another day.   If you are on the East Side, try Social Eatz.  The food was good, the service was friendly, and we were served quickly and made it to church on time.

Spring Rolls and Ginger Ale

Chinese-Korean Zha Jiang Noodles from Hyo Dong Gak

Conversation number one:

Calvin (Chinese):  What’s the Korean word for three?

Abe (Korean):  Sam

Calvin:  That sounds just like the Chinese word for three.

Abe:  That’s the word the Chinese imposed on the Koreans.

Conversation number two:

David (Korean):  Let’s go have Zha Jiang Mian in K-town.

Alicia (Chinese):  Isn’t Zha Jiang Mian a Chinese dish?

David:  It’s a dish that the Chinese Imperialists brought to Korea.

Alicia:  But the Chinese invented it!

David:  The Chinese may have invented it but the Koreans perfected it!

Alicia:  I guess I can live with that.

Hyo Dong Gak is a Chinese-Korean restaurant in Midtown on 35th Street between 5th and 6th.  I had always watched my dad eat Zha Jiang Mian growing up.  We always celebrate birthdays in our family with noodles and my dad’s favorite noodle dish was Zha Jiang Mian.  I never could bring myself to try them because I couldn’t get over the black colored sauce.  Boy, I never knew what I was missing out on until now.  We ordered ggampoongi for the table.  When it arrived I couldn’t help but call it a Korean General Tso’s Chicken.  The irony in that is that General Tso’s Chicken is not a dish that is found in China.  It is a Chinese-American creation.  But I digress.  The Zha Jiang noodles were amazingly delicious.  And the spicy seafood noodles called jjam bong were nicely done, as well.  The bowls are huge so this is a great place to take guys, Chinese or Korean!  Or anyone else, for that matter.  It’s very reasonably priced.

Korean General Tso's

Zha Jiang Noodles

Jjam Bong Noodle Soup

Coupon for UFC (Unidentified Flying Chickens)

There’s a Groupon for UFC (Korean fried chicken) in Jackson Heights.  It’s only available for four more hours.  Their chicken is out of this world.  I went there quite a few months ago with some coworkers to celebrate a promotion.  We ordered a whole chicken and the Soy Garlic drumsticks as well as the Chicken Dukboki (rice noodles with chicken, onion, and spicy sauce).  Seriously delicious and addictive.

Drumsticks and a Whole Chicken

Chicken Dukboki

Kyochon is the New KFC

Move over Colonel Sanders!  Korean Fried Chicken is all the rage.  I recently visited two different Kyochons.  As far as I know, Bon Chon in K-town and Flushing started the trend.  There is also UFC (Unidentified Flying Chickens) which is also very popular.  What is so special about Korean Fried Chicken?  I’ll try to explain in words but it really must be experienced for yourself.  Sometime I’ll have a blind taste test to see which one of these would win in a throw down.  Let me know if you want in on the taste test!  Double battered and fried wings and drumsticks with various types of glazes.  Although I am fiercely loyal to New York now, I’m sorry but Buffalo Wings have nothing on the new KFC.  The wings come in a non-spicy glaze but to quote my pastor, “Why would you get chicken that wasn’t spicy?”  He also said that compared to Bon Chon, Kyochon tastes more like something his mother would make.  UFC is excellent as well.  Each one suits a different mood.

At the Kyochon in Flushing we had the whole chicken non-spicy and the drumsticks spicy.  They were Spicy (with a capital S).  We also ordered the dukboki with sauteed chicken and onions, simmered in a spicy red sauce.  Below, at the Kyochon in Korea Town on 32nd Street, we had rice balls, miso soup, and pickled daikon radish to accompany the wings.  This Kyochon is hip indeed.  The second level provides seating with plenty of televisions with a lounge feel to it and a great street view.

Hot wings

Oven used at Kyochon (Manhattan)

Rice Ball and Miso Soup

Woorijip (If the Hansons were Korean brothers)

I visited one of my favorite places to get Korean food in K-town/Murray Hill tonight. Delicious prepared Korean food at fast food prices can be had at Woorijip on 32nd Street.  I hadn’t eaten there in quite a few months and was pleasantly surprised to see that they had remodeled.  While still long and narrow, Woorijip seems to have made some extra space for customers to sit.  I have my staples there including various types of kimbap (Korean sushi rolls), japchae (sauteed glass noodles), and jigae (tofu stew).  They have  a hot food line for which you pay by the pound and a hot noodle bar in the back, as well.  I needed something light so I had vegetable kimbap and a cup of spinach and tofu soup.  I had the Hanson song “MMMbop” running through my head.  If they were Korean, they would sing, “Kim-bap…bap, bap, doo-wop” (etc, etc).  Mmmmm.  Yummy.  The names of Korean food fit nicely into the song!  Listen to MMMbop.

Korean BBQ on 35th Street, K-town

I was recently invited to a meal at Madangsui on 35th Street in Midtown.  We sat down to evaluate an event that our team had just executed.  Interestingly enough the event was a discussion around the topic of interracial dating and marriage.  Around the Korean BBQ table we had two Korean-Americans, a Hispanic-American, and a Chinese-American.  Honestly, I thought Chinese-Americans got a hard time from “real Chinese people” for not speaking the language but I discovered that it is even worse for Korean-Americans.  The New York Times recently ran an article about how South Koreans struggle with race.  Abe, who hosted us that night did indeed speak Korean, at least well enough to seemingly win the respect of our waitress.  This is what I love about Chinese and Korean style dining- that family style meal.  The host takes responsibility for ordering for the table.  Needless to say the food was absolutely delicious.  We ordered BBQ chicken with vegetables and Galbi (marinaded short ribs served with onions) with lettuce and sauce to wrap.  They grilled it right at the table for us but luckily I didn’t leave the restaurant smelling like BBQ.  At least I don’t think I did.  We also had fried dumplings, tofu stew and an order of Bibimbop.  They also gave us the ban chan dish of egg in a stone pot (someone please tell me the name of that one!).

Pinkberry

I was introduced to the phenomenon of Pinkberry while working in Midtown.  My colleagues and I would walk to 32nd street to get a fix of this frozen yogurt.  And I really mean frozen yogurt- yogurt that is frozen, not an unsatisfying substitute for ice cream.  My usual Pinkberry order is original or green tea yogurt with berries and mochi.  My friend Dave and I stopped in at Pinkberry before our friend’s performance on Theatre Row.  I decided to try the Pinkberry Parfait because it looked so pretty.

Pinkberry Parfait

If you are wondering if the word phenomenon is an overstatement for a frozen yogurt product, you can read about it in the LA Times.  Pinkberry has become a staple in many Manhattan neighborhoods.  You’ll probably see me in line one of these days.

Gettin’ Jigae With It

One of the best parts of Midtown is K-town (Korea town) on 32nd Street, or I suppose it is more Murray Hill.  After a meeting in Midtown, I met some friends at Seoul Garden for dinner to celebrate my new job!  They specialize in Korean BBQ and natural tofu (Jigae).   We decided not to do the BBQ that night mostly because I was feeling lazy and didn’t feel like grilling my own meat at the table.  We ordered a couple of appetizers: the beef dumplings (Mandoo) and the seafood pancake (Pajun) and a couple of entrees: tofu stew (Jigae) and the marinated short ribs (Galbi).  Of course the dinner was accompanied by the traditional side dishes (Ban Chan).  There was Kim Chi, seaweed, fish, string beans, bean sprouts, and a particularly tasty zucchini/egg dish that I never had before.  Dinner was really calm and relaxing until a party of 20 was seated next to us.  Luckily we were finished by then and made our exit.  I’ve eaten more Korean food in 4 years in New York than I have during all the rest of my life.  I love gettin’ Jigae with it!   [Listen to Will Smith]

Seoul Garden