cia – Page 154 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Oh! Taisho

9 St. Marks Place between 2nd and 3rd Avenues
212/228.5086
about $50 for two, with two drinks, with tip

Yakitori Taisho is one of those Japanese places on St. Marks that you end up going to after drinking all night because they’re open until after midnight. Oh! Taisho is that new space they’ve needed because the original is always packed.

Too much bacon can kill you

Yakitori is traditionally grilled chicken but nowadays, the term is used to refer to anything barbequed. The secret is the sauce that comes with every skewer made up of rice wine vinegar, sweet sake, soy sauce and sugar. My favorite is getting one of each of the yakitoris with bacon for about $2 each: with quail egg, asparagus, okra and scallops. I also love the beef stomach and the tongue.

Two other good dishes I find hard to skip are the kimchi yakiudon and the pork spareribs. The pork falls off the bone and is perfectly tender. The kimchi yakiudon is spicy enough to make you pause in between bites. I usually order it when I’m not in the mood for a bowl of rice.

Good barbeque

Kimchi Yakiudon

Salary men in Japan are known to eat yakitori after a long day at work with their favorite sake. Here in New York City though, I stick with my Asahi Dry.

Searching For a Good Taco: Upper West Side

For my first search for a good taco, I decided to stay on Amsterdam Avenue and the upper west side, specifically from 100th to 145th Streets. I started on 100th mainly because I wanted to hit a favorite spot on 108th but also because I wanted to end up at Jesus’ Tacos near my apartment, a small store that shares space with Twin Donut. Every time I pass by, I chuckle at the name and I knew that someday, I’m going to have to buy something from there. (Of course, it’s more likely pronounced as Heh-sus than Gee-sus but that’s not as funny.)

I was alone and I immediately found out that two tacos were my limit, maybe three if I pick on the filling and skip the tortilla, so I kept it down to ordering chorizo or ground pork tacos. At the stores where they didn’t carry the pork kind, I either bought beef, goat or chicken. I also didn’t spend more than $2.50 on each taco, the cheapest being two dollars. As for selecting which ones to go to, I looked around as I made my way up Amsterdam Avenue and went in to every store, restaurant and bodega that had an awning painted with the Mexican flag colors and had, well, “tacos” or “Mexican food” plastered on the windows. Banderitas, loud Spanish music or television and a picture of the Lady of Guadalupe were all big pluses.

Noche, 852 Amsterdam Avenue between 101st and 102nd Streets, 212/662.6900

Italian Mexican, 886 Amsterdam Avenue between 102nd and 103rd Streets, 212/316.1427

Los Paisas, 890 Amsterdam Avenue between 103rd and 104th Streets, 212/961.1263

Taqueria y Fonda, 968 Amsterdam Avenue between 107th and 108th Streets, 212/531.0383

Yuca Mexican Products, 1345-49 Amsterdam Avenue corner of 125th Street

Cielito Lindo, 1354 Amsterdam Avenue between 125th and 126th Streets, 212/222.0938

Mex Juquila, 1486 Amsterdam Avenue between 133rd and 134th Streets, 212/694.7142

Jesus’ Taco, 501 West 145th Street on Amsterdam Avenue, 212/234.3330

The verdict: chorizo tacos are indistinguishable; ground pork is ground pork. What makes a difference is how the chorizo is cooked and how the taco is prepared. My favorite was the chorizo taco from Taqueria y Fonda between 107th and 108th Streets because the bits and pieces of pork were grilled, crunchy and toasted. Even the onions were grilled so they added some sweetness to the flavor. Their salsa also came with small pieces of avocado and finding each one was a nice surprise. The chorizo from Cielito Lindo between 125th and 126th Streets came in a close second. They actually cut a sausage into smaller pieces; crunchy chorizo skin is always a plus.

As for the non-chorizo tacos, the goat from Yuca was great and the huge peppers were a nice touch. The chicken from Mex Juquila was pretty much like how white meat tastes: boring and unexciting. Between the two beef tacos I got, I liked the one from Noche better than the ungodly experience at Jesus’.

Summer 2006 Getaway Part 3: Stonypoint and Bear Mountain

After several errands on Saturday morning, we finally made it to the car and started our drive towards the George Washington Bridge. Before reaching Harriman State Park, we saw a sign for the oldest lighthouse along the Hudson River and decided to make a detour. The Stony Point lighthouse was built in 1826 to warn ships coming in due to increased river traffic after the opening of Erie Canal.

Stony Point lighthouse, the oldest along the Hudson River

For $5, we entered the Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site and walked around the grounds where the Americans beat the British during a midnight surprise assault. The view of the Haverstraw Bay was beautiful.

The boats on Haverstraw Bay

We then proceeded to the second largest state park in New York. We read that there are over 200 miles of hiking trails but we couldn’t find trail marks except for a gate towards the smaller Bear Mountain State Park.

We walked along the concrete road until we reached an electric tower and found yellow trail marks on the surrounding trees. We followed those up to the fire tower which we climbed to get a glimpse of the man-made Lake Welch Beach down the hill.

It reminded us of the old radio tower we climbed in Sagada. That was the first time I found out the Dr. has some fear of heights. I was ahead of him ascending this tower, too, and he stopped right below me because his “balls were tingling.” I had to stop laughing to keep the the tower still. He stayed where he was and we enjoyed the view from up above separately.

The Dr. stopped here

Man-made Lake Welch Beach dotted with people

The electric tower from the fire tower

Green, green, green!

Through the forest, we skipped over huge rocks and climbed small hills and made our way up to a stone house. We sat there for a while to catch our breaths and enjoy the view of the river. It was the perfect day for a hike because it was breezy and it wasn’t too humid.

Stone house on top

It took another hour to make it back to our car where we ate a Oaxaqueñan sandwich we bought in the morning. We felt that we didn’t really do anything strenuous but that we got enough exercise because of the ups and downs.

George Washington Bridge before sunset

Still, though, we rewarded ourselves by driving to Flushing and eating Malaysian fare at Sentosa.

Sentosa

39-07 Prince Street, Flushing, Queens
718/886.6331
$45 for three, with two drinks, without tip

A stopover in Flushing after picking up my father from the airport proved to be worth the trip for less than $45. We’re big fans of the roti canai. I suppose roti canais are all the same but we really liked Sentosa’s version of the curry chicken and potato dipping sauce.

Roti Canai

Satay bores me because they always serve them as an hor d’oeuvre in parties and weddings. Sentosa’s was “grilled to perfection”–dry and flaky–and the sauce needed to taste more like peanuts.

Beef Satay

One of my favorites was the lobak with deep fried ground meat and the shrimp pancakes even though the fried tofu was unexciting. I loved the chili sauce better than the Hoisin.

Lobak

I liked the nasi lemak, a plate of anchovies, curry chicken and a hard-boiled egg with coconut rice.

Nasi Lemak

The beef rendang tasted like any other beef rendang I’ve tasted. But their seafood tom yum soup was delicious. I love the sourness of the lemongrass together with the spice of the seafood broth.

Seafood Tom Yum Rice Noodle Soup

Note: All photos taken by a cell phone camera

La Oaxaqueña Restaurant

1969 Amsterdam Avenue corner of 158th Street
212/283.7752
about $20 for two, without drinks, without tip

We always point to this restaurant when we would drive by from the west side highway. One lazy Saturday, we finally stopped by for an early lunch.

It’s like a fiesta inside

One of our favorite places in the world is Oaxaca in Mexico so just the name of this place intrigued us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time of the day to eat mole–for us, at least–the Oaxaqueñan blend of chocolate and chiles sauce, so we tried their tacos and ordered one of their sandwiches to go instead. The goat taco, which they called the barbacoa so I assume it was slow-cooked, was nothing special; it was actually quite bland. The chorizo and the beef taco were pretty good but not spectacular.

Tacos!

Later in the day, we unwrapped the Oaxaqueñan sandwich made of roast beef and ham. We wondered if the beans gave it its name because otherwise, it was just a messy Cuban sandwich.

Do beans make a sandwich Oaxaqueñan?

I don’t have to do a return trip to La Oaxaqueña but I’m glad we tried it.