Chao Thai

Monday business was slow, as I expected, so I was allowed the night off. I spent the day walking with L, looking for a handbag/purse. Yes, I've decided it's time for me to grow up and get one. I didn't buy a purse, but I did get a pair of flip-flops and a bag of dark chocolate Lindt truffles. D, the supervisor of both New York locations, met us and promised us authentic Thai food out in Queens. So after some train trouble, we cabbed out to Elmhurst, where B met us, to a place called "Chao Thai."

First of all, every single person there was Thai. Good sign. The decor was great - Easter bunnies all over the walls and a wreath with a bumble bee that said "Bee Happy." D said he'd been in April when there were Valentine's hearts all over the walls. There was also a tv in the corner playing music videos, which I must say were hilarious. D, being Thai, did all the ordering for us. First, Thai Iced Tea - he had his without milk, which I'd never tasted before. Very intense, but good. Then the food began arriving. The green curry was the best I've ever had - not too hot spicy, but incredibly flavourful. Then there was a dish of grilled pork with a spicy sweet dipping sauce. A spicy papaya salad and a *very* spicy ground chicken dish. I'd had the ground chicken with Joy and her family before, but it hadn't been that spicy! D said this was "medium spicy," but it was too spicy for me. I was so thankful for my Thai Iced Tea. Even L, who likes everything spicy, was drinking so much water. There were some greens, Chinese spinach I think, that D said would help... but they didn't really. So finally he ordered a soup with tofu and greens, which though hot (temperature-wise) was soothing. Everything was really tasty - I would have liked more of the chicken - but it was just too spicy for me! :-P The green curry was my favourite hands down. Would love to take Ba and J there and B's friend BL.

Sushi in NYC

Yesterday B's band was supposed to sign a contract with Sony Publishing. For the third time, and to everyone's frustration, it was cancelled yet again. I was pretty upset as I'd asked for the day off from work just for the signing and the celebratory dinner to follow. After the disappointing news, the one upside was "thank goodness I didn't shave my legs."

So instead B and I went out for sushi. This is a task these days, as we both love sushi, but I've become very picky about it. B will eat pretty much anything - rolls, cheap nigiri, whatever. My feeling is if I'm expecting sushi, I expect good sushi, and if I'm going to pay money, I want nigiri or sashimi, attractively cut fresh fish that caresses the palate - not rolls with cucumber and avocado and other crap in them. As a result, we don't eat sushi that much, because it ends up being expensive. Although that's probably self-perpetuating as, by the time we finally eat sushi, we crave the good stuff (at least I do). We've tried a couple places around Astoria/Long Island City, but they've disappointed me. The ones we've tried in Manhattan have been good, but expensive. I'll review anyway.

Several months ago we tried Nada Sushi, on 50th between Lexington and 3rd Ave (just a block from Gyu-Kaku Midtown). We went for lunch and had some sort of set that included Miso soup and salad. Something about the salad was very refreshing and tasty. We also had a starter of negimaki - scallions rolled in grilled beef. Savory little morsels that exceeded my expectations. The sushi of course was excellent; the hamachi (yellowtail - my favourite) melted in the mouth. Most of the clientele was Japanese if I remember correctly, and the atmosphere was quiet and subdued. Pleasant for a lunch date. However, being a lunch in midtown, it came out to about $60. (We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant across the street from Gyu-Kaku a couple weeks ago, and that was also about $60, so I gather that's normal for a Midtown lunch.) Still, I have a fondness for the place, and would definitely go back.

When J, my sister's fiance, was in town for an interview in the winter, we joined him, his sister, and cousin for dinner at a place downtown called Yama, 17th St and Irving Pl. Clearly a popular spot, they don't seat until your whole party is there. And once we were, we still had to wait. The restaurant was a bit cramped; we squeezed into a table in the corner. This is the place that J and his family always go to when in the City, and he urged us to have the spicy tuna te-maki (hand roll). It was fun; they certainly have "creative sushi" down at Yama. We mostly had rolls that night, which were tasty, but not my favourite - particularly if they contain avocado. We had a discussion about how avocado affects sushi. J's cousin (I believe it was) understood how I felt. Not only do I dislike it, but I feel the texture and taste of avocado, which is soft and creamy and bland, detracts from the experience of the fish. In the end, I felt Yama was good enough, but rather overrated, particularly considering the wait and space.

Last night, after the disappointment of the day, B and I trekked out to Hasaki in the East Village, on 9th between 2nd & 3rd Aves. A Japanese coworker and friend of mine had recommended it and well, of course I'm going to trust a young-Japanese-man-on-a-similar-budget's judgment. The reviews online all said it was a great value for lunch... too bad we were going for dinner. They also remarked that the sushi wasn't very "creative," which I ignored, since I couldn't care less, as long as the fish is good. When we got there (after 9:30pm) they were only seating at the sushi bar, which of course was no big deal. We each had Mura (a potato shochu) on the rocks and examined the menu. The days' specials were a little too elaborate and exotic for my tastes. I, as always, really just wanted nigiri. There was a 16-piece sushi set, with two set rolls plus a roll of our choice. But since I didn't really want rolls and would rather save the stomach space for additional nigiri, we ordered two Sushi Eights - 8-pieces plus one Tekka maki (tuna roll) - for $4 less. Not being terribly familiar with sushi bar etiquette, I shyly addressed the chef standing near us.
--注文していいですか？[May I order?]
--いいです。[Yes, fine.]
I pointed to "Sushi Eight" and said 二つ下さい [two please]. He then pointed out the 16-piece set, to which I replied,
--でも、巻きがあまり好きじゃないんですから．．．[I don't really like rolls that much, so...]
He smiled and nodded and asked if we'd rather start with Miso soup or salad. So Miso soup arrived, which I told B to drink without a spoon (until we got to the very bottom, and then I didn't want to be vulgar), and we watched the chef make our pretty plates of sushi.
The first one I tried was the Salmon Roe - as I've never been a big fan of Roe, I figured I'd start with it and finish with my favourites (hamachi, hirame). BUT
the Roe was really surprisingly good! The hamachi and hirame were okay, not as good as I'd remembered at Nada Sushi. And I decided Unagi nigiri had dropped in my ratings. I think I prefer it as unagi-don or similar. It's too heavy and sweet a flavour for sushi. After they cleared away our plates, I again asked the chef for a recommendation. He pointed to the specials, which I wasn't interested in. As the Salmon Roe had been so good, I asked which of the four Roe (Salmon, Spicy Cod, Flying Fish, and something else) he recommended. Salmon, he said immediately. So we ordered an additional two Salmon Roe and two Aji (Horse Mackerel). It must just be the season, because they were both very very good.
The bill in the end was $80. We left $16 for the server and $4 for the chef, so a total of $100 for a satisfying sushi dinner. I feel guilty for spending so much everytime I go out for sushi. What we really need to find is a secret, local, cheap, quality place.

I've been craving chocolate lately, so after dinner we went in search of a molten-middle chocolate cake. We found something close enough at Pizzeria Uno just a block away and went home happily in food coma.

...Until a couple hours later when I realized that raw fish and fudge don't exactly complement each other. Nothing Pepto-bismol couldn't handle. ;-)

Oh!

I'm really excited about this summer, by the way. First B's friend's wedding in Provincetown (Cape Cod). I don't think I'll be going to the wedding, but we got a hotel room with an ocean view. :D I plan to spend the weekend just relaxing on the beach, evening out my brown-ness. Then there's the convention in Boston; it'll be B's first. And from the convention my parents return here with us. We'll spend a couple days in the city and a couple days on Long Island with B's parents. I expect it to be fun. Then at the end of July, I'm joining B's family for an Alaskan Cruise in honour of his dad's birthday! I am so excited! They were showing me the website and pictures of the ship and scenery... Oh my god. It's going to be awesome. If my parents know what's good for them, they'll try it too!

Relief

The semester is over, and I am *so glad.* On top of that, I finally quit my job in the Dr's office. I didn't do it in the best way perhaps, but I was so relieved when I woke up this morning and realized I didn't have to go there. So now "all" I have to worry about is working at the restaurant and finding a volunteer position, preferably in a hospital.

My personal summer goals: read, get in shape, and relearn Spanish. Not too ambitious, right? So far I'm off to a halfway decent start. I'm still working on Joyce Carol Oates' "Missing Mom" and I also picked up an old book of B's: a bilingual edition of Carlos Fuentes' "Aura." X at work says I sound like E.T. when I speak in Spanish. Yeah, he's not the most constructive critic. As for the getting in shape, which I guess is my New Year's Resolution too... I think it'd be easier if I found a dance or yoga class or something nearby. I've had the urge to try Muay Thai Kickboxing, but B is not very excited about that idea. Perhaps I can make good and get the guys at work to play Ultimate regularly. I could throw better than I expected a couple weeks ago in Brooklyn. Running too? I'm not so sure about that.