2011 - an amazing year

If you have been following this blog, you would know that 2011 has been an absolute blast.

We moved into our new place. New home. New couch. New chapter of our lives. But a house is only a shell unless there are memories attached to it. What I want is for our home is to be a place people associate with love, stability and laughter.

From birthdays to the requisite sin-driven hen party lunch that was filled with dreamy Italians (well, more like food coma after an Italian buffet lunch) right down to the many weddings we attended this year (including ours, HAR HAR), it was a year filled with much celebration.

沾仔记 Tsim Chai Kee, Hong Kong

Caprice at Four Seasons Hotel, Hong Kong

I was lucky enough to visit Hong Kong with my mum and mother-in-law, as well as spend a week in New York City for a honeymoon that filled with much epic fooding.

Eleven Madison Park, New York City

Peter Luger, New York City

It would be hard to top this year but 2012 stands a pretty good chance as we are expecting someone special next July. 

Happy days ahead, folks =)

A big bite out of the Big Apple

Bits of New York

Pre Daniel

Out exploring

It was either breakfast at Starbucks or

Cafe Gillard

Dapper or Draper? =)

Shuguh Daddy

Cute chairs at Anthropologie

A tribute to John Lennon.

He murdered and shot dead here, while walking into his home.

Not a fan but I hand-carried a dozen Magnolia Bakery cupcakes back for my sister. Sisterly love...

Grand Central Terminal

Mid afternoon pit stop at Le Pain Quotien

But not your enthusism

The Met. Deescribing this as grand just doesn't do it justice.

Rocking those gladiator flats

Sigh, I think I need another holiday.

Epicness at Peter Luger

I have heard so much about Peter Luger from 2 people close to me - kw and yang, my younger sister. Both of them basically swear by Peter Luger's steak and talk about it as if it is the steak to rule them all. I knew I had break into their circle of trust and visit this haven for self-professed, die hard and born again carnivores.

A basket of bread rolls that we had to will ourselves from finishing (probably the best decision we made that afternoon).

Besides the steak, the one thing that kw raves about is their thick-cut bacon. Pork - a 4 letter word that can also be done in many ways.

This was one bacon on steroids. Slightly charred, tender and -duh- fatty... This would bring you back to those good ol' days when your kids were cute and there was a flat running rate for cabs.

Behold the mothership of all steaks! Dry-aged in-house, the ribeye was effing breathlessly fantastic. It is the crust, I'm telling you. The juicy, pink slab bore a superficial crisp char that amplified Dooey's (did I just name our steak?) deliciousness.

I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be showering this much attention on another beefcake on our honeymoon but seriously…but this was a meat debauchery of unspeakable proportions. This cow which died for this has priority entry into greener pastures of heaven.

 

Un-freakin'-believable.

So glad we worked up an appetite with a walk across Williamsburg Bridge. I love how serene I look in this picture as it I were doing a cross-stitch. Oh, the thoughts running through my head at that point in time…

Sides to accompany the slab:

A very creamy creamed spinach.

3-4 inches long golden crisp stilettos fries.

Portion control? Not when you have had three plates looking like this and fistful of fries...

Kw's not-so-secret agenda was to try out Peter Luger's burger. It was a tidy throw-together of bun, beef, onion and cheese that I foresee would become part of his dinner conversations.

The burger was good (nailed it for kw) but it was only a pit stop for me when I need a breather from the steak.

You are what you eat and it sure felt like we had an extra stomach for dessert. By then, I was tired from chewing and we were definitely in need of some form of lubricant to wash down all that meat.

Holy Cow! Check out Peter Luger's Holy Cow hot fudge sundae - a dessert to match the prowess of our entree. Smooth creamy vanilla ice cream, open tap on hot fudge and heaps of "Schlag" whipped cream.

The clean-plate, clean-bone policy is in the house.

Please don’t be mistaken, I barely got 2 inches off the ground but even then, I am surprised I could still lift off the ground after this epic fooding.

Oh Peter Luger, you have ruined me for life!

Cheapass lunch at 53rd & 6th Halal Food Cart

Careful now. People have killed and been killed over this gyro from 53rd Street and 6th Halad Food Cart.

I have heard the queues can be notoriously long at night so thankfully there were only 7-8 people on front of us on a weekday afternoon.

I was tempted to get the works - lamb, pita, rice and all - but bearing in mind that we have just had lobster roll and a 20-hr flight that evening, we shared a lamb gyro and side order of falafels because those babies are made of chickpea right so minimal damage right? Ah, the voice of gutly reason...

I loved the grainy texture of the falafels but they were too cold to provide any form of satisfaction. If I were you, I would take these home and toast them for a few minutes to reinstate their full glory.

Back to the gyro, it was really good. Finely chopped up lamb, well-balanced spices and kickass hot sauce (activated our tear ducts) and white sauce (yogurt and something).

It was really good but I can't help but wish we had bigger chunks of lamb to chew on. Quite frankly, you could have taken my share of the meat and I would have been happy nibbling away on the hot sauce and yogurt drenched fluffy pita. That, I thought, was to die for...

Luke's Lobster

I was hangry. We had been at the Met for about 2 hours and I was feeling more moody than Monet. I’m not usually this uncultured or impatient (oh, who am I kidding?) but all I had on my mind was Luke's lobster roll.

Lobster roll was one of those things I had missed out on on my previous trip to NYC and I was determined to get my fair share of the claw. I considered getting my fix at Pearl Oyster Bar and Mary’s Fish Camp but their rolls look as if they suffer from a serious case of mayo abuse. I’m sure those rolls are good in an eyeballs-roll-back-to-the-head sort of way so you be the judge since I can only speak for Luke’s rolls.

Barely visible sheen of butter coating the plump sweet lobster chunks, a dash of mayo within a bun that had been buttered and toasted.

Always butter your bun. Quick win, pleasure multipler effect.

If there was ever such a thing as delayed gratification, this would be it. Techinically the roll took about 5 minutes to arrive at our table but I had been waiting over an hour. 

USD2 extra scores you a pack of Ms Vicki’s chips and Maine root soda.You save USD1.50 and gain the munchies ... Pretty good deal, no?

Luke gets his lobster from father Jeff's sustainable Maine seafood company. Judging by the amount of foie gras I have had on this trip, I’m sure you can tell I’m hardly the most eco-consious eater but hey, I will highlight anything that makes me (and possibly, you) feel better as a diner.

We also had soups to ward off the gusty weather.

The clam chowder was pretty good. It is probably one of the very few times I taste more clam than cream.

The spicy crab soup was a bowl of thick and quick comfort for someone who was feeling crabby minutes earlier. More curry spicy than chili spicy, there was a strong aroma of turmeric but not at the expense of the sweet-tasting crab. You gotta try this.

*Sticks up three fingers* W-I-N-N-E-R!