catching up on june eatings

Fort Lee, NJ: Somyun in homemade dashi, with zucchini and a semi-poached semi-scrambled egg. You add spoonfuls of a sauce of soy, sesame and chilies to taste. I can be heavy handed with this condiment.

Palisades Park, NJ: Pile of veggies and fishcakes ready to get Shabu Shabu'ed at Pho 32.

Hot tub time for a piece of napa cabbage, a clump of enoki mushrooms and a fishball.

Thinly sliced beef ready for dunking.

Park Slope, Brooklyn: The house omelet at Moim is filled with kimchi, steak, onions and mozzarella cheese and partially bathed in a sort of demi-glace sauce you'd find in a yoshoku style restaurant. The home fries were perfect - super crisp on the outside without a trace of wetness, soft and warm on the inside. And most importantly, they were well-seasoned.

Inside view of the omelet. I'd definitely get this again, but would probably ask for it without the cheese.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: The fruits of a quick trip to the Brooklyn Flea. Even with the chili pepper on the label, these are a lot spicier than you'd think.

Cobble Hill, Brooklyn: A pre-bocce dinner at Hibino started off so positively, with this duo of obanzai. The chicken meatballs were moist and had a pleasing char. The eel croquettes were like arancini with a decidedly Japanese twist (panko breading, tonkatsu-style sauce drizzled over). Unfortunately, our main dishes took nearly an hour to arrive and one of our orders didn't even make it from notepad to kitchen. We had to rush and were late to the start of the game And we wound up losing.

Edgewater, NJ: Gyoza and congee combo from China Table Tokyo Hanten at Mitsuwa. I almost always opt for ramen here but was in the mood to expand my horizons. This was yummy, but not as satisfying as a bowl of noodles. I did really like the mug of consommé.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: Pupusas (whoops, I've been spelling these with two As) from a Red Hook ball field vendor at today's Brooklyn Flea! Brought home a bean and cheese and zucchini and cheese a little before it started pouring. Only $4.50!

The bean and cheese pupusa was dry and seemed like it may have been sitting on the griddle for some time, but the zucchini was wonderful. Maybe the water content of the zucchinis helped to keep it moist? By the time I got home, some of the sour cream had melted and mixed in with the salsa to create a delicious cream sauce. Pickles make everything better, and in this case, it was pickled cabbage.

Sandwiches in Central Park

I had a lunch date with Margo and her brood at the park. She picked up sandwiches from Bouchon Bakery. I had told her to surprise me and she did it right with wagyu brisket sandwich with arugula, ricotta salata, parsley pesto and aioli from Bouchon Bakery. The cheese was especially delicious. Sometimes I find ricotta salatas too salty, but this was much milder and also not as crumbly in texture.

Cuckoo for Coco500?

Pictures from Coco500 in San Francisco, where Top Chef Season 4 contestant Jen Biesty is the chef. We were unable to catch a peek or her and her faux-hawk.

Moogle's purslane salad with radishes, boquerones and fried capers. I wasn't so much into the purslane as it had a bit of gumminess a la okra and fiddleheads. She's a vegetarian so she asked for the anchovies on the side. The table carnivores did not let those go to waste. Let's talk about fried capers for a moment - holy cow, what an unexpected bite of warm, salty, deliciousness.

The cheeseplate. I would tell you specifically what kind of cheese, but the server never told us, nor did she really give us a chance to ask, which I found annoying. We also had to ask for bread. I really like my cheese with bread or some other sort of carby vessel. Don't we all?

More cheese plate. I thought the blue could be a Point Reyes but I think the veining is a little different. There was also a wedge of manchego and some sort of aged chèvre with some ash which I am almost certain was a Cypress Grove Bermuda Triangle.

I'm not sure how I felt about the ahi ceviche, which was marinated with coconut, scallion and lime. I think I needed the temperature of the fish to be colder and the flakes of coconut smaller or maybe completely out of the recipe.

My chimichurri pork special! Halfway through it, I realized I was eating radicchio and not chorizo, which is what I misheard the waitress say. The pork was cooked wonderfully and worked nicely with the bitterness of the radicchio.

Moogle's asparagus pizza, featuring spring garlic, goat cheese, lemon zest, pink peppercorns. I had a bite and it was very springy and yummy.

Rob's whole fish of the day: a branzino with herb salad, capers, anchovies, lemon. I was too busy porking out to try a bite, but it looked really good.

To drink I had a couple of these Presbyterian cocktails: bourbon, ginger beer, lemon and seltzer. I need to recreate these this summer, they went down nice and easy, let me tell you. Anyone have a bourbon suggestion?

lunch at momofuku ssam bar

The funny thing is that I ordered the pork bibimbop but they brought me the chicken. I had a couple bites before I even remembered I had ordered pork. Anyway, I forgot to retake photos but decided to post these because they are so mouth-watering. The lunch special also includes a side of your choice, pickles and a drink. It's pricey, but the leftovers made for a tasty dinner.