Social Eatz

(with a side of Crumbs!)

For J's bday, the usual gang went out for some atypical Asian-American food - some good ole Asian tastes, burger style.

After starting off with some ribs and spring rolls as apps, we each filled up on an entree and fries. LOTS of fries. L successfully finished her bibimbap burger, which A had tried and recommended. A & C tried the bulgulgi burgers, which were tasty, but not as much as the bibimbap. MM tried the fish tacos, and M tried the Korean tacos, which were "good...not wow, but good". EM liked the Hanoi burger but couldn't finish it, and I definitely needed help finishing up half of my ("wow") kung pao burger. It had just the right amount of spice to it, to give it a good kick. But I wouldn't say, wow. The fries, however, were exactly the way I love them - skinny and salty. YUM. Too bad I had to fight L for them (though I let her have all the funky cheese dip) ;p

OMG. Lost in reveries about the fries, I completely forgot about the birthday boy. Who ordered the dog. And only ate the dog ("it was okay"). No bun or toppings. But we won't judge him...today. :p

Unlike at Bonchon, the staff here was very accommodating, and we were able to celebrate with some mini-Crumbs cupcakes that EM had brought. They even took the bunch to the back, plated it nicely, and lit a candle for us :) Oh, and sang, happy birthday, too :)


We were SO stuffed, but I'd been craving the yuzu cream puffs, so we ordered one dish to try. First off, they were NOT cream puffs. False advertising. But they were good doughnut holes - warm and sweet with a nice balance of the yuzu tartness.

After all that goodness, we lifted our fat selves a couple blocks away to The Volstead, to dance away our calories to bad music mixes (boo mr. dj!).

ps. Sorry bout the photos - it was SO dark! The burgers really do look much more appetizing than this.


Social Eatz
232 E 53rd St
(btwn 2nd & 3rd)

Crumbs
I'm going to wager a guess and say they were from this location:
880 Third Ave (@ 53rd)
[though I could be wrong]

Sake Part 3

Yay for sake! E and I fiiiinally set a sake date, and invited a couple non-sake-friendly friends along. Sakagura was highly rated, and I found it on lists of top sake places in NYC. I made reservations about a week in advance for an early Friday dinner (their opening time slot) because I heard there were long waits. Not sure if it was like this for everyone else, but whenever I called, I'd get an answering service. I left a reservation request as prompted. They called me back to say I could have it, and I had to call back to re-confirm. They informed me they would only hold the table for 10minutes and that I only had the slot from 6-8pm. Okay, fine. Then they called again and left me a VM the day of, asking me to confirm once again. They had me so paranoid, I showed up early to guarantee my table was still mine. The place was empty.

M & E were running a little late, so C & I browsed the menu for goodies while the waiters looked ready to pounce on us as soon as we glanced their way. Finally, one of them got up the nerve to come tell us that we should probably order soon so that we'd be able to get outta there on time. (Why? I'm in no rush...) It's a good thing we already had several dishes in mind that sounded amazing. As a sake newb, I asked him to recommend a taster option or a smooth cold sake. After a couple back-n-forths, he pointed out the Minowamon, which I settled on. That was the best sake I've ever tasted (but hopefully not the best I ever will!).

As M showed up, we placed our orders for these tapa-style dishes:

KAMO ROAST : Slices of Chilled Roasted Duck Wrapped Around Scallion Accented with Basil Sauce
JAGA DANGO : Mashed Potatoes Coated in Sweet Donut Batter Fried Crisp
EBI STICK : Deep fried Srimp Roll with "NORI" Seaweed and Oba Leaf Served with a Miso Sauce
TORI TSUKUNE : Chicken Meat Balls with Teriyaki Sauce
GINDARA YUAN YAKI : Grilled Fillets of Cod Fish Steeped in Sweet Soy Sauce
SANSHOKU NASU DENGAKU : Grilled Japanese Eggplants Served with Three Kinds of Miso (Eggyork, Spinach, and Sweet Red )
JIDORI SHIOYAKI : Grilled Organic Free Range Chicken Served with Sea Salt and "Yuzu" Citrus Pepper
SAIKORO STEAK : Diced Steak Sauteed with Olive Oil Flavored with Grated Onion and Soy Sauce


We all agreed it was ALL very YUMMY, except the shrimp sticks - they were nothing to rave about.

A carafe of sake only lasts so long at a table of four (even when 2 out of 4 don't drink sake...), so we asked our trusty waiter for another good recommendation. The first one he gave us as a tester tasted a little like rubbing alcohol - definite NO. So we went a little fruity and settled on the Yaegaki Mu - sake with a hint of apple (which I personally couldn't taste).

I just LOVE their use of different carafes and glasses!
After all that good food and sake, we couldn't leave without trying out their desserts too! Everything looked good, but we decided on the black sesame creme brulee with black sesame ice cream, chocolate souffle (w/vanilla ice cream & raspberry sauce), and some green tea and black sesame tuffles. It all arrived with some complimentary hot tea! How perfectly thoughtful of them :) Sorry I didn't include any dessert photos (it was really hard choosing which photos to post this time!), but if you wanna see what the choc souffle and creme brulee look like, my photos pretty much look exactly like their dessert page photos - check 'em out there! ;)

ps. If you're thinking of trying this wonderful establishment, I'm giving you fair warning that it'll be difficult to find - especially if you go early and in the colder months, when huge crowds aren't yet swarming outside. You have to first enter what looks like an office or apartment building, pass the security guard, and immediately turn left to go DOWN the stairwell. Yes. As you can see from the address below - it's in the basement.

Sakagura
211 E 43rd St B1F
(btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave)

Street Meat

It sure does hit the spot! Especially right before a Maxwell concert ;)

Fairly inexpensive, and voted the best street meat in town, this halal dish really is that YUMMY. Extra white sauce please!

Halal Cart
SW corner 53rd & 6th

Buttercup

I've had this before, but it was never blogged, and it definitely deserves a mention. As L's favorite cupcake company in the vicinity, we bought a round for her bday celebration. Pictured is her favorite red velvet with vanilla frosting. Life doesn't get much better than this. :)


Buttercup Bake Shop
973 2nd Avenue
(b/t 51st & 52nd)