Les Halles.

For our last dinner with MY and S on their visit, Roomie and I took them to the pleasant little French restaurant Les Halles.  It was an ideal restaurant for us to dine at because MY was craving steak and Les Halles' motto is "American Beef, French Style."

Our complementary bread basket.  It had a wheat type of baguette and a regular French baguette.  The regular baguette was very fresh, light, and fine just by itself.  I tasted it both with and without butter and noticed that the butter is not necessary.  Without the butter, you can taste how fresh the bread is.  I did not taste the wheat bread, but MY said that the bread was a little dense and dry.  The baguette definitely was sexier here.

I got the Onglet à l'Échalote, hanger (or skirt) steak with a shallot dipping sauce, ordered medium.  My meal, along with everyone else's, came with pommes frites, or french fries, and a wild greens salad with a very light vinaigrette.  The hanger steak was very tender and perfectly cooked, each bite of the steak melting in my mouth.  The dipping sauce had an interesting sour taste that complemented the cut of the meat.  The fries were nice and crispy, perfect with a dash of salt.  There was no need for any ketchup.  The vinaigrette didn't overpower the veggies and was very refreshing.  Overall, it was just the right portion and was very well executed.

MY got the Steak au poivre, Frites, or steak coated with cracked black peppercorn, cooked medium.  Despite being disappointed by the meager size of the cut of meat, he seemed to have enjoyed it.  I had a taste of it and though I agree that it was cooked well, I also feel that the black peppercorn overpowers the meat, masking the taste of the quality beef.

Roomie got the Poulet Rôti, Frites, or oven roasted Amish chicken.  Roomie was quiet about this one, but judging from the continued speed of his scarfing, I can only assume that it was good.

S got the Faux-filet Bercy, New York sirloin with red wine butter, ordered medium-well.  Unfortunately, it was a little dry and should have been ordered at simply medium instead of medium-well.  However, she said the butter was a nice match to the steak.

Overall, the restaurant presented some nice steaks.  Despite feeling that the portions were just perfect, I don't think I would mind if they were a tiny bit larger, but I think that I also shouldn't be too greedy.  The ambiance was pleasant and trendy and the staff was friendly.

Price: <3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3<

Opinion: Highly Recommended

BCD Tofu House.

On the day of MY and S' arrival, Mic and I took them to BCD Tofu House for Dinner.  Here are a few pictures of what we consumed.

Here is a picture of the banchan that we received with our meal.  Banchan are like appetizers in Korea.  From left to right: fish cakes with a few small red chilis, regular pickles, some kind of spicy pickled octopus or fish, kimchi, pickled broccoli, and potato salad.  Overall, the banchan was tasty.  I especially liked the pickled broccoli and kimchi.  S, who is from Korea, said that the kimchi at BCD Tofu is one of the best kimchi that she has ever had, so the kimchi must be really good there.

With all of the Soondubu that we ordered, we were given a small fried fish and a cool and refreshing vinegary soup with some pieces of napa cabbage and cucumber.  The fish was nice and tender with a nice crisp outside.  The only thing that I can complain about is that the fish was so boney, but that's what you always get when you eat a fish like that.

MY got the Dolsot Bibimbap, which is one of his favorite dishes.  He enjoyed it and commented that he likes how the hot stone bowl crisps up the rice on the bottom.

S, Mic, and I got different variations of the Soondubum, or tofu stew.  I got the beef soondubu, pictured above.  It comes with a bowl of rice, which was cooked in a stone bowl, and a bowl of fan diu, the crispy rice from the bottom of the pot mixed with some water.  The soondubu was very delicious and came out piping hot, bubbling in its stone pot.  It was a very enjoyable and warming meal, great on that cold evening.

Overall, it was a good meal.  Everything was fresh and delicious, and the atmosphere of the restaurant was comfortable and trendy.

Price: <3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3<3<

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3

Opinion: Recommended

BCD Tofu House

in Murray Hill

17 W 32nd St.

(212) 967-1900

Ichi Umi, a.k.a. Todai Sushi Buffet.

On Tuesday February 24th, 2009, also know as Fat Tuesday, we ventured to Ichi Umi Sushi Buffet to engorge ourselves with highly priced, but also high quality sushi and food.  Some of you may remember this restaurant by its former name of Todai Sushi Buffet.  With the new name, however, it still looks exactly the same, has the same staff, and the same great food.

Here is my 1st Plate.  There is too much piled on my plate to identify certain things.  All you can do is admire and drool at the beauty.  The sushi is always good and they don't skimp on the fish and give you small amounts of rice.  Not cheap like other sushi buffets, so you basically get your money's worth.  The tempura is always crispy, abundant, and fresh.

Volatile likes to eat dessert first, so here is a plate of the various mini cakes that Ichi Umi offers.  All very good.

2nd Plate for me.  Less ambitious, considering that my first plate had two layers that I scarfed down.  I began to feel full very fast, but I surged on.  There are some spicy maki on my plate.  I particularly like the spicy maki here because they are always really spicy.

Volatile's veggie sushi.  Fruit sushi was interesting and something that I had never seen before.  Volatile said that she liked it very much, particularly, the pineapple one.

Fresh fruit for Volatile.  Nothing crazy here, but a sexy arrangement.  Kudos to Volatile!

Miso Soup.  It was pretty good, although the kelp that was used was a little more brown than I am used to, but it tasted fine.  I liked the fact that there were real pieces of tofu and you could add your own fresh scallions.

My dessert plate.  My favorites were the red strawberry and purple blueberry cakes.  The other desserts were OK.  I was just a little ticked off that there wasn't any green tea or red bean ice creams.

That is all of the pictures that I have.  Roomie came along, but he kept banging one plate after the other and I couldn't keep up with him and get pictures of his plates.  I'll just say that he left feeling very guilty, but satisfied by how much he put away.

Overall, very good variety of sushi here, even for lunch.  Dinner, though priced even higher, has an even greater variety of sushi.  Hot entrees are also very delicious.  The tempura is particularly light and fresh.  Great variety of fresh fruit and delectable desserts.

Price: <3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3

Opinion: Highly Recommended