what are you eating today?

[willy cheesesteak]

Fay Da Bakery - Baked Roast Pork Bun(Cha Siu Bao)

May Li Wah Bakery - Baked Roast Pork Bun(Cha Siu Bao)

Joy Burger Bar - Midi(5 Oz Charbroiled Burger) with Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Garlic Mayo, and Cheddar

Phil's Steaks - Cheesesteak(whiz wit)

Croxley Ales - 20 Wings, Mild

Dessert Club Chikalicious - Red Velvet Sundae

Francois Payard Bakery - Pistachio, Coffee, Lavender, Vanilla, Raspberry Lychee, and Passion Fruit

Asia Dog - Beef Dog Wangding(Chinese BBQ pork belly + cucumber + scallions)

Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli - House Special (Grilled Pork, Thit Nguoi, Cha Lua)

[dismalfuture]

haven't updated in this thread for awhile. There's like 500 pics but I'll just post the best selections and plates of the last few months.

Robuchon au Dome, Grand Lisboa Hotel, Macau (three Michelin stars) - with azn8oi

quail stuffed with foie gras, pommes puree, small leaf salad (classic dish)

Sun Tong Lok, Hong Kong (three Michelin stars)

shark's fin soup

wagyu and gai lan (best beef preparation I've ever had in my life, maybe)

Les Creations de Narisawa, Minamiaoyama Tokyo (two Michelin stars)

first of the season kabura turnip, edible mustard 'dirt'; in the background is edible charcoal of clams

Buri (mature yellowtail) sashimi salad, Kyoto carrots and radishes, yuzu

Shizuoka shamo (heirloom Thai gamecock) white and dark, crispy gizzards and liver, jus and salad

strawberries and mochi, spherified strawberry greens

Chateau Joel Robuchon (nee Taillevent) Ebisu, Tokyo (three Michelin stars)

snow crab, uni, pickled baby onions, tomato gelee, avocado mousse, brioche crouton, cucumber, shiso flowers

Daurade, baby leeks, fava beans, and snow peas, tomato confit; lemongrass and turmeric oil, lemongrass cream (classic dish)

Amadai (tilefish) in yuzu broth

[dismalfuture]

Cuisine(S) Michel Troisgros, Nishishinjuku Tokyo (two Michelin stars)

sardines, crispy couscous, tomato and courgette, tomato water poured by Michel Troisgros himself

A5-rank beef filet, apricot and horseradish sauces

verbene granita, lychee, grapefruit, blood orange gelee

Tru, Chicago (one Michelin star)

Osetra caviar, heirloom beet salad, green apple aspic

Langoustine, lobster quenelles, saffron potatoes, bouillabaisse

L'Effervescence, Nishiazabu Tokyo (one Michelin star) - with mis

Four hour cooked kabu turnip, parsley eumlsion, Jamon Iberico, brioche

New Caledonian prawn, green pea puree, fava beans, yoghurt, mint, chrysanthemum petals

Restaurant Sant Pau, Nihombashi Tokyo (two Michelin stars) - with mis

'Micro menu' - macadamia and raspberry 'radish,' 'chorizo and eggs' and 'croqueta'

Akaza-ebi (langoustine) with apios roots, parsley sauce, tomato gelee, green beans

Scorpion fish, green papaya two ways, tomato sauce

[dismalfuture]

Restaurant Sant Pau 'Micro menu' mignardises

Amber, Hong Kong (two Michelin stars)

pasta in risotto style, black truffles

potato and truffle salad

Daisan Harumi, Shinbashi Tokyo - with mis and cyberpunk

aori ika

kuruma ebi, wild caught

chutoro, aged 5 days

ootoro, aged 8 days

shio ikura gunkan maki (salt in lieu of the regular shoyu seasoning)

Pizza Strada, Azabujuban Tokyo

Margherita pizza

Star Bar, Ginza Tokyo

Akita prefecture-made cured ham

[dismalfuture]

tapas molecular bar, nihombashi Tokyo (one Michelin star)

hot stone potato

tubular Esqueixada

molecular Xiao long bao, lamb and yoghurt

Casa vinitalia, Azabujuban Tokyo (one Michelin star)

caprese of heirloom tomatoes, bocconcini, tomato gelee

asparagus risotto[/img]

Bouchon, Beverly Hills California

endive and blue cheese salad

fruit plate

Oldest original McDonald's (store #3), Downey California (did not eat)

Pho 79, Garden Grove California

pho tai, small and medium

cha gio

[dismalfuture]

Pizzeria Mozza, Newport Beach California

little gems wedge salad

artichoke, olive and lemon pizza

Shakespeare's Pizza, Columbia, Missouri

extra large Vegetarian

Frontera grill, Chicago

street food trio

tostadas

[mmg]

dismalfuture's posts just did crazy things to my head. i don't even know how to explain what happened. it was like i saw the future and the past all at once with perfect comprehension. there were just...too many stars

[An Oxymoron]

lolinstagramlunch

[mr.invincible]

im glad someone spelled pork buns how its really suppose to sound - cha siu bao and not char siu bao.

[MoreFire]

recent homecooked stuff

edit. lol@dismal, what kind of trolling is that salad /w blue cheese? how is one even supposed to eat this?

Edited May 17, 2012 by MoreFire

[youkinorn2]

edit. lol@dismal, what kind of trolling is that salad /w blue cheese? how is one even supposed to eat this?

you've never seen wedge salads before? fork and knife, homie.

I'm much more intrigued/worried by that truffle and potato salad ha.

[Astérix]

[Astérix]

Edited May 17, 2012 by Astérix

[Astérix]

[Young Bro]

post workout

bacon avocado cilantro sandwiches, eggs with sriracha, potato salad

[dismalfuture]

you've never seen wedge salads before? fork and knife, homie. I'm much more intrigued/worried by that truffle and potato salad ha.

the truffle and potato salad was actually not that great, arch rule is that purple potatoes suck. Truffles obviously pushed that dish along, but the truffle and potato salad in Simply French is probably better. I've never made it though, can't afford to buy the amount of truffles required for that recipe.

I think bios actually has a point about the salad, it's tall food, like this unwieldy left-coast flashy American cuisine thing, it's dressed to impress. I imagine it jumps out at him because Europeans haven't seen food like that since the 90's, lol. I do notice that some of the famous name place in America tend to serve food that isn't as graceful to eat, in the name of pulling out the stops and making something that looks fancy, or aspires to be. Bouchon has that laitue salad of Bibb dressed in sherry vinaigrette that comes stocked about 8" tall on the plate, similar thing.

I think of all the 'superstar' franchise chefs cooking in French style, with the sprawling empires - Robuchon makes these voluptuous decadent plates that still maintain an order whereby they're also easy and graceful to eat, it makes you feel the elegance. Gagnaire is like a plating genius who goes for more esoteric flavors and concentrations, like these savoury ice creams that randomly pop up in the menu. TK, to me, from what I've seen - not really on those guys' level. He has some research in and seems he has good control of his franchise, but I don't think he's near the level of the French heavyweights.

[StrangeLove]

Bun bo hue

[youkinorn2]

the truffle and potato salad was actually not that great, arch rule is that purple potatoes suck. Truffles obviously pushed that dish along, but the truffle and potato salad in Simply French is probably better. I've never made it though, can't afford to buy the amount of truffles required for that recipe.

I think bios actually has a point about the salad, it's tall food, like this unwieldy left-coast flashy American cuisine thing, it's dressed to impress. I imagine it jumps out at him because Europeans haven't seen food like that since the 90's, lol. I do notice that some of the famous name place in America tend to serve food that isn't as graceful to eat, in the name of pulling out the stops and making something that looks fancy, or aspires to be. Bouchon has that laitue salad of Bibb dressed in sherry vinaigrette that comes stocked about 8" tall on the plate, similar thing.

I think of all the 'superstar' franchise chefs cooking in French style, with the sprawling empires - Robuchon makes these voluptuous decadent plates that still maintain an order whereby they're also easy and graceful to eat, it makes you feel the elegance. Gagnaire is like a plating genius who goes for more esoteric flavors and concentrations, like these savoury ice creams that randomly pop up in the menu. TK, to me, from what I've seen - not really on those guys' level. He has some research in and seems he has good control of his franchise, but I don't think he's near the level of the French heavyweights.

I definitely agree about wedge salads being unwieldy. Not my thing, but just didn't think they would be surprising. A throwback for sure.

And I agree about the "height" thing. I don't have near the experience you do eating in amazing restaurants, but the idea that the taller something is on the plate the more impressive/beautiful it is has always seemed contrived to me.

I mostly work garde manger at the restaurant I'm at right now and even looking at that endive salad at Bouchon irritates me, haha

[An Oxymoron]

12.99/lb. for a fillet? fuck that. 3.99/lb. for the same wild alaskan salmon whole. never buying fillets again.

[bill]

Sous-vide cooked beef, caramelized onions, american cheese, tomato and Shake Shack sauce.

[dismalfuture]

Sukiyabashi Jiro honten -

First off, let's get this straight, this was an $820 meal for two that lasted 20 minutes, two people, two bottles of Sapporo, tax in. There was a Japanese couple who showed up at exactly the same time as us, 30 minutes early, who went back later to check-in earlier than us by about 4 menu places were also in and out in 20 minutes, so it wasn't a one-off for us, I think he is serving 20 minute omakase to everybody now.

Funny thing was, in the preceding 30 minutes, 3 American tourists with fanny packs were down there in front of the restaurant, Jiro was out in front taking pictures with them; I thought they had already eaten at first, but it turned out they had shown up at 5 without reservations expecting to get in and eat because they maybe saw the movie or saw the place on the internet, but Jiro had the apprentice explain to them they needed a reservation. They were all pretty good about letting the Americans take pics of everything anyway, and they left. I didn't realize the menu only took 20 minutes, they would've had time to eat actually, since we and the other couple were for 5:30. I just think it was a matter of a course for them, and the tourists were blabbing about the French Laundry and stuff in this small office building corridor, they didn't know what was going on. I took a little walk down the corridor in the back and the screen door was cracked open, Yoshikazu was in the back prepping a couple bowls of rice, small and quiet kitchen.

So... it was 20 minutes long, but 20 pieces done, 20 minutes done, it was fucking amazing, and I don't even really like sushi that much in the scheme of things. Each piece was just really well structured for texture and taste. The omakase was ordered very nicely with the typical squid and flounder to open, a trio of tuna not halfway through, the shellfish, and then a really great tamagoyaki at the end. The only problem was that well, it was only 20 minutes and I almost gagged a couple times because the fish was too rich for the insanely fast pace at a couple points; the uni was really the best I'll probably ever have, but it was very creamy and rich, the anago had a beautiful texture and first impression and then a lingering aftertaste I didn't care for, both were too much for me after a few chews.

Verdict: it was way too fast to enjoy at a few points within the 20 minutes, and he was hovering over my plate waiting to drop the next piece on me before I'd finished the previous one, but overall the fish preparations were clearly the work of someone who has worked at each seasonal piece until perfection. The temperatures of both rice and fish were really great, each piece so very mellow feeling. No shoyu, just cheap beer to sip on in between, a couple nibbles of gari between the strong tasting pieces; my hands still smell like fish 5 hours later. I would go again if somebody from here wants to go and gives me enough time to reserve it again, took me a month of waiting, which I felt short, but that line is probably going to increase as the days go on. FWIW Jiro doesn't talk (and nobody else does either), but does make the menu bi-lingually in English as standard and poses for photos as the end seemingly happily, so it's not as bad as some accounts I've read. Roppongi Hills Jiro will be there forever now and is a walk-in place, but the Honten is limited on time now and might be harder to get as time goes on, especially with this movie and the tourists.

Anyway, Yoshikazu is #2 and slices the fish, Jiro is master and rolls the nigiri. You can see the reflection of Jiro in the corner of a couple of these pics, he was standing there really industriously the whole time, putting out like 4 pieces a minute or more. It is hard to believe the guy is 86 when you see him, my grandmother is the same age and she wouldn't be able to even stand up as straight as Jiro does.

This is basically in the subway station: (Bird Land is one Michelin-starred yakitori made of Jidori with a minor French bent, more on this place later)

plain edamame and a saucer of shoyu nobody uses, not really representative of what is to come:

karei (flounder)

sumi-ika( squid) - this one had the slightly squeaky texture you expect of squid but cleaner finish than I expected, well chosen example

Inada (the word of which I'm not sure, maybe a regional thing; Jiro is not Edokko or even a Tokyoite, he is from Shizuoka) - (baby Yellowtail, before reaching 'hamachi' stage, and before 'Buri' stage) - rather interesting to me as I hate Buri, but this was really beyond pleasant. Very mellow tasting, very agreeable texture

Tuna trio - aged up to 10 days

Akami (aka maguro) - straightforward. Nice tasting on Jiro's rice.

Chutoro, again, straightforward

Otoro, again, if you've had the good stuff before, this was no surprise. Naturally luxuriant, possibly better than usual but I am not sure how much. Well prepared, and the fat was elegantly sweet.

Kohada - usually my least favorite in an Edomae style omakase unless it also includes saba, but this one was really not so bad actually. My wife even opted out of this entirely and i didn't notice, I ate this by myself. Kohada is cured in vinegar and salt over time; this was obviously done in a very noble tasting vinegar, much like the sushi vinegar for the rice. Really pretty good all thing considered.

Mushi-awabi - (abalone) - probably the highlight of the course for me, this preparation was steamed a bit. It comes a bit meaty and chewy, unlike the raw preparation I had recently, which was very crunchy. Cooked, it was perfectly textured, and really nicely flavored, almost like a light poultry.

[dismalfuture]

aji - again, one of the ones I don't usually like, but this was really fresh, really neutral, and had a sweetness I didn't expect. Really great surprise.

Torigai (giant clams?) - texture that one would expect

Kuruma-ebi, again wild caught (when boiled the orange-red and white coloraton becomes intense in wild caught kuruma-ebi) - this time served brain to tail. Steamed, then Yoshikazu yanked the whole thing out of the head shell, split down the middle, Jiro left in some sort of orange ligament or something that runs down the middle interior; he presses the wasabi into it and then a ball of rice, and then slices the shrimp across the top with an insanely long yanagiba, and then gives the top of the blade quick slam down to go through the rice cleanly; served in two.

Akagai in two parts,

the muscle

and the ligament (Akagai himo)

Shako - mantis shrimp, common here - expected to like this, but did not - it was mealy and tought to get through even at this size

Uni gunkan - probably the best I'll ever have, probably the best you'll ever see in photo; so rich I almost gagged here after going through so many nigiri to get to this piece

Kobashira in gunkan (I think these are like tiny scallops) - really awesome, soft texture, neutral taste here

Ikura - this was amazing, each egg popped with such freshness, almost no stickiness, just a firm pop that gave way to brine with each egg. Previously didn't really like Ikura, probably won't again after having this

Anago - saltwater eel - mealy texture, slightly meat-y; gives way to a fish oil aftertaste that I wasn't prepared for as the initial bites were very neutral

[dismalfuture]

The end of it all, the tamago - very sweet and cake-like, done in a large omelette pan at once, you can see it in the documentary trailer. You wouldn't want to judge this place based on the tamago, but it was good in and of itself, and also a nice finish.

For the sendoff they have you move from the counter to a booth table, and they gave us a slice each of one of those insanely expensive melons. It was perfectly ripened and then chilled shortly, and gave way to a lake of juice when cut.

[Young Bro]

It seems to be a common thing for omakase places to rush you through the meal. I ate at Sasabune in New York a while ago and we were in and out in 45 minutes. Often they brought the next dish out before anyone could have possibly finished the one before. The food is great but I don't get why they hurry so much, the place wasn't even anywhere near full.

[DaBestSpoona]

It seems to be a common thing for omakase places to rush you through the meal. I ate at Sasabune in New York a while ago and we were in and out in 45 minutes. Often they brought the next dish out before anyone could have possibly finished the one before. The food is great but I don't get why they hurry so much, the place wasn't even anywhere near full.

Not at all. Sasabune is famous for rushing people.

Dismal, Not a fan of just straight sushi, would have been nice to have some nimono, sashimi.

[mrchariybrown]

In my belly right now

[An Oxymoron]

Big ol' salad

Big ol' grass-fed t-bone

[dismalfuture]

Not at all. Sasabune is famous for rushing people.

Dismal, Not a fan of just straight sushi, would have been nice to have some nimono, sashimi.

I'm actually not even really a fan of fish in general, let alone sushi (I would pick a good sushi meal over something like Bernadin though) - but the thing about Jiro, the takeaway is this - what you get from him is his signature sushi, each piece full developed and presented with pure confidence, at least it feels that way. It's not the kind of restaurant feeling where you go in and get a dish or a course and you feel like the chef is fishing for your feelings, trying to convince you it's good; with Jiro slamming a piece of sushi on your platter there's this feeling of sureness, that nothing better could be given to you even if you spoke up. And after all that, it really is good. That is the fucked up part, the taste actually lives up to the expectations, it's beautiful on the platter, it has complexity where you don't expect it to; the canyon between just eating sushi and eating at Jiro, there is a feeling there.

[slimeyballz]

chinese food all day

[rirawin]

Homemade courgette, cheese and rice filo pie seasoned with fresh parsley and dill from the garden...

Accompanied with homemade pork "balls".