Keens Steakhouse, Midtown Manhattan, NYC

We had heard about Keens Steakhouse (72 W 36th St, NY 10018, tel : +212 947 3636) and made it a destination for this trip. The place was initially part of a theatre and literary group from London and eventually broke off into a gentleman's club and eventually, a restaurant in 1885. The ceilings of the restaurant is lined by the pipes that had belonged to the members from the older era. Pipes of owners that are probably long gone.

As can be seen from their packets of sugar, the steakhouse likes to remind people that they've been around for quite a long while.

We were served warmed loaves with butter while waiting for our orders.

I decided that it would be an appropriate time to also nurse a glass of Brooklyn Lager, nice brew by the way, while waiting.

This was possibly the first proper vegetable item we had after arriving in NYC. A nicely done Caesar salad. Just so that we could balance the meat heavy meal.

The one item that I had been intensely curious about after hearing of was their mutton chop. About 26 oz from what I gather - cut from the loin of a Colorado sheep about a year old. The meat was a masculine red, tender and had a light blanket of that lovely gaminess (more on the fattier parts). Good stuff there. Came with a serving of lemon-y escarole to balance out all that delicious meat. 

If I might say so, Keens also did a very competent prime rib. Tender and flavourful and personally, as enjoyable as the mutton chop.

For the consideration of an even more balanced diet, some nicely done creamed spinach. These were delicious.

And because the food was good, we were encouraged to get a dessert. That's their key lime pie. Lightest I've had and possibly in my limited experience, also the best I've had. There was bit of fresh flavours from those bits of zest and just a few small notches from what one could consider ethereal. Best of all, it wasn't excessively sweet.

If you didn't know, Keens also has a little piece of dinosaur sirloin that's been aging on their walls for over 75 million years. Imagine that!

Lombardi's, Lower Manhattan, NYC

We headed down to SOHO to join D for some pizza at Lombardi's (32 Spring St, NY 10012, tel : +212 941 7994). I read that they were founded over a century ago as the first pizzeria in the United States and remains one of the few pizzeria to maintain the licence for coal fired oven for their pizzas. Can't do New York without trying some New York pizzas, no?

Got ourselves their famous clam pie and a white pizza with pepperoni. With a squeeze of lemon, the former was a little tangy, garlicky and plentiful of bite with the generous portion of clams 

The white pizza on the other hand was rich with a creamy ricotta and some heat from I don't know what. Both were technically "white pizza" so there wasn't any tomato sauce which I was oddly looking forward to.

In truth, I wasn't sure what to make out of it. While I enjoyed them, they somehow didn't leave an impression like what I had imagined them to. On the other hand, these also weren't the traditional cheese and tomato pies so I haven't had what is perceived to be a regular slice. Yet.

Landmarc, Midtown Manhattan, NYC

Brekkie at Landmarc (10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor, NY 10019, tel : +212 823 6123) by Marc Murphy at Time Warner Centre. The food was much better than it sounded on the menu. But we came especially for their pain perdu and bacon.

And that pain perdu was huge. Larger than what I had imagined it to be. But it was pretty damn good. A crisp brown shell of bread with eggy/creamy/custardy insides. I hear that their bread is specially made for them. Doused with a healthy helping of maple syrup, it was rich and sweet and filling. Pretty awesome for the first meal of the day. 

That pain perdu was accompanied by a side, separately ordered of course, of crisp smoky Duroc bacon. Also awesome with the maple syrup. These had a more crisp exterior than the ones from Artichoke.

There were a few other things we had. Like the onion soup which had a rich beefy broth, loaded with gooey cheese which was one of the better I've had. Hash browns were quite addictive too. Addictive like I'm running out of space and I'm still shovelling forkfuls of them into my face kind of addictive. A seat at the window got us a view of Columbus Circle and the Trump Tower.

Five Guys, Midtown Manhattan, NYC

We were looking for something to fill our bellies after checking into the hotel close to midnight and Five Guys (253 W 42nd St, NY 10036, tel : +212 398 2600) by a stroke of chance happened to be within walking distance. From what I've learnt, the locals call this area 42th and 8th. 

All the major food groups including fruits can be found in their bacon cheeseburger. It felt pretty hefty wrapped in foil. The regular burgers on the menu come with two patties and the little ones come with one.

This was an "all in" sans ketchup. I liked that the sauce wasn't over done and that I could still taste those beefy charred patties with all the ingredients inside. Despite the size, the sandwich went down pretty easily. 

Couldn't pass on their fries which were really good. I like soggy fries and these thick cut, skin on Idaho potato-y fries definitely worked for me. In my limited experience, the best fast food fries I've had.

Washed down with a thick peanut butter shake. Aahhhhh.......burp!

La Strada reborn

We decided to stroll into La Strada today and in happenstance found out that this was the second day of their operations after the renovations from the beginning of the year which we had no idea had happened. Gone was the rustic looking trattoria facade. The interior had morphed into something a little more clean looking, classy and contemporary. I personally preferred the previous setup over this.

We were initially worried that much have changed into something else we wouldn't like. The menu has gone through a shake up and most of the old stuff aren't around anymore. A handful of their signature dishes/desserts were still around. But as we ate, we realized that our fears were unfounded.

Even the new green-y sprout-y salad with the raw sliced cruciferous greens and alfalfa was surprisingly tasty. I know, right? I wouldn't have believed that either before eating them. 

We were definitely impressed by their fatty lamb ribs; rich and greasy with those lamb-y fragrance with tender "slip off the bone" meat.

Also outstanding was a butterflied and grilled sea bream where the quality of the fish spoke for itself just underneath the veneer of expert preparation.

I didn't like the cannoli. It wasn't that the pastry was bad. Their choice of fillings were probably just not my thing. 

Tiramisu was unexpectedly good. "Juicy" even. The lady's fingers were well soaked and we could taste the alcohol from their liqueur of choice beneath the airy mascarpone cream. Possibly the best rendition we've had since Angeleno.

Noodle Thai Thai Kitchen, Beach Road

This Thai shop (327 Beach Road, tel : +65 6909 0759) had pretty good food. Even though the name had "noodle" in it, it sold more than just noodles. In fact, there's a gamut of commonly seen Thai food dishes.

Like som tam mamuang. They didn't have some of the usual add on/condiments around the table so I asked for extra crushed peanuts. Didn't look like much but these had the extras already. No fish sauce was detected. The mango was just a little bit riper than usual resulting in a slightly less crunchy texture. I liked it though.

The aroma from the khao soi wafted into our noses as soon as the brought it to the table. What made this good was the creamy coconut infused into the broth that made it creamy and nutty. Not as luxed up as the one from Provence that even had some lime and onions with a more complex flavour but it was still tasty that I wouldn't mind coming back for.

That's the lala jade noodles there - essentially a sort of Thai vongole. Spicy and rather good if I might say

We had a salt baked sea bass which was also nicely done. The meat was firm and flaked off like fresh fish meat does.

Not forgetting their mango sticky rice. It was unfortunate that the mango wasn't very aromatic even though it was juicy and sweet. The black rice which tasted like the glutinous rice version of pulut hitam was impressively soft