NoMad Restaurant NYC

I'm sure you will have heard if not already visited, Eleven Madison Park.

Head Chef Daniel Humm's second project was NoMad's, which I heard about whilst reading about NYC restaurants before my trip. Needless to say I had to visit....

So one fine day I dragged my lovely cousin C with me for lunch. We loved how it was in a boutique hotel and loved the interiors even more. Have you checked out their library?! Elegant and tres cool.

Southern Food - Red Rooster NYC

My first meal off the plane was at Red Rooster Harlem, opened by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson, the Ethiopian-born Swedish chef that was crowned Top Chef Master in Season 2 (2010). For those who don't know me, I am (openly) obsessed with anything Top Chef and Iron Chef (only the US series please!) :)

Naturally, I had high hopes....and this was my first time trying Southern food. We were led downstairs upon arrival (make reservations weeks in advance if you want to go on a weekend!), and their decor reminds one of a speakeasy. With their red leather sofas and all. 

"Cornbread" with tomato jam and honey butter

The Steakhouse Winebar + Grill 

@ Intercontinental Hotel

 

Grand Hyatt Steakhouse

To secure a table at 8.45pm on a weekend, a booking about five weeks in advance had to made. This restaurant being one of the hottest restaurants at the moment, we had to see for ourselves what the type was about.

House garlic bread

 After ordering we were told that our meat will take around 45 minutes. To wait we munched on the house garlic bread which was well toasted with fresh garlic, herb and butter. The crunchy exterior and fluffy and soft made for a very tasty start to the meal. It's impossible to stop at one!

We decided to skip the appetizers and go with several sides and two mains to share. I have however, heard their crab cakes are amazing and am already planning my next visit.

White Aged Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese ($75)

 The Steakhouse's take on mac & cheese was very good. Not thick, stodgy or heavy at all. The macaroni retained a bite to it and the bread crumbs added a crispy element. 

Onion Rings ($75)

 These huge onion rings (larger than my palms) weren't for me. The batter was 'doughy' although I liked that the onion itself inside were so soft they gave way to the slightest force. The thick batter also meant when it got cold a little while later, it had lost any crunch.

Creamed Spinach ($75) was another side dish we had. Another steakhouse classic, the Grand Hyatt's version was surprisingly light and delicious. Although I did ask them to skip the nutmeg (can't stand the spice) and they substituted herb for us. 

Main event - Canadian Angus Porterhouse ($1450/36oz)

 Although the menu recommends the porterhouse for two, this will easily feed three. We had it medium and medium it came, although a little more rare on the sirloin side. The bit of fat clinging to the sirloin gave it lovely flavour, whilst the leaner side of tenderloin lacked the 'beefy' taste. To go with this beauty you can pick from a few sauces and a wide selection of mustards. We had the red wine and mushroom sauces, and I had the truffle and the whole grain mustards. 

The truffle mustard is heavenly!!

Nebraska USDA Prime Rib Eye ($550/18 oz)

  The rib eye was pretty massive... The ones I have had elsewhere now seem tiny. This cut definitely had more flavour to it and was perfectly cooked. Texture wise, I would say it was in between the tenderloin and sirloin from the porterhouse. I enjoyed this with the truffle mustard more than any thing else. 

The above fed the five of us very well and we weren't able to order dessert as we were so full. The steaks are reasonably priced for this establishment but I wish they had smaller cuts of a few cuts of steak (they only do 8oz size for the USDA Prime Tenderloin and Japanese Wagyu), so a table for two can have the option to go for two different cuts... plus dessert!

I am contemplating my next visit to try their crab cake and very famous apple crumble with soft-serve...

Food: ♥♥♥♥ 1/2 
Service: ♥♥♥ 1/2 

Price: About $500pp  not including drinks

Grand Hyatt Steakhouse 

Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, 

Wanchai, Hong Kong 

Tel: +852 2584 7722

Gold

Gold  @ LKF Hotel 

I distinctly remember when this place just opened, there was hype everywhere. There was pages of 'congratulations' on Gold's opening in the weekly HK Mag, there was raving reviews..... the whole lot. So, instead of telling myself not to expect much as I usually do, I couldn't help but have slightly high expectations of this place... 

Six Furlong

Date of visit: 25th July 2010

Six Furlong @ Happy Valley Jockey Club

On a Sunday night with nothing planned ahead, we decided to go to Jockey Club for dinner. After buying some of mother's favourite Cane Juice from Kung Lee in Soho we were off to Happy Valley. When we arrived the Food Plaza was damn full so we got in line for Six Furlong to see where we could be seated first. Six Furlong it was...

Our dinner began with the bread basket (house-made baguette + roll) with tuna paste, butter. There were only two kinds, but both were very good tonight. 

For dinner, you could opt for the standard set dinner ($88 for two courses; $98 for three courses - both sets with coffee/tea), or the new steak set dinner ($170-$360~) for an appetizer/soup, your choice of steak main course and French Basque cake, or go a la carte. Between us we chose two two-course set dinners and one steak set dinner.

One of the options for the standard set dinner was one serving from the salad bar. There was quite an array of greens, starches (pasta / potato salad) and dressings to choose from. 

 Another option from the set dinner menu was a simple caesar salad with smoked salmon - romaine hearts lightly dressed with a tangy and creamy caesar dressing and topped with croutons and grated parmesan. They used very fresh ingredients for this one!

Lobster Bisque was one of several choices from the more premium steak set dinner. This one was prepared very well indeed, creamy but not thick, and with only a hint of alcohol (cognac) but rich with flavours from the crustacean. 

Black pepper Beef Hor-fun was one of our standard set-dinner mains. The serving size was quite large, making it impossible to finish. The beef slices were tender but not in a bicarbonate of soda-marinaded way, and well-cooked and seasoned. The hor-fun was nicely fried too, not oily at all, but definitely could not match the hor-fun from Singapore's Swee Ting, because of the lack of wok-hei in comparison. 

Black Cod with wilted spinach and cream sauce (leek) was pleasing to the eye but not quite so on the taste buds. It was honestly quite bland. Everything was cooked very well - in particular the cod, but there was such a lack of seasoning on the fish and the cream sauce I had to make use of the table salt and pepper in front of me to make it more edible. The skin could've been more crisp too, says my brother. 

From the steak set-dinner, there was several selections of grades of meat, from filet mignon to grade 4 Wagyu. My brother decided to go somewhere in-between, a 12-ounce Australian Rib-eye, cooked to medium-rare. While I only tried the fully-cooked outer rims of the rib-eye, I must say they were tender, naturally flavourful and seasoned just right, the best main course for tonight with a little French mustard..! To go with your piece of steak diners were to choose a sauce, a vegetable side and a potato side. We chose garlic spinach and fries to make 'steak-frites', with a mushroom cream sauce that was served on the side. The mushroom flavour from the sauce was so earthy and strong it was definitely a memorable first for us. 

We were so full from all this food all my (normally apparent) desires for sweets were gone. We had the Basque cake (two almond sponge layers with Chantilly cream) to go, which I tried later that night and it was better than I expected, moist and light with hints of almond.... yumm! 

Food:  ♥♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$$

Six Furlong

4/F, Hong Kong Jockey Club, 1 Shan Kwong Rd, 

Happy Valley, Hong Kong 

Tel: +852 2966 136060