New World Mall

White Bear: Flushing, Queens

Cheap, dirty looking restaurant, with decent but not mind-blowing dumplings.

Blue Ribbon: Boozy at the Bar

A few nights ago, I had a lovely evening, or as a lovely an evening a single girl sitting at the bar alone can have.

I had trekked down to SoHo to serve as some moral support for a friend, only to discover she had two other ladies on hand. But liking the ratio of 4 girls to 1 dude, I said my goodbyes and instead enjoyed a steak tartare, while flirting at the bar and nursing a cocktail or two.

Homemade Pasta

Amazing what a little flour and can do. Not my creation, but I was lucky enough to be a dinner guest.

Smorgasborg

We went a little nuts with Smorgasborg in Brooklyn. The Bearded One and Big Baby were in town for a visit from The Windy City.

There was a deal on Gilt City where we got vouchers, and we went and got seven, which translated into 35 "entrees" plus a healthy smattering of drinks and appetizers.

We had maybe a dozen plus people join us, whereupon we split into teams and "attacked" the stands.

Standouts include:
- blood orange donut
- maple glazed bacon sticks

Sadly no pictures. They came later when my fingers were too greasy and my mind too slow from the rapidly rising food coma to snap some shots.

Haewoondae Korean Restaurant

After a truly bizarre afternoon watching gangly-legged college kids bash into each other at the Quidditch World Cup, our trip courtesy of the Pesky Pescatarian's obsession with all things Harry Potter, the Bastard Consultant and I abandoned the PP and headed to Queens in search of some meat.

Soon before departing however, we did see a spectacular sunset from our vantage point on Randall's Island.

We landed in Haewoondae, drawn by a quick web search that promised ox tongue BBQ, and chigae with tripe. We opted to just go with the ox tongue as the Bastard Consultant had been craving some Al Chigae, or spicy cod roe stew. Even if dining companions claim you can order whatever you want, it's really not that east to order pig's feet, tripe, sweetbreads, and cod roe stew amongst those of the more traditionally-inclined palate. I love a good bubbling pot of Al Chigae and was happy to oblige.

The ox tongue had a surprisingly meaty flavor and was quite nice dipped in an addictive salt, pepper, and sesame oil sauce. The roe in the chigae wasn't the best we have had, nor the worst, but the overall flavor of the stew was quite nice.

We saw other diners order big bubbling pans filled with noodles, kimchee, tofu and other tantalizing items. I hope I can come back soon with a large group to try them.

Haewoondae, 7532 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY

Elmhurst, Dumpling House

Swung by this spot on way to check out Chao Thai. Insides not so good, but the skin was quite nice.