It was with much anticipation that we started our trip to the US. Reservations lined up for almost every other night! *Shinta had made reservations at Ma Peche (by Momofuku) almost a month in advance, although that's probably not necessary since its not as difficult to get a table compared to the other places we wanted to eat at in NYC. It was on our first night arriving from Singapore, so we made an early reservation in case the jetlag was too much for us to take.
To enter Ma Peche, you enter through the Milk Bar (more on that later). On the ground floor is the bar area with some limited seating, but take the stairs down and you'll enter a large roomy high ceiling area.
Wanted something light and not too tiring for our first day, so it was the perfect choice since "small" and "large" plates a-la tapas-style was great for sharing and allowed us to try lots of stuff without it being too long or heavy a meal. The menu is basically fusion style, you could sense a hint of Japanese influence in each dish.
Spanish mackerel with romaine, tofu and brown butter. Light but tasty. I have a soft spot for brown butter so practically anything with it can't go too wrong with me!
The lobster bun was one of the "must tries". I liked the lobster filling a lot, but for some reason I'm not such a fan of them using the chinese bun in this way.
The cod was recommended by the waiter, but sadly I think it was pretty much forgettable. Well at least other than remembering it was well cooked, I don't recall much else!
The quail was *Shinta's choice. I'm not really a fan of quail but this was quite well done with the sweet corn providing a nice sweet crunchy texture to it. Wasn't overcooked or too dry as quail tends to be sometimes.
The kale was a serious mistake. It was highly recommmended by the waiter, and I must say to the Americans the mixture of slightly bitter vegetable with the sweet pork floos must be quite appealing. To those of us more familiar with SEA cuisine however, this dish was just half-soggy half-crispy mui chay with pork floss. Not as yummy as the "fried seaweed" they have in London Chinese restaurants, and not as tasty as the usual kind we have with bak kut teh.
Ma Peche has its own list of desserts, but we were more keen to try the range from Milk Bar. Thankfully upon our request, they allowed us to order from there too, and the desserts turned out to be the star of the evening.
I was a little miffed when the crack pie turned up like this. They basically just took the box from the shop upstairs and put it on a place. I guess the wrapping is decent enough to excuse them this time.
The Crack Pie was one of the sweetest yummiest things ever. The whole thing is basically fudge and sugar, but put together so well that you just can't stop eating it despite knowing the calories will ruin your diet and even adults will be on a sugar high for the next few hours.
I fell totally in love with this cereal ice cream. Never mind the crappy wooden spatulas and the fact that it came in a cheapo paper cup. You know the milk left in your bowl after you finish your cereal? This is basically it, made into ice cream form. Such a simple idea but no one seems to have thought of it before, and it was so well executed. Absolutely loved it.
I find it's hard to get really good fusion food. Most of the time the chefs just put things together piecemeal without really thinking about the flavors. Or they borrow too much from one type of cuisine that we can't help but just compare it to the original and something just feels "wrong". I rate Ma Peche an "ok", but given that I'm not in NYC much, it's not on my list of "must eat" places. The Milk Bar gets two huge thumbs up from me though!
---------------------------------------------------------------------Ma Peche
located in Chambers Hotel
15 W. 56th street btwn 5th + 6th ave
New York, ny 10019
http://momofuku.com/new-york/ma-peche/
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A few years ago, mango related desserts were really popular in Hong Kong and there were branches of Xu Liu Shan popping up everywhere.
Now, however, they seem to be mostly on Kowloon side and I couldn't find any around Central at all. Instead, when I needed a break in between shopping, I headed to Lan Fong Yuen near the mid levels for their famous milk tea.
Obviously you don't go to this kind of place for the ambiance. Much as I wanted to try the hot version, the stifling weather (unusual for autumn) forced me to go for the cold milk tea. Exhausted and dying of thirst, I probably enjoyed this a lot more than I normally would, because it was a little bit bitter.
Since each time I went it was just supposed to be a "pit stop", I had to restrain myself from ordering the heavier dishes. Went instead for the sweeter stuff such as the toasted bun with condensed milk. While it looked great, my sweet tooth would have prefered a more generous topping of the condensed milk.
The other well-known snack there is the french toast. This one was as unhealthy as it looks in the photo below, and as delicious as it was unhealthy.
I had a bit of trouble finding this place initially. Gage Street is not exactly a major road and hard to find amongst the confusing maze of back roads. The easiest way is probably to head to Lyndhurst Terrace where the famous Tai Cheung egg tart bakery is.
Entrance to Gage Street is along Lyndhurst Terrace just before the shop, and Yan Fong Yuen is on the left at the start. 
