Doughnut Plant

Rating:

Location: 379 Grand St. nr. Essex St

Price: Varies $2.00-$3.00 each

Okay so this is another posting resulting from me aimlessly watching No Reservations on the internet.  I really have to blame Tony for being such a good story teller and making everything look like it tastes so good.  This time it was the “food porn” episode and it started when he was eating that amazing bowl of pho (dang him and his Viet food).  So, as a result I biked down to Chinatown Hester St. to try out a new place (will post about that soon).  As long as I was in the area while craving some dessert food, I figured I’d go swing by the spot I’ve been thinking about for a while: Doughnut Plant.  I got some recommendations off my phone from a recent post by NYCfoodguy and decided to go with 3 of the popular doughnuts.

 

First off, yes I know I’ve admitted to myself already that I’m a super fatty for ordering 3 of these and inhaling them.  Second off, these were REALLY good and my favorite being the creme bulee.  The creme bulee is a bit small but, its almost like eating a handheld creme brulee.  The bottom has the hard caramelized sugar coating just like a real creme brulee and my favorite part and contains a delicious creme brulee filling.  The carrot cake was still great and had tasty candy like pieces on top of the doughnut with a pure carrot cake flavor throughout.  The tres leches was the sweetest of them all with a sugar coating and bits of creme filling inside for a nice surprise.  I think what I love the most about these treats were that they’re quite light and not overwhelming with just the right amount of sweetness.  $2-$3 is bit pricey for doughnuts but I think I just got too used to buying doughnuts from those midtown coffee carts.  I’ll take doughnut plant over those carts any day.

.:cL

Momofuku Fried Chicken

Momofuku Fried Chicken (Noodle Bar)

Rating:

Location:  171 1st Ave (bw 10th & 11th St)

A friend expressed the desire to try any of the momofuku restaurants; and having tried noodle bar and ssam before, I wanted to try something “new.”  I didn’t want to pay  for the bo ssam dinner because my mama makes a killer home-made bo ssam and there’s a key ingredient to hers that momo lacks:  motherly loooove.

I guess I got lucky with reservations because I got a Friday night reservation (11:55pm) on my 2nd try.  The reservation process was meticulous (sign-up, cc, confirmation print out) and warnings were plenty (you will get charged the full $100 if you cancel within 24 hours).  They wound up not checking the printed confirmation.

Prior to the chicken we were presented with 4 sauces, (bibim, soy, hoisen, and scallion), vegetables (lettuce, carrots, radish, mint), and mu shu wrap.  Nothing really to comment about here.

The chicken itself.  I preferred the korean style while a couple of the guys preferred the southern.  I always hated old bay, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I wasn’t a huge fan of the southern style.  I thought it tasted burnt and way too salty.  The lettuce and wrap did make it a bit better though.  The sauces, vegetables, and wrap does make the whole experience a bit more different and unique but it was A LOT of food for 4 diners.  I would highly recommend a party larger than 6, even if the 4 diners have been famished for days. 

I wasn’t crazy about the whole fried chicken experience; the chicken didn’t change my world nor expose my palate to a whole new level.  It was decent fried chicken and honestly, it’s way too hyped for my taste buds.

maybe next time momo

-kah

Blue 9 Burger

Rating:

Location: 92 3 Avenue New York, NY (btw 12th & 13th)

Price: Blue 9 burger $4.75 (Combo incl. fries & drink $8.30)

I think I’m on a roll to post a burger review about once every five reviews or so.  Also, since I haven’t really reviewed any crappy places in a while, I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.  So, comes the burger from Blue 9 burger which really is the perfectly ordinary burger with nothing to make it stand out.  In a  land where the celebrities are the Shake Shacks and Bill’s, the mere citizens of this land are the burgers from Blue 9.

The burger was just pretty bland and the patty was quite dry nestles on an ordinary bun.  The fries were decent but, nothing to rave about.  I heard the quality of the burgers at this place was quite high in the past but, seems like its really sinked low.

So, if you’re in the area probably much better to go to 99 miles to philly or just take a walk to go eat a celebrity burger.

.:cL