WD-50

Wylie Dufresne takes molecular gastronomy at WD-50 to a level of fun and entertainment without the pretense you might expect in a restaurant that gets so much hype. We prepared our stomachs for a Friday night of experimentation at Wylie's standout restaurant in the Lower East Side.

Opting for the tasting menu, we took a journey with the chef through courses like a mini ice cream everything bagel made of ice cream milk that had been soaked with everything bagels and formed into mini bagel-shapes; perfect scrambled eggs wrapped in a cube of fine egg film, cold fried chicken and cocoa packets bursting with chocolate flavor. Everything was delicious and interesting, though we did find an 'unfortunate' hair in the cold fried chicken course. The staff was quick to replace the dish, but it did tarnish the overall meal slightly.

Despite the set-back in that one course, our meal at WD-50 was certainly memorable both for the food and the mishap. We booked a few weeks ahead in order to get a table, but if you don't mind an early 6pm or late 9pm meal, you should be able to find a table.

Keep on eating.

WD-50
50 Clinton Street (map)
tel: (212) 477-2900
online reservations at Opentable.com

Doughnut Plant

Doughnut Plant on the Lower East Side offers two heavenly types of doughnuts for gluttonous consumption - yeast doughnuts and cake doughnuts.

They open at 6:30am and sell doughnuts until they have none left - then you'll just have to wait for the next batch to be ready the following day, unless it's Sunday, which means you'll need to wait until Tuesday for your next Doughnut fix. We sampled 4 different sweets that left us giddy. The creme brulee doughnut is filled with a sweet, smooth custard and has a nice crisp sugary exterior. The peanut butter doughnut is huge and filling, stuffed with the jam-of-the-day flavour (on our trip, it was fresh apricot jam). Tres leche was subtle and not too sweet, while the chocolate glaze was also filled with yet more chocolate.

Doughnut plant is a sinfully delicious treat in the LES that everyone needs to experience. We loved our trip to the plant and would go back in a heartbeat.

www.doughnutplant.com
379 Grand Street

Sweet Sugar Sunshine Cupcakes on the LES

We know that food is subjective, so these are just my thoughts and feelings on what I think is the best cupcake in the city.

This is my second post on Sweet Sugar Sunshine because it's a spot that we just keep wandering by and are never disappointed. Located on Rivington street between Essex and Norfolk, Sweet Sugar Sunshine continues to deliver on value-packed cupcakes ($1.50/each) for the cupcake fanatic. On this visit, we continued our journey down cupcake alley with a Pistachio, Lemon yummy and Red Velvet dessert.

The Lemon Yummy and Pistachio offer a light cakey base topped with medium thick frosting. Subtle nutty flavors come through in the pistachio while a soft lemon tang can be tasted from the lemon yummy.

By definition, the Red Velvet is going to be a bit heavier as the cake dough contains cocoa powder. Again, topped with a vanilla icing that was not too sweet provided a nice contrast in flavors and textures to a more dense chocolaty cake.

We will continue to eat up the cupcakes at this lovely bakery. Yummy eating in NYC.

126 Rivington St
Tel: (212) 995-1960
sweetsugarsunshine.com

Katz's Deli

Katz's Deli - 205 East Houston Street (btw Orchard and Ludlow) - needs no introduction.

Equally famous for its wall of celebrity photographs, site of Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in "When Harry met Sally", and it's pastrami/corned beef/brisket, Katz's Deli never fails to deliver on it's $15 sandwich.

Definitely not a cheap meal, the $15 is well worth it for a pastrami sandwich that can easily feed two. For an extra $6, order Katz's fantastically delicious, thick steak French fries and a Dr. Brown's cherry cola. All sandwiches and meat platters come with a side of pickles that are a nice complement to any meal here.

While I can't vouch for the desserts at Katz's Deli, I'm sure the cheesecake here is tasty - I promise to try a slice next time. For now, we'll keep eating in New York.

Vanessa's Dumpling House

Vanessa's Dumpling House at 118 Eldridge St (btw Canal and Hester) is a little gem on the LES that serves a simple menu of dumplings, sesame pancake sandwiches and soups (including noodle soups). For under $10, you can get a great meal here with a variety of flavours, textures and delicious fillings both for vegetarians and carnivores alike.

We ordered three dishes to split between two people: a Peking Duck sandwich, Fried Pork Dumplings and Steamed wontons with spicy sauce. For those of you who like duck, there's nothing nicer than some thinly sliced and shredded duck, batoned cucumber and hoisin sauce, tucked between a large fluffy sesame pancake that has been fried in a huge skillet and let to rise. One of the cooks is solely responsible for all of the sandwiches on order and these come nice and hot as each huge pancake is finished cooking and transferred to her station. She then slices the pancake into pizza-like wedges cuts each wedge in half (like a bagel) and fills it with the required filling. There are other fillings like roasted pork, roasted beef, veggies and tuna, but why eat anything other than duck?!

The fried pork dumplings were a bit dry, but the chive and pork filling was delicious. Dipped in a bit of soy/chili sauce, these dumplings come to life. The steamed wontons with spicy sauce were absolutely delicious. I wish I had a picture to share with you, but imagine 6 dumplings that are perfectly steamed and served on a fancy white Styrofoam plate. Then these are drizzled in chilli oil, sesame oil, burned garlic and chives. The shrimp and pork flavours blend wonderfully and are moist delicous. We've been back once already for the pancake sandwiches and hope to come back again for the dumplings. You go Vanessa!

(On a side note, I'm pretty sure none of the Chinese staff working at Vanessa's Dumpling House are named Vanessa, but who cares? With prices this low and food this tasty, it doesn't really matter). Deliciously eating in New York city.

Joe's Shanghai

Down among the vegetable and fruit vendors of Chinatown lies as small yet popular Chinese restaurant called Joe's Shanghai (9 Pell St
(between Bowery & Doyers St). They are written up in all the travel guides as a great place for Pork Soup dumplings, which they will bring to your table in a bamboo basket lined with lettuce leaves. Don't worry, you won't be eating the lettuce - it just keeps these little guys moist. Inside each pocket of dumpling is a ball of minced pork meat and pork soup broth. Be careful as you eat these or else you'll end up with greasy soup in your lap. Hint, carefully place a dumpling in your soup spoon, add a bit of sauce, bite the top or side and quickly slurp up the soup inside. Then you're free to consume the rest of your now soup-less dumpling.

When you're on your own or in a smaller party, the hostess at Joe's Shanghai will put you at a communal table (typical of busy restaurants in the East. Sitting at a communal table with 8 other strangers makes it feel like you've ordered tons more food as you can see what your eating companions order that might tickle your fancy. When we sat down, a family of four were digging into a spicy looking noodle dish (pictured here). After a quick "Hey, what are you eating?" and some translation by their 12-year old daughter, they quickly pointed to Peking Noodles on the menu. We were sold. These noodles come slathered in a spicy sauce, thickened undoubtedly with cornstarch (the Chinese equivalent of a roux-butter and flour), minced pork and mini-cubes of tofu. While tasty and flavourful, the whole meal still left us with slightly uneasy stomachs (as most Chinese meals do). We had also ordered mixed veggies and tofu which had been fried in a wok with too much oil and oyster sauce. Maybe our iron stomachs can't deal with the oil, or we're just lightweights.