Dimsum at Golden Unicorn

Under food:

Golden Unicorn
18 East Broadway
New York, NY10002

To be honest, we did not really know of any dimsum joints in Chinatown. We did know that we wanted to try some new places below the Mott Street/East Broadway section, which always seemed "more authentic" to us. After some online searching, we found Golden Unicorn. This restaurant was on the third floor. The setup looks a lot like that of a Chinese restaurant hall, with drapes all around the perimeter, big round tables that sit eight or more, and a center dance floor which also had some tables.

We managed to skip the wait by agreeing to split our table with another group. We ordered the following:

Shrimp and chive dumplings. This was pretty good, juicy and scrumptious. Too bad it did not make another appearance in the carts later on.

Chinese broccoli. My personal fave. Lightly cooked, it was sweet and crunchy.

Veggie dumplings. I think they had mushrooms in them. Also juicy, was gone in a flash.

Chicken feet in chili sauce and peanuts. This was pretty good for snacking and the flesh was tender.

Shrimp in noodles with sweet soy sauce, UFC's personal fave. The noodles are almost gelatinous and just slides down your throat.

Congee (they forgot to put the scallions). Very mild in flavor, great for this spring day.

This is the dimsum cart with the congee.

Clams in black bean sauce. This was excellent; the clams were briny and sweet, with just enough of the black bean sauce to bring out the flavor.

Scallops wrapped in bacon, served with mayonnaise and Pringles potato chips.

Pan-fried pork dumplings. DJKung said that this was ok.

Not pictured was the soft tofu, which we had for dessert. It was warm, silky and satisfying.

Golden Unicorn was a fun excursion. It was great trying the many dishes they have. The carts are helpfully labelled with pictures and names of the dishes they carry, and you can always ask the wait staff about them too. It was too bad that they did not carry some of the dishes that they advertised on the carts; we weren't sure if the kitchen ran out of certain items or if it just stopped carrying them altogether. Other crowd pleasers that we like (crystal shrimp dumplings, fried squid) were not served either.

And one word on the carts--- some of them meander about in no particular fashion, so if you are seated in one corner of the room, some carts may not get to you at all. It is a good strategy to have the most assertive person in your group seated closest to the traffic

Tea at Teariffic

Under food:

Teariffic
51 Mott Street
New York, NY


Teariffic is among the little teashops in Chinatown that is just oh-so-popular among the kiddies these days, what with the bubble tea craze that sprung up some years ago. We stopped by for a quick drink as we were about sightseeing with DJKung's cousin.

Cold matcha au lait. I can't really say that you could taste the matcha (green tea). It tasted strongly of jasmine tea, or some other floral-type tea. The little agar (gelatin) cubes were fun to slurp down.

DKung got black tea with milk. It is served without ceremony, which is great when all you want is a nice cuppa.

Teariffic has pretty satisfying teas and coffees. They also serve quick bites. The prices are very reasonable too!

As we were headed to a dimsum joint, we were lucky enough to catch a small parade by a Chinese Buddhist group. The dragon smiled at us, so this will certainly bring us lots of luck!

Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Under funs:

Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival)

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

One drizzly Saturday this May, we journeyed to Brooklyn Botanical Garden to take out DJKung's cousin and her boyfriend for some sightseeing. They are both huge fans of martial arts and bonsai gardening. Luckily, the Sakura Matsuri was being held during the weekend. It ties perfectly with the Japanese-themed holdings that Brooklyn Garden has. The event was very well-attended.

DJKung amidst the pretty cherry blossoms. The damp weather lifted by midday, and we had gorgeous sunshine to enjoy.

What we find particularly interesting was that there was quite a collection of kids in cosplay outfits. Some of the Lolita outfits were quite impressive. There were several photographers too, out taking portrait shots.

Japanese garden.

The calendar for the day was action-packed. We stayed for the Kodo drums and the sword exhibition. We were also fortunate to enjoy the rest of the park too. The Brooklyn Botanical Garden has an impressive Japanese garden, a lush Spanish bluebell walkway, a huge tree peony selection (it was not in bloom yet when we visited), and a huge conservatory with bonsai and plantings of desert, tropical and temperate flora.