Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park (London)

WInter Wonderland at Hyde Park, London

It's certainly shaping up to be a very jolly Christmas here across the pond.  Winter Wonderland is a German-style Christmas market, definitely with something for everyone.  Admission is free and there are loads of sights to take in.  

At the foreground of this picture were a number of stalls selling Christmas decorations and crafts.  Not pictured, but slightly beyond the entrance was a mechanical singing moose and artificial snow flakes by Santa's workshop.  It was a very festive atmosphere, with couples, groups and families milling about and enjoying the sights.

DJKung getting a couple of cups of mulled (spiced) wine, which they make in the large copper kettles in the background.  Seriously, this stuff is quite potent and heats up your innards so quickly.  They serve them in these clay cups, which you redeem later on for a quid each. And of course, they have German beers too.

Of course, you have your gingerbread cookies...

... games galore...

... and spooky rides too (I'm actually not sure what the connection these scary rides with the holidays).  This is a pirate-themed ride. To tell you the truth, hardly anyone was seen going into these rides at the time.

Steroid pretzels (they look yummy, don't they!)

This is the typical offering for one of the concessions.  Sausage, sausage, and sausage.

DJKung tried one of the brats.  "No," he said, "not quite a Nathan's or a Hebrew National... it's rather gamy, but in a good way."

Fried potatoes in a giant skillet.

Cakes and pastries.

Taking a break. I think the doggie wanted a wurst too.

The British Museum (London)

The British Museum

Great Russel Street

London WC1B 3DG

The British Museum.  Yup, the name says it all...what's special about this museum is that it epitomizes the whole British esthetic --- the fads and trends, the eccentricities and oddities, the ideals and aspirations  of the past couple hundred years or so.  So you get gorgeous examples of artifacts (they have the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone), but also some weird stuff like stuffed mermaids and a creepy number of Egyptian mummies.

Tiles with stag and doggies, France, 1200-1300.

Seriously, this museum is massive and you'd need a few visits to take it all in.  It's in a very gorgeous, old space.  We had a whirlwind two-hour tour and it of the little we saw, it was a lot to take in.  Donations, of course, are welcome here.  This is on our must-revisit places next time we go back.

View of the Great Court from the second floor. 

Lots of goodies at Picnic (San Francisco, California)

Picnic

1808 Polk Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

(415) 346-6478

http://www.picnicsf.com/

While in SF over Thanksgiving, I caught up with an old friend, S.  She has the cutest boutique, Picnic, with plenty of pretty items.  The store is in a very up and coming area of SF, with plenty of restaurants, shops and watering holes.

My friend, S.

 

Picnic's got an electic assosrtment of clothes, accessories, shoes and home decor.  I especially like how the selection reflects S.' personal taste and that West Coast vibe.  I ended up with some very cool earrings from carrie saxl (a local jewelry designer), Pacifica solid perfumes and a funky dress/jacket.  Thanks, S.!

Bangin' chicken at Bon Chon

Bo Chon

346 Broad Avenue

Leonia, NJ 07605 (other locationa available)

(210) 944-4112

www.bonchon.com

I suppose the word is already out on Korean-style fried chicken. . . the last time we were here, there were quite a few groups of Filipino kids munchin' on the Bon Chon.

So is this a fad, or is this good chicken?  Korean-style fried chicken is reportedly an improvement over regular fast food fried chicken in that the chickens they use are fresh and never frozen.  The chickens are fried twice (in peanut oil, methinks); the second round of frying only occurs when the order is placed, so the chickens come out nice and fresh.  The chickens then get a thin paint of sauce (your choice of garlic or sweet and spicy) right before they are served.

Plate of garlic fried chicken. 

Plate of sweet and spicy chicken. 

Out of all the other Korean-style fried chicken joints he's tried, DJKung definitely likes Bon Chon the best, giving it a nine out of ten on his fried chicken scale.

There are not a lot of veggie options.  You can get french fries or some radish pickles.  The pickles are cold, sweet and crunchy.

Revisiting Momofuku Noodle Bar

Momofuku Noodle Bar

To celebrate my brother's birthday, we decided on Momofuku Noodle Bar because of its young and festive atmosphere.  A cousin from Manila, Kuya A., was also visiting with us, which is always a good excuse for eating out. 

Despite it being only a Wednesday night, it was quite a wait for us since we had a rather big group.  We popped by a cozy bar right across the street for a drink before our party was complete.  And so finally we did get called and it was time for some good eatin'.

Kuya A. and DJKung decided on the tasting menu, while the rest of us went for a la carte.  What follows is a mish-mash of what we had.

This was the first item on the tasting menu.  (Side note: We did not take good notes of what we had this night, unfortunately.  I know that this excuse was quite lame, but we actually had been imbibing in quite a few drinks since early that evening, and continued to do so the rest of the night.) I'm going to decide that this was a little pickle something to wake up your palate.

I think that one of the reasons why the Momofuku brand became popular is because of the quality of the ingredients that they use.  The pork here tastes really porky, and I believe that they do use the the heirloom-type breeds of pigs raised in happy 100%-natural farms and all that.  Further, this is one of the places where they do fusion food right; the kitchen has a good feel of what flavors and textures and techniques go well together. 

Pork steamed buns app.  This is a sandwich version of siopao, or Chinese meat buns. These were quickly scarfed up.

This is the second item on the tasting menu.  Can you hazard a guess?  I distinctly recall that the red pastes at11 o'clock and 3'oclock were fruit-based. 

Here's one of the side dishes that we ordered.  I looked at the menu listed on the website, and cannot say for certain whether these were the Tokyo turnips.  I do recall that these were a little crunchy and simply delicious.

Smoked chicken wings.  DJKung especially liked these.

Halfway down the Momofuku ramen bowl.  The ramen broth here is quite tasty.

Chilled spicy noodles.  This is a play on the Korean style cold noodles with pepper sauce. This is topped with cucumber, half of a soft boiled egg and some toasted nori strips. Among the noodles were crunchy-salty-sweet nuggets of fried cashew nuts, which were awesome.

 Instead of the sweet-spicy red pepper sauce, the noodles are bathed in an intriguing spicy, porky and silky dressing.  Yet remarkably despite all its porkiness, it did not have a greasy feel at all.

Third item on the tasting menu was the beef ragu with pasta.  DJKung remarked at how gamy (in a good way) the beef was. 

Maple syrup ice cream.  This was very creamy and salty at the same time, which was a kick-ass combination.  It was too bad that we were all quite full by then and could not finish this.

Noshin' and gawkin' at MOMA

Target Free Fridays at MOMA

11 West 53rd Street (btw 6th and 7th Ave)

Kudos to Target for once again giving something back to the community!  Target is sponsoring free Fridays at MOMA.  This is a superduper deal because general admission to this museum costs around $20.   Granted, the hours are from 4p to 8p, and you'll probably have to stand in line for the tickets, but folks--- free is free!!!

Superfatty's new favorite during this visit (Departure by Max Beckman,1932)

MOMA has a world-class collection of modern art, with a lot of heavy-hitters and crowd plesasers.  I have not been here for a long time, well before they started contruction of the new sculpture garden.  It was fun checking out the new space and revisiting old favorites.  It's quite funny how your personal tastes evolve over time. . . I found that the stuff I really liked before was not particularly interesting this time. 

Our approach to museums generally is to take the elevator to the topmost floor, then work our way down.  DJKung and I were able to cover two floors before getting quite peaky.  It was nice that the cafe was not jam-packed despite the hour (6-ish) and we were seated right away.  We opted for just small bites because we wanted to have a big dinner later on.

Three cheese sampler.  I forget the name of the cheeses, but the top was a soft cheese, which was meh.  The middle cheese is semi-hard like Parmesan--- sweet, nutty and slightly crumbly (this was the best one).  The blue cheese was not superfunky and was ok.  This came with some dense bread and apricot jam. 

We also picked a flight of red wines.  We agreed that we liked the Rioja the best. 

Thus fortified, we proceeded with gawking our way through the rest of the floors.  It was a really fun date---just like we used to do it the good ol' days!

Take your time at Kevin's Thyme

Kevin's Thyme
614 North Maple Avenue
Hohokus, NJ 07423
(201) 445-6400
http://www.kevinsthyme.com/


So we've been looking for a nice little table for our living room where we can dump our keys and hats and whatnot upon walking in the door.  We tried Then & Now, but did not have much luck.  A quick online search revealed a big antiques store in nearby Hohokus, so off we went. 

Hohokus' downtown is small and quite pretty.  We saw this cute little place and decided to have lunch.

The interior of this tiny cafe is done up in a very nice French country style, with very nice lighting and a lot of attention to detail, all the way down to the plates and cutlery.  It seemed that they do a very brisk business with take aways and catering, because when we arrived, a litle shy of noon on a Saturday, they had already run out of a few items on their menu.  A few minutes later, the entire place, including their heated outside patio, was already full.

The lunch menu was very simple and consists of sandwiches, soups and salads. 

The soup of the day--- nineteen bean soup.  The tomato base was very flavorful and the beans were hearty, perfect for the fall weather.

My first choice was the grilled veggie wrap, which they had just run out of.  I decided on the Alaskan salmon BLT (with the bacon held).  The salmon was generous and freshly broiled and the fresh pesto mayo added a nice touch.

DJKung got the turkey and brie sandwich, which he said was very good.  The bread had a lot of nuts and seeds and perfectly complemented the filling.  The flavors of the turkey, melting cheese and cranberry jam worked beautifully together.

We are not cupcake people, but since it was DJKung's birthday weekend, we splurged on a red velvet cupcake.  The server kindly gave us one that was nice and cold from the fridge, too!  The cupcake was moist and not too sweet, although the icing was.  This is the first time I've had red velvet myself, and I can see why it's made a comeback. 

We can tell that this was not your average sandwich joint.  Later, when we came home, we looked up their website.  Kevin's Thyme was voted as the best for alfresco dining in the (201) Magazine [this is the local glossy devoted to Bergen county].  The chef is quite pedigreed too, which explains all the special touches. 

Dinner here looks like it would be a really special event.  It is BYOB too!

Wagner Vineyards, Finger Lakes region, NY

Wagner Vineyards
9322 State Route 414
Lodi, NY 14860
www.wagnervineyards.com

So from Cayuga Lake, we veered west back to the Seneca Lake side to try out two more wineries.  I will tell you now that we ended up in Wagner Vineyards because we missed the turn to Lamoreau's winery, which is adjacent to it.  (It is really hard driving on these country roads because the signs on the road are very tiny and everyone drives really fast.)  In the end, we were glad we came here because we got to try not only their wine, but their suds as well.

From the display cases crammed full of medals and awards, to family pictures going back a few generations, it appeared to us that this winery has been around for a while and has been a labor of love.

I counted four display cases full of medals.  Quite impressive!

So anyway, the setup here at Wagner is that you pay for your tasting ticket (about a buck for each of us, I think), and you queue until a tasting station opens.  Each tasting station handles about ten people, and there is a set of wines that they pour.   A bit of an assembly line operation, even given the four tasting stations open.  You get to try about maybe six or eight wines, which are poured one right after another.

 DJKung perusing the wines available for tasting.

Like Thirsty Owl,Wagner also seemed to have a stronger showing with their whites. 

Stunning Seneca Lake views.

Even better, Wagner also has an in-house brewery.  We figured what the heck, might as well go for it. The queue for the beer tastings ($2, payable at the bar)seemed longer, but was younger and livelier. 

The bar is also open for regular pours, about $3 a pint. Wagner has Friday pub nights on the brewery deck, which from the pictures,  gets quite happenin'.    

So finally we made it to the bar and tried seven brews.  By the third half- tumbler, we were already giddy.

Generally, we were impressed with the quality of the beers, which were all very smooth and  well-balanced.  We especially liked the Dockside Amber lager (smooth and with a fruity bite), Oatmeal stout (hearty), Coffee Porter (tasted like chocolate) and the Doppel- and Trippelboch Sled Dog beers.  The latter two are mature, rich and complex German-style brews. 

So we had quite a haul coming out of Wagner: a bottle of the Reisling Semi-Dry, a 6-pack each of the Oatmeal stout and the Amber lager (for cold and warm autum days, respectively) and, as a splurge, a bottle of the Trippelboch.  Yay we love beer tastings!

Thirsty Owl WInery, Finger Lakes region, NY

Thirsty Owl Winery
6799 Elm Beech Road
Ovid, NY
www.thirstyowl.com

The Finger Lakes is the largest wine-producing region in New York state.  More than a hundred wineries dot the perimeters of the lakes in this area because of the unique microclimate created by the lakes, which is perfect for growing certain types of grapes.  There are wine trails you can follow that leads from one winery to the next (the Cayuga, Seneca and Keuka Wine Trails).   Because we only had a few hours left to linger before heading home, we decided to try one winery by Cayuga Lake and one by Seneca Lake.

We picked Thirsty Owl by pure happenstance, because it was just set so gorgeously next to Cayuga Lake.

It was unbelievable how picture-perfect the Finger Lakes was that weekend, while it was raining buckets back home.   In the foreground of the picture are some of the (new) vines at Thirsty Owl. 

Thirsty Owl.  In the back of the building is a smart bistro that overlooks the lake.  I'm sure it's really relaxing to have lunch here on a fine summer day. 

One awesome thing about the Finger Lakes wineries  is that wine tastings are rather nominal.  Here at Thirsty Owl, I believe that we paid a couple of bucks each to try about five or six of their wines, which was credited to our final purchase.

DJKung about to try out some Thirsty Owl.

At the end, we decided that their white wines were much easier to drink.  We got two bottles of their 2008 Vidal Blanc.  This was on the dry side, with a light mango/peach bouquet, and super easy to drink.  Very fairly priced too!

Connie's Diner, Finger Lakes region, NY

Connie's Diner
Waterloo, NY

So on our way home the next day, we decided to hit a few wineries, and perhaps a farmer's market for some fresh veggies to bring home.  We stopped by Connie's Diner to fuel up for the long day ahead. 

Connie's Diner, unlike its New Jersey brethren with their strong Greek prescence, is owned and run by an Italian family, and has been open for quite some time.   We recalled that even Emile's was an Italian restaurant, and we had passed quite a lot of pizzerias here in upstate New York.  We're quite curious as to how one ethnic group, and not another, had made inroads into the Finger Lakes back then, to seemingly dominate the local restaurant industry. 

Connie's was bustling that Sunday. We were lucky to snag a booth by the window, well within sight of the furs who were waiting in the car. We liked the old-school, authentic feel of the diner, with its blue-and-orange vinyl upholstery and jukeboxes on the table.



The verdict: hearty good diner food!

DJKung got the steak and eggs.

I got eggs with potatoes, and sausage for the furs.

Emile's Restaurant (Finger Lakes region, NY)

Emile's Restaurant
369 Routes 5 and 20 Westbound
Geneva, NY 14456

Besides the pizza we had en route to Geneva, we had not eaten all day.  Deciding what to have for dinner was a tricky affair, given that we could not leave the doggies in the hotel room (a definite no-no according to the front desk), nor were we cold-hearted enough to leave them in the car.  Thus, we opted for take-away.

Emile's Restaurant was definitely the happenin' spot of the area.  It is an Italian-American joint, with the usual pasta and meat entrees.  A lot of locals come for good fillin' food, and great local wines by the glass.  It was really nice to see a wine list that showcases local wines.   DJKung had a pint of Ithaca Pale Ale, which was remarkably smooth.  I had a glass of the house red. 

This picture was taken the day after. Emile's is only open for dinner, and it was rockin' the night we were there.

Thinking that we were just ordering takeout, we neglected to bring the camera.  Thus, we were unprepared to take pictures of their gorgeous salad bar, which is a self-serve bar with salad greens, macaroni salad, coleslaw, and bean salad.  We were taken aback when handed two styrofoam take-out containers and told to help ourselves at the salad bar.  I really took advantage of their all-you-can-eat policy!

DJKung ordered pork shops, which were two generous portions that came with a side of applesauce.  The chops were meaty and moist and the furs really liked it.  I got the linguine alfredo, which me and the furs had the next day because we got filled up from the salad. 

Best of all, the prices were really reasonable, considering the portions of the food that we got. We all slept with full bellies that evening.

Fall getaway at the Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes region, New York

It was perhaps about two weeks ago when we decided that we were due for a little UFC getaway.  DJKung has raved about how gorgeous the Finger Lakes region is.  I was a bit undecided about going, especially since I wanted all the furs with us, and there weren't a lot of pet-friendly accomodations available on short notice, being the weekend and all.  But we decided to brave it, despite the rainy forecast, and it was well worth it. 

The drive took about five hours and yes, we did suffer some mishaps along the way.  We had a poop incident in the car (none of the furs admitted to it), requiring an emergency stop to mitigate the damage.  We also had a bit of a tiff regarding driving (I wanted to drive, but DJKung wanted to keep driving).  Despite this, it was a relaxing drive through the Pennsylvania countryside, lots of farms and barns and animals to gawk at. We stoped by the visitor info at the border (route 81 north?), where we stocked up on maps and brochures. 

We made a pit stop at Avicolli's pizza in Seneca Falls for a quick slice (nice thin pizza, but maybe too thin, because the slices were falling apart) and drove up route 96 north, which is on the western border of Cayuga Lake.  This was not a very scenic path and we missed most of the local attactions on Cayuga Lake.    From 96 North, we went west on Route 20 and passed by Seneca Falls and Waterloo. 

Let me sidetrack a bit and elaborate a bit about the Finger Lakes.  Yes, they do look like long skinny fingers, protruding from the humonguous Lake Ontario, up to the north.   I am sure I've read somewhere that these lakes were formed a gajillion years ago as the glaciers that covered the continent started to melt and shrink post-Ice Age.

So, on our drive by the little towns by the lakes,our impression was that these places are really vibrant and active during the summer season, but unfortunately, they shut down and close shop for the winter.  Overall, it was rather too quiet for us.  The only downtown that seemed relatively bustling was in Geneva, where it seemed like there were a handful of people out (mind you, this is at 5 pm on a Saturday).  I am sure that there are those who'd love a quiet country getaway, and I guess that the end of fall is the best time to go if that is your preference. 

I wondered if this windmill is purely decorative.

We then proceeded towards Penn Yan, which is by Keuka Lake.  I wanted to see if we could catch the farmer's market/flea market that day, but we were simply too late.  We also did not have much luck with the hotels in the area.  The Ramada Inn by the northern end of Seneca Lake looked rather nice, and more importantly was pet-friendly.   We were able to snag the last room available (there was a wedding reception at the time), woo-hoo!

The best part about the hotel was that it was right on Seneca Lake.  It was awesome waking up in the morning and having a brisk walk with the furs right on the lake!!!

This was the best family picture we could come up with.  This was taken on the banks of Seneca Lake.  That tiny white speck in the distance was our hotel.   This park alongside the lake is perhaps three miles long and hugs the side of the lake.  There are piers and boat launches aplenty, and lots of park benches.  It's really pretty, and we can see this park getting a lot of action during the summer. 

You can learn quite a bit from reading the little factoid posts along the park: Seneca Lake is the second largest lake (next only to Cayuga Lake, which sits to its right).  It's about 35 miles long, and 3.5 miles at its widest.  This lake I thing the second deepest body of water in the US,  about 300 feet deep, and was used for sonar exercises around WWII.  Also, Seneca Lake is the lake trout fishing capital of the world, where tournaments are held yearly. 

The water was really clean and clear.  Babams just jumped right in and wanted to swim far out!!!  Alas, this is a leash-only park.  Don't worry, we'll be back again very soon, hopefully at a campground close to the water!!!

P.S.: We have quite a bunch of literature on the Finger Lakes region, which we found a lot more helpful than the stuff we found online.  UFC is glad to lend them out for free... just drop us a note in the comments section!

Slurp up some soba at Sobaya

Sobaya
229 East 9th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 533-6966
www.sobaya-nyc.com


Sobaya is one of the places that we've been going to for quite some time, but we've never gotten around to mentioning it here.  Pretty much all of our out-of-town relatives love this little gem in the lower east side. This restaurant is small, simple, and yet quite transporting.  The decor is very soothing, and I especially like the netsuke collection (little carved ivory and wood knicknacks) on display as soon as you walk in.  If you're lucky, you can catch a glimpse of soba noodles being made in-house!

Matsutake mushrooms (red pine mushrooms improted from Japan) were a special on the night we went.  These were a bit pricey but we were game to try it, so we got the cheapest matsutake on the menu.



                             

Matsutake tempura. The mushroom had a sweet, creamy and delicate flavor to it.

I have not had this in a long time.  This is chawanmushi, a light warm custard made from fish broth and egg, with a bit of veggies thrown in.  It is a bit strange the first time, since we usually equate custard with something sweet and dessert-like, but it is quite good.

Of course, Sobaya specializes in soba noodles prepared different ways.  Their soups are quite hearty and filling, perfect for the nippy fall weather.

Tanuki soba.  This is a simple soup with soba noodles, broth, a fish cake and "fried batter flakes," or the crunchy stuff that you see on a piece of tempura.  This was hearty and very filling.

DJKung got his fave, zaru soba.  He was rather upset that he did not get the hot soba broth at the end of the meal, but it might be because it was almost closing time.

If you are adventurous, check out the automated toilets (I think only the women's restroom has it).  It's exactly like the ones you see in the posh Tokyo department stores!!!