Happy Holidays! & Tai Show North

Tai Show (North)

316 Main Street

East Setauket, NY 11733

(631) 751-2848

Happy Holidays, everyone! Whether it is Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa, or something else that you may celebrate! I hope everyone has a safe, loving, and joyous time with family and friends. I know I am lucky to have a wonderful family, boyfriend, and group of friends who I can count on to keep a smile on my face year round. Now, on to the food! I am not Italian, but in the spirit of things and to follow some sort of tradition known to many of my friends, Christmas Eve is the night of seven fish. So, my visit to Tai Show with Fiona and Rich is quite appropriate for this day! Enjoy!

Fiona is not only my lovely sister, but also a great go-to for decent restaurants. She had been to Tai Show with Julie, another anti-big chain restaurant girl (no offense, TGIFriday's) and they loved the atmosphere and raved about the sushi. Located in scenic north shore LI, Tai Show offers something for everyone, from hibachi to sushi, and other Japanese fare. Walking in, I was immediately excited. They have a separate room for hibachi, but in the main restaurant, you can request to sit in a room, where you are immediately transported to a Japanese room complete with authentic looking Shoji divider doors enclosing your party in your booth. Mucho points for atmosphere and interior design!

As for the food, I was so impressed by the variety's of sushi rolls they offered. I don't know why, I just was, but they had great flavor combinations and it was super fresh. I have found, throughout my sushi-trying years, that yes, sushi is definitely an acquired taste that has only increased with intensity, for me, at least. And a great way to try different fish is to order a roll with other fish that you've tried before and like. It's like taking baby steps. So far, it has been a no-fail way for me to try different sushi.

Another good way is just to sample what your friends order, which is precisely what Fiona, Rich, and I did. We started with the pork shumai appetizer. Although shumai always looks so pallid and rather boring to me, there's was still visually boring but tasted wonderful. Then again, I guess it's kind of hard to make pork dumplings look truly appealing. Anyway, it was perfectly cooked and the sweet and salty dipping sauce is a great paring. I also had miso soup, which I love and it was nice here, too. Rich ordered Shrimp Asparagus- rolled in panko and fried and served with an interesting dry salt-herb mixture. I thought it was a bit plain tasting, but the herbs added the saltiness which it needed.

Finally our rolls came and they were visually spectacular. It's one thing to plate something visually appealing, but I am always amazed by the way food is presented in some Japanese restaurants, such as this. They are truly works of art... literally edible art, and you can really appreciate the time that the sushi chef took to make the roll. I ordered the Diamond roll (tuna, yellowtail, cucumber, avocado with salmon on top), Fiona chose the Amy roll (tuna, salmon, yellow tail, spicy mayo, tempura flakes topped with avocado), and Rich got the Dynamite roll (tuna, fluke, scallion, caviar, cucumber with spicy scallop and tempura flakes). As for all of the rolls, I really enjoyed them all. I absolutely love the salmon sashimi on top, as it is one of my favorites and the crunchy cucumber with the soft fish and creamy avocado were wonderful with the wasabi dipping sauce, which I traditionally make a bit spicy. As for the most different, it was Rich's dynamite roll. His was partially cooked (the scallop top) and I'd never had it with sushi before. It was a bit ginormous to eat in one bite, but a big flavor roller coaster in your mouth!

Overall, the dinner was great. Here, I had the full sensory experience: Visually, olfactory, tasting, texturally, it was all appealing, which I believe takes a restaurant to a higher caliber/top-notch (change wording). And, it was not too expensive for a sushi night.

Pastis

9 Ninth Ave.

New York, NY 10014

(212) 929-4844

Pastis is set in the heart of possibly my favorite part of Manhattan- the Meatpacking District. It is like another world there, without the sardine can-like crowds and the cobblestone streets remind me of Europe and the old world. I love it and could spend a day in the little nook of the city people watching and staring at the lovely buildings and architecture. Anywho, Pastis, I feel is perfect for the area. The 1940's french themed bar and restaurant are precisely how I want to decorate my future kitchen! Fiona suggested that we go here- finally! We went with fellow foodie, Joe, and had a ball. It was very crowded and there was a wait, but nothing too complain about while we admired the decor. I was just excited that we were going to have brunch!

Coincidentally, the three of us wanted the same thing, so to change it up, I ordered the .... which are from the bakery, Balthazar owned by the same proprietors. I should have known it was a funny selection because of the waitress' questionable expression on her face and the fact that she said "you just want the pastry for brunch?" I thought nothing of it, of course, but then understood when my order came. My order consisted of a croissant, chocolate croissant, sticky bun, and orange brioche. For some reason when I ordered, I envisioned tiny bite-sized pastries, but no, it was an enormous bread basket, obviously made to share as a side dish. Either way, after I giggled at my order, I was very happy. Helloooo carbs! I was instantly transported to an outside boulangerie in Paris. Each pastry was sugary, sticky, flaky, and just as buttery as I'd hoped. I shared with Fiona and Joe and I think they had the same sentiments.

I also stole some of their Eggs a la Basquaise- the dish we all wanted originally (poached egg with polenta, peppers, onions, and prosciutto). We were all surprised by how small the serving was, when presented. However, it was lovely. The yolky egg and peppers were an excellent flavor combination. Very much like a breakfast-y sausage and peppers. But, towards the scraping of the plate at the end of the dish, the very obvious question came to be-- Where is the polenta?? I don't know if they were sleepy back there in the kitchen, but it certainly was not on the plate. Oh well!

To end, my sister and my dessert was poire au vin rouge or poached pears. Instantly, I thought of the winter holidays. Each bite of pear was very reminiscent of a mulled wine spiced with cloves. The pear was tender but not mushy and soaked in the flavorful wine. Quite yummy and a lovely light choice to end our brunch. Joe ate bananas foster, which was okay, but I'm not a big fan of bananas unless it is right out of its' peel. I will definitely go back here again as the other menus seem spectacular and it is a good excuse to go back to the meatpacking district... a pretty decent excuse, if you ask me!

The Odeon

145 West Broadway

New York, NY 10013

(212)233-0507

Going out for dinner is obviously very much a social event and The Odeon provided a great menu for my friends and I to dine on. Fiona, friend Joe, and I happened upon this place recently and determined that it would be the next spot for us to meet. So, with the three of us, Rich, Sal, and Kristin, we enjoyed a French Bistro-esque type meal. With all of us, we practically ordered half the dinner menu, and I felt very lucky to sample much of it! I think that's one of the great things about going out with larger groups- you get to taste a bunch of food. Sounds good to me!

I ordered the Country Frisee Salad, Angus Hangar Steak, and, if you've read my previous blogs, you won't be at all surprised to read that I ordered the Molten Chocolate Cake (I know, I know, I'll change my dessert choices, but I just love that gooey chocolate. Mmmmmm!).

The salad was simply seasoned with a vinaigrette and garnished with bacon lardons. It was absolutely delicious. The fatty bacon and lightly acidic dressing cut the tangy cheese so nicely and I wanted to lick up my plate. Except, I remembered that I should act like a lady and waited hungrily for the next course. Gladly, my friends came to the rescue and I was able to nosh on their appetizers which included a Warm Goat Cheese Salad, Baby Beet Salad, Spicy Chicken Dumplings, and Chicken liver mousse which was a special. They were all very tasty but if I chose a favorite of the three, it would be the beet salad.

Eventually, our entrees came and I was eager to dive in. My steak was cooked precisely as I'd ordered- medium and thinly cut into strips. I was admittedly taken aback by this presentation, as I was anticipating a whole cut of steak. However, that was soon forgotten because the combination of bearnaise sauce, fabulous confit potatoes and steak juices melded beautifully together. It was practically sublime and I did not have an ounce of regret with my choice. The only thing I was disappointed with was that I hoped for more. The portion was fair, but I definitely wanted a few more bites to savor.

Lastly, after good conversation and a few sly forkfuls of Rich's meal, the famously predicatable chocolate cake emerged. Now, I have to defend myself slightly because when we passed The Odeon, a couple weeks ago, there was an ice cream cart with a guy serving up some cones and we found out that they made their own ice cream. Therefore, even though I got the cake, I also was able to taste a very nice hazelnut ice cream served on the side. It was very smooth and creamy and had a nicely subtle hazelnut flavor which complimented the cake.

Overall, it was a very yummy experience and I also want to return to the area, which was littered with many restaurants I want to try. Another restaurant down, many more to visit!