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What I Ate: February 23, 2008

Posted 9 March, 2008 at 10:20pm by Michael Chu
(Filed under: What I Ate)

Tina and I met our good friends Trevor and Signe. We haven't seen them in about three and a half years (since our wedding where Trevor served as Best Man) because they were teaching English in Japan. After a brief stroll in Central Park, we went into FAO Schwarz to warm up and have a little breakfast.

Having had an egg cream at Carnegie Deli the previous day, I tried the one at FAO Schwarz's cafe (called FAO Schweetz). It wasn't as foamy as the one at Carnegie Deli, tasted less like Hershey's, but wasn't exceptional. I think you probably have to have grown up drinking egg creams to find them special.

FAO Schweetz - Egg Cream

Tina ordered a raspberry hand pie (made especially for FAO Schwarz by a small two man bakery in Rhode Island) which was flaky, sweet (but not overly so) and very fruity.

FAO Schweetz - Raspberry Hand Pie

I also ordered a croissant which was the only pastry there that was made locally - the dough is flown in from France. The croissant was the best I ever had - extremely light and fluffy. It was like eating layers of buttery air. Amazing.

FAO Schweetz - Croissant

We also shared a hot chocolate which was smooth and rich.

FAO Schweetz - Hot Chocolate

FAO Schwarz (Google Maps)
767 5th Ave
New York, NY 10153
(212) 644-9400

After walking down 5th Ave, wandering through the New York Public Library (where we tried, unsuccessfully, to find books), and checking out Times Square, we realized we should probably stop for lunch. Being in Times Square, we dodged into the closest restaurant which was a Hard Rock Cafe.

I ordered a Mango Berry Cooler to drink.

Hard Rock Cafe - Mango Berry Cooler

Tina and I decided to share a Cobb Salad and an order of Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings (which are their Buffalo wings).

Hard Rock Cafe - Cobb Salad

The wings were a bit dry, but they did have a really nice hickory smoke flavor that you don't get in normal buffalo wings.

Hard Rock Cafe - Hickory Smoked Chicken Wings

Hard Rock Cafe - Times Square (Google Maps)
1501 Broadway - Three
New York, NY 10036
(212) 343-3355

After my trouble the previous night finding Hagi, I decided to try it again, especially since Trevor and Signe had just spent three years in Japan. This time I found it. Here's what the entrance looks like.

Hagi Izakaya

It's right underneath the Iroha Sushi Japanese Restaurant (which was empty when we looked in). It seems all the action is at Hagi downstairs.

Hagi Izakaya

We started with String Beans with Sesame Sauce ($3). The black sesame sauce was flavorful and sweet went perfectly with the just cooked (still crisp) string beans.

Hagi Izakaya - String Beans with Sesame Sauce

The edamame ($3) was also quite good. It's surprising how something as simple as young soy beans boiled in salt water can be done badly so often. Hagi's were good.

Hagi Izakaya - Edamame

We also ordered skewers of asparagus wrapped with bacon ($2.50 each) and enoki take (golden needle mushrooms) wrapped with bacon ($2.50 each). These were amazing. It's not often that I complain about having too much bacon, but I felt that the dish would not have suffered if less bacon was used per skewer (perhaps half a strip instead of a full strip).

Hagi Izakaya - Asparagus wrapped with Bacon and Enoki Take wrapped with Bacon

The deep fried soft shell crab was also delicious but not on their normal menu (it was a special).

Hagi Izakaya - Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab

A little disappointing (given how good everything else was so far) was the Grilled Special Chicken with Plum Salt ($6.50). The chicken was bland and didn't taste of anything special.

Hagi Izakaya - Grilled Special Chicken with Plum Salt

Sauteed squid leg with kimchee ($7) was also a surprise. It was more like sauteed kimchee with bean sprouts and a little bit of squid legs.

Hagi Izakaya - Sauteed Squid Legs with Kimchee

We also ordered tako yaki ($6 for 6; balls of dough with octopus bits inside cooked in a special cast iron plate with hemispheres shaped into them). These were very good - exactly how I remember them when I had them in Osaka from a street vendor.

Hagi Izakaya - Tako Yaki

Finished off our savory courses with a baked sour plum rice ball ($3.50). Apparently, the extra baking step is important. Trevor says it's pretty bland without that step as they add additional flavorings and the extra cooking crisps up the outside of the ball. It came in a triangular shape and this is what my portion looked like.

Hagi Izakaya - Baked Sour Plum Rice Ball

We wrapped up the meal with a red bean filled pastry and a scoop of red bean ice cream.

Hagi Izakaya - Red Bean Pastry with Red Bean Ice Cream

Hagi (Google Maps)
152 W 49th St
New York, NY, 10019
(212) 764-8549

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