Author Archives: Cei Kar Ng Wu

Momo dumplings

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Our first stop on the Jackson Heights tour was Amdo Momo Dumplings, they won the Golden Momo Championship in 2015. Momo is a South Asia type of dumplings. When I saw the dumpling picture at the food cart, I thought that it was going to be similar to the soup dumplings on Shang Hai, they were shaped the same way and it was displayed on the traditional bamboo dumpling steamers that Chinese use. When we the dumplings, I noticed that the dough was thicker than Chinese cultures and they served it with spicy radish pickles and white sauce. The combination was delicious; the spiciness and the sourness of the pickles help the dumpling bring out even more flavor.

Buñuelos

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On our little trip to Jackson Heights I got to try these a Colombian treat called buñuelos. They are spanish donuts made with white cheese. This donut was golden brown on the outside and had a slightly yellow/cream color on the inside. When I took a bite, it was really crispy because of the oil in which it was cooked with; inside was a soft dough, almost like cake. This donut is not similar to any donut you can imagine, this doughnut is fluffy inside. I did not taste any yeast on it, so I believe that the fluffiness of the dough was from the gluten created from the flour. The buñuelo was a little bit greasy but you can expect that because it was a deep fried donut. 

OddFellows

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OddFellows Ice Cream Co.

175 Kent Ave,

Broolyn, NY 11249

A former pastry chef from wd~50, Sam Mason, opened OddFellows with Mohan and Holiday Kumar. This ice cream shop is not an ordinary ice cream shop; this ice cream shop creates the most unique ice cream flavors. It all started when Holiday Kumar was pregnant and she was experiencing the unique cravings on ice creams like fried chicken ice cream or coconut water ice cream. These unique flavors started from Holiday’s cravings. Sam Mason have already created more than 200 flavors between their opening day (2011) until 2016. OddFellows are constantly changing their ice cream flavors, having different flavors every day.

Wagyu Sandwich

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I went to Sakamai with my friends for dinner. Sakamai is the instagram/facebook famous restaurant that serves the popular wagyu sandwich in New York. It is located in 157 Ludlow Street in Manhattan. Me and my friends shared the Miyazaki A5 Wagyu Sandwich. Our headwaiter told us that the wagyu beef sandwich was good for sharing because the wagyu beef has a lot of marbling and it was not recommended to eat the whole wagyu sandwich by yourself. The sandwich came in 12 bite pieces cut in even cubes. Sakamai used a japanese milk bread for the sandwich; the bread was buttered and toasted to trap the moist and juiciness of the beef on the sandwich. Tonkatsu sauce was spread on the on the toasted bread to give the sandwich a japanese touch on the wagyu cutlet.
It was my first time having wagyu beef. When I had my first little wagyu sandwich cube, I felt the crispness of the toasted bread when I took it with my chopsticks. I squeeze it a little bit and I saw a little amount of fat coming out. I ate the cube in one bite, it was crispy because of the toasted bread, it was chewy and easy to digest. The wagyu was melting in my mouth while I was eating it. Some steaks are extremely chewy but they are hard to break down on your mouth, but the wagyu was chewy and melting in your mouth while you were eating it.
The wagyu sandwich as was way too expensive but it was worth it.

Green Tea Soba

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At Sakamai, we also ordered a green tea soba salad. When we think about noodles, we think about the pan fried noodles or noodles with soup. I have never tried noodles on a salad and definitely not made of green tea. I have tried green tea matcha drinks and desserts, but I have never tried it on savory food. The green tea soba salad came with frisée lettuce and another green that looked like micro greens. I asked my headwaiter what green was it and he said kaiware. It also came with cucumbers, small pieces of avocado, tomatoes, grilled corn, walnuts  and toasted nori. The salad was drizzle with sesame soy dressing. The soba noodles were soft; it was like eating homemade noddles prepared by my mom on special occasions. When you think of matcha powder by itself you do not think about sweetness but bitterness; however, the noodles were not bitter.
The greens gave the noodles a refreshing touch. The grilled corn gave the salad a little bit of smokiness and sweetness. The walnuts was the crunchy component on the dish. Overall, we can say that the salad was a great choice.  If we were not sharing, I believe that I could finish that plate in less than 15 minutes.

I bought two mini baklavas at Artopolis on our second trip; one with pastry cream filling and one with pistachios. When I saw the baklava I thought that it would be similar to a napoleon cake because of the phyllo sheets which are similar to pastry puff. But the texture of it was different than a napoleon. Napoleon cakes are crunchy and the pastry puff breaks when you bite into it. On the other hand, the phyllo sheets on the pastry cream baklava was a little bit soggy, I believe that the sogginess was present because of the honey drizzled all around it. The honey gave it an extra touch of sweetness and chewiness. At least the phyllo was not made with shortening, or it would have left an uncomfortable finish on my mouth.

The pistachio baklava was a little crunchy on the top and chewy on the bottom. The honey was all concentrated on the bottom which is why it gave it a chewy finish. The chopped pistachio balanced the baklava, it was not as sweet as the one with pastry cream.

I expected it to be crunchier because of all the different layers of phyllo sheets that were present on the dessert. At the end, I got a soggy phyllo sheet full of honey. If somebody has a sweet tooth, I would definitely recommend the one with pastry cream filling. But if someone is not that fanatic of sweets, the baklava with nuts can be one of the best options.

Artopolis

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Artopolis

Artopolis is a traditional Greek bakery in Astoria owned by Greek family who also owns another bakery in Athens. Artopolis is located in the niche of little Agora at 31st Street and 23rd Avenue in Astoria. It is the perfect destination for those who are seeking for traditional Greek pastries and contemporary desserts. With its variety of desserts, cookies, breads and other sweets; Artopolis may not only satisfy the tooth of the Greek community but also anybody else that visits this bakery.

Artopolis opened its doors in 2013, Regina Katopolis have been running this business for 15 years now with other co-owners. When they started, all their baked goods were shipped from Greece to the bakery; because of the high demand, they could not keep spending money on shipping. Now they bake all their goods on the house, but Ms. Katopolis and her team are trying to make sure to keep the authenticity and genuinely of their heritage.

Ms. Katopolis is trying to stick with the traditional and simplicity of Greek pastries, which is why she uses recipes from different parts of Greece. Moreover, she is not trying to add any variations or trends into her pastries because she wants to preserve the Greek culture and heritage.