Always room for cake…celebrating mom’s chinese bday!
I eat. I cook. I travel. And I blog about it.
Posts tagged birthday
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Birthday Dinners
Ahh, another year has passed! A little older, and a little wiser (ehh, maybe).
Birthday celebrations started with a bunch of my greatest friends from college. It was a joint birthday dinner celebrating for both me our friend Stephen, as we share February birthdays.
Dinner was at Pio Pio in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. For starters we shared the cebiche and the causa (whipped potato) stuffed with crabmeat. The cebiche looked like a tuna tartar more than the traditional Peruvian cebiches. It tasted a little sweet, but was good and fresh. In addition, the causas were very flavorful and there was quite a bit of crabmeat. 
Pio Pio is known for their Peruvian style roasted chicken. Their Matador Combo could serve 3-4 people. It comes with a whole chicken served with a plate of rice & beans, avocado salad, tostones (crispy fried plantains), and a huge plate of salchipapa (sausage & french fries). The chicken was nicely marinated with Peruvian spices and the meat was tender and juicy. We also shared a huge plate of seafood rice. 
Dessert was a little disappointing, so just skip that if you come here.
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Birthday celebrations continued and this time it was dinner at Fukurou, a small Japanese style izakaya in Greenwich Village, NYC. Supposedly, they have a very nice selection of Japanese sake and beers along with tasty tapas style Japanese dishes.
Fukurou is known for Zuru Teba, their amazingly delicious, fall of the bone, grilled chicken wings. One order comes with 3 pieces. 
We ordered a bunch of other small dishes and shared everything. Food here is good. If you come here strictly for dinner, I recommend you order a rice dish or the omu yakisoba (egg omelet wrapped around stir fried noodles) to fill you up. Here are the other dishes:
Seared Fatty Salmon with Roe
Avocado Tofu
Grilled Black Pork Rib
Fried Baby Mackerels 
Kobashira Tempura Roll
Deep Fried Tofu Simmered Beef
Omu Yakisoba
Grilled Black Pork marinated with Miso
Finally, Mango Pudding Cheesecake
Thank you everyone for all your birthday wishes. It’s been a tasty birthday!!
Pio Pio 8, 604 10th Ave (btw 43rd & 44th Street) Hell’s Kitchen, NYC
Fukurou, 87 McDougal Street (btw Bleeker & W Houston St) Greenwich Village, NYC
6 Notes
Happy 60th Birthday Dad!
We celebrated my dad’s 60th Birthday at Qin Dynasty Seafood Restaurant in Parsippany, NJ. The grown-ups actually had a “banquet meal” like the ones you eat at a Chinese wedding. Unfortunately, the “kids” were not included in the banquet menu which consisted of lobster, shrimp, fish, and a bunch of other good stuff.
The photo here is the kids table. However, I did enjoy everything we ordered off the regular menu: short ribs, fried calamari, clams in black bean sauce, garlic chicken, veggies, and tofu. The food was good and the restaurant is close to home. They also serve dim sum on weekends.
Qin Dynasty, 857 Route 46 East, Parsippany, NJ 07054
Birthday Celebration #3
When I was asked where I wanted to go have my birthday dinner, I only had one place in mind. However, I’m not suppose to tell anyone about this place because my cousin loves it so much, she doesn’t want everyone coming here and making it crowded. So, I won’t mention the name of the place here because I kinda feel the same way (haha) But, I believe I’ve blogged about it before already…Oops! And I think I’ve already told a few friends…Oops again! Oh well.
This place is first and foremost a sake bar (hint); however, they serve really phenomenal and amazing food. We ordered a lot of small dishes and shared everything. I knew I definitely wanted to try their soba noodle again. I loved it so much the first time, I tried re-creating it at home. Of course it was epic fail. On the looks of it, it seemed simple to re-make: cold buckwheat noodles with a little bit of soy sauce and scallions and a dash of wasabi. Nope, I later learned that I was missing the “bonito infused soy sauce” and I just couldn’t recreate the texture of the noodles. Anyway, it blew my mind away the second time as well. So happy! The next dish that I absolutely love is their chilled roasted duck wrapped around a few slivers of scallion with a touch of basil sauce. The flavors are so subtle yet so so good.
For dessert we shared a warm chocolate souffle and a black sesame creme brulee. The waiters came out with a candle on the creme brulee and sang me “Happy Birthday”. Then he took a group picture and printed it out for us to keep. How very nice of him.
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Birthday Celebration #2 with the Fam at Congee Village
Peking Style Pork Chop, House Special Garlic Chicken, Pork Intestines with Pickled Mustard Greens, Cantonese Pork Chow Mein, Soup Dumplings, Dungeness Crab with Garlic & Pepper.
Congee Village, 100 Allen Street, New York, NY 10002
42 Notes
I want this for my birthday!
Fraisier
Fresh strawberries, vanilla biscuit, mousseline with a touch of Grand Marnier
Financier Patisserie, multiple locations….www.financierpastries.com
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