Month: March, 2007

Vegan dinner

Friday, March 2nd, 2007 | All Things, Eats, Friends

After the success of SYB’s orange-themed dinner party, yellow was the next color on the menu.

SYB prepared dishes inspired by his birthday cookbook: a chickpea pasta and a mushroom ragout. (I contributed a yellow pinot gris.) For perhaps the first time, vegan friends JL and TS were able to sample almost everything on the menu.

Chickpea shells

Mushroom stew

The assembled group settled in to marvel at Fox’s latest offering, “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?,” which the network touts as “The Most Embarrassing Game Show on the Planet.” The show challenges one adult contestant to answer questions based on content from the first through fifth grade curricula. He or she chooses from a crop of eager, bright-eyed actual fifth graders to assist. There are three, one-use only “cheats”: “Peek” (contestant can look at the fifth grader’s answer, but does not have to accept it), “Copy” (contestant must take the child’s answer) and “Save” (if the contestant gets the answer wrong and the child gets it right, the adult stays in the game.) The prize amount increases with every correct answer, up to one million dollars — for the adult only, presumably.

Some cringe-worthy displays and yet… we couldn’t turn away. Clearly, we weren’t alone in our fascination: Nielsen Media Research reported that with 26.5 million viewers, “Fifth Grader” was the most-watched series debut in Fox network history.

I’m happy to report that those gathered in Sunnyside that night are, in fact, smarter than fifth graders. But maybe not as mature.

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Next stop: Hong Kong Station

Thursday, March 1st, 2007 | All Things, Eats

After several Thursdays of hitting old Chinatown favorites, we decided to try out someplace new. Hong Kong Station on Hester, east of Bowery, opened in 2006, and was so popular that the owners opened a second location on Bayard.

Hong Kong Station

The space – bright and slick by Chinatown standards – is meant to evoke a space inside the Hong Kong mass transit system, and at lunchtime, there is a vibe of a transportation hub, where diners with trays move in and out, and along swift-moving lines before black polo-shirt-clad servers.

The build-your-own noodle shop offers something for everyone: a choice of nine noodles (fresh, dried, egg, rice) in rich chicken broth, and an array of toppings at a dollar apiece. At that price, experimentation is worth the gamble. Which, at times, is what it feels like; while there are signs posted around the perimeter listing the add-on offerings, there is no way to match most of the names with the ingredient compartments behind the counter, which makes for some dicey decision-making. The colorful poster on an adjacent wall provides some guidance, as will the servers, if you are genuinely lost. Best to just point at whatever catches your fancy.

Hong Kong Station

Hong Kong Station Menu

Hong Kong Station

There’s the usual and familiar (roast pork, chinese broccoli, tofu, shiitake mushrooms) and the less so (pig’s blood, fish cakes, tripe, chicken gizzards), but with such rapid turnover, it’s all guaranteed to be pretty fresh. Also the balls: beef, fish, squid, lobster… I opted for the gai lan and the curry fish balls, and after some consideration, added on what looked like pork wrapped in tofu skin. At the end of the line, the servers stirred in one of a few varieties of sauces, a dusting of chopped scallions, and I was done. Total time elapsed: 2 minutes. Total spent: $4.00.

We took our bowls, cafeteria-style, to a table beneath walls lined with framed vintage photos of Hong Kong. Perfectly firm noodles, and the curry balls and chile sauce added a nice layer of heat and spice to the steaming bowl. What a delightful discovery! With so many options, and possible combinations, I’ll happily revisit this menu several more times.

Curry Fish Ball Noodles

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