eG Foodblog: Megan Blocker - Trading Pumas for Uggs

[Megan Blocker]

And how could I forget one of the cooler pics from last night? Daniel took this of the two of us (the two on the left...) reflected in the pans on the wall at Room4Dessert...

ETA: Let me just state, for the record, what an excellent time we had last night! The night went from totally civilized to completely crazy when Daniel's friends showed up at Room 4 Dessert, which was kind of a neat twist...much more exciting than just going to dinner.

Other fun things that happened...while we were waiting for our table at Degustation, another two people were waiting for theirs. One of those two people turned out to be someone I went to high school with in New Hampshire, who I haven't seen for 10 years. CRAZY! Such a fun, New York night.

Edited February 17, 2007 by Megan Blocker (log)

[Pan]

Megan, do you know whether Room4Dessert makes its own cocoa crispies, crackerjack, and nutella or uses commercial brands thereof?

[Rebecca263]

Megan, you had some cucumber!

Thank you for taking us with you this week. Thanks for eating so much for us! You're always the best of guides; following you around is such fun! Have a great trip, and be well.

[Susan in FL]

Yay cucumber, Megan!

This is an incredibly good blog, Megan... one that I've been looking forward to for a long time! It's dream food.

[little ms foodie]

Megan you've done another great blog- thank you!

[lucylou95816]

Megan, your's will be a tough act to follow.. thanks for showing us some wonderful place in NYC.

[SuzySushi]

Megan, thank you so much for blogging! This is certainly a different view of the NYC food scene than what I had when I last lived there (16 years ago) or visited there (6 years ago). Wow!

[Megan Blocker]

Thanks, guys! I'm glad you've enjoyed it...next time may be cooking only...I'm exhausted!

Lunch today was something else...I met up with Emma (luckylies), Phil (eatmywords), Nathan (um, nathan), Phil's girlfriend Michelle, Larry (larrylee), and his wife, Yumi at New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe on Bayard Street in Chinatown.

Chinatown is always busy, particularly on the weekends, but with the New Year starting tomorrow, things were even more crowded than usual. Walking east on Canal Street was a bit of a nightmarish obstacle course - though, obvs. totally worth it.

Nathan was a bit late, so the rest of us ordered some appetizers to get the blood flowing - TsingTao was the beverage of choice, along with some water, Diet Coke and tea.

First up, soup dumplings...juicy and rich, one order of crab and one order of pork...

Second, some spicy oxtail and tripe, alongside some scallion pancakes, piping hot from the fryer.

The oxtail was really good...spicy and meaty, served cold.

Next, because, after all, this IS the year of the pig we're celebrating here, we had some fried pork dumplings...

Served with black vinegar and ginger sauce, these were rich and hot, and the wrappers were tender and not too chewy - very good dumplings.

In between the two courses, we did these...eight jewels (God forgive me, I don't remember everything in there, but there was chicken, bean curd, peppers, peanuts...) and some excellent spicy cabbage, served cold. Just this side of fermentation, it had an excellent fizzy bite to it.

Finally, the mains! We got one noodle dish, pan-fried noodles with beef, shrimp, pork and vegetables. Good, but nothing out of this world.

We also ordered these teeny tiny eels with scallions...I liked this dish, but I wasn't in love...maybe it was a texture thing - the sauce made the whole thing just slippery.

Finally, the tamp po pork - pork belly in a five-spice sauce, with baby bok choy and served with steamed buns. Soooo good and rich, though I've definitely hit my slow-roasted, falling-apart pork limit.

I think we did a pretty good job, don't you?

(P.S. - Emma REALLY likes soup dumplings...)

[Pan]

Megan, the eel dish that I really like at Yeah is from the specialties menu. The waiter puts boiling sesame oil into just before it's served, and it comes with Chinese chives. I'm sorry I wasn't there because I would have suggested some other mains, but it seems to me you did pretty well. Yeah's cold dishes are generally very good. Your picks were good, but since you've had them, try the beef tendon, the kao fu (whatever they're calling it now), and the seaweed next time. I love that look of delectation on Emma's face!

[weinoo]

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mmmmmmmm...Purell!! A true NYC experience.

[insomniac]

you mean the week's up already

thanks so much Megan, LOVE NY......

p.s. has anyone mentioned that in your avatar you look like Kim Cattrell's sister??