after our last excursion into trying a new place in chinatown, we went back to one of our oldest favorite spots for some surefire decent meal - great ny noodletown! for the first time (after eating at this place for 9 years), we tried their mapo (mabo) tofu. it was so delicious, with pickled vegetables, and different from our usual mabo tofu dishes at japanese restaurants. then we got our usual yuchoy with oyster sauce and a bowl of congee - this time, with roast pork, it was so good!!!

we got some basics at café 232 today - bibimbap with spicy pork (that was our first time) and soon dubu jigae. the tofu was so satisfying with delicious broth and all the namul (veggies) in the bibimbap was somehow so perfect for my palate at the time. so so yummy.

 late night modified shin ramyun noodles at home - i didn't use all the salty broth powder,
but used kelp/anchovy/dried mushroom broth then half the packet, then some kimchi juice(?).
i even put my favorite mochi but somehow it was too much for me. the soup felt very soothing to eat.
so much better than the straight-out-of-the-packet flavor.

yay mike's diner! steak & eggs over easy with side of grits, and scrambled eggs, bacon and grits. 

breakfast is awesome (even at 4pm)!!!

we hadn't been back to sakura tokyo, our usual janky japanese spot, in some time, so we decided this windy cold day was a good day to go - m got his usual teriyaki chicken bento and i got a salmon teriyaki. teriyaki sauce is a bit too sweet for my taste but when i dipped the chicken or salmon into the wasabi soy sauce i'd poured out for the california rolls, it was actually quite perfect!!

a very satisfying meal.

we had an appointment/errand in the city, and afterwards we were set on eating in chinatown - instead of our usual places we picked new kien tuong (might not be the right name, just got it off google), a place we have frequently passed by but had never tried. realizing there was still lunch specials going on at $5.50, we ordered 3 dishes - squid with pickled vegetables, general tso's chicken, and chinese greens in garlic sauce. they were supposed to come with rice & soup of choice, but oddly we weren't even asked about soup. (later, when we inquired, they brought us strange broth). scam!!!

the food was decent, greens were very good, but we probably will stick to our usual favorite places. they're our favorites for a reason.

there are huge bowls of slaws m made yesterday in our fridge - one bowl with fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha flavoring and the other with mustard, apple cider vinegar, salt, etc... all including our CSA winter haul - beets, turnips, cabbage, carrots and some trader joe's brussels sprouts.

AND on top of this, he'd made a batch of mashed potatoes (the corn/pea/carrot chunks were added after - not made with the mashed potatoes) and tonight, we ate them all together on a plate. m got some meatballs and i got some turkey breast and pastrami to eat with the slaws & taters.

another warm hearty meal at castro's - chicken in chipotle sauce and goat meat (!!) burrito.

both excellent and satisfying!

i haven't been craving much of any food lately, but today i had a hankering for dukboki & oden (fish cake soup), a classic pairing of korean street foods - in fact, in korea, when you buy dukboki on the street, they will give you a free cup of (yes, a cup) this soup broth to wash down the heat.

so i decided to make some simple oden & dukboki with my fridge ingredients, since i had some mochi(duk) and fish cakes on hand. the broth is a simple kombu & anchovies, to which i later added some radish (more like turnips from CSA) and dried mushrooms, and soy sauce for flavor. 

dukboki is my usual go-to dish, and it was a perfect pairing on a super cold night (1ºF). comfort food is really comforting!

delicious meal at menkuitei - m got a shoyu (tokyo) ramen and i got a mabo don, our favorites there.

then to end the yummy, savory meal, we got a zenzai for dessert - we hadn't gotten a japanese zenzai (we've eaten the korean version, patjuk before elsewhere) probably since living in california, and it was really delicious - with a huge chunky grilled mochi to balance out the flavors, making the adzuki beans taste a bit roastier/nuttier than usual. perfect way to end the meal. ♥

we decided to have a low key valentine's dinner with some korean food that we normally don't get at café 232 - i was craving some miyeok-guk (sea kelp soup - that black mass at the bottom) so we got a small bowl to share, then a large hot steaming platter of Andong Jimdak (soy sauce braised chicken with veggies), which i'd only heard of but never had. it was a----mazing. a tad sweet, if i had to pick a flaw, but with mochi sticks, sweet potato slices and other veggies along with perfectly cooked chicken, it was so so delicious and we savored every bite of it. as it turns out, miyeok guk was a good order to balance out the flavor of the huge stew.

mmm hanco's - we were running errands around this part of town (trader joe's!) so we decided to stop by for a rare treat. we'd been going to nicky's a couple blocks up since they have pho, even thought banh mi's are wayyyy better here at hanco's. but our last experience with nicky's pho was pretty bad (the broth tasted like water, so disappointing that i didn't even get around to photograph it). we're never disappointed with the banh mi's here at hanco's - got a grilled pork banh mi (so good) and the classic. we got their summer rolls too, which had great fragrance thanks to all the herbs.

despite the drooly appearance, this black bean chili m made was so delicious!
especially with some cheese. yum yum.

cooked a proper(ish) korean meal for lunch for m who was really craving denjang jigae - so i made some with spinach, then as banchan (we didn't have any on hand except kimchi), i made kimchi & egg pancake (morel like an omelette), kale namul, and some seasoned seaweed salad.

with freshly cooked black rice, these were so healthy tasting and satisfying!

we walked through the snow fluffily piled up everywhere from the blizzard overnight to get some warm lunch at castro's - i ordered a new dish, chicken in chipotle sauce & m got a steak burrito.

they were both excellent - and the chicken dish in that sauce was much easier to eat the whole plate of, as opposed to a richer tasting molé poblano, though i won't deny its deliciousness nonetheless.

another meal at cafe 232 - cod fish maeuntang and ojinguh bokum, both deliciously spicy and satisfying for a cold winter night.

burger & sandwich at choice market - sitting in there isn't that much fun, but it wasn't too busy today and we decided to stay there to finish our food. m got a beef burger that comes with fries, and i got the roast salmon sandwich (with mango chutney!) very clean sandwich for me, and apparently a whole lotta beefiness for the burger.

diner breakfast for lunch, yes. at mike's diner. mmmm bacon.