A quick weekend in New York

Doesn’t look anything like the picture on the cart – but it was yummy nonetheless

I was recently in New York for work, and I was lucky enough to squeeze a weekend of eating and drinking in that fabulous city.

I ate the whole gamut of food – from pizzas and hot dogs from street vendors and at a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, to  black miso cod at the divine Nobu, with Pastis and Balthazars in between. I was in heaven.

Fresh Fluke sashimi with dried miso

My first meal was at Balthazar where I was reacquainted with exceptional service – having lived in Asia for the last five years, it’s apparent that my standards have been lowered…attentive but never intrusive, our waitress knew what we wanted before we did. Awesome. And it didn’t hurt that the food there was delicious as well. It was far too dim to even bother taking photos but their chicken liver and foie gras mousse (which I have to say it did look a little scarily on the red side) and their lobster with black truffle risotto that I had were both super smooth and rich, and utterly delicious.

One of Nobu’s signature dishes – black miso cod

Nobu was my next dinner. Marrying his training in Tokyo with influences from his time spent in Peru, the chef served up yellowtail sashimi with jalapenos, fluke sashimi with dried miso, rock shrimp tempura and black miso cod, all of which were the ultimate in Japanese cuisine – using only the best produce with a perfect balance of flavours and textures.

French onion soup at Pastis

Pastis was my last lunch before I had to head to the airport. The brasserie is full with people squeezed into tables so close together they may as well join in your conversation, but once you settle in, it all becomes a nice buzzy blur and you can just enjoy your food with your friends. I had a random meal there starting with French onion soup and followed by pancakes. Don’t know really why, it’s just two dishes on the menu that I felt like that day (it might have been a left over from a few too many champagnes at Beauty and Essex bar in the Lower East Side the night before !). It all worked to close off a very busy week in the Big Apple.  Love it.