Posts tagged ramen and friends

Cheburechnaya’s Lamb Testicles, Heart and Fried Beef Brains

Yoshie’s Ramen and Friends adventure took us to Cheburechnaya (Kosher Russian) in Rego Park, Queens. This is where we ate Lamb Testicles, Heart and Fried Beef Brains…

It was pretty confusing ordering these. I couldn’t tell how many came in an order. We almost got five orders of Testicles, which would have been 25 balls. That would have been too way many balls. We just got one.

They had other stuff too …like this huge bowl shaped bread, called Noni Toki. It was almost like matzoh. Their Uzbeki style bread was good for the Hummus and Babaganoush.

They served many different types of Chebureki and Samcy patties. We had the ones with pumpkin and ribs. There were real ribs with bones. I liked those a lot.

I recommend the Whole Grilled Chicken. That was really good for sounding so tame (unlike the testicles). I would have been interested in the Lamb Fat and Veal Sweetbread Shish Kebabs if we were to order more.

Really cool restaurant. I enjoyed pretty much everything, even the balls. They even played Sade via Youtube on the TVs the whole night.

Cheburechnaya – 9209 63rd Dr. Rego Park, NY 11374
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Himalayan Yak Restaurant

This Ramen and Friends adventure took us to Himalayan Yak in Jackson Heights, Queens. Got to taste a bunch of things. I liked the Sha Bhaley meat patties and their hot sauces. Different hot sauces that I don’t know how to describe, but they were different and all hot. And the goat Sha Momo Dumplings were right on.

The group seemed to think it was hilarious that the Himalayan Exotic section of the menu had American Cheese in the dishes. I got the Ema-Datsi (The fiery Bhutanese national dish!!! Long green chilly in a american cheese sauce served with rice). It was sure spicy. I had to stuff my mouth with their breads to cool me down.

Himalayan Yak – 72-20 Roosevelt Ave. Jackson Heights, NY 11372

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Elza Fancy Food in Brighton Beach

A Ramen and Friends adventure all the way down in Brighton Beach. That train ride was tough on a hangover. But it’s pretty cool walking out into a totally different neighborhood –big Russian community. The restaurant we were going to, Elza Fancy Food, is Uzbek – Korean. The menu looked like part Korean and part Russian. But I did recognize that Uzbek style bread.

The Borscht was great when sour cream broke up in it. The beef was tender.

The Plov looked like Beef Fried Rice, but it was better that what I expected. It was surprisingly great. I only ate about half of it. So stuffed from eating everyone else’s food and the side dishes that came out.

The Apple Compot drink was nice. And the 99cent beer we got from the bodega nearby was the perfect cure to my hangover.

Elza Fancy Food - 3071 Brighton 4th St (btwn Oceanview Ave & Brighton Beach Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11235
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Uncle Zhou Restaurant

A Ramen and Friends adventure at Uncle Zhou in Elmhurst, Queens. My favorites were the Triple Delight Dumplings, Big Tray of Chicken and Pancake sandwich. I really needed to wipe my mouth with the pancake bread after the Spicy Crispy Rabbit. The Sichuan Peppercorns in there knocked out my tongue all numb. It was an interesting sensation that I curiously kept coming back to try …but really difficult to eat.

I think I paid around $11 at the end of the check split. Really cheap for all I ate.

Uncle Zhou - 83-29 Broadway Elmhurts NY
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Nom Wah Tea Parlor – Dim Sum Dinner

Yoshie’s Ramen and Friends took this outing to Nom Wah Tea Parlor (claims to be the oldest dim sum parlor in NY). Renovated earlier this year and now under the management of the family’s younger generation.

When I used to pass by this place years ago, I could never tell if they were opened. The doors would be wide open, but the lights off and Chinese newspapers laid out as if they were under construction. I love Robyn Lee’s pre-renovation account of Nom Wah. I like how the waiter/chef didn’t take their order, but just made food based on the number of people. Sounds like I would’ve love this place.

Now they have a menu to order ala carte and not from a cart (like a lot of dim sum places). Prices might be a little more than those other places, but this dim sum is available at night and cooked individually to order. I really like the Turnip Cake with XO Sauce …different than just regular Turnip Cakes. Also a good Steamed Pork Bun, Spareribs and Fried Soft Shell Crab.

I’ve been on a particular diet this past week (which I’ll write about soon) and this was on the one mandatory binge eating day per week to spike my caloric intake. I tried to eat and drink as much as I could. It was tough. I had to force myself to eat ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory afterwards. I know, poor me. Well I don’t know if I ate enough this day, because I haven’t lost any weight since.

Nom Wah Tea Parlor – 13 Doyers St (btwn Bowery & Chatham Sq) NYC 10013
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory – 65 Bayard St (btwn Elizabeth & Mott) NYC 10013
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Tangra Masala – Indian Style Chinese Cuisine

This Ramen and Friends outing took us to Tangra Masala in Elmhurst, Queens for Indian Style Chinese, which I guess is the style of Chinese food served in India. The serving staff was Indian. I wonder if there were Chinese in the back cooking. Or Indian-born Chinese? I’m confused.

The menu is a hybrid of Chinese food with Indian flavors. It tasted really good and spicy. My favorites were the Lollypop Chicken appetizers with the chipotle-mayo style dipping sauce, Tangra Masala Goat and Fish with Chili Sauce. A lot of the dishes ask if you want it wet (sauce) or dry. The consensus was that dry was the way to go. More flavorful and not drowned in gravy.

Tangra Masala was filling and made me sweat. Downside is that there is no alcohol and you can’t bring it in. Dang. Just trying to get my Tangra Masala on.

Check out Ramen and Friends and Kika Eats‘ review.

Tangra Masala – 8709 Grand Ave. Queens, NY 11373

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Noodle Village

Yes! Yoshie set up a Chinese New Year dinner for Ramen and Friends. I think I was the only Chinese person, so I had to represent. I really wanted try some interesting stuff like the Pig liver, kidneys and stomach over noodles. No one really wanted to help me try. So I just got the Beef Brisket and Tendons Lo Mein. Really good tender beef chunks, but I didn’t see any tendons. Maybe a turnip. But I do believe the beef was cut next to the tendons and stomach.

I did manage to talk Trish into getting the Pig Hocks over noodles. She walked in late and didn’t know what it was. I didn’t really tell her.

Overall a good cheap meal. I liked the soup dumplings.

At the end, Richard asks me if I want to go meet sixty single Jewish ladies right now. So I jumped in a cab with him and ended up at this speed dating event –Date My Jewish Friend. Wow, I didn’t know was going on, but I thought I was really awesome. Two and half years of studying pickup really prepped me at yelling at 60 girls in a loud bar for 3 minutes each.

At one point, I went to the bathroom and overheard two girls laughing that all the guys were total douche bags. I was wondering if they were talking about me. When I came back, I found out that they were our next table and I was drinking the tequila that the guys in front of us tried to buy them. I really thought someone handed me a free drink. I wonder if that counts as a neg.

Noodle Village – 13 Mott St (Btwn Bowery & Bayard St) New York, NY 10013

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Ayada Thai’s Basil Frog Legs are Yummy

Yoshie got us to go to Woodside/Elmhurst for this Ramen and Friends dinner to try Ayada Thai. There’s a lot of comparisons of this place to Sripraphai in the Yelp universe. This place was pretty empty though.

Rich and I shared the Basil Frog Leg and one of the whole fishes. The Basil Frog Leg was really good. A lot of spices in that sauce. You probably could put any meat or nothing and I’d still be happy. It’s more about the sauce. As for our fish, there seemed to be some confusion and they ended up bringing us the Kang Som Sour Curry soup with omelet. There was a photo of it on the wall in a press clipping, so I’m assuming it’s one of the better dishes. It had an interesting sour taste, but I’m thinking I would’ve liked the fish we ordered better.

Margaret and Adam ordered the best. Chinese Broccoli with Crispy Pork and Sautéed Sa-Tor Bean with Ground Chicken were the tastiest of the bunch. However they think those beans made their pee smell like skunk. Yoshie’s pink seafood soup was pink and tangy. She didn’t say anything about her pee.

I enjoyed this meal more than the time we went to Sripraphai. Maybe it’s because my expectations were too high that time.

Ayada Thai – 77-08 Woodside Ave. Queens, NY 11373
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