LumLum is a fairly new Thai restaurant to the city. What attracted me was that it has a lot of Northern Thai flavors and influences in the food. Think Thai but modernized somewhat. When you see some of the photos below, you will see what that means. The restaurant is run by 2 sisters who grew up in Thailand. When you arrive, both the interior and exterior are very social media friendly. We arrived at around 5:10 on a Friday evening after work, and were able to walk in with just a party of 2. When we finished around 6:00, there was a wait outside already.

Per Se is Thomas Keller’s acclaimed interpretation of the French Laundry restaurant in New York City and has 3 Michelin Stars. I don’t think it’s a replacement for the French Laundry, but it might be indicative of what to expect if we did ever go to Napa Valley to try it out. This restaurant is located in Columbus Circle at the top floor inside the mall. When we walked in, we were astounded by the huge ceiling and the vast feeling of space.

Nearby, we had gotten free tickets to the Intrepid museum which sat on the water along 46th. The museum closed at 5 PM sharp, and we picked this restaurant since it was not too far of a walk. This had been on my list for a few years already, but we’re rarely in the Hell’s Kitchen area. What’s nice about Hell’s Kitchen restaurants is that the restaurant prices are not usually that expensive and the food is pretty good.

Summary

Pio Pio actually has several stores in the greater New York City. This one is number 8 and is located in Manhattan a few blocks north of Hudson Yards. Remember that the COVID protocols are still applicable. When we walked in, we were seated in an alcove to the left before the stairs that led down to a larger open space dining room. This alcove was pretty nice and it seemed to be catered for parties of 2. The lights were dimmer here for more intimacy.

Summary

A friend was in town, and I saw that Tim Ho was near their hotel. This place was always on my list to try given that it had received Michelin recognition at its Hong Kong location. Given I’ve eaten at numerous dim sum places already, they tout themselves as the dim sum specialists, so I already have high expectations.

I don’t remember the drink on the left, but the right was some type of mango cococnut slush. It was pretty good as it wasn’t too sweet.

Summary

For this special outing, Yakitori Torishin has been on my list ever since I moved to New York City. I finally had a chance to try this for the girlfriend’s birthday.

We wanted the regular yakitori experience as opposed to the select counter experience. The reason is that I just couldn’t imagine the value from yakitori at literally double the cost of a regular omakase. They brought us into the back room, and we were still seated in front of the chefs.

Summary

A friend was in town around the Hudson Yards area, and we wanted to look for something around the area. The menu here looked pretty decent, and it was on my bookmarks for quite a while.

The bread came with some type of tomato olive oil medley. It reminded me of bruschetta toppings but more akin to diced tomatoes out of a jar. The sauce itself was alright.

Summary

This place is known for the dessert chef featured on Cake Boss. To be quite honest, I’ve never watched it, so I don’t know what to expect.

We got chocolate cannoli, plain cannoli, some red velvet cake thing, and lobster tail. To be honest, the lobster tail was actually quite good and was my favorite of everything. The lobster tail’s pastry thin crust was flaky but not brittle. It tasted like a delicate thin but sturdy crust of a pastel I had at Aldea. The filling was good and not too sweet. The cannolis, to be honest, I could do without. They were actually quite sweet, so I don’t really recommend that as much as the lobster tail if you had to pick one. Lastly, the red velvet cake looking thing was not very good. There wasn’t much cake in it. And if there was, it was blended with all the cream inside.

Summary

This place is located near 42nd Street and 9 ave in the POD hotel. The restaurant decor is kind of interesting as it does give out a tropical-ish vibe to it. There is an outdoor area that has a lot of those basket woven seats with a cushion on them. From where we sat outdoors, we can see views of the H&M building and the Empire State Building in plain sight.

Summary

We stopped by for lunch for David Chang’s newest Momofuku restaurant and is located in the mall across the street from The Vessel. It’s on the 5th floor near the Bouchon Bakery. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too filled, but then again it’s terribly hot and humid outside.

The trading card cocktail consists of plantation pineapple, cruzan blackstrap, smith & cross rums, trader vic’s macadamia liqueur, curry, and yogurt. I did not like this at all as it was very sweet.