No. 9 Park

It has been two years since our last blog entry!! It is about time to write about our favorite hobby again, which is trying different restaurants to enjoy great food. Thanks to my mom who helped to babysit for one night, my husband and I were able to go out for a nice dinner and some alone time. We were really looking forward to it, since our last date was two years ago. The restaurant that we decided to try was No. 9 Park, one of Barbara Lynch’s establishments. This is a restaurant that we have wanted to try in the past couple of years, and we had to cancel a few times due to various reasons. We are glad that we are finally able to try out this restaurant!

We had to drive for about 45 minutes to get to Park Street in Boston. Since it is hard to finding a parking spot, we opted for valet parking, which costs $16. At least valet parking makes it easy and hassle free. The décor of the restaurant was high-class but rather plain with black and white settings.

There are only two choices to order from, either the Chef’s Tasting menu for 7 courses at $112, or 3 courses prix fixe at $69 per person. My husband and I both chose the 3 courses prix fixe option because it allows us more flexibility to choose the dishes we like. For appetizers, we ordered the famous prune stuffed gnocchi and the foie gras terrine. The prune stuffed gnocchi is surprisingly mild in taste. The gnocchi is very soft and is stuffed with mild prune bits. The prune inside is slightly sweet. The best part of this dish is the seared foie gras pieces on top. The seared foie gras has a really unique taste to it and is slightly gamey yet flavorful. Once you take a bite, it explodes and melts in your mouth. We are happy with this dish, and just wish that they give a bigger portion of the seared foie gras. For our second appetizer, it was the foie gras terrine. The foie gras terrine was rich and heavy. It was served with small slices of toast, which was not crispy enough. This appetizer was just average, since the foie gras terrine was not flavorful enough and tasted like butter.

For entrée, my husband ordered the Duet of Rohan Duck. There are different kinds of cooking technique incorporated in this dish. First of all, there are some medium-rare slices of duck breast that are cooked perfectly. The slices of duck are so tender and juicy, with crispy skin on top of each slice. It is truly one of the best duck we have tasted. The second style is a duck crepe. A thin crepe is stuffed with stir fried duck mixed with veggies. This is rather bland and the flavors are not distinct enough. The third style in this dish is the duck confit. Due to this cooking style, the duck meat is a little rough and dry. They should get rid of the duck crepe and the duck confit, and add more slices of the juicy and tender slices of medium-rare duck breast to this dish!

The entrée that I ordered was the lamb saddle. I was very surprised about how tender and juicy the lamb was. It was even finer than a Rack of Lamb. It was so effortless to chew on the big pieces of lamb. It was served with medjool dates, which adds the perfect sweet taste to the strong flavor of lamb. Besides the wonderfully cooked slices of medium-rare lamb, they also include some crispy belly meat. In my opinion, the crispy belly meat was a little overcooked and too rough to eat.

Desserts were truly the low-lights of the night. I ordered the Chocolate Macaron, which was a huge piece of French macaron. The fillings of the macaron were rather strange, which include a minty flavor and a peanut butter flavor. It was like eating a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. My husband ordered the Chocolate Pain De Genes, which was like a chocolate brownie served with ice-cream. With the class of this restaurant, they really need to hire a better pastry chef. They should replace these two dessert items with soufflé or molten chocolate tart.

Overall, we had a really nice time at this highly rated restaurant. We are satisfied with the appetizers and entrees, but the desserts really fell short. If you love duck or lamb, I would definitely recommend you to try this restaurant.


HOKAT Rating:
91/100

Address:
9 Park Street, Boston MA 02108
617-742-9991
http://www.no9park.com/

Hofbrauhaus (Munich)

After watching an amazing football match of Bayern Munchen versus Vfl Bochum in which Bayern Munchen won 3-1, we went to Hofbrauhaus for dinner. Hofbrauhaus is the most famous beer house in Munich. It is a huge beer house which can hold thousands of people. We arrived at around dinner time, and the beer house is already filled with thousands of people. Throughout dinner, long lines of people kept walking in and out. We sat down in a long table with a bunch of strangers. The beer house is filled with long tables which people have to share. We sat down next to two couples and a few single guys. At the beginning of dinner, we weren’t talking to the people at our table. However, after my husband and I start drinking each of our 1 litre beer, we became chattier and had a nice conversation with a young couple who sat across from us.







Since HB is a beer house, my husband and I each ordered 1 litre Hofbräu beer. He got the dark beer and I got the original beer. It is the biggest beer that I have ever ordered in my life. The glass of beer is so heavy that I had to use both my hands to hold it up. We ordered the old Munich browned “Milz” sausage with home-made potato salad as appetizer. This sausage is round in shape and looks more like a meat pie than a sausage. It is served with some gravy. It has a smooth texture and the taste is quite mild.




For main dishes, we ordered the veal schnitzel with home-made potato salad, and also Bavarian salt pork knuckle. The veal schnitzel is fresh and hot. It is tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. My husband thinks this is the best schnitzel he had in Germany. For me, I prefer the schnitzel at Andechser am Dom which is more thin. As for the salt pork knuckle, it is a nice try. You honestly need to try both the salt pork knuckle and fried pork knuckle when you visit Germany. The pork knuckle is so salty that it is like the meat has been boiled in salt for days. The skin of the pork knuckle is soft and slimy. It is served with fresh horse radish and sauerkraut. I have never had horse radish before, and so I took a big bite which was a big mistake. The horse radish is so spicy and choky which is worse than Japanese wasabi. On the other hand, the sauerkraut is extremely sour. It is truly a unique dish that is good to try for the experience but not for the taste.




Beside the nice beer, there is a live band of 8 people inside of the beer house playing traditional music. The live music and boisterous atmosphere is perfect for those who love to be in a crowd.



HOKAT Rating:
85/100

Address:
Platzl 8, 80331 München
089-221676
http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/

Café Rischart zur Mauth (Munich)

Prior to watching our most anticipated football match between Bayern Munchen and Vfl Bochum, we went to an outdoor café for some brunch. It is a people watching café, as we kept seeing football fans walking by and cheering for their teams. The chairs are quite uncomfortable, because there is a big split down the middle of the chair. I wonder who came up with the design of the chairs.

We ordered a breakfast set with a perfectly cooked egg, ham, cheese, and some pastries. The egg is so perfectly cooked that it is half solid and half liquid on the inside yet the yolk is not runny at all. We also ordered a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice, a chocolate croissant, and a chocolate raspberry cake. The chocolate croissant has a liquid chocolate paste in the center, but I wish it was served warmer. The chocolate raspberry cake has some nuts in it and is not moist enough.






After eating the brunch, we went to the Allianz Arena to watch the football match. It was truly an amazing experience. The atmosphere of watching a live game is awesome. The fans are so passionate and they cheered their hearts out for their team. During the game, the fans cheered, sang songs, and made waves. The outcome of the game was 3-1. In this game, Bayern Munchen practically clinched the league championship of the year since it is mathematically improbable for the second place team to catch them.

HOKAT Rating:
82/100

Address:
Neuhauser Straße 2
231700340
http://www.rischart.de/

Donisl (Munich)

We decided to try another Bavarian restaurant in Munich. When we arrived at Donisl, it was already very packed. We sat down in a large table and five more people wanted to sit down next to us. Thankfully the waiter helped to the large table into two tables so that we can have a table by ourselves.

Once again, we had to order beer, so we got the Hacker Pschorr House beer. For main dishes, both my husband and I ordered their famous fried pork knuckle with a side of mashed potatoes and kartoffelknodel (potato dumpling), one with bones and one without bones. The fried pork knuckle has a very thick and crunchy skin. It is very different than Chinese style fried pork which has a thin and crispy skin. The meat itself is a little too rough for my taste and not juicy enough. I don’t understand why Germans like to eat pork knuckle at all. It has high calories and not that great in taste in my opinion. The mashed potatoes are chunky and sour in taste. It matches pretty well with the heavy taste of the fried pork knuckle. The potato dumpling has a very interesting texture. It is sticky and chewy, but does not have much taste in it.




For dessert, we tried the birnenstrudel mit vanilleeis und sahne, which is pear strudel with
Vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The pear strudel is a little too dry and not very sweet.



Overall, it was an interesting experience to try the fried pork knuckle, but was it good? Not really.

HOKAT Rating:
70/100

Address:
Weinstrasse 1 - D-80333 München
089-220184/85
http://www.bayerischer-donisl.de/

Konig Ludwig (Fussen)

On our second day in Germany, we went on a side trip to the city of Fussen. The main purpose of travelling to Fussen is to visit the world famous swan castle Neuschwanstein. It is known as the most beautiful castle in the world. After visiting Neuschwanstein, we went to a local restaurant for lunch. The restaurant is very close to the ticket office and is opposite of the old swan castle Hohenschwangau.



We sat down in one of the outside tables. The service is very slow since there is only one waiter. Even though it’s lunch time, to keep the German tradition, we ordered a half litre Konig Ludwig Hell beer to share. The beer is too bitter for my taste.

For lunch dishes, we ordered pork loins with Spätzle and schnitzel with fries. Spätzle is a type of egg noodle of soft texture. It does not really have a taste to it and makes me feel like eating processed flour. There are some pieces of pork loins that have not been cooked through and still a little bloody. It is quite disgusting to be eating raw pork. It is served with a rich gravy sauce. I prefer the sauce rather than the pork itself. The schnitzel is better, but is not impressive at all. It is slightly burned on the outside and the meat is too rough. The best item in the whole meal may have been the fries.

HOKAT Rating:
63/100

Andechser am Dom (Munich)

After spending a day in London, we continued our flight onto Munich. Munich is such a lovely city to visit. Comparing to Berlin, it is much more of a European tourist site with old buildings and beer houses everywhere. When we arrived in Munich, it was almost dinner time. After visiting the Theatinerkirche (church with a bright yellow exterior), we went to Andechser am Dom for dinner. This is an extremely busy restaurant, so people need to share tables. This is a very spacey restaurant with wooden tables and chairs. They also have fresco ceilings with beautiful paintings.



We sat down in the corner of a long table, and the waitress immediately gave us the menus and a basket of pretzels. The waitresses are all dressed in traditional Germany “beer girl” clothing. Since Germany is well known for beer, my husband and I ordered half a litre of Andechs beer to share. The beer is very smooth with a slight sweet taste to it. It turns out to be my favorite beer in the whole trip. We tried one of the pretzels and put some spicy mustard sauce on it, but the pretzel is not that fresh and is a little hard.



For main course, I ordered the Veal Schnitzel. It is fried veal in a light beer batter. The schnitzel is thin and extremely crispy. It is served fresh and hot, with a side of mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes are very different than what is served in the United States. It is chunkier and has a sour taste to it. My husband ordered the meat lover plate. It has a generous piece of softly boiled ham, two little sausages, a small piece of meat loaf, mashed potatoes, sour kraut, and some vegetables. The best thing on this plate is the piece of softly boiled ham. The ham is soft and bouncy. Overall it is a very meaty dish and the taste is above average. However, I definitely enjoyed the Schnitzel much more.




HOKAT Rating:
88/100

Address:
Weinstraße 7a, 80333 München
089-29-84-81
http://www.andechser-am-dom.de/

The Cinnamon Club (London)

It’s time to write some articles about the restaurants that we visited during our Germany trip this spring. We spent a total of 10 days in Europe, and we spent half a day in London during transit. When we arrived in London, it was around 7am in the morning. We researched a place that serves breakfast near the famous Westminster Abbey. When we went to London in 2005, we did not go inside the Westminster Abbey because of a long line of people, and so we want to have a second chance to visit it. However, the funny thing is that we once again decided not to enter into the church because of the steep admission price.

The Cinnamon Club is located inside of the Old Westminster Library. The building used to be a library, and the owners kept the décor as such. In of the dining room, there are bookshelves and simple paintings. They use simple white linen on the tables, matched with heavy black chairs. After a 6 hour flight, we were pretty tired and so we took our time to enjoy some English breakfast.





We were started off with some bread with butter and strawberry jam. The jam is pretty rich and sweet in flavor.



For my breakfast, I have a plate of assorted fruits and a plate of assorted pastries with ham and cheese. The pastries are quite cold and would be much tastier if served warm. The cheese is a little too hard for my taste. My husband ordered a Full English Breakfast, which is served with two sunny side up eggs, a baked tomato, a piece of bacon, mushroom, and some sausages. It is a good nutritious breakfast but there is nothing special about the taste of the food.





Overall, the food is nothing spectacular. However, it is a famous breakfast place because of the environment. We felt really comfortable sitting down and enjoying some breakfast after a long flight.

HOKAT Rating:
76/100

Address:
30-32 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU
020-7222-2555
http://www.cinnamonclub.com/html/default.aspx

Gyu-kaku (NYC)

For lunch, we went to Gyu-kaku in East Village for some Japanese BBQ. Their lunch prices are much more reasonable than dinner prices. We ordered two lunch sets, one is the U.S. Kobe Beef set and the other is the Meat Lover set.




The U.S. Kobe Beef set consists of U.S. Kobe Harami Skirt Steak marinated in miso sauce and also U.S. Kobe Chuck Rib marinated in tare sauce.



The Meat Lover set includes Chuck Kalbi marinated in tare sauce and Yakishabu beef.



The U.S. Kobe Beef is pretty tender. The best slices are the ones with more fat in it. The beef served during lunch is not as good as the ones served during dinner. The last time when we went to Gyu-kaku in Midtown for dinner, the beef was more tender and soft with more fat in it.



HOKAT Rating:
88/100

Address:
34 Cooper Square, New York NY 10003
212-475-2989
http://www.gyu-kaku.com/

Adour Alain Ducasse (NYC)

To conclude our Memorial Weekend NYC road trip, we went to Adour Alain Ducasse for dinner before driving back home. After a superb dinner at a Joel Robuchon restaurant, we wanted to give Alain Ducasse a try to see which is better.

The dining room is pretty formal and high class, with wine shelves everywhere. We were given some small puffs to start off our dinner. It kinda tastes like a soft version of Goldfish crackers. The most expensive item on the menu is caviar, which costs $600.

My husband ordered the Chef’s Tasting Menu while I just ordered a main dish and a dessert. The tasting menu starts off with a sake sorbet with sea urchin cream and caviar. The sake sorbet is very refreshing. The creaminess of the sea urchin matches very well with the caviar. However, this starter is way too tiny, one bite and it’s gone.

The second dish is king crab served with a curry sauce. The king crab is very bouncy and fresh. The texture is similar to lobster meat. The curry sauce adds an oriental feel to this dish.

The third dish is a olive oil poached chatham bay cod in a creamy fish chowder. The appearance of the dish doesn’t look that good, however, after the first bite, we were so pleasantly surprised. The fish is extremely soft and tender. The creamy fish soup provides a nice balance to the mild flavor of the fish.

The fourth dish is seared foie gras with escalor. The escalor is a kind of fish that tastes like white tuna. It has a very strong fishy taste to it. The foie gras is very soft and tender, however, the outside is not crispy enough.

The main dish of the tasting menu is a beef soup. The beef soup has such a strong flavor that it is very overpowering. After eating one or two bites, it’s enough and you do not want more of it. This is the worst dish of the night.

My main dish is the Roasted Rack of Elysian Fields Lamb. This dish was served without the rack. The lamb is extremely tender and moist. It is cooked medium and most of the juices are kept inside.

There are two desserts in the tasting menu. One is a lemon tart with light cream and meringue. It is slightly sour and is very refreshing. The other dessert is chocolate raspberry tart with cream and golden leaves. The slight sour taste of raspberry matches very well with the sweet taste of chocolate.

The dessert that I ordered is the Pistaccio Soufflé. I am not sure whether Pistaccio is a suitable flavor for soufflé because it is too strong and too nutty flavored. After each bite, it was like I ate a few pistaccios. The soufflé is baked nicely, with the inside very soft and moist.

Besides the above desserts, the waiter also brought us a complimentary plate of French macaroons. The macaroons are soft and rich, some are chocolate flavored and some are coconut flavored.

Having tried both Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse, we can answer the question of which one is better. Alain Ducasse serves better fish dishes. However, foie gras and soufflé goes to Joel Robuchon and hence the higher overall rating.

HOKAT Rating:
93/100

Address:
2 East 55th Street, New York NY
212-710-2277
http://www.adour-stregis.com/