What crazy business are my dear friends, Shann and Steph up to?? Read on! :)
The other weekend Shann and I had a big long party when Steph, Kelly and Chrissy all came to visit for a few nights! It was sooooo much fun!
Sorry, those first two sentences sound like they came out of a teenybopper's diary. And I'm already a ripe old 21! Ok. Let's get serious. Steph arrived from Cornell late Friday afternoon and dropped off her stuff at our apartment. (Kelly and Chrissy got in on Saturday). How we managed to fit all three of them comfortably in our little cubby-hole is beyond me! Well she unpacked, and we gave hugs, like omigod-it's-been-forever, even though I we saw each other back home in June and speak together on the phone at least three times a week. Everyone who knows Steph can attest to the fact that she's super duper fun, so the next few posts will be super awesome.
After we were content with catching up on one another's non-existent love life and love for expensive things we cannot afford, the three of us headed to Kenka on St Marks for dinner. Shann's been here before, I was curious about the cotton candy surprise (will elaborate later), and Steph just wanted to eat somewhere fun...so here we were!
We each folded little chopstick holders - and they're all different! :)
Food here is cheap. Which is good (because I've get to receive my very first real life paycheck!) Food here is also greasy. Which is good if you are drunk. And we were no where, and did not intend to be anywhere, close to drunk.
Steph and I both ordered the yaki-udon, which was strangely bland, like soooo bland that we had to use perhaps a bit too much shoyu to bring it to life. The best part was the super fatty slices of pork hidden right beneath the mountain of bonito flakes. I thought about separating the pork meat from the fat but you know what? It tasted so much better when you ate the fat and pork together, so that's what I did. And I was sooooo happy. Until. I saw that Steph was so horrified by the fat on the pork that she decided not to eat either the pork OR fat. And then I felt like such a glutton, and decided that I should compromise by not eating the fat on the very last piece of meat.
This is Shann's yakitoridon. What do we have here? Beef, carrots, onion, and lots and lots of brown sauce. Brown sauce sounds disgusting, but it is actually quite good. There was a recent Chowhound post on this subject: Does a Chinese restaurant exist in Manhattan that doesn't drown its dishes with brown sauce, black bean sauce or other jarred glop? Well. In fact there is! There are many restaurants that do! But that's not the point. The point that makes me unhappy is that the poster makes it sound like brown or black bean sauce sucks. Which is not true! I looooove saucy things! I think a lot of it has to do with being raised on a lot of local Chinese food in Hawaii like minute chicken cake noodles, beef broccoli chow funn and stuff like that. I can understand wanting to eat something 'cleaner' at times, but we all (or at least I do), crave saucy dishes once in a while! So. Point is. Don't insult the sauce.
We split an okonomiyaki. It was not good, flat and extremely dense. Not worth your taste buds or money. They do it much better at Otafuku just a street up.
Remember when I mentioned cotton candy earlier? Okay, here's the super fun part! When they give you the check, they also give little cups with a bit of coloured sugar inside. And if you didn't know better, you probably think, oh, it's a free dessert! And then tip the cup of sugar straight into your mouth.
That would have been a boring dessert indeed. Because what you are supposed to do is first pay your bill, then walk out with the cup of sugar and wait in line next to the big spinning...COTTON CANDY MACHINE!!! When it's your turn, pick up the chopstick, dump your sugar into the middle of the machine, and start twirling like mad! It's actually rather difficult if you have lousy twirling skills like me.
Here are the results! That's Shann's on the right - hers was definitely the most poofy. Steph (middle) had the most perfect looking creation. And mine? Well I think Steph tried to be nice when she said, "it looks like a corn dog."
The two on the left are half banana pudding, half chocolate pudding, the one on the right is half pumpkin pudding (Shann got the last of the pumpkin, woohoo!), half chocolate pudding.
We were pretty full after dinner was all pau. But still. Something doesn't feel right, doesn't feel complete, till after you've had dessert! So off to Sugar Sweet Sunshine it was! I try not to eat the same dessert more than twice in this city, just cause there are so many options, and you really don't know what's out there till you've had it all. But. The thing is. I am really, really, truly in love with the banana pudding at SSS. It's overpriced - I know. And it's stupid. Pudding + Nilla Wafers + Bananas. I could make it myself for a tenth of the price. And it's really not that special. But it's goooood. And I really, really love pudding. Like a lot. And they make it the best of all these silly overpriced American bakeries in the city. I've had this same pudding more than 10 times, which is ridiculous.
So we had puddings, lots of puddings as you all can see. And I was totally the only one who ate my entire cup of pudding in less time than it took Shann and Steph to eat half. When it comes to pudding, I am afraid I am a monster :(
But! And yes, my life is full of 'buts'! But, I made a promise to myself that this would be the very last time I would eat pudding from SSS. Why? Because! Like I said! There's so much out there and there's no point in repeating the same dessert over and over again! And while I am kind of sad, cause I live so close to it and all, in the end, this is for the benefit of both you (cause I'll be able to post on a lot more!) and myself (cause I'll eat more different stuff!) So we'll all be just sooooo happy! :)
Good night & see ya tomorrow - I promise another post if you check back! :)
Kenka
25 Saint Mark's Place
NY, NY 10003
(212) 254-6363
Sugar Sweet Sunshine
126 Rivington St
NY, NY 10002
(212) 995-1960
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