FoodPrint-Boston: Stella

Restaurant:
Stella

Address:
1525 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
b/t Mystic St & Brookline St in South End

Category:
Italian

Average:
$40/person

Review:

This is an unexpected dining experience I had in Boston. After my awful visit to Boston's South end Giacomo's, I decided to find a restaurant nearby to had dinner with my friends. Stella was the one that we picked based on its relatively decent review in the south end area. 

When we arrived at this restaurant, we were seated immediately even without a reservation. This was pretty unusual for a restaurant on Sunday night. The inside decoration was very modern and neat. It looked pretty nice but lacked the authentic Italian element. The service there was very satisfying and all waiters were very passionate. 

We ordered Seafood Risotto to share with each other. This dish was very nicely arranged and served. However, after tasting it, I had to say that this was pretty disappointing. The sour flavor from tomato was too strong, which almost completely covered the flavor from mussels and fish. Risotto was too soft and watery and made this whole dish more like a soup. 

In addition, I ordered Braised Short Rib for my entree. This was a pizza with short rib on top. The appearance of this dish was not quite attractive but its taste totally surprised me. The short rib was well cooked and had a sweet flavor. But only the sweet rib couldn't make it an amazing dish. The most surprising part was the bitterness came from kale, which matched really well with the sweetness from its rib. The combination of sweetness and bitterness really enriched the layers of flavor in this dish. Even though the bread was a little overcooked, I would still say this is a pretty nice dish.

In general, Stella is a decent restaurant with a lot of space for improvement. 

FoodPrint-New York City: Pates Et Traditions

Restaurant:
Pates Et Traditions

Address:
52 Havemeyer StBrooklyn, 
NY 11211
b/t 7th St & 6th St in Williamsburg - North Side

Category:
French, brunch

Average:
$25/person

Review:

Pates Et Traditions is a little restaurant for brunch located in Williamsburg. Right around the corner, there is this little restaurant with a nice outdoor setting that serves fantastic crepe. 

There is practically no limit on what kind of crepe you can order. While ordering, you can ask for all kinds of extra ingredients combination you want to put on your crepe. As a greedy eater myself, I had sundry tomatoes, salmon, Italian sausage, egg, ham and cheese added into my crepe and this magical mix turned out to be great. 

The crepe was very thin and crispy. It was not overcooked but had a quite hard texture. However, the most amazing part is their cooking of the inside stuffing. Sundry tomato perfectly blended with eggs and sausage, which brought a little sour taste to the whole crepe and this really helped its flavor as a brunch dish. The little amount of salmon also added some depth into its favor.

In general, this is a nice little restaurant to go to in NYC for some interesting tasting Crepes if you are full of creativity.

FoodPrint-New York City: Malatesta Trattoria

Restaurant:
Malatesta Trattoria

Address:
649 Washington St
New York, NY 10014 
b/t 10th St & Christopher St in West Village

Category:
Italian

Average:
$25/person

Review:
This is the first restaurant that I tried in NYC. With a great location in a relatively quiet neighborhood, this small restaurant was literally located around the corner. The restaurant has a very italian style design and decoration. Not so classy but very casual and relaxing. We had our reservation at 7 and we were seated right on time. However, based on some other people's review, reservation may not be necessary if you are going on a week day. They had both indoor and outdoor seats, although outdoor seats were mostly doubles.


Waiter served typical Italian roll with vinegar and oil. However, their vinegar and oil are specially made with some chili mixed, which surprisingly brought up a magic taste of vinegar. That was so far the best vinegar and oil mixed I have ever had in an Italian restaurant.

For entree, I ordered Spinach Gnocchi, which was marked as one of the signature dishes of this restaurant online. The taste was fabulous, although the cheese flavor was a little bit too strong. Gorgonzola was used in the sauce, which gave me a very attractive taste at first. But after a while, the strong flavor just made my tongue tired. The spinach gnocchi itself was well-cooked, with a very soft taste and the light scent of spinach added a lot of score on this dish. However, since I am a huge meat lover, this dish doesn't quite fit my preference.  

In general, this restaurant is has a nice italian setting. The food was quite authentic and delicious. But since the menu are in Italian and it was handwritten, it could be hard to pick one dish that fit your preference. So before you go, online research about the menu is highly suggested.

FoodPrint-New York City: Ippudo Ramen(Westside)

Restaurant:
Ippudo Ramen(Westside)

Address:
321 W 51st St
New York, NY 10019
b/t 9th Ave & 8th Ave in Hell's Kitchen,
Midtown West, Theater District

Category:
Ramen

Average:
$30/person

Review:
Ippudo Ramen is always considered as one of the best Ramen place in NYC. However, because of it popularity, Ippudo NY is always a hard place to get a seat in. Therefore, its sister restaurant Ippudo Westside seems to be a better choice to go and try out their famous ramen.

Along the sidewalk, Ippudo Westside is place that you can easily miss. However, the inner decoration is quite neat and modern. Since this is a new site, the waiting line was not too long. We waited for about 20 minutes to get in. The utensils setting on the table was very carefully arranged. This left me with a great first impression.

I only ordered ramen for my meal. Akamaru Modern is one of the few ramens they have on the menu. The traditional pork broth for ramen had a very authentic favor here. The broth was white, with sliced pork arranged around the ramen noodle. The seasonal mushroom sure brought out the delicate favor of the pork broth. But the most amazing part is their secret umami dama miso paste. This red color sauce had a slightly sour and spicy tasted. Combined with the pork broth, this miso paste added a changing favor to the whole ramen dish.

If you are in the mood for ramen noodle in NYC and don't want to wait for 2 hours to get in, Ippudo Westside should be a perfect choice for you.

FoodPrint-Washington D.C.: Bistrot Du Coin

Restaurant:
Bistrot Du Coin

Address:
1738 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
b/t N R st & N S St

Category:
Frech, Belgian, Italian

Average:
$30/person

Review:

Bistrot Du Coin is a restaurant that I randomly ran into in Washington, DC that left me with a great memory with its mussels. This restaurant turned out to be one of the most reviewed restaurant in DC.

We ordered Moules Bretonnes as our appetizer. Mussels in this dish is relatively small compared to the ones I had in other restaurant. However, the taste was amazing with the help of lobster, shrimp, and mushroom. The slightly sour taste from tomato mixed with the taste of lobster and mussels just created a fantastic experience. We had a full order, which was more than enough for three people. In general, the mussel was very impressive in this restaurant. 

For entree, we ordered Blanquette De Veau. This dish matched very well with the risotto they offered. Lamb was well cooked in cheese and cream. Its cream had a very strong taste and with a little sour flavor, it successfully brought out the freshness of lamb. However, the size of serving was reasonable. The risotto offered with this dish was also perfectly cooked. Rice was neither sticky nor dry. However, the size of one serving of Risotto was not enough for so I could help asking for a second serve. 

The waiter was very nice and has a great sense of humor. The general set up of the restaurant showed its Italian element. In general, it is a really relaxing place to dine in and if you are in DC, you should't miss it.

FoodPrint-Washington D.C.: Old Ebbitt Grill

Restaurant:
Old Ebbitt Grill

Address:
675 15th St NW
Washington, DC 20005
b/t N G st & N F St

Category:
American

Average:
$30/person

Review:
During my short visit to Washington, DC in the long weekend of 4th of July, Old Ebbitt Grill was the restaurant that really impressed me. As we finished touring Smithonians and National Mall, the second most reviewed restaurant was located 5 minutes walking distance away. So there was no reason to miss this restaurant during the tour. 

Due to its extreme popularity, we had to wait in line for an hour and a half to get a table. It would be much better if we had a reservation. Even though the front door of Old Ebbitt Grill is crowded, hostess was polite and had a very accurate estimate of our waiting time, which was quite pleasing.

The appetizer we got was their famous Oyster. We ordered a dozen and since they offered three different kinds, we decided to have four of each kind: Indian Creek, Irish Point, and Wellfleet. With the oyster, they provided red wine vinegar and Tabasco sauce. Based on my preference, Tabasco sauce goes better with raw oysters. In terms of the different tastes between three kinds of oyster, to be honest, I can't really tell the difference between "sweet taste with a slight briny finish" and "briny with a crisp finish". I admit I am not a professional gourmet. Instead, I am just a person who likes the taste of ocean. Oysters in Old Ebbitt Gril are fresh and I can taste the slight hint of sea water in my mouth. This is enough to make me happy.

After appetizer, Summer Chicken Fettuccini was served as my main dish. This is the one dish that made me think that the restaurant worths its two hour waiting. Fettuccine itself was flawless, with a fairly chewy taste. Chicken scallopini was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. However, it was the special sauce with a slightly sour taste that created the great match between chicken and fettuccine. 

In general, this is a very impressive restaurant and it definitely worths a two hour wait. It has a lovely dining environment and delicious food with reasonable price. If you are planning to visit DC, you should not miss it. 

FoodPrint-Boston: Legal Sea Foods(Prudential Center)

Restaurant: 

Legal Sea Foods

Address:

Prudential Center

800 Boylston St

Boston, MA 02199

Back Bay

Category:

Seafood

Average:

$45/person

Review:

Summer is always a good time to enjoy seafood. As I spent the summer in coastal city Boston, there was no way that I would miss seafood there. 

Legal Sea Foods is the first seafood restaurant I explored in Boston. I tried this one first because some friends of mine introduced me here. As a chain seafood restaurant, Legal Sea Foods offered me a decent lobster meal, which really surprised me based on my low expectation and past horrible experience with chain seafood restaurant.

We tried two dishes from the menu. The first one was Baked Stuffed Lobster for two (about 2 lb). Based on the menu, the lobster was from crisp, cold North Atlantic waters, which did not matter that much to me since I have no clue where produced the best lobster. Anyway, the lobster was served with a small cup of butter. The stuffing of this lobster was definitely the most amazing lobster stuffing I have evert had. In the lobster, scallop, shrimp and buttery crackers magically mingled together with the help of cheese. The taste was absolutely amazing. However, if I have to name one weakness, I had to say that the stuffing of this lobster put lobster itself to a minor role, which kinda made this dish more about the stuffing but not about lobster. 

However, after a fairly satisfying lobster dish, comes a disappointing Nutty Faroe Island Salmon. This is my first time trying the combination of almond and salmon and I have to say that the result is not promising. Almond was sliced and put on salmon. Even though the  slight hint of lemon did improve the taste of salmon, I have to say that in my opinion, nuts don't go well with salmon in this way. The spinach was decent but the mushroom ravioli had a weird taste in the sour sauce and I couldn't even finish tho dish.

In general, if you just come to Boston and don't know where has the best seafood or you don't want to wait in line for over one hour, Legal Sea Foods offers you a decent lobster dish and a not so disappointing meal.

My "Foodprint"

This is just for opening the blog. This is the first blog I have ever had so I have no idea what I should put on it but I guess I will just follow my heart.

Anyway, I feel like it's kinda important to explain why "Foodprint". Obviously, this simple combination of "food" and "footprint", which conveys my traveling philosophy: Searching for food is always the best way to get to know a place.

I am a fan of traveling and I flew around the world fairly frequently between US and China. Coming back and forth between two largely different cultures, food is the connection that I have with each place that I have been to: hotpot in Sichuan, Beijing duck, deep dish pizza in Chicago, Italian cuisine in Boston, Salmon in Seattle etc.

So I feel like it is important for me to record all these connections in some way in order to create a traveling log. Also, I sincerely hope that my comments and reviews on various restaurants will be helpful to anyone who happens to drop by my blog.

Now, let the journey of food begins...