Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot, 50 rue de la Gauchetière Ouest (at Rue Clark), Montréal

Greetings from Montreal, fellow forkers! I am currently writing to you from the lobby of our Holiday Inn Midtown, with a (not-so) fine glass of 2 for 1 bogo red wine next to me. After my ballet class today, I came back to the hotel starving and ready to consume for a feast for dinner, whereas Adrian has been a tad bit sick the past few days, but I somehow managed to get him out of the hotel and into the brisk, nay freezing 20 degree Montreal weather.

He said that he really wanted to take me around the Latin Quartier & International Quartier, which also happened to be near Chinatown. I am always down for a little walk to experience a new city, and an excuse to try a new Chinatown's chessieubao, so after walking close to a kilometer, we were standing on the corner of Rue de la Gauchetière and Clark in the middle of Chinatown. I might exaggerate a little when I say that I heard voices calling my name from the Little Sheep, but I will say truthfully that I was drawn to the sign that said "hot pot" like a moth to the flame. Before I knew it, we had a number in our hand for our table, and a smell that I have never experienced but one that evoked memories & thoughts of a place I've never been but can only hope to go to & experience waifting through my nostrils.

After a long 30 minutes of waiting where it looked like no one was leaving and we might be trapped with this sensuous amazing food tempting us forever, number 7 was called and we were quickly seated. We ordered the spicy pepper hot pot and the hotpot "for affectionate lovers". I wasn't really sure what that meant, but I got from the description and talking to some of the waiters that it's a hotpot that's divided in two, like a ying-yang with one side herbal and the other side something else. And come on, the description "for affectionate lovers" - how can you go wrong? It's Valentine's Day, I'm here with Adrian...I like spicy, so does he, so this seems like a pretty good deal, right?

Our hotpots come, and they place the completely spicy hotpot in front of me, and the ying-yang hot pot in front of Adrian. What I didn't know before I ordered is that the ying-yang hot pot is actually 1/2 herbal, but also 1/2 spicy. Oh noes. I had once watched a Food Network special on hot pot in Shanghai (? I think) where Americans couldn't handle the heat from the hot pot it was so ridiculously spicy. And now, 3/4 of our meal is spicy. Oh noooooooooo.

So basically, for those forkers who don't know, if I may be blasphemous to both the Frenchies and the Chinese, hot pot is basically Chinese fondue, but with hot oil and broth. You drop some thinly sliced meats, veggies, etc in the hot pot as it's boiling, the ingredients all cook within a matter of seconds, you take them out and enjoy. Quite tasty, and great to warm you up on a cold Canadian night.

We are starving, and immediately start dropping some lamb & beef in (prepared shabu shabu style). Soon thereafter, I head up to the "buffet" to grab some accoutrement (taro, potato, pumpkin, parsley, bok choi, cabbage, broccoli, baby corns, egg, mushroom, spam, rice cake, assorted seafoods and a few other miscellaneous items) and some soda. The hot pot is bubbling now, with whole cloves of garlic, chilies, water chestnuts, scallion and chili oil nearly spilling over the sides. I dive in, to be rewarded with incredibly delicious but very spicy veggies & meat. Adrian and I don't say much for the first five minutes of eating, until I break the silence with "Oh my god, my nose is running. This is really spicy." At that point, it was too late - I had taken too long of time between the last piece of food and putting the next piece of food in my mouth and the spice had set in, and my mouth was officially on fire.

Adrian lucked out with the half & half hot pot. The herbal was great to dip veggies in, while the spicy was superb to give the meats flavor. As the busboy was picking up our dishes, I was making a comment about how amazing the dish was when you had those two separate flavors, and to rub some hot oil in the open wound, he wholeheartedly agreed as he took away my completely spicy hot pot. Thanks a lot, as if I didn't look like an a stupid white tourist in a totally Asian restaurant already.

The walk back to the hotel was not fun, as my stomach was absolutely torn apart and I could barely even walk due to this fact & that I was so full - yet we had really not eaten much, comparing to say, an Applebees steak dinner.

Regardless, the hot pot was absolutely amazing, and everything I thought it would be. I can only hope that one day I'll be able to go to China and write a comparison post!

I would highly recommend hot pot to anyone who can find a restaurant that specializes in this awesome dish - it's absolutely amazing, revitalizing, and awakes and heightens your senses to a level you never knew existed (as all spicy food should). Plus, it's relatively healthy as it's just broth with some veggies & meat added and cooked. It was also a very reasonable meal, at about $25 CAD per person. HOT! (Literally and figuratively.)

Even though it's a chain, here's a link to the official site: Little Sheep Hot Pot

4.5 Forks:

Les Halles, 411 Park Ave South (at 29th St.)

When my good friend Rachael said she was coming in to town for the weekend to share travelling photos and plan our trip to Chile, we both agreed there was no better occasion to frequent a fine French restaurant than this, both of us being mildly obsessed with French culture & the language (but her spending far more time there than I have, yes I'm a little jealous).

After nixing the idea of looking for a place online myself, I went straight to my previously mentioned foodie coworker Brian who referred me to a few different establishments, but I felt that Les Halles was the best pick for value, price and novelty (Anthony Bourdain started here, and based his book Kitchen Confidential off his experiences as a chef while chef'ing here).

We end up rocking up to Les Halles around 10ish, after grabbing a few quick drinks and waiting for Rachael's friend Tyler's girlfriend to join us. We're quickly seated, and the wine menu is handed to me to select....purely on the recommendation of the waiter, I select a $60 bottle of 2005 Chassagne-Montrachet (“La Canière”). I get the honor of tasting, and of course it's delicious.

We hastily decide on mains as well, and here was the verdict:

• Me: Due to it being "Choucroute Month", I chose the Choucroute de Royale (Smoked Bacon, Blood Sausage, Smoked Pork Lion, Frankfurter, Smoked Pork Shank, Cervelat-Salami, Boiled Potatoes, & Sauerkraut slow cooked in Champagne).
  
• Rachael: Poulet Rôti, Frites (Oven roasted organic chicken & fries).
  
• Tyler: Choucroute de Canard (Foie Gras and Duck Sausage, Duck Leg Confit, Duck Gizzards, Boiled Potatoes, Sauerkraut slow cooked in Gewurztraminer).
  
• Tyler's Girlfriend: Pavé de Thon Grillé, sauce Vierge, Légumes Grillés à l’Huile d’Olive (grilled tuna with grilled vegetables, lemon juice, olive oil).

My choucroute plate was incredible. It came out as a pile of incredibly well-cooked delicious meats, my favorite being the smoked bacon (obviously). I also got to try the tuna, which was ordered rare, and could not have been cooked better. It was perfectly seasoned, and the temperature was perfect. From the bite I had of the duck leg, due to the fact it was duck and intrinsically awesome, it tasted incredibly seasoned and cooked as well. I cannot speak for the chicken as I did not try it.

Rachael and I both ended up taking half of our dishes home, and then split a dessert of chocolate and banana tart with vanilla sauce. I only had a few bites, and frankly I wasn't all that impressed. It was not nearly as good as the chocolate wontons from Chow Bar or the creme brulee from Rigsby's Kitchen. But then again, you know me, I'm all about the weirdest forking ingredients and flavors I can find, especially in desserts, as I really don't like them to begin with.

Besides the ridiculously nicely cooked heaps of meat that contributed to a great meal at Les Halles, I found the ambiance pretty decent. If you're looking for typical Parisian cafe culture and spirit, don't go to Les Halles. If you're looking for the New York, urban trendy cafe with delicious French meats, go to Les Halles. The music was great, but it was a little dark for my tastes (the only light was candlelight, and we struggled to read our menus).

Les Halles gets 2.5 forks, but could have gotten 5 if we could have met Anthony Bourdain.

Icon, 130 E. 39th St (at Lex, in the W Hotel)

The recent state of economic affairs has been hitting all of us hard, fellow fork readers. I commiserate completely with you as we've been forced to end our old ways of consuming madeiras and ports after ever meal, end our favorite habits of lobster tail add-ons to our mains, and on top of that, instead of drinking some Perrier and eating some organic delicacies off the Whole Foods buffet, finding ourselves scrambling for change to buy a Grey's Papaya. Therefore, when I do go out, I've been really trying to ensure that the places I do frequent are the best "bang for your buck" and really are tasty and a great value.

This past week has been Restaurant Week in New York, and for those of you not in the know, Restaurant week is where selected participating restaurants around the city offer a prix fine menu for a fixed cost that's (usually) less than the cost of buying off the actual menu. I asked my foodie coworker Brian for a recommendation off the list, as he frequents Brasserie 8 1/2 and Jean-George's on a near weekly basis, and while he approved my choice of Icon, he said he would have gone elsewhere. (Bad omen #1.)

I make a reservation for 730, and we rock up about 740. I happen to notice while I was standing outside that the menu had changed from what I viewed online (bad omen #2). We went inside, and the restaurant was nearly empty (bad omen #3). Chan states, "I'm glad you made the reservation." The waitstaff is duly unimpressed.

We sit down, and it turns out they changed their menu to a four course menu for each person, pick any dishes you want. Here's what we chose:

• big eye tuna – strawberry, cucumber, mojito
  
• charantaise melon – goat cheese, fennel, acacia honey, prosciutto, arugula, sherry #9
  
• scottish salmon – sunchoke, asparagus tips, lobster vanilla sauce
  
• crispy duck confit – basil mustard, raisin paper, micro greens, sherry #9, lavender smoke
  
• poached filet of beef – spinach fondue, pomme soufflé, red wine shallot sauce
  
• pork belly – celery root, english stout
  
• New Zealand cockles – chorizo, purple potato, celery
  
• blueberries – white chocolate, kaffir lime, tobacco and mint

I mean, take a look at this menu? How could we have gone wrong? Tuna mojito? Sherry #9? Lavender smoke? Purple potato? Tobacco? Seriously, this is a culinary and gastro-intestinal delight. Right?

....

One thing that I didn't realize, or rather had the misconception was when I looked at the (wrong) menu, it seemed like most other restaurant week menus - one appetizer, one main, and a dessert. Here, it was more of a tasting course....where as I'm sure you can tell, each plate is one or two bites.

As Dave put it, most of these dishes are comparable to what you'd see on the Food Network. So you think you'd be getting something really good...something really exotic, however it really wasn't all that great.

Take the big eye tuna with strawberry, cucumber & mojito. The dish was actually some raw tuna, sliced strawberry, pieces of cucumber and mojito foam. When combined together was a nice fusion of flavor, however more than one bite and I became slightly underwhelmed.

The filet would have been fine, except they didn't ask us what temperature we wanted it. The cockles were fishy and strange. The lavender smoke did nothing for the duck confit. The salmon was fishy. The melon was overpowered by the goat cheese. The only dish that qualified into the "just alright" category was the pork belly. But seriously, it's pork belly, and I'm not quite sure how it wouldn't be fine. How does one mess up pork fat with a little meat? It's going to be delicious no matter what. (And it was.)

One thing that did win at this dinner was the presentation. The way and order the dishes were brought out was very stylish, and the plates were beautifully presented and arranged.

But this by no means compensated for the ambiance, which wasn't all that great, and to be honest, I've partied at W Hotels before, and this one just felt downright trashy. Like the type where you wouldn't want them to turn up the lights at all because it would just look tacky and unfinished. (Kind of gave me the same impression as my old apartment in Bedstuy, if you know what I'm talking about.) Hand in hand with this, it felt wannabe and like they were trying to be super elite, but were not at all in the least. In addition, the timing was always off with our waiter and busboy. They asked us for drinks 3x, made a huge deal taking our plates away when it was obvious there was still food on them and we were unfinished, asking if we'd like coffee after we had received dessert, and then were nowhere to be found when we needed the check.

By the time we left, the dining room was full and it seemed like people were enjoying themselves. Honest to God, my only thought was that I hope that if they're tourists, they don't get the impression that this is what real New York food is.

Mediocre food? Check. Ill-trained waitstaff? Check. Wannabe vibe? Check. Trying way to hard? Check. Icon gets one fork:

Chow Bar, 230 W 4th St. (at W.10th St.)

Because Dave never wanted to go to any Asian-fusion restaurants, and Dad and I were always too busy imbibing in ridiculous amounts of Belgian brewskis at the Castle to go, I finally found the perfect opportunity to hit this little gem in West Village - with Adrian last Saturday.

He took care of the reservations, and after doing the subway tour of the world (no no no, thank YOU, MTA), we stroll up on a blustery, frigid, January night at 7pm and are quickly seated. Neither of us had eaten that much that day (Adrian - a few cookies and a carrot, me - a piece of bread with one slice of turkey and one slice of munster cheese), we quickly decided on two appetizers and a bottle of the Moon Princess sake. (Moon Princess? What the hell does that mean? Our waiter didn't know either, which ended up being a theme of the night.)

Before I kick into the appetizers, let me take a quick moment to tell you about the ambiance of Chow Bar. In two words: mad chill. The vibe was absolutely perfect for the night - chill electronic vibes (one of my favorite parts of this experience, actually), Asian-type decorations on the wall, nearly non-existent lighting save for the candles on the table. Perfecto.

So, the appetizers. We kicked off the night with the spicy tuna tartare, which was infused with wasabi, had crispy wonton chips & was drizzled with ponzu sauce, and a bowl of edamame. The edamame could have been better (see: saltier; read my review on Decibel), but the spicy tuna tartare was exactly what we needed. 41 Greenwich's tuna tartare didn't even come close to comparing- the wasabi was absolutely incredible; just the perfect amount of spicy just when you needed it. The chips were great, the ponzu sauce was a taste straight from Japan (I brought back a small bottle of ponzu sauce with me; I find that it's extremely hard to find here, but it could be primarily because I don't know Japanese). Absolutely incredible. I might have actually made Adrian eat most of the edamame so that I could take all most of the tartare. Don't hate on my jack moves.

Just as we had finished our appetizers, our mains came out as the dining room started to fill up a bit more. With the intent of sharing, Adrian got the lemongrass grilled chicken with tamarind glaze, cucumber salad and coconut rice, and I got the roast pork sandwich with kimchee, cilantro, plum sauce and matchstick fries.

The Good: The roast pork sandwich. For some reason, when I read the menu, I thought it said pulled pork, but after I had taken the first bite, I wasn't just pleasantly surprised, I was enthralled! The fusion of the pork marinated in sweet plum bbq sauce, sour chunks of kimchee, cilantro (holy shit did you just say cilantro?!) was simply a match made in heaven. I'm not going to lie, the cilantro truly made the sandwich and bonded all of the flavors together in each heavenly bite. The matchstick fries were superb - imagine, in a perfect world, when every fry in your McDonald's container are all crispy and that nice medium brown. Imagine, a plate full of those with this heavenly sandwich. Imagine that they're dusted with sesame seeds. Imagine a world that could not get much better except it just did with some wasabi infused mustard on the side. Now, I'm not going to spoil your imagining by telling you about the little pile of "cole slaw" off to the side with some cabbage and raw onion that was highly mediocre, but that was just about the only place where the dish fell short, and this might have been purely personal preference (Adrian really liked it).

The Bad: The lemongrass chicken. I felt this dish was bland, boring, underwhelming, unexciting and tasteless much like our service that night was. The chicken was char-grilled to the point where you could almost taste the charcoal, and there was no lemongrass flavor, just a little tasteless heat that hit you a few seconds into your bite. If I wanted tasteless heat, I could have eaten a habenero. There was also a pile of equally as boring slaw underneath the chicken. Blah. Oh wait, the advertised cucumber salad? Don't get too excited - it was only 3 small slices of cucumber on top of the pile of rice. Last time I checked, there's more to a cucumber salad (let alone salad in general) than three slices of cucumber. Just about the only redeeming part of this dish was the coconut rice, which you can actually order as a side (and is probably what we should have done with a different main). The menu claims it had sesame seeds and scallion in it, but I didn't see any and frankly, I'm not complaining. I feel like the tactic to execution of this amazing, perfectly sticky rice was to use coconut milk instead of water. So absolutely tasty, I made a note to try this in my flatmate's rice cooker one of these days.

The Ugly: Our dessert of crispy chocolate wontons with mint ice cream. And by ugly, I mean the only thing that could and/or would be ugly would be me after I ate them every day for the rest of my life because it was just that damn good.

Chow Bar gets 4 forks - only because they fell short on the lemongrass chicken and our highly unknowledgable server who couldn't make a recommendation to me about anything (sake, appetizer, main, dessert) if his life depended on it.

41 Greenwich (41 Greenwich Ave. at Charles St.)

Greetings fellow readers! Hopefully this lazy Sunday afternoon is finding you warm & cozy in your respective apartments or houses, and staying in out of the 29 degree snow and cold (like it is here in NYC).

My good friend Dernyn invited me out to dinner on Tuesday night, and after him giving me huge jack-run-around-moves in Soho, I whined that all I wanted was some tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta with some ragu sauce. (What I was really looking for was the exact dish I had at Gradisca, but that's beyond the point.) Dernyn said, "I know exactly the place."

After a quick (and almost GTA-like) cab ride to West Village, we walk downstairs to 41 Greenwich. The restaurant maybe sat 30 people, but luckily we were seated almost immediately. At this point, it's about 830p, and my brain is switching off from lack of caloric intake. We quickly decide on a 2006 Malbec, the tuna tartare appetizer, the salmon for Dernyn, and the pork chop for myself with sides of rosemary potatoes and brussel sprouts.

(Note how I did not get the pasta I wanted; however at that point, I was so hungry I didn't care.)

Our tuna tartare came, and I hate to say it, but I've had better. The tuna was good, but the sesame, radish, scallion and tubettini that came with it totally overpowered the taste of the fish. I ate almost the entire roll of bread, and a good 2/3 of the bottle of wine by the time our food came. The pork chop was HUGE - when they said it takes 40 minutes to cook, they weren't kidding. I tried some of Dernyn's salmon, again it was just alright - but I'm not a huge cooked salmon person, and I know he is. My pork chop came with a bit of fennel and cinnamon roasted apples, and when getting a bite of that, and a bite of really fatty pork all in one...heaven. When it was a middle piece...just okay.

Our server brought out the sides, and they accidentally gave us the spinach instead of potatoes. They then brought out potatoes, and comp'd us the spinach which would be great, except...I don't really like spinach. No seriously, i try it just about every time I go out to a restaurant, but I just can't get into the consistency. Maybe some day....

The brussel sprouts were very firm, a spring green in color and seasoned just right with some salt. The rosemary potatoes on the other hand....absolutely outstanding. Perfectly seasoned, perfectly cooked, so that the consistency was slightly crunchy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside. I strive to make these potatoes just about EVERY night for dinner! What am I doing wrong?!?!?! Anyways...

Carmen (Dernyn's sister) came by to join us, and ended up helping us out with our remaining sides and ordered a dish of her own. We ordered another bottle of wine (a pino noir), and some raw oysters from Puget Sound.

I swear, the oysters were the highlight of this meal. Oysters are something I've worked very hard to get over the dislike of, and damn. These were incredible. Definitely comparable to oysters from Long Island I had when our team went out to dinner on Google at Brasserie 8 1/2. We ended up ordering dessert, but I swear these oysters could have been my dessert. It seriously tasted like I was surfing, with seawater in my hair and sea breeze against my skin with every bite.

Lastly, our desserts arrived (I was more than stuffed at this point). Dernyn got some sort of chocolate brownie concoction (again, go figure) and Carmen and I split strawberries with a balsamic reduction and some crème fraîche on top. Props for innovativeness, as I've stated I'm not a dessert person, and I've never seen it before, but the balsamic reduction was such an unlikely yet delicious combination with the strawberries. Light, fresh and tasty.

41 Greenwich gets 3.5 forks...ambiance was great, service was great, oysters were great, but mains and appetizer were just okay.

Schiller's Liquor Bar, 131 Rivington (at Norfolk St.)

Happy Monday (barely) fellow readers! I hope this post finds you well in your office tomorrow morning, cup of joe in hand, perhaps a bagel in the other...

I bring you this post straight from Schiller's Liquor Bar in the Lower East Side. My friend Dernyn and I rolled in about 130pm after an interesting cab ride into the city from Astoria (we got to pick up McDonald's and give it to the cabbie's family on the way in). Schiller's was just starting to pick up, but we were lucky enough to snag a table after about 15 minutes (instead of the 30 they were saying).

We settled easily on a bloody mary and a 30 year-old port to start, followed soon thereafter with eggs benny (the one thing you can't hate on me for ordering nearly ever brunch I attend), and a croque madame.

The eggs benedict were pretty good - I've had some that are bad, but these were fairly standard. The only beef (rather ham?) I had with them was how many onions they fried the potatoes with. I handed over my plate to Dernyn who LOVES potatoes and onions, and they were too intense for even him.

The croque madame was absolutely incredible. Well, incredible for NYC - obviously it was better in France, but still tasty. Proper cheese (sometimes you get the wrong cheese which totally kills the dish), proper ham, proper frying. Only thing, the bread was too big for the egg. If I may get snobbish, I prefer my croque madame to be have an egg that covers the entire piece of bread, so that one may enjoy a bit of egg with every bite.

Also, no salad with the croque madame. What's up with that.

Immediately following, we enjoyed some delicious champagne (what would brunch be without it?) and I had a cappuccino. A fine way to end a delicious meal (and kill off some of the buzz that was slamming me from that bloody mary. Wowee was it strong.)

Another great and notable part of brunch was our service. We had an incredible attentive waiter who was full of humor and recommendations.

All in all, 3.5 forks.

Wine Barrr, 1313 Linda Street (right off Detroit Rd.), Rocky River, OH

Due to the recent decline development of both my best friend and I turning into wineos, after a long, hard day of Christmas shopping, we felt it none other than fitting and appropriate to drop a few hundred hard-earned dollars on some delicious wine and appetizers.

After a last-minute liquor store run to pick up some some imbibements a few days prior, I had to convince Maresa that Malbecs are indeed good and can be incredibly tasty. It was about 20F that day, with a windchill of about -1F, so I took the liberty of ordering the Catena Mendoza '06 Malbec. Regulated at a perfect 54F (I think), I haven't tasted a Malbec that good since....um....well...anyways.

With Maresa now converted, we decided to mack on an appetizer recommended to me by both my father and sister - the avocado and brie bruschetta with fresh tomato and herbs. I'm a huge fan of bruschetta, but not a huge fan of brie, and with avocado? Avocado goes in guac, not on a traditional Italian dish.

Of course I was completely wrong, and by the 3rd glass of wine for each of us, Maresa and I were debating if we should save any for our compadres who were arriving later, or if we should consume the rest and just order another plate.

Other than that, the rest of the food & wine was just alright, save for the truffle mac & cheese that one of my friends ordered, which was quite stellar. We had a Bordeaux that was just alright (I think I'm more of a full-bodied red fan anyways), and a few other apps that were pricey, but just okay (duck wontons, fries, PEI mussels).

The service was good, ambiance was classy, and our server was (somewhat) knowledgeable about the wines on the list (he recommended the better Malbec, but knew nothing about the Bordeaux).

I walked away with a hefty tab and an awesome black long-sleeved shirt that says "wino" in bold white letters across the front. You know me - always keeping it classy (& real!).

I'd go back for the bruschetta and the Malbec, but that's about it. (My father would argue otherwise.) 3 Forks:

Decibel. 240 E. 9th St (between 2nd and 3rd)

Greetings Fork readers!

As I'm sure you're well aware, 2009 is now upon us which only means one thing - time to turn over a new leaf and begin again with new resolutions and promises to ourselves. Mine are simple - dine more, wine more, and of course - blog more. We'll see how true this holds. ;)

Since I haven't really been out to any amazing restaurants as of late, I'm going to blog about one that I find myself and my friends frequenting often - Decibel Sake Bar.

Decibel was introduced to me last year sometime, and isn't really a restaurant, but rather a sake bar in East Village. On the corner of East 9th and 2nd Ave, you'll see a small, lit sign directing you to walk downstairs. Good luck getting a table after 10pm ANY night of the week - the establishment only seats about 60 and tables fill up fast. This shouldn't make you feel intimidated; and neither should the speak-easy feel where no matter what your age, they ID you at the door and you're forced to wait in a tiny room until they let you in past the rope blocking the entryway into the main room.

Decibel boasts an incredible sake list, and I have not once been disappointed by the service (we nearly always get a server named Jim, who is extremely knowledgeable) nor the ambiance, nor the sake. He even recommended where to buy said bottles of sake that we consume on a near-weekly basis.

In addition, the "tapas" (or small plates, if you will) never disappoint. Be it the unagi (that Adrian always eats like, six bowls of), the yellowtail tuna sashimi (which I always eat like, three plates of), the wasabi dumplings (holy crap are you in for a kick to the face), or the okonomiyaki (Osaka style, not to be confused with Hiroshima style, which I prefer), you won't be disappointed at how well they compliment the sake you will be consuming in mass quantities.

Only thing that's killer is the price - you'll always walk out with at least a $100 tab if you're not careful.

Decibel gets 3.5 forks:

Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan

Readers, I don't have much time as I'm mooching internet from my friend Nick and I'm absolutely exhausted after climbing Mt. Fuji & need a nap, BUT - I couldn't resist a quick post from Japan for you.

I was told by many that the Tsukiji fish market is one of THE things you do in Tokyo, and the thing you should do your second day in Japan, as you're still jet-lagged (except I wasn't, at all) and up early, and what's better than sushi caught off the ocean that morning for breakfast?

Turns out, nothing. I took a photo of the outside of the restaurant and the menu, but let's just say for ~$10 USD, I got the most ridiculously fresh tuna and salmon I will probably ever taste in my life.

Rice, raw fish and some crappy tea never tasted better at 8am.

4 Chopsticks (only because I can't find a photo of one chopstick alone to make 5, but know that it was just that good):

The Famous Street Meat Cart, 53rd St. & 6th Ave

Readers, it's time again we had another guest post. Please read on and enjoy this truly genius morsel of tasty delight.

Back to the hotel, feelin’ kinda funny
We had just a little bit of spendin’ money
Too-many-brews-munchies made us look for a treat
Like an oasis in the desert we spotted ‘Street Meat’

The best in Manhattan is what I was told
So I waited in the queue feeling mighty and bold
The wait started 2:20 that July 4th early morn, so fine
At 5 minutes to 3, I was the one who was first in line

Two 6 dollar specials I cried out loudly
And watched in amazement as that chef scooped and shoveled proudly
Lamb and chicken and beef fried to perfection on his hot grill
Rice and lettuce and some pita pieces…not one spill

Like a magician, he filled up each plate
Added sauces and eating utensils and napkins, I could not wait!
That 3AM meal made me salivate and drool
So I ran with the bag to the hotel and up to the room like a fool

On the way by the hotel, I was asked by a hot young lady in blue
Where I was headed and if she could come too…
Not stopping to chat, I declined her offer and followed my feet
Up to the room - table and chair for that NYC best ‘Street Meat’!



Might I add - soooooooooo delicious. If you don't believe me, or if you don't believe that this is the "best street meat in NYC", please check out the line for the cart, with a quote that this "...cart is only there from 7p - 4am 4:30am at the latest...Some nights you can be waiting well over an hour for this plate of goodness!" (as seen below)



What? You say the photos didn't convince you? How about hearing that "...some guy stabbed someone for cutting the line a couple years back" over this incredible street meat?

...

Only in NYC, folks. Only in NYC.

4 forks.