Restaurant Review: Mister Hotpot

Last week, I finally had the opportunity to use a Groupon that I had purchased to Mister Hotpot in Sunset Park.  Not too many pics were taken as I was too busy eating the deliciously fresh food that we've selected, so I apologize!  I absolutely love hotpot, so I was really excited to try this new joint out.  I walked out with a very satisfied tummy, but very empty wallet ... even with a $30 Groupon!

Lets start out with the Pros.  The food was indeed really fresh.  They also had a huge selection of balls to choose from, one of which I loooooved: the fish roe ball.  A must try if you ever stop by!  I also loved the herbal soup base.  We ordered some udon noodles (which was fresh and elastic btw) and every bite tasted like herbal soup.  It was delish!  Nom, nom, nom.  Each selection also came out in a really fancy dish, so I have to give presentation an A.  Service was great & attentive and the decor was nice, which made the stay even more enjoyable.

And now for the Cons.  We made a reservation for 7pm on a Saturday night and the place was packed.  There were 4 to 5 other parties waiting to be seated, and we all waited over half an hour for  a table.  It doesn't help that the restaurant is situated on 8th ave, on one of the busiest streets in Sunset Park with pollution and huge crowds.  We all had to wait outside the restaurant while salivating and staring into the window at all the other customers eating.  A few parties got so fed up, they decided to stop waiting and eat at a different restaurant =(.  

Another con is I was CONNED!  I pointed out that I wanted shrimp, which was $6 on the regular menu, but the waitress, who was just doing her job (and doing it well apparently), asked me if I wanted fresh shrimp.  Thinking that it was the same price, I said sure ... and it came out to be $15 for a handful of shrimp!  I can't blame it on anybody but myself, for being foolish, but I would appreciate it if she informed me that fresh shrimp came from the special menu, which wasn't the menu I was looking at.

Lastly, the broth base itself starts off at $15 (or more depending on your soup selection)!!  So on top of everything you plan to order is this $15, which can really do damage to your wallet.  

Needless to say, the meal was absolutely fab, but I walked out paying $15 for shrimp that I regretted ordering cause I was getting annoyed with peeling the shell off anyway, plus $15 for soup that I didn't know about till I received my check.  Besides the wait and the pricey meal, it was a gratifying dinner.  I'll visit again when I'm up for spending some money.

Pork bone and herbal soups

Oysters, tripe, fish roe balls, cuttlefish balls, Fujianese fish balls, Beef .... just some of the stuff we ordered

Banana Bread Cupcakes ?

So I had a couple of ripe bananas on the counter the other day and decided to revisit the banana bread!  As you may know, if you've read my last post on banana bread, I do not own a loaf pan.  My last banana bread came out looking like biscotti.  This time, I decided to finally use the ramekins that my sister gifted me as part of a baking set one year for Christmas, and it worked pretty well I must say!  The bf and I both spooned it out of the little cups bite by bite, and it was delish.  I love banana bread and how my entire apartment smells like bananas.  Going bananas for banana bread!  I swear I purposely buy bananas just so they can go ripe and made into banana bread lol.

Restaurant Review: Ritz Cafe

After prolonging my visit to Ritz Cafe for a couple of years, I finally decided to give it a shot.  The "A" on their window assured me that it wouldn't be that bad of an experience.  I wouldn't give it an "A" for their food, but it was pleasant and worth another visit.

The main reason why the restaurant was appealing to me at first was its Hong Kong style dishes.  HK style may be a bit ambiguous to some  people, but to me, HK style cuisine is simply a conglomeration of Chinese and Western menu items.  Something as simple as having a cup of milk tea with a ham and egg sandwich can tempt you into a restaurant like this.  They serve rice noodles, congee and typical Chinese dishes, but you can also find items such as baked pasta or spaghetti with Chinese toppings.

Despite that, we opted for Chinese dishes, but I am more than willing to try some of their HK style menu items next time.

We started off with a Chicken satay.  It was more on the greasy side, as it was oozing with grease rather than the lighter grilled chicken satay, but it was still tasty.

The beef stew rice noodle casserole was probably our favorite.  Rice noodles were soft and the beef stew was tender and flavorful.  It was also a generous portion with a good amount of one of my faves, daikon radish.

I wasn't feeling too well that day, so I opted for a lighter seafood noodle soup.  Unfortunately, it was too light ... just bland.  The broth had no flavor whatsoever, so I had to add white pepper ... a lot of white pepper.

My bf had the Singapore rice noodle, which was okay.  The chicken in the stirfry tasted a bit off to him, but it was a good enough dish.

Overall, I'd give the food a 7.5 out of 10.  Service was good, other than our waiter mixing up one of our orders.  The decor was plain but the good part was: we caught up with our Olympics on their flat screen TV.

Worth another visit.  Next time, I will go for the HK style items.

Bad Day :(

Having such a bad day today.  So bad that I've lost my appetite, something I have almost 24/7.

I wish food can cheer me up right now.  But only time will heal...

Smoked Salmon Overdose

Am I possibly eating too much smoked salmon?  I've been having it for breakfast daily!

On a side note, GO USA!  Love the London Olympics.  USA Rocks!

BERRY BERRY MERRY

OMG berries are in season.  Look how lovely they look.  Sweet too!