CiCiLicious Vlog # 10: How to eat for FREE in NYC?

Thanks to Tenka, I have been eating free all day, 3 meals. I didn't spent a cent today! Conclusion: there is a way to live well eat free in NYC. Free foods always taste better!!! Woohoo~~http://www.tenka.com

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? I’m thinking about NOODLES!!

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? I’m thinking about…NOODLES!! When the weather turns cold, I crave for sweets, comfort food, and noodles!!

We all know that noodle is one of the most popular main courses for many countries: Italian’s pasta; Japanese’s ramen , wudong, soba; Vietnamese’s pho; Thai’s pad thai, rice noodle soup, Chinese’s la mian, lo mein; Taiwanese’s misua, and the list can go on and on…

Lately, I’ve been to many amazing noodle restaurants in NYC, and I can’t wait to share them with you! (Feel free to contact me if you have amazing noodles, but you are not listed! I’d love to try at your place!!)

Totto Ramen
366 W 52nd St
New York, NY 10019
(212) 582-0052
CiCi’s favorite: Totto Extreme Spicy Ramen $10.25

What to expect: I usually order extra Kikurage Mushroom, Boiled Egg, and Bean Sprouts with my Ramen. The Ramen is cooked just perfect. The soup is full of sweetness and fresh taste of chicken. It’s very spicy, but at the same time, I really enjoy it – It feels like the moment in life where you just finished with all your final tests – the liberation!

Side notes: The wait is always long, so either be there at 5pm on the dot, or 10:30pm before closing. Otherwise, your waiting time is about 1 hour.

Xi’An Famous Foods
81 St Mark's Pl
New York, NY 10003
(212) 786-2068
CiCi’s favorite: D1, Savory Cumin Lamb Noodles $7

What to expect: The noodles are hand pulled, therefore the texture is quiet unique and chewy. I love lambs and cumin mixed with bean sprouts. It’s savory, tasty, and spice. The flavor is very strong.

Side notes: If lamb isn’t for you. Order D2 for beef! The space is tiny with lots of people waiting.

Max
51 Ave B
New York, NY 10009
(212) 539-0111
CiCi’s favorite: Fettuccine al Sugo Toscano 10.95

What to expect: When it comes to pasta, I prefer red sauce than white sauce. Max’s pasta proved otherwise. The Fettuccine al Sugo Toscano is a combination of red wine, fresh tomato, heavy cream, celery, carrot, and beef. I have to say the sauce is perfect! Especially with the tiny chopped celery, it provides a refreshing flavor to dazzle the entire dish.

Side notes: Their Ravioli and Lasagna is also heavenly delicious!

Je’Bon Sushi & Noodle House
15 St Marks Pl
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-1313
CiCi’s favorite: Pad Thai

What to expect: I wouldn’t say that their Pad Thai is original. It’s more like a fusion, Chinese-styled-Thai noodles. The taste is in between Beef Chow Fun and the real Pad Thai, but I really like the combination. As my secret to make it more delicious, always squeeze the lime and mix them!

Side note: Like Sake? They often a great selection!

Photography Contest for Food Photos

Are you a photographer and love to take picture of foods? Want to share your passion with others? Food Paradise is having a contest for picture of foods. Whoever with the most "Like" is the lucky winner!!

Prize

- Lucky winner will receive a gift certificate of Saul Restaurant for 2 people.

How?

- Upload 1 food photo on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Food-Paradise/118040670800.

- Ask all your friends to "Like" your photo!

- Include your contacts on the photos.

- The photo with the most "Like" will be the winner by Nov 30th, 2010.

It's a great opportunity to have your name out there and share your passion with others! Share this with your friends now!! :)

CiCi’s favorite coffee spots in NYC

There are 5 basic tastes in food: sweetness, bitterness, sourness, saltiness, and umami. Every taste is there for a reason. I enjoyed every one of them. Today, I want to talk about the very flavorful bitterness in coffee… and of course, my favorite coffee spots in NYC.

Blue Bottle Coffee
Kyoto Style Iced Drip Coffee

160 Berry St
Brooklyn, New York
(718) 534-5488

Kyoto Style Iced Drip Coffee is made one cup at a time using flannel filters in slow drippers that imported from Japan. It takes 12 hours to make 1 cup, approximately 88 drops per minute. I like to drink it just the way it is, without milk or sugar. It’s strong, bitter, smoky, and with a hint of berries. It tastes very much like whiskey. Just couple sips will sure wake you up. I’m in love with it ever since. For my Blue Bottle Coffee video please CLICK HERE.

Mug
Mocha

446 East 13 St
New York, NY 10009
(646) 746-1357

This place’s mocha reminds me of life... What is life all about? It’s unpredicted. It’s a combination of bitter and sweet. Amazing huh? Yep! In one single cup, you will taste the flavorful bitterness of espresso and the sweetness of chocolate. Every sip has a different combination. The mocha there always cheers me up.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Latte

20 West 29th St,
New York, NY 10001
(212) 679-2222

This place is near my office, so I go there quiet often. I usually order a large cup of hot latte to go. It has a bit of sweet and creamy, floral, nutty, and chocolaty taste. It’s perfect for this cold weather and usually takes away most of my worries!

Abraco
Latte

86 E 7th St
New York, NY
(212) 388-9731

This is my favorite place for hot latte. The ratio of milk and espresso is perfect. The taste is just a bit stronger than Stumptown-- rich, creamy, and very smooth. I drink it without sugar because I don’t want to destroy the taste that is already perfect.

Lavazza Café
Bicerin

200 5th Ave
New York, NY 10010
(646) 398-5100

It’s inside the Eataly. I really like the environment there. It makes me feel like I’m somewhere else then NYC – perhaps, Italy. This place has one of my new favorite drinks. It’s a cup of Bicerin, but it doesn’t really taste like coffee. It tastes more like a cup of hot coffee. It’s so smooth, sweet, with a hence of the nutty taste.

CiCi’s the Bahamas Gets Away

Why the Bahamas? The truth is that… it was a random choice, and I needed a new adventure. I didn’t know anything about it and loved this adventure idea. So, there CiCi presents the Bahamas, Nassau and Paradise Island Gets Away!

There are 700 Islands in Bahamas. It’s about 50 miles off the coast of Florida. The first day in Nassau and I was already deeply in love with the island, people, and most importantly FOOD!

Beaches
The waters were in many different shades of blue and green. They were so clear, and I could see through them. Most of the beaches were in white sands, and some parts were in pink sands. They were soft and warm-- It felt like I was stepping on a giant bowl of flour, except it was a real beach, so I wasn't sure if it’s my obsession with foods or it’s real. Finally, I couldn’t resist saying, “This is my paradise, welcome to Food Paradise!” (LOL…. Workaholic)


People
Bahama’s national language is English. They were super nice and professional to me. Everyone was a great tour guide. You can ask anyone on the street, ferry boats, taxies, buses, at your hotel, and they would tell you the same thing of where to go, shop, eat, and have fun. They even cracked the same joke!!! I was amazed by this…


Foods
How can I go anywhere without great foods?! So from the taxi driver, I found out that Bahamians are seafood lovers. They are well known for conch chowder, conch salad, conch fritters, stewed fish, and some interesting souse dishes.

Everyone at Nassau recommended me to eat at the Fish Fry. I tried there, and it was good. The prices were very similar to NYC, so I think it’s more for tourists. Then the mission was to figure out where to eat locally…

After exploring almost the entire Nassau Island, I found a small stand that has no name on it. It only had a “Conch Fritters” sign on it. The owner offered to cook me something delicious, and it was chicken souse. I really didn’t expect much. It looked like regular chicken wings soup with rice. But, guess what? It was the most amazing meal at Bahamas!!! It was so delicious. The chicken wings are so tender and soft. The soup is very refreshing, sour and spicy, with some hints of secret herbs. Ahh… that was so good!!

To be continued...... a lot more fun about this beautiful Island that I wanna share with you!

Why do lobsters turn red when you cook them?

By CiCi Li

According to Herve This, shellfish like lobster and shrimp contain a red colored molecule called astaxanthin, the color of which does not appear in living animals. When seafood is cooked, it breaks up the bonds shielding the astaxamthin, and the red color appears.

Interesting? Yes, but is that what I wanna share with you today? Well… not really… that’s just an interesting fact. What I really wanna talk about are the yummy, delicious, fresh lobster rolls in NYC.

Ed’s Lobster Bar
212.343.3236
222 Lafayette Street

Ed’s lobster roll is rich, tasty, and really delicious. One single bite has different combination of textures, from crisp, soft, tender, to crunchy. The bun has a rich favor of butter, lightly crisp on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. The lobster meats are mixed, in the salad form, and glossed with just the right amount of mayo. Everything is based on market price. Stay tune to Ed’s Lobster Bar, Soho episode, on CiCi’s NYC Diary.

Luke’s Lobster
212.387.8487
93 E. 7th Street

Luke’s lobster roll is fresh, light, affordable, straight from Maine. Luke’s lobster is very light compared to Ed’s. It doesn’t have much mayo, only dash with some secret spices. You can taste the freshness and sweetness of the lobster in every single bite. Lobster roll is $14 each. Stay tune to Luke’s Lobster, East Village episode, on CiCi’s NYC Diary.

Red Hook Lobster Pound
646.326.7650
284 Van Brunt Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231

I really enjoyed the Connecticut lobster roll here. The top split bun from Bidderform Maine is toasted with butter to just perfect, crisp on the surface and soft on the inside. The lobster meats are served warm with spices. There isn’t mayo in this roll. Lobster roll is $15 each.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!!!

CiCi Li

CiCi’s NYC Diary has successfully completed with the season and aired on NTDTV platforms. I’d to take this opportunity and thank the sponsors, partners, production team, marketing team, my favorite writers, all my friends and and family.

I had a dream, a dream of eating my way through NYC and sharing it with everyone. Without anyone of you, CiCi’s NYC Diary would only be a dream…

As you may already know, video production isn’t an easy task. Each 30 min show, takes about 5 days to plan, 3 days to film, and 10 days to edit, composing music, voice over, adjust lighting, create extra graphics. That is 18 days in total for one 30 min show. Without a fantastic team, I couldn’t do this…

New York City, CHECK!
Now, what is the next challenge?