Looking for a one-stop shop for all your Asian cooking needs? Head down to Hong Kong Supermarket on Hester Street. Hong Kong Supermarket opened at its current location in 2008. The supermarket sells everything from Filipino banana ketchup to green tea-flavored soy milk. There are sauces, condiments and candy from all over Asia. Most items have English language labels so it is a lot easier to shop here than at the little stands in Chinatown.

There are two levels to the store. On the ground floor, where the entrance is, you’ll see fresh produce and sushi. Further in the store, aisles are neatly categorized by the food products’ country of origin. There is a Southeast Asian aisle where you can get jars of spicy sambal oelek (chilli sauce) and tubs of authentic curry pastes. On the Japanese/Korean aisle there is a wide selection of teriyaki and soy sauces. You’ll find mainstream Asian staples like soy sauce far cheaper here than at regular supermarkets! Downstairs, there is an amazing array of dried noodles in every flavor, shape and form. Just think of all the exotic dishes you can prepare after a shopping trip here!

For the really adventurous, there are sometimes whole durians sold at $1.29 a pound and durian popsicles in the back freezer section at $4.67 for a box of four. The pungent fruit, which is creamy and rich, is an acquired taste. But it is definitely worth trying!

There are so many fascinating Asian foods that without guidance, it can be overwhelming. That’s where New York Food Tours comes in. We’re here to help. You can choose the Freakiest and Funniest Food Tour that includes tastes of unusual foods like the durian. But we also have the Tastes of Chinatown Tour, the Exotic Southeast Asian and Chinese Food Tour and the Asian Vegetarian Food and Culture Tour. No matter what you pick, you’ll leave confident and able to enjoy all Chinatown has to offer!

Here at New York Food Tours, we’re always looking out for great deals to recommend to you! In the last few months, we’ve checked out some of the city’s top establishments. And based on food, ambiance, service and value-for-money, we’ve decided to tell you about high-end restaurant, Jean Georges.

We loved Jean Georges. With four stars from The New York Times, this place should be on everyone’s “to-eat” list. Jean Georges is almost a popular culture icon with characters from television shows like Friends, Gossip Girl and Sex and the City all vying for a coveted seat.

We went for the very affordable two-course prix fixe lunch. At $32, the meal is a steal. Dinner often costs at least three times as much.

To start, we had an amuse bouche including a crispy rice cake with smoked trout, and a candied beet with fresh grated wasabi and ricotta. The rice cake was crisp on the outside and soft within so the silky trout was a wonderful textural complement. The candied beet was intensely sweet. With the heat of the wasabi and mild ricotta, it was a perfectly balanced mouthful.

One of the first course options was a peekytoe crab salad with mango and chilli sabayon. With a 2:1 ratio of crab to ginger, the dish packed serious bite. But the ripe mangoes and creamy sabayon saved the spice from being overpowering.

Next, we sampled a dish of sweetbreads, pear and liquorice. Perfectly cooked and tender, the main was simple but thoughtfully prepared. The liquorice was mild enough to please even those who do not usually like anise flavors. We also tasted the slow cooked salmon with black truffle crust. We requested it medium rare and the fish arrived appropriately coral-colored and melting in the center. The smooth parsnip puree and crunchy parsnip crisps that came alongside were equally impressive.

Although desserts are not part of the lunch set, we decided to indulge. And we were glad we did. The sweets were just as well-executed as the items on the savory menu. Our standout favorite was the salted caramel and chocolate tart. The gooey confection was paired with an espresso and dark caramel ice-cream that was not at all cloying.

But even if you decide not to have dessert, don’t worry! The restaurant won’t let you leave without some petit fours. Fragrant lavender macaroons and plush marshmallows, sniped into squares right at the table, are delivered to all diners. Also, you get a plate of chocolates. You’ll have to share with your table so if you can only pick one, go for the piece with Jean-Georges’ initials, JG, printed on top. It is flavored with smoky souchong tea and is truly unique. The perfect way to end your meal at one of New York’s best dining establishments.

Join New York Food Tours on one of our guided expeditions, you will sample at least six different tastings while touring a historic neighborhood with a licensed tour guide at one low price. What better deal can you get? We’re always doing more research to update our programs. Once you’ve been on an outing with us, you’ll recognize the local haunts.

Source: thestar.com.my

Bored with the same old desserts? For many, they are the highlight of the meal but typical cakes, cookies and pies can leave the palate jaded.

Enter Ice Kacang, a uniquely Southeast Asian treat. The dish, which may be described as a Malaysian Snow Cone, boasts so many different colors, textures and flavors, you’ll never tired of it.

“Kacang” is a Malay word for bean. And the dessert is full of them. It comprises tender red beans, chewy attap chee (palm) seeds, yellow sweet corn and firm cubes of agar agar jelly. These ingredients are topped with a mound of crushed ice and drizzled with evaporated milk and red syrup. Sometimes, the dish is even topped with a scoop of ice-cream. The recipe is favored by Malaysian locals as a way to stay cool even in the country’s hot and humid climate.

But where should you go for the best version in New York? Try New Malaysia Restaurant, off Bowery, tucked away in the Chinatown Arcade alley. It was recommended by The New York Times food reviewer, Molly O’Neil.

Want more interesting desserts? Join New York Food Tours for the Gourmet and Fusion Dessert Tour. It includes some fascinating sweets with Asian flavors!

American beef jerky is a convenient and well-loved snack. But many other appetizing preserved meats are enjoyed around the world. Among them is the jerky known as bak kwa in Malaysia and Singapore.

Unlike American jerky, which is salty, bak kua is seasoned with sugar to give it a caramel-like flavor. The sweetness is addictive! Malaysian-style jerky is also usually made with ground and not sliced meat. This means that each piece is tender and juicy. It can be bitten through easily and is not as dry and fibrous as American jerky.

You can try some of the most tempting Malaysian meat jerky in Manhattan’s Chinatown at Malaysia Beef Jerky Inc. The shop, which is located on Elizabeth Street, near Grand Street, carries a range of beef, chicken and pork jerky. They also offer spicy versions. All varieties are made in-store, without preservatives.

Most of the jerky costs about $17 for a pound and $4.20 for a quarter pound. You get about five large squares of jerky in a quarter pound. With its intense flavor, this generous amount can feed a few people. Or you can buy extra to take home and make some tasty sandwiches.

While the shop name suggests that beef is the most common variety, in Asia, pork is the most popular flavor. The name was chosen because Americans are more familiar with beef jerky. But if you want to order like a local, go for the pork! It is the original.

For more delicious Asian meat jerky, join New York Food Tours for the Tastes of Chinatown Tour or Exotic Southeast Asian Food Tour. You’ll get to sample Hong Kong-style jerky which is equally moist and full of flavor!

Dear All,

We will give out another two free tickets to the lucky winners on Sunday, March 6, 2011. We will draw from the new facebook fans, Twitter followers, newsletter subscribers, and questionnaire participants. Become our fan, follow us, subscribe to us, and fill in our questionnaire. Spread out the words and tell your friends and families! Thank you for your support!

New York Food Tours Team

Feb 22, 2011

==============================================

Hey guys!

We’ve been so grateful for all your support these days, and we want to reward you by giving you the chance to win a ticket to our food tour!

Simply tell all your friends about our company, New York Food Tours, and tell them to join our Facebook fan page and follow our Twitter (foodtours)! And of course, we’re assuming that you are already our Facebook fan and Twitter follower.

Help us to increase our numbers, and you’ll be entered into our lottery for a free ticket!

The winner will be announced August 17, 2010.

I’m looking forward to all your help! We appreciate it 🙂

Guess what? It’s that time of the year again: New York City Restaurant Week, one of the city’s most anticipated attractions. Why? Because you get to eat and enjoy luxurious, costly meals at high-ended restaurants that may normally be out of your budget.

During Restaurant Week, New York City collaborates with some of the highest-rated, most popular, and priciest establishments to provide amazing lunch and dinner pre-fixe deals to the public. For the price of $24.07 (lunch) or $35 (dinner), you can eat a three-course meal—normally which would cost far more than that. More than 250 restaurants participate in this event, giving people the chance to taste new meals and explore new cuisines.

Some great restaurants that we’ll be checking out this week are:

• Barbounia on 250 Park Ave. South.
• The Breslin Bar and Dining Room on 16 W. 29th St. between Broadway & 5th Ave.
• The Modern–Bar Room on 9 W. 53rd St. between 5th & 6th Ave.

However, we can only visit so many. Please share your adventures and enlighten us! Do you know which restaurants you’ll be checking out? Here is the list of restaurants participating in Restaurant Week?

On another note, while Restaurant Week is a wonderful way to splurge on great food, when there are so many choices, how can you ever decide? A great way to really taste the cuisines of New York City and still save money is to check out one of our food tours. We offer tours in the East Village, West Village, Chelsea Market and Meatpacking District, and Chinatown.

All our tours not only include great tastings of foods from different countries, but also provide historical and cultural insight of the neighborhoods. Moreover, we feature special tours like our “Freakiest and Funniest Food Tour,” “The First Multicultural Bar Hopping Tour,” and “Everything Chocolate.”

Become our fan on Facebook, and you may win a free ticket to any one of our tours! Check out our tours today to join us for some fun-filled and tasty times!

Since summer officially began last Monday, the weather has been nothing been hot, hot, hot! With the humidity so high that it leaves us feeling uncomfortably warm and sticky, and with only occasional wafts of fresh, cool air, it’s no wonder that everybody wants to stay still and limit as much movement as they can.

Still, how can we let a day go to waste? After all, summer means longer days. The sun is like a temptress, enchanting us with its bright rays to play with her. We want to resist, but we can’t, and somehow we find ourselves outside, sweating like we’ve never sweat before. We’re doomed before the day even begins.

(Source: gothamist.com)

Luckily, to counter the effects of the hot and humid air, there is an excellent solution: ICE CREAM. Yes, with the weather we’ve been having, it is definitely appropriate to scream for ice cream. And where else to get the best ice cream than Sundaes and Cones on E. 10^th St. between 3^rd and 4^th Avenue?

Sundaes and Cones is a local ice cream shop in the East Village that is known for its premium quality ice cream. Rich and creamy, the ice cream from “SuCo”—as the locals call it—beats any other ice cream you have tried. In fact, SuCo is even more popular because it features unusual yet distinct flavors like Wasabi, Corn, Ginger, and even Sesame!

(Source: yelp.com)

For a wafer/sugar cone or a cup, SuCo charges $3 for 1 scoop; $4.29 for 2 scoops; and $5.54 for 3 scoops. For a waffle cone/bowl, it is $4.01 for 1 scoop; $5.31 for 2 scoops; and $6.55 for 3 scoops. While the ice cream tends to be pricier at this local parlor, it surely makes up for the cost with its high quality ingredients. Once you go “SuCo,” you can’t go back!

Just like this store, the East Village is filled with other restaurants, cafes, and dessert shops that can amaze your taste buds. Did you know that you can find takoyakis, rice balls, falafels, cannolis, Belgium fries, etc. all in the East Village? There are so many eateries featuring different cultures in this area that make it impossible for you to try all cuisines in a limited time.

That is why New York Food Tours is a great way to experience the gastronomic aspect of the East Village. We make sure we take you to all the best spots and have tastings of all the best “good eats” so that you leave feeling satisfied and more knowledgeable about the East Village. You don’t know what takoyakis are? You’ll try them on this tour. Never tried a falafel? Don’t worry! Join our tour so that next time, you can be just like a local and wow your friends!

Pizza, falafel, cheesecake, hot dog—you name it, these foods have been New York City’s favorites for over centuries. But recently, a new sweet treat has reached the crowded city of busy New Yorkers: cupcakes.

(Source: www.yelp.com)

Cupcakes became famous around the 1990s as part of the post-diet fad of sugary stuff and as a component of the girly-pop culture. However, cupcakes have quickly embraced the entire US dessert culture, and New York City ranked as the city that consumes the most each year.  A typical New Yorker will describe a good cupcake as not too sweet, flavorful and delicious, and moist, with a perfect butter cream frosting.

Popular bakeries include Sex and The City’s favorite, Magnolia’s Bakery and the Greenwich Village’s top spot, Sweet Revenge. After Carrie and Miranda devoured a cupcake in a bench outside of Magnolia’s Bakery, its popularity rose tremendously. Its cupcakes are fresh and not too sweet, but for not too many gourmet ingredients, they usually come at a high price with an extensive wait.

(Source: thevoguecity.com)

On the other hand, Sweet Revenge has a more cakey texture with a more favorable taste due to its use of gourmet ingredients. New York Food Tour’s Greenwich Village tour has long been stopping at this popular cupcake spot, ranked as one of their most favorite stops by our customers, due to its more cakey texture topped with the best butter cream frosting—a sure sign of a cupcake made with quality ingredients.

Sweet Revenge is a must stop for the Greenwich Village tour, leaving customers overly satisfied with a happy-sweet-ending. This versatile, one-serving size cake has packed New York City’s streets, bringing adults back to their childhood memories. Hands down, New York is the place to taste cupcakes, offering a nostalgic and sweet memory to take back home… especially Sweet Revenge’s moist and tasty cupcake!

One cannot visit New York City without eating its famous tomato and cheese pies. This Greek invention slowly modified by Neapolitans into tomato and cheese pies was brought to New York in 1897 by Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi. His pies quickly became a commodity and an on-the-go food for workers.

(Source: www.nycgo.com)

However, Famous Joe’s Pizza has become the essential pizza for New Yorkers and tourists, defining the true street pizza. Joe’s customers describe its pizza with a thin and chewy crust, thin but not too flexible, with just enough cheese and sauce, and having an ideal symmetry. Ask Ben Affleck what he thinks about Joe’s, and undeniably he will rate Joe’s pizza as his favorite in the Big Apple. This straight-out-of-the-coal-fired, brick oven pizza is definitely the best pizza in the city, prepared daily and with fresh ingredients creating a one-of-a-kind yummy tomato and cheese pie.

(Source: cache.virtualtourist.com)

Located on Greenwich Village, Famous Joe’s Pizza is a must stop—included in our Greenwich Village tour—when visiting the city, not only leaving New York having tasted its famous staple, but the best pizza in the entire city as well. New York City is well-known for its delicious greasy pizza, being the favorite snack, lunch, or dinner for every New Yorker since pie shops can be found as frequent as Starbuck’s on a block.  Famous Joe’s Pizza offers an outstanding pizza that is tried by our Greenwich Village tour members, being the perfect street food for a hunger killer or delicious filling snack.

Whether it is a celebrity’s favorite or the typical New Yorker’s on-the-go stop, Famous Joe’s pizza sure is New York City’s most known obsession. And New York Food Tours has included Famous Joe’s as one of its many tasty stops so that you can taste New York’s best pizza while touring Greenwich Village and learning about its historical background.

As New Yorkers, we are always looking for a quick tasty bite to eat. Sandwiches are a staple and recently there has been an insurgence of the Vietnamese Sandwich known as the Bánh Mì (pronounced BUN-mee). This is usually comprised of thinly sliced carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, daikon, chili peppers, and different meats combined with mayonnaise and butter. The most popular types of bánh mì sandwiches are roasted pork, chicken, and Vietnamese sausage. With Vietnamese, Chinese, and French influences, this sandwich appeals to the masses. Even Food Network featured chefs, Aaron Sanchez & Anne Burrell, love eating this dish as evidenced in the episode of “The Best Thing I Ever Ate – Between Bread”.

Taken by Plate of the Day

It is important to note that this dish is meant to highlight the meat and the freshness of the bread. Taking a bite into this sandwich you experience salty, crunchy flavors with the warmth of the meat and bread.

This is one of the items you taste on the Exotic Southeast Asian & Chinese Food Tour. And remember, a stale breaded sandwich is a sad sandwich so be sure to stay with our recommendations at New York Food Tours!