Halal Guys.
A little hungover from the previous day's festivities, I had one thing on my mind. Halal guys. A quick subway trip to midtown and we were there. There were at least 3 carts, all serving the same delicious food, so just pick the one with the shortest line, but be careful as there are many imitators. Just look for the dudes in the yellow jackets and you'll know you're in the right spot.
Accept no imitators.
For under $8, you'll be hard pressed to find a better, more filling meal in this city. It is just so so good. I ordered the combo rice plate and Amy ordered the chicken rice plate. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of lamb, but the lamb at halal guys was exquisite, not gamey at all. Once topped with their legendary white sauce and mixed together, you're left with spoonful after spoonful of heaven. Fluffy rice seasoned perfectly with their spice blend, chicken bits that are so crusty yet moist and best of all, that red sauce.
I'm always searching for sauces that can satisfy my spice craving and this one checks all the boxes. Extremely spicy but still flavorful, unlike some of the ghost pepper offerings I've had. Under the heat you can taste the sweetness of the peppers and the other spices mixed in. I slathered mine.
The perfect meal.
There's no seating at the cart we went to, but that's ok. You'll want to be near by so you can keep adding more sauce. I can't wait until the Berkeley location opens, I'm going to be there everyday.
Joe's Shanghai
After a trip to MoMA and seeing some of my favorite paintings ever, we hit up Joe's. This was touted having better xiao long bao than the venerable Din Tai Fung. It was nat.
Steaming basket of disappointment
Let's start with the skin. XLBs at DTF are TAF. Translation - xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung are Thin as Fuck. So thin yet strong enough to contain all the juicy goodness. Not so at Joe's. Thick skin that still somehow managed to rip when you picked up the dumplings, spilling all their juices into the steamer and not into your mouth. When I was able to roll the dumpling onto a spoon, I was met with a cloudy broth, tainted with pork blood, at least it tasted ok.
We ordered the crab XLB as well, and I guess they must have never heard of a dungeness, because the crab flavor was so weak, it probably doesn't even squat bro.
Baohaus
A few hours later, it was dinner time and we headed to Baohaus, Eddie Huang's spot. I so wanted to love it, because I love Eddie Huang's work. His videos on Munchies, his writing and his TV show, all were consumed with gusto. But I didn't love it, I didn't even like liked it. It was good, but not great. The chicken that was in the bao was really good, and if you can only get one, get the Birdhaus. The pork belly was just ok, and the tofu was pretty tasty. If you've had Chairman Bao in SF, you've had better.
Coffin bao on the left, Uncle Jesse (center top) The Chariman (middle) The Birdhaus (center bottom) and sweet Bao Fries
The vibe was really cool though, with hip hop blasting and lots of pictures and articles about the man himself on the wall. It's worth a visit if you're in the area. The bao's are only a few bucks each and small enough that they won't fill you up, leaving room for more food.
Special WTF Section.
WTF is with all the garbage bags everywhere?!?! Does no one recycle?!
Oh yeah, we did some tourist stuff too. MoMA was great, highly recommended. We also went to the top of Rockefeller Center, a $25 ticket to ride on an elevator, but it was cool to see the New York city skyline from that high up.
Starry Night. Such a beautiful painting.
Melted clocks.
View from Top of the Rock.
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