BaoHaus-NYC

BaoHaus

238 E 14th St
New York, NY 10003

As seen on

-Cheap Eats

-The Layover

Pork Belly+ Wutang= Heaven

So I had to do the Momofuku vs BauHaus challange and see who really has the better pork buns (or Baos). For those who don't know, a traditional Bao is a steamed bun filled with marinated pork. BaoHaus is far from traditional. I marched straight from Momofuku Noodle Bar north, only like 4 blocks, and placed my order. First impressions. This place is cool. Laid back, covered in graffiti, playing some hiphop and chill. My kind of hole in the wall. I ordered the Chairman Bao (pork belly) and the BirdHaus (fried chicken). These were so freaking good. Almost like stoner food but elevated. The pork belly was all fat which was a little disappointing, but still good. The fried chicken Bao was my favorite. They have tons of different kinds of Baos for $3-5 a piece. They are kinda small but 2 and some Taro fries will fill you up. Although these weren't as good as Momofuku, i'm not going back to give David Chang my $14 when the same thing is $6 here and I don't have to wait inline. Just writing this and looking at the pictures is getting me salivating to go back. I recommend this place to anyone. I cant say the same for Momofuku. This fine spot is owned by celebrity chef Eddie Haung. He is known for being the trendy dressed, pot smoking, korean wise ass in the NYC scene and can be seen on cookingchannel/foodnetwork/travelchannel etc. He also does an online travel show on Vice.com. He claims to have been the first to bring the Bao to the USA but nobody really believes him. 

Momofuku Noodle Bar-NYC

Momofuku Noodle Bar

171 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003

As seen on

-The Mind of a Chef

-No Reservations

The Momofuku name has quite a reputation in New York. Celebrity chef David Chang has propelled all of the Momofuku restaurants into the spotlight of NYC dinning. Maybe the most innovative and trendy chefs in America right now.

Being a fan i wanted to try his world famous pork buns and his ramen is suppose to be top notch. The ramen was fine, a bit on the salty side. At $16 a bowl, I'd expect better though. Pork belly buns are delicious too, but for $5 each, a pure luxury. You better savor that meat, because it disappears quite quickly, and they don't really give you much of it. Def the best steam buns ive ever had but I can get ones almost as good for 1/3 the price so its a tuff call.

They do some spicy fried chicken family style that you need reservations for. I've never actually been able to try the large format fried chicken dinner, the whole reservation system stinks. I've tried to reserve before, but the reservation system kept failing, and when I called, they told me that it was fixed and I should try again. Well, it wasn't fixed, and I called again, but to no avail. They also only allow certain times for reservations, and given the hassle, I gave up. It seems like an interesting concept though, a tad confusing that they serve southern style fried chicken at a ramen bar.

There's a reason why people flock to the Momofuku establishments, and I think it's because they've bought into the vision that David Chang set out for his restaurants. And I think if you've gotten people to buy in, you've done a good job with keeping up the brand. However, there are different places to get good ramen and pork buns, at about the same quality, but for cheaper (Baohaus). I will say that while the food and the ambiance is pretty good here, due to the high prices and the long, long waits, this is definitely one of those "try it once, only so you know how it is" type places. Good stuff and worth checking out all of David Changs establishments. Don't forget  Momofuku Milk Bar for dessert.

Thrasher's French Fries-MD

Thrasher's French Fries

401 S Boardwalk
Ocean City, MD 21842

As seen on

-Bikinis and Boardwalks

This is boardwalk dining at it's best. Get a bucket of Thrasher's French Fries. There's a long line for this stuff, at least 15 people deep. The line always scared me away but it went alot faster then it looked. You might say to yourself, why wait in line when you can get the next best thing a couple of stands down? Well you gotta find out for yourself. If you're ever in Ocean City, MD and find yourself on the OC boardwalk, then make a pit stop here to get your fried food craving satisfied and then some.

If you're a ketchup fan you will be saddened because there is none here. The seasonings you get are apple cider vinegar and salt. You literally have to drench your fries in the vinegar. Tastes way better. For some reason, it's still crunchy and doesn't get soggy in the cup. Love how these fries have the peel on. My favorite ones are the small super crispy pieces that are kinda scattered throughout.

When you need some food after swimming out in the ocean, playing games in the amusement park, or need a break from the great seafood in OCMD, stop by Thrasher's to try out some really delectable french fries

Num Pang-NYC

Num Pang
1129 Broadway
(between 26th St & 25th St)
New York, NY 10010
Neighborhood: Flatiron

As seen on
-Unique Eats

One can never really get enough Num Pang sandwiches. This would be the second location I've hit up, the first being the one by Grand Central. I have to say that the Flatiron location is decidedly better and nicer provided there is a lot more space plus the addition of actual seats and tables. The food and service is otherwise all the same.

Num Pang makes Cambodian sandwiches. I went with the tiger shrimp and the 5spice pork belly. Their number one would be Five Spiced Glazed Pork Belly. I actually preferred the shrimp. These Cambodian sandwiches reminded me of bahn mi's.  Everything was delicious, the pork was substantial in size, and it was moist and so much flavor everything attacking your mouth. The bread is crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The seasoned shrimp is sandwiched in layers of pickled, shredded vegtables, topped with cilantro. Delightful, to say the least. Top that off with fresh watermelon juice and your good to go. I seriously daydream about these flavors all the time. Total explosion in my mouth. Flavor bomb. Nonetheless, you can't go wrong with the sandwiches here. Num Pang is undoubtedly my number one sandwich spot in Manhattan at the moment.

Francois Payard Bakery-NYC

Francois Payard Bakery

116 W Houston St

New York, NY 10012

As Seen On

-Throwdown

-Unique Sweets

Francois Payard is a household name for most bakers. I've seen him, on Throwdown with Bobby Flay, making his holiday Buche De Noel chocolate/cake log. But what actually got me to go to his bakery was the French macaroon icecream sandwich. Even though French macaroons have taken Manhattan by storm, most people upstate have no idea what it is. They have really no relation to their coconut counterparts. Light airy crunchy disks made from almond flower filled with different jellies and creams. Most recognizable by their rediculious colors. Well this is 2 huge squares of macaroon filled with intensely flavor housemade icecream. They offer pistachio/raspberry, coconut/mango, strawberry/cheesecake, or chocolate. I opted for pistachio rasp and it was amazing. A must try. The flavors in the icecream where so intense and the outer macaroon was crunchy. If they were closer I'd be in trouble. My wife is super jealous she didn't get to try one. Cant wait to bring her here. 

Dominique Ansel Bakery-NYC

Dominique Ansel Bakery

189 Spring St.

New York, NY 10012

As Seen On

-Unique Sweets

-1st Look

The elusive Cro-Nut. How I must eat you. Well I got there at 9am and they were long gone. Dominique Ansel has recently sky rocketed to fame for inventing a pastry not quite a croissant and not quite a doughnut. The trade marked Cronut is sweeping the country by storm with cronut specific bakeries popping up all over the place. Sometimes they are called Cro-dos because they aren't legally allowed to call them Cronuts. Anyways people line up at 6am, 2hrs before the bakery opens, just to score a bite. They are sold out within an hr. So when I strolled in I had no chance. I tried a few other pastries which were perfection like the DKA, cannele, and almond croissant. If you can't score a Cronut get a DKA I heard it's better anyways.

Cronut (not my pic)

Berky's-VA

Berky's

2516 Rt11 N

Lexington, VA 24450

As Seen On

-Truck Stop Paradise

I visited Berky's 24hr buffet about ten yrs ago while visiting some friends in VA. Just recently, they were on the travel channel so I knew the next time I visited my friends I had to stop back. Berky's is located inside the Lee Hi truck plaza. If you have never been to a teal truck stop it is worth the experience. This place is huge! They offer truckers showers, laundry, barber, beds, if you need it they got it. We were here for the breakfast buffet before we hit rt81.  Cool collection of old metal pedal cars and decor. Good comfort food. Lots of fruit, pancakes, french toast, chicken fried steak, biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, etc. Next time I'm in VA I'm going back. Give it a try when on 81 in VA......also it was clean and the service was excellent!