Luxury Japanese-Influenced Desserts @ Luxee, Pho and Banh Mi @ An Choi

It's always been a bit of a struggle finding great dessert spots in NYC mostly because I have a certain sugar threshold and most dishes are way too sweet for me.  I guess it's for that reason that I've always had a soft spot for asian desserts - particularly japanese-influenced courses.  My desserts hitlist:

• Kyotofu: Kyoto-style desserts, lots of innovative uses of tofu
• Otto: fantastic gelatos and dessert concoctions from Batali's brainchild
• The Redhead: get the caramelized banana nut bread if you want an instant gut-punch of nostalgia
• Basta Pasta: a wicked molten chocolate volcano
• Veniero's: a good italian dessert standby in the neighborhood
• ChikaLicious Puddin'
• John Dory: just try the treacle pudding and you'll understand (trust me)

This past weekend, I hit up Luxee in the LES, a spot that's been on my wishlist for a while and I have to say I would go back again and again. 

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Luxee (Japanese/French, Dessert)

The Decor: (6.5/10) 

I wasn't a big fan of the decor mostly because of the strangely depressing yellow lighting in a narrowish LES cafe but I did love the nice glass display up front showing off a strong line-up of desserts.

Interior Photo credit: Metromix

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The Food: (9.5/10)

The food on the other hand, was divine and most were incredibly cheap for the amount of time, care and ingeniuty involved.  When was the last time you ordered a dessert in a restaurant that blew your mind and cost less than $6?

Luxee describes itself as a seasonal, organic, natural and modern japanese/french-influenced dessert cafe with a heavy focus on the aesthetics and design of its dishes.  I'd say Chef Shirakawa's creations definitely live up to the concept. 

Banana Imperial: Sweet chocolate mousse, jasmine cream brulee, banana gelee, sauteed banana, whip cream, streusel ($6)

Quite a mouthful of ingredients but all the components really worked well together.  I loved the little leaf peeking out of the top of the dessert and the sauteed bananas were deliciously creamy and caramalized.  I'm a big fan of jasmine but would have thought that it wouldn't be a good match for such a banana-heavy dessert but surprisingly, it was really delicate and brought out a really different side to the bananas.

Mont Blanc: Marron concasse and marron paste, tomato-rose jam, vanilla cream, chocolate ($6)

This dessert was amazing!!  I've always had a thing for mont blanc cakes but this rendition was absurdly good.  There were so many flavors and textures going on in this dessert that it's hard to keep them all straight but somehow it all worked.  Crushed, candied chestnuts, creamy chestnut paste, a really crispy bottom layer and this delicious tomato-rose jam (though I didn't really taste the tomato much) that lent it a really florally afternote.  I'm still having daydreams about this dessert days after.

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More info and reviews:

Luxee: 6 Clinton Street, LES

FoodistColony Reviews

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An Choi (Vietnamese):

After dessert, we of course logically decided to grab some dinner at An Choi, a much-hyped Vietnamese restaurant in the LES.  It seems like recently, there's been a sudden wave of coverage on the once humble banh mi:

• NYT: Building on Layers of Tradition
• Grub Street: Banh Mi Boom
• eGullet forums

The Decor: (7.5/10)

I loved the feel of the dining room - it really does transport you out of NYC to a tiny roadside dining spot in SE Asia, naked lightbulbs and all.  The only gripe I had was that the stools weren't the most comfortable things in the world and it was quite cramped (but I suppose that adds to the ambiance?)

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The Food: (8.5/10)

Banh Mi Thit Heo Quay: Chinese Crispy Roasted Pigchunks of moist chinese roast pork belly and slivers of crispy skin ($8)

My mouth is watering just revisiting this delicious, delicious banh mi. Apologies for the terrible photos but it was exceedingly dark and I really wanted to dig in.  There are lots of great vietnamese places in NYC and a lot of them are way cheaper than the $8 price tag tacked onto this particular porky delight but there's definitely something to be said about quality ingredients and a deft hand in balancing all the particular elements of a sandwich.  Great bread, luscious pork and crispy skin from a chinatown butcher, cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon and crispy shrimp chips on the side make this a perfect end to a good day of fooding.

Pho Bo - Beef Noodle Soup: a hearty beef broth scented with cinnamon, cloves and star anise. served with rice noodles and brisket & eye round

Delicious, steaming pho in a rich beef broth - not spectacular but great comfort food

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More info and reviews:

An Choi - 85 Orchard Street

FoodistColony Reviews

An assortment of eating adventures

A couple of fun eating spots I've hit over the last few weeks:

Veniero's

Awesome italian desserts in the East Village! I think they've been around for over a century. Highly recommended: cannolis, steamed milk with almond, NY style cheesecake, black forest cake, mocha espresso cake

Veniero's
342 East 11th Street & 1st Ave.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 674-7070

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Super Taste Hand-Pulled Noodles


Hidden way far east in Chinatown, this gem of a noodle shop with fresh, hand-pulled noodles is always a sure bet on a cold winter night. Extremely flavorful broth and chewy, fresh noodles all combine to make this $4 bowl of noodles a perfect combo.

Super Taste
26N Eldridge Street
212-625-1198
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Saint's Alp Teahouse


One of my favorite places in the East Village - bubble teas (almond and coconut are my favorites), marinated chicken wings and hard boiled soy sauce eggs and rice bowls. I'd also highly recommend the pork chop over rice bowl (a staple of snacking in Taiwan).

Saint's Alp Teahouse
39 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10003
(212) 598-1890

A day of fooding - New Malaysia Restaurant and Max Brenner (East Village)

Had a great day of fooding today - a quick recap:

Went to my favorite Malaysian restaurant of all time in the whole city - New Malaysia restaurant (Chinatown). This place is hidden in a little alleyway between Bowery and Elizabeth Street and is still always packed no matter when you go.

Filet of Flounder with green vegetables over rice ($5): (10/10)

Beef Brisket in curry + Hainanese chicken + fried egg over rice ($6) (9/10)

New Malaysia restaurant
46-48 Bowery, New York 10013
Chinatown Arcade btwn Bowery & Elizabeth

Saw the beautifully lit Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center:

Searched for a Wii at both the Nintendo World store as well as the Toys R Us at Times Square to no avail...

Capped the day off with some hot chocolate and chocolate pizza at the new Max Brenner's store in the East Village:

Max Brenner's
141 2nd Avenue at 9th Street

Kyotofu: Sweets with a Far Eastern flair

I've been waiting for Kyotofu to open since September - a dessert shop supposedly imported from Japan and evoking the exquisite nature of Kyoto cooking sounds exactly like my type of shop. It certainly didn't disappoint.

The Decor: 9/10 - The interior is gorgeous - they made great use of the space and made it very cozy. It somewhat resembles a giant cube of tofu, which ain't a bad thing at all.

The Food: 9/10

Daily Selection of Otsumami Appetizer Plate: (From top left, clockwise) 8/10
- Tofu Chicken Tsukune meatballs: delicious! These were really light and airy and well flavored. I'm not sure what the sauce was but it was a bit soy saucy and a bit sweet.
- Edamame: unlike any other edamame you've ever had. They must have boiled these in some sort of stock because they were bursting with flavor.
- String beans with miso/tofu/sesame paste: Nice and crunchy with a light sesame flavor
- Japanese pickles: very refreshing and a good palate cleanser

Kyotofu Kaiseki Prix Fixe zensai, choice of dessert, petits fours - 9/10

Zensai: 9/10
- Black Sesame Sweet Tofu hoji-cha tea syrup, white sesame tuille, goji berry: Ooh, this was so, so good! Really creamy because of all the sesame and tofu and a slightly bitter, mild tea syrup to balance it all out. Not overly sweet at all.
- Sansho-pepper Tofu Cheese Cake shiro-an vanilla cream, shochu ginger, fruit carpaccio - slightly tart and nicely crumbly.

- Yokan with pomegranate - japanese jelly-like dessert - not a huge fan of these but this was pretty good nonetheless.
- Toasted Walnut Tahitian Vanilla Parfait maple soy-mascarpone mousse, caramel apricot sauce - delicious! Everything on the tasting menu was well balanced, just the right amount of sweetness and offered so many contrasting flavors and interesting textures that you wouldn't normally think of.
- Warm Chestnut Mochi Chocolate Cake green tea-anko cream, fig yokan - one of my favorite things in the tasting - the mochi chocolate cake was chewy, bursting with chocolate flavor and the green tea-anko cream was smooth and creamy - a great replacement for boring old whipped cream.
- A rice pudding (can't remember the details)

Okara cookies: 8/10
To polish everything off, we finished our tasting with okara cookies. These cookies are made from soybeans and are supposedly one of the most popular diet foods in Japan. Very dense, chewy cookies with a yummy green tea glaze.

All in all, a wonderful tasting - this is probably the best dessert tasting I've ever had next to the tasting at WD-50. The array of dishes offer a lot of novelty but all the dishes are rooted in Asian flavors and have the subtlely that defines truly great Japanese cuisine.

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