Village Voice Choice Eats 2009

My coworker B told me about this event months ago, and as usual, I procrastinated and by the time I wanted to get the tickets, they were sold out. Luckily one of his friends couldn't make it so I took the spare ticket.

The event was a huge success, a lot of people turned up, so much so that they line extended from Lexington all the way to Park Avenue. New Yorks would do anything for food.

There were 50 odd restaurants, and it was quite a feast. Luckily we got there pretty early, below were my favorites:

Porchetta. Roasted pork with crispy skin mini sandwich, need I say more?

Fette Sau. By 7:30 it was "finito", but luckily I got to taste the beef tongue pastrami and bourbon brined pork cheeks before it ran out. I ♥ Fetty Sau.


No. 7. I haven't heard of this place before but the vanilla pudding with miso banana was insane, I ate it, twice!

Extreme Hungary. I don't know what the pastries were but Mr. Hernandi, I don't think you need your day job at the Hungarian Consulate anymore because this is your true calling!



Peppa's Jerk Chicken. It was very tasty, I love jerk chicken, it reminds me of my Brooklyn days. The sauce it came with was tongue-numbing spicy though..

BarBao. The last thing I ate of the night was the spicy beef salad with pomelo (although I didn't taste any pomelo in it) - it was sweet, spicy and light. An absolute delight. BarBao is the mastermind of Chef Michael Bao, who also opened Baoguette. He was there that night at the baoguette stall.

I also had:
Fatty Crab. They were serving nasi lemak. The rice was too mushy, the curry was too watery but the sambal packed a punch. I wished they did one of their tea sandwiches, those are so yummy.

Mama's Food Shop. Decent mac and cheese with white and cheddar cheese with smoked ham hocks.
Motorino. Jelly bombolini, a little too sweet for my liking.
Margon. Good cuban sandwich but slightly forgettable.
Pinche Taqueria. Great fish taco, and very generous portion.
Salumeria Rossi. They were serving some panchetta, sopressata, and some good quality stuff. I've been to the restaurant and loved it.

Some of the things I missed were:
Momofuku Milk Bar. By the time I got around to it, which was around 7:30, it was all gone! I overheard a few angry people complaining.
Baoguette. I tried twice, the line was insane, and I was too full for a sandwich. :(

I wished I wrote down what I tried because I definitely ate more than what I wrote here but who could remember once the food coma kicked in? I took some pictures after I finished eating and by then (around 8pm) it was uber crowded and I didn't want to deal with the crowd and went home - happy, stuffed!


More pictures of Village Voice Choice Eats 2009, The 69th Armory @ 68 Lexington Ave & 26th Street, NYC here<