Tag Archives: spring rolls

Flashback Friday – Calle Dao

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Happy 2021! It’s been an interesting and unprecedented 2020 with the pandemic that turned the planet upside down. We are very grateful to be alive, healthy and employed *knock on wood*. One of major changes that took place in 2020 was the shutdown of business especially restaurant and food industries. Many famous restaurants, mom and pop restaurants and even landmark restaurants closed down permanently because their businesses suffered tremendous loss due to the restrictions that were set in place in order to keep people safe.

Prior to the pandemic and shutdown, my friend recommended an emerging restaurant chain somewhat that specializes in Cuban Chinese Cuisine. The restaurant is called Calle Dao. There are two locations one in Chelsea and the other in Bryant Park. They have a sister restaurant called Favela Cubana. They had happy hour until 7pm for discounted drinks and food. My friend and I have only been to the Bryant Park location because it was convenient especially during this pandemic. We came on a Monday evening during the summer and early this week for outdoor dining. The first time the outdoor dining setup in the summer was an open space. Recently, the restaurant revamped their outdoor dining space by building adding walls all round and heaters above every table. The new setup was very cozy, warm and toasty. We had the same server, his name was Marvin. Marvin was very nice, friendly, accommodating and generous. More importantly due to increased expenses incurred during the restaurant’s 10 day closure to set up outdoor dining for the winter, an 8% COVID surcharge was now added to the check. The COVID surcharge was implemented by NYC around October to help restaurants sustain themselves. Anyways, let’s get to the food and drink:

  • Tostones $8 during Happy Hour
  • Shiitake Spring Rolls $10 during Happy Hour
  • Crispy Wings $9 during Happy Hour
  • Sangria $8 during Happy Hour
  • Prosecco $8 during Happy Hour
Happy Hour Grub from 4pm-7pm Monday to Friday

Tostones – great deal for a solo meal and definitely meant for sharing.

Shiitake Spring Rolls – pricey for the portion, but a great option for vegetarians.

Crispy Wings – another great deal but it is definitely sticky and messy.

Sangria – a must have here and highly recommended; they also have the option for a white sangria. FYI red wine is more health benefits than white.

Prosecco – a great alternative if you want to go light on the alcohol

In addition to happy hour bites and drinks, we also ordered additional food, which appeared to be pricey, but deceivingly large that we ate half and took the other half home. Both dishes tasted amazing and it’s low carb.

  • Biān Pào SALMON $31
    Pan Roasted, Glazed with Sriracha, Ginger & Cilantro, Saffron- Black Sesame Cauliflower Rice, and String Beans
  • BEEF & BROCCOLI $28
    Smoked Short Rib, Shiitake Mushroom, Chinese Broccoli dressed in Garlic Hoisin (it comes with noodles, but my friend was on a low carb diet)

We will definitely return to explore our happy hour deals at all three locations and definitely try their brunch menu. This restaurant is worth trying especially if you want to experience Cuban Chinese cuisine.

Cheers to 2021!!

Throwback Thursday – Thai Villa – NYC

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I finally made it to this amazing restaurant.  This amazing Thai restaurant gets really crowded and they do not take reservations on Fridays and Saturdays.  Plus, reservation are taken only for more than 6 people.  Therefore, I highly recommend that if there is a group make sure that everyone shows up on time or else you will have to wait a long time.  Wait time can go over two hours.  It’s a great place to have dinner with a group of friends. 

Food was amazing and service was on point for a very busy restaurant.  While I waiting for my friends, I had the mango sunrise mocktail, which was very refreshing and held me over until everyone showed up.  Once all my friends showed up, we were finally seated. 

Mango Sunrise

Once we were seated, we decided to go family style after observing other diners’ main order entrees.  To start we ordered the:

Pak Mor Puk ($9): Vegetable crepe dumplings made up of chives, cabbage, jicama, black mushrooms and bamboo shoots and served with roasted bell pepper-peanut vinaigrette dipping sauce. These dumplings are served in few Thai restaurants and is dish that is served to Thai royal families.  The dumplings are to die for.  I wish there would be more than four dumplings per order, but watching how these dumplings are assembled and made, it’s no easy task, hence the price of the appetizer. 

Pak Mor Puk ($9)

Por Pia Tod ($9): Crispy vegetable spring rolls made up of glass noodles, taro root, shiitake mushrooms and served with plum sauce. These spring rolls were standard and solid.  They come 6 rolls per order. 

Por Pia Tod ($9)

Sa Koo Sai Moo ($11): Tapioca dumplings stuffed with minced pork, peanuts and sweet turnips and served with green leaf lettuce.  Another dish that takes a lot of time to make let alone master.  There are five dumplings per order.  These dumplings are the best finger food/bite I have had and there are only a few restaurants that do it correctly, this is one of them.  Definitely worth the $11. 

Sa Koo Sai Moo ($11)

Spicy Chicken Wings ($14): Deep fried marinated tom yum flavor wings with Thai herbs garnished. These wings are a bit messy but tasty. Unsure if it’s worth $14 for 5 wings. 

Spicy Chicken Wings ($14)

Chicken Satay ($11): Grilled marinated chicken on skewers, served with peanut sauce, cucumber relish, and grilled brioche. The dish was standard, glad that the dish included the grilled brioche to make is more complete.  The peanut sauce is really good made the overall dish well balanced. 

Chicken Satay ($11)

For the entrees we shared the following:

Chicken with Cashew Nut ($17): Spicy chicken with pineapple, jicama, cashew nut, roasted bell pepper, scallions and chili jam. Served with jasmine rice.  The dish was very good and authentically spicy enough for the Thai American crowd that could handle spice. 

Chicken with Cashew Nut ($17)

Kaeng Neur Lamyai Bai Chapoo ($27): Braised jarret beef, betel leaves, curry paste, coconut milk and longan meat, served with Jasmine rice.  This dish is not served in many Thai restaurants, but it was definitely worth the price.  The dish had well balanced flavors and the right amount of spice kick which complemented well with the rice. 

Kaeng Neur Lamyai Bai Chapoo ($27)

We also ordered a side of Steamed Assorted Vegetables ($5), which was a good amount for the price and it complemented the spicy entrees. 

Steamed Assorted Vegetables ($5)

Finally, the dish I have been wanting to try and waited over 10 years is Royal Pad Thai ($24) which is pad thai encapsulated in a crepe.  In this case, this dish is made of prawns, shallots, bean sprouts, chive leaves, peanut bean curd and dried shrimp wrapped in net. The dish is beautifully presented and definitely worth the price because it could feed more than one person.  A one of a kind.

Royal Pad Thai $24