Thursday Night "Date Night" on Hiatus

Thursday night date night was temporarily suspended this week leaving me benched. The combination of basketball (Duke vs. Pittsburgh) and the South Beach vacation of Cyndi (our little one's amazing caregiver) sidelined any hopes I harbored of engaging in uninterrupted adult conversation with Carl. (Luckily, there was time for adult conversation today during a holiday lunch at Chanterelle with my friend Maria, but that's another post). I'm anticipating more Thursday night cancellations in February and March during March Madness. Fortunately, I think I can enlist my friend Emily to join me for Thursday night dinner during that time.

In prior years, I made the trek up to Madison Square Garden (MSG) and enjoyed watching the Pittsburgh players (not the least because many of them appeared to be football players sidelining as basketball players, and yet remained amazingly light on their feet.) This year, I wasn't too keen on watching the Duke players. For me, Duke is too much of a well-oiled powerhouse and many of the players seem to be already playing for the NBA which defeats the excitement of college basketball.

Even the offer of Korean food - Carl and I have many favorite Korean restaurants on 32nd street between 5th and 6th - couldn't entice me to head up to MSG. Despite my enormous love for kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage) and pan chan, (the assorted small gratis offerings of pickled vegetables, raw fish or meat - some spicy and some bland - that accompany every meal in a Korean restaurant), I opted to trudge disconsolately downtown. It seemed prudent to go home and console my bruised soul with crackers and Olga cheese (courtesy of Saxelby Cheese).

Unfortunately, my Montrachet cheese from Max at Formaggio Essex had dried up because I kept eating spoonfuls and did not wrap it properly. Eating Montrachet is like eating fresh cream. But back to Korean food... My very first date with Carl was at Gahm Mi Oak (43W. 32nd Street between 5th/Broadway). I remember being extremely impressed that he not only suggested a type of food that had been on my shortlist for awhile, but also invited big daughter along. She didn't go, but the thought counted.

For some reason, on that first date, Carl wore an inordinate amount of clothing: two sweaters and a jacket (was it that cold in mid June, or was he even skinnier back then?) Looking back, it's clear that my willingness to share food was crucial to the possibility of future developments between us. Our first meal together foretold a lot. The restaurant was (and remains) a clean, spartan space and the style of the food matched the setting. I've since figured out that Carl doesn't like things complicated.

We shared a thick soup with noodles and vegetables and a Korean beer. The soup is called sollongtang and is famous as a hangover cure (we don't drink but perhaps we needed a different kind of cure.) Since then, after repeated visits to 32nd Street, I've become enamored with the big, overblown Korean bbq style places where you sit at a table with a gas grill and sear pieces of meat, fish or vegetables, which arrive all diced/sliced and chopped. There is something extremely comforting about eating Korean food while presiding over your own personal fire-burning grill. Even the way the waiter/waitress lights the grill appeals to me. The process is so organized and orderly, I wonder how the world can ever seem unpredictable.

For awhile, we were returning to Kang Suh (1250 Broadway - on the opposite corner of that horrible Manhattan Mall) and sitting upstairs to do BBQ. When we saw that the waiters were unhappy about our request to share one order to grill, we decided to move on. It was impossible to eat that much food. After that, we opted for Mandoo Bar (further down 32nd - closer to 5th Avenue). Mandoo Bar is smaller and has more snack-like offerings, which are perfect for us. There is a large glass window through which passerbys observe the making of dumplings, which come filled with pork and scallion or kimchee.I think there was (briefly) a Mandoo Bar at University and 11th Street (between Dean and Delucas and Patsy's Pizzeria). It seemed out of place and ultimately closed.

Hangawi (12 E. 32nd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenue) is a completely different kind of Korean restaurant - very zen-like and root-vegetable oriented. Diners sit in their own little self-enclosed rooms, which are very peaceful. I'm recollecting the sound of water gurgling around us. During a meal with Carl's mother, we all managed to remain calm and tranquil and I remember cold sweetened teas that tasted like tropical juices.

Recently, we tried (and liked) a new favorite place. I think it's called Hang Suh (on 32nd closer to 5th Avenue.) Carl's former co-worker JoAnne had also recommended we try it. We were lucky enough to be seated immediately. Usually, there is a horrifically long line. Indeed, such a line started to form as soon as we began eating. I thought perhaps I should eat very fast, but the waiter seemed to be in no hurry so I followed his lead.

Re: Korean food downtown: Li Hua (Grand at Baxter). I think they are connected with Mandoo Bar -the clean, mod design of the space is very similar. Li Hua is not as bright and warm as Mandoo Bar, but the food is very good especially during winter. Whenever my big daughter and I eat there, ColdPlay is on the soundtrack and we inevitably lapse into melancholia at some point during our meal. She has even become teary at times so we keep that in mind when heading over to Li Hua. I always get the BibimBop, a rice/vegetable dish that is served sizzling hot in a little stone pot. I prefer it without egg. If you eat it with egg, the raw egg yolk is mixed in by the waiter/waitress tableside. I like eating the different vegetables resting on top of the rice while they are still very hot. I add dashes of the hot red sauce as I do this.

Most people love the very crispy rice at the bottom but I ate too much rice as a child. With an Indian father, we literally ate rice every day and I cannot eat one grain more. Big daughter and I usually share the crisp avocado salad with carrot dressing. She always orders the Beef Bulgogi. This requires that she enter into protracted negotiations with the waiter/waitress to substitute lettuce for the rice. Although we offer to pay for the heads of lettuce involved in the substitution, it always unnerves the staff. Almost every diner in Li Hau seems to involve the seafood style pancake (called hae mool pajun)which looks like a eggy pizza and is actually very tastya>