April 25, 2019 Trip to NYC Dinner – Oiji

We awakened at 3:45. I got dressed and toasted four slices of bagel and spread them with cream cheese  and garnished them with slices of ham and Dubliner cheddar cheese spread with German deli mustard. Hxhgghxh(++-  c++

We flew to Dallas and then Philadelphia.  We took the regional train from the airport to the Amtrak train station in downtown, a beautiful Art Deco bldg.  Here are some pictures of its interior.

The Statue of an angel lifting a fallen soldier to heaven is amazing!

                                              The History of Transportation

Our train was delayed for 45 minutes but we arrived in NYC Penn Station a bit after 6:00.  We waited about fifteen minutes for a taxi so we took the taxi directly to the restaurant.  Oiji is a relatively small restaurant.  Mickey was already there and Rebecca and Luke arrived soon after.  We were greeted by a very unusual menu.  It combined Korean ingredients and preparation techniques with American and European ingredients.  Some dishes seemed to be rather traditionally Korean, but there are no BBQ
braziers.  All dishes are created and presented beautifully by a group of chefs in the kitchen.

Here is the menu

We started with a mushroom salad with fresh Mia-take, woodea, and shiitake mushrooms coated with rice starch and flash fried served in a bowl of Romaine lettuce garnished with Slices of watermelon
radish, and sautéed pinon nuts and golden raisins  dressed with a dressing made with a nut milk and
the oil liberated from the sautéed pinon nuts.  A very tasty, although slightly sweet dressing.

The other dish served initially was grilled octopus in a Korean gochujang  chili paste butter dressing.  I could not tell what was in the sauce, but it was both spicy and sweet and made the experience of eating the octopus one of discovery of some of the flavors in Korean Cuisine.

Next came our entrees.  Suzette ordered the Daily Special that was a tube of monkfish filet sautéed and sauced with a light chorizo cream sauce served on a puddle of puréed potatoes.  It was the best dish of the night. The reddish brown sauce also appeared  to contain a bit of  Korean chili paste, perhaps just for the color.

 I ordered Truffle Seafood Broth:  Manila clams and shrimp meat with baby bok Choy and sizzling rice cakes served with a truffle broth. The slightly thickened truffle broth overwhelmed the delicate steamed seafood and baby bok Choy, but I loved the attempted fusion of Oriental ingredients with a French ingredient and cooking technique.

Pouring the trufffle broth 

Luke ordered a stew of bone marrow and oxtail with cellophane noodles and root vegetables that was surprisingly slightly sweet. The oxtail must have been cooked all day because the meat and marrow were tender although it had to be held and sucked out it the boney structure.

Mickie and Rebecca shared a Seam Platter which was a small bundle of sticky rice seasoned with soy and rice starch wrapped in a banana leaf and baked served with small bowls of spicey tender chunks of pork and a mustard sauce and lettuce leaves to wraps.  They made one and the pork was surprisingly tender and appeared to be white cooked or, as Suzette suspected, sour vide cooked the
fish and pork because they were perfectly cooked.

After dinner we walked two blocks to Dual Indian Market.  We bought a large container of saffron and Luke bought several items and so did Mickie.

We were on 1st Ave. so Suzette and I shared a cab with
Mickie and Rebecca t her apartment and then had the taxi take us to our hotel at 303 Lexington.
After a long day of travel we were happy to relax and go to bed.

Bon Appetit