Explore The Street Food Around The World At Vandal In NYC

The menu is inspired by street foods around the world at this eclectic, hip restaurant in NYC’s Lower East Side neighborhood.

HONG KONG FRENCH TOAST

Don’t mistake the Hong Kong French Toast as any other French Toast on brunch menus. Three pieces of french toast are stuffed with sweet red bean paste. The toasts are crispy on the outside and topped with rich milk tea syrup, powdered sugar, and fresh strawberries.

CHILE NOGADO ‘HUEVOS RANCHEROS STYLE’

The mini bite-sized taco shells are topped with juicy ground beef, soft scrambled eggs, and pico de gallo in this shareable appetizers inspired by Mexican cuisine.

CRISPY CHICKEN + HONG KONG EGG WAFFLES

While the dish resembles the fan favorite chicken and waffles, the Crispy Chicken & Hong Kong Waffles tastes infinitely better. On top of a green egg waffle is a delicious chicken katsu with perfectly crispy edges. The dish is topped with tantalizing sauces and braised collar green.

Savory and Sweet Brunch Menu at Henrietta's Table

When my mom came to visit me from Korea, one of the restaurants we dined together with my friends was Henrietta's Table. I have only been here once during Restaurant Week, so I was excited to try its food when the restaurant isn't too hectic and crowded.

Since we were there on Saturday afternoon, Henrietta had a limited fixed menu. All the items were $17, whether you get seafood or sandwich. I ordered Grilled Swordfish with Sauteed Vegetables. Henrietta's Table prides in its use of organic and locally-grown ingredients. I thought the swordfish was a bit overcooked. The sauteed vegetables were drenched in oil so it was too greasy for my liking. I did appreciate the wide selection of vegetables, which included grape tomatoes, green beans, cauliflowers, and carrots.

My friend opted for the Turkey, Bacon, and Tomato Panini with Potato Salad. This entree was definitely overpriced (not worth $17 for sure...). In between the pressed sourdough bread were smoked turkey, bacon, and sliced tomatoes. I could probably make this in the dining hall. The potato salad was made with red tomatoes with skins and mixed in mayonnaise.

The Crystal Valley Farms' Rotisserie Chicken with Creamy Corn Polenta was a decent serving. I am not quite sure what was on the top of the chicken, but I am guessing chopped celery...? I used to like chicken a lot, but nowadays, I don't find it very savory. I prefer lamb chop :)

My mom also got the Grilled Fish, but she got it with butter sauce at the bottom. I was confused that she had more variety in vegetables. For example, I didn't get a single broccoli!

The only sweet brunch dish on the menu was the Challah French Toast. It had three huge slices of challah bread, smothered in an egg batter and then pan-fried. It was served with glazed and buttered apple with whipped butter and maple syrup.

Three-Course Sunday Brunch at Upstairs on the Square

The name of the restaurant, UpStairs on the Square, is certainly not a misnomer. This quirky New American restaurant in the heart of Harvard Square offers two floors of dining experience, with each level decked out in unique decorations.

The first floor--The Monday Club Bar--is a casual space with rose-colored bar on the side and purple wood-paneled dining room. From the black and white checkered floor to the artisan chandelier on the ceiling, the Monday Club Bar offers a friendly environment for diners to enjoy their food while soaking in the panoramic view of the Harvard Square right outside the window.

A level above is the UpStairs Soiree Dining Room, "reminiscent of a glowing and colorful jewel-box-like supper club," according to its website. The upscale, exuberant soiree room features round windows facing the park as well as elegant fireplaces at each end of the room. I have heard that a lot of wedding receptions take place in this room.

My first visit to UpStairs on the Square, I dined at the Monday Club Bar on the first floor. Since I went with a group for Sunday brunch, we had a prix fixe 3-course menu. For our amuse-bouche, we received a smorgasbord of pastries, scones, and muffins with a square of butter on the side.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of overly sweet bread, especially as amuse-bouche because it tends to ruin my appetite. The bread basket included coffee cake topped with chopped walnuts, mini blueberry muffins, and cheese scones. My favorite was the coffee cake, and I particularly loved the crunchiness from the walnuts.


After sipping on two glasses of green tea and some bread, the waitress brought our first course: Fruit Two Ways with Market Fruit Salad and Smoothie Shooter. Since I asked for a lactose-free version, I didn't get the smoothie shooter. Quite frankly, I was disappointed because all I got was a plate of some strawberries, raspberries, and lots of grapes that tasted a bit bitter. I expected the chef to make me something fruit smoothie-like without the use of dairy...

This is what the appetizer actually looks like...with the Smoothie Shooter on the side. I tasted a little bit of the smoothie, and it just tasted like lukewarm, liquidy strawberry yogurt. I really wasn't missing much by not having that on my plate!

For the entree, we had a choice between savory and sweet. Of course I chose the former, which was eggs benedict with ham. Again, I took the nontraditional route and asked the waitress if I could substitute ham with something else because I do not eat pork (not for religious reason...I just don't like pork). She said I could choose between the vegetarian-friendly avocado and smoked salmon, and I opted for the latter!

The Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict & Homefries was quite petite in its portion. There was an ample amount of smoked salmon and well-poached eggs atop two halves of toasted English muffin. I skipped the hollandaise sauce because that plus egg yolk are too creamy for me. The homefries was slightly burnt, but I liked that it wasn't too greasy and had spicy seasonings.

My friend got the Smoked Ham Eggs Benedict. I thought the restaurant could have put more effort into plating...it looked like a mouse had scurried over the plate and spread the homefries apart and nibbled on some smoked ham.

I don't think anyone would be able to consume hollandaise--that thick, yellow sauce--if they watched the process of how it is made. Essentially, hollandaise sauce is just a mix of egg yolk and exorbitant amount of butter.

Only one person on the table opted for the sweet option, which was Old-Fashioned Brioche French Toast with Warm Maple Syrup, Blueberry Compote, and Bacon Strips. I personally can't start the day with sweet food because then my stomach will likely ache for the rest of the day.

Brioche, the type of bread used to make this French Toast, is very high in egg and butter content, which gives it a rich and tender texture. The blueberry compote seemed overly sweet and a bit artificial. I liked how the chef balanced the sweetness of French toast and compote with savory bacon strips.

As though we weren't already stuffed, the waitress brought platters of desserts. We all decided to share the desserts, which began with a trio of Housemade Ice Cream with a Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookie. The flavors of these ice creams were vanilla, chocolate, and toffee. The ice creams were very rich and creamy.

The Zebra Cake, or chocolate layer cake with chocolate ice cream on the side, would appease any chocolate lover's dream. It had three layers of dense chocolate cake with caramel frosting and topped with dark chocolate ganache. The cake was a bit dry, but the chocolate ice cream on the side helped to moisten it.

Finally, the special dessert that I ordered was a trio of Sorbet. The flavors were watermelon (by far my favorite!), raspberry, and orange. Sorbet was the best way to finish off a meal because it left a very refreshing mark in my mouth. Yum!

All-American Brunch at Colby's in New Hampshire

On our way to the downtown area during our spontaneous trip to New Hampshire last Sunday, we asked the taxi driver to recommend what we should do in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

"Well, there isn't much to do around here," he said, "except eat and drink!" Well, that sounded just perfect. He named some restaurants that he liked, one of which was Colby's, which specializes in breakfast/brunch. While walking around the town, we ran into Colby's so we decided to try it out.

Will ordered hot chocolate, which came with generous amount of whipped cream on top.

If I wasn't allergic to chocolate, I would have loved this. It looked very rich.

I had The Down East Special ($7.99), consisting of two eggs any style, choice of pancakes or French toast, home fries, and choice of bacon, ham, sausage, veggie bacon, or veggie sausage. As you can see from my plate, I got two poached eggs, veggie sausage, and homemade cinnamon swirl French Toast for $1 extra.

The French toast was sprinkled with powdered sugar. I skipped the butter.

The French Toast was sort of hard to cut into. Unlike the ones I had in Korea, it was much harder and not as moist. It almost tasted fried or at least pressed really hardly on the pan. I poured a generous amount of maple syrup to make it more moist.

The taste of the cinnamon was so strong that I couldn't taste the egg on the outside. When I poured the maple syrup over the french toast, the powdered sugar melted and coated right onto the toast to add more sweetness. The French Toast was huge and very heavy because it was lathered with butter before covering it with eggs.

The veggie sausage tasted just like regular sausage...I really hope it was vegetarian!

The sausage was made with soy. It was crispy on the outside. I ate it with the poached eggs because it was too salty by itself.

The very bland-looking poached eggs. The egg yolk was cooked too much because I usually like it slightly watery.

Ash ordered two servings of blueberry & white chocolate pancakes ($5.99), also sprinkled with powdered sugar and a dollop of butter.

This pancake must have been the special of the day because it was written on a chalkboard rather than on the actual menu.

The little piece of pancake I had was quite delicious! It was fluffy and sweet. Don't tell my aunt, but it tasted better than her pancake at her restaurant in Berkeley ;)

Will ordered the same menu as I did, except with regular French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon. The regular french toast was much thinner and smaller. I probably should have ordered that (and probably couldn't have finished it either).

In addition to the pancake, Ash had the Wester Omelets ($7.99) with ham, bell pepper, Spanish onion, and cheddar jack. The omelet came with a side of home fries and a choice of toast.

Tyler ordered the same thing as me and Will (probably the most popular deal!) with pancakes, over easy eggs, and bacon.

Although my mouth was happy while eating the breakfast, my stomach hurt a lot after probably because the restaurant used ton of butter and oil in its food...the French toast was covered in butter even without the added butter on top and the home fries, when I first took a bite of it, all I could taste was the margerine. Too heavy for my stomach to handle! :(

Judging from how packed the restaurant was, Colby's probably well-known in the area. But for me, I don't think I can handle heavy, American breakfast food.

Starting the Day with a Breakfast Buffet at the Seven Square

Hotel breakfast buffets are the most overrated, pretentious place ever because they provide mediocre, unsubstantial breakfast food at ridiculously exorbitant prices. While staying at the Plaza Hotel on the night before the WingSharers Conference, I dined at the Seven Square buffet on the second floor of the hotel.

Because I woke up at 5:30am, thanks to my jet-legged friend who arrived from LA that night, we decided to just go down to get an early breakfast at 7:30am. The hours are 6:30 to 10 am, and it looked like we were one of the first customers.

We were seated by the window, but couldn't see anything outside because the sun had not risen yet. Right as we sat down, the waiter asked us for coffee or tea. After sipping on my lukewarm earl grey tea, I sought out the buffet bar.

Before taking the picture of the buffet, I customarily asked the waitress if photography was allowed. She asked the chef, and he said as long as I am not disturbing the customers, it should be fine. Since it was early enough, there weren't very many diners. Score!

It was interesting that they had a salad bar at a breakfast buffet. There were seafood salad (but it looked like shrimp was the only sea creature...), olives, tomato and fresh mozzarella, and squash!

The squash was mixed with honey glaze sauce that wasn't too overpowering and topped with pumpkin seeds. I would have been happy with just a platter of these squash. The squash was slightly overcooked--just the way I like it because it is softer to chew that way. Some pieces were way too overcooked to the point they tasted jerky, however.

The overview of the buffet. See how there is only one guest? At first I thought the buffet just wasn't popular, but by the time I left around 8:30, it was much more crowded.

Fresh fruits are very expensive in Korea. Oh, how I wish HUDS would serve something like these in the dining hall! The fruit salad was a mix of semi-sweet kiwi, refreshing Asian pears, and not so special apples. The grapes were so big and fat, while the pineapple was sweet and juicy.

The rice corner...you could make a mini bibimbop with all the vegetables and kimchi. Koreans traditionally eat heavy breakfast to start the day right.

Pastries from a European bakery called Eric Kayser. The paper underneath was stained with excess butter from the pastry. Yikes. I had a bite of that orange mini muffin. It had a hint of pumpkin spice with walnuts. A little too dry for me.

Cereal and oats on top, sugared dry fruits, and nuts & seeds. I really miss having cereal for dinner...haha

Of course I didn't eat the cheese, but I took it for the sake of Mommy because she always has some brie cheese. It also reminded me of ancient Greeks gorging on grapes, wine, and cheese.

Baguette that you can slice from the table.

Different types of sausages and other meat. My friend said they had two types of bacons as well: crispy and tender.

There were pea soup and abalones porridge in the black pot with various toppings on the side. Porridges are sort of like the Korean oatmeal.

The waffles with whipped cream, blueberry jam, and maple syrup. By far one of the worst waffles I have ever had. They were extremely dry, bland, and chalky.

The pancakes were even worse...They were crispy on the outside not from being grilled just now, but from the chalkiness.

I was amazed to see how many different ways one could cook an egg! Steamed beaten eggs on the left, boiled eggs on the right.

Scrambled eggs and poached eggs!

The chef on top cooked not only omelet-to-order, but also rice noodle-to-order. For breakfast???

From left to right are some type of grilled fish that was so dry it tasted like it was grilled for 24 hours, hashed potatoes, bacons, and egg plant gratin that looked very unhealthy. Too heavy, too early!

My first plate included squash (inevitably), fresh fruits, fried rice, poached egg, and abalone porridge. The fried rice had grilled mark from the grill and the tossed sesame seeds added a new twist to the flavor. The egg yolk in the poached egg was half cooked and the creamy yolk helped to make the otherwise dry fried rice somewhat softer. The abalone soup was bland.

The plain yogurt with melons, pineapples, and watermelon. I wished the yogurt was more sour and creamier...where is my Greek yogurt?

Although the pancake and the waffle were horrendous, the French Toast was a delight! It had the fluffiest center that dispersed and melted in your mouth. Also the blueberry sauce on top added moistness to the toast.