Enjoying the Raw Food Trend at Quintessence in East Village

Whether one orders a burrito, pizza, or burger, the entree that comes to the table at Quintessence—a 100 percent organic, vegan, and raw restaurant in East Village—will be served uncooked. Quintessence takes the diners on a unique culinary experience, offering innovative dishes made with ingredients that are not found in a typical kitchen pantry, such as kamut, nut meat, and fofu (yes, that's tofu with an f!).

For an unconventional taste of traditional dishes, try the Italian sausage pizza ($15.50) topped with savory nut meat, nut cheese, and tomato sauce. It was a bit weird trying a cold pizza, but it worked for this one since it didn't have cheese to begin with.

The pizza had an interesting dichotomy between strong nutty and sweet flavors. The pizza dough, which is not baked, had some sort of a grainy, granola-bar like texture. The tomato sauce tasted sweeter than your usual marinara sauce, whereas the nutmeat and the nut cheese had flavors that were surprisingly reminiscent of their real counterparts.

The Indian platter ($21) is a lighter alternative to the typically rich malai kofta, a vegetarian meatball made with chickpeas. The Indian platter included two chickpea balls covered in creamy almond curry sauce with sweet mango chutney and tamarind sauce, side salad, two pieces of kamut bread, and tangy cucumber “yogurt.”

I really enjoyed the cucumber yogurt. Since I am lactose-intolerant, I tend to avoid dairy products unless I am really craving them. This yogurt satisfied my cravings without the sore stomachache aftermath. I am not sure what the green dressing was, but it complemented the salad well. The kamut bread was rather disappointing because it tasted so bland.

The malai kofta didn't disappoint! Traditionally, this Indian dish uses loads of heavy cream and the chickpeas are deep-fried, adding tons of calories to the meal. However, this lighter dish came with chickpea balls that were binded without frying, and the creamy almond curry sauce didn't have any cream. It probably used almond fat or coconut milk.

The sweet mango chutney on top of the chickpea balls were pleasant additions. My only wish is that I could had more of it! The brown tamarind sauce tasted like teriyaki sauce to me.

The chickpea balls were quite dense and a bit dry on the edges. I would have preferred it if the chef had put the curry on the plate first and then the chickpea balls, but because he/she did it the other way around, there were no curries to dip the chickpea balls underneath. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my first raw-food experience!

If I Were Indian...Indian Feast at Cafe of India

One of my favorite cuisines is Indian. A dollop of spinach curries on a fresh-baked naan? Yum! For my second birthday dinner, a couple of my friends and I went to an Indian restaurant called Cafe of India. My friend who always gets an appetizer got Samosa chaat, which I would describe as "Indian nachos."

Even though my favorite dish is the spinach curry, I didn't want something too heavy and creamy. I also wanted to try something new, so I decided to get the Chicken dosa (South Indian Style Rice And Lentil Crepes Served With Coconut Chutney And Sambar (Lentil Soup). I was so surprised by the size of the dosa! It was gigantic. The crepe, unfortunately, was pan-fried on a buttered skillet...it was extremely greasy :( The crepe also wasn't stuffed with enough fillings.

All my other friends got curries with rice and naan. What a feast!

Korea This Winter?

My tutoring lessons are wrapping up, which only means the days until I go back to the U.S. is creeping behind my back. Even a couple days ago, I was quite depressed about leaving Korea so soon, but not anymore. It's not that I won't miss Korea or I'm ecstatic about going back. Instead, an opportunity arrived and I caught it.



Yesterday while Skyping Mom, she told me she received a text message from someone asking for me. She told me grandma's number, and soon after the cell phone rang. The person turned out to be a girl I met at Harvard dinner in Seoul Club, and she asked me if I was interested in joining a non-profit that she has created. The non-profit is hosting a winter leadership camp for Korean high school students, and if I were to be on the board member, I would create a lesson curriculum and help with logistics. The perk is that I would get to come to Korea this winter with the airfare paid for by the sponsor of the non-profit! I can't quite describe my joy except that I am so grateful for this opportunity.



After tutoring Sally for the last time today, I met up with the creators of the non-profit for lunch. We discussed the non-profit and what is expected of me as a board member. Unless something unexpected happens, it is set in stone that I will be flying to Korea again in 4 months. Whoop~



Anyways, to continue my food posting, we went to an Indian restaurant called Dal. The boneless chicken tandoori was a bit too spicy and the chicken curry too creamy, but I was pretty hungry so it all tasted good nonetheless. I had to gulp down several glasses of water while eating this chicken tandoori.



I always say Indian food is one of my favorite cuisine, but I don't like it when the curry comes out way too oily & creamy, i.e. when the oil floats on the surface, as was the case for this curry. I guess I should just eat Indian food in the U.S.