All The Divine (Crispy) Items You Must Try At Vandal In NYC

Inspired by Chef Chris Santo’s travel around the world, the exquisite menu at Vandal - the hippest new restaurant located on Bowery Street in New York City - highlights the eclectic cuisine of global street culture from New York to Korea to Italy and beyond.

1. Crab Tostadas

On top of crispy plantain chip is a generous lump of crab meat, fresh mango salsa, and aioli with a dash of pepper flakes and micro greens.

2. Sticky Rice Dumplings

These piping hot, fried dumplings are made with sticky rice for the much desired chewy texture on the inside and crispy outside, and filled with juicy char siu pork over a bed of sweet red chile oil.

3. BLT Pizza

A twist on everyone’s favorite sandwiches, the BLT Pizza features charred broccoli, crispy prosciutto, and fresh mozzarella atop thin and crispy pizza dough.

4. Crispy Bao Buns

These magical, fried buns are crispy and buttery, and packed with tender brisket and creamy Asian slaw for the perfect balance of eclectic flavor profile.

5. Crispy Eggplant

While the Crispy Eggplant only appears in the “Extras” section on the menu, this eggplant dish is perhaps the best eggplant I have ever tried. The miso-glazed exterior is charred to perfection for the crispy texture, while the inside is soft and moist to highlight the essence of the vegetable.

6. Two Pound Whole Lobster Scampi

Sure, this lobster dish lacked the “crispy” texture, but the massive, two pound lobster is stuffed with creamy garlic rice pilaf with spinach. The generous amount of lobster meat packs buttery, rich flavors.

7. Matcha Lemon Semifreddo

Perfect for sharing, this dessert features a scoop of semi-frozen green tea custard over blueberry compote, and topped with crispy, zesty candied lemon.

8. Vandal S’Mores

The deconstructed s’mores at Vandal includes moist, rich brownie topped with fluffy marshmallow meringue, with a scoop of graham cracker ice cream sitting on top of crispy, thin chocolate “spoon.”

Perfectly Braised Eggplants and Slimy Chilean Bass at Taiwan Cafe in Boston

There was one Chinese restaurant in Davis, California, that my family and I used to frequent. I would always get its lunch special of General Chicken (fried chicken "balls" marinated in sweet & spicy sauce) and chow mein or fried rice with eggroll and today's soup. After realizing how greasy and MSG-loaded Chinese food is, however, I tried to avoid it as much as I can. I actually haven't been to a single Chinese restaurant since I came to college, but my cravings won over and I decided to go to Taiwan Cafe in Chinatown for early dinner on Sunday.

According to my friend, the place was closed for a while for renovation and recently had its re-grand opening. That would explain the confettis, ribbons, and ballons in the restaurant. The first dish we ordered was Home-Style Braised Eggplant with Basil ($9.95).

I would order this dish over and over again. The eggplant was cooked just enough that it wasn't too mushy or tough. The eggplants were lightly sauteed and mixed in slightly spicy and sweet sauce. The basil added a layer of savory yet bittersweet flavor to the dish.

I have never ordered a fish entree at a Chinese restaurant because the skeptic in me doubts what they serve is what is actually on the menu. Because my companion was wanting to try the bass, we decided to order the Steamed Chilean Bass with Ginger & Scallions ($18.95).

The filet was cut open, served flat on a wide plate. It was marinated in soy-teriyaki sauce with julienne-styled scallions on top. The fish tasted very tender and soft, although I didn't like the bits of bones throughout the filet. I also wished the chef had taken the scale because it was disgusting to look at! It certainly made me squeamish.

Fujiyama's Fantastic Eggplants and Sushi for Those Who Can't Eat Raw Fish

I am a huge lover of "mushy" vegetables. Among my absolute favorites are kabocha squash (more commonly known as butternut squash in the US) and eggplants, both of which I can get a most Japanese restaurants. On my solo trip to Fujiyama, a small Japanese restaurant in Yorkville, I ordered the Miso Eggplant ($6) without much reservation.

It took about 15 minute for my eggplants to arrive. I was slightly surprised by what I got on the plate: two huge slices of grilled eggplants with thick miso paste sauce on top.

Though the presentation was nothing delicate like you would expect at a Japanese restaurant, I couldn't wait to take a bite of the eggplant. The eggplant was mushy enough to cut with a fork, but I still used knife as well to avoid making any mess.

Wow, the taste of the eggplant was beyond expectation! It was grilled so well on the outside without losing the juice. The miso sauce was slightly too sweet and salty, but I used some of it to accompany my roll. I would seriously come to Fujiyama just to order this eggplant dish. It was phenomenal.

For my main course, I ordered one of the Specialty Rolls, Aurora Rolls ($15). I chose the most expensive menu on the item because I came here on Tuesday (?) during which the restaurant offers a special deal of $12 for all Sushi rolls.

The Aurora Rolls had steam lobster, shrimp, avocado, sundried tomato, mango, cucumber and cilantro inside. It was wrapped with pink soy paper.

Granted that I couldn't really tell the difference between shrimp and lobster, I was nonetheless pleasantly surprised by the amount of lobster in the roll!

The scent from the cilantro added a nice taste to the sushi. I also liked the addition of sundried tomato and mango! The duality between sweet and savory always works magic :)

The soy paper didn't have any flavor or taste...It's basically for people who don't like seaweed, but you still need something to wrap everything and that's where the soy paper comes in to play.

After I finished my meal, I realized I had consumed nothing raw...is that truly possible at a Japanese restaurant? Essentially, Aurora Rolls is a great entree for those who can't really eat "real" sushi ;)

Savory Chicken Meatball and Silly $20 Minimum Charge at Aburiya Kinnosuke

When most people think of Japanese food, they conjure up images of tempura, sashimi, or sushi rolls. But Japanese cuisine is quite eclectic, and it extends beyond raw fish.

A friend and I went to Aburiya Kinnosuke, an upscale izakaya style restaurant in midtown east. The restaurant specializes in robata grilling. Aburiya rivals another izakaya restaurant nearby called Sakagura.

The restaurant's menu was written entirely in Japanese with English translation written in handwriting that was very difficult to read. Per the waiter's recommendation, we ordered Tsukune ($9.50), or grilled ground chicken. There were original and teriyaki sauce, and we chose the latter because the waiter personally liked that one better.

Tsukene was definitely a hit! Tender, savory ground chicken meat was wrapped around an asparagus stick. The meatball had sweet teriyaki sauce that was fire-grilled to the exterior, adding flavors deep into the interior as well.

The dish also came with a side of semi-cooked egg that you could dip the chicken meatball. It definitely added richness to the grilled meat. My one complain is that the portion was extremely small for the price, and it left something more to desire.

The second dish that came to the table was Cooked Salmon & Salmon Roe ($12) over a bed of rice. I personally prefer raw salmon to cooked ones because it preserves the rich, fatty taste of the fish. Besides, salmon gets really dry when cooked.

The salmon roe was salty enough that it went well with the plain rice underneath.

The dish wasn't anything too special. I probably wouldn't order it again, especially because the salmon was overcooked and tasted dry.

The third dish is probably the least aesthetically pleasing, but tasted really good. It is Mushroom Kamameshi Rice ($16). The rice is cooked in a stone pot and different kinds of mushroom is tossed into it. I didn't really understand why this dish was so expensive compared to others...

My friend and I were quite full from all the rice dishes and was ready for the check. Then the waiter surprised us by saying that there is a minimum charge of $20/person, and that we would be charged $5 extra because we didn't spend enough money. Even though we were full, we decided to order one more dish rather than getting charged extra amount for nothing.

We chose Marinated Eggplant Topped with Grated Yam and Salmon Roe ($6). The dish had such weird textures! Soft, mushy cylinders of eggplants were surrounded by the gooey grated yam.

I couldn't really look at this dish because the eggplants resembled snake body. Yikes. I am a huge fan of eggplants, but I realized I prefer them much more when grilled because these were super slimy. Perhaps I didn't like this dish because I was "forced" to order it...

I would only come back for an order of Tsukene, but since I would have to spend a minimum of $20/person, I probably won't make my second visit. I also felt like I was hit in the back of my head for finding out about this "rule" only after I had all eaten my food and was ready to pay.