Hot Artichoke Dip with Crisp Bread and Endive Leaves – $10 plus $2 for Endives

It’s a perfect appetizer to share between 2-4 people.
Freemans is located at the end of an alley between two streets in Lower East Sides.
Extremely low-profile because it does not have any signs.
Go early to avoid long wait since the restaurant only takes reservation for parties of 6+.

End of Freeman Alley (off Rivington b/w Bowery & Chrystie) New York, NY 10002
Phone:  (212) 420-0012
www.freemans restaurant.com

Yook Hwe-$14.95 (serves four unless you know you love it, then this may be good for two)

Yook (meat) Hwe (raw and edible) [pronounced: yuqwe] is an authentic Korean appetizer. The sesame marinated beef tartar is served with thin slices of garlic, Asian pear and cucumber, and with the raw egg yolk on top, nothing is cooked in this dish.  The way to tackle this ball of thinly shredded meat is to break the yolk and mix all the ingredients really well so that each bite contains some spicy raw garlic, sweet juicy pear, crispy cucumber and of course some beef. I threw in some Kimchi and the flavors blend well. It is very raw, but with the strong flavors of the condiments and the heavy sesame oil base marinade, you cannot really taste the rawness of the beef. Though the sliminess, especially with the egg yolk mixed in, is inevitable.  Give it a try, you will be excited by the adventurous textures and flavors if the idea itself isn’t enough. Even my sashimi-intolerant  friend enjoyed multiple servings of it and said he will definitely return for more. Koreans know their meat and sauces but make sure you trust the quality and freshness, extra important when things are RAW, but from my experience, this is not something you have to worry about at Woo Lae Oak.

3201 Algonquin Road,
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3830
(847) 870-9910

Purple Potato Skins – $9 (3 pieces)

This is the first starter listed in Lola’s fancy menu wrapped in real leather, $9 get you three pieces of purple potato skins and $3 for each extra piece. They are topped with sundried tomato creme fraiche, roasted garlic cloves, smoked bacon bits, chives, with American sturgeon caviar. This is an elegant take on the otherwise simple baked potato skin usually boringly topped with bacon and cheddar. The choice of purple potatoes was well-made as they matched the pretentious caviar. I thought this appetizer pleases the eyes more than the taste bud, the creme fraiche clearly dominates both the flavors and texture. You see many condiments, but you only experience one.

2032 Harrison Street,
Hollywood, FL 33020
(954)927-9851

Steamed Minced Pork Buns (6 pieces) – C$5.99

Steamed minced pork buns in English and 小籠包 (xiao long bao) in Chinese, a world renown Shanghainese dish from the also world renown Chinese joint Ding Tai Fung which started in Taiwan. Although not the original store, the restaurant still does their buns right. The buns’ skin is thin enough so that the focus is on the core. The generous amount of minced pork in the middle coupled with a decent amount of strong pork flavored soup provides the perfect explosive kicker when eaten whole. Vinegar on the side for the buns is a nice acidic complement to the appetizer.

3235 Highway 7 East, Unit #18B, Markham, Ontario, Canada
Phone: (905) 943-9880

Plain Rice Crepe – C$2.40

The above picture may not look so plain with all the sauces, but the word “plain” designates the lack of stuffing within the rice crêpe. The rice crêpe comes drizzled with sweet soy sauce, but most connoisseurs tend to eat with the varying degrees of  red hot sauce, sweet plum sauce, peanut sauce and sesame seeds. The store’s specialty is rice crêpe, that being said, it was extremely smooth. The texture on the tongue was borderline silkiness of drinking Fiji water. The rice crêpe was so soft and delicate that it could split into two pieces if held tightly between your chopsticks, but this is not an indication of an undercooked rice crêpe rather the perfection in timing.

黃三記 (wang sam gei)
4390 Steeles Avenue East, Markham, Ontario, Canada
(Inside Market Village Mall, Unit B14)
Phone: (905) 479-1074

Warm duck confit salad $10 (Brunch) $9 (Dinner)

Warm duck confit with haricots verts, frisée, tomato, lardons, crispy potato and poached egg.

Sardine’s duck confit salad is a phenomenal experience of textures,
pieces of tender duck confit (duck salted and slowly cooked in its own fat),
along with fresh long green beans, some
baby cubes of bacon, and
thick potato crisps,
tangled by the frisée, topped
with a poached egg,
soaked in just enough olive oil,
sprinkled with fresh ground pepper and salt.

A great size for brunch, or as an appetizer for dinner.

Sardine
617 Williamson Street
Madison, WI 53703
608.441.1600

Escargots de Bourgogne – $8.50

Snails with butter, garlic, and parsley served on a ridiculously hot escargot plate. The escargots have volume and substance, definitely traits to be prized for. My companions and I found that the left over butter, garlic, and parsley in the escargot plate was a great dipping sauce for the complimentary toasted french baguette.

560 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 422-0224

Three Prime Cheeseburgers – $6.00

Morton’s known for its expensive and quality beef offer a special menu during specific hours (usually between 4:00-6:00pm) at specific Morton’s. Their ‘bar bites’ menu offer several small dishes for $6.00 dollars with one of them being the Three Prime Cheeseburgers. Crisp bun, juicy USDA prime-aged beef , red onion, tomato slices, and lettuce, all attributes of a delicious burger.

2 Seaport Lane, Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 526-0410

Sauteed Pork Tongue – $9.00

Grilled and sauteed pork tongue with spicy soy sauce on the side. A chewy delight.

61 Grove Street, New York, NY
Phone: (212) 242-3699

Japanese Veal Liver Sashimi – $9.00

The veal liver sashimi has sesame for the added texture and scallions to accentuate the taste with the spicy soy sauce. A small bite.

61 Grove Street, New York, NY
Phone: (212) 242-3699

Tomato Rice Soup

555 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA
Phone: (781) 235-5322

Thinly Sliced Prosciutto with Fig Jam and Crostini 15.00

The sweet fig jam is infused in the toasted slice of bread where you can layer the thinly sliced prosciutto (cured/aged ham) to eat it together. Truly a delightful appetizer under the Primi (first course) section on the menu.

92 Central Street, Wellesley, MA