Ninth Ward - New Orleans bar in East Village

H & I were on our way to try a new restaurant when we came across to Ninth Ward.
A New Orleans bar serving southern food.


Southern food is my favorite American regional cuisine.
Without hesitation, we abandoned our original plan and walked into the bar.


There was a small outdoor garden in the back that was pretty packed with the happy hour crowd.
We decided to sit in the cozy booth in the back. 


First order of business: give me some Hurricane!


Fried pickles with Gribiche (Herb & Caper Mayo)
Something I have never tried before.  
The idea of it was really strange. But it actually tasted good!  I would so order it again.


Buttermilk fried chicken with Nola sauce, slaw & abita beer biscuit
I must say that I had better fried chicken before. 


Gumbo with chicken, andoulle & shrimp
On the other hand, Gumbo was awesome!
Loved the spicy andoulle sausage, the rich flavor, and the grilled toast.


Beignet
We knew that there was no way the beignet in Ninth Ward was going to live up to our expectations. 
There is only one place to eat beignet, and that is Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. 
However, we had to have it for sentimental reasons, and I still enjoyed it!



Ninth Ward is an interesting bar with creole decor and cool vibe.
The food is decent and the price is very reasonable.
Come have a drink when you are in East Village. 

BIerhaus - German beer garden in Midtown East

H came to pick me up from work one Friday afternoon,
and I asked him to wait for me at Bierhaus, a new beer garden near Grant Central Station.


It was quite surprising to have a beer garden in midtown Manhattan on the second floor of a regular block.
All the after work crowd were there and the place was pretty noisy.

The unexpected authentic decor and the Bavarian folk band caught us by surprise.
We were a bit suspicious and worried that it would just be one of those "theme restaurants".


However, when H was able to order food in German with the waitress dressed in Dirndl, we were sold!


Wienerschnitzel – Breaded pork fillet. Served with potato, red cabbage and cucumber salad.
It was good as any. 
The only bone that H had to pick was that the salad should be placed in a seperate plate
so the sauce would not soak the breaded pork fillet. 


Bavarian cream – A Bavarian cream custard with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.
Enjoyed every bite of it. Similar to the cream puff.


More beers please!


Bierhaus is a fun place with a lot of energy. The crowd and noise are just part of the whole experience.
It is a great place to go when you need some beer therapy after a hard day of work.

Shanghai: After thoughts

It was a real struggle writing about our Shanghai trip for many reasons.  I admit that I carried some emotional baggage, whether justifiable or not, which was hard for me to experience Shanghai on a clean slate.  On top of it, the blogger failed on me and wiped out two days of my work, which surely did not help the situation. (Note to myself -  always save a back up draft.)

Growing up with the shadow of intertwined history between China and Taiwan; seven miserable years working for a Chinese owned company in New York where I witnessed many unethical and questionable business practices; the fact that China remains to be one of the most tightly controlled communist countries…. the list goes on.  All of them fed into my negative impression of China as a whole. 

When friends asked how I liked Shanghai, I had trouble forming a precise and neatly packed answer.  I knew that I liked certain geographical areas of Shanghai: Pudong,  the Bund, Tianzifang, and Xintiandi.  The rest of Shanghai failed to impress or excite me.  As for H, he also had a similar mix of feelings towards Shanghai.  

Since I grew up in Taipei, and Taipei was the first city in Asia that H was introduced to, it was hard for us not to compare both cities. And yes, we are probably biased.  We may have a different impression of Shanghai if we have not experienced Taipei.  So, don't take our words for it, Go visit Shanghai, and tell me what you think. 

Tips -

• Transportation:  The Shanghai Metro was a great way to go about town.  But the last trains of all lines stopped between 10 to 12 PM.  If you stay in Shanghai for few days, using the Shanghai Public Transportation Card would be a good option to save you the hassle to purchase tickets for every single ride.  Purchase the standard card not only is cheaper but also allows you to get refunds for the remaining balance at designated Metro stations.  Taxi is a great option for transportation which is cheap and convenient as well.

• Language: It might be challenging for foreigners who do not read or speak Chinese to navigate outside of Shanghai without a local guide.  Many of the railroads, metro, museums or tourist information websites also do not have an English version.  Make sure to do your homework before the trip if you are not with a tour.

• Public restroom: There are plenty of public restrooms in Shanghai, but many of them do not have toilet paper and hand soap.  Purchase some paper soap and take them with you. You can’t find paper soap in Shanghai.

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