Put the 'IN' in Puddin'

Restaurant Name: Puddin' By Clio

Location: 102 St. Marks Place, New York, NY

Website:  http://www.puddinnyc.com/ 

Price Range: $10 and under (depending on size)

JCL Rating: 7.5/10

JCL's Choice: Banana Cream Dream

As I was wandering in the city aimlessly, I suddenly remembered there were a few spots in St. Marks I saw last time but didn't try yet. Puddin' wasn't one of them. But when I walked by, from the corner of my eyes I caught the name "Puddin'." I had to walk in and see what that is all about. I was just going to look around, but the warm welcome by the cashier/pastry cook caught me off guard. It would feel awkward if I just walk out empty handed. Their puddings are separated into two types; puddings and Clio's signatures. The signatures are already pre-plated. As for the puddings, you can add any toppings to it. 

Puddin' is a very tiny spot with 3 stools. The pastry chef Clio Goodman thought of the idea of having a pudding shop when a friend requested a childhood treat, butterscotch pudding. Everything is order to go. I asked which one is their best seller, and the cashier said the banana cream dream. So I ordered that and one more to confirm its consistency. I picked lemon pudding and a salted caramel sauce as topping.

Banana pudding on top and bottom sandwiching the crumbs, fruit cake and whipped cream

The Banana Cream Dream consists of real banana pudding, graham cracker crumbs, banana fruit cake, and dollop of whipped cream. Dollop of anything just means a lump/small amount of it. A super strong banana flavor. I guess all the other ingredients in this pudding was just for the texture since I couldn't taste any of it. The mouth feel was very rich but gentle. Extremely creamy. I had a regular size banana cream dream. That was a bit too heavy for me. I had to force finish the last few bites. But If I had ordered a mini, it would have been perfect. 

Top layer is lemon pudding, bottom is salted caramel

Lemon is one of my favorite ingredients of all time; regardless if it was savory or dessert. The refreshing smell cleanses your senses. The acidity with a touch of tender sweetness pulls all the underlying flavors of the ingredients. It is truly an amazing ingredient. Anyways, when I saw lemon pudding I automatically relate it to savory. They just happened to have salted caramel sauce, so I had to get it. The pudding itself is very light with a medium touch of lemon flavors. No tartness at all. The salted caramel acts like a bridge that intensifies the sweet and lemony tastes. I just wish it had a deeper acidic taste to it instead of being all sweet. 

Oh, Puddin' also has cookies, cakes and drinks. 

It was certainly a treat to have walked in here. I would come back next time to try some other flavors... maybe the coconut or butterscotch. The roots of this pudding centric shop grew from the thought of butterscotch after all...

On a side note, the post title's "in" refers to trendy. Inspired by the "In" tab in their website. 

Munch away, Cambodian style

All photo credit goes to Cathy Lam

Restaurant Name: Num Pang

Location: 21 E12th St, New York, NY

Website:  http://www.numpangnyc.com/ 

Price Range: $30 (for 2) - Cash only

JCL Rating: 8/10

JCL's Choice: Peppercorn catfish, pulled Duroc pork, corn on a cob

My first Cambodian food experience is in Num Pang, a gourmet sandwich shop opened by Chef Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz. Accompanied by Cathy, we traveled all the way to Union Square to look for this unique sandwich shop. All of the gourmet sandwiches are served on a freshly toasted semolina flour baguette and are made a la minute. You pick up your order and have the choice of take out or go up stairs for the first-come-first-serve seating. 

What exactly is "num pang?" Num pang is the Cambodian term for bread or sandwich. Aside from exceptional food, they have a very interesting concept going on. Every month they will feature a chef in the "Guest Chefs Give Back" program to design their signature sandwich. 6$ of each of the featured sandwiches sold will be donated to charities. For the month of June 12 - July 12, the guest chefs are Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Dan Kluger (Chef de cuisine of ABC Kitchen) creating the ABC Num Pang (poached chicken salad with crispy chicken skin).

All their sandwiches are served with cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro and chili mayo (which we think is spicy mayonnaise). This set up is extremely similar to Vietnamese sandwiches. Anyways, I had the peppercorn catfish, Cathy had the pulled Duroc pork, and we both got the corn on a cob. 

Catfish sandwich

Aside from the perfect combination of the sandwich foundations in Num Pang, the peppercorn catfish was seasoned and cooked perfectly. The house made sweet soy sauce on the catfish brings out the natural sweet flavors of the catfish and at the same time it hides the earthy taste. This is a fish sandwich to the finest. Every bite is succulent. A must try in my books!

Pulled pork w/ blood orange lemonade

Duroc is a breed of American pig. This pulled Duroc pork sandwich that is dressed in the spiced honey gives the pulled pork the moistness that it needs. A touch of the chili mayo combined with the spiced honey forms an incredible duet of flavors after flavors in your mouth. The cucumber, pickled carrots and cilantro then acts as a refreshing agent to get your mouth for the next bite! The balance of flavors profiles is pure genius.

corn on cob w/ coconut flakes

Their signature side dish, corn on a cob that is drenched in chili mayo and topped with sweet coconut flakes is as good as it gets. With this grilled corn, you are expected to get dirty with it. The chili mayo will be smeared all around your lips and you won't want to stop and wipe your mouth until you have completely devoured this poor corn. 

All in all, this sandwich shop is amazing. I highly recommend it. This has got to be some of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted.