New York, New York

I imagined a little as I read the headline today.

"Stocks soar on plan for US$500b lifeboat".

The cider of the Big Apple seemed to have sweetened a bit, I sniggered at my bad joke.

Wall Street has become the centre of attraction yet again, after a recent lacklustre trading season which lasted quite a number of months. Well, in fact, NYC has been quite quiet after Godzilla stampeded the city, hasn’t it?

Oh yes, NYC. Madison Square Garden, Central Park, Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty, big yellow taxis and Carrie Bradshaw’s endless complaints (someone stop her, please) of the mathematically derivable relationship equation. We all have a memorable slice of the Big Apple pie, don’t we?

But do we really remember munching anything distinctively New York? No, McDonald’s and Subway don’t count.

If it was true, then I must have had a taste of New York the day I paid my annual e-pilgrimage to Comex. Yes, gadgets turn me on. So do words. And food.

Hoping to be serenaded by Sinatra’s New York, New York and Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind, I got lots of Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown instead. Not that it was a bad thing though. That got me wondered if modernity is the food of New York.

The Meat Platter for 2 was a serious affair. We are talking about pork ribs, roast chicken, chicken cigars, baked beans, corn on cobs, coleslaw and potato wedges on a platter that could fit a whole cow’s head. Do not attempt this if your eating partner is the type that can’t even finish half a plate of chicken rice (I believe some children can do better).

The golden hue of the assorted meat was appetizing while the taste did not totally disappoint. Biting into the pork ribs was a flavoursome affair with tender meat absorbing all the salt, I mean spices. To wallop half a chicken each was quite a challenge when beneath the aromatic skin was nothing but bland white meat. The keywords to success were determination and ketchup. Cooked to the right moment of tenderness though. Billy Joel, get outta my mind now! Whatever batang-like object you call it, KFC to me, still tops when it comes to crispy strips. The crunch, the taste, the aroma, the stroke. Ahhh.. This version, though flavourful (with chili dipping), was rather hard. Despite the generality, for S$36.90, it was definitely value-for-money. No doubt about that.

Now I remember vaguely that New York is famous for its cheesecake. Or is it mudpie? Though I enjoyed the warmness of the chocolate fudge drenching the chocolate pie (S$7.90), I didn’t quite like the dryness of the pie. Give it a bit more butter for that smoothness and I’ll be humming Moon River. The scoop of vanilla ice-cream was a nice touch though, giving the dessert a bit of that ‘yin and yang’ness.

Fastfood chains have been proclaiming the healthiness of their meals but I don't believe that constipation can be prevented with the amount of fiber I’m getting from them two slices of green. Nor can I prevent a runny nose from the amount Vitamin C in the dessert. So, when a peach jello glacier (which the menu claimed was diet friendly) was ordered, I kind of knew what to expect. And I was right. Crushed ice with syrup and some fruits at S$6.90. By the way, I didn’t order that. So, yeah.

If New York, New York was really New York, then I guess New York is all about magnitude, convenience, complex carbohydrate and immensity of taste.

I’m a not diggin’ it too much, but it’s kinda cool.

Sometimes.

*Munching fries and chips while typing this and watching business news*

New York, New York
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Singapore 039393
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