INSANE Asian Food Tour 2023! (Filipino Sliders, Japanese Pizza)

I never thought I would be sitting here talking about how good a can of sardines was. It's the flaming Peking duck. I'm drunk. It's the best restaurant in finance tradition. A flaming Peking duck, ube longanisa burger, fancy Lao and vibey Thai food. This is the trendy Asian food scene out in New York City. Always creating, always innovating, always showing you something you've never seen before. Hit that like button and let's go. Everybody, we are outside of the newest Filipino fast casual restaurant out in the Lower East Side, man. This is a really hip neighborhood on Broom Street. About to check out what they got. What are we looking at here? So these are the cheese arancinis. Whoa. These are the pork longanisa ube slider. Wow, ube bread. These are the ube pao. Wow, ube pao. Super soft. And we have the chicken wings in asam. So these are the pork barbecue skewers. It is marinated in banana ketchup, soy sauce, and garlic. What you're looking at is two things. One, you're looking at some very dope Filipino art that is actually on sale. And you are also looking at the first ube breaded longanisa slider. I have never seen this before, man. This is just all the traditional Filipino flavors in a one bite actually between the longanisa and the ube bread because I've never really seen an ube bun before. And I thought that was really creative. I mean, that's what they want to do here at Kolya is just combine and just really show people all the traditional Filipino flavors in like a very like common format. You know, a more like accessible format that everybody's familiar with. All right, here you got your chicken wings. It looks like a bunch of buffalo wings. This has indusol sauce. And that's what makes it different, man. A little sour kick, but spice. There's sweetness in there. Okay, and here we have their version of an arancini ball. Oh, this is a Filipino arancini? Never seen that before. Tons of cheese, tons of pesto. That's good. All right, here you got your pork barbecue skewers, man. I've had these at all different levels. I've had them at Dollar Hits over in LA, which we just grilled ourselves right in front of the restaurant. And then, you know, you can go to all different types of levels of spots. Oh, this is some of the best pickled vegetables I've had. For dessert, last but not least, we got the ube pao. Obviously inspired by the bao. And it's super soft. It's super sweet. It's dripping with like coconut syrup. Look at the inside. Guys, there's not a lot of buns that are this soft. That ube pao is melting in my mouth. What I think is cool about Kalye is that this is like the next level of fusion where it's actually done by people like from Asia, from the Philippines. But they are weaving in different formats and different ways of doing things. What they're able to do is actually deliver a lot of that like authentic Filipino flavor, except just in a different format. Come to Kalye. All right, you guys. Next up on Brand New Asian Concepts here in New York City, we got shishito peppers, pepperoni, and sausage here at Kid Brother. The Italians come at me. We got the sausage and peppers on a pizza. It doesn't get better than that. Oh my goodness. Oh, there's sausage, pepper, then the shishitos. The shishito is such a unique flavor. I'll be honest. It really amplifies the slice because, you know, you got your pepperoni, you got your sausage. We're used to eating that. Then you don't want the shishito peppers. This is amazing. All right, guys. Our next New Asian Concept in New York City has the one and only hard to find flaming peking duck. We're here at Woosh in the Financial District. Let's go check it out. Look at my little duck hanging out there in the closet by himself. About to get eaten. All right. I'm here with the owner, Kevin. First of all, how do you say the name? Is it Woosh? It's Woosh. It's a golden woosh. Oh, golden woosh. Awesome. What type of Chinese food would you say that you guys serve here? We're selling like new fashion fusion, Chinese fusion. Okay. What do you hope to bring that's new to the New York Chinese food landscape? Um, I hope to, you know, have people have American people to try our like southern Chinese food. Okay. Hold on. Oh. Oh, that is the flaming peking duck. All right, you guys, we are looking at a feast here at Golden Wish. This is the flaming peking duck. The reason they put the alcohol on the duck and light it on fire is to make sure that it's extra, you know, additionally crispy right before it reaches your plate. Um, this is obviously not our first time having peking duck, but I'm glad to see that it's more ubiquitous around New York. Because you used to only be able to find it like one, two spots. I think you might be able to find it like 20 spots now. And this peking duck is a little bit different because it's kind of a little bit like the Cantonese siu op, which is the roast duck. So it's spiced more like that, but it's cooked like peking duck. So the skin is super crispy. Yeah. He said that this is southern Chinese style peking duck. It definitely tastes more, almost like maybe star anise, a little bit more than you would on like a northern peking duck. The best peking duck in New York right now. If you like peking duck, you need to come to golden wish. If you guys know anything about Chinese restaurants in 2022, Andrew, and we are at a new one, they're way more pan Asian, but still like in an authentic way, right? You know, they're like incorporating some Western Chinese dishes. For example, the young pie, this is almost like a Xinjiang more like Xi'an dish. Of course, we got some fried shrimp right here. This is going to be from a more coastal region. I love that you can come to a spot, get peking duck, get some southern Cantonese Hong Kong style dishes, and also get a really good lamb rib, man, spiced up nice with the cumin and everything. Andrew, I'm not going to lie. This really reminds me of like a Hong Kong hotels, sort of like, you know, the restaurant. Oh yeah. But elevated version for 2022, man. This is a barbecue pork. I got to say, this was fascinating because there was actually some elements of it being like Western pork. Except it does have a ginger scallion sauce on top. So it's not quite chashu. It's not as sweet. It doesn't have that red candy flavor. But man, that's delicious. Most people eat which is like a ginger scallion chicken. This was pork. All right, guys, here we have another one of their premier items. This is the steamed Chilean sea bass. Oh my goodness. Guys, and if you know anything about Cantonese cooking in particular, they love steamed fish. This is what I grew up on, man. Not exactly Chilean sea bass. They weren't eating that at home. We're eating more salmon and other fish. But yes. Oh my God. Listen, guys, I'm telling you, every dish here has been high quality. I was really impressed. You know, sometimes when you go to these spots in a neighborhood like Fai Dai, you don't know what to expect. Andrew, does it have the guai lou menu with the orange chicken? Let me tell you this, David. So authentic. With these mushrooms, this special mushroom, this is not for the guai lous. Nah, nah, nah. This is, I've only, the other time I've seen this is when we're eating our mid-autumn fest. This is a special mushroom right here. Probably from the mountains of Yunnan, China. Oh, what? That's a fragrant mushroom. That's a magic mushroom. All right, you guys, we're finishing up our meal. But I got to tell you, Andrew, even this like duck bone milk broth that they made was fire. I think the quality is amazing. And this is the best restaurant in finance tradition. You know, if you're trying to take a business meeting or whatever, and you want some good Chinese food, you have to come here. Guys, I know what this looks like. Literally, they lit this piece of cinnamon on fire. I'm drunk. This is a sipping Buddha. Ooh, mezcal. I also have sauce on my Switch. It was a good meal. All right, you guys, there are only two Lao-focused restaurants in all of Manhattan. One of them is Keo. The other one is Dom. As you can see right here, this is the cow meow. This is the sticky rice inside of the bamboo wicker basket. Let's check it out. All right, you guys, I never thought that I would find deep cut Lao dishes here in Manhattan, here in the East Village. Forgive me for the pronunciation. This is jaymaku. This is a pounded eggplant with a little bit of beef. Of course, we've got the raw cabbage wrap dip. If you guys know about Lao food, obviously, it's very similar to the Isan region of Thailand, which is more Northern Thailand. This is a beef skewer. That's a beef skewer. It's been charred perfectly. It's hanger steak. That's one of the best ones I've ever had here at Dom Lao food. When, of course, we got this chicken skewer. I'm telling you guys, it looks hilarious. Sort of just the shape. It almost looks like a mini chicken. But man, it looks good. These are some of the best skewers I've ever had in New York City, at any spot, and it's here at Dom, the Lao food. All right, the last dish we have here is the sardines with tomatoes. This is a quokka pa sai mak len. Sorry, I tried to say it. But this is Spanish sardines topped with charred tomato sauce. Let's get it. It is a can of sardines. Look at that. I'm not going to lie. That tastes way better than I thought it was going to. I never thought I would be sitting here talking about how good a can of sardines was. Shout out to Dom. We are on fire inside of here at Lao Jie right now, okay? Not only do you have the fire, but you got the fire pot right here, the hua hua. Guys, we're here at Lao Jie. This is one of the premier all-you-can-eat hot pot brands in New York City. And let me tell you this. This originates from Brooklyn. And they still got Brooklyn prices. All-you-can-eat hot pot for $35. And if you want unlimited skewers, it's only $42. That's the deal. All right, guys. As I'm throwing in the food, you'll notice that decor-wise, this is actually really meant to be kind of like a 1950s, 1970s back alley of Shanghai. Lao Jie literally means Old Street. Jeremy Lin and a whole bunch of other celebrities used to go to the location in Brooklyn. So you know it is a well-known brand. There's a lot of expensive hot pot spots around New York City. But for an all-you-can-eat spot for this price, Lao Jie is delivering some of the best quality, no joke. As much as there is always a space for expensive Chinese hot pot chains from China, I really think it's cool that Lao Jie is from Brooklyn. And it really fits in Chinatown because Brooklyn's Chinatown, 8th Ave, Sunset Park, is kind of similar still to Manhattan's Chinatown as far as pricing-wise. So it's still a really good deal. It might even fall under potentially a Chinatown cheap eat as far as all-you-can-eat hot pot. Oh, it's good. Onion, cilantro, garlic, chili oil, boom. Peanut sauce, you know. Satcha. Gotta have a lot of satcha. Honestly, as an ABC American-born Chinese, this is kind of how we grew up eating hot pot. It was a lot of all-you-can-eats. And you know, buffets were a lot bigger of a thing when we were growing up. So it's kind of cool to just come back to another all-you-can-eat spot. But as traditional as it is, they do have a lot of like fried chicken wings and french fries here. And you know, to be honest, I do think a lot of people in China do like these kinds of foods too. So to fuse it in with the old school hot pot, with the new school kind of fried snacks, it's kind of cool. As cool as it is to also be eating where the Fu Er Tai are eating, it's also cool to just be eating where Pang Zai would like to be. Pang Zai, you know, being a big hungry Chinese guy. Oh man, we had all the meats. This is beef tongue right here. We had all the veggies, all the fried snacks. I'm telling you, you will not find a better hot pot all-you-can-eat deal in the city. Bar none, this is it. Lao Jie. Let's go over and check on the fire. The Chinese special effects here. This is just mist and a light, but it kind of does look like a flame. Alright you guys, we're at a brand new spot called Mei Wee, representing the cuisine of southern Thailand. A lot of people don't know so many different cuisines in southern Thailand. This is a Ya Dong. They said we got to open up with a shot. You know, take a mango rind. You know, we don't even normally do this, but they're straight from Thailand. I said, hi. Guys, we've got a lot of tods here. We've got head tod, fried mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms. We've got pet tod, which is fried taro. I'm gonna dip this. You guys, get the head tod. Get the head tod. Alright you guys, this is a pak mor. This is a peanut dumpling with a rice crepe, coconut milk, garlic shavings on top. You guys, somehow they managed to make that peanut on the inside taste like meat. I'm telling you, I've never had this dish before. I'm sure there's some Chiew Chow influence like many dishes in Thailand have, but this is something completely unique. You guys, we are looking at a pad thai hor kai. Of course, pad thai is probably the most famous Thai dish in the western world, but this one has a southern flair to it. This is how they do things in the south of Thailand, man. They wrap it up in an egg. I'm sure you could get this in other places because, you know, Bangkok's so mixed up, but I'm telling you guys, some of the things they put in here, very, very emblematic of southern Thai cooking. That is one of the best pad thais I've ever had. As you can see, guys, they're doing things super Thai. The story behind this spot is that they used to always hang out in their apartment and have people over, and they decided to open up a restaurant and have people into their living room, and this is like the manifestation of that. These are both lemongrass drinks. They have a lot of Thai ingredients in them. I'm telling you guys, a lot of people try to do what Mayree does, but they've really captured the energy here. And shout out to southern Thailand. All right, you guys, our next new Thai spot, it's Chomp Chomp. Chomp Chomp is actually the sound of eating. It's also a compliment in Thailand. That's Chomp Chomp. Let's go. All right, you guys, we're at Chomp Chomp. They are from Bangkok. They serve food from all around Thailand, north, south, central. This particular one comes from central Thailand. This is Masaman Nu. And actually, Andrew, it comes from the Indiosphere. So this actually comes more from the Indian-influenced part of Thailand. As you guys know, Thailand is a lot of different things. Obviously, very, very southeast Asian. Has a lot of Chinese influence, as well as a lot of Indian influence. This is from the Indian side. Masaman curry, Nu means meat. I mean, I'm sorry, means beef in Thai. Like we said, guys, they do fuse it with a lot of different things here. The roti, even more Indian. They have french fries. Oh, I did not expect that wrapping the Masaman Nu inside of the roti was going to make that big of a difference. This is a 10 out of 10 bite right here. You guys, there are so many different Thai restaurants and concepts in New York City. And they always have something different on the menu. Some more than others. This happens to have a lot of like fusion cool items. Another Bangkok, central Thailand dish we have is the Kway Teow Ped, which is a duck broth soup. And it's very fragrant, man. I can smell, you know, I've had a couple of duck broth soups in my day. But this one has a lot of smell to it, man. I like it. Very fragrant. I can smell like the five spices to start. Wow, look at the rice noodles in there. Super fat. Let's try it, man. Let's waste no more time. It definitely does have a little bit of medicinal vibes. But it's a lot more sweeter and a little bit spicier than something like the Malaysian Bak Kut Teh. That tastes very medicinal. So I'd say this cuts the difference. But overall, man, I like this dish a lot. This is a really good bowl of duck noodles, guys. I'm gonna take a look at the roasted duck in this right now. Guys, a lot of Thai spots, they're gonna use the roasted duck, like the siu op, straight from like the Cantonese spots. But I think they do their duck themselves, man. Because this looks a little bit different. So, mmm. I mean, you're probably wondering why we're covering so much Thai food. Well, guess what? There's so many new Thai restaurants opening up. They actually do have a lot of different sides to their cuisine, guys. Obviously, it's more than Pad Thai, Pad Kee Mao, Pad See Ew, as we know. And I just love to see the diversity. So I think people are always searching for new Thai dishes. So, man, hopefully they all do well. And our last dish here is the Pad Pong Kare Talay. Man, it's stir-fried jumbo squid, fish fillet, egg, bell peppers, onions, scallions, with a curry sauce. Kare, obviously meaning curry there. Oh, man, this looks actually really good. This looks like more of one of those dishes you will see actually in Thailand. Let me show you the fish fillet. Fish fillet of the Pad Pong Kare Talay. Mmm, very tender. Squid, kind of like calamari, it's deep fried. Listen, man, there's nothing wrong with Pad Thai or Pad See Ew. But it kills me to see you guys still stuck on it. I get it, man. Maybe not all restaurants have this dish. But if you come to a restaurant and it has a list of specials, which this item is actually on the special side, definitely check them out, man. It's definitely worth the experience and definitely worth the flavor because you're just gonna get dishes that you just never even had before, man. Trust me. There's so much dishes of Thailand that are undiscovered or at least unrealized to us.