Emeril's Tchoup Chop

Tchoup Chop is an Asian Pacific restaurant from US celebratory chef Emeril Lagasse situated in the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando. The name is a nod to New Orleans' famous Tchoupitoulas Street, where Emeril's flagship restaurant is located.

The menu reads well with creative dishes. We ordered from the a la carte and a set menu, the portions were on the large size, which we now expected in the US but yet managed to over order again! 

A starter of seared ahi tuna poke nachos was huge with piles of wonton chips, guacamole and Hawaiian chilli pepper alioli. This was a great snack with meaty chunks of tuna.

The signature starter was the Tchoup Chop crunchy shrimp with hot and sour chilli glaze. Three big hunks of fried shrimp with a tangy sauce.

One dish we could of done without if we knew how big the portions were was the surf & turf maki, blue crab, cucumber, Hibachi skirt steak, Asian chimichurri and white truffle oil. Whilst sounding great we didn’t think it worked as a dish with the steak being too tough served as sushi and being a tad dry overall.

Our mains were the most interesting. Kona coffee spice pork tenderloin, shishito pepper, corn bread, spaghetti squash, cherry agro dolce and apple cider ginger butter. This was inspiring and the mixture of flavours worked surprisingly well.

Less successful was the baked seafood cobbler, edamame mushroom ragout and truffle scented lemon herb streusel. Whilst very fragrant it became a chore to eat towards the end as the streusel became clay like when mixed with the ragout.

A dessert of baked Hawaii in a jar, coconut cake, vanilla ice cream, meringue and caramelised pineapple was a very end to the meal.

Overall some interesting concepts with some hit and misses, but bold enough to experiment.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar, New York

Momofuku is an institution in New York, founded by David Chang and serves modern pan Asian food through its numerous outlets in different guises. We visited Momofuku Ssäm Bar in the East Village after a long days shopping at Woodbury Common. Not knowing the neighbourhood we froze as we approached a queue of some thirty people and breathed a sigh of relief when we realised it was for Momofuku Milk Bar across the road which serves its famed cereal flavoured milk and crack pie.

However the wait for two at the Ssäm Bar on a busy Friday night was forty five minutes and we headed next door its bar, Booker and Dax, for some cocktails. After some fine cocktails we headed back and where immediately seated. We can recommend the Son of a Peach and Tropical Thunder cocktails, the attention to detail from the bartender was amazing and he remade one of the drinks twice as he wasn’t fully happy with them for some reason, rather than serving a substandard drink.

We started with Washburn Island Oysters with plum mignonette, for oyster lovers like us the variety of oysters available in New York is astounding and these were among our favourites from the trip.

Striped bass with plum, ginger and cilantro provided us with another light and fresh appetiser before the forthcoming meat dishes.

Perhaps the most famous Momofuku dish is the pork belly steam buns with hoisin, cucumber and scallion. I was happy to see the thick layer of fat around the pork which simply melted in the mouth and works so well with the fluffy bun. A must try for anyone visiting the city.

For mains we chose garlic roasted quail with watermelon radish, black garlic and watercress and roasted Long Island duck with lentils, carrot and prune. The black garlic with the quail was slightly overpowering but overall the cooking of the quail and duck was superb and the flavours generally worked well.

No fuss service with a diverse clientele of suit laden workers blending in with the jeans and tees crowd, it’s all about the food here.

Kitchenette, Manchester

Mud Crab are the guys behind Kitchenette on Oxford Road in the former Fellicini site opposite the Palace theatre.  From the outside its not much to look at with its dilapidated appearance but we were surprised how big it was inside. The menu is a bit wacky to read with sections dotted all over the large sheet, a bit different but I suppose it fits the theme of the restaurant.

We ordered a selection of dishes to share. Mr Nom is always a bit greedy ordering way too much which had me worried about my poor waistline! Chilli crab tacos with mango and avocado salsa kicked off the meal with a good start.

A sticky pork & Asian shredded salad was light and tasty with the sticky soy dressing but I wished the pork was less jerky-like. The use of fried lotus was also different.

From the hirata buns section we ordered a filling of chargrilled skirt steak with a ABC kecap manis glaze. The generous portion of skirt steak was tender and we could have happily devoured it by itself. The hirata buns were fluffy served with house kimchi pickle but were a little thick and heavy, they needed to be more fluffy and light as advertised. 

Each portion of food so far seemed like a main in itself and this continued with the duck & sweet potato hash with a deep fried egg. We ordered the smaller size but even this seemed huge and packed full of duck! 

Despite my protestation Mr Nom also decided to a side portion of mac & cheese which he happily polished off by himself as I was stuffed but also secretly saving a small ounce of space for dessert. I chose the yuzu meringue pie to share and this was tangy and sharp as expected, the marshmallows were lovely but slightly too toasted. 

The fusion elements at Kitchenette daring and different to anything in Manchester that we have tried, and with main meal sizes for small plate prices it seemed rather good value for money.

Wagamama, Liverpool

It’s been a good few years since I last ventured into a branch of Wagamama.  That would change following a recent email from their PR handlers inviting us to a tasting of the new Autumn/Winter menu at the Liverpool One branch.  This is the first meal that was fully comped by the restaurant in the short history of this blog, but that won’t influence our opinions.  Feeling slightly awkward with not having to pay at least the choice of what we were served was made for us with predetermined dishes being delivered from the kitchen.

Billed as a bloggers and press event we were all sat together along two of the benches, around 20 in total.  First up was pork gyoza with Chinese BBQ pulled pork, cinnamon, star anise.  The accompanying sauce we felt was too sweet especially against the sweetness of the pork.  Everyone else seemed to love it, but maybe we are used to more savoury gyozas with sharp vinegar dips.

An opinion dividing juice was next of beetroot, carrot and orange.  Although refreshing and different, personally I prefer my juice to have more fruit than vegetables.  One I probably wouldn't order again.  You could tell who enjoyed this on the table by seeing who left the most.

The first of the mains was introduced by the chef next, a Mahi Mahi fish curry.  The white fish had a texture similar to mackerel; the curry was sweet with a little kick.  However I found it a bit boring and just lacked something for a main dish. Next up was vacuum packed duck slow cooked to remove all of the fat in a citrus ponzu broth, chilli, ramen, coriander and spring onion.  The broth was fragrant, spicy and light but the depth was missing.  The duck was tender and shredded like a dream.

Another ramen dish was next, a vegetarian option with 5 different types of mushroom, king oyster, enoki, close cup, shiitake and chestnut.  The broth was peppery with sesame, garlic, soy and chilli.  The mushrooms were woody and well cooked with some bite.  If the duck from the dish before was served on top of the mushroom ramen then I would be very happy.  The ramen from both dishes was quite soft and I would have liked the option to have them a little firmer.

A prawn curry noodle dish was next, apparently a return of an old dish to the menu.  The curry was bright and inviting with lemongrass and coconut adding to the fragrant and beansprouts and cucumber to add some coolness.   Mrs Nom found the dishes too hot so far but I thought the opposite, this one was just right.  I was apprehensive as to the noodle combination and thought maybe rice would be a better accompaniment.  However the noodles soaked up the rich curry with a deep intense prawn flavour throughout.  We heard someone ask if they had just eaten calamari or prawns which we amused by.

Oddly the next dish was exactly the same as the prawn curry but with chicken instead.  By now we were getting bored of ramen and noodles and the chicken slices were a tad dry and boring.  The dessert for the night was red date and fennel pancakes with star anise and cinnamon ice cream.  This was different and delightful, it went down well with everyone it seemed, although to be hyper critical they were slightly too thick for my liking.

The restaurant was very hospitable laying out wine and also providing a tasting of a green tea and yuzu pale beer.  As far as chains go Wagamama at least try and freshen things up rather than sticking to tried and tested formulas, a mixed bag overall but if presented with a choice of chains for a meal it would certainly be near the top of the mix.