It’s holiday season in NYC! That means lots of dinners for me of course. Usually when I go out to eat with friends and or family, I get to pick the restaurant, because they know I aways pick something good. This time I was all about Fusion restaurants, because it just is so interesting, because possibilities are endless. Thanks to my endless research we all ended up with amazing dinners, creative dishes and a blast altogether. Here are my recommendations for some of the best Fusion Restaurants in New York City:
Hav & Mar
Hav and Mar is a fairly new restaurant here in the Big Apple. Owner Marcus Samuelsson is a chef that is known world wide, and I have already been to a few of his restaurants. He makes amazing food, I have never been disappointed! Chef Marcus was born in Ethiopia, then due to a tragedy, was adopted by a Swedish couple, and spent his childhood in Sweden. In his youth he moved to the US, and started making his mark as a chef here. Hav & Mar is and ode the both Ethiopia and Sweden, as he combines both cuisines in a masterful way. All dishes here are not only dishes I had never had before, but I can feel his life’s journey with every bite. It is quite a privileged treat to dine here.
We started out with the Hav Bread Basket, which included Teff Biscuits, Blue Cornbread, Injera Crisp, Shiro Hummus and Tomato Chutney. Do not skip this. It’s well worth the little upcharge. It’s absolutely an omen of great things to come. We chose the Tuna Tartare (with Miso, Avocado, Injera and Walnut) and the Swedopian (Berber-cured salmon with fennel). Both dishes were super fresh and delicious, and I 100% fell in love with the Swedopian dish. Being from Northern Europe, this dish brought me home for a minute. Our main dishes were Havatini (Bucatini with crab, shrimp and uni butter), which was superb (!), and Addis York, a dish consisting of Ethiopian Doro Wot, Ayib, Fried Chicken, and a soft boiled egg. I had to google some of the ingredients, and after being satisfied with what I read, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish.. Having been to his restaurants before, I could sincerely taste Chef Marcus’ cooking in this fried chicken, it was delightful!
Macao Trading Co.
Macao Trading Co. has been on my list of restaurants for the longest time! It always sounded so interesting to me. Their concept is based on brothels and opium dens of the 1930’s in Macao. Macao was then a Trading Post for the people of the Republic of China, while being a Portuguese colony. As an ode to both countries and their trading union, this restaurant fuses their cuisines in a brilliant manner. The decor of this place is stunning, leading you back in time to days long gone, it’s absolutely beautiful.
We were a much larger group at this dinner, so I got to taste a whole bunch of food! (Yes, everyone lets me taste their food…). First we had the Fried Dumpling with Chicken and Pork Belly. Delicious. I mean, how can you go wrong with pork belly? Ever. Next were the Steamed Mussels with ginger and pea shoots in a coconut broth. Outstanding, first time I tried mussels this way, and I’m here for it. We had a side of Baby Bok Choi with garlic, super fresh and yummy. The African Chicken was made with piri piri, ginger sesame slaw and a peanut curry sauce. May I say wow?? Just awesome and different. We also had the Hoisin Hakka Noodles with veggies, lo mein and a tiger salad on top. Beautifully colorful and beautifully seasoned. One of their most popular dishes are the Macanese Lobster Noodles, and of course I ordered it. I cannot say no to lobster. It was all that and then some. I need more at some point. The lobster tail was perfect, the Shanghai noodles with the kale and chili beurre blanc were immaculate. It truly deserves to be the most popular dish!
Sesamo
Hell’s Kitchen, baby! This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in the city, and definitely most underrated in my opinion. So I was happy to find this awesome restaurant in this neighborhood. Sesamo is an Italian restaurant with Asian influences. Sounds weird? Well, it is not. In fact, it’s super delicious and creative. And please don’t forgo the cocktails. I usually don’t pay much attention to cocktails at my restaurant reservations, and mostly go with wine. But we felt frisky and ordered cocktails, and let me tell you, they were so, so good! They also incorporated Asian and Italian flavors, and the result was deeeeelicous.
We shared our appetizers: Wild Calamari Fritti with herbs and Szechuan flour, tomato sauce and lime. Crispy and just excellent. Burrata & Posciutto, English peas, oregano, carrots, rosemary, sweet mirin, grilled sourdough toast, and pea shoots. Just fabulous. Kissing God was slices of Filone bread with a citrus peppercorn butter. Holy Moly, we really loved this one. Of course I had to order the Oysters and Pearls, which consisted of West Coast Oysters in coconut milk, tapioca and yuzu, topped off with caviar. That was fantastic. Our main dishes were equally delicious! I chose the Seafood Tortellini made of Squid Ink pasta, served with shrimp, squid, inure, borage and pea shoots (I had to also google a couple of things here). My friends went with the fish dishes: Coconut Miso Salmon with black rice and a coconut miso sauce, and Pan Seared Branzino with potato, escarole and a sweet red onion sauce. Both were different, creative, well cooked and seasoned perfectly. Another successful dinner was in the books!
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