Last night’s music rehearsal at my friend Alan Ravage’s house with my other friend Mark (master pianist, composer/arranger and on-the-spot copy editor; thanks Mark!) has left me completely drained. The late dinner last night on the UWS at a Cuban-Chinese restaurant (seriously, it was good) left me slightly bloated and icky this morning. 

(The songs are coming together; we have another week to get our act set in stone, with some adjustments…but I digress)

Anyway, after cursing that it wasn’t Friday already (day off tomorrow), I was running on empty by lunchtime. Hot soup may be good to consume, so I could retrieve some needed energy.

However, there wasn’t any chicken soup at Falchi’s (or, if there was, I didn’t notice), but the line for the Korean eatery was now empty. I need to investigate this.

Rice and Chopsticks serve Korean rice bowls (bibimbap) custom-made for the customer’s specifications. 

First layer: rice (brown or jasmine), a 1/2 with salad, or all rice.

Second layer: a variety of vegetables, such as pickled carrots, corn, zucchini, spinach, bean sprouts, and kimchi ($3 more).

Third layer: Gogi beef, Vietnamese grilled chicken, pork or seared tofu.

Last layer: Sauces. 8 kinds of sauces. Seriously, sauce it up!

I chose the beef/chicken mixture with pickled carrots, spinach and bean sprouts, and a 1/2 jasmine rice/salad. Total cost: $10.

I appreciated the cooks’ insistence of using fresh food products and getting the customer involved in the making of his/her dish. Not only the vegetables were fresh, but both meats were marinated well, and they were chopped and presented finely. I used 4 sauces: siraccha, garlic-soy sauce, plum sauce and bar-be-que sauce (for the beef ;))

Juice Press’s Matcha Green Tea Latte: it’s so yummy! A blended smoothie made with homemade almond milk, lair de coconut, coconut nectar, matcha green tea and mint. The matcha provided a “slow release of caffeine”, according to the bottle.

(I don’t know if the caffeine will kick in (still sleepy), but it was delicious! It’s a slow recovery.

Enjoy, and Happy Vetreans Day.