The Gaijin Girl's Guide to Chinatown

American Eats
I've been wondering for awhile - what if it were American food that I was reviewing?
What would I recommend, what eats would I say were essential for someone new to the cuisine?
Here are my picks and pans, for what they're worth:
(Please note: I don't think everything on this list is necessarily great - I just think they're all part of the quintessinal American culinary experience)

Eats
Bagels and Cream Cheese, Chili Dogs, Corn on the Cob, Corn Dogs,
Grilled Cheese Sandwich (preferably Meunster), Hamburgers/Cheeseburgers, Hot Dogs,
New York Pizza, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, Spaghetti and Meatballs, Sweet Gherkin Pickles, Tater Tots

Desserts/Sweets/Snacks
Apple Pie, Candy Canes at Christmas, Candy Corn at Halloween,
Cotton Candy, Fudge Brownies, Hostess Cupcake, Hot Fudge Ice Cream Sunday,
Pancakes, Popcorn at a Movie, Poptarts, Pretzels, Potato Chips, Pumpkin Pie, Roasted Marshmellows on a Stick/S'mores
Salt Water Taffy, Twinkie, 3 Musketeers Bar

Drinks
Apple Cider (Hot), Hot Chocolate with Marshmellows, Lemonade, Pepsi or Coke, NY Egg Cream
Beer
(Wait a minute - not Budweiser crap, the good stuff, like Scottish Ale....okay, well, that's not American. But still!)

Chinese Meals and Desserts Haw flakes (Evergrand) Any glutinous rice cake/ball (any bakery) Peking Duck (esp. the pancakes wi/ Hoisin Sauce) (If you're vegan/vegetarian, check out the veggie version at Vegetarian Paradise 2!) Har Gow Dumplings (any dim sum restaurant) Fried Taro Dumplings (any dim sum restaurant) Chee Cheong Fan (at Fong Inn Too) Favorite Place: For a quick, fast yummy bite - XO Kitchen on Hester.	Filipino Meals and Desserts Yema (Filipino Food Center in the Bronx) Sapin Sapin (Filipino Food Center in the Bronx) Polovoron and/or Pastillas de Leche (Filipino Food Center in the Bronx) Ube Halaya (Ube Pudding) Favorite Place: Filipino Food Center (damn it, they have Ube Halaya)
Indian Meals and Desserts Jelabi (anywhere on Curry Hill) Gulab Jamun (anywhere on Curry Hill) Lassi (any good Indian restaurant) Naan (any good restaurant) Burfi (Spice Corner) Coconut soup (any good restaurant) Dosa (any good southern restaurant) Papri Chaat! (Yum) (HIGHLY recommended) (Katie Roll) Samosa Chaat (Sukhadia) Dhokla (Sukhadia) Ragada Patties (Sukhadia) Favorite Places: Sukhadia and Katie Roll	Japanese Meals and Desserts Plum Wine - Japanese (any Japanese restaurant) Sushi/Sashimi (esp. spicy tekkamaki) (any restaurant) Sweet Preserved Ginger Candy (Aji Ichiban) Daifuku Mochi Dessert (Jasmart, Tongin) Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake) (Otafuku) Onigiri (Rice 'sandwich') (JasMart)(Oms-B)(Cafe Zaiya) Tempura Ice Cream (any restaurant) Sweet Mochi Donuts (with sugar on top) (at Cafe Zaiya) Black Sesame Truffles (at Sakagura) or Green Tea Chocolate Truffles (at Cha-An) Seaweed Salad (anywhere) Favorite Places: Grab n' Go: JASMart (for Onigiri) Sitdown: Shiraku (top), then Sakagura and Cha-an Sushi: Sushi Park and Avenue A Sushi
Korean Meals and Desserts Hotteok (Sugar filled pancake) (Han Ah Reum, NJ) Tteokbokki (Rice cylinders in spicy sauce) (Han Ah Reum) Jeon - Korean Omelet (Han Ah Reum, NYC) Soondae - (Han Ah Reum, NYC) Hwe Dup Bop (Old Bridge Deli, NYC) Mochi (specifically, a white, assymetrical version of Mochi topped with a bright green leaf, found exclusively near the register of Koryodang in NYC. Heavenly!) Joll Noodles (Mandoo Bar) Kong Jaban (Kong Jorim) Banchan (anywhere) Favorite Places: Mandoo and Hahn Ah Reum (and Koryodang for the mochi.)	Malaysian/Indonesian Meals and Desserts Rojak (Penang) Peanut Pancake Dessert (Ban Jian Kway) (Penang) ABC - Dessert Drink (Jaya) Sugar Cane Juice (Jaya) Ginger Candies (any good candy store) Keuh Dadar (Curry Leaves) Favorite places: Curry Leaves (when they have Kueh) and Penang (specifically for the Peanut Pancake)
Thai Meals and Desserts Pad Thai (any good restaurant) Thong yod (Sripraphai and Udon's) Khanom Thien (Sripraphai) Som Tam (green papaya salad) Plahang (Sripraphai) Tom Yum Gung (any good restaurant) Favorite Places: Sriprahai (for the desserts, if no other reason!)	Vietnamese Meals and Desserts Banh Day (Glutinous flour hamburger) (at Banh Mi) Banh Mi (Vietnamese hero sandwich) (at Banh Mi/Sau Voi/Saigon Banh Mi) Goi Cuon (Steam spring rolls) (any restaurant) Banh Uot (at Saigon Banh Mi...which does a vegetarian version!!!) Banh Bot Lac (Sau Voi) Xoi (occasionally) (Sau Voi) Banh It (Sau Voi) Carmelized Kho dishes! Favorite Places: For sitdown: Pho (New) Pasteur, and Pho Tu Do For grab n' go: Sau Voi and Saigon Banh Mi
Misc. Not to be missed Items Burmese - Lephet Thoke (fermented green tea salad) (Village Mingala) Sri Lankan - Pittu, Hoppers, Kottu Roti and Pittu (Sigiri and Nirvana Cafe) Taiwanese - Bubble Tea (anywhere in Chinatown), Yummy Bread (Taipan Bakery), Taiwanese Hamburger (Gua Bao) Misc - Fusion Crepes on Bowery! (Esp. the Tofu-Bonito Flake combo...)	The (mostly non-Asian) Drink Menu The Femme (a specialty drink found at Mt. Fuji, only on Valentines' Day. A Godiva Chocolate Martini, courtesy of The Cheesecake Factory. The Coconut Kiss at Waikkiki Wally's Any Japanese Plum Wine (Ume-shu) Any port wine (so far, my favorite is Sandemans...) Cream Sherry (okay, that's pretty decent, too.)
Non - Asian Treats Australia - Vegemite (well, just because) Brazil - Acai Berries with Granola (some health food stores,) Caribbean (Trini/Jamaican) - Doubles, Ginger Beer, Roti (shrimp), Cou Cou (Corn Porridge), Bulla Cake (toasted) and Coconut Drops (with trips to Hot and Spicy in Queens) Creole/Cajun - Bread pudding souffle. (Only one place to get it, and it's worth the plane ride: Commander's Palace in New Orleans.) Ethiopian - Injera (any Ethiopean restaurant) (but real good at Awash!) France/Belgian - Dessert Crepes, Creme Brulee (various places) Italian - Cannolis (any good Italian bakery) NYC Specialties - Egg Creams! (I hear they're really good at Katz's) Other African - Fufu (any African restaurant) Puerto Rican - Coquitos ('eggnog' drink ) (my neighbor, Raoul...one of the nicest guys I know!) Vegetarian Faves: Dim Sum at Dim Sum Go Go, Snowballs at Whole Earth Bakery, Brownies (and scrambled tofu) at Sacred Chow, Vegan ice cream and chimichangas at Curly's, dinner at Vegetarian's Paradise 2., and burgers at Kate's Joint. (Gourmet meals at either Blossom or Pure Food and Wine.), the occasional quick food pickup at LifeThyme.	Coming Attractions (a.k.a: what am I cravin' now?) (With more imminent or pressing travels highlighted in red) Burmese: Htamane, the Brooklyn Burmese Food Festival in August, the Htamane Festival in March, a trip to Myanamar in Falls Church, VA Chinese: Bird's nest, Hakka Lei Cha tea, Yusheng (maybe), Mua Chee Candy, Oh Nee (Taro Pudding), Lei Chai Fan (Thunder Tea Rice), and Suan Pan Zi (abacus beads) Indian - A trip to Tiffin Wallah Japanese: Oshiruko, Sekihan, O-zoni soup (and other Osechi-ryouri dishes), a trip to Miya's Sushi in New Haven, CT (their menu with veggie sushi looks absolutely FAB.) Korean - Hangwai Malaysian/Indonesian - Onde Onde, Jala Roti, Tempoyak, or Ambuyat (Brunei), Martabak Manis, Durian Juice, Es Telor and Es Buah Nepal - Chatmari Singapore - Soon Kueh, Roti John Sri Lankan - Kiribath, Kolakenda, Sago Pudding (no longer available at Sigiri) Taiwanese - A (veggie) MOS burger Tibetan - Tsampa Dough (Pak) Non Asian Cravings Burgers (Veggie) - A trip to Johnny Rockets, Shake Shack Desserts - Baked Alaska Hawaiian - Poi, Jamaican/Trini/Guyanese - Bake and Shark (at Justin's Island Cuisine), Breadfruit, and trips to Liberty Avenue in Queens or the West Indian Festival in Brooklyn - on Labor Day. Russian/Eastern European - Visits to Tbilisi and Pirosmani and Georgian food in general. Samples to include: Sirniky, Lobio, Pkhali, and Eggplant with Walnut Paste, Gozinaki, Churchkhela US - Peanut butter/honey/banana tea sandwich and Toasted Walnuts at Jimmy's 43 Tahitian - Po'e Vegan/Vegetarian - Ravioli and Enchiladas from PF&W, a trip to Sunflower (in DC), vegan chocolate easter bunnies, Vegi-Kaas, Chreeze (spread mix), Galaxy Foods Mozzerella (Solid block)