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My First Weight Watchers Oops: Ramen!

19 Apr

One day I had soup with some dumplings. I was impressed to see that the broth was “free” for points and the dumplings were surprisingly low in points.  The lunch was one of the best I found (points wise) in Chinatown.  So Ramen couldn’t be THAT bad, right? Oh so very wrong…

I saw the serving of the noodles was 5 points… so I thought maybe this whole thing (including half an egg and some grilled pork) couldn’t be more than 8 points.  Well… it was 5 points for a HALF cup.  I had about a cup and a half… 15 points on NOODLES.  That’s a mistake I won’t make again.  Nearly 20 points of my 24 for the day slurped up in one sitting.

Luckily there is a great alternative… SOBA! Buckwheat noodles are two points for one full cup.  That’s a no brainer right there!

So after all this I’m sure you’re wondering if my 20 point lunch was worth it? Absolutely not.  It was just… bland.  So bland that it’s not even worth looking up what random place we went for this bowl of flavorlessness. 

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Mandarin Court Restaurant- Dim Sum

16 Apr

Another Chinatown meal while on Jury Duty: Dim Sum made me nervous… especially on Weight Watchers. I thought even if I could get away with eating there and not feeling sick (unfortunately, Chinatown dim sum and my belly don’t usually go well together), I could never do it for less than 1,000 points. Right? Wrong.  4 steamed dumplings = 4 points. So 8 dumplings = 8 points. Not too shabby.  I used UrbanSpoon to find a place close and it came up with Mandarin Court Restaurant on Mott (just below Canal).

The experience was hysterical.  A woman came down the row of tables with a cart of dim sum and starts yelling things. It wasn’t until she was next to my table, screaming at ME, that I realized she was asking “Pork? Chicken? Fresh Made Riiiiiiice?”  I asked her “is that shrimp” while pointing to a dish and she put it on my table.  I was still looking at the menu and thought she was maybe delivering an order since I had not placed one yet so I told her that I hadn’t ordered it. She protested that yes, I just did.  It was at this point that a bus boy stepped in and explained to her that I needed a few minutes (or something like that).  Thanks bus boy!

I decided on pork and shrimp.  The pork was good, but nothing special.

The shrimp was really a full shrimp wrapped in a wonton wrapper.  Good, but again, not great.

Tried to get a shot of the actual shrimp in the dumpling…

And guess what? It made me sick afterwards.  BOOOO

Total Nom Points: 4 out of 10

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Bahn Mi from Paris Sandwich

14 Apr

Bravo me! Two Weight Watchers home cooked dinners down and you’re on a roll… then everything came to a screeching halt… I was on jury duty… downtown… in Chinatown. I hardly know where to eat down there to begin with, let alone on Weight Watchers. I had heard such great things about Paris Sandwich’sBanh Mi from FeistyFoodie. I was bummed that I was finally in the area and would have to forgo for this new diet.   I decided to go with the mindset, however, that you can eat anything as long as you track it and account for it with eating less at other times.  So I snuck open the iPhone app while hearing a slow case and calculated the points.  I was thrilled that it was only 10 points.  That left me with 12 still for dinner (after my 2 points used at breakfast on my yogurt).

Paris Sandwich (on Mott between Hester and Canal) was quintessentially Chinatown.  Women barking at patrons who were completely overwhelmed by a menu they could hardly read.  I tried to ask if there were any peppers in the sandwich or if it was spicy… and the answer wasn’t convincing. So I ordered and crossed my fingers.

They seem to have bread pre-made that they then put through a toaster and add the items.  I went with the grilled pork and it comes with cilantro, Japanese mayo (which looks more like butter and I’m not sure what it adds to the flavor… hmmm), carrots and daikon. (And you can add jalapenos to the sandwich I believe)

All of these flavors just combined to perfection. And the bread was delicious… though messy. Luckily I ate this outside as afterwards I was covered in crumbs! Wouldn’t have had it any other way.

If you are ever in Chinatown and not so keen on dim sum, definitely try the Banh Mi from Paris. It’s delish!

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

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