I took a bite of the big Apple last weekend and it tasted like delicately meaty shiitake mushrooms in a light plum sauce, sandwiched by a toothsome steamed bun and vinegar-basted cucumbers.

For several weeks, I’d been looking forward to the trip but I should probably be embarrassed to say that the anticipation was equally laid between my paramour’s friendly wedding and the chance for us to eat at the illustrious Momofuko Noodle Bar in the East Village.  That would be where this beautiful specimen resided and I was pointed there by the divine Queenie Takes Manhattan, of eGullet emeritus fame.

Asian cuisines of all types have been mastering the cooking of mushrooms for hundreds of years but as I walked out of the hipster haven on Monday, I felt like I could still taste hundreds of years of delicious progress.

Upon doing a little digging on Yelp, I now have an even longer list of places mastering mushroom dishes, much to the delight of their customers, for the next time I hop a plane to New York City.  A few highlights:

Sabine, Craft:

“This place cooks the best mushrooms in the world. The steaks are amazing as well and oh the foie gras. One of my favorite places to eat.. DO TRY THE mushrooms! I crave those.”

Colleen, Scarpetta:

“For appetizers we had the creamy polenta with mushroom sauce which was rich and intensely creamy. I loved the mushroom sauce.” (note: many people love the mushrooms and polenta but this was from a recent review)

Laur, Degustation:

“My favorite dish was one in which they had used a (Japanese?) mushroom-tasted phenomenal! Almost magical. Blew me away for sure.” and served it slightly tempura style. What can I say… the

And one watch-out from Charles regarding a Brooklyn pizzeria that will remain nameless but linked. Also, I think Charles and I should be friends and then we can go and eat this divine pizza once he who tosses the proverbial pizza dough has been shown the light:

“I so badly wanted to give this place 5 stars. The crust is amazing, the pizza is overall excellent. BUT, they used canned mushrooms!!!! This is the worst of pizza no no’s, and they went there. If they had used fresh mushrooms instead, I would easily give them 5 stars, but canned mushrooms? If the manager or owner of Luigi is reading this, please, for the love of pizza, use fresh mushrooms.”

But to end on a positive note, Brooklyn seems to have at least one pizzeria seeing the light.  Must be the influence of the other two Luigis…

Aly, The 3 Luigis:

“I went here today for just a slice…I am a huge fan of Luigis and the 3 Luigis was just as excellent if not better! i had a plain slice with mushrooms added on top. They don’t use those canned mushrooms…they added freshly sliced mushrooms! Yum! My slice was delicious, fresh and cheap!”

I’m looking to add to this list- who has a favorite restaurant or three in New York?

We came across this bit of delicious on Twitter.  Frankly, I find lots of tasty morsels on Twitter because food seems to be the #1 thing anyone talks about.  Food and So You Think You Can Dance.  I don’t have a problem with either of those things.

As I believe I’ve also mentioned, breakfast items for dinner are sure to procure smiles on faces at my house. Donna at Fab Frugal Food takes this a step further.  Dinner ingredients, breakfast format. Mushroom pancakes.

Straight from the chef herself:

“This recipe has evolved over the years. I started out just adding a few tablespoons of minced mushrooms to a standard crepe batter. But, I liked the mushroom flavor so much that I soon added more and more and now mushrooms are the main ingredient!“

Layered with cheese and seasonal vegetables, this is officially on my must-make list.  I may even go crazy and try to do a truffle-infused syrup but that might take the “frugal” out of this fabulous recipe!

Everybody needs a few standbys for when company comes-a-callin.  I have a few in my personal repertoire but I’m constantly on the lookout for others.  Annie’s Eats put her favorite stuffed mushroom recipe out into the blogosphere this week and, in honor of the many parties you’ve inevitably been invited to or decided to host over Labor Day (you’re so popular!), I thought I’d share.   Garlic, Cream Cheese, Parmesan all stuffed into some easy, readily available button mushrooms. AND they can be prepped in advance.  Thanks Annie!