Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breakfast. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Zengo (Washington, DC)
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*****
Anyone who knows me knows that I love brunch; breakfast foods, mixed with lunch foods, at a reasonable time of day (aka, not breakfast time) on weekends with delicious champagne drinks? What is not to love? Well, I am living in the right place apparently, because the DC Metro area is saturated with, and Richard Sandoval's Asian-fusion restaurant Zengo is a great example of how good brunch can be. I went with a friend from school, and we both enjoyed ourselves, though there were a couple small hiccups.
The brunch menu is all-you-can-eat, and all-you-can-drink; what a great combination! Drinks include standard and tequila-variant Bloody Marys, a sangria made with Sake, and four different Mimosas; you can hope back and forth between the offerings, or simply stick with one if you find one that you like. The food includes three categories, all of which are "small plates" (an annoying trend that actually works for brunch): "Ceviches/Sushi/Salads;" "Dim Sum & Antojitos;" and "Brunch Plates." The list of dishes we ordered was, to say the least, extensive, and I did not take notes or anything, so combined with a few mimosas, my memories are not as crisp as they could be, but I can point out a few highlights, as well as the issues I saw.
To start with, I had the Guava Mimosa to start, and after a refill or two, I switched to the Traditional Mimosa. The guava variety does not really taste like a mimosa, as it is much sweeter, and the alcohol is not strong enough to get much taste of it; on the other hand, the traditional, orange variety is quite boozy, just the way I like it! As for the food, I have listed the dishes we ordered below, in in order of how they appear on the menu.
Angry Zengo Roll: Tuna, avocado, and cucumber are the primary ingredients, with a little sauce dabbed on top, it was certainly far from traditional (and traditional is my preference, to be sure), but it was very tasty, and I finished the meal with two of these. The fish was fresh, which is always the key.
Vegetarian Roll: I hate vegetarian rolls, but this one was pretty decent; it was not simply some cucumber and carrot shavings wrapped in rice, but rather had grilled asparagus, red pepper, and even some mushroom, so it was quite tasty.
Edamame: On the menu, it actually says "Edamame Salted," and holy crap, are they serious. I love edamame, and I love salt, but this was maybe a bit of overkill with the sea salt. Still tasty, though.
Bacon & Scrambled Egg Steamed Buns: We ordered these first, and had to ask multiple times to get them, and I was really looking forward to them. Sadly, they were...blah. The buns were too dense, not the light and airy steamed buns I love, the egg was similar in texture (though admittedly not flavor) to the egg in a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast sandwich, and the bacon was barely there. Highly not recommended.
Shrimp-Vegetable Potstickers: Really tasty, but not a ton of shrimp flavor. I would have preferred a bit more of a crust on the potstickers, maybe just another thirty seconds or so on the flattop, but otherwise, very good.
Angus Beef & Pork Meatballs: Probably my favorite thing of the day, the meatballs were juicy, flavorful, and just incredibly tasty. Highly, highly recommended.
Thai Chicken Empanadas: Very tasty, crispy dough and tender filling, though I would not have said "Thai" was the dominant flavor profile.
Achiote-Hoisin Pork Arepas: This was not an arepa, but was tasty; the pork especially was good, though it was just on top of the "arepa" which was dense and a little dry.
Lobster-Chipotle Grits: Bad texture did nothing to ruin this ridiculously delicious dish; I love grits, regardless of the quality, and though the lobster did not come through that well, the chipotle did, and the chunks of bacon were just freaking amazing. My second favorite dish.
Peking Duck Chilaquiles: Why do chilaquiles keep disappointing me?! Not nearly so bad as at The Brass Buckle back home, I had higher hopes this time, and while the duck was reasonably tasty, the overall dish was nothing to write home about.
Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts: Apparently I like Brussels sprouts a lot now; who knew? Pai Men Miyake may have been the first to really convince me, but they were certainly not the last, and these were very solid, tasty sprouts. They may have been the slightest bit undercooked, but the crunch of the interior was quite pleasant.
Plantains: Well, what is there to say; they were delicious, duh. Platanos always are. The sauces, a crema and a chipotle, were both cook, though I preferred the crema to the slight heat of the chipotle.
House Cured Bacon & Eggs: Over-easy eggs always get the better of me when I try to make them, so when properly cooked I am always a bit impressed when they are well made, and these were. The bacon, however, was too crispy for me, and less flavorful than I was expecting. Nothing you could not get at any decent diner.
All in all, this was an expensive, but enjoyable, experience, one that I would repeat again, though because of its cost it would likely be a very, very rare thing. I would recommend it, though with the caveat that while the service was pretty good, the kitchen was somewhat inconsistent. Kudos to the concept though.
Monday, March 17, 2014
The Blue Spoon (Portland, ME)
Located right at the intersection of Congress and Munjoy Sts. in the Munjoy Hill section of Portland, The Blue Spoon
is a cute little restaurant that offers a Saturday (but not Sunday)
brunch. This is where we wanted to go the previous time I was in Maine,
but it was so packed we ended up at East Ender.
With only about twenty to twenty five seats, it is easy for this place
to fill up quickly, and though my meal had some disappointing aspects, I
can see why The Blue Spoon is popular.
My sister and I grabbed a late (around 1:00pm) brunch here after my old favorite, Bintliff's American Cafe, ended up being packed with a significant wait anticipated. Neither of us wanted to deal with that, so we took a shot at The Blue Spoon again, which was basically empty this time when we arrived, though a few people shuffled in after us.
The coffee we were served was both quite good (not La Fiorentina level, but I would say it was equal to Amherst Coffee). It was hot but not boiling, and replenished often; a good start for any restaurant serving breakfast or brunch.
I went with the restaurant's take on my personal favorite Eggs Benedict, which was completely not traditional but really interesting. My sister had the classic two eggs, bacon, home fries and toast, which she was quite pleased with. The "Benedict" consisted of a soft on the inside, crispy on the outside sweet potato pancake; not quite a latke, it was softer than that and was really more like mashed potatoes in pan seared patty form, though that was definitely not how it was constructed. This was, without a doubt, the best part of the meal, as it was seasoned perfectly, had just the right balance of textures, and sopped up the yolk from the eggs. On top of this were a couple thick slices of bacon, which somehow managed to be both crisp to the point of nearly crumbling and also chewy; I am not quite sure how this was achieved, but it was great. The obligatory poached eggs perched atop the bacon, and were nicely cooked.
There ended the positives, however. Sauce Hollandaise is a delicate, difficult to make (at least properly) item when you are in a restaurant, as you clearly cannot make it to order, and thus have to make sure it lasts properly. That said, if your sauce breaks, do not serve it. I would rather wait for you to make more and/or fix the sauce than get a runny, melted butter looking (and tasting) sauce that does not even resemble what it is intended to be. The meal was good, but that was in spite of the Hollandaise, and quite frankly, I cannot believe that a restaurant of this quality would let something that clearly wrong go out to the table. It cannot be that no one noticed; it was the first thing I saw when the plate was put down in front of me, and was completely obvious.
Service was good; attentive but not annoying, and the waitress was there to refill our coffees and waters before either cup ever went dry. I do not know if they could keep that up if the place was full, but considering how small it is, it would not surprise me.
So, all in all, how did I feel about this meal? The best answer I can give is, I don't know. I liked all but one element of the entire experience, but it was a key to the dish. In fact, while Eggs Benedict is recreated with all sorts of strange ingredients, two things remain constant; the poached eggs and the Sauce Hollandaise. Failing on one of those two items is difficult to look past, but the remainder of the meal was so good that I really want to. I think I would have to try the place again, and probably the same dish again, to really form a solid opinion, but I could neither recommend nor discourage going to The Blue Spoon to anyone based off that meal.
******
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My sister and I grabbed a late (around 1:00pm) brunch here after my old favorite, Bintliff's American Cafe, ended up being packed with a significant wait anticipated. Neither of us wanted to deal with that, so we took a shot at The Blue Spoon again, which was basically empty this time when we arrived, though a few people shuffled in after us.
The coffee we were served was both quite good (not La Fiorentina level, but I would say it was equal to Amherst Coffee). It was hot but not boiling, and replenished often; a good start for any restaurant serving breakfast or brunch.
I went with the restaurant's take on my personal favorite Eggs Benedict, which was completely not traditional but really interesting. My sister had the classic two eggs, bacon, home fries and toast, which she was quite pleased with. The "Benedict" consisted of a soft on the inside, crispy on the outside sweet potato pancake; not quite a latke, it was softer than that and was really more like mashed potatoes in pan seared patty form, though that was definitely not how it was constructed. This was, without a doubt, the best part of the meal, as it was seasoned perfectly, had just the right balance of textures, and sopped up the yolk from the eggs. On top of this were a couple thick slices of bacon, which somehow managed to be both crisp to the point of nearly crumbling and also chewy; I am not quite sure how this was achieved, but it was great. The obligatory poached eggs perched atop the bacon, and were nicely cooked.
There ended the positives, however. Sauce Hollandaise is a delicate, difficult to make (at least properly) item when you are in a restaurant, as you clearly cannot make it to order, and thus have to make sure it lasts properly. That said, if your sauce breaks, do not serve it. I would rather wait for you to make more and/or fix the sauce than get a runny, melted butter looking (and tasting) sauce that does not even resemble what it is intended to be. The meal was good, but that was in spite of the Hollandaise, and quite frankly, I cannot believe that a restaurant of this quality would let something that clearly wrong go out to the table. It cannot be that no one noticed; it was the first thing I saw when the plate was put down in front of me, and was completely obvious.
Service was good; attentive but not annoying, and the waitress was there to refill our coffees and waters before either cup ever went dry. I do not know if they could keep that up if the place was full, but considering how small it is, it would not surprise me.
So, all in all, how did I feel about this meal? The best answer I can give is, I don't know. I liked all but one element of the entire experience, but it was a key to the dish. In fact, while Eggs Benedict is recreated with all sorts of strange ingredients, two things remain constant; the poached eggs and the Sauce Hollandaise. Failing on one of those two items is difficult to look past, but the remainder of the meal was so good that I really want to. I think I would have to try the place again, and probably the same dish again, to really form a solid opinion, but I could neither recommend nor discourage going to The Blue Spoon to anyone based off that meal.
******
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Thursday, March 13, 2014
East Ender Bar & Kitchen (Portland, ME)
On my trip to Maine a couple weeks ago, I finished my trip with brunch at East Ender Bar & Kitchen with my sister and her boyfriend. Located on Middle St. right next to Duckfat, it is a short walk from Commercial St. and is one of many good restaurants to open in the Old Port in the last few years. We arrived fairly late for brunch, close to 1:00pm, as our first attempt at a restaurant was met with failure, so it was not too busy and we were seated immediately. The brunch menu features a good mix of the classics (Eggs Benedict, a standard two eggs, meat, toast, etc option, and a burger for those more inclined to the lunch side of brunch) and some nice surprises (chicken and waffles, pulled pork with johnnycakes), though there are not many vegetarian options on the menu.
I went with the chicken and waffles, because...well, do I really have to explain this to anyone? I mean, it's fried chicken on top of waffles. And this was really good fried chicken, despite being boneless breasts; it was crisp, juicy, flavorful, with breading that stuck to the meat and never became soggy despite the delectable maple hot sauce crème fraîche sauce that doused it. That sauce was amazing, creamy and slightly sweet, with just enough hot sauce to put a little fire into it, but never overwhelming anything at all. The waffle part was great too, with a crispy exterior on the waffle and a soft, moist interior, that was perfectly cooked. It was not super sweet, but had just enough to balance the hot sauce and the savory chicken. All in all, this was one of the best dishes I've had for breakfast or brunch ever. If not for all the other amazing options to try for brunch in Portland, I would probably go to this place every time I'm in town for a weekend; as it is, I will still certainly come back at some point.
******
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I went with the chicken and waffles, because...well, do I really have to explain this to anyone? I mean, it's fried chicken on top of waffles. And this was really good fried chicken, despite being boneless breasts; it was crisp, juicy, flavorful, with breading that stuck to the meat and never became soggy despite the delectable maple hot sauce crème fraîche sauce that doused it. That sauce was amazing, creamy and slightly sweet, with just enough hot sauce to put a little fire into it, but never overwhelming anything at all. The waffle part was great too, with a crispy exterior on the waffle and a soft, moist interior, that was perfectly cooked. It was not super sweet, but had just enough to balance the hot sauce and the savory chicken. All in all, this was one of the best dishes I've had for breakfast or brunch ever. If not for all the other amazing options to try for brunch in Portland, I would probably go to this place every time I'm in town for a weekend; as it is, I will still certainly come back at some point.
******
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Sunday, March 2, 2014
Maine Trip #2
Needing a few days away from western MA and work, and with the promise of raw seafood, I hopped in my car for the not quite four hour drive to Edgecomb last Thursday. I grabbed a beer, some cold sake, and an order of the addictive Brussel's sprouts at continual favorite Pai Men Miyake with my sister's boyfriend on the way, before arriving in Lincoln County just in time to take a very brief nap before my step-mom finished making a creamy broccoli soup and a platter of croque monsieur sandwiches. I highly suggest this combination, as it bears a lot of similarities to my personal specialty.
I spent a lazy day in Edgecomb before heading south to meet up with my step-mom to select oysters and clams for the night. Harbor Fish has been featured on just about every television show that filmed an episode on food or fish in southern Maine, and for good reason; it is where the locals who know fish go, because they have the best, freshest, and most reasonably priced fish you can imagine. We grabbed 18 oysters deriving from Maine to Massachusetts, along with six clams. If you like cooked clams, you should try them raw; not everyone enjoys the texture, but the flavor is incredibly powerful and delightful. If you do not like them cooked...well, then you definitely won't raw.
Thankfully it was cold enough to just leave the oysters with some ice in the car for a couple hours, so we adjourned to J's Oyster, a bar on the Portland Pier that, during the month of February, offers free oysters to its customers beginning at 4:00pm until they reach a certain amount. They are initially given away three on a plate per person, then it drops to two per plate as more people pack the bar, and are served with a wedge of lemon, some oyster crackers, and a dollop of cocktail sauce. The oysters are by no means top of the line, and they don't do much more than open them (in fact, the oyster meat itself is still attached to the shell), but hey, they're free, and they're fresh, and they taste good. We left before they ran out of the freebies, so I can't tell you how many you can end up getting, but I would definitely suggest going with someone who either does not like raw oysters, or at least likes them in limited quantities. My step-mom likes them, but not more than a couple a night, so I had the majority of hers, ending up having 18 myself. This was, of course, just the prelude to the couple dozen other raw mollusks we had when we got back home.
After polishing off the oysters we got at Harbor, we went to dinner at The Cockeyed Gull, but the experience was nowhere near as impressive as on the Fourth of July. I liked my meal (sesame crusted salmon with a Wasabi aioli, seaweed "garni" aka seaweed salad, mixed vegetables, and white rice), but I was really the only person who was not completely disappointed. We started with a scallop appetizer that was actually pretty successful, and reasonably well cooked, but things went downhill from there. My salmon was tasty but overcooked, the white rice was beyond boring, and while the seaweed salad was good it was nothing better or worse than what you could get in any sushi joint in America. In fact, the best part of the meal for me were the carrots in the mixed vegetables, which consisted of them and some broccoli florets. Their beer options were very limited, with a Baxter Brewing Company Stowaway IPA being the only really local and craft option. It was good, but nothing special; I have had better from Baxter before. The beer was canned, not on tap, and while this is one of the many breweries doing the canned thing right, it is just not the same as a good draft beer. Apparently during the winter the Gull loses some of its staff, and the owner does the cooking; she is a nice lady, and has some interesting ideas, but is not as creative as some of her summer chefs and not as talented either. I would say this is still a great summer destination, but I will be avoiding it during the off-season.
******
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I spent a lazy day in Edgecomb before heading south to meet up with my step-mom to select oysters and clams for the night. Harbor Fish has been featured on just about every television show that filmed an episode on food or fish in southern Maine, and for good reason; it is where the locals who know fish go, because they have the best, freshest, and most reasonably priced fish you can imagine. We grabbed 18 oysters deriving from Maine to Massachusetts, along with six clams. If you like cooked clams, you should try them raw; not everyone enjoys the texture, but the flavor is incredibly powerful and delightful. If you do not like them cooked...well, then you definitely won't raw.
Thankfully it was cold enough to just leave the oysters with some ice in the car for a couple hours, so we adjourned to J's Oyster, a bar on the Portland Pier that, during the month of February, offers free oysters to its customers beginning at 4:00pm until they reach a certain amount. They are initially given away three on a plate per person, then it drops to two per plate as more people pack the bar, and are served with a wedge of lemon, some oyster crackers, and a dollop of cocktail sauce. The oysters are by no means top of the line, and they don't do much more than open them (in fact, the oyster meat itself is still attached to the shell), but hey, they're free, and they're fresh, and they taste good. We left before they ran out of the freebies, so I can't tell you how many you can end up getting, but I would definitely suggest going with someone who either does not like raw oysters, or at least likes them in limited quantities. My step-mom likes them, but not more than a couple a night, so I had the majority of hers, ending up having 18 myself. This was, of course, just the prelude to the couple dozen other raw mollusks we had when we got back home.
After polishing off the oysters we got at Harbor, we went to dinner at The Cockeyed Gull, but the experience was nowhere near as impressive as on the Fourth of July. I liked my meal (sesame crusted salmon with a Wasabi aioli, seaweed "garni" aka seaweed salad, mixed vegetables, and white rice), but I was really the only person who was not completely disappointed. We started with a scallop appetizer that was actually pretty successful, and reasonably well cooked, but things went downhill from there. My salmon was tasty but overcooked, the white rice was beyond boring, and while the seaweed salad was good it was nothing better or worse than what you could get in any sushi joint in America. In fact, the best part of the meal for me were the carrots in the mixed vegetables, which consisted of them and some broccoli florets. Their beer options were very limited, with a Baxter Brewing Company Stowaway IPA being the only really local and craft option. It was good, but nothing special; I have had better from Baxter before. The beer was canned, not on tap, and while this is one of the many breweries doing the canned thing right, it is just not the same as a good draft beer. Apparently during the winter the Gull loses some of its staff, and the owner does the cooking; she is a nice lady, and has some interesting ideas, but is not as creative as some of her summer chefs and not as talented either. I would say this is still a great summer destination, but I will be avoiding it during the off-season.
******
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
The Brass Buckle Cafe (Greenfield, MA)
Located at the corner of Main and Chapman Sts. in Greenfield, The Brass Buckle Cafe is just one of many small cafes or coffee shops that have existed in this location over the last fifteen years; some have been good, some bad, but none has managed to last more than a few years. The Brass Buckle hopefully will not break that trend.
In the interest of full disclosure, apparently my step-dad and the owner of the cafe have a bit of a feud going on after an extremely negative post on Yelp or one of those sites, which the owner saw and ended up confronting my step-dad and screaming profanity at him, and then banished him from the cafe. I figured I should give it a shot however, and I was really hoping that my step-dad simply had a bad experience, and while mine was not nearly so negative as his, I was really not pleased.
To start, you walk in and the place is actually nicely set up, very clean looking and with enough room everywhere. It has a pretty standard cafe set up at the counter, with some cookies and other pastry types behind glass next to where you order, and a couple of giant blackboards behind the counter list what your options for drinks and food are. The "kitchen" is open and you can watch your food be made if you are so inclined. The prices are very reasonable, and their coffee menu is pretty good, including a few things that I do not often see, such as Vietnamese Iced Coffee. So far, so good.
From there things went down hill. I waited several minutes to order despite having just one person ahead of me in line, and while the young man who took my order was perfectly friendly (which goes a long way with me), I hope for his sake he is new because his lack of familiarity with the cafe's offerings was a serious problem. I ordered the chilaquiles, a classic Mexican breakfast dish which typically uses leftover corn tortillas which are fried in quarters and then baked with a sauce and topped with crema or queso fresco, and of course served with the requisite refried beans. This iteration of the dish lacked the beans, had some crema (they say queso blanco on their website, but I am really doubtful about that) drizzled on the top of a giant pile of fried tortilla. The red and green salsas they used were fine, nicely spicy, but nothing special. Adding radish, which may have been pickled, was a nice touch, but none of the other vegetables were particularly good, and the tortillas were inconsistent as far as texture, which had some appeal to me in that I like contrast of textures, but it was too inconsistent, with some pieces completely soggy and others completely brittle. The crema, or whatever it was, was actually the best part, but there wasn't enough to get on every bite, and while drowning the dish in it would not have been good either as far as presentation or to eat, adding a bit more would be a good idea.
Coffee being a big part of any cafe, and it being morning when I went, I had myself an iced coffee, served black, and it was...okay. I drank the whole thing, and it was fine, but it was not great, certainly not up to the level of Greenfield Coffee, much less Cambridge's Crema Cafe or Northampton's La Fiorentina or Haymarket Cafe. If the food was better, the coffee would be more than good enough, and if the coffee was better I could probably deal with the food that was not up to my standards. The service is an issue, but again, if it were not one of multiple problems I could get over it and return. Sadly, I do not believe that I will return.
******
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In the interest of full disclosure, apparently my step-dad and the owner of the cafe have a bit of a feud going on after an extremely negative post on Yelp or one of those sites, which the owner saw and ended up confronting my step-dad and screaming profanity at him, and then banished him from the cafe. I figured I should give it a shot however, and I was really hoping that my step-dad simply had a bad experience, and while mine was not nearly so negative as his, I was really not pleased.
To start, you walk in and the place is actually nicely set up, very clean looking and with enough room everywhere. It has a pretty standard cafe set up at the counter, with some cookies and other pastry types behind glass next to where you order, and a couple of giant blackboards behind the counter list what your options for drinks and food are. The "kitchen" is open and you can watch your food be made if you are so inclined. The prices are very reasonable, and their coffee menu is pretty good, including a few things that I do not often see, such as Vietnamese Iced Coffee. So far, so good.
 | |
| Chilaquiles and an iced coffee |
Coffee being a big part of any cafe, and it being morning when I went, I had myself an iced coffee, served black, and it was...okay. I drank the whole thing, and it was fine, but it was not great, certainly not up to the level of Greenfield Coffee, much less Cambridge's Crema Cafe or Northampton's La Fiorentina or Haymarket Cafe. If the food was better, the coffee would be more than good enough, and if the coffee was better I could probably deal with the food that was not up to my standards. The service is an issue, but again, if it were not one of multiple problems I could get over it and return. Sadly, I do not believe that I will return.
******
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Monday, September 9, 2013
The Front Room (Portland, ME)
I have previously discussed my affinity for The Corner Room, and in that review I mentioned having had brunch once at its sister restaurant The Front Room, which was very good. This morning, I had brunch there again, this time with a couple of my siblings and their significant others, The Front Room being one of a rare group of restaurants that offer a brunch menu every day. Once again I enjoyed myself, though it fell short of my memory of just how good the shrimp and grits with poached eggs I ate all those years ago (back in 2008) was; this could well be because of the natural tendency to inflate memorable experiences over time, whether good for bad, but I suspect it was just a better meal that time.
Today I went with poached eggs again, but this time they topped homemade corned beef hash, with an English muffin on the side. I love corned beef hash almost as much as I do grits, and I honestly love it in all forms, including the stuff from a can (I know, I am pathetic, but if you griddle that up so it's crispy and a little burnt, it is just flat out delicious, especially with some maple syrup mixed in after cooking), so when I see it on a menu, it is very difficult for me to avoid making it my order. This was legitimately homemade, no cans here, and it was really enjoyable, but it could easily have ended up better if there had just been a few alterations. The beef was flavorful, but a little stringy, with a pulled pork like look and feel. The potatoes, which are the key part of any hash in my opinion, were far too soft, which led to a very homogeneous mouth feel when combined with the essentially pulled beef. Add in the poached eggs and all you have is soft, soft, soft; my teeth barely felt needed until I got to the English muffin (which was...well, an English muffin; may have been a Thomas', may have been homemade, but it did not have anything distinguishing about it). The best part of the meal was absolutely the poached eggs, which were just right, with the shape, consistency (firm but pliant exterior, super runny interior), and flavor you want out of poached eggs that are clearly fresh.
As I said, I ate here with a couple of my siblings, including my sister who works at another one of Portland's upscale restaurants, and her boyfriend, who is a cook at the same establishment. Among the things that came up multiple times this past weekend as I visited was the owner of the "Room" restaurants, Harding Lee Smith, who has recently been the subject of two scathing articles in The Bollard, a local independent publication in Portland. See below for the links. These articles allege verbal, physical, and emotional abuse of employees in both public and private, while acknowledging the continued patronage of Smith's now four restaurants (including the newly opened Boone's Fish House and Oyster Bar) by people who can find nothing positive to say about Smith as a human being. Personally, I feel that every story has two sides, and I have a very hard time giving much credence to the articles in The Bollard because of the clear intent of the author; while every story may well be true, it is hard not to be skeptical of much of the issues because of the clear axe-grinding nature of the stories. I've put the link to another article, this one in the Maine Sunday Telegram (aka the Portland Press Herald) from a few months ago, that is much more complimentary, though it does not give much mention to the negative allegations The Bollard focuses on. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but my one interaction with the man, when he was working the antipasti bar at The Corner Room my first time there, was incredibly positive and I really enjoyed the brief time my sister and I spent talking to him, not to mention the unanticipated free cheese he added to our order without any reason to do so other than that he seemed to think we'd like it, and of course the accompanying good will that comes from such actions.
July 1 Article from The Bollard
September 2 Article from The Bollard
June 2 Article from the Maine Sunday Telegram/Portland Press Herald
******
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Today I went with poached eggs again, but this time they topped homemade corned beef hash, with an English muffin on the side. I love corned beef hash almost as much as I do grits, and I honestly love it in all forms, including the stuff from a can (I know, I am pathetic, but if you griddle that up so it's crispy and a little burnt, it is just flat out delicious, especially with some maple syrup mixed in after cooking), so when I see it on a menu, it is very difficult for me to avoid making it my order. This was legitimately homemade, no cans here, and it was really enjoyable, but it could easily have ended up better if there had just been a few alterations. The beef was flavorful, but a little stringy, with a pulled pork like look and feel. The potatoes, which are the key part of any hash in my opinion, were far too soft, which led to a very homogeneous mouth feel when combined with the essentially pulled beef. Add in the poached eggs and all you have is soft, soft, soft; my teeth barely felt needed until I got to the English muffin (which was...well, an English muffin; may have been a Thomas', may have been homemade, but it did not have anything distinguishing about it). The best part of the meal was absolutely the poached eggs, which were just right, with the shape, consistency (firm but pliant exterior, super runny interior), and flavor you want out of poached eggs that are clearly fresh.
As I said, I ate here with a couple of my siblings, including my sister who works at another one of Portland's upscale restaurants, and her boyfriend, who is a cook at the same establishment. Among the things that came up multiple times this past weekend as I visited was the owner of the "Room" restaurants, Harding Lee Smith, who has recently been the subject of two scathing articles in The Bollard, a local independent publication in Portland. See below for the links. These articles allege verbal, physical, and emotional abuse of employees in both public and private, while acknowledging the continued patronage of Smith's now four restaurants (including the newly opened Boone's Fish House and Oyster Bar) by people who can find nothing positive to say about Smith as a human being. Personally, I feel that every story has two sides, and I have a very hard time giving much credence to the articles in The Bollard because of the clear intent of the author; while every story may well be true, it is hard not to be skeptical of much of the issues because of the clear axe-grinding nature of the stories. I've put the link to another article, this one in the Maine Sunday Telegram (aka the Portland Press Herald) from a few months ago, that is much more complimentary, though it does not give much mention to the negative allegations The Bollard focuses on. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but my one interaction with the man, when he was working the antipasti bar at The Corner Room my first time there, was incredibly positive and I really enjoyed the brief time my sister and I spent talking to him, not to mention the unanticipated free cheese he added to our order without any reason to do so other than that he seemed to think we'd like it, and of course the accompanying good will that comes from such actions.
July 1 Article from The Bollard
September 2 Article from The Bollard
June 2 Article from the Maine Sunday Telegram/Portland Press Herald
******
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Monday, August 26, 2013
J&M Diner (Framingham, MA)
I am always searching for good new breakfast joints, but they are unfortunately few and far between, and especially rare are good old fashioned diners. J&M Diner fits both to a "T," providing very good, and incredibly generously portioned, food in a classic diner atmosphere.
I drove past the diner on my way to pick up my friend I was having breakfast with at about 10am, and there was an extensive line of people waiting outside; sadly, this line had not dissipated at all, and in fact probably had grown, by the time we arrived about an hour later. Another hour of waiting passed, and I was glad for the mimosa I had had prior to heading to the diner; I was starving anyways, but at least there was something in my stomach. The wait, however, was completely worth it.
Sadly, they were out of Sauce Hollandaise, which they make only on Saturdays and Sundays for Eggs Benedict, and when they run out, they're just out for the day. Since my preferred breakfast was off the table, I went with the special, a "Jack Daniels Omelette," which consisted of a gigantic omelette stuffed with pulled pork and a maple syrup and Jack Daniels reduction, along with a large portion of home fries and four thick slices of toast. The egg was good, though it was not as fluffy as some I have had, but it was the pulled pork that was clearly the focus of the dish. I went away with mixed feelings about it, but they were mostly because of the maple syrup glaze, which was, in my opinion, far too sweet. The pork itself was tender, fairly juicy, and had great flavor, and the glaze was tasty until the super sweetness hit me, at which point it became cloying. The toast and home fries were perfect however, and while I left a significant amount of omelette on the plate when I left (not because it was unpleasant, but simply because I am not a sumo wrestler and cannot eat my body weight in a single sitting), I ate all of the toast and just about all of the home fries. I cannot recall better home fries being served to me in all my life; in fact, I cannot recall better potatoes of any variety! Crispy outsides, tender and fluffy insides, perfectly salted and seasoned, and really just perfect, I cannot imagine how home fries could be better. The toast, which was cinnamon swirl, was either homemade or from a top of the line bakery. The crumb was exactly what you expect the variety to have, with a crisp exterior and, like the home fries, a tender and fluffy interior, with gooey, drippy, sweet cinnamon filling pouring out of of the swirls. This was tremendous, and as a self-confirmed connoisseur of cinnamon swirl bread, I can confidently say that this is as good as any you will ever have. Along with my own meal, my companion for breakfast had a pancake with fresh strawberries, blueberries and banana, and whipped cream and powdered sugar (aka the "USA" toppings), and she said they lived up to their billing as some of the best pancakes ever.
There was one negative aspect, and that was somewhat unavoidable with a place this busy. While very friendly, the waitresses were a bit scatterbrained. While my coffee (which was...well, coffee...nothing special there) was brought quickly and refilled often, my breakfast companion was delivered a glass of orange juice she did not order and it took several more minutes until she got the water she had actually requested, and the hot sauce I asked for was never delivered at all. Not the worst offenses ever, but if you are super concerned about the wait staff, you should prepare yourself for disappointment on that front.
This boils down to one simple thing for me; I will drive 90 minutes and wait another 60 in line...to have home fries and toast. I cannot recommend this diner enough.
******
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I drove past the diner on my way to pick up my friend I was having breakfast with at about 10am, and there was an extensive line of people waiting outside; sadly, this line had not dissipated at all, and in fact probably had grown, by the time we arrived about an hour later. Another hour of waiting passed, and I was glad for the mimosa I had had prior to heading to the diner; I was starving anyways, but at least there was something in my stomach. The wait, however, was completely worth it.
Sadly, they were out of Sauce Hollandaise, which they make only on Saturdays and Sundays for Eggs Benedict, and when they run out, they're just out for the day. Since my preferred breakfast was off the table, I went with the special, a "Jack Daniels Omelette," which consisted of a gigantic omelette stuffed with pulled pork and a maple syrup and Jack Daniels reduction, along with a large portion of home fries and four thick slices of toast. The egg was good, though it was not as fluffy as some I have had, but it was the pulled pork that was clearly the focus of the dish. I went away with mixed feelings about it, but they were mostly because of the maple syrup glaze, which was, in my opinion, far too sweet. The pork itself was tender, fairly juicy, and had great flavor, and the glaze was tasty until the super sweetness hit me, at which point it became cloying. The toast and home fries were perfect however, and while I left a significant amount of omelette on the plate when I left (not because it was unpleasant, but simply because I am not a sumo wrestler and cannot eat my body weight in a single sitting), I ate all of the toast and just about all of the home fries. I cannot recall better home fries being served to me in all my life; in fact, I cannot recall better potatoes of any variety! Crispy outsides, tender and fluffy insides, perfectly salted and seasoned, and really just perfect, I cannot imagine how home fries could be better. The toast, which was cinnamon swirl, was either homemade or from a top of the line bakery. The crumb was exactly what you expect the variety to have, with a crisp exterior and, like the home fries, a tender and fluffy interior, with gooey, drippy, sweet cinnamon filling pouring out of of the swirls. This was tremendous, and as a self-confirmed connoisseur of cinnamon swirl bread, I can confidently say that this is as good as any you will ever have. Along with my own meal, my companion for breakfast had a pancake with fresh strawberries, blueberries and banana, and whipped cream and powdered sugar (aka the "USA" toppings), and she said they lived up to their billing as some of the best pancakes ever.
There was one negative aspect, and that was somewhat unavoidable with a place this busy. While very friendly, the waitresses were a bit scatterbrained. While my coffee (which was...well, coffee...nothing special there) was brought quickly and refilled often, my breakfast companion was delivered a glass of orange juice she did not order and it took several more minutes until she got the water she had actually requested, and the hot sauce I asked for was never delivered at all. Not the worst offenses ever, but if you are super concerned about the wait staff, you should prepare yourself for disappointment on that front.
This boils down to one simple thing for me; I will drive 90 minutes and wait another 60 in line...to have home fries and toast. I cannot recommend this diner enough.
******
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Friday, June 7, 2013
Boston Trip #2
During my trip to the 2013 American Craft Beer Fest, Sean and I stayed at Hostelling International's Boston location, which is on Stuart St in Chinatown, leading us to having a few good meals in the area. I should also say, this was my first experience at a hostel, and it was a pretty positive one; the hostel was large, clean, and had some pretty decent amenities, including an espresso bar, lounge area, and even a kitchen space, and the rooms lock, which is fantastic, and each bed has its own locker that a padlock can secure. The room we were in had six bunks, each of which has a small cubby space at the head of the bed, which has a reading light and a few outlets to charge your phone. At just $50 a night per person, this is significantly better than just about any hotel in or around the city, and it is in a pretty great location, within walking distance to...well...just about anywhere in Boston.
Anyways, on to the food! When Sean and I arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the hostel, and went to grab some food. We spied Q Restaurant on the corner of Washington St and Beach St, a sort of pan Asian (or at least east Asian) restaurant offering sushi, Mongolian hot pot style dinners, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. We knew were going to get some dim sum in the morning, so we went with the Mongolian hot pot, which I last had back in 2000 in the Pacific Northwest (I think in Victoria) with my dad and brother on a vacation, and which Sean had never had. Essentially, you get a large bowl of hot broth (or in this case, broth that is heated to the point of an aggressive boil on a burner located in the middle of the table) in which you cook a variety of meats and/or vegetables. You can pick from a number of broths, which cost anywhere between three and eight dollars (or the Basic Broth, which is free), and at least one of these is vegetarian friendly. You can choose from combos or a la carte accompaniments for the broth, ranging from "Kobe" beef (I still have no clue why people aren't outraged that they are being asked to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a product that is not even available in the USA, and thus are being lied to) to fish balls to various vegetables. The combinations all include assorted vegetables, such as a small piece of corn on the cob, some baby bok choy, watercress, and a couple others. You also can choose from a few different noodle or rice options; Sean and I both went with the Udon noodles, and I had the Beef and Lamb combo, while he had just the Lamb. We went with a bowl of the Mala broth, which the menu says is their most popular. It was spicy, filled with chili peppers, and very, very flavorful, though the amount of time you are cooking the various items in the hot broth limits the amount of flavor transfer. The meat, which is sliced exceptionally thin (think lunch meat) cooks very, very quickly, as do the vegetables, though they can stay in the hot liquid longer without much issue. The noodles also did not require much of a soak, just enough to get them hot, really. The food was pretty delicious, and we were stuffed by the time we finished; the mile and a half long walk to the Seaport World Trade Center was definitely a positive, as it gave us time to digest, and also burned off at least a few calories (that we quickly replaced with beer, of course) as we walked in the very hot sun. I don't know how authentic the food was, but we both enjoyed it, and would go back. The prices weren't unreasonable, either, costing us each under $25 for the meal.
After the ACBF, we were pretty tired, and slightly tipsy, but by the time we got back to the hostel, we decided we needed some more food, if only to soak up the booze. Sean suggested finding a burger place, so with the help of my phone we found UBURGER, a small local chain with five locations throughout Boston. We went to the 140 Tremont St. location, which should only be about a 10 minute walk, that somehow we (I?) turned into a 30 minute walk via some unfortunate directional issues, arriving half an hour before they closed. I ordered a Cowboy Burger, which has barbeque sauce, pepper jack cheese, grilled mushrooms and bacon, and added a soda and fries, which cost me all of about $10; not bad in Boston. The burger was decent, nothing super special, but to a slightly intoxicated person at 10:30pm, it was perfect. Cooked a little more than I like (I don't recall being asked how I wanted it, honestly, though that could be me misremembering due to being exhausted), it was nicely salty, and the toppings were great. The fries were spectacular, shoestring fries that were deliciously crispy, salty and just the littlest bit greasy; aka, perfect drunk food. This is the kind of place that needs to be in the bar section of every college town in America. Probably not the most vegetarian friendly place, they do offer a veggie patty and some salads, but it is clearly not their specialty.
Sunday morning we woke up, incredibly sans hangover, and met my friends Forrest and Molly at China Pearl for dim sum. Few things appeal to me more as a breakfast food than dim sum, which consists of a variety of steamed buns, rolls, and rice dishes, among others, that are brought to the table on steam-table carts. There are a couple problems with this, as a non-Cantonese speaking individual: first off, I honestly have little to no clue what I am getting most of the time, as the wait staff for the most part spoke little to no English, and so I was left to guess what they were offering us several times; and second, I had no clue how much anything cost, since they just marked up the card on the table with stamps of Chinese characters. Despite these difficulties, we had some pretty good food, though it could have better. I loved the pork steamed buns (char siu bau), which were somehow both light and dense at the same time, and the sticky rice was great, filled with some variety of poultry. The steamed meatballs were less of a hit, though they were not bad by any means. The sweet buns filled with pork were great, a perfect combination of sweet and savory, though only Sean and I enjoyed them; neither Forrest nor Molly are big pork fans, as it turns out. We had a few other dishes, and I do not think anyone left hungry, though I suspect that I enjoyed the meal more than the rest of the group. We were each out exactly $10 at the end, so the fact that we had no clue what we were paying for individual dishes turned out not to be a problem at all; this was, in fact, remarkably cheap. China Pearl is one of two highly recommended Chinatown restaurants to get dim sum, with the other being Hei La Moon; I look forward to trying that restaurant as well in the future. I do not believe that this is a particularly vegetarian friendly type of meal, at least unless you are fluent in Cantonese and can converse with the waiters pushing the carts, as you may end up getting more than you bargained for otherwise.
******
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Anyways, on to the food! When Sean and I arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the hostel, and went to grab some food. We spied Q Restaurant on the corner of Washington St and Beach St, a sort of pan Asian (or at least east Asian) restaurant offering sushi, Mongolian hot pot style dinners, Thai, and Chinese cuisine. We knew were going to get some dim sum in the morning, so we went with the Mongolian hot pot, which I last had back in 2000 in the Pacific Northwest (I think in Victoria) with my dad and brother on a vacation, and which Sean had never had. Essentially, you get a large bowl of hot broth (or in this case, broth that is heated to the point of an aggressive boil on a burner located in the middle of the table) in which you cook a variety of meats and/or vegetables. You can pick from a number of broths, which cost anywhere between three and eight dollars (or the Basic Broth, which is free), and at least one of these is vegetarian friendly. You can choose from combos or a la carte accompaniments for the broth, ranging from "Kobe" beef (I still have no clue why people aren't outraged that they are being asked to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a product that is not even available in the USA, and thus are being lied to) to fish balls to various vegetables. The combinations all include assorted vegetables, such as a small piece of corn on the cob, some baby bok choy, watercress, and a couple others. You also can choose from a few different noodle or rice options; Sean and I both went with the Udon noodles, and I had the Beef and Lamb combo, while he had just the Lamb. We went with a bowl of the Mala broth, which the menu says is their most popular. It was spicy, filled with chili peppers, and very, very flavorful, though the amount of time you are cooking the various items in the hot broth limits the amount of flavor transfer. The meat, which is sliced exceptionally thin (think lunch meat) cooks very, very quickly, as do the vegetables, though they can stay in the hot liquid longer without much issue. The noodles also did not require much of a soak, just enough to get them hot, really. The food was pretty delicious, and we were stuffed by the time we finished; the mile and a half long walk to the Seaport World Trade Center was definitely a positive, as it gave us time to digest, and also burned off at least a few calories (that we quickly replaced with beer, of course) as we walked in the very hot sun. I don't know how authentic the food was, but we both enjoyed it, and would go back. The prices weren't unreasonable, either, costing us each under $25 for the meal.
After the ACBF, we were pretty tired, and slightly tipsy, but by the time we got back to the hostel, we decided we needed some more food, if only to soak up the booze. Sean suggested finding a burger place, so with the help of my phone we found UBURGER, a small local chain with five locations throughout Boston. We went to the 140 Tremont St. location, which should only be about a 10 minute walk, that somehow we (I?) turned into a 30 minute walk via some unfortunate directional issues, arriving half an hour before they closed. I ordered a Cowboy Burger, which has barbeque sauce, pepper jack cheese, grilled mushrooms and bacon, and added a soda and fries, which cost me all of about $10; not bad in Boston. The burger was decent, nothing super special, but to a slightly intoxicated person at 10:30pm, it was perfect. Cooked a little more than I like (I don't recall being asked how I wanted it, honestly, though that could be me misremembering due to being exhausted), it was nicely salty, and the toppings were great. The fries were spectacular, shoestring fries that were deliciously crispy, salty and just the littlest bit greasy; aka, perfect drunk food. This is the kind of place that needs to be in the bar section of every college town in America. Probably not the most vegetarian friendly place, they do offer a veggie patty and some salads, but it is clearly not their specialty.
Sunday morning we woke up, incredibly sans hangover, and met my friends Forrest and Molly at China Pearl for dim sum. Few things appeal to me more as a breakfast food than dim sum, which consists of a variety of steamed buns, rolls, and rice dishes, among others, that are brought to the table on steam-table carts. There are a couple problems with this, as a non-Cantonese speaking individual: first off, I honestly have little to no clue what I am getting most of the time, as the wait staff for the most part spoke little to no English, and so I was left to guess what they were offering us several times; and second, I had no clue how much anything cost, since they just marked up the card on the table with stamps of Chinese characters. Despite these difficulties, we had some pretty good food, though it could have better. I loved the pork steamed buns (char siu bau), which were somehow both light and dense at the same time, and the sticky rice was great, filled with some variety of poultry. The steamed meatballs were less of a hit, though they were not bad by any means. The sweet buns filled with pork were great, a perfect combination of sweet and savory, though only Sean and I enjoyed them; neither Forrest nor Molly are big pork fans, as it turns out. We had a few other dishes, and I do not think anyone left hungry, though I suspect that I enjoyed the meal more than the rest of the group. We were each out exactly $10 at the end, so the fact that we had no clue what we were paying for individual dishes turned out not to be a problem at all; this was, in fact, remarkably cheap. China Pearl is one of two highly recommended Chinatown restaurants to get dim sum, with the other being Hei La Moon; I look forward to trying that restaurant as well in the future. I do not believe that this is a particularly vegetarian friendly type of meal, at least unless you are fluent in Cantonese and can converse with the waiters pushing the carts, as you may end up getting more than you bargained for otherwise.
******
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Prune (New York City, NY)
I first heard about Prune via a post on Keith Law's blog The Dish about Gabrielle Hamilton's memoir Blood, Bones & Butter, which he raved about. His description, and several quotes from the book, made me want to immediately drive down to New York City and go to Prune. Hamilton's philosophy is simple: good, unpretentious, fresh food, and this ethos won Hamilton a James Beard Award in 2001 and 2011, as well as multiple additional nominations as Best Chef in New York City. While getting a reservation for dinner can supposedly be difficult, brunch--served on weekends from 11:00am to 3:00pm--is first come, first served. Luckily, less than two weeks after reading Keith's post, I was on my way to NYC to see a friend, and she very nicely agreed to accompany me to brunch.
We arrived a little before noon, and were told it would be an hour wait, so we decided to wander around the area a bit, returning after about 35 or 40 minutes, only to find that they had already called for us. However, we were put right back on the list, and within the next few minutes were being seated at the bar. The restaurant is tiny, with tables for maybe three dozen people, packed in pretty tightly, plus another ten or so at the small bar, which has bright magenta stools that goes with the rather eclectic look of the whole place. The menu doesn't look like anything special, with mostly old favorites like the Monte Cristo sandwich, steak and eggs, and even huevos rancheros. There are also some more creative and non-traditional options, such as spicy stewed chickpeas, egg "en cocotte," coddled egg with chicken, and even spaghetti a la carbonara and a sausage and oysters dish. The drink menu includes a number of traditional and non-traditional brunch drinks, such as a variety of Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and the bizarre Chicago Matchbox, which includes homemade lemon vodka (I presume that means they take regular vodka and add the lemon flavor in house, rather than actually distilling the vodka), pickled Brussel's sprouts, baby white turnips, caperberries, green beans, and radishes, and is served with a chaser of my personal guilty pleasure beer, Red Stripe. It sounded interesting, but not quite interesting enough to get one.
I went simple, with the Classic Eggs Benedict, my all time favorite breakfast dish, which was served with "potatoes rosti," which was really just a giant potato latke, albeit a very good one. My friend
ordered the Soft Scrambled Eggs, served "on the wet side" according to the menu, with fresh chopped parsley, bacon, potatoes rosti, and a toasted, buttered English muffin. Since she is gluten intolerant, I was the happy recipient of her English muffin. We also both ordered Mimosas, because...well, does that really need an explanation?
My Eggs Benedict was perfect; the Canadian bacon was not chewy, a common problem with it, and the eggs were perfectly cooked, spilling the runny yolk all over as soon as I cut into it, giving me something to dip the potatoes and my extra English muffin in, which was exactly what I was hoping for. The hollandaise was light, but very tasty, and definitely homemade. The potatoes rosti were crisp on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside, and delicious, though if I had to make a complaint it would be that they were a little under-seasoned; Julie added salt and pepper, but I just used the egg yolk to add flavor. With a bit more salt, however, it would have been just about perfect, reminding me of eating latkes during Hanukkah as a child. Julie was also very happy with her food, saying that though the eggs were cooked rather less than she was used to, she really enjoyed them. The Mimosas were the perfect accompaniment, with good, though slightly pulpy (I hate pulp) orange juice and actually decent champagne.
At just under $47 for our meals, drinks, and a good tip (the bartender was fantastic) this was an exceptionally reasonable meal, especially by New York City standards. The service was great, the restaurant beautiful, and the food was superb; I cannot recommend it enough. It is also very vegetarian friendly if that's your thing.
******
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We arrived a little before noon, and were told it would be an hour wait, so we decided to wander around the area a bit, returning after about 35 or 40 minutes, only to find that they had already called for us. However, we were put right back on the list, and within the next few minutes were being seated at the bar. The restaurant is tiny, with tables for maybe three dozen people, packed in pretty tightly, plus another ten or so at the small bar, which has bright magenta stools that goes with the rather eclectic look of the whole place. The menu doesn't look like anything special, with mostly old favorites like the Monte Cristo sandwich, steak and eggs, and even huevos rancheros. There are also some more creative and non-traditional options, such as spicy stewed chickpeas, egg "en cocotte," coddled egg with chicken, and even spaghetti a la carbonara and a sausage and oysters dish. The drink menu includes a number of traditional and non-traditional brunch drinks, such as a variety of Bloody Marys, Mimosas, and the bizarre Chicago Matchbox, which includes homemade lemon vodka (I presume that means they take regular vodka and add the lemon flavor in house, rather than actually distilling the vodka), pickled Brussel's sprouts, baby white turnips, caperberries, green beans, and radishes, and is served with a chaser of my personal guilty pleasure beer, Red Stripe. It sounded interesting, but not quite interesting enough to get one.
I went simple, with the Classic Eggs Benedict, my all time favorite breakfast dish, which was served with "potatoes rosti," which was really just a giant potato latke, albeit a very good one. My friend
 |
| Eggs Benedict, Potatoes Rosti, and Mimosa, with pickled veggies in the background |
My Eggs Benedict was perfect; the Canadian bacon was not chewy, a common problem with it, and the eggs were perfectly cooked, spilling the runny yolk all over as soon as I cut into it, giving me something to dip the potatoes and my extra English muffin in, which was exactly what I was hoping for. The hollandaise was light, but very tasty, and definitely homemade. The potatoes rosti were crisp on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside, and delicious, though if I had to make a complaint it would be that they were a little under-seasoned; Julie added salt and pepper, but I just used the egg yolk to add flavor. With a bit more salt, however, it would have been just about perfect, reminding me of eating latkes during Hanukkah as a child. Julie was also very happy with her food, saying that though the eggs were cooked rather less than she was used to, she really enjoyed them. The Mimosas were the perfect accompaniment, with good, though slightly pulpy (I hate pulp) orange juice and actually decent champagne.
At just under $47 for our meals, drinks, and a good tip (the bartender was fantastic) this was an exceptionally reasonable meal, especially by New York City standards. The service was great, the restaurant beautiful, and the food was superb; I cannot recommend it enough. It is also very vegetarian friendly if that's your thing.
******
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Sunday, October 14, 2012
Las Vegas, NV
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| Homelessness is a clear issue in LV, but some homeless are more creative with their fundraising efforts than others |
My trip was with my best friend from college, Joe, and one of his classmates at the Harvard Kennedy School, Renee. On Friday Oct. 5th, my first night, upon arriving at the Palazzo Joe, Renee and I went to grab some food at I ❤ Burgers, which is conveniently located on the second floor of the hotel, tucked in among The Shoppes at the Palazzo. Like Burger Bar, I ❤ Burgers offers both the option of building your own burger or selecting one off the menu. I chose the "Inferno" burger, made with ground Angus beef, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, roasted jalapeños, and habanero-jalapeño mayo. The waitress recommended having the mayo on the side, and she was 100% right; that was hot. Unlike the chipotle aioli at Burger Bar, which was not spicy enough and got lost in the rest of the flavors, this mayo was exceptionally hot, and risked overwhelming the burger, though I didn't use much after tasting it before putting it on the bun. The burger itself was great, made perfectly rare (slightly less so than at Burger Bar, but still within that perfect range), on a nice brioche bun that complimented it very nicely. Joe had a "Plymouth's Pride" turkey burger (I know, I know...it's not really a burger) because he was running a Tough Mudder in a couple days, and figured it would be a good idea to eat light. He seemed to enjoy it. Renee had already eaten dinner, so she stuck with a shake, which Joe shared, and both liked, though I don't know what kind it was. We also got some onion rings, which were exceptional; hot, crispy, with the batter clinging perfectly to the onion so that when you took a bite it doesn't fall apart. It was served with a dipping sauce that was pretty good, though I can't for the life of me remember what it was. For a drink I went with a Kona Brewing Company Big Wave Golden Ale draught. Very smooth, very tasty, and a nice, subtle compliment to the burger.
After dinner, we dressed up and hit TAO, a nightclub at the Venetian, which is the sister/adjoining hotel to Palazzo. Because we were staying at the Palazzo, we were able to get right into the club, which saved us a lot of time waiting in a line and also meant we didn't pay a cover. When we got in, it was just Renee and I at first, as Joe went to get drinks before we figured out we could be in a much, much shorter line, and it took him a while to find us once we got in. At first it was a lot of fun, as there weren't too too many people there, and we had a little space to move and breathe, but it quickly got extremely crowded. One couple next to us were literally humping each other, and the guy ended up knocking my beer out of my hand without even so much as an apology; this is a significant part of why I don't frequent clubs, along with the fact that I'm hilariously bad at dancing. After a while, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and a couple other members of the LA Clippers showed up, and at that point, it went from being fun to being a little over the top. We had accidentally ended up in a spot only about 10 feet from where the "celebrities" were hanging out, so we ended up getting crushed by the crowd. We spent about another hour there before we got sick of getting squeezed by people and made our way out with some difficulty.
Saturday we grabbed breakfast at Wolfgang Puck's Solaro Poolside, which had a limited menu, and quite honestly awful service. The food received mixed reviews, as Joe did not even remotely enjoy his buttermilk pancakes (made with fresh blueberries and blueberry compote), but Renee and I, who wanted both the breakfast burrito (with scrambled eggs, mozzarella cheese, chorizo, potatoes, and two salsas, one a fresh salsa and the other a spicy tomatillo, which I preferred) and the granola parfait (house made granola, vanilla yogurt and fresh berries) just ended up each getting one and splitting them and loving them. The parfait was really good, not too sweet, and the granola was really nice, but it did not come close to the breakfast burrito, which was exceptional, and I sort of regretted agreeing to share it, as I wanted the second half after finishing my part. Everything in it was perfectly cooked, and the chorizo and tomatillo salsa added a really great kick that assisted with getting rid of the little hangover I had from the previous night. The coffee was merely acceptable, though Joe liked it, and he's a coffee addict. As I previously said, the service was terrible, as we waited at least 10 minutes from when we sat down before the waitress came over to take our order, and when she did she neither said hello nor offered any sort of pleasantries, simply stating "Go ahead." The service did not particularly improve over the course of the meal, either, and was not worthy either of the hotel or a chef like Wolfgang Puck.
After breakfast we lounged by the pool for a couple hours, reading, chatting and attempting to get some sun, which I badly needed. It was quite pleasant until the sun came down in full force, at which point it got extremely hot, jumping in temperature a solid 15 degrees the second the sun hit us. I ordered a piña colada, which was great, but cost me a whopping (and surprising) $17 dollars, which the waitress (or Joe, who had previously gotten one) didn't feel the need to tell me ahead of time. We then went inside and got to gambling, which was entertaining but doesn't make for much of a story.
Later on we grabbed some food at Ra Sushi, which serves non-traditional sushi and Japanese influenced dishes. We were there right at 3:00pm, when happy hour starts, so certain drinks and food were significantly marked down. A bowl of edamame, some shrimp tempura, a spicy shrimp roll, spicy yellowtail roll, and two straight fish preparations later, we were pretty happy, and got out of there for a very reasonable amount of money. The sushi was, as I said, non-traditional, so if you only like pure, unadulterated sushi this is not the place for you, but the fish was very fresh and flavorful, and presented in a pleasant way that made it well worth it to go, at least during the happy hour period from 3pm-7pm Monday to Saturday. The Seared Tuna (perfectly done) and Garlic Citrus Yellowtail were ridiculously good, especially the yellowtail, which is my favorite fish. Sadly it's also supremely overfished, so hopefully farming gets better (aka, more ecologically friendly), ensuring a continuing supply of this delightful fish. There are, of course, many better options for real sushi, but this was a fun, nice little place to go have a snack.
On Sunday I went to lunch with my brother while Joe and Renee were at the Tough Mudder, and we went to a Greek restaurant that I do not recall the name of, though I will try to remember to ask him since it was really fantastic. I had stuffed peppers, which were great, with lamb and olives being the dominant flavors, served with a huge amount of rice and a salad. We also got hummus to share, served with pita bread; now, hummus being both delicious and quite ordinary most of the time, I wasn't expecting anything different from what I've had elsewhere, but this was really great. I have no idea what the difference was between what I'm used to and what they do, but it was really great.
Among the things I really do enjoy about Las Vegas is simply walking up and down the Strip, seeing the sights, and it's best at night, where amidst the dozens of Central American immigrants attempting to hand you fliers for "escorts," you can see some pretty cool stuff, such as the Bellagio's Fountain Show, or cool street performers. So, while there are plenty of places I'd rather go, when I do end up in Las Vegas there are also many, many things I can find to do (or eat) that lead to a fun trip. Coming up in about a month, I'll be headed back so the family can all celebate my mom's 60th birthday together, and I'll be reviewing Bouchon Bistro, a Thomas Keller restaurant.
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