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Post by ganews on Mar 4, 2022 23:35:16 GMT -5
We also have a Ledo's Pizza, the most locally beloved and highly over-rated pizza anywhere in Maryland. Ledo's has amazing ingredients that could be used to make the world's best calzone but are instead slopped onto the world's worst pizza construction: square cut, which is an abomination unto the Lord. Ledo Pizza College Park, MD
These fuckin' guys. These guys are inexplicably, enormously popular in the state of Maryland. Particularly so here in College Park which was the original location of the regional chain. I've mentioned them before, above, but they deserve their own entry. We took their pizza home tonight because apparently you have to knock yourself in the head every once in a while to remember not to do that anymore.
Ledo makes rectangular pizzas. The crust is about as thin as pizza crust ever goes, and yet it has no particular stiffness to it at all. This guarantees that the generous toppings are going to fall right off when you attempt to pick up a piece. Now you may think that is just a sign of bad eating technique, that any sensible person knows you eat thin crust laden with toppings by folding the slice in the New York style. Tragically, folding a slice is nearly impossible because each individual piece is square-cut and measures about 4 in. by 3 in. (They actually arrange the toppings so that each tiny pizza slice gets exactly one pepperoni.)
Square-cutting a pizza in those dimensions is incredibly stupid, because it ensures that the center pieces that are 2/3 of the pie can only be picked up by shoving one's fingers into hot, greasy cheese. But then, the cheese and toppings are also spread all the way to the edge of end slices as well, and no matter what cut you take the lack of structural integrity ensures it all falls apart anyway. The cheese is so heavy compared to the thin crust that you're going to rip in half at least one piece adjacent to the one you're grabbing.
This restaurant uses truly excellent ingredients, and you'll be appreciating them one at a time as you pick the fallen bits off your plate. Truly, the only way to enjoy an intact slice of Ledo pizza is to eat it cold leftover. Now, those ingredients give Ledo perhaps the best calzone I've ever had in my life. But just being reminded of their pizza failure makes me so angry, I'd rather go to Three Brothers which gives you a nice Greek salad on the side as well.
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Post by The Stuffingtacular She-Hulk on Mar 7, 2022 9:29:01 GMT -5
We also have a Ledo's Pizza, the most locally beloved and highly over-rated pizza anywhere in Maryland. Ledo's has amazing ingredients that could be used to make the world's best calzone but are instead slopped onto the world's worst pizza construction: square cut, which is an abomination unto the Lord. Ledo Pizza College Park, MD
These fuckin' guys. These guys are inexplicably, enormously popular in the state of Maryland. Particularly so here in College Park which was the original location of the regional chain. I've mentioned them before, above, but they deserve their own entry. We took their pizza home tonight because apparently you have to knock yourself in the head every once in a while to remember not to do that anymore.
Ledo makes rectangular pizzas. The crust is about as thin as pizza crust ever goes, and yet it has no particular stiffness to it at all. This guarantees that the generous toppings are going to fall right off when you attempt to pick up a piece. Now you may think that is just a sign of bad eating technique, that any sensible person knows you eat thin crust laden with toppings by folding the slice in the New York style. Tragically, folding a slice is nearly impossible because each individual piece is square-cut and measures about 4 in. by 3 in. (They actually arrange the toppings so that each tiny pizza slice gets exactly one pepperoni.)
Square-cutting a pizza in those dimensions is incredibly stupid, because it ensures that the center pieces that are 2/3 of the pie can only be picked up by shoving one's fingers into hot, greasy cheese. But then, the cheese and toppings are also spread all the way to the edge of end slices as well, and no matter what cut you take the lack of structural integrity ensures it all falls apart anyway. The cheese is so heavy compared to the thin crust that you're going to rip in half at least one piece adjacent to the one you're grabbing.
This restaurant uses truly excellent ingredients, and you'll be appreciating them one at a time as you pick the fallen bits off your plate. Truly, the only way to enjoy an intact slice of Ledo pizza is to eat it cold leftover. Now, those ingredients give Ledo perhaps the best calzone I've ever had in my life. But just being reminded of their pizza failure makes me so angry, I'd rather go to Three Brothers which gives you a nice Greek salad on the side as well.
I am a central Maryland native, as are all my IRL friends, and not once has any of us ever said in our entire lives, "Let's go to Ledo's." There are always better options. Always. Seriously, I don't know a single person who likes it. Where did it get this reputation of being popular, anyway?
We all know the best pizza in Maryland is at Pizza John's in Essex (or Matthew's in Baltimore City, some would argue).
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Post by ganews on Mar 7, 2022 10:13:17 GMT -5
Ledo Pizza College Park, MD
These fuckin' guys. These guys are inexplicably, enormously popular in the state of Maryland. Particularly so here in College Park which was the original location of the regional chain. I've mentioned them before, above, but they deserve their own entry. We took their pizza home tonight because apparently you have to knock yourself in the head every once in a while to remember not to do that anymore.
Ledo makes rectangular pizzas. The crust is about as thin as pizza crust ever goes, and yet it has no particular stiffness to it at all. This guarantees that the generous toppings are going to fall right off when you attempt to pick up a piece. Now you may think that is just a sign of bad eating technique, that any sensible person knows you eat thin crust laden with toppings by folding the slice in the New York style. Tragically, folding a slice is nearly impossible because each individual piece is square-cut and measures about 4 in. by 3 in. (They actually arrange the toppings so that each tiny pizza slice gets exactly one pepperoni.)
Square-cutting a pizza in those dimensions is incredibly stupid, because it ensures that the center pieces that are 2/3 of the pie can only be picked up by shoving one's fingers into hot, greasy cheese. But then, the cheese and toppings are also spread all the way to the edge of end slices as well, and no matter what cut you take the lack of structural integrity ensures it all falls apart anyway. The cheese is so heavy compared to the thin crust that you're going to rip in half at least one piece adjacent to the one you're grabbing.
This restaurant uses truly excellent ingredients, and you'll be appreciating them one at a time as you pick the fallen bits off your plate. Truly, the only way to enjoy an intact slice of Ledo pizza is to eat it cold leftover. Now, those ingredients give Ledo perhaps the best calzone I've ever had in my life. But just being reminded of their pizza failure makes me so angry, I'd rather go to Three Brothers which gives you a nice Greek salad on the side as well.
I am a central Maryland native, as are all my IRL friends, and not once has any of us ever said in our entire lives, "Let's go to Ledo's." There are always better options. Always. Seriously, I don't know a single person who likes it. Where did it get this reputation of being popular, anyway?
We all know the best pizza in Maryland is at Pizza John's in Essex (or Matthew's in Baltimore City, some would argue).
I have had multiple people tell me in person that it's good (I charitably assume they mean it has good ingredients), and I have seen it ordered for multiple work/party functions (I assume because it is a beloved local institution and sounds better than ordering Dominos). These things are wrong, but there it is.
When I had to go in to pick up last Friday night, the place was absolutely packed. The wait for one carry-out online order pizza was 45 minutes.
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Post by The Stuffingtacular She-Hulk on Mar 7, 2022 10:41:45 GMT -5
I am a central Maryland native, as are all my IRL friends, and not once has any of us ever said in our entire lives, "Let's go to Ledo's." There are always better options. Always. Seriously, I don't know a single person who likes it. Where did it get this reputation of being popular, anyway?
We all know the best pizza in Maryland is at Pizza John's in Essex (or Matthew's in Baltimore City, some would argue).
I have had multiple people tell me in person that it's good (I charitably assume they mean it has good ingredients), and I have seen it ordered for multiple work/party functions (I assume because it is a beloved local institution and sounds better than ordering Dominos). These things are wrong, but there it is.
When I had to go in to pick up last Friday night, the place was absolutely packed. The wait for one carry-out online order pizza was 45 minutes.
It must be a D.C.-area thing, then. That's the best guess I have, anyway. We're more likely to order from Pat's if we don't want to do national-chain pizza, but usually we just pick a local indie place that we like. The apartment to which I'm moving in Baltimore County has about a dozen options within a two-mile radius, for instance; even where I live now, much further out from the city, has several options to choose from that are local and delicious.
My real enemy, however, is Pizza Boli's. I don't know what it is about that pizza, but I can't stand it. It's like....wet.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 14, 2022 21:45:10 GMT -5
Roadhouse 38, Lombard, IL
In a word: disappointing.
We go to a lot of bar-and-grill type places - TWBE loves a good chicken finger or nacho platter. This place just opened a month or so ago; they have sister restaurants in outlying exurbs, so I thought it would be worth checking out.
We were seated right away, got water quickly, ordered. That was the smoothest part.
Ordered nachos for an appetizer, I got fish & chips, husband ordered chicken finger platter.
The nachos: overly salty chips, tons of goopy yellow cheese from a can, pulled pork that probably came straight from a Sysco bag. Edible, but nothing special.
My fish & chips came right out, and we were told husband's food would be close behind. Reader, they were not. He finally told me I should just start eating; the fries were fine, the fish (3 smallish pieces, also clearly fried from frozen and not hand-made) were ... fine. Nothing special, but tender and flaky.
Took a sold... 10 minutes? For the chicken fingers to finally come out. They were hot, and they looked reasonably good, but according to TWBE they were very overcooked and tough.
All in all, nothing that I would go back for; we could have gotten the exact same meal at Rock Bottom that would have been higher quality, much tastier and is also closer to home. With better service.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Oct 17, 2022 12:52:59 GMT -5
Sakura Nami Japanese Restaurant, Clarendon Hills, IL
also disappointing.
This is a sushi and Japanese restaurant that features all-you-can-eat sushi for a fixed price. I came with a friend to celebrate her birthday.
First thing in the door all I could smell was cleaner - a strong vaguely lemon scent. Not pleasant. It wasn't as strong in the seating area, but lingered nonetheless. Service was pretty good. We got water quickly, plates, the food all came out fairly quickly.
But it just was ... not great. Sushi should be easy to eat in one bite, it should emphasize the ingredients over the rice, the fish should be super-fresh and melt in your mouth.
We ordered (between the 2 of us) 4 rolls, 2 appetizers and 6 pieces of nigiri.
The appetizers were fine, nothing special but tasty enough.
The rolls were OK. But they were really big and kind of sloppy and had a lot of rice.
The nigiri was really disappointing - way too much rice, weirdly cut pieces of fish, one piece of tuna was both too big and didn't taste great. Most places I get nigiri you pop it in your mouth and it's minimal chewing and just fresh and delicious tasting; this was weird and sweet and I had to chew way too much.
My friend seemed to like it, and I didn't get food poisoning or anything, but I will not be going back.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Nov 28, 2022 11:01:33 GMT -5
Linger Eatuary in Denver Amusingly odd, just-short-of-novelty restaurant with a surprisingly diverse menu (Mesoamerican, Thai, Chinese, etc.). Hence the name, it's a former mortuary and it has strange death-themed artwork all over the walls, including stills from Harold and Maude and vintage cigarette ads. Decent food, though--the appetizer bao buns were terrific and my Thai red coconut curry was good enough.  |
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Post by ganews on Dec 17, 2022 15:49:01 GMT -5
Da Rae Won Beltsville, MD
I've generally not been big on Korean food. (Of the most popular dishes: Korean barbecue is just okay, kimchi is best as an ingredient in other things, bibimbap has a weird aftertaste to me, bulgogi is quite tasty but not exactly fancy.) So I've been slow to go to the handful of Korean restaurants in the town up US-1 that appears to have a large Korean population.
But this place is different - it's a noodle house first and foremost, and I haven't had Korean noodles before. Tucked away off the highway with a sign only written in Korean letters. It's a moderately sized dining room with minimal decoration - I always like to play "guess what type of restaurant this used to be". But it does have two unique features: a clientele that appears to be about 90% Korean (always a good sign), and a tinted window where you can see a chef pulling two-meter-long noodles. I actually wonder if we're looking though the back of a two-way mirror. Anyway it's good that they have that because otherwise you'd be wondering what the gigantic thumps of slapping noodles were.
The first time I went, the basic noodles with caramelized onions and black bean sauce were so cheap on the menu that I was skeptical they were really the size of a proper entree, so I also got chapchae noodles to be sure and then ate until I couldn't move. I've since had some excellent noodle soups, which was a nice alternative to pho and ramen especially because it's hard to get super good ramen. I also like that they will give you hot tea or water for sitting down. I don't know if I'll ever get around to trying the really expensive dishes when the noodles are so good. That's a common problem when living in an area with a lot of restaurants; you can go out to eat twice a week and only hit a certain place a couple times a year, when you tend to get what you already like from there.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jan 9, 2023 8:59:24 GMT -5
Hawaiian Bros Over 30 locations in six states
This rapidly growing chain opened a new location about 10 minutes from my house. Hawaiian Bros specializes in the Hawaiian Plate Lunch, which they interpret as a meat-and-two. They have a small selection of proteins that you choose from, all of which are served with a side of white rice and macaroni salad. All the proteins have Hawaiian names, but they can be described as teriyaki chicken, slightly spicy teriyaki chicken, very spicy teriyaki chicken, garlic chicken, pulled pork, or mixed vegetables. You order a small, regular, or large plate, and for an extra dollar you can get a combo plate with two proteins. You can also order additional sides such as more rice or mac, fresh pineapple, or mixed stir-fried vegetables.
We ordered a large pulled pork plate and a regular combo plate with the slightly spicy teriyaki chicken and garlic chicken. Plus a side of pineapple and extra side of rice, because I never know what my kids will eat and I was hedging. The result was an absolute mountain of food. My family of four - admittedly not big eaters - could have ordered just the pulled pork plate to share and not finished it.
The pulled pork was also the star. Moist but not wet, and deeply flavorful. Maaaaaaaaybe a hair on the salty side, but you can break that up with the rice and macaroni salad. I also enjoyed both flavors of chicken, preferring the garlic chicken of the two, though I wish I'd gone for the very spicy teriyaki instead. The slightly spicy version had no spice I could detect at all. Neither of my kids liked the chicken, which surprised me since teriyaki chicken is usually a win for them, and this is a good version, but they both surprised me by eating the pork. I'll take it. Finally, I was the only one at the table who liked the macaroni salad, which is a simple, runny mayonnaise based version with minimal flavorings and a good shake of black pepper. I feel like it's maybe the kind of macaroni salad people would make fun of white people for making, but I dunno, it hit me just right.
We so rarely eat out, and have other options my kids like better when we do so, that I don't know when or if I'll get back to Hawaiian Bros. But I'd like to. Really enjoyed the food, and I'd like to try the spicy chicken.
2 entrees, 2 extra sides, 4 drinks = $42.XX
One thing I didn't mention is that the protein comes on a sizable bed of rice, and that's in addition to the side of rice that all plates come with. I know rice is inexpensive so it wouldn't be comparable at all, but it'd be nice if you could customize your sides. You're getting rice either way, so I'd much rather swap out the side of rice for pineapple or vegetables.
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Jan 16, 2023 13:24:29 GMT -5
Spent the weekend in New Orleans with some friends who moved from DFW about a year and a half ago. They spent the weekend stuffing us to the absolute limit with food. I mean, yeah, we went to the WWII museum (which was impressive) and walked the French Quarter and all that, but our main activity seemed to be eating.
Cochon
Their favorite local restaurant and the one place they insisted we had to eat. And yeah, it was really good. Despite the creole menu, it's vibe was not uniquely New Orleans. We have places like this in DFW. Wood, brick wall, higher-mid price point, limited menu, hipster-core and/or alt-core staff, craft cocktails, decent beer list. Big ups for the braised beef pie, the Boudin balls, and the signature "Cochon", which this night was a braised pork bellow over grits. My god. The best restaurant we visited for sure.
Elizabeth's
Breakfast joint where seemingly everything is some kind of benny, but they don't serve a traditional benny. I got fried green tomatoes benedict. Rich, lemony hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and served with some of the best home fries I've ever had. The crunch! (btw, they call them hashbrowns, which they decidedly were NOT, so watch out.) Friend got french toast benny with grits, and the Mrs. got bananas foster french toast (not benny). All very good.
Kind of funny, because we got there at 9:30am on a Saturday morning, which where I'm from would be slammed, but this place was empty. I inquired, and my friend said, "This is New Orleans, everybody got drunk last night and is still asleep. It'll pick up around 11."
New Orleans' Hamburger and Seafood Company
A local chain. One of my goals for the weekend was a proper New Orleans po'boy. My friends assured me that though this is a chain, they dish out a proper po'boy. Indeed my fried shrimp sandwich was very good, if maybe a bit simple. My heart desired a fried oyster po'boy, something much harder to find here than a shrimp sandwich, but alas it wasn't on the menu. Still, I was satisfied. The real story at NOHaSC was the fried catfish. One of the best batters I've ever had the pleasure, and cut super thin so it's almost pure crunch. They offer it on a po'boy, and had I known I would have gone for that for sure.
Court of Two Sisters
Our fancy night. Court of Two Sisters doesn't have the name recognition of Commander's Palace - or at least I'd never heard of it - but I understand it is another venerated French Quarter institution, with stories dating back to the 1800's. While very good, and in fact my blacked Gulf fish was excellent, this was my least favorite of the trip. It just wasn't our vibe. Very fancy with the staid dining room, the white table cloths, the servers in tuxes, the food brought out in covered dishes then revealed at the table. Surprisingly no dessert trolley. (In fact, hate to say it, but while service wasn't bad, it wasn't "fancy" either. No talking about the food, no presenting the specials, no asking about dessert or coffee, no serving the ladies first, etc., which yeah totally outdated but at this kind of place you just expect.) It's the kind of place I guess you'd go to say you've been, but if that's the goal, just go to Commander's Palace instead. So again, no complaints with the food, but it was a little ... cruise shippy?
Creole Creamery
Local ice cream chain known for weird flavors. Nothing too wild on this visit, unfortunately, as I was stuff to the gills and was willing to order something weird and not really mind if I didn't like it. My orange blossom fluff, basically a dream cooler with marshmallow streaks, suited me fine.
So full.
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Post by 🐍 cahusserole 🐍 on Feb 4, 2023 20:12:42 GMT -5
Spent the weekend in New Orleans with some friends who moved from DFW about a year and a half ago. They spent the weekend stuffing us to the absolute limit with food. I mean, yeah, we went to the WWII museum (which was impressive) and walked the French Quarter and all that, but our main activity seemed to be eating. Elizabeth'sBreakfast joint where seemingly everything is some kind of benny, but they don't serve a traditional benny. I got fried green tomatoes benedict. Rich, lemony hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and served with some of the best home fries I've ever had. The crunch! (btw, they call them hashbrowns, which they decidedly were NOT, so watch out.) Friend got french toast benny with grits, and the Mrs. got bananas foster french toast (not benny). All very good. Kind of funny, because we got there at 9:30am on a Saturday morning, which where I'm from would be slammed, but this place was empty. I inquired, and my friend said, "This is New Orleans, everybody got drunk last night and is still asleep. It'll pick up around 11." I've been to Elizabeth's! Back in 2009, on the first of two business trips to New Orleans. Did you get any of their praline bacon? |
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Feb 6, 2023 10:54:33 GMT -5
Spent the weekend in New Orleans with some friends who moved from DFW about a year and a half ago. They spent the weekend stuffing us to the absolute limit with food. I mean, yeah, we went to the WWII museum (which was impressive) and walked the French Quarter and all that, but our main activity seemed to be eating. Elizabeth'sBreakfast joint where seemingly everything is some kind of benny, but they don't serve a traditional benny. I got fried green tomatoes benedict. Rich, lemony hollandaise, perfectly poached eggs, and served with some of the best home fries I've ever had. The crunch! (btw, they call them hashbrowns, which they decidedly were NOT, so watch out.) Friend got french toast benny with grits, and the Mrs. got bananas foster french toast (not benny). All very good. Kind of funny, because we got there at 9:30am on a Saturday morning, which where I'm from would be slammed, but this place was empty. I inquired, and my friend said, "This is New Orleans, everybody got drunk last night and is still asleep. It'll pick up around 11." I've been to Elizabeth's! Back in 2009, on the first of two business trips to New Orleans. Did you get any of their praline bacon? In fact we did! At our hosts' insistence we ordered a plate for the table to share, and yeah that stuff was legit! |
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Post by ganews on Jun 30, 2023 23:27:25 GMT -5
Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant
York, PA
On our way to the Kutztown Folk Festival, we needed a place for supper that was at least half our way enroute and open after 9 pm - a difficult prospect these days. I picked this out from the passenger seat. We pulled up to find it attached to a Quality Inn.
Solid choice all around: clean place, large menu, cheap combo plates, selection of more authentic dishes, selections of four tacos for $10 (!!), generous supply of chips and salsa, classic Spanish tunes on the speaker. Just everything you could want from American tex-mex. They also had something I've never seen before, a server coming tableside to make fresh guacamole, for an unmentioned price yes but I anticipated that and I'll pay for novelty. I was stuffed. I would consider going back on the home trip so I could get the ice cream in a churro-bowl.
I think I am ready to make a personal policy: independent (i.e. non-chain) restaurants attached to cheap hotels are a good idea. The best Chinese place in DC, multiple Indian joints, now this place - all great. I don't think I've ever had a bad experience with this situation.
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Post by ganews on Nov 4, 2023 23:51:13 GMT -5
Sakoon Indian Fusion
Charles Village, Baltimore, MD You want to have the right preparation to go to a buffet. You don't want to be too full, obviously, but if your tank is on absolute empty you'll be satisfied faster than you'd think. This is not a how-to guide for gluttony but advice for how to enjoy a buffet and not be sorry you missed something. Indian food is arguably the best kind of buffet too, or maybe I just feel that way because it's harder to come by here. There was a legendarily good Indian vegetarian buffet nearby, like Indians driving an hour and waiting another hour to be seated on a Saturday or holiday, but it didn't survive the pandemic (nor did Food Factory, R.I.P.) and when the sister location re-opened for dine-in it never restarted the buffet. About a year ago Wifemate and I had occasion to go to Baltimore, and we decided to also stop near her old apartment for of our old favorites for lunch, an Indian/diner joint. But on the walk there, hey there's this new Indian place, and they have a lunch buffet for just $16! Well it was a small joint, pretty good, but what was really notable was that it had mango lassi *on tap* and you could just help yourself. Never seen that before. This was Sakoon. Thing is, we just stumbled upon it which can be rough on the belly when you're not adequately prepared. Today we finally got back for lunch. Popular place, not hurting for business but also not full. The buffet selection was quite tasty but mostly no dishes out of the ordinary. The saag paneer was especially smooth and buttery. The chunks of white meat chicken in the chicken tikka masala were too big, but the sauce was good. I discovered that if I took the otherwise-slightly-dry fried fish and covered it with the tikka masala the taste was absolutely incredible. The mango lassi tankard was still available, but also there was a carafe of hot masala chai that was particularly nice to sip at the end. Another great new thing I had never had before: gajar halwa, desert pudding made by cooking carrots in milk. Oh boy did I eat. We walked around the city for two hours before fitting back into the car to go home. Not the fanciest place one could go to, but highly recommended.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Nov 26, 2023 12:46:15 GMT -5
Sexy PizzaTrinidad, CO The name is not, as I half-suspected, a reference to Trinidad's status back in the day as the gender-reassignment surgery capitol of America (this location is actually the lone outlier to date of a Denver-based chain). The unpretentious retro hipster vibe of the joint, situated in the old train depot in the same space as a tavern, is by far the most appealing aspect of what's ultimately very boilerplate thin crust. But it's priced accordingly and the employee-owned company prides itself on community and philanthropy commitments. A worthy stop along Interstate 25.
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Post by ganews on Jan 8, 2024 0:23:38 GMT -5
Setaara Atlantic City, NJ
We decided to go to Atlantic City for our anniversary instead of someplace nice because the timing fell neatly in between two other trips with just a long weekend between, but that's another story. So I was searching in advance for restaurants and anything else we could possibly do in the off-season. This place actually came up on my radar as one of the vanishingly few options that were not Italian, seafood, or bar n' grill: a French and Afghan restaurant a couple blocks back from the boardwalk. But I looked it off after reviewing the website because they were only serving a pre fixe menu, the price was pretty steep, and we can get solid Afghan and expensive French at home. (It really is nice to live in metro DC in some ways.)
However, the Italian restaurant we chose on the fly by smartphone and walked to for 30 minutes was closed, and this place happened to be across the street. We walked in without a reservation and they gave us a small a table right in front of the piano player. Nice area, the called it "the garden", with the big Middle Eastern tables that are flat with your lap, a large Eiffel Tower model with Christmas lights, and a couple of caged birds chirping. They had the fanciest water glasses I've ever seen in a restaurant, like these big pewter goblets with curvy handles. The bread was marshmallow-soft and sesame-covered. The pre fixe wasn't actually limited choices, it just meant you had to get an appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert.
Well, it was all excellent. Our soup du jour was a lemony sort of chicken that made me want to properly sip from the spoon like mannered people are supposed to do. Our appetizers were bolani crisps with chutney and yogurt with cucumber. She had lamb kabob which was pretty good; I had a lamb shank that was maybe the best lamb I have ever had in my life, extremely tender but also quite large. And the palau rice with carrot and raisin, amazing and absolute mounds of it! My lamb was literally buried in rice. I had to get a box, and I ate the rest of that rice for two work lunches later in the week. Dessert was chosen by the restaurant; between the two of us we had baklava, chocolate mouse, and a cardamom pudding. The server gave us tea on the house.
It was one of those meals at a great restaurant where you know the whole menu would be good but you can't imagine ordering anything but what you've already had. A real unexpected diamond in the Jersey rough. Too bad I will never go to that city again.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Feb 20, 2024 10:15:51 GMT -5
Thoughts on random restaurants at Disney World:
Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar, Disney Springs - this Indiana Jones-inspired place is more of a bar with light bites, but you can definitely get enough to make a meal. The drinks are creative (mostly riffs on classics like a Long Island or a margarita) and the food is honestly really good. We shared a giant pretzel/charcuterie plate, a flatbread, these weird combo chicken wings-deviled eggs, and queso fundido. we sat on the water on a lovely night and enjoyed the view. Recommended.
Chicken Guy, Disney Springs - This is a Guy Fieri owned restaurant that mostly serves chicken tenders and chicken tender sandwiches in various configurations, plus sides/dipping sauces and milkshakes. My sandwich was tasty but a bit unwieldy to eat. It appeals to picky eaters and is pretty reasonably priced for a Disney property.
Gideon's Bakehouse, Disney Springs - this is a trendy bakery that mostly serves giant cookies and slices of cake, plus coffee/coldbrew. There is a line to get in. We waited maybe 20 minutes. This stuff is built for Instagram and it's kind of gothy - a whimsical vampire vibe, if you will. The cookies are large, studded with chocolate/peanut butter/whatever chips on the outside and a little on the cakey side. They're good, but I don't know that I would wait that long (or longer!) again when there are plenty of other bakeries in Disney Springs.
Regal Eagle Smokehouse, America Pavilion, EPCOT - This was recommended to us by our trip planner but I probably wouldn't go back since there are many other better places in World Showcase. I got a brisket sandwich and the brisket seemed to be half fat. Not the most appealing thing. The pulled pork looked better and I may have ordered poorly but the point remains.
La Cantina de San Angel, Mexico Pavilion, EPCOT - now that's what I'm talking about. Tacos, empanadas and margaritas, baby. Sit by the water and enjoy.
Abracadabar, Boardwalk Resort - a cute lil magic-themed bar on the Boardwalk. Fun atmosphere. Light bites. Had a drink, didn't eat anything.
Ale & Compass, Yacht Club Resort - a little swankier and we felt a little underdressed in our jeans and matching t-shirts, but the thing about Disney is that most people walk around a little sweaty. Food was really tasty and the atmosphere was nice.
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Post by pantsgoblin on Feb 20, 2024 13:18:47 GMT -5
Thoughts on random restaurants at Disney World: Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar, Disney Springs - this Indiana Jones-inspired place is more of a bar with light bites, but you can definitely get enough to make a meal. The drinks are creative (mostly riffs on classics like a Long Island or a margarita) and the food is honestly really good. We shared a giant pretzel/charcuterie plate, a flatbread, these weird combo chicken wings-deviled eggs, and queso fundido. we sat on the water on a lovely night and enjoyed the view. Recommended. That's funny to me that they would name the place after such a minor character in Raiders. I guess it's better than "Bad Dates". |
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Feb 20, 2024 13:24:36 GMT -5
Thoughts on random restaurants at Disney World: Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar, Disney Springs - this Indiana Jones-inspired place is more of a bar with light bites, but you can definitely get enough to make a meal. The drinks are creative (mostly riffs on classics like a Long Island or a margarita) and the food is honestly really good. We shared a giant pretzel/charcuterie plate, a flatbread, these weird combo chicken wings-deviled eggs, and queso fundido. we sat on the water on a lovely night and enjoyed the view. Recommended. That's funny to me that they would name the place after such a minor character in Raiders. I guess it's better than "Bad Dates". yeah, he's such a throwaway character, but the place is only very loosely Indiana Jones themed. It's more explorer/adventurer/pilot. You can get things like Club Obi Wan Chicken Wings and Snakebite Sliders and drinks like Fountain of Youth and Wrong Island! and The Scottish Professor. I mean, I've been to "normal" restaurants that had similar things going on. |
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repulsionist
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Post by repulsionist on Jun 23, 2024 15:36:35 GMT -5
Lord of the Fries
Botany Town Centre, Auckland
Visited in order to perform individual last rites to a dying Australasian Vegan Fast Food Franchise. With its witty name implying reference to a feral free-for-all when societal rules absent themselves from proceedings, this fast food franchise lived in Australia, and later New Zealand, from 2005 until sometime this year. A series of fumbled chances, over-priced fare, and gross mismanagement delivered the gift of receivership to this enterprise. Prior to foundering in the uncharted waters of Free Market Economics, the fries were en pointe as shoestring or straight-cut; the sweet potato fries not unappetising. A Golding opportunity for maximum capitalisation, lost in Thousand Islands of shipwrecked sides. Their vegan hot dogs were Australasian in origin, thereby a poor facsimile of anything known in North America, South America, or Europe (For the record, yellow mustard is not meant to have sugar as an added ingredient. Yes, North American food suppliers augment a number of foods with random sugar input, but yellow mustard is not one of those things - I'm sure; very sure.). Their vegan burgers and chicken surrogate offerings were reasonably coated in sauces masking their non-meat status. Most preferred option was their emulation of the Chik-fil-a chicken sandwich.
I will be going to the shop again at least 2 weeks before its closing. To see if I can obtain any future artifacts of melancholic nostalgia at a steep discount to gouge emotional consumers sometime in the, hopefully, near term.
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Post by ganews on Jul 17, 2024 22:22:41 GMT -5
Deitsch Eck Lenhartsville, PA
Amazingly, I only happened upon it last year by chance. In 2023, Wife and I went to the Kutztown Folk Festival* for the 4th of July weekend. These are the people of my mother's side of the family before they moved south; it was great to have a lot of food that I'd never had unless cooked by a family member, and to hear people speak with an accent I'd never heard outside my own family. When the festival closed at 6 we weren't exactly hungry but we wanted something, and a simple search turned up this place as having PA Dutch food and dessert.
What a mind-blowing place - turns out that it was a pre-Great War hotel, but in the mid-20th century it was a restaurant owned and operated by Johnny Ott, the artist who created the Pennsylvania Dutch "hex sign" as we know it. There are original paintings by Ott all over the place, on the walls and sills. (The restaurant today is owned and chef-ed by a guy who was a waiter there in one of its incarnations.) We had a great meal: chicken with crab, apple butter on cottage cheese, potato filling, scrapple, iced mint tea, giant shoo fly pie. It made such an impression that I determined to bring my mother and grandmother in 2024 (along with the festival, of course).
This meal was no less memorable. As I said, the owner is the chef; we were served by his mother, and his daughter was bussing tables. We got potato and corn fritters with sour cream and syrup for appetizer. Around the table we had corn pie, potato filling, a hamburger topped with potato chips, fried eggplant, grilled sauerkraut, salad with bacon dressing, chicken pot pie (not in a pie, but with noodles), and other regional style food. Dessert always tops the list: apple pie a la mode, coconut custard...an my grandmother boringly ordered plain cheesecake. Reader, this was the best cheesecake I ever tasted in my life. It wasn't dense or heavy, it was light like it had been whipped.
Deitsch Eck means "Dutch Corner". I don't know if this sort of place would appeal to many people, but it's like eating (very good, very hearty) food that my great-great-grandmother would have cooked and that's very special to me.
*This is a festival dedicated to the Pennsylvania Dutch aka Pennsylvania Germans. The Amish as a culture are petty famous, but they are actually under the umbrella of Pennsylvania Dutch - which you can divide into Plain Dutch and Fancy Dutch. Nowadays unless they're Amish and driving a horse, they're just white people - but they come from a group of Germanic immigrants in PA of a certain stock who spoke/speak a language which is neither quite German or Dutch, and they've got their own folkways and foodways. They weren't all farmers either; my grandmother's family lived in populous Allentown for generations and had a grocery store.
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Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Aug 8, 2024 14:17:28 GMT -5
I wrote this up like last week and then I accidentally hit "back" and it all disappeared. Sigh.
A brief roundup of restaurants in Hawaii:
Waikiki Brewing Co, Honolulu: Right on the edge of a commercial area with a lot of hotels, shops etc. but felt kind of neighborhoody. Great beer, very tasty food, had a delicious cocktail here too. Get the poke.
Round Table Pizza, Honolulu: Smack in the middle of Hilton Hawaiian Village, and probably intended mostly as carryout for the hotel guests, but there is a small eat-in area. Thin, crispy crust but not like Chicago tavern style. Good for what it was.
Hilton Hawaiian Village Starlight Luau: They cram a lot of people in for this, and it's 100% touristy, but the food was reasonably good, and the show was entertaining. This was our "rehearsal dinner" so I have no idea how much it costs.
Sunny's Local Grind, Honolulu: Local coffee shop with tiny seating area, lots of good options, tasty breakfast.
Kan Sushi, Honolulu: Meh. They basically only do AYCE, the sushi was underwhelming considering where we were, I'm sure there's better.
Maui Brewing Co (Waikiki), Honolulu: Good food and good beer but felt more touristy/mall-like than Waikiki Brewing. Ironically. Steak nachos saved me.
Mekiko Cantina, Ko Olina: Who knew there was delicious Mexican food in Hawaii? Yes, it's expensive, but the food was very good.
Black Sheep Cream Co, Ko Olina: Quirky little ice cream shop, definitely recommend if you're ever here which you probably won't be.
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repulsionist
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actively disinterested
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Post by repulsionist on Sept 15, 2024 18:59:58 GMT -5
Shinjuku-Kabukicho-Marunouchi-Chome
Donaiya Takoyaki - First food object obtained upon hotel arrival - after 7-Eleven visit with children. Decent octopus arms and tentacles in a eggy, fried batter.
Shogun Burger - They won a Tokyo Burger Contest. They won a World Burger Contest. They have a special grind of Wagyu beef. For those in the burger loop, they have a Motz burger. I had the classic cheeseburger. My son had the chili burger. He wisely opted for a spicy sauce for his fried potatoes cut in a Standard to Belgian style. I chose the mentaiko (salted cod roe with mayonnaise) as my sauce service to fries/chips. I do like trying new things. I take the advice of servers when asking what they prefer. In this case, paying heed to the advice of using mentaiko was not enjoyable.
Kaiten Sushi Numazuko - Conveyor belt sushi. After days of eating richly at a variety of places, I only had bluefin (excellent) as a maguro cut, horse mackerel (beautifully sensuous fish), natto with okra (slimily wonderful), and roasted eel (sweetly flaky and sumptuous).
Yokohama Ramen or Tomiya - Arrived at after Disney Sea. Edible and pleasant. Regular Tonkatsu, miso broth.
Tempura Shinjuku Tsunahachi - Exquisite fry of varied objects. The ambience, despite the smells of multiple generations of frying oils, was regal.
Meat, Egg, & Cheese - Super-size portions of various curry rice with omelet concoctions. All required heavy lifting of fork and spoon. Highly recommended.
Lotteria - Korean fast-food joint that engages in egregious shrinkflation.
Mister Donut - Restaurant? No. Excellent place to obtain US-style drip coffee and seriously good donut? Yes.
Komeda's Coffee Cafe - The go-to Japanese coffee cafe. Excellent Katsu sando. Decent club sandwich. Reasonable coffee; Viennese style most recommended. Ok sweets.
H Hand Drip Coffee House - Getting a table here during prime Tokyo snack/break/smoko time (1PM - 3PM) is a chore. Excellent Katsu sando. Decent chicken club. Very nice sweets/cake selection.
Eggslut + Boul'erie - Boulangerie is in shared space. May be LA-based. Didn't investigate. Excellent cinnamon roll partaken while waiting for my Fairfax. Egglsut OJ is from concentrate. Average iced coffee. Had you ever wondered if some sandwich could eclipse Simpsons' comic overstatement? Paused for thought if a sandwich containing a day's worth of kilocalories existed as a variety on a menu? Eggslut is it. Pained feelings of cholesterol clogging arteries and chafing veins when taking the third to last bite of a sandwich made there. Disassembly suggested for those without North American serving size pressed into their consciousness through escalating value, value, value. Exceedingly popular venue. You will wait. You will enjoy its decadence. You will wonder when chef/creator Alvin Cailan will drop dead from a heart attack.
Cafe Aaliya - Best French Toast in Tokyo (that we had; and we tried it at least twice in different places - kids!). This "French Toast" is actually a souffle. An order takes 20 minutes to complete. Worth it. The ham + cheese panini I had was a hard "mid".
Izakaya Tori Gokoro - Decent after-work place with cheaply priced yakitori. My 12 yo felt like an adult ordering a mug of soda and various chicken bits on a skewer. My chirashi was divine. The salmon had to have been Alaskan in origin; so smooth and buttery.
La Boutique d'Joel Robuchon - Superstar chef has a bread shop. Custards inimitable. Croissants reasonably flaky and light.
Maccas - A little lacklustre here. The special dipping sauce known only in Japan was remarkable. Beef burgers less than excellent. Chicken of the fried variety decent. You can get different Fanta here, so that's laudable.
Nagoya
Blue Seal - Nagoya Esca Underground Mall - If you ever have chance in North America to try this ice cream, you have to. Japan, no question you should find it wherever it may be. Any lover of chilled dairy will need to experience the additional volume of butterfat put into this treat. Whole lotta wow in each mouthful. The underground mall is a bedlam of restaurants and shopping that's worth a visit if you're out of Tokyo and en route/returning from Ghibli Park.
Ippudo - Nagoya Station Branch - Is there ever a roasted pork belly placed in a ramen bowl that's too salty? If you have a "yes", then you won't like much ramen in Japan. Whew, I was retaining liquid the next day in midst of 2005 World Expo site; ground temps reaching 35C and full sun. Full salad, five slices of pork, seasoned egg, raw egg topped, and regular noodle portion. I ate the whole damned thing (except a cup of the broth).
I may return with a review of meal-sized items retrieved from the various conveniences in Japan.
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