Szechuan Gourmet - Chinese Restaurant in Midtown NYC, New York

Recently, I went to Szechuan Gourmet with my colleagues for lunch. Be aware that there are several Chinese restaurants called Szechuan Gourmet! This one is located on 56th avenue. They even refer on their website to Szechuan Gourmet 56.

So, the particularity of Szechuan cuisine is that it is spicy. Fortunately, they put a chili in front of the dishes on the menu so you are not surprised, but you can anyway asked for mild or spicier if your stomach can make it!

The restaurant has two floors and can accommodate large parties. The service was fast and they kept checking on us to make sure we had a nice experience.

In term of food, they have the traditional dishes you would find in a Chinese restaurant: General Tso Chicken, eggplants with garlic sauce, fried rice, chow fun...But they also have other delicacies not so usual: Jelly fish (I tried once...not a favorite of mine!), duck tongues, or ox tongue and tripes. This time I was going for a more usual lunch...

So, we decided to order lunch menus: items are going between $7.95 to $9.50. You pick a soup, rice and dish. On top of it, we ordered some scallion pancakes for the table.

They were very good: crispy and not oily. 

Then, I asked whether it was possible to have an egg drop soup instead of a wonton or Hot & Sour one.

They graciously accepted. The soup was awesome: a bit gelatinous like I like it.

For the main dishes, we decided to share.

We ordered sliced chicken with baby eggplant. The eggplant were perfect and well cooked; they kind of absorbed the sauce that came with it (I am wondering if it was not a garlic sauce). The chicken was good and there were plenty.

The General Tso Chicken was delcious: crispy, tasty and not too spicy. It is a classic dish and a good test if you try a Chinese restaurant!

Then came the spicy scallops with roasted chili peanuts. This was the revelation of the day! It was my favorite. The sauce was so good. There was definitely a kick to it, but not too much. For sure, as it was for the lunch menu, they did not put as many scallops as you would have chicken, but there was a nice portion of it. Definitely a dish to try!

I had a great meal at Szechuan Gourmet, at an affordable price. Another great Chinese restaurant outside of Chinatown!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

Pie Face Bakery Cafe in NYC, New York

I have discovered Pie Face Bakery Cafe thanks to a co worker whose wife, Jane, is Australian. We were talking about Australia that we would like to visit one day and, at some point, we inquired about the food. It all started when talking about dessert. Jane mentioned the Lamington, a cake made of sponge cake with strawberry jam and coated with chocolate and coconut. I then learnt that there is a bakery on the corner of Broadway and 53rd called Pie Face. As you can imagine, it was my next mission possible to go there. 

To give you some background: Pie Face is a true Australian chain that opened its first location in NYC in January 2012. They are in fact opening a new location soon. It is in 2003 that Wayne Homschek and Betty Fong opened the fist Pie Face in Sydney, Australia and since, they have more than 70 shops, serving more than 18,000 pies a day! They are planning on opening 50 bakeries in Manhattan: pretty ambitious! So, what do they serve: the main specialty there is meat pie or potpie as some are vegetarian. The pie itself is a delicious puff pastry. What is smart is that they serve the pies in two sizes: regular and small. So you can try several small as I did. They were even proposing a menu for $8: three small pies (any choice) and a bottle of water. For somebody with a regular appetite like me (!), three small pies and a dessert is sufficient.

They also serve quiches and sandwiches; they mention baguettes, but it did not really look like baguettes! 

So I tried the small pies.

Each of them have a different face so you can differentiate them. I had:

• The tandoori vegetables one (with a V as a mouth): it was very tasty and had a delicious Indian flavor. The veggies were like a puree, at the exception of chick pies. It was not too spicy.
• The Mexican (with a X as a mouth): it was composed of ground beef, black beans and jalapenos. It was good but did not really remind me of Mexican flavors. The Jalapeno taste was even inexistent.
• The Chicken and Mushrooms: this was my least favorite. It was like eating a cream of mushrooms in a pie. I really did not like the texture.

From the three pies, the vegetarian one was the best!

Then, of course, I needed to try the desserts! I ordered few of them:

The cherry pie (bottom right) is one of their best sellers: it was very good! In fact all their desserts were perfect: good and not too sweet! The lemon pie was also delicious with its thick lemon layer. The other best seller I tried is the Pear and Ricotta pie.

It was, in a puff pastry, a layer of poached pears, a layer of ricotta that was caramelized on top. The three layers gave a nice balanced flavor.

Last, was the Lamington: I had to try it! And remember: I am not a huge fan of coconut!

It was delicious! The sponge cake was extremely light and moist. I was conquered!

At the end of this experience, I liked Pie Face, but mainly for the desserts. It seems that their chocolate mousse cake is very popular. I guess I will have to try it...Just for the blog...

Enjoy (I did)!

 

BLT Burger - The best burger in NYC, New York

Today is National Hamburger Day and clearly I needed to celebrate it! So we decided to go to my favorite burger place in NY: BLT Burger.

If you do not know, BLT stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel. Laurent Tourondel is a passionate and talented Chef, born and raised in Auvergne, France (great cheeses in Auvergne!). He told Food & Wine magazine that he ended up cooking because he was really bad at school. Today, his name is on several restaurants across the country: BLT Prime, BLT Steak, BLT Fish and...BLT Burger. 

Trust me: it is not because Laurent Tourondel is French that I like this place! I have tried many burgers here, but I can tell you: it is the best! The meat is always perfectly cooked, juicy and extremely tasty (yes: it tastes like real meat!), the bun is perfect (it is a sesame brioche bun).

So we decided to go today. We thought the place would be busy; first because it is most of the time, but also because they had a contest for the creation of the Dream burger: people could submit their creation and the one winning would get his/her burger on the menu. I submitted mine, but I guess it was too basic (some sort of burger reuben). So, there were not too many people. Good!

We started first with fried pickles, a Southern US specialty.

It is a slice of pickled dipped in a batter and fried, similar to the onion rings, but with pickles! I liked it! The taste was surprising as I could get the sour taste of the pickle mixed with the fried batter and the ranch chili-paprika dipping sauce that gave some kick to it.

Then, we got our burgers. We decided to order two different ones. The first one was the Maytag blue burger.

It is made with Maytag blue cheese, balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms. At first, I was scared that the blue cheese would be too overpowering. Fortunately, there was just enough to give a taste that would not overshadow the taste of the meat. The onions and mushrooms were divine and a great addition, giving some texture to the burger.

The second burger was the classic one, with Vermont Cheddar cheese ($1 additional for the cheese).

It is simple and delicious. The meat on both burger was perfectly cooked (medium) and very juicy. It really tasted like meat, not like these burgers that you would get in fast food (I know: not the same price).

For the sides, we went for the onion rings.

The onion rings were good, a bit crispy and not too greasy. I just would have liked some ranch dressing with it.

We also got fries.

We chose the classic; otherwise, they propose waffle fries, sweet potato fries...These were like I like them: golden brown, crispy and regular cut.

The last thing we got was a vanilla milk shake.

Look: one of us had to sacrificed himself to get a combo price. I did. For $17, you can get a burger, fries and a milk shake. The later was very good. Not too thick, with the necessary amount of vanilla syrup. They gave the old fashion feel by serving it in an ice cream glass, adding whipped cream and top it with sprinkles. Delish! For You information, they also serve milk shakes with alcohol...

So, again, I was not disappointed by BLT Burger, that remains my top burger place in NYC. However, prices are a bit on the high range as for this meal we ended up with a bill of $52. Worth it though!

Enjoy (I did)!

Momofuku Noodle Bar in NYC, New York

If you recall, several months ago, I went to Momofuku Milk Bar for a snack. The experience was just ok.

As a reminder, Momofuku is a group of restaurants (Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssiam...) owned by Chef David Chang. In Japanese, it could be translated to "Lucky peach", but Chef David Chang once mentioned that it was in honor of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of the instant ramen. So, this time, we were thinking about having lunch at Momofuku Noodle Bar  located in the East Village to see what all the buzz was about.

We went there yesterday and arrived at around 11:45am. The restaurant was not yet opened (it opens at 12pm) and besides us, there were only two Canadian tourists waiting. So we decided to go for a walk in the nearby market. We came back after 10 minutes and surprisingly, there was already a line in front of the restaurant! Probably 20 people! The restaurant is quite bright, with light wood all over. You can either sit at the bar, the kitchen bar or the communal tables. We got seated at the bar, in front of the opened kitchen. It was perfect to see them cooked, but a bit hot...

They brought us the daily menu: Momofuku Noodle Bar is known for the buns as well as the ramen. We asked the waiter what he recommended for two and told us that typically, two people would share a bun, a noodle bowl and a side. So we went for that!

We started with the Shitake mushroom buns.

They bring you two buns that are very light and fluffly. They are opened and stuffed with mushrooms, cucumbers, scallions and hoisin sauce. I loved it: there were so many layers of flavors between the bun itself and the different components! I especially liked that they added cucumber for some crunch and to add some texture.

We also ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen, one of the most popular dishes, with the Momofuku ramen.

The bowl was pretty big and the food looked beautiful! It was composed of smoked chicken, Swiss chard, sesame seeds, a poached egg and noodles. I mixed the egg that was lightly poached and it  decomposed immediately. The broth alone was very good and tasty, but with all the ingredients mixed, it was succulent: each spoon was kind of a different flavor depending of which ingredient was on it. The noodles were delicious: perfectly cooked and very good. The dish was a bit spicy but not too much. 

For sure, do not go there on a first date as it is not that sexy when you eat ramen...

Last, we shared a side: the mushrooms with spinach, black garlic and thai chili.

There were different types of mushrooms and the sauce was brown butter. It was a hit! Very flavorful and the brown butter was to die for!

The fact that Momofuku Noodle Bar does not have desserts (they propose few items from the Milk Bar) was not a problem: the three dishes we ordered were delicious and we finished the meal satisfied! Momofuku Noodle Bar is definitely a place to try!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

European Vacation - Part 15 - Lebanese Food in Berlin, Germany

Towards the end of our vacations, in Berlin, we tried different types of cuisines. If you read my other blog posts, you probably seen two things:

1- German cuisine was not my forte. I admit that maybe it was because we did not find the good restaurants where maybe I would have had an epiphany!

2 - There were tons of ethnic cuisines...and I love it!

So let's start with Duniya, a Lebanese restaurant located in the Derag Living Hotel. The restaurant itself was nice with an outdoor patio, a cafe and the dining room. The server was a bit overwhelm and the service suffered from it. Imagine that the poor guy was the only one to take care of all the customers, going inside and outside intermittently. He clearly did not have time to take a break!

I love Lebanese food so it was a great occasion to have some. Not that we are missing Lebanese cuisine in NYC!

The menu offered several specialties that are pretty common: falafel, couscous, kebab...

So we had the falafel platter.

It was served with Tahini sauce, Lebaneh (cheese spread made with feta and sometimes cream cheese or mozzarella), hummus (chick pea spread) and some sort of ratatouille. The Falafel were just ok. A bit dry. However the hummus and Lebaneh were perfect on the pita bread that came with it!

We also had the lamb kebab.

It was supposed to be served with grilled vegetables. Unfortunately, they mainly served it with onions. Lots of onions. I also did not care about the pita they served with it: there was some tomato sauce on it and...onions...Too bad, because I really enjoyed the kebab itself: it had a delicious lamb taste and was very moist. 

We finished the dinner with a baklava and traditional mint tea.

The tea was good but I would have liked it stronger. It is the perfect drink with a baklava! The baklava was a bit dry, missing some honey.

So, at the end of the dinner, I was a bit disappointed. The food was just ok. I am sure there are better Lebanese restaurants in Berlin! So no need to go there!

Enjoy (the post)!

Duniya

Neue Roßstraße 11-12,

10179 Berlin 

Monday May 28th is National Burger Day: don't go to Sonic!!!

I tried Sonic because I was told that they have good burgers. I have no preconceive idea, so why not: you may end up with a big surprise!

Sonic is an old fast food chain founded in the 50's in Oklahoma. The one where I went was a drive-thru: as you can see on the photo, drivers park and will order from their car, through an inter-phone. Problem is that they had difficulties understanding my accent...but I ended up with the correct order! If you do not want to eat in your car, the only solution is to eat outside, on the patio, as there is no dining room. 

On the patio, it is the same principle: you order on the inter-phone.

Once your order is ready, a person on rollers will come to bring your order, napkins and sauces.

In term of menu, they had the classic: cheeseburger (with one or two patties), chicken sandwich, hot dog...So I went for the cheeseburger, one patty.

First, there was more lettuce than meat! And the meat looked grey! Not very appetizing.

Clearly not the best quality! And tasteless! Fortunately, I had the taste of the mayo and ketchup to give some flavor.

So, the cheeseburger was a miss. I was hopeful that the sides would be better. They had this great idea to propose small portions of sides for $1. It gives you the opportunity to try several. So we picked: onion rings, tater tots and fries.

The onion rings are supposed to be hand made. They were crispy, but had this weird sweet taste. I thought first that it was because of the onions they used, but there was definitely something in the batter that was throwing off the taste!

The fries were uneven: some were good and crispy, other were not. Fortunately, out of the three sides, the tater tots were good! A bit of crispiness, tasty and not greasy!

Last, I tried the milk shake. If was supposed to be hand dipped (meaning they use ice cream rather than a mix).

I chose a vanilla one. They definitely try to give a diner feel by adding whipped cream and a maraschino cherry on top. The milk shake was thick, but a bit tasteless. They probably did not put enough vanilla syrup in it. So again: a miss.

At the end of the day, I did not like what Sonic was proposing. I would go there only if there is no other option!

So, Monday May 28th being National Burger day, do not go to Sonic! Try more BLT Burger or Five Guys!

Enjoy (the post)!

European Vacation - Part 14 - Vino Caffe in Munich, Germany

If you read my post, you probably realized that my experience of German food was not that great. As I mentioned before, it might have been my cold or just the fact that I did not prepare enough the trip to make sure I would eat in the best places to try German cuisine. So I admit that from time to time, we had non German food, whether in Munich or Berlin. Interestingly enough, I noticed plenty of Asian restaurants (Thai, Indian...) as well as Doner cafe. And of course, Italian restaurants.

In fact, the best dinner I had in Germany, was at Vino Caffe, an Italian wine bar very close to our hotel. Clearly, the location was not ideal as not on a main street, but it seemed to be popular with mostly German customers (meaning, coming back because the food is good?).

I really liked the decor with this big shelf full of wine bottles that was separating the bar from the dining room.

The service was perfect and they were kind enough to describe the dishes for us as they did not have any menu in English.

We started with a Cream of white asparagus.

It was a large plate! The asparagus were mostly white but there were few slices of green ones. The soup was delicious: very creamy and tasty.

Then, we had homemade Taleggio cheese gnocchi. 

This was awesome! The gnocchi were very light and succulent; not only were they generous with the taleggio, but on top, they added parmesan and bacon for some slight smokiness! If you are at the same time a pasta and a cheese lover, this dish is for you! 

The last dish was seared scallops with a carpaccio of beets.

The presentation was beautiful with the nice contrast of colors. The scallops were perfectly seared and not rubbery at all. The beets were cooked and then very thinly sliced. Delicious!

I loved Vino Caffe: we had great cuisine for a good price! I would definitely recommend it!

VINO CAFFÉ

Hochbrückenstr. 14 / Ecke Herrnstr.

80331 München

www.vino-caffe.de

Enjoy (I did)!

Zylo Tuscan Steakhouse in Hoboken, New Jersey

It has been a while since I wanted to try Zylo in the W Hotel in Hoboken (it opened in 2009). They call themselves a Tuscan Steakhouse. Knowing that we like Steaks and Italian food, there was no more hesitation!

The restaurant was interesting: it looked more like a lounge than a restaurant with the low leather chairs and couches. We went on a Tuesday night and it was packed!

The service was perfect: efficient and extremely courteous.

Now, the most interesting thing about Zylo is the menu.

There is a wide variety of dishes that can satisfy every palate: pizza, pasta, fish and steaks. This time, we were there for the steaks! All steaks are prime meat, dry aged and finished with Tuscan olive oil and sea salt. They are all served with a watercress salad (nice, but I do not really care about the salad!).

So we tried the filet mignon.

We asked for the meat to be cooked medium and it came at the correct temperature. 

We also tried the bone-in ribeye.

We asked for medium rare. Both steaks were perfectly cooked, juicy and you could definitely taste a hint of olive oil and sea salt that made it delicious. The ribeye was 20 Oz and there was only the bone (and the salad) remaining at the end of the dinner on my plate! There was a bit of fat, but I love that, especially around the bone as it gives to the meat and the fat a stronger taste (in fact, when ordering a bone in filet mignon, the taste of the meat close to the bone will be between a filet mignon and a ribeye). It was so good that I think I devoured it!

Then we picked some sides. At the beginning, we thought about going for an appetizer (the tuna tartare) and a side. But then I saw that they were offering the pasta in small portions!

So we had the ricotta gnocchi.

The gnocchi were pretty good. Not the lightest I ever had, but good. The sauce was an heirloom pomodoro sauce (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil) that had a nice thickness. All of this was topped with some parmigiano reggiano.

The other side was French fries. 

They were just ok for me. I like them more crunchy and would have loved truffled fries!

Last, was dessert. Yes, I know: you are surprised that after that we were still able to eat dessert. Well, as we were in a tuscan steakhouse, we went for the tiramisu.

It came with some white chocolate decoration and an expresso ice cream that were very good. But the most surprising thing was the tiramisu itself: it was immersed in a chocolate fudge. This was simply delicious! Not a traditional tiramisu, but a very interesting and amazing twist on it! Definitely something to try!

We really had a great dinner at Zylo and will definitely have to try their lunch and brunch menu that are mouth watering. It is great to discover another great restaurant in Hoboken!

Enjoy (I did)!

European Vacation - Part 13 - The Viktualienmarkt in Munich, Germany

If you like food, the Viktualienmarkt behing Marienplatz in Munich is the place to go. It used to be a farmers'market and is now a place where gourmets and Chefs shop for victuals. It is a huge market that is comprise of more than 140 stalls and shops. 

This is definitely a tourist place as it is one of many attractions that you can find in guides, but people from Munich also go there to get their food and lunch. There is definitely a relaxed atmosphere and you will see many people taking their time to eat or enjoy a delicious beer from Munich!

The market is kind of split by specialties. On one side, you will have a succession of stores that sell meat and sausages.

Shops were next to each other and tourists (like me) were trying to take photos...

Then, the seafood section was on the opposite side.

There, you could enjoy lobsters, shrimp, oysters; you name it.

Other stalls were selling cheeses from all over the world, as well as fruits and vegetables. Interestingly, as it was from season, we saw plenty of white asparagus and Germans seems to be fond of them!

There was even a vendor who was selling exotic fruits. For instance, I saw a durian, a fruit that I tasted once in Singapore, known for its smell (it is forbidden to carry it in public transportation and they are forbidden in hotel).

On top of this, there are plenty of vendors who offer lunches: you can eat sausages, pork meat in bread... We went for a veggie and cheese sandwich.

Yes, I admit that we were not very adventurous there. It is because we ended up in the market after having tried Ratskeller self-service with its awful potato pancake! Of course, after the sandwich, we ended up at Cafe Hag that I mentioned in a prior post...

If you are in Munich, the Viktualienmarkt is definitely a site to visit, even if you do not eat any food there.

Enjoy (I did)!

European Vacation - Part 12 - Bagel Company in Berlin, Germany

We were walking in Berlin, looking around when we ended up in front of the Bagel Company. Bagels did not originate in Germany, but the different stories I found confirm an Easter Europe origin directly or indirectly linked to Poland (some say it is coming from there, others that it was a viennese bread to celebrate the Polish King Jan III Sobieski for saving the people of Austria from Turkish invaders). What is sure is that they existed for Centuries before coming to the United States at the end of the 19th Century, brought by Jewish immigrants. 

I never had a bagel before going to London many years ago: bagels are not known in France. But the best bagels I ever ate were in the United States.

My favorite bagels are H&H bagels (in NYC) and Bagels on the Hudson (in Hoboken, New Jersey).

So, back to the Bagel Company: they have a large selection of sandwiches and spreads (curry/chicken, tuna, feta/tomato, or dried tomato and basil spread, lettuce and vegetables), as well as several types of bagels (plain, whole wheat...). The size of the bagels is probably 80% less than the one we find here.

So, first we tried the whole wheat with cream cheese.

It was good. Simple and good.

Then, we picked the Salami bagel.

It was served with cream cheese, salami, lettuce and tomato. It was good, but there was only one slice of salami, so you could barely taste it. I also preferred the whole wheat bagel. 

In term of price, it was a bit higher than what one would be paying here, but it is a safe choice!

Bagel Company‎
Rosenthaler Str. 69
10119 Berlin
030 40690001
www.bagel-company.com
Note: they have several locations in Berlin.

Enjoy (I did)!

Persepolis Restaurant in NYC, New York - A taste of Persian Food!

What I love in New York City is the diversity of restaurants and cuisines. I think every cuisine is particular although you will always find similarities due mainly to historical reasons. 

This time, we went for Persian (aka Iranian) food at Persepolis in New York City. It was not the first time for us and the place has not changed: nice decor and very attentive service, with food as good as before!

Going back to the decor, Persepolis is pretty big with red bricks on the wall, a large map of what use to be the Persian Empire and photographs of the soccer team the founder of the restaurant used to be in back in Iran.

They have a large menu that can satisfy any taste: meat, seafood and vegetarian.

At first, they gave us some Iranian bread or Naan (yes, like in India).

There were two sorts: one thick that I believe is called barbari and another one that looked like a thin pita, called lavash. The barbari was my favorite: a bit crusty, it did not need anything on it. They served the bread with a dip made with sesame, that I did not like.

Then we went for the kebab (pieces of meat roasted or grilled on a skewer or spit):

The Kubideh is skewers of marinated ground aged sirloin. 

We also tried the Taj Kebab that is a combination of Saffron Chicken (boneless breast of chicken kebab, marinated in saffron and onion) and Baby Lamb Barg (marinated tender lamb kebab).

When you are ordering, you can pick the way you would like the rice (basmati). My favorite is the one with almonds and orange: it is so good! There is no need for any sauce on it! They also have rice made with sour cherries: surprising and still good!

Each dish is served with a braised tomato and some cabbage. 

The Kubideh is definitely my favorite: the meat is very tasty and extremely moist. The saffron chicken had a surprising buttery taste at first and was very well cooked, not dry at all. Last, the lamb (the chicken was sitting on top) had this delicious taste that is so particular to lamb meat. It was very tender.

These dishes were outstanding, but again, the Kubideh is the best!

We ate the dishes with some Most O Khiar that is Yoghurt (Most) with cucumber and mint.

This was very refreshing. I just wish that the cucumber was cut smaller.

Of course, we could not end this delicious meal without dessert!

We picked the Baklava! This is one of the best Baklava I had in New York (with the one at Molyvos)! It was not too sweet and very buttery. I wish I was still hungry to have another one...

Persepolis is definitely a great place to go to! We had, once again, an incredible experience there!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

 

European Vacation - Part 11 - Ratskeller and Spatenhaus in Munich, Germany

Besides the Hofbrauhaus, we did not really eat that much of German cuisine. I do not know if it is the cold I had at that time or the restaurants we went to, but it was really not my thing. It is not that we did not try as this post will show (besides the Hofbrauhaus).

Ratskeller Self Service:

Marienplatz 8  80331 Munich, Germany

089 219989-0

www.ratskeller.com

After walking around the city and our visit to one of its Art Museums, we decided to go to Ratskeller, a self service on Marienplatz. It was crowded for sure and we thought it was because the food was delicious... 

Like any self service, we picked up our tray and went first to the salad bar. There was some mozzarella and tomatoes, grilled vegetables, salad, etc...All priced by weight.

We decided to have a mix of tomatoes and mozzarella and grilled eggplants.

I know what you are going to tell me: it does not look like German cuisine. True, but considering the other choices of food they had, it was the safest...For sure, it looked better than these boiled white asparagus and potatoes!

Then we saw the potato pancakes: on the photo on the menu, it looked like any potato pancake you will find in a deli in New York. So we were thrilled to try to see if it was similar.

It was served with some black-ich sauerkraut that had an awful taste! Well, in fact the pancakes did not taste better: they were greasy, mushy and the fact that they put the apple in it did not help. We barely touched it.

Clearly, besides the salad, this was a bad choice! I do not think I would go back there....

Spatenhaus:

Residenzstraße 12  80333 Munich, Germany

089 2907060

http://www.kuffler.de/en/muenchen/spatenhaus/index.php

The restaurant is across the street from the Opera. It seems to be a popular restaurant, not only for tourists. The decor is very nice with painted arched ceilings. The service was a bit cold...Efficient, but cold!


In term of food, they serve Bavarian cuisine. So we gave it a try.

First was the clear consomme with liver dumpling.

Think about a Matzoh ball soup with a liver ball. I have to say that it was very good! The broth was delicate and the liver ball light with a nice liver taste.

Then, the spaetzles gratine with cheese (melted cheese, oven broiled), served with crispy onions and a salad.

Honestly, I did not care about the salad and it was weird to serve pasta (the spaetzles) with it. I did not really like the dish: it was dry and the pasta seemed overcooked. It might be the way German eat it!

Then, there was the warm goat cheese salad.

The cheese was deliciously toasted: I guess they put some sugar on top of the cheese and torched it. Simple and good.

So, overall, it was just ok. Interestingly, they put a pretzel basket on the table. Usually, when they put a basket on a table, you would not think that they would charge you for it. Over there, yes. They charged 1.50 Euros for each pretzel that was eaten! I personally do not like this type of pratice: at least tell your customers what the rules are! Do not trick them!

So, if you are in Munich, find another restaurant or go to Spatenhaus only if it is the only choice you have!

Enjoy (the post, not the food)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

European Vacation - Part 10 - Treats in Germany

I'll be honest with you: I was not thrill with the food I ate in Germany: heavy, heavy, heavy! So I was looking forward for sweets.

Cafe Hag in Munich:

In Munich, we ended up at Confiserie Rottenhöfer Café Hag. 

Address: Residenzstraße 25, 80333

Phone: 089 22 29 15

Website: www.rottenhoefer.de

We went twice in fact. The entrance is kind of weird: first you go through the confiserie (sweets and chocolate store) and then you have the entrance to the cafe. The cafe is big and was very busy. There you could see either tourists or...senior people! The selection of cakes was pretty impressive and it looked yummy. We tried three of them:

First is the Schweineohr (pig's ear):

You probably saw these cookies in New York. In France, we call them palmier or palmito. This was my favorite: it was light, buttery and cripsy. If you like butter, you can easily be addicted to these!

The second cake was the Baumkuchen Torte, a chocolate layered cake.

This one was disappointing: the chocolate taste was not as pronounced as I had imagined. In fact, the only part I really enjoyed was the frosting....

Last was of course the Apple strudel. You cannot go to Germany without trying one!

It was good, but was missing some sweetness (I can't believe I just said that: usually, it is too sweet)!

So, overall, it was not a great experience, but I would go to Cafe Hag for sure for the Schweineohr and would try other pastries: with all the choice they have, I am sure there are some amazing one! No?

Bandy Brooks in Berlin - Ice cream and homemade chocolate:

Friedrichstr. 96  10117 Berlin, Germany
030 20962323
www.bandybrooks.org

So, here we are in Berlin for our last day of vacation. The weather was very cold so far and it rained a lot. So we were happy to have a wonderful day with Spring temperatures so we could walk around the city. Of course, at some point, we decided to have a snack. We passed by Bandy Brooks, an ice cream and chocolate maker. They say that they make their ice cream with fresh ingredients on a daily basis. They have plenty of flavors: vanilla, banana, Belgian chocolate, wild berry,  crunchy macadamia, almond hazelnut, hazelnut, mango, etc...

They also make crepes with Nutella! My favorite! 

So we tried the vanilla ice cream:

And the hazelnut one:

The ice cream were delicious! Flavorful and creamy. Perfect treat to cool down! Definitely a good address.

Incredibly enough, these were the only treats we had in Germany!

For the most part, I enjoyed (I did)!

European Vacation - Part 9 - Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany

Anybody who went to Munich will tell you to go to the Hofbrauhaus! Even the taxi driver other there mentioned it!

It is a very old brewery owned by the state government of Bavaria and one of the epicenter of Oktoberfest in Munich. The brewery is beautiful inside with some amazing painted high ceilings. There is really a bavarian ambiance there between the loud band and the staff wearing traditional outfits!

Some would say that it is a tourist trap. I do not know. I can only say that their menu is pretty reasonable. For sure you will not find fine dining there! No, it is traditional bavarian food.


Of course, as it is a brewery and as we were in Germany, we had to have some beer.

I had the Hofbrau original. It was nice, slightly bitter and refresing. Perfect with the food we ordered!

So, first was the Mushroom pot.

It was a kind of cream of mushrooms made of mixed fresh mushrooms and served with two bread dumplings. This was pretty good (perfect dish for mushroom lovers), but quite heavy. The bread dumplings were good, but I could not imagine eating them without a soup!

We also picked the Hofbrauhaus sausage platter that had several different types of sausages. It was served with sauerkraut and mustard. The sausages were just ok for me. I think I prefer sausages with a more pronounced taste. The sauerkraut was too sweet: I did not like it. I prefer it sour.

Of course, we had some pretzels with our lunch.

It was good. At least they do not put as much salt as the carts you find in New York! Interesting enough, there was a staff member walking around the restaurant, selling some huge pretzels!

For our first lunch in Germany, I was not wowed by the food. However, I would go back to the Hofbrauhaus though for the folklore and the beer!

Enjoy (I kind of did)!

Hofbrauhaus

Platzl 9  Bayern, 80331
089 290136100

http://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/index_en.html

European Vacation - Part 8 - L'eden, seafood restaurant in Coublevie, France

Still in France, we decided to go outside Grenoble for a delicious seafood lunch. We ended up in Coublevie, at L'Eden. Nice name for hopefully a paradisiac meal!

The restaurant is located on the highs of the city of Coublevie and the view of the town is beautiful. The decor is all about the sea with a large fish tank where you can see live lobster that most likely will end up in your plate.

The service was a bit slow, but courteous and the restaurant was busy (it was a Sunday).

In term of food, they have a large menu offering traditional specialties such as the bouillabaisse that is a fish soup from Marseille in the South of France, or some plates featuring various seafood.

They also propose different prix fixe menu. We went for the Madrague menu that, for 26.50 Eur ($34) offers an appetizer, an entree and a dessert.

As an appetizer, I picked the seafood plate that consisted of prawns, oysters from Marennes Oleron in Brittany, Bulots (buccin), mussels from Spain and clams.

This was a nice presentation and the various seafood tasted very fresh. The clams were not rubbery and the prawns were perfectly cooked. First time I had mussels from Spain and I liked them. The only thing I did not like was the bulot: I did not like the taste and the texture.

Then, I picked the Veloute de Homard, that is a lobster cream soup.

Presentation wise, again, very nice and appetizing! The soup was perfect: correct amount of spice, creamy with a delicious lobster taste. It was served with sun roots (Topinambour in French) on the side: I do not like sun roots, so I did not finish it.

As I was with my Family, I had a chance to try other plates (he he!)...First there was the Saint Marcelin salad.

Saint Marcelin is a small town few miles from Grenoble where they produce this deliciously creamy cheese that you can toast on a piece of bread and serve with a salad. You can in fact find this cheese at any good cheese store in the US.

They also proposed a salmon tartare served with apples, citrus and an avocado mousse. 

This was a very refreshing dish. The salmon tartare was perfectly made and seasoned.

Of course, last, came dessert!

They had this great idea of proposing a dessert sampler (I wish all restaurants would do that)! It was composed of vanilla ice cream, a creme brulee and strawberries. They were all very good!

There was also the "mushroom" that is a succession of homemade meringue cookie and vanilla ice cream shaped like a mushroom and topped with a thick chocolate fudge. This was very good, but a bit sweet and after having eaten the dessert sampler and all the food described above, it was tough to finish it!

This was a nice lunch, very refine, in a very relax atmosphere. I definitely suggest L'Eden if you can go to Coublevie. After lunch, you can even walk around to help your digestion: the landscape if beautiful!

L'Eden

Route de Chartreuse

38500 Coublevie

www.restaurant-poisson-grenoble.com

So this is it for the food in France! Next stop: Germany!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

European vacation - Part 7 - Crepes at Le Celia in Grenoble, France

Crepes are a very thin version of pancakes that originated in Brittany and are today commonly eaten all around France (for instance, there is a whole street with crepes restaurants - creperies- in Paris). There are two types: the ones made with wheat flour (crepes de froment) and the ones made with buckwheat (galettes). They are not complicated to make (I promise I will post the recipe soon) and are great because you can put whatever you want in it! 

In NYC, there are plenty of places where you can eat delicious crepes: Maison on 53rd and 7th or Bar Suzette in Chelsea Market are a good example.

So here we are in Grenoble, at Le Celia, a very popular creperie. I went there last year and we decided to go back. I like the decor that references Brittany and its fishermen. The restaurant is warm with its blue walls. Reservation is suggested because it gets very busy!

There menu is composed of traditional crepes but also some creations like the leeks fondue, seafood...

They serve a smoked salmon crepe (Norwegian) that is great! 

The presentation is beautiful with all the elements that you would normally find rolled in the crepe, on top of it! It includes of course the smoked salmon, but also the creme fraiche and some fish eggs.

The fromagere (photo 1 on top) is my favorite: it has some emmental, roquefort and goat cheese in it! Mixed together with the softness of the crepe gives a very nice texture.

Of course, if you do not like crepes, you can go for a salad! They even have one with foie gras!

If you would like to try crepes, I suggest you go to Le Celia: you will not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!

Reference:

Le Celia

1 rue Irvoy 

38000 Grenoble

www.creperie-lecelia-grenoble.fr

July 22nd: The US Jerk Festival

Yes, you are not mistaken: when referring to jerk, I am talking about food, not individuals!

On July 22nd, come to the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival to celebrate the independence of Jamaica 50 years ago and the 90th anniversary of Grace Food (Caribbean food manufacturer). It will take place at Roy Wilkins Park, Queens, New York from noon to 8pm. There will be hot and spicy food as well as music!

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.jerkfestivalny.com

Enjoy!

European Vacation - Part 6 - Pizza time in Grenoble, France

One of the best known area in Grenoble to eat Pizza is the Quartier Saint Laurent (Saint Laurent Quarter) on the bank of the Isere river. It is one of the older quarter of Grenoble and is known as the Italian quarter since a lot of Italian immigrants settle there years ago and opened Pizza places (pizzeria) next to each other. Yes, there are plenty of Italian restaurants that mainly serve pizza and pasta, but can also serve crepes...

Like anywhere else, there are some good ones and some bad ones. For instance, last year, I went to Casanova: it was pretty bad!

Now, let's talk about pizza in France:

• Pizza is pretty popular, but in pizzeria, you will have a whole pizza that is typically for one person (usually 11 to 12 inches). They never sell by the slice.
• If you want a slice, you can buy it in a boulangerie (bakery) or in a sandwich shop.
• Usually, pizza is made with tomato sauce, but you can find white pizza South of France.
• In term of toppings, you will find some differences with the US: smoked salmon and creme fraiche, merguez (lamb sausages), seafood...For a four cheeses pizza, you usually end up with goat and gorgonzola or roquefort besides other cheeses.
• The majority of the pizzeria cook in a brick oven.
• Frozen pizza is popular and they are of pretty good quality! They even sell frozen brick oven pizza!

So, this year, we went to Pizzeria Di Roma. They serve pizza, pasta, salads and crepes. I have tried couple of their dishes...

They had a traditional tomato and mozzarella salad called Salade Italienne (Italian salad). It was served with some lettuce, cabbage, black olives, basil and drizzled with Olive oil. It was delicious and very fresh. The mozzarella was perfect and not rubbery at all!

Then there was the fried ravioles salad. 

Ravioles is a regional specialty from France and are a type of ravioli but the dough is much lighter and thinner and the filling is meatless. The typical filling is made of comte cheese (similar to aged gruyere), fromage blanc and parsley, but you can find variations such as mushroom filling. You usually cook ravioles like pasta, in boiling water during few minutes and it is the first time I saw them fried. The taste was good, but I prefer the traditional way of cooking them.

Then came the pizza:

The first one was made with gorgonzola.

The other one was a 4 cheeses pizza. The cheeses were: goat, emmental, roquefort and mozzarella.

The pizza were delicious and had a lot of cheese on it! The crust was very thin and crispy. I really liked them, but was not able to finish my plate, although I managed to finished all the parts of the 4 cheeses pizza where there was goat cheese! Of course, after such a meal, I was unable to go for dessert! Another time maybe...

So if you are in Grenoble, try it: you will not regret it!

Pizzeria Di Roma

50 Quai Perrière  38000 Grenoble

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Ninth Avenue Food Festival in NYC, New York - May 19th and 20th

Save the date! Next week, on May 19th and 20th will take place the 9th Avenue International Food Festival, running for the 39th year!

You will be able to taste some delicious (hopefully!) food from Poland, Italy, Spain, Greece, Japan, Thailand, etc...

Where:
9th Avenue from 42nd and 57th street in NYC, New York
From noon to 5pm, rain or shine
Information available at: www.ninthavenuefoodfestival.com
Free!

Enjoy!