Food is subjective!

I do not know if you remember the buzz last March surrounding the review of Olive Garden by Mary Hagerty, an 85 years old food critic for the Grand Forks Herald. Her article went viral and created a debate between those who thought that her column was hilarious, if not ridiculous, and those who defended her like Anthony Bourdain. Was it the start of a culinary war ? I do not know, but a lot of people were flabbergasted when Mary mentioned that the Chicken Alfredo was "comforting on a cold day", that the decor was "impressive" and that "All in all, it is the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks". 

I ate at Olive Garden a couple of times and it was sometimes better than restaurants I went to! You want an example? I prefer their chicken alfredo than the linguine a la vongole at Intermezzo in NYC!

Like any restaurant, chains can be good or bad. I like fine dining and good quality food, but there is some food that suits perfectly a chain's menu, such as burgers, chicken wings or salads (I had a great chicken and pecan salad at Applebee's and a disgusting steak at Ruby Tuesday). I remember few years ago when Chili's was installed next to The Late Show with David Letterman (it is now replaced by Angelo's pizza): they use to have great chili either with meat (con carne) or vegetarian. I use to get their sampler that was not only a smart idea, but also delicious!

After, Mary Hagerty's critique has to be put into perspective: when you live close or in New York, there are so many restaurants. expansive or cheap, that you would probably not think about going to a restaurant chain. But when you live in suburbia for instance, it can be your only choice. 

Anyway, everybody is entitled to their own opinion and columns, reviews and blogs only reflect the opinion of their authors. 

In the next few days, I will be publishing some posts about chain restaurants I went to....Stay tuned!

Angelo's Coal Oven Pizza in NYC, New York

I went to Angelo's pizza several times and always preferred going to the location on Broadway as it is much quieter and less crowded. It is in fact surprising considering that it is next to the Late Show with David Letterman studio!

Both restaurants are on two floors, but the one in Broadway is much spacious and can much easily welcome a large party.

Besides pizza and pasta, the restaurant serves soups and salads, like the Insalata Siciliana on the photo below.

They also serve panini; the one on the photo below is a chicken parm panini. 

Previously, I tried their pasta, specifically the Fettuccine Alfredo and the Rigatoni A La Vodka. It was good and they were generous with the sauce. But, know that the pasta are not homemade.

This time, we got pizza. When you order, you have to go through a simple selection process:

• First, pick the size of the pie: you can either order a small (6 slices) or a large pizza.
• Second, you decide if you want a white pie (made with ricotta or mozzarella - no tomato sauce) or a regular pie (tomato and mozzarella).
• Last, you pick your toppings. They propose several ones like mushroom, olives, pepperoni, anchovies, broccoli (seriously? Do you think it will make it healthier???), onions, prosciutto...

So we decided to share two large pizza. The first one was a white pie.

This one was disappointing: it was very dry and there was not that much cheese!

The second one was a regular pie with mushrooms and prosciutto di Parma.

It was delicious! The pizza sauce was good and they put some good quality prosciutto on it. I also like the crust on both pizza: thin, crispy and slightly blackened, result of the cooking in the coal oven that you can see when you enter the restaurant.

Angelo's pizza is not that bad, but it is clearly not the best pizza in New York. I also find that it is a bit overpriced and the service was a bit slow. So if you decide to go, avoid the white pie...

Enjoy (I half did)!

Hudson Restaurant Week - July 23rd to August 3rd 2012

From July 23rd to August 3rd, enjoy the Hudson Restaurant Week, featuring the following restaurants:

3 Forty Grill   
Amanda's Restaurant
Bistro La Source
Boca Grande
Box
Brass Rail
Casa Dante
Chart House Restaurant
Cityside Bistro
Clinton Social
La Conguita
Dino & Harry's
Edwards Steakhouse
Elysian Cafe
Goodfellas Bayonne

Hamilton Inn

Hoboken Bar & Grill

Komegashi

Komegashi Too
Las Olas Sushi 

Liberty House
Madison, The
Maritime Parc
Merchant, The
Michael Anthony's
O'Connell's
Oddfellows Rest
Ohara's Downtown 

Pilsener Haus & Biergarten

Pointe, The

Porto Leggero

Porto Lounge

Satis Bistro
Skylark on the Hudson  
Sky Thai
Sushi Lounge
Trinity
VB3 
West Five Supper Club
Wicked Wolf Tavern
Zylo
These restaurants will propose prix-fixe menus that will go, for lunch from $13 to $18 and for dinner, from $25 to $35. As usual, reservations are recommended (opentable is a good way to reserve!).

More information at Hudson Restaurant Week.

Enjoy (I will)!

Imposto restaurant and pizza in Hoboken, NJ

Have you ever noticed that, it is always the same types of food that you crave: burgers, pizza and subs! Imposto's does not serve burgers, but they surely serve pizza and subs!

It is a small place and when you enter, you cannot miss the original pizza they display. Imagine that: Mac & Cheese, Chicken Alfredo, Freedom fries (you mean FRENCH fries?) with gravy or buffalo chicken pizza!

Of course, they also have regular pizza: white pie, margarita...We decided to try their Sicilian.

The pizza is thick (of course - but thicker than usual) and the crust has a nice charr. Unfortunately, the crust was not crispy, the sauce was average and there was not enough cheese! The pizza was very salty. This was not good; I prefer the Sicilian at Uptown pizza or Basile's.

We also tried one of their subs. As it was the first time we tried theirs, we picked the Imposto's special sub.

It was a 12 inches long sub, made with ham, capacola, salami, turkey, provolone, tomatoes and lettuce. The bread was tough (I would have preferred an Italian bread) and it was very salty too. A bit disappointing...

This was not great and if they cannot make good standard food, I do not see how the original pizza they offer can be good. Disappointing!

Enjoy (the post)!

St Ann's Festival in Hoboken - July 20 to July 26 2012

The St Ann's Festival will take place in Hoboken, New Jersey from July 20 to July 26 2012.

During the Festival, you can try some homemade Italian specialties! Of course, there are the mandatory Zeppole (I love them, but when freshly made!), coal oven pizza, sausages...

Weekday: 6pm to 11pm

Saturday and Sunday: 1pm to 11pm

Enjoy (I will)!

My Choice self served Frozen Yogurt and Juice bar in NYC, New York

We found this new Frozen Yogurt that happens to be also a juice bar, called My Choice. It not only proposes frozen yogurt, but also smoothies, ice cream, fruits and vegetables juices made freshly.

The Frozen Yogurt is self served.

They had 8 different flavors such as dulce de leche, chocolate, peach & mango, original tart...On their prospectus, they advertise other flavors such as NY cheesecake, cookies & cream, apple pie or eggnog. I guess they switch from time to time!

Once you pick the yogurt flavor, you can add some syrup.

They had chocolate, caramel, lemon and honey.

There are also two toppings bar:

The first one had coconut, cookie dough, wafflers, M&M's, almond brittles, chocolate chips...

The second one was all about fruits: strawberries, mango, pineapple...

We went for a cup with the Peach & Mango and dulce de leche yogurt.

It was not bad, but the yogurt was not as good as Red Mango or Pinkberry.

The second cup was with chocolate and original tart yogurt.

 The chocolate yogurt was pretty good, but the original tart was so so. It for sure tasted like yogurt, but was missing some tartness. At least, I enjoyed the M&M's and almond brittle!

Clearly My Choice is not my favorite and I do not think I will go back there...

Enjoy (I did not)!

New York Restaurant Week start Today until August 10th!

This is a reminder that New York Restaurant Week starts today until August 10th!

More information about New York Restaurant Week by clicking here!

Enjoy (I will)!

Celebrating Bastille Day at Felix in Soho - NYC, New York

Yesterday was Bastille Day, the French National Day, celebrating the French Revolution (the Bastille was a fortress-prison where political prisoners were held by the royal government). 

In France, it is marked by the following events:

• a ball. You typically have to wear something blue, something white and something red to represent the colors of the flag.
• a Military demonstration on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

So, we decided to go to a French restaurant to mark the occasion. It is not too difficult to find one as there are plenty in New York! But I wanted something new, with a menu that was French (I do not remember which one I saw that had mainly dishes you would find in American cuisine, such as eggs benedict and pancakes...with no typical French dishes). That is how we ended up at Felix. I did not realized that it was across the street from Taka Taka, the Japanese Cantina (understand Japanese / Mexican fusion).

The place was big with high ceilings, old French ads (ex: Dubo, Dubon, Dubonnet) and old wooden furnitures giving some authenticity to the place. The restaurant was fully opened to the street, giving the patrons full view, perfect for people watching. One thing that surprised me is that the music was not at all French, but more oldies.

The service was polite and pretty quick, except at the end...when asking for the check! At that point, the restaurant was fairly crowded, explaining maybe the slowness that we did not experience at the beginning.

For food, we went with traditional dishes. We started with the Escargots de Bourgogne.

It is normally 6 snails (I got 7), cooked in garlic and parsley butter. The plate was very hot and the snails bathed in butter! It was very good! I noticed that they added some shallots to the usual garlic and parsley. The sauce was delicious for some bread dipping...I was not disappointed!

The second dish was the Croque Monsieur.

It was served with a mesclun salad. This croque Monsieur was just ok: although I appreciated the quantity of cheese on top, the bechamel sauce was missing and the cheese should have been toasted to give a bit of crunch that even the bread did not provide. This was a miss and disappointing for..$17!

The last dish was the merguez.

Merguez is a spicy lamb sausage that you find in mediterranean cuisine. I love it on the grill, in a nice baguette with either some ketchup or honey mustard. Unfortunately, it is a bit difficult to find some in New York. At some point, Freshdirect was selling them!

So, the merguez, half the size I am used to, where served with French fries and a salad. They had a nice kick and were perfectly cooked (overcooked, they can become dry). I really liked the dish, however, I  thought that it was not worth the $21 they charge for!

I had overall a good experience at Felix with some decent food. It is a bit overpriced for the food they serve. I am not sure I would go back if I were to eat French food; I would more end up at Cedric in Harlem or Marseille in Hell's Kitchen.

Enjoy (I did)!

Urban lobster shack food truck in NYC, New York

If you tell French people that you are eating a lobster in a piece of bread, they will think you are crazy! Not me! Since I discovered lobster rolls, I love it! Not all of them though: I hate when they smother the whole lobster with tons of mayonnaise, to a point where you do not even taste this divine ingredient!

I think the first time I tried it was in Boston, at Faneuil Hall. Since then, I have tried it in many forms, such as the Lobster roll benedict at Anthony David's in Hoboken, NJ.

Then, last year, I went to the Food Truck Festival at South Street Seaport and tasted a succulent Connecticut style lobster roll (poached in butter!!!) from The Red Hook Lobster Pound (see the related post: Food Truck Festival at South Street Seaport (NYC) on August 20th!).

Then, I noticed this red truck on the corner of 52nd and 6th in New York: Urban Lobster Shack. With a name like this, there is no question what it is about! They have in fact a brick and mortar restaurant Midtown, as well as one in the Financial District. I spoke with the Chef who told me that they started couple of month ago with the truck. The menu is defined everyday, based on her mood. For instance, the second time I went, I did not see the different dishes made with crab: she was not in the mood for it!

So, I tried several of their rolls.

The traditional ("Our famous lobster roll").

This was my first. At first, I was surprised by the size of it as the roll is a tiny hot dog roll. For $13, it was a bit small. But the taste was amazing: the lobster was perfectly cooked, tasty, perfectly seasoned, with a nice buttery taste (the roll is toasted and buttered). 

Then I tried the Chef's scampi lobster roll.

Good too, but too much garlic! It for sure protected me from vampires for a month. However, it was filled with lobster! Yum!

The last one was the Chef's creation: Asian Lobster Roll:

It was served with celery, a wasabi soy sauce topped with sesame seeds. I like the originality and the taste of the dish. But the traditional one is my favorite!

I like the fact that they propose many different types of Lobster Rolls and wish they serve more often crab rolls as an alternative...But $13 / $14 seems a bit overpriced, although the rolls are filled with the lobster. I would eat again there, but not everyday!

Enjoy (I did)!

Lime Jungle, Mexican Grill in NYC, New York

I love walking on Ninth Avenue in New York City: there are so many restaurants, big or small! That day, we wanted to eat Mexican. Our first choice was Ariba, Ariba! I love this place: they have amazing chimichanga and I had this incredible seafood enchilada loaded with crab and shrimp the last time we went there (it is the Seafood Enchiladas Verdes in the Chef's favorites). Unfortunately, the place was crazy packed and they had no immediate availability. So, that's how we ended up at Lime Jungle. We went there several months ago and liked it, so why not! The restaurant is big, with high ceiling and brick walls. I also like the wooden tables and the used chairs: all of it give a warm and rustic feeling to the place.

That day, the service was very slow, although the place was not that busy! I do not recall that it was like this the last time we went!

We started our dining experience with Guacamole. 

This is THE appetizer we order whenever we go to a Mexican place. I am always hoping that they will do it table side. This was not the case. It was well presented, but you could see immediately that it was not freshly done. I could also not see any avocado chunks, prompting me to think that they were using some king of avocado puree. It was good, but nothing exceptional. 

When they bring the food, if it is hand food, they put it in a piece of paper and bring it in a basket.

We started with a cheese empanada.

I like it: very tasty, a lot of cheese and not greasy.

Then we tried the veggie taco:

It was made of soft flour tortilla or crispy corn taco shell, vegetarian beans, jack and cheddar cheese, guacamole, grilled peppers and onions, tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream. It was very good. I am always scared to end up with something bland, but it was not.

The other taco we tried was the short rib taco:

It was a soft flour tortilla (you could pick a crispy corn taco shell) with slow cooked beef short ribs, cheddar cheese, chopped onions and tomatoes. At first, I thought that the beef was dry, but it was only on one side of the taco. It was delicious: the meat was finally juicy and I got an explosion of flavors in my mouth, accentuated by the salsa I put on the taco. Yes, I forgot to mention that the restaurant has a salsa bar! In fact, the staff forgot to mention it to us and we just remembered the last time when we saw one of the patron going toward it. The idea of a salsa bar is good, but first, tell your dinners and then write the name of the different salsa so people can know what it is as well as the degree of spiciness!

We did not go for dessert, although I wanted to try the cheese and caramel empanada. But the service was so slow that I was thinking that it would take forever to come. So we left...

It is clearly not the best Mexican restaurant, but it is a cheap alternative. Hopefully the slowness of the service was a one off...

Enjoy (I did)!

The Cuban restaurant in Hoboken, NJ

Few weeks ago, I went to The Cuban in Hoboken, NJ. I did not know what to expect as there are already several Cuban restaurants over there. Where La Isla seems to be the authentic cheap establishment, The Cuban seems to be more upscale and offers a contemporary twist to Cuban specialties.

 We decided to go, but not on a week end as this type of restaurant, that is also a lounge, can be packed and noisy: not the best for a romantic diner. They sat us next to the bar, on a high table made of dark wook. Jodi sat on the comfortable leather banquette while I faced her on a high chair (yes guys: leave the choice of the seat to the Lady!). 

The menu provides all sorts of dishes that can satisfy any palate: salads, meat, fish...Appetizers go from $6 to $12, while entrees go from $18 to $26.

At first, they brought us some bread.

As you can see on the photo, it was in a cigar box! The bread was a cheese bread, very light and fluffy that reminded me of a French delicacy called Gougere. It was delicious and I truly appreciated the fact that they were ready to bring us more, without us asking (he he!).

We started the diner with the cheese plate.

I know: this is not very Cuban, but we love cheese! It was in fact some artisan Spanish cheeses such as manchego and blue. They served it with some meat and a delicious lavender honey (Tip: if you do not like strong cheeses, you can counteract the taste with honey, butter or jam).

At the same time, we got the Aguacate Y Tomate salad.

It was composed of avocado, tomatoes, pickled onions, drizzled with sherry oregano vinaigrette. The dressing was perfect and the salad was very fresh. I loved the acidity that the pickled onions added to the dish!

The last appetizer we tried was the empanada.

They propose three types: chicken, beef (ropa vieja) and vegetarian. We went full on vegetarian. It was made of fire roasted vegetables, goat cheese, tomato escabeche. I loved it! the shell was slightly greasy, but the ingredients worked perfectly together, especially the goat cheese and the tomato escabeche.

Then came the entree: it was the Arroz Imperial.

It is a boneless chicken, served with tomato manchego rice, peas, olives, drizzled with aioli (garlic mayonnaise). The chicken was excellent: perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The rice was good too but a bit dry. There was some chicken in it! Eaten with the aioli and the grilled cheese on top, it was succulent.

The last and best part of the meal was dessert...We ordered the traditional Tres Leches.

It was perfect and gooey!

I guess after reading this, you understand that we had a fantastic dinner! It is a great place and there are plenty of dishes on the menu that I would like to try. So I guess I have no other choice than go back...What a sacrifice!  This is a great addition to the Hoboken restaurant scene.

Enjoy (I did)!

 

I Just Want To Eat! One Year Anniversary!

A year ago, on July 9th 2011, was born this blog I Just Want To Eat! This past year has been filled with a lot of food memories, good or bad!

Let me start with the good: amazing meals at Morimoto, Colicchio & Sons, Bin 14, Zylo, Dino & Harry, Molyvos, Taim, Morandi...There are so many, that I cannot list them all!

The bad: Curry in a hurry, sonic, Sol Caribe, Zen palate...

This area offers an amazing food scene and I am grateful that I am able to experience it!

I would like to thank (like in the Oscars) my wonderful wife, Jodi, for supporting me in this food quest, but also all the readers, not only for reading the blog, but also for their encouragements!

So, for the year to come: Enjoy (I will) and remember:

I Just Want To Eat!

French Restaurant Week starts today!

This is a reminder that French Restaurant Week starts today until July 15th!

More information about French Restaurant Week by clicking here!

Enjoy (I will)!

Afghan Kebab House #1 in NYC, New York

Few weeks ago, we met a lovely couple in a wedding and we ended up (of course) taking about food. They mentioned the Afghan Kebab House as being a good spot to eat some kebab. I love kebab because of the incredible aroma that the spices will give to the meat while cooking.

So we decided to go. We enter in the restaurant; it is dark inside and there is one only guy sitting at a table, waiting for his food. The decor is made of murals and carpets. I noticed immediately that there is no music in the background; the only noise we hear is the one from the construction outside. 

When they give us the menu, I understand from the cover that we are at the Afghan Kebab House Number 1! Yes, there are several in New York City. At the time of writing this post, I count eight of them.

As I would like to try different kebab, I decide to pick the Combo Kebab.

The combo kebab contains three sorts of kebab: 

• Beef Tikka Kebab: chunks of lamb marinated in fresh grated spices and herbs. It was my least favorite. At first, I though the meat will be like eating my shoe, but in fact it was the knife that they gave me that could not even have cut my bread! I barely tasted the spices and herbs. Fortunately, they have some spicy sauce and white sauce on the side to help...
• Lamb Kafta Kebab: ground lamb marinated in spices. This was very good: juicy and very tasty! 
• Chicken Kebab: chunks of chicken marinated in spices. This was also very good, although missing a bit of seasoning. The chicken was perfectly cooked and moist. Again, the spicy sauce and the white sauce saved it!

The dish was served with a salad (I could not care less), basmati brown rice (just ok) and some delicious and crispy Afghan bread. 

We also tried the eggplant dish.

Same as the Kebab, it was served with basmati brown rice, a salad and a piece of Afghan bread.

The eggplant dish reminded me a bit a ratatouille (a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish), although it had chick peas in it. It was just an ok dish for me: I was disappointed about he fact that I could barely taste the eggplant and it was a bit soup-ee. Also, I thought the dish was overpriced ($11.95) for what it was.

Afghan Kebab House was just fine for me. It is not the kind of place I would recommend or dream about...

Enjoy (the post)!

Recipe: Brioche with chocolate chips

Chocolate chip brioche recipe

Brioche is a viennoiserie that is similar to Challah bread, where water is replaced by milk, has more eggs, butter and sugar.

The recipe below is very easy to make! 

Ingredients for 12 brioches (approx. 2 pounds):

- 1/2 cup of milk

- 4 large eggs

- 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter

- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 3 3/4 cups of white flour

- 2 packets of yeast (I use active dry instant yeast)

Place in the following order the milk, eggs, butter at room temperature and cut in small pieces, sugar, salt, flour and yeast in a pan. Knead until obtaining a soft dough, and let rise for 45 minutes.

Melt some butter and brush generously the inside and outside of a muffin pan (you can use a bread pan also for cooking the brioche). The butter will prevent the brioche to stick to the pan once cooked.

Put some dough in the bottom of the muffin hole and add some chocolate chip in the middle. This time, I put chocolate chips inside the brioche. You can other wise not put anything or put nutella or jam. 

Cover with some dough and try to seal the brioche (do not worry: it will crack anyway during the cooking process, revealing some chips). Brush the top with an egg wash. Let rise for another 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Then remove from the oven and let it cool. Et voila!

Chocolate chip brioche recipe

Bon appétit!

Happy 4th Of July! Don't get the Crisp!

Hoboken is going to be crazy today as it is the best spot to see the Macy's fireworks! Imagine that people already started to setup their spot in the parks along the Hudson river in this heat!

Smartly, the city allowed some food trucks to settle next to the ferry. Considering the number of people who will come in the afternoon and tonight, they will get some good business! The trucks we saw are:

• Max's: hot dogs and burgers. 
• The Taco Truck: well known in Hoboken! But they had a reduced menu...
• Luke's Lobster: they were not yet ready when we when there! Bummer! It is a perfect day for a lobster roll!

Then there was the Crisp truck, a vegetarian truck that serves Middle Eastern favorites (falafel) with a twist! 

The twist comes from the different ways they serve their food. You can for instance pick a falafel sandwich with the following combinations:

• Mexican: cilantro pesto and avocado, corn, salsa, nachos with jalapeno dressing.
• African: North African peanut sauce, sweet potatoes, corn salad, cherry tomatoes, green onions and habanero harissa.
• Mediterranean: sundried tomato spread, eggplant parmesan flakes and garden greens.
• Parisian: sundried tomato spread, goat cheese, roasted peppers, garden greens and red onions.
• Athenian: herbed yogurt, greek salad and green onions.

We decided to go for the Parisian one.

The sandwich was conveniently placed in a box that allows you to eat it without too much mess, although, making a little mess when eating a falafel sandwich is part of the experience...

They gave us some tahini sauce with the sandwich that I poured as there was no dressing. The tahini was very liquid... What I liked about the sandwich was the sundried tomato spread that was a nice addition. Also, the goat cheese added some extra freshness to a sandwich that could have been, without these two ingredients, bland. The main problem I has was that the falafel where in the bottom of the pita! So first you eat the salad and then the falafel...Too bad! I would have preferred layers of both! The falafel were a bit mushy, but I am wondering if it was not because of the tahini sauce.

Besides the sandwich, they also propose some hummus salad bowls with international flavors:

• Salsa pignolias: pine nuts, salsa, greens and tahini.
• baja fresh: cilantro pesto, corn, salsa, jalapeno and nachos.
• Acropolis: olives, feta, greens and vinaigrette.
• Aubergenius: eggplant, greens, parmesan and vinaigrette.
• Mama mia: sundried tomato spread, roasted peppers, greens and red onions.
• Dolce vita: sundried tomato spread, sweet potatoes, greens and red onions.
• Garbanzo extravaganza: chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, greens and lemon garlic sauce.

We selected the Aubergenius.

It was a bit disappointing: For close to $9, you only get two falafel??? Although I have to say that they were really good: correct amount of spices, crispy and not greasy. Also, there was very little eggplant. At the end, I had the impression I was just eating a salad with some (pretty good) hummus!

On top of the disappointing food, we ordered a passion fruit ice tea and a gaucho mint ice tea: lacking sweetness and taste!

Our bill ended up being $20. For that price, I would go to Mamoun's falafel on Washington street in Hoboken or Taim in NYC!

So, if you go to Hoboken, avoid the Crisp: it is not worth it!

Happy 4th Of July and Enjoy!

Rotondo's Liquor, deli and fine food in Clark, NJ

Recently I was in Clark and we decided to have a quick meal. So we went to Rotondo's that is a deli, a liquor and fine food store.

The place is big, but it is not surprising considering what they sell. I only went to the deli side of it and did not look anywhere else as we were in a hurry. The deli offers already made sandwiches, but you can also make your own. They have a pretty large selection that can satisfy any appetite. They also have bagels, already made salads (potato, macaroni...), chips, fruits, cookies...

I was clearly not on a light lunch mode when I picked the Sonoma sandwich...

It is a triple decker sandwich made with seedless rye, russian dressing, swiss cheese, Roast beef, turkey, ham and coleslaw. On the photo, you only see half of it! It was very good! Although, the roast beef part was quite thin...I loved the different layers. The only thing that I would have changed is probably the bread: I wish they were proposing different types like Italian or baguette.

We also ordered a cheese and mustard sandwich on a whole wheat bread.

This one was pretty straight forward, served with lettuce and tomato. Good, but they put a bit too much mustard.

At the end of the day, Rotondo's is not the best deli ever (in fact, in term of sandwiches, my reference is Sorento's Subs in Freehold, NJ - best subs ever!), but they have some good sandwiches at a very reasonable price!

Enjoy (I did)! 

Laddu recipe

One of my co-workers brought me some laddu for me to try as he knows that I love Indian food (I should say Food!) and sweets. Laddu or Laddoo is a popular sweet in India and South Asia eaten during celebrations or festivals. It is made of little balls (in sanskrit, Laddu means small ball) that are put together, fried and dipped in sugar syrup. The recipe can vary: for the flour, some use Bengal gram, dhal(chickpea), flour ((besan), wheat flour, semolina (suji or rava ), etc...

The one he gave me had almonds and raisins in it! It was deliciously sweet with a bit of crunch! Of course, it was smaller than the biggest Laddu in the Guiness World record: 5,570 kg obtained end of 2011 in India (the previous record was held by a temple in England - 551 kg).

Here is the recipe as he gave it to me:

Cooking time: 11/2 hours

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

• Bengal gram flour ( besan or kadalai mavu):  360 grams or 4 full cups
• Refined sugar: 600 grams or 31/2 cups
• Water: 2 cups
• Rice flour(raw rice): 2 1/4 teaspoon
• Soda bi-carb( cooking soda): 1/2 teaspoon
• Cardamom: 7
• Cashew: 50 grams
• Almonds
• Raisins: 40 grams
• Ghee(clarified butter): 100 grams
• Oil(preferably refined oil): 11/2 litre
• You also need a perforated  ”boondhi” ladle, for frying the boondhi.

Method:

Mix the Bengal gram flour with rice flour and soda bicarb and add some water to make batter. This batter should be similar to ‘dosa’ batter consistency. Set aside.

Take a thick-bottomed vessel and add both sugar and water (2cups). Heat on medium heat to make sugar syrup. You have to keep stirring often till you reach a certain consistency, which can be tested by taking some syrup between your thumb and index finger and spreading the fingers out. If the syrup is sticky and extends like a thread between the two fingers, it is ready. Set this aside. 

Powder the cardamom.

Heat oil in a frying pan on high. When the oil is very hot, take a big spoon of flour batter. Place the ”bhoondhi” ladle over the hot oil, pour one spoonful of batter into the bhoondhi ladle and press down.

Small balls of the dhal batter will drop into the oil. Once they are cooked, remove with another spoon, draining the excess oil. Let the fried batter balls (Boondhi) soak in the sugar syrup. Do the same with the rest of the batter. 

Using a big heavy spoon, pound the cooked mixture to a pulp. Fry the raisins and cashew in ghee and add to the pulp with the remaining ghee. Now you can add the powdered cardamom and the whole cloves, and make round laddus, pressing the pulp into spheres using your hands.

Tips: Making the sugar syrup to the right thread-like consistency is the tricky part in the preparation of laddus. Adding colours and other ingredients like edible camphor, saffron or ”diamond kalkandu”(sugar crystals) is optional.

I did not try the recipe, but will one day!

Enjoy (I did)!

New York City Restaurant Week - July 16th to August 10th 2012

Celebrating its 20th year, here come New York Restaurant Week!

Imagine that after the French Restaurant Week that will celebrate Bastille Day from July 8th to July 15th, right after, you get the regular Restaurant Week! Isn't this awesome? As usual, reservations can be made on Opentable.com. 

As usual, you will be able to eat some delicious food (hopefully!) with a 3 course meal for $24.07 for lunch and $35 for dinner. Now, be careful about this because sometimes there are some traps! Let me tell you about some disappointing  experiences:

• Beacon: awful service and overpriced as the most delicious items required to pay a surcharge. I also picked the wine pairing and the quantity of wine was ridiculous. We ended up with a bill that was far more than what we expected! On top of this, the food was of poor quality: I think a lot of restaurants sacrifice quality when they should serve their best food so diners would come back!
• Steak Frites: the meat was not good at all! I noticed in several restaurants that when they propose a prix fix or participate to Restaurant Week events, they downgrade the quality of the meat. Last year, I put a steakhouse I love to the test: Dino & Harry (read the post: Restaurant Week - A Steakhouse put to the test!).

The only restaurant where I had a great experience was Fig & Olives! So beware! 

There are over 320 participants this year, including Spice Market, Dos Caminos, Nobu, Tao, One If By Land, Two If By Sea, Blue Water Grill.

Enjoy (I will)!

Falafel at Azuri Cafe in NYC, New York

We decided to try Azuri Cafe in NYC, New York as some say that it is the best falafel in the City; better than Taim, Mamoun's, etc...

The place is very small with only 4 tables. We saw the owner there who not only did not say hello, but was very grumpy. Well, we went there for the food, not the owner! Anyway, they play on it as they quoted the NY Times who in 1999 said:

"With just a few rickety tables, Azuri Cafe, a kosher Israeli restaurant and takeout shop, is not the most stylish place around. It's not the friendliest, either. But when you taste the food, you can see where the gruff owner, Ezra Cohen, puts his energy. ".

Then, on their website they wrote: "A place you want to call home"! Really? Maybe for the food, but not for the owner for sure!

The place serves vegetarian as well as non vegetarian specialties. You can find Shawarma Gyro (isn't it kind of the same?) that is made with chicken, beef or chicken shish Kebab (where is the lamb?), chicken liver or falafel. The problem is that they do not describe their menu and a lot of dishes clearly either needed a description or a definition! Considering the personality of the owner, I could not picture myself asking him questions. Especially after I ordered the Shak Shuka plate (I wanted to see if it was the shekshouka) and he responded in a growl that it would take 25 minutes! So we just ordered falafel.

The cook (who was nicer) prepared them. He first fried the falafel. Then, opened a whole wheat pita (we did not have a choice between whole wheat and white as other customers who came after did) and stuffed in it hummus, red cabbage, taboule...and of course the falafel. They topped the sandwich with tahini sauce and pickles.

The sandwich was big for sure. You immediately notice the crunchiness of the falafel. They were very good and I did not detect any greasiness. The sandwich was overall good, but was missing some flavor. 

I definitely prefer Taim not only for the sandwich, but also because their menu is more original with sandwiches like the Shabish that was delicious! So, in the battle between Azuri Cafe and Taim, Taim won!

The owner would have been nicer, it would not have changed my mind...

Enjoy (I almost did)!