KeithA

I highly recommend going to PR soon. They can use your money but I will say I was pleasantly surprised at how much was up and running as the island's infrastructure in tourist areas is fully functional. However when you talk to the people you get a sense of the personal toll the hurricane took on them and their livelihoods. As for food, I traveled with little kids so we didn't try any of the nicer, foodie places like Marmalade, 1919, or Jose Enrique but we did have some good and not so good food.  I highly recommend Lote 23, a hip plan outdoor food court with about 8-10 different places to get a wide variety of foods (puerto rican pork, mexican, asian, italian, brick oven pizza, croquetas, and drinks). The best at Lote 23 was Red Hen's fried chicken cooked to order - so delicious - and Senor Paleta for fruit or creamy ice pops - I got the nutella twice. Also good was the croquetas, and pina coladas. Friends really liked the italian pasta place and the brick oven pizza seemed popular. It is a fun space outdoors with lots of shade coverings and music in the evenings (also a stage which wasn't used when we were there but I bet it is a happening happy hour and weekend spot). It is in Santurce which is a bit off the beaten tourist path but a 5-10 minute Uber drive from the hotels in Condado/Isla Verde and probably 15-20 from old San Juan - worth the trip for sample lots of stuff. 

In Old San Juan, we had mixed experiences. The good was Waffle-Era for great sweet and savory waffles and lots of tea options. We loved the special breakfast one with yogurt, honey, granola and fruit and the smoked salmon, poached egg, and machego cheese ones. You can also get half waffles to try more types. For the kids they will basically cover a waffle in ice cream, chocolate, maple syrup - a huge variety of options. Also good up near the biggest fort, El Morro, we had a good lunch at Patio de Sam where we really enjoyed the chicken trifongo. (regular mofongo but instead of only mashed green plaintains, also sweet plantains and cassava). We found that when we ate the dishes elsewhere with only green plantains (regular mofongo or tostones) they were a bit dry and bland and so getting the other mixed mash added more flavor. The spot looks like all of the tourist dives, but it is air-conditioned with a light filled skylight dining area in the back. The other dishes we had here were decent.  Good fruit and dessert smoothies at Frappes on San Cristo Ave. Less enjoyable but still fun was piraguas which are sold from carts every few blocks - basically snowcones with your choice of syrupy but the guys work hard shaving the ice from huge blocks to order. Ajo de Pais is another tourist place recommended by a cab drive but the food was so so and I wouldn't recommend it- we had not great chicken mofongo, mahi stuffed tostones, but we did like the steak arepa. We also went for a real tourist experience with so so food to Tapas Triana near the cruise ship docks for a music and dance performance of lots of spanish guitar and a bit of salsa and flamenco dancing. It was fun especially for my girls who dance but food and drinks are meh. 

In Liquillo beach where they have about 50 restaurants next to the beach, we had a great dish of coconut rice mixed with fish and good drink at Terruno, #20, I think. Food took a long time as is common in PR but really good food. Our tour guide always goes here and says the waits are very long on weekends. 

Also there is a very nice Ben Jerry's scoop shop in Condado that we frequented many times since it was next to our hotel. 

Today was my 2nd time visiting here, and again I had a very nice torta sandwich. Today was the cemitas sans ham - chicken milanese, mexican cheese, small slather of beans, avocado, and spicy chipolte (whole ones, not really a sauce). We also started with the mushroom queso fundido which is basically a big pile of melted cheese with a few sauteed onions served with nicely warmed mini tortilla. Tasty but nothing special unless you are a sucker for melted cheese.  The complimentary chips are good and so are the 3 salsas that come with it. Last time I had a fish taco that was decent. Overall, I think the food here is pretty good quality and it is a nice space if you are in this neck of the woods but I wouldn't make a special trip. I think I like the tacos better 2 doors down at Taqueria Habernero, but last time the service there was so slow. The comparison though is one of slight difference - not that noticeable overall. The inside of Mezcalero is nicer and less crowded and the menu is much larger.

Nothing posted in this topic is a few years. Going soon for first time - will mostly be in San Juan for several days. Any recommendations - would especially love some non-tourist trap places? Thanks.

On 11/18/2018 at 11:33 AM, KeithA said:

...Sixth tip - start with a recipe that likely suits your personal preference. Zahav is heavy on tahini and subtle flavoring. I like it.  This recipe I've used for years from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is more chickpea heavy and strong on the garlic: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExperience/Lifestyle/Pages/HUMMUS -Chick-pea Dip-.aspx (when you only use the 3 TB of tahini.  Michael Solomonov's need cookbook as a quick recipe for hummus I haven't tried yet, but anything by him is worth trying. 

After making it a couple of times, I can now attest that Solomonov's 5 minute hummus is great (still not as light and creamy as his 3+ hour hummus in his first Zahav cookbook but the time trade off is only worth it for people with too much time). Here is the recipe: https://forward.com/food/410601/michael-solomonovs-5-minute-hummus-with-quick-tehina-sauce/ Note that you basically make a quick tehina sauce and then add canned chickpeas, which means this is also a 4 minute quick tehina sauce recipe.  His new cookbook, Israeli Soul, also has a whole bunch of great ideas for hummus toppings - similar to places like Little Sesame. I adapted the one for roasted carrots with dukkah spice using butternut squash instead of carrots and it turned out excellent. 

If you are in DC, compare to Chicken and Whiskey on 14th st. They are my current favorite Peruvian chicken. Not to say C&J isn't good too. 

Big bagel eater with limited bialys experience here but I will echo the praise for Goldberg's bialys above in the thread. I went to the North Bethesda/Rockville location hidden in the shopping center off Nicholson Road that has Moti's kosher grocery (used to be Katz's for decades). Bialy wa big, soft in center, chewy on outside with a nice bit of chopped spiced onions on top. I ate it plain and enjoyed. Also if you want to stop up on Israeli ingredients and of course kosher food - Moti's has a nice selection - so you can make all those great Zahav and Ottolenghi recipes that I'm working my way through. 

That sounds great. We had chinese food from Sichuan Pavillion. 

On 11/28/2018 at 4:12 PM, ktmoomau said:

If I may add an 11th tip... If your hummus is too thick, or if you leave it in the fridge and it get a little thicker than you want, if you add a little water, it may thin it to a more pleasant consistency.  I really like the LT hummus, and I like how smooth and thin it is, sometimes I have to add a little water to mine to get it to that level.

I like #11 and I forgot tip #12, do NOT peel the skins from the chickpeas. Normally with over cooked fresh chickpeas it is impossible and it is not too tough with canned but completely unnecessary. Some recipes say removal of the skins results in a silkier hummus but it is barely noticeable, if at all and gets very time consuming. 

I had a very nice large meal with friends a couple of weekends ago at Supra. I'd recommend going with a group as this is a great place to sample lots of different things and most are served in smaller portions that are good for sharing. We started with cocktails that were all riffs on classics but with Georgian spirits or wine - very nice. Then, we had the supra tasting board of cold mezze which is a really great way to get a broad selection: 3 kinds of cheeses (I liked the smoky gouda-like one and the creamier one, but watch out for the extra salty one), several vegetable spreads (highlights were the all vegetable one (possibly grilled original but consistency of baba ganouj, the beet-walnut), and I really liked the small eggplant rollups with walnut spread inside. If you are a fan of walnuts, apparently Georgian cuisine is the way to go they put them in 4 out of 5 dishes and use them for flavor, thickening, etc. The hot mezze were really good - the one bite cheese croquettes were delicious, the duck breast was cooked perfectly and you got a choice of a savory dip or chopped peaches, the grilled salmon was excellent and paired well with the creamy walnut tomato sauce.  The only merely ok hot mezze was the potatos - they were good but basically just roasted potatoes.  We then had the cheese and potato dumplings as described above - very rich and good but don't let the menu description fool you - they are not at all soup dumpllings - more like hearty perogis with a thicker dumpling skin. I was less impressed with the khachapuri with egg and butter. It may be that it was overly rich and somewhat one note in flavor compared to the preceding courses. I thought the boat bread underneath was very good and fresh but the filling was only so so. They have several varieties on the menu and I think I would have chosen a different one next time. We had a bottle of one of the amber wines (note the wine list is 100% georgian wines I believe) that was described as effervescent and it was fruity and a bit bubbly which I liked a lot and thought paired well with the food. We were stuffed but still indulged in their panna cotta (ok but nothing too special) and their walnut cake which is a huge slice of rich but light cake that we really liked. Overall a really nice experience with somewhat different flavors. 

Soaking the chickpeas with baking soda simply makes a creamier hummus and a bit lighter but if you add a lot of tahini and process longer you are a good chunk of the way there with canned chickpeas. As for the bread or other dipper - use whatever you like. Challah is good but already a richer bread with eggs so you can get away with a more mild hummus. The big pita - challah difference is the texture. It is easy to spread on hummus on challah like a sandwich spread but you can’t rip off and piece and dip it into the hummus as with pita. Naan or other flatbread work great too and pita is essentially pretty plain and so the hummus can shine on its own. But white bread with good hummus is better than nothing. Although I’ve been known to simply hummus with a spoon too. If you want to really see all the ways to eat hummus check out the family dinner scene from Don’t Mess with Zohan. Hilarious, ridiculous and very hummus-centric.  

I like Timber bagels, and Bethesda bagels. Bullfrog are good too. I haven't been to Call Your Mother yet and in the past Georgetown Bagelry was good but its been a few years. I also grew up on and really liked Bagel City in Rockville but its been a few years and they have some awful yelp reviews now so it may be hit or miss. I do like the smaller size bagels at Bagel City. Baked by Yael bagels across from the zoo are ok but my wife is not a fan and the flavors are limited. Breadfurst bagels are overcooked often and are not soft on the inside as a bagel should be.  I once tried Pumpernickel bagels in Chevy Chase DC and thought they were awful. I recently got some plain bagels for the kids at Firehook and I don't know why but they were sourdough with a distinct sourness which of course turned off the kiddos. 

Went for lunch last week, the laghman handmade noodles are still where it's at. Chewy, tasty and I think the toppings for them have gotten even better. I had the royal version which is beef with peppers and other veg, very tasty. My friend had the vegetarian version which has nice slices of tofu and he really enjoyed it. The vegetarian fried spring rolls are pretty standard - fried wrappers with cabbage and a bit of other vegetable served with an ok sauce - you can skip these. I was happy to see that the lamb kebab now comes with a rather decent portion of meaty lamb chunks dusted heavily with cumin. I always liked these kebabs but they used to be about 1/3 of the size making for a tasty but small appetizer - now you could share 1 kebab for a small app for 2 or as more of a side dish for one. Still same $3.50 per kebab on the big sword like skewers. I think I saw they now have chicken kebabs too. Worth circling back here to try again if its been a while. 

Went for lunch twice in the past two weeks. Both times had the Etna 2.0 which is really good. I always liked when they had special pizzas with fried eggplant slices and now happy to have a regular pizza on the menu - it is good and smoky from the oven and the smoked mozzarella. The old Etna's eggplant was kind of hidden in the sauce and not so great - the new version is much better. My companions' pizzas were good too. The only thing that was a shame was the salt cod croquettes which were overly salty on one visit. We get this dish 75% of the time and always love it. I like the new addition of the lemon aioli instead of only the fresh lemon slice for variety (still better with fresh squeezed lemon IMHO), but the salt just killed the dish. I'm not sure if they didn't rinse the salt cod enough or what. Hopefully they'll get back to their usual stride next time. 

Tonight - pasta with margarine and salt, steamed broccoli and whole foods fish sticks. At least they eat fish in some form. For the umpteeth time will try to entice them with our salmon dish - I mean it is yummy and pink (my girls like pink), but I'm not that hopeful.  

Lately my older one 10 is constantly asking and even day dreaming about dessert - which she gets almost daily. We walked past an ice cream shop yesterday, which got her started listing all of the treats she would love to eat: ice cream, cookies, brownies, cake, many varieties of candy, etc. A literal 5 minutes later, she turns and says so what is it going to be? 

Had such a delightful time at Katz last Sunday morning. Going on a Sunday at 930am has several advantages. It is not crowded, the owner was hosting his grandkids and family to an elaborate deli spread in the back (yes breakfast like pancakes but also hot dogs), and it is never not a good time for their pastrami. The pastrami half sandwich was ample and so delicious. Their rye bread is only ok (I miss the double baked from DGS) but that meat, oh that meat. It is perfectly cooked - nice chew, but delicate, not falling apart, sliced in front of you to not too thick and not too thin, with great bark and so much flavor. The matzo ball soup was good - soup was pretty good packed with carrots and a nice huge soft matzo ball. The pickles were hit and miss. The sours were good but not great and the half sours were awful - salty cucumbers, I wouldn't even call them pickles. (now I'm biased against half-sours but these were not good). The potato knish's filling was rather good - lots of good sweet onion flavor but not too sweet but the dough was almost non-existent. It was super thin and basically a shell to hold the filling in one place. Kids loved the good bagels and cream cheese and the super friendly bagel guy to made them chocolate milk taking time to mix it all by hand. The countermen were also super friendly.  We got some black and white cookies to go which were rather good. 

I thought I posted something similar elsewhere on the site. Maybe Don can find it. Here is my hummus making advice after making a lot over many years and eating it in the Mideast and all over the place in the US.  The difference between store bought and home made is the freshness and creaminess and the ability to adjust it to your taste.

First tip - start with canned chickpeas except for special occasions. The difference in final product between canned and soaking dried chickpeas is minor.  I find you can get a more delicate, airier hummus with soaked chickpeas but it turns a 15 minute food processor recipe into a multi-day affair with soaking overnight and long cooking.  

Second tip - fancy tahini is hard to detect once you mix it together with everything else. I tend to use cheaper Israeli/mideast or even Greek brands I can find in my grocery store. (I don't use Joyva). I have also tried Soom and didn't notice much difference. If you were making a more straight tehini sauce or dressing, maybe you'd notice the difference more.  

Third tip - figure out how aggressive you want the added flavors to be (such as garlic, lemon juice, or other non-dried spices added for flavoring). If you want it strong, then simply toss those ingredients in the food processor along with chickpeas and tahini for quick and tasty hummus. If you want more subtle flavoring, then roast the garlic or infuse the flavors into the tahini before adding to the food processor with the chickpeas. Again, Zahav recipe has a neat trick to blend garlic with lemon juice and let it sit and then press the garlic through a sieve into the tahini and mix before adding to the chickpeas. This of course is much more time consuming but does have a nice effect. 

Fourth tip - figure out your preference for chickpea to tahini (or other ingredients) ratio. Some recipes are chickpea heavy which often leads to a thicker/denser more neutral tasting hummus vs. other recipes call for a lot more tahini which is a bit smoother and of course much stronger sesame flavor. 

Fifth tip - taste it before you remove from the food processor and adjust it to your taste. Most recipes call for using a certain number of lemons but each lemon has a different amount of juice or sometimes garlic is stronger, etc. 

Sixth tip - start with a recipe that likely suits your personal preference. Zahav is heavy on tahini and subtle flavoring. I like it.  This recipe I've used for years from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is more chickpea heavy and strong on the garlic: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExperience/Lifestyle/Pages/HUMMUS -Chick-pea Dip-.aspx (when you only use the 3 TB of tahini.  Michael Solomonov's need cookbook as a quick recipe for hummus I haven't tried yet, but anything by him is worth trying. 

Seventh tip -process it longer than you think needed - it will help you get the smoothness you want. (or if you are cooking the chickpeas, follow the Zahav advice and overcook them).

Eighth tip - hummus is forgiving and if you plan to top it with dried spices like paprika, herbs like parsley, a swirl of olive oil, or strong vegetables like olives or even roasted meats - don't worry too much about having the perfect subtle, fancy hummus as these add-ons will likely overpower the base hummus. Save all of the above fancier ingredients and time consuming steps for when you plan to eat the hummus straight or with only a bit of an add on (I do like a swirl of extra olive oil).

Ninth tip - get some good pita bread (or make your own) to enjoy your hummus more. I haven't been able to find much great stuff in grocery stores - but I'll go with the Mideast bakery brand which is decent. I like Yafa Grille and Shouk's pita (which is the more pillowy type).  I'm less a fan of the thin lebanese pita you find at Lebanese Taverna and others place (note I like LT generally and the bread is good but not my preferred style). 

Tenth tip - I've seen some videos online and even a recipe or two that says to make hummus in a mortar and pestle or a bowl, but unless you like arm workouts and chunky hummus, stick to the food processor.  

For store bought hummus, I like sabra but there are a bunch of niche brands that I haven't tried and may be better.  there is a lot of funky, non-chickpea hummus available in stores. Like fake meats, know that it will not be the same, but if that is what you like, enjoy. 

On 10/31/2018 at 12:38 AM, dslee said:

Shouk announced on instagram that they are rolling out a new dish on Thursday, November 1, 2018!  

 

They finally decided to add Falafel and so I guess the chickpea was too similar and it is gone. I haven't tried the falafel yet but it sounds good. I think the owners were a bit too much in their own heads about doing something different that they avoid falafel till now - but it is the most popular middle eastern/israeli vegan pita sandwich. 

CANDY! Happy Halloween

Stopped by the Partisan yesterday for the first time for a quick lunch. I had the pastrami sub which was good and large. It is a sub roll with pretty mild thousand island dressing, with a bit of red cabbage and a bunch of chopped chunks of pastrami (I skipped the cheese). It was good and the pastrami was well made but I could have used a bit more additional flavors from the condiments to balance out the pastrami. The pastrami itself was a mix of a bit of fattier pieces and lean - which I liked but when I grabbed a bite or too of the lean it didn't have much flavor. 

Breakfast for my 2nd grader - no not a dried strawberry fruit roll up fancy thing (yo yo brand - pricey but just fruit nothing added) and a chocolate brownie z bar. Oh you are ignoring me and already eating the fruit (skirmish lost), ok but you are willing to eat better, good. Here is some TJs boxed homemade banana bread with all 4 edges removed and a small amount of strawberry yogurt because you already ate the fruit. Yes you will eat these to grow big and strong. No eating only 2 things is not a rule. Yes do eat them. Yes you will drink milk and have a flinstones vitamin too. 30 mins due to all the back and forth and distracted daydreaming, etc. Its good to be a kid.

Breakfast for 4th grader - her "usual" - bowl of vanilla yogurt (my kids like Stoneyfield brand) and slice of banana bread with all of the edges especially the top that is the best gooey part. Milk and vitamin. 5 minutes. Talking and music not allowed. Occasional grunts of acknowledgement. Tears and frantic rushing reserved for other non-food related issues. 

Packed lunches: baby carrots, pretzels or ritz crackers, apple slices, and cold turkey hot dog sliced.  The hot dog is weird but they like it and have been eating it forever. Oh until last week when the 4th grader said they taste weird. Now we have tried multiple varieties including a blind taste test but she is moving on I think. We tried sliced turkey breast - so so results. She loves cheese but doesn't like it when it gets warm (despite we have some fancy lunch box with an insert for an ice pack). My tears and hair continue shed. 

On 10/17/2018 at 5:46 PM, naxos said:

Lamenting the loss of Mrs. Stahl's knishes in Brighton Beach. Never had one to come close in DC.

Mrs. Stahl's knish recipe is widely available since it was published in the Jewish press and reprinted in an entertaining short book Knish: In Search of the Jewish Soul Food - https://www.wnyc.org/story/recipe-mrs-stahls-potato-knishes/. I will note I don't use this recipe though as I like my onions cooked not raw. I use a similar but slightly different recipe -  https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/03/potato-knish-two-ways/

Nice lunch today from very friendly staff at Mikko today - my first visit. I started with the very tasty herring open-faced sandwich. Wonderful delicate and flavorful, but not overly strong or salty fish. However, it could use a few more slices of fish and a bit less egg.  Also a bit pricey for a small sandwich. Apparently the herring is the only fish in the shop that they import pre-cured from Scandinavia. Then I had the ample dill-seasoned fish soup full of salmon chunks and 2 types of potatoes. Big soup bowl also comes with 2 small slices of dark, hearty bread (I think the same as the sandwich) and butter. I sat at the counter chatting with the chefs as they sliced gravlax. They were kind of gave me a taste and it was very good. I also had a taste of their quick vinegar sweet pickles (super thin sliced) which would be a great contrast to the salty and hearty fish and other dishes. Great looking baked goods in the case in the front. They also do have a bunch of sidewalk seating along with a basket of blankets to use to keep warm during autumn days. 

10 hours ago, curiouskitkatt said:

add me to that list as well, and what about knishes? I am still in search of a proper knish outside of Manhattan. 

DC really doesn't have good knishes. For that matter neither do most places in Manhattan - most there are reheated gabilla fried ones (dreck compared to baked ones IMHO) or poorly made old ones. The best fresh knish in DC are made at home. I'd recommend the Smitten Kitchen recipe available online. I've been using it for years with a bunch of different fillings but mostly long cooked onions and yellow potatoes like Yukon golds (I like them better than russets). Topped with a little Ba-Tampte mustard.  

On 10/16/2018 at 10:50 AM, DaveO said:

(As a local I was disappointed in the BreadFurst bialy w/ a crusty exterior more like a bagel). 

A few weeks ago, my wife got an bialy at BreadFurst and was so disappointed too. It was so hard it was like a hockey puck of a cracker and once you got to the onion center it had barely any flavor. I love BreadFurst but a few of their items just stink. Luckily most of the stuff is excellent - bakery and non-bakery items.

19 minutes ago, JoyS said:

I was a tad disappointed in the "fun flavors" of Federal Donuts (I tried lemon-something and salted caramel, I believe). They were just so, so overly sweet. Next time I'll get something simple like honey.

I tried 5 different flavors still. I definitely liked the sugared ones better - oreo and cinnamon sugar were great. Strawberry lavender sugar was a nice idea but the special flavors are rather muted. I did like the key lime glazed but it is pretty strong. The apple cinnamon was rather sweet - I wouldn't get it again. The caramel latte was good but its coffee flavor wasn't my thing. I did like the maple pecan - it wasn't as strong a glaze and the crushed pecans on top mellowed the sweet factor. The simplest may be the best - the honey one that came with the chicken. All the more reason to get the chicken 🙂