ICD

Yeah, Bacon, Pancetta, Chinese red-style, Cracklins, and Chicharon. Although the latter two were kind a similar. Ignacio P.S. The Hersch's comment brought me out my usual lurking ways.

It's hard to find well-made plantains in area restaurants or to do them at home. The problem is that most plantains you find are not ripe enough to make maduros, which in Spanish means ripened. To make maduros you need plantains that are almost completely black. Most made around here are at the yellow stage, which does not have enough sugar to caremelize properly and give that soft melt in your mouth consistency. The reason frozen plantains work well is that they are cooked at the correct stage of ripening. By the way, you can make tostones with green plantains. Like good french fries, they need to be twice fried. Here is a recipe from Three Guys from Miami: http://icuban.com/food/platanos_maduros.html Another on tostones: http://www.tostobueno.com/home.html

Me too. I keep trying steak medium rare and just not liking it. It has nothing to do with blood or squeamishness. I'll eat steak tartare or carpaccio any day. Same thing with tuna, raw or mostly cooked through is great. I think it's the texture that bothers me. To keep this on topic, what's the situation with regards to children? Are high chairs or booster seats available? How busy is the restaurant when it just opens?Many thanks, Ignacio

If you want good BBQ near the highway, I can recommend Moore's in Kenly, NC. Good basic que. Ignacio

We had a very pleasant dinner at the Water Street Restaurant this summer. Very friendly. pubby atmosphere. The food was not spectactular, but quite good, and you're across the street from the river. Ignacio

My wife who went to high school in Frostburg was insulted by this statement. She says there's a great Hardees. McDonald's is hopping on a Friday night, especially after a football game. There's also a gourmet Tasty Freeze on the west side of town. Ignacio

I'm sure it gets criticized alot, especially by locals, but my wife and I enjoyed the Sunday brunch at Paula Deen's two years ago. Not too expensive ($14.99), and the fried chicken was very good. The trick was to get there early to avoid the line. People (who are these "People"?) say her brother's place called Uncle Bubba's is also good. Haven't been though. Ignacio http://www.ladyandsons.com/ http://www.unclebubbasoysterhouse.com/

Grantsville; Cumberland Don't forget the Hilltop Fruit Markets in Grantsville and Cumberland. You can load up on lots and lots of candy. Oh, and fruits and vegetables too. There's also an Amish market around somewhere. Ignacio

Frostburg Smokey, My wife and I were at the Lodge for a wedding a few years ago. (She went to high school there.) The food at the Lodge was fine, but it looks like a new chef is in place. There is an old fashion french restaurant called Au Petit Paris, but we have never been there. The Italian restaurant was quite good (Guiseppes) in an informal way. Both have websites: http://www.giuseppes.net/menu/entreemenu.html http://www.aupetitparis.com/ Good luck, Ignacio

I had a nice lunch at Acadiana for Restaurant Week. A colleague and I got there early and sat at the bar. We started with really nice biscuits and cajun cream cheese topped with pepper jelly. I had the trio of deviled eggs which were quite good. For my main course, I had the fried catfish and blue cheese slaw. The catfish was great, lightly fried with a cornmeal batter and a nice tartar sauce. I, who love blue cheese, thought the slaw was little too much even for me. The desserts were small, but given I still feel bloated, were very nice. I had the chocolate bread pudding topped with a bananas foster sauce (not the cherries mentioned in the menu, now that I think about it). The lemon panna cotta looked good too. Service was friendly at the bar and everything ran smoothly. Ignacio

Absolutely no argument over authenticity, however, the California Tortilla burritos remind me of what I ate growing up Cuban in the Miami area--rice, beans, and a protein. Except it wasn't wrapped in a flour tortilla. I can really empathsize with you about your favorite burrito. One of my favorite items growing up was masitas de puerco or fried pork chunks. Sure, you can get them here, but they are not the same. Good fried pork chunks are marinated to develop the flavor, braised to tenderize them, and then fried to crisp to crisp them up. They should be melt-in-your-mouth soft, surrouned by a crispy shell. All they have here is bland, hard deep fried pork bits it seems. Ignacio

I like California Tortilla best for burritos, especially with the addition of the many available hot sauces. I find Chipotle burritos to be very bland and the rice/beans/meat not well distributed within the flour tortilla. Plus, Chipotle's tortilla chips taste stale to me. However, I will note that the quality of California Tortilla varies by location. My favorite is the one in Olney, which is not as close to me as the one in Rockville, which I find only to be good. My least favorite is the one in Potomac. Ignacio

I've found the service, especially at the hostess stand, to be extremely friendly. For example, we were outside waiting for a late lunch on a Friday a few months ago when our two-year old son was on the verge of throwing a fit from hunger. My fault. I went inside to ask for a piece of bread to tide him over. The hostess went into the kitchen and brought out freshly made whole wheat bread and a pat of butter. That was beyond the call of duty, especially since we're not regulars (we've been to the restaurant at most five times over the years). Foodwise, I love their hamburger with blue cheese and bacon on it. A plus is you get onion strings instead of french fries--a nice change of pace. Ignacio

First time poster, long time voyeur. The family went to Rockland's in Rockville last night because we wanted to try something new (we usually go to Urban BBQ) and had a coupon for a free bottle of citrus bbq saude (still unopened). The good news: the Texas corn pudding was quite good. The okay news: the potato salad and mustard greens were acceptable, if a bit under-salted (and i like things under-salted). The bad news: that's some of the worst chopped pork I've ever had. I don't claim to be an expert, but I went to school in North Carolina and have smoked my share of pork butts. We ordered a pound a pork to go and the abovementioned sides because with only stools in the restaurant , there was no way we could eat there with a two-half year old and a 11-month old. The pork came unsauced, which is normally a good thing because you can taste the quality of the bbq. The pork was an unappealing gray color with no hint of a pink smoke ring. Some bits were a little gristly. The worst part was the smokey taste. I don't mind smoke, but this was almost acrid. My mouth still feels like I've smoked a cigarette, and I don't even smoke. We ended up putting their tangy-sweet tomate bbq sauce, which helped make it at least palatable. Oddly, enough my youngest was the one who enjoyed it most. I hope they get their act together with someone more experienced at smoking, but for now I won't be returning until I hear better reports. Ignacio