Ericandblueboy

2 hours ago, Keithstg said:

A little surprised that Tom Sietsema (foolishly, IMO) decided to drop stars from his reviews and no discussion of it on Dr.com...

I don’t really read his reviews anyway but I would prefer stars so I don’t have to read his reviews.  In any case, his latest dining guide is atrocious.  I think Wapo needs a new critic.

Took the kids to Tanpopo and I don't foresee this place staying in business.  The gyoza looks store bought.  The shrimp tempura was definitely frozen (it tasted fishy and the texture was tough).  The fried chicken was dry and flavorless.  The chasu pork bun was good according to my kids.  The ramen noodles themselves were frozen - I had clumps that were mushed together and became inedible globs.  The totally hard boiled half egg wasn't even brought to room temperature and had no flavor.   

Char Kway Teow is good as usual.  Their sports bar (Thirsty Crow) serves chow fun - I wonder if it isn't exactly the same as Char Kway Teow.  Nothing else we ordered last night was all that great.  The Chinse pork jerky was interesting - it's pounded super thin and then served with sambal. It really doesn't resemble the semi-sweet pork jerky that I ate as a kid, and we definitely didn't dip pork jerky in hot sauce.  The spicy hakka noodles were made with instant noodles (not ramen, but ridged white flat noodles).  The noodles had no chew (I've seen them used in Chinese restaurants as well - result just as lame).  The ayam goreng (friend chicken) was nothing special.  The sambal udang petai had nicely cooked shrimps but the sauce was just kinda bland, neither sweet nor salty.  

29 minutes ago, frogprince said:

What did y’all have at Peche?

We went there after the food tour.  We weren't hungry so we just had apps and sides - spicy ground shrimp + noodles, crab + noodles, oysters raw and roasted, and some grilled zucchini w/ capers.

We walked and walked and walked including 4 miles one way from CBD to Domilese's to try some of the best shrimp po boys in New Orleans.  These are the results.  Johnny's in FQ - bland, needed salt.  We had shrimp and soft shell, both were under seasoned and under dressed.  When we finally arrived at Domilese's, we were greeted with a sign that says closed due to staffing shortage.   So we went to the closest po boy shop nearby, Guy's.  Guy's shrimps were better seasoned but overcooked.  So after ubering back to FQ, we went to Lil Dizzy's.  Lil Dizzy's is legit.  They were recommended by our food tour (more about that later) and there were loads of Asian diners.  If Asian diners are willing to eat in Treme, it's probably because the food is good.  We had one catfish and one shrimp.  The shrimp was crispy but tender, and well seasoned.  The catfish was tender but had that distinctive catfish flavor (I've had Des Allemands catfish that didn't have that catfish flavor, which I thought was wonderful).  

We also tried multiple muffalettas.  First stop, Central Grocery.  They too were closed because of roof damage from Ida last year.  But they sell their premade muffalettas next door at Sidney's liquor store.  The sandwiches are vacuum sealed, and since the only dressing is the oil from their olive salad, the bread never gets soggy.  It was good, but I believe the amount of cold cuts on there were much less than I remembered from years past.  We also hit up Napoleon House.  That sandwich was freshly made, and warmed, so better than Central Grocery's.  We also had the muffaletta at Cochon Butcher.  This is a good sandwich but not a real muffaletta.  Instead of using Italian cold cuts, they use ham and bacon and possibly other meats.

We also tried 2 Cuban sandwiches, 1 at Manolito and 1 at Cochon Butcher.  Both were just so so.  The best sandwich at Cochon Butcher that we tried is their Porchetta Cheese Steak, made with cheese, caramelized onions, and almost BBQ like porchetta.

We did do one food tour with Culinary Backstreet.  I've done multiple tours with CB before and there was always more food than you can possibly eat.  In this case, they just didn't have enough food stops.  We had (1) praline and beignet with praline inside, (2) muffaletta from CG, (3) roast pork banh mi, (4) hot sausage po boy, and (5) some terrible jambalaya.  It was informative but the food offerings were not up to par.

The dinners were at Cochon, R'evolution, and Peche.  We generally ordered interesting small plates and lots of oysters.  All had some amazing dishes.

P.S. we actually finished the shrimp po boy at Lil Dizzy's.  No other sandwich was fully consumed.  We walked probably 10 miles a day.  I actually lost 1 lb on this trip despite eating and drinking all day for 5 days and 4 nights.

Steve and I have been going to Firepan for AYCE KBBQ.  They actually have some beef dishes such as spicy bulgogi and soy bulgogi.  The Firepan steak was actually just kinda bland.  They also have many different pork belly dishes.  We like this place more than Kogiya but Kogiya has better ban chans.

2 hours ago, noamb said:

it’s also consistent with my opinion (admittedly from a long time ago) that if you’re in New Haven, Sally’s and Pepe’s aren’t worth the line, and you should just go to Modern’s instead.

Or Zuppardi's.  I like Zauppardi's clam pizza just a tad more than Modern.

2 hours ago, dracisk said:

Ouzo Bay! I wanted to go there but saw that it had mediocre Google reviews (and slightly better Yelp reviews). Of course I trust your opinion more. I'll try it. Thanks!

Brunch menu is very limited though.  Most poor reviews reference an incident, not actual restaurant review but the restaurant may have suffered permanently?

If you don't want to swill beer while standing, try Duck Duck Goose, Cindy Lou's, Ouzo Bay, and Loch Bar.   

Go to Lexington Market and have crab cakes at Faidleys.

https://www.bigzonesafaris.com/kenya-safaris/7daysbigfivesafarinairobi

Can you ask your wife if she remembers staying at any of the properties listed?  

Thinking about going on a safari in October in Kenya.  Anyone had any experience?

22 hours ago, JimCo said:

I don't think they cook on-site at Union Market, so you'll probably have better success at the original location.

So the stuff at Union Market is being  reheated, how different is it?

Someone tell me why I should go to the Riverdale location instead of Union Market?  I ate at the Union Market location once and wasn't impresssed.

Champions League draw

GROUP A: Ajax (Netherlands), Liverpool (England), Napoli (Italy), Rangers (Scotland).

GROUP B: FC Porto (Portugal), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Club Brugge (Belgium).

GROUP 😄 Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Inter Milan (Italy), Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic).

GROUP 😧 Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), Tottenham Hotspur (England), Sporting CP (Portugal), Marseille (France).

GROUP E: AC Milan (Italy), Chelsea (England), FC Salzburg (Austria), Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia).

GROUP F: Real Madrid (Spain), RB Leipzig (Germany), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Celtic (Scotland).

GROUP G: Manchester City (England), Sevilla (Spain), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), FC Copenhagen (Denmark).

GROUP H: Paris Saint-Germain (France), Juventus (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Maccabi Haifa (Israel).

Groups C and G are the deadliest.

Stopping in Columbus on the way home from Chicago with my kids.  Staying near OSU/Hofbrauhaus.  Do I just eat lots of sausages or is there anything unique or uniquely delicious in Columbus?  I scanned Eater's essential and didn't come away with any inspirations. 

Closed!

Had a great dinner just this past weekend at Rooster and Owl.  We had 2 from each course but the best of each course is:

SALMON CRUDO  coconut dashi | citrus | charred scallion oil (gf)

KING TRUMPET NOODLES zha jiang sauce | daikon | cucumber (gf)

LAMB RIBS pomegranate | peanuts | Green Goddess (gf)

The dishes were seasoned and executed perfectly.  Not gimmicky but very interesting flavor combinations.

Or go to Shoto and let me know if it's all that.  

Some time ago I went to Osteria and wasn't impressed with their pizza.  But the current menu appeared interesting so I took the kids there for dinner.  We started with (i) grilled broccolini caesar $15 and (ii) smoke pork ribs with peaches, sorrel and red onions $19.  The kids loved the sweet and savory pork ribs, and the fresh peaches.  I enjoyed the broccolini but could not even eat half of it because it's really quite a lot of food and of course we ordered 3 pastas as well:  (i) corzetti (round disc pasta) with lobster and thin discs of artichoke (looks like pasta too) $22, (ii) rigatoni with small broken chunks of chicken liver, onions and sage $19, and (iii) cresto di gallo (chicken comb shape) pasta with white pork bolognese, fennel and rosemary $17.  So the lobster corzetti had a decent amount of lobster but the dish was a little fishy.  The chicken liver rigatoni is their house special and as noted, a very good dish.  We also enjoyed the white bolognese pasta.  What's really amazing is how they're able to keep prices so low during this era of high inflation. 

Went up to Philly for the Harry Potter exhibition at the Franklin Institute with the kids.  Wanted good food and not overly expensive.  General Tsao's House fit the bill.  When we arrived at noon on Sunday, it was completely dead.  A couple of tables did arrive shortly after us.  We had (i) scallion pancakes $4, (ii) chicken potstickers $6, (iii) soup dumplings $8, (iv) pork dumplings with chili oil $7, (v) stir fried bok choy $11.  The prices are on par or cheaper than Hong Kong Palace which is located in 7 Corners.  I don't know how they do it.  To be fair, the scallion pancakes and potstickers may have been from a grocery store but the soup dumplings and the pork dumplings were delicious.   

Took the kids to walk around Eastern Market and we ended up having lunch here.  We had  (i) Tortilla de patata con chorizo a la plancha, (ii) salt cod fritters, (iii) chicken liver terrine, (iv) roasted pork belly, and (v) duck breast with creamy mushroom rice.  Just about every dish is served on a bed of greens with dressing so you don't really need to order a salad.  Every dish was very good but the kitchen was super slow today.  The tapas portions are generally $15 and under - feels like a good deal these days.  The kids loved it so we'll be back,

Dauphine's.

Taking the kids back to Chicago to see their cousin, who now lives in Chicago after graduating from U. of Washington in St. Louis.  Any thoughts on restaurants that don't require us to dress up?