Ericandblueboy

Really expensive brunch https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffdbc852534fa7c0385a3ab/t/621bd8794a55c861be66e6db/1645992059172/Brunch+Menu+(Complete)+2-27-22.pdf Not for me

$3 per oyster is the going price (sadly) except for happy hour specials. In any case, I wouldn’t go back to Vola’s - mediocre to decent food. I also wouldn’t go back to Hank’s. The Salt Line has good oysters. Henlopen Oyster House has even better oysters. Eventide in Portland has great oysters.

Champions League quarterfinal draw: Chelsea vs. Real Madrid Manchester City vs. Atletico Madrid Villarreal vs. Bayern Munich Liverpool vs. Benfica Champions League semifinal draw: Manchester City or Atletico Madrid vs. Chelsea or Real Madrid Liverpool or Benfica vs. Villarreal or Bayern Munich

I kind of like Buddha and DeMarr.

Stayed in Chinatown (Hotel Mulberry, down the street from 3 funeral homes) for a couple of nights. XFF was just down the street and I had always wanted to try this famous place out. I ordered their spicy cucumbers and pork noodles. The cucumbers were sitting in a sauce but really didn't absorb any flavor. The noodles had great texture but I'm not a fan of their proprietary sauce - you can choose your level of spice but I'm not a huge fan of vinegary sour sauces. Very little protein and very little veggies in the noodle dish. Glad I tried it but will not be going back.

Went to the village location for dinner. The lobster knuckles escargot style were delicious - albeit not quite as meaty as actual escargot. The buttery sauce is great for dipping the accompanied grilled bread. The pasta with clam sauce was meh - too lemony (I don't use lemon when I made pasta with white sauce). Tasty broccoli rabe.

Went to Kossar's in LES this past weekend. A bialy with scallion cream cheese is now $5. I don't think it was worth $5. It was a generous amount of cream cheese, too much than needed really. My jaws did feel tired from chewing too.

Took a last minute road trip to Portland. I stopped at Lamies Inn and the Old Salt Restaurant for the night on the way up. For some reason I had this place starred on Google Map - probably because I saw it on some TV show, but the food is just good. I didn't find the place particularly exciting. Rolled into Portland around lunch time and I went straight to Eventide. Started with a dozen oysters with pickled red onion ice and kimchi ice. I love the pickled red onion ice, whereas I don't think the kimchi ice went very well at all with oysters. Then I had fried oysters and broiled oysters (pictured). I love that place. Dinner was at Central Provisions - an Asian inspired restaurant. Started with Uni Crudo, served with umeboshi sorbet. I just looked up umeboshi - it's pickled plum-like fruit. I thought it was weird. Second dish was Winter Citrus salad with XO sauce, I thought the combination was great except for the very bitter citrus bites. I also some fried pork croquettes and finished with a Lapchoung Terrine served on scallion pancake with Sichuan pickles and hoisin sauce. I love pate and I love scallion pancakes - and I loved them together. Next day I went to Ramona's for a roast pork sandwich. It was a good sandwich, filled with lots of pork and broccoli rabe, but it's not as flavorful as Tony Luke's in Philly. Perhaps I should've gotten an Italian sub. Dinner was at Solo Italiano, solely because they have sea urchin dishes on the menu. The best dish was Ricci con Pane, sea urchin on toasted focaccia with shaved pecorino, and tomato pesto (pictured). I was told the pastas are small so I ordered 2. First came Linguine alle Veraci, made with Manila clams. Their pastas are very good, all hand made, with good chew. Next came Maccheroncelli Carbonara di Mare, uni emulsion, pecorino, guanciale, and a single seared gulf shrimp. As usual, I bitch about the lack of uni flavor. In fact, the dominant flavor is from guanciale, whereas I would've preferred equal billing. On the last day, I went to Duck Fat for some fries and a duck confit with pate banh mi sandwich. I think the fries were food but not better than your average frites. I did really enjoy the pressed duck confit and pate sandwich in the style of banh mi with pickled veggies. Dinner was at Scales, another Street restaurant (Fore, St. & Co). This place on the water is the most light-filled Street restaurant, with lots of space, seafood displayed, and wonderful service. I sat at the bar and started with a bowl of steamer clams with white wine broth and drawn butter. With the steamers, I peel off the condom and remove the stomach, then swish the remains in the butter. Then the $49 pan roasted lobster. It's probably 1.25 lb or less, but it was really good. Cooked but very tender, and I loved the "fines herbes" sauce. Even the broccolini with guanciale side was delicious.

I wish restaurants would stop serving outdoors in the cold. Omicron is no worse than the flu. Stop wasting energy so you don't catch the flu.

Is the online menu not accurate?

@Tom Sietsema fairly recently wrote about some new old school dishes at Convivial. So Steve and I went to check them out. We started with Quenelles Nantua (light crayfish dumpling, Cognac-cream sauce, dill, trout caviar). I've only had the pike quenelles at La Chaumiere before and was eager to try a different version. I have to say the textures are similar, i.e., light and fluffy. The dumpling (there's only 1) itself didn't have a ton of flavor, but the sauce is intense, like a lobster bisque. The crawfish were overcooked and not really worth eating. At the same time we had Pâté en Croûte (foie gras, duck breast, cured pork shoulder, veal sweetbread, Banyuls-pork reduction, pistachios, savory pie crust). These went very well with the freisee salad. For our entrees, we had to try the Pithiviers de Pigeon, with "layers of green cabbage, foie gras mousse and squab (young pigeon)...beneath a veneer of puff pastry." That dish is amazing - super tender squab and luxurious foie gras. Lastly we ate Cassoulet au Confit de Canard (confit duck leg, Toulouse Sausage, cured pork belly, garlic sausage, stewed Tarbais Beans). It was tasty but we couldn't finish it - too much protein. With wine, dinner was about $100/person before tax/tip. Well worth the money.

Peter Prime leaves Cane due to "private family matter."

Had brunch there today with the kids. The donut holes were dusted with sugar and cinnamon powder, 6 for $10. The fried calamari was nicely seasoned and crispy. The portion was just enough - not too much so you don't get full just eating them. The biscuits were topped with poached eggs and then gravy. The pizza is definitely not Neapolitan, but the crust is soft and pretty tasty.

Not sure but it was awhile ago. For awhile, Roberto was running a cooking school out of his house via Zoom.

Had dinner at Kinship last night with Steve. We ordered 5 dishes to share Started with an amazing potato crusted veal sweetbreads served with an onion and spinach sauce. The sweetbreads were very tender, as expected. The oniony sauce had just a hint of sweetness that worked beautifully with the sweetbreads. The second dish is the polenta and olive agnolotti served with artichokes. The artichoke and olive flavors dominated the dish. The third dish is the sauteed filet of corvina served on bed of cannelini beans. The texture of the fish was not flakey. Steve suggested the texture is the result of sous vide. Neither of us really enjoyed that texture. The fourth dish is the roasted pekin duck breast. Super tender and flavorful. I love duck, especially when executed perfectly. The final dish was the glazed beef short rib. Again, tender and flavorful. Another winner. Always wanted to try the roast chicken but got sidetracked as usual.

So he would only eat scrapple in PA? That is weird. I guess scrapple is not green eggs and ham.

Rehoboth and Bethany Years ago, there's a Mexican place on Route 1 call La Tolteca. They served the type of Mexican combinations I grew up eating in Atlanta. Now it's called La Tonalteca - they no longer have a 3 item combo like burrito, enchilada and taco. (La Tonalteca's been there for years, the name change or takeover happenede many years ago) We stopped in on the way there and it just didn't taste all that good. The fajita is a beef stir-fry as opposed to grilled steak that's sliced. Having not had a decent Italian sub for years (tried Italian Store, A Litteri, Di Pascuale's in Baltimore), I went Casapulla's. I had been to Al Casapulla's near Bethany and their Italian was terrific. Casapulla's in Rehoboth makes the sub the same way and it was delicious. Wanted to go to Henlopen Oyster for dinner but it had a 45 minute wait so we went to Salt Air. Salt Air is a distant second to Henlopen Oyster. Their "Bolognese" is just marinara with ground beef. Took the kids to Bethany on the following day. Had brunch at Bethany Blues BBQ. We ordered the special, chocolate Belgian waffle. A normal cold waffle came out and we had to ask for syrup. The menu says kids items comes with a side of fresh fruit. We didn't get it and we asked for it. The response is it doesn't come with fresh fruit. WTF - then fix your menu. The St. Louis ribs were edible. Lastly, we went to Confucious because the kids wanted dumplings. I find the place expensive and mediocre. 6 smallish dumplings for $11. $12 for 5 pieces of rubbery salt and pepper squid.

Open now for indoor dining according to FB.

Spending MLK Jr. weekend in Rehoboth. Anything new and exciting?

Padaek is the renamed BGIII. It's the same owner. The mom did move to Thip Khao and the son took over Padaek, but I haven't seen any difference in quality or flavor. Unfortunately Steve and I found out they're take-out only for now.

I’ve stayed at Boar’s Head. Ate at The Ivy Inn. Boar’s Head is a solid 3 star. The Ivy is very good. This was summer 2020.

I was supposed to fly to Milan next Tuesday for a few days in Turin, Milan and Venice. Today I was supposed to have my solar panels installed. They came right on time but apparently the townhouse is higher than expected (they sent a site assessor months ago). So the ladders weren't high/secure enough. If the solar panels aren't installed this year, I don't get the tax credits until 2023. So I canceled my trip to Italy to have my solar panels installed next week. This is the 2nd trip this year I had to cancel (first was wiped of by the hurricane that knocked out New Orleans).

Now you're paraphrasing Huey Lewis.

What night is Tuscan Steak Night?

This is immensely helpful. I have no desire to eat Japanese food while listening to dance music.