if i could have any accent at all....

i would want a BRITISH one. i know everyone wants a british (or aussie) accent, but here is why i would want this:

i could say things like "this coffee is absolutely delightful and has depth" and sound intelligent and discerning, rather than like a douchebag. 

that is all.

oh BROWN BETTY - how do i love thee...

... let me count the ways:

• i love thee freely, as your deluxe rich frosting bursts with flavor
• i love thee purely, as your perfectly moist poundcake melts with each bite
• i love thee with passion put to use to whip that buttercream into its heavenly state
• i love thee gladly for having the savvy to extend 2 locations in our fair city

GO GET CUPCAKES at BROWN BETTY's or BROWN BETTY'S PETITES. you'll love it too! 

:: brown betty dessert boutique :: 

address: a) 1000 north 2nd st, b) 269 south 20th st, philly

what we ate: chocolate peanut butter, fruit-filled, betty's buttermilk, strawberry cupcakes

i lovelovelovelovelovelovelovelove brown betty's desserts. i have only had their cupcakes and their cakes, but i suspect that all of their sweet delicious offerings are wonderful and unforgettable. to give you an idea of it's awesomeness, the first thing i ever ate from brown betty's was a chocolate red velvet cupcake, which generally i loathe. i did not choose to try this, but rather, was forced to take a bite of the rich chocolate-y cake and its perfectly sweetened cream cheese frosting, and ....  * HEAVEN * 

okay, i don't want to play these up too much, but honestly, these are the best cupcakes. last week, i tried another round of flavors: 

• hattie don't play variation: chocolate cake + chocolate frosting + peanut butter
• strawberry letter: strawberry poundcake + frosting
• betty's buttermilk: lemon poundcake + lemon buttercream
• sallie's fruit filled pound: vanilla poundcake+ lemon filling

i'll admit that they're not that pretty. but the upside is that part of the reason they're not that pretty is that they are wide and even wider at the top, providing more area for the frosting. my favorite of the bunch was definitely the chocolate peanut butter cupcake. it was the perfect balance of chocolate to creamy peanut butter and the cake was so deliciously moist.  

if you like lemon curd, you'd enjoy the fruit filled cupcake for sure. the frosting was refreshing and the lemon curd at the center of the cake base was sweet and tart and creamy. 

the strawberry letter was just okay. i'd pass on this next time, but then again, i'm not a huge strawberry fan. the poundcake had distinctive but not too overwhelming strawberry flavor, but the frosting was a bit on the bland side. 

anyway, GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO. and don't forget to bring me back some! 

  

i wish i had a bite of PAESANO'S in my pocket all the time

because it's that good. just thinking about this again made my mouth water. if you knew me, you'd know that modo mio is one of my favorite restaurants in philadelphia. unpretentious decor, friendly and knowledgeable wait-staff, consistently amazing food and of course, byob. well, its sister restaurant - located virtually across the street - is a sandwich called paesano's and IT. IS. GOOD.

:: paesano's :: 
address: 152 west girard ave, phila
what we ate: paesano, panelle
paesano's has gotten a lot of good press and in particular, its "daddy wad"which is their italian hoagie, has been lauded as a best of philly treat. the daddy wad is certainly good, but so are the variety of other sandwich creations they have.

HELPFUL TIP: when ordering a sandwich here, make sure you either 1) eat it THERE or 2) aren't traveling very far with it. most of the meaty sandwiches are so meaty and juicy that anyone beyond a 7+ minute travel time would drastically diminish from the full potential tastiness. it can't be helped! it's just toooooo juicy. there is some seating along the counter inside the shop, but i recommend taking it a few blocks over to the nolibs piazza where you can sit at one of the many tables and possibly even catch a phillies/flyers/eagles game playing on the big screen.

paesano: beef brisket + roasted tomato + provolone + horseradish mayo + fried egg
if you had the signature paesano sandwich more than 6 months ago, try it again. the guys at the shop said that they switched the ingredients for the winter months because they wanted something a bit creamier and richer as the colder months came upon us. so whereas previously, the sandwich has pickled red cabbage, it now has a fried egg and roasted tomato. it's SO MUCH BETTER. the brisket just melts in your mouth and all the flavors work together in perfecty meaty harmony.

GO QUICKLY. the guys at paesano's said that they would likely be switching the components back to the pickled red cabbage combination before heading into the summer months.

panelle: sicilian chic pea pancake + roasted tomato + longshots + fennel + godzuki (i didn't know what this was so i had to look it up ->sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary and hot sauce) + lettuce
this wrap is so good that even the most carnivorous of meat eaters wouldn't miss anything here. i thought it would be very similar to a falafel, and the flavors of the godzuki, tomato and longshots certainly did mimic it, but the chick pea pancake was so different than what i expected. it was ... MUSHY! and i never thought i'd say this about something mushy, but it was super tasty and i wanted so much more. the crisp lettuce added that crunch that you really needed with the soft chick pea pancake, and the longshots and sauce added the right tartness.

it might be possible that the panelle is  my favorite sandwich at paesano's ... which is incredible considering the brisket stroke of genius mentioned above. plus, it's only $4!

a taste of the season

in an effort to continue eating "healthy," we decided to try dinner at seasons 52 at king of prussia last night. i had heard some mixed things about this place - some of our friends had really enjoyed it, but craig laban had mercilessly blasted it as a tasteless, flavorless sham of a restaurant. with a range like that, clearly we weren't sure of what to expect here, but the menu looked interesting enough and i was very curious about the way food would taste "with every item under 475 calories."

:: seasons 52 ::

address: 160 north gulph rd, king of prussia pa (next to crate & barrel at KOP mall)

what we ate: steak and mushroom flatbread + chicken chile relleno + caramelized sea scallops + wood-roasted pork tenderloin

hmm, as expected of a mall location, the restaurant was very crowded/busy. we had made reservations for 7:45pm, but ended up having to wait until 8:10ish, which isn't terrible, but imagine what that wait would have been without reservations. the wine selection is pretty good here - they offered 4-7 brands of each kind of wine. i saw gascon malbec so was immediately satisfied with that. the beer selection, however, was definitely lacking. considering all the beers were $5-6 a piece, you'd think they might have some variety, but they only offered the suburban mainstays: bud, heineken, corona, sam adams etc. i suppose this was to be expected at a chain restaurant at kop, but still - disappointing.   

grilled steak cremini mushroom flatbread: fresh spinach + wisconsin blue cheese + caramelized onions

low calorie or not, this flatbread was really good. the crust was extra super thin, almost cracker thinness- like a lavosh. the portion size was really satisfying too; it's long and they cut it up into 8 good sized pieces. there weren't too many pieces of steak, but definitely enough that there was at least a bite of meat on each piece of flatbread. the mushrooms were sliced round and very flavorful. i think they use just the tiniest bit of blue cheese, but it adds the right amount of sharp bite to the dish. and the caramelized onions added a contrasting sweetness that really complemented the cheese. 

spicy chicken chile relleno: goat cheese + spinach + pico de gallo + polenta cakes

this chicken and cheese stuffed poblano pepper dish was one of the few things that craig laban had written kindly about in his review, so we were knew we'd have to taste this. personally, i feel like most stuffed pepper dishes never offer enough of the stuffing so the pepper often is thinner/flatter, but the one at seasons 52 provides ample stuffing in its pepper so it's almost bulging. both the chicken and the pico de gallo had a pleasantly surprising spiciness to them. this was the most flavorful dish of the night and it had a mix of flavors that were different (read: interesting) than any of the other dishes, so i can see why laban called this one out. 

the description of this on the menu didn't include the two polenta cakes, so we were surprised to see them on the plate. very pleasantly surprised, though. i love polenta cakes. yumm. i don't really understand how this dish is under 475 calories, because it includes 2 pieces of polenta, cheese stuffed IN the pepper, and cheese on top... however they did it.. it works. 

grilled caramelized sea scallops: with roasted asparagus + sundried tomato pearl pasta

a perfectly cooked scallop is like a unicorn. okay, maybe not, but it's really easy to mess them up. i wouldn't say these scallops were perfectly cooked, but they were very acceptably tasty. i really enjoyed the pearl pasta in this dish, but i'm a sucker for small pasta/rice type starches, like couscous, orzo, arborio rice, pearl pasta etc. 

this was a good dish, but i couldn't help comparing it the pan seared scallop and english pea risotto at mercato.  clearly, this is an unfair comparison, but the components are so similar that i couldn't stop. i guess i really wanted the seasons 52 interpretation to close enough to the mercato version. really, though, it wasn't even close. they are on two totally different levels, but that said, the scallop and pea risotto is one of my all-time favorite dishes and a really superb restaurant, so i should have expected it. 

wood-roasted pork tenderloin: on soft corn polenta + fresh leaf spinach + cremini mushrooms + sherry glaze

this wasn't very good. the recommended pork temp was "medium well" which supposedly would still leave a bit of pink color in the center. when we got our dish, there wasn't really too much pink showing. basically, it was bland and dry. the mushrooms were bland, the sherry glaze was bland. the only part of the dish that had noticeable flavor was the polenta, but it had a really weird consistency to it. the polenta here almost seemed gelatinous and the grains just weren't smoothly lumped. 

key lime pie mini indulgence

so aside from what i've said about the food thus far, i have to say that the service at seasons 52 is impeccable. it's the small things - like knowing the name your reservation was under and greeting you by that name when  you sit down, or checking up on you with a dish that you weren't convincingly enthusiastic about. but by far, what the waitstaff excels at is the elegant upsell. this is especially true for the desserts. 

before you can say no, they bring out the tower of "mini indulgences," and simultaneously place a spoon and a dessert place setting in front of each guest while telling you about each one. the dessert cups in the tower are refreshed each time they're presented so you can just pick one and they just give it to you - no waiting, no time to change your mind, etc. 

anywayyyyyy, we tried the key lime one and it was really really really good. i think this is supposed to be one of the head chef's favorites, though, so i would expect it to be excellent. perfect lime tartness and sweetness and i actually liked the texture of the key lime mousse. the graham cracker bits were also droolworthily tasty.

OVERALL, i'd go back to seasons 52 if

• i'm at the king of prussia mall
• i'm on a diet
• the wait at cheesecake factory is over one hour   

it's not a place i'd necessarily travel out to dine in again, but wouldn't mind if i ended up there.

OH! as a hilarious sidenote, one of the managers caught me taking pictures of all the food and he came over to talk to us because he was very concerned. i thought the taking-pictures-of-food revolution was common knowledge now, but apparently not. he was genuinely worried that we were upset about our meals and documenting it for some reason. hahaha. we had to assure him it was just because we love food and we love looking back to see all the tasty things we ate over and over again.

i don't think he understood. :)

lunch UNDER THE C + honest tom's taco love

so, in an effort to eat a bit healthier this week, i hit up under the c seafood which is located in the market at the comcast center. i must say, though pricey (it is seafood after all), the options available to you are GREAT.

i think people didn't really understand this place when it first opened. you can buy fresh seafood there, and at first glance, it just looks like a specialty seafood shop. it seems like in the past year, they have made huge efforts to change this perception of their business - and it's a good thing for us all.

:: under the c :: 
address: 1701 jfk blvd, phila (in the market at the comcast center)
what i ate: grilled grouper + stuffed mushroom + cucumber and tomato salad
looking in the display case, you can see a smorgasbord if seafood delights. here, you can choose to get deep fried, grilled, pan-fried, seared fish/shellfish and also select from an assortment of veggies.  

as i mentioned before, this place can get a bit pricey, but it's not unreasonable at all. most of the items are weighed and all have different per weight prices associated with them. some things, like crab cakes or lobster cakes (!!) are priced per piece. for example, a mini lump crab cake was $3.00 each and a jumbo lump crab cake was $6.00. 


grilled grouper with fresh herbs
this fish was very tasty and didn't have that fishy leftover taste at all. the piece they gave me was HUGE. i couldn't finish it. they also had tilapia and halibut, but i enjoyed my grouper selection quite a bit.

crab stuffed mushroom
i find that people have difficulty making a good stuffed mushroom. i think they usually forget to salt the mushroom itself because you're so concerned with the flavor in the stuffing. under the c's stuffed mushroom was no exception, but the stuffing itself was super tasty. i ended up eating just the stuffing and leaving most of the mushroom cap.

cucumber and tomato salad: cucumber + cherry tomato + cilantro + red onion + minced garlic
this was AWESOME. i don't really feel the need to get excited about salad, or really, veggies (unless they are artichokes and brussel sprouts), but this was really good. the flavors really worked well together, with the brightness of the cilantro and the bite from the red onion. the minced garlic added that extra layer of flavor too. YUM. i would definitely go back for this.

since it's a wednesday, geo had actually walked to honest tom's taco truck to get the chicken tacos today. so as an added bonus, i'll fill you in on how the chicken and sweet potato tacos taste (i made him give me a huge bit of both)!

:: honest tom's taco truck ::

address: 33rd and arch usually, 18th and vine on wednesdays/fridays (get updates through twitter: @HonestToms)

what he ate: chicken taco, sweet potato taco
both tacos had the same toppings: guacamole, red onion, cilantro, shredded cheese, fresh tomato salsa. the chicken taco, is seasoned really well and tastes delicious. you can tell they take the time and effort to season the chicken properly even though it's going inside a taco with a lot of other flavors. geo claims the chicken is better than the fish, but i disagree.

the sweet potato taco was a surprise for both of us. it obviously had sounded very interesting, but i guess we didn't have very high expectations... well... it was a standout, for sure. they must bake the chunks of sweet potato, then grill it - it's the only way to explain the softness of the sweet potato plus the chargrilled marks. the sweet potato flavor and the guac go extremely well together- who knew?

i would rank the tacos in this order of preference: fish, sweet potato, chicken. but really, you can't go wrong with any of them.

as you can see, it was so good we finished most of it before actually thinking to take a picture. heh.

i really HATE the flying monkey cupcakes

this has to be said. the CUPCAKES at the flying monkey at the reading terminal are terrible. TERRIBLE. i really like cake, so i mean, it's really hard for me to HATE a cupcake. i am particular about frostings so i don't really include that in the equation, but the cake itself... i am pretty lenient in my assessments.

well, the one at flying monkey is so terrible. and i am going off on this rant because i had it for the second time last week. the first time i tried a cupcake there, i was so disgusted i THREW IT AWAY. if you knew me, you'd realize that it takes a lot for me to throw away food, especially cake, but i did.

:: the flying monkey ::
address: reading terminal market, north 12th and arch st.
what we ate: cupcakes
the cake is DENSE, so dense you forget it's cake. but it's not dense in a moist way, similar to a pound cake. no, it's just dense, but also crumbly. sigh. and the frosting is neither light like whipped frostings, or creamy like a buttercream one. it's almost gelatinous. ALSO, full disclosure: i think the reason i'm so vocal about this cupcake is that it gets written up a lot for having very delicious baked goods, cupcakes in particular.

SIGH.

to be fair, i've had a lemon bar from the flying monkey before and it was pretty tasty. so i suspect their other baked treats are quite edible/enjoyable. but don't get the cupcakes. don't be fooled by their pretty colors and semi-interesting sounding flavors... they are the yucks.

peanut butter plaid: chocolate cupcake + peanut butter buttercream
the cupcake i had last week (my second, ever from here) was called "peanut butter plaid" and was basically chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. as i said before, the cake was dense and dry. the frosting tasted like a watered down version of peanut butter - so less the flavor, less the creaminess. sadface. i threw this one out too after a few bites.

flyin' hawaiian: vanilla cake + pineapple coconut buttercream + crushed macadamia nuts
chiho ordered this one for dessert. he got mad at me for letting him buy a cupcake from the flying monkey. he also threw his cupcake out.

revisiting VARGA bar

Friday dinner: varga bar

i knew we'd go back to varga bar, but i didn't know it'd be so soon. the original plan included a feast of wine, cheese, pizza and other jose garces creations at the garces trading company. but alas, at 8:45pm, with cold rain still pouring, stomachs growling, and a 1 hour wait, we decided to head to varga bar.

the short story is, that after a legitimate sit-down dinner here, the FOOD AT VARGA BAR IS STILL GOOD! the server we had this time wasn't nearly as pleasant as the one from last time, but it was still quite enjoyable.

:: varga bar ::
address: 941 spruce, philla
what we ate: chili cheese dog, mac'n cheese, kobe sliders, wings, crab cheese fries, seafood pasta
dinner was four of us - jeanni, doug, soopah and myself. and as we started shouting out things we wanted to try, and found that we wanted all of the same things, we looked at each other and yelled "varga mini fat tour!"

truffled mac ‘n cheese: bacon + gruyere + fontina + mascarpone + black truffles
i heart truffles (the mushroom and the chocolate candy). i heart mac 'n cheese. so, honestly... HOW could we resist the truffled mac 'n cheese at varga? you're right - we couldn't. taking a bite allowed me to conclude that this dish was one of my favorite mac 'n cheese dishes in philly.

now, don't get it twisted. it's not my ultimate favorite. that title still rests with the mac 'n cheese at silk city. however, this was pretty damn close. the cheese sauce was creamy and the top was crunchy in the best way - with BACON pieces. this tastes like TRUFFLES like WHOA, though. so if you're not a black truffle fan, you will not like this. i don't think you can tell, but this was a pretty generous portion of mac 'n cheese. definitely larger than a side serving. and very rich too. i will recommend you get this to share, and stay away from this as an entree - because that truffle flavor can be overwhelming without anything else to break it up.

jumbo lump cheese fries: fries + jumbo lump crab + white cheddar + parmesan
of COURSE we had to try the crab cheese fries this time. these are the fries that put varga bar on the map. they had won for Best Bar Food in the 2009 Phoodies at www.phoodie.info.

personally, i didn't enjoy these that much. the fries themselves were awesome. they were thin and crispy and, at the risk of angering foodies everywhere, i must say, were similar to mcdonald's fries. even the cheese was tasty. i am a sucker for white cheddar so that is not surprising. the sad part is that it was the lump crab meat that really detracted from this dish. i understand that the crab meat is the gimmick- the thing that makes this so different and FRESH, but... it tasted... CRABBY. maybe it's not like this all the time, but ours definitely had a fishy taste to it that wasn't really that pleasant. i found myself taking fries and avoiding the pieces of crab.

duck confit chicken wings: pomegranate molasses-bourbon-chili sauce + housemade bleu cheese + celery
THESE. WERE. A-MAAAAAZING. serious contender for my favorite wings. the pomegranate molasses-bourbon-chili (isn't that a mouthful?) sauce was incredible - sweet! tart! tangy! they were a bit on the heavily sauced side, but it was such a tasty flavor that i did not mind one bit. and the wings... they were just falling off the bone. you could literally take your fork and pull of pieces! super tender and juicy.

the interesting thing was that the bleu cheese really did complement the wings perfectly. sometimes i find that the bleu cheese, or sometimes ranch, condiment doesn't really add too much to a wing dish, but these flavors really added another dimension when they were combined. PLUS, bonus - they actually give you a good number of celery sticks. in most places, you get three sad little ones. i don't think we ate too many of them though. where was j. giggles when we needed her?!

kobe beef sliders: applewood-smoked bacon + caramelized shallots + boursin + house-made onion rings + smoked paprika aioli
why yes, we did get these again. duh. STILL awesome. something about that soft, creamy boursin with the chewy salty bacon and juicy kobe beef... * drooOOooOOOool * ... okay, i've pulled myself together now.. is SO GOOD. the onion rings were again, a delightful crunchy, salty side to this burger.

this order usually comes with 3 burgers, but since there were 4 of us, we asked them to add one extra slider and they did. the three slider dish is usually $12 and they upcharged us $4 for the 4th one, so very reasonable and nice of them to do so.

kobe chili-cheese dog: beer braised hot dog + house-made kobe chili + shaved pickles + white cheddar + smoked paprika onion rings + poppy seed bun + onion ficelle
wow, right? nah, it was more like MEH. the hot dog was juicy and flavorful, but everything else was totally not noticeable. for those of you chili-cheese dog connoisseurs out there, you know that a chili cheese dog it supposed to be MESSY. it's a knife-and-fork experience. the varga bar chili cheese dog was so not!

as you might be able to gather from the picture, there was VERY LITTLE chili. sad. i suppose that is what happens when you make your chili out of kobe beef, but STILL.

in an optimal chili cheese dog combination, i'd say the serving ratios are as follows:

3 parts chili : 2 parts cheese : 1 part hot dog

unfortunately, this was not. it's not to say this was a bad dish, just not great. and as a result, we'd probably skip it next time. i did like the pickles on this - that plus the poppyseeds reminded us of a chicago style hot dog, but still couldn't save it and make it great.

seafood pasta special: butter poached lobster + rock shrimp + sugar snap pea shoots + trumpet  mushrooms + blush cream sauce
the seafood pasta was the entree special at varga on friday night. it was deeee-lish-us. none of us can remember what kind of cream sauce dressed this pasta, but that is because we were in such amazement about the tastiness of it all. besides, though we asked the server several times to describe the plate to us, he mumbled through the description each time. [SIGH. dude, sometimes i hate my job too, but c'mon man, don't suck so much!] at any rate, if you hear someone ramble off a pasta special resembling this this one, definitely get it.

the lobster and rock shrimp were perfectly cooked tender, and the sugar snap pea shoots added a nice soft texture. the trumpet mushrooms were really good as well, especially since they soaked up all that sauce nicely, but you could still tell yourself you're eating something that is good for you since it's MUSHROOM. soaked in some sort of butter/cream/fatness, of course, but who cares. SO GOOD. it's a good thing we didn't have a basket of bread or rolls at the table, because we probably would have continued to soak up this sauce until someone took this plate away from us.

okay, the caveat here is that we acknowledge part of the reason this pasta was so memorable is that this is a gastro-pub type establishment. is it the best pasta i have ever eaten in my life? no, of course no, but it was solidly one of the best dishes we had that night and i'd definitely get it again. i don't think i'd return to varga bar JUST to have it one more time, but i would definitely keep sampling forkfuls of it if someone else at my table ordered it!

beers
i think i had mentioned this before, but varga bar's beer selection really is remarkable. the four of us represented a wide range of beef affinities - stouts, pale ales, wheats, pilsners - but we could all still find something we really enjoyed off of the list. and the server, dour and sullen though he was, still had great knowledge of the beers available and what we might like.

as a historical sidenote, did you know that VARGA is named for the "Varga Girls," the iconic WWII pin-up girls that were the brainchild of Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez and printed in Esquire magazine? hmmm, i didn't know that. that certainly clarifies the reasoning behind the pin-up girl theme, huh?

oh and btw, this place serves food until 1am!  

NYC Fat Tour Recap Part V: chinatown and celebrations

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part I, the PLANNING
NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part II, friday fun & festivities
NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part III, saturday brunch, culture and indulgence
NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part IV, east village & nolita


Part V, aka unforeseen obstacle, unexpected taste/value BONUS, an epic eating fail, dessert-y things and DRINK!

NEIGHBORHOOD: Chinatown
to continue on with the next few stops on the fat tour, we made our way a few blocks east and south to chinatown. we had all been to chinatown before, many times and for many asian delicacies, but our tour included several places that were new to us.

FAT TOUR STOP #7
:: banh mi saigon bakery ::
address: 138 mott st, nyc
what we ate: NOTHING! 
yes, you read that correctly. NOTHING! because of the delayed start to our fat tour, by the time we arrived at this place, it had already been closed for 20 minutes! of all the stops on the list, banh mi saigon was expected to be the highlight for many of us. consider its potential awesomeness: a) it's a BAKERY in the front, banh mi purveyor in the back (it's like the mullet of vietnamese cuisine), b) we really really really like banh mi, but it's really really really hard to find a place that makes decent ones, and c) both andrew and kahee had endorsed the banh mi sandwiches from here as legitimately delicious (btw, banh mi is a vietnamese hoagie that includes pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber, cilantro, mayo and various meat fillings or tofu on a baguette). so hello, disappointment! no banh mi today. ah, well - but we were not defeated! we moved on to the next stop.

FAT TOUR STOP #7, Take 2
:: prosperity dumpling ::
address: 46 eldridge st, nyc
what we ate: chive and pork fried dumplings, sesame pancake with beef
by far the most economically efficient destination on our food tour, we managed to spend $4.50 in total at prosperity dumpling. each order of chive and pork dumpling comes with 5 pieces and costs $1 (!!!!!) so we ordered 15 and paid $3.00. ridiculous. they were pretty decently sized dumplings as well, considering.

i was afraid these would taste too game-y or too fatty/piggy (heh), but they didn't. i guess the chive really helped to balance it out. these were so delicious and i definitely could have eaten more had we not been towards the end of our fat tour.

unexpectedly, the star of the tasting menu here was the sesame pancake with beef. it was essentially a sesame pancake sandwich, with strips of beef, cilantro and pickled carrots stuffed inside. the ingredients/flavor profiles are similar to what is on a banh mi sandwich, but the sesame pancake obviously adds a very different feel. the pancake itself was very crispy on the outside, as though it had been toasted, but soft on the inside. this only cost $1.50! HOW??? i have no idea. but FYI, the sesame pancake only is $.50. AND yes, the pancake with beef is light on the meat, but seriously... SERIOUSLY?! it's only $1.50.

we scarfed these down. special shout-out to julie since we would not have ordered this sandwich had it not been for her. (andrew said it was the highlight of the fat tour, for him).

since we had missed out on one of our fat tour destinations, we felt it only right to add another impromptu stop. because how could we be in chinatown and not get SOUP DUMPLINGS! and conveniently, shanghai cafe was only a couple of blocks away. so we made our way there, praising the gloriousness of prosperity dumpling the whole way.

FAT TOUR STOP #8
:: shanghai cafe ::
address: 100 mott st, nyc
what we ate: steamed pork dumplings
SOUP DUMPLINGS are steamed dumplings that have an extra big pouch where you have a pocket of soupy liquidy deliciousness, along with the pork or with seafood or other types of meats. i found out recently that the way they get that soup into the dumpling is by using a meat gelatin and wrapping that up with the pork filling, so when you steam the buns, the gelatin melts into a soup. kind of gross, but TASTES AMAZING. the two places in nyc that usually battle it out for best soup dumplings are joe's shanghai and shanghai cafe. i am ambivalent since to me, they are both supertasty, but shanghai cafe won this night because of its proximity.

we got one take-out order of pork dumplings. i'm not sure why the cabbage, which is included here to help keep the buns from sticking to each other (which would cause a tear and then cause the disastrous leakage of the liquid heaven), looks radioactive. i tell you, it wasn't radioactive in person.

jenny, who joined us later in the tour, had never tried soup dumplings. so we asked joey to show her how to properly eat one (varies depending on who you ask, but you can pinch a tiny hole on top, suck out the soup, bite dumpling) and so he did. he stood right in front of her, grabbed one of the dumplings with 2 spoons... and then....

* SPLAT * ultimate FAIL. fail fail fail.... DROPPED! wasted dumpling laying sadly on the dirty chinatown street. all of us looking forlornly and thinking about the awesomeness that could have been. saddest day.

after this 8th stop, we were feeling comfortably full. we still had NY Hotdog and Coffee left on our list, but decided that it was much too late and inconveniently located across town to be worth visiting this time. plus, we do need to save some for our FAT TOUR, Round 2, right?

then there was the question of dessert. i mean, how can a meal feel complete without something sweet and satisfying? luckily, according to our banker, we had about $6 left in our communal pot of fat tour funds. we debated: a walk through little italy in pursuit of cannolis or a trip to the chinatown ice cream factory.... and the winner was....  

FAT TOUR STOP #9
:: chinatown ice cream factory ::
address: 65 bayard st, nyc
what we ate: black sesame, green tea, almond cookie, ginger, lychee, coffee ice creams
since the chinatown ice cream factory has a bajillion different flavors of ice cream, we agreed our indecisive selves would have the best chance for an awesome dessert experience there. chinatown ice cream factory offers traditional flavors of ice cream, as well as more unique ones like red bean, lychee or pineapple. they also have a wide range of sugar-free ice creams and sorbets. what is even more awesome is that they let you sample as many flavors as you'd like before you order!

one cup would give us 2 scoops of ice cream - and we found we could order 2 different flavors. so we got a black sesame, with a green tea scoop under it...

as you can see.... **  nom nom nom **

we had also ordered an almond cookie, with lychee under it, but found there was a surprising treat for us, since we scooped down towards the bottom of the cup to take a bite of the lychee and found... hmm... wait what is this... GINGER! they had accidentally given us the wrong ice cream flavor! the ginger ice cream had a really subtle flavor with just enough gingery taste to be recognizable. we still wanted to try to lychee as well, so jeanni went back in to ask for a scoop of the missing lychee.

almond cookie tasted exactly like almond extract on an almond cookie. really tasty, but almost cloyingly sweet. the lychee tasted fresh and bright and had tiny pieces of lychee riddled throughout, so you'd get a nice bite of fruit with each spoonful. the black sesame was one of the group faves. it reminded us of cookies and cream, but without the heavy creamy vanilla taste. jenny ended up ordering a cup of the coffee ice cream so we got to sample that as well.

THUS CONCLUDES THE FIRST EDITION OF OUR NYC FAT TOUR.
clearly this meant we had to go celebrate with a few beers. so, back to st. mark's ale house! CHEERS!

PHILLIES: Opening NIGHT!

Phils 14, Nationals 7. opening night for the PHILLIES at citizen's bank park was a SUCCESS!  

we walked from the el station to the stadium with a huge crowd of people all decked in PHILLIES attire. one guy had a liberty bell tattoo on his arm. now that is some PHILLY LOVE right there.

coming up on the GATE! get excited. whooooooooooooooooo.

we sat under the jumbotron. why, YES, that is ryan howard's ass.

Here are all the things you need to make a game EXTRA FUN:

1. a block of seats with friends
2. beers
3. a good crowd
4. tasty foods (we got a cheeseburger, fries and a schmitter!)

though we got the burger and fries because it was from the food vendor that was closest to our seat, and the lines for cheesesteaks and crab fries were too long, they were still quite tasty! more proof that citizens bank park's food is reliably and consistently great, no matter what you buy.

as for the schmitter, it was sooooo much better than the last time i had it at the ballpark, so i was quite pleased. if you like all of the layers of the sandwich, you can't really go wrong. you just have to hope that they provide enough of each layer of meaty goodness!


GO PHILLIES! 

NYC Fat Tour Recap Part IV: East Village and Nolita

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part I, the PLANNING

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part II, friday fun & festivities

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part III, saturday brunch, culture and indulgence

Part IV, aka arepas, impromptu stops and the taste of tongues.

after the ultimate hot roast beef sandwich, it was time for one of the longer walks to the next stop on our fat tour. destination, east village.

NEIGHBORHOOD: East Village 

the east village has innumerable options for cheap and wonderful dining. it was hard to narrow down just one place, but with the recommendation of kahee and others who have tried this place, we knew caracas was an absolute MUST.

FAT TOUR STOP #3

:: caracas arepas :: 

address: 93 1/2 E. 7th St (1st Ave & 7th St) also 91 E. 7th, nyc

what we ate: de pabellón, la sureña, los muchachos arepas

caracas serves homemade venezuelan cuisine and the specialty they proffer is their arepas. an arepa is a sandwich that has a variety of fillings between 2 flat unleavened cornmeal patties. in the spirit of fat tour portability and to save money on gratuity, we opted for the take-out side of caracas.

de pabellón: shredded beef + black beans + white salty cheese + sweet plantains

this shredded beef arepa was my single favorite item that i got to try on the fat tour. a few of the members of the group had tried this before, but for me arepas were a wholly new experience. the beef and cheese were a perfect blend of savory and salty, with the plantain slices providing a hint of sweetness. when i was younger, and had a less sophisticated palate (HA. HA.), i really disliked sweetness with meat ("i hate sweet meats!") but i have really come to enjoy that hint of sweetness in a heavily savory or salty dish. anyway, the de pabellón is perfect and i could eat this every day. or at least once a week!

la sureña: grilled chicken + chorizo + avocado slices + spicy chimi-churri sauce

surprise! this arepa was ALSO delicious. chicken, good. chorizo, GOOD, chimi-churri sauce GOOOOD. i even thought the avocado slices added the necessary creaminess (since it didn't have cheese to balance it out). 

los muchachos: grilled chorizo + spicy white cheese + jalapeños + sauteed peppers

the jalapenos really provided a nice kick to this arepa. the combination of grilled chorizo and cheese almost always works, and obvs here it was no exception. the only thing that i disliked about this arepa is that it tasted completely like PEPPERS. bell peppers. ahhhhhh. sauteed peppers. okay, sorry. i know i'm in the minority, but i really loathe bell peppers; my body basically rejects them. * gag * still, the arepa was very tasty, i promise! 

while we were waiting for the "from scratch" preparation of our arepas, our group sat outside on 7th street. as we chatted, we noticed a small place next door called luke's that had lobster paraphernalia hanging all about.

FAT TOUR STOP #4

:: luke's lobster ::

address: 93 E. 7th st., nyc

what we ate: lobster roll

upon closer investigation, we realized that it was indeed the place that has, in recent times, been hailed as the "best lobster roll in nyc." supposedly the lobster meat that is used in the sandwiches come straight from maine, directly to luke's shop, no middle men in between. AND interestingly, it apparently takes 5-6 lobsters to get enough meat for one sandwich - which would explain the relatively hefty price tag ($14 for a regular 6-inch, $8 for a snack-size which is half of the regular roll). BUT, after a short group meeting, we reached the consensus that we MUST try this roll. hello IMPROMPTU addition to our tour. 

luke's roll had huge chunks of fresh lobster. the lobster meat was so tender! drizzled with lemon juice, salt and pepper and a hint of mayo so faint you completely forgot it was there to help bind it together. the roll was lightly buttered and toasted so the outside has a crunch but the part that the lobster was nestled on was soft and flavorful. they are woefully small and $14 plus tax can't be considered cheap, but it's so worth the try.

hahaha. we had them cut this baby into thirds so we could easily share with the group. we partnered up to take one of the 3 pieces (with three of us sharing the larger piece on the end). i asked the guy if he could cut it into quarters and he just gave me a look. haha the sandwich WAS quite small, it would have been impossible to cut into four pieces. but you can't say i didn't try!

next stop, Nolita!

NEIGHBORHOOD: Nolita

fashionable. trendy. hip. full of beautiful model-type people. 

FAT TOUR STOP #5

:: cafe habana ::

address: 17 prince st, nyc

what we ate: grilled corn mexican style

the fat tour item at cafe habana was their grilled corn. as per the mexican style preparation, the corn is grilled then spread with mayonnaise and sprinkled with grated cotija cheese. the ones at cafe habana also had lime juice and paprika on top. YUM. i was apprehensive because the topping is mayo-based, but there was a lot more cheese than mayo so that made me happy. 

FAT TOUR STOP #6

:: la esquina :: 

address: 106 kenmare st, nyc

what we ate: various tacos - beef, veal tongue, roast pork, chorizo, pulled pork

we really wanted to try the fish tacos, but they were OUT due to some necessary kitchen repairs. still, because of their smallish size, we managed to try most of the tacos they had available.

beef, veal tongue, roast pork tacos

the veal tongue (center) was ordered by andrew. he is definitely the most adventurous of the bunch. we all kind of shuddered at thought. however, in consideration of the fat tour day, i decided to take a bite. the flavors were good, but honestly, the texture totally freaked me out. it FELT like a tongue, a real TONGUE. ack.definitely don't need to try that again. the roast pork with onions, cilantro and salsa tasted fresh and savory. 

the chorizo taco had shredded cabbage and salsa verde. how is it that shredded cabbage makes meaty tacos taste so much better?

the pulled pork taco also had shredded cabbage (yay). it also had habanero pickeld onions + jalapeno. so with that strong pork flavor, there was also a lot of tartness from the pickled onions and peppers.  

i don't know when i'll be back in nyc, but la esquina deserves return visits. i already know i'll want fish tacos and more roast pork. these tacos are very reasonably priced as well at around $3-4 each. 

and later: Part V, chinatown! 

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part III, saturday brunch, culture and indulgence

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part I, the PLANNING

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part II, friday fun & festivities

Part III, aka, brunch, tim burton is twisted, live NUDE art, and the kick-off of the FAT TOUR.

Saturday Brunch: Virage
even though we stayed out til 4am, we managed to get up bright and early to eat brunch at virage. it was close to the apt, tasty and i had been there before and knew about their brunch special.

:: virage ::
address: 118 2nd ave, nyc
what we ate: grilled chorizo and scrambled eggs, goat cheese tomato and asparagus omelette, steak and eggs over easy.
the menu at virage has schizophrenia and describes its menu as a mix of "French/Italian/Middle Eastern" fare. the weekend brunch special is a $14.25 pre-fixe menu that includes: a basket of homemade bread & muffins, w/choice of coffee or tea, Bloody Mary, Mimosa, Bellini, Screwdriver or fresh-squeezed Orange Juice with each item. awesome deal, reliably tasty food and good service.

i ordered: grilled chorizo + scrambled eggs with cheddar and scallions + potato hash + salsa

julia ate: goat cheese + asparagus + tomato omelette + potatoes

soopah got: steak + 3 eggs over easy + potatoes

Tim Burton Exhibit
if i may, i'll take a brief break from the recounting of all the food, and make a quick note about our adventure to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in new york. we had been trying to go for weeks in order to catch the tim burton exhibit before it closes on april 26. this exhibit was, in fact, the catalyst for the planning of this fat tour.

much to our dismay, we found that tickets for the burton exhibit had been consistently selling out every day (including weekdays) in these last few weeks of its showing, including for the friday and saturday we'd be in nyc. chiho was the hero of the day - his resourcefulness and interwebs skills managed to find us a loophole:

"if you buy a MoMA membership ($75), you can get guaranteed free entry into the museum at any time for one year, including special exhibits. you can also bring up to 4 guests and they will only  need to pay $5 each for entry. this loophole works for special exhibits AND it means you don't have to wait even for the "timed"/scheduled exhibits like the tim burton one."

SCORE. so this is exactly what we did. PLUS, membership is tax-deductible.

Note: there is some additional benefit if you're someone who lives 150+ miles away, you get 5 guest tickets and the cost of membership is only $60.

tim burton is one twisted man and his art certainly reflects that. i LOVED the collection - the blue woman whose eyeballs had popped out of her head and were lounging on a table nearby drinking a soda and listening to the stereo, animations of the adventures of stainboy, original sketches from his youth, etc.

 while entertaining, it did get a bit frustrating because of the number of people in each section of the gallery. it was too hot and unmanageably crowded. definitely took away from the experience.

on the 6th floor, we found nude people (!) - i mean PERFORMANCE ART installations by Marina Abramovic. she is a serbian/yugoslavian artist whose "work explores the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind." there was a NOTICE sign at the entrance of the exhibit, but we definitely weren't prepared for everything showing in the gallery.

let's just say there were videos with nekkid people, live nekkid people, pictures of performances of nekkid people (there is a reason why all of her art involves nudity, but as with most art, YOU can interpret why that is for yourself). it IS quite shocking though, and we did continue to talk about it all day (all the while, giggling, of course teeheeheehee) ... so mission accomplished... sort of.

kick-off of the FAT TOUR 


NEIGHBORHOOD: Flatiron/Gramercy
after several hours at the MoMA, we finally made our way down to the first stop on the fat tour: SHAKE SHACK. our tour kicked off 2 hours late, we were starving and we misread the subway signs and waited unforgivably long for the right train, but thankfully, kahee had made it down to madison square park before us and grabbed us a spot in the very long line.

FAT TOUR STOP #1
:: shake shack ::
address: southeast corner of madison square park, madison ave and east 23rd
what we ate: 'shroom burger, shake stack burger
remember how i said we were starving and there was a long line? yea, by the time we got the burgers (which i think was after about an hour wait), we DEVOURED them. no photo. sad day.

'shroom burger: crisp-fried portobello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese + lettuce + tomato + shack sauce.
gooey cheese oozes with every bite of this mushroom burger. it's mostly cheese; i'd put the ratio at 6 parts cheese, 1 part mushroom - that is what makes it so delicious! oh, plus it's FRIED. this is the kind of non-meat sandwich i can be happy with.

shake stack burger: cheeseburger + 'shroom burger + lettuce + tomato + shack sauce
all of the delicious meatiness of a burger plus the rich fried awesomeness of the 'shroom burger... cannot go wrong here. shake shack burgers are truly so different than any other burger you'll try and the fried mushroom is a big part of that. the burger meat itself, while juicy and flavorful, isn't really THAT memorable IMO, but the mushroom i can go on and on about.

it really is tragic that we had no pics of the burgers. so, here:

or click HERE.

FAT TOUR STOP #2
:: defonte's of brooklyn :: 
address: 261 third ave, nyc
what we ate: hot roast beef sandwich + fried eggplant slices
soopah and kahee had always raved about this sandwich. we found that the sandwich was delicious and so was the customer service! we only ordered one sandwich for the 7 of us to share, but the owner came to chat with us and thank us for enjoying his food.

hot roast beef: roast beef + fresh mozzarella + fried eggplant + natural jus
the meat was juicy and flavorful with just enough jus to make the bread soft and moist. the thin layers of fried eggplant and mozzarella provided subtle flavors that didn't overpower the roast beef, but definitely added another dimension to this sandwich. the bread was surprisingly good and when i asked the owner about who his bread supplier was, he said if he told me, he'd have to kill me. sigh.

he DID however give us a plate of fried eggplant after we exclaimed about how WONDERFUL it was. i think it was restitution for his threat to off me, but whatever the reason, it was DELICIOUS.

the fried eggplant has a very thin batter around it and the slice of eggplant itself is incredibly thin. if you've ever had korean fried zucchini (or other veggie) slices, this tastes very similar. i don't think these are offered standalone off of the menu, but they are in many of the defonte's sandwiches. GET THEM. so good.

next up: Part IV, the fat tour continues in the East Village and Nolita.