he brings you CHEEZ!

So, if you are a big food follower (read: food twitter nerd), you may have heard about the GRILLED CHEESE guy, "Ronnie" in NYC. He has been featured all over the NY food blogosphere for delivering his hot, delicious grilled cheese concoctions to various street corners all over the city.

Well, Philly - we have our very own "Ronnie" (is it sad that Ronnie always makes me think of the Jersey Shore? I feel I should be ashamed of this association, but alas, I'm not), and  today marks the first day of deliveries.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is what "i bring you cheez" is all about.

1. Dude updates his twitter feed with his daily grilled cheese sandwich menu availability. 
2. You tweet, email or text your desired sandwich and quantity to Dude. 
3. Dude tweets, emails or texts you back to confirm.
4. Dude makes fancy pants grilled cheese sandwiches.
5. Dude delivers them to you - as long as you're in Center City, Old City, U-city, Nolibs (yea, so all of Philadelphia, basically).   

On the DL and delivered to your door. Prices apparently change based on the ingredients used. 

For example, today's menu included a) Roasted Plum and Gouda/Fontina blend and b) Chorizo and Oaxacan (Mexican mozzarella) - both $5 a piece. Interesting, no? 

I ate the roasted plum version today. YUM, buttery crispy sourdough (I think) bread with tart plum slices and creamy flavorful gouda and fontina cheeses.... 

I'm not sure if this will be a daily delivery system, but you can always find out by checking Dude's twitter feed, apparently. 

How to order from Dude: 

Twitter: @ibringyoucheez

Email: ibringyoucheez[at]gmail.com

Gotta have that chorizo and oaxacan next time. God I love me some chorizo... hear it was delicioussssssss.

BTW, the fact that we have our own GRILLED CHEESE guy totally supports the fact that Philly is a LEGIT food town. But we all know that already, right?  

Beer Oasis in the middle of SuburbanTown

So, last Saturday, I spent the day doing adult things like helping brother shop for a new car and being an awesome person/sister. To reward myself, and the rest of our merry troupe, we ended up at Station Taproom in Downingtown, PA. Which, BTW, is absurdly far from the city, BUT literally across the street from the Septa R5 station, so good for you suburbanites living in this area.

I credit this find to Soopah because he had the handy Yelp mobile app on his BB and once we realized we were starving, he found this gem right away and OFF WE WENT.

:: Station Tap Room :: 
address: 207 W. Lancaster, Downingtown PA
what we ate: wings, fries, mac'n cheese, pulled pork, cubano, beers
So this place apparently JUST opened up and their website isn't even functional yet, but I am loving what they are doing here. The focus is on awesome beer, locally sourced food/ingredients (some of their produce is from Talulah's market in Kennett Square), and great service - all in a clean and spacious decor with a cool open kitchen concept.

First, the BEERS. As you can see, on tap, they were heavy on the Ales and IPAs here, but had plenty of bottled options and of course, wine as well.

We had a few pints of beer that the owner/bartender recommended. Then we saw the "Try a Flight!" message on the board. OF COURSE! How did we not see this previously?!

It turned out that you could get a flight of four 5.5oz beers for $7. Not bad, right?

#4 is the first beer on the left. My faves of this flight were the Sixpoint Righteous Ale and the Founder's Centennial IPA. They are just perfectly hoppy! As a sidenote, I'm really loving Sixpoint Craft Ales and Founder's Brewery. So happy to have discovered them.

When we put our order in (there were 3 of us), the owner was like "uhm, wow- aggressive" because we ordered 5 dishes. I don't think it was excessive; some could be considered appetizers, after all! Plus, obviously we can eat.

Short Rib Eggroll: fried + stuffed with collard greens
We kept going back and forth on whether or not to get this, but in the end, how could we deny ourselves an eggroll with short rib meat in it? It was flavorful, but definitely a bit on the greasy side. I think they have to figure out how to deep fry tender meat without having it retain all of the delicious but decidedly unhealthy oil.

Definitely an interesting dish, but I didn't love it so I doubt I'd get in on a return visit.

Cuban Sandwich: pulled pork + thick cut ham + swiss + spicy mustard + fries
Unquestionably my favorite dish that we ate at Station Taproom. It was just a really great blend of spicy, salty, rich flavors and the bread was just crunch toasted enough to give it the textures it needed.

I mentioned before that the service was awesome. Well, we didn't make it easy for the servers, mind you. Since there were 3 of us dining, I asked him to cut the cuban sandwich into 3 pieces for us. Not only did he do this, but he actually plated all 3 pieces separate so we could each have our own plate and fries.

OMG, the FRIES. The fries here were AMAZING. Hand-cut fries in the "english chip-style" where they were thick and super crispy on all the edges, but still soft on the inside. Totally a winner. Several of our dishes came with fries and we worried that there'd be much leftover, but seriously - we ate every single one off of each plate. Ridiculous feat.
   
Chicken Wings: thai curry sauce + bleu cheese 
Awesome wings. Here again, was another example of service that goes above and beyond - the owner let me sample the wing sauce base before we ordered! I really wanted to try the wings, but was hesitating because I don't usually like thai curry sauces (it's the coconut milk), so he brought us a cup of the sauce and let us try it out first. It was pretty incredible so we ordered the wings and devoured them.

In terms of quantity, you don't get too many - I think it came with 6 wings? I'd be hard pressed to make this a meal by itself. Still, it's really tasty and so worth ordering as a starter.

Pulled Pork sandwich: NC-style pulled pork (vinegar-based) + fries + coleslaw  
I was super excited about this because Station Taproom actually gives you 2 different options for the kind of pulled pork you'd like: North Carolina style with the vinegar-y base or Texas style with a thicker sauce (ketchup, cumin etc). We went with the NC style.

This was just okay. I suppose the downside to having 2 different preparations of pulled pork is that you don't really have pork simmering in the sauce over a long period of time. I suspect that they have pulled pork and then mix it in with one of the two different sauces. What you're left with was tender meat that hadn't really absorbed the flavor of the sauce. But again, the fries were so good!

Mac 'n Cheese: sundried tomato + olives + ? 
I wish I had taken a closer look at the menu to write this down. I had actually assumed I'd be able to pull it down off of the website and didn't pay close enough attention. What I can say is that the mac'n cheese was definitely UNIQUE and interesting; I've never had anything quite like it. You did have to make sure you got pieces of olive/tomato etc in each bite for it to be good, though. Otherwise, it was on the bland/boring side.

The other menu options definitely seemed worth checking out - lamb burger, regular burgers, truffle fries etc. Station Taproom seems like a wonderful option for beer and food lovers alike, that live in the area, and certainly can appreciate that it's a rare find. I don't know that I'd travel to Downingtown to eat/drink here, but I would definitely recommend it to others who live in the area. You can't go wrong with a knowledgeable staff, fantastic craft beer selection, good food and comfortable decor.  

RESURRECTION

It's Philly Beer Week! I'm not that hip so while I have been following the beer happenings about town, I haven't actually visited too many of them events. Last Friday, though, as Beer Week events were kicking off all over this great city, Soopah and I finally made our way to Resurrection Ale House near the Naval Square condo complex.

Resurrection Ale House may (RAH!) be somewhat out of the way for those that don't live that Grays Ferry neighborhood, but other than the fact that they are a locally well-recognized craft beer bar, RAH recently got national acclaim for its Twice-Fried Chicken from Andrew Knowlton from Bon Appétit!!! Kudos of Bon Appetit caliber? YAY! Fried Chicken DOUBLE YAY!! Green Flash Brewing Company Beer Week Specials YAYAYAY!!!

And HELL YES, it was worth it. Worth schlepping to Grays Ferry AND worth walking from the parked car in 100% humidity.

:: Resurrection Ale House ::
address: 2425 Grays Ferry Avenue, Philly
what we ate: IPAs, tomato bread, pork belly sandwich, fried chicken
First of all, I really loved the decor at RAH! I would guess that they converted one of the larger corner homes and it is split level on the first floor, with dark wood and pale green color detailing.

BEERS
This girl loves me some beers - especially IPAs - and the hoppier the better. I found that the Green Flash beers were quite enjoyable. After tasting both the Imperial and West Coast IPAs, we loooooved the West Coast. The Imperial, while hoppy and intense, had aromas from the Summit and Nugget hops that were maybe too strong for us (being the amateur IPA quaffers that we are). The West Coast was apparently a winner of Gold and Silver medals for the Best American-Style Amber/Red in 2008 and 2007. According to the website, it includes "Simcoe for a unique fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for strong hop pungency, Centennial for pine and citrus notes, and Cascade for floral aroma" and it is AWESOME. Dogfish and Flying Dog are still my brewers of choice, but this was great.

Pan con Tomate: grilled homemade bread + tomato + manchego + sweet chorizo
We started with the very rustic bruschetta-like pan con tomate. Yummers. Pizza-like! Sort of. For me, the shredded manchego cheese was the best part. I don't know what it is about manchego, but it makes every dish taste so much better. I'm pretty sure this grilled bread and tomato concoction would have been pretty forgettable without it.

The sweet chorizo was definitely an interesting addition and added a yummy contrast to the tart tomatoes and greens. Not a tastebud blower, but tasty and well executed.

Hoisin Braised Pork Belly: ginger + radish + spring onion
The thick cut of pork belly came resting on top of a soft delicious ciabatta bread, topped with thin slices of radish and spring onions. Everything was so soft and tender and juicy delicious. I did wish there was a teeny bit more hoisin sauce to add that tangy-ness to the sandwich, but overall it was wonderful.

The hand cut fries were just okay. Unfortunately, they lacked the crispy crunchiness that makes fries so addicting and delectable. They did come with a very cool dipping sauce, though - it was a mix of ketchup, mayo and curry powder.... very memorable, very interesting and I liked it so much that I kept eating more of the "just-okay" fries to keep tasting the flavor. I don't think that it went particularly well with the Pork Belly sandwich itself, but it didn't detract from it.

and........... for the STAR......

Twice Fried Chicken: drizzled with spiced honey + served with warm German-style potato salad
Aside from the obvious raving about the flavors and textures that will commence, I want to say that at $11, for 2 pieces of fried chicken thighs, this is really a great deal. The skin is soooo unbelievably crispy, but very thin and not overwhelming at all. It's like the perfect ratio of batter to meat and because it's dark meat, it's super flavorful on the inside as well as out.

Man, I really wish the picture did this dish better justice, for this I apologize. The spicy drizzled honey added a little sweet kick that worked so well with the chicken.

The German-style potato salad was really like chunky mashed potatoes that had a very tart flavor to them. Our friend  Chau had said he really enjoyed them, and I think maybe the next time I try, I could have a different opinion about them. The reason is, I think we weren't really ready or expecting the flavor to be quite what it was. German style potatoes apparently include tart apples and cider vinegar, which as you can imagine, adds a substantial amount of sour/tartness to them. It was so different than any other mashed potatoes I have had and even further from the more conventional idea of potato salad we had in our minds. You certainly can't say it's boring though. The pickled okra resting on top complements the flavors of the potatoes. Haha, we did not finish the potatoes or the okra, but that might have been partly due to the fact that we had filled up on an appetizer and 2 IPAs each!

I can't wait to go back to Resurrection for the Fried Chicken. I think I'd definitely try something new the next time, rather than get the Pork Belly again, but only because the menu does have several other items that look very compelling (like the Pan Roasted Duck breast with Quinoa)!

COST breakdown
As a final note, we decided that whenever possible, we'd add a copy of our tab as well. This seemed like a great place to start since it was a relatively affordable dinner. 2 entrees, 1 appetizer and 4 beers left us with a sub $50 bill (before taxes). RAH is billed as a neighborhood bar/restaurant, and I'm pleased to say that their prices really reflect that sentiment/theme.

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!

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.