the Green Monster

I have so many places to blog about before I can get fully caught up, and I'll admit, I may never actually get there, but I did want to post a quickie about this unique and delicious sushi roll I had at Raw Lounge a few weeks ago.

:: Raw Sushi and Sake Lounge :: 
address: 1225 Sansom St. Philly
what we ate: green river roll
This was just one of the most interesting and different sushi rolls I have ever tried, so I felt like it was worth mentioning here.

Green River Roll: shrimp tempura + spicy tuna roll covered in green tea tempura flakes + avocado + spicy lobster + green tea sauce + spicy sauce 

This roll had everything - spiciness, crunchiness, tangy-ness, tender and flavorful fish. Now, at $21 a pop for 8 pieces, it's not cheap, but definitely worth indulging yourself at least once.

As a semi-related aside, Soopah and I were just recently talking about how there aren't too many great sushi places left in the city, and how we hoped that the existing ones survive for years to come. Raw seems to have great sushi so I want people to know!

As another related aside, today, Foobooz posted a list of restaurants in Philly that have closed recently and it made me sad. Just goes to show that just because you get great reviews and your food is well-received, doesn't mean you'll be able to be profitable. Raw may stay top of mind because they have great outdoor space and a separate room where they throw dance parties, but remember, it seems the food is actually quite good too!

Bushkill Falls: the Niagara of PA

For any of you who know us, you must recognize that we enjoy the PA versions of many things. For example, one of our favorite local places to go snowboarding is Elk Mountain, the "Vermont of PA" and South Street, the "East Village of PA." Well, please add another one to the list: Bushkill Falls, the Niagara of PA (as each of the huge billboards we passed reminded us while en route).

The Bushkills Falls are located in the Pocono Mountains and includes a network of 8 different waterfalls. Visitors can pay the $10 entrance fee to get access to the trails and bridges around the falls. There are 3 different trail options, the longest and most rigorous being the "Red Trail," which is a 2.5 mile course which will afford you a view of each of the waterfalls and provide you with an active and at times strenuous hike. The hike itself isn't too demanding, but the waterfall banks are overbuilt by wooden bridges and steep stairs that can be a bit treacherous if you're not paying attention, especially along the Red Trail course.  

Even though, the day was hot (it was 86 with a gajillion percent humidity), the hike was mostly pleasant since the trails are all heavily shaded. The only downside here is that, it was quite crowded. It was Memorial Day, and we did arrive at a peak hour (12:45pm), so we did know to expect crowds and I'm assuming that on a regular weekend day, it wouldn't be that bad. I will say that most of the time, the crowds weren't really an issue. It did get tight trying to pass through some of the more narrow bridges, but it wasn't such a problem that it took away from the overall experience.

Visitors are allowed to bring their own food and drink into the waterfalls area. So we brought plenty of bottled water and packed sandwiches for our day. There are several benches located throughout the trails and we also saw several families stop and sit on the rocks at the lower banks to have their picnic lunches.We wanted to eat by one of the waterfalls so we didn't have anywhere to sit, but it was still very pleasant

The waterfalls and trails are walled off from the rest of the park. So you actually have to pay your fee and walk through a building to enter the falls area. The upside to this is that if waterfalls or hiking aren't your thing, you can always just spend time in the main park area. You can rent paddleboats or play mini-golf, or you can just grab a table under the pavilion and cook delicious foods on one of the many grills.

I had been wanting to see Bushkill Falls for some time and it was definitely worth the trip out there. It's about a 2 hour drive from Philadelphia, but it's a beautiful place - super peaceful, lush and green. Even with the drive, the crowds, and heat, I'd still be down for a return trip.

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.