Mizu Pleasu

The galpals and I hit up Mizu for a quick dinner tonight. J. Gigs had found this tiny Rittenhouse area eat-in/take-out Japanese restaurant when she had been living a few blocks from it. Mizu is very small and casual, but still clean and welcoming enough that sitting down for dinner is still quite pleasant.

J. Gigs had been talking up the HweDupBap and sushi rolls from Mizu for weeks, and it's pretty rare to find good hwedupbap in the city, so we knew we had to have it! So, of course, 3 out of the 4 of us had the HweDupBap and we shared a monstrous sushi roll. BTW, hwedupbap is a Korean dish similar to chirashi, in that it has sashimi layered over rice, but there a quite a few differences between the two dishes, including:

• chirashi has sushi vinegared rice where as hwedupbap has plain rice (that sometimes has a bit of sesame oil)
• chirashi usually has many different types of sashimi layered on top, but hwedupbap is generally just fluke or tuna (or both)
• chirashi is usually eaten with soy sauce and wasabi, but hwedupbap is mixed in with a spicy tart and tangy hot pepper paste. 
• hwedupbap also has shredded veggies like lettuce, sesame leaves, radish, cabbage, carrots, that you mix in with the rice and fish.

YUM. So as a korean, I prefer the spicy, crunchy mixture of hwedupbap over chirashi any day.

:: Mizu :: 

address: 133 South 20th St. Philly

what we ate: hwedupbap + magma roll

HweDupBap: rice, fluke, salmon, tuna, flounder, salmon roe, lettuce, sesame leaf, carrots, radish, apples, cucumbers, imitation crabmeat, chojjang (red pepper paste sauce)
I am pretty sure I'm missing some of the veggies included but yeah it was fan-TASTIC. The fish was super fresh and chopped into cubes that were the perfect bite-size morsel and the veggies were shredded fine enough to make everything blend together perfectly. I kinda wish it came with a bowl of miso soup, which is what I'm used to, but other than that, it was soooo good. Plus, I felt like I was being healthy! Win!

Magma Roll: rice + nori + spicy tuna + mango + spicy mayo + jalapeno, crunch, scallions
This was a HUGE roll that had so much flavor and texture and it was wonderful. The jalapeno and spicy mayo gave this good heat, but it was subtle, not really overpowering.

I enjoyed Mizu so much that I will have to try to come up with a reason why I shouldn't head there every night for dinner.
The menu also had bulgogi/beef over rice bowls, as well as a wide variety of sushi and sashimi offerings. Honestly, their rolls all looked very interesting and creative. As an added bonus, for your non-fish liking friends, Mizu has a pretty good selection of veggie only rolls as well.

Galpal Ladies - thanks for a lovely meal and the chatties!

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!

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

NYC Fat Tour Recap: Part I, the PLANNING

PART II, the arrival, the snack, the beer, the DINNER, the fun, the hanging out until 4pm in an attempt to cling to the idea that we're not too old and boring.

Friday Pre-Dinner Snack: Artichoke Basilles Pizzeria
Friday Dinner: Ippudo

we knew the wait at ippudo would be atrocious. for a group our size (a horrendously large count of 8), we were anticipating a 1-2 hour wait since a) this is still considered the best ramen spot in nyc, b) it was a friday night, and c) we'd be arriving at the prime dinner time hour - between 8 and 9pm.

the plan, therefore, was to order a few slices from artichoke pizza, and eat them outside while we waited for a table to become available. WIN: having 2 slices of artichoke pizza and 1 slice of crab pizza waiting for us when we walked up to ippudo to meet up with the CT/MD contingent of this fat tour weekend. NOT-SO-WIN: finding out that the wait for our table would be 3 hours!

it was easy to take it in stride with each bite of delicious artichoke pizza, though! PLUS, central bar was right around the corner and ippudo's hostess promised to call us when our table was ready and would give us 10-20 minutes to arrive at the door once we had been notified.


:: artichoke basilles pizzeria :: 
address: 328 east 14th street, nyc
what we ate: artichoke pizza, crab pizza
i had heard mixed reviews about the artichoke pizza, and how the deliciousness is inconsistent depending upon hour of night or day of week, but on this night, it was unbelievable. it tasted like really rich warm artichoke dip spread over a 1/4 inch thick soft crust. each slice was huge; it would be more than enough for a meal for a normal sized person with a normal sized appetite (notice the qualifiers there? it's because i have normal sized friends with abnormally sized appetites. they'd need 2 slices. at least).

the crab pizza was also good, but i was so blown away by the artichoke that i don't really recall what is on there. i think it was crab and ricotta, but i am not 100% certain. isn't that terrible?

we made our way over to central bar while munching on the last few bites of gloriousness. after a few pitchers of brooklyn lager, we received THE CALL. ippudo was ready for us and  it ended up being less than a 1.5 hour wait. WIN.

:: ippudo ::
address: 65 4th ave, nyc
what we ate: ramen, pork buns 
dinner at ippudo was great. i had been there before and wasn't really expecting to be wowed again, since, c'mon - it's RAMEN. but i was very pleasantly surprised. both the ramen noodles and the stocks are freshly made on site.

we started with the hirata pork buns, which were the highlight of the meal for me. the plush half moons of bread that enveloped the bbq pork belly slices, drizzled with a mayo/creme of some kind, and a small leaf of lettuce for texture... YUMMMMMM.each order comes with 4 so everyone had one to themselves, then joey and soopah had an all out battle for the last one (who wants HALFSIES?!).

since we had indulged in a cream topped pizza as an "appetizer," several of us ordered ramen to share. the nice thing about ippudo (though the wait staff will hate me for saying this) is that you can order a ramen for $14, then pay an additional $2 for extra noodles. if you need to share for some reason, this helps quite a bit. or it leaves you with some extra money to order more PORK BELLY. which is what we did.

the RAMEN. according to the website:

 "Ramen is cosmos in a bowl. The basic broth is derived from the essence of pork, chicken, beef, or seafood, and seasoned with soy sauce, salt, miso, and other important ingredients.... Flour, eggs, kansui (an alkaline water), and other ingredients are used to make noodles.... Soup, noodles, and topping - the trinity brings forth the cosmos."  

ooOOooooo COSMOS. i don't know about all that, but the ramen was pretty damn good.

soopah ordered the akamaru modern-  'the original tonkotsu' soup noodles with ippudo's special sauce, miso paste and fragrant garlic oil, slices of simmered berkshire pork, cabbage, onions, kikurage & scallions.

he ordered it with extra pork belly too! the picture doesn't really look that appetizing, but in actuality, this ramen is delicious. the akamaru modern is extra garlic-y tasting. so don't order this if you're on a date with someone that dislikes garlic (but really, if you're on a date with someone who dislikes garlic, will you really go on another date with them? i think not).

the rest of us got the spicy ramen that was the special for the evening. unfortunately, i don't have a description of the dish, but it had less garlic and a strong spicy kick. it was spicy enough you didn't need to add siracha to the dish, but you certainly can. of COURSE, we all ordered the extra pork belly.

how was it you ask? oh, we totally HATED it. so much that we basically licked our bowls clean.

btw, we have decided we each need a GIANT soup spoon like the ones they give you at ippudo (the white spoon that looks like a plate in the lower left corner of this picture). think of how wonderful eating pho would be with said utensil?

post-meal FESTIVITIES
the CT crew pretended they were going to hang out and, to their credit, trooped over to a bar near st. mark's with us. but after 15 min or so of lounging around, they excused themselves. after all, we had a big day planned for saturday.

the remaining 4 of us discussed what we should do next - go home, go to another bar, meet up with another friend? our tired bodies wanted us to go home, but the rebellious spirit of our youth managed to get us to st. mark's ale house to meet our friends andrew and jeremy.

st. mark's ale house is a dive-y sports bar in the east village. this is one of my favorite bars in new york - unpretentious, small but spacious, friendly and helpful bar staff, and offers surprisingly delicious food. that's all i'm going to say about that. go there, if you must, but please please please don't ruin it by telling your friends about it.

we had several rounds of drinks... and when we finally felt that we had sufficiently proved our young/hipness to ourselves, we called it a night around 3:45am.

coming soon - part III: saturday brunch, culture and indulgence. 

EASTER, GREASTER, and a weekend recap

FRIDAY
the friday day of fat (i mean food fun) continued on with a brief stop at green eggs cafe. i was hanging with geo and we had an hour or so before we had to meet up with the rest of trifecta + 2 for bebe'a bbq dinner, so we discussed getting a coffee and perhaps a fried potato snack. thankfully, the kitchen had closed by the time geo and i arrived around 4pm, so we spared our bodies the starchy goodness for the moment. we did order a croissant to share with our drinks though. i really liked the decor here - lots of dark and black wood, with steel finishes, green walls and interesting art. the space felt very airy and open throughout the restaurant and the coffee lounge area. the barstool type seating along the dickinson side of the street is perfect for people watching while sipping on your coffee.


:: green eggs cafe ::
address: 1306 dickinson street, phila
what: croissant, coffee, tea

the menu looks awesome here, for brunch or lunch, so definitely want to head back to eat a full meal. the croissant, though, was a bit on the dry side. i hope that the reason was just because it was late in the day and it had been sitting out, with the light breeze coming through all day, but we'll see. coffee = heavenly.

:: bebe's bbq ::
address: 1017 south 9th street, phila
what: pulled pork, beef ribs, pork ribs, coleslaw, mac'n cheese, scalloped potatoes, collard greens oh myyyy.
for dinner we had bebe's bbq, but our group of fatties were so excited to dive into our food that we ravaged every container of food before we could even think about taking a picture. so, though there is no proof, we ate a feast of meats and sides. arguably the best pulled pork i have had, in philly or elsewhere. the coleslaw was a bit too finely chopped and maybe a touch too sweet, but i welcomed the cold crunchiness as a contrast to the sweet and smoky meats. the pork ribs were just meh and a little tough, but the beef ribs were divine. these were part of the daily special, so may not be available all the time. definitely definitely get the collard greens, but the scalloped potatoes and the mac and cheese tied for my favorite side. as a bonus, bebe's delivers to washington square, graduate hospital, bella visty, center city east areas. we did wait excessively long for the food to arrive, though. we were some grumpy people.

SATURDAY
:: maru global takoyaki ::
address: 255 south 10th street, phila
what: octopus takoyaki, crabcake ball with fries, beef curry burrito, almond and chocolate takoyaki  
i found the octopus takoyaki to be a bit too mushy and really found myself wishing that they had used larger pieces of octopus, but still - a pretty good option. the crabcake balls i could have done without. they weren't anything special at all, just standard crabcakes, but the fries that accompanied them were pretty stellar.

the beef curry burrito was definitely the best of the dinner items we had. the curry was smoky and beef was tender and it had just enough rice to be filling and balance out the saltiness of the meat/sauce. soopah claims he would get this at least once every three weeks if it were closer to him. i don't know about that frequency, but i'd definitely order this again.

 we knew the dessert takoyaki were supposed to be great, but i was surprised by how much i enjoyed these almond chocolate ones. they come with fresh whipped cream on the side, which i abstained from (bleh) but soopah spooned up enough to more than make up for it. we need to go back for the chocolate chip dessert takoyaki. honestly, i couldn't really taste the chocolate in them, but they were still pretty awesome.

SUNDAY

:: harris family greaster ::

location: invite only, so this is undisclosed

what: grilled lamb, lasagna, string beans, roasted potatoes, asparagus, baklava, cookies, brownies etc.    

i LOVE greaster. [edit: greaster is also known as GREEK EASTER, as in Easter of the greek orthodox church. it is their most holy of days and deserving of the most fanfare. for non-greeks, it is amazing because it, without a doubt, guarantees the availability of the most amazing foods all brought together under one roof and all-day feasting]. love love love it. in my memory, it has always been loud, fun, full of delicious smells, and exotic looking delicacies - like a LAMB or a PIG on a spit! apparently, though my memory is terrible because the last time there was actually meat on a spit, we were just children. sigh. also, this year because greaster was competing with regular easter, it was a low-key affair - which meant the harris' yard was not teeming with greeks of all ages and there was no meat on a spit. anyway, despite the lack of spinning meat, and even without the grilling of the lamb's head (they apparently gave it away for soup for the church's celebration WHY WHY WHY), greaster was still a wonderful time. plus i got to actually sit and chat with julie! 

i am always surprised by how juicy and non-game-y the lamb turns out. it's one of the few rare places where i can actually enjoy lamb and helped myself to several pieces. the lasagna was so tasty that i helped myself to a quarter of the pan. it was embarrassing, but not enough to put back some of the portion. i wish i had gotten a picture of j. giggles' plate because hers had quite a few more veggies as well. special shoutout for julie's baklava- i though it was very flavorful - with good crunch, good sweetness and plenty of DEPTH!

:: varga bar ::

location: 941 spruce st. phila

what: roasted brussel sprouts, pot 'o pickles, kobe beef sliders, drinks!

because we are fatties, newly self-identified foodies, and probably alcoholics, we decided to head over to varga bar after our day of greaster delights. soopah and i can proudly claim that varga bar is our new favorite. we will probably bicker over who claimed it first. of course, i will win. i always win.


anyway, the bar itself is so great. located on the corner of 10th and spruce, it has wide windows along both the street side walls, so the space feels very airy and spacious. when i first read about this place, i thought the "pinup girl" theme would be a bit kitschy, but actually it's quite well done. the only real place you see the pinup girl art is on the ceiling and occasionally on the menus.


the number and quality of beers they have on tap is outrageous. i was won over by the availability of 4 or 5 IPAs/pale ales on tap, then absolutely in love once i saw the "flying dog raging bitch belgian style pale ale."

though trifecta only tried a few menu items, it is very very very very clear we need to go back. the kobe beef sliders were one of the best burgers i have eaten. they were topped with applewood-smoked bacon, caramelized shallots, boursin cheese and accompanied by house-made onion rings with smoked paprika aioli. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-mazing.

we also tried the pickled vegetables (can you pick the pickled peppers out of the pot 'o pickled vegetables? yes, i said this out loud. hahahaah hate pickled peppers!) and the brussel sprouts with aged balsamic vinegar, lemon, parmesan, olive oil. the balsamic vinegar was a bit extreme on some of the sprouts, but overall still a really great dish.

NEW FAVORITE BAR. 
this was a fabulous (yes, i said fabulous) weekend. more fun to come this week.

ZAHAV on wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!