Archive for December 2012
Pardon Our Absence …
t says: Yes, yes, it’s been very-nearly-forever since our last legitimate post. We’re sorry! The holidays have left us with very little time. And with those little times that we have had, we’ve spent dining on already-proven-delicious foods (if you have limited time, why risk a bad meal?) For example:
Han Dynasty is still blowing us away. Lately, we’re digging the double-cooked fish (new to us!) as well as oldie-but-goodies, like Cold Sesame Noodles, Dan Dan Noodles, the fish soup (whatever it’s called), Cumin Lamb, Eggplant in Garlic Sauce …
Sotto keeps me coming back with their Matriciana and BYO policy – just the hug you need when it’s cold, windy, and rainy outside …
Talula’s Garden’s December menu rocked our socks with some delightful sweetbreads and cheese and lamb belly and dessert and everything … We also used it as an opportunity to try out a wine we’ve been cellaring for some time:
it tasted like … sea salt … kinda weird, but very interesting
Ekta’s Laamb Saag, Masalader Chola, Vegetable Samosa … we love you!
Indian attack!
So, all in all, there’s a lot of old news here … we’ll hit up some new places in the new year … we promise!
all i wanted was a.salad …
t says: g and I wanted to go to Parc the other weekend for our favorite “Warm Shrimp Salad” brunch. Sadly, they had no space. Rouge similarly had no space. Day-by-day had a half-hour wait. g and I were hungry-verging-on-hangry and getting rained on, so I suggested visiting a.kitchen, as opentable assured me they had space. Here’s our review in a slightly different style than we normally go for: a list-lover’s review!
December 2012, Sunday Brunch, Party of 2.
1) Your hostess made us wait for a table … when there was only one occupied table in the entire restaurant (i.e. at least 8 unoccupied tables, not including the seats at the chef’s counter) – that was weird. I took a photo of it (but won’t post it because you can see patrons’ faces very well … which is creepers). She didn’t move to attempt to assist in the turning over of another table (which I’m not exactly sure anyone did anything to – no one was clearing anything!). She didn’t offer us a seat at the empty bar. She didn’t smile at all. After five minutes had passed, g and I began looking through opentable for seats at Dandelion. Meanwhile, we were subjected to inane chit-chat between the hostess and the patrons who were leaving the restaurant (they apparently knew each other from somewhere). During this time, your bartender, having noted that we were standing off to the side, seemingly exiled to limbo, came over to us and asked, “She’s the hostess – you should talk to her if you want a seat.” To which we replied that we had …
2) … your bartender, upon hearing that we were stuck in the very peculiar predicament of waiting for a table in a restaurant with no dearth of open spaces proceeded to do nothing to help the situation: no offer to get us started with drinks, no assistance in pushing along the seating process, no nothing … just silence … Aawwkkwwaarrdd …
3) Your server was excellent. Fire the hostess and bartender and clone your server twice. She was polite and prompt and was able to answer my queries by confessing that your pastries are not made on-site (no big deal!) and that your “Namaste tea” was “just black tea”.
4) “Namaste” black tea? For real? Is that different from “Bonjour tea”?
5) Cava bar? For real!
cava bar!
Why are you not publicizing the hell out this? This is awesome!
5) Your pancakes could use a little something …
Super-simple pancakes
They’re not as good as Cochon’s (which are twice as thick and moreso fluffy … by the way – why did Cochon take it off their menu?), not as good as Parc (which has better, but definitely between the golden brown outside and pillowy inside), but still better than ones I can make at home using Bisquick or Aunt Jemima … but for $10/plate I should hope so! My feeble-minded suggestions are either add an interesting topping (?bruleed banana?) or flavor (? lemon ? orange ?) or something! You could charge a buck or two more!
6) The “mushroom scrapple” (pictured above) is more like a fried polenta/grits cake with mushrooms interspersed throughout. I don’t know what the composition actually is, but in my mouth, that’s what it reminded me of. Personally, I feel that this is not very scrapple-like, but moreso disappointing because it was quite bland from a salt/pepper perspective and a lacking-mushroom-flavor perspective. Give me more mushrooms!
7) g applauds your use of the English muffin on your burger, but wishes it was just a little fluffier in the middle and a little less burned on the outside (it’s hard to eat a burger if the “bun” part is crunchy like this.
burger attack!
The meat was well-seasoned and nicely-cooked, so definite props for that! And the sauce was a nice addition!
8) Why on Earth do you insist on the tiniest plates possible to fit the food? Maybe to make it seem like you have more food? But a problem arises in that there’s no real space to create a puddle of syrup or for your burger to drip its medium-rare blood without soggifying your chips. And forget trying to rest a utensil on them … Add like 1 inch to the radius – what youll give up in “artistry” you’ll make up for in utility – I promise …
In all, it was an “ok” brunch. As good as Parc? Not really … but surely better than falling prey to hanger on a Sunday when all the other places on Rittenhouse are packed – and that cava bar is definitely worth checking out. I think the better question is why is it not so packed? g pointed out that on one hand, a.kitchen is kinda-sorta-lika hotel restaurant, so they don’t really have to push any boundaries and that it might even be safer not to. I disagree – if they want the street cred (as clearly this blog is the ultimate bestower of “cred”), I just need a bit more “oomph”, be it in innovation or just straight-up flavor. I’m glad we got to go to a.kitchen for brunch, but I only wish that it would have sidled its way into my heart … Maybe next time …
Philly raw denim
t says: As mentioned briefly in the “MANual”, I’ve been following raw denim for a while now. I was unaware of Philly’s raw denim scene until made aware by a. Coincidentally, rawr did a little article on Norman Porter, which is Philly-based. While I haven’t seen any myself, it’s worth keeping an eye on … just so long as it’s not overrun by hipsters …
g&t&a&v take over NYC
t says: The other weekend, we got in a car with a and v, who graciously drove us to NYC. Rather than give a super-long-winded blow-by-blow, let’s take a look at the picture roll and see what I actually used the iPhone to capture:
momofuku ramen!
Our first stop was Momofuku Noodle Bar. Inspired by my previous visit, I knew that this place would at the very least have some delicious food. Plus, I feel like a David Chang restaurant is mandatory for any food enthusiasts like ourselves. l and c met us there (after a spirited 20-block jog), and the 6 of us were the second party to enter the restaurant when they opened at noon. As a side note: if you’re not there more than 25 minutes early for Saturday lunch, your butt is going to be waiting outside in the cold.
The pork buns. Amazing. The smoked chicken wings. Scrumptious. The rice cakes were hit-or-miss depending on if you can deal with rice cakes (e.g. I loved them – and so did l! But the rest of the party was less-impressed.) The kim-chi was white-ified (i.e. white people added too much sugar to it, so it had a sweet tang to it and not enough funk). And the ramen, while tasty, was indeed [just-as-every-New-Yorker-has-ever-said] not-as-good-as-Ippudo’s. Don’t get me wrong – the broth was delightful, with lots of different flavors. But there wasn’t the depth or soul of Ippudo’s. (Also, Ippudo’s noodles are superior). Next time, we’ll hit up Ippudo … (a opines: Momo, sadly, did not live up to the hype – of course the hype was Earth-shattering noodles and ramen which is no small task. I thought the apps were more interesting and noteworthy. Starting with the smoked chicken wings which had a savory, smokey dimension to them beyond the typical heat of a hot wing. The star of the meal, pork buns, would put a smile on anyone’s face. A perfect execution of Korean comfort food, the pork belly was delicious and the perfect texture, and the buns provided an appropriate canvas. The chilled spicy noodles with sichuan spiced sausage, spinach, cashews was interesting but only to a point and its novelty was lost before the bowl was finished. I love all the ingredients in the bowl and cold noodles can be fun but their consistency didn’t blow me away. My main enjoyment came from the buildup of heat from the sausage.)
ice cream break!
We did some shopping. And we did some Christmas-tree-watching. And we did some hunting. Hunting for what? The Blue Bottle Coffee tucked away underneath Rockefeller! It was absolutely wonderful. Their coffee is some of the best I’ve ever had (not that I’m a coffee afficianado like a). It’s just so easy to drink and full of non-coffee flavors while lacking any bitterness. They might be poo-poo’d by those “in the know”, but let’s just say that in my eyes, they can do no wrong. Actually – I hesitated before writing/gushing about them because I kind of want them to be my little New York secret … I will say that the dudes behind the counter are the most not-in-a-hurry workers ever … so if want coffee on a run, don’t go here – they’ll make you wait as they perfectly brew each cup of coffee … with one hand … ‘cuz the other is too busy sipping a coffee of their own …
super-wicked sausage gravy!
We went to Brooklyn Farmacy … and let’s just say that this place is awesome! Of course, the workers were just a little “too cool” for us, dressed in dapper threads from head to toe (literally: a cool, period-specific hat must have been mandatory to work there). The sausage gravy pictured above was ridiculously good. Although, g probably liked her dessert better:
“sundae of broken dreams”: sweet-and-salty deliciousness!
g also had a great egg-based sandwich, but no photos made it onto our phone. And yes, more things were eaten on our trip than just at the above three stops, but … you know what they say: “pictures or it didn’t happen!”.
a & v ascend to “Steak 9”
t says: After my great experience at GTC for their all-you-can-eat steak adventure, I brought some friends to get a second opinion. Just to recap, it’s all-you-can-eat steak, all-you-can-eat French fries, and [presumably] all-you-can-eat salad … for $25 … and GTC is corkage-free for the first bottle, and $10/bottle corkage therafter. Oh, and now it’s officially on the menu! Hooray! Long live steak! In any case, this is what a and v had to say:
v says: Mmmm… steak was delicious. We are on steak 9. My favorite sauce was a’s, but I couldn’t have eaten as much of his as I could mine… It was so good I could have continued making room for more if I wasn’t worried about undoing the buttons on my pants. The fries were also great. What stands out, though, is the salad. I immediately noticed they used the same dressing for this salad as their Lyonnaise one. Great decision, unfortunately, they’ve toned down the flavor due to a couple of complaints about the intensity of the dressing. The service was more than eager to continue serving us, which was great, because we didn’t feel like the gluttons that some of us (a and I) were.
I will wear an elastic waist band next time…
a says: I agree with v’s take. Best $25 complete meal in Philly and bonus: it’s AYCE. My dessert was good but I really didn’t care at that point since I, too, was on steak 9. Let’s do this again real soon! N.B. Plan to walk to AND from the restaurant.
Also, the wines were delicious and fun. Most had a typical aspect: nose for the Pinot, mouth for the Sauvignon Blanc and Cab, but then proved more interesting in other aspects. The Pinot was full in the mouth with nice viscocity, it stood up to the steak – the standout of the night (check it here). The SB smelled like rubber (burnt rubber, actually) and hay then switched to strong petrol in the mouth. The Cab smelled more like a Shiraz or Merlot with lots of red fruit and some green earth but then went to dark fruits, vanilla and good grip (t gestures: “grip!”) on the tongue (check it here).
t says: Ah, yes, the wine … That Sineann pinot noir was most definitely a cab-drinker’s pinot. It was rich and full and void of a single rough edge anywhere, even if it was missing some of that hallmark Oregon funk and acid … but it was still delicious. Not a single person, including me, could object to it. I wish more of the ’08 could still be found (I personally don’t know if other vintages taste as good – but one can hope!). I’ll give it a nod as wine of the night, as it was straight-up more interesting than the Hall cabernet. Even moreso interesting, however, was the Sauvignon Blanc that we had. Now, this is not some “easy-breezy” Sauvignon Blanc. This one slaps you in the face with petrol, petrol, and more petrol. I estimate that 99% of casual wine-drinkers will not like this wine. I estimate that 90% of wine enthusiasts will not like this wine. But g and I love it (a and v liked it, too, but it’s not like they’re clamoring for more). It will now be added to the cellar so we can have some of this $10 beauty on hand at all times. If you manage to find it, buy a bottle and give it a try (or take us to dinner and we’ll bring a bottle for all to try!). I bet that people who kinda-sorta-secretly-enjoy the scent of a gas station will like this wine (seriously!). Also – if this is your kind of wine, then you’re our kind of people: let’s eat and drink together. If not, then, well, we can get you some Woodbridge Chardonnay or Cavit Pinot Grigio (burned! … j/k!).
after dinner sneeze 