Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
Battle Sushi: Sagami vs. Fat Salmon
t says: I love the classic battle between old and new. Obi-wan vs. Vader. Vader vs. Luke. Ents vs. Orcs/goblins. It’s so much fun! Which is why when g and I happened to go on a sushi-splurge one weekend, eating at two fancier-than-normal sushi joints on a whim, I couldn’t help but think about playing up the “Old vs. New” idea …
Sagami September 2012, Friday Dinner, Party of 2. Sagami is a very old sushi joint. How old? I have no idea – I’m far too lazy to google it. I can tell you, however, that sr and ha went there on their 2nd date in 1979. So yea – Sagami’s pretty old. BUT, I can also tell you that in 2012, they’re still packed on a Friday night – we only got in because we had a reservation. So clearly, if we had to use “institution” to describe a restaurant, we’d totally use it here …
Now even though Sagami’s pretty old, don’t think that they’ve actually made the place look nice or anything – it’s on the bottom floor (more like a basement) of a house in Collingswood. The sign is small. The parking is limited. The ceilings are low. The lights are low. The seats are few. This is not a place with a “fine dining” experience – this is “we-have-sushi-if-you-want-it-come-on-in-but-if-you-want-anything-else-you’ll-be-sad”. For example, as we sat, I wondered if there was any chance that the table I was sitting at could have been from 1979.
no frills, just sushi (and some other items on the menu)
g and I weren’t expecting something super-fancy, but we were shocked that ha would have continued to see sr after a date here – not because of the food or service or anything – just because ha seems like she’s a “fancy” kinda girl. Of course, Sagami was probably pretty hip/happening back then, so maybe it was all about “the cool” (ha likes to be “cool”, too).
So let’s talk food …
chirashi
The lights were so low that we had to use the flash. Of course, this drew unnecessary attention to us, so g got embarassed. I proceeded to take more pictures, feeling that if the first one didn’t look good, then clearly by repeating the identical set of steps without changing any positioning, it’d get better. It didn’t. Blast. g’s chirashi was actually quite good. She didn’t like the egg (even after I told her that in “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, the making of the egg is a very advanced skill in the art of sushi), but everything else she felt was quite good. A very fresh-tasting/smelling fish, nicely seasoned rice. And that’s it.
assortment of rolls and a couple nigiri
I felt the same way with my dish – it was all very solid sushi, with a freshness that I don’t know I’ve had in Philly until spending some big bucks at Zama or Morimoto. Maybe it’s all the turnover they have? But it wasn’t just that – even the rice:fish ratio in the rolls/nigiri was well-done.
We left Sagami quite impressed with their fish. Sure it’s tiny and dark and kinda-weird-that-you’re-eating-in-a-basement, but who cares if the food is good? I’m surprised sr and ha haven’t come back for some kind of anniversary!
Oh … and did we mention … it’s BYO. (It’s kinda moot because you have to drive there, but it’s still a nice bonus!)
Fat Salmon September 2012, Monday Dinner, Party of 3. So g, bw, and I chose to go to Fat Salmon after hearing about its accolade of “Best of Philly Sushi”. We’d see about that …
deconstructed tuna dumplings
We started with “tuna dumplings”, not realizing that they were not quite “dumplings”. It was more like an amuse bouche, but too big for a single bite (g says: so I guess that’s not an amuse bouche …) back to t: Touche. The flavors were a fun mix of spicy tuna (I imagine it’s togarashi aoili and tuna) and all the flavors you’d associate with a normal dumpling and a twist of ?jalapeno?. That said, I kind of wished we had a normal dumpling. Call me old-fashioned, but if something’s not a dumpling, then one should refrain from calling it a “dumpling”.
chirashi
rolls and nigiri (and dramatic lighting)
This time I went with the chirashi and g went with the nigiri and rolls. Fat Salmon surely wins points for presentation – the dishes looked beautiful. The fish looked far more attractive than they did at Sagami – the cuts were more precise and the color was more vivid (or maybe it was because we had more light?). I buckled up and got ready for a ride … but in the end, I couldn’t quite give it the thumbs-up over Sagami – I couldn’t quite figure out why. But then g hit in on the head: Sagami had a little edge in terms of the taste of the fish. It’s not that Fat Salmon’s tasted bad – it wasn’t at all bad! But there was something about Sagami’s fish that tasted a little more vivid – not “fishy”, but the salmon tasted more salmon-y, and the hamachi was more hamachi-y. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the way the fish was stored or what day of the week we went on (Friday for Sagami vs. Monday for Fat Salmon), it fell just a little short of the Collingswood Hero. bw appeared content with his sushi, agreeing that while not the best he’s ever had, it was respectable and a step up from local sushi joints (e.g. Tsuki Sushi).
So I guess Sagami’s the winner. They must have figured out “good fish + good price = success” and have stuck with it ever since. I guess the next time we visit d, we’ll have to drop on by Sagami!
Fond keeps killing it
t says: A gaggle of peeps went to Fond recently. I was slated to go, however, felt a bit under the weather, so the other 7 had to go on without me. Fortunately, a and v and g paid attention and reported back … (but took no pictures …)
August 2012, Friday Dinner, Party of 7.
g says: The crudo was the best crudo they’ve ever made! And I had the beef … it was delicious as always.
a says: We had three appetizers. The foie has no equals, and it was somehow made even better by the lemon-ricotta. (Note to Fond: Where can I find this stuff?) The speck wrapped shrimp was OK, though I was warned by Steve (t explains: Steve is Fond’s charming, bigger-than-life waiter) that it wouldn’t hold-up to the foie. I actually think the corn risotto under the shrimp was more interesting. (v jumps in: Actually, the risotto dish is second to the pigs feet at Bibou on v’s list of favorite dishes in Philly.) For my main, they do the best skate wing I’ve ever had, but I don’t know I’ve had it anywhere else. Whatever, it rocks. v’s spanish octopus had good texture and a lot of flavor, and not surprisingly, she wasn’t sharing much. They accommodated v and I’s sharing of the cheesecake by pre-splitting and serving two plates. The cheesecake and shortbread cookie went together perfectly, resulting in a lighter, summer dessert . The service was outstanding in that we are treated like family (or at least a second cousin). We appreciated the honesty about the menu and thoughtfulness when serving of the staff. We can’t wait to go back and share a few more shots with them in their new location. Hopefully they’ll still be on the house.
t says: Sure, there were more stories and more people who had impressions about the food, but because I haven’t interrogated them, personally, I don’t want to put down what I heard they might have said – that’d be heresay. The gist, however, is that the food continues to rock at Fond. Actually. If anything, it sounds like it’s even a little better than before, as the desserts which I kinda-sorta-poo-pooed last time were very well-received by the group. We’re happy for their success and wish them luck in the future … even if they do move to a new venue with a liquor license …
Our Philly Diner en Blanc Primer
t says: Ah yes. Diner en Blanc. Pictures are everywhere. We have some, too, but a lot of them have our mugs on ’em, so we’re not going to be able to show those off. Instead, we’re going to treat this kind of like a “how g-&-t-&-a-&-v do Diner en Blanc”. Hopefully this post will be helpful for our planning next year …
g and I easily sourced our table and chairs, but we had to decide what was going to go on the tabletop. There were so many options of glasses and utensils that we needed to visualize it. Fortunately, Dr. Moody (a gift from lc) was ready-willing-and-able to help out:
Dr. Moody lends a helping hand by modeling different dinnerwares …
Eventually, we did decide on our tabletop selections, and everything looked pretty darn spiffy:
our tabletop!
The ONLY regret we had was that our selections were damn-heavy. The glasses: real glass. The dishes: real porcelain (and there were two!). The silverware: real metal. That bottle our water was in: real glass. g and I are not World’s-Strongest-Man material – we can say that by the time we got to the site, we were quite pooped. And we can only imagine what a was going through, as his table was even heavier than ours! Of course, part of why we were pooped was due to stupid-as-crap route they took us to go from 30th street to Logan Square, but that’s another rant … (“To the Main Line!”)
The official g & t mascots of Diner en Blanc … hiding under the shrubbery … we should have won “best table” for them alone … nevermind the edited, classy display of properly placed utensils, a single vase, a single candle, real steak knives, antique cheese spreader-thingees, big wine glasses …
The four of us also brought our own home-made food. There were others who did the take-out thing with some classy-looking foods (table next to us had some sliders, I saw some Italian take-out elsewhere). I saw there were a lot of people there trying to be “unique” by bringing sushi, but that ultimately ended up being as “unique” as getting a butterfly tramp stamp <re-read this sentence and play the effect at sadtrombone.com for full effect>. Ultimately, v and g took it upon themselves to craft a meal that was built especially for DeB. The food needed to be able to be served at room/outdoor temperature. It needed to be transportable. It needed to be light. It needed to be filling. It needed minimal number of components (i.e. minimal number of gladware). It needed to lack any sauces that would dribble everywhere or leak in our picnic basket. It needed to be pair-able with wine. It needed to be shareable in case we got friendly with neighbors. It needed to be eaten with fork and knife (after all, this is a classy event …) This is what they came up with …
quinoa salad
v made a quinoa salad and it was scrumptious. v said that it was based on a recipe she found here – except no gouda and a different vinegar; it turned out to be a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth. We paired it with a rose that a picked out from the PLCB and we were in heaven (seriously, this may have been the best rose I’ve had all year … it’s been such a tough year of roses for me – nothing like a legit Bandol to really show the world how to do a proper rose). I could not think of a more fitting start to an outdoor summer meal.
“g surprise”
g whipped up a pasta dish inspired by something her mom crafted the other day. The main idea was pasta and cheese and chorizo and wilted spinach and multi-colored bell peppers for some crunch. g’s still got it! And, of course, we microplaned some more cheese at the table. For this course, a pulled out a delightful red he found at Moore Bros. I was worried at first that it was going to overtake the summery pasta, but the tango was pleasant (there was a good amount of cheese in the pasta, so there was some richness and flavors in there to compete with the red). The pairing probably wasn’t “perfect”, but of course a also had no idea what was going to be in the pasta, either (we literally called it “g surprise” when we made up the sample menu).
cheese plate
For the cheese plate, we had some Pecorino Fulvi, a triple creme goat/cow blend from GTC, and garrotxa. This was accompanied by garlic dulce de leche (not pictured), some pistachios, prosciutto, and fig. It was a very interesting assortment of mild cheeses – fun to mix-and-match with accompaniments and wine. By now, we moved on to Erath “Le Jour Magique” White Pinot Noir … it rocked my socks again.
dessert …
We finished with an apple tart that v made (recipe here). It was beautiful (and somehow we managed to transport it still intact). I topped it with some crushed heath bar, and we would have had some diced cherries had I not forgotten them at home (my one actual regret!) Nevertheless, the tart was bold enough to stand on its own, proudly proclaiming its appleness and showing off a crust that kept me coming back for more. The dessert, combined with a Vouvray bubbly (NV Francois Pinon Brut, of NYT fame) was a solid outdoor sparking wine (not that I could drink the bubbly … but I’m told!). I heard so many positive things that I bought another bottle!
In all, DeB was a great time. We liked our food choices. We liked our wine choices. The “lows” of the evening were probably the lugging of our stuff to Logan Circle/Square and trying to manage a cracked cork without spilling red wine everywhere (I hope a’s official DeB attire is ok!). The people around us were nice enough. Fun was had by all. Can’t wait for next year!
wishing Gardenia was still around …
t says: g and I visited Rittenhouse tavern for brunch. After such a glowing review from Craig LaBan (who did more of a dinner review), we figured we’d try give brunch a whirl first and then go from there. We know that in the restaurant industry, Sunday brunch isn’t exactly “the best” of what the kitchen staff can do (or even possessive of “the best kitchen staff”), but we figured that if the last restaurant in that space, Gardenia, was already “good”, then this would be even better!
August 2012, Sunday Brunch, Party of 2. g and I walked in to an empty restaurant. I guess their brunch service takes a little while to get going. We sat in the b-e-a-u-tiful outdoor space and proceeded to be torn in a variety of directions by the menu. I could have gone in a sweet-breakfast direction, I could have gone in a savory-sandwich-lunch direction, I could have gone anywhere inbetween. Everything sounded good. Of course, some things sounded stupid, like the $25 foie supplement to the pancakes, or the $5 fruit supplement (I mean, seriously, how much fruit could they possibly be adding to the pancakes? a quart of strawberries?). But alas, we rolled with the punches and, after consulting with our server, ordered/ate the following:
fluke crudo
So I forgot that Craig LaBan actually love-love-loved the crudo, which was offered to him during dinner: “That crudo of local fluke, cured in kombu before being layered with sheer radish chips and silky dabs of lemon puree, was one of the best bites of raw fish I’ve had in months.” We have to agree that it’s a net-positive dish, as the crudo was a surprising mix of delicate flavors that were very-nearly-perfect. We say “very nearly” because there was a little bit of a salting issue in that some pieces had salt (i.e. all the ones I had) and some didn’t (i.e. all the ones g had). Thus, g was actually pretty underwhelmed by the crudo (and she loves crudos) … right up until she had a salted piece, and was much happier (but still not blown away). It’s not necessarily “the best bite of raw fish we’ve had in months”, but it shows that someone can make a very pretty, very tasty dish that shows a nice balance of delicate flavors.
For our mains, we did the turkey schnitzel and the pancakes (sans fruit/foie):
g likes chantilly cream …
I have to come right out and say it: the pancakes were a disappointment. Flat [“as a pancake”]. A touch rubbery. A wee-bit burned. g suggested I send them back (and g never suggests that I send things back), however, upon tasting the single not-visibly-burned pancake (1 of 3), I found that it, too, had some of that burned-smokiness to it, so I doubted whether it could actually be done any different – and it’s not like “buckwheat” is so full of flavor that I was missing out on something. Now I know why someone would want to pay $5 for the fruit: to add some much-needed flavor and friendliness to the pancakes … and in that moment, as I doused my pancakes in the Chantilly cream, I longed for Gardenia’s lemon-ricotta-blueberry pancakes …
The schnitzel, on the other hand wasn’t bad at all. The sauce was delightfully punchy, and the potatoes were nicely done. The meat was well-seasoned and as tender as turkey could be. Was it authentic Austrian schnitzel? No. But that’s ok – those things tend to be very heavy, while after this one, we felt full, but not gross. So I put this one in the “win” column … not in the “rocked my world” column, but it was just a whole lot better than the pancakes.
We do have to mention one course that we did not have but looked pretty awesome: the bread board. There were an assortment of breakfast pastries: I believe I saw a cinnamon roll, some small muffins, maybe scone or something like that. Looked pretty tasty! (And definitely better-looking than my pancakes tasted!) So try that next time and let me know how it is!
In conclusion: Sunday brunch is something that we’re not going to be re-trying at Rittenhouse Tavern (and if a friend suggests it, we’ll try to re-direct them to Parc). We will, however, give dinner a try, as that fluke was quite delicious [for me], so we hope that LaBan was actually on to something with the rest of his review. On the flip side, our server said, and I quote, “The schnitzel is like one of the best things that we make, including the dinner menu …” I hope not, because it was squarely good, but not nearing greatness … I guess time will tell …
bobby flay claims his first victim
t says: Ok. So we knew that Shake Shack is the hottest thing since sliced bread. g, having spent nearly three years working in NYC, was well aware of Shake Shack’s reputation and did want to go and see Philly’s version, but warned us: “People go there to hang out – not necessarily to eat the best burgers ever.” I heard her, but I just don’t think I listened to her (I have husbandearitis), so I was actually super-psyched when we went there on a whim the other day with cm and k.
August 2012, Saturday Dinner, Party of 4. We went and there were no lines. This made me super-happy. g and I ordered up the mushroom “burger”, classic Shake Shack burger, and, of course, some cheese fries. This is what they looked like:
shack attack!
In the end, we decided that Shake Shack is more like a fancy McDonald’s. The meat does taste a bit more like meat, and the tomatoes and lettuce are real lettuce and tomatoes, but that’s about the extent of the compliments that I can extend to Shake Shack, as there really is nothing further remarkable about in the sandwiches. The toppings are plain (the special sauce isn’t very “special”). The burger was underseasoned. The bread was 80% butter. The mushroom was 5% mushroom and 95% cheese (that had an oddly-congealed texture). The fries were tasty, but I’m not sure if there was really really $1 worth of cheese on it.
And then cm (or maybe it was k?) said it: “Bobby’s is better than this place.” And he (or she?) was dead-on. Better bread, better sauces (and I don’t even really like Bobby’s sauces), better meat, super-way-better toppings, and still <$10 (although I guess Shake Shack is cheaper by 30%). But is that a fair comparison, as one is in West Philly, and the other is in Center City? I guess not, because it’s not like g and I are going to venture across the river just for Bobby’s Burger Palace. Of course, g and I aren’t going to venture 4 blocks to Shake Shack just for a burger, either (we’ll go if others want to go!). In this area, alone, Rotisseur has better sandwiches. VW has way-better burgers. I’m sure Rouge could teach ’em a thing or two (I haven’t had a Rouge burger yet, but some day!). So I just can’t figure out why one would ever wait in line for one of these guys. Gotta be for the shakes (we were a little sugar-overloaded from a previous dessert party, so we’ll have to visit the shakes again later) …
I guess all I can say is this:
When Federal Donuts moves into the area, we’ll forget all about Shake Shack.
the food stands alone at Bar Ferdinand
t says: After hearing about Ansill cheffing it up at Bar Ferdinand, g and I decided to venture out to Norther Liberties, or “No-Libs” as the cool kids call it (I guess “Norberties” wasn’t cool enough). Actually, we had not been there since wandering in after a delightful dinner at Modo Mio a while back … but that’s another story. We picked a Thursday (g and I wanted to try the $40 8-course tasting menu), hopped a cab, and arrived exactly on time …
August 2012, Thursday Dinner, Party of 2. We were seated promptly … which was good … because we were starving. Scratch that. I was hungry. g was starving. So we quickly pondered the menu, but because we were there for the tasting, there really wasn’t much choice (but, as you see the menu below, that was totally fine with us):
it was jamon night!
g and I approved of the jamon-themed dinner (but we wished kp was there to enjoy all this ham) and decided that two tastings and one wine supplement would be enough to hold us over. So the plan of attack for this post is first food, then wine, then service. So here we go …
ham sampler and ham-and-mussels
The first two courses were done quite well. I liked opening up with the sampler because I was really able to taste the differences between the three (and who knew that Iberico would be so sweet – even without the peaches!). g felt the weakest item of the dish was the pickled cauliflower. I disagree – I felt the peaches were superfluous. So we agreed to disagree about the ham pairings, but we agreed that it was indeed a brilliant move to have us taste just straight-up ham – especially because each of them would be incorporated into the dishes that followed. We also both agreed that the mussels were very nice – bursting with bright and lively flavors – kind of like a crudo/ceviche, except the muscles were fully cooked. It’s true that nothing here was otherworldly, but it was a nice solid start for the meal.
croquette
Don’t let the picture fool you – the croquette was tiny. And to be honest, it was underwhelming in flavor. Yes, good crunch. Yes, a nicely textured filling, but just make the thing a little bigger so you can stick some more ham in it or something. This was my weakest dish of the night (but hey – it was fried and crispy, so you bet your bunsen burner that I ate it with a smile!)
pork rillette
This pork terrine was amazing … but not because of the pork. Don’t get me wrong – the terrine, itself, tasted fine, featuring a variety of different textures/types of ham in one single slice – so that made me happy. But what took this dish to “the next level” was that red jelly-like smattering you see in the upper left. That, my friends, reminded me of a cross between cranberry sauce and sangria, and it was ridiculous in combination with the salty-savory pig. And when you mixed it up with some of that unidentified brown sauce on the bottom, it had this odd feeling of Thanksgiving – not necessarily the exact flavor profile, but it definitely filled you with a sense of cozy comfort.
The salad was kind of unremarkable so I’m not going to show the pic. The surprise was that it was accompanied by what was essentially potato stix. I might carry around potato stix with me in the future just in case I come across any boring salads while I’m at work …
The last three dishes had pics that were taken with such low light that there’s no real point in me posting them. Which is a shame. Because the two savory dishes were VERY good. As far as Merluza was concerned (i.e. it’s like cod), it was a fantastically cooked piece of fish – I mean I didn’t even know that fish could have that kind of texture! (In my mind, it was as perfectly cooked like how a sous vide steak is perfectly cooked). And the accompanying potatoes and sauce added such beautiful subtle flavors. And then there were the albondigas (read: lamb-pork-cow meatballs) which were also kinda-sorta-insane. They weren’t fancy, and texturally, they weren’t much (in reality, I prefer my meatballs a little softer), but there’s something about their flavor, when mixed with the smokey-tomato-based sauce that instantly captivated me. I had the urge to slap those meatballs on a hoagie roll and devour it with my bare hands (I assure you that no such thing happened in the restaurant – I stayed with my fork and knife). The meatballs lacked subtlety/complexity, but that was perhaps its strength, as no thought was required except one: “these are so yummy”.
The dessert was fine – I mean, it was a cookie and some lemon curd. The cookie was unremarkable, but lemon curd (like ham/bacon) makes up for a lot of sins. I was shocked he didn’t do some kind of choco-bacon concoction to finish off the ham-themed dinner, but whatever …
Ok, so, the service … the service was horrendous. g and I recall that they are a tapas restaurant where the dishes normally just come out of the kitchen as they are ready. We would have been fine with that concept, however, because we ordered the wine pairing, there needed to be appropriate progression of plates for the pairings (i.e. we had four glasses of wine that were each paired with 1-3 specific courses) so that each wine hit the table with certain courses. They failed this task several times – but in all kinds of ways. Some times we’d have the wine but no food. Other times we’d have the food but no wine. And still, there were lengthy gaps between courses and at least twice did servers attempt to give us food that we had already seen or straight up wasn’t something we ordered. The table next to us, who also ordered the tasting and pairing, even had things completely out of order! And I assure you that our server, at any given time, had no idea what courses we had had, which ones were coming next, or even what glass of wine we were on (at one point she tried to convince us that we had already had our second glass of wine when we had just finished our first … and then she never came back with the second glass like she promised …) On one hand, I could excuse them for “just being a bar”, but seriously, if the food is going to be this good, you kinda-sorta-havta step up the service, otherwise patrons who actually are going to your establishment for the food (i.e. like us) are going to be a little turned off.
And now for the wine … the wine was horrendous as well. ARGH!! I will list the badness:
1) The xarel-lo was way too light to tango with the terrine, which had such booming flavor due to the pork and the accompanying sauces. That terrine screamed for a heavier white or a light red or something! After a bite of the food, the xarel-lo tasted pretty much like water (it was best paired with the salad … which really didn’t have much going on, so you could actually taste the wine). It’d be different if it was zippy or fruity or something … but it had nothing to offer. Failure.
2) The Montsant was a classic Spanish red from Montsant – there really is no other way to put it. It’s bold and in your face with stewed fruit and a twist of very-nearly-aggressive backbone/bitterness. It’s a wine that puts some hair on your chest (and was served a little warm, so the alcoholic burn was kickin’!) And then they pair it with the fish and the meatballs. The problem is obvious: Montsant + fish = stupid (in my book – feel free to disagree). I’m not saying that you should never pair red wine and fish, but I am saying that this particular red wine completely blew the fish out of the water. All of the subtlety and complexity of the food was completely masked. Failure.
3) The dessert wine … ugh … the dessert wine … Just because you have a dessert wine doesn’t mean you just blindly pair it with whatever you’re serving for dessert. This dessert wine = super-sweet and rich. Lemon curd = super-sweet and rich. And two sweets don’t make a right – they monkey-knife-fight each other. Maybe the cookie and the wine would have been alright, but the lemon curd forced us to make a decision: lemon curd or wine? Result = we abandoned half our dessert wine – the lemon curd was more delicious.
So as you can see, the food at Bar Ferdinand was actually quite wonderful – and for the price, it was very-nearly-a-steal! It’s a shame that the service and wine could use lots of improvement. I’m sure the service will get better as they get used to the idea of meal progression and pairings. But as for the wine, well, I don’t know who made those selections, but let’s just say that I know of a certain Spanish wine enthusiast that would be more-than-capable of taking over Bar Ferdinand’s wine program and selecting wines that would actually complement instead of fight with Chef Ansill’s delicious food … and he’d probably do it for little more than his love of wine, alone … right, a?
gettin’ my coma on at sabrina’s
t says: After working a 16-hour shift from 7pm to 11am, what’s the first thing that you would do? Most people would probably go home and sleep. But not me. And certainly not my coworkers, either. We’re super-humans. Well, either that, or we’re plain ‘ol silly … and hungry … Collectively, it was decided that we go to brunch. After a few back-and-forth emails/texts/conversations, we chose to venture to Sabrina’s in University City (closer to Drexel than Penn). The journey was a dangerous one, as one of us almost perished on the way due to desert-like heat and Louisiana-like humidity. We were able to rally our spirits when I confirmed on my iPhone that we were indeed 1 block away and not lost/drunk somewhere in Bangkok.
July 2012, Brunch, Party of 4. After sitting down “in that round porch thingee”, we perused the menu and decided that we should choose four different items and divide them equally. It’s been a while, so I can’t remember what they were, but I can tell you that three of them had Batman-related names (probably in honor of the new film). What I can show you, however, is a pic that was taken of a plate adorned with precisely 1/4 of each of our items:
why have just one dish when you can have four?
What is above is a pancake dish, a French toast dish, a frittata dish, and some kind of “chihuahua” dish. My memories about each is fuzzy, but what I do remember is that everything was quite delicious. The French toast used less cream cheese than past stuffed French toasts I’ve had at Sabrina’s, which I find to be an improvement (who wants to eat a hunk of cream cheese?), while the pancakes were doused in some kind of crack-like citrus-based glaze that everyone loved (drawback: there wasn’t enough of it – only the top pancake was covered in it … resulting in many-a-stranded bottom two pancakes). I had no qualms with the two egg-based dishes (although I think that maybe as a whole, they were weaker than the sugar-laden bread-based ones – they didn’t have punchy flavors that I can remember), and the potatoes were wonderfully fried. And … well … that’s it. It was a large quantity of delicious food – great for putting an immediate smile on your face and a coma on your brain. Nice job Sabrina’s. I still don’t think it’s worth waiting in line for on Sunday morning, but definitely a superb weekday brunch!
after dinner sneeze 