Txikito - Review

Intro
Txikito - Highly Not Recommended
240 9th Ave
New York, NY 10001-6602
Phone: (212) 242-4730

After our killer trip to Spain, I figured now would be the perfect time (or in this case not so perfect time) to check out Alex Raij's new Basque style restaurant Txikito. Chef Raij previously was the head chef of Tia Pol - my favorite tapas joint in NYC; where some of the dishes there equaled some of those we had in Spain. Reading the menu here brought back memories of San Sebastian, but unfortunately the flavors did not - still relatively tasty stuff. What killed me was the price points - way too expensive for the amount/quality you get. Overall, I give the restaurant a 60/100.

Our Menu
1) Patatas Mentaiko crisp fries w/spicy cod roe mayo *
2) Atuna little sandwich of basque tuna, piquillo oil, sweet onion *
3) Bocata warm sandwich of unsmoked bacon, melted cheese ***
4) Arraultza sofrito, palacios chorizo, quail egg **
5) Duck Breast with Watercress and Corn Salad

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Delicious, crispy fries - potato flavor is well pronounced and great hint of olive oil. The spicy cod roe mayo was a nice combo. This was definitely a refined version of the same dish they serve at yakitori taisho albeit three times the price, but not three times the impact though.
2) The chef, Alex Raij, is known for sandwiches (see uni panini at El Quinto Pino) and this one was decent, not great. After visiting Spain, the tuna should be extremely flavorful and creamy (I still have some cans from Spain and mine are way better). This was a tad dry, but the overall flavors of the piquillo oil and caramelized onion made it tasty. The winner was the bread though - really amazing...crispy, great flavor, and a nice chew too it.
3) A completely WTF sandwich. The unsmoked bacon had such an intense pork flavor which married perfectly with the cheese sauce. And obviously the amazing bread again.
4) Pretty fun combo. The chorizo was great and definitely brought me back to Spain. Breaking the quail yolk made a great sauce covering for the chorizo.
5) Flavorful dish, but it didn't work out so well. Duck breast was pretty dry, which was strange since the meat was nice and pink. The watercress and corn salad was nice, but the corn had the texture of canned corn and the carrots had that same unappealing texture.

Overall Restaurant Experience (60/100)

• Food 8.0/10 – Food was relatively flavorful and pretty fun. The bocata sandwich was to die for though.
  
• Service 7.5/10 – Our waitress was very nice, but she was lost at times - quoting specials which were already crossed off hours ago and not really sure what to recommend. Everyone was still extremely nice as the runners would even ask how things were. The host also apologized for our dry duck dish - we didn't send anything back, but he heard us say the dish was dry. Very nice guy and he offered free desserts. Food came out at a relatively decent pace.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – Very loud and very crowded - place seats maybe 40-50 at the tables and another 10-12 at the bar. It seemed liked all couples (and groups of couple) at the restaurant. Place was relatively dark, so it was hard to describe the place but in the front there's a tiny L shaped marble bar where the bartenders are doing the high pours of sidra. There's also space against the wall where people can stand, but you constantly get bumped into. We got there at 7:15 on a Friday with no reservation and were seated in an hour 15.
  
• Price 2.0/10 – This was the biggest problem with the whole restaurant - the price was completely outrageous for the drinks. In Spain, sidra and txakolina are fun glasses of sparkling wine, but it was about 1 euro at all the places I visited. Here, they're $9 or $12 which normally would be fine, but they try to replicate Spain and pour you the equivalent of 3-4 sips - maybe 2 ounces...no joke. Plus, the Sidra served here isn't from Spain, but New Hampshire. Completely, WTF in a bad way. The food/service would have been a barely acceptable price point.
  

Closing Comments
It's so sad, since I loved Tia Pol so much but I will 100% never come back here even if the bocata sandwich is one for the ages. I have a price point threshold which Porthos and I talk about all the time. The more expensive the food is; the higher expectation I will have. Here, I guarantee for the same price, I will find another Spanish style restaurant that will make me much happier. The price grade is measures if I'm 100% happy to pay for my experience (food, service, atmosphere) and at Txikito - I 100% was not...

Spain Wrap Up

After sitting and thinking about it, Spain may be my favorite place on Earth right now. The people are so cool and laid back, the buildings magnificent, and the food is 1000% my style. This style of cuisine is definitely overtaking Italian as my favorite right now.

I need to go back ASAP and try:

• The three michelin star greats to see what they're about - El Bulli, Mugaritz, and Arzak.
  
• Go in search of cheeses - I know the cabrales and the manchego, but what else does Spain have to offer?
• Get some real paella - I've had glimpses of some spectacular rice at Moo, but I need to go to Valencia and get the real deal.
• Go to vineyards and find some great wines
• Eat some baby eels, a delicacy that the Spaniards love
  
• La Cuchara de San Telmo - because it's my happy place of a restaurant
  

Ever find a hair in your food? Well...

...look what happened to this poor guy at the Waldorf-Astoria in NYC:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/80705415/

La Cuchara de San Telmo

Intro
La Cuchara de San Telmo - Highly Recommended
Plaza Valle Lersundi (off of 31 de Agosto)
San Sebastian, Spain
Phone: +34 943 420 840‎

Let's cut to the chase. This is by far my favorite restaurant of all time. I've been to some great restaurants in the past - Le Bernardin, Daniel, Jean Georges, French Laundry plus numerous Michelin starred restaurants in Italy and France. But, this place just does it for me. We're not talking about white table cloths and dudes/dudettes in tuxedos serving you, this place is a bar that serves up spectacular flavors and textures. Everyone is so chill there too and just having a good time eating and drinking - kinda like going to a sporting event. La cuchara reminded me of a combo between Au Pied de Cochon and Ko - huge flavors in a relaxed environment. Overall I give the restaurant a 96/100.

Our Menu (my best guess of what we ordered - apologies since the menu was a tad blurry and I don't know the Basque language Euskara)
1) Foie Gras (foie salteado con compota de manzana) **
2) Duck Breast (magret asado con manzana) **
3) Beef Cheek (carrillera de ternera al vino tinto) ***
4) Melted Cheese (queso de cabra a la plantxa relleno)**
5) Duck Confit (confit de pollo "luma gorri") *
6) Sweet Bread (molleja de ternera asada au "tximi-txurri") **
7) Scallop Bacon (vieira "ttoro" en vuelta en tocineta bellota) *
8) Pigs Ears (oreja de ciberico asada, prensada) ***
9) Pork Ribs (costilla de ciberico lacada de vinagre de modena) **
10) Chocolate Ganache (ganatxe de txokolate amargo naranja) **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) The Spaniards love their foie gras and this place does it up right. Great flavor and crunchy from the salt and sear on the outside, but creamy and fun on the inside. Nice with the apple puree.
2) Magret duck made sense with the foie and this was cooked perfectly. Solid duck flavor and surprisingly tender.
3) A complete WTF moment here. Like my knees buckled and I had a hard time seeing after eating this. Uber tender beef cheek and the flavors were so intensely beefy - ridiculous stuff.
4) Kinda like a hunky of cheese that was torched up on the top kinda like a cheese creme brulee. A great fun dish and we 86'd it at around 9pm, so obviously a very popular dish.
5) Tasty duck confit. Not great, but still nice.
6) A great, great sweetbread. They got it so perfect over here. So crispy on the outside, but light and creamy on the inside - really perfect.
7) Solid bacon and scallop dish. Scallop was nicely cooked and slightly sweet, but kinda lost the scallop flavor with the bacon though.
8) Another ridiculous WTF moment. Fatty, meaty, and soft cartilage - a mix of great textures. Huge, huge pork flavors as well. So ridiculous...
9) Tender and meaty pork ribs. Pork flavor is decent, but seems to be drowned out a tad with the vinegar though.
10) Crazy ridiculous chocolate flavors lightened up with the oranges. So rich, chocolaty, and delicious.

Overall Restaurant Experience (96/100)

• Food 9.5/10 – I can't remember another time where there were so many great dishes sprinkled with some WTF dishes (Bar Boqueria not withstanding). The weird thing is everything was so rich and intense, but I don't know if it's the use of vinegar or the fact that the plates were small, but my palate was never weighed down and I wanted to eat more. Beautiful plates as well.
• Service 9.5/10 – You order from the bartenders and supposedly they're arses to non Spanish speakers. I didn't have a problem at all, but I did rock my terrible Spanish. Key phrase "que me recomienda" - what do you recommend. Also, the Berlitz phrasebook helped a ton with menu items. Any who, our bartender was extremely helpful laughing at how much I almost blew my load eating the food. And watching the cooks is pretty cool as well. Not sure, how they do it - just 3 dudes back there (one on la plancha, one on the boilers, and one on plating) and everything was out of control good.
  
• Atmosphere 9.8/10 – Again, this is way more type of environment. Everyone is so chill there having a great time laughing and enjoying the sick food. Very tiny bar with no seats, but you basically eat at the bar or the tiny shelf space behind the bar. Also, as mentioned you get to see into the tiny ass kitchen - no bigger than a tiny bathroom. Got there at 8pm (early for Spaniards) and it was moderately busy - like 15 people. Went back after the real dinner at 9:45 and the place was crazy packed - like 30-40 people. Crowd consisted of groups of fellas and lasses as well as a bunch of couples. Majority were Spanish, but we met some Americans and I heard some German in there as well.
  
• Price 10.0/10 – Each plate is about 3 euro and is a good 3-5 bites. The sidra and tintos are about 1 euro also. All together this probably cost 40 euros. By far the best deal on the planet...
  

Closing Comments
This place was so good we went back after eating at another full sit down restaurant...and proceeded to order 7 more dishes. I wish I found this place earlier cause I would've seriously gone back everyday.

Pintxo Alternatives

Like I said yesterday, I could only take so much of the same fake crab, mayo, tuna, anchovy, sardines, and pepper combos. So, here are some other pintxo alternatives we tried.

Supermarkets
This was by far the best alternative if you're sick of rocking the pintxo/tapas night and day. We roamed the markets and the phenomenal upscale supermarket Don Serapio did it's trick.

Highlights included:

• Doughnut Peach - sugary sweet and ridiculous juicy. The best peach I've ever had
• Jamon Iberico Recebo - chewy at first that somehow ends up melting in your mouth. The funk is what makes this thing amazing. Kinda like a blue cheese type funk with huge pork flavor. I totally dug it although it was crazy expensive - about 79 euros per kg.
• Collar Bellota - basically the best chorizo I've ever had. Incredibly flavorful and ridiculously tender.
• Mousse pato al oporto - chicken liver mousse with port. Creamy and huge flavors with the sweet port and rich chicken livers.
  
• Bread - great flavor, crisp crust, and perfect chewy on the inside. All for 1 euro!

Chinese Food
Ok, I know this sounds ridiculous but we wanted to rock the Chinese food for lunch. Again, we were all tuna/mayo/fake crab'd out, so we decided to check this Chinese joint out - there's a ton in San Sebastian. Food was definitely more of the stuff you get in the burbs, heavy on the corn starch thick sauce with a Spanish twist - everything was overly vinegary. Still satisfying to have some tea and white rice.














McDonald's
I know eating at McDonald's in Spain sounds ridiculous, but we were at the airport flying back to JFK. I was thinking of rolling pintxo's / tapa one last time, but I couldn't do it. So, we settled on good ol' McDonald's and the McDonald's Cafe Menu. Never seen the CBO (chicken, bacon, and onion) before, but it was delicious and I had songs of Born In the USA going through my head. Is McDonald's a curse or a dream to the world? On that day, it was a dream, but on most it's usually a curse...

San Sebastian

After my most excellent adventure in Barcelona, we traveled to San Sebastian - a city that has more Michelin multi-starred restaurants per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world. While I flew to San Sebastian for the high-end food, I fell in love with the pintxo bar scene instead.

Picture this my fellow dudes and dudettes - old school narrow cobble stoned streets with about 10+ pintxo bars on every single block - have to be at least 80 in town. People basically pop into each pintxo joint, grab some drinks and quick eats, then repeat all night long. Think of it like a weird hodge podge of drunken musical chairs with an all you can eat buffet type of feeling. The kicker is that the sidra and wines are about 1 euro and each pintxo/tapas plate is around 2-3 euros each. What you'll see is either items skewered with a toothpick (pintxo), stuff on top of bread (montadito), or small plates of cooked food (I think tapa?). Phenomenal deal and great times...

I'll explain the etiquette as well, since we did not know what to do at first. Most places have plates of food laid out for you. Ask for a plate and start picking. There's an honor system of how much you eat, but they still know...always watching, even if they have their back to you. It was rare but there was occasionally a place that asked you what you ate, so make sure you pay attention. Also, try to get food from plates that come out more recently and avoid plates that sit out there for a long time with no one eating. The final thing I can say is "don't blow your load" eating 20+ items. Sample like 2-3 bites and bounce...if the one you liked best was 3-4 pintxo bars ago, go back! You're an adult and you deserve it ;)

Any who, since we visited about 20+ places, I'll just list out the places that were great and the places that sucked. Btw - although it was hella fun, you do see a lot of the same stuff which can get old if you stay more than 2-3 days...one man can only take so much fake crab, mayo, tuna, anchovy, sardines, and pepper combos. Also another annoying note, be prepared for the smokers since they're allowed at most of the tapas bars...some places like Alona Berri ban the smokers though.

Alona Berri - Highly Recommended
Bermingham 24, 20001, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain‎
Phone: +34 943 290 818‎
Comments - The most interesting of the pintxo joints although off the main section (old town district). Really playing with textures and flavors - definitely more of the sweet and sometimes sour flavors. Pretty delicious stuff, but come here for the hot food which really rock. He's famous for his cooked uni cream and it's pretty delicious, but his beef cheek was spectacular.

Bar Bergara Gros - Highly Recommended
C/ General Arteche / Artetze Jeneralaren Kalea 8, 20002
Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain‎
Phone: +34 943 275 026‎
Comments - We ended up finding this place through the recommendation of a cab driver (Alona Berri was closed for our 2nd attempt). This place is definitely more of a locals joint and it is the best example of the classic pintxo/tapas in my opinion. This wasn't playful, inventive food like Alona Berri, but just solid representations of the pintxo/tapas. Example - loads of places did the tuna mayo combo, but the ones at Bar Bergara were head and shoulders about everyone else. Every dish was like that here...great stuff.

Irutuxlo - Recommended
C/ Puerto / Portu Kalea 9, 20003, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain‎
Phone: +34 943 426 208‎
Comments - Came here for the uni which was pretty sub par after trying Alona Berri's. What was spectacular was the delicious rice and foie gras dish. I would say it's basically like a well done mushroom risotto topped with solid foie gras.



Astelena - Highly Recommended
C/ Iñigo / Eneko Kalea 1, 20003
Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain‎
Phone: +34 943 425 245‎
Comments - The pintxos here are solid, but what kicks massive ars are the hot plates. Spectacular pieces of duck and amazing savory crispy crepes stuffed with foie gras and mushrooms. This place is constantly packed and the guys behind the bar are difficult to get a hold of though...slight dicks.


Bernardo Etxea - Highly Not Recommended
C/ Puerto 7, 20003
Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain‎
Phone: +34 943 422 055‎
Comments - Our concierge recommended Bernardo Etxea as a high quality sit-down restaurant and man was she was way off. The food was serviceable (not great), but the prices were way out of control for the area (23+ euro per plate). We ordered two entrees and took off immediately afterwards.


Restaurante Ubarrechena - Highly Not Recommended
Address: Can't find it and don't remember where it was...just avoid it if you see it!
Comments - Ashamed as we were, I was sick of pintxos after 3-4 days of day and night eating this same stuff. So, I wanted some paella to break up the monotony. We should have known this was a bad idea as there was a huge sign on the street advertising paella. We didn't learn though and had some very subpar paella. Rice was soupy and no socarrat on the bottom. Seafood was very old looking and quite funky...definitely didn't touch it. Place was packed though, but do not be fooled!


Heladeria La Veneziana - Highly Recommended
Calle de Ramiro Gómez Garibay 4
Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
Phone: +34 943 422 116‎
Comments - There are plenty of gelato places in San Sebastian, but this was our favorite in terms of texture and flavor - pistachio had huge flavors and great textures. Pretty f'n delicious and better than the excellent Gelateria Boulevard. Funny thing is they recreate flavors of the tiny chocolate snacks like ferrer rocher and thin mints.

Mall Food

Just about every mall in NJ has a Nathan's HotDog joint.
I kinda dig it. Expectations are met and you get a feeling of July 4th in every bite.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

"Play on Words" I guess

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

DBGB

DBGB - Highly Recommended
299 Bowery St
(between Houston St & 1st St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 460-5777











Couldn't be happier to recommend this casual dining spot that's in a brand new building across the Whole Foods on Houston (below the east village)
Everything my table ordered and was served was outstanding.











- French Bread (Baked in house) **
- Merguez *
- Boudin Basque (Blood Sausage) **
- Bordalaise Sausage (Pork, Mushroom, Bacon stuffed Sausage) ***
- Fromage de Tete (Head Cheese) **
- Pork Rillette
- Pate de Campagnard *
- Chorizo **
- The Frenchie ***
- The Yankee **
- Sundays

There was the right amount of casualness to the serious food being plated in front of us.
Every table there was there for the food and not for the scene or space to just simply hang.
So for a foodie, it's a good thing.
My table and I also peeked into the kitchen, and were glad to see the corporate chef and the corporate pastry chef both there overlooking the stations and making sure things were being done right.
Good to know the right people were working in the back.

And finally, surprisingly, they had one of my favorite beers on tap at the bar, Greenflash West Coast IPA.
And yes, it paired amazingly well with the sausages.

Seattle

I was in Seattle last weekend for a friend's wedding.
It was my first time to visit since being a little kid traveling with my parents.
Naturally, I asked trusted friends of where to visit and there were 3 places I was told to not miss.

One was
Elliott's Oyster House
www.elliottsoysterhouse.com
1201 Alaskan Way # 101
Seattle, WA 98101-2976
(206) 623-4340

2 was

Armandino's Salumi
(owned and operated by Mario Batali's dad)
www.salumicuredmeats.com
309 3rd Ave S
Seattle, WA 98104-2620
(206) 621-8772

and the third was Pike Place Market.
















I'll start with Elliott's. Without a doubt, the best Oyster Bar I've ever been to.
My wife and I ended up ordering (and devouring) 3 dozen oysters and 2 steamed dungenous crabs.
What a treat. We had every single oyster on the menu and every single one had a distinct characteristic.
From clean and briny to rich and creamy. These oysters were off the wall delicious.
Aramis has a great write up on Dudes if you missed it.

Salumi on the other hand was a disappointment. The reason was, it wasn't open.
They take Friday, Saturday and Sunday off... and you guessed it, we were the for those 3 days.
Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

And finally the fresh produce mecca known as Pike Place Market.
When you leave fruits to ripen on the trees and vines, you get superior products.
The climate over on the Pacific Northwest is pristine for various fruits and vegetables. And it shows in the local produce. The rich sun beating down on the fields, literally cooking the fruits to perfection.
So why can't we get that here in the east coast?
Well one reason is, we don't demand it. Simple economics.
We are sensitive to price and that dictates market.
It costs less to transport lower quality goods from the west coast and feed us here in the east coast, than to harvest superior quality goods here in the east coast and eat them here in the east coast. The cost of land, the per capita days for oportune farming factored by the days of sunshine, the amount of rain, etc... all tip the scale and give the west coast the advantage.

So what produce companies do, they buy fruits from the farmers that haven't ripened yet, and load them in containers heading to their mass distribution hubs where they are separated, processed and repacked for individual supermarkets (sometimes across country). All timed to ripen when displayed at the markets.
If the fruit isn't getting neither the sun nor the nutrients from the plant to ripen in it's final stage, you are nowhere near it's full potential in sweetness and flavor. The glucose and fructose have not yet begun to fully mature and that's what we east coasters have to deal with.

Chillin' and Relaxin'

I had an hour to kill Tuesday after work, and before meeting the boys up at Hearth, so I stopped by at Locanda Verde for a little pregame eats.












- Rabbit Terrine **
- Chicken Liver on Toasted Bread
- Porchetta
(The Chicarones that came with the Porchetta) **

All in all, it was pretty good food. The 3 dishes ran me $60 though. So in that light, it was an expensive snack that is hard to justify doing again.
I really wanted to see what Andy C. was doing these days while teamed up with Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro). Although the dishes were executed very well, they were almost more French to me, than Italian.
The Rabbit Terrine was studded with bits of Foie Gras, the Chicken Liver was ultra smooth and garnished with brandy soaked raisins and pickled shallots, and the Porchetta was thinly sliced roasted lean pork loin with 3 or 4 bits of cracklins.

The part that really made me want to leave was the ambiance. A ton of corporate d-bags on dates flashing their wallets to impress the secretary or girlfriends they were with. The vibe was a close clone of Stone Rose, but with better food. The waitstaff were 3 or 4 star restaurant rejects who knew their drink menu by heart but lacked the penchant of the cuisine. Which is most important to me.






















So after this hefty snack, I headed over to Hearth with Aramis and met up the rest of the boys for the Piggie Prix Fixe.
Advertised 3 course for $42 + Drinks and Tax... it was a cool $70 walking out the door.
The food wasn't bad by any means, but I felt it wasn't something I couldn't make at home.
And for $70 a head, thanks but no thanks. I'd rather make it at home.

- Amuse Bouche "Fava Bean Soup Shooter"
- Pork Terrine with Frisee *
- Suckling Pig Roast with Beans and Spinach

Perhaps I'm grossly generalizing and haven't had Hearth's tried and true dishes which the James Beard Foundation adores... but I just didn't see it.
In my case, more often than not, Prix Fixe meals come short of expectations.
After all, it's a way for the restaurant to advertise without really spending the $$ on print ads and or other media. They lure you with the low fixed cost and can cookie cut meals for everyone.

In summary, the night was a success. We got to meet up with great friends and had warm meal with drinks. A chance to catch up and even discover common interests... Keyword, "Heather".

And a dudes night topped off with a trip to 53rd and Broadway never disappoints either.

Tony Bourdain vs. Mario Batali

Bumped into this online - Fun to watch short interview with Anthony Bourdain and Mario Batali:

http://www.travelchannel.com/Video_&_Photos/Video_Detail?lineupId=17783092001&titleId=28760066001

Bar Inopia - Recommended

Intro
Bar Inopia - Recommended
C/ Tamarit 104
08015 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 934 245 231

Bar Inopia is the restaurant of Albert Adria, pastry chef of the world renowned El Bulli restaurant which is the immediate reason I wanted to check it out. Although this restaurant is owned by the Brother's Adria, there is not a foam to be seen any where. Instead, this place has the best canned ingredients and does some solid tapas. Overall, I give the restaurant a 86/100.

Our Menu
1) Gilda - anchovy, peppers, olives **
2) Chicharricos de cerdo - pork cracklings *
3) Ensalada de tomate con cebolla tierna y ventresca de bonito Tuna, Tomato, and Scallion Salad ***
4) Patates Braves *
5) Croquettas **
6) Bomba de l’Eixample ***
7) Bikini de Pernil *
8) Piña con piel de lima y melaza de caña ***
9) Cireres al Perfum *
10) Poulpe a la Galicia

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Gilda is the classic pintxo that you see in a lot of pintxo and tapas bars. Pintxo being the tiny bites held together by a toothpick. A really fun dish with salty meaty anchovies combined with crunchy and sour peppers with a great olive.
2) Basically, pork cracklings that were store bought. Nothing special here, but still fun.
3) This is the first stand out WTF dish. The canned tuna here was out of site - great tuna flavor, really rich, and turns from meaty to almost creamy. The combination of the tomato and scallions were such a revelation that they really perfectly matched. Definitely a dish I will try to recreate.
4) Supposedly, the best patatas braves according to Batali - basically fried potatoes with a creamy and spicy sauce. These were decent, but no where near the best - flavors of the potato and the sauce were a little underwhelming . Supriginsly, the best I've ever had were at Tia Pol in NYC when the place first opened up.
5) Insanely creamy croquettes. Slightly crispy on the outside and creamy and light on the inside. Flavors was decent, but the texture was dynamo.
6) Another WTF dish. Again, slightly crispy on the outside, a creamy thin layer of potato, and inside flavorful really moist ground beef (flavorings of cumin) and spicy sweet sauce. Delicious stuff. Nice play of textures and flavors for each of the well constructed layers.
7) A good ham and cheese sandwich. Nuff said.
8) A ridiculously wonderful dessert. Sweet, juicy pineapple topped with lime zest and molasses which added a nice citrusy and sweet kick. Completely wonderful on the palate.
9) We saw everyone eating these cherries and we had to have some. Cherries were steeping in a liquorice liquor and sprayed with some more of the liquor combo at the end. Very bright, pleasant combo which also made the cherries very juicy.
10) These ocotopi were incredibly tender, but had obsolutely zero flavor. Kinda bummer...the olive oil was incredibly rich though.

Overall Restaurant Experience (86/100)

• Food 8.6/10 – Expecting a phenomenal tapas bar, but ended up with a solid one instead. The canned tuna was out of this world, but everything else was mainly good with some being great. The fried dishes had some ridiculously good textures though.
• Service 8.5/10 – The servers were very nice and incredibly helpful. It was funny that they looked like NASCAR drivers wearing the bar inopia t-shirt with a ridiculous amount of sponsors.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – A narrow white room with only one table. Around the bar, their are stools but around the back you can eat, but it's standing room only. In the front of the bar, you see all the cooks preparing the food for you like most tapas restaurants. Crowds consisted mainly of young couples - there was one group of middle aged women. Big problem is there is no reservation (only for the big table) and the wait is absurd. About 45 minutes for a Tuesday night at 7pm.
  
• Price 7.5/10 – Not too pricey as the whole meal was 70 euro for the both of us. However, comparing to other tapas bars it is very very expensive - and most importantly not that much better.
  

Closing Comments
Barcelona Girl warned me that this place is great for the canned products, but everything else is pretty average. Too some extent she's probably right and I don't think I would go again based on the wait. Too many other great tapas joints to check out...

Quickest way to peel a banana

TIM HORTONS HITS NYC HARD

I have only heard of Timmies, NOW its time to find out if it can beat out DD!!!! I heard the coffee is top notch too. I am going to make my way to their 42nd St location today!

http://www.timhortons.com/us/en/about/nyc.html

Churros Run

One of the main things I wanted to eat in Barcelona was churros dipped in chocolate. Churros is basically fried dough - kinda like a zeppole. Based on Barcelona Girl's recommendation, we checked out Xurreria for churros and La Granja for chocolate. As usual, she was spot on. The churros was perfect by itself - a weird combination of crisp on the outside, yielding to chewiness and airiness. But, dipped in the chocolate picante it was heaven. Chocolate picante is the way to go as it has the perfect amount of spice to wake up the churros. Spectacular place and La Granja let's you bring the churros over to dip into their chocolate - kinda like a hot chocolate but much thicker and less sweet. Both are very inexpensive as well - about 1 euro for 1 gram

Xurreria - Highly Recommended
8 stores north on the same side of the street as La Granja
Barcelona, Spain

La Granja - Highly Recommended
c/ Banys Nous 4, Gotico
Barcelona, Spain

Bar Boqueria - Review

Intro
Bar Boqueria - Highly Recommended
Carrer de La Boqueria
Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 933 182 584

Bar Boqueria was actually my second choice in the large Barcelona market, La Boqueria. The first place I originally wanted to check out, Bar Pinotxo, was closed, but there is no way it could have topped what I had at Bar Boqueria. Perfectly cooked, incredibly flavorful and fresh ingredients. Just a perfect experience. Overall, I give the restaurant a 92/100.

Our Menu
1) Mussels (mejillones) ***
2) Pig Cheek (galtas) ***
3) Tripe (callos) ***
4) Shrimp (gambas) ***
5) Eggplant Omelet (tortilla berenjena) *

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) Incredibly fresh mussels perfectly cooked. Juicy, meaty, tender, and fresh ocean flavor. Ridiculous and it tasted like they topped it with an olive oil, garlic, parsley mixture. Just sick - seriously...WTF!
2) Insanely flavorful sauce that was heavy on the chorizo flavor and combined with tomato and red pepper. Pig cheek was ridiculously tender and had great porky flavor. Another WTF dish. Another benefit was pulling some gelatin out from the pig jaw. It was like the best bone marrow, but with this incredible pork flavor.
3) I pointed to a dish and asked what it was (in my terrible Spanish). The grill dude mentioned it was tripe and I wouldn't like it. A little irritated, I swore to the dude I would definitely love it. He gave me a sample and it was another homerun WTF moment. Very tender and great tripe flavor accompanied by a wonderfully rich tomato / red pepper broth. Perfect tripe.
4) I really couldn't take this place anymore as it was just getting too much - every single dish was ridiculously perfect. It would be like sleeping with every single playboy playmate for a year...yes, I'm referring to Scott Baio. Any who, they saved the best for last. The shrimp was amazing...tied with Moo for the best shrimp or even lobster that I've ever had in my life. Moo was the best fancy shrimp/lobster, Bar Boqueria was the best rustic version. Juicy shrimp that was so tender and such huge sweet shrimp flavor. Top that off with the garlic, parsley, olive oil thing again and I was in complete heaven. What pushed this over the top was the shrimp brains that you suck that was spectacular - like the best tasting livers that had an oceany sweetness to it.
5) After so many WTFs, this was good but not great. The planets realigned and everything was right again. Basically a thick fluffy egg omelet with sweet eggplant inside. Still good, but the first non great dish.




Overall Restaurant Experience (92/100)

• Food 9.8/10 – First time I've had basically the whole menu as the WTF's. WTF!!!
  
• Service 8.5/10 – The barmen was nice to us, but complete arses too everyone else. When he saw we were going nuts over the food, he started telling us what else we should get. We ordered way too much food and he didn't stop us, but that was fine by me. It did take a while to get their attention though, since the guy that takes your order also cooks in front of you.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – La Boqueria is a huge food market and towards the back stands Bar Boqueria. The place is basically a big u-shaped box where people sit around (kinda like a sushi stall). There are stools around the bar that you sit at and it is insanely cramped there, especially since we ordered too much food. Almost every single seat was taken at 3pm on a Wednesday and it seemed like 50% spanish speaker and 50% non-spanish speakers. I heard/spotted some Americans, Italians, Asians. It's pretty chaotic in the market and at the bar which I normally wouldn't mind, but it wasn't so great there for some reason.
  
• Price 8.5/10 – Everything was pretty inexpensive except the gambas which was 17 euro. I didn't care though, since that was spectacular.
  

Closing Comments
This is definitely my happy place zone in terms of food. It's amazing what fresh ingredients taste like...kinda reminded me of Italian food where they stress the freshest ingredients and simple cooking techniques. This place just popped though and was better than anything I had in Amalfi. Killer place. Afterwards, check out the juices in the area which you can buy for a Euro...the watermelon juice was out of control good.

Moo - Review

Intro
Moo - Highly Recommended
C/ Rosselló 265
08008 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 934 454 000

Checked out this place based on Barcelona Girl's recommendation and she definitely led us in the right direction - all her other rec's were spot on as well. Moo is a beautiful restaurant and the plating matches the decor. And don't worry my friends, the food is delicious here. This was our only "fancy pants" restaurant in Barcelona since I was in love with the casual food scene, but this definitely makes me want to check out other high-end restaurants. Overall, I give the restaurant an 94/100.

Our Menu
1) Amuse - Chicharron, Red Pepper Chips *, Chocolate Cookie with Foie Gras **, Goat Cheese Pastry *, Ice Cream Cones filled with a mousse (?)
2) Endive Salad with Fish Skin *, Sardine, Sangria Sorbet ***
3) Octopus and Potato Cream **
4) Strawberry, Tomato and Basil's Soup with Cockles
5) Dublin Bay Prawns with Curry, Roses, and Liquorice ***
6) Apricot with foie gras and almonds **
7) Rice with seaweed and black sausage ***
8) Guineafowl with plums and dried peach
9) Wild turbot with tender garlic **
10) Parfait with almonds, hazelnuts, and orange ***
11) Petit Four - Chocolate covered strawberry sorbet **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way


Dish Comments
1) Didn't know what to expect, but the amuse had nice and light flavors and was a great palate opener. I don't 100% remember what was in the ice cream cone and didn't make any notes on it, but the foie gras with the chocolate crisp was a phenomenal combo. Not punch you in the face flavor, but really fun.
2) The sangria sorbet was amazing - nice, sweet, and fruity which matched the really salty and meaty sardine. Definitely a nice WTF eye opener of what they're doing here - playing with big time flavors combining savory and sweet. Awesome stuff. The side endive salad with the fish skin was nice as well.
3) Another odd but delicious combo for me. One of the most tender octopus dishes I've ever had with a heavenly potato puree. I've bitched about NY's fascination with overly buttery potato purees, but this made sense here and matched perfectly with the octopus.
4) This was a case of sense memory making me dislike a dish. When I read strawberry soup, I thought a nice light and sweet soup that would match with the salty cockles. However, it was more like a gazpacho that was salty and sour which threw me off and it actually didn't taste good to me. The sweetness would have been perfect to play off the salty and tender cockles.
5) One of the biggest WTF moments ever on this humble blog for me. This was the best shrimp or lobster dish I've ever had. Ripert wishes he could have this dish at Le Bernardin. The prawn was a matter of perfection in texture and flavor. It had such a meaty initial texture that was ridiculously tender at the same time. The flavor of the prawns were times 10 and so incredibly sweet and succulent. Then add the perfect curry mayo that really enhanced the sweetness - don't worry were not talking authentic tandori spices, but just a really light curry that made the dish pop.
6) Great foie gras mousse that paired nicely with the peach that was either barely poached or even served raw. The peach could have used a teeny bit of cooking though. The white almonds were a great touch and really flavorful.
7) Perfect rice texture and ridiculous earthy flavors of seaweed. The fried oysters put this dish in to another spectrum for flavors. Add in the surprisingly perfect zucchinis (sweet and the perfect texture of a little crunch) and you had a phenomenally satisfying rice dish.
8) Guineafowl pate was good at first, but the flavors were too intense for me. Too much demi or something. I still finished it, but needed to be toned down.
9) Another seafood dish, another example of perfect execution. The turbot was perfectly cooked - so tender, so succulent, and so flavorful. Paired nicely with the spring onion, what looked like squid ink (salty), and a nice cream (may have been alioli, but not sure)
10) A homerun dessert for me - completely happy WTF moment. Almond ice cream was delicious and not too sweet. Combine that with the ridonkulous toffy (great crunch), perfect chocolate parfait, and orange gelee and that was bliss for me.
11) Perfect way to end the meal and again completely surprised. The strawberry sorbet was so intensely flavored and had the perfect texture with the chocolate wrapped around.











Overall Restaurant Experience (94/100)

• Food 9.4/10 – This place reminded me of Ko challenging your conceptions of food - rocking the sweet with the savory. Playing around texturally with food. But, I feel the technique here is much better. Some of the proteins here were sublime like on a level of Le Bernardin and in some cases surpassing it. The dishes started strong and ended strong which is quite rare...
  
• Service 9.0/10 – Waiter's were great - very attentive and food came out actually slightly too quick. Towards the end they paced the meal better.
• Atmosphere 9.3/10 – Gorgeous place - kinda like eating at MOMA or something. Good spacing between tables and loads of light in the restaurant. By the window, there are large bamboo trees which are really nice to look at. Place was empty at 1:30 on a Tuesday and due to the size (seats 50-70), it really felt completely empty. Another couple arrived though at 2:30, but that was about it. The other couple was Spanish speakers and in there 40's or 50's. Oddly enough, although the place looks like it should be in a museum, it was really not stuffy at all - felt very relaxed and casual. Had reservations and were seated immediately even though we didn't need it.
  
• Price 9.3/10 – Phenomenal deal here for lunch - 45 Euro per person for all that food and wine. The only thing I supplemented was the prawns which were to die for.
  

Closing Comments
If I went back to Barcelona for one day only, one of the stops would be Moo for that prawn dish. Granted, I would eat 10 times that day, but that prawn dish would be at the top of the list for me :)

Don't Try This at Home Dept.

German blows hands off trying 'molecular gastronomy'

It's fun to get creative at home, but some things are better left to the professionals.

Quimet & Quimet - Review

Intro
Quimet & Quimet - Highly Recommended
C/ Poeta Cabanyes 25
08004 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 934 423 142

My first night in Barcelona and we hit one out of the park by going to Quimet & Quimet. This place was so ridiculous and I guarantee you will not experience this anywhere outside of Spain. Premise of the joint is that it's a tapas bar, but a lot of the stuff you get is basically canned seafood. This may not sound great, but trust me - this is no chicken of the sea your getting here. Basically, incredibly fresh seafood cooked and sealed in high quality extra virgin oil - when it ages the flavors get intense and the texture is perfect. That is only half the battle though - you have the expert tapa barman creating these masterpieces in front of you. Kinda like a sushi chef having the same ingredients in front of him, but creating something completely different each time. Overall, I give the restaurant an 93/100.

Our Menu
1) Seafood Platter - baby clams, razor clams, mussels, squid ***
2) Duck and Foie Gras Pate, Caramelized Onions, Balsamic Glaze ***
3) Smoked Salmon, Truffle Honey, Creme Fraiche ***
4) Pickles, Tomato, Sardines
5) Pickles, Anchovies, Olive Stuffed Anchovy, Red Peper ***
6) Second Random Plate - Foie Gras, Mushrooms, Dried Tuna, Dried Beef **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way



















Dish Comments
1) A big time WTF moment - all canned seafood, all spectacular. Like I said before, this is not your normal chicken of the sea tuna. The seafood had such a great flavor - sometimes sweet, sometimes rich. I was experiencing a Yasuda zen moment - where each piece of seafood tasted spectacular in it's own different way. Like what I've seen in England, the vinegar added the perfect pop to the plate.
2) A really great fun dish to eat and my first montadito which is basically bread with small ingredients on it. Sweet onions, rich pate, and sweet balsamic reduction make for a wtf moment of flavors. This combo makes sense and it was hella delicious.
3) My favorite dish of the night. Smoky fatty salmon, topped with sweet and earthy truffle honey, and light creme fraiche. A ridiculous explosion of textures and flavors but more importantly I had the most ridiculous smile on my face after eating this. Definitely going to recreate this very soon.
4) A nice dish, but the sardines totally caught me off guard as they were crazy fishy. An OK dish and I generally like sardines, but these were hella strong.
5) Another dish, another WTF moment. More of the same with combinations of the salty meaty anchovy, sour crunchy pickles, and sweet peppers. Huge flavors and a perfect combo.
6) The final random plate the tapa maestro laid down for us - mushrooms, more of the pate, and this time slices of foie gras which caught the attention of others as it wasn't displayed on the bar. Foie was decent, but not great; the mushrooms were solid but the killer item here were the cured tuna and beef. Again, huge flavors and the only thing I can compare them too was a jamon iberico although less intense. Perfect texture, a little chew before melting away and the curing made it so much more intese.
















Overall Restaurant Experience (93/100)

• Food 9.3/10 – An amazing combination of textures and flavors. Everything was so bright and vibrant. Writing this review is pretty tough, since I want to eat all of those dishes right now!
• Service 9.5/10 – I didn't see any menus, so I basically rocked the "que me recomienda" and the tapa man got everything for us - he spoke some English though. Really cool dude and he knew exactly when to come over with new random plates. Again, very cool how he asked us what we liked and would make up new dishes in front of us based on our answer...so awesome.
  
• Atmosphere 9.5/10 – Total sushi zen moment as you see all the ingredients laid out in front of you like a sushi bar and there are two people behind the bar ready to take your order. Ingredients available to purchase are displayed all along the walls of the tiny 200 sq foot room (no seats and no tables). People eat a tad later in Spain, so I was surprised to see it crazy packed at 7pm on a Thursday. Place was packed about 80% Spanish speakers and 20% Americans/Brits/Aussies. Everyone was very friendly and just having a great time there.
  
• Price 10.0/10 – Ok this was the best part. This whole meal was under 30 euro...a big time WTF moment for the amount that we ate. This included many a cava - the sparkling wine in that area. Btw - cava everywhere in Barcelona was 1-2 euro...
  

Closing Comments
What a fun place and such a great food experience. Granted, there's probably better tapas in Barcelona, but for the service, atmosphere, and price it'll be hard to eat.

BBQ Birthday Bash for Jon and Rob

Stopped by Jon and Rob's place for their excellent BBQ Birthday Bash...bub. Great times and the food was delicious. This year's theme were meats around the world and they kicked some massive ars. My faves were the tender and delicious lamb meatballs (rockin the chorizo type spices) and the ridiculous homemade hot dogs - flavorful and the best snap to em. Any who, happy birthday fellas - good times and spectacular food.

Menu

• UK Crisps
• Asian Marinated Ribs - tasted like hoisin but much flavorful and more fun (no hoisin in the marinade)
• Jerk Marinated Pork Belly
• Lamb Meatballs (tasted like Chorizo, but could have been Moroccan spices)
• Homemade Hot Dogs
• Homemade Ice Cream - Creamsicle and Vanilla Bean

Bah-Bye

I'll admit I was happy when I heard Kobe Club was closed for business. But when I walked passed it this afternoon and saw the wooden planks on the front doors hammered shut, I was overjoyed.
Although I'm not a fan of Bruni, I'm happy he got to see this before stepping down in a few days as the NY Times food critic. Chodorow's Kobe Club was a disgrace to the city's long history of steakhouses and will not be missed by any serious carnivores for sure.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

London Wrap Up

London was great time seeing some old and new friends. Overall, I enjoyed the food I had, but wasn't 100% blown away by anything except the produce and cheese. I also enjoyed the fascination with the vinegary flavors and the ever so interesting brown sauce - kinda like A1, but a tad more vinegar.

Still great times though and next time I need to check out:

• Curry - I've heard it's the best you can get outside of India
  
• Marco Pierre White's restaurants - classic British fare including loads of game meats
• Lord Fluffernutter mentioned there's a great Irish pub that serves solid Thai food
  
• St John's for the whole roast pig
• More research into the best fish and chips - I do dig it
  
• A proper english breakfast - I had brunch there, but wasn't necessarily worth mentioning

Next week off to Spain and reviewing my favorite restaurant experience ever...

The Gun - Review

Intro
The Gun - Highly Recommended
27 Coldharbour Ln
London, SE5, United Kingdom
Phone: 020 7515 5222

Met up some friends in London and they wanted to take us to the Gun - an old timey pub that serves some very solid food. Surprisingly, the desserts were phenomenal - I felt like Gromit after the cheese plate. Great times with some friends - thanks again Mark and Elina! Overall, I give the restaurant an 85/100.

Our Menu
1) Pig's trotter terrine, pork crackling and apple sauce **
2) Foie gras poached in red wine, balsamic strawberries *
3) Roast Halibut, Peas, Blueberries, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes *
4) Diver caught scallops, crispy roe, ox tongue and parsley purée *
5) Summer berry trifle, Champagne jelly ***
6) Cheese Plate ***

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way


Dish Comments
1) The terrine had a great pork flavor and nice texture with the gelatin surrounding it. Like a lot of English dishes, this had a perfect touch of vinegar as well to balance out the fat - the side salad of chicory also helped. Crackling unfortunately was way too hard.
2) Foie Gras was nice, but as I've said before it's hard to be wowed by it after eating so much. I don't believe I've had strawberries with FG before, so that was nice.
3) Halibut was nicely cooked (tender and flaky) and filled with the appropriate spring/summer accompaniments. Funny though that the Halibut was brushed with butter, but it totally worked. Peas and blueberries were an interesting combo - second fruit appearing on a savory dish. These added great texture and sweetness to the dish.
4) Scallops were sweet and nicely cooked. The ox was overly salty, but combining it together with the scallop and chicory salad made a nice combo - balance of salt, bitter, and sweet.
5) A big time WTF moment. I've had cheeses all over Europe before, but I don't remember getting my ass kicked this much before. Spectacular f'n cheeses, but unfortunately I was so blissed out I didn't write down what cheeses we had that night - I think we had a brie, goat, blue, and two others. In general, all the cheeses were extremely runny, pungent, and earthy. 4 out of 5 cheeses were out of this world, but my favorite was one with a pink rind.
6) Another WTF moment. I've had trifle before, but this was out of control good. Creamy and chocolaty with the chocolate chips on top, but the kicker was the excellent champagne jelly and the great berries inside. A perfect combo and great seasonal dessert.

Overall Restaurant Experience (85/100)

• Food 8.6/10 – Great food for an upscale pub, but what really caught me were the phenomenal desserts. Still sad I can't have cheese plates like that in the States.
• Service 8.6/10 – Waiter was attentive and food came out at a good pace.
• Atmosphere 8.6/10 – Interesting place as it's basically a pub, but there's a seating area with white table cloths and fine china all setup. Place was pretty busy for a Monday night and it consisted of some couples and a very large group. At the bar, there were a bunch of men sitting around drinking - seemed like my type of place. The place was decorated with guns and paintings of maritime war. Outside, you get to check out the O2 which was such a spectacular view. Got there at 7:30 and were seated promptly - we had reservations which seemed like a smart idea.
• Price 8.0/10 – Place seemed reasonable (from a US point of view) for pricing. All entrees were under 20 pounds and the starters were under 10 pounds. Well worth it in my opinion.

Closing Comments
Great times and solid food. If I lived in London, I could see myself hanging out for drinks and getting that cheese plate quite often.

Random Musings about London

Stayed at our friend's place in London and since they had a ridiculous kitchen (induction cookers and double convection ovens!), I had to do some cooking to thank our gracious hosts Stefan and Cherey (thanks!) for letting us stay there. The produce looked spectacular at Mark and Spencer's (a high end grocery store), but all the meats and seafood were shrink wrapped??? WTF? No fish monger or meat guy anywhere on site. Even the mussels came in a sealed box??


Any who, I have to admit the produce were spectacular. The santini tomatoes were by far the sweetest I've ever had. Almost like eating candy which was kinda weird. Basically tossed that with some spectacular pasta (Mark and Spencer brand imported for Italy), corn and basil. This pasta was so good it had some great chew to it 45 minutes after cooking it - I had thirds :) Corn was also insanely good, but New Jersey corn is still tops in my opinion.

It was also interesting seeing the labeling of the produce firsthand. The country, farm name, and even the strength of cheese 1-4 (4 being uber stank) is on every single label. Looks like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey are making an impact over there - I don't forsee Sandra Lee or Rachel Ray transforming the grocery stores for the better in America.

Even the airport had the UK sandwich shop Pret A Manger. We have this store in NYC as well, but not at the airports. Usually the US airport options are limited - aka shitty. The all day sandwich (eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, and sprouts) was a welcome change and interesting to see their slogan - they make everything that day and whatever they don't sell they give to food kitchens. Good stuff and I like the variety.

St John's - Review

Intro
St John's - Highly Recommended
26 St. John St
London, EC1M 4AY
Phone: 020 72510848

Declared by Anthony Bourdain as his favorite restaurant on Earth, I had incredibly high expectations of this place. Like most foodies, I dig the quinta quarta or the fifth cut of meat, the offal, the good stuff. This place does the quinta quarta up right, but it's quite odd. White table cloths and waiters rocking their starched whites, but all the apps I was eating with my fingers which I dig doing. Just felt odd doing it in the nicer setting. Overall, I give the restaurant an 86/100.

Our Menu
1) Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad ***
2) Rolled Pig's Spleen and Bacon **
3) Langostine with Mayonnaise (special) **
4) Tripe, Carrots, and Bacon **
5) Grilled Ox Heart and Courgettes *
6) Greens **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way

Dish Comments
1) I've had tons of bone marrow in my day, but I've never had a topping of parsley, caper, and shallots before. Definite a wtf moment. The parsley, caper, and shallots adds such a nice brightness and balance to the rich bone marrow. Great f'n stuff. Plus it was fun to play with this medieval torture device that you use to extract the bone marrow...
2) The pig spleen was creamy and had a liver like flavor. Balances well with fatty flavorful bacon...unsmoked I believe. Great, great stuff. Again, the ever presence of the high note (vinegary, tart stuff) with the cornichons, pickled red onions, and side of red vinegar in a bowl. Helps cut the rich food which I dug a lot.
3) Perfectly cooked langostine. Sweet, firm, and very flavorful. Spicy mayonnaise adds extra body to the light langostine. Wished the shrimp brains were more flavorful though.
4) The tripe was tasty, but not great at first. I was so digging the Mexican style tripe (crispy, tender, flavorful), but St John's version eventually won me over. Tender, fatty, and great with bacon. Sweet carrots matched perfectly with the dish.
5) Ox heart had huge, huge beefy flavor. The sweet courgettes (zucchinis) was a perfect balance to the meat.
6) Although the greens didn't look like much, they tasted fantastic - similar to a kale, but more tender. I believe the veg were lightly boiled and finished with a tiny bit of butter. May need to try this next time I cook up some leafy veggies.

Overall Restaurant Experience (86/100)

• Food 8.6/10 – Not the best restaurant experience I've ever had, but the food is pretty fun to eat. I loved how the main ingredient always stood out, but was perfectly accompanied by something else - like the acidic notes or the sweet notes.
• Service 7.5/10 – Average service and it did take a while for the servers to get to us. Food came out at a solid pace though. Server was nice though.
  
• Atmosphere 8.0/10 – White tablecloths, but get to eat with your hands. Weird at first, but I kinda dug it. The surrounding atmosphere though is just white brick walls - kinda like a beer hall, but everything is white. Crowd consisted of couples young and old and also a bunch of large groups. At 6:30 on a Saturday the place was empty, but around 7:30 it was packed. We had reservations and were seated immediately, but if you have to wait there's a bar right outside.
  
• Price 8.5/10 – Great deal for the happiness factor. Entrees were around 15 pounds - about 70 pounds total for the two of us which included a couple of drinks.
  

Closing Comments
Really fun place although not the best place for offal - Italy and Mexico still have a special place in my heart for the nasty bits...pun intended. Next time I'm back in London I need to go back with more people, since you can order a whole roasted pig which looked spectacular. Side note - the traditional English brew is bitters, but after rocking the Dogfish bitters are really quite bland. Not that hoppy and a little bit weird as it's not really very cold.

Toff's - Review

Intro
Toff's - Highly Recommended
38 Muswell Hill Broadway,
London, N10 3RT, United Kingdom‎
Phone: 020 88838656‎

The first thing I wanted when I landed in London was some fish and chips and a nice pint - something a Yank in theory cannot get back in the States. Unfortunately, not all fish and chip shops are created equal. One of the first joints we went to the f'n fish batter was soggy as a mother f'er and there were huge pinbones in it. Not good times at all. Fortunately, we stumbled upon Toff's in the Muswell Hill section (burbs) and it was definitely the best I've ever had - hence the highly recommended. I would like to find a better shop though, which I'm assuming there has to be. Overall, I give the restaurant an 78/100.

Our Menu
1) Cod Filet and Chips **
2) Toff's Fish Cakes **

Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way * Good ** Great *** What the F – in a good way


Dish Comments
1) Cod is the proper fish to get I've heard so figured why not go with the locals. Unlike some of the stuff we get in the States, they definitely used an entire ginormous filet of really fresh fish. It was insanely moist and flaky and you could really taste the fish...no Mrs. Paul's fish sticks here my friends. Great stuff. Oddly though, the batter was not crispy at all but merely just there to get a coating - not oily by any means though. The chips (or potatoes) were the same - not crispy at all, but you get this huge potato flavor and it was super creamy on the inside.
2) This was nice and crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Huge, flavors - probably a combo of mayo, cod, and pickles. Great stuff.









Overall Restaurant Experience (78/100)

• Food 7.9/10 – Great fish and chip shop. Maybe someone can clear this up for me, but again the 2-3 joints we went to for fish and chips we never had a crispy coating on the fish or chips. Also, at this joint the malt vinegar was not that vinegary which was a surprise to me. Still very good and makes me want to check out some fish and chip shops back in NYC.
  
• Service 7.0/10 – Took a while to get our order and also to get the food. The waiter was extremely nice - a young 20 something kid and accommodating.
  
• Atmosphere 7.5/10 – Looks like a bar. Dark wood paneling, dark wood table, dark wood floors. Relatively narrow bar space seating about 20-30. Got there on a Saturday at 1pm and were seated no problem. Crowd consisted of loads of over 50 and 60 year olds. We definitely brought the average age down.
  
• Price 7.4/10 – About 11 pounds (cost, not weight) for the filet, but that thing was a monster. It looked like it came from a 10 pound fish or something. But, I've heard that this is pretty expensive for fish and chips though...still worth it in my opinion.
  

Closing Comments
Great fish and chips joint and according to the shop, it is award winning. I've seen that a bunch in Europe - loads of restaurants enter competitions and proudly display their winnings on the wall. It'd be funny to see Daniel Boulud enter a sea bass en papillote competition and have it displayed up at his restaurant.

London and Spain

Just got back from my trip to London and Spain, so I'm hijacking this flog for the next few days and going to highlight some of the highs and lows of the trip. Definitely a great time and London's food does not suck contrary to popular belief here in the States. It's quite good and the produce selection was great.

Over in Spain, I tested my limit with overindulgence of tapa, pintxo, cava, and sidra. Also, I've found my soul mates in terms of restaurants over in Barcelona and San Sebastian. Any who, phenomenal trip and thanks to those who helped plan it...

Happy 4th Dudes!

Bento

thanks to Wiki...

Bentō ((べんとう) or べんとう) is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables as a side dish. Containers range from disposable mass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento is readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops ((や), bentō-ya), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakers to spend considerable time and energy producing an appealing boxed lunch.

Bento can be very elaborately arranged. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements. The food is often decorated to look like people, animals, or characters and items such as flowers and plants. This style of elaborate bento is called kyaraben.

Here is a Bento Box I made for a seminar Tuesday night.

Bo Ssam at Ssam Bar

Momofuku Ssam - Highly Recommended
207 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10003
212-254-3500

I may be the last foodie in NYC to try the Momofuku Bo Ssam, but I finally did it.
At $200 for the dish itself, some may say it's too damn expensive, but I'm not ashamed to admit it's worth every penny.

Trust me when I say this was a life changing experience.
Said to feed 8, I went with a group of (late 20/early 30 year olds) 6 guys and we devoured the 12 pound shoulder like ravaging beasts.

Not to mention, we had about 10 other dishes prior to the 8 hour slowly roasted carcass of meat.
Gluttony never tastes so good!