On my way, I stopped to take a picture of the Sunrise Grill truck because I didn’t have my camera when I got some of their tasty jerk chicken.

Chef Samir owns the Comme Ci Comme Ça truck and usually takes the orders. He is super friendly, which is not always the case with truck vendors unfortunately.

The Basmati Royale is the truck’s most expensive item at a whopping $10. Well worth it considering how packed full of meat it was. There was a couple sauce options, but I opted for the hot with some white sauce. It looked much prettier when Chef Samir drizzled the sauces on, but not so much after the walk back to my office. Be careful of the hot sauce, it has quite the kick.

They have a nice grill in the truck, so all the meats get some good char. The kofta maybe a touch too much so. The merguez was my favorite by far; spicy with great flavor. Don’t worry Mom, there was some salad, chickpeas and roasted vegetables mixed in so it wasn’t too unhealthy.

All in all, it was a pretty good “Friday” lunch meaning it isn’t something you would want to eat everyday, but nice once in a while. Chef Samir has gotten quite the following so don’t be surprised to find a line. Go for the merguez!

Check their Twitter for location info!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

On the way to the ferry, I noticed there was a little farm set up in Battery Park. Looks pretty cool. Dare you to eat a carrot grown there!

Once we got to the island, it was still about 20 minutes before the 11 am VIP start. I ended up talking to the person next to me in line whose friend went on Sunday. Apparently there was some confusion about serving beer before noon on a Sunday so the VIP preview ended up being a bust. The free food also turned out to be a “taste” from each of the trucks. Considering it was AYCE, I didn’t think it was a big deal that we wouldn’t being getting full portions. As the clock struck 11, the hundred or so of us got free reign of the fairground. The first ferry of the day was at 10 then 11 then every half hour after that, so it was a little while before more people came across the river. That was well worth the sacrifice of sleeping in on Memorial Day.

CT says: I was pretty disappointed to find out it was a “tasting” and that most trucks weren’t offering a choice from their menu. But looking back, I shouldn’t have been surprised given the AYCE aspect.

Since we had a bunch of friends with us, we planned our attack while waiting for the gates to open. Priority number one was securing an umbrella covered picnic table. It wasn’t actually an issue since we were one of the first groups in line and we ended up keeping the table for the entire day. For anyone in the NYC area, you knew how brutally hot it was over the long weekend. Although there were plenty of trees offering shade on the perimeter, it was nice to have some shade smack dab in the middle of things.

The brewers in “Brewers PicNyc” turned out to be Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint, and Goose Island. They were strategically placed around the fairground, so as to minimize congestion for the thirsty masses. We were all impressed that Sixpoint’s offering included full cans of their Crisp lager for the VIPs. The Crisp made for a great summertime beer. Each of the breweries had a handful of offerings. We were all quite happy with the selections and the ease of getting a fresh and free beer. This definitely accounted for making the most out of the $55 admission.

One of the first trucks to form a long line, and a line that kept getting longer and longer, was the Kimchi Taco Truck. Their sample of was two pieces of rice cake. I took a picture of DY’s portion. Once I saw what the sample was and the length of the line, I passed on trying it myself. Unfortunately some of the vendors went super cheap on the samples. All of the samples were for people who paid for VIPs, and sometimes also for those who bought individual “meal” tickets, so I think they could have splurged a little more. The cheap vendors only cared about selling off their full menu at regular price.

CT says: I was really excited to try the Kimchi truck and incredibly disappointed at their offering. However, as disappointed as I was, after seeing their full meal offerings I’ll still be trying them when I catch them in the neighborhood.

I saw there was no line at Pizza Moto, so I headed over there first. They had small slices of fresh pizza. I was impressed to see the fresh mozzarella and basil. The sauce was nice and tangy, while the crust had some nice char.

When CT did some scouting around earlier, she saw that the brand new Luke’s Lobster truck was there. Of course, she ran over there first since she had enjoyed Luke’s before. Their sample ended up being a small shrimp roll. Some people were disappointed it wasn’t a small lobster roll, but I was ok with it. They would have gone through a TON of lobster. The shrimp was good as before on top of a butter bomb roll.

CT says: My initial disappointment here was quickly fixed after tasting the shrimp – so fresh and delicious! And the servers were kind enough to give me an extra for TT as it was his turn to hold down the table.

Next up was Asia Dog who shall now be known as the LAMEST VENDOR EVER! We weren’t impressed with their offerings at Mad. Sq. Eats, but still wanted to try their sample to maybe change our minds. Their sample was wasabi potato salad. WTF? Your name isn’t Asia Potato. Would it have been too hard to cut up a hotdog into 4 pieces and top it with one of your slaws? That would have been 100x better. The staff was also not very friendly when we asked if there would be any hot dog samples. I will never be patronizing Asia Dog again and I recommend you do the same.

CT says: MASSIVE FAIL.

The event was hosted by Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43. He had five or six tents setup offering a variety of small bites. While they might have been the trendiest foods on the island, they ended up being the most filling for most of the group. The first hour or two these tents had no line, so it was a great way to load up.

Coleslaw

Simple green salad

Smoked kielbasa with sauerkraut and mustard on a slice of bread. This was my favorite of the bunch. The sausage was tasty and hearty.

“Banh mi” That’s what they called it, but as you can see it wasn’t. Not a big deal since it was also a substantial bite and seasoned well. I think it was ground pork, not sure.

Pulled pork taco

Grilled cheese. It was pretty standard, but still 2x larger and better than the sample that Gorilla Cheese gave out.

CT says: I was very impressed by the spread of food option they provided! Sponsor or not, they gave a lot of food and it was all pretty good! Until now, they were definitely the food winners! I had some trouble starches – the bread and tortilla both seemed a little stale, but the kielbasa and pork more than made up for them.

I heard about the Camera Tequila truck briefly on Midtown Lunch. The tequila brand hired the chef from Suenos to provide the food on this truck to promote their brand. They actually offered five or six choices. We got the BBQ Beef Taco with charred corn pico de gallo and queso fresco and the Camarena Chicken and Chihuahua Cheese Taquitos with guacamole and radish. The guy doing the expediting was especially friendly and helpful and gave us an extra portion for our friends back at the table. Not only was the food the best looking, it was also the best tasting. Super flavorful with a variety of high quality ingredients. I really enjoyed the taco and hope the truck finds its way near my office soon.

CT says: PicNyc WINNER! 1) They were giving their full menu as options! That right there made it a winner…. but then 2) The food was so flavorful and fantastic! 3) the guy snuck me an extra taco for our friends holding down the table and 4) VIP only (ok, that one might have pissed off a few people, but I liked it!) I’ll definitely be stalking this on facebook and you should too… right now!

Cupcake Stop was offering slices of your choice five different flavors. CT got the chocolate oreo(right) and I got the vanilla chocolate(left). Although the icings started to melt pretty much immediately, it was a good bite. The cake was light and moist. We felt sad for them since they were one of the only trucks that never had a line. I guess it really wasn’t a cupcake kind of day.

CT says: I was very happy with my slice! It was chocolatey delicious and really just the right amount!

The Bistro Truck had gotten mixed reviews in the past. They offered veggies or chicken over couscous. Surprisingly, no one was really interested in the veggies, but MS took one for the team and pleased the server by taking one. It looked pretty boring to me, but I think she said it was good for what it was. The chicken was surprisingly very good. Most likely some thigh meat that was moist and flavorful. The couscous was very light and fluffy, which was impressive for what had to have been a HUGE batch.

CT says: Much more moist and flavorful than I would’ve expected! I’ve been wanting to try this truck for awhile, so I was glad with the outcome.

The festival was busy, but not completely overloaded with people.

The Desi Truck arrived on the island at the same time as us along with a few other trucks, but took FOREVER to open up. They served up a disappointing watery daal(lentils stew) over some basmati rice. It was also super hot from the stove, not really something you would want to eat on a hot day. Chalk it up to another truck just looking to sell food a la carte.

CT says: Sad, sad looking daal. Flavors were there, but lentils were missing.

There was another Indian truck serving a veggie stew with a piece of naan. It had a lot of good flavor from the various spices, but again, not really appropriate for the weather.

The other dessert option was from The Joyride Truck with fro-yo. They gave out pretty large servings with a choice of topping. I am not a fan of fro-yo, but CT got hers with raspberries on top. Everyone was pretty happy with it and thought it was the perfect end to the day.

CT says: I was incredibly surprised and delighted with the sample size they were giving. It was a full “small” cup, generous filled and topped. The fro-yo is the tart “real yogurt” type, not the sweet ice-cream-wannabe, which I really enjoy and was very refreshing on a hot summer’s day. The raspberries were fresh and sweet too. Other topping choices were cereals, oreos, chocolate crunchies and other fruits – pretty sweet!

We also ran into some of CT’s Sister’s closest friends. They purchased their tickets last minute, so went for the 3-food, 3-beer tickets option for $45. Some of the trucks offered them the same samples for one ticket, while others offered anything from the full menu – so it was a bit of a hit and miss for them too; however they got some tasty looking meals from Luke’s and Kimchi Taco.

CT says: I was a little jealous of their delicious-looking Kimchi Taco platter, but I thoroughly enjoyed my unlimited beers – especially since at times they got warm before I could finish, so I could just dump it and get another free cold one.

All in all, everyone was pretty happy with the day. As long as you get there early and have a game plan, a good time can be had by all. It was a shame that some of the vendors were pretty lame with their offerings, but others more than made up for it. Governors Island is a great place to visit even if there isn’t a festival going on. CT and I have promised ourselves to go there at some point over the summer to enjoy the other activities available (i.e. bike rides) and relax with a great view of Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beer, food trucks, Governors Island, Thrillist

We started our journey in Capetown. MVB and her family were attending a wedding when we arrived, so we went straight to the apartment where we were greeted by a bowl full of South African snacks! MVB knows me well!!

Included in this bowl was a very special treat, South African Biltong and Droe wors… oh my goodness this stuff was like CRACK! So good and so addicting. MVB described it to us before going over as “South African meat jerky, but so much better.” I had never had any kind of meat jerky before, and never had any interest in it either, but this stuff was SO good! I preferred the Biltong, which was more like slices of dried meat, to the Droe wors, which was more meat-stick life. However, I was happily gobbling down lots of both over the next two weeks.

I later purchased some of my own

I was a little over-zealous in the Biltong-specialty store, buying many different kinds including: Kudu, Ostrich, BBQ Beef, Chili Beef and Plain; I also had a sample of the original (Woolworth’s brand) Biltong and Droe wors included in our welcome package. Unfortunately, I realized that I shouldn’t go shopping on my own because I bought more of the dry kind than the moist kind, which I had previously eaten. I enjoyed my sampling of the various kinds, but I would stick to the moist kind in the future.

TT says: I got to enjoy this after CT got back. It was fun to taste all the different flavors, but after a while they just tasted the same to me. Maybe it was all the South African wine we were drinking too?

On our first full day in Capetown, we headed to the southern tip of South Africa. On our way we stopped to see the African Penguins:

How cute?! I had no idea they just chill on the beach.

After our fun with the penguins, we stopped for a quick bite to eat and a nice cool drink. The food was only ok, but MVB convinced me to end my meal with a typical South Africa beer-cider, Savannah Light, and what a great ending! It wasn’t very sweet or cidery as many of the hard ciders you get in America. It still had a beer flavor, but lighter and only slightly sweet. I also liked that it was served with a lemon, similarly to a Corona.

Throughout the trip we had many snack-food stops, during the long tours through Robben Island and our 8-hour drive to Kruger Park. One of our staple snacks were Nik Naks – or South African Cheetos, except more fake-cheesy that Cheetos. I thought they tasted even better than Cheetos, but DY thought differently (even though she ate plenty of them too!)

After that long 8-hour drive, we were rewarded with lots of beautiful animals, a beautiful safari bungalow, and lots and lots of food! Apparently there is nothing to do on safaris except look for animals and eat. Our days went something like this, “light” breakfast, game drive (with snack break), full breakfast, nap, lunch, nap, tea/snack, game drive (with snack break), dinner. Sleep and repeat. How awesome does that sound?! So with all that food, here’s just a glimpse of what I ate:

Afternoon game drive snack, with dried fruit (mango), Sriracha crispy peas, biltong and yes…Booze!! (The morning games drive had rusks (English biscuits) with coffee, tea and more booze to lace your coffee or tea.)

Lunch plates

I can’t remember exactly what we ate each day, but imagine eating this much food 4-5 times a day!! It was crazy! Included in our various meals were ostrich, kudu, lamb and impala meats…. All flavorful and delicious meats. We also got lots of very fresh fruit and vegetables and fresh baked bread with every meal! It was amazing!

The ostrich is a very healthy meat, as it was less fat that buffalo or turkey! Cooked properly, it retained its juiciness and is really flavorful. On one of our game drives, they even set up a grill station and made ostrich skewers!

Overall, you can see I ate very well over this trip. It was an experience not to be forgotten. Should you ever make it out to South Africa, be sure to try all the local cuisines. They may sounds strange and little too exotic, but it’s all really flavorful and amazing. Also, if anyone knows of any good South African restaurants around New York City, please do share!!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CT, South Africa, Travel

Before leaving, I may have perused just a few South African eats website and provided MVB with a list of foods I was interested in trying during our trip. Little did I know that I would be lucky enough to get true home-cooking while I was there! The VB-family was kind enough to forgo their traditional Christmas Eve dinner for me.

One of the dishes I was most interested in trying was the Bobotie.

This was ground beef mixed with spices and raisins. It was truly amazing! It had so much flavor without feeling heavy. I would happily eat a huge bowl of just this with rice.

There was also a traditional lamb stew with potatoes, which has a great flavor and the curry/stew-ness mixed in very well with the yellow rice.

The yellow rice had a slight sweetness to it from the raisins, which balanced well with the heartier meat dishes.

On this dish we had mashed pumpkin – it was cooked low and slow with lots of buttery goodness!

And green beans – just to make me feel a little healthier!

There were about 3 kinds of desserts too, but in my food-coma I forgot to take a pictures.

The next day, for Christmas Brunch, we ate even more! MVB’s family all gathered for a true Christmas feast. A few of my favorites from the meal:

Stuffed Duck Breast was so moist and the stuffing was juicy too!

The lamb was finished on the grill and was perfectly medium rare. It was served with boiled potatoes and sauteed mushrooms.

Here’s my plate of the first course salad, with shrimp and what I believe was smoked trout.

Followed by my main course with (starting at 6 o’clock, clockwise): Lamb with jus, slice of turducken, stuffed duck breast, roast beef, cous cous, roasted asparagus, leeks, mixed vegetables potatoes and mushrooms. All delicious and incredibly filling! Not that it stopped with from indulging in a few desserts!

Trifle!

And a ginger pudding with custard. I really with custard was a more common dessert accompaniment here because it’s really great!

Lastly, on New Years Eve Papa-VB put together a huge Braai or South African BBQ. On their patio they had this nice BBQ pit where he cooked two kinds of chicken kebobs, wors (sausage), rolls and, afterwards, lamb chops!

It was all so well spiced and addicting. Unfortunately, I was feeling so well that night but it didn’t stop me from eating a big plate of deliciousness!

On the side of all the meats, there was cous-cous like grain called Pap, and a spiced tomato stew, Chakalaka. It was a nice balance to all the meat.

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that I ate very very well while I was there. All the food was so delicious, and having it cooked at home the traditional way just made it that much better. A big humongous thanks goes out to MVB and her family for not only taking us into their home but also providing all these amazing meals. I truly recommend trying these traditional South African dishes should you ever come across them. Although I don’t usually pick favorites (or maybe I do…), the Bobotie is one dish I could definitely eat every week – SO GOOD!!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CT, home cooking, South Africa

Fortunately for me, MVB is fully aware of how much I love and appreciate food. Months before our trip, she informed DY and I that she booked one very special dinner for us to enjoy in Capetown. Of course, the first thing I did was Google restaurants in Capetown and couldn’t wait to find out where we were going. After countless requests and pestering, MVB informed me that we’d be dining at Le Quartier Francais, one of Top 50 restaurants in the world!

After one hour drive into wine-country, we arrived at the restaurant. After settling into the dining area, we were presented with a glass of Graham Beck Brut – the champagne drunk by Nelson Mandela (and used by Obama to celebrate his presidential win)! After selecting the 9-course African Tasting Menu + wine pairing, we were presented with our amuse-bouche. I can’t remember exactly what these all were, but there were all very good.

This was a sponge-cake thing. My favorite part of this dish, though, was that it was served on a porcupine quill! So cool! I later discovered you could buy them at all the tourist shops… but I tried to find my own on the Safari (and failed).

The next one had a custard filling in a tomato cone. I couldn’t decide if I really liked or disliked the tomato cone, but I ate the whole thing, so I guess I like it. It was definitely interesting.

Lastly, there were two crispy-things offered with our champagne. On the left was an apple crisp; I didn’t expect to like this, but I did. The apple was a subtle taste that added a refreshing, lightness to the crisp. On the right was a Chicharrón-type pork crisp and it was delicious! I ate up most of these on my own. They were both so light and not greasy at all. It was a good sign of the things to come.

Our next starter gave MVB a slight panic-attack. What looked like a can of fish and a quenelle of peanut butter arrived to our table.

Apparently Lucky Strike is a very cheap canned-fish eaten in South Africa, and MVB was shocked and appalled to see it served at the restaurant. Fortunately, it was a ruse and the can was only used as a cooking vessel for the cornbread inside!

The cornbread was moist and yummy with full corn kernels inside. The “peanut butter” was actually a butter. And the whole thing was also served with a really long flatbread. Overall, and fun presentation and start to the evening.

Before our first course, we were given this gelatin-foamy palate cleanser. Yes, all this food was before our 9-courses even started!! The gelatin was meaty and weird and I was happy that I was only expected to have one bite. My palate was cleansed.

Finally, our first course arrived and boy, was it worth waiting for!! At first all we could see was smoke

But then we saw the deliciousness hiding underneath…

A smoked oyster with diced chorizo and passion fruit. It sounded like a strange combination but it was truly amazing!! The oyster was creamy and the salty chorizo and sweet fruit balanced the dish so perfectly. Yummm… thinking about it now makes me want to fly back for another one!

Our next course consisted of Lemon-poached West coast Crayfish tails (middle), Prawn Mousse Wafers (left), and homemade Marshmallow (right).

This dish was also fantastic! The crayfish was fresh and sweet.

The prawn mousse sounded like it could be a complete success or complete failure; however, based on where I was sitting, I was betting on success and I was right! It had a great prawn taste and was a light airy mousse, without tasting “fishy.” The wafers sandwiching the mousse were very thin, but kept their crispiness, and added a touch of sweetness.

The marshmallow was an interesting addition to the plate. I liked it on its own, and it was ok when eating together with the crayfish and prawn, but it didn’t seem like a necessity.

I was certain the next course was made specially for me: Foie Gras heaven!!

On the right was a large portion of foie gras, on the left a foie gras terrine, and in the middle a piece of toasted…brioche? Everything was perfect! The foie gras was rich and creamy and had little crunchy bits underneath to add just a touch of texture. The terrine jelly layers were a little thicker than I would’ve preferred, but there was so much of everything that I just ate around it. This dish and the smoked oyster were fighting for my favorite (although the oyster might win based on originality and presentation).

We were now moving into the entrees, but before our next dish came out we were each given a sprig of an herb to smell and identify.

It was a fun little game that we all failed. The waiter had a good laugh at us though as we sniffed and sniffed. Can you guess what it is by looking?

As you can see from the picture, the wine pairing was starting to affect my vision. However, my palate was still just fine! The risotto was cooked just al dente, which a creamy-herby sauce.

Next up was poultry – quail breast with a fried poached quail egg.

This was fantastic! The quail breast was cooked perfectly, keeping it moist and juicy. The quail egg was also a delight! It was poached just enough so that it was still runny and provided a nice ‘sauce’ for the breast. The crunchiness on the outside of the egg also added something different. I finished this entire plate, regardless of the fact that I was feeling a bit full and had 4 more courses to go!

Next was a Braised and Fried Karoo Lamb with Basil Lemon Sauce and Chakalaka marmalade.

This dish was just ok. I was more disappointed because I was so looking forward to trying Karoo lamb. However, the friedness of the meat overwhelmed it and I couldn’t get a true taste of the meat. Individually, each element of the dish was nice, but all together the flavors got a bit lost.

We knew we were nearing the end when our next course arrived – cheese!

I only realized after I started eating, and MVB pointed out, the dish was cleverly plated like an easel with paint splotched. (Clearly I’m not an artist). It was very cute. Anyways, the cheese was Dale fromage Huguenot cheddar . The little pizza-bite looking things were hollow crackers, and the “paint” was fig jam. Overall, a nice dish to ease into the desserts. What’s not to like about cheese?!

Next up was dessert #1- Pear and Baobub Parfait, Lemon verbana, rejoice and pistachio.

Usually I’m a big dessert fan, but this just didn’t do it for me. Something about the dusted baobub on top combined with the plate full of foam, just didn’t make for a winning dessert. It wasn’t bad but it was just wasn’t to my taste. And after 7 courses done and 1 more to go, I couldn’t find room to keep eating it.

Dessert #2 was much more successful for me: Orange and Buttermilk cannelloni, jersey milk sorbet and fennel.

Even though I was incredibly full, I indulged in this. The orange and buttermilk combination was delicious and wasn’t very heavy, after all that I had already eaten. A great ending (or so I thought).

DY is a big chocolate fan, so she was a little disappointed when neither of the dessert courses incorporated chocolate. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for my tummy, we were presented with a plate of petit fours with a lot of chocolate. I think I ate one bite of the chocolate cake before I had to give up.

Overall, this was one of the more amazing meals I’ve had. Although a couple courses were just ok, 7 out of 9 ain’t bad!! Plus the total meal, including the wine pairing for all 9 courses, translated to only $170! Amazing! The whole experience, from the presentation of the food to the incredibly friendly service, made for a wonderful night. Thanks to MVB for planning such a memorable evening!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: CT, South Africa, tasting menu