Since we were celebrating, we started with a drink. They offer a nice selection of wine and cocktails, but I decided to have beer. I had the Beer Lao Dark, which is from Laos. I never had it before, but it was quite good. It paired well with the spicy food. Sorry, but I didn’t take pictures of everyone’s drink. CT had a lychee martini, which she seemed to like especially because it wasn’t super sweet.

Of note, service was very good throughout the meal. Our waitress was also very helpful in making menu recommendations. Apparently some people on the world wide web have complained about poor service.

Over-ordering is the norm with CT’s family, so we started with a few appetizers.

Duck larb ($9). Larb is must order at this restaurant and our waitress emphasized that we should get it with duck. It had a fair amount of heat, which got our tastebuds going! It wasn’t a smack in the face heat that we had with the same dish at Kin Shop, so I came out unscathed. CT & I have started making larb at home because it is such a tasty and delicious dish. I even made a turkey larb for our last FBM potluck.

CT says: This was a great start to the meal, filled with lots of fresh ingredients. As TT mentioned, the spice wasn’t obvious at first taste, however it built up with each bite.

Nujer Kem Tod ($9). This was marinated, salted, fried beef with hot sauce. It was quite tasty like little bits of fresh beef jerky, but not that noteworthy overall.

CT says: I quite enjoyed this dish as well; had a nice flavor and texture to it. I would order it again.

Som Tum Thai ($8)- Papaya salad with dried shrimp and peanuts. This was one of the best papaya salads I have ever had. Everything was very fresh and flavorful. The citrus juice made the whole thing pop. The bowl had a variety of textures although my favorite was the dried shrimp and the chicharrones garnish. CT’s Dad and I loved the broth so much that we were drinking it by the spoonful. Yes, the waitress gave us some odd looks when she tried to take away the dish.

CT says: I always enjoy this type of salad and this was no exception. However, I found the shrimps just a little too dried out and hard. I thought they could have benefited from a little extra soaking in the delicious juices at the bottom. However, it was no dealbreaker and I continually scooped more onto my dish.

Pla Muk Yang ($9). CT found a squid dish on the menu so she ordered it on my behalf since I love squid. This was grilled squid with garlic pepper lime dip. It was quite a large portion of some thick skinned squid. Unfortunately due to the thickness, it became super chewy. The dipping sauce also had a bit of strange spiced flavor in it. Maybe anise? This was the least successful dish of the day.

CT says: This was one of the recommended dishes as well, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat. My first piece was actually perfectly cooked and delicious, so I thought TT was being picky as a super-fan of squid. However, a couple more pieces in I realized, only the small ones were cooked well. Oh well.

Pad Ped Moo Korb ($8). ML had been here before and insisted we order this. Mostly for the unique Thai eggplant that it featured. It also had crispy pork, pepper, basil, wild ginger with spicy curry. This was a very interesting and unique dish. Although it looked very spicy, I don’t remember it being too mouth burning. The Thai eggplant looked like slices of lime although it was hard to get the flavor since the curry covered everything.

CT says: This was fantastic – so much flavor infused and the pork had a nice bite to it! However, this isn’t a dish to keeps leftovers of; after a while the pork got a little hard and chewy. Not really a problem, since it was so delicious you’re unlikely to have any leftover anyways!

Pukk Boong Moo Korb ($8). We got a veggie dish to be healthy, but yes it did have crispy pork in it. hehehe The vegetable was sauteed morning glory. I had never heard of morning glory before, let alone tasted it. Although it looked liked green onion, it had more of a spinach flavor. There were quite a few chunks of the pork throughout. Unfortunately, some pieces of the pork were left in the fryer longer than others making them pretty much inedible.

CT says: Though we probably didn’t need more meat for this dish, obviously we had to get it. However, the flavor of the morning glory carried itself and was a nice break from all the heavier dishes.

Mmm, a large chunk of fried pork!

We also shared an order of sticky rice(left) and plain rice(right).

Kai Jiaw Kratiem Dong ($6). This was another dish ML ordered for us. It was an omelet with pickled garlic. As you can see, it was not your typical omelette as it was cooked very well done. It was almost like a Thai version of pajeon. I’ll still take the pajeon from Han Bat any day of the week over this one. I only had a small bite since there was so much food to try.

CT says: I noticed this on the menu and was intrigued, so I was glad ML tacked it on the order. I really liked it and thought it was a nice lighter option to accompany the rest of the meal. Plus I like the surprise filling with each bite!

They had a couple daily specials, which we decided to partake in.

Crispy frogs legs with garlic and mushrooms ($15). No, those aren’t chicken drumsticks, it is frog! I had never seen such plump frog legs before. This dish was amazing with the crispy juicy frog. I even ate some mushrooms, that’s how much I enjoyed this dish. It was also super reasonably priced for the six or seven HUGE legs we got. Yes, it did taste like chicken, but still had a little fishiness.

CT says: OMG. I think I’ve only had frogs legs maybe once, I’m always game for trying things. This was so freaking amazing. Like, stalk this restaurant until it’s on their specials menu again good. So juicy inside yet I could hear the crispy crunch with every bite. Such a mouth-watering sound and it was all mine! It definitely had a distinctive taste, but not at all off-putting. I wish I could’ve eaten more of this dish, but I was getting so full.

Crispy white fish with basil ($15). This was one of the most vibrantly colored dishes of the day. The fried fish was drowning in vegetables. The fillet was quite thin so the flavor of the fish itself was difficult to discern. It was a good dish, but I would probably pass on ordering it again.

CT says: Another solid dish and the fish was cooked perfectly. However, I was too focused on the frogs legs at this point. It’s hard when there is so much good food on the table!

All in all, Zabb Elee was a great place for authentic Thai food. Everything was super fresh and vibrant(even for Sunday lunch). Some dishes were obviously better than others, but I will definitely return for some of my favorites and to try some new ones. The restaurant itself was nicely decorated and very clean. With the food we had, I wouldn’t have been surprised for the place to be a hole in the wall. Happy Birthday again to CT’s Dad!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Isan Thai

You may remember a couple months back that CT & I cooked a special dinner for CT’s parents (and Aunt B) to thank CT’s Dad for helping her move into my apartment. Once my parents heard and subsequently read about the meal, they got pretty jealous, especially since I had only made them dinner once before in my apartment of almost six years. So for Father’s Day this year, I gave my Dad a coupon good for one home-cooked dinner for himself and my Mom. Of course Aunt B and Scout were also invited and had the honor of being at both dinners. With our busy schedules, we weren’t able to have it until the latter part of August, but what’s the rush?

Before we sat down for dinner, we had some of my Dad’s favorite hors d’oeuvres:

A nice gooey brie with crackers

and some green olives.

CT found a recipe in this month’s Food & Wine Magazine that piqued her interest: Parmesan Tuiles with Heirloom Tomato Salad. Instead of the heirloom tomato salad, I made a simple bruschetta consisting of tomato, red onion and fresh basil. The tuiles were quite fragile, but held up to the weight of the bruchetta. It was the perfect summery bite.

CT said: The recipe was really easy and delicious! They were fragile when warm, but when cooled down they really held their own. Also, they got a little soggy with the bruschetta, so I was glad I only plated these as I was serving them.

For dinner we decided to make some Asian dishes that my parents never had before.

We started with pork laab on romaine leaves. CT made this for me a couple weeks earlier and I enjoyed it a lot. She turned down the amount of chilies since my parents can’t take the heat, but it was still quite tasty and very easy to make. We also pickled some carrots and jicama to top the laab along with the toasted rice and fresh mint.

I wanted to serve some sort of grilled or roasted vegetable as a side dish and found some nice looking red and yellow peppers at the produce market. I roasted them on the stove and cut up some red cabbage we had and tossed with some balsamic vinegar to make a simple slaw.

For the main attraction, I suggested CT make her shrimp mustard curry, since my Dad loves mustard and the dish isn’t spicy. CT was unhappy with how previous versions came out so she went back to her Mom for some updated notes. This time she made sure to use regular fat yogurt instead of low-fat and to fully drain it. That was the secret because the consistency was a lot better. She will readily admit that she was a little overcautious on holding back the seasoning for my parents, but everyone still ate it up happily. It was served on top of some basmati rice.

CT says: Oops…this dish is one of my favorites that my Mom makes and I just can’t get it right. Right consistency, but not enough salt. And a little spice is apparently a necessity to taste right. Luckily, there was some leftovers that I could doctor up and make it just right. As long as TT’s parents enjoyed though, I’m happy.

CT gave Aunt B, the amateur pastry chef, the night off and made dessert herself; whoopie pies! She used a recipe from Hungry Girl that was quite fascinating. For the cookie/cake, all she did was mix Devil’s Food chocolate cake mix with canned pumpkin and bake spoonfuls to form the tops and bottoms. They were super gooey and delicious. It was amazing that there were no eggs, milk or anything else besides pumpkin. I believe the whipped cream was a mixture of low-fat cream cheese and heavy cream, but I’ll let CT tell you more. She also made a nice strawberry sauce from some over-ripe strawberries we had. Everyone loved the dessert and was super impressed by CT’s confectionery skills.

CT says: I’ve been a fan of Hungry Girl for a few years now. I’ve had some hits and misses with the recipes, but this is one of my favorites and incredibly easy (and she has some great daily tips for healthy eating). The whoopie pie was actually quite easy to make, just a little time consuming. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the texture of the filling, as compared to traditional whoopie pie; it wasn’t dense enough for me. Maybe more cream cheese and less heavy cream next time. But it tasted good overall, especially with the strawberry sauce. I’ll keep trying until a get a recipe I like.

All in all, Dad was super happy and impressed with his meal(along with everyone else). It takes a lot of work to throw a dinner party, but it was well worth it. When cooking a lot of different dishes, it made sense to use simpler recipes. Happy Belated Father’s Day!

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: home cooking, laab, shrimp curry, whoopie pie

At the time, my appetite was still wonky, so I was working on intaking calories anyway I could, which includes drinking things with calories (I’m normally a water drinker).  The Thai iced tea here was solid – creamy and slightly sweet. 

My lunch special arrived and I was surprised (not in a bad way) that everything came together on one plate.  Chicken satay for my appetizer choice, which was OK (I wasn’t pleased with their choice of white meat, but that’s personal preference) and of course… 

pad thai for my main course.  I always get pad thai the first time I eat at a Thai restaurant, for comparison’s sake.  This one was decent – a little too wet, and I was a little sad that there was no lime included for me to squeeze over it.  I really like the squeeze of lime, for the acidity to balance out any sweetness and counter the savoriness when I’m eating Thai food.  So while this was tasty enough to eat again, it was definitely not what I look for in amazing Thai food.  You know what this is…

Yvo says: Great place to have in the neighborhood for Thai – cheap lunch special, solidly tasty food, clean interior – nice enough to go sit down for a meal, honestly, so slightly better than your average takeout place – but not a place to go out of your way for food.  Since my ex-coworker lives in the area and wasn’t feeling too hot, I didn’t much mind going to his neighborhood for lunch, but I doubt I’d return.  If you live in the area or are in the area, though, the lunch menu is very inexpensive and the food is worth a try (Linguine was happy with his choices, though I didn’t photograph them, and says he goes there fairly frequently). 
not destination dining, but give it a go if you’re in the area

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: pad thai, satay

When we got there, Barcelona was about to beat Manchester United in the Champions League final on the huge tv screen that is in the plaza. Wayne Rooney wasn’t looking too happy. For the patriotic Americans, don’t fret, they will be showing Yankees & Mets games too. I think this is the biggest outdoor tv in Manhattan where you can watch sports.

There were four kiosks setup outside. Three for food and one for tickets. They setup a ticket based system, where you first buy a bunch of tickets then redeem them for food and/or drinks. Tickets cost $3 each and the majority of items are two tickets($6). Some people may be put off by this, but I think it was a good system. It was easy to just break out the wallet once and not for each “purchase.”

They have four vendors exclusively for Beer Parc: Soi 29 (Thai inspired food from Harold Dieterle), Fatty Snacks (from Zak Pelaccio), Edi & the Wolf (sausages from the new East Village restaurant), and inside, a raw bar and seafood selections from Ed Brown (from Ed’s Chowder House, same owners as Beer Parc). I have had some of the offerings from Fatty Snacks when they had a stand setup at Madison Square Market. Unfortunately, they were tiny and expensive, so I rightly assumed it would be the same here. We weren’t in a raw bar mood, so we passed on that too.

They also had a pretty impressive selection of beers at the bar right inside the doors. Since it was pretty hot out, I considered a hefeweizen to be the beer style of choice to cool off. They actually had two different hefes to choose from. I got the Tucher Helles Hefeweizen (left) and CT got the Southampton Publick House Double White (right). While they weren’t full pints let alone glass, the plastic cups allowed for the ability to drink on a nice patio, which justified the price. Both really hit the spot!

I have heard pretty positive reviews of Edi & the Wolf, an Austrian wine bar that opened in the East Village last fall. They offered two different sausages and a pretzel. We chose the Käsekrainer (2 tickets): Polish-style sausage stuffed with molten Gruyère, white cabbage salad and horseradish mustard. The “chef” was nice enough to let us take his picture while he heated up the sausage on the griddle. You can tell he was properly trained in how to prepare the sausage because he made sure to poke tiny holes in it to prevent a meat explosion.
As you can see from a sliced piece, there was a good amount of cheese in it. It was a very tasty albeit salty sausage. The mustard help cut the richness and the cabbage salad was a refreshing palate cleanser.

CT says: Juicy and cheesy with very complimentary sides. I like when a dish is well balanced, and for six dollars, it was a pretty great plate! I would happily eat this again.

We were quite excited to try Harold Dieterle’s fried chicken. We are big fans of his work at Perilla and Kin Shop. As Serious Eats noted the chicken was first marinated in chili, shallots, palm sugar, and shrimp paste, then coated in rice flour, returned to the marinade, then gets covered in Nestle’s Nestum cereal. The dipping sauce consisted of fish sauce, lime, palm sugar, chili, ginger and garlic. Even though the chicken was only taken out of a hot box and we had no idea when it was actually fried, it was still plenty juicy and crunchy. The dipping sauce was a nice, slightly sweet addition, but wasn’t really needed. With the fried chicken “trend” of 2010 continuing well into 2011, this definitely can be a contender. Definitely a lot better than Hill Country Chicken.

CT says: While the sausage was really delicious, that fried chicken won me over that afternoon. It was to crispy and crunchy, you could literally hear the crunch with every bite. Yet, the inside was juicy and moist. And the best part was the intense flavor. This wasn’t your average fried chicken.

All in all, Beer Parc is a great addition to the outdoor drinking seen here in NYC. Prices aren’t too outrageous since they are pretty comparable to other places. The patio is large with plenty of tables and chairs. I will definitely be returning to watch a Yankee game and hopefully a Yankee win.

located in the back of Food Parc

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beer, fried chicken, Harold Dieterle, outdoor drinking, sausages

I recently had the opportunity to offload – I mean, share my wealth of goodies with a friend, AWL – who semi-recently moved into my neighborhood.  Actually, a brief moment here to mention that more and more people I know are moving into the Forest Hills area… mostly because it is freakin’ awesome, and more people should!  The young Asian professionals are taking over from the previous demographic.  Heh, weird.  In any case, there’s always food options to explore in our area, so when AWL suggested Mint’s Thai Kitchen (like my terrible photo of the sign? hehe), I was totally game. 

There was a sign outside lauding the lunch menu – $8 for two courses – but also mentioning that if you paid cash, (check discount amount?) you would receive an extra 20% off your bill.  Um, yes please?!  The lunch menu wasn’t entirely abbreviated, either; plenty to choose from. 

Despite that, we both chose to start with the Mint’s Thai salad, which came with fresh Romaine, topped with beets, cubes of tofu, a small portion of hard boiled egg, and a small grape tomato or two, then lightly dressed with a lime peanut dressing.  We both liked this very much, remarking how sometimes simplicity just really works. 

AWL, who confessed to me that she adores Thai cuisine and could, would eat it any day of the week, any time, ordered the pad see ew, which looked and smelled great.  I think she liked it sufficiently – and hope she’ll speak up because I always forget what other people say about their food!   

My standard at any Thai restaurant I visit for the first time: shrimp pad thai.  I don’t even like shrimp that much, but it always works better than chicken or beef in my humblest of opinions.  In any case, it looked promising and I quickly dug in for a bite alone. 

Unfortunately, the pad thai was ever so slightly on the sweet side for my tastes.  However, once I’d squirted the lime all over the noodles liberally and mixed everything together – bean sprouts, peanuts – the lime juice cut through the sweetness greatly and turned it into pad thai I’d like to eat frequently; a perfect balance of flavors, with none dominating, just balanced savory, sweet, and sour/tart all at the same time.  Yum! 

Yvo says: With a ridiculous lunch special price of $8 for two courses – and $6.40 if you pay cash (plus tax/tip) – there is absolutely no reason a sane person shouldn’t try Mint’s Thai Kitchen at least once.  We both remained very full and satisfied (it was even too much food for AWL), and I would certainly like to go back and try more of the lunch menu.  Thai food is rarely inexpensive, but this is just a short walk from my apartment and really cheap and tasty enough to warrant return visits.  I’ll definitely be back and report further on the other dishes (I’m not sure what dinner time prices are like, sorry!).  Thanks for the suggestion, AWL, and welcome to the neighborhood, Mint’s Thai Kitchen! 
recommended when you’re in the neighborhood

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: lunch, pad thai