We started off with bacalao (salted codfish) croquettes.  I thought these were alright, I wanted the aioli on the bottom to have a bit more oomph or even the croquette itself to have more punch to them.  They were good – but just not a standout. 

After reading Hungry’s post the week before about her experience at Soccarat, I wanted one thing: fried artichokes!  Though I wished the portion were larger, it was just as tasty as I wanted it to be.  I think I could eat a whole portion myself – crisp, slightly greasy so you still knew you were eating fried food, and pronounced artichoke taste.  Yum.

StB was the only one of us who’d been here before (apologies for the horrible photos; my dSLR ran out of batteries before we arrived, so I had to make do with the point&shoot that I only happened to also be carrying), but we all wanted the same paella: the socarrat (normal) paella (we ordered for four).  It’s hard to see, but there was a good mix of chicken, beef, sepia, shrimp, cuttlefish, mussels, cockle clams… I was pretty happy with the flavor of the paella.  It was crunchy from the crust developing along the bottom of the pan, not wet like my paella at Cafe Espanol the week prior, and had tons of stuff to go along with it. 

(Funny side story, DLS kindly served me first, and gave me a shrimp head… which I put on his plate immediately. He asked me why and I said “You gave me a shrimp head, no shrimp!” and he said oops. Obviously it was an accident, but I am not a huge shrimp eater anyway, so it was fine – I was just being goofy – but StB declined to allow C² to serve her, citing what just happened, “When someone else serves you, you don’t get to determine what stuff you get on your plate!”  Hahaha.) 

Yvo says: Socarrat Paella Bar was a little cramped (make reservations!) though very accomodating (we had reservations for 2 that we changed to 4, and the hostess went out of her way to fit us in even though it was very crowded), and a really fun place to have dinner with friends.  It’s not a small amount of food, though, so definitely take that into account – I’m glad we turned into a group of 4 else I’d barely be able to eat all the things I wanted to try!  I’ll definitely go back – oh, and they own the recently-opened Churreria next door, which is also awesome.  Actually, at the end of our meal, someone came around and gave us samples of freshly-fried churros, so we were happy and sated with the crisp fried dough.  Yum!
totally recommended

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Post tags: croquettes, DLS, paella

(Funny note: I tried to order churros con chocolat at Cafe Espanol, and they didn’t have. When I received the press release announcing Churerria’s opening within a few days of this, it was FATE.)

The first thing I ordered was horchata, though, because I ADORE HORCHATA.  I really need to learn how to make my own – I excitedly asked the server if they made their own in-house.  She admitted that no, it’s store-bought, but she showed me the container – which I realized I’ve seen in stores in the past but didn’t know it was horchata because the word is on the bottle in small letters! – so I can go buy some on my own now.  Unfortunately, this was easily my least favorite version of horchata to date – something about the seasonings used didn’t do it for me.  Suitable to drink, but I’d probably try a different brand and I won’t be ordering this from there again…

For $5, I ordered a paper cone of churros…

which came still hot, ever so slightly sweet, perfectly crisp and just… heavenly…

along with a cup of thick dark chocolate to dip the churros in.  DLS and I had a grand time, dipping the churros in and just enjoying how the thick, dark chocolate – which wasn’t very sweet at all (a good thing, since both of us like dark chocolate, not too much sugar to our chocolate) – coated each piece.  So good. 

I finally had the churros con chocolat that I’d been dreaming about. 

Yvo says: Even if this wasn’t the only churreria I knew existed in NYC, I would go here – the churros were the perfect balance of crisp, light sweetness, and chewy… while the chocolate was the perfect accompaniment. I know I’ll be back (and have already walked by another few times, though I’ve been super full just as I walked by and couldn’t justify going in again…) for post-meal dessert! 
recommended

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Post tags: DLS, horchata

Every lunch special came with a salad.  Bright and fun, but nothing particularly special… tasty, though!  I’ve been craving greens so this worked well, though it was a little over dressed. 

For my main course, I chose paella.  I really like paella – it’d been a long time since I had – and was looking forward to it.  While it was tasty enough – the saffron flavor was present, and the rice was plump and juicy – this isn’t the paella of which I dream.  It was way too wet and juicy – everything was cooked properly and had a nice flavor to it, but the qualities I look for in good paella just weren’t there.  This was more of just a nice seafood rice dish than proper paella.  

Yvo says: I thought the place was cute, and everyone enjoyed their food.  I would go back to try other dishes, but no more paella – this was just not what I expect when I order paella.  Perhaps it’s a regional thing?  I’m not sure.  In any case, there was plenty on the menu that I would like to eat, so I wouldn’t be against going back.

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Post tags: paella

After an afternoon of upcoming dinner prep and relaxing, we headed out to meet our friend, TX, at Boqueria for tapas. It was the last day of the Blackboard Eats deal of 30% off for the restaurant, and we knew beforehand that we definitely wanted to take advantage of this deal. We had all been to Boqueria before and enjoyed their wide selection of tapas paying full price, so the discount was just icing on the cake.
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They don’t take reservations for parties under 6 people, but with the monsoon going on outside, we were seated almost immediately. After ordering some drinks, we started off with eight tapas for the three of us. Some of the tapas were small, so we figured we could always order more later.

Cojonudo- Fried quail eggs and chorizo on toast. The yolk was nice and runny, but the egg flavor overpowered the chorizo.

CT says: This was my first choice and I enjoyed it! Though the chorizo could have been cut a little thicker, I liked the saltiness combined with the runny egg and crunchy toast. I’d get it again, for sure.

Espinacas a la Catalana- Sautéed spinach, garbanzos, pine nuts, garlic, raisins. I decided to order this to be “healthy.” It was quite tasty with the spinach being only lightly cooked. I could have done without the raisins.

CT says: I liked the raisins! I thought their sweetness went nicely with the garlicky spinach.

Pan con Tomate- Grilled bread rubbed with tomato, garlic and olive oil. Super classic and for $5 pre-discount a must order. I enjoyed the salty olives that complemented the sweet tomato.

CT says: A classic and delicious, though I wished it had a little more tomato. I’m a tomato-fanatic, so I could be nitpicking, but I wanted more.

Tartar de Pimiento y Pulpo at Soho- octopus Carpaccio, roasted red pepper, scallions, cornichon. This was one of the nightly specials and a must order for me since I love my octopus. The octopus was sliced very thinly and super tender. Surprisingly it wasn’t chewy at all since it usually is 99% of the time. Quite possibly the best octopus dish I have ever had. We all agreed it was the best dish of the night.

CT says: The octopus was quite soft and tender. I could have eaten this whole plate.

Bombas de la Barceloneta- Two beef and potato croquettes,“salsa brava” and garlic aioli. These were pretty good. Although the beef was a little dry, the potatoes were nice and creamy.

CT says: My second choice, and pretty decent. Not greasy at all. The beef could’ve been a little better and more flavorful, but I wasn’t complaining.

Txipirones- baby squid, frisée, romesco vinaigrette, tomato confit and crispy scallions. This was probably the least liked dish of the night. The squid was underseasoned and extra chewy while the frisée had a lot of brown leaves. I guess they can’t all be winners?

CT says: There was something off about the flavors in the dish. It wasn’t bad, but wasn’t really good either. Pass.

Albóndigas- Lamb meatballs in tomato sauce and sheep’s milk cheese. These were mediocre at best. It was pretty difficult to determine what kind of meat was used because it didn’t especially taste like lamb. The tomato sauce and the side of charred bread were the best parts of this dish.

CT says: The texture of these meatballs was really strange. Not quite dry, but almost gritty? However, I really enjoyed the tomato sauce flavor. It was pretty tangy was flavorful. I, too, soaked up the sauce with the crunchy toast.

Another special of the night was a flatbread with goat cheese, figs, arugula and a cured meat that I believe was jamon serrano. There were four nice slices on a super long board.

It was also another winner with the right mix of salty, sweet, creamy and crunchy. I would definitely order this again.

CT says: My last choice and fantastic! I love this flavor combination! Though a daily special, it is a must order if it is on the menu.

Apparently there was a rule that we couldn’t leave without getting the churros. It was a fair sized order of long churros. The chocolate sauce was nice and rich unlike what was served at Yerba Buena. Now that we are back from Panama, we have a little more self-control and were ok with leaving a churro behind.

CT says: These were good churros! Warm, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. he chocolate, though not quite as thick as I’ve had in Spain, was thick enough to nicely coat each churro in chocolatey delight. I also appreciated that the chocolate wasn’t too sweet. Overall, a great finish to the meal!

All in all, Boqueria has a nice selection of well-made tapas. With the BBE discount and 2 drinks each, it came to a little less than $50 each. Not too bad for a Friday night dinner in Manhattan.

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Post tags: Blackboard Eats

Our first stop was, of course, Flushing Mall, which is slated to close some time next year.  The food court downstairs is quite extensive, and though I took pictures of everything, I’m still not entirely sure what everyone got nor from where. 

I have no idea who ordered this, but I think it was TT and it may have been a spicy peanut noodle dish. 

Beer Boor went with some noodles and… stuff.  I’m really hoping the attendees chime in with their thoughts and dishes. 

MadJac ordered a pineapple shrimp dish. 

I know this was one of Hungry’s dishes, but I don’t know what it was exactly. 

This was one of two lamb burgers from Xi’an Famous Foods (it says so on the wrapper).  I still don’t like this dish all that much. 

I ordered a Taiwanese hamburger (so said the menu) from a stall a few down from Xi’an.  It was not what I expected it to be, and I didn’t finish it. 

CT also ordered a pork chop over rice, which came with a soup and pickled mustard greens on the side.  Though this took the longest to come, at $6 and change, that was easily the best deal on the table (or maybe not? I know my burger was $1.50).  That’s a HUGE platter! 

One of the things I kept trying to get here but always managed to get there too late – the special mango ice cream which was around $5.  TC ordered this, knowing how I kept missing it (thanks TC!) – shaved ice on the bottom, topped with mango syrup, condensed milk, cubes of fresh mango, mango ice cream… maybe there was more stuff.  I split this once a long time ago with Blondie, Brownie and Danny, and we had trouble finishing it back then… and now, with easily 8 people, we still had trouble finishing it.  Crazytown.  I love it though – sweet, decadent, bright flavors that just remind you of a nice summer day… yumm!!!

After we were finished with those dishes, I pushed everyone upstairs to get Korean Chinese Dumplings.  We got the “3 kinds” which means there are three ingredients in the dumplings – pork, chives, and cabbage I think – or was it scallions? not sure.  It came with the usual sides of chili sauce and a crunchy cole slaw/kimchi concoction that I enjoy greatly.

Unfortunately, though these have been a fond memory for me – I often get to the mall after they close upstairs, but not the downstairs food court – now that I finally got to eat them again, I noted with disappointment that they didn’t hold up to my memory of them.  No one was particularly impressed, and I was slightly embarrassed that I’d been drooling and waiting for these, but no one seemed to blame me too much.  We moved on. 

Of course, I love dumplings passionately, so next up was White Bear, which I comfortably say has the best Sichuan dumplings in chili oil out of anywhere I’ve tried.  I’ve tried a fair number of places.  The wrapper is delicate, thin, and silky, yielding to reveal a perfectly juicy meat nugget inside that bursts with juices and flavors.  The pickled greens on top with the chili oil add a lot of contrasting textures and flavors – slightly crunchy, slightly sour, slightly spicy, and just add up to easily, in my opinion, the best Sichuan dumplings.  Maybe even the best dumplings, period; I really enjoy these and can easily inhale one order alone, and then some.  (One order is 12 dumplings for about $4.) 

At this point, everyone was a little thirsty, so I took them over to Queens Crossing Mall.  My other friends had told me about Kung Fu Bubble Tea and raved about the grapefruit, so, though Hungry doesn’t quite enjoy bubble tea, we trooped through Paris Bakery and into the mall itself for our various drinks.  I don’t remember thinking this was particularly expensive – maybe $3, about average for bubble tea – and I got a small grapefruit, no bubbles.  It was very tart, not sugary sweet, and allowed the natural grapefruit flavor to shine through.  It should – it’s all natural grapefruit juice – so I liked this a lot, but if you’re big on sugar, you probably won’t like this. 

After that, we bid adieu to TT and CT – who had other obligations – and began the walk from Flushing through Corona, then onwards to Forest Hills. 

After a pleasant walk through Flushing Meadow Park, we found ourselves walking north on 108th Street.  A few blocks off Horace Harding into Corona, we smelled the most amazing thing, and realized: yep, we’re hungry again, as we faced Empanadas Cafe.  I was reticent, and let everyone else troop in and examine the menu of the small, unassuming shop, while I stayed just outside and looked at our surroundings.  I drive down this road occasionally and never paid that much attention to this place.  Could it be any good?

They offered three types of empanadas- an all natural, corn, and flour casing.  I don’t remember which was which, sorry! 

Everyone decided to order two each, except for me.  I took bites from everyone.  Hahaha!

Notice something?  Look closely at the top of the empanada.  It says chicken!  How cute is that?  And genius!

Here are two more. 

…and another two.  Useless pictures since I have no idea what’s in them, haha. 

 Here’s a beef empanada.  I thought it was okay. 

I’m not sure what this one was! 

This was beef & cheese.  I actually really liked this one a lot. 

The “hot sauce” that came with each order.  I liked this a lot – it was less hot, and more refreshing with a slight kick, very cilantro-y.  Within a week, I was creating my own version, which I’ll explain in another post.   

The surprise winner of the day?  This plantain & cheese empanada.  You wouldn’t think – or at least, I wouldn’t think that was a good combo, but the sweetness against the mild savoriness of the cheese was excellent.  I was ready to go inside and order my own. 

Chorizo and potato.  The inside part tasted fine, but I really didn’t like that style of empanada (this was the all natural something or other one).  I don’t think I was alone in that opinion for the day. 

Our next destination was actually The Lemon Ice King of Corona.  Beer Boor had decided to join us when Hungry and I talked about this tour, and had insisted on adding it to the list.  I can’t say I was angry about it!

Funny story; these were on display.  I thought they looked super perfect, so I took a picture.  Turned out they were plastic models of apples; they had the real ones in another display case.  Hahaha. 

Beer Boor ordered lime, and got cantaloupe for me.  I liked mine, though I thought it could be stronger in taste. 

Their menu of flavors!  Lots of flavors available. 

TC stepped up the FBM game and got two – lemon and pistachio.  I tried some of the pistachio and was impressed by the flavor, but not the color.   

After a brief sojourn to the park nearby to enjoy our ices, watch people playing bocce (bocce ball?), and – well, in a minute, you’ll see – Beer Boor decided to get another ice, watermelon this time.  This one was really, really good.  I think I’d get this the next time I go! 

In the park nearby was this stand set up, selling little treats.  Funny enough, they don’t have a set schedule for when they’re there, they don’t have a store front, so I can’t tell you when to visit them… but VISIT THEM. 

I bought a few small cheesecakes from them – I don’t even like cheesecake that much, but theirs was outrageous.  They make everything themselves, and they had cookies, cakes, Italian pastries like lobster tails and cannolis (which they filled on the spot for you).  TC bought a couple, so I imagine he can chime in with how he liked his! 

We walked from Flushing to Corona in this installment.  Next time: Corona to Forest Hills!

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: dumplings, empanadas