When I saw the FATE cocktail (on the left) on the menu, I had to have it.  Prosecco, pineapple, and elderflower.  Yeah, pretty much tailor made for me… and I loved it.  Perfectly balanced without being cloyingly sweet.  Delicious.  Jessica had the DREAM, which tasted like guava juice and not much else, but I’m sure packed a punch!  Excellent cocktails. 

We’d both done our research beforehand, and the edamame dumplings came highly recommended.  They were so cute! so delicate, and sitting in a mild broth of sorts.  Interestingly, each dumpling was super tender, soft, and earthy… almost like there was a tiny bit of truffle to them.  I’m pretty sensitive to truffle-earthiness, though I don’t recall seeing that on the menu description.  While these were tasty, I’m a big fan of textures in food, and these were fairly uniform in texture – soft – so I would probably not order these again. 

Jessica’s colleague had recommended a few more dishes for us to try.  Shrimp toasts were next: shrimp paste crusted in sesame seeds, then deep fried.  These reminded me of the deep fried shrimp balls you get at dim sum, and were pretty tasty dipped into the mustard on the right.  I enjoyed my share very much, reminded of dim sum as a kid. 

The other suggestion was Peking duck – $44. 

Served with small rice crepes, I layered hoisin sauce, cucumber, scallion, and slices of duck with the crispy skin in them.  I really enjoyed this – I’m actually not that familiar with Peking duck as a dish, having eaten it only a handful of times that I recall – but this was very tasty.  There was no visible fat, though the meat was tender and juicy, and the skin was separated already and very crispy.  Yum!

A blurry photo of the Dungeness crab sticky rice, which was topped with chunks of Dungeness crab meat.  The rice itself was very flavorful, and I would swear to you that it was mixed with dried scallops, which have this intense flavor that I kill for.  I’ve actually never even seen dried scallops used anywhere but real Chinese restaurants, so this was a pleasant surprise – the taste is meaty, ocean-y, and just really wonderful.  Win. 

Though by this time we were both rather full, dessert beckoned: almond bread pudding for Jessica, of which I tried only a few bites – good, but not my thing. 

I went with the rock sugar donuts with three dipping sauces – egg custard, royal strawberry jelly and gianduja chocolate.  The crunchy sugar on the outside of the donuts was great and the still-warm donuts were fab.  Dipped into each sauce was great, but then all three at once – the waiter’s suggestion – so good!  Love.  I can’t say the best donuts I’ve ever had, but these were very good – and for a dessert donut served at a fancy restaurant, one of the best. 

Since this meal was compliments of the PR firm, I can’t do a proper “Yvo says” – yes, service was great, but I didn’t look at any prices and we didn’t even get a bill.  I can say, however, that the cocktails were fantastic, and the food was good enough – though a little pricey, I think – that I wonder why I’ve never visited.  I would definitely not hesitate to go again with friends – the space is gorgeous, huge, and lovely! 

Thank you again to Jessica for the fantastic meal – I had a blast just chatting about everything! 

Please note that though this meal was courtesy of the PR firm, I was under no obligation to post about this meal, positively or negatively, nor did I receive compensation to do so.  This is my opinion.

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: donuts, dumplings, dungeness crab, Peking duck

The morning after our meat-fest at Gauchos, we were up early to head out to the Panamanian countryside for a ziplining adventure. Adventure it was with a variety of buses we took and the 4-5 mile walk into the jungle in the 85 degree weather and 200% humidity. I think we did a pretty good job of burning off the calories from the previous nights dinner and then some. Once we were somewhat back in civilization, we were both pretty starved, especially since we hadn’t eaten much most of the day. All over Panama, we saw these fast food restaurants called Pio Pio, which seemed to be like a Panamanian KFC. There is Pio Pio in NYC, but they are unrelated. We were willing to eat just about anything at that point so we stopped in before catching the bus back to Panama City.

The menu was very similar to KFC in that it had whole pieces of fried chicken, popcorn chicken and the like, along with a few nuances to cater to the local market.

CT got the chicken meal that came with a breast and a large side of rice and coleslaw. It wasn’t all white meat in the breast and had some tasty dark. The rice was pretty flavorful and she raved about it. The cole slaw was nice and tangy. It was somewhat of a mix of a vinegar and mayo based slaw.

CT says: I thought the fried chicken was great, especially considering it wasn’t freshly fried. The skin was crispy and pretty nicely flavored and the the meat was very juicy. I was even more impressed by the rice, though. It was super flavorful and well cooked, with actually veggies mixed in. I couldn’t stop eating it (which is the only reason I didn’t yell at TT for eating all my coleslaw, which apparently he thought was his…). Granted I was both beyond starving and heat-drunk, but I really enjoyed Pio Pio and definitely would be willing to return if I were back in Panama.

Oops! I guess I was “heat drunk” also and appropriated the cole slaw for myself.

I decided on the popcorn chicken meal that came with fries. The chicken and fries were pretty standard, but I gobbled it all up quickly. It definitely tasted a lot better than it normally would have if we didn’t do all that hiking.

All in all, Pio Pio did a good job at staying off starvation for us. I believe everything with an added on bottle of water cost about $9. We had a lot of fun ziplining and recommend you try it yourself if you get the chance. We saw a lot more of Panama than most tourists since we found our own way there and enjoyed that. Although next time I’ll take the manager’s advice and hire a car. Fried chicken was a nice treat at the end of the adventure.

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

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.
.
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.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blackboard Eats

As a couple of young professionals living in Manhattan, CT & I were looking to save as much money as possible on plane tickets to allow us more freedom for other more important expenditures. I think there were only one or two direct flights to Panama City from the NYC area, so that meant a layover. For us, this also meant buying tickets on the first flights of the day since they are the cheapest. Therefore, our flight out of town was at 6:30 in the morning and we had to leave our apartment at 4 in order to get to the airport(EWR) in time. Considering the total cost of the tickets per person cost about $475, it was well worth the lack of sleep and spending the better part of 2 days traveling back and forth including a stop in Miami.

After checking in at the surprisingly busy check-in counter (thanks for being as inefficient as possible Continental!), we headed towards our gate. Terminal C is one of the nicest terminals out of all NYC-area airports with a ton of food and shopping options. Fortunately for us, most of the restaurants open early. After checking our options (Jamba Juice, Famous Familigia, Brooklyn Deli to name a few), we decided on Smashburger. This is a chain that has recently come to the tri-state area to compete with others such as Five Guys, The Counter, etc. Since the closest location to us is in Brooklyn, we had yet to try it.

I was surprised to see that their breakfast menu was based on a foundation of Taylor ham(pork roll). This is a New Jersey-centric pork product that is similar to Canadian bacon. They even offered a special breakfast burger called the “B.A.D (Breakfast All Day) Smashburger”- 100% Certified Angus Beef, Smashburger, Taylor Ham, fried egg, ketchup and American cheese on an egg bun. My stomach wasn’t ready for that type of grease nor did I want to risk any intestinal issues since I had about three hours of flight time ahead of me.

As CT wasn’t fortunate to grow up in New Jersey, she never had Taylor ham before. We both ended up getting the Taylor ham, egg and cheese on a roll. Of course, it was a couple dollars more expensive than what you would pay at your favorite local deli. The ham was a thicker cut than I was used to and included two slices, so the sandwich was not lacking in meats. Though, it could have been left on the griddle a little longer for more caramelization. The egg was adequately fried. We both thought there was too much cheese in the sandwich. Plenty of the processed American stuff glooped into the containers as we ate.

CT says: I was confused to see Taylor ham on every breakfast menu in the airport until TT explained it to me. It definitely tasted more similar to Canadian bacon than regular ham, though it seemed a little more… processed? Almost like the bologna of hams. Anyways, it was good enough for me, though I had to take some out towards the end because it was just too much meat (TWSS). Still, given the choice between ham, Canadian bacon and Taylor ham… well, Taylor ham would probably be my third choice. Sorry New Jersey.

For good measure, I got an order of fries for the both of us to share. Unfortunately, they don’t offer hash browns a la McDonalds. The fries were pretty standard fast food. Nothing remarkable as expected.

CT says: I really wanted a hash brown or at least the Burger King tater tots. The fries sufficed, but they weren’t the same. C’mon Smashburger! I really wanted to like you more, but I will give you a second chance for a (non-NJ) non-breakfast meal.

The sun rising over beautiful Newark, New Jersey.

All in all, Smashburger offered a nice bit of childhood nostalgia for me before hopping on the plane. They served a respectable taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich; especially considering it’s an airport. I would definitely be interested in trying one of their burgers, but only during the lunch or dinner hour.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Newark Airport, Panama, Taylor Ham

CT and I were both pretty full, so only her Mom got a crepe. She decided on a banana nutella crepe. I believe it was less than $6. They also offer a variety of savory crepes too.

The guy(there was another worker, not the girl in the above pic) behind the counter didn’t mind me taking a few pictures as he worked. He did a pretty good job with it. I made crepes once in cooking class and it definitely takes a lot of practice.

As you can see, the crepe was nicely browned so it would hold up with the ingredients. It was 100x better than the sad, soggy crepe at Lina Frey.

There must have been at least one whole banana used, if not more.

Alas, the finished product. CT’s Mom was quite happy with the crepe. The fillings were nicely spread throughout, so each bite would be a tasty one.

CT says: As full as I was, I of course had to take a bite. It was really delicious! I appreciated seeing all the fresh fruit they used and the banana was perfectly ripe, without being mushy. And the nutella just oozed out perfectly. I’ll have to go back just for the crepe one day soon.

All in all, Crepe Monster makes a good crepe. It is located on the 3rd floor of Food Gallery 32 away from all of the other stalls, so don’t forget about it. I need to return with an appetite so I can have a crepe of my own.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: crepes, K-town