The Feisty Foodie » Around NYC

Thursdays with TT: Veloce Pizzeria

TT — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:15:51 +0000

Over the past couple of months I have become quite the food blogger. I or (CT) bring a camera to every restaurant we go to. Since Yvo has been busy with school, I am stepping up and will now have a weekly column, Tuesdays with TT. Bon Appetit!

UPDATE: I am becoming a blogging machine, so I will also be reporting on Thursday afternoons for you.
CT has been traveling a lot lately for work. During one of her visits back to the city, we were able to go out for dinner. I suggested we use one of my BlackBoard Eats coupons, since we were so happy with previous experiences with them. Veloce Pizzeria’s 30% off coupon was expiring the next day, so we decided to check it out. I heard mixed reviews about the pizza, so I was keen to try it out myself.

The first thing I noticed when we sat down was a picture of Alan Greenspan, the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve on the ledge above the table. I found this quite odd in a funny way.

CT chose the wine. The Nero D’Avola 2008. She chose it from the description of full, rose petals, blackberries and earth. It was a good choice and complemented the food nicely.

We weren’t sure if we should order 1 or 2 pizzas since they are 12 inch Sicilian, so we decided to get a couple appetizers and share 1 pizza.

The first choice was no choice at all, Fried Porchetta Meatballs. How could we not order those? They were deep fried and had a ton of flavor. It was topped with parsley and onion which cut the richness of the porchetta nicely. The restaurant was pretty dark, so it was hard to get a good pic of this.

innards

We also got the Ricotta di Palo- fresh cows’ milk, cracked black pepper, toasted bread. There was a ton of ricotta piled up on the crostini. It was so creamy and refreshing. A great dish.

As if that wasn’t enough to start with, I decided we should get a salad. I gotta get my vitamins somehow. We went with the arugula with parmigiano-reggiano, olive oil, and lemon. We received a huge pile of arugula. It was very lightly dressed. The best part was that we got some ruffage out of the meal, so that’s not saying much about this salad.

For pizza, we went with white clam. It had garlic, oregano, and parmigiano-reggiano along with the clams. I wanted to see how it compared to the clam pizza we got at ABC Kitchen a couple months ago. Veloce’s pizzas are not typical NY pizza. They are square and very thin crust with hardly any outer crust. It was a very tasty pizza, but I barely noticed the clams. I couldn’t tell if they chopped up canned or fresh clams. If I am paying $22 for a pizza(before discount), I want to see whole clams.

Some upskirt action for you.

It was a good dinner and nice to see CT in between her travels. Would I return without a discount? Probably not.

Congee Village

Feisty Foodie — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:15:54 +0000

After a couple of hours at the batting cages, BF and I had sufficiently worked up an appetite – despite my brunch – and met up with BlindBaker plus BF’s former coworker, JP (I don’t know why I referred to him as this in a previous post - one of the downsides to using initialed nicknames constantly) and his wife, VSa, to grab some food. JP and VSa wanted to hit up Congee Village in Chinatown, which caused both BlindBaker and I to cringe internally, but I decided to put my gameface on and put aside my prejudices. (With a name like Congee Village, I really want to ask them WTF they were thinking. Plus, I’ve been twice in the past, and their congee sucks – how are you going to put “congee” in your name and then not make it properly?!)

***I should note here that I actually co-hosted a baby shower here – for ANM and T of TCC – three years ago – and I enjoyed some of the food, as noted below.

Because I speak Cantonese semi-fluently (especially in food), I ordered everything everyone wanted, in Cantonese. The fun part was when he tried to clarify things with me, and I had no idea what he was asking me! Shameful that I can ask for things but I can’t answer when they ask me things…. sigh.

JP and Vsa ordered veggie dumplings, steamed. I didn’t want one, but they said these were pretty sad – very soft and floppy, and not very tasty. FAIL.

BF wanted fried dumplings, but these were the thick-skinned kind he doesn’t like. I tried one, and while I don’t mind thick skin (sometimes; I have to be in the mood), these were not cooked through (the skin, if that makes sense) and the meat was not that flavorful, even with the use of black vinegar. FAIL.

I remembered this dish from the baby shower – garlic paper fried chicken, which I ordered as such, but the waiter tried to tell me the name is something else. Ok, you know what I’m talking about, so why do you have to keep telling me I have the name wrong? I said “Ok, but it’s paper fried chicken with garlic added, right?” and he kept telling me about some sauce that’s added. I don’t know what he was talking about. So I got the name wrong, but the dish was right: juicy fried chicken with paper-thin crispy skin, tender meat, and amazing bursts of garlic flavor. I don’t like chicken at restaurants, but this is one of the dishes I like to eat a few pieces and be done with. I think an entire meal could be eaten of this and rice… Yum! Everyone else seemed to like it, too.

“Wet” fried noodles with beef, beef ho fun, sup chow ngau ho. Yes I’ve tried to make this before, to great fail (don’t look for it! please!). They did it pretty well here – this was another of JP’s choices – lots of beef, veggies, and the noodles were good.

Honey walnut shrimp, VSa’s favorite dish. She said she really likes this here, and it was perfectly tasty – large shrimp, each coated with the sauce. I’m completely biased and still prefer my favorite Cantonese place, especially since they keep the sauce separate for me to dip as liberally or as conservatively as I like (and to scoop some into my white rice to eat like that… o yes I did and do!). I also would have liked extra sauce to dip the broccoli in, but as it stands, this is an acceptable version. (I also prefer the beef noodles – the last dish – from my favorite place more, but that’s straight bias, since these were good, too.)

Seafood chow mein – I love noodles. These were really good, lots of seafood, though a bit skimpy on the more expensive seafood bits. JP said he liked this dish a lot too, which made me glad I’d ordered it – I didn’t want to be seen as the pig just ordering stuff that no one else wanted to eat (we shared everything family-style). When I asked for “jeet cho” (red wine vinegar), the guy brought it but then pointed out the black vinegar on the table. Hon, if I wanted to put black vinegar on my noodles, I’d be crazy first of all, and second, I’d have used it already then. I just kind of blankly stared at him because I didn’t know the name for black vinegar in Chinese until he pointed at it. This was very confusing. Did he not know I wanted to put this on my noodles? Was he just having fun mocking the girl who clearly did not know any Chinese but FOOD???

BlindBaker stepped in here and added a tofu dish whose name escapes me (or perhaps I never knew it). This was tasty with rice! Can you tell me what the name is? Thanks!

My first plate, I took a little bit of everything to show you. Then I stuck to mostly noodles since those are the carbs I crave. Seafood chow mein with red wine vinegar??? Yes please!!! NOM!!!

Yvo says: Both BlindBaker and I admitted to each other that we had unfairly judged Congee Village without giving it a fair chance till then. The food was tasty enough. However, it’s in an awkward part of Chinatown for those of us using mass transit (on Allen Street) (we drove this time and found parking very close by, luckily), and to me, this isn’t real Chinatown – not just because it’s on the edge, but because it’s a large, very clean restaurant – good for those who are going to Chinatown for the first time. The food is definitely tasty – but I don’t think I’d seek this place out often. Maybe if I were showing people new to Chinatown, or wary of “hole in the wall” dining, I could see going back. The full bar doesn’t hurt either (though we didn’t utilize it). I can’t speak to prices because BF and JP paid without letting us look at the bill – thanks again, BF & JP!!! – but I know that neither of them said it was expensive, and we had some leftovers to take as well. Oh, and the waiters totally spoke enough English for those who are new to Chinatown and don’t speak Chinese.
recommended for Chinatown n00bz and/or those afraid of grime

Bonfire Grill

Feisty Foodie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:15:07 +0000

I’ll be completely honest with you. This isn’t a real post nor a real review. It’s just pictures of what my friends and I ate one Saturday morning before they all went to the driving range and I headed off to the batting cages. I ate at Bonfire and reviewed it (click here), so when they requested a brunch place in the area, this is what sprang to mind for a girly brunch. I feel like I haven’t seen my friends in ages – which is probably true since I’ve been travelling and then studying my butt off – so I spent most of the brunch trying to follow the conversation and trying to catch up with everyone. (Unsuccessfully, I might add.)

HB’s omelet. I don’t know what was in it nor what she thought of it. It’s pretty though and it came with bacon, potatoes, and toast.

AB’s eggs Benedict, I think she liked this.

SpB ordered an omelet with smoked salmon in it – I know this because she sat closest to me – and I am sure she liked it. In fact, everyone liked it since no one complained about the food, so it must have been sufficient, and everyone seemed to clean their plates. We all enjoyed our mimosas, too.

I probably liked my dish the least, actually. I ordered from the “lunch” part of brunch and got a grilled chicken Caesar salad. In all honesty, I’d have been happier without the chicken, I just wanted something light. Unfortunately, the salad was underdressed, and I’d have been fine eating an underdressed salad of Romaine lettuce alone, but the chicken was also woefully dry and un-tasty. I could have “solved” these problems by requesting more dressing, but I didn’t want the extra calories (have you not been reading my West Coast posts? I just gained 10 lbs!). So it went unsolved; if you’re OK with this type of solution, by all means.

Yvo says: I still really like Bonfire Grill even after my salad FAIL. I do believe I will continue to visit them for my brunch needs, but will avoid grilled chicken breast as I do at nearly every other establishment in the world for just this very problem.
recommended

Tuesdays with TT: Wan’s going away dinner

TT — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:15:46 +0000

A couple of months ago, CT told me that her good friend Wan was going to be moving to London for business school soon. You may remember Wan as our gracious dim sum guide. Wan said she would love it if CT cooked Indian food, since she rarely does. As an added bonus, we were able to use CT’s parents new apartment with its huge kitchen. CT’s friend JC also offered to cook some Chinese dishes. As for me, all I had to do was bring a can opener and EAT!

CT made dishes her Mother makes, so nothing like we would get at a restaurant.

The first dish was Keema with Aloo. It was ground beef with potatoes and spices. CT hadn’t made it in a while, so she wasn’t overly happy with the result. I thought it was good and balanced well with some of the stronger flavored dishes.

Her other dish was Shrimp with Mustard Seed Curry and Yogurt. CT went overboard with the amount of shrimp she bought, but I’m not complaining. It was super tasty. I will have to get her to make this again, soon!

JC made Mapo Tofu with Pork. This was my first time having this. It was by far the star of the night. Everyone loved this dish. Tons of salty, porky, goodness in this. The tofu made this healthy, or at least that’s what I tell myself.

JC also made a shrimp dish, Shrimp with Celery in Oyster Sauce. This was also really good. JC left the celery al dente so it still had a nice crunch to it. Quite different from the shrimp, CT made, but just as good.

I think I ended up getting seconds and thirds. Everything was delicious. As if that wasn’t enough, JC also made dessert, Almond Jelly with Fruit Cocktail. It was simple yet exactly what was needed. A good end to the meal.

I wish Wan all the best in London. I hope she enjoyed this dinner as much as I did.

Thursdays with TT: Delta Dugout/Shake Shack

TT — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:15:13 +0000

UPDATE: I am becoming a blogging machine, so I will also be reporting on Thursday afternoons for you.

A couple weeks, I got an email from Delta informing me that they would be hosting the “Delta Dugout” at Madison Square Park to celebrate the Subway Series of Mets vs. Yankees. It sounded very similar to the viewing of the U.S. Open that they usually do each year in the same park. Since Madison Square Park is one of my favorite parks, not only because of Shake Shack, I knew I would make an effort to go down and check it out.

It was a pretty hot and humid day already before noon on a Sunday. A thunderstorm just passed through, so I didn’t expect much of a crowd when I got there. I was actually surprised by the amount of people there, but still it wasn’t that many people. My goal was to get one of the 500 blankets they were giving away each day to Delta SkyMiles members. Although I prefer Continental, I am still a Delta member, so I was able to score a free blanket.

Most of the activities were geared towards kids. Unfortunately it turned out that Sunday was “Mets Day.” The day before was geared towards the Yankees, but I was busy on Saturday. There was face painting, balloons, pitching competition, Wii baseball, and a couple of other activities. They also had people pushing airplane food trolleys around the park handing out pretzels and peanuts. These days that is more food than what you get on a plane.

At the north end of the park was the big screen to watch the game. The reflecting pool was drained and a baseball diamond turn was put in for people to sit on to watch the game.

Hill Country had a booth setup selling various food offerings. I have been to HC before and wasn’t that impressed. Since it was Father’s Day, AB and I were hosting my parents for a barbecue. I smoked a brisket, since I was so successful with it previously. Therefore, I decided to skip HC and instead go to Shake Shack for lunch.

Shake Shack was offering the “Delta Dugout Dog” over this weekend. A nice touch since usually only the UWS location does special offerings like this. It is a “griddled Vienna Beef hot dog topped with spicy Tabasco simmered onions.”

AB & I decided to get an early lunch at SS, since I had a lot of prep to do with the grill. It was just about noon and the sun came out, but lo and behold, basically no line to speak of. Unheard of when the sun is out. It was less than 10 mins from line to food. I think that is a world record.

I convinced AB to try the Dugout Dog, since I don’t like onions on my hot dogs. She liked it and the Tabasco gave it a nice kick.

I went with my go-to Double Shack Burger. The patties were thicker that usual, which was odd. I also don’t they were seasoned as usual. It was still tasty but not as good as usual. It could have been due to the griddle still being relatively “fresh” at that time of day.

We shared an order of fries. Good as usual. I always liked SS fries, I don’t understand why some people think they are terrible.

I also decided to get as a drink/dessert, the “Fair Shake” milkshake, since the custard flavor of the day was “Cherry Almond”. I have learned that the fruit flavored custards usually aren’t that good. It is a vanilla milkshake mixed with 100% certified organic Arabica fairly traded coffee. It was delicious. Probably the best coffee milkshake ever.

All in all it was a great event and very generous of Delta to do. It is events like these that make living in New York, so much fun. The Yankees also shut out the Mets today, so that’s always a good thing too.