The place was kind of full when we got there, but a quick rearranging and they were able to accommodate our group of 7.

When I saw horchata on the menu, I obviously had to order it. Whenever I see it on any menu, I order it! StB was happy to see this and ordered it as well… and this was way better than what I’d had at La Churreria. Lightly sweet, and scented with nutmeg and is that cardamom… I really enjoyed my glass.

We were brought these nachos on the house – a nice bite to stave off the massive hunger we all felt. Our server – who I think was also the owner, or one of them – also brought out tamales, but I didn’t take a photograph (it was far away) and I actually didn’t try it either since I’m not a fan of masa. Everyone who ate them really enjoyed them though! There were also chips and salsa brought out when we sat down, which is always a welcome snack to munch on while browsing the menu. Not greasy, but clearly housemade, crisp chips with a light salsa, yum.

Aside from the presence of horchata on the menu alerting me to the fact that this wasn’t some fake Mexican (ie, Tex-Mex, which permeates the NY dining scene – and while it’s tasty, it isn’t what I always want), the menu section entitled “Mexico City Tacos” described as soft corn tortillas, fresh onions, cilantro and salsa confirmed this. Real tacos! I chose al pastor (pork), carnitas (pork), and al carbon (steak), and my goodness, though it was a little odd that sour cream was still served with them (I love sour cream, so it didn’t bother me, but StB pointed this out to me), these were LEGIT. Really juicy meat, oozing over my hand as I stuffed each one into my mouth (NOT WHOLE!), the flavor was on the spot and really good. I really enjoyed my tacos and ignored everyone else as I devoured mine.

DLS chose the fish taco platter, and I tried a bite of fish. It was grilled, flaky, and good, but I really vastly prefer fried fish tacos, so these weren’t going to win me. I think he enjoyed them as I don’t recall him complaining… then again I don’t really listen to him when he talks, ha.

When we were all done eating, a plate of fried bananas was brought over for us to enjoy as well, compliments of the house. Nice touch!

Thanks again to Derek for dinner, and congratulations again on the store’s grand reopening!

Yvo says: I would not hesitate to return if I’m in the area again (though my friend who owns the store mentioned a pizza place nearby that I have to try, so that may be the next time I’m in the area). These tacos were legitimately good and closer to real Mexican tacos like I wanted (though don’t get me wrong – I crave my share of Tex-Mex every once in a while!). Definitely give this place a go if you’re anywhere nearby!
recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DLS, fish tacos, horchata, tacos

Menus laid at our places made me excited for what was to come. Please note: don’t drive to Seasons 52 and then indulge in their wine pairings. Have a designated driver jealously watch you imbibe, or call a car service. Don’t wind up tipsy to the point where you have to wait it out at the mall lest a concerned sibling scream at you on the phone, or worse, you decide to drive on easily the drunkest day of the year and a trooper pulls you over to give you a ticket and your SBA card does nothing to help you get out of it because YOU COULD HAVE KILLED SOMEONE OR YOURSELF YOU IDIOT.  None of these things happened to me – I drove straight home after lunch without incident – but seriously, don’t drink and drive.  It is one of the stupidest things you can do, and one of the most selfish as well, because you’re not just endangering yourself but all the people on the road around you.

But you’re here for the food, not a lecture on the dangers of drinking&driving, because none of my readers are that stupid, hmm? – not photographed were the flatbreads we were served while being given a tour: artichoke & goat cheese, which I thought was tasty, but I was much more enamored of the chipotle shrimp with roasted poblanos, grilled pineapple and feta cheese. The smokiness of the roasted poblanos was countered nicely with the sweet pineapple, while the feta brought a bit of creaminess to make each bite a delight. I don’t care much for shrimp, but texturally, their presence was felt and appreciated.

Once we were seated, the parade of food and alcohol began. Our amuse: Lump Crab and Haas Avocado was another lightly refreshing bite, a nice start to the meal. I must admit, at this point I was pretty confused; Seasons 52 is known for their seasonally inspired menu, but I somehow got it in my head that it would also celebrate local harvest.  This obviously is not the case; avocados are not local to NYC, as much as I’d like them to be.  I misunderstood something I read, actually.

Please note that they smartly gave us smaller portions than one would receive were they to dine at Seasons 52 and order these dishes, as they wanted us to try a wider variety of their featured dishes and didn’t want us clutching our bellies in pain (or wasting a lot of food). Very smart – our first entree was the organic salmon and lemongrass sea scallop roasted on a cedar plank. The salmon was perfectly cooked – that is to say medium rare – and flavored very lightly, allowing the salmon to shine. The scallop, skewered on a piece of lemongrass, was also cooked perfectly, slightly medium rare as well, and the lemongrass scented it as I pulled the scallop off. I enjoyed how light this dish was, while being very flavorful so even though you might think “diet food!” it really left you feeling satisfied.  Even with the smaller tasting portion here.

Okay… this was interesting. I didn’t snap a shot, but this was brought to the table on the plate, but inside a glass tube – think of a plain round vase with a very flat bottom, but no bottom – and then servers lifted and swirled the tube in a circular motion as they lifted it, to help disperse the aromas within.  It seemed kind of gimmicky to me, honestly, but there was no denying that the salad was very tasty: organic field greens with grilled portobello mushrooms, toasted pistachios and truffle dressing.  The swirling motion caused the truffle aroma to waft into your face in a rush, but just eating the salad would have been fine for that in my opinion.  I’m always suspicious of these types of fancy/gimmicky experiences though – like serving soup in pipettes or lasering vanilla beans inside wine glasses (I’ve eaten in some ridiculous places in my life).

Easily my least favorite dish: Sonoma goat cheese ravioli with roasted garlic, basil and light tomato broth – not for much fault of its own, I just tend to dislike most goat cheeses. The pasta was incredibly thin – think wonton wrappers (which I’ve totally used to fake ravioli at home!), which I didn’t think held up well to the strong cheese – though the light broth was delicately flavored. Overall, I wouldn’t order this dish – not least of all because of my tendency to avoid most goat cheeses, but because I didn’t think everything meshed that well. The tomatoes were nice though – but I LOVE tomatoes.

Our fourth and final entree, mesquite-grilled Piedmontese sirloin and Manchester Farms  all-natural quail, mashed sweet potatoes and bourbon-chili glaze, reminded me of yin / yang with the way it was plated. The quail was incredibly tender, not gamey in the least, and perfectly cooked, with a very flavorful jus underneath. The sirloin was also very intensely flavored, and the reduction underneath played off it very well.  Cooked to a perfect medium-rare… good stuff.

Last, but hardly least, a tower of “mini indulgences” was brought out for us to pick and choose.  I immediately chose the caramel macchiato, because I absolutely adore caramel, and noted how deliciously moist and dense the cake within was. I thought this was so good – and normally, it would have been the perfect sweet bite to end an already very filling meal – but after CS of Eat Big Apple told me how good his Key Lime mini was, I had to try that too. Light, gently tart, with an incredibly chewy  graham cracker layer… okay, yeah, this was good. Another perfectly sized treat to end the meal – I would definitely order this again. (Though I don’t believe Key Limes are in season right now either…)

Yvo says: The food was surprisingly very good – and I say surprising because I tend to expect myself to enjoy any given meal, so any variation (enjoying it a lot, or enjoying it less than I expect) surprises me. I definitely enjoyed this more than an average meal, and feel comfortable telling you that the food is very good… I can’t comment on prices as I didn’t see any, and service was obviously spectacular as I was there for an event. But speaking solely about the food, it’s definitely worth visiting, especially if you’re out that way – it’s right behind Roosevelt Field.
recommended

Please note that I attended this event courtesy of Seasons 52 – thanks for your hospitality! – but was under no obligation to post about my experience, positively or negatively, and received no monetary compensation to do so.

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: quail, seasonal

Something amazing happened a short while ago. I discovered myself eating and enjoying spicy food… progressively more and more! Now, I don’t eat anything crazy, and I’m all about flavor over heat – and honestly, if something is served to me that isn’t spicy, I don’t really see a need to go out of my way to add heat… BUT if something is served spicy, I’ve been enjoying those dishes. What’s this got to do with anything? Well, my friend EL and I drove out to check out Pepperheads way out in LI, and picked up a couple of things. Well, really, he picked them up, since I’m not ready for that level of heat (though the ground chipotle on the end is mine). The store was small but packed with loads of hot sauces and assorted spicy goodies – I recommend anyone go there and check it out! But try to go on a day when the only person working isn’t a young high school girl bored out of her skull who doesn’t really like spicy things and is only there for spending cash, and hasn’t been properly trained at all. No, seriously.

After we were done there, we both wanted a snack, so we headed a few doors down and hit up Salsa Salsa, at the salesgirl’s suggestion. We ordered nachos topped with bacon… yes, bacon! and the usual. Since EL apparently hates cilantro, the staff was kind enough to make him a quick fresh salsa (not on the menu) – which turned out to be simply diced tomatoes and onions, and put the other stuff on the side for me… since I love cilantro. The nachos were a hefty portion, and quite tasty, we had a blast digging through the platter and getting kind of messy. Super filling, too, and I think it was around $7. If I’m ever out that far again, I’d totally return. Super friendly staff and pretty good nachos – maybe next time I’ll actually try the other stuff, haha! (I went directly to dinner with family afterwards.)

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: nachos, snacks

And that’s how we wound up at Fish Kebab. 

Since I’d been eating at home right before he arrived, I wasn’t all that hungry and decided to just choose a bunch of things to nibble on.  Pita came with our mezze platter. 

Hummus, which was perfectly tasty but nothing mind blowing (I LOVE hummus, and have a favorite brand and all). 

The mezzes: from the front left clockwise, babaghanoush, tzatziki, garlic-potatoes, stuffed grape leaves, and … mmm… taramasalata.  I’m not a big eggplant person, so that dish was mostly ignored by me, but the tzatziki was very creamy and tangy… the potatoes were a bit of hit or miss with me, a little too stiff to be a dip and a little odd eating just like mashed potatoes.  The stuffed grape leaves were okay, and the taramasalata… oh, my.  I won’t say it’s the best ever, but I really liked how fishy this dip was, you would not mistake this for anything but a cod roe dip.  So good – I couldn’t stop stuffing this in my mouth.  We requested more pita, a request that was met happily. 

We also ordered a half dozen raw oysters because I was just feeling it.  I enjoyed these – super fresh, and super tasty, not like the ones I’d had earlier.  Shucked properly too, no need to pull them from the shell… ahhh. 

DLS ordered the seafood pasta, which sounded glorious.  Both of us assumed it would be mostly seafood tossed with the pasta, maybe clams and/or mussels in the shell, but when the server came over to put a bib on DLS, we both realized how wrong we were.  I took a couple of cute photos of him wearing the bib, but I don’t think he’d appreciate me putting them on the blog… so I won’t, boo   In any case, he seemed to really enjoy his pasta, though I declined to try any – half a lobster, mussels, shrimp, I think even scallops in there… maybe he’ll (finally!) comment and share his thoughts on something? 

As I said, I wasn’t particularly hungry, so I chose just the New England clam chowder.  The bowl was huge! and quite tasty.  Very smoothly creamy – mine sometimes comes out a bit lumpy, probably from my tendency to brown my roux, filled with lots of veggies and big chunks of clam.  I really enjoyed my soup, and didn’t feel any remorse at being unable to order a more substantial meal – I thoroughly enjoyed everything  I ate!

Yvo says: I’d initially worried this place wouldn’t still be there since it’s been literally over 11 years since I’d gone, but it’s clear why this place has survived the test of time: fresh seafood, a wonderful staff and just good food.  You can’t beat that.  The owners have a few places – this, the Shish Kebab place, a little market across the street, and a bunch of places that all sell this type of stuff – the little market sells the mezze we ordered individually by the pound, and even little mini picnic packs to take to the lake nearby to eat a nice picnic lunch… yes, we talked about that, you know how goofy I am!… Love how adorable it is.  Full disclosure: the same owners have or had another restaurant in the Source Mall, which is where I threw FeistySis’s baby shower for her first child… and I loved it, they were easy to work with, the price was awesome and the food was good (served buffet style), just a great overall place. 
highly recommended if you’re in the area

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2012. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: DLS, hummus, taramasalata

I didn’t take a picture of the outside, and I don’t know that I’ll be trying to send y’all to this place anyway.  Mine.  Go away.  Well, no, also because it’s far from any public transportation, and when you see what I ate… well… yeah. 

Headed over to spend time with my family recently, and I was greeted with “We’re going to Old Country Buffet, yee-yee!” when I walked in the door.  Ok, off we go in the car – I don’t even know how to get there, to be honest – and arrived at a ridiculous line.  But we waited, and eventually we were seated…  at a southern food buffet.  Guys, did you read that?  SOUTHERN FOOD.  ALL YOU CAN EAT. 

Help.

My first plate basically said “get what you like, because you know what you’ll be eating next!” so I got my standards of “whatever strikes your fancy” – some salad just because, some seafood salad even more just because, mac&cheese, fried pieces of fish, fried potato slices, tartar sauce, and of course… tortilla chips with liquid cheese.  Liquid cheese, you complete me… and fill in my arteries with your gooey goodness.  So far: the fish wasn’t that good.  The mac&cheese was pretty good.  And the chips were as expected.  I’m not going to talk about the other stuff.  Ugh. 

My next plate was the star of the show, the fried chicken: a thigh and a drumstick, and some mashed potatoes with both kinds of gravy – country and regular brown.  I like country gravy.  The brown was too salty and too… heavy.  Obviously I liked the mac&cheese as I got more.  And the chicken?  Solidly delicious, artery solidifying.  Seriously good stuff.  It tasted like homemade, and I mean that in a good way – it wasn’t amazing, but it was just like I’d make at home.  YUM.  Juicy, moist interior, and crisp skin on the exterior.  I was sold.  Nothing else needed to be eaten for the rest of the meal. 

Ah, right, she-who-shall-not-be-named told me the chicken was really good with the cole slaw.  This is southern cole slaw: chopped fine, lots of mayo and lots of sugar.  Sweet and very creamy.  Yeah, it cuts through the grease of the chicken… ahem. 

So my next plate was two chickem thighs and um… that’s a bowl of chicken/country gravy.  Yes, yes I did.  I took pieces of the skin, of the chicken, sometimes together, sometimes not, and dipped it in the gravy and ate it like that.  I don’t wonder the reason I can’t lose weight.  I know.  And its name is GRAVY. 

The aftermath.  Are you grossed out right now?  Cuz I’m not.  I’m just hungry.  Hahaha. 

So, yes, I had four pieces of fried chicken and more food.  You should see what FeistyMom ate…

Some fruit once I was stuffed completely on fried chicken and needed to relax a bit. 

And once I’d relaxed enough, I had some soft serve swirl in a cone.  That’s right.  That’s how I do. 

Even better?  She-who-shall-not-be-named mentioned how good the chocolate chip cookies are when they first come out.  Every time I walked by, there were none to be had, though I saw them behind the counter of desserts, just waiting to be made, waiting to be served.  Damn.  But just as I was about to leave, I wandered by and saw that a whole tray had come out.  I grabbed two, and my brother-in-law grabbed two for his wife, and we munched happily on the still piping hot cookies – so hot that we smushed them a little by accident – as we walked out into the very chilly night. 

I guess the best part would be the price: it’s about $10 an adult for dinner.  Yeah, seriously. 

Sometimes I wonder why I bother going to places in Manhattan…

…then I remember all the variety and the likelihood of me being 300+ lbs. if I lived closer to Old Country Buffet.

Yvo says: Great bang for your buck, undoubtedly, and many options from which to choose.  The fried chicken and gravy combo, however, is definitely the one I’ll return to again and again and again… sigh.  /swoon – wait, that was actually my heart stopping. 
recommended

© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: all you can eat, buffet, fried chicken