Saturday, June 8, 2013
Cats, Breakfast and Popovers
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
What's For Lunch?
Working in Downtown Albany is dangerous--dangerously delicious! I'm surrounded by too many options for lunch, not that it's a problem. I'm terrible at eating the leftovers that I bring for lunch and more than often opt to eat out, especially when it's beautiful outside so I can walk to lunch and walk off those calories from lunch. I'm mostly broke because I don't like to sit at my desk and I'd rather spend my precious lunch hour with a slider than staring at my computer screen. Plus office gossip time and wedding planning with my friend and colleague is worth that $10 expense.
My lunch criteria are quick, tasty bites in the $10 range. Here are a few (ok, more than a few) of my favorite Downtown Albany lunch spots:
Labels:
albany,
downtown,
food trucks,
greek,
healthy cafe,
kinnaree,
lunch,
salad,
sandwiches,
sliders,
slidin dirty,
thai,
wraps
Location:
24 Eagle Street, Albany, NY 12207, USA
Monday, June 3, 2013
Maine Luau Lobster Pound & BBQ Pit
Labels:
bar harbor,
bbq,
beans,
brisket,
grilled,
lobster,
mac 'n cheese,
maine luau,
mussels,
pound,
seafood,
smoked,
steamed
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Duckfat
The last time we tried to stop by Duckfat in Portland, the "Closed for Renovations" sign put a kaibosh to our culinary plans but led us to the best lobster rolls of our lives at Eventide Oyster Co. We were on our way to Bar Harbor to spend some quality time by the ocean but duck fat fried fries were calling our names and we just had to make that 1-hr lunch detour.
We became obsessed with Duckfat when we saw Owner Chef Rob Evans compete on Chopped Champions. Off the high of last night's Fuel feast, we had high expectations for Duckfat. The joint is considered more of a laid back sandwich place with lots of unique twists, perfect for lunch. You can drool over the menu here. Vacation is the time to splurge and indulge right? Born and raised in Montreal, poutine to me is the epitome of comfort food. Gravy fries with shredded cheese is no poutine. I hold very high standards to every poutine we try, aka I better hear that cheese curd squeak! Duckfat's version of a poutine (hand-cut fries fried in duck fat and smothered with duck gravy) was just o.k. and the Pineland Farm cheese curd didn't squeak.
I swear the French Canadians have poutine down to a science, even the McDonald's version is good. There's a distinctive taste to a Quebecois cheese curd that no ones seems to have perfected here, except for Shirley's Cafe in Jonesville. The owners are from Montreal and must import their cheese from Canada because it's the only place that makes poutine that tastes like the ones at home to me. We've tried poutines from The City Gastropub and Lil' Britain in Bennington and they don't come close to that at Shirley's. Plus nothing is more disappointing when the gravy completely melts the cheese curds; it's a fine balance of warm gravy to squeaky cold cheese curds to crispy fries.
Back to Duckfat, while the fries had a nice crisp the poutine just didn't wow us. To accompany our paninis, we ordered the craft sodas: a root beer for J and an all Maine tonic for me with raw apple cider vinegar, honey, and maple. Not your typically sweet sodas, but a nice refreshing drink to cut the rich flavors of our sandwiches. Reubens are J's go to sandwiches and he couldn't pass on the Corned Beef Tongue Reuben. You read that right! The corned beef tongue was cut very thinly and not tough at all. Paired with housemade sauerkraut, thousand island, and pressed on crispy rye bread, it was the perfect panini. Mine on the other hand, I was a bit disappointed with. I ordered the Roast Pork Belly panini: with pickled peppers, manchego, and saffron-tabasco mayo. As much as I love pork belly, I just wasn't wowed by my sandwich. The richness of the pork belly needed to be offset by more acidity and the mayo added more richness that wasn't necessary.
Overall, Duckfat was a bit of a let down except for the reuben. I'm hoping we can squeeze in a redemption trip in the near future because we do love to try new and unique eats.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Fuel Maine
Do you know where Buckfield, Maine is? Middle of nowhere, as in the nearest grocery store is a 30 min hike. But because we love our family and little nieces, our Maine vacation also included some quality uncle/aunty time. Lucky for us, Buckfield is only 1hr away from Portland (which meant we could go back and try Duckfat) and near the metropolis of Lewiston which surprisingly, has a few great hidden gems, including a Chef's Tasting Menu called "Feed Me". How could we not try it?!
After a beer stop at Baxter Brewing Co., we put our faith in Yelp to help us find another hidden gem for lunch. It lead us to a quirky little lunch spot called She Doesn't Like Guthrie's. Long name, tasty place, and certified "Green Restaurant" by Maine! To give our cholesterol a break, we went a healthier route. J got a bbq chicken sandwich while I tried a combo of sweet potato quesadilla and grilled kale salad with avocado, beans, and brown rice and side of really delicious and bright cilantro lime dressing. Everything tasted fresh, clean, and was healthy (I think). It was probably one of the few places where we got a healthy serving of veggies in. Fried fiddleheads count as a healthy vegetable too, right?
We were obsessed with trying fiddleheads, a seasonal fern of sorts that we saw everywhere on the road stands. I've never seen these greens in New York and stopped by a quaint local stand to pick some up. The kind of stand that someone's neighbor set-up with a fisher price chalkboard; kind of sketchy but it's your local, friendly neighborhood supplier. J's bro is a great cook and prepared the fiddleheads two ways: tempura and sauteed in butter. Delicious! Funky looking but also tasted familiar, like a cross between a string bean and bok choy.
It must have been fate, because fiddleheads made another appearance the next night when we went out for dinner. J's bro and sister in law had been raving about a restaurant in nearby Lewiston that does a chef's tasting menu. Basically, every dish is up to the chef and is a surprise four-course meal. You just tell him your dislikes, and your meal is at the mercy of his knife. Our inner foodies couldn't resist and off to Fuel we went.
There's no holding back when it comes to the Feed Me Menu. We decided to be a bit more adventurous and the only exceptions we made were no eggplant for me and no mushrooms for J. It was only fitting that we were dining at the bar as Iron Chef America was playing on the flatscreen overlooking us.
After a beer stop at Baxter Brewing Co., we put our faith in Yelp to help us find another hidden gem for lunch. It lead us to a quirky little lunch spot called She Doesn't Like Guthrie's. Long name, tasty place, and certified "Green Restaurant" by Maine! To give our cholesterol a break, we went a healthier route. J got a bbq chicken sandwich while I tried a combo of sweet potato quesadilla and grilled kale salad with avocado, beans, and brown rice and side of really delicious and bright cilantro lime dressing. Everything tasted fresh, clean, and was healthy (I think). It was probably one of the few places where we got a healthy serving of veggies in. Fried fiddleheads count as a healthy vegetable too, right?
We were obsessed with trying fiddleheads, a seasonal fern of sorts that we saw everywhere on the road stands. I've never seen these greens in New York and stopped by a quaint local stand to pick some up. The kind of stand that someone's neighbor set-up with a fisher price chalkboard; kind of sketchy but it's your local, friendly neighborhood supplier. J's bro is a great cook and prepared the fiddleheads two ways: tempura and sauteed in butter. Delicious! Funky looking but also tasted familiar, like a cross between a string bean and bok choy.
It must have been fate, because fiddleheads made another appearance the next night when we went out for dinner. J's bro and sister in law had been raving about a restaurant in nearby Lewiston that does a chef's tasting menu. Basically, every dish is up to the chef and is a surprise four-course meal. You just tell him your dislikes, and your meal is at the mercy of his knife. Our inner foodies couldn't resist and off to Fuel we went.
There's no holding back when it comes to the Feed Me Menu. We decided to be a bit more adventurous and the only exceptions we made were no eggplant for me and no mushrooms for J. It was only fitting that we were dining at the bar as Iron Chef America was playing on the flatscreen overlooking us.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Eventide Oyster Co.
After what was the best sushi meals we've ever eaten, it was hard to imagine what other delectable grubs Portland could enlighten us with. We're such fans of Chopped on the Food Network (Ted Allen is one of J's man crushes) that we made it an absolute point to stop by Duckfat after seeing owner Chef Rob Evans compete. The man is after all, a James Beard Award recipient and makes duck fat fried french fries. My cholesterol level jumped just typing about it. But a little misfortune led us to one of the best lobster rolls we've ever consumed.
Lucky for us, all the best eateries including Benkay Sushi, Two Fat Cats, and Duckfat are located within one delicious radius along Commercial Street by the coastal riverfront. As we approached Duckfat, a little sign in front of the storefront delivered devastating news. The restaurant was still closed for renovations and we were leaving to visit J's brother that afternoon. Cue sad music.
We must have looked really sad because a lovely young Portlander who was outside dining at the spot next to Duckfat chimed in and recommended Eventide Oyster Co. right down the street for some of the best oysters in town. Still off the high of the previous night's Bluepoint Oysters from Benkay, we decided to why not give it a shot.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Benkay Japanese Sushi Bar
Our findings led us to the best sushi meal we've ever had at Benkay Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar. We consider this our #1 all-time sushi spot now. Too bad it's now 4hrs away from Albany. We might very well consider a weekend trip just to eat this sushi again.
Labels:
benkay,
hidden gem,
lobster,
mackarel,
maine,
oysters,
portland,
rolls,
salmon,
sashimi,
scallop,
seafood,
sushi,
toro,
tuna,
yelp
Location:
2 India Street, Portland, ME 04101, USA
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Breweries of Maine
Now, to be fair, before I met R my idea of a great dinner was putting frozen shrimp in a pot of ramen. I was really proud of myself for that one, so inventive. She's the one who taught me how to taste, who showed me what real cooking can be, and how much fun it can be. I never grilled before I met her, now it's my favorite thing to listen to John Sterling call a Yankees game in the back, grill flaming away, beer in hand. I use the beer to time my grilling, if you were wondering.
All that said, I really feel like R captured our culinary experiences in Maine beautifully, and I'm hoping she's planning another post to describe the lobster pound we basically maxed our credit cards at 3 days in a row (hint). I don't feel there's a ton I can add about the food, so I'm going to talk about the beer instead.
Being a fan of craft brewing, I love living in the northeast. R kind of humors me when we go on vacation, we always look up and visit at least one brewery near wherever we're staying even though she doesn't really drink. Win-win for me, since at tastings I get to drink hers too if I like it. Here, in order of visit, are the breweries in Maine we've visited and my thoughts on their brews:
Labels:
ale,
augusta,
bar harbor,
beer,
brew,
craft beer,
maine,
portland,
tasting
Location:
Maine, USA
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Pho 88
Armed with the trusty Yelp and Foodspotting phone apps, we found a great little Vietnamese place in Lowell, MA. No McDonald's rest area lunch stops for us! If you find yourself anywhere near this area, make a point to stop by Pho 88. I was craving my mom's Bun Bo Hue (a spicy vermicelli soup, with soft tendon, sliced shank, ground shrimp and pork) and was so surprised to find it on the menu that I had to have it and boy did it hit the spot. This version even came with black blood pudding, a little bit too adventurous/Andrew Zimmern Bizzare Food-esque, even for me. The broth was perfectly spicy and full of delightful aromas like lemongrass. It was just as good as mom's (just don't tell her that).
I'm pretty sure I got J addicted to pho since we started dating. If you have yet to try Vietnamese food, start out with this noodle soup and you'll be hooked. I make an o.k. chicken pho at home (in the crock pot!) but for the beef pho, we usually go out to Van's Vietnamese Restaurant in Albany or Saigon Spring in Clifton Park for the real deal bowl of goodness. One hot steaming bowl of pho is sure to cure any illness. Pho 88's version was just as good, if not better than Albany's. To drink, J had a tra da chanh (limeade made with jasmine tea) and I had a a durian milkshake with tapioca bubbles. Durian! Yup, it's that's funky fruit that to some people smells vile, is banned in enclosed spaces in Asia, but that I find oh so delicious!
order with mom when she comes to visit. I can't even get a proper bahn mi sandwich (the real deal baguette made with rice flour and schmear of pate) and that makes me want to start up a food truck just so I can eat one. The best ones by the way, are the ones made in Montreal. The Canadian-French-Vietnamese folk make a mean baguette. But until our next road trip east, I'll settle for Albany pho. -R
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
What's Cooking?
The best steak sandwich we've ever made was with Meat House steak. The butcher gave us a sample of their house marinated steak tips and were hooked from that day forth. It was unbelievably tender, delicious, and flavorful. Add your steak tips to a grilled focaccia roll with a schmear of tangy goat cheese, pickled red onions (just soak slices of onions in some rice wine vinegar and sugar), and grilled shrimp and man will your belly be happy. This surf 'n turf sandwich is out of the world. Inspired by The Illium Cafe's own surf 'n turf sandwich (a combo of marinated sliced filet, grilled shrimp, blue cheese-garlic herb butter, roasted red peppers, and arugula on foccacia), our homemade version is just as kick-ass. Last night's version was made with a strip steak but we definitely recommend the marinated steak tips. The meat sweats have never been better. -R
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Hulk Smash
My go to green smoothie consists of a blend of a handful of fresh spinach, frozen mangoes, greek yogurt, and Trader Joe's Green Plant Juice, which contains broccoli, spinach, barley grass, chlorella, and spirulina. Looks like pond scum but you mostly taste the fruit in the juice which also contains apple, peach, pineapple, banana and mango.
For good measure, I add a tablespoon of chia seeds, also from Trader Joe's. Told you I had an obsession with TJ's. Apparently it's the same kind of chia seeds used for chia pets...cha cha cha chia! But a lil goes a long way; a single tablespoon gets you 6g of fiber, 3g of protein, and 2.9g of Omega-3 fatty acids. That to me sounds healthy and it adds a great texture to smoothies. Chia seeds makes your drink thicker too. When you soak chia seeds, they turn into a very space-age like gel. Some other great add-ins for these green smoothies are bananas or blueberries. Any fruit really! Go ahead, try a green smoothie! Promise you won't turn into the Hulk. -R
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Trader Joe's Treasures
What I love most about TJ's is that it satisfies my penchant to try new and most often weird snacks, all for a reasonable price. My latest favorite snack are these dried mandarin oranges. Funky right? But so delicious. Forget the fact that they're loaded with sugar. It's almost like eating a "healthier" version of a gummy. "Healthier" only because in my mind it's made from real fruit so it totally counts. Even though it's dried oranges, it's still soft and juicy, just like the package says.
My only gripe is that some products at TJs are limited edition/seasonal, so I hope this one stays around for awhile. It's a 9 out of 10 in my book. -R
Monday, April 29, 2013
What's Cooking?
Let me blow your mind: try grilling your romaine lettuce. Say what? Trust me, try it, and thank me later. There's something about getting a smoky char on lettuce that somehow brings out its inherent sweetness and elevates a salad to a whole new level. I usually just dress with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I call the grill J's second girlfriend and grilling lettuce is a perfect way to get some greens in him while satisfying his need to set things on fire.
Naturally, a grilled steak pairs well with grilled lettuce. I decided to try Chrissy Teigen's recipe for Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua). Nevermind the fact that she's a supermodel, but the girl loves bacon as much as I do and she is half Thai.I'd like to pretend that we are long lost sisters but I am no model,am Viet, and not engaged to John Legend but to an equally dashing guy. Props to Chrissy and her blog, So Delushious! It's a hilarious read.
I had a few missing ingredients (cilantro, thai chili powder, tomatoes) but even without them, just dressing the meat made for a super flavorful but light dish overall. Salty, sweet, and spicy. What more could you want? Didn't even need extra dressing on the salad, and you don't miss it either. On a whim, I decided to add mint to the salad which gave it another delightful herby dimension.
Give grilled lettuce a try and let me know what you think. Happy grilling. -R
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Foodspotting
Have you heard of Foodspotting? It's an app on your phone that lets you snap your own foodie shots, share, and even find dishes wherever you are. The Facebook of food if you will. Followers can say "Great Find" or "Great Shot" and you get reputation points and a "Worldwide" ranking. What gets me excited is when I get elevated to Gold Level Sushi Expert and get a nifty badge for it. That badge totally makes me a legit sushi expert. Sometimes the restaurants themselves will comment too and that is even more exciting! <----major dork.
So if you're like me and want to show off your food shots, get on Foodspotting, follow me, and we can be foodie friends! -R
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Our Favorite Capital Region Sushi Spots
The pressure of the inaugural blog post... Let's preface our first blog post with a disclaimer/introduction: J. and I are by no means culinary experts. We are merely foodies who enjoy tasty treats, love to dine out (even though we have a terrible streak of getting awful service), and we are fanatics of Food Network's Chopped and Restaurant Impossible.
80% of our culinary escapades are to sushi joints. We crave it on a weekly basis and it's only a matter of time before we get mercury poisoning. Sushi isn't hard to find in Albany; the Capital Region is saturated with mediocre places. Hell, even Wal-Mart carries it, *cringe*. Amazing and quality sushi on the hand, can only be found at a handful of places. Here are our regular and favorite sushi spots:
1. Sushi Tei (Guilderland): Blink and you can easily miss this small and pleasantly quiet and quaint place. It is hands down one of our favorite spaces for authentic and delicious Japanese food without the frills of loud weird techno music and glowing gaudiness (*cough* Sushi X, cough cough). Our go to here is a dinner box: your choice of two rolls, fruit, chef's choice of an appetizer (we've had gyoza or seaweed salad) and one of the reasons why we love the dinner box so much is a side of crab salad (crabmeat, panko crumbs, tobiko, and cucumber). Salmon here is top notch when at its peak of the season and one of our favorite appetizers is the tuna dumpling (crab salad wrapped with tuna sashimi) and the raw scallop sashimi, which comes with lemon slices and really elevates the flavor and sweetness of the scallops. Also, try the udon noodle soup at least once. All Over Albany has all the udon details here.
2. Mr. Fuji Sushi (Stuyvesant Plaza): We're always greeted with a smile and have never had bad service here. Our go to is the boat for two. That's right, a boat of sushi. Once in awhile we'll deviate and some stellar standouts include specials like the naruto roll (mixed fish rolled with cucumber instead of seaweed and rice); raw scallop sashimi; and jalapeno yellowtail. J is a fan of the salmon and I think Mr. Fuji hands down has the best white tuna sashimi. Mr. Fuji, whoever he is, also makes spicy rolls that are actually spicy and not too heavy on the sesame oil and breadcrumbs.
3. Sake Cafe (Albany): We come here solely for the Crazy Couple Roll (a spicy tuna and spicy yellowtail roll) that no one else seems to make. Another favorite is an appetizer called Treasure Island (mixed fish in an avocado half with spicy and eel sauces).
Honorable mentions: Sushi Thai Garden (Saratoga & Clifton Park) and Sushi Na Ra (Latham)
On the flop side, one of our worst sushi experiences have been at Sushi X (Latham). At first we were jaded by the "all you can eat" aspect of it. Each time we went back, service was worse and worse (i.e. took 15-20 mins for first round of food to come, long time to get our check, waiter forgetting our drink order) and so was the quality of the fish. It lacked flavor and full of fillers like breadcrumbs and too much rice to fish ratio. We kept going back hoping things would get better but the last time we went, the waft of stinky fish odor that greeted us as we walked in the door was a definite sign for us to never come back.
So we're curious, what are some of your favorite Capital Region sushi joints?
Happy sushi eatings,
J & R
Labels:
albany,
albany restaurants,
appetizer,
dining,
guilderland,
japanese,
review,
rice,
roll,
salmon,
sashimi,
seaweed,
spicy,
sushi,
tuna,
yellowtail
Location:
Albany, NY, USA
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