MIKELOCK34's Profile
the Smack Shack Downtown Minny Food Truck
You are incorrect. Poboys can be made with anything.
Los Arcos - West St. Paul (MSP)
I had stopped posting on chowhound due to too many deletions, but I have decided to post a note on Los Arcos after having lunch there today. As has been mentioned, the food was very cleanly prepared and presented. I had a chile rellenos, enchilada, tostada and chips and salsa. All were done well. They have the thick version of chips. Though we prefer thin, their's had not a hint of grease on them. There was not a hint of grease on any of the items that I had and thankfully no cheddar cheese in sight. I am not saying that this is the best Mexican food ever, but I enjoyed my lunch and I hope that they stay in business in the long term. The chef came and spoke to me. He was very friendly and apprciative of the business. I too recommend giving them a try.
Restaurants you wouldn't recommmend
People are almost always nice to us. I have had too much great food to be fooled by some of the poor food served in New Olreans that others find wonderful. Business obligations often force us to dine at restaurants that we would otherwise never visit. Each person's past experience with food will always influence their current views.
2008 MN State Fair
The best thing that I had at the fair this year was the blackberry malt at the dairy barn. That thing is really good!
A FEW CHEESE NOTES
Here are a few more notes on some more cheese that we have tried so far this year:
Saenkanter Aged Gouda: Netherlands. Aged five years. Hard orange cheese. Many crystallized bits. Raw cow’s milk. Sweet cream scent. Wonderful. Excellent flavor. Sweet, tangy and sharp with a caramelly sweetness on the finish. Recommend everyone try this one. $17.00/lb.
Raclette: Switzerland. Soft yellowish cheese. Cow’s milk. Slightly musty sweet scent. Slightly salty, meaty taste. Very slight mustiness on the finish. Mild flavor overall. Would recommend to anyone. $12.00/lb.
Raclette: France. Soft yellowish cheese. Cow’s milk. Sweet cheesy scent. Mildly sweet flavor with a hint of mustard. Slight nuttiness. Would recommend to anyone. $10.00/lb.
Berkswell Cheddar: Great Britain. Hard yellowish cheese. Very crumbly. Raw sheep’s milk. Very grassy, sweet scent. Very fruity, grassy flavor. Very sweet/salty finish. Would recommend to anyone. $30.00/lb.
Comte Saint Antoine: France. Firm whitish cheese. Raw milk of the red and the white Montbeliard cows from the Jura Mountains of France. Musty/grassy/sour scent. Grainy texture. Pleasant sweet, slightly salty meat flavor. Slightly fruity too. Mild flavor overall. Would recommend to anyone. $23.00/lb.
Gruyere De Comte: France. Firm yellowish cheese. Raw cow’s milk. Pleasant musty mildly grassy scent. Pleasant grassy flavor. Mild mushroom flavor. Slightly musty. Would recommend to anyone. $12.00/lb.
Cornish Yarg: England. Firm whitish cheese. Cow’s milk. Slight ammonia scent on this one, though the cheese tastes good. May be the nettles in the covering producing the ammonia component. Very herby flavor. Slight lemony taste too. Very sweet on the front to slightly dry on the finish. The name comes from the person who developed this cheese. His name was Gray, which spelled backwards is Yarg. Would recommend to anyone. $23.00/lb.
Bra Duro: Italy. Very firm white cheese. Cow’s milk. Sometimes with goat or sheep’s milk added. Pleasant straw scent. Greatly resembles cheddar.Slightly grainy texture. Great salty, straw flavor. Salty/sweet on the finish. Would recommend to anyone. $17.00/lb.
Idiazabal: Spain. Hard whitish cheese. Raw Latxa sheep’s milk. Sweet smoky nutty scent. This cheese is lightly smoked. Pleasant piquate flavor. Slightly salty with pleasant smoke flavor. The smoke flavor is very mild in this one. Slight tanginess. Would recommend to anyone. $18.00/lb.
Tomme D’Aydius Fermier: France. Soft white cheese. Raw goat’s milk. Pleasant barnyardy scent. Pleasant mustiness. Slightly salty. Pleasant barnyard flavor. Would recommend to anyone. $23.00/lb.
Red Hawk: Cowgirl Creamery. California, USA. Very soft white cheese. Cow’s milk. Strong scent of hay and some mushroom on the nose. Full flavored cheese. Meaty/savory flavor with just a slight saltiness. Very creamy. Fairly unique taste. Very good. Would recommend to anyone. $30.00/lb.
Gubbeen: Ireland. Soft yellowish cheese. Raw cow’s milk. Very wet/musty scent. Pleasant musty almost smoky flavor. Slight mushroomy flavor too. Very grassy on the finish. Would recommend to someone who is looking for a pleasant musty cheese. $21.00/lb.
Best olive oil?
Gonemon is the best that we have tried in the States. It is very rich, very full flavored and fruity. Great stuff.
The Deen Boys
Georgia is way up north to me. I have never heard anyone in the South speak that way! Visitors down here always comment on how nobody here speaks that way.
Cocktails in Manhattan [Moved from Spirits board]
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/429648
Above are some of our thoughts on Pegu Club from last year. Ask to sit at one of the tables at the windows and be sure to get Mallory for your service person.
When is Kefi moving?
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/429648
Above are some of our thoughts on Kefi from last year.
Crawfish boil
The seafood places here ship them live during the season. I have never had any shipped so I cannot make any recommendations for specific places for that, but you should be able to find them online being shipped live from many places in South Louisiana.
Looking to perfect a Mojito
I have never seen lemon used, though it sounds great. Again, my biggest complaint in the States is the large amount of mint used in mojitos. If you would use just a small amount of mint as they did in Cuba, the lemon version would probably be very refreshing.
Cheese book or web resource
I enjoy Max Mccalman's cheese books. He gives good information for many cheeses. I enjoy the second book very much. If you can use some descriptions of the cheeses, you can use some of the websites for cheese stores that have good lists online such as Artisinal Cheese Center in NYC.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+cheese+plate
http://www.artisanalcheese.com/products.asp?dept=1010
BRAINS BITTER IN THE STATES
Thanks for your note. I love Brains draught. I have never seen it in the States though I have looked for it. Back to Wales I guess!
Do you get crummy table if using Opentable?
We have always been seated at good to great tables using opentable.
Looking to perfect a Mojito
The best mojitos that I have ever had were in Cuba. They use a small amount of mint and sugarcane syrup not simple syrup. Every mojito that I have had in the States had way too much mint. In Cuba they rubbed the mint leaf against the inside of the glass after pouring in the sugarcane syrup.
BRAINS BITTER IN THE STATES
Has anyone ever found Brains Bitter from Wales in the States?
To Bayona, or not to Bayona: that is the question
We have always had good service there. The food is just okay for the most part.
Restaurants you wouldn't recommmend
Try the BBQ Shrimp at the real Deanie's in Bucktown. Their quality disappeared several years ago, but if they make their BBQ Shrimp correctly, it is many times better than PM's. PM's is basically a bowl of unseasoned boiled shrimp submerged in salad oil.
Restaurants you wouldn't recommmend
I do not take poor food personnaly, that is a silly thing to do. We have been served very mediocre to horrible food at the places listed. Throw in mediocre to poor service for many of them and we would not recommend them to anyone. If you would like some examples from these restaurants, here they are:
Mosca's: Eleven visits. Very poor service each time. Very innatentive staff. The Shrimp Mosca's is twelve tiny overcooked shrimp submerged in oil with old dried seasonings added. Tasteless. Not worth $30.00 an order. The Oysters Mosca's is one dozen oysters with canned bread crumbs poured over the top with the entire dish covered in oil. Tasteless and not worth $30.00 an order. Cash only can be annoying too.
Cafe Giovanni: One visit. The rissoto dish that I ordered was innedible. The rice was raw. Not undercooked, raw. It was the equivalent of chewing aquarium gravel. The pasta dish we ordered was 85% seasoning and a little meat and sauce. It was innedible. The service was rock bottom. The server discarded our wine with three or four ounces still in the bottle. The fried oyster appetizer was terrible. Overly sweet sauce with a couple of poorly seasoned fried oysters. Spoke to chef duke about that meal later. He said that he was not there that night. Convenient.
Irene's Cuisine: One visit. Poor service. Server was angry before he came to the table. He was arguing with two other staff members about something. The fried softshell crab was so salty it was innedible. The Baked Alaska was tasteless and they poured way too much brandy over it. Appetizer was okay.
Palace Cafe: Two visits. Ordered one glass of wine and one bottle of wine. The wine by the glass was very astringent. They refused to take it back. The server was very rude and pointedly left the glass on the table. The odor from the glass was terrible. Ordered a rare tuna steak. They did not have the expertise to know that you must bring the steak to room temperature before cooking it rare. The center of the tuna came to the table frozen. Another visit. My GF took a client there. They were ignored for 30 minutes. When the server finally came, they were left again for more than 30 minutes. It took them three hours to complete a very poor meal. Palace Cafe later brought my GF a gift at her office to try to make up for the meal. After the fact, that is too late when a client was involved.
GW Fins: The worst seafood meal that I have ever had. The lobster ravioli was almost empty. The sauce was water for that. Tasteless. The scallops and risotto was the worst single dish that I have ever been served. The rice must have been precooked and then heated up to serve. It was like melted rubber and melted plastic mixed together. It tasted horrible. The scallops were completely burned and dried out. They were terrible. The entire meal the front of house staff was standing in a group talking. Very innattentive service.
Commanders: Three visits. Mediocre food. Ordinary service.
Arnaud's, Galatoire's, Antoine's: mediocre food and mediocre service.
Central Grocery: twenty plus visits. We used to love them. Now their Muff is about 3/4 of an inch high. It is basically a big bread sandwich.
Camellia Grill: Dried overcooked omelets. Fun service. Dirty restaurant.
Coop's Place: Worst poboy that I have ever tried. The French bread was like sawdust. It cut the top of my mouth. The pork roast was dry as dust and tasteless.
Iris: Very poor service. Poor food and food combinations. Tough pasta and overcooked scallops.
Acme, Felix's: Very poor food. Good oysters.
Emeril's: overpriced for what they serve. Ordinary food.
I can list more if you would like me to. Add Pascal's Manale to the list too. Worst seafood overall that I have ever had. Eight visits. Between us, my GF and I have traveled to fifty-one countries. We have tried many different foods around the world. Our/My opinions are based on what we think is great and not from the foods that we have tried. As for revisiting restaurants that were disappointing, we do that depending upon how poor the food was on the first visit. We refuse to give more money to someone who has previously served us garbage. That would be a silly thing to do. Let me know if you would like anymore information on our experiences at any of these places. We are very friendly and happy customers when we walk in the door. It would take quite a lot to make us mad.
Restaurants you wouldn't recommmend
Antoine's
Arnaud's
Commander's
Central Grocery
Mother's
Emeril's
Palace Cafe
Acme
Felix's
Galatoire's
Camelia Grill
Iris
Coop's Place
Mosca's
Irene's Cuisine
GW Fins
Cafe Giovanni
Many others.........................
Another Muffelata Question...
Boscoli's olive salad is available at the grocery store.
Twin Cities Ice Cream/Custard Stands
We have tried Izzy's and Sebastian Joe's. Both were very mediocre at best. The flavors were for the most part flavorless, and both were way overpriced for the mediocre product they served. There was no cream taste at all with any of the flavors that we tried at each. The texture at each was not very good either. Bluebell ice cream at the grocery store is many times better than what is served at these two places.
Artie's Deli - Upper West Side?
Used to dine at Artie's several times a year, but over the past two years or so, their quality seemed to fall somewhat. The freshness of the slaw and pickles has been hit or miss and the service seems to have gotten less friendly. I was wondering if they had changed owners.
We are only having drinks, but you don't want our business
Restaurants have every right to make rules for their customers. I have every right to make rules for the restaurants where I am a customer. One of my rules is: If you refuse to serve me, I will gladly give my money to some other establishment. Simple system that works very well.
We are only having drinks, but you don't want our business
Why take $200.00 in food revenue at the expense of $2000.00 in alchohol revenu?
We are only having drinks, but you don't want our business
I would have left hot and hungry never ever to return to Josephina's again. There are only 25,000 other places in the city to go to for drinks......................
