didactic katydid's Profile
Googa Mooga Food Festival in Prospect Park
No idea how the food was because I didn't get any!
I've gone to many of these gigantic events, and some of them are managed quite well. I expected a wait (I've been to the Red Hook vendors both before and after they went food-truck; I was at Smorgasburg every weekend last year; etc.). GoogaMooga put those all to shame.
My friends who went right away (at 11am) said they found the waits to be quite manageable. We went in at 3pm. By that point, it was the aforementioned shitshow.
(btw Bob Martinez, I'm male)
Indonesian bazaars, Masjid al-Hikmah, 2012
I hit this up today--it was great. Had the dendang (beef jerky), kale, a fried tofu/shrimp dumpling, and the pink mixed-fruit juice thing. When's the next one?
Googa Mooga Food Festival in Prospect Park
This was the shitshow to end all shitshows and I would not recommend going.
sooo there aren't really lines to get IN, which was a good sign. but when you get inside, there are 50-minute lines for most food places. There is also a 20-50 minute line to get a bracelet for 21+ drinks. Then there is a 30-60 minute line for drinks. There does not seem to be any simple drink kiosks around--none that we saw, anyway--so either you have to wait in the beer line for an hour to get a bottle of water, or (if you're lucky enough to pick a food stand that carries $5 basil lemonades or something) get something from a food stand. Which is almost an hour wait.
Some food stand lines were shorter. The place with the shortest line--maybe 15 minutes--was serving a grilled onion for $6. That's it. One place serving grilled corn nachos looked promising and had a line that was around a half hour wait, but they ran out of nachos (thankfully we had only waited in the line 2 minutes when they announced it).
Travelling back and forth between the two "wings" of food booths required picking your way across a field of early-arrivers on blankets watching the stage show in the sun. I can't imagine it was relaxing for them at all--there was an enormously thick crowd travelling that field at any given moment, surrounding the blankets and stepping on fingers and such.
Eventually we said "fuck it"--half the places there we'd eaten at in the past, and nobody wanted to wait an hour for food and another hour for drinks. We left the park and went to Zito's.
On the way out we were given packs of free Orbit gum, and found a $20 bill on the ground, and an ATM accidentally dispensed a $50 instead of a $20 bill. So it was a fine day nonetheless. And Zito's is delicious.
Breakfast and/or Lunch near NY Hall of Science Museum
tortilleria nixtamal, no contest
Paulie Gee's Pizza - THE SIZE
I couldn't disagree more--Paulie Gee's pies are quite large compared to comparable restaurants in NYC. At some places, my wife and I will get a pie each; at Paulie Gee's, we often split a pie.
Brussels report February 2012 (Lola, L'Idiot du Village, Houtsiplou, Le Fourneaum chocolate, beer
Huh, I edited "Le Fourneau" right after posting this (I typed an M instead of a comma) but for some reason it reverted back to the wrong thing and I can't edit it now? oh well. Le Fourneau. Great place.
Recommendations for Dining in Brussels!
I just made a thread here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/836375
Brussels report February 2012 (Lola, L'Idiot du Village, Houtsiplou, Le Fourneaum chocolate, beer
Food blog entry with pix for everything I talk about is here:
http://didactickatydid.blogspot.com/
We found mistake-fare tickets to Brussels from NYC for $270 round-trip including all taxes, so pounced on 'em and spent 3-4 days in the city.
Overall, we enjoyed the food in the city and ate mostly French-style stuff, but none of the meals were mind-blowing (and having had like 4 or 5 mind-blowing meals in Paris, I am open to having my mind blown).
Dinner at Lola's on Grand Sablon:
Shrimp croquettes, a local specialty, with fried parsley.
My first--but not last--foie gras of the trip; a great preparation with caramelized shallots and diced quince.
Chicken supreme with gravy, chanterelles, oignons, new potatoes.
Duck leg confit on a bed of lentils with bacon and pumpkin.
Molten caramel-fondant cake and speculoos ice cream.
Lola's was very good, thought we found the liquid middle of the molten cake somewhat floury, and the shrimp croquettes were straight-up Not Crispy (though tasted good inside).
Brunch at the original Le Pain Quotidien, with the rudest waiter of the entire trip.
Quiche Lorraine.
Pot au feu with harissa.
Walking around Sablon, nibbling at half a dozen chocolate shops, including Wittamer, Pierre Marcolini, Neuhaus, Leonidas, etc. We had black pepper chocolates, speculoos chocolates, puffed-rice chocolates, and more. We bought some speculoos cookies at Dandoy and tried some of the other baked treats. I pretty much can't stack these chocolate shops against each other--we bought a few pieces from each place, and they were pretty much all awesome, and I wish we'd bought more to take home than we did.
A tasting of sour gueuze and fruit beers (kriek and framboise), all made from lambics, at the Cantillon brewery. We happened to go on a brewing day, which was cool, but got hustled out towards the end of our tasting because it closes at 5 and we arrived kinda close to that. The tour was 6e and it was pleasantly self-guided (you actually wander through the brewery yourself, totally not allowable in the US) and it comes with 2 beer tastings--you can buy additional beers for 2e each.
Dinner at L'Idiot du Village. My French was duly mocked by the waiter. He still was not rude compared to the Le Pain Quotidien guy.
Oxtail with applesauce and grated horseradish.
Pea soup with lardons and olive oil.
Grilled scallops over vegetable risotto.
Suckling veal with potatoes and parsnips.
White chocolate soup with kumquats, passionfruit, puffed rice, and coconut.
Financier with caramel ice cream.
I'd been very keen to try this place, and counted myself fortunate we got reservations. It was, again, very good, but not mind-blowing. The oxtail was the most interesting dish to me--the flavor combo of sweet chunky homemade applsauce, beefy oxtail, and pungent horseradish was new to me.
Drinking among backpackers at the Delirium Cafe with Delirium Tremens and outstanding pear cider.
Nearby a private art collection we viewed, we wandered into a little place called Houtsiplou for lunch, totally unresearched. It was really cute, mostly empty, and had a nice menu of Flemish foods (carbonnade, waterzooi, etc.). I chose this as a place to get moules frites, and they were very nice. My wife got spicy pumpkin soup which was also pretty good. It was a nice place to relax and the food was good and it had free wifi.
We sat in Mort Subite for a couple of hours and just had a bunch of really good beers: Judas (Brasserie Alken-Maes), Chouffe Blonde (Brasserie d'Achoutte), peche fruit beer (outstanding, amazing), kriek fruit beer. We got a waffle snack but it was cold and in a plastic package.
Dinner at Le Fourneau. Maybe the best of the trip. Most of the restaurant sits at a bar facing the kitchen so you can see everything made. We ordered a la carte and ordered well, but ultimately regretted not getting the tasting after seeing our neighbors get it.
Foie gras and asparagus--a perfect combo, shockingly.
Two amazing, perfectly crusted scallops. Six dollars per scallop.
The butteriest turbot of all time.
"Salad of everything and nothing" (Celeriac remoulade with pea shoots, and beets with mashed green lentils (actually an amazing combination).)
Half a lobster, in butter, with wasabi.
Simple mashed potatoes, but delicious beyond words.
Trio of creme brulees: vanilla, orange, and Grand Marnier. (the flame went out on the Grand Marnier one and it kind of sat in a pool of liquor and wasn't very good, but the others were great)
Chocolate mousse.
I'd recommend visiting any of these. We had a rez at Les Petit Oignons but went to L'Idiot that night instead. We tried to call several times to cancel the rez but no one ever picked up and there was no voicemail, so we ended up just not showing up, which I think is sucky, but...what else could we do?
Is there a place that sells cheese piroshki in nyc?
Unsure how different piroshki are from pierogi for your purposes, as well. Most supermarkets in Greenpoint--even C-Town (on Manhattan) and Key Foods (on McGuinness)--carry pierogis, including the cheese variety, though they are fairly professionally made. I don't know the best place to get the more amateurish kinds I like.
Outside of Greenpoint, it's hard--some stores outside of Greepoint only carry the potato-and-cheese varieties, which I kind of hate.
Where's Chang?
Visiting in-laws in Fairfax for Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to trek out to Charlottesville to eat at Peter Chang's China Grill. As we are fans of Szechuan cuisine (usually eating at standbys like Spicy and Tasty or Little Pepper in Queens), we were excited to compare Chang's food to the Szechuan we were used to.
We made sure to order the dry-fried eggplant, which was unlike anything I'd had at a Szechuan place before--super-crispy sticks with a melty eggplant inside, covered with spices (including generous usage of Szechuan peppercorn). The double-cooked pork was even better than the slightly drier version of the dish I've had many times before, though I do like when it includes more leeks. The scallion bubble pancake was weird (it was almost exactly like a poori, and even came with a coriander-curry dipping sauce) but really good. We also had spicy braised fish, which was very nice, although I think I may prefer getting he whole fish nowadays. Oh, and we also got a plate of dry-cooked green beans, which is one of our favorite things at the Queens Szechuan places; it was still great here, although not QUITE as good, and not QUITE as dry. I'd still order it again in a heartbeat.
The spice level was satisfyingly high when we went--maybe not quite up to Little Pepper levels, but then again it sometimes depends on the dishes you get. There were more Szechuan peppercorns scattered around than I ever remember, though.
For more photos and whatnot of the meal, see my food blog: http://didactickatydid.blogspot.com/ )
Indo-Chinese in Queens?
Delhi Heights in Jackson Heights always has at least one Indo-Chinese dish in their lunch buffet and I think their menu has Indo-Chinese offerings as well. I enjoyed it when I went for the buffet.
-----
Delhi Heights
37-66 74th St, Queens, NY 11372
Ever eaten at Fette Sau?
The meat here is pretty good. I don't go to Fette Sau much, though, because it has two colossal downsides as a restaurant:
1) The sides. Oh, god, the sides. They are pretty much crappy across the board. Every now and then someone gamely tries to talk up the beans and burnt ends or whatever, and I guess maybe that rises to the level of OK, but compared to the sides at almost any other restaurant--yuck.
2) The seating. The free-for-all for picnic table benches means it's almost impossible to get a seat if your party is larger than 2 people. That style of seating is fine in a restaurant with more room, but in such a tiny place...there is a very good chance that you'll turn away from the cash register with your tray of meat and shitty sides and have absolutely nowhere to sit.
-----
Fette Sau
354 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Any German Bakeries left in NYC or Long Island?
the New Yorker had a piece on baumkuchen in Yorkville some time back.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/11/23/091123fa_fact_sheraton
new Lobster Joint in Greenpoint (in the old Lamb & Jaffy space)
have not eaten here yet, but I spoke with them today, and apparently their lobster rolls are NOT the crappy lobster-salad-style rolls that are sadly prevalent in NYC...the mayonnaise comes on the side (so you can ditch it with ease) and the meat is strictly claws and knuckles. I am super excited to try it out (and hear from other people who have)!
-----
Lobster Joint
1073 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Paulie Gee's - New pizza in Greenpoint
We hit Paulie D's again and I'm happy to report that o this (my fifth trip) they finally seem to have gotten the pizza exactly right--not too much char anymore!
I'll be back again and again, but my biggest beef with this place is that they need more pizza variety. Yeah they have like ten regulars and a few specials, but the ten regulars are basically all variations of arugula pizzas or mozz/soppr. The specials are always pretty interesting, though.
K. LaMay's steamed cheeseburger gives Ted's a run for its money
The thing with a steamed cheeseburger is that a lot of cheeseburger aficionados don't "get" it at first. The steamed meat is essentially a condiment--it adds texture to the actual important part: the huge, puffy, moist steamed cheese. (That's why the good steamer joints--Ted's, K. LaMay's, etc--also offer "steamed cheese sandwiches" for people who just want the essentials). Yeah, when I go to a great regular burger place, I'm looking for something that has a great beefy taste and is not more cooked than medium-rare. But a steamed cheeseburger is a whole 'nother ballgame, totally different (and amazing in its own way).
K. LaMay's steamed cheeseburger gives Ted's a run for its money
http://www.klamayssteamedcheeseburgers.com/
690 East Main Street Meriden, CT 06450
-----
East Main Street Cafe
129 E Main St, Webster, MA 01570
K. LaMay's steamed cheeseburger gives Ted's a run for its money
passing through Meriden en route to NYC from Boston, I stopped at K. LaMay's, a new steamed cheeseburger joint (opened by Kevin LaMay, who worked at Ted's for many years).
it was fantastic! I'd say it surpasses Ted's in a few ways:
1) Bigger burgers
2) Better cheddar cheese--I hear Ted's switched to a lower quality cheese recently, and it shows
3) Actual cheese fries, not cheese homefries
4) Foxon Park sodas (I got birch beer)
5) Next door to Les' for some classic Meriden soft-serve afterward
some pix:
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay1s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay2s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay3s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay4s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay5s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay6s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay7s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay8s.jpg
http://www.waxwingslain.com/food/klamay9s.jpg
River Barrel in Greenpoint is totally different (and AMAZING) now (Korean)...think it's re-naming soon
totally different menu, totally different kitchen and chef (see :http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/684358). we went there last week and were highly impressed with the food we got: Korean fried chicken, "Korean hot dog" (housemade lemongrass pork sausage with housemade kimchee and hot sauce on a roll), great Brussels sprouts with denjang, boquerones and wasabi greens crostini...
I live a few blocks away and am excited to see what happens when it re-opens with a new name/look (soon, I hear). for now, they ARE running the new menu, and it's delicious.
-----
Mrs. Kim's
160 Franklin St, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Paulie Gee's - New pizza in Greenpoint
got a cuban tonight (sausage, onion, mozz, marinara, basil). I concur with the not-especially-salted dough, but we did have a few very salty bites (which I think was the ground sausage). $14. I was pretty happy with the pizza and will return (I live blocks away...what else is there?), but I am definitely looking forward to the working-out-the-kinks bump in quality after a few months.
also, there was a piece of string baked into our pizza crust!
pic attached for your viewing pleasure. full entry about the pizza at my food blog (didactickatydid.blogspot.com).
Greenpoint Coffeehouse to close & be replaced by sports bar just as it gets good
In the past several weeks, I've been to Greenpoint Coffeehouse four or five times--it underwent a big improvement under the chefship of Jonny Meyer, formerly of TBD. So imagine my dismay when I found out that last night was its final night of dinner service. Having lost its lease, the owner is now converting it into yet another crappy sports bar.
really disappointing. I'm glad to hear that Meyer & some other kitchen staff are going to River Barrel--so I'm expecting RB's menu and food to improve over the next few months. But after having been in Greenpoint for so long--and having recently gotten to be a place I visit regularly--it's too bad that the Greenpoint Coffeehouse is done.
http://didactickatydid.blogspot.com/2010/01/greenpoint-coffeehouse.html
Help! Spicy N Tasty or Indonesian/ Vietnamese Food in Elmhurst?
I would recommend Little Pepper, which is only a block away from Spicy and Tasty and, in some ways, even more delicious.
Sui Ren in Williamsburg (opened...yesterday?)
for the past few months, they've been doing construction under my apartment on a Japanese restaurant-to-be...well, it finally had its soft opening. I checked it out this evening.
Sui Ren was not busy, but did have a couple of tablesful of curious people inside. it looks great, and the menu was pretty interesting--there were a handful of things I wanted to order. I'm not really solid on my Japanese food terms, but I think it's an izakaya place with yakitori et al?
I got the grilled smelt skewers ($5) and cold bigeye tuna with soft quail egg skewers ($8). my total bill was $17 including tip.
I'm sold on the food, but it's definitely a little too expensive to be a regular place for me. when it gets its liquor license (in about a month, according to the waitress), I'd love to go again and sample things like the ground duck skewers.
more detail and terrible pictures on my blog, of course.
-----
Sui Ren
302 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
marinated ground pork over rice ($4.50) + fried pork dumplings. the ground pork is awesome--full of cubes of tofu, chunks of fat-ribboned pork belly, etc.
the dumplings are fine, but subpar compared to local dumpling shops like Prosperity or even Super Taste. they're small, unpleasantly crusty, and just average.
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
young chow fried rice ($4.50) + 4 curry rolls ($2). nothing special but very solid (definitely not the gross Chinatown garbage that proliferates).
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
yeah I was confused by the rapidity.
there's a laundry across from Sugar Sweet Sunshine on Rivington that was named "Liu's" for a long time, and one day, in the dark of night, they switched to "Lau's", stealthily papering over the "i". We only noticed because my roommate's name is Liu and she pointed it out, but only after she stared at it for a full minute wondering if she was crazy all the times she'd seen it in the past.
I dunno, even with the price increase this is still a great place for me to spend 4.50 and get a big lunch only 5 minutes' walk from my work.
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
well, it's true--they've changed the sign and menus to say "Hua Ji", not "Wah Ji" anymore. weird. I wonder if it was a misprint and they demanded new ones to be made for free or something.
and they did up the price--$4.50 for a pork chop now (still $2 for an extra chop, I think). still delicious.
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
They...changed the spelling on the sign? That's weird.
new pork chop shop in Chinatown: Wah Ji
on friday I got a lunch buddy and we ordered 1 order of pork chop/rice ($4) plus one extra pork chop ($2) and then split the rice, so we basically got rice + pork chop for $3 each. best deal ever!
