Girl Friday's Profile
Late lunch to go while waiting for st John car ferry USVI
Someone I know suggested Senor Pizza? I've seen mixed reviews. Is it any good???
Late lunch to go while waiting for st John car ferry USVI
We are renting a car (from an approved place) on st. Thomas then taking it on the ferry to st John. We will need to get something to eat sometime between when we pick up the car in Charlotte Amalie and when the ferry leaves for st John in red hook. It needs to be something we can eat in the car, but kid friendly. Does anyone have any ideas?
Dinner for a group near downtown
I am helping plan a dinner for a friend's bachelor party. It's not going to be a rowdy get drunk and go to bars kinda night. More about getting together with good friends and having a good meal. We are staying at Hotel ZaZa downtown. While I spent 15 years in Houston, I haven't lived there since 1999 and don't know the restaurant scene at all any more. Can anyone recommend a place near downtown that is moderatley priced which would be appropriate for the night? Thanks! I found two places looking around that looked good? Any thoughts on these or others?
Grappino di Nino
Dolce Vita
Eating local in the caribbean (USVI) during the winter months
I actually read an article recently (a search turned up dozens of articles. Here's one: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38632799/ns/us_news-environment/t/do-your-civic-duty-eat-fish/ ) about some people eating lionfish. Apparently, once you remove the venom, they are fantastic. It would be nice if someone figured a way to successfully (safely) harvest them so we could enjoy lionfish on our menus instead of all that overcooked mahi I always end up with.
Eating local in the caribbean (USVI) during the winter months
Last year we stayed on St. Thomas and came to STJ via ferry for a few days trips (no car). year before we stayed on STJ but never made it to Coral Bay. Vies, Lucy's and Skinny Legs are at the top of my to try in Coral Bay.
Eating local in the caribbean (USVI) during the winter months
We are going to St. John. We've been there twice before so we know the layout (at least of Cruz Bay and surrounds - haven't made it down to Coral Bay yet...) The past few years when we've gone, I've looked and the only local (Josphine's) produce we've seen is herbs. Where is she located? Is there a farm stand? As for fish, I usually stick with Mahi, even though I like more tender fish like snapper. Is the local snapper sustainable? Lobster is usually out of our price range. What about the wahoo? Is it sustainable? Do any of the restaurants in the area feature lesser known options like hogfish?
Eating local in the caribbean (USVI) during the winter months
What is in season in the Caribbean in February? What fish can you rely on to be locally caught and which ones are almost always flown in? We are going to the USVI for our third year next winter, and I never know what to eat to have a local experience. Thanks for any help.
St. Thomas USVI Recap (long)
Yeah, next year thirteen is a must. we had a 2 year old with us, and we were limited, but next year we are going to try both craig and sally's and thirteen. I've also heard good things about north side grill - although when we drove by it, the roads were so high and curvy, I am not sure I want to try them after dark. . .
St. Thomas USVI Recap (long)
Day 1: Robert's American Grille - Elysian Resort at Cowpet Bay
Very good fish. Some of the best on the island. Nice beach side location. Pleasant staff. Coconut Mahi was the standout dish.
Day 2: Blue Moon - Secret Harbour
Before ordering, we were informed that they were out of about five things on the menu, which was certainly disappointing - but it was a Sunday, so maybe understandable. Appetizers were the standout. The coconut shrimp was the best we had. The fish was good, but like almost everywhere we went, it was over cooked (someone said that it normal for fish to be overcooked in the Caribbean - don't know if that's true). Another beautiful waterside location.
Day 3: Fungi's on the Beach
Tough to get to because of the steep steps down, but worth it. If you were any closer to the water you would be in it - literally! We were about 6" above the water. I got the combo plate which came with fish of the day, chicken and pork. The fish of the day - snapper was killer - probably the best fish I had on the island. The pork was good too, but the chicken tasted like it had been made a few days ago - nasty leftover flavor. Another one in our party got the wrap sandwich with fish and potatoes and chickpeas and it was fantastic!!!!! The server was the most helpful nice guy we ran into the whole week. Told us where to go to buy fresh fish straight from the pier. LOVED this place.
Day 5: Mexican Place above Molly Malone's in Red Hook.
VERY average Mexican. I got enchiladas and thought they were terrible. The rest of my party got fajitas and liked them. The queso was really good, but the chips were Sysco standard tri-color self fry chips.
Day 6: Texas BBQ
Okay, I'm from Texas, so I'm a little biased, but this ain't really Texas BBQ. Before going I read several reviews that talked about how good the beef ribs were, and how great this place was. They don't have beef ribs. The guy that worked there told me they never did. VERY disappointing! We went the day before and they had sold out of brisket. So we came back the next day and got the brisket plate. The brisket actually did taste pretty authentic, but the mild sauce was terrible. It tasted more like fruit punch than Texas bbq sauce. The mac and cheese was totally blown out and dry, but the rice was pretty good. The portions are huge. We got two plates for four adults and had enough for bbq sandwiches the next day.
Day 6: Mim's Seaside Bistro at the Bolongo
Probably the best overall meal of the trip. Conch fritter appetizers were wonderful as was the tuna tartar and the coconut shrimp. The appetizer portions were a little small, but we only noticed because we liked everything so much. The wine list really leaves something to be desired, and the mixed drinks were a little light on the rum, but the food was good enough to make up for it. The Grouper Dijionaise was the best of the entrees. My Mahi was finally NOT overcooked, but the mango rum sauce really just seemed to be marmalade. The all you can eat shrimp were fantastic, and they didn't mind at all that only one of us got it and all of us shared it! The tuna almondine was also very good. This restaurant probably had the most beautiful setting of them all - very romantic. Also, the waitress was absolutely fantastic with my toddler son. She spent a lot of effort making sure that he was happy. It was very much appreciated.
Day 7: Island Time Pub at Yacht club in Red Hook
Reviews raved about the pizza. We got a caesar salad and three 12" pizzas: Cheese, new york ricotta and chicken alfredo. The pizzas were okay. Completely edible, but nothing special. I'm a little stumped why this place got such good reviews. The caesar salad was very good.
Day 8: Ainsley's at Elysian Resort in Cowpet Bay
This was at the Resort were our condo was, and we waited till we were headed to the airport to try it out. It was delicious. The painkillers were made with fresh nutmeg, the hot dogs were huge and very tasty. The burgers were hot, juicy and had a fantastic beefy flavor. But the best standout was the pizza. The pizza dough was crispy and chewy at the same time and rolled as thin as a flour tortilla. We built our own with roasted garlic sauce, mozzarella and mushrooms and it was fabulous! We all wished we had tried it earlier in the week.
Looking for southern sides for a thanksgiving dinner, and not fancy junk
Sweet Potato casserole - but with no marshmallows, just brown sugar butter and pecans on top.
Ambrosia - but with no marshmallows and frilly stuff. we just had it with sectioned oranges, pineapple and coconut.
Where should a food writer and a chef meet in NJ for dinner
I don't know the area at all. I go to my family's place in Water Gap and drive to NYC. I once at at the panera in ledgewood - that's all I got for points of reference!!! : )
Where should a food writer and a chef meet in NJ for dinner
Love the joke. We (well at least me) wants good food, but also a place nice for a couples night out with out being too expensive. One thing that all four of us share is that we are willing to eat any type of food. NYC friend has a car - trains not necessary.
Where should a food writer and a chef meet in NJ for dinner
Okay, so the title sounds like a joke (as in a food writer and a chef walk into a bar...)
I am meeting up with a friend for dinner with our S.O.s next month. She lives in NYC, and I am visiting family in the Delaware Water Gap area. One of us in our group is a food writer and another is a chef. Where should the four of us meet for dinner? Preferably close to a half way point?
Hmm, dissapointed
I went to Bintliff's for the first time this past weekend, and it just wasn't what I was expecting! Everyone said the corned beef hash was the best. Well, no one mentioned it isn't even corned beef hash. It's a pile of day old potatoes that were poorly reheated with a slab of roughly chopped corn beef and onions on top. THAT IS NOT HASH! Really disappointing.
Other than the hash, I was particularly surprised at the home fries (the potatoes under my corned beef). My hubby's had them on his plate too, the bottoms were scorched but they were still a little crunchy in the middle - is it now trendy to have potatoes al dente??? They had the distinct starchy texture and flavor of potatoes cooked the day before and reheated.
No one was thrilled with the food. Nothing was bad, but the only thing that stood out was the fantastic honey wheat toast. The honey wheat bread is probably what made the granola french toast the stand out of the breakfast.
I will say that the service was very good. The staff were very attentive and warm. I know this restaurant gets mixed reviews, but I was really hoping for more. I think I'll stick with Hot Suppa in the future.
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Bintliff's American Cafe
98 Portland St, Portland, ME 04101
Hot Suppa
703 Congress St, Portland, ME 04102
Miyake with someone who doesn't eat raw fish
I would love to hear what you ended up eating, I don't eat very much raw fish and would like to take my husband to eat here as sushi is his fav!
Chubby Chickpea in Canton
Actually, I've been here three times, and had a good experience each time.
USVI: St. Thomas - Foodies with a toddler
My family (me, hubby, 2 year old toddler and in laws) are going to be in St. Thomas (east end) the beginning of Jan with our 2 year old son. I am a chef and my husband and in-laws are all hard core foodies. We really want to eat well (more than burgers and fries), but don't want to eat places where a loud toddler would not be welcome. Does anyone know of restaurants that are particularly friendly to kids? Also are there places in the east end that would be good for my hubby and I to hit after the kiddo has gone to bed?
Chubby Chickpea in Canton
We had take out shwarma from here last night. It was VERY good. They make their own bread for the large sandwiches and use pita for the small. The menu is very limited, but everything was very fresh and tasty. I didn't have the falafel, but I am going to next time as it looked really yummy. The beef and lamb shwarma was nicely seasoned, and the hummus was also nice, but the bread stole the show!!!! Other toppings include tebbouli, Israeli salad, lettuce, olives, pickles, tahini, onions, banana peppers and hot sauce (very hot!).
Don't come if you're in a big hurry though, because there is a tiny staff (for a tiny kitchen), and everything is made to order. When we got there, there was one other order in front of ours that was pretty big, and by the time we left, there was a line almost to the door!
Harwich/Dennis/Chatham good food with a toddler???
We ended up eating at Original Seafood in Dennis which was very nice, very clean tasting and fresh, but the onion rings kept loosing their breading and neither the onion rings or fries were salted at all (which a lot of people like, but not me).
We also ate at JT's in Brewster and we really LOVED this place. JT's was some of the best New England seafood I've ever had. We had lobster rolls and clam strip rolls, and both were flavorful and big!
Not a huge fan of the Kreme N Kone. We had Chowder and Lobster Bisque and Fried Shrimp Roll. The shrimp was soggy and too salty (brined or soaked in something?), and the Lobster Bisque lacked lobster and tasted like it could have been pre-made and frozen. The Chowder was very good though.
Also loved Sundae School for ice cream.
We stuck to stands and casual places and the baby was welcomed everywhere.
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Original Seafood
527 Main St, Dennis Port, MA 02639
Harwich/Dennis/Chatham good food with a toddler???
We will be in the Harwich area this weekend with our toddler and would like to eat well. We'll hit restaurants early, but don't want to go places where a boisterous toddler would not be welcome. Any ideas would be very helpful! Thanks!
worst dining experience I've ever had
I agree. Frog and Turtle is a much bigger and different restaurant. However, both restaurants are owned by the same person - which means that they close to the same. As a chef/food service manager myself, I know that the management team including the owner sets the stage for how guests are treated.
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The Frog and Turtle
3 Bridge Street, Westbrook, ME 04092
Hole in the Wall, Family Run
You don't need to go any other city to find these things, you just have to look. I certainly don't know all of them, but here are my suggestions. . .
Pizza - soooo subjective. I love Umberto Galleria in north end.
Mexican - I grew up in texas, so I'm a little picky and very biased toward tex mex, but there is a great place in methuen - can't remember the name - anyone else?
Fish Taco
Burger - rf o sullivans
Vietnamese (bahn mi esp.) - viet grill canton center
Thai
Donuts - really good place in belmont - again, forget the name
Sandwich - Chaccara (sp)
Ramen
Fried Chicken - if you find out - tell me
BBQ - not really local, but there's a kick ass place out near deerfield, ma - Bums - I think
Hot Dog
Jamaican (Patties esp.)
Fish and Chip
Clam Roll (hot dog bun, buttered, and overfilled w/ whole belly clams)
Lobster Roll - neptune oyster
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Umberto Galleria
289 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113
Fishmonger: looking for a bushel of oysters
Well, right now, I'm very concerned with the source of the crabs, so I'm looking for a place that will readily provide me with the source information (do crabs have tags like clams and oysters)? My guess is that it would be difficult to ask for this information in Chinatown.
Chubby Chickpea in Canton
Anyone know anything at all about the new Mediterranean place opening in Canton Center called the Chubby Chickpea??? Sounds exciting!
If Anthony Bourdain were taking a road trip from Boston to Montreal...
LOVE this thread! Thanks for starting it. Going to mark this - makes me want to take the same trip!!!!!!
worst dining experience I've ever had
You are right. I am sending a letter to the owner today.
worst dining experience I've ever had
Actually, it is not true that they don't normally serve breakfast. They always serve Sunday brunch. They are very well known for their Sunday Brunch, and I have been several times before with no problem.
I agree about the highchair. It should have raised a warning flag.
I have decided to send essentially this post in letter for to the owner. However, after our experience, I'm afraid to use my full name or address. After they chased us to the parking lot, I'm actually afraid of some sort of retribution.
New Trader Joe's yea/nay thread 2nd quarter 2010
I can add to this post in as much as I know where a lot of artisan breads at the TJ's in the local Boston area are from Jessica's Bread in Woburn. I used to use Jessica's for my own bread when I was a catering chef and I would always go in and find them packing the Trader Joes bread. I can be sure of the tuscan, sliced tuscan, ciabatta and rolls. If it's chewy and bread, it's probably theirs.
worst dining experience I've ever had
Sadly, we had a very bad experience at the Frog and Turtle yesterday. We have been there several times, and even used to go when it was Uffa. However, yesterday the service was unacceptably slow and appallingly rude.
We had 10:00 am reservations for Father's Day Brunch. We usually do not go out to eat on holiday weekends, but were out of town and had to eat out. So, we decided to go to a place we had been before to be safe. I confirmed my reservations on Friday and requested a high-chair for my 18 month old son, and I was told I was all set.
On Sunday, we arrived a few minutes early and were sat immediately, but we were told there was no high-chair for my son, and that all they had was a booster seat. We took it since we had no choice (although other empty tables had high chairs setup for other reservations).
We ordered drinks and were brought them immediately. We then had to wait another 25 minutes to place our order. We ordered an order of three donuts and other breakfast entrees for everyone. The donuts took quite a while, but we did get these. I requested them to rush my son’s two scrambled eggs, and was told that they couldn't do that because they were too busy (the restaurant was less than half full). After waiting an hour, my toddler was starting to melt down. We still had no food. We asked and were told they were plating it. Fifteen minutes later, we still had no food and we decided to leave. That is when we were accosted by the staff and told we were being unforgivably rude for walking out. That they would pack our food to go and that we should pay for everything. We asked for a bill for what we had eaten and were brought the full bill for the entire breakfast. We left enough money to cover the three bar drinks and the donuts and left - as we were leaving they brought out two to-go boxes (five breakfast entrees – in two to-go containers!). We were told that it was all of our food and again wanted us to pay for everything. We told them we no longer wanted the food, and that we certainly did not want it to go and left. All the time being berated by the staff who were treating us as if we were the ones that were in the wrong.
They then followed us to our car to write down our license plate number. At this point I had reached my breaking point. I approached the waiter and asked why they were being so rude to us; that we had waited too long, and that we (and our toddler) simply couldn’t handle waiting any longer. I said that I understood that restaurants some times have bad days, but that was not an excuse to treat us so poorly. I asked him what he would do if he took his child out for breakfast and had to wait that long. I was told that he wouldn’t go out to a restaurant if he had a child. Now, I would never bring my son to a nice place for dinner – but this was FATHER’S DAY BRUNCH!!!!!!!!!
I have NEVER walked out of a restaurant before, and doubt that I will ever do it again. I work in the industry and know that it does not take 1 1/4 hour to make two omelets, two scrambled eggs, and a plate of pancakes. That being said, everyone has bad days, and if we had been able to just leave it would be fine. What was unacceptable was the way we were treated.
Needless, to say, I will not return to Frog and Turtle, but the whole event really bothers me. I cannot believe that we were made out to be in the wrong. I spent the rest of the day feeling terrible about the incident, and it ruined the day for everyone – including the two fathers present.
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The Frog and Turtle
3 Bridge Street, Westbrook, ME 04092
