The Food Randomist

Quick Bites: Ike's Wings at Pok Pok Wing

2012-01-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

It's been a long hiatus for The Food Randomist. Lots of behind the scenes changes has led to a very busy couple of months. Nevertheless, while I have been too busy to write I've continued to eat some pretty great food. So there is a lot of catching up to do.

What better way to start back up then to write about some pretty delicious wings that have made their way from Portland courtesy of reknowned Pok Pok Chef and 2011 James Beard Northwest winner Andy Ricker. Ricker himself decided to move to New York and set up shop for his Portland brand Pok Pok by opening Pok Pok Wing in the Lower East Side and eventually opening Pok Pok NY in Brooklyn. Pok Pok NY will be a thai food restaurant that will attempt to bring some of the more obscure Thai flavors that New Yorkers may not be accustomed. Pok Pok Wing is a non traditional chicken wing joint that seeks to mix things up by adding thai flavors.

Today, I visited Pok Pok Wing for dinner. Located at the old Baohaus space at 137 Rivington Street in the Lower East Side, Pok Pok Wing is a small chicken wing joint with a small menu but delivers on big flavors. Other than wings there is a thai pork platter called Khao Man Som Tam and a salad called Papaya Pok Pok There is only one type of wings on the menu called Ike's Wings ($12.50) which are made with fish sauce, garlic and sugar. They come spicy and non- spicy. I ordered them spicy. I also purchased a side of sticky rice($2.00) at the cashier's recommendation. They also sell Pok Pok Som ($4.00), which is a vinegar based fruit soda that Pok Pok has popularized in Portland (I have been eager to try for quite sometime). The soda comes in 4 flavors including pomegranate, honey, apple and tamarind. I ordered my drinking vinegar in pomegranate.

(Ike's Wings )

After chatting with Andy Ricker, who was overseeing his newly opened operation, I received my wings and drinking vinegar. There were about 6 nicely sized wings on the plate and a side salad. The wings were delicious. They were crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside.Fish sauce was thickly applied on the wings but the combination of fish sauce, sugar and garlic gave the wings a tasty balance. They also had a delightful spicy kick at the end. The sticky rice which was served in plastic wrap was a throw away. It was unfortunately dry and overcooked. It was not necessary to have as the salad served as a nice palate cleanser. The drinking vinegar was delicious. The pomegranate juice and soda used in the drink nicely cut through the strong acidity of the vinegar to give the drink a nice balance. I did not like that the drinking vinegar was served in a fairly small plastic cup that led to draining the drink in a few sips.

(Pok Pok Som - Pomegranate Drinking Vinegar)

The wings and drinking vinegar are both habit forming items that I see myself coming back for often. I highly recommend them. I will have to fight myself not to order them again next time because I want to try the other delicious sounding items on the menu too.

Quick Bite Rating for Ike's Wings

****4 Stars - delicious fish sauce, sugar and garlic coated deep fried wings that have a nice spicy kick.

QUick Bite Rating for Pomegranate Drinking Vinegar

**** 4 Stars Great balance for drink with equal part sweetness and tartness.

Pok Pok Wing
137 Rivington St
(between Norfolk St & Suffolk St)
Manhattan, NY 10002

Pok Pok NY to make Thai Style Rotisserie Chicken!

2012-01-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

(credit photo from Grub Street -Hugh Merwin)

Pok Pok NY, the highly anticipated Thai restaurant by 2011 James Beard Northwest award winner Andy Ricker will be adding rotisserie chicken to its menu. Ricker broke the news today at Pok Pok Wing, his new thai style chicken spot in the Lower East Side. I was there to try the wings (review forthcoming) and had the opportunity to chat with Ricker. He mentioned that the restaurant, which will open in Brooklyn's Columbia Waterfront District, will be looking to install rotisseries in the forthcoming weeks for a juicy thai chicken to be served at the restaurant. However, as he mentioned he first has to overcome the hurdle of getting approval from the Department of Health.

Pok Pok NY
127 Columbia Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Food Randomist visits the San Gennaro Festival

2011-09-22T20:56:00.001-07:00

I am not one for going to street festivals. Sure there are the novelties of carnival games and comfort food favorites like zeppoles and sausages to eat but none of that really interests me. So why did I visit the San Gennaro festival? Well for the second year in a row the organizers have added gourmet food vendors unlike those you usually find at these events. One of my favorite restaurants and one of the city's best restaurants period, Torrisi Italian Specialties, teamed up with several other current and soon to be restaurants to serve up some delicious grub worthy of their namesake establishments. This gourmet food booth was set up right in front of Torrisi along Mulberry Street where the other festival vendors set up shop. Torrisi was using the event to promote their soon to open restaurant Parm. They are planning to move their lunch operations from Torrisi to Parm. Torrisi's itself will be closed when Parm opens to be reformatted into a more traditional restaurant complete with a brand new larger pre- fix menu. The vendors joining Torrisi included The Breslin, a flatiron favorite that I frequent often. They specialize in elevated bar food. Here, they were serving up a variety of sandwiches. Also in the Parm booth was BYGGYZ, a sandwich shop concept scheduled to open next year. BYGGYZ is the brainchild of Dewey Dufresne. His son WD-50 chef and gastro genius Wylie Dufresne was helping man the booth. He was serving up beef brisket sandwiches and ice cream sandwiches. Across the booth manned by Parm, Breslin and BYGGYZ was another gourmet food booth highlighted by the likes of Frankies Sputino, Stellina and Rubirosa. Frankies was serving grilled calamari, Stellina had ice cream and Rubirosa had braciole. Further down Mulberry along the festival route Brooklyn Bangers was serving up their brand of craft hot dogs.

I went to the festival a couple of times this week so I could try the diverse offerings at the gourmet booths. First and most importantly was trying the offerings at Parm. The chef owners Rich Carbone and Mario Torrisi use their restaurant's location on the unofficial border between Chinatown and little Italy as inspiration for their food ideas. At San Gennaro they were making Chinese style spareribs (pictured below) and Chinese "nachos."

The ribs ($10.00) were delicious. They were covered in a thick, sweet and tangy sauce. They were incredibly tender and meaty. I could eat a bucket full of these things (actually they were offering a bucket at $30.00). I also had the "nachos" (pictured below) which were a good snack. They consisted of fried wontons with duck sauce and a mildly spicy mustard sauce. Mario Torrisi was doing the cooking on the grill set up at the Parm booth. I spoke to him briefly and asked if the ribs would be available at Parm. He said they would be available on a special Chinese food menu that Parm will be offering on Sundays. This is very exciting news for fans of Torrisi and Carbone's cooking, their creativity is boundless. I am very interested in seeing what they have in store in the future at their restaurants.

Next, I gave grabbed a Pork Tonnato sandwich and a cucumber cooler(Pictured below) at The Breslin (next to Parm in the same booth). The slider sized sandwich was delicious albeit a little salty. The thin slices of pork in the ciabatta bun was topped with arugula and mayo sauce. The mayo sauce was thick and salty. The cucumber cooler drink was good but was a bit too sweet. Nevertheless it was a good accompaniment to the salty sandwich.

I am a fan of the Lower East Side's temple to gastronomy WD-50. The food there makes you feel guilty after eating it because the dishes are quite literally art on a plate. Wylie Dufresne's dad who helped Wylie develop his wine menu is now striking out in his own with a sandwich shop (ETA 2012), BYGGYZ. I had the beef brisket sandwich ($9.00)(pictured below). The beef brisket on this sandwich is formed into an oval shaped beef patty. The braised beef is incredibly tender. It is topped with American cheese, pickled onions, jalapenos and other peppers. I also tasted a mustard sauce. The sandwich overall was very good but the ciabatta holding it all together did taste a little tough. Nevertheless, this is a trial run for Wylie's dad and I will definitely try some more sandwiches at BYGGYZ when the restaurant opens.

Rubirosa was serving slider versions of their beloved Braciole sandwich ($5.00). The sandwich was stuffed with a thick tomato and garlic beef meat sauce and topped with parmigiano reggiano. The sandwich was very garlicy but that was not a bad thing. I really enjoyed this slider.

Frankies Sputinos of Frankies 457, Primes Meats and several other Frankies establishments was at San Gennaro selling grilled calamari ($9.00) (pictured below) with two kinds of sauces. The calamari was freshly grilled on the spot. However, while at times tender there were some pieces that were tough. The two sauces, one red (spicy and acidic) and one yellow (sweet and a little thick), topped the calamari.

Finally, I grabbed a beef brisket hot dog at Brooklyn Bangers. Brooklyn Bangers makes their dogs in small batches out of their kitchen at The Vanderbilt in Brooklyn. They grilled mine at the festival right in front of me and topped it with mustard relish. The hot dog itself was beefy and delicious. It also had a fine snap (always a good sign).

I enjoyed the gourmet offerings at San Gennaro and look forward to even more gourmet choices next year at the festival. If you want to try some of this great food for yourself the San Gennaro Festival will be open through this Sunday (September 5th). Hint: most of the gourmet booths are right in front of Torrisi (250 Mulberry Street) but if you want to check out the world's only headless woman I think that carnival act is further down Mulberry.

Quick Bites: Grilled Peaches Sandwich and Market Gazpacho from Num Pang Midtown

2011-08-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have visited the Union Square location of Num Pang quite a few times over the years. They have some delicious sandwiches. I particulary like the duroc pork sandwich which is the most similar to a traditional pork banh mi combining ground pork with a variety of pickled vegetables, cilantro and a house mayo. They use a wide variety of proteins in their other sandwiches like grilled mackerel and tiger shrimp. I was looking forward to trying some of the sandwiches at their recently opened midtown location. In addition to Num Pang’s classic and special sandwiches available at their Union Square location, several new sandwiches were introduced and made exclusive to the new location. For today’s quick bite I grabbed one of these sandwiches, the grilled peaches Num Pang ($7.50, pictured above).

Peaches as an ingredient is not particularly enticing to me but the fact that they are grilled and combined with bacon on a num pang sandwich made this sandwich an interesting choice. The sandwich was delicious. There is a unique combination of salty, sweet and spicy that comes when taking a bite. It is made with large slices of grilled peaches as its main “protein”, then is topped with salty and crispy bacon, then a scattering of jalapenos and is finished with Num Pang’s signature picked vegetables, cilantro and house mayo. Num Pang uses semolina flour baguettes for bread. These baguettes provide an excellent vessel to hold the variety of ingredients stuffed into the sandwich. The sandwich as a whole is a tour de force of flavor and texture. The sweetness of the grilled peaches were balanced out nicely by the salty bacon and house mayo. The grilled peaches were firm and there was plenty of crunch from the bacon and vegetables . One downside about Num Pang sandwiches is that they are not particularly big, they are only about 5 inches long. Thus, I decided to purchase a side as well. Num pang has a variety of sides available to go with their sandwiches. I purchased a small gazpacho ($3.50, pictured below). I love a good cold soup but am wary that far too many cold soups taste one note. This gazpacho was not. It was very acidic but not overly so and the cucumber relish in the soup added some slightly muted sweet notes to try and balance things out. It was a decent gazpacho.

Num Pang will only be serving the grilled peaches sandwich through the rest of August and then will be introducing a new sandwich for the fall season beginning in September. I highly recommend grabbing one before its gone especially if you want to eat something different and delicious.

Quick Bite Rating: 1- 5 Stars

Grilled Peaches Num Pang ****1/2 4.5 Stars (Tour de force of flavors- spicy, sweet and salty, plenty of crunch, downside a little small for a meal.)

Market Gazpacho ** 2 Stars (decent gazpacho to go with a sandwich, relish was a bit muted so its sweetness did not balance out the acidic nature of the soup as well as it could have).

Num Pang Locations

Num Pang Union Square

21 E 12th Street #2

New York, NY

Num Pang Midtown East

140 E 41st Street

New York NY

Quick Bites: The Brooklyn Native from Shelsky's Smoked Fish

2011-08-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

Less than two months ago, Shelsky's Smoked Fish (Image above courtesy of Yelp) opened up on Smith Street in Brooklyn. The goal of the friendly owner, Peter Shelsky is simply to provide a place in Brooklyn to purchase a wide variety of smoked fish and appetizers. He likens Shelsky's to many of the classic smoked fish and appetizing spots in the Lower East Side (think Russ and Daughters) but with a Brooklyn twist. The shops sells a wide variety of fish either hot or cold smoked and priced by the 1/4 pound. They also sell pickled herring, pickles, salads, cream cheeses, sandwiches and various baked goods. I also noticed caviar and soups available the day I stopped by.

When you walk into the shop you immediately notice the beautiful slabs of smoked fish in the case. The different fish have a variety of colors and textures that can easily peak the interest of anyone who wishes to experience the different flavors that come with eating these fish. I was eager to try one of the sandwiches that Shelsky's sells. They have small selection of made to order sandwiches that utilizes the wide variety of smoked and pickled fish that they sell. I thought this would be a good opportunity to see how some of these different flavors and textures come together in a sandwich. I ordered the Brooklyn Native ($10.50), which consisted of eastern gaspe salmon, smoked whitefish salad, pickled herring and sour pickle on your choice of a bagel or bialy. On this day they did not have any bialys left so I settled for a wheat bagel. All the bagels and bialy's here are from Kossar's in the Lower East Side. Kossar's is a New York bagel and bialys institution and their bagels are a perfect vessel for this sort of sandwich.

The sandwich is wonderful display for the pairing of the different types of fish available at Shelsky's. The soft, slightly chewy bagel was first topped with the smoked whitefish salad then with the herring, salmon and pickle. The white fish salad tasted slightly smoked but not over powering to blunt the taste of the sweet and very slightly tart pickled herring . The thinly sliced smoked salmon with hints of salt and smoke complemented the rest of the fish on the sandwich. The sliced pickles added crunch and tartness that beautifuly rounded out this heavy but delicious sandwich.

I really enjoyed the Brooklyn Native from Shelsky's. The sandwich is a bit pricey but the sheer amount of quality fish on the sandwich makes it well worth the price. I will be back to try everything else.

Quick Bite Rating

*****5 Stars Delicious sandwich with plenty of high quality smoked fish. The different fish come together and complement each other perfectly. The pickle puts this sandwich over the top. You will not be disappointed.

Shelsky's Smoked Fish
251 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

First Impressions: Morris Grilled Cheese Truck

2011-07-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just launching last week the Morris Grilled Cheese Truck is the latest food truck to grace NYC with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches (see my Gorilla Cheese Truck First Impressions). The Morris vendors, wary of the issues surrounding Midtown and food trucks, are just now getting their feet wet and have been trying various locations in Brooklyn including former food truck standby DUMBO, Brooklyn. I am a huge fan of the DUMBO area and was happy to find Morris there today to try to their grilled cheese offerings for the first time.

I ordered the "Gouda" grilled cheese sandwich. This sandwich is made with sourdough bread, gouda cheese, ramp butter and pork jowl. Considering the size of the sandwich and the filling in the sandwich I was very happy with the $7.00 price (unlike in my Gorilla cheese experience). I enjoyed the sandwich a lot. The sandwich was grilled perfectly. The bread was crisp but not dry. The cheese inside was deliciously gooey. The ramp butter in the sandwich was plentiful. I loved the idea of using ramps in the butter (see picture below). It adds an additional level of flavor that brought the sandwich together. The pork jowl added some salt and pork fat that complemented the rest of the sandwich nicely. I no longer rate food trucks when they just launch so I won't do that here but I would highly recommend giving this sandwich a try.

I look forward to visiting Morris a few more times. Next time I expect to try the chilled tomato soup and their classic grilled cheese (together coming in at just under $10.00) making for a perfectly priced lunch meal.

To locate the Morris Grilled Cheese Truck check their twitter
@morristruck

Random Treats: Nuclear Winter from The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

2011-06-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

In search of something sweet but interesting to eat I noticed on the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck's twitter that the special of the day was the Nuclear Winter, a vanilla or chocolate soft serve sundae topped with a drizzle of sirarcha ( a spicy thai chili), a drizzle of chocolate fudge and accompanied with crushed salted cashews, 3 slices of half sour pickles and little bit of pickle juice. First thing that came to mind when I saw this special was that I had to have it. Yes it is weird combination of ingredients but I am all about trying random interesting things. Thus, I headed to Union Square to pick this treat up.

I ordered the vanilla sundae and chatted with Doug (Founder of Big Gay Ice Cream Truck and soon to be Ice Cream Shop) for a few minutes about the crackdown on food trucks in Midtown. It is unfortunate that terrible and overpriced brick and mortar food spots like Pret or Metrocafe call the cops on these trucks. If they don't want the competition perhaps they should step up their game and make better food instead of holding Midtown patrons hostage to their bland and expensive wares. Anyway back to the sundae. First of all, it looks delicious. The deep red of the sirarcha is drizzled and intertwined with the chocolate sauce running all the way down to the bottom of the sundae. The crushed cashews are placed along the bottom of the sundae to add the option of salt and nuttiness to the ice cream. The pickles placed on the side to be used to cool things down if need be.

Taking my first bite you can taste the heat of sirarcha even with the cool vanilla. The heat eventually fades into the creaminess of the soft serve. You can still taste a tingle on your tongue from the sirarcha but it is perfectly balanced with the sweet. The chocolate just adds another layer of flavor while the cashews adds saltiness and nuttiness to the ice cream. The pickles added a delightful cool brininess that helps to offset the tingle leftover by the siraracha.

Bravo Big Gay Ice Cream truck for putting together an odd set of ingredients and making them work.

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck
Often parks in Union Square on Weekdays but
check their twitter because locations and times can change
@biggayicecreamtruck

Quick Bites: PMB Sandwich and Pizza Funghi from Sullivan Street Bakery

2011-06-23T12:43:00.001-07:00

Sullivan Street Bakery, which is located on 47^th Street just down past 10^th avenue, has been on my list of places to try for quite sometime. They serve up a variety of baked goods, sandwiches and pizza. I was pleasantly satisfied with my food. I purchased two items for lunch, the PMB sandwich ($6.00) and a slice of their pizza funghi ($3.50). I’ll begin with the sandwich. The PMB stands for pancetta, mango and basil. A combination of ingredients that immediately peaked my interest while looking over their selection of food. The sandwich begins with a couple of thin strips of pancetta. Those strips are slightly cooked. Then a couple slices of sweet perfectly ripe mango is placed on top of the pancetta. The mango has a sprinkling of chili powder on it. Next, a couple of leaves of fresh basil are placed on top. Finishing off the sandwich is the crunchy yet airy bread that envelops the other ingredients. (PMB pictured above and below)

The sandwich was a delight to eat. The pancetta was salty but was balanced by the sweetness and faint spice of the mango. The fresh basil adds another layer of flavor that really sets the sandwich apart. The bread is slightly chewy but has a crunch that adds another layer of texture to the sandwich. One slight fault to this delicious sandwich is that it is very small. Alone it is more of a snack than a meal. Nevertheless, I highly recommend trying this sandwich. The ingredients are fresh and it is incredibly flavorful.

The second item I purchased from Sullivan Street Bakery was the pizza funghi (pictured above). This was an excellent slice of pizza. The crust was thin and slightly flaky. The combination of ingredients on top of the crust was near perfectly balanced. The pizza is topped with fresh cremini mushrooms that were slightly moist but not soggy. Chopped sautéed onions and a decent helping of olive oil accompanied the mushrooms. Sea Salt and thyme were also added to the mix completing an incredibly tasty slice of pizza. I did enjoy the addition of sea salt but I did find my slice to be a touch too salty. Also, the slice I received was unfortunately cold. However, these are minor quibbles. This pizza is up there with some of the best slices of pizza I ever had. It was delicious and I will be back for another one.

Quick Bite Rating 1- 5 Stars

PMB Sandwich **** Four Stars (highly recommend)

Pizza Funghi ****Four Stars (one of the best slices of pizza I ever had)

Sullivan Street Bakery

533 West 47th St # 1
New York, NY 10036
(212) 265-5580

Random Food Events: Midtown Lunch 5th Birthday Party

2011-06-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I went to Midtown Lunch’s 5^th Birthday Party at City Winery. As an avid Midtown Luncher, I was happy to spend $55.00 for a ticket to the event and enjoy many of my Midtown lunch favorites all in one spot. Proceeds of the event went to the Street Vendor Project. The party was held behind City Winery in an open lot. The vendors participating in the event included Biang Dang, Miss Softee, Wafels and Dinges, The Biryani Cart, Eddie’s Pizza, Ma Peche, Momofuku Milk Bar, El Rey Del Sabor, Tri- Tip Grill, Certe and Kelvin Slush.

Once I arrived I noticed that two trucks were parked in front of the lot, Biang Dang and Miss Softee. I decided to save those trucks for later and beelined first for the Kelvin Slush booth. I am huge fan of the Kelvin Slush truck. The uniquely sweet and cool taste of their slush drinks would serve to cleanse my palate for some serious eating. I ordered an Arnold Palmer slush with a raspberry mix- in. The drinks that they served were in the small sizes they normally carry on the truck but you could order as many as you want. Carrying my Slush I walked over to the Biryani Cart. I was looking forward to this visit. The day before the party I was invited to take the New York Street Food Tour by the proprietor of the New York Street Food blog, Perry. One of the stops on the tour included a visit to the Biryani Cart where I got the opportunity to speak to Meru Sikder, the Cart’s owner. I am a frequent customer of the Biryani Cart (46^thStreet and 6^thave) but it was a different experience to actually chat with Meru and discuss street food with him. I am a big fan of the Biryani Cart’s Kati Rolls and Meru served samples of his Spicy Buradi roll on the tour. I learned from speaking with him that the while he adds plenty of spice to the spicy Buradi rolls he dumbs it down for midtown workers and tourists. To get a truly spicy Buradi roll he told me you have to ask for “straight habanero.” I asked if he would have this extra spicy roll available at the Biryani Cart at the Midtown Lunch Party and he said he would make one just for me at the party. Saturday, I came to collect my special kati roll and Meru, who was standing outside his cart greeting people while two people worked inside, recognized me and immediately went into the cart to make my “straight habanero” buradi roll. I received my kati roll and devoured it. I tasted that thing for a good half hour after eating. It was hot and definitely not the sort of spice you see normally see in midtown. It was legit heat. I thoroughly enjoyed this extra spicy kati roll but I sought out another Kelvin Slush next. Just a tip if you want an extra spicy kati roll just ask for “straight habanero,” Meru will take care of you.

After enjoying some kati rolls, I made my way to the Ma Peche Booth where the Chef of Ma Peche, Tien Ho, was serving up a special banh mi for the event. This banh mi was excellent. The sandwich consisted of juicy pork belly, beef, daikon, green papaya and slathering of crab mayo. It was sweet, crunchy, juicy and spicy (from added siracha). It was a multi-layered delight and much better than the banh mi I previously had at Ma Peche. I had this sandwich twice and was beginning to run out of room in my stomach but I continued on.

Next up I made my way to El Rey Del Sabor cart, whose tacos I’ve been eating for almost three years now while working in midtown. As a matter of fact it was El Rey Del Sabor, which caused me to discover Midtown Lunch in the first place. That story begins with my introduction to the Red Hook Vendors at the Red Hook Ball fields three years ago. These vendors served up some of the most delicious Hispanic cuisine that I ever had. One of the items I discovered down there was the huarache. This item consists of a thick corn tortilla, a thin layer of beans topped with your choice of meat and then topped with salsa verde, salsa rojo, cotija cheese, pickled jalapenos and crema. This is by far one of the greatest things I have ever eaten. Unfortunately the Red Hook Vendors are only open on weekend in the summer in Brooklyn. So one day while at work I went online to find a midtown spot to satisfy my craving for Mexican tacos in midtown (not the bad Americanized tacos with cheddar cheese and hard tacos) and via Midtown Lunch I discovered a new cart had just opened in Midtown called El Rey Del Sabor, serving tacos, quesadillas and huaraches. This is the first truly authentic Mexican cart in Midtown. In those three years they have thrived and have opened three more carts. They are my go to carts when I crave tacos and huaraches. They always deliver authentic and delicious Mexican food. I was happy to visit El Rey del Sabor at the Midtown lunch party. I grabbed a beef taco and chatted with cook who recognized me as a regular customer. The taco was tender, flavorful and had a little spice.

Next, I made my way to the Certe booth. I am a big fan of many of Certe unique sandwiches. However, they were not serving sandwiches at the party. They were giving out some sort of lobster sausage. I did not like this dish. It was lobster squeezed into a sausage style shape and served on a roll. The sausage itself was not very good and tasted fishy. The lobster did not have the depth of flavor you expect lobster to have. I ate half of it and threw it out. After that disappointing experience, I walked over to Wafels and Dinges and grabbed a mini wafelini (a mini liege waffle) with speculoos spread and whipped cream. As always, Wafels and Dinges delivered a delicious treat.

Almost too full to eat anymore I decided to grab one more savory dish. I walked over to Biang Dang and grabbed a pork chop over rice platter. The pork chop over rice consists of incredibly tender and juicy pork chop over rice and a secret recipe pork sauce. It really is one of the more unique things you will find in New York City. After chatting with the Biang Dang owners for a bit (they recognized me as regular customer). As I made my way out of the party I grabbed some pre-packaged cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar to eat later (delicious compost cookies!). Before leaving I grabbed an ice cream cone from Miss Softee’s truck. She serves a basic soft serve ice cream but puts a unique spin on the topping not unlike Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. I chose the Birthday Cake Batter Ice Cream cone, which was a vanilla cone with birthday cake baking powder coating on the outside. It was a delicious end to a gut-busting afternoon.

Random Food Events: Slice Out Hunger

2011-06-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

On Thursday June 9th was the annual Slice Out Hunger Charity event in which some of the top pizzerias in New York donated pies to be sold for charity at $1.00 a slice. The event was held at Amity Hall, a 2 floor bar on West 3rd Street. Proceeds went to City Harvest. Some of the pizzerias that participated included Lombardi's, John's Bleecker Street Pizza, Keste, Artichoke and Brooklyn legends Di Fara and Grimaldi's. I found this event to be an excellent opportunity to grab some of the top slices in New York for cheap and all in one spot. Last year's event saw it's 65 pies sold out in two hours. This year over 100 pies were donated. I planned to get there early so I could try and get the pick of the litter. I had my eyes on Di Fara, which is traditionally is $5.00 a slice (well worth it BTW). I also wanted to grab slices from Keste and Lombardi's.

I arrived about 20 minutes before the event was supposed to start but word had already spread and the line was quite long. Tickets were being sold on the line to be used to obtain slices when inside. It took a good 25 minutes before I was able to get in and the place was wall to wall slammed. Unfortunately, this meant that the few Di Fara's slices that were available were already gone as well as Lombardi's and Grimaldi's. I managed to obtain slices from Keste, Pizza Roma, John's of Bleeker Street, Tosca and Artichoke. Many of the pies arrived about 15-20 min before people were let in so they were cold by the time they were available for purchase. Nevertheless in the spirit of charity I was happy to devour cold slices of some great pizza. The real highlights for me were Keste and Artichoke. I have never previously had Keste pizza but have heard very good things. The slice I had was slightly cold and a little rubbery but I could taste the potential of what a hot fresh slice would taste like. The tomato sauce tasted slightly sweet. The cheese was a combination of multiple high quality cheeses including mozzarella and Parmesan. The slice also tasted like it was finished with olive oil. Sprigs of basil balanced out the taste (the slice is pictured below this paragraph). I look forward to giving Keste's Pizzeria a visit real soon. The Artichoke slice was another highlight. I have previously had Artichoke and found their brand of creamy artichoke slices a little off putting out of the oven. The slice's texture out of the oven makes it soupy and forces you to eat it with a fork and knife because the "soup" will fall off your slice if you lift it. At Slice Out, I found the slightly cold slice better than the hot slice because the slices were not soupy and you could hold it like any normal slice. The slice remained creamy but congealed enough to taste all the flavors of the multiple cheeses and artichokes together. The other slices I had were decent and satiated me. They were fairly basic cheese and tomato slices. Pizza Roma did offer a slice that had prosciutto on it but it was a bit soggy.

Overall, the event seemed like it was a success. There remained a long line outside after I left. Sure, the slices weren't as good as you would get at their pizza places (except for me in the case of Artichoke) but it was all for a good cause.

Restaurant Review: Kin Shop

2011-06-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

I believe it is hard to find really great Thai food in the city. Sure, there are a lot of Thai places but there are very few in the area that really showcases the spicy and sweet flavors of Southeast Asia. Kin Shop, a restaurant opened several months ago by Harold Dieterle, attempts to take the flavors of Southeast Asia and reinterpret them in contemporary Thai dishes. The restaurant does deliver interesting dishes but unfortunately the bold flavors of Thailand barely resonate through the food.

My party arrived for an early Sunday dinner. The hostess was very nice and accommodating considering the lateness of half of our party. She sat us at the bar while we waited for the rest of the party. The restaurant is not very large with the full kitchen visible in the back past the bar. The ambiance is relaxed making this a great spot to bring a few people and enjoy a family style meal while you chat.

While waited at the bar we grabbed some drinks. There is a full bar along the side and back of the restaurant that serves some strong Thai inspired cocktails. You can come in here and get drunk very quickly with these great drinks. The South by Southeast cocktail is a fruity concoction that contains maker’s mark bourbon mixed with guava nectar and a couple sprigs of lemongrass. The bourbon was strong but was perfectly complemented by the guava and lemongrass. The sweetness of the guava and freshness of the lemongrass help to balance out the tartness of the bourbon. I could of drank quite a few of these. The Phuket Fizz is a strong fruity drink that contains vodka, seltzer, pineapple juice and thai and a sprig of basil. The drink tasted mostly of vodka with a slight sweetness that came from the pineapple juice. There was some bite from the seltzer but the basil seemed barely present. I would have the liked the basil to have been muddled in the drink to help offset the other flavors. The next drink I had was The ALN, a delicious martini like drink that made with Thai pickle brine and gin. This was another drink I could have quite a few of. The pickle juice was not strong but perfectly complemented the strong gin flavor. (The drinks in order of mention are pictured below)

When the rest of our party arrived we were sat down by the friendly hostess and introduced to the equally friendly waitress. We first ordered appetizers to share. First, the much discussed Fried Pork and Oyster Salad (pictured below). This dish earns its plaudits as it is textural delight. A mound of sliced pieces of celery was placed on top several chunks of fried slices of pork belly that were sandwich between large pieces of fried oyster. The crunchiness of the celery and the meatiness of the pork belly oyster “sandwiches “below the salad made this dish delicious.

The second appetizer, the squid Ink and hot sesame oil soup (pictured below), was a successful Thai dish. It had the balance of spicy and sweetness that you would expect from a very good Thai dish. The squid ink was slightly salty but was balanced out perfectly by the sesame oil. Chunks of tender squid completed the dish.

The final appetizer, bone marrow served with roti, was weak. The bone marrow was adorned with a yellow bean sauce, taro root and radish greens. The sauce seemed tasteless. The bone marrow was bland when spread upon the roti. The roti itself was a flaky, buttery and slightly sweet. Thus, it was the highlight of the dish.

The entrées were the biggest disappointment of the night. Perhaps it was an off night for the staff but the dishes served weren’t great. The first dish was the Stir Fried Ramp Pad See Ew (pictured below). Pad See Ew is a traditional Thai stir fried thick noodle dish with eggs, veggies and soy sauce. There should also be a slight sweetness that helps to balance out the flavor of the soy sauce. In Kin Shop’s version there was no sweetness in the noodles. The soy sauce flavor dominated the dish. There was also scrambled duck egg and the popular seasonal ingredient ramps in the dish but the lack of contrast to the soy made this dish a complete bore to eat.

The next dish was the most expensive dish ($29.00) on the menu, Trigger fish with bok choy, crayfish (that was what menu said but without notice they were replaced by mussels) and a green curry sauce(pictured below). The trigger fish was perfectly cooked. It was nicely seared on the outside with a deliciously tender flaky fish on the inside. However, I felt the green curry sauce below the fish was weak. The sauce was slightly watery. Tasting the sauce you could barely find hints of the variety of flavors that should be present in a green curry like Thai basil, kaffir lime leaves and curry paste. The flavors were subtle at best.

Finally, we had the Massaman: Braised Goat (pictured below). This dish was very rich in texture but not entirely in a good way. The braised goat was accompanied by fried shallots, mustard greens, purple yams and toasted coconut. The sauce was creamy and had a great depth of flavor from accompaniments. The goat meat itself was very tender and melted in your mouth. The sauce and the goat meat was a delicious combination. However, a big drawback with this dish was there was more fat on the goat than actual meat. It seemed like for every 3 bites of fat there was meat. Thus, the dish was greasier than it could have been.

Overall, our meal at Kin Shop was a mixed bag. There were some delicious highlights in the appetizers and some real potential in the entrees. Unfortunately some parts fell flat. Despite the mixed nature of the meal I would recommend giving Kin Shop a try. Some of the dishes offer a unique spin on Thai dishes that is certainly worth experiencing for your self. I would certainly come back and grab some apps and a few drinks with friends.

** Two Stars – a good dining experience to try some interesting spins on Thai dishes although some dishes were not successful in conveying uniquely Thai flavors. This is also a good spot to grab some fun cocktails with friends.

Kin Shop

469 6th Avenue

New York, NY 10011

Random Eats Special: Zagat Food Truck Frenzy

2011-05-24T08:22:00.001-07:00

I am all about variety for my meals so I could not pass up the opportunity to visit the Zagat Food Truck Frenzy for lunch today. Zagat gathered over twenty of the top food trucks in New York City and had them park down 21^st and 22^nd Streets between 10^th and 11^th Avenues to dole out bites of their noted cuisines. A ticket (priced at $13 at the pre-sale and $18 at the entrance of the event) provided you with a voucher for four items from any of the trucks. The trucks at the event included Big D’s Grub Truck, Eddie’s Pizza Truck, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck, La Cense Beef Truck, Cupcake Stop, the Cinnaminson Snail Truck, Joyride Truck, Endless Summer Tacos, Bistro Truck, Biang Dang, Sweetery NYC, The Treats Truck, Feed Your Hole Truck, Korilla BBQ, the Mud Truck, Katchkie Truck, Mexicue, Cupcake Crew, Desi Truck, Steak Truck, Coolhaus, Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, Souvlaki GR, Luke’s Lobster Truck and Kelvin Slush. Patacon Pisao, another truck that had been advertised previously as participating in the event was not there or even referenced at all in any of the materials provided.

I was all set to go last Wednesday but the Frenzy was postponed to today due to inclement weather. Unfortunately, the weather was not so pleasant today with an overcast sky and a light drizzle of rain. Nevertheless, I made my way to Chelsea and arrived at 21^st Street at 12pm. First down 21^st Street was the check in booth. There I handed over my ticket and was given a voucher with 4 tickets to give to those trucks I sought meals from. I was also given a map indicating where certain trucks were parked and what they were serving. A plate was also provided. From the booth I made my way down the street and bee-lined to the end to find Korilla BBQ and their brand new orange Korilla 2.0 truck.

I often have street food for lunch but thus far, Korilla has been elusive. Their first truck usually parks in Midtown East and other locations outside my reach during lunch hours. I was able to try their tacos when they first launched, but they were new at the time so I opted not to review them. At the time, they were okay but I did encounter issues common to food trucks in their first week such as cold food, dry meat, long waits, etc. I have been eager to give Korilla another try and the Food Truck Frenzy offered that opportunity. I used my first ticket to get a bulgogi taco with K’illa Sauce. While waiting for my taco, I chatted with the crew and asked that they finally make their way to Midtown West on a weekly basis. I learned that this Korilla crew will try and head to crowded Midtown West for lunch but only after it gets its feet wet at other less difficult parking locations. I received my taco and was also given a side of kimchi fried rice. The taco was delicious. It was fairly hefty with meat but thankfully the two tortillas supported its weight and held together as I consumed the taco. The bulgogi was marinated perfectly as it was very tender and sweet. The bulgogi was nicely complemented by the kimchi and spicy k’illa sauce. Neither the the kimchi nor the sauce was too strong but each complemented the taco perfectly. The kimchi rice was good but I found the kimchi lacking. I am looking forward to seeing Korilla 2.0 in Midtown West so I can try more of their dishes for lunch.

Next, I made my way to the Bistro Truck. Recently Yassir, the proprietor of the truck added new items to the menu, including a chicken pastilla which he was serving at the frenzy. I was given a small portion of a chicken pastilla with harissa sauce and green salad on the side in exchange for my second ticket. The pastilla portion was a nice little bite, especially with the harissa sauce. The flaky filo exterior was buttery and sweet and the shredded chicken inside was tender, albeit slightly dry. The harissa was not particularly spicy, but it did add a little kick of flavor that I really enjoyed. The Bistro Truck has recently begun parking in other locations other than its usual standby near Union Square, including Midtown. I look forward to trying the other delicious sounding items on the menu in the near future.

Next, I made my way to 22^nd Street and unfortunately, my luck at beating long lines ran out. Every truck parked down on 22nd Street had long lines, including, not surprisingly, Luke’s Lobster Truck. I am a big fan of Luke’s Lobster. I have frequented their East Village location and found their lobster roll to be divine. Up to this point, I had not gone to their truck. I braved the line at Luke’s Lobster and received my small portion lobster roll. The sweet lobster meat is not mixed with anything. It is a pure hunk of lobster meat in the roll. It has a light sprinkling of herbs but otherwise the lobster is the star of a Luke’s Lobster roll. Although this is not a formal review on anything I ate at the frenzy, I am comfortable in saying that Luke’s Lobster earns 5 Stars for a Foodrandomist "Quick Bite." On a side note, I have on multiple occasions enjoyed a Red Hook Lobster Pound lobster roll from their locations in Red Hook and by Brooklyn Bridge Park. They are delicious and you really can’t go wrong with either.

With my final ticket, I opted for a dessert and what better way to end my day at a food truck event then to have soft serve ice cream with a Big Gay spin? The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck takes soft serve ice cream and tops them with unique items like wasabi dust, sea salt and toasted curried coconut. The truck also offers a variety of specials created by its proprietor, Doug. One of these specials, The Bea Arthur, was being served at the frenzy. The Bea Arthur is vanilla soft serve ice cream cone topped with a drizzle of dulce de leche and dipped in crushed Nilla wafers. The additional layers of flavor on the vanilla ice cream combine to offer a delicious and interesting treat which perfectly capped off my lunch.

As I made my way out of the event, I noticed there were incredibly long lines at the ticket booths for people to purchase tickets. I am not sure I would have paid the full $18 dollars for the four small bites received, but for the $13 that I paid at the pre-sale, it was well worth trying some excellent food from some of the City's best food trucks.

Guest Posting on New York Street Food!

2011-05-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

I recently covered the Zagat Food Truck Frenzy for New York Street Food. Watch for my guest post there tomorrow morning. I will also post my write up here tomorrow as well.

NY's Best: The Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare

2011-05-23T14:46:00.000-07:00

The whole point of this blog is to share and comment on new and unique food experiences. Sure there are reviews and features that discuss random meals but I am always looking for something different, something out of the ordinary. For my Birthday I had the opportunity to enjoy one of New York's great dining events, dinner at The Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare.

Brooklyn Fare is a supermarket in Downtown Brooklyn that sells groceries and gourmet food goods. The 2 Michelin star "restaurant" is in the back of the market. My companion and I had reservations for 9:15pm on a Friday night. We made our way to Schermerhorn Street, where the market is located. We walked past the market towards the back and came to the entrance of the kitchen where the Chef's Table is located. People from the previous reservation were still inside likely ruminating about the fabulous meal they just had. We stood outside waiting. Soon everyone inside was ready to go. They motioned to the door and we watched as the Chef's Table Chef Cesar Ramirez shook hands with many of the people who thanked the chef for serving them his audacious meal.

My companion and I were joined by several other couples eager to go inside and experience what the previous reservation had just experienced. Eventually, we were all led inside. The kitchen was sleek and industrial adorned with stainless steel accents. The table before us was horseshoe shaped allowing our group to watch the Chef and his sous chefs perform their artistry.

The meal consists of about 20 courses. About 13 of these are single bite canapes. Then four savory courses, a cheese course, a sorbet and dessert. The restaurant does not have a liqour license as of yet but expect it to arrive this summer. They do allow you to bring your own wine.

We sat down and awaited our first dish. Shooters were placed in front of us with a green liquid and foamy white top inside of it. Chef Ramirez announced that this was pea soup with a Parmesan foam. I drank the soup savoring the dichotomy of temperature and flavor. The warm foam became slightly chilled pea soup and mixing together on the palette with delicious results. This set the tone to a wonderful night.

The canapes that followed were equally delicious but there seemed to be a constant theme of citrus. Many of the bites of fish and crustacean were accompanied with some sort of citrus-y adornment like ponzu or grapefruit were placed in front of us. The bites popped with the freshness as if they were just pulled from the sea an hour before. Highest quality ingredients were used to create these dishes including including snapper, sea scallop, king crab, langoustine, Kumamoto oysters, Ahi and even monkfish liver (often referred to as the foie gras of the sea). Each canapes' accompaniment accentuated the flavor of the protein used with it. As each bite was placed in front of us eyes around the table grew wider and wider with enjoyment at the unexpected but delightful tastes that touched our tongues.

After 13 or so course of these wonderful bites of seafood. The main courses arrived. First was sea bass served with english peas and fava beans. The fish was fresh, light and perfectly cooked. The next course was bolder than the previous course. The final course and only meat course of the night was a beautifully cooked lamb that was perfectly red on the inside.

The cheese course was consisted of three small bites of wonderfully creamy cheese. The sorbet was bright and smile inducing (guaranteed). It consisted of rhubarb on a foam called a "cloud" by the chef that added an additional depth of flavor. Finally the dessert course was delicious trio of chocolate desserts to put an exclamation point on this momentous evening.

Once the meal had concluded my companion and I motioned to the door and there was Chef Cesar to bid us adieu. He thanked us for coming and I shook his hand gratefully for the wonderful experience.

Four Stars (out of five) - The meal is expensive at $165 and beginning in June will rise to $185. However, the experience is like no other. The food is delicious and well worth the price.

Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare
200 Schermerhorn Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201-5889

First Impressions: Gorilla Cheese Truck

2011-05-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

Let me first say that this review is on the food alone and not the service. The truck just opened up and it would be unfair to rate the service at this stage. I am however considering the prices in my rating.

I went to the Hell's Kitchen Street Fair to give the Gorilla Cheese Truck a try. They have a variety of grilled cheeses including Gruyere, mozzarella and cheddar. They also charge extra for fill in meats like prosciutto and pulled pork. You also get a choice of bread to use for the sandwich for free. The prices are based on what cheeses you use and other than American Cheese ($4.25) NONE of the them cost under 5 dollars. Basically if you get anything other than plain American grilled cheese it is going to cost over 5 dollars. They also have a variety of sides including tater tots ($3.75)and and fried mac and cheese bites($4.50). They also have a choice of dipping sauces for the sides including sweet thai chili and sauteed onions.

Anyway, I asked for a recommendation for a sandwich combo. I got a mozzarella grilled cheese with prosciutto. The mozzarella price was not on the price board but I was told after the sandwich was made that it was $7.50(the highest price for anything noted on the board). So if I got just mozzarella grilled cheese alone, it would have cost that much. I went for a fill in of prosciutto that added another $2.50. Thus, making this thing $10.00(!) for a grilled cheese. I am aware that some places charge high prices for certain cheeses but this truck does not tell you where their cheese is sourced from. In addition to the sandwich I picked up a side of fried mac and cheese bites. I was given two dipping sauces (one was given to me for free). One sauce was the sweet and sour thai sauce and the other was ginger soy sauce. The total for a grilled cheese sandwich a a couple of fried pieces of mac and cheese was a whopping 15.50.

Once I received my grilled cheese sandwich and went to sit down to eat it nearby. They forgot to put the prosciutto in it. Fine it is a hiccup, it happens. I went back to the truck and gave them my sandwich. They basically took my sandwich and threw a ball of prosciutto in it instead of making me a new one properly. So, the sandwich was center heavy with prosciutto instead of even spread out.They did give me a free soda for my inconvenience.

The fact is the food was actually good! The outside of the sandwich was a little dry but the moist cheesy interior balanced things out. Despite the uneven amount of prosciutto the cheese inside was flavorful and gooey. The prosciutto did add a nice saltiness. The mac and cheese bites were good too at least in combination with the dipping sauces. I found that they weren't particularly cheesy but the addition of the dipping sauces added a lot to interesting flavor to the bites.

To conclude good truck food but way too expensive for what it is. What I purchased shouldn't cost much more than $10.00 because it is not really satisfying enough for lunch.

Quick Bites Rating

Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Prosciutto ** 2 Stars decent sandwich but not worth the price

Mac and Cheese Bites ** 2 Stars decent fried pieces of mac but not enough cheese, dipping sauces are a must.

Gorilla Cheese NYC

You can find them their locations via twitter

@gcnyc

Free Eats: Veal Brain Taco from Feast of the Brave Truck

2011-04-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

After enthusiastically writing about the arrival of the Feast of the Brave truck yesterday, I was eager to swing by the truck today and bravely feast on its delicacies. Unfortunately “feast” is not the appropriate word since this truck is a free food truck and usually such trucks only offer miniscule bites. Feast of the Brave is no different. The tacos are tiny. There is only one small tortilla to a taco and perhaps a spoonful or two of filling. This is fine because well it’s free. Also the idea of serving unique fillings of wild game, offal and bugs are certainly different and worth trying. The trucks sign indicated that they had veal brains, ostrich, crickets, scorpions (sold out by the time I got there) and cow tongue (this isn’t really unique, I can go to El Rey Del Sabor if I crave tongue). The Truck’s twitter indicated that they would be serving grasshopper tacos but they did not. Nevertheless, I ordered a taco with veal brains. The taco was constructed simply with about two spoonfuls of veal brains. The brains looked like it was grinded into a somewhat thick chunky sauce. The filling was topped with pickled onions and cilantro. The taste wasn’t awe- inspiring. The texture was mealy and somewhat bland although I did detect some heat. The pickled onions did add some mild flavor. If you’re interested in trying something different definitely give this a whirl and see if you like it. I will continue to visit this truck until I have tried all of their fillings. Next time I go I think I will try something “buggy.”

To find Feast of the Brave check their twitter

@feastofthebrave

Random Alert: Feast of The Brave Truck to debut with free food...veal brains, ostrich, grasshoppers oh my!

2011-04-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

Quick Alert via New York Street Food A new Mexican taco truck will be debuting tomorrow on the city streets but this is not some ordinary taco truck. Feast of the Brave will be serving up tacos with fillings that include veal brains, ostrich meat and grasshoppers! The truck pic also indicates scorpion and crickets! Now this is what I am talking about! Beginning tomorrow through May 7th the truck will be giving away free tacos. If they execute their fillings well I might hit this thing everyday!

Thurs 4/28

11:30am-2:30pm – 23^rd St btw 5^th & 6^th Ave

7-9pm –3^rd Ave btw 24^th & 25^th St

Fri 4/29

11:30am-2:30pm – 350 Hudson St btw Charlton & King

7-9pm – MacDougal St btw Bleecker & W. Houston

9-11pm – Avenue A btw St Marks & 7^th St

Sat 4/30
12-2pm – 6^th Ave btw W. 3^rd & W. 4^thSt.

4-6pm – 14^th St btw Union Sq & 5^th Ave

9-11pm – 13^th St btw Hudson St & 9^th Ave

Sun 5/1

1-3pm – Kenmare St btw Mott St & Elizabeth St.

4-6pm – Essex St btw Stanton St & Rivington St

Quick Bites: Panco Crusted Veal with Mediterranean Rice and Salad

2011-04-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today, I visited the Bistro Truck for the first time. The Bistro Truck serves Moroccan Mediterranean fare and has one of the more unique menus on a food truck in NYC today. They serve a variety of Moroccan dishes like cigars, brochette and merguez. On my visit I decided to order the special Panco Crusted Veal with Mediterranean rice and salad. I previously had veal off a food truck from the Schnitzel & Things Truck which occasionally serves panco crusted veal schnitzel. That dish was excellent. It was tender and not oily. The Bistro Truck veal was very good. It was extremely tender and juicy. The panco nicely crusted the outside of the large piece of veal providing a nice textural contrast to the tender meat. One slight problem I had with the dish was that there was a slight oily taste to it as if it was just pulled from the deep fryer without letting the oil drain from the meat. The Mediterranean rice salad had great flavor. It was a perfect side to the veal. The side salad was okay. It consisted of simple mesclun lettuce with a single slice of tomato. The dressing used on the salad had too much olive oil on it which made the lettuce soggy. Overall, good dish I would get it again.

3 Stars- Incredibly tender veal and flavorful rice combine to make a tasty dish.

Quick Bites: Chicken Kati Roll from the Desi Truck

2011-04-06T11:59:00.000-07:00

This is the second lunch I had today because my last lunch ended up being too small to cover my appetite. On my way back from picking up my first lunch I passed by the Desi Truck. I had never been to this food truck before so now seemed like the best time to give it a try. I wanted something small so I opted for one chicken kati roll. I also chose the kati roll because the best kati rolls in the area in my opinion are being served at the Biryani Cart parked a couple blocks away, so this would be good fodder for review. The Desi Truck only has two options for kati rolls, a chicken and a chicken anda (egg) roll. I bought the chicken roll ($4.50), which is slightly larger than the kati rolls over at the biryani cart. The chicken kati roll wraps marinated chicken and sautéed onions with a toasted paratha wrap. I like the buttery sweetness of the paratha at the Biryani cart so I did not really like the toasted almost stale like taste of the Desi Trucks paratha. The chicken in the roll was marinated and tender but there were a few bites that tasted slightly dry. The sautéed onions gave the roll a mostly onion flavor. There was some mint to help balance out the flavor but it was not enough. The roll as whole was not as tasty as the Biryani Cart’s rolls, it was okay in a pinch but nothing I would get again.

Quick Bites ratings are based on the food I randomly eat. They are based on a 1-5 Rating. With 1 being bland and unappetizing to 5 being excellent.

Bottom line: 1.5 Star - barely passable kati roll, onion flavor is overwhelming and toasted paratha was stale- like.

Quick Bites: Banh Mi Sandwich from Ma Peche

2011-04-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

Today, I wanted a Banh mi for lunch and unfortunately where I work in midtown the options are limited. I have eaten banh mi from a bunch of noted places in NY including Than Da, Ba Xuyen, Baoguette, Nicky’s and Banh mi Saigon, so I know a good Banh mi when I eat one (and bad ones). I decided to give Ma Peche’s $10.00(!) banh mi a try today. Ma Peche the midtown edition of the Momofuku restaurant empire has been open for some time now delivering gourmet Vietnamese fare from their famed chef Tien Ho. Smartly, the restaurant has developed a “midtown lunch” takeout menu to satisfy the cravings of midtown workers seeking lunches $10.00 and under. Again smartly they include a banh mi sandwich on the menu. It is described as a 3 terrine sandwich with daikon and cilantro. I ordered the sandwich for pick up through their reservations system on their website. After picking up the sandwich the first thing I notice is that it is very small. Yes, banh mi sandwiches are traditionally not that big but also traditionally they are not supposed to cost more that 2 or 3 dollars. I had to buy another item to round out my lunch considering the size of the tiny sandwich. The sandwich is constructed with pate, pork roll and head cheese with cilantro and daikon to round out the filling. The sandwich did not overwhelm me with flavor as I had expected. The pork flavor seemed overwhelmed by the headcheese, which is not necessarily a bad thing especially if you like headcheese. The cilantro also seemed muted by the headcheese. Nevertheless, the nicely toasted baguette, various terrines and the daikon make this sandwich a textural delight. Unfortunately the different flavors did not complement each other like they should in a great banh mi.

Quick Bites ratings are based on the food I randomly eat. They are based on a 1-5 Rating. With 1 being bland and unappetizing to 5 being excellent.

Bottomline: 2 Stars – okay sandwich but there are many better and (cheaper) options out there.

Quick Bites: Spinach and Jalapeno Falafel Sandwich From Taim Mobile

2011-04-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

I love the Taim Restaurant in the West Village. Their falafel is sublime. They make the best falafel in the city. I have not had better. Their independent mobile spinoff the Taim Mobile food truck has been roaming the city for a couple of months now and I have been looking forward to trying it. They parked right by my office in midtown so I decided to give it a whirl.

What is interesting about the Taim mobile spin off is that they do not consistently have the same sort of falafel found at the resto. They always have the Green falafel made with cilantro and mint but they only occasionally have the famed harissa falafel made with hot harissa and the red falafel that is made with roasted red peppers. One distinguishing characteristic about the truck is that they experiment with other falafel flavors. Ive seen different varieties advertised on twitter like the basil falafel or the rosemary falafel. Today, I saw they were serving a spinach and jalapeno falafel. I figure this would be a good way to try something interesting from Taim Mobile and distinguish the truck from the beloved restaurant. I also ordered a side of fries with saffron aoili.

Unfortunately I didn't like anything I ordered. The construction of the sandwich was fine and had all the fillings that Taim is noted for including cabbage, isreali salad and hummus. However, the falafel was not good at all. The falafel balls were very soggy from the oil used to deep fry it. There was no outer crispness and fluffy interior. It seems to me they may be rushing things in the truck to fulfill orders. Nevertheless, soggy falafel is not what Taim is noted for. Let me be clear that this is not a case where I ate the sandwich later and the falafel just became soggy, this was right off the truck into my mouth. Also, the falafel was practically flavorless. I tasted faint notes of spinach and mint but the jalapeno was non existent. There was no spicy kick or flavor...simply put eating this sandwich was depressing.

I also purchased the fries which were some of the worst fries I have ever eaten. They were incredibly oily and soggy like their falafel counterparts, perhaps more so. They had no crunch and they were dripping with oil. The aoili added some flavor to the fries but after a few bites I threw the rest away.

Perhaps I picked a bad day to visit this truck but to me Taim is an institution. If you are going to brand your truck with the Taim name you better make some of the best falafel in the city and not dumb it down for the sake of expansion. I'll be back because I cannot believe that the food can be this bad everyday. Nevertheless, I'll have to go to the restaurant tonight for dinner to get over this horrible memory.

Quick Bites ratings are based on the food I randomly eat. They are based on a 1-5 Rating. With 1 being bland and unappetizing to 5 being excellent.

Spinach and Falafel Sandwich 1 Star

Fries with Saffron Aoili 1 Star

Taim Mobile
Multiple locations see their twitter
@taimmobile
www.taimmobile.com

Restaurant Review: Seasons

2011-03-31T13:08:00.000-07:00

As a resident of Brooklyn Heights. I am always eager to try a new restaurant in the neighborhood. The foodie fare in the area is unfortunately pretty limited. There are many middling spots in this neighborhood. Thankfully, amongst the mediocre fare there are a a couple of gems like Henry's End or Noodle Pudding. Having been opened for about two weeks I was looking forward to trying Seasons, a restaurant specializing in new american cuisine.

Walking in, you can tell that they are trying to make the restaurant seem less like a neighborhood joint but a fine dining experience. There is classical music playing in the background. The waiters are dressed all in black. The utensils are changed every course.The waiters are very attentive but almost too attentive. There is a bit of a feeling of stress coming from the kitchen with some waiters running around. Also, on multiple occasion we were asked if our drinks were alright and if they weren't they would give us something else. This was annoying because we gave no indication of any issues with the drinks.

My companion ordered from the special Brooklyn Dine in Menu. I opted to order from the regular menu figuring that these items would be a better indicator of the cooking for the restaurant rather than one off discount specials found in the dine in menu.

We started with an amuse bouche compliments of the chef. It was a spoonful of sweet ricotta cannoli filling. Nothing special. (pictured above)

I ordered the Tuna Salmon Parfait( pictured above) to start and my companion ordered the rock shrimp ceviche (pictured below). For whatever reason the waiter described the parfait as a sort of tuna and salmon carpaccio. I imagined with this description that I would be getting a dish with thin slices of raw fish. The actual dish is more like a tuna and salmon tartar or parfait (as the menu had actually described it). The dish consisted of a puck size tower of tuna and salmon tartar with a layer of beets and topped with caviar. The dish was also accompanied with a two sauces; one sweet and fruit like the other savory drizzled along the top and bottom of the plate and thin potato wafer in the middle. Looking at this dish I thought it looked too complicated for a tartare dish with multiple sauces and the potato wafer. Nevertheless, I did like part of it. The savory sauce combined with the tartare and beets to make this dish tasty. I was less impressed with the berry sauce as it muddled the flavors. I did like the addition of the wafer because of the crunch it added when combined with the tartare. The Rock shrimp ceviche was good but was misnamed. The dish seemed more like a shrimp salad rather than a ceviche as it was dressed in mesculan greens and corn. I did like that there were strong notes of lime which was delightfully offset by balsamic vinegar.

For the second course I ordered the pan seared duck (pictured above) with sweet potato gratin and my companion ordered the mahi mahi with lemongrass sauce. The duck was a simpler dish than the previous course. However, I felt it missed the mark in flavor. It was ordered medium by the waiter's recommendation but the duck was cooked uneven with some parts undercooked and other parts cooked medium rare. The duck was not tender and very chewy. There were some parts that were tender and they tasted good but nothing special. I did like the char on parts of the duck fat that remained in the meat because that added a slight burst of flavor to the dish. The duck was accompanied with a sauce but simply not enough of it. It added some moisture that I would have liked on the rest of my duck after my first two pieces were gone. There was also a mound of sweet potato gratin that I really enjoyed. It had a slight crunch and good flavor. My companion's mahi mahi (pictured below) was overcooked and dry. We did however liked the lemongrass sauce which saved the fish from being a total failure.

Finally we had desert. We ordered the coconut pannacotta and cheesecake (above) off the regular menu and the balsamic beet sugar creme brulee (below) off the dine in menu. Both deserts were okay. The panna cotta desert had too much going on. It consisted of a coconut panna cotta on one side of the plate and cheesecake with a scoop of cardamom caramel ice cream. The panna cotta was very flan like but texturally it was not particularly pleasant to eat. It didnt melt in my mouth as it was very firm. The coconut flavor was also too subtle for my taste. The cheesecake with cardamom ice cream on the other hand was delicious. I wish I had more of that and perhaps none of the panna cotta. The cheesecake wasn't too sweet but the ice cream and caramel drizzle added the right amount of flavor to knock it out of the park. The beet sugar creme brulee was good. The cream was sweet and was nicely charred on top.

Rating: Restaurant reviews are rated between 1 to5 Stars. 1 is not bad but indicates a solid place to visit once every few months. 2 Stars is a go to spot. 3 Stars is great experience and great food. 4 Stars is pretty much grand experience. 5 Stars is a legendary experience.

Half Star - Bottom line: The cooking is inconsistent and muddled. They need to simplify things and calm down both in the dining room and in the kitchen.

Seasons

46 Henry St
(between Middagh St & Cranberry St)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights

Street Food Review: Kimchi Truck Part 2

2011-03-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

As I indicated in my last review I wanted to go back to the Kimchi Truck this week and give their other meat-based tacos a try. I had only tried the falafel tacos and the Arancini side up until this point. My experience previously was met with mixed results. I did not like the use of a single corn tortilla to carry the weight of the falafel. The falafel itself was pretty good but the taco was cumbersome and fell apart too easily. The arancini was ok but a little overpriced for what you got.

This week I am happy to report that the Kimchi Truck is learning on the go. They stopped toasting their tortillas and now include two soft corn tortillas to carry the weight of the taco. I was excited to give their beef, pork and chicken tacos a taste for the first time. I also ordered a side of the chips and beans ($3.00) for good measure. However, unlike the mixed results I found previously, today was simply terrible.

Let me start with the BBQ beef taco. Looking at this taco you can tell they put plenty of meat and kimchi on the tortilla(s!). They certainly do not short change the experience. However even before consuming the taco you can tell the beef is over cooked and dry. This dryness blunted the sweetness of any BBQ that is also supposed to be present in the flavor. You can taste taste the salt yet the sweetness was horribly muted. The kimchi saves what little respect I can give this taco. Kimchi truck does deliver on good kimchi in their tacos. However, they do something that really shouldn’t be done with these sorts of tacos which is they put the wet kimchi on the tortilla first when constructing the taco. This holds true for all three tacos I had for lunch. This wetness combined with the heaviness of the plentiful meat destroys the taco even with the added security blanket of the additional tortilla. The tortilla literally disintegrates. It took two bites before I was picking up the contents of the taco with a fork. Perhaps this can be fixed by putting the kimchi on top of the protein.

Next I ate the pork taco. Again, the meat here was dry and bland. While the kimchi was potent and good, it was also wet and made the taco fall apart one bite in. Also, the sheer amount of bland meet blunted the taste of the kimchi rather than complementing it. I have to add the way they prepare the pork is closer to pulled pork rather than the marinated meats of Korean bbq. The chicken taco, which was tender but lacking flavor. It also muted the flavor of the kimchi. Finally, the chips and beans were ok. The beans were made into a paste and spread on a decent helping of oily chips. However, there was not enough bean on the chips for my liking. Also a quick note on the spicy and mild sauces that kimchi provides for the tacos. Neither are spicy and they are very watery. They help with the dry meat but not the crumbling taco.

I still want to try the kimicheesesteak and probably will visit the truck one more time before I finalizing my review. However, for the meal I had today I cannot give it anything higher than 1 star.

1 Star out of 5

Quick Bites: Korean Tacos and Dumplings from Big D's Grub Truck

2011-03-15T15:24:00.001-07:00

It seems nowadays a new truck pops every week in the city. Unlike the trucks that recently opened Korilla or Kimchi Big D's Grub Truck was not promoted at all prior to rolling on to the streets. Although its name does not hint at it at all this truck's bread and butter are Korean tacos. It been a few weeks now since this truck opened so I swung by to grab lunch and see how it stacks up.

At the heart of lunchtime in midtown I was happy to find no line so I could quickly order. First thing I noticed with the menu was that it focused on 3 proteins for its dishes beef, pork and chicken. The chicken is optionally prepared in two ways either with a ginger flavoring or spicy. The beef is korean style bulgogi and the pork is also Korean style BBQ. The proteins can be eaten on either a taco or a grinder sandwich. They also have an assortment of sides available including fries that can be seasoned with old bay and sazon, fried yuca and pork and chive dumplings. The sides with their Spanish and Chinese influences certainly are interesting when paired with the Korean Mexican fusion of the tacos. The sides are also accompanied with a choice of sauces including Big D's secret sauce, a ginger sauce and plain sriracha. For my order I opted for 3 tacos containing different proteins with the chicken prepared "spicy." I also ordered pork and chive dumplings and Big D's secret sauce to go with it. The tacos were $7.00 and the dumplings were $3.00.

The tacos were constructed simply. They started with 2 soft corn tortillas (which is how all tacos should be made in my opinion), the marinated meat and what appeared to be very little kimchi puree and scallions on top of the tortillas. Generally, all the tacos were made with tortillas that were dry and tasteless. The tortillas seemed to simply serve as a vehicle to transport food into your mouth, this is fine if the protein flavors really pop. Unfortunately they did not. I started with the bulgogi. I love bulgogi and its a mainstay when I go out for Korean BBQ. Here the bulgogi was decent. It was sweet with some tang. However, I felt not enough was put into the taco so the tastelessness of tortillas seemed to blunt the taste of the taco. Also, the fact that the kimchi seemed non-existent in the taco further dumbed down the taco's flavor profile. Next, I had the spicy pork and like the beef taco I also felt shortchanged in the amount of meat I was provided. Folding over the taco and consuming it tasted like the tortilla overwhelmed the meat. The meat by itself was pretty good but far from spicy making the addition of the cucumber to cool things off pointless. I would rather have had more meat in there. The spicy chicken was drowned in cilantro. I love cilantro but they put too much cilantro on top of the chicken drowning the flavor of the chicken. The chicken itself was tender enough but certainly not spicy. There was some sort of mayo in there that provided a faint tangy taste but nothing really enjoyable.

Finally, I finished up with the dumplings. They are a pretty good value considering you get 4 large dumplings and a special sauce for $3.00. However, next time I would avoid Big D's secret sauce. The sauce came to me in a little container congealed with oil lying at the top. In this state you can tell that the sauce consisted mostly of some sort of fat perhaps butter. There was an buttery texture to the sauce that made it off putting. I did use it on a dumpling but it did not seem to go together. I would rather have had some sort of rice wine vinegar sauce to go with the dumplings. As for the dumplings they were good thick skinned dumplings with the right amount of pork and chive filling. It was a nice side to have albeit odd for a Korean taco truck.

I might try this truck again in the future since they can do a whole lot more with their meats. They have solid proteins if handled well. 1.5 stars out of 5 for this food truck.

Street Food Reviewed - ratings Random Street Food Reviewed is my overall assessment of the food that can be had at this particular food cart or truck.

1.5 Stars

Location- see their twitter @BigDsGrub and http://bigdsgrub.com/

Random Street Food Review Part 1: Falafel Tacos from the Kimchi Taco Truck

2011-03-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Let me first qualify this review by saying I plan on visiting this truck on several occasions before setting down a final word on it. For now this is my initial review on the one time I went and the food that I ate. I ordered 3 edamame tofu falafel tacos and the arancini bites. The 3 falafel tacos cost $7.00 and the bites were $3.00.

I waited almost an hour to get my food arriving 9 minutes after the truck opened. It was the first time the truck has been in midtown so I won't address the wait problem. I'm sure they will figure out ways to speed up the process. Although I have to say that truck is pretty small and it seems like it would be tough to prepare tacos in an assembly line process to speed things up.It took me about 15 minutes to receive my food after ordering.

The one glaring problem before devouring my lunch was that the tacos were made with a single toasted corn tortilla. As I have indicated in my previous reviews for taco places I do not like korean tacos made with a single tortilla especially made of corn. If you have a heavy protein, that one corn tortilla is liable to break mid eating. Of course that happened here. The tacos start with the kim chi at the bottom of the tortilla. Kimchi juice also contributed to the breaking apart of the tortilla. Then the taco is topped with 3 falafel balls and finally dressed with pico de gallo and green onions.

The tacos were very good (before breaking apart). I really liked the falafel balls. They were crispy on the outside and had a light moist flavorful inside. You can taste the asian inspiration in the falafel with their use of spices. The kim chi was plentiful and flavorful but not strong. Personally I like potent kimchi but because this is lunch during a work day I doubt we really want potent kim chi for lunch. Nevertheless, the kim chi was flavorful enough to complement the falafel balls. The green onion and pico de gallo rounded out the flavor nicely. Perhaps they should consider selling these falafel balls separately from the tortilla as a side.

Finally, I had the arancini bites which are essentially fried cheese balls with a kimchi flavoring. I liked these bites but for 3 dollars for 3 balls seems kind of steep. The outside was crispy from the use of panko and the inside was moist and creamy. I really liked that was a kick in the taste from the use of red pepper paste. I will likely not purchase this again because its not enough bang for my buck. Nevertheless, they were quite good.

I expect to try the other proteins in the tacos and hopefully the tortilla holds up better. I am also looking forward to trying the kimcheesesteak and the other sides. For now due to my intense dislike of tacos that fall apart while eating due to the use of single tortillas I have to give the truck 2.5 stars. Nevertheless, the falafel thus far is a real winner.

Kimchi Taco Truck - 2.5 Stars

City Eats: Bon Chicken Midtown West

2011-02-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

Korean Fried Chicken continues its expansion through NY with the recent opening of Bon Chon Chicken in lower west Midtown. This location is only steps away from the gaudy 2 million dollar flagship location of Kyochon chicken, which attempts to turn the chicken craze into a chic scene with bright lights, televisons and of course alochol. Bon Chon helped to pioneer the craze in NY first opening locations in Queens and downtown Manhattan. The midtown location is more in line with the other locations. It is not bright and sleek.It is dressed more like a dive bar than a nightclub. To keep with its competitor down the street the restaurant does have a projector showing music videos and news against a far wall with loud music blaring. This all seems dissonant with the feel of the place.

I ordered a medium half Soy garlic chicken and half hot and spicy chicken. I also ordered kim chi cole slaw. The order arrived within 10 minutes. The first thing you notice when the chicken arrives is that the pieces are huge. I say this comparatively to Kyochon, whose chicken is small and boney.The Bon Chon drumsticks looked meaty and juicy. The chicken had crispness on the outside and a very juicy albeit oily interior. Biting into the chicken you can taste that the chicken is substantive and filling. Unfortunately the look of the chicken was deceptive as it was not flavorful. The hot spicy chicken was not spicy at all. There was a slight sweetness to it but for the most part it was bland. The soy garlic chicken fared somewhat better. There was a good amount of sweetness and saltiness. I wish I ordered this in full rather than half.

The kimchi cole slaw was probably the best dish I had here. I am happy to report that it did not skimp on the kim chi. You can taste the fermented cabbage in the cole slaw. The tartness of the cabbage satisfyingly balanced out the sweetness of the other ingredients.

Bon chon is a fast food restaurant that tries to be a restaurant/bar for the young patron set. It seems to me that it should focus on the chicken over anything else. The chicken unfortunately is subpar and somewhat bland.

Soy Garlic Chicken - 2 Stars

Hot and Spicy Chichen - 1 Star

Kim Chi Cole slaw- 2.5 Stars

Bon Chon Chicken Resto overall- 1 Star

Brooklyn Eats: Bark Hot Dogs

2011-02-17T12:07:00.000-08:00

In New York Hot dogs can be found on sale almost anywhere. We find them at street carts often on sale for dollar or in some cases less. We can also find them at such famous standbys like Nathan's or Gray's Papaya. The hot dog in New York itself is not a complicated food. A sliced roll carries a prepared (grilled, deep- fried or boiled) frankfurter holding on to the frank while the condiments (ketchup, mustard, sauerkraut in the NY style or with a sliced pickle in the Chicago style) above it sit and combine with the meaty flavors to be enjoyed by whoever consumes it. It is simple and that what makes it so great. Today, I decided to eat through the menu of Brooklyn's gourmet hot dog restaurant Bark. I did this not to enjoy the simplicity of a hot dog but to experience what a hot dog can be when it is used as a blank canvas for something more than simple encased meat on a bun.

Bark is situated in Park Slope Brooklyn, a very family oriented neighborhood that is home to other excellent choices to go out and eat such as Franny's or The Chocolate Room. The restaurant itself is situated right next to the subway for a grab and go dog. Walking into Bark you can see that great care was taken in creating a casual cool place to eat while focusing on being enviromentally responsible. The walls are wood paneled made from recycled pine from torn down buildings. All the tables are also made from recycled materials. There are several large tables with stools to sit on along the center for large parties or for individuals to share while they enjoy their food. Along the sides there are a couple of small tables for couples and along the front of restaurant there is bar style seating to enjoy your food while you watch people walk by outside. The restaurant asks that those who throw out left over garbage separate recyclables and trash in separate bins on clearly marked bins along the side of the restaurant. There is also a faucet along the side where you can obtain free tap water for drinking (because of course NY tap water is the best water you can get). Keeping in part with the environmentally conscious design the restaurant goes out of its way to tell you where every ingredient that is used in its food comes from. Almost every ingredient is sourced locally.

The first thing you notice glancing at the menu is that the prices are not those you would expect for a simple hot dog. They range from $4.25 for a simple classic to $6.50 for one with chili cheese on it. They also sell a variety of sausages, sides and sandwiches. One particular sandwich blew me away but I will get to that after I discuss the hot dogs.

The Classic Hot dog at Bark is simply delicious. It is the top hot dog in a land of many simply constructed hot dogs. The hot dog itself is a combination of pork shoulder, shank and beef shoulder. It is perfectly gridded with a little bit of butter and lard. The dog was snappy in bite and juicy in texture. While I question the expense of this hot dog due to its simplicity you can be satisfied with buying this hot dog.

The NYC Hot Dog was disappointing for me. Sure you have the great classic dog but the toppings here did not impress me. The sweet and sour onions serving in place of sauerkraut was flavorless and watery. The mustard was tasty and saved the dog from being a total disappointment.

The idea of the bacon cheddar dog makes my mouth water. Nevertheless, the hot dog disappointed. The addition of pieces of bacon with a slathering of cheddar cheese did not add any new flavor to the properly cooked dog. It seemed extraneous and unnecessary. However, I did like the tartness of the pickled onion and wanted more of it.

The beans and frank dog as of now is one of my favorite hot dogs in this city. Everything about it hit a home run for me. The combination of beans and pork added a smoky flavor profile that I thoroughly enjoyed. The addition of mustard and onions that topped it also added texture and tartness just made it better. I highly recommend this hot dog. I just wish I had a nice glass of smoky scotch to go with it.

The chili cheese dog was good. The chili wasn't spicy or meaty as it was diced finely. The onion added a little crunch and flavor to top it. While I enjoy chili cheese dogs this was light on the chili and seemed pretentious when a hot dog should never be pretentious.

The Bark Hot Dog is a good frank combining relish, onions and mustard. There was a slight spice on the relish and tartness from the onions. I liked the combination but it did not make me want to get up and buy another especially at its $5.00 price tag.

As for the final 3 dogs on the menu. The Kraut dog I did not find appealing. I am personally not a big fan of sauerkraut but this seemed like it lacked flavor or texture to the classic dog. The pickle dog on the other hand was delicious. A slice of pickle topped the classic with a squirt of mustard and mayo. The sweetness of the pickle and the tartness of the mustard and mayo made this hot dog delightful. Finally, the slaw dog was very good. They use a sweet cole slaw on this hot dog and the griddled hot dog combined well with the sweet crunch provided by the slaw.

I have to add that I did also have the black pepper fries and the crispy pork sandwich. The fries did nothing for me. They were fries with black pepper on them. They weren't too salty but not salty enough. They didn't really have any spice either despite the pepper.

Finally, I have to admit that the crispy pork sandwich is one of the best things I have ever eaten. I'd hate to admit that because I rarely eat things this great despite having eaten many good things. This sandwich consists of of a deep fried pork patty, house made cole slaw, house made pickles, mustard on a soft sesame seed bun. The pork patty on this sandwich is so juicy that there is no break involved in eating this. You will eat it until its gone and begin to tear after realizing that you have pluck down another $8.50 for another one. The patty consists of pork shoulder, belly and jowl which is then deep fried. The patty comes crusted from the deep frying process so there is a crunch when bite into the sandwich. After getting through the delightful crunchyou get into the porky goodness inside that make you smile while you are still eating. The pink inside disguises the burst of meaty fatty flavor that awaits you with every moment you take to chew. The cole slaw adds a slight sweetness and the pickles some more crunch and tartness. It is a multi textured delight. Just a delicious sandwich.

All in all Bark is good little hot dog shoppe. Despite the prices some great things here make it well worth the visit.

Classic - 3.5 Stars

NYC- 2 Stars

Bacon Cheddar- 3 stars

Beans and Frank Dog - 3.5 Stars

Chili Cheese Dog - 2.5 Stars

Bark Hot Dog- 3 Stars

Kraut Dog - 1.5 Stars

Pickle Dog - 3 Stars

Slaw Dog- 3 Stars

Black Pepper Fries - 1 Star

Crispy Pork Sandwich - 5 STARS ( wonderful sandwich not to be missed when visiting).

Bark Hot Dog overall rating - 3.5 Stars (great little neighborhood place to go and enjoy a good hot dog and a great sandwich)

*Brooklyn Eats is a segment where I review Brooklyn Fast food joints. The food is the star not so much the restaurant experience.

Mexicue Redux

2010-09-17T10:27:00.001-07:00

It has been about a month and half since I posted this review of the Mexicue truck. At the time, I was not impressed with their food. A truck that bills itself as a hybrid of Mexican cooking and down home BBQ should have bold and colorful flavors . At the time they completely missed the mark. Granted when I first reviewed them they were still getting their feet wet in the food truck game. Today on my lunch break I decided to stop by the Mexicue truck and see how far they have come considering of course they are now Vendy nominee for the food truck rookie award. One word to describe the food now? WOW.

It's amazing how much better the food was this time as opposed to last time. I got a coupon deal found on the Mexicue website that allowed me to get 3 items on the menu plus a drink for 10 dollars. I ordered two short rib tacos and a chorizo taco (14.00 value, great deal) . As I indicated in the last review neither taco at the time had the bold flavors of BBQ, they were actually a bit bland and were overpowered by the cheese being used on the tacos at the time. Now the BBQ flavors really really pop. The short rib tacos were delicious. The meat was incredible tender and plentiful. The oak smoke flavor was certainly present and combined with the salsa and the milder cheese to really set this taco apart from regular Mexican tacos. The Chorizo taco while still lacking that bite I like to see in chorizo sausage tacos but it was very tasty. The cheese used was not over powering and balanced out well by the cabbage and cilantro that topped the taco. However, I have to note this taco is advertised as having a habenero aoili but I did not notice any sort of real spice in the taco. Despite the lack of spice it was excellent savory treat to eat for lunch.

When I published my previous review Mexicue took the time to comment on it and indicate that they were still a work in progress. They seemed to take my suggestions to heart now offering a milder cheese and a corn tortilla (rather than the flour one they were using). The tortillas they are using now are from Tortilleria Nixamal, a noted tortilla maker and restaurant in Queens. While Mexicue is not using two tortillas to hold their heavy tacos (particularly the short rib) the new single tortilla held together well enough. This single tortilla allows for the smokey meat to shine through without excess masa flavor to unbalance things.

Once again really impressed by the Mexicue Truck now that they are a staple on the New York street food scene. They are certainly deserving of their Vendy Rookie nomination.

Ratings for food trucks are based on a 5 star scale taking into account taste, texture, uniqueness and value

Updated Rating:

4 Stars
****

You can find them via twitter @mexicue

Street Food Review: The Mexicue Truck

2010-07-28T11:12:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I heard about a new truck that blends Mexican flavors with down home American BBQ. I was excited to try it so I beelined for it once I knew where they were going to be situated for the day. We all know about Fatty Cue and their success in combining BBQ with Indian flavor. That makes this truck so interesting in that it is attempting to create something new out two different cuisines. This new truck has a lot going for it. It is introducing something interesting and new to the street food scene. Unfortunately I felt the food that I ordered suffered from some execution issues that might have been caused as a result of getting their feet wet in the street food scene.
I ordered three items off their menu including a short rib taco, a chorizo taco and a BBQ beef brisket slider. All of this cost me 11 dollars which is a bit pricey for the size of the food but acceptable if the food blows me away. The tacos unfortunately lacked any of the heavy spice or tang expected in those sorts of tacos especially if it is combining BBQ flavors to those dish. I tasted no spice int the chorizo. Chorizo should have its own natural kick and that combined with the supposed "habenero aioli slaw" should put it over the top in flavor. Unfortunately it lacked that ambitious flavor it was seeking. The taco also only had one twig of cilantro on it. The Short rib taco was good but not great. The meat was tender enough but was not as flavorful as I had hoped. It is supposed to have a smokey flavor but there was very little of that smokiness if at all. The combination the salsa verde and salsa fresca is always a nice touch and that was the best part of the taco. However, I felt the short rib taco was a good Mexican taco with no appearance of BBQ influence to be found. The tacos were constructed with tortillas that I found to be a bit off putting. First, the tacos were only made with one tortilla each and not the requisite double tortilla style that Mexicans use, which is fine if the tacos don't have very much weight to it. The aged cheddar that the tacos were topped off seemed to overpower the light flavor of the tacos, which is unfortunate because it smoky and spicy flavors sought had been achieved perhaps the cheese would not have been overpowering and the tacos would be successful.
Finally, I had the beef brisket slider which was ok. The beef was tender and had some BBQ flavor but not to the level you would expect. I liked the avocado that topped off the brisket inside the slider but I would have liked even better if it was used to help cool off the tang of a strong arbol BBQ flavor. However, that flavor was not strong.

All in all I feel this food truck has potential and I give it another shot in the future. Although they did not have it on this day I would try their duck pepian tacos and lobster roll which both sound very interesting.

Rating

1.5 Stars Poorly executed flavorless tacos. Potential to be better.

Mexicue
Multiple locations
see their Twitter
@mexicue

Random Eats Special: The NYC Food Film Festival Food Truck Drive In

2010-06-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

The NYC Food Film Festival has been holding various events throughout the city this past week. The events are intended to celebrate not only different kinds of food but also food inspired films. Much of the proceeds of the events are going to the NYC Food Bank. Doing my part I attended one of the events called Food Truck Drive In located in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Tickets were sold out for this event and I was given the opportunity to attend the event after winning tickets from the New York Street Food Blog. This event is a first of its kind featuring a menagerie of popular food trucks from NY and NJ. It also included a section that included various vendors from the immensely popular Brooklyn Flea.

The event was located outside by the Tobacco Warehouse under the Brooklyn Bridge. The open air warehouse housed the Brooklyn Flea Vendors including the Red Hook Lobster Pound, Choncho’s Tacos and Asia Dog. Just beyond the Warehouse space the food truck vendors doled out the wares parked all along the sides of the park like area.

Being a big fan of brooklyn flea vendors in general I used this unique opportunity to eat food I have not previously tried. I began with Choncho’s Tacos. Known for their signature beer battered Mahi Mahi taco, Choncho’s was also serving up a new very unique taco called the Taco Negro for $6.00. I went with the new taco having previously had the delicious fish taco before at the Choncho’s taco stand in Brooklyn called the Loading Dock (review forthcoming). The Taco Negro is constructed uniquely with lightly fried calamari, red cabbage, lots of cilantro and topped off with crema and squid ink (!). You also had the option to put a mild green sauce or a red hot sauce on top of the taco. The made to order taco was delicious and unique textural experience. The crispy calamari and crisp cabbage was balanced with a lot of cilantro and crema. Squid ink alone is subtly bland without anything else to combine with to be flavorful. Here the squid ink was used ingeniously like a hot sauce squirted from a bottle to top off the taco to add color to an already colorful taco and a sublte flavor that combined well with the crema and your choice of green or red sauces. Talking with the owner of Choncho’s and Loading Dock we can expect this taco to soon be available at the Loading Dock in Brooklyn. I highly recommend it. As a quick bite experience I would give it 3.5 stars for great taste and unique textural experience.

Next up I bee lined to the New Jersey’s popular Korean Taco Truck The Krave. This truck was the most popular truck at the Drive in. The line was consistently long throughout the day. This goes to show that NY wants Korean tacos. With LA’s Kogi truck scared off by NY’s food truck regulations perhaps Krave can meet the demand in the area someday.

This truck strikes me as a hybrid of Mexican cuisine, American cuisine and Korean cuisine. American cuisine versions of tacos and quesadillas tend to be made with shredded cheddar or American cheese, no cilantro and copious amounts of sour cream. The Krave does use sour cream and Monterrey jack cheese. The kimchidillas are made American quesadilla style with a tortilla filled with monterrey jack cheese and kimchi and//or a choice of meat and then the combination is folded over. If you want to see a true Mexican style quesadilla go to Red Hook on the weekend and visit the Red Hook Vendors where cilantro and Mexican cotija cheese complement the well seasoned meat on a large homemade open- faced tortilla.

Nevertheless, The Krave is all about a blending of flavors and I was eager to dig in. I ordered a beef galbi taco, pork and plain kimchidillas. The tacos each cost $2.50 and were a good value. The galbi taco was constructed with well braised and marinated beef galbi, kimchi, chopped onions, cilantro and was topped off by sour cream. The plain kimchidillas (described above) was made with just kimchi and the pork kimchidilla included the same pork used in Krave’s Tangy pork tacos. The plain Kimchidilla cost $4.00 and the pork cost $6.00. The galbi taco was very good. The galbi was flavorful and plentiful for such an inexpensive taco. Kimchi is cabbage fermented in a combination of garlic and spices. This complemented the tender beef very well as every bite brought all the unique flavors together. However, I did find the sour cream unnecessary and a bit off putting. I don’t think the creamy texture was really appropriate with the Korean flavors of the beef and kimchi. Nevertheless, you can order the taco without it. The kimchidilla is a very simply made dish with the kimchi as the real star. If the kimchi is not pickled very well then the quesadilla just tastes like a melted cheese taco. However, the well made kimchi burst with flavor allowing this simple dish to come together. As a Quick Bite I would give Galbi Taco and the kimchidilla 3 stars each.

Next, I stopped by one of my favorite lunch staples the Cravings Truck and decided to order something different than the usual (and consistently delicious) porken special. Many of the trucks at the Drive in were offering cheaper and smaller versions of their usual fare so I was eager to try something different. At Cravings, I decided to go with the Zongzi, which is a Chinese tamale wrapped together by a bamboo leaves. It contained rice, dried shrimp, peanuts, Chinese sausage, green beans, raddish, and Szechuan vegetables. I found this item had very heavy vinegar taste and unfortunately 90% rice. Perhaps the usual dish at lunch during the week includes more protein and more flavor. As a quick bite, I'd give it 1.5 stars.

After having so much food I decided to leave the Drive in and come back later when I was hungry again. When I came back I decided to have Pizza Moto. I previously had a couple of slices of their pizza at The Rachel Ray Snapple Feedback Event. There I had their traditional Margherita pizza, which I thought was quite good. This time I had a whole pie of one of their specialty pizzas called the Fun Guy which was a pizza made with smoked mozzarella, tomato sauce, fresh basil and mushrooms. I also had their taste of Pizza Moto special which was a crostini rubbed in olive oil and garlic topped with goat cheese, hazelnuts and a drizzle of honey. The latter dish was $3 and the Fun guy cost $9.00. As I previously had stated I love how Pizza Moto takes great care in constructing their pizzas. The pizzas are made to order so you have to wait a little bit while they create it. The prospect of fresh basil on their crisp pizza crust and mushrooms sounded very enticing. Unfortunately, I did not think the Fun Guy was executed very well. While the pizza crust was crisp it tasted like it had an excess of flour brushed on it. I understand that dough is prepared before hand so a lot of extra flour is needed to be spread on the dough prior to cooking so that the pizza retains its consistency for cooking throughout the long day. Nevertheless, in cooking much of that floury, dusty texture remained with the pizza which created disappointing textural experience. The pizza itself tasted ok but the basil was somewhat wilted and the mushrooms did not add very much. As a quick bite, I would give the Fun Guy 2 stars.

The flavors of the Taste of Pizza Moto all complemented each other nicely. The crostini was perfectly charred to get nice crispness and charred flavor without getting any burnt flavor. The flavor of the goat cheese was nicely complemented with the sweetness of the honey and the bite of the raw garlic. The hazelnuts tied everything together for a delicious sweet and savory bite. As a quick bite, I give the Taste of Pizza Moto 3 stars.

Finally, I stopped by the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck for something sweet to balance out all the savory I had today. I opted for the pistachio ice cream after seeing many of their other flavors had already sold out. I had the ice cream on a sugar cone. This ice cream is billed as high quality ice cream and that really shows through. The ice cream was very creamy with a very subtle pistachio flavor. It combined with the excellently made sugar cone very well. It was excellent textural experience. As a quick bite 3.5 stars. I highly recommend.

During and after a long day of eating I enjoyed many of the films shown at the NYC food festival including shorts highlighting the Brooklyn Flea and the Red Hook Vendors. It was a very delicious day.

Random Eats Special: Snapple and Rachel Ray Feedback Part 1 - Tacombi Tacos and Asia Dog

2010-06-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, Snapple and Rachel Ray teamed up to throw a little food fest at The Bell House in Brooklyn. The event included free food from a variety of well known and some obscure NY food carts. Snapple provided the beverages (of course) highlighted by two new Celebrity Apprentice branded Snapple Teas. The event also included several independent bands playing throughout the day. The event was fun and I got to stuff myself with many interesting (and not so interesting) food options.

I got to the Feedback pretty early and decided to beeline to the most intriguing option of the block party, the Senor Tacombi Taco Truck of Mexico. Brought to NY by famed chef Aaron Sanchez of the restaurant Centrico. This street cart in a old VW bus was doling out delicious pork tacos to crowd. Sanchez was there himself to talk about his bringing the truck to NY to throw his hat in the burgeoning street food renaissance the city has enjoyed. The idea behind this food van was to bring Mexican street food as prepared in Mexico to NYC. In speaking with Sanchez, I discovered they are parking at 267 Elizabeth Street in a makeshift garage that doubles as full service restaurant but plan on expanding the idea further in the coming months. While the full menu was not available for consumption at Feedback, Sanchez did say that the van will have a variety of tacos on its menu including fish tacos.

The van itself houses two street truck chefs who construct the simplest looking tacos you will ever see. In going with the idea of true Mexican street food experience these are not the most artfully constructed Mexican tacos but they certainly deliver flavor. The roast pork taco they served was made with a single tortilla, well marinated cuts of pork topped with pickled cabbage and onions. While I enjoyed these taco I did have to question why there was no cilantro or even a second tortilla to hold the whole thing together. Nevertheless, the sheer simplicity of this taco made the need for a second tortilla unnecessary. The addition of cilantro while I am always happy to have in a taco was also not necessarily required because the flavor of the tender meat is what you want to shine here and it certainly does. The pork was very flavorful and delicious to eat. I went back for seconds and thirds while the line was short. I look forward to heading there garage/restaurant to sample more of their tacos.

Next up I visited Asia Dog, a hot dog cart that makes Asian inspired hot dogs. Asia Dog itself does not have a restaurant or a cart to call its own, often appearing as a "pop up" cart in a variety of settings including the Brooklyn Flea, Central Park Summer stage and a variety of street food events. In speaking with the one of the Asia Dogs owners, I discovered that they will be opening a brick and mortar location in the city soon and are waiting on various licenses to be granted. Nevertheless, the hot dogs themselves have been named on many top hot dogs list and there is no doubt many of the options are quite good. The hot dog begins with choice of chicken, beef or vegetable hot dogs wich are then dressed in a choice of asian inspired toppings. I found the hot dogs alone were pretty run of the mill but had good "snap. "I sampled several of their hot dogs styles all beef including the Ginny and the Vinh (pictured above). The Ginny hotdog is dressed with kimchee and dried nori or seaweed flakes. An interesting flavor combination that unfortunately only delivers a very sublte kimchee taste. Nevertheless, the kimchee and seaweed texture married itself well with the hot dog. The Banh mi hot dog called the Vinh was one of my favorites. It was a basic beef hot dog dressed with aioli, pork pate, cucumbers, pickled
carrots and daikon, then topped with cilantro and jalapeno. Essentially this hot dog is dressed in the ingredients that make the Vietnamese banh mi so special. Eating this hot dog and getting the bits of cilantro with the other ingredients makes it fun to eat merely in the sense that the are different textured coming together in your mouth. You also have the option of putting some siracha sauce on top of this dog to add some more spice.

The next dog I tried was the ITO, a Japanese inspired hot dog dressed in Japanese curry and home made kimchi apples. This hot dog disappointed me the most. The ingredients seemed rather exciting considering the bold flavor profiles of both curry and kimchi but unfortunately none of that strong taste showed through in taste. Both flavors were very subtle but did not add much to the basic taste of the hot dog.

The last hot dog I tried was the Mash, a hot dog dressed in spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard and crushed salt and pepper
potato chips. Certainly a exciting group of ingredients to put on a hot dog and at the very least what sounds to be a great textural experience. I found the hot dog itself to mediocre. The chips seemed a bit soggy (perhaps should be eaten as immediately as it was received) and the the spicy ingredients spice did not come through at all. All I tasted was a mix of ketchup and mustard with barely crunchy potato chips on top of a beef hot dog. Hopefully, due to the nature of this event and the small sampling provided of the food fare hindered the execution of this hot dog.

Brooklyn Lunch: Yossi's Falafel Cart

2010-06-17T10:54:00.001-07:00

This new cart parked on the corner of Joralemon and Court during weekday lunchtime has been a revelation for the Downtown Brooklyn area. Since it started parking in this high traffic area it has seen fairly long lines for customers seeking to satisfy their craving for falafel during lunch.

Yossi's Falafel Cart has a very simple menu which is highlighted by its $5.00 falafel sandwich which is the focus of this review. They also have chicken schnitzel (!) and eggplant sandwiches which I will review in future quick bites. 5 dollars for a falafel sandwich might be a little steep considering the local halal carts and some delis nearby sell their falafel sandwiches between $3 and $4.50. However, dare I say you will not find a falafel sandwich in this area with more flavor than Yossi's. I was skeptical too. The falafel sandwich was simply constructed but eating the sandwich was a satisfying experience.

The sandwich itself is a basic store bought pita that is warmed and stuffed with made to order fresh falafel balls (made minutes before in the cart's own deep fryer), lettuce, large pieces of pickles and sauerkraut. The sandwich is also topped off with your choice of tahini, hot sauce or both condiments. You can also have fries put in the sandwich for an extra dollar but I kept it traditional. The falafel is what makes this sandwich stand out. The warm falafel balls were crisp on the outside, very moist on the inside and bursting with flavor when bitten into. The falafel had a spicy kick that I have not experienced from any falafel that I have ever eaten up until now. The hot sauce which I usually order hoping it would save a bland falafel sandwich was not needed. The combination of the flavorful falafel with the salad ingredients in the pita combined together to make a very good lunch and well worth its cost.

Rating System: Brooklyn lunch ratings are purely on the food and not the restaurant experience itself. I evaluate on whether the food is craveable or not on a 1- 5 scale, I evaluate the satisfaction obtained from eating the dish and not merely satiating your hunger. I also evaluate whether it is worth the price of admission (essentially whether or not the food is worth it).

Craveability: ***1/2 , 3.5 Stars, Falafel cart does what it should do best make good falafel sandwiches and it delivers.

Expense: Cheap, 5 dollars for a falafel sandwich is pricey for this neighborhood but its best falafel in the area.

Yossi's Falafel Cart
Corner of Court St & Joralemon St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Quick Bites: Hot Chocolate From Nunu Chocolates

2010-06-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted grab something sweet after a big savory lunch so I headed down to Nunu Chocolates to grab some hot chocolate. I am very particular about my hot chocolate. I ordered the $3.00 hot chocolate which was topped with shaved dark chocolate pieces. This particular chocolatier imports his cacao bean from Colombia which is developed from hybrid plant found in a specific family-owned farm in Colombia.

I prefer my hot chocolate to be thick with a good balance of bitter and sweet. Jacques Torres, Brooklyn's prominent chocolatier accomplishes this task with his famous hot chocolate. However, Nunu's hot chocolate relies more on a frothy cocoa mixture that is more foam than liquid. The hot chocolate began with foam and eventually settled with a light bitter but watery taste that finished frothy again. Overall this drink overall was unsatisfying. There was a lack of thick flavorful chocolate texture you would expect from a good hot chocolate.

Rating System: The Quick Bites segment rates a dish based on taste, texture, and overall experience. They are given a rating between 1 and 5 stars. Texture is a individual evaluation (as with taste) however I evaluate the experience in sampling any dish I have. If I enjoy eating or drinking a dish or drink because of its wonderful textures then I will rate it highly. Finally, the overall rating is where I decide whether a dish must be tried or avoided altogether.

Taste: *1 star- chocolate mixture unfortunately bland and barely had a hint of sweetness and bitter.

Texture: * 1 Star- Nunu's hot chocolate began foamy, then settled down to be watery and then finished frothy again was deeply unsatisfying.

Overall: * 1 Star - Nunu's hot chocolate is badly executed, foamy and disappointing.

Nunu Chocolates
529 Atlantic Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Brooklyn Lunch: Fast and Fresh Burrito Deli

2010-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

In Brooklyn today I was craving tacos. Mexican Tacos are wonderful things, they seem so simple to make but a simple slip up either in the use of dry meat or not putting enough cilantro will bring a taco down from the perch of flavor ecstasy to mediocre to sadly, just plain bland. I decided to go to downtown Brooklyn/Boerum Hill to visit Fast and Fresh Burrito Deli in hopes of finding something that will not only satisfy my craving but make yearn for more.

Fast and Fresh Burrito Deli is an interesting place. It looks like a run of the mill deli providing your basic bagels and bacon, egg and cheese on a roll for breakfast and cold cuts sandwich for lunch. However, there is so much more here. The huge deli menu throws many wonderful options out at you including Mexican delights tacos, burritos, Tortas and Cemitas. The american food menu includes burgers and gyros. They have smoothies and milk shakes to round things out. The deli also sells mexican food products over the counter (like habanero spiced chips)items not normally found in other delis. Nevertheless, I was looking for tacos and that's what I went for. Look for the other items on the menu in future Quick Bites segments.

The deli prices each taco at $2.50 a piece but if you buy 3 the price is a very inexpensive $6.00.The available meat options for the tacos include beef, chicken , pork, spicy pork, salted beef, chorizo and goat(!). The tacos are made to order. I ordered every taco and went to feast in the back garden area. The garden is nicely outfitted with brand new picnic style benches and an lcd television in the back positioned for all to watch.I sat down and laid my eyes upon the tacos.

The tacos are constructed fairly traditionally. The meat is laid upon two tortillas and topped with chopped cilantro, onions and avocado sauce. There is a wedge of lime provided for each taco to add some acidity and moisture to the tacos if needed. I started with the chorizo taco which dripped with grease as I ate it. I could taste pieces of pineapple in the taco which cut through some of the spice in the meat. While very flavorful I felt that there was more fat in the taco than I would have liked. Next, I had the beef and salted beef tacos which unfortunately were both very dry. These poorly executed taco were tough to eat as I spent much time chewing on them. The addition of lime juice and the avocado sauce saved these tacos from being bland but a disappointment nonetheless. Next, I had the chicken taco while not to the extent as the beef tacos, also seemed dry and somewhat bland. There was some tenderness to the meat and lime juice topped the taco well enough to be satisfied with this offering. The pork tacos were next and while the basic pork taco which chopped up pork meat was dry and rubbery, the carnitas or spicy fried pork was flavorful. However, the meat was not spicy at all and bit greasy. Finally, I had the goat taco which was the best of the bunch. The only other place that I have been able to find goat tacos is at the great Red Hook Vendors stalls on the weekends. Like the Red Hook Vendors version Fast and Fresh executes their goat tacos quite well. The fatty goat meat is very well marinated and combines well with the other ingredients to really deliver a flavor experience.

The tacos for the most part did not deliver as well as I had hoped. While the goat and carnitas tacos satisfied my craving for at least acceptable Mexican tacos the meat in the other offerings fell short. Like most deli/restaurants Fast and Fresh Burrito Deli delivers a mixed bag and the food is hit or miss. Nevertheless, I would come back for lunch for more goat tacos and experience the variety of other food options.

Rating System: Brooklyn lunch ratings are purely on the food and not the restaurant experience itself. I evaluate on whether the food is craveable or not on a 1- 5 scale, I evaluate the satisfaction obtained from eating the dish and not merely satiating your hunger. I also evaluate whether it is worth the price of admission (essentially whether or not the food is worth it).

Craveability: **1/2 , 2.5 Stars, For a quick and hunger satisfying lunch but the place can be hit or miss. Don't expect to want to come here often if your tacos are consistently dry and bland.

Expense: Cheap, 6 dollars for 3 meaty tacos is the right price for lunch.

Fast and Fresh Burrito Deli
84 Hoyt Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Quick Bites: Mount Qi Vegetables and Hand Pulled Noodles from Xi’an Famous Foods

2010-06-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

I decided to to take a quick train ride to Chinatown to visit Queens staple Xi’an Famous Foods newest location for some delicious hand pulled noodles. Having previous eaten the western Chinese cuisine of Xi’an I was looking forward to trying something a bit lighter without sacrificing the freshly made hand pulled noodles (Left picture). I went for the Mount Qi vegetables and Hand pulled noodles. This dish is billed as a vegetarian dish containing a variety of vegetables including scallions, onions, mushrooms and bean sprouts. I also found pieces of tofu. The veggies include tofu, cauliflower, wood-ear mushrooms, and carrots.

The dish itself must be ordered spicy otherwise you will lose that distinct flavor kick in the tongue that you look for when eating at Xi’an. The combination of vegetables with the oil broth and noodles made this dish near perfect. The vegetables added a variety of textures that complemented the noodles. The noodles and vegetables marinate very well with the broth making every bite of this dish a wonderful experience. At 5 dollars this is very inexpensive way to enjoy western Chinese culture.

Rating System: The Quick Bites segment rates a dish based on taste, texture, and overall experience. They are given a rating between 1 and 5 stars. Texture is a individual evaluation (as with taste) however I evaluate the experience in sampling any dish I have. If I enjoy eating a dish because of its wonderful textures then I will rate it highly. Finally, the overall rating is where I decide whether a dish must be tried or avoided altogether.

Taste:

**** This dish must be ordered spicy for a true experience in flavor.

Texture

**** The variety of vegetables with the hand pulled noodles make this dish very good. However, some vegetables were a bit mushy despite the late addition of the broth which took away from the textural experience. Nevertheless, the crunch of the scallions and onions with the tender thick noodles was very enjoyable.

Overall

****1/2 This is a near perfect dish.

Cost: 5 dollars (inexpensive).

Xi’an Famous Foods

88 East Broadway

New York, NY 10002

Quick Bites: Veal Schnitzel Platter from the Schnitzel and Things Truck

2010-06-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

On this rainy afternoon in NY, I decided to visit the Schnitzel and Things Truck. Having sampled the trucks’ delightful cod and pork schnitzels with satisfying results I was eager to devour its latest and much anticipated special Veal Schnitzel or known under it’s traditional moniker as Wiener Schnitzel.

The special’s price was $12 for the platter placing a $2.00 premium above the price of the other available schnitzel platters. It is pricey for food off of a truck but the platter itself did not disappoint. I requested that the veal be paired with two of the truck’s tastier sides the lentil salad and the potato salad. I also opted for the special condiment they had on hand that went well with the lightly breaded veal.

In preparing the veal, the cooks pound the meat till its flat, then lightly bread the meat and fry it. You can tell from the overall texture of the meat that much prep work goes into getting the meat just right before frying.The veal schnitzel itself was easy to devour. The veal was quite tender and easy to eat. It did not have the tough chewy texture that you often find with prepared veal. There was no oily texture considering the fried nature of the food. The meat itself was flavorful and combined well the Kalamata olive condiment which tasted like a tapenade. The kalamata olive sauce added a subtle tang to the meat that was not overpowering or underwhelming but a perfect addition to the natural flavors of the veal.

The two condiments I chose are two of my favorites. The potato salad has a light vinegar flavor that combines well with the potato. It is not too vinegary but just right. The lentil salad also has some acidity in it but again not too overpowering.

All in all after waiting for the veal special since the opening of the truck several months ago I have to say it was worth the wait. Yes you will have to spend over $10 for the platter but the meal is quite filling and you will not be disappointed with this well executed food.

Taste:

**** The combination of sides and condiments come together to make this a great dish.

Texture

***1/2 if you like your meat breaded and pounded till its flat then this is the meal for you. Perfectly tender schnitzel to devour quite easily. A joy to eat.

Overall

***1/2 This is a delicious dish.

Cost: 12 dollars (expensive).

Check their Twitter for daily locations.