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Inka Wasi (Aguas Calientes, Peru)

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 by virginia

By the time we got to our hotel after spending the day at Machu Picchu, we were pretty exhausted so we knew that if we settled in, we would probably fall asleep and end up not eating dinner. Because we had a grueling hike planned for the next day and would be leaving the hotel before breakfast, we knew that we couldn’t afford to skip another meal so we forced ourselves to leave our room. We stopped in at the hotel bar first to get our free welcome drink, a Pisco Sour. We hadn’t had any since Lima so I had forgotten that I actually really liked them. After chatting with the bartender, he told us to eat at Inka Wasi, the restaurant across the street from our hotel, because they had good pizzas.

When Josh and I saw pizzerias all over Peru, we were sort of confused but figured that they catered to tourists. Our guide in the Sacred Valley told us that Peruvian pizza was actually different from other pizzas because they are cooked over eucalyptus leaves, which impart a unique flavor to the crust. That actually sounded pretty interesting to us so we decided to try it out. Once again we weren’t too hungry so we decided to split a medium pizza (which was still pretty small) and a chicken entree. After we placed our order, they brought us some garlic bread to munch on while we waited for our food.

Garlic bread

The bread was pretty standard but tasty, and it was cooked in the same oven as the pizza so it had a nice crunch and smokey flavor to it. While we were enjoying the bread, someone set off firecrackers right outside the window where we were sitting, which scared the crap out of us. Turns out it was the start of a rally for someone who was running for mayor. A crowd of people were marching down the main street of the town carrying balloons and signs, playing drums, and generally just making a lot of noise by chanting and setting off more firecrackers. It was pretty intense and the parade of people walking by on their way to the main square lasted for a good 15 minutes.

Huge crowd of people headed to a political rally in the town square

After all the excitement passed, we turned our attention back to our food. The pizza we chose was the restaurant’s namesake, Inka Wasi. It was basically a meat lover’s pie, topped with ham, chorizo, pepperoni, and chicken.

Inka Wasi pizza topped with ham, chorizo, pepperoni, and chicken

There was a lot of cheese on the pizza I don’t think there was any sauce. If there was, it was undetectable. The toppings were pretty bountiful, with the chorizo and pepperoni adding some spice and tanginess to the pizza. There was also a lot of oregano sprinkled on top that gave it a distinctive taste.

Slice close up

The crust was pretty thin, almost cracker-like around the edges, though the middle was slightly chewier. The pizza oven was very close to where we were sitting so we watched the chef make them. The crusts were actually pre-made flatbreads that he would put the cheese and toppings on. I was worried about the crust being pre-made but I actually wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference because it wasn’t overcooked or dried out. The eucalyptus leaves burning in the oven did give it a slight floral flavor, but it was very subtle. If I hadn’t known beforehand I probably wouldn’t have guessed eucalyptus.

Underside shot

The chicken we got was pollo a la plancha, meaning it was grilled. I don’t know why we were expecting something exciting so we were pretty disappointed with what arrived, which was just a piece of plain chicken breast accompanied by some rice, potatoes, and sauteed veggies.

Grilled chicken breast with potatoes, rice, and veggies

Surprisingly, however, the chicken was pretty tasty – very flavorful and moist. I’m always astonished by how much better chicken tastes in other countries. It’s not just a boring white meat, it actually tastes like a bird. It was well prepared too; tender, juicy, and well seasoned. The sides were decent but plain. The potatoes were fried on the outside and soft on the inside, reminding me of fried yuca. The sauteed vegetables were buttery but standard.

Overall we were pretty happy with the food at Inka Wasi. The pizza was really tasty and the chicken was cooked perfectly. Service was super friendly and efficient. It’s no wonder the restaurant was hopping when we first arrived. There was a 30 minute wait for a table so we ended up taking a stroll and doing a little shopping to kill some time. Price-wise it was a bit expensive for Peru, more on par with NYC prices. The pizza, which was about the size of a large dinner plate, was 42 soles, or US$16. To be fair, there were a lot of toppings on it. The chicken was 33 soles, or US$12, which is not bad. We also had a few Cusquena beers so our total after tax and tip was S/129, or US$48. Certainly not a bargain but we enjoyed our meal thoroughly. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in Aguas Calientes. The seats near the window are great for people watching!

Inka Wasi
Pachacutec 112
Aguas Calientes, Peru

Tags: Aguas Calientes, Chicken, Machu Picchu, Peru, Pizza
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Alma Cocina Viva (Puno, Peru)

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 by virginia

Because our hotel, the Casa Andina Private Collection, was so far out of the main area in Puno, we ended up eating dinner at the hotel restaurant, Alma, both nights we stayed there. We stayed at many different Casa Andina PCs during our time in Peru and the hotel restaurant was always named Alma but we didn’t know how similar the menu was from place to place. Based on the menus on their website, it looks like each restaurant serves local specialties as well as some standard Peruvian dishes that overlap at each location.

Our meal on both nights started off with a basket of bread. There were some soft dinner rolls as well as seeded breadsticks. The rolls were a bit stale but tasted good when dipped into a garlicky spread topped with sweet balsamic vinegar.

Dinner rolls and breadsticks

Garlic spread with balsamic vinegar

On the first night, neither of us were really hungry so we just ordered entrees and no appetizers. We chose a dish that was described as being a traditional Puno dish, called saqta de gallina. Gallina is hen, but we didn’t know what saqta meant. When the dish arrived and I saw it was in a yellow sauce, I was terrified that it would be the ocopa sauce that I disliked so much. My fears intensified when I saw a bright green herb sprinkled on top of the dish, which I thought would be the dreaded Andean mint. Fortunately, it wasn’t. The yellow sauce had a mild sweet flavor and reminded me of korma sauce, which I love. The pieces of chicken were tender, and it was mixed with onions and potatoes. There was Andean cheese on top of the dish but they were easily moved aside. Josh and I both ended up really enjoying the dish, and we were pleasantly surprised.

Saqta de gallina - a traditional Puno dish

Our other entree was lomo saltado, a standard Peruvian dish. It’s stir fried beef with onions, tomatoes, and peppers, served with french fries and rice. The beef was a little salty but it was tender and flavorful. The french fries were pretty good as well, I just wish they had given us more because there were only about a dozen fries altogether. I do love my french fries!

Lomo saltado

On our second night eating at Alma, Josh got a yellow potato cream soup to start. Peruvian potatoes are a bit more starchy than the ones we’re used to, but the soup was rich and creamy with lots of potato flavor. There was a chili oil on top but it wasn’t spicy, and once it was stirred into the soup we didn’t notice it at all.

Yellow potato cream soup

For my entree, I selected the alpaca steak frites because I loved the alpaca we had at Zig Zag, and I love french fries, of course. Unfortunately, the menu did not say that the alpaca would be crusted in cumin seeds. The pieces of meat were absolutely covered, and while I like the flavor of cumin, crunching into whole seeds with every bite was really not pleasant. I tried to scrape of the seeds as best as I could but it kind of ruined the dish for me. The alpaca was also a bit tough and chewy, and I was disappointed with the dish overall. To add insult to injury, the portion of fries was once again pretty paltry.

Alpaca steak frites

Josh ordered a dish that was recommended, which was glazed kingfish in a sesame honey sauce served with mashed potatoes and garlic tempura vegetables. The kingfish came from the lake, which meant that it was fresh. However, I took one bite and almost spit it out. The fish had been crusted in sesame seeds, which I found overpoweringly bitter, and the honey sauce was so cloyingly sweet. I wanted to try another bite, thinking that maybe I just got a bad piece, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The first bite had taken me a lot of willpower to swallow and not throw up. It was such a strong reaction that even Josh was a little shocked. Josh liked the dish though, so I guess our palates just reacted very differently to the flavors.

Glazed kingfish in a sesame honey sauce

Overall I wasn’t so thrilled with the food at Alma, but it was certainly convenient for us since it was right in the hotel. I did like the saqta de gallina dish from the first night, and the lomo saltado was decent, but nothing was really super impressive. Prices were on the higher side for Peru, though not very expensive by NYC standards. Entrees mostly ranged from 30-40 soles, or about US$11-14. Service was fine, and they actually brought a phone to us one night when our tour guide was trying to reach us. Still, I kind of regret not eating in the city, especially since we generally don’t like to repeat restaurants when we’re away. Oh well. While I can’t really recommend Alma unless you’re in a bind, I do think that Casa Andina PC is a great hotel chain.

Alma Cocina Viva
Av.Sesqui Centenario 1970
Puno, Peru

Tags: Alpaca, Chicken, Fries, Peru, Puno, Seafood, Soup, Steak
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Liberty View

Saturday, November 20th, 2010 by virginia

At a recent Sunday night dinner with the family, we revisited an oldie but a goodie. When all of us lived downtown in the Financial District and Battery Park City, Liberty View was our go-to Chinese restaurant for Sunday night dinners. Since Josh and I moved uptown, we haven’t been to the restaurant in probably a year, which is too bad because the food is really quite good.

Every time we go, we always make sure to order the steamed juicy buns, or soup dumplings/xiao long bao. These are some of the best ones that we’ve had, and believe me, Josh and I have eaten our way through most of the soup dumplings in Chinatown. I was happy to see that they were still as tasty as ever. The skins are super thin but still slightly chewy, the meat full of porky goodness, and the soup inside is hot, flavorful, and has just the right amount of fatty richness to it. Delish!

Soup dumpling in all its glory

Another of our usual appetizers is the spare ribs, which are sticky and citrusy and not too sweet. They can be a little fatty sometimes but they’re generally pretty tender.

BBQ spare ribs

We also got an order of the cold noodles with sesame sauce, which something that we hadn’t tried before at this particular restaurant. It’s a pretty standard, simple dish, but unfortunately, this version was pretty bad. The sesame sauce was watery and not very flavorful, and there just wasn’t enough of it to cover all the noodles. The dish wound up being extremely bland, and it’s not something we would order again.

Cold noodles with sesame sauce

For entrees, the moo shu pork is one of our favorites. Strips of pork are stir fried with scrambled eggs and shredded cabbage, then rolled into thin pancakes dabbed with hoisin sauce. Just make sure you ask for the same number of pancakes as you have people, because if you don’t specify, I think they only give you a certain number. We were short the first few times we ordered so we learned our lesson. The good thing is that they’ll wrap up the moo shu for you and portion it out evenly across all the pancakes.

Moo shu pork

Another favorite is the crispy spring chicken in house brown sauce. The chicken is always tender and juicy with crispy brown skin. The house brown sauce is a mixture of soy sauce and chili oil, and is chock full of scallions and black pepper, which gives it a little kick. The dish comes garnished with crispy prawn crackers that are puffy and crackle delightfully if you leave them on your tongue. These were one of my favorite snacks growing up, and while they don’t really do much for the chicken, they’re a fun addition.

Crispy spring chicken and prawn crackers

My personal favorite dish is the Shanghai style pan fried noodles. It’s a bed of thin egg noodles that have been fried until crispy, then covered in a mix of chicken, pork, broccoli, carrots, snow peas, wood ear, mushrooms, and other assorted items in a flavorful brown sauce. You mix everything together and the noodles add a wonderful crunchy texture to the dish.

Shanghai style pan fried noodles

To add some veggies to our meal, we originally asked for hollow water spinach, which is my favorite vegetable, but they were out of it that evening. We settled for pea shoots instead, which are another leafy green vegetable similar to spinach. The pea shoots were sauteed with garlic and cooked until just wilted, so that the stems still had a nice crunch to them.

Sauteed pea shoots

Last but not least, we got an order of pork fried rice. It was fairly standard but there was lots of pieces of roast pork mixed throughout, and the rice wasn’t overly mushy or greasy.

Pork fried rice

Overall Liberty View is one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in the city. It’s a bit more refined than some of our go-to places in Chinatown, though I wouldn’t really call it fancy. It’s in a nice location though, right along the Hudson River, and has a nice view of the Statue of Liberty. Service can be a bit overbearing at times, however, because they try to plate and serve everything for you. What I like about Chinese food is that it’s served family style, so everyone should be able to help themselves. Aside from that, I think the food is really good, almost up to Chinatown standards. Now that we’ve rediscovered how much we like the food there, I’m sure we’ll be going back more often.

Liberty View
21 South End Ave. at West Thames St.
New York, NY

Tags: Battery Park City, Chicken, Chinese, Fried Rice, Noodles, Pork, Ribs, Soup Dumplings
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Pho Grand

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 by virginia

So I realize that I’ve been neglecting this blog in terms of NYC restaurant posts. I’m really far behind on posting, considering I have yet to write about the fantastic anniversary meal that Josh and I had at Eleven Madison Park in May. Yes, May. It’s bad. I have restaurant pictures going back farther than that as well. Between work and all the travel posts, I really haven’t put much thought into the NYC restaurant scene, although we have been eating at lots of new places. So I’m going to start mixing in regular posts with the travel posts, and hopefully that will force me to start covering more ground. At the rate I’m going, I’ll still be writing about Peru for the next six months!

In terms of some good meals we’ve had lately, I had an odd hankering for Vietnamese food one weekend so we made the trip down to Chinatown where there are several highly touted Vietnamese restaurants. My hankering was odd because I’ve never really eaten Vietnamese food, aside from a bowl of pho in San Francisco five years ago, plus all the banh mi sandwiches we eat. But I had seen pictures of Vietnamese dishes in several blogs and I just got an uncontrollable craving to try some for myself.

We ended up at Pho Grand, a restaurant that I’ve read about, plus it was super close to the subway. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant had received an “A” rating on their health inspection, not that a lower rating would have stopped us from going.

The menu was massive, and I started to feel a bit overwhelmed because I had no idea what to order. We selected a pho, since the restaurant has “Pho” in its name. For our other dishes, we ended up choosing “Cari Ga”, or curry chicken, because we’ve still been searching for a curry chicken that is similar to the dish we had on Sentosa, in Singapore. Lastly, we ordered “Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong”, which is grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli.

The pho we chose was the “Xe Lua”, which was beef soup with rice noodles and six different cuts of beef, including brisket, tripe, tendon, eye of round, navel(?) and frank (flank?). It came with a little dish of fresh bean sprouts and basil that we mixed in, plus a wedge of lemon that we squeezed into the soup. It was an enormous portion and we dug in right away. The slices of rare beef on top were super tender but my favorite pieces were the chewy bits of tendon and tripe. The soup itself was flavorful yet light, and the lemon juice and fresh basil really brightened it up.

Pho xe lua

The curry chicken was pieces of leg and wing in a large bowl full of curry sauce and potatoes. The chicken had bones and skin so the actual meat was a bit sparse, but everything was tender and pretty tasty. The curry sauce was rich but not overwhelming with coconut milk, and it’s the best version that we’ve had so far in the city. I would improve it by adding some more spice and punch, since it was just slightly on the mild side.

Curry chicken

We had a choice of rice, vermicelli, or bread to accompany the curry. We chose the bread since that was what we had on Sentosa. It was a long piece of french bread that wasn’t as crispy on the outside as we would have liked, but it was fresh and chewy in the middle. We ripped off chunks of the bread and tucked in some chicken meat, then soaked it all in the curry sauce before gobbling it up.

French bread to go with the curry

The grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli dish is the one that threw me off the most. I thought it was the dish where you wrap the pork or spring roll in lettuce leaves with some of the rice noodles and eat it like a summer roll (turns out that dish is called “Banh Hoi Thit Heo Nuong”). What arrived was just a large pile of rice vermicelli topped with some pieces of grilled pork and spring rolls. The lettuce was shredded and buried underneath the noodles. It came with a little bowl of nuoc cham sauce, a sweet and sour dipping sauce that usually accompanies fried spring rolls. We didn’t know if we were supposed to pour the sauce over the dish, or to pick up bites and dip it into the sauce. I was afraid of committing a faux pas, so I actually had Josh google how to eat the dish. Turns out we were supposed to dip bites into the sauce so that’s exactly what we did.

Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong - grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli

I was worried that Josh would think the dish was too plain and get mad at me for ordering it, but he absolutely loved it! The rice noodles by themselves were plain but they had a nice chewy texture. When combined with the pork or the pieces of spring roll and dipped into the nuoc cham sauce, it was a great mix of flavors. The pork was slightly sweet and smokey and the spring rolls were crunchy and meaty. There were also pieces of pickled daikon and carrots that added a nice tangy crunch. It was a filling dish yet light enough that we didn’t feel heavy after eating the whole thing.

Overall we both really enjoyed our foray into Vietnamese food at Pho Grand. We thought all the dishes were really tasty and well prepared, though we really don’t have a basis for comparison since we’re Vietnamese food newbies. Service was fast and efficient, and prices were pretty cheap. We got a ton of food for about $20, and we had an entire takeout container of pho left over that we took home with us. I definitely plan on eating Vietnamese food more often, and this was a good place to get our feet wet. Vietnam is one of the places on our pre-baby bucket list, mostly because we’ve heard the food there is wonderful. If what we had at Pho Grand was authentic, then we’re definitely in for a treat.

Pho Grand
277 Grand St. at Forsyth St.
New York, NY

Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong

Tags: Chicken, Chinatown, Noodles, Pho, Soup, Vietnamese
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Hilton Head Day 3 – Antonio’s

Saturday, August 21st, 2010 by virginia

Before we arrived in Hilton Head, someone recommended that we go to Antonio’s, which they said was the best Italian restaurant on the island. Since we’re always on the lookout for new places to try, and we all like Italian food, we decided to give it a shot. There’s a bar area in front where people sat watching preseason football and the Yankees game, and a more formal dining room that is slightly separated. The lighting was a bit dim but it wasn’t too stuffy or upscale.

We ordered some garlic bread for the table but it was pretty standard, not very crispy, garlicky, or flavorful. We were better off sticking to the regular bread, which was slices of a flat peasant loaf that had a sturdy crust and a chewy interior. It came with a bean spread that was a little sweet but still pretty tasty.

Slices of peasant bread

There were only a few appetizer/salad options but none really appealed to us so Josh and I decided to have sampler portions of some pasta dishes as our first course. We split the pasta carbonara and an orecchiette with clams and pork. The carbonara was chock full of sweet peas and diced pieces of pancetta. The pasta was cooked al dente and it had a nice balance of sweet/salty. I just thought there was too much cream in it, so that the pasta at the bottom of the bowl resembled an alfredo rather than the silky richness of a carbonara.

Spaghetti carbonara with peas and pancetta

The orecchiette had a generous serving of clams and lots of pieces of tender pork mixed throughout. The sauce was light but savory, and the pasta had a really great chewy texture. There was also a healthy sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs on top that added a nice crunch to the pasta. This was my favorite dish of the evening.

Orecchiette with clams, pork, and toasted breadcrumbs

For our main courses, Josh and I shared the veal parmesan and the stuffed chicken. The veal parmesan was a huge portion with two large pieces of breaded veal served over angel hair pasta. The veal was pounded thin but not too thin, and there was a good coating of melted cheese on top. However, the pasta was really wet and mushy, and it hadn’t been properly drained so that the excess liquid made the tomato sauce really watery and thin. The sauce kind of ruined the rest of the dish because it made everything soggy and diluted the flavors of the other components. I was pretty disappointed with it.

Veal parmesan

The description of the chicken dish made us think it would be more like a chicken milanese, but it was actually a thick piece of chicken on the bone stuffed with spinach and served on top of a small bed of arugula and grape tomatoes. The chicken was tender and the dish was well seasoned but it lacked pizazz. The dressing was a simple honey mustard sauce that really didn’t add much to the dish. It was a good dish, but not great.

Stuffed chicken over arugula and grape tomatoes

Overall we were all pretty disappointed with our dinner at Antonio’s. None of us were wowed by any of the dishes, and while we thought the pastas were pretty good, they weren’t spectacular. Service was pretty bad, especially considering how empty the restaurant was at the time. There were only a handful of other tables at most, yet we waited a long time until we could even place our orders. When they brought out our entrees, they forgot Jess’ lasagna and we sat there waiting for a good 10 minutes before we could finally flag someone down to ask about it. They went to get it from the kitchen and handed it off without any real apology. The lasagna she got had clearly been sitting in the oven the whole time because the cheese on top had browned completely and hardened.

Portion sizes were also all over the place. The sampler portions of pasta were pretty hearty, but the salads were laughably small. Alice’s beet salad came with approximately five pieces of baby arugula. It was more like a garnish than a component of the dish. The caesar salad had good flavor but was way overdressed, with the creamy dressing weighing down all of the romaine, rendering it gloppy and heavy. Unfortunately, with one misstep after another, I don’t think this is a place we will return to the next time we’re in Hilton Head.

Antonio’s
1000 William Hilton Pkwy.
Hilton Head, SC

Tags: Chicken, Hilton Head, Italian, Pasta, South Carolina
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Chicken Milanese with Arugula

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 by virginia

Arugula

In our week 2 CSA share, we received .2 lb of arugula. Josh and I both adore arugula, and this farm fresh version was really fantastic. Peppery, not too bitter, and the leaves were so tender, not at all like the arugula we get from the supermarket. Unfortunately, that was the only time we got arugula as part of our CSA share, which is really too bad because the arugula contributed to one of my favorite meals we’ve made, chicken milanese.

To make the chicken, we pounded out two boneless/skinless chicken breasts until they were about a 1/2 inch thick. Then we coated the chicken in a mixture of flour, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, using an egg wash to help the mixture stick to the chicken. After the chicken had a nice thick coating, we fried it in a dutch oven that was filled with about 3 inches of vegetable oil. The coating puffed up nicely and was really crispy.

We served this quick and easy chicken milanese over the arugula, which we had tossed with some lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. We also added chunks of tomato for some sweetness. We just squeezed a bit of lemon over the chicken, and everything tasted really fresh and bright.

Chicken milanese with arugula and tomatoes

Hands down it was one of the best dinners we’ve made with our CSA share, and it was ready in about 20 minutes. I don’t know anything about the seasonality of certain vegetables, but I keep holding out hope that we’ll get arugula again. This CSA stuff has really spoiled us, hasn’t it?

Tags: Arugula, Chicken
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Foodie Futbol

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I hosted a World Cup party at our apartment to watch the final between Spain and the Netherlands. We had decided long ago to cook foods from the competing nations, not knowing who would be in the championship match. We were rooting for Spain from the beginning so we hoped they would be one of the teams, and luckily they didn’t disappoint, but the other side of the bracket was a complete toss up. When the Netherlands prevailed, we were at a loss as to what to make to represent Dutch cuisine.

Planning the Spanish side of the menu was easy, as Josh and I both love Spanish food and he had done a semester in Barcelona during college. For the Dutch side of the menu, I ended up doing a few google searches, and although we couldn’t exactly pronounce the names of any dishes, we got some good recipes of stuff to make.

While Josh and I both like to entertain, we don’t exactly know how to do it without going overboard. We both love to cook and to share our cooking with other people, so when we have parties, we tend to make a million things. Most of the time we end up missing out on most of the party because we’re in the kitchen still cooking. We didn’t want to miss the soccer game though, since this was the whole point of our party, so we made sure to plan dishes that can be cooked ahead of time and easily reheated.

We had our planning done ahead of time, complete with detailed shopping lists and who would make what, but I think we were a bit overly ambitious and wound up pulling an all nighter – cooking, that is. We did all of our shopping on Saturday morning/afternoon in NJ, got back to the city around 7 pm, and promptly started prepping and cooking. 11 hours later, at 6 am, after the sun had set and risen, we finally went to bed. We got up three hours later and finished cooking, then set everything up for our party, which started at 1:30. It was a hectic and tiring process, but we did get everything done, we didn’t miss the game (hooray for Spain!), and everything turned out better than we hoped.

Since the theme of the party was the World Cup final, we kind of planned our menu to pair Spanish and Dutch dishes head to head. First up was our cheese board, which featured Spanish manchego cheese versus Dutch gouda. We paired the gouda with apple slices, and the manchego with membrillo, which is quince paste. The gouda was declared the winner, though the membrillo turned out to be a surprise hit. Silva and Felipe also brought a different kind of Spanish cheese that was milder than the manchego but still quite tasty.

Gouda/apples vs. Manchego/membrillo

Next was the battle of the breads. On the Dutch side, we made Boerenkaas Puffs, which were cheese puffs made with gouda. The recipe we followed came from here. They were pretty similar to gougeres, very easy to make, and really delicious. On the Spanish side, we made pan con tomate, which is simply tomato bread. All you need to do is take a baguette, slice it in half length-wise, rub a clove of garlic on each side, and sprinkle each side with some salt and olive oil. Then you take some ripe tomatoes, cut them in half, and rub the juicy pulp all over the bread. Easy and really tasty. Both breads were a hit, so I think this may have been a toss up.

Boorenakas puffs (cheese puffs with gouda)

Pan con tomate (tomato bread)

For the potato dishes, we had tortilla espanola on the Spanish side. The tortilla is basically a giant frittata with layers of potato, onion, and egg. To make the tortilla, we gently roasted potatoes and onions in the oven, layered it in deep dutch oven, and covered the layers with lots of scrambled eggs. We baked the tortilla in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until it was cooked through and had set. For the Dutch potato dish, we made Boerenkool Stamppot, which is a hodgepodge with mashed potatoes, onions, kale, and smoked sausage. This was the recipe we followed. The potato/kale mixture turned out to be a surprise hit, helped mostly by the smoked sausage we spread around it.

Tortilla espanola

Boerenkool Stamppot (kale hash with sausage)

For the main courses, this was where we showed our true colors. Since we were rooting for Spain, we made two Spanish entrees and only one Dutch entree. In actuality, we couldn’t decide on which Spanish dish to make so we made both. First was pollo ajillo, or chicken in garlic sauce. To make the chicken, we first brined it in salt water for a few hours. In the meantime, we gently cooked a whole head of minced garlic in olive oil to make a super flavorful garlic oil. Then we seared the chicken (we used bone-in thighs) in that garlic oil and placed them into a dutch oven with minced onions that had been carmelized in garlic oil. We deglazed the pan with white wine, poured that off into the dutch oven, and tossed in the garlic from the garlic oil into the mixture as well. To add even more garlic punch, we added slivers of garlic from an entire additional head of garlic. Then we added the zest of three lemons and enough chicken stock to cover the chicken. We cooked the chicken in the dutch oven, in the oven, at 350 degrees for several hours. Right before serving, we added the juice of the three lemons to brighten up the flavor. By the time we served the chicken, it was super tender and falling off the bone.

Pollo ajillo (chicken in garlic sauce)

Our other spanish entree was albondigas, or meatballs. To make the meatballs, we mixed together ground beef, a puree of onions and garlic, and fresh pieces of diced onion. We used salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika to season the meat. We rolled and shaped the mixture into bite sized meatballs, then seared them off in a large pan. In a large pot, we sauteed some onions in garlic oil and added a big can of crushed tomatoes. When the meatballs were all seared, we added them to the pot of sauce and gently simmered them for a few hours. They were also super tender by the time we served them, and the flavor of the spices really shined through.

Albondigas (meatballs)

Our Dutch entree was Gestoofde runderlappen (try pronouncing THAT!), or braised steak. It was essentially a beef stew cooked entirely in beer. Simple, yet deeply flavorful. The recipe we followed came from here. The beef fell apart with a touch of a fork, and the carrots and onions added a nice heartiness to the dish.

Gestoofde runderlappen (braised steak)

We didn’t forget about dessert! For the Dutch side, we tried to be a bit playful and decided to make herb brownies. The herb? Mint, of course. Josh and I had an argument about the brownies because I just wanted to use ones from a box, but he insisted on making them from scratch. He won out in the end by convincing me that it would be embarrassing to say on the blog that we made brownies from mix. It was kind of a victory for both of us, as he ended up being the one to make them at 5 am while I sulked on the couch nursing my aching knife arm. He used the cocoa brownie recipe from Alton Brown’s Good Eats: The Early Years, which is similar to the recipe posted here. The mint was our own addition (add a handful of fresh leaves to the butter as it’s melting, then strain). The brownies were intensely chocolatey, had a fudgey texture, and just a hint of mint in the background. They were super rich but I thought they were really good, so kudos to Josh.

"Herb" brownies (with mint)

Beauty shot of the rich, chocolately, minty deliciousness

The Spanish dessert was all Josh as well (he’s the real baker in the family). Using another Alton Brown recipe, but substituting real vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, the flan was a risky endeavor but a huge success. He also made his own caramel sauce, courtesy of Mr. Brown as well. The flan had the perfect texture, creamy and smooth, and the caramel sauce was thick and rich.

Flan with caramel sauce

Beauty shot

So the verdict? I think based on the entrees, Spain had the narrow victory. And not because we’re biased or anything. But the Dutch food was surprisingly really good, and I’m eager to try it for real next year when we head to Amsterdam in honor of Josh’s 30th birthday. Aside from the food, the game was really exciting as well. La Furia Roja eeked out the win in extra time, and we’re glad it didn’t end up going to penalty kicks. All in all it was a successful day, and totally worth the lack of sleep we endured. Plus we have oodles of leftovers to feast on for the rest of the week!

Tags: Brownies, Cheese, Chicken, Dutch, Flan, Meatballs, Spanish, Stew
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

Fontana di Trevi

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 by virginia

Josh’s parents had heard good things about a new Italian restaurant in Leonia called Fontana di Trevi so we decided to try it out for dinner one Saturday night. When Josh tried to call to see if there was a wait, he got an answering machine message that said no tables were available until after 8:45 PM. So we waited until after the specified time and tried to call again but it was the same message. We decided to head over to the restaurant and check out the situation in person.

Josh went inside first and he said that they told him it would only be a 10 minute wait, which didn’t seem so bad. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of room to stand in the restaurant so we hovered by the doorway, feeling very conspicuous and bad that we were pretty much right next to the first table in the front. But we figured it would only be a short wait so we just tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. The restaurant is split into two rooms, separated by a short hallway, and the hostess stand is in the smaller room.

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Meanwhile, they never did fix the phone message because while we were standing there waiting, Josh called the number again and he got the same message. The phone by the hostess stand didn’t even ring. How do you operate a restaurant like that? How do people make reservations if they never pick up the phone? But we continued to wait, getting increasingly more agitated. We had been waiting for over half an hour, and no one came by to check on us. The hostess basically ignored our imploring looks and carried on a conversation with a table that had already paid for over 10 minutes. We were seriously annoyed by the time she finally came by and said that they were getting our table ready, and she kind of jerked her head towards the other room.

Another 10 minutes later (by now we had been waiting for almost an hour), they finally did get our table ready – the same one where the hostess had been chatting with the previous patrons. It was not in the other room, as she had indicated, and we were pretty much disgusted with the level of service (or lack thereof) that we had received. An hour wait is certainly unacceptable when you’re told that a wait would only be 10 minutes. The only reason we stayed was because we were starving, and because the restaurant was packed. Surely the food had to be fantastic, right?

They started us off with pieces of focaccia bread that was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It had good texture with a nice olive oil flavor, and things started to look up for the meal.

Focaccia bread

Alice and I both opted to have the Caesar salad for our appetizers. The salad is prepared tableside – always a nice touch. Anchovies, egg yolk, garlic, breadcrumbs, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and a few other ingredients were combined in a bowl to form a thick paste, which was then loosened with olive oil. The dressing was tossed with bite-sized pieces of fresh romaine. The flavor was great but the dressing was a tad too thick and clumped on some of the leaves, leaving some bites overwhelming with dressing while others totally bare. Dressing dispersion issues aside, they do top it with lots of grated cheese, which I liked.

Caesar salad made tableside

Josh had the spinach salad with cremini mushrooms and pancetta. It was tossed with a warm white vinegar dressing, and Josh seemed to enjoy it a lot. He thought the pancetta wasn’t too salty or overwhelming, and it was a light and refreshing salad.

Spinach salad with cremini mushrooms and pancetta

For his main course, Josh had the linguine with clams. The pasta was nicely cooked to al dente and the sauce packed a nice garlicky punch. There were lots of whole clams on top and was definitely the best dish of the evening.

Linguine con vogole

I had to go with the chicken parmesan, of course, which is always my test of a new Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t that good. The chicken itself was fine but the “famous” marinara sauce (as it says on their menu) was overly sour and too acidic. The cheese was melted but runny, not browned and bubbly like I prefer. Instead of a side of pasta, it came with some mushy, buttery vegetables and mashed potatoes. Those reminded me of bad hotel food. Harsh, maybe, but I expected better.

Chicken parmesan

Since we ended up eating later than we expected, especially with the super long wait, we just wanted to get home and decided to forgo dessert. Overall we weren’t all that wowed by the food we had at Fontana di Trevi, and we were less than thrilled with the service. Maybe because they were new was why they had so many issues, but I still don’t understand why they don’t even answer their phone. It doesn’t seem to hurt business though, as the restaurant was packed the entire time we were there. Nevertheless, the food was not so impressive to overcome the problems we had, and I don’t think we’ll be going back. Sad, because we’re still looking for a good Italian restaurant near our home in NJ, and this one was also a BYO.

Fontana di Trevi
248 Fort Lee Rd.
Leonia, NJ

Tags: BYO, Chicken, Italian, NJ, Pasta, Seafood
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Istanbul Cafe

Friday, April 9th, 2010 by virginia

As recommended by Silva, Josh and I decided to try out Istanbul Café the last time we had a craving for Turkish food. Coincidentally, we ran into Felipe and Silva on our way to the restaurant, and Silva offered up particular dishes that she liked (the chopped tomato salad dip, the kofte, and the shepherd’s salad with feta). We ended up ordering way too much food for just the two of us, but we did manage to cover most of the items she recommended.

Before heading to the restaurant, we looked up the menu to see if they sold alcohol. Not seeing anything noted, Josh called to ask and he was told that they do not offer any alcohol. He followed up by asking if that meant we could bring our own, and he got an affirmative response. When we arrived with our bottle of wine in tow, however, we were told that they don’t serve alcohol, and we aren’t allowed to bring alcohol either. I’m guessing this is for religious reasons, but that’s not the response Josh got when he specifically called to ask. Perhaps there was some confusion on the phone, both in the questioning and in the response, as English did not seem to be the first language of the person who answered the phone.

Nevertheless, the no alcohol policy wasn’t really an issue. They were apologetic about the situation and we quickly slipped our bottle of wine under the table, out of sight. I just thought it was weird that out of all the reviews I had read about the restaurant, no one mentioned the policy. We opted for water instead, and set about looking over the menu. As always, there were lots of things that I wanted to try, given that this was our first visit to the restaurant, so we ended up ordering sampler platters for both our appetizer and our main course.

The cold appetizer platter included hummus (mashed chickpea and tahini paste), lebni (thickened yogurt mixed with dill, garlic, walnut, and herbs), chopped tomato salad (hand chopped tomato, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and walnuts mixed with red pepper paste), eggplant salad (smoked eggplant mixed with mashed garlic and roasted red pepper), and a few stuffed grape leaves.

Cold appetizer platter with hummus, lebni, chopped tomato salad, eggplant salad, and stuffed grape leaves

It came with a basket of grilled pita bread to dip with, and I thought all of the spreads were really tasty. The chopped tomato salad was flavorful and tangy, and the eggplant salad had a nice smokiness to it. The yogurt dip was thick but not too sour, and everything had a good amount of garlic in it. My least favorite was the hummus, but only because I think the hummus was a bit boring compared to the other dips. Otherwise it was a very respectable hummus.

Grilled pita bread

We ate most of the pita bread and put a good dent into the appetizer platter, but there was still tons left so we had them wrap it up for us while we went to work on our entrée, the Istanbul combo. The giant platter came with chicken shish kebab, lamb shish kebab, kofte, doner kebab, and lamb chops, all served on top a bed of rice. The rice I think was a bit undercooked, as it had a strange crunchy texture to it. I know there was orzo mixed in with the rice, but that wasn’t what was making it crunchy (I made sure to try a forkful sans orzo). There were also grilled tomatoes and peppers, but the peppers turned out to be jalapeno, and super spicy! I’m not sure why they served the jalapenos, and if it was intended to be a garnish, but they were way too spicy to be edible. Yikes!

Istanbul combo - chicken, lamb, kofte, and doner kebabs, lamb chops, peppers, tomatoes, rice

All the grilled meats, however, were well seasoned and flavorful. I especially liked the kofte, which are meatballs made with ground lamb and beef mixed with Turkish spices. The doner kebab was wonderful as well, which is thin slices of lamb shaved from a spit. The outside of the meat was crusty and crispy, and I ended up making mini gyros for myself by wrapping the meat in some pita bread. Again there was too much food, even though we stuffed ourselves silly, and we ended up taking home about half of the combo.

Overall we both thought the food at Istanbul Café was well spiced and seasoned properly, but preparation-wise it suffered a bit. The lamb and chicken kebabs were tasty but tough and overcooked, and even the kofte was a bit gristly, surprisingly. Service, however, was efficient and attentive, although the restaurant was pretty empty when we were there. They wrapped up our leftovers right away and even threw in some extra pita bread for us, which I thought was a nice touch. The no alcohol policy presents us with a bit of pickle though, as we like to enjoy a nice bottle of wine when we go out for dinner. The resolution to that problem is to have the food delivered and eat it at home. It’s available for order on Seamless Web, and I think that’s what we’ll do the next time we have a craving for good Turkish food.

Before we left the restaurant, they took us on a tour of the outdoor garden area in the back, which is really pretty. It looked like a nice place to hang out and smoke a hookah, if that’s your thing. The restaurant also offers an extensive array of desserts, which we were to full to try but some of the pastries in the glass display cases looked amazing. Turkish teas and coffees are available as well, and it’s a nice place to just sit and relax. The décor inside the restaurant is also interesting, with low tables and chairs and intricate lamps hanging all around. I definitely recommend checking it out sometime.

Istanbul Cafe
325 West 57th St. between 8th and 9th Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Chicken, Lamb, Midtown, Turkish
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Disappointingly Bland Food at Hanci

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 by virginia

We did take up Silva on her recommendation to try the Istanbul Café, but we’ll post about that meal later. What prompted her recommendation was the meal we shared at Hanci Turkish Cuisine that left us wanting more – more seasoning that is. We went there with a group of people after some happy hour drinks at Valhalla. Josh and I suggested it because it was close by, we had enjoyed our first visit, and because it was a BYO, or so we thought.

We stopped off at a liquor store on our way over and picked up a few bottles of wine. The first thing we were told when we showed up at the restaurant with the wine was that they were no longer a BYO, and that if we wanted our wine there would be a $10 corkage fee. No thanks. None of the wines on their short list seemed very appealing, so most of us stuck with soda while Josh tried a Turkish beer. It was very light, nothing to write home about but perfectly drinkable.

Turkish beer

We decided to share a few appetizers to accompany the wonderful Turkish bread that I’ve been raving about. The bread was as good as I remembered – hot, crispy, and flavorful. We devoured baskets and baskets of this bread, and everyone agreed that it was pretty tasty.

Delicious Turkish bread

Our appetizers included the ezme, which is a dip made from chopped tomatoes, peppers, and onions, with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. It’s a little spicy and very flavorful, perfect for slathering all over the wonderful Turkish bread.

Ezme

We also got the piyaz, which was the white bean salad that Josh and I ordered when we got delivery from the restaurant. The salad was fresh and chock full of creamy white beans but like with our delivery, it lacked seasoning. The tangy vinaigrette helped a little, but it definitely needed more salt to perk up the flavors a bit.

Piyaz

Our last appetizer was the cacik, which is a dip made with yogurt and cucumbers seasoned with dill and garlic. Again, this dish lacked flavor and seasoning. It needed a lot more dill and garlic, plus salt. It tasted mostly like plain yogurt, and we ended up saving most of the bowl to use as an accompaniment with on our entrees.

Cacik

Both Silva and Felipe ordered the kofte for their entrees, and they were really disappointed with the lack of spices and seasoning in the ground lamb mix. I had the lamb sis kebab and thought the lamb was perfectly cooked but also lacked seasoning. The meat itself was juicy and tender, but it was bland. We made liberal use of the salt shaker on our table.

Lamb sis kebab

Fortunately, Josh’s entrée was much better. He ordered the iskender kebab with chicken, which was served over bread cubes and a pool of yogurt and tomato sauce. The yogurt and tomato sauce provided a much-needed tang and sweetness to the otherwise bland chicken kebabs. It was an interesting dish with lots of unusual textures coming from the bread cubes that were soaking in the wonderful sauce.

Chicken iskender kebab

Overall I think everyone was a little bit disappointed with the dinner we had at Hanci. When I think Turkish food, I think of perfectly grilled meats with a wonderful array of spices. The food we had just didn’t fit the bill. Everything was cooked perfectly but nothing had been seasoned, rendering everything bland and flavorless. And without the bonus of the BYO, the only thing drawing me back to the restaurant is the bread, though I’m not sure it’s worth making the trip. Which is really too bad, because we had such a great time during our first visit. Even service fell off a notch the second time around, with our waitress slightly surly and indifferent. We’re going to expand our horizons for now and try other Turkish restaurants, even if they aren’t within walking distance from home.

Hanci Turkish Cuisine
854 10th Ave. between 56th and 57th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Chicken, Lamb, Midtown West, Turkish
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »