Restaurants »Korilla BBQ

Various Locations

Jim and his co-wokers lucked out when they discovered the Korilla mobile Korean BBQ truck outside their office one afternoon.

The line moved rapidly and everyone opted for bowls (there are also tacos and burritos on the menu), but I guess when you’re used to eating at least one Chipotle burrito bowl per week, tacos and burritos just don’t do it any more…

Jim got the spicy pork with the bacon fried kimchi rice (his workers unilaterally went for beef), kimchi slaw salsa, cheese, vegetables and the smoky/mayonnaise Korilla sauce.  It must have been pretty good, because he ate all of it (which is surprising, considering it included a healthy dose of vegetables) in about 10 minutes.

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Posted on January 7, 2011

Restaurants »Best of 2010 Restaurant Round Up

Great Food

Wow, as much as I might miss being able to go out to restaurants lately – we really ate well this year! From Spain to Connecticut to Flushing, from my spiciest meal to date to fried fish bones to arms length lobster rolls.. there was so much tastiness in 2010 that I just had to include some honorable mentions on top of the short list.

1. Barcelona

2. Little Pepper

3. Traif

4. Lobster Landing

5. Soba-ya

6. Fatty Cue

Honorable Mentions: Paulie Gee’s and Imperial Palace

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Posted on January 2, 2011

Restaurants »Saltie

378 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg

If I had to describe my palette, I could pretty much just list of the ingredients in Saltie‘s sandwich menu. Beets. pickled eggs, sardines, capers, olives, pickles, oh my yes!!!

Most importantly, though the sandwiches equal more than the sum of their parts. The flavors are balanced and the pillowy bread is a perfect compliment – after all nothing is worse than a good sandwich with a bad bun.

I had to give the Captain’s Daughter a try as a huge fan of sardines but rarely ever finding them on menus. With a green salsa, pickled eggs, parsley and olive oil, it was spectacular. One of those meals that makes you kind of dance around with joy with the first bite.

Jim, whose palette is decidedly different than mine ordered the Scuttlebutt. Packed with beets, feta, olives, capers and more – it was excellent. Even Jim was a huge fan despite the powerful flavors that are usually not to his taste (he used to consider salt too spicy).

Daily specials looked amazing – on the day we were there: an egg bowl featuring roasted turnips and some of the most fluffy and appetizing looking scrambled eggs I have ever laid eyes on. They also have baked goods that I’ve not tried yet.

I had been meaning to go here for months and months and now only regeret I never made it sooner. I can’t wait to eat my way through the whole menu and then start again. There’s lots of hype from foodies about these sandwiches, but they live up to it.

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Posted on December 23, 2010

Restaurants »Brooklyn Mac

77 Norman Ave, Greenpoint

When Jim and I were faced with the new Brooklyn Mac sign, he hoped it stood for mac and cheese as opposed to daddy mac – a store that, I supposed would sell Chess King suits, condoms and bongs maybe?

Well, fortunately for him – he was in luck. Just as the hardly-ever-open catering and take out nook moved out, a tiny mac and cheese shop moved in. Unfortunately, they haven’t quite gotten the comfort food dish down pat, at least to my liking.

Don’t get me wrong, the cheese was good and gooey in the Kings County and the smoked gouda and bacon melded perfectly on the second one we tried (can’t recall the name). However, the dense meal – we could collectively only make a dent in half of each size small in one sitting – is kind of like eating a plate of yummy but health destroying cheese.

The mac to cheese ratio needs to be sorted out a bit to make it less intense and easier to go down. But they are brand new and offer so many menu options, I could probably even customize with more pasta and less cheese next time.

I will definitely not loose anymore baby weight if I make it part of my weekly routine, but it is tempting with it opening so close by and offering one of life’s best cold weather remedies.

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Posted on December 14, 2010

Restaurants »El Cisne Azul

In Madrid

Thanks again to Marcus and Astrid for sharing another Madrid culinary adventure:

“Mondays are tricky to eat out in Spain.  A lot of the good restaurants are closed so it makes your options limited. However, it’s El Cisne Azul‘s best day. The reason?  So the owners can head out to the countryside the day before to harvest the freshest mushrooms in the area. Mushrooms are the specialty here and they have about ten different kinds that they serve about ten different ways.

We were a little overwhelmed when we saw the menu, but looked around at some dishes coming out and pretty much pointed and said ‘that’s what we want’. It turned out to be a great strategy.

We had mushrooms with cheese, mushrooms with foie gras, and mushrooms with a sort of ‘pasta’ that we later found out was imitation baby eel.  It was all delicious.

They have other spanish specialties like fish, ham, and local beef but the next time we’re there we’ll definitely be pointing at new mushroom dishes to try.

One word of advice its a very small space and unlike most Madrid restaurants it was packed with hungry Madrillenos before 9pm and closed at 11.”

Click here for the rest of El Cisne Azul

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Posted on December 6, 2010

Restaurants »Samurai Mama

205 Grand St, Brooklyn

Makoto Suzuki, the man behind Bozu (one of Brooklyn’s most unsung best restaurants) plus the chewy deliciousness of Udon equals Samurai Mama – the perfect new spot for Jim and my first date night since baby. We arrived early before the crowds and snagged one of the few private two tops – the cozy and simple wood and brick space is dominated by a huge communal table. Udon is the name of the game here and offered in many varieties – in hot soup, dipping style, and bukkake (nothing dirty – just sauce slathered) all with different topping options from veggie to pork belly.

I opted for the traditional soup with the pork, Jim the same but as a dipping dish. Both were great, with thick, perfectly cooked noodles and a nice, sweet broth that I spiced up a bit with the red chili spices. The pork was tender and as good as it is in Bozu’s fabulous pork betty platter.

But there’s more to the menu than noodles, and you should come hungry so you can sample a bit of everything. The sushi comes in a taco form (with the nori acting as shell) and both the tuna avocado and eel avocado were outstanding. The gyoza arrived like in a surprising puffed baked appearance and was miles away from the frozen appetizer we all know so well from most Japanese restaurants. The list of sakes was varied and I opted for a smokey Suehiro glass. They had an unpasteurized bottle available (the drink I most missed while pregnant) but am really not at the point yet where I can drink half a bottle of anything.

Already garnering great local reviews and praise on yelp, Samurai Mama is sure to become another neighborhood fixture and a particularly welcome one as the nights get colder and colder and a steaming bowl of Udon beckons.

(Thanks mom and dad for the babysitting).

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Posted on November 17, 2010

Restaurants »Best Pizza

33 Havemeyer, Brooklyn

With a name like Best Pizza, you’ve got a lot to live up to..but more importantly, you are impossible to find online. Do you have any idea how many Best Pizza in Brooklyn blog entries, magazine articles, etc there are? So, most importantly, I am giving you readers the website for the new Williamsburg pizza joint here.

Anyone locally, particularly Greenpoint people will want to have the number handy. Not that there aren’t pizza places that rival it – the gourmet options of Paulie Gee’s and Forninos for example – but Best, which falls someplace in between gourmet and classic thin New York slices, delivers! Yes, even to Greenpoint! And while the pie we got was a touch cold, I am thankful. The crust and cheese on our plain pie was delicious with my only complaint being that there was a bit too much of an oregano taste for me. Next time I’ll add some anchovies.

Recently opened in the old Brooklyn Star space (which I never got a chance to try) and opened by Brooklyn Star and Roberta’s owners, the new place is sure to be a hit with anyone with an urge for a thin crust wood fired alternative to the yummy but greasy Anna Maria’s. Is it truly the “best pizza”? Well,  I am not sure I’d go that far – but I am willing to give it some time.

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Posted on November 14, 2010

Restaurants »Graham Avenue Meats and Deli

445 Graham Ave. Williamsburg, Brooklyn

One of the biggest surprises while pregnant was that I couldn’t have deli meats. It seems like a small sacrifice until you yearn for a simple sandwich. So, when my mom and Jim offered to run out for lunch, I knew exactly what I wanted – not some pansy Subway deal but the pinnacle of extreme deli meat gluttony. It can only be found at Graham Avenue Meats and Delis and it’s called Willies Italian Special.

A massive, multi meat, condiment and vegetable creation the sandwich was made with flair and drama and takes about twenty minutes to complete. Among the many ingredients are sun-dried tomatoes, mortadella, salami, prosciutto, pepperoni, marinated peppers, and provolone. Like a scene out of The Sopranos, the shop, which also boasts excellent meats (particularly sausages) and pastas, was teaming with Joeys and Christophers and testosterone.

While the sandwich itself looked daunting to say the least, as you can see from the photo, it was so delicious that I managed to eat half in one sitting – a feat which initially seemed impossible. It held up well for day two.

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Posted on November 3, 2010

Restaurants »The Golden Bee

Lake Ave, Colorado Springs, CO

My old home in Colorado stands in the foothills above The Broadmoor, a hotel originally built in the late 1800’s that was the backdrop for lots of childhood memories (from feeding ducks on the pond to making out with a boyfriend named Jeff under on of its huge bushes).

There are several restaurants housed in the hotel, which we frequented as kids (beginning a love for fancy foods) but since those days, the hotel’s become less welcome to the surrounding community save for the exquisitely handsome British pub, The Golden Bee that hosts sing a long ragtime at night and classic food lunch and dinner.

The restaurant, where any vest and monocle wearing gentlemen would feel comfortable came to Colorado in the sixties – a complete 19th century pub reassembled from England. It’s really lovely to look at and the food is great to boot. They serve a jar of cheese butter spread that haunts dreams and offer great takes on traditional dishes like fish and chips and ploughman’s lunch.

A visit isn’t complete without a golden bee sticker (which that waiter tosses at your shirt) and at least a half yard of beer. Jim and I had a great time there during a visit last year.

Click here for the rest of The Golden Bee

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Posted on October 20, 2010

Restaurants »Ocean Jewels Seafood

13330 39th Ave. Flushing

While the name of our latest dim sum destination is confusing – is it Ocean Jewel Seafood, as written about everywhere online? Or Asian Jewels as the punch card menu would suggest? Well, either way, you’ll have no trouble finding it as the building is a humungeous banquet hall type with its own valet parking lot (actually incredibly helpful in the hard to park neighborhood) situauted next to the large KO Karaoke Club and across from the Flushing Mall.

We went with dim sum lovers who were new to the more traditional point at cart ordering system which always adds a bit of drama to dining. Even if you can get an answer to “what is that” it can be misleading (vegetarian dumplings hide lots of meat – so not the best place for the picky or the vegetarian). We only struck out on one dish – a sausage in a bun that looked like an uncooked, puffy pig in a blanket but according to Mike and Jim was “interesting… like a fat Slim Jim”. I decided to pass.

The best things we tried were the fluffy pork buns and the “super” dish of black bean clams whose sauce was to die for. I also went a little crazy on the chive dumplings, a favorite of mine and my first thought of the day when I woke up (must have chive dumpling!) so I went ahead and have about four. Steamed shrimp dumplings are always great and we tried a new dessert that looked like a lobster tail made of fried dough. It was flaking and sticky and quite good on the cart woman’s recommendation (I’ve learned from past experiences to try something if the lady is enthusiastic enough about it). We finished the incredibly cheap feast (less than 20 per person for lots and lots of food) with some soft sesame seed balls.

While on a few staples, I think I prefer the other two dim sum places we’ve been (particularly the shumai and dumplings) the pork buns and bean clams more than make Ocean Jewel (or is it Asian Jewels?) a worthwhile dim sum excurtion. Just be prepared for a long wait with restless eaters if you come past 11 am.

Pork Buns

Clams in Black Bean Sauce

Click here for the rest of Ocean Jewels Seafood

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Posted on October 11, 2010