Fun at a German Beer Haus

I'm not going to deny it.  This might get long and wordy but I hope it will entertain and make you laugh.  The photos are crappy but the story should be worth the read

I'm here in Munich to show a machine to a customer and they are all gone and I'm alone for the night as my flight is tomorrow.  I'm staying near the airport and even though the city of Munich is only 35 min away, I'm exhausted and want to stay close to the hotel for dinner.  I had been to the hotel restaurant for three meals already and I don't want to be here with its very limited but German influenced menu.  So I go to my goto website trip advisor.com.  Most of the time is works great for me and did tonight.

About 15 minutes away from here is a small town called Freising.  I found on the website a good many reviews for a Beer hall called Weissbrau Huber.  So I programmed the GPS and made my way.   All along the woman in the car who had led me to everywhere I went had been saying that there is an obstruction in the route.  On the final turn supposedly only 1/2 a Kilometer away she still reminded me.   As I got onto the last road where the place was, the road had changed from asphalt to decorative stone bricks laid in patterns all over.  It occurred to me that there were also lots of people walking and riding bikes on this road and not another car in site.   No one looked at me funny but an eerie suspicion of my driving on pedestrian road had poured over me.  This is fabulous, I'm going to spend my final night talking my way out of a ticket for driving on a pedestrian street. Don't' panic, get off the road quickly.   But as I passed my dinner restaurant I only saying get out, GET OUT NOW!!!!

I made my way off the road and circled till I found a place to park.  Walked to the restaurant and noticed out front were tables lined up with many chairs that I picture begin packed with patrons in the warmer weather.  Beer flowing and people laughing and talking is the common site I'm sure.

Upon walking into the restaurant I see many people sitting at communal tables of all sizes.  Stark wood table tops and lots of beer on them.  I go up to the counter and say to the person looking at me "Spreken Ze English?"  "Of Course" he responds.  I am walked over to a large table that looks like it will fit about 8 to 10 people and two gentlemen are sitting there.  I sit and the end and we exchange nods.  I'm handed a menu that is made for foreigners that consists of about 4 different languages.  The specials are laid out in front of me and are only in German.  The server talks me though them and mentions a veal dish, a venison dish and a few other things.  He says them quickly so I can't really remember them all.  I look at the menu and I want to try so many things but don't want to be a pig or look like one.

So I order my favorite when I'm here first.  Pils.  or Pilsner.  Personaly I prefer a lighter type of beer and Pils are my drinks of choice.  The beer is from a brewery called Graf Ignaz.  When you are served beer here, you get the beer in a glass with the specific brewery on it as well as a small paper doily with the name on it to catch the beer drips that come down the side of the glass.  It was delicious and light with a creamy head on top.  Yes the photo doesn't show the head because I couldn't resist diving into it.

I had decided to start with two sausages that are popular in the Bavarian area with a pretzel.  The Sausages were delivered to me in a soup terrine filled with hot water.  The pretzel was in a basket with small packages of mustard.   These sausages are white and to tell you the truth, I have no idea what is in them.  I'm assuming pork and spices.  I was told the casings are not to be eaten so I peeled them and dove in.   Meaty and hearty I could have eaten 1/2 a dozen easily.  The pretzel had these great mustards with them.  Gritty and grainy with a hint of sweetness.  Sorry for the crappy photo.  again, I was a strange man in a strange land and didn't want to cause anymore attention to myself then my clumsiness usually does.

I ordered what I thought was the Veal.   When I asked another server to repeat what the specials were he mentioned Veal when it really was Venison.  When it came to me I was told venison and said no worries and in reality it was the best mistake I have made.

The Venison was served in a brown stroganoff type sauce with a side of purple braised cabbage and these two balls on the plate.  What were these balls?  They didn't look like meat balls.   They didn't look like vegetables.  They looked like Matzo balls but drier.  There was also this white cream with red speckles on the plate as well.  I tried that first and tasted strawberries and cream and wondered what it was doing on my plate.  I'm not a strawberry fan so I didn't go back to it.  The Venison was tender tasty and had a texture of brisket.  It was amazing and hearty.   This meal belongs in the heart of a cold winter day.  The cabbage was soft but not mushy with a nice peppery bite.  What were those balls?  It was time.  I cut into them and it was again like a Matzo ball.  When I bit into it, I recognized the flavor but couldn't put my finger on it right away and then it hit me.  Have you ever had Stuffed Derma?  Stuffed Derma is a dish my mother and grandmother used to make but it was also served in many restaurants where you would have a large Jewish population dining there for traditional dishes.  Stuffed Derma is in all practicality a bread sausage.  The skin of a chicken is stuffed with matzo meal or breading, some sort of fat or chicken stock and spices and cooked.   Then it is sliced and commonly served with a gravy.   This tasted just like that but without the skin.  It was stuffed derma balls.  I wanted more.  We don't eat this dish that often because well it's not really the healthiest but when you get it, you make all gone.

What a meal.  it was such a great scene and would love to be there with a group to just hang out and shoot the shit and have some great food and beer.   I paid my bill and walked out on to the beautiful stone street.  it was quiet and quaint.  

But I had to go to the side to get out of the way of the bus.  Ok, I'm a little neurotic.

The Boiling Crab..........Another Spicy Crustation Adventure

I remember first hearing about The Boiling Crab when i was looking up information about Hot and Juicy Crawfish in Las Vegas.  Many people wrote a review on Yelp.com saying it was very good but not as good as The Boiling Crab.  So naturally I looked it up and discovered it was located in LA at 4 different locations.  As luck would have it, I was not far from one Last night.  The problem was I had to resist going for Korean Food instead.   But I stayed strong, that is after I walked in and out of a specialty Korean restaurant.

Ok, so I'll first say the reasons why you shouldn't go to The Boiling Crab.

Don't go to the Boiling Crab IF:

1) You don't like Shellfish
2) You don't like Garlic
3) You don't like to get messy
4) You don't like using your hands
5) You are on a first date (unless he or she really loves garlic so much that they don't care how it will make them reek.  if that is the case, never let them go.  that person is a keeper)

Now the reasons that you should go.

The menu is made up mostly of market priced shellfish.  Clams, 4 different types of Crab, Shrimp, Oysters and Crawfish.  Your first task is to choose which shellfish you want.  Then you choose the sauce.  There are 4 sauces to choose from.  Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter or The Whole She-Bang which is a combination of all three.  then you choose non-spicy, mild, medium or XXX spice level.    They also have baskets of fried versions of the shellfish as well as corn on the cob and french fries.  They also serve Gumbo which many of you know, I'm a sucker for.

So I decided the table next to me had a great idea with 1/2 a dozen oysters raw on the 1/2 shell.
They tasted as good as they looked.

As it was at the place in Las Vegas, the food comes in bags but delivered in tin buckets.  I ordered 2 lbs. of Crawfish and 1 lbs of clams.  The clams came in the butter garlic sauce medium temp and the crawfish came in the Whole She-bang sauce Medium also.  

The clams were great.  so great, I ordered another pound after.  Now before you all start calling me a pig after you have done the math and said I ate 4 lbs of shellfish, remember that the shells make up over 3/4 the weight in the shellfish.  The clams all sat in the silky buttery sauce and they all just popped right out of their shells.  I could have drank the liquid it was sitting in.

The crawfish came at the same time as the clams so after quickly eating the clams, I moved onto the Crawfish.   They were very tasty but I have to admit, they were a bit dry and the meat was difficult to pull out.  Normally when you eat crawfish, you rip the tail from the head and suck out the juice in the head. Yes, you're sucking out the guts.   But when they are filled with juice, it's really tasty.  These were all really dry.  either they sat to long in the cooker (which is what I think it did) or they didn't use enough sauce.  The tails required work to get them out of the shell.  When cooked properly, you squeeze the tip of the tail, and the meat pops out.  These required ripping the shells apart to get a small nibble of meat.  After doing that for 30 min, it does get a little old.  it was spicy which is what I like, but not juicy.  one of the best parts was that there was a 1/2 piece of corn that sat in the liquid in the bottom soaking up all that juice.  If I didn't have to see customers, or other people in general the next day, I would have taken a spoon to the garlic that was floating around in the sauce. They probably had 5 heads of chopped garlic in this bag.   Not 5 cloves, but 5 heads of garlic.  I probably ate a head of garlic myself, so I'm sure I had some stink floating around me when I left.  But it was good stink.  

After getting the additional pound of clams, I had to try the gumbo. I love Gumbo and have a hard time not ordering it when I see it being served.  I have to admit, I still like mine best.  Many of you have tried mine and have mentioned how good it is.  This place had a good batch.  It was crab, sausage and Okra Gumbo.  We don't get a lot of Okra by us, so it was a real treat to have this much. Plus I really love the stuff.  

All in all, the boiling crab is a fun place to eat.  Every table was filled with people and I left at 9:00 and there was still a line out the door.  I think the bigger the crowd you go with, the better.  

The Boiling Crab has 4 locations in LA and you can see where they are as well as the menu online at  www.theboilingcrab.com/index.php

The Bazaar by Jose Andres in LA.........It's a restaurant, it's a store, it's a show!!!

I had a great opportunity last night.  I got to spend an evening with a very good friend of mine over a fabulous meal.  My friend Roger lives here in LA and fills me in on all the off beat hot spots in area here.  He is a big fan of the craze in the Food Truck industry in the area and fills me in on all his adventures.  Business has taken me to LA so I asked Roger to join me for a meal at a place I have been wanting to go for a long time.

Jose Andres hails from Spain and is mostly based in Washington DC.  In 2008 he opened The Bazaar at the SLS Hotel in LA and has been going strong since the doors opened.  When we arrived, we accidentally walked into the SLS hotel area and it is bustling with a high end well to do scene.  Beautiful people emerging from beautiful cars lined the sidewalks going into the Hotel and Restaurant.  You could set up a chair on the side and spend hours watching the people.

We got into the restaurant with about 10 minutes till our reservation.  With time to kill we walked around to check out the scene.  To the right were glass cases filled with anything from Stuffed Bears to Baccarat Glass.  Everything in this area is for sale.  The coolest thing about this area is while your looking around shopping or window Shopping as it was for us, there are tables for two or four people set up all over.  So you could be looking at a set of dishes for sale and a couple is next to the display having dessert.  They are both part of the scene and watching the scene.

We checked in and were advised our table was not ready yet and we should wait in the bar.  I didn't need an excuse to get a drink and people watch, so we went to the back of the bar.  The bar mise-on-place had some fun things at the bartender's disposal to make the most intricate libation.  The item that caught my eye were the Jalapeño and Serrano peppers.  I mentioned to the bartender that I love peppers and Vodka.   She proceeded to make me a drink that I hope to enjoy back home.  She muddled sliced Jalapeños and sliced cucumbers in glass.  After they were good and macerated, she added Vodka, lime juice and simple syrup.  put it all in another glass with ice and shook it all up.   Strained it in a glass of ice and topped it off with a splash of club soda.  Really Great drink.

We were seated towards the back of the restaurant so we got to pass lots of tables and saw lots of great food.  The decor is really cool and every table and chair is different.  It's set up like your seated in a living room of a house.  Our chairs were so comfortable.  If they didn't have the pillow behind you, you would be forced to sit back and sink into them.   Our server explained to us that the restaurant is all Tapas style so we were encouraged to share.  Not an issue with me at all.  She explained that some of the dishes were priced per piece and those we were not to share so if you wanted one each, you had to order two. Two of our dishes were per piece and she was right.

What I loved most about the experience is that it was a non rushed one.  We ordered our dishes a few at a time.  I love that.  It doesn't make you committed at the beginning of the meal and it gives you the opportunity to see what others are ordering around you.

We started with the Olives, both modern and traditional, Jicama wrapped Guacamole and Cotton Candy Foie Gras.

The Olives were a very popular dish in the restaurant as well as at our table.  They come two ways.  The traditional olives are split, pitted and stuffed with anchovies and topped with Basil.  Olives in general are full of flavor to begin with, but the addition of the Anchovies added a twist to this normally salty bite.   It was served in small fish tin as well and held together with and easy to grab toothpick.

So as you can guess, this was the traditional version of the dish. The modern version is really wild.  They take the olive, pit it and liquefy it.  Then the way they described it to us, the drop tablespoon of the liquid into a calcium bath that makes a gelatin like coating around the briny liquid.  So when it is served to you, you see a very elegant looking green sphere that looks very much like an olive.  Served on small spoons these morsels are meant to be eaten with the spoon.  Picture a water balloon but the balloon is made of a softer geletin like substance that would resemble a soft capsule you'd find in a vitamin E pill.  But it's much more pliable.  when it bursts in your mouth, it's as if a small water balloon as exploded and the liquid olive spreads all over your mouth allowing all your tongue senses to be bathed in olive flavor.  The gelatin dissolves as soon as it bursts.  Exciting in both experience and flavor.

Our next starter was the Jicama wrapped Guacamole.  When the dish comes, the plate looks so good you don't want eat it.  5 elegantly wrapped presents sit on a plate.  The Jicama is thinly sliced and topped with creamy guacamole mixed with ginger, cucumber, mint and corn chips.  Yes, corn chips.  The first surprise was when you look at it, you think the Jicama is going to be crisp but it's actually very soft.  The texture is both soft and crunchy as the corn chips adds a great crunchy contrast to the smooth guacamole.

 The third starter we got was really a popular item.  You saw these being served all over the restaurant.  Now normally Roger is a very conservative eater and he had a lot of faith and trust in me that I wouldn't steer him wrong.  I don't think you can get more obscure here than this dish.  Vanilla cotton candy surrounded a skewer of corn nut crusted foie gras.  The contrast of sweet and salty with the texture of soft and crunchy makes this part of the meal a course on it's own.

Next came the cheese plate.  We ordered three but accidentally got two of the same and she brought us the third that we were looking for.  The cheese that we got two servings of was the Manchego.  I know.  Shame we got two of those.  The Sheep's milk cheese was firm and buttery.  Idiazabal is also a sheep's milk cheese and is very similar to the Manchego with a smoky flavor.  The last one that was left out, and also left out of photos was the Valdeon.  It is a mix of Cow and Goat milk cheese that is a very strong Blue Cheese.

The best part about the Cheese plate which as you can see is served with nuts and quince paste, is that it is also served with Tomato bread.  I took a class on Spanish cooking last year at the Culinary Institute of America.  The instructor talked a lot about this tomato bread.  Its amazing that something so simple could taste so good.  It's literally toasted crusty bread with fresh tomato spread on it.  I'm told that this bread is very commonly served at breakfast but is also eaten at many different times in the day with other dishes.  As is the case with us for the Cheese plate.  The tomato is skinned and macerated but not to a puree.  It is then spread onto the toasted bread.  Again, something so simple.   I was eating this alone without the cheese and could eat an entire baguette this way.

The dishes just keep on coming.  This is why I really enjoy Tapas.  Lots of little bites to try and share and many are so different from the next.  Our next dish was called Japanese Taco.  cooked eel sat upon thinly sliced cucumber that acted like the taco shell.   It had wasabi to add more Japanese flavor but ground up Chicharron on top to add crunch and a salty flavor.  For those of you who don't know what Chicharron is, it's pork rinds.

Three vegetable dishes came next.  Carrot Fritters laid in a pistachio sauce came first.  The carrot fritters has a sweetness to it that came from apricots that were mixed in with the batter.  Keeping with another Japanese theme, Asparagus tempura was an other vegetable dish.  Instead of salt or ponzu that comes with traditional tempura, Romesco sauce was served.  This tomato based sauced was slightly peppery and went really great with the asparagus.

The third and final vegetable was one that took a bit of pushing on my part to get Roger to accept.  Beets have been a favorite of mine for the past few years and I always get a dish with them when I see it on the menu.  Roger has only been introduced to beets of the canned variety.  While there are some canned versions that are good, fresh is always best.  These small tri color beets were served with grapefruit selections, pistachios and goat cheese.  While Roger was skeptical when the dish arrived, he enjoyed the dish as much as I did.  Again, sweet and salty come into play here with a little sour from the grapefruit.

Our final dish is a specialty of the house.  Jose Andres' "Philly Cheesesteak".  Air bread is served with Cheddar cheese and thinly sliced Wagyu beef is topped above the bread.  When we first looked, it was like nothing we have seen before.  Where was the cheese?  As you bit into it, the football shaped bread is hollow and layered on the bottom is melted sharp cheddar cheese.  This dish was a bit messy as the cheese is hot and melted inside.  But so delicious.  There was some miscommunication as after we paid the bill, another two of these came out.  when the server brought them to us, we said we didn't order more and have just paid.  He said, do you want them anyway?  Who are we to turn down another order of these unique dishes.

This restaurant is not for dinner.  It is for an evening. We got there at 7:30 and left at 11:00.  If we both, mainly me, weren't so tired, we would have stayed for 2-3 more hours.  We left very satisfied.  Most people would have tried the desserts and we had thought about finding one of Rogers dessert trucks but it was just too late.

If you would like to follow Roger on Twitter to hear about all things happening in LA with food trucks and anything else that is on his mind, follow him here: http://twitter.com/#!/roger_meyers  I think that is the link.

If you have the chance to go to any of Jose Andres' restaurants, I highly suggest it. I would love to try more of them in Washington DC.

The Bazaar is located on 465 La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310-246-5555 and online at http://www.thebazaar.com/

Layla's Falafel.............A touch of Lebanon in Fairfield County

For years now we have been going to Layla's for some great middle eastern cuisine and they continue to keep the great food coming.

The Layla's that I go to is located in a small strip mall on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield.  The place is very small with only enough seating for about 15.  You don't go there for the ambiance.  You go there for the Shwarma.

Layla's has all the great middle eastern treats.  Falafel, Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh and of course, Shwarma.  For those of you who don't know Shwarma, basically either marinated Chicken or Lamb is set on a long skewer and place vertically infront of two heating elements that char the outside of the meat as it is rotating.  Using a long knife, you cut down the charred meat and it is added to a piece of flat bread.  There, lettuce, pickles and a garlic spread that my sister says you can eat like soup is all rolled up into rolled up sandwich.

I do have to admit that I got their Hummus and it really wasn't that great.  Many of their items have a great amount of garlic.  The Hummus lacked the rich flavor that I love in a good Hummus.  It needed more garlic, salt and maybe some more olive oil.  But please don't let this stop you from going there for the many other items.

If you need your middle eastern fix, this is the place.  And there is not just this place. They have 2 locations in Stamford as well as Fairfield.

Layla's can be found online here: http://www.laylasfalafel.com/

Just for the PHO of it........PHO Saigon in Bridgeport

I work in Bridgeport.   My regular day job takes me to the east side of the city where a long time ago, I would read the Monday paper about all the stabbings and robberies and homicides that took place over the weekend.  So of course I would never venture out of my way from the highway and back.  Since then, the city has gotten safer and I have realized that the city really isn't all that bad.  Its actually quite a melting pot of ethnic variety that has much to explore.

About a year ago a friend of mine was visiting from Phoenix and he asked me if I have been to Pho Saigon.  I told him I never heard of it and he said if I like the Vietnamese soup Pho, then I will love this.  Pho is basically a Vietnamese noodle soup.  Served in a big steaming bowl, you will find noodles, and some sort of protein.  The Most popular is a beef variety.

I found the address and made my way to Iranistan rd in Bridgeport.  On the corner of Iranistan and Wood Rd is a house with small restaurant on the main floor.  It's a simple place really that is basically one room with a kitchen off in the back.  There are maybe 20 tables inside each with a stack of chopstick and Siracha chili sauce.

I have enjoyed Pho before but don't know all the ins and out of it.  So I just ordered the first one on the list which was the beef Pho.  Unfortunately I had to take it to go so I walked out with a square Styrofoam container and a quart size container of broth.

When I got back to my office I poured the broth into a big bowl and opened the Styrofoam. Inside was a large amount of rice noodles, bean sprouts and thinly sliced raw beef.  In addition to that was scallions, licorice  basil and another thin leaf.  I threw it all into the broth to let it cook.  I also got a side container of Siracha and chili paste and added a generous amount.

After only a few minutes, the beef had been cooked and the noodles were all warm and soft.  The broth was very aromatic with hints of 5 spice and garlic.  But the flavors went much deeper with the layers of chili paste and basil.

It's a huge amount of food and I said I can have this for lunch and dinner but my inner pig took over and I ate the whole thing.

I can't wait to go there again and eat there.  While we were waiting there was one woman in the restaurant who was eating a dish that was very colorful with many different colorful vegetables. Looked awesome.

PHO Saigon is located at 1275 Iranistan rd in Bridgeport CT.  I highly recommend it.

LeFarm in Westport CT.......I'm finding new favorites and enjoying older ones

I know many of you know I write more about leFarm than I do any other restaurant.  Yes, I'm friends with Bill and Rachel who own the restaurant.  I like to support my friends. But it's such good food!!!!  It's Creative, Fresh, and rather satisfying.  And I'm not alone with my thoughts.  The night I was there was a Tuesday night.  leFarm is closed Sunday and Monday.  Tuesday was jammin!!!!!!

So this Tuesday was the one night that we were able to put together with two other couples.  One were friends of ours who had moved to London last year for what we are hoping is only three years.   The others were the owner's of Marly's in Wilton (which is another great local place).  This one Tuesday night in July, yes I'm running behind in my writing, was the only night that we were able to get together.

The first thing I noticed when I came into the restaurant is that the bar in the back that separates the dining room from the kitchen is covered in Tomatoes.  I mean covered.  All sizes and colors.  Cherry, grape, beefsteak, cherokee you name it, it was there.  It was a fireworks display of color.   yellows, reds, purples, oranges and everything in between.

When we sat down and looked at the menu, I noticed that the appetizer section was a lot larger than what it used to be.  Since the 6 of us all really love to eat, we decided to share 5 different appetizers.

Here is what we got:

The first one was a new dish to Anita and I.  Battered Fish Bait.  We had to ask because we had no idea what it was.  I still don't remember what the name of the fish was, but it was a small thin fish that was battered and cooked whole.  it was so small that you literally ate the whole thing.  Bones and all.  The fish was light and mild and the batter had a lot of the crunchy flavor you like in a fried fish.  It was served pickles and nice roasted peppers.

Artisan Burrata was placed in front of us next.  A large generous portion of creamy firm cheese was served with a pesto and fresh cherry tomatoes and a slice of the olive bread.  we had to ask for more bread to accompany the dish.

The Kale and Beet salad is a dish we can't get away from.  I have become a huge fan of beets and it still remains to be one vegetable that I have never made.   I have heard that they can be boiled or more popularly roasted.  But for some reason I have steered clear of them.  I don't know why.  Besides the Portobella mushroom, the beet has to be the "meatiest" of the vegetables around.  But they are crisp and fresh tasting and oh so earthy.  I really have to get some of these in my kitchen.

As it was tomato season, the plate of tomatoes with onions and Pearl Cous-cous was a nice addition to our selection.  All I can say is that there is nothing better in the summer than fresh picked tomatoes.

The last appetizer is one that has become my personal favorite at the restaurant.  When we first tried the Octopus, we were told it was a special and Frank our server brought us out a dish to try.  Since then, I have always ordered it.  I know I have written about it before, but h the way Bill cooks it, make it so soft and uncommon than most other chewy octopus dishes I have had.  But the key to the dish is the Harissa dressing he makes.  Bill posted a picture recently on facebook showing a kitchen accident while making the dressing.  it was everywhere.  I told him I would have volunteered to clean it up.  I just needed some loaves and bread and it would be gone very quickly.

 
Our main dishes as usual didn't disappoint us.  We had some similar orders but had some nice new dishes to try.

The Bronzoni was a piece of fish that we had gotten in the past.  Bill serves this fish with an assortment of fresh summer beans and his tomato marmalade.  If you can look back on Martha Stewart shows, you'll find he makes this on one of the shows he was on.  Really bright flavors here.

Sweet breads were also ordered and they were as good as the last time I had tried them there.  Made with fresh peas, carrots and onions, the dish sits in a light mushroom broth and dotted with bacon.  Oh, I so love bacon.

We had two pasta dishes a the table.  Both of them were 1/2 orders and it was a good thing because the desserts were plentiful.  The first pasta dish was the Cavatelli.  It was served with squash and a bean pesto, then topped with thinly sliced Prosciutto.

The last dish was the one that Mike and myself had gotten.  It was a good think he ordered first and asked for the 1/2 order.  otherwise I would have made a real pig of myself.  The Buccatini Carbonara was served with onion, peas, bacon (oh joy), and topped with fresh shaved Parmesan.  Fabulous dish.

The table was a group of Dessert fanatics.  Not that many people are not but this group really loves their sweets.  We got two orders of the fresh raspberries with melted chocolate on them.  I'm not a huge fan of chocolate on fruit but this just looked so beautiful.

I can't resist Bills Corn Bread and candied Bacon.  (OK, I can see I have a problem here)

Last and newest dessert was one that had to be preordered because it takes 15 minutes to make.  Fresh fruit compote was on the bottom of a ramekin and topped with a pastry that can only be described as a cake of pancake.  I know they described it differently when I was there a month ago and I have to admit, I just don't remember.  But this dish was served with Basil ice cream.   The combination was terrific and the cake in the first ramekin was soft and moist.  It's worth the wait.

Another great meal and another great entry for me in the blog.  This place is always easy to write about.  Please go and say hello to Bill.  Tell him I sent you.

leFarm can be found in Westport and on the web at www.lefarmwestport.com

Omanel in Bridgeport........Brazilian cuisine lives large in Bridgeport

In both Bridgeport and New Haven, lies home to many Brazilian families. And where you have a large gathering of a specific ethnicity, you will have local eateries that cater to those people to give them the comforts of home.  In Bridgeport, Omanel's is such a place.  This Brazilian restaurant has been around for many years and while I had been there when I first moved in 1992, I haven't returned since.

We had gone there for lunch from work one day because we just needed a day out for lunch. The four of us are all eaters so we were excited for something different.  Omanel's has a menu that is strong is seafood dishes and they had a nice lunch menu.  We looked around and saw many dishes served in large Pewter crock pots.  When I glanced at the lunch menu, there were 4 dishes of Bakala (salted cod fish) and a few other heavy rice dishes.

We decided to get some appetizers to share first.  We got one order of Chorizo Sausage and two orders of Garlic Shrimp.  The Chorizo came out to us in a dish that had the sausage on fire.  Not like your Saganaki cheese you hear "OPA" yelled at when it is burst into flames, but literally on fire.  It created a crispy outside to go with the smoky inside.

We decided to get two orders of the shrimp because we knew it would be extra garlicy and there would be a good amount of mopping to be done on the dish.   Make sure you ask for extra bread for this dish.  you'll send it back with just the shells and the lemon ring.

Our main dishes came out and I couldn't believe the portion sizes.  these Pewter pots were massive. Salted Cod was swimming in the pot of rice.  The cod was on the bone which add some deep rich flavor to the broth that the rice had absorbed.  But make sure you're prepared for bones because there is some work involved.  also because of the heavy salt, I was able to only eat a little bit of it.  I have found since I've cut back on salt, I've become sensitive to it.  The portion was so big, that I was easily able to bring home 1/2 of it.

Omanel's can be found in Bridgeport at 1909 Main Street.  Their phone number is 203-335-1676.

Alliger's House of Wings.........25 different flavors of wings. what could be better?

Some of the best comforting meals have been in dives.  You know its true.  Sitting at the bar in a Honky Tonk town eating a juicy burger that was served with melted cheese, bacon and onions that was all cooked on the same griddle.  Not there for the ambiance but usually the company and the brew.  But there are times that the food shines better than the rest.

For years I have been traveling to Sayre Pennsylvania which is where Anita grew up.  For almost 20 years since I made that first trip there, we make a right turn past a small bar by the name of Alliger's House of Wings.  Every time we pass it I make the comment, we have to go there one day.  Anita says she had never been there and she enjoys wings.   There was one time that I had purchased their sauce that I had seen in the local market there.  I don't remember the flavors but I remember they were good.

Well the time had finally come that my job of a salesman had crossed over and allowed me to sell the idea of having lunch there this past weekend.  And it was worth the wait.  I couldn't decided which wings I wanted to try.  They sold them by the dozen or the 1/2 dozen.  From Fruity sauce to Nuclear.  sauce 1 was Hawaiian with sweet with pineapple and 25 was Nuclear.  As I rarely utter the words "that's too spicy for me" and I usually stay near the top of the Scoville scale when it comes to heat.  For those of you who don't know what the "Scoville" scale is, the Scoville scale is an index of the level of capsaisan that is found in each pepper.   Capsaicin is a chemical compound that stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units  indicates the amount of capsaicin present.  (The previous italicized comment is from Wikipedia)   For example, a bell pepper has 0 on the scale, a jalapeño is rated between 2,500 and 8,000, a cayenne pepper is rated at between 30,000 and 50,000 and closer to the top is the Habanero which is rated between 100,000 and 350,000.   


So we went to the bar and ordered our food.  I got the kids their dishes.  They both like wings but there were other kids there so their attention was taken away from the food and was preoccupied by playing around.  


So for Anita I got her the hot and spicy garlic.  It had a really nice heavy garlic flavor.  At times that could be taken as spicy but it was really rich in flavor.  


I ordered 1 1/2 dozen.  I wanted to try two different ones.  The 1/2 dozen was the Singapore flavor. It was an asian flavor but not like a teriyaki.  it was less sweet than that and did have some heat as it was probably number 19 on the list.  The dozen that I got was the Kamikaze flavor.  It was 23 on the list.   So I was expecting heat.  the flavor was nice but the heat was not as high as I thought it would be.  Yes I got the burn on the lips after you eat 6 of them.  The heat came at the end and lingered which was nice.  But I didn't get the sweat.  I love the sweat you get from a real dose of spice.  

All in all it's a great place to go for some wings and a beer.  I know Sayre PA, isn't the place that many would find themselves but if you find yourself on route 17 in New York and see Sayre, consider stopping by there for lunch. 


Alligers can be found at 201 Spring St., Sayre PA 18440.  phone 517-888-9805.

Marly's of Wilton......Another Great Meal and a movie.

Had a great meal last night at Marly's in Wilton CT last night.

One thing that I want to make sure that people know is about Sunday nights.  At Marly's, Every Sunday Night is movie night.  They have a small room off the main dining room where they put in a projection TV and at 6:00 they show a movie for kids older than 4.  They have tables in there where kids can order a meal off the kids menu then move to the "Theater" where they have comfy chairs and get to eat popcorn and watch a movie.  All this is happening while you are in the main dining room eating a great meal.

Speaking of which, we had a great meal in that dining room.  We were with another couple who we started off by sharing appetizers with.  We had started with Chicken Spring Rolls with a tangy sauce that I think was Mango.  I should looked again right?  Next was their Chicken Wings.  They were very tasty and meaty.  I prefer my wings to be more saucy but the flavor was on.  Last was a Tuna Tartar that was done really well.  it was served in a round shape that sat on top of mashed Avocado. The Avocado was chunky so it kept with size consistency of the Tuna.  it was served with sliced cucumbers or potato chips.  It was a real refreshing appetizer.

Next were the Main Dishes.  The other couple had gotten a Cobb Salad which was big enough for two people.  Their daughter came out in time to take on of the hard boiled eggs that were on the salad and there was still a whole other egg there for the salad.

  They also got the codfish which I was going to get.  The fish was seared beautifully and served on top of a be of garlic risotto.  I'm a big fan of garlic so this was not a show stopper for me, but for someone who isn't a garlic fan or on a first date might want to stay away. but it was really tasty.

Anita got the Scallop Spinach salad that had a lot of plump and juicy Scallops.  Soft bacon flavored the balsamic dressing nicely covering the generous portion.

I had the Stick to your ribs Rigatoni Bolognese.  Sauce was meaty and creamy with out a heavy cream feel.  But it was stick to your ribs.  Again a very generous portion had to be taken home.  I especially enjoyed the dollop of ricotta cheese on top that I could scoop up a little with each bite.

For dessert we shared what they call the peppermint patty.  A warm cakey brownie served with peppermint ice cream and whip cream on top.  I'm not a major dessert fan but this was really tasty.

Again I want to point out that Sunday nights are movie nights and are really a great opportunity for you to come out with your kids but have a date night as well.  They have outdoor seating that is obviously weather permitting.

Marly's Bar and Bistro is located at 205 Town Green in Wilton Ct. Phone is 203-834-2000
They have a facebook page that i will get on their ass to update more regularly than they do now.  go there and friend them at: Marly's facebook page

Taiwan trip day one. Let the feast begin.

So I arrived in Taipei Monday night and was exhausted.  Anyone would be after a 24 hour journey.  Had a crappy night sleep as I always do but the thought of good business and great food lifted my spirits to start the day.

One of the things I love about Asia is it is never unusual to eat anything at anytime.  There are your traditional meals at the specific meal time but it is common to see salad at breakfast and fried eggs at dinner time.  Since I'm traveling and staying in International Hotels, The breakfast buffet is very common.

My first morning had nothing to do with your normal American breakfast.  And I loved it.

Lo Mein, dumplings, kim chee, pork sausage, and salted cod.   Ok, the salted cod can be seen on some breakfast meals from time to time. The great breakfast meal I always get when I'm in Asia is Porridge.   Now in the states this is not very common but in Asia it is.  Its basically a hot cereal made mostly of rice but it s more soupy than your normal hot cereal.   You can add salty or sweet items to the dish to enhance it to how you like it.  I like mine with nori.

Yeah I couldn't get the photo to flip but you get the idea.

Lunch time was a lot of fun. Most meals in China and Taiwan are family style like you would get in most of the Chinese restaurants back home.  Big dishes on a lazy susan spinning around for all to share. When we sat down, we had edamame and a tofu like appetizer that was firm and spicy.  Cut up into small bits it made it easy to grab a bite as it spun by.

As many of you know, Taiwan is an island so much of the protein that they get is from fish.  Many of the restaurants show off lots of fresh and freshly caught fish on display for you to see.  You select from the display and tell them how you would like it cooked.  The shimmery and colorful fish offer a great feast for the eyes.

Our main dishes started to arrive.  the first to arrive were the shrimp.  They were boiled complete with heads an all.  They were served aside a clarified butter as we would have lobster.  They are basically peel and eat shrimp but with a head.

Next came a rice noodle dish with fresh corn in it.  but the corn was almost creamed and smoothed.  It added a nice texture and flavor to the noodles.  They were a big hit among all of us.  Also because they were pretty easy to eat for those that were chop stick challenged.

My favorite dish came next.  it was my favorite because it was so simple and clean tasting.  It was a summer leafy vegetable similar to a mix of celery, lettuce and bok choy.  It had a great crunch and was served in a simple broth like sauce that had hints of ginger and garlic but neither were too overpowering.

There is always some sort of soup served at meals here and this one was a great one.  Basically it is a Fish base soup.  This soup had dumplings and fried tofu in it.  It was a delicate flavored soup with nice chunky bits.

The final dish was a small fish cooked whole.  I'm not sure what kind of fish it was but it was tasty.  Toasted ginger, onions and garlic were sautéed with this fish and it came to the table whole.  Everyone had their own fish to nibble on and spit the bones out from.  There is so much slurping, spitting, snorting going on during this meal that it's a symphony of gastric noises.

This rounded out day one.  We were too exhausted to go for dinner that night so we called it a night.

The next day we ended up going back to the same place.  The owners of the company we represent really get treated well there, it's close to the factory, and it's really good food.  The meal was basically similar to what we had before and I didn't take photos but should have.  There were two dishes that really stuck out as so unique that I never thought i'd ever have a dish like this before.

The first one was shrimp.  I think I have had shrimp in every way imaginable.  And almost every way I have had it, I have enjoyed it.  I have found one I didn't enjoy.  I can't imagine anyone enjoying this.  I should have taken a photo because you won't believe me when I describe it.  Imagine boiled shrimp like well....... Cocktail shrimp.  Nice round plump shrimp.  Next take vanilla frosting.  Yes vanilla frosting.  Put it in a pastry bag so you can squirt it in a line form and make lines back and forth over the shrimp.  Not my cup of tea.  But wait.......theirs more.  Top it off with Rainbow sprinkles.  Boom, your done.  I was waiting for someone to start singing happy birthday.  But no singing happened.  I did like most things, try it.  As I thought, it was awful.  But the people I was with loved it.  Hey, to each their own right.

The next thing was calamari.  Well not calamari.  Squid.  Baby squid.  little tiny squid not cut up but whole.  About the size of your thumb.  In a pile on a plate looking at me saying eat me.  Well I didn't want to but I'm always up for an adventure.  It was short lived.  I thought I was on the show Fear Factor and someone was going to jump out and make me next walk a tight rope over bubbling lava.  I grabbed one with my chopstick and looked at it.  The Frightening thing was that is was looking back at me.  So with one brave moment, I put it in my mouth.  That then got my gag reflex going and started to mildly panic.  All I thought about was how bad this could turn out.  So I chewed through it and got it down quickly followed by a nice small glass of beer.

That ended my trip in the southern town of Tainan.  Well I had one more meal in my hotel but I didn't pay attention because I had to actually pay attention to the conversation.

But the next day was fun.  Read on to the next post to see what happened next.