Restaurant Review: Garces Trading Company - Stalking Garces

About two week ago, I was walking in my neighborhood on my way to the post office trying to mail a book I sold through Amazon, I stumbled upon a familiar face. Since we're in the gayborhood, I thought maybe he was one of the gays that I should have remember his name so I said "Oh, hi!" and then it dawned on me that this guy in front of me was Iron Chef Jose Garces. Clearly he doesn't know me and I sounded like we were friends, so he might have been a little weirded out but he tried to be nice and replied "Hey, how is it going!". At this point, I was already starstruck and stupidly said "Good, thank you." and walked off. My life is full of these little embarrassing moments that I revisit sometimes and cringe.

Jose Garces has become a big time restaurateur here in Philly. Within a month's time, a new restaurant/food market name Garces Trading Company has opened in my neighborhood and I went to check it out once it opened, it's exciting to have a new nice restaurant being so close to home. Of course I saw Garces there but I tried to hide my face to save myself from the embarrassment. The boyfriend and I went to check it out on it's first Sunday Brunch event and it was quite chaotic.

The space was divided into a tight store which is a corridor surrounding the middle restaurant part. The corridor contains a cheese counter, an oil and vinegar bar, a charcuterie counter, a bakery counter, a beverage fridge and a wine cellar. It usually requires 20-30 minutes waiting time for a table, however there are no waiting space, patrons are left brushing shoulders and wandering the store.



After getting our table, we were waited by a forgetful waiter who asked us our choice of water and then disappeared without bringing the water. We reminded him after placing our order which include our drink order and then he disappeared for a long period without bringing our drinks. We reminded him again and reiterated our food order after being asked and waited for our food to come. After a prolonged period, the quartet seating next to us who arrived and ordered later than us had gotten their food but the boyfriend and I were just munching on bread that comes in a cute box with a small container of sea salt, after finishing our second bread box, our food finally came.

The food was less his usual Spanish fare but more French and Italian. I ordered a vichyssoise that was served with scallop and bacon and a splash of truffle oil. Yum. I also liked the roasted eggplant antipasti with toasted pepper, cherry tomato confit, toasted pine nuts and balsamic vinegar. The boyfriend had a Cubano sandwich that was substantial and the pickled pepper, and chili pepper on the side make the sandwich delicious and I had a small duck salad with a poached eggs, bacon and a mustard vinaigrette that was decent, the running egg yolk made it soul satisfying.

The problem of the place other than the tight space is the staff. Maybe it's the very first Sunday brunch, as the boyfriend pointed out - the most important restaurant rush in our neighborhood, they seemed a little frazzled. There were only 2 waiters for the whole place which is a bit understaffed, the orders aren't sequential, we had to wait a long time for our food, I have to wait for my rather small salad for a long time after finishing every other courses, then the waiter disappeared entirely when it's time for our check. After we finished the meal, the maitre'd came over and asked if everything was okay and she was annoyed when I told her the service was slow. She told me that she'll ensure that it won't happen again next time I come, but I was sure she was just trying to pacify me. After the meal, we went over to the bakery to get some desserts to go, it was a short line and after getting my money, the cashier proceed to talk shop with the other cashier and exchanging money. I had to wait another 5 minutes for them to finish before she slowly put on her gloves to fetch my orders and then she had to ask for my orders again. There is a serious problem with the staff.

On a different occasion, I went back again for lunch during the week. The service was a lot better, even though it was still as busy, the wait staff has changed and work more efficiently. The baby artichoke is served with a lemon-honey vinaigrette with bits of date wrapped almonds and mixed of olives contains 5 different kinds served in seasoned olive oil. I had a taste of minestrone that my friend ordered and it was very tasty, but the best thing is the funghi pizza served on a thin crust, aromatic tallegio cheese, maitake, royal trumpets and black truffles. The food contains a lot of oil and vinegar that is sold in store, so the food is sort of an advertising. After trying some tarts and cake, I'm only impressed by the pistachio cherry bomb and the chocolate croissant, the price of madeleines is only $3 a dozen which sounds great. I will definitely come back during the week or at night maybe try out their cheese plate for $15, the price is sorta affordable. It is said that Garces is showing up every night in this early stage of the restaurant.

Rumor is that Garces signed a 10-year lease in Philadelphia Cira tower to open up yet another restaurant and taking up another space in the gayborhood for another deli, my friend told me that Garces is already happily married and in person he seems shorter than I imagined.


Oil and vinegar bar, the most expensive one is the white truffle oil for $41.50 a slim bottle.


Beverage and wine cellar at the far right, the central sitting looks a little bit like a cafeteria.


The bread box comes with a small container of crunchy fleur de sel.


Vichyssoise Chaude - The seared scallop and bacon were a good match and made the vichyssoise special.


Eggplant Antipasti - The tomato confit elevated the eggplant and made it very pleasant.

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Philly Mini Tournament: Lemon Bar Edition

One of the things that both me and my boyfriend enjoy is a good lemon square. And during my trip to NYC last week, I couldn't find a single one in the bakeries that I've visited which I find to be odd. Are the upscale bakery shunning the ordinary pastry that is a simple piece of lemon square? Or maybe it's just not the season for lemon? I thought lemons were produced all year round.

I kept on my search when I was back in Philly. I thought Starbucks carries lemon squares but then I couldn't find them in 3 stores that I passed by. Apparently in this tough economic times, bakeries can't afford to sell lemon "squares" anymore. They have to be downsized to rectangular "bars" instead. After much further searches, I located 4 lemon bars to brought back for comparison.

1. Metropolitan Bakery



Metropolitan Bakery offers very rustic, country-style baked goods. While a lot of people raves about the place, I find their breads are usually too tough for any kinds of consumption. Other items in the counter are too small for their price. The only item I enjoy that is uniquely from them is their chocolate cherry rolls or loaf, but it'll still take me a good 10 minutes to chew down. Maybe they have long improved since I last bought anything from them or maybe the quality of their product is better in other branches, but the unfriendly saleswoman at Reading Terminal Market make me want to try their product any more than I have to. I was desperate to find a lemon square.

So the sad piece of lemon bar up there was seating behind the counter waiting to be adopted like a sad puppy. I wasn't about to buy it, but again I was desperate. We weren't impressed much with the taste either. It's like an egg custard with a butter crust with only a hint of lemon. Easily forgettable.


2. Brew Ha Ha!



I'm sure for a coffee shop like Brew Ha Ha!, their pastries could certainly be outsourced, there's no telling who the actual bakers were. The benefit for outsourcing though, is that the quality of their pastries are pretty damn good. The lemon curd is sticky and decidedly less sweet. The lemon flavor is strong without being sharp and the thin crust is light while the crumbs on top are buttery. It's pretty decent.


3. Whole Foods



Equally as good is this piece of lemon curd bar with a linzer crust from Whole Foods. Lemon flavors are heavily concentrated in the curd and it was a bit sharp, but then it was balanced out with the heavy dusting of powdered sugar. The linzer cookies in the bottom is soft and buttery, the whole thing is pleasant for the ones who enjoy tartness.


4. Flying Monkey



Definitely best of the bunch. Flying Monkey is one of the champions of introducing a cupcake shop in Philly. I've enjoyed many of their cupcakes, the espresso chocolate one being my favorite and of course, they have pretty high standards with all their products. The lemon squares have a rich buttery shortbread crust that taste above the rest. The lemon curd and the egg custard meld together perfectly, the lemon flavor is a bit tart but balanced well with the lightly sweetened custard and the powdered sugar. It is satisfyingly good.

Maybe one of these days I'll experiment and make some on my own, but that better wait until I lose 10 pounds.

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NYC Desserts Tournament: Fight to the Death

Blame it on Serious Eats: New York for the inspiring Sugar Rush section that introduces all kinds of desserts and pastries available in the Big Apple. I was tempted to go and try them all, so I sorta did.
I went around town and collected 7 samples and took them back to share with the Boyfriend. We decided we'll just have dessert for dinner one night and load on carbs and sugar, hang on to each other and brace for the crash afterwards.

A few months ago I had a craving for zeppoles, a sugar coated eggy, springy doughnut. So when I heard about there's a place in New York that's specialized in Zeppoles, I flocked there. Led Zeppole is a cute little shop with a n extremely difficult door to open and close, someone has to fix it. With standing room smaller than an elevator, you're confronted with a counter lined with cannolis, cream puffs, funnel cakes, zeppoles and other fried pastries. The extremely friendly my fellow Asian shopkeep informed me that unlike other stores, everything you buy from their store is made fresh to order. The tons of pastries in the counter are just for show. The zeppoles are not balloon shape that I'm used to but more resembling a crooked blimpy doughtnuts. Powdered sugar were piled up like the blizzard we had out our windows. The price cannot be more reasonable. ($2.50 for 3) The shopkeep also further informed me that if I never had a fried Oreo, I should really get one and so I did. Fried sugary, chocolatey, crunchy and a bit spongey. Delicious. The zeppoles however did not fair so well, after a night in the fridge and reheated in the oven. I guess fried food must be eaten fresh from the fryer, so I guess I can't fairly evaluate them. If you ever find yourself in that part of town with fried food cravings, it's a spot that you must try.




Zeppoles from Led Zeppole ($2.50 for 3)

During a tour of New York a few years back, I was brought to near the World Trade Center and within the building there was this little pastry shop that have amazing looking pastries lined up in a very pretty way. I was in a rush and didn't get anything but I also though it'd be amazing to have the chance to go get some and of course I have forgotten the name of the shop. After browsing around, I found out that they were Financier Patisserie. They offer more classic and showy French pastries. The only thing that irked me was that the particular branch that I went to this time around time square was located in the same building that houses Fox News. It almost made me not want to go there.

The two pastries that I got from there were a coffee eclair and a chocolate chestnut cream dome. The shop specializes in French pastries and during different weeks, a different eclair was featured. When I went this time, they have their coffee eclair and a vanilla bean eclair. The coffee eclair I've got is filled with coffee cream and have a coffee flavored glaze on top. Slightly sweet, rich, I'm into the flavor so I liked it a lot, though the cream can be lighter and the whole pastry less sweet in general. The chocolate and chestnut cream bombe is also on the sweet and rich side. I guess it's hard to not be light that otherwise. When you cute it in half you can see the chocolate cream and the chestnut cream is separated clearly inside a crisp tart shell, the whole thing is covered in a layer of smooth dark chocolate. A cup of hot tea would be a great accompaniment.


Coffee Eclair ($3.25)


Chocolate and Chestnut Cream Bombe ($4.25)

On Towleroad, they reported Anderson Cooper had been raving about a little dessert called Crack Pie from a place called Momofuku. He has mentioned it on his tweets and a few talk shows. That got me interested since the name of the restaurant/bakery sounds Asian, the item's name has the word "Crack" in it, it's made of very simple ingredients and when some food items are being openly endorsed, I want to see for myself.

The crack pie doesn't look like anything special, a little too small for the $5 it costs, but the taste is really impactful. The custard in the middle tastes like brown sugar, eggs and butter, maybe with a little hint of condense milk. To counter the gooey goodness is a firm pie crust with an interesting chewy texture that comes from toasted rolled oats. People compared it with a pecan-less pecan pie, but it's a little more than that. I believe it's an educated calculation, not quite as addictive as it claimed to be but good.

I also got a piece of banana cake for good measure. The sudden fame of the Momofuku empire is in its new imaginative combination of different ingredients. To invent old classic and put ordinary ingredients in strange situation and see how it flourish, sort of like a reality show. Here we have a cake with too many layers for its own good. Banana cakes sandwiched between chocolate fudge with a hint of molasses, hazelnut fudge, hazelnut crunch and a light layer of salt on top to add to its complexity. There's no way I can eat a bite with everything combines, so was it supposed to be enjoyed compartmentally to get all the little different combinations possible? The cake is good in general, but it seems to have tried too hard.

One thing I forgot to get is their pork belly bun sandwiches. It's done to the style of a peking duck buns, with scallion, hoisin sauce and all. Sounds absolutely delicious. I swear I'll get one if I happen to be passing by next time.


Crack Pie ($5)


Banana Cake ($5)

While going to New York the past few times, I've noticed Magnolia Bakery around Rockerfeller Center having unusually long lines and while reading on Serious Eats, a lot of people seems to like the place for their cupcakes. Apparently they got a cameo in Sex in the City and people are flocking there. Philly have their trends of cupcake shops and honestly you can't really do anything outrageously awesome with good old cupcakes. The writers of Serious Eats shared my point of views and instead of going there for cupcakes, one of them swear by their banana bread pudding. Since the boyfriend loves banana and peanut butter, I got the bread pudding along with a piece of peanut butter ice box pie.

The ice box pie is light and mild. I thought it was a bit less sweet than I'd like but after a few more bites, I started to appreciate the subtlety. There's a light layer of peanut butter right on top of a flaky crumbly crust, then more peanut butter is whipped up into a light, light cream. Then piece of Reese's mini cup are sprinkled on top along with some toasted peanuts. Looks simple, but taste amazing.

The crown jewel of this trip turns out to be the banana bread pudding that is sold in a cup. The man behind the counter ask whether I wanted a small or a large one. Not knowing how good it'd taste, I opt for a small one. Looking back I would have gotten two large tubs or maybe even a $24 bowl that would serve 10 people. It would have been well worth it. Sweet vanilla pudding cream with fresh tasty banana pieces mushed into it and some hidden pieces of vanilla wafers. The vanilla wafers already absorbed some liquid and they turned very soft. The whole thing is so good, it's ridiculous. If I can only eat one dessert for the rest of my life... wait, why choose? That would be silly.


Peanut Butter Ice Box Pie ($4)


(The Best) Banana Bread Pudding (Ever) ($4.5 for 12 oz)

What about the diet again?

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Restaurant Review (Big Apple Edition): Nougatine at Jean Georges

In celebration of my 1000th post, I tried to arrange a perfect day for myself but things are not that easily achieved. Somehow I've missed the tour of Wicked The Musical when it stopped by Philadelphia and I've wanted to see it for years, so I thought I'd go to New York City and see it. I've tried to do this the week before but it's hard to wake up early enough to get there in time for the matinee and I couldn't stay for the night show because they would make me miss the bus that comes back to Philly. So Wednesday I got up in time and went.

Of course I've researched to know the exact time the show is playing and I aimed for the ticket lottery that they have; For about $27.00 you get to seat on the front row, which in some case is not desirable because you'll have to strain your neck to see what's happening on the stage and at some point the angle forbid you to see what's happening at the back of the stage but for that price, to be able to seat right up front is superb. I've done that with Avenue Q seating dead center and it was wonderful. I thought there won't be much people out since it snowed the night before but there were still about 70 people showing up. The theater doesn't seem to be thrilled to have the lottery, they had us waiting outside in the cold for half an hour and held us with contempt for standing too close to the door. Alas, I didn't win the lottery and wasn't gonna fork out $120 for nice seats or $250 for guarantee good seats.

Lately, I've been very tempted to get a new generation of iPod touch that is rumored to come out this month, so I started comparing everything I buy to the expected price and figured I much rather have the device. And I can always go back to New York and try my luck again. Along with this misadventure, I wasn't able to find something specific at Toys 'R' Us, nor a book that the boyfriend was looking for at Kinokuniya, nor a comic book that the owner of a comic book store had promised to order for me for half a year and still telling me that he will put his order in, now. I guess a perfect day might not be arrangeable, it's all happenstance, a happy coincidence that can only be felt through introspective self-realization. Oh well.

Well, the day was not without merits. I found out that it was restaurant week for this past two weeks and research nice restaurants around Broadway. I was planning to have lunch at the Russian Tea Room because it sounded so classic, famous and exclusive but got excited about Jean Georges. Mr. Vongerichten is famous for his French-Asian cuisine, a few years ago I saw some Asian sauces that he was selling under his brand Vong and I quite took offense by the brand name. I got addicted to the restaurant review website Yelp and Jean Georges got pretty good reviews, especially for lunch and it was with good reasons.

People said that the Russian Tea Room's decor was gaudy, but how do you categorize a restaurant that is situated inside a 70s style golden Trump tower? Call me a bitchy queen but I'm a little repulse by most things with a Trump stamp. There's three doors to the Trump International Hotel & Towers and they lead to three different part of the building that doesn't link to each other. Aside from the location, the insides look clean and modern with pearl shaded walls and wood tones. The restaurant itself is also compartmentalized into 3 different dining area: main hall itself is Jean Georges, a separate room called the Terrace and the bar area called Nougatine.



The staff is professional and friendly. Since I'm by myself, I opted to seat at the bar. For a Michelin 3-star restaurant, the staff was professional and courteous enough. Jean Georges usually offer a prix fixe menu of $29 for a three course meal and during Restaurant week, it is $5 cheaper which in hindsight, the Chinese in me should have gone to another place for a bigger, rarer bargain. But in itself a $29 lunch at Jean Georges is really a jaw-dropping, mouth-salivating deal. Diners can choose any two plates in a near-20 items menu and with a choice between creme brulee or a warm chocolate cake.



This is the Shrimp Salad with avocado and tomato and a champagne vinegar dressing. The white strips on top might have been white trumpets, the shrimps are enveloped in a with a delicate and rich rose colored cream with hints of truffle that balanced the acidity of the vinegar dressing so well. They should mass produce this cream and serve it as soup or sell it by the gallon in a milk jug.



This is my demurred option. I contemplated ordering the "fried chicken" and a beef tenderloin but thought it'd be tacky if I go for two entrees without a slight hint of course separation, though each dish seems to be very portion controlled; patrons of expensive restaurants never gain weight which in fact is the true origins of the South Beach Diet. Pan roasted cod with warm cranberry beans and leek vinaigrette. Don't ask me what is the difference between a vinegar dressing and a vinaigrette, I'm suspicious that it might be set arbitrarily. But the piece of cod was cooked quite perfectly, there was crispiness on top that involves flour and the rest of the fish was roasted just to the point of doneness and not a second over. The cranberry beans tasted like edamame and the leek vinaigrette was pleasant but since there's not much fat to balance it out, it made the dish a bit on the sour side.



My dessert was a chocolate cake with a liquidy center, vanilla bean ice cream with a smidgen of chocolate cookie crumbs and a mint chocolate bark. I believe both creme brulee and a chocolate lava cake is overdone. So it's the least exciting course of the meal. It tastes nice but on the meh side, but one can't really complain with a $24 dollar 3-star restaurant meal.

Of course, I eyed two single patron seating at the bar on either side of me ordering the same thing; Tuna tartare, slow-cooked salmon and creme brulee and I wonder if that was their best offering, but let me assure you that no regrets were had. Also the exotic flavor matched soda was quite good too, I had a lemon-ginger one that taste like a ginger beer that is less sweet with refreshing hint of lemon zest. Highly recommendable.

After my meal, I went around town and collected 7 different desserts to bring home and share it with the boyfriend. So the day of leisure turns out to be a culinary exploration which is fun unto itself. After hours of walking around town a friend called and asked to do dinner back in Philly and I had just as much fun chatting along cheap Chinese food. The day didn't turn out that bad at all.

Expect a New York dessert post soon...

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Restaurant Review: Village Whiskey

Since Jose Garces opened his first restaurant Amada in Philadelphia 5 years ago, he has made a big impact in the culinary scene here. With every new restaurant he opened, people has fallen head over heels from its innovative variations on Latin cuisine. Of course his fame rose even further after he became the Iron Chef. So when we heard that the Garces Restaurant Group got a new restaurant in its bag, my ex-colleague and I named it the next destination for our monthly luncheon.

Village Whiskey is meant to be a burger joint, a burger joint with 150 different whiskeys available to choose from. I have checked on their website and read the menu before going there. The menu was very interesting; It's making itself known as higher end burger joint with an iron chef backbone, so you can find items that you would expect with a few renovated ideas. The french fries are duck fat fried, there's a pickle platter that serves with a whipped ricotta, olive tapenade and sour dough, there are raw oysters and clams, there's a lobster roll and there's a whiskey king burger that has a piece of foie gras on top. I thought since the place is a bit out of my way and I might not go back often, I made up my mind that I'm gonna go all out and order the Whiskey King burger.



The restaurant decor reminiscent of an old time saloon bar, the walls were adorned with faded mirrors, white mosaic tiles, looks quite classy but it was shockingly cramped. After a 20 minutes wait in a waiting area the size of a phone booth, we were led to a leather plushed corner nook that I almost have to jam myself inside. You pull the tables out and still you can barely get comfortably seated, it's horribly awkward.

Going to the luncheon with my ex-colleague has some limitations, she's a vegetarian and usually we'll have to make sure there are vegetarian items on the menu for her to choose from, subsequently I tend to order vegetarian items just so we can share and taste a wider variety of food. But this time, I felt selfish. While waiting for our table, a lady in a mink coat came in the waiting area and placed an order of the duck fat fries to pick up 45 minutes later. That's all she wanted and it got me curious, even the tater tots on the menu sounds more appealing to my childish fixation, I decided the duck fat fries might really be that good.

So I ordered the $24 burger and the duck fat fries, my colleague got the lentil, black bean vegetarian burger, the deviled eggs and the home-made cheese puffs. Home-made cheese puffs, you ask? I asked. "What is this cheese puff, is it like Cheetos?" I didn't think it would be like Cheetos, but the definition of cheese puffs was variable. Turns out, they were buttery, spongy choux pastry with melted cheese and chives on top served in a skillet. Best cheese puffs I've ever had! It's so good, I'm about to test the word homemade in its descriptions. The deviled eggs were well made and perfectly seasoned but not memorable, run of the mill vinegar, cayenne pepper, onion, celery kinda deal, I think I had too many of those in church picnics to really care.



When the burgers arrived, I was gobsmacked by the large piece of foie gras on top. I have rarely seen a piece of foie gras so blatantly put on top of a burger where it looks, at least, out of place. The waitress had to come by to reassured me that it is a 2-oz piece of foie gras for me to believe my eyes. In another instant, I noticed the oil saturating the entire sandwich. There is the oil from the foie gras, the juice from the 8-oz burger, two strips of applewood bacon and its grease, the melted oily blue cheese and the maple bourbon glazed cippolini onions which is like a marmalade. I know people craved a truly juicy burger but this thing is drenched in oil and juice. While the combination made it into a complex taste with pleasant notes of foie gras and marmalade, the beef itself got covered and as much as the marmalade tried, it cannot cut through all the fattiness of it. I imagine if I had a glass of bourbon, everything might be in harmony but alas I don't drink.



The duck fat fries itself was not as great as I would hope. Even after rinsing my mouth with water, I could not taste the duck fat. The salt and spices overpowered any trace of the duck fat's sweet smokiness. After going through the whole cup, I think I've only truly taste the duck fat once, not something I would recommend. In a rare occasion, my colleague and I share a strawberry shortcake, which is more of a coffee cake with cinnamon crisp topping and strawberry jam, a strawberry whiskey sauce and whipped cream. The cake is a bit too dense for us to finish but it tasted good. Don't get me wrong, the food is good, but if I go back next time, I'll try the other offerings. Anyone who's going should definitely order the cheesy puffs though, best thing of the entire meal.



It's possible that I will come back for a date with the boyfriend, the space is not really as crowded and tight as some other restaurants I've been, namely the claustrophobia inducing Kanella down my block. Though one major factor is that one will have to wait 30-45 minutes just to get a table, we were there at 1:30pm for lunch and it was packed until about 3:00pm, I imagine dinner will be even busier, maybe there would be outdoor dining in warmer days so nobody have to feel like they are packed inside a can of sardines.

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Restaurant Review: Max Brenner

I was going to write an early review of The Final Destination. The boyfriend got some tickets from a site for free and we went to line up but when we get there the line was really long and even though we arrived 45 minutes ahead of the said time and waited for an hour, we didn't get in. Too bad.

Well, the whole evening wasn't a lost. After watching the pizza episode of The Best Thing I've Ever Ate on Food Network, Chef Aaron Sanchez introduced the chocolate pizza at a crazy chain restaurant called Max Brenner, that is an absolute chocoholic heaven. This Israel based chain restaurant has half a dozen in Israel, more than a dozen of stores in Australia, two in Philippines, one in Singapore, one in New York and the Philadelphia one just opened up not long ago. Strange group of locations.

Sure they serve foods, but the draw is really the chocolate. There is about two dozens of regular food items, but the chocolate menu comes in a small bible with different kinds of smoothie, shakes and frappes, fondues, waffles and crepes, five different kinds of melted chocolate cakes, concoctions, chocolate pizza, chocolate soups, truffles, bonbons and pralines, cheesecake, ice cream sundaes, popsicle fondues, cookies, breads and tarts. White chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, the list and combination goes on and on and on. Who needs regular food when you can get full on chocolate?

It's our first time there, so we didn't know and ordered a sandwich to share. It's called the Best B.A.L.T, it's a regular BLT with avocado and it comes with a side of cocoa and chili powder dusted waffle fries and a spicy cilantro avocado mayonnaise. The mayo is quite unnecessary because it masked the subtle chocolate taste of the waffle fries and they were fried perfectly.



We ordered half a chocolate pizza, just because the Food Network program had mentioned it to be the best thing. It was good. The bread is soft, spread with a milk chocolate cream like Nutella without the hazelnut taste. Two pieces were spread with crunchy hazelnut bits and another two had marshmallows spread on top melted like mozzarella. It's great, like a peanut butter jelly sandwich but more chocolate-y. We ordered it with the sandwich but this came out ahead. It makes for a great appetizer.



Since the boyfriend likes peanut butter and the picture in the menu looked so interesting, we ordered something called Max's Three Layer Chocolate Concoction with Cookies and Peanut Butter. It's layered with milk chocolate cream, peanut butter, Oreo cookies, white chocolate chunks and whipped cream. Served with a orange biscotti and a jar of chocolate covered wafer balls. It looks very cool and it was fun to dig in.



Even though the place is decorated with whimsical quotes of Max Brenner and his mug, there actually was no Max Brenner in real life. The place was originally opened by Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner, it's zany in a Willy Wonka kinda way. It's like an amusement park, I want to try E-Ve-Ry-Thing. Though the price range is a little on the higher side. It'll definitely be a great place to do some celebration and I'm not kidding about not ordering any sandwiches or burgers and go straight for the chocolate. For some reason they didn't have enough bread to make us a regular sized B.A.L.T which they apologized and comped our chocolate pizza. Anyone who gives me free food deserves a bump, so if you live near New York or Philly or near a Max Brenner overseas and you love chocolate, give it a go. It's one of the more interesting dining experience I've had for a while.

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Death By Chocolate

Last Wednesday, a 29-year-old chocolate factory worker in New Jersey fell into a big wad of hot melted chocolate and got hit by the agitator and dies instantly with a blow to the head. I'm sure there are worst way to die than that.

Yes, chocolate is definitely one of my obsessions. A friend who recently moved to California came back and visit his Philly friends. He brought me to a gelateria called Capogiro and introduced me to Gelato Con Brioche which has become one of my favorite desserts. It's basically a warm spongy toasted sugar brioche with cold creamy gelato in the middle. It might just be the best ice cream sandwich ever.


Brioche con Bacio (chocolate-hazelnut) Gelato

Going to the movie, I saw a white chocolate bar for sale at the theaters and I love white chocolate, so I got the Divine White Chocolate bar.



The slogan for Divine Chocolate is that they are the chocolate bar with a heart. Divine Chocolate makes an effort on fair trade which guarantee the countries who produces the ingredients a fair amount of profit, education, training, health benefits and racial, gender equality. While it's a great, great cause and it makes the consumers (i.e. me) feel better about making a conscious choice to purchase that product, I didn't like the chocolate itself so much. While I heart white chocolate, my biggest pet peeves about white chocolate is it being waxy. I like to bite into my chocolate and not just let it melt in my mouth and there's nothing I hate more than waxy chocolate that makes me think of chewing on a candle. I guess for white chocolate, I'll stay with the white Toblerone or Green and Black's with the vanilla sparkles. Green & Black's is fair trade too.

Currently, the boyfriend and I like quite a few shows on Food Network. Like Chopped, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, and despite my dislike for Bobby Flay, I've even warmed up to The Next Food Network Star (Go, Debbie!). On one of their show, maybe Unwrapped, they introduced a chocolate bar with bacon in it that sparked our interests and after a few searches online, I managed to get one in my hand.



Mo's Bacon Bar is one of the offering from Vosges' Exotic Chocolate Bar collection. The chocolate bar have bits of smoked bacon and salt crystal in it. I thought it would be odd but actually it's quite smooth and natural. The smokiness permeates the chocolate and the salt crystals added some welcoming crunch. It is slightly salty but it is actually pretty unoffensive and good. Other exotic bars in the collection features ingredients like mushrooms, ancho & chipotle chillies, wasabi, matcha, curry powder and fleur de sel. Check it out on their website for locations that handle their product or shop online. In fact, I'm gonna get their chicory coffee and cocoa nibs one. It's $7.50~8.00 a pop but it's well worth the experience.

And for the reader who's reading this post actually looking for a way to use chocolate to kill themselves, consider this:



Baskin Robbin's Chocolate Oreo Shake which was deemed the unhealthiest drink in America by Men's Health Magazine.

Is this the worst drink on the planet? All signs point to yes. First off, it has an ingredient list that reads like an organic chemistry final. Those 70-plus ingredients conspire to pack this shake with more sugar than 29 Fudgsicles, as much fat as a stick and a half of butter, and more calories than 48 actual Oreos. Oh, it also has 3 days’ worth of saturated fat and, most bizarre of all, as much salt as you’ll find in 9 bags of Lay’s Classic potato chips.

With the calorie count, I think you're not suppose to eat or drink anything else for about 48 hours after that. Out of my theory that the more fat there is the better it tastes and my morbid curiosity, I'd like to try one please!

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Restaurant Review: Union Trust

I guess one of the little benefits of having a low economy is that the high end restaurants in town have been offering a rather affordable lunch menu to attract customers.

Last Friday, me and a former colleague went to Le Bec Fin. The most renowned dining institute in Philly where I've only stepped foot in once before just because I can afford to go to their more casual basement bar downstairs for their $30 prix fixe dinner during restaurant week and the maitre'd unintentionally sat us up in the main hall. Since that visit 2 years ago, restaurateur/chef Georges Perrier closed down his restaurant next door Brasserie Perrier. I've also noticed that the pretentious French sounding staff in Le Bec Fin had changed into mostly Latino staff who were wonderful to my older Latina colleague. Unfortunately for her, they have only one item on the $15 express lunch menu and it was burger with fries with a soup or salad and she's vegetarian. Since she didn't expect the limited of choice and everything else was high in price, she asked if the restaurant can take the meat off and put cheese in and they said yes. But then the waiter came by and said the chef will not be charging her for the meal because of that, of course being decent people that we are, we insisted to pay. Later on, they brought an extra dessert for us just to make up the difference. I wonder if we'd get free champagne next, my older colleague thought the exceptional service might have been because she was wearing her new bra. lol.

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Having passed by it once and then the boyfriend experienced it with his boss for lunch and told me all about it, I was very interested in going to a steakhouse called Union Trust. I usually dislike going to steakhouses, because they are unusually high-priced and I can sear a mean steak myself at home. The regular menu at Union Trust is quite expensive; the steaks goes up to $125 a pop, caviars to $140 an ounce. For lunch, however, it's a little different.

There is some privilege from being a blogger, especially when you enter a rather new restaurant with a phone cam and start snapping away, you'll get some curiosity and attention from the staff. I'm not saying you'll get free food or drinks, but at least the people seemed friendlier. Sure, the maitre'd banged my knees against the marble after helping pushing my barstool in for me, but he tried. The lunch menu consists on some appetizers, salad, sandwiches and entrees that average around $15. I wanted to keep it cheap, so I didn't order the $13 lobster chowder for an appetizer and went for the much recommended steak frites. Not soon after, I received a bread basket with 4 different kinds of warmed breads: A sweet pumpernickel raisin roll, a whole wheat dinner roll, a sesame sunflower seed roll and a twin Philly pretzel stick that you can split apart which also comes with its own little bottle of whole grain Dijon mustard.



I have had my share of bad steak frites, but one should expect a nice one from a steakhouse no matter the price and this one didn't disappoint. The size was decent enough, it was perfectly seared with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper and maybe oven-baked for doneness. The fries came in a playful string size, crunchy and quite bouche amusée. The sauce on the side tasted like an Argentinian chimichurri. The dish was quite simple and flavorful. It came with a side of creamed spinach that was smooth and buttery without being overwhelmingly rich or oily. It was a good meal that left me wanting more.



It's hard for business these days and not a lot of people can afford the items on the dinner menu for sure, but it's nice to see new restaurants popping up. Just around the same block, there's Iron Chef's Morimoto, another Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr's Jones, an Italian restaurant LaScala and a new Latin/Asian fusion restaurant called Chifa which will probably be my next target. The competition is fierce on this little out of the way block. While the promotion of the place is low-key, maybe people will give the lunch a try or warm up to the Gay professional mingles hosted there once a week. The former marbled bank got renovated into a majestic train station lobby-like space with red plush couches and white chairs. It looks quite amazing. (The bar design is not necessarily staff or customer-friendly though.)

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Eatery Review: Phileo Yogurt

A few days ago I've received a settlement check in the mail about a credit card fraud incident happened like 8 years ago. Honestly, I don't quite remember if anything like that had happened, I have my suspicion if that is a way of obtaining my signature or account info, but it has an 1-800-number and a website printed on it and it seems legit enough. Besides, the check is only for 20-some odd dollars, I could have taken it or leave it. I wonder what they would have done if I have had moved.

What is more pleasant is that Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City sent me a coupon for a complimentary room and $20 gambling money that I can redeem. It's great timing, especially when it's summer and everyone likes to go down to the shore. So me and the boyfriend will go there for a night and walk around the boardwalk. Could be fun and perhaps even romantic.

I guess there must be a bit of luck on my side for me to have gotten all these little things. There are uplifting to say the least. We've also done some other fun things during the week, but I'll wait for the products to write another post. I'm starting to thing that my boyfriend could be a lucky charm, since we've won quite a bit of things going into different contests. Hope I don't ruin it by posting out loud.


Phileo Yogurt (416 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 Tel:(215) 873-8361

Speaking about happiness, this is another thing that makes me happy; Frozen Yogurt. During last fall, I've noticed a lot of Pinkberry type yogurt store popping up in New York City and now Philadelphia is getting one of our own called Phileo Yogurt. Unlike Pinkberry, Phileo Yogurt lets you fill your cup from a wall of yogurt machine, each with different tastes. There are tart yogurts and more rounded flavors. For the two times we've went in, we tried lychee, pineapple, snickerdoodle, peanut butter, chocolate, taro and green tea. There's also a bar of fruits, nuts, candies and syrups for you to sprinkle them on your own creations.

The place is rather clean and the design modern, the staff is not particularly friendly or unfriendly. They mostly just stand there and stare. It would probably do well for the South Street tourist crowd. The yogurts are sold by weight at 49 cents per ounce, a little on the expensive side ($6~11 for a large cup). Of course they have nothing but large and giant cups in there so you'd feel obligated to put as much yogurt in there as possible and the sign that says 49 cents an ounce is not easily seen. But frozen yogurt is a crowd favorite and it's really a fun place for adults and kids.


The snickerdoodle is surprisingly good.

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Restaurant Review: Five Guys Burgers

Serious Eats had 4 postings about Hamburgers in the past 3 days including the popular Twilight with Burgers clip. Plus, one of the other food porn blog Foodaphilia I'm following did an entry about a burger joint that everybody seems to have good things to say about, a chain fast food restaurant called Five Guys Burgers. My young impressionable mind dictates that it calls for a food adventure.

Located on Chestnut between 15th and 16th, the Five Guys store in Philly looks a bit humble. The interior is clear with classic red and white colored tiles that makes the place look like an old-timey diner joint. The walls are lined with awards and magazine reviews of the chain. The staff is friendly, it's a rarity considering this is Philadelphia. I guess there's a sense of pride about the store in general, the strange undecorative sacks of potatoes at the window front might have been a clue. Is the food really that good?

Five Guys sells burgers, hot dogs, fries, soda and water. The menu is not too big but then there are all kinds of free toppings you can put in your burgers, so the combination is endless. Their regular burgers are made with two patties and their little burgers only have one. There are also price difference between a burger, a cheeseburger, a bacon burger and a bacon cheeseburger. The free toppings consist of mayo, relish, onions, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, ketchup, mustard, jalapeno peppers, green peppers, A-1 sauce, Bar-B-Q sauce, and hot sauce. Regular fries are big enough to share by 2 people and the large ones are probably enough for 4, they are fried with peanut oil, hand cut with some of the skin still on. They also have complimentary roasted peanuts for customers to snack on.


It's not a bad looking burger, eh? You get everything you see here for a little more than $10.

I ordered a cheeseburger with grilled mushrooms, grilled onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and mayo. The toasted sesame buns were toasted and not soggy, the beef was pretty juicy and not tough. Its size reminded me of what I thought of a Big Mac when I was young. It was big and satisfying and it tasted just like a Big Mac, accept nowadays Big Macs had shrunk and it doesn't taste as good as it did anymore. Of course, the burger could taste entirely different with different toppings and when you can tailor a sandwich to your taste, you couldn't really go wrong.

The experience was also heightened by two girls who kept checking me out when I was ordering, smiled and decided to sit right by me throughout my stay, when I say girls they were literally in their teens or early 20s. I was, of course, flattered. lol.

I'm glad I've tried Five Guys Burgers, the food is at least memorable and it is indeed a good burger, so I think I will return again. Maybe I'll try one with BBQ sauce and bacon next time, although it might not a good idea to go often, especially after I checked out the nutritional contents. Hell, life's too short anyway.

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Street Vendor Review: Christos' Falafel

Last week at Serious Eats, I saw a post and video clip about a street vendor in Philly that presumably has the best falafel A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E...



Falafel, eh? I've never had none and since CuteCub likes falafel and had time to go around with me, we decided to travel the 15 blocks to try it for lunch.

I guess you can say food carts are the best example of an American dream comes true, low budget and as long as you have solid good food people will come. You can make as much money as the effort you put in. There are many a street food carts in Philly with interesting ethnic foods, especially around University of Pennsylvania, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, even Ethiopian. Ever since the soul food place around my former job had closed, I haven't had any good oxtail stew on rice and there are at least 3 soul food carts around that area that advertised for them, too bad it's so far away.



The weather was a bit dreary and the line wasn't as long as we've expected. The cart itself is a bit odd. Instead of carrying drinks, cookies, candies and gums, the outside compartment of the cart was decorated with rows and rows or garlic, potted plants and some decorative bottles of olive oil. The owner Gus must be making a pretty good living not having to figure how he'd make more money. Also, there's no menu or prices anywhere. It's a good thing that we've seen the video in advance and know that he only sells falafel and chicken as platters or as sandwiches.

In the drizzling rain, the guy in front of us ordered 5 platters, but Gus wouldn't do it because he doesn't make mass orders and would only make him 2. Strange. Not only that, Gus then ask if it's the guy's first time buying food from him because all regulars would know. Exactly what's the difference between 5 guys waiting in line and each order a platter or one guy buying 5? After waiting around 15 minutes, we got our platter for $10.



The platter consisted a layer of shredded lettuce at the bottom, some hummus on the corner, a cucumber tomato salad, some pasta bits, some grape-banana salad, 4 fried falafel nuggets, a good amount of charcoal-grilled chicken, a pita bread, two kinds of sauce and a good sprinkle of oregano/parsley. Both CuteCub and I liked the platter a lot, the hummus is mild and pleasant, the falafel is chunky and satisfying, the chicken is well-spiced and crispy from the grill and the fruit salad is quite the perfect touch. I'm scratching my head over the pasta bits though, it's not bad but not quite necessary.

We can see that Gus takes a lot of pride in his food. He has certain standards for his customers to follow and he has to prepare his food just the way he wants. Gus reminded us of Seinfeld's soup Nazy, maybe he is the one who inspired the skit. His food was pricey but worth it, although I didn't care for him not selling drinks or the fact that he doesn't have a price menu so at the end when his customers find out the price it might be too late for them to turn down the prepared food. It's almost an arrogance or his way to tell his customers that you can't assign a price to his art or don't patronize him if you don't think you can afford it. But eccentricity is not a bad thing especially when it benefits the customers that he has a higher standards for his food. If I'm in the area and hungry, I'll definitely seek him out again.

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Restaurant Review: The Cliff House

Met up with my high school friend MH on Monday, we decided that we were going out for dinner. Originally we've made a reservation somewhere downtown, but she's accomodating enough to ask if there's anywhere I wanted to go. Given it's my last night in San Francisco and she drives, I said "Let's go to the beach!". Earlier that day another friend told me that I should go see the ocean, and it's only half an hour drive to Ocean Beach.

MH and I have known each other since the last two years of high school when she transferred to our all-guy school from an all-girl school, that was 14 years ago and we're in our 30s now. There's a lot of history there, she played Juliet to my Romeo and our group of friends had a lot of fun. There was a big exam ahead of us that determine whether we'll be able to go into an university, but we didn't care. We hang out every weekend going to karaokes and camping trips, party at people's houses, chasing each other around and do the beat down during recess. That's probably why we all failed miserably when the exams came but still that was the best time of my life.

We got to the beach around 7 and the sun has begun to set. We went in the Cliff House and decided to have dinner there. MH had read my blog before, so it doesn't take much to come out to her. Her blog is in Chinese and from what she wrote, I know that she's a foodie too.

There are certain history associated with the Cliff House and to dine while sitting on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is such a treat.

It's a little high in the price range, but we did go a little all out. I ordered 3 appetizers, MH had an entree and we both ordered desserts.


Row 1: (Left) Shrimp & Scallop Ceviche with Avacado Mousse, (Mid) Charcuterie Plate with Rabbit Terrine, Chicken Liver Pate, (Right) Beer Braised Black Mussels
Row 2: (Left) Rack of Lamb with Garlic Flan and Eggplant Quinoa, (Mid) Chocolate Fondant, (Right) Assembled Pistachio Cheesecake.

The ceviche was served with lavosh chips and have a very light grapefruit taste that is so refereshing. The charcuterie plate is very nice, although the toast is a bit oily and I'm not very fond of prosciutto. The lamb is very nicely cooked, The mussels are unnecessarily cayenned and so is the cheesecake. The chocolate fondant is not melty in the middle, but generally we throughoutly enjoyed the meal and the service was quite good. B

Adjacent to that is Sutro Bath, one of the earliest swimming pool houses in the country. By the time we finished eating, it was already too dark to go take a look, maybe next time.

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Restaurant Review: Yakitori Boy

After some Tai Chi tonight, I went out to try a restaurant in Chinatown that I've been dying to try. I have been there before, I've met this Asian equivelant of an emo twink in April and we went to karaoke at the upstairs establishment called Japas but we haven't tried the food, so I went tonight.

The thing that interest me about Yakitori Boy of course are the yakitoris; meat on little skewers grilled on open fire. It coincides with my love for street foods. I'm estatic about Philadelphia having its own yakitori bar and karaoke house. The other place that I've seen a yakitori restaurant is in San Francisco's Hana Zen.

The Maitre' D was friendly, as she led me inside the dimly lit establishment where I passed by the yakitori bar and the sushi bar to a brighter dining area. The waitress then handed me a big photo album size wine list and a thinner menu, since I seldom enjoy drinking I ignored the wine list. The menu, although thinner, is still the biggest Japanese menu I've seen; Gordon Ramsey would have a field day criticizing how elaborate it is.

It starts with various kind of Udon noodle soup and then progress to appetizers like gyozas, shumais, okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza) and takoyaki (Pancake Balls with Octopus), fried foods like karaage (Chicken Nuggets), kaki fry (Fried Oysters). Bento boxes, sushi, sashimi, various rolls, hand rolls and chirashis, sobayakis (stir-fry noodles), rice bowl dishes like gyudon (beef on rice) or unadon (BBQ eel on rice). Yakitori wise, there are asparagus, mushrooms, eggplants, chicken with leeks, chicken meatballs, chicken wing, chicken heart, gizzards, skins, small intestines, livers, pork sausage, pork ribs, beef ribs, octopus tentacles, mackarel and smelt.

I ordered some salmon nigiris just to satisfy my salmon addiction, the takoyaki because I miss it and I can never make that at home, one skewer of chicken gizzard, one of chicken, one of chicken meatballs and one of the pork ribs. The pork ribs is the tastiest, it's like bacon but a lot more meaty. The chicken meatballs are surprisingly sweet, maybe brushed with honey, I love the texture of the gizzard. I also ordered a chawanmushi, which is this egg custard with seafood, shiitake mushroom and chives steamed in a teacup. They must have use bonito broth and strain the whole things to make it silky smooth.

I did enjoy my experience there, the staff were really, really friendly, probably because they just opened not long ago and business has suffered from the construction next door. My waitress told me that the sushi chef has 44 years of experience making sushi in Japan and the yakitori chef is also quite authentic. It is meant to be Japanese bar food but since I don't enjoy drinking much, I couldn't feel the full effect. I know a person who would appreciate this place though. I hope this place have enough business to stay open, although they seemed to be a bit on the expensive side. The yakitoris are about $2-3 per skewer, I paid almost $40 just for myself.

I would still go back for a date or some fun.


Center: Dining Area; From Top Left (Clockwise): Ice Green Tea with Takoyaki, Skewered Gizzard and Skewered Chicken; Skewered Pork Ribs and Skewered Chicken Meatballs; Dining Area near Sushi Bar; Chawanmushi.

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Food Review: Dairy Queen's Waffle Bowl Sundae

I am usually not a sucker for commercials but when I saw dairy queen's commercial for their waffle bowl sundae, I have to say I couldn't have resisted. It did sound and look marvelous on TV. I love ice cream, I love chocolate and I love waffles, so it only makes sense that somebody would have the brain to put them all together. So I went to the nearest dairy queen and tried it. Well, let me just put it this way, it is far from what I would imagine it to be.

It is what it is, vanilla yogurt type ice cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle bowl, drizzle with a strawberry sauce and chocolate syrup and decorated with dabs of whipped cream but there are so much details that is left out. You can't ruin, ice cream unless it's runny and thank god it wasn't but the waffle is premade in bulk and they are stale and thin, the strawberry sauce is so watery, given there are bits and pieces of actual strawberry which gave it a good taste but I didn't care to have watery sauce in my ice cream. The chocolate syrup is not really chocolate syrup but those chocolate sauce that solidify when it gets cold. So the whole chocolate sauce turned out to be chocolate tasting wax that's far from appetizing and he whole mess costs nearly 6 bucks. I could have gone to my neighborhood convenient store and get a triple chocolate king cone for one-fourth of its cost and be much more satisfied.

That'll teach me to believe what I see in commercials. I rarely do, but that damned thing looked so good on TV. Arghhhh!!!

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Dining Out For Life with Cous Cous

Yesterday was "Dining Out For Life" where a hundred restaurant of so in the city donates one-third of their profits to HIV/AIDS service organizations in the area. Me and some of my colleague went to a Singapore vegetarian restaurant near chinatown. Us working in the field of health care and HIV/AIDS were glad to have an excuse to go out eating and do some good at the same time. But our so-called boss scolded us for taking time out of the office and supporting some organization that he did not like. He tried to guilt some of us into not going, and made a big fuss out of it, I wonder if he realizes what a jackass he sounds like.

The food was ok, I have a lot of experience with Chinese vegetarian restaurants and that wasn't quite up to par. We ordered a mock duck which was pretty good, my colleague wanted a sizzling tofu and one wanted a tofu with eggplant. The description was a bit different, but when the dishes came they were baically the same thing, same brown sauce with same vegetables. It's so much like those crappy American Chinese food. Fried stuff with goo.

After work ES, ES' son KEL and MP went across the river to a Moroccan restaurant called Cous Cous. The lighting is a bit dim and we sat on some couches and order a 10 course Royal Feast. 1. Lentil Soup, 2. Mixed Salad, 3. Chicken Bastilla, 4. Chicken with Lemon and Olive, 5. Lamb with Honey, 6. Beef Kebab, 7. Couscous with vegetables, 8. Baklava, 9. Fruit Salad with Cinnamon and 10. Hot Mint Tea.

The lentil soup was really good, the mixed salad however was seasoned a bit too heavily. I'm usually quite fond of carrot but in this case, there were so much cumin that I can't stand the taste. It's usually such a classic combination too.

The bastilla is a filo dough wrapped chicken, almond and egg pastry topped with powdered sugar. It's my first time having bastillas, it's really strange but good. It's like there's ground chicken inside an almond croissant, if you can imagine. The chicken with lemon and the lamb with honey tasted very similar, they are both lightly sweet and pleasant. The beef too tough, the couscous too soggy. Up to this point we were literally stuffed to the max, but I still had the baklava and it was one of the best baklava I have had. It's very light and tasty. With all the food and it's only $25 per person, very inexpensive indeed.

KEL was a bit sick and was whining a bit throughout the night which bothered ES a bit, but I reassured her that I would take care of him for the night so she can rest and relax. I think I did pretty good, KEL is actually a great kid. We catched up with MP and I generally had a pretty good night. We went to a Korean supermarket afterwards and got some groceries. Made gyoza for principe after I got home and slept like a log.

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The Italian 7-Course at Mamma Maria

On the upper notes of things, like I said, I went to a 7-course dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mamma Maria. It's a pretty quaint and homey restaurant. It's not highly decorated, but it's casual and comfortable which is quite charming as well. Everything is very casual, it's like stepping into somebody's dining room.

When we sat down, a jar of red, a basket of assorted breads and a plate of antipasto is already waiting for us. The plate of antipasto consists of some grilled eggplant, marinated onions, chickpeas and sauteed carrots. Afterwards, the waitress came over to explain the whole process and told us about the choices we have for entrees. We each chose one and then continued with our second course.

The second course is a very nice plate of lentil soup with carrots, onion and celery. The broth is light and clear, I've always been amazed of how flavorful lentil soup could be even without chicken broth. I think I'm going to be making that for dinner some nights and add a chicken leg confit on top. The third course is the pasta trio, which is an assortment of three different pasta in different sauces. It is some gnocchi in marinara sauce, bowtie pasta in alfredo sauce and some penne is a roze sauce. It is quite simply put on a plate next to each other. The penne is my favorite. I always like the mixture of the creaminess and roundness of alfredo and the acidity and flavor of marinara.

The entree comes next. MP chose the grouper with crabmeat on top in a safflony cream sauce and she gave me and ES a bite, it was surprisingly good. ES originally wanted the filet mignon with sauteed mushrooms but she changed her mind and got the langoustine seafood platter instead. I was gonna order the langoustine, but since she ordered it, I got the filet. might as well tried a bit of everything, right? ES' seafood platter comes with shrimp and calamari flavored with lemon juice and some melted butter. She gave me one of her langoustine and I really liked it. My filet mignon was good, but nothing too special.

A plate of salad came next, and a plate of cheeses and watermelon. Then it comes dessert. The waiter recommended that we have the ricotta cheescake, but later came back saying they are out of it. We teased him so bad. So we shared a piece of italian rum cake, a piece of chocolate cake and a piece of pineapple coconut cake. The pineapple coconut cake has fresh pineapple in it and tasted really good. The others are just so-so. The thing that also get me is that ES and I had our camera ready around the whole meal, but the food is not really "plated". It is really casual, the cake is a thin slice flopped on a plate, it doesn't even have whipped cream or syrup on top. The salad is like going to a diner ordering a side green salad.

The service was pretty good though. The jar of red wine we have on the side is kept filled to the top over the whole meal. I understand how coffee and booze can be counted as a course all by themselves. At the end, they brought out a whole arsenal of liquors, some home-made, some store bought for us to try. There's limoncello, limoncello cream, a raspberry liquor, a strawberry one, a store-bought sambuca, disarrono and a guapa (sp?). The waitress came over and taught us how to make shots, two-thirds limoncello cream, one third of the strawberry and she calls it "the strawberry shortcake". Of course, I'm not a big drinker, but I tried a drop of everything just for the flavor anyway. I really like the sambuca and the disarrono. Sambuca taste like licorice, I personally don't like licorice but somehow I don't mind it in liquid form. The disarrono taste like almond and I do like almond, I must use it to cook sometime. I don't think I have a shot glass full if I add up all the liquor I've consumed that night and I barely have a glass full of red wine.

All in all, I really enjoyed myself and at the end it only comes to $62. It's definitely a good experience. I'll post the pictures later...

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