Food and Drink Archives - Page 175 of 214 - Pechluck's Food Adventures

Spencer! Brought to you by PB&J

April 15, 2012 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

I stopped at the PB&Js Grilled cart with Spencer in mind as something to enjoy as I continued running my errands yesterday. I was thrown off my game slightly because of the debut of a new special, a shiny sign with photo of a luxe bottle of bourbon and the red wax all sexy while alongside, the words read “Makers Mark Hair of the Dog”. Wait, does that bold print say Makers Mark soaked french challah toast? Does that say and with apple wood smoked bacon? And their peanut butter and blueberry jam and maple syrup!??? I had seen on their FB that they were concocting something, but missed what the result was and that it would debut that day! Well…

No. No. Stay strong. I stuck with Spencer: Campagnola bread, Walnut butter, Caramelized onion, Capicola, Brie, Pear Jam. That is what my intention was when I stopped by, let’s not get distracted. I told myself I would eat just half of that warm sammie, and then run into the stores I needed and finish the rest later. Yeah, it didn’t make it. I couldn’t stop. People were jealous as I took the photo below too- and who wouldn’t be, just look at it!

PBJs Grilled, food cart, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pbj, Spencer sandwich, Campagnola bread, Walnut butter, Caramelized onion, Capicola, Brie, Pear Jam

I was disappointed to miss their event with Upright Brewing that they did a couple months back when I was out of the country traveling for work, so am anxiously anticipating their grand opening of their brick and mortar in the future (still in the works – the overhead of opening a real place is a lot to try to do at the same time as running your everyday operations, new partner gigs they do, exploring new special combinatons to feature, and they will be Eat Mobile – the food cart/foodie festival that was their initial big debut just 2 years ago!). Each of their sandwiches are yes, versions of peanut butter and some sort of fruit jam sandwich, but that’s like saying french fries are just a version of potato…

I can’t wait to try more from their brilliant minds of flavor combinations once they have access to a bigger space for both storage and execution of more of their ideas. It’s hard to believe the huge menu they have from their little grill that varies from sandwiches with 4 different kind of breads, a dozen different kind of jams, a few different nut butters, and other toppings besides ranging from half a dozen of options for cheeses to sweets like chocolate or caramel or coconut fillings to the savory like the bacon or for the Spencer, the big pieces of Capicola- which ultimately what edged the Spencer to the top of my to do list. Can you imagine the possibilities with a real kitchen?

And, I will be back for that Hair of the Dog.

PBJs Grilled, food cart, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, pbj, Spencer sandwich, Campagnola bread, Walnut butter, Caramelized onion, Capicola, Brie, Pear Jam

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Food Carts, Restaurant Review Tagged With: food cart, PBJ Grilled, Spencer

Slabtown Ribs & BBQ – Get the Ribs

March 29, 2012 by Pechluck 2 Comments

Slabtown Ribs & BBQ gave me a chance to enjoy some low and slow American bbq. They are only open on the weekdays because they focus on the weekends on catering and competitions: indeed, a whole wall about half the length of the restaurants if full of their ribbons from those competitions, some of which are showcased in the window, and they have been fighting the meaty saucy fight since 2005.

Thanks to a Groupon, I had an excuse to try it out. I went with the BBQ Combo, which offers a sampling of most of their food, including sliced brisket, two of their St. Louis Style Pork Spare Ribs, a mini pulled pork sandwich, and a small sample of Zenner’s German sausage, and the combo includes two sides of your choice. I picked mac and cheese and the collard greens, passing up on the Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Red Potato Salad, or Buttermilk Biscuits. You also have your choice of 3 sauces: Kansas City Classic, Texas Hot, or Carolina Style Mustard. The only thing not in the combo was their BBQ chicken.

Of the combo plate, my favorite was definitely the ribs, which even though they had only ladled a spoonful of the Kansas City Classic sauce, I was wiping off to put on the brisket instead because these smokey tender ribs didn’t need any additional flavor. The brisket was ok- that’s where the sauce was needed, as well as the pulled pork slider. I also found that the ends of the brisket were very dry- I didn’t end up eating the ends of my last piece because I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m not sure how the German sausage fits in, but it was a good sausage. The mac and cheese was mushy and needed some additional seasoning of pepper, while the collard greens at least had a nice slightly sour tang to counter my meat plate.

Slabtown Ribs & BBQ, Portland Or, Ribs, BBQ

The restaurant itself is barebones in terms of seating only 50 people at most, with cheap tables and chairs so that you could easily imagine this was a late night fast food hole in the wall that could be serving burgers or mexican just as easily. They have a few touches of warmth, but the focus seems to be making sure the meat is taken care of. They don’t have a bar inside Slabtown, but they still offer beer and mixed drinks by fetching it next door, which allowed patrons to sip a cold brew or in my cases, an ok bloody mary.

I would definitely recommend the ribs. Two guests after me, they were actually sold out of their BBQ chicken, so I never got to try it but maybe is a hint that those might be tasty. or, maybe because it was getting close to their 8pm closing time (I got my food close to 7pm) so they were running out of their earlier prepped food, and maybe that’s why my food was more along the middle line. I liked the bun the pulled pork was on, but on the combo plate they hadn’t added any sauce to it- if I had known that, I might have ordered an extra side of a different sauce to try for the two extra quarters.

Overall, I found this a decent place, and the service was fast and friendly. I like smoke, so I really liked the ribs plain to best taste that smoke, and the amount of meat on those rib bones was a perfect thick amount. I mean look at that picture- that’s a pretty decent size of rib! But if you are looking for more juicy meat you might be disappointed.

Unfortunately, Slabtown can’t quite reach the standard of the best bbq I’ve had yet, which was at Jimmy’s BBQ (Lexington, NC). There, I had the chopped pork, including the “outside brown” our friend/guide Dan instructed us to order so we also had those darkened portions that have been closest to the smoke. The sauce is kept warm in a coffee pot and served on the side. I cannot explain to you much of this fatty smokey meat was moist and tender. I ate 98% of it without sauce. On the other hand, that also means a trek to NC, so…

Jimmy's BBQ, Lexington, NC, BBQ, chopped pork

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: bbq, pulled pork sandwich, sausage, slabtown ribs, sliced brisket, tSt. Louis Style Pork Spare Ribs

Brave Horse Tavern & Serious Biscuit, Spur in Seattle

March 25, 2012 by Pechluck 1 Comment

I happen to be a fan of of the Tom Douglas Restaurants empire- at this point I’ve experienced the output of four of his twelve restaurants. I’ve tried Serious Pie pizza for lunch (delivered to the office I was visiting), the doughnuts of Dahlia Bakery, happy hour at Palace Kitchen, and a breakfast at Serious Biscuit. For another visit to Seattle recently, I revisited one place while increasing my total by visiting a new Tom Douglas concept. As before, I was not disappointed- it is quite dependable.

Previous eatings: doughnuts at Dahlia Bakery. Also, at Serious Biscuit, the fried chicken with Buttermilk Biscuit and tabasco black pepper gravy (both soothing me with its creaminess and making my tongue tingle with every bite). I added a smothering of Beecher’s cheddar to mine, and that boneless hunk o chicken was juicy and extremely crispy, holding up to the generous drenching of gravy.

This time, I went to Brave Horse Tavern for their all day Sunday happy hour, and also for Serious Biscuit in the morning for a second breakfast visit. At Brave Horse Tavern, I tried their hand made pretzel with 3 of their spreads: beer cheddar fondue, sour cream and crispy onion, and smoked peanut butter and bacon. While half the table liked it the traditional way with the mustard on the table, I was a fan of the smoked peanut butter and bacon. The other two were ok but didn’t leave much of an impression beyond that. On the other hand, it was a much different atmosphere at Brave horse then I had seen at the others which had been a bit more of an urban modernity feel. Brave Horse Tavern had a much more casual open feel, including big open tables like you would expect in Lucky Lab here in Portland or a brauhaus in Germany. Not sure whether it was because it was all day Sunday happy hour or not, but the other patrons leaned more towards late 20s to mid 30s and had a flirty vibe of comraderie and outgoing energy.

For breakfast the next day, I went with the other choice that had tempted me my first visit: their biscuit with truffled frittata,tomato caper relish, arugula and I ordered that same tabasco black pepper gravy on the side… wow, it came in a big mug for me to dunk my forkfuls. I don’t like their biscuits enough to have them plain without gravy- they still seem a little dry and hard on the outside instead of flakey (although the inside is moist), probably because they aren’t oven fresh, making it an ok but not particularly special. But, put that biscuit with all that other wonderful stuff they offer together though and I ate every single bite and stayed full and satisfied for most of the rest of the day. Just like the last time, this is a knife and fork kind of meal.

Between these two visits to Tom Douglas restaurants was a fabulous dinner at Spur Gastropub. At first, when our table of 7 received our initial small plates of the Castlefranco Radicchio Salad with candied pecan, blue cheese, and sorrel and the Winter Beet Salad they have with buttermilk, caraway, and arugula, we were unimpressed, though at least the beet salad had a little surprise with the beet powder to add a bit of grit texture.The Slow Cooked Pork Cheeks with white bean, leek and guanciale or the Veal Sweetbreads with braised greens, squash and apple also were not memorable.

However, we were delighted with other dishes. The Sockeye Salmon Crostini ($4 each) with mascarpone, caper, and pickled shallot was a wonderful combination though only worth $1 per bite, if you nibbled. Yeah, these tasted wonderful but if you have to order 2-3 dishes per person and these dishes are already the price of a normal entree at a restaurant, your bill adds up- probably $50 a person along not counting drinks or dessert. Don’t come in super hungry and wanting to get full quickly- you want to come to mostly converse and nibble your dinner as you go.

Each of these, and every single dish actually, was plated beautifully… too bad the extremely dark lighting of the restaurant made it difficult to appreciate (and capture). Some pin lighting just in the middle of the table to spotlight the food but still leave everyone in romatic candelight would have been a better compromise instead of having everyone peer at their food. Just by luck, later in the evening I happened to accidentally set my camera to “action” setting which ended up with the more intake of what light there was towards the end of these pictures- but those are definitely brighter then it was actually looking down at our table.

Our favorite dishes, and I could have eaten it just all by myself (it was a dish that disappeared in minutes as we passed it around the table family style) included the Black Truffle Gnocchi with baby turnip, parmesan, and greens that melted too quickly in decadance on your tongue, as did the perfectly cooked Wagyu Sirloin with rutabaga, pear and mustard. The Merguez Sausage with chick pea, harissa and tender herbs offered a bit of spark with its spicyness. The Pork Belly Sliders topped with celery root, apple and smoke (hey, that’s what the menu lists) on soft buttery brioche also went down quite easily- we somehow found the room even as we were already getting filled up because it was so tasty. The Tagliatelle with duck egg, oyster mushroom and pine nut was an ok dish that is evidently popular and a regualr on the menu, but since it followed after the Black Truffle Gnocchi it couldn’t quite measure up to that previous dish.

The three desserts were ordered were all good in different ways. The Parsnip, Banana, Coconut, sponge cake, crumble, ice cream was a tropical light respite from the dinner but I thought needed something else to balance it like a small touch of earthiness, maybe mint? I appreciated the play of textures here though. Meanwhile the Chocolate, Pistachio, Pear, sorbet, pudding cake, praline dessert offered the rich chocolate luxury. Finally, the Passion Fruit, Grapefruit, Fromage Blanc, custard, sorbet, streusel dessert plate cleansed and refreshed.

I would definitely try Spur again- the ones that were a hit were amazing, while others were meh- so I might do a little research next time to see what people highlight in reviews next time I visit. And, I’ll come when it doesn’t get dark so quickly so I can appreciate my food. I would also go with a group: the small plates concept they have going here is playful and modern, which tastewise sometimes paid off handsomely, and sometimes not in anything but posing as cool looking. So you want to up your chances of getting something great by ordering a lot of dishes- and also see my earlier comment about the price and pace.

I’m not sure why it’s called a gastropub since their trendy cocktail list offered some interesting concoctions but there wasn’t as much to choose from beer-wise, and the setup definitely is more of a cocktail and place then beer. Thankfully, this also meant the service was much smoother and polished then I might expect at a gastropub- thanks Jared! Overall, I would like to support their continue experimentation and pushing of the boundaries.

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Travel Tagged With: Brave Horse Tavern, Serious Biscuit, Tom Douglas

Tokyo Weekend: Sushi Dai Recap

March 23, 2012 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

Sushi Dai- located right in the Tsukiji Fish Market area, the long line of people queuing for one of the mere dozen seats is a testament to their quality and is an easy way to identify it among the rest of the restaurants along these rows literally just across the parking lot from the Fish Market.

Also, none of these places had English signs, so all I had to go off of was a picture of the front printed from my sister’s photo album and the line of people to mark X is the spot. I wish I had printed out more photos so I could have shown the sushi chef their photos in retrospect. One of the things I definitely learned during my international trip is that I don’t know how I can go back to living without the internet- I always felt uninformed and craved immediate access to information.

All the stool seats are right at the counter, with 3 sushi chefs working their magic directly from their expert nimble and quick hands to the raised counter you sit at (no plates!) with a quick verbal description in Japanese, Chinese, or English. It really is teeny tiny they have no other space- you have to put your belongings up on high shelves behind you like a school student because there is no place else- there is just enough room behind the stools for the lady to bring you soup. Once in a while a lady would come out to organize the line- some of us queue along a side street so as not to block the walkway, and then in front of the restaurant itself, in rows of 4 so that you get sorted into seatings as guests leave.

Everyone knows about the line and politely tries to turnover quickly so everyone can enjoy- there is a little chit chat as the chefs work but everyone is a foodie here and knows about the agonizing anticipation when in line, especially this day because it was winter and quite chilly.

Every group had 1-2 people with their cameras out like I did so I wasn’t embarrassed to pull mine out in front of the chefs either… and I’m so glad to have these photos to drool over and remember the experience.

After waiting in line for a couple hours (and that was after I got in line at 8:45am, a late start because I had to pack and check out, and I got lost… and then walked around for a while fascinated as I watched them wrap up business in the fish market), finally I made it in around 11am.

Starting with the warm towel and hot green tea… looking at the beautiful cuts of fish in the case on my right, and the shrimp on the left, the radish is ready on the raised counter… the exact sushi chefs that I had seen pictured in baby J’s pictures and in other internet sources.

sashimi, Sushi Dai, Tokyo, Japan, Tsukiji Fish Market

And then the fantastic lunch commenced (you can get a set or omakase chef’s choice, don’t be stupid, get the omakase). My Sushi Dai recap with photos is below but you can see toro, so beautiful and fresh, followed by flounder, snapper, sea urchin, mackerel, red clam (still moving a little he placed it down before us), warm sweet egg block, horse mackerel, translucent baby shrimp, traditional maki sushi (with the seaweed wrap), marinated tuna, steamed sea eel, and then my choice of anything for the last piece- which I went with fatty tuna.
sashimi, Sushi Dai, Tokyo, Japan, Tsukiji Fish Market

Look how beautiful each piece is, and how thick the cut is… Every generous piece was so soft, cool but not so cold that any flavor was locked in the temperature or texture, and each slice of seafood was long (2 to3 to 4 inches!). The photos are ordered in the same order I received them during my lunch.

Several of the pieces came with the instruction to not use soy sauce because they had pre-marinated it or added their touches of flavor via lime juice or a sprinkle of salt already in crafting the seafood upon the slightly warm rice. I only used my soy sauce for the traditional maki rolls. Oishi! I was sad that these were so delicious that all they melted in my mouth so fast and then in seemingly no time it was already time to go.

Little did I know that my life would soon suck as I find out that my flight is cancelled back home. At least though, I got to have Sushi Dai before that all broke loose. I thought I knew what fresh sushi tasted like- but this was freaking unbelievable.

That’s it for my world tour through Israel, Germany, China (Shenzhen) and Japan (Tokyo). Next stop- after a few days to try to readjust to the time, to Seattle for a quick overnight and workday.

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Travel, Weblogs Tagged With: best sushi of my life, Japan, pictures from Sushi Dai, recap of Sushi Dai, sashimi, sushi, Sushi Dai, Sushi Dai lunch, sushi from Sushi Dai, Tokyo, Tokyo eats, Tsukiji Fish Market

Tokyo Weekend: Visits to Asukasa, Harajuku, Shibuya

March 18, 2012 by Pechluck 1 Comment

The next morning I waded through the crowds cheering on the Tokyo Marathon to go to an area of the city called Asukasa. There, my goal was to see Kaminarimon Gate- bright red colored gate with its 100 kg (220 lb) lantern in the middle- as well as what was past its gate, Sensoji temple. The path to the temple from the gate is Nakamise Dori- a temple market pedestrian walkway lined on both sides with tiny stall after tiny stall, many owned by the same family for generations.

On my way to the main temple, I was drawn in by the bunnies and the cuteness of this one pink stall. They are selling some sort of treat on a stick…skewered sticky round balls rolled in some sort of powder that you had to eat all three at the same time because they were sorta glutinous. When I took my first bite I tried to just eat one ball and it stretched and popped some of the powder into the air onto my coat… and in the air and slight breeze towards other people. Oops. That’s when I noticed how everyone else was eating by putting the whole thing in their mouth. For an additional 100 yen have some warm sweet sake too to wash down the powder.

More treats for sale on Nakamise dori, a pedestrian lane leading to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. Lots of local snacks and little things to buy. I wanted to try ningyo-yaki (red bean-filled buns moulded into various shapes using iron pans over a fire) but they came in too many pieces for me to buy and then find out I didn’t like it. I did like watching them make it though- there were two stalls that I found showcasing the man pouring in the dough, adding the bean, and then pouring more dough on top and then placing on the small flames- he was super fast!

I did get what you see below, a bean paste filled sesame bun thing I ate… I guess it is called manju?

I’m a bit of a lemming when I’m exploring- there was a long line at one stall when I passed by, and then on the way back there still was a long line… so I got in line too for whatever treat this was. Famous meatball place apparently- and the fried meatball patty thing was very juicy and tasty. It was so juicy it dripped on my scarf a little bit as I was eating it nom nom nom nom nom

After visiting the temple, and then off to the Meiji shrine, I headed to Takeshita Dori, the teenage fashion street of Harajuku. After seeing several girls walking by me with crepes, and then a long line of crepe waiting peeps… yes, I got in line. I decided to go with the one in the first row third over- strawberry strawberry. I found out what it was called because someone else ordered it and the crepe guy called it out, fortunately… their plastic displays and posters had no discernible numbers to order with. I did do a double take on one type of offering though. Uh what, you put a whole cheesecake slice in there and then surround it with whipped cream!?

You would think after this that I would be sick of being in crowds, but I had another stop after a quick nap (and to rest my feet). When it got dark, I headed on the train to Shibuya Crossing, the nicknamed Times Square of Tokyo for both its busy traffic of commuters day and night and multiple bright screens flashing to advertise to them. After walking through the crosswalk in the herds a few times, I then spent 30 minutes wandering lost but admiring the many neon signage everywhere until I found my goal. I went to Coco Curry House for dinner where I got level 4 heat curry with chicken katsu and mushroom. Thanks for your tips baby J!