Pechluck's Food Adventures

Mama Chow’s Kitchen

July 23, 2014 by Pechluck 8 Comments

One of the reasons I always am very excited for the Eat Mobile food cart festival in April every year is that it is an opportunity for me to discover new food carts. Since I work in Beaverton, I miss out on a lot of the food carts that are open for lunch downtown on the weekdays. I also don’t tend to be out eating at the “late night pods” that start from 11pm on on the weekend nights. Usually one of the main reasons I get to enjoy a food cart is if I happen to have an appointment so I am working a half day. Of course, that’s still no excuse completely since even though not all of them are open, there are some open at other hours and on the weekend, and at other cart pods besides downtown.

A couple weeks ago after a dentist appointment, I took the opportunity to go grab lunch at one of the food carts that really impressed me at Eat Mobile 2014 this year (as I recapped previously). This was the Mama Chow’s Kitchen food cart, which had provided a sample of fried chicken wing with honey soy glaze, garlic noodles… YUM. Also, their cart is adorable!
Eat Mobile 2014 My vote for best food cart sample was Mama Chow's Kitchen with their sample of fried chicken wings with honey soy glaze, garlic noodles... YUM. Also, their cart is adorable!

My stop around lunchtime at 12 was very fortunate, because I got the second to last chicken order at the cart! The cart is located at SW 2nd and Stark, just a half block away from Mother’s Bistro. There, Jeff Chow, transplant from Oakland and trained chef is bearing his Mama’s recipes, offering choices such as or his mom’s Wontons in wonton soup, lollipop wings, kalua pork, or garlic noodles.

There are a generous number of wontons in that Wonton Soup, with his mom’s wontons full of flavorful pork, shrimp or chicken in the house broth with baby bok choy. It’s the best wonton soup I’ve ever had. I took the photos below before adding anything extra, but there are lots of various condiments, including spicy hot sauce to amp up this soup even more.
Mama Chow's Kitchen, taking orders at Mama Chow's Kitchen for his mom's Wontons in wonton soup (pork, shrimp or chicken wontons in house broth with baby bok choy)

The garlic noodles are amazing, fresh made with chayote squash and onion relish. It sounds simple, but it is so good you will gobble it all up faster than you think. Yes, you can get them with the other dishes probably on his menu, but you want a whole order of these noodles.
Mama Chow's Kitchen: Garlic noodles and cayote squash, or garlic noodles that are fresh made local noodles with chayote squash and onion relish

From my second try of these chickens, let me confirm that these are justifiably raved about lollipop chickens that come in a honey soy garlic glaze with jasmine rice and baby bok choy. You can see the lollipop name comes from the fact that the meat is pushed up slightly to expose a bone handle. The chicken is juicy inside, but the skin is crisped up from the glaze. The only improvement or recommendation I have for you when you order is to switch out the rice with those excellent garlic noodles.
Mama Chow's Kitchen justifiably raved about lollipop wings with honey soy garlic glaze with jasmine rice and baby bok choy

He makes everything fresh so there may be a 5-7 minute wait, but it’s worth it.

You can find/follow more of the deliciousness of Mama Chow’s Kitchen at their Facebook page, or on their Instagram @MamaChowsKitchen or on their Twitter @MamaCsKitchen

As a side note, because of the timing of this post… I just want to point out that if you are going to OBF, Mama Chow’s is open from 11-3 so you could bring it as your lunch, and they are also open 12-5 on Saturdays if you attend OBF that day. The cart is only a few blocks away (1/2 block North of the Mother’s Bistro on SW 2nd)

Oregon Brewers Festival 2014

July 21, 2014 by Pechluck 13 Comments

This Wednesday kicks off the biggest beer festival of them all for Oregon Craft Beer Month, the Oregon Brewers Festival, also nicknamed OBF. Held the last full weekend of every July, this year the festival is kicking off on Wednesday July 23 and goes to Sunday July 27. As always, OBF makes its home on the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, making is just a 1 block away from the Max lines at the SW First and Oak Street Max Station.

Admission to the Oregon Brewers Festival is FREE and is also all ages as long as you are the parent of the minor. To taste the beer you will need to purchase a 2014 souvenir Oregon Brewers Festival 2014 tasting glass for $7, and then from there tasting tokens are $1. It costs four tokens for a full glass of beer, or one token for a taste.

Oregon Brewers Festival, Photo Credit Timothy Horn

Purchasing the glass or tokens is Cash Only, though they do have ATMS on site. The six food/beverage vendors providing food and alternate drink also are cash only, but some of the vendors selling other items it may be up to their discretion. The message is, bring cash. You can also bring your own food and non-alcoholic beverage if you’d like, though it is subject to bag searching like all bags when you are entering. I always make sure I bring alcohol absorbents like a bread and cheese and charcuterie plate, and a bottle of water.

Taps close at 9 pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and at 7 pm on Sunday. I always try to go as early in the day as possible, as there will be less crowds in terms of finding seating, less lines in getting a beer, and less likelihood that a beer will have run out for the day (they will not tap the next keg until the next day). The best days will be the weekdays or early on the weekends, the worst lines are the weekend evenings.

Oregon Brewers Festival, Photo Credit Timothy Horn

Keep in mind that OBF spans multiple days, so I will sometimes walk in the North or South tent, get some beers in that area, and then leave and come back another day to do the other side, rather than walking back and forth between the two tents. When you get there, sit down and plan your strategy based on where the beers you have picked out and ranked are located. Read through the Beer List online and then when you get the list with trailer numbers upon entering the festival, start marking where everything is.

Here are a few of my picks of beers you might want to consider for your list, which you can even do on your mobile phone using coaster.me :

10 Barrel Brewing Co Cider Weisse, a Berliner Style Weiss blended with green apple cider
Ballast Point Brewing Co Sculpin IPA, a solid IPA and Ballast is from San Diego, if you haven’t had Ballast before (they do bottle this beer year round, but still you may not have seen it before). They describe that their use of hops creates hints of apricot, peach, mango and lemon flavors, but still packs a bit of a sting, just like a Sculpin fish.
Boneyard Beer Bone-A-Fide, an American Pale Ale that has high rankings on Beer Advocate and Untappd
Caldera Toasted Coconut Chocolate Porter, because it sounds delicious just with the name alone, and I love chocolate candy bar like porters.
Cigar City Brewing Mangosteen Florida Weisse, the Berliner Weisse style is always refreshing during the summer, andt his one particular Berliner Weisse has Mangosteen
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Burton Olde English, an Olde English Style Ale that is oak aged blend of an English Style ale and an IPA
Dudes Brewing Grandma’s Pecan Brown is Toasted Nutty brown ale deliciousness. I enjoyed it last year and plan to get it again
Ecliptic Brewery Perihelion Crimson Saison, a Saison brewed with Rhubarb which may be a one off for OBF as I haven’t seen this Saison offering before
Ex Novo Brewing Co Black & Wheat, Ex Novo just opened this month and I haven’t had a chance to try any of their beers, so I’ll be glad to have this sample introduction with a Black Raspberry Wheat beer
Firestone Walker Brewing Co Easy Jack, a Session IPA that uses hop varieties from Europe, New Zealand and North America for globetrotting hops all in one beer
Gigantic Brewing Co Who Ate All the Pies?, this Strawberry Rhubarb Gose had me at the name including the word pie and the use of Strawberry and Rhubarb in a Gose style which promises a bit of sourness
Logsdon Farmhouse Ales Sraffe Drieling, an organic Farmhouse Triple brewed with spices. If you haven’t had this Logsdon beer before, here’s your chance to try it out!
Mazama Brewing Rasplendent, a Raspberry and Hibiscus Wit
Paradise Creek Huckleberry Pucker is a Berliner Weiss with Huckleberries that one commenter on Untappd mentioned is “Tart n tangy like Pixie Stix”, while others mentioned Nerds. Basically it’s sweet and sour sorta like a candy. Sold.
Sixpoint Craft Ales Barrel Aged 3 Beans, a Baltic Porter made with Mast Brothers Chocolate cacao husks and infused with fresh Stumptown Coffee Roasters cold brew, and then aged on oak. Yum right?

Oregon Brewers Festival, Photo Credit Timothy Horn

This year OBF will be hosting 88 different craft breweries from around the country plus another 100 in the Specialty Tent, which makes its return (previously called the Buzz Tent) after a hiatus last year. In the Specialty Tent there will be special European beer friends: 12 breweries (11 from the Netherlands and 1 from Germany!) so this is a special opportunity to try those beers and their unique flavor profiles compared to the 88 American breweries.

Plus, look how fun these brewer friends are that you can meet in the tent as you are tasting their beer! Each brewery will serve up to five of their beers in the Specialty Tent starting at Noon (Wed-Sat) and the brewers will be available for meet the brewer sessions those days as well as you drink their beer.

Do note that although there is no separate ticket to get into the Specialty Tent, only tasters are served (no full pours), and all beers are double tokens. I’ve highlighted the brewers and few example beers where I was able to see descriptions so you have an idea what you might be able to try!

Dutch brewers are coming to OBF 2014

Bierbrouwerij Emelisse, I’ve had beer from this brewery before that I’ve enjoyed, and they are bringing their Smoked Coffee Porter as well as Black & Tan blend of Imperial Russian Stout and Double IPA and is barrel aged on an Isley barrel.
Brouwerij Rodenburg has brought their internationally acclaimed Bronckhorster Nightporter stout with flavors of coffee, smoked malts and chocolate as well as their Midnightporter American Imperial Porter which is similar to the Nightporter but with more smoke peat and hops. Their Terra Incognita is their 100th Anniversary Brew and they will be barrel aging it to be available in 2015
Brouwerij ‘t IJ
Microbrouwerij Rooie Dop has me interested in their The Daily Grind coffee porter of which the description says “Using delicate ingredients like Guatemala Antigua coffee, brown malts and Saaz hops, we created this dark coffee-infused beer. It will be the smile you need to break the daily grind.”
Brouwerij Maximus
Brouwerij Duits & Lauret
Brouwerij de Molen has a variety of beers they have brought, including representatives of the styles of English Barleywine, Russian Imperial Stout, Baltic Porter, Saison, and more!
Oedipus Brewing – they have brought some unusually flavored beer, including Lekkerbek Saison with mustard seeds and dill. and Mannenliefde Saison with Lemongrass & Szechuan peppercorns and a Thai Thai Triple with Galanga Root, Orange peel, Coriander Seeds, Lemongrass, Chili pepper. A thai spice dish in a beer?!
Het Uiltje has an interestingly named Uiltje Pepperspray Porter
Oersoep has an unusual lineup of Saison and Sour Ales, a couple which they described as having hints of bubblegum (their Sergeant Brett Pepper Saison that has spice and bubblegum?) or sour candy (Brettanosaurus Rex Brett Ale), and a Pomme Bruxelles that is a dryhopped blend of an apple-cider and a one year old barrel-aged sour that is described as sparkling, tart and very fruity
Ramses Bier, if you dare, has the Naar de Haaien Smoked IPA that is brewed with seaweed and seawater
Brauerei Nothhaf

I’ll be there at the Oregon Brewers Festival 2014 on Wednesday evening, and also I’ll be following when beers tap at the Specialty Beer tent via their twitter @OBFLTDTent. If you are trying those beers from our European friends, also use or check for the hashtag #NLtoPDX.

Are you going to OBF? What beers sounded interesting to you?

Filed Under: Food and Drink Tagged With: beer festival, Bierbrouwerij Emelisse, Brouwerij 't IJ, Brouwerij Maximus, Brouwerij Rodenburg, Craft Beer, Microbrouwerij Rooie Dop, Northwest Beer festival, OBF, OBF 2014, OBF Specialty Tent, Oedipus Brewing, Oersoep, oregon beer month, Oregon Brewers Festival 2014, oregon craft beer month, PDX Beer, pdxbeer, Photo Credit Timothy Horn, portland beer festival

Martinis at Bartini, and a 3 Course Dinner at Urban Fondue

July 19, 2014 by Pechluck Leave a Comment

Today I am in Los Angeles to help throw my sister’s wedding shower tomorrow. Later, there will be a bachelorette getaway in Montreal, Canada in September. Unfortunately, there is no shindig here in Portland, because I might have proposed some martinis at Bartini. Still, if you have a special occasion coming up soon, you might consider Bartini and Urban Fondue.

Ideally, you will start next door at Bartini. There, you will peruse their menu of 100 martinis and pick one to kick off your date – be it a romantic date or friend date. If like my friend and I, you come after work, you can practically be stealing these martinis at the happy hour prices (half off) making them in the range of $3-4 but still at full price pours! A huge deal!

Bartini atmosphere

The happy starts at 4pm and goes to 6:30pm Tuesday-Saturday and again 9:30pm-close, but is all night on Sunday and Monday.

There are a large variety of martinis to choose from here, for instance:

Cosmopolitans varying from Lavender Cosmo, Pomegranate Cosmo to Plum Cosmo, Sparkling Mandarin Cosmo, and Watermelon Cosmo
Lemon Drops, varying from Sweet Tea to Violet Lemon to Tuscan Rosemary and more flavors
Fresh and Fruity Martinis, including Very Mango, Bird of Paradise (shown below, a combo with coconut rum, mango puree, and pineapple juice and a bit of cinnamon), Hypnotic Strawberry, Peartini, etc with various fruit possibilities
Aromatic Martinis such as White Elderflower, Ruby Rose, Sweet Nasturtium and a few others
Clean and Serene Martinis such as Bellinitinis with 8 possible flavors shaken and topped with champagne, Blue Eyes (with simple vodka, blue curacao and lemon twist), French Kiss or English Cucumber Martini. Below, you see the French Kiss martini, vodka swirled with a hint of strawberry puree and topped with champagne
Herb Martinis, varying from Basil Berry and Lemon Basil to Rosemary Grapefruit and Juniper
Spicy Martinis, my favorite being the Diablo with habanero pepper infused vodka, passion fruit puree, cilantro and fresh lemon
Bold Martinis, which I question how martini they are as they include ingredients like tequila and bourbon in here.
Decadent Martinis, which seem to mean desserts turned into martini form, given the list that includes Bananas Foster, Caramel Apple, Chocolate Kiss, Creme Brulee, Key Lime Pie, Oatmeal Cookie, Rainbow Sherbetini, Snickertini etc. The Oatmeal Cookie Martini really is like liquid oatmeal cookie, I can never resist getting one. It’s concocted from butterscotch and Irish creme liqueurs shaken with cinnamon liqueur and cream

After 1 or 2 martinis, go next door to Urban Fondue where you have made your reservation. Make sure you do make a reservation- you never know if it will be a busy night because of a celebration of an anniversary, birthday, bachelorette party or any girls’ night out.

You can order each fondue a la carte, or you can choose to have a 3 Course Dinner at Urban Fondue that starts with your choice of a cheese, then a broth, and then a dessert fondue. I think the best fondues they offer are the cheese and the chocolate ones, so you can certainly just come here for appetizers or for dessert if you wanted. We ordered the 3 course.
Urban Fondue menu

To start, I recommend the Ruby Port Cheese Fondue with white cheddar, Swiss and Gruyere cheeses, finished with caramelized sweet onions and port wine.
Urban Fondue menu, Ruby Port Cheese Fondue with white cheddar, Swiss and Gruyere cheeses, finished with caramelized sweet onions and port wine

They have other options of cheese combos, such as a simple smoked cheddar, brie and gorgonzola topped with hazelnuts, tomato basil with smoked cheddar, or a white cheddar with roasted caraway. All yum right? The cheese fondue only comes with bread, but you can add for additional cost extras such as asparagus (which is what we did), mushrooms, sausage, or fruit (pears, grapes, apples).
Urban Fondue menu, Ruby Port Cheese Fondue with white cheddar, Swiss and Gruyere cheeses, finished with caramelized sweet onions and port wine

For the entrees, it is a broth fondue, and you have the choice of 5 different broths and half a dozen kinds of meat/seafood combination plates that you can dip in the broth for cooking, varying from baby lobster tails or Carlton Pork to New York strip loin or Tiger Prawns, and they also have a vegetarian option with tofu and other vegetables. All the meat options do have a few vegetables and a couple raviolis to balance out all the meat and seafood on your plate.

This is nice in that even though you are sharing the broth, you can customize your selection of what you want to eat. It may not look like much when it first comes to the table, but it does add up as you eat each piece 2 at a time (using your 2 skewers). Make sure you use the skewers for dipping in the fondue, and then when it’s cooked transfer it to your other plate that you eat with a fork so you don’t cross-contaminate!

To the left you see the Chef’s Cut entree with thin sliced Carlton pork and local New York strip loin seasoned with marjoram, extra virgin olive oil and spices, and the one to the right is the East Meets West entree with Carlton pork, local breast of chicken, east coast scallops and Tiger prawns.
Urban Fondue, the broth courses with meats you cook. To the left you see the Chef's Cut entree with thin sliced Carlton pork and local New York strip loin seasoned with marjoram, extra virgin olive oil and spices, and the one to the right is the East Meets West entree with Carlton pork, local breast of chicken, east coast scallops and Tiger prawns. Urban Fondue, the broth courses with meats you cook. To the left you see the Chef's Cut entree with thin sliced Carlton pork and local New York strip loin seasoned with marjoram, extra virgin olive oil and spices, and the one to the right is the East Meets West entree with Carlton pork, local breast of chicken, east coast scallops and Tiger prawns. Urban Fondue, the broth courses with meats you cook. To the left you see the Chef's Cut entree with thin sliced Carlton pork and local New York strip loin seasoned with marjoram, extra virgin olive oil and spices, and the one to the right is the East Meets West entree with Carlton pork, local breast of chicken, east coast scallops and Tiger prawns.

When cooking the meat, you want to keep it in the broth for a certain amount of time, so Urban Fondue provides you these cute little hourglass timers to help you keep track.
Urban Fondue, cooking timers for the broth fondue

To further customize the experience, they bring out all these dipping sauces for you to try with your broth cooked meat/seafood. There are a whole bunch of different ones, complimenting the meat and seafood in different ways:

Lime Chili
Wild Mushroom Demi Glace
Bavarian Balsamic Grain Mustard
Au Poivre Peppercorn (really good with the steak)
Thai Peanut Sauce
Blackberry Ketchup
Basil Pesto
Meyer Lemon Hollandaise
Smoked Tomato Aioli
Lemon-Garlic Butter with Parsley and Caper

Urban Fondue menu, dips for the main course, the meat and broth fondue

I was pretty full but we still had dessert to go! One of the strengths of Urban Fondue is their dessert fondue options- they have almost a dozen options, varying from simple chocolate with whipped cream or chocolate with hazelnuts to more complex chocolate combinations such as a Rocky Road Fondue with chocolate with marshmallow ganache and peanuts, a Heathbar version with chocolates and chunks of Heath bar, Marionberry Cheesecake Fondue with cream cheese with marionberry and lemon puree and graham crackers, or a Caramel Cognac… yeah. We picked the Tiramisu fondue with creamed chocolate swirled with espresso and topped with lady fingers
Urban Fondue, dessert fondue of Tiramisu fondue with creamed chocolate swirled with espresso and topped with lady fingers

One thing Urban Fondue does is do special occasions right- in addition to the normal accompaniments to the dessert for dipping like banana, cheesecake, cookie dough, and pound cake, they brought out a special birthday lit plate that included pretzels, strawberries, more cheesecake and a bit of caramel sauce!
Urban Fondue birthday surprise

So that summarizes a happy hour at Bartini followed by our 3 course dinner experience at Urban Fondue. Thank you S for taking me out for this wonderful dinner for my birthday. Sometimes they have Groupons so be on the look out for that too!

Have you been to Bartini or to Urban Fondue? What do you think you would want to try?

Filed Under: Cocktails, Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: Bartini, Bird of Paradise mango martini, cocktails, drink portland, fondue dipping sauces, french kiss martini, happy hour, martini bar, oatmeal cookie cocktail, oatmeal cookie martini, pdxcocktails, Ruby Port Cheese Fondue, tiramisu fondue, urban fondue

Nodoguro July 2014 Tanabata Mitsuri

July 17, 2014 by Pechluck 6 Comments

Another month, another dinner recap, so here’s me reporting in with the Nodoguro July 2014 menu.

Pretty much Nodoguro PDX is part of my monthly budget now. The menu changes every month, and I don’t know any other place I can get this kind of experience and level of complexity of flavors in any Japanese restaurant in Portland. Every menu, even from week to week or day to day, changes based on the produce availability and freshness of the ingredients, so if I don’t go that month, I will never see that combo again. Damn you Ryan.

Even though this is a pop-up in the Evoo space, Elena does an amazing job transforming the space each time with simplicity and grace and warmth based on that month’s theme. What a supercouple.

A peek at Elena of Nodoguro PDX on the bottom right and some of the colorful lanterns in the Evoo space A peek at Ryan talking to one of the guests at the Nodoguro pop up

Lovely decorations by Elena, and one of the sake curated by Carl for the dinner

Add in the unique produce from Mark of Phantom Rabbit Farms who is providing so many of their ingredients. Apparently they just sat down with some coffee with a Japanese seed catalog and oh, decided what to grow all year. Psssh. These geniuses. Check out the Phantom Rabbit Farm website for their series of farm dinners – I hope to visit sometime.

Oh, and then there are the additional drinks from Carl Donheiser (he wasn’t at my July dinner and was missed, though it was his menu). It’s no wonder that Michael Russell named Nodoguro one of the best pop up restaurants in Portland that cumulatively add up to the Oregonion’s Restaurant of the Year.

For this dinner, we got to write wishes that we then tied onto a tree Each month, along with a change in theme is a new painting by Elena's dad for Nodoguro!

I don’t know what else to say but to share the photos.

The Menu for Nodoguro July 2014

Cucumber soup with fermented ume, and Nasturtium
Nodoguro July 2014 Cucumber soup with fermented ume, and Nasturtium

Oregon Albacore, wasabi and mitsuba bud with aged soy and citrus

Nodoguro July 2014 Oregon Albacore, wasabi and mitsuba bud with aged soy and citrus

Sesame tofu with Uni, caviar, and water pepper

Nodoguro July 2014 Sesame tofu with Uni, caviar, and water pepper

Air dried Mackerel, crushed turnip, yuzu kosho, myoga and shiso

Nodoguro July 2014 Air dried Mackerel, crushed turnip, yuzu kosho, myoga and shiso

Kakuni pork belly , onsen egg, mizuna and mustard

Nodoguro July 2014 Kakuni pork belly , onsen egg, mizuna and mustard

Orach, pickled burdock, fennel, and cucumber blossom

Nodoguro July 2014 Orach, pickled burdock, fennel, and cucumber blossom

“Bento” with Soy cured trout pressed sushi, futomaki, and ikura don

Nodoguro July 2014 Bento with Soy cured trout pressed sushi, futomaki, and ikura don

Dashimaki Tamago

Nodoguro July 2014 Dashimaki Tamago

Frozen Koji cream with hazlenut and raspberry syrup

Nodoguro July 2014 Frozen Koji cream w/ hazlenut, and raspberry syrup

“Young momoji” Manju with Roasted Buckwheat tea

Nodoguro July 2014 Young momoji Manju with Roasted Buckwheat tea

Besides Nodoguro now on my regular pop up circuit, I have Holdfast, Laangbaan, and DaNet on my wishlist to try out.

Have you been to any pop up restaurants in Portland yet? Which ones?

Filed Under: Food and Drink, Portland Highlights, Restaurant Review Tagged With: Air dried Mackerel, Bento, crushed turnip, cucumber blossom, Cucumber Soup, Dashimaki Tamago, Elena Roadhouse, fennel, Frozen Koji cream, futomaki, ikura don, Kakuni pork belly, Manju, Mark, mitsuba bud, mizuna, myoga, Nodoguro, Nodoguro Dinner, Nodoguro PDX, Nodoguro Pop up, Nodoguro popup, Nodoguro recap, nodoguro review, onsen egg, Orach, Oregon Albacore, Phantom Rabbit Farms, pickled burdock, Roasted Buckwheat tea, Ryan Roadhouse, sesame tofu, Soy cured trout pressed sushi, Uni, yuzu kosho

Mediterranean Exploration Company

July 16, 2014 by Pechluck 15 Comments

Starting today is the beginning of the soft opening of Mediterranean Exploration Company. Located at 333 NW 13th St in the Pearl, they will only be open for walk in dinner service 5:30-10pm, with their actual full opening and taking reservations starting on August 1.

Gorham has struck again as he continues to stake ground in the Portland quadrants. Well, I say quadrants but since there is NW, SW, NE, SE, and N, there only leaves the SE for him to conquer now with this latest opening in NW (Toro Bravo is in NE, Tasty n Sons in N, and Tasty N Alder in SW). Here, Gorham takes inspiration from the Mediterranean, which strongly leans towards Greece and the Middle East.

I attended the MEC launch party during the 4th of the July weekend, which was free and open to the public in order to sample bits of their menu. So here’s me passing on some of that sneak peak information to you…

When you enter, you can definitely recognize the space as having similarities to its siblings with the standing bar not far from the hostess stand and the open kitchen with a few countertop seats.
Mediterranean Exploration Company

Special shoutout to the bar, who were working very hard to keep us thirsty launch party guests hydrated with pretty much anyone ordering a couple drinks. After all, it was also for a good cause, as the launch party food was free and part of the bar proceeds from the entire night will go to
Live Wire Radio, a nonprofit organization and radio variety show on OPB. I went with the special gin punch they were offering.

Mediterranean Exploration Company, launch party special gin punch

Even those who can’t have alcohol can enjoy though- they have delicious options such as this gorgeous Austria soda with black currants (there is also an elderflower one) and a housemade ginger ale soda.
Mediterranean Exploration Company, Austrian Soda with black currants

I also tried two other cocktails from the Bar: The Arak Frappe cocktail with razzouk arak, sugar, crushed ice has a strong licorice flavor but is served with a little carafe of soda water for you to customize the level to your taste.

The other was the refreshing Tai Tai cocktail with pueblo viejo silver tequila, combier orange, pistachio orgeat, lime, mint and crushed ice.
Mediterranean Exploration Company, bar menu

And now onto the food menu that I saw previewed- who knows if this will be accurate to when they really open… all of the food is geared towards sharing tapas style.
Mediterranean Exploration Company menu

Raw

Salmon Carpaccio with arak, dill, capers
Palestinian Beef Tartar with tahini, yoghurt, cumin. I enjoyed the Creamy richness here that substitutes for the usual egg in steak tartare

Mezze

Warm Castelvetrano Olives with olive oil and bay leaf
“Shalosh”, with roasted eggplant, tomato and olive oil, and pumpkin carrot
Beef Bacon Wrapped Date, with beef bacon subbed here for pork because there is no pork at all on the menu
Sheep’s Milk Feta with olives. This with the perfect warm doughy pita bread is amazing.
Steve’s Cheese Board with mahon menorca (raw cow, mallorca), fiore sardo (raw sheep, sardinia) and paski sir (sheep, croatia)
Saganaki with olive oil, lemon, grilled bread
Falafel with s’hug, pickles, tahini
“Usul” hummus with chopped egg
Fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce, ouzo
Tomato fritters with olive oil and sea salt
Housemade Lebneh with olive oil and fried cauliflower
Fried Anchovies
Grilled Octopus salad with roasted sweet peppers
“Vered Hagalil” chopped salad
Raddichio 2 with cherries, parsley, yogurt dressing, a new incarnation of the radicchio salad (my favorite Gorham version though is the one at Tasty N Alder)

Oven

Nuvrei bread plate with olive oil
Philo Chard Pie – this is a great option for vegetarians. Look at the carnage of how fast this pie went!
Greek Potatoes
“El Baboor” Lamb Kebab Pie

Plancha

Moroccan Brick Chicken with arugula salad
Mackerel with beet olive salsa – this is an outstanding dish, don’t let a single bit of that beet olive salsa be left behind
MEC Lamb Gyro. Hmm, bacon wrapped appetizer, check. Raddichio salad, check. Burger… nope. is this MEC Lamb Gyro the MEC equivalent Gorham offering of the burger?

Piato

Mejadara with rice, lentils, fried onion. This is a must have, and vegetarian!
Chreime, a tripolitany jewish fish stew
Fried chicken with aleppo pepper and honey
Lamb Ragu

Grill

Octopus with piquillo pepper and dill. This is a must have.
Prawns with red charmula, parsley, preserve lemon
Greek lamb chops with oregono, garlic, lemon
Dry aged Rib Eye with baharat, red chili, pine nut butter... sorry I don’t have a photo with the full rib eye, but let me promise you that it is delicious, and here’s a peek of a piece I was able to grab (along with a Greek Potato and cheese sample).
Nazareth Kebab with beef and lamb
Syrian Kebab with beef and lamb
Moroccan Chicken Kebab

Dessert

Cardamom Ice Cream Affogato with Turkish Coffee. I saw this though I wasn’t fast enough for a photo and it looked wonderful.
Triple Nut Biscotti with wines
Rose Water Panna Cotta with pistachios
Date Olive Oil Cake with honey yogurt and orange blossom syrup

The kitchen staff was dressed in shirts that on the back, proclaimed “Shalum, Y’all!”. Also, with the open kitchen I got to admire them dressing the octopi and the kebabs (actually, I didn’t have a single kebob when I was at the party- they went way too fast and my hands with the camera phone were not quick enough! Well, definitely going to order some when I visit the restaurant during regular service!)
Mediterranean Exploration Company, The kitchen staff in the open kitchen

Meanwhile, NY DJ Waffle was excellent at keeping the good music flowing during the launch party. One wall by the bar had these whimsical birds, the same bird as on the kitchen staff T shirts… And I was able to end on a sweet note with this dessert which I believe is provided by Maurice’s Kristen Murray.
Mediterranean Exploration Company, DJ Waffle keeping the good music flowing during the launch party

Shalum, Y’all! I’ll be back with another report from a meal during their soft opening service… I NEED to try the “Eastern-style” fried chicken with Aleppo pepper and honey that I kept eying as they went by… Was there anything on the menu that catches your eye?

Filed Under: Cocktails, Food and Drink, Restaurant Review Tagged With: Arak Frappe cocktail, Austria soda with black currants, Beef Bacon Wrapped Date, Dry aged Rib Eye with baharat, Falafel with s'hug, Fried calamari, fried onion, gin ale soda, gin punch, Greek Potatoes, Housemade Lebneh, Kebab, Lamb Gyro, lentils, Mackerel with beet olive salsa, Mediterranean Exploration Company, Mejadara with rice, Moroccan Brick Chicken, Octopus with piquillo pepper and dill, Palestinian Beef Tartar, parsley, Philo Chard Pie, pickles, pine nut butter., Prawns with red charmula, preserve lemon, Raddichio, red chili, Shalum, Sheep's Milk Feta, Steve's Cheese Board, tahini, Tai Tai cocktail, Vered Hagalil chopped salad, Y'all

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