Salt on the Barbie

Now that Carrabba's, our Sunday go-to place when we visited my parents in Staten Island, is closed, we are trying out some other places in the area. Tonight's dinner was in the same shopping plaza at Outback Steakhouse. We were in a great mood after the awesome Giants win over the Packers and were hoping for a good meal. We had been there before and had been satisfied with our experiences in the past.


Service was a bit slow from the start. Our server was very nice and kept the drinks full, but the kitchen seemed really slow. We got through two loaves of honey wheat bread before our appetizer arrived. The bread is a little sweet so it's not my favorite type. Also, for me, today it seemed a little dry.


For appetizer, we got the Alice Springs chicken quesadilla, which usually comes stuffed with grilled chicken breast, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, melted jack and cheddar cheeses and served with a side of honey mustard sauce.


The quesadilla was ordinary and seemed like something we could make ourselves. It was just pieces of grilled chicken, a few sliced mushrooms (there weren't even mushrooms in every piece) and cheese. Since we got it without bacon, there wasn't much depth of flavor to it. We were expecting something more than the simple quesadilla we got. The honey mustard sauce wasn't bad and I used a lot of it.

After another long wait, our entrees arrived:


Looking at the plates on the table, it looked like we had a really healthy meal. Clockwise starting from the top left corner, my mom got the grilled chicken on the barbie (seasoned grilled chicken served with BBQ sauce) with seasonal mixed vegetables (cooked in oil instead of butter), my dad got the grilled Norwegian salmon with the same mixed vegetables, A got the ribs (drenched in BBQ sauce) and chicken on the barbie (same chicken but just a smaller piece) which was served with Aussie fries (seasoned fries), and I got the grilled chicken on the barbie with green beans. We thought we were making really good choices!

There was one problem with the entrees and it affected all the entrees. They were all so salty, almost to the point of being inedible. With the chicken, we tried pulling off the top layer, which made it more bearable. Unfortunately for my dad, in addition to the salmon being fairly well done, there is no top layer to salmon to pull off and it wasn't possible to get rid of the salty part. A noted that his ribs were also really salty - not from the BBQ sauce but from the ribs themselves. The vegetables luckily were not that salty and somehow A's Aussie fries were less salty than our grilled chicken. It was like they just dumped an entire container of salt on the grill or mistook teaspoons in the recipe for tablespoons. No idea what happened in the kitchen, but everything off the grill felt like it went through a salt bath before getting to the table.

To management's credit, they did offer to make the dishes again, but considering the time and how much we had already eaten, we really didn't want another set of entrees. They also said that next time we could order it with no seasoning or light seasoning. But who would find this level of sodium to be edible? I cannot believe that a recipe would call for that level of salt, so much that it made my lips burn. If we got this again, I think we would have to ask for light seasoning, but I really don't know how anyone can stomach this if it's the "regular" seasoning level. I think we're still feeling the effects of it hours later.

There aren't a ton of dining options right near the grocery store, which is usually our last stop during the weekend (and we try to eat close to save time), so we'll probably return to Outback at some point. Hopefully next time the kitchen doesn't have such a heavy hand with the salt!

My First Steak 'n Shake

Opening day for the new Steak 'n Shake Signature in Manhattan was my very first time having Steak 'n Shake. Even though I spent a few years in Chicago, they don't have any locations in the city and we didn't take any special trips to the suburbs just to get steakburgers. Seeing A's excitement about the arrival of steakburgers, I was excited to finally try it.

I have always loved the logo design
Me having my very first steakburger
Since it was my first time at Steak 'n Shake, I didn't get any of the specialty combinations and stuck with the original double cheese 'n fries. For $3.99 (so cheap by NYC standards!), you get a double cheeseburger and fries. My cheeseburger consisted of two steak patties with American cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, onions, ketchup and mustard (i.e., everything but mayo).


I thought the burger was good. I didn't know what to expect except that it was a thinner burger, which is how I like it. Since we just had shackburgers the day before, it was hard not to compare to Shake Shack. I think I still like Shake Shack better, but the Steak 'n Shake burger was pretty good. The first few bites didn't wow me but I think it was a little too much bread at the start, which didn't allow the flavors of the burger to shine through. Once I got to the middle and it was really just burger, cheese, onion and mustard, I thought it was a pretty good burger.

The burger came with a small container of fries. (I am still amazed by how much food you get for just $4! Best deal ever! Well, maybe not ever, but it's a good deal.)


The fries were skinny and very lightly salted. They were fine but clearly come in second to the burger. I liked that the portion of fries was smaller so I didn't have to eat too many.

I was happy with my first visit to Steak 'n Shake and can't wait to go back. It's an affordable tasty meal and they have a whole bunch of different burgers to try. The guacamole and the mushroom ones sound really, really good, and they also have chili steak franks that look interesting. I think it's safe to say we'll go back again. Welcome to NYC Steak 'n Shake!

Bayridge Sushi

Tonight we found ourselves in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with M's parents and we decided to try Bayridge Sushi, recommended to us by a few people.


We started with a special appetizer of pizza with salmon:


Not the most attractive dish, but it was tasty. There was a thin crispy crust on the bottom, a layer of creamy avocado, sashimi style salmon and a lot of sauce. This was a great start to the meal.

We ordered an assortment of 9 rolls which arrived in one of those big sushi boats:


Forgot to take a separate photo of the yellowtail scallion roll (which was nothing special and seemed to be missing scallions), but here's a closer look at the other 8 rolls.

Clockwise from top left: tuna tartar roll, chicken tempura roll, Ginza roll, salmon avocado scallion roll
Tuna tartar roll: The tuna tartar roll (5 pieces) was also on the page of specials, described as a tempura roll with tuna on top served with chef's special sauce. M wasn't sure what a "tempura roll" was, but it was just rice wrapped in seaweed and fried. The tuna topping was kind of like poke - cubes of tuna (instead of being chopped finely like other tartares), seaweed salad and bean sprouts. Although it was nice to have something different like tuna tartare over a roll, the tempura roll part of it just felt unnecessary as it didn't add anything other than texture. We think it might have been better to just order tuna tartare.

Chicken tempura roll: The chicken tempura roll (5 pieces) contained fried chicken, avocado, cucumber and caviar inside. There were 2 large pieces with chicken sticking out (A got one of these) and three middle pieces (M tried these). This one was OK, but nothing special. There wasn't much about it that screamed out that it was fried chicken and not fried something else. The chicken tempura was rather bland, and A couldn't pick up much else flavor-wise.

Ginza roll: The Ginza roll (6 pieces) had cooked salmon with onion and "crunchy caviar" outside. Not really sure what crunchy caviar is, but this seemed just like your usual roe. A didn't really experience any textural difference from the "crunchy" caviar, and he could barely taste any saltiness from the roe. M liked this one because of the crunch and flavor of the onions, but it didn't seem to be a favorite at the table. The cooked salmon and onion was an interesting change to the normal sushi we've had.

Salmon avocado scallion roll: This roll (6 pieces) should have had salmon, avocado and scallions (kind of self-explanatory), but just like the yellowtail scallion, there were no scallions. It's like they ran out of scallions but forgot to mention it. It was a little less noticeable here than in the yellowtail scallion roll since this roll is often just salmon and avocado. It was your basic salmon avocado roll and had a nice clean flavor.

The rolls in this second collage all had 8 pieces, much easier for a party of 4 to split:

Clockwise from top left: Mexican roll, pink girl roll, T roll, 007 roll
Mexican roll: The Mexican roll had crunchy spicy tuna inside, avocado outside and spicy sauce on top. Their spicy sauce isn't very spicy but this roll had a nice texture and flavor. It was probably M's favorite, although a close tie with the next roll on this list. A thought this was just okay. Once again he didn't really get any textural differences from the crunchy portion of the roll, but at least the flavors were good.

Pink girl roll: The pink girl roll had eel and avocado inside with spicy crab meat on top. M thought the spicy crab here was much stronger than the flavors of the eel and avocado. It was really tasty and M's second favorite. The spicy crab was not spicy at all in A's opinion. He also agreed with M's assessment that the crab was pretty much all you could taste in the roll. For someone that really likes eel in sushi, this was disappointing.

T roll: The T roll consisted of spicy tuna, eel, avocado and salmon with spicy mayo and eel sauce. They didn't mention it on the specials board but this roll was wrapped in soy paper. M liked that it had a refreshing flavor. Once again, A didn't think this was spicy at all. (It's a common thread here - nothing labeled spicy was really that spicy.) The roll tasted nice and fresh, but it just didn't do anything to wow him.

007 roll: This roll was labeled "most popular" on the menu and had shrimp tempura and cucumber inside with crunchy spicy tuna on top. This was the first of the tempura/crunchy rolls that A actually got some sort of crunch. On top of that, the flavors were very good, and it was probably A's favorite roll of the night.

Generally, the sushi was good. A was a little disappointed by the sushi as he didn't think it was anything that special. They were missing some key elements, and he didn't think the elements presented really reflected what the descriptions were. M didn't think they were the most amazing sushi rolls we have had but that it was good. Definitely better than some of the places she's gotten for delivery at work. The prices were quite reasonable as well.

To close out the meal, they brought us a plate of red bean, green tea and vanilla ice cream on the house:


We had originally gone to Bayridge Sushi because we had heard that they had all you can eat sushi (for $20/person) but since we didn't see it on the menu, we ordered an assortment of rolls. When we were leaving, we saw a table with all you can eat forms so it looks like they do have it but you just have to specially request it. A was disappointed that he did not get all you can eat sushi. Oh well, next time!

Steak 'n Shake Preview

Today was opening day for the new Steak 'n Shake Signature in Manhattan. To celebrate, they offered free burgers for a year to the first 150 people in line at the 10 am opening. We weren't going to wait all night to get free burgers (since after all, they're under $5!) but we definitely wanted to check it out on opening day.


A full recap later... but here's a teaser pic of us with our opening day steakburgers!

A Filoti Layover

After a relaxing time in Halki where we had loucomades and citron, we continued along the winding road to the next town, Filoti. It was a cute town built on the side of the mountain, and looked like it was bigger than Halki. As we passed through the town on the main road, we saw a few cafes and it looked like the entire town was out having their afternoon coffee. We decided to join them and got a table at this cute little cafe. It was another relaxing stop.


A got a frappe. He ordered it without milk, and that was a mistake. Normally he doesn't take sugar with his coffee, but something about frappes scream out to need some sweetness. It tasted very good as a cold, frothed coffee drink, but it was just missing that sweetness to make it great. That doesn't take away from the fact that it was still excellent coffee, though.


Since M doesn't drink coffee (it puts her to sleep), she just got an orange juice. The juice was fine, not as good as the fresh squeezed juice we got that morning at the hotel, but it was refreshing.


Our stop in Filoti was a nice break before a harrowing drive to Mt. Zeus and then continuing along the winding mountain road to our furthest stop, Apiranthos. We loved taking part in the daily routine of the locals and treasured our brief stop in town.

Citron

The town of Halki in Naxos wasn't just home to delicious loucoumades. It was also the home to the Citron (Kitron) distillery museum.


The Kitron distillery in Naxos first opened in 1896. The drink is made from citron trees found on the island. Currently, the alcohol is only found on the island of Naxos and not exported anywhere. (We thought we wouldn't find many items from Greece here in the States but we found a lot, even the cookies, in Astoria. However, we did not find citron yet.) You can get citron in Halki or at the citron bar down in Chora, which we had passed by before. The rich history and the ability to walk through the old distillery attracted us to the museum during our visit.


When we went to the distillery museum, they offered us a free taste of the citron. It's available in green, yellow and clear varieties. The yellow is the strongest, the clear is medium and the green is the lightest and sweetest variety.


Our favorite is the green Citron. The alcohol is still strong (the green was about 30%), but the green one did have a pleasantly sweet taste. We liked it so much that we considered getting a bottle to bring home but thought transport home would be too difficult. Citron is one of those products that you can only get in Naxos. We hope to return one day and will definitely check out the citron bar since we didn't have time to go there during this trip. If you happen to be in Halki, drop by the distillery museum. It's a quick stop and free!

Goodbye Coffee Pot

We were walking around the neighborhood tonight after dinner at Shake Shack and noticed yet another closure. (Haven't there been enough?) The Coffee Pot, which has been here since before we moved to the neighborhood, apparently closed recently.


We had only been there once, after brunch in mid-November of this year. A thought the coffee was just okay but not great, but we thought we might go back one day to just have a light lunch or some soup while getting coffee. Not going to happen now. It was pretty crowded while we were there but I guess with all the Starbucks in our area, it just couldn't survive. I wonder what will take its place. On our walk, we also noticed all the other storefronts that have changed since our arrival here. So much change. Goodbye to the Coffee Pot.

Mud Pie

The Wednesday custard of the month for January is mud pie. According to the Shake Shack folks, mud pie is vanilla custard with fudge sauce, a touch of coffee, and chocolate cookies.


A's take:
At first, I couldn't quite pin the taste down. It tasted like chocolate milk since it was vanilla custard with chocolate fudge/syrup mixed in. I didn't really get any hint of coffee, and the chocolate cookies were more wafer-ish than cookie. The cookies added some texture to the custard, but in the end they were a bit forgettable. As I ate, I kept trying to figure out what the flavor really was, and then it finally hit me. It tastes just like a Wendy's Frosty. All in all, the custard was tasty since I like Frosty's, but the extra additions (cookies and coffee?) didn't really add much.

M's take:
Like A, I thought this tasted just like a frosty. The cookies, if crumbled, reminded me of the chocolate crunchies that you get in yummy Carvel ice cream cakes. They didn't seem entirely necessary even though I usually like variation in texture in the custards. It was a good custard, but I could easily get a frosty for cheaper and it's healthier (I think).

Mud pie
A's rating: 7.5/10
M's rating: 7/10

Hot Soup Cart

Once the weather starts getting colder, the hot soup carts start appearing all over midtown. They all look fairly similar with their big red hot soup banners, but I don't know if they are run by the same people. Somehow in the past 6 winters I've never tried them, but today, since I was short on time, I decided to start a new block by block challenge and the soup cart was up next. (I skipped the street meat cart because I couldn't tell if they used broccoli.)


The soup cart had about 15 different soups available for purchase. You can get soup in small (12 oz), medium (16 oz) or large (32 oz) sizes. I'm not very good at visualizing the different sizes and how filling they are (even when looking at the cups), so I couldn't decide whether to get the 16 or the 32 oz size. I didn't want to be hungry an hour later from not eating enough for lunch but the 32 oz size just seemed so expensive ($9.50), so I went with the 16 oz size. I found out later that the medium 16 oz size is equal to the large size as Hale and Hearty, so it's good that I picked up the 16 oz.


I got the wedding soup, since I figured that would be a good standard to judge how good their soup is. I like wedding soup and have tried a bunch of them, as I've mentioned before. The soup came with a roll about the size of my hand. I liked the flower design on the roll.


The wedding soup was pretty good. It actually reminded me a lot of the canned wedding soup that I used to get, mostly because the type of pasta used is similar. As for thickness, it was a medium level, not as watery as Europa soups usually are but not quite as densely packed as Hale and Hearty. Flavor was good, and the soup was full of meatballs, pasta, spinach, and carrots. I liked it and would definitely go back to try another soup. Now that I know I don't need to get the large size, it's actually not a bad price for lunch at $5.50. The new block is off to a good start!

Turco

A new restaurant popped up on 9th avenue recently called Turco. It opened up in the old Golden Chicken and Ribs spot that closed about a month or so ago. Turco is a Turkish/Mediterranean grill specializing in falafel, shawarma, and kebabs. I opted for the falafel plate, but I think the guy preparing it didn't care/understand.

Plates, according to their menu, come with rice, salad, and whatever topping you choose. I first had a sandwich made, and when I asked, the cashier guy questioned and the response was something like, "sandwich, plate, yeah." So they made me another. This time it came in a plastic container, but it had no rice. Oh well, I'll deal.

Falafel Plate
The plate came with 4 falafel balls, pita, lettuce, onions, red cabbage, tomatoes, pickles, and hummus. The hummus was better than most of the hummus that I had eaten before, and the falafel was tasty, but it could have stood to have fried a little longer. It wasn't as crispy as I normally prefer, but again, the flavor was excellent. My guess is that they rushed the order out since I was waiting so long and they felt bad that they messed up the first time. Overall the flavors were good. I would definitely go back, and I'm intrigued by the shawarmas.

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

Along with my mozzarella avocado tomato sandwich from Hale and Hearty today, I also tried a new soup (new to me, anyway) - Rhode Island "clear" clam chowder. Back in undergrad, I had known this clear variation as "Boston" clam chowder from our dining hall labels instead of "Rhode Island" but wikipedia tells me it is commonly known as Rhode Island clam chowder. I love all the types of clam chowder that I've had - New England, Manhattan, and Rhode Island/Boston - so I opted for this instead of the Italian wedding soup I originally went to get.


Hale and Hearty's Rhode Island clam chowder consists of clear broth, minced clams, hearty vegetables, fresh herbs and bacon. (The Boston clam chowder I had in college did not have bacon, if I remember correctly.) The clams were a little chewy but not too bad. Some of the pieces like the one near the top of this cup looked like shrimp at first. The vegetables consisted of carrots, celery, onions and something crunchy which I thought was water chestnuts (but don't have an ingredient list to confirm). I liked the crunch and also how packed the soup was with vegetables. Healthy to counter the bacon! As for the bacon, it was relatively light and didn't overwhelm the flavor of the chowder which was nice. I would get this again.

Gastrobus

Two years ago today, it was our last day on vacation in Los Angeles and we had a late night flight back home. After checking out of the hotel, we stopped by the Los Feliz Farmers Market to try out the Gastrobus, one of the few trucks out on a Sunday and one we wanted to try for their fresh approach to ingredients.


There were a lot of things on the menu that sounded good. We especially liked that on Sundays they buy everything that day from the farmers market and then put together the menu. After much deliberating we decided to pick two dishes.


The first thing we tried was the yam hashbrown. We weren't sure what to expect since hash browns are usually fried, and were pleasantly surprised that it was like a spiced mashed yam, served with caramelized onions, spiced yogurt and cilantro. It was creamy and a little sweet, and the onions and greens added a nice freshness to the dish. The yogurt was cool and added tartness to the mix. It was delicious and in serious contention for my top 10 dishes of 2010. We were really glad we got there when we did as they were sold out of this by the time we finished eating.


We also decided to get some nice healthy veggies and opted for the yu choy with garlic confit and lemon. These were tasty (and healthy) and garlicky. They were stirfried well and still crisp, and you could tell how fresh they were. A remembers these more clearly than I do. For me, the yam hashbrowns stole the show.


We loved our visit to the Gastrobus and wished we had something like that in NYC. If only we had more time in LA...

Mozzarella Avocado and Tomato

The January sandwich of the month at Hale and Hearty is the mozzarella, avocado and tomato sandwich. It consists of fresh mozzarella, avocado and ripe tomato, topped with baby arugula and a zesty lemon aioli (according to the website). The sandwich is on honey wheat pullman bread.


I really liked the mozzarella/avocado/tomato part of the sandwich. It was juicy and flavorful. The lemon aioli wasn't very zesty, but did add a nice bit of citrus. I wasn't a big fan of the bread as it's a little stiff and the ingredients run out before the bread, but I'm also just partial to sandwiches on Hale and Hearty's ciabatta square. It's a solid sandwich of the month, but I probably won't get it again as I like my other favorites there better. Can't wait to see what the February sandwich is (since I'm hoping to try all the monthly specials).

A Tale of Two Lunches

Last week we had a training session over lunch. The place that catered the lunch had done some of our other lunches before, and I thought their sandwiches were usually better than some of the other places. Perhaps they were having a bad day or perhaps they just gave us a crappy selection of sandwiches this time, but lunch was not very good at all. (I was thankful for the kosher potato salad.)


I had a half chicken wrap (which wasn't bad but just kind of boring), and a half turkey avocado sandwich. On the turkey avocado, the white bread was dry and almost inedible, the sandwich was covered in mayo (which was too much mushiness when combined with the avocado), and it turned out to have bacon which wasn't apparent from the first look I took. All of the salads also had broccoli which meant I couldn't eat them. What happened to the really good sandwiches from last time? Again, thank goodness for potato salad.

But it makes me wonder why we can't have lunches like today's all the time. For our group lunches, we make a special effort not to get sandwiches. It's probably a little more expensive, but it's so much happier. A disappointing lunch (even if free) doesn't really do much to make someone happy, but a tasty break in the middle of the day could really boost morale! I think today's lunch was the Middle Eastern menu from Food Trends. I've had the Greek buffet before (it was good), but this was my first time trying this one and I was excited.


I got some falafel (it's not Taim but it wasn't bad), small dollops of hummus and tzatziki, and heaping piles of Israeli chopped salad and chicken shawarma. I may have gotten seconds (and a snack for later) consisting of shawarma and chopped salad. I really loved all the spices in the shawarma and the refreshing crispness of the salad.


I was much, much happier with today's lunch. Let's hope future lunches have more tasty food!

My C1 Habit

I have written about a lot of sandwiches on here but there is one sandwich that I probably eat more regularly than any other combination. I haven't posted about it here although I've mentioned it a few times, so it's probably time that I officially introduce you to the C1 sandwich at Lenny's.


The C1 sandwich (the first option on the cold cut menu) consists of cracked pepper turkey, pastrami seasoned turkey breast, jalapeno monterey jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and capers (although I order it without capers). You can get it on any type of bread that Lenny's offers but I usually go with a whole wheat roll (no extra charge).


It seems fitting that my "regular" sandwich was the first sandwich I ate by choice in 2012. (I had two sandwich halves from someplace else which is usually not bad at a work lunch this week but they were not very good at all and it was really disappointing.) I love how this sandwich has so much flavor with the seasoned turkey and the jack cheese, and the refreshing crunchiness of the lettuce, tomatoes and red onions is great. It's also not thin and bready like a Subway sandwich. It's just a really satisfying sandwich. I don't think it needs the capers. They add some sourness, but I think the sandwich is pretty darn good without it. If you like capers a lot, you might want to try it with it.


I've tried a lot of sandwiches over the years - some good, some bad - but this seems to be the one I get the most. Part of this is because there's a Lenny's shop very close to our apartment but we also just really like the (reasonably priced) sandwiches. Any recommendations for other good (and somewhat healthy) sandwiches?

Loucoumades

Note: We wrote most of this before our year-end posts, so some of this might repeat what we said there about loucoumades.

After our filling breakfast at the hotel, we drove toward the interior of the island of Naxos to visit some of the small towns and the Temple of Demeter. Following the long, winding roads through the mountains, we ended up at a small town called Halki and decided to stop to take a look around.


Halki was a cute small town. There were a few shops including the Citron distillery and some craft shops, and a couple of places to eat including Regina Rose Amat which looked like the place to go for some light snacks. They had sandwiches, crepes, sweet snacks, and the item which caught our eye - loucoumades.


Loucoumades are like Greek donut holes. Deep fried dough balls soaked in honey, cinnamon and sugar. We had hoped to try loucoumades while in Greece so there was no question what we would get at Regina Rose Amat.

A had eaten loucoumades previously in his time in Illinois at a Greek Orthodox Church festival, and he was definitely looking forward to having the real thing in Greece.


We thought we had ordered the small portion but it looked like we got the large. It was only 1 euro more, so no complaints from us, especially not after trying the loucoumades. They were perfectly fried and chewy. The local honey and cinnamon were the perfect toppings. It was such a sweet delicious snack. Enjoying it in the shade in a quaint Greek Island town made the experience seem so surreal. It was relaxing, and it was the perfect way to spend part of our afternoon.


It's a bit of a trek to get to Halki if you're staying in the main section of Naxos (or one of the beach towns near Chora), but we definitely found the small towns to be a highlight of our trip. If you find yourself in Halki, you can't go wrong stopping by for some of these loucoumades!

A Pure and Fresh Start

The first thing we ate in 2012 (yes, it's a week later, but better late than never) was the steamed fresh roll from Pure Thai Cookhouse. (Apparently Pure Thai Shophouse (one of our previous visits here) had to change their name to Cookhouse but we didn't even know that until a few days later. Chipotle's new Asian concept (which came out after them) is the reason but unclear whether it was forced or just requested, so no judgment on Chipotle from us (yet).) We were looking for something healthy and tasty, and this was perfect.


The steamed fresh roll consisted of pork sausage, cucumber, smoked tofu, and bean sprouts in a rice wrapper, steamed and topped with bits of crab meat. On the side were some peppers and scallions. The roll was drizzled and soaked in a tamarind reduction.


It was really, really good. It reminded me of something I had before but I still can't place it in my memory. The scallions and cucumber were a bit like eating Peking duck, since I eat the buns without the duck, but I don't think that's the memory I was looking for. Maybe someday I'll place it.

The roll was a good combination of flavors and textures, with the dense sausage contrasting well with the light and crunchy bean sprouts and cucumber. The crab was sweet and flavorful. Despite there not being much crab in the roll, you could definitely taste it. The sauce also added a nice sweetness, while the other ingredients brought the savory flavors. We really enjoyed it and would definitely get it again!

Even More Goodbyes

I feel like more restaurants than usual closed (or announced imminent closures) at the end of this year. That might not be true, but, if it's the same number, it seems like this year it has affected more of the restaurants we have been to in the past. Walking around the city this weekend, it seems like there are empty storefronts everywhere for rent. Kind of sad.

We already mentioned the Carrabbas closing (which seemed to kick off the trend), as well as Tillie's, Nooi and Matsuri. We went over to Elsewhere in our neighborhood in their last week of business for a goodbye dinner. There's probably more that I'm forgetting. And today I saw on Midtown Lunch that the BCD Tofu House in Koreatown also closed down? What is going on?! Can restaurants we have been to and like please stop closing? I just can't believe they're all closed...

Fish Roasted With Lime

Last January, we posted about our "cookbook project" where we would attempt to make a new recipe from one of our many cookbooks at least once a month. Our January recipe was delicious... and then we never did it again. For New Years Eve, we decided on a quiet night at home instead of going out. Since A decided to cook something new for dinner, we were able to close out the year with one more cookbook project!

December's recipe was Fish Roasted with Lime from the "Best Ever Greek" cookbook we got from my parents for Christmas this year. It was a really healthy way to end the year. Alongside the fish A made brussels sprouts with chestnuts and sage, something he's made a few times before.

To make the fish, you need:

Some of the ingredients for the fish dish
- Fish fillets (they recommend 2 lb, 4 oz of white fish fillets like flounder; we had frozen flounder, no idea how much this cost but I estimate $15?)
- Salt and pepper (we already had this, $0)
- 1 lime ($0.33)
- Olive oil (we already had this, $0)
- Large onion ($0.82)
- Garlic cloves ($0.25)
- Pickled jalapeno chilies (can cost $1.50, used about half, $0.75)
- Fresh cilantro ($0.50)

The fish part of the meal cost around $18. The brussels sprouts portion of the meal cost about $6.40. At a total of around $25 for 2 people, it's much cheaper than anything we would have gotten eating out on New Years Eve when all the prices are jacked up.

Cooking the brussels sprouts portion of dinner
To make the fish, you season the fish, heat up the onion/garlic mixture, put the fish in a roasting pan with the mix, chilies and cilantro, roast it in the oven for about 20 minutes, and that's it. A said it was a pretty straightforward recipe.

Finished product - Fish roasted with lime with a side of brussels sprouts with chestnuts and sage
We liked the fish. It would have come out better with fresh fish instead of the fish from our freezer but we are on a mission to empty our freezer of all the old stuff we have stockpiled there, and this allowed us to finish off those flounder fillets. (The "best by" date was 10/2008...) The onion, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro mixture was really fantastic. The fish was a little fishy in parts and had been freezerburned, but the relish topping did a great job covering that up.

We were confused as to why this recipe was in a Greek cookbook. It didn't taste Greek to us at all, at least not anything like the food we had in Greece. If I didn't know this came from a Greek cookbook, I would have assumed it was from a Mexican cookbook. I think it's due to the jalapenos and lime, which I associate much more with Mexican cooking, and have never had in Greek food. That was just odd.

We would consider making this again, but we would definitely not use flounder that was at its best over 3 years ago!

January Custard Calendar

Happy New Year! The January custard calendar is up. As we do every month, here are some thoughts.


Monday - cinnamon cream cheese - my first reaction was one of disgust. I have no idea what cinnamon cream cheese tastes like, but was not sure I wanted to find out. Cream cheese custard? Now I'm wondering if we need to try this just because of how different it is.

Tuesday - chocolate hazelnut - always a good combination, but I think this is the same thing they've had before when they called it gianduja instead (why the name change?!). We've mentioned gianduja before as one of our favorites but have never actually reviewed it. I guess we'll just have to go on a Tuesday to get chocolate hazelnut... so hard...

Gianduja from last January
Wednesday - mud pie - I don't think we've ever had this although we've wanted to try it.

Thursday - honey roasted peanut - another one we haven't tried. I'm not a big peanut fan but I think they've also had this before. Maybe we should finally try it.

Friday - red velvet - pretty sure we tried this one and that it came with cake inside (we love those), but can't find a photo of it. Maybe we'll have to try that one again too... also so hard...

Saturday - salted caramel - we tried this one in July and found it more caramel than salted caramel. Would be willing to try it again if they've changed the mixture, but we were pretty disappointed last time.

Sunday - thin mint - we tried this last February and generally liked it. It was just chocolate with some mint mixed in. We gave it an 8 at the time but I'm not sure it deserved that high a rating since we're not even sure we want to go back this month to get more. But I guess it was good at the time?

Any idea what cinnamon cream cheese might taste like? Trying to get the courage to try it... Maybe it'll taste like frosting?