Tianbula

I took today off from the Thanksgiving Sandwich Project since I heard that Bian Dang was giving out a free lunch in connection with the LevelUp app. Originally, I had been thinking of taking the lunch off for the $1 Groupon specials, but there were so few and none of them were nearby, so that idea was quashed fairly quickly. Not only was Bian Dang near me, but the deal sounded easy. Order up to $10, pay with the LevelUp app and you're done! Free!


The free lunches were to launch their new loyalty program on the LevelUp app. I think this is a genius idea. My problem with most of my frequent buyer cards is that I always forget them. But, using the app, it's all on your phone and I always have that with me. What a great idea.


I got the tianbula (fish cake) over rice with extra pork sauce and a tea egg. I had wanted to try the fish cake last time I was at the truck but they ran out, so I figured this was a good time. I was very tempted by the zongzi (as I love zongzi) but I thought I should try something new. Lunch was exactly what I expected, and a nice filling meal. The fish cake meal is usually $8, but I added extra pork sauce and the tea egg and used up the whole $10 credit on the app.


I wasn't sure if I would like the tea egg as I don't usually eat hardboiled eggs. A told me it was similar in taste to the eggs in the zongzi, which I really like, and he was right. I took the first bite of egg and that's exactly what it reminded me of - the delicious egg yolk in the zongzi. Now I want zongzi...


There was definitely an extra serving of pork sauce. Doesn't it look so good? As for the fish, it was interesting. It reminded me a lot of schnitzel.


What a good lunch. I would definitely pay for it... but it's even better for free!

It's so strange to me that, with all the good food available, people still go their generic spots. As I left the truck with my awesome free lunch, I walked by an office building with a large group of people who had just bought sandwiches or salads or something else. Right across the street from their office they could have gotten free food! It's not like there was a long line to avoid or something difficult needed to be done to qualify for the deal. Why would you turn down free Taiwanese food? I obviously wouldn't!

Turkey and Stuffing

It was cold and rainy again today at lunch. I could have trekked over to Midtown East for the last week of free Priceless lunches, but instead of pupusas, souvlaki or awesome falafel, we got burgers (for which there were long lines) and ice cream (did I mention it was in the 40s? and that ice cream is not lunch to me?). I wasn't very excited by that option (even if it was free) so I decided to continue yesterday's Thanksgiving Sandwich Project with a visit to Cosi.


Cosi has been advertising their turkey and stuffing seasonal sandwich prominently in their windows and it looks absolutely delicious in the picture. You can order the sandwich warm, which of course I was going to do. Warm sandwiches are always so good.

I got the sandwich, which the dog cannot wait to devour, and a drink, iced tea, which I got for free just for checking in at this Cosi branch on foursquare:


The sandwich comes on their signature flatbread and I chose the whole grain one to try to be a little bit healthier. I love that Cosi gives you free samples of flatbread while you wait to order because the flatbread is really, really good.


Like many Thanksgiving sandwiches, this one consisted of turkey (in this case, they were lean turkey medallions), stuffing, and cranberry sauce (not canned and it had actual cranberries).


The sandwich wasn't as full as the one in the picture (or my sandwich from yesterday), but I guess that's how they keep it under 500 calories.


Generally, I thought this sandwich was pretty good and tastier than the one I got yesterday from Toasties. The turkey wasn't dry at all, and the stuffing had great seasoning and flavor. The cranberry sauce was so much better than the canned kind because you get the burst of flavor every time you bite into a cranberry. And, as much as I like sandwiches on rolls, the Cosi flatbread is just fantastic. This sandwich came together well with all the ingredients mixed together. It's about the same price as Toasties, the sandwich is less stuffed but the taste was better.

While I enjoyed the sandwich, I'm a little disappointed now with one part of my Cosi experience. According to the website (which I'm looking at now), all sandwiches come with either chips or baby carrots. I had no idea this was included and did not get either one. The guy working there, when giving the girl in front of me her sandwich, told her to pick up either chips or carrots. He didn't say anything to me, so I assumed she had purchased some combo or something. But no, he just didn't tell me about it! I would have gladly taken carrots to add some vegetables on the side of my Thanksgiving sandwich (since those are low on veggies) but I was unaware. I hate when people get different treatment, especially when I'm on the side that loses out. I guess there's a small possibility that maybe he thought I already had it, but my bag was empty when I put the sandwich in and I thought that was visible.

So, if you're going to go to Cosi to get a sandwich, get your chips or carrots! Don't miss out! And I would recommend trying the turkey and stuffing sandwich, warm, on whole grain flatbread while it's still here. Tasty.

Thanksgiving Sandwich Project

Today I decided to start a new eating project, the Thanksgiving Sandwich Project. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, for reasons that have nothing to do with Pilgrims, Native Americans or aliens, and everything to do with food, family and giving thanks for everything we are lucky to have. As we get closer to the holiday, I thought it would be fun to try out a bunch of Thanksgiving sandwiches to see how they stack up and prepare for the stuffing extravaganza that will be here in a little over a week.


So, what is a Thanksgiving sandwich? Usually it contains roast turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Some (like Lenny's and Toasties) offer their Thanksgiving sandwiches year-round, while others (like Cosi, Earl of Sandwich and usually Pret (but I have not seen their holiday sandwich yet this year)) bring them out in the late fall as a seasonal item for the holidays.

It took me over a year, but I finally made it back to Toasties in connection with the Thanksgiving Sandwich Project. The 4 places I listed above are places that I knew had these sandwiches and I tried to decide which one to visit first. I had originally planned to go to Cosi but it was cold and pouring, so I decided to stay a little closer and go to Toasties. (Side note: There is a Cosi near my office that is actually closer than Toasties but I don't really like that location and wanted to try a new one.)

I had to include this photo with the calendar in the background because the dog looks completely ridiculous
I ordered a Thanksgiving sandwich on a whole wheat roll. It was a decent sized sandwich, filling enough for lunch and came with the usual turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce.


My first bite of the sandwich consisted of turkey, stuffing and gravy. It was really good. When I got to the cranberry sauce (which was like slices of sauce out of the can), it added another layer of sweetness and tartness. Every so often, I got a bite of just turkey with no stuffing, gravy or cranberry sauce. The turkey by itself was very dry, which was disappointing.

Since I don't usually add cranberry sauce to my turkey at Thanksgiving (it's fine but I prefer it separate), it's probably no surprise that my favorite bites were those that consisted of turkey, stuffing and gravy. Also, since stuffing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, it's probably no surprise that my favorite part of the entire sandwich was the stuffing (plus gravy). Generally, it was a good sandwich. I think I would get it again if I were in the mood for it.

Any recommendations for other Thanksgiving sandwiches I can try?

IGK Soup Noodles

Last week I wrote about IGK's Pad Thai. I've been there two other times, and I figured I would combine the two write ups together:

I've been on the lookout for a good Midtown pho restaurant for the longest time. I tried Boi Noodles in the past, but their pho, while it satisfies a craving, isn't really the best. When I found out that IGK served pho as well, I knew I had to try it.


Beef Pho
It's a good sized container of soup and noodles. The broth is good, but it's not as rich as some of the better pho places that I've had in the past. I didn't expect it to be since those places really specialized in pho, and it's not economical to make a hearty and rich broth every day. The noodles were nice and thick and had a good chewiness to them. I noticed that they used the same noodles for both pho and udon. They throw in the noodles first with some beef, then they throw in bean sprouts, basil, onions, sliced chili peppers, a lime wedge, and some more beef, and finally they top it all off with the broth. I was a little annoyed that the lime wedge went into the broth as by the time I got back to my desk to squeeze it out, it had soaked up a ton of broth and was way too hot to handle. I probably should have thought of that prior to burning my fingertips off, but I was hungry. Another thing that was missing, at least for me, was the hoisin sauce and sriracha. While they are not necessities for pho, I've found that over the years I've enjoyed adding them for an added dynamic to the dish. Also, they make a nice dipping sauce for the meat. Speaking of which, the beef was all well-done and not a mix of well-done and rare. It was a mild disappointment, but I have yet to find the rare beef mixed in outside of an actual Vietnamese restaurant.

Overall I like this pho more than Boi Noodles' offering, and for the price it's more than worth it. I think next time I might ask for some hoisin and sriracha on the side to see if they have it, but if not then it's not the end of the world.


Chicken Ramen
The ramen comes in the same-sized container as the pho so it makes for a filling lunch. I got the chicken ramen for no reason other than I wasn't in the mood for beef. They ladle out the broth into a pot with the chicken and add the ramen noodles in to warm. After the broth is bubbling for a while they dump the entire steam content into the container, throw in some mushrooms and scallions, and then close it all up. The noodles they use are actual ramen noodles, and they're "fresh" as opposed to the deep fried blocks we all fell in love with during college. The broth is nice and seasoned. It's not as salty as those aforementioned college ramen packs, but it's definitely saltier than the pho broth. Aside from the overriding concern of sodium content, this ramen really hits the spot. It has all of the subtle ramen seasoning that makes it great, and it comes at a great price as well. If only I could get some of those swirly white and pink fish cakes with it too...

A Different Kind of Quesadilla

It was such a gorgeous afternoon today that I had to take a walk at lunch. I found myself back at the Tacos y Quesadillas Mexico cart (53rd between 7th and Broadway) and this time, I decided to get one of the quesadillas.

First glimpse of the quesadilla
When I opened my foil package, I was surprised by what I saw. Usually when I hear the word "quesadilla," the image of 2 flour tortillas with shredded cheese and pieces of grilled chicken pops into my head. Maybe it's the influence of Taco Bell. Or maybe it's due to my cheap way of making quesadillas like that in law school (in the microwave!).

This quesadilla, however, had a crispy (but not crunchy like a hard shell taco) corn-based exterior. It was folded up like one giant taco but had obviously been on the griddle to melt all the ingredients together before it was packed up and handed over to me.

Opening the quesadilla to check out the ingredients
Inside the quesadilla was some grilled chicken, lettuce, sour cream, cheese (it was a white cheese of some sort) and spicy sauce. This was a really good quesadilla. Everything blended together so well in every bite. There was the slightly rougher texture of the meat, the creaminess of the sour cream and cheese, the light zing of the spicy sauce, the crunch of the lettuce and the crispiness of the shell. They asked if I wanted it spicy, and I said medium spicy, but I think next time I may just go for it, as the spicy sauce was pretty good. I was very happy with my choice. I think I liked the huarache better but I think that's just because huaraches are one of my favorite foods.

Now that I've had the chorizo huarache and chicken quesadilla... next time I must try the tacos!

Holiday Season

Holiday lights have started appearing all over the city and today, there was yet another sign that the holiday season is upon us. Lord and Taylor teamed up with the Sweetery truck to offer some free snacks in honor of the unveiling of their holiday windows today. The truck offered free whoopie pies, smores and cupcakes.


I went for the cupcake. It was a chocolate cupcake topped with a yellow icing, some sprinkles and little sugar beads, and a chocolate medallion with the Lord and Taylor logo.


Cupcakes are tough to get right, but the Sweetery cupcake achieved it. Some cupcakes are too dry, but the cake here was moist and not the least bit dry. Sometimes the cake and/or the icing end up too sweet and you feel like you need to drink 3 glasses of water to recover (coughMagnoliacough). This cupcake was sweet, but it was the right amount of sweetness. It was definitely not cloyingly sweet.

I loved the icing and all the sprinkles. Along with the top layer of the cupcake, those are usually my favorite bites and these did not disappoint! The cupcake was also really pretty. They did a great job planning out the look of the cupcake.


I made it to the truck just in time to get the snack, and was thankful because I was so hungry. They were scheduled to be at that spot until 1:30 and my phone clock read 1:29 when I got there. I was almost out of luck as they told me the line was closed, but they let me on when I mentioned that I thought they would be there until 1:30. I didn't end up feeling that guilty about making it onto the line since, as I watched while eating my cupcake, a bunch of other people begged their way onto the line after me, and they ended up serving at least another 20 people. The perils of offering free food! Anyway, I am glad that I was able to try the cupcake, as I usually get other sweet items from this truck and had never tried the cupcake before. Recommend it!

Apple Rosemary

The Monday custard flavor of the month at Shake Shack is apple rosemary. It's the one flavor this month we knew we had to try.


M's take:

When I went to pick this up at Shake Shack, they gave me a sample after I ordered to make sure that I actually wanted to get it. It made me a little nervous because I thought maybe they had gotten a lot of complaints about the flavor. Instead, the guy told me it was fine but just a little unusual, so he wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting. I appreciated the candor.

I think a big reason it is unique is that it has a bit of an herbal flavor, which was the first thing I noticed. Another interesting aspect of it was that after each spoonful, it felt like I had taken a bite of a fresh juicy green apple. Most of the Shake Shack custards aren't that refreshing. This one was like a combination of vanilla custard (which was nicely subdued half the time), green apple and herbs. I liked it.

A's take:

This was an intriguing flavor. There's a definite spice/herb flavoring to the custard, and the apple is evident as well. The apple, however, is much more subtle, and comes on strongest after the fact. It's a very refreshing taste that leaves your mouth feeling clean even though you've just eaten custard. I also noted that the custard itself seemed more "icy" and crystalline in texture, and I can only attribute that to the wateriness of the apples mixed in. This was a very well matched custard flavor that apparently has not been well received. That's a shame as it's slightly more out of the ordinary, and in my opinion, a refreshing change.

Apple Rosemary
A's rating: 7/10
M's rating: 7/10

2011 Festival Finale

This is our last post on the 2011 Epcot Food and Wine Festival, which just concluded at Disney this weekend. We were there for a short three days but got to try so many dishes from around the world and had a great time.


To conclude, here's a list from each of us of our favorite 10 items from the festival. Similar to our year-end favorite foods lists, we made our choices independently and there may be some repetition. This is only based on taste, not cost-efficiency or plating. This sadly meant that A's list is impacted by his inability to taste some things while sick.

A's 10 favorite dishes (in no particular order)
1. Rice Pudding from Scandinavia
2. Lobster Roll from Hops and Barley
3. Pumpkin Mousse from Hops and Barley
4. Seared Scallop from New Zealand
5. Lamb Slider from New Zealand
6. Escargots from France
7. Cheddar Soup from Canada
8. Chicken Chipotle Sausage from Canada
9. Tuna Poke from Hawaii
10. Nurnberg Sausage from Germany

M's 10 favorite dishes (in no particular order)
1. Perfect Maine lobster roll from Hops and Barley
2. Pumpkin mousse from Hops and Barley
3. Tuna poke from Hawaii
4. Lamb slider from New Zealand
5. Escargots from France
6. Swedish meatballs from Scandinavia
7. Rice pudding from Scandinavia
8. Bulgogi from South Korea
9. Beef empanada from Argentina
10. Tuna and salmon sensation from Japan

Did you make it to the festival this year? If so, what was your favorite dish?

We don't know if we'll be back next year (too few vacation days each year) but we look forward to seeing the offerings!

Ultima Parada

The Portugal kiosk was our last stop at the festival. We didn't plan on making this our final kiosk, but it was a nice end to the festival.


The Portugal kiosk's menu had 2 savory snacks and 1 sweet snack.


Linguica sausage with onions, peppers and olives ($4):

Sausage plate, as served
Without the bread on top
Linguica, as the mobile site explains, is "a Portuguese pork sausage that's cured and seasoned with garlic and paprika."

M's take: The linguica sausage was really tasty. The peppers and onions it came with were a nice combination of sour and salty. When I have sausages and peppers, it's usually Italian-style so it was interesting to see the Portuguese take on a similar dish.

A's take: This was a tasty dish, but it reminded me of a modified sausage and peppers sandwich that I could get in any NYC street festival. Granted, I really like them so it wasn't a bad thing. It was nice that the onions and peppers were pickled and not grilled, and that was the main difference between this dish and a NYC street sausage. The sourness was a nice change. A very tasty dish overall.

Calamari salad with fennel, smoked paprika and olive oil ($2.75):


M's take: This salad was good, but too salty for my taste. I liked that the seafood was fresh and clean, and the peppers and onions were good, but there was just too much sodium.

A's take: This dish had a lot of potential. The seafood tasted very fresh and was well cooked. The peppers and onions were clean and added a nice crunch to the dish. The only problem was that they seemed to just dump an entire container of salt on to this dish. The saltiness nearly made this inedible.

Pastel de nata (egg custard in a puff pastry shell) ($3):


M's take: This was OK. I'm not a big fan of egg tarts or egg custards, so I gave most of this to A, if I remember correctly. It was very rich.

A's take: I like Chinese egg tarts. This one was okay, but the pastry shell was a little too hard/crunchy. By comparison, a Chinese egg tart is a flaky, buttery pastry shell. It was still tasty, though.

Favorite dishes at the Portugal kiosk:
A: Linguica sausage with peppers
M: Linguica sausage with peppers

Scallops and Sliders

New Zealand's kiosk was high on our list of places to try but it was always crowded. We didn't make it there until our penultimate stop and we really wish we had been able to go twice.


The menu for New Zealand sounded delicious!


First, seared sea scallop with kumara (sweet potato) and red curry puree and apple radish salad ($4.25):


M's take: I'm not usually a fan of mixing fruit into savory dishes, but I didn't mind the apple here. It added a crispness and freshness to an already excellent dish. I was a little disappointed that it was only a single scallop for the price we were paying, but the scallop was cooked perfectly. It was juicy and flavorful. The puree had a unique taste, and its smoothness was paired well with the crunchiness of the apples and radishes. This was very good.

A's take: Everything that I've ever read and seen on TV suggests that scallops are very difficult to cook. They often come out too raw or overcooked, and I was concerned about this dish because of it. This scallop came out perfectly. Buttery and tender and full of flavor. The sweet potato puree added to the natural sweetness of the scallop, but I don't recall much curry. The apples actually added a nice tartness to the dish and added a fresh flavor to the heavier sweet potato.

Second, lamb slider with tomato chutney ($5):


M's take: This was SO. GOOD. Again, a little pricey at $5 for a single slider, but it was very high quality and very good. The flavors of the slider and the chutney worked perfectly together and the first bite of this was amazing. I immediately wanted another slider!

A's take: One of the best things we ate all weekend. The lamb was a touch overcooked and dry, but it was so full of flavor and seasoning. The chutney added additional liquid to the slider, and it gave an extra texture while also giving a nice tomato/ketchup taste to the dish.

It's a shame we were only able to get to this kiosk the day we left as it was easily one that we would have revisited at least once more before we left.

Favorite dishes at New Zealand kiosk:
A: Lamb slider
M: Lamb slider

Cheese Overload

Next up was the cheese kiosk. Apparently in past festivals it had been a charcuterie and cheese kiosk, but this year it was just cheese. This was also the first time we had eaten fondue since one of our "versary" meals at Artisinal.


There were 2 dishes on the menu to try - fondue and a cheese sampler:


First up, the cheese fondue with sourdough bread ($3):


M's take: We don't go for fondue that often (so. much. cheese.) but dipping all sorts of foods into cheese is fun. We like dipping sausages, vegetables, bread, everything. Here, our options were limited as the only thing available for dipping was bread. And after we finished dipping the bread, there was still more fondue left. We didn't toss it though, and just ate it like it was cheese soup (except the Canadian cheese soup was better). The fondue here wasn't bad, but it was very, very rich. I'm not sure what type of cheese it was, but it was fine.

A's take: I really like cheese, and I think that's been documented before. The cheese itself tasted really good. It was a light-flavored cheese that paired well with the wine they selected to mix in. The bread was fine, but I missed the additional items to dip into the fondue. We ended up drinking the remainder of the cheese which, because of my sickness, probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. Oh well.

Artisan cheese selection with Le Delice de Bourgogne Lincet, Thomasville Tomme Sweet Grass Dairy, Chevre Affine Wyngaard Kaas (a goat gouda) ($4.50):


M's take: I have already mentioned I am cheese-dumb. Even with descriptions, I couldn't tell these cheeses apart. The one on the left was a soft cheese with a fig. I think this one was fine. The middle one was a harder cheese with craisins, and I think I liked that. The one all the way on the right is concealed by the crackers, but I think it was soft and had a fruity glaze on it. I think I liked the one in the middle best, but my memory of this is sadly already a little hazy.

A's take: I'm going to be really honest, I don't remember a lot about these cheeses. What I do remember is that they were all pretty tasty, but they obviously weren't incredibly memorable.

Favorite dishes at cheese kiosk:
A: Fondue
M: Cheese assortment (according to my notes from the time)

Dessert Trio

We originally intended to visit the desserts and champagne kiosk at the end of the day. We never made it though, so we ended up visiting on the last day.


We saw 4 dishes listed on the menu and thought we would end up filling up all remaining stomach space with desserts from this kiosk. Luckily we spotted the dessert trio which included all 3 of the listed desserts. Easy choice! (Side note: The passport included the ice cream with Grand Marnier under food. But since the menu board included it under drink, we hadn't ordered it. We still consider ourselves to have completed all the food even without having this. A wouldn't have been able to eat it anyway because of the creaminess and alcohol.)


The dessert trio ($3.75):


The trio consisted of lemon chiffon, white chocolate macadamia mousse with dark chocolate pearls and tres leches verrine (a Spanish cake).

M's take: We tried each of the desserts in the order they came up on the menu. The lemon chiffon I remember was light and fluffy. The best part of the chocolate mousse was the dark chocolate pearls. They were really, really good and the dessert was full of great chocolate flavor. The tres leches was fine, but honestly, I don't really remember it anymore. The one thing I really remember from this kiosk was the dark chocolate pearls.

A's take: The lemon chiffon was light and refreshing. The chiffon was a nice and light cake, and the lemon sauce was both sweet and tart. The chocolate macadamia mousse was obviously heavier. I can't remember much about it. The dark chocolate pearls were really nice and reminded me of something we had gotten from Shake Shack before. The tres leches was also heavy. Sweet and caramel flavored, but overall nothing too amazing.

Favorite part of the dessert trio:
A: Lemon chiffon
M: Chocolate mousse

Craft Beers

The last of the drink-only stands was the craft beers kiosk. This place was mobbed during "drink around the world Saturday" and we didn't even try waiting for a beer. We needed to go on the last day to get the passport stamp but poor A was on antibiotics and couldn't drink any beer. Therefore, it was all up to me.


There were a lot of options for beer, but the one thing I knew was that I was going to get the smallest size.


I ended up (with A's recommendation) picking the Widmer Hefeweizen, which I've had before, and which I like (description below):


Forgot to take a photo of the actual beer, but it just looked like beer. It was refreshing in the heat, but I would have preferred using the stomach space on something else, like more poke from Hawaii. But we got our stamp!

The Other Half of Japan

When we visited the Japan kiosk on Sunday we went for the sushi, so this time we went for the 2 non-sushi items. It was great being able to eat and relax on the benches with a view of the lagoon and without crowds.

One of M's favorite festival photos
First, we tried the pork kakuni ($4.95):


According to the mobile site, this dish consists of braised pork slow-cooked for hours in Japanese sauces and seasonings.

M's take: I don't really eat a lot of pork, at least not giant pieces of pork. That said, the flavoring of the pork was pretty good, and it wasn't that chewy, so I had more than a bite. The mustard was nice and spicy. Generally, pretty good, but since I don't have that much experience (by choice) with this type of pork, I'm not really a great judge.

A's take: The pork was braised nicely. It was tender, but not fully fork tender. The soy sauce based braising liquid made the pork a little salty, but the spicy mustard tempered the saltiness and added a nice kick to the dish.

We also tried the tuna and salmon sensation ($5.95):


The tuna and salmon sensation reminded us a lot of the poke from the Hawaii kiosk. It consisted of "fresh, cubed Alaskan salmon and sushi-grade Ahi tuna, mixed with sliced avocado and tossed in a blend of soy sauce, sake, sesame oil and fresh-squeezed lemon juice."

M's take: Fresh, light and tasty! The fish tasted nice and clean, and didn't have that gloopy texture that sometimes plagues fish when it's not prepared well. The soy sauce mixture was good and the avocado slices were also soft and fresh. This was a good dish. If I had to choose between this and Hawaii's poke, I would pick the poke, but this comes in close behind it.

A's take: This was a tasty dish. I thought it was very similar to the poke even if the poke was a little better. The fish was fresh, and the flavors were good. Salt from the soy sauce was offset by the creaminess of the avocado.

It took us two days and two trips, but that's it for Japan's kiosk!

Favorite dishes at the Japan kiosk:
A: Tuna and salmon sensation
M: Tuna and salmon sensation

(Real) Feijoada

At Epcot Center M and I had the opportunity to try Feijoada. We weren't fully convinced that we had tried the real thing so when we went to Rice 'N Beans, and it was listed as the specialty, who was I to deny? My first impression, this is not black beans and hot dogs.

Full Feijoada Spread
Rice and Collard Greens
The main accompaniments to the Feijoada were rice and garlic sauteed collard greens. The greens had a crisp texture and were full of garlic flavoring. The rice was necessary since that's what you use to eat the Feijoada.

Farofa
Farofa is a topping consisting of garlic and onion seasoned toasted Yucca flour. The easiest description I can give as the flavor of this topping is that it tastes like bacon infused bread crumbs. It added a smokiness to the dish and also helped to thicken up the beans.

Feijoada
Black beans, meat, and farofa on top of rice
This feijoada looked almost nothing like the dish we had at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. Black beans stewed with so many different cuts of meat. Bacon, Portuguese sausage, pork ribs, and prime-aged beef chunks cook within the beans to add flavor and also to soften and stew for eating. The bacon was a bit fatty, but it had an amazing flavor to it. The sausage adds saltiness to the dish without actually overpowering everything with salt. The ribs are tender and soft and are easily eaten right off the bone. The prime-aged beef chunks definitely have some sort of spice rub on them, and they're cooked to a perfect pink middle. The beans themselves? Amazing. As mentioned they've been infused with some saltiness from the sausages, and they've also been infused with richness from the meats and the bones in the stew. Eating the beans with parts of the meat and also with the Farofa on top is an unbelievable experience. Rich, thick, hearty, and very delicious.