September 2, 2010
Labor Day Weekend Idea: Check Out the Asian Feastival Next Monday
- Soup dumplings from Asian Feastival participant Nan Xiang Dumpling House.
YEAAAHHH I'm really falling behind on this "blogging" thing. I'd like to say my recap of June is almost done, but it's not even in the fetal stage. It's in the "I know I'm going to have a baby someday, so I'm going to pick out its crib and it's clothing and the colors of its room and its name even though I haven't started to make the baby yet" stage. ...Wait, is that what a crazy baby-hungry person would do? Ah dammit whatever.
So while I ponder my post's potential existence, let me plug the Asian Feastival coming up next Monday, September 6, at Sheraton LaGuardia East in Flushing from noon to 5 p.m. The name is somewhat self explanatory: It's a festival with lots of food—ASIAN FOOD. IN QUEENS. (Aka the best place for Asian food in the city.) So you'd probably enjoy it. To be more specific, more than 20 restaurants in Queens will be serving signature bites. To quote the press release:
"...yak momos (Tibetan dumplings filled with local yak meat from Vermont), miniature Indian dosas with sambhar, Qingdao cold noodles (made from sea grass imported straight from Qingdao), Malaysian beef rendang and laksa curry, Thai Miang Kiam (a traditional Thai snack made with betel leaf), Sri Lankan idiappums, and more."
(Random: I have the sudden urge to buy yakamomo.com.)
In addition to stuffing your face, you can also attend panels with chefs, authors, and other Asian food authorities. And if you're not as physically challenged as I am, the Feastival also features a 3.5 hour bike tour around Queens before the eating and paneling starts. (During that time you'll find me firmly attached to my bed, face smooshed into a pillow.)
I don't usually mention events, so what makes this different? I'm going, for one—with a media pass, admittedly—and my awesome friend Veronica and her mom Wendy have been working mad hard organizing this event for the past bunch-o-months. Even though this is the first Asian Feastival they're presenting, I'm sure it'll be great since they're pros at organizing food events.
Tickets are $55 online (get $5 off with the code AFQueens), $60 at the door. As some of my friends have pointed out, it's a bit steep, but I don't think it's much more than other food events featuring a ton of good restaurants giving out food, and this has educational panels to boot. I'm also hoping it won't be as clusterfucky as other food events where your best shot at getting any sort of edible morsel is to claw your way through a sweaty, plastic cutlery-wielding crowd.
If anyone else is coming to the event, let me know!
Posted by roboppy at 2:30 AM | Comments (7)
August 25, 2010
Cheeseburger at Veselka and a Steve Hartman Marathon
- This is what I would look like if I were a blob creature.
Last Tuesday after visiting the new BK Whopper Bar near Times Square and sampling four Whoppers (...it's...it's just part of my job), I thought I was done eating for the day. Calorie-wise, I'm sure I was.
Not that I ever count calories—I hypothesize in a highly unscientific manner that the only reason my body hasn't converted those thousands of excess calories I ingest on a regular basis into pillowy folds of fat that could engulf a puppy is because I'm ignorant of exactly how many calories I eat. If the brain doesn't know it, the body doesn't show it. (...Yeah, I know this isn't true; I just wanted to rhyme.) All I know is that I ate a bite of Whopper here, and there, and a part of a sandwich, and maybe some spoonfuls of ice cream, and maybe some other stuff I don't really remember. Since I didn't think I was going out for dinner that night, I tucked into an extra slice of the newfangled giant Pizza Burger. Bad move, Robyn. Bad. Move.
It didn't take long for every burp to taste like Whopper, and by "Whopper" I mean sort of fake smoke-y meatstuff. It wasn't the most terrible burp-flavor ever or anything, but it wasn't as nice as, say, post-Hill Country barbecue burps replete with slow, gently smoked, deeply beefy and porky goodness.
When Greg had asked me earlier if I wanted to go out to eat, I declined because I was full of Whopper and thought it would be cruel to tax my stomach juices any further. But when the burps became too much, giving me the sensation that my brain/body was transforming into a limp meat patty, I texted Greg to say, "CHANGED MY MIND, LET'S GET BURGERS AT VESELKA PLZ." (That wasn't the exact message; I don't text in all caps. But in my mind that's what it sounded like.)
>> Continue reading "Cheeseburger at Veselka and a Steve Hartman Marathon"...
Posted by roboppy at 2:29 AM | Comments (16)
August 17, 2010
Head to Pies 'n' Thighs for the Thighs (and Biscuits and Sides), Not So Much the Pies
- Fried chicken = yay!
If I hadn't moved out of South Williamsburg at the end of 2008, I would've only been a 10 minute walk from Pies 'n' Thighs, the beloved Southern food joint that opened in 2006, closed abruptly in January 2008 with plans to reopen later that year, and then, two years later, finally reopened on March 1, 2010, in a new, larger location.
As I had never been to the original location, I didn't feel the burning need to visit the new incarnation of Pies 'n' Thighs upon immediate application of clean, non-sleepwear clothing. (I just realized that this may only make sense to me because I'm wearing pajamas right now. I'm usually wearing clean, non-sleepwear clothing. ...Pinky swear.) But judging from the excitement and reviews of the food-loving [SOCIAL MEDIA ALERT] Twitterverse and blogosphere [/SOCIAL MEDIA ALERT], I should've been ready to run over all plodding grandmas and napping puppies that lay in my path (yes, this path is paved with old people and helpless heart meltingly-cute animals, for some reason) to get to New York City's latest outpost of fried-chicken-and-pie greatness. My high expectations were lowered when a close food-loving source described the food as just okay, and the service as a bit sloppy. But I still wanted to try it...eventually.
I finally made it over on May 27. With the help of Janet's malleable stomach, I tried their fried pickles, burger, fried chicken, mac and cheese, and biscuit. And it was all good.
The fried chicken box comes with three pieces of brined deep fried chicken*, a hefty biscuit, and one side. It's a great deal for $11, especially when you consider that it could be split between two people with normal appetites and leave room for dessert. If you eat more than that you'll likely enter the "food coma" stage. Which is what happened to Janet and me.
Posted by roboppy at 1:51 AM | Comments (18)
August 8, 2010
5 Memorable Eats in May: Motorino, Termini Bros, Shake Shack, Pylos, and a Smoke-A-Thon
A bunch of stuff happened since I went to Honolulu. Because that was three months ago. Yeah. To summarize things, I present you with five-ish of the most memorable places I digested stuff in May.
Motorino
- Motorino.
Serious Eats won a James Beard award back in May. I don't think I mentioned it here, but if you read Serious Eats (and you should!), you already heard the news. YAY WOOT rock.
So we had to throw a party. And a Serious Eats-style party means reserving Motorino in Brooklyn for a night of pizza partying and packing in as many Serious Eats contributors and friends as we could.
- Chicken wings.
The fire-roasted chicken wings were awesome, and I say that as someone who isn't that into chicken wings. Thin, crisp skin + juicy meat = success! Unfortunately, I don't know if they're serving them now since I don't see it on the menu and this meal happened almost three months ago. :(
Posted by roboppy at 11:57 PM | Comments (18)
July 31, 2010
Honolulu, Day 7: KCC Farmers' Market, Chinatown, and Hawaiian Plate Lunch
OH MY GOD, IT'S MY LAST HONOLULU POST! [Cue flock of doves flying through a stream of sunshine.] As awesome as my trip was, I'm glad these posts have finally come to a close since they should've been done...a month ago. At least. Just to remind you, I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. AND TOMORROW IS AUGUST, PEOPLE. Last week was busy since I spent a three-day weekend in Virginia, but now I'm back and have little excuse for my lax posting. Here I goooo.
- Farmers' market time!
Kathy and I got an early start to our last day in Honolulu (sniffle) at the KCC Farmers' Market, which takes place at Kapi'Olani Community College on Saturday mornings from just 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. It was pretty packed when we got there around 9, although it's probably packed the whole time its open. And for good reason: Besides fresh local produce, there's tons of great prepared food.
- Pacifikool.
First, some drinks from Pacifikool, a drink company that specializes in ginger syrups—Hawaiian, Thai, and agave-sweetened. I tried the Gingercooler ($3) made with Hawaiian ginger syrup, lemon, sweet basil, and carbonated water. A simple and refreshing combination made better with whatever magic goes into Hawaiian ginger. Maybe it's just the vacation talking, but it seemed to taste better than regular ginger.
>> Continue reading "Honolulu, Day 7: KCC Farmers' Market, Chinatown, and Hawaiian Plate Lunch"...
Posted by roboppy at 1:41 AM | Comments (18)
July 18, 2010
Honolulu, Day 6: Happy Hearts Mochi, Champion Malasadas, Waikiki Beach, Curry House, and Bubbies Ice Cream
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yeah, that was two months ago. I've been a bit sidetracked since getting back from Portland. I ONLY HAVE TWO MORE POSTS LEFT; I CAN DO THIS. You'll stick with me, won't you, dear reader? Won't. You? Okay, thanks.
- Mochi breakfast.
I didn't plan on eating mochi for breakfast, but thanks to Reid, I did. At the previous night's dinner he presented each of his guests a variety pack from Happy Hearts Mochi, a custom order-only mochi business in Honolulu.
Is it worth ordering from Happy Hearts when there are so many places in the city that sell mochi? According to Reid and Kathy, yes. And even though I didn't get to try much other mochi during my trip, I'd concur: This mochi was damn delicious and some of the best I've ever had. The glutinous rice skin tasted especially fresh—its soft and smooth texture melded perfectly into the thick block of haupia and chocolate filling. It was like eating the perfect macaron, or the perfect cupcake—when the components of cake/cookie/glutinous rice is paired with just the right amount of frosting/filling, which in turn are flavored to have just the right amount of sweetness and...whatever flavor they're supposed to have. I've had a lot of bad macarons and cupcakes in my life though—I think mochi is more forgiving.
Posted by roboppy at 4:40 AM | Comments (20)
July 11, 2010
Anyone Have Food Recs in Amman, Jordan?
Nope, I'm not taking a trip there (someday, maybe), but my friend Alex is! (Remember Alex? Vegetarian partner-in-fooding in Paris, and Philly, and NYC, and official Giant Manatee tamer.) He's in Jordan right now and will be in Amman at the end of the month to visit early Islamic archaeological sites. In the off chance that any of you well traveled, food-loving people can help suggest food recommendations in Amman, please leave a comment or drop me a line at roboppy@gmail.com. Thank you!
Posted by roboppy at 1:24 AM | Comments (7)
July 6, 2010
Honolulu Day 5, Part 2: Dinner at Town, Dessert at Nobu
I visited Honolulu with Kathy from May 9-16. Yup, that was...a long time ago. I've just got two more Hawaii posts to go before getting back to New York City—I SWEAR IT WILL HAPPEN, unless I die in the next two weeks. Refresh your memory with Day 5, Part 1.
- Special menu featuring a bagillion calories = yay!
When Kathy and I told Reid of Honolulu-based blog Ono Kine Grindz that we were visiting Honolulu and wanted to break some bread with him—we've been reading each others blogs for years—we didn't expect him to organize a family-style 11-course dinner by executive chef Ed Kenney at Town followed by a six-course dessert by pastry chef Rachel Murai at Nobu in Waikiki.
But we should've, because Reid is a serious eater of the sort that I doubt I will ever be. These chefs put together special menus for Reid and his band of happy food blogger friends, which included Alan of ma'ona in addition to Kathy and me. It was Reid's first time meeting all of us, and with the help of Ed and Rachel he left his mark by making us all feel mega pregnant and happily food coma-ed by the end of the night.
It's been over one and a half months since I ate these meals—it's safe to say the flavors no longer ring clear in my mind. But I can tell you that everything tasted awesome, a sentiment that will hopefully become clear from the following bagillion pieces of food porn.
- Starter.
We started with small plates of almonds, cantaloupe slices, and pancetta.
>> Continue reading "Honolulu Day 5, Part 2: Dinner at Town, Dessert at Nobu"...
Posted by roboppy at 1:08 AM | Comments (18)
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