ghostrider
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Entrees were a whole red snapper seasoned with mirasol pepper and olive oil Peruvian adobo served with Brazilian style sautéed kale and a fava bean and Andean corn relish. The fish was excellent—juicy with a luscious seasoning. The kale was bitter and neither of us cared for it. Lowell had a wonderful, juicy, Peruvian style roast leg of pork in aji amarillo adobo served with white rice and stewed canary beans.
Do you happen to remember whether the snapper was a regular menu item or a a daily fish special, as mentioned in the NJ.com review?
That whole dish really sounds good. I bet I'd even like the kale.
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I'm never gonna make it to a lunch, my appetite just doesn't work that way. But don't mind me.
Our schedules seem to change daily so it's hard to say what's a good vs bad night, if there's a consensus towards dinner. Mondays are generally always bad - don't know Saffron's schedule, may not matter. Sorry, that's not much help. But December always gets crazy.
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I've always wound up paying for parking in Hoboken, never had any luck finding a street slot. I use the basement garage at an apartment complex that's just off Observer & I think 2 blks west of Washington - I forget the street names but I know the route.
I usually take the train tho, it's a rare occasion that makes me need to drive there.
I've skimmed this thread & am still searching for an answer to the question, "What's the deal with Tuesdays?" Perhaps it's better that I not know.
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We were there Saturday night. They had some kind of focaccia-like bread that was dull. I don't know whether this is the bread that was referred to above; the texture was OK but there was little flavor to it, nor was it warm.
The room & the staff couldn't have been nicer, but the food was a drag. The acili ezme (sp?) appetizer, a spicy mixture of tomato, onion, peppers & walnuts, was the only dish that showed any sparkle. The lentil soup was bland. My chicken tasted old - certainly not spoiled, but not fresh - was dusted with a dull herb mixture, & was greasy. OK they were grilled chicken thighs, you expect a bit of fat, I'd hoped that most of it would be grilled out of the meat & was disappointed. The accompanying bulgur pilaf was too salty for me, probably not for a normal person, but it didn't work for my low-salt taste.
My SO had the ground chicken kebabs, which she also thought were dull, though not greasy. I wasn't in a mood to sample them. As mentioned, the portions are very generous.
I really wanted to like this place, but the food was a letdown. And the entrees were jammed onto our table before I was even half finished with the soup. Granted, they were mobbed, perhaps even more than usual due to a museum event, so I took the service gaffe in stride, no big deal. But the overall experience was not what I'd expected from the reports above.
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They had one dinky little fish counter & all the fish was frozen. Nice variety, but no fresh fish?
Though what they would tell you, and I think this is right, is that the "fresh" fish at your local supermarket has all been frozen, too. The supermarket has done the work of thawing it for you, but you can't know how long ago it was defrosted. By thawing it yourself, you have more control over its freshness.
That's always an open question, granted, but when some fish at my local Stop & Shop is labelled "fresh" while others are labelled "previously frozen," & my eyes, nose & taste buds tell me that the labelling is accurate time after time, I tend to trust the labels after a while.
As far as they go. There's also the issue, which came up in another thread, of how long the "fresh" fish was soaking in industrial metal cleaners & whatnot during transport.
It's a minefield out there.
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I went into a TJ's once, earlier this year - there are none in my immediate vicinity but I was up in a part of Jersey that has one - & was severely disappointed.
They had one dinky little fish counter & all the fish was frozen. Nice variety, but no fresh fish?
I couldn't find one box of cereal there that didn't have too much salt in it. Thoughtful of them to make THAT choice for me.
I'll admit that some of their prepared dinners looked pretty darn good, I'd be tempted if I lived that kind of microwave lifestyle. But I don't.
There's such a thing as too little choice too.
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Fascinating. Starbucks' tentacles are everywhere.
I'm amused to note that Seattle's Best was owned by an Atlanta firm before it passed to Starbucks. Wonder if it ever had anything to do with Seattle.
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Okay, so just exactly how stoned does a person have to be to enjoy this experience? I'm thinking pretty darn stoned.
I'm willing to participate in an expedition to find out....
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Do yourself a big favor and take a look at this marvelous article by Sara Dickerman of Slate:
Eat Your Words: a Guide to Menu English
many self-satisfied menus take the freshness bit to the next level, referring, redundantly, to how food is procured, calling greens "gathered," wild mushrooms "foraged," and absurd little microgreens "hand-plucked." When David Bouley offers "Freshly Harpooned Tuna Sashimi With Shaved Fennel Dressed in Herb Oils and a Spicy Marinade," one almost pictures him, Ahab-like, in his chef's whites, readying to spear the slippery bugger himself.Very perceptive woman, Sara Dickerman, and she gets this just right!
There is a certain class of adjective that appears on restaurant menus and almost nowhere else: Roasted, Crisped, Seared, Glazed, and Lacquered (often hyphenated, for emphasis, with the likes of "Pan-, Oven-, Wok-, Maple-, and Honey-. You can play menu Mad Libs).She forgot "Drizzled," a term I seem to have seen way too often this year. Otherwise spot on.
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I get really pissed off when I order "sauteed scallops" and am delivered a plate of "scallops dipped in egg batter."
I don't need adjectives but I really appreciate succinct descriptions of the items on offer.
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While traveling over the holiday weekend, I noticed that there's a company called "Seattle's Best" which is trying to move in on Starbucks' territory - i.e., every little shopping arcade in airports & train stations & so forth.
Somehow I think the notion that people are going to start frothing at the mouth and worshipping Seattle as the font of all good coffee things isn't gonna play too well on the East Coast. And I bet you aren't gonna see any of these in New Orleans.
I don't drink coffee so I can't offer any product analysis there. However, I can tell you that they charge 50 cents more for the same damn cup of Taso tea that you get at Starbucks.
Now that is evil.
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Familar fare, flavors that are rare
Melting for you daily 8-8
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Large Bredemeijer teapot sort of like this
Without this double-walled teapot, I wouldn't want to get up in the morning. Husband and I drink black tea in the morning, several cups each, and this keeps the tea hot enough to enjoy every cup
I talked my sister into sending me one from the Netherlands.
That's a really nice looking pot, & seems to be intelligently designed.
As I mentioned in another thread, I have a collection of antique Hall & McCormick teapots. They're extra-heavy earthenware & hold the heat really well. That (heat-holding capability) is the most important feature you want to look for in a teapot, IMHO.
I'd be leery of keeping a teapot warm over a candle or any source of heat, you'd wind up with peculiar-tasting stewed tea after a while.
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When Per CeReality opens in New York, we'll know that the concept has arrived.
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Yes it is sacrilege. But sometimes life forces you to make these little compromises.
I don't get the concept here, though, if you're at home, how can you not have time to make a pot of tea? It doesn't take substantially more time than making tea with a bag. It really doesn't.
I used bags at work & travel with them for convenience. Though I have a traveling tea kit - pots, tins of loose tea, strainers, the works - which I've been known to tote on longer trips.
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This is on a slight tangent. Our last 2 times in Portland ME earlier this year, we've walked past a cafe under construction. Big front window, one little sign in the middle, you have to walk right up to it to read it. The sign says:
(Insert name of cafe)
Foot sanctuary & tea parlor
I've totally forgotten the name of the place but the slogan sticks.
Not suggesting that you rip it off, but I think it's an example of a slogan that does what it's supposed to do.
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The traditional McNug has approx 1/2 the salt of these newfangled Strip Fritters (I did the math in my head, comparing the relative weights of the 2 products).
Do fans of the new product feel an increased urge to supersize their drinks?
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Interesting, but naive. You're not allowed to deny people healthcare because of lifestlye choices. With your logic, a person with HIV should be denied care because the "powers that be" don't approve of alternative lifestlye choices.
But health insurance companies can and do charge higher premiums (or deny coverage) for people whose health profiles make them higher risk (everything from people who have high blood pressure - to people who smoke - to people who are fat - etc.). Robyn
There are also legal limits on the specific medical conditions for which health insurers can deny coverage &/or rate a person. The specifications vary widely from state to state, just one of the many interesting features of our health care system.
I think it's important to point out that this only applies to individual policies not group policies.
I think you meant to quote Robyn but not me there.
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"bread not pita" is what was stated.
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Interesting, but naive. You're not allowed to deny people healthcare because of lifestlye choices. With your logic, a person with HIV should be denied care because the "powers that be" don't approve of alternative lifestlye choices.
But health insurance companies can and do charge higher premiums (or deny coverage) for people whose health profiles make them higher risk (everything from people who have high blood pressure - to people who smoke - to people who are fat - etc.). Robyn
There are also legal limits on the specific medical conditions for which health insurers can deny coverage &/or rate a person. The specifications vary widely from state to state, just one of the many interesting features of our health care system.
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3 of those "strip fritters," as they call 'em, will give you 930 grams of sodium. That's a lot of salt. No wonder they taste good.
At least they have this info on their website so that one can make some informed decisions.
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Perhaps denying coverage would be a tad extreme in restrospect, but I see nothing wrong with raising premiums on those who have exceedingly poor health due to smoking/excessive drinking/excessive fast-food or other junk intake. The companies could then recoupe the money lost on extra care through the higher premiums and the financial penalty over time might force some of those fast-food junkies to think about chaning their diet.
I see something very wrong with that notion. There seems to be a genetic factor that predisposes some people towards alcoholism. Punishing people for their genes gets into some very scary territory.
And I don't believe that there's a definitive medical test for excessive junk food intake. How would an insurer determine what a person's diet has been over the course of a lifetime?
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However, when I do, I plan on raising them on wholesome home-cooked food from the very beginning. I have a feeling I have gotten into this before on eG, but as it pertains to this thread, I hope that if they are raised on the good stuff from a very young age, they will know better than to crave the fast-food junk as sustenance. I have a feeling it is far more difficult to wean kids already addicted to that slop off of it than it is to just keep them away from it from the get-go.
....Given the options, I will just expend the extra effort and educate my kids from the get-go, even if that means moving to Montana and cutting off the TV feed.
Speaking from my personal experience, I encourage you in both of these efforts.
I was raised on the good stuff from day one, unlike most of my peers, and it stuck. It wasn't until I hit my late 20s that I realized the importance & the uniqueness of the diet I had at home (my dad had the only backyard vegetable garden for miles around) & how lucky I was.
I was also raised without TV, we didn't have one in the house till I was 17. That made me a real oddball, & made it very difficult to socialize, since I didn't understand much of what my peers were talking about. That experience gave me an interesting perspective on our culture, though, I frequently felt like I was viewing it as an outsider.
It also left me with an unfortunate TV addiction that took hold in my 20s & never really let go. You can't win 'em all I guess. At least I fancy that I watch the box with a critical eye. And I've resisted the urge to get cable, for better or worse. I guess I'm still an oddball.
Well I guess I'm not that odd, I just read thru all the posts after Nullo Modo & saw how many folks quoted the exact same bits that I did, even down to that edit of the final paragraph. That's a hoot! I guess I'm somewhat less of an oddball in the context of eGullet than I am in the world at large.
Now I'm seeing that actually DonRocks was the one to quote as I did & the rest just quoted him. Oh well.
Menus that Mangle foreign Languages
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
One of our local Italian joints is perhaps too rigorously anti-tautological in listing on their menu, simply, "spaghetti with balls."