jhlurie

$25 a head is certainly not at all unreasonable. Despite being an eGulleteer, Fink is also running a business off of this--he's also got to calculate against what ELSE he might be making money off of during that time period, so I don't think he can QUITE do it at cost. I'm assuming the eGulleteer part of it would come into play with the SIDES. Big sides. The problem is getting 40 people to commit. Yeah, we've got lots of members 'round here, but we're all squirrley about scheduling.

This statement intrigues me. If you toss aside the baggage of Iron Chef, is a camp-less competition really feasible as a TV show? There are serious cooking competitions going on all of the time, but nobody has ever really suggested how to make watchable TV out of them. With respect to the competitors, its like watching a freaking Dog Show.

I'm supposing that there are MANY possibilities for "a bilingial chef spanish guitar playing actress who guest starred on many episodes of 'the love boat'". Er. Okay, I tried. I can't think of more. "A famous former latenight television sidekick?" Hmm. That one intrigues me. Did this person also formerly host a really lame talent contest? Or was he the other one who went on to have a sitcom on FOX which got no airplay?

Okay, I ate at Thai Chef (the Montclair location) yesterday. It's not bad. It''s what I think these days of as "fancy Thai"--less food, prettier arrangements. The service bit, but to be fair we were in a back corner. I was at a table of wimps so I couldn't even get curry, since everyone wanted to share (tough to do with small portions anyway). My sole foray into spicy was my personal portion of Tom Ka Gai soup, which wasn't nearly as spicy as I'd asked for, but otherwise was a truly excellent specimen. The Chicken Curry Puffs were reasonably good, but pale in comparison to the ones at Bangkok Garden in Hackensack (one of the few items they beat Wondees at... mainly because Wondee doesn't make them). The Steamed Thai Ravioli, which is fancy restaurant talk for shrimp and crab meat "dumplings", were reasonable but not exceptional. Entrees included: -Charcoal Grilled Beef, which is Beef marinated with herbs. garlic, chili [but not nearly enough in my opinion--really almost none], green pepper, corn and cilantro. Overall, it was quite good, but the portion was miniscule. Its marked as "hot and spicy" (the first of two "heat" ratings) on the menu, but they really must be kidding. -Grilled Red Snapper--julienne apple, shallot, fish sauce, lime juice, chili [again... huh? Not enough to actually taste] and cilantro. I'm not a huge fish eater, but it was reasonably tasty. Nothing to write home about, but solid. -Pad Thai. Of which I got none. Its a long story, involving several small and very hungry people (and a few not so small), but I was assured it was among the best these people had ever had. I know, from my end of the table, it looked quite nice. -A Duck Special, which I don't have the information on (its not on the take-out menu), but which was basically kind of a stewed skinless boneless duck thing on a platter, which some fruity sweet chutney-like sauce. I wasn't specifically taking notes to report on this meal, but what I need to say about the dish doesn't really require them. It was dreadful. Just horrible. The duck was tough--like shoe leather. One of my dining companions said they thought it was more of a French preparation, but I'm not sure if that was sarcasm. The highlight of the evening was the dessert. The meal was topped off by Chocolate Grand Marnier Souffles--seconds out of the oven--which I have to admit were among the best souffles I've ever had. At $6 a pop (they are personal sized), its not a bad deal, especially since it came with a pretty healthy dollop of cream on the side and chocolate sauce. Several of the party had Thai Iced Teas, and rated them as "pretty good". Since other than the wimpyness with spice this was a Thai-wise crowd, I believe them. They also apparently have Thai Iced Coffee. Recommendation?: Not worth dragging down to Montclair--especially with the like of Wondees in my area--but reasonable if you can put up with stingy portions (admittedly the place isn't that expensive--Entrees are $10-$16, Apps are $5-$7--so its got that going for it as well). But it might be worth stopping by for dessert, if you've got other business (or food to eat) in Montclair.

As long as the chair has a cupholder which will hold a beer bottle, I'll be fine. Actually, as my body is now realizing, sometimes an hour is worse than nothing. Tower control has cleared me for the 6 minute and 30 second flight to China 46. Take off is imminent, and upon arrival I shall be eating and drinking with the tray table down but myself in an upright position.

Rachel just called me and asked me to post that soba can't make it and that whoever agreed to call Cecil with the final headcount should let him know. I'm going to take an hour nap now.

I'm workin' on about 3 hours sleep and I had car trouble last night (thankfully cleared up today) so I may be a bit antisocial tonight. Apologies in advance. Maybe I'd better sit next to you tommy, so in the wake of all your mad social skillz nobody notices. Plus I'm bringing like... 14 bottles of beer, so I need someone drunker than me nearby.

Import New York water?

Why don't we get back to discussing the actual Chicken restaurants? (heck, I'll just move the debate elsewhere) Sandy's seemed as interesting for the Soul Food as it did for the Chicken--which if Jason's worst fears were realized might be inconsistant. But the Ox-Tail, the hot wings, the Greens, the Cabbage, etc. may not be subject to that fear. The cabbage was good. Really ass-kicking good. Go just to try that and then RISK the chicken.

Since we didn't settle anything here, in a local thread which meandered onto the topic, I figured I'd break this out into its own topic for everyone to partipate in, assuming of course people other than the three or four of us already involved care at all. The issue: People speak of Fried Chicken, and these days most automatically assume they are referring to Deep Fried. But in many cases it used to be done in a more time consuming, and many would claim, more inconsistent fashion--in a pan. The end product can be quite different, so strictly speaking this may be more of an apples vs. oranges comparison, but that doesn't make it ineligible for debate. Pan Fried Chicken, at its best, features a unique kind of crust which forms against the side of the pan. At its worst, Pan Fried Chicken faces a much greater possibility than Deep Fried of being messed up--cooked unevenly, oily, dry or even raw in portions. Deep Fried is more of a science. You stick it in a basket, lower it into oil for a scant few minutes and as long as you keep it in approximately the right amount of time, and you've changed the oil at the right intervals, its consistent. Pan Fried is more of an art. It takes 20 to 25 minutes. Somebody has to watch it, flip it, manipulate the oil around, judge the chicken. It takes time, skill and work. And if you mess it up, you can really mess it up. But you can also get that great crust, and you can season it a lot better than the deep fried. Is Pan Fried worth the trouble? If you walk into a restaurant which do you expect? Is consistency the key or excellence? Do you know any really excellent specimens of each type?

I guess this really is a Japanese obsession. Not many to choose from around here. At least in my part of the U.S., of course there's soda. Everywhere. Always. Candy vending machines are pretty rare, except for M & M vending machines. Machines like this have, of course, been common on college campuses for decades. Alternate beverages (Gatorade, Powerade, various juices) occasionally get a machine. Cigarette vending machines? I haven't seen one in twenty years. But that just may be in my sheltered little corner of the world. Condom machines? Well not on streetcorners, but I hear some small number of schools have them. You see a lot of Ice Cream vending machines in movie theaters, but really not anywhere else. Including Dippin' Dots machines.

C'mon folks. Only 8 of us have actually submitted something, and that includes Perlow. Surely we can do better than this!

tommy & Steven: The solution is obvious. Ignore Rachel's ramblings completely, and each get your own ORDER of Soup Dumplings. The rest of the crowd can do with one each.

Pocky.

This is only true if you have someone competent doing it. I've had dried out and extremely greasy pan fried stuff. I've had consistently better deep fried chicken. It's a great argument for ordering Deep Fried Chicken over Pan Fried if you are going into the process blind. But if you find that someone--the one who knows what they are doing--isn't it worth it? Isn't it common here that we champion the harder to find but spectacular over the merely competent but consistent? I'm not even saying that this particular place in Garfield fits into the spectacular column (although I'll bet its at least "very good"). But the BEST Pan Fried Chicken? Sure, its not a mechanized and fairly reliable method. That's why the argument is for specific implementations of it and not the technique as a whole. Its an art, and the Deep Frying seems more like a science. EDIT - maybe, despite its origins recommending a specific place in NJ, this topic could be shifted to "Cooking" or "General" and see what other people feel about Pan Frying vs. Deep Frying chicken? The title doesn't even have to be changed much...

Its like Coke and Pepsi, Jason. Fink is deep frying. Sandy is pan frying. Totally different. Jon's right and Jason's wrong on this one. The biggest difference is evident in the crust that forms against the surface of the pan, something that isn't possible with deep frying. Of course, I'm not known for passing up either. Since pan frying takes 25 minutes (assuming the prep is already done), it's become a lost craft among restaurants -- it just takes too long. I was going to say "bullshit" to him Dave, but you said it so much better. Pan fried beats deep fried in my opinion every time, but I use the Coke/Pepsi comparison because apparently some people are very attached to the deep fried approach. Getting the pan frying right--avoiding the pitfalls that Jason has pointed out--is part of the artistry of it, and like anything else that takes real effort is worth it when you find an artist who puts the proper effort into it. Stroud's--in Kansas City--is a really prime example of pan fried, with the addition that its fresh killed chicken. Sandy's is good, but not to that level.

The thing people always forgets to mention is that when coming from New York City, after passing Grand Ave., you have to AGGRESSIVELY stay to the right through several traffic merges, because China 46 will seem to pop up out of nowhere after the second of these, and if you haven't been carefully getting over to the right all along you will miss the entrance. Also, look for a disgusting motel (soon to be a Days Inn--so there might even be a sign up by now) right before it.

http://www.china46.com/default.asp

Yes. It is. And its the best dish of that type I've had there by far. Hopefully C46 is still getting the contraband Peppercorns. Er, flower buds. Whatever they are. Rosie: The rice cake (why did I have a mental block with that) fills that niche really nicely. Trust me. Just tell the child its round noodles.

Its like Coke and Pepsi, Jason. Fink is deep frying. Sandy is pan frying. Totally different.

Details Rosie, details.

So after about a year and a half of occasionally passing by this place and promising myself I'd stop, I finally stopped at "Sandy's Sho-Nuff Chicken" today ("Fried" is not actually in the name). Sho-nuff, I feel like a real idiot for not stopping a long time ago. The chicken was not freshly fried when I walked in, but to be fair it was after 3pm. You can tell, however, even after some time under hot lights--with all that does to suck moisture out and dry it--how glorious this stuff must be freshly popped out of the pan. The dark meat pieces, which never dry out quite as quickly, still were (fairly glorious, that is), and the breasts were hardly to the point of ruination. Apparently the key is to get there when Sandy is around and frying. Dark meat or breast, regardless, its all a lovely shade of Dark Golden Brown. It just LOOKS right. I desperately wanted some greens... but they were out. The guy there recommended the Cabbage instead, and boy was he right. Cabbage has bad connotations for a lot of us, but this was both savory and spicy--stewed with carrots, peppers and spices and is still making my mouth water an hour after finishing it. Some local review piece on the wall (not the Record, just some town rag I think) recommended the Potato Salad. It's not bad. It's got some zest, and some body, and although its got plenty of mayo as the glue it doesn't have that disgusting sameness of a lot of potato salads like that have. My next test is the "fridge test", since I bought about twice what I'd eat. Items I DIDN'T try include Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwiches (it looked like a straight "Boar's Head" shop for cold cuts though), Cheese Steaks, Hot Wings, Candied Yams, Collard Greens (as I said, they were out), Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw, various Breakfast specialties, and a few soul food specialties--Oxtail with Rice, Turkey wings with Rice, and Curry Chicken with Rice. Ribs aren't on the menu, but they seemed to have them as well. I'm sure I'll get to try some of this eventually, since I doubt it will take me a year and a half to get back here. As discussed by the previous poster, the address is 506 Route 46, in Garfield. Its about a mile past the Teterboro Airport--which means its also really accessible from Route 17 (Note by RPerlow: actually 3.3 miles past the airport). The hours are 6am to 7pm, Monday through Saturday, although I've got no idea which hours are prime for fresh frying. The tel. # is 973-340-6224, and the place is located inside the most beat up looking old shack I've seen... well... ever.

Most of that sounds good for this crowd, but its got to be balanced out with one or two spicy dishes. For one, maybe that Spicy Capsicum Beef dish with all the ginger in it. For another, possibly that dish they do with the thin cut of pork fried up like bacon. Also, rice noodles. Maybe those coin-shaped ones, whatever the heck they are called.

I'm all for talking, so I'm with you there, Andrew. But if I required enforced situations like the one we're discussing, I'd choose not to talk. Well its also incredibly, earsplittingly NOISY inside and around any Cheesecake Factory. The actual amount of conversation will vary, depending on how well you read lips and your tolerance against migraine headaches.

All I can really say about the Cheesecake Factory based on Fyre's very detailed insider view... ...that is SO fucked up. I mean we get on Fast Food's case for the reverse situation, but this is just ridiculous.