guzzirider

I was back in Buffalo to visit family for Thanksgiving. The wife and I made our requisite trip to the Buffalo Brew Pub, and for the first time, I got their Beef on Weck. Perfect. As I recall, it was quite similar to what was described... maybe not blood rare, but it was decidedly pink, and shaved "Arby's thin". Without a doubt, one of the best Beef on Wecks I've ever had. On top of that, I'll take the Brew Pub's wings over the Anchor Bar any day of the week. Consistantly good size, perfectly crispy, and just the right amount of sauce... so the last one at the bottom of the pile is just as crispy as the first one. Awesome. __Jason

You know... I lived most of my life in WNY (moved to PA 10 years ago this week, actually) and I've *never* eaten at Charlie the Butcher's. I'm going to have to rectify that one of the next times I head back. With that said... last time I was there I had a Beef on Weck at the Buffalo Brew Pub, and it was definitely one of the best I've ever had. Cherie and I have to make a mandatory visit to BBP every time we go up. Best wings around, as far as I'm concerned... and now I know their Beef on Weck is awesome. Plus, great beer... and they insist that you throw your peanut shells on the floor. I miss that place. I had my own personal mug there, too... in fact, I'm drinking from it as I type this! So, if anyone find themselves in the Buffalo area, be sure to check out the Buffalo Brew Pub for some Buffalo standards, and by all means... try a hunk of their beer bread. And I'll check out Charlie the Butcher's. But I digress... sorry about the Buffalo tangent in the Hoagie thread! __Jason

More "Beef on Weck". So... here I am, holding onto some "ends" of the prime rib I made for a New Year's Eve dinner party and wondering what to do with them. Well, I'm from Buffalo, so it didn't take long to work this one out. Stopped off at Wegman's for some kimmelwecks, and bingo... there you have it: The meat could have been thinner, but I don't have a slicer, so that's hard. You may say, "Hey... not as much meat as on philadining's photo," and you're right... but I made 2 of these! Also, my jus was made with red wine and rosemary... I think it had a bit more flavor than the typical WNY offering. I suppose the fact that it was aged prime rib didn't hurt either! __Jason

I also like Panorama. If you go, I'd suggest a table in the bar/lounge area in stead of the dining room. But, then again, I just like to watch the cruvinet in action... http://www.pennsviewhotel.com/ __Jason

Yeah... I don't quite get the irrational fear of tofu... it's one of the most innocuous food items out there. At worst, I guess it could be described as "bland". But when prepared properly, it can be fantastic. Hell, even water can be horrible in the wrong context, but how many people are afraid of that? OTOH, my wife is allergic to soy, so I guess she gets a pass. Actually, now that I think of it, even she will sample a tofu dish on occasion, even though she knows it will induce great personal suffering. :-/ __Jason

Don't hold me to this, but I'm almost certain I've seen country hams in BJ's and/or Costco. __Jason

I bought a 15 qt LC dutch oven for 223.00 at Tuesday Morning. They hae them in that size all the time. It had no box but was in pristine condition. ← I stopped by the TM in Maple Shade yesterday (my first time) and all they had was 1 small-ish enamelled steel pot for $40. I thought it was a pretty good price, but if I'm going to buy another pot that size, I want it to be cast iron. __Jason

The eyeball taco thing intrigued me, so I did a google search. I'm guessing this is *not* an accurate representation of the real thing? __Jason

In that case, Jon, thanks for that cheetah-riding scene... I'm cracking up just thinking about it! __Jason

LOL! White Castle on the brain... very understandable! BTW, I vividly recall my very first White Castle experience... about 12 years ago, I spent a few months working outside of Detroit, and a guy I was working with introduced me to WC. Wow... I loaded up, including "clam strips" (bad idea for a noob?) Anyway, I felt *so* sick after eating there! But, about 3 or 4 nights later, I woke up at about 3am CRAVING WC, and there was one not far down the road from where I was staying, so I got up and went. I've never had anything that made me so ill, make me want to come back for more. I'm convinced that they lace those burgers with nicotine, or perhaps simply crack. Etiher way, I was hooked. And I also noticed that the WC around Dearborn, MI were spaced perfectly, so if you went through a drive-thru and ate while you drove, by the time you were swallowing your last bite, there would be another WC right there for you to pull into in case you needed an "after dinner slider snack!" LOL! When I drove back to Buffalo, the last thing I did before I left town was pick up a couple "sacks" to sustain me on the drive. Bittersweet... __Jason

Two things: 1. Dont' feel too bad. After all, they did make an entire movie about getting to this White Castle in Cherry Hill. White Castle, although not "gourmet", do have a certain magic to them. 2. The White Castle you're referring to has been closed for while. I don't think there are any left in the metro Philly / South Jersey area, so your rehab may be mandatory at this point. __Jason

Snack Bar? So what can we expect here... "Mike & Ike" entrees, and Juju fish prepared table-side? Just curious... __Jason

Sorry, can't answer the State College question... but generally speaking, you wouldn't want to trek to Philadelphia for Pizza. If you got that desperate, you'd be better off heading due east to NYC. With a few notable exceptions, Philadelphia is sort of famous for *not* having good pizza. I'm sure someone will give you some local options, though. __Jason

Lets see... take a pretty good cheese steak, and then add the one ingredient that seems to make everything taste even better - truffle. What do you think? This tartufo/arancine combo is one of my favorite guilty pleasures anywhere. Has been since Rustica added the sadwich to their menu a while back. EDIT: BTW, they also put a tartufo pizza on their menu... white pie w/steak, carmelized onions and truffle cream. I haven't tried it yet... __Jaason

Got my "usual" from Rustica (Northern Liberties) today... Tartufo cheese steak (w/truffle cream) and an order of their arancine risotto balls... Although I'm not 100% positive, I think they use Sarcone's bread for their sadwitches. It was a good way to forget about the Eagles game __Jason

So did I. Although I've had numous pork italians, I've never had a steak italian from TL's. On Friday (the day after the show premiered) I had to leave work early to take care of some things, and was able to stop by TL's around 2pm. Now, I've been there in the afternoon on a Friday before... no big deal, but on *this* day, the crowd was nuts... complete with an entire busload of photo-taking tourists, who I can only imagine were sitting in their hotel rooms watching the night before. So, after waiting for the 25+ people ahead of me to get served (this is the *only* joint where I'll actually wait in line... sometimes) I had my hands on a steak italian. And now that I've had one, I think I may actually like it better than the pork italian. Whod'a thunk it? Good stuff. And Holly, while I can see your point, I kinda think a wiz-wit against Bobby's sandwitch would have been one-sided... sort of an apples/oranges comparison. It's a darn good thing Food Network decided to use Tony Luke rather than Pat's or Geno's... if Bobby would have gone up against one of them, it would have made for a very boring show! __Jason

I think those are called onigiri, and if they have them, I *must* get over to this place soon. I've been longing to find a place in this city that serves them! ← Yes... I believe you're right! I have a coworker that said the same thing... he hasn't found them anyplace else around here. The first time I tried them was after my conversation with him, and wow... they are good! __Jason

Ah, OK... I see your point. __Jason

OK, I'm curious... what does a NY'er expect brunch to be? __Jason

Yeah... I read that, but haven't seen any of the flyers myself. Apparently you have to call ahead and book it. I'm not sure how they're getting the word out, but I hope it draws in some business for them. __Jason

Pardon me for blowing the dust off this old topic... I stopped by Goji on my way home from work yesterday for a solo dinner (Cherie's out of town for work). We've been there a number of times, and the food has always been wonderful, and last night was no exception. I started out with some "rice balls" (I don't recall the exact name for them, and I don't see them on the online menu), but these are sort of like cakes of sushi rice, with a bit of fried onion embedded in the center, and nori wrapped around the outside. With just a touch of soy, these could be summed up by the phrase "elegance through simplicity". Very simple, very delicious! Next was a spicy cruncy salmon roll. This is one of their "simple rolls". I was by myself, and only in the mood for relatively simple fare, so this was perfect. We have had some of their specialty rolls, though, and those have been delicious as well... albeit a bit on the small side, especially after you've experienced the special roll extravaganza that's put on at Raw. For an entree, it was the traditional Kasane Soba Tempura. I'm going to cheat and copy this description from their menu: "3 tiers of Japanese imported buckwheat noodles (served cold) with a time honored recipe soup, called Otsuyu, accompanied with shrimp and vegetable tempura." Very good. The tempura is light and crunchy. This is one of our favorites, and it seems that either my wife or myself will always get this when we go. Accompanied with a carafe of sake, and it was a perfect meal for my gullet. If you haven't been yet, do yourself a favor and check it out. I think this is a very unique place in Philadelphia... run by a family with a long cooking tradition in Japan. I get the feeling that they may be flying under most people's radar, and struggling for business a bit. It seems in Philly, Japanese is only popular if it's some sort of Japanese-Chinese-French-Inuit fusion. Gogi is something special, and I hope we don't lose it... __Jason

Cherie and I have our first anniversary coming up, and I considered giving Nineteen a try. I'm not one to normally write off a restaurant based solely on internet chatter, but I want this dinner to be something a bit special, so it seems Nineteen is out for now. I really hope they can smooth out whatever rough edges are there, becase it really looks like it could be a wonderful place. I still want to check the place out myself, but I'm not about to risk our anniversary dinner on it! Decided on Vetri instead. I'm reasonably confident that will be nice... __Jason

To us in Philly, it makes them look dumb. To everyone else on the planet, it looks like we get our rocks off on Jell-O. __Jason

Cheriev and I finally made it in to Bar Ferdinand yesterday, and I have to say I basically agree with the rest of the comments. Some things were very good. The Cerdo Frito - I really wish I could get that in a 12" version, for instance. The seared watermelon was good, and the cheese plate was... well, a cheese plate. It's hard not to love the cheese! They had a gazpacho special the we enjoyed, but personally, I would have gone for a bit less acid, and a touch more heat in the flavor... but that's just me. Oh, and kudos to the service - everything seem to come suprisingly quick. I think that if the Croquettas de Bacalao remain the same, however they should change the name to Croquettas de Limon, for the reasons already discussed. I'd like to go back, because there were a number of items that I'd still like to try that looked good to me. Next time, I'll pass on the sangria, though... it did nothing for me, and I love sangria. They need to use sweeter (and more) fruit or something... n ot sure. I hope they learn to accept criticism, though. I would say that all things considered, it is good now, but it has the potential to be a really wonderful place, but whether they want to admit to it or not, some things need a bit of polishing. __Jason

I almost always try to get the gnocchi at Panorama... very good. Its always on the menu, but they regularly change up how they serve it. I've had it in a butter sauce w/clams, baked in a ragu, and also with their excellent pesto. And they do either small or large portions. Man... I haven't been there for a while, and now I'm craving it... __Jason