Jason Perlow

Green? In the States we have Red, Black, Gold and Blue.

Jhlurie and I had our first okonomiyaki at the food court Mitsuwa asian mart in Edgewater, NJ a few days ago whilst on a okashi shopping frenzy. I would probably closer equate it to the korean "pajun" than Pizza -- it was quite tasty and I could probably get hooked on them. The one we had was a veggie/beef combo, and the top had drizzed tonkatsu sauce and mayonaisse on it -- as well as bonito shavings, which both of us removed since they were smokey and fishy tasting (a flavor neither of us likes) and "fluttered" due to the thermodynamic effects of pancake to topping heat transfer, which kind of freaked us out.

Actually, if you can get Johnny Walker Blue at around $120 to $140 per bottle its very good stuff. It is obscenely expensive for a blended scotch, though. I beleive that some whiskys are good in blends, if the blender knows what they are doing. In many ways I prefer blends or soleras to single malts, but its hard to find really good artisanal examples of them. The Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 year old is very nice. http://www.whiskymag.com/whisky/brand/glen.../whisky650.html

I think I have found a new favorite wasabi-flavored snack. The Romaji transliteration on the US-importer applied sticky label on the back of the package says "DAIKO NORITEN WASABI AJI". I bought a small bag of these onsale for $1.60 a package at Mitsuwa marketplace -- now I want to run out and buy a case of them, they are so addictive. They are basically just small rectangles of nori seaweed (the kind used to wrap sushi maki) that have been dipped in a tempura batter of shoyu (soy sauce) and wasabi seasoned eggwhite, wheat flour and some type of starch, and very crispy deep-fried in soybean oil. They have a big horseradish kick to them, and they are addictive as hell. I went thru a whole bag in one sitting in about 5 minutes. They are also heavily laced with MSG, surprise surprise. According to the pictograph serving suggestions in the back, they are good as a snack wth beer or a soft drink, placed on top of your ramen soup, or eaten with your family in the car. US Importer info: A similar or nearly identical product appears to come from this company: http://www.wizzywig.com/xcart/catalog/prod...ten_Wasabi.html

At the Mitsuwa Japanese supermarket here in New Jesey, the house brand appears to look exactly like cocktail sausages, and they taste like a brand called "'Lil' Smokies" . Interestingly enough, along with packages of these, they sell Oscar Mayers, which have a very similar smokey (artificial) taste profile. At the food court, many of the bento box donburi meals from their on site Surigagi/Atami and snack bar come with one of these as a little snack. Many people accuse the United States of being the king of processed food consumption, but you really have to pay homage to the Japanese for their embracement of everything junk food.

Yeah, I actually haven't seen the print version of the article yet, but I suspect they must have have used cropped elements from the hi-res version of that picture that I sent them. Its quite impressive what you can do with consumer digital cameras these days.

Wow, they used the photo of fruit tarts that I sent them? Cool.

Thanks for the praise guys, I'm hoping that I'll be doing more of these short bites and perhaps some features for the NYT Jersey section in the future. Got any ideas for pieces? Shoot 'em by me. A HUGE thanks to eGullet user Menton1 for letting us know about this place.

Yes, both Jon and I found out that the stocks of Corn Pretz at Mitsuwa in Edgewater, NJ were totally depleted as were many of the Pretz and Pocky flavors. I hope they stock up again. Soon.

Kaiten sushi specifically refers to the low-cost sushi shops which have the sushi come out on a conveyor belt and the nigiri rice "fingers" are formed by machines called "sushi robots" (as opposed to being formed by hand) and then slices of fish are placed on them. The sushi plates are color coded and each color code has an appropriate fixed price. After you are finished eating they tally up the plates and you pay. These places are VERY popular in Japan but not so popular in the States. There's only a few such restaurants in the NY metro area although they are starting to become more popular on the West Coast. There's a Kaiten place about 10 minutes from my house in northern NJ, we've been there a few times, but the quality of the place has declined and there is always the danger at a Kaiten place that particular items sit on the conveyor too long -- unlike other restaurants, you WANT to go when the place is VERY busy so there is a lot of plate turnover and they are forced to make items fresh. Here is an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about it: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/124839_dine04.html

Here is a recent acquistition: These are "sorbet" flavor Pocky-like snacks from Kabaya. I was releived that these were really good, compared to the Ume flavor Pretz-like things I tried from them recently, which are absolutely vile: The Sorbet ones really do taste like lemon and orange sorbets respectively, although the orange one is sort of Tang-like, and I mean that in a positive way. BTW I agree with Jon that "Reverse" Pocky is a winner -- its hard to say if I like Pocky G any better, I may actually have a new favorite with Reverse.

Whoa.. STRAWBERRY Pocky G?

I'm assuming you've already planned the post-dinner part of the evening after the dinner guests go home. I'm sure Gifted Gourmet can give you some practical and experienced advice on that part of the festivities

Theres a really simple and great tapas dish -- cook up some sliced up chorizo in a Le Creuset or other enamel cast iron or a large saute pan with some olive oil, throw in some good canned chickpeas/garbanzos and some chopped onion. Eat with good bread. EDIT: This sounds familiar to Carlovski's above.

In addition to fresh tomatoes, good olive oil and his basil plant I think Domenic DiMarco cooks left over prosciuttini and parmigiano rinds in his sauce to give it that extra something, and then removes them when they have rendered their "oomph"

You eat Ume anything? Can I ship you the box of Kabaya Ume Pretz that I bought yesterday? Its the most VILE and DISGUSTING snack I have ever tasted in my life.

Brooks mentioned these in one of his other posts here in the SFC forum -- I didn't know what they were, so I did a google search -- it sounds like a small meatloaf patty that is deep fried and served on a small bun with hamburger accoutriments? Whereabouts did the Slug Burger originate? What are the essential components to a Slug Burger?

Risotto Milanese. Serve with pan seared dry diver scallops.

I beleive Gordon Biersch originates from California, specifically the Bay area. All the locations I have been to in the Bay area and near San Jose have had decent beer. Not great, however not horrible. Basically its your basic brewpub with burgers and pub food. They always seemed to be under decent supervision though, and you would think a DC outpost would have someone who knew what they were doing onsite, but I guess not.

Oh my god, they combined curry bread with the hot dog roll? Here in the states, Curry Bread and Hot Dog Rolls are seperate things, at places like Sunmerry. Now I must quest to find one here. It sounds like the ultimate in stoner cuisine.

Fifi: Ro-tel rocks. Gotta have it for chili. Especially the stuff with the jalapeno in it. Theres also a black beans with jalapeno that I think Ro-tel also makes thats really, really good. Makes a great refried black beans. Or is that a Goya product? I forgot

If its salt and vinegar heavy it should last indefinitely in the refrigerator.

Big congrats, Matt!

Here is the eGullet thread on Carman's (click)

Pats or Genos. No, both. Our own Holly Moore's site is indispensable for this sort of thing: http://www.hollyeats.com/Philadelphia.htm Pat's of course is the original, but there are other places on Holly's list cheesesteak wise that he rates better. And as far as cheesesteaks and cheap easts go, I trust Holly implicitly.