I_call_the_duck

I've gotta get me one of them T-shirts the next time I'm in RTM. Sorry your trip was cut short. Better luck next time.

I don't know how bizzare this would be, but speaking of college pizza deliveries, one of the pizza places in my college town was owned by Born-again Christians. With each pizza delivery, you were given a "Bible Question." If you got the question correct, you'd win a free pizza.

I was wondering what that place was! We passed by it, and there wasn't a sign or a menu (that I noticed) that indicated what it was, other than the music. We had sushi at a place on the same block (none of the ones that Todd63 mentioned) -- I think it was Hakuru. Very friendly service, reasonable prices, and great sushi. Daniel, what is that stuff to the left of the smelts? Almost looks like ice cream.

When I was younger, before the days of free transfers, we used to walk from Main Street to Shea. Anything to save a few pennies. Gads, it was scary. Imagine a seven year-old walking that distance, with the #7 train rumbling overhead, past the smelly streams, junkyards, blended in with the aromas wafting from the Tasty baker (now Home Depot). Yeah, take the subway. I love the #7 train, mainly because it's an elevated line, and you get to pass by so many interesting neighborhoods. Daisy (hey, we were on the same wavelength!), it sounds like you had a good time when you walked to Woodside. If you can, visit the Louis Armstrong House (I think the 103rd Street stop). Is Lemon Ice King still good?

I made these last night. I had a senior moment and added a couple teaspoons of brown bean sauce before I realized it wasn't plum sauce. Grr. Anyways, I steamed them for about 25 min. and they were nice and tender. I think the brown bean sauce gave the dish a bit more color, and I could still taste the gingery sweetness of the plum sauce. Very good!! Mr. Duck loves ginger, and this dish was definitely a winner. (I'll try it your way next time, Ah Leung ).

The #7 train goes through some of the best eatin' neighborhoods around. Can't give you specific restaurants, but I can give you a general idea of what you might find. Take the train one stop towards Flushing (you can walk there from Shea as well), and you run into the third largest Chinatown in the country. Aside from a variety of Chinese restaurants, you'll also find Korean and Vietnamese places. Going back towards Manhattan, if you get off at the 61st St/Woodside stop, there's supposedly a great Thai place. I think it's called Sripraphai. 74th St/Broadway, there are a large number of Indian (I think Jackson Diner is a fav on this board), Columbian, and other Latin American restaurants. 40th St/Lowery in Sunnyside has a couple of good Turkish restaurants. If you want to transfer to the N line at Queensboro Plaza towards Astoria, you'll find some great Greek, Brazilian, and Egyptian places. Just a few thoughts. I'll add more if I think of any.

What's funny, in the best way possible, is that one of those things will happen. Phil would say, "Foodie friends rock." ← Hands down going to Cheesecake Factory after the slow food event, which by the way would only happen if every other restaurant in the tri-state area were closed and I hadn't eaten for 3 days. ← Mebbe we should substitute the Spaghetti Warehouse instead. After all, there's one of those in town. ← Does that mean waiting to actually get INTO a restaurant constitute a slow food event?

Herb, are you asking in comparison to the store in Pennsauken, or other stores in New York? I've been twice already (yes, shame on me for not posting earlier), and it's already on my list of favorite wine stores. It is clean, spacious, and welcoming. Neither brother was in the store when we were there, but everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable about the wines, and were able to guide us in our selection. In fact, we wound up buying more than we originally intended. I believe that the wines in the NY store are the same as those in Pennsauken. Compared to other stores in NY, I’d say that it ranks up there with the better stores in terms of quality, selection, and value.

That's one beautiful patio--not just one of those "we have a little space in back so let's put some tables there" places. And the food looks great too.

I actually don't remember seeing that many Chinese restaurants the last time I was in Rome and Florence. Then again, I wasn't really looking. But when I was there, I was leafing through a Chinese cookbook, which had a recipe for pork fried rice. Instead of roast pork, the recipe called for pancetta.

My brother used to do the same thing with Hellman's. ick. Luckily, his tastes have changed for the better.

Put my vote for South Philly joints. Weeknights are better for me too. Is Towne the one on 19th and Pine?

A very nice article about Chef Garces in today's Inquirer. I met him briefly a few weeks ago, and he seems like a very sweet and humble guy. I'm very excited that he's planning on opening two restaurants in my neck of the woods (20th and Sansom and Rittenhouse Square, and another near Penn). Not that I'd stop going to Amada, but it's more options for us all. wheee!!! Congrats to Chef Garces, Katie and crew.

Bryan, I'm loving the blog so far. The gelato place you went to in Philly is most likely Capogiro. I think Daniel recently bought an Aerogrow. Re: the Weber grill--is it a gas or charcoal grill? Do you have a preference?

Thanks, Jeff. Not only will I try that when I get my paws on some local corn, but it also gives me an excuse to buy a chinois.

Hey philadining, Do you care to share that recipe for the soup and crab cakes?

Hey Bryan, I’ve been having trouble keeping up with everyone’s blogs of late. 1. I’m very impressed with the type of cooking that you’ve accomplished at such a young age. Ah, to be 20 again …For me 36 was the traumatic year, since I was no longer in the desirable 18-35 demographic. But I digress. 2. I’m jealous of your stove. Can we see the rest of the kitchen? And if Sandy hasn’t yet asked, the obligatory fridge shot? 3. Man, I wish I can get myself to Z-Kitchen. 4. blog on!

Wonderful, Ah Leung! This looks like something I've been craving, but couldn't remember what it was. And a meal in under 30 minutes (I'll spare everyone the Rachel Ray jokes), too! Just the way I like it.

I had a great meal with my family last Friday at Kum Gang San (138-28 Northern Blvd). I don't know how this compares to the Korean restaurants in midtown, but this was very good. In addition to the BBQ, we also had sushi (actually rolls), a scallion pancake, and noodles. The little dishes they set out beforehand (I'm not sure what they're called) were good too, esp. the fish balls. I'd say that their strength is in the BBQ. The scallion pancake was very good, with a lot of scallions and very little batter, but a tad too greasy. The eel roll tasted a little fishy, but the other roll was good. For our BBQ, we ordered the octopus, short ribs, shrimp, and pork. All meats came with assorted veggies. My favorites were the pork and octopus. The marinade really stood out with each. The beef and shrimp were good, but a little drier and less flavorful compared to the pork and shrimp. The place was packed on a Friday evening. I believe it's open 24/7, and my brother, who is a night owl, says that it's even busy in the wee hours of the morning.

That is one serious looking lobster roll. We were up in Plymouth, MA this weekend and had a very nice lobster roll at the Lobster Hut. Great deal for $9.

Katie, recipes into RG are most appreciated. ← I second the motion. Blueberry sorbet?

Bumping this thread back up. We were at TJ's this weekend. Because of the torrential downpours, there was no line outside, and the lines at the registers moved rather quickly. There's a TJ's down in Philly, so we just wanted to pop in and see how the Manhattan version compared. Pretty much the same, but we were more impressed by the wine store next door. All the liquor stores in Pennsylvania are controlled by the state, so we don’t have Two Buck Chuck (or in NYC’s case, Three Buck Chuck). Now I know that there are hundreds of great stores in NYC where you can get wine, but the prices for some of the wines here were amazingly inexpensive. Since we were going to five other wine stores later on, we just bought a bottle of Three Buck Chuck just out of curiosity. But has anyone tried the other stuff? $7 for a bottle of Nero d’Avola? $15 for a 2003 Barolo? $20 for Amarone? Is that too good to be true?

I suppose then, it's also quite inappropriate to lick the plate as well? edited to add: Welcome, Devagi!

Bumping up this thread to recount yesterday’s visit to Chung King. There was an offal cart which seemed very popular. Unfortunately, we did not partake, because although Mr. Duck has been known to eat almost everything, he’s still not sure about offal (so if anyone wants to go, give me a call and I’ll leave him at home). Interesting menu. Decisions, decisions. We started off with the scallion pancake, which although nice and flaky, lacked scallions. Hmmm… We then ordered the tea smoked duck (because it’s well, DUCK—I wanted the duck tongues, but Mr. Duck kind of vetoed the idea) and rabbit ding (because I don’t usually see rabbit on a Chinese menu). The duck was very tasty. In fact, one of the best tea smoked ducks I’ve had. You could really taste the tea infused in both the skin and the meat. The rabbit…nice chunks of rabbit with a few red and green peppers. The taste? OW, OW, OW!!! I missed the fact that there were two chili peppers next to the description. I used to be able to handle spicy dishes, but somehow my tolerance went down. That thing was very spicy. So spicy it hurt. OK, so I’m a wimp. But after copious amounts of plain white rice, my taste buds returned. A second taste found the dish to be pretty good—under all that heat, there was a nice combination of black beans and chili. All in all, it was a good meal. It was a Sunday evening, and the restaurant was half full. The waiters were friendly, the prices reasonable, and there was enough for leftovers tonight. Can't wait to go back. I’ll have to say I did enjoy CK better than STH. I’m not that familiar with Szechwan cuisine, but the menu at CK seemed more unique than STH. I saw more lamb dishes and other interesting combinations here. However, CK does not have STH's golden coins, so I believe that they could both coexist on the same block. But I do agree with the person that posted upthread that there should be a side by side comparison of the two--just to make sure. Anyone?

Grr...count me out. My dance card's full this weekend.