percyn

Thanks Bruce...I am honored Did you make the mole yourself? Just returned from a week in FL, so not much cooking going on here. Tomorrow I have a few friends coming over for Bunch, so lets see if I can capture some pic while playing short order cook. ETA - Bruce, I see your mole method on the Making Mexican at Home forum.

The sushi place at the Dolphin is pretty good, though its been a while since I was there. California grill is pretty good and they have some good sushi rolls, though I would not consider them a "traditional" sushi place. Also forgot to mention Coq Au Vin if you like French food. I have posted a review about that somewhere in the FL forum.

Yes, those were medium. The large at Delaware were $26/lb I think and much higher at Joe's. All I am saying is that I would not tell the difference in quality. I am no stone crab aficionado, but at least I tried but places before commenting.

Thanks to Anne, I picked up some FL Golden Crab and Stone Claws from Delware's a few days ago. They were super fresh....the golden crab were live until I asked them to clean it for me. Then I went to Joe's and ordered claws 8 claws for $48 and a slice of key lime pie for $7.50!! The Crab claws tasted the same (not like Joe's does anything special to their crab claws), though the ones from Delaware's cost me around $11 !! This little experiment settles it for me

What kind of food are you looking for? What atmosphere? What budget? On a recent trips I have enjoyed Flying fish, Shoula's, Tchoup Chop (prefered to Emril's), Victoria & Albert's and Cedar's. Sushi at Zen at the Omni and another place who's name I can't recall in the Dolphin are pretty good, but pricey ($50/pp for some sushi).

Went to Thai L'Elephant ( 277 Schuylkill Rd, Phoenixville PA 19460. Phone: 610-935-8613) for lunch the other day and really enjoyed it. Apparently Chef owner Michael Roethong was in the kitchen and served some of the best Thai food I have had outside of Thailand. We started with some Tom Yum (Lemongrass Shrimp) soup Aubergine Salad - Grilled Asian eggplant with minced chicken & shrimp tempura, in lime chili sauce. The topping was really refreshing and the peanuts gave it a nice texture. The Chicken Satay was good, but not that memorable and comparable to renditions from other Thai restaurants in the area. The Tulip Dumplings contained shrimp, chicken and crabmeat wrapped in a delicate wrapper. While I have had my share of Chinese dumplings with similar stuffing, these had a unique flavor. The whole Bangkok Fish - Striped Bass in Thai sauce was the highlight of the meal with sweet and salty flavors with the crisp fried texture to contrast with the soft flesh of the bass. The Basil Chicken was delicious, but was upstaged by the fish. A few of the desserts are homemade and looked delicious, though we were too full to try it. Service was super friendly and they even brought us complimentary Thai iced teas. Food - A Service - A Value - A

I think I will return to try their burgers and report back, though Philadining might beat me to it.

Continuing the trend of pairing the rich, runny yolk with a meaty, smoky (and healthier) meat jerky Fried Egg with PA Dutch Smoked Jerky - The eggs were super fresh from free roaming hens. The Jerky was smoked by Amish and purchased at a farmers market.

Had a chance to swing by Bistro Station in Kimberton today for lunch. It is a nice little place which had welcoming fireplace as you enter. The stone floor while charming, can be hard to clean and I spotted bits of food that the previous occupants of our table had probably left. Started with some Minestrone soup which was good, with decent depth of flavor, but not mind-blowing. Having heard much about their smoked meats on this thread, I decided to try the BBQ Pork sandwich. The pork was sliced thin and was still juicy with a good smoked flavor. The fries seemed to be made to order and had a great texture (even if they may have been frozen fries). Many diners seemed to be enjoying their burgers and raving about them. The cappuccino we had also had a nicely developed foam on it. We will be back to try it again. Food: B+ Service: B+ Overall value: A

Soft Boiled Egg w/Smoked Jerky

I used a bit of pre-made (Pathak's) Tandoori masala, which happens to have some food color in it. Not my preference, but it is a common practice in India.

Indian Butter Chicken on Basmati, with a dollop of sour cream The other day I made Pot Roast over mashed Yams

Finally got a chance to make it to La Crêperie Café Bis. Unfortunately, it was not the best experience. It started out OK with a cup of coffee and hot chocolate. The first cup of "hot" chocolate they brought was luke warm, so we asked them to reheat it and they graciously provided another cup which was hotter, but not hot enough for my liking. My wife ordered La Royale, which has chicken, onions and Herb de Provence. The chicken was a bit dry and the crepe was not bursting with flavor, nor was the texture crisp. I order Crepe Al a Béchamel, which contained ham and the Béchamel sauce containing garlic and swiss cheese. The edge of my crepes were crisp, but the rest was not. However, the Béchamel was quite tasty and flavorful. Service seemed a bit frenzy and though the place was only half full, the kitchen seemed slammed. It seemed to take over 30 minutes to send out crepes and most tables were visibly upset. The front of the house seems in dire need of some organization and structure. The waitresses and waiters seem to alternate tables instead of divide the staff responsibilities into sections, resulting in the staff running all over the dining room. Add to this the responsibilities of making Cappuccinos, busing tables, etc and it is a recipe for disaster. Towards the end we decided to let the place redeem themselves by serving us one of the great list of classic french desserts on the menu, of which we selected Tart Tatin. After 45 minutes of waiting, during which we took solace in the fact that we had convinced ourselves that at least the tart would be made fresh, we got this.... Yes, the picture is of poor quality, but the Tart Tatin honestly did not look a whole lot better in person. My hopes were shattered when the flaky crust I envisioned turned out to be a soggy, heavy mass of partially cooked dough and the apples seemed to be out of a canned apple pie mix. Needless to say, we had to send it back and wish we had a time machine to recoup the 45 min we waited in anticipation. Maybe it was the busiest they have ever been, but I was really looking forward to trying this place, hoping that it would become a regular brunch hang-out, but alas I do not see that happening until some drastic changes are made. Food = C Service = C- Value = C Longing for Parisian Crepes Percy

Welcome Carole !! For those searching for veal bones, Wegmans usually carries them in the frozen meat section.

Dinner today consisted of... Fennel, Apple and Pear Salad - I love the crispness and acidity that the granny smith apples and pears bring, along with the crunch from the fennel. Sherry cream Turkey on Pasta - Leftover turkey (mainly dark pieces), caramelized onion, garlic, cream of portobello soup, sherry and fresh tarragon. Dessert - Bananas Foster - Flambed with dark rum.

Went there for dinner a few days ago. Since they do not guarantee tables with a view, I had made an earlier reservation to improve my odds. We were initially offered a table in the center of the main dining room, which did have a view, just not as good as the smaller dining area by the bar (if you don't mind some of the noise from the bar area), which is what we opted for. Unfortunately, at this time of the year, the sun had already set and the only visible view was of the lights from the traffic on the Schuylkill reflecting off the water. The lack of light also resulted in less than ideal image quality. We started with a bottle of wine and ordered the Grilled Octopus, which Philadining has described quite well above. I really liked it and was told that it is marinated for 3 days in a pesto like mixture along with onions and cilantro. It was very tender, though had a tad too much acid from the lemon juice. The appetizers arrived quickly and the portion size was quite generous and this in itself could be a light meal if paired with a few pieces of crusty bread. My wife had the water works salad, which had feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, tossed in a lemon dill dressing. For her main entree, my wife ordered Mushroom Risotto. Unfortunately, this was not one of the better renditions of risotto and the addition of oven roasted tomatoes seemed to overwhelm the sparse flavor of mushroom. I ordered the Truffled Pan Seared Chicken with lobster sauce, which came with a side of well executed, delicate Israeli cous cous. Unfortunately I did not detect a hint of truffle and I would have preferred that the kitchen not douse the pan seared chicken with sauce, so that I could enjoy the crisp skin instead of a soggy one. We decided to skip dessert since we planned to continue the evening with dessert and after dinner drinks at the four seasons.

Thanksgiving day breakfast: Quiche Lorraine And a few days later.. Onion and Turkey Omelet Sandwich - served with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (not pictured)

Good to hear they are doing well. They sell a great BBQ pulled pork, made with a bbq sauce with mangoes, which they sell at the Phoenixville farmer's market.

Was thinking about going there for dinner the other day, but their menu seemed....uhhmm....uninspiring. However, as you said, there is nothing wrong with well executed dishes, so I will give it a try soon. Is their meat smoked on premises daily?

We were planning on going there for breakfast, but the weather changed our plans...maybe we will get a chance to visit it soon. The brisket sandwich is pretty good too and I suggest eating it on the spot or within 10 min, as it can dry out if you wait too long. Though his cue is usually good, it occasionally has a faint odor and taste of charcoal starter fuel, though I have never seen his use it.

What ??!!?? No Eggs?? So, what do you do with left over steak from dinner? Ribeye Steak & Eggs w/Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms

Black lab is good, Majolica which is a few doors down is even better.

Recently had an opportunity to visit Fuji for a Chaine des Rotisseurs event. The event started with some sparkling wine spiked with plum wine, accompanied with Roasted eggplant, Salmon mouse topped with salmon caviar, monkfish liver and eel with foie gras. Close-up of the Monkfish liver The meal started out with Kumamoto oysters with ponzu sauce - similar to what MisterMax had. The oysters were excellent and you could literally taste the ocean. Carpaccio of Walu Walu - The acidity from the citrus was a had bit high and overpowering for the walu walu. Sashimi Platter - Salmon, Tuna, Yellow Tail, Sardine and Flounder. All extremely fresh and firm. One of the best sashimi I have had. Even the wasabi was paler in color than most, but I am afraid it may not be freshly grated. Shrimp and Scallop stuffed turnips - Fork tender turnip, accented by the sweetness of the scallops and shrimp Eggplant stuffed with duck and topped with Foie Gras - Like MisterMax, I too enjoyed the flavor and texture of the eggplant, but found the Foie to be too thin and a bit overcooked. The flavor of the sauce, which I believe contained black bean, was terrific. Lambchops - Good, but not my favorite Banana spring rolls with green tea ice cream

Rona, if I added rice, it would become lunch.

Fried Egg w/Chinese Sausage