philadining

Sincere thanks to everybody for the Rendang lessons. I wasn't being snide upthread when I said "shame on me" for extrapolating from two restaurants, I meant it, I knew I had limited experience, but I thought I had enough to make a generalization. But it seems I was wrong! Judging from comments here, as well as looking at a LOT of recipes and descriptions on the web, it does indeed look like Rendang is more often on the dry side. I'm always wary of the concept of "authentic" though, I've had this dish in two completely unrelated Malaysian restaurants, and in both cases, more than once at each place, the Rendang was pretty wet. They weren't trying to do a fusion cuisine or anything, it wasn't being made by people who didn't know what it was supposed to be, it was just how they did it there. Or maybe how it happened to turn out on those nights, I do not claim to have enough data points to make a statistically defensible argument about whether that's the way it's always done at either place. Many of the recipes I've found said something like "cook down until the sauce is almost gone" and I guess that "almost" leaves some latitude for the cook's preference. I make no claims to be an expert in this cuisine, but when Rich mentioned that Rendang was always wet and stewy, that definitely reflected my experiences, at more than one place, on more than one continent (but importantly, I have not had it in Malaysia...) With the helpful comments here, most pointedly from someone who grew up there, and with further web research too, it seems to be that Rendang is usually on the dry side, but sometimes wetter. By a truly odd coincidence, both Rich and I have, completely independently, randomly experienced only the wetter end of the scale. Weird. Anyway, getting back to the original point of this thread, I haven't made it back there myself yet, but a friend just went for lunch yesterday, and got the Roti Canai, and one of those huge Seafood soups, I can never remember which one he gets... but he said it was as good or better than it's ever been. Small sample, but he didn't feel like anything was in decline.

Got some tacos to go tonight, and they were pretty good. They're not quite as tasty as Veracruzana, not as big La Lupe, but they're not bad, and three of them cost less than $4, including tax. Upper left is Chorizo, upper right is Adobada, lower is Al Pastor. I've gotten a lot of Chorizo tacos that were just dripping with fat, and the good news is that this one was not that oily. Sadly, it was a little dry. The Adobada was not very spicy, but had a nice flavor. The Al Pastor was my fave (as usual) with a nice tangy flavor, and little chunks of pineapple. So, they might not be the greatest tacos in the area, although I would have been pretty impressed by them a couple of years ago. They're fresh and good and cheap, I'll be going back for more.

I have the bad habit of choosing restaurants at the last minute, and just seeing if I can stroll in without a reservation. Given that I'm usually dressed fairly casually, often in jeans, I sometimes end up in fairly nice places a bit underdressed. Between my own experience, and observing other diners, the Starr restaurants seem pretty flexi about that. I've been to Morimoto in specific twice, and while I wasn't overtly scruffy, I probably was wearing jeans and a nice shirt, and didn't feel too out of place. As mrbigjas said, I think there are very few restaurants in Philly that actually enforce a dress code. And I've never noticed raised eyebrows even when I decided on the spur of the moment to eat somewhere nice, and realized I was probably a bit underdressed. That being said, even if they'd seat me without comment, I'd feel a little uncomfortable in some places dressed too casually. When I've gone to Lacroix, or Striped Bass, I've put on a coat, maybe even a tie. I don't recall if either of them suggest, or require, that. I've decided not to go into Buddakan or Tangerine, because I felt I was dressed TOO casually. But that was due to my own comfort level, not someone turning me away at the door. When I actually plan ahead enough to know I am going to some of the nicer BYOBs or Starr places, I've tried to at least wear decent shoes and something nicer than jeans. But that's more a matter of my trying to communicate some respect for the place, than feeling that it's a rule. But I do like that about Philly, that if I am just doing errands around town, dressed however, it's not a major scandal if I decide to get something fancy to eat without formal attire. So getting back to the original question, you can totally get away with jeans in Morimoto.

Ahhh that makes more sense! Thanks for the clarification. So the fried egg was a bonus...

That's sounding like a plan, Le Cyclo was my former Summer Roll fave, I'd love to check their current status under the new name. And I'll try to remember my camera this time...

We went to Nam Phuong (11th and Washington) tonight, as a last-minute diversion on the way somewhere else. And I'm glad we diverted, it was quite good. We weren't in the mood for soup, so we started with barbecue pork summer rolls, and they were just about the ideal versions: good ingredients, nice balance of meat, vegetables and noodles, an assertive herb component, and most importantly, nice fresh soft wrappers. Some of the best I've ever had. A papaya salad with beef jerky was a little tricky to eat, with the long juliennes of firm papaya a challenge to get in the mouth in a dignified way, but it was worth it for the fresh crunch, and the little sweet chewy shreds of beef. There was a subtle, but crucial, nuac mam sauce on the side to add a salty, darker component to it. A broken-rice combo was a lot of food: grilled pork, dry shredded pork, a pate-ish loaf, and an "omelet" which was really just a fried egg, surrounded a big pile of excellent fine-grained rice. A couple of bottles of "33" and we were pretty happy. Service was a little rushed, but friendly, and the busboys seemed to be having a contest to see who could pile the dishes in their pans in the LOUDEST possible manner, about 6 inches behind my head, but hey, I can live with that if the food's good.... I don't think I'd tell you to drop everything and get over there immediately, but it was pretty darn solid.

Yep, I agree about the "hot hot pepper", there was just the slightest chile halo, but no real spice. The gelatodian (what, you got a better term?) told me they were trying to ease into it, and plan to make the pepper more and more present and hot. We'll see.....

Oh no, I didn't mean to start an argument either, I was just trying to backtrack from Rich and I making unequivocal know-it-all statements that Rendang is always soupy.... And I totally believe you when you say you were disappointed, and I couldn't blame you for being reluctant to return. I'll just say I've gone a gazillion times and it's been generally good, occasionally not as good, but it hasn't seemed to be a downhill trend, just a random off-night, or an off-dish. Of course a decline COULD be happening, and I'll look forward to eGulleteers reporting their experiences, I'll try to get there soon too. Really, sincerely, thank for the heads up about your meal, and I just hope it's not a trend.

Shame on me for extrapolating from only a couple of experiences! I've had it a few times at Penang, and at a place called Melati in London which serves Malaysian and Indonesian food. And at both of these places it was always a pretty soupy, stewey dish. But I just did an unscientific google bounce around the net, and found equal numbers of recipes that instructed one to simmer it down until the sauce was almost gone, as ones that instructed that there should be plenty of thick sauce. So maybe neither is "correct", maybe it's one of those things that varies from cook to cook, and starts arguments between neighbors.

With Penang, I think it often comes down to whether you find dishes that you like, and whether you like this style of cooking, which does generally tend to be pretty heavy. I understand your disappointment, ellencho, if you've liked it before but then got a meal that wasn't as good as your previous experiences. But I'd be reluctant to call it a trend yet... And Azianbrewer, there does seem to be a pretty wide variation on the quality between individual places, I've always thought Philly's was pretty good. Rich, big thanks for the reports on the Jersey locations. And my experience is the same as Rich's, I like the Rendang, but anywhere I've gotten it, even outside the Penang chain, it's been a wet curry.

Sorry to get off-topic here, but was Claudio Sal's father? Sal has a son named Claudio, and the timing didn't quite make sense to me, I couldn't figure out how the shop could be named after the younger one.... (And I think the family name is Auriemma or am i confusing two families?)

Once again, our hero.... This is what's commonly called Sichuan Peppercorn, right? Those little dried spiky berry-things. That was certainly present in the Chicken Guizhou style, but there were a few other flavors going on there too, and a texture thing that made the sauce just a little bit thick, but in a different way than I'm used to. Great stuff in any case. Thanks again Eastlake1972!

There's yet more evidence that Phoenixville is the most happening spot in the whole Delaware Valley: a new Mexican reastaurant just opened up. (Add that to a three-bell Bistro, soon to be three brewpubs, a good coffeeshop, an arty movie theater, a farmer's market on weekends... soon there'll be no reason to go into town at all!) It's called Los Mariachis and no, i don't think it has any connection to the 3,457,693 other restaurants named the same thing. But to their credit, they did have a DVD of Mariachi videos playing, so it's not just a name, it's a concept... It's a pretty non-nonsense, bare room, recently transformed from a long life as a dark neighborhood bar. Plastic tablecloths cover basic square tables, folding chairs have charming embroidered "los mariachis" covers slipped over the backrests, but despite those, and a fresh coat of paint, the room is otherwise without much atmosphere. Which I view as a promising sign, I've gotten some great food in bleak rooms! And indeed one trip, one plate of food, was encouraging. They offer the usual suspects: Tacos, Tostadas, Tamales, Sopes, Huaraches, Tortas, Burritos, Flautas, Enchiladas (Rojas, Verde or Mole), Quesadillas, Carne Asada, Chile Rellenos, Carnitas, Milanese, Mole Poblano. They have a couple of Tex-mex things, like Chimichangas and Nachos, but you can tell those are an afterthought. They have Menudo on the weekends. The Tacos can be had as Adobada (Spicy Pork), Asada, Carnitas, Lengua, Chorizo, Pollo or Al Pastor. I'll try those next time, tonight I needed some Enchiladas de Mole Well, OK, it doesn't look so great, I don't think mole ever looks all that attractive, but it tasted really good! It's not quite as dark and bitter as the Mole at Plaza Garibaldi, which I love, but this might be just as good, just different. This version a little less edgy and more nutty. And the enchiladas themselves were very nice, smaller than Garibaldi's but there were five of them. The chicken filling was very tender, and in chunks, not shredded, which was very nice. This particular platter was served just as enchiladas and mole, no rice or beans or anything, but at $7.50 for 5 enchiladas, I'm not complaining. I could get those as sides for $1.50 - $1.75 ish. Tacos are $1.25, Tortas are $5, a big Carnitas platter with several sides is $9, so everything is pretty darn affordable. I'll try to get going on eating through the menu. It's close, it's cheap, they do take-out, there's not much of an excuse! Los Mariachis 201 Gay Street (at the corner of Washington) 7-days a week, 11am-9pm (610)935-2659

What? Did Charlie forget the words?(oh, and I didn't realize this post would toggle over to a new page... go back a page, don't miss Fresser's screenplay for "All this smoke, and what, no salmon?" the Movie)

Nice article about Hendricks Farms and the greater topic of artisinal cheesemaking In the Inky.

Yep, they were probably in there too. They have a distinctive taste in addition to being numbing, so I think there was that pepper, maybe cloves, I want to say sesame? there was something sort of nutty-creamy, a few other things.... And if you check the photo, there were some dried red chiles floating around there too. It was a very nice flavor, and different than anything I've had before. Anybody familiar with Guizhou cooking?

We did a five-course in June, and it was a little over $100 if I recall correctly. There was a foie gras course, we didn't ask for it specifically, but were happy with it when it came! And as described upthread, one of our party had a pretty spectacular 5-course vegetarian tasting for about $60. It is odd, there's no reference to cost on the website, and even at the table, the prices weren't mentioned in the descriptions of the options. Of course we could have asked, but we decided that we didn't care, and only went for the 5-course because of the amount of food we wanted, rather than concern about expense. Next time, I'll do 7, just out of curiosity, but we didn't leave hungry after 5.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were cloves in that sauce, I couldn't pick them out in particular, but it reminded me of some kind of a curry paste, it had that multi-ingredient complexity and thick texture. So there may very well have been some cloves. But it didn't taste like an Indian or Thai curry, it tasted Guizhou-ish... Everything I've come across on the web, and in a Chinese regional cookbook I have, fixates on sour hotpots from Guizhou, and this wasn't sour. Hey I'm happy to get it again and try to figure out what's in it!

The official Ô' Website: http://www.osandwiches.com/ With a link to the full menu as a (large) pdf.

Just thought you'd like to know... my tongue is STILL a little numb, 18 hours later.

I've had a few very good meals at the Black Duck, although the most recent one was about a year ago, so I don't know if that counts as advice on "what's hot". I have always liked the food at 410 Bank Street, but am always shocked at how high the bill gets...

That actually did freak me out for a second... I guess it is a fried noodle, but it almost has the texture of a cookie, like a tightly-rolled tuile or something. Once I figured out what it was, it was actually kind of nice, but that first crunch was kind-of alarming. I don't remember finding that in other summer rolls I've had. I really liked the Summer Rolls at "Le Cyclo Bizarro" (as I will always remember it now, thanks Katie) I hope they're still the same now that it's part of Ba Le. I'll have to investigate....

OK, my mouth is STILL tingling... we managed to find some pretty seriously spicy stuff at Tifco's tonight, all of it quite delicious. You folks from the Tasty House trip, and others, really need to join us for the next one (and there WILL be a next one) because I think the food is actually a bit better out here, and you know how much I love the Tasty House, so I don't say that lightly! Only four of us managed to rouse ourselves from post-Labor Day torpor, but that was enough of a crew to make a bold foray into the depths of the Chinese menu. They have a copy of eastlake1972's translation at the front desk, so if you didn't remember to print-out the pdf posted above, you can probably get an English translation from them (although the pdf version has a few holes filled-in). We started with a great tragedy, they didn't have the one dish we wanted more than anything. (Hot rabbits, damn.... ) Oh well, next time. We did get #13: Spaghetti with Minced Pork (Zha Jiang Mian) This actually looked a bit more loaded with pork, but we started stirring it up before we remembered to snap a pic. This is just really great comfort food, fried minced pork on spaghetti-like noodles. This also was the only thing we got that wasn't spicy. To console ourselves over the loss of the Hot Rabbits Ding, we tried #16: Spicy Sliced Pork with Garlic. This was thin-sliced pork belly in a dark and slightly spicy sauce, with LOTS of minced garlic. Really good. Pretty fatty, but with the salty, spicy garlicy thing, man it was good! #19: Spicy Wonton in Chicken Broth Those are tender pork-filled wontons floating in that red broth. Guess why it's red... This is actually slightly mis-named, it really should be "Wontons in Spicy Chicken Broth". The wontons themselves are nice and delicate and not at all spicy, but the broth has a serious kick. I think I prefer the versions with the hot oil and no broth, but I liked these too. Moving on to Entrees: #46: Spicy Chicken Guizhou Style. This was one of the faves of the night, at least for SaxChik and I. Sadly, we were completely stumped in trying to describe the taste of this dish, but it was really different than anything else we've had. The sauce was assertively spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, but had a thicker, almost pasty mouthfeel, and a flavor we just couldn't put our finger on. The waiter told us that it's typical of the food from Guizhou, but a quick googling didn't turn up any descriptions that helped understand exactly what this was. In any case, it was great. #66: Lamb with Cumin This is the third time I've had this, and it's a little different each time. It's always strong with cumin, but this time, although there weren't as many dried chiles on the plate as I've gotten before, it was WAY spicier. It was also a touch too salty, but that didn't stop us, we enjoyed it regardless. Nikki summed it up well by describing it as having the heat in it, not on it, it was a full, round, integral spice, not just a blistering pepper fire. Shrimp Szechuan Style We're not entirely sure what this dish was, we meant to order the Szechuan Shrimp from the regular menu, but we got something different. It was shrimp, water chestnuts and a spicy sauce. I didn't eat it, so I'll let SaxChik describe it. Looked pretty good, if maybe a little skimpy on shrimp. #51: Steamed Pork Ribs with potatoes. I was thinking that steamed ribs, potatoes, probably pretty mellow. And that assumption would be wrong... It doesn't look like much, but it was very tasty, tender chopped-up ribs, with a thick, stewy sauce, and big chunks of potato. This had a creeping spice, it seemed pretty calm at first but built-up to a solid smolder. Very homey and hearty, and freaking spicy at the same time. This was too much food, we had leftovers of all the entrees (OK, no shrimp, but plenty of water chestnuts...) even so, it came out to only about $23 per person including a good tip. We were all pretty full, but each had a good bed of red embers glowing in our mouths, so we ventured into the terrifying Truman Show stage set that is Main Street at Exton. It was very difficult to resist the urge to don an Izod shirt and khakis, but it was worth the trauma to cool the fires with some Maggie Moo's Ice Cream. It's no Capogiro, but it really hit the spot! All in all a very nice meal, and good company, a fun evening overall. Thanks to SaxChik for getting it together. And there are about 85 more things on the menu, so we're going back. Some more of you should join us next time, you won't regret it!

Ôh, I get it now.... I really thought I had tried all of those combinations! Big thanks for the secret code. And glad both you guys liked the sandwiches. How do you think they compare to Ba Le et al? it's been too long since i had one of the others to make a valid comparison....

They did a very nice presentation with the cheese plate the night I had it, with a nice array of accompaniments, like honeycomb, nuts, fruit, etc. And the cheeses themselves were excellent. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't recall which ones they were, it was the end of the meal and we were near the bottom of the second bottle of wine, and I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have been. But as good as they were, the selections were a bit too close in character for the purpose of a cheese plate. I liked them all, but they felt like variations on a theme, rather than the broad range of density and ripeness and style that is more enjoyable in that particular context. I'm eager to get it again and see if that combination was a fluke. But that's not a complaint about the cheese, and barely one about the plating, it was still quite tasty. But in a perfect world.... So Trent, please report back on your meal. And I can't quite imagine you would order the cheese plate, but if you happen to see one go by, tell us what's on it!