Rich Pawlak

DR Fenton, you are a sandwich meastro.

5 days and counting to CRAWFISH BOIL II!! Mudbugs, jambalaya and Victory beers!

Anybody wanna do a side-by-side comparison of mudbugs from Chris' this week and The Station Bistro this Sunday? Craig Miller's crawfish and jambalaya at Station Bistro are still the best I've had anywhere. I wish I could get into CC this week.....damn.

Last week I had the good fortune to eat at TWO terrific new restaurants in Trenton. Yes, Trenton. There's been a bit of a culinary lull in the town, with the departure of several Chambersburg places for the outlying suburbs, but these two new places are very good news indeed.Last Sunday I joined friends for a great dinner at the new La Tropical, corner of Lalor and Centre Sts., in the place that was once The Corner Inn. The re-do is impressive, cream and pumpkin colored plaster walls, new large windows and some skylights. Spaces that were once in shadows at The Corner Inn are now inner porticos with romantic tables for two. The food here is classic Puerto Rican, with pasteles, rellenos de papa, exquisite pernil and the best mofongo I have had anywhere, including 3 trips to Puerto Rico (and the mofongo landmark, Ajili Mojili).We ordered a plate of pasteles, pastellidos bistec and pernil, and relenn os de papa, and there were all terrific, light, greaseless and filled with well roasted and seasoined beef and pork. The rellenos de papa are huge and as addictive as crack. Be careful with them, at just 2/$2.50, they are a huge bargain. In fact the entire menu is quite inexpensive.There were a half dozen aguas, and we tried them all; I liked the tamarindo and horchata myself. Kids liked them too.At the hearty recommendation of a friend who had been there several times already, I ordered the pernil as my entree, a heaping platter of roast pork and crispy skin, rice with pigeon peas and plantains, with soupy red beans in a dish on the side. 11 bucks. But the highlight for me was the mofongo. We ordered a mofongo with shrimp, and it was a huge ball of mashed plantain, overflowiong with good fresh shrimp studded inside and flowing outside of the mofongo. Moist, flavorful, with broth for dipping, though it was not necessary.Best I've ever had. Killer. Grilled chicken and skirt steak with onions were the kids' dishes and they were both superb. The kids menu has some expected stuff, but I ordered traditional stuff for them from their menu and they, and I, enjoyed the platters. Portion are huge, even for the kids' meals. 4 adults and 4 kids, dinner check was around 90 bucks. Amazing. THE VERY NEXT DAY, I found myself in an unfamiliar place: downtown Trenton, a wastel;and of a downtown if ever there was one. But rounding the corner onto E State St, I spied a large sign on a newer building that said "KEBAB HOUSE", and I had to find out more. Kebabs, felafel, hummus, gyros, salads on the menu in the window. It was just past lunchtime and a patron exiting the place, says: Good stuff, man. Gotta try the place." It's at 226 E. State St. in downtown Trenton, BTW. And so we did. Nice enthusiastic staff, including the owner, a Turkish man who formerly owned a limousine service. A co-worker is dropping fresh felafel mixture into a bowl to make patties. I order a felafel sandwich and a doner kebab gyro platter. Lentil soup. Chicken kebab, too. Salads come with the platters, dressed a zingy lemony dressing. Lentil soup arrives and is pureed red lentils, redolent of mint and garlic. Fantastic. It's always on the menu, the waitress tells us. I can see why.All the other food arrives next and it's madness at the table, but fun, Good french fries, good hummus, good grilled pita for dipping.. Felafel and gyro sandwiches are huge. Chicken for the chicken kebab platter comes in large chucnks, expertly grilled. Owner checks on us quickly, and we're too engagged to do anything put give thumbs up. Kids are munching on everything. All is right with the world. I'm a sucker for any felafel, but I must say that the felafel here does fall a bit short, blander than any Ive had beforeEverything else we're eating is as well made as any Turkish/Middle Easter we've ever had. And we've had a lot of those cuisines. On second inspection, the menu here is quite large, with baba ganoush, other salads, kefta and other Turkish and Middle Eastern dishes. Worth follow-up visits. MANY follow-up visits. I hope they attract the business to stay open. This one is a keeper. Get there soon!

HOUSTON for Vietnamese? I was under the imnpression that DENVER had the highest number/concentration of Vietnamese places in the country, something like 80+ Viet restaurants. I've been to several of them over the years, and they have all been superb, and a definite notch above Philly's offerings.

In addition to next Sunday's Crawfish Boil II, the Station Bistro has released their new Summer Menu, which now includes breakfast. I like the reinterpreted classics I see. And the gentle prices.

Greatly appreciated as always. And lately I've just learned to bring the kids along on food adventures.. They eat almost anything, I swear.

Oh, to be among the chosen few!

Good beer is as appropriate in a good restaurant as is good wine. It's all in the pairing. For this menu I would suggest two kinds of beers: Yards Saison or Flying Fish Farmhouse, both summery farmhouse ales, with the watermelon and scallop dishes; the light citrus notes and bright mouthfeel will pair nicely with these two courses (yeah, I'd reverse the order of the dishes too). For the ribs and duck I would bring eithr Yards Brawler, a low-alcohol session beer with tons of roasty flavor and a smooth finish; or Sierra Nevada ESB, an early spring beer (not Extra Special Bitter) with just enough hops bitterness to balance the browning of the ribs and richness of the duck, and just enough malt sweetness to dance with the dishes too; a very balanced beer. Enjoy!

Fishcakes. Most notably the hot dog-fish cake combo found at Johnny's Hots on Delaware Ave and Lenny's Hot Dogs on Street Rd in Bensalem. And it's really a good combo, not weird at all. The "Philly Surf n' Turf" as Holly calls it. And the fish cake/macaroni & cheese/stewed tomatoes platter common to just Philly-area diners like the Aramingo Diner, Oregon Diner, Mayfair Diner and Tiffany's Diner. Only in Philly. Old school Philly meatless Friday meal. And let's not forget, staying with seafood sorta: Fried Oysters and Chicken salad for lunch at the Sansom Street Oyster House, the old Kelly's of Mole St, and the Union League (if you were lucky enough to get invited to lunch there by a member, that is). I last had that terrific combo at the old Sansom St Oyster House, not too long before it closed. Katie, please tell me that Chef Ling will bring that classic back to the menu on the soon-to-open (this Thursday, really??) Oyster House!

Hefes are great with sushi. So are lagers, such as Yuengling, Victory Brandywine, & Blue Point Toasted Lager. So far, I have found that Flying Fish Farmhouse Ale, Yards Saison and Philadelphia BC Kenziger to be the best matches for sushi. You may also be surprised how well Yards Brawler and Sly Fox Dunkel pair with sushi, too.

Now there's an original observation. Given Steinberger's poor opinion of Philadelphia restaurants in general, it is telling that his review opens and closes on Vetri's reputation. Sir Steinberger heroically slays a backwater dragon to defend his beloved preconceived notions. When a reviewer writes: you just know he plans to be disappointed. ← yeah like I'm going to read a British publication to read about good food.

Having just sampled them last weekend, I've gotta give serious props to the ribs and shaved pork at The Station Bistro in Kimberton. Expertly smoked, finished on a grill and killer sauces. Until I get to Dante's, Sweet Lucy's and Station Bistro are on the top of my short list.

And they'll be doing it again! This time it's June 14th, 12-7PM, with adjusted prices. Diners will have a choice of getting All-You-Can-Eat crawfish, savory jambalaya, cool, creamy coleslaw and a beverage for $33.95 (dem crawfish prices went up!); OR a full helping of the Station Bistro’s famous, smoked-on-site baby-back ribs, french fries, coleslaw, and a beverage for $27.95. There will be some Victory and Yuengling beers for tasting, but since the Station Bistro is a BYOB, Craig Miller suggests diners also bring a few good beers to pair with the mudbugs and/or ribs. I can speak for both the Cajun food and the ribs. Top notch stuff. They went through 450 lbs of crawfish for the first Boil, and the place was jumping start to finish. Lotta fun. Dangerously spicy addictive mudbugs and an awesome jamabalaya. Even the corn on the cob was good. The ribs are some of the very best I've ever had anywhere. “We have the crawfish flown in fresh from Louisiana that day,” Nancy Miller points out, “and we use an authentic seasoning blend to flavor the boil. It’s the real deal.” The Station Bistro’s 2nd Annual Crawfish Boil , Part II, starts at 12:00pm on Sunday June 14, 2009. Reservations can be made at (610)933-1147 or via the restaurant’s e-mail link at www.stationbistro.com

So it was the kids and I with about four hours to kill in Center City. Of course they fell asleep en route, which made it easier for me to cruise Center City, Bella Vista, Wash West etc. and check out all the new places that have cropped up in the past year. I've been away from the city too long. While I was on 10th St. I drove by SLICE, the raved-about pizza joint, but it was yet to open. Parked across the street in front of Bitar's Bakery and scanned the newspapers I brought along, picked up the Jim Rome Show on a radio station in Wilmington, DE, and relaxed while the kids slept. Felt like a pizza place stalker. And I was. Within a half hour, a neon "OPEN" sign flashed on; soon we would be in business. And not soon after that, Sophie wrested herself from slumber and said the magic words: "Daddy, I have to pee." That woke Ben, conveniently enough, and giddily we walked across the street for pizza and potty breaks at SLICE. Owner Jason Dilks was already taking orders for delivery over the phone; we quickly ordered 3 slices and found the restrooms, which led us througn the entire kitchen area where 3 other workers were chopping mounds of basil, shredding cheeses, stirring crushed tomatoes. Glorious. We picked up our slices, and with my eyes closed, it was scarily close to a Delorenzo's of Hudson St. tomato pie. And Dilks should know; he grew up eating the stuff, and he thinks it's still the best pie in the US. Appearance-wise, he doesn't burn the crust quite like a Trenton tomato pie, but he has the flavor profile down pat. Ben and Sophie scarfed down their huge slices (we had to cut them up a bit, Jason serves a very large slice), because, like their dad, they know what the good stuff tastes like; they go ga-ga for Delorenzo's. We chatted pizza for a while, joined by some neighborhood residents and a pressman from the Inquirer who stopped in for a slice: a random room full of pizza geeks at 3 in the afternoon. Jason's pie is nicely thin crusted, without the random bumps and odd shapes common to Trenton pies, but the bottom was nicely charred, and the flavor was nutty-yeasty-smoky, the texture chewy. The way it's supposed to be. It's a great homage to the pizza of his youth. I have a coupla pics on my blog, below. And (breaking news?) he is looking into opening a branch of SLICE in Center City. Eyeing a location in particular, but he would not divulge. Oh you lucky Center City bastids. You will be spoiled forever. Dilks says he makes a mean white clam pie, too. Guess which pie the kids and I will be trying on our next visit? Along with a traditional red, I mean. You can never get enough of pizza this good.

Life alteration is both subjective and relative. The SN ESB is quite a nice beer, balanced as you say, but to me Torpedo impresses with the rush of hops and the the extra smooth finish. Hard to find a beer that does both quite like a Torpedo.

Take them to Rat's in Hamilton. The walk through the sculptures alone in nice weather is worth it, but the food is still worth it too. A recent dinner there was superb. Excellent wine list too. Ask for a tour of the kitchen!

Agreed on all counts. I havent ever bought a beer there, but was desperately looking for the Torpedo, hence the reference.

It is indeed, and it still seems affiliated with the Gelato's chain, but now with Capt. Paul's dogs. Still has gelatos and ice cream. Just down the street from my house too.

37 years and counting Aaron; hope to see you there!

I do not know the answer, but I will be attending a tasting with Carol Stoudt herself next Thurs in Philly, so I will ask her. As for the Torpedo, you should try it; it is an amazing beer, hoppy but silky smooth, an amazing achievement. Your teeth will not be rattling after this beer. Likely a great hot dog beer, too!

So....how many are going Sunday?

3 Floyds and Flossmorr Station doesnt make it to NJ/PA, anywhere that I've seen anyway. And this Torpedo stuff is magical stuff. Torpedo might be on year-round distribution, but it's pretty scrace around here in central NJ. 10 cases flew off the shelves at the local Wegman's in 2 days.

The weather is warming and that always means that it's toime for the ST GEORGE GREEK FESTIVAL in HAMILTON! Grilled octopus, gyros and souvlaki outside, and big plates of the pastitio, moussaka and Athenian shrimp inside. Opa! I'm heading there on Friday night!