dannyboy

opened it, looked at it, will play it on New Years Day with house guests and my 6.5 year old son. Click here to check it out.

Yes! Thank you so much. What a nice layout they have there. Top Notch!!! Due to major lack of funds (thanks to Xmas) I had to cheap out and go for the lower end stuff, but next time I'll try some of the more attactive Sakes. The staff was very helpful and nice. I'll be back!!! Cheers Katie. Happy New Year to you.

Got: Lidia's Italian Table cookbook The French Laundry Cookbook The Babbo Cookbook Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit by Mort Rosenblum Iron Chef 2004 Wall Calendar Iron Chef board game Typhoid Mary: An Urban Historical by Anthony Bourdain Attractive pottery olive pot Extra virgin olive oil Aged Balsamic TV Tray Set (does this count?) Splatter Screen set Stainless-Steel Potato Ricer Steel Can Crusher Calphalon Stainless Steel Collector's Edition 4-Piece Multi-Pot Set by Calphalon Gave/Giving: A Cook's Tour by bourdain Leifheit ice cream scoop Various Wines Sausages Great Japanese meal at home for a group of friends ...Wow, it' a great year!

Great! Thanks Katie; you ROCK. I appreciate it.

I'm in need of some decent Sake for some New Years Day dishes and drinking. Is there a state store in Philly that has a better selection than my small local state store, perhaps a state store mega mart? I'm also more than willing to travel to Jersey. Thanks in advance.

Ha! This statement is a parody of his own self! Can you imagine some pimply faced teenager caring about the crustiness of the baguette? Quality control is not one of BK's finer points. How about that the biggest problem with the sandwich is that the chicken meat in one sandwich is most likely a conglomerate of chickens from corporate owned farms, from 5 different countries, chemically processed and congealed back into one nasty patty?!

Yes, they have added some specials and taken some off- as long as they keep the "Alambre", they can change whatever they want. Speaking of change, they've re-invented their tableside salsa rojo for the umpteenth time, and I kinda like it. I liked the original incarnation more; it was darker and more robust. I think they've switched to canned chilis perhaps? as for the non Mexican waitress, that's quite a surprise! I have to imagine it's sink or swim there... Has anyone tried the new "Weekend only" specialty taco?- Pork, Onion and Pineapple. Gotta git me some...

I think if you want to gorge yourself on whited-down "old El Paso" frozen dinner style Mexican, Azteca is the place to be. I can tolerate it when I'm in that mood. But most of the time, I rely on Veracruzana. 3 Tacos for $5 is cheap and very filling. 2 totally different restaurants. I believe Veracruzana delvers now. I won't eat at La Lupe again; Tamales and tortillas are good, but everything else I've had there has been consistently unsatisfactory. Someday I have to try Garibaldi...

I had dinner there on a Saturday night a while back. 4 of us had early reservtions, so I didn't experience the "hot crowd", but our food had touches of Brad's experience. I was appaled at the portion size and lackluster flavor of the $24 ceviche sampler platter. I have never been served a more comical portion of food for that price before. The Mojitos were so savory, but again, with the appaling $9 price tag. Wife had empanada appetizer that was exactly how Brad described. On the other hand, each and every one of our entrees was more than satisfactory. The portions were plentiful, everything cooked, flavored and presented well. After our entrees, things started to go south. Our waitress took a snobbish tone when we didn't order anymore alcohol. She continued the attitude when we decided we weren't going to partake in the pricey dessert and coffe combo. By the time we whipped out our partial payment of $50 Steven Starr gift certificate, she was barely able to thank us and bade us a goodnight before finally abandoning us in derogatory glances and huff. Overall, I did have a good experience minus the few problems. If I found myself there again, I'd skip the ceviche and the drinks. Brad's right about a place like this not lasting a heartbeat in NYC. And I also have a hunch that things at Alma don't get better on any other night.

I haven't tried DeNics, but love Tony Luke's. I get mine with Broc. Rabe & "make it wet!", so they spoon lots of the pork drippins on! Add Sharp Provolone and yer in fer a serious treat. Their liquid/gravy the pork is simmered in also contains lots of garlic and red pepper flakes for some nice bite. mmmm...craving one right now

I had Chicken Mole from Las Cazuelas a while back. It was very respectable, dark, sweet but smoky and hints of nutty. I have lurked here for quite some time and I have a lot of respect for you veterans ( I have looked to all of you for guidance pretty often), but have to chime in about Rio Bravo and my experience there. Mi familia and I went there a while back on a Sunday at dinner time. The place was completely empty. The service was terrible; As I dug my spoon into my queso con chorizo appetizer, my soup arrived. As soon as I dug my spoon into my soup, my entree got plopped on the table. There were literally piles of plates tetering off one another. The same happened to my wife with her appetizers and entree. Bogus portions; Queso con Chorizo has microscopic bits of Chorizo in it, yet the queso was swimming in grease? How? Bogus preparation; Had a "shrimp cocktail", which was supposed to be like a ceviche, according to the menu. It was a bunch of frozen medium shrimp (thawed to perfection), not deveined, half still had shells, swimming in ketchup with lime and cilantro. Nasty. The no deveining doesn't bother me that much, but there were so many shells in this thing it just amplified everything else that was remotely wrong. Bogus communication; I feel the need for there to be SOME English spoken by the waiter or waitress. Our waiter, who seemed to be around 14 years old, could not answer any questions like what were the ingredients in the soup. He was also riding his mountain bike around the dining area, which curiously didn't bother me that much, but it was pretty wierd. Also, they don't inform you that entrees include this Spaghettio-like soup. I ordered a soup off the menu and the next thing I know, our "complimentary" pasta-fa-zool-overcooked-Franco-Mexican-American soup arrives. Of course my 6 year old son loved it, but I was bummed out that I was now going to have 2 soups. We ordered a chocolate shake for my son, when it arrived it was actually chocolate milk. I guess that's how Mexicans do their shakes. Thank God we had a 10% off coupon or else it would have been a total wash. I'll stick to Veracruzana (love their alambre [isn't there an emoticon of Homer Simpson drooling that I can insert here?]) . Tried La Lupe. The wait was ridiculous (30 minutes for some Chorizo and pork tacos!) and and their rice had a weird synthetic taste to it. I've heard some good tales about Plaza Garibaldi, though. PS. Rio Bravo had no Squirt soda. How can you be a Mexican restaurant and not carry Squirt? Call me a snob, but I need my Grapefruit soda!

TV IS a quiet place with no rowdies. The trouble, I think, is next door. I wish they would close the place to the left of TV on the corner of 9th and Washington. The sign says something about Korean or Japanese food, but there are nothing but toothless hags lurking around guzzling 40 ouncers of cheap beer. They lurk in and out of that place and are very disruptive to an otherwise up and coming neighborhood. It baffles me why this place has a liquor license, but you can't bring a beer in TV. My guess is that the police have their hands full enough with that festering sore next to TV to want to deal with the possibility of anymore...