Temari Cafe Visited 12/29/2016 4 Forks

Temari Cafe  1043 Rockville Pike., Rockville, MD 20852

Jeana and I had planned on going here for lunch over Thanksgiving but they were closed, so it only made sense of us to try again over Christmas time.  It's a really unassuming small authentic Japanese cafe nestled in the middle of a really blah strip mall on Rockville Pike.  Like so many places in the suburbs, it's so hard to tell what's a good place to eat if you only judge them by the outside (I guess it just goes to show you that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover even with restaurants). 

It was packed to the brim on a random Thursday afternoon.  Luckily we got a seat within 15 minutes at the counter.  This isn't really a sushi place per say, although you can order from a small limited sushi menu, instead its focus is more on donburi, katsu, curries and ramen dishes.  They are famous for their katsu curry which is what Jeana got and I got the Tonkatsu combo ($20).  My mom kept claiming that I had been here before and that I had complained about how small the portions were - I have no memory of this at all.  If that was the case, they've certainly changed their portion sizes. Jeana's katsu curry was huge - it was the size of an entire dinner plate with a huge helping of white rice.  Meanwhile my combo came with a lot of side dishes on top of the main entree.  There was a broth with a plump clam in it, a small marinated green and some kind of gelatinous dish that I can't quite put my finger on.  But the best part is that it comes with a side of sashimi - for a side order is was a pretty generous portion of 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of yellowtail, 3 pieces of tuna and 4 pieces of flounder in a flower shape.  All of them were fresh and clean tasting - very surprising to get this many pieces of this quality as a side dish.  It kind of made me wish that I got a sashimi or chirashi dish instead.  I usually don't get any kind of breaded meat at Japanese places just because I'm usually so focused on the fish but when Jeana said she was getting a katsu curry it made me crave getting the fried pork strips.  It's definitely great comfort food in chilly weather.  The tonakatsu was tasty and breaded well but it was a ting dry - I had to pour an extra heaping of the tonkatsu sauce to give it continuous moisture but getting a mouthful of the pork + white rice + sauce = one happy girl. 

The place was quite bustling and busy the whole time we were there.  People were getting all sorts of dishes that made me want to go back and try it out again.  I liked the traditional feeling of the place and while sushi will always still be my great Japanese go-go, this place reminds me that even in the suburbs of Maryland, there can still be great hot Japanese food options.  Total bill:  $23/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Lighthouse Tofu Visited 12/28/2016 4 Forks

Lighthouse Tofu  12710 Twinbrook Pkwy., Rockville, MD 20847

The one nice thing about staying home for a bit longer than usual is that I can branch out from my usual food haunts and try new places.  I was pleasantly surprised when my mom suggested this place and really enjoyed myself.  I've always said that Korean has been an under appreciated Asian cuisine. It's especially hard to find when you venture out of larger cities and into the suburbs.  But there is a fairly large Asian community in MD, so it was a bit surprising that there haven't been more Korean places around. 

This place is hard to find - it's on a random side street in Rockville so if you don't know to look for it, you would never find it.  When you walk in, it's got a very authentic feel to it.  The decor is traditional and the waitstaff are all older gentle Korean women.  The menu consists of mostly tofu soups and a few other traditional Korean dishes like bibimbap, bulgogi and scallion pancakes but there isn't any Korean BBQ on this menu.  They have a pretty good combo deal of a small tofu soup and then a main entree for around $20.  I got a spicy tofu soup with mushroom and the bibimbap, my mom got it with fried mackerel and Mike got the bulgogi.   

The tofu soup was sinus cleanse-ingly fantastic.   It wasn't a numbing burn but a slow nostril clearing burn so definitely go if you've got a stuffy nose.  It was served with a nice heaping of silky tofu and shiitake mushrooms and a raw egg cracked on top.  Amazing.  This was the perfect cold winter dish and I actually wished that I had gotten a large tofu soup and forgone the entree.  My bibimbap was good as well - served in a hot sizzling stone bowl with all the usual suspects of ingredients but I was a bit disappointed that there was no meat in this one.  It was a totally solid bibimbap but it couldn't really compare to the tofu soup.  I had a few bites of my mom's fish - it's a typical mackerel which has a strong fish taste and lots of bones but if you can get past it, it's a tasty dish. 

As I looked around, it was comforting to see the place full of Koreans - it just lent to the authenticity of the place.  This was a very pleasant surprise in a part of Rockville that is kind of destitute.  Although I've never been to Korea before, the decor kind of transport you to a place that you would find in Korea.  I would definitely come back especially if it's cold outside and I'm looking for something cozy and warm.  Total bill:  ~$72 for 3 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Faidley Seafood Visited 12/27/2016 4 Forks

Faidley Seafood  203 N Paca St., Baltimore, MD 21201

The one food trend that Maryland does better than anyone else is the crabcake.  I have yet to have one anywhere else in the world that rivals an authentic crabcake that I have when I'm at home. That's why I usually don't eat them outside of MD.  While I usually go to the same few places around home, I recently saw a bit on the Travel Channel about this place up in Baltimore that has been around for centuries and called the "best crabcake in Maryland".  It's located in the old historic Lexington Market and it had been a while since I had been to Baltimore so I figured it was worth the 45 min trek up  there.  But before I went, I made the mistake of reading Yelp and people had really terrible things to say about the market - most described it as "seedy", gross and full of homeless people and drug users.   While I usually take everything I read on there with a grain of salt, it did scare me off a bit because so many people had said to stay away. 

I decided to still go anyways and I'm glad I went.  After entering the market, I immediately became incensed at what people were saying about it.  If you're going expecting something like the Chelsea Market in NYC or Union Market in DC,  you'll be sorely disappointed.  But that's the point of this place - not everything in this world is a nice bougie artisanal wonderland.  This is Baltimore people - did you see The Wire?  It's still very blue collar/working class.  You can't expect to bring in some snotty yuppie-fied market where they sell $10 cups of broth (I'm looking at you Chelsea Market - but I still love you!) to a neighborhood like this.  This is a market for the locals and the locals here aren't rich.  Yes, the place is a bit of the rough side but that's totally fine.  To say in your Yelp review that the place is crawling with drug addicts and homeless people and that you feared for your life is an unfair depiction of a working class neighborhood where clearly people are on hard times.  If anything, Faidley has a separate entrance where you don't even have to really walk through most of the market if you didn't want.

It's clear that Faidley is the star of the market.  It's still pretty old school - the matriarchy still works in the kitchen and you see her hand making all the crabcakes.  It's kind of cafeteria style where you order in line, get your food on a tray and then pay the cashier at the end.  There are no sit down tables, only stand up tables for you to eat your food.  Of course you come here for the crabcakes but they also have a raw bar station and another station where you can order steamed seafood.  I got the crabcake platter ($20.95) which comes with a jumbo lump crabcake and 2 sides - I got the mac and cheese and potato salad.  The crabcake is as advertised - full of delicious lump crabmeat and nothing else.  It's nicely broiled on the outside with a hint of sear and crunch to it but soft on the inside.  I love that it was a straight-up crabcake and not a sandwich because then you can really focus on the crab. Would I say that it's the best crabcake in the world? I'm not sure, but it is pretty damn good.   The sides were totally fine - you probably actually don't need them and could just get the crabcake for $14 and focus on getting more food at the raw bar instead.  The raw bar serves 2 things oysters and clams - I opted for the cherrystone clams (6 for $6.30) because they are meatier and you don't see them in a ton of raw bars.   They were fantastic.  At first I was a bit hesitant because I saw the shucker just pull the clams out of a storage bag but they were plump, clean, and fresh with a hint of ocean water taste to it.   They weren't as large as the ones at Maison Premiere but those are actually almost too big to handle - these were nice mouthfuls of clam-y goodness.

I'm really glad that I didn't listen to the Yelp reviews and avoid this place.  While I would agree and say that the market itself is not necessarily a foodie destination, it's definitely not the scary place that it's made out to be.  If you can handle a slightly down on your luck crowd and ignore all the riff raff, you'll be fine.  It's definitely authentic and where the locals go and if you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you right back.  If you're really not down with that kind of crowd, you can easily use the Faidley side entrance to avoid all of it and stay in the bubble of the stall.  Total bill:  $75 for 3 platters and a clam chowder, $9 for the 9 clams

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Republic Visited 12/26/2016 4 Forks

Republic 6939 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park, MD 20912

Usually when I come home for the holidays I end up meeting up with friends in Bethesda because that is where we grew up and what we know.  But now as we get older and some of our parents have moved to other towns, it's not always necessary to meet there.  Plus Bethesda has become such a cliched yuppie suburbia wasteland that it's kind of hard to get really excited about meeting anywhere there.  So Louise had suggested meeting up at a local place by her mom's in Takoma Park, which I was down for. 

Republic is a cozy neighborhood joint which was exactly what we were looking for.  No muss no fuss and just a casual easy place to catch up with friends.  The menu was a variety of salads, sandwiches and a surprising line up of fancy cocktails.  I got the wood grilled chicken trancapecho ($14) and Louise got the burger ($15).  I wasn't really sure what trancapecho but apparently it's a Bolivian sandwich usually served with steak, rice, fried potato, fried egg, pico de gallo and mayo.  Republic did their own take on it using grilled chicken, fried potato, avocado, sunny side up egg, and a pickled beet relish on a pretzel bun.   Pretty interesting combination right?  It all seemingly worked really well - the chicken was nice and juicy and most of the other ingredients stayed sandwiched in between the thick but soft pretzel bun.  The relish was the only one that was a bit hard to keep inside but it ended up being a good topping for the salad I had on the side.   It's really hard to go wrong when you have a sandwich topped with avocado and egg.

The cocktails (I got an old fashion) were surprisingly strong and on point.  It looked like a lot of people around us were getting Po' boy sandwiches which looked delicious as well.  The place was definitely unpretentious and low key which was perfect for catching up with old friends.  Takoma Park isn't necessarily a suburb where I would find myself hanging out in frequently but it is cute and the downtown part does have a few adorable looking shops.  It was a nice reprieve from the general hustle and bustle of Bethesda and if I were a local, I could definitely see myself coming here for a burger and a beer often. Total bill:  $49/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit: Yelp

Satsuma Visited 12/24/2016 3 Forks

Satsuma  8003 Norfolk Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814

Every time I come home to MD, I usually go to the same 2-3 haunts, so I'm always open to trying out new places.  I met up with my dad in Bethesda at this low key sushi place in Bethesda not too far from the madness of Bethesda Row.  Their claim to fame is that they have $1 sushi all day which can be either a great thing or a gross thing.   

We sat down and right off the bat the service was so slow - despite there being only 3 or 4 tables being occupied.  I went for the sushi/sashimi bento box ($14.50) and a few $1 orders of uni (yeah, I know, $1 uni?!?), salmon belly and yellowtail.  The menu said that the bento box came with a bowl or rice and I asked if I could get mine with brown rice and the waitress rudely snapped that they don't do brown rice.   Geez, ok.  Then we waited and waited and waited.  First they brought out the $1 sushi and it was as expected.  They were small and definitely not of mind blowing quality but I guess for $1, what more could you really expect?  The uni was surprisingly ok too but obviously I've had better.  I could see how if you were just in the mood for cheap sushi that you could sit here and go to town on it.  As for the bento box, it was much better than the $1 sushi.  It came with miso soup, salad, 1 fried dumpling, 8 pieces of sashimi,  veggie and shrimp tempura, bean sprout salad and seaweed salad - so a lot of food for $15!  The sashimi was surprisingly decent given the quality of the $1 sushi - it was nicely cut pieces of tuna, yellowtail and salmon.  The sushi part was eel, tuna, salmon, and shrimp and it also came with 6 pieces of a California roll.  All mediocre, run of the mill sushi - it tastes a lot like "starter" sushi for someone who isn't too adventurous.

The tempura was pretty decent - 2 pieces of shrimp, 2 pieces of sweet potato and eggplant.  The batter was a little bit thick but it wasn't overly greasy or oily.  I usually like the basic green salad that comes with bento boxes because they are dressed with a carrot ginger type dressing but this was a thick glob of Caesar dressing which I wasn't a huge fan of.   I was also excited for the bean sprout salad because that's one of my favorite salads but instead a carrot salad came out - boo!  Also the seaweed salad wasn't the green kind but the black kind.  

Overall, it was a lot of food and a fairly good bang for your buck if you're willing to sacrifice some quality.  It's definitely not Tomoe or Tanoshi quality sushi (but then again I'm a total NYC and sushi snob now) but this is the suburbs, so for that I can see it being an ok place in a pinch.  Total bill:  $46 for 2 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Dizengoff Visited 12/22/2016 4.5 Forks

Dizengoff  75 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10011

Who knew that I would give 4.5 forks to a freakin hummus stand in Chelsea Market?!?  But the food here is simply amazing and goes to show you that you don't have to be a fancy Michelin star place to pump out great food.  This place has a cult following in Philly and they recently opened up a stall in the Chelsea Market.   They have actually started having a pre-fix $50 sit down dinners Thursday-Saturday but they sell-out almost immediately.  Luckily, even on those days you can still grab take out and find a seat in the market, which is what Allison and I did.  But I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the next pre-fix seating (they open up on the 1st of each month for the following month).

The menu is basically all hummus - which you wouldn't think would make for a full meal but it definitely does here.  Allison and I split a chicken hummus ($13) and a brussels sprouts hummus ($12) and a side of potato ($3).   We grabbed our food and headed to a table in the market.  The size of each hummus is a lot, it's basically the size of an entire take out Thai container.  Basically, each of the "flavors" of the hummus are tossed in as toppings to the base hummus - so there was shredded chicken and roasted Brussels Sprout leaves tossed in each of the respective dishes.   They give you one giant warm pita with each hummus and the first bite is heavenly.  It's incredibly smooth, rich and creamy and I couldn't help but want to shove it into my mouth at a voracious speed because it was that delicious.  At first I was bummed they only gave us 1 pita per person but honestly you don't even need the entire one because it's so filling and eventually Allison and I were just eating it by the spoonful.  With the hummus, they give you a side of pickles and chopped Israeli type salad of marinated cucumbers and tomatoes.  Very refreshing.   I also want to give a shout out to the potatoes too which were a last minute add-on.  They were mixed in with sumac and cooked to perfection.  It was like a potato salad without the mayo and unhealthiness.

I wasn't really expecting much when I came here except that it would be a solid meal but I didn't realize how fantastic it would really be.  It's a very solid and hearty meal at a very affordable price.  It made me even more excited and determined to get a ticket to their pre-fix meal.  Total bill:  $33 for 2 with tax, tip and soda

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sunday in Brooklyn Visited 12/17/2016 3.5 Forks

Sunday in Brooklyn  348 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11249

The first thing I'll say about Sunday in Brooklyn is that the space is beautiful.  The aesthetic is pure Brooklyn hipster - it's like a refurbished modern farm house complete with an old stove in the middle of the restaurant.   It kind of transports you away from city life and to a place that would exist in Vermont or somewhere Upstate.

The menu also has a sustainable farm-to-table vibe to it.  It was hard to decide between a breakfast sandwich and some of the larger plates of food like the steak and eggs, house smoked salmon plate or biscuits and gravy.  I opted for the cheddar scramble ($13) and Laura got the kale salad with egg ($14) and we split the avocado toast ($9).  At this point I was already a bit annoyed because the service was really lacking:  first they overcharged Laura for the teas she was drinking while she was waiting for me (she had asked them a few times to correct it and they didn't), it took forever to place our order, and when we asked for flat/tap water they gave us sparkling water instead.  Not that any of those things were dealbreakers on their own but adding up all of those small irritants didn't go unnoticed.  But what really put me over the edge service wise was that the people who sat down next to us after we were seated got their food before us.   WTF?  I had to flag down our waitress to check on our food and she gave me this look like I was crazy.  Luckily the food did come quickly after that.

The good news is that the food was delicious.  The cheddar scramble was soft and flavorful with the right amount of cheese and fluff to it.  It was served with a hearty breakfast sausage that tasted and looked homemade as well as a reasonable side of tasty home fries.  It was a very well executed standard breakfast plate.  I did see a bunch of people get their famous breakfast sandwiches and it looked bonkers.  It was a bit too much for what I was looking for but it's something that I would definitely put on my list the next time I'm there.  Laura was a big fan of the kale salad and the avocado toast looked like something that should have belonged on Instagram. It was a gorgeous half charred avocado on toast with wheatgrass, preserved tomatoes, pickled onion and sprouts.  The toast itself was a bit too hard for me but everything else was a on point.  If there is one dish besides poke that has been overdone in 2016, it's avocado toast but it's so damn good.

Overall, it was a lovely quintessential Brooklyn brunch.  The service could definitely be stepped up - the manager did come by to ask us how things were going and Laura and I thought that they were going to offer up something in response to them overcharging her for her tea despite repeated asks to correct it but nada.  I don't necessarily want to hold it against them as I did enjoy my food and the ambience a lot so hopefully things will improve the next time I'm there.  Total bill:  $28 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Frankel's Delicatessen Visited 12/15/2016 3.5 Forks

Frankel's Delicatessen     631 Manhattan Ave.,  Brooklyn, NY 11222

Having been in NYC for over 15 years, it's hard not to love a great Jewish deli.  I mean who doesn't love smoked fish on a bagel, matzo ball soup and pastrami sandwiches?  This hipster place opened up in Greenpoint not too long ago and got rave reviews for its pastrami and breakfast sandwiches so I had to check it out.  It's a fairly small place with only 2 tables and a few seats by the windowsill, so be prepared to wait for a seat or just take it home. 

The menu has a yummy line up of perfect hang over food but I decided to go with the speciality bagel combo #1 - pastrami salmon, dill, cucumber and scallion cream cheese ($12).  Mind you, while this says it's a combo - it doesn't actually come with anything else.  I got it with a toasted everything bagel and a side of fries ($4) to make it my own combo.  

The sandwich was a good size with a nice heaping of cream cheese and a decent helping of lox in there.  The pastrami salmon had a good bite to it - it definitely had the flavor profile of pastrami but in lox formation.  The combination with the cucumber and cream cheese is always a winner, although I wished it also came with tomato and capers but then I guess if I wanted that I should have just gotten a more traditional lox sandwich.   Everything was great about the sandwich except for the bagel! While I did ask for it to be toasted, it was way too hard and difficult to bite into it.  I personally like my bagels to be warm and fluffy not hard and crusty.  So that was a big disappointment.  The guy next to me got a traditional pastrami on rye and it looked freaking amazing.  This is what I get for not ordering what the place is famous for.  Next time.  Luckily the fries made up for the bad carb element to the meal.  The fries were god damn addictive - they are basically McDonald's fries - skinny, salty and you can't put them down.  The bag is definitely enough for 2 people to share so don't try to eat it all by yourself like I did or else you're feel really sick (like I did). 

Overall, it was still a nice hipster Jewish experience and it's great that it was only a 15 min walk from my house so that I don't have to trek into the city for food like this.  I would probably recommend not toasting your bagel or sticking to the traditional offerings like the pastrami if you're only going to come check this place out once.  Total bill:  $17

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tim Ho Wan Visited 12/14/2016 4 Forks

Tim Ho Wan  85 4th Ave., New York, NY 10003

The opening of Tim Ho Wan has been one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings in a while.  It's been touted as the world's cheapest Michelin starred restaurant (the original is in Hong Kong) mostly because it's all dim sum style.  The first US output opened in the East Village this past week to a insane frenzy.  Virginia and I managed to sweet talk our way into the friends and family soft opening before it was open to the general public on Friday.  This was all totally by accident.  I saw that they were done with construction so when VA and I had dinner plans during the week, I suggested that we give this place a try not knowing that it wasn't really open to the public yet. 

I got there late and VA texted me asking if I had made a reservation, which I hadn't (and they don't take them anyways).  So when I walked in she told me that we were likely not going to sit because everyone there was part of some private event.  But in true VA style, she managed to make friends with the hostess and with a little bit of waiting, we were seated at a table!  While this place is all dim sum, it's not like in Chinatown where they have push carts.  You order by the menu and they bring it to your table, which is totally fine with me because it actually allows you to get exactly what you want because sometimes with the push carts they don't always have what you want.  The prices were all in the $4.00-$5.50 range so totally reasonable.  The menu has the usual line up of traditional dim sum - there wasn't anything that I wanted that wasn't on there.  We ordered the roast pork buns, rice crepes with shrimp and minced meat, shu mai, hargow, turnip cake, sticky rice wrapped in a lotus leaf and chiu chow dumplings.  

Since it was still a soft opening, things were a bit chaotic but once the food came out, it was all good. We started with the roast pork buns, which usually I never order because they tend to be really heavy on the bread but these were really delicious.  The break was fluffy and soft and not too dense.  The pork was sweet and salty and roasted to perfection.  If every pork bun tasted like this, I would totally get them.  Next came the rice crepes - which is my favorite dim sum dish, I usually order 2 because I can eat an entire plate myself.  It was soft, moist and not too greasy or oily.  I still prefer the shrimp one to the meat one but they were both fantastic and really well done.  Next came with shu mai and har gow in the steamed bamboo baskets.  They were piping hot and super fresh.  This is what makes getting dim sum made to order vs. cart better because with the carts you never know how long the dishes have been sitting there for and many times the ones I've gotten can be cold and not very fresh tasting.  You can tell that these dumplings were delicately hand made and not some frozen shit thrown into a steamer.  The one dumpling I wasn't a huge fan of was the chiu chow but mostly because I didn't like the filling of water chestnuts and peanuts not because of how it was made.  The sticky rice was actually my favorite dish of the night - it was a very large portion and perfect texture of rice - sticky but still moist and filled with tender pork and Chinese sausage inside.  I was scrapping the bottom of the leaf to make sure that I got every single bite.   If there was one slightly disappointing dish of the night, it was the turnip cake.  It was a bit undercooked and soft - normally I like it a bit crunchy and slightly burned on the outside and this was missing that element but at least it wasn't super greasy which this dish can easily get.  

We decided to end the meal with a dessert, which I normally wouldn't recommend at a dim sum place because dessert is not Chinese people's strong suit.  But we decided to try to goji berry jello, which was just eh.  I don't particularly love goji berries and the jello didn't have ton of flavor to it but it was a bit of a refreshing palate cleanser.

But now comes the crazy part of the meal. We ask for the check and instead of getting a check we just got a survey and comment card.  Waaa??  Apparently the reason it was so crazy and why we technically shouldn't have been seated was because it was truly for friends and family and they weren't charging anyone for the night.  WTF?!?!  Amazing.  I would have easily paid but we literally had no idea how much these were, so we left a $20 tip.  I wish I could say these type of cool things happen to me all the time because I blog about food but it was literally by chance and circumstance.

Overall, this place is a hit and the food is way cleaner and fresher than the places in Chinatown.  But I had read that on opening day, people were waiting 2-3 hours to get seated which I would definitely not wait around for.  Definitely wait until things have died down a bit, but it's a fantastic addition to the dim sum world without having to trek to Chinatown or Queens.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tomoe Sushi Visited 12/13/2016 4.5 Forks

Tomoe Sushi  172 Thompson St., New York, NY 10012

Ahhh, Tomoe sushi - such an oldie but truly a goodie.  It's been a loooong time since I had been back but for some reason the place popped in my head on a random Tuesday night and I decided to treat myself to some sushi.  I had remembered it being one of those places where people waited in line before it even opened, so I wasn't sure how it was going to be when I got there at 7pm, but it was half empty when I arrived.  I hope that wasn't a sign of a decline in quality or popularity. 

I was seated immediately and the one bad thing about having dinner by yourself is that it's hard to share a bunch of things you like on the menu.  The service was a bit slow but it gave me time to digest what I wanted to order - the sophie's choice of sushi, do I get rolls or sashimi?  I usually don't get the sushi sashimi type combos but I had remember the sashimi was the shit here so I went for it ($40 for 10 pieces of sashimi, 5 pieces sushi and half a spicy tuna roll).  It came out fairly quickly and it was simply gorgeous.   Despite being a food blogger, I actually hate taking pictures of food at restaurants - I find it kind of annoying and stereotypical of Asians.  But I couldn't help myself here (although note, this picture above isn't the one I took).  The sushi here is extremely Instagram worthy. There was so much going on that I didn't know where to start.  There were cuts of almost every kind of fish you can imagine - salmon, tuna, yellowtail, octopus, botan, salmon roe, squid, a scoop of spicy tuna, egg, surf clam, and half a spicy tuna roll.  My mouth was watering at the the thought of eating all of this.  Each piece was fresh, simple and the cuts of sashimi were really big (almost too big - it could have been cut a bit smaller but I'm not really going to complain about it at all).  I really tried to savor each bite but I ended up chowing down on all of this in under an hour.  Being here on a quiet Tuesday night made me wonder why the hell I stopped coming here in the first place?

The food was plentiful and I was stuffed by the time I finished everything.  I toyed with the idea of getting a spicy scallop roll or a piece of uni but I had to draw the line - going out to eat for a random casual Tuesday night shouldn't run me $75, which is what would have happened if I ordered more food.  Instead, it cost me $50 which is definitely way more than what I would typically spend on take out or pick up but you know, sometimes you just need to do what makes you freaking happy, and for me it's spending it on really enjoyable food experiences.  The only bummer was that the service was pretty inattentive.  A heads up that it's cash or Amex only.   Total bill: $50 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Samesa Visited 12/12/2016 4.5 Forks

Samesa  495 Lorimer St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

I was beyond devastated when Meat Hook Sandwich closed down.  They served amazing sandwiches and despite the fact that the actual Meat Hook market opened up literally across the street from me, they weren't really serving many sandwiches there.  But luckily the new place that opened up in its place is equally as fantastic. 

The food here comes from the Sussman brothers - one worked at The Cleveland and the other at Mile End but the focus here is Middle Eastern food which is great because I LOVE Middle Eastern food and there isn't enough of it in the 'hood.  The menu includes pita wraps, plates and salads.  Everything sounded fantastic - I was having a really really hard time deciding between getting a grilled meat plate or a salad.  I was feeling healthy so I opted for the special crunchy salad + chicken ($13 for a large, which was REALLY large) - this was made with dinosaur kale, purple cabbage, sprouts, chickpeas, onion, and this amazingly delicious green goddess like dressing.  I got it as a take-out and the chicken shawarma was served in a separate container, so you can mix in as little or as much as you'd like - of course I mixed in all of it but there is so much chicken that you can save some and use it for another dish.  The chicken was amazing - it was juicy, tender with a bit of char on the outside (it was mostly dark meat) and had this mind blowing yogurt dressing on top of it.  When you mixed it in with the actual salad, it was heaven. I was getting so full but I couldn't stop myself from eating it.  I usually am not a fan of raw cabbage but there was something in the way this was shredded and mixed with the dressing that made it really tasty.   The only thing I would probably change would be the pita chips - I've never been a fan of croutons or things like that in my salad and the cabbage and onions were "crunch" enough to carry on the namesake.   There was so much food that I was able to split it into 2 meals which makes this a really great deal. 

The actual space of the place hasn't change much from when it was the Meat Hook Sandwich shop, the only difference is that they have pretty cool branding and the overall vibe is more relaxing and chill.  I am definitely super super excited to try out the rest of the dishes there - in fact, I am going to make my mission to go back and try at least 3 more dishes.  Hopefully they will stick around for while because the prices are super reasonable for such delicious take out food.  Total bill:  $13

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Leuca Visited 12/7/2016 4 Forks

Leuca  The William Vale Hotel, 111 North 12th St., Brooklyn, NY 11249

I was excited to try out Andrew Carmellini's first foray in Brooklyn since I've been a huge fan of his other restaurants in the city like Locanda Verde, Little Park, Bar Primi and The Dutch to name a few. He opened up this space in the new crazy William Vale Hotel in Williamsburg - you know the neighborhood has changed a bunch when there are not 1 but 2 incredibly swanky fancy pants hotels within spitting distance to each other. 

Vince, Anuja and I checked out the place on a random Wednesday night.  When we first walked in, the place was pretty empty (granted it was 6:45) so we weren't sure what to expect.  But as the night went on, it did get more and more crowded.  The decor is pretty cool - it had this funky cool kid but still old Italian feel to it.  The menu here is Southern Italian influenced - there's a variety of antipasti, wood fired pizza, pastas, and wood fired grilled entrees.  Of course whenever I go out to eat with Vince, it's quite the production.  We start with the sheep's milk ricotta ($13) because you can't go to an Andrew Carmellini restaurant and not order the ricotta, the tuna crudo ($16), the fire roasted cabbage ($14), the burrata mezzaluna ($19), and the spicy sea urchin spaghetti ($24) to share while Anuja got the sea bass ($31) and Vince and I decided to go all out and get the suckling pig ($72) because that's what we do when we go out to eat. 

The ricotta was served with hot honey and garlic and warm bread.  I'm always a sucker for ricotta spreads (especially the one at Locanda Verde) and this one was good but it was almost whipped too smoothly for my liking, if that makes any sense.  The garlic was a nice addition but it was a touch too much flavor as the beauty of ricotta is in the light mild simplicity of it.  Next we tried the tuna crudo and this was probably the top dish of the night.  It was light, fresh and drizzled with the right amount of olive oil and topped with chili and crispy farro.  Fantastic.  The other anti-pasti we ordered, fire roasted cabbage, was a surprising winner of the night too.  It came as a recommendation from the waiter and to be honest, we probably wouldn't have ordered it without him but we felt like we needed some kind of veggie for the night.  It was perfectly roasted with a bit of char on the outside and it had a caesar dressing flavor to it (complete with an anchovy on top) that made it quite hearty and filling. Who would have thought to roast cabbage and that it would be delicious too? 

So the night was off to a pretty good start.  We moved on to the pasta courses and one was great while the other was eh.  The burrata mezzaluna was pretty bland and not that memorable.  I guess burrata is best served as a stand alone cheese dish vs. cooked and filled in a pasta.  Luckily, the sea urchin pasta more than made up for it.  It was spaghetti tossed with a thick gooey sea urchin based sauce and had 2 lovely pieces of sea urchin on top of it.  It was a pretty heavy dish so I was glad that we all shared it but it was a definitely the star pasta dish of the night. 

Now, this is where most normal people would probably stop eating.  But not us.  After eating 5 dishes, the waiter wheeled out this enormous suckling pig head and leg to the table.  I'm not really sure what I was expecting but I definitely was NOT expecting the entire pig's head - snout and all.  I went for the more meaty leg portion first and the area right under the crispy skin was amazing.  Moist and delicious with the fat from the skin still attached to it.  The skin was a bit tough to chew on, so I didn't really partake in that, which was probably better for my health anyways.  But you know probably wasn't good for my health but was god damn amazing?  The pork cheek and jowl!  Anyone who is a true food lover knows that the meat in the cheek area is the best part of any animal (sorry to all my veggie friends).  You have to get in there and cut it up yourself but when you do, you're rewarded with the juicy tender meat underneath.  I did try to pick at some of the other parts of the pig and it had dried out a bit but I was so full at this point, that even if it wasn't dried out, I wouldn't have been able to eat anymore of the dish.  If you plan on ordering this dish, please know that it could easily feed 3 or maybe even 4 people.  It's definitely not for the faint of heart.

Yet somehow when the waiter came by to clear our table, we drunkly decided it would be a great idea to order dessert.  This is what happens when you're 2 bottles of wine and cocktail deep.  We got the Sophia Loren for Two ($15) because, again, the waiter raved about it.  It's essentially a fancy sundae with espresso gelato, chocolate sauce, caramel crumble, meringue, rum granita, whipped cream, all topped with an extra shot of espresso poured on top of it.  It tasted just as amazing as it sounds. Sweet jesus is it good but it definitely put us all over the edge for the night.

By the time we left, the place was bustling.  I was curious to see what the rest of the hotel looked like since it's quite a unique structure but I was too tired and drunk to make any effort to walk around but I've heard that the rooftop bar is quite nice.  While I had a lovely meal here, I still think Locanda Verde ranks as my top Andrew Carmellini restaurant since the pastas there are out of this world.  But don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly happy that he has a post out here in BK to call our own.  Total bill:  graciously covered as a client dinner

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sweetcatch Poke Visited 12/4/2016 4 Forks

Sweetcatch Poke  642 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10022

How much poke can one person eat? For me, the answer is never enough.  Seriously, the whole city could be filled with poke places on every corner and I still wouldn't ever get sick of it.  I had been reading about this place for a while since it was started by Top Chef alum Lee Anne Wong - she prides this place on being more authentic and traditional.  The original concept of this place was to have you order by the pound instead of the mix and match bowl style.  It sounds like they must have adjusted their business model because when I was there this afternoon, the very nice guy at the counter explained to the Chipotle style ordering to me - nowhere was there any mention of ordering by the pound (which I know is more traditional in Hawaii).  

The ordering is similar to all the other places:  you order a base of white or brown rice (I got brown), kale or mixed greens (I got kale), and then you choose from a variety of already mixed poke combinations (I got the garlic black pepper).   They had several great sounding combinations - there was of course the classic style, a firecracker version which had a creamy spicy sauce, and an aloha version which had coconut sauce in it, plus a variety of others.  Then you pick 3 toppings and I got the seaweed salad, edamame, and kelp noodles (which was pretty much like a seaweed salad again).  It's all packed in a very deep plastic bowl for $13.95.  

I was a bit surprised when I read a few Yelp reviews when they said the portions weren't very big because I felt like it was a TON of food and very filling.  My only complaint with how it was packed - it was all layered on top of each other, so my first couple of bites were all seaweed salad.  I had to really eat my way down before I could get a bite of both rice, poke and toppings mixed together.  As for the poke itself, it was tasty and did taste closer to the kind I had in Hawaii.  The fish was fresh and of high quality and it was marinated well with a LOT of flavor to it.  I was afraid the garlic black pepper sauce would be overwhelming but it wasn't really.  The only thing I would change is that the chunks of onion were way too big, they need to be smaller and thinner.  Another downside is the location - it's in freakin Midtown East.  The only reason I even went there was because I was already on the 6 train and it was only a 10 minute ride up there.  Unfortunately, the two other locations they are looking to open are also in Midtown which is kind of a bummer.  If they opened one downtown, I would definitely be here a lot more often.  Total bill:  $13.95

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Black Ant Visited 12/1/2016 4 Forks

Black Ant  60 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003

I recently booked a trip to Mexico City, so I've been a bit obsessed lately with traditional Mexican food.  I remembered a friend telling me about Black Ant, so I was able to convince Holly to check it out with me Friday night.

This is no Tex Mex food where everything is dripping in cheese and sour cream.  It's the kind of place where they have gresshoppers and goat as their main forms of protein.  We started with the black ant guacamole ($13) - I had to ask what black ant salt was and it's exactly what you think it is, crushed up black ants mixed with salt.  I felt like we had to try something adventurous.  We also got a side of plantains ($10) and I got the lehcon ($26) and Holly got the octopus ($27).  We were really tempted to also get the fish tacos since they sounded amazing but our stomachs were way bigger than our eyes at this point and I'm glad we refrained.   I was kind of expecting to see a bunch of this black ant salt in the guacamole but it was honestly barely noticeable.  It was really just normal guacamole served with freshly made tortilla chips.  There was a hint of mango and pomegranate so I guess it wasn't 100% "normal" but it was a pretty solid dish.  The plantains were also great - served in a smokey mole sauce and sprinkled with melted cotija cheese.  It was a lovely way to start the meal.

The entrees were no different either.  We had a bit of a snafu when they gave Holly the wrong dish and honestly it was bit too dark and we were starting to get a bit to tipsy to recognize it right away. They gave her the duck dumplings and I tried a bite and we were both confused.  Luckily when we flagged down the waiter, he knew immediately that it was the wrong order and brought out the octopus right away.   As for my lechon - it was a big block of suckling pig deliciousness.  Juicy, flavorful and the meat fell apart instantly.  The also give you a side of fresh corn tortillas, which I would normally skip but for some reason decided to try and it was magical.  I have been trying to avoid eating so much meat because of my high cholesterol but it's dishes like this that make it really hard to give up. I had a bite of the octopus and it was super tender and tasty as well.

We got the churros ($10) to end the meal because, well, how can you not get churros?!?  They were sweet and crunchy - albeit a bit too crunchy.  They probably were fried a bit too long and could have been more fluffy as Holly noted.  But overall, it was a fantastic way to end the meal.

This meal got me super excited for my trip to Mexico City.  The only reason I didn't give it 4.5 forks was for the really slow service in the beginning and the fact that they had this really annoying blinking light near where we were sitting that almost made it seem like we were in a rave.  Luckily it was fixed but it was highly distracting.  However, after seeing this picture of what the fish tacos looked like, I would be more than happy to try this place out again soon.  A fair warning, the margaritas are really strong - you've been warned.  Total bill:  $85/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp