Dear Salami,
It’s been a while since you and I really had a heart-to-heart. I'm sorry for that.
I just thought I should write you this letter because I don’t want you to think I’ve taken you for granted. You really do mean the world to me.
I think what I’m really trying to say is: Salami, thanks for all the good times.
You are my favourite meat, and always have been.
I know I occasionally flirt with Roast Lamb, and in the heat of the moment I may say some things that I don’t really mean, or make some promises that I have no intention of keeping, but it is you, Salami, that I always return to in the end. You are my rock.
I love your wide range of textures, from hard to soft, and your abundance of flavours; garlic, wine, pepper, and pork. Such a wonderful marriage (I know, I can’t believe I’m finally saying the “M” word!)
Salami, please for me, never ever change.
I love you...
Yours,
D.N. Ergeddon.
xxx xxx xxx
23/09/2010
14/09/2010
San Francisco Dinnergeddon!
- SAN FRANCISCO -
The San Francisco Bay area is home some damn fine eats and drinks. This is my conclusion after a recent vacation to the west coast. I'd been to SF as an angsty teen, but to come back as an angsty (and hungry!) grown man was awesome!
Let's start with the scenery. This is not a shabby backdrop. When it looks like this outside, I don't have much trouble wandering the streets aimlessly for hours, looking for delicious things to put in my mouth. We're talking nice warm days where the fog gradually lifts to reveal a sunny sky, dramatic hills, and color everywhere - color in the nature, the people, and the architecture. The nights are cool and fall-like; perfect for a good hang at a local haunt with friends.
I'll get right down to it. Mexican food done right is the stuff that can melt a man's heart. New York is a relative newbie - having experienced a dramatic increase in Mexican inhabitants over the past couple of decades, taquerias and tortillerias have been slowly sprouting up around parts of Brooklyn and beyond. It's very exciting (and often very delicious), but it just doesn't quite have the time-tested excellence, authenticity and history that Mexican foods of the west coast have. Try a fish taco or carnitas in Los Angeles and you'll understand what I mean. But what about northern California? Oh, it's most awesome too. And it's known for something in particular. Something HUGE. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're hungry. Let me introduce you to the SUPER BURRITO.
This is the very reason we booked our flight to arrive at lunch time. I'm serious. The plan: head directly to the Mission District of San Francisco, find ourselves a serious taqueria, and get down to business. First stop: El Farolito. They make a perfectly delicious and cheap carne asada super burrito - no frills, just amazing. It hit the spot. We left stuffed and satisfied. Here's Amey after the first bite!
After a nice afternoon of exploring, we got kinda thirsty. Lucky for us, there was Puerto Alegre on Valencia Street. I've said this before - a margarita is a delicate thing. And this place makes the perfect margarita. Perfect. Real nice folks, too.
This Mariachi band strolled in off the street and played some tunes!
The next morning, we headed for the Ferry Building Marketplace. The historic Ferry Building boasts an impressive market on a full-time basis, but on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, there is the added bonus of the Farmer's Market, which sets up camp directly outside.
Coffee Time. Blue Bottle Coffee makes espresso and drip coffee that will BEND YOUR MIND (and I'm serious. That's my warning to you). And they just opened a location in Brooklyn (their only east coast venture). Man, oh man.
Acme Bread Company was luring us with the smell of fresh baked sourdough...
Acme Bread Company was luring us with the smell of fresh baked sourdough...
... and for 5 bones, you can get one of their Salami and pickle sandwiches on a sourdough baguette. Deeeeeeelicious! A divine sandwich.
We met up with a buddy, who took us to dinner at a placed called Chow in the Castro District. The comfort food spin on the Thai-inspired Smiling Noodle with Chicken & Prawns was fresh and delicious. As was the local dark lager that accompanied it.
We met up with a buddy, who took us to dinner at a placed called Chow in the Castro District. The comfort food spin on the Thai-inspired Smiling Noodle with Chicken & Prawns was fresh and delicious. As was the local dark lager that accompanied it.
Speaking of local beer, there seems to be a lot of it in the Bay Area - and from what I sampled, it's good stuff! Our buddy took us to Toronado on Haight Street, a haven for beer geeks. Their local and rare beer selection was mindblowing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
This tasty brunch at Boogaloos on Valencia Street helped with that hangover I may or may not have had.
...and so did this stroll back to Haight Street, where we visited the Magnolia Brew Pub. This place came highly recommended from some good pals in Brooklyn, who used to live in SF. Pictured here are our two Blue Bell Bitters. This is super good stuff.
We just HAD to come back to Puerto Alegre for the food. SUPER BURRITO strikes again. So does another Mariachi band! Luckily, we saw the sheer size of these super burritos coming out to other tables before we ordered - so we split this one. We ordered some amazing fresh guacamole one the side too. This was the biggest super burrito we found, and also the most delicious. The carne asada was perfect, and all the ingredients were super fresh.
The next morning, we woke up early. We had some serious exploring to do. But first, COFFEE. Here's the really good croissant and really good cappuccino from Four Barrel Coffee.
We drove out of the city to nearby Berkeley, California. As soon as we got there, we found this local brewery. Heck, we were on vacation - why not grab a hefeweizen at 11:30AM?
As we strolled through Berkeley, it hit us. More Mexican food. Need more. Now. Meet Gordo.
I think this place has been in Berkeley for awhile. Needing a break from the Super Burrito, we decided to go the taco route. Wow, did we score. We ordered 2 carne asada tacos and two carnitas tacos - both with the works. Wow - these are absolutely incredible. Perfect taco experience! If I end up Berkeley again, you will find me here. Thanks, Gordo!On the road again! This time, we met up with some pals in Los Altos, California. They took us to a place in Palo Alto called Three Seasons. While the vibe seemed a bit highbrow for my tastes (I fear the white tablecloth), the food was great. This is one of the French-Vietnamese fusion joints I'd been hearing about all over the Bay Area. It's a great combo. The flavors of the two cuisines complimented each other nicely, and all the small dishes were tasty!
Next stop is up north. Where do poor folks eat in wine country? Perhaps Old Mexico Restaurant in Santa Rosa, California? It was getting late, we were hungry, and the Mexican food craving hit us hard - again! Old Mexico unglamourously sits in a parking lot across from a 7-Eleven convenience store. It looked like it had been there for 50 years. Two SUPER BURRITOS, please! I'll admit it was my least favorite of the Mexican cuisine we'd sampled so far. Still, not bad! Get us back to San Francisco!
It was the last day in San Francisco. Freakin' MEXICAN FOOD is on the agenda. For lunch, we hit El Faro. This place has been in the Mission forever. It's owner claims to have invented the first Super Burrito back in 1961. But we just couldn't fit another Super Burrito in us, so we went a new route altogether. The TORTA! This classic Mexican sandwich is on the menu at a small handful of taquerias in Brooklyn, but I don't think I'd had a proper Torta until now. Just look at this thing. We washed it down with some freshly made Horchata. El Faro, you are awesome.
That night, we grabbed a beer at Zeitgeist. To our surprise, the Tamale Lady showed up, wheeling her precious goods around. By now, we knew the word on the street about the Tamale Lady. Tamales for dinner! They were the best tamales I've had! The giant friendly bouncer warned us not to take a picture there, so I leave you with this one I found online:
Man, I'm full!
Labels:
bay area,
california,
fusion,
mexican,
san francisco
09/09/2010
Bubble Tea, Rice, & A Great Big Metal Tube
Do you see that?
That is a damn fine bowl of rice.
That's how they roll at Mr. Noodles, on Queen's Road, Brighton. If you can think of a thing that you would want to have with your rice, then they have already chucked it in there, so don't even bother mentioning it. You'll find what you're looking for. Just eat the damn thing.
You've got chicken, prawns, crabstick, pork, chicken, snap peas, aka: DA WOIKS.
But obviously, there's more to plucky little Noodle-San than simply rice...
For example, there are dumplings to rival those of the highly regarded E-Kagen:
Our crack team of reviewers were split 50/50 as to whether or not these tasty little pillows were in fact BETTER than E-Kagen, although they are slightly cheaper, so that is certainly a great big tick in the Mr. Noodles column.
The general affordability of the food here is really very appealing. The big stand out point though is that it isn't just cheap; it's also really very good.
Behold!
Society will forgive you, in time, for having attempted to lick your computer screen just now. That's the "Mr. Noodles Yaki Soba" and it truly is as good as it looks.
Then there's the obligatory DINNERGEDDON favourite; the yasai katsu curry:
You pair this hearty dish up with a tall glass of crisp Japanese beer (multiple varieties served on the premises) and you my friend will have a party on your hands.
Speaking of parties, have you tried Bubble Tea?
It's wierd but fun. It's essentially flavoured milk (not really tea) with odd chewey balls floating in it. Flavours range from Chocolate, Strawberry, and Banana through to more exotic fare such as Jasmin, Lychee, and Green Tea. The drink comes with an extra-wide straw for sucking up the chewy globules; or "bubbles".
As I say, wierdness abounds, but also..... fun. I would definitely get it again.
The last thing I want to mention about Mr. Noodles is a surprising feat of engineering in the back. Remember that this place is in Brighton, and so for some reason when I saw this it struck me as an extra-authentic "eastern" touch...
Leaving by the back door, you see this:
Wait for it...
Perhaps this reveals something about my personality, but this metal tube made quite the impression on me.
Stay tuned for the launch of our new companion blog, TUBEGEDDON... coming soon!
Labels:
brighton,
bubble tea,
dumplings,
Japanese,
metal tube,
Noodles,
rice
08/09/2010
Piggin' in a Field
Music festivals.
Food.
For many, these two sharing a sentence can induce feelings of revulsion, contempt and even genuine fear. Images brought to mind are likely those of string vested, furrow-browed troglodytes, sweating profusely over an oil-drowned grill and flipping an array of sorry looking burgers made from rats’ lips and mechanically separated tyres. Fortunately, at your modern, food conscious music festival, these things are rarely a problem; a recent trip to the Big Chill in Herefordshire was proof of that and then some.
With variety and quality abundant across the board, it’s a perfect place to try new things as well as to treat yourself to some established favourites while you soak up a weekend of your favourite tunes. But, however amazing the music was (and believe me, it was), I'm posting on DINNERGEDDON to talk about one thing only: the eats.
The first thing to enter my face was the contents of the MUMBAI CITY SNACK BOX, which certainly hit the spot after a few hours in a hot car and a biblical struggle to get all of our camping gear up a minor mountain. Opening said box, I uncovered an assortment of spicy samosas and pakoras packed with chickpeas, spinach, mushrooms and peppers and laden with chutnies mango and chilli. It all sat on a bed of crunchy shredded red cabbage, carrots and onions and warmed my cockles for the rest of the evening almost as well as the juice in my hipflask.
Mumbai city snack box
SPICY MOROCCAN LAMB TAGINE PIE came next and was as much of a mouthful as its name – sweet, tender lamb, cinnamon and apricots tucked into some amazingly melty pastry somehow worked really well with the chunkiest chips you ever did see, along with some really thick gravy. This was the culinary equivalent of England and Morocco fist-bumping each other in mutual admiration and I’ll be damned if it didn’t taste incredible.
Spicy Moroccan lamb tagine pie
In search of some mid-afternoon refreshment, we rolled up to Mr Scruff's Tea Tent for some MINT & CHILLI TEA, which really hit the spot and delivered exactly what you would expect – minty fresh goodness with a slight chilli kick. I kept going back for more over the weekend and was happy to discover later that I can get this stuff at home in Brighton from Infinity Foods. Go get some.
Mr Scruff's mint & chilli tea
A firm favourite at previous Big Chills had been an anonymous vegetarian stall that made the most amazing vegeburgers. It took a couple of days to find this time, but oh boy was it worth the wait. ‘DOUBLE WITH BOTH’ was what had to be ordered – two crisp, home made vegeburgers in a fresh seeded bun with all the usual salad trimmings, mayo, ketchup and the aforementioned ‘both’: a thick slice of cheddar and a farkin’mountain of bacos. For the uninitiated, bacos are tiny, crispy soy pieces that taste a hell of a lot more like bacon than they have any right to. One thing’s for sure, they really make a burger something to behold.
The pie I’d enjoyed the previous day had given me a hankering for more lamb, so I set about sniffing some out. Before long my nose had led me to a stall called ‘Bhatti Wraps’ - the lady behind the counter could obviously see from the look in my eyes that I was screaming for LAMB LAMB LAMB and promptly whipped me up a LAMB BHATTI WRAP.
Lamb Bhatti wrap
Shiiiiiiit. This thing was so good it almost hurt; a soft, naan-like wrap filled to bursting with huge chunks of chargrilled lamb - pink and juicy on the inside, brown and perfectly seasoned on the out - on top of lettuce, red onion, carrot and fresh chilli, topped off with some cooling yoghurt and green mango chutney. If I had the scratch I would pay for these guys to come and set up outside my digs all year round. No joke.
Something sweet was definitely on the cards by this point, so I grabbed a cup o’ Joe and got myself a hot APPLE, SULTANA AND CINNAMON CRÊPE. By its nature, something this floppy is a bit of a struggle to eat from a paper plate with a wooden spork, but once I dug in I forgot all about practicalities – I could smell the fragrant sweetness inside as soon as I cut it open. The pancake itself was soft and stretchy, the filling was nicely gooey but not without some bite from the apple and was sweet without being overly sugary. Good crêpes can only be left to the pros, and the guy who made this one definitely had the chops.
Apple, sultana and cinnamon crêpe
I couldn’t in good conscience spend a whole weekend eating takeaway food without having at least one pizza. Thankfully, the Big Chill also came up trumps in this department – there was a shady little tent devoted to freshly-made-in-front-of-your-eyes pies that were popped onto a hellishly hot baking stone before emerging minutes later, all bubbled up and eager to meet your tongue. The CHILLI SPECIAL came laden with Kalamata olives, onion, mushrooms, fresh tomato and, of course, chilli, which didn’t waste any time in letting you know it meant business. The base was so light and airy it was almost a bubble. I sloped away from this one with the heat ringing in my mouth almost as loudly as the music from the main stage did in my ears.
Chilli special
I had a shocking realisation on the last day that nothing from the sea had yet entered my mouth for the duration of the festival. This had to be corrected right away, and thankfully it wasn’t long before I found myself chomping on a SPICY FISH BOUREK: a crispy fried pastry filled with an amazing combination of tuna, goats’ cheese and chilli harissa, served with a tomato and onion salad and checkchouka - a sort of sweet, spicy North African take on ratatouille. I’d never heard of a bourek before, but if I can I’ll make sure no one else suffers the same ignorance from now on. They’re completely delicious and I’d recommend getting the hell down to your local bourek dispensary right now.
Spicy fish bourek
On those cold festival nights when the elements threaten to strip away the warm blanket of inebriation you’ve been artfully weaving for an entire day, nothing can put you back on track faster than some real comfort food like a CHICKEN BURRITO. You know the deal – chicken, rice, refried beans, peppers, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and jalapeños all packed up in a floury tortilla. This is nothing if not a welcome sight when it’s 2am and you can scarcely remember your own name. I was so distracted when handed this steaming bundle of joy that I had to be reminded to pay for it.
Chicken burrito
No festival food roundup would be complete without a nod to the booze, and I’m not talking watered-down, room temperature lager here. No siree. We spent plenty of hazy afternoons sipping away at ORCHARD MIST (which is basically Pimm’s with cider) partied down with SAILOR JERRY MOJITOS and clinked at sunset with MONKEY SHOULDER MUAY THAIS.
Sailor Jerry Mojito
A huge bottle of Monkey Shoulder
A year to make room for the next summer festival feast seems a long time, but if it’s anything like this one, it’ll be worth waiting for.
Food.
For many, these two sharing a sentence can induce feelings of revulsion, contempt and even genuine fear. Images brought to mind are likely those of string vested, furrow-browed troglodytes, sweating profusely over an oil-drowned grill and flipping an array of sorry looking burgers made from rats’ lips and mechanically separated tyres. Fortunately, at your modern, food conscious music festival, these things are rarely a problem; a recent trip to the Big Chill in Herefordshire was proof of that and then some.
With variety and quality abundant across the board, it’s a perfect place to try new things as well as to treat yourself to some established favourites while you soak up a weekend of your favourite tunes. But, however amazing the music was (and believe me, it was), I'm posting on DINNERGEDDON to talk about one thing only: the eats.
The first thing to enter my face was the contents of the MUMBAI CITY SNACK BOX, which certainly hit the spot after a few hours in a hot car and a biblical struggle to get all of our camping gear up a minor mountain. Opening said box, I uncovered an assortment of spicy samosas and pakoras packed with chickpeas, spinach, mushrooms and peppers and laden with chutnies mango and chilli. It all sat on a bed of crunchy shredded red cabbage, carrots and onions and warmed my cockles for the rest of the evening almost as well as the juice in my hipflask.
Mumbai city snack box
SPICY MOROCCAN LAMB TAGINE PIE came next and was as much of a mouthful as its name – sweet, tender lamb, cinnamon and apricots tucked into some amazingly melty pastry somehow worked really well with the chunkiest chips you ever did see, along with some really thick gravy. This was the culinary equivalent of England and Morocco fist-bumping each other in mutual admiration and I’ll be damned if it didn’t taste incredible.
Spicy Moroccan lamb tagine pie
In search of some mid-afternoon refreshment, we rolled up to Mr Scruff's Tea Tent for some MINT & CHILLI TEA, which really hit the spot and delivered exactly what you would expect – minty fresh goodness with a slight chilli kick. I kept going back for more over the weekend and was happy to discover later that I can get this stuff at home in Brighton from Infinity Foods. Go get some.
Mr Scruff's mint & chilli tea
A firm favourite at previous Big Chills had been an anonymous vegetarian stall that made the most amazing vegeburgers. It took a couple of days to find this time, but oh boy was it worth the wait. ‘DOUBLE WITH BOTH’ was what had to be ordered – two crisp, home made vegeburgers in a fresh seeded bun with all the usual salad trimmings, mayo, ketchup and the aforementioned ‘both’: a thick slice of cheddar and a farkin’mountain of bacos. For the uninitiated, bacos are tiny, crispy soy pieces that taste a hell of a lot more like bacon than they have any right to. One thing’s for sure, they really make a burger something to behold.
The pie I’d enjoyed the previous day had given me a hankering for more lamb, so I set about sniffing some out. Before long my nose had led me to a stall called ‘Bhatti Wraps’ - the lady behind the counter could obviously see from the look in my eyes that I was screaming for LAMB LAMB LAMB and promptly whipped me up a LAMB BHATTI WRAP.
Lamb Bhatti wrap
Shiiiiiiit. This thing was so good it almost hurt; a soft, naan-like wrap filled to bursting with huge chunks of chargrilled lamb - pink and juicy on the inside, brown and perfectly seasoned on the out - on top of lettuce, red onion, carrot and fresh chilli, topped off with some cooling yoghurt and green mango chutney. If I had the scratch I would pay for these guys to come and set up outside my digs all year round. No joke.
Something sweet was definitely on the cards by this point, so I grabbed a cup o’ Joe and got myself a hot APPLE, SULTANA AND CINNAMON CRÊPE. By its nature, something this floppy is a bit of a struggle to eat from a paper plate with a wooden spork, but once I dug in I forgot all about practicalities – I could smell the fragrant sweetness inside as soon as I cut it open. The pancake itself was soft and stretchy, the filling was nicely gooey but not without some bite from the apple and was sweet without being overly sugary. Good crêpes can only be left to the pros, and the guy who made this one definitely had the chops.
Apple, sultana and cinnamon crêpe
I couldn’t in good conscience spend a whole weekend eating takeaway food without having at least one pizza. Thankfully, the Big Chill also came up trumps in this department – there was a shady little tent devoted to freshly-made-in-front-of-your-eyes pies that were popped onto a hellishly hot baking stone before emerging minutes later, all bubbled up and eager to meet your tongue. The CHILLI SPECIAL came laden with Kalamata olives, onion, mushrooms, fresh tomato and, of course, chilli, which didn’t waste any time in letting you know it meant business. The base was so light and airy it was almost a bubble. I sloped away from this one with the heat ringing in my mouth almost as loudly as the music from the main stage did in my ears.
Chilli special
I had a shocking realisation on the last day that nothing from the sea had yet entered my mouth for the duration of the festival. This had to be corrected right away, and thankfully it wasn’t long before I found myself chomping on a SPICY FISH BOUREK: a crispy fried pastry filled with an amazing combination of tuna, goats’ cheese and chilli harissa, served with a tomato and onion salad and checkchouka - a sort of sweet, spicy North African take on ratatouille. I’d never heard of a bourek before, but if I can I’ll make sure no one else suffers the same ignorance from now on. They’re completely delicious and I’d recommend getting the hell down to your local bourek dispensary right now.
Spicy fish bourek
On those cold festival nights when the elements threaten to strip away the warm blanket of inebriation you’ve been artfully weaving for an entire day, nothing can put you back on track faster than some real comfort food like a CHICKEN BURRITO. You know the deal – chicken, rice, refried beans, peppers, cheese, sour cream, lettuce and jalapeños all packed up in a floury tortilla. This is nothing if not a welcome sight when it’s 2am and you can scarcely remember your own name. I was so distracted when handed this steaming bundle of joy that I had to be reminded to pay for it.
Chicken burrito
No festival food roundup would be complete without a nod to the booze, and I’m not talking watered-down, room temperature lager here. No siree. We spent plenty of hazy afternoons sipping away at ORCHARD MIST (which is basically Pimm’s with cider) partied down with SAILOR JERRY MOJITOS and clinked at sunset with MONKEY SHOULDER MUAY THAIS.
Sailor Jerry Mojito
A huge bottle of Monkey Shoulder
A year to make room for the next summer festival feast seems a long time, but if it’s anything like this one, it’ll be worth waiting for.
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