Its been a while

I know I havent updated in quite a while, but its due to good reason! First of all I was home last weekend and I ate alot of home cooked meals. However I got a cold over the weekend and so everything tasted off. I wasn't in a position to be talking about how things tasted. I was'nt feeling too great till about yesterday where I found this.

STEAK!!!!!! Now this wasnt any pre cooked nonsense, no this was raw meat staring me in the face. I saw that and had to go in. This was at Beneditct in the cafeteria by the way. The steak was seasoned with pepercorns and was seasoned well, before it was cooked. I asked for it medium rare and was taunted by the aroma. Biting in was a breath of fresh air. Not only could i taste once more, but it was tender and juicy. The seasoning wasnt overpowering like i thought it would be. The juice sunk down onto the fries and that was amazing,allmost like a jous. I was extremley pleased with it, hope to see a return!

And this here is what happens when the internet goes out. BLANKEY HAMMOCK!!!!!!!

Repeat..... kinda

This seems awfully familiar doesn’t it? Soup and sandwich again! This time I got potato soup and a ham sandwich. The sandwich was more or less the same except it was ham and Swiss. You can’t mess that up and it was good stuff, nothing much else to say besides it was great for a boxed sandwich. The soup was AWSOME!!!!! So creamy and full of big chunks of potato! This was the dream potato soup! The texture was absolutely divine, best texture in any potato soup ever had. The taste was really good, but wasn’t the best. It needed more then just potato flavors. Though still very tasty and ill be back for more. I Followed suit and dunked the sandwich in the soup again. It was excellent, even better then last time

Lastly strawberry mango passion was very straberrymangopassioney! Good stuff, Go get some!

Hot stuff

Today was COLD. Were talking 40 degrees perhaps 30 with the wind-chill. I needed to warm up, and what better then a cup of hot chocolate. Volgy told me of some in the union, so we went to get some! This was pretty decent stuff, not my favorite though. It came from a machine, and that's not always bad. It was hot, and doesn't that make it hot chocolate in the end? Now it was made from water, not milk and that's why I think I wasn't a fan. It was creamy, but not the kind of creamy I wanted. It was a bit too thin for my liking, but the chocolate taste was there and overall was pretty good.

Now remember that unique place I got the flounder at? Well there’s a similar place at the union! Step right up ladies and gentlemen and behold. THE MASHED POTATO BOWL!! Man this thing looks scary. Its basically mashed potatoes and corn covered in chicken, gravy and cheese. Yeah this is some healthy stuff. I dug right in to this massive meal. Let me start by saying this was probably one of the heaviest things I've eaten, I felt like a wounded grizzly after finishing it. The chicken was above the usual stuff they dish out. It was meatier and had less breading. The taste was better probably because the chicken was made fresh. The potatoes too, were mashed on the premises. They had bits of skin in them and tasted of potatoes. The gravy too was very legit, and tasted somewhat like my mothers thanksgiving gravy. The corn was a bit watery but it didn’t hurt the dish too badly .All together this was a very cohesive dish and was filling as all hell.

It was nice to have hot on a cold day, makes sense. These upcoming days will be cold, so more hot stuff to come!

First really cold day of october

Today was the first really cold day this month. I love it so much; the cold is a friend to me. The smell in the air; you knew it was fall. It was a really busy day; I was surprised I got to eat at all. Let’s get into it!

Today I decided to taste the bourbon chicken at the Chinese joint in the union. People say it’s pretty good so I went to test their word. I wasn’t pleased. The chicken meat itself was good. Tender and full of the sauce that it was served with. The taste was good; it had a lot of components to it. The thing that got me about it was the texture of the sauce. It was very oily, almost as if it wasn’t mixed well. Secondly it had clumps in it; you can see this in the picture to the right. Not a bad taste at all, but the sauce deterred me.


I got it with some sauteed bean sprouts, which I'm a big fan of. These were crunchy and had a very natural flavor. It was accompanied by shards of carrots and some string beans. Slightly salty in a good way too. Nothing bad to say at all about these sprouts.

Dinner was a strange strange thing. The label said Japanese veg chicken sandwich. I thought that it meant vegetable and chicken sandwich. But in reality it was a vegetarian chicken sandwich. What I got was to-chicken (Tofu-chicken). My first encounter, it didn’t taste like chicken but it was good. The sandwich itself is an experience was very weird. Teriyaki sauce very chewy doughy bread, fake chicken and flat veggies. I have to say it was really really good; I was surprised more then ever. The tastes melded well, the sauce was perhaps too strong. A very very weird sandwich. Flat, sort of fermented flavors (probably due to tofu). I liked it a lot, an interesting take on a sandwich. I broadened my tastes today and really that makes it all worth it in the end

A new discovery

Gazelle and I after class decided to go to the SAC for some grub. I was tired of the usual stuff there, and then I remembered something about the sac. There is this place, kind of small easy to miss that has new things every day. You know me I dove right in to see what was on the menu, and I was surprised.
Fish and chips, with cole slaw. Sounded appetizing, though I was weary of the fish at first. Standing in line to pay I was weary of the freshness of the fish. However my notions were nothing to worry about. This was good stuff! The fish was flakey and moist. It tasted like flounder, like legit flounder. The breading was crispy and was traditional bread crumb flavor. It was extremely satisfying to have something new and good. Fish isn’t something I would think was safe here, but now it seems to be! The fries were the usual SAC fries, but it was a good batch so they were less mushy the usual. Great combo, I love fish and chips!


The cole slaw was just how I like it. Not too thin but not too thick. It had medium sized pieces and had a great crunch. It was cool and tangy, a great compliment to fish. Nothing bad to say at all.
An old standby was staring me in the face. An old friend, this apple juice. My mother used to rave about it "Apple and eve is the best!” She’s right it was, is and will be the best. Its 100% juice you can’t go wrong. An excellent lunch, I have to hit it up again.



For dinner we went back to the SAC this time with Gio and Mark. I hadn’t tried the pizza yet so I got that. It was pretty good, pretty standard pizza. Reminded me of something I would get in the mall. It was a bit on the salty side, but the sauce was good and the cheese stayed on. There’s nothing more disappointing then loosing all of your cheese and getting left with a skin flap of a slice. This was standard pizza, and it was good. The crust (which is debated between us to what it actually is) was nice and crisp and it had a little char to it which I like. Id get it again, perhaps next time with some toppings.

20th post~!

Time goes quick~! its already 20!

Today I was feeling some cake again. Yellow cake to be specific, but what I got was not yellow cake. It in fact was lemon cake and it was exactly what I needed at the moment. It was a wake up, refreshing and energizing. The cake was very lemony, but it had no traces of lemon in it and I liked that. I'm not partial to bits of fruit in cakes. The cake was a little to dry and fell apart, but the icing kept it all in check. The icing was sugar, that's pretty much it. It was vanilla and tasted like canned icing. I personally like that sugary creamy texture. Though it wasn't what i wanted, it was what i needed.

The Cranberry lemonaide, was a huge letdown. This was watery, bland and un satistfying. I wanted the punch and tang of lemon aide. Instead I got something that was more like vitamin water. I LOATHE vitamin water so I wasn't pleased at all. It said lemonaide, but it mocked me it was flavored water. Avoid this at all costs.

For dinner I was surprised to find that Benedict had something interesting. A baked potato with portabello mushrooms and a gravy made from it. This was surprisingly amazing. The gravy was clean and smooth. It had nice chunks of portabello in it, actually I'm surprised it was portabello in the first place. The potato was crispy outside, soft inside. It was excellent all over the board, maybe a little more gravy but other then that perfection. I'm glad I took the chance.

There is still hope for the future. I had feared that there was nothing worth noting anymore. This goes to show that there is more out there and that fact comforts me.

Slow updates

I know I've been lacking in posts latley. School work comes first I guess.Foods been pretty repetitve and I dont want to do repeats. My appologies! This was my dinner tonight, lunch was nothing worth mentioning.

Golden Reef Diner

Sorry for all of the delay. I went home this week and I got back last night. So lets get on with the show

Last thursday I went and got some grub with a giraffe. She suggested a diner she liked and considering she was driving we went there.We snag a booth and unfold the menu...... and bizzarley we got this....



A plate of carrots and radishes. Never before have i been offered this before a meal. I was caught off guard, but never the less my tounge was vigilant. The carrots were standard, good crunchy carrots. The radishes were stones. Hard, bland and dry I had to break a tooth to get a bite. It was a sugarless jawbreaker. I was not pleased. On the other hand we got some awsome challa bread(It was Yom Kippur after all). This was legit stuff, soft as a cloud with that deep lustery crust. Little did I know then, that it would come back.....AND BETTER THAN EVER.

But first my chowder. I usually don’t like Manhattan clam chowder but this night I was craving it. I was let down...... big time. It was too chunky, and the clams had a weird texture. It was too thin, almost like water. I think it was watered down because it was bland. When I say bland I mean I couldn’t taste any of the components. For the first time on this blog, I have nothing good to say. I was completely disappointed and honestly I had trouble finishing it.

But then from the brinks of despair, my shining light. The Monte Cristo. This by far the best Monte Cristo I have ever had in my life. The challa returned in French toast form. It was so moist, so creamy. The slightest hint of cinnamon, and vanilla. Now top that slice of amazing with, some tender turkey, smoked ham and a really nice blanket of Swiss cheese. I was in heaven, my god I am drooling right now. The way a Monte Cristo should be!

Now that scoop on my plate isn’t ice cream, its potato salad. Ice cold lumpy potato salad. I am not a fan of it in the slightest. It’s not fair for me to judge it, I just don’t like it.

This was my first really bad review, the saving grace was the Monte Cristo but everything else was pretty bad. Me and the Giraffe left satisfied, but not exactly pleased with the experience.

Great Crisp Day

Today was definitely an October day. You could smell it in the cold crisp air. It called for sushi strangely enough so I went to the gorgeous Wang Center. The building has a very Asian feel to it and I find it extremely tranquil. So I grabbed two boxes of sushi, grabbed a seat outside and enjoyed my rolls.


Now I much prefer nigiri sushi but a roll every now and again is good stuff. First up the unagi roll. You know me I love unagi so it was hard not to like this roll. It was standard, not stellar but not bad at all for boxed sushi. Cucumbers were crunchy and rice was decent. The bad thing about boxed sushi is that the rice is cold and gets kind of gummy. The rolls either stuck together or fell apart and it was annoying, but the taste was there and ill give it merit for that.


The other roll I got was a tsunami roll. Never heard of it, looked good so I got it. Consisting of Tuna, salmon, baby shrimp, some white fish roe and a nice wasabi mayo. It suffered the same flaws as the former roll, cold sticky rice. The mayo on the other hand, helped break it up. I like the whole tuna with mayo thing on a roll so this worked well. The tuna was grainy, not going to try and hide that. Even for boxed sushi, it wasn’t that stellar. Though despite it all it was enjoyable, but lacked more then even my low expectations predicted.

Around comes dinner and behold another tasty soup! I just can’t get enough of this liquidey goodness. Tonight’s soup was a tomato and rice consommé. It was most likely made with the same base as Saturday night’s soup but it had subtle differences. I like rice in thicker soups, it gives it more body. Something to stick to is always good in a soup. There were some crackers lying around so I plopped them right in. A repeat of last time, a nice soul warming taste.

Lines were too long for anything, so I grabbed a boxed sandwich and hoped for the best. It was better then expected. Nice roast beef still a little raw, salted nice. The cheese was okay not bad at all probably processed but well. Lettuce and tomato same kind of lacking stuff but edible. The crown jewel of this thought was the secret. I dunked the sandwich into the soup. My god was it tasty. The nice cold sandwich sucked the soup into its bun. It was a match made in heaven. I thought back to what Andy told me once "Frank ain't no meal better then a soup and a sandwich, that’s it." In this case he couldn’t have been any more on target.



Today was good eats, lots of boxed goodies but to my surprise better then I expected, maybe the box aint so bad after all.

A Food Court Trip and Some Great Soup

So today Mark, Gazelle and I ventured out to the Smithhaven mall. It was a pretty good day, did some browsing, got us some toys and I found a nice tasty kitten to eat!! (Its fake don't worry!). We were planning on going to IHOP but we saw the line and got out of there quick. So we ventured deep into the mall to its core, the food court. I have to say I'm a big fan of the food court. Variety if there ever was is there. Sushi right next to a Wendy’s and an orange Julius, what a place! My sights were set before we even entered the fast food Mecca. The Great Steak and Potato Company

So here we have the great steak sandwich. It’s a Philly esque sandwich made with provolone onions lettuce mayo and tomatoes. I had never had this variety of sandwich from them before so I dug right in. The roll was the perfect kind of roll for a cheese steak. Crusty yet chewy and how should I say absorbent. It soaked up most of the juices and made it a lot easier to eat. It was a great roll too it tasted pretty freshly baked or at least it wasn't from a bad, it was a real roll. The steak, cheese and onion component was great. Melty and juicy a mouth full indeed. This was actually a foot long sandwich. "Meat Mountain!" I jokingly called it. The lettuce and tomato cooled it down pretty well and I wouldn't of thought of putting them on the sandwich. The mayo was barely there, I couldn't really taste it at all. Then again I wouldn't really want mayo on a meat and cheese sandwich, that's just overkill.

A travesty, however befelled me. My fries tumbled to their own demise. It was a cruel fate, but alas such is life. One sole survivor lay naked and alone on my napkin. I went to retrieve more of his comrades, but to my disdain i was refused. The cashier told me my fate was unfortunate and that there would be no reunion for the

lonely fry. Bewildered I returned to find that my good friend Lu had plenty to spare! It was a joyous occasion! Alright that's enough of that, hahaha. The fries were freshly cut and fried pretty well. A little on the greasy side but still very good. Towards the bottom of the cup they were very salty. Almost inedible, not acceptable. Over salting fries is like drawing a moustache on the Mona Lisa. Very disappointed, good fries went wrong. Good steak, ok fries and bad service, but i was satisfied never the less.

Dinner tonight was fantastic! Tomato basil bisque, a soup I have never had before. I have had some stuff from Au Bon Pain before. In Penn station I had had some delicious danishes and had smelled quite a few of the soups. I trusted the name so I took the jump. I was in heaven; this soup was so warming for my soul. Soups have that kind of effect on me. This had big flavor, very refined. Nice roasted tomato taste and little bits of veggies. I loved this soup, really really really well. I put some croutons in it for a little more heartiness, but it was plenty hearty beforehand. To compliment the hot soup I had the 3rd salad in 3 days. I know it’s a bit repetitive but it’s damn tasty. It accompanied the soup well so it’s okay~! Today was good eats

Chicken tenders at the sac

Lunch today was a simple treat, chicken fingers! I love these things, and today's were not bad at all. They tasted identical, and i mean exactly the same as some you could get at a diner. Crunchy crust not sure if they were fried or baked, I'm leaning towards baked. The meat was indeed moist and tender. Flaky kinda meat that comes off in layers, if you've had chicken fingers you know what I'm talking about. There was plenty to go around too, for the price it was more then enough. My only complaint was they walked alone, no side dish. Then again i put it upon myself to get a side. The same exact salad as yesterday, EXACTLY. 33oz same ingredients same weight, a little scary. Again it was very fulfilling to eat well. A nice quick lunch, not much more needs to be said.

A salad and a sandwich guy sandwich

Today I was feeling a sandwich guy sandwich, but I was craving more. I have felt a lack of.... how should I say, healthy food. Too many fried things, not enough veggies. So today paired with my sandwich and some sea salt chips I got a salad.

It was a salad bar salad, I was weary at first. Never before have I had a good experence at a salad bar. Its allways tasted rather stale and "funky". However as I approached the bar a woman was refilling the containers. It looked fresh and my hopes were higher. I grabbed some iceberg, some romain. Seemed fresh enough tasted pretty good. Next up I saw some blue tortilla chips and I like crunchy bits in a salad. So I bashed them up and plopped them in. I added a little bit of grated carrots and that was it. A little blue cheese dressing and voilla! It wasn’t the most amazing salad I have ever had but it felt really good to eat well, and it’s something I would like to have with a meal. It melded well and everything was creamy and fresh, not bad at all.


The sandwich I can’t even talk about go read the other article. All that was different was it was roast beef, which was cooked very well. Still raw but had a little bit of salt and cooked edges. The provolone was your average provolone, still pretty good. Again words cannot describe this sandwich, utterly amazing.


Lastly the chips, sea salt style. Crispy and salty, a good partner for a sandwich. It felt good eating a salad. Felt good really good, perhaps ill have one every chance ill get.

Taiko

A nice relaxing weekend at home proved good for my soul. My best friend Zak, his cousin and myself went to our usual sushi hangout. The waitress comes by and the orders are placed. Today’s update will be special, Zak will be commenting as well! Enjoy!

Hey-o all you people out there in cyber-world, my name’s Zak, and Frank and I have been friends for about a decade now. I’m also a fellow food-junkie, so when I started reading Frank’s blog I knew that I would have to guest-commentate on the food at Taiko, one of our favorite restaurants.

I started with a side salad; I wasn’t feeling the usual miso soup route this time. The lettuce was cold and crisp, as were the carrots. The ginger dressing was nice and refreshing and had a very fierce vinegar component to it. I usually like that but towards the end it was a bit too much for me to handle. Usual stuff, but that doesn’t mean it was nice and of course a part of my full meal ideal.
The first thing I ordered (and usually do at most Japanese restaurants) was the Miso soup, which happens to be my favorite (besides my grandma’s chicken soup). I usually like Taiko’s because I am a fan of scallions, and Taiko definitely doesn’t let up on that particular ingredient when it comes to Miso. My only complaint was, strangely enough, that it needed some more salt. I know that’s a strange thing to say, considering Miso is usually loaded with sodium, but I don’t know, this soup was lacking a little. Warming and delicious otherwise. Ah onigiri...... the most basic of basic, yet so complete so filling. They fill the void in a sometimes lacking meal.Onigiri are rice balls made of seasoned rice, nori and some kind of filling(whatever the chef wants). I live for onigiri and Taiko does them right. "Big honkin hunks of rice" I think I said it right. The rice was cooked well, and the nori..... Well its nori its very consistent. The filling was a variant of a Taiko exclusive thing called Jake. I believe its made of crab shrimp Japanese mayo and crunchy tempura bits. Its creamy and has a real good crab taste. Inside had everything but the crunchy bits. Its a good filling, not runny or too separated. It melded well, and I was fulfilled. Intresting side note, japanese pickles (as seen on top and around) are tasty stuff. Crunchy and pickled well a nice little touch to the onigiri.

My cousin tagged along with Frank and I, so we split first the onigiri rice balls, then the Incredible Tuna Roll and the Number 3 Roll. I’m sure Frank has already described the onigiri to you, so I shan’t say much, except that they are absolutely delicious and what’s needed to make that sometimes unfulfilling Japanese meal fill up your stomach.
Now the first of my two rolls, THE INCREDIBLE TUNA ROLL. Its name is no joke..... Its incredible. Consisting of spicy crunchy tuna, tuna tataki, masago, scallion, kaiware and spicy miso-ponzu. This is probably tops for all the rolls I have had. Really this is the king of rolls in my book. The tataki on top gets hit with the miso-ponzu and it has a nice citrus taste. The scallions scattered on top pair it well. The tuna tender and had a very nice grain to it. The spicy tuna is actually spicy which the case isn’t usually. Most places serve "mild crunchy tuna", but no Taiko makes it with some heat. Furthermore its plated with some sprouts of unknown origin to me that are a bit spicy themselves. I love this roll so much I am actually at a loss for words. Texture and taste meet at a Zen like balance. I sit at the nexus and cry with joy.
Next, the Incredible Tuna Roll. What can I say about this roll? It’s, well, it’s…INCREDIBLE! Easily the greatest sushi combination of all time, and I’ve tried a LOT of sushi. The tuna inside is tender and nearly melts in your mouth; the seared tuna on top gives great texture and some smoky flavor. The sauce on top and sprouts give the roll some spicy kick with some sweetness mixed in, and some tempura gives the roll some substance. The first bite I took of this roll…well…it was probably one of the best bites of food I’ve ever had in my life. I shut my eyes and collapsed against the wall, THAT’S HOW GOOD THIS ROLL WAS. This roll is beyond sushi…it’s magical
Now to counter the INCREDIBLE TUNA (not like you really could) I got a Taiko roll. Its like a California roll but swap the avocado for some Japanese mayo. I don’t dislike the taste of California, but it gets real old, real fast. The Taiko roll was crisp smooth and refreshing. Another very basic taste that gives more then you realizes. The mayo really ties this roll together and I love the cucumber with that creamy mayo. An excellent roll to counter some heat.
The Number 3…not so much. Although there were some good traits about this roll, such as the well prepared salmon, there was too much tempura, which overwhelmed the roll. Also, although I love unagi and especially unagi sauce, this sauce felt out of place on the roll, and something was missing. Usually unagi sauce is both smoky and sweet, yet I felt like some of the sweetness was missing this time. Oh well, next time!

It was good to see Zak and The Sea Monster once more. Taiko is always fulfilling to us. A feeling of fullness but not bloated. In other words perfectly filled.Payed the check, left the tip, we walked out with big grins and high spirits.

So, in conclusion, if you’re ever in the Rockville Centre area, you MUST try Taiko. The atmosphere is great and the sushi is even better. And, please, for the love of God, TRY THE INCREDIBLE TUNA!