Christmas time is here (happiness and cheer)

The Christmas postings!

Christmas every year provides the same kind of fare, Italian. First stop was La Mela in Little Italy. A family style restaurant, its very basic kind of dining. Simple tables placed together and a little crowded. Pictures of celebrities with the owners plastered all over the walls, and strangely a flat screen television with security camera angles on the entire restaurant. Needless to say I made a few funny faces only to see my face on the screen. Before we get to the main event, I’d like to comment on the glasses. Very crisp lipped and square edges, I don’t know why but drinking out of these kinds of glasses seems more enjoyable.

Like most Italian restaurants a simple mozzarella and tomato plate starts the meal. This time there was black pepper and olive oil, the first of which seemed a little out of place. The mozzarella here was sliced very thickly sliced. Now this would be something that I favored, however it was very dry. Almost as though it was sitting in the air; rather then being in the “milk” that keeps it moist. I took no issue with the tomato, better then I expected. A so-so start.

Next the hot antipasto, roasted peppers, asparagus, stuffed mushrooms and a strange sort of fried mozzarella. I don’t particularly care for peppers or asparagus, however I adore stuffed mushrooms. These were fantastic; the stuffing was creamy and held a citrus note. The stuffing wasn’t overpowering to the great mushroom flavor and overall melded together well.

The mozzarella was something I had never seen before. It was layered with what I could only assume to be thin dough and then fried all around. Gooey was the word here, and although it had fantastic texture the dough felt uncooked. If they had cooked the dough first and then layered it, it could have lived up to its initial allure.

Interesting thing about La Mela is that the courses are ordered after the previous was finished, so say that we were full after the antipasto, then we would pay for that and it would be the end. In this case we got full after the pasta, so no meat was needed and we weren’t bursting at the seams. Here we have rigatoni, tortellini and Gnocchi. The rigatoni was very lackluster, nothing to write home about, I could have cooked it better at home. The Gnocchi couldn’t hold a candle to my mothers; they were gummy and bland, the sauce only masking that. The tortellini however, made up for all of that. These were the star of the meal. Cooked perfectly and stuffed appropriately, that is to say not bursting with filling. The flavor was at its peak, only to be boosted higher by the sauce. Creamy, buttery, call it what you will it was light in flavor but the texture really pushed the pasta further then any other sauce. Each individual tortellini was coated and I could hardly hold my self back from eating half the serving. Overall the parts I enjoyed were few and far between, but those that took to my taste were the stars of the meal themselves.

Phil’s Pizzeria in Massapequa was our Christmas Eve meal, and it was interesting to say the least. As you walk in, you see the usual pizzeria flair. Big glass cases holding crusty treats, Guys in aprons dishing out the pizza, what you would expect. Take a right turn and you’re in an entire dining area. This was more so a restaurant then it was a pizzeria. Rightfully so we ordered off the menu instead picking from the various glass cases.

Fried Calamari, ah were would I be without you? This was the first squid I tried in my life and it set me on a path I most certainly will never regret. This take was interesting, no tentacles first of all, I didn’t like that. They weren’t too chewy either, which was a breath of fresh air, but I found myself missing the bounce of the usual squid. Crispy was certainly the name of the game. Not so much crunchy, but the breading was really done nicely. And the squid didn’t taste stale at all, overall not bad a welcomed deviation.

I don’t know how to put this delecatley , the portions were titanic. I believe not a single person cleared their plate; each dish was easily for two. My first issue with my veal Marsala was that, you can’t see it. If you look really hard you can find it, but my veal was submerged and buried alive. This is poor poor presentation and really hurt the dish. The sauce was a broth and it held no flavors of white wine at all. The mushrooms had some flavor but were waterlogged. I wasn’t too pleased with this meal in the slightest. The veal last of all was meaty indeed, but I felt no veal flavor at all. It was assaulted by all of these powerful flavors. Sadly this meal suffered because of the size of the dish itself. Phil’s has great pizza, but ill pass on the menu next time. I miss my saltimbocca!

Christos Steak House located in Astoria Queens is indeed that, a steak house. Without a doubt the second you walk in you know what you’re in for. I won’t say man food, but there are big hunks of beef hanging in the windows as you walk in. I genuinely was excited as I walked into the doorways. A little aside: I love when coke is served in a bottle. It seems so right.

Bread: the savior for the initial hunger before the menus are returned. This was nice warm bread served with an olive spread. Just enough to hold the tides of hunger while the orders come in.

I opted for the New England clam chowder to kick start my meal. Without a doubt some of the best chowder I’d tasted. Creamy texture, nice chunks of clam and soothing. The flavor wasn’t fishy nor was it overly creamy either, a good solid chowder.

I adore steak tartar, the presentation is always magnificent. Served with a quail egg and some crispy chips I must again state the plating was gorgeous. It was hard to tear in, but well worth it. It was what you wanted to taste, tender juicy meaty chunks of beef with a touch of citrus. Hidden scallions and a bit of the quail egg sealed the deal. Very professional steak tartar, I could only dream of what my main course would be like. Heavenly.

Calamari once more! Very crispy most likley due to what seemed like butchers paper underneath to wick off excess oil. Very solid flavor, nice chew, good crunch, however it didnt take the Calamari to a new level but brought it to a high standard, in other words what I expect when I say "Good Calamari". Bonus Points for the paper though.

Steak au povire, possibly the only kind of steak I would order outside of a Barbecue situation. Its not that I dislike steak, it’s just that I never crave it in a restaurant setting. If it is served to me great, but usually I wont go out of my way to order it in a restaurant, which is if it isn’t steak au povire. This was an interesting deviation on the usual darker sauce. The cognac was certainly there, as well as bits of peppercorn, however this seemed to have a bit more cream then I would have liked. Without any doubt in my mind I do expect a creamy sauce, but this was more cream then it was sauce. Under the cream there was some incredible cracked pepper flavor. It oozed with the feeling and taste of au povire . A bit of chopped shallots on top to garnish, but then again how could I forget to mention the steak itself? This was a steakhouse, so of course there wouldn’t be any other option but a perfectly cooked steak. “Medium rare but more closer to rare” is what I requested, and is what I got, just how I like it. The steak too was seasoned with the very same peppercorns of the sauce. Overall the meal was a dream, certainly worth recommending, just keep an eye on the waiters.

End of the semester

I WONT LET IT BECOME 2010 WITHOUT UPDATING!!!!!!!! Well I’m typing this, the airport doesn’t have wi-fi, but it’s still done before the New Year! (yeah I've been lazy)

Currently in the airport waiting to go to Arizona, there is but one meal left in the year and that will have to wait. I digress lets look at the bulk of the semester

Curly fries can’t be bad…. unless it’s these. They were floppy and mealy. They didn’t change over the semester either. Disappointing.

Equally this chicken sandwich was lackluster at best. I swear it was cold in the center, combined with a hard bun this was horrible. I’ve no more words for it. NEXT!

Now were talking, the roast pork I adored last year is back and has made great strides in flavor. No longer just shriveled pieces of pork, no these were meaty. They weren’t overly saucy either, I know I say this a lot but they were perfect. Sadly this quality wasn’t consistent, some times being so sauced it was nauseating. Regardless it was a solid choice to fall back on. I also made the switch to white rice; the fried rice was very bland.

The quality of the boxed sandwiches was a bit higher, but still the bread was as stale as ever. Just a sandwich.

Beef stew and noodles: not bad, but not great either. Sure the flavor was there, in the stew at least, but the texture was all wrong. And the noodles were cooked well, but lacked any flavor whatsoever. Big hunks of beef are always nice, but the graininess of the liquid was unappetizing. I didn’t know what to make of this pair, definitely not one of the best that I've had that’s for certain.

Boxed buffalo chicken salad. Got me sick…. ‘Nuff said.

Ah, the old standby the steak burrito. Filling, tasty and most of all never ever bad. The burrito that I loved so dearly is back and retains its previous charm. This was a lifesaver.

Remember that Chinese buffet from a while back? We ended up going a lot this year, and now the pork buns have pork! What a concept! They were good, a little too chunky but none the less they had the flavor I was looking for. Not the best buns of the year however.

Spare ribs on the bone, extremely juicy. This was something that I only saw once, and it was a shame. These really hit the spot, I wonder why they disappeared. They were comparable to some you could get from a take out place.

It just started snowing, hopefully ill be taking off today.

Little packaged pastries: These showed up in every dining hall. Why? No idea, but I actually got to eat something in the mornings because of it. For being wrapped up in plastic these were surprisingly good, though a bit stale. The apple Danish actually tasted legitimate as did the sticky bun. These gave me the energy that I needed to get through the long mornings in my art class.

FINALLY MACARONI AND CHEESE. It took them two months, but at least they made a weekly date out of it. I was jonesin for some, and when the time finally came to get my fix, I was let down big time. Watery slimy noodles, I REJECT THEE. They got this so wrong, so wrong in fact I only ate them once. It was like having a nice sexy sports car right in front of you, and then after you buy it you realize there isn’t a motor inside. No words can describe that empty feeling.

On a lighter note, fish chips! I’m a big fan, so I was delighted when these turned out to be rather fantastic. Crispy crust, juicy fish that was coherent to the crust. It didn’t snake out; no it was there to stay! And the chips were fantastic as well. More like a steak fry cut, which is what chips should be. Extremely crispy with a center that was more like a mashed up baked potato, fantastic! I was really pleased with this one, and yet like the ribs before it, they were never seen again.

Meatloaf: now this was a good one, meatloaf mashed potatoes and… a… egg…roll.

What?! How did that get there!? Well I didn’t care it was fantastic. The cut of the vegetables inside was slightly different then I was used to, but it turned out to be better with the meatloaf. Speaking of which this was good meatloaf, not dry in the slightest and had traditional meatloaf flavor. It tasted as though someone’s mother had made it for me. Same goes for the potatoes; they were smashed with the skins on which is something I adore. Overall a very comforting meal in a sea of ordinary meals.

I’ve never eaten at a California pizza kitchen, but I’ve heard good things. Now let me preface this with say that I am a pizza purist. One topping! Get those pineapples the hell out of here! So here we have hamburger pizza, I said what the hell. It had a good taste, but this isn’t pizza. There was too much going on in every bite. Ill leave this kind of pizza to California, after all New York pizza is the best!

The return of the mash potato bowl: This was a big event as it was highly demanded.

How does it stack up to the original? Nice try kid. First and foremost the lack of a bowl really kills the mash potato bowl. Secondly there’s much, much less. No longer is it the “one meal you need” powerhouse it once was. Now it’s lost its grandeur and is nothing more then mashed potatoes with a little extra. I miss my mountain!

Sens garden is a local Chinese take out joint. I find it to be very consistent in terms of flavor and the amount given. My usual is that of a combo order; Boneless spare ribs, fried rice and an egg roll for pennies. I like the fact that they cut the spare ribs differently. Most places would slice them into strips, but at Sen’s they cut them into more abstract shapes, almost like wedges. Not too sticky, not too chewy and just the right amount. The fried rice is a touch greasy, but it has way more flavor then any other I’ve had. The addition of bean sprouts really makes the rice seem alive and gives it a good crunch. The egg roll is average at best, kind of soggy but it has good flavor; take it or leave it.

I always find these sauces curious, I’ve never used them. Maybe next time ill give them a try.

Back at Benedict we have BBQ ribs mashed potatoes and fried yucca. Now I’ve never eaten yucca before so this was interesting. Very starchy, kind of like a potato with a strange aftertaste, I don’t quite know if I like it or not. The ribs were alright, too much fat, but the sauce was pretty good. Regardless this one filled my craving for meatiness. Mashed potatoes at this point were coming back more and more, and I was glad. They were creamy with a bit of chunkiness, it really hits the spot.

Remember this guy? This was the thing that got me so sick at the beginning of my first semester that I was afraid to eat anything. It hasn’t improved much, as a matter of fact I don’t think I’ve eaten a good cheese steak in a long while, kind of depressing isn’t it?

Salisbury steak! Wow this is quintessential cafeteria fare! In all honesty it was pretty solid. Nicely cooked, good sauce, really juicy and it had caramelized onions. It’s a shame this didn’t ever come back, I really enjoyed it. The rice was garbage, so utterly plain. The corn wasn’t bad when a little salt was added. It was a nice change from the usual sides offered, mainly rice. I’m getting sick and tired of rice…

I wrote about Hoshi Sushi before, but with my new love of chirashi sushi I figured I would give my thoughts on it. Accompanied with my friend rose we sat in the “alternate seating area”. Most Japanese places have something like this, where you sit on the ground with a table a little higher then usual.

My salad this time was served in a lacquer bowl instead of a glass one. I really do like that, something so very Japanese. I find that miso soup especially is suited to these kinds of bowls. As far as taste was concerned it was identical to when last I had it.

The same could be said for the miso soup, very basic

Now certainly this looks like an impressive meal. However, this isn’t what I was expecting when I ordered chirashi sushi. Chirashi is usually a bowl of rice with sashimi on top. You can see a few entries back in the summer an excellent example of chirashi sushi. This was kind of lazily done. The fish was good quality, but they just threw a hunk of rice down and called it chirashi. I was very disappointed with this dish.

Before I start on this, I’d like to give a big thanks to Volgey’s mom. Mrs. Warner thank you for this fantastic meal, I only wish you could have joined us!

Ruvo is a restaurant I passed up once, we were told the wait time and moved on. I am SO fortunate that I had returned. It’s a very nice Italian restaurant in Port Jefferson. The occasion was Volgey’s birthday and much to my pleasure there was a 3 course menu on that night! For the first course I chose the rice balls. These were perfection; crispy and creamy. Not greasy in the slightest and absolutely addicting. I liked the fact that it wasn’t just one big one, and that there were a trio of them. It allowed me to really enjoy the crispy shell around each and every one of them.

The main course was beef short ribs, and they were heavenly. My only complaint will be up front, it was very heavy. I tasted it the following day, it was an uncompromising flavor. With that said let me tell you, the best short ribs I have ever eaten. The flavor was so rich and the meat cooked perfectly. Look at this:

Doesn’t that make your mouth water? Even looking back on it now I can taste it. Not to sound cliché but the meat fell right off the bone. It had to be braised in the sauce it was served with. Fantastic, everything you could want out of Italian style spare ribs.

Desert was as equally devastatingly heavy… In a good way! A hot brownie ala mode with caramel and fudge. Yeah…. No other words needed really. Thanks again Mrs. Warner!

David’s cookies! These showed up in some of the dining halls and were pretty damn good. Chewy and cheap a good snack!

At some point in the final days of the semester I died. I had a fever, a cold and a stomach virus. Needless to say I wasn’t eating much. This spicy tortilla soup was one of the few things I could stomach. Spicy is key here, it cleared out my sinuses and soothed my throat. Not bad at all.

Benedict: The Mac’s cheese was the same as mentioned above, nasty. The steak wasn’t any better. Last semester a man named Nigel handled the steak, and he did them right. Now their burnt and I’m a man that likes his steak rare. Unacceptable.

One day for some reason Ankles, Volgey and I wound up in Fridays. I wound up getting chicken noodle soup. Aside from it having a grainy texture it was pretty good. The noodles were actually not bad at all. Not great, but better then expected that’s for sure. I’ve already spoken of the Jack Daniels burger before; it’s got a grasp on me.

My final meal at stony was my first at at a dining location called jasmine. Inside the Wang Center it specializes in Asian cuisine. Mainly Indian and Chinese, the latter of which I was craving at the moment. General’s chicken is a standard that needs to be lived up to at all take out style places. Here I was not impressed. Sure it had the heat that I wanted, but it was gummy and hard. The meat seemed like it was sitting for a while and as far as the rice was concerned it was no better then at the union. I was utterly disappointed that this place didn’t live up to its name. However …

This desert bar pictured above was so damn tasty. It was like chocolate, brownie, mousse and peanut butter. It was so powerful I couldn’t stand to eat it all in one sitting. This is worth the trip, not the food before it.

And that’s it for my semester at Stony. The rest of ‘09 and the start of ’10 will be coming soon!