Whisky, Beer, Treats and Champagne c/o Lemon Hill

The Thursday before Easter weekend I thought it might be nice to enjoy a happy hour at Lemon Hill. I thought it would be doubly nice because I knew I was taking Friday off in order to drive to Ohio to spend time with my assorted relatives in the Columbus area. LW agreed with this basic idea, or may have suggested it? In either case, I arrived first and enjoyed a glass of wine and a perusal of the menu before LW joined me. Their happy hour cocktail of the evening was one I knew better than to tangle with, so the evening for me began with wine. When LW arrived she went in a slightly different direction, requesting bartender's choice as far as a good whisky on which to sip. A ten year Tullamore Dew fit the bill quite well. I have no idea what LW's doing with her face in this photo, but it makes me chuckle so I'm including it.

We also decided to share a few snacks. Their fried cheese curds remain delicate and oozy, and the long hot vinaigrette a nice alternative to some tomato-based dipping sauce.

We also tried a few new things, which began with the Dove Song goat's milk ricotta with walnut and strawberry conserve, miner's lettuce (whatever that means) and sourdough bread. The ricotta was markedly different from what I imagine could be considered the more typical cow's milk variety. Its consistency just a bit thicker, but its taste a little more complex than a more 'white bread' ricotta you might come across. The strawberry accent was a nice contrast and while I don't generally care for sourdough, the slight pinch of the palate it creates in my mouth worked  in this combination.

LW continued on a journey of Scotch...this time with Johnny Drum.

We also decided to try out the beef fat kim chi. And good god. I've been working on perfecting my own soondubu jigae (Korean tofu stew, often with a kimchi element to it) and have tried a few different kimchis over the last few weeks....and man alive, this kimchi put them to shame in terms of sheer spice level. I believe LW at one point said she couldn't feel her face. It was legitimately spicy. Good, but not for the faint of heart. We couldn't finish it between the two of us...but I would definitely order it again.

This photograph is out of order but I'm leaving it as-is.

We also tried out the smoked trout croquettes with black garlic aioli, pickled horseradish and dill. Now I never really warm up to dill, but I will say that its inclusion on this plate didn't turn me off. I favored the garlic aioli and horseradish elements, but the dill wasn't an issue. The croquettes themselves were nice and crispy on the outside and positively bursting with hot trouty potato creaminess on the inside. Perhaps not my favorite dish of the night, they were still not without their charm. 

While I had every intention of having a relatively early night, I also knew I didn't have any early morning obligations. LW also seemed to be laid back about her responsibilities the next day. This led to champagne. And photographs taken by an angel-ic (heh) bartender. We also ran into my roommate and a few other neighborhood folks that I knew tangentially so it was altogether a longer and more sociable night than I had expected. I still managed to be up and out of the apartment at a pretty decent time the next day, arriving in Columbus just a little before 5 PM.

Lemon Hill isn't a spot I go to more than once a month or so, but every time I go I enjoy the atmosphere, clientele, staff and vibe. Just writing this up may inspire another visit in the next few weeks.

Skillet Breakfast and Work Lunches

So I'm working in the office this very moment. Or I'm about to. Work. Work. Lots of work. In any case I did feel the need to at least try to keep up with my eating life, though I'm already far behind. For example, this is a skillet full of roasted brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes and tomatoes topped with some parmesan cheese and two eggs, all of which I stuck into an oven until the eggs were cooked. It was breakfast about a month ago.

As in years past, during the busy season at work our bosses pay for lunch in an effort to keep morale high/in a realization that the time we would usually grocery shop is generally taken up with work. On this particular day I believe I ordered the tofu and squash soup from Koja Grill. With the aid of an added rice island, the dragon got a very up close and personal look at the stew's silky tofu and spicy red broth.

Another day found the dragon at the edge of a pool of mozarella, which was oozing protection for an underlying eggplant parmagiana sandwich from Luigi's, which disappointed a bit if I'm going to be honest.

Banchan, Wings, Short Ribs and Soup c/o Sammy Chon's

I have long wanted to become better acquainted with Korean food. That's a fact that cannot be disputed. When I live in Chicago I always meant to check out one of its bbq places, but had always been told that it was best to go to such places with a Korean person, or at least someone who could speak Korean. While I'm not afraid of new things or experiences, the fact that this was the repeated suggestion made me hesitant to try without such an interpreter. Lame, I know. This means that I have yet to actually grill my own meat, but in the last year or two I have been making slight progress with at least getting to know a little more about Korean cuisine. So when I read about Sammy Chon's K-Town opening a location in Chinatown, I figured that I could at least get a little bbq on, even if I didn't do it with my own two hands. I asked J. if she'd like to join me, which she did, so we met up on a Thursday. I arrived first and was quickly seated at one of the booth-tables along the restaurant's right side. At the time there were perhaps two other tables, so not busy at all. J. arrived and the banchan came out. I do love banchan! Tiny treats!
Included in the banchan were little black beans in a kind of sweet sauce, steamed broccoli with a sriracha kind of sauce, green beans, macaroni salad, spicy but still also sweet cucumbers, funny ham cubes, and it wouldn't be a Korean meal if it didn't feature kim chi.
There were some tough decisions to make about my meal...soup? Noodles? Meat? All? I struggled not to just order the entire menu. In the end I ordered four of their Korean fried chicken wings with the soy garlic sauce. The outsides of the chicken were nice and crispy, but the sauce wasn't particularly memorable. I ended up only eating one of these and letting J. take the rest.
I decided to have the best of both worlds when it came to my main course and chose a combination meal - the kalbi with soon dubu. Kalbi = marinated and then grilled short ribs. Soon dubu = tofu soup. You can specialize your soup by adding everything from meat to mushrooms. I chose to stick with tofu and kim chi, and then was reminded to crack an egg into it once it arrived at the table. The soup came out so hot and bubbling, that the broth did the work of cooking the egg. This soup was so great. Rich and spicy. It also came with rice but I used it sparingly, wanting to make sure I had room in my belly for the beef as well.

The beef didn't look like much, but it tasted leaps and bounds beyond ordinary. Between the slight char and marinade, it was pretty much totally addictive. I didn't finish either dish, which was a boon for my lunches for a few days afterwards.
While it had seemed like the space was too big for the number of customers, by the time we left the entire place had filled up. Servers were pushing their carts bearing banchan and sizzling meats and soups all over the place. J. had the chicken bulgogi dulsot (or I think that's right), which she was helpfully instructed to stir up a bit so that the rice at the bottom of the hot hot hot bowl didn't get overly crispy. She said it was spicy but also very, very good. I had heard mixed reviews about the place, and that had almost pushed it off of my resolution list...but in the end I figured I should determine for myself whether it was lacking. And I'm glad, because it certainly satiated my hunger and pleased my palate. Can I say that it is the most authentic and best Korean restaurant in Philadelphia? No, I can't. But that's because as of right now, I'm not an expert...but I'll definitely be coming back for more.

Korean and Hoagie Lunches

The lunches kept coming. The dragon, however, isn't as young as it used to be and finds the whole thing more of a challenge. Another bad landing and wing loss in the Kim Chi stew from Koja Grill.
The dragon was able to enjoy the rice with no problem.
And on another day, another Primo's hoagie. I think this was the Sicilian.

Korean-Style Cheese Steak c/o Koja Grill

The days after Tuesday night darts are often a struggle due to the large amount of beer I consume, as well as the fact that I usually stay up at least two hours later than I usually might. To counteract that rough feeling I often get a sausage egg and cheese bagel in the morning. After this last darts night I went a different route and chose this Korean marinated beef cheese steak concoction. Authentic it may not be, but fully delicious and capable of improving my brain capacity? Indeed it is.

Korean-Style Cheese Steak c/o Koja Grill

The last time we had ordered from Koja Grill I felt myself strangely drawn to the Korean Spicy Beef Cheese Steak option but in the end opted for the slightly less heart clogging spicy tofu stew. This time around, however, I was having none of that (even though it was good) and didn't agonize in the least about this choice. And I will tell you what, this was a really interesting and tasty take on the cheese steak. The meat and onions and peppers really did have a little kick to them and the melty provolone aspect managed to meld into those flavors in a surprisingly good way.
I could have done with a little more cheese, but the portion and quantity of beef was entirely worth $7.99 in my opinion.

Korean c/o Koja Grille

Another day the office branched out and tried a completely new place for our lunch: Koja Grille. I ordered the Kimchi Chigae. I liked it, but it wasn't as spicy as I had expected, nor did it have quite as much beef as I might have preferred. Because our order came in over $100, we also received complimentary fried shrimp and dumplings, which managed to stay crispy even with the time between being fried and being delivered.

Korean c/o of Shilla Restaurant

On Wednesday I met up with a college friend for lunch. This friend is also pretty great. I, rightly or wrongly, attribute my sticking with/improving within the Bard photography department to her. One friend does make a difference and she was the one (I had friends in college, just not in the program and that was pretty lonely...nobody to ask questions to etc). She's a smarty so I met her at her smarty school and then went to Shilla for my first Korean meal. All the little starter plates were fun. The friend did convince me that I wanted Bim Bop...when I thought I wanted a kimchi and pork soup.

In the end I did want the kim chi pork soup. Though the Bim Bop wasn't bad it wasn't exactly what I wanted...it was cold on purpose and I was looking for something a bit warmer and with more potent flavors.
One day I'll do straight up Korean barbeque and, I predict, I will love it. I thank the friend for seeing me and buying me lunch!