Tempura Shrimp and Chirashi c/o Umai Umai

In real time, I am no longer in Philadelphia or even the state of Pennsylvania. In fact, it has been nearly a week since I painted my room, packed up my stuff and bid adieu to Philly. But as far as the blog time line is concerned, I'm still very much ensconced in Philly times and meals. So many of which have an Asian theme to them. For example, after one day of packing and other moving tasks, I suggested that LW and I go get some sushi at Umai Umai. Usually I just get their chirashi, but I decided I'd also try their rock shrimp tempura. Once the dish arrived I realized that (well I was pretty sure) I'd had the dish once before. It was surprising because for a tempura dish it was not so crispy. Tasty yes, but I usually think of tempura as being crispy...and any crispiness that these little shrimp morsels had was made moot by a healthy coating of sauce. Again, still good...but not quite aligned with what you might expect.

I did also enjoy the chirashi, which came in a slightly different bowl and with lettuce instead of watercress. Satisfying as always.

It's a strange thing when your days in a place dwindle. I didn't really have that many 'bucket list' wants or needs as far as the city was concerned. A few last meals with a few choice folks, a long list of things to purchase or cleaning/packing tasks to do, but no nostalgic walks along Kelly Drive or first-time visits to any of the many museums I failed to ever visit. I'm currently stationary in Ohio for a few days and it's strange how quickly I have gotten accustomed to not being from anywhere. I went out to karaoke with Cuz K., A. and a few other folks the other night and when asked where I was from I just shrugged. I'm in between places and will continue to be for at least another week as I drive ever westward. Eventually I'll blog about the hand-off of Zul the cat, which happened on Saturday, but not today I don't think.

Solo Sushi Times c/o Doma

On my drive back to Philly I began thinking about what I needed to do about dinner...the responsible thing would, of course, be to actually go to a grocery store and get regular people foodstuffs. I opted not to do that and, instead, chose to go to Doma for a sushi fix. I decided to also try their shrimp dumpling appetizer, which was quite satisfying. Nice big chunks of shrimp perfectly wrapped and steamed. The pickled daikon (or whatever the pink stuff is) was a nice garnish that I actually quite liked...I would eat more of it if they put it in front of me.

For my main sushi meal I went with the sushi regular option, which comes with 7 pieces of sushi and a spicy tuna roll. The ones I remember are (from left to right) tuna, unsure, salmon, unsure, shrimp, seared white tuna and yellowtail (I think). I also ordered an extra piece of ikura and ankimo. If you like sushi and things like that, I'd suggest you try ankimo if given the change. I think it's monkfish liver or some such thing. Whatever it is, its texture and taste are, to me, quite satisfying.

I ordered one more round, which included eel, wasabi tobikko, ikura and another piece of the yellowtail...unless it wasn't yellowtail, in which case another of the fish I really liked and then forgot.

A very satisfying meal.

Martini and Lobster c/o Route 6

When LW and I went to Alla Spina a few weeks back, it was because I foolishly had said that we could enjoy a meal at Route 6 without a reservation. We wanted to have a meal at Route 6 because in the world of arbitrary/promotional calendars, it was "Lobster Month." For Route 6 this meant that pretty much every menu item that included lobster was half off the original price. A pretty sweet deal. Unfortunately, when we showed up it became quite apparent that walk-ins weren't really going to get anywhere, and so we went to Alla Spina and determined that we would try the lobster festivities the next week. And this time with a reservation. So about two weeks ago that's just what we did. Though we arrived on time, things were a little behind, so we sat in the bar area for a small amount of time. I ordered a dirty martini, which was delightful, though I would have enjoyed it even a tad dirtier.

I rationalized getting the shrimp cocktail by thinking of all the money I was saving on the lobster, and I'm glad I did. These were some succulent and tasty shrimp, perfectly chilled but still tender. You know how some shrimp can become rubbery or strangely listless? Neither was the case here. Just well prepared shrimp with a bit of cocktail sauce.

LW and I both ordered the steamed 1.5 pound lobsters. We were given the option of them being broken down for us or doing the dirty work ourselves, we both chose to get our hands properly lobster-y. Of course I was so excited that I completely forgot to take a photograph before I started separating the lobster into its main components, but you can get a basic sense of the presentation even though it is in mangled form as opposed to its pristine arrival format (lobsters have formats, don't doubt me). We wore bibs and took slight advantage of the crackers (what's the proper term for that device you use to crack open the claws?) and mallets, but even when 'doing the work' the restaurant kind of cheats and pre-breaks the main parts so it's not nearly as labor intensive as it would otherwise be. This was especially the case with the tail.

A good and satisfying lobster it was. LW seemed to enjoy the lobster but expressed a desire for a heavier one in the future; she said she was still a little hungry even after finishing the meal. I was more generally pleased with the amount of meat I got for my buck, but I also had the shrimp as an extra component of my meal.

As far as made up special months go, lobster month at Route 6 was definitely a success. The place was packed, but service was quite good, as was the food and overall ambience. Definitely a place to return for future meals. And my goodness, lobster is always such a treat!

Dinner c/o Paper Canoe in Duck, NC

At one point the idea was had that all 20 of us might find a way to go out to dinner as a group. This was a lovely theoretical plan, but it did have a few glitches. The largest glitch was simply that there weren't many restaurants that could cater to such a large party, and those that did could only seat us at a time that would conflict with a desire to get all the kids in sleep mode before 11:30. But the idea of going out - sans kids - still appealed to one and all, which led to a plan of shifts between the parents and grandparents of the youth. Dad and I weren't really on kid duty, but I think we ended up in the 'late shift.' We went to the Paper Canoe. We were a little early so we sat at the bar for a second for a warm up cocktail. I went with a dirty martini with three olives.

We were then seated with a lovely view of the sound/bay enhanced by a not-yet-set sun, the rays of which delightfully played across the olive oil we were served along with bread. We

Dad also ordered a bottle of wine with crab in its name and though I took a number of photographs of the bottle, I took none with the label facing entirely towards me. The laughing crab? The hesitant crab? The happy crab? One might never know.

We also ordered one of the specials of the night a mushroom, duck and brie puff pastry served with a bit of pesto and red pepper coulis. I think it was coulis. It was coulis like in any case.

It was definitely above average. The mushrooms were perfectly seasoned, the pastry flaky and not so doughy or heavy, and just the right amount of brie to pull it all together.

I leaned towards the crab stuffed shrimp for my main dish. And they were not bad. The crab meat itself was a little too shredded overseasoned for my lump loving purist self.

Dad had the scallops with an Asian-ish bent to it, with sesame soba noodles and a rich broth. The scallops were tender and perfectly seared. Nice work.

It was a nice meal and much quieter than the many shared with such a rag tag group of folks. Both are good experiences, but very different from one another.

Dinners In The Outer Banks

Months and months ago a plan was created between a cabal of individuals. This plan involved much planning, consideration, exchange of money and hours in a car. The end result was a week in a beach house in Corolla Beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The cabal of folks responsible for this turn of events included my cousin K. and a number of other family members. I drove down from Philly on Sunday. It's really not a bad drive and I go down through Delaware, which is such a strange state in a way. Or at least along the portions of Route 1 and 13 that I've experienced. Delaware may be slightly underrated. There is a lot of nice country out there, and the beach is never too far away. In any case, I made good time on my drive and arrived in North Carolina in the late afternoon. I got in the pool for a bit and then it was time for dinner. On this particular night my cousins K. and M. and my cuz K.'s fiancee A. wrangled some less-than-optimal camp-style grills into cooking a bunch of chicken and tilapia. It was not an easy undertaking in terms of the quantity of meat to be grilled and the quality of the grills in question, but they persevered and the results were delicious. Add roasted broccoli, cornbread and a bit of collard greens and you've got yourself a meal. Or, rather, I had myself a meal.

The next day I think I was totally lame (in some people's opinion) and didn't go to the beach for much of the day. Instead I took up residence in one of the beach house's porches. Specifically in the hammock on the second floor porch, which had a view towards the sea (though we were about three house rows back from the ocean itself). And then, when I did go to the beach late in the afternoon I was too busy lying down and going in the water and reading to bother taking out my camera and recording any photographs. But the day ended with grilled barbeque pork chops (this time on the newly arrived gas grill) along with salad and roasted potatoes.

The croutons are the buttered French rounds I enjoyed in the country.

Oh and there were peppers in the tomatoes as well.

And then another afternoon Dad and I went to a fish market to inquire about soft shell crabs (none fresh) and ended up buying a pound of shrimp, most of which I consumed for lunch.

Then there was quality time around the pool with many a balloon made and exploded.

I brought some of the coconut rum I brought back with me from the Bahamas and we made all the children their first alcoholic beverage! Just joking! The kids got virgin pina coladas while those of us over 21 had the real deal. Sweet but tasty in moderation.

And then another day featured grilled asparagus. Cuz K. and A. held down that grill.

And while they were grilling and my aunt L. and cousin M. and so many others were preparing the rest of the meal, K. and I went to the turret/bird's nest of the house at his insistence, which I was happy to do both just to enjoy the view and also to make sure he didn't fall over a railing. It was way high up. While we were 20 people consisting of 8 kids and 12 adults but a house next to us and another just across the street seemed to be totally comprised of tan college kids, some of whom jumped off a similar height into a pool. Apparently no one died but those kids did seem to be forced to leave much sooner than they wanted to...for hours they were sitting on the bumpers a wide variety of cars with their bags backed, waiting for rides away from the beach. Let that be a lesson to everyone: you jump from a deathly height into a pool, you will be kicked out of the beach house.

That's a ways down. I think the dudes across the way didn't jump from quite this high.

Inside two sisters took over Cuz K.

And then we ate grilled asparagus and tacos...or in my case a burrito.

Dim Sum c/o Joy Tsin Lau

The Sunday morning after my grill fest found me once again on the deck. I may have even been blogging. I know I filled out a job application. At some point my phone rang and it was Mr. Ass asking if I'd like to join him and LBM for dim sum. I was skeptical about LBM, as I have been trying to get her to go to dim sum with me for five years and she never does, but Mr. Ass insisted that the chances were very much in our favor for seeing LBM in a dim sum context. I would have been happy to dim sum one way or the other, so I did not delay in accepting the invitation. Of course between that initial call and my actual arrival at Joy Tsin Lau, LBM had bowed out, which left just Mr. Ass and me to dive deep into dumplings. We were seated in a not-too-terrible spot, which pleases me given the number of times I've been put at a table that makes it impossible for carts to get to, or happens to be by a leaking fish tank. And all my favorites were in attendance. I'm always a bit fan of this shrimp and rice noodle dish, which is topped with a sweeter kind of soy sauce. I think some might be put off by the texture of the noodles, but I really dig it. Mr. Ass had a bowl of wonton soup. I don't think that in all my years of dim summing, which go back to my childhood, I have ever actually ordered a soup or congee on a dim sum day. Perhaps next time I'll try to branch out.

Mr. Ass is a bigger fan of these pork buns than I am. Perhaps it's the consistency of the bread/dough that surrounds them...not quite for me. I think when I was younger, however, they may have been one of my favorites...behind shrimp dumplings of course.

Here you'll see the bean curd wrapped mystery, shrimp dumplings, spinach dumplings and shumai coated with brown rice.

The brown rice element added to the shumai was something I'd never seen, but I must say it was actually a pretty good twist. The earthiness of the rice, which had a definite tooth to its texture, really complemented the salty meaty goodness of the hidden dumpling within.

While LBM was a no show, I was still glad to have a dim sum experience to counteract the shit show that was Ocean Harbor on Chinese New Year. I also walked to Chinatown and was glad for the exercise.

Martinis and Snacks c/o Tank Bar

Weeks ago, some time before Christmas, in a haze of work, I made my way to Friday Saturday Sunday's Tank Bar for a cocktail meet up with BC. I first tried a sweet cosmo type of cocktail, the Pinky Tuscadero, which was basically a cosmo with plum juice and raspberry elements. BC went in a totally different direction, ordering the Spicy, Dirty Bond. A vodka martini with the addition of olive juice and tabasco. It had a nice kick, and so when my sweet drink had been finished, I changed directions and went spicy.

We also shared the grilled chipotle barbequed shrimp with jicama slaw and avocado dipping sauce. I also looked into the mushroom soup, but the photographs of said soup were not so good so I am not sharing them. The snacks were good, maybe not awesome, but good. The soup was especially creamy delicious and the shrimp had a bit of flare to them. But really it was the conversation of BC and our bartender that was most enjoyable. Whenever I go to Tank Bar I enjoy myself, it's definitely more of a 'date' type place, but if you're looking to have a nice conversation with a friend and the humorous interjections of a bartender with good stories, then it's not just for the date crowd. 

Restaurant Week Dinner c/o R2L

The last two weeks have been Philadelphia's Center City Fall Restaurant weeks. This means that a whole slew of dining establishments in Center City are offering three course meals for $35. People in the foodie world have different perspectives on these weeks. A lot of industry folk grumble about it: folks come into a restaurant where an entree is usually $20 and expect the same level of service/food at quite the discounted rate, don't tip enough, etc etc. Which is all fair and good to note. But for those of us who aren't made of money but appreciate good food, restaurant week gives us the opportunity to at least get a sense of what these finer dining destinations have to offer, and whether we'd like to come back for a special occasion and pay full price. So when it came to choosing a spot or two to try out for the first time, I aimed at places I thought were pretty interesting but definitely outside of my normal budget. In previous years this led me to meals at Buddakan, Tequilas, and Union Trust. This time around I scheduled two outings. The first was to R2L with LW. I had been to R2L ever so briefly when my Childhood Friend, K. and I had dinner at Alma de Cuba and then K. suggested we at least take a look at R2l...even though they were very much closing for the night. But this time around they were in the swing of things. When we arrived and took the elevator to the 37th floor, we were quickly greeted and ushered to the bar while a table was set for us. There I ordered a dirty Stoli martini and requested three olives, which were happily provided by our friendly and attractive bartender. LW ordered a drink that involved those fancy marinated cherries, of which she requested extras and, again, the bartender was happy to oblige. Soon after our cocktails were in hand, we were seated. I was pleased that we were given a window seat, which allowed us to determine just which direction we were looking in: west. We kept trying to find landmarks and for the longest time really couldn't. Then after finally saying, yes, that is west, we realized that the most obvious landmark - 30th Street Station - was most clearly visible and in front of us. It was a 'duh' moment.

R2L's lighting is dim and moody, which made getting decent photographs a bit of a challenge, so forgive the rather less than perfect quality of the photographs that follow. I chose to go with the shrimp cocktail for my appetizer. They were plump shrimp with a nice spicy cocktail sauce to go along with them. LW chose the chicken liver and foie gras mousse, which was delicious.

For my main course I chose the "R2L Style" veal stew, which was veal three ways: meatloaf, breast and tenderloin. I'd never heard of veal/cow having a 'breast' before, but I was quite pleased with the presentation and taste of this dish, especially the tenderloin.  LW ordered the flounder fluke paella, which also seemed to be a hit.

We both chose the roasted pears with concord grape reduction and buttermilk panna cotta. I wish one of my wider shots had come through so you could better see the presentation, but lighting conditions prevented a decent shot. My favorite part was most certainly the bites of panna cotta with concord grape essence. I could have gone for just a bowl of that grape stuff. Yes indeed.

The place seemed to be doing a brisk night of business for a Sunday, but no server seemed totally overworked or harried.

Seafood Times

I could have sworn that I wrote about these meals yesterday and posted it successfully, but it seems as if I have lost my mind or that Blogger is suffering some kind of technical brain fart.In any case, here's a quick summary of what I wrote yesterday: On my way back from Delaware I stopped at a farm stand and seafood market, picking up a nice variety of things to enjoy over the days that followed. The first meal I enjoyed was rockfish with a cherry tomato, garlic, caper and lemon compote type thing, along with littleneck clams steamed in white wine and with some leftover salsa fresca I had made the week before. I overcooked the rockfish accidentally, but on the whole each dish was to my liking.

A day or two later I made this pasta feast for me and AS to enjoy. AS recently departed Philly so she can pursue graduate studies in NYC. This is a sad loss of a friendly face in Philly, but I'm excited for what this educational opportunity/change of location might inspire in AS's larger life. In any case, to get a bit of face time with her before she left, I invited her over for dinner. This dinner was: fettucini with a similar cherry tomato/garlic/caper/lemon element with the addition of fresh corn, jumbo shrimp, a drizzle of truffle oil, a liberal amount of parmesan cheese and just a dollop of heavy cream.

I will not lie to you, this was an absolutely delicious dish. All the ingredients were fresh and I did very little to any of them, letting them really just speak for themselves as far as flavor was concerned. Oh yeah. Tasty stuff.

A nice final evening of conversation and camaraderie with AS before her departure!

Happy Hour c/o Fin's, Night Times c/o Cape Henlopen State Park

As is my wont, last week marked my first camping excursion to Delaware. I took Thursday and Friday off, which allowed me to get down there without too much terrible beach traffic. I arrived a little after 1 on Thursday, put together my tent, blew up the air mattress, got ice to keep my strange collection of snacks and drinks cool, and then headed on out to try Fin's Happy Hour. I read that sometimes there is a line to get in the door at 4. And I hate lines, so I got there at 3:45 and wouldn't you know it other folks had the same idea and when the door opened exactly at four, it took about six minutes for all the bar stools to be full in the bar area. When it was my turn to order I immediately went with a dozen of the happy hour oysters - six of the Hog Island variety and six of the Chincoteague. This worked out to $5.75 a half dozen. I found the Hog Islands to have that super salty with a touch of fish pucker, while the Chincoteagues were a wee bit mellower with a nice sweet finish. I went with a Troeg's Pale Ale, which was refreshing and not too hoppy.

I I also took advantage of the 1/2 pound of shrimp for something like $5. Nicely steamed and seasoned, I was well satisfied and full within 45 minutes of sitting down. The bar is run well. Bartenders and shuckers communicating effectively, doing the dance of moving around one another without the clatter of a fallen tray or shatter of a breaking glass.

Though I knew I would be hungry again before the night was done, I did feel like I couldn't possibly eat any more so after about an hour or so at Fin's I paid my bill (which came to just a little less than $25 (the bartender comped me one of my two beers, which was a nice thing) and made my way back to the camp. This year I chose a site on one of the outer rings, which meant that I only had neighbors to the left and right of me, and across the road....but that in one direction it was just woods and sand. This allowed me a little more sense of privacy and lovely sky views.

I spent the rest of my evening sipping on beers and reading the third Game of Thrones book. My goodness, once you get sucked in, you're in.