Dinner With Old Friends c/o Vedge

A few weeks back I called EF just to say hello. It had been a while since we had last communicated verbally, but I knew through Mr. Ass that she and her husband B. were officially moving from Michigan back to the east coast and Philadelphia in particular. During our phone call it was established that they'd actually be in town the following week to figure out some of the details of their move...like where they might live. So I actually ended up spending part of a Saturday with E. walking around my greater neighborhood looking at houses with for sale signs and, in one instance, taking a tour by the owner of one such house (it was a cute house and I would buy it if I had the resources). We also had plans to have dinner one night later in the week. Initially the plan was that EF and B. and Mr. Ass would come by my place and I would make them dinner, which we would eat on the deck. But the weather for the night in question insisted that it was going to be rainy, and that wouldn't really do for an al fresco dining experience. As a plan B we all met at Vedge. EF and B. are vegetarians, so Vedge seemed like a pretty good choice, given its entirely vegetarian and vegan menu. EF and B. arrived first and said that they were given a bit of guff and attitude about getting a table without a reservation, but a table they did secure. The meal started with olive oil with fennel seeds and fresh bread.

I was drawn to the fancy radishes, roasted, raw & pickled, smoked tamari, avocado, shishito dish. I wish I could have taken a better photo to truly demonstrate the presentation and range of radish preparations, but alas the light was low and I was trying to take pictures quickly. So this is the best I could do. I'll say this. I love radishes pretty much however you give them to me. Straight up. Pickled. Sauteed. With salt. With butter. With nothing. So this more careful and involved presentation just upped the ante and made something I already love even more pleasant.

We all shared an order of potato wedges with a creamy worcestshire sauce, which I don't know exactly how they made given the lack of dairy in all their fare. The potatoes were lovely and creamy in their own right.

I also tried their funky kimchee stew with charred broccoli, pickled tofu, and togarashi. Our server warned me that it was spicy, but after the tofu stews that I've been making lately, this wasn't anything to worry about. Its broth was rich the kim chi funky. The pickled tofu was probably the weirdest part, as it had an almost mango/fruit taste to it. The others had a nice range of dishes as well, but I did not photograph them because the lighting was low and it would just take too much time. Pretty much everything was full-stop delicious. While I love me my cheese and red meat, Vedge is a reminder that with care and creativity one doesn't need either to have a meal that feels like it truly is complete while also being special.

Afterwards we wandered around the narrower streets in the neighborhood. I insisted on a photograph or two.

It will be exciting to have EF and B. in the city.

Birthday Dinner for Fatty c/o Congee Village

So I went on a vacation a bit ago and the planning of it was not without its iterations. The final plan resulted in my deciding to fly out of JFK Airport in NYC because it would be a direct flight to Nassau at a better price and time. This led to my asking L. if I could stay with her and Fatty the night before my trip, as the flight was at 7 AM. She said yes and the plan was good. Then as we got closer to the date in question, it turned out that they were going to celebrate Fatty's birthday that Friday. Celebrations would include dinner out and then a musical show. I was all in for the dinner, but less so for the concert, as it would keep me out far later than I would think prudent for a needed 5 AM airport arrival time. So I stuck with dinner, which was at Congee Village on Allen Street. I think we turned out to be a table of 10 with a variety of tastes and eating restrictions. At least one glutard and one vegan if I recall correctly. We ordered a nice variety of dishes.  SP ordered a whole roasted chicken that was all chopped up and marvelously garlicky and tender. I ordered a tofu in soy sauce dish and a thick noodle dish. Greens were well represented as well.

Scallion pancakes, no doubt.

A plate with greens, chicken, noodles and fried rice.

After dinner this group headed off into the night towards music while I made my way back to Brooklyn with the intention of making sure everything was ready for the trip, a bit of blogging and an early bed time. I ended up dealing with the pre-travel awakes for much of the night, but I think it was still good that I didn't go out. At least when the cab picked me up at 4 something in the morning I wasn't groggy or hungover. Glad that I was able to celebrate Fatty's big day a bit early. This was definitely a good last experience in the States before my Caribbean vacation.

Dinner With Cousin E. c/o Han Dynasty

A few years back I met up with a West Coast cousin, E., for dinner whilst he was on the coast for business. At some point in June he reached out to me to say he was going to be in town yet again. I inquired as to where he was staying and then determined that a good place to meet up for dinner might be Han Dynasty. This was threefold. One, it wasn't too far away from his hotel. Two, I had long been wanting to return after my first visit with the GS crew. And three, I had darts on that night and Han Dynasty was a nice mid-point between my home and the dart night location. And so a plan was created. It was one of the first of excessively hot days we've been having throughout the spring/summer. We were seated quickly and I suggested we share the spicy cucumber appetizer.

I then chose the chicken 'long hot pepper style.' Tasty stuff, though I think that my first visit's eggplant garlic style might have been more of a standout favorite.

The cousin had tofu, I forget which style. Their tofu is much different from that of so many takeout Chinese places: little strips, firm, with more the look of eggplant than tofu.

A good meal and lovely to catch up with a distant cousin. This was the second of three out of town visitor experiences of the week, which certainly made it different than many. Thanks to E. for dinner and for the avocado and beet treats!

Cocktails and Dinner c/o Han Dynasty

A few Fridays ago I rallied a little group of folks in an effort to cross two more things off of my resolution list. First, cocktails at Southwark. I had a Hemingway Daquiri, the ingredients of which, according to the website, were rum, maraschino liquor,lime, grapefruit. I don't really recall the maraschino element, but I enjoyed the overall drink very much. It was nice and tart, not too boozy....but actually quite boozy.
I'd long been hearing great things about Han Dynasty, and knew it was a good place to go in a group. And the great things were all true, and it does make sense to go in a group. LB arrived separately from those of us who had cocktails, and held down the table fort until we met up with her. I became a slight tyrant when it came to ordering. My camera also seemed like it was going to die at any second so I gook photographs quite quickly and with the flash for the most part. These were the spicy, crispy cucumbers. They were spicy, but also cool.
In this photograph you can see the Taiwanese sausage that Mr. Ass suggested we add to my tyrannical menu decisions. A good call.
Dumplings in chili oil.
Wontons in chili oil. I was totally remiss and forgot to order the Dan Dan noodles. Just a reason to go back.
I'm not sure what this was. Maybe the pork belly double cooked style?
This was the tofu long hot pepper style.
This was the LB and Mr. Ass Han Dynasty style.
This was string beans with minced pork.
Eggplant in garlic sauce.
Scallop dry pepper style.
We also ordered chicken, hot sauce style. I tried to order a range of dishes that covered Han's spectrum of spice (8-10 being VERY spicy and on down to 1 being wimpy). I did express that we weren't looking to completely lose our taste buds, so while everything had a little kick to it, nothing was quite as throat scorching as I might have expected. This, to me, is a good thing and I think a result of the server hearing my desire for moderate spice as well as full blast. I think my favorite was the scallops dry pepper style. Nice and crispy, but still succulent. And the pepper gave it some pizazz without overwhelming the actual taste of the scallops themselves. I think the eggplant was also particularly tasty. I prefered the dumplings to the wontons. And I loved the green beans. I felt like one moment, all the food was arriving and then seconds later I was stuffed, but probably 20 to 30 minutes went by. After dinner we went to Reserve for another round or two of drinks. I believe I ordered the Kentucky Lemonade.
And at least at one or two points in the evening, I looked like this.
I got punchy by the end of the evening and slightly embarrassed myself, but up until that point I thought the it was a good night. Great company. Great food. The whole package.

Chinese c/o Hunan Szehuan

At some point we ordered Chinese. I ordered the chicken noodle soup, which wasn't all that great. Then I thought I'd try a new form of tofu without fully knowing what it would be. In this case I believe it was "Tofu Home Style." It turned out to be pretty great, thick and crunchy tofu with snowpeas and really meaty mushrooms in a kind of spicy sauce. I really dug it.

Perfection c/o Hunan Sczehuan

I think I've finally found my go-to dish from my go-to place. I've struggled with this, as far as Chinese food is concerned. I generally like some sort of tofu and... dish in some garlicky/brown sauce, but there's always something off with the tofu. Not fried, too dry, sparse, etc. But on this particular day I ordered the string bean and tofu in garlic sauce dish and I loved it. Loved it I tell you. Is it really fancy and sustainably made? No and probably not. Did it have texture and flavor and satiate my very soul? Indeed it did. Was this the day after darts and was I in desperate need of hearty, filling food? Yes I was. Does this lessen anything I've said above? I'll leave that one to the historians...who will clearly slobber over this blog as an anthroplogical marvel of what it once meant to be a 24-etc year old white woman in the United States in the early 2000s. Is my self-importance overblown. Well, I'll be the judge of that.
The dragon couldn't help but jump right into the dish, it was so clearly delicious.

Tofu and Broccoli in Brooklyn

After breakfast I pulled myself together and drove up to NYC for what turned out to be a stupidly good weekend. Fat T., L. and I stayed in for dinner while drinking beer and eating Chinese food. I went with the tofu and broccoli in garlic sauce. I also ate a dumpling. A good foundation of food in my belly for what was a long, but satisfying, night.

Soup, Tofu and Seaweed c/o Su Xing House

After my return to Philly, I met up with my new friend G. for lunch. We went to Su Xing House, which was a first for me. I would just like to point out that the first line of the restaurant's description on its website is: "Go vege for a healthy life, an ad on the subway trains indicates going vegetarian is the single best thing that we can do for a healthy life." Because if it says it on a subway sign, it's gotta be true. I respect vegetarians up to a point, but I don't think that there's any 'single best thing' for almost any problem. What? I like what this woman says about her return to carnivorous ways. Anyways. The restaurant does have quite the lunch deal: tea, choice of soup, choice of rice, choice of entree and choice of side for about $8.
I started with the hot and sour soup, which was better than some I've had of late.
G. recommended that I try the General Tso Veg, which still featured tofu. I went with the seaweed side, which made me feel like my blood was getting stronger while also making me happy.

I tried some of G.'s Shredded Bean Curd & Shredded Bean Protein in Garlic Sauce and found its sauce to be quite nice.
Always nice to find a new place. One might ask whether they deliver. It'd be a nice addition to our work rotation during the busy season.

Beef Satay, Scallion Pancakes and More c/o Michael and Ping's

After returning from our Shopsins adventure L. and I took naps. It was very peaceful. Once we were up again all three of us put on our finest '90s duds (that's a lie, I didn't have any '90s duds) for a thing that I'll get to later. But! Before we did that thing, we had dinner at Michael and Ping's. It's a very environmentally aware business. But that wouldn't really matter if the food wasn't good, which it was. I ordered beef satay expecting the typical dried out and thin amalgamation of beef that you get at most not too fancy Chinese restaurants (you order at the counter and they call out your name). These were succulent, still a little bit rare in a good way, chunks of really well marinated beef. I admitted surprise to L. I hadn't expected it to be so good. The scallion pancakes were also above par.

My eggplant and tofu dish was a little less exciting, but I am very particular about how I like my tofu.