"I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining"

I happily discovered earlier this month that I had three Restaurant.com credits that came from places that had either closed or were no longer honoring their promotions.  So through perusal of the selections, I found a little place called I <3 Sushi Teriyaki.  Being adventurous, exhausted, and stressed does wonders for one's desire to cook, so we decided to try it out.

Free miso soup and a small salad with ginger dressing-- both with every meal!  How exciting!

Seaweed salad

White Castle roll on left (tuna covered with crunchy white noodles)

Eel roll on left; tuna on the right

Caterpillar roll (eel, crab, avocado)

Cajun roll (crawfish, avocado, other stuff deep fried)

Spicy yellowtail roll

The first thing that struck me was that we were the only people at the restaurant at 5 pm.  The second thing I realized after I clumsily dropped my soy sauce dish was how courteous and friendly the staff was.  The prices were very reasonable (basic rolls, like the tuna roll, were $4.50 and most of the special rolls were $10) and portion size was decent.  The crunchy white noodles on the White Castle roll were all crunch with no flavor.  I am usually not fond of fried rolls (that's what significant others are for, to eat what you don't like :)  ) but everything else was delicious.

This is second only to Oishii Sushi in my book (which has bigger cuts of fish, but which also moved into a new location that somehow pales in comparison to their older cramped one...).  I have never reviewed that one because I'm usually dining with people who would look at me like I've grown an extra limb if I pulled my camera out.  And yes, the camera may be as big as my head, but it takes awesome pictures in low light.

I have sadly neglected this blog due to work, traveling, taking pictures, work, cleaning, reading, running and more work.  I am loath to promise posts that never materialize (like I've done before, multiple times-- *gulp*) but I am working on a post that summarizes eating my way through Portland, and my husband just bought a rotating Belgian waffle maker.  So homemade sourdough waffles with bourbon maple syrup are in our future......  :D

Taco Punk, you can do better than this.

My husband and I were so excited to go to Taco Punk tonight.  We enjoyed their booth at the NuLu Festival and thought they had a great concept and potential, which made tonight's dining experience disappointing.

Service:

-I ordered the Lucky Ducky and the Taj Ma-hell and was answered with "I'm sorry, you are NOT lucky today!"  It's understandable that the specials can run out, but there was no sign indicating this... It was only 5 pm and they're open until 2 am!  So I decided to order the Yucatecan style fish and the smoked chicken mole instead. 

-I thought the process would run quickly and smoothly as it's an assembly line, but after I was asked three times what I had ordered, the process became neither.  

-The server inexplicably switched my tortilla out after putting chicken mole on it...and put it back in the bin.  I'm still confused about this.

Food:

-The homemade tortillas were cold, thick, and slightly brittle on the edges.

-The fish was well seasoned and freshly grilled.  I was pleasantly surprised that cod could taste so good.

-The chicken mole was slightly spicy and barely smoked; good but not memorable.

-Our favorite was the BarBEERcoa; the meat was moist, tender and well marinated.

-The adobo chicken was also freshly grilled, but there wasn't much of an adobo flavor in my opinion.

-Chorizo and potato tasted bland.  We are not sure where the potato went---perhaps it was pureed with the chorizo...

-Lime chili mayo is awesome.

-The free fillings (shredded cabbage, pickled onions, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro) all added distinct flavors and textures that I found creative, colorful and most importantly, very tasty.

-The saffron rice was overcooked and completely flavorless.  Black beans were well seasoned--but again, not memorable.  

Value:

-This is somewhat expensive---four small tacos, two small sides, 2 drinks and about 7 tortilla chips apiece cost $25.

And now for some pictures:

 Top: chicken mole; Bottom: Yucatecan style fish

 Close-up of the Yucatecan style fish

Top: chorizo and potato; Bottom: BarBEERcoa with lime chili mayo

Chicken adobo 

Black beans and rice

Bottom Line: Yes, I realize that this is only day 3 of this restaurant.  I would be willing to return, but I have multiple reservations.

Good? Yes. The best? No.

Let's keep it short and sweet here:

    

 The St. Matthews

 The White Pizza

 Our pizza- The Brownsboro

The Clifton

• Crust- chewy on the edges and very thin, but soggy in the middle.  I expected a charcoal flavor since they boast about the 600 degree coal fired oven....but there was none.  
• Sauce- didn't miss it!  This was a pleasant surprise. 
• Toppings- tasty caramelized onions made the pizza memorable
• Value- decent.  After all, this is in St. Matthews. 
• Best pizza in Louisville?  No.  Would I try something else here?  Yes.
  

German fusion? Oh yes please.

We, along with two dear friends, decided to check out Eiderdown tonight.  I have been very curious about this place, mainly due to advertising at Sunergos Coffee and good word-of-mouth.  We looked at the menu beforehand and decided this wasn't true German food; it seemed like German influences mixed with American gourmet with local and seasonal ingredients to boot.

The atmosphere is nice--not too dark, but not too bright either.  Lots of happy people at the bar and at the tables.

We started with the 3 Pretzels appetizer (left) and the Bier Kase (right), which was gouda today.  The pretzels tasted very good, although they were a little greasy.  You can pick 2 house mustards with the pretzels, and our friend chose the Sweet-Hot and the Porter.  The Sweet-Hot was nothing but the latter!  It was worse than wasabi.  :-O  The Porter was mainly just sweet.  The gouda was delicious (but I am a sucker for gouda).

This is my Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier---1/2 a liter!  This was great, nice and smooth.  (Sorry....not a beer connoisseur.) 

My entree was the Gnadinger Pork sandwich with red cabbage slaw.  The sandwich was moist and tasted like pulled pork---it had the right, pull-apart consistency. The currants and pistachios didn't add much to the flavor, other than a slight background sweetness.  The red cabbage slaw was okay; not as tender as I've had before, but more raw.  It was sweet as well, but not as tart as I expected.  I still enjoyed it though.

Mr. S. had the Mood Indigo, a calf tongue, smoked blue cheese, & sauerkraut sandwich, along with braised collard greens.  The flavors of the sauerkraut and blue cheese shone through, and the bread was nicely toasted.  I typically detest collard greens, but I liked these more than my own side.

This was our friend's Saison Spaetzle, which included squash, zucchini, pearl onions, basil, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts.  She said that it was good, especially the goat cheese. 

This was our other friend's Homer's Daydream, pork ribs in sauerkraut with potatoes and apples.  He seemed to enjoy it immensely as well.

Verdict:  Our bill was $36 for 2 beers, 2 sandwiches, and an appetizer---not bad.  Would I return?  Yes.  I like that the menu changes, portions are reasonable, the atmosphere is cozy, and the food is comfort food at its fundamentals...but with a German twist.  

The new DIY project

Anyone want to make tempeh?

This meat substitute can actually be quite tasty.  Mr. S. and I had some in a chili in Asheville, and it was surprisingly delicious.  We researched more about it and discovered that making your own requires a starter...and also involves growing mold in your own house.  Deliberately.  :-O

We hope to get some starter from this website: http://www.topcultures.com

And I will document this process soon!

Update:

-Pie was horrible.  Not due to the crust (yay tenderness!), but due to the fact that I can't make filling worth a damn.  Too much cornstarch.  :(

-Lobster Fest 2011 pics soon...although they're on Facebook as well.

-Chocolate bourbon scones are really good.

-I tried the last food truck in Louisville, Lil' Cheezers.  :)  Review for that coming soon too.  

Who knew that vegan food could taste good?

I'm kidding...I think.  The only vegan food I've had prior to tonight was a ginger cookie from Amazing Grace, which is now gone.

The presence of food trucks is not new at all to places like LA and Portland.  I'm pretty excited about this trend here in Louisville, though, and hope that it lasts.  There are three trucks now that I know of: El Rumbon (see my past review here) , Lil' Cheezers (grilled cheese sandwiches) and Louisville's Morels Food Truck, which is in its second week of business.

Mr. S. and I decided to go today due in part to being depressed about Owensboro's International BBQ Festival, which is apparently not international whatsoever.  :(

Entertainment while you wait for your food.  :D

Mr. S. and I bought the teriyaki slider burgers and the banh mi hot dog.  Both were excellent.  The burgers were moist and had a great savory teriyaki flavor.  The hot dog tasted like a regular one (no lips/lymph nodes, yay!) with pickled carrot & daikon, topped with a generous amount of spicy mayo.  

Bottom line: very reasonably priced and extremely tasty.  This gives vegan food a good name to omnivores such as myself.  I <3 food trucks!

Long overdue

Mr. S., our friend H. the bread chef, and I journeyed to Asheville, NC a couple of weeks ago for the Asheville Bread Festival.

(Not the best picture in the world, but it was the most beautiful drive I've done in a long time.)

The festival was delightful.  There were 10-15 vendors selling their wares, from all sorts of bread (of course) to flaky, buttery croissants, pastries, and the softest pretzels I have ever sampled.  Unfortunately, I left my camera battery at the hotel so no pics from the festival.  Peter Reinhart also posed for a picture with all of us.  :)

We returned to the hotel to admire and consume our loot.

 

I wish I could do this.  But I'm always so afraid of my bread burning, and furthermore, I do not have a hearth oven.

After resting, we attempted to attend a seminar on French ovens, but were stymied by poor directions and Mapquest.  (*shakes fist*)  Instead, we came early to Chef Reinhart's seminar.  He is very nice.  We tasted the sprouted wheat bread before the demonstration even started.  :D

 100% hydrated dough!  Can you imagine?

Sprouted wheat foccacia

Afterwards, I bought Chef Reinhart's American Pie and got to gush to him like a silly fangirl about how much I love his recipe for pane siciliano.  

And....I'm now a tester for his upcoming gluten-free, diabetic cookbook that will be published in April 2012.  I have tried two recipes so far.  That, of course, is another post.  :)