Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop - @@

After a bunch of suit shopping we were walking around HK for a bite to eat. I have brought this up before but it actually can be somewhat of a chore to find a restaurant to go to in HK due to the vast amount of options. Crazy and counter intuitive but it is similar to Costco selling only Heinz ketchup. That's all you get and that's what you'll have. No options so no decisions. In HK, especially in Tsim Sha Tsui, there is stuff everywhere on the ground floor and even more if you look up! I sometimes forget that there is more stuff than just the ground floor establishments in this densely packed area. Anyways Chris was able to load up yelp and had this place that had good reviews. With his gps, we had no problems finding it.

Going in it is a normal small local HK eating establishment. There was a line at like 2 pm so that was good. We were then seated in a booth with a random old lady on the other side, completely Asian style. Food was ultimately ok, I have determined that I don't love Asian brisket and I knew I didn't love noodle soup. I think it's the five spice seasoning that I don't love with the brisket cause I love the cut. The seasonings were strong (like they should be usually with this dish so don't want to hold that against them). The greens were good but not memorable. Overall a normal HK eatery that did not stick out to me that you can try out if a) you can find it and b) if you are in the area. I would try something else next time. Also there is an English based menu if I recall.

Royal Commercial Centre
51 Parkes St, Kowloon

Restaurante Litoral - @@@

Quick post since they are already closed. It's a Macanese restaurant that serves what I consider a mix of Portuguese and Asian. Had the caldo verde soup to start. Good. Had minchi for main. Good, if not a little too salty and heavy with the soy sauce. Compared to Riquexo (which I thought I had posted, will have to do that some other time) it's not as good. It's heavier here, maybe the egg addition had something to do with it. Also I feel this place is a 1%er restaurant. Whereas if I recall Riquexo was <$10, this meal was $25, with a 10% service charge which is rare in my mind for overseas. Great building though - seems like a historical building with exposed wood everywhere. Polished stone floors and the entrance was like a courtyard.

Rua Almirante Sergio No 261
Macau

Fortune Cafe - @@@

Being in Korea there is always really good food to be had. The grilled meats, spicy sauces and good sides all make me really like the dining cuisine. So it only made sense to have my last meal there be Uzbekistan food. Wait....what??

I guess I can explain first how I got to this place. One of the markets that I was looking to check out was the Dongdaemun market on Sunday. Supposedly it is a bigger night market but I read they had some stuff there during the day. After a somewhat uninspiring walk around the Yongsan electronics market (I actually don't know what I was either looking for to buy or what to expect on the ground) I boarded the metro to the Dongdaemun History and Culture park stop which the concierge said is where I could find the market. Instead I see a giant reflective metal orb I guess similar to the Chicago bean with a huge line of teenage girls just screaming at something down in the metro. I asked a few shopkeepers what was going on; needless to say it was unsuccessful to communicate well. Then continuing to walk around I stumble into what I later find out is this central Asian-town similar to Chinatowns and Koreatowns in the US. Language switched to what I could decipher as Russian (I am sure there are many dialects going on) and writing definitely was not Korean. It somewhat looked like I stepped out onto a set of Taken crossed with a bunch of Gennady Golovkin-type characters. It is with this that I accepted a menu from a girl standing outside a restaurant and pointed me upstairs. It smelled good, what possibly could go wrong??

I walk up the stairs to a rather homely looking set of 3 rows of tables with about 4 4-top tables in each row. They were playing soccer - a David Beckham charity thing that may/may not have been live. Not many Koreans were here so i guess it was a good place to be?? The menu was roughly English friendly if you find "beef", "chicken" and "fish" accurate descriptions. They also had pictures which was somewhat helpful. I pointed to something and the waitress (actually the 2nd waitress as there was no English with the first one) said it was lamb. Ok I have had a fair amount of beef already so let's go. Also had fried potatoes. When I get it, I am surprised that it is topped with raw onions as well. I had one, it basically tasted like what you would expect raw onions to taste like except there was a pile of them. The potatoes were fine, fried on the outside and soft on the inside like thick cut fries. They were also soaking up the lamb grease. It was served with a side of pickled carrots I think and a red sauce that was like a mild salsa. I ordered Coke though I think I should've went with tea that was served in ornate tea pots which I would envision Marco Polo using as he traversed the continent. Next time I guess. Anyways on to the lamb. It was good, well spiced (coriander I think similar to other middle eastern places I have been at), grilled, hot and tender. Not too much fat but just enough so that it was still tasty. So why only a 3? I am really spoiled I guess by the Dearborn based middle eastern food that I just felt was a little better and comes with a better sauce in the garlic sauce. I think if I never had that then this would be higher. The portion was a much better value though - only 10k won for the food which is about $9. Certainly in Dearborn that is a $15-$20 plate.

In the aftermath of this heavy lunch, I went back to the hotel to see what's up with this place in the middle of Seoul. Long story short the countries (Uzbekistan, Kazakstan, Korea) trade frequently and the central Asian workers can make more in Korea than back home. Typical better opportunity elsewhere story. Very cool place I was glad I stumbled across and a different type of food I am used to eating. If you go to exit 5 at the metro stop and turn right you will find this area; I have no clue of the address but just start looking for the Taken-type crews on the street and the non-Korean writing. Glad I stumbled across!

Busan Galbi - @@@

Just got done having a pretty big dinner here in Seoul. For what it was, I thought it was ok. Good not great.

This place is in a pretty prominent section of Itaewon so I think it gets lots of traffic regardless. There was lots of help and they had the charcoal and sesame oil salt that I really like. The meat was good, kalbi being better than the pork belly. Don't know why but I always seem to get the bonus pork belly and not really love it. And it gets me more full. Weird. The kalbi was good, wrapped and marinated like usual. The waitress cooked it so it came out a little more done than I would've made it. The sides were good, had plenty of this green vegetable that I think was sautéed bok choy cousin with a touch of sesame oil. By far the best side. Also good was the super soft tofu in a touch of chili sauce.

A pretty good meal but here I think the meat has to be on point. The kalbi wasn't quite there to get it over the middling review and I am not even going to try and put the address. Just exit Itaewon station from exits 1 or 2 and turn left. You should see it. It's on the 2nd floor.

Ps just got the check and it was pretty reasonable for 2 dishes, 2 rice bowls and a beer was 42k won (~$40).

Tupelo - @@@@

I should preface this that I think this review is actually incomplete. I ordered the gumbo and collard greens which were all good but saw a couple of other entrees that I would for sure try next time such as the fried chicken, hangar steak, and pork lion.

Couple of interesting things about this southern restaurant in Boston. 1 - it is in Boston. Because I sadly have not been to New Orleans before, I cannot be certain that this gumbo was good. It tasted rich. Had all the andouille, pulled chicken, and okra I could want. Rice was not soggy. I enjoyed it. 2 - really enjoyed the fact that my food came out approximately 2 minutes after I ordered. I didn't even have a chance to open my magazine. This is good because what I got should've been prepared hours ago. No quick cooking gumbo and collard greens ever. I personally dislike if a slow cooking restaurant takes forever to get your food out. Hello, the brisket has been cooking for 13 hours...what else do you need to do?? I think it basically took as long to grill the toast and my food was out. Awesome. 3 - some of the best cornbread I have ever had. Moist, not super crumbly, rich tasting butter makes it great. Not the empty plate in the picture. 4 - pickled cabbage on top of greens made a good taste contrast. I think it made it a touch sweet which for me worked well with the greens, again very good to my non-southern tastebuds. 5 - they did not have extra sides that came with the special. At first I was a little mad but then had to respect them that they would only prep enough fried brussel sprouts for the one dish that it came with.

This was a perfect way to kill some time before driving back to Providence. Very informal hipsterish setting, friendly and attentive service, and good food made the inevitable rush hour drive back super easy. As mentioned in the beginning, I would not order the gumbo next time just so I can try some of the other entrees. For New England southern food, I thought it was pretty good!

1193 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02139

The Abbey - @@@@

I debated a long time here between a 3 and 4 so keep that in mind as you read. This is a neighborhood bar that came up in a few articles when I googled "best hamburger Providence". It did not let me down.

First off I got this monster meal for $13 and it was the Roadhouse burger. The 10 oz party was topped with gruyère cheese, bacon, carmelized onions, garlic mayo on a toasted onion roll. Great flavor and was reminded of French onion soup a little, actually a lot. Look at that melted cheese...that's the way to do it! The beef was very tasty and after one bite was dripping with juice. The one downside was I ordered it medium rare and it came on the medium/medium well side. The abundance of fries was a good touch too, they were deeply fried so they all stayed straight when picking them up and had a good fried flavor. They seemed to be fried in something other than vegetable oil and would put them slightly better than average.

In addition I had their clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl to start. The chowder itself was excellent, so hot it burned my tongue. Finished on top with dill, I have discovered that to be a great garnish on clam chowder rather than parsley. The soup was rich and creamy with chunks of clams ad potatoes all throughout. Not as thick as other chowders I have had though. Also could've done without the bread bowl as it didn't add much except more carbs to an extremely carb heavy meal!

All in all I think this is the best burger I have had in Providence so far except maybe Ivy Tavern. I thought the service here was outstanding as well. They have a wide beer selection and would be appreciated by any proper beer drinker but even though I didn't get a beer, my water glass was kept extremely full by the hustling waitress. The clientele seemed to be all locals as this is not exactly downtown which I thought is a good thing. Will definitely be back to try another one of there ~25 different burger combinations.

686 Admiral St
Providence, RI 02908

Nando's Peri-Peri - @@

This place was ok, but the value of it made me push it down a notch. It is billed as a Portuguese, South African chicken restaurant and they specialize in grilled chicken marinated for at least 24 hours. It is then finished with a sauce of choice (think wing sauces) and served. I think of it in the growing fast, casual demographic of restaurants a la Chipotle, Five Guys, etc. I had never seen this place but there are low double digit franchises around the DMV area according to their website.

First off the setup is a little questionable. Think Panera Bread but you get assigned your seat first and the menu is not widely known. You walk in to a hostess stand where you tell them how many you have then are assigned a seat in the dining room. You then have the option to take your paper menu either to your seat or wait in the ordering line. Regardless you have to order at the counter; there are no servers. After the counter line, you then cross the aisle (and into the next people in line) to get to the utensils/sauce/napkin area. Then the self serve drinks are to the side you depart. Interesting concept but I think it is just made more confusing due to the relative unfamiliarity of the patrons which I observed during my visit.

Onto the food, I ordered the 6 wing appetizer and the 1/4 white with Portuguese chips (aka fries) and corn on the cob. The wings I got hot and the 1/4 white was medium. The wings were definitely spicier and had a pretty good kick to it. Probably the upper end of my spicyness level (they have one hotter still). The wings were tender and came off the bone pretty easily but were pretty small. The fact they were grilled made them not as crunchy vs then being fried (which I like more). Good thing they were an appetizer. The main chicken was surprisingly pretty juicy and it seemed half deboned which made eating easier. I preferred the medium spice level sauce brushed on at the end. The fries are how they look, somewhat limpy and not great. Needed salt for sure and I put some of the garlic sauce (too tart) and lemon/herb sauce (too citrusy for fries) on them but didn't help. The best fries were actually the ones that were sitting in the melted butter from the corn on the cob, which was completely normal, if not a little uninspiring for corn with the small kernels and lack of sweetness.

Overall I think the place is a good concept. They serve beer and wine too which would excite people too. The meal though was almost $20 and for that I think could've gotten a better meal elsewhere. I would stick with the chicken if you are good with it grilled not fried. Looking around I see lots of millennials which I think is what they are trying to cater too. They seem to be quite busy too so obviously most people enjoy it. For me it was good to try but would try other spots in the future.

819 7th St NW
Washington, DC 20001