Roosters - @@@@

Perhaps some of my new favorite chicken wings. This is a mainly Ohio centric chicken wing joint that is basically your normal sports bar.

What I like about them is that they are clearly freshly fried and have a good crispness to them. They are not however fried so long that they are dry, as when you bite into them they are still juicy and very hot. Really well done and usually not drowning in sauce either (although you can get them "extra wet" if you prefer sauce). Also bonus is that you can get them just as drumsticks if you prefer, and I do. Nominal fees for that plus extra sauce, dressing etc seems a bit much but it's not prohibitive. Standard fried item sides are available along with a pizza I had last time i was here that was surprisingly good as well.

One thing I do not like is that the wing portion still has the tip on it, so you have to wrangle that off further delaying enjoyment. Also be warned that there are little to no vegetables at this sportsbar type place but I don't hold that against them.

You come for the wings and tvs and beers and it delivers. In the picture, I had no sauce on the left and medium on the right. Would order both again. This is a good, casual place that knows its audience and delivers. Would recommend

12120 Springfield Pike
Springdale, OH 45246

L'Ami Jean - @@@

L'Ami Jean in Paris

Started with the parmesean soup. Had crunchy onions on the bottom with raw onions as well. Very small at the bottom. Then had a large juggish type thing with the soup in it. Super rich and creamy. Very smooth. Like just cream and butter with cheese hints in it. Onion infused in the broth after it was soaking in it. Literally almost full it was that rich. By the way, it was 18 euro. Mind boggling. But I think it was to be shared not consumed individually. 

Funny quote "the English menu is me" not told to me. 

Odd - salt/pepper grinders on my high top table but not on the actual tables. 

Next had the beef shoulder cooked for a long time allegedly. Pretty tender and topped with what tasted to be nuts that were roasted, roasted onions again, and basil leaf. Bigger portion than expected, typing this halfway through and could be done. Obviously not but could be. Update - the "roasted nuts" we're actually burned carrots?? Odd. Also halfway through as I am thinking this dish is fairly a la carte comes a bowl of mashed potatoes. One word...rich. Also creamy similar to polenta but much richer. Also pretty full now. Either want to fall asleep or need to walk around for a while. 

Servers were flying around, lots of motion for a ~50ish seat place. Diners were sat chinatown style with a table of eight chairs in a row filled with 4 parties of 2. Funny sight was them pulling the tables in and out to get people fit in to the booth area. It did however encourage people to talk more and interact with each other...mainly in English oddly enough. Also was pretty empty when I walked in at 12:15 and when I left at 2 was jammed. Definitely people eat later here. Eating at the high table gave me a good view into the kitchen and prep as it was going on. 

Final thought...beef was good, not great. Was tender but stringy, not much fat on the cut. The soup and potatoes were super rich and quite good. Could've probably went with the tasting menu as they included the soup and beef shoulder in much smaller portions along with 2 fish servings. Did not need the full amount I guess for lunch but it's all good. Do I need to come back with the recommendations of making reservations a month in advance?? Maybe not. 

27 Rue Malar, 7th arrondissement 

75007 Paris

 

The definitive La Casona vs El Paisa review

Central Falls, Rhode Island. A place where there are 2 good Colombian restaurants that I frequent. Today I want to do a heads up comparison between their bandeja paisa aka plato montañero dishes in descending order of goodness

Steak - no doubt EP. Larger, juicier, thicker cut here. LC has 2 thinish strips

Chicharron - LC wins here because this is what I imagine the chicharron to look like. Straight pork rind with individual pieces all fried up. Great and perhaps a touch better with the chimmichurri sauce

Chorizo - LC by default (and it is really good nonetheless). I don't think EP even includes it if I remember correctly

Rice - LC only because they put the beans on the side. This means that the rice can absorb good stuff like pork fat, beef grease, and egg

Egg - LC by default again

Plantains - sweet ones at both. Not fried. I like both and would be deal breaker without.

Salad - LC had better dressing only because I remember it. EP is non memorable so I will go with LC here (and no onions either)

Beans - both include them. Ok

Boiled potato - EP has it so they win by default. Not flavorful, uneventful

Yucca - EP has it so they win by default. Not flavorful, uneventful

Avocado - extra side at both. Not ranked. It is good

Atmosphere - both have the spanish music playing and not many gringos at all. Authentic in my book. EP is cash only. No bien. LC is the choice here due to credit card acceptance

Wow for the longest time I thought I liked EP better. Side by side comparison shows otherwise though. Will have to keep that in mind for future Colombian meals. There it is...buen provecho!!

La Casona (bottom picture) - @@@@
El Paisa (top picture) - @@@

Europe trip

Just got back from France and Spain and to say we ate would be an understatement. Will try and get some posts up about the food

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!