Monday, August 22, 2005

'Tards

Alert! We are being spied upon! This is the most popular blog in all foodie-blogdom, and he used the word lactard!

Thursday, August 18, 2005

August 17: Flatbread Company, Portsmouth

In attendance: Zeus, Solids, Hot Sauce, Mycroft, Ace, and the Lady Aubergine plus two “visitors.”
Apologies: Moxie

I have liked the Flatbread Company for a while now and I was quite pleased to introduce it to the movers.
It was not the best place for one of our foodtards. Everything contained Wheat. Even the blue cheese salad came with a soy dressing. Sorry Ace.

What was ordered.
We had a Punctuated equilibrium as an app, while waiting for other to arrive. The Calamata Olives and Goat cheese make this one of the saltiest items on the menu but still very good. This was a vegetarian option.

Two salads were ordered. I did not partake.

For the main course.
We ordered three flatbreads. First was the Carne Special, that was spicy chicken and pepper. If I remember correctly. Second was the sausage flatbread, which used to be my favorite. Solid said he enjoyed the sausage flatbread alot. Last was Zeus’s call on the completely Vegan option. It had all sorts of onion and tomato and such on it. I like this one as well. It was very sweet though, a lot from the onions, but still good.

Ace enjoyed a root bear float made from Maine Root beer and Annabell’s Ice Cream. He seemed to enjoy it but I forgot to ask. I have had one before and it was good. I had a couple of Woodchuck Hard Ciders. It is one of the few places around that serves Woodchuck and I think it complements the food rather well. Lady A. had a lemonade that was apparently too sweet and was later replaced with water.

After dinner the two “visitors” were taken to the whale lot and “offered an invitation to join the movers.” More on that later. But for now, until their official code names are confirmed, they will be know as Prag 1 and Prag 2. (spelling not confirmed)

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

waroeng press

umm . . something about Indian at Shalimar?

Anyway, in last week's Wire, which I am just now getting around to reading, there is a huge article that gives some press to our beloved Waroeng and gives a lot of background information on the budding Indonesian community in the Somersworth/west seacoast area.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

August 10th: Shalimar

In attendance: Zeus, Solids, Hot Sauce, Mycroft, Moxie, Ace, and the Lady Aubergine plus three visitors.

We went back here to appease Hot Sauce and Lady A. because they were not around the last time we met here. Also because we all love it.

The food was great. It is always great. It is Shalimar. Best Indian food around.

The only dish that was not love by all was the eggplant dish I suggested. Lady Aubergine did state that she was not a fan. At least we tried someting new.

I had ordered a Kingfisher and was alone on that front until two of the guests arrived. They both ordered kingfishers. It makes me feel better when someone else at the table orders a beverage.

This was the first introduction to a third visitor. I will hold on any judgements until voting day, if it comes. When the discussion came to food, she claims to make a good corn chowder. She may have to prove it.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Mycroft at Jumpin' Jays

I went out to eat without any other movers. Sorry guys. It was another work "obligation." I went with two coworkers in hopes to convince one to stay with the company. We went to Jumpin' Jays Fish Café. Now, I am an adventurous eater and I will eat just about anything, but I am not a fan of fish (Sushi not included, it is a different food group.) I did not suggest this restaurant, but I have been there before and was not opposed to going again. Let me just say that this restaurant gave me such a complete and wonderful dinning experience that I may now have to elevate it to one of my top five restaurants in Portsmouth. The only reservation that I had about Jay's is that one of the last few times I was there I felt a little rushed. This was not the case.

The Meal

Our waitress.
She was an exceptional waitress that knew quite a bit about the menu and was more then happy to extend an opinion on the food and make suggestions. She answered our questions with courtesy and grace. She even interjected comments into a conversation that I was not all that comfortable with, and eased the tension. She was also quite pregnant.

Starter
We ordered the Steamed PEI Mussels with a spicy saffron cream, lemongrass, scallions, jalapenos & tomatoes. These were fantastic the jalapenos added so much to the dish. A little heat goes a long way. I also ordered a half dozen oysters, two different varieties from the Cape and one from the Great Bay. Any chance to eat raw food I take. They were great and my coworkers were not interested in sharing. Their loss.

Entree
I ordered the Pan Seared Diver Scallops tossed with baby spinach and minced shallots. On a recent trip to South Carolina I was warned of counterfeit scallops and that it is a major problem in the seafood industry. I was told that if I bit into a scallop and it did not have sand in it then I was eating a counterfeit that was made from shark. I was served real scallops, unless the counterfeiters got wise and started adding sand to the shark meat in their shark-meat/scallop-counterfeiting plant. It does not matter. What I ate was delicious. It was perfectly prepared and presented. If the counterfeiter took me, well, good jobs guys on a convincing product.

Wine
It is the most important aspect of any meal. First, I find it a little odd that a restaurant servering nothing but fish and seafood would even have a red wine selection. As I look over the menu I find it hard to see anything that I would pair with a red. I ordered a Riesling from Chateau d'Orchwihr. It was the only Riesling on the wine list. I was a little disheartened when I realized that the wine was from France and not Germany. No, the name did not give it away for me. It was my own fault for ordering by the varietals and not by region or specifics. The wine list was not the largest, but I feel I made a good choice nonetheless. The exact bottle was Chateau d'Orschwihr Riesling Bollenberg 2003. It was fantastic. This wine was semi-dry with a hint of fruit, a little apple and pear, but more stone fruit. The fruitiness was not the main aroma though; it was mainly a flowery/fresh cut lawn bouquet, but not perfume like. It went rather quickly.

Port
Nothing finishes a good meal like an after dinner drink. One coworker went for scotch, Oban, I believe. I was not impressed. The other coworker asked, "What is Port?" After a long detailed explanation from myself, I believe I stared by saying "Well, during the 100 years war. . ." So she had the NV Cockburn's, 10 year tawny port. I figured this was a good introduction. She enjoyed it, and is now on her own to experience port. I on the other hand, ordered the NV Sandeman's 20 year tawny. The same thing happens no matter where I go, whatever port I order is out and I have to choose another, I took the waitresses recommendation and went with a Sandeman's reserve instead. It was quite good, very sweet and thick. It had lots of flavors of cherries and plums with a hint of ash.

Then we left. I would go back if asked and I may even recommend this one. One issue may be that, for three people, with two apps, three entrees, wine, port, and tip, it came to about $200. This may make it a special occasion place.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Durian

Here's a little pic and post about durian, that fruit that jackfruit was described as "less smelly than"

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Waroeng, July 27th, 2005

In attendance: Hot Sauce, Moxie, Ace, and the Lady Aubergine

Fine Indonesian Cuisine

220 Rte 108
Somersworth NH
740-4568

I don't know if this qualifies as fine or not, because I've never eaten Indonesian before. But I do know that it was some damn good cheap eating, and I am excited to go back and eat more.

Heavy on the coconut milk, heavy on the spices. Heavy on the, "what is this?" Totally delicious. Insanely cheap.

Hot Sauce! and I started with some drinks:

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We have here some avocado, some coconut chips, and some dark purple gelatin stuff in a pink sweet liquid. I liked everything, except the actual flavor of the gelatin when eaten alone.

I thought the gelatin tasted kind of soapy, really would like to know what it is but forgot to ask. The drink I think is a bit of an acquired taste but still appreciated it. -Ace

Ace also got a drink:
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****(I don't remember what this was or anything, just that it had a surprising flavor for what it was) -Moxie****

This was an iced Jasmine tea. VERY strong flavor, really enjoyed it. -Ace

Here is Lady Aubergine modelling the very high quality chop sticks over our drinks, the name of which also escapes me:

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Moxie's dinner. #4 Nasi Gudeg $5.95 (Young green jackfruit cooked w/ palm sugar & spices, chicken curry, bamboo shoot in spicy coconut soup & egg.)

I really enjoyed this dish. As did Moxie (I believe). The young jackfruit is what is pictured on the rice. The jackfruit from the main dish I ordered (not pictured) was cooked in coconut milk instead of the palm sugar. The flesh was almost like a meat it was so dense. Very tasty. - Ace


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This was Hot Sauce's order: #9 Nasi Gudeg Special. $9.75 (more expensive because it was a combo) This is actually a combo plate of what Moxie got, #4, and #5 Ayam Goreng Kalasan (Indonesian Fried Chicken).

Hot Sauce and I especially loved the Fried Chicken. I just assumed it was going to be breaded, and was pleasantly suprised it wasn't. Arguably the best basic item on the menu, most especially for someone who is a little afraid to go too much out there with the other dishes. -Ace

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This is what Ace ordered to share. #2 Soto Ayam Ambengan. $5.50 (Turmeric soup w/ Coconut milk, chicken, rice noodles & egg.)

It wasn't my favorite dish of the evening but I really wanted to try out a coconut milk based soup spiced with Tumeric. Definitely worth it! I would love to try a variation of this soup with potatoes I think, if I had any cooking skill...*Ace looks over at Moxie for a moment* ... all in all a really nice dish. And a ton of food, especially when you include the plate of rice they gave me with it! -Ace

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Lady Aubergine's choice. #6 Lontong Sayur. $5.25. (Chicken curry, bamboo shoot in spicy coconut soup & egg.)

This might have been my favorite of the night. Lady Aubergine appreciated it, but the heaviness of the chicken curry mixed with coconut milk was a bit much for her. I tasted it early in the evening and thought it was nice, but when she was finished with it, I tried it again and loved it. The spicy sweet and savory all mixed together were great, and it seemed to get spicer as I ate it. Moxie really got into it as well if I remember correctly, and then Hot Sauce just devoured the rest! I want to bring the Father of Ace here and have him try it. If I wasn't going to order the Indonesian Fried Chicken, I would definitely order this. -Ace

Looking at the names of these dishes and the menu (which we plan on scanning and posting soon) I believe I have learned an Indonesian word ... Ayam ... Chicken!!! -Ace


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