The Impulsive Buy reviews new Chocolate Cheerios and Burger King’s New Cilantro Lime BK Big Fish, just in time for Lent.
Weegie heads to Tommy DiNic’s and Flying Monkey in Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal Market for roast pork and desserts.
Always Hungry NY visits the newly re-opened Pie ‘n’ Thighs, famous for Southern cuisine and pies. I can’t wait to visit.
A Hamburger Today visits Mug ‘N Bun in Indianapolis. The double cheeseburger looks a little odd with a slice of white bread in the middle. I still say the stars of the menu are the root beer, tenderloin, and onion rings.
Serious Eats’ Hot Dog of the Week are Mini Dogs from Troy, NY which are 3″ dogs with meat sauce, diced onions, and mustard in mini buns.
Gizmodo posts a You Tube video featuring Bacon Rockets!
Beer by Bike has a recap of their February ride on a snowy day from the Philadelphia Art Museum to Yard’s new tasting room.
Cakespy presents Cadbury Creme Eggs Benedict on Serious Eats and features doughnuts, brownies, and melted Creme Eggs done up to look like eggs benedict. I’m sure the sweetness will make your heart stop.
Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog reviews spherical Chili Kit Kats.
Tags: beer, burger king, cereal, cheerios, fish, hot dogs, indiana, Japanese, kit kat, new york, new york city, philadelphia, pie, roast pork
Up Close To the Meat
Teresa’s Next Door is a fairly new pub in Wayne, PA just down the street from the very excellent beer distributor, The Beer Yard. Teresa’s was heavily recommended by the folks at The Beer Yard as the bar was planning their opening.
Teresa’s Next Door a flashy, fancy place, but has impeccable taste in its beer taps, offering the best in American craft beers, as well as several quality Belgians, often including braver guezes and lambics. Their straight up Belgian list can hold up respectably to Monk’s Cafe, though Monk’s does soundly win in any head to head Belgian comparison. I would say that their overall tap list is second best in the Philadelphia area, second only to the crazy offerings at Capone’s. But, any comparisons to Capone’s end there. Teresa’s also has a well-curated bottle list which is fairly extensive and a little on the pricey side.
Teresa’s has a wonderful interior, it’s easily one of the nicest pubs in the area, quite possibly the nicest. Bonus points for being well-lit so you can see your food, drink, and dinner company. The bar itself is a long, marble topped beauty, with plenty of stools and view of the well-maintained taps. The beer list is written above the bar on a chalkboard and in printed menus available at all of the tables. You know you’re in the Main Line, mostly by the somewhat wealthy looking clientele sprinkled among the beer lovers.
Teresa’s Next Door has a wonderful wood-fired oven that you can smell in the seating area. Puzzlingly, they do not offer wood-fired pizzas; I really don’t understand why. They specialize in a high-end Belgian inspired menu with mussels and frites, along with standard pub fare like burgers and pulled pork.
Torture By Salad
On our recent visit, I ordered the burger with Gruyere and beer-braised onions. The burger arrived without their high quality frites, instead coming with a very small side salad. I guess I should have expected that since the menu did not specifically promise frites, though burger and fries (frites) go together so very well that it is nearly idiotic not to at least suggest the combo, even if it results in an upcharge. The beef was unseasoned, but did arrive perfectly medium rare and quite juicy. It’s cooked over the wood-fired grill (oak), so this may explain why it wasn’t seasoned, but the oak didn’t impart much of a smoky flavor. The beef is a 10 ounce patty made from prime ground beef that’s a mix of rib eye, filet, and strip loins. The thick untoasted brioche bun could have stood to be cut a little more bottom heavy so that the bottom of the bun could stand up to the juiciness better and the top wasn’t so overly bready. Or at least be toasted. It wasn’t a bad burger, but nothing very special and certainly not up to snuff in comparison to the beer. Or the frites. Some increased attention to details could easily improve this burger. Gruyere is a great slightly sweet and mellow cheese to compliment a burger, in my opinion. In retrospect, adding bacon to the burger would have been a smart move and counterbalanced the sweetness from the cheese and the thick-cut beer braised onions.
The house made gelato is the unsung hero. If you do visit Teresa’s, you must not leave without trying some. Jessica and I shared a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding topped with Marshmallow Fluff Gelato. The classic fluffernutter taken to a new level. Truly amazing. While the bread pudding itself was good, the Fluff gelato was all the better. Wow! On another visit, a couple of us shared the peanut butter gelato and jelly sorbet. Seriously amazing stuff. Maybe they should just turn into an ice cream parlor with a great beer and wine menu.
On Sunday’s, the cheese menu is half price. The cheese selection is a good one, respectable, though not quite up to the very high standard set by the excellent Tria.
I do like Teresa’s Next Door, but it’s mainly for the quality of the beer list, excellent frites, and delicious house made gelato. Wine fans: Teresa’s also has a very extensive list of wine by the glass and in bottles, some of which stretch into the $200+ range. If you’re in the neighborhood on a Friday or Saturday night, it tends to pack quickly, making it difficult to sit at a table. The bar is actually my preferred place to sit and lets me keep tabs on the taps. The menu in general, needs some help. The food isn’t bad, really, just not up to the same level as the rest of the place.
The Fourth Dimension
Triple Integrals. Great beer, amazing gelato, excellent frites, but the burger is a bit lesser. With improvements in the food, Teresa’s Next Door is easily in The Fifth Dimension, but as it stands, just barely in The Fourth.
Tags: belgian beer, bread pudding, frites, gelato, hamburgers, philadelphia
Serious Eats’ Hot Dog of the Week is Pete’s Hot Dogs from Newburgh, NY, a natural casing dog with Texas Sauce and diced onions on a steamed bun.
Always Hungry NY covers the winners of the Amstel Light Burger Bash featuring burgers from 27 chefs.
Full Custom Gospel BBQ does a thorough comparison of several types of gourmet bacon and continues comparing Italian cured meats. Full Custom BBQ also visits Fargo’s Pit BBQ in Bryan, TX and gives it five stars.
Drawing for Food visits Village Whiskey in Philadelphia for their burger and duck fat fries.
The Candy Blog reviews new Chocolate Covered Peeps available this Easter.
Dream Burger visits Deschutes Brewery and reports that the burger really isn’t the reason for going.
DMANBURGER visits NY Hot Dog and Coffee Co. and has the Bulgogi Dog and the Bulgogi burger.
Jesse at Beer by Bike talks up the Mexican Hot Dog at Cantina Dos Segundos in Philadelphia and speaks of a Cubana Torta from the Taco Loco food truck in Philadelphia which has roast pork, ham, and hot dog with fried egg, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and jalapeno. Sounds Awesome.
Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog reviews mini Chestnut Kit Kats.
Tags: bacon, barbecue, beer, chocolate, hamburgers, hot dogs, Japanese, kit kat, new york, new york city, philadelphia, texas
Grilled Cheese Curls
Grilled Cheese Bag
I don’t know that there’s a lot to say here, but these cheese puffs have a slightly mellower taste. The standard orange-ish cheese curl powder is cut by the presence of butter. If you think really hard, they taste like a grilled cheese sandwich. Otherwise, they really taste buttery. And that’s a good thing.
All hail the mighty Herr’s for cheese curl/puff flavor innovation. That stupid cheetah isn’t doing it. At least in America. His Japanese cousin on the other hand…
If only Herr’s could figure out how to get some tomato soup flavoring into the bag with the grilled cheese curls, that might really be some serious snack food innovation.
The Fourth Dimension
Triple Integral: Buttery. Mellow cheesiness. Mmmm.
Tags: cheese puffs, herr's
Bacon and Blue
Brit and I rolled into Wendy’s for lunch to try the new Bacon and Blue burger. They’ve been gradually rolling this out in test markets and it came to our area a week or two back as part of the national push. The Bacon and Blue burger is a single 1/4 lb. burger that is topped with two strips of their new apple wood smoked bacon, crumbled blue cheese, grilled onions, and a special sauce. It comes on a special deluxe cornmeal dusted bun. Actual chunks of blue cheese are a nice touch since Wendy’s could have easily skimped and just went with a blue cheese dressing. The cheese is a bit more on the mild side, which is to be expected. An assertive blue cheese probably wouldn’t have been as successful in test marketing, I’m guessing. The bacon was cooked very crisp, probably a little crisper than I would prefer, and the saltiness was able to compliment the slight sharpness of the blue cheese well. The grilled onions were not rings, but 1/2″ or 3/4″ onion squares that were sauteed to a slight sweetness. The special creamy steakhouse sauce for the Bacon and Blue burger is quite sweet. It was hanging out in the background at first, but on successive bites, the sweetness became significant. A fresh piece of lettuce and some tomato slices were beneath the burger patty.
Under the Bun
Overall, this isn’t a bad burger. The real crumbles of blue cheese are a nice touch, but the sweet special sauce is quite strong and takes away from the burger’s potential success. The beefiness of the burger was lost under the overwhelming topping flavors. I might order again, but would definitely plan on getting it without that steakhouse sauce.
The Third Dimension
Double Integral. It’s an adequate burger. The blue cheese is nice, but the sweet sauce is a bit overwhelming.
Tags: bacon, bleu cheese, hamburgers, wendy's
Hamburger America posts a video episode of a woman Kate having her first burger ever at Bill’s Bar and Burger in NYC. George Motz also visits Fatbelly Burgers in Carbondale, CO which features locally raised beef.
Full Custom Gospel BBQ heads to New Zion Missionary Baptist Church Barbecue (aka the “Church of the Holy Smoke”) in Huntsville, TX and has a less than sublime experience, though the concept does sound very fascinating and is a barbecue place I’d like to visit, for sure.
Our good friend Tom visits Cigar City Brewery in Tampa, FL, one of the newest breweries selling beer in Pennsylvania.
The Hot Dog of the Week at Serious Eats is the Perro Caliente, a Colombian style hot dog served up at a few locations in Queens, NY. It’s a steamed hot dog with crushed potato chips, bacon, ketchup (an abomination to Chicagoans), mustard, raspberry, “pink sauce,” and pineapple.
Unbreaded reviews Korean Short Rib Tacos on the menu at Meritage in Philadelphia’s Graduate Hospital Area.
Phoodie raves about pizza from Santucci’s which serves square cut, thin-crust, sauce over cheese pizza.
Always Hungry NY reviews the Goober Burger offered at RUB BBQ in NYC, a special burger available on a Monday night.
Tags: barbecue, beer, florida, hamburger america, hamburgers, hot dogs, new york city, peanut butter, philadelphia, pizza, tacos, texas
Sweet Chili Sauce
Saucy Nuggets
McDonald’s has rolled out a new sauce for Chicken McNuggets, a Sweet Chili Sauce. When I hear the words “sweet chili sauce,” I have a pre-conceived idea of a thick, cocktail sauce consistency that was often served with french fries and other snacks in Southeast Asia. In fact, when you go to McDonald’s or Burger King in Singapore, you have to ask for ketchup or you will be given the sweet chili sauce automatically. Well, this new Sweet Chili Sauce is not that sauce. It’s a syrupy thick sweet sauce with red chili flakes in side. It’s way more sweet than hot at first, though the heat does build up with repeated mouthfuls. It’s not bad, but not as good as the spicier McDonald’s Chipotle sauce. And, it’s supposed to go with their McNuggets, something I haven’t had in years. The Chicken Selects strips are a lot better…
Reviews also on The Impulsive Buy, Serious Eats, Foodette Reviews, and Phoood.
The Second Dimension
Single Integral. A little too syrupy, nothing too special.
Tags: mcdonald's, mcnuggets, sweet chili sauce
Loaded IKEA Dog
So what happens when you decide to make the trek to IKEA for the inevitable 2 or 3 or more hour shopping zombification? Let’s say that you’ve forgotten to eat and the hot cinnamon bun aroma is wafting over to you in the extra-long line by the self-checkout. Is there anything good to eat? I’m not talking from the IKEA restaurant, but the snackbar.
Cross-sectional View
I’ll focus on the combo that’s a pretty remarkable deal: two hot dogs, a bag of chips, and a drink for $2. The hot dogs are a decent “dirty water” dog that have been hanging out in hot water just kind of hanging out all day. The dog ends up being pretty juicy. It’s a fairly standard, somewhat salty pork/beef combo dog. The bun is a standard white enriched bun that’s served as-is, not steaming or toasting or anything. And you have earned the privilege of putting on your own condiments (it is IKEA after all, you must do some of the work).
The “Scandinavian” style chips aren’t anything worth cheering about. They’re light on crispness and crunch, a little on the chewy side even, and definitely light on salt and taste.
IKEA Cone
For your drink choices, there are the standard soda pop offerings, but you can go with the Swedish theme and get yourself a lingonberry drink. This isn’t carbonated and is some sort of Swedish style Kool-Aid that is lingonberry flavored, but it’s tart and sour, as well as sweet. Not a bad accompaniment for a pair of decent hot dogs and an underwhelming bag of chips.
If you’re still hungry from the $2 combo snack deal, you can add a frozen yogurt cone for $1. It’s a decent size and cold, similar to the frozen yogurt cones you might get a McDonald’s. Not a bad little treat for $1. Solid, but not amazing.
Overall, if you’ve made it through a day at IKEA and are hungry, it’s not a poor decision to build up your box-carrying strength by getting a cheap hot dog combo. You’ll have to do some work yourself, but the end result will fill your complaining belly.
The Third Dimension
Double Integral. The hot dogs aren’t life-changing, but get the job done. Ligonberry drink is at least somewhat exotic. Pass on the chips if you can.
Tags: frozen yogurt, ligonberry, potato chips, soda pop, swedish
Weegeats heads to the South Philadelphia Tap Room and remarks on the excellent burger with the side of pickled vegetables. We concur. The ‘Calc review is a long time coming, but we do love the burger and pickles, most definitely.
Serious Eats reviews Voges’ Mo’s Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancakes, a mix based on their Mo’s Bacon Bar which is milk chocolate with tiny bits of salty bacon inside. This stuff is like catnip for our good friend The Coff. $12 is a little pricey, so we still haven’t made them.
The Hot Dog of the Week at Serious Eats and Drawing for Food is the Torta de Salchicha at Puebla Mini Mart in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. It’s a weird take on a Mexican torta that includes split and grilled hot dogs with ham, bacon, cheese, avocado, jalapenos, and onions on a Bolillo roll. Looks crazy awesome.
The Impulsive Buy reviews an new impressive trio of Family Faves Pringles which include Cheddar BBQ, White Cheddar Pop, and Taco Night.
DMANBURGER goes to Flip Burger which is located on the menswear floor of Bloomingdale’s in Midtown Manhattan. It’s sort of an odd combination hearkening back to the days when department stores did have in-house restaurants. Seems like the burgers could be better.
A Hamburger Today provides burger validation by way of Emeril’s Burgers and More in Bethlehem; we weren’t that impressed when we visited back in the fall.
Always Hungry NY goes to Hallo Berlin Express and tries the Berliner Brat Burger, “a salty, porky sausage in burger form. ”
Slashfood covers a recent NYC burger seminar hosted by Josh Ozersky.
The Candy Blog reviews Gimbal’s Cherry Lovers candies which are heart shaped and come in nine different flavors, all in the same package.
Japanese Snack Reviews tries the Roasted Sweet Potato Kit Kat Minis and Jen Ken’s Kit Kat Blog reviews the Green Tea Kinako Kit Kat bar.
Tags: bacon, beer, candy, hamburgers, hot dogs, japanese snacks, kit kat, new york city, pancakes, philadelphia, pickles, pringles
Tap and Table
On a tip from Brit who was impressed on a visit to The Bookstore in Bethlehem, PA, our group visited Tap and Table in Emmaus, PA. This unassuming spot was located on a very quiet road at the outskirts of town. We walked in to find an acoustic guitar player singing to a pretty packed out room.
The interior is quite dark, the only lighting coming from candles on the tables and elaborate candelabras hanging from the ceiling. We were seated at an open table that was pretty much on top of the guy singing.
The tap list was fairly impressive with two different beers on from Massachusetts’ Pretty Things brewery, as well as a few different Christmas beers. I haven’t seen Pretty Things on tap in the area, though the bottles are starting to pop up in various bars and bottle shops. I got a glass of Baby Tree, Pretty Things’ Belgian quad brewed with dried plums (aka prunes). Not my favorite quad, but enjoyable all the same, sweet and malty with a good dark fruit character enhanced by the plums.
Fries in a Fancy Cone
Brit and Van got food, but the rest of us just shared an order of frites. The frites came out in a fancy paper-lined metal frite cone, but really weren’t anything terribly special, especially for the $6 price tag. They were hand-cut twice fried frites that came with a trio of dipping sauces including a fairly sweet house made ketchup and a mayonnaise.
I’m not sure if there is always someone singing at Tap and Table or not. My friend Ricky stopped by on a recent Saturday and had the same story, though I don’t think his party had to sit so close to the singer. And, while the singing was fine, there’s a general awkwardness to the situation. We showed up to drink and chat, not to hear him. It wasn’t out of offense to him that we were ignoring his stuff which had a Jason Molina (Songs:Ohia, Magnolia Electric Company) sort of vibe. So, I am sympathetic to his plight, but question the need for Tap and Table to have folks playing live music all the time.
The bottle list is quite extensive with a wide selection of Belgians, venturing into some more obscure varieties. Someone really does know their beer and is willing to experiment with the list. Bottle prices are reasonable and won’t break the bank. We ended up sharing a bottle from De Dochter Van De Korenaar, the Embrasse, which arrived wrapped in paper, which is nearly always a bad sign. It wasn’t our favorite beer, but it was something we hadn’t tried before, so a worthwhile experiment. The beer came with a very nice printed card which had suggested to serve the beer warm with whipped cream (if your Dutch is good, you can read the card details on the website, all I know is that “slagroom” means whipped cream thanks to Sonic Youth’s SYR 2). Perhaps that is a necessary step to enjoying this one.
All in all, Tap and Table could be a very cozy pub. The candlelit atmosphere gives the interior a really unique feel. But, I’m confused by the live music. And quite concerned by the handling of the live music. No musician should be tucked away inside the main entrance where every newcomer has to awkwardly walk past the performer. If it’s worth having, it’s worth having a stage, though I’d suggest that it’s not worth having. I’ll probably be back to explore the menu a bit more, it does seem to have some interesting options and the beer list is quite worthy of a field trip up from Philadelphia.
The Third Dimension
Verdict: Excellent beer list, both draft and bottle. Awkward live music venue. Am hoping a non-live music re-visit will improve the rating.
Tags: beer, belgian beer, candlelight, frites, pennsylvania