I love soda. However, it is full of bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup, and it rots the teeth. So I've been looking for alternatives which will not rot my teeth. So far I have found the following:
- Honest Tea - To be honest (har har), I didn't like this at first, but it grew on me. I was originally attracted to it because Opus the Penguin from Bloom County (only one of the best political comics ever) was on one of the bottles. The flavor is called "Peach Ooh-La-Long". I like it because it's not too sweet. I have to drink it really cold; as it gets warmer it doesn't really appeal to me.
- Jones Organics - Jones Soda is my favorite brand of soda ever - however it's almost impossible to find and expensive. Their Organics line is even harder to find, and I like it a lot. It's made with real cane sugar.
- Sweet Leaf Tea - This is also made with real sugar. I like some flavors a lot, but Hibiscus is kind of weird. I'm starting to prefer the Honest Tea because it is less sweet.
- IZZE - Fruit juice and soda water. Simple combination, delicious taste. I just bought their pomegranate flavor, and it tastes pretty yummy.
- Crystal Geyser Juice Squeeze - (Warning: Site will resize your browser window.) Carbonated fruit juice. Listed as 70% real fruit juice. It has almost as many calories as regular soda, which doesn't make it an ideal alternative to soda. But it tastes pretty good.
So I wrote up a little thing for Yelp - I reviewed a Korean restaurant in our neighborhood. The reviews on that page are good examples of the best and worst things about Yelp - you get a lot of opinions, but some of them are really, really dumb. For example, if you are a vegetarian, why oh why would you go to a Korean BBQ joint? I liked the place - it was nice, the food was good, and the service was great. That is all I need. Okay, yeah, it could be a little cheaper, but I don't mind paying more for a better cut of meat. You want quantity and you don't care about service? Then you head down to Palace and have someone run after you whining that you didn't tip them enough.
By the way, I think Korean BBQ is just one of those perfect meals. ALL MEAT, GRILLED. Perfection.
I read Frank Bruni's blog sometimes and I found myself really amused by his latest blog post - he writes about going to Philadelphia and trying out cheesesteaks and being befuddled by the attitude he got there, as well as underwhelmed by the cheesesteak experience. It is almost the exact same experience we had while we were in Philly. The only difference? We went to different places. I don't think it's too much to ask for nice service - I mean we got better service at a McDonald's in California than we did most of the time in Philadelphia. We couldn't figure out why so many people seemed to be in such bad moods. One of our friends (who attends school there) suggested that it might be "East Coast directness as opposed to West Coast passive aggressiveness". But then again, Frank Bruni is a New Yorker, and by definition an East Coast person, so it can't be just that.
I love the original Iron Chef. Iron Chef America is a poor substitute, but I'll take what I can get. I hate that we'll never see a natto or durian episode, but I can live with it. I know that Food Network's audience is not really into "icky" stuff. But good lord - I was watching the sablefish episode today, and they cut the heads off the sablefish, according to Alton Brown "so we don't have to look at their faces". Are you kidding me? The fish head is the best part of any fish - especially the cheeks. Just think of the interesting things Morimoto could have done with that. Fishhead stew, anyone?
By the way, I remain really IRKED that Food Network keeps dubbing over Morimoto's voice, especially when he's speaking ENGLISH. It really irritates me, especially since his accent is not unintelligible.
Two gelato places. Can't remember the names of them. One of them was right next to where you could visit the Liberty Bell and run by some nice Italian man who served espresso but not tea.
1 bar - Bob and Barbara's - which was known for their Pabst Blue Ribbon, which is considered beer by undiscerning people. Discerning people, however, will smell this and say, "What the fuck is this shit?" I kid, I kid. I'm not a beer drinker, but even I know that stuff's awful. This bar had a good vibe, though - a good mix of people, plenty of other stuff on tap, and good live music. That's pretty hard to find anywhere.
Bonte - German sugar waffles. This place is cheap. You only get one waffle, but the sweetness of this one waffle will overpower everything and fill you up for at least half a morning. You barely even need coffee with this.
Palestinian Easter in the East Bay. Found via Serious Eats.
A Syrian Easter. Found via Tastespotting.
Finding these links with was a pleasant surprise. Like them, my boyfriend Mark is Arab and Christian. It's not too often that I find these stories. We are going to celebrate Easter this weekend with his family, which means lots and lots and lots of food and relatives.
Today is our last day in Philly. Overall, my impression of Philadelphia is positive, but I wish people in general were a bit more friendly and communicative. It's really disconcerting, since I am so used to people just being automatically courteous and polite.
Foodwise, it's been pretty great.
We ate at Morimoto's for lunch on Friday. How could we come here and not dine at an Iron Chef's restaurant? The interior was awesome - it looks to me like a futuristic diner, and the atmosphere was a lot more casual than most fine dining experiences I've had. The interior actually reminded me a lot of Clockwork Orange (design-wise, not plot-wise, thank god).
We ordered some non-alcoholic drinks. I had a tangerine orange thing that was pretty neat, and Mark had a Calpico drink infused with some citrus and cilantro. The Calpico drink stuck in my head because I used to buy it a lot back in college, back when it was marketed as "Calpis". They changed it to Calpico some years later. It's a very sweet, milky drink, and I did not even think about mixing it with anything, but maybe we'll try recreating this drink later.
I ordered a sushi combo, specifying no octopus (I got served octopus anyway). You get a lot of sushi for the price, actually. I wish I had specified more rolls. I try to be an adventurous eater, but there are some things I just can't bring myself to try or like. I even got a piece of toro, which was delicious. While I was waiting for my sushi plate, I ordered a tempura appetizer. This was DELICIOUS.
The tempura came with a gorgonzola cheese sauce, which was delicious, but a bit much, I thought. All the tempura pieces came on barbecue skewers. The piece de resistance (is that how you say it?) was the bacon wrapped around some mozzarella tempura, though. That was tempura nirvana.
Mark got the five course tasting menu. Our favorite was the starter - toro tartare with this yummy sauce. It was delicious. Another great one was the rock shrimp tempura. You know, I'm not a big fan of shrimp - I'll eat it if it's there, but it's not my favorite thing in the world - but I couldn't stop sneaking pieces of this dish. The rock shrimp was so sweet. The main course, which was Chilean sea bass, actually tasted like my dad's fish, with the black bean sauce layered on top. Mark felt the sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the fish a little too much. But overall it was good.
And of course we went to go get cheesesteaks. We got them at Pat's, instead of across the street at the gaudy neon-covered Geno's, because Geno's is run by racist bigots who sell stuff like t-shirts that say "I'm an American because I order in English". Our Philly friends informed us that Geno's had actually hired an Italian worker a few years back to deal with Italian tourists. So order in English unless you're a white European.
But back to Pat's - it was actually more expensive than I thought it would be - around $7 for a cheesesteak with onions. It fulfilled its purpose, though - cheesy, low-grade meat, and huge.
There's other stuff, of course, but it'll have to wait. Time to get breakfast.
Banana chips are disgusting.
Foul, or ful, as it is actually pronounced, is becoming a very common Sunday breakfast for us. It's much easier and a lot healthier than just making bacon and eggs, although that has its upsides, too.
Ingredients:
1 can of ful, or foul (can be found in any Middle Eastern market)
1 tomato, diced
2 stalks of green onions, minced
juice of 1 lemon
2 slices of pita bread
1 tsp. garlic salt or 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Heat the ful on the stove on medium. Once the ful is boiling, drain the ful, and reserve the liquid. Set aside.
- Heat the pita bread in the oven at 200 degrees for about five minutes or until crisp. Remove from oven.
- In a bowl, mash the ful with the garlic, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Add reserved liquid from the ful until you reach the desired consistency. Taste and keep adding seasoning until you like it
- Place the diced tomato and green onions on top.
- Serve warm with the pita bread and enjoy.
