Day 13: My Evil Jungle Prince after a day of being thai'ed up

So I was a little thai'ed up for most of today out of town. However, since I managed to get back to Rochester sooner than I had expected behold my favorite thai place: King and I (http://www.thekingandithaicuisine.com/). This entry is brief just because I am seriously ready to crash!

This place has too many memories for me to fully talk about in a blog post. So many dinners with friends and many firsts occurred here for me. And even though I have a thai place literally three blocks from my house, this restaurant will always be my favorite.  

Evil Jungle Prince with Tofu

Pizza Pizza

Tomorrow is a bit of a busy day so I wanted to get the Pizza entry done. I decided yesterday I was a little asian'ed out. So tonight is Pizza day. I am like most kids from the tri-state (ok quad if you add in NYC) that are very picky about pizza. Add in the fact that I dislike cheese with a passion, its hard for me to pony up the dough to spend on a pie..

Enter Great Northern Pizza Kitchen (http://www.greatnorthernpizza.com/). I came across this place like I do most local pizza places, starving after a long day on the road from campaign. Seriously, I asked Google to send me for Pizza in August 2008 and this is where it told me to go. I loved how most of the pies had little to no cheese and a crapton of toppings. And it wasn't like a Cici's where it was shitty pies, it was good pizza on a nice think crust. I will admit the first time I went in there, I was overwhelmed by all the choices and slices available. Oh yeah also if the slice you want isn't out, they'll make you a pizza and cut you a slice. How awesome is that?

Fried Eggplant with Roasted Red peppers on a whole wheat crust. Southbeach friendly? 

Tonight's pizza is my favorite from their shop: Eggplant and Roasted Red Peppers on whole wheat. A friend from home might approve of this one. I can't really describe how much I like this pizza. But I will say, this place does rank up there with best things I ever ate Rochester edition.

Day 14: Yes, the Cupcakes matter..

Sugar Mountain Cupcakes

My college classmate recommended Sugar Mountain cupcakes (http://www.sugarmountainbakeshoppe.com/). I will start with thank goodness I just found out about this place and that its almost within walking distance. I have to be honest, I am not as much of a sweet person as others. But I do a cupcake and a piece of cake here and there.

Going in, I braced myself for really not liking these cupcakes. Instead of being just cake, they each have a unique filling inside. I thought they were going to be unbearable sweet and I could not finish one. Instead I was really pleasantly surprised.

I bought two cupcakes. A raspberry Lemonade and a Mango Cheesecake. I ate the Rasberry Lemonade almost as soon as I got home. The cake portion was amazingly very light and airy. It was it had a distinct tart to it. This made the filling which was sweet but not overpowering. When eaten with the cake, it is a perfect balance.

 

Raspberry Lemonade

I wish I took a picture of the why these guys are constructed. Its amazing to behold. Everything is about balance.  Perfect amount of cake to just enough frosting. Balance between Tart and sweet.

When I eat the Mango Cheesecake one, I'll open it up and take some anatomy pictures haha.

Thanks again Jenna. Thank Goodness I have two hockey games today...

Day 15: The Starter Pho

Sorry this is late. Yesterday was a bit of a downer day.


Since I have already gone over why I love Pho. This is my starter Pho from SEA Restaurant.

SEA Pho. With added monk sprouts and thai basil.

This Pho is really not that much different than Mamasan's except I can add additional things to it and customize it more. SEA gives you the Monk Sprout, thai basil etc that you can add yourself. Mamasan's doesn't. There is also a difference with the noodle, SEA uses a thinner rice noodle whereas Mamasan's uses Udon.

I haven't decided on today's adventure yet. Something exciting for dinner maybe to lift my spirits on this (kinda nice) Rochester day.

Journey to Corn Hill Part II: Coal Fired Pizza and Addictive Caesar Salad

"You must get the Caesar Salad... Have you ever seen me eat salad? I have dreams about that salad!" Was what my former housemate told me about this next place. If I take away nothing else from my time in Rochester; the main lesson will in matters of food, Katie is never wrong :-)

My companions for this one are a few of my classmates from my masters program. We went to Tony D's in Cornhill (http://tonydsrochester.com/). And we did exactly as Katie had instructed. The three of us orders Caesar salads and a large Carciofi Pizza to split.  

Tony D's Caesar Salad.

 As Katie said, I might be also be having dreams about this salad. They put just enough dressing on it so as not to overpower some of the other flavors that are happening here. I also like the touch of the lemon to add a little more acidity to the salad if you so desired (personally never saw that before). Another little thing about this salad: instead of bacon they used dried prosciutto. I loved the texture and the taste the prosciutto gave it; not over powering but balancing.  

I ordered it without chicken while my classmates had it with the chicken. I wish I would have taken a picture of theirs. It was breaded and cooked in the coal oven. Theirs looked amazing.  

Carciofi with Artichoke Hearts, Sundried Goat cheese topped with Pecorino on a Pistachio Pesto base.

Pizza arrived at the table on the wooden slab from the oven. Yes the picture is of the pizza half eaten, we were too quick for the camera. I am not usually a fan of thin crust pizza except when it made on a grill or in a brick oven. I don't know exactly what the direct flame does to make it so amazing but yes, it was amazing. Like salad, everything was perfectly balanced. Artichoke which can be at times a double edge sword (its usually cooked in lemon juice which can be overpowering), was nothing of the sort. It had a good crunch to it partly from the cooking process but also because I think they might have been par cooked by steam.  The sundried tomatoes were a nice surprise as well adding some more earthy flavor to the pizza. 

My companions were eager to go back. I wonder if my agenda will give me time to go back once more..  

 

Day 17: Starry Nights and busy days

Van Gough, Coffee, alcohol and wi-fi? Match made in heaven. Like everything else, my finding of Starry Nites on University Ave (http://starrynitescafe.com/) has a long and involved story.

As some of you are aware, my neighborhood coffee place up and closed one morning. No warning. I was there the day before and the baristas were re-stocking the cake case. So, midway through the most work intensive quarter my search began for a new work space. Started my search with RIT.  Have I ever said I dislike that place? Well, I never liked the RIT campus, I go there for work and class then try to get out as soon as humanly possibly. The bricks and no greenspaces makes you feel like you are in the middle of some concrete jungle. Having come from ugrad where I would walk around the Puddle lawn paths in the winter or read for hours stretched out on a blanket in the spring after a hard day at the rink or class.. I miss not having that option but I digress (Yes Elmira Alumni association, I just said I missed you.)

So I headed back to the city. Tried some place on Monroe ave but the hours were horrible (who closes at 7 on a weeknight?).  Starbucks too expensive in both waistline and pocketbook combine this with being located on Monroe ave and no parking.. It was out after two visits. Another place on Goodman ave was great but little parking was available and really scary to walk through after dark.

So that left a chance happening upon this place. The interior is all Van Gough including a wall mural of "Starry Night".  The coffee is from a local roaster, Finger Lakes Coffee Roasters. My personal favorite is their Rainforest crunch (Hazelnut/almond flavor). I am sorry for no pictures. My phone did not do this place any justice. Their website is much better (http://starrynitescafe.com/gallery/).

Note to self.. don't ever ask a WNY bar to turn on a Flyers game when the Sabres are playing the leafs..

Sesame-ginger boneless wings

So I forgot to take a picture of the burger. But this was part 1 of dinner. Burger was accompanied with a glass of Merlot. Way too tired to write more. Tomorrow will be much more exciting.

Day 18: Bubble Tea and hangouts

Jacqui and Water.. Two things that have always gone together amazing great. Rochester is full of water. Between the Erie Canal, Genessee river, the nearby Finger Lakes etc; this place is a water heaven. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise then that I spend a great deal of time around places that have view of the water. Now, add in some Asian cuisine and Jacqui becomes the happiest person.

My lunch place today is iTasteTea (http://www.itastea.com/) in the Corn Hill Landing Section of the city. In all honesty, if I had actually made a real plan; this would have been another tea house. However, like most of my seemingly favorite niche places in Rochester, KC Tea and Noodles closed about 3 months ago. Very sad, as I was completely addicted to their Bubble Teas. So my search for a new bubble tea place began and I came across iTasteTea on RocWiki.

Bubble Tea 1 of the day: Apple Bubble tea. Made with Milk, pureed apples, honey, green tea and rice beads.

This is been on my list of "I want to go.." for a while. It bills itself as Asian Fusion but the menu seems more like Traditional Chinese; mostly broth and cold noodle dishes. Every meal comes with 4 pot stickers either veggie or pork/shrimp (not pictured).  According to the chef everything is homemade and organic. So I could almost rationalize the $8.75 for a meal.

Spicy Chicken Noodle.

I ordered the Spicy Chicken Noodles. It is a broth based noodle dish. I like the way the chef left the veggie raw for a nice crunch along with the soft noodles and the chicken.  I ordered it medium and it had that nice kick without being too spicy (which means next time, I will order it hot). The broth itself is sorta the star here, nice chicken flavor balanced with ginger and other traditional Chinese flavors. The smell.. amazing.

As I was sitting there, the chef came over to my stool and the table behind me with a new Pur tea he had just gotten in. He was sampling it, so I got that tea for free. It was a Chinese black tea. Had an amazing woodsy smell and lite taste. Decent caffeine though, I am still wired.

Another nice thing, I was able to sit there with my laptop thanks to the free wi-fi. The atmosphere made it really nice to do work in. I think I might have found a replacement for my coffee house situation.

I leave you with bubble tea 2 of the day: Mango..

Bubble Tea 2: Mango bubble tea. He added some coconut to give it some additional texture. 

Day 19: Breakfast for Dinner

So this wasn't my greatest idea ever. But I really wanted french toast and had a long day.  So I went to Jines (www.jinesrestaurant.com/), a place that can best be described as a Greek Jersey diner come north to Rochester.

Along with my love of  Asian food, I have a thing for breakfast food. Blame it on the childhood where mom rarely got up and made breakfast; so it was a treat when by some miracle there was pancakes or matzah brie. But I digress, back to talking about Jines.. I have been coming here every so often since I moved to the Park Avenue neighborhood back in September. It was a weekly Sunday brunch thing for most of October/November .. Really good pumpkin pancakes and french toast. Hence why its a go-to for French Toast for this kid..

Orange Marmalade French Toast from Jines... French toast stuffed with orange infused cream cheese. Yes, I added more BUTTER. I said I love heart attacks on a plate..

Honestly, this is amazing French Toast. Perfect in every way. Bread had the right mix between moist and chewy. The filling was to die for with little bits of orange in the liquid cream cheese.  Overall, unbelievably yummy but really sweet when combined with the bread and powdered sugar.  I could not finish it as I got a sugar headache halfway through the third piece.  The leftovers are in my fridge for tomorrow morning..


 I am sure the housemates and I will go to Jines one more time before I head back to NJ. I'll have a dinner/lunch review then!

Day 20: Pho sure

I have a Pho problem.. Mamasan's Noodle Cafe Pho

As some people are aware, I have a secret addiction: Pho. This condition has gotten worse since I moved into the City of Rochester. When I lived out in the boonies, going for good Pho was about 15-20 minute drive and therefore something I did infrequently (and when really stressed). However, now that the Pho places are less than a mile to 2 miles away; its become a weekly thing again.

So what is this thing called Pho? Pho is Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup. There is a secret blend of cilantro, onions, thai basil, rice noodles mixed with crack that makes it this unique and rare flavor. When you get it at a restaurant, usually the meat is freshly sliced and raw. You watch it cook before your eyes in the hot broth. Most restaurants bring a plate full of monk bean sprouts, thai basil, cilantro, siracha and hosin sauce to the table so consumers can alter it to their tastes.   That is the main reason why I never get tired of this stuff; no matter my mood I can make the Pho fit it.


For tonight's dinner, I went with my backup Pho place. Yes I have a starter and a backup, I said before I have a problem. The above is from Mamasan's Noodle Cafe (http://mamasans.com/) on Mount Hope Ave.  My starter Pho might be revealed in an upcoming blog post.

First Up: Nick Tahoes

Rochester Wiki defines the Garbage plate as:

A Garbage Plate is a true Rochester delicacy. It is a disorganized combination of either cheeseburger, hamburger, Italian sausages, steak, chicken, white or red hots, a grilled cheese sandwich, fried fish, or eggs, served on top of one or two of the following: home fries, fries, beans, and mac salad. A plate is always made to order. Then, the plate is adorned with optional mustard, onions and Rochester's version of hot sauce. Some restaurants will charge for extra helpings of hot sauce, and the hot sauce varies widely in flavor and spiciness. A plate is usually served with a side of white bread and butter, though some restaurants charge extra for bread. It is said that the purpose of the bread is to soak up the grease left after you've eaten the garbage plate.(http://rocwiki.org/Garbage_Plates)

As most people in Rochester know, Nick Tahoe's claims to be the home of the garbage plate. Its origin is the thing of myth and legend. Some say a drunk college kid walked into the little hots stand and asked for a plate with "all the garbage on it." Others claim, it was some fancy executive who was also drunk. Either way, the Garbage plate was born. Almost everyone I have met up here has a Nick Tahoe's story.. So here is mine:

 I had my first garbage plate at Tahoes in 2005, when Elmira's JV Womens Soccer Team came up to play Roberts Wesleyan College. I don't remember the first one I ordered. Just that I asked the girl on the team who suggested this place: "What the heck and how do you eat it?" I know I ate it section by section at first until I was told the "proper way". I was a bit mystified when I was told you shake it all up. My first reaction "ew but okay" and dug in. I love foods that are heart attacks on a plate and easily I fell in love with this amazingly bad for you meal.

Nick Tahoes Garbage Plate with Italian Sausage (Everything on the side)

I got a little excited when they opened the Henrietta one. Its down the street from RIT and therefore one of those places, I planned on going to every week... and never got around to... at all.. Until Monday.

It was quiet for lunchtime. I ordered the style of plate that I usually got from Hungry's in Pittsford; Italian Sausage, home fries and mac salad (everything on the side). I should have taken a picture of what it looks like when it is fully "made up".  In this picture, I hadn't mixed mine up yet so it looked all nice and pretty.


In short, it was better than my first memory of almost 6 years ago. The hot sauce is what I missed most about this particular plate. Different places use different sauces. The one at Tahoes is a meat based greasy mess. I think I like this sauce the best of the homemade sauces. I might try some more plates before I leave stay tuned..

20 Days til the end of my time in Rochester.. Why not Eat my way through it?

So a random thought hit me while I was sitting at Dinosaur BBQ with a friend a few nights back.. In the close to three years I have lived here, I have come across some interesting and yummy places to eat. Some are native to just the Rochester NY area while others can be found anywhere. So I decided from now until I leave here.. This blog will be about the random places I have found to eat at while I was here and my revisits to them.

So random blog readers.. sit back and enjoy my randomness.. Also if you have a place I should go before I leave, leave it in the comments!