The Russian

I can't believe it's already Thursday! Tomorrow starts my new adventure of new restaurants! This time it will be in New York- which is obviously the place to be.

I was thinking that readers from New Jersey would get mad at my posts and say that I wasn't giving New Jersey a real chance, and that I'm a stuck up New Yorker. Well, I am a stuck up New Yorker. And theres good reason for it too, at least when it comes to food and excitement. Come on, even my friends from New Jersey agree that it sucks here!

This past weekend Eric and I decided to go visit a native New Jersian (Ok, he's a native Russian) and ask of his opinion about this great state. He whole heartedly agreed that this place is boring and really has nothing to do! We were thinking about going to Six Flags (to spice things up a little during our mundane weekend) but the Russian was scared of rollercoasters (lame). Eric and I drove to the Russian's house, passed through security gates (haha) and decided to spend some good ol' quality time together.

We reminisced on 'back when the house was good' (and boy, was it really good) and talked about fast black things that I can't really talk about online for the fear of being shot (or least I would've gotten shot... back when the house was good :)). Can you guess who this Russian is? I bet you can't? Ok.. it's Yulian, it was pretty obvious- was there even another Russian in the house, ever? haha.

So after visiting Yulian's house, we decided to get some dinner in the town nearby. Living in Jackson,NJ (which is right next to Six Flags) we drove to Freehold Township to grab a nice dinner at Metropolian Cafe. I was a bit surprised entering the neighborhood as it actually had some activity, and I guess New Jersey isn't too bad, just as long as you know where to look.

The meal at Metropolitan Cafe was surprisingly good (afterall, I shouldn't have doubted Yulian). I was a bit skeptical at first since the menu had both sushi and american food, but in the end Metropolitan Cafe turned out to be something like a Cheesecake Factory- where there are foods ranging from all different parts of the world on the menu! Yum!

Yulian and Eric both started out with a salad- which we later found out could have fed a small country and wasn't a starter salad at all. Yulian had the Warm Autum Salad, with blue cheese and candied pecans... but really they put cashews instead (go figure). Eric had the Walnut Goat Cheese Salad with apples and huge blocks of crusted goat cheese. Both salads were good (and very large) and I was surprised that either of them had room for their main entrees to be honest.

As for our main entrees, Eric got the Australian Rack of Lamb, Yulian got the New York Strip steak while I got the Shrimp Ravioli. Eric's lamb was good, but a bit charred- he said he's had better. Yulian's strip steak looked good- any comments on this Yulian? While my shrimp ravioli was actually amazing!

I was very pleasantly surprised with my dish! Well first, the ravioli was really a dumpling, and there were only 4 huge dumplings on my plate. But there was an abundant amount of seafood in this light and creamy Champagne bisque- it was to die for. Not too heavy or rich, I was able to finish my entree although I was still stuffed from Morimoto the night before and Teresa Cafe a few hours before hand. Although I did wish they had more dumplings, I really enjoyed the dish- it was delicious! I highly recommend it.

Moving onto dessert, we got the Godiva Chocolate Cake and Ice Cream Sandwich to share. The ice cream sandwich came with coffee ice cream, and was very strong and rich (although a bit melted). The chocolate cake was EXTREMELY rich and decadent, I was surprised Yulian was able to eat it all actually. Both desserts were good, nothing too special but still, very tasty.

What a night! We actually spent over 3 hours at the restaurant catching up and enjoying our meal. I really liked this place although there were a few things about it that weren't as good as it should be. First off, the server is great but the runner and busboy were not. The hostesses seemed easily confused and their menu did not reflect what was given to us (cashews instead of pecans.. huge ass dumplings instead of the traditional ravioli). The flavors were great, but I sometimes got confused by the presentation. Haha.

In the end, all those things didn't matter- I had a nice meal and enjoyed my time. I would definitely return again (although it is a bit far from the Princeton area) and hope to try more things on the menu. I had such a great time regardless of the strange presentation-but then again, maybe it didn't matter because I was with the Russian.

Price: $$$$

Ambiance: A-

Service: B+

Food: A

It looked delicious

(edit) Pictures are up!!!

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Oh, what a disappointing start to my 'new' entries. I am kicking myself for not having any way to transfer my pictures to my computer!

I thought I should wait until I actually got the photos up, but I figure I'd write about my weekend and just add the pictures later on. So again, I apologize in advance for my lack of judgment.

So as you know, this weekend Eric came to visit. He flew into Philly Friday night and we got a great opportunity to try out Morimoto. Saturday morning, back in New Jersey, we though we'd drive to Princeton for some brunch. (Ok, we were forced to go to Princeton since there is no other place eat near me- thank you again, New Jersey).

We decided to go to Teresa Cafe, a hot spot for locals and students alike. Located on Palmer Square (right next to the Banana Republic), Teresa is a great place to grab some lunch. Upon arriving, the wait seemed to be long (there were lots of people lingering outside of the restaurant) - but we were seated immediately while the larger groups had to wait for a space in their small cafe. Suckas! (I guess this is where I should comment that larger groups will definitely have a harder time finding some seats as this place is quite small).

Looking at their lunch menu, it was difficult to figure out what to get, as many things looked so delicious! It wasn't until Eric saw the pizza that the girl next to him ordered, was he ready.

We decided to get the Mozzarella di Bufala to share while Eric got the Salisiccia pizza and I got the Penne Pecorino (substituted with whole wheat pasta, of course).

The Mozzarella di Bufala was my favorite dish. Pretty large for an appetizer, the fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and salty proscuitto was a perfect combination- I couldn't have asked for anything more fresh and light as a starter.

My pasta was good as well, but I could have made better. (Actually I did make better- and had it for lunch today :)). The lack of shrimp and bay scallops were a bit disappointing, but the fresh spinach on top was a nice touch. There was a lot of liquid in the dish, which was very unexpected as I was expecting some penne pasta tossed with garlic and olive oil (which was what the description had indicated). The liquid threw me off a bit, and made the pasta soggy- which I really really hate.

The pizza looked good, but Eric being the fatass that he is didn't share with me and ate it all himself. I very much appreciated and was delighted by the fact that they used organic sausage! The pizza was in a white ricotta sauce, and looked delicious- again I wouldn't know. :(

The one thing I was most upset about? We didn't realize that the breakfast menu was right in front of us!! Although it was around 1pm, Teresa serves breakfast until 2pm (so make sure to take a look when you get there). Their breakfast menu is already on the table, and we weren't bright enough to catch it. I will most definitely be coming back for some breakfast some time!

The food in general was good, and I had a great time with Eric. He really enjoyed his meal as well as the area around the restaurant. To sum it up, Teresa is a nice place to have some lunch while exploring the Princeton area. The food is fresh and tasty and it is conveniently located near all the action! I hope to come back here once again (but after trying more restaurants near the area of course) and hopefully, I will be able to blend in with the Princeton area residents some more. I'm not really sure about the ambiance of the place, but I guess it's Princeton afterall, what else can you expect?

Next time, I will make sure to bring my American Express Black Card and I'll blend right in!

Price: $$
Ambiance: B+
Service: A-
Food: B+

A bit erotic??

(edited) Pictures are up!!

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I apologize in advance, I forgot my camera cord so I can't upload my pictures from this past weekend until this Friday night. :( But don't you worry, pictures will be coming soon!

So Eric decided to pay me a visit Friday night as it was his midsemester break. He could have came in Thursday night, but I think most of us know why he wasn't able to... why am I with him again? haha jk.

He flew into Philly and I thought this would be the perfect time to explore the great (and seemingly dangerous) city! We decided to go to THE iron chef Masaharu Morimoto's restaurant, Morimoto, for dinner (located on 723 Chestnut street). As we all know, Eric and I love sushi and not going to this restaurant would have been very uncharacteristic of us.

We had a 9pm reservation and arrived 10 minutes early, only to be seated 10 minutes late. Boo. It was fine though, as we admired the decor and interesting design of the restaurant in the lounge and watched all the happy diners enjoy their seemingly delicious meal.

As we got to our seat, we were very excited to begin our journey with Morimoto! The first thing we noticed at our seat? The centerpiece between us was part of the table and we weren't able to move it away. We found it a bit annoying (and a bit erotic??):

The only reason I have this picture is because I took it on my phone and had to email it to Eric right away to show him how he looked like from my view... interesting to say the least.

Alright, enough of the silliness, onto the food.

So looking at the menu, everything looked delicious. We were tempted by the omakase but realized that we could just get a number of different dishes and spend just as much and have all the dishes that we wanted (versus having the chef prepare us the dishes to his liking).

That night we got: Edamame, Rock Shrimp Tempura, Black Cod Miso, Soba Carbonara and the $50 Chef's Sushi Combination. We were.. stuffed to say the least. (Pictures coming soon)

Rock Shrimp Tempura

Starting with the Edamame and Rock Shrimp Tempura, we were already full; the portions are quite large. (Not to mention we were fatasses before hand and ate pizza thanks to our late reservation). The edamame was covered in rock salt which added a nice touch to the ever so classic appetizer, and the rock shrimp tempura wasn't what we expected- small balls of fried tempura shrimp covered in a light and sweet sauce. Both were good, and again, very large.

We then got the chef's sushi combination which came with a variety of sashimi, sushi and a maki roll. I was pleasantly surprised by how great the sashimi was, but was also very upset with the toro. They must have cut the toro incorrectly as the fish itself was good but the texture was bad as it left a strange rubbery vein (that I had to spit out). How can you go to Morimoto and get sushi that was cut wrong?!?! How disappointing. The rest of the sashimi was delicious but that was really the only thing that stood out. The roll (spicy tuna) was OK and the nigiri had WAY too much wasabi that completely killed the flavor of the fish. Blech. If you want to have sashimi with the chef's combination, make sure you get the $50 combination as the $30 one only comes with nigiri and a roll.





Moving onto our main entrees, Eric got the cod while I got the soba noodles. The cod was good, but I found it too blackened and sweet. The fish wasn't tender and soft but a bit hard due to the hardening of the sweet miso sauce. Hearing that Morimoto's fish is always fresh and flown in from Japan daily, the dish did not exhibit this quality of the fish. The Soba noodles were good, but again nothing amazing. I found the dish unique in that it incorporated truffle oil into the sauce and the noodles had a pleasant truffle aroma (and we all know how much I am in love with truffles).

Black Cod Miso

Soba Carbonara

All in all, Morimoto wasn't bad, but I feel like I was a bit disappointed because I had such high expectations. I was really looking forward to the best sushi I have ever had, but really it was just good sushi. Would I return? Yes. Purely for the experience though. I think that experience definitely plays into the dining fun, and who wouldn't want the experience of dining at Masaharu Morimoto's restaurant?

It's surprising to say that the best sushi we have ever had was at Umi in PITTSBURGH. We got the chef's tasting menu, and it really was delicious. So...so delicious.

Price: $$$$
Ambiance: A
Service: B+
Food: A-

Oh my god, we're back again!

So after a long , long vacation, my desire to explore the great foods around my area has returned! Sadly, I am no longer in Pittsburgh and can no longer comment on the great food that the city has to offer. But I am off doing bigger and better things! (Ok, maybe not really).

I have moved to New Jersey, and really, the only good thing about this place is that I live close to Philly/New York. Maybe I haven't tried hard enough to explore my area, but it seems pretty boring and the most exciting thing that has happened to me so far was a close encounter with a deer. (I'm lame I know).

Good thing I go back to the city every weekend huh? :)

I will be changing up the blog to ensure that it encompasses the great foods I eat all over the country, not just Pittsburgh. So to end my 'Pittsburgh blog' I wanted to make one more post about one of me and Eric's favorite places in the great steel city. Sonoma Grille.

Eric has been surprised that I hadn't made a post about it yet as I have been to Sonoma Grille probably 5 times within the last month I was in Pittsburgh. I call it my lucky restaurant as I went to Rivers Casino (which is close by) after my meal there, and won a ton a money. :)

But it's been so long ago since you've been in Pittsburgh, how can you remember, you ask? Well, Sonoma Grille is just that memorable. I sadly deleted my pictures from my phone, but don't you worry, I most definitely remembered my meal.

4 out of the 5 times I've been to Sonoma Grille, I got the tasting menu (and that's only because the first time I went with Eric, they didn't even have it on their menu yet). The tasting menu is unique in that you can choose from 3, 4 or 5 selections off their menu. I usually start out with the avocado and crab meat tian. The avocados are always very fresh and large lumps of crabmeat are very sweet. The crunch and cool from the cucumber balances the spicy chili oil drizzled on top as well as the soft texture from the avocado and crabmeat. This was my dad's favorite.

The potato gnocchi was my favorite, ok second favorite dish. The portion on the tasting menu was small and left me wanting more, but that goes for all of their dishes I guess. The gnocchi is cooked perfectly and is soft and light while the crunch for the vegetables compliments it. So delicious and most definitely a vegetarian's delight!

My favorite dish is the veal. Always cooked perfectly, and very tender the veal melts in your mouth. Finished off with a garlic demiglace, with wild mushrooms (we all know how big of a fan I am of mushrooms) this dish is absolutely perfect.

I've also had the char su duck which I didn't like, since most things done 'asian style' at non asian restaurants never appeal to me (i'm asian. im sorry). The lamb ravioli is good, but the moroccan spiced vegetables that came on top was not to my liking as it is very tart and tangy. I ended up pushing off the salad of vegetables (that were placed on top of the ravioli) and avoided the sauce and hoped to just eat the ravioli on its own.

I don't think i've ever had a dessert here. Why would I waste a course on dessert when I could get another main entree!?!

Sonoma Grille is great for many occasions. I came here for an anniversary date with Eric, but I've also had a more casual dinner with friends in my jeans (nice jeans of course). I'm sad im no longer in Pittsburgh and can't visit Sonoma Grille more often, but I will definitely return the next time I visit Eric!

Price: $$$

Ambiance: A

Service: B+

Food: B+