Wednesday - July 21, 2010

Taqueria El Mexicano

305.858.1160

521 SW 8^th Street

Miami, FL 33130

Check out the Menu!

In keeping with my gypsy lifestyle, I am off again! I packed my little green suitcase (that is to say I tossed in my makeup bag and a few clean shirts, since I never bother to fully unpack it anymore) and headed to Miami for the week. When I arrived, I was itching for some good Mexican or South American food—anything spicy and caloric. The North may have great bagels and pizza, but good luck finding authentic empanadas and flautas outside of the city. For three nights I asked my boyfriend to take me for some Mexican comida and finally he indulged my craving, suggesting a new place that we had never been to—Taqueria El Mexicano.

When we pulled up to the little storefront, we both looked at each other thinking, “this place certainly looks authentic!” There were piñatas hanging over the registers and rows of Spanish cooking products and snacks for sale. The place looked more like a tienda than a restaurant, but the tables were full and so we were hopeful.

We took a seat and began munching on our chips and salsa. The salsa was homemade and delicious with chunks of fresh tomato and cilantro, but the chips, I must admit, were more like a cross between a fried wonton and a Stacy’s pita chip…probably could have gone just as well with duck sauce as it did the salsa. They were not your typical corn chips and they packed a lot, I mean A LOT, of oil. I actually felt like I needed to swish around some Dawn dish soap in my mouth to break up the grease afterwards.

Now I was getting nervous for the entrees because it’s common knowledge that you can tell a lot about a restaurant by the bread they serve, and naturally, at a Mexican place this means by the chips. But, just as my panic set in, the Guacamole that we ordered as an appetizer was brought to the table and it was delicious! It had the perfect amount of lemon and salt, the cilantro was very fragrant, and it was incredibly fresh. This tasty guacamole helped me finish the rest of oil-ridden wonton-pita-tortilla chips with ease.

For my entrée I ordered the Flautas De Pollo, which are crispy rolled up tacos filled with chicken that are garnished with guacamole, sour cream, and lettuce. I ordered these prior to tasting the fried chips, so it was a bit of an unexpected oil over-load, but the flautas were surprisingly pretty good. The only thing that took away from the dish (other than the oil of course) was that they used dark meat chicken. Why is it so difficult to use all white meat chicken?!? I mean Chipotle is a fast food chain and they serve all white meat chicken…for less than (drum roll, please) $6!!! I think it is unacceptable that any restaurant serve dark meat chicken, with the exception of Taco Bell maybe...you can’t be picky when you’re paying less than a buck! But then again, McDonald’s manages to serve white meat chicken. Sure, its mystery meat…but it’s white! Anyways, I am finished with my digressing chicken tantrum so let me get back to my review!

My boyfriend ordered the Quesadilla Gringa for his entrée, which should probably just be called the Quesadilla Gorda, considering it is a cheese quesadilla packed with both beef steak and the ever-fattening chorizo (aka Mexican sausage). To reduce the likelihood of his arteries clogging after the first few forkfuls, he substituted chicken for the beef steak, which made the dish a little lighter. Although I did not try his dish, my boyfriend described it as “good but nothing special.”

Overall, I wasn’t terribly disappointed but I was certainly unimpressed. There were reviews online claiming that this place was “the best kept secret” in Miami, but I beg to differ and propose instead that Taco Rico is the Mexican restaurant in Miami. If you are looking for great, cheap, authentic, Mexican food, then go Taco Rico! It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and it is no fine dining experience, but you will have a delicious and filling meal.

Don’t waste your time on Taqueria El Mexicano, its just average.

Wednesday - July 14, 2010

Roman-Style Chicken Fettuccini

Adapted from Giada De Laurentis

All week my mother has been pestering me to cook dinner for the family. She knows how often I cook for my boyfriend in Miami, and she gets jealous that I don’t cook as often here at home. What

she doesn’t seem to realize is that she is the reason I don’t cook at home. Why should I have any motivation to make a meal when she makes some of the most incredible food that I have ever tasted? If she was serving up Kraft Mac&Cheese every night, I might be more inclined to offer up my culinary services. But when her idea of a Greek dinner includes Kafta, tabouli, hummus, tahini sauce, cucumber salad, tzatziki, and fresh pita all made from scratch…well, I just step aside and play taste tester. However, tonight I was in the mood to cook and so I decided to make one of my favorite pasta dishes, which is Roman-Style Chicken Fettuccini. I got the original recipe from Giada De Laurentis, but I made many of my own modifications to simplify the recipe without compromising the flavor (the recipe below is my version). This dish is incredible and tastes even better on the second day, so if you are making it for company then I would make it the night before. It is very similar in flavor to a chicken cacciatore, but without all the time and work. I don’t like working with chicken on the bone so I used chicken breasts in my version, but for extra flavor you could use a couple of chicken thighs, as the original recipe calls for. If you are eating this the same day that you make it, one of my favorite aspects of this meal is that it is so quick yet tastes like it has been cooking for hours. Everyone can’t help but love this dish, so definitely try it….it’s one of my all time favorites.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ pound chicken (I use chicken breasts)

¼ cup olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

3 ounces prosciutto, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (28-ounce) can of diced tomatoes

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons capers

Directions:

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is ot, cook the chicken until golden on both sides; about 4 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the prosciutto and the peppers and cook until the prosciutto is crisp and the peppers browned (about 5 minutes). Then add the garlic and continue t cook for an additional minute, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the wine, and herbs, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.

Shred the chicken using two forks, and return the shredded chicken to the pan. Then add the chicken stock and capers and bring mixture to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Serve over fettuccini pasta and sprinkle with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

Sunday - July 11, 2010

UNO Chicago Bar & Grill

Unfortunately all over the country

The biggest difference between going to New York with my girlfriends and going to New York with my boyfriend, all comes down to FOOD. When it comes to what and where to eat, my boyfriend and I are on the exact same page…mom-and-pop place over chain restaurants, fine food over fast food, and filling food over low-cal “chick food.” However, as I unfortunately learned this weekend, my friends are slightly more optimistic about the quality of chain restaurants than I am—I avoid them like the plaque—and they literally dragged me into Uno’s Chicago Bar & Grill after the World Cup Finals (VIVA ESPANA!!), while I made every last ditch attempt to avoid the greasy booths and smelly plastic cups of the chain restaurant. It came down to sheer strength in numbers…three against one and thus I walked (still waving my Spanish flag) into the meal from hell.

First off, when we sit down and open the menu we notice that every dish has the calorie count posted next to it. I went from not wanting to eat at Unos, to not wanting to eat EVER!! Is there no bigger food turn off?!? I mean I know that restaurants have to post their nutrition information somewhere, but normally they make it so small and hard to find that it never really stops us from shoving down the Big Mac or Chipotle burrito. But here it was in right in my face, and since I wasn’t drunk (I was actually wearing more beer than I could afford to consume that day, as pitchers of beer at the bar were $18 each) I couldn’t ignore the four-digit number next to the fully loaded nachos. Instead, I opted for the healthier option (and by healthy I mean practically the only food option under 1,000 calories), which was the Chili. I’m not even going to bother telling you what everyone else ordered because all of it was horrible and served cold. They actually brought my friend’s French Onion Soup with an un-melted slice of deli cheese on top. She said to the waiter, “isn’t this supposed to be hot and bubbly?” My chili was served below room temperature—it was actually almost chilled...odd. The food was so bad that my friend, Ariana, leaned over to the table with the only hot food in the place (they had four pizza pies) and asked for a slice. Again, I remind you we were not drunk. They made fun of us for not ordering pizza at a pizza place and then gave her a slice of piping hot pizza, which she divided among the four of us at the table. The pizza was actually not half bad, but I think we just automatically thought it was good because it was hot.

Moral of the story; DON’T EAT AT UNOS!! It is gross.

Wednesday - July 7, 2010

Berries in the Grove

305.448.2111

2884 SW 27^th Ave

Coconut Grove, Fl 33133

Check out the Menu!

In addition to keeping this blog, I also post my restaurant reviews on Yelp.com (note the pretty new map to your right!). I got so excited tonight when my phone went off and it was an E-mail from Yelp telling me that I had received a message from another user. I started thinking maybe some magazine editor read my reviews and wants to offer me an internship, or at the very least someone is taking the time to comment on my posts. But no, instead I log in and see that it’s a message from a guy (using a photo of TI as his profile picture might I add) just trying to pick me up. I was so disappointed. I mean doesn’t he know that there are online dating sites for that type of thing? Newsflash…Yelp isn’t one of them. So now I am in a bad mood and feel that this would be an appropriate time for me to give my first 1 star review (and no, this isn’t just me taking out my anger on the restaurant…the restaurant, Berries, is actually terrible).

When you first get to Berries in the Grove you will be fooled (as I was) by the seemingly good menu, which offers a wide variety of healthy salads and sandwiches, in addition to homemade pastas. The problem is that they have confused healthy food with flavorless food. Nothing at this restaurant is seasoned—no herbs, no pepper, no salt, no flavor! I ordered the Berries House Salad, which has mixed greens with grilled chicken breast, tomatoes, avocado, portabello mushrooms, and manchego cheese all tossed in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. This salad has all of my favorite ingredients, but somehow I found myself having to force each bland forkful into my mouth. The chicken was not seasoned with salt or pepper or garlic, and so it had zero flavor. The three paper-thin slivers of manchego cheese went undetected in the huge salad (shouldn’t even be listed as an ingredient in my opinion). Even the dressing was somehow bland. It tasted like olive oil with the faintest hint of balsamic vinegar. A good robust balsamic should have Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano, and a little honey.

My boyfriend’s Chicken Club Sandwich was no better either. I mean swiss cheese and bacon are two of the most flavorful ingredients I can think of (other than garlic, of course) but somehow even their flavors went unnoticed in his sandwich. Worst of all, there were a couple areas in his chicken that looked pinkish and inedible. So he just ate his fries, which of course had no salt, and left his sandwich on the plate.

Now let me state that I’m not at all a person who over seasons their food (in fact, I hardly ever pick up a salt or pepper shaker at restaurant), but I do believe that herbs and spices should be used to enhance and bring out the natural flavors of vegetables and meats. There are occasions when the flavors of a raw vegetable are so delicate and fresh that they don’t require any additional ingredients (such as a just picked ripe tomato, or crunchy firm asparagus) but the produce served at Berries is not fresh and is tasteless.

Don’t bother going to Berries, I honestly think that plain tofu may have more flavor than their food (it only receives 1 star because I don’t know how to make a half of a star).

Saturday- July 3, 2010

Talavera

305.444.2955

2299 Ponce De Leon Blvd

Coral Gables, Fl 33133

Check out the Menu!

I woke up this morning…starving, as usual! And I am a ticking time bomb when once I’m up. Anyone and everyone knows that there is about a one hour grace period after my eyes open for me to eat before I start “fee-fi-fo-fumming,” as my boyfriend calls it. When my sugar levels get low, NO ONE is happy. So when I woke up with my belly literally burning in hunger pains, you can imagine how anxious I was to get out of the house for some lunch. I threw my hair back into a ponytail and put on a more acceptable pair of pajama pants to wear in public and headed out with my boyfriend to get some eats. We drove to the Miracle Mile area in Coral Gables, intending to go to the Coral Gables Diner. But I’m from the Northeast, where diner is synonymous with cheap and after glancing at the menu I quickly realized that this was no diner by my standards. They had lunch salads for $17!!! (Prime 112 has entrée salads for less than that!) Although my boyfriend assured me that he didn’t mind the price, it just went against my notion of all that diners stood for and I couldn’t do it. So we walked down the street a little further until we came upon a Vietnamese place. I now had about 30 minutes till “fee-fi-fo-fumm” and so I decided I could eat a Bun, but my boyfriend wanted a more filling lunch and so our walk down the street continued. We stopped to look at all the menus posted outside of the restaurants (on both sides of the street) and finally decided on a Mexican restaurant at the end named Talavera (15 minutes till “fee-fi-fo-fum”). Talavera has the same owner as Jaguar in the grove, but Talavera is Mexican while Jaguar focuses on ceviche. However, there are many similarities on the menu and the atmospheres of the two restaurants resemble one another.

To start, they brought out a basket of tortilla chips and 2 different homemade salsas—one tomato sauce and one salsa verde. The waiter told us to be careful because the salsa verde was muy picante, but being the spice lover that I am, I dismissed his warning and without caution and piled that green stuff onto my chip. Well…he should have said muy, muy picante because this sauce packed some serious heat. I found its mouth numbing quality addictive though, and by the time we finished the basket of chips I had probably downed about 3 to 4 glasses of agua.

For lunch I ordered the Grilled Chicken Huarache, which I was very apprehensive about since it was my first time having a Huarache dish. I couldn’t understand how it would be served based on the menu’s description but for those of you who don’t know either, it is a piece of meat (in my case chicken) on top of an oval shaped corn massa with layers of black bean puree, salsa verde, lettuce, and crumbles of goat cheese. The corn massa is not crunchy like a corn chip, but rather firm and about a ¼ thick. This dish was delicious and I ate everything! The flavos of the black beans with the salsa verde and the delicate corn massa—yumm it all worked together perfectly! My boyfriend ordered the Quesadilla La Marquesa, which were large corn tortillas filled wit Oaxaca cheese, chicken, poblano chiles, fresh corn, zucchini and epazote, served with guacamole. Although the flavors were very good, the quesadillas were untraditional and served deep-fried. The shape of the 3 quesadillas resembled Venezuelan empanadas, if you have ever seen one. I thought they were very greasy and did not like them because of that, but my boyfriend loved them.

Overall, I thought that Talavera was excellent and a great value. Both of our dishes were only $12 each, and the portions were not your typical stingy lunch portions. I was so satisfied and would definitely go back again.

Friday - July 2, 2010

Houstons

407.740.4005

215 South Orlando Ave

Winter Park, FL 32789

Check out the Menu!

Today, my boyfriend and I went up to Orlando to spend the weekend in Disney World with his friend Jorge and girlfriend, Lulu. Although the parks here are great, finding good food in the Orlando area can be a challenge (both inside and outside the parks). Not even a Google search can solve this food dilemma. I Googled “best places to eat in Orlando” and the search engine put Perkins on the top 20 list. Really, a chain pancake house qualifies as a city's top dining option?!? My thoughts: what is this World coming to, and YUCK!!

Driving around on the main drag (International Drive) until you find something isn’t an option either, unless you’re okay eating some variation of fast food that is. Sure, you can find the world's largest Checkers (which they proudly boast on their sign) and the McDonalds with the largest playroom in America, but chances are that your not going to want a burger after all the greasy amusement park food you've eaten during the day. However, if you are a buffet lover and “all you can eat” is your kind of thing, then International Drive will have you moaning in ecstasy because they have managed to make every kind of cuisine into a buffet style—typically for less than $11.99 per person! You think I'm kidding? Here are some snapshots of what you can find food wise on International Drive:

Not calling you? Didn’t appeal to us either. However, we did realize that chain restaurants would be unavoidable in Orlando, so our plan was simply to find the nicest chain. We got lucky and found out that there was a Houstons about 20 minutes away from International Drive, where our hotel was. Houstons is an upscale, relatively small chain restaurant, owned by the Hillstone Group. My boyfriend and I go to the one in Coral Gables all the time and we were ecstatic to find one just outside Orlando. We all agreed that it was the prettiest Houstons any of us had been to, complete with outdoor patio seating that overlooks a lake.

The food at Houstons does not resemble that of a chain restaurant. In fact, I never even knew that Houstons was a chain until very recently. My favorite thing on the menu (so good I’ve only ever ordered one other thing) is the Famous French Dip Au Jus. It is the most perfect thing that I have ever tasted. Slowly roasted prime rib, sliced thin and piled high on a house made french roll…I’m salivating now at the thought of it. It is served with a mug of hot and salty au jus for dipping, and a mountain of golden shoestring fries. If this sandwich is not served in heaven, then quite frankly, I don’t care to go. The only time I have ordered something other than the french dip, was because my boyfriend told me that I had to try something else on the menu to give the restaurant a more complete review. So I ordered the Thai Steak and Noodle Salad, which has your choice of marinated filet or rotisserie chicken with avocado, mango, and herbs in a Thai dressing. It was very good and flavorful, but obviously not quite as satisfying at the french dip. I have since then remained loyal to my favorite sandwich, and of course had it tonight!

The other must have at Houstons is the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, which is served gooey and hot in a crock with a side of tortilla chips. Additionally, they give you homemade salsa and sour cream to enjoy the rest of your chips once the delicious dip is gone. If you go in a group and order this as an appetizer, be prepared for the awkward moment that will inevitably arise when the chip pile gets down to about 2 or 3 chips. This dip is so good that no one will just passively sit back as the last couple are eaten, so there will be an uncomfortable moment when 4 people reach for the last chip and the don’t back down to offer it to the other person. You might just have to flip a coin to decide who gets it…

Also very good at Houstons are the Barbecue Pork Ribs and the House-made Veggie Burger. My roommate, who is a semi-vegetarian—I say semi because she makes exceptions for the Crunch Wrap Supreme at Taco Bell around 4 am—swears that this is the best Veggie Burger to be had and orders it as often as I order my french dip!

On top of the great food, Houstons also has impeccable service. The wait staff is all very experienced and professional (aka no teenage, or even college student, waiters). You will never have an empty glass, no request is too much, and your food is always brought out piping hot!

GO TO HOUSTONS!

Tuesday - June 29, 2010

Novecento

305.403.0900

1414 Brickell Ave, Miami 33131

Check out the Menu!

I am back in Miami for the week, celebrating my 1-year anniversary with my boyfriend, Roberto (the only thing in my life that I have managed to commit to), and he has been speaking my love language by taking me out for some incredible food while I’m here. Today, he told me that we were going to Novecento in Brickell to watch the Spain v. Portugal world cup game and of course, I got all sorts of excited to be included in the ethnic festivities, since soccer isn’t really as big of a sport here in America. So I put on my Spanish Saints bracelet, which somehow always makes me feel slightly more ethnic when going to places such as Novecento, and sure enough I found myself blending right in with the 200 something Spaniards who had gathered at the restaurant to watch the game. And as if my bracelet wasn’t enough to disguise my inner gringa, I even referred to soccer as futbol!!

But on to the food! For lunch I ordered the Milanga de Pollo (aka Chicken Milanese), which was very, very good. I believe that a Milanese should always be pounded to a ¼ of an inch thin, and this was so I was pleased. I had mine with a side of mixed greens and my boyfriend had his with a side of fries, which I ate half of and thought were delicious! My boyfriend’s brother, Juanmi, ordered the Pollo al Curry, which I thought was odd to appear on a Spanish menu but it both smelled and looked delicious (I would probably order that the next time I go to Novecento). Juanmi’s girlfriend, Lidi, ordered the small Chicken Caesar Salad (she’s a swimsuit model….I wish I could order that and be satisfied) and the chicken to lettuce ratio was way out of proportion—“Would you like some salad with that chicken?!?” If your trying to get your protein in then you’d probably love it, but if you just want a salad I wouldn’t suggest it.

So we have finished our food and Spain has just won the game against Portugal, much to everyone’s delight (they cheered so loud you would have though the won the whole world cup), and now we are ready for another meal. To celebrate the win we order a bottle of champagne, which was half price (not sure if it’s a daily special or just because of the game) and some more food—Ceviche Con Tostones (white fish ceviche marinated in lime juice, jalapenos, avocados, plantains, and fresh basil and served with tostones) and Entrana Con Chimichurri (grilled skirt steak with chimichurri sauce). I didn’t care to try the ceviche, but the chimichurri sauce for the steak was so delicious that I even dipped a couple fries in it!

Overall, Novecento serves good food and has a great atmosphere. In my opinion, it is a little over priced for the simplistic nature of the food (my lunch portion of Milanese was $13) but it is an enjoyable experience and a perfect place to watch the game.