savory-bites » New Jersey

Phensri’s “Fantastic” Thai New Year’s Party

Jessie — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:45:38 +0000

The pull and tug between winter and spring has finally marked its toll on me. After my daily morning run on Monday, I stepped out of the shower with a seemingly endless leaky nose. I thought I had outsmarted my symptoms with plenty of rest, but alas, on Thursday, the throat began to itch and the bones started to ache. Luckily, the onset of Friday brought an opportunity of uninterrupted sleep. On this lazy Saturday, nothing gives me more pleasure than the excuse of curling up in bed with my laptop, next to a cup of tea for some seriously overdue blogging.

A couple of Saturdays ago, Rachel invited me to a Thai New Years party, hosted by Phensri of “Fantastic Thai Cuisine.” If you know Rachel, you know that she loves all things Asian. Combine that with cooking, and you have a perfect match made in heaven. Needless to say, Rachel raved about the Thai class at our weekly Friday gatherings.

A little background on Phensri’s classes- She offers them in various locations in New Jersey (including Old Bridge and Princeton) as well as in NYC (Greenwich Village). Her regular classes range from $60-$100 depending on the location and all ingredient fees are included. Classes are structured so that every individual gets to prep, cook, and of course, eat!

We arrived at around 3:30pm to help prep for the official 6:30pm feasting. No hands were spared. While I dawdled a bit, snapping shots here and there, Phensri eventually entrusted me with the Chicken Satay. It was my job to put them on skewers. In general, we were able to get two pieces of chicken breast onto the skewers, as you want to leave at least 1.5-2 inches on the bottom for handling purposes. The top of the skewer should be buried in the chicken (we don’t want anything burning on the coals).

Chicken Satay: grilled aromatic chicken marinated with Thai herbs, served with Thai peanut sauce

We let Justin handle the grilling. No comments there…

Just kidding. Look at how wonderfully that batch came out!

Meanwhile, as I was skewering, Rachel shared the task of making these curry puffs filled with beef. They’re similar to samosas and empanadas, but to be honest, they’re the most bangin’ version I’ve ever had. The spice from the curry is an awesome explosion in the mouth. I think I overdosed on these, which led me to become incredibly full before dinner even started. It also didn’t help that I was sitting next to the fryer. Oops.

Curry Puff: Pastry dough stuffed with grounded beef, curry powder

Pre-frying. Because they were so good, I forgot to take pictures post-frying. Silly me.

Following the curry puff making, we started on vegetarian spring rolls. Despite how they look, they’re super easy and quick to make. You can buy a pack of spring roll wrappers at your local Asian mart for under $2, and fill them with whatever you want. Scoop the filling onto a bottom corner and fold up to cover the filling. Then, sweep in the left and right fold so that only one corner is left and roll upwards. Eventually, you’ll end up with a spring roll!

Vegetable Spring Roll: Deep fried with stir fried vegetable and glass noodles wrapped with spring roll skin, served with sweet chili sauce

The lady of the night who made everything possible- Phensri!

The last of the appetizers was the most anticipated and took the longest- Shrimp in a Blanket! Phensri literally bought a giant box of shrimp. They come frozen and you defrost them by running through cold water. You have to shell and devein them and in this case, pare them in half so that they can lie flat on the spring roll wrappers. Phensri then scooped a chicken mixture that she premade before rolling. To seal the “blanket,” mix a bit of cornstarch and water, and dunk your fingers and apply on the tip of the wrapper.

Shrimp in Blanket: Deep fried pastry stuffed with jumbo shrimp & ground chicken with Thai spices, served with sweet chili sauce.

Despite being super critical of himself, Justin turned out some pretty fantastic looking Shrimp in a Blanket.

The night was a blast and many thanks to Rachel for the invitation. Like many of these events that I attend, the night was marked by serendipity. First, after some methodical but painful deducing, a woman and I figured out that her son and I graduated from the same college. While I didn’t recognize his name at the time, upon some stalking (via Facebook), I realized that I have actually met her son through friends. Even more random was how I realized that a lady who I had been talking to for a good while was standing next to a very familiar looking man- that man taught at my middle school and was one of the most feared science teachers in the 7th grade. I ended the night by drinking wine that he now makes in his retired life.

Anyhow, if you’re interested in Thai cooking and you’re in the area, be sure to check out Phensri’s website. Everyone who she invited to the party was a student, and needless to say, they were all extremely friendly and inviting. They all had great things to say about the class and some have been long-time students. I’m adding the class onto my post June 2 bucket list.

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Calima Bakery

Jessie — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 01:45:16 +0000

In early September of 2011, we celebrated the union of two spectacular individuals. The joyous day was highlighted by great company, food and some crazy dancing. Little did I know that I’d be having dinner at a Colombian bakery with the guy below, who happened to be the one capturing the momentous occasion.

Meet Jon Tan, one of the two photographers at Dreamlite Photography. Jon is a spectacular wedding photographer, particularly given that he is so young- then again, artists come from all ages and backgrounds. Jon and I share a similar set of friends as Facebook kindly pointed out. After the wedding, a few more friends were added to the list. When Jon saw photos on the blog from a dumpling tutorial fundraiser that his clients hosted, he reached out to me. A few emails later, we made dinner happen with Mark.

Jon is a lover of all things Hispanic and Latin American. He’s ‘fairly competent’ in Spanish, having traveled to Latin America several times and living there for months. Jon recently traveled to Honduras, where he worked on documentaries for Signs of Love. It’s no surprise that he’s the one who introduced me to Colombian food.

For the typical American, the words ‘Colombian’ and ‘food’ don’t pop up in the same sentence very often. I’ve had Mexican (if you count the Big Enchilada on 12th St in NYC) and Argentine food, but never Colombian. When I chose from the list of restaurants that he listed, I didn’t realize that I’d picked a literal bakery.

Calima Bakery is tucked in a strip shop center right across from Sam Ash on Rt 27 in Edison. It’s an obscure place, but it’s clear that locals know about it. While they do serve hot food, their showcase houses desserts and pastries. There is no official menu and items are written on paper plates hanging from racks behind the register. A whiteboard displays the specials of the day. A pithy number of stools provide for some scant seating. This is not a place for dawdling. Yet, we managed to stay for three hours.

Calima Bakery: Specials of the day ($7.50)

Monday: Beef or braised chicken w/ tripe or plantain soup
Tuesday: Beef tongue in salsa or beef w/ peppers w/ lentil soup
Wednesday: Flank steak in salso or braised chicken w/ vegetable soup
Thursday: Ground beef w/ chicken or bean soup
Friday: “Short ribs in the oven” or rice w/ chicken w/ chicken noodle soup
Saturday: “Paisa platter” w/ grilled meat or ground beef/beans w/ rib soup
Sunday: Traditional Colombian soup made w/ chicken and plantain served w/ a fresh tomato and onion sauce

Warning- nothing is in English, but once in awhile, a customer will pipe up and offer an English translation if he happens to overhear. When we arrived, they ran out of empanadas and their famous chicharrón (fried pork belly), but lucky for us, they were in the process of making more. We ordered some empanadas, one ‘serving’ of chicharrón each and an entree each. We stuck with their regular “menu” as the thought of tripe is really quite frightful (Monday’s special).

from top left, clockwise
Carne asada con chicharrón y arepa: grilled meat w/ fried pork belly and corn cake
Aji: green salsa
Chicharrón: fried pork belly
Platanos con arroz y chicharrón: plantains with rice and fried pork belly

The food is cheap. I can’t remember exactly what each dish cost but it was between $4 and $8. All together for the above, we paid under $22 for the three of us. Super cheap. The food may be served on plastic trays and paper plates, but it is bangin’.

Chicharrón: This is an absolute must. Think about those thick Canadian bacon strips that they serve at a steakhouse but BETTER. It’s literally a long strip of sectioned bacon, held together by crispy skin. Each section has a good amount of fat. I can’t even explain how divine it was. Eating one of these is nearly as bad as eating a half of pack of bacon because of all the fat. But I assure you that it is soooo worth it.
Huervos Pericos: Given that I’ve never had this, it was a pleasant surprise. I’m never one to discriminate against eggs, but the scrambled eggs were cooked perfectly- light and fluffy and the seasoning was spot on. The combination of the egg with the arepa/cheese and the fried pork belly resembled a ridiculous over the top breakfast sandwich, Colombian style. Arepas are sorta like corn tortillas but thicker.
Empanadas: They’re made with ground beef and potatoes and the shell is made of corn. Honestly, not Calima’s best item but decent. For me, the potatoes were too mushy.

Hervos pericos con chicharrón y arepa: scrambled egg w/ tomato and scallions w/ fried pork belly and corn cake

While I can’t speak for Jon and Mark’s entrees, I can say that we finished every bite. This is one of those places where you order your food, eat it at the counter and then pay. You don’t see that in alot of places nowadays. While I don’t recommend that you sit here and have dinner for three hours, it’s definitely worth stopping by if you’re in the area and want to try something new (like the chicharrón!!!). I also hear the pastries are quite good. Just make sure you don’t get lost coming here.

1876 State Rte 27
Ste 104
Edison, NJ 08817
(732) 777-1172

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Tops Diner in Newark

Jessie — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 02:03:17 +0000

Mark is going to the undergrad business school at Rutgers Newark. Hooray!! So on Saturday, Alex took us around the neighborhood, giving a tour of the campus as well as shortcuts/backroads to take when there’s congestion. I really tagged along for the food part of the trip.

Around noon-ish, we headed over the bridge towards East Newark to Tops Diner. It’s Alex’s favorite.

The place was packed. There’s additional parking in an “upper lot,” which is really an elevated addition via a slight ramp in the middle of the ground parking lot. Right when we stepped outside, we were hit with fumes of fried chicken. Only, this isn’t really a fried chicken joint. And even stranger, when we stepped into the diner, all fried chicken-like fumes disappeared.

As the parking lot indicated, the place was completely filled. Not a shocker given that it was prime-time brunch time on a Saturday. The diner is pretty big with two sections. For a party of three, we ended up waiting roughly 15 minutes.

All the specials are in the mid-teens to twenties price range

We were fortunate enough to snag a booth in the very back of the diner where it was more quiet. Luck also had it that the server was an old family friend of Mark’s. And then, as if that weren’t enough, it ended up that Alex’s good buddy in college was the server’s boyfriend. What a small world.

The three of us got omelets, despite our goal to each get something different. Well, at least we got three different omelets.

Whole Wheat Toast: Buttered and Complimentary of all omelets

All the omelets come with both homefries and toast. For the toast, you have a choice between whole wheat, rye and white bread. We all got whole wheat. It even comes buttered for you. In the beginning, it’s what every toast fanatic dreams of- a generous slab of butter right down the middle. But then, towards the end of the meal, it sorta gets gross because the butter solidifies!! YUCK!

Colorado Omelet: A Meat Lover’s delight with ham, bacon, sausage, peppers, onion, Jack & Cheddar cheese ($9.50)

This was actually my favorite omelet of the three. I ended up getting the Bourbon omelet (which is not pictured since I couldn’t seem to focus!) and that basically had spicy Andouille sausage with peppers, onions, tomato, and cheddar cheese. The difference between the Bourbon and the Colorado was the slightly spicy kick from the Colorado omelet. The peppers were a bit more pronounced and I think the onions really made a difference. However, the Bourbon omelet is by far the cheesiest!

But both were pretty delicious. Fluffy egg and plenty of stuffing!

Steak Fajita Omelet: Grilled Steak, Peppers, Onion, Jack & Cheddar Cheese ($10.50)

Alex opted for the Steak Fajita omelet. Out of the three omelets, this was the most photogenic. I think the guys liked this omelet the most, but for me, I’d rather have sausage in my eggs. Plus, the meat was a bit dry. But the bite with the onion was just oh so amazing.

Whereas the other two omelets looked like the stuff was cooked along side the egg, the egg in this omelet wrapped around the filling, which was pretty awesome.

HOMEFRIES with peppers, onions, and mmMMm goodness!

Of course, the homefries were amazing. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Plus tons of peppers!!

Key Lime Pie (~$6.00)

It took us awhile to decide dessert and in the end, we had to flip a lens cap. It was between red velvet and key lime. They’re apparently known for their red velvet. Given how good the red velvet is at the Cheesecake Factory, I really wanted to try this. This one actually looked bigger (if that’s possible). But in the end, Mark wanted key lime and honestly, I wanted something “light” and tangy.

By far, the best fruity cheesecake I’ve ever had. The key lime slaps you in the face, but in a good way. It’s super tart but has all the consistency of a soft cheesecake. The only thing that could have made it better was a thicker graham crust but this was spot on delicious.

We got a red velvet to go for Clare. I have a feeling I’ll be back at this place again, so when I do come back, I’ll be sure to get the red velvet then. As for now, I’m stuffed just thinking about this meal.

You must come here if you’re in Newark. It’s diner food, but it’s cheap, it’s big portions, and it’s just amazing ordinary food. Can’t ask for anything more!

MENU
500 Passaic Avenue
Harrison, NJ 07029
(973) 481-0490

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Trip to Newark: Hamburgao & Riviera Bakery Cafe

Jessie — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:17:29 +0000

Cheese Tudo Burger: Bread, hamburger, mozzarella, ham, bacon, egg, potato sticks, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, and corn (for a whopping $6.00!!!), Sumol carbonated drinks, Side of fries

This post is so long overdue by about 10 months? Maybe? So this post will be short and sweet.

I promised Suki I’d blog about our trip led by Dave and his gracious parents through the Portuguese side of Newark. We landed up at Hamburgao, a cheap but totally delicious hamburger joint and then a quaint cafe.

I can’t remember much, but I do remember the burger exploding with fillings like a fat sandwich from the grease trucks does. The fillings totally make the burger.

No idea (but it looked pretty!), Vanilla wafer pudding, Cappuccino, Tiramisu

At Riviera, we sat by floor to ceiling windows. Outside, parking was rare to come by, so we witnessed several instances where people just literally parked in the middle of the street, shut off their engines, and dropped in for a late afternoon coffee. That’s Newark for you.

I’d totally recommend getting the Cappuccino. They deck it all out and it’s enormous. I remember thinking that the Vanilla wafer pudding wasn’t my thing (David liked it though) but the Tiramisu was to die for and it had plenty of rum.

Hamburgao Menu
288 Lafayette St
Newark, NJ 07105
(973) 465-1776

Riviera Bakery Cafe
124 Ferry St
Newark, NJ 07105
(973) 491-9000

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Rodizio at Fernandes Steak House

Jessie — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:40:48 +0000

Sirloin cut

It poured, the parkway entrance was closed off, and route 9 was backed up, but we made finally made it! By the time we got to Fernandes in Newark, around 7:30pm, the place was jammed packed. They have an outside waiting area, which was swarming with people. There was a confusion in the reservation, so we ended up having to wait an additional 20 minutes. But by the time we were seated at 8pm, it seemed as if the party had just begun.

Pitcher of Sangria, Red ($23.00)

Mark ordered rodizio for both of us. Rodizio is a meat-lover’s heaven. You pay a fixed price (in this case $28) and then servers holding giant skewers of meat start coming around and slicing you the meat. It just never stops. At Fernandes, they had a ton of variety and even though we were seated the front corner, they made their way to our table almost immediately.

Before we ordered, they gave us a warm loaf of bread, which sadly, I only had one piece because I was saving my stomach for the rodizio. We also ordered a pitcher of red sangria, which in retrospect, was a bit too much for both of us. We each literally got a bit over three glasses full of sangria for that one pitcher!

Fries/Rice, Black Beans, Tomato/Onion dip, and Fried Bananas- complimentary of rodizio

When you order the rodizio, they bring over three complimentary dishes (shown above). We only touched a few of the fries and shared a fried banana. I think they’re just trying to load you up on the carbs so that you get full faster. The fries were ehh but my favorite was the fried bananas.

Squishy! (Fried Bananas!)- complimentary of rodizio

No, they’re not fried plantains; they’re fried bananas!. I’ve never had fried bananas before but they really don’t taste much different from a regular banana with a fried coating around them. We waited a bit into the meal before we ate it, so I wish I had it when it was warm. Either way, this was definitely my favorite from the three plates.

All you can eat rodizio ($28 per person)

When the rodizio came out, I was already starving, so I pretty much said yes to just about every person who passed by. Overall, I’d give the rodizio a 7/10 rating. Some of the cuts needed salt (they have coarse sea salt at the salad bar) and once we sprinkled some salt onto the meat, it was so much better. Other cuts were simply awesome as was. Some of our favorites of the nights were-

Top sirloin covered in garlic wine sauce
Filet
Hanger cut
Mini rotisserie chicken
Chicken sausages
Short ribs (asado style)
Charred sirloin

Bacon wrapped filet

Interestingly, we weren’t a big fan of the bacon wrapped meats. We speculate that the bacon had stayed out too long and by the time it came to us, it was cold and too dry. In turn, the filet, which was wrapped inside the bacon, was overcooked and a bit chewy. This was probably one of our least favorites, as well as the cheesesteak cut (which was eh despite the cheese on there) as well as the roast beef (which was SUPER bloody). The lamb kebobs were somewhat disappointing more tough than I had expected.

By the time the 8th guy came over, I was DONE. Some of them were super generous with the cuts. One of them practically gave me the whole slab of meat! Because there was simply so much meat, I ended up getting a ton of grilled onions from the salad bar to balance the meal out. If only I came here about 5 years ago, before college started…

Grilled Pineapple following rodizio

After a couple of more guys came over and saw us decline the meat, they offered us grilled pineapple, which signaled the end of our meal. The grilled pineapple came out, still warm and juicy. They sliced it right in front of us.

Sliced grilled pineapple

The heat intensifies the sweetness, making the pineapple taste like its been sitting in concentrated sugar water. The outside rim was covered with cinnamon. Definitely a favorite. Mark wasn’t so keen on the pineapple though.

The Dessert Menu

Then, they came out with the dessert menu. First, they give you a real menu with all the prices and names so you can figure out what you want. Then, a guy comes out with a tray full of all of the desserts so you can visualize and see what each of the desserts look it! Geeee-nius, I tell you! We had such a hard time choosing because they just all looked sooo delicious.

Serradura, Cookie crumbles & cream ($4.50)

We finally both agreed on the Serradura, which is a simple parfait-like dessert with two ingredients- sweet cream and fine ground cookie crumbles. The whole thing was amazingly delicious, but when we got to the end, we had all of this cookie crumble left and no more cream. At that point, it had the consistency of saw dust so we had to stop.

Our whole stay took 2.5 hours and Mark would have loved to stay longer if it weren’t for me literally falling asleep at the table. There just seemed to be unlimited sangria from that pitcher. Sad to say, we wasted two glasses of it since we had to drive home.

Overall, this was an awesome place. The rodizio that I hear about in NYC will typically cost you from $50-80 so this is definitely a steal by comparison. The service and hospitality is amazing and the rodizio is definitely worth the money, especially if you have the stomach for it. However, a dinner for two is still a splurge. Our dinner for two came out to roughly $110 including tip. Between the day before yesterday (Will brought me to a the NYC Food&Wine Show where I tasted over 20 wines in roughly two hours) and last night, I think I’m going to lay off the wine and the meat for awhile…

There was also a photographer who walked around during the night. He had one of those large old school polaroids and took people’s pictures for $7. A bit pricey, but we splurged, and I’m sure glad we did.

MENU
158 Fleming Avenue
Newark, NJ 07105-4008
(973) 589-4344

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