Mmmm... Oktoberfest III: Tokyo Drift

OK, so I'm now the proud owner of - count 'em - four growlers. There's my two original ones from the first Oktoberfest, plus the two new ones that I just impulse-purchased.

I've named the one on the left Jeannie because it reminds me of the genie bottle from "I Dream of Jeannie" and the one on the right is Gunther, for no particular reason. Gunther was $15 at New Beer Distributors, beer included. A steal, I say, a steal!

I made pretty much the same salads I made last year. Ben sort of stole the show with his homemade pretzels so I'm posting his notes in case anyone out there's feeling ambitious. (Sorry - it's too close to baking for me to attempt.)

Homemade Soft Pretzels

Here's the source recipe: foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe

Ben says: "It really wasn't all that hard (especially since I didn't sift the flour). It's probably more fun if you have an assembly line (one person rolls and shapes the dough, one person boils them, one person handles the egg wash and salt, etc.). And just so you know, they really don't last more than a day (the salt on the outside makes them gummy). The recipe for the mustard [sauce] was ridiculously easy and it lasts a while. I had so much extra that I found myself using it in most of my meals for the next month (cold meats, smoked fish, in a vinaigrette, etc.)"


And finally, for a laugh: theoatmeal.com/comics/beer

Pelikan

Occasion: Our first Swedish dinner!
Location: Pelikan on Blekingegatan in the Södermalm neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden - nearest T-bana stops are Medborgarplatsen and Skanstull (pelikan.se)
Edibles: salmon sampler to start, then we shared the Swedish meatballs and the pork knuckle - fläsklägg!! [It became my rallying cry for the rest of the trip.]

Musings: Bourdain had dinner here when he was in Stockholm, so we figured it was a safe bet. It's a pretty popular place and we had to wait about half an hour for a table. We sat outside with a beer and had some fun with a toy Papa Smurf that I'd gotten with my Happy Meal at JFK. You know, as you do.

By the way, I should note that it's extremely expensive to drink in Sweden. Our drafts were about $13. Each. [Postscript: At some point in our trip, I asked a local how Swedes can afford to get drunk. Apparently, it involves some serious pre-gaming.]

By the time we made it inside, we were pretty hungry. We started out with the salmon sampler, which featured three preparations - poached, smoked (almost like salmon jerky) and cured, with tartar sauce and pickled cucumbers. I liked the cured the best, but my only real complaint about the dish is that it wasn't bigger.

The mains were a split. Yining and I both found the Swedish meatballs pretty dry and flavorless, even with the gravy and lingonberry sauce.

The pork knuckle, on the other hand, was freaking fantastic. Really flavorful and cooked to a turn. It was served with some really pungent mustard and sauerkraut on the side. Really excellent. Fläsklägg!!

BXL East

Occasion: Another Tax Day under our belts! This clearly calls for beer....
Location: BXL on 51st between 2nd and 3rd (bxlcafe.com) [Note: There's another one on the west side on 43rd]
Edibles: moules à la Grand Mère (mussels with cream, onions and bacon)

Musings: With our tax returns zipping their way to the guvmint electronically, and our third annual Tax Day an official success, Yining and I headed out for some celebratory beer. Sadly, as we feared, Hofbrau Bierhaus has been completely overrun by obnoxious frat boys. We slunk out to find quieter environs.

We found BXL pleasantly deserted. Because we're suckers for a cute logo, I started with a Delerium and Yining, with La Chouffe. Man, those Belgian beers are strong! Halfway through my second Delerium, I decided that we needed some food or I'd be asleep in an hour. And, of course, nothing goes better with Belgian beer than moules frites.

The mussels were fantastic. I don't think I've ever had a cream-based mussel broth before, but it's AWESOME. (The bacon probably helped.) I was flat-out drinking it with a spoon towards the end. It's also great to dip your bread into, if you're not as willing as I am to be uncouth in public. Yum!

Villa del Pescadito

Occasion: Afternoon snack?
Location: Villa del Pescadito, Toledo 26 in Madrid, Spain
Edibles: fried sardines, fried shrimp, bread and ham

Musings: OK, so maybe sardines are not the most natural follow-up to chocolate con churros. But going to a sardine bar was pretty much my only to-do for this entire Madrid trip. So off we went. [Postscript: And wait until you see what came next!]

On our way there, we found ourselves in the middle of what we first thought was a parade, but turned out to be a labor protest. With all the unrest in north Africa, this made us a little nervous. But we ducked into Villa del Pescadito to wait it out, and the protest eventually moved on peacefully.

Villa del Pescadito is a tiny, narrow little bar with a number of seafood small plates on offer. We got my sardines - scooped out of a tub, raw, and floured and flash-fried by the proprietor's wife. We also got a plate of small head-on shrimp, likewise flash-fried. And, since it was a bar, some Mahou draft beers. (With every beer, you get a small round of bread with a sliver of ham.)

I know what you're thinking - wrong time of day. And it was. This is the type of snack you should really get at happy hour. But we had limited time in Madrid, and already had plans for the evening (the Prado + paella) so we went for it.

Food was tasty; it was fun. The place definitely had a neighborhood bar kind of feel. When we were there, the other patrons were some taciturn old guys - who were undoubtedly wondering what the hell those Asian chicks were up to.

[Postscript: The sardines are the likely culprit for my later bout of violent food poisoning. Which makes me sad, because I really did have a good time there. And also mad because, DAMMIT, I NEVER GET SICK when I travel. I had to miss out on three whole meals in Madrid! And I didn't really get my usual appetite back until almost a week later. What a waste!]

Hofbrau Bierhaus

Occasion: Another random food shenanigan with Yining
Location: Hofbrau Bierhaus on 3rd Ave between 44th and 45th, above the OTB (that detail is particularly delightful) (bierhausnyc.com)
Edibles: beet salad; sauerbraten; schnitzel with mushroom sauce; apple struedel

Musings: I think this place really has Hall of Fame potential. From the random location to the massive communal benches, the uber-cheesy waitress uniforms, the fried foods, the beer boots - I'm tickled by it all.

As it was a school night, I restrained myself and just got a 1L stein. Yining, showing even more restraint (or what a less generous soul might call wimpiness), got the half stein. See below - the big and the little. (Sort of like Mike and Gerald. Hee!)

I was more than happy with the food. The schnitzel was outstanding. Don't know if you need the mushroom sauce. The sides were also excellent and noteworthy - purple cabbage with just enough bite, a nice mellow cucumber salad, and a scoop of German potato salad.

The beet salad was massive - more than enough to share - and very tasty. If there was a weak link, it was the sauerbraten. The meat was tender enough, but it needed a few fat pinches of salt for flavor.

And who would walk away without some strudel? Not us. It was decent, but too cinnamon-y for me to really get into.

The homemade pretzels also looked good. (They're why all the tables are covered with salt.)

I'm definitely going to be back - that 2L boot and I have a date with destiny.

Mmmm... Oktoberfest, Part Deux

Same deal as last year. Lots of booze, lots of würsts from Schaller & Weber.

Two new salads this year. They went pretty quick - always a good sign for a debut recipe.

Potato and Macaroni Salad
(based on a Martha recipe)

boiled and halved fingerling potatoes
cooked and drained macaroni
sliced raw sugar snaps
lots of bacon bits

Dressing: Greek yogurt, olive oil, S&P

A slight tweak for this one: I wasn't crazy about the sugar snaps - the pea husks were a bit fibrous. I did like the color and the crunch, so I'll probably try snow peas next time.

Cucumber and Avocado Salad

cucumber
avocado
yellow and orange bell peppers
(all roughly chopped)

Dressing: red wine vinaigrette with lots of mustard

Nothing could be simpler. I'd never put these three things together but I think it worked out well. I think it'd be tasty with some toasted nuts sprinkled on top - maybe walnuts or pecans.

Tanzanian safari

Some food thoughts and images from Tanzania:

1) Salticrax. Heh heh. My former co-worker Eric wrote about it, and we found it!

It's surprisingly tasty, and goes great with an ice-cold Kili (see #2 below) and a half-melted chocolate bar dug out from the bottom of your bag. Our last "meal" in Tanzania.

2) Beer. Tanzanian beer is cheap and tasty. Peeled-off beer labels, which I pressed between the pages of my Lonely Planet, pictured below. We encountered three brands. Safari was the least noteworthy.

Serengeti was the strongest of the three, both in flavor and in alcohol content.

Kilimanjaro, which I would describe as a light-to-medium lager, ended up being our favorite. Our driver told us re Kilimanjaro: "If you can't climb it, drink it." We sure did drink it.

3) Food. We were mostly served Western food (meat and potatoes, pasta, etc.) so not too much to report from our regular meals. For lunch, we mostly had picnic boxes from whatever lodging we had departed from that morning. Hardboiled eggs, chocolate bars, rolls with cheese, samosas, etc. Incidentally, whenever there was a samosa, it was always the best item in the lunchbox. We did have one meal that seemed more like local cuisine than the others; it consisted of grilled chicken, beef stew, rice, hominy and beans, stewed plantains, a sort of coleslaw salad and a ball of polenta.

It really was a fantastic trip. Pictures of all the animals we saw - but did not eat - will be up on Facebook as soon as I cull through the 900+ pictures that Yining and I took.

Manolo

Occasion: Lunch in San Telmo
Location: Manolo Restaurant on Bolívar and Cochabamba in the San Telmo neighborhood of Buenos Aires
Edibles: a cold marinated eggplant dish and tortilla española for me; ham-and-cheese omelet for Elizabeth

Musings: Meh. Manolo is basically an Argentinean diner. Definitely not as nice as Time Out Buenos Aires would have you believe.

I sampled the local beer, Quilmes, which was pretty good. The eggplant needed salt but the slippery coolness of it was delightful after all the morning's running around. My tortilla española was huge, if clumsily made and overcooked.

Elizabeth's omelet, on the other hand, was so runny in the middle that a moat of uncooked egg formed at the edges of the plate. After I pointed out that it wasn't melted cheese, she freaked out, thinking she'd get food poisoning and be miserable on the flight home. (Thankfully, she was okay.)

I was a little grumpy that they said they had free WiFi, but it didn't work. I had to bum a password from a guy staying at the hostel next door. Ahh, the kindness of strangers...

[Whew! Finally caught up on Argentina posts.]

Resto

Occasion: Dinner with Ben
Location: Resto on 29th between Park and Lex (restonyc.com)
Edibles: frites with lime pickle sauce and smoked paprika sauce; tête de cochon sandwich with sriracha and pickled onions and carrots; lamb belly ribs for me; veal belly for Ben; waffle ice-cream sandwich for dessert

Musings: In my neighborhood, finding a nice bar is no mean feat. The blocks near me are cluttered with insufferable places like Merc Bar, Tonic and Joshua Tree, usually packed to the rafters with fratboy douchebags.

Resto is a much appreciated oasis. Like Back Forty, it's dim and casual, bustling but not too crowded or noisy, and patronized by adults. Ben and I lingered long after we were done with our food and drink, and the staff couldn't have been nicer about it.

I've always wanted to try the tête de cochon or pig's head. Ben, never one to turn down a culinary curiosity, was all for it. The sandwich that arrived was a bit of a surprise, but a yummy one. It was meaty and spicy, with a nice bite from the pickled vegetables. Sort of reminded me of abánh mi.

Whoever was manning the grill did a great job with the lamb ribs. They had a gorgeous, fragrant crust on them, and had more meat than I expected. My one quibble was that they were pretty fatty. Ben's veal belly was also really fatty, but I guess that what you get for ordering the cuts we did.

The waffle had a bit of a funny aftertaste, like undissolved baking powder or something. Once I slathered it with vanilla ice-cream, it was hardly noticeable. The few kitchen missteps aside, it was a fun evening. Ben, it was great catching up and I look forward to seeing your new place!

Back Forty

Occasion: Dinner with my girls, Abby and Elizabeth
Location: Back Forty on Avenue B at 12th (backfortynyc.com)
Edibles: for me, the chicken and pumpkin dumpling soup, followed by the pork jowl nuggets and a side of roasted brussels sprouts; Elizabeth started with the house cheese, then she and Abby shared the fregola "risotto" with pumpkin; we all shared the pecan pie for dessert

Musings: I was really excited to try dinner here. I'd been to Back Forty twice for drinks and I LOVE the atmosphere. [Note: On Monday, happy hour lasts all night. Beers are $3 and wines, $4.]

Back Forty doesn't take reservations, so we were directed to wait at the bar for a table. Thing is, when all the bar stools are taken, you're standing in a narrow corridor that leads to the kitchen. Where servers are coming and going non-stop with plates. After getting knocked around for 15 minutes (one of the waitresses, approaching from the back, mistook me for a hanging coat and actually shoved me out of the way), we retreated to the row of chairs in the first room. A much better place to wait if the bar is full.

The food had its ups and downs. The soup was awesome. The broth was very flavorful and loaded with tender vegetables and shreds of chicken; the pumpkin dumplings were light and silky. Also wonderful: the brussels sprouts, roasted with apples, maple syrup and cider vinegar.

The only weakness in my meal was the pork dish. The plate looked stingy, containing only three sugar-cube-sized breaded "nuggets," each topped with a parsley leaf. I bit into one and got a mouthful of liquid grease and a tiny sliver of meat I barely tasted. I dissected a second one to verify; I didn't eat it.

I had a nibble of Elizabeth's cheese which was a bit on the runny side, but I liked the fresh milkiness. A taste of the "risotto" revealed it to be tasty and well-seasoned, but not at all rich and creamy like you'd expect a real risotto to be. Bad naming aside, I think it was a good dish. The pecan pie really delivered - sweet and gooey, great flaky crust, rich vanilla ice-cream on the side.

A little exposition about my restaurant-reviewing criteria. First, last and most of all, it's about The Food. The food has to be great - fresh, tasty, made with care and consistently so. Nothing should come ready-made out of a bag, a can or the freezer; if there's some extenuating circumstance why something does, it sure as hell shouldn't taste like it. And a restaurant has to provide good value. The more expensive it is, the higher my expectations. To make the Hall of Fame, almost everything on the menu has to be good; it's not enough to have just one or two great meals that can be assembled if a guest knows to find the hidden gems.

On the food, I think Back Forty falls a little short. All of their mains hover around the $20 mark and there are an awful lot of restaurants out there that really shine at that price point. Ones that take reservations and are on subway lines.

Ambiance and service usually rate pretty low on my list of priorities. If the food is outstanding and easy on the wallet, I will put up with rude waiters who barely speak English, sit on a wobbly stool at a card table and bus my own dishes. On the flip side, no amount of trendy furniture or hot waiters can make up for mediocre food. Food and price being equal, I will go to the place with nicer décor (e.g., this is why I prefer BLT Steak to Sparks).

I give the ambiance at Back Forty full marks. It's dim and rustic, and the way the space is divided keeps the noise level conversation-friendly. Our server was very cheerful and chatty, and was nice enough to take the pork nuggets off the bill without being asked. I will certainly be back.... for drinks. On balance, I don't think the dinner experience is worth going out of your way, standing around for a table, and paying a good chunk of change.

Mmmm... Oktoberfest

Occasion: Oktoberfest party! Thanks to everyone who made it out (Mechan and Tony, Kathy and Ron, Mamie, Rachel W and Simon, Abby and Juice, Catherine and Don, Jill, Jana, Elizabeth, Marc, Ben and Rebecca, just to name a few), and to Yining for co-hosting it with me! I had tons of fun and will buy more sausages next time!

Edibles (and Potables): all sorts of beer and some wine; all sorts of würsts; portobello burgers for the vegetarians and non-pork eaters, poor darlings; red cabbage and sauerkraut; grilled zucchini with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; German potato salad; garbanzo bean and carrot salad; beet salad (Zabar's, contributed by Ben and Rebecca); s'mores for dessert

German Potato Salad*
(based on Ben's recipe/guidelines)

This recipe is basically 1) boil some potatoes; 2) dress with vinaigrette; 3) toss in some crunchies.

In slightly greater detail:

Boil a bunch of potatoes. If you use the red-skinned ones or Yukon golds or something similarly thin-skinned (i.e. not Russets), you don't even have to peel them. Obvs, they cook faster if you cut them. I like this potato salad quite chunky so I'd cut a fist-sized potato into about eight pieces. They're done when the tip of a paring knife will go through with no resistance. Drain.

Vinaigrette: The amount of dressing you will need will depend on how many potatoes you've got. This is the process; resize as appropriate. (Leftover dressing is very versatile - on leafy salads, as marinade, etc.) Dissolve salt in a splash of lemon juice or white wine vinegar. Add a dollop of mustard and grind in some fresh pepper. Whisk in olive oil slowly. I like about 2 parts oil to 1 part acid but you can go as high as 4 parts oil to 1 part acid if you like your dressings to be richer and less tart.

Dress the potatoes while they're hot - they seem to soak in the dressing better that way - but don't add the other ingredients below until the potatoes have cooled down significantly (otherwise you'll end up cooking them with the heat and lose the crunch and freshness).

Chop some fresh parsley, pickles, celery, shallot or red onion. I used all four but I think any two would be sufficient to add some interest. You can also substitute capers for the pickles, and any number of herbs (dill, cilantro, scallion) for the parsley. Add to cooled and dressed potatoes. Toss. Serve salad at room temperature.

This potato salad will hold up well at parties or on picnics, since it doesn't have any mayonnaise in it. (Though if you mix it vigorously enough, bits of potato will flake into the dressing and make it look like it does.)

*Note: My recipes are generally quite casual about things like measurements and ingredients. I think the great thing about cooking is that you can riff - add more of what you like, less of what you don't, etc. Making exactly the same thing every time is boring. (This is why I'm not a very good baker.)

Studio Square

Occasion: Beer garden revelry with Yining's friends
Location: Studio Square on 36th St near 36th Ave in Astoria (studiosquarenyc.com)
Edibles: a few pilfered fries [and two donuts (glazed and old-fashioned) from Dunkin' Donuts, conveniently across the street]

Musings: Sept. 19 - not done yet! This day just might be one for the history books. A meander-and-graze through Flushing, followed by an al fresco lobster feast at sunset, followed by donuts and beer? Doesn't get much better than that.

The beer garden area of Studio Square is huge, and bar is pretty slick and modern compared to the others I've been to. The crowd looked pretty innocuous when we got there but seemed to get a lot younger on average as the night wore on - the number of meathead guys and hoochie women increased exponentially after about 11:00.

Pitchers are $18 and there's a selection of about 20, foreigns and domestics. We drank a lot of the seasonal Oktoberfest offerings (by Sam Adams, Spaten, Hofbräu) and some Blue Moon. They appeared to serve a decent sausage but I was too full to try to bum a taste. For some strange reason, sushi was also on the menu. One of Yining's more reckless friends ordered some and deemed it so-so but edible.

Oh, and one more thing. The bathrooms are all self-contained stalls. While there's nominally one side for ladies and one for men, the attendant will call ladies over to the men's side when their line gets long. Equality in waiting for bathrooms - I like it!

Hop Devil Grill

Occasion: Joining Kathy and Ron for the last leg of their NY Craft Beer Week bar-a-thon
Location: Hop Devil Grill on St Marks at Ave A (hopdevil.com)
Edibles: Beer and burgers all around

Musings: Cheap! With my friends' beer passports (I know, what a concept), beers were $2 a pint. Burgers are half off on Sundays, so my bacon cheeseburger was $4.50 - and not half bad, either. Total for the table came out to a very sweet $22.

The other bar we went to, Back Forty on B at 12th, had a great vibe and was also pretty cheap - my pint was $5. I'd love to go back for dinner sometime.

Who knew Alphabet City had such a great bar scene?

New Beer Distributors

Location: Chrystie St between Delancey and Rivington (new-beer.com)

Yining and I set out with the intention of buying great quantities of beer. We planned to take our souvenir steins for a spin, you see, and it was clear that pouring bottle after bottle to fill a 1L receptacle just wasn't going to cut it.

In addition to a vast selection of snobby beers by the bottle, New Beer also has six beers on tap that you can get in 32 oz. (approx. 1L) and 64 oz. (approx. 2L) sizes. Of the six, five were various domestic brews and one was a Belgian import, at twice the price of the domestics. The empty 64 oz. glass jug (a "growler") will cost you $4, but it's yours to keep for the next time. They will also fill the growlers from Whole Foods and, presumably, any other conforming jugs you may have.

Incidentally, we went to Whole Foods to comparison-shop and, while the prices were comparable, New Beer had two advantages. First, they let you taste the beer - a distinct benefit when you are committing to litres of it at a time. Second, their caps are sturdier and higher quality. (Whole Foods will likewise fill New Beer containers, if you need a few extra selections.)

We went home with 2L of German-style Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner ($8) and 2L of Ommegang Witte Ale ($10), a Belgian-style white. An awesome afternoon/evening was had by all.

Mark your calendars - Oktoberfest party at my place!

Wilfie & Nell

Occasion: Drinks and some nibbles with Sylvia
Location: Wilfie & Nell on W 4th between 7 Ave South and W 10th St - it's a weird intersection (wilfieandnell.com)
Edibles: pulled pork sliders; grilled cheese sandwich; fries with malt vinegar

Musings: If only I could find a man as satisfying as these pulled pork sliders... Love at first bite and I'm still head over heels! They are SERIOUSLY delicious. The grilled cheese and the fries are also great, but the sliders are the real superstars.

With its selection of superb bar food and fancy beers, Wilfie & Nell is a real guy-friendly place. Good for a date, too - dim, charming but low-key, and with lots of nooks and crannies in the main room. And if you don't have a man... well, there's always those sliders.

Hallo Berlin

Occasion: Friday afternoon loafing with Yining
Location: Hallo Berlin on 10th Ave between 44th and 45th (halloberlinrestaurant.com)
Edibles: alpenwürst and bratwürst, each served on a crusty roll with sauerkraut, red cabbage, grilled onions and a slathering of mustard; a stein (0.5L) of Radeberger pils

Musings: Beer and sausages on a beautiful sunny day? Heaven.

The service and décor are nothing to write home about but the food is good and the beers are relatively cheap. It doesn't have a true beer garden - there are a few tables out front and a patio area in the back (though I've never managed to get seated there). The front is a bit noisy from the traffic but, on a nice day, you can watch the sunset.

I'll definitely be going back soon for a humpen (that's their 1L-size mug) and some wiener schnitzel.