Yes, pie would have been the obvious choice, but it's been done. Plus we had extra cupcakes lying around.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Pi Day
03.14: Another mathematical holiday inspires even greater culinary heights. Happy Pi Day!
Yes, pie would have been the obvious choice, but it's been done. Plus we had extra cupcakes lying around.
Yes, pie would have been the obvious choice, but it's been done. Plus we had extra cupcakes lying around.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday Lunch at The Other Fish
I absolutely love this hole-in-the-wall sushi joint, and wish there were more places like it. The tiny, cramped interior features just a handful of two-tops, a table for four and about 10 seats along the counter, which itself overlooks a narrow kitchen running the length of the room. There's so little space, in fact, that the Christmas tree has been irreverently hung upside down from the ceiling. It's a fun place to hang out. Friendly diners and staff bump into one another, and having the kitchen right there in the main room fills the space with delicious smells of miso, sizzling tempura and grilled teriyaki delights.
Incidentally, The Other Fish also makes some really decent sushi. We've been there about 4 times now and always enjoy what we get. It costs a tad more than we were used to paying when we craved speedy sushi in times gone by, but I suspect that's inevitable when you move from a city where there were 8 competing sushi restaurants on your block alone.
But back to the food... Over the past few months we've tried the edamame, agedashi tofu, several varieties of maki rolls, udon noodles, and gyoza. Finally, last Friday we put in our first lunch time visit, when P had the california roll lunch and I had the tuna roll lunch. Not particularly exotic choices, but tasty. The rolls were well-crafted and we were happy to find that the cucumber was cut into thin, precise strips, not the clumsy chunks of lazier chefs .
The accompanying miso soup was steaming hot, rich and flavorful, with plenty of silken tofu, green onions and seaweed (wakame?) floating about.
Service is always friendly and relaxed. I believe that they do deliver takeout orders - at least at certain times of day - but watching the chef work his magic from your own small space at the counter is strangely soothing; a reminder of sushi past and a promise of sushi to come. We'll be going back in person.
The Other Fish
59 E. Broad St.
Bethlehem
(484) 821-1370
Incidentally, The Other Fish also makes some really decent sushi. We've been there about 4 times now and always enjoy what we get. It costs a tad more than we were used to paying when we craved speedy sushi in times gone by, but I suspect that's inevitable when you move from a city where there were 8 competing sushi restaurants on your block alone.
But back to the food... Over the past few months we've tried the edamame, agedashi tofu, several varieties of maki rolls, udon noodles, and gyoza. Finally, last Friday we put in our first lunch time visit, when P had the california roll lunch and I had the tuna roll lunch. Not particularly exotic choices, but tasty. The rolls were well-crafted and we were happy to find that the cucumber was cut into thin, precise strips, not the clumsy chunks of lazier chefs .
The accompanying miso soup was steaming hot, rich and flavorful, with plenty of silken tofu, green onions and seaweed (wakame?) floating about.
Service is always friendly and relaxed. I believe that they do deliver takeout orders - at least at certain times of day - but watching the chef work his magic from your own small space at the counter is strangely soothing; a reminder of sushi past and a promise of sushi to come. We'll be going back in person.The Other Fish
59 E. Broad St.
Bethlehem
(484) 821-1370
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Happy Square Root Day!
03/03/09 is Square Root day! According to the AP, this holiday, which occurs 9 times per century, inspires many to new culinary heights: "Some cut root vegetables into squares, others make food in the shape of a square root symbol".
Delicious, educational, and not at all geeky.
Delicious, educational, and not at all geeky.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Wild times at the White Orchid
Before I share my thoughts on dinner, I would just like to say that Mr. P and I accidentally spent $88 on dinner at White Orchid tonight. A story of a Sunday night casual outing turned grocery-money-for-the-week.
We should have suspected. We should have known better. "Wow, we should order the Big Orchid family dinner, it's only $35 bucks for four - it won't be that much more for 6 people. What a deal!" Like taking candy from a baby...what kind of crazy restaurant would practically give away food? How could five uber-intelligent people could possibly have all had the same misled thought, I have no idea. The description was probably vague, but White Orchid is not a place you go for cheap food, so it was all the more unlikely that such a deal would even exist. The number of choices should have signaled us: 3 appetizers, 1 soup or salad, 2 entrees, 2 chef specials (including fresh market-price fish), and 3 desserts; but I guess we were too caught up in our delusion to notice. Anyhow, enough complaining about the cost. What's done is done, and we all learned our lesson - there's no such thing as practically free food.
Onto the review:
Dinner for six was ridiculously large, and the food just seemed to keep on coming. Our appetizers arrived first: crispy corn fritters, cabbage and carrot-filled golden spring rolls (seasoned heavily with black pepper), and tender grilled chicken satay served with a peanut coconut sauce and a strange, watery clear sweet syrup with bits of vegetable floating in it. Tofu lemongrass soup arrived shortly after, loaded with mushrooms, tiny tomato halves, and firm tofu cubes. Though a little on the luke-warm side, it was nonetheless tasty, spicy and delicious. Perhaps a tad sweet, but not a big deal.
With our appetites more or less sated, the onslaught of entrees that followed overwhelmed us. Steaming hot, garlicky, sweet-roasted salmon had enough minced garlic on it to keep away a coven of vampires - I would guess we were served about two 10 oz portions. It was a little more done than I'd have liked, but was still completely moist. Two large plates of veggie Pad Thai with ground peanuts and tofu were not bad at all; rice noodles were properly cooked and well-seasoned; though, again, on the sweet side. Spicy basil stir-fry with veggies and tofu was fragrant and appropriately saucy (great over rice!). The Pineapple curried duck had a delicious thick coconut sauce and lots of veggies, but slices of duck were a little stingy. A suggestion to the chef: please remove fatty duck skin - it should never be eaten unless it is crisp. Garnishes were strangely inconsistent, with some dishes decked out in orange slices, lettuce leaves and other dishes looking plain naked. Strangely, we also received two small dishes of raw vegetables that looked a bit dehydrated. A pickle maybe? It was unclear what we were supposed to do with them, so they ended up going home in the take out containers.
To finish the meal, we sampled the golden bananas with ice cream, two 2-inch segments of banana deep-fried in a prettily wrapped wonton skin. Others in our group had the pumpkin creme brulee and carrot cake, neither of which I sampled, but looked fairly generic and probably tasted fine.
Our service was okay, but not particularly impressive. Though our water glasses were conscientiously refilled by busboys, our server's somewhat grumpy manner was a bit off-putting. Let's just say I didn't think the automatically included 20% gratuity was necessarily warranted. All in all, we had a pretty decent meal, but I think the unexpected high-ticket price made for a more disappointing experience. This was our third meal at White Orchid, and on two other occasions we enjoyed ourselves quite well. Just remember: avoid the temptation of the family-style dinner, and stick to ordering a quantity you will actually finish. Your wallet and your tummy will be happier this way.
(Sorry about the lack of pictures in this post - I promise to take photos next time. You have to admit though, it's a bit embarassing to pull out the camera when you're dining with a large group of people you are just getting to know)
White Orchid
The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley
2985 Center Valley Parkway, Suite 200
Center Valley, PA 18034
Phone: (610) 841-7499
Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00AM - 9:00PM
Sun 11:00AM - 8:00PM
We should have suspected. We should have known better. "Wow, we should order the Big Orchid family dinner, it's only $35 bucks for four - it won't be that much more for 6 people. What a deal!" Like taking candy from a baby...what kind of crazy restaurant would practically give away food? How could five uber-intelligent people could possibly have all had the same misled thought, I have no idea. The description was probably vague, but White Orchid is not a place you go for cheap food, so it was all the more unlikely that such a deal would even exist. The number of choices should have signaled us: 3 appetizers, 1 soup or salad, 2 entrees, 2 chef specials (including fresh market-price fish), and 3 desserts; but I guess we were too caught up in our delusion to notice. Anyhow, enough complaining about the cost. What's done is done, and we all learned our lesson - there's no such thing as practically free food.
Onto the review:
Dinner for six was ridiculously large, and the food just seemed to keep on coming. Our appetizers arrived first: crispy corn fritters, cabbage and carrot-filled golden spring rolls (seasoned heavily with black pepper), and tender grilled chicken satay served with a peanut coconut sauce and a strange, watery clear sweet syrup with bits of vegetable floating in it. Tofu lemongrass soup arrived shortly after, loaded with mushrooms, tiny tomato halves, and firm tofu cubes. Though a little on the luke-warm side, it was nonetheless tasty, spicy and delicious. Perhaps a tad sweet, but not a big deal.
With our appetites more or less sated, the onslaught of entrees that followed overwhelmed us. Steaming hot, garlicky, sweet-roasted salmon had enough minced garlic on it to keep away a coven of vampires - I would guess we were served about two 10 oz portions. It was a little more done than I'd have liked, but was still completely moist. Two large plates of veggie Pad Thai with ground peanuts and tofu were not bad at all; rice noodles were properly cooked and well-seasoned; though, again, on the sweet side. Spicy basil stir-fry with veggies and tofu was fragrant and appropriately saucy (great over rice!). The Pineapple curried duck had a delicious thick coconut sauce and lots of veggies, but slices of duck were a little stingy. A suggestion to the chef: please remove fatty duck skin - it should never be eaten unless it is crisp. Garnishes were strangely inconsistent, with some dishes decked out in orange slices, lettuce leaves and other dishes looking plain naked. Strangely, we also received two small dishes of raw vegetables that looked a bit dehydrated. A pickle maybe? It was unclear what we were supposed to do with them, so they ended up going home in the take out containers.
To finish the meal, we sampled the golden bananas with ice cream, two 2-inch segments of banana deep-fried in a prettily wrapped wonton skin. Others in our group had the pumpkin creme brulee and carrot cake, neither of which I sampled, but looked fairly generic and probably tasted fine.
Our service was okay, but not particularly impressive. Though our water glasses were conscientiously refilled by busboys, our server's somewhat grumpy manner was a bit off-putting. Let's just say I didn't think the automatically included 20% gratuity was necessarily warranted. All in all, we had a pretty decent meal, but I think the unexpected high-ticket price made for a more disappointing experience. This was our third meal at White Orchid, and on two other occasions we enjoyed ourselves quite well. Just remember: avoid the temptation of the family-style dinner, and stick to ordering a quantity you will actually finish. Your wallet and your tummy will be happier this way.
(Sorry about the lack of pictures in this post - I promise to take photos next time. You have to admit though, it's a bit embarassing to pull out the camera when you're dining with a large group of people you are just getting to know)
White Orchid
The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley
2985 Center Valley Parkway, Suite 200
Center Valley, PA 18034
Phone: (610) 841-7499
Hours: Mon-Sat 11:00AM - 9:00PM
Sun 11:00AM - 8:00PM
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Friday Fish and Chips
Like bad dieters (but good Catholics) we indulged in a treat we’ve been putting off for a while: Friday fish and chips at McCarthy’s Tea Room in Bethlehem. These fish, haddock to be precise, elicit high praise around the area, and locals have on several occasions recommended them as good dinner companions of a week’s end. And thus, with Spring Break (if not spring itself) upon us and in the mood to celebrate, we made our way to McCarthy’s and requested a table for two.
McCarthy’s is attached to the back of a shop (or perhaps more accurately a shoppe) selling strange and expensive Irish wares. Rarely in the market for a knarled walking stick or a tartan (aren’t they Scottish anyway?), this is not precisely our cup of tea. Nevertheless, we have on several occasions navigated our way through the horrors of the shoppe to the pleasant little room at the back, where they do in fact serve cups of precisely that. The menu lists a wide-variety of teas to be brewed in one of the many colorful teapots adorning the wall behind the glass counter, itself adorned with plates of scones and other treats. Unfailingly boring when it comes to tea, we haven’t ventured beyond a fairly ordinary black tea, but rest assured that there are plenty of options for the more adventurous.
In any case, we digress because on Friday nights this room, by day a den of cozily-ensconced tea drinkers, turns into a den of cozily-ensconced fried fish eaters. We had been warned that the portions were more in the American than the British tradition (read generous or gluttonous as you will), and thus decided to split an order, served with a small salad. Like most every small restaurant in this peculiar state, McCarthy’s has a BYOB policy. We have not yet grown accustomed to this oddity and neglected to bring our beverages with us. As a result, we also ordered a round of sparkling Ribena (a blackcurrant flavored drink of British extraction).
The meal progressed as follows:
First the Ribena arrived. Next time I will remember to bring a hip flask - funnily enough, available for sale at the adjoining shoppe. Now if only they could sell the necessary contents.
Then the small salad, accompanied by a small eggcup shaped ramekin of excellent balsamic dressing. P commented that it was almost as good as his dressing (a proud family secret). C responded in a suspiciously cooing voice that it was “mm, sweeter”. Justifiably offended, P ate C’s tomato.
Finally, the haddock. Dipped in delicious beer batter, fried in sizzling oil and served in a paper cone. Batter to fish ratio just about perfect. Fish moist and flaky with perhaps a little more bounce under the tooth than C prefers, but all in all quite wonderful, especially when dunked in the accompanying dill-infused tartar sauce. Underneath, a nest of wedge fries, well salted. Spurned family secrets and stolen tomatoes forgotten, we devoured.
The portion as it turned out wasn’t enormous, and we would certainly have continued gorging had more been available. In an appropriately Lenten spirit, however, we restrained ourselves from ordering seconds and settled our account as an operatic waitress unleashed a remarkable voice.
McCarthy’s Tea Room, 534 Main St., Bethlehem, PA
Price = $11.99 per fish and chips with small side salad.
McCarthy’s is attached to the back of a shop (or perhaps more accurately a shoppe) selling strange and expensive Irish wares. Rarely in the market for a knarled walking stick or a tartan (aren’t they Scottish anyway?), this is not precisely our cup of tea. Nevertheless, we have on several occasions navigated our way through the horrors of the shoppe to the pleasant little room at the back, where they do in fact serve cups of precisely that. The menu lists a wide-variety of teas to be brewed in one of the many colorful teapots adorning the wall behind the glass counter, itself adorned with plates of scones and other treats. Unfailingly boring when it comes to tea, we haven’t ventured beyond a fairly ordinary black tea, but rest assured that there are plenty of options for the more adventurous.In any case, we digress because on Friday nights this room, by day a den of cozily-ensconced tea drinkers, turns into a den of cozily-ensconced fried fish eaters. We had been warned that the portions were more in the American than the British tradition (read generous or gluttonous as you will), and thus decided to split an order, served with a small salad. Like most every small restaurant in this peculiar state, McCarthy’s has a BYOB policy. We have not yet grown accustomed to this oddity and neglected to bring our beverages with us. As a result, we also ordered a round of sparkling Ribena (a blackcurrant flavored drink of British extraction).
The meal progressed as follows:First the Ribena arrived. Next time I will remember to bring a hip flask - funnily enough, available for sale at the adjoining shoppe. Now if only they could sell the necessary contents.
Then the small salad, accompanied by a small eggcup shaped ramekin of excellent balsamic dressing. P commented that it was almost as good as his dressing (a proud family secret). C responded in a suspiciously cooing voice that it was “mm, sweeter”. Justifiably offended, P ate C’s tomato.
Finally, the haddock. Dipped in delicious beer batter, fried in sizzling oil and served in a paper cone. Batter to fish ratio just about perfect. Fish moist and flaky with perhaps a little more bounce under the tooth than C prefers, but all in all quite wonderful, especially when dunked in the accompanying dill-infused tartar sauce. Underneath, a nest of wedge fries, well salted. Spurned family secrets and stolen tomatoes forgotten, we devoured.
The portion as it turned out wasn’t enormous, and we would certainly have continued gorging had more been available. In an appropriately Lenten spirit, however, we restrained ourselves from ordering seconds and settled our account as an operatic waitress unleashed a remarkable voice.McCarthy’s Tea Room, 534 Main St., Bethlehem, PA
Price = $11.99 per fish and chips with small side salad.
Bethlehem Restaurant Week
For those of you who haven't heard, Bethlehem is celebrating Restaurant Week this week, starting today and running until Saturday, March 7. There are about 20-odd restaurants participating in the event, each one offering a prix-fixe menu for lunch and/or dinner. Lunches go for $5-10, and dinners $20-30, not including taxes and tip.
It's a great way to try some of the places you've been curious about and not breaking the bank. We'll be dining at the Apollo Grill, the Other Fish, and maybe a lunch option as well...food bloggers need material to write about after all!
Go to the website for more details, get some friends together for a date, and make your reservations soon!
It's a great way to try some of the places you've been curious about and not breaking the bank. We'll be dining at the Apollo Grill, the Other Fish, and maybe a lunch option as well...food bloggers need material to write about after all!
Go to the website for more details, get some friends together for a date, and make your reservations soon!
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