On the road again

Last month, I went to Baltimore for work, and stayed a little while longer to hang out with friends and family.  Apart from the food at the workshop I was attending, which would be best described as “upscale dorm style/cafeteria food,” I ate very well. (Photos are posted below in gallery-style.)

First stop: lunch with EF at one of the few pho places in Baltimore, which happened to be about a block away from her house.  I was warned that the pho was “just so-so,” but after 3 days consuming the aforementioned cafeteria food, I was really craving some noodles and I wasn’t about to discriminate.  True, the rice noodles did taste a little factory-made, but the broth was good and so were the meatballs.  After lunch, we stopped by a newly opened vegan bakery for cupcakes.  The space had a cool industrial/art gallery vibe, and the guys running it were super nice.  This place wouldn’t have stood out in Berkeley or Brooklyn, but I should note that EF’s neighborhood is the very antithesis of Berkeley (i.e poor and black), and so it was really interesting to see a cheerful bakery brightening the urban landscape.

For dinner, EF, her boyfriend (now fiance… congrats, guys!), and I went to one of their favorite restaurants: The Brewer’s Art.  Delicious microbrewed beer and one of the best damn cheeseburgers I have ever had.  It was juicy, fresh, and cooked to perfection.  I also dug the dark interior of the basement, which in some ways made the food even more delicious, because I wasn’t expecting such good food to come out of a pseudo-divey place.

The next day, my sister treated EF and I to a sushi buffet lunch at Yuraku, which I’ve blogged about before, so I won’t belabor the point except to say it was great.

The feeding frenzy continued at a cozy dinner party at T&E’s.  T made chicken piccata from one of Giada’s cookbooks and served it over a bed of couscous.  She also made a fabulous salad of field greens with cherry tomatoes, candied pecans, and croutons (much like the one I daydreamed about previously).  I was very thankful that T graciously honored my request to serve the crumbled goat cheese on the side, instead of mixing it in with the salad.

Cheese-related aside: I know it’s probably very shocking to some of you, and in fact I myself am quite embarrassed, that I, as a foodie, do not like goat cheese. But alas, it’s true. Goat cheese makes me want to vomit. It is some sort of nasty byproduct of the Devil’s waste. Blech.

Anyway! Back to the tasty meal.  Dessert was a super delicous chocolate cake served a la mode.  After dinner, we worked off some calories with several hours of Wii Fit, which was mostly fun but occasionally embarrassing (especially the soccer ball heading task.  God, I suck at that.)

The next day was a blur, as I did my couch potato thing and watched about 10 hours of March Madness.  I sat on my sister’s new recliner and ate junk food all day: Costco pizza, chicken wings, and lemon meringue pie. It was awesomely indulgent, but I felt a little queasy after it was all over.

Finally, my last meal involved noodles (hooray!) and bubble tea from another branch of Asia Taste, which I blogged about before.  EF and I actually got to the place too early — the bubbles weren’t cooked yet, and it was going to be another 45 minutes.  So, we decided to eat our noodles and then order our bubble teas to go.  Despite my bubble tea fanaticism and our 6+ years of friendship, EF had never tried it before.  I don’t really blame her since she’s never lived anywhere with trustworthy bubble tea.  I mean, I wouldn’t touch bubble tea from Chapel Hill, NC with a 100 foot pole, no matter how desperate I am.  Anyway, so I think EF was really glad to hold on to her bubble tea virginity for as long as she did, because her first experience was a good one.  I was glad too, relieved that she was not frightened by the chewiness of the bubbles (or pearls), as many people are.  Success!

The “just ok” pho place near EF’s house in Baltimore.

A glass of fine beer at the Brewer’s Art

The Brewer’s Art Caesar salad — very unique presentation.

My perfectly-cooked, medium rare hamburger. SO delicious.

Cheese plate at T&E’s house

Chicken piccata

Fabulous homecooked meal: chicken piccata over couscous, with greens tossed in vinagrette.

Dessert at T&E’s: homemade double chocolate cake, served a la mode.

We should all hope to look this cute with food coming out of our mouths.

First bubble tea ever!

Oodles of Noodles

While I was in Maryland, my sister would ask me everyday what I wanted to eat for lunch.  The reply was always the same: noodles!  She took me to a couple of noodle places that were pretty solid.  The first place, Michaels Noodles, is right around the corner from my sister’s house.  We ordered fried noodles (sort of similar to lo mein) and Chinese rice cake “noodles”– what I refer to as the Chinese version of gnocchi.  For lunch noodle dishes, it was pricey (I think each dish was around $8 or $9), but the rice cakes were really flavorful and had great texture, without being too oily.

Our two noodle dishes, side by side, at Michaels Noodles.

The next day, we headed to China Taste.  My sister took me there so we could pick up some of the “tastiest fried chicken” (according to her and my brother-in-law).  Of course, I was excited because I love fried chicken.  Also, she said the two of us could probably share one bowl of noodle soup and leave with leftovers.  And all for $7.  I was very skeptical, but also extremely curious.  How big was this bowl of noodles?  Was it going to be Bigger Than My Head?  (Y’all know I’m obsessed with that…)  Well, the bowl came, and I was not disappointed.

This bowl of noodles was way bigger than my head!

The ginormous bowl of mushroom and pork noodle soup: Before.

The ginormous bowl of mushroom and pork noodle soup: After. Seriously.

The noodle soup was good, but not great.  However, for $7, it was a very good value considering it could feed a family of four.  We also ordered some aforementioned fried chicken, which was drenched in teriyaki sauce and pretty tasty, and the skin was carmelized and crunchy sweet.  As with the noodles, the chicken was also a good value (I don’t remember the exact prices, but it was very reasonable.)

They don't look super appetizing, but trust me when I say that this fried chicken was good!

"I'm gonna show this chicken who's boss!"

I raku, Yuraku

When I was in Maryland, my family took me to Yuraku, a sushi place they said was tasty and very reasonable price-wise.  Always the skeptic, and spoiled by the quality of fine sushi in the Bay Area, I put on my judgey mcjudgey pants to see if they were right.

It was a Saturday night, so of course there was a wait, but that was a good sign nonetheless.  After we ordered, they gave us free appetizers, such as grilled fish head (tastier than it sounds) and steamed egg (aka chawanmushi).

Grilled fish head. The cheek meat is very delicate and sweet.

Chawanmushi (steamed egg). A little spartan and not the best I've had, but it was free.

When it comes to sushi, there are a few criteria I use to judge whether a restaurant is good.  First, the quality/freshness of the seaweed (nori) is important if often overlooked.  Fresh seaweed should be crisp, not chewy.  Second, in nigiri (sliced fish over rice), the fish-to-rice ratio is crucial.  Traditionally, it should be a 4:1 ratio but that’s hard to find in the States.  I’m pretty happy with 2.5 or 3:1 ratio.  Third, the place should have a sushi bar where customers can sit and watch the sushi get made.  I’m especially impartial to small places with less than 10 tables, maybe because it implies quality over quantity.  Sushi places get bonus points if the California roll is made with real crab meat instead of imitation crab meat, and also if the ginger and/or wasabi are not neon in color.  (Ginger should be a pale pink or yellow; wasabi should be more mustard yellow than green.)

California rolls, Eel and avocado roll, Spider roll, Eel nigiri, Salmon nigiri, and Yellowtail nigiri

Dragon roll (just looking at the generous slices of avocado makes my mouth water...)

Like my sister said, Yuraku was indeed a good place offering good value.  The nigiri fish-to-rice ratio was decent (maybe 2+:1), the fish was fresh, and the rolls were delicious.  Yuraku didn’t score any bonus points, but for the five of us (3 adults, one 10 year-old, and one toddler), the bill came out to a little over $50 (sushi plus one large beer), which was very reasonable.  So, if you find yourself in Germantown, Maryland craving sushi, I’d highly recommend Yuraku.