Restaurant Review: Pub and Kitchen - Philadelphia

Last weekend I came home to pack some things that need to come back to NYC and had a date with K at a restaurant he used to work at, Pub and Kitchen. This was the second time I've been there, but the only time I ate--the first time I went when he still worked there for the free drinks. What?! I'm no sucker.


Anyway, I've been looking forward to trying P&K since he's been raving about it for over two years. Seriously. No food is so good you talk about it for TWO years. Well, almost none.


Anyway, I digress. As many of you have most likely gathered, we're fatasses. And although we're not boyfriend and girlfriend now, we've dated for so long we still act like we are...and share food. So of course the first question was what appetizers we were sharing! K was having some serious decision difficulties for both apps and his main--he kept going back and forth between the salmon and the mussels. So...duh!...I ordered the mussels for an appetizer. This is a trick that my uncle (RIP, I miss you everyday) taught my family in St. Maarten. Every single time we got to a restaurant, my uncle would order a full-size pizza (it's a french island and wood burning ovens cranking out margherita pizzas were literally everywhere) as a "taste". So I come by ordering main courses as appetizers by genetics. Kind of. We werent actually blood since he was married to my mum's sister, but whatever. Genetics. Count it.

The mussels were awesome. Although K gave up liquor for Lent and apparently forgot that the mussels are cooked in beer...I was hoping that meant that I'd get them all (muhaha) but, alas, it didnt. Anyway, the mussels were Blue Bays steamed in a lager with spiced lamb sausage and served with fries. The fries were pretty banging too, but the mussels were amazing. I'm a sucker for a good mussel.

I let K order for me and he ordered "The Churchill". The Churchill is a Pat LaFrieda burger, which is custom blended for P&K, served with sauteed onions and (more) fries. It was...good. I'll be honest, it was probably better than I think, but I live in NYC and don't think Pat LaFrieda burgers are anything special since every Tom Dick and Harry restaurant has them. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of burgers...or meat in general, since I was a pescetarian for years and have only recently started to re-eat meat, and only when I'm at restaurants. I wanted to love it...but I didnt. If you're a burger guru though, I'd place the bet that you would really like it.

K's meal, on the other hand, was banging. Should have ordered the fish...*sigh*. He ordered that night's special, which was pan seared striped bass with crispy skin over mashed potatoes. It was awesome. I would have forced him to trade, as I often do, except he's more religious than I am and couldn't eat meat since it was a Friday. Instead, I'm sure he went home starving, but my selfish instincts were kicking in (that and he ordered the burger for me, so it was his own fault!)

Overall, I really liked pub & kitchen. If he were to ask me on a date, I would go again. I don't think I would go by myself or with my fam though. You wouldnt have to twist my arm to get me to return though. But, if I do, I'm going to stick with the fish...

To learn more about Pub & Kitchen, and the famous pabbit in their logo, visit thepubandkitchen.com. [however, the website is USELESS, which makes me dislike the restaurant a little bit to start...if you'd like a menu, check out the philadelphia menupages, it's on there.] If you're a Philadelphian, you can find the restaurant at 1946 Lombard Street.

NY Wine Expo

This weekend was girls weekend with my mum, which of course means...wine!!! We went to the NY Wine Expo for the second year in a row. I highly recommend attending next year--it is always the last weekend in February or the first in March. It brings wines from all over the world (France, Italy, Greece, Crete, South Africa, New Zealand, and on and on) and brings thousands!!!


This year was much better than last. It was in a different area of the Javit Convention Center which was much more conducive to the expo, and also offered food! Last year there was only an avocado trucks serving amuse bouches and I felt bad for the workers--each time a tray came out they were bum rushed! This year they had tastings besides wine, including olive oil (got some of that! It will be highlighted on seasaltnpepa.blogspot.com in my Fave Products post this week), cheeses, foie gras, etc. and had things on sale like knives, wine accessories, and kitchen supplies.


The Grand Tastings, which we attend, are four hours. I highly recommend the Saturday mid-afternoon one. Although I recommend taking a nap afterwards!!!


Below are the labels I took pictures of while there...aka my favorites!

Restaurant Review: Crema

Last week my best friend from high school came to NYC for the weekend. She works at ESPN (yeah boys, jealous?) and was working a game at Madison Square Garden in the morning, so me, her and her friend from college all met up to have dinner. Since she was staying near MSG and I work in the flatiron, we made reservations at Crema, a Mexican restaurant on W 17th.


K and J got to the restaurant about an early and sat at the bar and had some margaritas. I arrived about 20 minutes later and had a glass of wine. We had 9 p.m. reservations and we were sat at literally 9:00 on the dot. Now we all know how much I adore restaurants that seat you on time, but when we're there an hour early, I'd think they could have sat us a little before 9:00. BUT I was very happy that we were sat on time.


Obviously the first thing we got was guacamole. We were at a mexican cucina. It's pretty much law that you get guac. And it was a very good rendition, although being the snob that I am, I much prefer when they make the guacamole tableside. But the kitchen is open so that offset the lack of tableside creations. And the place was pretty packed. If someone was making guac tableside, I feel like they would have gotten bumped ALOT. But I still like it better when they do that.

Since it was a Friday during Lent, none of us could eat meat. K got the massive creation that is shown above, called the Plato Vegetarian, or basically the chef's choice of vegetarian items. It came with rice, beans, a salad and two vegetarian enchiladas.

J and I both ordered the "Callo de Hacha con Chile Morita y Mango". I don't speak Spanish though, so translation being dry scallops pan seared in chile morita, sweet corn cake, avocado mousse, mango pico de gallo and chipotle aioli. The scallops were bay scallops when I expected sea, and were a little overcooked and rubbery but the corn cakes were amazing. And the chipotle aioli was also delicious. If I went again would I order it? No. But I didn't hate that it was in front of me and I did some damage to the corn cakes and mango salsa.


All in all, it was a fabulous dinner, but much of that was the company I was in. Sometimes you leave dinners thinking OMG that was a great dinner, the food was so good. This time I left thinking that was a great dinner, I had so much fun...what did I eat again?


With that in mind...Crema is a great option since I work about 8 blocks away. I'd go back again. If I suddenly switched jobs and didnt work so close would I ever go to it again? Absolutely not. In fact, I probably wouldnt even remember it was there...


If you want to try your hand at some crema, which is a Mexican fresh cream, head over to 111 W 17th St, between sixth and seventh aves, and find it online at cremarestaurante.com.

Quick Pics

Hi lovely readers! I'm testing out a new type of post--one where I simply post pictures of what I've been eating recently. I don't always cook such marvelous meals as what I post on here; in fact, that only happens a couple of times a week. And the really fancy ones are only when I have guests...or too much time on a Sunday. So I'm going to start posting pictures of the simple things I've been eating with a short blurb about how to make them.

NY Strip Steak

Dont worry, I didn't eat it raw! This is the before. I cooked it on the stove top on high to give the outside a nice crust (after putting salt and pepper on from grinders). I then finished it in the oven at 350F. I like mine rare, so it only takes about 10. After 10 minutes...

Ta da!

I served my steak with mashed potatoes (not going to lie, they're the kind that comes refrigerated in the grocery store) and roasted asparagus. It took the asparagus longer to cook than the steak!

Summer tomato salad

This week I was having a serious summer craving as the temperatures in New York reached 65F! (who says global warming isnt happening?) So I made one of our staples from down the shore, a tomato salad. All you do is slice a tomato, cut up a red onion, add some olive oil and balsamic and mix! You can also add mozzarella or avocado, but I wanted a light app for my meal.

Pesto salmon

Last week I made pesto (which I'll be doing a post on when I have time since it's my FAVORITE thing to make) and have since put it on everything. Seriously. One night I decided to slather some on top of a piece of salmon and bake it in the oven. It took only about 20 minutes to have a delicious dinner!


Thoughts on quick pics? Do we like? Do we think it's a waste?

Pork Tenderloin with Fruit Salsa

This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing my cousins, who have lived in North Carolina for FOREVER but are looking at houses 30-45 minutes away from my parents!


I was home for the weekend for my brother's birthday. We went to the always fabulous Philadelphia french bistro Parc. My mom then requested that I cook dinner for my parents and cousins, as a home cooked meal when you're staying in a hotel is always nice. Since I go out to eat every chance I get, I'm not positive how true that statement is, but her second one "just think, you can do something fancy and blog about it" really caught my attention. Way to know how to work me mom...


We went to a farmer's market near my parents, which has the best Amish meat stand. The pork tenderloin looked especially delicious, so we picked up a few of those and I decided to pair that with fruit salsa. It was absolutely delicious and, if I do say so myself, perfect for family as everything could be done ahead of time and it looked very classy!


Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Fruit Salsa

Ingredients:


Pork tenderloins (we used 3 and had leftovers)
Fresh fruit, including strawberries, watermelon, canteloupe, pineapple and kiwiCilantro
Marinade--I used this one
Salt and pepper


Directions:


1. Marinate your pork...obviously! Try to choose a marinade with some acid, specifically citrus, to it makes your meat nice and tender. I marinated our tenderloins for about an hour and a half.

2. Next, make your fruit salsa--it's very VERY simple. All you do is mince all of your fruit, chop a bit of cilantro, and mix it all together. Make sure to do this ahead of time, so the juice of the fruit has time to really collect. It's absolutely delicious, especially if you serve the pork with rice like I did.

3. Cook your pork! If it was summer, we absolutely would have grilled our tenderloins but, since it was periodically snowing throughout the day, I thought it would be harsh to do that to my dad (that's love right there). Instead, I cooked it in the oven. I set the temperature to 450F when it was heating up, and lowered to 375F to cook. It took about 30 minutes to cook--if you can't tell when your meat is cooked using the poke trick with your finger, use a meat thermometer. The meat should reach an internal temp around 140F. Or you can always cut the meat to see if it is cooked through. Since this pork will be sliced, no one will notice!

4. Make your sides! I did jasmati rice (seriously, its my fave!) and haricots verts.


5. When the pork is done, slice and serve on a platter with the fruit salsa in the middle, as seen above! It looks gorgeous and no one will know how easy it was! I got tons of compliments from my cousins and I'm sure you'll get high praise from your family and guest as well.




Final plate...

Sole Rolls with Spinach and Lemon

Lately, I've been working on expanding my fish recipes list. For years, I would eat fish four days a week...and by fish, I mean salmon. I bought about eight different kinds of marinades (my favorites being whole foods brand and Lawry's), would buy a piece of salmon (4-6 oz., center-cut please), marinate it for 30 minutes, stick it the oven and eat. Generally with broccoli and asparagus. Asparagus done in the oven on the same pan as the salmon, broccoli steamed in the microwave.


Do you know how boring eating marinated salmon, broccoli and asparagus every day is? I used to consider it exciting when I added couscous or rice pilaf. Thrilling, right?


So I've decided to expand my horizons. And where else to turn beside my beloved Martha Stewart? Her website offers numerous seafood recipes (made her mussels mueniere recipe on Wednesday, but my camera is on the fritz so I have no pictures--this recipe was photographed using my iPhone, so apologies if they're not up to snuff) and I decided to alter this one that looked delish.


Sole Rolls with Spinach and Lemon

Ingredients


1 teaspoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
3/4 pound spinach, stems removed
1 large lemon, washed
4 fillets (4 ounces each) sole (I used gray sole, which is one of my faves and way more affordable than Dover)
1/4 cup dry white wine
Salt and pepper


Directions


1. Preheat oven to 400F. 

2. In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced shallot, constantly stirring--it's just as easy to burn shallot as garlic, so keep an eye on it. When the shallot is cooked, add the spinach, salt and pepper. Toss the spinach constantly and cook until bright green and not completely wilted - it will cook more later. Transfer to a colander and squeeze the liquid out; chop and squeeze some more. As this is a roll, you don't want the spinach to be soaked or the fish will be gross.

3. Lay fish flat on your work surface; place one part of the spinach and roll, enclosing the spinach within the fish. Cover a pan with sides (a gratin dish, if you want to get fancy) with tin foil. Place the fish rolls on and top with lemon slices. Pour wine and a little bit of olive oil on top. Then place a second piece of foil on top, so that the fish steams. Bake until fish is opaque, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

I had my sole rolls with broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes. By the way, sweet potatoes are supposed to be healthier than regular white potatoes, but with the amount of butter I put on them, I don't think they are. Oh well, I'm trying...

Restaurant Review: Verdad - Bryn Mawr, PA

This past weekend I went home to visit my parents. The beautiful thing about visiting my parents is that I dont have to pay for food. Well, hold on...they read this blog. The BEST PART of visiting my parents is obviously seeing my parents cause they're fabulous people. A part that is wonderful but not needed because just seeing them is amazing (Hi mom and dad!) is that I dont have to pay for food. And since I take a train home on Friday afternoons and don't get in until after 8 or 9, we inevitably go out to dinner on Friday. The only bad thing about this set-up is that the two of them eat like rabbits, whereas I'm the grizzly who eats everything anyone puts in front of me. *sigh*

Verdad is a tequila bar and restaurant located in Bryn Mawr, PA, which is a suburb of Philadelphia and about 2 minutes from Villanova. It serves tapas style so it gives me the fabulous opportunity to try multiple entrees and almost makes my parents look like they eat like normal human beings, i.e. they each order their own plate rather than splitting. Yes, my parents normally split ONE entree. No I do not know how they survive on such little food. Or how my dad survives on these alone when my mom isnt home. But I digress.

Freddi being a good sport and letting me take pics of her food. HI MOM!

The first plate to hit our table was my mom's soup of the day, which was a deconstructed tortilla soup. It was...odd. Really odd. It was like a big ravioli in tomato-ish sauce, filed with chicken and cheese and topped with avocado. It was good. Just weird. I'm not sure I'd order it again but my mom chowed down, so I think it's safe to say they won someone at our table over.

Half-eaten calamari. My bad...it was delish and I was hungry. 

Next to arrive was my fried calamari. The calamari was served with red peppers, adobe sauce and garlic aioli. I made the bold statement after I took the first bite that this was the best fried calamari I ever had, and a week plus later I still agree with that. It was seriously amazing. I'm not sure what the better was, except deliciousness. The garlic aioli served on top of the calamari was insanely good and the adobe sauce was in the corners so as not to overtake an unsuspecting diner. All in all, it was AMAZING. I would come back here any time of day just to eat this calamari. And drink a margarita, obviously.

Since I ate the calamari so quickly, I could restrain myself to take a pic. You're welcome, fair readers.

Following my calamari, our entrees were delivered. First up was my grilled achiote red snapper. Achiote is apparently a tropical shrub (thanks wikipedia) that is made into a paste and is used for a marinade in Mexican kitchens. Who knew? The red snapper came with almond rice, tomatoes, olives and caper relish. Also a very good choice...which was demonstrated in my need to defend my plate with my fork to stop it from a certain fish-loving food-stealer who's name also starts with an F (you know who you are!) The almond rice was very interesting--liquidy but not undercooked and it actually did have the distinct flavor of almond milk. I'm a big fan of jasmati rice, and I could see myself replacing it with almond rice.

Last, but certainly not least in my dad's opinion, since this was the only thing he ate, were the pork carnitas. This is literally the reason my parents come to this restaurant. No joke. The pork carnitas are, as you see, served in 3s (which makes no sense if 2 people are sharing, but I again digress) with chipotle honey bbq sauce (so good), mahon (a type of cheese, thanks again wikipedia!) and jicama, as well as the avocado which is clearly seen. They're very good. I wouldn't order them every single time like my dad does, but I would definitely order them.


As always when we come to Verdad, our meal was delicious. The restaurant is very close to my parents house, so obviously I'll be back. And I have to say, Verdad is one of my favorite restaurants on the Main Line. I strongly suggest if you find yourself on the main line or at Villanova, or even King of Prussia, which is a bit of a trek, to find yourself Verdad restaurant and chow down. And drink some tequila while you're at it. Their servers are extremely knowledgeable on the topic.


To take the trek to Verdad outside of Philadelphia, check the restaurant out online at verdadrestaurant.com, book yourself a reservation on OpenTable and visit it at 818 W. Lancaster Ave in Bryn Mawr. Do it.