Korean Fried Chicken

My Korean friend told me that the only fried chicken she knew of in Korea was the KFC. Ironically, she loves the Korean fried chicken she has had in New York and was totally interested in finding out from me where she could find this “American” invention in Philly.

I have heard a lot about the Korean fried chicken at Meritage. I have had Korean tacos there before and it would only be logical to have the fried chicken as the next progression.

The chicken is only available on Thursday nights as a dinner special for two. We received one wing assembly (wing, winglets, mini-drumstick), 2 drumsticks, and 3 pieces of bone-in breasts. The pieces were coated and fried to a mouth watering crispy crunch and coated lightly but evenly with the special house-made Korean sauce that had light hints of the fragment/pungent doenjang, soy, hoisin sauces and spices.

Biting through the snappily crunchy exterior revealed a perfectly fried chicken with moist soft meat. The flavor from the juice conveyed a piece of chicken sourced most likely from a quality (organic?) source. It tasted so unlike the industrialized hormone grown bland atomic chicken so mass-used in the market. This was a quality fried chicken with a unique twist of Koreaness.

In keeping with the Korean theme, the fried chicken came with several banchans: a refreshing coleslaw that’s neither creamy nor soggy but with crisp thinly julienned vegetables; lightly pickled carrots and cauliflowers; and a very satisfying tasting potato salad.

It may not be something that you would find in a traditional restaurant in Korea, but this shot-gun marriage of the best of American fried food and the best of Korean flavoring has hit all the right notes. Don’t be fooled by the “for two” moniker; you don’t want to share this and you will not have any problems finishing the plate.

http://www.meritagephiladelphia.com/

Domesticated

A first look at JG Domestic

We paid the Iron Chef’s newest venture a visit only a few weeks after its opening. We started with a few drinks at the bar which has a limited but decent beer list and a fitting variety of wines by the glass.

With cocktails in hand, we ordered the Salt and Vinegar Kettle Chips with Malt Vinegar Aioli for snack. The delicate, almost translucent chips came in a small bowl with the aioli on the bottom. The chips were small and so was the size of the order. They were delicious except I expected them to be at least warm and not looking like they had been sitting around for a while. The aioli was very tasty and befitting to the texture of the chips. This is a perfect bar food but for $4.00 an order, I expected a) a bit more chips than a small child’s handful; and b) fresh off the fryer hot.

We were seated in the “outside” portion of the restaurant by the wall of herbs and plants since we wanted to have dinner at a table. The restaurant is “interesting”. The entrance is via a not too wide opening on either side of the hostess station with an immediate left or right turn to reach the “outside” dining room. For some strange reason, I had the urge to reach into the pocket for my SEPTA token approaching the narrow passageways into the restaurant until I realized that the turnstile was missing and hostesses behind the counter were a lot more attractive than the stern face emotionless SEPTA employees.

The restaurant is spread out with “outside” and “inside” sections with tables, booths, communal tables spread out in both areas and the open kitchen straddling the middle. Sitting in the “outside” of the restaurant is sitting in the open atrium lobby of the Cira Centre, except with a few decorative pergola and lattice work overhead. “You are outside…but you are not…”(cue the Rod Sterling music)

We felt a bit discarded to the Siberia wilderness when we were seated at a table along the outside edge of the “outside”. We were closer to the revolving door that leads to the street than the bar. Fortunately, that feeling melted away when our waiter, Nathan, showed up at the table. His warmth and friendliness made us feel welcome and we appreciated his efforts in making sure the kitchen could understand and accommodate Tourist Tree’s food allergies.
 
The remoteness further faded away when the bread arrived in a warm cast iron skillet with a light coat of melted butter and sea salt sprinkled on top. The accompanying whipped butter was an excellent match for the light-as-a-cloud soft moist bread. I particularly enjoyed the apple thyme jelly that was made with apple cider and fresh thyme.

Market Crudité

With Tourist Tree’s allergies in mind, Nathan brought over a mason jar of farm fresh vegetable for her while I was busy stuffing my face with the warm soft bread. From my perspective across the table, this concoction looked like a V8 Bloody Mary minus the liquid. I have never tasted a goddess before and have to say that the Green Goddess Dressing was… interesting. Tourist Tree was thoroughly enjoying her daily USDA vegetable requirement while I wondered if that’s $10.00 that Aiiyah would pay for rabbit food.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hudson Valley Potted Duck

A three layer construction of shredded confit on the bottom, foie gras mousse in the middle and orange geleé on top. I found the vertical arrangement of the ingredients intriguing despite that I didn’t like the fact that I had to dig my food out of a jar. Each layer was delicious. The combination of the layers was fascinating. Spreading the mixture on the crostini was a highlight in flavor and texture. For $9.00, I would eat this cholesterol bomb everyday over the colon cleansing $10.00 veggies in a jar market crudité.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Smoked Chestnut Soufflé

Eating this $9.00 soufflé was like snuggling in a warm blanket in a comfy soft bed in cold winter. This perfectly executed dish was made with smoked chestnuts and roasted spaghetti squash with braised golden raisins sprinkled within the creation. It was sweet; it was moist; it was the perfect comfort food; and it was delicious. We were glad that we stopped the server from pouring the maple butter sauce into the soufflé when it arrived at the table. The sauce had a nice rich taste of maple syrup without being overwhelmingly rich or heavy, but the soufflé was fine just without it. We enjoyed it without the sauce masking its true flavor and turning it into a semi-dessert.

 
 

Elk

Game meat is a delicate issue. Cooking it wrong results in tough, gamey, dried out protein. Fortunately, this kitchen turned this $24.00 elk tenderloin into a soft, juicy, medium-rare, nicely seasoned tasty treat without much of a trace of the wilderness. The accompanying huckleberry sauce and celery puree were a good compliment to the meat, however the flavor and texture would have been more apparent if the meat were warmer. This elk had lost its heat roaming from the kitchen to the outerbanks of the dining room.

Kabocha Squash, Black Kale, Candied Squash Seeds

A decent vegetable dish with the squash being the highlight that balanced out the bitterness of the kale. It would had been a more interesting dish if the sheep milk cheese from Otterbein Acres were present but it was left out to accommodate Tourist Tree’s preference. At $10.00, it was a pretty expensive vegetable dish in a tiny side dish portion.

Green Village Suckling Pig, Garlic, Rosemary, Natural Jus.


This was the dish under the Whole Animal category on the menu ($26.00). The suckling pig was first braised in Yuengling Lager and then its different parts were done with different preparations.

The ribs were glazed with a sweet sauce with the meat tender, moist and falling right off the bone. The meat from the roasted front leg was delicious and succulent. The sautéed rear hind leg came with an addictive sauce that matched the characteristics of the meat nicely. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly with the meat soft and supple. The belly was uncharacteristically like a tenderloin with not much fat in it. The interestingly done headcheese had a heavier seasoning that could have been less aggressive to show the delicate flavor of the meat.

Pear

A Tourist Tree safe dessert with a poached pear, cranberry pear sorbet, marjoram sabayon. Unlike poached pears at some places that were boiled to a sugary mush, these little pieces were firm with only a light touch of sweetness. The cranberry pear sorbet was also done in a subtle note of flavor that was not overpowering with sweetness.

Tourist Tree devoured this $9.00 dessert happily with a glass of 2007 Pac Rim “Vin De Glaciére” late harvest Riesling ($16.00) from Columbia Valley, Washington.

Pumpkin

This was a play on the traditional PB&J sandwich. Pumpkin cake layered with pumpkin peanut butter with swirled pumpkin and sour cream ice cream on top. It did look and taste just like a PB&J when dipping the bread in the grape jelly sauce on the plate. The pumpkin confit pieces on the side were also wonderfully done. A very righteous dessert ($8.00).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Concord Grape Square and Chocolate Almond Truffle

We were very impressed that the staff and the kitchen were quite up to speed already since the restaurant had only been open for a few weeks. Our server Nathan was enthusiastic, positive, very polite, and went out of his way to make us feel welcome and to tackle Tourist Tree’s food allergies. When we inquired about the wines, he brought us several different tasting glasses to sample until we decided on the Sean Minor Four Bears cabernet that would go well with our dinner selections. The kitchen did not skip a beat in getting the food out and making the special request dishes correctly. There were a few dishes that, although very good, were a bit over priced. However, on the other end, there are dishes that were just spectacular, regardless of price.

Yes, Prime Minister

The lure of two new hamburgers each made with a different blend of meat had us going to the Pub and the Kitchen on a beautiful fall night with the weather still warm enough for outside seating.

Oyster Stout Rarebit, grilled country bread, stout beer mornay, and broiled oyster.

Three oysters on a long piece of grilled sourdough bread with each oyster covered with a stout beer mornay sauce with grated cheese sprinkled on top. This would have been a delicious appetizer before the burger, except one thing: It didn’t show up.

 The Churchill

Using a special blend of meat blended specially for the P&K by the Pat LaFrieda Butcher in NYC who also supplies the meat to The Spotted Pig and Shake Shack; this 8 oz dry-aged meat wonder arrived sitting on a brioche bun, topped with bone marrow butter and sautéed onions with a large heap of fries on the side. I was disappointed that the burger did not come with cheese until the waitress convinced me that the cheese would totally overwhelm the delicate flavor from the bone marrow butter.

My first bite hit the mouth with a nice rich beefy flavor of meat combined with the spongy texture of the brioche. Although slightly over-salted on the outside, the meat was nicely packed, moist, cooked perfectly medium rare, and had a nice medium grainy texture. The meat umami was making a nice direct hit to my cerebral cortex.

The bone marrow butter was very subtle. If I didn’t know about it, I am not sure if I would have noticed the flavor. I did enjoy the sautéed onions along with the brioche from Metropolitan They made a good harmonized package with this specially blended burger meat.

The Hamburger

Not liking the bone marrow butter, the Tourist Tree chose the Hamburger which was still made with meat from the Pat LaFrieda but just not the special blend made specifically for The Churchill. The Hamburger comes with lettuce, tomato, onion and fries. Instead of any of the extra cost a la carte toppings of tomato marmalade, bacon, fried egg, cheddar or blue cheese; the Tourist Tree wanted the sautéed onions from The Churchill.

The medium-rare Hamburger arrived cooked solidly through. Our waitress quickly whisked it away for a re-do while the manager stopped by to check on us and apologized for the kitchen’s oversight on the burger and the appetizer omission.

After some uncomfortable waiting, the Hamburger, Act II, appeared at the table with the meat cooked much closer to the medium-rare that Tourist Tree had requested. The patty was nicely packed, moist, had a good texture; and in essence not that much different from the Churchill except the flavor was not as intense and complex.

Kit Kat Bar

 

Oh yes, I have loved Kit Kat since I was a kid. The combination of chocolate, crème, and crunchy wafers is a rewarding treat for the mouth and the mind.

 
This fancier version of the Kit Kat is made with chocolate mousse, white chocolate mousse, and layered with crunchies. The flavor was very similar to the real thing. Except for the solid chocolate cover outside and the in-between wafer layers, this dessert could pass for Kit Kat, the candy, in flavor and texture if not for the look. A light sprinkle of a few grain of salts on top of the piece and the raspberries gave this dessert a unique twist in flavor I particularly liked the lightness of the mousse which made me feel less worried about the dessert still sitting in my stomach like a piece of lead at 2 in the morning.
 
Unlike the cult followers for the Windsor burger, I was never impressed with the Windsor that had been on the menu since the P&K opened. The Churchill and the Hamburger are quite different from the Windsor. I found each meat more complex than the old burger and I prefer the brioche over the bread that the Windsor used.
 
The new burgers are definitely a good step forward in the evolution of this restaurant’s offering. I am more enthusiastic about these burgers than the Windsor although I do think the patties on the new burgers could be a bit heftier in order to make them winners. It would be interesting to see how these burgers will be received by the Windsor followers now that the Windsor has been put to the pasture. For the Churchill, I am not sure if the “special blend” meat and the bone marrow butter are worth the $7.00 premium over the Hamburger. For that amount of money, you could buy yourself a 500 Degree burger plus almost a soda!
 
We asked the waitress for our bill after I kicked the Kit Kat. She replied, “There is no bill tonight….for all the mistakes we’ve made….” We were shocked but very grateful. Taking care of our bill from drinks to dessert for a couple of mistakes shows how much they value the customers and their integrity to admit mistakes when they happen. Two very fundamental ingredients that have gone missing from a number of Philadelphia restaurants. Yes, Prime Minister, the Pub and Kitchen is a class act!

First Look at Barbuzzo

We paid a visit to the baronesses of 13th Street’s newest venture the week after it threw open the door for business. For the ladies who own businesses up and down the block, we were very curious to find out what this place has to offer with its Mediterranean style menu.

Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Mousse with Brandied Cherries, Pistachio Salt and Crostini

This was so good. Great flavor, very smooth texture, good density, did not have that over the edge taste that usually comes with liver dishes. The brandied cherries provided such a harmony to the mousse and were just phenomenal when eaten spread on the crostini. So good!

“Pig Popcorn” with Apple Cider Vinegar Powder, Espelette Chile & Horseradish Aioli


I have never seen fried pig skin in such large pieces! It was crunchy, it crumbled in the mouth, and it was not greasy. It should have been called “pig candy” instead. The skin could have used a tad more seasoning but the slight lack of it did not not make this a perfect snack for those who are carbo-phobic but not cholesterol-phobic. The Aioli was good but I wasn’t too sure it if was supposed to go with the skins. It seemed to be too mild and with the wrong taste profile with the texture and the grease of this fried goodie.

Roasted Marrow Bones with Persillade, Lemon & Pickled Onion Jam.

The addition of the persillade and the lemon and pickled onion jam gave this dish such a different dimension. The marrow was done perfectly for spreading, and with the flavoring from the sauces and add-ons, it was phenomenal on the pieces of slightly toasted bread. This was a dish in which the sum was greater than the parts.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Caciocavallo Stuffed Meatballs with Oregano, Chile and Caperberry-Pepper Relish
 
The dish was OK. I liked the texture and graininess of the meatballs but I would have liked a bit more flavoring in the meat. I could not taste the cheese or the chile that was supposed to have been stuffed into the balls. I also found the sauce to be a bit too sweet, and bland. Nevertheless, the meat balls were filling (I also ate almost all of the previous three dishes).

 
 
 
 
 

Cured Meat Board
 
Clockwise top left: La Quercia prosciutto rossa, chorizo picante, rosette de Lyon, jamon Serrano 12 month, house pickled vegetables, Barbuzzo grissini.

For some reason, I thought Barbuzzo was curing its own meat therefore I was surprised to see the meats served were procured rather than cured. For those that were made in-house, I liked the pickled vegetables but I did not like the grissini. It tasted like something from a box from Walmart. May be, that should have been procured.

Housemade Botifarra Sausage with Wood Braised Beans, Catalan Style Chard, and Pomegranate Molasses

We liked the texture. It was moist. The meat was grinded to a good graininess. But again, it could have used a bit of a kick in the flavor department. It was a good but not fantastic sausage. The chard was good.



 
 
 
 
 

There are always risks in going to a brand new restaurant within weeks of its opening. As seasoned operators, the risks could be mitigated for this couple’s third restaurant venture.


The room was nicely done in a mixture of hi-tech and rustic decor. We were seated at the kitchen counter with a bird eye’s view of the action. However, being close to the kitchen and the expeditor did not ensure food would come in a timely or orderly pace. Our first three items arrived within minutes, then everything stopped. Our waiter was quite friendly and seemed to be a nice guy, but he was also a bit clueless and absent-minded. He never came back with an answer for Tourist Tree’s food allergy and had no idea that 3 of our 6 plates never showed up when he was ready to hand us the dessert menu. Our first three dishes were outstanding while the other three were, like the service and the kitchen, a work in progress.


Barbuzzo, 110 S. 13th Street, Phila., PA 19107
http://www.barbuzzo.com/

To Hell and Back

Is there a reason I would want to do a half mile uphill walk in 95 degree weather with a matching humidity then cram myself into a little room and stand patiently in line?

Ray’s Hell Burger is about a half mile up the hill from the Rosslyn Metro station in a non-descript strip mall along Wilson Boulevard. The place is small. The line to place the order hovers over the people sitting on one side of the room. And there is always a line. And there are always people standing around waiting for a table after their orders are placed. And there are runners hurrying around yelling out order numbers and contorting themselves to squeeze through cluster of people and tables with trays of food. But there is always free aroma of meat on grill as you wait.

Ray’s sells only one thing: A 10 oz burger. However, the customization is up to you: 4 grilling options, grilled, au poivre, blackened, diablo; cheeses from basic American to Époisse de Bourgogne; toppings from lettuce, tomato, onions to seared foie gras with truffle oil or roasted bone marrow with persillade; then pile on fries, coleslaw or seven cheese mac n’cheese as sides.

The 4 grill options, 14 cheeses, and 18 toppings have temporary stunned the Tourist Tree and put the Doctor Professor’s brain into overdrive.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There are times when you put two pluses together and get plus²; there are times the pluses are so strong that they just cancel each other out. I considered having a burger with the foie and Époisse. In a rare moment of sanity and logical thinking, I decided against that. I have had burgers with foie; I have had burgers with exotic delicacies. In past experiences, one component (mainly the meat) completely dominated the other (the exotic), therefore had killed whatsoever taste, flavor or texture what the delicacy had to offer. The expensive ingredient became a bragging right instead of contributing anything to the experience except the bottom line on the bill.

As a man of self-restrain, I had my Hell burger with au poivre, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, charred jalapeños, cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms, Applewood smoked bacon and the “King of Cheese”.

My burger arrived with the meat coated with a black peppercorn crust and uniform grill marks sitting on pieces of Applewood bacon with the Époisse oozing underneath it. The jalapeños, grilled onions, and mushrooms were piled atop the top bun sitting open face occupying the rest of the plate.

It was a good size burger. Big, thick, and attractive. The toasted potato-brioche roll was nice to touch. Spongy yet firm to hold everything in and able to keep the juice and grease from soaking thought. The initial bite brought me into the exotic land of black peppercorns crusting a well grilled burger. The spice just exploded into the mouth followed by a river of juice carrying the flavor of the meat and the stinky gooey Époisse as intense and as rapid as a Blitzkrieg. The meat did not have the most intense flavor but it was house-grinded to an ideal graininess and hand-packed to the pecfert density. Along with a hefty thickness, this burger provided a very satisfactory bite for the mouth.

I must admit that although I love the Époisse de Bourgogne, this was the first time I had this “king of cheese” on a burger. Its intense flavor profile worked very well with the grilled patty, except it was melting so rapidly that more cheese was on the plate than on the meat and eventually, it became a dipping sauce.
 
Each bite of the burger would bring me new discoveries depending on where the toppings were placed. The sweetness from the grilled onions, the smoky spiciness and the firm texture of the charred jalapeños, and the crisp Applewood smoked bacon…Oh, bacon…need I say more?
 

A burger is not a burger without fries. We had very nice sweet potato fries with our meal. There were just about every sauce imaginable on the table but I found some BBQ sauce only available from the dispenser by the take-out supply counter that went so well with the fries.
 
For the record, Tourist Tree had an au poivre burger, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms. I am not sure if she had the same experience as I had since she ate the burger sans bun. Burger is a finger food, eating it with utensils and without the bread is just not quite the same. Regardless, the Tourist Tree enjoyed her burger, her way.
 

So the road to Hell was worth the Bataan death march in the summer heat. The burger was a very satisfying meal and probably one of the more exciting varieties that I have had this year. No wonder POUS and the Veep have been known to stop there for lunch and POUS even took Medvedev there for a hamburger summit;….traveling there in a convoy of air-con limos.
 
The road back from Hell was more bearable with the walk downhill and the sun not beating on us directly. We also know that we were heading to cool brews to help digest our burgers and to keep our body temperatures at a reasonable level.




Ray’s Hell Burger, 1713 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
(A newer space with table service is opened 2 doors down. Food is the same but not sure if the experience would be)

 
 
 
 
 

 

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt.12

The “Did We Drink All These?” Week in Review Beer Tally:


21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon
Avery Collaboration but not litigation
Avery Mephistopheles’
Avery/Victory/Dog Fish Head Sasion du Buff
Bell’s Batch 6000
Bell’s Le Pianiste
Bell’s Golden Funk
Bell’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Hell Hath No Fury
Bell’s Le Contrabassiste
Bell’s La Batteur
Bell’s Black Note
Bell’s Wedding Ale
Bell’s Harry Magill’s Spiced
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Cuvee Alex Le Rouge
Brusserle Des Franches-Montagues Duuzel
Cigar City Marshal Zhukov’s Imperial Brandy Aged Stout
Clipper City Brewery Heavy Sea Letter of Marque
DFH Palo Santo Marron on cask
Flying Dog Raging Bitch on cask
Flying Dog Snake Bite
Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter
Flying Fish Farm House Ale
Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
Flying Fish Exit 6 Wallonian Rye
Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel
Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter
Founder’s Red’s Rye
Great Divine Express Oak-aged Yeti
Harpoon Summer
Iron Hill Kyptonite IPA
Iron Hill Saison
Left Hand Sawtooth
LeftHhand 400Ib Monkey
Left Hand JuJu Ginger
Ommegang Triple Perfection
Russian River Registration
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Russian River Blind Pig
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Samuel Adams Coastal Wheat
Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier
Samuel Adams New World Tripel “Barrel Series”
Samuel Adams Black Lager
Samuel Adams American Kriek “Barrel Series”
Sly Fox Chester County Ale
Southern Tier Heavy Weizen
Southern Tier IPA
Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial IPA
Southern Tier Iniquity Imperial Black Ale
Southern Tier Oat Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Southern Tier Mokah
Southampton Burton Ale
Southern Tier “Phin & Matts” American Pale Ale
Southern Tier “Gemini” Imperial Blended Ale
Troegs Flying Mouflan
Troegs Scratch #27 Cocoabunga
Troegs Scratch #28 Roggen
Troegs Scratch #29 Belgium
Troegs Scratch #30 Bock
Troegs Scratch #31 Citra of Brothery Love
Welhenstephaner Heffe Weissbier
Victory Summer Love
Wells Bombardier

Beer Week 2010 Super Blog, Pt 11

Day Ten

We began the last official day of the Beer Week with a stop at the Philly Gay Pride Parade. Although nowhere in scale as the bigger ones in other cities, it was regardless a good spectacle with entertaining marchers, plus it’s a good cause.

 

 

Jones

With a long drinking day ahead of us, we thought it was wise to load up with nutrients before the activity started. We went for comfort food at Starr’s touristcentric upscale dinner, Jones.

The BMW Pancake is layers of buttermilk pancakes with caramelized Banana, Maple syrup and toasted Walnuts. I do not like sloppy gooey glop on my pancakes so the BMW toppings became BMW sides for me. The pancakes were big, covering almost the plate itself. They were of good thickness, medium sponginess, very moist to the degree of mushy in the center bottom layers but otherwise good throughout the stack. The “sides” were too sweet for my taste. I could not see how people could eat this dish if the glop was on top covering everything. Breakfast is not the time for a mega-sweet dessert.

Apple smoked bacon is a mandatory item for breakfast.

 

 

The Huevis Rancheros was the usual fried eggs, refried black bean, salsa, avocado, warm tortillas… This Mexican version of a bastardized chop-suey weight about a pound with the plate. The hungry Tourist Tree scoped up the dish faster than Superman could change in the phone booth. She liked it despite that the black beans were pureed into the same texture as the rest of the dish. Aiiyah thought the whole thing looked kind of …vile like looking at bird droppings under a microscope.

 

As we were enjoying our breakfast, we noticed the couple sitting next to us at the counter was sharing a big format bottle of Voodoo Love Child, which led to an interesting conversation about…beer! It happened that they were from Tampa and were in the city specifically for the Beer Week!

Local 44

Doing an encore performance of the Russian River Sunday of Beer Week 2009, Local 44 put every Russian River beer it could get its hands on on tap including the new Registration. I don’t like sucking on grapefruit rinds therefore I wasn’t particularly hot about this American IPA, but the Tourist Tree and just about everybody else at the bar loved it so much that this 7.9% beer was just flying off the tap.

After downing (in this order) Supplication (7% Am.ale), Consecration (10% Am ale), Pliny the Elder (8% Imp IPA), Damnation (7.75% Belgium strong); and with the three guys from the Home Sweet Homebrew next to us, the conversation had become less and less relevant, “Hey, what about the Constipation one?” “It’s a brown ale!” Have you done the Masturbation Ale yet?” “Russian Resignation?”

Joe & Mrs. Sixpack dropped by for a visit. After hanging out for a while, he decided to buy everybody at the bar a Blind Pig (6.1% Am IPA)! Joe just returned from a trip to Sierra Nevada. We suggested that he should do a collaboration beer with them and call it the Joe Sixpack Porter.

Being the Executive Director for the Beer Week, he was very earnest in getting feedback on the events. He was interested in hearing from us about our experience and was even surprised to learn from us about upcoming brews that he didn’t know about.

Mrs. Sixpack and Tourist Tree bonded over yoga talk. She even gave Tree a free pass for her yoga class. The one that seemed most interesting was the monthly yoga social - yoga followed by beer afterward.

Amada

We dragged ourselves out of Local 44 in order to make the sold-out Flying Fish Beer Dinner at Amada on time. With the amount of people attending, the dinner took over the entire space at the back of the restaurant.

Yes, that is Casey Hughes in his Sunday best wearing flip fops in the picture giving an introduction on the beers and the dinner

We were seated six to a table and got to meet some very interesting people from in and out of town. Some were novice in craft beers while others were geeks like us with everybody anticipating an exciting tonight.

Our first beer was the thirst crunching Farm House ale. It was a refreshing low abv (4.6%) treat after having spent an afternoon drinking the heavier duty Russian Rivers

Our table might not have the culinary skills or the celebrity-ness of our neighboring table but we definitely had more fun than them.  

 

Sardinas a la Plancha
Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA

Grilled Mediterranean sardines, wild rice and citrus tempura. The fish was awesome! It was fresh, moist, tender, seasoned and grilled perfectly with a sprinkle of tempura flakes on top for textural contrast. The wild rice was a wonderful compliment to the dish. Everything jived very well with the characteristic of the 8.2% Exit 16.

Costillas de Ternera
Exit 6 Wallonian Rye

Braised short ribs, white asparagus escabèche and grilled sourdough. The short ribs went phenomenally well with the Exit 6. Bites of tartness and sourness in the marinade and the sweetness in the rye beer were perfect dance partners. The meat could have been a bit more tender but the white asparagus escabèche on the meat did make it interesting.

Instead of the short robs, Tourist Tree got the Beef Brochettes. These hanger steaks on a stick were also cooked perfectly and went pretty well with the Exit 6.

We really enjoyed this newer release from Flying Fish. The characteristic of this beer would make it an excellent candidate to be barrel aged. Casey?



 

Oh yeah, definitely having a good time.

Cochinillo Asado

Exit 4 American Trippel

Roasted suckling pig, wilted spring greens and truffled rosemary white beans. If there is a dish that we can count on Amada to do it right, it’s the suckling pig. Our beer dinner suckling pig surely had lived up to its legendary reputation. The meat was sublime from the overnight marinating and the double roasting in the oven. What elevated the pig to heavenly reign was the crackling skin. A bite into the skin was pure ecstasy! The by-catches on this dish were very nice; unfortunately they were just a distraction for me.

There is no piggy for the Tourist Tree on this night. As a substitute, she had two absolutely perfectly grilled lamb chops. I would eat these chops on any given night; but for tonight, I would keep my suckling pig and its crackling skin, thank you.

Ostras dos Veces
Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout

Fried Cape May Salt oysters (L) and baked Cape May Salt oysters(R). The fried oyster was topped with a sliver of pickled mushroom and with a sour’ish sauce on the bottom. The combined flavors and texture of the ingredients and the freshness of the oyster made this bite size morsel super awesome. The baked oyster was an ingenious take of the Oyster Rockefeller. A wowing repackage of a by-gone classic without the usual heaviness and greasiness.

The Tourist Tree had Oyster Escabèche with her Exit 1. In her version of the oyster course, she had three individual raw Cape May Salts, each bathing in a colorful escabèche dressing. The sourness and sweetness of the sauce worked very well with the brine in the oyster in providing a harmony to the mouth.



 

 

 

 

 

We love the Exit 1. We never had the Exit 1 served in a snifter. This fine 7% stout brewed with oyster shells tasted just as nice to me in this novel vessel but the noise was definitely more pronounced.

Pairing the Oyster Stout with an oyster dish sounded gimmicky. Fortunately, Amada had done its homework to make the flavors from each component work very well together.

 

 

Postre de Cerveza
Imperial Espresso Porter

The Imperial Espresso Porter is one of my all time favorite beers. It is already on the menu for my “last meal” if I were to have one. Use this beer for a beer float with sweet cream and caramel ice cream was just gilding the lily. That was such a perfect dessert except it came in a small glass and not even half-filled!



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tourist Tree got her usual standard issue food allergy dessert alternative: Sorbet.

Franklin Fountain


In a moment of irrational exuberance, we had post-fest desserts. After such an long fun-filled day and an extraordinary dinner, it would only be fitting to have an absoulate blowout dessert gluttony.

The brownie peanut butter ice cream fudge sundue was satisflying and certainly a good end to finish the day. Torist Tree’s mint chocolate chip soy ice cream was…soy’ish but yummy.









Day Ten Beer Tally:

Russian River Registration
Russian River Supplication
Russian River Consecration
Russian River Pliny the Elder
Russian River Damnation
Russian River Blind Pig
Flying Fish Farm House Ale
Flying Fish Exit 16 Wild Rice Double IPA
Flying Fish Exit 6 Wallonian Rye
Flying Fish Exit 4 American Trippel
Flying Fish Bayshore Oyster Stout
Flying Fish Imperial Espresso Porter

And yes, we were still standing after all of these.