Three Top Threes

The dining team (short some participants) went to Alma Pan Latin Kitchen to try some Latin fare.  I have driven past Alma so many times and have not noticed it sitting there...  Hello, Alma.

It is small.  We got there early and had a reservation, so our table was ready for us.  We were a smaller group this time, so not as overwhelming as we can be.  I thought the atmosphere was lacking.  There is so much more you can do with the style to capture what the food is expressing.  Its kind of dark and not quite how I expected it to feel.  I guess if you're looking for an intimate date and not to be bothered, Alma is good for that, but not quite what I was thinking for a girls night out.  I started reading other reviews after our visit, and heard about this other Cantina section with wine...  wish we would have seen that before we went.  That'll teach me - I'll read reviews before I go, not after.  I also wish I had some cute anecdote to go with this, but I don't.  So here's the breakdown...

Who: Me & the Dining Team
Where:  Alma

What: Apps - Empanadas del dia *winner, Scallops on a tostada, Papitas rellenas con salsa pimenton, Yuca frita con salsitas de alma, Plantanos maduros con salsa de habichuelas

CDO - Vaca frita con arroz y gandules (brisket),
Nonsense - Torrejitas de frijolios (bean cake)
Vegahimsa -  Vegetales al tagine (rice & veggies) *top 3
Onion-hater - Camarones al caribe con ajo (shrimp)
EasyD - Arepa de vegetales con plantanos maduros (corn cake)
Chickie - Sandwich Cubano con chancho queso y jamon (a Cuban) *top 3

Dessert - Tres Leces, Molten Chocolate cake with Cinnamon Ice Cream, Flan, Cinnamon Ice Cream

<~ I thought for sure I'd be all over my Vaca frita - heavier (not heavy, but heavier when compared) - but I wasn't, I kept bugging Nonsense & Vegahimsa for their vegetarian dishes.  Contrary to what I thought, Onion-hater and EasyD were into it.  I really enjoyed the salad on the side, it was fresh and refreshing; enjoyed the pigeon peas.  And it was a HUGE portion.  We kept picking, but felt like we weren't making a dent in it.  And to that, half of it came home, with full intentions of giving it to IPA-hole for lunch, but I ended up chowing down the next day.  And I think it was better once all the flavors were left to chill out for a day.

Nonsense, Vegahimsa, & EasyD went for the vegetarian dishes.  EasyD's arepa was bland, not for life, but on this particular stage.  All I can think of right now is 9th grade Spanish class and the "Dona Arepa" commercials we had to watch.  The arepa itself is a light corn tortilla, but brought little to the party.  The veggies around it were far more flavorful.  The combination did nothing for me, and I think for EasyD as well.  ~>

<~ Nonsense did the black bean cake, making sense for once. I enjoy black beans, in many forms.  I really enjoyed them in a cake.  It was spicy, lit up the tongue.  It looks super similar to the arepa, but with much, much more flavor.  And the plantains on the side were addicting.

Vegahimsa had the Vegetales al tangine.  This was my favorite of the night, which may have been because she was sitting next to me and I was within fork-destroying reach. This one had major flavor, sweetness in the rice with the dates.  I think the unfamiliar sweetness from the dates & tagine had our attention.  It was a fab mix of sweet with the vegetables, and the winner for me, but the table was debating.

 <~ Next up, Camarones al caribe con ajo was one of the options I was considering.  Onion-hater ordered it, and I have a hard time duplicating an order.  This is a classic case of "it-was-good-but-something-else-was-better" for the table.  The shrimp were well prepared, the lime & garlic showed up, flavor was good, but others were better. 

Now, let's talk about Chickie.  Cubano.  This is generally a crowd pleaser anywhere, at Panera, at that diner, you know it.  Alma kicked some Cuban ass!  Jarlsberg is probably the greatest cheese, then stick it on a crusty bread with slow-roasted pork & ham... delicious, delicious, delish!! If you're one of those people who is not entirely comfortable walking into a restaurant where the entire menu is in Spanish, just say "Cubano" and you're in good shape.  A bit of bitterness from the cheese, sweetness from the meat, texture from the bread, put it all together and you have a winner. ~>

<~ Winner of the apps, and another crowd pleaser - not just with us, but in the buzz around the restaurant - was the empanadas of the day.  I can't tell you what they'll be stuffed with on your day, but go for it!  Empanadas are fabulous, and these do not disappoint.

As far as the rest of the appetizers go:  Scallop tostadas were good but not fabulous. Papitas are the pictures on top - stuffed potato puffs. Traditional and good.  Yuca frita was very tasty.  Fried, the yuca is mild, and with the sauces, had some spark.  Strange to look at, lightly sweet and soft to eat. If you drench these in ketchup, you missed the point.  Plantains are always tasty - banana meets ~> potato.  Nice, crispy outside.

So the next great idea?  Let's order ALL of the desserts! And all were good.  Tres Leces is fabulous.  Onion-hater perks up every time someone mentions this particular dessert.  It was very leche, dense, sweet, yummy.  The cinnamon ice cream truly complimented the  molten chocolate cake. And Flan.  Have you ever had Flan? Its a Spanish custard dessert.  I've always been afraid to try it based on texture (I can't stand jello).  I did take a bite, and I did enjoy it.  Flan definitely reminds me of an inside-out creme brulee.

So what did we learn about Alma tonight?  I like appetizers - surprise, surprise.  Eat empanadas.  Alma could use some ambiance help, in fact, I do know some interior designers.  Dessert takes a backseat to the real food.  It is fabulously fused food!  Everything that we had was tasty and unique.  I'd say that it is worth a try, but don't go out of your way quite yet.  Maybe I need to start on the cantina side next time...

~ CDO

Flavour

I think Greensburg is underrated.  We went out to have the dogs bathed at 2pm, which turned into a day-long ordeal.  Granted, the super-motivated dog-groomer at the big pet box store screwed us all up to begin with.  Well, I'm not sure if he screwed up, or if IPA-hole wasn't listening...again.  What was initally thought to be a 1 hour process turned into 4.  And that's ok.  We rode go-carts, went to the park, drove around in circles 'cause BabyGray was sleeping.  If I'd known it was going to be 4 hours, we probably would have went home.  But that being said, we were getting kinda hungry, with another hour to kill, so we started looking around for something to eat that wasn't fast and full of grease.

This landed us at Pallantia.  I kinda forgot about this place for a bit. Its very new, in a hardly-noticed location.  And I've been dying to try it.  Pallantia claims their mission "is to bring the spirit and flavour of Spain" and do it in true traditional paella and tapas style.  The background stories that are in the menu are worth a read, actually. I love tapas, and like Tamari, its encouraging you to try everything in small plates and to share.  You are probably going to want to order more than one for yourself.  Tapas were traditionally put on top of the wine in the inns.  This was because of a royal decree that the inns were not allowed to serve wine without food to keep the Spanish peasants from just drinking and, well generally being completely drunk and unruly.  I missed the point by not ordering the sangria.

So we walk in and the place is empty, which after I ate, I have no idea why.  Its new, nice, quaint atmosphere. Our server was cool, she even brought BigBrother out some meatballs that the kitchen was trying out.  He kept calling them little meatloaf and thought they were awesome.  We weren't too hungry, so we decided that 3 plates were enough for us.  Remember that this is tapas, so these are small plates!    Here's your breakdown...

Who:  Me, IPA-hole, & the kids
Where: Pallantia
On the table:  Pan con tomate y jamon serrano *winner
Chorizo y pollo pincho moruno con salsa
Gambas al ajillo

First off, we started out with some really great bread and oil.  I had paella on the brain and really wish we would have tried some, but it takes a bit longer than everything else.  So we decided on the three above.  The winner was definitely the pan con tomate y jamon serrano (bread with tomato & serrano ham).  This brought me back to a fantastic week that IPA-hole and I spent in Barcelona before the kids came along. The presentation on this one doesn't do it justice.  Its a nice, thick slice of crusty bread with fresh tomato and serrano ham. Sweetness & freshness of the tomato with the super-thin salty ham was perfect.  Reminded me of that picnic in that Gaudi park with the gypsies and the naked running man... and that's a good thing!

Chorizo and pollo pincho maruno con salsa was good but the weakest of the three we tried.  Its skewers of chicken and chorizo with peppers.  The chorizo half was good - flavorful.  The chicken part was forgettable. 

Lastly was the classic Gambas al ajillo (shrimp in garlic).  This is a very typical tapa, and something that I think we've ordered every time we've been in an authentic tapas place.  They were very garlicy with some bite!  Really delicious and very authentic.

So after the kitchen made surprise meatballs and delicious papas (potatoes) for BigBrother, and the server kept smiling after BabyGray threw EVERYTHING he touched on the floor, and we didn't order any of the Sangria (that was looking fabulous), I think she felt we may have needed a night out and gave us a card for a free tapa on our next visit.  I will use it. I am struggling with the fact that there was no one else in there during our visit - I mean, it was better for us and the kids, we didn't disrupt somebody's hot date or anything.  Maybe some are unfamiliar with Spanish cuisine? I think this is a great place and a fabulous alternative the the growing string of chain restaurants in our neck of the woods.

Next time, I'm getting sangria, paella, and sangria.

~ CDO

Catching up

Wow.  I'm sorry.  I have not abandoned my post.  Here I am!!! 

In the past two months, we've hit up some great staples, great places to go, not our first time to any of them.  My challenge:  I lost some motivation to blog them - either because we've been permanent fixtures at Consol (Let's go Pens!), that I was too tired to remember the experience clearly, I forgot to take pictures and then felt boring, or simply drank waaaay too much wine during dinner.  Mostly that last option.  Oops.

The Original Fish Market - We went twice during the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show.  Nothing is better after spending 8 hours on your feet, answering the same 6 questions for 3 million people, than a giant sushi boat!  Ha, don't get me wrong, I actually LOVE working the home show - it just requires wine and sushi at the end of the day.  And the Fish Market never disappoints in food, as long as you like seafood.  I wish they would freshen up the decor a bit, it just reminds me of, I dunno, 15 years ago.  They have great appetizers, great wine list, good sushi, and great fish. Bring a flashlight, its dark in there.


Monterey Bay - More seafood!!  I love Chilean Sea Bass.  Again, a great staple, the food is always fab. And not all Monterey Bays are created equal.  The one in Monroeville apparently is running the C-team, in service, in food, in ambiance.  Skip it and head to Mt. Washington.  Oh and just a reminder to those who forgot:  Don't order pasta at the seafood place.  You'll end up coveting your neighbors meal. 



Tamari - This is a great tapas place - all small plates.  I just love eating this way because instead of ordering a meal for each person, you just order a bunch of plates and share.  Wine is good. Food is excellent.  Concept is cool.  I can't wait for it to be warm enough to sit outside and watch Lawrenceville go by.



Now that we got that out of the way, I would like to take this opportunity to air my grievance.  And it has to do with going to dinner.  And I will disclaim before I even start, this is not directed at anyone specifically.  I don't even know if I should do this...  please don't be afraid to go out to dinner with me, I'm not judging, I'm just observing and raising awareness.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who shares this experience.

I love going to dinner.  I love going with a big group of people.  I love going with old friends, new friends, other peoples' friends - whatever.  I do recognize that not everyone wants to share their food with me or try mine.  No worries - I totally get it.  At the same, when the establishment is not willing to split the check, I prefer not to share in the paying of your bill, nor do I expect you, new acquaintance, to share in mine.  This isn't an issue between friends. With many of the friends we go out with, we split the bill evenly, regardless of who ordered what.  It just saves aggravation.  Either that or we trade off - "I got this one, you get the next one."  Its all good.  Appetizers are a conundrum anyway.

For some reason though, when I find myself in a group of people where I don't know everyone, that damn check goes around, and somehow, someway, after everyone pulled out their cell phone calculators and tallied up their damage,  the cash is short.  I'm not sure what the challenge is.  Can someone not add?  Did someone forget the tip or tax?  Did you think you only drank 2 glasses of wine, cause you definitely had 7? Does someone feel no responsibility towards the shared food on the table simply because they didn't order it, because somebody opted to finish it "if no one wants the last piece..."?  Did I screw up and everyone is feeling this way about me? Can I add? How many martinis did I have? And its a big fat wad of cash, so there is no way to figure out whodunit.  And it all reality, to be fair, its probably unintentional, just miscalculating tax & tip.

And it doesn't really matter.  If I'm bellyaching about the extra 10 bucks I threw in, then I probably shouldn't be going out to dinner at cool restaurants in the first place.  And for those of you who treated lately - thanks!  It's my turn next.

Alma's up next. 

~ CDO

Mexican - American Shorty

Last night, BigBrother wanted quesadillas for dinner.  I'm all about it, so we hopped in the car and headed down the road to our local Picante for dinner.  Well, turns out that grumpy waiter that we had at Patron is working at my beloved Picante.  Although, this time, he's pleasant, upbeat, and keeps pinching BabyGray's cheeks...

Where:  Picante
Who:  me, IPA-hole, & the kids
What:  me - Camarones al mojo de ajo
           IPA-hole - Shrimp Fajitas
           The Kids - Quesadilla

I find it funny that they call mine Camarones al mojo de ajo (basically shrimp in a garlic sauce) and IPA-hole's Shrimp fajitas are all English.  All are good; I might eat mine for breakfast.



So that was the Mexican part, this is the American part - its a 2-fer.  The other day, after a GREAT Penguins win, IPA-hole wants to take PickyMIL & FIL to BRGR to eat.  Long story short, he gets on the HOV lane heading north out of the city instead of Bigelow Blvd to go to Penn Circle. We quickly regroup and decide instead of trying to go back into the city, we'll just head to the BRGR in Cranberry.

This one is nice.  Its much bigger than the one in Penn Circle, and open.  So its easier to get a table, but the overall feel isn't quite as cool.  (Don't worry, I'm going to the Penn Circle one soon).

Where: BRGR Cranberry
Who: me, IPA-hole, PickyMIL & FIL, & the kids.
What:  me - Cease & Desist
            IPA-hole - Fire in the Hole
            PickyMIL - King Salmon
            FIL - Average Joe
            The Kids - Mac & Cheese
            Appetizer - BRGR Perogies *winner

I also got a Toasted Almond spiked shake, that I shared with PickyMIL.  Delish! 

Stay tuned for BRGR Pittsburgh!

Those things are HUGE!

Its been quite some time since we've ventured out to Monroeville for anything beyond Miracle Mile.  Its just such a pain to get all the way down 22, especially on a Saturday afteroon.  The kids had a birthday party at Giggles & Smiles - cool place - an indoor playground in the mall.  I learned a great fun fact on this one though, you can drop your kid off if they're 3 & potty trained while you shop and they watch them for up to 3 hours.  Someone should probably put something like this in every mall in the world. 

So after leaving there, I was starving.  I was thinking about Taipei Tokoyo, which is my favorite sushi place in the area, but we're hauling 1 sleeping BabyGray, and 1 wound up BigBrother, and looking out the mall windows seeing whirling snow as we walk past the Saga doors.  That sounds about 100 times easier than going outside, loading the crew in the car, driving 500 yards, and then unloading again.  Saga it is!!

We've been to Saga a few times before for hibachi and sushi.  I've always thought it was good, but like I said, Monroeville Mall has become less and less of a destination for us, so it has been probably well over a year since we've been here.  For lunch,  we decided to share some sushi - because when you want sushi, nothing else will do!!

Who:  Me, IPA-hole, and the kids.
Where:  Saga Hibachi Steakhouse
What:  Fantastic Roll ( yellowtail, salmon, avocado topped with spicy lobster, jalepeno, & tobiko) *winner
            Million Roll (crunchy spicy tuna with 3 different colors of tobiko on top)
            Foxy Lady Roll (salmon, yellowtail, tuna, avocado)
            Crab Rangoons
            Miso Soup for BigBrother

Fantastic Roll was the winner - just enough heat and so yummy!  Million Roll was extra colorful; so interesting that BigBrother wanted a bite of the red one - which he then spit back out.  Foxy Lady Roll wasn't bad, just not as good as the others, but a good choice if you're looking for soy paper instead of seaweed. Not to mention, all three were HUGE.  The slices were big, the rolls were big.  I'm not sure if the sushi chef was living large that day, or if he always makes them that way.  At any rate, we stuffed ourselves.

So the verdict:  If you're at the mall and don't feel like driving over to Taipei Tokoyo, then head on in to Saga!  I do prefer Taipei Tokoyo, but I wasn't disappointed in Saga.  As far as hibachi there, we'll have to try that some other time.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, folks!  Next week, I'll be venturing out with the dining team and maybe IPA-hole will take me somewhere special for Valentine's Day.  I'll keep you posted.

~ CDO

Caribbean Smorgasboard

Kaya - Round 2 - Ding!!!!  I think this is one of my favorite ways to eat - when out with the Dining Team, pretty much everything ordered is fair game for all forks.  We all got to try just about all the items on the menu.  Each dish was awesome, some better than others, and great all the way around!

They gave us our own big table in the back, again.  Of course we start with the Caribbean inspired drinks - I opted for the Caipirinha, which is kinda like a mojito, but more lime and Brazilian.  They are a bit sentimental for me; IPA-hole drank waaaay to many of these on our honeymoon, but that's another story...  The other drink that I found exceptionally interesting was Vegahimsa's Grapefruit-Basil Margarita.  It was fresh, a little sweet, and different.  The winner was definitly the Kayapolitan - they just kept coming!!!  Light, sweet, and so cute with the little cranberries in the bottom!

Appetizers, again, were amazing - Tartare with the Plantain chips, peanuts in the Calamari.  The Bean Dip & the Tofu Cracklins are yummy and spicy, so be careful.  I did like the tofu, it wasn't how I expected tofu to be.  Salsa was good, passed on the Mushroom Saute (cause mushrooms are not my favorite).  The winner of appetizers, when put to vote, was the Lentil & Corn Beingnets by a landslide.  I was suprised when they came, I don't think I knew what they would be, and they managed to impress.  I think I feel the same way about Kaya this time as last time - to hell with dinner, just order all the appetizers!



Who:  Me & the Dining Team
Where:  Kaya
What:  Drinks on the table - Lava Lover, Rum Runner, Caipirinha, Grapefruit-Basil Margartia, Dark & Stormy, Kayapolitan (*winner),
            Appetizers for all - Tuna Tartare, Crispy Calamari, Tofu Cracklins, Mushroom Saute, Lentil & Corn Beingnets (*winner), Mango-Tomatilla Salsa, Yucatan Hot Bean Dip
   
 Dinner - Me - <~ Pan Roasted Grouper
                    EasyD - Park Farms Chicken Breast  ~>
                    Chickie - Salmon-Crab Cakes & Sweet & Spicy Baby Back Ribs
                    Vegahimsa - Jerked Tofu Tacos
                    Onion-hater - Kaya Burger
                    Steamy - Kaya Burger
                    Nonsense - Crispy Fish Tacos
                    Willtry - Kaya Burger
      Desserts - Pecan Torte with Chipotle Ice Cream, Ice Cream Tasting (Passionfruit, Dulce de Leche, Avocado), Chocolate & Banana Bread Pudding, Creme Brulee.  And I can't pick a winner here.

Again, I'll say that everything was great.  My grouper was cooked perfectly, texture & flavor was amazing.  Tacos - delicious.  Chicken - tasty.  Cakes, burgers, ribs - yummy, yum, yum. But let's just talk about dessert for a second - yes, it says Chipotle ice cream & Avocado ice cream.  The Chipotle ice cream was one of the most confusing yet delicious things I have ever eaten - it was spicy, like chipotle spicy, but frozen.  And Avocado ice cream was so different and very tasty.  Bread pudding is one of my most favorite desserts, bananas are one of my least favorite - its a texture thing - this bread pudding was fabulous, even better if you like bananas.  Those were the only 4 on the menu, so we ate them all, but, as a frontloader, I go back to the appetizers on this one.  I'd rather eat them than dessert.  As Chickie said, and I quote, "The appetizers were a smorgasboard of love and deliciousness!"  She may have also been including the Kayapolitans. 

Again, I will repeat, this restaurant is small, I advise you to make reservations or you may find yourself looking for somewhere else to eat.  I would also recommend that you keep ordering.  There was a little snag with the Kaya staff - after we had finished dessert, and had not ordered any more drinks, they did ask us to give up the table.  Which, I do understand, being that it is such a small place, but it was a little sooner than we thought reasonable to push us out.  C'mon kids, you're there to make great food and let us run up a huge tab!!

On the whole, Kaya has fab food, captivating ambiance, great drinks, and stellar appetizers!  Make reservations, like now. 

~ CDO

Aguafiesta

Well this whole evening was not as expected.  We were definitely trying to go out to the new tapas place in Greensburg, and I was so looking forward to it.  Well, Nonsense & Onion-hater get there first (a half hour early b/c somebody thought the wrong time) only to find that the new place of choice isn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays.  So plan B - El Patron.

I read some of the reviews on urbanspoon, and seriously - the best Mexican food?  What Mexican joints have you been tolerating???  Overall, I was disappointed at best.  Our main server acted like we were bothering him by being there.  I mean, he finally warmed up at the end, but by then we weren't interested. 
The margaritas were good, sangria was good, chips, salsa & guacamole were good, food came fast; that was positive. Mine was decent, but  unrecognizable for what it was supposed to be, and generally I can identify my Mexican staples - in this case, supposedly a chimichanga & a queso relleno.  Tierra Firme's looked good too - taco, enchilada, & rice.  Nonsense & Onion-hater both went with the tortilla soup.  Yes, here we go with these two again - the soup has chicken in it, Nonsense! (which she gave to Onion-hater). There are onions in it, Onion-hater! (which she decided were big enough eat around). I still don't get it, and they both agreed that, after spooning the oil off the top (which is what this picture is), the soup was good - had a TON of avocado in it, YUM!  Onion-hater didn't touch the tamale, and there were no onions in it.  We think it exploded, but we're not sure.  You can look at the picture and judge for yourself.

Who:  Onion-hater, Nonsense, Tierra Firme, & Me
Where:  El Patron
What: Me - Special Texas (Chimichanga & Queso Relleno)
          Onion-hater - Tortilla Soup & a  Tamale
          Nonsense - Tortilla Soup *winner
          Tierra Firme - Combo 1 (Taco, Enchilada, & rice)

So for what its worth,  don't bother.  If you're looking for some good authentic Mexican food, head over to Picante in Delmont.  We do go there more often than I think I'd like to admit.  The guys know what me & the kids want as soon as we sit down, speak Spanish to us, and make some great food.  Hmm, I guess I'll have to write about them one of these days. 

Yeah, bummer, El Patron was a bust.  Wish the tapas place would have been open.  Stay tuned...

~ CDO