Sri Pra Phai

Srip Pra Phai
Sunnyside, Queens

We have not had much luck with finding "good" Thai food --- i.e., prepared simply, with superfresh ingredients and balanced spice, and easy on the budget. Superfatty was hopeful that Srip Pra Phai would fit the bill.

Getting to Sunnyside from midtown was not all that bad; we managed to skip the afternoon rush and got there in less than thirty minutes. We opted to eat in their courtyard, a lovely affair of rose bushes and hanging flowers, and a little fountain, to boot.

Be forewarned that their menu is extensive. The prices are very reasonable, so Sri Pra Phai is a great place to splurge. The smiley faces in the menu reflect the popular dishes. Here's what we got:

Fried soft shell crabs with mango salad on the side. (This had the smiley face.) They were light and crispy, although not as superfresh as we'd like.

Duck salad. DJKung liked this dish; the duck was crispy and yummy.

Pad thai. This was a very light variation, with egg and soy sauce.

Kang kung (water spinach). This is always a crowd-pleaser. The greens are very mild, and the stems have a nice crunch to them

DJKung's dad got the pork with cellophane noodles casserole. It tasted very light too, with a refreshing Chinese celery flavor.

DJKung felt that there was not a lot of meat on the table, so he ordered the stir-fried pork. It seemed like it was simply cooked in a splash of soy sauce. He did not like this too much.

We're not really sure what it is--- the food was ok, but nothing savory. Generally, we like our Thai food bursting with that salty-sweet-hot combination that you get with really good Southeast Asian food. We've agreed to give Sr Pra Phai another shot before we decide.

Viva Versailles (Miami, Florida)

Under food:

Versailles
3555 SW 8th Street
Miami, FL 33135
305-444-0240

DJKung and his buddy took a well-deserved break in Miami Beach recently. Unfortunately, his foray did not yield much in the way of good eatin's (the area's restaurants are too trendy, too expensive and too tasteless to even blog about. One local suggested Versailles Cafe on Calle Ocho, and this was hands-down the best food DJKung had the whole trip.

Sangria. This was typical, nothing special. Highly recommended for cooling off on a hot day.

Soup of the day was lentil soup. This was hearty and very tasty.

Fresh baked bread, made in-house.

Fried appetizer platter. This included fried plantains, whitefish, chorizo and chicken. Everything was fried perfectly and nothing was too greasy. The picante sauce was amazing.

The local scene at Versailles. It is a major Cuban hub, great for people-watching.

DJKung got the rice and beans with maduros (fried ripe bananas), on left. On right is pulled pork.

DJKung's buddy got the fried pork with rice and beans.

DJKung felt that everything they ordered was classically, authentically and deliciously down home awesome Cuban food. There's a reason why this joint's been around since 1971. Even though the trip back to South Beach was complicated by scary flash flooding and hail, (freakiest weather in the last seventeen years, according to one resident), their foray to Versailles was definitely worth the trek.

Give a Father's Day RUB [Righteous Urban BBQ]!

Under fun:

RUB (Righteous Urban Barbeque) NYC
208 West 23rd Street (btw 7th and 8th Avenue)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 524-4300




Happy Father's Day! We took out DJKung's pops for some barbeque to celebrate. RUB has gotten some solid press ever since they opened a few years back. The wait was not too crazy, and we had fun perusing their menu. Their most impressive item is "The Empire." For $275, you get a whole lotta 'que plus a bottle of champagne. We were more than happy to settle for something less grand, though.

Obviously, their strong point is barbeque, done St. Louis style. Their barbeque is smoked for a lengthy 17 hours, and you can tell the difference. Everything is served on paper-lined plates, giving the place a very informal, picnic-style air.

DJKung's pops got a half-rack of pork spare ribs bbq, with a side of their old fashioned mashed potatoes (not pictured). DJKung's poppa is not much for words when it comes to food... everything is either "it's ok" (meaning that it is so-so), or "it's good," which means that it's awesome. He judged the ribs "good."

Superfatty's dish: fried catfish with french fries and vinegar coleslaw. The catfish portions were quite generous. Catfish being what it is (lean bottom-dwelling freshwater fish), I can't say much about it except that it tasted like catfish. The slaw was exceptionally good--- crunchy, sweet, with that biting pickle taste. Very refreshing. Had plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day too!

DJKung ordered the Burt End Dinner. It includes the fatty part of the brisket and is cooked twice until crispy. He picked a side of fried onion strings.

Here's a glamor shot of the burnt end, in all its greasy, porky and heavenly goodness. Yes, DJKung did declare this to be heavenly, it was so good.

Close-up shot of the burnt end. Notice the smoke ring (reddish tinge)on the fork side of the meat, which is a sign of authentic bbq. The veins of fat are also very visible, and add a lot of flavor to the meat.

RUB also has a nice, well-edited selection of beers on tap to go with your bbq. We picked a Fat Bastard (a nice weighty stout), an IPA, and a weissbeir--- all went well with the food.

We were pretty impressed by the bbq here and definitely will hit this joint again soon!

Philippine Day Festival at Passaic Park

Under furs, food & fun:

Philippine Day Festival at Passaic Park
Passaic Park, NJ

Cocina de Geepee
13-A Wanaque Avenue
Pompton Lakes, NJ
(973) 616-2482

Here in NJ, Philippine Day is celebrated around the second Sunday every June, to mark its independence from Spain in 1898. We've had the festivities here for the past 30 years or so. There is usually a parade in the morning, then a program with native performances. And of course, lots of yummy food. This was Babams' first time and he was very excited.

The day started off very overcast and dreary. By the time we got there at 12:30 pm, the food stalls were in full swing. The turnout was not huge yet. We took some shots before picking out some grub.

At left is lumpia (little fried egg rolls, filled with meat). I am not sure what the middle dish was. The one on the right is empanadas (meat pasties).

A lot of the stalls (there must have been seven or so in all) have brick-and-mortar stores on northern Jersey. We were surprised that there were a lot of restaurants/catering joints that we have not even heard of.

Hey guys, I found the bubble tea place!

Lots more yummy goodies. This place specialized in bbq skewers. The Philippine style meat skewers are usually marinated in a soy sauce mix, and is on the sweet and savory side. Very addictive.

Fresh bbq sticks right here!

Miss Visayas kindly posed for this pix. Thanks!

Chibs and Babams enjoying the festivities at a safe distance. Babams was really excited and wanted to try everything!

Chibs savoring the bbq meat skewer. Lucky dawg!

Now that's some good bbq!

DJKung ordered got this from Cocina De Geepee's stall. The mechado (chunks on left) was good, but the pernil (roasted pork, right) was superb. Their flyer advertises Spanish and Filipino food.

Here's Cocina de Geepee's stall.

We also got some fried turon (bananas wrapped in rice paper) at this stall. I did not get the name of this place, unfortunately.

Close-up of the fried turon.

Unfortunately, our grazing was interrupted when an old guy approached Chibby and started petting him. Chibs is quite leery of strangers, so he reared back and started barking. Babams, who was already hyper to begin with, decided to bark at some kids playing with a bright red toy airplane.

Mind you, they were under the control of DJKung, so all was in order and they were just letting off some steam. Nevertheless, we were asked to leave because we were "scaring" the kiddies. Who were quite a distance from us. Oh, well.

Arigato Ariyoshi Izakaya!

Under food:



Izakaya Ariyoshi
226 E. 53rd Street
NY, NY 10022
(212) 319-3940



DJKung and I were feeling nostalgic about a prior trip to Tokyo, where we were hanging out at a local bar getting drunk and just noshin' on all sorts of grilled goodies. We were initially aiming for a robata (grilled food joint), but were not really looking forward to being surrounded by the East Village crowd on a Thursday (feeling old, I guess).



We agreed that Ariyoshi unselfconsciously felt like we were back in Tokyo, in the itty-bitty ryokan/hostel we stayed at, half-watching a popular game show while having dinner. It helped that the table next to us was populated by expats who, by that point, were animated after a few drinks.

Spider roll. Soft shell crab with avocado, in sushi rice. DJKung and I hardly ever order rolls. This one was pretty good; the crab was still warm and crispy. We were off to a good start.


Sapporo, Superfatty's beer of choice.

Mushroom soup, with three different kinds of mushrooms. We could identify the enoki and the oyster mushroom. The soup was sweet and hearty.

Hamachi kama (broiled yellowtail collar). This was a pretty big serving, meaty and succulent. I liked the little radish pickle (I think) thing in the middle.

DJKung ordered a beef skewer and a chicken skin skewer. Both were spot on.

While enjoying our apps, we came to realize that we ordered our usuals that we tend to get at Takahachi. I think we were really craving comfort food that night.

Tempura shrimp and veggies. This came with the tempura soba that DJKung ordered.

Soba noodles. Can't mess with this.

Nabeyaki udon. The broth was rich and smoky-sweet. It was perfect for that soggy, rainy day.

I'm not sure if it was because of the weather, but there were not many people out that night. I can easily imagine this place easily getting jam-packed, because of their nice little selection of beers and sake---nothing very fancy-pants. The food is very solid and there is a nice selection of skewers, apps and mains. It would be interesting to check Ariyoshi out in the wee hours of the morning (they close at 2 am on some nights).

Piggin' out at Pandan Village!

Under food:



Pandan Village
406 Broad Avenue
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 748-9997
www.pandanaisiancuisine.com



DJKung and I cannot believe that throughout this time, we have never featured Pandan Village on UFC. Pandan serves great Filipino food in a very cozy corner restaurant in Bloomfield. Over the years, its kitchen has become more adept and has expanded its menu.

Pandan is especially great for certain types of home cooking that you'd just never make at home, either because of the effort involved or the kitchen smells that only industrial-strenghth vents can get rid of.

We were here recently with a big get-together with friends, so I think the pictures that follow are a good representation of the main hit items on Pandan's menu.



For apps, we ordered goi cuon, tom sum salad and savory mussels.

Goi cuon (fresh shrimp roll). It is pretty good, with tender shrimp and lots of rice noodles. I find that I miss the little bit of mint and scallion that comes with the Vietnamese-style goi cuon. The sauce is your basic hoisin sauce, sprinkled with peanuts. Personally, I like having both the peanut sauce and the hoisin sauce, so I can alternate between the two.

Tom sum salad. This comes with shredded green mango, green papaya and carrots. The sauce (lime juice) was bit bland, and not at all spicy. Overall, quite a pale version of the Thai green papaya salad.

Savory mussels. Mussels in the half shell with a black bean sauce. This was pretty hearty, and can be a meal with some white rice.

It was with the main dishes that Pandan Village really shines.

I think this is the Pandan fried rice. The technique is definitely not Filipino-style, and actually comes closer to Thai-style fried rice, which is sweetish and savory. It came with chunks of pork and chicken, and bits of chinese broccoli. Very balanced and deelish.




Kare-kare, or oxtails in coconut milk-and-peanut sauce. It comes with eggplants and bok choy. Typically eaten with rice and sauteed shrimp paste (called bagoong). I love how picture-perfect it came out. This dish is especially time-consuming to prepare at home, and you'd only find it served during special events.

Laing, or taro leaves cooked in coconut milk. Frankly, this dish always seemed quite repellent to me, on par with eating other mushy-type veggies (snake gourds, in particular). The consistency is also very, umm, mushy. I tried it for the first time this day, and it was not bad at all. The taro leaves don't seem to have much of a flavor (DJKung thinks it's bitter), despite its dark goopy appearance.

Grilled pork belly. Served with lechon sauce and a vinegar-and-spice dip. Sighs of rapture were heard all around the table as these babies were devoured.

Yum.

Sizzling pusit (squid). I did not get to try this one, but it smelled divine.

Roast duck with rice and mango-green papaya salad. The duck skin was crispy and the meat quite succulent.

I think this was midway through the meal.

For dessert, DJKung and I got the halo-halo. Halo-halo is shaved ice over fruit preserves, coconut, red bean. . . it literally stands for a mix of different things. This is the all-time summer snack/dessert in Philippine cuisine. This one had some ice cream and flan on top. I think it could've used a greater variety of preserves. But it was ok, nevertheless.

Ube (purple yam) ice cream. I think this is a commercial Philippine brand.

Sansrival. Crispy meringue with a butter cream frosting, topped with toasted cashew nuts. With the right preparation, the meringue comes out very light and wafer-y, and just melts in your mouth. Pandan's version was a bit soggy.


Pandan is really great for small to medium sized groups, because the menu does have a lot to offer. It is open for lunch and dinner and has very reasonable lunch specials. Pandan is also BYOB, which is great for diners on a budget.