Mooncake Foods

After pushing LB too hard to stay at the Met we beat a hasty retreat back to the apartment to finish off the leftover pizza and allow nap time to commence.  For dinner we wanted to try to eat something that we couldn’t eat at home, and I was hoping to track down another bahn xeo like at the Slanted Door.  Alas I am inept at searching restaurant menus online so I wasn’t able to locate a single restaurant in all of Manhattan that had one on the menu, and I wouldn’t impose to request one from a stranger.  I settled on Mooncake Foods Hell’s Kitchen location, and we were rewarded with great, cheap food and awesome service plus $9 pitchers of Sapporo.

LB and I shared the cold jicama rolls and pea shoot dumplings and a cold noodle salad while my honey had a really spicy sandwich.  The salad was okay, but the appetizers were delicious.  All of the portions were generous.  The restaurant appeared to be mostly delivery, and there may have been seven to ten tables with about the same at the bar.  Only one other table was set the whole time we were there, but the delivery orders kept going out.  The servers took good care of us, and they were sweet to LB.  It was so awesome to be able to enjoy the cheap beer because we didn’t need a designated driver; three cheers to the wonder of MTA!

NYC arrival

 

After years of searching we were finally able to fly out of Asheville; typically even factoring in for gas and parking and time, flying out of Charlotte, Greenville, or Greensboro has been a couple of hundred dollars cheaper.  However, AVL has direct flights to both LGA and EWR so keeping in mind LB’s travel endurance a direct flight seemed like the best option for us and our fellow passengers, and flying out of a tiny airport with a tiny security checkpoint definitely would have pushed us to fly locally.  On this flight, though, we didn’t have to do any calculus as the AVL fare was cheaper than either CLT or GSP.  Being able to leave our house and arrive at the airport in ten minutes was absolutely awesome, and I have to say the savings of flying out of another airport will have to be even higher next time.

We’ve been to Manhattan a few times over the course of our relationship, and our last trip left me terribly disappointed that I didn’t get my fill of the Met so I’ve been dreaming of returning for about ten years.  Lodging in Manhattan is expensive so we spent hours searching for a place to stay; our goal is to avoid hotels due to their lack of privacy and ambience, plus having a kitchen is nice especially with a toddler who wants to snack all day long.  With LB still being in diapers we needed a washing machine and dryer in the apartment, and apparently not many other NYC vacationers want or need to do laundry.  Meeting our criteria for proximity to our tourist spots, price, kid friendly, and having a washer and dryer made this one of the hardest vacation rental searches we’ve done.  It would be nice if more vacation rental sites had better search functions.  Unfortunately, our rental ended up being pretty far north of our ideal neighborhood so we had about a 40 minute commute (walking plus train ride) to get to our tourists spots.  Another unfortunate thing about our rental was that it was furnished with two air mattress and a futon; even with the mattresses inflated to the firmest setting, they were too soft and squishy.  One was a twin and one was a queen or a full so LB and I shared one while my husband tried both the twin and the futon.  I have confirmed that no matter how nice the air mattress is, it is still an air mattress.  On the bright side, the washer and dryer weren’t horribly old and slow, and the apartment was filled with natural light during the day even though we were below street level.

We arrived in the afternoon.  Although carseats are not required in for hire vehicles, I couldn’t think about LB sitting in a taxi for a forty minute drive from the airport to our apartment so my honey came through and quickly installed the carseat into the hired car.  I felt completely vindicated about my insistence on the carseat watching some of our fellow motorists swerve and tailgate.  Dial7 provided professional drivers and clean and comfortable vehicles for both our arrival and departure.  Compared to the taxi rates, I really liked knowing that we could schedule a car rather than wait in the taxi line.

After getting settled (including planning our route with the Embark app) we walked to the subway and rode the train down to the lower East Side to visit Ess-A-Bagel which was recommended by a former Manhattanite.  Fortunately, my honey found a closer mid-town location that we hit for our mid vacation bagel re-up.  These bagels were what I crave when I think about bagels: crusty before being toasted with a chewy interior.  They had tons of bagels and spreads to choose from; I didn’t see any plain tofu cream cheese so we had to buy that at the store, but my honey and LB enjoyed the tofu with veggie spread we purchased from Ess-A-Bagel.

After a full day of travel plus the bagel quest we decided that we’d go ahead and get delivery pizza rather than try to drag LB out to a restaurant so took a peek into the tourist info folder the apartment’s owners had compiled.  We opted for Bad Horse Pizza delivery while my husband ran to store to pick up some provisions.  His trip took forever due to a massively steep hill that forced him to diverge from the shortest route coupled with the storefront being less than obvious.  LB and I started dinner without him, and it was great.  I ordered the meatless, and he ordered the trifecta to share with LB; while the meatless was fine, the trifecta was delicious.

 

 

Neo Burrito

Unfortunately, I do not like black beans which is a problem sometimes as a vegetarian; much like zucchini and squash, black beans are frequently used in vegetarian dishes (along with portobello mushrooms which I do like).  This dislike of black beans kept me from Neo Burrito despite my husband’s pleas, and I now regret my recalcitrance.

For Dining Out for Life this year, my husband insisted that we stay south plus we needed a kid friendly place.  I caved in light of his persistence and logistics, and we headed over to Neo Burrito in Biltmore Park.  I loved all the vines inside the restaurant, and LB loved the fish tank.  The seating is really cramped inside so I recommended choosing a patio seat.

For my meal I ordered poorly by choosing the Smiling Hara burrito without rice and beans because I assumed the beans and rice would be mixed; they are not so next time I’ll get the rice or get a tempeh taco for about half the price.  Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, but it wasn’t a cost effective choice.  I was confused because based on the menu I didn’t expect to watch my food being made so next time I’ll know it is more of a build your own operation.  LB loved her kid quesadilla, and it was enough to feed her (great bonus since it was a sweet $2.25).  They have a salsa bar, and you serve your own drinks and bus your own table.  I love seeing the compost, recycle, and landfill bins!

They had plenty of bottled beers to choose from along with some taps; it is great to live in a city with plenty of microbrews to choose.  My friend says be sure t try the baked goods beside the register, and another suggests their ten cent beer nights.

The Square Root

I’ve been to the original location in Brevard a few times, so when I needed to find a bit to eat on a Sunday in Hendersonville The Square Root seemed like a good choice.  I ordered a Munich Dunkel from Brevard Brewing Company, which was right up my alley for a spring day (not too heavy or sweet or hoppy), and the eggs florentine as nothing else really jumped out.  LB had a kids pizza with a side of fruit along with most of the fruit that came with my benedict. The pizza was cheap enough, but it was heavily sauced and extra messy.  My eggs were nicely cooked, and the portion was standard.  I am not a fan of biscuits in lieu of an english muffin; the hollandaise has enough buttery goodness for the dish without adding a biscuit.  One of our party ordered hard poached eggs, and they were served on the soft side of medium.  The service was fine until our server disappeared at the end of our meal; I was able to walk a block and back to change a diaper before we finally asked the hostess for our check.  If I’m back in Hendersonville on a Sunday and West First Wood Fired Pizza remains closed on Sundays, I’ll be likely to return to The Square Root.

 

 

Piazza redux

Dining out with my family is difficult between everyone’s different tastes and expectations so frequently we end up at some chain (e.g. Outback, Carabarras, Brixx) which in the best case makes me feel guilty for not supporting a local restaurant and in the worse case leaves me feeling ripped off at the mediocre food or service or both. Eating on Sunday poses additional challenges as my mom refuses to eat anywhere that serves only brunch.  Now that I have broken up with Nona Mia, I suggested Piazza on a recent outing, and as far I can tell it was a winner.  I split a large salad with my mom, and at $8 it is a steal as it easily could’ve worked as a four person starter.  My complaint is that it was labeled a caesar, but the dressing tasted like a nice vinaigrette.  The Sunday we visited they had a deal of buy one pizza get the second half off so I went with the fungi and the margherita for LB.  These are generously topped wood fired pizzas so they are quiet filling especially if you’ve eaten half or more of a huge salad.  The fungi was seasoned with rosemary to give it a bit of a twist, and eating so many mushroom dishes when I eat out it was nice.  The Greek wedding that my mom and brother shared looked delicious (and generously topped) too.  Much to my delight I was able to order the tiramisu for dessert unlike my first visit; it was good, and it was right at $5.  Our service was attentive, and I look forward to returning.

R Thomas Deluxe Grill

On a recent visit to Atlanta, I ate lunch at R Thomas Deluxe Grill; it was a windy and cold day so it was surprising to see several birds caged up outside along one wall near the entrance.  The interior is cramped and funky (or kitschy depending on your taste), and we had to wait queued up in a space near the kitchen.  We were sat within the enclosed patio, and it was drafty when the wind gusted and comfortable otherwise.  The vegetarian selections aren’t bad (0r exciting), and they serve all day breakfast in addition to being open 24 hours.

I decided on the lemon-herb pasta which was not a good choice for me as it was super cheesy and heavy; the portion and price were typical for any restaurant.  My grandmother ordered the veggie burger, and it was massive; however she was charged $1.50 each for the tomato and onion.  She also requested mustard which never arrived so I don’t know if that would’ve been an additional charge too.  On the whole our service was fine, and the food was okay.  On the bright side, they do validate!

Our trip to the High Art Museum to see Frieda y Diego was definitely the best part of our trip.

 

Savannah Food

Savannah’s food left us underwhelmed.  Everything was expensive even by tourist standards.  I concede that I didn’t expect much to begin with considering I don’t eat seafood or “Southern” food.  We never thought of the eating at the mayonnaise queen’s place, and if you are ever in Savannah and think you might, try Mrs Wilkes’ Dining Room instead (the people we rented the condo from strongly encourage it).

For our first night, we ended up hungry without a clue where we wanted to eat, and we ended up at a corporate restaurant, Rocks on the River, where we parted with a disgusting sum of money for some quite mediocre fare.  My honey had the shrimp pappardelle for $20, and I had a margherita thin crust pizza along with a $9 kir royale where the creme de cassis did precious little to cover up the cheap sparkling wine.  Our server was nice and attentive, and we enjoyed the people watching as well as the access to the riverwalk for LB to burn some energy.

A recurring theme of our trip was poor timing, and our trip to PJ Thai was one of those missed stops.  912food2go saved the day by delivering Pakwan.  While I cannot recall what I ordered, I do know I enjoyed it, and we’ll definitely eat there again.  LB’s bread sampler was huge, and we ate it again the next day.  The rice was perfectly cooked and delicious, and my honey loved his saag paneer (again enough for two meals).

If we hadn’t decided to have an appetizer and drinks at Vic’s on the River, we probably could have eaten at PJ Thai.  We didn’t sit anywhere with a view of the river or much of anything, but our server was quick to get LB’s fries out as well as good to remove our finished plates.  She also entertained LB with her crumb clearing skills.  The food was expensive without being wonderful.  I went for the fried green tomatoes; they were great with the goat cheese once I freed them from the super heavy and less than delicious breading.  My honey had the oysters rockafeller, which he really enjoyed.  Two cocktails, two apps, and a plate of fries set us back $42 before tip.  Don’t let the white tablecloths and live piano player fool you, the tables are much too crowded for a romantic dinner.

Our final dining experience was a Huey’s on the River.  We enjoyed a nice riverwalk view, and our service was fine.  My pesto pasta dish reminded me of the frozen raviloi we buy when we want some cheap stuff to throw together, and my husband’s crab cake suffered from too much filling not enough crab.

Filo

Another work class in East Asheville a few weeks back led me to enjoy a meal at Filo.  The exterior is a cute stone house right on busy Tunnel Rd across from the VA, and the interior is open and light.  The women’s bathroom is just cool.

The best option I saw for my tastes was the vegetarian quiche, and the price was reasonable.  The portion was generous with a typical amount of fillings, but the eggs were perfectly cooked.  For dessert I opted for the tiramisu (because I hate change), and it left me wishing I had chosen another dessert from the case.  It was served in a bowl, and the top layer was thick cocoa, which I inhaled.  I was much more careful on my next bites, and while I avoided inhaling another tablespoon of cocoa, the tiramisu was extra sweet.  Aside from the cocoa on the top, it was difficult to discern any tastes aside from sweet.

Cafe Azalea

Due to a work meeting I was not able to enjoy lunch with my LB, but I did have one of the first meals in a long time alone.  I was in East Asheville I decided to try Cafe Azalea which is tucked into a strip mall off Tunnel Rd near it’s Swannanoa River Rd intersection.  As the name cafe implies everything here is diminutive from the parking lot, to the menu, and to the space itself.  The vegetarian options were limited to salads and an entree; I opted for the shiitake mushroom with pasta and goat cheese in a white wine sauce dish.

The portion was fine, although my dish had very few of the highlighted shiitakes, and I tasted rather than spotted the goat cheese.  The noodles and sauce were cooked well.  My service was friendly and prompt as I arrived for an early lunch and sat at the bar.  My good sized chunk of bread pudding felt more like breakfast than dessert, and it was quite hot on the top but cold in the center.  On tap they had four beers (three local and one NC), and I didn’t look at their wine list.

I am not frequently in East Asheville to eat anything other than ice cream so it is unlikely that I will drive out of my way to revisit Cafe Azalea.

West First Wood Fired Pizza

Back in March or April I had a meeting in Hendersonville so I had my husband and LB meet me so we could try lunch at West First Wood Fired Pizza, I ordered something and my husband ordered something else with a beer; I remember we both enjoyed our meals, and the price and portions were nice.  The interior was funky and modern (the oven is so pretty), with a stairway that I was terrified of falling down.  Our service was nice and fast for a busy lunch, and I wanted to go back to try some of their desserts.  It took a few months, but we did eventually get back to Hendersonville.  For some reason we opted for a Friday night dinner with a teething one year old; as it was Friday around 7 we did end up waiting for thirty minutes or so, and their foyer is a tight fit with more than a few people waiting.  Please note that out of respect for staff and our fellow diners we do keep LB quite with toys, food, or outdoor strolls.

As LB was hungry, and she had drilled the grapes we had packed for her while we waited we ordered the trio bread plate (hummus, sun dried tomato tapenade, and roasted garlic cloves).  The portion was good to share with hearty chunks of bread and enough of each of the complements.  We both ordered a pizza; while I typically feel that the wood fired pizzas are overpriced, I was satisfied with the toppings on mine.  My honey ordered a salmon pie, and I had a campari (although I have no recollection of what is on it).  While our service was noticeably slower than the busy lunch, we never felt neglected; such is the cost of dining out on Friday night during prime dining hour.

I did not make it to dessert again as I had gone by their bakery in Fletcher (at St John and Hendersonville Rd) in search of their key lime pie which I’ve heard raves about; they did not have it that day so I placated myself with a chocolate cupcake that was disappointing based on my love of Short Street Cakes and the delicious in spite of being ridiculously over-frosted cupcakes from my cousin’s wedding.  I couldn’t order their key lime pie as my awesome husband had made me one a few days ago, so I guess another trip in is order.  As for their beer list, I only recall it listing a couple of local brews, and I don’t recall it being nearly as extensive as the online one.

On a final note: Although it was a Friday night at prime dining hour, we were able to park on Main St a few blocks from West First.