Irla is not a place I have eaten much at except for the overpriced Papillon and Amar Juice Centre. So it was a surprise for me when a friend suggested we go to Harish Bar and Restaurant for some choicest meat dishes and off course some drinks.

For starters, which for this post means drinks, we ordered for Royal Stag quarter at INR 220 which is quite reasonable by any standards! For the food though, there was a long list which included the choicest of prawns (Prawns Lassuni), the sweet tasting Crispy Chicken, Chicken Lollypop, and the evergreen Surmai Tawa Fry. I think the fish here was awesome and so were the prawns though the lollypops held forth for the chicken!

The main course included Chicken Hyderabadi and the Chicken Sukha. The Sukha I rather have at Janta Bar and Restaurant. Though not bad,  it wasn’t the same as at Janta. The Hyderabadi Chicken was lip-smackingly good as were the Parathas we had them with.

Overall the place is on the expensive side though the booze is reasonably priced.

Verdict

Food: 3.5/5 – No complaints with the food. Though the prices could be reduced a bit here.

Service: 4/5 – Attentive and friendly waiters.

Price: 3/5 – The real downer here. Harish could possible be a back up if only the food prices are slashed by 20% or more, which seems unlikely to happen!

Northern Liberties is a section of Philadelphia that is often overlooked when considering places to go out to eat, but there are a few places tucked back there you should try, particularly N. 3rd.

To read the whole article, click here…

If there was ever an object that was long, hard and soft on the outside that I wanted in my mouth, it was definitely the McDonald’s Crispy Ranch Wrap. Now, I am not sure if that is the exact legal name of this dick-like delicious dish, but knowing that it is from McDonald’s, it is crispy, there is ranch sauce and it is wrapped is enough information for you to apprehend one for yourself; which really is the point of this article.

When I first stepped into the rink with the McDonald’s Crispy Ranch Wrap I was a little under whelmed. One piece of chicken that doesn’t cover the entire wrap, a few pieces of lettuce, some multicolored cheese and barely visible Ranch dressing didn’t really put the fear of God in me. As puny as it looks, this wrap can pack a punch. While I wasn’t necessarily full the first time I had one, there were times when it put a pretty big dent in my munchies. How do they do it? I don’t know. One of my theories is that the wrap is made too big for the fillings so you don’t pace yourself and get filled easily. I’m not sure though.

Before I keep on talking about how good this is (and it is) I feel like I need to share the one main downside of getting this order: it is extremely expensive. Some McDonalds charge up to $2.44. If your goal were to get full with barely any money, I would not recommend getting the wrap. Rather, I would go get some McDoubles.  But if you are able to scrap together some extra money, definitely order one of these bad boys.

The first bite you take out of this wrap will upset you. Usually I am a strong proponent of the rule that the person who paid for the food gets the first bite; this is one of the situations I would recommend breaking this rule. The first bite lacks almost any of the wrap’s substance. After this, you take two or more bites that have become substantially less mediocre than the first bite taken, but not yet up to the standard the rest of the wrap sets; usually I would recommend taking these bites out of the sides, avoiding as much chicken as possible (you can’t get a good amount of it anyway).

It’s all smooth sailing from here. One of the words I would not usually associate with McDonalds is finesse, but this wrap has it. At first glance the lack of substantial cheese, lettuce, sauce or meat seems to detract from the taste. Once you get to this part you start to realize that these measurements were taken with utmost precision, so that there is no one taste that overpowers the rest. These elements play upon your already enhanced taste buds like a jazz quartet; all the while, the crispiness of the chicken massages your mouth. Finally, the ranch dressing gets its solo at the end. This is one of the foods that really have a worthwhile last bite. One of the reasons why this particular order is such a sensation is because it’s a rollercoaster ride of emotion and tastes. Every single bite has its own unique aspect that slowly transforms throughout the feast.

This must be the 3rd or 4th time (or more?) T, LH, J and I eat at this restaurant located at No. 39 Arab Street. T always eat something Chicken, LH always eat the same Lamb Rack dish, J also Chicken and me, I always eat the something Lamb, not the whole ones but the minced or cubed ones. Shish Kebab or my favourite, Shish Kofta Kebab! But today, I had Grilled Chicken as I have been too heaty recently for lamb. =(

Hummus With Arabic Bread

Hummus With Arabic Bread

Oh gosh, the ones that we had today is superly good. It tasted fresher than usual! It was so good that we had to order a second basket of Arabic Bread. By the way, do you know that Hummus is made with Chicken pea? T was so surprised by that! She said that she really hate Chicken pea but this is really good. Keke…

Lamb Rack

Lamb Rack

Riyesh (Grilled Lamb Chop), french cut baby lamb chops, is LH only attraction to this place. The first time he had that he love it so much he kept calling us to go back there again just for that. Haha…

Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken

This Crispy Chicken tastes better than it looks! Really. Or… must be the skill of T that doesn’t do it justice! Haha.. Who ask her to say that her photography skill is better than mine! ><

Grilled Chicken

Grilled Chicken

My Chicken steak is wonderful! They uses the leg of the meat, so it was really tender and juicy! Oh gosh. I love lime and lemon on or in my food. So, it’s good that they provided me a wedge of it! A little acid from these is actually good for health!

Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken

Spring Chicken! I see J tearing into this easily! The only part that he had to tackle is the joints, so I bet this must be real good course he barely talk all night, busy digging into the chicken! =)

Will definitely come back here again! The food is totally a winner. I love Middle Eastern food. I so miss places like Turkish Kitchen, which is no longer around.

I am pathetic. But it was good.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad

Went out to Ellie for my mom’s birthday on Sunday.

Consistent good taiwanese/malaysian food.

Wanted to try the laksa, since Eat’ n About raved about it. I agree with them.

Spicy Curry Laksa

Some other dishes we ordered.

Crispy Peppery Chicken

Yum, the tofu was so nice and soft but crunchy on the outside.

Deep Fried Soft Tofu

Erck, eggplant.. I still ate it though.

Spicy Eggplant

This one I forgot…

If you order anything with sambal, be prepared for tongue numbing spicy!

All in all, a good solid meal.

Guang Zhou Restaurant (廣州酒家), 136-59 37th Avenue, Flushing 11354

So we got lazy for this meal (nobody wanted to cook or clean) and we ate out instead. My mom heard alotta of good reviews about this restaurant, so we decided to go here for the dinner (that and Tung Yi Fung and Gala Manor was all booked up). There was a New Year’s Eve special, but we didn’t ordered any from that menu.

The fish maw with crab meat soup was pretty decent.

Next came our special Snow Pea Leaves with Bamboo. It was pretty good as well.

The Assorted Seafood in Taro Nest was a pretty standard dish that we usually order  at Canton seafood restaurants. It tasted pretty standard too.

The crispy chicken dish was a bit on the salty end. But very crispy. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are trying to lower your sodium intake.

And the final dish was a fresh steamed fish from their tank (just killed for us!). I forgot what type of fish it was, but lotsa bones. The meat was alright.

Verdict: Guang Zhou is your standard Canton seafood restaurant. I’m not too impressed by it, not sure what the hype is about. I guess I wouldn’t mind going there if all the other restaurants are full, but my favs are still Full House for regular Canto seafood and Gala Manor for dim sum (just because they have small tables for small groups so we don’t have to table share).

Ich hab meinen Star of America endlich gefunden. Trotz Geflügelfleisch.

Er kommt aus Hollywood, hat eine längliche Form und ist ein echter Knaller.

Dabei ist gar nicht viel gemacht worden, um aus einem normalen McChicken dieses kleine Meisterwerk herauszukitzeln. Tomaten und Salat zusätzlich, Hartkäse dazu und diese wunderbare Ceasar-Sauce lassen den Crispy Chicken wie einen frisch gemachten Salat im Brötchen schmecken.

Das Warten hat sich wirklich gelohnt. Ich bin mir gar nicht sicher, ob diese Stars of America Kampgane damit nun beendet ist oder ob die Reise vielleicht noch in den Süden weitergeht. Vorher würd ich gern noch mal nach Hollywood zurückkehren.

Infos und Bild von McDonald’s Deutschland

This is one of Lucas’ favorite meals! We just had it last night again, so I thought I’d share it with you here. It’s super easy, and far healthier than any kind of chicken strips, nuggets, or fingers you’d find in a restaurant or in the freezer section of the grocery store.

1. Marinate one pack of chicken tenders (we choose organic) in buttermilk for about 30 minutes in the fridge.
2. Meanwhile, prepare 3 large bowls for the dipping process:
   1. In the first bowl, put about ½ cup of flour
   2. In the second bowl, beat 2 eggs
   3. In the third bowl, mix ½ cup flaked coconut, ½ cup panko bread crumbs (the panko is key for crunchy strips!) plus 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp curry powder, 1 dash cayenne pepper, and ¾ tsp salt
3. Preheat oven to 475° and spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
4. Take out your milky chicken strips and dredge each one first in the flour, then in the eggs, then in the panko mixture. Line the strips up on the cookie sheet and spray them with olive oil spray. (If you don’t have spray, you can drizzle them with a tiny bit of olive oil, but the spray is best.)
5. Bake for 6-10 minutes or until done. No turning necessary.

They don’t even need dipping sauce! The flavor from the spices and coconut make them very tasty on their own. Let me know what you think!

In Food City Match-Ups, we take a look at the pros and cons of eating in two cities (some we’ve never been to or have any intention of setting foot in) and pass judgment on who wins based on unresearched stereotypes and hunches. This week we break down, completely biased of course, the 2008 NBA Playoffs. Finally moving on the Western Conference, we break down #4 Utah versus #5 Houston.

vs.

Next up, it’s “Big Salty” versus Clutch City!

UTAH:

(Maybe Salt Lake Citizens aren’t ALL that bad…)

Reputation: Almost nil. Foodies usually tend to be liberal hippie douches who sniff their own farts, and unless you’re talking about Sundance or Zion National Park, most of them wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near conservative Utah.

Local Flavor: Utah food is more renown as family food. The kind of family fare you can only get when a religious zealot convinces his cult to walk to a godforsaken hellscape to where the water isn’t even drinkable. I tried to go a whole breakdown of Utah and not mention Mormons. I honestly did try. But come on, its ALL anyone can think about when they think of Utah.

Top Restaurant: Which ever one has a full bar.

Signature Dish: Green Jell-O.

The offical state snack food of Utah. And the part of the United States where Mormons are common (Utah, Arizona, Southern Idaho, Nevada, parts of Colorado) is called the “Jello Belt“. If that’s not signature, I have no idea what is. Also, Jello isn’t a dessert in Utah, it’s a “salad”.

What Are They Eating in the Locker Room?: There’s nothing Utah loves more than White People. So it makes sense they’d have to go to the former Soviet Union to find Caucasians capable of playing in the NBA. So Russia’s Andrei Kirilenko and the Ukraine’s Kyrylo Fesenko probably get their borscht on before every game.

What The Locals Say: Co-worker Travis is from Salt Lake City. When asked about how he thought Utah measured up as a food city, he just sort of sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know man. There isn’t a whole bunch of places to go. People usually just eat at home.”

And when I checked out the “The Essential Mormon Cookbook” online, I knew the Utah food scene looks like a huge-ass pot luck dinner.

HOUSTON:

(I’m actually fraternity brothers with this douche)

Reputation: Not what you’d expect. Everyone immediately thinks oil derricks, cowboy hats, and Cadillac cars, But Houston is actually a pretty diverse city with a wide range of food options. Fancy stuff is there (I mean, Houston has money and they do like to spend it) but they did inherit a lot of Cajun refugees from Katrina and they know how to cook. Add that to Texas barbecue tradition, and it Houston has a decent food rep.

Local Flavor: Well, we mentioned barbecue, and Houston’s proximity to Mexico means a good taco is probably easy to find. But did you know Houston has one of the largest community of Southeast Asian immigrants in the hemisphere? And around the TGI McFunster’s flagship store, Vietnamese is our favorite cuisine. And with a click glance at the map says “Little Saigon” would be a good place to start. Or one of the two (2!) Chinatowns Houston has in its sprawling city limits.

Top Restaurant: Going with the “What locals say” portion a little early here, Clint is a friend of mine from Katy, TX (home of Renee Zellweger, Roger Clemens, and Clint Black!) just outside Houston:

“The most beloved spots is Goode Company barbecue. The menu seems strange to some but is probably more what Texas bbq was really like around the early 1900’s. Specialties include a slew of different house cured sausages, fork tender brisket, and barbecued duck legs.”

Signature Dish:

Look at that. Beef ribs. Hot links. Brisket. Check out the pink around the slices of brisket. That’s called a “smoke ring“. It represents everything that’s good and wholesome and decent on this crazy planet. Slap it all on a piece of wax paper with a couple of slices of Wonder Bread, hold the sauce (thats for the Yankees), serve it up with a mason jar full of Iced Tea and/or bottle of Shiner Bock and that’s not a meal… it’s a transcendent experience that allows you to complete yet another check on your list of things to do before you end your life in a coked-up shooting spree with the cops. (Your plans may vary)

What Are They Eating In The Locker Room?: There are 1.3 billion Chinese. And of all of them, Center Yao Ming is probably the most recognizable in the whole world. Seeing as how he’s from Shanghai, we’d show up to the locker room with some Shanghai Crispy Chicken. You just boil a chicken until its tender, then roast it till the skin is crispy.

What? His favorite food is McDonald’s? Well, fuck him, then.

What the Locals Say: Back to Clint. (He never said if he was from Old Katy, north of I-10, or merely from the Katy Area. This matters because Katy Area bitches be frontin’):

Houston has several spots known globally for innovative as well as classical cuisine. Tony Vallone’s legendary Tony’s constantly evolves (sashimi to souffle) to cater to Amex blackcard holders. The small yet beloved Brennan’s cooks seafood and steaks with a nod to classical French techniques and garners two Michelin stars.

But this is Texas and Texas is known for barbecue. As far as mom and pop joints go, everyone has their favorites. Landmarks include Otto’s (made famous by the patronage of a former one term president, who was also a former C.I.A director and may or may not have trafficked cocaine into the states depending on whether or not you believe the lyrics of the legendary Geto Boys.) Others swear by Drexler’s, Clyde the Glides establishment where they perfect brisket, ribs, and sausage on a daily basis. Of course found in every strip mall and roadside trailer are numerous gems that would help Chicagoans realize that they have never really had real barbecue.

Houston is also a coastal town and is currently in the throes of a fine dining seafood movement. The newly opened Reef stands out on this front. There is also a shit-ton of cajun, Tex-mex, and mex-mex in H-town.

As for Utah?

The beer in Utah CANNOT by law exceed 3.2%. Just sayin’

The Verdict:

Big Oil vs. Big Love… Vince Young vs. Steve Young… Beyonce vs. The Osmonds…

Is there really a debate about this? Barbecue, Vietnamese food, AND a rapping midget!?!?!

HOUSTON WINS!

]]> http://overactivefork.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/mcspin-fried-by-any-other-name-is-still-fried/ Thu, 01 Nov 2007 22:47:16 +0000 overactivefork http://overactivefork.wordpress.com/2007/11/01/mcspin-fried-by-any-other-name-is-still-fried/

To save money and time (great reasons, huh?), I too often eat at fast food restaurants. I think that Wendy’s is probably the best in terms of nutritional value for the money, since they allow customers to choose a side item OTHER than French Fries as part of their Combo Meals (combo meal = sandwich, side item and beverage).

McDonald’s refers to their “meal deals” as Value Meals. McDonald’s does not allow substitution(s) for side items — French Fries are a must for the side item. I’m told that despite how delicious they are, French Fries have virtually NO nutritional value. At McDonald’s they also usually come OVER-salted. And did I mention something about their fat content?

Here’s hoping that McDonald’s, Arby’s and all other combo-meal-serving fast food joints will follow Wendy’s lead and allow for something OTHER than French Fries to be selected as a side item. Until that wonderful day when such a choice is offered by McDonald’s, I have (at least) two other complaints about McDonald’s cuisine…

1) Let’s call “fried” food “fried”, OK? Have you noticed that their various chicken sandwiches and Snack Wraps come in two varieties: grilled and crispy.  ”Crispy” is THE SAME as “fried”. I challenge McDoanld’s to have the integrity to respect their customers by using the word “fried” — despite all the bad press that word gets these days! (SIDE NOTE: Did you know the reason that Kentucky Fried Chicken shortened it’s name back in the 1990’s to  ”KFC”? Because of all the bad press in heart disease that FRIED food was getting! So we can still eat FRIED food, but dare not speak the name “fried” and it makes it all OK? Sounds like spin to moi!)

2) Have you ever ordered one of these “grilled” items (perhaps as a way to reduce your intake of FAT)? If so, you might have noticed like I have that McDonald’s employees LARD IT UP with maynaise!!! What’s the point it having your item “grilled” (to reduce fat) just to turn around and smack MULTIPLE ounces of fat-laden mayonaise on your sandwich or wrap? Kinda’ defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? At least they could offer reduced fat or fat-free mayonaise!

On a more McPositive note…I did (past tense) enjoy partaking of McDonald’s Southwest Salads this past summer. They came with a choice of either “grilled” or “crispy” chicken (That’s FRIED chicken!!!). I’m sad to report that now that fall has arrived, this healthier item is no longer McAvailable. The Southwest Salad has come up missing just in time for the McRib to make a brief return.