Post X - That Little Diner

This is little place (very little) near my work.  Seen it several times, but have never been in...this was a huge mistake, which I'm glad I rectified.

I decided to stop down for lunch and eventually found a parking spot (not an easy task- Pro Tip: the U-Haul next door is OK to park in front of, just don't block the garages).  The diner itself was small, but clean and not cramped at all.  There was some fairly odd discussion (a prostitute of mutual acquaintance of some of the patrons and genetics.  Yes, really.) but it was still entertaining.

The special of the day was a Philly cheese steak.  Hot and fresh, the standard toppings were cheese (provolone, I think), onions, peppers, and bacon.  The roll was pretty good- ordered in from Harrison Bakery, so it was substantial without having the thick God-awful crust that a lot of rolls have.  The sandwich itself was more than the roll could take (this is a good thing), which forced part of it to be eaten with a fork.  Pretty sweet deal when it comes to a cheese steak.  Normally, when you resort to eating one of these with a fork, it's because the roll has given up the ghost and disintegrated.

The fries were fresh out of the fryer, steaming hot and well salted.  There was a fair amount of crispiness to them without an overwhelming potato flavor, but without a LACK of potato flavor.

The iced tea was good- fresh-brewed, but in a coffee pot, which gave it an unusual flavor.  Not bad per se, but not exactly what I was expecting.  Still: fresh brewed, nu?

I was going to get dessert, but as it turns out they only get pies in on Fridays...which is kind of a shame, but I get the reasoning.  If you buy in too much that people don't order, you're going to lose money.  And when you run a small restaurant, you DON'T want to lose money.

I'd go back again (and have, and have ordered from them- the fish fry is outstanding) and recommend it to pretty much everyone.  It's not high end food, but it is delicious.

Post IX - Hometown Pizza

I was here a few weeks ago, and had the fish fry.  It's all take out, as there is just one table, and that appears to be mostly for people waiting.  This is both a good thing and a shame.  On the one hand, it'd be nice to be able to sit and eat a nice dinner without having to schlep it home to eat.  On the other, having seen what happened to Pizza Man when they expanded (quality of food/service dropped quite a bit) I would feel bad if something similar happened here.

Back to the fish though.  Hometown uses a batter dip rather than breading, which is always good.  There are people who will argue that breading is a better way to go....I disagree.  Fish fry is good either way, but better when batter dipped.  There's a better crunch and the fish always seems to be moister.  The roll which comes with it was store bought, but a fairly high quality- think King Hawaiian and that's about right.

Rolls and fish fry go together, but I'm not really sure why.  The roll is never warm, but there is always a pat of butter in the container.  This makes spreading the butter an impossibility, and I am left to fashion a sandwich out of the roll...which just makes a mess.  Like I say, this roll was good...but other than a McGyvered sandwich, didn't serve much purpose.  This is endemic of all fish fries and not really an indictment on Hometown.

The fries, as always, were pretty darn good.  Still hot and fairly salty they were steak fry-sized.  Normally these are a mistake- too large, and the potatoeyness takes over....too thin and they are all crisp and no potato.  These were pretty crispy, without a lot of mush-factor.

Lastly, was the cocktail sauce.  I loathe tartar sauce...it is the Devil's own condiment.  This was pretty good as cocktail sauce goes...I prefer Heluva Good, but this was a pretty good homemade substitute.  Could have used a squeeze of lemon juice, but was a nice spicy yin to the fish's mild yang.

I'd definitely go there again....their pizza is even better than the fish- which is saying a lot.  On top of which, they have a fair amount of specialty pizzas, grilled wings, fried wings, tacos and so on.

Post VIII - Brenda's Diner

Let me start by saying that I don't get any kind of reimbursement for any of these entries.  No free pie or coffee or anything like that.  And let me follow by saying I've eaten at a lot of places over the years- places that range from hot dog carts that should have been condemned to steak houses to almost everything in between.

Brenda's Diner is easily one of the best places I have ever eaten, bar none.

I was out last week and wanted to get some lunch, so I started driving and asked OnStar (I should also note I get nothing free from them) for a nearby Diner and they gave me Brenda's as one that wasn't too far away.  So I drove up 31 and pulled in to the fairly crowded lot.  The front room was pleasantly bright and a later inspection of the back dining room proved it to be, while not fancy, very nice.

I sat at the counter and was almost immediately asked what I would like to drink and was given a menu.  I looked it over and didn't see my first choice (meatloaf) but they did have roasted lamb over stuffing.  On a lark, I ordered that and got the mashed potatoes to go with it.

I will be honest here....I wasn't expecting what I got.

Homemade.

All of it.

The lamb was a little closer to well than I like (I like mine on the sunny side of mid-rare, but absolutely understand why it has to be cooked further in a restaurant) but it still had a pink tinge to it to show it wasn't overcooked...a solid medium, which is better than a lot of places do without prodding.  The lamb was tender, flavorful and moist- likely cooked on the bone.  The skin showed definite signs of having been rubbed with a spice blend prior to cooking and the fat had rendered enough to give it an unctuousness you usually only get at high end restaurants.  It was obviously well seasoned, needing no salt or pepper.

The stuffing was amazing.  If there was a superlative of the word amazing (amazingest?) I would use that word instead.  The perfect blend of smooth and crispy, I could tell it had been cooked in a roasting pan in the oven.  There was a distinct, though not overpowering sage flavor and a fair amount of moistness that kept it from needing too much gravy...and since the gravy was a homemade wonder, that's going some.

While it's easy to say the potatoes were just potatoes, it's also unfair.  Potatoes get a bad rap. Sure, as a species (that's the word, right?) they lack a certain joie de vivre - they need that levelness to bring everything else around them up.  These managed to be special though.  They were most certainly homemade- the consistency wasn't exactly smooth, but wasn't chunky either.  And there was a nice level of creaminess that makes me think they were made with heavy cream and butter.  All of this helped them serve as the perfect platform for the gravy.

The gravy was simply some of the best that I have ever had.  I don't even know how to describe it.  It really seemed to be nothing more than thickened lamb juices.  And that's not an insult!  A lot of gravies either taste like a can, have a raw flour taste to them or that kind of chemical underpinnings that indicate gravy powder stuff.  You know the stuff I mean!  It just tasted of lamb, but was thick enough to not run off of everything it was on.  There was a little pepper added, but just enough to give it a kick and not enough to overpower the lamb flavor.

The waitress asked if I wanted dessert and I ordered a strawberry shortcake (as it turns out, I think the last from that day).  I have the feeling that the strawberries were frozen (just because the time of year makes fresh very difficult), but they still had a nice sweetness without being cloying.  The biscuit was (to my palate at least) fresh baked.  It was warmed up prior to the strawberries being applied- a nice change, as many places can't be bothered.  It had that....(biscuitieness?  tang?  sourdoughishness?) that good homemade biscuits have as well as a nice crumble/moistness and was a great counterpoint to the sweetness/softness of the strawberries and whipped cream.

The coffee refills came fast and often, and everyone seemed happy to be there the entire time I was there.

If you are nearby, stop in and get something to eat.  If you aren't nearby, drive to get a full meal to eat.  If you are REALLY far away?  Drive/Fly in, leave a message here for me and we'll enjoy a meal together- schedule permitting, of course.

Iced tea - Soda gun vs. fresh brewed

I have a review of one of the best (like, seriously...the BEST) restaurants I've been to, but am trying to properly write it to draw the most complete picture possible.

But for today, I want to share my thoughts on iced tea.  A few of you may have noticed that I make occasional reference to this in a couple of my posts and those who have eaten with me have seen this as well.

I have never had a soda gun iced tea which was worth the ice it surrounded.  All too often it is over-doctored with lemon and sweetener so that it loses all of the tang and refreshingness (shut up, it is so a word) that iced tea is known for.  While it can certainly be said that soft drinks are largely chemicals, soda gun iced tea is nothing BUT chemicals.  Horrifying, horrifying chemicals.

Now, when it comes to fresh brewed iced tea?  Lots of ways to go on this.  If the tea is Red Rose, it's God awful....don't even waste your time.  Somehow, someway, it manages to be worse than soda gun iced tea.  Lipton fresh brewed can go a lot of different directions.  Freshly brewed and strong it's awesome (the bottled Pure Leaf comes close)...not fresh brewed and made to the strength a lot of people seem to like it (read: weak) it's not as good, but still better than nothing.  There are assorted other brands of tea which work as iced tea and they run the spectrum - Red Rose and Lipton are the two biggies, but most of the rest lean towards the Lipton quality.  It's hard to be as bad as Red Rose...you could brew carpet remnants and still have better tea.

The next major kind of iced tea is hot brewed vs. cold.  Typically speaking, you get much stronger flavor through a long brewing process in hot water.  Something about activating the tannins?  Maybe?  Cold brewing can work, but is not as effective.  I think this has something to do with how cold restaurant refrigerators are- too cold and it just tastes off.

All in all, if there is no iced tea, I'll got for Dr. Pepper (and an idea for a future post about THAT occurs...).  Iced tea is always the tops though.

Post VII - Season's Harvest

Went up here for Lee's birthday this weekend and to do a little gambling.  It was a pretty good adventure.  We (Doug, Steph, Patti, and I in one car; Lee and Erin in the other) left from Camillus at about 4 or so and scooted up the Thruway.  We took advantage of the valet parking and went inside.  After a little while, Lee and Erin met us and we all headed up to get some dinner.

The line at the buffet was medium long, but after about 20 minutes we got up and got our table.  They came around to take our drink orders.  There was no real iced tea, only soda gun iced tea.  I will write more about the evils of soda gun iced tea at a later date.  My second choice was Dr. Pepper (I think I will also write an entry on the laziness of various Dr. Pepper knock-offs), which they also did not have.  But they did have Cherry Coke, so that was an acceptable choice.

My first trip up to the buffet, I got:

• Chicken Teriyaki sushi - not a really strong teriyaki flavor, but an interesting design.  It was chicken in the middle, then the seaweed wrap, then rice.  On the outside there were some blackened sesame seeds which were kind of cool.
• Fried shrimp with cocktail sauce - the shrimp were crispy and fairly good sized...call it 24 - 28 size?  Maybe?  The cocktail sauce was weak, and in desperate need of additional horseradish.  Once this was achieved though, it wasn't half bad.
• Over at the carving station, I got some roast beef and horseradish.  It was flavorful and tender.  A little more well than I like it, but not so much as to be offensive, and closer to the middle may have been more rare.
• A freakish, but delicious, taco - the freakishness was my fault, as I had to build it myself.  The deliciousness was to the credit of the cooks.

My second trip up, I got:

• More fried shrimp
• More sushi
• Orange chicken - this had a nice, fresh flavor to it.  Despite having to sit in the sauce, the chicken was not mushy.  The sauce had a distinct orange flavor and brightness to it which you don't normally see.  It was a nice change to the "normal" orange chicken you get when you're out.
• Finally, I tried a dish which looked scary, but was tasty.  Ham fried rice.
  Ham.
  Fried.
  Rice.
  It was basically pork fried rice with slight background notes of smoke and salt.  Nothing to write home about, but nothing to avoid.
• The coffee, of which I had 2 cups, was some of the best coffee I've had in years.

After we were done eating, we repaired to the line to check in and get cards for the folks who didn't have them.  Then we all went our separate ways to the floor.  I dropped $20 in the slots and lost it in all of five minutes.

I moved on to the Craps table where my luck soon changed.  I was at a $15 table (the minimum bet is $15) and playing the "Don't Pass" line.  Started with $60 in chips, since this would allow me to play and lose 4 times and still walk out with a little cash in my pocket.  Instead, though, I managed to walk out $35 ahead...which ain't half bad.

That's the secret of gambling, kids - if you get ahead, quit.

Other things I saw at the casino-

• A midget with a HUGE pompadour standing on a stool dealing blackjack.
• A woman with one leg, in a wheelchair, wearing a purple sweatsuit, smoking a cigarillo.
• A young lady who appeared to be a prostitute (HINTS: we saw her in close conversation with no fewer than 6 guys throughout the night, she was wearing a dress roughly the size of a men's medium t-shirt, she had matching fleur de lis tattoos on each of her ankles) wandering in the lobby.
• At Wegmans on our way home, I saw a hipster buying seeds at 930 PM.

Post VI -Colonial Inn, Inc.

This is a quick/short entry (about the food anyhow).  Couple of weeks ago, I was going out to Cato to see "Footloose" and decided to get some lunch whilst I was out there.  The Cato Diner was closed for the day, so I doubled back and went to the Colonial Inn, Inc.

By the way, this is actually the name of the place- it's on the building and everything.  It was fairly dim inside.  Not dark, just not brightly lit.  There was, of course, bar seating.  Also a couple tables.  In addition to the ubiquitous pool tables, they also had darts and shuffleboard.

I asked what they had for a lunch menu, and the choice (singular) was a microwave hamburger and some chips.  As far as it went, it was pretty good...I had a Pepsi with it.

The real treat here was the combination of the old guys at the bar and the sign at the pool table.

Old guys had a couple of odd/entertaining quotes

• "I think marijuana should be legal in New York.  I never smoked it, but I grew it a few times"
• "I hate driving downtown.  You can never find any of the streets.  The cab drivers could though...they were all Arabian and couldn't speak English, but they could find any street."
• "You want to see a paper with nothing in it, you should see the [Auburn] Citizen!"

The pool table sign?  Most of it was standard, but there were a couple good bits.

• Money breaks (Standard)
• Combo off your own ball (Standard)
• No riders on table (Does this refer to people heading someplace and getting a lift from the table, or that there is no separate insurance coverage on the table?)
• Ball off table $.25 for Juke Box (I like this idea!)
• Sink the 8 ball on the break, free drink.

The sign over the TV might have been my favorite though-

• "You!  Yeah, you!!  DON'T touch the TV"

Not sure I'd go for lunch again, but for a drink or to see a band?  Probably.

Post V - Good Golly's

So I had an adventure and a half this past weekend!  My car's check engine light came on, so I had to venture up to Central Square to the dealer I went through to get it looked at.  Everything turned out OK (I think.  So far.), but as long as I was up there I thought "why not get some food?".  I had been referred to a place called "Good Golly's" which was in the neighborhood(ish)...so why not?

I called up the Onstar and they soon had me motoring through some backroads towards the restaurant.  It should be noted that the restaurant is next to the 81 off-ramp for Central Square.  The parking lot was about a quarter full and the sign inside invited me to "Please Seat [Myself]".  I sat at a booth near the door (I like booths and I like being able to get out in a fire) and my waitress came over to take my drink order.  The restaurant itself was fairly large, and had ample seating.  There was a room, which had there been anyone else in it, I would have sat in.  There were windows (and nothing but) on two out of four walls.  With a little rain and a book, it would have been the perfect place to sit and enjoy a meal.

As usual, I had a cup of black coffee and perused the menu.  I wanted to try both the fretta and the sausage and gravy over biscuits, so I did.  Additionally, my choice of toast was offered and on the list was sour dough.  A rarity in most establishments, it's always nice to find it.  The coffee was hot and strong without being particularly bitter.  A tough combination, they manage to get it right.

Those who have read me before are aware of my predilection and the special place my heart holds for homemade sausage and gravy over biscuits...and not only was the sausage and gravy homemade, but so were the biscuits!  This was not something I was told, but rather could tell by the flavor/texture of the biscuits.  The gravy was, as normal, smooth and with a little bite, helped along by the hearty chunks of sausage and liberal use of black pepper.  The biscuits had a tang and moistness that set them apart from their dry and dusty kinfolk at other establishments..

The fretta was another story.  It was good, but not great.  Maybe it suffered from having to wait until I finished my S&GB, but the flavor just wasn't there.  The broccoli was fine, but the rest was just kind of bland.  It seemed to be a little watery, almost as though the eggs were overcooked and started to seep water.  The pepperoni was even kind of bland- the pepperoni!!  Is that even possible?  Doesn't it violate some law of physics or something to have bland pepperoni?

Other than that though, it was an OK meal...my waitress could have been a little more attentive.  the restaurant was more-or-less empty and she spent more time chatting with the people at the table next to me- in all fairness, I think they may have been her family, but still...you're there to wait tables and serve all of the paying customers.  It's kind of in the job description.  This isn't to say that she was bad....just not as good as I was hoping.

Still have to decide on next week's adventure (or, more likely, the week after next)....where to go, what to try.  Should I do dinner instead of breakfast?  Or maybe lunch?  Stay tuned?