Mexican Fiesta...

Mexican Food Factory

601 West Route 70

Marlton, NJ 08053

‎http://www.yelp.com/biz/mexican-food-factory-marlton 

One of my supervisors at my former job and I spent a week out a client in Marlton once a quarter. We used to hit up a lot of the same spots, most of which I had reviewed on this blog in the past. One place we hadn’t ever been and actually forget about a lot of the time when deciding where to go for lunch is the Mexican Food Factory. We shot over there one day when I suggested it. It was my first time ever being there, and it seemed pretty legit. It has been in the same spot for as long as I can remember, so I figured it must be pretty good.

They brought us out some chips and salsas, two different kinds to be exact, while we perused the menu. I was as always in the mood for some tacos, and the carne asada tacos caught my eye. I hadn’t had steak in a while and I love me some carne asada, so I figured it would be a nice treat. We devoured the chips and salsa. They were delicious, clearly made fresh in house. The salsas were pretty tasty as well. One was more of a pico de gallo than a salsa in my opinion, but it was flavorful nonetheless. I prefer my salsas pureed a bit more. Chunks are always ok, but they have to be a little bit blended for my preference.

When our order arrived I was pretty impressed. The tacos were served as they traditionally should be, doubled up corn tortillas and topped only with cilantro and onion, and garnished with a lime wedge. The steak was cooked well, but I wish it had a bit more char to it. I am a freak for texture, especially when it comes to tacos, so for me they were a tad bit too one note with the textures. The flavor was very good though; hitting all the points I wanted it to. The herbaciousness of the cilantro, the acidity of the lime juice, the bite of the onion, the heat from the sauce, and the richness from the beef provided for an excellent taco. As you all know my now, I also love refried beans. Actually I love beans of all sorts, which I can attribute to dating a Latin woman, because I never really ate them before her. These particular refried beans were very nice. They were very smooth and deeply rich and creamy.

Two and a half pints for the Mexican Food Factory. I will definitely be returning, as there were a few items on the menu that really caught my eye. As I have mentioned before, I am currently obsessed with Mexican food, especially tacos and sopes, so anytime I can get them I do. Check it out when you get a chance and let me know what you think! Cheers!

Better Drinks than Fare...

Farmer's Cabinet

1113 Walnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19107

www.thefarmerscabinet.com/‎ 

My girlfriend and I were supposed to go out for my cousin's birthday during restaurant week, but her husband was sick, and it wound up snowing, so my family decided not to drive into the city. My girlfriend and I had to brainstorm and come up with somewhere else to go, so she decided on the Farmer's Cabinet. I had heard some rumblings about this place, in particular about how cool their bar was, but had never seen it first hand. I got there about a half hour before my girlfriend, so I sat down and grabbed myself a few drinks at the bar. The bartenders are dressed in old school attire, which I always am a fan of. They boast the best European craft beer selection in Philly, and after looking at the menu; they definitely should be in the running. They have a really great selection. They have tons of taps, tons of bottles, and even some on nitro. I loved sitting at that bar.

When my girlfriend arrived, we were seated right away and she ordered herself up one of their fine beers. As we usually do, we picked different things for every course so we could really taste the dishes that they had to offer. For appetizers we decided on the tomato bisque and the pretzels with beer mustard. Even before we got the pretzels, I knew what my girlfriend's critique of them would be. Good, but just not amazing. She says this every time we eat pretzels, and I guess since she is German, she really does know better than me. As I predicted that was what she said, and I had to agree with her. The pretzels were good, but they were too greasy and not salty enough. The beer mustard though was very tasty. 

I knew that we were going to order the butternut squash ravioli even before we decided on it because my girlfriend is obsessed with them. They sounded delicious anyway, and they really were. The pasta was tender and the filling was creamy as can be. The sage cream that was served with the ravioli was fantastic. Sage anything is a homerun in my book. The oxtail ragout was the perfect complement to the ravioli because it was rich and fatty. I have had oxtail a few times now and I have to say it is a very tasty meat when prepared properly. We also ordered the braised short ribs with white grape corn bread, beer braised cabbage and a whiskey demi-glaze. The short ribs were spectacularly tender, as if they had been braised all day. They were seasoned perfectly and the whiskey demi-glaze only made them tastier. However, as good as the short ribs were, the white grape corn bread missed by the same margin. It was tough, not fluffy, and clearly overcooked. I really didn’t like how crusty it was, and I thought that the corn flavor was really missing as well. It was a big disappointment.

I didn’t have high hopes for the dessert round because the options didn’t really intrigue me very much. After receiving our desserts, I realized my expectations were correct. I really don’t like chocolate in bread pudding, so the chocolate chip bread pudding was a real miss for me. Also the mixed fruit crumble was both a hit and a miss.. The fruit part of it was great. It was reduced down enough to give you that crumble feel, but the actual crumble itself was poorly executed. There wasn’t enough of it, and what parts of it there were just didn’t taste great. If you are going to have a crumble on your menu, you better make sure the crumble is the star and is on point. This just wasn’t the case.

I wish I could give two separate ratings for the bar and the restaurant at Farmer's Cabinet. The bar really nailed it, but the food had some problems. For now a one and a half pint rating is all I can muster. There were definitely some highlights in the short ribs and the butternut squash ravioli, but there were some huge missteps in terms of dessert and the cornbread. I’d have to say you should definitely check out the bar… but you can skip the food. I know I will be back there, and maybe the food will be better on a night outside of restaurant week, but I can’t guarantee it. If you know better than me let me know! Cheers!

Top 10 Philly Bites of 2013...

Top 10 Philly Bites of 2013

I love looking back on some of the experiences I had over the course of the year at this time every year. There were some really incredible food moments for me this year, and I wanted to write a little bit about my top 10 Philly bites of 2013. Trying new places can end up being great or terrible, but that’s half of the fun. Philadelphia continues to blow me away with the quality of the chefs that the city is producing and the amazing new restaurants that are popping up all the time. It's only a matter of time before Philadelphia gets the national praise for its food scene that it deserves. These 10 dishes really stole the show for me this year and I hope you will get out and try them as soon as you can.

10. The Lobster Roll at the Oyster House - simple, yet so incredibly delicious. I still talk about this to people whenever the Oyster House comes up. I would love to travel up to Maine and taste what they have to offer, but I can be pretty certain this is the best lobster roll around here by far. The sandwich is packed with lobster, the dressing is simple, yet flavorful, the roll is buttery and crunchy, and the fries are extremely tasty. It didn’t come cheap at 26 bucks, but it was worth every cent.

 

9. The Pumpkin Spice Latte Donut at Federal Donuts - some things you eat simply because you heard about it or saw a picture of it. For me, I recently joined twitter and I happen to follow Federal Donuts, so I get to see pictures of all their new donuts. I was obsessed with them before I saw the picture and the description of the Pumpkin Spice Latte Donut, but after tasting the pumpkin glazed, vanilla iced and Mexican coffee crumble topped masterpiece, the obsession got crazy. There is nothing like this anywhere. I hope they bring it back again next year.

 

8. The Rotolo at Pizzeria Vetri - they call Chef Brad Spence the "Rotolo Daddy". He came up with the idea of the rotolo for Pizzeria Vetri and the rest is history. They are cranking these babies out all day everyday, and with good reason. They are incredibly delicious. It’s rolled pizza dough stuffed with mortadella and mozzarella cheese and topped with a tangy pistachio pesto. The crusty exterior insulated the melted cheese and meat. It is seriously crazy good.

 

7. The Affogato at Pizzeria Vetri - this is probably the simplest thing on this list in terms of ingredients, but it is one of my favorite things anywhere now. Fantastically creamy soft serve presented in a cup with a double shot of espresso is the new definition of perfection. The ice cream sweetens the espresso, but it still allows the taste of the incredibly high quality coffee to shine through. I know you are probably wondering why this is included in this list, but go try it and then tell me if you think I was wrong. I'm not, because it is just so right.

6. The Roast Pork, Provolone Bread Pudding and Long Hots at Sbraga Dining - my birthday present from my fiancé was one for the ages for me. I will never forget it, mostly because of meeting Kevin Sbraga and seeing Marc Summers, but also because of this dish. Kevin Sbraga's inventive play on a traditional Philly roast pork sandwich is stunning. Did you ever think a roast pork sandwich could be turned into something so refined and high quality? I sure didn’t, but it was just one of many points of the meal I was blown away by. Anyone from Philly that wants to know what Philly tastes like should eat this dish. 

5. The Shrimp and Grits at Khyber Pass Pub - my fiancé is a grits addict, and I am a sucker for anything Southern, so when she ordered the shrimp and grits at Khyber Pass Pub, it wasn’t a shock. I was so happy we decided to share our lunches, because the shrimp and grits were outrageously good. I think she was a little bit unhappy to have to share them, but I was very happy to have half. They were spicy and tender shrimp, sitting on a bed of buttery, but not too heavy grits. I mean wow. I never expected to get this quality of Cajun cuisine up here in Philadelphia, but I am so happy we found it.

4. The Pastrami Spiced Foie Gras at Vetri Cucina - while Vetri Cucina is not a place that I or most people can frequent, it is a place that should be on everyone's dining bucket list. We went on the evening I asked my fiancé to marry me, and it could not have been a better meal or way to celebrate. We put the entire evening in the hands of our waiter and did not choose anything we ate. The amuse bouche was a phenomenal way to start the meal, especially because of the pastrami spiced foie gras. Pure genius in its entirety I have to tell you. I mean light and airy whipped foie gras that tastes like pastrami? Who possibly imagines let alone executes something so crazy delicious? Marc Vetri that’s who.  

3. The Bucatini with Jalapeno Pesto at Amis - you may notice something about some of the top dishes. A lot of them happened at Vetri family restaurants. This particular dish has stuck in my mind for a long time. I want to go back to Amis as soon as possible just to have it again. I love pasta and I love anything spicy and anything with pesto, so I am not sure if there is a better combination of flavors for me anywhere. Bucatini is a great pasta because of its ability to hold a sauce so well in its hollowed out inside. Think thick spaghetti that’s hollow. The spice is subtle, but it really kicks in after a few bites. The pesto is incredible and the dusting of cheese is just the perfect touch to finish it all off. I could eat many bowls of this stuff.

2. The Chickpea Postage Stamps at Fork - when I first got into the food scene I didn’t know much about anything. When I really started spending more time in Philly and trying some of the food the chefs offered up, I heard about the migration of Chef Eli Kulp from NYC to Fork here in Philly. I had Fork on my radar for quite some time, and when we finally went we were blown away from start to finish. The dish that really stood out was the chickpea postage stamps. I didn’t know what to expect from it when we ordered it, but it was a phenomenal dish. A bunch of small chickpea raviolis in a sauce of what seemed to be harissa and a lamb ragu, the flavors were simply outstanding. I expected it to be good, but I was really surprised at just how good it was. I was saying wow after every bite and I must go back soon because it was simply a wowzer.

1. The Spinach Brown Butter Gnocchi at Vetri Cucina - honestly most of the meal at Vetri could have found its way on to this list. It was a hell of an experience. And I would do it all over again if I could. I really wish I had taken pictures though. I really, really regret not just doing it anyway, even though it was such a nice place. I was incredibly pleased when the pastas came out and the one item I was hoping for to come out did. It’s the dish that everyone that’s tried it at Vetri talks about, the spinach brown butter gnocchi. It’s really hard to explain just how good this was. I mean mind-blowing amounts of flavor. The browned butter makes the richness of the dish simply amazing. The gnocchi was fantastically light, like little clouds of spinach deliciousness. This was another dish that as I was eating it, I kept saying wow and savoring each and every bite. I mean I don’t think it gets much better than this, it really doesn’t. Believe every word of the hype, and even if it isn’t on the menu, make sure you order it because you don’t want to miss something this tasty.

I would love to hear back from anyone about dishes out there that they think are top 10 worthy. Particularly I would love to hear about them so I know to try them when I head to those places! Cheers!

Simple Mexican...

La Cita

911 Marlton Pike West

Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

www.lacitaauthenticmexicanfood.com/Menu.html‎ 

My sister was looking for a new job a few months ago, and she asked me to meet up for lunch one day when she was finished with her interview. I told her about a Mexican place I was looking to try in the area and I knew she would say yes, so we headed to La Cita on route 70 in Cherry Hill to grab some lunch and catch up.

The restaurant used to house a Mexican "supermercado", but it moved a few doors down and the owners opened up the restaurant. It was a great place to do so, because there really wasn’t any good Mexican in the area. The restaurant is very small and it is plainly decorated inside. The menu had some options on it that seemed very authentic to me, things I hadn’t seen on many Mexican menus before including chilaquiles and cemitas. These happened to be the two things that my sister and I ordered to eat, and I ordered myself an horchata to drink. Horchata is a rice milk drink that is sweet and has a nice cinnamon flavor to it. I slurped it all down and I would love to have it more often. Before they bring out your food, they give you chips and salsas for the table. They offered two different types of salsa, a salsa verde which had quite a kick to it, and a salsa roja which was more of traditional red salsa, a little bit of a kick, but much sweeter than the salsa verde. The chips came topped with a small bit of refried beans and a touch of cheese. They were stupendously crispy. I could have eaten the entire plate myself. 

A cemita is a sandwich that originated in a town called Puebla in Mexico. I first found out what it was by watching an episode of Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives. It’s a sandwich that is like the Mexican version of a gyro. The meat is typically cooked on a spit and then sliced to order when the sandwiches are made. Unfortunately it didn’t seem that that’s the way this one was made because of the type of meat that I ordered. I ordered the carnitas cemita. Carnitas are traditionally fried or braised and then roasted in their own juices before being served. The sandwich was served with cucumbers, radishes, a lime wedge and some charred green onions. The sandwich was also layered with avocado, cilantro and raw onion. The only thing I didn’t like about the sandwich was the way the meat was cut. I prefer the carnitas I eat to be shredded and to have a bit of texture to them. These particular carnitas were cubed, but they lacked texture. I think that had they been a bit crispy it would have made all the difference in the world. The flavor was definitely there, but the texture was a little lacking for me. Also the bread didn’t hold up to the weight of the sandwich very well. The bread was flimsy and fell apart as I was eating it, which was unfortunate because it was a delicious sandwich. 

I think La Cita deserves two solid pints. The authenticity of the menu is very intriguing, and I think with a bit of fine tuning the place will really turn out to be great; after all they had only been open for just over a month when I was there. It is definitely worth checking out, so let me know what you think! Cheers!