Eat Healthy! But Not When You Go Here

Admist this health food boom, with all these restaurants who cater to those who eat light, or those who with to eat light but end up ordering twice as much, comes a restaurant that knows no boundaries!

Salt and Fat
41-16 Queens Blvd
(718) 433-3702
www.satlandfatny.com

I'm talking about Salt & Fat.  Yes, that's the actual name of the restaurant in Sunnyside Queens.  We were introduced to this place by a friend and we all came here with uncertain tastebuds, as we've never been there before.  It isn't the decor that makes you do a double take as you walk by, it's the name. 

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet"

But the name is important!  It tells us what we have to look forward to upon entering those doors.

It's been a while since I actually ate here, but I do remember some items from the menu that we ordered and they are very tasty. 

Bacon Flavored Popcorn - you'll be greeted with this when you order your food.  It's a surprise as you wonder why they are serving popcorn, until you smell and taste it.  It's been tossed in bacon grease and has good flavor, this was a pleasant surprise.

Crack and Cheese - this is their version of mac n cheese, and I have to admit that it was damn good!  You know the bacon bits that you'll get on your salad or mac n cheese?  This isn't the same bacon, this is the bacon that we actually buy from the supermarkets and chop it up into pieces that you can actually see and eat.  This is extremely good.  

I can't remember what else we ate there but the food there definitely touches the more active tastes that we know and love ... saltiness.

Don't go here if you're expecting something healthy because you won't get it, I don't even think the salads are healthy.  But do go here if you're looking for something good to eat.

The only complaint that I have is that their portions are small, I could have eaten 2 or 3 orders of the Crack and Cheese on my own, but we shared one order amongst 4 people - afterall we were just getting a taste of what this place had to offer.

It's been a while since I've eaten here, hmmmm perhaps it's about time to go back! 

Salt and Fat ... how great a name, especially when there is bacon on mostly everything.  This is a joy for me since I am a bacon lover and it's only 1 block from my place!

There is so much for me to try on this menu, but I wouldn't recommend this place more than once a month.  You might find yourself with some blood pressure issues and might not be able to eat here for a while thereafter.  So eat here in moderation, you have been warned!

Taste : 9.9
Price : $$ out of $$$ 
Restaurant : 7 (larger portions please!)

+ mon

Crack Chicken

I haven't written this review even though I've wanted to because I wanted the review to be fresh, I wanted the review to be close to when I actually went to the restaurant.  So prior to this visit it's been a few months since I've been there, which isn't that long considering it's in San Diego. 

Royal Mandarin
1132 E Plaza Blvd Ste 205
619-477-4151

The first time I went to this place was back in 1998 when I used to frequent San Diego.  It was instant love at first bite, the food there is like typical Chinese food ... for the most part.  I would write this review regarding the food that I've eaten there, but I'll only write about this one specific order since it's what makes me drive four+ hours back and forth for it.

The Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings is ridiculously insane.  It sounds like something so simple and something that just doesn't taste that great, but once you get a bite you ust can't stop. 

When I used to go there it was typical that I bought one or two orders of the chicken and left it at that.  That all changed when I found out that they had larger orders and when I started to take some chicken home, if possible. 

My trips to San Diego have come few and far between.  But when I do go there it's a must that Royal Mandarin must be visited.

The restaurant is ordinary from the outside, there are no specialty signs that make it stand out from the rest of the Chinese restaurants in the area, or anywhere.  Even when you get inside it's the typical setup for dinning in, but it's actually smaller than most places and quite intimate because of the proximity of the tables next to each other.  You can hear other people's conversations without even trying.  The menu is lined with typical Chinese food, but you'll notice that they have "Salt and Pepper" items on the menu, from chicken wings, squid, french fries and fish. 

It seems that I'm remembered when I go there now, I'm known as the "guy from New York."  The recent times that I've ordered there it's been two extra large trays of chicken, which have about 150 pieces each, and the owner/manager lady always gives me extra seasoning as she knows I'll be taking it back to NY.

When you receive the chicken you won't notice anything special on it, just chicken wings with seasoning, some red pepper flakes, scallion/green onions.  If you take a closer look you'll see something sprinkled on the wings that most Chinese food places have stopped using, MSG (betchin for the Filipino's).  Whatever the warnings and the "horrible" things about MSG, it's just good!  Maybe that's what sets Royal Mandarin apart from the rest of the Chinese food establishments because they continue to use MSG ... and they use it wonderfully!

The first bite into the chicken wings is full of crunchiness, but it's not the crunchiness that you might have experienced from other chicken.  I'm not sure if this is fried or baked, or even a combination of the two, but the crunch is wonderful, and the added bonus is that the crunch doesn't include oil dripping or oil on your fingers.  The only thing left on your fingers are the spices and seasoning that you will end up licking off sooner or later, it would be a waste to just wipe it on a napkin.

As your tongue gets it's tastes buds working with the flavors that come out of the chicken, you'll notice this explosion of taste in your mouth.  There is a little hotness to it, but just the right amount, the saltiness of it is also just perfect. After finishing and most of the time sucking on the ends of the bones clean, you'll pick up another one and repeat the process.  This will usually go on until there is no more left, and then you'll want to order some more.

This is the reason why it's dubbed "crack chicken" because once you taste it, you'll want some more and do anything to get some, even drive the four+ hours to get some.  I've introduced this chicken to some people from NY and when they know I'm going to Cali and possibly San Diego, they want me to bring them some chicken, you can see that look in their eyes that they'll do anything for it.

There have been attempts at other Chinese food places in San Diego to copy the Royal Mandarin recipe, but they have come up short.  A place across the street serves the "salt and pepper chicken wings" but it's just not the same, you need to hit the real and original source. 

WARNING: This chicken is addictive!

Do not think that you will be able to resist, perhaps it's the MSG, perhaps the taste, but once you have it, you will be hooked.  Some responses have gone from "it's ok" to "it's epic" in the matter of days.  There have been times when I packed it for check in at the airport, the agent that is checking it in gets a smell of the chicken which strikes up a conversation as to the origins and what kind of chicken it is.  She then proceeds to call her daughter in San Diego to tell her to bring her up some chicken from this place called Royal Mandarin next time she comes up to LA.  It's changed lives, it's brought together families, friends and it can change the world.

The lineup of food on their menu aside from the crack chicken isn't bad either.  While we were there eating in the restaurant, as the 150 piece tray lay in the middle with all other customers watching us eat, we ordered other menu items that added to the taste of the chicken and their fried rice.  We had about nine people there eating and the manager gave us a sample of the Salt and Pepper Fish which was amazing!  The only reason I can't order this is because it will not survive the trip back to LA then back to NY, fish is fish,  but maybe their salt and seasoning mix might preserve it???  Hmmm maybe we can test it out.  We ordered a good amount of food, from crispy beef, upside down crispy noodles, fried rice, and some other dish that escapes my memory, but food that was good enough to fill up the stomachs of nine hungry youth (including my dad) and have left overs only cost us $33 ... insane prices and great food.

I will definitely be back here soon, and this is the type of food where I will take a trip to San Diego just for this chicken.  I've tried to find a partner who is willing to export the chicken for me, us at a profit to them, but I haven't had any serious parties.  So if anyone in SD is reading this and would like to make some extra money just by boxing up and shipping the chicken, let me know ASAP.

Taste : 10+
Price : $ out of $$$
Restaurant : 9 (small and homey, they remember you once you're a regular)

+ mon

Tutti Frutti Fresh and Frutti!

In the quest for the famous and overlyhyped (only my humble opinion of course) In and Out, we stumbled upon a treasure.  As we found the In and Out, there was something we didn't think of and there was something we were all unaware of until we got to the door, but it was to my surprise and happiness when we did find out.

The surprise was that In and Out was closed on Easter Sunday!  Best news I heard that day!  But we were still hungry and wanted to eat before we made out way to Speedzone which was only five minutes away.  It was a shopping plaza but there were a lot of "closed" signs on the door, there was a place that was open though, it was called Tutti Frutti.  A yogurt place and I'm not a big fan of yogurt but this place had some appeal to it that just made me want to go in and check it out.

Tutti Frutti
17861 Colima Rd, Rowland Heights, CA 91748
626-964-9696 www.tfyogurt.com

The moment you enter through the front door you'll be amazed, well at least I was.  I stood there making small circles as I was trying to take in all of the surroundings.

You're greeted by glass, and there are small openings in the glass to get to the tables and chairs, but as I was trying to get to the table you can't help but think that you're about to hit the glass walls.

Then you see the "buffet" of toppings that you can put on your yogurt then a simple sign saying that it's $0.35 an ounce.  Pretty cheap huh!?  Well at first you're thinking that there ar extras or that it's going to come out to about $10 for this place.  You'll be surprised when you get to the register and they do ring you up ...

The selection in Tutti Frutti is quite large, the flavors of the yogurt weren't just the simple flavors.  They had some "exotic" flavors too such as lychee, green tea, taro to name just a few.  I've always been a fan of combining things and here you could do that as well, my combinations at bubble tea places have always been taro and cookies and cream if that was available.  I do however get weird looks when I request it as the combo doesn't sound that appealing, but it definitely is good!

So here I am in the warehouse of yogurt with toppings galore when I see the flavors that I love oh so much!

After sampling the yogurt flavors and finally deciding on comboing the cookies and cream with the taro, I made my way to the buffet of toppings that you have at your disposal.  My guess was that this is where where it gets pricey since it's easy to pile on the toppings.

From fresh fruit to the "bad stuff" for you, they have a lot of toppings, as well as syrups and even condensed milk!

For my little health moment with yogurt, the toppings that made it's way into my cup were the brownie chunks, the cookie dough, strawberries, chocolate syrup and condensed milk.  Some of the "kids" for healthy combinations ... green tea with bananas, strawberries, rasberries, blackberries, peaches and a whole bunch of other crap. 

Mine had a good amount of toppings and was really surprised by the price only being $3.22.  That was good enough for me and I wasn't even able to finish it all. 

I would love to have a place like this on the east, I know they have other places similar but the prices are double if not more from what I've heard.  The flavors that are available are really good, and they are just so full of flavor, not bland by any means.  Another plus that I'll give Tutti Frutti is that they have free water!  The tap water with lemon ... good stuff to wash down the yogurt and gummi bears.

Taste : 9
Price : $ out of $$$
Restaurant : 9 (clean, modern and very nice)

+ mon

Beauty in the Beast

Ever since one of my friends took me to Rutgers to the grease trucks, I have recommended the Fat Cat sandwich to everyone, even though it is a good drive away.  They have variations of sandwiches and I always call it an entire meal between bread, and it's really good combinations!

I don't get to have the Fat Cats that often as it's a good trip into NJ, but when I do, I love eating them, just not enough to eat three in a row ... well perhaps I will try that one day, maybe!

Here comes a known secret that I have just recently been told about!  I heard about this from my niece and nephew when I called and they told me they were at "Cherry Valley" and for some reason it registered as they were in Cherry Hill in NJ.  Then they told me it was a deli in Whitestone and they have insane sandwich combinations there, again I brought up Fat Cats and how they are the bestest ever!

Cherry Valley
1229 150th street
718-767-1937 www.cherryvalleydeli.net

Saturday night came and after some last minute late plans for bowling, we made our way to this Cherry Valley deli that I heard about a few times before.  It was about 3am and I saw that there were a lot of people in the deli ... hmmm reminded me a lot of the grease trucks when I first saw it.  My mouth was watering, I do admit that.  Before leaving the house I looked at their menu and saw what was in this "Beast" and that's all I could think about all night long. 

There had a huge menu of different sandwiches and other fast food type items, I almost couldn't decide but I went with ... the beast.  The contents of this "sandwich" was chicken cutlet, bacon, swiss cheese, onion rings, topped with gravy on a toasted garlic roll/hero bread ... sounds good?  Just reading that over makes my stomach want it right now, seriously it's making noise.  Now you add a special side of extra gravy and you have yourself a knockout, dipping the sandwich ... errr I can't call it just a sandwich, it's an experience.  So dipping this experience in the extra gravy is just wonderful. 

Pictured below is half of the beast ... and you can't tell from the picture but the taste is an explosion of awesomeness in your mouth!  If you're skilled enough, look passed the picture and see the beauty that's within the beast.  The extra gravy is almost so good you want to "accidentaly" drink it thinking it's hot chocolate!

Have you ever seen a unicorn or seen a rainbow and tried to get to the very end of it to find that pot of gold?  Well if you haven't, then go to Cherry Valley and get some experience (sandwiches)! 

I can't tell you how good it is, but I do want to go again.  I'll have to limit to once a week though, as I don't think my body can handle more than that.  There is something else there that I want to try, it's called their loaded fries.  It's either waffle or regular fries topped with bacon and then ranch sauce! 

So ... who wants to go and when!?  I'll drive you get my food!

Taste : 9.5
Price : $ out of $$$
Restaurant : 8 (small and a little crowded at 3am, but clean)

+ mon

In and Who??? It's all about the Number of Guys!

Everytime I'm in Cali the ones who I go with make a big deal, a huge deal about In and Out.  They talk about how wonderful it is and how great it is.  To me it's just another burger, it's good, but it's not what I go to Cali for (that's another topic all it's own ... MmMMM Jack in the Box and Salt n Pepper Chicken!).

There has been one place here in NyC that has come close to that In and Out type burger, and it's on the eastside called Blue Burger Heaven.  The reason I sayy the In and Out type burger is because of the way they cook it and serve it to you, and somewhat on the taste, which I still think tastes like a regular good burger. 

Well I've seen this place before but hadn't tried it until recently.  It's called Five Guys Burgers.  Diday brought me back a "Little Bacon Cheeseburger with onions" the other week.  The "little" is only one patty as their "regular" burgers have two patties.  I decided noti to eat it with ketchup or anything else, just however they made it.  Took two bites and I could taste the goodness, instantly an In and Out killer for me.  The taste and meat was just different and better, yes I said it's better than In and Out! 

Two bites into the burger I took a "break" and went into the living room.  When I turned my head back to the dining table, I see my dad eating the burger until there was nothing left!  So I'm guessing my dad likes it too, he ate that thing pretty fast too ... and he just ate dinner. 

I had a chance at my own burger during the workweek as we were trying to figure out what to eat.  But looking at the menu, something else caught my eye ... it was the hot dog.  Unknown territory again ... how would this hot dog compare to anything that I've had before, most especially Gray's Papaya and Weinerschnitzel. 

Here I had the bacon cheese hot dog with mushrooms and onions ... just typing that I could feel my heart struggling for it's next beat!  But it was good! 

One of my favorite things about Five Guys is that they give you fries ... A LOT OF FRIES!  They put it in these styrofoam cups, but once they get all that you ordered in the bag, they dump more fries in the bag!  I can't forget about the Cajun Fries ... these are extremely good and I want some right now!  All I've been doing is craving these fries since yesterday when I last had them. 

All that seasoning on the fries along with ketchup ... I could go without the burger.  Potatoes are healthy right!? 

Taste : 8.2
Price : $ out of $$$
Restaurant : 8 (quick, free peanuts and refills)

+ mon

Hidden Little Noodle House in Midtown

Advice taken from www.cheapassfood.com I went to this noodle house and was a little iffy because their menu had a lot of things that I wanted to eat but there was meat in it.  I had to try something that was meatless on their menu or ask them to modify the ingredients.  

Men Kui Tei 
60 W 56th St (between 5th & 6th ave)
212-757-1642

In all the "gourmet" deli's, the upscale restaurants, the dinners and everything else you see in NYC a place like this gets missed.  Well I'm glad for the CAF website.  I consider this place one of those "hole in the wall" places where the food is just good.

It was 2pm when I got there and I expected to miss the lunch crowd, but apparentely there's such a thing as a lunch crowd here, it seems to be crowded all the time.  I got in and was a little intimidated with all the craziness going on, but a hostess/waitress greeted me and I ordered.  They thought it was for take out but I corrected them and they seated me at the counter right in front of the kitchen where you can see the cooks cooking your food.  The only thing I ate was the fried rice, but had them make it shrimp only with no other meat.  I got my food in less than two minutes.  Added some soy sauce and I was off to the races, the fried rice was really good!  I sat there and tried to take my time eating it as I was watching the cooks cook the orders in record time.  

The fried rice had this homely taste to it, not like the regular Chinese food restaurants that I usually go to.  I'm going back to this place when I can eat meat and try some of their other dishes which sounded really good.  

Total damage here was $10 for the fried rice which filled me up ($8) and $2 for the tip.

Taste : 8.5 
Price : $ out of $$$ 
Restaurant : 8 (the crowdedness of the place and the kitchen added to the meal) 

+ mon

Salt 'N' Pepper Chicken Wings (sort of)

One of the things that I normally do when I go to places that serve things that are of the "Salt 'n' Pepper" type are ask them if they can make it with chicken wings instead of the often seen salt n pepper pork chops or squid.  The answer I've gotten time and time again is no.  I never understood that.  

It's not like they are marinating the pork or squid in something before they cook it ... or are they??? Hmmmm.  But I don't see what the issue is with them throwing some chicken wings into the wok and stir frying it with the salt n pepper as if it was the pork chop or squid???

Yesterday I had this garlic chicken from Nanking and saw on their menu that they had salt n pepper food too.  They also have these Drums of Heaven which are chicken wings marinated with herbs, chilies and garlic then wok fried.  

Nanking - Chinese and Thai
1643 Broadway (between 50st and 51th streets)
212-586-3100 www.nankingrestaurants.com

I went in there today with little expectations of getting that mix of the salt n pepper with the chicken wings, but just wanted to go to try this Drums of Heaven.  They had given me the lunch menu and I asked for the full menu instead ... OoooooOOO I know big shot huh!  I asked the manger (I think he was the manager?) if they would be able to mix the salt n pepper they used for the fish or squid with chicken wings instead.  He spent a few seconds staring at the ceiling and thinking if they could ... and he said yes they can!  I got so excited that I ordered some chicken satay too ... wish I didn't though it was too much food already and not that good.  

They serve the food pretty quickly and everything came out at once.  The manager told me that they had never mixed the chicken wings with the salt n pepper so he hopes they are good.  Well I tasted them and they are good, not as good as Royal Mandarin and not even in the same taste level, but they are good.  It was actually the Drums of Heaven with the salt n pepper mix on top, so it was double the taste which made it interesting and I liked it.  The chicken satay was alright but the peanut sauce they had with it didn't taste all that great.

One thing about this place that I did like was that it was a default of them having lemon in the water when they poured it out of the pitchers.  Another thing was that there were little cups of the sauce, one of chilli sauce, soy sauce, and vinegar with small peppers - yeah you know the last one made your eyes open a bit since Filipino's do like the suka (vinegar) with peppers!

I think I might have put too much of that vinegar + peppers on the salt n pepper chicken mix I ordered because it was a little spicey that my nose started to drip.  

Overall the place has a nice atmosphere, but the music is ... eh.  It didn't add to the feel of the thainess ... it made it like a weird club almost.  The food was good, and I liked the combination for me, I'll probably be asking for it again.  Their service was great too considering that they made what I specifically wanted.  

The total damage was $17+ ... the salt n pepper chicken mix I ordered was $6, the rice $4 and the chicken satay was $6.  Their lunch specials there are $10 ... so they are a little pricey, I think they might cater to tourists since they are in the theater district.

Good stuff and next time I'm just going to order my salt n pepper chicken mix, oh how I can't wait for the real thing!!!

Taste : 7.5 
Price : $$ out of $$$ 
Restaurant : 8 (good atmosphere, except for the music) 

+ mon

Tebaya - Chicken Wings!

I've decided to add a "food review" category on my blog since I do eat a lot!  So the first review will go to:

Tebaya - Japanese Style Chicken
144 West 19th Street (between 6th and 7th ave)
212-924-3335 www.goojapan.com

After finding this place from www.cheapassfood.com and reading reviews on www.yelp.com about this place I decided to take a little trip down to 19th street and give it a shot.  Yeah I know, for those of you who have read my entries from today ... so much for healthier eating huh!?  So hard to detox from the delicious calories and cholesterol when you're surrounded by it and it's just soooooooooo good!  Give me some credit, I didn't go off an eat a burger from good ol' McDee's did I?!

Tebaya says they have a special sauce that they use for their wings, and when they said "wings" I thought it would be wings and drumsticks ... but they are just the wings.  So for you drumstick lovers out there (like me!  You might want to go elsewhere or adjust your habits).  

The place is a small little hole in the wall place but as soon as you walk in you can smell the wings.  I've read the reviews and people were raving and ranting about the wings and the rest of the things on their menu was just "regular" so I skipped everything else and went for the wings. 

I got the 8 piece wings with rice, salad and soda combo for $6.95 lunch special.  The wings are small, but for me it did a good job of "filling me up."  They make their own dressing for the salad, it's not the regular orange dressing that you might be used to seeing, it's good and when some flavors combine it's even better - I'll get into that later.

The taste of the wings have a garlic, salt, pepper and a sweet taste to them.  So it's pretty much a party in your mouth and all the flavors are invited.  They are covered in sesame seeds and deep dried twice to make them nice and crispy on the outside and on the inside soft and juicy.  

In a matter of minutes the combo meal was finished and I was left sucking on my fingers for the remainder of the sauce that was left over.  The salad was the first thing to go and it left a little puddle of dressing.  For those who know me, I'm not an expert with chop sticks so here I was trying to eat the rice with the chop sticks ... needless to say this was quite a task.  The rice kept on falling into the left over dressing which was a good touch to the flavor.  One of the wings accidently fell into the puddle as well while I was scooping out rice from under it, this was a good thing!  I like the taste of the wings moreso with the dressing on it, it adds a little something to it, or maybe I just can't taste things like I used to since my tongue has been soaked in soy sauce for about 29 years!

Everything went down quick and I sat there wondering if these were as good as everyone had been saying.  The only thing that came to mind was the salt & pepper chicken wings from Royal Mandarin ... for as long as I can remember all the chicken wings post snpcw have been compared and have never won.  This was no different, I compared the taste to that of what I remember the snpcw taste and again Royal Mandarin wins.  But if I were to judge it without comparison, this is definitely a good chicken wing!  There's this flavor with the wings that I like, and after downing the entire meal, I wanted more.  So here I sat with the box that was only left with chicken bones trying to calculate which selection would be most economical.  I think it calculated out to being $0.68 a wing to the cheapest benig $0.65 ... the more you bought the cheaper it was per wing.  

I sat for a good 5 minutes trying to figure out if I should buy some more wings, I tried everything to resist but the smell and taste overcame me and I ended up ordering another 23 pieces ($16.50) with two extra salad dressings on the side.  Hey when you find a good combination, you gotta stick with it right??

I'll definitely go back here to get my chicken wing fix, but this isn't the crack chicken that's being served at Royal Mandarin.  Sorry, I can't stop comparing and I guess I'm just looking forward to having some in about two weeks!  

Taste : 8.5
Price : $ out of $$$
Restaurant : 6 (since it was quite small, good for max 10 people) 

 

+ mon