A Recollection of Turkey Part 2

The tummies decided to splurge the cash on this one. It's situated pretty much right in the middle of Cappadocia. You can't miss it. Looked like quite a fancy place and we weren't quite sure what to expect. We didn't quite know what Anatolian cuisine was. Always good to know that it's been recommended by the Lonely Planet and rated in the Top 5 in Turkey. They do need someone to check their spelling though. =P

Always a good sign when the bread is good. Warm and light. Loved the wonderful presentation of the oil, spices and butter. Not quite sure what's in the spice mix but it was wonderfully tasty and definitely whet the appetite further.

Our meze starter was a delightful plate full of different colours and flavours. Can't quite remember what everything was but I know there was yoghurt somewhere, walnuts, dill, tomatoes, aubergines, chicken. Excellent complement to the warm bread. The small portions meant that we were able to try a little bit of everything without spoiling our appetite for what was yet to come.

Both these dishes were lamb cooked to perfection. Tender, juicy and ever so slightly pink on the inside. Once again, the rice was immaculate. No wonder some people can just eat the rice and nothing else (but why would you? there's so much other good dishes to accompany the rice!)

The perfect meal to bid farewell to Cappadocia as we left for Istanbul that night where the tummies went hunting for even more good food.

A Recollection of Turkey Part 1

The tummies took a trip to Turkey and Italy over the summer and naturally continued their food adventures there. Unfortunately, we weren't able to log all the wonderful meals along the way in real time due to patchy internet connections and wanting to be outside soaking in the sights and sounds while we were there instead of being holed up in a room typing on a computer.

Needless to say, inertia set in after we returned and we never quite got down to it. Still, I know the tummies definitely look back with fond memories on what has got to be 2 of the outstanding cuisines in world culture. Here are some of the highlights:

Apple tea would soon become one of the simple pleasures that we would enjoy on a regular basis. Something to just sit back and relax with and for a much needed pick me up.

Can't quite remember what these were called but the first dish (with the rice) tasted a bit like a bolognese sauce while the second dish was a stew. Something has to be said about Turkish rice. It is absolutely delicious! What is the secret? Potentially butter and salt... (Mr Tummy faints)

No visit to Turkey would be complete without having a kebab. This is afterall, the country that gave us this wonderful meaty wrap which unfortunately has been copied poorly in various parts of the world. (Mr Tummy has suffered through a few of them and lived to tell the tale)
When done properly, it can only be described as deeply satisfying. =)

Since we were going to Italy next, it made sense that we try the local "pizza" to see how it matched up. Much more meaty here and with a lot less cheese and tomato but still a great meal. The dough is very thin but has a nice bite to it. Very dangerous because you can end up eating a lot of this without realising it! (Guilty!)

I thought this was really odd. What is the granny doing on the front of the Lays packet? Is it targetted at grannies (or grandpas)? Is it granny flavoured? (hope not!) Is she a famous granny in Turkish cooking? Is it "just like granny made it"? Did they run out of budget for the supermodel? The mystery continues...

The tummies returned to the scene of the first dinner to partake of their house specialty (which you had to order hours in advance because they put the meat in a earthernware pot and let it cook among the coals). I kid you not but they call it the "Cappadocian Crack Pot Specialty" (something clearly lost in translation). Anyway, it tasted very similar to the previous night's dinner (the one that tasted like bolognese) despite the theatrics of our host cracking the pot in front of our eyes with a hammer and scooping out the hot fillings. Slightly disappointing

The next day however, the tummies had a real treat when they went to the nicest restaurant in town... MMMmmm (Part 2 to follow)

Asian Food Goodness

The 3rd day in NYC saw the Tummies visiting one of their all time favourite Chinese restaurants (possibly in the world). How good is it? let's just say that Mr Tummy's mom actually requested to go there TWO days in a row while on holiday there a couple of years ago. For any restaurant to achieve this rare recognition is no mean feat especially given the high standards of Mr Tummy's mom. In fact, when Mr Tummy was talking to his mom the night before, she specifically asked him if he was going to that restaurant.

So what exactly is this well regarded restaurant called???

*drum roll*

And what exactly is so famous about it???

*another drum roll*

Xiao Long Bao! (otherwise known as Soup Dumplings to people who don't know Chinese)

(Here's a handy instructional guide on how to eat these little pieces of heaven without hurting yourself. The soup inside tends to be very hot, often scalding the uninitiated. muahahaha)

it's so good that each of us had to have 1 bamboo steamer each (8 XLB's) otherwise the Tummies risked fighting each other over the yummy-ness. this dish is usually served with a dipping sauce of vinegar and sliced ginger. best eaten when it's fresh from the kitchen at its hottest (and therefore most dangerous if you're not as skillful as us. heh)

in an effort to make sure we ate a balanced meal, we also ordered some braised tofu with spinach (a house specialty) and incidentally another dish that got us hooked to this place to begin with. Following which, we rolled out of the restaurant and into the warm sunshine because we were so full and thought that perhaps a walk would do our digestion some good. Only partially true in this case. heh. We felt taht the walk definitely helped in our digestion and made us feel more comfortable after the meal, but a walk in Chinatown means to be tempted by the many sweet treats on display. Needless to say, Ms Tummy succombed to one of them (Mr Tummy happily joined in too! heh). Ms Tummy was drawn by the very direct advertising of this bakery. Needless to say we walked out with 2 warm and lovely egg custard tarts that were ever so promptly devoured. Did someone say something about being very full? There's always room for dessert, especially if it's an egg custard tart as good as this one. Light flakey crust and a warm soft custard centre. Not too soft that it falls apart in your hand, but not too hard that you actually have to bite hard into it. Someone with no teeth would still be able to enjoy this lovely treat.

speaking of eggs... I couldn't resist taking a picture of this egg-cellent ad. heh.

later that evening, the Tummies would invite their most gracious host, C, to dinner at Kenka, a dive-y japanese place in the heart of St Mark's known for it's cheap draft beer and cotton candy machine. as if that wasn't unique enough, the "rules" as listed on the menu have to be seen to be believed. you can't make this stuff up even if you tried.

makes for a very interesting restaurant. all in all the food was good. we had a nice "steamboat" style soup since the evening turned out to be pretty chilly. perfect pick me up at the end of a long day of walking around the city.

Joe's Shanghai
9 Pell Street
NY 10013

Egg Custard King Cafe
76 Mott Street
NY 10013

Kenka
25 St Mark's Place
NY 10003

Day 2 in NYC

Happy toes! Since Mr Tummy has started with the NYC update, it only seems fair that I should get my act together and post something too. Because of our late night snacking adventures, we only ventured outside around noontime. Since the weather was gorgeous, we decided it would be the perfect time to indulge in some sushi in the park! I love central park, especially when it's warm and sunny out. So much fun just lazing around, having a picnic, watching all the children-dogs-lovers-runners-parents-friends doing their thing. Sushi from the nearby Whole Food supermarket at the Shops@Columbus Circle.


For dinner, we met a friend, D, from college and the significant other, B, at Righteous Urban Barbeque. You heard me right, R.U.B., where lots and lots of meat is rubbed with some voodoo mix, slowly cooked over a low fire, and then eaten greedily by new york bbq fans. No reservations here, so we placed our names on the waitlist and waited for a good half an hour before getting seated. IMHO, the food is worth the wait.


This is the baron's platter, all the meats in the house plus 2 sides. If I can recall, clockwise from top right is chicken, then sausage, ham, ribs, turkey, pastrami, brisket, and in the middle is something I cannot remember anymore. But it was all really really good. The out of place mush is collard greens, I think.


We also had more ribs, and "burnt ends", which is twice cooked burnt fatty stuff from the brisket, aka meat-lovers heaver. Our other sides were fries, onion rings (YUM!) and beans (MORE YUM!) In general, the meats were really flavorful, but drier than I was used to, as I'm used to ribs dripping with sauce. This is possibly because I'm not used to Kansas style bbq. However, a shot of the R.U.B house sauce fixed that up really quick.


Needless to say, we were majorly stuffed and very satisfied after that pig-out session.

Righteous Urban Barbeque (R.U.B. BBQ)
208 W 23rd St ~ NYC ~ Between 7th & 8th Ave
no reservations

Late Night NYC Grease Bomb

(Admittedly it's taken a while for me to post this. A combination of inertia and some laziness crept in. I will endeavour to capture the full flavour and emotion of this meal as far as I can remember even though it was 2 weeks ago.)



the last time mr tummy was in NYC back at the start of october last year, ms tummy introduced him to this place on the corner of 6th ave and 53rd street. apparently a legendary late night haunt of almost mythical proportions among those who know about its existence. ms tummy was tipped off about it through her housemate who told her that if she was in NYC, she had to try it.



did we try it? did we like it?



let's just say, we made it a point to come back and partake of this oasis of yummy-ness again. in fact, it was the first thing the tummies did when they got to the city. =)



the queue at this place is also somewhat legendary, it tends to stretch for at least 20-30 metres on an average night. pretty impressive for a mobile food truck in a city that has many other eateries open at this hour. an institution in its own right, it draws crowds in from all over the city (and the world!) the other food trucks on the same block must wonder what sort of drugs they add to the food to make people come back again and again. they can only stare in amazement and jealousy as night after night, people walk right past them without even giving them a second look and head straight for this little serving of heaven in a tin foil container.



so what exactly is this delectable delight? here it is.

the menu's pretty simple really. chicken or lamb? rice or wrap? and of course, you can order a mixed meat combo. (pictured here)

it's the perfect late night munchie with all the right ingredients. plenty of carbs (both yellow rice and several pieces of warm soft pita) to fuel the late night, generous servings of tender and savoury meat to give it that extra bite, crisp salad so you can say that it's actually healthy (heh), and of course, a mysterious white sauce and flaming hot chilli that brings it all together. MMMmmm.

needless to say, its an amazing and simple meal that really hits the spot. God only knows how many late night suppers i would eat here if i lived in NYC.

Corner of 6th Ave & 53rd NYC

Wings To Go

3 days after they're bought, Wings To Go teriyaki and honey mustard wings are still as good as ever (assuming you've kept them in a fridge all this while and put them in the microwave for about 2 minuts). With a little celery goodness for palate cleansing, it's a quick and scrumptious post-lunch snack. The teriyaki wings are my favourite, sweet and saucy but not cloying, which the honey mustard wings can sometimes lean towards being. Try the mild, medium, hot, extra hot, "suicide," and "homicide" spicy wings at your own risk, fire extinguisher not provided.

Wings To Go ~ 77 Ives St ~ Providence ~ RI 02906

Spring Weekend and Hemenways, Providence

"Red lobster, red lobster..."

Once a year, here where I study, a weekend is dedicated to warmth, revelry, drunkeness, fun and relaxation (some might say debauchery). "Spring Weekend," as its organizers have imaginatively named it, was uncharacteristically warm this year. The past two Spring Weekends had been miserably rained out, so it was a pleasant surprise that the rains left us just on time for our springtime fun. There are concerts, both indoors and outdoors, all weekend long, but the one concert that, in my mind at least, is most definitive of the occassion is the Dave Binder concert.

The enigmatic man himself (guy with guitar and black shirt)

Who is David Binder, do I hear you ask? Well, lets just say that he's a fun old-ish man, who always knows the right songs to belt out on his guitar and beat box. He's been coming here for Spring Weekend festivities for a while, and everyone loves him.

Although not everyone loves the crowd. Went to the Dave Binder concert with X, who wanted to see what the fuss (and racket he could hear a block away) was about. Came in time for the fast food song, but X wasn't very enamoured by the throngs of sunburnt, drunk, high, somewhat undressed bodies. After a few songs, I got kinda tired too, so we adjourned to other spring time activities. Such as lazing on the main green whilst drinking and eating ice cream.

X prepares capirinha

Not any old drinks, of course. X brought a thing or two back from his travels in Brazil, and made capirinhas for the lot of us (our number had swelled to 4). The rum wasn't really to my liking. Luckily, I just happened to have (hurhurhur) 2 bottles of Woodchuck cider from Vermont. Mmmm... cool, dry, refreshing, everything a Spring drink's supposed to be.

Strawberry-kiwi bird being cannabilistic

It is my belief that warm weather is not complete without ice cream. This flavor is pretty good, and sorbet's are especially fitting for warmer weathers. I also think the little strawberry-kiwi bird is really cute.

Slightly inebriated and very happy, I headed home to change for my next meal. Was treated to dinner at Hemenway's, a seafood restaurant, by the Starry people. Crazy people these are. Started off with the hot appetizer plater, was good but unfortunately no picture. Next course, England clam chowder! Thick and creamy, full of yummy seafood goodness.


For my main course, simply grilled rainbow trout. Could have used a tad bit more seasoning, but the subtlety grew on me after a few spritzes of lemon.

Hemenways 121 ~ South Main St ~ Providence ~RI 02903