Restaurant - The Hungry Nomad

Kanella- Washington Square West (Philadelphia, USA)

August 19, 2012 2 Comments

It was a Monday afternoon and word got out that Anthony Bourdain was in town. If you follow me on twitter you will know that I am slightly obsessed with Bourdain. Therefore, it was no surprise that I was on a hunt to ‘run’ into him and casually offer my eating and travelling services. It was a guessing game on where he would end up for dinner and out of all the choices we decided to go to Kanella restaurant hoping to find him there. He ended up at Marc Vetri’s Amis. I can’t say I was disappointed with our choice. We discovered a true gem and had one of the best meals in a long time. We may not have met Bourdain but we did meet Chef Konstantinos Pitsillides who after our meal came to our table, asked where we were from and told us about himself and his cuisine. I respect a chef who treats his patrons as guests in his home and that is how Chef Pitsillides was. Friendly, charming and humble.

Chef Pitsillides is a proud Cypriot. Bringing home style Cypriot flavours from the beautiful island of Cyprus to locals in Philadelphia. I’ve never been to Cyprus but was a frequent travel to the Greek Cyclades islands while living in Europe and thus familiar with the regions food. (see menu)

As soon as I walked into the white washed stucco walls of the restaurant I felt like I was once again on the blue roof top islands of the Cyclades. Cyprus has a deep history of battles between the Turkish and the Greeks and is therefore equally influenced by each culture and their foods. Which is great for me because I love both.

This BYOB uses mostly organic ingredients plus makes everything in-house. I wanted to try as many dishes as possible so I opted out of the entree and instead ordered several appetizers. For our main dishes we ordered the calamari, saganaki and bureki and the lamb kofta entree. The Calamari was served with a side of Armenian tomato dip. It was perfectly cooked and tasted light, crispy and tender.

Next up was the Saganaki- a favorite of mine. The pan fried halloumi cheese was served in ouzo and lemon sauce with a delicious caramelized fig and side salad. This was one of the best I’ve had…including those which were devoured in many restaurants in Athens, Mykonos and Paros.

The Bureki was served next: a fillo pastry parcel stuffed with feta and thyme drizzled with honey served with a side of roasted beets. The presentation was so beautiful with a taste to match. Crispy layers of fillo oozing with feta cheese. The Count found that the honey made it more appropriate for dessert but I loved it, especially the presentation.

The lamb kofta was served next. It was a skewer of ground lamb mixed with apricot and pistachios served with a side of pomegranate salad, lentils and Greek yogurt. The lamb was excellent filled with magic flavors. But what truly made it special were the side dishes. The pomegranate salad was so original. I’ve never had pomegranate served as a salad as in Iran it tends to be eaten as a fruit or juiced. The mixture of pomegranate with onions and spices was excellent. Then there was the lentil salad which was again a first for me. I mixed spoonfuls of the kabob, pomegranate and lentil salad together and found the combination to be intoxicating.

The quality of the ingredients are present in each spoonful. You can tell that the chef really prides himself on his food.

For dessert we ordered the pistachio and olive oil cake and warm chocolate mousse. Both desserts were out of this world. I really loved the pistachio cake it was light yet intense in flavors served with a side of pistachio ice cream and cherries. The Chocolate mousse was baked to perfection oozing with warm gooey chocolate served with a scoop of ice cream.

Wow is all I can say about this restaurant. I loved the food, the presentation and the friendly chef.I was very impressed and can easily say this was one of the best places I’ve yet to dine.

Korean food, Philadelphia, USA

WaJoe Korean Restaurant- Rittenhouse (Philadelphia, USA)

July 27, 2012 No Comments

Korean food is one of my favorites. In fact, if I had to choose between all Asian foods I would choose Korean and Japanese as the top two. I can’t believe I just said that because I also love Vietnamese and Chinese. How about we forget this favorites thing all together. I’ll just restart by saying I love Korean food. Vancouver has a large Korean community and growing up there meant I am completely spoiled when it comes to authentic Korean food (and all other Asian food). It’s funny how I learned to love Korean food since my first exposure to Korean was completely through smell. Ah yes, the infamous Kimchi. In College I lived in an all girls dormitory and on our floor there lived a Korean exchange student. Having a communal kitchen and fridge meant that everyone stored their exotic foods in the fridge. None of us knew what Kimchi was at the time, we just knew that the pretty Korean girl had something really smelly in the fridge all year. As soon as you opened up the fridge door, the smell of Kimchi would permeate the entire floor and linger there for days. Oh kimchi. The not so great odour of pickled Kimchi tickled my olfactory senses in the worst way possible and remained there for years.

It was not until a few years later that I discovered just how amazing Korean food was. I also fell in love with Kimchi to the point that I now store bottles of pickled kimchi in my fridge. I also introduced Korean cuisine to the Count who having similar taste in food also fell in love. We now make regular trips to Korean restaurants where ever we can find one. New Orleans was lacking in Korean cuisines (and many others in fact). So, you could understand how excited we were when we arrived in Philadelphia and realized that there is such a large pocket of all different types of international cuisine. Within our first week we made our way to WaJoe Korean restaurant.

Wajoe is one of many Korean restaurants in Philadelphia but we mainly chose to go there based on the proximity to our home. We went around 3 p.m. and the restaurant was empty. Each table has an installed barbecue in the middle. But we weren’t there for Korean barbecue. We were there for bibimbap and Japchae.

Once you place your order, it is customary to be served several small side dishes including fermented tofu, potatoes and bean sprouts in gochujang (chili paste).

And of course, no Korean meal is complete without a side of Kimchi.

For starters, we ordered the spicy rice cake. For a starters dish, it turned out to be quite large but so delicious that nothing remained except maybe a few rings of onion.

Spicy Rice Cakes

We ordered the Japchae. After I had half of it I realized there was no beef and the menu included beef in the description. When I brought it to our servers attention she said that most people in America don’t eat beef and that is why it was served without it. Never heard that one before. Needless to say she brought a small plate of fried beef to add to the dish. I thought that was a bit unprofessional. If you are going to list an ingredient in your menu then you should serve the dish as described. If I ask for no beef then serve the dish with no beef but don’t assume.

Japchae

Japchae is made with sweet potato noodles or glass noodles, stir fried in sesame oil with various vegetables and served with beef. It is very tasty. Our next dish was the traditional beef bibimbap. Bibimbap literally means ‘mixed rice’. It is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with sauteed vegetables and chili paste. A fried egg and sliced meat are also optional additions. The ingredients are stirred together in a hot stone bowl right before eating.

Bibimbap

The result is shown in the photo below! A mixture of rice, beef, eggs and vegetables for a mouthful of bursting flavors.

Mixed Bibimbap

WaJoe met our expectations. We went there craving Korean food and left with our bellies full of Kimchi, bibimbap and other Korean delights. In terms of quality, I would not say that it is the best Korean food I have ever had but it certainly does serve staple Korean dishes. It was good enough that we have considered going there again.

Gourmand, Iranian, New Orleans, Turkish

Courtyard Grill-Uptown (New Orleans, USA)

July 9, 2012 No Comments

Courtyard Grill is the only place in New Orleans where you can feast on Iranian and Turkish cuisine. It is located on Magazine street and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. The Turkish chef blends his cuisine with the traditional Iranian recipes leading to a menu full of delicious dishes.

The meal started off with a refreshing doogh beverage. Doogh is a yogurt drink blended with water and sprinkled with dried mint. It is a very popular drink in Iran and is always served with the traditional kabob and rice dish.

We were also served with a basket of bread and a side of spicy tomato sauce. It tasted like a Turkish version of Salsa. The bread was perfect. It was chewy and crispy on the outside. The best I have had in New Orleans.

For our main entrees, I chose the boneless chicken kabob served with a side of basmati rice, onions, grilled tomatoes, pickled cabbage and yogurt. The serving was just perfect. Not too much and not too little. The chicken kabob was marinated in saffron and was juicy and tender. The basmati rice was just as it should be: cooked perfectly so that it was not too soft and not too hard. The pickled cabbage and sliced onions were a great touch to the meal.

The next entree was the Koobideh kabob. Koobideh is your Iranian version of a hamburger but while a hamburger is served on a bun the koobideh is served with rice. The koobideh was also tender and juicy and not overcooked. Always sprinkle your kabobs with a Persian spice called sumagh. It adds flavor and helps break up the fat.

Overall, if you are hungry and want a perfect and delicious meal then you should definitely try the Courtyard Grill. The owners are wonderful people and the service is great. You can’t go wrong with any of your choices since all are delicious and fresh.

« Previous 1 2 3