Woodman's of Essex

Before

After

The great Asian B-B-Q debate

So after my post about the established This N That Curry Cafe in the Northern Quater, I thought I would tell you about one of the new Pretenders to the crown....Hunter B-B-Q and Asian take away.
This place is situated on the main road in teh Northern Quarter, just near This N That, and has only been open for a couple of years now. Its a small place withs eating for maybe 12 people but it does a

mean Chicken Tikka sandwich.

Now Hunters is famous around the area for two things....being open dead late and Game curry dishes. I'm not really a game kind of guy....I find it a bit to greasy for me....but if your down with game get into it. At Hunters, as with This N That" they do a selection of curries each day. i think they cook about 9. usually 3 or 4 veggie a couple of standard dishes (ie Chicken or lamb chops) and then a couple of game ones. I'll try and get a full menu at some point and add it on to my post but a sample of the dishes are: partridge curry, venison curry, rabbit curry and Full quall's in masala sauce...wow.

Along side this they also run a great coal B-B-Q. they have a range of things from fresh shish kebabs (spiced lamb mince sausages), chicken or lamb donnor (spiced meat strips layered onto a spit and slowly cooked) to chicken tikka. all come on afresh Nann bread (which is cooked down stairs in a clay tandorie to order) with a selcetion of sauces and salad.

I'll be honest and say that a good chicken Tikka Sandwich is one of my favourite things to eat at lunch time. Tikka is a method of marinading the chicken in a spicy yougurht sauce that preserves the meat and it gives it either a mustard yellow or deep red colour depending on the spice used. I always rated a place in a market in Cheatham Hill as the best, but i think that has now been surpassed by Hunters. The chicken is excellently spiced in tikka sauce and put onto a steel spit. They are put over the red hot coals to order and cooking time is about 4 minutes or so. The tender on the inside although I really like mine with a good amount of charred areas and for me hunters hits the button on this better than most. Stick it on a freshly tandoria oven baked nann and lash on a handfull of onions, letucce tomatoes and cucumber and your ready to roll.

Hunters also offer a good selection of sauces to add to your freshly cooked kebab. As well as the usual mayo and ketchup you find at most take aways they also have a garlic mayo, yoghurt sauce, mango chuckney and a chillie sauce that could wake the dead.....in fact its so hot that the first time you go in the old indian fella warns you and will only put a small squirt on till you know you can handle it.

I always leave hunters full and with a good chillie tingle in my lips.....but a word of warning if your gonna get stuck in with your finger make sure you wash your hands before picking your nose or going for a slash.....chillie doesn't mix well with your intimate parts!

Pizza and subs are the third-rails of food conversations. When people outside my tight circle of friends talk about either I keep my mouth shut, otherwise I’ll say something nasty I’ll regret. Instead of trying to convince you that Elsie’s subs (74 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, NJ) are the best in the world (they are) I’ll stick to explaining why they are my favorite.

Consistency. Is there anything worse than not knowing what you’re going to get from day to day? Getting a decent sub one day and a total miss the next is enough to drive me out the door for good. Elsie’s has been doing it right for decades; since the ‘50’s. [ed note: There was a period of about a year in the early ‘90’s between the legendary owner Lloyd Patillo and the current sub masters that some misguided soul tried to change just about everything. I prefer to not think about this. Thankfully the current owners came in and put everything back the way it was.]

Bread. Bad bread = bad sub. Case closed. Elsie’s uses fantastically soft bread from a local baker, Baldanza’s. (I’m not one for crusty sub bread that tears the roof of your mouth to shreds and leaves you with an aching jaw.) The bread is porous enough to absorb the vinegar, and if you let it sit for a little while it’ll soak right into the crust. It sometimes makes for a real mess, especially if you get extra vinegar like I do. But Elsie’s has that covered with their use of the “sub condom”; a thin plastic bag that fits your half and catches all the good drippings which you can soak up with the last piece of bread before you sign off. The Elsie’s sub bag is essential and must be left on while eating. Removal of the bag identifies you as a true novice. In conclusion, the bread is nearly perfect, just a tiny notch below the famous bread at the White House in AC which is baked across the street and shuttled directly to your mouth all day.

Construction. If you’re lucky you’ll get one of the owners making your sub. The female half of the married duo makes them absolutely perfectly. The cheese goes on first, closest to the bread. The slightly waterproof quality of the cheese helps shield the bread from a flood of vinegar long enough that it can spread out a little and coat the other stuff before it soaks the bread. Then you got your Genoa salami and ham. And let’s face facts here people. The Italian is the only real sub. All those other combos are ancillary and, dare I say, unnecessary.

The rest. Tomatoes are hit or miss out of season, so I give any sub a pass on under-ripe or bland tomatoes. It’s just life; we have to deal. Elsie’s uses shredded lettuce, which is a huge plus over roughly chopped or (yuck) giant leaves of iceberg. The fine mesh of the shredded lettuce holds the oil and vinegar and spices and the incredible Elsie’s hot peppers. Not sliced hot peppers as usual, but chopped and marinated red peppers. I get light hots because a little goes a long way, but they are essential.

So there you have it my friends. I love subs. #15, no onions, light hots, extra vinegar.

Four Burgers, Cambridge MA

Four Burgers is a new burger place in Central Square. They offer your choice of an all natural beef burger, a vegetarian/ vegan option, a turkey burger or a salmon burger. Your choice of toppings that range from the normal burger fare to more gourmet choices like caramelized onions or bleu cheese. This is more upscale than your typical burger joint, while they are mindful of the environment. They use real plates and give you actual glass glasses for the fountain soda. All of this together adds up to a good dining experience. A little more expensive than a place like Five Guys but not in the same league. Extra points for cooking the meat to order and not just cooking til "done," although I must admit my medium rare was closer to rare, not that I am complaining, The group I went with today had a standard single burger w/ lettuce and tomato, a double topped about the same. I went outside the box and got a double with bacon, caramelized onions and bleu cheese. I usually put mustard on my burgers but skipped it today. The beef was juicy enough on its own and the toppings gave it enough flavor without the extra condiments. Four Burgers has handcut fries and sweet potato fries, and also have a half and half option. We went with the regular fries and they were good, especially when dipped in the chocolate milkshake. Would eat again.

WEBSITE

Four Burgers
704 Mass Ave
Cambridge MA

do you want a chapati with that......

Curry....a real british institution....and for a lunch time snack with the lads you can't beat it. especially in Manchester's northern quarter, which, in the early 60's was awash with imigrants brought over from Pakistan and Bangladesh to work and run in the numourous cotton mills and textile houses.

one of the things which sprang up from this new cultural influx was the curry cafe. these are small and basic sit down cafe's which serve REAL "indian" food....like the stuff you would get if you went round to my mate Naz's house and his mam made you stay for tea.

Manchester most famous is This N' That (http://www.thisandthatcafe.co.uk) which has been knocking around for 20 odd years now and is still run by the same family after all these years. in my opinion it is still the king ofthe curry cafe world. tucked out of the way down a dingy victorian cobbled side street its definetly one of those places where the first time you see it you first thoughts are "what....we are eating in there??"

you walk in and the first thing you see is the school cafiteria style seating for about 30 people and a shelf running around one wall with enough high chairs for another 10 or so. the next thing is the amount of people packed into the place. sometimes they are queing out of the door if you happen to catch that mad lunch time rush. 

this family run place is full of all kinds.....suits, shop workers, school kids, asain chaps, builders,bin men.....everyone.  its famous for its "rice and three"....there are no menus on the table just a list on the wall with each day of the week on it. every day has 9

 curries. 6 meat and 3 veg. you can choose a combination of

 these an the main man puts two laddles full of each of them  on top of a big plate full of rice. throw in a chapati  and you've got a feast fit for a king for well under a fiver.

I went on a monday and had chicken curry, lamb spinach and keema (minced lamb) with a chapati on the side. all three have a great flavour and have been stewing since that morning, giving a real melt in the mouth feel to the meat.

The lamb spinach was full on and tickled the tastebuds with its earthy flavour. I am a big lover of Keema and it defo packs a spice hit as well as having the ever present and amazing green pea hanging around in it for an added yum factor. while chicken curry sounds like a really boring option I will stand by the fact that you can't really fuck with a well made chicken curry and this one is a winner. great chunks of real halaal chicken....not that pressed chicken shit you get in some "proper"more expensive resteraunts sometimes....with a great garlic and chilli taste. seriously its so simple that it blows your mind.

one thing that is cool about this n that is the vibe. It feels like your part of a little secret club that not everyboy knows about. you fin yourself saying "alright" to strangers as you walk past each otheron the way down the alley. beause of the lack of space nobody thinks twice about sitting down at a table with a spare seat and getting their nosh on. Its a bit like a curry version of hardcore really.

this place is highly recomended for our more ethically minded brothers as all the veg curries are vegan as are the chapatis. the cabbage curry is in my mind the curry equivalant to "Age of Quarrell" in its absoulute perfection.

seriously if you ever get the chance to make it to this side of the pond drop me an email cause me and the lads would love to take you.

breadman

Crucial Barbeque... Kansas City

About a year ago i had to travel to kansas city for my brother in laws wedding, before my wife had even paid for the airline ticket's i was already on the interwebz scouting out kc's best bbq joints. The one that seemed to intrigue me the most was the famous AURTHUR BRYANTS. It was the joint with most history and when i asked the locals they all said " If you want real kc bbq then you have to go to aurthur bryants". I took there word for it and on saturday afternoon i headed over to 18th and brooklyn to the original aurthur bryants. Now i knew i was in for a treat when i opened the door and the floor was so greasy it was like walking on ice! Lucky for me it wasn't to crowded cause i hear sometime the lines go out the front door. I made my way to the counter and i just had to get the sliced pork sandwich with fries. Tara decided to get the sliced turkey and a side of green cole slaw. The food came super quick and within three minutes we were eating and let me say it was GREAT. On the table you had the choice of  three different bbq sauces. I went with the original and it was perfect. Tara's turkey was also excellent and the fries were good. We left the restaurant in a comatose state and went back to our hotel for a nap like two bears going into hibernation.  "Would eat again." P.O.E.O

Set it off brooklyn style...

I figured for the first entry we needed to discuss big things, and when it comes to eating there is no better place then the mecca of steakhouse's PETER LUGER'S. I have been to many of new york's premier steakhouse's and imo none of them can stack up to luger's. The menu is no frills and is very limited but offer's a wonderful selection of appetizers. I must recommend the bacon, a lovely thick slice of bacon broiled to perfection which taste's wonderful when dipped in peter luger's own steak sauce.The shrimp cocktail is always fresh and taste's great. But  when your at luger's you have one thing on your mind and it's the porterhouse. The steak should be served medium rare and you get to enjoy both the filet and the strip. Now accompanying your steak you have a choice of  delicious sides i usually opt for the german home fried potatoes and creamed spinach. Now if you have any room left for dessert i suggest going with the holy cow hot fudge sunday or the apple strudel served with the homemade schlag which is heavier than the outburst intro. 

enjoy 

p.o.e.o