Tag: fried

Categories
restauranting

La Caye Haitian Restaurant

I felt like I needed a reason to get out of the house. Good thing Todd IM’ed me about this comedy show at BAM, Get It Out There. Free show and free Heineken.

I got there way early thinking I could start drinking, but I couldn’t get in until 8. So I went across the street to the Haitian restaurant, La Caye. I’ve always wanted to eat at a Haitian restaurant, but this place is a lot fancier looking than I was thinking. There was a live Latin Jazz band playing. They sat me up front right next to them.

I ordered a beer and the Fritaye, which is a fried platter of your choice of beef, fish or pork with akras and green plantains with a side of pikliz ($12). I got the fish and it was pretty good. Pretty good size plate of fried food. I’m glad I got the fish, because I don’t know how beef would have worked fried like this. The sour pickled veggies (pikliz) worked well with the fried fish. Gave it some flavor.

The fried akras were just okay. I don’t know what they are. Mashed brown something and fried.

I don’t care for the fried plantains  Never been a fan of Tostones. I like grilled caramelized plantains, but never fried. Too starchy and dry. Honestly, I was thinking there should’ve been ketchup with this plate.

This restaurant is alright. I was hoping my first Haitian experience was a little more dingy and cheaper. Maybe if I had the same food in a divey place, I would have thought this was awesome.

The BAM comedy show was fun. The comedians were Sean Donnelly, Jon Glaser, Max Silvestri, Gabe Liedman, Phoebe Robinson, Judah Friedlander. I’ve seen and met a few of these guys before. I think one of them lives across the street from me. I just saw him this morning in front of my apartment. Anyway, I’d go to this show again. Free Heineken and chicks.

La Caye – 35 Lafayette Ave (btwn Ashland & St Felix St) Brooklyn 11217

Categories
seafood

Handsome Hank’s Fish Hut @ Smorgasburg

I went back Smorgasburg (foodie flea market) after being stuffed at Rosarito Fish Shack. A pretty big crowd of young folks soaking up the beautiful day on the East River Waterfront. It’s pretty funny. I heard several people around me throw around that dirty word, “hipster”. …”So many fuckin hipsters here!” Then I’d turn around and they looked exactly like everyone else. Same thing happened at the table next to me at Rosarito …hipster girl acting like she hated hipsters. Even if they don’t think they’re hipsters themselves, don’t they realize that they’re at a crowded foodie flea market in the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn? They didn’t realize hipsters were going to be there?

Hipster is a good thing. Hip, young, cool looking. People should want to be like that. Let’s be proud of ourselves.

Anyway, I met up with Mar in line at Handsome Hank’s Fish Hut. First, I was hesitant about most of these food vendors, because some seemed overpriced or under-portioned, like Dumont’s $6 puny little burger slider. I love Dumont, but I couldn’t believe what Mar’s friend’s Smorgasburg slider looked like (see photo below). However, there were some big portioned food, like the Cemita sandwich stand and Handsome Hank’s Fish Hut. $10 for a big thing of fried fish and fries. I was thinking people would get maybe 1 filet for that price at a thing like this. I was impressed. That looked to be one of the better deals I saw. I had some of it. Well seasoned and fried.

The biggest line I saw was for Mighty Quinn’s BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich. Never heard of it and can’t find too much info on them, but that line went almost half the length of the market.

Now that I’ve finally experienced Smorgasburg, the lines still scare me, but not the hipsters. A great place to watch people. It’s also good to have your friends give you their food that they waited so long for.

Smorgasburg – East River Waterfront (btwn N 6th & 7th St) Williamsburg, Brooklyn 11211 (Saturdays/seasonal)

Categories
seafood travel

Coco’s Famous Deep Fried Lobster (Chicago)

Rusty and I walked around Millennium and Grant Park on our last day in Chicago. Cool bean. Then met up with Ronnie Z for lunch at Coco’s Famous Deep Fried Lobster. I was excited to check it out, because it said it was famous.

I asked for water, but no water. Not even bottled water. I looked at the choices. Only sodas and Arizona Ice Teas. I was so confused. How does a restaurant not have any water …even if I wanted to pay for it? I almost wanted to say something but then saw the sign, “There will be $5 Charge for Whining” on the wall. I suppose it’s supposed to be humorous, but there’s probably a reason why it’s up there.

I ordered the Deep Fried Lobster ($11.25 for the small). Came with fries and a small cup of cole slaw, ketchup and hot sauce. It was pretty good, but I don’t know if it’s better than non-deep fried lobster. The deep frying is pretty much killing it, right? It’s not much different than fried fish chunks, except for the slight shellfish flavor.

Ronnie Z got a small white rice for $2.25. I don’t know who only orders just a small white rice, but this is how it looks at Coco’s (see below). He had one bite and then we left.

All I can think about is “no water.” And according to the signs out front, “No Public Restrooms” and “No Loitering.” …Alright, I’ll stop whining.

Coco’s Famous Deep Fried Lobster - 426 S Clark St (btwn Van Buren & Congress Pky) Chicago, IL 60605

Categories
seafood

Bed-Stuy Fish Fry

Todd took me to Bed-Stuy Fish Fry. Dang, we were hungry. They were out of my top two choices 1) Fish & Grits and 2) Fish & Waffles. Too bad. Those sounds so good.

We both got Fried Fish Dinners ($10 with 2 sides). The whiting fish dinner is 6 pieces and the catfish is 4. I usually like whiting more, but this time catfish was superior. Both fish were fried nicely. Seasoning was a little bland, but dipping it in the sour cream and the salty hot sauce made it quite tasty.

My black eyed peas had a chunk of ham in it and was good. The mac n cheese and string beans were decent.

Our wait was long and Todd fell asleep, but they do say “The Fish and Shrimp are fresh and cooked to order. So give us 3 mins to catch it, 1 min to shake in the batter, 10 mins to cook it and another minute to serve it!!!! Hot and fresh so you can enjoy the best fish on the planet!!”

Although we were the only white people in there, we didn’t feel out of place. The ladies were quite nice to us. Huge ass container of Kool-Aid!

Bed-Stuy Fish Fry – 801 Halsey St (btwn Ralph Ave & Howard Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11233

Categories
homemade

Deep Fried Tofurky: A Thanksgiving Miracle

Here’s what you’ve been waiting for!

Perhaps you have many questions. I put annotations on the video if you watch it on Youtube.

Categories
homemade

We Deep Fried Tofurkys

I tried to find a Popeye’s Cajun Fried Turkey, but they were all sold out in my area. Fortunately, Dan wanted to deep fry a Tofurky. It was a Thanksgiving miracle.

Video coming soon. [UPDATE: HERE’S THE VIDEO!]

Categories
seafood

Fried Soft Shell Crab from Grand Seafood & Fish Market

I found this lonely fried soft shell crab for only $3 at Grand Seafood & Fish Market (formerly An’s Seafood). He was a weak little guy, but I imagine that’s why he was picked last. I also saw giant fried fillets of Blue Fish for $3.

Grand Seafood & Fish Market – 98 Bushwick Ave (@ Grand St) Brooklyn, NY 11206

Categories
homemade

Deep Fried Largemouth Bass

We started cooking up some fish as soon as we landed from our flight back from New Orleans. Rusty deep fried the Largemouth Bass, one of which I caught. It was somewhat symbolic when he dropped the fish into the oil. Perhaps oil was his fate if we caught him or not.

And no stopping Tony’s creole seasoning. I add it to everything now. Open a can of green peas and sprinkle it with love.