Review: Hill Country BBQ Market, Brooklyn New York

One of the best things about moving to Brooklyn has to be affordable living space so that we could have a guest room. This has lead to a regular queue of visitors from Australia wanting to experience the delights of the US. 

What more do you want out of a trip to the US than BBQ? Hill Country has become our stable meat fest for visitors. The Brooklyn venue has live music on Friday and Saturday nights and is conveniently located steps from the Jay St Metrotech Subway. 

We mostly stick to the combination meal of "Cue and 2" which is 2 Meats and 2 sides for $23USD  but there's plenty of add ons if you can stomach the load. The 2 sides does not include the Cornbread which comes included with the meal deal and served with honey butter. You can get another meat for an extra $4USD but even my food loving husband can't finish it.

Chopped Brisket and Spicy Hot Link with Coleslaw and Beans

In America baked beans are a BBQ food, which I find kind of weird coming from the Commonwealth, but it's delicious and includes chopped meat. Hmm. Notice the Brooklyn hipster Mason jars full of cheap beer.

Smoked Jalapeno Hot Link

Moist Brisket with Mustard

Chopped Pork Open Sandwich $10USD

If you can't face a whole meal I recommend their chopped BBQ sandwiches for $10. A smaller serve of meat with pickles, onions and a bun. No sides. 

I love the super casual Texas style eating here. Get a tray and see the meat man, he'll give you a card with a barcode for your order, work through the sides and drinks options like a cafeteria. Seat yourself and gorge. The music is great fun but it's also not jarring so you can easily have a conversation with guests and not worry about it. There's a casual bar and table service for drinks and you can even reserve a table for busy Friday nights using online services like Open Table. Highly recommended. 

Hill Country BBQ Market

http://hillcountry.com/nyc/menu/

345 Adams Street (on Willoughby Plaza)Brooklyn,
NY 11201

Casual Texas style BBQ in an urban setting

Review: Xi'an Famous Foods, East Village NYC

One surprise that hit us when we moved to  the Bay Area was how Americanised a lot of the Asian food was. After moving to NYC we found a heavenly array of very authentic and reasonably priced Asian foods. Xi'an Famous Foods offers one of the things I missed most about home - reasonably priced hand pulled noodles. 

Xi'an Famous Foods has several restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn but I tend to favour their restaurant in the East Village since it's close to a number of businesses I frequent and around the corner from a delightful Italian cake shop (more on that later).

The food is decidedly cheap and cheerful but delicious spicy Western Chinese food. The noodles are all made on site and if you're lucky you can catch glimpses of the cooks making them. 

Being Manhattan the restaurant is reasonably small and New Yorkers have no patience for those who lose them a New York Minute. Be prepared to order if you step in line, don't take a seat until you get your food, clean up your own station and be prepared to get up as soon as you've finished. Those who do not follow the unwritten rules will get passive aggressive interruptions by people waiting to eat. 

Spicy and Tingly Beef Hand Ripped Noodles $7.50USD

Chewy delicious hand ripped noodles are stir fried in a numbing chili spicy oil that is not for the feint hearted. Try the mild first before attempting hotter! The noodles are served with vegetables and fatty meat.

Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand Ripped Noodles $8.25USD

Spicy Cumin Lamb Burger $4

Both the lamb noodles and the lamb burger contain a cumin drenched dry lamb with vegetables. The burger is on a mantou style bun grilled on a flat top until crispy. The noodles are stir fried with more of the cumin, vegetables and chili oil. 

Mount Qi Pork Hand Pulled Noodles $7.00USD

Pork Zha Jiang Hand Ripped Noodles $7.00USD

Spicy and Sour Lamb Dumpings $7.00USD

The Mount Qi pork is cubes of pork belly grilled with noodles and a slightly less spicy sauce. The Zha Jiang noodles feature ground pork fried in an umame soy bean sauce, deeelicious! The spicy and sour lamb dumplings are stuffed with a ground lamb filling and served with vinegar and soy.

Close up of Pork Zha Jiang Hand Ripped Noodles $7.00USD

This is easily my favourite dish on their menu and reminds me of a dry tantanmen without the sesame. 

Go in expecting exactly what it is - a cheap limited menu of food made extraordinarily well. Not pictured are the noodle soup versions of each dish. Everything they make is excellent. Make sure to eat in, the delicate nature of the noodles does not survive delivery or a walk home. Cold drinks are available like Chinese teas and Coke products. 

I really rather wished they offered condiments,, I keep wanting black vinegar to cut through the oil. Also the chopsticks they use leave a lot to be desired and if you're willing to endure the odd looks of your fellow diners I would recommend bringing some of your own from another restaurant or home. Still this is one of my favourite cheap food desinations in NYC, try it out.

Xi’an Famous Foods

http://xianfoods.com/menu/

81 St Marks Pl

New York, NY 10003

Ph: (212) 786-2068

Cheap and cheerful artisan noodles, good for the spicy food lover

Review: Yakitori Glad, Honolulu Hawaii

If you've spent any serious time in Osaka you're bound to have ventured into a Torikizoku "Restaurant 280" a yakitori specialty restaurant where everything from the beer to the bar snacks are a flat rate 280Y. Their cheap and cheerful booze laden atmosphere house some of my favourite travel memories so when we found a clone in Hawaii we just had to go. 

Exchange rates and inflation have had their way but at $3.90USD for all items it's still a total bargain. 

Other than the price it's almost identical to Torikizoku even down to the decor.

The menu is point and slur simple, perfect for too many beers. Various bits of chicken are skewered, grilled and topped with sticky BBQ sauces. Choose chicken skewers with salt shio, BBQ marinade tare or specialty kushi-yaki like wasabi beef, tongue or pork belly.

Beer $3.90USD

Imported Sapporo and Kirin were available off the keg plus a number of other domestic beer options. 

 

Lychee and Grape Calpis Chuhai $3.90USD

Chuhai are alcoholic high balls common in bars in Japan. Usually sweet and reasonably low alcohol they're a sometimes safe bet when drinking rounds with salarymen if you wish to survive Japan's bar culture. Fizzy water, flavouring and shochu (white grain alcohol) are mixed and served long over ice. Add Calpis fermented yoghurt cordial for a creamy delicious option.

Tsukune okonomi style  $3.90USD

Ground chicken meatballs are threaded on a skewer grilled then topped with okonomi sauce, mayonnaise, shaved katsuoboshi and scallions. 

Momotare yaki $3.90USD 

Chicken thigh and scallions slathered in a sweet BBQ sauce are grilled till crispy

Tsukune with cheese $3.90USD

Ground chicken meatballs are threaded on a skewer grilled then topped with cheese slices

Momo-mayo-tare $3.90USD

Grilled chicken thigh with BBQ marinade and mayonnaise. 

Gyu-kushi $3.90USD

Grilled beef skewer with scallions - delicious with beer!

 

Renkon nikizume $3.90USD

Slices of lotus root stuffed with ground chicken meat grilled to perfection. I love lotus root in everything, it's a very fancy looking root vegetable with a neutral taste that adds fiber and depth to many dishes. Fantastic with the super hot Japanese mustard provided.

Hiya-yakko $3.90USD

One of my favourite dishes particularly in warm weather. Cold silken tofu topped with ginger, soy sauce, katsuoboshi and scallions.

Vegetable salad $3.90USD

All that meat and booze deserves a little greenery to finish it off. Fresh salad topped with a classic Japanese onion dressing.

Onigiri-yaki $3.90USD

The Japanese like to end a meal with white rice and I think it's a great way to cleanse the palette. White rice is formed into triangular rice balls, brushed with a little soy and then grilled until crispy. Neutral and chewy!

Sesame balls $3.90USD

I like to end on a sweet note and these fried sesame balls are one of my favourite desserts - gluten, dairy free and vegan! Sticky rice dough is filled with red bean paste, rolled in toasted sesame and deep fried to perfection

Yakitori Glad is a great example of the skewers and too many drinks Osaka style eating. Great for groups and parties, you can order a little or a lot and have a great time. Service is fast casual bar style, don't expect a lot of niceties and if you're looking for sushi or large plates you came to the wrong place. If you, like I love a rowdy night out and a lot of small plates this is an excellent time for everyone. 

 Yakitori Glad

http://yakitori-glad.com/

766 Kapahulu Ave

Honolulu, HI 96816

Authentic Japanese bar and small plates grill
Good for groups

Review: Haleiwa Joe's, Oahu Hawaii

We took an amazing day trip away from Waikiki to the Valley of the Temples on Oahu, a multifaith place of serenity with a large cemetery and multiple places of worship. 

I was there primarily to see the Byodo-in Temple which is a replica of a Buddhist temple in Uji Japan. Set amidst the foggy rainforest mountains of Oahu this is a place of beauty and tranquility worth hiring a car to visit. 

After a morning visit to the temple we were fired up for a big lunch, some searches on Yelp and we found ourselves directed to Haleiwa Joe's a popular brunch eatery with locals. 

The gorgeous views continued at the restaurant showing off the postcard worthy forests and mountains of Oahu. The rainforest nature makes this part of the island foggy and prone to showers so be mindful when wandering their gardens. 

Despite coming at the end of the brunch shift the restaurant was still packed and the food regularly being replaced. The crowd is all locals and townies mostly celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries. 

Haleiwa Joe's brunch is a buffet offering multiple hot and cold dishes, a carvery, an egg station and a salad bar. At $26USD a head this is a total steal. At night the restaurant turns to a la carte seafood but with a deal this good and a view that beautiful, it's worth heading out for lunch. 

Grilled breakfast favourites abound like sausage, chorizo, eggs, bacon, eggs Benedict and more. 

Lunch food like this beef roast with horseradish cream and hand tossed salad with passionfruit (lilikoi) dressing were also available if eggs and bacon don't satisfy your midday meals. 

A huge range of breakfast pastries and desserts was on offer including mini muffins, danishes, tarts, scones, waffles and puddings. Cream, ice cream and some sauces was also available. 

For the coeliacs and non wheat eaters there were options as well like this delicious coconut jelly with cream and blueberry compote. 

The view alone is well worth a visit to Haleiwa Joe's as was the huge range of grilled meats and breakfast staples. For us this was a wonderful chance to get away from the other tourists and have a meal that felt a little more "normal". 

As well as the delicious food it looked like champagne toasts and tiki classic cocktails were in strong demand and bigger groups were getting very rambunctious... probably not the place if you like a quiet meal. 

Haleiwa Joe's 

https://haleiwajoes.com/ 

46-336 Haiku Rd

Kaneohe, HI 96744

All you can eat brunch, family friendly with gorgeous views

Review: Gazen Izakaya, Waikiki Hawaii

Well I know there's been a bit of a break in content but there's a good reason! I moved to New York City and life got in the way. Moving across a continent is a big deal! Well I'm back in a sensible routien and I have lots of catch up to do on content and a whole new city to explore full of every kind of food imaginable. 

For my first wedding anniversary we decided to go to Waikiki. I had spent some time in Hawaii on work trips but my husband was yet to savour in the delights. Neither of us had been to Waikiki since we were very young, when you used to refuel in Hawaii on flights from Australia across the Pacific. 

Waikiki is now the perfect Japanese holiday destination and is filled with a hearty mix of Americans, Japanese and Australians... which makes it feel a little like being back in Sydney. This means a great variety of Japanese specialty restaurants all over Honolulu. 

Gazen was a real find, a traditional and authentic Kansai style Izakaya in suburban Honolulu. Aimed mostly at local residents rather than tourists the restaurant had a vibrant homely feel with many regulars who stopped to speak to us. 

Tuna Sashimi $16.50USD

Fresh and delicious, it seemed unreasonable to holiday in the middle of the Pacific and not eat tuna!

Tofu sampler $12.80USD

This was the real stellar dish of the visit. Home made tofu in three different styles - kurogoma black sesame tofu, sukui tofu in soy milk broth, zaru cold fresh tofu with Hawaiian sea salt. Each was delicious though I liked the sukui with a little soy and wasabi, were I coming back again I would have altered how much I order. I was expecting half or less of each sample. 

Croquettes $7.75USD

A home made specialty croquette made with ground chicken scallions and tofu. Delicious!

Tofu and Jako salad with yuzu dressing $7.50

Had I realised how large the tofu sampler was I would have skipped this but I was hypnotised by the range of fresh tofu products (and this was the small salad!). It was delicious but we ate less than a third of it. The yuzu dressing was crisp fresh and delicious, I expect there is a local yuzu farm since this was no bottled dressing.

Beef tataki $8.50USD and cucumber salad $4.50USD

American beef sometimes leaves a little to be desired, I probably would have skipped this if I was returning. The Cucumber salad was nice and cut through some of the fattier dishes, I wish it had come with more of the yuzu dressing from the other salad. 

Grilled chicken with onion sauce $9.25USD

If you were coming for a healthy meal this would definitely be a great option. Skin removed grilled chicken is served on top of sprouts and scallions with a delicious savoury ground onion sauce. Yum.

Okonomiyaki (Japanese vegetable pancake) $4.75USD

This takes a little while to prepare so you want to order this first and have it appear a the end of the meal. Fried vegetables and served topped with sticky sweet sauce, mayonnaise, dried bonito and herbs. Delicious. If you like the look of this check out my simple recipe for okonomiyaki a great way to get kids to eat more vegies.

Somehow I managed to not even get a picture of the seasoned burdock root dish we ordered which was by far one of the best. I suspect that exhaustion from so much food was to blame. 

So my usual approach when going to a tapas or izakaya place is to order one dish from each section of the menu and then order again if the party is still hungry. In this case this turned out to be a mistake and we were unable to eat half the food. The key here seems to be that this was not actually "small plates" and that really this was izakaya style food but with American sized meal portions. Just a litle nod to Hawaii's blended culture. 

The food was wonderful and that tofu was to die for, definitely worth going back to. Doing it again, I probably would have ordered the okonomiyaki and the tofu and left it at that. Service was usual immaculate Japanese deference. 

My only tip? Drive yourself or make sure to have instructions on your phone for a taxi driver since this was a townie restaurant away from the resorts and the drivers both there and back commented they had not heard of it. 

Gazen Izakaya

Traditional Japanese gastropub in suburban Honolulu

http://www.e-k-c.co.jp/gazen/honolulu/

2840 Kapiolani Blvd

Honolulu, HI 96826

Recipe: Chimichurri beef with roasted red peppers (Low carb, gluten & dairy free)

Sometimes cooking for my team at work can be hard since we all have so many dietary restrictions. This was a great answer for the low carb and gluten free diners. Chimichurri adds a freshness that lifts even fatty beef and it pairs wonderfully with the sweet roasted peppers. I've prepared this dish with a beef roast but it works just as well with grilled flank steak or rib eye - use the meat that fits your budget. 

Chimichurri beef with roasted red peppers 

1 bunch flat leaf parsley

6 - 8 cloves garlic

3⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1⁄4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon diced red onion

salt and pepper to taste

300g beef per person

Method

• Cut the cheeks off your peppers and deseed
• Place on a foil covered baking tray and grill at 260C (500F) fairly close to the heat on a high shelf
• The skin of the peppers will begin to blacken and bubble - this is intended and we want as much of the skin as possible to blacken
• 8 - 12 minutes should be enough depending on the heat and freshness of your peppers
• For best effect use 2 - 3 colours of peppers for contrast

• As soon as the peppers are out of the oven wrap them in the foil you used to bake on. 
• Wrapping the peppers in foil contains the moisture and steam and this will make removing the skin easy

• Leave for 10 minutes then unwrap and scrape off the blackened skin with a fork. Your nude pepper cheeks should look a little something like this

• Cut into small strips and leave to cool 

• Set your oven to 180C (350F) if you are roasting beef
• For steak wait until the peppers and sauce are made before grilling

• For roast beef turn into a baking tray fat side up, liberally coat in salt and pepper and score the fat, roast while we prepare the sauce Bake at 180C (350F) for around an hour

• To prepare the chimichurri you may want to use an electric chopper since you will need to finely dice all the ingredients. Make sure to only use the pulse setting to avoid liquifying your herbs
• Feel free to do this by hand using a chef's knife if you have good knife skills or you prefer a courser sauce
• Dice the onion and add to a bowl
• Finely chop the garlic and parsley together
• Add the vinegar, oil and citrus juice then stir
• Taste and then season with salt and pepper
• If you wish to soften the sharpness of the dish you may add more oil and a small amount of Stevia or brown sugar (1/4 teaspoon should be enough)
• Slice the beef into slices then layer with chimichurri sauce and roasted peppers
• Serve with a fresh green salad