Food Travel


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Endless Road Trip Boston: Mike’s City Diner

We’ve made a bit of a tradition out of seeking out restaurants featured on the show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Cheesy and touristy? Sure, but we haven’t been disappointed so far. The quest continued with Mike’s City Diner in Boston. You’d think it’d be well known in the entire Boston area, so I asked the folks at Sam Adams what the best means to get to the diner is. They had no idea of where it even was, so either my perspective on the size of Boston was horribly off, or maybe they just never make it out to that side of town. Either way—they are missing out. Mike’s City Diner does not disappoint, and there’s a reason why Guy Fieri was “Rollin’ Out” to Mike’s City Diner in Boston. Here are the highlights:

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Pringles: An Existential Question

A friend of mine recently departed on leave from South Sudan after spending several weeks carrying out aid work. During her time there she witnessed plenty of hardship and suffering, sharing in the day-to-day activities and working side-by-side with the people of this newly formed country.  On her UN flight home she was offered a choice—a simple one, but after many weeks of lentils and rice perhaps a significant one for her.  She ponders:

Existential question: I live in the world’s newest country. On a UN flight today, there was an option to buy Pringles, which I promptly ordered. The flight attendant offered me “cheesy cheese” or “original” flavors. My colleague and I ordered one of each. It turns out that “original”  is actually salt and vinegar here. This begs the question: in a new country, who determines that sea salt and vinegar flavor is “original”? What are the implications of this flavor conundrum? Is this a painful gastronomical residue of British colonialism?

In the grand scheme of things this is a pretty insignificant thought, a lighthearted conundrum for someone who was given a simple choice to entice her taste buds after many weeks of bland lentils and rice.  However, it raises an interesting question: who gets to decide what “original” is? And why do they change it for different regions?

I grew up in Britain, with the same “original” Pringles as the US, so I don’t think the UK had any influential factor here (although s&v is my personal favorite.)  But the same question could be asked for other regions around the world: what determines an “original” palate from nation to nation; it’s not as if lightly salted is defined to a specific region or salt & vinegar has any agricultural prevalence…why do Germans prefer red pepper, Americans plain, Indonesians barbecue and Austrians garlic?

(Photo: Pringles)

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Endless Road Trip Seattle: Curry to Thai for

I’ve saved the best for last. The best thing I miss about Seattle, the best restaurant memories from my years of college in the University District, the best Thai food I’ve ever had. Yes, I’m that passionate about it. Thai Tom is my favorite restaurant in Seattle even though it’s a cash-only hole-in-the-wall with hit-or-miss service, multiple health department warnings, an undeniably intense spice level, legions of whiny Yelp detractors, and often a long wait on the dirty sidewalk of the Ave.

It’s fine, I’ll call out all those detriments. I challenge you to take one bite of Thai Tom’s curry and disagree with my ardent assessment of their amazing food. After your wait, after cramming into a wobbly wooden table or a crowded corner spot in front of the open-kitchen wok, after agonizing over which dish to order off their hand-painted wooden panel menus, after hungrily watching the sweaty chefs pouring piping-hot, incredibly fresh sauces over snowy balls of rice in glass troughs and praying that order is yours… once you’re endured that, the first bite (and every subsequent bite) is worth enduring the Thai Tom process. The food is heaven.

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Endless Road Trip Germany: Joey’s Pizza

There are few things I love more than pizza and weird food combinations, and Germany has a plethora of both. Forget the schnitzel; you can buy personal pizzas at many of the bakeries on the street or most notably the places in the train stations, the same way you’d walk up and buy a pretzel. They even have pizza vending machines if you’re in a hurry or if the stores are closed. My last visit to Germany in 2010 yielded this weird pizza discovery when I saw thunfisch pizza (TUNA PIZZA), but when your best friend moves there and you go to visit for your birthday, things get wild.

After hearing endless stories about Joey’s Pizza, a chain that specializes in weird pizza, I immediately put it on my “must eat” list for my short, 6 day visit.  I know we have some pretty crazy pizza here in America, but we don’t order it or want it enough to keep an entire weird pizza CHAIN in business. I’m not sure if Joey’s thinks that this pizza is normal, or if they market it as being outrageous  (always hard to tell, with Germans). It was my first experience with Joey’s, but not my friend’s, who orders Joey’s regularly as a hangover cure.  Unfortunately they didn’t have her favorite seasonal pizza (Carbonara, topped with bacon and spaghetti), so we decided on three others:

1. Pizza Bombay

chicken, pineapple, curry sauce (still not really sure what this was)

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Endless Road Trip Germany: Kölsch

I think when most people (or at least the people I know) think about German bier, they think of huge, liter=sized bier steins being slung by less-than-covered blonde women. I’m here to blow your mind.

I recently visited Cologne (or Köln), where Kölsch is the local (and pretty much only) beer in the city. Kölsch is also the only beer that may not be brewed outside the Cologne region, as determined by the Kölsch convention of 1985. About ten breweries in Germany produce beer in Kölsch style, but do not call it Kölsch because they are not member of the Kölsch convention (what’s is called then? I don’t know). Serious shit, right? The beauty of (or problem with) Kölsch is that it goes down like water; it somehow never makes you full, and you can easily consume 5 (or 15) after a German meal.

The taste, however, is not why I love Kölsch (To me, it most closely resembled Bud Lite. Sorry, every German I’ve just offended.) Anyone who has been to Oktoberfest (or one of these American biergarten wannabes) knows that the second half of any liter is consumed slightly cold at best. Instead, Kölsch is supposed to always be served cold; therefore it is presented in dainty, 1/5-liter (about 6.76-oz.) glasses, so it’s easily consumed before it gets even slightly warm. You’d think this would be a problem considering the server would have to bring these around quickly; no fear, the Germans have that figured out too:

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Endless Road Trip Seattle: Now That’s a Spicy Cocktail

I’m kind of fickle when it comes to spicy stuff. Sometimes I love it (5-star Thai curries, chipotle peppers, Cholula on my scrambled eggs) and sometimes it’s just too much for me (stirfry drenched in red chili paste, jalapeños on my nachos, super hot BBQ sauce). Where do I draw the line and why? Who knows? I like what I like, and that’s that.

Here’s something spicy that I really like: the spicy tequila cocktails at Poquito’s. I’ve written about this hip and delicious restaurant/bar before, back when I lived in Seattle, and they keep finding ways to make me happy. One particular thing I keep coming back to is the La Fiona: their boozy, fruity, and yep — very spicy — cocktail concoction made of passionfruit purée, habañero-infused tequila, and agave nectar, complete with a chipotle-sugar rim.

While it’s offered as a cocktail, I usually order the La Fiona as a shot (left). And then I don’t even shoot it, but gingerly sip. Why? Well, as the menu warns us, this drink is “Extra spicy! Order at your own risk!” and they aren’t kidding. Sometimes I like to do a little one-two punch and get my La Fiona shot alongside another milder drink such as their delicious Fresa margarita made with strawberry-infused tequila (right).

I’ll be the first to admit that Seattle isn’t exactly known for its Mexican scene, but I promise a visit to the Poquitos bar can change that. Mouth-burningly spicy, tropical and tangy thanks to the passionfruit, and a bit smoky and sweet thanks to its rim, the La Fiona is a complex party of flavors in your mouth (and liver). Pair it with some of Poquitos’ incredibly fresh, made-to-order guacamole and crispy tortilla chips, or perhaps their luxurious ceviche, and enjoy.

Poquitos / 1000 E. Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122 / 11:30a-2:30a

Also on The Endless Road Trip: Seattle
1. The Most Powerful, Brouwerful Hour
2. Clucking Great Fried Chicken
3. Porky Passion at Paseo
4. Hipster Hangover Brunch

in Drinks / Food Travel / Restaurants 0 comments
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Endless Road Trip Germany: Capri-Sonne, Anyone?

Not soon after I made a joke about not being able to funnel vodka into a Capri Sun, I found myself in Cologne, Germany at BackWerk (which I was disappointed to find out  means “bake and take”)  looking at all the drink options to accompany my sandwich. I spotted a Capri-Sonne with the words “cola mix” and a photo of a a sea of soda with a lemon raft. LEMON SODA CAPRI SUN? Sign me the fuck up.

As I sat on our American flag blanket and consumed what I thought would be a delicious treat, I realized that, unfortunately, the words I neglected were “koffeinfrei” and “ohne kohlensäure.” Caffeine free. Without carbonation. We can probably all agree that Germans are strange, but why why WHY would anyone want to drink COMPLETELY flat lemony soda, out of a foil packet, that won’t even increase alertness? This wouldn’t fly in America (how many times have you heard someone at a restaurant/bar complain about the level of carbonation in their drink?) but as I thought about it more, I realized the Germans are on to something.

Cola Mix Capri Sonne and Rum? A portable, low sugar cocktail with no artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners or preservatives that won’t fill you up or keep you up at night but WILL get you drunk? Like I needed another way to consume alcohol in Germany.

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