Broward County's Chinatown

I'm not sure how many people are aware of it, but there is kind of a mini Chinatown in Broward county.  It can be found almost in it's entirety in a long strip center just South of Commercial Blvd and 441.  There is a Asian bakery that has roll cakes, more than a dozen different types of buns baked and steamed, and all kinds of cakes filled with anything from custard to sweet red beans and bean paste.  Just a few doors down is a Saigon City Vietnamese restaurant.  If you go South in the strip you'll see a Vietnamese market that sells Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and other Asian staples, fresh produce, frozen everything and even a meat section that sells mostly offal.  If one keeps walking South in the plaza there is a store that sells prepared Chinese foods like a few kinds of dumplings, various types of rice pastes and other items that most of us don't eat.  Still a little bit farther South is the best Chinese cooked meat market around.  They have hanging ducks, whole crispy  pork hanging, three different kinds of chicken, Char Sui pork and of course spare ribs.  They have a few different kinds of buns and dumplings and a variety of offal of course for you to peruse and buy.  Very good value for the dollar.  The roast pork, duck and chickens are as good as your going to get in this area. 

But as always I would love to hear your opinion of these places.  Am I on the mark or have I swung and missed.  Just let me know.  I want the reviews to be as legitimate as possible.  Next up for the blog will be some recipes from my restaurants that are frequently requested and a quick discourse on meat purchasing.

Betty's isn't heaven, but it's close

For Father's Day this year we(but really me) decided to try Betty's on Sistrunk and 22nd Rd.  I had heard and read about it a few times.  One of the last bastions of soul food left in South Florida.  I don't know if things have really gotten that bad Soul Food wise in South Florida.  I think that the more real the place is the more hidden it becomes.  Whether that's due to location, general vibe of the place, it's patrons or any other reason that the fickle public can come up with for not liking a particular establishment.  So for of us white people sat down in four swivel chairs that are attached to little tables.  Exactly like Mickey D's has or used to have in many of it's establishments.  There is a beat up jukebox, and a counter with five or so soda fountain stools.  There is a nice mix of generally large(heavy) people in the place.  Betty would be the person behind the register that also answers the phone and runs into the kitchen to plate food or do anything else that's necessary.  I would hate to guess how long she's been running this establishment.  The base is quite busy and seems to be a little short staffed.  There is only one waitress for 40-50 people plus the phone and the counter.  She's good though so things go very smoothly.  Don't expect your food in five seconds if you order things other than breakfast.  We ordered chicken wings, side of grits and Pork Souse.  The wings were very good, the grits were excellent and then we get to the Pork Souse.  Now suddenly we turn into Andrew Zimmerman territory.  It's a bowl filled with a reddish broth that smells intensely of pork and something smellier than pork, offal.  There is a little bit of corn, but other than that it's offal and strange parts in a bowl.  I ate all the broth which tasted better than it smelled.  I ate about half of what was in the bowl and brought the parts I didn't like home for the dog.  We then ordered whole fried catfish, a vegetable plate, Eggs with a ton of bacon and hash browns, smothered pork chops, corn bread and biscuits.  The catfish is a 15 out of ten. There aren't even a lot of bones left when I'm done it.  One of the best things I've eaten in the last year.  The lima beans are also in the category.  Need to know what they do to them because they are addictive.  The candied yams are truly candied so don't eat them if you don't want to go into diabetic shock shortly thereafter.  The stewed cabbage and collard are greens are so aggressively seasoned that my mouth was numb by the time we got home.  It's too much salt for me but once in a while it's really good.  The fried okra wasn't my thing.  They don't use cornmeal and they weren't crispy enough for me, but they weren't bad.  Just not my style.  The green beans are excellent and not as heavily salted as some of the other veggies.  I got a side salad which hit the spot with french dressing.  Excellent portion for a side item.  The smothered pork chop was very good, but standard compared to the fish.  Breakfast was also excellent.  My son commented that it's nice to get hash browns somewhere other than Waffle House.  We also got an excellent slice of sweet potato pie and banana pudding with nilla wafers to go.  The pudding portion was huge and incredibly good.  Haven't had a chance to try the sweet potato pie yet.  I won't order that much food again and will be more careful about what I get due to the salt overload, but I'm already dying to go back.  This place has Soul to spare and great food.  I also really need to try the peach cobbler.  I'm kicking myself for not getting one to go.  It wasn't the cheapest place I've ever been but was a good value in my opinion.

Kid's are gone

Shipped two of my children off to Japan today.  That means we'll be eating dishes with a little more spice since they don't like hot food that much.  It also means I can experiment more since I will only be cooking for 2-3 people.  It also means that if there are leftovers I will need to eat them since the two children that are gone are my scavengers.  They eat anything not nailed down in the fridge. 

There are a few things that I'm trying to achieve here.  One of them is to answer questions when they're posted for recipe ideas or help with cooking anything.  I'm not the best baker so baking questions probably need to be asked of another blogger. 

I also wanted to mention that I am now eating raw dried foods that I don't think I would have been into even a few years ago.  One of my new favorites is a dried banana coated with shredded coconut.  Maybe one the best dried foods I've ever eaten.  The mango version of the product is very good as well.  The company that's making them is OMG(our marvelous garden).  You can find them on Facebook.  They make great dried products, fruit leathers and vegetarian and vegan products.  If you or your children don't like to eat vegetables, green veggies and things of that nature try one of their veggie and fruit leathers.  Tastes like fruit but loaded with vegetables.  Lasts forever, full of fiber and they taste great.  I didn't really like the one I tried with dandelion greens, it was a little strong, but all the other ones are great.  They even make a vegan chocolate product that's pretty damn good for vegan stuff that is.  I still prefer the real thing, but I'm not vegan in any way shape or form.

I will start putting some recipes in the blog sometime next week.  I think the first recipe that will need to be published is secret to Bourbon Chicken.  One hint would be it has nothing to do with Bourbon and everything to do with the type of chicken that is used.  More on that later. 

Simply Divine Flan

Went to dinner at Don Carlin last night.  The dinner was delicious, the red beans were as always a revelation, the rice was just right as usual.  Then after dinner came the flan that three of us would share.  It took all of my self control not to drink the caramel in the bowl when we were done with the simply divine flan.  It is one of the best things you will ever put in your mouth.  Get a cappuccino or a cafe con leche to go with it and heaven is right where you're sitting.  One of my teenage daughters got up this morning and said, "mmm.  Meat".  She couldn't wait to get to the leftover Churasco sitting in the fridge.

I didn't sleep well cause the beans really hurt me, but once every three months or so I have to eat a whole cup of them at Don Carlin.  Damn the pain and suffering that comes with it.  There are times I wish I could just sit in a chair and that flan till I couldn't eat anymore.  I don't the human body could survive such a viscous attack on its pancreas.  Good way to go though.  Or to water boarded but replace the water with the caramel juice/sauce from the flan dish.  Maybe interspersed with some just sweet enough cafe con leche.  What a way to go.  I'm ready for a really good dream one night soon, can't wait.

Real Honest Restaurant Reviews

One of the key reasons I decided to start writing restaurant reviews is because so many of the reviews that I have read aren't honest.  I have started a list of favorite restaurants that is totally subjective but honest.  I haven't written reviews for each of them yet but will get started with that project today. 

One of our families favorite places to go for dinner is Sonny's BBQ.  We all admit that Tom Jenkins is way better, but it's farther away doesn't have a salad bar, and doesn't have the fries that we love.  It has many other things we love which is why we eat there but it's far enough away that we don't go very often.  Sonny's has great crinkle cut french fries, horribly good Texas toast that my son loves, BBQ that is decent to good with sauces that we've come to love.  It's not that hard to make BBQ sauce taste good.  All you have to do is hook up some sweet sauce with pork fat and bam you've got great tasting sauce and pork.  There are great sauces and better BBQ out there.  However we like the vats of soda and ice tea that they give you, the salad bar is pretty good, and if you ask for fatty sliced pork it's really good.  The lean kind doesn't do it for me.  The chicken is pretty good.  Again fatty dark meat chicken with BBQ sauce is awesome in moderation.  They also have all you can eat options for gluttons, very quick service and are easy to find in a pinch.  Very similar to my opinion of Cracker Barrel.

Another honest review would be for Don Carlin.  They make very good Cuban food.  Excellent choices in my opinion are the oxtails, the pork chops, churasco, the best flan within 30-40 miles, great coffee, great bread, and very slow service.  Do not go if you can't wait.  Good things take time.  If you need a nibble get the fried plantain strips covered in mojo(for garlic lovers only).  I need to add that the red beans and rice are some of the best I've ever had.  I don't eat the black beans there but there great.

Now that's my kind of ramblin' post.  Curious if my opinions are similar to anyone else out there.

The meaning of Kuishimbo

I have now learned the true meaning of Kuishimbo.  In one sense it means Foodie.  In another sense it means gluttonous foodie.  It is also the title of a Japanese Comic and Animated TV show that ran in the late 80's and early 90's.  I think my whole family falls into this title.  We love food and love finding new things to eat. 

We are not all fruit hunters though.  My brother and I definitely are food hunters.  We are going to get in accident while driving someday since we are always looking for new finds.  I found a house today with 7 60 foot tall Lychee trees.  Such a beautiful site.  They don't even advertise their fruit because people have just been showing up to buy since they bought the property in old Plantation.  If you like lychees they have as many as you want for 3 dollars a pound.  They are located near the corner of Bel Air and Coconut Terr in Plantation.  The whole neighborhood is a veritable fruit paradise. 

I'm not sure what type they are but some of the mangoes that I've been getting right off the ground are awesome.  Sweet with a citrus note that's just awesome.  I don't even have to pick them.  They are just laying on the ground.  People don't usually get mad if you take what's lying there in there front yard.  The other place that's great for free fruit is Victoria Park on the east side of Ft. Lauderdale.  Well time to go shopping for dinner.  Got to cook tonight since I'm not working and money will get tight quickly.  Still nice to take a break for a few days.

Back to the meat of the matter

So let's get right down to it.  I love food and South Florida has some real finds out there.  I know that many of my friends have their favorite places.  I want to start a list that's real and doesn't take any prisoners.  All of the newspapers, yelp, etc. don't really live up to billing much of the time.  I'm looking for real info for the people that live here.  I'm going to start this list and keep adding to it.  I'm sure I'll figure out the tech part as time goes on and the list grows.  I will need help and want to go and eat at places that I've missed. 

Here is an example of what I'm saying when I say overrated.  Versailles is awesome but not for it's food which can be fair to excellent.   People watching is the reason to go there and get a dessert and coffee product of your liking.  If you want to eat Cuban food you try to find a nice family restaurant near wherever you are in South Florida.  My neighborhood spot is Don Carlin restaurant in Sunrise.  If the fam is looking to eat Chinese food we almost always eat at Toa Toa Chinese Restaurant.  They have dim sum all the time, the service can be evil, the food is excellent and most importantly there are always Jews and Asians eating there.  That's all I need to know when judging Chinese restaurants.

Those are my tidbits for the day.  Time to go start eating mangoes and lychees.  Feel like a monkey when I eat this way but it sure is tasty and fun.

Looking for work again/a continual saga in the modern era

Well it has happened again.  After failing a drug test that never should have been administered I am looking for work again.  Not sure if I will stay in the food service industry this time.  Thinking of giving my body, especially my hands, a break for a while.  It is very beneficial that I have more than a few skills I can bring to whatever company I go to work for.  Being out of work used to bother me, but I really fell that unless you are self employed that getting a new job every few years is the new normal.  I think that I am going to look for a sales management position while continuing to write this blog and look for the right food service industry job.  It will be very interesting to finally get some comments on my blog at some point.  Just writing in ether at the moment.

I really want the world to know that losing my job because I wasn't able to pee clean is a real issue for me.  I never gave my employer any reason to test me.  Someone freak thought he saw me do something at work, inhale, that I didn't.  I was very careful to never let my staff or bosses know that I loved weed.  I was never late for work, worked my tail off while was at work, and did anything my staff or bosses needed.  For that I was tested?  Out of 200 employees at this place of work I was one of thirty that actually did their jobs to the fullest.  For that I was let go.  If I had a drinking problem they would have put me in rehab, but no I didn't have a drinking problem so I was let go.  Wonder how much money the liquor companies are paying to lobbyist to push their agenda.  Sorry to spit all this out on the blog but there isn't anywhere else to vent.

On the plus side I think I ate ten pounds of fruit yesterday.  Mangoes, blueberries, lychees, and strawberries.  I even had dried mango studded with coconut that was sooo good.   Made the day that much better.  The fact that I found another 10 lychee trees nearby that haven't been touched made the day that much better.  I know that I'm strange but just looking at a loaded lychee tree makes me smile. 

On the food front the plan is to go to Winn Dixie today and find some manager special steak marked down.  Then I'll get credit on my card and can save money on gas with their gas savings deal.  My brother actually saved 85 cents a gallon last week by using their Winn Dixie card.  I could use that savings.  I recommend buying manager specials at Winn Dixie since it usually means meat that is going a little green on top(aging) while nothing is wrong with the product.  Saving money on meat and gas is smart I think. 

Thanks for putting with my rambling today.  Later today or tomorrow I am going to do some restaurant reviews which are long over due.

Serendipity or the Art of Hunting Fruit Hunting

I'm sure there are people who don't know the meaning of this auspicious word.  Look it up.  For those of you who don't want to look it up(inconceivable in the age of Google) here is a perfect example.  The other day my brother calls me up and says he just saw this awesome lychee tree in Plantation Acres.  I ask him where and it becomes apparent that he doesn't know where Plantation Acres is located even though he has lived within a few miles of the acres for 30 plus years.  Anyhow, I then ask him if he meant east acre drive and he says, "Yeah, that''s the street."

Cut to a few days later.  I haven't gone looking for the tree yet but was planning on taking a look within the next day or so.  Lychee is coming to an end soon.  No time like the present for hunting lychees.  So I get a call from my favorite independent fruit stand.  He says he has another phone number for me if I'm still on the prowl for lychees.  I say sure get the number and give the family a call.  Where would that tree be located you ask?  East acre drive of course.  Simply couldn't believe what a serendipitous call I had just received.

I am some who so far only hunts fruit.  You say hunting is fruit is impossible.  I beg to differ with that opinion.  I drive around in my car all year long in South Florida looking for the telltale mango tree leaves.  Then the come the blossoms which allow me to go back to the locations I had scouted out already from the leaves and see what type of mango was coming based on the blossom.  I have been perfecting my hunting capabilities for the last 10 years or so.  Lychees and mangoes so far but that could change and of course I do hunt longans as well.  It's also interesting to note that longans don't mature as early as lychees.  Maybe they know that they don't taste as good and want to make sure there will not be any competition for pollen and fruit.  Never thought of that but it is possible.

If you are hunting for the above fruit and not raping trees while sampling fruit from many different sources, I salute you.

Back Stabbing

Well tonight I learned that I was stabbed in the back at my hospitality job.  As always one of the laziest people in the building was the one who stabbed me in the back.  I was keeping the peace as best as I could during an insane event we were hosting.  It seems to be the way of the large establishments.  That way only incompetent people are left who understand how to work while doing nothing to promote or make money for the establishment.  Food service is one of the worst places as far as seeing one person do the job of two to three others due to skill, drive, and the mental capacity to get it done.  Most of the employees can't do their own jobs well.  Their in a mental rut which doesn't allow them to shine.  Getting them out of the rut is hard if management won't let you install drastic measures meant to get all of the food service employees engaged in their work, customer service.

On the bright side I made a beautiful mango, pineapple, strawberry, and kiwi salsa to serve with teriyaki pork tenderloin.  It's so easy yet so amazingly good.  I did put a little habanero pepper, lime juice onion, orange juice,
and of course cilantro and a very tiny amount of garlic.  Simply divine to look at let alone eat.

Just gotta love Costco.  They have pretty good deals on fruit.  Just make sure to really look stuff over.  The raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries are usually really good.  Plus the chance to buy a six pack of romaine for my family of five is a total no brainer.


Until tomorrow when I'll be making a bean soup of some kind, Bourbon chicken and much more.  Hopefully before work I'll drive around the area trying to find more mangoes.  Last month until next month is the best time of the year for fruit here in Florida.  That's when the mangoes, lychees and longans start to show up everywhere you look.  I'm drooling just thinking about eating a couple of pounds of lychees or longans.

Mango Friday

Today I had to cut up about 20 mangoes.  Just the smell in the room made me swoon.  It's not better than sex but it's close.  Blogging is kind of new for me so any input is always appreciated.  I'll be talking about restaurants, food, and whatever else comes to mind.  Since I'm pretty darn passionate about food that should be the majority, but we'll just have to wait and see if I can do this at all.  The written word is clearly not my forte, but I should improve with time.  My cooking has improved in that manner so I write from experience.

It's so cool that mangoes come in so many flavors, sizes and colors.  I didn't take pictures of this batch but a few them deserved to be in pictures.  Believe it or not some of them had pits that deserved to be in pictures.  Very small flat pits that are perfect for nibbling.  Yes I like my steak to be on the bone.  No, I'm into women so no snide remarks about that last line.

I might lose my job today and it doesn't matter.  Why, cause I just cut 10 pounds of beautiful juicy mangoes.  I'm also about to sit down to leftover, cold, bulgogi lamb rib.  The last one since my kids must have eaten all the other leftovers.  Damn shame.  What a gorgeous fatty piece of meat.  The bulgogi baste and sauce only made it more addictive.

Lastly for today (I think).  I was chatting with somebody yesterday and they were eating cold sushi from Publix.  Couple things I need to say here. 

1.  Never eat cold sushi unless there is no option.  Refrigerated rice tastes terrible.  If you are anywhere near downtown Ft. Lauderdale or even if you're not.  Get over to Sushi 1 and get some take out sushi.  It is the best sushi in town for the money.

2.  Having lived in Japan for a few years I definitely have a better understanding of the rice issue than most American but still don't have the palette of the Japanese.  Having said that Sushi 1's rice is excellent.  They do it as well as anyone in South Florida.

3.  If supreme Sushi is what you want you could go to Nobu(but only if money doesn't matter at all.  A Trumpian sense is necessary to eat there) where the Sushi is excellent, but the service is abysmal.  I would send any Japanese person I know to Matsuri which is on the edge of the Gables at Bird and Red Road.  They always have Toro which is hard to find elsewhere.  They usually have a few different types of Toro(Yessss).  If you don't know what Toro is it's fatty tuna belly.  One of the best things you can eat.  And if you want to eat it now's the time.  Who knows when we'll kill off the Tuna population. 

Thanks for hanging with me for a little while today.  Talk at you tomorrow.