like a duck

random words and the occasional rant

Crystal’s Cafe In Jackson Heights January 14, 2008

Filed under: filipino, food, jackson heights, restaurant, review, woodside — ency @ 2:24 am

We finally made it over to Crystal’s Cafe in Jackson Heights/Woodside.  We live only a few blocks away but somehow always seem to forget about this place.

The food was good but the service sucked.  The wait staff wasn’t attentive.  In fact, they didn’t really seem to care.  We had to ask them to order several times before they even bothered to take our actual order.  We’ve bought cakes and breads from them before and  it’s always been the same kind of treatment.  I guess, they’re ultra laid back there.

We ordered sweet sausage (longanisa), chicken bbq on sticks, fried mini egg rolls (lumpia shanghai) – all of these appetizers were so yummy.  We also tried one of the noodles (egg noodle pancit), chicken coconut stew, and stewed taro leaves.  I didn’t much care for the taro leaves.  The bf liked the chicken coconut stew a lot.  I enjoyed the noodles.

So, I would definitely eat the food at Crystal’s Cafe again but I won’t eat it in.

 

Sammy’s Halal Cart August 23, 2007

I got lucky today. There was no line at Sammy’s Halal cart. There’s almost always a mess of people waiting at this well loved cart. The crowds have been constant since they recently made NY Mag’s Best Carts list.

Their 2006 Vendy Award Trophy is proudly displayed on the side of the cart. The workers always seem pleasant. They seem to be good at remembering who came in what order as to keep the ordering fair.

So, I ordered my usual chicken “sandwich” with white sauce. All the other sauces are HOT. I can’t handle any of them. The chopped chicken comes in a fluffy white pita. For the beau I ordered his usual lamb platter. He likes the lamb at Sammy’s b/c he says it’s never too greasy like most other carts make it.

So, the platters are $4.99 – they come with the meat (lamb or chicken), rice, and veggies (I think it’s just lettuce). For $5,99, you can get a combo meat platter. But I think the best deal is the one Sammy’s doesn’t list… order a regular platter but ask for an add on of pita & a can of soda… the total cost for that is $5.99. So you’re paying only a dollar extra for a soda and a toasted pita. Yum.

Btw, I read “Skinny Bitch” and it scared the hell out of me for a few days. I wouldn’t eat any meat. I dunno… I think about becoming a vegetarian or a vegan sometimes… there’s such a strong case for it- healthwise and etc. But damn, I do love my hotdogs and meatballs and bbqs. We’ll see I guess.

I’m reading “End of Mr. Y” right now and I love it so far.

 

Cape May In Bites August 20, 2007

Filed under: Best Hot Dogs, Cape May, foodie, restaurants, review — ency @ 10:39 pm

We spent a couple of days in Cape May. I’ve never been to the Jersey Shore before. Jersey often gets a bad rap for being an ugly state. I think that’s not fair to say. Esp. after seeing the Jersey Shore. Cape May is one pretty town. I know some other parts of Jersey can be pretty dreary BUT what city doesn’t have it’s depressing areas?

We stayed with some of my cousins and their kids in a condo they had rented near the beach. Being a block from the beach and a block away from Washington Square (where all the shops were) was great.

We got there late on Wednesday night and apparently all the restaurants pretty much stop serving food at 10 pm- well, all except Jackson Mountain- they go until 11:30 pm. Thank goodness.

The beach was nice and not too crowded. There was a $4 daily fee to go onto the beach. We didn’t pay on our second day there- hey, not our fault that the attendant stepped away from their post. The season pass seemed like the best deal – I think $25 or $28 for the season. Too bad we were only there for a couple of days.

We also rented bikes and rode from one side of town to the other side. Fun.

Across the street from the park was this amazing hot dog stand – Tommy’s Hot Dog’s – he had these hot dogs in bad dog size (larger than your usual frank) or lean sized (teenier than your usual frank). The toppings for the hot dogs were what made this frank stand out. (I am a hot dog connoisseur!) They had all the usual toppings plus more- like mashed potatoes, buffalo sauce, special bbq sauce, etc. that they also threw on or under the dog. Good stuff. The frozen cokes and other slushy drinks were quite a reprieve from the hot sun.

We also ate breakfast at Uncle Bill’s Pancake House. Good solid breakfast food. I never tried the Scrapple that was listed on the menu. I’m not sure what Scrapple is exactly- but the gist of it seemed to be some kind of canned meat similar to Spam. I like Spam (yes, I just admitted that- have you ever had it fried and with eggs) but I wasn’t ready to try Scrapple. Not when I had my choice of bacon or sausage. Uncle Bill’s Pancake House didn’t make wearing a bikini easy but it sure brightened up my mornings.

We had brunch at the Mad Batter which is supposed to be one of the best places for brunch and lunch. It delivered although our waitress was spacey and sucked. The omelettes and breakfast items were all tasty.

We had dinner at Pilot House one night. The service was good and it was one of the few places in town that took dinner reservations. The food isn’t anything to expound upon though.

We also ordered pizza one night from Tony’s Pizzeria. Tony’s Pizzeria won the Best Pizza award in Cape May. The buffalo chicken wings and steak pizza are worth trying.

I went to the Fudge Kitchen to buy some fudge for my office mates. Apparently the Fudge Kitchen has won awards for their fudge. At less than $10 bucks a pound the fudge was quite a deal. It came in some cool flavors. I purchased vanilla coconut, Rocky Road, chocolate peanut butter, and Cookies -n- Cream. But the best item to come out of the Fudge Kitchen is their $1 custard! Stores across the street were selling smaller custard cones for triple that amount.

I’m definitely going back to Cape May next year.

 

The City Of Lost Children August 8, 2007

Filed under: entertainment, film, movie, movies, review, reviews — ency @ 12:30 am

Tonight we watched “The City of Lost Children”. I’ve never seen it before. The bf is a fan. He recently had me watch “Delicatessen”- directed by the same directors Jeunet & Caro.

I liked “Delicatessen”. I REALLY liked “The City of Lost Children”.

Both movies are very fairytale-esque but in a dark, dark way. Perhaps the way the Grimm Brothers first intended their tales to be before Disney princessized and sugar-coated fairytales. But “The City of Lost Children” is no Grimm fairytale.

This story is full of crazy gadgets, cloned idiots, flea warfare, an evil dream thief, toddler kidnappers, and etc.

The heroine of this story is a plucky young girl. More clever than most adults and brave too- she sets off to help a lug of a simpleton man rescue his little brother from the evil dream thief.

Good times.

 

The Host Movie Review August 7, 2007

Filed under: entertainment, film, korean, korean movies, movies, review, reviews — ency @ 12:39 am

We watched “The Host” tonight. I loved it. It’s like “Little Miss Sunshine” meets “Godzilla” on crack. It’s full of surprises and reversals. And the acting is fantastic. It’s co-written and directed by Bong Joon-Ho who also directed “Memories of Murder”.

This is the story of a quirky and dysfunctional family (imagine a Korean version of the Tenenbaums) that comes together to rescue the youngest member of the family from a monster. Yes, a monster. The monster is a mutated squid like creature.

The opening scene of the movie shows an American military man ordering his Korean assistant to pour out hundreds of old formaldehyde bottles down the drain. The Korean assistant questions this- formaldehyde is toxic and the drains go directly into the Han River. But the brute American is insistent. Qwazy Americans. And thus, we have a mutated something that begins to terrorize South Korea.

This mutated thingamijig carries off a preteen girl for dinner. Her grandfather and his kids (including her simpleton dad) are off to rescue her. The other dysfunctional members of the family include her genius uncle and her professional archer but choker of an aunt.

Go rent “The Host”!

 

Nike Half-Marathon August 6, 2007

The bf and a friend ran in the Nike Half Marathon today. I dragged myself out of bed at 7 am to hopefully get a glimpse of them at the last cheering point. It was a weird experience. I’m not usually a sentimental person- but seeing the marathoners pass and hearing the sideline cheerers- made me a little teary eyed. I mean, it’s a huge feat – to run 13 miles?! All these people pushing their bodies to go, go, go!

I can’t do it. Well, not yet. I was inspired by all the runners today. And esp. by the beau. He’s crazy though- he only started training in the past three weeks. But he did awesome.

After that I took the marathoners out for a breakfast for champions at Elvie’s. Elvie’s serves Filipino fare. I had longanisa (yummy sausage), fruit salad (a fruit ambrosia), pancit (rice noodles) and pork sinagog (a vinegary soup). It was all pretty good. The pancit was a little flavorless but usually it’s pretty tasty. I could have probably flavored it up a bit with hot sauce but I was super lazy today. Reaching across the table to grab the hot sauce would have expended too much energy.

I was hoping to have some of their bbq’d chicken wings and lumpia shanghai (eggrolls!) but they weren’t ready yet.

I know why the bf is exhausted but why am I so tired? I must have sympathetic marathoner’s fatigue.

Elvie’s turo-turo
214 1st Ave, New York 10009
Btwn 12th & 13th St