Begin at the Begin: Taste of Thai Express

I ordered take-out from ToTE just the other night, prompting me to think about how I would cover the close to 50 restaurants that I’d already eaten at when I started this little project.  I think I’ll just add them in, like reruns, when I haven’t eaten somewhere new in a while.  So with that plan….

Taste of Thai Express:

It’s…passable.  And….consistent?  You know what you’re gonna get, and you know it’ll be pretty good, but you also know you’re gonna be debilitated by a food coma for at least three hours after eating.  As the only (?) Thai place in Ithaca that delivers, you just have to learn to love it (and put them in speed dial).

#57 Apollo Chinese Restaurant

Okay, it’s my own fault for thinking that delivery Chinese is going to be anything but gross, but, it was kinda gross. Pat ordered kung pao chicken with pork fried rice and wonton soup, and I ordered steamed chicken dumplings and went out on a limb with the spicy pork noodle soup. I figured that if they were taking the time to try to put something besides sweet and sour chicken and beef with broccoli on the menu, maybe it would be secretly delicious. Actually, I think they just popped on down to Wegmans on the way to our house, bought the nearest giant ramen noodle bowl they could find, nuked it, and then poured a spare bottle of pork-fat-oil over the top.

Also, not to be nit-picky, but their website is weird and terrible, which just made the whole ordering experience a little sketchy.  And I'm not even sure if you can get to the menu online through their website anymore.

Anyway, back to the food.  By the time the delivery got to us the broth of my soup had spilled entirely in the bag, so what I had was a big bowl of oily noodles with hamburger meat (I hope?) stirred in. There were two limp greens floating on top, but like the rest of the bowl, all I could taste was salt and oil. Honestly, they could have put a human thumb in there and it would have tasted like salt dipped in oil, garnished with salt.

Tragically, I'm going to have to cut this rant short, after finishing this dinner I started having chest pains and and my arm feels kind of numb. Next up: a hospital food review?

Less than 100 to go!

Not even close to half way there, but I'm 63 down, 99 to go. That makes me feel full.

#56 Le Pita Pit

Subway sandwiches, but on a pita.

I had fond memories of eating at Le Pita Pit in Montreal--and the tzaziki and falafal--when visiting my friend Carla during college, but either the French-Canadian take on it is just different or Pita Pit has gone way downhill.  Or maybe (definitely) it's just the one in Ithaca that's particularly gross.  The one up-side: they offered me real leaves of lettuce!  Anyway, if I wanted a deli sandwich, I'd go to Rocky's.

On the Road: Eating Boston

I went to visit Miya, my roommate from college, in Cambridge MA a little while ago, so this post is dedicated to her.  We sampled a good variety of restaurants in our three day trip, though for the most part were constrained to locations that were either televising the NFL draft (per Pat’s request) or offering lengthy beer or margarita lists (per the rest of our requests). 

 --Border Café.  Love it.  Best margaritas ever, especially since they come in GIANT awesome glasses.  And the food is delish.  Nothing in Ithaca comes close, that’s for sure.

--Tavern in the Square.  Good standby, although I think best for beer and appetizers.  Nice list of beers on tap, especially seasonals.

--Zoe’s Kitchen.  Mmmmm, brunch.  Standard brunch fare, with really really good pancakes and French toast.

--Pinkberry.  No comment needed, it’s the best place ever.  Actually, I guess second best, to Cultive in SF (because they let you serve yourself AND serve yourself samples without feeling guilty for asking for samples of all the flavors when there’s a huge line behind you).

Overall, a very delicious trip—I’m pretty sure everything we ate was better than what I normally get in Ithaca, and Boston isn’t always famous for it’s high-end fare (at least, not according to Anthony Bourdin).  Thanks Miya and Galen!!!

#55 Greenstar Coop, or, Good in Theory

Following on a common Ithaca theme, Greenstar has pretty good food, but it’s just not worth it.  I stopped in the other afternoon looking for a quick sandwich and drink that I could eat while enjoying the nice-ish (you know, 50 degrees and overcast but not actively raining) day and reading my Kindle.  I ordered a smoked provolone sandwich at the counter, and then went off in search of a beverage and maybe a side dish.  I heard my name paged over the intercom about three minutes later, and marveling at the quick service took my banana and kombucha back to the counter.  Oh, no, wait, they just wanted to tell me that they actually didn’t have any smoked provolone, and would I like a different cheese?  I went with cheddar, paid, and came back to the counter about five minutes later thinking I’d just wait.  After another ten minutes of hippies pushing past me to get to the locally sourced organic all natural olives in the refrigerator behind me, I was starting to get a little impatient.  There was nowhere I could stand where I wasn’t in the way of chaco-clad dads and the egg containers they brought from home, so eventually I decided to go back to my car and wait there for a few minutes until I was sure my sandwich was done.  After another five minutes in the car—bringing my total “quick stop at the deli counter” time to almost forty minutes—I went back in, grabbed my eight dollar cheese sandwich, and made a run for it.

Due to the lack of indoor seating, and the fact that the Ithaca wind had cropped up to the point that trying to eat outside would have led to a hairball foreign body, I ended up eating half my sandwich in the car on the way home, and the other half about an hour later in my room.  The fresh half WAS delicious, but I’m pretty sure that if I had bought some rye bread I could have made it just as delicious in my own kitchen, for less money and without forty minutes of dodging self-righteous coop-ers happily paying $7 for a thing of raspberries.

But I’m not bitter.

New Openings: Spring Edition

Here are a couple new choices we have on the Ithaca roster:

Crespella Cafe
This is the new restaurant where Anna’s Vietnamese used to be, and before that some kind of upscale comfort food restaurant. From the minimal information on their website, all I know is they offer “eating challenges for breakfast and lunch….” Good luck, it seems like this location is jinxed.

They got customers!  But they were closed.

Loco Margarita Bar and Grill
Offers half price sangria and nachos on Thursday’s happy hour. According to the write up in the Daily Sun, it looks like we won’t have to contend with too many undergrads because it's just too far from collegetown (you know, more than 8 steps), but that it will probably be overpriced.

The Piggery
Advertised as “handcrafted charcuterie from heirloom pasteurized pork.” I thought I was getting bacon.  The deli opened earlier this school year (in November), but they’ve had pigs and a blog since 2008, and a stand at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market for years. Also they seem to be expanding, now that Orange Blossom Pancake Company is out of business right in the same little building.


Coal House Café
Looks like it’s a good little brunch spot. It’s not actually new, but it at least got a renovation recently.