Omakase and delicious wonderment at Oishii Asian Fusion in Mount Kisco, NY

My lady was so kind as to take me out to an incredible dinner the other night.  Being that it was my choice, we went out for sushi, and managed to have quite the incredible meal at Oishii Asian Fusion.

Since I was the birthday boy, I sat us down right at the sushi bar, as I enjoy seeing the Itamae work his magic.  The lady doesn't enjoy much fish, and doesn't like it at all raw - kind of a jack sprat situation I suppose - so she ordered some hot food while I enjoyed the Omakase.

When I told them it was my birthday, they brought out this small appetizer for us to snack on - I couldn't tell you what was in in, except some sort of breaded white fish, tasty sweet sauce and some fish eggs (looks like tobiko) on the top.

Some kind of white fish inside and delicious sauce - a nice little snack before the meal.  Thanks guys!

Wild Turkey Rare Breed - Bourbon for life.

I finally got around to taking some pictures of the Wild Turkey Rare Breed.  Indeed, many pictures.  While many of them didn't make the cut, many did, and so they will be interspersed with my musings.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed.  A more refined version of an American Classic.

Martin's Cherry Melomel - Kinda Tasty!

My lady brought over a bottle of something I hadn't seen before the other day - Martin's Cherry Melomel.  While the spellchecker disagrees that this is indeed a real word, a Melomel refers to a Mead (i.e. Honey wine) that has had added fruit or fruit juice - in this case, cherries.  Much like regular mead wherein the residual sweetness can vary greatly, the addition of fruit has a noticeable effect on both the taste, the body, the sweetness (or lack thereof) and the overall alcohol content of the finalized wine product.

Honey wine and Cherry wine combine to form something greater than the sum of it's parts!

Pirate's Lagoon Black Pearl - Don't buy it - Bad Wine.

Greetings readers.

DO NOT BUY THIS WINE.  Read on to find out what happened.

This is what a faulty bottle of wine looks like.

Crooked Lake Winery - Proprietor's Red. Delicious!

Somehow we haven't managed to tell you yet about one of our absolute favorite wineries - Crooked Lake Winery!  Located on Keuka Lake (also known as Crooked Lake) in the finger lakes, these guys make incredible table wines and sell them at a very fair price.  They make a Chancellor varietal wine that is just out of this world, which I really have to tell you about soon.. but for today, I wanted to talk about something that everyone can enjoy - the Proprietor's Red.

Crooked Lake Winery's Proprietor's Red is sure to please everyone!

Mana-Thai Cuisine in Mount Kisco, NY - Another Incredible Meal!

Alright folks, we're back with another delicious meal eaten at our favorite Thai restaurant, Mana-Thai Cuisine in Mount Kisco, NY.

We've previously reviewed Mana-Thai Cuisine, but we can only show you so many things at once!  If somehow you haven't read our previous review, please do so now at this link.  It has a few more pictures than we're showing you and gives you a good sense of what to expect.  

The long and the short of it?  Mana cooks world-class cuisine which is unrivaled, in unpretentious surroundings.  We had THE most amazing meal today - come take a look and drool.

This Thai Iced Tea was served in a glass jar.  Kitschy!

The lady, as her fashion, started the meal with a Thai Iced tea. Mana makes an excellent Iced tea - lots of flavor, and not swimming with cream or dairy the way some other places serve it. Nice and strong, and compliments the spice perfectly. I would get one myself but usually I'm fine with just a sip for flavor.

Anthony Road Wine Company Devonian Red

On our trip up to Oswego Harborfest this year, a number of our favorite wineries were not present, much to our mutual chagrin.  Of course, there's always a silver lining to these things, and in this case, that lining was found in the numerous other delicious wineries whose wares we were able to sample - and many of which, we were able to take home.

The label of Anthony Road's Devonian Red.  If you see this - BUY IT :)

Eagle Crest Vineyards Niagara - Native New York State Wine Review!

We've written before about Eagle Crest Vineyards, and there's a reason we keep coming back to them. They offer quality wines with something to suit a variety of tastes, and all at a great value.  We haven't had a chance to purchase any Eagle Crest wines this year, as they weren't at Oswego Harborfest and our trip to wine country was limited to Cayuga Lake - they're located on Keuka lake.  Luckily, after buying more than a couple cases last year, we still have plenty to write about :)

Eagle Crest Vineyards makes this delicious Niagara wine.  If you like grapes and grape juice, this is for you!

Tomato Cafe in Fishkill, NY - Restaurant Review!

Greetings foodies!

Today we have a blog post about actual food for a change, instead of all this alcohol.  No no, I'm still drinking, everything is okay, don't worry!  It's just that occasionally, one has line one's stomach with food to absorb the alcohol, and this was one of those times.  A delicious time for that matter.

Tomato Cafe is located on Main Street in Fishkill, NY.  I had passed there many times before finally bringing the lady and me for a bite to eat.  We've been consistently impressed by both the quality of the food and the fair value of the restaurant.

When you enter Tomato cafe, it smells like a good old fashioned Italian restaurant.  It's worth noting that while they make many "standard" Italian dishes, the chef clearly has a flair for the original and gets rather creative with the specials - to great effect!

Garlic bread bites and good Italian bread  were served hot and delicious!

We don't usually order entrees when we come here, but this time was different and they brought us a nice bread basket.  The bread came out hot.  There were garlic bread bites and sliced Italian bread.  The spread we believe to be margarine, in case that matters to you.  The bread was yummy and served as a nice lead into the meal.

The Dutchess County Fair!

While I was at work the other day, the lady had a fun day at the Dutchess County Fair.  She was nice enough to take some pictures for me to show all of you, and write up a little description of the tasty foods and treats available at the fair.  I've been to this fair last year and it's usually pretty fun.

Food vendors at the Dutchess County Fair.

Inspire Moore Winery's Framboise - Delicious Raspberry wine!

Greetings foodies!

This weekend was a very nice one. I had a chance to go to a Yankees game, and more importantly for your interests, I finally got around to having my inspire Moore's raspberry Framboise.  This little gem is pure raspberry wine with residual sugars around 25% if I remember correctly.

Inspire Moore's Raspberry Framboise!  This bottle is older,
so the label has their old name, Imagine Moore.  Different name, same great wine!

Glenora Wine Cellar Peach Spumante

If you're a frequent reader of my blog you know that as wine goes, I tend to prefer to the dryer reds. In the past I was fond of whites and Rieslings, but as these things go - it's simply where my tastes have taken me lately :). Today I want to talk about a sparkling wine i.e. a Spumante that the bunch of us had over the weekend. While I prefer a certain type of wine I can usually find something to appreciate in any competantly made beverage, and this Peach Spumante from Glenora Wine Cellars is no exception! :)

This picture was taken on the metro north train, with me balancing the bottle on my knee!

Thirsty Owl Wine Company Lot 99. Pinot Noir and Chancellor make magic!

Alright, it's been a busy couple of weeks!  I spent some time on vacation, went to Oswego Harborfest and wine country, saw some good old friends, and had a balmy old time.  Unfortunately for my valued readers, this means I haven't been able to write too many posts as of late.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company's Lot 99.
A fantastic blend of Chancellor and Pinot Noir grapes!

As I described in the previous post, we purchased many delicious wines while up by Cayuga Lake.  Today I'd like to tell you a little bit about Lot 99 from Thirsty Owl Wine Company.

So we visited Wine Country in the New York Finger Lakes!

These are from Cayuga Lake Wineries!

So, you may have noticed the lack of updates recently.  Well besides being busy with life and work, me and the lady went on vacation to upstate New York.  Part of our journey was spent in Unadilla, NY up in the Catskill mountains and we spent a fair time in Oswego, NY as well at the wonderful Harborfest festival.  But the end of our trip took place in New York's Finger Lakes region - specifically, we drove down the east site of Cayuga Lake via Route 89.

Full Moon Restaurant Review - White Plains. NY

The place?  East Post road in White Plains, NY.  The music?  Modern Jazz.  The decor?  Entirely authentic and gorgeously appointed.  The food?  Pretty good.

This is the Menu at Full Moon Restaurant.  In two dimensions, you can't see that elephant is actually there!

Today we review a Thai restaurant.  Joy! :)  As you must know by now, the lady and I just love Thai food - see our reviews of Mana Thai in Mount Kisco, NY and Golden Buddha in Fishkill, NY for just a small taste of what we enjoy.  Today we were cruising around White Plains, NY and decided to stop by Full Moon Asian Thai to see what was what.

Delirium Tremens Beer Review

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing an amazing piece of brewing achievement - Delirium Tremens Beer by Huyghe brewery of Belgium.  I'd heard amazing things about this beer but had always been put off in the past by the price, not to mention the sheer selection of other excellent craft beers that cost a fraction of what a bottle of Delirium Tremens cost.  Well a week or two ago, we were up at Half Time in Poughkeepsie, NY (an incredible beer distributor - they claim to the biggest one in the world!) and I saw old Delirium Tremens sitting on the shelf.  And you know what?  I took the plunge.

Pouring the 2011 Delirium Tremens.  I didn't have a suitable glass, so we used a wine glass.

Delirium Tremens is named after that lovely affliction that befalls alcoholics when they stop drinking.  An

uncontrolled arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, the brain of an alcoholic starts to hallucinate and provoke a very unpleasant affect to the organism once a steady stream of alcohol has been withdrawn from the diet.  These "Delirium Tremens" as they are called are a potentially deadly affliction.  And so of course, that's what they name the beer after.  Cute right?  Those guys clearly have a sense of humor.

A Great Cointreau Substitute - Mathilde Liqueur

Mathilde Liqueur - Orange XO Liqueur

Ahh, orange liqueur, you are a wonderful thing.  We could not make our Cosmopolitans and Margaritas without you.  And yet, your quintessential iteration - Cointreau orange liqueur - is so very, very expensive.  What to do ?  We all wish to drink tasty cocktails and when they call for a top-shelf orange liqueur, you can't just use any cheap triple sec - to do so ruins the drink.  Good spirits need to be kept in the company of other good spirits and quality ingredients.

Enter Mathilde XO Orange Liqueur.

Me and the lady found this delicious spirit while searching for a Cointreau substitute.  Basically, as you know if you've been reading the blog, we enjoy margaritas among many mixed drinks.  But goodness, Cointreau is so very expensive!  Around here it costs around $21 for the small 375ml product and bit under $40 for the full 750ml size.  Now, Cointreau is a delicious, premium liqueur to be sure, probably the best one of its' type.  But if you're making margaritas for a party, or even just for yourself, you'll find that you go through the stuff like water!

Another consideration was that Cointreau was costing us more than the main spirit (Tequila) that we were mixing it with, and that didn't seem quite fair.  We set out on a quest to find a good, reasonable tasting Cointreau substitute.  

Now, there's many brands of cheap triple sec - you see them over by the schnapps.  These are all well in good I suppose for college students or kids or people trying to make cheap drinks, but really, what are you paying for?  Corn syrup and chunk of D-limonene flavoring?  The price of these things is cheap, but the level of value you get is low.  

Tanjore Indian Restaurant in Fishkill, NY - Restaurant Review

Good day everyone :)  As you know, me and the lady both love ourselves some Indian food.  We make it ourselves, but every now and again, really whenever we have the chance, we enjoy going out to eat for some delicious Indian cuisine!  The lady has taken me a number of times to one particular Indian restaurant - Tanjore Indian Cuisine in Fishkill, NY.

Located in the corner of a strip mall right off of Route 52 in Fishkill, Tanjore is easy to drive by, but it would be a shame if you missed your chance to stop into this restaurant.  One of our Indian friends claims that Tanjore is the most "authentic" Indian restaurant in the area, and the lady will tell you that it's by far the best locally.  Let's take a look and see what we have here, shall we ?

Here it is, don't miss it!

We came in at around 8PM and were promptly seated.  The restaurant seats about 50 people.  There is also a pretty well stocked bar if you wish to procure an adult beverage for yourself.  Speaking of beverages, the lady ordered one of her favorite Indian drinks - the mango lassi.  It was sweet and wonderful and full of mango-y goodness, just as a lassi should be.  I had a small taste - not too shabby :)

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers in Poughkeepsie, NY - Restaurant Review

Greetings foodies :)  Today we review Red Robin Gourmet Burgers in Poughkeepsie, NY.  Usually known as just "Red Robin", this is a chain of restaurants that offers a variety of burgers, sandwiches and similar fair.  They also have a reasonably stocked bar in their restaurants too.

Red Robin started many years ago as a tavern, and although the restaurants still feature a bar area, the main focus is their gourmet burgers.  They get pretty creative with how they make up the burgers and I have to tell you, they do a pretty damn good job of keeping the things interesting.  Let's take a look :)

Red Robin, like so much else, is located right off of Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, NY.  It's something of a juggle to get into the parking lot, as you have to drive around a few buildings and take a rather circuitous path to get there.  You also happen to pass a Five Guys pulling in - but no, it's not the one in the link, that one is down the road :)  Once you actually make it to the Red Robin parking lot, there is ample parking for all concerned, so that's always nice.

The entrance to Red Robin.  Time to go inside and chow down!

As we approached the entrance, one of the staff members held the door open for us.  It didn't hurt that they weren't mobbed, but still, it feels nice to be invited into a place and to be treated so nicely.  As a rule, they are friendly and polite as anything at Red Robin.  They must really stress making the customer happy to the waitstaff, because even if there is the rare issue with service, the interactions with staff are never anything but cordial.

Cointreau - The Classic Orange Liqueur

I've been writing many posts lately about various Tequilas - Espolon Blanco, Espolon Reposado, and Sauza Silver.  All of these are delicious 100% agave Tequilas and are suitable for drinking straight.  Many people however, are not the type to drink straight liquor, and I can't blame them - at 40% alcohol by volume, these spirits hit rather hard, have something of a bite to them despite their smoothness - and are what people think of as "straight alcohol" :)  Few people want to be viewed as an alcoholic by drinking straight liquor, even if they enjoy the spirit based purely on it's own merits.

Enter the Margarita.  This classic cocktail is the most popular drink to use Tequila - and why not?  It's delicious.  There are a few different variations on the drink, but the one that I like to use involves the following ratio:

2 parts good Tequila, often a Reposado Tequila.
1.5 parts Orange Liqueur or Triple Sec - in this case, the one and only Cointreau
1 part fresh squeezed lime juice.
(Optional) 1 part of less simple syrup, or to taste.

Ice cold Cointreau is just begging to be
added to a top-shelf margarita!

Some recipes call for equal parts Tequila, Triple Sec, and Lime - others call for 2 parts Tequila, 1 part lime juice, and just a splash of Cointreau.  Still others call for a 3:2:1 ratio of Tequila, lime, and orange liqueur.  You should experiment to find that ratio that you find most suitable - for me, the recipe that I listed above seems to serve us well.  Key elements are that the Tequila is front and center - it is the main spirit of the cocktail.  Tequila works wonderfully with citrus flavors, and the lime compliments it well, with the orange liqueur "rounding" out the cocktail and adding depth and occasional sweetness.