White House Subs

I first read about Atlantic City's legendary White House Sub Shop while doing an illustration for this awesome NY Press article about offbeat Atlantic City stuff. The whole article made me sort of bummed that I'd been to AC a handful of times and never been anywhere but douchebag nightclubs and crappy buffets. So there was no way I was leaving again without checking this place out.



Walking in to a counter and handful of well worn booths filled with a healthy mix of Atlantic City locals and tourists walking out with massive brown bags stuffed with dozens of giant sandwiches, I knew right off the bat this was my kind of place. Along with the walls plastered in Sinatra's towel and greasy framed photos of Bernie Mac eating a Sub - even if the food was bad I would rave about this place. Good thing the food was terrific.



Not really a South Philly Hoagie but something different. Super thick cut slices of ham and black pepper studded salami. Romaine lettuce (on the bottom) and tomatoes topped with a confetti of hot pepper relish and oregano. Slight crust to the long rolls, soft in the middle but sturdy enough to stand up to the generous oil dressing .. and it still wasn't soggy hours later when I finished the 2nd half at home in Philadelphia.


The bread really makes it here. Delivered uber fresh 4 times a day from nearby Formica Brothers in the form of the old guy transporting them across the street in a beat up grocery cart while we were there. Awesome. Took me back to the hoagies I grew up with in the suburbs from spots like Lee's.


Nothing like the super premium seeded Italian hoagies from Cosmis and P&S with the mortadella, proscuitto and real capicola that are basically Italian Charcuterie on a roll. This more "American" style of hoagie (or Sub) is everywhere but usually made with carelessness and even contempt (wawa) so it was amazing to find it done so well. Apparently their Steaks are pretty damn good too, definitely my first stop next time I'm in AC.

White House Sub Shop
2301 Arctic Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ

Canh Chua and Ca Ko

Canh Chua ( Sour Soup ) and Ca Ko ( Claypot Catfish ) are both Vietnamese dishes that is kind of the epitome of Vietnamese cooking for me. Even though for much less effort you could easily get it at a Vietnamese restaurant for very little money, there's still a huge sense of pride making it yourself exactly the way you like to eat it. I felt really good about making both of these things from scratch this past weekend.

PW Food Issue

PW's food issue is out, with a great article by Emily Guendelsberger rounding up favorites of the city's food writers and bloggers. I do some rambling about Texas Weiners (pictured above) and that amazing Mexican pizza from San Lucas.

It's a really great list, with a lot of stuff you haven't already read about 400 times like Cambodian Phnom Penh Noodles, Whiskey Doughnuts and Yugoslavian Stuffed Cabbage.

I Dunno, Where Do You Wanna Eat? - Philadelphia Weekly

French Korean Croissant Dog

Wow. Caroline brought back this hot dog from Paris Baguette (French Korean bakery coffeeshop) in the Cheltenham H-Mart shopping center.

Hot dog wrapped in a delicious flakey buttery croissant roll and some sort of cheese and parsley garnish. Threw it in the oven for 5 minutes and it was awesome. Dog was actually good despite being sort of shriveled, tasted more towards spicy beef dog than bland cheap chicken dog. Good stuff.

Paris Baguette
7320 Old York Rd
Elkins Park, PA 19027

Toyose

This is some crazy asian hip movie crap happening, thank you San Francisco, Jane and Frank.

Toyose is where Frank and Jane took me right when I landed in San Francisco. Of course its a hidden Korean Village Bar inside, literally, a garage. Serves Korean bar food, we had Kim Chee Fried Rice, Korean Fried Chicken Wings, and of course Duk Bok Gi aaaaaannnnddd shots of Soju. I felt like I was going to die, but it was of course all amazing and delicious and hit the spot. A little too well.

and it's a garage

and now it's a Korean Village in the country

and its amazing

Jane and I did not get this glass, but Frank here got the lady at the bottom of the shot glass rooting you on

Soju and lemon Flavoring

OH fried egg on kim chee fried rice, stop my heart

Korean Fried Chicken

Duk Bok Gi

And there it is

Toyose

3814 Noriega St

(415) 731-0232
Open till 2am

San Lucas Pizza

Just in case you missed my post on Serious Eats, this is pretty much the craziest pizza I've ever had. And the wildest thing is that it's actually good. On Mckean between 17th and 18th, they also sell phone cards and cigarettes.


I kind of expected maybe some canned jalapenos and olives slapped onto a pizza. But this things have real carnitas and al pastor meat drizzled with homemade hot sauce and garnished with cilantro and fresh limes for squeezing. The slices are huge, folded over each one is about as much food as a giant burrito, for 3 bucks.


San Lucas is open 'til 1am on saturdays and only 1 block north of a certain infamous after hours bar. Maybe just stop here and take home some pizza instead of something you'll regret.

San Lucas Pizza
18th & Mckean

Krystal

The hardest part about driving across the South to eat hot dogs was NOT stopping at every barbecue shack and brightly colored exotic regional fast food restaurant along the way. Anyway after a few days of focus we broke down and pulled into a Krystal which are all over the south.


Sort of like White Castle but with more variations, double and triple stacked sliders, chicken sliders, hot dog sliders, anything you can imagine. I held off on ordering the whole menu and grabbed a sampler pack. The slider was your standard steamed gray patty, pickles, onions, and not as good as white castle.


But the chicken was awesome, and the mini hot dog was actually good, with real gas station American chili and cheese which was a nice break from all the heavily spiced greek-style hot dog sauce we'd been eating.


Check out the menu and you'll be ready for a 12 hour drive to grab a sack of sliders and a banana pudding milkshake.

Krystalist.com
Wikipedia - Krystal (Restaurant)

Shabu Shabu

 

Nothing says home like Shabu Shabu with the Tanaka's. And those fried wonton pocket things. Amazing.

F Train to Kotakemukaihara Station

Byron and Jill on the F Train

 

 

 Soba House, so stoked

 

 

yummy somen noodles in smokey miso broth with potatos and carrots

oolong High, oolong tea and sochu

um comfort yummyness

Chicken Karaage, fried deliciousness

Saya giving out the yummy sauce

handing out the grated radish

Tempura god

Sukiyaki udon

hair twins

Right up the hill from the Kotakemukaihara station from the F train line in Tokyo is a little old soba house that is Saya's favorite.

I of course am staying in Shibuya and she politely told me that the food in Shibuya sucked and was expensive (which is true, its kind of like touristville) so to come up to her neighborhood.

Which was totally worth it.

The statement of the evening was "Isn't this Tempura GOD?"

It sure was. Oishi!!!!!!!

Not pictured here but deserves ample notice, was the absolutely delicious Zaru Soba, and of course the Duck Soba. Um yea, duck soba, delicious broth.

Dill Pickle, Winston Salem NC

While Chau was eating french fry hot dogs in Korea, Caroline and I were on an exhaustive hot dog tour of the South (and 1 day in Jersey for the 7th annual NJ Hot Dog Tour). Had some time to squeak in a few non-hot dog stops and checked out the Dill Pickle for super early breakfast on day 2 of the tour.


The old guy at the grill yelled at me for taking pictures so I knew it was going to be good. Bare bones lunch counter serving sausage, biscuits, eggs, grits, country ham, hot coffee, nothing fancy just old school cheap breakfast with a southern twist.

My first time having real country ham and now I see what all the fuss is about. Right across the street from a fancy cocktail place we checked out the night before - which seems to be the theme in the south of old and new side by side.




Dill Pickle
214 W 4th St
Winston Salem, NC 27101-2824
(336) 723-5