Foodie Lifestyle by Imtiaz Patel

It never ceases to amaze me how many pizza places there are in New Jersey and how different each pizza place can be. I like pizza, but it usually isn’t something I go out of my way for. Having said that, I always appreciate a good pizza. For me it’s all about the base and the sauce. I like my base thin. That way it doesn’t feel too heavy after I’ve carbo-loaded. And the sauce, I want it tasting of fresh tomatoes, not like something out of a jar.

After hearing so much about Nomad Pizza from Leen (though she is from Belgium and do they have good pizza there? Fries yes, pizza not so sure. Talking about fries, I’ve never seen Leen make any – -does she know how?) I decided to make my way over there on Friday night. I expected to wait for a table and wait we did, though it wasn’t too long a wait. I typically have a 20 minute wait limit, but decided to wait eventhough I was told 30-40 minutes. We really didn’t have a plan B.

While waiting we bumped into some friends who were there for dinner and also bumped into our former french neighbors. I guess Nomad’s got some euro thing going on. Seems like the word has been out on Nomad and I’m just late to the party. Not the first time!

They have a number of tables outside which seemed like the place to be, however we got a table inside. Word of advice, it’s small, really loud and really really hot. I was dying in there. But service is prompt, friendly and efficient.

The menu is pretty short. They have a few apps and salads and 2 types of pizza – thicker crust and wafer thin roman style. They have a few choices in each, not a huge selection. They did have some specials – I wanted the bruschetta but they were out. The caprese ordered by the table next to ours looked fantastic and I wanted it, but didn’t order it. We ordered the regular base spicy sausage with caramalized onions which was really good. Great base and fresh sauce and not overly cheesy. We also ordered the thin margarita and pepperoni. The base was crispy thin (less carb guilt) and the pepperoni itself was extremely good. We finished all 3 pizzas. These really were great pizza’s, well worth the wait.

The check comes with chocolate – dark or milk – a nice little touch. Pretty nice chocolate too. I will be back for sure. I want to try the blue cheese salad next time, but I’m sitting outside.

Tags: Hopewell restaurants, NJ Restaurants, Pizza
Posted in: Italian, NJ Restaurants, Restaurants by Imtiaz Patel
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I was back in London last week. Been going quite a bit lately – 3rd time in the last 5 months. I love going back, and these short trips just give me enough to satisfy my cravings. After all, it is my favorite city!

Whenever I am there, I plan my week so that I can get a mix of the foods & restaurants I remember but also try new things. Even the locals usually just have me pick a restaurant. Got to love restaurant review sites and blogs. There really is no excuse to end up at a crappy restaurant. This time I was travelling with Jonathan and I was determined to show him what a great and diverse culinary center London is. It really has to rank in any list of the culinary capitals of the world for the quality and variety of cuisine it offers from around the world.

Last time I was in London, I went a little overboard on fish & chips – so good, really how do they fry it so well when restaurants here in the states just can’t seem to figure it out? – so I decided to skip it this time. Instead we went Italian, Indian, Tapas and French. I skipped lunch a couple of days because the english breakfast each morning just kept me going, that and the lack of exercise all week. The staff in my hotel didn’t even know which floor the miniscule hotel gym was on

I arrived in London on Sunday night so the first proper meal was lunch on Monday. Went to Strada at St. Katherine’s Dock. My London office is there so we just went somewhere convenient. The food itself is decent, not great but fine for a quick, decent lunch. We both ended up eating pizza which was pretty good -nice and thin, fresh tomato sauce with light cheese.The restaurant even gave us complementary water – now that’s a first! For some reason they store a bunch of wine bottles in direct sunlight just as you enter – I hope they are for display only. I wouldn’t want to get one of those bottles.

Dinner on Monday night was traditional Indian. We decided to go to a casual (dive) place frequented mainly by Indians. A quick aside – last time I was in London, I went to the Indian restaurant (Mala?) in St. Katherine’s Dock and was turned away for being a lone dinner eventhough they had open tables. Unbelievable! That has never happened to me before. Of course, being the forgiving and quiet person that I am, I have proceeded to tell everyone I know in London about this. Let’s hope they lose some business! Ok, back to this time. One of my favortie dive indian restaurants in London is Lahore Kebab House (ok, technically it’s Pakistani, but who’s keeping score) and that’s where I was planning to go, however after some research online, New Tayyab outscored Lahore so off we went there. It’s located in Whitechapel which is teeming with people from the south east asian community. The community is centered around the large east london mosque. The restaurant itself is on a back street behind the mosque. The place was packed and tables are so closely set, you have to be comfortable eating with strangers. We ordered an assortment of appetizers – seekh kebab, chicken tikka and lamb kebab. All so good – strong vibrant spices but really well blended together. I wish I had orderd the lamb chops too which looked so tempting on the table next to me. For mains we ordered karahi lamb and tarka daal along with rice and naan. This has to be the best daal I have ever eaten in my life! The lamb was ok, but daal was superlative. A really good meal overall, and a ridiculous tab of around $40 for both of us. It’s great to see how mainstream indian food has become in London, and the knowledge people have about the food – the place was packed with not only indians but brits too.

Tuesday night was tapas night. We ended up at Fino near Tottenham Court Road. The owners own a few tapas places in London. The place is really well furnished, quite a beautiful restaurant. They have an excellent wine list – they had priorat, what more can I ask for. I ordered the Mas D’en Compte 2006. Really good, smooth, just brilliant. We ordered a bunch of tapas including, octopus, cod croquettes, pork belly (my favorite) and tuna. All the food was very good, really wasn’t disappointed in anything I had. After dinner we ended up walking to covent garden and experiencing a few british pubs.

Wednesday night was French night and we went to La Petite Maison in Mayfair. Decided to pick something nice for my friends from HR who joined us (M2 are you the new M1?). Interestingly for a French restaurant the food is meant to be shared family style which we didn’t know. We all ordered apps and mains. Probably a little more food than we needed for sharing. Our apps included onion tart, salt cod croquettes, lobster and crab salad, tuna carpaccio, and mains included sea bass, veal chop, grilled prawns and turbot with chorizo. All the food was really good. I really couldn’t complain about anything and it went so well with a white burgundy and mersault. Of course I had to do the creme brulee for dessert.

Overall, a really good week in London. Work was extremely productive and the food was fantastic. Next trip back will be in September. Can’t wait. Did I say I love London?

Tags: London French Restaurants, London Indian Restaurants, London Italian Restaurants, London Restaurants, London Tapas Restaurants
Posted in: Foodie General, Priorat, Restaurants by Imtiaz Patel
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I was in Europe travelling on business recently and spent some time in London. London is actually home so I have many fond memories and everytime I go back, I always try to get my fill of my favorite foods – fish and chips (why can’t they fry fish in The US like they do in England?), crispy aromatic duck, indian food, steak pie and a salt beef sandwich.

Salt beef sandwiches actually hold alot of good memories for me. I remember going to Bloom’s in Whitechapel with my dad when I was 6 and then rediscovering Bloom’s in my 20s. The warm, tender, crumbly beef on rye with english mustard is just perfect.

Bloom’s in Whitechapel closed down and I wasn’t in the mood to trek all the way to Golder’s Green. Selfridge’s has good salt beef too, but I was there last year so wanted to find another place to try. After googling, I found The Nosh Bar just near Piccadilly Circus. After a saturday morning run and walk around Covent Garden (and walking 196 steps up to street level from the Tube platform), I made my way over. The place is really just a deli with a few stools at a counter. I ordered a medium, which was just the right size.

The first bite was just wonderful. The meet crumbled and basically melted in my mouth. The hot english mustard was a perfect compliment. Every bite was just aaahhhh! This really has to count up there with some of the best salt beef I have ever had, probably better than Selfridge’s and leaner than Bloom’s. Definitely worth trying if you’re ever in London.

BTW, why can’t I get salt beef in NY? And crispy aromatic duck for that matter?

Bish, this one was for you!

Posted in: Food by Imtiaz Patel
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I was looking for a side dish that went with the baby back ribs Leen was making. Something simple, tasty and complementary. I found this dish in Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill cookbook. Along with the rice I took along an unbelievably good bottle of Arrowood Syrah, 2002.

BOBBY FLAY”S MESA GRILL BLACK RICE

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black beans
1 teaspoon chipotle chile puree (just puree a can of chipotles in adobo sauce)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon garlic
2 cups long grain white rice
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
4 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

Combine the beans, chipotle puree, garlic and cumin in a medium saucepan and cover with 6 cups of water. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until beans are solf, about 90 mins. Drain the cooking liquid into a bowl and set aside. Discard the garlic and save beans for another use.

Measure out 3 3/4 cups of the bean liquid, pour into medium saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in rice and season with salt and pepper. Bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot and cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. About 15 mins. Remove from heat abd let sit covered for 5 mins. Fold in the green onions.

Tags: Bobby Flay, Mesa Grill, Rice, Side Dish, southwestern
Posted in: Appetizers, Food, Recipe, Vegetarian by Imtiaz Patel
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La Mezzeluna is an Italian restaurant on Witherspoon Street in Princeton. This was my second time at La Mezzaluna and the only reson I went was because I couldn’t get a reservation at 3 other restaurants I tried. I had remembered the food as being decent not great, but this time I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was, but more on that in a minute.

I was meeting Kedar and Swati for dinner. I don’t get to see them as much since they moved closer to the city so we occassionally get together for dinner, After numerous attempts at reservations elsewhere I suggested we go to La Mezzeluna. Neither Kedar nor I could come up with any other real alternatives. I managed to get reservations at 7.

When I got there the place was packed and when we left people were waiting in line for a table. I guess the place is more popular than I realised. I guess I have my finger on the pulse of things in Princeton!

I got there right on time and was greeted by someone in chef’s whites. Was he the chef and if he was what was he doing greeting me at the door and taking me to my table?

The restaurant itself is pretty tired looking. They have a couple of tables at the entrance whihc they kept warm with a space heater yesterday. Then they have a bunch of tables down the center of the restaurant which just seem uncomfortable and in the way. I would not want to sit there. They have a bunch of booths along the wall which is where we ended up and that was fine. The place is in serious need of a makeover.

Our waiter was a pretty friendly and helpful chap. He explained the specials and gave us plenty of time to decide. The last time I was here I had ordered the broccoli rabe and sausage special appetizer. It’s one of those things like pork belly for me. If I see it on the menu I order it. Unfortunately it was one of the worst renditions of broccoli rabe and sausage I had ever had. It felt like it had just been thawed. This time though we did well with our appetizers. We shared a crabcake with pesto sauce and portobello mushroon stuffed with sausage. The crab cake was ok, though sauce was good and the mushroom was pretty good. For the main course both Kedar and I went for the night’s special – linguine (and the waiter actually thought he had to explain what linguine was to us. Did we look that clueless? Maybe Kedar but me?) with lobster, scallops, clams, mussels and shrimps in a red sauce. This dish was outstanding. The seafood was fresh, and cooked perfectly. The sauce itself was light and just right. It did not overwhelm the seafood at all. The shrimp was sweet and lobster and scallops were just perfect. Last time I had the pork osso bucco with risotto for my main course. That too was good, but very heavy. The seafood was the way to go this time. For dessert I ordered the tiramisu which too was very good. The place is BYO so I had taken along a really good Australian cabernet sauvignon.

The chef made a reappearance with our check. He dropped it at our table and went off. I wonder if he really was the chef,

I was apprehensive about going to La Mezzeluna with its tired interior and average food from my previous visit but this after last nights experience I’m going back.

Tags: Central New Jersey Restaurants, Italian restaurant, Princeton Restaurants
Posted in: Italian, NJ Restaurants by Imtiaz Patel
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