Flashback Friday - Tequila Mockingbird

This post originally appeared on Minxeats.com on October 26, 2011.

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Ocean City, Maryland, is hardly a foodie destination, and we're ok with that. Most trips, we end up eating pretty decent pizza at Lombardi's, tender ribs from J.R.'s, and terrific sushi at Yokozuna. If we're there more than three nights, another restaurant has to enter the rotation, and occasionally it's Tequila Mockingbird. Every time we go there, I think it's a terrific idea, and every time we leave I think, "why did I eat that?"

Not that the food is bad. It's not bad. It's just...bland. But that doesn't seem to keep anyone away. Seems like every time we've eaten there, there's been a small hoard of people at the front of the restaurant, waiting for a table. I don't really get it.

Ok, maybe I get going there for a margarita and some chips and salsa, which always seem freshly made. The chips were warm and un-greasy, and completely unsalted on our most recent visit. (That's fine - I prefer my tortilla chips unsalted.) The salsa also seemed underseasoned, but otherwise had the standard mix of tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.

After perusing the pun-heavy menu, which is divided into sections like "Chimi Chimi Bang Bang," "Gone with the Taco," and "Love American Style," you know, the usual suspects (see what I did there?), I ordered the "Tijuana Triple," a typical Tex-Mex platter of excess including a mini shrimp quesadilla, a chicken hard taco, and a cheese enchilada, plus arroz verde and refried beans. Pretty standard fare that can be made at home quite easily, with or without the help of Old El Paso. How could it go wrong? Well, not wrong, per se. Just horribly...uninteresting. The chunks of chicken breast in the taco were not only boneless and skinless but also completely devoid of seasoning and flavor. They were also slightly tough, but that was expected. Topping the meat were some unseasoned bits of tomato and onion and shredded lettuce. More of this bland vegetation topped the cheese enchilada, which was orange goo wrapped in a corn tortilla. The enchilada sauce had slopped off to the side and was killing the crispness of the quesadilla, which was filled with - you guessed it - more of the tomato/onion blandness. The small shrimps hiding in the cheese were pretty tasty though, adding a modicum of flavor to an otherwise snooze-worthy plate that also included underseasoned arroz verde and gummy refried beans.

After eating as much as I could stomach, I went back to the chips and salsa. After the blandness of my dinner, I could detect that the salsa *did* have seasoning - maybe a bit of vinegar. Perhaps even salt.

Mr Minx fared much better. He wisely ordered beef as the filling for his chimichanga, and found it to be nicely seasoned with a bit of cumin and other spices. It was actually flavorful. Unfortunately, it came with the same boring beans and rice, and more completely unnecessary tomato/onion/shredded iceberg.

My camera phone sadly doesn't have a flash. My dish came out blurry,
but that's fine - it looked like a mess anyway.

We washed down our food with glasses of sangria, which tasted heavily of cinnamon. It reminded me of the Korean persimmon- and cinnamon-flavored dessert beverage, sujung gwa. I probably should have ordered a margarita.

So...it was edible. Everything seemed fresh, and it was fine for folks who don't like spicy or flavorful food, I suppose. Really quite a let-down after eating some really good Mexican chow at Miguel's recently. I did notice that we were possibly the youngest customers in the dining room, and that might have been the reason for the "taco night at the nursing home" quality of the meal. But then the place has a captive audience, as do the rest of OC's restaurants that don't seem to try very hard.

Sadly, eating at Tequila Mockingbird gave me this thought: Ocean City could use a Chili's.

Tequila Mockingbird
12919 Coastal Hwy
Ocean City, MD 21842
www.octequila.com
(410) 250-4424

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Summer Fancy Food Show 2013 - Sweet Treats

Last week, I wrote about some of the many many (many!) savory products on display at the 2013 Summer Fancy Food Show at New York's Javits Center. This week, I want to mention some of the sweets.

There were many producers catering to special diets, and gluten-free and vegan products abounded. One of my favorites was Cocomels, a caramel using coconut milk in place of the usual dairy. They're both vegan and gluten-free, also corn syrup- and soy-free, and non-GMO. Most importantly, they're delicious, chewy, creamy caramels with a hint of coconut flavor.

Another vegan coconut product is Coconut Bliss, a frozen dessert made with coconut milk. It's not exactly ice cream, but it's very good, and it comes in more than a dozen flavors that can be purchased at your local Whole Foods.

CookiNuts, by Maryland-based Sweet Nuttings, are dairy- and gluten-free treats that are reminiscent of soft, chewy, Italian almond cookies, only with a much-higher nut content. I suspect that they contain egg whites, so they are not vegan. Nonetheless, they are delicious, more nutritious, and more filling than your garden variety commercial cookie.

Then there were the chocolates. Among the many brands I sampled, one of my favorites was Chuao Chocolatier, mostly because they put bacon and potato chips in their chocolate bars. I know! The milk maple bacon bar has little nubbins of bacony goodness and a hint of smoked sea salt, and the potato chip bar has kettle chip bits mingled in milk chocolate. I also liked their dark chocolate Firecracker bar, which has chipotle pepper and popping candy mixed in.

Another chocolatier that caught my eye...my tastebuds, actually...was Hagensborg. Part of me was attracted to the company's pig motif, but another part wanted to taste all of the sustainable exotic single origin chocolate from Ecuador, Madagascar, and Santo Domingo. The 39% cocoa Ecuador milk bar was my favorite, because I like to buck the trend: I'm not all that into super dark chocolate.

Local favorite Fisher's Popcorn also had a presence at the Fancy Food Show. Now Baltimoreans don't have to make the drive all the way to Ocean City to enjoy a couple handfuls of Fisher's delicious caramel corn. It's available in bags at the Harbor East branch of Whole Foods, plus assorted other locations all over the state. (Check out this page for more information.) In addition to the regular caramel corn and white cheddar flavors, there's a new chipotle caramel popcorn flavor. My taste of this variety was only slightly spicy, so don't worry about it being too hot to enjoy.

These are but a mere sampling of the many many sweet items I tried at the show. I hope it gives you some idea of the new food items that are hitting the stores now and in the near future, and encourages you try something new and different on occasion.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Yokozuna

When Mr Minx and I go to Ocean City, we always make a point to stop at Yokozuna for some terrific sushi. Despite its location in the somewhat cheesy Gold Coast Mall, Yokozuna is an oasis away from the Boardwalk fries, greasy pizza, and drunken teenagers that make up much of the OC experience. An especially nice touch is the faux-shoji screen treatment on the windows, which completely blocks the view of any ugly-shorts tourists in Big Pecker t-shirts buying hermit crabs in the mall.

We usually start out with bowls of miso soup and go on to sushi, but this time we also tried the okonomiyaki, a pancake with vegetables and seafood. It was full of shrimp and shredded cabbage, plus a nice dose of fresh ginger, and topped with a mayonnaise sauce and bonito flakes. The texture was somewhere between a pancake and an omelette, and completely delicious. More, please.

We also enjoyed some very fresh nigiri sushi with salmon, "white tuna" (escolar), and tuna, plus two rolls: the "Princess Di" (Avocado, tamago & sushi rice, wrapped in soy paper, lightly fried & topped with shrimp tempura, orange tobiko & spicy mayo); and a special of the evening called the "Skydiver" with soft shell crab, avocado, eel, and scallions. The former was rather like a spring roll, and served quite warm. The latter was very rich, and the soft eel and crisp soft shell made for an interesting play of textures.

While we have always found all of the seafood to be impeccably fresh and delicious, not to be missed is the chocolate Kahlua cake, served warm with whipped cream and fresh fruit. It's especially tasty with a scoop of green tea ice cream.

Yokozuna Restaurant
11403 Coastal Hwy
Ocean City, MD 21842
www.yokozunaoc.com
(410) 524-7412


Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

Phillips Harborplace

Remember last week's reminiscences about my dining influences? That same burger- and pizza-loving friend also had a thing for Phillips, the seafood restaurant. I can't remember if there were three or four Phillips in Ocean City in the late 80s, but during one week-long visit, former BF insisted that we eat at each of them. I also remember accompanying her to the one at Harborplace on many occasions. There was usually a long line out the door, but we always waited. No, we couldn't change our plans and walk up to the Rusty Scupper instead. And no, she wouldn't eat at Taverna Athena, Szechuan House, or Tandoor. It was Phillips or nothing. And that was ok - I liked Phillips.

So flash forward nearly 30 years to the present. The three Harborplace restaurants I just mentioned no longer exist. Nor do Paolo's, Jean-Claude's, or Soup Kitchen. But Phillips is still around, still cranking out the crab cakes from Shirley Phillips' original recipe, and still serving the gaggle of tourists who descend on Baltimore's Inner Harbor every summer. Do locals eat there anymore? (Do they eat anywhere at Harborplace, for that matter?) Hard to say. Personally, I haven't been to Phillips since 1997, and then it was to attend a private party with a former beau. The food was good, and I got to try gator for the first time, so why haven't I been back?

The other day I had an opportunity to revisit Phillips via a blogger dinner. The invite was forwarded to me by a fellow Baltimore food blogger. At first I thought, "Phillips - bah!" but then the thought came to me that this restaurant deserves as much recognition amongst the blogging community as do the new restaurants in town. New doesn't always = better. And I haven't been invited to any of the new places. Hmpfh.

So Mr Minx and I went to Phillips. The restaurant was busy on that lovely Spring day, with waits for tables even at 6pm. Nothing like the long lines of yore, the lines that spilled out into the corridor and snaked around past the windows of the restaurant across the hall, but a fairly respectable line nonetheless, especially in this economy. Mr Minx and I were immediately greeted by members of the restaurant's marketing team and their PR firm who plied us with drinks - anything we wanted. It was off to a good start.

A few drinks later, all of the attendees had assembled and the new chef himself, Arturo Paz, brought out the first course. Chef Paz, who worked in the much more glamorous locales of Miami, LA, and NY before coming to Baltimore, reworked the menu to add some new and trendy items to the menu of classic seafood restaurant workhorses like crab cakes and steamed shrimp.

The first course, however, did include steamed shrimp, big ones, plus raw oysters and clams, crab legs, lobster, tuna tartare, and lump crab. This "chilled plateau" goes for $61.99 on the menu, and serves at least 4. While I will admit not caring for the tuna (pieces too big, a little gristly) and thought the seafood was, overall, a bit on the too-cold side, I really enjoyed the crustaceans and bivalves. Anyone can tell you that I'm not a fan of raw oysters, and before now had never eaten a raw clam, but I put away a few of each with squirts of mignonette sauce. Who knew I'd love raw clams? And the giant lumps of crab were mighty tasty when dipped in the accompanying creamy mustard sauce.

Next up we had more shellfish, this time with a modern twist, "steamed mojito clams" with garlic, lime, chiles, and cilantro ($8.99). I could swear I detected some lemongrass in there too. I thought they were...delicious. And the broth cried out to be sopped up with some nice bread, so we requested a bread basket for the table. The ciabatta-style roll I picked did the trick nicely.

Following the clams came lobster corn dogs ($16). I wasn't sure how these would work - would the "lobster" really be some sort of seafood sausage?  Nope - the lobster was hunks of the real thing, unadulterated apart from a dip in corndog batter and a trip through the deep fryer. It's one of those things that should be eaten as soon as the plate hits the table, but as we were polite and of course had to take photos they started to get a tad soggy before I tried one. Still - a big hunk of battered lobster on a stick. Yum.

Finally, we veered back towards the traditional with crabcakes (single crabcake $12.99).  These were nicely sized, with big lumps of crab and mild seasoning.

Mr Minx and I enjoyed our meal, and the company was lively and fun. WBAL's Donna Hamilton was in attendance (with Chef Paz in the photo below) and man, she looks terrific.

The current Phillips menu is more interesting - and dare I say sophisticated - than in the past (albeit without gator), with items like barramundi, shrimp and grits, and calamari with a Thai-inspired sauce. For the traditionalists there are still surf and turf and a fried or broiled seafood platter. The prices aren't unreasonable for seafood-heavy meals, particularly in the Inner Harbor area, and the food is good, so why leave it for the tourists?. Next time you head downtown to eat, instead of hitting one of the national chains in the area (and they are legion), why not patronize a Maryland family business?

At least go during happy hour ($3 drinks) and try those lobster corn dogs (which are on the lounge menu). And have one for me. :)

Ocean City Dining

Mr Minx and I just got back from a long weekend in OC.  Remind me next year that the second week in October has become a bad week for a visit to the beach. It's Cruisers' weekend and the place is full of muscle cars with ridiculously loud "mufflers," booming and popping and revving at all hours of the day or night. Also, there was some kind of kiddie soccer tournament going on so there were jillions of pre-teens running around.  Running around and slamming doors seems to be the favorite pasttimes of kids when they are at a resort.  And why is it that their parents never seem to say a word to them about proper comportment?

Anyway...to the food. I wasn't in the mood to take any photos, so sorry about that.

We had dinner at Yokozuna Sushi (in the Gold Coast Mall) on Friday.  So far, it's still the best sushi we've found anywhere - properly dainty maki rolls with lots of flavor, very fresh fish, and the best eel ever.  They were out of our favorite kahlua chocolate bundt cake this time though, which was a bit disappointing.

Saturday's breakfast was at the Bayside Skillet.  Mr Minx had Crepes Wilbur (crepes wrapped around generously-sized sausage links) and I had the spinach and bacon crepes with hollandaise.  The food is good enough (even though I suspect the crepes are made well in advance and refrigerated, as I detected off flavors in mine), but the prices are a little outrageous...particularly for the coffee: $2.50 a cup.  And you're lucky if your dingbat waitress notices you might need cream.  Or a refill.

The one good thing about being in OC this particular weekend is that we were able to experience the last few days of OC Restaurant Week.  We chose Jules for Saturday's dinner because the menu looked particularly appetizing.  A good thing we had the sense to make a reservation - the place was hopping.  

Mr Minx had the Chicken Satay (skewers of marinated free range chicken breast, spicy peanut sauce, hoisin glazed soba noodles), the House Salad (mixed greens tossed in a maple walnut vinaigrette, croutons, fresh veggies, and peppered pistachios), and the French Onion Rack of Lamb (New Zealand rack of lamb chops atop focaccia crouton and caramelized onions, gruyere cheese sauce, and local vegetables).  The chicken in the appetizer was extremely tender; it tasted fine but suffered from oversalting.  The noodles were probably spaghetti and not soba, and they were most definitely spicy.  The salad was pretty standard and had an overabundance of dried fruit on it.  The lamb chops were gorgeous specimens, perfectly cooked.  The cheese sauce was a little grainy, but overall a very flavorful dish.  

I had the Wild Jambalaya (wild boar sausage and wild gulf shrimp jambalaya, slab of corn pone, grilled scallions) , the Blue Ice Wedge (wedge of iceberg lettuce, house bleu cheese dressing, candied walnuts, applewood smoked bacon, bleu crumbles, and balsamic reduction), and Drunken Duck (breast of Maple Leaf Farms duck, marinated in sake, soy, ginger & garlic, chive oil, mashed sweet potatoes and local vegetables).  The jambalaya was pretty darn good, authentic-y even, and though the corn pone seemed a bizarre accompaniment (corn mash with rice?  carbs, anyone?) it was delish, sweet and corny, and I could have eaten a whole bowl of it on its own.  The salad didn't need the bleu cheese dressing, as there was enough crumbled bleu cheese for three salads.  And the duck was unfortunately salty, but well cooked.  The sweet potatoes were simple and buttery and really very good, but the string beans were so undercooked as to be raw.

Sunday, after a depressing Ravens loss to Indianapolis, we went to Galaxy 66 for another restaurant week dinner. Mr Minx started with the "red curried glazed ribs with a jicama and radicchio salad, and sunchoke chips," following that with "whole wheat pasta with shrimp, crab, broccoli, mushrooms, andouille sausage, tomato fondue, finished with basil cream," and creme brulee.  The ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender, but the thin bbq-type sauce didn't taste of red curry (it was good, however).  Didn't see any sunchoke chips.  The pasta dish was weird - the components didn't quite work together, and the pasta (penne) probably had been cooked much earlier in the day. It had an unpleasantly hard and dried-out texture.  There also was no basil cream.  The creme brulee was standard issue, attractively garnished with strawberries and squiggles of chocolate and caramel sauces.

I had the "seared scallops with pickled jalapenos, crispy sweet goat cheese" and the "pork roulade with garlic, mango, arugula, and goat cheese, sided with spicy potato cakes and grand marnier drizzle," with Heath bar crunch ice cream for dessert.  The five scallops were enormous and perfectly cooked, but the breaded goat cheese round, cranberry sauce (!) and slices of jalapeno had no business being on the same plate.  As for the roulade - hardly.  It was a large center cut pork chop that had been cut into a spiral and dabbed with a bit of goat's cheese.  The arugula and diced mango were scattered on top.  The potato cake tasted like old refrigerated potatoes, a flavor I happen to hate.  The pork was pretty nicely cooked, only slightly dry.  The ice cream was regular commercial stuff, but there was plenty of broken bits of real Heath bar distributed throughout the generous serving.

That's the thing about Galaxy 66 - the portions were extremely generous.  The scallop appetizer was entree-sized, and Mr Minx's ribs were almost that large.  The food was well-cooked for the most part (except the pasta) but the combinations of ingredients seemed ill-conceived.  One can almost say the same for Jules, but there was a bit more cohesiveness there.  In both cases, the food was well worth the $30 per person.

It's good to see that there is an attempt at fine dining being made in our humble resort town, and hopefully it will become a trend that will continue.

Restaurant Names

I'm going to go off on a rant at some point here, so you are forewarned.

Mr Minx and I are heading to Ocean City in October for a long weekend. I was never a big fan of OC in the summertime (I don't like to bake my brains in the hot sun, hate hot weather to begin with, am not all that fond of looking at flabby, sunburned people in bathing suits, plus there are children running around all over the place) but I do enjoy going there in the off-season to walk the boards and do some outlet shopping.

Several years back, we had a particularly fruitful dining experience in OC, finding both Yokozuna (in the Gold Coast Mall) for terrific sushi, and Iguana Surf for interesting cuisine that included stuff like wild boar. The latter restaurant closed, so I recently started perusing the Internet for other dining options in the area that might be more creative than the usual JR's ribs and Lombardi's pizza.

And what did I find?

Places with names like "Nantuckets," "Fresco's," "Castaway's," "Magnolia's." WHY are so many restaurant names either plural or possessive? I have a strong suspicion that many of the possessive names are plain old bad grammar; the proper use of an apostrophe has become a lost art in this country. Otherwise, is there really someone named Fresco? Or does the name refer to a style of painting that involves paint and wet plaster, in which case "Frescoes" would be a more appropriate spelling? And just how many places are there in the world called "Nantucket?" More than one, requiring a pluralization? Or did the restaurant simply forget the apostrophe, in which case I ask, "Nantucket's what?" Does the restaurant belong to someone named Magnolia? or to a castaway?

Needless to say, I will not be partaking of any of the "food's" served at these establishments. I hate to imagine the spelling on the menus. Mescaline, anyone?