Caribbean Cove

I discovered a great find in Berkeley. I wish I discovered it earlier, while attending the damn university. In celebration of one of my old dorm roommate's birthday, Maya decided to throw her birthday dinner last night at the Caribbean Cove. Located in the upstairs area of "The Village" (an indoor atrium of restaurants, including a fondue joint, a korean bbq joint and an expense ass sushi joint, and a tightass trade-in bookstore tucked quietly on the intersection of Dwight and Telegraph), I arrived hungry for some acclaimed caribbean food.

I was planning on getting Maya's favorite dish, the Ackee and Salted Fish, but they ran out of that Saturday night special. So I decided to play it safe and order the Jamaican Jerk Chicken dish, which came with rice, peas, salad and fried palatanos. As you can see in the pictures, it is one large serving for only $10. The Jamaican Jerk Chicken was way too peppery for me but still really good. It threw me off because at first I couldn't figure out why the chicken tasted almost spicy it seemed until I realized it was heavily seasoned in pepper (perhaps something I would pick up on quicker if I was able to smell the pepper? ha!). The rice had tender red beans that tasted freshly cooked (none of that canisters of beans and rice chillin in the back pre-cooked all day taste), but the star of the dish was the fired palatanos. Platanos are a traditional Nicaraguan side dish consisting of a fried fruit that has the texture and taste of a sweet banana painted lightly with honey. They were so good that our table ordered an extra side plate of platanos. If you look closely at the picture you will also see in the bottom right hand corner a piece of curry goat that my friend, Nick, let me steal off his plate. It was my first time eating goat and I liked it. This piece of goat tasted tough and hearty like a piece of ribs.

Caribbean Cove was a cute little deal. If you like your chicken peppery, it is a must but I prefer the curry dishes (I tasted the curry chicken in addition to the curry goat). The portion size is HUGE and the price is reasonable (varies from $9-$12 or you can pay $17 to sample two dishes if you feel like splurging). They also sell Red Stripe beer, which is mos def a rarity and a plus in my book. Oh yah and a damn nice bonus is the complimentary delicious carrot cake the Cove gives out for birthday celebrations holla!

Barthelona

So I wasn't with Norey and Cha on their trip to Napa or Sushi House, but I've been to Sushi House a ton of times and its one of my favorite sushi restaurants, so I can't wait for Cha's review on that. Anyway, I wanted to post something but I don't have any pictures of food from restaurants I've tried recently. So I dug up this picture. Just your basic "from up top" view of an extraordinarily delicious meal from the party capital of Europe: Barcelona. Not only does its siesta (the afternoon nap in which just about everything except for restaurants, cathedrals and other tourist spots are closed from 3-5pm), the infamous Las Ramblas, its San Miguel, and the fact that its clubs dont open till 12, start poppin till 3, and close after sunrise, all come together beautifully to create an environment conducive to partying your ass off....BUT they got some food too! its cheap, its delicious, and pairs well with a jug of sangria and a cigarette to top it all off.

The dish that I ordered is the plate on the left. Yeah, looks like nothing but a sampler plater of cakes and breadsticks, i know. Actually though, its a tortilla sampler, and this ain't no Mexican tortilla because I know thats what you're thinking. Think of the Spanish tortilla as an omelet, quiche, or fritada, if you will. A ham and cheese one, A spinach one, and a potato and onion one. Of the three, my favorite was the potato and onion one, although they were all just great! I know you're thinking: "come on! its a freakin omelet!". But no, it tastes more than that. Reminds me of when my mom would always make these bomb ass scrambled eggs that I could never duplicate on my own. It was frustrating because I too was like: "come on! its freakin scrambled eggs". Little did I know that that shit was laced with MSG. MSG in my scrambled eggs! If you have no problem with MSG, I'd recommend substituting your salt and pepper for MSG and pepper. Anyway, these "tortillas" tasted as if they were laced with something more than MSG...something to the potency of crack cocaine. The cheese in the ham and cheese tortilla offered just enough saltiness. It was an interesting too because it wasn't the melt in your mouth cheese youre probably thinking of. Think of the cheese on a room temperature pizza. That's similar to its texture when its hot and cooked. Now think of the part of the pizza, which is usually near or on the crust, were the cheese is slightly burned, but not too much. That's similar to the taste.

The spinach one tasted exactly how it sounds.

The potato and onion tortilla though was interesting because the texture was a lot more potato-y than it looks. I thought it was gonna be a fluffy omelet with pieces of potato in the middle. But no, think of a fork tender potato in which you can feel hints of the sponginess of an omelet and just the right pinch of onion flavor. And don't forget the crack that makes its highly addictive, because you know I came back the next day for some. Oh, I forgot to mention something cool about Spanish food. It usually consists of tapas, which are appetizers, some of which are pickeled and some of which are salads. They're super cheap and you often end up ordering a ton of different kinds. Its real fun to just go to a tapas bar that has dozens of tapas, from mussels, to little chorizo sausages, to smoked salmon, to calamari, all on toothpicks on silver places propped up on stands. The waiter gives you a plate and everything is pretty much fair game. You keep your toothpicks on your plate and at the end the waiter counts all your toothpicks (there are no trashcans so you can't cheat and throw them away, unless maybe you stick them in your pocket, but thats just ghetto because shits already cheap there) and he charges you per toothpick. Anyway, I'm straying. The three sticks you see on top of the tortillas are actually breadsticks. The way the Spanish have there bread is rather simple, they take a tomato and rub it on the bread (which doesn't even have to be hot) and drizzle some olive oil on it. I like to think of it as the lazy man's bruschetta. After all, this is the country that promotes the midafternoon nap! Fuck toasting the bread and dicing the tomatos, when you can just rub that shit on some cold bread and still have it be good as fuck.

The sangria was nice and strong. Now I've had sangria at other places and it was sissy shit, except for Cha Cha Cha's which actually has some good, strong sangria. And their flan, just heavenly! I dont know about you, but Filipino leche flan is a bit too creamy and dense for me. My aunt actually makes flan, professionally. hah, yeah like she sells it, so professionally would be the right word I think. But yeah, she puts 12 egg yolks in one batch! I actually prefer the light, slightly jello-y Spanish flan that melts down into wonderfulness when it hits your tongue and you press it against the roof of your mouth like how you would with ice cream. Then you finish the meal off with a cigarette, right there, because you can smoke anywhere. And if you don't have one on you, you can walk 7 feet over to your right where theres a cigarette vending machine in the restaurant. I swear, the Spanish are genius! Everything makes sense. Naps, light meals, light desserts, all provide just enough energy and room for the strong Sangria during your meal and Absinthe later on for partying. And just when you feel like your food high and alcohol buzz needs a lift, you can get some nicotine in two shakes of a bunny's tale. Mmhmm.

Napa

If you don't care to go to Napa because you are not a wine person, please please please go for the food. Our day trip to Napa took place right smack in the middle of basically dry season for the vineyards so we compensated the lack of outdoor vineyard tours with what else!? Good food. At the first winery, we enjoyed free wine tasting at V. Sattui (separate entry for that coming later) and was excited to check out their plentiful deli of different types of cheeses and cold cuts. After sampling a deep chedder cheese (primarily used for soups) and an extra delicate Brie cheese, we tasted a fabulous spinach and artichoke cream cheese. If you're a cream cheese lover, it tastes as good and exactly as it sounds. Now remembr how I can't smell? Well now. Fast forward to the next day, I bring a toasted bagel spread with the purchased spinach and artichoke cream cheese to class and three classmates each inquired on what smelled so good after passing my seat. Obviously a great selection.

After snacking on complimentary pretzels and crackers dipped in various salsas and mustards (my favorite being the Crunchy Cranberry Dijon Mustard from Napa Mustard Co.) , Cha and I decide its time for lunch. Upon the recommendation of a vendor, we head to Rutherford Grill. This meal was absolutely more than we care to spend on food, but as the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Upon looking at their selection of steak, chicken and salads, Cha and I were about to do the fancy hamburger route when our waitress convinced us to order the special of the day.

Halibut seasoned and grilled over live oak in a lemon butter cream sauce with lightly seared dungeness crab on top, mashed potatoes with choopped suateed cabbage and green onions mixed in and a side of carrots grilled in maple syrup. Come on, SOLD! The lemon butter cream sauce made the light and tender halibut practically melt in your mouth. The dungeness crab was thinly sliced allowing the lemon butter sauce to soak more intensely than the halibut resulting in pleasant sparks in your mouth. The mash potatoes were a bit too onion-y for my taste, but hot, creamy and buttery. The carrotts were the perfect visual and side to the dish. Yellow, orange and red carrots lightly painted in maple syrup colored the plate and was just the sweet pop of taste needed to compliment the potatoes.

Only regret was not ordering the iron skillet cornbread, apparently their staple appetizer. Eh, no worries because we'll be back ha!

Holla!

Oh the joys of food. In an attempt to jot down all the joyous adventures that we call meals, Cha, Christine and I have started this as a tribute to the vibrant food chicks and to shamelessly promote our dreams of becoming food photographers, food network correspondants, basically anything food career related.

My personal disclaimer: I, Norey, do not have a sense of smell. Yes you read right. I was born like that and I do not know why. Hey shit happens. As such, my entries will be lacking that detail. I will though make sure I get a third party opinion as much as possible. But Norey, doesn't that create a problem with your taste? On the contrary my friends, I do not believe it does. I really think there must be some link with loss of smell and the increase in sensitivity of taste buds because I know I can distinguish between foods, tastes, textures and flavors. I wouldn't enjoy food as much as I do or want to write about it if I didn't.

Cha and Christine however both have a perfect sense of smell.

Another disclaimer: All photos are taken by Cha, Christine and I unless otherwise credited.

Happy reading!