Two Quail Review

So this little place is in Capitol Hill, close to the Supreme Court and has an interesting history.

I had the Chef’s Whim, which today was shrimp bisque; and the Farmer’s salad: mesclun greens with diced apple and pear, orange slices, roaste chicken breast slices, bleu cheese, a little bacon, pistachios and dried cranberries.  For dessert, I had a slice of a lovely, light coconut cake – snowy cream cheese vanilla frosting covered with coconut.  The cake was plain, more vanilla than coconut, and had a delicate, tender crumb.  It was moist and not too sweet. My stash tea came as a mug of hot water and lemon slices with bags on the side.  The shrimp bisque was boozey but a bit too salty. I think the shrimpmeat was a little chewy and probably ovecooked, but overall, it was ok – not bad for a zillion calories.

Empanada fever

Last night we ate empanadas, but I did not make them myself. And I have no pictures, sadly. (I am a bad food blogger. Bad, bad foodblogger!) But oh I have memories.

I ate a guava paste and cheese empanada, which is probably the most sublime flavor combination. The cheese gets all melty and is a perfect complement to the sweet, tangy, acidic and rich flavor of guava. Plus the fried dough and powdered sugar on top is just to die for.

I also ate a Hawaiian (ham, cheese and pineapple) one which lacked enough ham but the cheese and pineapple were good nonetheless. And for a finale I ate a cheese, caramel and fig empanada which had too much powdered sugar, I felt like I was inhaling it! The caramel made it slightly too ooey gooey but it was still tasty. I also had a few bites of a good chicken parm empanada which tasted like a calzone and a cornmeal chorizo empanada which had great texture. I tried to order a cherry one but they were out, sadly.

My friends had the chicken, beef, PB&J, as well as other myriad flavors. I also ordered a guanabana (guava) batido, which wasn’t very thick, or sweet. Not bad for $3 though.

MAMAS EMPANADAS

85-05 Northern Blvd.

(718) 505-9937

Ren Ren Cafe, Flushing

One of the yummiest places in Flushing is this place called Ren Ren Cafe, or “Person Person” Cafe, and one of its best eats is this beef sandwich made from sesame bread and scallions. The beef is slightly dried and smoked, and it has a distinctly soy sauce-based bbq flavor.

I also tried a new dish from them – bean curd sheet with mushrooms. It’s just like the bean curd sheet with vegetables at New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe, only the sauce is a lil bit sweet, and there’s more soy to it. Plus there’s shitake mushrooms! What’s not to love?

I’ve also had decent soup dumplings there (but skins are a bit thin and therefore break too easily, letting the precious meaty juices leak out.)

The Buzz in Alexandria

Buzz Bakery is distinguished not only for serving Illy coffee, cute cupcakes,  and other desserts that rock, but also for housemade vanilla marshmallows that I could eat all day.  As of yet they don’t offer them by the bag but will generously let you sample a saucer-full if they happen to have run out of their custom-blended cocoa (as was the case last night).  The cocoa is just a little overly sweet, but has spicy cinnamon-nutmeg notes and a marked hint of sea-salt and vanilla.  It doesn’t even need whipped cream.  Just keep the marshmallows coming.  The free wi-fi and long hours (they’re open ’til midnight!) only add to the charm.