By Munch Master
Good summer day to all. As I sure you have all seen my post on Maine. After that weekend it got me and the merry band of munch rovers on a quest. For what you ask? Well, the best lobster roll. I want compare them to the ones in maine and CT but maybe thats another post. We will stick to NYC for now. So far we have indulged in 2 establishments. Pearl oyster bar and Red Hook Lobster Pound at the brooklyn flea under the brooklyn bridge. And for once I am going to do my best not to put my own spin on it and just give you the facts. So you can make your own judgement.
1st up Pearl - nice little resturant in the village they premake their salad I was told daily. Also their menu is more extensive that just lobster rolls. Their rolls are to say massive is an understatment. You can hardly hold them to eat they are so large. And even when you do hold them they fall apart. lightly toasted roll. The salad compsted of a VERY generous amount of mayo, salt, pepper. the cost per roll is "market price" which when we ate there was 29.00 a roll.
Up next - RHLP
First they are at the brooklyn flea on sunday. They have not started selling them in red hook yet. So you can only get them once a week and get there before 3:00 pm because they do run out. They bring their losbster stright from maine daily. So it's fresh really fresh. Oh and they bring the rolls they use from maine with the lobster. Starting with the buns. Generously buttered and freshly grilled to a deep golden brown on the griddle in front of you. Their salad is also premade on sat night I am told. It is composed of fresh lobster, sliced green onion, salt, pepper, touch of lemon and a dash of paprika once it is placed on the bun. They do not have any mayo in their salad. The serving size is not nearly the size of Pearl (half at best) but the price of 12.50 a roll its a bit more reasonable as well. All they have is lobster rolls.
So there you have it the first 2 placed on the summer of lobster tour. I did my best keeping my opnion out of it. :) stayed tuned for more lobster.
Munch Master
P.S. for all who care I enterend the national wing festival again this year.
By Munch Master
Hello Everyone,
Well I had planned this blog entry to be about the festival and to be the first entry. Oh well better late than never...lol.. Well Here it is.....
It all started a few months ago when I went on the National Buffalo Wing Festival web site. While looking around the site in addition to the festival they have many competitions. One of these being the "Traditional Sauce Competition". After being told from lots of people that my sauce was wonderful. I figured what the heck, so I entered the contest.
Before I got any further I will explain the entry process. It starts by entering on their site. They review you recipe and then from all the entries they choose the finalist. Now I don't know how many entries they have, but I consider myself fortunate.
A few weeks went by and I had almost forgotten. Then one Friday I got an email they liked my recipe and I was entered in the contest. I was so excited I would be cooking my sauce on stage at the National festival.
What I didn't realize until Teresa had made all the plans was how close Buffalo was to Niagara Falls. How awesome is that Cooking Competition and getting to visit a natural wonder. SWEEEET.
The plan was to leave around 6 or 7 in the afternoon get to buffalo around 11. Ha now that didn't happen we didn't get to leave until 8 or 9 and both of us being tired we had to stop and nap for about an hour and a half.That made it around 5 A.M. when we got to our hotel. Now keep in mind I had to compete at 2:15 p.m.I guess like they say no rest for the weary. We checked and and got about 4 to 5 hours sleep and off to Dunn Tire Park.
My nerves were going a little wacky which is odd when it comes to me and cooking. Teresa kept me calm and had a great suggestion for calming me. A BEER and so I drank a beer on an empty stomach and voila calm nerves.
Fast forward an hour or so and on to the stage and on with the show. I first got to meet the other contests. There were 3 finalist in total. Myself a nice gentleman from Rochester, NY and lady from San Diego, Calf.
Allow me to introduce the cast of the competition. For the MC it was none other than the "FOOD DUDE" himself Kevin Roberts(From the next food tv star) and the "Wing King" and founder of the festival Drew Cerza. The Judges Sonny Andersen from the food network, The mayor of Buffalo.
I will forgo the grubby details of the prep, but I can tell you that every time I make the sauce and it tends to have slight differences and 1 in about 5 is perfect and well THIS WAS THE ONE.
You could have light the world with my smile when they announced I was the winner. I was on top of the world. I received rave reviews from the judges. Sunny said she was coming to our house to eat some wings...lol. She films her show in the city. The exact wording of the announcement I cant remember right now. But it went something like "it is a sauce like we have never tasted". So Look out buffalo you make go to Jacksonville and beat the jaguars. But this jacksonville native went to Buffalo and won the traditional wing sauce competition. Can't wait to defend my title next year. Thanks to everyone who has had my sauce and enjoyed it.
Later
Erich (aka the munch master)
