LaSpada's Hoagies (University Drive)

     Back when I was in high school I remember hearing about LaSpada's and how everyone loved the food there.  Now I didn't have a car back then and where I went out to eat was basically at the whim of my parents.  You can imagine that as an Asian household we didn't really go out for hoagies or the like very often/at all.   As a result, the name LaSpada's would disappear from my mind until just recently.

     As I was driving one weekend back to campus from home, I noticed a sign that read LaSpada's Hoagies.  Was this the same place that I've heard of, the famed LaSpada's?  If it was LaSpada's what did they even serve?  It sounded Italian and every time I had heard of LaSpada's from someone in high school it wasn't associated with a type of food, just that it was "so good!"  I definitely didn't associate hoagies with the name, but apparently that's what they are known for - really large hoagies with fresh cut deli meats (the fact that the sign said "LaSpada's Hoagies" should have been another tip off).

     The plaza that LaSpada's is located in is very nondescript.  I suppose the only good thing about it is that it's a stone's throw from Nova Southeastern University.  I honestly wouldn't have stopped by if it wasn't for the fact that they had awesome word of mouth back in the Boca area.  Apparently LaSpada's has opened up a few locations, 4 to be exact, throughout Florida.  The interior is extremely simple - tables, chairs, and the counter where the hoagies are made.  The walls really don't have anything on them, they're just white/no frills. The place really doesn't have much of a personality of its own, but it's not the decor which matters in the end, just the food. ^_^

     The menu is really easy to read and honestly you have one of two choices: grab a salad or a hoagie for lunch.  They have all your basic cuts of deli meats available, chicken salad, meatballs, and even crabmeat.  I knew I was going to get an 8" hoagie, but I was debating between the chicken salad and roast beef.  I'm such a sucker for anything with mayo, so I was leaning towards the chicken salad.  One of the employees beind the counter took notice of my conundrum and kindly let me try out the chicken salad, which I thought was cool, before making my decision. The chicken salad was simply dressed with just a bit of celery and tossed lightly in mayonnaise; not a ton of fancy non-related fixings here.  Though the chicken was moist and cooked well, it was slightly lacking in flavor.   Maybe if they added a tinge bit more of salt it would have been better.  In the end I opted for the roast beef on white.

     At LaSpada's all the meat is sliced fresh right in front of you.  None of this pre-sliced, pre-measured stuff.  They bring out the huge hunk of meat, slice it in front of you, weigh it, and then place it on your hoagie.  After choosing a plethora of toppings they topped the hoagie with even more roast beef!  I'm guessing it's to keep the fixings from falling out. =)  That's my best guess and I'm sticking to it!
 

     It was a pretty big hoagie, more so in girth than in length.  Since I had some studying to do I wrapped it back up and headed over to the dorm to devour it in peace along with microbiology notes.  I took the picture below in my dorm, so you could see the ratio of meat to fixings.  There's no way that the entire "small" hoagie was fitting in my stomach by the way, nu-uh.  I finished half for lunch and saved the other half for a midnight snack later.

     With tax it was a little under $8 for the hoagie at LaSpada's.  At Publix, its equivalent (if you got Boar's Head brand deli meat) would be around the same price, I believe it's 30 cents cheaper or so.  LaSpada's hoagie's fillings have a decreased chance of falling out when you're eating it and I like their bread better than what they have available at Publix.  Otherwise, I'd say their hoagies/subs are about equivalent.  Now I'm not dissing LaSpada's by any stretch of the imagination, I think Publix subs are quite good actually and definitely both are far better choices than Subway or Quiznos.  In the end, I'm not head over heels in love with LaSpada's or hoagies in general, but if I feel in the mood for a good sandwich, LaSpada's wouldn't be a bad choice. =)

LaSpada's Original Hoagies
Davie
2645 S. University Dr.
(954) 476-1099

Jaxson's (Dania Beach)

    In South Florida if you're thinking of going out for homemade ice-cream and over the top presentation (i.e. The Kitchen Sink), you have Jaxson's on the mind!  Jaxson's is a long standing establishment in the Dania Beach area.  I'm not sure you can be a native of the area and not know about Jaxson's to be honest.

   The general ambiance inside and outside of the restaurant is that of nostalgic fun.  There's even an area in the front with candy from both the olden days gone by (I love those wax bottles with syrupy goodness inside them) and today's favorites.  Sweet tarts, pop rocks, rock candy, etc. you name it and they probably have it.

     The decor reminds of of TGIFridays before they turned more modern, back when they were fun and the servers wore nifty hats, buttons, and the like.  The place definitely has personality!  The random humorous  signs everywhere, antique objects, nearly wall to wall license plates, etc.  There's never a dearth of interesting objects to pique your interests while you wait for your food.

     One of my favorite things is the huge popcorn popper they have in their dining room.  I <3 popcorn, it's my favorite snack food ever!  I've made jokes on several occasions that I just want to dive into the popcorn popper ala Scrooge McDuck in Duck Tales (even if it's not THAT big).  Free popcorn which takes the place of a bread service = amazing, in my opinion!  I'm totally biased though on this point. =D

     My friends ordered the artillery dog to share.  The 1lb. artillery dog ($15.25) is described on the menu as "one full pound of the same New York style goodness that made out Mile-Long Dog famous, served in a masterpiece of a toasted bun."  It's massive to say the least.  I mean, it's utterly huge.  I had my friends pose in front of it to give you an idea of scale.

     Sadly I can't comment on how the hot dog tastes, since I've never tasted theirs before.  But I've always been of the opinion, the best compliment you can give to a chef is to clear your plate, which they did. ^__^

     I ordered the Sea Dog ($12.95) which is described in the menu as a "delicious cod fillet beer battered, fried, and served on our famous mile long bun with tartar sauce, coleslaw, and fries."  In all honesty I thought I was getting a sandwich with a fish patty.  Much to my surprise, the picture below is what I received when the server brought my food.

     It's totally a fish fillet cut, battered, and fried in the shape of a hot dog.  I got a laugh out of it.  ^_^ I thought it was cute, creative, and honestly it worked really well!  The fish was moist and it wasn't overly greasy (it's fried fish, there's going to be some grease, tis the nature of fried foods).  The coleslaw and fries were ok, nothing too exciting though.

     The best part of coming to Jaxson's isn't their food, it's their dessert which sets them a class above the other eateries in the area.  They make their ice cream on site and fresh every day.  You can really taste the difference in the quality of the icecream and they have a ton of flavors to choose from.  The icecream is always creamy and has a light texture.  Now depending on what flavor you choose, it can be a bit heavy handed on the sugar, but for the most part I like most of their flavors that I have tried.  In terms of flavors, there are the staples which they always make and then there's also a chalkboard which has the rotating flavors.

     The only downside of eating your dessert inside the establishment is the "sharing" surcharge, which is $1 per person.  I know it's not a lot of money, but it still manages to irk me every time.  The desserts are really big and I honestly don't think the proportions given for most of their desserts are made for just one person to eat.  The only exception is probably the sundae special which you can buy with the purchase of any regular menu item.  The sundae special is basically the equivalent of 2 scoops of ice cream topped with whipped cream.  I feel with the portions being so large, people should be allowed to share their desserts and not feel penalized for not being able to finish it on their own.

     My friend ordered the Black and White goblet which was a mix of chocolate and vanilla with whipped cream, chocolate chips, and a side car of hot fudge.  I don't really have a size comparison for you guys on this one, but it's big (just trust me).  Again I can't comment on the Black and White since I didn't eat it, but it looked pretty!  I'm not really a chocolate fan either, so I probably wouldn't have ordered it.

     I can, however, comment of their waffles!  Their waffles are made fresh to order and topped with two types of ice cream of your choice and then finished with whipped cream.  We just had crunchy peanut butter ice cream on this occasion.  The ice cream was great, it tasted of freshly ground peanut butter instead of the mainstream peanut butter you could purchase from a super-market.  My favorite part of the dessert was the waffle as it was really fun to eat!  The waffle is in the shape of a flower (well, it looks flower-like to me) and you can tear off the "petals," add a dollop of ice cream, and nom away to your heart's content.  ^____^  Om nom nom nom!    

    I've had a few of their other flavors before, some of which I've enjoyed and others not so much.  Their coconut, butter pecan, and praline pecan are outstanding while their strawberry cheesecake is pretty heavy on the sugar.  I could only eat a few bites of the strawberry cheesecake ice cream without feeling like I should be in a sugar induced coma.

     <3 for Jackson's, it's always a great place to go have something sweet.  Just find a flavor that you love and have it any way that you please whether it's in a parfait, sundae, milk shake, etc.  Make sure you come early though because it can get pretty crowded late at night and there can be quite a wait to get in!

Jaxson's Ice Cream
Dania Beach
128 S Federal Highway
(954) 923-4445

Chitralada Thai (Pembroke Pines)

     When visiting Los Angeles and New York, I loved finding random hole in the wall restaurants that made amazing food.  However, when you try to do that in Florida it somehow never works out as well...  Though I always want to say, never judge a restaurant by its exterior and only by its food; there's something weird about Florida....that or I'm cursed when I randomly pick out places to eat.  I'm not sure what it is about Florida, but I've been burned 90% of the time trying random mom and pop restaurants.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating huge chains either.  I feel as if those large chains are basically eating alive all the potential and wonderful small businesses.  I'm not sure how to explain it, it's just how Florida tends to be.

Thai Iced Tea

     Anyways, we stopped by a Thai restaurant on Pines Boulevard because one of my friends wanted to try it out since he had been craving Thai food and he had passed it on the road several times before.  Chitralada Thai has a very unassuming store front and to be honest I was a little scared just looking at the exterior and the surroundings.  As I've said before, I haven't known Florida to be very "random restaurant" friendly.  I think we actually stood outside the store front for about 10 minutes debating whether or not we wanted to go in or not.  ^_^()  Eventually we decided to give it a go!

     The owner's of the restaurant were very pleasant as they greeted us and sat our party at a nearby table.  They were more than happy to answer any questions we had about the menu.  My friends suggested/insisted that I try a Thai iced tea.  This was my first Thai iced tea too!  It was lightly sweetened, so you were still able to taste the flavor of the tea itself (It's an ongoing theme for me, how I <3 not being in a sugar induced coma).  I loved the subtle                                                                           creaminess that the tea had.

     The chicken satay (on the left) was a simply skewered chicken simply grilled to perfection.  I was surprised the chicken was cooked well, most of the time I'm accustomed to getting dry chicken at restaurants (which is why I don't order it often).  We also ordered the larb gai appetizer, a dish of spicy ground chicken with lemon juice, onion, pepper, and lettuce.  The larb gai was another great dish, bringing together savory and sour in harmony.

     I think the only misstep of the evening was the mee grob (crispy noodles on the left).  I'm such a sucker for crispy things!  It was suppose to bed a crispy noodle dish with shrimp and a Thai sauce.  However the sauce it was covered in was too sweet and it really overpowered any other possible flavors in the dish.  The noodles stayed crispy which was a definite plus, however the sauce really killed the dish for me.  The pad woon sen (on the right) was a stir fried clear noodle with chicken, onion, bell pepper, carrot, baby corn, and mushroom.  That on the other hand was pretty delicious. =)

     We also ordered the Chitralada garlic beef (left - lean marinated beef slices, sautéed with vegetables on a sizzling plate) and a red curry.  Like everything else before it, the beef was cooked very well.  The red curry was well spiced and the only fault I could find in it was that it was a little thin.


     Rice was served with all our dishes.  One of the owners came by with a huge bowl of rice every now and then to ask if we wanted more rice. ^_^  Overall our meal was really pleasant and I was ecstatic to find a "diamond in the rough."  Good food is often hard to come by and Chitralada Thai really did prepare a great meal and for a good price as our check was about $50 to feed 4 people.  Our group was really pleased with our meal and we hope Chitralada continues to serve great Thai food to the community for years to come!


Chitralada Thai
Pembroke Pines
7908 Pines Blvd
(954) 964-7655

Beard Papa's (Aventura Mall)

     After my forays at Patisserie Chantilly in LA, I've been craving creme puffs!  However, not any plain Jane creme puff would sate my palate, I was looking for a creme puff which would blow my mind in flavor and texture.  So when I heard that Beard Papa's opened up shop in the Aventura  mall I was a foodie on a mission!  They're a pretty big deal in LA (or at least that's the impression I got), so they must be good, no?  I had missed out on trying Beard Papa's during my LA trip because of the tight schedule we had to keep, so I was excited to go out and try what they had to offer.  


     So one evening, after stopping by Hiro's for dinner we dropped by the Aventura mall before heading home.  I was a bit surprised that they only had a small kiosk type of area to work in (and it's a bit awkwardly positioned under an elevator), but you work with what you have.  

     I was all ready to try out every single custard flavor available for the creme puffs, sadly they only had two options that day: vanilla and strawberry.  They let me know that they always have the vanilla custard available and that they swap out the second flavor every week.  We decided to get a dozen creme puffs to go, half vanilla and half strawberry.  

     While they were filling our creme puffs up with custard to order, I took the chance to try out their mochi ice-cream.  I haven't seen so many options for mochi ice-cream in a very long time!   There were 10+ flavors, it's probably around 16 or so but I don't remember how many off the top of my head.  I ultimately decided upon passion fruit and I was not disappointed.  I <3 the slight chewy texture of the mochi contrasting with the smooth ice-cream.  That and I'm a total sucker for passion fruit.  <_<


     So we headed back home with our goodies in tow.  What was the final verdict?  Well, they weren't bad but they weren't the BEST creme puffs I've ever had.  Patisserie Chantilly's black sesame creme puffs blows Beard Papa's out of the water, there's just no comparison.  However, Beard Papa's creme puffs are still leaps and bounds above your average creme puff.  The puff was light, flaky, and delicious (probably would have been more light and flaky if we had eaten them right away and not driven home).  The custard was smooth and flavorful, however it was a bit thicker than I would have liked.  Most importantly though they weren't heavy handed on the sugar!!  I know I've said it before, but my favorite desserts are ones which satiate my sweet tooth without leaving me in a diabetic coma.  


    The group consensus was that we enjoyed the vanilla more than the strawberry custard, but that was simply out of preference.  I'll be back to Beard Papa's to try the other flavors such as coffee and green tea (I really really want to try the green tea one).  It's just a matter of finding the time to drive over to the Aventura mall.  X_x  

Beard Papa's

19501 Biscayne Blvd

Aventura, FL, 33180

305-682-8580

Menchie's (Davie - University Drive)

4/10/11 - Menchie's Frozen Yogurt


     After a long evening of typing notes for class in between watching my friends play a rousing game of Carcassone, we decided to check out the Menchie's which had just opened up down the street from the dorms.

     Now, my group of friends usually frequents the Menchie's out on Pines Boulevard. However, that's a good 15-20 minute drive from campus! Honestly I've been to a few of these self-serve yogurt places before and I still don't understand the appeal. Perhaps as one of my colleagues stated," Maybe you just haven't developed your yogurt taste yet." And honestly it's a sentiment I might have to agree with, frozen yogurt has never really tickled my fancy.

     After trying an assortment of the available flavors, I ended up filling a portion of my cup with mango tango sorbet and the raspberry pomegranate sorbet. I really wasn't wow-ed by any of the current frozen yogurt flavors, they were either over-powering in flavor or underwhelming. The sorbets however were made quite well!  


     There's a plethora of toppings to choose from, ranging from fresh fruit, candies, granola, marshmallow fluff,  etc.  Basically if you can think of it, it's probably there.  However, since it's a self-serve yogurt place, you need to be mindful of how much you're adding in your cup because you pay by how much your cup weighs.  I went for some strawberries, kiwi, and mochi.  <3 for Mochi!

     Both sorbets were light and fruity and the fruit toppings were fresh.  The raspberry pomegranate had just the right balance of tart and sweet and the mango tango sorbet flavor was just spot on. The mango tango sorbet was probably my favorite of the two flavors, since it was sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. I always take issue when things are just inundated with sugar, but the many tango sorbet was the epitome of awesome, wonderfully balanced.  


     One of the nifty things that we noticed is that this Menchie's has a cute study room-esque area which is separated from the main dining area by a glass partition. The "chalkboard" really doesn't seem very functional as wiping off the chalk from the chalk board paint just seems to smudge everywhere. X_X However, it's still a completely cute idea. The owners said they wanted to put up a flat screen so students could hook up their laptops to it to show power points and perhaps make the wifi-accessible to the public, which is always cool.

     Though I'm not a huge fan of frozen yogurt I'm sure it's going to be a great spot for students to stop by late at night when they want something sweet.   After all it's open until 11pm or midnight, depending on what day you go.  Later on if there's public wifi and that side room actually does end up being sort of a "quiet zone" I can totally see it being a great place to study (sometimes you just get stir crazy sitting in the library or your dorm room).  

     I'm sure one day I'll find a frozen yogurt flavor at Menchie's that I enjoy, since they do have a rotation of over 100 flavors. Sadly there's no set time frame on the rotation of flavors, it sounded like it was based on demand. For now though, I'll stick to the sorbets. ^__^


Menchie's 
4900 S. University Drive, Suite #103
Davie, FL 33328
(954) 680-6499



Update 5/8/11 - I finally found a frozen yogurt flavor that I enjoyed immensely!  <3 for praline!

Hiro’s: Yummy Specials! (February Edition)

Since we’ve been trekking down to Kendall almost every Monday for skating, we’ve also been frequenting Hiro’s Yakko-San every evening also. So I’ve just decided to update a monthly post with the new specials that we try. ^_^ Mmm…now onto the yummy goodness!


Seafood Kushi Katsu: Chilean Sea Bass, Scallops, and Shrimp.

What I imagined this dish to be and what it actually was were on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I was thinking this was going to be some delicious amalgamation of sea bass, scallops, and shrimp mixed together into a patty shaped croquette. However, it was just each item separately breaded and lightly fried. I was sort of disappointed, but the dish was decent. The different types of katsu were good (nothing spectacular) and the accompanying horseradish sauce was nothing short of amazing. I typically hate horseradish sauces, but this was light in flavor without the lingering sour aftertaste that usually accompanies horseradish. However for the price we paid, I think we’ll pass on this dish the next time around.


Salmon Kama Miso Yaki: Grilled Salmon cheek, marinated with miso sauce.

The salmon was perfectly cooked and considering the cut was the collar, the meat was extremely tasty. The flesh was buttery, moist, flavorful, and even seemed to melt in your mouth. Wow, is all I have to say.


Okonomiyaki: basically a Japanese “pizza” made with cabbage and batter, topped with okonomiyaki sauce and special mayonnaise.

This item isn’t on the specials menu or their regular menu. However, if you ask really nicely and the kitchen isn’t busy, they will make this traditional Japanese dish for you. There’s a special batter and the base is made with cabbage traditionally, what they add after that is up to how they feel. ^_^ As I said it’s a “Japanese pizza.” When I make it at home, I usually add scallops and shrimp to my batter. It’s not bad and you should definitely try out the dish if you have ever wanted to see what all the commotion over it is about.


Kimchee Hotpot: shredded daikon radish, tofu, pork, sesame oil, ponzu.

This dish is always on the menu, this is just the first time I’ve tried it out. The hotpot is a single serving ceramic bowl filled with semi-spicy goodness. There’s enough to eat to satisfy one person or to share with a few people, if everyone just wants a small bowl of soup to taste. To be honest the kimchee isn’t as spicy as I expected it to be, but it definitely has a slight kick. I was cold that day, so it was a great way to warm up. ^_^ Would I order it again, maybe, but probably only if it was cold day out.


Batan Ebi Heads Kara-Age: Simple crispy fried shrimp’s heads.

This isn’t your average dish and definitely caters to a more sophisticated palette than usual (only because your average person would cringe in fear). But those who brave enough to try this dish will probably find themselves pleasantly surprised. Most Asians eat shrimps with their head still on and depending on how it’s cooked, sucked the oishii goodness out of their heads rather than eat them whole. The “head meat” is rich in flavor and has a creamy texture, definitely one of my favorite parts of the shrimp. Since it’s fried you can just pop these right into your mouth and eat it all! The shell is crisp and light enough to be easily chowed down upon.


Kabocha croquettes: Japanese sweet pumpkin with beef

Sadly this dish was one of the few that we’ve had at Hiro’s that was not to our liking. The pumpkin croquette was overwhelmingly pumpkin in taste and had very little beef within. We were hoping for a bit less pumpkin and a bit more beef to add a bit more complex flavor.


Black pork belly grilled

As described above, but definitely was left wishing for more pork on the dish. =) Was pretty yummy as an appetizer to share with everyone.


So those are my experiences this month with Hiro’s. ^_^ Hope you enjoy hearing about them!

Hiro’s Yakko-San
17040 W. Dixie Hwy.
North Miami Beach, FL 33160
(305) 947-0064

Pizza Rustica: Late Night Pizza Cravings (Delray Beach)

After we closed up Phas3 and before we went to pick up our friend from work, we stopped by Pizza Rustica on Atlantic Boulevard for food. It was around 11pm and most eateries, besides some fast food chains, were closed.

Thankfully, Pizza Rustica is open until 2am everyday of the week! Sweet, no? The specialized in Roman style rectangular pans of pizza with tons of toppings, both traditional and exotic.

A slightly more detailed shot of some of the pizzas:

The HUGE oven that they bake their pizzas in!

So even though we came in during the late evening, the place was still bustling! It’s just a testimony to how good their pizza is. Ok, that and the pizza place is right by the beach so after a night stroll by the water it’s a great place to grab a bite.

So, this isn’t your typical take out pizza. The quality is great, the dough is made fresh every day. If you come in late enough in the evening, like us, you can even watch them toss and prepare the dough for the coming day. The crust has a slight herby taste to it, it’s pretty delicious even if I do prefer thin crust (which they don’t do).

I’m sorry for the sad quality of pictures to ensue. We ordered to go and the pictures were taken of the pizzas in their boxes. XD Gomen nasai…

The pizzas range from $3.50 to $5.00 for a slice and the slices themselves are pretty large. I never end up eating an entire slice (which is always cut into fourths for you) and take half of it home to eat it for lunch the next day.

Today I wanted to go for something a bit more on the healthy side, so I tried out their salad pizza.

It’s a regular slice of cheese pizza topped with mixed greens, spring mix, or spinach tossed with tomatoes, onions, and your choice of dressing. I picked mixed greens (my favorite!) with their homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Honestly this has taken the cake as my favorite slice of pizza from Pizza Rustica. The salad is light, refreshing, and the balsamic vinaigrette was the perfect punctuation to the salad.

My love ordered the Cajun shrimp pizza.

He’s such a sucker for corn and they even put extra corn on the slice for him! The pizza had shrimp, mozzarella, parmesan, roasted green peppers, red onions, corn, and cajun seasoning. It’s a delicious combination and just slightly spicy (which we usually accentuate with more hot pepper flakes ^_^).

So for late night noms on Atlantic Avenue, Pizza Rustica is pretty oishii!

Pizza Rustica
1155 E. Atlantic Ave.
Delray Beach, FL
(561) 279-8766