Eat Like Ushi

After the joy of Hattie B's (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hattie-bs-hot-chicken-nashville-07-2021), it was serendipidous that I found on Google maps that there was a branch of Prince's in the foodcourt off Broadway. I didn't want to make the trek all the way down south to the original Prince's, and even though the Google ratings of this branch aren't particularly great, I had to try for myself.

After a night in the honkytonks, a bit of fried chicken to wash down the alcohol seemed like a Nashville thing to do.

Prince's was located in the upstairs food court. It was a Wednesday night so not very busy but a short queue was at Prince's, and nowhere else in the foodcourt. I hoped it would be as good as the main branch and competitive to Hattie B's. The menu is quite limited and so I ordered wings hot (given my Hattie experience that hot level). It was slightly hot but it's very obvious that there was not much spicing at all. Also it was definitely not cooked fresh as the wing meat itself was only warm, far from a freshly fried piece. The fries were decent. But charging $2 for a tablespoon of coleslaw was disgraceful. 

I would suggest everyone join the line for Hattie around the corner instead. I would consider going to the original place if I'm ever in Nashville again, but that's a longshot maybe on many fronts

The pure inspiration for me going to Nashville was for the fried chicken. Yes, I read later about the honkytonks and party vibe (endless bachelorette parties apparently) but it was the chicken predominantly. My first Nashville chicken was from Belle's (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/belles-hot-chicken-melbourne-02-2016) and their subsequent spinoff/copycat in Geelong (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/the-hot-chicken-project-geelong-08-2016).

I looked up recipes online and found one from Belle's and one from their inspiration by Sean Brock. I cooked a hybrid version once and I have to say it was great. It would be the closest I would find in London. Reading online their were only really two names that came up for where to go in Nashville - Prince's and Hattie B's. Most of the reviews suggested Prince's was the more favourite although being located so far south I didn't want to make the journey there.

So Hattie B's in its convenient location on Broadway meant joining a hot midday queue in the sun enviously looking at the people inside. After a 15min wait I made it to the order counter, before finding a counter seat to watch the passing street traffic. I wasn't sure how hot to order and so ended up with a large dark meat (2 leg/thigh quarters) $12 at medium and one extra wing $2.5 at hot. The 2 sides chosen were pimento mac & cheese and creamy coleslaw. 

And the chicken was as good as I hoped. Spicy, crisp skin which crackled overlying a very good and tender chicken. Hot was definitely better than medium and brought it to life. It was a lot less salty than I expected, and not smokey like the heaped paprika from Belle's. It was just delicious.

After the disappointing Prince's, once we were driving away from Nashville there was another Hattie B's in West Nashville on our way out to Memphis. This time we ordered hot and were thankful for the last bit of bliss. Until the next time Hattie B. But for now Belle's will do fine.

We were looking for breakfast place before a self-guided walking tour and then my anticipation of finally having Nashville fried chicken for lunch. So it had to be healthy. Initially we tried D'Andrews Bakery although they had an unexpectedly limited number of options for a bakery.

Luckily the other option just down the road was a healthy little corner cafe set inside a modern business building. I'm sure the workers appreciated an easy option so closeby and a short downhill walk to all the life on Broadway.

- Fig toast (local seeded bread baked golden, layered with coconut oil, almond butter, sliced strawberries, dried figs, hemp seeds, local honey) USD6.99;
- Blue bae (blended cashew milk, bananas, blue spirulina, cashew butter, maca root, on top granola, strawberries, black currants, coconut flakes, hemp seeds, puffed brown rice, cashew butter, local honey) USD10.99 - refreshing and high quality ingredients. 

Overall excellent healthy (albeit a bit expensive) food and drink. Chai was nicely spiced and not too sweet. A good way to start before the rest of the day of alcohol and chicken.

In amongst NYC's brutally expensive banh mi (USD10+ each before tax/tips and all those other sneaky bits) is Joju at least giving some modern touches with their version.

Even though noone else was sitting inside on this weekday mid-morning, there were plenty of takeaway orders coming in and a massive series of bags had been set up presumably for the lunch rush.

Good Morning banh mi (1/2 a toasted baguette, mayo, daikon, carrots, cilantro) with egg and grilled Vietnamese sausage (aka nem nuong). It was a pretty small version and just not the correct bread. It just doesn't have the crisp shell and airy centre.

Op la platter (bread, 2 eggs, scallion oil, daikon, carrots, cilantro) with Vietnamese ham, caramel pork, grilled pork sausage, house sauce was a much better offering, like a deconstructed banh mi meets sunnyside breakfast. In particular the caramel pork as a chunky mince was deep, sweet and flavoursome.

I bit too expensive for my liking but a good platter meal in the end.

The classic breakfast bagel from NYC - something to try. I've never been a big fan of bagels to be honest. This place was a bit more creative than your average (I expect, without actually knowing) in its many cream cheeses, coloured bagels and massive list of fillings to pick from.

Pretty sure I had The Works (egg, hashbrown, sausage, bacon, cheese) USD8.5 and I can't remember what was in the rainbow bread.

In any case they were fine without being particularly special. The queues of people there (locals it appeared) seemed to suggest otherwise.

I'd heard about this Michelin-starred dimsum restaurant from Hong Kong when they opened in London. Due to many things including the price and never getting around to it, I never got around to it.

After 2+ weeks of Middle Eastern food in Egypt and Jordan, it was time to get some variety and NYC was a fine place for that. Asian was first on the list and having so many restaurants near us around Times Square, yumcha brunch at this well known name seemed a good idea.

The restaurant opened at 10am, and there was a queue forming already. By 11am the place was full. People really go early for their dimsum here.

The menu items are pretty standard in addition to their well known ones of baked pork buns and egg cake.

- Baked BBQ pork buns USD6 - their specialty rather than the usual steamed bao. I have to say I wasn't a fan of this Cantonese sweet bread;
- Steamed egg cake USD5.5 - definitely wasn't expecting this but this tower looking sweet bread is also something I have tried previously and not liked that much. What's with all the sweet?;
- Pan fried turnip cake USD5.85
- Deepfried dumplings with pork & dried shrimp USD5.85 - nice hot chewy dumplings the way I like it;
- Steamed rice roll with shrimp & Chinese chives USD5.95 - a bit stingy to have 2 prawns rather than 3. But I guess the price is no different to the other dishes to make up for it;
- Steamed dumplings with shrimp & chives USD5.95;
- Steamed shrimp dumplings USD5.95 - smallish but still ok.

Hit the spot at a slightly higher price. If I'd choose better next time and avoid their sweet creations, I'd be happier.

(It's not in my top restaurants, but because they do have a Michelin star I suppose I should add it to the list.)

A friend who ours (Cantonese who likes expensive Chinese food) now living in New York gave us a few options to meet over dinner. Her favourite was Uluh, although she had been there the night before already. Considering she told us she goes there 1-2x per week anyway, she was quite happy to go again (and they certainly recognise her) and it definitely had the most interesting menu of the places recommended.

I remember Chinese food up until about 12 years ago was basically Cantonese - it was only when I discovered Hunanese and Sichuan did I realise there is so much more (and better in my opinion) Chinese regional cuisine out there. Sichuan has been my favourite since then and I'm always happy to try a new place for this especially one with some more modern touches. Actually our waiter said the menu was very traditional, although I would have to say it is definitely different to the standard menus, nicer ingredient options, and prices to match (even for NYC).

A drink of cold Uluh soymilk with red bean and mochi USD12 was a nice sweet starter to the hot, humid NYC weather. The mochi was very gooey. Definitely not a traditional start.

- Woodear mushroom salad USD10;
- Lobster with salty egg yolk USD46 - I really like salty egg yolk coatings but most often find them on prawns or tofu. This fancy lobster version stood out and definitely needing to try once in my life. The coating was crisp and mildly salty and not enough to overpower the lobster flavour (maybe that's why the prawn versions seem more flavoursome in the coat?), the lobster meat was good although maybe a touch on the chewy side. Still nice;
- Mapo duck blood tofu USD20 - I was a little hesistant to order this, not so much for myself but for my fellow 2 diners who didn't seem sold on it. It's my partner's favourite Chinese dish (minus duck blood) and so wanted to see how they did it. I am so glad I did, because this remarkable dish had silken tofu that was texturally similar to the silken blood cubes (discernible by colour obviously and a more earthy flavour) in a spicy oily coat topped with spring onion and angel hair chillies. Simply the best version I've ever had and one of my favourite dishes ever eaten;
- Vegetarian dry pot USD26 - a simple dish ordered for more vegetables. This was an outstanding dish with perfectly balanced flavours of spice, numbing and savoury. The textures of soft fungus, chewy tofu skin and crunchy lotus was a wonder;
- Stirfried okra in XO sauce USD18 - more tastiness in a more savoury and chewy sauce. Excellent once again;
- Mango juice sago pomelo with mochi USD12 - a sweet ending to wash down the salt and flavour.

It ended up being way too much food for 3. I suppose I expected smaller serves because of the more upmarket menu. Also the strong heavy flavour means you eat less overall anyway. Looking at their online menu now I can see all prices have gone up by about $2 (or in the case of the lobster $12!!).

It is simply one of the best Chinese meals I've had. I wish we had a fridge/microwave so I could have taken the leftovers home myself. I would come back for that mapo duck blood tofu alone though. Until (if there is a) next time...

Once settled into our (near) airport hotel, it was time for the final meal in Jordan. I really wanted to go somewhere for traditional dishes like mansaf (https://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/rainbow-restaurant-wadi-musa-06-2021) but really just couldn't find anywhere online during my search. I suppose we could've gone into Amman proper, but I suppose a bit of laziness and also many reports of driving there being hectic (I wasn't too worried, probably just the lazy part mainly) kept us more local. A restaurant online (Arabic name only) showed pictures of beautiful pieces of chicken sitting on top of a massive amount of rice and that inspired me. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed (or absent - I can't remember which) despite walking up and down the street a few times.

This neon green building nearby seemed popular and lots of tables of young men were there. I wonder if they were workers finishing late or not. It did seem like the sort of place that taxi drivers would go and eat cheap and merry.

 The Turkish Restaurant is what it was called (although didn't know that from the outside). Google maps has over 1400 reviews so it must be alright. It felt as though tourists may not commonly be seen there, I guess with an Arabic only name online wouldn't help that. But they had a simple English menu so there must be some at least.

Half-Turkish chicken JD2.25, mashawi (kebab, meat) JD2.35 and lentil soup JD0.55 came. It was served with this paper thin bread that had been lightly touched with a red (not too chilli) oil. I also saw every other table get a plate of redness so I wanted one too. It was diced tomato and onion topped with I think I remember a mild chilli or harissa (or maybe it was tomato paste...).

Cheap, tasty and local (even if it is Turkish rather than Jordanian).