Archive for December, 2011

Sushi, the movie

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

With Christmas this coming weekend, we are pretty sure all of you are thoroughly bombarded with holiday “cheer”.  So, before the last of the Diners.org staff leave for the weekend we just want to show you this movie trailer of a sushi chef in Japan.

His sushi bar is part of the Tokyo subway, but his talent is so good he is considered to be a national treasure in Japan.  This documentary film covers the story of Jiro Sukiyabashi and it is claimed that you must make a reservation a YEAR in advance to have a chance of dining there.

The movie “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” comes out March 2012.

Until then, have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanza to all of you!

Editor’s Edit:  Diners.org will resume on January 2nd, 2012.  Enjoy the rest of 2011 and cheers for the brand new year of 2012!

Would you eat 2.5 kilometers worth of sushi?

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

We’re sure there are some of you out there who answered “yes” to the question in the headline.  Now, where can you find 2.5 kilometers or 1.55 miles worth of sushi?  Believe it or not, it isn’t in Japan.  No, you would have to go to Yekaterinburg, Russia to indulge yourself in this cucumber sushi roll.

In Soviet Russia, sushi ROLLS YOU, etc. etc. Image courtesy of EnglishRussia.com

What may look like rope in the above photo is actually sushi before it is cut up into the chunks you and I enjoy.

This may take a while. Image courtesy of EnglishRussia.com

Here it is in action:

To show how crazy this is, the 15-hour project took ” 60 chefs 1.5 tons of rice, 500 kg of cucumbers, 14 thousand pieces of nori and 25 kg of sesame.” (Gizmodo, EnglishRussia.com)  That’s one heck of a grocery list.

Everyone gets four pieces. FOUR EQUAL PIECES. EnglishRussia.com

The accountants out in the audience can start calculating how much this would cost.  No, I don’t think you can order this to go.

A commercial worth waiting for

Monday, December 19th, 2011

We’ve been covering a lot of alcoholic themes lately, but with the onslaught of Christmas feasting upon us the staff of Diners.org decided to give it one more go.  The following commercial is brought to you by a brew from Ireland…

If you look closely, they even represented the famous “second pour”.

For those of you who don’t know, a pint of Guinness that is poured from the tap is done in two stages.  The first pouring of Guinness only goes about three quarters of the way up the glass.  This allows the beer to settle before the second pour begins which preserves the creamy texture and head.

So, drink responsibly and hope you enjoyed the commercial as much as we did!

Free Burger King fries!

Friday, December 16th, 2011

We’re glad that caught your attention. In case you haven’t heard from the cries of a hungry populace today, Burger King is offering free samples of their new “thick cut style” french fries today December 16. By samples, we mean a VALUE SIZE order for one person per visit. Supposedly, this deal will run from midnight to midnight today, so as of this post you have 8 HOURS AND 16 MINUTES LEFT TO GO.

"Let my children remember the day of the great french fries slaying." Image courtesy of ibmtimes.com

According to the first article we were forwarded, the

“new fries are a thicker cut of potato, which creates a more fluffy and wholesome potato flavor on the inside but retains that golden-brown crisp on the outside. The fried coating keeps the fries hotter longer, and also adds a crunch texture to keep customers coming back for more. Burger King’s new fries contain 20 percent less sodium than the previous fries, and the company says they’re healthier because they’re cooked in trans fat-free vegetable oil, and don’t contain animal products.”

We’ll just have to see about that.

To find your nearest Burger King , click on this link for their Google Map locator.  We hope as many of you take advantage of this promotional as possible.

Rummi Bears

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

We’ve done thought experiments with food before.  Normally it’s for seeing which leftovers combined with canned goods can give us a cheap lunch.

But then there are the webcomic artists.  (Editor’s note: I must add that if you are not above the legal age to drink in your county that you must refrain from following the recipes and ideas in this article.)

Last week, we are linked by a reader about the idea of “Rummi Bears”.  Read on.

Comic courtesy of Greg Dean at Reallifecomics.com from 12/6/2011

Which inevitably led to:

Comic courtesy of Greg Dean at Reallifecomics.com from 12/7/2011

So, naturally we did some digging.  Much to our amusement, soaking Gummy Bears overnight in vodka or rum is not unheard of.  It even gets referenced on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

As well as having an entry on eHow’s “How to Make Vodka Liquor Gummy Bears”.  You are going to need the following ingredients (most of which you know already): Tall glass or mug, gummy bears, vodka or rum, and plastic wrap.

  1.  Buy a pound of gummy bears and put them in a tall glass or mug.
  2. Pour vodka into the glass of gummy bears until it covers the gummy bears.
  3. Cover the mug with plastic wrap and put the mug in the fridge for about five days. Don’t get afraid after two days or so when there is a lot of sugary goo that is some remnants of the sugar from the gummy bears mixing with some of the remaining vodka. This will go away after the four days of soaking in the fridge, and all that will be left will be giant soaked vodka gummy bears.
  4. You might also find some fruit-flavored vodka at the bottom of the glass. It might not look like something you would want to serve to others, but it will be just fine for drinking.

There are a lot of testimonies in the comments section about failure and success with “alcohol soaked Gummy Bears”, so it might take some trial and error.  Just try to do it sober.  Please?

Burger Combo at NYC Sliders

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Previously, Diners.org we visited NYC Sliders at the Clark Street station for the 2, 3 train.  Sheepishly, we did not review their food that time.  So naturally we return with hunger and a camera!

We also saw this sign on their counter. More about Seamless.com in a future article. The Seamlessweb.com link leads to the same page.

We went with a Cheeseburger combo with drink; which includes two cheeseburger sliders, fries, condiments, and a can of soda.  Out of the gates, our order got messed up and we received hamburgers instead of cheeseburgers.

Not pictured: cheesburgers

Aside from that, it wasn’t bad for $7.21 (including tax).  The hamburgers were well-done and tasty while there is literally a mountain of fries that comes with the meal.  Seriously, we think the amount of fries outweigh the burgers!

FRENCH FRIES OVERWHELMING!

Aside from getting hamburgers instead of cheeseburgers, the combo meal was top notch.  A member of our staff commented that the burgers reminded him of the old Big Mac taste back when he was a kid.  Except you know, smaller.

We're trying really hard not to do a White Castle joke.

Overall, we are quite satisfied with NYC Sliders.  Their menu also contain more grab-and-go foods other than hamburgers and cheeseburgers.  We’ll be back to try out more from their menu and with them located literally at the Clark Street station, this may be very soon.

NYC Sliders – Downtown Brooklyn, Clark Street Station

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

You normally won’t think to go inside a subway station to find someplace to eat, but NYC Sliders doesn’t care.

It was just the other day when we picked this up:

It's like picking up a quest!

Which led us here at the Clark Street Station (2, 3 train) at the Hotel St. George:

A hotel and a subway station all in one!

See? It is a subway station.

Where we found:

We'll let you guys caption this one.

At NYC Sliders, we met Stathis I. and George who work the counter and make the magic happen.

George and Stathis I. at NYC Sliders. That A rating means alot since they serve food in a SUBWAY STATION.

They don’t have a website other than their Yelp page which is here.  You can call them for delivery at (718)-855-8008 with a $10 minimum.   The easiest way to reach NYC Sliders is by taking the 2 or 3 train to Clark Street station.  Once you come out of the elevators, turn left and NYC Sliders should be on your right.

Sadly, we don’t have photos of the food.  So look forward to the next article about NYC Sliders as we sample their menu!

Airplane food death?

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

In a quite alarming sequence of events, Gizmodo and CNN both reported today about a family suing American Airlines and Sky Chefs for serving contaminated food that killed the husband/father.

It’s almost like a twisted version of the old 1980 Airplane! movie.  During a flight from Barcelona, Spain to New York City, USA Othon Cortes ate a chicken meal (those of you who watched the Airplane! movie, it was a fish dinner) which later caused him pain and then a cardiac arrest during the following flight from NYC to Miami, Florida.

The plane did an emergency landing in Norfolk, Virgina where Mr. Cortes was pronounced dead on arrival.

The Cortes family is suing both American Airlines and Sky Chef for “failing to properly maintain or prepare the food” (CNN).  There has been no comment from American Airlines but Sky Chef is claiming that they did not cater the food on the international flight from Barcelona to NYC.

Our hearts goes out to the Cortes family and we hope they find closure in this matter.