The New Jersey Foodhound™

One thing I've noticed over the years it’s that people tend to have very strong opinions about food. One of these opinions I have found quite interesting is whether or not potatoes belong on sandwiches. I’ve come here to tell you today that yes, potatoes do belong on sandwiches – mostly. Potatoes on a sandwich is by no means a new idea, even Elvis is rumored to have enjoyed this delicacy from time to time . I think though, what many describe as the problem with a potato-ed sandwich is that it’s just too starchy. The carb-on-carb structure is just too much for some people, too singular no matter what else accompanies it. Don’t get me wrong, if you are counting your carbs it’s probably something you shouldn’t do. We aren’t talking about health food here. But, if you have never tried it, or are just hating the idea for its own sake, I beg that you reconsider and at least try it once – your taste buds just might thank you. Now, potatoes can’t be placed on every sandwich, and cer...

Hand pulled noodles are bangin', slammin', crackin', they're the bees knees, the cream of the crop and also top of the class. There are a number of places around the city where hand pulled noodles can be found, and a lot of them are very good. One of my personal favorites is located off the beaten path, just north of the N line in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. Wong Good Hand Pull Noodle is exactly as the name suggests, good, hand-pulled, noodles. Duh. The Grub: Now, if you ask me what they serve here, I'd have to answer that question with a question by saying "Did you not hear their name?" If that somehow doesn't clear things up, or you just want a bit more specificity, let me elaborate. Wong has a long list of dishes that use either their fried, or boiled hand pulled noodles as a base and adds some trimmings. These could be veggies, pork, beef, fish, duck and even some of the offal bits. You can also have their noodles in soup if yo...

Growing up, one of my favorite things to drink was orange juice. Honestly, I may have had a bit of a problem as I would often choose OJ over water 90% of the time. Probably lucky to still be alive. After solidifying what could charitably be called an addiction to citrus flavors, I rarely drank anything that didn't feature the sweet-and-sour flavor I had come to love. Then one day, I found what many (mainly myself) have come to call the king of all citrus drinks, the rare and ever sought after - Five Alive . Like a fruit-drink ghost, it has appeared in my life a number of times and vanished as quickly as it came. Bodegas, small grocery stores, the one off chain while on vacation - it has been spotted in a number of places but, the moments are fleeting. For those not in the know, Five Alive is a blend of 5 citrus juices created by Minute Maid under the Coca-Cola corporation. It combines orange, grapefruit, lemon, lime and tangerine into one of the best god-damn ...

New Jersey is a pretty great place to grow up, a little tough a times, but you wont hear anyone complain about a lack of things to do, see, and eat. Emphasis on the eat part. Contrary to popular belief, it’s a very diverse state both from an ethnic point of view and a culinary one. One very present diaspora around the NYC area especially, is that of the Italian-American. It is important to note that the Italian American is not exactly an Italian. Furthermore, if you ask a European Italian, they will claim Italian-Americans bare very little, if any, resemblance to their name sake back home. I will go ahead and say, the latter could best be explained as egocentric posturing on behalf of a group afraid of tainting their very carefully guarded legacy. That said, I feel it may be best to describe them as two sides of the same coin. With the presence of so many Italian-Americans, one becomes keenly aware of the practice, nay, the skill, of debate and argument within t...

As you may or may not have heard, there is a long standing debate in New Jersey that has torn apart family and friends, ruined relationships and threatened the harmonic fabric of our very existence. Is this debate political? No, not in the slightest. Does it have to do with our schools? Nope, not at all. Is it about our beloved shore and how certain TV shows have made us look bad? It should be, but no, no it is not. The debate my friends, is whether or not we have decided to call an insanely delicious pork product by one name, or another. I'm referring of course to the long standing debate: Pork Roll or Taylor Ham? Now, depending on where you are currently located, the answer to this question is decidedly simple. However, I think it begs a closer, more analytical look and some historical context. Pork Roll is recognized as being developed in 1856 by one John Taylor of Hamilton Square, New Jersey and originally sold as "Taylor's Prepared Ham"...

I love pizza, so you can imagine how thrilled I must have been when I moved to Staten Island. An island filled with Italian Americans, in New York City? They would have to make the best pizza in the world right? Well, as it turns out, the search for really good pizza was long and fraught with the perils of a terrible meal. Until that is, we found Pizzeria Giove , which ended up serving me one of the best pizzas I have ever had. If you're a pizza lover like me, I stress that you should check it out. The Grub: Where do I start. Well, first Pizzeria Giove is technically an Italian restaurant and a pizzeria. What I mean by that is, there is a large selection of stuff on the menu, pretty much every Italian appetizer or entree you could want out of any conventional Italian restaurant. Having tried a number of the dishes I can they are all good, but that's not what were here for. You can get fried calamari and spaghetti somewhere else. Here, you should be getting ...

I hate to say that I use Yelp far more often than I should. Not to sound like too much of a grandpa, but I remember a day when you would see a new restaurant and try it out. That simple. Maybe you heard about it before, maybe you hadn't, that didn't really matter so much. You were hungry and in the mood to try something new, and those were the only real thoughts that mattered. I'm happy to say those exact thoughts brought me to the aptly named Dominican Food Corp. also known as R&A Deli . The Grub: R&A is one of those hot table joints with a back kitchen constantly replenishing the food in the front. If you've spent any time in the NYC area, you've probably already been to a place like this before. If you haven't, or if you're looking for a new spot like I was, then stop in here and grab something. In my humble opinion, the food here is some of the best you'll get in its price range. Head to the end of the counter and tell...