Dona Mira

Dona Mira

Dona Mira - Café, Bar e Cultura

R. do Duque de Saldanha 431

4300-466 Porto, Portugal

Amy did a great job at finding restaurants before we left NJ.  She had a lead on a perfect cafe a few blocks from the hotel.  The hotel does not have a concierge, so the front desk staff had no clue what was in the neighborhood.

Rating Overview:     ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Food Quality	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		FOH Service	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Food Quantity	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		Food Service	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Food Preparation	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		Ambiance	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Food Presentation	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Notes

We used the hotel wifi to find the directions to Dona Mira.

  It is a friendly cafe with books and magazines to help you relax and enjoy your time there.  They also have a lovely outdoor patio out back.

One of the local Porto specialties is ‘Toasts.'

  I saw them on several menus around town.  We had a toast with poultry sausage, washed down with local beer.  Okay, I ordered something labeled ‘cider’ BUT it was really hard seltzer - I will not make that mistake again.

We finished with a coconut buttercream cake.

Pasta Buffet at the Firehouse

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Pasta Dinner at The Montauk Firehouse

Montauk Firehouse, 12 Flamingo Ave, Montauk, NY 11954

Tonight the Montauk PTA had a Pasta Buffet Dinner to support their Robert R. Fisher Scholarship Foundation. 

Notes

It has been a while since pasta was on our menu, so we decided to go and support the local PTA.  The event was at the Montauk Firehouse.

We got there shortly after 5: a good thing!  By 5:30 the joint was hopping!  It is not advertised, but it is okay to bring your own wine.

Shortly after the 5pm start

By 5:30 pm it was full up

Once seated, eager students rushed to bring us the mixed green salad.

After that, there were no instructions, but we got up to get ourselves drinks: Water, 4C Sweetened Powdered Tea mix, or a Powdered Mix Lemonade.

Then to the buffet for the Pasta!  

The choices were Penne in one of three sauces:  Alfredo, Bolognese, or Marinara.  Additionally, there was a Beef Stroganoff on Egg Noodles. 

These were served by parents, much used too used to servings for growing students… or maybe they thought we all needed to carbo load for running a marathon tomorrow morning.

Finally, we headed to the dessert station:  Brownies and John’s Drive-In Ice Cream with a choice of toppings.

...

Burgers and Pasta In Hoboken

Antique Bar and Bakery

122 Willow Avenue

Hoboken NJ 07030

201-683-70028

www.antiquebarandbakery.com

Listed as one of the best burgers in NYC by Eater and in Hoboken on Yelp* and Reddit, we thought we should give the Antique Bar and Bakery a try.  We had 5 pm reservations on a Tuesday night, something that was optional the night we were there.  They currently have outdoor seating - you should REALLY consider it will eliminate some of the problems I experienced; for the endurance of the lack of attention to detail, you are on your own.

Rating Overview:     ★ ★ ★ ★

Food Quality	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		FOH Service	★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Food Quantity	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		Food Service	★ ★
Food Preparation	★ ★ ★ ★ ★		Ambiance	NONE
Food Presentation	★ ★ ★ ★

Notes

We arrived about 10 minutes before the kitchen opened at 5 pm, the dining room was empty, and we were seated right away.  The first thing we noticed we the lack of light;

indoor seating is perfect if you think it is acceptable to pull out
your phone and use the flashlight to read the menu. 

Next, the music was blaring making communication between diners and waitstaff at best painful.  We asked about turning down the music and were essentially told “nothing can be done  - that is the way it always is.” (about an hour later, the volume WAS turned down … maybe someone else more directly insisted that they be able to actually hear the other people at their table).

Using the menu as an ear trumpet,

I think I heard the waiter introduce himself and he felt the need to rank his favorites of the specialty cocktails without commentary on flavor profiles.  That was as helpful as if he explained his favorite sodas were Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Red Bull, Strawberry Fanta, and Mr. Pibb.  Looking at the specialty cocktails on the menu, it is evident that the mixologist owns stock in Domino Sugar - simple syrup is their go-to ingredient -  so the previous sugary soda analogy is pretty spot on. 

It was so hard to hear his insights over the music, he might have been telling me his Super Bowl picks. 

When my “All the Way” showed up, it had a straw that appeared to be designed for a Las Vegas Yard Cocktail Glass almost tipping over the glass with its massive length.  I am sure the bartender has a knife, but apparently, is not trained or caring to pay attention to detail or presentation.

We placed our order and were led to order the Bread Pudding at the beginning with everything else - like you would a souffle.

We started with the “PLANTAIN N'DUJA CROQUETTES w/ Plantain, Fresh Mozzarella, N'Duja Sausage, toasted mint, oregano, & orange.”  It was pretty good and made excellent with the pickled peppers and the aioli.  We asked for the last croquette and the aioli to be packed to go. The assistant waiter brought a box AND A LITTLE CUP for the aioli!  We got to pack it ourselves in the dark.  Of course, that is when the entrees arrived making the table a little crowded as we juggled packing to-go boxes, dirty dishes, and the arriving entrees.

For the entrees, we had the LASAGNA EDGES w/ Burnt butter mushrooms, hard herbs & cheese toast.   The Edges were great, they were cheesy rotini.  The mushrooms were full of earthy umami.  The cheese on the bread might have been a bit too much cheese for an already cheesey entree.

We also had the ANTIQUE RIB-EYE BURGER - Marinated dry-age rib-eye topped with Special Sauce, Homemade Pickles, Smoked Cheddar Cheese on a Kaiser Roll served w/ Worcestershire Fries. [NJ.com highlights their birria burger, but the menu did not list that, or at least in the dark, it was not apparent]

Can you FIND the burger?

A small detail that would have passed if all other details had not been garishly flaunted, but I assumed the Burger was the star of my entree, but placing it on the table with the fries and pickles prominently front and center made me question the confidence of the chef in their ability to cook a burger correctly.  No need to worry, the Burger was cooked to perfection.

By now, about 5:30-5:40, three other parties had been seated in our area:  All used their flashlights to read the menu.  This is about the time the music was turned to a reasonable volume, so I was able to overhear the waiter (while at the next table) again rank his favorite sugary cocktails and explain that if they did not order the Bread Pudding in advance, it could take 20 or more minutes when they did actually order it.

Another table needs the basic of light to read the menu

We DID order the Bread Pudding up front, so it was in the works when we again boxed our own leftovers.

The Bread Pudding was amazing.  Imagine in Close Encounter if Richard Dryfus used Bread Pudding instead of mashed potatoes. 

The top was dry and crisp.  The interior was warm and had a creamy semi-solid consistency.  The whole thing was dusted with sugar and served with a ramekin of warm Tuaca (spiced brandy) Caramel Sauce.  Unfortunately, the bottom was charred to a hard inedible crust - fortunately, the burnt flavor did NOT permeate the whole dish.  One might think that having made this a few times previously, the procedure would have been perfected.

To end the evening, the actual waiter brought us a to-go box for the remaining bread pudding, without the thought that we would need a container for the Tuaca Caramel Sauce… I went and got that from the kitchen myself - again, a lack of thought and attention to detail.

To review:  Eat outside in a quiet, well-lit protected area if you can.  Service and attention to service-related detail are probably as good as you can expect in most independent restaurants without a corporate-mandated indoctrination and training program.  Most importantly, The food taste and preparation are excellent.  

Impromptu Happy Hour

Fork Hill Kitchen

201 16th Street

Union City, NJ 07087

About 3pm, Amy found a social media invite from one of our neighborhood faves, Fork Hill Kitchen:  “Impromptu Happy Hour 2pm-4pm.”

. Notes

The day was beautiful and we had no other plans, so we walked around the block.  Problem:  The kitchen closes at 3:30 (before reopening for dinner at 5:30).

We each had Guava Bellinis

and the  FHK Burger:  Double Patty, Double Cheese, Pickles, Caramelized Onions, Sauce, Served with Housemade Fries.

It was very satisfying.  Personally, I would rather have a double SIZE patty that could be less well done in the middle, but hey, it hit the spot.

#UnionCity #NJ #Burgers #ForkHillKitchen #HappyHour

The Intrepid Museum and Dinner at Becco

My father and I took a field trip into NYC today.  Mainly to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum have dinner with Amy, and partly to experience the bus commute from the house for his future reference.

Having taken the bus at the end of the block to Port Authority in NYC, we walked the 7 blocks to the Museum.

Starting with the Sea part... The Intrepid is a decommissioned aircraft carrier that had been in active service from April 26, 1943 to March 15, 1974.

The aircraft carrier's island contains the bridge
and command center for flight-deck operations

There is also the USS Growler on the north side of the pier.

The only American guided missile submarine open to the public,
the USS Growler offers a close-up inspection of the
once "top-secret" missile command center.

Not part of the museum, but on the south side of the ship, is the Manhattan Community Boathouse on Pier 96 with free kayak rentals.

Free kayaking in Hudson River Park

For the Air part, there are many fighter planes

And a British Airways Concorde

This Concorde first flew August 25, 1976, and crossed
from Europe to the United States in under 3 hours.

And finally Space

Barney and a replica of the Mercury Space Capsule

The first space shuttle, Enterprise, never made it to space: it was not capable of spaceflight as it was built without engines or a heat shield, but here it is on the flight-deck of an aircraft cattier in NYC.

With the Space Shuttle Enterprise

After an exciting visit to the museum, a short walk to Becco to meet Amy.

We dined curbside, as is the practice in this Age-of-COVID

Barney's father, with a well-deserved Prosecco after the museum 

Becco is one of Lidia Bastianich's Restaurants and has a great wine list of $35 bottles.

Becco is known for its $29.95 unlimited table side service of Executive Chef William Gallagher's Three Daily Pasta Preparations. You start with your choice of Isalate Cesare or Antipasto Misto, followed by the three unlimited kinds of pasta.  BUT THERE IS MORE!  It is Restaurant Week here in NYC, so for an additional $10, you get a glass of Prosecco and a “Choice of 1 Secondi”.  So let's start!

The main Antipasto Misto plate...
add to this some octopus, ricotta with honey,
fresh peas, and sweet potato.

Tonight the three unlimited kinds of pasta are:

FETTUCCINE with Veal Bolognese and Fresh Peas;
MEZZI RIGATONI with Tomato Sauce, Fresh Basil, Black Olives, and Onion;
Potato GNOCCHI with Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce.

For the Secondi

Trancio Di Salmon
(Pan-seared salmon with roasted potatoes,
green beans, and red onions
with grainy mustard vinaigrette)

Costolette de Maiale alla Maniera dello Chef
(Chef Gallagher’s signature brined, grilled pork chops
served alla pizzalola {green, red & yellow peppers,
green pepperonici, sweet & hot cherry tomatoes
& extra virgin olive oil})

Or the [sorry no image] Pollo alla Milanese (Pan-fried breaded chicken breast topped with arugula, cherry tomatoes and red onion tossed with sherry vinaigrette and extra virgin olive oil).

After all of that, there was no room for dessert.