Rangers Lose Series 4-3...Out of Playoffs

This just stinks. No offense.

Rangers Beat Capitals and go up 3-1

It was a different Madison Square Garden tonight. Although it started the same, with John Amaranti singing the Nations Anthem while the balloons came down and the Rolling Stone's "Gimmee Shelter" the opening music, it was clear from the get go that things were going to be different throughout the game. The Rangers themselves were clearly more aggressive. The two back to back goals by Paul Mara and Chris Drury gave the fans hope that the Rangers could hold it together and win the game. The crowd was clearly more fired up as well this game, and each lousy call by a referee (of which there seemed to be many, particuarly as concered Sean Avery) was greeted with progressively louder chants of "a*&#ole" and of course, my favorite "THESE REFS SUCK." Its not family time at the playoffs.

Well despite the many shots by the rightly feared Ovechkin, Lundqvist saved the Rangers (again) and we head into Friday with the hope that round two will be the Rangers to play!

Rangers Lose At Home: Oh Well

I was not initially excited for the playoffs.  The Rangers didn't look great, Washington looked good and that was that.  But then the Rangers won two on the road, and things looked promising.  Oh well.

The first tipoff that things were different came as you went into Madison Square Garden.  Rather than playoff towels, we got these silly phallus shaped "Ranger" balloons with little blue lights at the end.   By the end of the evening, I saw several of them whiz across the Garden: very safe.  We were assured by the people handing the balloons out that towels were returning Wednesday.  Still, it marked the beginning of the recession as far as I was concerned (OK, maybe thats pushing it, but it did feel cheap).  They still threw balloons from the sections above mine (I think its section 408.  This year they also threw streamers.  

After that the hockey began and everything went downhill.  I await Wednesday.

Adventures in Queens: Hahn Ji Bach Korean Restaurant

I will finish blogging about Israel at some point. But first, back to New York. More specifically Queens, where the family and I headed off with friends to discover a new Korean Restaurant. I researched a bit using Yelp and Chowhound, and then, after driving to Murray Hill, pretty much semi-randomly found Hahn Ji Bach (spelled Ham Ji Bak on Yelp) right near the LIRR Murray Hill Train Station Stop at 41-08 149th Pl (NOT STREET!!!), Flushing, NY 11355 (718-460-9289). There are two other Korean restaurants flanking it, and several on the next block. If you drive, all three of these places have valet parking.

After tossing the keys to the valet (I felt so very Los Angeles) we headed in and sat down in this compact, traditionally decorated Korean Barbecue. I read on Yelp that the specialty was pork, and we proceeded to order several different pork barbecues, including spicy pork, pork belly, and some form of piece of pork. Although they have an English menu, we were clearly one of the few non-Korean speaking clients to have patronzed Hahn Ji Bach, and figuring out exactly what we ordered was a little difficult. Everyone was very nice though, and we received instruction on how to put together our barbecued meats. For example, pork belly should be eaten with a piece of kimchee, while the spicy pork was wrapped in a paper thin slice of daikon radish. The piece of pork was served with, garlic powder, sesamee oil and daikon radish. It was all rather good, as were the seemingly endless plates of beef short ribs eaten by the children, all of whom appear to be on an extended and expensive growth spurt.

Seafood pancake was good, and the bimbambop so so. The kim chee to start was good and more diverse than most Manhattanites are used to.

The lovely wife declared the place a winner and worthy of a repeat and I agree. The only problem is that the two restaurants flanking Hahn Ji Bach looked pretty good too, as did the few places down the street. Maybe I'll stop at Murray Hill the next time I take the LIRR!

Fatty Crab:Glitz on the Upper West Side

The lovely wife stopped by the new Fatty Crab at 2170 Broadway (Tel: 212.496.CRAB) before we went away and made a dinner reservation for 8! people for when we came back.  Which meant that we ate there last night.  Actually 9 of us ate there.  I have to admit to admiring the lovely wife's forethought: I wanted to go and the idea of having many people at such a restaurant seemed like a great idea.  And in fact, I had a great time with my friends last night.  But that's despite the food at Fatty Crab. 

Fatty Crab is cool looking, but so noisy that no one in their fifth decade of life could hear the person next to them.  The servers are all extremely friendly, but, at least last night, they didn't have their stuff together.  Utensils arrived well after the food.  And the food...well the food is fine but nothing to run back for.  Almost everything tastes like dan dan noodles from a Schiuan restaurant at considerably more cost.  Some of the good things included Chinese Broccoli with salted fish, the short rib Rendang, and the wonton Mee.  The "Fatty Crab" I found to be greasy and overcooked.  Other dishes, such as the pork buns, were overpowered by heat.  

So, while I had a great evening, and the place is fun (even if you can't hear a thing) I am not running back.  I'll head downtown to 229 9th Avenue (24th Street) to Grand Sichuan, or if I can, out to Queens!

Chololetta, Shokoletta,Chocolata or, of course,שוקולטה

Greetings from Rosh Pina, where the lovely wife's extended family held an amazing reunion of cousins. Rosh Pina is in the heart of the Galilee, where we were staying in a beautiful resort called Mizpe-Hayamin. This hotel is not overly child friendly, however, and we needed to find somewhere else to have our large reunion. Our Israeli relatives made reservations at שּוֹקולטה and we were glad they did.

I couldn't really find the right spelling in English of this place, although they do have a passable english menu and most of the staff spoke english rather well. So I will stick with the hebrew name or use Chocoletta, which I think is the closest. It is located on the top of the hill of the old part of Rosh Pina, near the synagogue. It may take a little effort to find. The phone number is 04-6860219. The restaurant itself has the feel of "old Israel," with vaulted ceilings and lots of stones.

The specialty of the house is clearly dessert, of which there are many. Boy 2 had a layered chocolate mousse cake which he particularly liked, and a chocolate pie was also quite good. The dinner was good as well. It was dairy, and I liked the shakshouka (of course, I always like good shakshouka). Other things that people liked included the pasta dishes (you could choose your pasta and your sauce!), and salads.

So, if you end up in the Galilee, and want a cool place to eat and drink (and of course, have dessert) that is not full of tourists, try Chocoletta (שוקולטה ). You'll be glad you did.

Sammy's(Sami) Restaurant in Jerusalem: "That Place is Good"

Aha. Back. I have some catching up to do. Its been a bit crazy the past few days, and then I went to Jordan sans computer. Thankfully I am back, sunning in the beach at Eilat, and trying to write about some of the things that I ate.

We seem to have spent most of this trip eating Schwarma or falafel, and I thought I would write about the place that I enjoyed the most of this list (although I really didn’t have a bad one, and have discovered a new, if fattening, taste for laffah, the large flat bread that these products are rolled instead of the smaller, healthier pita.

Sammy’s in Jerusalem is located right near the Mahane Yehuda Market. It is kosher. Sammy’s, which half looks like it belongs in Jerusalem and half in the old Lower East Side, has a full menu of falafel, schwarma, schnitzel and chicken liver. But they also have “baby chicken,” which I think is Cornish hen, as well as goose liver, which is foie (except that is served in bulk on a plate). All is good. The mezze are excellent as well. I even liked the kebob’s, which I have usually find somewhat dry in Israel. The only weak spot is the chips, which are soggy fries at best.

So, even if you’ve never wondered why people prefer hamburgers to schwarma, its worth trying out Sammy’s in Jerusalem. A worthwhile trip!

addendum: clearly i mispelled Sami's name as Sammy.  My bad.  I wondered why I couldn't get the address and phone number in this most connected country...here it is.
Sami
Agrippas St. 8
Machane Yehuda/Nachlaot
02-625-0985
Sunday to Thursday, 11:00 to 2:00