Maine: Nicky's Cruisin Diner - the best chicken fried steak ever

Alright so it might not be the best ever that I've had since this is only the first time that I had it, but still, it was quite bomb.

When J and I were in Maine, his cousins took us around to eat at places. Bangor, Maine is small but that doesn't mean they don't have good food. Nicky's is a great diner. The typical diner you would see in the movies of the 80s, kind of cool and retro.

The decor of Nicky's was extremely colorful. I mean you can probably spend hours looking at the driver plates on the wall, random hanging pinball machine and this photo booth which I have no clue if it works or not.

J had the Wolfman Jack ($7.99), extremely big breakfast. Well worth the price for so much food.

Ok, so my Chicken Fried Steak ($9.49) was extremely delicious. Maybe it's because I haven't had it before but it was just really dam good. Tasted like fried chicken wings without the bones. The gravy was perfect, I was always afraid it would be heavy and salty but it was literally just perfect. My favorite part would be to just dip the fried steak into the egg yolk. This is definitely one of the best brunch I've ever had.

I'm hooked now, onto chicken fried steak. I would totally order it again and again and again.

Nicky's Cruisin Diner
957 Union St
Bangor, ME 04401
(207) 942-3430

Teariffic Cafe - a really quick afternoon tea to get my nerves going

It's been a while since J and I came here and it's probably because we haven't had any time lately, not to mention it always seems packed when we walked by.

But this past Saturday it was quite empty, even around 1pm. Got a table in the right corner, yay for the wall because I can lean back. We ordered ourselves a drink and a plate to munch on to kill some time (I had an errand to run around 2, hence the quick tea-ing).

Usually this place is ran by waiters but that day, there were only 2 waitresses. J joked that the girlfriends had to substitute in for the guys...haha

The regular size Blackjack ($3.05) was something that J and I ordered a lot of back then, but haven't been for the past 2-3 years because it was too sweet. It's still sweet now. Our palettes changed a lot but I did want to recall some memories while drinking this, brings me back to high school.

This "exotic drink" as Teariffic quote it as, is on the sweet and sour side. It has blue curacao, strawberry syrup, lemon juice and honey - definitely taste the curacao and lemon juice more than anything and the color gives it that mysterious look. Wished it was more on the black side than blue to justify its name.

J wanted something hot, don't know why since it was humid that day. He ordered the Dragon Pearl Jasmine Tea ($4.50), really wasn't worth the price since it was just tea. For some reason I was hoping it would have some pearls like tapioca but dragon type...yeaaaa. We admit it was good tea, very fragrant but I wouldn't come to Teariffic to get this type of tea.

Deep Fried Chicken Strips ($3.25) is usually what we get when it comes to tea-ing. It just works really well as just a dish to munch on and shoot the breeze with another person. Plus, it's enough to share and let the time pass. This time around, the chicken strips tasted more like pork, maybe it is pork but it's disguised as chicken. It isn't as great as it once was but it had that nice crunch factor to it, so it wasn't too bad.

I guess so matter how bad Teariffic changes or screws up, I think we'll still come back because there's so many more options on the menu. It's also one of the few tea cafes in Chinatown that has a lot of seatings and is also really casual.

Teariffic Cafe
51 Mott St
New York, NY 10013
(212) 393-9009

Hong Kong: roast pigeon, fish collar, and mystery part of chicken

Edit: After much research and with a fantastic memory, I found out the name of this restaurant. It's called Golden City Kitchen aka 金城小廚.

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This is what happens when I don't log what I ate when I'm on vacation. I have no idea what I ate and where I ate it. At least I can look back and pay myself on the back knowing I ate something so entirely delicious.

It was a long walk from the MTR (their version of our MTA), like a really long walk. When J said it was far, I was like brushing it off and thinking we can do this measly walking, but it was farrr.

But, it was worth it.

Been ordering bottles of beer everywhere we go for dinner. Blue Girl wasn't as great as YanJing but still good (it's because they didn't have YanJing here and Blue Girl sounded cool). Hong Kong's beer is pretty light, is this why I see them drinking a 6-pack in their dramas like it's nothing?

Ok, challenging part here. I know this is from a chicken, heck I'm sure you can tell that it's some part of a chicken. Thing is, J and I have no idea what part! But it was really tasty, served cold with cucumbers and had a wasabi flavored dipping sauce. So odd but yet so good. The mystery part of the chicken was chewy and had a bite to it, almost like chicken feet.

Speaking of chicken feet, here they are. We didn't order them but it came as an appetizer? I think I only had one, they were the same consistency as the mystery part above but require a lot more work to eat.

One of main reason to visit HK, and a must get/eat would be the Roast Pigeon. Small delectable bird, if made correctly would probably be the best bird you'll ever have. The skin is crispy with chunks of meat, flavored perfectly like any roast item. I can eat this all by myself and works great with beer. Only good when fresh, give it time and the skin starts getting wrinkly and chewy.

Last but not least and surprisingly good, salt and pepper fish collar. Packed with plenty of meat and the portions are huge. Our stomachs definitely shrank because we got extremely full after the meal. Good thing we decided to walk back to the MTR (tried getting a taxi but none were in sight and those that were, were already occupied, plus no bus).

I would come here again but the walking sort of puts it off. But if I'm ever in HK again, most likely come back because I need to get the name and address of this place...oh and the roast pigeon hehe.

Hill Country Chicken

J has been bugging me about this place for a while. He's wondering when he can take me here cause they make some kick-ass fried chicken. Knowing that I love fried chicken, he always ask me when would we go there together.

So finally on a night after a couple hours of shopping, we stopped by here. It's basically cafeteria style where you order at the counter and find a seat to munch on your food. Almost like, gourmet fast food. I had J do most of the ordering since he knows it better and I'll probably look like a fool if I was the once ordering it.

We had some special meal of the day which included 4 pieces of Hill Country Classic Fried Chicken, 2 sides, 2 pies, and a drink ($25). You might think it's a small meal for two but it just hits the spot.

Onto the Hill Country Classic Fried Chicken, the chicken that J has been waiting all along for me to try. Verdict? I didn't really like it. I was eating it and saying, why does it taste weird, like kind of sweet. He told me it's the spice rub. Yea, I don't like the spice rub. I like my chicken savory but the fact that the spice rub was on the sweeter side, kind of threw me off. This was a no go for me but they do have the Mama Els' Recipe which is just a regular fried chicken without the rub, definitely looking forward to that.

But overall, the chicken was cooked perfectly. Very moist on the inside and a nice crispy skin. Even the breast aren't dry which is always a good sign because you can easily overcook the breast.

For sides, I chose the Mac and Cheese while J chose something else. It was ok, nothing special but I did like how they use cellentani pasta instead of the generic macaroni.

J ordered the Cheesy Fried Mash Potatoes, indeed a killer side. It wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be and actually tasted quite light. Quite an excellent side.

The pie we both chose were the Banana Cream Pie and the Bourbon Pecan Pie which I didn't try neither because I was so full after the meal and I had J take them both home. So, next time I need to get Mama Els' Recipe and pies!

Hill Country Chicken
1123 Broadway
New York, NY 10010
(212) 257-6446

Pio Pio

After much deliberation and an hour of decision, we initially wanted to stop by a Thai place for dinner. But because Pio Pio was literally next door to our favorite Thai place, J made the final decision and Pio Pio it was.

Surprisingly "empty" on a Friday night, it wasn't as packed as I thought it would be. Pio Pio serve Peruvian food, specifically their Peruvian chicken. That's basically what the restaurant is known for and if you're a vegetarian, don't even bother to read on.

There were options on the menu where they already had a set meal which included the chicken and sides. J and I on the other hand chose to mix and match our own meals and ended up paying a bit less than the set priced meal.

I was shocked at how quick the food came out. The Peruvian Chicken ($16) was so delicious and tender. It was seasoned perfectly and roasted to perfection. I would come back just for the chicken, this is what I call a good roast chicken.

We also had Salchipapa ($5) which was just basically fried hotdog and yuca fries. I mean, I think it was hotdogs because it definitely tasted like it. Whatever kind of sausage it was, it was pretty good, oily good.

A side of Saffron Rice ($4) to go along with the entire meal. The rice was ok, there were parts that were a bit hard. I wished it was a bit more softer and fluffier but the saffron made it really fragrantful.

Last but not least, we had their Mixto Ceviche ($16) for appetizer but it came out with everything else. The seafood was like swimming in vinegar which can get really sour and tart. There were calamari, octopus, shrimp, fish, and some vegetables in there. I really liked the calamari the best because it didn't soak up too much of the vinegar sauce, all the seafood tasted fresh and had a nice "bite" to it like seafood should have when cooked just right.

Pio Pio is one of the places I would recommend to go at least once because their chicken is something worth trying. They also have lunch deals which is great for a solo meal if you don't want to come here for dinner and fork out the $16 for a whole chicken. Whatever the case might be, it's still a must try.

Pio Pio
210 E 34th St
New York, NY 10016
(212) 481-0034