Good Eats in the North East

Just recently I flew up to the North Eastern part of the US to visit my sister, family, and some friends. Going to and coming from the North East involved flying, but my time on the ground I spent in an Enterprise rental car. My first stop was in Long Branch New Jersey to visit my sister.

My sister lives in a great location in Long Branch. She has a studio apartment that is close to Monmouth University (the school she is attending), and the Jersey shore line. It is only a 10 minute walk to the beach from her place! With the beach being so close, there's no excuse not to go. So, we went there.

When we got the beach, we visited a great area just before it called Pier Village. Pier Village is an upscale shopping, dining, and residential complex. They have all sorts of dive bars and restaurants where you can grab a snack and drink to go. We certainly took advantage of that while we were there. I got a delicious cheese pizza from Michael Angelo's Pizzeria. They cook their Tuscan style pizza's in brick ovens. That pizza sure had some flavor. I'd recommend that place to anyone.

The beach itself was fun. I took a jog and then I took a swim. My sister took a nap. I didn't expect the waves to be as rough as they were. I almost got knocked over! Also, that water was few degrees colder than what I'm used to in Florida. But, once I was in it, I got over it. So, aside from the cold water, our day at the beach was great.

The next day we drove over to my uncle's house in Jamaica, New York. From where my uncle is situated, it's only a short distance to catch the F Train to get into the city. I have a couple of good friends who live in the city, so I spent some time with them. Now, this wasn't my first visit to New York city, but there are so many things to do there it always feels like a new experience when I go.

This time around I got to do some real good eatin' and drinkin'. I went to a couple of different restaurants and bars. One place was the Caracas Arepa Bar in East Village, where I got some authentic Venezuelan Arepa. An arepa (in case you are wondering) can be described as a flat patty of bread made from corn that is stuffed with a variety of latin foods. It's crispy on the outside and steamy soft in the middle. I had two; one that had shredded beef, white cheese, and sweet plantains in the middle, and another stuffed with grilled chicken, caramelized onions, and cheese. I'll use one word to describe both: delicious. I washed them down with some PBRs.

Another great place was the Radegast Hall & Biergarten in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This place had the only two things you ever really need: really good beer and really good food. I had some Radeberger (a German beer) and Palm Ale (a Belgian that really grew on me). Radeberger had a very rich-filling flavor and the Palm Ale went down oh-so-easy. I got a really good taste of those beers because they served them in mugs that held a liter. To eat, I had one the best steak dinners that I ever had in my whole life. The meal was a French rib steak with home fries and sauteed green beans. This rib steak was cooked to perfection. Cutting a piece of it was as easy as putting a hot knife through butter. After I took a bite, the server asked if I needed any sauce for the steak, and I just looked at her like she was crazy woman. To put any kind of sauce on this steak would have been a food-felony. As for the rest of the entree, the home fries were crispy and seasoned just right and the roasted green beans had a smoky flavor that was fantastic. All together, the home fries, green beans and that delicious steak combined to make a remarkable dish. I made sure to send my compliments to the chef after that meal. In my book, the Radegast Hall & Biergarten is a must see.

The last stop I had to make before catching my flight back home was the Cherry Valley Deli & Grill. Cherry Valley is a one-of-kind deli that is family owned and managed (I happen to be part of that family too). They have over a 150 different kinds of rolls, heros, and wraps at this place. There's a pretty good chance that if you dream about your ideal sandwich, you will find it on the Cherry Valley menu. My own personal goal in life is to try EVERYTHING on the menu, which probably means I would have eat there everyday for a good year (and from what I have sampled so far, that wouldn't be bad thing). The sandwich I had on this visit was called the Corona. It had a chicken cutlet topped with bacon, cheddar, onion rings, BBQ sauce on a toasted garlic roll. It was made fresh and wrapped in aluminum to keep in the heat. And I can definitely confirm that it was hot because when I took my first bite, I started to sweat. The Corona did not disappoint, it was even better than what I thought it would be. It was the perfect end to a great trip.

So, if you want to gain 10 pounds in a week while you visit the North East, make sure to include the places I mentioned above in your game-plan.