Fort Lauderdale FL: Quarterdeck Seafood Bar and Grill

mvpcoachphil loves his tater tots.
As a matter of fact, he was given the nickname of "Coach Tater Tots" by the Carlson twins after showing an over-enthusiasm of the tater tots side dish at Quarterdeck restaurant.

Quarterdeck Seafood Bar & Grill
1541 Cordova Road
Ft. Lauderdale FL 33316

The tater tots at Quarterdeck are special in that they are deep fried, and so are extra crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

We return to Quarterdeck at least once every trip we take to South Florida for their tater tots.
As you can imagine, we have been there several times within the last couple years.
However we do not remember much of the rest of Quarterdeck's large menu.

Today we had a light dinner at Quarterdeck, and ordered tater tots (of course), stone crab chowder, and salmon sashimi.

The meal was excellent.

If you are like mvpcoachphil and love your tater tots, this is a must-stop if you are in the area.

Reviewed by Scout with the help of mvpcoachphil for a meal on 1 Sept 2017

Fort Lauderdale FL: 925 Nuevos Cubanos (a Cuban Food Stand)

South Florida is well known for its Cuban community, and Cuban cuisine.
It was no surprise that our first stop immediately after we landed in FLL was a Cuban restaurant.

We found this 925 Nuevos Cubanos from yelp, as it was conveniently located about 15 minutes from the airport.
However to be specific, this is not really a restaurant but rather a food stand by the side of the road.

925 Nuevos Cubanos
925 North Andrews Ave
Ft. Lauderdale FL 33311

Once there, we ordered their two most popular sandwiches: the Cuban sandwich (left), and the Los 3 Compadres sandwich (right).

To Ric Ric's chagrin, the sit-down at the counter was outdoor under the summer heat of South Florida (see the slightly grumpy Ric Ric.)

As noted by other Yelp reviewers, the sandwiches were ginormous, and even shared three-way, were too much for us to consume.
The Cuban sandwich consisted of ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard.
Los 3 Compadres consisted of chicken, steak, roasted pork, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and Cuban spicy sauce.

We enjoyed Los 3 Compadres more than the popular Cuban sandwich, as the roasted pork was on the dry side.

Reviewed by Scout, with the assistance of mvpcoachphil and Ric Ric for a meal on 1 Sept 2017

The Tater Tot

Did you know the 'Tater Tot is an American Ingenuity at It's Finest'?

if you are interested, please read this:
https://www.eater.com/2017/8/28/16159710/tater-tots-ore-ida-history

Yep.  I also love Tater Tots.
An American Invention.

Columbia MD: Hickory Ridge Grill

The Hickory Ridge Grille
website:  http://hickoryridgegrill.com/
address:
Hickory Ridge Village Center
6420 Freetown Road,
Columbia, Maryland 21055
443.535.9876

While this is a lunch spot we go to often since it is close to work and the sandwiches are really good, this is the first time I have posted about the restaurant.

The menu has a large amount of sandwiches.  All the ones I have tried have been excellent.

Today i had the 'pig on a stick'...
basically a cubed pork shish-kabob wrapped in a pita with tomatoes, onions, feta cheese, and greek sauce.  (not a gyro - but same basic idea with pork cubes)

here's what the menu says:
Tender pork, grilled to perfection, on pita bread. Topped with tomatoes, onions and feta cheese. Served with a side of dressing.



Big M ordered the 'firecracker pork sandwich'



Scout ordered the 'shrimp BLT'



You've gotta love those skinny fries.

my other favorite sandwiches are:
the full mozzy (a mozzarella cheese sandwich)
[OK these are both vegetarian - but they are both really good]

in case you are all worried...i still love animals because...
also favorite are:
salmon BLT (salmon and bacon - a win + win)
the philly (not because it is like my name)
the chicken philly (slightly healthier version of the philly)
the cowboy burger (a little less healthy than the philly but has onion strings on the burger)
meatball grinder (a meatball sub)

the chinese chicken salad is also good.
but really big.

if you get a chance to go...the service is good.
at peak lunch hour, they are a little slow,
but the service is super nice.

i really recommend trying if you are nearby.

this review was written on 1 September 2017 by mvpcoachphil
we visited the Hickory Ridge Grill on 30 August 2017
(i'm also slow at posting my food blog)

Aunt Rosita's Birthday

This week was Aunt Rosita's Birthday!!  To celebrate we bought Singapore noodles and sushi from Sui's Asian Bistro.

In addition, I made lava cake using Aunt Thanh's recipe.

Gracie's Sweets: Coffee Macaroons

Gracie is the sweet wonderful wife of our friend "Chersei".
She runs a bake shop from home, and can make the most delicious desserts.
How do we know?
That is because for this past summer, Gracie has been sending a different kind of dessert to the gang's lunch almost every week.

Today she sent coffee macaroons, oh so yummy.

Silver Spring MD: Siu's Asian Bistro

Lunch today at Siu's Asian Bistro.
The address of the restaurant:
12271 Tech Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20904

Siu's is an Asian Take Out Restaurant with dine in table space for about 25 people.

Today we ordered The Combination Lo-Mein

and the Maryland Roll

Both orders were good.

And the price was reasonable.

Service was friendly and very good - even the Take Out Hostess came over and provided some recommendations on their popular dishes.



When the restaurant becomes Cat's Asian Bistro...the seafood menu will most likely be reduced.

Siu's Asian Bistro (future Cat's Asian Bistro) was reviewed by mvpcoachphil

Recipe for Soft Bread Sticks

After watching an episode of The Great British Baking Show I decided to make breadsticks!  As to appease to the wide variety of tastes in our family I made 4 different flavors:  Plain, Garlic, Italian Spiced, and Parmesan

Recipe:  http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-soft-breadsticks-71360

Recipe for Watermelon Lychee Slush

RECIPE
1 cup of fresh watermelon, cubed
4 lychees (from a can)
1 cup of ice

Use blender, makes about 2 glasses

This is a drink we loved to get in NY Chinatown at every NYMini, a Chinese 9-Man tournament held every July in NYC.
It is so refreshing, and we couldn't get enough of it in between watching Robo and Ric Ric's matches and Amy's matches.

Finally, we figured out how to make it on our own, at home.
This drink tastes just like the one in NYC.
Try it, you won't be disappointed!

From Scratch: Bagel and Jam

Sam learned to make bagels from scratch this summer.
She shared some with us, and we used Harriet's home made strawberry jam: so yummy!

What is Foodtography?

During our recent trip to see the eclipse, while we exchanged food pictures with Cat & Sam in our group text, trying to make each other jealous, the twin cousins came up with a great name for our group chat: Foodtography!

What a great name for a new blog!
We decided to have a collaborative blog and share all the best food photography, food reviews, and recipes.
So here we are, starting our new blog with our family and friends, all lovers of good food.

If you are experiencing some amazing dining experience, please take notes of the restaurant name and location, and take pictures of your food, so we may have a chance to sample it next.

And if you are experimenting with a recipe and made something wonderful, make sure to share your recipe with the rest of us.

Our thoughts are, if we travel to places where some of us have been to, we can look back into the blog to find the restaurants that have been reviewed, and for those of us who love to cook at home, we can have a great time testing each other's recipes.