Feast of Pork at Bohemian Beer Hall

And feast we did.  So much pig matter, washed down by ice cold beer, under the last vestige of sun before the inevitable long stretch of brutal New York winter.  It was the perfect September afternoon.

i eat pig

I am saddened that it took me so long to drag my butt to the Bohemian Beer Hall in Astoria.  I've been missing out on all that happy Czech music and dancing!  Not to mention all the different preparation of pig that I could have consumed.  The food, despite being doled out cafeteria style, was surprisingly solid for the price and setting.

happy dancers

Like this wiener schnitzel.  Pounded thin and brightened with a squeeze of lemon.  It was crispy yet moist and came with a mountain of potato salad.  The potato salad was your generic deli salad, but I never turn away potato salad, especially if it is heavy on mustard.

pork, fried

The best dish was probably the roast pork.  The plate came with dumplings and sauerkraut.  The bready, dense, dumplings were the perfect vehicle for soaking up the meaty sauce.  Sauerkraut cuts through the fattiness with that puckery tang.  The pork was so flavorful and tender.  It practically melted in your mouth.  My only complaint about the dish was that we got a non-fresh batch (i.e. not the fresh pig you see above) so the skin, which should have been crackly, was soaked through by the sauce.  It became rubbery and lost its appeal.  bummer.

pork, roasted

We got the Moravian stew on the basis that stews are tasty and we like stews.  The stew was chunks of pork with more dumplings and sauerkraut.  The flavor was good, though the pork was dry.

pork, stewed

To round out our tour of pork preparations, we also got grilled kielbasa.  It was good.  Nothing to blow your socks off.  But at least it was tender and spicy.

pork, kielbasa'ed

Because multiple orders of fries and ginormous dumplings weren't enough carb matter for us, we also got some pierogies.  I thought the skin was fine but the filling was super bland.  It's not a good sign when you can't tell which is the mushroom and which is the cheese.

not pork

I am a sucker for any outdoor venue that serves food and beers.  But the beer hall takes the cake.  The old men roasting pigs had me at dobry den.

More Than a Snack at Ah Ping Snack Bar

Ah Ping Snack Bar is tiny, like 3 tables tiny.  I kind of felt like I was in Asia - the random storefront with 3 tables, the bright halogen light, the disposable bowls and plates, the folded table and chairs.  Brought back warm fuzzy memories.

Ah Ping is all about Fuzhou food, which I haven't had in ages so I was pretty excited.  Good thing my fellow eaters were very adventurous and allowed me, the sole commander of the Chinese language in our group, to do the ordering.  muahahaha.  That meant that we had more food than 4 people can comfortably eat.

We started with the lamb with wine dregs soup.  Despite it's weird name and unaturaly red color, this was one of our favorite dish of the night.  The wine dregs gave it a pleasantly fermented flavor - complex and herby.  The soup had small lamb chunks, kind of like stewed lamb spare ribs.  Delicious.

lamb and dregs

My personal favorite dish was the razor clam pancake.  If you've read my Asia trip entries, you must know about my obsession with Chinese pancakes, preferably stuffed with some type of seafood.  Ah Ping's was awesome.  The fluffy eggs blanked chopped up razor clams (my fav clams!) and bamboo shoots.  The pancake was moist and flavorful.  Too bad I had to share.

PANCAKE!

We also got a mei fun (rice stick noodles) as our main carb dish.  The mei fun was tasty, similar to Taiwanese style - simply stir-fried with veggies and eggs.  Reminds me of my childhood.

carby goodness

The fail of the night was a wonton soup.  I misordered and thought I was getting fish ball soup.  Damn it.  Note to self to consult my mom on Chinese menu words before my next outing.  The soup was fine, just boring.  The wontons tasted like they were the kind you get at Chinese supermarkets.  Nothing special.  Although oddly addicting since I did end up eating 6-7 wontons.

wonton

Because it sounded so damn cute, we had to get the litchi pork.  It was basically a saucy version of sweet and sour pork where the pork looks like little litchis.  The pieces of pork were cut up, fried, and coated in a sweet and sour sauce.  I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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little litchis

Our veggie dish was water spinach in preserve bean curd sauce.  Yes, I love my water spinach (see Asia trip).  I also love preserve bean curd (preserved tofu), which is tofu fermented in salt.  The two together was a win.  Too bad I neglected to capture that win with my camera.

I am kind of in love with Ah Ping.  Even the name is cool.  Return, I shall.