Review: Harry's Cafe - What is it?!

Driving down 16th street in Sacramento, I always saw the green lettered sign for Harry's Cafe. I always assumed it was a greasy spoon that served corned beef hash or pancakes.

Boy, was I wrong! (although they DO serve breakfast...)

Harry's Cafe is a small Vietnamese restaurant that also serves Chinese food.

Food: I tried the Charbroiled Chicken and Beef over Rice Noodles. It's a typical Vietnamese dish that I always get: cold rice noodles, cilantro, lettuce, and shredded carrots, your meat, and a light sauce to pour over everything. Of course, I add Schriacha sauce to make it spicy!

The portions were good--a huge bowl of noodles, and a decent serving of meat. The meat was great--great flavor, not over cooked. I basically received what I expected out of the meal--good food, good flavors. Yum!

Price: Prices were typical and actually cheap for downtown. The dish I got was $6.25. Dished typically ranged from $6-$8, and you get a ton of food. Also, there is a GREAT specials board filled with yummy sounding dishes.

Atmosphere: Although small, the inside was surprisingly modern, clean, and the tables were well situated. The servers (Harry and his wife) were very attentive and friendly. The food was served quickly, too. The place had a mom&pop sort of feel--with an Asian cuisine.

Great food, great place!

2026 16th St
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 448-0088

Extinah's Licks: It's pretty good, but not shockingly so. Pretty damn solid though!

Recipe: Deviled Eggs with a Twist from the Sea

Like devilled eggs? Seafood? Let's thank "BAM!" Emeril Lagasse for this fun recipe. I'll add my own comments. :)


Crabmeat Deviled Eggs
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2001
Show:
Emeril Live
Episode:
Summer Picnics

Ingredients

• 12 large eggs


• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise


• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard [I just use whatever mustard I have on hand]


• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


• 1/4 teaspoon salt [I also add some white pepper]


• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce [I add more ;) ]


• 1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage [Come on, we're not all rich enough to use fresh crabmeat all the time--i use crab nmeat from a can, rinsed]


• 1 ounce caviar or salmon roe [I'm sure this is tasty....but see my comment about $$ above. I usually leave this out]
  

Place the eggs in a large saucepan and cover with water by 1-inch. Bring to a boil. As soon as the water comes to a boil, set a timer for 10 minutes, and boil the eggs for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and place in the sink. Drain, and run with cold running water until cool enough to handle. Peel the eggs and cut in 1/2 lengthwise.
Remove the yolks from the whites and put in a medium bowl. With the back of a fork, mash the yolks. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, salt and hot sauce, and mix well. Add the crabmeat and gently stir to mix.
Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into the egg white halves and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. Prior to serving, top with caviar. [I like to top with paprika and chopped chives/green onions instead.]

Come on, we all know how to make devilled eggs. Boil the eggs, cut the eggs in half, put the yolks in a bowl, mix in your ingredients, and fill the holes back up. Voila!

Don't forget to keep chilled! Tasty yumminess. I'd like to improve this recipe--it's pretty good, but I might have to add more crabmeat to make me happy. . . or maybe I should use real crab meat. 8/10 (using canned crabmeat).

Extinah's Licks: 1/2 I beleiev it'd be a 5 licker if i used real crab. It still makes me drool just thinking of it...and there are NEVER left overs.

Review: Old Soul

Old Soul

1716 L St, Sacramento, CA (it's in the alley--you can't find it just driving around!)

(916) 443-7685

Cheap, simple, and good.

Old Soul provides roasted coffee, baked goods and bread to a variety of restaurants and businesses all over Sacramento--but due to the wonderful smells that wafted out of their space, they also have a barista who makes a variety of cofee and tea drinks. They also sell baked goods (including scones, muffins, cookies, bread, pizza, and others).

Almost everything is $2! No tax, no muss, no fuss. There is jar on the bar and customer's put in their money and get their own change. The only thing that isn't $2 is the pizza--but pizza and a dirnk is only $2 :]

Everything tastes great, their coffee is full of flavor, and the atmospehre is laid back and friendly. Everyone should give old soul a try!

Extinah's Licks: Their pastries are to die for and the coffee is strong (a tad too bitter for me.--just a tad). And really, you can't beat the price!

Recipes: My two favorite chocolate chip cookies

Both of these recipes result in chewy, tasty (and fattening!) cookies. I've tried a ton of recipes and I love these ones. I love allrecipes.com. Enjoy!


The Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Big-Fat-Chewy-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie/Detail.aspx


This is an excellent recipe--and they make huge chewy cookies. The recipe only make 18 cookies, so i'd at least double, if not triple, the batch. Yum!

Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Submitted by: ElizabethRated: 5 out of 5 by 1766 members
Prep Time: 10 MinutesCook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 40 MinutesYields: 18 servings
"These cookies are the pinnacle of perfection! If you want a big, fat, chewy cookie like the kind you see at bakeries and specialty shops, then these are the cookies for you!"
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups semisweet chocolate
chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Extinah's Licks: It could be better, but it's pretty close to perfect.

Absolutely the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies




http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Absolutely-the-Best-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

Submitted by: Nicole Faust HuntRated: 4 out of 5 by 653 members
Prep Time: 10 MinutesCook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 20 MinutesYields: 24 servings
"This is a secret family recipe for chocolate chip cookies! Everyone who tries them begs for more. Enjoy!!"
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter flavored
shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla
extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Extinah's Licks: 1/2 This one is almost perfection. Maybe if I actually made the recipe how it was written it'd be better....pretty hard to beat though.

Review: Tower Cafe's Sangria

Tower Cafe
1518 Broadway
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 441-0222
http://www.towercafe.com/

I wish I had taken a picture!

Menu description: "Sangria - $6 Our famous recipe of Chilean Merlot, fruit juice, and spices"

I've had it before, and I will have it again. It's so tasty! Sweet but not too sweet, barely any bite, and such a pretty color. THe flavor is wonderful. No sangria mix--everything is fresh fresh fresh. If you're looking for a good sangria, this is the place to go.

Also, the color is really pretty. :]

ps: we're going there for breakfast on sunday--i'll try to remember to take a picture.

Extinah's Licks: It was a pretty damn good sangria--for me. You could barely taste the alcohol, and what you could taste was nice and smooth.

Review: Happy Hour at Mason's (sacramento)

Mason's, Sacramento, CA
1116 15th Street
Happy Hour

8/10: pretty good!

They have a pretty good happy hour deal: $3 beers and appetizers, $5 cocktails and wine. Usually, all food and drinks are over $8. here's the link for the happy hour menu: http://www.theparkdowntown.com/files/martini.pdf

The food and drinks
I had the chance to taste their lemon drop, their appletini, the spring rolls, and the
trio of mini bbq pulled pork sandwiches.

1. Lemon Drop. Mm mm!! I love lemon drops, and this was a damn good lemon drop. If you don't like sweet drinks, this isn't for you. On the other hand, if you like sweet, non-alcoholic tasting beverages, this is the right drink for you. The perfect balance or sweet, tart, and tangy. I think the secret is that they use Torani lemon syrup.

2. Appletini: Very fresh and crisp, and not too sweet. The only downfall for me is that it tastes too much like vodka. After a drink or two, I wouldn't notice. ;)

3. Spring rolls: It's funny because I think of spring rolls as cold rice wrapper, cold noodles, etc etc. These were definitely just egg rolls. Since they came from Mah Jong's next door, they were pretty damn good. They could've been cooked a little longer, but they were a decent size and came 4 per order. I wasn't crazy about the sweet and sour sauce though.

4. Pork Sandwiches: Tasty! The buns were tiny buns (the size of a lemon) and were nicely toasted. The filling was interesting: it was pulled pork that had almost a Chinese bbq pork flavor--but the fresh cabbage an the sauce added a "cole-slaw-esque" texture and flavor. not my fave, but definitely tasty and worth the $3.

Atmosphere
It's a bit trendy/business feeling. You would be a bit out of place if you wore your emo garb or ugly tennis shoes. You can tell that this is wear the people who work in the capitol hang out. Oh yeah, I wanted to mention that the well dressed guy coming into Mason's while we were exiting--was very rude and didn't hold the door for us--and just walked right by us with the door slamming on us. fucking ASShole.

Ahem.

Extinah's Licks: 1/2 The food is tasty (4 licks) and the drinks are tasty but not too strong. Still a great deal for happy hour--and what a nice atmosphere (in that legislators and corporate prep sort of way).