Still On That Burger Quest

With already being in Europe for the last three weeks you would've thought that I have had my fair share of burgers but surprisingly not.  But last night that all changed after trying a new spot that I had never been to before here in Amsterdam called Cannibale Royale which is listed in the top burgers spots to trying here in the Dam.  After reading all of the comments I have to say that it definitely lived up to its ratings and very well might now be in my top 5 burgers in the world that I've tried so far.  The menu in general was on point serving up a nice selection from burgers to ribs with nice local beers on tap.

Sunshower Happy Hour

This afternoon I'll be playing a few tunes for the afterwork crowd alongside the homie Craig Dash at Marathon Grill.  This is a great outdoor / indoor spot and it's definitely the perfect day to be outside listening to music and enjoying drinks.

Grand Rapids Soul Club

This past Friday night I had the honor of DJ'ing at one of the most fun and official nights that caters to Funk, Soul and Modern Soul lovers, Grand Rapids Soul Club.  This was my first time visiting Grand Rapids and the hospitality that I received was great all across the board.  The day started with lunch at a great local restaurant where everything is made fresh, in house and from local ingredients. Everything on the menu was on point but I decided to go for the brisket with coleslaw on toasted rye. From there it was off to do a bit of digging, then sound check at the venue.  Pyramid Scheme is definitely a place that I would love to play more often and if I lived anywhere near Grand Rapids, it would definitely be a favorite hang out.  The sound system is on point, the beer selection and of course, the 25 or so pinball machines that are on display.  Once the doors opened and the night kicked off, it was smooth sailings from then on.  The crowd definitely understands and appreciates the music and it shows that the resident DJ's have done a great job of educating the audience and playing top choice cuts.

Grand Rapids Soul Club is definitely a party that I look forward to making a return visit to and one that I'm honored to add to it's lineup of guest DJ's.

Ramen, Anytime.

When is the perfect time time for ramen you ask?  Well anytime is the perfect if you ask me especially if it's 730am on a winter morning in Osaka Japan where the temperature is 20 degrees and you're walking with your record bag and your favorite ramen closed at 7am.  That's pretty much what happened when leaving the club recently only to find that you've missed your window of opportunity to eat at your favorite Osaka ramen spot and have to instead stand outside in the freezing cold to get your fix.  

This was my first time trying this spot but to be quite honest, standing in the cold eating a hot bowl or ramen isn't as bad as I thought.  It's the perfect compliment to the extreme winds blowing at your back while being exhausted from a long night of DJ'ing.

Taste of Suriname

One of the best things about traveling to other countries is enjoying food that you might not necessarily find at home.  One place that's always must eat at when I visit Holland is Rotterdam which has a very diverse group of people living in the city and of course with that diversity comes great food.  It is in this very city that you can find some of the best Suriname food that's always on point.

Burger Heaven

As always, I'm still on my burger quest and searching for the best in every city, state and country that I visit.  One of the best in 2014 was one that was recommended by fellow DJs in Fukuoka Japan who knew about my mission.  So the following day after my gig and before catching my flight back to Tokyo they took me to Hungry Heaven which is a small shop that specializes in what else, burgers of course.  Everything about the burger was proper from the bun to the bacon, the beef down to the tomatoes.  The quality of the beef was just what I would expect from such a place that uses fresh and quality ingredients.  Top it off with a side of fries and of course a vanilla shake and we're in business.

Kaiju Sakaba

One of the must do highlights for me during my recent Japan tour was to go to and eat at Kaiju Sakaba which is an Ultraman themed restaurant.  Words, pictures nor video can properly explain this place and the only way to get the full experience is to go for yourself (which might be difficult to do since the restaurant was only scheduled to be opened for 1 year and closes in the next month or two). The restaurants entire decor is of course Ultraman / Kaiju themed from the booths to the display cases, the monitors showing episodes of Ultraman and even the food and drink menu are Kaiju specialties. There is even a souvenir shop to purchase figures, plates and other collectibles.

Because of the dim lighting it was rather difficult to get good pictures but like I said, it's a place that you need to experience first hand to get the full experience.

Dumplings at Din Tai Fung

Whenever traveling people will tell you that whatever cuisine you are trying is the best in the world, but that only holds true for certain things.  The Philly cheesesteak of course is #1 in Philly, no other place in the world compares! You can have one that's good or a slight variation of an authentic Philly steak, but nothing compares truly than having one here in the 215.

But dumplings on the other hand is a quite different story. I've had great dumplings in various parts of the world but I might have just had the best dumplings in all my life recently in Taipei Taiwan at the legendary Din Tai Fung restaurant.  Founder Yang Bingy was born in Shanxi China but moved to Taiwan in 1948 as a result of the Chinese Civil War. Together with his wife Lai Penmei started a cooking oil retailer Din Tai Fung in 1958.  Around 1980, the cooking oil business became prevalent and business diminished drastically. In order to survive they turned over half of the shop to making and selling steamed buns (xiaolongbao).  The buns were so popular that the store stopped selling cooking oil all together and became a full fledged restaurant in 1980.

While at the restaurant we had various versions of the famous dumplings, some filled with soup, others with crab meat, shrimp, pork and other things. All of the ingredients are fresh and each dumpling is made perfect.  Even the service was so on point that it makes it hard to eat at restaurants with average customer service.  Eating here just opened up an entirely new craving for dumplings but it will definitely be hard to top what I experienced here at Din Tai Fung.

Hometown Burger Since 1979 Taipei

Of course during my Taipei trip the promoter knew that I was a burger connoisseur and needed to get me fix so he decided to take me to a place called Hometown Burger which had been in business since 1979.  Although the burger was really good, I was even more impressed with the owners toys and KAWS collection that he had on display in the shop.  #OnlyInAsia

Food, Culture and People of Taipei

One of the most important things for me when traveling and making sure that I visit the places that mean a lot to the locals, define who they are and of course eat where they eat.  None of that typical touristy shit, locals know exactly where to go.  While in Taipei I was given the tour treatment by the homie Aya who took me to the first street that was built in Taipei, several temples and a restaurant that he had been eating at since his childhood.