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.

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.

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

San Diego Food Porn

There's only a few must do's on my list when traveling, recording shopping of course is one but the main objective is to eat at the highly recommended spots in town and that's exactly what I did this past weekend while in San Diego.  You can never go wrong when hanging out with the fam over there, they know the best places, from Bonnie Jeans Soul Food, to burgers, I've got friends with great picks in where to eat.

Two highly recommended and always must do's before leaving the city is Royal Mandarin where the go to thing on the menu are Salt & Pepper wings, Salt & Pepper Shrimp and of course Salt & Pepper fries.  Maybe add a bowl of soup or add rice but a tasty Sing Tao beer usually rounds out the bill.

The second place which is a must try is Tacos El Gordo which seems to be the hot spot after the club lets out because this place is like Club Taco.  Hard to get a seat and the line is long but it's well worth the wait for this amazing plate.

Neighborhood Burger

I think it's safe to say that I've been around the globe and tried my fair share of good burgers in each of those parts, so having a good one should be nothing new.  Nothing new until you are introduced to a local San Diego spot called Neighborhood.  Yes folks, there is indeed a new burger in the runnings for one of the tastiest that I've ever had and I owe this introduction to my brother Marsellus Wallace who took care of me this past weekend while I was in San Diego.

Neighborhood is a great burger spot with a nice menu, great selection of beers and of course the music playing was perfect for our sit in at 11:30am on a Friday morning.  I can actually get used to that type of life.  We both opted the Neighborhood burger which was pretty basic, quality beer, gruyer cheese, arugula, and caramelized onions that was used more as a spread than just onions on top.  The bun was perfect, light and fluffy on top and once you bit in and got to the lower portion there was a nice crunch from where it sat on the grill.  Add perfectly cooked shoe string fries and an Allagash and we're all set.

I want to add this burger to my top 3 but I'm going to keep it in top 5 for now, I've got a lot more to try before making my final ranking decision.

Burger Quest: Montreal

While in Montreal Canada a few weeks back I had a chance to eat at a burger spot which comes highly recommended by many.  Hintonburger which is located in the Hinton section of Montreal which is a hip area filled with shops or all sorts, including records.  After a few hours of digging and before my flight back home we headed to grab a tasty one which definitely met expectations.  The beef is all local and comes from a farm only a few miles away which is the same one that they've been getting it from day one.  The beef was tasty and properly seasoned with no need for any type of condiment which is exactly the way I like it.  Add a side of fries and we're in business.

The 17hr Layover - Atlanta Edition

This past weekend my life felt like an episode of Anthony Bourdain's Layover series but instead of a 24 hours. I only had a 17 hour grace period to do what I needed to and eat what was necessary to keep my stomach filled.  After arriving in beautiful Atlanta at 2pm, the homie DJ Alphatrion scooped me up before our gig at Deuces Wild and we headed over to D' Cuban to try one of their delicious Cuban sandwiches.

From there we headed over to our afternoon / evening gig which finished up around midnight and during that time everyone seemed to head out to the after party at I Love Pho.  No, that's not the name of a club, it's a Pho restaurant which we sat at until around 3am.  After a trip to Alpha's home to discuss his filmmaking skills, movie collection and his movie poster collection I took a quick nap on the couch and back to the airport at 5am for my 7am flight back to the 215.  Quick trips without luggage and only records in hand don't happen often, but I guess it all comes with the job.