CORT - Yori House

Yori House is a “want it to be my favorite but it’s not” type of restaurant. I love the concept and the vibe there and the owners are so great but the fusion of Korean food with American ingredients have been leaving my disappointed when I go. Still, they’ve started a new program where they test new menu items with a weekly special and I can’t resist trying their new dishes.

LOCATION: 114 ELM ST., CORTLAND NY, 13045

The very first special this week was a Green Curry Pasta which sounded great to me. I like thai-inspired green curries and with that one week timer on it, I had to give it a shot.

Per usual, I’m not a huge fan of bell peppers and their big chunky cuts are always a no for me so I end up picking them out of all their dishes, but at least they’re easy to get rid of. The mussels were alright, and it makes sense for the area that these would just be frozen and I don’t mind that. At Yori house they use a lot of spaghetti which is confusing to me and not always a great fit but with this dish it wasn’t a big turn-off. I don’t think I have a solid idea of what type of noodle should be used in a green curry so it was easier to wrap my head around it this time.

The flavor was pretty good and while it’s hard to see any type of sauce on the noodles, the flavor is all there and it wasn’t dry nor soggy. The sad part was that I do like this dish and would order it again but since it’s a weekly special it might not come back at all, or at least for a little while. I guess the hope is that other people like it as much as I do and it gains enough traction to be a permanent placement on the menu.

ROC - Cluck if you Buck

It’s Lunar New Year!! So I’m back in Rochester to celebrate and spend time with my parents. Lunar New Year always feel like a fresher start than actual New Year for me. That extra month cushion is really comforting.

While I’m back in town I’ve decided I’m going to go out of my way for some hot chicken!

LOCATION: 30 FAIRPORT VILLAGE LANDING, FAIRPORT, NY 14450

I found Cluck if You Buck on social media through some Rochester food bloggers. They’re actually more of a pop up that shares space at the Landing Bar and Grille which was a little confusing when I went to go pick up my food but not a big deal since they make it clear on their website and on their facebook page.

I am more of a chicken tender person over a sandwich but i didn’t notice their single meal of tenders until just now as I’m writing this. At the time I only saw the family pack which was too much food for myself so I went with a sandwich which I’m not sad about.

I ordered the Spicy Chicken Samich which comes with pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, and their Cluck’s Series Sauce. This came with two sides and I Hand-Cut French Fries and Cajun Sweet Corn. I’m very predicable. I actually ordered the Regular Cluck Chicken Samich as well for my mom so I could try both.

I’ll say right now, the spicy sandwich was the way to go but I’m glad I tried both to test it out. Both sandwiches were super moist and were cooked well but the spicy sandwich just had so much more flavor without being overwhelmingly spicy.

I was also really happy with the corn and the fries. good flavor, well cooked, and they piled it on.

It was a little awkward to walk into a bar just for the chicken counter in the back but the person who was handling my order was really nice and it was well marked so I wasn’t lost or confused about where to go once I was there.

While this was a good sandwich I wouldn’t go out of my way to go back again. If i ever happen to be in that area and need a bite, I would order it though.

Dessert Person - Focaccia!

It’s a new year and for Christmas Caleb got me “Dessert Person” by Claire Saffitz. I’m pretty sure Caleb got this cookbook more for himself because he loves Claire and wants me to make him desserts but here we are with “my” present.

I do also love Claire and like to bake so this wasn’t a huge stretch and I’m pretty excited for this cookbook as well.

First up was a savory bread recipe which Claire also covers in her book as well - Focaccia!

My friend Julia and her husband Dan also got this cookbook recently and made focaccia so I took some tips from them and started on my way.
I love focaccia and ate it almost every day were were there when I went to Italy in high school as well as when I did my month long work/study in college too.

Claire makes it super easy to follow along in the book with photos but also had her videos which are fun to watch and use during the process as well.

Focaccia is pretty open ended and you can top it however you’d like so I decided on this first run that I’d do a simple garlic and rosemary version with chili flakes for a little kick as well. I realized I had some leftover fingerling potatoes that I needed to use up as well and I LOVED this focaccia with potatoes on it when I was in Italy too which was unexpected so I wanted to try to recreate it.

The video and recipe were simple to follow and It was exciting to make a bread without having to worry about all the overnight proofing and resting and kneading and more proofing which I’m too impatient for.

I did have a mishap where the extra olive oil in the pan that gives the bottom and edges a nice crispy-ness that is a signature of focaccia started to bubble over in the oven and set off the smoke alarm and make our kitchen smell like wax very early on in the process. I’ll have to prep the oven better next time and figure out a game plan to prevent this because it was really stressful and made the end of the process horrible.

In terms of the actual bake of the bread though, it came out really really beautiful and I was really proud of myself with it. The potatoes weren’t a success and were cut a little too thick and over-salted for sure. I ended up picking them off the final bread and the bread underneath was perfectly fine. It was worth a try but I guess I’ll have to go back to Italy for that.

The rest of the bread was so soft and fluffy in the middle and had a great crips on the edge and bottom. A huge successful outcome for a first attempt. I want to make it again soon because I LOVE eating focaccia but I’ll have to give myself some time to forget the olive oil smoke mess.

ITHACA - Luna Street Food

It’s Christmas shopping season and we’re looking for presents for Caleb’s sister, mom, and grandma so we’re headed to the Ithaca commons to do some shopping in local art/craft stores. We don’t tend to go down there because parking isn’t fun and it’s always crowded with the college kids but we didn’t have any other ideas for presents so this is gonna be a nice little shopping trip.

Of course, we went early in the day and were finished by lunch time after going into two or three shops so we decided to get lunch.

To be transparent, we also stopped in a small asian take out place so I could get sushi but while we were waiting for our order we went outside to walk around and spotted Luna Street Food.

They had menu’s posted outside and we weren’t apposed to street food so we decided to order from there too. This is why they tell you not to shop hungry but it’s also a perk of being an adult. Want to eat sushi AND tacos? Two restaurants for take out it is!

LOCATION: 113 N AURORA ST., ITHACA, NY 14850

Since we also ordered sushi, I decided to only get two tacos instead of my normal 3 and it came with a side. This was a silly idea since I’m eating the sushi as a second meal but let’s not worry about that. The prices at Luna Street Food are a little high so two seem fine along with the addition of street corn.

I’ve been craving a good elote but can’t find it ANYWHERE so this is as close as I can get right now and I’ll take it. The Street Corn Side came with local greens, charred street corn, cilantro, pico de gallo, ny cheddar, and chili lime chili dressing. Honestly, this street corn was pretty disappointing. The corn tasted really watery and was clearly just from a frozen bag of kernels. I know it’s not in season right now, but I was still sad that it wasn’t charred more to have the water evaporate from them. For the amount and the quality, it wasn’t worth the money.

BAJA FISH TACOS - blackened Mahi, charred pineapple salsa, slaw, charred lime crema, tomatillo, guacamole, avocado

As my taco I ordered Baja Fish Tacos because I have to try the fish tacos as a gauge for tacos at a restaurant. Fish tacos don’t tend to disappoint me but this wasn’t great.

This mahi mahi wasn’t tender or flavorful and it was really disappointing that it was cut up into chunks instead of having one large flaky piece of fish like I’m used to. That big piece of fish that is tender and moist is the best part of having a fish taco and this was the first one that I’ve had where the fish was cut like this and it wasn’t not a preference or choice I would’ve made otherwise.

Everything else inside was lackluster. The tortilla wasn’t great, the pineapple was a little strong and not balanced well as a whole, and the avocado/guac wasn’t even noticeable.

TACOS AL PASTOR - Slow roasted pork shoulder, flame kissed pineapple, diced red onion, fresh cilantro

Unfortunately, the Tacos al Pastor was pretty similar in review because of the similarity of ingredients. As you can see the onions were supposed to be red onions but they used a white onion that day which is not a big deal but I can’t say that it helped the flavor. The pork was dry and while it was fine and edible, it wasn’t a great taco. I usually love tacos al pastor because the flavors are so good and juicy but this wasn’t it.

Overall, this place was disappointing. The pricing wasn’t crazy expensive but it wasn’t cheap and for the price, the food wasn’t up to par. The ingredients felt cheap and not cooked well. It was basic overall and I wouldn’t go back.

With an open menu of ‘street food’ there are so many choices and I love street food so this felt like a fun place to go to get a little bit of everything or to fill an odd craving but the results were disappointing. They didn’t hit the spot at all and felt like a waste of money in the end.

ROC - Roc City Ramen

I’m back in Rochester for pre-Christmas Christmas! My family isn’t big on holidays anymore and while we celebrated Christmas we stopped doing real presents when I was 12 and haven’t had a tree since about then too. So, I decided to go to Christmas with Caleb’s family but wanted to stop in to see my parents before then as well because it feels wrong not to.

This trip I decided to make a Ramen run. Lack of food variety in Cortland makes me crave food hard when I’m back in Rochester but it’s still hard to go out because I miss my parents cooking too. One or two take out meals during my trips depending on length and this had to be the one.

LOCATION - 215 ALEXANDER ST., ROCHESTER, NY

I’ve been to this place before in the past (and written about it) but it popped up on my social media feed recently. They’ve expanded to different locations and increased their menu but I went to their first location and go the SPICY MISO TONKOTSU Ramen. I don’t recall this being on the menu before, and if it was I decided to try something else and save this for another trip so here I am. The spicy miso tonkotsu ramen is a creamy pork bone broth & miso paste with wavy noodles (of course), Chashu/Pork, Scallions & Sweet Corn topped with Ichimi Spice & Spicy Sesame Oil. I HAD to add AJITSUKE which is a Japanese Soft-Boiled Egg, Infused in a Soy-Sake Marinade (worth the $1.25).

This ramen didn’t fail me. While their origin is that the owner studied in Brooklyn ramen shops and decided to bring it to Rochester, I can’t say this is as good as restaurants that I’ve been to in NYC but for Rochester, this is it. The flavor is on point and the noodles are nice and chewy. This hits the spot and is of course elevated from instant ramen. This has everything I want too, chashu, corn, and egg, and a little kick to the broth. I wish this was available in Cortland. My life would be so happy.