Carole Terwilliger Meyers's Blog, page 67

Good Eats: Mission Chinese Food, NYC

Mission Chinese Food  154 Orchard St./Rivington St., Lower East Side, (212) 529-8800.  L-D daily (12-12).  No reservations.  Usually, before entering this subterranean dining room, you’ll have a longish wait in the narrow hall that permits viewing some of the kitchen action.  Once seated, the festive ambiance and the tasty food make dim the fact that you are in a cramped room.  The menu is filled with winners, among them wet Beijing vinegar peanuts with fennel seeds and anise, thrice-cooked bacon with rice cakes and bitter melon, mapo tofu, and red-cooked eggplant.  Many items can be prepared vegetarian or vegan, and the hot dishes are really



hot.  This is a branch of a San Francisco restaurant of the same name. 









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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Good Eats: Maharaja Sweets, NYC-Queens

Maharaja Sweets  73-10 37th Ave., (718) 505-2680.  Daily; $.  Chat and other Indian dishes are on the menu in this all-vegetarian restaurant, but many people come here just for the sweets selection in the front entry.  Pick your favorite and eat it on the spot, or select an assortment to take home and sample at leisure.  Orange jalebi spirals dripping with honey are a personal favorite, but you’ll also see beautiful things like chandra kala and silvery malai cham-cham which are now at the top of my to-try list.  The website provides a good start to selecting. 







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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Good Eats: Laut, NYC

Laut  15 East 17 St./Broadway, (212) 206-8989.  L M-F, D daily; $$.  This sweet little spot is home to Michelin-star cooking.  The Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai dishes are exceptional, and most are prepared with a choice of meat, fish, or tofu/vegetables.  The flaky Roti Canai Indian pancake with curry dipping sauce makes a great appetizer.  Delicious main choices include Drunk Man noodles with bamboo shoots and chili sauce, and both the spicy Green (with coconut milk and eggplant) and spicy Mussaman (coconut milk with potatoes and peanuts) curries.  I can’t wait to go back and try more! 







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More travel articles to inspire you and help you plan some spectacular getaways.



image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyer

Good Eats: Dosa Delight, NYC-Queens

Dosa Delight  35-66 73rd St., (718) 397-1000.  L-D daily; $.  Catering to vegetarian, vegan, and kosher diets, this clean, bright spot serves up some exotic delights.  The mysore dosa is folded into a triangle and layered with hot chutney then stuffed with a tasty potato mix.  If you want less spicy, get a masala dosa.  I particularly like the spicy Pondicherry dosa stuffed with spicy potato mix that is served cut in three pieces, and many other varieties are on the menu.  Dosas come with a cup of sambar soup and a really good coconut chutney.  More items I especially like include chole puri (two small, deep-fried puffy breads along with garbanzo bean stew) and deep-fried samosas stuffed with a spicy potato and green pea mix.







More things to do in Queeens.



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More travel articles to inspire you and help you plan some spectacular getaways.



image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyer; taken at Northern Ave. branch

Good Eats: Mama’s Empanadas, NYC-Queens

Mama’s Empanadas  76-17 Roosevelt Ave., (718) 899-8529.  Also at 84-17 Northern Blvd., (718) 726-1400.  Open 24 hours; $.  Every kind of empanada you can think of is found here.  Most are made with wheat flour pastry, but a few are available in corn/maize pastry that is a little harder.  Many are vegetarian, my favorites being spinach and cheese.  Intriguing versions I want to try in the future are pepperoni pizza, reggaeton (rice, green peas, and ham), and the Elvis for dessert (peanut butter and bananas).  I think I’ll hold off on the macaroni & cheese and the chili dog.  Breakfast versions are available, as well as tamales, arepas, and soups.  Fruit shakes and fruit punch are among the drink options.  Because almost everything served here is deep-fried, it is good to know that mama’s uses soy oil and no transfats.  Prices are so inexpensive that you’ll think you need to order more, but three empanadas satisfies an average appetite.  The original on Roosevelt Avenue has minimal seating, but the one on Northern has a plenty.







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image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyer; taken at Northern Ave. branch

Good Eats: Standing Stone Brewing Company, Ashland, Oregon

Standing Stone Brewing Company  101 Oak St., downtown, (541) 482-2448.  This bustling brew pub provides well-prepared grilled meats and wood-fired pizzas. Diner John Briggs from Portland, Oregon, says, “This is not your usual dark pub.  Instead, it has a spacious, light-filled interior and an outdoor deck that is especially pleasant in the summer.”  The beer is excellent, as are the salads (the Greek and the Cobb are good choices), and local sourcing keeps things fresh.  All this, and it’s kid-friendly, too.



More things to do in Ashland.



More things to do along Oregon's Highway 5.




More things to do in Oregon.  



Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  



image courtesy of venue 

Sights to See: Okunoshima ("Rabbit Island"), Japan

Used for making chemical weapons during World War II, this little island is now home to more than 300 fluffy  bunnies.  The island is accessible only by ferry, but does have a hotel should you want to spend more than a day.



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Sights to See: Ashland, Oregon

Famous for its annual Shakespearean festival, Ashland is located in the Rogue River Valley just north of the California border.  It is a small college town with old-fashioned homes lining its green hills, and with dense blackberry thickets lining its rural roads.  Some of the locals are burned out (I witnessed a drunk lady in a parking lot and a space cadet at the theater); some are overly cheery (I found this especially in shops and throughout Oregon); some are smug (about living there); and some are throwbacks to hippie days (they sit in doorways--strumming, fluting, and asking for spare change). 



Located on Highway 5 about halfway between San Francisco and Portland, it makes a good stop on that journey.  It is an all-day drive from the Bay Area, but if you start out early, you can get here by 4 or 5 p.m.--in time to freshen up with a swim and dinner and still attend an 8:30 p.m. performance of the Shakespeare Festival.  Note that the town is devoid of gas stations; look for one I found on the first Ashland exit going north. 



More information.



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More things to do along Oregon's Highway 5.




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image depicts Lithia Park, courtesy of Ashland Oregon Chamber of Commerce 

Travel Articles: Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Dog Sledding Through Wonderland

Not everyone comes to Jackson Hole to ski.  Sometimes a snow-lover wants to try something different.

As our sled races through a white-blanketed expanse, pulled by an eager team of dogs straining to go faster than my husband-musher is permitting, soft snow swishes with abandon into the air.  A bit lands refreshingly on the small portion of my face that is still exposed.  It doesn’t get much better than this.  Read more . . .



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Some travel articles to inspire and help you plan spectacular getaways.



article and image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers 

Good Eats: Claire’s Corner Copia, New Haven, Connecticut

Claire’s Corner Copia  1000 Chapel St., (203) 562-3888.  A favorite with Yalies (including graduate Jodie Foster), this coffee house serves organic-vegetarian-kosher snacks and meals all day.  Soups are satisfying, and pastries and cakes from the gigantic glass display case are not to be missed--the Lithuanian Coffee Cake is a favorite.







Some travel articles to inspire and help you plan spectacular getaways.



article and image c2013 Carole Terwilliger Meyers