My wife and I were out in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania this weekend and because it was Christmas Eve few of the restaurants and shops in the historic district were open. The winter sun was setting in the late afternoon so we went in search of a cup of hot tea and some local desserts. Jim Thorpe has no town bakery but we heard good things about a new vegetarian restaurant called Cafe Origins where we were told that some deserts and hot drinks might be available.We peeked at the menu outside and saw that some fresh baked pies and crumbles were on offer so we thought we’d give it a try. We were the only ones in the restaurant and were enthusiastically greeted by Denise O’Connell, the chef/owner. When we mentioned that we were interested in some warm deserts, Denise immediately rattled off a list of pies, cookies and crumbles that she had baked that afternoon. We decided to try three dishes – the sesame cookies, the pear-apple crumble and a Turkish dessert whose name escapes me. For the obligatory hot drink, I ordered a cup of Black Currant tea.The black currant tea came out first in a cup the size of a bowl. Perfectly brewed with the tea bag hanging from a chopstick on the cup’s lip, it warmed me from the inside out. As my wife and I were chatting about a book that she had purchased at a bookstore in town, the desserts arrived. We tried the Turkish desert first. It had a warm jellied center and was covered with a sweet cookie shell. I alternated between sips of tea and bites of the cookie. I also sampled a bite of the sesame cookies. Personally I found the cookies a bit hard on the outside and dry on the inside but they softened nicely when dipped in the tea.The real treat though was the pear-apple crumble. The crumble is basically a mash of pear, apple and cake slightly warmed with hot caramel sauce on top. The cake melts in your mouth and the sweety caramel aroma rafts throughout the restaurant. In the summertime, I’ll have to come back and have it a with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Beyond the food, Denise is a great hostess. She is very involved in promoting the town of Jim Thorpe and very Internet savy, referring us to the newly developed Jim Thorpe website. The restaurant itself is an oasis within the oasis of Jim Thorpe. She’s decorated it soothing mauve tones and hung South East Asian tapestries on the wall.
If your travels through Pennsylvania find you in the town of Jim Thorpe, I highly encourage you to visit Cafe Origins. The cuisine will remind you of where good food comes from.
I was saddened to hear that John Spencer, recently famous for his role as President Josiah’s Bartlett’s Chief of Staff on the West Wing has died. In the current season of the West Wing, he plays Democratic Nominee Matt Santos’s VP running mate and in last week’s show there was talk of him taking on some of the campaign strategy. It will be weird watching the show in the next few months with out him.
May he rest in peace.
The newest craze in New York Indian food is a cusine called “Indo-Chinese”. Chinese cusine is quite popular in South Asia especially when dining out. Unlike American Chinese which is more sweet and less spicy, Indian Chinese is fiery and fragrant drawing upon the rich spices of the Subcontinent. Popular dishes in the Indo-Chinese cusine include: Gobi Manchurian (fried cauliflower), Hakka Noodles (fried Ramen noodles with vegetables), and Dry Chili Chicken (dry-rubbed chili chicken cubes).
I’ve been enamored with Indo-Chinese since my childhood visits to Bangladesh where “eating-out” meant eating Chinese. I was therefore excited to hear that Cardamom a restaraunt where I had eaten before had added Indo Chinese to its more traditional Indian tandoori grill menu. I had previously eaten there with a Korean friend and we both thought their Indian fare was passable if a bit pricey compared to other restaraunts in the neighborhood. Last night, my wife and I decided to try their Indo Chinese menu. I ordered Fried Shrimp as an appetizer and my wife had the Mulligatawny Soup. Service was really slow on the appetizers (it probably felt even slower because we were both famished) despite the fact that there were several waiters milling about. Nevertheless the meal got off on a good start. The shrimp was crisp but not overcooked inside and the breadding was fried a beautiful golden brown. Dipping it in the sweet chilly sauce was a treat, making it almost worth the wait.
Our main course consisted of the Masala Noodles and Gobi Manchurian. In my previous visits to Indo Chinese restaruants, I usually order the Hakka Noodles which are thin Ramen-like noodles fried with vegetables and chicken or shrimp. Hakka Noodles were on offer at Cardamomm as well but I decided to try the Masala Noodles instead because it was something new and seemed well spiced. The Gobi Manchurian was also a new dish for me but I knew it by reputation from other South Asian friends who’ve had it at other restaraunts.
The Masala Noodles (Masala means spice) were ironically over-spiced. The chef used low quality low mein noodles and added the most ginger I have ever eaten. I couldn’t tell if I was eating noodles or just pure ginger. I was famished so some how I got through about half the dish. It was so bad, that when the waiter asked me how I enjoyed the food, I flat out told him that I was extremely disappointed with how a simple could be so poorly cooked. The Gobi Manchurian was equally bad with soggy cauliflower also over-spiced.
The only redeeming feature of the evening was that I wasn’t the only one who seemed to extremely disappointed. A few other couples also returned at least one dish less than half eaten. The staff concerned that they might be losing repeat customers, was gracious enough not to charge me for the Masala Noodles.
The bottom line. I’ll only be back there if I read a review from a respected critic who gives a glowing review. Till then, I’ll be eating at Chinese Mirch down the block.