PizzaWings - Allston

Guest Editor - Travis England

Pizzawings - pizza, wings
why buy anything else?
fries? why are you getting fries?
pizza or wings
don't dance around the main course
of course the fries aren't very good
pizzafries
frieswings
no no no
I've been coming back since they opened for the BBQ Chicken and bacon pizza, it is absolutely the best bbq pizza I've ever had. I've tried quite a few, but all pale in comparison to what Pizzawings can deliver.
Speaking of delivery, I've always found their delivery persons to be extremely enthusiastic about serving me up my meal, I have no problem throwing down an extra couple dollars for their friendly faces and moderately quick delivery.
If you tried it, and didn't like it, you probably were ordering the wrong thing.
I'd also suggest the Parmesan-honey sauce next time you try tenders or wings, maybe not so much on wings, the tenders are insane with that sauce. Honey hot is good too. Skip the fries, skip the poppers, go for the speciality pizzas, get some wings, grab a beer, great.



Yelp page

Buk Kyung - Allston

Before . . .

After . . .

Koreans!

I doubt many of the college kids in Allston frequent this place since it's not that noticeable with a modest storefront and Korean name. But it's pretty awesome and if you're a fan of good Korean food at a good price then definitely head in.

The ingredients here are more fresh than your average restaurant, so veggies have more snap and flavor and you don't feel like you just ate frozen/pre-cooked/greasy stuff. The banchans (little free side plates) you get are nice little extras of kimchi, Korean pickles/radish, and some lesser ones as well. there are two dishes here that I recommend especially. First, jajang myun which is a noodle dish in black bean sauce with potatoes, pork, cucumbers and onions--this is their specialty according to many people and rightfully so. My mother who is very Korean liked it so that should be a testament to its authenticity. I liked it too, so that's . . . something too, right?

The other dish I'd suggest here is the jam bong which is first, a sweet name, and second a tasty seafood noodle soup. It's spicy too--very spicy. It's loaded with thick chewy noodles, squid, shrimp, and other assorted seafood as well as a lot of various veggies. It's a very large bowl so you can get your fill of spicy hot noodles and seafood--wonderful.

Some other dishes that were up to snuff was the pork and beef bulgolgi (marinated, tender meat), mandus (fried dumplings), and seafood scallion pancakes. I think for the above pictured meal--appetizers aren't in view--which fed a voracious family of four came to around $50-60.

151 Brighton Ave., Allston, MA 02134, 617 254 2775 yelp page

Big Apple BBQ

Oh, yes. Thank you.

bigapplebbq.org

I'll see you there this weekend, June 13th-14th at Madison Square Park 11am-7pm.

$3.50 Chinese Take Out - Chinatown

You've probably been to Chinatown a bunch of times and you probably wonder where the legit Chinese people go eat normally while you sit down to some restaurant that you think is cheap because of your slimy bourgeoisie mentality. They go to places like this.


Yeah, I don't even know the name of this place, but it's on the north side of Chatham Square on Bowery right above the intersection of Division St. There's two signs that detail the options you have here: 1) $4 Eat-in and you get 5 choices from a long buffet counter on a styrofoam tray like you used to get in elementary school 2) $3.50 Take-out and you get a styrofoam compartmental container (shown in picture above) that comes with white rice and 4 choices from the buffet counter as well as a small soup. That's a lot of food for less than $4.

This place is a mecca for cheap eating in New York, which is why all the locals eat there--this isn't the place where tourists go; it's not fancy or well furnished and if you're not comfortable around crowds on non-english speaking Chinese people then you might not want to go here. After paying for your tray you can go to the buffet and point out your selections to the servers who will dish it out to you--after your 4 or 5 selections you will have a nice mountain of food on your tray.

In terms of quality, the food is good--better than a lot of standard American-Chinese restaurants and obviously way cheaper. They do have the American style stuff if you're too afraid to branch out: General Tso's, sweet and sour chicken, spare ribs, chicken wings, lo mein, etc. But they have a lot of other good choices and some weird ones too (scrambled eggs and tomatoes?) but the quality is good and fresh. All of the vegetables are very fresh which is amazing to think you can get fresh vegetables at a place this cheap while most Chinese places in the 'burbs are using frozen crap. I recently went here for an early dinner and it was amazing: fluffy and sticky white rice straight from the ricecooker just like at home, tender bok choy, pork tenderloin . . . it was great.

I can't recommend this enough to the cheapass foodies out there like me.

Mixed Feelings

Mama's Food Shop - East Village

Unlike souls, this food is very tangible. Soul food isn't really something that is readily associated with NYC, but Mama's Food Shop does a good job of pushing it forward a bit. When I think soul food, I think large portions, wholesome flavors, cheap prices and fried chicken. Fortunately, those are all things I enjoy.


I had heard and read a lot about Mama's before going there so the trip was hyped up for me and I was envisioning heaps of chicken and mac'n cheese. When I got there it was a quiet afternoon and I was one of maybe 3 people there. I ordered fried chicken, cucumber and beat salad and broccoli. As you can see the bed of vegetables on my plate is mountainous. The piece of fried chicken were rolling off the peak of the vegetable mountain--that's a lot of food. I took this as a challenge, a challenge of ecstasy, and ate every last bit.

Content and full--a rare thing for me when I go out to eat--I was impressed by Mama's and vowed to return to try a less healthy meal. What's next? Fried chicken, mac'n cheese and mashed potatoes. That would be enough calories to sate a normal human for 2 days.

The chicken was great, meaty pieces with crisp batter that didn't feel overly greasy or dry. The veggies were fresh and crisp with a very satisfying snap to them. If your food isn't at your desired temperature there is even a microwave in the dining area for you to heat it up to your liking. Some people may not like the do-it-yourself/homestyle traits like the microwave or that you clear off your own plate when your finished--but I like it, it's much more Dine or Death style to make your patrons not be douchebags.

So for $12 you get a choice of one meat ranging from fried chicken to salmon and 2 sides with choices of a variety of vegetables, potatoes, mac n' cheese and many many others. That $12 meal is huge though, a lot of people get 2 meals out of it and bring their own tupperware for their leftover so it's really a great deal.

200 East 3rd St., New York, NY 10009, 212 777 4425, www.mamasfoodshop.com

Beer Conversation by 2 Dudes

(2:43:31 PM) Ben Lee: three favorite beers: lone star. yuengling, pbr
(2:43:28 PM) Sean Willis: thats a good threesome
(2:43:47 PM) Ben Lee: it's threeconomics
(2:43:40 PM) Sean Willis: pbr, bud heavy, yueng for me
(2:43:59 PM) Ben Lee: oh shit
(2:43:52 PM) Sean Willis: i love yueng
(2:44:07 PM) Ben Lee: i have to push it to 4 then
(2:44:15 PM) Ben Lee: bc bud heavy is always there
(2:44:22 PM) Ben Lee: it never turns its back
(2:44:12 PM) Sean Willis: BUD HEAVY WTF ARE YOU THINKING
(2:44:22 PM) Sean Willis: so many times i sit down and there a bud heavy
(2:44:24 PM) Sean Willis: and im like
(2:44:29 PM) Sean Willis: damn--i've had this so many times before
(2:44:33 PM) Sean Willis: but its so good and refreshing
(2:44:34 PM) Sean Willis: wtf
(2:44:50 PM) Ben Lee: i know
(2:44:52 PM) Ben Lee: incredible
(2:45:11 PM) Ben Lee: you know what's fucked?
(2:45:13 PM) Ben Lee: budlight
(2:45:18 PM) Sean Willis: yeah
(2:45:20 PM) Sean Willis: so fucked
(2:45:30 PM) Sean Willis: it's like the trick bud made up to fuck with people
(2:45:46 PM) Sean Willis: they were all like "haha all the stupid people will pay us for this shit"
(2:46:02 PM) Sean Willis: and then with bud they were like "the cool dudes will drink this-BYAHHHH"
(2:46:54 PM) Ben Lee: hahahaha
(2:47:09 PM) Ben Lee: history of bud's success by sean