Taste of Beligium #4: Horse Meat

One food I was looking forward to try was horse meat since we don't serve it here in the states. In Belgium, you can get horse meat as cold cut or as a steak. Stesi tried to slowly introduce us to it so brought smoked horse meat from the super market. It was thinly sliced and looks like salami but darker red color. They made some horse and raw minced meat sandwiches for us in the morning. The horse meat sandwich had a very unique and strong taste w/ a hint of smoky favor. The raw minced meat was really good with lots of meat favor and creamy texture. Both was interesting....

After trying the horse meat cold cuts we were ready to try the steak! Stesi says it taste as good as a regular steak but better. We'll see about that...They took us to "De Peerdestal", a cozy restaurant located in the middle of old Antwerp.

It was a bit pricey but food portions were good and the taste was great! The decor was a bit weird! we knew we were eating eating horse, they didn't have to put horse bodies all over the restaurant! We sat right under the horse head...
someone else was sitting under the horse butt...

I thought this was horse meat but ends up being salami, a complementary starter.

Sita got a shrimp croquette appetizer

We ordered fried foie gras with oysters. OMG so good!!!! I'm starting to develop a liking for foie gras after my dinner at WD50 (blog post coming soon...)

Sita and I order the duck with raspberry sauce. The sides include grilled vegetables and croquettes. The duck was so delicious! It was so juicy and tender. The sauce was a sweet with a bit of sour which goes really well with the meat. *drooling as I'm writing about it*

The boys ordered the horse steak! From a glance, it looks exactly like a regular steak...

Andy loved it! I thought it was good and very tender. *videos of our reaction coming soon* It didn't have the strong taste as the cold cut but you can def taste the difference between cow and horse meat.

After our wonderful meal, time for coffee. This place brings you a tray with chocolate malt balls and different types of sugar for your coffee:

Since we tried horse meat, why not try horse milk ice cream! DON'T DO IT... very funky! I took two bites and couldn't bring myself to eat more of it. The citrus sauce and fruits on the side could not cover the strong funky taste of horse milk. I'll stick with my cow milk desserts from now on...

Our first horse meat experience was awesome!! Thank you guys for taking us there =D

Us asking the water for tap water:
Waiter: we don't have any tap water here
Sita (to us): What do they wash dishes with? LOL
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De Peerdestal
http://www.depeerdestal.be/

Address: Wijngaardstraat 8, Antwerp

Phone: 323-231-9503

Busy Week: Sky Diving and Birthday Surprise....

What does the two events have in common? Both ended with a celebratory dinner with awesome food.

Part I: Sky diving tag along fun......

Last weekend, my crazy boyfriend and family members (sister and cousin) decided to go sky diving. It's the second time for my boyfriend and first for my sister and cousin. As you can tell from the 2nd picture, I'm not in it...that's because I didn't take part in the sky diving! I was primarily there for moral support and to be the photographer of the day. The reason I didn't do it was because I DIDN'T WANT TO!

We drove all the way to Long Island and got lost along the way. We drove around a little town trying to find this elusive sky diving place. When we got there, they went straight to business, signing tons of paper, getting trained by the instructor, got on a little plane, jumped out of the plane, and they all had an awesome experience. Now they can cross sky diving off their bucket list and go for something more exciting...base jumping? yea right!

After sky diving we were all hungry! Andy decided to take us to J&R Steak House. We use to go there a lot when we were in Stony. The food taste great, the portion is huge and the price is right. I didn't have to even look at the menu, I already know what I was going to get!

When we sat down, they started us with a cold pasta and pickle starter. First appetizers we ordered was the lobster bisque ($3.99) and coconut shrimp with orange marmalade ($6.99). The coconut shrimp was crispy and overall okay. I love the lobster bisque! It's so creamy, and had chunks of lobster! I told everyone I was getting the huge bowl instead of the cup and I wasn't going to share! Everyone ended up getting a bowl of their own! This time it was a bit salty but I still love it! I had to stop myself from licking the bowl....



The entrees: everyone was happy with their dish. All the meat was cooked right, if you asked for medium, you got it red in the middle and nicely browned on the outside. The steak was all tender and delicious! The sides especially the garlic mash was sooo good but it was a little bit too buttery. I loved my sandwich! I love all the mushrooms and mozzarella cheese melted together with the steak tidbits, it's amazing!

Viv had the prime rib, medium cooked with mushrooms on top. The sides were garlic mash and mix veggies medley ($13.99)

Ang had the 14 oz. J&R marinated steak w/ bake potato and mix veggies ($13.99)

Andy had the 24 oz. J&R marinated steak ($16.59)

I had the steak tidbits deluxe sandwich: on garlic bread with mushrooms, onions, melted mozzarella cheese! ($8.99)

All of us (expect for Andy) couldn't finish our dish so we took it to go. We were so full but we had to get icy from Ralph's Famous Italian Ice! Ralph's was just around the corner and on a nice summer night like this one, there were lines. What's so special about this place, it has so many different flavors! Andy and I got the large cup with 5 flavors: pistachio, cookie dough, macadamia nut, cantaloupe, chocolate cookie and cream. This was the best way to end the night....

Part II: stay tuned for Filipino food, surprise party for a very special friend and birthday cupcakes.
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J&R Steak House:
1320 Stony Brook Rd.
Coventry Commons
Stony Brook, NY 11790
631-689-5920

Ralph's Famous Italian Ice
1320-24 Stony Brook Rd.
Stony Brook, NY
631-941-4750