DutchMuse wrote:

JoelF wrote:Newark Liberty (EWR) Terminal A, long a food desert, in in process of upgrading since the last time I was there over a year ago. Remodeling continues -- the American and United concourses have lots of walls indicating new stands and restaurants.


Currito Cucina (Mexican) replaces TGIFridays in the United concourse, didn't try it.

I ate here last week. Horrifying. Terrible. Had a quesadilla which had some fake cheese whose color bore no resemblance to any real cheese and terrible chicken. Ugh.

Are there any decent EWR dining options? Passing through twice next month. Either C or A terminals. Breakfast one day - dinner the other day. Garden State Diner was recommended.

As an American Airlines flyer, the news of Tortas Fronteras opening in O'Hare's terminal 3 is good news to me.

JeffB wrote:The food staff's professionalism was in stark contrast to the bartender, a surly Polish lady who has been working the bars in that terminal as long as I can remember....

This made me laugh a bit...9:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning, perfect timing for breakfast at the new Bayless outpost in Terminal 3...order placed, buzzer in hand, sipping my drink purchased from them, I sat down on a barstool at the (logically, considering the hour) sparsely populated bar, only to be barked at by the bartendress--"if you aren't drinking, you can't sit here." Seriously? And there is nowhere else to wait, other than to stand in front of the kiosk. But the breakfast torta was delish

We had high hopes, but I can share one to avoid on the upper level in DFW Terminal D - unless you pine for a disastrous and very expensive meal. Wood-fired pizza - the only decent thing about it was the crust - and the pleasure of paying $16 for a 9 oz (yeah right) pour of Redwood Creek Caberlot. YUCK!

Davooda

I just heard on the radio this morning that at O'Hare, some of the better restaurants will now let you order by phone -- and they'll bring the meal to your gate, if you're just there for a short lay over and want to pick something up for the onward flight.

Cynthia wrote:I just heard on the radio this morning that at O'Hare, some of the better restaurants will now let you order by phone -- and they'll bring the meal to your gate, if you're just there for a short lay over and want to pick something up for the onward flight.

Besides using the phone (good luck trying to find a phone number for an airport food outlet), there's actually an app for Android and iPhone called B4YouBoard that will let you place your order and have it delivered to the gate, unfortunately the menu is very limited.

Went through Heathrow Terminal 5 last week on my way back home to Montréal. Had lunch with TODG at Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food. Definitely one of the better airport meals I've ever had. I got his version of fish 'n chips, which included a lovely piece of grilled cod and 'chips' made from polenta, with a very nice home-made spicy ketchup. Debbie got the smoked salmon and haddock fish cakes with a super harissa sauce.

Everything was cooked perfectly, well-seasoned, totally fresh. We'll do it again for sure.

Geo

Back in Newark/EWR... A couple improvements.

Golden Krust opened on the left end of the terminal. Jamaican food featuring meat parties, jerk chicken and various stews. I grabbed a spicy beef patty, which was no better or worse than some I had in Jamaica. If I want running for a gate is have grabbed a ginger beer (flight was delayed the moment I got through security, Welcome to Newark). Inside security in the 30-37 gates is Ruby Tuesday, no great shakes but better than the crap in the other terminal a pods, and a Phillips Seafood featuring crab cake sliders. Didn't partake of either, but happy to see some choices arriving.

Proud Bird restaurant at LAX to close at end of year

These days, if you want a bite to eat before flying out of LAX, chances are you'll grab a burger at McDonalds or a muffin at Starbucks. But back in the day, flying was a bit more of a glamorous, leisurely affair.

http://www.theproudbird.com/proudbird/default.aspx

Looks like I never posted about my fave at SFO which is almost as good as Tortas Frontera at ORD. In the American terminal at SFO, look for Napa Valley Farms where you can buy a really broad selection of interesting salads, hot dishes, pizza, etc from decent sources. They have a good selection of Acme breads, Cowgirl Creamery cheeses - and insane selection of locally produced chocolates and lots of wines including quite drinkable small "flasqs" with a white or red blend that surely top the wine served on the airplane. Oh, and cupcakes and such as well. I look forward to flying out of that terminal since I know I'll get a good meal to carry on and a bit of wine to sip - and even can do some quick cheese and bread shopping! (they sell a nice little cowgirl creamery cooler and chill packs for cheese if needed)

I think putting a little farmers market at the airport is a nice concept. http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20 ... /130929950 When traveling, we try to empty our frig beforehand but it is daunting to think about grocery shopping after a long returning travel day. If you could pick up some fresh supplies before boarding, you could at least put the shopping trip off a day.

My vote would go for Tomokazu on the G concourse in the International Terminal at SFO. There's also an outlet in the food court in Terminal 3, but the menu is different. The daily special has been Gyudon for years, but it's my favorite thing to eat in an airport. The sushi is also decent. Last week the guy next to me tried to order uni but they were out. Thinking that ordering uni in an American airport was the height of insanity, I asked the guy if he had it before. He said it's the best uni he's ever had and it's flown in fresh from Santa Barbara. So, I guess I'll give that a shot next time I'm there.

Yes. I thought I recounted my Tomokazu story here before but I don't see it. A few years ago United lost my luggage on an ORD->SFO trip. At the time I had some high status, long since lost in post-merger airline "loyalty" program shenanigans. I was travelling with a group, and UA gave us something like $150 in vouchers, for everyone. I waited for the next plane with the luggage and sent the others on their way. I hung around SFO the next few hours spending the whole thing at Tomokazo, focusing on stuff like toro and uni. I couldn't even spend the whole voucher, though one of the shops let me use the balance to buy a bottle of booze. I completely agree this is the place to eat in SFO. An oasis of relative Japanese tranquility, similar to Matsutake in DC's Reagan.

Another trip through Newark (warning: If you're going to be there starting today through June or July, expect to take more time to get to rental cars/parking -- the AirTrain is out for repairs), and one of the first with United moved into Terminal C (former Continental home base).

There's a decent-sized food court here, and it's past security, but it's pretty lame.
I shoulda gone for the Nathan's Chili Cheese Dog, but instead went for its attached South Philly Cheesesteak. It looked good, but...
Avoid: Flavorless meat, no peppers, minimal cheese, weak bread.
I ordered Loaded potato skins as an accompaniment... and they were breaded! Who breads potatoes? It doesn't add anything, and in the pile of cheese, sour cream, scallions and bacon the breading gets soggy, which a properly fried spud skin would not.

I'm on a flight that arrives at Boston Logan (Terminal E) at 11:50 am this week and have to make a relatively quick transfer to the Seaport World Trade Center to catch the 1 pm ferry to Provincetown. It looks as if all of the Legal Seafood options are in other terminals at Logan. Any other lunch recommendations either in/near Terminal E or the Pier? (Or should I just ask my friends to meet me at the pier in Ptown with a lobster roll from The Canteen.)

We just arranged two 15-hour layovers in Hong Kong because, among other things, we want to break up our flights to and from Bali. We made the layovers longer than necessary, though, partly also because we want to see if we can find a place to sleep and partly to find a non-airport place or two to eat. We read BR's very helpful post on the HK airport itself, so now I'm wondering: does anyone know of a "good" (meaning clean/acceptable) place to crash nearby the airport that will also leave open the chance of some good dinners?

Gypsy Boy wrote:We just arranged two 15-hour layovers in Hong Kong because, among other things, we want to break up our flights to and from Bali. We made the layovers longer than necessary, though, partly also because we want to see if we can find a place to sleep and partly to find a non-airport place or two to eat. We read BR's very helpful post on the HK airport itself, so now I'm wondering: does anyone know of a "good" (meaning clean/acceptable) place to crash nearby the airport that will also leave open the chance of some good dinners?

Especially on the way back, when you won't be fighting the time difference, why not go into Hong Kong? The airport express is fast and you can go to either the Kowloon or Hong Kong side. If you do it efficiently, you're probably only giving up 1.5 hours, perhaps less, in transit. As for places near the airport, I know there's a Marriott that colleagues have stayed at that's perfectly good. Don't know if it's more than you're looking to spend for a place you're just crashing at; also don't know the restaurant options.

I was in Europe last week. I want nothing to do with the airline food. Thus, I stop at Tore&Lukes on Rand on the way to the airport and get a big Italian Beef combo. Covers me for 10 hours. The chow in Frankfort Airport is not bad. On the way back, same plan. Works for me and no Teriyaki Chicken. Yeah.

Puckjam,

There's a dynamite deli (and also a small supermarket) in the Frankfurt airport. I've bought lots of take-aboard eats from both places.

Geo

Just had a fine, fine burger at DET's Corridor Kitchen https://www.facebook.com/CorridorSausage/ in the very pleasant new food court opposite gate A8. The whole court is local, and related to the famed Eastern Market. Corridor Kitchen is run by Corridor Sausage Co., and it serves a number of different, some fanciful, sausages, burgers, and 'brick' oven gas-fired pizzas. The burger was c. half a pound, excellent meat, packed and ground just right, and cooked *exactly* how I'd ordered it: midway between rare and medium-rare. Loads of juice, but the bun stood up to the moisture perfectly and, I must say, tastily (the role of the bun in a burger's excellence is oft understated!). Crisp crinkly lettuce. a ripe tomato (? how did they do that in January??), home-made crispy sweet/sour pickle. Wow. I didn't taste the pizza, but I watched the guy cook them in the open-flame gas oven, and they sure looked and smelled great. Very well worth a visit.

Had a cold breakfast torta at Frontera last week. Bread crisped, cheese melted, but the chorizo did not heat through. Even opened it up to make sure the avocado wasn't playing tricks on me. Sure enough, cold chorizo.

More than happy to write this off as a one time anomaly but figured it was worth mentioning.

Cold chorizo doesn't surprise me as I've had a series of issues with Tortas Fronteras recently. I fly often and had gotten into the habit of always ordering their taqueria salad and guac with chips for long flights ... I make a few requests (no this or that, extra dressing on the side) and have always had to double check on those but recently I've hit really bitter dressing, forgotten orders and various missing ingredients. It's really disappointing since my Tortas stop has been one of the ways I survive too much business travel.

Yes, I'm a philistine but when I'm in Terminal 2, where TF and McD's are across the corridor from each other, I choose McD's more often than TF. I've had TF numerous times and while it's clearly better on paper, the reality doesn't quite measure up . . . and it's very expensive. I realize that many travelers can just expense it but a $10 sandwich is a bit on the steep side. Plus, I just happen to be a fan of McD's breakfast (the only food I tend to eat there). If it's not breakfast time, I'll typically wait until I get to the destination to eat. There's always something interesting -- and better than airport food -- on the other end.

=R=

Publican Tavern has taken over the former Wolfgang Puck space in O'Hare terminal 3 just beyond the security checkpoint. What a welcome addition to the O'hare dining scene!

Washington Dulles has improved significantly since I was first subjected to it years ago. Lots of choices that aren't generic diners, including Symon's Place, with burgers from Michael Symon, but what caught my eye was & Pizza. Long flatbread isn't pizza by Chicago standards, but it was very tasty. The mushroom special had a truffle mushroom sauce, crumbled goat cheese, mushrooms and a fig masala glaze. Worth ordering again, and at $10, quite decent for airport dining. Craft sodas available too.

stevez wrote:Publican Tavern has taken over the former Wolfgang Puck space in O'Hare terminal 3 just beyond the security checkpoint. What a welcome addition to the O'hare dining scene!

I'm surprised there isn't more excitement about this around here. Had an excellent breakfast here recently: eggs Benedict (on toast) came with a delightful red wine sauce, an extremely generous mound of La Quercia prosciutto, and an equally massive hill of arugula. Also got a taste of the breakfast sandwich, which was similarly satisfying. Excellent coffee from Sparrow.

It's clearly an airport operation, not a Publican operation: service is a bit chaotic, eggs described as scrambled arrive in omelet form, etc. Also, breakfast for two came out to $40. But who'd have thought even ten years ago that we'd soon have multiple airport restaurants touting the provenance of their meats and produce?

cilantro wrote:

stevez wrote:Publican Tavern has taken over the former Wolfgang Puck space in O'Hare terminal 3 just beyond the security checkpoint. What a welcome addition to the O'hare dining scene!

I'm surprised there isn't more excitement about this around here. Had an excellent breakfast here recently: eggs Benedict (on toast) came with a delightful red wine sauce, an extremely generous mound of La Quercia prosciutto, and an equally massive hill of arugula. Also got a taste of the breakfast sandwich, which was similarly satisfying. Excellent coffee from Sparrow.

It's clearly an airport operation, not a Publican operation: service is a bit chaotic, eggs described as scrambled arrive in omelet form, etc. Also, breakfast for two came out to $40. But who'd have thought even ten years ago that we'd soon have multiple airport restaurants touting the provenance of their meats and produce?

I usually don't feel the inclination to break-fast until the afternoon. That said every trip out of O'Hare since last summer sees me making space and time for Publican.
My scrambled eggs have always been scrambled. And my service has been fine.
Don't forget to ask for the preserves!

pairs4life wrote:My scrambled eggs have always been scrambled.

Just to clarify, it was the breakfast sandwich where the menu wrongly lists the eggs as scrambled. Also, the sausage is not a patty but an actual sausage, thinly sliced. I think maybe bacon might be a better choice in the future. Anyway, enough carping: Publican Tavern -- two thumbs up!

Midway food court changes: Goodbye, Potbelly and Harry Caray's. Hello, Home Run Inn and Schaller's Pump

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Dave148 wrote:

Midway food court changes: Goodbye, Potbelly and Harry Caray's. Hello, Home Run Inn and Schaller's Pump

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

Not sure how I feel about this. I fly out/in of Midway almost weekly and Potbelly has been a standby as a quick and reliable meal. It's well-run and (most importantly when not on business) well-priced.

Overall, the choices need an upgrade, but I just don't see how this is going to be much of an upgrade. They are doing a lot of these overnight, so I'm sure the lack of training leading to inefficiency and ill-prepared staffs/inventories will continue to pervade.

Damn SW's great reward program for keeping me from good airport options like Publican and Tortas Frontera!