The 2012 St. Demetrios Greek Festival located in Fort Lauderdale was the same as it ever was, which is to say, it was great!  Going both Friday and Sunday evening, all I did was drink Greek beer and eat Greek mana, aka the lamb shanks.  Let me reiterate, the lamb shanks was the best dish hands down at the festival.  These shanks were clearly roasted for hours before being considered ready to be served.  I don’t think I used a knife even once, the meat melted right off the bone as I tugged at it.  The sauce only enhanced the lamb plus the side of perfectly cooked orzo complimented the dish perfectly.

Along with the arts and crafts (we bought two finger puppets) and the award winning dance Greek troupe, we had all the flavors of Greece rolled into three days.  Pictured with the menu, is Alfa, the best tasting Greek beer I’ve ever had.  The tones hit pilser heaven.  Light and airy with a slight bite at the end.  I was happy to consume many of these… just saying, if it’s good go for it.

Don’t miss next years St. Demetrios Greek Festival or you’ll be missing out on not only a great food and drinks, but also a genuine Greek time.  Opah!

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Morikami Gardens Oshogatsu 2012

The Little Nomsters are celebrating the Year of the Dragon at Morikami Gardens!  Located at the Morikami Gardens Museum and Japanese Gardens we knew for sure there was to be great Asian cuisine for the Nomsters to devour.  Sure enough, there was.

Let me begin by saying Morikami Gardens is a beautiful place.  The gardens offer great scenic locations for any occasion and we were blessed with spectacular 75 degree weather.  We witnessed a great Japanese drum session, an authentic style Japanese home, and of course great Asian food.  So let’s stop beating around the bush.

The Oshogatsu menu offered foods from both the vendors or their very own in house cafe the Cornell Cafe, we opted with the cafe cause a) the food would be a little more healthier being its not cooked over greasy portable cook tops b) we wanted sushi c) we didn’t have cash and the cafe took credit cards.

Walking over to the cafe from the fair grounds was a sight for everyone to see.  There are pebbled walkways surrounding the lake with vista views of bridges and green lush islands.  We came across a man made waterfall which emptied out under a bridge and into the lake where koi fish can be seen swimming about.  As we stood in line, and there was a very long line, we could hear a demonstration on preparing rice cakes (takes a lot of pounding), and saw many fans of Oshogatsu dressed up in costumes ranging from geisha to anime characters.

Breezing over the menu while standing in line, we decided to order the egg rolls, the cold sesame noodles, shrimp tempura rolls, and the dumplings.  The egg rolls were lightly fried but the taste wasn’t heavy and not greasy at all.  The shrimp tempura weren’t the best I’ve had, but was tasty nonetheless, the rolls were small but carried a distinct fresh taste and flavor.  The dumplings weren’t steamed like how I would have preferred but again lightly fried and the pork inside was a little bland, however a dunk in the lightly salted soy sauce helped it alot.  Finally, the item which made a home-run in my opinion was the cold sesame noodles.  The noodles were whole wheat, served with mild peanut sauce, with shredded carrots and cucumbers.  They were great.  Eating them was fun as they give you an entire carton box full, I clearly looked like an anime character stuffing and slurping my face with noodles.

At the end of the day we strolled around the gardens more, but what had me hooked was the entertainment, the food, and the gardens themselves.  I can’t say enough about Morikami Gardens and the Oshugatsu Festival.  Highly recommened event and location.

German-American Oktoberfest 2011

So it’s been awhile since we actually posted a Nomster review, we’ve been posting up images, and to be frank, the month of October is so crazy jam packed with activities it’s hard to keep up with the pace.  We’re actually passing up, maybe, a Johnnie Walker tasting tonight in Miami so you can imagine just how busy having a full time job, and having some extra beer-curricular activities can be.

And so it was decided we venture up to Lake Worth and visit what is heralded as “the biggest German Oktoberfest in Florida” or something to that effect.

The food was amazing, a little foreign for my Hispanic blood, but spot on on every dish we tried.  The pork schnitzel was a huge plate (not pictures), with red cabbage on the side. My German counterpart Nomster in crime said the cabbage was excellent and authentic – with the strong flavors of cloves and cider vinegar. The potato pancakes (shown above) were served to order and they were piping hot to the touch with a scoop of lovely apple sauce.  We also sampled a plate of the apple strudel, though I would have preferred it to be warm, it tasted excellent served cold.  The last food item we sampled was the bratwurst; thin and long (that’s what she said) and placed in a bun (zinger!), the brat was savory and not over cooked at all.

Lastly, one couldn’t go to a German Oktoberfest without sampling the great German beers!  Ignoring the giant Bud Light sponsorship in the image above, I had a double sampling of Becks’ Oktoberfest beer, the last in my newly owned Das Boot!  The beer is a full tasting beer with a barly taste and a great hoppy aftertaste.  I won’t say this for much beers but it even tastes great at room temperature.  Becks’ Oktoberfest beer is a great seasonal beer and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves fall type beers which are heavier and tastier than the summer counter parts.