I'm so sorry guys, but I'll have to bow out. I just got my Discover bill—yowza! However, I do like donuts, so I may make an exception for Dinkels but that shouldn't be a problem since I'm driving, right? Let me know if this causes some trouble with scheduling/waiting list folks, etc.
Either way, I'll be checking back for more bike tours. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Someone cancelled, so we have two more spots for anyone who wants to come by bike.

Just to confirm, Fifille and I will be joining via motorcycle:)

Yay - so glad to have our motorcycle guardian angels along!

Hi,

Enjoy the day tomorrow! I am looking forward to the reports.

Drive safely!

Regards,

I'm sorry for this last minute message but I won't be able to make it tomorrow. Have fun!

I have woken feeling under the weather, and will be staying home most of the day I will try to join you at Habana Libre with the tomato plant. Sorry for the late notice.

Woke up to a flat tire on the bike. Going to try some last second fixes but it looks unlikely that we will be able to attend

Hellodali and happy_stomach outdid themselves again - today's bicycle ride was extremely well organized and the chosen route worked out extremely well. We had just about perfect weather for the ride and with such a nice route chosen (Hellodali did a great job picking nice streets & scenic routes) it was a pleasure to move from one stuffed treat to the next.

We started with coffee and chocolate bismarcks at Dinkel's:

Thick chocolate coating on top, rich custard on the inside. Definitely a good start to the day.

Next we went up to Argyle street and had chicken buns from Patisserie P:

This was fine, but not my favorite of the day. The preserved egg pastry that JimTheBeerGuy picked up was actually my favorite taste at this stop - unfortunately I forgot to snap a photo.

From Argyle we headed up to Devon to King Sweets for samosas:

In addition to the samosa, I ordered a Chicken Patty (on the right) which was so-so... a little dry (both the pastry and filling) and not particularly flavorful.


The samosa on the other hand, was stellar. The interior was well-spiced (and spicy) and the exterior shell was crispy and delicious. Quite possibly the best samosa I've ever had.

A little ride down Bryn Mawr and up Elston was Smak Tak, a board favorite which I had never tried. We ordered three type of perogi - potato and cheese, mushroom and sauerkraut, and cherry (pictured). All three were fantastic, but I think the mushroom and sauerkraut stood out to me as my favorite.


We also ordered a goulash-stuffed potato pancake. Wow! I could have eaten the whole thing myself... well... not actually - it was *huge* - but I certainly would have tried.


A nice long ride down to Habana Libre gave us at least the feeling as if we were getting some exercise - even if we were consuming 5x the calories expelled. We placed an order to go and sat outside on happy_stomach's porch to devour some delicious stuffed Cuban treats:

A variety of empanadas - shrimp, chicken and beef.


Papas rellenas


Ok... this isn't exactly a "stuffed treat" but no trip to Habana Libre is complete (at least in my opinion) without an order of the juicy, crispy, pleasantly greasy garlic-laden pollo fritto. It's "stuffed with goodness"...


The crew.

Thanks again to Hellodali and happy_stomach for organizing a great afternoon of cycling and noshing!

-Dan

Dan, that looks amazing...so amazing, in fact, that it makes me wish I wasn't too lazy to bike all over the city!

Thanks for the great report.

Great report Dan! Thanks to all our fellow riders for being such great company throughout a tasty day. And thanks as always to my partner in crimes of riding and eating, happy_stomach.

Thanks to everyone who came out today--people who've ridden with us before as well as our new friends. I think today may have been my favorite LTH bike ride thus far. I really enjoyed the variety of food--the balance of sweet and savory--and the feel of the establishments. It struck me as a very well-balanced ride. And the day was gorgeous.

I've had a major hankering for pierogi for a while, so I knew the visit to Smak Tak would be satisfying. Despite my well-documented penchant for sweets, I'm strictly a savory pierogi kind of gal, and the cheese and mushroom-sauerkraut ones we ordered sated my craving precisely. I, too, had never had the stuffed potato pancake before. That's one solid, very yummy dish. My other favorites were the samosas at King Sweets and everything together that we ate from Habana Libre. I want to revisit all of those places and food again soon (like this week).

One pleasant surprise today came via JimTheBeerGuy. I was craving something other than a chicken bun at Patisserie P, and Jim let me have a bite of the aforemetioned preserved egg bun that he, too, was trying for the first time. It wasn't very eggy or particularly savory. Rather, it was a subtly sweet gingery filling in a flaky pastry. I definitely would eat that again. I think it'll be a nice way to diversify my BBQ pork bun and red bean cake Argyle routine.

One of the funniest moments of the day for me happened on our way to Smak Tak. Dimitra was leading the group on that leg of the ride, and I was at the tail end. We passed the LTH picnic spot, which Dimitra dutifully pointed out. A little later on that same leg, I heard, "And stevez lives over there..." and I saw the heads of all of the riders in front of me turn toward where Dimitra was pointing. I wouldn't say the group was awed...but almost. I kind of felt like I was in LA, taking a tour of stars' homes...the stars of LTH.

Thanks again to everyone, including my co-diva Dimitra, for such a pleasant, delicious day.

That all looks fantastic, and what a beautiful day you guys had! Wish I could have been there, but I'll keep a lookout for the next one.

I kind of felt like I was in LA, taking a tour of stars' homes...the stars of LTH.

Next time you start at Dinkel's, I promise to be out watering my lawn in my gold lamé peignoir and Dior sunglasses.

Great time yesterday everybody! Thanks to happy_stomach and Hellodali for their efforts in organizing, and especially to happy_stomach for letting us relax on her porch after the ride (and for the beers )!

happy_stomach wrote:One pleasant surprise today came via JimTheBeerGuy. I was craving something other than a chicken bun at Patisserie P, and Jim let me have a bite of the aforemetioned preserved egg bun that he, too, was trying for the first time. It wasn't very eggy or particularly savory. Rather, it was a subtly sweet gingery filling in a flaky pastry. I definitely would eat that again. I think it'll be a nice way to diversify my BBQ pork bun and red bean cake Argyle routine.

You may not have gotten any in your bite, but at the center of the cake was a chunk of black, rubbery preserved egg. It was an interesting textural counterpoint to the flakiness of the pastry and the paste-like texture of the sweet ginger filling.

happy_stomach wrote:One of the funniest moments of the day for me happened on our way to Smak Tak. Dimitra was leading the group on that leg of the ride, and I was at the tail end. We passed the LTH picnic spot, which Dimitra dutifully pointed out. A little later on that same leg, I heard, "And stevez lives over there..." and I saw the heads of all of the riders in front of me turn toward where Dimitra was pointing. I wouldn't say the group was awed...but almost. I kind of felt like I was in LA, taking a tour of stars' homes...the stars of LTH.

We also passed stevez's childhood elementary school, if I'd known we were doing the tour I'd have let everybody know

JimTheBeerGuy wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:One of the funniest moments of the day for me happened on our way to Smak Tak. Dimitra was leading the group on that leg of the ride, and I was at the tail end. We passed the LTH picnic spot, which Dimitra dutifully pointed out. A little later on that same leg, I heard, "And stevez lives over there..." and I saw the heads of all of the riders in front of me turn toward where Dimitra was pointing. I wouldn't say the group was awed...but almost. I kind of felt like I was in LA, taking a tour of stars' homes...the stars of LTH.

We also passed stevez's childhood elementary school, if I'd known we were doing the tour I'd have let everybody know

You guys are making my day.

Thank you to Dimitra and Sharon for planning this ride -- had a great time and the best samosa and pierogi I've ever eaten! Looking forward to future LTH events. It was great meeting everyone. Nice pics, Dan!

I want to say before I forget that I had a great time too, and was impressed both with the food choices and with how well everybody rode. I'd definitely be eager to do it again.

I'm soooo sorry I couldn't make it. Sharon and Dimitra are whizzes at setting up rides like this. Maybe they should go into business. Oh, wait ...

What a delicious-looking trip! Wish I'd been along

dansch wrote:
The samosa on the other hand, was stellar. The interior was well-spiced (and spicy) and the exterior shell was crispy and delicious. Quite possibly the best samosa I've ever had.

That, finally, looks like what I've been looking for (or more like what I make at home!) I'm so tired of getting samosas with pasty, greasy potato puree inside instead of fluffy, chunky potatoes like those! I'll have to stop by and try them at some point.