shopsins revisitation

On an early morning when GF and i were driving into Jersey via the city, we decided to make an impromptu visit to the infamous Shopsins in the Essex Street Market. Why infamous? The owner/chef, Kenny Shopsin, is an ornery, eccentric old man with the mouth of a sailor. A turn off to some, but charming methinks. There are stories of people getting yelled at for ordering too slowly or being obnoxious by the man, but I haven't seen that as of yet, just alot of adoring customers.

These are the sliders. We ate at 9am, but good sliders do not conform to the boundaries of standard mealtime! Moist and fatty, topped in caramelized grilled onions and cheese, these sliders were fantastic. Served on the perfection that is potato rolls as well. Young dyan didn't like that the patties weren't seasoned, which of course can be offputting to some. I kind of like burgers that way though. Taste the pure meat flavor, you know?
This is the dish I ordered. Home fries, scrambled eggs, garlic toast, and spicy fried pork balls. What is a fried pork ball you ask? Well, friend, simply marinated shredded pork (couldn't identify the flavor, but it was vaguely reminiscent of buffalo wing sauce), coated in batter and fried. Moist and dense. Basically a meatball formed w/ roughly shredded pork. Everything else was standard, no better than what you'd get at a diner. I wasn't too big a fan of this dish. The porkballs were greasy and teh flavor just not very appetizing. It tasted like something I could make in my kitchen by just effing around a little and combining a few different basic sauces. It'd be pretty ok, I guess, but a disappointment compared to some other winning items that you can get here.

This is the delicious 'blisters on my sisters' . Chorizo, black beans, red beans, rice, fried eggs, coated in a melted cheddar cheese and sitting on a tortilla on teh bottom. Amazing. Tastes exactly like what it sounds like, but I mean how can you go wrong with that. I wish I could eat this all the time.

And there you have it. Eating at shopsins to me is a showcase of getting delicious foods with ingredients and in a manner that you could easily recreate at home. In that sense, I definitely gain an appreciation for what's going on here, eating while watching Kenny cook in a little booth that makes up a kitchen. Fantastic, you must go.