PGH Dining: Penn Avenue Fish Company: Downtown

During Pittsburgh Restaurant Week this summer, Husband and I were only able to hit up a few places because of our busy schedules. We stopped by Penn Avenue Fish Company in Downtown on Friday night to have a laid-back dinner. 

Penn Ave Fish Co.'s interior.

PGH Dining: Smiling Banana Leaf

Last Friday night Husband and I were wanting to celebrate my success with all of the interviews I've been having {answers should be coming soon!}, but we've been going out A LOT lately. We decided on Smiling Banana Leaf, because of it's great reviews on Urban Spoon, it's close-by, and it's affordability. AND, it's Thai. Can't go wrong with that combination.

Located in Highland Park/Morningside, which is a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from us in UpLa, Smiling Banana Leaf is somewhat hidden in a residential area. After eating there, I might consider moving! 

We parked alongside the restaurant, and walked in to notice it's a TINY place. There's probably only room for 20 people to have dinner. We were asked by the hostess if we had a reservation {No?}, then were seated almost immediately in the only open table available. The one waitress came over shortly, and handed us one page, front-and-back menus. We proceeded to order two appetizers: Wonton Soup and Thai-Style Samosas.

Wonton Soup

The soup was filled with good-sized pork-filled wontons. They were cooked perfectly, and were complimented by the meaty broth. The mushrooms in the soup were particularly good, and weren't super normal or of the expected type. 

Look at that goodness!

The Thai-style samosas were MUCH smaller than I expected, as I was used to the pea and potato variety that are the size of your palm. These, however, were dainty and small. Their flavor was much more subdued, without the heavy spices of the normal samosa. These were still filled with potato, but were lighter. They were served with a sweet cucumber sauce, but were great with or without it. I wish there were a few more on the plate, because of the price {$5}.

For our main dishes, we ordered the massaman curry and the pad ped talay {Stir-fried mixed seafood with garlic, chili paste, onion, Kaffir lime leaves and green beans}.

Massaman Curry

The curry was "the best I've ever had," according to Husband. He's had a few curries in his time, and this one is his favorite, mainly because of the creaminess and the richness of the spices used. We could detect cinnamon, star anise and clove. Outstanding dish.

I took charge of the seafood dish, and ordered it very spicy. The plate was overwhelmed with tons of calamari, scallops, shrimp,  and fish fillets. Everything was cooked well, and nothing was hard and rubbery. The sauce itself was the essence of what Thai food tastes like to me: spicy and complex. You might only be able to pick out 3 of the blended ingredients, but you know it takes many to make it delicious. The green beans were such a nice surprise, too!

The portions were large, as expected, and we had enough for a lunch the next day. I cooked a generous portion of sushi rice, and poured the containers over top. 

Smiling Banana Leaf is one of our new favorites, and we can't wait to go back for more. One word of caution - for those that like to eat their Thai food with chop sticks, you have to ask for them! The tables are outfitted with forks only. {*Update: I've been privy to some information about chop stick availability...It's not typical for Thai cuisine to be served with chop sticks. I just prefer it!} Take your next date to have Thai food, and dine in a cozy restaurant!

Feasting Part 1: Christmas Eve

It's time to reveal the results from our holiday feasting. 

Get ready for a picture-laden few posts.

We began the cooking with a glass of wassel, followed by a glass of egg nog. Husband received these fancy whisky glasses as a Christmas present from his company. Yay, fancy glasses! 

Egg nog with a dusting of nutmeg.

 Then, we set in on making the squid (Feast of the THREE Fishes fish #1). We bought a half pound of bodies and tentacles at our local Giant Eagle Market District. (We also picked up the baccala there, too.) 

Sliced squid bits.

We fried them, to Anne Burrell's specifications, to a lovely golden brown. They were in a light batter of flour and a little cornstarch.

The plate of delicious fried-up squid bits, with lemon.

This recipe was spot-on. It was fresh, simple and delicious.

How can you not love something deep-friend in peanut oil?

We made a spicy dipping sauce to go with it from adding crushed red pepper flake, garlic, olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice to store-bought marinara sauce. 

Next, we moved on to the pasta bolognese. Shortly after reading through the recipe for the second time, and might I add more carefully, we realized the sauce needed to simmer for three and a half hours! 

We trudged on, our stomachs full of fried squid bits. 

And what a scrumptious end result! It was a super-long process, but I'm glad we did it. This dish didn't feature any "fish," but it did feature tons of salty parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Eat your pasta heart out. 

While the bolognese sauce was simmering, I went on to the baccala. So, since we all had a history/culinary lesson in my previous post, you know all about baccala. We went through the 48 hours of soaking, changing the water at least two times a day. What a trek!

The result was...not to our taste. It was a little too salty, and a little too fishy. The dish featured baccala and anchovies, fish #2 and #3 of our feast. Sheepishly, I'll admit, I made polenta to accompany it, and that was the hit of the dish. 

We sat down to our meal with a glass of Cabernet. 

For dessert, we indulged further in a treat from the French Patisserie down the street, La Gourmandine. An iced cream puff filled with vanilla pastry cream ON TOP of an iced cream puff filled with vanilla pastry cream? Heck yes! 

 What a perfect way to end a Christmas Eve meal.

Christmas Eve Dinner: Feast of the Seven Fishes

It's here! Today is Christmas Eve, and tonight will be a feast. 

It being our first holiday season here in Pittsburgh, Husband and I wanted to start some new traditions of our own. My very favorite Natalie gave me this idea around Thanksgiving when she told me her family chose to do different versions of holiday meals, to switch things up from turkey and dressing. Don't get me wrong - we all love those traditional foods, but why not try an Italian Christmas dinner on for size? So, that's exactly what we're doing! 


Traditionally, some Italian families cook up a storm, and make the Feast of the Seven Fishes. (Fish for Christmas - YES!) A most trusted and useful online resource says, "The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. Today, it is a feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. However, some Italian American families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11, or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration commemorates the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus." Since we are surrounded by Bloomfield, the Little Italy here in Pittsburgh, we had plenty of markets to grab our precious ingredients. 


Since Husband and I are only two people, I've chosen to only make three dishes. (We can only eat leftovers for so long!) My menu consists of (forgive my stock photos!):

Fritto Misto Calamari 

(via clintonhillfoodie.com)

I plan to use this recipe or this recipe, both from incredible Italian-style chefs. 

Baccala alla Veneta

(via manusmenu.com)

Because he's the Master Italian Iron Chef, I'm definitely using Mario Batali's Baccala alla Veneta recipe. 

Pasta Bolongese, because Husband needed his pasta and meat dish!

(via thebutchersdaughter.net)

I'm using Anne Burrell's Pasta Bolognese recipe, mainly because I adore her and her style and cooking knowledge. She's a complete rockstar chef.

So, in total, I'm serving three 'fishes': squid, baccala and anchovies. Yum! I'll be sure to take lots of photos from my dishes to show later. 

Tomorrow, Husband is taking over cooking duties, and making me a dish we've only had once. In February of this year we were snowed in. In Texas, when it snows, EVERYTHING shuts down. We took this to our advantage, and went on a field trip to the wine store close to our apartment. We purchased a Chianti, and went home to make Ina Garten's Filet of Beef Bourguignon. After just a short time, we had a glorious snow day meal. Husband is going to reenact that for us on Christmas day. I can't wait!

What are your plans for your holiday dishes?