#groupmeals

[Camaron Poblano Asada - Grilled steak around a poblano pepper with shrimp, mushrooms, onions and monterey jack cheese]

1. Unique Ramen

The days of the plain ol’ ramen bowls are over for the moment. Restaurants across the country are putting a different spin on ramen by adding unique ingredients and flavors. Take Dassara Ramen in Brooklyn, for example. They have a Smoked Salmon Ramen with hot kippered salmon, fried scallion cream cheese balls and ikura. You can even add matzo balls for an extra $2. Meanwhile, in Austin, Tatsu Aikawa of Austin’s Tatsu-Ya is offering Mexican flavor “bombs” with chile and lime powders in his ramen bowls.

  2. Scandinavian-Inspired

If you’re into the latest restaurant openings and food festivals, you may have noticed a surge of restaurants with Scandinavian flavor, from Nordic to Finnish cuisine. On October 2-7th, 2013, New York City celebrated “North,” a Nordic Food Festival, with a unique selection of events with local restaurants like Aska, and Luksus. Menus included plenty of fish, particularly herring and smoked varieties, as well as flavors like dill, elderberry, and mustard. 

3. Poutine

Poutine is a traditional Canadian dish, specifically from Quebec, made with French fries and topped with a brown gravy sauce and often cheese curds. Now, it’s showing up on menus in cities across the nation. Animal in Los Angeles serves theirs as a small plate with oxtail gravy and cheddar cheese. Mile End Deli in New York City offers a classic poutine with a chicken-mushroom gravy, cheese curds, and topped with beef brisket.  

We know you loved our top Wine Apps selection. Move over Opentable, Yelp and Zagat! Here are some awesome Restaurant apps to make your next dining out adventure amazing.

Foodspotting:

This app allows users to recommend their favorite dishes with photos.  Users can search for a particular dish they are craving, find out the best dish in a restaurant or where to find their favorite foods. Often called the “Pandora of Food” Foodspotting has had over 4 million dishes spotted around the world. Navigating the app is simple and is designed for everyone, not just foodies. Enjoy the food porn!

Tipulator:

Ever had one of those awkward silences after a meal at a restaurant where you are trying to calculate tip? Or how to split the check? Tipulator is a handy little app that makes calculating the tip easy. Users can choose various rounding options and easily split checks in group meals. No more percentages!

  LocalEats:  

Travelling?Looking for Sushi/Mexican/Pho? You need LocalEats. Travel to any new place but eat like a local. An app that lists the best restaurants in each city. The best thing about the app; no chain restaurants. The app does a comprehensive search to include all major food reviews and ratings and gives you the best recommendations in your community. No more bland meals while travelling!

  Gvidi:

This is your personal guide to restaurants. A restaurant is given a percentage score based on  your profile on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. The app uses a sophisticated collaborative filtering algorithm to give users personal recommendations based on publicly available information.  It’s about time someone started using data to make food searches and recommendations simple and personal!

[Pork & Vegetable Dumplings with Spicy Orange Marmalade]