Yesterday I planned to write about what happened with our Chow & Tell application, and our team get together at Los Sombreros. Unfortunately something more important came up.
Lynn went to the hospital yesterday, and she'll be spending the weekend there. I had hoped that if we made it this far without incident that we'd have an uneventful pregnancy, but there are loads of things that can go wrong with pregnant women. Yesterday Lynn noticed a small abnormality so she called her doctor's office about it. They had her come in, preformed an ultrasound, and concluded that she had a shortened cervix. They sent her to the hospital so the hospital could figure out why her cervix was shortened. The hospital verified that her cervix is shortened, and decided to keep her so they could observe her once or twice daily to determine the cause. The possible solutions (depending on the problem) are contraction suppression drugs, a suture to reenforce the cervix, bed rest until the pregnancy comes to term, or nothing at all (meaning there's really no problem). I think they already ruled out that there isn't a problem.
The result of a shortened cervix is usually premature birth. At week 21 the baby is just less than a pound, and their lungs aren't fully developed. If I read things correctly then it'll be a few more weeks before the baby can survive a premature birth. The good news is that this was caught early enough that it should buy us plenty of time.
[Well, they let Lynn return home this afternoon as long as she remains under strict bed rest until a follow up on Monday. I get the feeling this is going to be the next four months.]
Today Gordon took me to Comedor Guadalajara, a restaurant I'd never heard of before, for lunch. When we pulled up I was struck by how large the parking lot was for the restaurant. When I parked I noticed the security guard watching over the parking lot. I was impressed that they don't let you use the neighborhood as an excuse not to visit.
We walked in through the rear entrance where we found the hostess station. I'm guessing not too many people enter through the front door. We were seated immediately, and we practically had to walk through the entire building to get to our table. The place was enormous! There wasn't much to the interior, but it was clean.
I got a horchata, which arrived in a huge glass. Next time I'll see if they have lemonade since a huge glass of fresh limeade is a great thing. The horchata was very creamy with some spice to it. It was too mild for tastes, but it wasn't bad. Our waiter also brought us chips and salsa. The chips were light, crispy, and occasionally too salty. The extra salt was easy to brush off so it wasn't a problem. The salsa was hot sauce highly seasoned with black pepper and oregano. The oregano provided a unique flavor to the salsa, but the excessive black pepper almost made the salsa inedible. It was hot and unbalanced, but I'm compelled to eat chips and salsa so I kept eating them even though I didn't want to.
Later our waiter brought us a cup of soup. It had a tomato based broth with some thick bow tie pasta and some vegetables floating around in it. The broth had a comforting pleasant flavor that suggested the other soups are worth trying, especially the chicken soup.
Gordon said he had the carne asada tacos his first time at Comedor Guadalajara, and they were great. I wasn't in the mood for carne asada so I got a green chile beef chimichanga instead. Gordon got a green chile burro enchilada style. The burro and chimichanga were both large. The green chile had a good flavor, and the chunks of beef were somewhat tender. I was happy with it, and the zesty guacamole that came with it made me even happier. The chimi wasn't as good as the green chile chimichanga from Rito's, but it was well worth eating. My chimi came with the usual sides of Spanish rice and refried beans. Both were typically bland too. I had a bite of Gordon's burro because I always wondered if the combination of green chile and enchilada sauce is actually good or if it would clash as I expected. It clashed so that's not a combination I'll be trying again (same for Gordon).
Overall our lunch at Comedor Guadalajara was good, and made me want to try their other menu items (starting with the carne asada): I have a feeling some of them are great.
Today at lunch I tried a half liter bottle of Republic of Tea's "Honeydew White Tea". I've had their tea bags before, and they're pretty good so I thought the bottled tea wouldn't be bad. It was the worst bottled tea I've ever had*! The tea was tannic and astringent with a finish that tasted like dishwater. The only time I taste tannins in tea is when they're over steeped. You'd expect that people who deal with tea for a living would know better. I have no idea how to account for that dishwater aftertaste. My mom had their "PassionFruit Green Tea", which had a slightly better flavor than mine, but was still tannic with a dishwater aftertaste. At least they're consistent.
*I haven't tried too many bottled teas so it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find one worse, but I doubt it.
Earlier this week I tried to get reservations at Restaurant Hapa, and found out they closed a few weeks ago. Hapa was the first Phoenix restaurant I remember that garnered national attention, and they served some interesting food, but I'm not sure how I feel about their closure. Every meal I had there was very hit and miss, and this meal was going to determine if I was ever going to eat at Restaurant Hapa ever again. When the restaurant changed ownership, and head chefs, it fell out of vogue, but the ownership change didn't bother me because the McDevitts were the ones responsible for the inconsistency in the food. I'm probably the only person who thought that the change in ownership might be a positive change, but now I'll never know. I would've liked their fiery scallops one last time though.
[If you're curious about the McDevitts, they went to Napa and opened their current restaurant, Budo. Lynn and I ate at Budo last year, and even though a good portion of the menu was retained from Hapa, the food seemed a lot better to me. There were still some rather huge misses though.]
Saturday I picked up croissants from Karl's Quality Bakery, Bakin' Fresh (the place at Dobson and Guadalupe), and Tammy Coe Cakes. I also hit Pleaissant Croissants, but they close at noon on Saturdays, which was earlier than I was there. The last couple of times I had plain croissants from Pleaissant they didn't taste right so it's unlikely they would've come out on top anyway. The croissants at Lee's Sandwiches have been consistently great however so I was heartbroken that they were out of croissants when I went there.
The most expensive croissant of the group was Tammy Coe's at $2.50, and it was also the largest. It had a slightly overdone brown color, and was plump, shiny, and crispy. The bottom was a little overdone, and the croissant was very airy, but there wasn't much flavor to it despite its buttery scent. It's not a croissant I'll be getting again.
I thought Karl's was the best looking croissant because it was perfectly golden brown. It was somewhat shiny with a slightly buttery flavor, but the bottom was also a little overdone. That's the second time the bottom has been overdone so I'm not going to get croissants from Karl's again either.
The Bakin' Fresh's croissant was the cheapest at $1. It was round, flat, and had a dull appearance that looked like a croissant you'd get from the supermarket. It didn't appear airy, but the dough was full of small, uniform air pockets so it still tasted airy. It actually had the best flavor of the three so I really wished it looked better.
Lynn didn't know which croissants were which, unlike me, but our results were the same. Lynn disliked the Tammy Coe croissant saying it looked overdone and didn't taste like anything. She also thought the Bakin' Fresh croissant tasted best.
It's funny my original plan was to get croissants from Lee's Sandwiches, Bakin' Fresh, and Pleaissant Croissants, and after this experience I still want to get croissants from those three places. Maybe this weekend.
Today Lynn had her ultrasound. Lynn thought she was 18 weeks along, but either the kid's pretty big for his age or she's over 20 weeks along. Lynn was relieved to find out the baby is healthy, and thrilled to find out he's a boy (she never told me she wanted a boy). I already knew it was a boy, but didn't mind the ultrasound verifying it.
His name is going to be Mario Edward, named after me and some relative of Lynn's. If he takes after me I'm sure he can't wait to until he can eat solid food.
Twice recently I've eaten with people who've had things I knew were bad where we were eating, but they turned out to be good. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise because it had been years since I had those items, and if it's possible for food to go down in quality then it shouldn't be any more unlikely that food quality could also rise. I'll try to remember that in the future even if I won't count on it.
I'd wanted to visit Zinc Bistro for quite some time, and going to north Scottsdale to see "Corteo" was the perfect excuse. Friday my mom, Lynn, and I went there for lunch. It was a beautiful day, perfect for dining al fresco, but it looked like there was already a wait for the outdoor seating, and we were very hungry. We were seated inside at a banquette, and noticed they had courtyard seating, which looked like the best seats "in" the house. The floors were hard wood and the walls were line with mirrors. We thought the atmosphere was great, and the scene reminded Lynn and I of Paris.
I wanted a crisp white wine so I got a glass of Michel Redde "Sancerre". It was served too cold for me to taste it, which is the first time that's ever happened. Eventually it warmed up so I could taste it, and it had a good flavor, but I would have preferred more acidity.
The dungeness crab and mushroom crepe sounded unique in addition to sounding good to us so we tried it. Our waiter didn't mention it, but he had the appetizer split for us because it arrived on two plates. The crepes were fat with crab, but very little mushroom. The few times I tasted the mushrooms they were quite good, and I would have liked more of them in the crepe. The appetizer was light, buttery, and had an excellent crab flavor, but about half the time it was also salty. The other crepe wasn't at all salty, and was the better of the two. The appetizer was about complimenting the inherent goodness of the crab, and even though it was mild I'd get it again. Hopefully they'll be more consistent with the salt.
The online menu had a salad with grilled lamb and cous cous on it, but Zinc had since changed their menu. The only thing that sounded decent to me was the lamb sausage and gnocchi. The sausage was very tasty, and even though the gnocchi were denser than the fluffy little pillows of pasta I love from Va Bene they were enjoyable. There were also thin sliced kumquats and green olives in the dish that I could have lived without. The dish was good, but I'm not sure I'd get it again. I also got a side of the roasted corn risotto. It was very mild, but comforting and delicious enough that we finished the entire thing. That I would get again.
Lynn got the seared scallops with lentils, and my mom had the chicken salad and soup. Lynn pointed out that the two scallops on her plate weren't worth $18. I was inclined to agree. The scallops were well seared, but it was the lentils that impressed me. The lentils, made with bacon to compliment their earthy flavor, were delicious, and I could have eaten an entire bowl of them. Lynn liked the dish, but she still felt it was a rip off. My mom's chicken salad had slices of grilled chicken stacked with alternating layers of romaine lettuce to form a cairn of food. The chicken was decent with shaved red onion, but cold chicken is still cold chicken. My mom was impressed with the soup, and thought the salad was decent.
For dessert I had to try the date shake because I'd heard of a famous date shake served at a restaurant between Phoenix and Los Angeles, and hoped this would be similar. The shake was very milky with some date flavor and a chalky finish. That didn't taste like any shake that would be famous so I'll have to wait until my next road trip to California to try the original. The shake also came with tiny sandwich cookies made out of oatmeal cookies and coconut filling. They were ok, but I'm not a fan of coconut cookies. Lynn and my mom split the chocolate torte with cherry-vanilla ice cream and cherry-black pepper sauce. The torte was smooth and super rich. If you like death by chocolate type desserts then it's perfect for you. I was already stuffed so two very small bites of it finished me off. I was curious how the black pepper would taste in the sauce, and contribute to the dessert, but none of us could taste it.
Zinc Bistro reminded me that bistro food is meant to be comfort food, not exciting, but as far as comfort food goes I liked it enough to want to return. It's not the type of place I'll be jonesing for, but there aren't many bistros/brasseries that I do (unless they make something perfectly). Lynn wants to return to Zinc too, but after she has the kid so she can try the gruyere fondue.
I hoped Cirque du Soleil's "Corteo" would be a great show, and yesterday we got to find out. This was the first Cirque du Soleil show I've been impressed with since "O". "Corteo" couldn't compete with the unique water stage or spectacle of "O", but it was dreamy, whimsical, and charming. All the Cirque du Soleil are entertaining, but this one was more coherent actually telling a story. I liked it so much that I'd see it again if it ever returns to town.
Today I was working from home so I took the opportunity to eat lunch at Shangri-La de Old Cathay. They had a lunch menu, and a daily lunch special that allowed for two entrees to be selected. There were only four entrees to choose from today for the lunch special, but two entrees sounded better than one. I should have went with one of the more interesting options from the regular lunch menu.
All lunches include the ubiquitous cup of soup so I chose the hot and sour. It was sour with just enough heat and sweetness to keep it from being one dimensional, and the tiny bits of pork in it were good. It was enjoyable, and I ate through it without even thinking about it.
All lunches also come with a crab puff, egg roll, and fried rice. Usually the lunch freebies are worth what you pay for them, and these were too. The fried rice had an odd flavor to it that kept me from eating it. I expected better considering their tasty bacon fried rice. The egg roll was the usual ground pork with vegetables. It had the occasional coarsely chopped vegetable that was disconcerting, but the flavor of the egg roll was only ok anyway. The crab puff was the best of the three items, and I didn't taste any crab in it. Someday I'll have to find a restaurant that makes crab puffs worth eating.
I hoped the entrees would be better than the other items on the plate, and they were. Slightly. My two entrees were the fried and braised short ribs and the beef with vegetables. I thought the braised part of the fried and braised short ribs meant it was a braised dish. I should have known that the meat was braised then fried. The short ribs were over battered, fried, and served in a viscous, almost cloying sauce that tasted like the sauce used for Peking pork chops. I couldn't figure out if the dish was worse than Hunan Express on a bad day, but at least the meat wasn't fatty chicken. The beef with vegetables had a light, mild sauce that worked well with the vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, and cabbage), but made the unsalted beef taste really nasty. I had to douse the beef in soy sauce to make it eatable, but in the end I left the beef and ate all the vegetables.
This was the worst meal I've had ever at Shangri-La, but at least it didn't cost more than $6 (including tax, but not tip). If I go there for lunch again I'll stick to the regular lunch menu.
[Previous visit to Shangri-La de Old Cathay.]
[Hunan Express Spotlight.]
Last night we had a salad of romaine lettuce, strawberries, avocado, red and yellow peppers, green onion, and cheddar crumbles for dinner. Lynn charged me with making a dressing. I figured something simple would be best so I made a vinaigrette with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, and a tiny bit of cayenne. I considered putting some vanilla extract in it too, but Lynn thought it would be too weird. The combination of strawberries and cheddar was a lot better than I expected, but I should've added sugar to the vinaigrette because the salad needed a little sweetness.
Essence of Emeril was on earlier today, and Emeril was making a salad with arugula, goat cheese coated in pecans, salt, pepper, and vanilla infused olive oil. I knew vanilla sounded like a good idea, and it looks like I'll have to try it someday.
I admit I'm a bakery snob. I believe good bread comes from people, not corporations. I never considered that good bread could come from a super market until I was grocery shopping, and had an urge for whole wheat bread. I read through the ingredients on one of the breads (I'm sure you already guessed I was one of "those people"), and was surprised to find high fructose corn syrup was a major ingredient. I couldn't find one whole wheat bread made without it! I guess the major bakeries feel that people won't eat wheat bread without sugar, but I thought the obvious appeal was the chewy pieces of wheat. Now I feel a little more justified being a bakery snob.
The other day Lynn picked up some croissants from a new bakery on the southeast corner of Dobson and Guadalupe (we don't know what their name). The croissants weren't crispy, but they had a great flavor. My memory wasn't up to the task of comparing them against the croissants at Lee's Sandwiches so sometime soon I'll pick up croissants from both places, and Pleaissant Croissants, to do a taste off. I can't wait.
After lunch at Grimaldi's Lynn and I were in the mood for dessert. I'd heard that Sugar Bowl was a real ice cream parlor so I wanted to check it out. When we walked it the place was immediately familiar; it looked like a ghetto knock off of Mary Coyle's! The interior was predominately white with pink trim (the opposite of Mary Coyle's pink with white), and it looked like it needed repainting. We were seated, and I couldn't keep my eyes from a leaded glass window that looked like someone tried to put their fist through it.
Sugar Bowl's menu features a lot less flavors than Mary Coyle's, but there was a similar selection of appealing sundaes. Lynn knew she wouldn't eat much so we split a "Spectacular Banana Bowl" (hopefully truth in advertising). It was "creamy" vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce, Dutch chocolate ice cream with marshmallow sauce, and cookies and cream ice cream with some sort of chocolate sauce. The vanilla ice cream was tasty with the strawberry sauce, but by itself there was significantly more creamy texture to it than vanilla flavor. I stopped eating it as soon as we ran out of strawberry sauce. The Dutch chocolate tasted like cocoa, and while not the greatest chocolate ice cream, I'd get it again. The cookies and cream could have used more cookie and less creme. It wasn't bad with the chocolate sauce though.
Sugar Bowl was pretty good, and worth a visit if I'm in the neighborhood, but if I'm going out of my way for ice cream it's to Mary Coyle's.
A couple of Sundays ago Lynn and I were in downtown Scottsdale, and decided to give Patsy Grimaldi's Pizzeria a second try. The restaurant was surprisingly vacant when we walked in, and we were immediately seated. Our table was situated next to their coal burning oven, and the burning coal smelled sweet, redolent of hickory. It was very different from what I expected, memories of buildings embedded with coal soot not bringing pleasant scents to mind.
We ordered a caprese salad, and it arrived at our table very quickly. The salad consisted of alternating slices of mozzarella, roma(?) tomatoes, and basil leaves with accompanying bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The mozzarella was rather plain, and the tomatoes weren't quite ripe, but the addition of salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar made the salad worthwhile. Normally restaurants don't provide enough basil in caprese salads, but this time I could have used more tomatoes because they were small. The caprese salad was adequate, but nothing special.
The first time we had a pizza at Grimaldi's there wasn't enough cheese, sauce, or pepperoni on it. While we waited an inexplicably long time for our pizza we watched other pizzas being made. It looked like they were putting significantly more cheese on their pizza even if they were still treating the pizza sauce like gold. We wondered whether Grimaldi's officially changed their stingy ways or if we suffered from a maverick stingy chef on our first visit.
Our white pizza (mozzarella, garlic, and olive oil), when it eventually arrived, was loaded with cheese and garlic. Note to all pizza places, the garlic on the pizza was very finely chopped, which was perfect because the tiny size allowed the garlic pieces to fully cook. I was happy that I could taste garlic in every bite without torturing myself in the process. The crust was thin and crispy with a good flavor that would have been greatly enhanced by a bright tomato sauce to balance the bland mozzarella. We would have been better off ordering a regular pizza. Lynn, never a white pizza fan, figured out that she needs tomato sauce for a positive pizza experience.
The pizza at Grimaldi's has the potential to be great, but it would probably cost me $24 to put together a great one. I really don't need to pay that much for a single pizza.
I wanted a great lunch for my short work week last week so I had lunch with Ken at Da Vang. We were seated immediately, but it took our waiter a long time to take our order. I was surprised because Da Vang is the only Vietnamese restaurant I know that has good service.
I had a lemonade, and it was the usual limeade tastiness. I was in the mood for the shredded pork spring rolls, but Ken wanted to try the pork and shrimp spring rolls so we got both (they're cheap). The pork and shrimp spring rolls were made with thinly sliced pork, shrimp, thin rice noodles, lettuce, and mint, and were very good with the plum sauce they came with. The shredded pork spring roll was a huge disappointment because the thin rice noodles were replaced by rolled up rice paper. It made for a chewy wad that sucked the life from the rest of the ingredients. Ken spiced the fish sauce that came with the shredded pork spring rolls with hoisin sauce and sriracha, and it was an improvement over the plain spring roll, but ultimately the extra rice paper was more than I wanted to chew through.
We both got a barbecue pork bahn mi (a sandwich with pickled daikon radish, cucumber, cilantro, fresh jalapeno, and mayonnaise on French bread), and mine was excellent. The pork was moist and mildly sweet, which was perfect with the other flavors and textures. It made me wish Da Vang was on my side of town.
The bahn mi was great, but the shredded pork spring rolls and service could have been better. It wasn't the great lunch I desired, but it was satisfying.
Ken is always faster than me so his version of the visit has been up since last week.
[Previous visit to Da Vang.]
)
This has been going around blogs I don't read so I'm the late comer to the party. The image above is a word cloud for my home page (generated by Snap Shirts). Typically word clouds are used to visually indicate which tags [topics] are most popular by making them larger or by darkening their background color proportional to their popularity. An example of this is the Technorati Tags page. My word cloud shows that I use the words "like", "little", and "pretty" way too often. The other words all seem typical although I never knew I used "one" and "two" so often.
There's one word conspicuously absent from the word cloud. Baby. For something life altering I'm surprised I haven't talked about it more, but there's not much to say about it right now. The latest news is that the baby is really starting to grow, and this week he started doing somersaults. I saw it once, and the resemblance to the chest bursting scene in "Alien" convinced me I didn't want to see it again. Next week we have the first ultrasound, and we get to find out the sex of the baby. My fatherly intuition tells me it's a boy, but who's ever heard of fatherly intuition?
Sunday Lynn and I went to the West of Western Culinary Festival, but they canceled it because of the rain (even though it was supposed to be a rain or shine event). I had expected some great food so I was incredibly disappointed. I was hungry, irritated, and in the mood for something beyond ordinary. We looked around for something to eat, but lunch on a Sunday is almost a lost cause. One of the few places that was open was Phoenix City Grille. I remembered the first time I visited there I thought the menu read better than the food tasted, but that was many years ago so I decided to give them another shot.
We walked in, and the place was bustling. Being one of the few restaurants open for Sunday lunch seemed to work well for them. We were seated immediately, and our waitress took our drink order. It tasted like she gave me a diet Coke instead of a regular Coke, and she forgot Lynn's water. Our waitress disappeared so it was at least 10 minutes before I got a regular Coke and Lynn got a water.
Later Lynn asked for tea, and she was brought a selection of three Revolution teas. Two of them were flavored teas and one was an herbal tea. One of my restaurant pet peeves are places that don't carry unadulterated tea. Green, oolong, or black tea is all fine so long as it actually tastes like tea. Lynn tried the earl grey lavender tea, and said the lavender was very nice with the bergamot. Naturally I had to try it. Earl grey is one of my most hated teas because the bergamot is overbearing, but I have to give the people at Revolution credit for creating a tasty and balanced earl grey. The bergamot and lavender were both apparent, but they were light enough that they were enjoyable with the tea instead of overpowering. The quality of their early grey lavender makes me willing to try other flavored teas.
None of the entrees jumped out at either of us so we decided to dine entree free. We had appetizers of bacon wrapped cotija stuffed shrimp, griddled corn cakes, and a shrimp and lobster quesadilla. The shrimp arrived first, and the bacon completely overpowered the shrimp and the cheese. It came with a salsa mayonnaise that helped cut the flavor of the bacon, but less bacon would have been preferable. While I ate it I kept thinking, "I'd rather be eating the goat cheese stuffed shrimp at Zest."
The quesadilla and the corn cakes arrived at the same time. The corn cakes were stuffed with grilled chicken and monterey jack cheese, and served with a side of black beans. It was big enough to serve as a small meal. My first bite started delicious with sweet corn and cheese, but there was a weird pork undertone to the flavor that was disturbing. I had the cake with the black beans, and the beans covered up the pork flavor in addition to tasting very good. The chicken had a red chile flavor, and also covered up the pork flavor. I don't know where that flavor came from, but it put Lynn off of the corn cakes, and eventually had the same effect on me too. The corn cakes would have been very good if it weren't for that flavor. The quesadilla was average, probably because the seafood was too mild to compete with the flour tortilla. I should have known better because I've never had an impressive seafood quesadilla. The salsa that came with the quesadilla was spicy and smoky, and became my sole reason for eating the quesadilla.
The appetizers were disappointing so I hoped our soup and salads would be better. I got the black bean soup and house salad with basil-dijon vinaigrette while Lynn got the soup of the day (tortilla with chicken) with a Caesar salad. The soup and salad comes with a bowl of soup instead of a cup so I didn't think we'd finish our soups after everything we had already eaten. My black bean soup was mostly blended, but there were enough whole beans to feel homey. The flavor wasn't impressive like the black beans at Havana Cafe, but it was very good. The flavor was too heavy for me though so I moved on to my salad. The house salad was greens with some shaved onion and tomatoes, but the great differentiator was the delicious basil-dijon vinaigrette. The dijon flavor was strong with some sweetness and horseradish spiciness, but the vinegar kept it light and kept it from being fatiguing. I was impressed.
The tortilla soup with chicken was thick, very hearty, and had a pleasant red chile spiciness. We both really enjoyed it, and ate the entire bowl. The Caesar salad was typical except that I got a little fishiness from the shredded parmesan. Lynn didn't taste it so she was happy with it.
The one thing I remembered liking about Phoenix City Grille was the dessert so I wanted one even though we were stuffed. There were a couple of desserts that sounded good, but I'd never heard of buttermilk pie before so I tried it. It was served in a pie shell, had a firm texture, and a flavor like cheesecake. It wasn't bad, but it could have used a better caramel sauce; the caramel sauce had a flavor and texture closer to bottled caramel sauce than hand made. It was good to try, but I wouldn't get the buttermilk pie again.
There were a couple of things I was impressed with at Phoenix City Grille, but finding three out of three appetizers disappointing makes it unlikely I'll be eating there again unless I'm in the mood for soup.
A lot of movies have come out that I've wanted to see the last four or six months, but none of them motivated me to get to the theater. So what's the movie that got us into the theater (it should be obvious from the title)? I wanted to see "V for Vendetta", but it's doubtful that left up to me I would have seen it before it went to video. DJ asked if we wanted to see it Saturday night, and we went to the theater for him. I'm glad we did too.
Having read the "V for Vendetta" comic book I knew the material would be a challenge to any would-be screenplay adapters. The Wachowski brothers, of Matrix fame, seemed up for the challange because I thought they did a great job. They did change a good portion of the story, but I thought they kept true to the original vision. The movie ended a little more conclusive than the comic book, but that's probably because movie audiences don't react well to irresolution.
I am surprised this movie got made though. It's not typical for a lot of reasons, one of which was the fact that V (the protagonist) wears a Guy Fawkes mask throughout the movie. Another reason is the movie is also very political, and has a very strong message about intolerance.
I was surprised the theater was full of teenagers, which didn't seem like the ideal audience for the movie. I'm sure there was enough action and offbeat humor to keep their attention, but the story of overcoming fear and changing a repressive government might be lost on them. DJ, Lynn, and I all thought it was great, and I'd actually watch it again.
Yesterday one of my aunts from Belize was in town so someone decided to make boil up at my uncle's house. Out of all the Belizean dishes I've ever had my least favorite is boil up. The idea is simple; you take a bunch of starchy stuff and boil it. This particular one included potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava (yuca), ripe plantains, hard boiled eggs, fish, and pig tail. Boil up is rather plain, but there's a sauce (this one made from onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, and coconut oil) that helps a lot. The sauce we had was very tasty, but I would have preferred the flavor of an oil other than coconut. The potatoes were always my favorite boiled item when I was a kid, and they still are as an adult; I've never developed a taste for yams, sweet potatoes, or cassava. I don't remember ripe plantain in the boil ups I had as a kid, but I probably avoided them. They were my other favorite boiled item.
My aunt made something I'd never had before called potato pound. It's a dessert made out of sweet potatoes, cassava (my aunt added it for body because the sweet potatoes here aren't the same as in Belize), raisins, brown sugar, coconut milk, and nutmeg, and tasted exactly like bread pudding. I really dug it, and I'll probably attempt to make it someday.
I'm still not crazy about boil up, but it was good to get some other traditional Belizean food, and I was happy Lynn got to experience it for the first time.
Remind me never to say I'm over writer's block until I've written two or three restaurant visits in a row. Rob commented about doing ok with his food writing, but having a hard time with his technical writing. It got me wondering if technical writing and other writing are polar opposites, forcing your brain into one extreme or the other. I thought it might be possible, but I didn't think it accounted for my writer's block. That is until I remembered that I've been technical writing at work the last few weeks. If that's the cause I wonder how long I have to be away from it to get my restaurant writing mojo back.
If I couldn't write yesterday I could at least be useful. I installed a reverse osmosis system at home so now we have good water on tap. I also made a couple of improvements to the food map. Probably within the next couple of months it'll include all the features I have in mind. Faster if this writer's block keeps up.
Yesterday I didn't get much writing or housework done, but our Chow & Tell team has been assembled, and today I submitted our application. Our team name is Phoenix Food Bloggers, which I think has a certain superhero group ring to it. The rest of the team is Seth Chadwick, Rob Brooks-Bilson, and JK Grence. I almost feel like it's a superhero team even though "passion for food" doesn't sound like much of a super power. Perhaps if there's a giant cup of villainous gelato we'd be handy.
Hopefully we'll find out soon if we've been selected. Naturally I'll write about it whenever I hear anything.
[The first post about Chow & Tell.]
I'm always saying Lin Chinese Dining is my favorite Chinese restaurant, and then forestall visiting them to visit other, newer Chinese restaurants. This week I had a serious craving for walnut shrimp so it was time to pay Lin's a visit. When we walked in there was a special on the white board of roast game hen with broccoli and noodles in brown sauce. I've had that special once before, and really dug it. I needed a good game hen experience because the last one I had, which I haven't written about yet, was very bad. I had a difficult time choosing between the two entrees so Lynn encouraged me to get both. I knew I'd eat both as leftovers so it sounded like a good idea to me.
When I ordered the waitress asked if I wanted egg drop or hot and sour soup. I didn't notice that a cup of soup was included with the special. I didn't remember liking the egg drop soup at Lin's so I got a cup of hot and sour soup. There was a lot of vinegar in the soup, and a decent spiciness from white pepper, but it wasn't something I'd order. We got an order of grandma's spicy salad (cold shredded pork and cabbage). It had plenty of vinegar, and was the spiciest I ever remember it being at Lin's, but it needed more sesame oil. Now that I've discovered the grandma's spicy salad at Little Shanghai the grandma's spicy salad at Lin's is once again second best.
The walnut shrimp were battered and fried, and served with a thick, creamy sweet sauce. The batter wasn't too thick, and the shrimp were crunch so it was very satisfying. The steamed broccoli that accompanied the shrimp kept the dish from being a total meat-o-rama. The game hen had crispy skin, moist meat, and an excellent flavor. The broccoli that came with the dish tasted buttered, and was great in the sauce for the Mongolian beef. The noodles were in a sweet brown sauce that worked well with the game hen. In addition to my two entrees Lynn tried the Mongolian beef (beef, onions, and green onions) for the first time. The beef was tender, and there was a smokiness to the dish that made it better than the typical Mongolian beef. I'm not a fan of Mongolian beef, but Lynn kept eyeballing me so I wouldn't eat too much of her's.
Everything we ordered was at least very good, and it reminded me why Lin is my favorite Chinese restaurant.
The last few weeks I've had a serious case of writer's block. Every complete sentence was an effort. Normally that sort of thing happens when I'm depressed, or burnt out, but I didn't feel either of those were the problem. I was getting worried that I'd never get past it, but Tuesday the combined endorphin rush from a great lunch at San Carlos Bay and a great dinner at Lin Chinese Dining seemed to take care of it. The timing is good too since I have a couple of days off for Spring Break so I might get through some of my backlog.
Recently I was listening to Separated at Birth, a segment on the BBC's The World Today about Conan O'Brien meeting his doppelganger, Finish president Tarja Halonen. I thought about how strange it would be to meet someone who looked exactly like me. Would I even immediately recognize them as my twin? I don't know, but my current facial hair would mean I'm the evil twin.
On a sad note, Marisol has closed. I only ate there once, but they were so impressive that they were on my must eat list the next time I visit New Orleans. Hopefully the Vazquezs fill get back on their feet in the near future.
It seems like azcentral decided to improve their dining section by making it more interactive. First they started with Big Mouth, a food oriented reader spotlight. It's an interesting idea, but it didn't really grab me. Today I was searching azcentral to see if I could find the schedule of this week's wine events when I ran across something called Chow & Tell. It's a team of people who get money to pay for eating at and reviewing one restaurant a week for a month. I think it's a stroke of genius, and I'd like to create a team of food bloggers to do it.
People are allowed to comment on the Chow & Tell reviews, which is typical for blog reviews. What isn't typical are the number of personal attacks on the reviewers when they pan a restaurant. I was surprised how many, I'm assuming adults, responded by denigrating the tastes of the reviewers. (Maybe that's why people aren't allowed to comment on professional reviews?) I wonder why people feel free to attack reviewers on azcentral? In the years I've been writing about food on my site I've only had one person, that I can remember, call me an idiot because I didn't like one of their favorite restaurants. Even the people on Chowhound (a food community) don't treat people that way. Maybe it's because the azcentral reviewers don't have a visible history, or that the commenters aren't really part of a community? I'm really curious how much our group would get attacked if we wrote something they disagreed with since we would have a public history.
It's spring in Phoenix, and the weather is beautiful, but according to the forecast it's not going to be this weekend. That's bad news for the Great Arizona Beer Festival, Arizona Aloha Festival, and West of Western Culinary Festival, which are all outdoor events. Hopefully the weather is good Sunday because that's when I'm planning on going to West of Western (with food from Janos, Sea Saw, Zinc Bistro, Binkley's, and Mosaic how could I resist?). Something I learned from last year's West of Western experience is that not all the restaurants show up for both days. They really should publish a schedule, but I have a feeling Sunday will be the better day.
This week is Spring Break at the college so it means a shortened work week for me. To celebrate my short week today I wanted to go to a great restaurant I haven't been to in forever, San Carlos Bay. I'm also on a seafood kick so fish and shrimp in garlic sauce sounded perfect.
I started lunch with a lemonade that the usual pleasantly sweet fresh limeade. I love the "lemonade" at Mexican and Vietnamese restaurants, but San Carlos Bay does have an advantage over Vietnamese and most other Mexican restaurants though; the glass of lemonade was huge so I wasn't left wanting more. We also had chips and salsa. The salsa was fresh and tasty, and there was even some jalapeno heat to it. The chips were a bit overdone, but they weren't too bad.
The fish was moist, but there wasn't much garlic flavor to it. There were some crispy bits to the fish that were amazingly tasty though. Long was disappointed because he thought the portion of fish was smaller than normal. The shrimp had an impressive garlic flavor, and it almost made me wish I only got the garlic shrimp instead of the combo. There was less garlic sauce than I remembered, which was disappointing because their garlic sauce is great, but the fries underneath the seafood still absorbed enough sauce to make the fries worth eating. A complete surprise to me was that the Spanish rice and refried beans actually tasted good. I was very happy eating them wrapped up in flour tortilla.
The fish and shrimp combo was $13 so it's a little pricey for lunch, but I thought it was worth it. Lunch reminded me that I need to do a better job remembering the places worth eating at. I've entered almost everything I remember into my food map so that should make it easier.
Hunan Express is probably the only restaurant I eat at often but would never recommend. It's a hole in the wall, fast food Chinese restaurant that's my original niche restaurant because they only serve only one dish I like. The dish is their Hunan special chicken which is simply copious amounts of fried chicken in a brown sauce topped with a little green onion. It can be quite filling and delicious when the chicken is crispy and the brown sauce has a good garlic flavor, but there are times (and once for a couple of months straight) when the chicken is fatty, over breaded, and the sauce is watery. When it's off it's more than gross, it's aggravating since I know they can do better.
About three weeks ago I actually tried a new dish at Hunan Express, something I had learned not to do a long time ago, but was lucky enough to find a dish even better than the Hunan special chicken. Their General Tso's chicken is the exact same fried chicken in a darker sweet sauce that has ginger and even more garlic than the Hunan special chicken brown sauce. Now that I've had the General Tso's I can't go back to the Hunan special chicken. It's just as inconsistent as the other dish so I still wouldn't recommend Hunan Express.
Downtown Scottsdale is one of my least favorite places in Phoenix (all the touristy cowboy art rubs me the wrong way), but a couple times a year I make a visit to eat at one of the Stetson restaurants (I'm dying to make a second visit to Sea Saw) or go to an art festival. I was worried that it would be too wet for the Scottsdale Arts Festival again, but today was sunny and beautiful even if it was a little cold when the wind blew. Lynn and I headed to the art festival, and on Route 101 we witnessed the unusual site of snow on the mountains to the north and east of Phoenix.
I couldn't think of any place in downtown Scottsdale where I wanted to eat lunch so we headed north to eat lunch at The Cove Trattoria, but they were closed. We then went further north to try to eat at Mes Amis, but they were closed too. Conceding defeat we headed back to downtown Scottsdale to find lunch. We decided to give Patsy Grimaldi's Pizzeria a second try, but they were once again disappointing.
After lunch we walked around the art festival. I didn't like anything enough to even consider buying it, but there was some interesting art work.
After the art festival we headed to Sugar Bowl, an honest to goodness ice cream parlor, and had a sundae. I'd never been to Sugar Bowl before, but it was a good experience that was worth repeating even if I don't know if I'd go out of my way for it.
It finally rains in Phoenix after fours months of drought to what effect? Yesterday it rained out the Scottsdale Arts Festival. I hope it's dry enough later today to have the festival because I was planning on going to it yesterday.
One nice thing about this spring is that almost everything in our front yard is in bloom. Seeing the flowers when I pull into the driveway is a satisfying way to end my evening commute. I love that it's a dessert landscape that doesn't require much water, but is full of color and life (currently hummingbirds and bees in addition to the plant life). I plan on feeding on some of our plants too. Soon I'm going to plant some useful stuff like basil, thyme, tarragon, cilantro, and strawberries. Lynn loves cooking with fresh herbs while I just like experimenting when I don't have to pay for fresh herbs (doesn't strawberries and basil with balsamic sound good?).
It's been almost a full year since Lynn was laid off, but as of next week she'll have a job again. Lynn took six months to finish her Associate of Arts, but I think she considered the time she wasn't in school an extended vacation. I prefer Lynn useful, and Lynn sounds excited about working again so we should both be happy. We'll see how she feels after her first week at work while pregnant.
Friday Long and I tried to go to lunch at Knock Kneed Lobster, but their parking lot was full. We were both in the mood for Chinese so we looked for Autumn Court even though I didn't remember where it was located. Before we spotted Autumn Court Long saw Little Shanghai, and suggested stopping there because "there were a lot of cars in the parking lot so it has to be good". I didn't agree with his reasoning, but I had a good feeling about Little Shanghai. My Chinese food spidey sense wasn't wrong (although that might also mean Long's reasoning wasn't wrong either).
We walked into the restaurant, and it was very dark inside. The interior looked like they put a little effort into it, but the generic banquet chairs betrayed the affect. I perused the appetizer list to see if there was anything interesting, and there it was, grandma's spicy salad. There are few places that make grandma's spicy salad, and even fewer that make it well so I had to try it. I've been looking for a perfect version ever since Yang Dynasty closed even though Lin Chinese Dining's version is close. Before we got our appetizer we were brought the lunch cups of egg drop soup. The soup tasted like frozen vegetables, which didn't appeal to me. The grandma's spicy salad arrived at our table, and it looked like Yang Dynasty's. There were long, thin strips of cabbage and pork combined with plenty of red chile and a dark vinegar based sauce. It was crispy, sour, and somewhat spicy; exactly like Yang Dynasty's. I was so happy.
There was a page of lunch specials, but nothing sounded good to me. It had been a long time since I'd tried a twice cooked pork, and it sounded good. It was thickly sliced roast pork that was cooked with some sort of sweet sauce that smelled great when it arrived. The first bite was porky, and I didn't expect the sweetness of the sauce, but the dish grew on me. I'm not sure I'd order it again, but it was good enough to make me want to try other menu items. Long had the house chicken lunch special which came with a spring roll. The spring roll may have been wrapped in rice paper, but it had a typical cheap egg roll filling so it wasn't good. It seems the only place that makes good spring rolls these days is C-Fu Gourmet. The house chicken was deep fried and covered in a thin sweet sauce. The chicken tasted like Southern fried chicken, which I thought was decent, but Long didn't care for it.
Long didn't like his entree, but he'd eat again at Little Shanghai. I'd return even if the only thing they made well was the grandma's spicy salad alone, but I think they have potential.
I'm done watching Chinese movies. Chinese movies tend to depress me, and "Ba Wang Bie Ji" ["Farewell my Concubine"] is possibly the most Chinese movie I've ever seen. The movie started with the abuse of children and finished in typical Chinese fashion. That's not to say it was a bad movie though. I didn't plan on giving the movie my full attention, but I was hooked after the first few minutes, and didn't feel most of its almost three hour run time. The movie covered the most interesting 40 year period in Chinese history, but living in interesting times can be a blessing or a curse. It wasn't all setting though because the relationships were believable, if very disturbing at times. If you don't mind being depressed, and you're curious about the affect of the various Chinese revolutions then I'd highly recommend the movie.
Today Lynn and I took a day trip to Tucson. The first thing we did when we got into town was go to Cafe Poca Cosa for lunch. The hotel they were located in has changed hands, and we were greeted with a little sign that said they moved two blocks north of their old location. The new location is in an office building, and feels hip instead of homey now. Lunch was still great though.
After lunch we went to Callaghan Vineyards to try their three newly released red wines. That was actually my excuse for visiting Tucson. Their "Buena Suerte Cuvee 2004" was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which isn't a blend I'm fond of, but it was a very good wine. The nose was pleasantly fruity with an initial flavor of black pepper spice followed by a cherry flavor and a chocolate finish with a little tannin. The "Back Lot Cuvee 2004" was a blend of Mourvedre and Syrah that started with some sharpness and ended in fruitiness, but it wasn't my sort of thing. The last new wine I tried was Callaghan's "Petite Verdot 2003" from California. It was full bodied with a lot more complexity than my tastebuds could handle immediately after five other wines. It was enjoyable as were the chewy tannins and long creamy chocolate finish. On the second sip I actually tasted mint in the finish. It was one of the most interesting wines I'd had in a while, and possibly my second favorite from Callaghan.
They didn't have any "Buena Suerte Cuvee 2003" available for tasting so I asked Kent if they still had any available. He said they sold out of it. I was extremely disappointed because it's my all time favorite wine of their's, and I only bought two bottles of it the last time we were there. When Kent was grabbing bottles for our order he found 15 bottles of the "Buena Suerte Cuvee 2003", and I was a happy man. I picked up six bottles, and can't wait to open one up (which may be a while since it will have to be with company other than Lynn). I also picked up another couple bottles of "Padres 2004", which was another wine I felt I didn't buy enough of the first time.
On our way back to Tucson we stopped at Charron Vineyards to talk to Leo, and try his "White Merlot 2005". We hadn't stopped by in a couple of years so I was a little embarrassed. His 2005 had significantly less sugar than his 2003, and I liked it a lot better. It was a refreshing, light, easy drinking wine with a hint of sweetness to it. It reminded me of a vino verde, only with more flavor.
Before we left Tucson we hit Beyond Bread to take some sandwiches back home for dinner and pick up some bread. The sandwiches were excellent, but I have yet to try the bread.
Overall it was a great way to spend a day.
Yesterday Murray and I took a coworker to lunch at Haji Baba for the first time. We started with spanakopita [phyllo dough filled with spinach and feta] and baba ghanoush [ground roasted eggplant and tahini]. The spanakopita was a pasty white color that obviously meant it needed more time in the oven. The flavor of the filling would have been better without the soggy phyllo dough, but I'll never get it again. The baba ghanoush was still great though. It had a pleasant smokey flavor that made it an excellent dip for the pita.
I was thinking about getting a lemonade, even though I normally find it too sweet, but they were out. I tried a pomegranate juice instead, and it caught me off guard because it was tart. I tried to sweeten it up with some sugar, but that only seemed to make it more sour. The sourness didn't really bother me, but the flavor eventually proved to be too odd for my tastes.
I wasn't in the mood for a gyro so I tried the shish kabob sandwich. For some reason I assumed it was a beef shish kabob, but to my surprise it was lamb. The meat was very tender, pleasantly spiced, and well grilled with some char, but I wasn't in the mood for lamb. Expecting beef and getting gaminess instead made me very unhappy with my sandwich. I tried some of Murray's chicken shish kabob, and the chicken was excellent. I would have been much happier with the chicken.
I left Haji Baba with a piece of walnut baklava, and hoped it would be a lot better than the last piece I had from them. The nuts weren't bitter, and the baklava wasn't too sweet, but it still wasn't back to its prior glory. I don't know if it really wasn't that great, or if the spanakopita, pomegranate juice, and lamb colored my experience too much, but I'll try it one more time to see how I feel about it.
Fideo is a Mexican pasta that's only about an inch long and about the thickness of thin spaghetti. The first time I ate at Aunt Chilada's (at their now defunct Tempe location) they offered it as a side dish. I'd never heard of it before so I tried it. The pasta was cooked in tomato sauce, like Spanish rice, but it was actually tasty. It wasn't impressive, but it had a comfort food quality to it. Ever since then I'd been meaning to make it myself.
Last night Lynn and I made fideo for the first time. It didn't turn out quite the way I hoped, but it was promising (when combined with well seasoned ground beef and sharp cheddar). The recipe we used called for chopped tomatoes, but it lacked a good tomato flavor. Next time we'll use tomato sauce, and if it turns out well I'll post the recipe. I'm sure it'll be very good even if it's not impressive like our calabacitas.
Tonight Lynn was supposed to make dinner, but she didn't feel like cooking. She suggested going to Cyclo instead, knowing that I've been missing the place. We got there, and were seated immediately (hurray Tuesday). We started with the beef carpaccio, and it was once again sliced very thin and sprinkled with black pepper. The carpaccio didn't even look like it had lime juice on it though. I tried a slice, and there was definitely very little lime juice on the beef, and it didn't taste good without it. I had Justina add more lime juice to it, and it tasted better, but not as good as it used to be. I think the lime juice needed to soak into the meat for the best flavor.
The carpaccio may be falling off, but the rest of our meal was excellent. We had the spicy garlic green beans, wokked beef, and beef chow fun. The green beans made their usual early appearance while we were still eating the carpaccio. They smelled great, and tasted great with less heat than normal. Lynn had a serious craving for the green beans so she was in heaven. The chow fun had a great smoky wok flavor, and was a little salty. I didn't like the wokked beef as much as the chow fun, but it was tasty. The combination of thin rice noodles, bean sprouts, chopped lettuce, mint, sauteed onion, beef, and fish sauce was excellent. It was cool, a little sweet, crispy, and meaty. A little sriracha was all it needed.
We were both stuffed and satisfied with dinner, but Lynn was still in the mood for dessert. I don't care for the desserts at Cyclo so I suggested Citrus Cafe. Lynn was up for it. When we walked into Citrus Cafe the waiter told us the kitchen was closed, but they were still open for dessert and coffee. That's what we were there for anyway. I had a glass of Chateau Loupiac-Gaudiet dessert wine. The wine was thin, and the flavor was subdued for a late harvest wine. It did have some spice and ripe banana to it, but I didn't care for it.
I planned on getting the hazelnut creme brulee as soon as I knew we were going to Citrus Cafe. Lynn didn't know what she wanted so she had to see the desserts to decide on the white and dark chocolate mousses in an almond lace cup. The creme brulee was creamy, and the ground hazelnuts added a unique touch. There were half as many crushed hazelnut on top as the last time, and it was an improvement to the texture. Both mousses were very rich, but they weren't quite smooth even if the texture wasn't a bother. The dark chocolate mousse had a great chocolate flavor, and the white chocolate mousse was a little odd, but Lynn said it tasted good with the raspberry sauce on the plate. The almond lace cookie tasted like almond brittle, and I dug it. We were both very happy with dessert. It was a good night.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. It's a lot easier to work on things when I think someone might actually be looking at it. I added a quick search feature to it so you can search for a specific recommended item. It's not an intelligent search so it searches for exactly what you type, and I've limited it to only search for one word, but it should be good enough to be useful. To view the full list after a search just run an empty search.
Is it that no one has tried the food map or that no one has found any reason to comment about it? It's the type of thing I'd think would compel people to say something. I expected things like "It didn't work in my browser," "It's great," or "[X] would've made it more useful". I think it's pretty useful, distilling years of restaurant experience and presenting it in a useful manner, and it'll only get better when I add some filter and search functionality. Check it out it if you haven't, and see if there isn't something worth mentioning.
Saturday I picked up all sorts of goodies from La Purisima. I got a couple of pan dulce and apricot empanadas, and tried a cajeta flauta, a guava empanada, and some sort of pastry thing for the first time. The pan dulce was very light and sweet, and really the best I've been able to find in Phoenix. I should remember to only get the amount of pan dulce I plan to eat on the same day because their shelf life is extremely limited. La Purisima's apricot empanadas are my all time favorite empanada, and the combination of sweet apricot filling with flaky pastry is still my favorite. I was happy my favorites were consistently great.
I don't really like guava, but I used to love the pastelitos de guava at Havana Cafe so it made me curious about the guava empanadas. The guava filling was very sweet, and it had that odd guava flavor that I don't care for. Live and learn. The cajeta flauta was a rolled pastry filled with cajeta [goat milk caramel] and topped with powered sugar. I got it because I don't have enough cajeta in my life, but not all cajeta is good cajeta. This cajeta had an odd sweetness to it that was very similar to Belizean caramel (made from sweetened condensed milk), but I prefer my cajeta gamey. The unknown pastry thing was round with a dome of dough in the center. I picked it up because it resembled my favorite Chinese custard buns. I didn't expect them to actually have custard in them, but I didn't know what they'd be. The pastry was actually a round angel food cake surrounded by a ring of pastry. Angel food has always been one of my least favorite cakes, but there was something great about their version, and whoever thought to combine the angel food with pastry had the right idea. I'll have to pick some up the next time I'm at La Purisima. Maybe I'll even find out what they're called.
[Previous visit to La Purisima.]
Friday Long and I were in the mood for a burger so we headed to The Barbecue Company. Long got a Southwest burger, and I got a Southwest burger with grilled onions. The first bite of my burger was very juicy, and a little tasteless. I thought it was just my imagination, but then I looked at the patty, and it was thicker. I didn't say anything about it, but Long asked me if the burger didn't taste that good. That's when I knew the hamburger patties were different. The new ones are thicker and juicier, but they also have a spongy texture and were damn near close to tasteless. I'd guess that the new patties have a lot more fat ground into them than the old ones. Long wondered why they'd change something that was already great.
I asked our waitress when they changed their meat, and she said they still get it from the same supplier. I don't doubt that's true, but that doesn't mean they're getting the same hamburger patties. I let her know that they were different, and not as good. Hopefully this isn't a permanent change because their burger will go from being my favorite burger in the Valley to something I'll never order again.
[Previous visit to The Barbecue Company that I wrote about.]
I find it's easy for restaurants to make a good first impression, but it's the second visit that determines how often I'll eat there in the future. The second visit is usually less impressive, and when some of the less obvious faults become apparent (like consistency issues). Amano Pizza Bistro seemed like they would have the second visit locked up, but they failed me in a major way.
One Friday night Lynn and I went to Amano Pizza Bistro for the second time. We were seated in a booth, and when we sat down we sunk into it. It wasn't the way you sink into an overstuffed chair, but like when a booth is broken and you hit bottom. At first it didn't bother me, but I eventually decided we'd never sit in a booth at Amano again. Lynn got uncomfortable enough during the meal that she had to ask for a pillow.
I felt like a wine so I got a glass of Ramsay "Pinot Noir". It had a creamy texture, and wasn't bad.
Lynn doesn't like the rajas so I attempted to find another appetizer we could agree on, but couldn't. The only other thing that sounded good to me was the tapenade salad with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and mixed greens. Lynn is avoiding goat cheese because of the pregnancy so she got marinated olives instead. The goat cheese was mild and creamy, which made it a great foil for the tapenade. The other ingredients were also great together, and I was impressed how well thought out the salad was. Lynn didn't think her olives were ripe enough, and she didn't like the rosemary flavor in the marinade either.
I was so impressed with the three bites of portobello pizza with extra garlic that I had our first visit that I had to get it this time (although it might have been a challenge if they had a duck special that night). Lynn's pizzeria yardstick is the margherita pizza so she had to try Amano's (tomato sauce, mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil). Our entrees took a very long time to arrive. Normally I'm very forgiving of that sort of thing, but our appetizers also took a long time, and those were only a salad and a bowl of olives.
Lynn took one look at my pizza, and noticed it didn't look like the pizza Marsha had. I didn't remember, but my pizza was salty. I thought I'd be able to deal with it, but as I finished my first slice I knew I'd never (not even the next day) be able to finish another slice. I sent the pizza back, and actually wanted it replaced with another one (extremely rare for me) because I wanted a pizza that was as good as that first one. Our waitress came back and said the pizza was probably salty because the chef put too much romano on the pizza. Yep, that would do it. They quickly replaced my pizza, and it looked different; the crust was fluffy, and there was half as much cheese as before. Lynn said it looked just like the pizza Marsha had before. The crust was thicker, and quite a bit tastier. The pizza wasn't salty, and I could now taste the mushrooms too. There was one problem though; there was so much garlic on my pizza that my first bite went "crunch"! The excessive garlic ruined what would have been a great pizza, but I couldn't bring myself to send the pizza back a second time. I tried to remove some of the garlic, but the lighting was too low to see the garlic. Once again I ate one slice, and I was done. I may take my chances with the portobello pizza again, and if I do I hope the chef isn't heavy handed with anything.
Lynn didn't like her pizza because she thought the mozzarella tasted cheap, there wasn't enough basil, and she couldn't taste the tomato sauce. I could taste the basil and the tomato sauce, but I had to admit that when I had a bite with a lot of cheese it did resemble a Peter Piper Pizza. Neither of us would order the margherita pizza again.
I wanted the creme brulee, and Lynn wanted the rum cake so we compromised and tried the tiramisu. It was very creamy and covered in ground chocolate. The chocolate tasted odd to Lynn so she left most of it to me. I thought the tiramisu was good, but it wasn't my sort of thing.
I expected to have an excellent second meal at Amano Pizza Bistro, but it was a disappointment on many levels.
Today Lynn and I hit downtown Phoenix for the Matsuri festival. We heard two different groups of taiko drummers, and even saw a performance by 40+ drummers which was pretty powerful. It was the most enjoyable Matsuri we'd been to in years. Tomorrow's Matsuri should be entertaining too because one of the stages is almost exclusively taiko.
The food selection seemed to be a little better this year too. Lynn was hungry so we picked up some korokke [potato croquettes] and tsukune yakitori [three chicken and vegetable meatballs on a skewer] from Kirin Wok, a downtown restaurant that had a food stand. The yakitori was a disgusting combination of bland and unsalted chicken so I tossed them. The croquettes had a straight forward potato flavor that could have used more tonkatsu sauce than they gave us. Lynn could taste the oil they were deep fried in so she didn't like them. I'm not sure how indicative their festival food is of their regular food, but I'm not going out of my way to try Kirin Wok.
We looked around at the booths, and I entered a raffle to win two free round trip tickets to Japan. Wish me luck.
Afterwards we met Ken at J.P. McGurkee's Sandwich Shop. I tried to get a meatball sandwich because Ken said they were great, but they were out of marinara sauce. I tried the Super Sicilian instead, for the first time in years because I remembered I liking the Sicilian better. The difference between the two sandwiches are two extra meats (cotto salami and something else) on the Super Sicilian, and they made a difference. The Sicilian is a great balanced sandwich while the Super Sicilian is a spicier, meatier, greasier sandwich that's quite tasty, but not great. Hopefully McGurkee's won't be out of marinara sauce next time.
Before we headed back home I stopped at La Purisima, and picked up a healthy selection of baked goods. I also wanted to stop at the Fountain Hills Great Fair since I haven't been to an art festival in a while, but we ran out of time. Maybe tomorrow.
[Previous visit to McGurkee's.]
When Lynn and I were running around last Saturday we picked up lunch at Pane Bianco. I hoped they'd have the soppressata sandwich with peppers (not onions), or an interesting market sandwich. The soppressata was made with onions, but even if it wasn't I probably wouldn't have got it because the market sandwich (roasted wagyu beef, mixed greens, and mustard dressing) sounded too good. The market focaccia (tomatoes, chard, onions, and emmentaler) also sounded interesting so we got one of those too. Lynn went with her favorite, the tomato, mozzarella, and basil sandwich.
It was a perfect day to eat at a park (which is always preferable to Pane Bianco's patio) so we went across the street to Steele Indian School Park. We started on the focaccia which was fluffy, and was a little crispy on top. I thought it was tasty, but Lynn didn't like it. That was ok because it meant more for me. Lynn thought her sandwich was a little salty, but the two or three bites I took tasted perfect. I really like their mozzarella sandwich, but I don't think I could eat a whole one. The first couple of bites of my sandwich were great followed by a couple of bites that were almost foul. I was disappointed that the wagyu wasn't fatty or taste any different from regular beef. It was the least distinctive wagyu I'd had. Eventually I figured out that some medium rare beef accounted for the nasty flavor, but most of the beef was medium well so it wasn't too much of a problem. The sandwich was a perfect example of how a whole could be greater than the sum of its parts because the beef by itself was ok, but combined with the greens and mustard sauce it was great.
Everything about lunch was excellent, for me, and it reminded me why I loved the place.
[Previous visit to Pane Bianco.]
Last Saturday I was in central Phoenix to get a haircut (I love my barber), and pick up my mail. I thought about stopping at La Purisima to pick up some empanadas, but I didn't feel like going west of I-17. Then I remembered Karl's Quality Bakery wasn't out of my way so I stopped there instead.
The only thing I could remember that I liked at Karl's was the quiche Lorraine so I wanted to try all sorts of their baked goods. I got a sticky bun for myself, a blueberry scone for Lynn, a piece of strudel and some sort of almond cookie for both of us. The lady behind the counter said they make one long strudel half filled with cherries and half filled with apples, and the only piece they had left was a middle piece that contained both. I thought it was a good thing so I could taste both fillings. Lynn loves chocolate stuffed croissants, but they had already sold out of them.
The sticky bun was covered in sweet, sticky pecans. It was typical, but I typically find them delicious. Lynn thought the blueberry scone was typical, which is neither positive or negative for her. The strudel pastry was crispy, and I was surprised that it was filled with sweet cream cheese. The cream cheese was excellent with the cherry filling, but the apple filling was only so-so. I'll have to look for the cherry strudel the next time I'm at Karl's. The almond cookie was thick, but very light and sweet. It would have been better if parts of the bottom weren't burnt.
We also got a croissant, and a loaf of French bread. The crust wasn't crispy on the French bread, but the flavor was good enough that I'd get the bread again. The croissant was crispy and buttery, and could have been quite good if the bottom wasn't burnt. I'm always amazed that people who make baked goods for a living can be that sloppy. Needless to say I'm never getting croissants from Karl's again (not a big loss because I still have Lee's Sandwiches for excellent plain croissants).
Despite the croissant this was the best experience I've had with Karl's Quality Bakery ensuring that it'll be less than a year before my next visit.
[Previous visit to Karl's Quality Bakery.]
Normally I'm not a big fan of Iron Chef America, but this Sunday's episode will feature John Besh versus Mario Batali in an andouille sausage battle. It should be an interesting episode with two talented chefs and a challenging ingredient. I heard about John Besh after the last time I was in New Orleans, and his type of food sounds like the elusive combination of delicious and creative. Restaurant August (his restaurant) is a mandatory visit for me the next time I find myself in New Orleans.
Lynn remembered that we hadn't been to Sinbad in years. Middle Eastern cuisine isn't one of my favorite so I hardly ever consider it for dinner, but we both liked Sinbad so I made an effort to eat there again. I didn't plan to eat there tonight, but it worked out that way. It was a tasty dinner too.
When we walked in it was apparent that they had done some remodeling in those years. There were low tables and cushions against the walls, and the restaurant's walls and ceiling were wrapped in cloth giving the impression of dining inside a tent. Initially it was too dark and cocoonish for my tastes, but it grew on me.
Lynn got the homemade lemonade, and the waitress talked me into a glass of Lebanese red wine. Lynn thought the lemonade was too sweet, and when I tried it I concurred that it was too sweet, and there was an awful lot of rose water in it too. My wine was medium to full bodied with a pleasant creaminess and a little fruit. I liked it the more I drank it.
There were a few appetizers that sounded interesting so I considered getting their appetizer sampler, but decided against going crazy, and only got the lubieh bizzeyt (green beans in tomato sauce). It was served cold, and while the tomato sauce had a pleasant amount of spiciness the green beans were mushy and tasted canned. At least the pita they were served with weren't bad. We're not going to order the lubieh bizzeyt again. Our entrees came with a salad that was romaine lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes in a vinaigrette. It was pretty tasty.
The entree I remembered liking was the sizzling garlic chicken so that's what I got while Lynn tried the shish kabob (beef, green peppers, and tomato). The chicken was cooked with onions and peppers, and smelled better than it tasted. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't especially tasty. The sauce was excellent with the rice though. I tried Lynn's rice, and her's was very light and fluffy, but it was lacking in flavor. Naturally I preferred my rice with the sauce. Lynn's beef was somewhat tender with plenty of char and had a great flavor. They did a great job marinating and cooking it. Both entrees came with hummus and tabbouleh. The hummus was thick with a flavor that reminded me of burnt rubber while Lynn found it too bitter. The tabbouleh had a very sharp lemon flavor, and was actually pretty tasty for something made out of parsley.
I tried the walnut baklava for dessert, and it was great. The nuts were well spiced, and the dessert wasn't too sweet. It was everything that made the walnut baklava at Haji Baba great (which it might not be anymore).
There was a belly dancer at Sinbad while we were there. I was surprised because it was a Wednesday night, and there weren't many people in the restaurant. The belly dancing was entertaining though.
Lynn wants to go back to try the garlic dip, and I wouldn't mind returning for a few things.
My food map isn't 100% complete, but it's close enough to make public so no one thinks I'm just being lazy. Check it out in the food section, and let me know what you think.
Ken read about my last visit to Cornish Pasty Co., and decided he had to try the place. Saturday night Lynn and I went there with him.
I had a bottle of McEwan's Scotch Ale. It was full bodied with a good flavor and a little smokiness. I liked it, and when it got warmer it had a coffee flavor that I liked even more. I planned on getting the Bangers and Mash pasty, but I wasn't in the mood for their sage-pork sausage. The Rosemary Steak (steak, roast potatoes, rosemary, brie, and roasted red peppers with a mustard cream sauce) was speaking to me so I got that instead. The steak was tender, and the flavor was great even it it was a little salty. The brie was gamey so I didn't care for it, but there was very little of it so it wasn't bad. The mustard sauce was tasty, and the pasty was great with or without it.
Ken went with the Meat and Cheese (sage-pork sausage and cheese with red wine gravy), and loved it. Lynn got her favorite pasty, the Shepherd's Pie (ground beef, onion, garlic mashed potatoes, and cheese with red wine gravy), and noticed it was filled with too much mashed potatoes. The beef was perfectly seasoned, and the pasty still tasted very good, but it wasn't as great as it could've been.
Ken seemed to like the atmosphere, the beer selection, and the food so I think he's a true believer. [Oh wait, he wrote about it so you can get it in his words.]
Monday I went to lunch with Gordon to Honey Bear's Barbecue for their 40 cent barbecue wings. In my years of going to Honey Bear's I might have had the chicken once, but if I had the chicken I didn't remember it.
We got there early because Gordon was worried they'd run out of wings, but we were so early the wings weren't ready. They did get the wings out in less than the ten minutes they said it would take though. The wings were typical of Honey Bear's, smoked and covered with barbecue sauce before serving. The wings were pleasantly smokey, and quite tasty. There were a couple of things I didn't like about them though: occasionally the skin was inedibly burnt, and more commonly, the chicken skin was full of unrendered chicken fat (which I find gross). I wondered if some of that was due to them hurrying the wings out for us.
The barbecue wings were an interesting alternative to hot wings, but I don't have to deal with chicken fat with great hot wings. I'll definitely try the barbecue wings again, only not so early in the day.
I'm in a good mood today, and part of the reason is that I finally made it to Rito's Mexican Food for lunch. Long and I got there at 11:15, and the line was almost as long as it was the first time I went to Rito's. I guess you have to show up before 11 to avoid the line. At least the weather was nice outside so the wait wasn't uncomfortable. The line moved faster so it didn't feel like it took too long, but it still took 50 minutes to get back to work with the food.
I had a green chile chimichanga, and it was great. The beef in the green chile was tender, and the green chile was very tasty with a little heat. To make things even better the guacamole on the chimichanga was flavorful, and the combination of guacamole and green chile is a great one. The chimichanga also came with sour cream, which normally only diminishes the flavor of green chile, that was great with the fried tortilla.
Originally I ranked Rito's green chile chimichanga even with the one from Sylvia's La Canasta, but after this visit I'd say (and Long agrees) Rito's is better. Their green chile seems more consistent than Sylvia's, and their chimichanga is wrapped in less tortilla. Long and Lynn also feel like they don't get enough beef in Sylvia's green chile.
I also picked up a dozen tortillas while I was there, and Lynn made cheese crisps (quesadillas) with them. The tortillas were decent, but they weren't great like when they were used for a burrito or chimichanga. I haven't been to Rito's often enough to know if their tortillas are inconsistent or if they don't sell the tortillas they use.
Lynn had a serious craving for Joe's Real Barbecue, but it was a Sunday. Joe's has been closed on Sundays for so many years that even though they've been open seven days a week for at least a year I keep forgetting. I had an inkling they might be open so I checked their web site.
I had a lemonade even though I'm not crazy about the lemonade at Joe's. It was a little watery, but at least it wasn't too sweet. I never know which of the brisket or pulled pork will be great so I got a two meat plate with both. The brisket was somewhat tender, nicely smoked, and very good, but not brilliant. For example, the brisket fat had a very good flavor, but when the brisket is great the fat tastes amazing, and melts in your mouth. The brisket was good with their regular sweet and tangy barbecue sauce, but I preferred it with a touch of their habanero sauce too.
If the brisket wasn't great that meant the pulled pork probably would be. The pulled pork was amazingly tender, smokey, and tasty. I really wish I knew how to predict which one would be great. The side dishes are the great weakness at most every barbecue places, and it's the same with Joe's. I got the macaroni and cheese, which is normally only ok, was actually pretty good despite that it could have been cheesier. I've always been fond of the cheese bread, and it was especially tasty.
I was very happy with our dinner, and even though Lynn knows they can make their brisket better she was very happy with her brisket plate.
I haven't felt like writing anything the last couple of days, but that doesn't mean I didn't do anything though. I made some serious advancements on the food map getting it closer to what I thought would be the 2.0 version, but it still doesn't work with Internet Explorer (IE). I'd suggest everyone just use Firefox, but I know that not everyone has a choice (or wants to). I'll try and get the damn thing working in IE so I can move forward with the rest of my site development plans.
I'm always on the look out for great pizza so I love hearing pizza recommendations. Sometimes they work out sometimes they don't. Frank told me about Pino's Pizza Al Centro so I headed there for pizza one night. The pizza I had wasn't great, but it's definitely worth eating.
I went with Ken and a work friend of his. They got there before I did so when I walked in they were already eating an order of meatballs in marinara sauce. I had a piece of meatball, and it was very soft giving me the impression that it was loaded with bread crumbs. Ken's friend said the meatballs were made out of veal, which gave a reason for the flavor and texture without too much bread crumbs. The marinara sauce looked like it was only made with tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. The sauce wasn't great like Raimondo's, but it was tasty.
We split a 10" margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil) and a 16" carnivori (homemade sausage, ham, and pepperoni). The margherita had a lot of cheese on it, which I normally don't like on a margherita, but it was very tasty. I thought it was a little better than the margherita from La Stalla, but both weren't quite up to Pizzeria Bianco's level. I was glad we got a 10" and 16" because the crust was different between the two. The 10" crust was somewhat thin and crispy while the 16" crust was thicker and not crispy. I definitely preferred the thinner crust. I thought the carnivori had too much meat on it, and the sausage was too light and floral for my tastes.
I'll have to take Lynn to Pino's to see what she thinks about the margherita since she's the margherita connoisseur. I also wouldn't mind trying one of their panini.
It only took me two weeks to finish reading "Neuromancer", which is pretty quick for me considering all the other things I do with my free time. The story was about a self destructive hacker whose ability to connect to cyberspace was irreversibly destroyed until a mysterious person promises to repair the damage with cutting edge technology in exchange for him doing a job. It's a dark world occupied by a lot of shady characters. It was an entertaining story which kind of reminded me of a less cerebral version of Philip Dick's "Galactic Pot-Healer". It was worth reading, but I wouldn't call it a great book.
Some of the concepts in the book were quite revolutionary at the time, but we've come a long way in twenty years. I wish I could have read it in the context of when it was first released.
The other day I wondered whatever happened to the television show "The Restaurant". It was a reality tv show about the opening and everyday goings on of Rocco's, a New York restaurant headed by Rocco DiSpirito (a supposedly talented chef). I used to enjoy watching the clueless Rocco mismanage his restaurant, and clash with Jeffrey Chodorow (his financial backer). It was sort of like watching a car accident about to happen in slow motion. The last episode of The Restaurant I saw potentially had Rocco and Jeffrey going into court, and then the series disappeared. I thought maybe Rocco decided to pull the show because it was making him look bad. Today I finally remembered to find out what happened to the series. While looking for an explanation I ran across the interesting article "Spaghetti Western" which gave more background on the show and the riff. Unfortunately it didn't explain what happened to the series, but I read somewhere else that Rocco and Jeffrey settled out of court, and closed the restaurant. What an unsatisfying end (which is probably what everyone who ate at Rocco's also experienced).
Murray hadn't been to Cornish Pasty Co. so it was my responsibility to introduce him to their food. We called our order in to expedite our lunch. I tried the carne adovada pasty (stewed red chile pork and cheese), and Murray followed my recommendation and got the cajun pasty (blackened chicken, ham, bacon, and Swiss cheese). The pasties were ready when we arrived, and we got to eating. The carne adovada had a good red chile flavor with a moderate heat, but I couldn't taste the cheese. It was too one dimensional for me. The pasty came with sour cream, and I didn't think it would be good with the pasty, but I tried it anyway. The sour cream added some much needed depth, and I ate it with most of the pasty. I'll probably never get the carne adovada again even though it wasn't bad. I had a bite of Murray's cajun, and it was a complex flavor explosion. It reminded me why I thought it was great. Next time it'll be a challenge to choose between the cajun and the bangers and mash.
[Previous visit to Cornish Pasty Co..]
Music is one of the great things in life, but finding new music tends to be expensive and/or time consuming. I'm too lazy and too cheap to find any so the radio *choke* is practically my only source for new music. Well Murray has found a great solution; Pandora is a radio that attempts to play music you like. You start by entering a music group or song that you like, and it uses aspects of the group/song to determine the type of music you might like. They're not the first to attempt this sort of thing, but because it uses data from the Music Genome Project the results are a lot more sophisticated than just saying "you like alternative". It worked pretty well for me using Nine Inch Nails. Then I got ambitious and added Gravity Kills and Korn, and got a lot of music I didn't like. After I removed Gravity Kills, and added Stabbing Westward "Save Yourself" and Skinny Puppy "Pro Test" the results were much better. I'm thinking entering the songs you like is better than groups because a group's sound can change over time while a song is very specific. You can also give feedback on the music the radio plays so it can refine its playlist.
The application is impressive, but it's not without its faults. It would be nice if it was a stand alone application instead of a web page, but I use Firefox so I don't mind keeping an extra tab open. There are only two song feedback options saying love it or hate it. Maybe that's the only kind of feedback they find useful, but I wouldn't mind being able to place songs in the rotation. They also never seem to play the songs I used to create the radio station. Chances are I'd like to hear those songs since the entire station is based off of them.
You can listen to my tech/industrial station which I created earlier today. (Warning, I'm sure there will be lyrics that aren't work safe.) The station should get better the longer I refine the type of music it plays. I'll probably create electronica and indie rock stations in the near future too.
Zest Spirited Dining ruined me. I was very happy about my run of great dining, but that dinner at Zest satisfied me on so many levels that I actually didn't want anything. Buddhists strive for this state, thinking happiness is not desiring things, but I like my appetites so I found it disconcerting. There's a lot of satisfaction in fulfilling a craving, and it felt weird eating really good food without feeling satisfied.
Lynn was sick last night so she didn't want to cook or leave the house, and I didn't feel like cooking. Lynn suggested fast food, but I hate eating fast food for dinner. I went through my mental rolodex of places with worthy take out, and it came in a flash. Copper Kettle. It's always been too long since my last visit to Copper Kettle.
Lynn called in our order, and I picked it up on my way home from work. While I waited for our order I could smell basmati rice, naan, grilled meat, and spices. It made me twice as hungry as I was when I walked in. If they could bottle that scent I'd use it as an air freshener. Wouldn't a house that smelled like great food be much better than industrial strength spring pasture or fabric softener sea breeze?
We got an order of hummus, chicken boti sultani, and lamb sindhi bryani. It doesn't look like the dry hummus Copper Kettle used to make will ever return, but the new style of hummus they make is pretty good. The hummus was pretty good on its own, but it was topped with paprika, cilantro, and some sort of flavored oil that made it even better. The naan were soft, and still tasted great, but they were rather thick. These thicker naan were not the perfect thin, fluffy, and slightly crispy naan Copper Kettle used to make. They were so thick that sometimes they detracted from what they were eaten with. The chicken boti sultani were nicely seasoned chunks of grilled chicken served with raw onion and cilantro. They serve it on a fajita plate at the restaurant so the onions get a little seared, and since the dish is much better with seared onions Lynn had a hot cast iron frying pan ready when I got home with the food. A quick sear and a couple squirts of lemon, and it was tasty. Lynn found the chicken a little too hot though. There have been one or two times they've made the chicken so hot I could only eat one piece at a time, but last night wasn't one of those times. My sindhi bryani, on the other hand, was flaming hot. The rice was also very fluffy with a complex flavor, and the chunks of lamb were fairly tender. It was as delicious as it's always been.
Dinner was great, and it satisfied an urge I didn't even know I had. I hope the naan was an aberration though because it's hard to accept very good when they used to make perfect.
[Probably our previous visit to Copper Kettle.]
Today at work I couldn't find any music I wanted to listen to. It made for a very long work day. It seems like I've been asked the same two questions the past couple of days. The first question was, "Is the reason you've grown a goatee because you want to look older now that you're going to be a dad?" No, I just get too lazy to shave, and every few months I grow a goatee. This just happens to be the longest I've gone without thinking it looks like crap and shaving it. The other question was, "Are you still going to Japan now that Lynn is pregnant?" Of course I am; I'm not going anywhere for a while after the baby is born so I need to get out of the country while I can. Err... I mean I need to visit Steve while I can.
Callaghan Vineyards has released three new red wines. One of them is even a Petit Verdot using grapes from California. I've never had a full Petit Verdot before so it should be interesting. I can't wait to try the new wines, but I almost don't want to visit them because I know I'll want to buy too much wine.
Writing about the Superbowl the Tuesday after seems too late, but I'll do it anyway. What the hell was up with the officiating? There were bad calls blatantly in Pittsburgh's favor, and calls that should have been made but weren't in Seattle's favor. What was most interesting about it was that the worst Steelers team to play in the last eight games showed up, and still beat the Seahawks.
Today I read a usability article on writing for the web. They said to write using an "inverted pyramid" approach, meaning to put the conclusion in the first paragraph. I think they're right because I know I don't like reading on the web, and I appreciate when people get to the point so I don't have to scroll to the end. I'm going to start doing that immediately. [Addendum: I'm only going to do that for long posts since it seems pointless for short ones.] Let me know if that works better for you guys.
After writing about my last time at Tommy's Burger Place I had see if the change in ownership affected their food. When I walked in I couldn't tell if the ownership had changed or not because everything about the place was the exact same. Even the food. The bacon cheese burger with grilled onions and barbecue sauce was still juicy and tasty. The fries (fried potatoes) were a little over salted, and occasionally greasy, but they were still pretty decent. It looked like I worried about Tommy's Burger Place for nothing.
As a side note, Ken told me that Tommy (the original owner of Tommy's and Lenny's Burger Shop) has opened a new burger joint. I'd love to check it out to see how it compares to Tommy's (which still ranks as my second favorite burger in Phoenix).
I've been outgrowing my current site host for a while so this weekend I finally decided to change to a new one. If you're reading this sentence then congratulations, you're seeing my new web host. If you weren't there's nothing you could do about it anyway since the transfer could take up to three days.
I'd been meaning to eat at Zest Spirited Dining ever since I learned they existed, and Friday night Lynn and I finally got to. We got there at 9:30, which I didn't think would be a problem because their web site said they were open until 11, but the hours on the door said 10. I wasn't sure they'd still be serving dinner, but the friendly host told us they were. He asked our names, shook our hands, and was very confident that we'd be returning after he found out that it was our first visit. He was cocky, but he was right.
The restaurant's interior was done in earth tones, and had a funky, but comfortable feel to it. Lynn said it felt like she was in someone's dining room. I felt it was more hip, and the low lighting and the excellent selection of eclectic music (played at a comfortable level) reinforced that. When we were seated the guy who sat us replaced the white napkins with black ones because he didn't want us to get white fuzz on our black clothes. Talk about attention to detail.
Our waitress came by and dropped of the menus, the list of specials, and told us about the featured drinks. I wasn't planning on drinking, but the featured drinks were green tea mojitos and pomegranate martinis. Both sounded too interesting to pass up. I'm a huge mojito fan so I had to try the green tea version. Lynn wanted to split a glass of wine, and decided on the Trimbach "Gewurztraminer 2002" since I wanted a white. (FYI, Lynn asked the doctor about drinking while pregnant, and the doctor said that while no one knows the safe amount of alcohol a little alcohol consumption should be safe. After all it wasn't until the last 20 years or so that doctors recommended against drinking while pregnant.) The mojito tasted like mint, but not fresh mint, then finished with a little green tea astringency. It was very good, and very familiar. I eventually figured out that the reason it tasted familiar was because it was made with mint tea. Interesting idea. I didn't taste any alcohol in the mojito so I wondered if the drink was finely balanced or just watered down. The Trimbach was light and dry with an excellent fruity flavor. The cocktail and the glass of Trimbach were $10 each, which seemed high to me. Maybe I've just been to a lot of restaurants recently with much lower wine markups.
There were a lot of appetizers that sounded good to us so it was impossible to only get one. We got the grilled jerked scallops from the menu, and the pork wellington from the specials list. There were three decent sized scallops on a plate with some sort of tomato sauce, a cream sauce, and wontons topped with a coleslaw. The scallops were grilled about medium, and true to jerk, quite spicy. Amazingly we could still taste the scallops despite the heat. The cream sauce was exactly what it needed to tame the heat, and the cream sauce tasted great. The tomato sauce was good too, but it had some heat of its own so it didn't pair well with the scallops. The coleslaw was very citrusy and sharp; I wouldn't have liked it by itself, but it helped refresh my palate so I thought it was a good addition to the dish. The wontons were light and crispy, and they were perfect for eating with the remaining cream sauce. The scallops brought out a hint of sweetness to the Trimbach, and enhanced the fruitiness. The pork wellington was pork osso buco (bones and all) topped with duxelles [a mixture of mushrooms], baked in puff pastry, and served with a mushroom-red wine demiglace. The pastry wasn't crispy, but the pork was fork tender. The combination of pork, mushrooms, and sauce was tasty in an old school sort of way. Both appetizers were garnished with finely chopped parsley that somehow didn't ruin the appetizers, but next time I'll remember to ask for them to leave it off.
About the time I was wondering if they were going to bring us bread they did. It was a rosemary sourdough with a little crust to it. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't in the mood for it. The same waitress who brought our bread made the house salad for us tableside, which I thought was a nice touch, but Lynn felt was gratuitous (because they don't make the dressing tableside). The salad was mixed greens with a citrus vinaigrette with your choices of gorgonzola, orange slices, walnuts, and dried cranberries. I got mine with everything while Lynn went without the gorgonzola. The vinaigrette was very acidic (they really like their citrus at Zest), but it was balanced by the mild gorgonzola. The cranberries and orange pieces added sweetness, and the walnuts some crunch. The salad was absolutely great with its balanced taste and texture, and despite whatever happened with the entrees I now had a third restaurant I would think of when I was in the mood for a salad (Rigatony's and Citrus Cafe being the other two).
There were all sorts of interesting entrees, but the one that caught my attention was the pecan crusted walleye pike with shrimp creole, one of the specials. I hadn't had creole food in years so the two creole dishes appealed to my sense of nostalgia. Lynn also got one of the specials, the goat cheese stuffed shrimp with a cream sauce, linguine, and vegetables. The pecan crust on my pike looked burnt, but it tasted fine. The pike was moist if very mild (which was expected since pecan crusted trout is a very mild dish). The shrimp creole tasted exactly like I remembered shrimp creole tasting, rife with trinity flavor and a little sweet. It wasn't an impressive dish, but the real versions aren't. I wanted an accurate taste of New Orleans, and that's exactly what it was though. My only complaint was that the rice was gritty because it was a little undercooked, which was just sloppy. Lynn's shrimp were deep fried, and they were excellent. The goat cheese was mild and the cream sauce they were served with was great with them. The fried shrimp made me think of high class jalapeno poppers (not in flavor, but philosophy). The vegetables had too sharp a flavor for my tastes, but Lynn liked them.
Lynn had used the bathroom earlier, and told me there was mouthwash in the women's bathroom. It made me curious about the men's bathroom. I checked it out, and there were tooth picks, mouthwash, and Yardley hand lotion, all nice touches. The one thing that was weird was there was a drain in the middle of the floor that looked like it was plugged with wax or grease. I was amazed they allowed it to stay that way because it looked foul. It was the one interior detail that was completely out of place for the restaurant. When I went to the bathroom our waitress took my napkin, but she never replaced it. That was the only mistake in the service.
We were stuffed, and I hoped we could agree on a dessert for a change. Lynn wanted the pot de creme, and there were three other desserts that I thought sounded better so I ended up with the chocolate bread pudding and bananas foster. The pot de creme was surprisingly light (I'm used to the dense version from Cowboy Ciao), and hardly tasted like chocolate. There were very good roasted peanuts in it, and I don't really like peanuts. It was a good dessert, but not great. The bread pudding was served in a pool of caramel sauce surrounded by alternating pieces of banana and strawberry. It looked like a souffle, but it definitely had the density and texture of bread pudding. The flavor was a little eggy, and by itself I wouldn't have liked it, but combined with the caramel sauce it was perfect. The sauce covered the eggy flavor, and it complimented the chocolate. The bananas were tasty in the sauce too. The strawberries weren't ripe so no amount of excellent caramel sauce could cover up their tartness.
Normally we don't do anything special for Valentine's Day, but I thought we should since Lynn is pregnant. Unfortunately the only place I could think of that would make a meal I would consider special was Janos in Tucson. They're even making a special Valentine's Day menu that sounds great, but they're only serving it on Valentine's Day, and making a turnaround trip to Tucson on a Tuesday night doesn't sound like a great idea. We had resigned ourselves to eating at home (lemon-tarragon chicken, yum), but our dinner at Zest was impressive enough that we made a reservation for Valentine's Day before we left.
Lately we've had great meals at La Stalla, Amano Pizza Bistro, and Va Bene, but our dinner at Zest just seemed to top everything. Va Bene is still my favorite restaurant in Phoenix, but it might soon be sharing that position with Zest.
For a different point of view check out Rob's first visit to Zest.
Lynn wanted to go to Cost Plus one day so I thought it would be a good excuse to try some chocolate. It figured that Cost Plus had the Nocional de Chocolates "Milk Chocolate Santander Colombian Single Origin" I got at Devlin's Market (yep, definite product overlap). The first chocolate bar I tried was the Chocolat Stella "Pure Creme" (dark chocolate [47% cocoa] with whole hazelnuts). The chocolate was made with vanillin (artificial vanilla flavor which is not typical in quality chocolate), and was dark (which I rarely like), but it was quite tasty. It was very creamy, and the hazelnuts tasted pretty fresh.
When Lynn and I got a sandwich from Devlin's Marketplace the co-owner slipped a couple of small pieces of Valrhona "Caribe" (dark chocolate [66% cocoa]) into our bag. Valrhona is a French chocolatier, and I've respected French chocolatiers ever since I had chocolate from La Maison du Chocolat. The "Caribe" was lightly sweet with a good chocolate flavor and a persistent slight bitterness. I wouldn't have minded the bitterness if it wasn't so persistent. While at Cost Plus I picked up a Valrhona "Le Lacte" (milk chocolate [40% cocoa]) and Valrhona "Le Noir" (dark chocolate [56% cocoa]). I usually think of chocolate as a tasty medium for nuts or some sort of filling so solid chocolate bars aren't my favorite. The Valrhona chocolate bars were good enough that they almost didn't need anything else. The "Le Lacte" was sweet and creamy, and significantly better than most milk chocolates I've had. It'd be great with some almonds or something. The "Le Noir" was creamy and a little sweet with a very pleasant fruity flavor without any bitterness. It was impressive, and a chocolate I'm more than happy to eat by itself.
Friday I didn't go to work because I caught a cold, and needed a lot of sleep to get over it. I planned on doing nothing, but at five in the afternoon one of neighbors came to see if we wanted two free tickets to Friday night's Arizona Rattlers game. I still wasn't feeling great, but it's hard to turn down free tickets. Lynn and I had a good time at the game even if the Rattlers got trounced. At least some of the Rattler dancers were easy to look at. After the game we had a great dinner at Zest Spirited Dining. Zest makes the type of creative food with lots of flavor that I love. We were so impressed that we'll be having our Valentine's Day dinner there.
Today I tried to get a pizza at Amano Pizza Bistro, but they said their pizza dough wasn't ready. I'm having bad luck with lunch this week. I had to think of another place for lunch, but I wasn't really in the mood for anything else. Lynn and I were driving when Lynn noticed Taquitos Jalisco. If I couldn't get what I wanted trying a new place didn't sound like a bad alternative.
The place was a hole in the wall with a typical taqueria menu. Lynn got a carne asada tostada and carne asada soft taco while I got a pastor torta and a carnitas soft taco. The torta was pastor, guacamole, white onion, lettuce, and tomato on a lightly toasted bun. The execution of the torta was great, but I could hardly taste the pastor. The sandwich might be better with a different meat. The carnitas weren't crispy, and tasted like unseasoned pork. I put some green salsa on it, but the green salsa was bland. I tried Lynn's carne asada taco, and the beef was ok. The carne asada tostada came with refried beans, carne asada, lettuce, and shredded and powdered cheeses. The tostada shell was thick, but still managed to be light and crispy. The toppings were good, but there was too much refried beans. I tried the tostada with some of their red salsa, and it was great! The salsa had a decent amount of heat, and its flavor complimented all the other ingredients.
Meat doesn't seem to be Taquitos Jalisco's strength, but I highly value tostadas since the only other ones I like are from Viva Maria/Via Marie. I'd return to Taquitos Jalisco for the tostadas alone.
Monday Lynn and I had lunch at Va Bene, which is still my favorite restaurant in Phoenix. I asked our waiter about the specials, and he listed off several that sounded interesting. The one thing he didn't mention was a lamb appetizer. Even though I was going to get the gnocchi I find it almost impossible to go to Va Bene without getting a lamb dish. I asked the waiter if they would be able to make the baby lamb chop appetizer we had there last time. The waiter said he'd ask the chef, and since the chef is uber cool our waiter came back with good news. I love that they're willing to make dishes outside of their normal service.
The baby lamb chops came with mashed potatoes and some sort of demiglace. The chops were nicely seasoned, well charred, and tasty with or without the demiglace. The lamb chops weren't brilliant, but they were amazingly delicious (I think you have to get a planned lamb special for brilliant). I had a great time stripping the crispy bits off the bones. There's something extravagant about eating baby lamb chops for lunch that makes me feel rich. The mashed potatoes were creamy, and very good with the demiglace.
I went into Va Bene planning on getting the gnocchi, but when the waiter described the smoked chicken special (with fettucini, mushrooms, pine nuts, and pancetta in an alfredo sauce) I thought twice about it. I got the special, and I got the gnocchi to go since I knew it still tastes great left over (even if the sauce separates when reheated). The special had a pleasant smoky flavor, and it reminded me of the grilled chicken linguine at Rigatony's. The smoked chicken wasn't salted, and it was almost gross to me. Once I picked the chicken out of my special I was very happy. Lynn went with a different special, the penne arrabiata with shrimp. The sauce tasted weak to me, and the rigatoni (it wasn't made with penne) was too doughy for the sauce. The mushrooms in the sauce were tasty, but that was the only thing I liked about it. Lynn liked it a lot more than I did, but even she agreed that a lighter pasta would have worked better.
Yesterday I had the gnocchi for lunch, and they were still light little pillows of potato pasta in an excellent cream sauce. Too bad there's no lamb in the gnocchi.
The waiter asked if we were interested in desserts, and I had him list them off in case anything sounded interesting. I almost got out of there without dessert until the waiter mentioned the torta della Nonna [Grandma's cake]. It was a lemon tart topped with pine nuts that was mildly sweet and tart. It was served with a raspberry sauce that gave it some complexity too. The dessert was a little too mellow for what I was in the mood for, but it was one of the better lemon desserts I've had.
Lunch put me on a food high, and after lunch we went to Lynn's doctor's office where we heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time. That was pretty cool.
Today I had a serious craving for green chile from Rito's Mexican Food so I thought I'd skip their slow, long line and call my order in. A few other people must have had the same idea because their phone was busy for about five minutes straight. When I finally got through I told the lady who answered that I was calling in an order for pick up. She said the next available pick up time was 11:45, and asked if that was ok. Sure it was. I was impressed that they were that organized. I put in my order for two green chile chimichangas and one red chile burro. The lady then informed me that I needed a minimum of eight items for a pick up order. I thanked her for her time and hung up. It was 11 so I figured if I got there at 11:15 the line wouldn't be too long, but I couldn't leave until 11:20, and I wasn't willing to wait 20 minutes in line to place my order. Maybe next week I'll get there early or find six other people to order with. I've never had to plan so much for take out food.
One of my coworkers had to write a proposal concerning an undeveloped technology and its impact on community colleges for one of this masters classes. Here's what he wrote.
Universe-ityTime is money; therefore wouldn't we all love more time? As the popularity and enrollment of online college's skyrocket, what lies ahead for furthering the technology of education? Teleportation machines of course! Imagine being able to just teleport to your class without traveling to and from your home to class. Now you'll be able to go to any college you want without sacrificing moving away from loved ones or your job. You could live in desirable places and go to school or work where ever you want to in the world!
The internet co-aligns with this idea, though you cannot physically be there to help students, do experiments in a class, or gather research together with your colleagues. A teleportation machine would revolutionize the whole learning experience even from a young age. You could learn about Africa in a day trip to Africa, deciding on which college you want to attend you could visit as many as you wanted to without worrying about planning time to go there and working around everyone's schedules. This would let anyone go to any college which would increase enrollment to every college around the world.
Of course you wouldn't be able to just teleport anywhere, because that would lead to a security risk, rather there would be teleportation centers placed all over the world. Since the transportation business would plummet from this idea, I would assume they would be the ones researching, funding, planning, and maintaining all areas of this wonderful world system.
This is the type of thing that keeps me coming to work (beyond the standard "I need money to live" type stuff). I'm really curious what kind of grade he's going to get.
Tonight Lynn and I attempted to make fried rice for the first time. We didn't bother to look up a recipe, just tried it the way we thought it should be made. We made the fried rice with jasmine rice, bacon, bay scallops, onion, egg, soy sauce, and green onion. The bacon was perfect with the rice giving it some smokiness that we were unable to give it by frying (not through lack of trying though). The scallops were also tasty, and paired well with the bacon. The fried rice had a very good flavor, but it came out overly soft. It would've been signficantly better if we didn't make two mistakes. The first mistake was that Lynn decided to make the jasmine rice for the first time in our new rice cooker. Jasmine rice requires a little less water to cook than regular white rice so using the proscribed amount of water in the rice cooker resulted in soggy rice. Our second mistake was that we didn't get the rice cold before we fried it. Every fried rice recipe I looked up (after the fact) said to use cold rice, and I could see that keeping the rice firm. Maybe next time our fried rice will be great.
A few months ago I stopped at Tommy's Burger Place to see if they were still any good. They had a bad habit of randomly not salting their meat so I hoped I caught them on a good day. I got my usual bacon cheese burger with fried onions and barbecue sauce, and an order of fries. The burger was seasoned (whew) and juicy. When they're seasoned a Tommy's burger really is one of the best around town. The fries were their seasoned fried sliced potatoes that I always find much more satisfying than fries. Tommy's has had a big sign up for a few months stating that it's under new management. I don't know if the burgers and fries are the same, but I'll check them out soon to find out.
Every so often (not often enough really) we have dinner with Marsha and Paul, and this last time they wanted to eat at Amano Pizza Bistro. I'd never heard of the place before, but with a name like Amano it sounded interesting ("a mano" means by hand in Italian and Spanish). The restaurant was located in an unassuming brick building, but when we walked in I was impressed with what they did with the place. Even though the interior walls were brick they were painted yellow with some faux finish that gave them depth. Combined with red accents the interior was fresh and lively.
I got a glass of Codice wine because it was a Spanish red that I'd never tried before. The wine was medium to full bodied, and initially had a good mellow fruit flavor with a prickly finish. With each mouthful the fruit flavor diminished with an alcoholic heat taking its place. I was very unhappy with it. A plate of rolls with a ramekin filled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was brought to our table. We were only given three plates for our bread though. The rolls didn't have a crust, but the bread was dense and pleasantly salted. It's not the sort of bread I normally like, but I dug it. The olive oil was pretty good too, although I had a difficult time getting any balsamic vinegar to stick to my bread after it had been through an inch of olive oil.
The appetizers were limited, but the rajas with toast points intrigued me because I didn't know what they were. Our waitress said they were roasted chiles, cream, mushrooms, bread crumbs, some sort of wine(?), and green onion. That sounded great to me. Lynn wanted to try the caprese salad so we got one of those too. The bread for the rajas was moist and dense, which made for great toast. The rajas was creamy and earthy with the occasional pungency from the fresh green onion, and a finish that was pretty hot. Eaten with the toast points it was quite an appetizer, but Lynn didn't care for it. The caprese had alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella sprinkled with fresh ground black pepper and plenty of chopped basil. For once there was actually enough basil for the tomato and mozzarella, but the salad was bland despite the black pepper.
Paul suggested we get a bottle of wine, and I thought it was a great idea since I didn't like my glass of Codice. We got a bottle of Remo Farina "Valpolicella Classico Superiore D.O.C. 2002". The wine was a ripasso, partially made from grapes used to make Amarone (harvested late and dried for 3 to 5 months), so I was curious how it would taste. I thought the wine would be full bodied, but it might have been on the light side of medium with a good mild flavor. We all seemed pretty happy with it. I didn't like that the waitress didn't show us the wine label so we could verify that we were getting the correct bottle though.
When we walked into Amano I saw the daily specials written on a chalk board. One of the specials was seared duck breast with marinated potatoes and sauteed spinach served with a cherry vinaigrette and dried cranberries. There were a couple of interesting entrees on the menu, but none of them could compete with the duck at that moment. The duck was well seasoned and well seared. The duck fat was absolutely delicious, a testament to their skill since duck fat is usually gross. The sauteed spinach was good, and tasted very buttery with the cherry vinaigrette. The spinach was also very good with the cranberries. The only weakness to the dish was the plain potatoes, which wouldn't have been missed if they were left out of the dish.
One of the entrees that sounded good to me was the Remy fired shrimp with tarragon risotto, and Lynn got it. The shrimp and risotto were both well cooked, but I didn't like the tarragon with the risotto, and I'm not much of a shrimp fan. Lynn really liked it until she ate a couple of hard bits that put her off the dish. Marsha had a sauceless portobello pizza with two kinds of cheeses and extra garlic, and she let us try it. The pizza was great! The crust was crispy with a good flavor, and the cheese and meaty mushrooms made for a great combination. The scent of the garlic was heady, but the garlic was actually subdued, and I'm not sure if the pizza would have been great without it.
I was stuffed so I thought we'd split a dessert, but Lynn wanted the rum cake and I wanted the brown sugar creme brulee so we got both. The rum cake was light and fluffy with an appropriate whipped cream frosting. There was only a hint of rum flavor which made it very easy to eat. The sugar on my creme brulee was a little burnt, but the creme brulee more than made up for it with its creaminess and butterscotch type flavor. It was one of the better creme brulees I've had in the Valley.
Dinner was great so I'll definitely be back to Amano someday soon, but they need to work on their service. I liked our waitress, but we had to wait for silverware, and had to ask for our water glasses to be refilled several times.
I had heard about "Life of Pi" when OneBookAZ selected it to encourage people in Arizona to read and discuss it. The premise of a young boy trapped in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger sounded interesting, and I put it on my reading to do list. Eventually I even got around to reading it.
When I read the author's forward to "Life of Pi" I thought I was in for a great read. The forward was compelling, and it promised to tell a story that would make me believe in God. Not that I needed one, but the story fell very short proving more of a point about human nature than God. (Of course the point might have been to never trust an author.) The story started well enough, but it quickly got boring, then interesting, boring, ridiculous (where I almost stopped reading), and finally finished in a completely unexpected way. Even though I felt the author was overly manipulative I thought the story was sort of an interesting. There's no way I'd recommend it though, and I was surprised that some committee decided to recommend it to all literary minded people in Arizona.
Our visit to La Stalla reminded Lynn that she wanted to try the sandwiches at Devlin's Marketplace. Last Sunday we tried to call in a sandwich order, but they didn't have fresh bread. This week we were able to pick up a couple of sandwiches though. Lynn got the Lost Dutchman's (roast beef, Swiss cheese, cipolline onions, and horseradish dijon mustard) while I got The Irishkraut (black forest ham, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and mustard). The bread they used was so-so. The combination of sauerkraut and ham was balanced and pretty tasty. There were two extremely thin slices of Swiss on the sandwich, and they were very good when I could taste them, but the sandwich needed two more slices. After a while I got tired of the sauerkraut flavor, but when I took the kraut off the sandwich was too boring. The only thing that made Lynn's sandwich distinctive was the onions, but it wasn't enough to make the sandwich good. Lynn didn't like the onions or the raw unseasoned flavor of the roast beef. It looks like Zero's Subs is still our choice for roast beef sandwiches.
Devlin's Marketplace also offers a couple of gelatos and a sorbet in addition to sandwiches. The blackberry-Cabernet sorbet sounded interesting so we got an order of it for dessert. The sorbet was hardly sweet with a smooth texture and rich fruit flavor followed by a hint of chocolate. I thought it was absolutely great, but Lynn wanted it sweeter.
Neither sandwich tasted great or was a good value at $8 so it's unlikely that we'll be back at Devlin's Marketplace for a sandwich anytime soon. We'll probably be back there for their cheeses, sorbet, and maybe even their gelato though.
I'm addicted to shiny new things so a week after we ate at La Stalla I had to eat there again to try their pizzas. When Lynn and I walked in there was a lobster risotto special on the board, and even though I wanted pizza it was very tempting. I had a feeling it was the special from the night before, but I asked our waiter about it anyway. It was from the night before, and they didn't have it. They should've erased it.
The baked mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto caught my eye on our first visit so we had to try it. There were three rolls topped with mushrooms and breadcrumbs served in a ceramic bowl. The presentation was an awful gritty looking brown pile. I hoped it would taste better than it looked, and it did. The mozzarella was mild and creamy, and not a bad match with the salty prosciutto. I thought the mushrooms would add something good to the mix, but they were better on their own. It wasn't a bad appetizer, but I wouldn't order it again.
I got the Genoa salami pizza while Lynn ordered the signature margherita pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil) again. The margherita pizza was once again crispy with very tasty toppings. My salami pizza was covered in so much cheese that I couldn't taste the pizza sauce, which is a shame since their pizza sauce is very good. My pizza was highly disappointing, and it might be a while before I want another pizza from La Stalla.
I normally don't eat dessert at lunch, but when Lynn and I saw the fresh fruit with zabaione we were curious because we'd never had zabaione before. The dessert was fresh berries (blue berries, raspberries, and, strawberries) with a vivid yellow zabaione. The flavor of the zabaione reminded me of eggnog in a good way. The blue berries were ripe while the raspberries were mostly ripe. The strawberries were tart, and absorbed the alcohol in the zabaione so they were my least favorite berry in the dessert. Naturally they were Lynn's favorite because they helped balance out the sweetness of the zabaione for her. We were both very happy with the dessert.
The food at La Stalla reminded me of Va Bene, and even though I like Va Bene better I think La Stalla can look forward to many more visits from us as we go through the menu.
I was going to end this visit with a list of top pizzas, but a recent visit to Amano Pizza Bistro convinced me to wait until I've had a pizza or two from Amano before revising my list.
My mom wanted to take Lynn and I to lunch today, but nothing immediately came to mind. I started flipping through my mental rolodex of great food I hadn't had in a while, and once I remembered McGurkee's I couldn't think of anything else. I love their Sicilian sandwich (genoa salami, capicola, ham, provolone, and other good stuff), and I don't go to McGurkee's often enough to want to try anything else. Today I was in the mood for the Athenian chicken (grilled chicken, sauteed onions and bell peppers, feta, mayonnaise, mustard, shredded lettuce, and tomatoes) though. I had it once before, and remembered it being very tasty. It must have been exactly what I was in the mood for because the Athenian chicken on their toasted light bread tasted far better than I remembered, and I couldn't stop saying how good it was for half the sandwich. The mayonnaise and mustard were tasty with the chicken, and the sauteed onions and peppers were cooked without being soft. Feta can be overpowering, but there was just enough of it in the sandwich to taste it. I couldn't have been happier with my sandwich.
Lynn and my mom got the pepper steak (thinly sliced beef, peppers, and onions) with optional cheese. I had a bite of it, and it was decent. My mom and Lynn both thought it was pretty good.
I really wish McGurkee's was closer so I could get my fill of Sicilians, and try their other sandwiches.
Sunday night Lynn and I were hungry, and too lazy to cook. Lynn wanted pizza from La Famiglia, but I wasn't in the mood for pizza. I'd heard many good things about Chino Bandido on Chowhound, and even from Noah, so I thought it was about time to check it out. (I do have to mention that Ken told me the place was only ok, and I highly value his opinion, but I had to experience it for myself.) It was about 45 minutes before they closed so I didn't expect the best experience, but I didn't know how bad it would be.
Chino Bandido is so well hidden that I'd driven past the place at least a dozen times never noticing they existed until Ken pointed them out the last time we were at Cyclo. Their location is a good distance from the street, and they don't seem to have a sign on the street. When we got there half the tables had chairs on them, and the restaurant looked dark so I wondered if they closed early. They were open, and I guess the one thing I didn't catch about the place was that it's fast food. We approached the register, and the lady behind the register asked what we wanted. I noticed she didn't ask if we'd ever been there before. I wondered if she just didn't want to go through the introduction shtick. Lynn and I looked at their 14 menu items, and Lynn got the machaca beef on white rice, and I got the pollo diablo (deep fried chicken with garlic, green onions, and chiles) on white rice. We were also asked if we wanted a snickerdoodle or peanut butter cookie. We got one of each.
After we ordered we went and had a seat. The restaurant was cavernous, which I found depressing in combination with the bare concrete floors and cheap plastic tables. It had a cheap industrial feel that made me uncomfortable in a way that the dingiest hole in the wall has never managed.
After about five minutes the lady at the register brought out our food. I could smell mine, and it initially smelled good, but then I detected something odd about it. I tried the fried chicken, and it was light and crispy, but it seriously needed salt. I tried it with the green stuff thinking that it might help the chicken. The mixture was spicy, but repulsive because it seemed to emphasize the unsalted chicken flavor. I salted the chicken, and it wasn't bad after that, but the green onion-garlic combination was still terrible. It had a sharp acrid flavor that tasted like burnt garlic, but none of the garlic looked even close to burnt. It's possible the garlic was old. I ate all the chicken (scraped free of green onion-garlic stuff), but I couldn't eat the rice because of the green onion-garlic stuff covered it.
Lynn's machaca, the dry variety I normally don't like, had a good flavor. It was good enough that I'd order it. I even got to taste the rice, and it wasn't bad for white rice. I decided that even though the pollo diablo was terrible Chino Bandido might be worth a return visit. Lynn didn't have much of an appetite so I was finishing off her machaca when the lady behind the counter walked over and asked how everything was. I hadn't planned on complaining about the diablo chicken, but she asked. I told her the machaca beef was pretty tasty, but there was something wrong with the pollo diablo. She asked me to expand on it so I told her the garlic tasted bad. She asked if I wanted something else instead, but I wasn't in the mood to try something else. She said she'd check on the garlic, and went away. That was the last thing she said to me all night, which seriously pissed me off. I personally believe that you shouldn't ask if you don't care or are unwilling to take care of a situation so it made me exponentially unhappier than if she had never asked. I decided that was the last time I eat at Chino Bandido; I have no reason to put up with bad food and bad service.
We tried the cookies on our way home, and the snickerdoodle tasted half raw. It was kind of gross because it tasted like Play-Doh. When we got home I looked at the cookie, and it was half raw. At least the peanut butter cookie was fully cooked, and not bad.
Friday I found a voicemail waiting for me at work that I almost deleted. It was only two seconds long, which usually means someone hung up without saying anything. I don't know why, but I decided to listen to it anyway. It was a woman's voice I wasn't familiar with, and she said, "I love you," and then hung up. I wasn't even sure I heard it correctly the first time, so I replayed it. I didn't mistake the vital facts; it was definitely a woman I didn't know by voice, and she definitely said "I love you".
What would go through your head if you had heard that? I wondered if the mystery woman had really meant to leave me that message. My voicemail does say my name so it would seem unlikely that I was the wrong person. Was it really someone expressing a secret crush? Being the paranoid sort it's crossed my mind that it could be some sort of weird practical joke. I wish I knew the truth of it, but that seems highly unlikely. Whatever the explanation I'll never look at my voicemail light the same way again.
Today while watching the playoffs I saw two things that I thought were disgraceful. One was Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan deciding that Denver had lost the game while there was still about three minutes left to play. Sure Denver was down 17 points, and sure Jake Plummer had already threw a couple of interceptions, but there wasn't any reason not to try to go for the win. The Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox was still calling deep passes to try and make up for the his team's 27 point deficit even though Jake Delhomme had already thrown three interceptions. Carolina even got a touchdown, and played hard until the end even though they were most likely going to lose. That's the way you're supposed to play in the playoffs. The Broncos' defense didn't stop playing, and the offense didn't either so it seemed like Mike Shanahan betrayed his players by not calling plays that would've given the Broncos a chance to win. I hate the Broncos, and even I feel sorry that their coach didn't even give them a chance to try. I'm sure they would've felt better making the effort, and losing to an interception than not even trying. Lynn thinks Mike Shanahan should be fired to prove a point.
The other disgraceful thing was some, presumably, Seattle Seahawk fan pulling down a homemade Pittsburgh Steeler banner a Steeler fan had put up. If that was my banner I would have jumped down to where the guy was, kicked his ass, and hoped to get an understanding judge. Pulling down the banner was uncalled for, and if he was a football player he probably would've been fined. It's too bad the NFL can't fine the fans too.
Before Steve left for Japan Lynn and I took him to Benjarong, our favorite Thai restaurant, for lunch. They had a fish soup daily special so we tried it. The soup was very spicy, and the fish was firm without much flavor. The soup was definitely worth eating though. We also had the nam sod (ground pork, julienned fresh ginger, chopped fresh peppers, sliced scallions, roasted peanuts, and lime juice) since it's one of the more impressive things on the menu. The salad was complex and amazingly spicy.
I tried the basil fried rice (bell peppers, onions, and Thai basil) with pork for the first time. It had a mild flavor that was very good with the onion. Unfortunately that's all I remember about that meal.
My mom doesn't eat enough Thai food so we took her to Benjarong for dinner one night. We got an order of beef sate and nam sod. The sate was decent, and so was the peanut sauce (which just hasn't been as good as the first time). The nam sod was once again tasty.
My mom wanted a spicy noodle dish so I recommended the drunken noodles (onions, chiles, and chow fun noodles) with pork. She got it, and I got the pad woon sen (chicken, egg, sliced onions, green onions, tomatoes, and thin cellophane noodles) for myself. Lynn tried the pad gra tieam (mushrooms and other stuff in garlic sauce) with shrimp for the first time. Lynn didn't like it, but we don't remember why. The drunken noodles were spicy with a good white pepper flavor. The pad woon sen also had plenty of white pepper, but it was mellow. My mom preferred the pad woon sen over the drunken noodles so we traded even though at the time I also preferred pad woon sen.
We had the Thai coconut ice cream for dessert, and it was excellent. It was a great way to end a very good meal.
The next time we went to Benjarong I noticed they're doing lunch buffets. Even though I normally don't like buffets I'd consider trying Benjarong's (Copper Kettles's too). I noticed the fresh lemonade on the menu for the first time, and I wanted to try it, but I had a serious craving for Thai iced tea to satisfy. My Thai iced tea came in a large glass which reminded me how stingy other Thai restaurants have been with their iced tea. It also had the right amount of evaporated milk, and was just sweet enough that I was really happy with it.
Lynn wanted to get the nam sod, but we tried the woon sen salad (ground chicken, shrimp, sliced tomatoes, slivered white onion, chopped fresh chiles, lime juice, and thin cellophane noodles) instead. I didn't like the flavor of the sauce or the ground chicken at first, but after a the chiles kicked in I really dug the dish. The chiles had an excellent flavor even if they were fiery hot, and the shrimp and tomatoes were pretty tasty.
I didn't remember eating the basil fried rice (diced bell peppers, slivered onions, slivered bamboo shoots, mushrooms, Thai basil, chopped fresh chiles, and pork) before so I got it again. When I tried the basil fried rice it re-set my mouth on fire so I knew I had to choose between eating the fried rice or finishing the woon sen salad. I initially didn't like the flavor of the fried rice so I finished off the woon sen salad. (I had the fried rice the next day for lunch, and it was spicier than I expected. It also had a surprisingly good flavor. The strong flavors of the fried rice must've clashed with the strong flavors of the woon sen salad.) Lynn wasn't feeling very hungry so she got the tom ka soup as her entree. She doesn't like the flavor of the chicken in Benjarong's soups so she got the tom ka without any meat in it (which perplexed Mr. Moo [the owner who also doubles as the waiter and sometimes the cook]). There was chile oil floating on top of the soup so we thought it might be spicier than normal. There were also chopped fresh chiles in the soup so despite the coconut milk it was still spicy hot. Normally I find tom ka to be a milder, inferior, version of tom yum, but this tom ka was just as good.
I was really in the mood for the mango with coconut sticky rice, but I didn't think they'd have any ripe mango. I asked Mr. Moo about it, and he said he didn't think he had any ripe mangos, but he'd check. He came back out bearing a small plate covered in a mound of sticky rice with a half a sliced mango fanned on top of it. I couldn't believe our luck, but it turned out the mango wasn't fully ripe so it was half sweet and half tart. The mango isn't my favorite part of that dessert anyway, and Lynn thought the tartness helped balance out the sweet sticky rice. The coconut sticky rice looked a little darker than I remembered it, and the rice was chewy, but it was still very good.
The last time we were at Benjarong we had dinner with DJ. We had the nam sod, at Lynn's insistence, but I still wanted an appetizer. Unfortunately nothing sounded great so I went with the wontons, which I hadn't had in a long time. The nam sod was ordered medium spicy (I don't think we've ever ordered it hot), but there was still plenty of heat to it. The combination of flavors is so addicting that even though the salad had all of our mouths on fire we hardly took any breaks eating it. Lynn actually wanted to try the fresh lemonade so I got a Thai iced tea in case she didn't like it. It was made with lime juice and sugar, which is typical, but the the salt in it wasn't typical. The sugar and salt were well balanced, but the lemonade was too viscous for me. The lemonade did a much better job cooling the heat from the nam sod than my Thai iced tea did though. The wonton wrappers were amazingly light and crispy. It tasted so fresh that it was highly satisfying. The pork filling was meager, but I was glad it was after I tasted it because the filling tasted extra porky. The wontons were served with Thai sweet and sour sauce, and it did a good job covering up the flavor of the filling.
Lynn couldn't remember if she had ordered the massaman curry before so she got the beef massaman spicy. I wanted the pad woon sen, but I had a feeling the sweet and sour chicken would be tasty so I got both. DJ tried the pad Thai (which we'd never had before at Benjarong). The massaman was a little sweet and not spicy. It was alright, but I don't like the curries at Benjarong. Lynn liked it, but I think the massaman at Mint Thai Cafe is far better. The pad Thai was sweet, and had a good flavor, but I prefer the pad Thai from Cyclo. The sweet and sour was sweet (ironically not as sweet as the pad Thai or massaman), complex, and amazingly tasty. It's now on my list of things to reorder (it wasn't nearly as good leftover so next time I'll know to eat it all). The pad woon sen was once again excellent, reinforced by the fact that DJ kept eating it after he had polished off the pad Thai.
We had the coconut ice cream for dessert, and it wasn't quite right. The ice cream seemed a little thicker and sweeter than normal, and Lynn and I didn't like it as much. DJ liked it just fine. It was served with sweet white and red beans (azuke?), and of the two I thought the red beans were better.
[Previous visit to Benjarong Thai Restaurant.]
Today I got a chance to stop at Devlin's Marketplace, the place I saw in downtown Chandler with the sign saying they have over 150 cheeses. They carry import and gourmet type food stuffs not usually carried by supermarkets, but it looked like there might have been plenty of overlap with Cost Plus. They had empty wine racks set up, and their liquor license was just recently approved so they should start stocking wine soon.
I checked out their chocolate bar selection, and it was a weird mix of low end import chocolate and high end chocolate. I thought it would have been better if they focused on one or the other (preferably high end). I got a bar of the Nocional de Chocolates "Milk Chocolate Santander Colombian Single Origin", and it tasted like Hershey's chocolate (bleh).
The real reason I was there was to check out the cheeses, and they seemed to be about 110 cheeses short of their claim. They did have some interesting cheeses, and they even let me taste a few of them, including a bierkase which tasted like burnt garbage. I bought three cheeses, and there were more I'd like to try so Devlin's might become my new cheese source.
They also make a limited selection of sandwiches, and some of them sound pretty good. We'll probably try them the next time we're hungry in the neighborhood.
Lynn had wanted the grilled kielbasa from Na Zdrowie since before we left for Ohio, but we never made it there until earlier this week. It had been a while since we had been there last so I was surprised to see that they expanded and redecorated the restaurant. They now have a dj setup with lights so it looks like the dancing might be lively there.
Lynn is on a calamari kick while I wanted to try the potato pancakes (which weren't on the menu last time). The calamari were tender rings of squid in a light crispy batter that was lightly seasoned. They were quite tasty by themselves, and even better with the tomato sauce they were served with. The sauce might've only had finely diced cooked tomatoes with a little red pepper in it, but it tasted better than it sounds. The potato pancakes were greasy without much flavor. We only ate half of them, and that was just because we didn't want to leave them on our plates.
Lynn's kielbasa was quite tasty, but too greasy for me that night even though normally it wouldn't be. I almost got the kielbasa too, but the cutlet a la gorlice ("a large, flavorful Polish pork cutlet") sounded interesting. I expected the large cutlet to be a single, large piece of meat, but when it arrived it was two large chicken fried pork patties that were crispy on outside and moist on the inside. They didn't taste completely unseasoned, but it could have used some salt. The cutlet a la gorlice was more comfort food than delicious, and since it's not my type of comfort food I wouldn't order it again. The meat came with two scoops of mashed potatoes, and a healthy portion of stew cabbage. Stewed cabbage is a comfort food for me, and Na Zdrowie's is actually insanely delicious; it's well seasoned with just the right amount of ham in it. I don't know any restaurant that makes a better stewed cabbage. The mashed potatoes were probably as basic as it gets tasting like there weren't made with anything other than potatoes. They were too plain on their own, but they weren't bad with a little salt and pepper.
We love the blintzes at Na Zdrowie, but I wasn't up for a dessert. We'll just have to get it next time.
Dinner was mixed, but I was happy to discover that I like their calamari. Now if I could only find an entree to love like Lynn loves the kielbasa I'd be at Na Zdrowie more often.
Today I ate fast food for the first time in almost a month. I wasn't consciously avoiding fast food, and didn't even notice it happened until I was half watching "Super Size Me". Hopefully it's a sign that I've been eating better. I can't say I missed fast food either because lunch was hardly satisfying. Now if Taco Bell would just bring back their club chalupa...
One night Lynn and I took Ken to Shangri-La de Old Cathay for dinner. What was Ken's first comment about the place when we walked in? "Hmm... there aren't any Chinese people in here." Thankfully he was just giving me a hard time because of what I wrote about Chinese people in Chinese restaurants.
Ken appreciates potstickers, and was the person who introduced me to them, so we tried the potstickers at Shangri-La. They were doughy, and the meat filling was too finely ground for my tastes. I should've guessed they wouldn't be that good because Shangri-La just didn't seem like the type of restaurant that would make potstickers well.
I wasn't in the mood for the lychee pork so we ended up trying three new entrees: the peking beef, amazing chicken, and shrimp and scallops in garlic sauce. The peking beef was chewy, sweet, and actually tasted like beef (something I find a rarity in Chinese food), but I don't like sweet tasting beef. The amazing chicken was spicy in a one dimensional way, and far from amazing. The garlic sauce for the seafood was thick and slightly sweet. The sweetness matched well with the seafood, but I would've liked the sauce spicier. There also weren't many scallops in the dish. Unfortunately it was the best dish of the meal. I was disappointed that we took Ken to dinner, and it wasn't very good.
One night I was sick, and didn't even want Asian food, but then I remembered the lychee (pronounced lee-chi [Chinese people are always correcting my pronunciation]) pork at Shangri-La and had to have it. The dough on the pork seemed a little fluffier than the first time I had it, and I didn't like it that way. I'm always happy with the sweet and slightly hot sauce though. The cucumbers in the dish were especially tasty because they absorbed the flavor of the sauce. Lynn tried the volcano beef, which is battered and deep fried beef served with a spicy sauce. The sauce had a unique flavor that I couldn't quite place in addition to being very spicy and very tasty. It instantly became Lynn's favorite dish at Shangri-La. We also got the bacon fried rice, and it was a little better fried than the first time. There's something about the combination of salty, meaty bacon and fried rice that's very tasty even if the rice needs to fried more.
The next time we had food from Shangri-La I picked it up to go. When I pulled up the scent of hot oil and meat coming from the restaurant was amazing. I was glad we had called in our order because the scent had me starving. I waited by the host's station for a few minutes before the manager showed up. He then disappeared a few minutes to get my bill, and disappeared again for about ten minutes to get my food. The service was really terrible, and not just for me because there were about three or four other groups waiting while I was there. The manager said they were short staffed that night so I was happy I was only there to pick up my food.
We ordered volcano beef, General Tso's chicken, and bacon fried rice. Those dishes probably accounted for half of what I smelled in the parking lot because they filled my car with a heavenly, meaty aroma. When I got home I was surprised to find that they had packed two bags of their tasty oolong tea with our food. That's one of those small details that makes a huge difference. The fried beef for the volcano beef was packed separately from the sauce keeping the meat crispy. That was another detail that made a difference. The volcano beef was excellent with its crispy beef, and robust garlic and chile sauce. The General Tso's chicken was another story. The fried chicken was packed in its sauce so the batter was soggy. The batter on the chicken was the fluffy variety so it needed to be packed separately more than the hard battered beef did. Another shortcoming was that the chicken was cut into large unwieldy pieces. Despite its problems the dish could've been great with better execute because of the dynamic sweet and spicy sauce. The bacon fried rice was still addictive.
The last time we ate at Shangri-La we ordered the volcano beef, General Tso's chicken, and bacon fried rice again. This time the volcano beef's flavor was too heavy for me, but Lynn still loved it. The batter for the General Tso's chicken was still airy, but it tasted very good with the chicken (which were cut into near manageable pieces this time). I really enjoyed the sauce because it was sweet and tangy with a little heat to it. The green onions and cucumbers absorbed the sourness from the sauce so they helped balance out the stronger sweetness. The bacon fried rice was once again tasty enough that neither of us even considered adding soy sauce to it.
Normally I don't order the deep fried meat in sauce style of Chinese food because it too closely resembles Chinese fast food, but Shangri-La makes some of those dishes so well we crave it.
Yesterday Lynn and I decided to have a small dinner with my mom and Ken. (I had hoped DJ could join us too, but he had to work.) Lynn wanted to make carne asada so we had my mom pick up some marinated skirt steak from La Mexicana Super Carniceria (on 43rd Ave. north of Bethany Home) because their marinade is great. I wanted to make the southwestern potato salad my mom made for us once before because I knew its flavor would compliment the carne asada. We needed a vegetable to round out the meal, and I wanted to grill some corn, but we couldn't get any in full husks. We had calabacitas for the first time at J Bar, and loved them. I was about time we tried to make calabacitas for ourselves. We also had to make guacamole and pico de gallo as condiments for the carne asada.
I grilled the skirt steak over real mesquite charcoal, and the meat got nicely charred with just enough smoke to compliment the flavor of the marinade. It tasted great by itself, and was even better with the pico de gallo or the guacamole. The guacamole was basically mashed avocados plus a healthy dose of pico de gallo, and some dried cranberries (a la Barrio Cafe). The cranberries added a nice bit of sweetness about every third bite that made the guacamole unique in addition to being great.
We'd never made calabacitas before, but we knew the flavors we were looking for. The recipe we decided on included diced yellow squash, corn, and Anaheim green chiles with butter and sharp cheddar cheese. The combination sounded good, but I didn't think it would have the same complexity the one at J Bar did. It turned out truly amazing, and since it's such a simple dish so we're going to have to make it a lot more often. The southwestern potato salad consisted of grilled potatoes, grilled red onions, bacon, diced red bell peppers, chipotle chiles, green onion, and mayonnaise. I put a little too much mayonnaise in it, but not enough to ruin it. The mayonnaise actually made it a little sweet, but it was balanced by the smokiness and heat from the chipotles. Together with the potatoes, onion, and bacon it was pretty damn good. The only thing I didn't like about it was that sometimes the red bell pepper seemed out of place. Next time I'll add cilantro (like I had planned), and leave out the red bell peppers.
I intended this to be our last dinner for a while because it's an all day effort that keeps us from doing other things (like finish our floor). I thought it would be good, and considering we'd never made two of the dishes before, I was amazed it turned out great. I'm glad we went out with a bang.
Here's our recipe for calabacitas. If you try it and like it you're obligated to invite us over the next time you make it.
Calabacitas:(vegetable measurements are real loose)
4 yellow squashes, diced
2 roasted green chiles, diced
1 regular can of kernel corn (drained)
1 1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons butter
salt
black pepper
Combine corn, squash, chiles, and water in a covered saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the squash can be pierced with a fork. Lower heat and add the butter and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir and serve.
La Purisima is my favorite Mexican bakery, but it's on the wrong side of town for me so I haven't been there in a while. Even though I find myself around I-17 and Glendale once a week 43rd Avenue is still usually out of the way. A while ago I heard La Purisima moved down the street, and I'd been meaning to visit their new location ever since. Lately I've had a serious craving for pan dulce [sweet bread] so I finally stopped there Saturday.
The new location is only about a block west of the old location so it was easy to find even without knowing exactly where they moved. La Purisima actually takes up an entire building now. Looking around inside it was obvious the selections were the same, only now there was an orderly line instead of just walking up to the counter. Standing in line gave me an opportunity to figure out what I wanted to try, but I prefer the old chaotic system. The lady behind the register didn't really speak English, and my Spanish is terrible, so it took a lot of pointing to get everything. I got two tamales (one red, one green), a dozen flour tortillas, two pan dulce, and apricot, strawberry, and cream cheese empanadas, all of which cost less than $8. You have to love Mexican bakeries.
When I got home I found out that the tamales I got where really a red pork and a red beef. It wasn't what I asked for, but at least it was variety. It also made me wonder if they make green corn tamales. The masa for the tamales had too much lard in it resulting in really fluffy masa that hardly had any corn flavor. I prefer just enough lard in the masa so it has some give, but still retains its flavor. On the plus side there was just about the perfect amount of meat in both tamales so you could taste both the filling and the masa (if there wasn't too much lard in it). The red beef tamale was pretty hot, and had a good flavor. I might get more of them depending on how desperate I get for tamales. The red pork tamale had a little heat to it, and it wasn't bad. Lynn preferred the pork tamale because she could taste more of the masa.
The pan dulce was covered in granulated sugar, which made it it sweeter than normal, but it was still a great pan dulce. The bread was airy, and the edges were even crispy. We used the flour tortillas for dinner, and they were decent. Lynn preferred the salty flour tortillas we got from El Sol Bakery to La Purisima's. I tried the cream cheese empanada, and while the filling was pleasantly sweet, and the pastry was good with some butteriness, I didn't find it as satisfying as a cheese danish. The strawberry empanada was Lynn's, but I got a small taste of it. The filling tasted like strawberry preserves, which I found a little disconcerting, but Lynn really liked it. The apricot empanada was my old favorite so I saved it for last. The apricot filling had more body than the strawberry, and it tasted very good. There was something about the combination of the pastry and the apricot that was prefect though. It looks like the apricot are still my favorite.
I wish La Purisima was located closer to our house, but at least they're worth going out of my way from the freeway. I would like to find a closer source for great pan dulce though.
I love watching good games, but I hate to see games ruined by questionable officiating. Throughout the regular football season the officiating was excellent (unless Baltimore was playing), but watching the playoffs this weekend it looked like the officials in the New England and Pittsburgh games were biased in favor of the other teams. I hope the NFL looks into those officials, and make their investigation public, because it ruins the game for fans on both sides.
[Addendum 1/17: Looks like the NFL decided to state the obvious ("NFL says official should have upheld Polamalu call"), but that doesn't fix anything after the fact. They should determine if the call was due to incompetence or some bias, and mete out an appropriate punishment. The NFL really need to be proactive to prevent things like this from happening in the future otherwise there'll be more "Fans outraged by call". 1/16: The NFL responded to at least one bad call ("NFL says Polamalu call was official's judgment") by doing nothing. No surprise there.]
I'm still working on my map project, and I should've finished it a couple of weeks ago, but it's led me down a few different paths. In order to get the map to work I've had to learn a lot more about DHTML, XHTML, and XSL (by the way, XHTML has some absolutely asinine rules). DHTML reminded me that I haven't done anything with the site since I first designed it in 2001. I don't have time to redesign the site right now, but I figured the least I could do was update it using CSS instead of tables. I'm going to reorganize the site a little in the near future too. The biggest news is that I'll probably use some real honest to goodness blog software so I can do some of the things I need to be able to (like filtering posts by topic).
Great Wall is the place to have dim sum in the west valley so curiosity forced me to finally try it again. The first time I went there was at least eight years ago, and they were good, but not great. I wondered if their acclaim was because they really are much better now, or if they're the only place with decent dim sum on the west side.
Today I went there with Lynn, my mom, Ken, and a couple of Ken's friends. I've heard Great Wall is so popular that waiting for a table is routine so I was surprised that we were able to be seated immediately. (Maybe everyone took a vacation from dim sum because of the long weekend?)
We were in one of the main walkways so we only had to wait about two seconds before carts started showing up. I got something that I thought were baked curry buns, but it was some other baked item with dough so overly thick that I couldn't taste the meat. We also got some roast pork, shumai [steamed pork dumplings], and shrimp wrapped in rice noodle. The roast pork was extremely fatty (like 40% fat) so even the crispy fat at the edges couldn't make it eatable to me. The two orders of it we got were both almost completely finished so someone else must've really liked it. The shumai had a large piece of shrimp in it, and the combination didn't taste good. The shrimp in rice noodle was decent, but I didn't get that understated goodness I get from C-Fu Gourmet's.
Thankfully there were a lot of items that were much better. I didn't taste the shrimp dumplings, but Lynn said they were much better than C-Fu Gourmet's. I got something I thought was a seafood dumpling, but it was a shrimp and ground pork dumpling. The flavor was excellent, but they didn't taste as good in the second order I got. I suspect it was because there was less ground pork in the second batch. We also ran across the seafood dumplings, and while they had a pleasant seafood flavor I thought they would've been much better served hot. The char siu bao [steamed barbecue pork buns] had an excellent soy flavored barbecue pork combined with a little sweetness from the bread. If they put a little more pork in the bun I would've been extremely happy with it. Shrimp stuffed eggplant is one of my favorite dim sum dishes at C-Fu Gourmet, and I didn't expect to like Great Wall's when I saw that it wasn't served with sauce. My first bite even confirmed that it wasn't very good, but the second bite revealed how they salted the eggplant, and how well that combined with the chopped shrimp stuffing. There were even the occasional bits of green onion and jalapeno to make it more interesting. Great Wall's version is completely different from C-Fu's, but it's also excellent in a completely different way. We got some spring rolls, but they turned out to be the shrimp wrapped in rice paper and deep fried rolls that seem so popular at dim sum restaurants these days (and make poor substitutes for spring rolls). It was pretty tasty though because they seasoned or marinated the shrimp which moved it from being one dimensionally tasty to something I might order every time.
There were a couple of conspicuous absences from the items we'd seen so I asked a waiter about the gailan [Chinese broccoli]. He said we had to order it. We ordered the gailan, barbecue pork chow mein, and tried to order calamari, but they didn't have any. It took about 15 minutes for the chow mein to come out, and about another 15 minutes for the gailan. It was entirely too long to wait. The gailan was crunchy, and had a pleasant saltiness without any bitterness (due to technique, season, or dumb luck?) that made it really tasty. The chow mein had plenty of thin, crispy noodles, but the barbecue pork had a nasty, aggressive pork flavor.
Dessert at Great Wall was quite good. The custard buns didn't have very much filling, but the mild coconut flavor in the filling was very good. Even better were the egg custard buns with their crispy tops and creamy custard filling. I thought Great Wall's were even better than the one I had at China King.
We only had six people at dim sum today, but we had a great variety of food. It was pretty clear to me that Great Wall has definitely improved since the last time I was there, and they're as good as C-Fu Gourmet. In fact, I liked them enough that I wouldn't just consider them a C-Fu alternative, but someplace I'll have to visit every once in a while. Great Wall even has a major advantage over every other dim sum restaurant in that their shrimp always tastes good (i.e., not shrimpy).
The day after our lousy dinner at 98 South Lynn suggested we try La Stalla, and it sounded good because we really should have done that the night before. We went there, and the restaurant's courtyard like interior was very comfortable.
We were brought bread, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The bread's crust wasn't crispy or crusty, but it had a good flavor. The olive oil tasted better than 98 South's, and the combination of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh ground black pepper was a good dip for it. I was in the mood for a light red wine so I ordered the only rose they had on their wine list. It fruity, and not bad at all.
The appetizer list was typical for an Italian restaurant, and Lynn wanted to try their bruschetta. It was pretty standard with three large slices of toast covered in diced tomatoes and lots of finely chopped basil. Despite the abundance of basil I hardly tasted it, and the tomatoes tasted a little fishy to me. Lynn didn't have either problem, and liked the bruschetta. A little salt and pepper helped the bruschetta on a lot of levels.
The pizzas looked good to both of us, but when the waiter described the nightly special I had to reconsider. Lynn got the signature margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil) while I got the nightly special of sea bass scotch. I'd never heard of scotch (sauce?) before, but it sounded great even if I didn't remember what was supposed to be in it. I could make out lots of green onion and garlic though. There was a healthy portion of sea bass, and it was great in the sauce. I didn't think the sea bass was overcooked, but it was still chewy. At least it didn't have the usual funkiness I don't like in sea bass. My entree also came with some cooked vegetables. My broccoli looked overcooked, but they still had some crunch to them. The green beans were on the mushy side. Lynn's pizza had a thin crispy crust covered in a zesty tomato sauce and plenty of basil. Unlike the bruschetta I didn't have a problem tasting the basil though. The crust was almost tasteless, but overall the pizza was excellent.
There were a few desserts that sounded good, but they couldn't compete with fresh chocolate souffle. It took about 15 minutes for the souffle to be made, but it doesn't get any better than hot out the oven. To make the dessert even better the souffle came with a scoop of vanilla gelato. The souffle was hardly sweet, and very rich with a good chocolate flavor. The gelato tasted like vanilla, and was very creamy so I couldn't ask much more of it. I would've liked the souffle sweeter, but I'd get it again the way it was, and Lynn liked it even more than I did.
The service was decent all night, but I was a little offended when the waiter started getting chummy once he delivered the bill. Call me jaded, but he seemed like he was trying to schmooze a better tip. My special was $25, which was more expensive than their seafood menu items, but not some of the meat dishes. I thought it skirted the edge of what could be expected, but it was reasonable for the dish. Lynn and I were both very happy with our dinner, and we'll definitely go back to La Stalla. We'd return just for the pizza, but they probably make other things well if the fish was any kind of indication, and they feature live music some nights.
After I had lunch at Khai Hoan Monday I stopped at the carniceria [Mexican butcher shop] next door because they also had a panaderia [bakery] inside. I got a pan dulce [sweet bread] covered in sugar and a turnover like thing filled with custard. I also picked up a walnut baklava from Haji Baba. The baked items from the panaderia were sweet and eggy in a way I didn't like, and hard enough to be a day old. Usually the walnut baklava at Haji Baba is great, but this time it didn't taste quite right. I couldn't figure it out, but Murray said the walnuts were bitter. That would throw it off.
One night Lynn suggested pizza for dinner, and I thought it would be a good excuse to try La Stalla (believe it or not that's actually the correct spelling). While heading towards downtown Chandler I figured out I was more in the mood for 98 South instead. Downtown Chandler was lit up with Christmas lights, and it was the best looking we'd ever seen it. We hope they keep the lights up. I parked in the shopping center where 98 South is located, but far enough away so we had to walk past half the shops in the shopping center. It was probably a good idea because I saw a sign for a store that sells over 150 cheeses. I'll have to check it out in the near future.
98 South had their doors wide open, and we could hear live music pouring out. There was a jazz band playing, and they were pretty good. They weren't as good as some of the bands I'd listen to in New Orleans, but they reminded me of New Orleans so I was happy. We walked in, and the place was pretty busy for 8 o'clock on a Monday night. I immediately noticed they repurposed some of their retail wine space for restaurant space. They always did feel more like a restaurant than a wine shop to me.
I started the meal with a "98 Flight", a taste (half glass) of three wines for $11. I was actually in the mood to try some whites so I got the Pierre Gimonnet & Fils "Cuis 1er Cru Brut" (Blanc de blancs), Chateau de la Vieille Tour "Bordeaux Blanc", and Klinker Brick "Zinfandel" (most likely the "Old Vine Zinfandel 2003"). The Champagne was celebratory (even if I was the only one drinking), and it wasn't bad. It was crisp with a decent flavor, but I thought it was too gassy. Lynn had a sip, and dug it. The white Bordeaux had a great tropical fruit scent, and was medium bodied with a light fruit flavor. It wasn't dry, but it wasn't sweet either. It was my favorite of the wines, but Lynn didn't like it. The Zinfandel had a creamy oak scent that seemed appropriate for the medium bodied, lightly fruity oak flavor with oak derived creaminess. It reminded me of a California Chardonnay, only made with Zinfandel. There was too much oak related flavor for my tastes, but this was Lynn's favorite wine.
We were brought a basket of olive bread, and some olive oil. I didn't think I'd like the bread because of the olives, but it had a thin crispy crust and doughy center that I found endearing. The olives didn't even taste bad, but that was because they didn't have any flavor. If the bread only tasted a little more like bread it would have been great. The olive oil had a sharp olive oil flavor that neither of us liked.
We once again looked at the entrees and didn't find anything interesting so we went appetizers only. The waiter asked if we wanted them as separate courses, which is something I normally ask for, but I didn't have a preference that night. The waiter said he'd serve them as courses, which surprised me since that meant a lot more work for him. The first thing that came out was the spinach and roasted pepper salad (served warm). They split the salad for us so we both had our own bowls. The salad had a meaty dressing that was tasty, but the roasted peppers overpowered the spinach. I liked the salad anyway, but Lynn didn't even though she really liked the peppers.
Next was the prosciutto wrapped asparagus. I thought it would be a hot appetizer so I was disappointed that it was served cold. Grilled asparagus is great, and I thought crispy prosciutto would make for a great pairing with grilled asparagus, but our cold appetizer was just very salty without any other real flavors. It hardly seemed worth the trouble to chew it. It came with a sauce that might have been balsamic vinegar and olive oil, but only discernible flavor was olive oil. Lynn wanted me to try the Champagne with the appetizer since prosciutto and Champagne are a classic pairing. I'm not sure why it's a classic pairing because all the Champagne did was reactivate all the salt in my mouth from the prosciutto. Maybe that pairing only works with prosciutto wrapped melon?
I already knew I didn't like the tortilla soup at 98 South so I thought I'd try their white bean chile with chicken. The soup had a thin broth, and it didn't taste like chile. I had a kind of "duh" moment when I wondered why I thought a restaurant that makes one very bad soup would be able to make another one that was actually good. I tried the chicken in the soup, and about five seconds after the flavor registered Lynn told me the chicken was all mine. The chicken had an assertive chicken flavor that made enough of an impression the first time that I wouldn't try it again. The only thing we liked about the soup was the sliced gouda in it. Needless to say we ate very little of the soup, and our waiter was concerned that we finished with it so quickly. He even offered to get us something else to replace it.
Lynn loves baked brie so she couldn't resist the warm brie with roasted pepper and garlic hummus. The brie was a wedge that was heated to runniness, and was served with crostini, mixed greens, sliced pears, and roasted garlic in addition to the hummus. Some parts of the crostini were burnt, and I found those pieces inedible. The brie was so creamy it easily spread on the crostini, and it had a very mild flavor. I wondered if the brie and hummus was really meant as a combination. We tried it, and it was surprisingly good. At first all I could taste was the hummus, but it finished with the creaminess from the brie. It was subtle, but the combination was good enough that I kept returning to it again and again even though I really like their hummus by itself. The roasted garlic looked well roasted, but it completely overpowered the brie. I wanted to eat the mixed greens, but they were coated in same sharp olive oil they served with their bread. Lynn liked the baked brie enough that she'd return to 98 South just for that and the live music.
Our final appetizer was the "double up" (or something like that). It was a double portion of the skirt steak with horseradish potato pancakes and smoked tomato-oregano sauce. The skirt steak was the only appetizer from our first visit that I wanted again, but it was overseasoned and salty. The excess seasoning I could scrape off, but there's no fixing salty. Lynn didn't have a problem with the saltiness. 98 South's potato pancakes are made out of mashed potatoes, which I'm opposed to at a base level because mashed potatoes don't have enough potato flavor or texture for a potato pancake. Even the horseradish (mmm... horseradish and potatoes) didn't do much for them. Lynn actually prefers potato pancakes made out of mashed potatoes, and she really enjoyed 98 South's. I tried the potatoes with the spinach, and it was a foul combination.
We weren't sure we were going to have dessert, but there was something in the dessert trio (a baked apple cheesecake with raspberry(?) sauce, chocolate-walnut flourless torte with butter pecan(?) ice cream, and a lime tart) that appealed to us so we got it. My favorite part of dessert was the ice cream which was very creamy and a delicious flavor (even if I couldn't be sure it was butter pecan). The cheesecake had a pleasant apple flavor, and a mild cinnamon flavor, but the lack of sweetness, and the tart sauce weren't to my tastes. It was Lynn's favorite dessert. The chocolate-walnut torte was dry and only ok. It was a lot better with the ice cream, but it seemed like a waste of good ice cream. The filling in the lime tart was equally sweet and tart, but the baked portion of the dessert tasted like their dry cobbler dough. I didn't like it.
98 South was a restaurant that started with potential, but the more I go there the less satisfied I am with their food. We had very good service all night. Our waiter even took the skirt steak and soup off the bill, but I felt bad about it because I had already decided that this was our last meal there. It was a shame that we were both happy with the service, but not with the food.
[Previous visit to 98 South.]
Monday I tried to go to lunch at Haji Baba with some coworkers, but Haji Baba's restaurant was closed due to a kitchen fire. They're supposed to be open this weekend, but that didn't do us any good. We tried to go to Urban Cafe instead, but they aren't open for lunch anymore. At least Khai Hoan was open. I got a "lemonade" (limeade), and recommended a Vietnamese iced coffee (fresh dripped coffee with sweetened condensed milk) to one of my coworkers. I forgot she was allergic to dairy so it became my Vietnamese iced coffee. This coffee wasn't as bitter as the coffee at Da Vang, but it still had enough bitterness that I didn't like it. My limeade was sweet and tasty.
We started with egg rolls, and they had slightly more meat in them than usual throwing the balance off a little. They weren't their usual greatness, but were still pretty damn good. I didn't feel like Vietnamese food so I got the beef chow fun. It had lots of garlic, although it didn't have a strong garlic flavor, with a little wok flavor. It was pretty good. My coworkers tried to order the grilled beef with tiny rice sticks, but the restaurant didn't have any beef ready. They got shrimp cake and grilled pork with broken rice instead. I tried a piece of shrimp cake, and it wasn't bad until the shrimpy finish kicked in. I'd never get anything with shrimp cake there. The pork used to be terrible at Khai Hoan because it tasted unseasoned, but they seemed to have improve it because it actually tasted pretty good. It looks like I can stop avoiding it.
Our lunch at Khai Hoan was pretty good. I really should eat there more often.
[Previous documented visit to Khai Hoan.]
Today Lynn's doctor confirmed that she's pregnant. I welcomed the news with excitement and trepidation. I have no idea if I'm ready to be a father, but realistically if it were left up to when I was ready it would probably never happen.
I'm not the Cirque du Soleil fan I used to be. It was probably because I saw the show "O" first, and it spoiled me for everything else. "O" had a unique look and a dreamy feel that I haven't found in the other Cirque shows I've seen. They were entertaining, but they just lacked magic. "Corteo" is stopping in Phoenix at the end of March, and I only had to watch the first two minutes of the behind the scenes video to know that this was the type of show I was looking for. I can't wait to see the show.
I thought I'd link to Rob's recent visit to Shinbay to give you another reason to try them if they reopen somewhere else.
Gordon really wanted Lynn and I to find the dim sum at China King superior to C-Fu Gourmet, but since we didn't on our first visit he wanted us to visit China King again with him. Today we finally got the chance.
Normally I prefer to be in charge of my own destiny at dim sum, but this time I let Gordon and his wife lead the way. We started with steamed short ribs, shumai [steamed pork dumplings], tripe, and some tofu wrapped items filled with pork and mushrooms. The scents wafting from our lazy Susan were disturbingly Chinese. The steamed short ribs had a decent flavor, but it wasn't something I'd order. The shumai were moist, something I never really noticed at other restaurant's, and it had a good flavor that I knew was too porky for Lynn. It was definitely better than the nasty shumai at C-Fu Gourmet. I'm not a big fan of tripe, but I thought I'd try it anyway. The one time I had the tripe at C-Fu Gourmet (that was when I was there with Gordon too) the tripe itself was tasteless, but there were jalapenos in the dish to pep it up. Not so with this tripe. It wasn't completely tasteless either because there was a mild Chinese earthiness to it. I didn't want to finish eating the piece I took, but eating it was preferable to smelling it for the rest of the meal. The tofu wrapped things didn't seem like a good idea since I had yet to have anything wrapped in tofu that actually tasted good. These didn't taste good either. The filling wasn't bad, but the tofu wrap and the sauce (another Chinese earthy concoction) didn't do it any favors.
We probably had more sweet items on our table than I'd ever had at dim sum. There were baked custard buns with a crispy top (I'd never seen them before), steamed custard buns, and deep fried mochi [rice flour] balls coated in sesame seeds and filled with white bean paste in addition to the other sweet things I didn't try. The baked custard buns were great! There was a little coconut in the custard, and the crispy stuff on top was pretty tasty. They were significantly better than standard baked custard buns, and I wondered how long it would be before all the other dim sum restaurants start making them. I mistakingly thought the steamed custard bun had meat in it otherwise I wouldn't have eaten it. It was ok, but the steamed bread seemed incongruous with the custard filling. The deep fried mochi balls had a good flavor, and the white bean paste wasn't as starchy as red bean paste. I might get those again.
Lynn wasn't up for trying a lot of new stuff so she pretty much stuck with the gailan [Chinese broccoli], chow mein, and shrimp dumplings. The gailan had a nice flavor to it without any bitterness. The chow mein was pretty good too. I didn't have the shrimp dumplings, but Lynn said they were much better than C-Fu Gourmet's because they seasoned the shrimp. We also had baked curry buns, char siu bao [steamed barbecue pork buns], and clams in black bean sauce. The baked curry buns were flaky, and the curry flavor was decent even if it wasn't very assertive or spicy. The barbecue pork in the char siu bao was alright. The clams by themselves were a little too clammy, but they were pretty decent in the black bean sauce. I ate about five of them until I got one that tasted bad.
Walking out of China King it's obvious it's still the choice of a lot of Chinese people, but my choice for dim sum is still C-Fu Gourmet. Gordon asked us if we still thought C-Fu was better, and you know our answer. China King isn't bad, and they do make some things better than C-Fu, but they don't make the things I really like better than C-Fu. Someday I will have to try the dim sum at Great Wall in Phoenix to see if they really are as good as people say.
C-Fu Gourmet - 2
Fickle Chinese People - 0
Ken really wanted to go back to Cyclo (for Justina maybe?) so Lynn and I had dinner there with him tonight. I expected the wait to be torturous, but we got there before 6:30, and only had to wait about 10 or 15 minutes (Lynn says it was more like 30). Whatever the wait it wasn't as bad as how long we had to wait for Justina to take our order. I knew there was a reason I don't like going to restaurants when they're packed. Normally I get lemonade at Cyclo, but I'm still on my Thai iced tea kick right now. The tea looked really dark, but the flavor tasted watered down to me even though it tasted fine to Lynn.
We started with the beef carpaccio, green papaya salad, and Thai basil short ribs, but naturally the spicy green beans we ordered showed up first. They had a great garlic scent, and they were spicy enough to be satisfying. The Thai basil short ribs showed up, and they had an excellent flavor even if they weren't as tender as they could've been. The beef carpaccio came out, and it was different; the beef had been sliced thinner, sprinkled with black pepper, and it wasn't swimming in lime juice. I thought the lack of lime juice might've just been in my head, but it was obvious on tasting; the lack of lime juice made the carpaccio a little bland. After adding more lime to it, and some sriracha, it was back to its old tasty self. The green papaya salad was crunchy, and even though fresh chopped peppers were added to the salad giving it plenty of heat, it also needed more lime juice.
Our other entrees, besides the spicy green beans, were the beef chow fun and pan fried egg noodles with beef, scallops, and shrimp. The chow fun had its usual great wok flavor. The egg noodles were quite crispy, and a little bland (I should have read what I wrote about them earlier). They weren't bad, but it was the weakest part of dinner. A couple dabs of sriracha did bring out the smokiness of the noodles though. Overall dinner at Cyclo was great which is why I love the place.
It had been a long time since I had last been to Restaurant Charo's so it was time to go. To my surprise Lynn thought it was a good idea too. They don't seem to make limonada natural [limeade] anymore (the last three times I've asked for it they haven't had it) so I had a glass of horchata. It had plenty of cinnamon flavor, and was pretty decent. We were brought chips and salsa, and half the chips were slightly overcooked. The chips that weren't overcooked were good with the hot salsa, although the salsa wasn't too flavorful. I stopped at the salsa bar, and picked up a creamy looking green salsa. It was thin and spicy with a pleasant amount of avocado in it.
Lynn got an adobada [marinated pork] torta and an adobada taco while I got a fried fish and a taco dorado [hard taco]. The adobada taco was a standard soft taco with corn tortillas, adobada, diced white onions, and cilantro, but for some reason it was absolutely great. Lynn wished she ordered more than one while I wished I'd ordered one. The adobada torta was decent. It could have used mayonnaise and some chipotle, which would have made it very similar to the carne asada torta at El Tlacoyo. The hard taco was a little overcooked, but that didn't affect the flavor too much. I didn't get my usual side of guacamole for the taco because I thought the avocado salsa would be a good substitute, but that was a mistake; the salsa didn't have enough avocado flavor, and the taco was too plain without it. My fried fish was crispy and moist, but it had that freshwater fish earthiness I don't care for. At least I had their excellent Spanish rice to look forward to. I could tell looking at the rice that I was in for disappointment though. It was missing that lard gleam I was accustomed to seeing at Charo's, and a quick taste verified that the rice was indeed made lard free. It wasn't nearly as tasty as it used to be with lard. I hope that was a one time occurrence and not typical of their Spanish rice now. The refried beans weren't very good by themselves, but they actually weren't bad with the rice.
The seafood charada(sp?), which includes a fried fish with four or five other seafood dishes, is only $18 so I was surprised that the market price of the fish was $10. It seemed excessive. Charo's was a disappointment for me this time, but Lynn found something we both really like so we'll probably be back before too long.
[Previous documented visit to Restaurant Charo's.]
Recently Steve sent me a box full of Japanese chocolate candy. He included Glico chocolate covered fried almonds (my favorite from my Japan trip), Glico chocolate covered roast macadamias, Lotte chocolate covered almond crisp, and Lotte Gold. Glico actually makes smooth and creamy chocolate, but the fried almonds (which might be the tastiest nuts in existence) are what make the chocolate covered fried almonds great. I can't even begin to describe how frying makes an already tasty almond even better so you'll just have to take my word for it. The chocolate was just as good with the macadamia nuts, and the nuts were buttery. It was very good if you like macadamia nuts, but not nearly as exotic as the fried almonds. The Lotte Almond Chocolate Crisp was covered in cheap looking glossy chocolate. Surprisingly the chocolate wasn't terrible, and the almonds tasted fresh, but the crispy rice seemed extraneous. It was still superior to the Meiji chocolate covered almonds. The Lotte Gold was thin lacy chocolate (half white chocolate and half bitter chocolate) with flecks of gold leaf on it. It was odd, probably because of the laciness of the chocolate, but the chocolate didn't taste that good either.
Glico, who also makes Pocky, seems to be the better candy maker in Japan.
Lynn was in the mood for a Delux burger so we went there for dinner. We went on a weeknight, and the place was packed so we sat outside to avoid a wait. There were heaters so it wasn't too cold, but when the wind was blowing the heaters weren't much help. I got a glass of Bridgeport's "India Pale Ale", which we had really enjoyed last time. It was hoppy with a long bitter citrus finish that I really enjoyed. The beer would prove to be quite tasty with food too.
I got something in my eye that wasn't going away so I headed to the bathroom to try and remove it. I saw two doors, but neither had men or women signs. It took me a few seconds to notice the "vacant" signs by the door pull (airplane style) signifying they were individual bathrooms. I went into a vacant one, and found out the bathroom was only lit by two small lights and a candle. It was bright enough that you wouldn't miss the toilet, but it wasn't bright enough to see my own eyes in the mirror. I couldn't find a light switch of any sort either so the bathroom was completely useless for me.
I didn't feel like something deep fried (i.e., fries) so we got the tomato mozzarella salad (a caprese salad with reduced balsamic). One thing that was immediately obvious looking at the salad was there wasn't enough fresh basil (typical). Some other problems were the mozzarella didn't have much flavor (also typical), and the reduced balsamic was pleasant in small quantities, but overpowered the tomatoes otherwise. One final irritation, and sort of nitpicky, was that one of the tomato slices was too thick so I couldn't even taste the near tasteless mozzarella. We both thought the tomato mozzarella salad was amazingly mediocre. I may just have to stick to burgers and fries at Delux. There was a long sealed package that came with the salad that was Real Torino grissini [thin crispy breadsticks]. The grissini had a good flavor by themselves, and were even better with the reduced balsamic.
I like the delux burger, but I absolutely abhor the "demi-bauguette" it's served on. I tried, notice I said tried, to order the delux on the bun that comes with the standard burger instead, and the waitress said they don't do that. WTF!? That was one of the stupidest things I'd ever heard. I ordered the delux (medium) without a bun. Lynn got the standard burger without a bun because she likes the burger better that way. Lynn said she should have ordered her burger with a bun, then I could have just used it for mine. I couldn't believe how ridiculous it was to even have to think about it. Our burgers arrived, and the delux was so much better when it didn't have to compete with an overly dense bun. The patty was moist, but I thought the burger would have been better cooked medium well to render more of the fat. The toppings were good, but the occasional combination of blue cheese and caramelized onions (which I didn't get often enough) was brilliant. I never once tasted the bacon even though I saw it. This experience taught me a few things about hamburger buns: they absorb fat, they provide carbohydrates preventing protein comas, and they just round out the flavor of a burger. I tried some of Lynn's burger, and it still reminded me of a high quality Burger King Whopper. It was tasty, but not my sort of thing.
Midway through eating my burger I decided I needed carbohydrates more than I didn't feel like something deep fried so I got a half order of fries. They were thin, crispy, and well salted. I liked the fries a lot better with the ketchup than the aioli this time while Lynn thought the ketchup was too sweet.
When we were done the manager came by and asked us about our meal. I talked to him about the whole bun situation. He said since the delux burger was patented so they'll remove ingredients from it, but they won't add things to it. He did say that I could get the bun I wanted on the side. It still seemed ridiculous, but at least I can get the burger the way I want it without having to resort to trickery.
It had been an especially long time since I'd been to Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe, and I was in the mood for chap chae [a Korean stir fry dish made with cellophane noodles] so today I had lunch there with Lynn and my mom. We were given a basket of bread with dinner rolls and banana bread. The dinner rolls were alright, but the banana bread was moist and tasty. It was even better smothered with whipped margarine.
There were a few appetizers that looked good, but I owed it to myself to get the crab cream croquettes; I had seen crab cream croquettes in Japan, but never tried them so I always wondered what they tasted like. I also got the kalbi appetizer because I was in the mood for spicy food (since I didn't get very much in Ohio). We were brought four decent sized croquettes in a cheesy tomato sauce. The croquettes were crispy without being greasy, and the filling was creamy with a hint of crab flavor. They were a little plain on their own, but the tomato sauce they came with was surprisingly good. It wasn't one of the best tomato sauces I'd ever had, but it convinced me that ordering an Italian dish at Cherryblossom probably wouldn't be a waste. The meat for the kalbi wasn't marinated and was very chewy. The sauce on it was quite spicy and made up for some of its deficiencies.
Our entrees came with side salads of mixed greens that had a pretty good Japanese style salad dressing on it. I thought it tasted buttery while Lynn thought it tasted meaty. My mom liked the dressing so much she wanted to buy a bottle of it, but they don't sell it. The only complaint any of us had about the salad was that Lynn didn't think there was enough dressing on her's.
I looked at the menu and was disappointed to find that Cherryblossom no longer makes chap chae. The closest thing to it was the Korean spicy beef, which was made with egg noodles, so that's what I got. The dish was like yakisoba with some chili flakes thrown in. Even though the beef was unseasoned the dish had occasional moments of brilliance, but usually it was bland with a little pepper heat. The best thing about the dish were the sugar snap peas which were cooked, but still crunchy. The Korean spicy beef was a poor substitute for the chap chae. My mom also got the Korean spicy beef and liked it. Lynn had the spicy curry beef linguine so I wasn't the only one not getting enough spicy food in Ohio. The curry tasted like Japanese curry, but it wasn't spicy. The curry also seemed better suited to rice than noodles, but Lynn enjoyed the dish.
For dessert I got an order of panna cotta that was creamy with a pleasant mild flavor. It was enjoyable enough that I'd get it again if I was in the mood for a mellow dessert.
We had the same waiter we had last time, and the service wasn't bad, but for some reason our waiter wouldn't refill our water without being asked to do it. It was very aggravating.
We were all pleased with lunch even if I found my entree disappointing. I wouldn't mind eating at Cherryblossom three or four times in a row to really work out the menu.
Today Lynn and I finally got home from Ohio. We got up at 4 a.m. (that would be 2 a.m. Phoenix time) to catch our completely full 6:30 flight to Phoenix. Who knew the plane would be full of Buckeyes fans heading to the Fiesta Bowl?
Last night I figured out that despite my occasional aggravation I'd go to Ohio again, just not during a holiday. Massillon, Canton, and the area definitely have things I can appreciate.
Back home I surveyed the damage to our plants, had lunch at Cherryblossom Noodle Cafe, and hit my post office box to see what bills I haven't paid on time. Two pleasant surprises in my mailbox were a nice selection of Japanese chocolate from Steve (I thought he'd only send a box or two), and two free cigars from Torano. Nice.
Tomorrow it's back to work. Vacation was fun while it lasted.
My site traffic for November was even worse than October, but December came back with a vengeance with the second highest numbers of the year. I worked on my site's visibility in November so I'm not sure I can credit that with the increase in traffic, but it seems likely. So what was the first search term to find my site in the new year? "Spinach souffle puking sex video". Happy New Year ya sick bastards.
