The last couple of days in Ohio we've actually gone out and done stuff so I'm not so bored or aggravated. Lynn and I aren't going out for New Year's Eve dinner because Lynn isn't really up for it, but we should have a pretty tasty homemade dinner though. Since I had nothing better to do I thought I'd review what's happened this past year.
Looks like the coming year is going to contain some big things too.
The last time I went to lunch at The Barbecue Company I tried the "Big 'A' Bomber" (brisket, feta, bell peppers, and onions) for the first time. It sounded like a great combination, but it turned out merely decent. I'm not sure why. Long also had the "Big 'A' Bomber" for the first time, and concurred. I like the brisket at The Barbecue Company, but the thick sliced brisket or the "Texas Twister" (a sandwich with brisket, fried onions, and barbecue sauce) showcase it a lot better.
[The last visit to The Barbecue Company that I wrote about.]
I saw "The Etched City" in a bookstore under the employee recommendations. The back of the book proclaimed it "equal parts of Stephen King's Dark Tower series and China Mieville's 'Perdido Street Station'." Since I'm fond of "The Gunslinger" and "Perdido Street Station" I thought I'd check it out.
There was a large city, and there was a gunslinger, but that's where the comparisons to the two books end. Ashamoil was no New Crobuzon, and Gwynne was no Roland. New Crobuzon was rich, lavish, and just as much of a character in "Perdido Street Station" as the ones that walked around. Each part of the city revealed a unique landscape, and the lives of its inhabitants. Ashamoil was just a setting, and not a very interesting one either. Roland, the main character in the Dark Tower series, was heroic, realistic, and sympathetic. Gwynne was just an overly philosophical killer. Stephen King and China Mieville also tell a better story than K.J. Bishop. Not that the bad comparison made it a bad book, but the completely unrealistic dialog and lack of resolution did. The story felt like it was going somewhere, but in the end Gwynne didn't learn anything. The ending felt tacked on like the author didn't know what to do with the story. "The Etched City" wasn't so terrible that I didn't finish reading it, but I definitely wouldn't recommend the book.
Yesterday was a good day wandering around Massillon and eating well, but today followed it up with nothing. Nothing. And it wasn't even because we didn't have the option to do anything, but because Lynn didn't feel like doing anything. Bad enough that I'm out here because of her, but to do nothing on top of it makes me want to leave her here with her family while I go back home to enjoy what's left of my vacation. They aren't my family (no offense to them), and I don't spend this much time with my own family anyway. Well this will be the last time I trade my vacation for frustration for a long time.
There've been a lot of movies I've wanted to see recently, but I haven't seen any of them. The following are the movies I've seen over the last six months. None of them were very good.
"Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles" ["A Very Long Engagement"] was directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the same director as "Amelie" (one of my all-time favorite movies). I hoped the movie was going to have the same charm as "Amelie", but it was a more serious movie about a woman trying to verify that her husband was dead because she refused to accept the army's explanation that they killed him for treason. It was an interesting movie, but too long winded.
"Equilibrium" was similar to "Gattaca" in the respect that they both created a society that was so oppressive that the events in either movie wouldn't have been possible. Once I removed any kind of supposed depth from the movie it was entertaining.
"Xun Qiang" ["The Missing Gun"] is a Chinese movie about a police officer who loses his gun after a night of drinking. If you know anything about China's gun control you could understand how tense a situation that could be. There were a couple of interesting moments in the movie, but there were a lot of Dutch angles, and a typical Chinese ending. It was an interesting premise, but I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been.
"Carried Away" was a Lolita story, but what I found interesting was the main character's feelings of stagnation (which I could relate to) even though his solution to it was abnormal. I was amazed that he was completely unapologetic when everyone found out, and dumbfounded how unrealistic people's reactions were when they found out. In some respects it was a very good movie, but in others it was just a perverse fantasy.
I'd been meaning to eat at Classic Italian Pizza again for a long time, but we never remembered to go there when they were open, but we finally got there a couple of weeks ago. My new favorite appetizer at Classic Italian is the antipasto plate so we got it. This time it had three salamis, three cheeses (feta and two moist white cheeses), the roasted red pepper dip, and bread sticks. One salami was lightly smoked and the best of the bunch, but the other two were only decent. The feta was strong, but tasty. The other two cheeses were alright. The red pepper dip once again had a great natural sweetness and depth of flavor with the occasional bit of heat to it that I loved. The meats and cheeses weren't as good as the first time we had the antipasto plate, but it was good to find out that they weren't always the same ones. The red pepper dip and bread sticks are the real reason I get the dish though.
Lynn got the margarita pizza plus garlic while I got the Italian sausage pizza. The sharp garlic flavor overpowered Lynn's margarita pizza, and she'll never do that again. The Italian sausage pizza was great with its mushrooms and spicy sausage.
I was pretty happy with dinner, and Lynn would have been happier if she didn't screw with her pizza. I really need to eat there more often.
[Previous visit to Classic Italian Pizza.]
A few months ago Lynn and I had dinner at Va Bene, and I was totally in the mood for lamb. The waiter told us the daily specials, and they had an appetizer special of baby lamb chops with onion demi glace, a croquette, and mixed greens. Even though I was getting a lamb entree I couldn't resist the appetizer. The three little lamb chops were crusty, and looked great. I was glad I got them because they tasted great too! The lamb was very flavorful by itself, and was still great with the rosemary flavored sauce. The mixed greens were good, but the croquette was tasteless. I'm always looking for great croquettes so I was disappointed that my favorite restaurant couldn't even make a good croquette.
For my entree I tried their menu lamb dish, the rack of lamb with bread crumb and mustard crust, for the first time. It was very good, but after the great lamb appetizer it was a disappointment. The lamb was crusty, and had a very good flavor, but I'd had the same dish better executed at Mes Amis. The lamb came with haricot vert and potatoes. The haricot vert weren't bad, but the potatoes weren't fully cooked. Lynn had the penne Siciliana (penne pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, eggplant, olive oil, and garlic) for the first time. It tasted very fresh, and Lynn liked it so much that it became her favorite dish at Va Bene.
Another time Lynn and I were at Va Bene for lunch we started with an arugula salad with sliced apples, feta, candied walnuts, and red wine vinaigrette. The salad was huge, and looked like more than the both of us could finish. The vinaigrette was sweet, overpowering the feta, and tinted the salad an unappealing, unnatural shade of red. Overall it was a good salad, but far from a great one, and not something I'd order again.
Since Lynn found her favorite entree at Va Bene I wasn't surprised when she ordered the penne Siciliana. I was in the mood for something light so I tried the pan fried salmon with leeks and ginger in a light cream sauce. The salmon was cooked medium, and was very good with the sauce. The julienned ginger could be a bit a much though so I had to scrape it off of the fish. My fish also came with mashed potatoes, and vegetables (sugar snap peas, cauliflower, and carrots). The mashed potatoes were good with the sauce, and the snap peas were excellent. The cauliflower was cooked with lemon so it tasted weird. Lynn's dish had a great basil flavor to the sauce, and we both liked it.
Lunch was disappointing, but mostly because I have very high expectations for Va Bene.
The last time we were at Va Bene we started with the seared scallops. There were three nicely seasoned scallops very well seared, and served with a mixed green salad. The scallops were excellent, but some of the tomatoes in the salad tasted fishy to me.
That night two of the specials sounded so good we got them. I atypically thought the beef tenderloin special sounded good (I think tenderloin is the most overrated cut of beef). It was tenderloin wrapped in phyllo dough with garlic spinach and pine nuts, some sort of cream sauce with porcini mushrooms, and crabby mashed potatoes. Lynn had a New York strip steak with a porcini mushroom sauce and crabby mashed potatoes. My tenderloin was amazingly tender, almost butter soft, and it actually had a good beef flavor. It may have been the best tenderloin I'd ever had. The cream sauce had a hint of sherry in it that really brought out the the flavor of the mushrooms. The beef with the sauce was a great combination of textures and flavors. The spinach was ok, and the crabby potatoes were pretty good with the sauce. When I tried Lynn's unadulterated crabby potatoes I couldn't stand them because the crab tasted wrong in them to me, but Lynn didn't have the same problem. Lynn's New York strip steak was also very tender. The porcini mushroom sauce was very earthy, and pretty tasty with the beef. Lynn said she was disappointed that they didn't have a lamb special that night, but she was in the mood for that meaty-earthy combination so she was quite happy with her entree.
I'm not fond of the desserts at Va Bene, but I had our waiter list them off in case anything sounded interesting. He mentioned a chocolate ice cream like thing that sounded good to us so we got it. It was actually a chocolate tartufo, chocolate ice cream rolled in pieces of chocolate and nuts. The chocolate they used to coat the ice cream wasn't very sweet, but it was great, and the ice cream itself was very light, which helped balance the dessert out. It was a great dessert, and if they ever have it available again I'll be sure to get it.
It was one of the best meals I'd had at Va Bene, but I did receive a slight shock when I received the check. The specials where $35 a piece, which was more expensive than their normal entrees. Considering the quality of my tenderloin I didn't have a problem with it, and I'll remember to ask the price of the special if I'm interested in it.
[Previous visit to Va Bene.]
I'm currently in Massillon, Ohio doing a whole lot of nothing. Have I ever mentioned before that the only place I like doing nothing is in my own house? I've been getting stuff for the web site done, but even that gets old. I'm bored, and it's starting to make me cranky. At least I know we're going to Cleveland tomorrow to see the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game.
I've been following George R.R. Martin's Fire and Ice series since the first one came out. It's a great series of political intrigue that has taken some unexpected turns. The only problem with the series is that they take far too long to come out. "A Feast for Crows" took years from the previous book, and it looks like it'll be a couple of years before the next book comes out.
"A Feast for Crows" is a little different from the other Fire and Ice books in that it only follows about half the characters. That's not a bad thing if you like the characters he chose. I thought the book was entertaining, and when I didn't think there would be anything too interesting it got really good. I can't wait to see how the series goes.
Lynn and I went to Janos for our anniversary dinner since they're an old favorite of ours. We were seated, and I scoured the wine list (book) for something interesting. I had a difficult time making up my mind between a California Zinfadel or a red Burgundy. We ended up getting a bottle of Turley "Presenti Vineyard 2002". The wine had a light fruitiness followed by earthiness that I found pleasant, but I didn't love it like the Turley "Old Vines 2002". Lynn loved it just as much.
Dinner started with an amuse of julienned apple, prosciutto, smoked gouda, and potato crisp. The flavors were perfect (fruitiness, meatiness, and smokiness) as were the textures (crisp, crispy, and chewy). It was so tasty I wished they would make it an appetizer.
The lobster tail on sweet corn flan with mushroom flauta sounded too interesting for me not to try. The lobster was mild as was the corn flan, but together they were very good in a subtle, mellow way. There was a sauce on half the lobster that was great. The mushroom flauta was great too. There's something great about the combination of chewy mushrooms and fried flour tortillas that makes for excellent eating. There were also some beans on my plate (broad beans?) that were dry and didn't add a thing to the dish. I wondered what their purpose was.
Lynn got the lemongrass skewered seared sea scallops with gingered inoki mushrooms on top of crispy sticky rice with chinese sausage and unagi sauce. It looked like a new and improved version of the one we had last time. The problem I had with the dish last time was that it needed something to perk it up, and the gingered inoki mushrooms did just that. It made me wish they put more on the scallops. The Chinese sausage was a nice addition to the crispy rice too. The appetizer went from pretty good to damn near great. I can't help but feel that when I provide constructive criticism on my site, and the restaurant improves on it, that I contributed to that improvement even though it's probably only wishful thinking.
My entree was a scallop gordita and salmon. I should have known better than to get a seafood based entree after eating a couple of seafood based appetizers. The scallop gordita was a seared scallop on top of a deep fried blue corn cake with corn and huitlacoche. It was a very good combination, but I was a little tired of scallop at that point. The salmon was coated with herbed bread crumbs and served on top of pumpkin seed mole. While the salmon was perfectly cooked it tasted a little fishy. I liked the mole a lot because it was earthy and spicy with an Indian flavor to me, but it made the salmon taste even fishier. This dish had some large beans surrounding the food that didn't add anything to it. I think Janos aught to lay off the beans.
Lynn got the Janos surf and turf, a lobster tail with dungeness crab beurre blanc on top of a filet mignon on top of potatoes au gratin. The lobster was mild, and the sauce made it taste kind of fishy. My lobster appetizer was better. The filet was perfectly cooked with enough crust to make it interesting. The meat was juicy, and it had a good flavor for a filet, but I kept waiting for the real beefiness to kick in and it never did. The potatoes au gratin had an excellent buttery flavor, and I thought the best thing on the plate was the crispy portions of the potatoes au gratin. I didn't care for the entree, but Lynn would order it again.
wasn't really in the mood for something sweet so for dessert I got the figs cubed: goat cheese stuffed roasted figs with whole almond and balsamic syrup; fig newtons; and figs with candied walnuts. I also got a glass of Callaghan "Claire's Spirited Selection 1999", one of my favorite dessert wines, to go with it. The goat cheese stuffed figs and almond was an excellent combination, and the best fig item. The fig newtons were tasty, spicy and crispy. The fig with candied walnuts was too plain, and the loser of the fig items. Overall I thought it was a good dessert for someone who didn't want something terribly sweet. The Callaghan, which seems to taste different every time I taste it, was sweet and raisiny. I was disappointed that it tasted like a typical port this time when it's normally more complex. It wasn't a bad match for one of the fig items tasting spicy with a raspberry finish. Lynn saw the chocolate souffle with Kahlua ice cream, and had to have it. The souffle wasn't very sweet, but it was tasty, and the coffee flavor from the Kahlua ice cream rounded out the flavor. I'd highly recommend it.
The service, which had been great up until this point, fell apart because it took our waiter forever to bring me the check, and he never came back to pick the check up. I ended up giving it to him as we walked out. He said he thought we were charging the meal to our room, but we weren't staying at the La Paloma. That could have been a nasty surprise for him.
As we drove back to our hotel I thought about dinner. It wasn't perfect, but we both still highly enjoyed it. It's unusual that I pay that much for a meal, and don't expect perfection, but I guess I like Janos' style of food enough that I'm willing to be forgiving. I think the entrees are Janos' weakness so next time we'll probably do appetizers and dessert only.
I finally finished the text for my Osaka, Japan 4/03 trip. There's nothing too exciting in it, but I do mention Japanese porn.
One night a week or two ago Lynn and I tried to go to Lola Tapas, but there was some event going on around Camelback, and they had westbound traffic cut off at 12th Street. I tried to go around to Central, but all the side streets going west were closed off too. I couldn't take the aggravation, but I was still in the mood for tapas so we went to Havana Cafe instead.
There were two specials that looked good, the ginger yam-pumpkin bisque and bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates, so we got one of each. We also completely over ordered getting the calamari, shrimp cakes (a new menu item), camarones al ajillo [shrimp in sherry sauce] (an old favorite), maduros fritos [fried ripe plantains], tortilla espanola [potato casserole] (another new menu item), calypso chips (fried plantain chips with black bean sauce), sun spots (fried sweet potato chips with spicy guava ketchup), pastelitos de carne [beef in puff pastry] (one of my favorites), and papas rellenas [beef stuffed potato croquettes in cream sauce] (Lynn's favorite dish).
The calamari had a thick coating that was crispy, and the squid was tender, but it was very plain. The calamari needed a good sauce, but the pimento sauce they came with was too thick to stick to the calamari, and didn't have much flavor. The shrimp cakes tasted so shrimpy that it took a lot of effort to finish one. I have a habit of forgetting how I feel about dishes at Havana Cafe, but I don't think I'll have a problem remembering how bad those shrimp cakes were. The camarones al ajillo used to come in a great, flavorful sherry sauce, but this sauce was almost tasteless. I got the feeling they lost the recipe. Is it a surprise that these shrimp tasted shrimpy too?
The maduros fritos were sweet and pretty tasty. There was also enough in a serving to feed four people. The tortilla espanola looked like a thick slice of potato pie sitting in a pool of salsa. It was very plain, and sorely needed salting. I thought it was gross, but Lynn liked it with the salsa. The calypso chips were crispy like they always are, and the black bean sauce that came with them was tasty. The sun spots weren't quite as crispy as the fried plantains, but the sweetness of the sweet potatoes was pretty good with the spicy guava ketchup. The pastelitos de carne hardly had any meat in them, and the pastry tasted funny. I'm never getting those again. The papas rellenas also hardly had any meat in them, and they were fairly tasteless to me, but I've never liked them. Lynn agreed about the meat, but she said the sauce was flavorful to her. Either the chorizo or bacon was porky so the bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates tasted odd. Even without the porkiness the dates were overly sweet. The best dish we had was the ginger yam-pumpkin bisque. It was on the thick side, but not too thick. There was a mild sweetness to it that was perfect with the spiciness, and there were bits of something firm to chew on. It was one of the better soups I'd had.
The new menu items we tried were bad, and even some of our favorites were terrible. I was so aggravated by how unusually bad this meal was that I thought I was going to hold a grudge. Lynn was a lot more forgiving.
While grocery shopping yesterday I decided to pick up a couple of cheeses (since I really didn't have anything better to do). One was the Ilchester "Somerset Gold Grand Reserve Cheddar". I've never been fond of English Cheddars so this one was for Lynn. We were both surprised how gamey this cheese was tasting more like a strong goat milk cheese instead of cow's milk. It also had a very sharp finish which we expected. I couldn't eat it straight, but it was very good wheat crackers. The other cheese was the Quesos Garcia Baquero "Manchego Gran Maestre". It was a semi-hard cheese with a little sharpness in the finish. I liked it.
I'd been meaning to eat at a churrasco rodizio restaurant [Brazilian all you can meat-o-rama] since I found out they existed, but never got around to it. Dave (Lynn's friend from Seattle) wanted to buy us dinner, and since we almost ate at a churrasco with him in Seattle it was easy to agree on one here. There aren't very many churrascos in Phoenix, and I knew where Fogo e Brasa was located so that's where we went.
We walked into the restaurant, and the interior reminded me of a cafeteria. It didn't look like a cheap cafeteria, but I was expecting something more inductive of fine dining. I hoped the food was where they put their effort. We were seated, and got a bottle of St. Francis "'Old Vines' Zinfandel 2002". It was light with a very fruity flavor that was initially very tasty, but there was a little bit of alcoholic heat to the finish that I didn't like.
We started the meal by hitting the salad bar. I got some potato croquettes, shrimp ceviche, and some marinated ham. The potato croquettes were creamy and tasteless, but not too bad with the orange colored sauce it came with. The shrimp in the ceviche tasted shrimpy. The best salad bar item, actually the only one I thought was worth eating, was the marinated ham, which was tender and amazingly tasty. I'm not crazy about ham, but the smokiness and the light saltiness was an excellent combination.
We were given a little wooden cylinder that was half green and half red. Red meant "Don't bother us with meat" while green meant "Bring it on!". We turned our cylinder to green, and we were brought some seasoned bread crumbs, a thin pico de gallo type salsa, rice, and beans. Then the waiters started showing up with skewers of meat. The first was pork sausage and chicken drumsticks. The sausage was too fatty for all of us. They tasted like they should have been cooked longer to render some of that fat. The drumstick had a good flavor. Next was the bacon wrapped turkey. I didn't try any because I didn't feel like dealing with turkey, but both Lynn and Dave said it was quite tasty. Ham came out, and it was the non-marinated version of the salad bar ham. It was still very good, but I preferred the marinated version. There was pork loin, which I wasn't too fond of, but Lynn really liked it. There was sirloin and top sirloin. The sirloin was dry and sort of tasteless. The top sirloin, on the other hand, was juicy and great with whatever it was seasoned with. It was mine and Dave's favorite meat. There was also tri tip, which wasn't up to the top sirloin standard. The grilled pineapple was completely unexpected, and there's something great about caramelized pineapple that makes it one of my top simple foods. I would have eaten a lot more pineapple if I wasn't already gorged on meat.
We had four or five meats on our plate after the first ten minutes because the meat was coming faster than we could eat. We quickly learned to use the red side of the cylinder to moderate the rate we were getting fed.
We never knew which items the bread crumbs were meant for so we tried them on various things. The bread crumbs had a weird earthy flavor that was gross on the beef. Lynn said it was good with the pork loin, but neither Dave or I liked it on the pork either. I don't really think the bread crumbs were a good idea on anything. The salsa was great with the already delicious ham.
Dave noted that there's a secret to getting the best meat (beef) after we were disappointed by our second helping of top sirloin. When the meat is served it's sliced from the surface of the meat. The best meat is the surface of a new piece of meat; it's been fully seasoned, and the meat is still juicy. Once the meat has been sliced from and taken back to the kitchen it probably doesn't get seasoned again (at least it doesn't taste like it does), and the meat only gets drier and tougher as it's recooked. Bonus points to Dave for coming up with a strategy for getting the best beef possible from a churrasco.
Once our waiter noticed that our cylinder was on the red side for over fifteen minutes he asked if we were finished. When we told him we were he placed the cylinder on its side. I guess its the churrasco equivilent to placing our king on its side in chess; we conceded defeat.
We were all stuffed so I thought we might get one dessert to split, but Lynn and I couldn't agree on a dessert. I wanted a slice of coconut cake while Lynn wanted the "chocolate truffles". We got both, and Dave surprised us by getting the creme brulee. I don't remember anything about the creme brulee so it must have at least been decent. It may have been really good because I don't think we left much of it. The coconut cake wasn't especially moist, but it wasn't bad. The "chocolate truffles" tasted more like a gelatinous caramel than chocolate. A manager came to check on us, and Lynn mentioned that the truffle didn't taste like chocolate. He said it was actually a brigadeiro, a traditional Brazilian dessert made with cocoa powder and sweetened condensed milk (which explained the texture and caramel flavor). The manager also said that he told his people not to call it a chocolate truffle. Lynn hoped he would take the dessert off the bill, because she couldn't stand it, but he didn't.
Considering the price of dinner, and its emphasis on meat, I expected to like more of the meats than I did. I'll have to try a churrasco again, but it may not be a style of eating that's meant for me; I'm a huge carnivore, but I like to have more than just meat, and my appetite isn't big enough to take advantage of all you can eat.
The last time Lynn and I were at Shinbay we saw people having shabu shabu. I'd never had shabu shabu before so we made a reservation at Shinbay to try it. Shabu shabu mainly consists of thinly sliced raw beef swished in hot broth, dipped in sauce, and eaten. The dish gets its name from the swishing sound you make with the meat.
We were there with the couple, Marsha and Paul, who took us to the restaurant the first time. The first thing I noticed after we sat down was that Shinbay finally addressed the silence issue with a cd player that played classical music. I liked it except when the cd skipped.
There was a hot plate for each couple, and a bowl of ponzu, grated daikon, sesame seeds, and crushed red pepper for each person. A bowl of broth was then place on each hot plate, and warmed until it was steaming. Then we were each given a plate of thinly sliced ribeye. I took my first piece of ribeye, cooked it, and dipped it in the ponzu sauce. I love ponzu (especially Shinbay's), and it was good on the meat, but salt on the meat would have been great. I added some crushed pepper to the ponzu hoping it would cover for the lack of salt, but that didn't work. Marsha mentioned that adding daikon to the ponzu was great. Daikon doesn't have much of a flavor so I didn't think there was much it could do for it. Boy was I wrong. Somehow the half a spoonful of daikon made the ponzu even more dynamic, and I didn't notice that the meat wasn't salted. Unfortunately I decided to throw a few sesame seeds in the ponzu, and that worked like anti-daikon.
It didn't think we were given that much meat, but I was getting full (and tired of beef) by the time I was almost done. Once finished they got the broth to a roiling boil, and skimmed the scum off the top. The temperature of the broth was once again lowered, and a bowlful of vegetables (spinach, some sort of cabbage, and assorted mushrooms) was dropped into the broth. The cabbage and the inoki mushrooms were the best; they both held their texture, and they were pretty tasty. The spinach got mushy rather quickly, and the heartier mushrooms didn't have as good a flavor as the inoki.
Lynn had rice with her meal, but I opted to have udon instead. After we finished with the vegetables some broth was poured into a small bowl of udon. The noodles were large, chewy, and excellent, and so was the soup. Lynn didn't realize that the choice was between rice or udon, and regretted getting the rice.
Shabu shabu was an interesting experience, and Shinbay did it well, but I don't think shabu shabu is for me.
A couple of weeks after we went to Shinbay for shabu shabu I found out they were going out of business before the new year. I was sad to find that out because Shinbay is one of my favorite restaurants in Phoenix. I had to visit them one last time even though it's not the type of food I like to eat often. I made a reservation for Thursday, ready for a personal "best of Shinbay" dinner.
I was recently sick, and Lynn didn't feel good earlier that day so we only drank green tea. The green tea was slightly bitter so I wasn't crazy about it. I asked if they had a soup of the day, and they did. It was miso soup with clams. I usually find miso soup far too bland for my tastes, but I like the soups at Shinbay so I gave it a try. The miso soup tasted like miso soup, and the clams tasted clammy. Too bad the last soup I had there was a disappointment.
We have two favorite dishes at Shinbay: the clams and mushrooms (which isn't a menu item), and the white fish in hot oil. We got an order of the hot oil dish, and our anticipation was great because we could hear the fish sizzling, and smell the ginger in the air. Besides hot oil and fish there's julienned ginger and green onion, sesame seeds, and ponzu. The combination was lively and tasty. We also tried the fluke in ponzu for the first time. Each slice of fluke was garnished with thinly sliced green onion rounds and a little bit of chili-daikon. It was an absolutely great dish. The flavors unfolded in layers starting with the ponzu, then the fluke and green onion, followed by the heat from the chili-daikon in the finish. It immediately earned a spot as one of my favorite dishes.
Lynn and I weren't sure what sashimi we wanted so we got the tsukuri (five random sashimi). What we got standard sashimi style was tuna, scallops, and sweet shrimp. The other two sashimi dishes were the seared tuna salad and salmon with salt and green onion in oil. The tuna sashimi was decent. The scallops were buttery and tasty. I've never liked raw shrimp because of its odd texture, and while the shrimp had a decent flavor I still couldn't deal with the texture. The salad had an excellent pungent and spicy dressing on it, but even the dressing couldn't cover up the fishy aftertaste of the seared tuna. The salmon in oil was just oily.
Up until this point our dinner was practically all meat, and I needed something else. Nigiri sushi sounded like just the thing. We asked if they had hamchi (for Lynn) or tai (for me), but they didn't have either. I still wanted something with rice so I got an order of unagi [fresh water eel]. The unagi melted in my mouth, and the thick soy heavy barbecue sauce wasn't bad. I was happy. Lynn was still hungry so she got another order of white fish in hot oil. It was excellent even a second time.
I never really thought of Shinbay as a sushi restaurant, but if you weren't ordering the shabu shabu or omakase that was pretty much all that was left. For a sushi restaurant they really didn't have a great selection of fish although they did have some great fish. They did make great food though, and Lynn and I will miss them.
Tonight I had dinner at Lotus Asian Cafe & Grill. The food was great as always, but I was heartbroken to hear that tonight is their last night open in Chandler. It's really a culinary loss for Chandler, and a personal loss for me since they're one of my favorite restaurants. They're looking at possible locations in Tempe and Scottsdale (and Mesa if I heard one of the locations correctly). I hope their new location will be more successful, but I don't know if they'll actually reopen; I've known too many restaurants that said they'd reopen only to never be heard from again.
It had been a couple of years since we had eaten at Soul in the Hole, which was not at all intentional, I just forgot they existed. I used to love them for fried chicken, but recently Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles and Lotus Asian Cafe & Grill have been fulfilling my fried chicken needs. Their styles of fried chicken are completely different from Soul in the Hole though. One night I was in the mood for that particular type of fried chicken so I remembered they existed.
Lynn and I went there, and we both had fried chicken (white meat) dinners. The dinners come with a choice of two sides so I got chili beans and potato salad while Lynn got macaroni and cheese and fried okra. The fried chicken was crispy and nicely seasoned, but it was dry in a couple of spots and unseasoned in a few. They weren't copious so they weren't big issues for us. The only side I remembered liking was the chili beans so I hoped they would be as good as I remembered. The beans were to my tastes (meaty, sweet, and a little spicy), and I was very happy with them. The potato salad was the creamy variety, and there was a fishiness to the flavor that grossed me out. I wondered if it absorbed the flavor of something else in the refrigerator. The fried okra were firm, and the batter had a good flavor. I'd get them again. The macaroni and cheese was alright, but Lynn liked it a lot better than the unusual mac and cheese we had at Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles.
I was glad to find that Soul in the Hole still makes damn good fried chicken. I doubt I'll forget them for two years again.
[Previous visit to Soul in the Hole.]
Many years ago Little Szechuan enjoyed the distinction of making the only kung pao dish I've ever liked. It was eye opening how good kung pao could taste when the sauce was complex and spicy. It made me think, "That's the way it's supposed to taste!". The restaurant was sold a week later, and the kung pao wasn't the same. I back to Little Szechuan about four years ago, and it was alright.
I figured it was time to give the restaurant one last try so Lynn and I went there for lunch earlier this week. Lynn had the kung pao beef lunch special while I had the beef in spicy sauce. The lunch special came with a choice of soup so Lynn got the hot and sour soup. The soup was short on vinegar, and had an odd flavor that was only partially due to the white pepper. Neither of us could eat it. The kung pao beef was crispy fried beef in a thick, soy laden (peanut free) sauce. The sauce was alright, but it definitely didn't taste like kung pao. My dish was unsalted beef in a generic brown sauce with a tiny bit of heat to it. It wasn't at all what I expected of something named "spicy sauce", and it didn't do the beef any favors. At least the onions and sauce tasted good with the rice.
Now that Yang Dynasty is out of business I need to find a replacement restaurant for grandma's spicy salad (shredded cabbage and pork with pepper and vinegar), but very few restaurants even offer the dish. Little Szechuan actually had it on their menu so I had to try it. The pork, cabbage, and vinegar were all there, but there wasn't any pepper in the dish. Without the pepper the dish didn't taste right.
Nothing we had was terrible, but nothing was actually good either. We had leftovers for everything, but we didn't like anything enough to bother boxing it. After lunch I was a little depressed because it had been a while since I'd had that much mediocre Chinese food all at once.
My Japanese final was today so I'm finally done with class. I aced the multiple choice, verb conjugation, and reading comprehension sections. I did pretty well on the essay (having only 40 minutes to write an essay that normally takes me a few hours to write), and probably only did so-so on the interview. I couldn't believe how much testing they crammed into two and a half hours.
Earlier today I found myself getting sick. That pissed me off because it seems like I've been getting sick, or injured, a lot this year, and I slept instead of studying for my final. After drinking a couple of glasses of Tang (for the Vitamin C) Lynn verified that sugar depresses the immune system, and interferes with the absorption of Vitamin C. Damn, why do I crave sugary foods when I'm sick then?
It's doubtful I'll be going to work tomorrow. What I'm worried about is if I'll be able to make my Thursday reservation at Shinbay. It'll probably be our only chance to visit Shinbay one last time before they go out of business because Lynn and I are going to Massillon, Ohio so Lynn can spend the holidays with her family. Unfortunately that means we can't do our special New Year's Eve dinner, but I'll try to find something suitable in Ohio.
Steve found an apartment in Osaka so I might be going to Japan in July to see the Gion Matsuri. My Japanese class makes me feel a little confident of my limited Japanese so I'm considering taking Japanese 102 so I don't forget it. Wish me gambatte [which can be translated as good luck] whatever happens.
A few months ago I heard about an unusual restaurant concept, dining in complete darkness. The idea sounded interesting, but I didn't really think about it too much. For some reason it bubbled back up into my consciousness recently. I would like to see if removing my sight would actually enhance the food or the experience. Would I appreciate complex flavors more or savor brilliant simple flavors more in the dark? At the very least it would be an unusual dining experience, but if the food wasn't great it don't think I'd want my attention bound to it.
Interested in finding out more about the experience I found a web site where people reviewed one of these dark restaurants. One customer complained about being uncomfortable, and they felt like they were sitting in a cheap chair. Cheap chairs seemed to be the exact opposite experience the customer should've had; luxurious chairs would have probably made the meal even more memorable which might even make customers more inclined to return. I guess part of the problem with the concept is that there are people who would try to take advantage of not being able to see. It doesn't seem like they'd get away with it for long though.
I imagine to make the most of the concept you'd try to involve senses other than taste too. I could see the scent of the food being a lot more important. The sense of touch could be involved by providing oshibori [moist hot towels] or a bowl of rose water at the beginning of the meal to wash your hands. I love oshibori as a normal thing so they couldn't be bad in the dark. Some low level music would probably be good too, but they might have already come up with something even better. If I managed one of the restaurants I'd have a fun time trying to figure out how to make it a better experience.
If you'd like to hear an actual dark restaurant experience there's "Dining in the Dark" from NPR or you can read "The best food I've tasted - but never seen" (one of many articles written about dark restaurants).
Yesterday was Bill's last poker tournament of the year so that meant dim sum! Lynn and I showed up a little late, and by the time we got there practically every dish we normally get was already on the table. The usual suspects were really good: the shrimp stuffed eggplant, Chinese broccoli, spring rolls, spicy calamari, and custard buns. The lo mein was terrible, but it was also cold. The steamed barbecue pork buns were only alright. We also had deep fried rice flour (known as mochi in Japanese cuisine) balls stuffed with pork that I'm pretty sure we've had before (and I think Ken and I are the only ones who like it too). I didn't like them as much this time because there wasn't enough pork in the balls to really taste the pork. I thought the pan fried rice noodle wrapped seafood was new, but I see we that had them last time, and didn't enjoy them. They weren't good this time either. The pieces of shrimp were too large dominating the rest of the flavors.
There were actually plenty of new items to try like green beans with chile (a favorite of mine at most Chinese restaurants), grilled pork, rice flour with sugar, and pineapple with mango custard. The green beans were just as good as any Chinese restaurant, but not as good as Cyclo's. The grilled pork was a little charred, which ruined the flavor of an otherwise good dish. Once I scraped the char off with a fork it was good eating. The rice flour with sugar was plain with a sort of typical odd Chinese flavor that I didn't like. The pineapple on top of the custard wasn't very sweet, and neither was the custard. The custard did have a mild mango flavor that I enjoyed though so I'd consider getting the custard again.
Overall I had an excellent meal, and Ken's friends are cool which always make it a fun time.
Lynn and I went to eat at Viva Maria, but they were closed for the third time in a row. I was still in the mood for Mexican and I still hadn't found another Mexican restaurant in the neighborhood that I liked. I decided that instead of eating at another completely mediocre new Mexican restaurant I could at least go somewhere where I enjoyed the chips (which I hadn't the last couple of times I was in this position). The only place I could remember that fit that bill was Rosita's, where the chips are so fresh they're steaming.
We got to Rosita's and the place was packed. Luckily we only had to wait about five minutes for a table to open up. We ordered and were brought out a basket of steaming chips and two salsas (one red, one green). The chips were light and crispy and just what I was looking for. The salsas were both hot, but neither of them were great. The red salsa had a one dimensional dried red chile flavor that neither of us liked. It was also the hotter of the two so Lynn wouldn't have been able to each much of it if she really liked it anyway. The green salsa had some flavor to go with the heat, but it was only alright. I would have preferred the smooth red salsa from Sylvia's La Canasta or the chunky salsa at Viva Maria.
Lynn had a bowl of red pozole and a machaca hard taco while I had a green chile chimichanga and a green corn tamale. The pozole came in a large bowl stuffed with tender chunks of pork, and a place of Mexican oregano, dried red chile pepper flakes, cilantro, lime wedges, and chopped white and green onion to garnish the pozole with. Lynn tried the soup unadulterated, and she didn't like it. I didn't get a chance to try it before she put the cilantro, onion combination, and a few squeezes of lime in. When I tasted it it was pretty good. Lynn liked it after her additions too. I thought it was remarkably similar to green pozole with the only real difference being a dried red chile flavor. Lynn decided to try it with the Mexican oregano, and liked it even better that way. To me it enhanced the vinegar flavor in the soup (a good thing), brought out a little sweetness from the hominy (also a good thing), and gave the soup an herby oregano finish (I could have lived without that), but I wasn't sure which way I liked it better. Lynn wanted the hominy softer and more hominy in the pozole, but she would order it again. We both preferred the green pozole at Mucho Gusto though. The machaca hard taco was ok; the beef was stewed with peppers and onions, but the flavor wasn't that good. I never understood the wisdom behind taking a soggy ingredient and deep frying it anyway.
My chimichanga came with guacamole and sour cream, and was fried to a perfect brown crispiness. The green chile didn't have a bad flavor either, but there was too much beef in it overpowering the flavor of the green chile. At least the beef was tender. Tasty guacamole improves practically anything, and Rosita's guacamole was pretty good. The green corn tamale was drenched in something watery with tomatoes in it that didn't seem to do anything for the tamale other than make it wet. The tamale itself was too sweet for me, and I only got through about four bites.
Once again the only thing I found impressive about Rosita's Place were the chips. It's not a bad place to eat (I can see how someone with different priorities would really enjoy it), but I'd rather spend my time looking for someplace more suited to my tastes in the neighborhood.
[Previous visit to Rosita's Place.]
I used to eat at Pita Jungle so long ago that it was before I had a web site. I remembered liking at least one thing there, but I didn't remember why I stopped eating there. When some coworkers wanted to go there for lunch Friday I was game.
The place had changed since the last time I was there; you no longer order at the counter, and they expanded into the retail space next door. The one thing I remembered liking was the shawarma (grilled marinated chicken breast in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, garlic sauce, and tahini) so that's what I got. I'm not a big fan of pitas, but the pita they used wasn't hard and tasteless. The chicken was moist and tasty, and it was good with the vegetables. The garlic sauce wasn't as good as I remembered tasting odd instead of tasting like garlic. One of my coworkers got an order of hummus, and it had a weak acidic flavor that I didn't like. My coworker dug it.
I enjoyed my sandwich, and there were other things on the menu that looked interesting, but I figured out why I stopped eating at Pita Jungle. It took forever to get our food, and it's definitely not the place to go when you only have an hour for lunch. The kitchen might be faster on any day other than Friday though.
[Quick note: Viva Maria was our first choice for lunch, but when we called them at 11:50 no one answered. Maybe they're on an extended vacation or just opening up after noon these days? Bastards. They're lucky I'm hooked on their green chile tostadas.]
Last night Lynn and I went to a tasting of Napa wines at Sun Devil Liquors. The first wine was the Clos du Val "Chardonnay 2003". It was very buttery, but that was about it. Next was the Cuvaison "Chardonnay 2004". We had tasted at Cuvaison during our trip to Sonoma and Napa, and found their wines very oaky. This Chardonnay wasn't much different; it had a thinner body than the Clos du Val, and it was oaky with some butteriness. I didn't like the flavor, but I couldn't stand the seriously alcoholic aftertaste. I didn't have much hope for the Cuvaison "Pinot Noir 2003", but it wasn't bad. There was some oak in it, but it wasn't overdone (Lynn thought otherwise). The last wine I got to taste was the Pine Ridge "Cabernet Sauvignon [not sure which Cabernet]". I liked it. It had a medium body with plenty of red fruit flavor and creaminess. It didn't taste at all like a Cabernet. Judging from the tasting notes on the Pine Ridge web site it was probably the Oakville 2002.
While we were there we also met Frank, a long time reader of my web site, for the first time. We talked with him for so long that Lynn and I almost didn't make it to Classic Italian Pizza before they closed. Hopefully Frank will remember to email me his list of favorite Italian restaurants, or even better, comment them for everyone to see.
Neither of my fantasy football teams made it into the playoffs. I had high hopes for one of my teams since I was there for the live draft, and thought I selected a great team, but injury, a couple of players who never preformed, and unreliability landed that team at 7th place out of 10. My other team was autodrafted, and I didn't have high hopes for it. It ended up 9th place out of 12.
Ok, maybe I just suck as a fantasy football manager.
Both of Lynn's teams got into the playoffs. Wish her luck, there's money on the line.
Hot wings are ubiquitous and absurdly easy to make. Great hot wings only need to be crispy and covered in a good sauce. Sounds like every restaurant with two wits aught to be able to do it, but the crispy or the good sauce eludes most places (not that I think most places are even trying). Here are the best places I know of for hot wings. The list is obviously skewed towards my preference for sweet and hot versus traditional wing sauce.
I used to eat at The Siamese Cat fairly often, but apparently it was so long ago that it was before I started my web site. The problem I had with them is that they only made one entree that I liked (even though their tom yum gai and coconut ice cream were great). I classified them as a niche restaurant (one that's one good for one or two specific dishes), and then forget about them completely. My mom wanted Thai for lunch, and Siamese Cat was the only Thai place I could think of that was halfway decent.
I got a glass of Thai iced tea, and it was pretty tasty. It was also small. When did tea prices start rising like gas? We had both ordered lunch specials, and they came with a cup of soup. The soup was a light chicken broth with tiny bits of chicken, celery, and rice. It was pleasantly salted with a good flavor, and despite its mildness and celery I actually enjoyed it. My mom liked it too, except for the rice. I also got an order chicken satay. The chicken wasn't salted, and it was pretty plain on its own, but the peanut sauce and cucumber sauce made it kind of tasty. I'm not sure I'd order it again though.
My mom got the pad ba mee on my recommendation, since it's the only entree I knew I liked, and I tried the massaman beef curry (medium). The flavor of the curry was excellent, but not hot. There wasn't any particular flavor that stood out, but it was good enough that I'd eat it with just rice. The beef wasn't tender, but it wasn't overly chewy either. The potatoes were almost on the point of being creamy, but they were just short. I wonder if they would be perfect later in the day. The massaman wasn't the near perfect massaman I had at Mint Thai, but good enough that I'd order it again (hot though). My mom's pad ba mee had the odd slightly sweet flavor I remembered, and it was very tasty. Our entrees also came with small Thai spring rolls. Normally I don't like Thai spring rolls because they lack the type of ingredients I like (i.e., vegetables or meat), but there was a little egg and white pepper with the rice noodle filling that I really liked with the sweet sauce they were served with. My mom said she could taste the grease the spring rolls were fried in, but she wouldn't give me her spring roll so it must not have been too bad for her. I would actually get an order of the spring rolls some other time.
It looks like I need to start eating at Siamese Cat again.
My third time getting food from Zero's Subs was my first time actually going there to get it. The building they're in had a dreary look to it that I found depressing. The roast beef sandwiches were still as good as usual, but I made up my mind to have Lynn pick up our food there in the future if I could help it.
The last time we got food from Zero's we both went there. I tried a grinder (hot) while Lynn tried the roast beef sandwich (hot). The bread and the provolone were crispy, and the three unspecified meats (one was a salami) on the grinder were very good warm. It wasn't quite an impressive sandwich, but it was definitely good enough that I'd order it again. Lynn didn't like the roast beef sandwich hot. The bread and the onions were excellent, but the roast beef tasted kind of odd warm. Neither of us would get it warm again. I also tried the waffle fries. They were crispy enough, not that taking them home did them any favors, and they were just seasoned enough that I didn't even need ketchup to eat them. I'd get the fries again too.
There are still a couple more sandwiches on Zero's menu that I want to try, but I'm happy that I've already found two worth eating.
[Previous visit to Zero's Subs.]
It had been a long time since I had eaten at Da Vang so I stopped there last weekend with Lynn. Even though I'm not a coffee drinker I decided to try Vietnamese iced coffee for the first time; I'd seen the single serving drip brewers dripping into cups a third full of sweetened condensed milk too often not to get curious. I thought that the sweetened condensed milk would probably be sweet enough to cover up any bitter coffee nastiness, but I was wrong. I tasted a lot of char and bitterness in the coffee that I couldn't take. Lynn also tried one for the first time, and she enjoyed it.
The only reason I wanted to go to Da Vang was so I could have an excellent barbecue pork bahn mi. The only problem I have with them is that they don't fill me up. As much as I love the barbecue pork bahn mi at Da Vang I don't want to eat two of them (even though they're only $2 so they're more than cheap enough) so this time I got an order of pork spring rolls to go with my sandwich. Lynn wasn't in the mood for a sandwich so she got the stir fried lemongrass beef.
I was surprised that the spring rolls actually came out before the rest of the food (due to Vietnamese restaurants bringing out whatever is ready appetizers be damned). The spring rolls were predominantly lettuce and cilantro wrapped in ripe paper with some thin rice noodles and thinly sliced pork (skin?). The pork was lightly peppered with a good flavor that matched well with the cool rice paper and fresh vegetables. Dipping the spring roll in fish sauce that came with it was all that was needed to complete the flavor combination. Normally I'm not fond of Vietnamese spring rolls, since I prefer my rice paper fried, but these were excellent. My bahn mi was perfect; the bread was light with a thin crispy crust, the barbecue pork was juicy with a light sweet flavor, and the rest of the sandwich fillings (daikon radish, carrot, cilantro, jalapeno, and mayonnaise) provided texture and complimentary flavors. It really is a great sandwich.
Lynn said her beef dish tasted funny. I tried it, and there was an oddness to it that I couldn't identify. After the first bite it was easy to wrap my head around the flavors, and really enjoy the dish. There was a sweetness to it that reminded me of the beef dish we had at Jeepney Bistro, but there was a decent amount of heat to help offset the sweetness, and a hint of lemongrass. The beef was damn tasty, and the rice they served it with was moist too. Lynn didn't quite like the dish as much as I did.
Da Vang certainly has a varied enough menu that it's a shame that I don't get to eat there more often to explore it.
[This might have really been my previous visit to Da Vang.]
This weekend Lynn and I had lunch at Da Vang, and I was once again reminded how much I miss living in central Phoenix. There are a lot of restaurants I love around there that I don't get to eat at often enough because I'm not in the neighborhood often enough. We eat well around our neighborhood in Chandler, but central Phoenix has a major advantage for some things, like great sandwiches, and I do have a long history with some of the places. There are places I've been going to since I was a kid. (I do realize that Chandler has the advantage for Mexican and Chinese food though.)
One of the places I've been going to since I was a kid is Mary Coyle Ice Cream, and we went there after lunch. They had about eight new flavors so I tried the "iced patae" (which had their new chocolate toffee crunch ice cream). I expected the chocolate toffee crunch to be chocolate with toffee bits in it, but it was something vanilla like with shaved chocolate and crushed toffee in it. I liked the shaved chocolate, but the toffee bits were too finely crushed to provide a satisfying crunch, and they gave the ice cream a gritty texture. I like Mary Coyle for their fruit flavors (like their excellent black raspberry) so it wasn't really a surprise that the non-fruit one wasn't good. The sundae was covered in fudge and caramel with the chocolate toffee crunch on top of a brownie. I didn't realize the reference to "chocolate pate" in the description for the "iced patae" was a brownie otherwise I wouldn't have ordered it, and I found the dessert way too sweet. Next time I'll probably stick to one of the sundaes I know. At least it satisfied my ice cream craving.
Lynn needed to go to the Phoenix Zoo for a class assignment so I headed down 16th Street in Phoenix to get there. In the three miles between Camelback and McDowell there were interesting places I'd never seen before that I wanted to try like a middle eastern bakery (I wonder what they have besides baklava), Zest Spirited Dining (how could I not find a name like Zest intriguing), and a carniceria just north of McDowell where they were grilling chicken (I love Mexican barbecue chicken). McDowell didn't have as many interesting places, but there was one selling smoked meats and sausage, and it reminded me that I haven't eaten at San Carlos Bay in far too long. It looks like I could have a lot of fun eating around that neighborhood for a week, and I don't even know that neighborhood.
Maybe I need two houses?
Here are some movies based on books that I'm looking forward to. I've never read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", but the special effects for the movie look great. Hopefully the rest of the movie is as good too. Narnia opens December 9th.
I thought the novel for "Memoirs of a Geisha" was great so I'm really looking forward to the movie. It's the same director as "Chicago", the only musical I can remember enjoying, so it could be pretty good. The fact that Zhang Ziyi is hot doesn't hurt either. Memoirs opens December 23rd.
"V for Vendetta" is one of my favorite comic book stories of all time, and I just found out they're making that into a movie. It should be a challenge creating a film that matches the feel of the comic books. The Wachowski brothers get writing credits so hopefully the quality of their writing more closely resembles "The Matrix" instead of "The Matrix Revolutions". V opens March 17th.
I don't think "Night Watch" is based on a book, but I just wanted to mention it anyway because it looks way too damn cool. I have no idea when it's going to open.
I haven't been in the mood for a pasty in the last couple of months, but when a coworker suggested Cornish Pasty Co. for lunch it sounded like a good idea. The only thing I don't like about Cornish Pasty Co., even if I understand it, is that it takes a while for them to get your pasty warmed up. To bypass this problem we just called in our order ahead of time.
Having a seat at the bar I noticed they carry bottled beer and liqueur now. I'm not much of a liqueur person, but they had some interesting bottled beers that I'll have to check out sometime. Before we ordered I was trying to figure out if I wanted to go with something I knew, or something new. I went for the new and tried the meat and cheese (pork sausage, swiss, cheddar, and mozzarella) pasty for the first time. The pork sausage had a light flavor, and it was tasty with the cheese (I figured out that the pasty with the sausage, apple, and onions probably wouldn't be my thing though). They make some pasties with complex fillings, but it's amazing how good a simple one can be. The meat and cheese came with a couple packets of HP Sauce, the English answer to A1 Steak Sauce. The pasty was pretty good with the sauce too.
When I was finished with lunch I realized that the meat and cheese pasty is basically a stromboli with a pasty crust. That didn't make it any less delicious though.
[Previous visit to Cornish Pasty Co..]
So it's getting towards the end of the semester and Japanese class is nearing its end. It's also getting hectic with essays due, and a variety of tests. I'm also in the midst of editing the text for my Japan trip, creating that restaurant map (I can't believe I'm actually working on it now), trying to work on the backlog of restaurant visits, and reading George R.R. Martin's "A Feast for Crows". I'm not complaining. I'd rather have too many things I want to do with myself than too few. I was thinking about taking a Spanish class next semester, Spanish might be useful in Mexico, but I've made up my mind not to. I'd rather take a little time off to get caught up on other things, including getting in better shape.
It had been far too long since I had last been to Sylvia's La Canasta so I made sure Lynn and I ate there one night. I noticed they were selling copies of "Dining in Arizona: 101 Great Places to Eat". I knew the book was just published, and I was curious if it was any good. Quickly flipping through it revealed that a lot of my favorite restaurants (including La Canasta) were in the guide along with a couple of restaurants that I hate. I didn't buy it, but I'm still curious about it so I probably will sometime.
We both got horchata and a green chile chimichanga with guacamole. After all the times I'd been to La Canasta I'd never tried their tamales so I got a green corn tamale too. While we waited for our food to be delivered to our table to gorged myself on chips and their excellent smooth red salsa. The horchata was mildly sweet, lightly seasoned, and creamy. I dug it. The chimichanga was lightly deep fried so I would have preferred it fried a little longer. The green chile was especially thick, and the beef wasn't tender. It didn't seem to taste as good as normal, but their excellent guacamole amended that. The green corn tamale was fluffy and sweet with a nice amount of green chile and cheese in it. It was too sweet for Lynn. I liked it, but they weren't as good as the ones from Carolina's Mexican Food. I had actually planned on getting an ice cream sundae from Mary Coyle across the street, but the combination of horchata and green corn tamale was so sweet (far sweeter than they should have been together) that it took me out of the mood. I don't eat at Mary Coyle often enough so I'll have to make an effort to get there someday soon. I miss the days when I used to live in central Phoenix, and didn't have to make an effort to eat at my favorite places around there.
Dinner at La Canasta was pretty good, and it satisfied my craving for deep fried Mexican food. Did I mention I miss living in central Phoenix?
Some of my coworkers frequent Sack's so I thought I'd try the place today. I found out their full name is W.M. Sack's Art of Sandwicherie which sounds like they take themselves way too seriously. I walked into the restaurant, and there was a line of about eight people in front of me to order. I hoped that if they were this busy on a Monday they might be the sandwich place I've been looking for around Tempe. All the sandwiches had art related names which seemed too precious. I got an "overture" (roast beef, red onion, lettuce, tomato, and mild horseradish sauce on a baguette) and a lemonade. I got the lemonade because I saw the lemonade dispenser, and it looked like the lemonade might be real. It wasn't. The lemonade tasted like it was made from powdered lemonade with a flat tart flavor, but at least it wasn't overly sweet.
I really looked forward to my sandwich so I was devastated when the baguette tasted like old styrofoam. I considered throwing the sandwich away, but at least knew enough not to starve myself. I had hoped the horseradish sauce would distract me from the heinous bread, but the mild horseradish sauce was tasteless. The rest of the ingredients weren't tasty either. I had to make a real effort to finish the sandwich. A pleasant surprise was that they gave me a small cookie; I didn't know they did that. Someone obviously didn't care when they were packing the cookie though because it was half burnt. Why would you give someone a half burnt cookie even if it's free!? Do they really think that's the way to garner customer loyalty? Since I needed something positive to take away from lunch I ate the non-burned half of the cookie, and it was actually pretty good.
Given the terrible state of the bread I think it's entirely possible my sandwich was made with three or four day old bread. I might have been able to taste the sandwich fixin's better if the bread wasn't hard, but I'm never giving Sack's another chance to find out.
I had never heard of Mint Thai Cafe until Seth Chadwick wrote about the place. Coincidentally, not long after that some of my coworkers were going to try Mint Thai so it gave me a good excuse to try it.
After sitting I got a glass of Thai iced tea that was excellent. The glass was small though, and after it was loaded up with ice there might have been 8 ounces of tea in it. It seemed needlessly stingy. We started with an order of chubby dumplings (pot stickers) and larb. The pot sticker filling was ok, but once we doused the pot stickers in the spicy-sweet sauce they came with they were excellent. Larb is thinly sliced beef with cilantro, mint, lime, chiles, and other good stuff that demonstrates the complexity and balance of Thai cuisine. Mint Thai's larb was very minty, which was a little too minty for me, but the combination of flavors was pretty close to great. I ordered it hot (2 stars), and there was a pleasant heat to it, but I would have preferred more heat.
I got the massaman beef curry lunch special which came with a cup of soup. Free soup is usually worth what you pay for it, and this one was too. There were little bits of cabbage, cellophane noodles, and chicken in a very thin, almost tasteless broth that I didn't think was worth eating. The flavor of the massaman curry was really good, but even though I also ordered it hot (2 stars) it was decidedly less spicy than the larb. I wonder how hot I would have to order it to get it hot? The curry had peanuts in it which had a puffy texture that I didn't like. I thought they would've been much better thrown in at the last minute so they retained their crunchiness. One of my favorite things about Thai yellow curry is when the potatoes are cooked long enough with the curry to get creamy and absorb the curry's flavor, but far too many places can't seem to do it. The potatoes were perfectly creamy in the massaman, and I'd definitely get it again, but I'd have to get it hotter.
I love Benjarong, but their big weakness is curry, which seems to be one of Mint Thai's strengths. If Mint Thai was closer to my house I'd probably eat there a lot more often.
Lin Chinese Dining is one of my favorite Chinese restaurants even if I don't eat there nearly often enough. One of the times Lynn and I were at Lin I was trying to figure out what appetizer on their menu is the equivalent to the chicken lettuce wraps at Jong Wah (meaning the must have appetizer). My immediate conclusion was grandma's spicy salad (pork, shredded cabbage, vinegar, and chili). I got an order of it, and it was very spicy with lots of vinegar. It used to be only the second best grandma's spicy salad in the valley, but Ken told me that Yang Dynasty has closed (I'll miss them) so now they're number one. We also got a bowl of sizzling rice soup. It's a common dish, but when it's made well it's delicious. Lin's has a mild flavor, but we both totally dug it.
The only entree I can ever remember liking at Lin is the yu shan spicy scallops (it's by no means the only entree I like though), and since it had been a while since the last time I had been there that's what I got. The scallops were cooked rare, the way I like them, but for some reason the sauce didn't taste right. It was disappointing. Lynn decided to try the kung pao calamari for the first time. There weren't any peanuts in this kung pao sauce, and it was actually a very good sauce. Lynn didn't like the calamari in it because she thought it tasted fishy, and would have preferred kung pao vegetables instead.
The last time we were at Lin we started with the pretty much the same appetizers, grandma's spicy salad and sizzling rice soup. The salad was sweeter with less vinegar than normal this time. I didn't like it sweet. In a moment of balance the sizzling rice was especially good because the shrimp in the soup were really good. I also tried the crab puffs. We couldn't taste the crab, but the crab puffs had a good flavor with the bits of green onion and a little heat. I'm not sure if I'd order them again.
This time I went with a nightly special which didn't sound at all Chinese, roasted game hen with steamed broccoli and noodles in brown gravy. The skin on the game hen was crispy, and it was coated with some Chinese seasoning that made it taste similar to roast duck. I thought it was great. The noodles and gravy smelled like German food, and the gravy was buttery, slightly sweet, and tasty. The broccoli was buttered, salted, and also tasty. It was a very un-Chinese entree, but I'd order if I ever saw it again.
With Jong Wah and Shangri-La de Old Cathay located nearby, and both serving some very good food, Lin Chinese Dining doesn't get as much of my business as they used to. I really do need to make an effort to eat there more often though because they're worth it.
The first time I ate at House of Tricks I wasn't impressed so even though I wanted to try them again I wasn't very enthusiastic about it. Yesterday I looked at their menu online, and some of the items looked great so I made a reservation for last night (one thing I love about Arizona is easy reservations).
Lynn and I were both dressed for cool weather so we sat outside, which seemed better than being cooped up in the restaurant. We were brought a basket of bread with a compound butter. The butter was still cold so it was hard. The bread was chewy, and the butter was sweet with some chive flavor. I wasn't fond of the sweetness, but I found the chive flavor addictive because there was never enough of it, and I always wanted more.
We both wanted to try the phyllo wrapped baked camembert on salad, but when I saw the ancho glazed quail breasts with chorizo, seared manchego, and pumpkin seed mole (extremely similar to one of Janos's trademark appetizers) I had to try it too. Quail is one of those ingredients that I don't think is worth the trouble it takes to eat it, but the quail appetizer at Janos is amazing, and deboned (if I remember correctly). I knew the best I could probably hope for from this version was something tasty, but not as good, and I probably shouldn't have ordered it. It turned out it was quite tasty, but not deboned. I had to use the knife I had used for my butter to cut the quail off the bones. The quail, chorizo, and seared manchego were perfect together with layers for flavor, and a pleasant texture from the manchego. It was extremely similar to the ones I've had at Janos (first and second visits), but I still liked the ones from Janos better because they didn't require surgery. Even for a knock off the House of Tricks one was great though, and the seared manchego was an ingenious bit of originality. Lynn said the her camembert needed to be warmer. I tried it, and found it disappointing. It really did need to be warmer, and the camembert had some gaminess to it that we would have both preferred not to taste. I thought St. Andre would have been a better choice of cheese for the dish. The mixed green with balsamic syrup and basil oil were alright, but the balsamic syrup tasted a little burnt, and neither of us tasted the basil in the oil. Neither of us liked the camembert appetizer.
While we were still eating our appetizers the food runner brought out our entrees. She took them back when she saw that we weren't finished, but we didn't appreciate that our food was now going to be sitting under heat lamps until we finished. Normally I'm pretty relaxed about service, but if you aren't a cheap ethic restaurant I don't think there's any excuse for bringing the entrees out early. When they took our appetizers away they took my knife away with it, and didn't replace it. I was still hungry for some of that chive flavor so I had to use Lynn's life for my butter. That also annoyed me.
I had the lamb the first time we went to House of Tricks, but didn't even remember having it. That's never a good sign, but coriander crusted rack of lamb with mashed potatoes and plum demi glace sounded like something I'd love. Lynn wanted the seared tuna, but was avoiding seafood since she didn't know how old it would be, so she got the marinated pork tenderloin instead. My lamb was crusty and well seasoned, and the plum sauce was very tasty, but despite having all the aspects of a perfect lamb dish it only tasted above average. Maybe it was the gamey aftertaste I would get occasionally, or something else, but I with I knew why there were no fireworks for me. Lynn tried it, and thought it was pretty good, but it wasn't something she'd order. The mashed potatoes, on the other hand, were perfect. They weren't even flavored with anything interesting (like garlic or horseradish), they just had a great potato flavor that was perfect with the plum sauce. Lynn doesn't like sweet flavors with her potatoes so she didn't appreciate them like I did. Lynn gave me a bite of her pork tenderloin, and it was moist while being nicely charred, but it was completely overseasoned. I like things well seasoned, but there is a limit. Lynn said there were only the occasional overseasoned bits, and she really like it. I also tried her green chili-potato hash, which sounded good to me, but I thought it tasted like potatoes with green bell peppers because they undercooked the green chiles. Lynn liked it a lot more than I did.
I was trying to find a wine that would match both of our entrees, but I knew it was probably a lost cause, and we should have just ordered separate wines by the glass. Good sense doesn't usually interfere with what I do though so I got a half bottle of Torii Mor "Pinot Noir 2003". The Pinot had a light body with a fruity flavor that tasted a little watery to me. I thought it was alright, but Lynn liked it more than I did. The plum demi glace with my lamb was too sweet for the wine. I should have known better, but I didn't think about it. I was happy that Lynn said the wine paired well with her entree.
Our waitress brought out the dessert tray, but didn't bring out the dessert wine list with her. We ordered the amaretto cheesecake and chocolate silk cake (two layers of chocolate cake sandwiching a layer of chocolate mousse covered with chocolate ganache), and we finally saw the wine list when the waitress brought out our desserts. She took a long time coming back to see if wanted anything, and then she took even longer before she brought our wines out. I was very unhappy about that because we had started on our desserts without wine, but we didn't want to finish them before the wines showed up. At the rate it took we would have been done if we didn't wait. The cheesecake was very airy, which is my preferred style of cheesecake, and had a good almond flavor. The chocolate silk cake was rich, dense, and was very chocolately without being overly sweet. It was excellent. I do have to give House of Tricks credit for having a good selection of dessert wines. Our wines were the Peter Lehmann "Barossa Botrytis Semillon 2001" and an Australian Black Muscat. The Semillon had a sweet, complex flavor with a long apricot finish. The Black Muscat was sweet with fruity and grape flavors, and was more complex than a lot of other Black Muscat I'd tried before. Neither was cloying, and we enjoyed both dessert wines (I liked the Black Muscat better though). The cheesecake was just a little sweeter than the Semillon so it cut a lot of the Semillon's flavor. The Black Muscat wasn't too bad with the chocolate cake, but the cake gave it an alcoholic finish. Lynn also thought a medium to full bodied wine was too thick for the heavy cake, and would have preferred something lighter (like a ruby port) with the cake.
They stopped refilling my water glass before we were done eating which is a pet peave of mine because if I haven't gotten up from the table I'm probably still drinking water. Considering the type of restaurant they're trying to be the service should be a lot better. At least the food was much better this time, but it wasn't great. I feel the same way about House of Tricks that I do about Roaring Fork; I can find one or two great items on the menu, but I don't find it compelling enough to really want to go back unless I'm in the mood for something specific.
We inherited an orange tree when we bought our house so I've been looking forward to our first orange harvest, and fresh orange juice. Most of the oranges on our orange tree are busy transitioning from green to orange, but today Lynn found one that was perfectly orange and picked it. I thought it seemed early for it to be ripe, but it was beautifully orange. The orange didn't have any flavor so I'm hoping it just turned orange early, and not that it's a tasteless variety of orange. If I wasn't feeling so lazy I'd look up when the oranges are supposed to be ripe in Phoenix.
Cafe Poca Cosa is Lynn and my favorite restaurant in Tucson so we try to hit it every time we're in town. We were able to eat lunch there this last trip too.
Lynn was looking forward to the borracho beef [drunken beef], her favorite dish at Poca Cosa, but they didn't have it on the menu. Lynn was still in the mood for a carne asada dish so she asked the waiter about the carne asada molcahete. He said the sauce was made in a molcahete [stone mortar and pestle] combining tomatoes, green onions, onions, red jalapenos, habaneros, and other stuff. It sounded delicious so Lynn got it. I was trying to decide between carne asada in a tomatillo and poblano sauce, and some pork dish. Then I noticed the pollo en mole de chipotle, and since I loved the one other mole (not the mole negro) at Cafe Poca Cosa I was curious about it.
Since it was a chipotle mole I expected the mole to be hot, but it was actually mellow. The flavor was very good, but I couldn't taste any chipotle, and I would have preferred it spicy. The mellow flavor hid some complexity though. Normally I don't eat their white rice, but I had a feeling it'd be good with the mole. The rice brought out a nuttiness in the sauce that I really enjoyed. Towards the end of the meal I actually got around to eating my salad, and with a little acid on my palate from the vinegar and oil dressing the mole really perked. Instead of being mellow it was bright and dynamic. I wished I knew that earlier. I figured the mole would probably have been impressive with a little bit of lime juice.
Lynn's dish was tender pieces of grilled beef in a thick, chunky sauce. It had a very good flavor, but it was a kind of heavy, thick flavor that I don't think I would be able to eat much of. We both thought the borracho beef, which was more lively, was better. I noticed that Poca Cosa always seems to make two beef dishes, one bright and dynamic and the other with heavy, thick flavors. Since Lynn prefers the bright carne asada dishes we now have an ordering strategy.
We were very happy with our meal, and the food reminded us to look forward to some great eating in Mexico.
[Previous visit to Cafe Poca Cosa.]
Lynn wanted to do something different for Thanksgiving this year because she'll have to make a traditional Christmas dinner so she decided to make a six course meal. It took us a while to figure out a complete menu, and agree on what should be served. The first five courses were all homages to places at least one of us enjoyed, and the dessert was something we just made up. Here's what we had.
First Course
Potato-leek soup
Second Course
New Orleans barbecue shrimp
Third Course
Tarragon chicken with lemon
Fourth Course
Sunomono [Japanese cucumber salad]
Fifth Course
Sauerbraten with fried potatoes
Dessert
Peach-basil pie
Everything turned out very well. Eat your heart out.
It doesn't sound possible, but "Focusing after the shot, the plenoptic camera" appears to be a reality. The science is too complex for me to fully understand, but the ability to refocus any picture after the shot would be an amazing feature. I do wonder if you have to take the original picture in focus though.
It looks like Fibber McGees has officially become one of my favorite places. One of the last times I was there it was with Lynn, DJ, and my mom. I got a pint of Stella Artois because it was one of the few beers they had on draft that I hadn't tried yet. It was very light with a slight sweetness that wasn't from malt. It was good, but not my sort of beer.
We started with an order of garlic fried mushrooms, and you could definitely smell the garlic. It was too bad there was a lot more garlic scent than flavor. A strong garlic flavor would have been perfect with the crispy coating and meaty mushrooms. They were still pretty good, and even better with Fibber's excellent ranch dressing (which had a unique flavor).
This time I got their shepard's pie with their dark bread, and Lynn tried the chicken and broccoli gratin. The shepard's pie was saucy, herby, and tasty. Even if I didn't like it I'd be tempted to get it just for the bread though. I love the dense, slightly sweet bread. The chicken and broccoli gratin was plain, and Lynn had to add black pepper to it to make it eatable. I would never order the gratin. My mom had the chicken and chips. The chicken was beer battered, and lightly seasoned. They were a bit plain on their own, and much better with ketchup. The chips were real potato wedges that weren't bad. DJ had a burger and said it was pretty good.
We finished with an order of chocolate decadence cake. It was a super rich solid chocolate that's great if you like that sort of thing. I thought it was ok, but I'm not into death by chocolate desserts. Lynn really dug it.
The next time Lynn and I were at Fibber McGees we were having lunch with Ken. It was Sunday, and unbeknownst to us they have a special brunch menu that includes complimentary soda, juice, mimosas, or sparkling wine. There were a couple of menu items that looked interesting (things not on the regular menu) so I had to try one of them. I'd never had bangers before (that I could remember), or boxty (that I could remember) so the boxty with bangers, eggs, fried onions, and cheddar sounded great. The bangers had a sort of breakfast sausage flavor, except they were a lot spicier. I loved the bangers, but Lynn couldn't stand them. What does Lynn know about sausage anyway? The boxty was a little chewy, and didn't have a lot of potato flavor. The onions didn't look fried, but they weren't raw either. I really dug the dish until I found myself chewing on some eggshells. I never knew how eggshells tasted, but now I know they're foul. If this happened to Lynn she would have been put off her food, but I got over it. I did check the rest of my food for eggshells though.
Lynn had the corned beef hash with roasted potatoes and onions. The corned beef hash was chopped corned beef with tomatoes. I wonder if the tomatoes are an Irish thing because I'd never heard of corned beef and tomatoes before. The food tasted the way IKEA smells; we both disliked it. The roasted potatoes, however, were great. There was a flavor in them that wasn't typical in American food (thyme?) that worked well with the potatoes and onions. Ken tried to get the shepard's pie because I said it was good, but they didn't have any. I didn't know anything else really good so I told him DJ said the burger was good. Ken had the burger and said it was decent, but his medium burger was served well done.
The place was dead, but our waitress still had a difficult time giving us decent service. Needless to say I wasn't happy with her. I think that was the only time we've had her as a waitress so I don't hold it against them.
The last time we were at Fibber McGees was dinner with Ken on a Sunday night. We were hungry so we started with potato skins and hot wings. The potato skins were once again crispy and very good with their ranch dressing. The hot wings weren't crispy, and they were covered in a typical Tabasco style sauce. They were mediocre on many levels, and I'll never get the wings again.
I had just had burgers from Delux and Burger Bar in Las Vegas so I was primed try Fibber's burger for a comparison. I got their bacon cheeseburger, and the patty was a big wad of meat that only tasted ok. Occasionally the patty was charred, but instead of tasting good it only tasted burnt. Um, yeah, I'm never getting the burger. Ken had the shepard's pie and dug it.
That night Tell Me Ma (that's what it said on the board anyway) was performing. The only other time there was a band at Fibber McGees while we were there the band sucked. Tell Me Ma was actually pretty good though playing a good selection of Irish, '70s, and other types of music. I'd definitely see them again (at least for free).
[Previous visit to Fibber McGees.]
A long time ago when Lynn and I were at Callaghan Vineyards we had some excellent bread from Beyond Bread, and I made a mental note to stop there sometime. I didn't forget, even if it took me forever to remember, and made sure we stopped there this Tucson trip.
We went to the Campbell location, and the place was packed on a Sunday afternoon. We stood in line, and perused the extensive sandwich menu. I also checked out the list of breads they had available. Lynn got a bowl of chicken tortilla soup, and we both got hot sandwiches: a "Brad's Beef" (roast beef, provolone, green chiles, red onion, and Russian dressing on white bread) for Lynn, and a "Groucho's Gouda" (ham, bacon, smoked gouda, and mayonnaise on white bread) for me. Lynn's soup had shreds of chicken in it instead of actual chunks, and was thin with an herby flavor. I thought it was alright, but Lynn thought it was pretty good. The soup came with choice of bread, and Lynn got it with "rustic" bread. I could see white and black sesame seeds in the bread, and there was even whole wheat in the ingredient list, but texture-wise there wasn't anything there. The flavor of the bread was bland too. I was disappointed that my sandwich came on white bread, but it had a crispy crust, and they did such a good job toasting it that it was probably the best white bread I'd ever had. The ham was thin sliced and the bacon was very crispy. It would have been a great sandwich, but there was too much ham on the sandwich making it salty. Lynn's sandwich tasted like a Philly cheese steak, but it had the wrong kind of bread for that. We both thought it was pretty good. Later that day we tried Lynn's sandwich again, and we both thought it was great. I don't know what the difference was other than the sandwich wasn't hot.
I also picked up a key lime tarte and two breads (a cranberry pecan and a parmesan & herb). The key lime tarte was in a graham cracker crust, and it tasted exactly how I expected it to, very tart and sweet. I liked it a lot, but like most key lime things it was overwhelming, and I couldn't finish the entire tarte. Of the two breads I liked the cranberry pecan best. The parmesan & herb bread only had enough parmesan in it to make the bread taste kind of sour instead of like parmesan so that it resembled an herbed sourdough. It wasn't bad just not what I expected. The cranberry pecan bread was whole wheat, and the combination of cranberries and wheat was tasty. The pecan pieces added the right amount of crunch to the bread too. The bread crust also crisped up really nicely when the bread was toasted. The bread was barely sweet so Lynn didn't like it.
Between the bread and the sandwiches it look like Beyond Bread is going to be a regular stop for us in Tucson.
It's been over three weeks since I've eaten at Via Marie, and that's too long. Long and I tried to go there for lunch today, but they were closed (big surprise). I wasn't in the mood to wonder the streets aimlessly, Long and I had just finished talking about noodle dishes, and I remembered Pei Wei was in the neighborhood so we decided to eat there. I know Pei Wei is basically run by the same people as P.F. Chang's so I thought we'd get good noodles. When we walked into the restaurant I was greeted by the scent of hot oil and garlic so I was sure the noodles would be good.
I got an order of spring rolls and an order of dan dan noodle (which I remembered enjoying at P.F. Chang's). The spring rolls were crispy, and like a Vietnamese spring roll with black mushroom, cellophane noodles, carrots, and other vegetables (without the ground pork or fresh mint and cilantro). There was an odd flavor in the filling that didn't belong so even though it was served with a sweet and mildly hot sauce I didn't really care for it. The noodles in my dish were soggy from being boiled too long, and weren't well pan fried (if pan fried at all). The sauce was quite spicy, and pleasantly salty, but the ground chicken in the sauce grossed me out because it wasn't salted at all. At least the raw cucumber in the dish somehow kept me from tasting the chicken. This dish wasn't nearly as good as the one I had from P.F. Chang's.
Long had lo mein with beef, and I got to taste some of it. His noodles, also overcooked, were in a mild sweet sauce that was good even though there was absolutely no wok flavor to the noodles. Where did the great scent in restaurant come from!? I thought the beef was unsalted, and oddly seasoned, but Long thought the beef was decent.
Lunch was completely unsatisfying, and it'll probably be a long time before I try Pei Wei again, if ever.
Lynn and I spent last Friday night around my old neighborhood of I-17 and Peoria watching the Scottsdale Community College women's soccer team lose in double overtime in the national semi-final. It would have been a great game, but the refereeing seemed very one-sided in the other team's favor.
Afterwards we had to find some place to eat. It was after 10, and the only places I could think of that would be open were Delux and Christopher's, and I wasn't in the mood for either. Lynn wanted a burger so we headed to Delux anyway. At the last minute I remembered Havana Cafe existed, but I found out when we got there that their kitchen closes at 10. Delux it was.
We were actually seated in the exact same chairs as the first time we were there. I noticed hot tea on their menu, and that sounded pretty good. They were Tazo teas, and they didn't have one pure tea. I got the green tea with herbs because it seemed like it might be the least adulterated tea. There were so many herbs in it I couldn't taste the tea. Lynn probably did the more sensible thing having a beer flight. One of the beers in the flight was Bridgeport's "India Pale Ale". I've never been an IPA fan, but the Bridgeport had a nice body with an excellent citrus bitterness to it that we both dug. I might have to start trying IPAs again.
Lynn had the standard burger without a bun while I tried the fish sandwich, and we got a half order of fries. The fries were once again crispy and tasty, and were especially good with the ketchup or aioli (I asked the waitress what it was, and she said aioli). My fish sandwich had two thin filets of seasoned grilled Mahi-Mahi on thin toasted bread. My first bite of the fish was overly chewy, and not good. Luckily the rest of the fish wasn't that chewy, but despite the seasoning it wasn't tasty either; there was a little fishiness to it, and it generally lacked interest. The tartar sauce and the cucumber sauce it came with were both quite tasty, but neither one of them improved the fish. The aioli that came with the fries added the right amount of heat and garlic flavor to make the fish worthwhile to me. The toasted bread they used was very good, but it didn't do the fish any favors. Maybe I needed the fish to be crispy, but as a sandwich I didn't find it satisfying. I ate the rest of the fish bun free, but I was completely disappointed with the fish. Lynn's hamburger was delicious despite my not being in the mood for a hamburger. Lynn thought it was juicier without a bun, and will be ordering it bun free from now on.
Lynn was ready to try the chocolate lava cake, but I was ready to leave. We'll definitely have to try it next time. It looks like the only time I can go to Delux is when I want a burger though because I don't find the rest of the menu interesting.
Lynn and I left Phoenix too late Saturday to eat lunch at a decent hour, and taste at Callaghan Vineyards so I opted for lunch since Callaghan is open for tasting on Sundays. We had lunch at Cafe Poca Cosa, our favorite restaurant in Tucson. Lunch was very good, and reminded us that we can look forward to some great eating in Mexico next year.
Afterwards we went to our hotel. We stayed at the Omni National Tucson Golf Resort & Spa in North Tucson. I normally wouldn't stay in a resort (they're the exact opposite of the type of travel experience I try to have), but I got a good price for the room from Priceline.com. We got stopped at the entrance gate by the security guard, and had to tell him who we were. He had a parking pass with my name and an expiration date on it for us, and must have informed the front desk we were coming because they were all ready for us when we arrived. All I had to do was hand them a credit card, and we were on our way. I have to admit I do like them minimizing the amount of time it takes to check in.
Our room was spacious and nice enough, but our bathtub looked really old. It was kind of disconcerting. We tried to find a map of the property, but they only had them at the front desk (hint to hotel staff, you might want to offer those to guests when they check in). We were looking for a jacuzzi, and found one easily enough. The pool area was nicely landscaped and very clean, but there was a soda machine by the bathrooms that looked like someone had started dismantling it. Once again, very odd. We relaxed in the jacuzzi, and got ready for dinner.
We had dinner at Janos, a restaurant with a unique cuisine that we really like. Dinner was very good, and it was an excellent way to celebrate our anniversary.
Sunday we checked out of the hotel, and headed to Beyond Bread for lunch. We'd never eaten there before, but we'll definitely eat there again.
After lunch we drove down to Sonoita and tried the 2004 releases at Callaghan. When we walked in we talked to Kent, the winemaker, and I asked him why he's not making ports anymore. I was happy to find out they'll still make ports, they just aren't going to be called "Claire's Spirited Selection" anymore. We tried the "Dry Riesling 2004" and "Lisa's Selection 2004", the only two whites they released this year. Both were dry, but not the sort of things I enjoy. They had five new reds to try, and they didn't disappoint. The "Little Red 2003" had an amazing cherry scent with a light body and even a little cherry in the flavor. It wasn't complicated, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The "Zinfandel 2004" had an incredible nose of blueberries and raspberries. It was light bodied, and I didn't really get any flavor out of it, but Lynn loved it. It was one of her favorites of their new stuff. The "Padres 2004" was very unlike the 2003 in a way I liked; it seemed lighter and more approachable. The nose was sweet and fruity, and the wine was fruity with a pleasant minerality. It reminded me of the Papapietro Perry "Peters Vineyard Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2002" (although I had drunk more than a few wines in front of that so who knows what I'll taste the next time I try it). The "Claire's 2004" was closer to full bodied with some dark flavors I didn't care for. Lynn really dug it. The "Buena Suerte Cuvee 2003" had a nose that just screamed "big" to me (probably from the Cabernet). It was full bodied and had a great creaminess with chocolate and black fruit flavors followed by a tannic finish. It was impressive, and Lynn and I both agreed it was an excellent wine.
We had a great time in Tucson, and it's a shame we don't get to spend more time down there.
Today I was nervous about having to give evaluations. I may have given evaluations before in my former life as a manager, but I was more in a supervisor state of mind at the time. I know one of the things I need to work on right now is paying better attention to what other people are working on so I felt uncomfortable giving evaluations. At least it went well. After work I was nervous about the Japanese test I had to make up. I wasn't as prepared for the test as I like to be, and I didn't do as well as I should have either. I've fretted this week a lot more than I have in a long time. I'm glad this week is almost over.
I've decided as soon as my back is 100% I'm going to start working out again. Seriously, I've been out of shape for too long.
Lynn found a study abroad program in Guanajuato, Mexico that she wants to do, and she wants me to do it with her. Next year we might be taking some classes in Mexico just for the hell of it.
Happy Anniversary to us. It's Lynn and mine second anniversary today. To celebrate this weekend we're going to Tucson to try the new wines at Callaghan Vineyards (one of our favorite wineries), and having dinner at Janos (one of our favorite restaurants). It should be a good time.
The last couple of days have been odd getting back into the usual routine. I almost felt guilty going back to work and Japanese class like it was my fault I wasn't at either for two weeks. Returning to work was easy though. I was worried that I wouldn't know enough when I returned to Japanese class tonight, but I'm still pretty good with Japanese. I was amazed by what I simultaneously forgot over two weeks, and what I remembered after two years.
Last night I flew in from Las Vegas, and was hungry when I arrived. I knew Delux was open late, and remembered hearing a couple of good things about the place. I had also recently eaten at Burger Bar in Vegas, and was interested in comparing the two so that's where Lynn and I went for dinner.
We got to Delux before 10, and the place was almost full. There were free tables on the patio, and some seats at the long communal table indoors. We sat inside because it was kind of chilly last night. We were seated, and I tried to absorb the drink menu. Delux has an impressive selection of beers, and I only got halfway through the list when the waitress asked what we wanted to drink. I got a Rouge "Hazelnut Brown Nectar", and Lynn got a Hoegarden (or Hoegaarden) "White". The Rouge was light to medium bodied with lots of chocolate and nut flavor. It was very similar to Abita's "Turbodog". The only reason Lynn got the "White" was because I wanted to try it. White ales are unusual in that they're a hefeweizen flavored with coriander and orange peel. I like the combination, but I was disappointed with the Hoegarden. It was very light bodied, almost like water, even for a hefeweizen, and the only flavor I really noticed was clove. It tasted more like an unbalanced hefeweizen than a good white ale. I would have preferred New Belgium's "Sunshine Wheat".
I got a half combination (a half order of regular fries and sweet potato fries), and was surprised they came out before the burgers. The fries came with ketchup and a remoulade like sauce. The regular fries were crispy, seasoned, and pretty good. They were also damn tasty with ketchup. I noticed they were addictive when I had to make an effort not to eat them all. The sweet potato fries were somewhat crispy and somewhat sweet. I didn't think they were worth eating by themselves, but the spiciness of the remoulade like sauce was a nice compliment to their sweetness. I ended up leaving a pile of sweet potato fries, but not one regular fry. Lynn didn't like the sweet potato fries at all, even with the sauce, but she doesn't like sweet potatoes.
Before we were done with the fries the burgers arrived. Lynn got the standard burger cooked medium, and I got the delux (with Maytag blue cheese, Gruyere, applewood-smoked bacon, caramelized onions, and baby arugula on a demi-bauguette), also medium. The burger was seasoned, and occasionally I got bits of tasty burger char, but I couldn't taste much of my burger. I wrote it off as inferior to Burger Bar, but worth returning to for the fries. I tried Lynn's burger (she topped it with pickles and onions), and it tasted like a Burger King Whopper, only with a bigger patty and better beef. I would have liked it if I hadn't burned out on Whoppers in high school. Lynn really dug it. I wondered how my burger, topped with all sorts of things with assertive flavors, could be so muted. I finally figured it out by chance. Towards the end of the meal I was getting too full to be bothered with the dense bun, and I tried the burger without it. I was impressed when I was actually able to taste everything; the flavors went together very well. I'd have to either get it without a bun, or with the bun that comes on the regular burger if I ordered it again. I wouldn't place the burger on the same level as The Barbecue Company, but it finally gives me a third burger in Phoenix worth eating.
I wanted to try their banana split lava cake, but we were too full to attempt it. It's ok though because I know we'll try it some other time.
I thought Delux might be too trendy for my tastes because of the location, but I found the place comfortable. Lynn liked it too, except that it was too loud for her. I couldn't tell if I liked Delux better than Burger Bar, but I didn't get a fair tasting at either place. At least I can look forward to the day when I will.
The first time I went to Joe's Crab Shack was quite a few years ago, and I don't remember how I felt about the place. One day I was having lunch with my fellow programmers, and they decided to eat at Joe's. I was in the mood for fried fish so I got the fish and chips, and was pleasantry surprised. There were three solid rectangles of fish that were crispy and satisfying. They weren't as good as Knock Kneed Lobster, but they were certainly worth eating. The chips were really regular sized fries, but they were decent.
I was happy with my food, and our waiter gave us great service. The only disappointment I had with lunch was that my fellow programmers didn't tip the waiter as much as he deserved.
On another day I had lunch with Lynn and Long. We couldn't figure out where to go so we just went to Joe's. This time I tried the coconut fried shrimp and fries. I was impressed that the shrimp were still moist although the coconut was a little too sweet for me. If I was in the mood for sweet food I would have loved the shrimp. The plum sauce that came with the shrimp was way too sweet; it was more like a syrup than a sauce. The fries were thin cut, skin on, crispy, and well salted. They were a little greasy, but very good.
Lynn got the bottomless soup and salad. For her soup she got seafood gumbo, their soup of the day. It was dark brown, and tasted of vegetables. The only time I could taste seafood was when I got a discernible chunk of something. I didn't expect much of their seafood gumbo, and they didn't deliver much. The salad was a huge bowl of iceberg lettuce, cheese, and the other usual stuff. I would have liked it better if they used any other lettuce instead of iceberg, but they do get bonus points for making it big enough that you probably wouldn't have to ask for a second bowl. Lynn wasn't happy with her lunch, but she wasn't really in the mood for it either.
Joe's Crab Shack has the typical kitschy chain ambience, but when it comes to fried food they seem to know what they're doing.
Last Saturday night Lynn and I were on the west side of town (I live in Chandler and work in Tempe so my view of the west side is skewed to start at Central), and I didn't want to waste the opportunity. Unfortunately it was 10 at night, which greatly limited our options. The only place I could think of that would be open was Christopher's. Lynn was happy about that since Christopher's is her favorite restaurant, and we hadn't been there in a while.
We had to sit in the bar because the main dining room was closed, and we could only order from the bar menu. The bar menu is limited, but Lynn could still order her favorite red bell pepper soup so she was happy. She also tried their pizza with mozzarella, tomato, and basil for the first time. Nothing besides the cheese platter looked good to me so I asked about their "leftovers" (whatever the Christopher's kitchen has left for $10). That night they had roast rabbit with mashed potatoes, which sounded great to me. I also got a flight of three Spanish red wines because I don't have much experience with Spanish wines.
Lynn's soup was close to perfection; the texture was thick, and the flavor was pretty good, but not quite great. Lynn loved it, but she almost always loves the red bell pepper soup despite its inconsistencies. The pizza didn't have tomato sauce on it to Lynn's dismay. The tomatoes were heavily black peppered, which was good, but we both agreed that they overdid the black pepper. The pizza crust was crisp, and pretty good. I wouldn't mind trying their shallot and bacon pizza sometime.
I thought two of my wines were decent, but Lynn really liked a couple of them. My rabbit was plentiful on the plate with a breast, rack of ribs, leg and thigh, and other parts I couldn't identify. I wished I had a road map explaining which part of the rabbit I was eating. All parts of the rabbit were good with two exceptions: one, the rack of ribs were a little dry and didn't taste that good, and two, some piece of rabbit that had skin on it (did they slip a roast chicken thigh in with my rabbit?) that was crispy, and was better than the rest of them. The mashed potatoes were extremely rich, and I could only finish half of them.
Lynn was happy with her meal, and so was I. I was glad I remembered that Christopher's had later hours.
[Previous visit to Christopher's Fermier Brasserie.]
Tonight I had a "Kobe" beef burger, and it reminded me of a couple of things: one, "Kobe" beef (genuine or otherwise) is wasted on a burger, and two, non-Japanese Wagyu beef shouldn't be labeled as Kobe beef. When I started getting into wine I didn't understand other countries getting worked up over appellation controlee (region specific) type names. I figured with a minimum of education everyone knew that genuine Champagne comes from Champagne even if I had the bad habit of referring to every sparkling wine as Champagne. The same with Chablis, Chianti, and port. Now I understand, and fully support protected region specific names. How many people know what Kobe beef is? Genuine Kobe beef comes from Wagyu cows raised in Hyogo prefecture in Japan, and conforms to local standards. If you looked at Kobe beef raw you might be amazed how well marbled the meat is (like 40% fat). Wagyu cows are raised in US, and some make for fine steaks, but they aren't Kobe beef. Hopefully restaurants will stop slapping "Kobe" on all Wagyu beef someday soon as people become more educated about Kobe beef (the same way white jug wine isn't referred to as Chablis anymore).
A while ago I was checking up on my favorite sandwich places, and had a carne asada torta from El Tlacoyo. I also tried a chicken and chile empanada. The chicken empanada reminded me of a fish empanada, and it wasn't something I'd order again. I wasn't too disappointed because I was really there for the torta anyway. The sandwich was messy and tasty, but the bread, instead of being lightly toasted, was soaked in margarine ruining the flavor. I had to remove everything from the bread to enjoy the sandwich. Normally the carne asada torta is consistent at El Tlacoyo so I hope the margarine problem was only a one-time occurrence.
[Previous visit to El Tlacoyo.]
My back was wrecked all last week. It kept feeling like it was getting better later in the day, but every morning it would be impossible for me to stand up. Friday I finally threw in the towel and called my doctor because I had a conference to attend in Las Vegas on Monday. The doctor hooked me up with muscle relaxants and huge doses of ibuprofen. They helped my back feel better, but Sunday I still had trouble walking. This morning my back was sore, but I could walk. That was cutting it close. Right now I'm taking it easy in my hotel room trying not to push my luck. Hopefully my back will finally be close to normal tomorrow.
I couldn't resist the allure of Zero's Subs so Tuesday I tried their Philly cheese steak. They lightly toasted the bread giving it a little crust, which was good. The beef was highly seasoned, but there was more black pepper than I cold stand. Lynn liked it a lot so she traded me her roast beef sandwich for it. Looks like I may end up sticking to the roast beef.
[Previous visit to Zero's Subs.]
Last week I tried another bento box from Fujiya Market. I got a bento with tonkatsu and half a spring roll. I tried to find one with a shumai in it, but only the mackerel bento had shumai in them, and I didn't want a shumai bad enough to deal with mackerel. The usual items they had in the bento boxes were the exact same except that the spaghetti wasn't as good. The spring roll was alright making me wish they only put shumai in their bento. The tonkatsu was made with a thicker piece of pork than the restaurants I've been to have used, and completely fat free. The meat was also salted, which I greatly appreciated. It was actually the best tonkatsu I'd had in the United States that I didn't make myself. Too bad it's not possible to get it hot.
I'm amazed that a supermarket makes food this good.
[Previous bento box from Fujiya Market.]
Yesterday while my back was out Lynn was nice enough to pick me up a sub from Zero's Subs. I had a difficult time choosing between the Philly cheese steak, roast beef, and genoa salami sandwiches, but decided to go for the one that impressed me, the roast beef. The full sized sandwich was at least 14 inches, which was pretty good for less than $7. The bread was airy, and while it wasn't the most flavorful bread it was perfect for the sandwich. This time I got sweet peppers and hot peppers on the roast beef, and Lynn couldn't stand the sandwich with peppers on it. While I enjoyed the alternating shots of heat and sweet the peppers did change the nature of the sandwich. I thought the sandwich was better without them, but it was still close to great.
Both Lynn and I think the roast beef sub at Zero's Subs is great so it may be a while before I try one of their other sandwiches. Maybe.
Lynn and I tried to go to Cyclo with Ken on a Sunday, but Cyclo isn't open on Sundays. We had a very good meal at Lotus Asian Cafe & Grill instead (hopefully I'll write about that soon), but it didn't do a thing to satisfy our Cyclo craving. Not long afterwards Lynn and I went to Cyclo for dinner.
We started with the beef carpaccio, our new favorite appetizer at Cyclo. The beef, lime juice, cilantro, and peanuts (with the occasional squirt of sriracha for me) once again made for a great combination. The carpaccio was what I was craving so I was extremely satisfied.
Since I wasn't craving any entree in particular I used the opportunity to try a new entree. Lynn went for her usual beef chow fun while I tried the pan fried egg noodles with beef, scallops, and shrimp for the first time. We also couldn't resist an order of the green beans. When it said pan fried egg noodles on the menu I didn't expect them crispy, but a large plate of thin crispy noodles were what arrived at our table. The dish had a good flavor, but the noodles were too thin and too crispy for me. The beef and the scallops were both especially tasty, but the shrimp were overcooked. I figured I'd enjoy the dish more the next day when the noodles had a chance to absorb some moisture, and when I reheated the dish I thought it was excellent. Lynn's chow fun had its usual great wok flavor. It might be the most consistent dish on the menu. The green beans were spicier than normal, and I liked them even better that way.
Lynn wanted to order the jasmine creme brulee to make up for the terrible creme brulee we recently had at Sea Saw. I'm not a big fan of the creme brulee at Cyclo so I wouldn't have ordered it. When it came out it was obvious that the sugar wasn't caramelized. Somehow the sugar didn't make the custard gritty, but the custard hadn't fully set either. It was also missing the jasmine flavor again. Despite all that I thought the flavor of the custard was very good, and enjoyed it. Lynn didn't care for it though. Maybe she'll stop ordering it now?
Justina, the owner, told us that Zagat had called her, and told her she was given a 26 by their survey. I had no idea what that meant since I don't pay attention to Zagat (I don't believe in restaurant reviews by committee), but their scale goes to 30. We congratulated her, and I told her I hoped the waits wouldn't get too long. Overall I do think the food at Cyclo is excellent, but on the Zagat scale I'd have to give Cyclo a 25 just because of the inconsistency with the creme brulee.
Only a couple of weeks ago my jaw was in a lot of pain for what seemed like no reason. It was the first time something like that ever happened to me. It was very painful, but mostly just annoying. Some pain killers and time fixed that one after about six days. Yesterday I threw my back out. It was the first time for that too. I'd seen this happen to one of my coworkers before, but never expected to have it happen to me. It can be painful, but it really is more annoying than anything. I'm tired of my body figuring out new ways of being annoying.
Today is Bill's Poker Tournament so naturally Ken got the poker group together for dim sum. After the fiasco at Golden Buddha we're sticking with C-Fu Gourmet. We arrived at 11:30, and the place was oddly empty. We sat at our table, and were immediately mobbed by three carts. That's how I like my dim sum service. Our waiter did take an awful long time coming back with our hot tea though.
The usual favorites were quite good like the calamari, the shrimp stuffed eggplant, spring rolls, and custard buns (which were especially tasty). The only favorite I didn't like was the lo mein, which had an odd flavor to it that kept me from wanting to eat it. They had a couple of new things that we tentatively tried (meaning we only got one order instead of multiple orders). There was shrimp with some sort of green stuff wrapped in a thin wonton skin and pan fried; minced shrimp wrapped in seaweed, battered, and deep fried; and steamed pork buns (not to be confused with steamed barbecue pork buns). The shrimp packet was similar to the seafood packet at Golden Buddha, but not nearly as good. The shrimp tasted shrimpy, and the green stuff didn't seem to add any flavor. I wouldn't get it again. The batter on the seaweed wrapped shrimp item was very light and crispy, but there wasn't enough to it to make it worthwhile. The steamed pork bun was simply a pork meatball in steamed bread with some green onion on top. The flavors were simple with the meat, some sweetness from the steamed dough, and some pungency from the green onion, but I dug it. It's items like the steamed pork bun that remind me how understated, yet tasty Chinese can be sometimes. I also tried the roast pork with crispy skin for the first time. I don't think it's a new dish at C-Fu Gourmet, but it's the first time I ever recall seeing it on our table. The pork itself was fatty, moist, and salty. I thought it was decent. The crispy skin is the real draw of the dish though; it was crispy with a flavor much better than the meat. I'd get it again. I thought the deep fried items tasted a little oily, but I may have just been sensitive to oil at the time because I was the only person who seemed to notice it.
The dim sum at C-Fu Gourmet is still tasty, and I was glad to see the place filled up noticeably before we left. Incidentally, Gordon called me while we were waiting for people to show up to invite me to dim sum at China King today (great timing). I told him after the first time Lynn, Ken, and I had dim sum there that I would give the place another shot with him (he loves their dim sum) so it looks like I'll be returning to China King whenever Gordon decides to have dim sum again.
People like those in the article "Some Europeans Aren't Fans of Halloween" kill me. They want to discourage Europeans from celebrating Halloween because it's American (even though its origin is European). What a bunch of stupid crap. Culture, like language, is alive and ever evolving. You can try to keep it from changing, but that's what it does naturally. The American culture today is different from the way it was 50 years ago, and it'll be different 50 years from now. They can try to avoid Halloween, and other aspects of American culture, but ignoring foreign culture hasn't been too successful in the past.
At the end of a very shitty week I needed a great dinner to recover. It was a Friday night, and the only place that came to mind that would have great food and an available table was Citrus Cafe. We got there around 8, and we were able to get seated immediately. Lynn tried their soup of the day, a cream of red pepper, and I had their cafe salad (which was the reason I thought of them in the first place). I love the cafe salad with its classic combination of sweet dressing, blue cheese, walnuts, and mixed greens. I've never liked the soups at Citrus Cafe, but Lynn digs them. The cream of red pepper soup tasted like chicken broth, and even Lynn didn't care for it. She did enjoy it after she added some black pepper to it though.
Citrus Cafe doesn't update their menu often enough for me, but they had a couple of new items that night. For some reason the halibut Provencal sounded perfect. The halibut was served scaloppine style with very thin slices of breaded halibut with herbs de Provence, and a Provencal tomato sauce. I was worried that the thin halibut would be easily overcooked, but the halibut was moist and tasty. The herbs de Provence were a little odd with the fish at first, but I liked the flavor after I got used to the idea. The sauce was garlicky and very good. The fish came with basmati rice that had a little chicken stock flavor that was very nice. There was also haricot vert [French green beans] that were still slightly crunchy with a light garlic flavor. I was extremely happy with my entree.
Lynn got the sirloin with Pinot Noir-mushroom sauce. She asked them to hold the parsley, but everything still came garnished with parsley. Lynn was able to avoid the parsley so she didn't send it back. I thought Lynn's steak was tasty, but Lynn though it needed to be salted. The sauce was very earthy, and a very good match for the sirloin. Her dish came with roasted potatoes that were better than their usual roasted potatoes; the potatoes were fully cooked and seasoned. Lynn was happy with her entree too.
We finished our dinner with their excellent hazelnut creme brulee. The top of the creme brulee looked weird, and it was because the topping was finely crushed hazelnuts. We'd never seen that before. The texture was a little dusty, but the flavor was great. The custard itself was sweet and creamy with an excellent hazelnut flavor. Citrus Cafe does make one of the best creme brulees around.
I don't eat at Citrus Cafe often, but I felt so much better about life after that dinner I should. I am in the mood for lamb...
[Previous visit to Citrus Cafe.]
Lynn had been bothering me about trying Zero's Subs because they're close to our house, and she hadn't tried them in all the years she'd seen them. I kept avoiding it so Lynn went there with a friend of hers for lunch today. She raved about the place tonight, and told me it was like the sandwiches she used to eat in Philadelphia. She still had half of her roast beef sandwich left so she let me try it. The sandwich was full of thinly sliced roast beef, thinly sliced onion, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and vinegar and oil on some pretty good bread. I usually find roast beef sandwiches mediocre so all I have to say is, "Holy crap that was a great sandwich!" The combination of the roast beef and onion was just impressive (is it the slicing?). I'm definitely visiting Zero's Subs myself sometime soon.
One of the times I recently went to Via Marie for lunch they were closed (remember this is why I stopped eating there last year). I decided to look at it as an opportunity to find someplace new to eat, and wandered around the neighborhood until we stopped at La Barquita Restaurant. The restaurant was near empty when we walked in, which didn't seem like a good sign. We were brought thick corn chips and salsa. I wasn't too fond of the corn chips, but I don't think thick corn chips are that good. The salsa had a good flavor to it, but it didn't have any heat.
I had a horchata that was decently spiced with a thick creamy texture. Overall it was pretty good, but there was a gritty residue on the bottom of the cup that might throw some people off. I also had a lunch combination with a taquito, enchilada, and a chile relleno. The taquito seemed like it was filled with chicken and avocado, and it wasn't bad. The enchilada was a folded tortilla filled with some crumbly low moisture white cheese that didn't melt making the enchilada dry. I also didn't like the flavor of the cheese with their enchilada sauce. The chile relleno, filled with cheese and coated in an eggy batter, was the best of the combination at pretty good.
The food wasn't bad at La Barquita Restaurant, but there wasn't anything about the place that compels me to return either.
Murray had a couple of free sandwiches coming to him from Silver Mine Subs so we braved downtown Tempe one day to give them a try. The Cripple Creek (grilled chicken breast, bacon, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing) sounded pretty good so I gave it a try. Silver Mine Subs bakes their bread on the premises, but it was generic enough that it could have come from the Fry's bakery. Practically anything you put on so-so bread will make a mediocre sandwich, and that's exactly what it was. I think the only reason I'd eat there again is if was very late at night, and I couldn't find an IHOP.
There are two things I can count on at Knock Kneed Lobster: one, the deep fried cod will be great, and two, they won't have any side dish that comes close to the same level of perfection as the cod. The last time I was at Knock Kneed Lobster I noticed they added a couple of side dishes to their menu. One of them was an apple turnover so I had to try it. I got the hushpuppies too even though they're still not as good as they used to be. The fish was once again great; the fish had a good flavor combined with a crispy crust. The hushpuppies still tasted like they were missing something. The apple turnover was a little mass produced piece of deep fried pastry that had a little too much cinnamon, but no apple flavor. I wish instead of trying out new side dishes they would perfect, or in the case of the hushpuppies re-perfect, their current ones.
[Not my previous visit to Knock Kneed Lobster.]
I never really put my email address on the site because I didn't want to get SPAMed. These days I probably get about 15 emails a day from various people phishing or trying to sell me Cialis. Since it's obvious that my email address is already on a few SPAM lists, and Yahoo has a pretty good SPAM filter, I figured it's about time I put my email address on the site. If you look up in the upper right hand corner it's there for comments, suggestions, or whatever (so long as you aren't trying to sell me something). And to the people trying to sell me Cialis, if I wasn't interested the first 50 times it's a pretty good bet that I will never be interested.
The traffic numbers for my site this month are on track to be the lowest traffic numbers I've had since February, and I don't know the cause. There are only two things I can think of: one, I finally had the "other" domain removed from Google, and two, I did a couple of themes this month. My site doesn't have very many pages so I don't think Google scanning the site once instead of twice would cause an obvious dip in traffic. Maybe people didn't like the two themes I chose? Maybe I finally wrote something that offended a lot of people? Anybody have any ideas?
This does make me look forward to next month to see if this is a permanent dip, or only temporary.
The last time I was at The Farm Kitchen was probably at least 5 years ago. I liked their sandwiches, but I always thought they were expensive, and a little overpriced. Last week I went to The Farm Kitchen with Murray and another coworker. It was a beautiful day so it was a great day to eat outside. We looked at the menu, and the sandwiches were now $9. They got more expensive. There were a few sandwiches that looked good so deciding on the grilled chicken BLT (chicken breast, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, basil mayo on sourdough) was a challenge. Murray got the curry turkey, and our coworker got the turkey sandwich (both of which I remembered being good). You have to walk past the baked goods to get to the register so I couldn't resist a peach turnover.
We picked up our food, and found a picnic bench under a pecan tree (it seemed a lot better than sitting underneath an umbrella). I took one bite of my sandwich, and figured out what would be the problem for the rest of lunch; the bread crust was too thick and hard. Occasionally I could taste the grilled chicken or the bacon, but mostly it was bread crust. I even got tired of chewing. Murray only ate half of his sandwich because his baguette suffered from the same problem. The only person truly happy with their sandwich was our coworker, and hers was made with normal multigrain bread. If I ever get another sandwich from The Farm it'll have to be on their multigrain bread (sandwiches always taste better when you can actually taste the sandwich filling).
When I got back to work I tried the peach turnover. The filling had a good peach flavor, and it wasn't over spiced. There was something about the crust that wasn't very good. I think it might have needed butter because I kept thinking that the pastry crust from the Cornish Pasty Co would have been perfect.
I still think the sandwiches at The Farm Kitchen are expensive and overpriced, and I didn't even enjoy my sandwich. I'll probably go back to try a sandwich with multigrain bread, but The Farm Kitchen is unlikely to be someplace I'll frequent.
I had never heard of Frank & Lupe's until the West of Western Culinary Festival where they made some great tacos. Today I finally got around to trying them. I had high hopes for the restaurant, but the possibility occurred to me that they put more effort into their culinary festival tacos than they would their regular food. Looking at their less than interesting menu in their downtown Scottsdale location it seemed a pretty good possibility.
After we were seated we were brought chips and salsa. The chips had an odd flavor to them that might have been due to old grease, and the salsa was only ok. I hate going to restaurants where I don't like the chips and salsa because even though I don't like them I still end up eating them out of boredom. Lynn had the daily special of carne asada burro, and I had a shredded beef chimichanga. I thought the carne asada would be well spiced considering how spicy the beef tacos were at the culinary festival, but the beef was completely unseasoned. There was a very good guacamole in the burro, but Lynn still needed sour cream to eat it. There wasn't anything that could have made it eatable for me. My shredded beef chimichanga was actually filled with machaca (the version that's beef stewed with peppers and onions). I thought that was a good thing, machaca is better than shredded beef in my book, until I tasted it. There was something odd about the flavor that neither of us liked. I only finished the chimichanga so I wouldn't go hungry later.
Frank & Lupe's was bad, but it irritated me more than usual because I felt like I was misled to believe they might actually make good food.
Last Friday night Lynn and I were headed to the west side, and were deciding where to eat. I'd been without New Orleans food for too long, and remembered that Baby Kay's Cajun Kitchen existed. That created an urge for their deep fried game hen, the only dish I liked on their menu. When we got there it was very busy, but there were still a few tables available indoors. (It was a nice night out so we would have preferred to sit on the patio.) When our waitress asked us what we wanted to drink I asked what beers they had on tap. I stopped her when she got to Abita's "Turbodog". I had the "Turbodog" for the first time the last time I was in New Orleans, and couldn't wait to try it again. The beer was served in a chilled glass which was a nice touch. The flavor started with roasted coffee and moved on into chocolate. I really loved it, but the body of the cold filtered beer was so light it was like drinking water. The only thing I don't like about Abita's beers are their super light body, but I was very happy to taste one again.
Our entrees started with salads that were made up of decent lettuce, red cabbage, and tomatoes. Lynn got hers with creamy horseradish dressing while I got mine with blue cheese dressing. Both dressings were good, but together they were really good. I'll have to remember that blue cheese, horseradish, and tomatoes make a great combination.
Lynn is a big fan of barbecue shrimp so wanted to try Baby Kay's version. It was described as shrimp in a lemon and Tabasco flavored butter sauce. What arrived were shrimp in a very thin brown sauce. It smelled spicy, and tasted like a pepped up worcestershire sauce. It was very good, but I would have preferred a thicker sauce.
When I first looked at the menu I didn't see the deep fried game hen so I almost walked out. Luckily I spotted it in the bottom right hand corner of the menu under "More Entrees" before that happened. Lynn got the nightly special of a pork chop with onion gravy, dirty rice, and bourbon fruit. The waitress warned me that it takes about 20 minutes for the game hen, but it takes more than 20 minutes to deter me from deep fried game hen. When the entrees came out we could smell the spice in the dirty rice, which reminded how much I appreciate the spice level at Baby Kay's. The game hen was crispy, and the skin was well spiced (although the spice wasn't always uniform). It was the way I remembered it, and completely satisfying. The hen was a little overcooked, enough to make the wings and breast dry, but not enough to interfere with my enjoyment. I think the only reason the hen was overcooked was because they were busy otherwise I would have been a lot less forgiving. The dirty rice did have a good amount of heat to it, but it was dry (just like I remembered that too). Lynn's dirty rice had gravy on it, and that gave it the moisture I felt it needed. Her pork chop was double-cut, so it was pretty thick, floured, and pan fried. It was also a little overcooked. The flouring was too thick, but the pork chop did have a good mellow flavor. Lynn liked it more than I did. The bourbon fruit looked like a boring stewed fruit cocktail, but it was pretty tasty; they added just enough bourbon to it to give it a mild sweet bourbon flavor that transformed it from cheap canned fruit to something unique and compelling. I was impressed.
We really enjoyed our meal, and wanted to end it with a good dessert. There were five or six different desserts to choose from, but the one that sounded best to both of us was the chocolate bourbon sundae. The sundae was big enough to feed four light eaters. It combined a fluffy butter pecan ice cream with a great bourbon chocolate sauce and crunchy pecans. The only dessert I had ever had at Baby Kay's was the bread pudding, and it wasn't that good, so I was positively surprised in addition to being very happy with dessert.
Baby Kay's has a limited menu full of things I don't care for, but we did have a very good meal. It didn't quite satisfy my New Orleans craving because Baby Kay's is a cajun restaurant, but it's the closest thing I've had to creole food so it should hold me for a while.
I hadn't been to Best Hong Kong Dining in a very long time so I went there last week with Lynn for lunch. I wanted something quick and cheap so I just ordered a lunch special. It was spicy garlic chicken with the usual fried rice, wontons, egg roll, and a cup of soup. I didn't remember liking their hot and sour soup so I got the egg drop soup instead. Not surprisingly the egg drop soup was almost completely bland. Lynn had the hot and sour soup, and it was very sour, but not at all hot. The wontons weren't filled so I didn't even bother trying them. Jong Wah reminded me that egg rolls can actually taste good, but the egg rolls at Best Hong Kong Dining didn't. The fried rice was the same generic fried rice I've had with any lunch special. My chicken was tender, and the sauce for my dish was sweet and hot, but I didn't find the dish satisfying. It wasn't bad so I probably wasn't in the mood for it.
I wanted to give Best Hong Kong Dining a fair try so tonight I stopped there for dinner before class. I was in the mood for noodles so I looked at the menu for something unusual. The Shanghai noodles sounded like exactly what I wanted. They were fat noodles with pork, cabbage, green onion, and julienned carrots. The noodles were nicely salted with a light wok flavor. I may not care for fat noodles in soup so much (udon), but I really dig them pan fried. Overall the dish was very good, but the best part of the dish was simultaneously the worst part of the dish too. Occassionally the pork would have an excellent ginger flavor, but other times I would get some pork fat that just tasted like unseasoned pork. It didn't stop me from eating the pork though. I was a lot happier with my meal this time so I was glad I ate there.
[This may have actually been the last time I visited Best Hong Kong Dining.]
I'd been meaning to try Sea Saw for the last couple of years ever since I heard about their duck appetizer. My birthday dinner provided the perfect excuse to give it a try so I made a reservation for Lynn and I to have the eight course omakase [chef's choice]. We arrived at the restaurant, and it was smaller than I expected with most of the seating at the bar with only a few tables. We were seated at the bar right under an air vent. I wasn't crazy about the spot, but I didn't think it was that bad until I got cold later. No air vents for me in the future.
Lynn knew she was getting the wine pairing, and I knew I wasn't so I wanted some sake. Our waitress mentioned that they had quarter bottles of sake, which sounded perfect because that should be small enough for me to drink without impairing my driving. When I tried to order a quarter bottle it turned out they didn't carry quarter bottles anymore. A demi bottle was more than I wanted to drink so I settled for the "sake for the new world palate" sake flight. I had a Kurosawa [junmai daiginjo], a Suwa "Matensai [star-filled sky]" [junmai ginjo], and a third one that I don't remember. Individually I don't remember one from the other, but I do remember they were all enjoyable. Either it's a flight that follows the theme well, or my taste for sake has expanded.
Our first course consisted of a small glass of chilled edamame soup, a spoon with a kumamoto oyster, uni, tomato broth, and wasabi oil, and a tiny deep fried crab. We tried the edamame soup first, and it didn't taste like edamame. It was cool and creamy, but it didn't taste like much. As a dish I wouldn't have enjoyed it, but something to ease the tastebuds into a large tasting menu it was alright. I stuck the spoon of seafoody stuff into my mouth, and the wasabi oil hit the back of my throat. I almost choked. Once I got past that immediate reaction I thought it was ok, and so did Lynn. The deep fried crab was really crunchy, but it didn't have any flavor. Lynn's wine pairing was actually a sake (Tengumai [yamahai junmai]). I don't remember how it tasted, but it was very good.
The second course was four different types of "sashimi": hamachi with yuzu and avocado; gravlox with romano and a seasoned almond; tako [octopus] with mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, and wasabi aioli; and sea bream with myoga [Japanese shallot], shredded beet, and shiso. The hamachi with yuzu and avocado was decent, but we couldn't taste the hamachi. The version at Restaurant Hapa was better (when I last tried it a few years ago). I thought the gravlox was completely overpowered by the heavily salted almond, and would have been better without it. Lynn thought the crunch from the almond was a nice match for the tender gravlox, and she didn't think the almond overpowered it. Tako is pretty tasteless and chewy so I was impressed that the salad not only accounted for it, but made perfect use of it. The salad by itself was easily one of the best caprese salads we'd ever had. The addition of the tako was good because all it had to contribute was a general meatiness that added another dimension to an already great salad. It was a dish we'd definitely order again. The sea bream was awesome; the combination of flavors was perfect. It was another dish we'd have to order again if we saw it.
The third course was soft shell crab with thin rice noodles, bean sprouts, and cucumber. It was half a panko crusted fried soft shell crab that was very crispy. The legs were tasty, but as with most soft shell crab the flavor of the body wasn't nearly as good as the legs. Lynn didn't care for the crab at all, but she doesn't like soft shell crab. The rice noodles were good, limey, and tasted exactly like the thin rice noodles you get at any Vietnamese restaurant. Lynn really liked them, and so did I, but it's hard for me to be impressed with something so commonly well made.
The fourth course was the white fish carpaccio served with fresh baked focaccia bread. The carpaccio was thinly sliced white fish doused in hot oil with citrus zest and crushed garlic. The scent of the garlic was amazing, and the fish was pretty tasty too. The citrus zest was also a nice touch as it complimented the other flavors well. The only thing I didn't like about the dish was that when I dunked the focaccia in the oil the garlic tasted burnt. I liked the white fish in hot oil dish at Shinbay better, but Lynn preferred Sea Saw's version.
The fifth course was the tuna tataki [seared tuna] with some sort of micro greens, beet-Pinot Noir reduction. We had this dish once before at the West of Western Culinary Festival. It was good this time, but it was missing something that kept it from being brilliant like the first time. It was a little disappointing, but we were over it quickly. Lynn's wine pairing was the Gernot Seith "Portugieser 1999", and she said it was the only bad pairing of the meal. I tried the wine, and it was an absolutely terrible pairing.
The sixth course was the mushroom melange which was a bunch of different types of mushrooms cooked in parchment paper. My first couple of tastes of the mushrooms struck me as rather plain. The dish was garnished with some sort of Japanese citrus fruit that looked like a lime. Once the mushrooms got a healthy dose of citrus juice the dish was significantly better; the citrus really perked up the flavor. It reminded me of the clam and mushroom dish at Shinbay, but I once again liked Shinbay's dish better. Lynn thought they were equally as good.
The seventh course was lamb chops with two sauces (a pepper coulis and a Japanese curry sauce) and a cucumber salad. The lamb was crusty, and well seasoned. I liked them by themselves, and with both sauces. I'm not sure which way was best, but the Japanese curry sauce had me reliving my trip to Japan. I asked the chef about the lamb, and he said it was from New Zealand. I was surprised because it wasn't gamey in the least. Lynn really enjoyed the lamb too, but she didn't like it with the Japanese curry.
The eighth and final course was the miso marinated seared foie gras with Arizona peaches and a yamamomo [Japanese mountain peach]. I've only ever had one seared foie gras that I've liked, and this wasn't it. The foie gras tasted gamey to me, and I can't stand gamey foie gras. Lynn loved the foie gras. The guy next to us loved the foie gras too. Chances are if you like seared foie gras you'll love this version too. The peaches were a little sour, and the yamamomo has a unique sweet flavor. Lynn's wine pairing was the Royal Tokaji "Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 1999". I like Tokaji, and dessert wines, so I had to try it. The wine was very sweet, citrusy, and had a good bit of acid. It was pretty tasty stuff, and Lynn said it was a good pairing, but I wasn't up for eating any more of the foie gras to find out.
I was in the mood for dessert so I asked the waitress what they had. There were only two choices: peaches with basil ice cream and a biscotti, or edamame [soy bean] creme brulee, some sort of wasabi cake, and miso ice cream. Nothing with the creme brulee dessert sounded like it would taste good so I wanted the peach dessert. Lynn thought I would jump at the creme brulee, but edamame creme brulee sounded like a very bad combination to me. Lynn wanted the peach dessert too, and I would have ordered two peach desserts even though I normally hate ordering two of the same dish, but Lynn really wanted me to try the edamame creme brulee. I wasn't going to, but she said she'd trade with me if I really didn't like it.
All of the dishes from the tasting menu came out in a timely manner, but dessert took a long time to come out. It wasn't worth the wait either. The creme brulee was overcooked and not creamy. At a basic level it was terrible, and the edamame didn't improve the flavor. Whoever thought it was a good idea to replace vanilla with soy beans really should have their head checked out. The wasabi cake didn't taste like anything, and it wasn't moist either. The miso ice cream had a creamy consistency more like frozen custard than ice cream, and was actually the best part of the dessert. There was something a little strange about it that I couldn't put my finger on so I didn't eat very much of it. Lynn thought the ice cream tasted salty. True to her word Lynn traded me desserts. The peaches were sliced, and cooked in parchment similar to the mushrooms. The peaches were very tart, even compared to the peaches served with the foie gras, and really needed to be riper. The biscotti was just your average, typical biscotti. The best part of the dessert was once again the ice cream. The basil ice cream was insanely great. This is only the second time I've had basil ice cream, but both have proven that basil and cream are an amazing combination. Maybe they should just offer a bowl of basil ice cream with wasabi shortbread cookies instead?
Lynn was upset that they didn't even write happy birthday on one of the desserts because they said they'd do something like that when she called to tell them it was my birthday. It was a good thing I didn't care. I was happy when the waitress said they took the desserts off the bill because it was my birthday though.
I wouldn't have any reservations about eating at Sea Saw again (they had a couple of great dishes), but Shinbay is still my current choice for high end Japanese food. Lynn liked the food at Sea Saw just as much or a little more than Shinbay, and she seriously preferred the ambience at Sea Saw. The chef at Shinbay doesn't say much to customers, and doesn't seem to welcome conversation, and since there are only seven or eight people in the restaurant at one time it's very quiet. Lynn loved the fact that when you sat at the bar at Sea Saw you were seated in front of all the chefs, and they were all friendly and didn't mind answering questions. We'll probably just end up taking turns between the two restaurants.
I don't like Stephen Lemons as a writer, but I do appreciate his article on late night eating, "Nighthawk Noshes". There are more than a few times I've needed to eat after 9, and found my options extremely limited. If I ever get around to creating a food section on this site I'll try to keep a list of places open until 10 or later.
Yesterday I had lunch with Lynn, and I had her choose between three places that were close to where I was running some errands. She chose Hap's Pit Barbecue. It had been so long since I'd been to Hap's that the only thing I remembered about them was that I thought their barbecue was greasy. I didn't know if that was accurate so I was willing to try them again.
I got a combination dinner with pulled pork and ribs with potato salad and garlic toast while Lynn got a beef brisket dinner with garlic mashed potatoes and garlic toast. The pulled pork was tender, and had a decent flavor. It did strike me as greasy though. It wasn't dripping in grease, but it seemed to be infused with it so that every single stand of it was coated. I thought the ribs were better, but those tasted greasy to me too. Lynn's brisket was the best of the barbecue with its tenderness, and a flavor that reminded me of stewed beef. It also tasted greasy to me, but Lynn didn't think so. (Later when we reheated the brisket at home I saw it glistening in the light which I think proves that it really is greasy.) The pulled pork tasted a lot better with their barbecue sauce, but the brisket was much better on its own.
The barbecue was better than the side dishes. The garlic toast was just a bun cut in half and toasted with some garlic (powder?) and butter(?). Lynn said it smelled a lot better than it tasted. I would have to agree because I think garlic bread should be made with real bread, and not buns. The potato salad was very creamy, but too creamy and bland for me. The garlic mashed potatoes had a good garlic flavor, but Lynn thought they were too dry. She would have liked them with gravy, but I liked them on their own.
Lynn would go back to Hap's for their brisket, but they're too greasy for me.
Shimogamo is located in the same building as C-Fu Gourmet so I had seen it quite a few times going to C-Fu Gourmet for dim sum, but I never considered eating there. When Rob mentioned that Shimogamo made a good tonkatsu I had to check them out.
We walked in on a Tuesday, and the restaurant smelled fishy. It looked like the sushi chefs were breaking down some fish, but I didn't think it should have smelled bad; so much for trying the sushi. We were seated in the back room which was very hip. The room was grey with stone tiles on the back wall, and wicker looking sculptures. It was very cool, and very relaxing at the same time.
I tried to order the tonkatsu with pork curry, but they were out of curry. I was thinking about getting the tonkatsu tray, but Lynn was going to get it so I got the barbecue beef tray instead (I assumed "barbecue beef" meant yakiniku). Lynn also had a cup of hot green tea which tasted fishy. While we were waiting for our food about three different tables of Japanese people were seated. Shimogamo is apparently the restaurant where lots of Japanese people go to eat. One of those tables even got their food before us, which pissed Lynn off. They looked like they ordered udon so it didn't seem unexpected to me. It did take about 20 minutes to get our food though, and that seemed excessive.
The trays come with miso soup, a green salad, and Japanese pickles. I tried the miso soup, and it tasted like nothing to me. I normally find miso soup bland, but this was beyond bland. The salad was iceberg lettuce with a dressing on it I couldn't taste. Basically it tasted like nothing too. The pickles were purple in color, and had a unique, sharp flavor. They were good, but I think I could only take them in small quantities. The barbecue beef was thin slice beef in a sauce that tasted like soy sauce with lots of black pepper in it. It reminded me of the yakiniku from Fujiya Market, but I liked Fujiya Market's better; I found the black pepper overwhelming. I tried Lynn's tonkatsu, and it was crispy, but the pork needed to be salted before it was fried. The salty tonkatsu sauce helped make up for the deficiency though. Lynn liked my entree better, and I liked hers better so we switched. I was quite happy with her tonkatsu until I ate a fatty piece. Normally I like pork fat, but in tonkatsu the fat seems to have the flavor and texture of chicken fat (which gets my vote for nastiest animal fat). After it happened to me a second time I left the rest of the tonkatsu alone. Lynn didn't have any problems with the yakiniku.
I had this lunch a few days after my bento box experience at Fujiya Market, and I thought the meal from Fujiya Market was better on every level (minus setting). I wasn't planning on returning to Shimogamo, but my Japanese teacher (she'd eaten at Shimogamo before) said it sounded like I went there on a really off day. I'll give them one more chance; I'd still like to try their Japanese curry, and if the restaurant doesn't smell fishy I'll give the sushi a shot too.
It had been forever since I'd been to a wine tasting at Sun Devil Liquors so we went there last night for whatever wine tasting they were having. It was Edmeades, whom I'd never heard of before. The tasting started with the Carmel Road "Arroyo Seco Chardonnay 2002". It was light and fruity with a decent amount of acidity. Lynn liked it, but it was too light bodied for my tastes. The next wine was the Edmeades "Mendocino Zinfandel 2003". It had a fruity, wild Zinfandel scent, and a light Zinfandel flavor. I liked it, but once again it didn't have enough body for me. I thought it tasted amazingly similar to the Hartford "Hartford Vineyard Zinfandel 2003". The Archipel "2001" was a Bordeaux style blend that I didn't like at all. To me it tasted like I licked the back of a dog. Lynn thought it was too oaky. The Edmeades "Ciapusci Vineyard Zinfandel" is made with the oldest vines they have. It had a heavy Zinfandel scent without the fruit of the "Mendocino", but more body. It didn't have a flavor I enjoyed though. The best of the bunch was the Edmeades "Alden Vineyard Late Harvest Zinfandel 2001". It had a pleasant sweetness without being a dessert wine. There was a good fruitiness to it too, but I didn't care for the finish though. Lynn liked it enough to get a bottle, and she wants to serve it for Thanksgiving. It should be interesting.
One of the times I was at Lee Lee's I stopped in the Japanese food section, and picked up a bowl of instant soba. Long had told me how good those Japanese bowls of instant noodles were so I wanted to try one for myself. I threw some boiling water into the styrofoam bowl, and three minutes later it was actually good eating. The flavor of the broth was actually complex, meaty, and delicious. I checked the ingredients and the meatiness was probably due to the bonito in the broth, and MSG probably contributed to it to. There was some sort of circular tempura thing that was somewhat crispy, and pretty tasty. The only thing that wasn't good about the instant noodles were the soba noodles themselves; soba noodles are hearty, but these were really light. I'll probably try a bowl of ramen next time.
What's happened with the beef at Von Hanson's Meats? The last couple of times we've picked up steaks from them the fat has tasted strange (almost like it's bad). Lynn and I both noticed it. Lynn's going to ask them about it the next time she's there.
When I was at Arai Pastry Long had noticed a bunch of people come out of Fujiya Market with bento boxes. We had some time while my sandwich was being made so we checked out the bentos in Fujiya Market's refrigerator section. There were a decent variety of entrees like tonkatsu, chicken katsu, yakiniku, teriyaki, salmon, and mackerel. They all looked pretty good so I stopped there the next day with Gordon to pick one up.
I got a bento with yakiniku [Korean barbecue] while Gordon got the "mixed fry" (it had a potato croquette, fried shrimp, and half a piece of fried chicken). We got back to work, and proceeded to work on our bentos. There was a lot of stuff in them for $6. The stuff was in small quantities, but the selection was pretty good. About half of my bento was taken up by the yakiniku and rice, but there was also fish cake, omelette, spaghetti, pickles, something that looked like young green onions in some sort of creamy sauce, beans, shumai, and assorted vegetables. The yakiniku had a strong soy sauce flavor that wasn't bad, but definitely didn't tasted like Korean barbecue to me. It wasn't bad so I ate it all. I normally like the white fish cakes in ramen, but I never realized how much the broth contributed flavor to the fish cake. By itself the fist cake was plain, too plain for me. The omelette had a little sugar added to it so it wasn't my type of thing. The spaghetti had a thin tomato sauce on it, and to my surprise it was very good. The spaghetti sauce had a bright flavor that reminded me of Lynn's marinara sauce. If they sold a bento with only spaghetti I'd buy it. The pickles were made with green tea. It was interesting because all I could taste at first was salt and cucumbers, but then this green tea flavor came out of nowhere in the finish. I'm really amazed by what the Japanese do with pickles. The green onion thing might have been in a sauce made out of mayonnaise, miso, and horseradish. The horseradish wasn't overpowering so it had a good, mellow flavor. The beans might have been azuki beans because they were small, and a little sweet. I liked them, and Gordon said they tasted like baked beans. The shumai [steamed pork dumpling] was one of the best I'd had, right after the two I had during our Seattle trip. It was impressive, and much better than the half a spring roll Gordon had in his bento. The assorted vegetables including a medium sized mushroom cap, a piece of bamboo shoot, a slice of lotus root, kuro konnyaku [a light grey gelatin thing with black specks in it made from a starchy tuber], something wrapped in fresh seaweed, and julienned Japanese gourd. The mushroom and bamboo shoot were both good. The lotus root was starchy and plain. The konnyaku was chewy, and had a hint of fishiness. The seaweed wrapped item tasted like it had a piece of teriyaki mackerel in it, and the combination of seaweed and mackerel (probably the fishiest fish around) was almost more than I could take. It was super nasty fishiness. Once Gordon saw my reaction he refused to try his. Wimp. The shredded gourd had some sort of dressing on it, and it was pretty good.
I also had an Aloha Maid "Calamansi 'Sweet Lime Drink'". It had a lot more sugar in it than lime, and tasted like watered down limeade.
I really liked the bento at Fujiya Market, and I'll probably pick up another one someday soon. The only problem I had with it was that everything was cold. It would have tasted better hot, but it wasn't much of a problem with the yakiniku. It would be a real problem for fried food though.
It had been a while since I had a sukiyaki sandwich from Arai Pastry so I was about due. This time I went for a spicy sukiyaki sandwich on wheat bread with a green salad (a new offering), and a UFO for "dessert". When I unwrapped my sandwich it was on their thick sliced bread, but I found one corner of the bread was soggy. The spicy sukiyaki was spiced up with pickled jalapenos and a little sriracha. I thought the sriracha overpowered the mild, sweet flavor of the sukiyaki, and I actually preferred the sandwich without it. The meat was a little gristly too so it was far from the best sandwich I'd had at Arai Pastry. I think I'm done with their sukiyaki sandwiches because they really haven't been as good since they stopped making them on croissants. I'll probably try their tuna sandwich next time.
The salad came in a little styrofoam cup, and it was pieces of lettuce topped with mayonnaise. I could taste a bit of lemon in the mayonnaise, but it was too bland to serve as salad dressing. I'll be sure to skip it in the future. The UFO wasn't very sweet, and the custard filling was eggy this time. Maybe it's always eggy, but this was the first time I noticed it, and I didn't like it.
Lunch was disappointing at Arai this time, but when this happens I usually find something else there I like.
[Previous visit to Arai Pastry.]
Ever since I started taking Japanese class again I've been on a Japanese food kick. Because of that I decided to make Japanese food this week's mini food theme. It's a mini theme because I'm starting it later in the week, and I probably only have about three days worth of stuff to write about anyway.
Sometime in the last couple of weeks I ate/drank something unusual because it had pumpkin in it when most normal people wouldn't think of putting pumpkin in it. I don't remember what it was, but I do remember that it was heady with Christmas spices, and I liked it even if the "real" (it said real on the menu/board) pumpkin might have come from a can of pumpkin pie filling. I was surprised too because the pumpkin and allspice could have been overpowering, but I had to give them credit for not going overboard.
It's killing me that I can't remember what it was or where I had it. Was I at some chain that even I'd be too embarrassed to admit eating at? Was it one of my old favorites that I knew I wasn't going to write about so I just forgot everything about it? If you see an entry in a couple months about me having something that affects my brain don't be surprised since it's very unusual for me to forget interesting food/drinks.
Speaking of interesting drinks, Lynn had what might be the Mexican equivalent to a shandy at El Torito. It was a beer with hot sauce and lime juice in a salt rimmed glass. It kind of sounded gross, but beer and hot sauce actually made a much better combination than you might expect, and it somehow managed to be refreshing. I didn't think it tasted good with the salt though. It should be easy to make at home if anyone wants to try it for themselves, just be sure to use a light, and lightly hopped beer (like a Mexican or Japanese beer).
[Addendum 10/12: I don't feel so bad now because Lynn remembers exactly what I'm talking about, but she doesn't remember what it was or where we had it either.]
A couple of months ago Lynn and I attended the University of Phoenix graduation ceremony. Afterwards we all went out to eat at Lombardi's. I'd never heard of Lombardi's before, but they were downtown, and they could seat a group of 16. The tables were arranged into a large square so everyone could sit together.
The group started with appetizer samplers that consisted of fried mozzarella sticks, calamari, bruschetta, and marinated vegetables. The fried mozzarella were typical bar food. The calamari was crispy, but served cold. It came with a tomato-caper sauce that was amazing. I'm not crazy about capers, but they were great with the tomatoes, and I wanted to eat as much of the sauce as possible. The bruschetta was typical, and the marinated vegetables weren't bad either. We also got some focaccia that was crispy, and like a pizza without sauce. It would have ranked as above average bar food.
There wasn't much that looked interesting to me on the menu so I went with the grilled chicken breast with lemon, rosemary, and garlic cream sauce. The chicken was overcooked, but it had a good flavor, and it was quite a bit better with the sauce. The entree also came with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The mashed potatoes weren't bad, and the vegetables were so-so. Lynn got tagliolini with shrimp in scampi sauce. Lynn didn't like her dish at all because the sauce was watery, and didn't taste like butter. I tried it, and the sauce really wasn't any good. The pasta was al dente though, and not bad, but it wasn't a dish I'd order.
Lombardi's wasn't terrible, but there wasn't anything that stood out enough for me to want to eat there again. (The tomato-caper sauce really was amazing, but I wouldn't make a trip just for that.)
The first time Lynn and I compared a Riedel "O" tumbler to a cheap generic crystal glass the "O" won. This time instead of tasting Pinot Noir we tried a Cabernet Sauvignon.
We're in White Oak's wine club so they send us four bottles (two red, two white [normally I wouldn't get whites, but I like theirs]) of wine three times a year. Recently they sent us their Cabernet Sauvignon, which I didn't remember ever trying before. We're not Cab fans, but knowing White Oak I thought it might actually be something we'd enjoy.
The wine had an excellent fruit and cream scent which was the same in both glasses. The flavor from the "O" Cabernet Sauvignon tumbler was dry with fine tannins, and very earthy. It tasted more like a Syrah than a Cab to me. The generic glass had the same dryness and tannins, but there was a very pleasant fruitiness with only a little earthiness. We both liked the Cab better in the generic glass. Perhaps not all Riedel "O"s are created equally? I wonder if a different Cabernet Sauvignon will taste better in the "O" Cabernet Sauvignon tumbler.
Callaghan Vineyards is releasing their new reds in November. Callaghan is one of our all time favorite wineries so we can't wait to go down to Sonoita to try their new stuff. There is also some bad news though; Claire's Selection is now a dry wine. It used to be port style, and it ranked among the best American style ports I've had. It will be missed.
In addition to making very good wine I have to admire Kent Callaghan for his directness.
As a final note we are bottling all wines under screwcap from now on. That may shock traditionalists, but science is on the side of screwcaps. No corked wines, consistent, extremely low oxygen ingress and no leakers. Kind of like going from amphorae to glass bottles. No kidding.
One night Lynn and I headed to Restaurant Oaxaca to meet Jamie and Sarah (SarahC from Chowhound) for dinner. I'm always impressed with their ability to find restaurants; Restaurant Oaxaca is hidden in a tiny strip mall in Sunnyslope. We walked in, and there was a sort of grocery store in the first room while the second room was the restaurant. It didn't have much for decor, but that was to be expected.
We were given three kinds of salsa (a mole type, a creamy green one, and a watery, vinegary one), and some chips. The mole salsa was pretty good, and the green one was hot. The one I liked the most ended up being the vinegary one though because it had the best combination of flavors despite its wateriness. I had seen the big glass carboys with the agua frescas when we walked in so I had high hopes for the horchata. Their horchata was spicy with cinnamon and nutmeg, and quite tasty. I made a mental note to see what the other agua frescas were before we left to see if there was anything else I wanted to try on our next visit.
Out waitress spoke no English, and ordering food seemed a little more difficult than that situation normally requires. I got the feeling that she was new. We got an order of empanadas amarillo [yellow mole] for an appetizer. The amarillo was mellow with shredded chicken in it. It was decent, but I was disappointed because it was missing the dynamic flavor I associate with all varieties of moles. The empanadas came garnished with lemon and avocado so I thought I'd try it with a slice of avocado. The creaminess of the avocado was a nice addition, and I was happier with the dish. Lynn went the other way, and squirted some lemon into her empanada. She said it added a lot to it. I tried the full lemon and avocado super combo, and it was great! The acidity of the lemon punched up the flavor of the amarillo, and made its own pleasant contribution too. I should have known there was a secret to the dish by the garnishes.
For our entrees I had the pipian con pollo [chicken with a pumpkin seed sauce], and Lynn had the green chicken enchiladas. My chicken was ok, and the pumpkin seed sauce was very thick, dry, and had a kind of Indian spice flavor (clove, etc...) that I wasn't prepared for. It was a shock, but after a while I got used to it. Once used to it I didn't really care for it though. Lynn's enchiladas looked like they were topped with carne adovada, which was unusual because you rarely see red chile anything paired with anything in a green sauce. The enchiladas themselves were in a very vinegary sauce that tasted terrible. Lynn didn't want them, and neither did I. The carne adovada had a good flavor, and it was the only thing both Lynn and I really ate.
Restaurant Oaxaca is far from a standard taqueria, and has many menu items you're unlikely to find. I wasn't happy with our entrees, but I was with everything else. I'm definitely going back there to try the other menu items because I have a feeling they make something great.
It looks like while I pretty much stopped drinking wine during the warmer Phoenix months I started drinking beer again.
Ever since our Europe trip we've been looking for a kristalweizen [a filtered wheat beer] that was as good as the one we had in Germany (which was slightly more effervescent than normal beer, and had a light crispness that reminded us of champagne). Kristalweizen hardly seems to be imported, and we haven't found an American brewery that makes it either (Tim at Rio Salado said it's because it takes a lot of effort to filter a wheat beer). When I saw a bottle of Weihenstephaner "Kristall Weissbier" I had to try it. It had a spicy scent with a sweet spice flavor, and a banana finish. The spice flavor was heavily clove, and Lynn and I both thought it was nasty.
Chimay "Cinq Cents" is a beer made by a bunch of Trappist monks in Belgium. I should have known better; the last thing I tried made by monks was an apricot liqueur that tasted like lighter fluid. This beer didn't resemble lighter fluid, but it was far too bitter for me. I tried to drink it, but I couldn't take it.
When I saw that Young's "Double Chocolate Stout" was made with actual chocolate I almost put it back. Then I decided to give it a try because it might be good anyway. It had a beer scent with a sugary sweet undertone, which seemed odd to me. The initial flavor was chocolate followed by a very strong, bitter coffee flavor. It was way too bitter for me.
Rogue "Dead Guy Ale" was a beer I had tried a long time ago, and remembered liking. This time it was malty, and quite hoppy. I remembered it tasting better, and didn't like it the way it tasted.
The most recent beer I've tried (in an effort to remember how it tasted) was a Peroni "Nastro Azzurro", a favorite of mine and Lynn. It's hoppier than I normally like, but crisp with a clean finish. It's an amazingly refreshing beer which makes it my summer beer of choice. It also holds the trivial distinction of being the only beer in a green bottle that I like.
Speaking of trivial stuff, the best named beer I've run across so far is Unibroue's "La Fin du Monde". It's French for the end of the world. I don't know what that has to do with beer, but it gets style points for being in French, plus a "non sequitur" bonus. The best logos I've seen are on Rogue's "Dead Guy Ale" and McMenamins's "Hammerhead Ale". The skeleton holding the beer on the "Dead Guy Ale" is Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of death (although with that headdress on I think it might really be his wife, Mictecacihuatl). I give it style points for the Dia de los Muertos look, plus an "obscure god" bonus. The logo on the "Hammerhead Ale", a cross between whimsical old time illustrative style and eastern block propaganda, features a hammer headed guy in overalls proudly raising his beer in the air. I find it pure genius.
[Addendum 10/11: I have a new winner for best named beer. It's Dogfish Head's "Raison D'Etre" which is also a French name so it nullifies "La Fin du Monde"s style points for being French. It means reason for living, and it's also a pun because the beer is made with green raisins. It gets huge "works on multiple level" bonus points. If it's made with raisins technically it's a wine, like other wines made with raisins (e.g. amarone or Pedro Ximenez), and not a beer.]
Next time I endeavor to do a food theme I should probably consider my class schedule first; this was absolutely the busiest week of Japanese class I've had. We had two quizzes, two tests, and a ton of homework due this week. I was happy that I was able to do well on all my tests, and still get some writing done. I feel like celebrating.
I had heard from way too many people that Lo-Lo's Chicken & Waffles was worth eating at to put off going there as long as I did. I finally decided to get serious about trying it and one night Lynn, Long, and I went there for dinner. We walked in and didn't know whether to wait for someone to seat us or to seat ourselves. After about a minute a waitress told us we could seat ourselves.
A guy came to take our drink order and I asked if they had fresh lemonade. He said they did so I got a glass. The lemonade wasn't especially anything (sweet, sour, or lemony), which was too generic for me to ever order again.
For dinner I got a 1/4 of a chicken and 2 waffles. The chicken was described as Southern fried and when it arrived it had a perfect looking buttermilk crust. The chicken was crispy, moist, and excellent. I was impressed with the dark meat because it wasn't greasy. I would have preferred the chicken better spiced, but at least it wasn't bland. I did throw a little hot sauce on it and was quite pleased. The waffles were large, crispy, and sweet with plenty of cinnamon in the batter. Originally I had wanted to get a slice of red velvet cake when I saw it on the menu, but the waffles fulfilled my dessert craving. The waffles were excellent, but I didn't find the combination of fried chicken and waffles worked for me.
Lynn saw the macaroni and cheese on someone else's table and thought it looked good. She got a side of it, but she didn't care for it. It was thick with an odd flavor that Lynn attributed to cream of mushroom soup. The flavor was unusual at first, but it only took me a couple of bites to wrap my head around it. I would only call it good though. Lynn had to add hot sauce to it to make it palatable to her.
We all thought the food was very good and plan on returning. Next time I probably won't get waffles though.
The second to the last time Lynn and I went to Pane Bianco I had the sopressata with grilled onions, Lynn had the roasted eggplant market sandwich, and we split a market focaccia (crushed tomato, goat cheese, and basil). The sopressata is great with roasted peppers, and I figured since grilled onions are also sweet that they might be just as good. For some reason the combination of sopressata and grilled onions didn't really work together. The tomato and goat cheese were good on the focaccia, but it was especially good with the basil. I tried Lynn's sandwich, and the eggplant didn't taste like anything. It was like the world's blandest sandwich. If it was my sandwich I would never have made it past the third bite, but Lynn liked it.
I was severely disappointed with our lunch, and I learned to check the menu to see if the sopressata is made with onions or peppers.
The last time Lynn and I were at Pane Bianco I had to make a decision between the market sandwich (roasted lamb and cabbage) and the sopressata (now with roasted peppers instead of grilled onions). I went with the lamb even though I thought the ingredients sounded questionable. Lynn wasn't hungry so she got the market focaccia of crushed tomato, ricotta, and parmesan. Eventually I noticed they added a caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil) to the menu, and ordered one.
Neither of us wanted to eat on the patio so I decided to stop at Steele Indian School Park. I'd never been there before because the vacant lot look didn't entice me to visit. Apparently the vacant lot is just there to throw the rubes off because the park is pretty far back from Central, and it's actually a very nice park. Once we found a ramada we dug into lunch.
The lamb sandwich was probably the second worst sandwich I'd ever had at Pane Bianco (right behind the stewed pork sandwich). The lamb wasn't gamey, but very bland offering little reason to eat it. The cabbage was pickled, a little sweet, and good, but it couldn't make up for the lamb. I decided to never eat another non-sausage meat sandwich at Pane Bianco ever again. The focaccia was decent despite the ricotta (which will now be referred to as "the cheese of the devil"). The cheese of the devil actually had a good flavor, which I think was the first I've ever thought that. We both agreed that the focaccia was missing something, and Lynn figured out that it was basil.
The item that reminded me of their past brilliance was the caprese salad. The mozzarella was salted so it wasn't completely tasteless like most mozzarellas, and the saltiness of the mozzarella with a little bit of black pepper was all that was needed to make the caprese very good. We'd definitely order it again. The salad also came with some bread that had a thick crust, and a holey chewy center. I thought the crust was too thick for the size of the loaf (some things need to be in proportion), but Lynn liked it.
I was a lot happier with this lunch than the one before it, but it still wasn't up to their standard. Now that I know what to avoid, and now that they have a caprese salad on the menu, I should be back to having great lunches at Pane Bianco.
[Not the previous visit to Pane Bianco.]
Tonight it was dark when I left work, and I saw something in the road on my side of the street. It was difficult for me to see what it was so I veered toward to middle of the street to avoid hitting it. It was a good thing too because it was a guy with a protruding lower jaw, a bandage wrapped around his abdomen, and wearing a pair of devil horns on his head in a wheelchair wheeling his way towards me. I don't know what that was about, and I'm probably better off not knowing.
[I had this visit up Monday, but somehow it got deleted. This is a recreation, but I'm still posting this under Monday.]
One day I went to Via Marie for lunch, and they were closed. This was the exact same reason I stopped eating there last year. I had to find a different place for lunch, and I didn't remember Las Brazas being bad.
I got a horchata (they didn't have melon this time) that was watery, and didn't have much flavor. There were chips in a warmer, and a couple of different kinds of salsa. The best one was made primarily from red chile, but it was kind of one dimensional. I got an order of beef fajitas, and a carnitas taco. The carnitas had a good flavor, but the beef wasn't seasoned in any way. Even after I gave it a good dose of salt it was still lacking.
I'll probably never eat at Las Brazas again. I might stop eating at Via Marie too if they don't stop opening late.
When did it start getting dark before seven? I only noticed it yesterday when Lynn pointed it out. I really miss the days when Phoenix used to get cold.
I have a huge backlog of restaurants to write about, and I haven't done a food theme in a while. I think the two are related so I'm doing a food theme this week. It'll be restaurants in either Phoenix or Chandler, whichever sounds more interesting when I try to write about the first restaurant.
Saturday night Lynn and I couldn't agree on a restaurant to go to. Lynn tried a different tact, and listed off restaurants we hadn't been to in a long time (namely most of our favorite restaurants). Of the bunch, and there are a bunch, Takamatsu was the one that fit our mood.
We walked in, and the place was busy enough that we had to wait five minutes for a table with a grill. Once seated we decided on what to drink. I wanted sake, but Lynn wanted to try soju, which was described as Korean sake. Amazed, or possibly ashamed, that I had eaten Korean for quite a few years, and had never tried soju once motivated me to give it a shot. When we ordered it the waiter asked us if we had it before. Answering no he said that it was strong. He told us they had two kinds of soju, and he'd get us the lighter one if that was ok. Not wanting to get trashed we said it was ok. He brought us out a bottle of Saan soju, and a small plate with three side dishes on it (spinach, bean sprouts, and fish cake). The bottle said that it was made from sweet potatoes with green tea solids. It definitely wasn't sake. At 21% alcohol (42 proof for those who don't know the % alcohol * 2 = proof formula [Lynn doesn't so I'm seriously not being condescending]) it was stronger than sake or wine. I expected it to taste like lighter fluid, but it was so light and smooth that it was almost like drinking water. I could people seriously getting themselves into trouble drinking this. I wasn't sure why the waiter brought the sides so I assumed that they were Korean drinking snacks (like salted peanuts in America or dried squid in Japan). Everything actually went well with the soju so I figure that had to be its purpose. The spinach was plain, but not bad. The bean sprouts were also plain, but the little bit of sesame oil they put on them made them quite good. The fish cake was tasty (it tasted like a thick pasta), and occasionally spicy; naturally it was my favorite of the bunch.
We had ordered the kalbi, and the scallops to barbecue at our table. They brought out about eight different side dishes, a green salad, and our meat. The kalbi was very well marbled with fat so I knew the kalbi was going to be especially good that night. The scallops were served with an assortment of sliced vegetables including onions, green onions, bell peppers, broccoli, and other stuff I don't remember. It all went on the grill, or at least as much as we could fit.
The green salad took the place of the usual cup of soup, and I was glad because the soup never tastes like much. The salad looked good, but when I saw how much of it consisted of sliced green onion I knew it was going to be too pungent for me. And it was, but at least Lynn liked it.
We had also ordered some sushi, and I was disappointed that it arrived after the rest of our food. It was only a small gripe though. Two orders of barbecue was already too much food for us so we tried not to go crazy with the sushi. Lynn had an order of nigiri hamachi [yellow tail], I had a summer roll (spicy tuna and spicy crab), and we planned on splitting a veggie roll (mountain root, cucumber, pickled radish, avocado). Lynn said the hamachi was good. The summer roll was spicy with a very good flavor. Normally Lynn doesn't like spicy rolls, but even she liked this one. I had looked forward to trying the veggie roll, but it tasted odd bordering on nasty. The pickled radish was sweet, which I didn't care for, and the mountain root tasted fishy to me. The combination of the two was enough to make us both want to spit it out. Neither Lynn or I got past the first piece.
The kalbi was very juicy, and the sweet marinade they use is one of the best (at a restaurant since my homemade sweet and fiery kalbi marinade rules all). Being able to cook the scallops rare combined with the marinade (the only flavor I could identify was sesame oil, and there was something it in that gave a slow burn) made the scallops absolutely delicious. The scallop marinade was also very good on the vegetables, but with so much food, and leftovers not a viable option, we didn't eat very many of them.
Of the side dishes the fish cake was the best of the bunch (to me). These ones didn't have anything spicy with them though. Lynn's favorite was the shredded potatoes that were plain with a solid potato flavor. They were actually addictive. There was also broccoli that was firm, but fully cooked, with a little sweet sauce on it that was pretty good. The kimchi wasn't especially fermented, but the cabbage was very crisp, and it was very salty. I liked it about as much as I can like a kimchi.
I don't know how it's possible, but Takamatsu keeps getting better. Other than the veggie roll out entire meal was great, and we were both extremely satisfied. Surprisingly I didn't get buzzed from the soju, but Lynn (who probably drank 2/3 of the bottle) did.
[The last time I wrote about eating at Takamatsu.]
