The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 1)

Hi again. My GF had a craving for her favorite burger from Tookie's so we went there for lunch the other day.

This time I ordered Tookie's T-Bird Salad with fried chicken and honey-mustard dressing:

After lunch, we stopped by Rose's Seafood, where I purchased a pound of lump crab meat. (Yesterday, I made 16 small cakes and froze them so as to have them on hand for when the craving hits!)

Then we went by Barnes & Nobles to use the discount coupons we had each received in the mail. I didn't really need anything, but took a look at the cookbooks on the bargain tables and found Curry Cuisine and brought it home.

After a couple of errands to acquire supplies for the

upcoming Candy and Confection Conference

Kerry and I returned to

Pomelo

for lunch.

Kerry had a bowl of curry pumpkin soup:

And we shared the Thai platter:

Thai spring rolls, calamari, chicken and beef satays, shrimp rolls and shrimp crackers with sweet chili sauce and peanut sauce.

After lunch we toured the thrift stores and lo and behold we found yet another one of these

In a different store and this time complete with instructions!

No it isn’t a Korean table top grill………………….it’s an “as seen on TV” miracle cooker called Tastiwave.

I HAD to bring it home – just because. Unfortunately (or perhaps not) it is missing the crucial grill plate. After Googling it and finding only the most glowing of reviews I opted not to actually test it! I rather value my microwave and the warnings on the literature that came with it suggest that it wouldn’t take much to cause damage to my oven. But it is part of the fun of the thrift shops.

Kerry found something much more practical – a particular tart tin that she has been after for some time:

After a cleanup it will be quite useable.

Last week my GF and I traveled down to San Leon to revisit the TopWater Grill. It was hard to believe it had been over a year and a half since our last visit there. Unfortunately, it was overcast, windy, and as there were no fishermen unloading their catch, only a few birds were hanging about. View from our table:

But the food was excellent! My GF had the Chicken Marisco:

I had the Grilled Fish Tacos:

And we shared dessert - their Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake:

Since we were celebrating my birthday, I got the bigger piece!

.....

Since we were celebrating my birthday, I got the bigger piece!

The food looks delicious and happy belated birthday!

In an unusual confluence of good fortune Kerry and I lunched two days in a row this week.

On Tuesday we gathered a few more odds and ends in support of the Candy and Confection Conference which is coming up very soon. When we found ourselves in Waterdown we had lunch at a favourite pub, The Royal Coachman, which we have not visited in some time.

Kerry had perogies with a Caesar salad:

And I had the poutine:

Then yesterday we made a trip to HomeSense, then to Starsky’s for small bottles of various fruit juices to feed our cocktail habit, and finally to the Asian market where we both seem to spend too much time and money. In the area of the Asian market are any number of interesting places for lunch. This time we chose Xin. After reading the menu which had very little recognizable English on it, we wondered if we had made a good choice. Few dishes seemed at all familiar and some downright mysterious – one of which was “fish-flavoured pork”. However, we managed to find a couple of things that looked either promising or so far out that they had to be seen to be believed. Fried pork dumplings seemed safe enough:

And they were delicious.

Kerry was so amused by the “Deep Fried Pork Burritos” on a Chinese menu that she just had to order them:

Amazingly good. If anyone can tell us more about how these are made we would be grateful.

I also ordered the Kung Pao chicken (though it had an unusual spelling in the menu). Alas, when we enquired what had happened to this dish, the owner struggled for the English words to tell us that his waiter had quit. He himself was filling in and his language skills were not up to much. He had missed our chicken order. However the food was so good we’ll be back I am sure.

As we waited for our meal, Kerry gazed out of the window and was startled to see “Owl of Minerva” on a billboard. Sure enough this highly esteemed Korean restaurant will be opening in Mississauga soon. We’ll be sure to visit there too for a bowl of dolsot bibimbap.

Kerry and I tried a different bistro yesterday. It houses its own micro-brewery but we opted not to sample this time.

We both fancied mussels so Kerry had the mussels provencale:

And I had the Thai mussels:

We shared the frites with aioli:

The mussels did not come with any sort of bread so we asked for a baguette but we got some sort of multigrain bread which worked to sop up the sauces.

Edited to fix position of link.

So ............

how were the Mussels?

So ............

how were the Mussels?

Kerry and I agreed that we would share our lunch experiences but largely avoid any sort of review unless something was extraordinarily good or extraordinarily awful. Hope that gives you at least a clue.

So ............

how were the Mussels?

Kerry and I agreed that we would share our lunch experiences but largely avoid any sort of review unless something was extraordinarily good or extraordinarily awful. Hope that gives you at least a clue.

Not a bad policy. I followed the link and browsed the menus just out of curiosity. Saw some things that sound tasty... shame about that dessert menu though.

The food looks delicious and happy belated birthday!

Anna - Thank You!

Last week, my GF and I drove down to Galveston to see a quilt show and had lunch at the Black Pearl Oyster Bar and Grill.

She had half a Muffaletta with Onion Rings, while I had their

Grilled Fish Tacos. After lunch, we re-visited Patty Cakes Bakery and brought home the following:

Potato Rolls and

a couple of Eclairs for me, which I shared with my DH. And she purchased a

New York Style Crumb Cake,

some Black & White Cookies, a Chocolate Sandie, and a couple of Eclairs.

I hadn't had an eclair in years, this one was just as good as I remembered! Oh, and my GF shared the crumb cake with us, and it was very good, too. We all agreed its a good thing we don't live any closer to the bakery!

thanks for the 'details' on those mussels.

as i thought: they look to me as they tasted to you.

Ive always wondered if steamed mussels ever tasted better than the traditional french way. and they need that crusty bread, too

I almost forgot to post our lunch from yesterday! Being as Kerry is on her way to the Chocolate and Confection Conference in Washington, DC, link, we had lunch on Monday this week instead of our usual Wednesday. We were on our way to a usual hangout in Hamilton for some comforting pho when Kerry caught sight of a sign about BBQ and realized it wasn’t likely western-style.

U SHAO BBQ is an “all you can eat” Korean BBQ restaurant and we had a unique experience although I complained bitterly about having to cook my own lunch.

Here’s the grill which is in the centre of each table and is powered by natural gas (I am guessing as it seemed to be piped in).

We were presented with a menu of options to BBQ and chose most items. We skipped the fish apart from the squid and skipped the tofu but everything else we ticked off.

The food arrived in rectangular dishes, one to each ingredient.

The banchan consisted of a very mild kimchi, a mild pickled cabbage and I have forgotten the third thing.

A bowl of rice was brought and we each received a bowl of miso soup.

We cooked our lunch leisurely over the grill and caught up on our lives.

Though we rarely order dessert at lunch it was a part of the meal on this occasion and so we ordered Osmanthus Cake. Naturally, we expected cake of some sort but what arrived was a jelly! It was texturally delightful and very refreshing.

So impressed was Kerry that after lunch we tried to source the ingredients in the Asian stores in Hamilton without any luck.

Met up with patris this am on my way through Buffalo on route to Washington to have coffee and a visit. We went to an excellent locovore place called Five Points Bakery and Toast Bar - so named because it lives at the intersection of 5 streets (and makes toast).

On offer for the special today was a hard boiled duck egg, Rupert cheese (I think it is a gruyere), multigrain toast. I opted for the cheddar bread instead of the multigrain - it had a huge struesel of cheese in the middle, part of which got left in the toaster! No picture of Patty's - she had the multigrain.

On the way back to Patty's place of employment we stopped at Nickel City Cheese to obtain some of that Rupert cheese for my trip. Turns out they sell Rancho Gordo beans there! A limited selection - but a treat to find.

Yesterday Chocolot, Mette, Curls and I hit the DC area to visit a couple of chocolate shops, The Cowgirl Creamery, Albert Uster and Ace Beverages.

We had lunch at Poste (the old post office building in the Hotel Monaco).

Chicken palliard for Ruth.

Steak fritte for Donna.

Burger for Mette.

Moule fritte for me.

On Thursday Kerry and I had errands in Markham which is Toronto’s other China Town. We completed our errands and headed over toward Pacific Mall. We opted not to do any Asian grocery shopping but simply grab our lunch there. Shabu-shabu called out to us.

We asked for help figuring out the proper ordering process and were instructed to order a soup base and then the ingredients that appealed to us. This was an “all-you-can eat” offering. We skipped the pig’s blood and various other things that simply don’t appeal to our unsophisticated palates.

We learned as we left the restaurant that we could have each ordered two soup bases which would have been served in a divided soup pot. We observed another pair of diners who had done just this. DAMN.

This is a four-seat table with built-in induction cooktops:

Kerry’s Japanese Shabu soup base:

My miso soup base:

The ingredients:

The cooking begins:

You two do have the most fun eating out. I, along with hordes, envy you both.

Our one experience at Pacific Mall was quite confusing. No surprise. However, accidentally while looking for a 'kitchen' type store on what I think is the west side, I found the most incredible Chinese bakery and we stuffed ourselves with the best Chinese type pastries I have ever eaten.

Little bit of catch up needed. Last week Kerry and I decided on a pub meal for a change of pace. The Fool and Flagon beckoned. I enjoyed an Alexander Keith’s Red with my open face steak sandwich topped with creamy mushroom sauce and haystack onions:

Kerry fancied nachos with black olives and guacamole:

Yesterday we had a guest along with us as we pursued our favourite pastime- thrift store shopping. We were on a mission to find a juicer for my daughter, a stock pot for one of Kerry’s friends and whatever else took our fancy.

No stock pot. Did find 2 juicers for my daughter which she is checking out and our guest found all sorts of interesting stuff not necessarily kitchen/cooking related. A good day for all of us.

Thrift shop browsing works up quite an appetite and we returned to Sakai. Kerry and guest ordered the bento box of the day:

We all enjoyed a bowl of miso soup and a small salad.

And I ordered the dolsot bibimbap:

The dolsot bibimbap was a strange animal - normally the rice is served in the bottom of the hot stone bowl and by the time you reach the end you have this lovely crispy rice crust. Here the rice was served on the side - just not the same at all!

I have one of those tart tins. They are really hard to find. My step-sisters’ mom gave it to me for making lemon curd tarts. I haven’t used it yet, but my step-dad uses it every year to make mincemeat tarts.

It’s really a good thing that I don’t live in Canada. I would OD on poutine. God, that stuff is good. It’s weird that we don’t have that here in Virginia – it is EXACTLY the kind of food southerners love.

I finally can play in this thread! I drove up to Northern Virginia to have a day with an old friend. I’m lucky enough to have as my best friend someone I went to high school with. We met 37 years ago and are still as close as ever. She lives near Boston, so we don’t get together much. When we do, food always figures in! We walked all over Old Town Alexandria, drove around finding old haunts – schools, friends houses, etc. We stopped at Society Fair – a wonderful food emporium with a bakery, deli, restaurant and general nommy ingredients. I picked up a couple of lovely pieces of chocolate – Poco Dolce Tiles. One in burnt caramel/sea salt topped bittersweet for me and an Aztec chile for Mr. Kim. I also got these:

P1100804 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Gorgeous croissants and a big, dense loaf of delicious bread.

We had lunch at Restaurant Eve. What a fabulous place – excellent food, stellar service and gorgeous furnishings. Lynn had the asparagus velouté soup:

P1100797 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Which she said was fabulous. She also had a beautiful salad with roasted fingerling potatoes and an amazing salmon mousse:

P1100798 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Just perfectly made – light and fluffy and the essence of salmon.

I started with a vodka tonic w/ lime:

P1100795 by ozisforme, on Flickr

which I wouldn’t bother mentioning except it was the best vodka tonic I’ve ever had. The tonic was housemade and the drink was ridiculously expensive - $13, I think. But worth every penny.

I had pork belly rillette with salt and pepper pork rinds, Kentucky soy and young coriander:

P1100799 by ozisforme, on Flickr

My GOD, this was amazing. The rillette was not the chunky kind that we fell in love with in NOLA. It was soft and smooth and silky. More like a mousse really. And just decadently good.

We stopped at Occasionally Cake on King Street for cupcakes:

P1100800 by ozisforme, on Flickr

On the left is Lynn’s – Amaretto cream frosting on vanilla cake and the other is mine – cotton candy frosting on vanilla cake. Very good – as a matter of fact, the cake was as good as I’ve ever had from a cupcake bakery. I was hoping to sweet talk them into giving me some hints about how they cracked the code on the cotton candy flavor for frosting, but they didn’t. Like my efforts, it was good and sweet, but not terribly cotton candy-like.

On Tuesday, after haircuts, Kerry and I tried something a bit different for lunch.

D Hot Shoppe offered Caribbean food. Kerry ordered a “mild” chicken roti:

I wanted a couple of Jamaican patties:

But Kerry talked me into also trying the goat curry:

The place was packed and the line up got longer and longer so it is apparently quite popular. At first we seemed to be the only female diners but a couple of other women did show up eventually.

Lunch with a friend this week - went to Pane Fresco - a place that Anna and I have frequented before.

Katherine opted for the chicken caesar salad.

I decided on the Gumbo special.

We headed to Buffalo on Tuesday to do some errands and to meet up with another eG member, Patris.

We chose a Greek restaurant for lunch.

Patris enjoyed a tuna melt:

Kerry and I both ordered the lamb souvlaki only to learn the restaurant was out of lamb! I changed my order to beef souvlaki:

And Kerry changed her order to chicken souvlaki but asked that a Caeasar salad be substituted for the Greek Salad. She ended up with a Chicken Caesar – oh well!

Last week my GF and I finally got together again for lunch. She had heard good things about the sandwiches at Firehouse Subs so we gave them a try. And since it was a beautiful day, we ate out on their patio.

We each ordered a large sub combo, which came with a bag of chips, a soft drink, and a pickle on the side, for just under ten dollars.

I had the Hot Pastrami with Melted Provolone, Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato and Onion on a Wheat Roll. And my GF had the Engineer -

Smoked Turkey Breast, Melted Swiss, Sauteed Mushrooms with Mayo, Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion on a White Roll.

After lunch, we went over to Bed, Bath and Beyond to browse. I came away with a set of 4 Lenox Starlight Double Old Fashioned Glasses, that had been marked for clearance, to add to my barware.

On Wednesday Kerry and I headed to Starsky's, a European grocery store and then to an Asian grocery store which we frequent. On our last trip there Kerry noticed that an "Owl of Minerva" Korean restaurant was soon to open. Sure enough, we found it open and doing a brisk business.

Bibimbap was our inevitable choice:

with the requisite banchan:

Since we both ordered the same thing I have only posted one photo.

Kerry and I found ourselves on Dundas Street in Mississauga yesterday which is entirely too close to our favourite Pho Dau Bo restaurant. Resistance was futile so it was a comforting bowl of pho for each of us:

The fresh garnishes:

And a small plate of Vietnamese summer rolls with peanut dipping sauce:

Headed out today for a visit and some chocolate talk with DianaM. We stopped for lunch at the Chalet Restaurant in Milton (no website to be linked to) - it's a family restaurant/truck stop type place.

Roast beef on a kaiser with horseradish and mustard for me.

Pork schnitzel on a kaiser for Diana.

We enjoyed a little thrift store shopping as well - hitting a nice little used bookstore in a place called Erin and browsing the cookbooks. There was one cookbook from the 50's or 60's that was a little politically incorrect in today's terms. It had a picture of what looked something like cake pops made up to look like Al Jolson in blackface - with a name that certainly wouldn't be used in this day and age!

While taking care of errands on Wednesday, Kerry and I spotted this restaurant. We were hoping to enjoy the food and entertainment of a Teppanyaki lunch. Somehow we failed to make our preference known to the staff. We still enjoyed lunch and swooshes of flame emanating from a nearby table where they did get the whole Monty.

Kerry had jasmine tea in this very lovely cup:

First up:

Miso soup and a salad.

Then we shared:

Mixed Tempura

And:

Beef and Scallop Teppanaki cooked elsewhere and simply served to us. Next time………….