418 replies to this topic

[robirdstx]

Your lunch looks amazing especially the yakitori. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks! I was surprised by the vegetables on the skewers but they turned out to be the best part!

And now I have a craving for Indian food!

[Kerry Beal]

Chocolot, RobertM and I are in Scranton, PA for 4 days of chocolate classes put on by the PMCA and taught in part by Peter Greweling. Today we on our own for lunch and Ruth and I hit a place called Cosmo's Cheesesteaks and Fries.






Both cheesesteaks with provolone, onions and peppers, also mushrooms on mine.



After lunch we hit a couple of places - one that was a surplus place - and saw this rather delightful looking cookbook about kiddie food.

[Tri2Cook]

Mmmm... cheesesteak.

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I revisited Xin . We tried to re-order the "deep-fried pork burritos" but were told they were not available. We were naturally disappointed but decided to stay and sample other things. First up was this plate of stir-fried vegetables:



Then some pork and chive dumplings:




And finally a Beef Roll:

[Anna N]

Meant to post this photo too - after all it is food related and was amost next door to the restaurant where we ate:



Is the offer to massage a tuna or could we have elected to be massaged by a tuna? Would a translation help?

[IowaDee]

Either way, it sounds fishy to me!

[robirdstx]

Last week my GF and I revisited Little Daddy's Gumbo Bar at their League City location. GF had her favorite,



their Steamed Clams, which comes with



cheesy Garlic Toast. She also had



the Iceberg Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing.

I went with one of my favorites, their



Fried Crawfish Tail Shorty.

Edited by robirdstx, 13 June 2012 - 07:38 AM.

[Kouign Aman]

Another offering from 'Wich Addiction on miramesa blvd.

Scallop salad. All the components played well together.


Pot roast, roast tomatoes, asparagus on pasta. This is the best meal yet. I saw the size of the serving, swore to save half for the next day, and just couldnt do it. Had to have 'just one more bite' til it was gone.

Edited by Kouign Aman, 13 June 2012 - 08:01 AM.

[CFT]

Meant to post this photo too - after all it is food related and was amost next door to the restaurant where we ate:



Is the offer to massage a tuna or could we have elected to be massaged by a tuna? Would a translation help?

It is a mis-spelling. The common transliteration is 'tuina', a form of Chinese massage. 'Tui' means push, 'na' means grasp.

Edited by CFT, 13 June 2012 - 08:49 AM.

[Anna N]

Meant to post this photo too - after all it is food related and was amost next door to the restaurant where we ate:



Is the offer to massage a tuna or could we have elected to be massaged by a tuna? Would a translation help?

It is a mis-spelling. The common transliteration is 'tuina', a form of Chinese massage. 'Tui' means push, 'na' means grasp.

WHEW! Thanks.

[Kerry Beal]

I'd heard of a hot stone massage and once in Montreal a friend had a massage that involved whapping her with leafy branches - just picturing getting whapped with a large fish! Couldn't stop snickering.

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I headed out towards Newmarket to pick up a replacement part for her sous-vide set up. I wanted to find some Thai ingredients as I am cooking from Hot, Sour, Salty Sweet.
Since our destination was not too far from Toronto’s second China town, Pacific Mall, we decided to eat lunch in the area. Seoul Garden offered all you can eat Korean BBQ and it called out to both of us.

First we were amused by this on the menu:




We were each presented with a small bowl of congee. Not something I would ever have chosen to try but this was quite tasty:



We ordered an appetizer of squid (of course!):





We have never seen such a large offering of banchan:









This was our cookng surface and the paper stayed on to prevent sticking of some ingredients throughout lunch. After we both sampled the fish and decided it was not to our taste, we should have ditched the paper as it became an annoyance:




Platters of food to BBQ:
.




Lunch underway:



Had we wished, the platters of meat, fish and vegetables would have been replenished but despite our best efforts we could not even finish the first serving. Both of us could have made a very satisfying lunch just on the banchan.

[robirdstx]

I have a couple of lunches to report.

Last week, we went to Monterey's Little Mexico location in Dickinson for Tex-Mex. My GF had had a to-go meal from them the week previous (and enjoyed it) and since I had been curious about them but had never been, that's where we went.

The meal started with the usual



Corn Tortilla Chips and Table Salsas.

Last week my GF had sampled their Stuffed Avocado, which turned out to be large chunks of avocado on shredded lettuce and topped with grilled shrimp, fish, and mixed vegetables covered with chile con queso. She had opted to have the queso on the side and I followed her example.



I know it does not look like much (especially since the photo is so blurry) but it was delicious and I cleaned my plate. The queso was great with some of the chips.

My GF had the



Beef Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Onions, which came with



Guacamole, Pico de Gallo, Rice, Refried Beans and warm Flour Tortillas; she also had shredded cheese and sour cream.

Earlier this week, we were in Houston and ended up at La Madeleine for a late lunch. My GF had their



French Dip with Tomato Basil Pesto Pasta Salade and French Vanilla with Berries Mini Parfait, and I had their



Salade Sampler with Spinach Salade, Chicken Salade, and a cup of Tomato Basil Soupe.

[Kim Shook]

robirdstx – I wanna have lunch with YOU! Between those beautiful tiny little clams and that crawfish sandwich , I’m sitting here drooling!

Anna – you and Kerry find the most amazingly places to lunch. Your area of the world is MUCH more interesting than mine!

For Mother’s day, I had promised my mother to take her to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and to Feathernester’s (a local restaurant/tea room/antique-home furnishings store) for afternoon tea. We finally did it on Tuesday. Feathernester’s is an adorable place. I could move in! The food was pretty uneven, but fun and not terribly expensive:

P1110170 by ozisforme, on Flickr


P1110172 by ozisforme, on Flickr
From 12 o’clock: cheesecake bites, chocolate eclairs (frozen and not completely thawed), cucumber and herbed cream cheese on cocktail rye, herb biscuits with chicken salad (VERY good), pimento cheese on marble rye and cream puffs (also frozen).


P1110171 by ozisforme, on Flickr
Spice cakes with lemon curd, strawberries and chocolate chip shortbread – all very good.

[Darienne]

Anna – you and Kerry find the most amazingly places to lunch. Your area of the world is MUCH more interesting than mine

FYI: I live not all that far from Anna and Kerry...less than 100 miles...but it might as well be on the moon. Calipoutine can attest to this as she used to live even nearer to them than I do. Interior Ontario is a gustatory wasteland.

[robirdstx]

Kim - lunch together would be a blast!

[Anna N]

It's great to see others sharing their Ladies Who Lunch experiences!


Yesterday Kerry and I took care of a few errands before finding a place for lunch in Stoney Creek: Miss Thailand


Kerrry ordered ginger tea:



And I ordered a Thai iced coffee:



We shared the appetizer platter for two:





And Beef Penang curry with Jasmine rice:




We couldn’t resist posting this example of Thai décor taken to the nth degree:



And I really coveted this tea light holder:

[bigtealady]

My friends and I usually dine in at restaurants which serve mostly vegetable salads. I remember eating the best kale salad (rich in vitamin K) last weekend.

[Pierogi]

(snippity, snip.....)

We couldn’t resist posting this example of Thai décor taken to the nth degree:



And I really coveted this tea light holder:

I really covet ALL the stuff. The candle holder, the toilet paper holder, and those lovely, lovely, absolutely stunning dishes and tea service. That pattern is so gorgeous ! But then I'm a stone fool for that cobalt blue.

[robirdstx]

I've got some catching up to do!

In July, my GF and I visited the Pei Wei Asian Diner in Webster. She had the



Mongolian Shrimp with Fried Rice, and



an Egg Roll. I started with Hot and Sour Soup,



and didn't remember to take the photo until I was half-way through the bowl.



For my main, I had the Mongolian Beef and, like my GF, the Fried Rice.



Today my GF and I dined at the Monument Inn, in LaPorte, which sits along the Houston ship channel. Here's the view from our indoor table. Way too hot to sit outside!



Both of our meals included their homemade dinner and cinnamon rolls. GF had one of the cinnamon rolls as her appetizer! VBG!




Each of our meals also included a small house salad, not pictured. GF had the Fried Seafood Combination Platter



(Oysters, Shrimp, and Stuffed Crab) with a fully loaded Baked Potato. She had so much leftover she took home two to-go boxes that will serve as two additional meals.

I had their Grilled Redfish and a Vegetable Medley. No leftovers for me!

[Anna N]

When Kerry returned from 5 weeks on Manitoulin we both knew that only one lunch would fit the bill for both of us:

Squid bits:




and Pho!

Chicken and beef for Kerry:



and rare beef for me:



Then yesterday we needed to get supplies for the upcoming Eggfest in Niagara in the Asian area of Mississauga so we returned to a restaurant where we have had some excellent meals in the past. The menu is so challenging that whatever arrives at the table bears little resemblance to what we expected!

I believe the English menu explanation for the following dish was "sliced pork burritos!



This one was relatively easy cashew chicken:



Despite this being a Chinese restaurant I seem to remember these being called shashlik - anyway they were extremely spicy lamb skewers:



Self-explanatory scallion pancakes:



and finally, pork dumplings:



Far too much food - much of it went home with us!

[Anna N]

We returned to one of our favourite lunch places yesterday, Panafresco, only to be terribly disappointed to find that their menu had changed and our favourites were missing. We did our best to go with the flow but……….

Kerry ordered the Burrata salad:



And I reluctantly settled for a pizza Margherita instead of the incredible funghi pizza I was anticipating:



Enough said.

[Anna N]

Yesterday we returned to Lemongrass and despite some serious issues with our server who seemed intent on rushing us through our menu choices, we had some memorable food:

Thai crispy spring rolls with a sweet and sour dipping sauce:



Kerry's Crispy Chicken Breast with Peanut Sauce:



And my Nasi Goreng:



We each tried a little of the other's meal and we couldn't stop talking about how incredibly good it tasted.

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I had business in Niagara Wine Country so we took advantage and returned for a long-anticipated visit to Ravine Winery Restaurant.

The on-line menu does not appear to be up to date but here's what we ate:

A few slices of baguette with some salted butter:


And here's a close up of the amount of salt on that butter!


The staff were extremely accommodating when we asked to share everything bringing two half orders of soup and providing extra dishes for the other food.


Cream of corn soup with lemon creme fraiche and a corn muffin stuffed with jalapeno peppers:


Shame that the soup didn't come with a marker as the rim would have accommodated a novel!

We shared an order of mussels in a fennel broth which came with frites:



And the charcuterie platter (all cured and smoked on-site):



This included smoked duck, pickled veal tongue, chicken pate, smoked pork, pastrami and some pickles.

[rotuts]

Wow! that charcuterie platter looks like it was worth the trip!

[Anna N]

I seem to have forgotten to post our lunch from a week ago Wednesday. We ate at a restaurant called Ben Thanh in Mississauga, Ontario. We decided to order just a selection of appetizers.

I had a Vietnamese iced coffee. If you look carefully you will spot a thermos. This is the first time I have seen it served with additional hot water but it is a great idea!



Calamari with wasabi dipping sauce:



Crispy Vietnamese spring rolls:



BBQ Beef rolls with avocado:



Crispy cyclone rolls:



(Imagine shrimp wrapped in Shredded Wheat! A very, very messy dish to eat.)

Today was the first opportunity we had to get together as Kerry has been working all day every day. We went for haircuts in Burlington and popped into Bento Box on Fairview in Burlington for a quick bite as we wanted to cram some thrift store shopping into the few hours we had! (I have a new passion – cheese making – so we have lots of things to source!)

Miso soup and the ubiquitous salad. The soup belonged to the Donburi and the salad to the Tempura but we swapped. I wasn't in the mood for soup.



The lunch tempura:




The chicken donburi:

[Darienne]

Those Crispy Cyclone Rolls look amazing. I googled for a recipe and found nothing. Any ideas?

[hongda]

Might be something similar to this, with finer noodles and shrimp rather than shrimp paste?

http://www.vietworld...lls-recipe.html

[Darienne]

Might be something similar to this, with finer noodles and shrimp rather than shrimp paste?
http://www.vietworld...lls-recipe.html

Thank you honda. The recipe looks useful. We don't eat shellfish, but I guess they could be made with some other tasty filling.

[rotuts]

would there be a way to 'reconstruct' that wasabi dipping sauce?