mongo_jones

adam, i like that even in your "translation" the cook still gets to "smite" the goose. mongo

hmmm maybe the price goes down as the week goes on. was this packaged whole mackerel that you had to buy as is? or would they clean it for you if you asked?

komart or hanh ah reum?

i represent all the sentient beings of vega 5 and we say with one voice (for we have but the one) that we vegans are bewildered by these goings on. we do not live in flats.

as long as you promise not to poop all over your cage and then eat your young

Black cod. That means I can make my own smoked sable. Thank you oh thank you. And I think I want to smell durian before I die. We'll see. well, their durian is suspiciously un-fragrant. they do have them wrapped in plastic (sudden twin peaks flashback) but in my limited experience that shouldn't stop a good durian from doing its thing. they have big heaping piles of them in the fruit section but you can pass by them without fear. if, like me, you're slightly stupid, you can even bend down and take an exploratory sniff and come away unscathed. i don't know what the story is--maybe they chill them? but well worth a visit mike and matt. i forgot to add in my initial post that i spoke with the fish department people and i believe they get fresh consignments of fish on mondays and thursdays. caveat: this conversation involved much signage so for all i know he was telling me that those are the days when they kill smart-ass indians who ask too many questions. edit to add: when i said "the fish selection is okay", i didn't mean that it is limited or to sound ultra hard-to-please. it is only "okay" in comparison to a very few large stores i've been to in l.a. compared to everything else it is awesome. it blows every mainstream grocery store's selection away for sure. poor komart--long the "largest korean-japanese store in colorado"--can't compare either; though komart sells mackerel for $1.99/lb compared to these people's $2.99/lb. when you eat as much mackerel as we do that's a 5-6 dollar saving on mackerel alone. but other things at komart are much more expensive, so it evens out.

sounds pretty much the same as the one here (they've been open a while apparently). they have about 18 "branches"/"franchises" (mostly in the east)--as per the denver post article from earlier in the week. the wife speculates that there isn't one in l.a because there are already way too many established large korean groceries there, though it is possible the same group has bought stores there and has just retained existing names. in l.a a store like this opening would not be such an exciting event. i mean apart from the koreatown stores, if you go to rosemead the 99 ranch at 140 w. valley (which could hold 2 hanh ah reums) is across the street from the hawaiian market which is almost as big! but this is more than we ever expected in our vicinity and now, between them, the world bazaar and the local grocery in boulder, all our indian/korean cooking needs have been met. all, that is, that could be met in the u.s.

okay, okay, here you go: hanh ah reum is as good as you can expect a u.s korean grocery chain based anywhere outside los angeles to be. the one in aurora is located at 2751 parker (east of havana). it is cavernous, cheap and has fairly high quality produce and meat/fish (very bad news for komart, which mrs. jones and i have affection for). they stock produce and ingredients not only for koreans and japanese customers but also for chinese and other south east asians, plus many hispanics to boot. the place had many more people in it than komart ever does but very few relative to size (then again we were there on a thursday morning). their vegetable selection is very good. not much that is enticing to me as an indian but everything mrs. jones needs to satisfy her cooking jones at prices comparable to those in l.a (where there's many huge korean groceries in a 5 miles radius in koreatown). the fish selection is okay. they have fresh mackerel, some snappers, black cod, "seabass", monkfish, beltfish etc.--what is great about their fish section relative to komart is that they're set up much better to clean and cut the fish to different customer specs: they have a numbered chart of different things you can ask to be done to the fish; helpful, since while the people behind the counter speak better english than anyone at komart not all of them are necessarily fluent (one of them told me that the cod was "gold-fish"). note: most of the staff here are hispanic, unlike komart where they're mostly korean. they did not have pomfret though which is a major flaw in my book (and ensures komart still gets some of my custom). the meat department is also superior to komart's--more options and better prices. we bought some excellent kalbi and had a decadent outdoor bbq lunch yesterday (mrs. jones has her uses). duck and frogs' legs and quail and rabbit are ridiculously cheap here compared to whole foods. as is the fruit--they have durian, non-mexican mangoes, tamarind in pods etc. now, i'm not saying i'm going to ever buy any durian but it is good to know it is there in case i ever need to send anyone a message (mess with me, wake up with a sliced durian at the foot of your bed). we didn't spend much time in the staples areas. mrs. jones noted that not being a dedicated korean place they don't have as many brands of each thing as she's used t to in l.a, but non-koreans are unlikely to notice. their korean video section are the people who used to be at komart (sign of things to come?). we'd like to think that the korean pop. in the area is growing enough to support multiple major stores--if these folks drive komart and the other smaller stores out of business their prices may well soon go up too. also, if their opening means more and more koreans are coming to aurora/denver then that may mean that korean restaurants in aurora (those we've tried anyway) will begin to rise above passable. all in all, we now have a new fortnightly aurora run: lunch at yummy yummy thai, followed by shopping at hanh ah reum, a quick pomfret run at komart and a goat , bengali fish and samosa pick-up at the world-bazaar. life is good. edit to add: i, who am inured to the sight of pig bung and uterus (and various kinds of blood) at the meat dept. at the 99 ranch market in rosemead outside l.a, was struck dumb by the sight of small tubs of "beef bile" in the meat section.

yes, but only palm feni for me please--you can keep the cashew feni for yourself.

i have no objections to tanqueray. basically as long as i don't wake up the next morning with a taste/texture in my mouth that suggests i've been engaging in unlawful sexual congress with a wild ass i am fine. note: i don't object to tastes and textures that suggest lawful sexual congress with a wild ass; i just don't want to break the law.

so, all you people who occasionally dabble in martinis with sweet vermouth: red vermouth or the sweet "bianco" vermouth?

not mid-wilshire, but santa monica seafood for certain kinds of fish--let's say the ones aimed at an anglo market. for other kinds of things: mackerels, pomfret, black cod, eel, all kinds of whole snappers, tilapia, monkfish, beltfish etc. head to the large korean markets in koreatown. you get fish here that you won't get at most of the mainstream places, and they're cheaper (you can also get them whole). compare for, instance, the price of monkfish at santa monica seafood and at any major korean grocery.

mrs. jones and i will likely have sampled empress whatever and ocean city by the end of the month. if people are willing to trust our picks we can make a recommendation then. or we can go with whichever place someone who is an expert on the local dim sum scene recommends. as long as it isn't king's land. edit to add: and by all means bring the kids--will be good to have company on the chicken feet. mmmm fatty and gelatinous,

i mentioned making a perfect martini in the rob roy thread (vodka/gin + equal parts dry and sweet vermouth). mike k. thought about mocking me, then tried it and pronounced it not evil. slkinsey reports that articles have been written about "classic" martini ratios with not only sweet vermouth alone but red vermouth to boot. anyone else? i know the martini invites a certain kind of snobbery by design. in a world where all beginning purists know to scoff at "girlie drinks" the minimalist martini seems to be the cocktail most invoked to separate the keepers-of-truth from the dilettantes. i've met my share of people who like to talk about martinis as being just chilled vodka with a hint of dry vermouth introduced through the air-conditioning in the room, and other ridiculous things. (of course, many of these people have never even tried a gin martini.) to such people, and less extreme versions, only a super dry martini will do--a martini with sweet vermouth? why, i must be a barbarian. (as it happens i am a barbarian, but that's neither here nor there.) so let's hear it on the subject of martinis and vermouth.

apologies if this has already been asked and answered: how long does limoncello keep? i ask because i just discovered that a bottle brought back from positano 5 years ago has been travelling unopened from home to home and state to state, hiding in the back of boxes and the bar. it smells good but then so did my last crockpot disaster.

http://63.147.65.175/peaks/dimsum00.htm has anyone been here? king's land left me cold--mee yee lin was better but limited and small. haven't tried empress yet. as tempting as the thought is of making people drive to boulder for the next egull outing, i'm tempted by the thought of doing dim sum instead. should be cheaper and allow for a greater variety of order customization. but in any case can't do an outing till the end of september--august and the first half of september are going to be a little crazy for us.

i find the $349.99 tag makes it easy How can you set a price on perfection? hey, i'm not the one who priced it--i'm happy to drink it for free though if those with more principled wallets are willing to share. i accept paypal and cashier's checks.

Are you saying "perfect martini" as in gin + dry vermouth + sweet vermouth like a perfect rob roy? That sounds 'orrible. Hold on, I'll go try one... ...well, it's not so bad, but it's no improvement on the standard either. Do you actually drink such a thing? i'm surprised more purists didn't jump on me for the mere suggestion of such a thing--must be because i'm so beloved around here. i can't say i ask for sweet vermouth in my martinis on a regular basis, but i have been known to. now, that's my kind of a night out. do you remember which of their beers you thought about drinking? i often think about their annapurna amber when i'm lonely--will be having several pints of it with lunch on saturday.

"grub first, then ethics"

i find the $349.99 tag makes it easy

don't know about the nyc thai place you cite but if the lamentations about the lack of decent thai food on the ny forum is anything to go by it is probably safe to say that l.a has better thai food. nothing along the lines of the fancy place i see you posted about on that forum, but interesting nonetheless. there's a thai-town in l.a as well--angeleno egulleters did a thai crawl some time back i think--surf the threads. don't know about uigher/uygher cuisine--never heard of it in fact, but that's an unreliable yardstick since by that measure most of the world wouldn't exist--but the muslim chinese places sure are different. that 140 w. valley complex has a bewildering variety of regional chinese places. and it is always nice to go into 99 ranch's meat section and contemplate the pig uterus. as for korean, i don't think jschyun, even with all her orange county nationalism, will tell you to pick anywhere other than koreatown, just west of downtown l.a, for a hardcore korean experience. chosun is not my favorite korean bbq place in l.a but it is in my top 5 for sure. but of all the places i like (and have been taught to like by my wife, who is a daughter of koreatown) it is the snazziest; a very nice interior and lots of beautiful people around. and like i said the meat etc. is very good--if you go there get a selection of meats and their spicy seafood soup. it is on olympic blvd, a few blocks west of western. if you want to go more hardcore there's shik do rak about 2 miles east, down olympic (short of hoover), and soot bull jeep and dong il jiang about a mile east and 1/2 a mile west on 8th street. don't know about venezuelan but there's lots of good down-home salvadorean--again, others are better situated to make recommendations in that area.

i'm guessing your boss wants to go high-end. as such i'd recommend the following: campanile (california cuisine-mediterranean) patina (cal-french-fusion) joe's (new american) if he wants korean bbq in ritzier surroundings than normal take him to chosun galbi (the food is excellent there too). los angeles has the best korean food outside of korea (caveat: i used to say the same about chinese in the san gabriel valley but have been slapped down by people in vancouver and toronto). if you want your boss to have an asian food experience he can't have anywhere else in the u.s you should direct him towards koreatown. amazing chinese options in the s.g.v, but almost none of them are fancy-schmancy. i'd recommend either chungking or hua's garden in monterey park for excellent sichuan. the new mission 261 seafood house is pretty fancy by all accounts but hasn't received good reviews here. standbys like ocean star in monterey park and 888 seafood in rosemead are reliable (and huuuuge). there's chinese islamic in the 99 ranch complex (140 w. valley) in rosemead which serves, wait for it, chinese islamic cuisine (or is that one tung lai shun? i always get them confused--anyway, both are good and fairly far from the run of the mill). there's good shanghainese places as well, but others better versed in shanghainese food should recommend places for that.

Sweet vermouth can be either white or red, however dry vermouth is white. yes, i've had sweet "white" vermouth as an aperitif in various european countries--the red version seems more popular in the u.s. i have to say that from an aesthetic standpoint i prefer red vermouth in a manhattan or rob roy--can't imagine red vermouth in a perfect martini, however.

cannibals eh?

so, then the only thing that would be off-limits would be the actual language of her "method of preparation"--if the ingredients are traditional and the basic method is dry-roast and grind i think you'd be on safe ground (pun not intended, who do you think i am, episure?) posting them. will get back to you on places in cal. (though i think bong already posted a lot of recommendations for cal restaurants last winter.)