prasantrin

Yay! More places for my list! My guidebook has a list of places, but no reviews really so it's difficult for me to tell which places are good and which aren't. I just want to eat good food!

I'm in Japan. I have a few things from the Czech Tourism Agency--a map of Prague and brochures on Historical Monuments and Culture, as well as Transport. I haven't gone through them, yet. I'm willing to pay for postage if you're willing to send stuff!

Fried pies of grated potatoes!! Yum! That sounds like something I need to eat (my motto is: anything fried is good). And fresh potato chips? I'll be in heaven if I can get some of those! Thanks for the additional recommendations! Just 22 more days and counting...I can't wait to eat all that good food!

Any help would be appreciated! So far, the best reference I've found for Prague has been the Prague Post site. But I still like to hear tried and true recommendations from others. It's better to have too many good places than too few!

Thanks again for the reply. I appreciate the help! I'm sure we'll have a great time! I'll try to report back after I return. Just three more weeks!!

I forgot to mention... If you're going to be on Sargent anyway, right at Sargent and Young coming from downtown, if you turn left onto Sargent it's about a block down) you'll find a small strip mall with an Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and Indian restaurant. The Indian restaurant is called Taste of India. It is far, far better than Ivory or East Indian Company (the two Indian places downtown that many Winnipegers rave about though they are mediocre at best). They have a buffet in the evenings--about $12 I think for dinner and maybe $8 if you go for lunch. Then across the street (kitty corner) is a place called Asia City. They have a few tables but it's primarily a take-out place. You can pick up a couple of banh mi for maybe $1.5o or $2 each or get a 3-choice plate for only $5 to go (or eat in if you want). My favourite are the little tsukune-like meatballs on a stick. Slightly sweet and grilled. Only $1/stick. However, do not leave without getting one of the fresh fruit bubble teas. You don't even have to get the bubbles if you don't want them. But get a young coconut one or mango or lychee. The young coconut is amazingly rich and is not too sweet. It's my favourite. Avocado is another option--it's not as sweet, but you can also get pandan or durian if you prefer. The durian one really does stink, though, so I don't think you want to bring it along in the car if others in your party don't care for the smell. OH! And I almost forgot!! You shouldn't leave Winnipeg without going for Filipino breakfast! There's a place called Juvian's (I think) which is located at the Balmoral Hotel. It's at Balmoral and Notre Dame (Balmoral is the street you'd be on if going to Sargent from downtown. The Balmoral is very very divey and is sometimes a bit scary but many people go to Juvian's for Filipino food. For breakfast I usually get two eggs, rice, and tocino (only $3.50 unless they raised the price). For those who can eat more, you can get two dishes plus the eggs and rice, or even three. The three is the best value, as it is only $6 and you get a huge serving of food. The choices are tocino, bangus (with bones, sometimes not scaled), longanisa, and one or two other things I can't remember. It opens fairly early--maybe 6 or 7? and you can actually have the breakfast all day. Really, it's an excellent value and if you can't usually get Filipino food where you live, it's a good opportunity to do so. If I were going to Winnipeg for only two dinners and two breakfasts, I would probably go to Taste of India for one dinner (or India Palace in St. Boniface--not to far from downtown or the one on Ellice), Juvian's for breakfast, then Siam Thai for the second dinner (you'd probably need to make reservations, though, since they get very busy on the weekends), and Juvian's for breakfast again. I would also get some stuff from Gunn's and Asian City for the drives. But then, I tend to over-do it whenever I go back to Winnipeg to visit. Winnipeg doesn't have a lot to offer in many ways--it's a small city that wishes it were more. But one thing it does have is good food.

Where are you staying, again? There are probably more ethnic grocery stores than regular grocery stores. No Whole Foods sort of place, though. Winnipegers generally are not willing to pay Whole Foods-types of prices for anything (which is why Ralph Lauren opened their very first factory outlet in Winnipeg 20-ish years ago). Dong Thai--A small Vietnamese/Chinese grocery store close to downtown. You could walk there from downtown though it would be a 20-ish minute walk. Address is 459 Notre Dame Avenue. They have a reasonable selection--sometimes they even have mangosteen there. They also have, oddly enough, a selection of Mexican canned goods--chipotle in adobo (adobe?), mole in jars, etc. Deen's--just across the street from Dong Thai. It's a West/East Indian grocery store. Huge selection of beans and lentils that you can buy bulk. Cheap herbs and spices, too. I usually buy my atta there--they have teff, too, if you feel like making injera to go along with your fish Gunn's--I can't remember if I mentioned Gunn's. It's a Winnipeg institution. Fabulous baked goods--I especially love their apple jacks (which you can also pick up at the airport at a much higher price) and their knishes. Their bagels get sent all over Canada as does their rye bread. It's in the North End in a bit of a scary area (at night, especially--wouldn't walk around alone there). The address is 247 Selkirk Avenue. It's very easy to get to from downtown--just drive north on Main Street and take a left onto Selkirk. It's a few blocks down. Probably about a 5+ minute drive from Portage and Main. For cheese and meat, I would probably hit the Forks. That's where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers intersect and was once an important part of the fur trade (it's right near the Fort Garry Hotel if that's where you're staying--walking distance.) A large tourist area complete with retail stores was built there many years ago. They have a number of ethnic restaurants there--the Jamaican patties from the West Indian place are good and Tall Grass Prairie has the best whole wheat cinnamon buns, carrot cake, and whole grain bread in the city. There is also a small cheese store and small meat shop in the food area. A vegetable/fruit stand, as well. Not the cheapest, and perhaps not the best quality in the city, but it's at the very least acceptable and would be convenient. They also have concerts there if you have a free evening or are around on a Sat. or Sun. during the day. If you don't care about convenience, I suppose you could try Stephan's and Andrews. It's Winnipeg's version of an upscale food store. Expensive, and in my opinion over-priced, but they've been in business for years so they can't be doing too bad. You can find them at 384 Academy Road. I prefer La Grotta, though. It's at 1-1360 Taylor Avenue and they also have a smaller location (the original one) at 550 Sargent Avenue which is very close to downtown and which you could stop at on the way to Dong Thai and Deen's. The one on Taylor has an excellent selection of cheeses and meats (the one on Sargent does, as well, but it's a bit smaller), as well as olives and assorted antipasti. They also have a nice selection of wines and some reasonably priced take-out foods and cakes. I like their focaccia, too. If you're willing to drive a little out of the way, this is really the place I would go for meat and cheese. It's a bit expensive, but I think it's the best Italian market in the city, though others prefer... DeLuca's at 950 Portage Avenue. They also have a good selection of meats and cheese, as well as all the other stuff La Grotta has. My beef with DeLuca's is that it never seems very clean, and I have found stuff on their shelves a year or two past the best before date. They were also once fined for selling regular vegetable oil as olive oil (at a jacked up price). Made me not trust them. If you're in Winnipeg on a Saturday morning, try the St. Norbert's Farmer's market which is south on Pembina Highway. It's small--very small--and seems somewhat pitiful if you've every been to the Portland Farmer's Market or even the ones in MSP. But you can get fresh vegetables--even Chinese vegetables and free-range chicken, bison, etc. I love the sausage stand--I used to get a Farmer's Burger (it's a sausage patty) for breakfast every Saturday and load it up with their homemade sauerkraut. yum! And there's a guy who sells wonderful cookies--his lemon tarts are lovely but he usually only has them later in the summer. Oh, for a larger and better stocked Chinese grocery, you could try Sun Wah in Chinatown. Another easy walk from downtown at 303 King Street. On your way there stop at Kum Koon Garden for dim sum if you're hungry. Or get some roast duck or crispy pork (or bbq if you like) from the Chinese butcher/deli located in the grocery store. Eat it in the car on your way to wherever you're going. I actually prefer their steamed (or poached?) chicken with ginger but it requires rice. There's an Eastern European meat place that has wonderful spicy sausages--they looked like pepperoni sticks but weren't. We used to eat them in the car on the way home. I wish I could remember the name...I'll try to find out for you. If you're interested in First Nation's stuff, Neechi Foods carries wild rice, bannock, and that sort of stuff. It's in a scary area of town, too, but it's a co-operative run by First Nation's people so I like to support it when I can. The address is 325 Dufferin Avenue. It's sort of on the way to Gunn's, too. Just off Main Street. If you're not staying downtown, and you could let me know where you're staying, I might be able to point you to places closer to where you are. Last thing...for regular groceries, you could always go to Safeway or Superstore (a larger, cheaper grocery store that also has clothing, books, etc.). There are plenty around the city.

I have a Tilia but have only used it for cheese so far. However, I recently bought some large (relatively speaking--large for a single person) portions of meat that I would like to Tilia (can I use that as a verb? I like it). In order to make it easier to remove from the bag, is it OK to wrap portions of meat in plastic wrap and then vacuum seal them? Or will that defeat the purpose of vacuum packing? I'd really like to package several servings in one bag if possible. Is there a better way of doing this?

I wasn't sure where to put this so I'm putting it here. I was at Costco today and they had 85% lean ground beef for only Y68/100 grams! While not cheap by North American standards, I thought it was a very good price and bought a pack. I'm going to divide it up and Tilia it for burgers, meatloaf, and bolognese sauce. I picked up some back ribs, too. I also picked up a set of disposable barbeque-type grills that I might be able to use on my balcony. Today was Canada day, but I'm going to celebrate on Saturday with my very own patio party for one--burgers and ribs, I wonder if I can eat it all! I still have some root beer left and I also picked up some cheese, olives, and Hint of Lime tortilla chips so I can make nachos. Now if only I could find some decent cilantro...

I figured as much. Maybe we'll splurge on lunches and have bread, cheese, and sausages for dinner. Plus dessert, of course .

I'll ask again when I fax in my credit card confirmation. I had already asked about the menu once and was directed to the prix fixe on the website. If it were just me, I would be fine with EUR 77 but I'm a bit worried about the other folks in my party. Even if the meal is on me, I think they'll balk at the price. However, I'm hoping to work something out with the restaurant where the others won't even know how much things are. Maybe I can pre-order or something...I'll have to ask about that, too. Another question...According to their website, they strive for "an informal, yet elegant" atmosphere. Just how "informal" is the atmosphere there? I assume no jeans, but must one dress up or would black slacks and a blouse do?

Bringing this back up rather than start a new discussion... I'll be in Vienna this summer for a few days, and then will be moving on to Prague, Budapest, and Tirgu Mures. Every trip, I splurge on at least one fine meal and scrimp the rest of the time. This trip, I'm planning to splurge on Steirereck. However, with three people in the party and me likely picking up the tab, I'm wondering if Steirereck might be too much of a splurge. I e-mailed them and they directed me to their menu on their website but could only find two prix fixe menus for 77 Euros each. Does Steirereck also have an a la carte menu at dinnertime? I had initially planned to have lunch there (which I could definitely afford) but they are closed for lunch during the time I will be visiting. Bad luck for me!

I've gone through every post on those cities and it seems that most of the recommended restaurants are much more expensive than I can afford. I'm looking for places around US$10 or less per person, not including beverages or dessert. So far, I only know of Natschmarkt (I know that isn't spelled correctly) in Vienna. But what about other places? I'd like to eat at places which serve food representative of that area (Austrian food in Vienna, etc.) but am open to anything. Any suggestions out there?

Between my IBS acting up and the almost end of term, I've not had much time to get to my pictures/posting. I had a great time, and y'all kindly forgot to mention that my being half an hour late contributed to the lateness of the dinner! Getting lost is my hobby, doncha know! I put my pictures up here for now. I just don't have the time to resize, image gullet, and then post here. Not much commentary, or anything different from what has already been seen, but a nice picture of the washroom sink and also of people's elbows (so no faces, what's a face when you can see an elbow!) .

In Kobe I would also eat Akashiyaki. It's different from Takoyaki in that the batter part is lighter and seems more eggy to me. You put sauce on yourself, and you dip it in dashi. For some reason, I prefer Akashiyaki to Takoyaki, though I have no particular reason why. Also, there is a great cake shop called Heidi. The main shop is in Oji, but they have branches around Kobe. I know in Sannomiya they have an outlet at Sogo Department store, but I think you can only buy the cakes there, not eat in. In Sannomiya, my favourite tea shop is Mariage Freres. Sure it's a French tea shop (the oldest in France, if I remember correctly) but I just love going there. Their tarts are OK (beautiful, but I don't think the flavour is as good as some other places) but the tea is out of this world. I love Bolero--it's my favourite iced. If you're in the Sannomiya/Motomachi area, head for the BAL building (where Virgin Records Megastore is). Mariage Freres is on the 2nd floor of that building, and my favourite akashiyaki place is just across the covered street (and a little further down, I think). I can't remember its name, but it has blue noren (those cloth hanging things--what are they called?). If you're up to the company of strangers, you can always PM me and I'd be happy to take you around! I'm not as familiar with Sannomiya as I used to be, but I can usually find a few things.

Old Dutch Barbeque potato chips and taco chips. My mother sends them to me sometimes (and I've only been here for 3 months!).

I haven't yet received any additional information from my sources, but I wanted to mention that I ate at Lapin today. It is a relatively small teppanyaki place--seats maybe 18-20. I had the Y2000 lunch, which included a tiny cup of pumpkin soup (a beautiful tiny cup, that is), small salad, 80 g beef filet with two dipping sauces, tiny serving of grilled yamaimo, carrot, peas, and bean sprouts, rice, tsukemono, tiny miso soup, wine jelly for dessert, and tea. While all the servings seemed small, I was quite full by the end of the meal (even before I finished, actually) and they were so beautifully presented that the smallness seemed appropriate. The beef I had was not wagyu, but I got a copy of the menu and they do have wagyu at dinnertime. The wagyu set choices are: Y4400 for 100g sirloin steak--70g for Y3550 (all sets include everything I mentioned I had in my lunch set) Y4950 for 100 g filet steak (70g for Y3950) Y5450 for 100g sirloin plus some kind of shellfish or some kind of grilled fish (maybe--my kanji reading is not so great) in addition to the rest of the set (70g for Y4650) Y7000 for 100g filet steak plus shellfish and grilled fish in addition to the rest of the set (70g for Y6000) Personally, I think with all the other food served the 70g portion would be fine. They have a website here . I can also fax you the menu I have (which includes a map) if you're interested. Just pm me with your fax number. The restaurant is also very close to both Hankyu Okamoto and JR ...tsumotoyama (I don't remember the name and I can't read the first kanji). Maybe 5 minutes from either, at the most. They also had a couple of toddler-chairs for little ones so I'm guessing they're child friendly there. The staff (all three of them, including the owner/chef) were all quite nice, actually. If I were to go again (which I'm certain I will--I liked it that much ) I would get matcha instead of tea, though. You have a choice--kocha, matcha, coffee, or iced tea. The matcha comes with a tiny okashi. Yum! Oh, and I loved the washroom. It was beautiful! I'll try out that place in the Oriental Hotel someone else mentioned, next. Not sure when I'll get to it, but it sure it fun trying! BTW, this may not be the right place for this, but could this particular thread be pulled back out? I understand why all the Kansai stuff was merged, but I sort of feel this particular topic is a bit different because it asks about a specific type of food. Might be easier for people (including the original poster) to find replies.

Hey! You forgot...(sorry, I don't have hiragana on my computer) mettcha gotsu monogotsu

You're right with the kanji, and I would guess it's the gyoza no osho since IIRC they are supposed to be famous for their gyoza. My tummy is still bloated from all that grease.

Some of you may know Osho, a Japanese chain of Chinese restaurants. As I understand it Osho is quite unpopular in the Kanto area. It's cheap, divey and the food is very very greasy. However, in the Kansai area (where there are a number of universities and therefore poor university students) Osho thrives! A couple of weeks ago I noticed there was an Osho a train stop away from my apartment. Might I say, it's just as good as I remember Osho to be! The fried rice was suitably greasy, as was the fried chicken, and the gyoza was oh so good! Of course, with IBS I am now paying for eating all that grease. But it was worth the discomfort.

That was a wondeful class! Will you be doing a part II? I would love to see your recipe for mabodofu if you have one! Could I also add, re: soy milk, that there is a multitude of flavours available here in Japan? I recently discovered matcha-flavoured, coffee-flavoured, cocoa-flavoured soys as well as Royal Soy Milk Tea! Wonderful stuff for those of us who are lactose intolerant! I've been doing taste tests to determine my favourites. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Actually, they do the boil in the bag-type food preparation now. Everything is prepared (and I think portioned) somewhere else and just heated and served. The exception is the steaks which, from what I was told, come in those vacuum packed/cryovaced (how do you spell that) plastic bags and are cooked to order on a grill. You can actually order the steaks (raw), should you want to, and cook them yourself at home. I, generally, don't eat at the Keg (the last time I ate there was roughly 5 years ago) though a friend who works there speaks very highly of them. Although their food is not really high-end eating, they train their staff very well in product knowledge. Once a month or so during staff meetings they try all the new foods so they'll know what to tell the customers. They even offer them wine tastings so they'll know which wines go best with which foods. I think they might have an executive chef somewhere that comes up with the new menu items, though no one on-site actually has to cook them. People start working there in university and then stay on even after they've gotten 9-5 jobs (in Winnipeg, there are even some teachers working there on weekends). They don't stay because they need the money, but because the working atmosphere is so wonderful.

Here's some information I sent to someone else: I used to live in Kyoto and unfortunately, I never learned the names of restaurants. I just knew them by location. Having said that, there's a good katsu restaurant just around the corner from Daimaru department store. You grind your own sesame for the dipping sauce, and you get as much rice as you want. While I was in Kyoto a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that they had another branch on Sanjo Street (the west side, IIRC). There's also a reasonably priced Japanese restaurant called "Mukade" just off Shijo Street. I recall getting a little kaiseki-style lunch for maybe Y5000? They have a nice gift shop, as well. Along Shijo Street, between Shijo and Sanjo is an izakaya called Tengu. It's a chain, but the food is not bad. That was where I first had kabocha kurokke and fell in love . In Gion I recently went to a restaurant that offered a fusion-style meal along with a chat with a geisha (a real one). I really enjoyed it, and it was interesting being able to talk with geisha and maiko. It wasn't expensive--I think about Y7000 for dinner. I know I have their brochure around somewhere, so I'll take a look for it and post again. If you'd like to see pictures of our dinner there, I have some up at my my webshots album. I really wish I could give you better directions or be more specific with names but I just never paid much attention. I don't know as much about Osaka, as whenever I go there I tend to search out non-Japanese places. However, I do currently live in Nishinomiya (half-way between Kobe and Osaka) so if you're interested in meeting up just PM me. I usually have weekends free.

I don't really remember names of places because my dad just took me around and didn't tell me where we were going. The Chinese restaurant at the Ambassador hotel also had good Peking duck--carved at the table as good Peking duck should be (so my father used to say). There was also a place near Chatuchak (sp?) market that had amazing Peking pig--that's what I called it. A little piglet, butterflied, roasted, and eaten just like Peking duck. Mmmm. Another place I loved is called the Joke Club. It's around the corner from the Ambassador Hotel. It's expensive (we spent B3000 for three people) but the seafood is very, very fresh and very, very good. Their mixed meats appetizer plate (barbeque pork, barbeque duck, roast chicken) was the best I've ever had, and their steamed fish with ginger and scallions was out of this world! I was told they make very good jook/congee but we concentrated on the seafood so we didn't try it. Plus we went for dinner... I've never had dim sum in Bangkok, though, so I can't help you there! Edited to add: I know this is about Roast duck and Chinese food, but might I also add a hearty recommendation for Dosa King for Indian food? Excellent dosa and malai kofta. I dream of it sometimes. And there was a Vietnamese place, too, but I can't remember the name right now.

When we lived in Thailand (granted, I only lived there for the first 5 or 6 months of my life, but everyone else was there longer) my mother used to go there often for the Palmier. She also loved them. The first time I went back to Thailand I sent some back to Canada for her and she said they were just as good as she remembered, even after more that 25 years (at that time). For some reason, when we went last year we never made it there, though it was on our list. My dad and I had Peking duck at the Chinese restaurant at the Erawan/Grand Hyatt. It was much better than any Peking duck I've had in North America, and even better than that I've had in Hong Kong (which was much too fatty, and I like fatty duck!).