tighe

There's another thread in this forum with some reccomendations on eating in Istanbul (including mine ). Link: Istanbul thread As far as what to bring home, spices are incredibly cheap and of good quality. I bought a good-sized bag of saffron for about $20. Granted, the quality probably isn't as good as Spanish saffron, but at about 1/10th the price, who's complaining? I also brought home a couple bottles of raki, but that can also be an acquired taste.

So, a day late but we went to Nishino tonight for the $25 menu....it was a winner! The menu: Spicy miso soup with mushrooms and clams Albacore sashimi salad Choice of: Black cod marinated in sweet miso, or Shrimp and vegetable tempura, or Grilled chicken breast with a balsamic, teriyaki reduction Ginger ice cream with a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie baked with orange zest When I've gone to Nishino in the past I've rarely made it past the sushi menu, so it was good to try some of their other items. The soup was great, but I think would have actually been better without the spiciness. The broth was a very rich combination of miso and musroom flavor that was only detracted from by the hotness. The clams were kind of a throw in and didn't add much. The salad was basic, but I was impressed with the two 'slabs' of albacore sashimi that came with it. Wonderful buttery texture and 'clean' flavor. The salad was mixed greens with a miso vinaigrette. I need to figure out how to try to recreate it at home. For my entree, I had the black cod which was absolutely fabulous, by far the best rendition of this dish that I've had. The cod had obviously been marinated for quite a while as the flavor permeated the fish. It was cooked so that it was completely carmelized on the outside (almost black), but still had a 'melt-in-your-mouth' quality inside. The flavor was explosive. It was served with japanese pickles, marinated bean sprouts and shaved lotus root. Scrat68 had the tempura, which was excellent, as it always is at Nishino. The shrimp in particular really stood out, cooked perfectly. None of it is at all greasy either. Desert was a surprise for a Japanese restaurant. The ginger ice cream was very refreshing and the cookie was a great combo of chocolate and orange flavor. Neither was overly sweet. The quantities was perfectly adequate for those less gluttonous, but I have to admit that we supplemented with an order of tempura albacore roll. Not sure where the 'tempura' part comes in, but the roll consisted of minced raw albacore with a nori wrapper with a piece of mountain potato in the middle. The highlight was the sauce which I can't even begin to adequately describe..... As with all the $25 menus we tried last year, this was a great value. Based on the menu prices, you were essentially getting the soup and the desert for free. Sorry to say we're going to be in Vancouver on the 10th. Will have to take solace in the fact that we're having dinner at Ouest on the 9th.

so how was Nishino tighe? I think you are the first among us to venture into the 25 for $25 arena... Unfortunately, life interfered with an otherwise perfect plan, and we didn't make it. I should probably delete the previously posted schedule since we are actually going to be out of town next weekend. This will teach me never plan anything more than two days in advance. Hoping to make it to Nishino sometime the week or maybe next week......

The latest issue of Bon Appetit has a blurb about 'smoked' beers and mentions examples by Alaka Brewing, Rogue and Anchor Brewing. I haven't had any luck finding any of these yet, but am very intrigued. If anyone has tried smoked beer, verdict? Klink, what do you think about throwing a couple steins in the smoker next time you fire it up?

Made the trek to 88 for lunch today and they now have hot food. About half a dozen entree options in chafing (sp?) dishes. Looked good, but not good enough to tear me away from the the BBQ pork sandwich option. In the ongoing tradition of gouging their customers, the price for the hot food is $3 for your choice of two entrees with rice.

I can personally confirm that there are no restaurants on Guam worth discussing. My fall-back position is that Hawaii should at least have its own sub-section under Asia-Pacific rather than being 'elsewhere'. With that, I will never make another comment about Hawaii's rightful position in the e-Gullet universe....

Did anyone who tried this place visit the restroom? During a visit to NYC last year, I stopped in for a cup of coffee and a bite after some full-contact shopping the market. The only thing remarkable about the experience was that it was one of the most disgusting restaurant restrooms I've ever encountered. I'll spare the details. I understand the steak house is new incarnation, so hopefully that problem was addressed.

Me too!

I cook for people who don't feel bad. And, especially, for those who do. i pity those who don't cook for people who feel bad. I feel for people who cook for bad people. I feel people who cook and aren't bad people. For I cook people who don't feel bad. I don't cook for bad people. Don't feel bad, for I cook people. Feel bad for people who I don't cook. I don't feel bad for cook people. I don't cook, I feel bad. I cook. I feel. I bad. If you stare at this thing for long enough, the lines start moving.....

I think the problem is that it just seems out of place in the Asia/Pacific thread when every other part of the US is included in the North America area. I had to really hunt to find it initially. To me it would make more sense to have it grouped into North America even if that isn't strictly geographically correct. My concern is that all the great food in Hawaii doesn't get as much play on the site as it might because people don't know where to find it. That's just my opinon though.

I was nervous when I heard that the Applebee's parent company was buying the place but, so far at least, they've maintained the same food quality and atmosphere. Not sure what the qualifications are for participating in the 25 for $25 thing, but you're probably right.

I had dinner at Icon last night and was surprised (but happy) to see the place was packed, on a Wednesday night no less. When I asked our server if Icon was participating in the 25 for $25 promotion, she said they weren't because business had been so good. Is the Seattle restaurant biz turning the corner or is Icon just defying the trend for some reason?....

My favorite of this genre is Donna Hay's 'New Food Fast'. Snapper with pine nut brown butter sauce in 20 minutes, can't beat it with a stick. The book is organized into chapters of 10-minute (or so), 20-minute and 30-minute dishes, and almost exclusively uses fresh ingredients. I agree that the tone of the article was not conducive to encouraging people to try cooking themselves, but I agree with her basic premise. What irks me is that TV chefs/cooks such as Jamie Oliver and Emeril who really try to make cooking accessible get completely ripped by some on this site as being sell-outs or worse. I think its important to distinguish between 'convenience' items and 'pre-prepared' items as well. I don't see any problem with using frozen veggies when fresh are out of season or dried pasta, but sprinking some fresh cut parsley over a Hungry-Man dinner just doesn't cut it. A lot of people also don't realize how easy it is to make your own convenience food to freeze such as stock, soups, pasta sauce, etc. I agree with everything that's been said here about the enjoyment cooking a meal can bring and would add that a weekend afternoon spent making a big pot of stock is another thing I love. edit: uh duh....that would be Jamie Oliver, not Jamie Martin (who is the quarterback for the Rams)

Fortunately we can now talk about Olympia in the past tense, unless it's still being foisted off on those not actually living in its home state? My nominee is another long-time local fav: Rainier Beer. Great commercials, heinous brew. Another on my list is Red Stripe. Does anyone actually like that stuff, or is it just the association high from it being of Jamaican origin?

In an act of uncharacteristic boldness (sluttiness), here it is. Scrat68 and I are penciling in the following for each Sunday in November and would love to have company at any and all: Nov 3: Nishino Nov 10: Ponti Nov 17: Ray's Nov 24: Szmania's If you'd like to join us, PM us a week or so in advance and we'll be happy to take care of reservations. Should others select different evenings/destinations, we'll try to make that happen as well. Cheers! EDIT: ANY COMMITMENT IMPLIED BY THIS SCHEDULE IS NOW NULL AND VOID ....

A couple of women from Thailand that I went to grad school with said they thought that Noodle Boat in Issaquah served the most authentic Thai food in the Seattle area. I still haven't made it out there to give it a try. Has anyone here ever been there?

25 restaurants in 25 days!!

The new chef at Zoe is Tim Kelly. I only know this because up until this year, he was the chef at The Painted Table, here in Seattle. One of my absolute favorite places in town. I'd love to hear what people have to say about his work at Zoe.

Yeah, but the labels are REALLY PRETTY!! Isn't that what counts when picking a wine after all??

Didn't Fira replace Buongusto just a little earlier this year? Ouch! Nancy Lesson's latest column says Lush Life will be replaced by "an eclectic bar and bistro called Marjorie." When applied to a restaurant, the term eclectic always makes me nervous. I was going to go to the combined Marcha/Fernando's recently, but the menu looked really uninteresting compared to what I'd seen at Marcha, so I ended up at Dahlia. The location is kind of bizzare too. I was under the impression that the Poor Italian had been defunct for at least a year? I used to really love that place. I think it was one of the first in town to do high quality but casual Italian. Best calzone I've ever had, hands down.

So now the Alexis is going to have the Bookstore Cafe AND the Library Bistro? This seems a little heavy on the literary allusions. I'm with you Laurie, what I always thought was one of the better restaurant names around, the Library Bistro seems pretty pedestrian. If I were to start a restaurant I would definately avoid using bistro, grill or cafe in the name...

My best phonetic approximation: shar-koot'-uh-ree Yes, it is the French word for sliced cured meats....

I'm going to have to check this out since I work at the 'other' school on the Hill. I'm not certain they're still doing it, but McCormick's Harborside has/had a killer $1.50 happy hour menu that you could easily make a meal out of. Of coure, there's always bahn mi, but we don't need to go there....

Kids these days! Soft, I tell ya.... Why, in my day, we'd top off a night of drinking with 4 or 5 Long Island Ice Teas, and then crawl home on our lips....uphill,....through the snow, and then go to work the next day! And we liked it! In fact we loved it!

I need to qualify this statement a little... This weekend I "rediscovered" Orchard Street Porter from Bellingham. I have to say that I think it gives Deschutes a run for its money. I did a side-by-side tasting tonight, twice, just to make sure.....