jhlurie

As Wah says its probably actually Little Ferry instead of Hackensack. And yes, that Pub is very near. The Ridgefield one is such a spectacle that I'm sure the rest of them are a bit of a let-down in comparison. BTW: Wah... I also thank you for the heads up.

I agree with Jason about the Whole Foods Olive Oil. It's good. It's cheap. It's good and cheap. Well you get the idea. Mamster: nope... never stripped a cap. BTW: Whole Foods has various names for different locations. I've seen it called "Fresh Fields" "Bread & Circuses" and "Whole Foods Market".

Rachel, Han Ah Reum appears to actually be part of a chain. I saw another one today in Hackensack--on River Street immediately off the traffic circle which meets with Rte. 46.

Another "truth" is that a comparison of eGullet to most of the other cuisine sites on chef2chef is like comparing apples to oranges. eGullet, being a message board (instead of a article or recipe archive) is a different kind of experience. In fact, chef2chef itself is actually more of a competitor than most places, since they have at least rudimentary message boards. That, and the "dreaded" website named after a dog who eats...

In truth I don't think we care that much. You may have missed the earlier part of this thread where we established that the chef2chef was a fine joke indeed... one we are willing to contribute 2 minutes a day to... but still mostly just a lark. If you have an official relationship with chef2chef, I apologize for how this sounds, but the truth is most of the contributors here see it as no more than an amusing diversion. As a side benefit it has brought eGullet a few good contributors, but I don't think the numbers have been huge. Just as an informal observer of the rate of user registrations, I've noticed that the rate seems to have been fairly constant since even before the whole chef2chef "contest". As for your site's aesthetics... it looks fine. Don't worry so much!

Great post! Do you know if it is possible in most American Japanese restaraunts to order anything besides the Honjozo? Is there a diplomatic way to ask the restauranteer about the type of Saké, or do you just have to recognize it by taste and keep it in mind the next time you dine there?

Are you deep frying or pan frying? I've become much more fond of pan frying in the past few years. (edit) Well I just re-read your message and saw "two deep skillets". I guess that means pan-fried now doesn't it? :) :) ;) :) :o (Edited by jhlurie at 2:46 pm on Jan. 18, 2002)

Moo Ping is not really the same thing, although I'm sure it's close. Moo Ping--at least the way Wondee serves it--is little strips of pork, in sauce only (no vegetables, no skewer). The sauce seems even a bit sweeter than the vietnamese dish. It's a very good dish though. Worth having. tommy, so are you going to both the Korean BBQ place on Rte 1&9 AND Wondees this weekend? Mrs. tommy must be a truly wonderful person to put up with your er... enthusiasm. :)

Really the only important current goal is to beat the stuffing out of FOODTV.com. Die Die Die. Okay... I'm alright now. :) BTW: I'm only kidding. If I don't put a disclaimer on this SOMEBODY is going to think I'm serious. (Edited by jhlurie at 5:43 pm on Jan. 17, 2002)

Quote: from tommy on 12:18 pm on Jan. 16, 2002 Speak for yourself!!! Me, I'm ashamed of every Chicken McNugget I've ever eaten! (Edited by jhlurie at 2:44 pm on Jan. 17, 2002)

Good food, lousy service, huh? Or was the food itself inconsistent?

I'm actually quite a fan of "French Dip" sandwiches from just about anywhere. If Bennigan's has one, it would be on my "gross out" list. I haven't had it in years, but I used to have that sandwich at Friendly's.

C'mon... aside from Jason nobody has admitted to regularly enjoying something out of a vending machine! And Diet Pepsi doesn't count, as gross as it is.

Another confession from me... frozen Samosas. The brand is called "Ethnic Gourmet", which I'm certain I don't feel like when I eat them.

Holly, you should take a side-trip to Belgium and see if you can locate the uber-papas fritas you've been searching for all your life. :)

Mark, that's rock bottom. I salute you for your bravery in the confession department (you've picked something both unhealthy and "gross" to most of the world). Personally I'd rather eat shoe leather than Taco Bell, but I promised myself I wouldn't mock anyone except Jason in this thread!!! :)

Okay... if we are going to play the "embarass Jason" game I can up the ante. When I first met him 13 years ago one of his favorite items of food was... (drum roll please) ...vending machine bagel dogs. Sorry, Jason, I couldn't resist. But your taste in food HAS improved. :)

We spend so much time here discussing the great things which we eat, that we sometimes forget that (since life is made up of compromises) we often "settle" and consume things which would NOT impress the eGullet community quite as much. What's the one item which you regularly eat (let's define that as at least once every three or four weeks) which you are LEAST proud of. Now I'm NOT specifically talking about junk-food per-se (although that could be your item), and I'm not necessarily talking about a "guilty pleasure", or an item which is more fattening than you'd like. It really could be ANY of these, depending on how much you are willing to 'fess up to. I really, and actually, am talking about something outright embarassing. I'm talking about Bagel Dogs out of a vending machine. I'm talking about Instant Coffee. The "prepared" food from a Seven-Eleven. That kind of stuff. If you've got the er... cojones... to live up to it, that is! :) I'll start myself and set the bar pretty low. Because I occasionally get home from work pretty late, and because I'm lazy, I've been known to consume from the McDonald's on the walk back from my public transportation. I won't claim to ever enjoy it, but my suffering is well contained. (Edited by jhlurie at 11:05 pm on Jan. 13, 2002)

1.) no... they cook it for you. And the other thing of note is that they don't do the whole lettuce wrapping thing either. 2.) no Bi Bim Bap. Literally, Tofu soups and BBQed Beef and Ribs were all that they serve. If you want these items come to this place. If you want variety, then one of the hundreds of other great local Korean places will have to serve. 3.) Landmarks... It's within that small part of Rte 1&9 within Fairview. Its on that stretch of road between that major intersection with the 7-11, and the area with the shopping center with the Marshalls and the K-Mart. Assuming that the road is actually going North/South on that stretch, then the restaurant would be on the West side of the road. (Edited by jhlurie at 1:19 pm on Jan. 13, 2002)

The argument could be made that the transition occurs when the locations of a restaurant come out of the direct control of the founder or founders. Sometimes this issue is skirted a bit when members of a large family manage parts of a chain, but that's only a delaying action at best if the chain keeps expanding. Some here will disagree, but chains are not inherently bad. A good chain can be a bastion of consistency, and can indeed be the best restaurant in a town. It's sad that this has to ever be the case... but its not proper to shift the blame for this to the chain. If there wasn't a vacuum to fill... then they wouldn't be doing so. It doesn't invalidate an argument made by Holly Moore in a prevous thread that we, the eGullet types, are better off trying non-chain food in strange areas because we are much more likely to make a "discovery" that way. Le Clown Burger. Chuckle. Good one, Plotnicki. :) (Edited by jhlurie at 12:39 pm on Jan. 13, 2002)

The Bergen/Hudson area is interesting in that it hardly is lacking in quality Korean food. There are literally hundreds of them, and I know even just between the Perlows and myself there are 3 or 4 that we frequent very often. The reason that Myung Ga surprised me so much was that the few items which they did, they did as well or better than anywhere I'd been. And it surprised me to find something of quality in the area in which it was located. Rte. 1 & 9, for lack of a better phrase, is something of a pit. I'll partially disagree with something Rachel said. Her excellent follow-up is correct in saying that the Tofu items far outnumber the BBQ items. But her comment could give the impression that more attention was paid to the Tofu course than the BBQ one. That's not true. While the Tofu items were quite excellent, the BBQ items were clearly their pride and joy. The Rice Tea Soup/Rice Water thing was pretty neat. We also had a comedic little moment (my fault I'll admit) where they were looking for a way to serve the rice, and I had used a little metal rice bowl for the soup. In another place I would have been made to feel like a stupid American, but they handled it very smoothly. And then later on, when none of the three of us could figure out what to do with a bowl full of soupy rice water/tea (honest... we didn't know if we were supposed to eat it, drink it, or wash out the rice bowl with it), they were also very nice about explaining that. Oh, and Tommy, I have no idea if it was BYOB. I didn't see a bar... but we ordered non-alcoholic beverages. (Edited by jhlurie at 11:50 am on Jan. 13, 2002)

I'm going to write about this place because my friend Jason Perlow is probably still too emotional. I swear I saw him crying by the time we left this place. I always like to put my reactions in context, so I'll make a story out of this. Today started out as a very bad day. I've been having some serious car problems, and was facing the prospect of paying a heck of a lot of money to get it fixed. My good friends the Perlows did me a favor, and picked me up after I dropped my car at the dealership. Almost inevitably the three of us decided to look for lunch, and since two of the three of us were in the mood for Italian food, we headed towards Patsy's Ristorante, in Cliffside Park. We didn't make it there. Driving up Route 1&9 (that's a road that's called Tonelle Ave. and later Broad Avenue) we passed what, from the outside, appeared to be a very unlikely prospect for lunch... but it was new, so we pulled over. From the outside this place looks like a renovated fast food restaurant--a former Wendy's or Burger King maybe. A big bright sign says "Light House", and a smaller one says "Myung Ga Tofu & B.B.Q. Restaurant". I'm not sure if there's any relationship between the two names, since I don't speak more than five words of Korean, but I'm thinking that "Myung Ga" might mean "Light House". Or not. Jason and I were feeling lazy, so Rachel Perlow volunteered to get of the car and go look at the menu. Well approximately five seconds after she closes the car door the smell of the place penetrates our two laconic minds, and we bolt for the door after her. In short, the place specializes in Korean BBQ and does little else. But this is no weakness, because they do this BBQ as well as any place I've ever had it. The menu is only about 10 items long. Rachel actually walked out with a take-out version of it, so perhaps she could reproduce it in its entirety, but trust me... you probably don't need to see it. To start: Pretty much every Korean restaurant I've been to starts you off the same. You get complimentary little bowls of various vegetarian appetizers. Myung Ga was no different, and if a single complaint could be lodged against this place its that the variety (although NOT the quantity) of these freebies was a bit scarce. The Kimchee was excellent, and the spicy pickles (we argued for several minutes about whether they were picked cucumbers or pickled zuchini) were completely outrageous. The bean sprouts were... well... bean sprouts. Then came the soup. We chose the Tofu Beef and Tofu Pork soups, and hopefully Rachel can follow up this post with more specific names for them from the take-out menu. Both soups were simple, and similar... a soft, loose tofu in broth, with the taste of the meat proving body to the broth. In the case of the beef soup, however, we ordered it spicy--with scalions and kimchee in it--and it brings a whole new dimension to the soup. The tofu and the kimchee balance each other out nicely and stragely enough it becomes a kind of comfort soup for spicy food psychotics like Jason and myself. For the main course we opted for an order of the Bul-gogi (BBQ beef) and an order of the Gal-bi (short ribs). Since there were only about 2 or 3 other choices in any case, this was definitely the way to go. The Bul-gogi was excellent. And the Short Ribs were beyond excellent. These are actually hard items to write about, because they are so simple. It makes it pretty hard to describe the reason for their excellence. The Short Ribs were made with meat of such quality, and the sauce and cooking of them were done so correctly, that it may just be one of those cases where you have to see, smell and taste it yourself to understand beyond that. Rachel, Jason... perhaps you can fill in the cracks a bit. I've left out a lot about the interesting atmosphere of the place, and our reactions and descriptions about food always vary somewhat, but I know that glazed look in Jason's eyes when we left was definitely a sign that he enjoyed it as much as I did. Oh... and the place is cheap too. (Edited by jhlurie at 11:10 am on Jan. 13, 2002)

There's nothing wrong with criticizing the design of a site. I'll go even further than Bux and say that even criticizing the esthetics of a site would be alright. What shouldn't be done is to elevate the importance of those esthetics. Or the importance of the person doing the criticism. It's just one opinion, and the esthetics are only one element of many which make up the site. If the site is ugly, but provides good information... well great. If the site is pretty, but provides good information... well that's even better. Of course, as Bux says, the elements of design realted to ease of navigation are something else entirely. Food sites shouldn't get a "free pass" just because they are about food. That's NOT saying that food sites have to be ultra sleek and complicated... a good design can be simple as well. It's not unfair to wish that a person keep it simple if they can't make a complicated design look good. "Wish" is the operative word there, since nobody is claiming for even a second, I hope, that a criticism is somehow eliminating someone's freedom to run a site exactly how they want to.

Heck if you find any, let the board know (after you've ensured your own supply, of course). Since Ouzo is great stuff, it does sound interesting. I think our California community is a bit thin here so far, but I know that several here are experts in mail-ordering booze. That said, if the liquor was available elsewhere in the country, would you be up to mail order? That sometimes requires a pretty big outlay--ordering by the case if its coming from a distributor... Of course if someone here actually knows a distributor of the stuff, you could also try to talk a local liquor store into splitting the order with you.

About those 1000 beers... the first 500 or so are easy, but the SECOND five hundred are impossible to find. :) As for Turbo Dog... sorry.