MsRamsey

I went the other night and had tom kha and their version of crabmeat wontons. I consider the wontons to be a retro guilty pleasure, and they were tasty. The sweet-and-sour sauce served with the wontons, is, amazingly, both sweet AND sour. I would not recommend the tom kha. There was nowhere near the explosion of lemongrass and lime flavor that one would get from, say, Siam on Broadway. It was extremely bland, like the canned version, and needed MAJOR doctoring up. I'll definitely return, though. The place is really pleasant, the staff is nice, and there are many more things I'd like to try.

Thanksgiving is November 28. Maybe we can all synchronize our calendars/watches/PDAs when we get together on Thursday.

Are they cheap eats? Would you be able to post typical prices and give a more complete description of the sandwiches? Thanks -- I've never had them!

It sounds great to me, but I will be gone for the first half of November so might not be able to make it. Also, we talked a while back about setting up a class or two with the chef at Mistral, with Ben as the organizer. I was pretty excited about the possibility of doing this, and there seemed to be more than enough people interested. It's been on my mind, and I mention it just to keep it on a burner (front or back, I dunno). Kathy

Nope, cuz I gasp and change the channel ASAP whenever I see his mug. What'd he say?

I heard that China Gate got a new hotshot chef as well. Did both places get new hotshot chefs?? mamster, is the book you refer to entitled, "The Dim Sum Book: Classic Recipes from the Chinese Teahouse"? I was just looking at alibris.com for used copies. Unfortunately, bookfinder is down right now. Edit: I did find the one called "The Dim Sum Dumpling Book." I wish they would put it back in print.

I went to Oceanaire last night in memory of my mom's birthday. The only happy hour specials were 1/2 price raw oysters and 1/2 price shrimp cocktail. Last night (Wed.), the specials went only until 6:00 PM. I love Oceanaire's decor. I am a fiend for art deco, and they pull it off nicely. I adore raw oysters, so I had a few of those. I had a crab cake (which the bartender mentioned unsolicited, but I heard her give the exact same description to other customers, so it was a corporate-mandated "do you wants fries with that" kind of thing). The crab cake was alright, not wonderful. Yes, lots of crab meat, but other things that hid the flavor of the crab (celery,which I can do without most of the time, and a very spicy hot, vinegary sauce on the plate). There were quite a few pieces of shell hidden within as well. The bread is great; a white sourdough, very fresh. The butter(?) served with the bread is just bad; it's whipped and flavorless. I would go again, probably just for raw oysters. Kathy

727 Pine needs to get on the stick and change the website, then.

Hey, that's what happens at Saito's! There always seems to be a big group of giggly Japanese girls sitting at the sushi bar, eating reeeaallly slowly. One of the chefs is HOT. And agreeing with Blue, I don't remember ever seeing a sushi chef wear gloves. It seems like a really unreasonable demand.

That's exciting news about the Oceanaire happy hour. Thanks, Judy! I'm really looking forward to trying it. You are responsible for my new addiction to Brasa, you know. And related to another thread (Chain Restaurants: Do you dare admit eating at them?): I really thought Oceanaire was an independent restaurant, but it's part of the Buca di Beppo family. They want to open 20 Oceanaires by 2005. Doesn't preclude me from wanting to try it out, though. Article: http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twinciti.../21/story1.html

LOL! What a priceless moment that would be, if the waiter had had to convey this to the chef . . .

I'm going tonight . . . I would like to try the steak too, but I'm such a sucker for those fried onion strings!! The best Maid-Rite ever is in Marion, Iowa,* where they make these AMAZING onion strings that I DREAM about. Brasa's come very close to this pinnacle of fried goodness. *Goofy fact about this particular Maid-Rite: It's owned by Terry Farrell's family. She played the sexy slug on Star Trek DS9.

I went to Brasa last Monday night and had the bar menu fish dinner. It was "striped bass" that night. It was excellent, and I'm going again this Monday and will drag some work friends with me. I felt so guilty about the low cost of the food (silly, I know), so I had a glass of really good Barbera (it's not listed on the link that BH posted), which I think was $6.50 or $7.00. I worry about them staying in business! It's not like they fill up their dining room every night.

Naaah, just said it to get a laugh, BH! I don't have any more love for Mr. Nickels than I do for Mr. Sidran.

And "killing some kittens" too, eh??

I'm glad that you didn't notice, because if you don't like it, you probably would have. I *really* don't like 5-spice. I think calling them may be an exercise in futility, however.

I thought about baring my ass. Sadly, however, the window wasn't facing Mark Sidran's office.

Sorry I haven’t responded to this sooner. The dinner at the Columbia Tower was as expected, with the inevitable Wow Factor of being 75 floors above the city. We were a group of 12 and had a private dining room with a view facing south. We could see the Mariners game in progress, and The Mountain was out. We started with drinks and some large seafood platters. These platters consisted of shrimp, small squares of smoked trout, some loose crab meat (no crackers -- I guess one could to use the “bread”), and what the server called oysters. They were not oysters; they were mussels. I love raw oysters, so I would have been happy with oysters. The table bread is basically a very thin, hard cracker. It looks like sourdough bread that is very thinly sliced, sprinkled with hard cheese, broiled, and let harden. They serve it with butter, but it’s not the kind of bread you’d normally put butter on. I had the prime rib, which was very tender and good. I love beef and thought it would be a safe way to go. Someone ordered the ahi tuna; she didn’t realize it would be served rare because she’s not accustomed to such things, but she liked it. I had the molten chocolate torte for dessert. It was good but had been cooked too long (it wasn’t molten enough in the middle). It was served with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Frankly, by this time we had been there for 3 hours. Since we had a private room and a bunch of snarky comedians in the bunch, we were slightly out of hand. The martinis, wine, and champagne didn’t help matters. The martinis, BTW, were strong and very tasty. That’s a requirement for a snooty private club. There are signs outside of the ladies’ rooms asking that gentleman stay out. Those bathrooms are infamous, I guess. The host at Vivenda the next day told me that he had been recently thrown out of the ladies' room. The friend who invited me is considering joining the club, so maybe I’ll be going again sometime!

Can anyone comment whether one can get BBQ duck or pork on which they do NOT use 5-spice powder?

Yeabut their selection is pretty small, isn't it? I don't think I can get Neal's Yard stuff there.

Man, that was FAST! I tried to go to Cadiz once, but the friend I was with refused (not based on any logical reasons, mind you). Cheese: Larry's Spanish Table DiLaurenti The grumpy cheese lady near Crystal Meats Is there some reason you avoid the Pike Market cheese vendors? Enlighten me!

A good friend of mine loved going there. Unfortunately, it folded several months ago.

That was very kind -- thanks! But he's not going. He's in SF. Wonder what their dress code for women might be . . .

Thanks, tighe! I'm not expecting it to be anything super exciting (except for that pressing-up-against-the-glass thing, heh-heh). I assume it's somewhat stuffy. The people I'm going with aren't, though.

I've been invited to have dinner tomorrow night at the Columbia Tower Club. Does anyone know what they serve and what I should expect? It's a regular private dinner, not part of any catered event. I have heard about the famous bathroom stalls with the floor-to-ceiling windows that expose you to all of Seattle (except that Seattle can't see you when you're that high up). Should be interesting. Any feedback today or tomorrow will be appreciated! Kathy