SuzySushi
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Posts posted by SuzySushi
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My experience as a restaurant patron is that if we've sent back food because it's improperly prepared or inadequately described on the menu (e.g., something that's spicy with no indication of being so), the waitstaff either offers to exchange it or deducts it from the bill. No discussion with the manager is involved, unless s/he stops by the table later to say s/he's sorry that the food didn't come up to our expectations. It's policy.
I have a question for you, seeing that you'd tell family and friends about the poor food: Is this a place you've been to before, often enough that they know you've been there before? If so, they definitely should have deducted the entrees.
Comping a dessert, in my experience, is usually for delays in service -- diners' food not being ready at the same time, restaurant overcrowded and the waitstaff having to take longer than usual to serve our table -- not because of something wrong with the food.
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A few weeks ago, I was in Washington DC, and my Moroccan cabdriver was eating the spiral flatbread (I forget its name). He told us that bread had been baked by his mother in Morocco the day before and brought to him by another relative who had flown over for a visit. We began talking food and I mentioned I needed to buy a tagine. He immediately offered to take me to the local suk, and when I agreed, turned the meter off and away we went. He haggled for a tagine on my behalf, carried it out of the suk for me, and delivered me and my tagine back to my hotel. I got his card and made peanut brittle and sent to him when I got home.
Welcome to eGullet! What a nice first post decribing a wonderful cross-cultural experience!
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When I lived in California one time I was shopping in a Pan-Asian market, and had Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese groceries in my cart. The checkout guy looked at it and said "So, are you from Hawaii or what?"
Living in Hawaii, I can really appreciate that!I've also had people from various ethnic cultures strike up conversations after looking in my shopping basket at the checkout stand because they can figure out from the groceries exactly what dish I'm cooking for dinner that evening!
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Why just one?
It really depends on what type of cuisine interests you (or the person you're buying a gift for): Indian food, vegetarian food, Asian food? And do you prefer recipes with a lot of travelogue and personal anecdotes, or more straightforward?
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I've got a bottle of pomegranate molasses in my pantry that's about 4 years old. I've only got 13 months left in Japan to use it up, and I don't know what I want to do with it! (I bought it for a recipe from FoodMan's eGCI course on Lebanese cooking, and haven't touched it since.)
Besides using pomegranate molasses in Middle Eastern recipes, you can dilute it with ice water (about 1 tablespoon per large glass of water, or to taste) and add sweetener to taste (I use 1 packet of sugar or Splenda) for a refreshing beverage.
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Have to chime in here, as a resident of an almost 400K population megaburb of the second largest city in the country.........
--Pomegranate molasses---Not a chance, and I've looked everywhere I shop, and I shop regularly at all the major chains in the area, including Whole Paychecks and Bristol Farms (a SoCal Whole Foods clone). And I covet this, so I keep looking.
--Sumac---Ditto
--Aleppo pepper (Turkish-style red pepper)---Ditto
That's strange because the pomegranate molasses I have in my fridge is imported by IndoEuropean, which is headquartered in Glendale. And I know I shopped in an Armenian store last time I was in LA -- I'm sure it would carry sumac and Aleppo pepper.
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Not exactly from a non-coastal city as I live in Hawaii (suburbs on Oahu, to be exact), but of your list, I can get everything except duck fat and Mexican crema.
Most of the items are available in large supermarkets and/or Whole Foods and other natural food stores; pig parts at Asian grocers.
There is nothing like the traditional butcher shops in NYC. The handful of butcher shops here are more into selling 1/2 cow cut to order, rather than a small quantity of a particular cut.
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We went the vinegar route after someone burnt popcorn in the microwave, but the only thing that really got rid of the burnt popcorn odor was when we cooked bacon in the microwave! The bacon odor was pretty pervasive but at least it smells better than burnt popcorn.
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An interesting premise. I'm not sure that it's true but...
I'd save my wok. I can always replace a knife but a perfectly seasoned wok???
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It happens in Hawaii, too. We have a mix of many different cultures, so it may not be strictly followed by all cultures. For instance, the Japanese and Chinese custom is to give the family money (always wrapped up or in an envelope) toward the funeral expenses, then immediately after the funeral, the family holds a banquet that people who attended the funeral attend.
When my husband died last year, Filipino friends immediately came over with food, and over the next few days, people sent gift trays of sweets. After his memorial service on the beach, we held a picnic on the beach.
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Maybe next trip (don't know when, but there's bound to be a "next"...) we'll get more toward your neck of the woods! Japan isn't that large a country, but we had a lot of places and people to cram into only a few weeks (and over the holidays, yet)!
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SuzySushi--I tried to find you on flickr but you don't seem to exist (except I found your picture from and old eG get-together in Hawaii!). Same user name?
Same user name. Here's a direct link to my Japan set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzysushi/set...57612431673408/
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Just a brief note since some of you may have spotted me around browsing eGullet:
I'm back from a fabulous 3-week trip to Japan. We (my 12 y.o. daughter and I) were there over Christmas and New Year's, staying at the homes of (and traveling with) friends. We visited Tokyo, Chichibu, Kyoto, and Yokohama -- the latter where we met and stayed with Kristin Yamaguchi (aka Torakris) -- always eating well.
I've lots to tell, but not enough time to post and link to my photos on ImageGullet. (I'm on deadline till mid-February.) All my food photos (about 40 of them) are on ImageGullet but about half are in the wrong folder (they were all meant to be in my Japan folder).
For any of you who are impatient, you can view them under my name on ImageGullet -- or you can see all 435 of my Japan photos with titles and captions at my Flickr account (same user name).
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Hey, you guys have forgotten Japanese fried rice, made with short-grain rice. And Korean kimchi fried rice. And the smoky fried rice served at my wedding reception at a local Chinese restaurant. Its secret ingredient was bacon fat.
I'm also of the never-make-the-same-fried-rice-twice school. It's an adventure that raises leftovers to gastronomic heights.
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Oh hell, I just remembered my biggest food regret. Nevermind the peanut butter. Spiced masala soda. I'm sure there are people who grow up with it and love it. I love Moxie and am well aware that most don't. So it's cool. I'm not condemning the thing. But my God. I saw "spiced soda" and thought I might be dealing with something like Dr Pepper, maybe some kind of ginger ale, that sort of thing. But when I opened it, the first thing I smelled was cumin -- like opening a packet of taco seasoning when you've forgotten to shake it down to the bottom of the packet and a little winds up on the floor.
I tasted it anyway. I'd bought it, I'd opened it, and I knew there was no point in telling this story later if I weren't willing to taste it, and it was as salty as that taco seasoning too. I'm sure it wasn't really, I'm sure the salt level was moderate, but having grown up with Moxie instead of spiced masala soda, my expectation of saltiness in sodapop was ... well, about as low as you can get. Zero. Less than zero. Saltiness would show up nowhere in that segment of Family Feud, even after encountering the cumin.
I had bought three bottles originally, because that's what I do with previously unheard-of sodas -- that way if I love it, I've still got another one for later, and another one for somebody else to try. It's a number that works out well. This was nearly three years ago. The other two bottles are on my bookshelf as we speak, and they're only there in case anyone ever dares doubt me.
I think you win! I've never even heard of spiced masala soda.
Of course you know this means I'll have to go to my Indian market just to try it for myself.... er.... to see if they have it!
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Raw cocoa nibs.
I'm a confirmed chocoholic. A sucker for anything chocolate. Until a year-and-a-half ago, while on a trip to San Francisco I bought raw cocoa nibs on the advice of my stepson.
Not just one brand, but three different expensive brands.
Can we say sawdust, with not even a hint of chocolate flavor?
What was I thinking???
Roast them - either in the oven or a skillet, until they smell like chocolate - then cool and caramelize with sugar. The recipe is adapted from Recchuti. 175 grams roasted nibs, 100 grams sugar, couple of tsp of water. Cook in a large skillet until caramelized - sugar will melt, then go sandy, then melt again. It goes brown as the nibs give up some of their colour - then the sugar starts to brown in a second stage. Add about 10 grams of butter to split them up, spread on parchment, breaking up as much as possible.
Great on ice cream.
Too late for that -- they've been thrown out.
He didn't roast them. He nibbled them as-is and blended them in shakes. Must've been part of the raw food craze!!
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Raw cocoa nibs.
I'm a confirmed chocoholic. A sucker for anything chocolate. Until a year-and-a-half ago, while on a trip to San Francisco I bought raw cocoa nibs on the advice of my stepson.
Not just one brand, but three different expensive brands.
Can we say sawdust, with not even a hint of chocolate flavor?
What was I thinking???
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Grown here... and marketed as "sea asparagus."
Blanch in boiling water first to leach out some of the salt. You can also soak them in several changes of cold water it they're still salty.
One way I like them is chopped and mixed with chopped fresh tomatoes, kind of a lomi-lomi sea asparagus.
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Nothing unusual about that (although I'm tempted to go with Ben Hong's comment LOL!) -- I know one half-Korean, half-American kid who refuses to eat PBJ and mac & cheese!
There's no accounting for picky kids' tastes!
I'd say give it a rest until she's older and grows out of it -- or place some enticing dish on the table that your niece doesn't know is tofu and don't try to push her into eating it.
My daughter (who is thoroughly American but was exposed to all kinds of ethnic delights when she was a baby) went through a "white food" phase for years. Then suddenly, since she turned 11, she's been trying everything, the weirder the better! I asked her what suddenly made her so adventurous. She shrugged and said, "Tastes change."
Hey, it's not as bad as my Chinese friend in high school who hated rice!!!
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That's a shame! I hadn't realized it had
Oh Suzy, I am so sorry to hear about your loss
Looking forward to your photos though! I was at Tsukiji around this time last year (on my birthday, no less!) and I had the best birthday breakfast ever!
I wish I were back in Japan! I wish I'd spent more time wandering around Kiyomizu-dera & in Arashiyama - so much to see & buy!
Thank you, Chocomoo.
I don't recall if I've been to Arashiyama. On previous trips to Kyoto, friends drove me/dragged me around so my mental map of the city is confused! I love Kiyomizu-dera and the little street of pottery shops leading to it. Both are places we'd like to visit this trip.
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Can't wait to hear about your trip!
It's only the tuna auction that's closed to tourists, as I understand it. They were really getting in the way of business, and they tuna auction is a business that doesn't need distractions (poking the fish? Where are these tourists from?). The rest of Tsukiji is still open, though, so if you're interested in seeing the rest of the market, you can still go.
Actually, I think we'll skip Tsukiji this trip. Our friend lives in the western Tokyo suburbs, and we really don't want to get up in the wee hours of the morning to travel there. Plenty of other things to see!
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Rona is right. Only the tuna auction. I jumped to the conclusion that the entire jonai (inner) market would be off limits to visitors.
I've watched news programs on TV for a few days, and the behavior of some of the visitors is simply appaling. Drinking, smoking, jumping on the vehicle, and licking the tuna
SuzySushi: Like Rona, I'm looking forward to your stories!
Licking the tuna??? My God, where do these people get their manners???
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That's a shame! I hadn't realized it had become such a popular tourist attraction. When I visited it with a Japanese friend about 18 years ago, I was one of only a handful of foreigners there.
This coming Saturday, my 12 year old daughter and I are off to Japan for a three-week vacation. (For those of you who might not know, my husband passed away in July and we don't want to spend the holidays at home, where there are too many memories.)
We'll be spending Christmas with an American friend who lives in Tokyo, then will travel to Kyoto for several days (including an overnight stay at a Zen temple), and spend the New Year's holidays at the home of a Japanese friend who lives near Mount Fuji. Along the way, we'll also stay overnight at a ryokan that has a rotenburo (outdoor bath), and meet Torakris in Yokahama!
Food, of course, will be a major highlight of our travels. I hope to have lots of photos to post when we return.
returning an entree
in Restaurant Life
Posted
No, I don't mean that only regular customers should have had the entrees deducted from their bill, but that if they didn't recognize you, they might not have valued your patronage as much as that of people who dine there regularly (not having the foresight to consider that you'd be telling others about your negative experience there).