jkonick

Takoyaki with okonomiyaki sauce, katsuo bushi and ao-nori, congee with 100 year old eggs, hash browns, and chocolate chips. Not neccessarily in the same dish. But maybe. After all, it's only 2:35...

At work (in a restaurant - does that void my foodie status? ) I usually drink iced tea on hot days when it gets really really hot in the kitchen, and today I decided to get a mint iced tea rather than just regular old "iced tea," (there's also a cafe, so I have a large selection of teas to choose from). Unlike the regular iced tea, the mint has to be individually brewed. When my coworker gave it to me, she said, "you're really high maintenance with your iced tea," to which I replied, "I'm not high maintenance, I'm a foodie." I think that sort of sums up a foodie to me - somone whom a non-foodie might think of as high maintenance when it comes to food, but is actually just trying to eat/drink/whatever things that are better than the iced tea that's been sitting there all day. It's about going the extra mile for better food, whether it means travelling, searching far and wide, spending a few extra dollars or a little extra time in the kitchen.

I've really enjoyed the few pieces I've read so far. I got a subscription to Gourmet as a gift, and I wouldn't normally buy it (most of the stuff in there seems like fluff), but if perhaps the regular magazine was the supplement and the supplement became the main attraction I'd be more inclined to read it.

Thanks for the suggestions all! I'm starting to feel better but I don't want to push it yet... looks like congee's on the menu for tomorrow.

Over the past week, I've come down with some sort of nasty stomach thing that has been slowly destroying my insides, and as a result of this my diet has been drastastically scaled back to a few simple things such as rice, bread, apple sauce and bananas. I've been going insane. I tortured myself the other day by walking around Chinatown and window shopping for roast ducks. My mouth said yes but my stomach said no. What have you done while sick and restricted to tasteless things? What won't push me over the edge, but might taste good? Now I'm off to make another piece of plain toast...

The medicinal part I agree with, but the root beer part? Overwhelmed by the medicine, it seemed to me. ← Hmmm. I tried another Moxie today, and I think I've pinpointed the flavor (and go figure, it's another Jewish thing): really bad Kosher wine, only carbonated. I guess I got the root beer thing because it has a slight herbal taste similar to rootbeer, but it's not that close.

Vernor's I can handle. But you gotta have a lot of moxie to down Moxie. AFAIK, the beverage is confined to New England these days. I hope it doesn't break loose and contaminate the rest of the country again. ← I've never heard of Vernor's ginger ale. How is it different from any other ginger ale, such as Schweppes? As for root beer, you have to drink the right kind. Some are vile. But then there is Stewart's, really good root beer! ← I can't really describe the taste of Vernor's... it's more "intense" than something like Schweppes, but not in a super-spicy ginger beer way. It just tastes "different." I've never had another ginger ale that tastes like it. As for Moxie, I had it for the first time a couple weeks ago (in Seattle, so watch out!) and I'd say it wasn't too bad. It tasted like a more medicinal version of root beer to me. I'd try it again but I don't know if I'd make a habit of it. Also, I must chime in as a Jew who absolutely detests gefilte fish and kishke (and almost every other traditional Ashkenazi food.) It all tastes like cardboard to me

I definitely agree with this - the U. District has great shopping and about five movie theaters. It's not the nicest neighborhood, but it definitely has character. And that goes for the restaurants too - they aren't the greatest places, but there are definitely some U. District institutions with bad food but a good atmosphere. The IHOP on 42nd will always have a place close to my heart, not for the hundreds of pancakes I ate there, but for the dozens of times I went there at four in the morning after studying all night to goof around with friends.

Welcome to Seattle and the UW! I'm currently an undergrad there, and I lived in the dorms there last year. As other people have said, the food in the U. District is more or less crap, aside from the farmer's market. That is, unless you love lots and lots of Korean-run Teriyaki places Edit to add: I forgot about Aladdin's, which has really good Falafel and Gyros, and is open until 3 a.m. Luckily there are lots of busses that go through the U. District, and you can get something called a U Pass from the UW. If you don't know what it is already, it's basically a bus pass that's good for I think the whole year, and comes automatically with your tuition. I'm not sure if it's the same for grad students though, it might not be. I'm sure you'd still be eligible for one though. It costs something like $40, so it's a great deal if you're only using the bus. As far as ethnic markets go, there are a lot of great Asian places in Chinatown/International District, and Little Saigon to the east. There are a couple busses that go there from the U. District. Lots of good and hard to find produce for pretty cheap. Also, Vietnamese Sandwiches are available everywhere for about two dollars; big, delicious and perfect for a student budget. If you go a little further south of there to Rainier Valley you'll find more Vietnamese and Mexican places. In terms of finding a rental place with a gas stove (or a decent kitchen at all) - good luck. I'm currently looking for a place for next year, and the one house we found with a gas stove was a total dump. I wouldn't be surprised if the stove didn't even work. I think a couple other people mentioned looking outside of the U. District in places like Wallingford or Fremont which are still pretty close, but have nicer houses. A little more expensive, but definitely nicer than your average U. District place. I think someone else mentioned the UW's housing, but it's really expensive. Something like 600-700 a month. Definitely not worth it in my opinion. PM me if you have any more questions, or if you'd like to meet up for a tour of the... err, delicious U. District eateries next year. And good luck with the gas stove!

Vernor's ginger ale. As a kid in Michigan I loved this stuff, but after moving to Seattle I was shocked that none of my friends would drink it. I guess it does have a very unique taste, but I can't think of a better and more nostalgic lunch than Vernor's and pizza. Mmmm.

I think one of the things that makes lemon/limeade in Israel better is that every brand seems to use sugar, not high fructose corn syrup. I can definitely taste the difference. Now I have to get to finding some of that mint limeade... mmm

Both of my parents, but mainly my mom (because she does most of the cooking). My dad's idea of a good meal is broccoli that has been steamed to soupy consistency and dry oven-fried chicken. That's essentially all he can make. My mom, I'll give her credit, has improved upon her own mother's cooking, but it's not saying much. A lot of shortcuts, cheap ingredients and overall bad cooking. During an unfortunate period when I was vegan, she made a vegan lasagna for me. It was lasagna noodles, soft tofu, some sort of fake cheese and cherry tomatoes. No tomato sauce, no other vegetables. I took one smell and thought I was going to throw up. Unfortunately I'm living at home for the summer, and the bad eating has already begun. Tonight was leftover chicken rolls from a potluck a few nights ago with a giant disgusting V-8 frozen casserole, still frozen in the middle ("just pick around the frozen parts). I've offered to cook dinner a couple nights a week, but my first menu has already been shot down as being too bizarre (Mexican goat stew). This is going to be a long summer.

I just got back from Israel, and there are two things I miss already: mint limeade and shawarma. I think I ate about 10-15 different shawarma in the ten days I was there. The mint limeade is available at basically any grocery store. I've never seen it in Seattle, but I need to find some... Also picked up some saffron at about 1/10 the price I'd pay for it here. Unfortunately I was with a group, and we were constantly surrounded by Americans (Birthright, if anyone's familiar with it. We always seemed to be in groups of hundreds of Americans, eating mediocre food), but I managed to sneak off a few times to get "real" food. The best shawarma I had was in the Jewish quarter of the old city, but I have no idea what the place was called, or where it was. So the answer I guess is, eat at every shawarma place there.

Sounds like it was pu erh. I'm surprised just because I've been to this restaurant several times before (Jade Garden, for those of you in Seattle) and always been served the standard jasmine. This was also at about 11:30 last night, and we were the only people there, but when I've gone for dim sum it's always been regular "Chinese restaurant tea." Thanks for the info, I'll try to track some pu erh down now!

At a Chinese restaurant last night I had the most interesting tea. I'm used to the standard "Chinese restaurant tea" that they set out on your table in kettles, but as soon as I poured this stuff I knew it was different. The color was a very dark brown - so dark that you almost couldn't see the bottom of the (small) cup. The taste was kind of malty, almost like beer, but tea. I asked the waiter if he knew what kind of tea it was, but he had no idea. Anyone know what this is? I'd love to try it again.

8/11 I even asked a Polish friend about the Polish one, and she'd never heard of it.

Most of my food phobias are common condiments: ketchup, mayonnaise and mustard. I absolutely will not touch anything with ketchup, although I don't mind it inthings - like barbecue or tonkatsu sauce. But straight up? ICK. I won't eat a hamburger if it has ketchup in it. Mustard is only a half-phobia, because I do like a tiny, tiny amount of good mustard. But the yellow stuff from a bottle? I hate it. The worst of all is mayonnaise though, in any and all forms. Everything about it scares and disgusts me: the texture, the taste, just the idea of it, even the smell. And unlike mustard or ketchup, there is absolutely no form of mayo I will eat. Maybe if it was in cake... but that's a different story. People always think it's strange that I won't eat these things, because I'll eat almost anything else under the sun. I think it's just a habit that has stuck with me since I was a kid.

1. Seven Stars Peppers. If I get nothing there but potstickers I am happy. Of course, if I get a whole fish I am even happier 2. Best of Bento. Basically you average U. District teriyaki place, but they have the best sushi of anywhere on the Ave. Plus, it's about three blocks away from where I live. 3. Szechuan Noodle Bowl, next to Green Leaf. If I can't think of anywhere else to go, I usually go there. Also, before it closed, Top Gun's Seattle location. That place was great, and a family favorite. Any extended family get together or birthday dinner or whatever happened there. I really miss that place, especially since it's been replaced by a so-so vegetarian place (although better than the vegetarian place that was there before it).

Thanks for the info Hiroyuki and Tokyogurumegal. Tokyogurumegal, I definitely agree about seiza - very painful! Especially with big runner/biker's legs like mine. And thanks for the offer to talk to your teacher, but actually I'm taking a class now on the tea ceremony, so I can talk to my teacher as well. I'm doing research on cha-kaiseki for a paper, but also it's become something of an interest of mine since taking the class. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of definitive information about it in English.

I found a thread from a while ago about kaiseki, but it didn't have much info about cha-kaiseki, or the meal served at the tea ceremony. Although it follows the same general rules as a regular kaiseki, I know there are some differences. Does anyone know anything about this? Or know of any websites with info (preferably in English).

I shop a lot in Asian markets/grocery stores, and I definitely know what you're talking about. For me, it's just a matter of getting over the fear of dented cans and dusty tops in order to get harder to find (and often better) ingredients. There may be the occasional imperfection in a container, but I can never think of a time when I've gotten sick or eaten something bad tasting from an ethnic market. After a while, I just realized that aesthetics don't really matter, you just have to ignore them. One thing I do tend to stay away from in Asian markets is fresh mushrooms. I've never had good experiences... they always look really old and shriveled up. Once I bought some shiitakes that smelled like a musty, expired Italian spice blend.

They should start installing those things in dorm rooms... I'd be in heaven!

I finally made it to Jade Garden for dim sum today. Unfortunately I was in a big group, and they stuck us upstairs, so no actual carts coming around. Instead, they gave us a card with dishes on it that we could check off, then have them served. The list seemed kinda small, and I saw a lot of things on the way out that I'm sure weren't on there (chicken feet!). Aside from that, it was good. I was a little disappointed by their shrimp and chive dumplings (not enough chive, some of them were almost burnt on the outside) and the taro dumplings, which sort of just tasted like potato chips. Everything else was great there, better than anything else I've had in Seattle.

I have experienced this a lot, and I hate it! My favorite part of eating at Chinese restaurants is the sharing and conviviality involved, yet I've witnessed groups of 12 or more people all put the dishes their food is served in ON TOP OF their plates! Why do you think they give you those other plates? So you can precariously balance your too-large dish on top of them? My roommate asked me a few weeks ago to find a good Chinese restaurant for his birthday party. I agreed, and decided on a pretty restaurant within our student budget. Although it wasn't super expensive, the food is good so I was excited to have such a large group and be able to taste a lot of things. When we arrived at the restaurant, I started hearing things like "cashew chicken," "chow mein," "pineapple fried rice," and "oh, I'm sure they'll just put tofu in things to make it vegetarian if we ask." When the food arrived and everyone took their dishes off the lazy susan (again, what is that for? spinning for fun???) I completely gave up. I should've just taken them to Magic Dragon! A few times I've tried to encourage my friends to share dishes, but either they'll take a tiny bit from someone else and go back ot their own (or I'll take theirs, and they won't take any of mine, which makes it more awkward) or they'll just say outright that they're not into the whole "sharing"thing.

That looks like the stuff, Hiroyuki. Thanks! I'll have to look into it more now that I know the name.