mb7o

Seattle has about 10000 Thai restaurants. (96 according to Citysearch). Some are generally good, others not so great. Others are good with certain dishes and not others. Anyone have favorites for particular things? Example: Tom Yum Gai: Siam on Broadway. Pad Thai: Definately not Siam on Broadway. Pad See-Uw: ??? Larp: ???. Many places do serve it. Emerald Curry: Chantanee in Bellevue. I haven't been there since I was in Thailand, I should try it again. (Though I also stay away due to multiple upset stomachs.) Green Curry: ? Red Curry: ? Pinecone fish: Typhoon. Does anyone else serve weird fried fish? Roti: Malay Satay Hut. Yellow Curry: Malay Satay Hut. (at least the curry part of the Roti Canai)

Tommy, Larp is actually Lao, so it's not neccessarily surprising her friend doesn't talk about it. Here's another dish which might be Lao or Northern Thai. It's very good and easy to make. Steamed Curry Fish (har mok plaa) 200 g freshwater fish fillet in thin slices 1 Tbsp red curry paste 2 Tbsp coconut cream (this is the fatty half of the can, don't shake it.) 1/2 a beaten egg (1 tsp?) fish sauce 1 Kaffier lime leaf, shredded & stem removed 20 sweet basil leaves mix together curry, coconut milk, egg, fish sauce add fish, lime leaf, some basic leaves, mix again. put in bowl or banana leaf basket (or foil or parchment basket. i use small ones and line the bottom with basil leaves; last time I used muffin papers, which worked but wilted) steam for (10? 20?) minutes remove from heat, garnish with more coconut milk and basil. (i haven't remembered to do this step yet) i throw everything in the blender to mix it, traditionally I think it would be done with mortar and pestle.

Hmmm... never been to either the Seattle or Eastside locations, but friends tell me there's a good chinese restaurant on the east side with a similar name. According to Citysearch, Sichuanese Cuisine is at 15005 NE 24th. This may be in the same building as Subway, in the Sears lot or the next one east.

Hmmm... someplace new to try. Pho is actually a common Lao dish, they're on the border with Vietnam and in some areas (like Savanakhet) Vietnamese are still the main merchants. Bun bo is also popular there, which makes sense because the road east ends up in central Vietnam.

are you allowed to link to geocities pix from outside geocities? they load fine if you enter the URL by hand. put a page on your site with exactly the HTML from your post, or just an img link to the pictures, then put a link here to that. then you can follow the link from egullet and see the pictures. or move the pix to some other server.

Add another satisfied customer. Tonights meal: wild greens salad, curried mussels, and savory empañadas (onion, golden rasins, a bit of tomato, and something else). All excellent, plus a glass of wine. Just figure on adding 100% to the half-price food for a drink, tax, and tip. Also noticed that the cinerama is showing Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm for the next few days. Get there early, the ticket line for the 7:30 show was still pretty long around 7:35. I hope I have time to go this week.

Jogging my memory, these are the two good places I've been: Pagliacci's. Italian and also brunch. Re-Bar is more interesting, sort of a vegetarian restaurant except the food is excellent and may not actually be vegetarian. Zagat does include it as part of 'vancouver (island)' if you can't find anything else. Also search here for "vancouver island", though of course most things will be further than in town. Also check what dates you're searching here.

I just ate there tonight. Roti canai, yam pot, mango shrimp, a noodle soup, and kang kung belachan. Everything was excellent except the kang kung, I guess I prefer more garlic than shrimp paste. Also wandered the neighborhood waiting for my friends to show up. I now know where the Seattle Deli and Nha Trang are, saw about 5000 other banh mi shops, at least one more place adverstising beef 7 ways, golfball sized thai egglants at hau hau (can you get the pea sized ones in Seattle?), and looked in the window of Azuma Kaiten Sushi, which looked totally empty.

If you like pizza and beer, Moose's Tooth is well known and good, though not downtown. anchorage does have some sort of bus system which could take you there. The local weekly newspaper is the Anchorage Press.

That was the point I wanted to express on the other thread: Seattle has many excellent restaurants. Few are in the 'almost-perfect' category others found in other cities. The most famous places, like Rover's and the Herbfarm, are defended locally even when they have faults. This is an insecure passive-agressive city (hey, I fit in). Very different from, say, Philadelphia, notorious for being overly critical. Many restaurants feel expensive, in terms of value. Maybe it's from all the taxes and the fact that the server minimum wage is not discounted for 'expected tips'. But it sure doesn't help when you think "I could have cooked that at home", you're paying a lot just to have something cooked and cleaned up for you.

I keep replying to this thread... Did you contact the herbfarm first, before AmEx? It's good to have a credit card and a message board on your side, but it's also best to try to resolve the conflict with the original party first. Then escalate!

Sure, the weird policy is pretty clearly spelled out, including in the letter they send you before about a week (?) before the actual meal. And it's on their web site. And that may have been why they wanted you at a communal table. But still, you should complain. You got unexpected wine (normally well matched, but you got the special 'mediocre vineyard night') and the empty seat (unclear reservation policy). Seattle has a total 'world class city' complex. They do things they think a 'world class city' needs to do, claim that things are world class, and so on. It has many great things, but this weird inferiority complex is not one of them.

uh, just to add a serious comment, antimalarials also depend on location. because of excessive use of antimalarials, certain ones are not effective in certain areas. (e.g. larium in much of thailand). there's also a new anti-malarial (mefloqueline/malarone?). but you should talk to a travel doctor before going, or at least read the cdc site. a common reccomendation now is to not take a prophylaxis, but take the drugs needed to start a course of treatment should you come down with something, time is of the essence. and avoid mosquitos, though that's not completely possible.

This is a fascinating series, though I admit not having read all of it. It's not suprising this is an americainized version of pad thai (but no ketchup ). Anyway, is there any discussion in your course where recipes come from? Was this described as a classic authentic thai dish, or as a dish popular in American (or French) restaurants? Simalarly, is there any discussion of the heritage of the traditional dishes?

Ice is often manufactured safely, but transport is scary. At least in this picture they're not using their feet to move the ice or dragging it along the ground. The brown stuff you see is the insulating straw. And no, ice never made me sick. Well, probably at a japanese restaurant for tourists in mexico years ago. At least that's my theory.

depends on where you're going. one thing to consider is a hepetitis A shot if you haven't already had it. i just assume everyone in [insert 3rd world country here] got hep a as a child, though i could be wrong. eat where many other people are eating. food will be fresher and probably has a better rep. food stands, well many people claim to have gotten sick from 'good' restaurants while never having a problem with food stands. carry azithromicin or other antibiotic in case of serious diherria if you will be in a place with poor medical care. otherwise you can always buy it, this is something you ususally don't want to take immediately anyway. some people claim they'll be ok so long as they eat like the locals, once they're past some initial sickness. but a top (often #1 or #2) cause of death in many countries is dyssentry. maybe not the best idea.

I have been the the Herbfarm once, when they were in temporary Issaquah digs. This review sounds fair: the show part of the meal was somewhat irritating; some dishes were outstanding (though all I can remember is a dry mussel dish), the rest was quite good. The group dining tables are (or were) full priced. They claim, and I will believe, that when people are stuck at them like we were, they want to come back again. Why? Because you end up talking to the people who are there with you, and have at least something in common, far more than your average restaurant. It's different from the whole seattle 'be nice to people but don't really engage them' vibe. As for the 'don't drink' issue, I thought they charged full price, but a friend thinks they may not. I think the people who weren't drinking alchohol got either red or white grape juice, or something like that, instead of a carefully matched wine. (It's always fixed menu + preselected wine.) All in all I think this is just one of those places which are very good, but became so well known that the demand outstrips the supply, leading to things like high prices, a fair but irritating cancellation policy, and so on. I doubt I'll go back.

Well I just got back home, been in Seattle for a while but will try to write something before I fall asleep. Sorry it's so long and rambling, as Mark Twain once said I don't have time to make it shorter. We left Seattle ~ 9:30, got to Cle Elum ~ 10:30, stopped in the Cle Elum bakery for donuts. Pretty good, then back on the interstate to Yakima. There we picked up the tourist brochure for the Yakima Valley. Later we picked up a farm produce brochure, don't remember where but lots of places have them. Also online at http://www.yakima.net/agriculture_farmguide.htm . My suggestions? Bring a picnic lunch from home. Then you can buy wine at a winery with a nice setting (Hyatt, Silver Lake, some others) and have a picnic right there. After stopping at the first 'winery' (Sagelands), we tried to find lunch and ended up at El Ranchito in Zillah. Not really planned, but this is often rated the best Mexican restaurant in the NW. Well, I guess that says something, it certainly ranks as one of the best I've had out here, I went with a simple dish: taco combo, two beef tacos + rice + beans. It was a style of taco I haven't seen before, since the shells were hard but formed around the meat--maybe the shell was fried, the meat added, and the whole thing folded before it got hard? Dunno. Rice was excellent, I didn't like the beans. My friends had good food to, but I can't comment on it. The restaurant also includes a bakery (no labels on the items, so I can't say what they all are, but we bought some fruit empanadas at .50 each) and gift and spice shop. Oddly enough, many of the other restaurants in Zillah were closed. There is a big 7th day adventist church, perhaps that is why. Anyway, back to wine. Now that we had lunch, tasting sounded like a better idea. We stopped at the Hyatt, Bonair, and Silver Lake wineries. There are a few things in common with all the places we visited. First, they all feel like primarily gift shops to varying degrees. Sure, half the shop was targeted at wine, but lots of other cute things of the type you'd expect. Second, none of us are picky enough about wine to feel comfortable going through a whole run of tastings, or the type of person who just wants to drink a lot of wine. The people behind the counter weren't so interested in educating that it felt like an educational experience. So that part was kind of fun, but not as educational as I hoped. I only ended up with one bottle of wine, a '99 Hyatt Fume Blanc, which is funny because I almost always drink red. The best part was seeing new things: at the Hyatt vineyards they have a black muscat wine, which is red colored and tasted to us like fruit punch. They also have an ice wine I didn't try. The Bonair vineyard has way too many bad puns; instead of a cab-merlot, they have a camerlot (think King Arthur). But they did have a mead, it was the first time I've had one. Can't say much about it other than it's sweet. In this case it was cherry juice + honey + a little red wine left in my glass (uh...) Better than the fruit punch, I'd have to say overall they had the lest impressive wines of our few stops. The Silver Lake winery had the most impressive setting, slightly above the valley. They also advertised a salmon dinner Sunday afternoons, which might be nice. After that we started the return trip. I'm much more excited about fresh produce than wine, since wine (at this time of year at least) comes out of a bottle with a comparitively long shelf life. We headed towards a place in the farm products brochure, Schell's Produce south of Toppenish. En route we gawked at but did not stop in Granger, the Town "Where Dinosaurs Roam." Schell's grows their own flowers and corn, but other things seem to be brought in and not-so-cheap prices. Before Wapato, we headed over to Lateral A starting at Branch Road. Whoever suggested this, it's a great idea. Full of stands and u-pick places, we randomly stopped at Dagdagan Produce, which had a much better choice of produce at much better prices. (Cukes, 4/$1; corn 6/$1, which was young and excellent; green peppers 4 or 6/$1 depending on quality). Enough for the day, except for a high-speed turn in when I saw the Pence Orchard sign. They only sell by the case, but it was the end of the day so I got a half-case. $6/case, just a little bit less than the price on the top of Queen Anne; I forget the variety, they had two available and this was the expensive one. Anyone want some peaches? That was the last real stop, back through Yakima Canyon to I-90 to Seattle, then fresh veggies for dinner, then here I am, should be sleeping! Good night!

Last minute, we're going to head to the Yakima Valley tomorrow. Is this a good time to visit wineries? Who knows... Maybe I can find some tomatoes though. Any suggested wineries to visit? All the websites I've found so far just have lists. Any place for dinner? This may just be a day trip, so time for travel is somewhat relevant.

Alright, bought some more Pence peaches today and they're still good but not great. Now onto the real unavailable food in the Pacific Northwest: Good tomatoes. Every supermarket seems to carry hothouse tomatoes now, even at the end of august. They're not all cardboard, but they don't have much flavor either. A few years ago I made the mistake of buying 'heirloom tomatoes' at $5 or $10/lb. Very pretty but that magical cardboard taste made me say 'never again'. Any good bets on finding good real tomatoes? Maybe neighborhood farmer's markets, or the guys from Yakima at Pike Place sometimes.

Alright, what's the trick on buying peaches? I've bought a few this month: From QA Thriftway: 1 Donut peach. Mealy and not good. 1 White Peach from Cali == standard potato-like supermarket peach. 1 Pence Peach. Good but not spectacular. From Pike Place (the first grocer you come to around (not on) the corner going down pike place, I usually have good luck with things from them). 1 ? Peach. Good but not as good as the Pence peach. Probably would have been much better with 1 more day or ripening. 1 Nectarine. Not particularly good at all. I let the guy in the market select the fruit, figured he'd be better than me. Any tricks? Or just spend the money on the case and figure on getting some good ones? If that's the way to go, there must be someplace cheaper than the thriftway. BTW they grow excellent peaches on the east coast, shouldn't have to send them all the way across the country in either direction.

There's a tofu maker up on 12th just north of Yesler, maybe they have what you want? As for candy... http://www.laboratorium.net/candy.html or even better, asian candy: http://www.laboratorium.net/candy2.html

The eastside is probably the best bet. Two I know of... One is next to the Bellevue Fred Meyer, in the same strip as Chuck E Cheeses. It had a decent selection of food, including frozen meals (from New Jersey), English type stuff (e.g. Heinz Beans), lots of videos, and of course various spices, ingredients, whatever. And I saw one operated by Mayuri somewhere else, don't remember where. Maybe in the shopping center at NE 24th and 152nd, other stores there include Performance Bicycles and the Malay Satay Hut. Oddly enough, it was the staff at Mayuri (156th NE/Northup) who pointed me to the other store a few years ago. Lots of Indians in that area working in the computer industry. Supposedly the Totem Lake movie theater (a bit further north) now shows Bollywood films.

uwajamaya had lychees (I think) last weekend. either that or a close relative (it wasn't longan, probably lychee). i also saw jackfruit a while ago, even more expensive than the durian. they both look a bit sad from the shipment, and the durian smell seems to be gone. june makes sense for lychee... if you're ever in Tha Ton (north thailand near the burmese border), stay in Garden Home, which is a bunch of bunaglows in a lychee orchard, with a good restaurant. i was there mid april and we stole some almost-ripe fruit at dinner.

Hmmm... I met some people who only ate french fries in cambodia because they thought everything else was bad. Sometimes that may be the case, but not really. It is however not exactly a developed country, remember its recent history. I can only remember a few things to reccomend: Prices: Cambodia is the place with the highest income gap I've seen. Mercedes driving past homeless people on destroyed dirt roads. That would be for example the road from the airport in the capital. $2 is a lot for many people. Siem Reap: The town with the most 'tourist prices'. However, the most best food I had there was from a street vendor selling spring (well, fresh) rolls. Along the east side of river at the north end of a row of concrete houses, I think it's not far north of the new bridge leading to a temple (the only bridge with a gate). Battambang: Don't know why you'd end up here, but if you do, there is an excellent new italian restaurant on the right bank of the river. Name is something like the world cafe. The NGO standby is apparently Mr. T's, and it is good. Ask how to get there, even though this is the 2nd largest city in Cambodia, there are no maps.