huiray

I dislike microwaved broccoli. To me, it tends to stink. It also lacks the "mouth-feel" that blanching it in oiled simmering water gives it.

Soup & Salad. Tomato soup. EV olive oil, chopped-up onion, chopped-up celery, tomato flesh w/ juices, sea salt, water, fresh basil, simmer, break up w/ a stick blender, simmer. Served w/ a generous dollop of basil pesto & basil sprigs. On the way there: tomatoes [Van Antwerp Farm] after de-skinning and de-seeding. Salad. Red-leaf lettuce hearts, cooked (fresh) soybeans; sugar snap peas & peeled baby potatoes both just-barely cooked (separately, though) in salted simmering water; golden beets cooked to crunchy tenderness & de-skinned; hard-boiled eggs; chopped parsley. ETA: ...and sliced wong nga pak (Napa cabbage) leaves. Vinaigrette made w/ whole-grain Dijon mustard [Maille], EV olive oil [Alziari], Agrodolce Bianco Delizia Estense, Maldon salt, turbinado sugar.

I've been sampling the "2 McPicks for $5" at a few places in my area, devoting it to just the Filet-o-Fish. Not bad. But, as has been mentioned, the slice of American cheese has shrunk to approximately a quarter-slice. Regrettable. Still, in most places it is "melted in" insofar as *that* goes. :-) Some places give what *seems* like a little bit more cheese, but overall they aren't THAT substantially different from place to place - but some places do do it just slightly better than others. I have a couple places that I will be returning to for more. The pics below do not account for all theF-o-F's I've had. A couple places had me wishing for a 3rd F-o-F after I had eaten the second one. Nowhere served me a F-o-F with a quart of tartar sauce; in fact, I would have asked for more if I had been ordering one of these at some other time - and being charged for the "more" nowadays, of course, whereas in years past there was no extra charge. A sampling of F-o-F sandwiches from three places: #1 #2; and #3 with the bottom bun peeled back (& torn) to show the"melted-in cheese".

I am guessing you went to the McD's in the mall across from the Sheraton & Convention Center. Hmm - did you notice this place on Google Maps, just a short distance away and very close to Dock's?

Perhaps you might have been thinking of what I described as blanching in simmering water to which some oil has been added. That I often do, with many types of vegetables, then dress with a sauce of my choice. I described it previously in this post. As for bamboo/metal steamers here's what I said in another old post. Other posters (e.g. Keith_W, Dejah) not residing in mainland China also chimed in on that thread about steamers.

Earlier in the day... Soft boiled eggs. Drunk straight from the bowl. Slurp, chew, gulp. Then... Boiled edamame w/ Maldon salt. Later on... Chinese take-out from a local place.** Hot & sour soup. Added some chopped scallions. Quite good, actually. General Tso's Chicken (左宗棠雞; Jyutping zo2 zung1 tong4 gai1). With rice. There was more of both. :-) **ETA: From this place.

Ah. What is his dialect group? GTC is an American-Chinese dish, so I would not expect it to appear in that "All Under Heaven" book. I would murmur that American-Chinese cuisine can be considered as an acknowledged cuisine in its own right.

Yes. It's his job, for which he is being paid a salary. If he walked out before the entire meals (multiple) were done he would be accused of not giving the restaurant a thorough and fair review, for all the dishes served. I would consider it dereliction of duty. As for the two-star rating - the profile on him linked to here explains why he did so.

Fedelini with basil pesto. Plus simply-done broccoli.

You're in New Jersey, USA. Was this in NYC or a Chinese restaurant in NE New Jersey? If so, it's possible the chap in question was from Fujian/"Fook-chow" or Jiangsi/"Kong-si" or related areas (i.e. a Wu dialect speaker) --- I *think* the pronunciation would then be closer to "chu" (as you describe) or "tsu"? FWIW the Cantonese for it would be zo2 in Jyutping, and Cantonese is still a widely-spoken dialect (if not necessarily the dominant one) in many areas in North America. (Certain forms of Fujianese would compete with Cantonese in NYC, I believe, and possibly NE Jersey; newer Chinese-heritage immigrants I suppose would speak standard pinyin/Mandarin more routinely) For myself I can't remember the last time I ate General Tso's Chicken. A long time ago, anyway, even if I guess I have had it in the past. ETA: I think I ought to check out a plate or two of it again, soon. :-)

Beans with grilled octopus. The softer, hexagonal variant of oyster crackers served with Cincy chili. See here and here too.

If you are looking to go to Dock's perhaps its sister-restaurant Knife and Fork might also be a consideration (not inexpensive steak house). Or, for a fun scene, Chef Vola's, from what I read. Also, Cafe 2825 also gets some love on other boards.

Ligurian-type-inspired pasta w/ pesto. Fresh basil pesto made w/ a French-Italian inflection (basil, garlic (Music), pine nuts, Pecorino Romano, Parmigiana Reggiano, Maussane-les-Alpilles olive oil, plus some Arbequina olive oil). French filet beans (both yellow & green) cooked in simmering salted water. Ozette fingerlings cooked similarly. Torcetti pasta [The Fresh Market] cooked in the same pot of water. All assembled & tossed in large bowl. Plated, dressed w/ fresh basil & additional Parmigiano Reggiano.

A dry ramen plate. Yakisoba last night. Two farm-fresh eggs beaten w/ some salt, hon-mirin, sake, water, ground white pepper, oil. "Flash fried" in a very hot pan w/ generous oil for a bubbly lightly-browned omelette (less than a minute in all), removed & reserved, roughly "chopped" into strips. A bit more oil in the pan, then lots of sliced lightly-crushed garlic (Music), some of the white parts (sliced thinly on the diagonal) of an entire large-ish negi, toss/stir quickly; chopped hakusai (wong nga pak; Napa cabbage), stir in on high heat; the yakisoba seasoning packets (2) from the nama yakisoba package [Maruchan] (fresh yakisoba), then still-wet fresh yakisoba (from the package) rinsed under hot water, stir in, splash some water in, stir/turn over; add back in the reserved egg strips and the rest of the sliced white-parts of the negi, final toss & stir. Plate, garnish w/ the green parts of the negi, a quick drizzle of Bulldog tonkatsu sauce.

A riff on canh đậu hũ hẹ. This one had: chicken stock, water, oil, minced sirloin, halved unpeeled straw mushrooms [Dragonfly], soft tofu chunks, yellow Chinese chives (garlic chives). Chopped scallions. Afterwards, a nice eclair from Rene's Bakery.