Duvel

My god, you are the meatball queen !!!

No, I am in Mannheim. There is a "chain" of these Andechser outlets, serving their beer and sometimes cheeses from the monastery. A good choice for a hearty dinner, so my usual pick for dinner. I am very fond of Turkish food and honestly, my first dinner is always a mixed grill plate with Döner, lamb skewers (both Köfte and leg) and chicken (see below). Fresh salads and usually boiled grains (rice, bulgur). Fresh flatbread straight from the oven, for free. Only issue is that the ones in Mannheim do not serve alcohol and for me meat should go with beer (it's a German thing I guess ...).

When in Germany ... While I do prefer other cuisines over that of my home country, you just can't argue with piles of meat and beer Haxe, Bratkartoffeln, Andechser Spezial (1L glass) and Schnapps. One happy meal ...

I do hate starting business trips on a Saturday night. What reconciles me, however, is having Dan Dan Mian, Champagne and one or two Old Fashioned in the Cathay lounge. They do a good job here ...

Don't worry - you can't taste radiation, but it sure helps them to grow

Check this out ... https://www.lecreuset.fr/recherche-par-materiel/les-forgees-aluminium-forge-fonte-d-aluminium Aluminum plus perfluorated Polymer coating (probably a PEEK derivative).

Desperation dinner: "Banh mi" with Spam, Omelet, quick pickled onion and carrots and a healthy dose of cilantro. Basically the entire content of our fridge. Plus some chicken croquetas, because they fell out of the freezer first when I searched for something eatable ...

True on the beer! Asahi however is my "go to" choice, especially when I am through with all the seasonal options ...

I wanted to participate in the Meatball cook-off, but the lazy Sunday got the better of me. So: Pide with minced lamb, egg, cilantro. At the end maybe Kofta would have been faster, but hey ...

Etxebarri comes to mind. And El Bulli before it closed.

Lazy Sunday lunch and comfort food for a German-Catalan family in Hong Kong: Nürnberger sausages, Bratkartoffeln (home fries), onion beer gravy and fried eggs with runny yolks for the Catalans to dip the potatoes. And while the little one refuses to eat anything he doesn't now - if it looks remotely like a sausage and comes with his favourite curry-scented ketchup, it's always a winner ... Japanese seasonal beer, just because ...

Maybe you can have a look at this: http://m.slate.fr/story/69247/meilleure-bouillabaisse-france-paris It has been a while that I lived in Paris, but given that the city receives the best seafood from all over France you will find more than one decent place for Bouillabaisse. Le Dôme -as quoted in the article- looks pretty good to me ...

"Cart noodles" in a traditional (read run-down) and very local HK place: Strong broth, ho fun, duck blood, wiener sausage, daikon and cuttlefish balls. Smear of hot curry paste. Soooooo good !

An off-dry Riesling, diluted with equal amount of Mescal and a lime garnish. And some ice cubes ...

Brew you own Ginger beer ...

Please think about it: the customer showing up at the restaurant is the reason for him having to put in more hours. Essentially, he (or me for that matter) hates the situation having to cook after hours, with a clean kitchen etc. The "extra work" cited. The customer is just the vehicle to project the frustration ... yes, it could be the owner, it could be the dull knive, it could be you for that matter. It does not really matter what is the root cause. It's a vehicle to deal with the situation. And "hate" needs to be taken with a grain of salt here. I assume it's not the same feeling that you would harbor towards a root canal treatment, racists or overcooked steaks.

I think it's a very healthy attitude. You know that you need to and actually want to do a good job by preparing an excellent meal. And you do. And when the circumstance really annoy you (because of unnecessary extra work) you still do it, but complain to yourself - instead of spitting in someone's food Sure helps your mental health, keeps your blood pressure low(er) and most importantly does not spoil the customers evening. So what's sad about it ?

... aka MSG ? I find the combination of MSG, chili and Sichuan pepper (oil) simply the best addition to anything savoury

You lucky girl - you have better personnel than me. If both cook and maid are absent, George struggles even to prepare my morning Martini in time. I might need to let him go ...

I find this intriguing ... it's a great idea for one of these days when your maid has a free day, while your cook is on sick leave.

There is a similar event at the technical university of Clausthal in the Harz mountains in central Germany. Contestants have to sprint 100 m, then drink one liter of beer in one go, then sprint back. It's a feared competition and only the chemical faculty is able to raise three teams ...

As a rule of thumb I use 1000 mL water, 100 g of (dried) pasta and 10 g of salt (regardless of grain size) ...

While I (partly) understand your wish to create this elusive blue broth without "artificial" dyes, I'd rather go with the tiniest pinch of methylene blue and be done with it. Used for decades, even for infections and gives the loveliest blue hue with miligrams. No impact on your broths flavor, viscosity, mouthfeel ... Plus a surprise, when you use the bathroom the next day

You are a sharp observer of the human condition ... but as English is not my mother tongue, my puns tend to get lost in translation

I am going to stay in Sydney for a couple of days over CNY. As this thread is rather ancient, is anyone willing to share his/her current recommendations for some nice options for two adventurous eaters and one three-year old with a preference for white crustless bread ? (Chinese/Japanese not required, as the options in Hong Kong are plenty) Thanks!