jschyun

Question: will customs take away my raw milk cheese at the border? I intend on declaring them. I had no problems bringing cheese back from France, but I hear the Canada-USA border is particularly problematic.

I'll be in Vancouver in early July, for my b-day and I get to pick our itinerary. Since I can't think of anything better than eating, my list naturally is mostly comprised of eating places, hehe. I have been reading recs for hours now and my eyes are starting to sink inwards. Would someone mind weeding out the bad ones from the list below? Last time I just looked at random recs and ended up at Vij's and Joe Fortes. Gah. Also, if I can rearrange some places for less driving time, I'll be glad to hear it. Oh yeah, and I am mostly interested in whatever is good, which from what I hear is dim sum, fine dining, gelato, bakeries, and seafood. Okay, here is what I have so far: Thurs (get into town in afternoon): Gelato tour: Amato Gelato, mondo Gelato, la casa gelato Dinner at Tojo's(omakase) Is it worth the hype or should I go to Bluewater Cafe for seafood? I read mixed things about both here. At Tojo's can I get away with just the $50 tasting menu, or do I need to do the $100+ one? Friday: Lunch at Kirin on Cambie, dim sum(or how about neptune's seafood?) Look at Granville Market stuff Shakespeare festival at granville Go look at the beach. Eat more amato and mondo gelato Dinner at Da Rae korean restaurant in Burnaby (heard about a Korean strip mall here, gotta check it out) Sat: Lunch at Pink Pearl or President Chinese Seafood for dim sum (or something better?) Go look at that Dr. Yat Sen park? Go hiking in the mountains, go find that one big rope bridge. light dinner at Bis moreno (or Cru?) Jazz Sun: Breakfast/brunch at Senses bakery or maybe Legendary Noodle (Chinese)? More jazz? Stanley park? Go kayaking? Dinner at Lumiere , tasting menus Mon: Breakfast at Patisserie Lebeau and grab lots raw milk cheese from les amis du fromages. Go home (sad) --Why yes, I am somewhat Type A

Well, yeah, weird ain't it? I personally would love to start my own brand of chocolates. I would also love to master the art of the consistently perfect har gau. Maybe when I become independently wealthy, I'll start bringing magnificent jewel boxes of chocolates to the potlucks. Meanwhile, I'll just have to suffer and continue to eat storebought gelato, chocolates and eat at Koi Palace. Woe is me. Maybe if I didn't buy so much crap, I would be independently wealthy by now. hmm.... --oh wait, I was totally off the off-topic. I love to cook, but I have no kitchen and no time. For now.

Sounds like cluster tea. Thanks a lot!

What's the name of that one Chinese tea that comes in a ball, and then when you drop it in hot water, it blossoms into a flower? My friend brought back some from Taiwan but I was wondering if it was avail in the U.S.

LA Times Food Section -- May 19, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. Regina Schrambling on lemons. Recipes for lemon aioli, Veal with lemon and capers, double-lemon cake included. Barbara Hansen demystifies cactus paddles a.k.a. nopales. Recipes for chile verde with pork and nopales, guisado de nopales (stewed cactus paddles), and Huarachitos Tizoc (cactus melt) included. Russ Parsons on the success of Fergus Henderson's book "Nose to Tail Eating", an offal cookbook. Egullet mentioned. Bourdain-Henderson lovefest mentioned. David Shaw on why the U.S. doesn't have a Michelin Guide equivalent, and why the Zagat Guide ain't it. Tara Weingarten talks about Delia Viader and making wines from lesser known grape varietals Charles Perry discusses Azeen, an elegant new Afghan restaurant. Been there, done that. Correction to last week misprint. Pacific Dining Car is open 24 hours.

Maybe you can branch out with a couple really good prepared things? Let's face it, the people shopping at Ferry Market can/will pay top dollar for something like that. You have something unique and I admit, that I am a (spendthrift yuppie) FM shopper that would buy it. I have no time to cook, and I think that's the case for most FM shoppers.

mongeh is sea squirt unless I'm mistaken. It hink it's related to sea urchin (성게) haesam is sea cucumber. I have no idea what the translation for kaebul is. I've never had it. Pic looks scary to me. I like sea cuke cooked, the way they do it at Korean-Chinese restaurants, in a brown sauce. Very easy to like this way, IMHO.

I would guess that you'd make a pretty good lawyer. I think that's a compliment.

Mmm hmm, me too. One time, we were in Seoul, at a fancy restaurant, and my uncle turns to us and asks us what we would like to eat. Suddenly, my baby (at the time) brother yells out "jajangmyun!" My mother was mortified. Everyone else had a good laugh.

I just came back from Dalton's Roadhouse. all the makings of one of those successful chains you want to avoid, yet they closed down their locations in Las Vegas and Palm Springs. This is the only one left. We had a surprisingly decent $10 steak here while looking at life sized models of the Blues Brothers illuminated from the light of a lamp made from deer antlers. It's off the 78 towards Escondido. --I forgot to mention they give you a bucket of peanuts when you're seated. But they don't give you a little bucket to put the shells in. So you just pile the shells on the table and when your meal is done, the waitress just shoves the shells onto the floor. I forgot to ask how often they swept up the place.

I suppose I have been too hard on Jonathan Gold. After all, if I didn't want all the grand sweeping statements, I could just read the L.A. Times. And I do. I think there are plenty of straight writers over the years that I have liked. That said, sometimes, straight reporting isn't as interesting as when someone says something like "I suppose this and that" or grand statements like "Taiwanese food is this and that". I used to be amazed that he could say something like what he said in tissue's quote. I mean, I wouldn't say a statement like that unless I had eaten my way through China, HK, for years and years. Maybe he thought he could get away with these statements that we find offensive, because he was working for an "alternative" paper, where the standards of journalism are not as high. Then again, he did write a book. And he got that job at Gourmet.

--Just a quick note. 888 Seafood: okay, this time it was actually pretty decent. We got there hella early though. Mission 261: Imitation crab in the black cod/shrimp dumplings? I think I would have remembered seeing that before.

Quite true, I think what finally got to me was not so much the lack of fact-checking as the lack of fact checking combined a tone of omniscience. Actually, maybe it's just the tone of omniscience. I remember being so amazed that he knew so much about Indian culture, and then when I finally read mongo's rant, it was kind of shocking. I read Counter Intelligence and really liked it. Now I want to read it again. I did ask around to see if maybe Mr. Gold was correct in supposing that Korean people think that pho is in any way related to sullongtang. I got a bunch of looks like I was crazy. I'm the first to admit, I have a lot to learn. Not being one to really delve into the history behind the food I eat, I am always impressed and amazed by people who do. But skchai, you have to admit, this guy is not reading up on anything. Why can't he just say, he liked this and that restaurant and be done with it?

they close at 11 or 11:30 tonight. just an fyi. you know. just sayin.

Yeah, I'm conflicted too.

Actually, last time I had coffee in Seoul that was some of the best I've had anywhere. It was definitely not instant, and it was served in fancy china with cream and sugar in little pitchers on the side. It also cost something like $10 a cup. Have things changed for the worse?

I emailed Jonathan Gold, since I kind of thought he should have some rebuttal to what we've been saying. I asked him why he thought sullongtang was unseasoned and how he thought Koreans liked their pho. Actually, I asked him more questions, but he didn't answer them. He answered that he supposed that sullongtang was unseasoned because there was always salt and chili paste and scallions. yay, not a complete idiot. he supposed right. he didn't answer my question about what it was about the aesthetic that he didn't share. If I had to guess, I would guess that he didn't like the idea of seasoning to taste at the table, but what do I know? He didn't answer me. also, he said that he thought that Koreans preferred their pho with a milder level of spice (cinammon and clove, not chile). I don't remember getting chile in my Vietnamese made pho, but maybe it's just me. Does he mean the jalapenos on the side? I see those at Korean joints too. He also said that Korean pho had a bony quality and the noodles were softer. What do you guys think? I eat a lot of pho and I didn't notice that the noodles were softer, but I just think the Korean pho broth I've had has been paradoxically watery and fatty. Bony? That said, I went to Pho 2000, after friends was telling me it was decent, and it was actually okay. They even gave me basil, though my tendon was in a 2"x5" block. there's at least 1 Pho 2000 I've seen in OC as well, and a PHO 2004, which looks similar to the Pho 2000 chain stores. Also, he admitted he's never had pho in Seoul, though he's had it in NYC and LA, which to me suggests he's never been to Seoul. If that is the case, then I cannot understand why he feels free to say stuff like "Koffea (610 S. Berendo St., 213-427-1441) is a classic Korean coffeehouse, with beautiful chinaware, a ton of hidden rooms, and a wide selection of syrupy, freshly brewed Korean fruit teas". Perhaps I'm smoking too much crack, but I think I vaguely remember that there were so many damn coffeehouses in Seoul several years ago, that I would be hard pressed to call Koffea "classic". What's so classic about it? I have been to Koffea, and I have to say, it's a sad imitation of the places I saw several years ago in Seoul, and I suspect it's only gotten better (in Seoul). Then again, maybe it's just the crack. Also, if I'm going to nitpick, I might as well point out something obvious. I happened on an older article where he says "I had never tasted what are probably the signature noodles of Korea, the thin, hand-cut, wheaten noodles known as gook soo." Gooksoo just means noodles. If you're talking about hand-cut noodles, they're known as "kal gooksoo" or knife-cut noodles, because when you make them at home, you cut the dough with a knife to get noodles. Later he says "Gook soo, especially as interpreted here, is a marvelous thing, flat and slightly stretchy, about the size of fettuccine but more fragile somehow, knife-cut from a thin sheet of rolled dough." But to me this sounds like Ma Dang Gook Soo has interpreted the noodle into something unique. Am I seeing this wrong? kal gooksoo is not unique to this place. I tried to find an explanation about kal gooksoo but found nothing. It may seem unimportant to you people who don't care about stuff like kal gooksoo, but the magisterial tone as well as the apparent lack of fact checking is kind of annoying.

Okay, since Yong Tae Kim and skchai haven't answered yet and it's been a couple of days, I'll give you my pathetically vague memories of my trip there. --everyone pls forgive me for my bad spelling I was in Korea several years ago. But things have changed drastically after the World Cup. My friends who left Seoul several years ago, went back in the last year and said it was like being in a different city, with different streets and such. So none of these places below may exist. The family of the female golfer Pak Jee Eun owns a famous naengmyun restaurant in Seoul. It was better than some of the other ones we went to, very big and good food. For the life of me, I can't remember the name. Someone help. In or very near Apgujongdong there is a no-name buffet (not really fancy) restaurant we went to that was about $6-7 (I think, memory hazy) that was all you can eat, and the price included beer and wine. My uncle who lives nearby walks over there practically every other day. This was close to the Hyundai Shopping Mall. I think I was able to walk from Hyundai mall to the restaurant, but I forget. I loved the food court at Lotte Dept Store. The Hyundai Dept store also had one but it was too pricey and kind of smaller. I also stayed in Nonhyundong, which supposedly is the best place for restaurants, but I didn't see any, as we drove around. A lot of the restaurants look like houses though, so it's hard to say. this area is kind of expensive though. I would stay away from here. We did go to some fabulous restaurants though, but I have no idea where they are or what the name is. I'm also starting to forget what we had, though I know I have not seen the like anywhere in L.A. Koreatown. If you have a knowledgeable friend then I say go for it. I had sushi at least a half dozen times, some high end, some low end, sometimes fresh from the water 15 minutes before eating. I have to say that the sushi was not my favorite. It was almost too fresh, as the muscles didn't have a chance to rot the way they do in normal sushi. I did eat a lot of hwedubbap (sort of a cross between chirashi sushi and bibimbap), around town, and my fave was at Lotte, but boy I am no expert at best Seoul hwedubbap places so don't rely on this. We didn't go to the Nam San Hilton which, maybe 20 years ago, had a fantastic buffet, according to my mother. But I heard it's still going strong, despite the $100 or so price tag for the buffet. as for street food, someone else should chime in, as my mother didn't let me eat too much. I would go where there are crowds, which is my usual MO. I went to several vegetarian places. one was a famous one in i believe apgujongdong and it had a green sign and was on the second floor. The only problem was, after being a meat eater all my life, and then several years of being a vegan, unless they had discovered some miracle product, I smelled and tasted the distinct savor of beef right away. It was mixed in with some soy product in a patty. I also went to the buddhist temple and had to do a ceremony, after which we got a lot of temple food. all vegan and quite good. also another vegetarian place in cheijudo but this is about Seoul. I loved Insadong St. where there are a bunch of places, I think mostly coffee houses (correct me someone). I have to warn you that everyone I saw here was tall, thin, with perfect hair and makeup. Frankly, your best bet is to get lucky and make a friend with a Korean person who speaks English, and loves to go out to eat, which IMHO, describes many if not most Seoul denizens (esp younger pples).

The reason why drinking water (or gatorade) works for hangovers is that when you get drunk your body starts trying to absorb water from the brain. That's why you get the headache, bad feeling, dry mouth, whatever that is associated with having a hangover. Therefore, if you drink enough water, the body will not try to absorb water from your brain and you will not feel bad the next day. Never ever take tylenol if you've been drinking. You'll get liver damage. Ask any doctor. Aspirin is also not so good, but I forget why (bleeding?). I think ibuprofen or aleve is okay. Yes Monica, you were very naughty. Next time you get drunk you must invite us to party with you.

LA Times Food Section -- May 12, 2004 To view the articles below, register a username with www.latimes.com. Registration is free. There is a separate Calendar section with more food articles, but you have to pay a fee for those. Russ Parsons writes about delicious, expensive, interesting varieties of wild salmon. Recipes for grilled wild salmon with fennel slaw, crispy-skinned wild salmon with braised spring peas and mushrooms, and Oven-steamed wild salmon with homemade Green Goddess dressing and radish salad included. Barbara Hansen has Opaline's Celery Root Soup Recipe Susan LaTempa writes about mmm, cherries jubliee. Recipes for quick cherry preserves, cherry clafouti, and cherry thumbprints included. David Shaw writes about odd adjectives used to describe wine (melted asphalt?). Russ Parsons writes on how/why fishermen are trying to cut out middlemen when bringing salmon to you. Cookstuff: Mikasa cordial glasses, $8 each at Pomp Laurie Winer discusses what the deal is with all these damn tasting menus these days. S. Irene Virbila Wine of the Week: 2002 Shea Wine Cellars, Block 23, Shea Vineyard Ooh, a few of many heated letters on the foie gras debate. Julie Gaynor writes about a new breed of steakhouse. Emily Green reviews La Cachette

oops sorry. I was working on a site and forgot to change to non ssl encrypted. thks for the tips. i think bf and i will either get there extra early and save seats, or I'll drive around and pick up favorites from elsewhere while FZ, and whoever else shows up, waits. Since they open at 9am, I think we might do 10:15 or 10:30 depending on how fast we can get up.

I believe I can make it, but you'd better make it for earlier than 11, which means most people will not want to get their asses out of bed for this... --or you can get there at 11, and wait in line, while I make the rounds to Mission261 and Sea Harbour for selected good stuff. Quick! Synchronize watches! --screw it, the pics are more trouble than worth.

I agree with Bombdog. The best thing in Antioch is a branch of that drive by espresso chain. Get your espresso and get the hell out.

Hey, I was just at the Springwater books branch in OC. It's caled GG Bookstore actually, but it's the same company. I knew it was there, but never went there before. Much easier parking than the L.A. store! Plus only a couple blocks from that seed place (really a nursery that happens to have a seed stash) I told you about. I checked for banchan books and there were a ton of them. Also, remember if you are a member, you get discounts. I bought two books for $52 and I ended up paying $31 including tax. G.G. Book Store (샘터서림) 9446 Garden Grove Bl. Garden Grove, CA 92844 714-590-8787 --By the way, I bought one really expensive book that was almost $50 by itself, so usually the prices are less than what I just paid.