The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 1)

[Anna N]

When Kerry returned from 5 weeks on Manitoulin we both knew that only one lunch would fit the bill for both of us:

Squid bits:

and Pho!

Chicken and beef for Kerry:

and rare beef for me:

Then yesterday we needed to get supplies for the upcoming Eggfest in Niagara in the Asian area of Mississauga so we returned to a restaurant where we have had some excellent meals in the past. The menu is so challenging that whatever arrives at the table bears little resemblance to what we expected!

I believe the English menu explanation for the following dish was "sliced pork burritos!

This one was relatively easy cashew chicken:

Despite this being a Chinese restaurant I seem to remember these being called shashlik - anyway they were extremely spicy lamb skewers:

Self-explanatory scallion pancakes:

and finally, pork dumplings:

Far too much food - much of it went home with us!

[Anna N]

We returned to one of our favourite lunch places yesterday, Panafresco, only to be terribly disappointed to find that their menu had changed and our favourites were missing. We did our best to go with the flow but……….

Kerry ordered the Burrata salad:

And I reluctantly settled for a pizza Margherita instead of the incredible funghi pizza I was anticipating:

Enough said.

[Anna N]

Yesterday we returned to Lemongrass and despite some serious issues with our server who seemed intent on rushing us through our menu choices, we had some memorable food:

Thai crispy spring rolls with a sweet and sour dipping sauce:

Kerry's Crispy Chicken Breast with Peanut Sauce:

And my Nasi Goreng:

We each tried a little of the other's meal and we couldn't stop talking about how incredibly good it tasted.

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I had business in Niagara Wine Country so we took advantage and returned for a long-anticipated visit to Ravine Winery Restaurant.

The on-line menu does not appear to be up to date but here's what we ate:

A few slices of baguette with some salted butter:

And here's a close up of the amount of salt on that butter!

The staff were extremely accommodating when we asked to share everything bringing two half orders of soup and providing extra dishes for the other food.

Cream of corn soup with lemon creme fraiche and a corn muffin stuffed with jalapeno peppers:

Shame that the soup didn't come with a marker as the rim would have accommodated a novel!

We shared an order of mussels in a fennel broth which came with frites:

And the charcuterie platter (all cured and smoked on-site):

This included smoked duck, pickled veal tongue, chicken pate, smoked pork, pastrami and some pickles.

[rotuts]

Wow! that charcuterie platter looks like it was worth the trip!

[Anna N]

I seem to have forgotten to post our lunch from a week ago Wednesday. We ate at a restaurant called Ben Thanh in Mississauga, Ontario. We decided to order just a selection of appetizers.

I had a Vietnamese iced coffee. If you look carefully you will spot a thermos. This is the first time I have seen it served with additional hot water but it is a great idea!

Calamari with wasabi dipping sauce:

Crispy Vietnamese spring rolls:

BBQ Beef rolls with avocado:

Crispy cyclone rolls:

(Imagine shrimp wrapped in Shredded Wheat! A very, very messy dish to eat.)

Today was the first opportunity we had to get together as Kerry has been working all day every day. We went for haircuts in Burlington and popped into Bento Box on Fairview in Burlington for a quick bite as we wanted to cram some thrift store shopping into the few hours we had! (I have a new passion – cheese making – so we have lots of things to source!)

Miso soup and the ubiquitous salad. The soup belonged to the Donburi and the salad to the Tempura but we swapped. I wasn't in the mood for soup.

The lunch tempura:

The chicken donburi:

[Darienne]

Those Crispy Cyclone Rolls look amazing. I googled for a recipe and found nothing. Any ideas?

[hongda]

Might be something similar to this, with finer noodles and shrimp rather than shrimp paste?

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2011/10/crunchy-shrimp-balls-recipe.html

[Darienne]

Might be something similar to this, with finer noodles and shrimp rather than shrimp paste?

http://www.vietworld...lls-recipe.html

Thank you honda. The recipe looks useful. We don't eat shellfish, but I guess they could be made with some other tasty filling.

[rotuts]

would there be a way to 'reconstruct' that wasabi dipping sauce?

[Anna N]

would there be a way to 'reconstruct' that wasabi dipping sauce?

My suspicion is that it was nothing more complicated than mayo and wasabi paste.

[rotuts]

well ... that's what it looked like to me. didn't want to lead you on ...

did you enjoy that with the squid? I know one might not like to comment ...

but for me I love crispy fries with mayo maybe a drop of lemon.

thanks!

[Anna N]

well ... that's what it looked like to me. didn't want to lead you on ...

did you enjoy that with the squid? I know one might not like to comment ...

but for me I love crispy fries with mayo maybe a drop of lemon.

thanks!

I like wasabi (as I do horseradish) but not sure that either complements squid as well as other dipping sauces I have had. Diplomatic enough?

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I decided it was time to spread our wings a little more than we have been doing lately. Thanks to a colleague of Kerry’s we were alerted to the existence of an Ethiopian restaurant in Hamilton. After some productive thrift store shopping we found our way to WASS.

Our Filipino server did a fine job of explaining the nature of the Ethiopian dining experience and we ordered the Meat and Vegetable platter:

There are two types of lamb stew, one with bones and one boneless, ground beef, chicken and an assortment of vegetable/lentil sides. As is the Ethiopian custom all were served on a "plate" of inerja, the spongy bread is that is also one's cutlery as it were. A second plate of rolled inerja is not shown. The menu and our server both offered detailed instructions in how to break off a piece of inerja and scoop up food from the common platter.

Kerry also ordered a spiced tea:

The photograph does not show it as well as might be hoped but that cup is oval!

I tried to order Ethiopian wine but they were experiencing difficulties in procuring a supply so I had to settle for water.

[judiu]

I went to the thrift store thread looking for a new post from one of y'all, but there was nobody home! Share, please!

[Anna N]

I went to the thrift store thread looking for a new post from one of y'all, but there was nobody home! Share, please!

OK, OK. posting something now! Here you go.

Edited October 5, 2012 by Anna N (log)

[robirdstx]

Time to do catch-up again! While my GF and I were having lunch today, she commented that I hadn't been keeping this topic current on our lunches. ;-)

Way back in August, when we were down in Galveston, we decided to give the recently opened Be Quay Vietnamese Sandwich Shop a try. We both ordered the B4 Roasted Pork, but I forgot to take the photo until after we had started eating.

The bread they use is awesome! Light and crisp on the outside and soft and moist on the inside. My GF bought a couple extra loaves to take home!

At the end of August, just before my GF left for her Alaskan cruise, we had lunch at the newly opened Panera Bread in League City, and used one of the coupons we had received in the mail for their two for two special - buy one lunch menu soup, salad, or sandwich combo and get the second one free. I had their Chopped Chicken Cobb with Avocado (sorry, photo was too blurry to post) and their Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I thought I was only going to eat the salad, so ordered the soup to go, but ended up eating it anyway, thus the to-go container.

GF had their Classic Salad, Frontega Chicken on Focaccia, and cut Apple. I again forgot to take the photo until after we had started to eat.

In September, after she got back from her trip to Alaska, we returned to Panera to use our other coupon - same deal. This time I had their Thai Chopped Chicken Salad and French Onion Soup. The meal came with a choice of chips or apple, and I had the chips.

I'll order that salad again! My GF had their Classic Salad with a Roasted Turkey and Avocado BLT on Sourdough, and an Apple.

And now we are up to today, where we returned to Floyd's Cajun Seafood in Webster. My GF had the 1/2 and 1/2 Combo of Fried Shrimp and Oysters with a loaded baked potato. (Sorry, photo was too blurry to post.) And I had one of my favorites, their Crawfish Etouffee with a side salad (not pictured).

Edited October 6, 2012 by robirdstx (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Took the staff of the office I've been covering in for the last 4 weeks out for lunch at Lemongrass.

We enjoyed the mixed appetizer platter.

Crispy duck with curry sauce.

Pan fried noodles with shrimp.

Crispy chicken with peanut sauce.

[rotuts]

Wow such stunning lunches. nothing like that around here.

[Anna N]

robirdstx- always great to see you posting and to enjoy at least the photos of your meals - but oh for a taste!

On Wednesday Kerry and I found ourselves in the Finch/Weston Road area of Toronto picking up chocolate for our part in The Luxury Chocolate Show. I asked Siri for restaurants in the area and we headed for Mama Mia.

We ordered the Tacos Supreme:

and helped ourselves to the two salsas on offer. One was a mild version and the other hotter with lots of jalapenos:

and a selection of empanadas including beef, sausage and original Chilean:

I was fascinated with how they indentified the empanadas.

B is for beef:

Sa is for sausage:

[robirdstx]

robirdstx- always great to see you posting and to enjoy at least the photos of your meals - but oh for a taste!

Thank you! This is one of my favorite topics and wish I could have a taste of your meals as well!

[robirdstx]

My GF and I went to lunch at the Flying Dutchman in Kemah yesterday to celebrate her recent birthday. And we totally forgot about taking photos until we were driving away from the restaurant! Maybe we can blame the memory lapse on the drink we had with our appetizer! ;-) Anyway, we shared an order of calamari, then we each had a cup of New England clam chowder. For dessert, my GF had a slice of their chocolate chip pecan pie but I went for an order of french fries.

Edited October 17, 2012 by robirdstx (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Realize I've got a couple of older lunches I didn't post -

Patris and I went to Mezza on Elmwood Ave in Buffalo last time I was down for the day. I went for the combo appetizer plate with fuul, sembousik and kibbeh. Patty opted for one of the wraps - sadly I can't recall which one it was.

Another friend and I had our twice yearly lunch out at the Martini House in Burlington a couple of weeks back. I enjoyed the mussels with white wine and chorizo and she had gnocchi in a mushroom, sundried tomatoe and vodka sauce.

[rotuts]

best lunches ever are right here!

[robirdstx]

My GF and I returned to one of our favorite spots for lunch yesterday - Tookie's in Seabrook. We both remembered to take photos, and even took them before we started to eat!

The usual #99 Burger for my GF:

A T-Bird Salad with Fried Chicken for me:

And we shared an order of Mama Ethel's Onion Rings: