The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 1)

[Okanagancook]

I too am swooning over the Naan bread. Makes me wish I had a tandoori oven. The veggie samosas look nice an fat too.

[Anna N]

I too am swooning over the Naan bread. Makes me wish I had a tandoori oven. The veggie samosas look nice an fat too.

Their naan is always good but this time it was extraordinary. I could easily have lunched on nothing but naan.

[robirdstx]

Hi all,

My GF and I have gotten together twice for lunch this month. A couple of weeks ago we visited an old favorite we hadn't been to since last October, the Flying Dutchman in Kemah. My GF had the Shrimp and Crab Cobb Salad,

and I had the best dish I've had in a long time,

Mini Crab Cakes on Crawfish Etouffee - topped with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Lemon Butter.

This week we returned to the Cheesecake Factory (again) and my GF had the Cuban Sandwich with a Green Salad,

and I had the (Asian) Chicken and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps.

Edited August 22, 2013 by robirdstx (log)

[rotuts]

a big WOW:

Mini Crab Cakes on Crawfish Etouffee - topped with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Lemon Butter

this is what Id like to have, with a small side of calamari!

[Kerry Beal]

A new Asian grocery has opened in the downtown mall in Hamilton. It also has a very large food court. Anna and I spent the better part of the day (and a large percentage of our food budgets) there yesterday.

Decided to have lunch from the food court before looking at the perishable stuff.

Ramen for Anna

A little seaweed salad

Har gow

Shrimp and garlic chive

Taro

something with scallion (was kinda ham like)

[Anna N]

And here's the haul! I am just now stashing the last couple of items. Missing is a napa cabbage as big as a newborn babe which I turned into kimchee last night, some fresh meat--ground pork and a small beef rib steak/roast and gyoza wrappers, lumpia wrappers and a package of tocino all of which I stashed in the freezer.

[rotuts]

thank you for the pic of the haul.

is this Lee Kum Kee ?

have you and KB been able to try Koon Chun if its available in CAN?

http://www.koonchun.com.hk/eng/product.html

[ElsieD]

thank you for the pic of the haul.

is this Lee Kum Kee ?

LKK.jpg

have you and KB been able to try Koon Chun if its available in CAN?

http://www.koonchun.com.hk/eng/product.html

I'm curious. Is Koon Chun considered superior to Lee Kum Kee?

Edited August 27, 2013 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[rotuts]

I personally very much prefer it. it seems to have a bit more depth for all the various sauces etc Ive been able to find.

LKK Hoisin has a lot less dimension to me than KC. but thats my only my view.

LKK is very popular and much easier to find than KC, except in Chinatowns and Chinatown type markets.

[Anna N]

thank you for the pic of the haul.

is this Lee Kum Kee ?

LKK.jpg

have you and KB been able to try Koon Chun if its available in CAN?

http://www.koonchun.com.hk/eng/product.html

It is LKK. I can't swear to the other brand but the labels look very familiar. There are none of these in my pantry. Edited August 27, 2013 by heidih
Fix quote tags (log)

[rotuts]

if you run into a Koon Chun pick one up thats similar to a LKK you ordinarily use and see.

here is a collection i usually have around:

Hoisin is a good one to try as its a very common jar'd ingredient many people use.

Amoy is another brand to look for and try:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.asiansupermarket365.com/v/vspfiles/photos/HAmoyHSSYQJ-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.asiansupermarket365.com/Amoy-Hoi-Sin-Sauce-p/hamoyhssyqj.htm&h=500&w=316&sz=63&tbnid=RJ8-_wBorMDXyM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=57&zoom=1&usg=__rd-ryVrFZV7Z6BX8AqEeK-zB1qU=&docid=0OybYD_a0i6neM&sa=X&ei=dAAdUobBGPW8sAT144GwDg&ved=0CEYQ9QEwBw&dur=543

there stuff looks like this, but i could not find a web page that showed all their stuff

[ElsieD]

Thanks, I will try the hoisin. I will PM you when I do as I don't want to hijack this thread.

[prasantrin]

Anna N--have you used Filipino tomato sauce before? It's likely very sweet. Taste it a little before you use it in something like spaghetti sauce, because you may end up not liking it at all.

[Anna N]

Anna N--have you used Filipino tomato sauce before? It's likely very sweet. Taste it a little before you use it in something like spaghetti sauce, because you may end up not liking it at all.

Thanks, Rona. I had planned to use it in a Filipino dish! I may still not like it but it won't likely show up in a spaghetti sauce.

[MelissaH]

Anna N--have you used Filipino tomato sauce before? It's likely very sweet. Taste it a little before you use it in something like spaghetti sauce, because you may end up not liking it at all.

Thanks, Rona. I had planned to use it in a Filipino dish! I may still not like it but it won't likely show up in a spaghetti sauce.

Anna, when you do use it, I'll be curious to hear what you think of it, and whether it's worth looking for.

[Anna N]

Today Kerry and I found our way to My-Thai restaurant on the Lakeshore in Burlington. The server presented us with the lunch menu which only offered set combinations and nary an appetizer. This had to be put right so we quickly requested a proper menu.

To show we have a little class Kerry wanted to show off the folded napkins!

The Appetizer Assortment for Two: shrimp chips, Thai spring rolls, satay, fresh spring rolls and coconut shrimp.

Kerry chose the Sweet Soy Noodles

I went for the Spicy Noodles. These were so good but the appetizers had filled me up! Luckily I got to take home enough of the noodles to make a fine dinner.

[Meredith380]

Soooo jealous Anna! I love shrimp chips and no where near me has them!

[rotuts]

The Lunch Ladies always seem to eat well. Guess this time they forgot the Calamari !

[Anna N]

The Lunch Ladies always seem to eat well. Guess this time they forgot the Calamari !

Nope! Never happen. Just forgot to mention it. It is on the appetizer platter on the right between the satay and the coconut shrimp.

[rotuts]

I just knew it, I did! I thought there might have been a bit on that platter. glad to see they are not slipping !

[Anna N]

Have a little bit of catchup to do.

On Sunday, Kerry and I and the Rug Rat (Kira) had a quck errand in Mississauga to help out another eG member. Any time we go on a road trip then lunch becomes a foregone conclusion. We were both feeling the effects of pho withdrawal. Since we were just a few kilometres from the Mississauga branch of Pho Bau Do Restaurant it was a natural fit.

Rare and well-done beef pho for me.

Chicken and beef pho for Kerry.

Condiments.

Kerry brought a home made quiche for the Rug Rat.

[Anna N]

On Wednesday Kerry and I got together for our usual weekly shopping/lunch date. We had a number of errands to run and found ourselves in Burlington at lunch time. We spotted Hibachi Teppanyaki and decided to take a chance. We were greeted by the host who seemed to ask "Would you like a real table?" I was about to ask if we could at least see the unreal tables when Kerry answered in the affirmative. DAMN. Well, of course, the question had really been about a grill table so teppanyaki it would be.

Miso soup and the ubiquitous insipid salad that every Japanese restaurant seems to consider obligatory.

Steak on the griddle.

Steak served up on the plate

Building an onion volcano

Filling it with oil.

The blazing volcano. The chef reached beneath the grill, pulled out a squeeze bottle shaped like a man complete with all necessary anatomical parts and extinguished the flame. As an aside he used a regular squeeze bottle to extinguish the blazing onion served to the three business men at the neighbouring grill! Guess he was hoping for a giggle from us girls -- and he got it.

The shrimp on one of our plates

After he had finished serving us he tried the flip into our open mouths of bits of broccoli. He missed every time. Not so when doing it with the three business men! Make of that what you will.

He then made fried rice on the grill and stashed two bowls of it under the counter before cleaning the grill.

It was a fun lunch. Not likely to get any Michelin stars but we were amused and satisfied.

[Anna N]

Yesterday Kerry and I headed to Buffalo to grab some groceries and various other necessities which are either cheaper or more readily available below the border. As usual we met up with another eG member, whose screen name escapes me, and she intoduced us to Joe's Deli.

Tuna melt.

Kerry's Reuben

My pork sliders.

[Kerry Beal]

Monday Anna and I headed out to Brampton to get some supplies from ULINE and to search for an east Indian housewares store (an unsuccessful search).

Not having any idea where to get lunch - we asked the GPS what restaurants were around. It came up with Ocean's supermarket - a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!

We opted for a couple of their dim sum items -

Meatballs

Kalbi cut ribs

Har gow and garlicy spare ribs

BBQ ribs

[Kerry Beal]

Today we found ourself in Toronto - and realized we were close to Mengrai Thai.

We both had a lunch combination.

Pumpkin soup for me.

Tom yum for Anna

#56 for me (red thai curry with pineapple and lychee)

Garlic shrimp with pineapple for Anna

Mango ice cream

Lychee ice cream

After lunch - we hit Chinatown - in search of a nice big wok shovel to use in the Big Green Egg - tired of burning my arms.