The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 1)

[heidih]

The finish on the bread for that Reuben is quite something

[Kerry Beal]

They make all their breads at the restaurant - lovely stuff!

[Kerry Beal]

Our mission today was to pick up about 35 kg of chocolate from the helpful folk at Callebaut to be used at the upcoming Luxury Chocolate Show.

We arrived a few minutes early and hit a nearby Value Village where Anna lucked into a T-fal pressure cooker that was just being put on the shelf.

Lunch was not one of our triumphs - but for our fans we decided we couldn't do Vietnamese yet again. I've already forgotten the name of the place - perhaps Anna will chime in on that one. It was Columbian.

We opted for the mixed meats and arepas. The salsa and tortillas were quite satisfactory!

Oh yeah - and the potatoes were good.

[Anna N]

.....

Lunch was not one of our triumphs - but for our fans we decided we couldn't do Vietnamese yet again. I've already forgotten the name of the place - perhaps Anna will chime in on that one. It was Columbian.

.....

Kerry and I agreed that we would not attempt to review the restaurants where we lunch but this time I have to say that this was the worst meal and the worst dining experience so far. The name of the place I swore I would never forget but the mind is a funny thing and it's already been obliterated from my gray matter. Any flavour that any of the meats might have started out with was cooked out of existence - perhaps a few days ago! Ah well - we laughed anyway. If you want to try new places you had better be prepared to occasionally leave very hungry.

Edited to fix formatting and to add: We dined alone! And it was the lunch hour!

Edited September 14, 2011 by Anna N (log)

[Darienne]

Was this restaurant in Toronto? It's not quite clear to me although I may well have missed something.

I also have to say that your Value Village is so much better than the one in Peterborough. Haven't found any goodies in it for months and the cookbook section is so poor that I look at it with little hope of ever finding anything more than recipes for the microwave or diet recipes. So sad. Nothing like the joy of finding some treasure in amongst the dross.

[Kerry Beal]

Was this restaurant in Toronto? It's not quite clear to me although I may well have missed something.

I also have to say that your Value Village is so much better than the one in Peterborough. Haven't found any goodies in it for months and the cookbook section is so poor that I look at it with little hope of ever finding anything more than recipes for the microwave or diet recipes. So sad. Nothing like the joy of finding some treasure in amongst the dross.

It was indeed Toronto - there seems to be a little latino enclave around Lawrence and Keele.

I think that every VV's has good days and bad days. This particular one was large - but the cookbooks were a little poor for the size of it. Just need to be lucky I think.

[robirdstx]

Last week, my GF and I went to Mambo Seafood at their new southeast Houston location for our LWL meal and, for whatever reason, I totally forgot about taking a photo of our food, to the extent that I even forgot to bring my camera. My GF and I both ordered the grilled shrimp and fish and it was perfect. The seafood came with a huge side of their shrimp fried rice (or french fries) and a side salad with choice of dressing and a roll. I absolutley adore Mambo's fried rice - the best Chinese fried rice, and at a Mexican restaurant. Go figure! I ordered their special fried rice (pork, chicken and shrimp) to go, with the intent to divide and freeze it for future meals. I got almost 2 1/2 pounds of delicious fried rice for $5.99. Can't be beat! And its been divided and frozen, just waiting to be defrosted and warmed when I get the next craving!

[Marlene]

.....

Lunch was not one of our triumphs - but for our fans we decided we couldn't do Vietnamese yet again. I've already forgotten the name of the place - perhaps Anna will chime in on that one. It was Columbian.

.....

Kerry and I agreed that we would not attempt to review the restaurants where we lunch but this time I have to say that this was the worst meal and the worst dining experience so far. The name of the place I swore I would never forget but the mind is a funny thing and it's already been obliterated from my gray matter. Any flavour that any of the meats might have started out with was cooked out of existence - perhaps a few days ago! Ah well - we laughed anyway. If you want to try new places you had better be prepared to occasionally leave very hungry.

Edited to fix formatting and to add: We dined alone! And it was the lunch hour!

How I miss you guys and the ability to lunch with you. Lunch might have been a bust, but you scored a pressure cooker. Something I'm still scared of! Let me know how you make out with it~

[Anna N]

Last week, my GF and I went to Mambo Seafood at their new southeast Houston location for our LWL meal and, for whatever reason, I totally forgot about taking a photo of our food, to the extent that I even forgot to bring my camera. My GF and I both ordered the grilled shrimp and fish and it was perfect. The seafood came with a huge side of their shrimp fried rice (or french fries) and a side salad with choice of dressing and a roll. I absolutley adore Mambo's fried rice - the best Chinese fried rice, and at a Mexican restaurant. Go figure! I ordered their special fried rice (pork, chicken and shrimp) to go, with the intent to divide and freeze it for future meals. I got almost 2 1/2 pounds of delicious fried rice for $5.99. Can't be beat! And its been divided and frozen, just waiting to be defrosted and warmed when I get the next craving!

Now getting extra fried rice to take home and freeze is a brilliant idea.

[Kerry Beal]

Anna and I met up with mkayahara and his SO to tour the Fourty Creek Distillary at the Kittling Ridge winery in Grimbsy. It was "whiskey" weekend - an opportunity to meet with the distiller and have him sign bottles of his Barrel Select edition - a special bottling of a blend of 23 barrels of canadian whiskey.

After the tour we had lunch at the Cibo Osteria.

I had the 'veggie lovers' pizza

Matt's I think was the Juliette.

Matt K - the meatball sandwich.

Anna - the pesto marguerita (it had another name - but can't recall what it was).

Hubby admitted it was the best canadian whiskey he'd ever tasted - however said "it's still rye" which means I now have a very lovely bottle that will never get consumed!

[Anna N]

After a couple of stops to pick up supplies for the upcoming Chocolate Show where we will be demonstrating, Kerry and I ended up on a stretch that I have renamed “Thrift Store Alley”. There seemed to be a thrift store on every corner. Here you can see our food-related finds. Only hunger called a halt to our shopping. We had spotted this restaurant on our travels:

The accompaniments arrived first:

Edited to add links.

Pickled turnip, daikon and kimchi.

Even though we know from experience that we will end up with more food than we can eat, we felt compelled to order the mandu:

Both of us had expected some form of pot sticker but these had obviously been deep-fried.

These tiny steamed or boiled dumplings were compliments of the house

Soup seems to be mandatory but I confess to not even tasting mine.

Then despite a desire to order something different in a Korean restaurant, the bibimbap won out for both of us again.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Anna N (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Lunch today at Sokratis greek restaurant.

As has become our habit we went with a variety of appetizers. Pita with tzatziki, melitzanosalata (an eggplant dip), and tirokafteri (spicy feta with sundried tomato dip).

Calamari of course.

Shrimp and mushroom saganaki.

There was a service dog at the next table. A rather cute little whippet - not quite sure what service he performed. He may have been a highly trained professional, but when the food came out - he was like every other dog.

[rotuts]

Wooooooooooooo!

those calamari are talking to me!

i could eat calamari like those and salted and spiced 3 times a day.

[robirdstx]

Last week my GF and I were again in Houston's Galleria area and stopped for lunch at the Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen on Westheimer. The Pappadeaux location nearest us, in Seabrook, was destroyed by Hurricane Ike three years ago and has not yet reopened. So, having been deprived of my Pappadeaux fix for so long, I ordered my favorite - their Crawfish Combination (crawfish etouffee and fried crawfish tails with dirty rice) - So Good!

My GF had their Lobster & Shrimp Salad (chilled Maine lobster, gulf coast shrimp, avocado, mango & cashews on a bed of crisp greens with a creamy citrus dressing). She said it was delicious!

[Anna N]

Yesterday, after running a few errands, Kerry and I worked our way back from Toronto and stopped in at a couple of Asian grocery stores to restock. Kerry will be heading north to Manitoulin once again and wanted to be sure her larder in the frozen north would be bountiful. She also picked up a couple of hot water dispensers for friends.

The restaurant that called out to us was After Rain, a Japanese/Korean establishment that has apparently gone through a number of iterations. Kerry guessed from the décor that it started out as an English pub but it has also been Thai in the recent past.

As we usually do, we selected dishes that we could share and hence sample as much of the menu as reasonable. We DID NOT ORDER the calamari. The lighting was challenging so the photos are a bit blurry.

Miso soup and either a warm salad or additions for the soup? It included the crunchy bits of batter from tempura.

A selection of pickles.

Kerry ordered this uni roll and offered me a taste - NAH! Not for me.

We shared the bulgogi and the tempura. The remaining items on the trays were pretty much identical.

[Kerry Beal]

Anna and I headed to Dundas today to get some cheese from Mickey McGuire's - our favourite cheesemonger.

We made a couple of other stops - notably the LCBO - (the provincial liquor store) and Homesense, a TJ Maxx sort of place for housewares.

Lunch was at Bangkok Spoon in Dundas.

We've decided it's our duty to check out the calamari at every restaurant that has it. This version was particularly nice.

We shared Kai Himmapam (Cashew Nut Chicken)

and Tamarind Pork Ribs

We also got some sticky rice that came in this interesting basket

[heidih]

You guys are responsible for my current calamari/squid addiction - thank you!

[Kerry Beal]

You guys are responsible for my current calamari/squid addiction - thank you!

We keep thinking that we shouldn't get it because it's too boring to show the same thing week after week - but damn - we like it!

[robirdstx]

Speaking of Calamari!

My GF and I finally got together to celebrate her 65th birthday this month at Birra Poretti's in Friendswood. We started with the above Seafood Sampler, which was accompanied by a Bellini for her and a glass of Chardonnay for me.

Then things got a little squirrely. She ordered the Veal Piccata with Pasta and I ordered their Canicotti (one cheese manicotti and one veal canneloni). When our food was brought out, I pointed out that my GF's plate had the mashed potatoes instead of the pasta, but our waiter said he was aware that he had placed the order incorrectly and asked her what kind of pasta she would like. She asked for the Tortellini. So we took photos of our plates.

Shoulda been Veal but we didn't realize until the bill arrived that it was really their Chicken Picatta. It was obvious when we later looked at the photo. GF said her head told her it was veal and it was good, so she was happy. LOL

This was my plate. Our waiter did not hear my order clearly and put the order for Manicotti, instead of the Canicotti. I didn't realize the error until after he had returned to the kitchen for my GF's pasta. We were able to snag another waiter and asked him to ask our waiter to come to our table, but in the meantime the manager came to our table and asked how everything was and he was able to get my veal canneloni fired.

Here is my GF's pasta. The cream sauce was very good.

And a few minutes later, the manager brought my canneloni, commenting "And here is your second pasta course."

A short time later, our waiter came to the table and apoligized for his error with my order.

And finally, I ordered one of their pizzas to go for dinner with my DH tonight. The pizza was perfect! But I forgot to take a photo.

All in all, we had a great time and very good food. And we will definitely go back again.

[Kerry Beal]

Yesterday in our travels we decided to stay fairly close to home in Oakville because I had to work at 3.

We had a lovely shop at Starsky Fine Foods, an excellent eastern European grocery store that has wonderful charcuterie, meats, cheeses, dairy and a huge variety of packaged items to choose from. Anna took home a romesco - from which she made a couple of interesting meals. You always find some new interesting item to try there.

All the good baked good in there made us very hungry and we ran off early to a restaurant Anna had identified as getting good reviews. Thai Smile had a few very positive reviews and was close to home.

We were greeted by this young lady just inside the door. Nothing says welcome like bare breasts I find!

They have larb! Rare at any of the local Thai places we find.

Mussels - should have been called muscles - a bit overdone and chewy but still a nice combination of flavours in the steaming and sauce.

And of course... calamari! No meal would be complete without it.

[Anna N]

Yesterday in our travels we decided to stay fairly close to home in Oakville because I had to work at 3.

We had a lovely shop at Starsky Fine Foods, an excellent eastern European grocery store that has wonderful charcuterie, meats, cheeses, dairy and a huge variety of packaged items to choose from. Anna took home a romesco - from which she made a couple of interesting meals. You always find some new interesting item to try there.

....

It was rather fun to be challenged by Kerry to cook this:

I googled and found a Martha Stewart recipe for a romesco and parmesan puree. It was quite good but on the mild side yet made a nice complement for a sous-vide steak:

I knew that I could never eat a whole recipe so the following day I simmered some chicken stock with a couple of parmesan rinds and then added the puree and it made a lovely creamy soup which can be frozen and/or shared.

[Anna N]

Kerry worked a brutal six shifts last week which made getting together for lunch impossible. We decided to get together yesterday, Saturday, to do some food/kitchenwares shopping and have lunch. Kira, Kerry’s rugrat, who is usually in school, accompanied us.

I had proposed that we hit Ikea, the Asian grocer, the Bulk Food Barn, and a couple of other specialty stores. So, armed with all my shopping lists we headed forth. At the Asian store we came face to face with the reality of Saturday shopping! The place was packed, the checkout lines snaked down into the aisles and only a sumo wrestler was likely to get close enough to the meat counter to order anything. We soon revised our plans. The only other store we managed was the Bulk Barn where Kerry sat in the car with Kira while I grabbed some coriander seeds that I desperately needed.

Lunch was an easy choice – comfort food again – Pho!

Kerry and I had no trouble with the menu for ourselves.

Beef pho for me:

Beef and chicken pho for Kerry:

And the ubiquitous calamari for both of us:

Finding something for Kira was a lot more challenging but meat balls seemed to fit the bill. Except that what arrived had little resemblance to meatballs, It was strips of meat that looked like Spam but was somewhat darker and oddly spiced. Poor Kira did not think much of them at all.

We gave up and headed home to my house where we had a nice long, chatty visit.

[Porthos]

Except that what arrived had little resemblance to meatballs, It was strips of meat that looked like Spam but was somewhat darker and oddly spiced.

Except for American footballs I thought all balls were round. If the seasoning was strange also I can see where a child could be off-put by it.

[Anna N]

....

Except for American footballs I thought all balls were round. If the seasoning was strange also I can see where a child could be off-put by it.

I suspect it had as much to do with menu translation problems as anything else.

[Kerry Beal]

Today was the rug rat's annual appointment with a classmate of mine, who is a pediatric neurologist, at Sick Kids in Toronto. Cookies must be baked to take to the appointment - there would be hell to pay if we showed up without them! The kitchen sink variety - oatmeal, raisins, dates, pecans and chocolate.

After the appointment Anna and I decided Korean would be our best bet for lunch. We headed off to the Galleria Supermarket in Vaughan which is quite far north in Toronto - it has a great little food court and wonderful grocery and cookware shopping. Imagine our surprise when the market was missing - replaced by a condo complex under construction. This created a bit of a crisis - we were getting pretty peckish and fortunately while heading back south on Yonge in an attempt to find a place to eat managed to run across the new location of the supermarket!!! Crisis averted.

We both had Bimbimbap of course (and strangely no calamari). The soup was heavily laced with black pepper - I enjoyed it greatly. One of the banchan was a caramelized starchy veg - potato or yam I think. The rug rat quite enjoyed the bits she got too.