The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 2)

[MelissaH]

Was the table as crowded as last week?

[Kerry Beal]

Not quite so bad.

[rotuts]

the beef satay interests me

 

what is crispy ?  perhaps deep fried  ?

 

peanuts on it ?

[Kerry Beal]

I think it was deep fried, peanuts and hot little peppers on it!  

[Anna N]

On Tuesday, after haircuts, Kerry and I found ourselves in Hamilton on a last minute errand for ingredients to take up north with us on Friday. Since pho would be off our radar for 5 or 6 weeks we thought we should get in one last bowlful:

Crispy spring rolls

The garnishes

Chicken and beef pho for Kerry

Rare and well done beef for me

[Anna N]

On Thursday Kerry and I decided that we positively had to have some decent cheeses to carry us through 5 weeks of a virtual cheese desert on Manitoulin Island. We headed out to Dundas and Mickey McGuire's Cheese Shop to stock up. A couple of door away is Bangkok Spoon http://www.bangkokspoon.com so we had lunch beforehand.

We were enticed to try these by a photo on the menu:

They are curry puffs and were quite sweet

Calamari of course

A Massaman lamb curry

A stir-fried noodle dish with pork

And of course some steamed rice.

[huiray]

Regarding those curry puffs:  I presume you mean they were sweeter than you might have expected, still in the "savory" class but not that they were "sweet-sweet" like a dessert?

 

The Thais do have a sweet tooth, although they also skew their seasonings for the NA market in the (perhaps overly broad) expectation that folks here like sweet things. (The better explanation is that they not infrequently dial back the fieriness without dialing back the sweetness so the whole thing often becomes unbalanced)  A typical recipe for these curry puffs (in Thailand, at least) would often include sweet potato or yams, which are both inherently sweet, PLUS sugar added in.  It might be of interest too that many "native" Thai restaurants in Thailand would actually have a bowl of sugar on every table for patrons/diners to sprinkle onto their food to their heart's content.  Quite often dishes (including street food dishes) would have a small spoonful of sugar crystals tossed onto a dish as a "finishing touch".

[Anna N]

Regarding those curry puffs:  I presume you mean they were sweeter than you might have expected, still in the "savory" class but not that they were "sweet-sweet" like a dessert?

 

The Thais do have a sweet tooth, although they also skew their seasonings for the NA market in the (perhaps overly broad) expectation that folks here like sweet things. (The better explanation is that they not infrequently dial back the fieriness without dialing back the sweetness so the whole thing often becomes unbalanced)  A typical recipe for these curry puffs (in Thailand, at least) would often include sweet potato or yams, which are both inherently sweet, PLUS sugar added in.  It might be of interest too that many "native" Thai restaurants in Thailand would actually have a bowl of sugar on every table for patrons/diners to sprinkle onto their food to their heart's content.  Quite often dishes (including street food dishes) would have a small spoonful of sugar crystals tossed onto a dish as a "finishing touch".

Correct. They were billed as vegetarian curry puffs but proved a little too sweet for my savoury tongue! I finally gave up ordering Pad Thai as all versions were crossing my own personal line of sweetness in something that is not meant to be dessert.

[Anna N]

I see that the last time we posted was the end of June. We spent five weeks up north and then a week when Kerry worked too many shifts for us to fit in lunch. But yesterday we were finally able to be once again the Ladies Who Lunch!

Kerry had noticed a new restaurant on Fairview Street in Burlington so we thought we should give it a try. Its menu claims to have a website but apparently it is not in existence yet. The restaurant is called Hakka Fresh and offers "authentic Hakka Chinese cuisine". We had no clue what that meant when we went into the restaurant and still have no clue.

As usual we ordered far too much food:

Deep fried spicy squids (I'm quoting from the take-out menu)

Deep fried spicy cauliflower (at this point our server changed into an advocate for healthy food when he asked incredulously "Two deep-fried dishes?") He was too charming to be called on it. This dish was absolutely addictive.

Hakka Fresh Curry noodles

And finally Tangra Masala Chicken

We had enough left over for a meal for Kerry, a meal for me and a lunch for my son-in-law!

Anyone care to enlighten us on Hakka cuisine?

[rotuts]

Wow !

[huiray]

Anyone care to enlighten us on Hakka cuisine?

 

There are various references on eG to Hakka cuisine.  There was a discussion about a Hakka cuisine cookbook in which you and I participated on. ;-)  Otherwise, just "look it up" :-) 

 

p.s. You may have heard of Hakka Yong Tau Foo, variants of which I have also posted about here in the past?  Or "homestyle" steamed meat patties in the Hakka style?

 

p.s.2 "Hakka Fresh Curry Noodles" sounds like an odd item for a genuine Hakka food dish, at least in the traditional sense.  Perhaps it being offered in a North American milieu might be a clue to its provenance.  But I could be wrong.

Edited August 14, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Anna N]

There are various references on eG to Hakka cuisine.  There was a discussion about a Hakka cuisine cookbook in which you and I participated on. ;-)  Otherwise, just "look it up" :-) 

 

p.s. You may have heard of Hakka Yong Tau Foo, variants of which I have also posted about here in the past?  Or "homestyle" steamed meat patties in the Hakka style?

 

p.s.2 "Hakka Fresh Curry Noodles" sounds like an odd item for a genuine Hakka food dish, at least in the traditional sense.  Perhaps it being offered in a North American milieu might be a clue to its provenance.  But I could be wrong.

huiray,

None of these things helped much in our situation. It seemed as if "Hakka" was being used to describe Chinese and Indian food being offered in one restaurant but otherwise unrelated. We were hoping to sample an unfamiliar cuisine but Singapore noodles, Shanghai noodles, butter masala chicken, pakora and paneer might seem odd on the same menu but hardly suggested anything novel. To add to the confusion we could have ordered Thai chili fish, Tom Yom soup or Pad Thai.

In truth I guess my question was purely hypothetical and unanswerable except perhaps by the proprietors!

Thanks, as always, for your insight.

[Smithy]

How nice to have such a charming waiter that a comment on 2 deep-fried dishes wasn't an issue. Did the same person get to see how much you were taking home for later? I'd have made a point of letting him see. :-D

[Anna N]

How nice to have such a charming waiter that a comment on 2 deep-fried dishes wasn't an issue. Did the same person get to see how much you were taking home for later? I'd have made a point of letting him see. :-D

The restaurant has only been open for a month. This server was alone and trying to cope with a large lunch crowd. When it came time for us to leave we simply asked for takeout containers and packed up our own leftovers. He really was quite charming. We asked him about the batter on the cauliflower and we suggested it might be chickpea flour. He was adamant that it was wheat flour. Shortly after he returned to our table to apologize and tell us that it was in fact potato flour that was used. I thought he showed great class doing this.

[huiray]

huiray,

None of these things helped much in our situation. It seemed as if "Hakka" was being used to describe Chinese and Indian food being offered in one restaurant but otherwise unrelated. We were hoping to sample an unfamiliar cuisine but Singapore noodles, Shanghai noodles, butter masala chicken, pakora and paneer might seem odd on the same menu but hardly suggested anything novel. To add to the confusion we could have ordered Thai chili fish, Tom Yom soup or Pad Thai.

In truth I guess my question was purely hypothetical and unanswerable except perhaps by the proprietors!

Thanks, as always, for your insight.

 

AHHH....so it was an Indian-Chinese restaurant?  If that is correct, that is the answer.  In India, ALL Chinese food is called "Hakka cuisine/food", regardless of what regionality it may derive from in truth.  This comes from the history of how restaurant "Chinese food" was brought to India within the last 1-2 hundred years - it was brought there very largely by folks from the Hakka dialect group and the Indians grew to associate Chinese food as being Hakka food, and throwing in Indian items and Indian-Chinese/Hakka fusion stuff as well all onto the same menu.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine

and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_cuisine#Hakka_cuisine_in_India

 

ETA:

 

I took a look online and although "Hakka Fresh" is listed it is too new to have an online menu or a fleshed-out webpage to consult.  I note, however, there is a "Bombay Chinese" just down the road which is clearly Indian-Chinese cuisine.  I had forgotten about it (haven't thought about it for a long time) but in looking around I see (am reminded of, perhaps?) that "Hakka food" in the GTA is commonly Indian-Chinese food (here's one search; here's another search). 

 

I hope there must be genuine/real Hakka food in the GTA, though?  Food such as in the parts of the Wikipedia article OTHER than as described in the "Hakka cuisine in India" section (also referenced above).  I've posted about some Hakka-type dishes such as Yong Tau Foo and Kow Yuk (amongst others) here on eG also.

 

ETA2:  Yes, there are fairly "real" Hakka dishes available, such as some of those on the menu of the restaurant I looked at in the post below, or of others.  The section on Hakka food in Toronto in Anusasananan's book also talks about the arouping together in Toronto of Hakka folks from all over including India although the recipes the author writes of are closer to "traditional-type" dishes than Indian-Chinese dishes, which seem to be drawn more from these folks' traditional heritage than from their place of last abode or birth.

 

ETA3: Corected "GTO" to "GTA".

Edited August 15, 2014 by huiray (log)

[huiray]

A couple additions to the "Hakka in GTA" question:

1) Here's a post from another forum, and another one FtHoi;

2) I had a look at the dinner menu of Yueh Tung restaurant in downtown Toronto and it is a mix of "traditional" (mainland) Hakka/Cantonese dishes PLUS definitely Indian-Chinese dishes.  I personally found it a very confused menu. :-)

 

ETA: Corrected "GTO" to "GTA".

Edited August 15, 2014 by huiray (log)

[Anna N]

AHHH....so it was an Indian-Chinese restaurant?  If that is correct, that is the answer.  In India, ALL Chinese food is called "Hakka cuisine/food", regardless of what regionality it may derive from in truth.  This comes from the history of how restaurant "Chinese food" was brought to India within the last 1-2 hundred years - it was brought there very largely by folks from the Hakka dialect group and the Indians grew to associate Chinese food as being Hakka food, and throwing in Indian items and Indian-Chinese/Hakka fusion stuff as well all onto the same menu.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Chinese_cuisine

and: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka_cuisine#Hakka_cuisine_in_India

 

ETA:

 

I took a look online and although "Hakka Fresh" is listed it is too new to have an online menu or a fleshed-out webpage to consult.  I note, however, there is a "Bombay Chinese" just down the road which is clearly Indian-Chinese cuisine.  I had forgotten about it (haven't thought about it for a long time) but in looking around I see (am reminded of, perhaps?) that "Hakka food" in the GTO is commonly Indian-Chinese food (here's one search; here's another search). 

 

I hope there must be genuine/real Hakka food in the GTO, though?  Food such as in the parts of the Wikipedia article OTHER than as described in the "Hakka cuisine in India" section (also referenced above).  I've posted about some Hakka-type dishes such as Yong Tau Foo and Kow Yuk (amongst others) here on eG also.

 

ETA2:  Yes, there are fairly "real" Hakka dishes available, such as some of those on the menu of the restaurant I looked at in the post below, or of others.  The section on Hakka food in Toronto in Anusasananan's book also talks about the arouping together in Toronto of Hakka folks from all over including India although the recipes the author writes of are closer to "traditional-type" dishes than Indian-Chinese dishes, which seem to be drawn more from these folks' traditional heritage than from their place of last abode or birth.

Thanks so. much for this. It removes much of the fog. Rushing off to an app't but will surely look at all your links this weekend.

[huiray]

Thanks so. much for this. It removes much of the fog. Rushing off to an app't but will surely look at all your links this weekend.

 

You're welcome.

 

BTW if you see a menu that has "Manchurian Chicken" on it that would be a dead giveaway that the place is, at least in part, an Indian-Chinese place - unless it is one of those "upscale" fancy-wancy-trendy places that "features" Chinese-Asian-Fusion food. 

[Anna N]

You're welcome.

 

BTW if you see a menu that has "Manchurian Chicken" on it that would be a dead giveaway that the place is, at least in part, an Indian-Chinese place - unless it is one of those "upscale" fancy-wancy-trendy places that "features" Chinese-Asian-Fusion food.

Yep. #84 Manchurian chicken (Gravy/Dry)! I have the takeout menu.

[rotuts]

excellent.

 

pic wound be nice when you get it 

 

maybe one of each  :  dry  ///  gravy  

 

cheers !

[Anna N]

Today Kerry and I met up with member DianaM at her home and enjoyed a lunch of charcuterie, cheese and a variety of breads.

The meats included roast beef, salami, Tyrole ham and prosciutto and the cheeses were a mild monastery cheddar from Ireland and Appenzeller.

[Anna N]

Ooops. Dropped the ball! Forgot to post last week's lunch. However, since we were both feeling very much pho-deprived, our lunch was very much same old same:

Rare and well-done beef for me

And chicken and beef for Kerry

And the garnishes.

This week we returned to the Ramen house

We both ordered the same thing:

The menu calls it "king of kings"

We also ordered six Gyoza but ate most of them before we realized we had not taken a photograph

King of Kings from another angle:

[rotuts]

WoW  !

 

wondered what happened to the Lunch Ladies !

 

delicious as it always is,

 

the LL will make it up  im sure in the future as I cant see too much

 

calamari  

 

its probably just me

[Anna N]

So today we mostly hung around Oakville checking out the thrift stores and popping in to Whole Foods where we found ourselves totally amused by this:

After we had wiped the smirks off our faces we headed back to an intimate Japanese restaurant where we have been before. Tokyo Bay has usually met our needs quite adequately.

First up was soup and salad. Miso soup and a salad with a somewhat different dressing than the usual ginger-carrot concoction..

Then an appetizer of Japanese chicken wings:

These wings were huge and very hot. Kerry felt they needed a dipping sauce.

Kerry ordered the chicken fried udon which proved a little on the sweet side for her taste.

I chose the pork don katsu.

Kerry stuck with tea and I ordered an Asahi beer.

Sorry, rotuts, no sign of calamari.

[Smithy]

It's so nice to see water getting more environmentally friendly.