The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[Anna N]

7 hours ago, caroled said:

I can 't see any noodles in the soup but the pork and bok choy look delicious. Were they rice or wheat?

 

 I believe they were wheat noodles. 

[ElsieD]

Yesterday we tried out a new-to-us place called Xiang Zi.  John had Beijing Noodles with Fried Bean and Meat Sauce, I had Shrimp Wonton soup which contained 9! wontons, the soup topped with seaweed and green onions. Both were excellent.

[Anna N]

Click.

 Too bad that it’s a beeeech of a drive from here to Ottawa just for lunch.  

 

 

[ElsieD]

13 hours ago, Anna N said:

Click.

 Too bad that it’s a beeeech of a drive from here to Ottawa just for lunch.  

 

 

 

True, that.  But if you ever get here, It's my treat, no question.

[MelissaH]

18 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Yesterday we tried out a new-to-us place called Xiang Zi.

Because a map only tells you so much: is this an easy restaurant to get to, assuming you're coming into Ottawa via the 416?

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Because a map only tells you so much: is this an easy restaurant to get to, assuming you're coming into Ottawa via the 416?

 

Yes.   Take the exit of 416 onto the 417.   You would get off at the Carling exit, stay on Carling , past a shopping centre on your left, a few blocks later at a traffic light you will see Fisher Ave.  Turn right and go down a couple of miles, past a major intersection.  (Baseline Road).  A few more blocks and it is on your right in a strip mall on the corner of Fisher and Meadowlands.  Easier yet is to let me know when you are coming and I can give you directions to my place and we can all go together!  

[Anna N]

These two ladies who lunch, @Kerry Beal and I, had quite an adventure today.  We decided to choose our place to eat before we left the house and then work our way back from there. Usually we go out and choose our place to eat based on where we end up at lunchtime. So we decided we would go back to the Ethiopian restaurant in Hamilton. Upon our arrival at Wass, at a couple of minutes before noon, we found the door was locked. This, despite their website saying they opened at 11:30. A couple of phone calls went straight to answering service and so we abandoned that idea.

Next choice was a return to The Butcher and the Vegan. On our way there someone from the Ethiopian restaurant called Kerry. It was a little hard to understand the conversation but the bottom line was that they were now open for lunch. Kerry pulled a U-turn and we headed back to Wass.

But just as she made the U-turn she saw from the corner of her eye a restaurant called The Little Grasshopper  

offering authentic Portuguese fare. Another U-turn. 

 

While Kerry searched for a parking spot, I entered the restaurant and was warmly welcomed, always a good sign!

 

Kerry ordered tea (look at that cup) and I ordered a cappuccino only because I’ve never seen one on a menu since I was on a ferry between England and Denmark a hundred years ago. 

 

 

We ordered calamari. 

 

And here you see the spot on the table waiting for the calamari.

 

 

The server came by to tell us they were very sorry but they were all out of calamari. Darn. While he tried to entice us with other offerings we tried our best to explain that nothing would do but calamari. 

 

Kerry asked about the cut of pork used for the Pork Á Casa. I think all of the FOH and BOH staff became involved. Once it was determined that it was from the pork butt. That satisfied Kerry so her entrée was the Pork Á Casa with the salad substituted for the french fries. The dressing was a DIY affair using the oil and vinegar cruets which were part of the condiment set on every table. 

 

I ordered the steak on a bun with french fries. 

 

 

 

A very satisfactory and pleasant lunch due to the serendipity of finding something we were not looking for. 

 

[rotuts]

@Anna N

 

""  nothing would do but calamari. "

 

right !

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Next choice was a return to The Butcher and the Vegan. On our way there someone from the Ethiopian restaurant called Kerry. It was a little hard to understand the conversation but the bottom line was that they were now open for lunch. Kerry pulled a U-turn and we headed back to Wass.

I completely forgot to explain that we did make it as far as The Butcher and the Vegan but it too was closed and this was well after noon!  

[Anna N]

Not too often that Kerry and I manage two days in a row  to meet up for lunch. Today we had haircuts and then wanted to get back to my house in order to mount my new TV on its swivel bracket.  But we still needed lunch! Kerry suggested that we grab something from Nando‘s and take it back to my place.  While I love going out to a restaurant once week there’s also something special about relaxing at home with food you have picked up!   Hard to 

complain about the service under those circumstances. 

 

 

Kerry’s plate with breast meat, vegetables but no garlic bread. 

 

 

And my plate with the chicken Maryland, vegetables and garlic bread. 

 

 How could we forget dessert? 

 

 

 

But we did until Kerry was almost out the door. Trust me, they will not be wasted.  I like to say that I am not a dessert person but obviously it all depends on the dessert.

 

 

[robirdstx]

Yesterday’s lunch with one of my lady friends at Tookie’s Seafood in Seabrook. I had been craving their Shrimp Empanadas! Then I forgot to take a photo until there was only one left!

 

 

My friend had a Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken (sorry, no photo) and I had the Pasta La Vista (Linguine pasta tossed with spinach, artichokes, mushrooms and roma tomatoes in a lemon garlic cream sauce) with Mesquite Grilled Shrimp. I had been craving this also!

 

 

Edited January 12, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

[Kim Shook]

Mr. Kim surprised me with lunch at a new place on Saturday – Mesopotamia Delicatessen. Fantastic food.  The owner insisted on us trying all the side dishes before deciding on what we wanted.  He made us a little plate and everything was so good that we had a hard time choosing!  He was a bit derisive about Richmond middle-eastern food choices, but very impressed about my having eaten this kind of food all my life – the result of having a Syrian aunt by marriage.  I had the falafel:

My sides were mdardara (lentils and bulgur topped with caramelized onions) and summer cabbage (cabbage, onion, bell peppers, carrots in a vinegar dressing).  The falafel may have been the best I’ve ever had:

 

 

Mr. Kim had the shish taouk (marinated chicken, onion and bell peppers) with Iraqi white beans and vegetable curry stew:

 

Incredibly tender and juicy chicken – and it was all white meat.  We took home a piece of baklava:

 

 

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Mr. Kim surprised me with lunch at a new place on Saturday – Mesopotamia Delicatessen. Fantastic food.  The owner insisted on us trying all the side dishes before deciding on what we wanted.  He made us a little plate and everything was so good that we had a hard time choosing!  He was a bit derisive about Richmond middle-eastern food choices, but very impressed about my having eaten this kind of food all my life – the result of having a Syrian aunt by marriage.  I had the falafel:

My sides were mdardara (lentils and bulgur topped with caramelized onions) and summer cabbage (cabbage, onion, bell peppers, carrots in a vinegar dressing).  The falafel may have been the best I’ve ever had:

 

 

Mr. Kim had the shish taouk (marinated chicken, onion and bell peppers) with Iraqi white beans and vegetable curry stew:

 

Incredibly tender and juicy chicken – and it was all white meat.  We took home a piece of baklava:

 

 

Drooling over here.

[Anna N]

 Not every lunch is as successful as every other.  @Kerry Beal flies off to San Francisco tomorrow and so is on a jet lag regimen today. For lunch her regimen pointed to a low calorie meal with some protein and a carb. Knowing what was on the menu at Mo’s diner and that they served an all-day breakfast we returned there. 

 

I do love their small carafes. The black is for coffee and the white is for tea. 

 

 

 Kerry ordered two poached eggs with brown toast. That particular order automatically comes with their hash-browns so I suggested she get them and I would eat them.  But they are terribly underseasoned so we both ended up just picking at the crispy bits. 

 

 

 I was not starving and thought a sandwich and some coleslaw would meet my needs.  It has been very long time since I ordered a toasted Western at a restaurant and it will be a very long time before I do it again!  

 

Sorry that we didn’t take photos before we began  but you might be able to see that this was not a toasted Western sandwich but a toasted green pepper sandwich!  I am sure they could not have jammed even one more dice of green pepper in there. YECH.

 

I managed to eat almost half of the sandwich, all of the pickle slices and barely any of the coleslaw.   The coleslaw was so lacking in flavour that it was beyond redemption. Oh well!

 

 Kerry arrived at my house with 11 gorgeous little lamb loin chops that she had found on sale and took me grocery shopping before lunch.  I don’t think starvation is in my immediate future.  

[ElsieD]

Green pepper.  (shudder!)

[rotuts]

2Anna N

 

so sorry about the GP's

 

near my area there is an outstanding Chinese rest. in the Subs :

 

http://www.sichuangourmetma.com

 

their lunch menu is outstanding  

 

and the place is packed

 

I go at 1:30 0r  later

 

I just tell them :

 

Im allergic to GB's

 

I get tree ears

 

consider that plan  for Future Lunch-ing endevors

 

works well

[Mmmpomps]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 Not every lunch is as successful as every other.  @Kerry Beal flies off to San Francisco tomorrow and so is on a jet lag regimen today. For lunch her regimen pointed to a low calorie meal with some protein and a carb. Knowing what was on the menu at Mo’s diner and that they served an all-day breakfast we returned there. 

 

I do love their small carafes. The black is for coffee and the white is for tea. 

 

 

 Kerry ordered two poached eggs with brown toast. That particular order automatically comes with their hash-browns so I suggested she get them and I would eat them.  But they are terribly underseasoned so we both ended up just picking at the crispy bits. 

 

 

 I was not starving and thought a sandwich and some coleslaw would meet my needs.  It has been very long time since I ordered a toasted Western at a restaurant and it will be a very long time before I do it again!  

 

Sorry that we didn’t take photos before we began  but you might be able to see that this was not a toasted Western sandwich but a toasted green pepper sandwich!  I am sure they could not have jammed even one more dice of green pepper in there. YECH.

 

I managed to eat almost half of the sandwich, all of the pickle slices and barely any of the coleslaw.   The coleslaw was so lacking in flavour that it was beyond redemption. Oh well!

 

 Kerry arrived at my house with 11 gorgeous little lamb loin chops that she had found on sale and took me grocery shopping before lunch.  I don’t think starvation is in my immediate future.  

 

Gawd I HATE green peppers in my western. My Grumps (Grandfather owned a greasy spoon before I was born but he did NOT put green peppers in toasted westerns) Blasphemy I say! 

 

Edit to add a toasted western in my life consists of: 2 eggs beaten with diced white onion , diced raw bacon, a splash of water, a splooge of worstershire, salt and pepper. That is all, no green peppers were allowed

 

 

Edited January 17, 2018 by Mmmpomps (log)

[suzilightning]

1 hour ago, Mmmpomps said:

 

Gawd I HATE green peppers in my western. My Grumps (Grandfather owned a greasy spoon before I was born but he did NOT put green peppers in toasted westerns) Blasphemy I say! 

 

Edit to add a toasted western in my life consists of: 2 eggs beaten with diced white onion , diced raw bacon, a splash of water, a splooge of worstershire, salt and pepper. That is all, no green peppers were allowed

 

 

 

A Denver for me is 2 eggs beaten with Worstershire, sautéed minced onion, sautéed minced red bell pepper and minced ham.   I prefer it on a toasted English muffin but will take toasted white with some mayo and ketchup.

[blue_dolphin]

Apologies in advance for my crappy photos.  Yesterday's lunch was a recon mission with my cousin for an upcoming ladies lunch with a larger group.  Last week, we went to a Korean restaurant that had good food but the staff were not particularly communicative so we vetoed  it since a number of the group would be unfamiliar with the menu offerings.  So we checked out the local branch of the Gyu-Kaku chain that's all over the place.   I chose the Signature Cut Set from the lunch menu.  

 

Mostly slurped miso soup and half-eaten salad - greens, daikon, tomato, cucumber and hard boiled egg.   Out of frame is a bowl of edamame and a bowl of steamed rice.

 

Left to right below:  garlic-marinated shrimp, thin sliced spicy yaki-shabu beef, harami miso skirt steak and kalbi beef short rib

Sauces on the table were labeled:  sweet-soy, spicy and ponzu

I've never done this before and enjoyed it.  We will go back with the other 6 ladies next week. 

 

[Anna N]

Every winter, towns and cities in the Greater Toronto Area run a restaurant promotion called Taste of X.  Today we took advantage of Taste of Oakville.

 

 Independently, both @Kerry Beal and I had decided we would like to try Cubas.

 

Here is their offering for taste of Oakville:

 

 

The staff were warm and welcoming and the decor cheerful.  

 

 

After first offering us menus,  they somehow intuited that we were there for the Taste of Oakville menu and pointed it out to us on the blackboard. They said the roast pork might not be quite ready. Kerry immediately said that she was there for the roast pork and the cook offered that he could probably cut off enough for a single serving. 

 

 We both chose the calamari. 

 

 

 It was wonderfully crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside but quite underseasoned. When the cook/chef came over to our table to ask how we enjoyed it we did point out that it needed some more seasoning.  He cheerfully acknowledged that we were probably right. He had ordered a different breading and found himself with Panko rather than his usual. He was charmingly accepting of the criticism. 

 

 

 Roast pork for Kerry needed a bit longer in the oven and where the calamari was underseasoned the pork was somewhat oversalted. 

 

I went in there with the idea that I wanted a Cubano.  I thought I knew what it was and pictured something along the lines of a Vietnamese Bahn Mi  but with Cuban ingredients. So when my lunch arrived I was extremely disconcerted.  It was probably a perfectly adequate Cubano perhaps even a good one but so far from what I was expecting that I didn’t give it a chance!  

 

 

 I know there are fans of plantain chips but I am not among them. To me they are about as tasty as dehydrated cardboard. Fortunately Kerry is a fan and ate most of mine. 

 

Not our most successful lunch in terms of the food but the staff were perhaps the most charming we have run into in quite some time and that can make up for a lot. At least can in our books. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

One mistake they made was not sticking to their guns. If the pork wasn't ready to serve, they shouldn't have served it. Apologize, hope the customer is willing to choose something else, if not, watch sadly as the money walks out the door to eat elsewhere... don't serve food that isn't ready to be served.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Tri2Cook said:

One mistake they made was not sticking to their guns. If the pork wasn't ready to serve, they shouldn't have served it. Apologize, hope the customer is willing to choose something else, if not, watch sadly as the money walks out the door to eat elsewhere... don't serve food that isn't ready to be served.

 From a professional point of you are absolutely right.

 

But somehow I felt less in the care of someone attempting to make a living and more in the care of someone who wanted to make me feel warm, comfortable and homey. Probably not the recipe for a successful business but I found it hard to fault them. 

[Tri2Cook]

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

 But somehow I felt less in the care of someone attempting to make a living and more in the care of someone who wanted to make me feel warm, comfortable and homey.

There is most definitely something to be said for that as well. I wasn't actually thinking of you and Kerry when I posted that though. I was thinking of the people who would have the item even after being informed it wasn't ready yet and then, instead of complimenting them on their attempt to make them happy as was done here, would tell everybody they could about the horrible undercooked pork they got at the place and say nothing at all about the great service they received or the fact that they were told up front that it wasn't really ready to serve. Fortunately, that type is the minority but there are enough of them that it's easy to become cynical sometimes.

[robirdstx]

After birding this morning with a couple of lady friends, we had lunch at the Seabrook Classic Cafe. First time there for me and I will be back!

 

 

I had the Snapper Special, Grilled, with Fries and Cole Slaw. Two of the other ladies had the same, but they had their fish Blackened (sorry no photo). And my other friend had the Ahi Tuna Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries.

 

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by robirdstx (log)

[Anna N]

 Today @Kerry Beal and I had Kira, Kerry’s daughter, with us for lunch. It required a little more thought than usual in terms of accessibility since Kira is handicapped.  We needed a place to park the van so its ramp could be extended and a place to park Kira so she wouldn’t trip up any servers with her long legs and restless arms. 

 

 Two restaurants looked like they might be suitable and we chose Ichiban Sushi. The server, who looked a little dubious initially, quickly rearranged a table and chairs so that Kira could be tucked in, still in her specialty stroller. 

 

 

 My warm sake and a noodle salad. 

 

 

Tea for Kerry and I guess the server thought Kira might be able to handle it also.  I don’t drink tea!   And Kira doesn’t know how. But, seriously, no harm done. 

 

 

 We each had miso soup and Kira shared some of Kerry’s. 

 Shrimp and vegetable tempura which the three of us managed shared. 

 

 

 Deep fried vegetarian dumplings and

 

deep fried meat dumplings.  We were really hoping for gyozas but Kira still managed to enjoy a few of these. 

 

 

Both Kerry and I had the dolsot bibimbap.  The gochujang  is shown in the first photo along side the tea. 

 

Oops...

 

 

 Kerry had fed all of the  melon and the strawberry to Kira before we remembered a photograph. 

 

Bonus photo. 

 

Just before lunch Kerry popped into Costco for a few groceries and grabbed this photo of the whole lambs for sale:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2018 by Anna N
To prove I know how to spell my best friends name (log)