The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[Anna N]

32 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Anna N

 

I do like the little Flag :

 

 You are so much more observant than I!

[rotuts]

And ...................

[Smithy]

38 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 You are so much more observant than I!

 

I bet one of you noticed it before biting it, though! Do you remember what the entire tag said?

[Kerry Beal]

Special I believe 

[Anna N]

50 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

Special I believe 

 Damn. I wish I had noticed it. If it said special I would’ve whipped it out of there and stuck it into Kerry‘s hair because she is really special. 

[ElsieD]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Lunch today was dictated by where we were and the current stage of @Kerry Beal‘s jet lag program. Nandos won. 

 

 We shared a chicken with a mango-lime sauce. 

And an order of “chippers”.

 

 

 We both drank water with lunch.

 

 

 

 

Are chippers thick potato chips?

[Anna N]

39 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

Are chippers thick potato chips?

I would describe them as somewhere between a potato chip and a souffléd potato. They were not as crispy as potato chips nor as delicate as souffléd potatoes.   Nevertheless they were addictive. They were well seasoned with something quite spicy.  

[FauxPas]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:47 PM, rotuts said:

I do remember on the beer above some Hints of Apricots as i grew up on a small Apricot Orchard in LosAltos CA    ~ 2 acres maybe that had something to do with it

 

Mmm! Apricot goes so well with curry! One of my favourite beverages with a curry is St. Ambroise's Apricot Wheat Ale (Quebec, Canada) or Pyramid Brewing's Apricot Ale (Seattle). I'm sure other breweries make similar ones. Looks like a lovely meal, @Anna N, @Kerry Beal. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by FauxPas
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[Anna N]

 I must be one of the luckiest people on earth. For those of you who have been following along with @Kerry Beal‘s adventures in Paris, Seattle and Los Angeles believe it or not she is still ticking along just like the Energizer bunny.  Although she only arrived home in the early hours of yesterday morning, she nevertheless accompanied me to an appointment today, took me out to lunch and then took me shopping in the Asian grocery store.   I am replete.

 

 Lunch today was at one of my favourite places, Kenzo Ramen.

 

 Tamagoyaki.  I wish I could post the mini movie of this showing the waving flags of dried tuna making the dish look alive.  I believe these larger flakes are called kezurikatsuo. 

 

 

 King of Kings Ramen for Kerry

 

 

 Tonkotsu ramen for me.  You can just see the accompanying white pepper and togarashi off to the left. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

Today Kerry and I were dithering about where to go for lunch. Were we feeling adventurous or were we more in the mood for familiarity. In the end adventurous won. 

Earlier in the morning we had passed by

Canyon Creek Restaurant

and I had asked what it was not realizing it was a restaurant. When it came time to decide where to eat this popped into the conversation. We headed back in its direction. 

 

One of Kerry’s favourite dishes is a well prepared pork chop. On their specialty menu is a photograph of a very lovely looking pork chop.  When the server came to take our order Kerry and she got involved in a discussion of pork chops and Kerry expressed her desire for some fat on her pork. The discussion seem to devolve into something in which Kerry thought perhaps she should order something else. However, the server said she would tell the kitchen to find the fattiest porkchop they could and prepare that. She assured Kerry that this would be probably the best pork chop ever. (Bear with me. All of this is preparatory material which will make sense eventually.)

 

One of the things on the menu was steak frites but with truffle french fries. Of all the things in the world that I despise it is even the slightest whiff of truffle in any form. I asked if we could forgo the truffle and the server was kind enough to point out another option which was more to my liking. 

 

 

We also ordered calamari. It was very satisfactory. Tender, tasty and sprinkled with fried onion strings, fried jalapeño rings and a strip or two of red pepper.

 

 

Shortly after the server had taken our order and presented it to the kitchen and while I was powdering my nose, someone from management came over to talk to Kerry about her wish for a fatty pork chop. I am sure they expected to find a two headed, bearded and inebriated freak. Who else would want fat on their pork chop in this age of healthy living. 

 

Scott, was most delightful. He discussed the preparation of the chop in considerable detail with Kerry. He explained that it was brined for six hours and there were other details that I missed while repairing my shiny nose. 

 

We munched away on the calamari and before we were even halfway through it our chosen dishes arrived. 

 

Mine was satisfactory. The steak was tasty and tender, the onion strings were good. Only the  fries could’ve been improved with a little more seasoning. 

 

 

Kerry’s plate looked quite delightful and when she cut into her pork chop I remarked that it did look juicy.

 

 

But it was quickly obvious that this pork chop was not living up to any expectations. Kerry cut off a small piece and asked me to try it. I was forced to spit it out into my napkin something that I’m not proud of but I sure as hell wasn’t swallowing it. Kerry said it tasted like cleaning solution. I wasn’t sure it was cleaning solution but it was a very strange flavour that I just wasn’t going to swallow. 

 

Scott must have followed our plates out of the kitchen as he arrived at our table just as we had both taken a bite of the pork chop. He could not have been any more apologetic. He immediately offered to replace it with something else. 

 

Kerry opted for a small steak like mine. 

 

Her pork chop was removed from her plate but at her request the rest of the meal was left with her awaiting a replacement protein. 

 

Scott returned at some point with further information about the preparation of the pork chop when we learned that the brine contained not only salt and sugar but also white wine, bay leaf, rosemary and perhaps some other things. We have no idea who would think that this made an effective brine but it certainly would explain the resiny taste of the pork particularly so if anyone had been heavy-handed with the bay and the rosemary. 

 

Neither Scott nor our server seem to be able to apologize enough. 

 

Kerry’s plate was brought back with a steak which was much more satisfactory, and an interesting selection of green beans, golden beets and carrots.

 

 

In fairness to all, the staff did bend over backwards to try to make up for the pork chop which included a discount on the total bill and a membership in their customer club which involved among other things a $10 gift certificate. 

 

[FauxPas]

20 minutes ago, Anna N said:

But it was quickly obvious that this pork chop was not living up to any expectations. Kerry cut off a small piece and asked me to try it. I was forced to spit it out into my napkin something that I’m not proud of but I sure as hell wasn’t swallowing it. Kerry said it tasted like cleaning solution. I wasn’t sure it was cleaning solution but it was a very strange flavour that I just wasn’t going to swallow. 

 

What a shame, it certainly LOOKED tasty!   🙂

 

[Anna N]

7 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

What a shame, it certainly LOOKED tasty!   🙂

 

 But it turned into such an interesting lunch hour. There wasn’t a single word of unpleasantness.   Stuff happens and this restaurant really tried to remedy the problem.  

[ElsieD]

Can't wish for better service.

[Kim Shook]

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

Of all the things in the world that I despise it is even the slightest whiff of truffle in any form.

 

Yes!  I am so thrilled to finally find someone who shares my truffle aversion.  If someone at the table orders something with truffles, it ruins my meal.

[Anna N]

 I only had one job today —  find a place for lunch.  I thought I had it nailed. I had it in the back of my mind that at some point I would love to visit Galleria  This is a chain of Korean grocery stores in the GTA. Recently @Kerry Beal and I had noticed one seemed to have popped up very close to home. While I was glancing through the website I got the impression that there was a proper food court within the supermarket. (We have visited another branch which indeed had a proper food court.) Well there sort of was and there sort of wasn’t!  It wasn’t really a food court but a place where you could pick up a tray of food from steam tables or put in an order from a very limited menu and sit in a rather uncomfortable area to eat it. We were both disappointed and decided we wanted somewhere else for lunch.   The closest place was  Yes Sushi.

 

 Kerry asked for tea which was provided very quickly with 2 cups although I don’t drink tea. The tea was brought to the table along with a small dish of wasabi.  I am glad we both recognized that these two things do not go together!

 

  I ordered sake which took forever to reach the table but came with two choka.  Kerry doesn’t indulge at lunchtime!  All this was forgiven when we came to realize that our server’s command of the English language was a bit challenging although not nearly as challenging as our grasp of Japanese!

 

 

 

 I don’t usually order or eat these rolls so I’m not sure which one this is!

 

 

 We had to ask for the ginger. This seems to be something necessary in all of these type restaurants.  

 

 

For me this was the tastiest bite of the whole meal. It was described as a mutton skewer. It was wondrously fatty lamb.

 

 

This showed up as we were enjoying our savoury bites. Initially we were not quite sure what it was. I was about to sample one of these fritters when Kerry wondered if perhaps this was our deep-fried milk.  I stuck a chopstick into the sauce and tasted it and sure enough it was chocolate.   Being Westerners and of a certain mindset we pushed this dish aside until the end. 

 

 

Squid tempura. Tender and tasty.

 

 

 

Malaysian  Fried rice. This had quite a  spicy kick. 

 

Another role.

 

 

 Mapo tofu.  Took my breath away and not in a good way!   Wow this had some spice. 

 

 

 Shrimp tempura 

 

 

 Shumai.   Steamy hot and tasty.

 

 

Inari sushi And rather sad tamagoyaki sushi. 

 

 

Kalbi ribs. Lip smacking good. 

 

 So despite my failure to execute my one and only job today we enjoyed a pleasant lunch.

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

 It’s been a while but since we were in the area we opted for one of our favourite comfort foods—pho

 

Kerry’s usual chicken and beef.

 

 

My usual rare  and well done beef. 

 

Shared accoutrements. These are always so fresh.

 

 

 Grilled beef fresh spring rolls.

 

 

Vietnamese iced coffee for me. Even in winter I prefer my  Vietnamese coffee cold. 

 

No photograph but Kerry is much more sensible and had hot tea. 

 

 

 

 

[heidih]

@Anna N  What is the julienned raw at top / - cucumber? which would be different or maybe kohlrabi???

[Anna N]

26 minutes ago, heidih said:

@Anna N  What is the julienned raw at top / - cucumber? which would be different or maybe kohlrabi???

 I am thinking you mean the onions on my pho?

[heidih]

OH! Theybseemed tonhave a vgreen edge. Thanks..

[Anna N]

A very special lunch today. @Kerry Beal Is forever expressing a wish that one of our restaurants, The Keg, opened for lunch.   Today her wish came true. We were driving past the restaurant when she noticed that the parking lot was well occupied. I googled the restaurant and learned it was open. 

 

 A chat with our server revealed that the restaurant was open at lunch for the first time today and would be open three days this week and three days next week. This apparently happens each year just as the Christmas season begins.  It attracts parties enjoying office lunch celebrations.  

 

 

Calamari with a ginger garlic sauce and a Greek feta sauce. 

 

 

 For Kerry the 14 ounce prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes and lovely oniony onions. 

 

 

 For me the 20 ounce ribeye steak with fries and some lovely vegetables which included asparagus and baby mushroom caps. 

 

 Lucky me. As usual our eyes were way bigger than our bellies and I have lots of lovely leftovers to enjoy over the next few days.  

[gfweb]

That was lunch?  Humongous. 

[Anna N]

4 minutes ago, gfweb said:

That was lunch?  Humongous. 

 Well since they don’t normally open for lunch they don’t have lunch menu so the only menu to order from is the dinner menu.  (Can you get that many “menus” in one sentence?)

[ElsieD]

51 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Well since they don’t normally open for lunch they don’t have lunch menu so the only menu to order from is the dinner menu.  (Can you get that many “menus” in one sentence?)

 

I wondered about that.  I wonder if they will let two people share one meal.  I looked at the menu after I saw your post because we have The Keg here and I wouldn't mind going.  But, I'm satisfied with about 3 ounces of protein, 4 if I really want to stuff myself.  That way, we could also have desert.  The food looked lovely.

[Anna N]

31 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

 

I wondered about that.  I wonder if they will let two people share one meal.  I looked at the menu after I saw your post because we have The Keg here and I wouldn't mind going.  But, I'm satisfied with about 3 ounces of protein, 4 if I really want to stuff myself.  That way, we could also have desert.  The food looked lovely.

 But also consider that if you order well then you have a meal or two to enjoy as leftovers.

[ElsieD]

20 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 But also consider that if you order well then you have a meal or two to enjoy as leftovers.

 

Only problem is.....I detest leftovers.