The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

rotuts · February 5, 2020

nice.

but I would not have shared that duck

all for Me

and then just oder a few more

take out for Each.

JoNorvelleWalker · February 6, 2020

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

Today I expressed a wish to eat somewhere familiar. Some days you crave novelty and some days not so much. So after taking care of some business and doing some grocery shopping we had lunch at an old familiar place, Lemon Grass.

A glass of Pinot Grigio for me. A glass of Pinot Grigio for me.

My kind of meal.

liuzhou · February 6, 2020

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

A glass of Pinot Grigio for me. A glass of Pinot Grigio for me.

When you start saying things twice in succession, I start wondering if you don't mean a bottle (or even two of those!) 🍾🍾

Edited February 6, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

liuzhou · February 6, 2020

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

an old familiar place, Lemon Grass

Is that this place? I was intrigued to know what type of food as I could see some Vietnamese but also Chinesey so searched. They describe it as Asian fusion. Wish I had that menu somewhere near me!

Edited February 6, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

JoNorvelleWalker · February 6, 2020

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

Is that this place? I was intrigued to know what type of food as I could see some Vietnamese but also Chinesey so searched. They describe it as Asian fusion. Wish I had that menu somewhere near me!

Do they deliver?

liuzhou · February 6, 2020

36 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Do they deliver?

Not a lot of deliveries to China at the moment. Anyway I'm only an hour away from Vietnam or three from Thailand - well I would be if I could get out! I'll wait for a bit!

Edited February 6, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

Anna N · February 6, 2020

6 hours ago, liuzhou said:

When you start saying things twice in succession, I start wondering if you don't mean a bottle (or even two of those!) 🍾🍾

I wish. I’m sure you are aware that it is a software issue. I try to catch but I am not always successful.

Anna N · February 6, 2020

5 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Is that this place? I was intrigued to know what type of food as I could see some Vietnamese but also Chinesey so searched. They describe it as Asian fusion. Wish I had that menu somewhere near me!

That is the place. It is always crowded. Yesterday it was packed so full that we were having difficulty conversing because of the noise level. And if you look around there is not a single non-Caucasian face in view. Apart from the staff, there are few who are not seniors. To me it is a fascinating demographic for an Asian fusion restaurant.

Anna N · February 6, 2020

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Do they deliver?

Not as far as China. Not even as far as my home in Oakville which is about 30 minutes away but they do appear to deliver using one of the meal delivery outfits.

TicTac · February 6, 2020

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

That is the place. It is always crowded. Yesterday it was packed so full that we were having difficulty conversing because of the noise level. And if you look around there is not a single non-Caucasian face in view. Apart from the staff, there are few who are not seniors. To me it is a fascinating demographic for an Asian fusion restaurant.

They used to have a place near Yonge and Eglinton that I would sometimes walk to from the office...

From what I recall, their Tom Yum soup was very good!

JoNorvelleWalker · February 6, 2020

7 hours ago, Anna N said:

I wish. I’m sure you are aware that it is a software issue. I try to catch but I am not always successful.

And here I was hoping you'd had two.

Anna N · February 6, 2020

3 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

And here I was hoping you'd had two.

Surely I do not need to quote Dorothy Parker to you! I can barely handle one.

suzilightning · February 7, 2020

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

Surely I do not need to quote Dorothy Parker to you! I can barely handle one.

Woman, those were martinis!!

You are drinking a GLASS of white wine.

Or as some of us who are allergic say - "Amateur"

Edited February 7, 2020 by suzilightning (log)

Anna N · February 7, 2020

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

Surely I do not need to quote Dorothy Parker to you! I can barely handle one.

Not sure why the sad face emoji. Hope I was not misunderstood. I was merely attempting to make a joke of your wide ranging knowledge.

Edited February 7, 2020 by Anna N
Typo (log)

JoNorvelleWalker · February 7, 2020

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Not sure why the sad face emoji. Hope I was not misunderstood. I was merely attempting to make a joke of your wide ranging knowledge.

Sad because I'm told she didn't write it. And because you missed out on the second one.

Anna N · February 7, 2020

35 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Sad because I'm told she didn't write it. And because you missed out on the second one.

Well if she didn’t say it, she could have so I will continue to believe she did!

But in truth I am the cheapest drunk. While I might venture more than one drink in the safety of my own home wIth only the walls as witnesses, I am unlikely to risk more than one drink in a public place.
Edited to add

I just realized that that’s not entirely true.. As long as I am surrounded by family and friends that I trust, I will sometimes drink a little more than I should

Edited February 7, 2020 by Anna N
To tell the whole truth. (log)

Anna N · February 12, 2020

A new restaurant recently opened in Burlington and today we thought we would kill two birds with one stone as it were. We would get a chance to try a new restaurant and at the same time offer some support to our Chinese come patriots who are under such stress as a result of the virus.

It is a small restaurant with an extreme minimalist decor. But I loved this wall treatment.

The table tops were so cold that I thought that only a pastry chef could love them.

I am not quite sure how to handle a description of our experience without sounding somehow mean spirited which is not the impression I wish to give

Our server was young and delightful. I believe she was the co-owner. She wanted very much to impress us.

She did bring two steaming cups of tea to the table which somehow did not get photographed. And these

these were quite delightful and obviously freshly made with just a hint of spiciness.

She did her very best to help when Kerry looked for a better understanding of the menu. And when her English finally failed her she dragged a young man in from the back who was apparently the chef and possibly her partner.

She tried her best to discourage us from ordering from the early part of the menu. She said that it was “real” Chinese and at the back of the menu we would find the typical Canadian-Chinese dishes.

We said we were interested in the Big Plate Chicken. She did not think this was suitable for us because there would be bones in it. But she said it was the signature dish of the town from which she came and was obviously very proud of it.We told her bones didn’t worrierWorry us. At the time that was a very true statement!

We asked how it was cooked and the chef tried his best to explain it and eventually got across to us that it included the hand pulled noodles which were high on our list of things we were interested in.

While we waited for this chicken to arrive, she brought a complimentary plate of spring rolls.

These arrived with a fork each but still presented a challenge to eat with any degree of decorum having already been sauced. The fork was obviously inappropriate and fingers going to end up very sticky. But we persevered and they were quite good. Again obviously freshly made.

Finally the chicken

It was tasty with a very prominent star anise component. But it was a minefield of crushed and splintered chicken bones. Not at all as we had imagined. We soldiered on as best we could but there was a great deal left over.

Here is the website.

I did bring home the leftovers but no matter how hard I tried I could not muster up the courage to eat them. The Heimlich maneuver is challenging to self administer! With a heavy heart and Kerry’s blessing I ditched them.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Anna N
Typo And misplaced photo (log)

heidih · February 12, 2020

Wow too bad when people think they NEED to apologize for their food. it is a process.

Anna N · February 13, 2020

I would love to get @liuzhou’s take on this chicken dish.

These chicken bones were not simply chopped, they were crushed. I could not help but think of a chicken being pressed in a duck press and instead of the juices being retained, the purpose was to retain the bones.

I cannot imagine how one can enjoy a dish in which almost every mouthful contains potential choking or oesophagus tearing hazard.

KennethT · February 13, 2020

@Anna N I don't know about in China, but here in NYC where regional Chinese food has really become a trend in certain neighborhoods, possibly due to a huge influx of mainland Chinese students attending NYU, many times chicken on the bone sees the bones quite splintered. I can't tell you how many times I would eat a piece of chicken have have to pick bone splinters out of my mouth. By the way, this also happens at the Malaysian restaurant I favor, as well as a Vietnamese one and an Indian (I think they're from Bangladesh though) one near me...

**Shelby** · February 13, 2020

Well, it sure looks delicious. How were the noodles? I would love to be slurping on those as we speak.

Anna N · February 13, 2020

25 minutes ago, KennethT said:

@Anna N I don't know about in China, but here in NYC where regional Chinese food has really become a trend in certain neighborhoods, possibly due to a huge influx of mainland Chinese students attending NYU, many times chicken on the bone sees the bones quite splintered. I can't tell you how many times I would eat a piece of chicken have have to pick bone splinters out of my mouth. By the way, this also happens at the Malaysian restaurant I favor, as well as a Vietnamese one and an Indian (I think they're from Bangladesh though) one near me...

Thank you for your take on it.

Well I guess I have learned a lesson then. My idea of chicken on the bone differs from others It’s not as though I was expecting a whole drumstick. I was much more thinking along the lines of how I’ve seen the cooked ducks dispatched in the markets. 1-2 inch pieces of duck containing both bones and flesh.

I certainly won’t be adventuresome enough to order this again without an EMT on each side of me and a surgeon in waiting.

Anna N · February 13, 2020

9 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Well, it sure looks delicious. How were the noodles? I would love to be slurping on those as we speak.

Well aside from the fact that the noodles got short shrift from me given that I was just trying to remain alive, I found them very disappointing. Think soggy pasta. But I have absolutely nothing to compare them with in terms of what are good versions.

**Shelby** · February 13, 2020

6 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Well aside from the fact that the noodles got short shrift from me given that I was just trying to remain alive, I found them very disappointing. Think soggy pasta. But I have absolutely nothing to compare them with in terms of what are good versions.

Well, that's a bummer .

liuzhou · February 13, 2020

12 hours ago, Anna N said:

I would love to get @liuzhou’s take on this chicken dish.

As it happens, today is my 24th anniversary of arriving to live in China. 24 happy years, but not so happy today.

But about your bones!

Yes, most animal protein , including fish, is served on the bone in China (not anything I complain about), but I've never heard of crushed bones. Even splintered bones are rare.

Big plate Chicken (大盘鸡 dà pán jī) is one of my favourite dishes. From China's troubled westernmost province of Xinjiang, a mostly Muslim area. I eat it regularly in a local Muslim restaurant, if with friends. Even a small plate has beaten me with two or three companions!

Chicken, potato, spices and noodles not what to like?

I guess their choppers were blunt or they had no idea how to chop chicken.

Edited February 14, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

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