The Ladies Who Lunch (Part 3)

[Anna N]

Nope.  The beer was cold.  No worries on the liver. It was my dinner yesterday evening and my lunch today.  I took care of every last crumb for you.

[TicTac]

I will join Ana in her liver endeavors; Iron makes you strong!

 

Speaking of which, I had some excellent calfs liver from Cumbrae's not long ago, as well I found one of the merchants at the organic farmers market I frequent sells big bags of the most amazing chicken livers for $4!  Port and carm. onion pate worked out quite nicely!

[Kerry Beal]

Out to lunch yesterday with a friend yesterday - Anna opted not to join us. She'll be sorry when she sees the pictures. Placed called the Brux House.

 

Grilled calamari, lovely crispy chickpeas adorned it.

 

 

Parsnip soup for me

 

 

 

Moule frite for Francis.

 

After lunch and a long gab we wandered through the market. 

[rotuts]

Sooooo

 

@Kerry Beal

 

you took a Kitty Bag to 

 

@Anna N  

 

as she's working with Her Abby ?

 

the KittyBag is of course not for the kitty ...

 

maybe one of those Mighty Fine  soup plates  would be good

 

did you ask for one to take home ?

 

I love plates that are made for restaurants just like that old fashioned Soup-plate- bowl ;

 

[Kerry Beal]

No kitty or doggie bag - no leftovers!

[Anna N]

 Today on the spur of the moment, Kerry decided we needed haircuts.  After sorting out with the Humane Society the pick up of my foster roomy for a medical, we headed out to Burlington.   After haircuts, we decided lunch was in order and we were only moments from Amaya.

 

 Vegetable pakoras. Quite different than any I have had before but very good.  

 

 

 

 Naan with ghee. 

 

 

Saag paneer, lamb curry and basmati. 

 

 Too much food for two of us so I have at least one more meal in my refrigerator!

 

 As I was slipping the naan into a plastic bag to keep it from drying out, I couldn't help but "steal" a couple more pieces.

 

[robirdstx]

Lunch with a couple of lady friends today! We were so busy chatting, I only managed to take a photo of my dish.

 

 

Crawfish Etouffee with Dirty Rice ~ Landry's Seafood in Galveston

[robirdstx]

A lady friend and I lunched at Tookie's Seafood in Seabrook today. I only had to take one photo as we both ordered the same thing!

 

 

Pasta La Vista (linguine tossed with spinach, artichokes, mushrooms and roma tomatoes in a lemon garlic cream sauce) topped with Mesquite Grilled Shrimp

Edited March 31, 2017 by robirdstx (log)

[Anna N]

Today found me and Kerry back in the Thornhill/Vaughn region.  I was delighted when Kerry asked me to look up the address of the other Georgian restaurant in this region.  Aragvi offered more insight into this rather neglected cuisine. 

 

 

 This hot appetizer would have been enough for both of us for the full meal.   Fried potatoes, fresh dill, onions and chanterelle mushrooms.  

 

 

 I know that I must've been born a peasant because I love food like this.

 

 

 Next time I think we would both order a more traditional Georgian bread.

 

 

 As you may imagine much of this food is now resting comfortably in my refrigerator.  When will we ever learn? 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Shelby]

I need a cabbage roll right now.  OMG that all looks so good.

[Shelby]

On 3/30/2017 at 7:08 PM, robirdstx said:

Lunch with a couple of lady friends today! We were so busy chatting, I only managed to take a photo of my dish.

 

 

Crawfish Etouffee with Dirty Rice ~ Landry's Seafood in Galveston

This looks awesome.  I haven't made crawfish etoufee for quite a while.  Need to do that after seeing your meal.  

[suzilightning]

13 hours ago, Shelby said:

This looks awesome.  I haven't made crawfish etoufee for quite a while.  Need to do that after seeing your meal.  

Me, too!!!!  Although now all I have to do is go about a mile from home on Tuesdays or Thursdays to a place called Upstream Grille and the chef features New Orleans food on those days...Had some good gumbo there WITH okra.

[Anna N]

 Today Kerry Beal and I returned to Maro's, the tiny middle eastern restaurant which was once a burrito place  and which still likes to keep that connection to its origins.

 

 You have got to love the water carafe.

 

 

 And the Persian tea and Turkish coffee presentation.

 

 

 Kerry decided to take the word fusion to a whole new level. A burrito bowl with a side order of falafel.

 

 

 

 I tried to be a little more mainstream with fatoush and shawarma chicken. 

 

 As before the servings were challenging and I have enough leftovers for two meals anyway.  

 

 

 

[Anna N]

 

I thought I would have a little fun with you today. Here you see my lunch leftovers in their takeout container in situ in my fridge.

[sartoric]

55 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

I thought I would have a little fun with you today. Here you see my lunch leftovers in their takeout container in situ in my fridge.

They gave you a tiffin for takeaway ? Wow.

[blue_dolphin]

2 hours ago, sartoric said:

They gave you a tiffin for takeaway ? Wow.

That was my thought as well!

Edited to add:  That or @Anna N is extremely well prepared and brought her own tiffin to the restaurant!

Edited April 19, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Anna N]

 OK I've kept you all in suspense long enough. First of all I must tell you that I had such a great day. Grocery shopping so that meant I got to  choose my own everything, then a couple of thrift stores where I found all sorts of goodies and all of it topped off with this fabulous lunch.  

 

We returned to Pintoh which had just changed hands the last time we visited.  We had settled on our choices for lunch when I noticed the blackboard offering the daily special of Duck laarb and Ped yang. While I was occupied elsewhere, Kerry negotiated changes with the server. 

 

First up

 

 

Pork belly. 

 

Then

 

u

 

 the duck laarb with a tiny container of sticky rice.

 

 Then this showed up at the table to the surprise of both of us.

 

 

 I expressed surprise to see a Tiffin tin in a Thai restaurant but our server pointed out that they are not confined to India but are common in other parts of Asia too. She pointed out the gorgeous decorated metal containers around the restaurant that she said were used in her home country, Cambodia, to take food to the temple. I was so entranced by this Tiffin box that I blurted out something about "I must have one of those,". 

 

Clockwise From the lower left: Thai- style omelet, rice, ped yang (duck curry with grapes)  and finally Penang chicken curry.

 

As she unpacked our lunch the server explained that one could buy a tiffin tin and that one's first meal served in  it would then be free.  After that, one could bring it back to the restaurant and have a take-out meal packed into it.   The restaurant owners are hoping eventually to make this service a separate part of the restaurant.  

 

When it came time for us to leave and we had a great deal of food left, it seemed logical ( in a retail therapy sort of way)  to pack everything back into the box it arrived in!   Now you know how the lunch leftovers found their way into my fridge  in a beautiful tiffin tin. 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, sartoric said:

They gave you a tiffin for takeaway ? Wow.

Not quite!

[Shelby]

Anna!  You lucky dog!!  I am pea green with envy.  That is so neat!

[HungryChris]

It looks a bit like a Mumbai lunch box that would be delivered by a Dabbawala.

HC

[Kerry Beal]

31 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

It looks a bit like a Mumbai lunch box that would be delivered by a Dabbawala.

HC

Pintoh is the Lao version of a tiffin. Hence the restaurant's name Pintoh. 

[Anna N]

51 minutes ago, HungryChris said:

It looks a bit like a Mumbai lunch box that would be delivered by a Dabbawala.

HC

Yup

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Yup

I became very curious about tiffin boxes after learning that they were not exclusive to India nor to Mumbai (although the delivery and collection seems to be a Mumbai thing).  According to what little I could find on Google they are used in other parts of Asia, parts of Africa and most surprisingly in Hungary.  I would love to learn more about their use especially in Europe but I'm not having much luck with the World Wide Web at the moment.  I thought Mr. (Mrs.) Google knew everything but apparently not or perhaps he/she does know it but in languages that I can't read.

[rotuts]

I lived in Spain for two years growing up.  I boarded at a spanish school.

\

lunch was tradition 2 hours long, not the eating etc

 

students that did not live at the school sometimes brought their lunches in those contenders and left them in the kitchen , served hot

 

for their lunch.    then they took them home and brought them back etc.

 

for other Day students , some had their lunch included w their tuition etc.  it varied.

 

" Workers " esp outdoor workers  used them also for their lunch.   outdoors just meant they could be seen w the

 

sets  coming and going.      I suspect office workers might have done the same

 

however  lunch was routinely at least 2 hours long and the largest meal of the day.

 

everything closed.  many people went home  as that was the idea.

 

dinner was at 10 PM  BTW, and no sooner.

Edited April 21, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[HungryChris]

Some years ago, after watching a documentary about the Dabbawala lunch delivery system, I happened to spot this at a yard sale and, like Anna, had to have it. We use it for cold salads for picnic lunches at the Brimfield, Ma. flea market / antique show. Not real practical, but fun .

HC