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Road Trip: Numero 4


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Keep it coming, Daniel. This is Food-travel porn at its best!

Fresh crab may be the best thing to eat in the world. Certainly one of the best.

Thanks DOC.. Going to Chicago for a week or so on Thursday so I am trying to get as much down now before I have to leave.. I have 11 days to write about..

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Daniel, I noticed the oysters you ate in Oregon were fried and you said they were the best you've ever had. Were they the best fried oysters or the best oysters period? My personal preference is raw. Like crab, a great raw oyster with just a little lemon is one of the world's great simple foods. I'm generally not crazy about em fried though.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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That was a mistake.. They were the best fried oysters I have ever had.. I too normally only eat raw, with the exception of Po Boys fried, or baked sometimes in my mothers stuffing or in other dishes.. But if this place was close to me, i would be eating a lot more fried oysters then I do..

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Daniel, I see that you passed by Olympia, home of one of my cousins. The thing that I remember most about Olympia is the wonderful fragrance of the tall cedar trees. But I guess that isn't food-related.

It's cool that you visited the Tillamook factory, a place I actually recognized the name of! Good cheddar cheese.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Daniel, I see that you passed by Olympia, home of one of my cousins. The thing that I remember most about Olympia is the wonderful fragrance of the tall cedar trees. But I guess that isn't food-related.

It's cool that you visited the Tillamook factory, a place I actually recognized the name of! Good cheddar cheese.

He hit Olympia, Ranch House BBQ

10841 Kennedy Creek Road Southwest, Olympia, WA 98512

:biggrin:

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

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Another thing about Olympia were the huge amounts of forest being harvested by some paper company.. We drove off the road into some crazy wooded areas..We were surrounded by these huge trees and cleared land.. It was really wild, i thought the car was going to get stuck a few times.. Oh the joys of carefree care renting.. :biggrin:

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This place is known for its multi egg omelets, I remember somewhere in the 12 egg range.. It is also known for its late night drunken/drugged customers.. It must have been loud at the bar, or the bar tender was messing with me, but I thought he told me to order cheese fries with eggs..  So here I sit with my bacon cheese burger with cheese fries and eggs on top..However it happened, it turned out to be really good.. A really interesting introduction to some of the locals at their finest hour..

I'll say! I miss Beth's. Everything about that place totally cracked me up. And, damn, those cholesterol attacks they serve really do hit the spot.

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Ranch House BBQ

10841 Kennedy Creek Road Southwest, Olympia, WA 98512

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They are a serious force on the bbq circuit.. The name escapes me what the compete under.. They have one every award there is for their chili.. There brisket has one several things also.. But I have seen this woman on the Food Network a few times.. It was also really interesting to see a woman pit master/cook..

We met Amy at the Canadian open BBQ competition last April in Vancouver, and then stopped by the Ranch House on our way down to portland in July. Definitely worth the trip!

Her team name is Mad Mama's or some such incarnation IIRC. Also, I believe it's her sauce that wins her most of her awards. Fantastic stuff all around.

A.

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Wow Daniel, you sure know how to do a road trip! This looks like such fun...and did you really eat 4-5 meals a day? Maybe it just seems like it :biggrin:

I'm looking forward to the rest of this! I've spent most of my life living and traveling up and down the west coast so the photos are so nostalig for me. :wub: Thanks!

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Her team name is Mad Mama's or some such incarnation IIRC.  Also, I believe it's her sauce that wins her most of her awards.  Fantastic stuff all around.

A.

I agree.. And that sauce is amazing.. I was upset she only had sauce in styrofoam containers that needed to be kept cold.. Otherwise i would have bought a case at least...

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Wow Daniel, you sure know how to do a road trip!  This looks like such fun...and did you really eat 4-5 meals a day?  Maybe it just seems like it  :biggrin:

I'm looking forward to the rest of this!  I've spent most of my life living and traveling up and down the west coast so the photos are so nostalig for me. :wub: Thanks!

Yeh thats my average on a good day.. 4-5 meals.. hehe..

Here are a couple of other trips I have taken.. Its about the same amount of meals..

NY to Maine :nEW YORK TO MAINE

First trip Las vegas to New York First trip

Las Vegas to New York: Second Trip

Las Vegas to New York : Third Trip:

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Look at you in Seattle! So glad you packed in a bunch in your one day.

The Irish place in Post Alley you were at was most likely Kells? Great place!

Thats right :rolleyes: I am not afraid of going to Seattle when the situation calls for it... Yeh, I loved Seattle and definately will return for a longer visit. What a beautiful, interesting city.. And you are right it was Kells.

Edited by Daniel (log)
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...

And hands down the best fried oysters I have ever had.. They were in a really thin batter.. Super crispy and juicy.. Not to mention HUGE!!!!!  I need to find this place again.. I am so upset I didnt write the address down..

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...

These looks so good. I can almost taste them...

Thanks for sharing your great road trip with us---photos and commentary are both wonderful. It's a blast to search out food places on road trips. Your batting average is pretty good so far.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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Hey doc.. You got me thinking about the cooked oyster thing.. I remembered I ate one more meal on the third day.. So I added it with pictures on the previous page. It was baked oysters with swiss cheese and bacon.. As well as raw oysters.. It was at a great little seafood shack called Port of Call in Brandon..

Edited by Daniel (log)
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Day 4: After doing these road trips, I have some car sleeping experience. I prefer the seabring 2004 regular model to the 2005 gt.. The 2005 gt which we had this time, has a much sportier seats and you cant remove the top head rest.. The top head rest normally makes a great pillow to hug in the middle of the night.. That aside, it was really cool waking up to such a beautiful scene outside..

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After driving through some really crazy, curvy mountainous terrain in the middle of the night.. We were really happy to see daylight. So we were off and looking forward to breakfast in Point Reyes.. Here we stopped at a place we have heard very good things about.. The Station House..

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This place was extremely stuffy.. Maybe it was the shock from being on the road and only dealing with really nice people, or maybe the Wine Spectator reviews went to their head.. But either way, they certainly felt like it was our pleasure to be "served" by them.. Now I am not a breakfast person.. Sure I like eating in the morning, but am more of a two lunch type of guy.. With no non-breakfast choices I went with a fried oyster and bacon omelet.. Of course with a bloody mary..

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My lovely and suite co-pilot nicely asked the waiter for a BLT .. The He said this was not an option.. I asked him, do you have tomatoes? Yes.. Do you have toast? Yes.. Do you have bacon and mayo? Yes and Yes.. "Riddle me this, Mr. Pro-active, whats the problem?" The problem it turns out was, he was an ass.. Being that we had just woke up in a car 2 hours prior and were rather hungry, and the fact that I was asked nicely to not cause problems, she ordered something else.. An egg fritata with spinach,peppers, bacon and cheese..

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Not just cause the guy was a moron, but the food was rather tasteless. I think we both ordered rather jazzy things.. But it was really bland.. Only after adding salt, pepper, and ton of tabasco did it taste like a salty, peppery, tabscoy thing.. Not only after the initial confrontation was the service bad.. But I was not even asked for a second drink or see our waiter until the meal was over.. Might be the second time in my life I left no tip.. Bottom line is, we should have left immediately..

Most of route 1 looked like this from time to time.... It was extremely foggy and only when the fog cleared up did my co-pilot realize just how far up and just how close to the edge we were driving.. It was somewhere around Stinson Beach where she almost lost it. San Francisco would be the end of our trip along the coast..

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My aunts house is extremely easy to find.. She lives on Ashbury St.. Right off of Haight.. We ended up semi-surprising my aunt, uncle and parents who happened to be visiting.. It was so great to see them and to shower.. hehe.. After changing recharging, my aunt had made reservations for us at a local dim sum place..

Tom Kiang

5821 Geary Blvd

San Francisco, CA 94121

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Dim Sum is a great way to share and enjoy a meal with people.. Everyone sitting around a circular table sharing little plates off a cart..Then putting them on this carousel (L.S) that spins around for everyone to share.. We ordered a ton of food and it was all delicious.. As good as my favorite place in New York with some different dishes..

Even though we didn't use the guide because i think we ordered everything.. Its a really good idea..

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Here is the line up of photos that came out clear and that I kept track of. Not getting too descriptive but here is a basic breakdown.

Meat dumpling with Worchester Sauce..

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The best chicken feet I have gotten at any dim sum place..

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Shrimp and Pea Dumpling

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Some sort of bean curd with an excellent sauce..This was one of my favorite things

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Shrimp and Cabbage Dumpling

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Pork Bun excellent

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Sticky Rice with Pork.. This is one of the best stick rices I have had..

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Some Asparagus

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Something very good..

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Sesame Balls for dessert

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A Sugar Donut

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There are probably 5 or six things I am missing.. But the bottom line is that place is very solid..

But what was the best part of the meal and maybe my trip, was just seeing everyone.. So weird to just stop on by San Fran and have a casual fun lunch with my parents and Auntie and Uncle.. Very surreal..

We had 7 days left on our trip and we were still all the way on the West Coast.. It was time to get off the slow moving route 1 and make up some time.. We drove a couple of hours when I notice a sign for Gilroy.. All i know about Gilroy is they have that huge Garlic Festival.. So I had to stop and see what was going on.. Well there wasn't much besides a place called Garlic World.. And it looked like it was a place designed to over charge people like me who turned off looking for some garlic products. So we decided to pass.

But what we did find was a really good taco place..

Tacos El Grullense Jal -

251 1st St, Gilroy, CA 95020

Besides the welcoming sign, there was another good indication.. There were a table of Mexicans playing dominos right out front.. I dont know about the Dominos, but you get the point.. I mean if it was six tourists from Sweden playing gin rummy, it wouldnt hold the same weight..

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Menu:

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Having just eaten a large meal not to long ago.. I didn't want to overdue it, but I felt compelled to at least try a couple.. We ordered the Pastor.. They were phenomenal.. Some of the best I have ever had.. Served with a terrific spicy carrot salad..

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I had to try one more taco.. It was a hard choice between the tongue and the brain.. I went brain.. It was a little too brainy for my liking.. I should have gone tongue.. But still those Pastors were awesome..

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We drove for awhile with a destination of San Diego.. Unfortunately there were bridges closed, our GPS was broken since we picked up the car and we got very lost.. I must say, that LA drivers are whack jobs.. I mean I am a pretty "progressive" driver, but that's in a seabring. That night, there were at least 6 Lamborghinis, 2 Bentleys, and other foreign sports cars flying down the road weaving.. It was wild, especially after having been up and driving for the last 18 hours.. We eventually made it to Venice Beach.. The guy checking us in at the Best Western took it easy on us and gave us a really nice suite for pretty cheap.. It was the last room in the place and we almost slept on the beach again..

After checking in, we went to one of the only places opened.. Good old In-N-Out Burger. Here we got two cheeseburgers, fries and lemonades.. Good fast food burgers as usual..

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And the lemonade was strangely strong..

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Day 5: Coming up..

Edited by Daniel (log)
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A few unconnected thoughts:

(1) What's your favorite dim sum place in New York?

(2) Did you notice that they didn't translate "tripitas" in the taqueria in Gilroy? Sounds like tripe to me, and I probably would have ordered that!

(3) Ah, Venice, my cousin's neighborhood -- and I mean neighborhood. That's one part of LA where people do take walks and meet people they know on the street. Nice ocean breezes...

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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My favorite place Dim Sum in Manhattan is Oriental Palace? I think the address is 103 Mott.. I just noticed after going this weekend that there was an English name written on the window outside. I have been to most Dim Sum places, but this seats you at tables with random people and two people get seated immediately.. I like the variety of food and its really really inexpensive. I love this one pepper beef dish.. Fatty pieces of grizzle on the bone soaking in oil covered in pepper and a scallop dish i really like.. They also have great peanut filled sesame buns.. I have never had a bad experience there.. Have you been there?

I did notice the tripe.. I most likely should have gotten it..

Edited by Daniel (log)
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No, I haven't been to Oriental Palace, but that beef dish sounds similar to the delicious pepper short ribs I had at Prince Seafood Restaurant on Prince St. in Flushing.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Ton Kiang is one of my favorite dim sum places anywhere.

Not to be picky, Daniel, but according to the menu sign photo, you didn't get "brain" at Tacos El Grullense, you got "head".

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Thanks Daniel for yet another beautiful trip across America and letting us experience it through your words and eyes. I've enjoyed every bit of this one, but especially:

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My lovely and suite co-pilot nicely asked the waiter for a BLT .. The He said this was not an option.. I asked him, do you have tomatoes? Yes.. Do you have toast? Yes.. Do you have bacon and mayo? Yes and Yes.. "Riddle me this,  Mr. Pro-active, whats the problem?"  The problem it turns out was, he was an ass.. Being that we had just woke up in a car 2 hours prior and were rather hungry, and the fact that I was asked nicely to not cause problems, she ordered something else.. An egg fritata with spinach,peppers, bacon and cheese..

gallery_15057_1683_461159.jpg

Not just cause the guy was a moron, but the food was rather tasteless. I think we both ordered rather jazzy things.. But it was really bland.. Only after adding salt, pepper, and ton of tabasco did it taste like a salty, peppery, tabscoy thing.. Not only after the initial confrontation was the service bad.. But I was not even asked for a second drink or see our waiter until the meal was over.. Might be the second time in my life I left no tip.. Bottom line is, we should have left immediately..

and this:

The best chicken feet I have gotten at any dim sum place..

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I mean, I can't think of a better way to start today: you not leaving a tip for lousy, snotty anti-service (even when the service is abysmal, I usually don't have the guts to do that and usually leave something) AND chicken feet! :wub: Can't wait for your next installment.

BTW re: your SO's request for a BLT, wasn't that same exchange similar to one from a Jack Nicholson movie of long ago............. Five Easy Pieces, maybe? Brilliant!

Inside me there is a thin woman screaming to get out, but I can usually keep the Bitch quiet: with CHOCOLATE!!!

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Thats funny you should say that about a Jack Nicholson movie. My mother and aunt mentioned something like that, but didnt know the movie. I will definately have to check it out.. Thanks for reading it Diva.

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Ton Kiang is one of my favorite dim sum places anywhere.

Not to be picky, Daniel, but according to the menu sign photo, you didn't get "brain" at Tacos El Grullense, you got "head".

Thats awesome you went there Doc.. I dont have much San Fran experience, I just know what I like.. And this place is really good..

You are right, you are right. It was head..

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Oh Daniel I do love your road-trip reports so very much. :wub:

They always make me want to hop on a plane and fly to the US and drive and drive and eat and eat!!

thank you for giving me the opportunity to take these trips if only in my imagination, thanks to your stories and lovely pictures!

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