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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 19, 2022 19:30:53 GMT
I know what you mean, Breeze. I've eaten at Danzantes before, so I know to be wary of their penchant for being trendy -- charred cauliflower, which a server once talked me into is every bit as vile as it sounds. I have already picked out what I'll have the next time I go there, though. Rest assured that I'll clink an imaginary glass with you the next time I have a drink!
As far as eating out, I sort of like to & sort of don't. Oaxaca has discovered itself and avidly believes everything written about it by every foodie who has passed this way. That has resulted in quite a few fancier restaurants serving what are quite simply traditional dishes which can be found in any market here, but in tiny portions on giant plates adorned with a schmear of whatever can be described as divinely evocative of the ancestors. Restaurants here have gotten more expensive, too. Obviously people have to make a living, but some of the pricing is a direct result of the aforementioned self regard. I can be merely disappointed if I go to a dinky economic eatery & don't care for the food. But I can be mightily pissed off if it's an expensive place with indifferent or poor food or bad service. A friend & I ate at a little Japanese restaurant last week because it had been touted by a woman who said she'd lived in Japan between the ages of 7 and 17. That's ten years, but ten child years. The food reflected the tastes of that age group, with a wimpy miso soup and some amorphous fried fingers (supposed to be pork & shrimp) which bored me before I finished eating. The tab was 25 bucks for two people. Not break the bank, but expensive for what we got.
Bjd, that is what I'd call masala, too, but this didn't taste the least masala-ish.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 19, 2022 19:45:28 GMT
I'll have the tuna tartar and the octopus.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 19, 2022 20:06:16 GMT
I wonder what wedding stew is?
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 19, 2022 20:07:31 GMT
Perhaps it was marsala not masala?
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Post by breeze on Jul 19, 2022 20:15:57 GMT
bixa, I feel exactly the same way. The price/quality ratio is very important to me. Even so, I won't eat crappy food just because it's cheap. I'm not that cheap. I look for dishes I can't make as well myself.
We only go out to eat once a week when we're at home, and we drive 75 miles which is what it takes to reach a good restaurant, a good library, a good produce stand, a Wegmans, a good pizza place, a bent-and-dent, and the occasional visit to a thrift shop. Maybe once a year we'll go to the Lindt chocolate outlet. Our day out is always the high point of my week, as much for the haul of library books as for the two meals out and the ingredients we bring back for meals at home.
Unexpectedly today, a friend who a few years back had posted a very lackluster photo of his wife and me walking toward a Thai restaurant told us that the photo has had 283k hits. Imagine how many hits Google will get when they pick up your photos of Danzantes.
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Post by lugg on Jul 19, 2022 20:20:41 GMT
Well apart from the selection of local wild insects I could pretty much enjoy all on that menu - so my virtual meal would be Appetizer - Plantain - just because I love them and I so want to know what wedding stew is Main - Shrimp tlayuda; with chintextle chili sauce, - no idea what tlayuda or chintextle are but the shrimp caught my eye.. Dessert - Homemade ice cream trilogy: - mainly because its so hot here and I imagine that I would need something simple and cooling after the above.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 19, 2022 20:35:40 GMT
I would definitely go for the insects.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 19, 2022 22:50:12 GMT
I opened the menu just now in Spanish & in English, thinking maybe some of the stuff sounds better non-translated. No. The word used instead of insects on the Spanish side is bichos -- bugs. And there is a list of them.. You all know the first one, which is chapulines, aka grasshoppers. Then there are cocopaches, also chinicuiles, which are the well-known agave "worm" (actually quite tasty), and acociles, which are not insects at all, but mudbugs, i.e. crawfish. I wonder what wedding stew is? You wouldn't like it. I don't. I knew I'd seen a review & photo of the stuff, then finally remembered that anyport's own Don Cuevas had reported on it. It's the last picture. You will guess who the B in the article is. Breeze, your post was rather a bit of exotica for me! I had to look up Wegman's and Bent & Dent. Even though I know you live in Pennsylvania, it wasn't until looking up Bent & Dent that the penny dropped about the Amish. Agree about finding places that serve stuff either better than I could make or that are good and also somewhat unfamiliar. Your long drive outing does sound like quite the weekly treat, definitely encompassing all the stuff I most enjoy. I refuse to believe that any photo with you in it could be "lackluster". no idea what tlayuda or chintextle are Lugg, see above re: wedding stew. A tlayuda is something specific to Oaxaca and is a huge, rather chewy tortilla. Chintextle is a kind of chile paste with shrimp and smoked chile. The jiotilla in your ice cream is cactus fruit. Assuming the menu doesn't change, what I want next time is the tuna tartar and the stuffed ancho chile plate. For dessert I'd probably have the chocolate thing again, but would piggishly demand double ice cream. It has been my lifelong quest for cake&icecream to come out even when you eat them.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 20, 2022 13:14:38 GMT
It is amazing how "chocolate volcano cake" has spread all over the world since it was only invented in 1981. Perhaps, but when I was a wee child (this would've been ~1970) my mother had a big French pastry recipe book with nice color photos and I distinctly remember a volcano-shaped cake (think it was chocolate) called la volcane I always wanted her to try. It even involved a little dish of some sort of flammable liquor set alight in the "crater" to complete the effect.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 20, 2022 14:16:50 GMT
No, that is not the same item. It is merely a chocolate cake item with a molten centre. I read that more than 90% of the restaurants in Paris buy it from Metro because it is so tricky to make.
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Post by lugg on Jul 20, 2022 19:40:40 GMT
Re Wedding stew - You wouldn't like it. I don't. I knew I'd seen a review & photo of the stuff, then finally remembered that anyport's own Don Cuevas had reported on it. It's the last picture. You will guess who the B in the article is.
so is it ... Estofado de Res con Frutas. A simple salad.?
I have an inkling also re B
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 20, 2022 23:31:30 GMT
so is it ... Estofado de Res con Frutas Yep. I've had it at that restaurant, too, and yuckola. Here's the picture along with Don Cuevas's comment: It was a flattened blob of brown pulp, like a reheated leftover, as from our freezer, of last month's stew. I've read recipes of the stuff and they call for hours and hours of cooking.
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Post by lugg on Jul 21, 2022 20:27:56 GMT
It does not look very appetizing but I appreciate the work that has gone into it
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 22, 2022 1:19:57 GMT
I had that same crap dish at that very restaurant. It was a crime against meat.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 22, 2022 12:15:29 GMT
It kind of looks like a failed attempt at fudge.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2022 20:55:38 GMT
So yesterday I gotten taken to Tr3s 3istro restaurant for a stellar birthday lunch. It had been 365 days since the last time, for the same occasion. Aside: Do many of you have a good experience in a restaurant that causes in a strong desire to return, then wind up putting it off for ages? Anyway, we had a table at one of the big windows overlooking the bustling zócalo. The weather was overcast & pleasantly cool yesterday, making that spot even nicer. The service in the restaurant is friendly, yet quite professional. I started with Shrimp Ajillo, an abundance of completely peeled (hurrah!) shrimp cooked with garlic and narrow strips of chile in olive oil. My eyes bugged when it was presented in a ramekin setting on a long rectangular plate holding a gracefully arranged lettuce and tomato salad alongside a serving of perfect white rice. It was a easily a full meal by itself, especially as it came with bread still warm from the oven and butter. For the main dish I selected tuna seared with chilhuacle, a chile native to Oaxaca which is crucial to authentic mole negro. The chile had been ground to a powder and dusted on the tuna. The flavor was excellent, although I would have preferred a less wide, but thicker piece of tuna with a more jiggly-raw center. It was quite good, though, and came with a large helping of half white/half sweet creamed potatoes encircled by a grilled zucchini strip. My companion had the Shrimp Diabla to start -- grilled shrimp in a somewhat creamy chipotle sauce. It was spicier than my shrimp, but equally good. His main dish was the pork barbecue, which he pronounced as quite good although a tad too sweet. At his urging I tried a little bite, which convinced me that I no longer really enjoy meat. We shared a liter of the house white, which was quite a nice crisp beverage that was not distinguished, but quite drinkable and a good choice to accompany food. I asked to have rather a large amount of my shrimp and my tuna put up for take-away. That was quite enough for me to have at home for lunch today, to give an idea of portion size. My lovely host pointed out that it was imperative that we have dessert, since it was a birthday occasion. He had the cheesecake, which was a classic type, and I asked for flan, thinking of it as something smaller and lighter. When it came, it caused more eye-bugging as it was approximately the size of Denali, plus topped with a scoop of (quite good) vanilla ice cream. We both had cafe Americano with dessert before finally waddling out of the place.
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Post by mickthecactus on Jul 29, 2022 21:06:09 GMT
Sounds a great meal! Congratulations!
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Post by questa2 on Jul 29, 2022 23:08:18 GMT
I am just back from 4 days in Sydney meeting up with all my old nursing friends. Lunch yesterday was platters of prawns, Sydney Rock oysters, calamari, assorted fish from nearby boats and salads.
I was in Heaven!
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 30, 2022 2:44:08 GMT
Thank you, dear Mick!
Questa, I'm so glad you made it to the reunion. Your lunch sounds criminally good!
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 12, 2022 15:57:04 GMT
I had a cricket lunch at Smiths of Smithfield yesterday. Smithfield was the old London meat market so a good venue.
Service was slow but pleasant. I had tomahawk pork chop with some greens and heritage tomatoes. A bit pricey but very, very good.
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Post by lugg on Aug 12, 2022 21:10:35 GMT
Envious of all your meals but especially your seafood plate Questa - sounds wonderful.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 5, 2022 15:40:08 GMT
Today I had a completely unseasonal dish for our warm weather -- tripe stew ("à la mode de Caen"). But it was on the menu and hey, that's what appealed to me. This was preceded by pâté with pickles and red onions and followed by a crème brûlée for dessert. With a beer, this came to a grand total of 26 euros, which wasn't bad at all.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Nov 13, 2022 22:19:54 GMT
2 meals out recently. I went a Leicester pub on Thursday with 2 of my sisters. Bog basic pub fayre but cheap and filling..the nice thing about the place is that you can request a 'small plate' . Because the food is so cheap (£5.50 for a small plate) the place is very popular with pensioners and I was astonished at how much food can be balanced onto such a small plate . There was a choice of turkey, gammon or beef then several platters of delicious veg including spiced red cabbage, roast root vegetables and cauliflower cheese...one old soul staggered past with a very precarious stack of food that tumbled onto his table when he set it down...he just scooped it up and loaded it back onto his plate. Classy The food was tasty, and cheaper than cooking it ourselves...not particularly 'special' but in these difficult times it made a change. My granddaughter was in Leicester last week with her partner and baby. On Wednesday I met her in town with the baby and my DiL. Took them for a nice meal in a pub/restaurant. The place (The Globe) has a snug which we took over completely with the pushchair, bags and paraphernalia...the food there was much more expensive but the set up there meant that we could trap a crawling baby in a small space.. again plain food but very nice...lots of veggie options to please DiL. Granddaughter and I had griddled gammon with lots of salad (and a few fries).
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2022 16:52:59 GMT
You are definitely doing well, cheery!
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Post by mich64 on Nov 14, 2022 17:06:14 GMT
Four meals out this weekend as we were away for our Anniversary.
1. We stopped at a small town locally owned restaurant for lunch on our way to Toronto. We both had different types of chicken wraps which were delicious but the fries were so delicious! I do not know how they were made but they were coated and then spiced with hickory salt. Quite good.
2. Our anniversary meal did not turn out as planned. We were going to go to a particular restaurant we like but they were solidly booked the only reservation still available was at 9:00 pm, we cannot eat that late. Our second choice was also fully booked! We ended up finding a locally owned Italian restaurant and ordered delivery and had our meal in our hotel room. We had brought drinks with us, I think this might be a Canadian thing, we bring a small cooler with us to hotels, beer, gin and tonic water! Sometimes I will cut up a lime or lemon and put in a plastic container. We ordered a pizza and salad, both were delicious.
3. Breakfast was at the hotel. Although included in the room rate, most of our hotel buffets lack compared to ones on our travels but this one was pretty good! The usual fair but some new additions and better quality egg options.
4. On our way home we stopped for a hamburger, fries and chocolate milkshake at a very popular highway stop. Even though it was cold outside, I enjoyed the milkshake in the warmth of the heated car!
Since we saved quite a bit of money on our food budget for the weekend, when we stopped at the Outlet Mall I picked up a few extra things I needed for our home. I found some good sales on a stainless steel roasting pan, a pizza stone, table cloth and pillows.
It was a lovely weekend.
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2022 17:25:08 GMT
You seem to have had a fine time, mich.
And believe me, in France it is quite common to eat in one's hotel room, particularly in the summer when everybody travels with a cooler for "refreshments".
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Post by mich64 on Nov 14, 2022 17:40:45 GMT
We did Kerouac! Last Christmas I bought my husband a backpack cooler, so it does not look so obvious. I forgot to mention, at the small town restaurant I also bought a bottle of their home produced honey! Little things like that brings me joy.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 14, 2022 19:10:55 GMT
Last day at the house in Spain so slipped out for a meal. A menu del dia. Long story as to why I'm here by myself but in short, I drove from Bosnia to Croatia to take my mother in law back to southern Germany. She stays the summer in one place and the winter in the other. I then went north to Bonn to pick up a passport for a daughter. That was 2000km. Whilst there I was informed a couple of the outhouses at the house in Spain had been broken into. Nothing much stolen, bits and bobs like laundry baskets, but plenty of damage done to the corrugated steel doors. So I drove there. That was 2200km. I've been a few days doing repairs and tomorrow I'll drive via France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia back to Bosnia. That adds on another 3000km. So today I had a bit of time off and ran out of food anyway, so had to go out. This is the menu. You get three courses, a drink and bread. Costs ten Euros. Unless you are familiar with the names of food it may not mean a lot especially as some are more regional preparations where I only know what the main ingredient may be - I started with the fourth one down, left side, lentils. It came with potatoes and a few slices of sausage inside - Main course was fourth one up from the bottom on the right side, Merluza (hake fish) - Dessert was a choice which the waitress told you as it depended on what they'd got that day. Usually a peice of fruit, or ice cream or a choice of cake/tart. I had tarte de manzana, which is a version of apple pie. Very nice it was too -
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Post by kerouac2 on Nov 14, 2022 19:59:14 GMT
I think today was the last day of discounted petrol in France. Tomorrow it goes up 0.20€ in most stations and 0.30€ in Total stations.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 14, 2022 20:22:11 GMT
I always used to try and not fill up in France because it was the most expensive driving between Spain and Germany. Luxembourg was always the cheapest. But I noticed this summer it was the cheapest out the lot. Good to know then. I've got about 530km Spain to Italy but I doubt it'll be any or much cheaper there.
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