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Post by gertie on Mar 11, 2010 13:19:20 GMT
I guess I lucked out on my trip to London, where I purchased a pastie from a small vendor. After visiting the London Dungeon, I noticed a good amount of people heading into a large open doorway on the other side of the street and down, so went to have a look. Tucked into the small covered shopping area were cart vendors of all sorts, mostly t-shirts and other tourist drivel, but one of them had a small line and was vending pasties of various sorts. I had one with pork, onion, and mushroom and it was just heavenly. Not at all greasy, with caramelized onions and mushrooms that had obviously been lightly fried in the pork fat. The pies were ready made and they just warmed them, but one of the nearby ladies, seeing my expression of ecstasy, said the young man's mother baked them fresh daily.
My lunches these days, now that I work from home, are usually something reheated, a quick salad, sometimes a plate of fresh carrots, mushrooms, celery, broccoli, and other veggies with a light dip to eat while I work at my computer. I do try to always have something for breakfast, even if it is only a small bowl of cereal or a boiled egg. When I have to travel to a customer's I usually eat a boiled egg or some peanut butter toast on the drive down and hopefully am done in time for a late lunch at my favorite Asian restaurant before returning home.
When I used to work in an office, I didn't like to skip entirely because I would be so hungry before I got home, so I used to keep those Soup at Hand things handy to microwave or take a sandwich or leftovers. Working through lunch was a way to keep from having to work after hours for me so I could get home and see my family before going to my second job.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2010 21:10:24 GMT
Office workers are obliged to eat just about anything, because they have us by the balls (or our tits in a wringer, as the case may be?). There's not enough time for a real meal, but some of us refuse to be forced into extra work to prepare something at home or the worse proposals of fast food from the usual suspects. So I try to buy different things which are probably just as crappy but which give me the illusion of having made an effort.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 24, 2010 21:12:57 GMT
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Post by joanne28 on Mar 30, 2010 13:59:44 GMT
I bring my lunch about 95% of the time. There isn't much close by - Tim Horton's, a Subway, a pub. I'll occasionally walk over (don't drive) in good weather but bringing my lunch to work is far more cost effective.
I always make extra for dinner so I'll have something for lunches the next day. Today I have salmon corn cakes for lunch.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2010 17:07:21 GMT
I have gotten into the habit of making sure I have my little ice chest packed and ready to go starting this time of year and on into the summer months. I generally take along some yogurt and fresh fruit,oft times some cheese and bread or crackers. Rarely,I take along a sandwich. And,always some beverage such as green tea,lemonade and water. Oh,I sometimes will bring along a couple of hard boiled eggs if I get it together to boil the night before. (I try to remember and then forget...)
If I don't do any of the above,I get lured into buying something cheap and fast that I really don't want and then I'm pissed off at myself for doing.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2010 9:40:35 GMT
Looks like I'll be skipping lunch because I have a hunger to ogle laptops today.
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Post by gertie on Apr 15, 2010 5:07:51 GMT
I don't find laptops terribly filling.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2011 11:44:50 GMT
Even though I consider having a sandwich for lunch to be a moral defeat for proper living, I went to the 'Daily Monop' shop to get lunch today.
I had a crayfish and lettuce sandwich with yogurt sauce and lime on oat bread, a lentil salad with a poached egg, chestnut yogurt, and a freshly squeezed orange/grapefruit/raspberry juice.
One thing that I do appreciate about Daily Monop is that they give you more choice than ham sandwiches and bags of crisps.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 3, 2011 12:10:10 GMT
Glad you woke this thread up again Kerouac - As you may have read in my recent Trip Report in Paris this August, I tried to have a meal at Chez Quan and it was closed like most of the other eateries in the arcade. Please give me their opening and closing times for future reference as I think it is an excellent place to grab a bite. Thanks.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2011 12:55:47 GMT
Ha, I have never known their closing time, but they open just before noon. I think that most of those places close a little bit after most offices. There is not much dinner traffic for that kind of place, but they do quite a bit of takeaway trade at the end of the day, I think.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 3, 2011 14:21:22 GMT
Thanks! Next time you do lunch there please have look at the closing time for me.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2011 14:40:36 GMT
It is not posted anywhere or I would have known already, because that is the sort of thing that I look at and file away in a corner of my brain. But I will certainly ask the woman who runs the place some time this week when I go there.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 3, 2011 18:36:36 GMT
As you may have read in my recent Trip Report in Paris this August Tod, are there restaurants around you that serve what would be known as a purely South African menu? Would they be casual or formal, or some of both? If you ever feel like doing a report on South African food, I would be totally fascinated and grateful, as I'm sure others would as well. There has been some discussion of bobotie. Are there other foods with an east Indian influence? Also, are there Indian foods that have become South Africanized? Sorry -- digressing from the thread!
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Post by tod2 on Jan 4, 2011 7:07:17 GMT
Bixa - No, not anywhere near me. In Cape Town there is (or was) a famous African restaurant called Mama Africa. This served mainly African staple foods with a bit of Cape Malay thrown in. Problem is that South African food stretches over the cultural African tribes ( all 11 of them), then the Afrikaaners - yes, bobotie is cooked a lot in their kitchens but it is pure Cape Malay ingredients! Then we have the 1820 British Settlers( of which I am a descendant in the Scottish ranks), and the English fare served at just about every hotel buffet on a Sunday with roast beef & Yorkshire pudding. Now we come to our growing population (and it is really growing fast) of Chinese peoples. Thank goodness for the Chinese takeout! And of course a major major cuisine is our Indian population and the best curry in the world! So, I could split them up into groups and do a few recipes from each. Would that be OK?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 4, 2011 8:39:41 GMT
Wow ~~ if you would be willing to do that, it would be fantastic! What a rich and varied food culture you have.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 4, 2011 11:44:29 GMT
Joanne28 - I wasn't at all impressed with the chain coffeshops called Tim Horton's. The cakes and doughnuts were of a poor standard and as for the coffee - yuck!
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Post by tod2 on Jan 4, 2011 11:46:40 GMT
Bixa - Please give me a suggestion of where I should post my findings on South African cuisine?
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Post by fumobici on Jan 4, 2011 16:56:26 GMT
Joanne28 - I wasn't at all impressed with the chain coffeshops called Tim Horton's. The cakes and doughnuts were of a poor standard and as for the coffee - yuck! Oh dear, don't let the Canuckistanians hear you saying that!
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Post by tod2 on Jan 4, 2011 17:15:46 GMT
fumubici - I'm very distantly related to one of the owners , so I can't say I'm overly afraid! ;D Anyway I'm miles from any onslaught of ghastly donuts!!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2011 18:08:51 GMT
Tod, if you're going to post recipes, The Galley is the place to do it. But if you prefer to just tell us tales of wondrous Afro-Boer-Brit fusion cuisine that you have experienced, it can go in After Dinner.
But since we'll certainly be doing lots of Q&A, this branch (On the Menu) is fine, too.
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Post by joanne28 on Jan 4, 2011 18:33:02 GMT
tod2, doughnut shops are doughnut shops the world over. I do think Tim Horton's coffee is better than Starbucks. Not only is Starbucks crap coffee, it's twice as expensive as everything else.
I drink my coffee black so I have no patience for the coffee culture that has arisen. I harumph like the cranky old bag I am.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 9:12:53 GMT
tod2, while ordering my weekly pho yesterday at Chez Quan, I asked at what time they close, and they told me "usually 19:15 but a little later at the moment." I assume that they just decide depending on the number of customers or if they have run out of food...
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Post by tod2 on Jan 7, 2011 12:36:20 GMT
You're a star Kerouac - Thanks so much!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2011 18:58:43 GMT
Today around 11 am, somebody came running into the office to tell us, "Don't go to lunch! Abdelhamid is bringing a couscous." That's kind of late for a lunch announcement, but we knew that it would be unwise to miss this event. When it arrived, Abdelhamid, the company messenger, told us that his wife was frustrated. All four children have grown up and left home. All of the rest of the family is in Tunisia. She likes to cook big meals and just hates cooking for two. So Abdelhamid told her to make a couscous for the office. Now I must warn you that this is not a "real" couscous, with a big bowl of vegetables in broth. For an office event, the broth had to be eliminated and everything displayed on a platter. But first, there were some tuna rolls as a starter. Then we started on the couscous. This photo is deceptive, because you can't tell how big the platter is. There were 11 of us, and when we finished, there was still enough food for 11 more. (Too bad that he only invited the 2nd and 4th floors and preferred to ignore the 1st and 3rd floors.) In any case, it was spectacularly delicious, even without the tureen of broth. We packed up the leftovers and put them in the office refrigerator, so quite a few people will be having more tomorrow. It's really a shame that Abdelhamid's wife cannot see for herself how much we love this stuff.
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Post by hwinpp on Jan 14, 2011 4:08:28 GMT
Yes, the lamb looks delectable!
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Post by tod2 on Jan 14, 2011 4:51:28 GMT
Oh wow! What a treat - the couscous lamb dish looks similar to the one we had at L'Atlas on Blvd Saint-Germaine but we didn't get chillies on it.. I bet it tasted wonderful! I'm betting the platter it was served on would be one of Abdelhamid's wifes best dishes - it looks absolutely stunning. Now, tell me why you are eating this lunch on some important URGENT papers?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2011 5:42:09 GMT
Ha -- you noticed that too, Tod? ;D
Kerouac, I am splashing salty tears of envy on my keyboard. That looks fantastic.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 14, 2011 10:53:46 GMT
Ah! I noticed something else about the tuna rolls. If I'm not mistaken they are not rolls baked in an oven but dough that has been deep fried resulting in a puffy ball/roll.? If this is so, then it is also a very very popular South African dish/recipe called Vet kook (fat cake). Here they are served with either plain or curried mince (lamb or beef). I will delve into whether it is of Cape Dutch or Cape Malay origin......
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Post by mickthecactus on Jan 14, 2011 12:30:34 GMT
That does look delicious. Some of the office are having a lunch time curry at a restaurant but I have to go out so I have a home made cheese and tomato on brown plus some grapes.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2011 12:00:28 GMT
I just had some leftovers for lunch, but since they were the leftovers from the reception that had just been held 15 minutes earlier for the Director General, the Ambassador, the Regional Manager for Europe & North America, etc., hey, there was some pretty good stuff to nibble.
And the attendant with the white gloves to pick up every toothpick or wrapper as you put it down was still on duty.
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