Meh.
But the shrimp tacos are teriyaki-delicious. The only downside? They’re so full of cabbage that they’re kind of hard to eat. Maybe next time I should get one of the bowls.
Category: Restaurants and Food
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Quality Time
Two of my friends–and one six-year-old–met for coffee on Sunday morning. (Not to worry. The six-year-old drank water. Her growth remains unstunted.) In an effort to find a location that was new, and was easily accessible from our three different points of origin, we settled on Jennifer’s Coffee Connection. In a corner strip mall in Studio City, Jennifer’s offers friendly service and a comfortable atmosphere. Oh, and the coffee’s pretty good, too.
From there it was off to the mall (just me) in search of a pair of grey slacks. This search was fruitless, as specific searches so often are. However, while at the mall, I found Healing Hands.
I’ve been meaning to find a new massage place, and this may be it. It’s not quite what I’m used to; the space is an open store with a combination of massage chairs, foot massage loungers, and massage tables. Everything is open, which is why you get your massages fully clothed. But you know what? It was pretty effective, and very affordable–I paid $35 for 30 minutes, which is a little more than I’m used to (I go to really cheap places) but certainly within my range.
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Good Friends
Who are they? They’re people who, when you invite them over for dinner, say, “Sure! We’ll bring the food! And cook it!”
Courtesy of said friends, tonight we had grilled pork ribs with homemade BBQ sauce (mmm), grilled corn, and grilled broccoli. I made German potato salad and, for dessert, brownies. (Thank you, Ghiradelli. Seriously, there is no reason to make brownies from scratch when these mixes are available.)
Now we just have to figure out how to return the favor.
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Eventually, You Have to Commit to Cooking the Chicken
It can only sit thawed in the refrigerator for so long. As far as I’m concerned, “so long” is two days.
So the leg quarters must be cooked. We were going to grill them, but Mr. Sandwich cleaned the grill in anticipation of tomorrow night’s cookout. It seemed a shame to grease it up tonight.
As I type, the chicken is in the oven, in about 1/8 inch of old chardonnay and covered in thyme, rosemary, chopped garlic, and a little bit of cayenne pepper.
I also decided to fix the risotto that I got at Fresh & Easy a while back. Mr. Sandwich is not a big fan of risotto, but that’s okay. I’ve got Ranch Style Beans for him. Add some sugar snap peas (45 seconds in the microwave and they’re perfect), and we can call it dinner.
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You Know What Sounds Good?
Horchata ice cream.
We don’t have any, but that’s okay. We did have a couple of ribeyes, to celebrate Mr. Sandwich’s completion of the marathon. I do enjoy owning a grill.
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Sam Woo BBQ
In our continued quest for good Chinese food in the San Fernando Valley (yes, we know about the San Gabriel Valley; we just don’t live there), tonight we went to the local Sam Woo BBQ restaurant.
Sam Woo BBQ restaurant is part of a chain large enough to have its own Wikipedia entry. This explains why we also saw what appeared to be a related restaurant in Chinatown last Saturday.
The restaurant is very bare-bones; the first thing you see is the takeout counter, with roast ducks hanging in a display case. For sit-down service, you write the number in your party next to the first open number on a list, and then write down that number on a slip of paper. You sit when you’re called, and the dishes come when they’re ready–not all at one time.
We had beef with black bean sauce, BBQ pork and roast duck with rice, BBQ pork fried rice, and porridge with minced beef (neither one of us had tried this before, so it was our adventure within an adventure). As our waiter pointed out, that’s a lot of rice.
But everything was excellent, and we’re looking forward to leftovers. As well as to a repeat visit.
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Nick’s Cafe
There’s a long u-shaped counter, friendly service, delicious pancakes and eggs. And the ham. Oh, the ham.
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Grilling
Chicken leg quarters rubbed in Penzey’s BBQ of the Americas mix and sweet Hungarian paprika, with asparagus in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Yum.
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Panos Char Broiler
Panos Char Broiler is a small divey place on the corner of Victory and Woodley in the Lake Balboa part of Van Nuys. And really, there’s only one thing to say about this Greek-food-and-hamburger-stand.
Best. Gyro. Ever.
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A Non-Tragic Sandwich Story
So today we had friends over for a cookout. Hours later, it’s time for dinner, and we decide to grill some of the leftovers.
First, though, Mr. Sandwich is going for a run. He says, “Will you make me a sandwich?” and tells me how much turkey and cheese to put in it (this is not bossy; he makes his own sandwiches).
So I make him a sandwich and toast it, just as he likes.
And then I say, “I made you a sandwich.” And he says, “Thanks. That’ll save me time in the morning.”
Because it turns out that he didn’t want it toasted, so that he could eat it now. He wanted it assembled, so that he could toast it at work tomorrow.
But the story ends happily. Because I ate the sandwich.