The Irascible Chef

Haiku Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar

Good freakin’ food!

When I come to New York, Westchester to be more specific, I don’t think about going for sushi. I’ve been to places in recent history that weren’t worth writing or reading about, which equals not worth spending another dime in let alone going back to.

It is, what it is, or is what it used to be. We didn’t go to Asia de Cuba, or the Volcano afterward in NYC, this year. Lot of changes this year—Change could be carved in granite as the word of the year for 2008. Only time will tell if the word change translates to actual change in the future. But we have made some changes this year including going to a sushi restaurant in Crossriver NY—again Westchester to be specific.

I was looking forward to trying this little number and I’ve been jonesing for sushi when I come to Westchester for a long time—so seemed perfect.

Well, the ambiance kicked ass and the fact that it did annoyed me because I didn’t have my camera. In fact it made me feel like that’s why it was so cool…

The waiter seemed to be rushing us when being in a rush was the last thing we were interested in. It was Saturday night, around 8pm, and we were sat right away, with several tables available.

We started with Asahi and hot saki—the way I prefer to start when dining on sushi. One guest started with that AND a fancy umbrella drink with out the umbrella—a White Cosmo: Svedka Raspberry Vodka, Cointreau, White Cranberry Juice & Sour Mix.
Saki hot, beer and Cosmo cold and delicious.

Interesting menu because although it was a Japanese sushi restaurant which also offered Chinese. This is something I noticed in the burbs of NY—Chinese restaurants offering sushi and Japanese places offering Chinese versus stand alone’

We stuck with the Japanese selections and actually ordered additional food a couple of times throughout our night out. One odd thing was that the sushi was priced by each piece versus the standard 2 per. What compounded this oddity is that the same version of the sashimi offerings was priced per 2 pieces. If your concerned about food cost just make the sushi slightly smaller, but really what are we talking about here—the tablespoon of rice can’t cost a penny. And it comes off cheap when they don’t need too. We ordered Salmon, Yellowtail, Albacore sushi and sashimi and both were lovely, fresh, and excellent quality. We ordered a couple of their special rolls which were interesting and creative, and I would recommend all of them.

Geisha roll: Inside- Shrimp Tempura & Avocado / Outside- Spicy Tuna & Tempura Crunch
Dinosaur Roll: Inside-Shrimp Tempura,Spicy Tuna & Avocado/Outside-Topped With Soft Shell Crab,Caviar & Eel Sauce
Yellowtail and Jalapeno roll

The food, drinks, and decor were fantastic!

The waitstaff didn’t seem like they were all together and I felt that they took turns rushing us out the door in the guise of being helpful—no, not going to fool the IrascibleChef, but they were “pass-able,” as my grandmother would say (thank you for that perfect descriptor Grandma.) You can see what I think about the importance of the waitstaff to your restaurant here.

Haiku: Definitely an overall winner.

Technorati Tags: food review, Haiku Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar, Restaurants, Review, Sushi, Westchester

8year old: Mommy, I want the Human Beef!
Everyone: *laughter* We all want the human beef on a stick!

Ah, kids you gotta love’em!

We changed our usual Chinese restaurant this year because the word on the street was that the sanitation in our favorite place had left something to be desired. The health department is constantly being called on by service companies who do work in their kitchen. I personally didn’t see dirt, or roaches, or rats, so I will be keeping their name out of this—however, I do believe the people who did say it to be so—we all have to roll the dice…

We went to Panda Garden.

We didn’t have the lazy susan, a crowd pleaser with my family. They did however have the crowd favorite Scorpion bowls for two—FLAMING with 3 foot straws! I shared the marvelous cocktail—however, there was a question whether the flaming liquid perched a float our cozy cocktail, was in fact, gasoline! Whether it was or wasn’t, wasn’t an issue cause it was GOOD! We liked it!
We had scallion pancakes, cold sesame noodles, fried won-tons, and won-ton soup to start.
followed by chicken lo mien, “Human beef,” (Hunan Beef) on a stick as my young nephew called it, Mu shu pork, honey prawn, shrimp chow fun with black bean sauce—not on the menu, but requested for.

They did an excellent job with the black bean sauce—those little beans have so much flavor!

The food was fresh, tasty and nicely presented . The food didn’t make you feel so full you want to crawl into a cave for the night, you didn’t feel like a grease slick and fat bloated either. The day after proved that the quality of ingredients and preparation were all on target and sanitation was adhered too. The kids as well as the grown ups all enjoyed it.

The waitstaff was attentive, friendly, not intrusive. Oh, don’t let me forget—accommodating, they made the dish, not on the menu, I asked for by ingredients. Seemed a little further away, but worth it in any case.

IrascibleChef Recommends! Panda Garden

Technorati Tags: Chinese restaurants, Connecticut, Danbury, human beef, hunan beef, Panda Garden, Scorpion bowls

The story itself was very creatively told with flashbacks and the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire in real time at the interrogation in the police station. The story is told in three generations of the same characters—all the actors at the different ages were great, believable, convincing and looked plausible that they were in fact the same person at different ages of their life.

Watching the life in the slum areas of India was telling and interesting to me. The level of poverty in some areas of the world is downright shocking. And although we see a rendition on the big screen there really is no way of really understanding unless you’ve lived through it and I am in no way saying I really understand the squalor or struggle. I’m just saying from what I could see it was shocking.

Slumdog, was very much a love story about a boy Jamal, who keeps losing the girl Latika, throughout his life to which he is constantly searching through the struggle that is his life. Jamal and his older brother Salim who lose their mother to Muslim killing rebels, have to survive in an utter squalid world alone on the streets, dumps, and slums. Battling poverty, starvation, ruthless adults taking advantage, the mob world doing what they must to survive—and they all do pretty well under the circumstances. A feel good movie ending that is hopefull—Definitely one of the top movies of the year, but I’m still liking Grand Torino a little bit more for different reasons…

*************

Segundo the Dinner: Aqui Cal Mex in Campbell was something to look forward to because the first time was caught us off guard good! Aqui is a casual, upscale, full service bar, seat yourself, cafeteria tray, pick up your own food when the buzzer starts beeping, but the food quality is really good.

Started off a little rough during ordering because I think they chose to be a little cut-your-nose-off cheap, versus penny-wise that would have made all the difference in the world to me. In fact the more I think about it, it was bullshit!

We ordered two drinks—Margarita on the rocks, and Sangria with NO ICE. Sangria is already chilled why do I need ice? When asked we chose the large 16 oz size. The cashier was new with a manager on his shoulder assisting. The Sangria and Margarita were both in one of those old style juice cooler with a tap on the bar. The manager informed me he would only be pouring the amount of Sangria in the glass that he would if there was ice in it. Umm-kay, if that’s what you think is good business… So he poured it 2 inches from the top. It cost $5.50 for the glass not that cheap considering the cost of the meal itself. If I would have ordered a glass of wine he wouldn’t have put ice in it, or poured less because there was no ice—same thing with soda. Okay, I understand you’re not talking about the same profit point, but… I’m telling you it comes across as CHEAP with a bad after taste. I will order beer in a bottle from now on!

I ordered the same thing as the first time because it was so good—crab cake on a bed of spinach salad and diced mangoes and zesty dressing, sprinkles with crunchy tortilla strips. It’s a very tasty number and for the price of $7.99 I don’t think you can beat it.

My Sous Chef had the Chicken Limon special $8.99 with some noodle cake and string beans. A whole breast of chicken that was tender and lemony, the noodle cake was interesting, but, and the beans needed some seasoning.

The Sangria or the Margarita $5.95 wasn’t as good as I remembered them to be the first time, but I didn’t ask to have the Sangria without the ice the first time and they didn’t tell me they were going to short sheet the bed either—not sure if that played into enjoying it less or not…

We’ll be back—probably.

Technorati Tags: Aqui Cal Mex in Campbell, Aqui restaurant, iChef, Margarita, movie review, restaurant review, Sangria, Slumdog Millionaire

Secret iChef Returns for routine checkup on Ace’s health… (and some sake, suds, and sushi!)

As a follow up to my Ace Wasabi: How Important is the Waiter post I needed to check up on an old San Francisco treat—Ace Wasabi Rock and Roll Sushi.

Yes, the owner Ken Lowe called me and told me to tell him when I was coming so he could be there, yes he told me to introduce myself to the manager, and yes he sent me a gift certificate to make up for the disastrous experience I previously had.

No, I didn’t do any of these things including using the gift certificate—yet. You see I didn’t want special treatment on the revisit.

This needed to be a secret—like I was anyone off the street a regular customer (like I have been since 1994.) After all, I recommend this restaurant to my friends and family, I have a reputation! And unless they want whomever I send to call for a special meet and greet it better be great to the average Jane or Joe who walks through the door—or I’M GONNA STOP SENDING PEOPLE!

So How did Ace Wasabi Rock and Roll Sushi do on Thursday 1/8/09?

Let me set the table if you will…

We were sat right away way in the back—a table next to the table where the crime was committed some months ago. *There were still chalk outlines where our expectations were slain*

I asked the hostess in this coy, but obvious manner, “We won’t get lost back here, will we?”

“Oh, no,” she said, matter-of-factly.

And then we proceeded to be left alone. Not in a good way. Alone, to the point of craning neck signaling—something is a miss here, need some help please. I finally asked a busboy but that didn’t appear to help. No drinks, no nibbles, no food being prepared, blah blah, blah.

Oh, no Ken Lowe, please say it aint so!

I was catching up with a past colleague and friend, so that part was good, but I brought that part with me to the restaurant with my shoes for example. I wasn’t expecting the restaurant to provide that part, versus the food, drinks, and helpful and friendly service smile—I did expect that.

Let’s just say that when our waiter did report for duty,

Micheal B (as it said on the bottom of the check) was FANTASTIC! Helpful, friendly, accommodating and knowledgeable, attentive—what I expect!

The food that night, which has never been an issue, was as it always is—Fan-*Bleepin*-da-be-dosey—Tastic!

• Hot sake was hot—the right kind of hot, not the hot that shreds my rooftop or scorches my palate.
• Albacore Tataki—still the best I’ve ever had anywhere!
• Individual orders of sushi—salmon my favorite—couldn’t be fresher or more delicious!
• Salmon Tartare—Old School-style (and you have t ask for that because it’s not on the menu)
• Spider Roll—oh the spider roll… Mmm mm good!
• The Ozzy Roll—tuna and Jalapenos never tasted do good!
• The Steiner Roll—shrimp tempura, eel, and cukes—unbeatable combination!

My guest and I left very satisfied!

Recommendation to the diner:

Get yourself to Ace Wasabi Rock and Roll Sushi. Tell Ken Lowe I sent you!

Recommendation to management of Ace:

I still say there needs to be a strong VISIBLE management presence that can see problems (act versus react) as they are happening so you can minimize the issue for the people paying the bills—let’s face it this is the restaurant business there are going to be problems—the nature of the beast!

—it’s how how big you let those fires get and how you put those fires out—that will keep the people coming back!

—I’ll be back!

I might even introduce myself the next time… We’ll see!

—iChef

*******

Technorati Tags: Ace Wasabi Rock and Roll Sushi, Albacore Tataki, Hot sake was hot, iChef, Ken Lowe, Micheal B, restaurant review, Salmon Tartar, san francisco, Secret Shopper, Spider Roll, Sushi, sushi—salmon, The Ozzy Roll, The Steiner Roll

Village California Bistro and Wine Bar on Santana Row in San Jose.

We just saw Valkyrie with Tom Cruise across the street (which is a review in the making) and decided we needed a bite to eat! Stopped to look at a few menus down Santana Row and passed by the french place—Left Bank, which if I had my druthers we should have given a try. The Village Bistro could seat us right away if we were willing to sit outside. We gave outside a try because it was nicely decorated with heavy drapery and heaters that made us feel like we were inside except for the open ceiling to remind us we weren’t. They went to the trouble to not only tell us about the outside seating, but showed us as well. That gave me more confidence about sitting in that area.

The drink / wine menus were pricey—looks like they’re trying to offset the relatively reasonable food prices with the higher drink prices. Some restaurants are so clever or should I say, think we’re all so stupid! There’s a recession going on you know!

The waitress even told us how lucky we were to be able to get a great deal on a half bottle of wine, it was ONLY $24 dollars! And there are 2 glasses worth of wine in a half bottle! $12 per glass—Yay! (I almost forgot about the financial disaster that is currently consuming the rest of the world! $24 dollars for 2 glasses of wine is a bargain!)

We, of course ordered a whole bottle of some french Chenin Blanc, poured into warm wine glasses, and told by the waitress that the wine didn’t need a cooler because it was cold.

Signals: Red—Stop, Green—Go, Smile—Happy, Frown—Sad. You get the idea…
Feeling the glass, picking the glass up and feeling it—should signal to the waitress that something is troubling the diner. Especially when my guest noticed my signal of touching and looking at the glass and asked if we should get a wine cooler, to which the waitress told us the wine was cold enough. But not if it’s being poured into warm wine glasses. Maybe I’m too picky, but when a bottle of wine costs $42 I expect the glasses to be the proper temperature! Hell, I expect that at any place that serves wine at any price!

Did I mention that the table was not sitting on the floor properly—one leg shorter than the rest—needed a wedge or something. I can’t stand putting my arm on the table and shifting weight and the whole table rocks back and forth. Also, I couldn’t put my feet straight down on the floor because the legs of the table limited where I could put my feet and move my chair. Bad place for a table.

My guest was willing to keep her foot on the leg for the entire dinner versus me asking the waitress if she could fix the table. I eventually asked anyway and the waitress’s solution was to push the table so it would butt the table up against a 2 inch beam on the wall—which sort of solved the issue temporarily.

We ordered:

Small plates

• Heirloom Beets on a bed of arugula with shaved Ricotta Salata cheese on the menu. Very nicely dressed, fresh and tasty. $10
• Confit of Duck leg with pear chutney, visually not what I was expecting, but creatively presented in a ring mold on dressed frissee and served with toast points—very delicious! The duck was moist and crispy and flavorful. The chutney was nicely laced with ginger and not overpowering. Assemble it all on a toast point—a winner! $10
• Braised Duck Strozzupretti: below… $16

Yes, I would say we eat on the slower side. You know take a bite, talk a little, drink some wine, talk a little, take a bite, talk a little, drink some more wine… You get the idea—the idea of the whole dining out experience thing!

The waitress did ask, from time to time, how everything was. In the middle of appetizers she did fly by, observed, and then told us that our entree would be there shortly. I thought that odd at the time because I would say that we were only through a third of our delicious appetizers. Signals! Remember to watch for the SIGNALS, still eating appetizers—DON’T BRING OUT THE ENTREE! Did I mention we asked for the apps to come out first then the entree?
So, after two more bites a different waiter shows up, looking to put down the entree that we were to share AFTER we had the appetizers. My guest did ask me if she could combine the two appetizers to make room, while the waiter stood there with our food. I said “NO,” hoping he would get my SIGNAL and take the food back until we were ready for it. I got his signal that he wasn’t going anywhere and my guests signal that I should be more reasonable—and I accepted her signal. After all…

Now, we pushed the delicious apps aside and started on the entree. Listed on the menu as Braised Duck Strozzupretti, a main dish of duck, told by the waitress it’s actually pasta tubes with duck, mushrooms, broccoli rabe, pearl onions, and a brandy cream sauce. Sounded delicious, although, I still believe, not as advertised on the menu. Still sounded good. Small portion though, long pasta size made it hard to put it in your mouth gracefully, stingy on the amount of duck, and could have used a bit more flavor. The dish was pretty as a picture though. I did have to ask for cheese… The warm bread, for the table that I always enjoy, was perfect for dunking. Which I enjoyed more than taking forkfuls.

The waitress asked if we wanted dessert, but looking to drop the bill—was in hand motioning the drop. We asked to see the dessert menu, which the waitress brought us and at the same time dropped the bill! SIGNAL to us from the waitress—get the hell out!

Before we could even open the menu the waitress was back to ask us if we decided to get out or order dessert, actually she did this twice, just like she did for the original order. We said, “no,” on the third ask and put the credit card on the bill. Which, ironically I might add, she was then in no rush to pick up and take our money!

I think restaurants should be resisted the days right after New Years Eve—unless we’re talking about McDonalds, which you know you can count on being the same food, same service, at the same prices—they don’t even do that up-sell “Supersize,” thing anymore! Clever restaurants!

Couple of notes:

• Seat only as many guests as you can serve in the manner of your restaurant. (even if it’s only one diner and you have 100 empty seats!
• The restaurant was moderately busy and it did look like the waitress did get a large dinner party half way through our meal. Not my problem.
• The busboy was helpful and attentive—thank you!
• I did like the beets and the confit very much—both presentation and taste.
• I liked the variety of the menu.
• Would I go back? Yes, I would give them a second try, but really, have you seen how many restaurants there are on Santana Row to try?
• Is service important? Yes, I don’t believe that’s even a question, but who does the fault really belong to—Management.

—iChef

**********************

Technorati Tags: Poor service, Restaurant, San Jose, Santana Row, The Village Bistro and Wine Bar

Question: How can you say Sarah Palin doesn’t have experience, and at the same time say that Barack Obama does? Question: And when asked what example can you cite, the same people say BO has run a successful primary campaign…

Question: How can you say Sarah Palin is BAD, BAD, BAD, and when asked for an example, you say she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it and she used that example on national TV. (She was for it, as a matter of opinion, before she was in a position, she didn’t vote or anything for it, it was put to her as a question on her campaign for governor trail—and she said yes.) All this aside, Palin is bad and not worthy because she was for the idea of the bridge.

Question: So by that rationale anybody in the US Senate who voted for money that would go to this bridge is ALSO BAD—no? The key word is rationale… Ah, rationale!

Question: My guess is if Biden and Obama voted for the money it would be okay, because of the rationale of double standard. Even if they BOTH voted for keeping the bill alive twice AND voted once against an amendment that would strip out the money for the bridge project from the bill. They have immunity to these horrendous charges—they are still better than the BAD Sarah Palin! Right? Because she’s BAD! No, that would be hypocritical, and the people who are RIGHT (LEFT) are never hypocrites—right?

Question: So, the question remains, what do you do when your argument negates itself and in keeping your argument proves you are a hypocrite, what do you do? Some proof and video, from all places, CNN!

Question: What’s this? Investigative reporting from CNN??? MUST See video!

DEWEY BEACH, Delaware (CNN) — Although Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden routinely mocks his Republican counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for her onetime support of the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” Biden and his running mate voted to keep the project alive twice.

Both Biden and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama voted to kill a Senate amendment that would have diverted federal funding for the bridge to repair a Louisiana span badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Senate records show.

And both voted for the final transportation bill that included the $223 million earmark for the Alaska project.

An amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, would have stripped the money appropriated to connect the Alaskan coastal city of Ketchikan to its airport on sparsely populated Gravina Island and diverted the money to Louisiana.

But Biden andObama and 80 of their colleagues rejected the measure, an amendment to a massive 2005 transportation bill that funded thousands of projects across the country.

Change is what you want… R i g h t

Question: Is the above news some kind of trick or trap? It seems so obvious… As formerly stated on TheAnchoressOnline: Astroturfing Palin & Race-baiting, etc UPDATED

This goes along with my previous point. What the press does not want you to see, you will not see. What it does want you to see, you’ll see everywhere. The press wants you to see Sarah Palin and John McCain in the worst possible way, and Obama in the best. Which would be fine, if they’d just admit it and stop pretending they’re the gatekeepers and mediating intelligences who are somehow “keeping things balanced.”

As Archie Bunker used to say, Good night nurse!”

—iChef Politikos

Technorati Tags: Archie Bunker, Biden and Obama, Change, Hurricane Katrina, hypocrisy, Sarah Palin is BAD, Sen. Tom Coburn, US Senate

iChef Retail gets the tag-in by iChef!

Maybe you can change the world with words and a network! IrascibleChef makes things happen! Like Santa Claus, he knows when you are naughty or nice! He will put coal in your stocking if you’re not careful! Safeway didn’t like the lump of coal they got based on the the IrascibleChef’s visit to their deli section last week!

The first and second step have been taken, let’s see where they go!

Dear Valued Customer:

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the Deli Department of your local Safeway store.

You expressed your concern regarding the level of service that you received at the Deli Department. We sincerely apologize for any blah blah blah you may have encountered. Safeway continuously weighs options to provide the highest quality blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah, blah blah. Thank you again for your patience in this matter.

If you would like to discuss this further, please blah blah blah blah to this email or call our free number at 1-877-723-3929. One of our associates will be happy to blah blah blah blah.

We appreciate your blah blah blah blah blah blah. Thank you for shopping at Safeway.

Sincerely,
Customer Service Center

We shall see how sorry they really are! See, they use the word may, as if they may not have… which makes me think not very sorry! I wrote a pretty lengthy in depth review and they still aren’t sure if I did in fact encounter a problem.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have encountered.

I’ll let you know! You know I will…

—iChef Retail

Technorati Tags: Customer Service, iChef, iChef Retail, Review, Safeway

—Travel all the way to Beijing, you know, what used to be called Peking! Painstakingly suffered through 13 luxurious hours in Business Class—which by the way shouldn’t even be counted as travel time, and didn’t find a way to get authentic Beijing Peking Peking Duck!

Did manage to attend 3 Olympic events including the final round of Mens Individual Gymnastics with medal ceremonies, did walk the Great Wall (with crown they gave me at BK), did go through the Forbidden City, did see Tiananmen Square, did have dinner with my childhood hero and Olympic World record holder Janet Evans, did invent and drink b-O-b®, did go on crazy taxi ride, did eat at McDonald’s in China (tasted like chicken) did say hello and thank you in Chinese like an authentic Chinamanperson, did eat traditional Chinese breakfast—DID NOT get to try: Scorpion, or doggie, or most disappointingly, authentic Peking Duck or roasted duck as they called it at the best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing, Da Dong, because we got back to the hotel 15 minutes too late! (Did have greasy poor quality Peking duck sliced to order, wrapped in pancakes with Hoisin and scallions at the J&J hospitality center in the Hotel Kunlun, which was superb except for their rendition of Peking duck! It was nice because they had two chef’s making them to order, and we did get to actually have Peking duck in Beijing and it was after we foundout that we wouldn’t be able to have it in the restaurant, but…)

All this in 3 days on the ground, one of which was day 1 and we arrived at the hotel 4:30pm…

China Stix, here in Santa Clara, California!

A recommendation from a trusted (foodie) colleague. And, as promised from the onset, “it won’t look like much from the outside, and it didn’t! —to complete the visual it didn’t look like much on the inside either. But we were there for the Peking Duck! The same duck that eluded us in Beijing—or was it?

We tried in Beijing to communicate, we really did! My goal was to say 2 things—Hello, pronounced, nee how, and thank you pronounced, shia shia. I felt stupid, but I did make an effort. Communications in China otherwise was impossible, even simple sign language went no where—painfully slowly!

Well, communicating with our waiter was like trying to communicate with our taxi driver in Beijing. IMPOSSIBLE!

I wanted Tsing Tao, but I tried to get the hot sake on the menu, but as much as I tried I ended up with cold hot sake. My daring Sous Chef tried the plum wine that was so sweet we could have made Shirley temples for all of china!

SWITCH! Tsing Tao, and Chardonnay!

Let’s just say we got the Peking Duck for 2, not that it says it’s for 2 on the menu, but when asked if it would be enough for 2 we were told, “it is a whole duck! With pancakes.”

Okay we came for the duck, why mess it up with any other flavors, or possible disappointments? The duck, and only the duck, it shall be! For 2.

It was presented very nicely with head and beak included—no extra charge!
The skin was crispy, the meat was juicy, the fat was all but nonexistent! The pancakes were individually handmade, the Hoisin sauce was sweet, but not too sweet, and the scallions were uniformly sliced thin and not over powering.

I still remember having better (the duck 3 ways) at a Peking Duck House in Northern NJ— By the way, when we mentioned that we wanted Peking duck 3 ways our waiter asked us as if we were lunatics if we saw that on TV or something—because all us, pathetic American’s, see something on TV and must have it—after-all, it was on TV! (he also mentioned that we wouldn’t like the soup any way—way number 2 of 3, because it looks unappetizing with the duck bones sticking out—annoying American’s watching too much TV!)

TheMommyblog also, talks about this evening very positively!

—Irascible Chef

Technorati Tags: Beijing, China, China Stix, dog, iChef, J&J, Janet Evans, Johnson and Johnson, Peking Duck, Restaurant, Scorpion, The Mommy Blog

Wow did I luck out! My car was having it’s first checkup across the street and I was a little hungry and I don’t like being disappointed by any meal! The most risky meal for me may be when I’m forced to stumble on in (caught without a plan)—doesn’t happen often, but you have to eat when you have to eat

Lee’s Sandwiches.

I figure it’s a run of the mill sandwich shop like Subway and I will get the generic turkey with avocado—hard to screw that one up. Yes, when I walk in they have pictures on the wall of sandwiches, but I’m trying to process what all is going on. I see loaves of bread coming out, all the employees are of Asian decent, peoples food is being called out when ready, and there are prepackaged hot to-go delights. This type of food service is very similar to Nijiya Market in Mountain View—where, if I’m making Japanese Sushi or cooking any kind of Japanese, I buy my ingredients from. Nijiya Market (unbiased review) has the best quality, freshest sushi grade fish, nicest looking poultry and meats, that I trust enough to serve my guests. Japanese and Chinese food is all about the ingredients!

Just back from Beijing where the Hotel Kunlun dining area always smelled like you just walked into a Chinese Restaurant. I was still in the mood for a little more Chinese! As I said I don’t like to be disappointed and if there’s too much salt or my fries aren’t hot enough at McDonald’s I’m going to complain and send them back!

So, I’m going to Give Lee a shot! Yes, they had regular sandwiched as well, but come on—let’s roll the dice from up high!

I had rice paper wrapper spring rolls with shrimp and roasted pork and chicken lo mien. $2.50 each! Delicious! Fantastic! What a find!

Then I tell a couple of people about it and they tell me it’s a chain and they are all over—Double Fantastic! So, good job Lee and please keep up the great work!

—IrascibleChef

Technorati Tags: Chinese, food, Hotel Kunlun, iChef, Japanese, Lunch, McDonald's, Nijiya Market

WHa happen?

Those who know me, know that this cannot possibly be a serious question. The answer is never, as in, never-ever-ever!

Goes down like this, the automatic clothes dryer’s “Stainless Steel” drum gets a tear in it. Let me be more specific: a 2004 LG Super-Dooper expensive ($800) (my bad, $1100) dryer’s “Stainless Steel” drum gets a tear in it and needs to be repaired! Thank goodness for the home owners home shield insurance that covers such disasters!

Mr. Fix-it shows up and the conversation goes something like this:
Mr. Fix-it: “Lets get the money out of the way first, that will be $60 for the service call. Then I can start.”
Me: *I felt dirty like it was some sort of pay for play scenario* “do you take credit cards?”
Mr. Fix-it: *what am I a prostitute?* “no, cash or check.”
Me: “Do you have change for $100?”
Mr. Fix-it: “I only have $39 in change”—of course he does.
Me: *If I only had $59 would he do the job? He should at least give me a kiss if he’s going to be short a dollar!*
Mr. Fix-it: *What is this guy waiting for? I’m not going to kiss him.* “I have change in the car.”

After the money was exchanged for service, I was off in the corner smoking, he was fiddling with the dryer. Mr. Fix-it tells me he’s never seen such a thing before, it’s cheaply built he says. I say the dryer actually cost A LOT of money! He says, I’m sure it did, still cheaply made, that’s the way it is these days.
Great!

Bottom line—repair needs to be pre-approved by the insurance company! What? I already paid the monthly bill and the co-pay service fee and it might not be approved? He left without giving me the dollar—didn’t even mention it!

Relax, it’s only a dollar—Fuck! A minute later there is a knock at the door—Mr. Fix-it back with the 4 quarters. Thank you! Very nice man and was very helpful!

Okay what does this have to do with Barbra Streisand? Well, today I had some laundry to do and no clothes dryer to do it with! Old school, hang the clothes on the clothesline, or on the clothes hanging contraption thingy.

Those were the days my friend...

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