Recently I had a dinner with the wife and her visiting sister. We ate at a Longhorn restaurant in Orlando. Yeah I know. Chain restaurant bla, bla,bla. I had one of the best meals.
This was one of the best cooked pieces of meat that I have eaten in a while. The wife had their lamb chops and the sister-in-law had a rib-eye. She even said that this was better than anything she had eaten before. Not hyperbole. Fact.
I don’t know about the Longhorns in other places. But this place kills. Excellent temps and great service.
A few weeks ago we ate at a Thai restaurant. My daughter ordered chicken wings and she wasn’t too keen on it, the presentation was a little too suggestive :)
Man, I never understood why Instagram took off with pictures of food. But in thinking about it, it connects us all and sharing a picture of food is almost like sharing food, which is one of those most socially-friendly things you can do.
The food market from which I get the amazing fried chicken I posted in the KFC thread was on today. The queue for the chicken was easily 40 people long. It was maybe 10 times the size of any other stall’s. Good as it is, I couldn’t hang around that long, so I got a beef bún pot instead. Very nice. Not fried chicken, though.
For me I get queasy looking at almost any food pic I see online. Even stuff I like. No idea why I never had that issue with food in magazines and only occasionally on tv. But instragram or facebook is filled with food that is supposed to be appealing and just grosses me the hell out. And I’m not easily grossed out. It’s a very weird sensation.
A bit more on topic, my gf cooks when she gets home from work as a sort of release. She’ll spend an hour in the kitchen over a hot stove creating something awesome even if she’s had a long day at work. Recently she’s been adding some cajun and or blackened spices to her shrimp pasta sauce and it’s amazing. Though she does put pickles on her f’ing tacos!? W? T? F? Californians, whatcha gonna do?
A Thai place nearby that we hit up for lunch, named Chopstix. This is a typical lunch special where you get soup, a Thai spring roll and your entree. Typically you order by number and then select your protein choice from a selection of: Tofu, beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, squid, scallops, or seafood combo.
Soup and spring roll. The soup varies based on the day:
Man, good Thai food is magical. There’s a joint we like to go to here in Raleigh called Thaiphoon Bistro that is mostly awesome because it sometimes turns into a really weird dance club on Saturdays after 11.
My best recent Thai discovery was Kiln, where we had a whole bunch of (mostly pretty spicy) dishes I wouldn’t normally find at a Thai restaurant in the UK. I’m not sure I’d actually prefer it on a regular basis, as I do love the stereotypical green curry/pad thai/larb sort of dishes. But it was a really nice change of pace.
Me too, but I get into a routine and then suddenly want to change things up every so often. With the place above I went through a phase with many of the noodle based dishes, then the rice based dishes, then the curries, now the stir fries.
I had the fifth of my monthly “Raleigh Friendship Lunches” today (dangitall @clay you left me hanging brother ;-) ) at Mami Nora’s Peruvian Chicken here in Raleigh, and I had the extremely cheap “Chop Chop” daily special (chopped rotisserie chicken with rice, black beans, and pico de gallo, with tostones–deep fried plantains–on the side). Plus some of their fries because I am a fatass.
edit: PS to @Skipper, @sillhouette, @Alstein, etc., if you’re ever in or near Raleigh and think you might be interested in hanging out with a bunch of nerdy folks for lunch once a month–not all of whom know each other already, it’s worth noting–just let me know!
The wife and I are in New Orleans on vacation, and we just happened to find ourselves in a bed and breakfast owned by a similarly inveterate foodie. The big highlight was an appetizer crawl through the French Quarter, with such delights as goat cheese and crawfish crepes and lobster dumplings. I also had an excellent piece of prime rib roast on the traditional touristy steamboat sightseeing cruise, and have discovered a second cocktail (local specialty the Sazerac) I don’t mind drinking when the bar can’t make a blood and sand.
The vacation lasts a few more days. Anything I ought to check out?
Went to the new street-food-but-indoors place near me for lunch yesterday. Had some fine wings (publicity shot below) and a new-to-me beer. Looking forward to trying out the other offerings — bao, steamed Chinese dumplings, lobster and tapas.
I used to love the steamed pork buns in Chinatown in NYC. Lately I’ve been craving them so I did some research. There is a place only about 10 miles from here that have them. Great reviews. More soon.
