meat!

When one goes to Argentina, one expects to eat meat.  Beef, to be sure (though I had lamb more than once in the country - and hey, why didn't I seem to see much pork on offer?).  And so it was that Conrad (look at that grin on him!)

and I had a meaty dinner.

It was our first and only dinner of the trip by ourselves, and we found ourselves bumping up against many restaurants not being open for dinner on Sundays.  We might have opted for something fancier had we known we could use credit cards without being dinged at the bad exchange rate.  Ah well.  Instead, we located a nearby place that specialized in meat, made a reservation, and found ourselves in an almost empty place come (for us) dinner time.

More people did come to dine there, and well they should.  We thought it was a nice enough place - on a corner, providing us with street views from the window at our table.  The waiter, a young man who spoke terrific English (and thank goodness because my Spanish remains woefully non-existent), guided us to the ribs, and when we asked for a salad starter and the grilled vegetables side, he dissuaded us from the former because it would be too much food. 

He was right.  We had so much leftover food (but none of the nice Malbec we ordered),

and I was happy when he told us that they give the leftovers to the homeless.

Meat.  I wish we had managed to get Jenny from our group to this place or another so she could enjoy some beef.  I surely did.  I don't eat beef often, which meant that this was a nice treat indeed.

dinner at Hinterland

At the risk of sounding like a horrid snob (which, I'm aware, I frequently do anyway), we've found a really super restaurant in Green Bay, of all places.

Now then, before any Green Bayites flood my comments, let me state that my experience of the city has overwhelmingly been fleeting, stopping for coffee, barely seeing anything, passing through downtown to and from The UP and usually at times when the downtown is utterly dead. Hardly fair. But, that's what has shaped my impressions, and I'm happy that there is dining like at Hinterland Brewery to totally knock my notions down.

It's likely somewhere farther back on my blog, our first visit to Hinterland. A chance encounter, thanks in part to Opentable.com (are you using it yet? no? why not???). We liked it. We liked it again for a proper meal earlier this year. And a week ago we stopped in again.

I've said this elsewhere and before, but I love to see a menu where I am so torn because so many things jump out at me. I prevailed on Conrad to share small plates, and as a result, we had a good sampling of things.

Alas, it was a very dim room, and we had only the flashless iPhone for photos. As a result, you will never see how lovely and delicious our salads were, or how impressively crammed with crabmeat the crab cake was (and we loved the habanero aioli - ZING!). I did get a shot of the beef and mushroom meatballs,
though, as well as the plate of (mostly, I think) local cheeses.

Conrad was driving the rest of the way, so he had water. I had a glass of a richly fragrant wine whose name now escapes me. A Spanish Garnacha, though.

A good place. It's in a perfect spot to break up the drive up north, and we think that when we next head up there, on a likely snowy December weekend, we will stay in town so we can have a proper meal without driving the next day.

Chinatown walking tour

Yes, I'm back.

A couple of, well, busy and not entirely easy weeks behind me. Nevermind, let's get back to food and travel and musings.

We're in Vancouver for the long weekend, and of course it's gorgeous weather. Nary a cloud. Warm without being hot. Conrad must be in town - he is a good luck charm when it comes to west coast weather. Thus we needed sunscreen yesterday, and caps, and water: walking for hours in Chinatown necessitated protection for my pale, pasty, white skin.

We've had the condo for two years now, and it shames us that we've never really explored (or shopped in) Chinatown despite our proximity to that neighbourhood. Yesterday we rectified that by taking part in a walking tour offered by Edible BC. It's a great store we've shopped in and ordered from and even done the Chefs in the Market dinners at. Highly highly recommended. And add the tours to that recommendation.

Conrad, Marie, and I met chef Dora Ho and three other tour participants in front of the Chinese Cultural Center on Pender. From there it was a short stroll up the street to Jade Dynasty for dim sum. Ever had that? Stodgy, lukewarm things served from a cart? This was better - no carts. Things came hot from the kitchen, and any feared stodginess was not in evidence. Instead it was all light and fresh and utterly tasty. We all three (and the others) especially liked the pepper salt squid - spicy, crispy, good.

Dora took us through the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden,

explaining some of the history of the neighbourhood, and then got us to the food stores. And what an array there is to be seen there. This may sound odd to people who know me and food, but I've not shopped much in Chinatown because, not knowing the names of everything let along the preparation methods, I simply didn't have the confidence to shop there. Well, I have some small knowledge now. Expect to see a few things pop up in future blog posts from here.

Up first, veggies. Dora pointed out some things and explained how they might be used (she did give us some recipes) and even whether they were known for heating or cooling properties. I had my eye on the abundance of greens that can be steamed simply, but the winter melon fascinated us all.

Next up, baked goods. This was tough because we were still rather sated from the dim sum. Dora bought some meat and vegetable buns - just made and nicely warm inside - and some sweet buns filled with a coconut, peanut, and sugar mixture. The variety of traditional style things (mochi-like treats, anyone?) and Western adaptations (mini wiener buns) was a delight.

More produce, this time with a focus on fruit The stall had the infamous durian (which we didn't try though we were all jarred to see that within the enormous fruit it was only some custardy yellow segments that get eaten). Dora bought us some rambutan (looks cool, pretty much a fancy lychee, nice) and mangosteen. I'd always wondered how to eat those things. Now I know. Another fruit with edible segments within, and these were very tasty. Dora gave us the great idea to serve some of these fruit quite simply as a dessert - leave them whole in a bowl for how lovely they are and let guests enjoy them unadorned. I think this is a terrific idea.

We didn't linger in the fish shop too long, just long enough to gawk a bit.

Nothing to taste on the fly there! ;-)

There are a number of dried goods stores (and it seems that they also provide herbalist consultations and remedies) Dora explained how much of what we saw would be used for broths and teas. The geckos, too? Yep, the geckos, too.

On to her preferred butcher. Sausages hanging throughout and even pressed ducks. Dora bought us some BBQ pork, some suckling pork, and some sausage. I loved the suckling most of all, but I can assure you that the greedy fingers of all 6 of us on the tour dug in eagerly.

Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was that we had a nice little group with 6 of us willing to try things and all of us liking food greatly. It certainly was a credit to Dora, the tour. We got four hours of wandering a not too huge area, but Conrad and I were thoroughly exhausted at the end of it (and well fed). Home wasn't far away, which meant a well-deserved nap for us both.

bones

Another in the short series of blog entries about odd foods I like.

We went with John and Bryan to Bistro Campagne today, a nice French restaurant up in the Lincoln Square neighbourhood. Good to catch up with them.

Dinner was quite enjoyable, of course. Good company, and the restaurant does its food well. My main course was whitefish with a sauce made from ramps. The Vouvray was tasty, too. The highlight? This.



Bones.

Roasted marrow bones.

It's one of those things that's a little more interesting to eat than it is good, but it is good. Rich. A little overwhelming. Like a meaty blend of jello and butter served hot. Smushed onto toast and sprinkled with coarse salt, it made for quite an appetizer. I felt a little greasy when I was done, and certainly it would have been good to share.

The shirt, by the way, is one I bought on sale in Auckland. I'm rather delighted by it, as you can tell!

;-)