One out of One Dentist Recommends …

Kind of a manic Saturday, some of it “honey do”, some of it self-inflicted.

Started with picking up a free bag of brown rice (a “frequent buyer” bonus from one of the supermarkets), the to a “big box” store for some produce, non-perishable groceries, and the odd sundries, onward to another grocery store for “greens” (better quality and prices).

Then I got hungry. I was planning to try a “hole in the wall” (across town) recommended by my dentist (beef noodle soup, won ton noodle soup, and steamed dumplings, Taiwan style), wasn’t going to make it, “must. have. food. now.”.  Nearest food was here.

Sign

Inside was new and clean (I think they may have opened less than a year).

Inside

Almost too “clean”. Prices are cheap and the steam tables contained a few interesting dishes (not typical Chinese fast food). Okay, try try.

Combo Plate

Fried noodles, fried rice sample, tofu and eggplant, Chinese pot roast pork (kau yuk), and spicy pork. With drink and tax, under ten bucks. So … the food has nice colors … the spicy pork was just spicy enough and it was belly pork, the ratio of meat to fat in the pot roast pork was nice … overall taste was kinda bland (luckily there was a bottle of sriracha sauce on the counter), and there was a large starch to food ratio. Which in The Cat and The Mouse’s childhood homes were the norm. But nowadays, if I’m paying, a little more food (with less starch) is appreciated. Oh well, try try.

Heading home, the dumplings recommended by my dentist was still on the brain. Made a”slight” detour.

Sign

In the Chinese Cultural Plaza, Chinatown. Passed by this place several times not knowing what to make of it.

Inside

Looks to me like a make shift kitchen in someone’s garage (just my opinion). But since my dentist recommended, whose a  food person, alway up for trying different places. Plus my stomach still had room (at least it felt that way).

Steamed Dumplings

The dumplings are filled with pork and cabbage (there was another option but I couldn’t understand the question). The dumplings were nicely made in-house, filling texture was chunky (a good thing). Repeat worthy. Next time, I want to try the beef noodle soup or won ton noodle soup. If The Cat is along, maybe another plate of dumplings too. 🙂

Since I was close by, ran over and picked up an order of roast duck.

Front Door

Roast Duck

According to the sign  in the front, roasted in-house, very meaty duck, not too much fat (or the fat was rendered out). The Cat approved.

Last thing, also in the plaza.

Sign

Maple Walnut (2), Buttermilk (2), Double Chocolate, and Chocolate with Crushed Oreos

Whew! Lot of running around. When I got home (mid-afternoon) ready for a nap. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Silver Lining

So, the smoked meat and “crazy rice” lunch I ordered for today didn’t make it (luckily I didn’t pay for it before). 😦

Meant The Mouse had to hunt for food. A quick search on Yelp and I ended up here.

Front Door

A couple of blocks from the office. “Local Grinds” translates to local style food (whatever your definition of that is). One of their specials today.

Shoyu Pork

Pork shoulder or butt, simmered in a soy sauce, sugar, ginger mixture. Brown rice and tossed salad (must be healthier than white rice and mac salad right?). Hee hee.

The pork was well-cooked, tender but still moist, just slightly too sweet for my tastes. The brown rice was cooked perfectly for my tastes, still with a bit of “chew”. And the kicker? This was a full order, not a mini like my original order at the office. Old school lunch counter vs. food truck (not lunch wagon).

Going off on a tangent but in my (warped) mind, a distinct difference between old school lunch wagons, and new fangled food trucks.

Missed out on one lunch (there will be future opportunities), but found another weekday lunch place that’s totally acceptable. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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More SPAM!

And sausage, and Portuguese sausage, and bacon! Oh my!

A real early lunch today, so early, I could still order breakfast, so more like brunch.

Breakfast Combo

From New Queen’s BBQ. Two eggs, SPAM, Portuguese sausage, and link sausage with rice all for $4.99, a dollar extra for fried rice. Lots of food and cheaper than ordering lunch. Happy Mouse. 🙂

BTW, lately, the condiments of choice for eggs and breakfast meats has been ketchup and sriracha sauce.

Let the gore begin!

I think Freddie, Jason, and maybe even Alfred would be proud. Heh heh.

An errand after work. Couldn’t resist.

Cream Cheese and Bacon French Toast

From Saint-Germain Bakery. Bread was adequately “soaked” before baking (nice and custard-y). Two strips of bacon, just enough cream cheese to stick the two pieces of “toast” together. My one “complaint”, the bacon wasn’t crispy (not fried before being sandwiched), a little “flaccid”. Hee hee.

The office took orders from lunch tomorrow. Smoked meat (a big thing here) with “crazy rice” (no idea what that is). Happy Friday! Looking forward to lunch tomorrow. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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SPAM Wednesday

Today was somewhat out of the ordinary. Without going into details (boring), ended up going home later than expected. Picked this up for dinner.

Cheeseburger with SPAM

From the 7-Eleven near my transfer bus stop. If you didn’t know by now, I have a thing for SPAM. Tried something similar at Jack-in-the-Box a while back (it was okay).

Tonight, much better. The Napa cabbage and sriracha mayo was my own addition (convenience store burgers tend not to include the veggies). But overall, the burger was pretty good (considering coming from a convenience store) and the SPAM was nicely fried. Five minutes in the toaster oven, a nice small dinner.

The burger is a definite buy again. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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Happy “Laba” Day

Almost missed it (someone texted me). Appears to be more popular in the northern regions of China. My excuse is my ancestors are from the south. Whether it’s to celebrate the new harvest or Buddha’s year of enlightenment … Happy Rice Porridge Day! (See Google).

Since The Cat usually eats some kind of soupy squishy bowl of something (pasta, rice, quinoa, millet, etc) anyway, our “celebration” was not much of a stretch.

I did add some reconstituted dried bamboo shoots and mung beans to make her bowl less “usual”. 🙂

Rice Porridge

This is “pour hot water over rice” porridge (made with leftover cooked rice, not “real” congee (fresh rice). Close enough.

For vegetable,

Napa Cabbage

Boiled Napa cabbage topped with roasted sesame seed oil.

And a little bit of leftovers (sizzling tofu, roast duck, and pork chop Chinese style). No picture of those (eww), still tasty, just not too photgenic.

The Cat was happy with the rice porridge to celebrate “laba”.

Happy rice porridge day, y’all. 🙂

Enjoy. Eat well.

The Mouse

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