🚀 go-pugleaf

On 4 Aug 2005 21:50:10 -0700, "James" <j0069bond@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
>
>Probably will not dine there again.
>
>Everything looks good but the taste was just so so.  I had several
>types of sushi including uni which they rationed by just not refilling
>the empty trays.  You certain cannot complaint about the size of the
>fish as they are good size chunks.  The fish are fresh but just not
>tasty.  There were plenty of shishimi but I didn't bother to have
>seconds.  If my first experience with sushi was at Todai, I probably
>would not be a sushi fan today.
>
>The snow crab legs are chilled.  The raw oysters tastes like mussels.
>The lobster claws were over cooked.  There was mayo on the lobsters
>(also rationed) which ruins them for me.
>
>This is probably the first AYCE place where I didn't even bother to eat
>all I can.  Maybe I'm just getting too old to stuff my face.

Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are from all
over the world.

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions <NoSpam@Ever.org> wrote:

>On 4 Aug 2005 21:50:10 -0700, "James" <j0069bond@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
<snip>
>>seconds.  If my first experience with sushi was at Todai, I probably
<snip>
>Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are from all
>over the world.

Lat. 38N 51.7'    Long. 77W 21.5'  should be close enough.

Oh, "all over the world."  Yeah.  I need to be more specific ...

Planet: Earth (Sol III)  in the Sol system.  Everyone knows the sushi
places on Mars (Sol IV) try hard but just aren't worth the trip.

A little more precisely, it is on level 1 near the Hecht's (soon to be
a Macy's) and the Arby's.

This gets more info (amazing, this internets thing):
<http://www.google.com/search?q=Fair+Oaks+Mall+Todai>

HTH
---David

Questions wrote  on Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400:

 ??>> Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
 ??>>
  ??>>
 ??>> This is probably the first AYCE place where I didn't even
 ??>> bother to eat all I can.  Maybe I'm just getting too old
 ??>> to stuff my face.

Fair Oaks? Where the heck is it? I have a suspicion it's 
somewhere in the Washington DC area but I don't know for sure. I 
wonder if the OP could give an address or Zip Code. For myself, 
my very limited experience of Food Court and Chinese Buffet 
Sushi places would make me stay away! What's AYCE anyway? I 
suspect it's "all you can eat" and that's hardly ever an 
indication of quality.


 James Silverton, Potomac, Maryland. 

David Murphy  <I_djmurphy_Hate_Spammers@his.com> wrote:
>
>Planet: Earth (Sol III)  in the Sol system.  Everyone knows the sushi
>places on Mars (Sol IV) try hard but just aren't worth the trip.

It's too dry there to have any decent local fish.
--scott


-- 
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 19:32:18 -0400, David Murphy
<I_djmurphy_Hate_Spammers@his.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions <NoSpam@Ever.org> wrote:
>
>>On 4 Aug 2005 21:50:10 -0700, "James" <j0069bond@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
><snip>
>>>seconds.  If my first experience with sushi was at Todai, I probably
><snip>
>>Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are from all
>>over the world.
>
>Lat. 38N 51.7'    Long. 77W 21.5'  should be close enough.
>
>Oh, "all over the world."  Yeah.  I need to be more specific ...
>
>Planet: Earth (Sol III)  in the Sol system.  Everyone knows the sushi
>places on Mars (Sol IV) try hard but just aren't worth the trip.
>
>A little more precisely, it is on level 1 near the Hecht's (soon to be
>a Macy's) and the Arby's.
>
>This gets more info (amazing, this internets thing):
><http://www.google.com/search?q=Fair+Oaks+Mall+Todai>
>
>HTH
>---David

Well now David, the post I was responding to was within a news group
named alt.food.sushi

As I said before your display of rudeness, people from all over the
world post in this group.

You on the other hand, have posted from a group named dc.dining of all
places.

Why couldn't you just say it was in Washington D.C. instead of being a
smart ass?

On Fri, 5 Aug 2005 20:02:40 -0400, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net> wrote:

>Questions wrote  on Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400:
>
> ??>> Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
> ??>>
>  ??>>
> ??>> This is probably the first AYCE place where I didn't even
> ??>> bother to eat all I can.  Maybe I'm just getting too old
> ??>> to stuff my face.
>
>Fair Oaks? Where the heck is it? I have a suspicion it's 
>somewhere in the Washington DC area but I don't know for sure. I 
>wonder if the OP could give an address or Zip Code. For myself, 
>my very limited experience of Food Court and Chinese Buffet 
>Sushi places would make me stay away! What's AYCE anyway? I 
>suspect it's "all you can eat" and that's hardly ever an 
>indication of quality.
>
>
> James Silverton, Potomac, Maryland. 

Hello James, I hadn't noticed on his first post, but the news group
"dc.dining" was included in the post.

Yes, AYCE does mean "All you can eat". Those places seem to be more
and more popular. Cooked food placed into a steam pan for however long
and endlessly cooked until nice and rubbery.

I'll stick to places with some class and real food.

Have rude people started infiltrating alt.food.sushi ?

Oh my!

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions <NoSpam@Ever.org> wrote:

>On 4 Aug 2005 21:50:10 -0700, "James" <j0069bond@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.

>Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are from all
>over the world.

Well, let's see. . . it's posted to dc.dining and dc.general, as well
as alt.food.sushi, so the INTELLIGENT reader would likely assume it's
somewhere in the Washington, DC area.  

Then again, as a cross-check, I googled "fair oaks mall", and found
all but one of the hits referred to a mall in northern Virginia, i.e.
the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

This isn't exactly rocket science we're talking here. . .  

"Keith A. Glass" <salgak@speakeasy.net> wrote in message 
news:7mi9f1tln79vofj8j4ceuu1r8uqqp44pa1@4ax.com...

> On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions <NoSpam@Ever.org> 
> wrote:

>>Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are from 
>>all
>>over the world.
>
> Well, let's see. . . it's posted to dc.dining and dc.general, 
> as well
> as alt.food.sushi, so the INTELLIGENT reader would likely 
> assume it's
> somewhere in the Washington, DC area.

> Then again, as a cross-check, I googled "fair oaks mall", and 
> found
> all but one of the hits referred to a mall in northern 
> Virginia, i.e.
> the Washington DC Metropolitan area.


The intelligent readers in alt.food.sushi shouldn't be required 
to figure it out, either by checking where it's crossposted to or 
by googling. It's the responsibility of the poster to make 
himself understood.

-- 
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup 

Ken wrote  on Sat, 6 Aug 2005 15:10:15 -0700:

 ??>> On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions 
<NoSpam@Ever.org>
 ??>> wrote:

 ??>>> Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are
 ??>>> from all over the world.
 ??>>
 ??>> Well, let's see. . . it's posted to dc.dining and
 ??>> dc.general, as well as alt.food.sushi, so the INTELLIGENT
 ??>> reader would likely assume it's somewhere in the
 ??>> Washington, DC area.

 KB> The intelligent readers in alt.food.sushi shouldn't be
 KB> required to figure it out, either by checking where it's
 KB> crossposted to or by googling. It's the responsibility of
 KB> the poster to make himself understood.

I fully agree with you Ken even if I did correctly vaguely 
remember where the place was. Since I dislike cross posting I 
tend to ignore it. If I could set Outlook Express to ignore 
*all* cross posts, I would! I don't reckon I'd miss much.

 James Silverton. 

On Sat, 6 Aug 2005 18:31:15 -0400, "James Silverton"
<not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.net> wrote:

>Ken wrote  on Sat, 6 Aug 2005 15:10:15 -0700:
>
> ??>> On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400, Questions 
><NoSpam@Ever.org>
> ??>> wrote:
>
> ??>>> Where exactly is this place? The people on this group are
> ??>>> from all over the world.
> ??>>
> ??>> Well, let's see. . . it's posted to dc.dining and
> ??>> dc.general, as well as alt.food.sushi, so the INTELLIGENT
> ??>> reader would likely assume it's somewhere in the
> ??>> Washington, DC area.
>
> KB> The intelligent readers in alt.food.sushi shouldn't be
> KB> required to figure it out, either by checking where it's
> KB> crossposted to or by googling. It's the responsibility of
> KB> the poster to make himself understood.
>
>I fully agree with you Ken even if I did correctly vaguely 
>remember where the place was. Since I dislike cross posting I 
>tend to ignore it. If I could set Outlook Express to ignore 
>*all* cross posts, I would! I don't reckon I'd miss much.
>
> James Silverton. 

I've used the "Agent" news reader for years. It has the ability to
eliminate cross posts, but I've never used it. It does however, only
show the group that I've subscribed to as the source.

This person "Keith A. Glass" <salgak@speakeasy.net> obviously is used
to the type of news groups where it's acceptable to continuously
challenge those to which you are speaking. Or perhaps he is just young
and thoughtless.

On Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:19:39 -0400, Questions <NoSpam@Ever.org> wrote:

>This person "Keith A. Glass" <salgak@speakeasy.net> obviously is used
>to the type of news groups where it's acceptable to continuously
>challenge those to which you are speaking. Or perhaps he is just young
>and thoughtless.

Actually, I don't suffer fools gladly.  I note the cross-posts, and go
from there. . .

James Silverton <not.jim.siverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
>
>I fully agree with you Ken even if I did correctly vaguely 
>remember where the place was. Since I dislike cross posting I 
>tend to ignore it. If I could set Outlook Express to ignore 
>*all* cross posts, I would! I don't reckon I'd miss much.

I'd be surprised if you can't.  I know Express is kind of crude, but
if it allows any killfile facilities at all it should allow you to be
able to do this.

The normal way to do this is with a killfile that matches a comma in
the Newsgroups: line.  So if there is just one newsgroup, the message
is selected for display, but if there are two are more separated by
a comma, it will be skipped over.

There are a lot of newsgroups that are overrun with inappropriate 
crossposts, which would be otherwise unreadable without such a kill
expression.
--scott


-- 
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott wrote  on 7 Aug 2005 17:23:59 -0400:

 SD> James Silverton <not.jim.siverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
 ??>>
 ??>> I fully agree with you Ken even if I did correctly vaguely
 ??>> remember where the place was. Since I dislike cross
 ??>> posting I tend to ignore it. If I could set Outlook
 ??>> Express to ignore *all* cross posts, I would! I don't
 ??>> reckon I'd miss much.

 SD> I'd be surprised if you can't.  I know Express is kind of
 SD> crude, but if it allows any killfile facilities at all it
 SD> should allow you to be able to do this.

 SD> The normal way to do this is with a killfile that matches a
 SD> comma in the Newsgroups: line.  So if there is just one 
newsgroup,
 SD> the message is selected for display, but if there are two
 SD> are more separated by a comma, it will be skipped over.

AFAIK, even if I agree that there should be, there is no choice 
in OE to select the Newsgroups. The categories are "on a 
specified ng", "from line contains", "subject line contains", 
"message sent more than days ago" and "number of lines".  I had 
hopes for the comma but no such luck!

 James Silverton. 

James Silverton <not.jim.siverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
>AFAIK, even if I agree that there should be, there is no choice 
>in OE to select the Newsgroups. The categories are "on a 
>specified ng", "from line contains", "subject line contains", 
>"message sent more than days ago" and "number of lines".  I had 
>hopes for the comma but no such luck!

That is pretty awful.  You might consider getting a standard newsreader...
I think even Free Agent can do regular expressions for header selection.
--scott

-- 
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Scott wrote  on 7 Aug 2005 22:06:53 -0400:

 SD> James Silverton <not.jim.siverton.at.comcast.not> wrote:
 ??>> AFAIK, even if I agree that there should be, there is no
 ??>> choice in OE to select the Newsgroups. The categories are
 ??>> "on a specified ng", "from line contains", "subject line
 ??>> contains", "message sent more than days ago" and "number
 ??>> of lines".  I had hopes for the comma but no such luck!

 SD> That is pretty awful.  You might consider getting a
 SD> standard newsreader... I think even Free Agent can do
 SD> regular expressions for header selection. --scott

That's interesting but it's a question of how much the trouble 
of finding a new reader is worth. I'll have to look into it. 
Incidentally, given the number of users of Outlook Express, it 
might be able to claim that it is the standard newsreader:-)


 James Silverton. 

Been to a lot of Todai's and I like em, but the weirdest one is the one
I tried last week - Todai in Huntington Beach, CA.  Since it is located
in a heavily Asian populated area I thought it would be extra good.  I
was wrong.

When i went in they were playing rap "music" loud, though they shut it
down after a while.  Huge chunks of fish, but the salmon was smoked,
like lox, and some of the fish was cooked.

It's like a rogue Todai.  All the other Todai's and Toadai offshoots in
southern CA, Onamis, have been uniformly quite good.

Tried some Korean sushi the other day for the first time.  It was just
like Japanese sushi, but mediocre and overpriced.  On the other hand, I
know some great Korean and Vietnamese places here, around Little Saigon
and Little Korea, Orange County, CA, but not sushi.

James Silverton wrote:
> Questions wrote  on Fri, 05 Aug 2005 18:29:40 -0400:
>
>  ??>> Well.  Finally tried the place at Fair Oaks Mall.
>  ??>>
>   ??>>
>  ??>> This is probably the first AYCE place where I didn't even
>  ??>> bother to eat all I can.  Maybe I'm just getting too old
>  ??>> to stuff my face.
>
> Fair Oaks? Where the heck is it? I have a suspicion it's
> somewhere in the Washington DC area but I don't know for sure. I
> wonder if the OP could give an address or Zip Code. For myself,
> my very limited experience of Food Court and Chinese Buffet
> Sushi places would make me stay away! What's AYCE anyway? I
> suspect it's "all you can eat" and that's hardly ever an
> indication of quality.
>
>
>  James Silverton, Potomac, Maryland.

Sorry my cross posting pisses some of you off.

Anyway the one I went to  is probably 20 miles west of Washington, DC.

Fair Oaks Mall
11750 Fair Oaks
Fairfax, VA 22033

The thing with all you can eat buffets is the food can be good if
there's enough of a crowd for them to refill the trays.  The trick is
you need to keep an eye on the serving tables and get the food as soon
as it's brought out.  The other thing is don't load up before you've
tasted one.  Hate to get a plate full and find out it's not what you
expect.

wwerewolff@yahoo.com wrote:

>Been to a lot of Todai's and I like em, but the weirdest one is the one
>I tried last week - Todai in Huntington Beach, CA.  Since it is located
>in a heavily Asian populated area I thought it would be extra good.  I
>was wrong.

I assume you mean the one on Beach.  That's hardly an Asian area.  If
anything, that area is more Hispanic. <g>  

Anyway, it has gone down hill a lot lately.   They've just opened a
new one in the Westminster mall and I'm betting that the Beach
location will be closed.  They're too close together.  

The best one in the LA area is the one on Ventura Blvd in the valley.
More variety and usually better quality than the others 

Scott Peterson wrote:
> wwerewolff@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> >Been to a lot of Todai's and I like em, but the weirdest one is the one
> >I tried last week - Todai in Huntington Beach, CA.  Since it is located
> >in a heavily Asian populated area I thought it would be extra good.  I
> >was wrong.
>
> I assume you mean the one on Beach.  That's hardly an Asian area.  If
> anything, that area is more Hispanic. <g>


---Yes, the one on Beach just south of Warner.  Hispanic?  It's quite
close to little Saigon and little Korea.




>
> Anyway, it has gone down hill a lot lately.


--- I've been in Todais (and Onamis) all over the west and that one was
the oddest.



They've just opened a
> new one in the Westminster mall and I'm betting that the Beach
> location will be closed.  They're too close together.


--- I didn't know that.  I looked on the todai.com website and it shows
one listed in Westminster Mall - but where is that?  I don't know if
the one I'm talking about was in Westminster or Huntington Beach or
something else.  I never know where one starts and the other stops
around there.  Go a few blocks and you're allegedly in whole new town
or something.

    Anyway, I thought they used to list one in Hunt. B., but they don't
now, just West. Mall, whichever mall that is.  They don't provide a
map.

    The one I went in looked new enough.



>
> The best one in the LA area is the one on Ventura Blvd in the valley.
> More variety and usually better quality than the others



---Haven't tried that one yet.  Usually I'm south more - Orange Cty.
and S.D. When I'm out that way, and there's so much great Korean and
Vietnamese food to eat, so that's what i usually do.


---I hope they re-open in Arizona.  The previous place was in a bad
location.  If they could take over the site of the sushi buffet place
in the big China Mall in Phoenix they'd do great business.



--- WW

In article <1124171712.485931.66680@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<wwerewolff@yahoo.com> wrote:

> --- I've been in Todais (and Onamis) all over the west and that one was
> the oddest.

What made it odd?

> --- I didn't know that.  I looked on the todai.com website and it shows
> one listed in Westminster Mall - but where is that?  I don't know if
> the one I'm talking about was in Westminster or Huntington Beach or
> something else.  I never know where one starts and the other stops
> around there.  Go a few blocks and you're allegedly in whole new town
> or something.
> 
>     Anyway, I thought they used to list one in Hunt. B., but they don't
> now, just West. Mall, whichever mall that is.  They don't provide a
> map.

It's 7777 Edinger, at the 405 and Beach. Check this:

<http://tinyurl.com/av9u2>

> > The best one in the LA area is the one on Ventura Blvd in the valley.
> > More variety and usually better quality than the others
> 
> ---Haven't tried that one yet.  Usually I'm south more - Orange Cty.
> and S.D. When I'm out that way, and there's so much great Korean and
> Vietnamese food to eat, so that's what i usually do.

Have you noticed the explosion of banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) joints? 
Over by the Asian Garden Mall there's like 7 of them in a two block
strip.  It's really quite surprising. I was doing some research on them
related vaguely to work and was surprised by the semi-universal
enthusiasm with which they are greeted in the major Non-Californian
towns in which they've appeared.  ChowHounds and blogs and stuff make
like they are like some rare jazz record everybody is dragnetting the
back-streets trying to find.  They are an exceptional variation on what
Unitedstatesians have evolved into an object of absolute irrelevance.

Got 15 banh mi from Chu Co of various kinds for a salon/discussion
group and the uninitiated spent half their time talking about the
sandwiches. At the evening's conclusion three people asked if they
could take a few home when they left!  That's a first.

> ---I hope they re-open in Arizona.  The previous place was in a bad
> location.  If they could take over the site of the sushi buffet place
> in the big China Mall in Phoenix they'd do great business.

I've been to Todai's twice and though it was more than acceptable it
wasn't anything I'd hunt down a second again. Anyplace with 100 tables
and a quarter-acre of floor space makes me nervous.

Since I know you chowhound it a bit out here, did you see Gustavo
Arrellano's "74 Best OC Hole-in-the-Wall" article?

<http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/45/cover-arellano.php>

We printed it tiny, put it in the kick-panel of the guitar and have
been eating our way down the list for a year.  We only have about 8
left, since 20 or so were ones we thought we were the only ones aware
of.  He doesn't skew towards Japanese, certainly, but there is some
good grub there.  The best exploratory hints are directed towards
Anaheim, and most specifically to Arab food.

-- 
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97).  All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

wwerewolff@yahoo.com wrote:

>
>
>---Yes, the one on Beach just south of Warner.  Hispanic?  It's quite
>close to little Saigon and little Korea.
>

They're north of there in Garden Grove.  Several miles.  Go a block
west then turn left and just look at the people around there.  It's a
pretty substantial Mexican area around there...mostly apartments. 


>They've just opened a
>> new one in the Westminster mall and I'm betting that the Beach
>> location will be closed.  They're too close together.
>
>
>--- I didn't know that.  I looked on the todai.com website and it shows
>one listed in Westminster Mall - but where is that?  I don't know if
>the one I'm talking about was in Westminster or Huntington Beach or
>something else.  I never know where one starts and the other stops
>around there.  Go a few blocks and you're allegedly in whole new town
>or something.

The older one is at the corner of Beach and Warner.  It's next to the
old Charter Center tower which is the tallest building in the area.
It's a standalone restaurant facing a Bally's exercise facility and a
move theater.  

The Westminster one is located on the north side of the Westminster
mall, just off of the 405 freeway at Golden West.  It's in the mall
proper, next to one of the northwest entrances.  

No way you can mistake them

Confusing.  Yeah, i was at the older one then.  It even had a  pay
parking lot - free with the Todai ticket.  I don't think the Todai
website shows two in the area.  Could the new one be an Onami perhaps?

"What made it odd?"


--- Like I said above - rap "music", gigantic pieces of fish, at least
twice as big as anyplace else, but some of the fish was cooked instead
of raw, and the salmon was smoked, salty like lox!




"Have you noticed the explosion of banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich)
joints?
Over by the Asian Garden Mall there's like 7 of them in a two block
strip.  It's really quite surprising. I was doing some research on them
related vaguely to work and was surprised by the semi-universal
enthusiasm with which they are greeted in the major Non-Californian
towns in which they've appeared.  ChowHounds and blogs and stuff make
like they are like some rare jazz record everybody is dragnetting the
back-streets trying to find.  They are an exceptional variation on what
Unitedstatesians have evolved into an object of absolute irrelevance."

----  No, I didn't notice the profusion - but that's my newest food
passion, Viet sandwiches, and I just discovered them this trip!  My
favorite place was a little hole in the wall joint that I read about on
something that you sent me last year, I think.  But they are somewhat
inconsistent, better than Lee's though.




Got 15 banh mi from Chu Co of various kinds for a salon/discussion
group and the uninitiated spent half their time talking about the
sandwiches. At the evening's conclusion three people asked if they
could take a few home when they left!  That's a first.

> ---I hope they re-open in Arizona.  The previous place was in a bad
> location.  If they could take over the site of the sushi buffet place
> in the big China Mall in Phoenix they'd do great business.




---- Or anyplace on south Dobson - where the Asian people are - but
they should have been able to figure that out for themselves without me
telling them!  .



I've been to Todai's twice and though it was more than acceptable it
wasn't anything I'd hunt down a second again. Anyplace with 100 tables
and a quarter-acre of floor space makes me nervous.


--- Heh heh, but it's all you can eat, and the quality is generally OK
to quite good.




Since I know you chowhound it a bit out here, did you see Gustavo
Arrellano's "74 Best OC Hole-in-the-Wall" article?

<http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04 /45/cover-arellano.php>


--- Ah, it says that page doesn't exist - but I think that's the
article you sent me last year.



We printed it tiny, put it in the kick-panel of the guitar and have
been eating our way down the list for a year.  We only have about 8
left, since 20 or so were ones we thought we were the only ones aware
of.  He doesn't skew towards Japanese, certainly, but there is some
good grub there.  The best exploratory hints are directed towards
Anaheim, and most specifically to Arab food.


---Yeah, you live in my favorite culinary corner of the world.  Maybe
you can show me the good sandwich joints next year.  I was kinda busy
this trip.

--- Oh, I got a  favorite Korean place in Garden Grove.  I discovered
it last year.  I've been working my way through their entire menu.
It's a great little place, all women.  Let me know if you want the name
- and tell them i sent you!  And my favorite pho place is still the Pho
79 on Hazard.  It's great too, but too crowded on weekends.  Get #33,
super pho.

--- ww

[ Sorry for the dearth of OT chatter here. Which there were a ng that
addressed such issues.  Please recommend anythat would be more
appropriate. ]

In article <1124523443.498992.85590@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<wwerewolff@yahoo.com> wrote:

> > "Have you noticed the explosion of banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich)
> > joints? Over by the Asian Garden Mall there's like 7 of them in a
> > two block strip.  It's really quite surprising. I was doing some
> > research on them related vaguely to work and was surprised by the
> > semi-universal enthusiasm with which they are greeted in the major
> > Non-Californian towns in which they've appeared.  ChowHounds and
> > blogs and stuff make like they are like some rare jazz record
> > everybody is dragnetting the back-streets trying to find.  They are
> > an exceptional variation on what Unitedstatesians have evolved into
> > an object of absolute irrelevance."
> 
> ----  No, I didn't notice the profusion - but that's my newest food
> passion, Viet sandwiches, and I just discovered them this trip!  My
> favorite place was a little hole in the wall joint that I read about
> on something that you sent me last year, I think.  But they are
> somewhat inconsistent, better than Lee's though.

> Got 15 banh mi from Chu Co of various kinds for a salon/discussion
> group and the uninitiated spent half their time talking about the
> sandwiches. At the evening's conclusion three people asked if they
> could take a few home when they left!  That's a first.
> 
> > ---I hope they re-open in Arizona.  The previous place was in a bad
> > location.  If they could take over the site of the sushi buffet
> > place in the big China Mall in Phoenix they'd do great business.
> 
> ---- Or anyplace on south Dobson - where the Asian people are - but
> they should have been able to figure that out for themselves without
> me telling them!

Nope. That's why Lee's will undoubtedly head into the tank.  They've
opened about 2 shops a month for the past two years and they really
don't know what they hell they're doing.  It's not like expanding too
rapidly isn't a classic blunder with opportunities for loss of quality,
overspending, loss of marketing focus and all the rest.  I'm surprised
more of them haven't gone under yet, but by this time next year I'm
assuming they'll have scaled back to 10 or 12 and be trying to dig out
of the hole they dug.  We'll see if they survive it.

If there were a consistent operation around to pick up the leavin's it
would be all that was necessary.

Current favorite for banh mi (i.e. the one we tried yesterday), Saigon
on Brookhurst, a half block north of Hazard on the west side.
 
> I've been to Todai's twice and though it was more than acceptable it
> wasn't anything I'd hunt down again. Anyplace with 100 tables and a
> quarter-acre of floor space makes me nervous.
> 
> --- Heh heh, but it's all you can eat, and the quality is generally
> OK to quite good.

A difference of approach.  At my age, I find myself eating less every
year.  So when I go to an all-you-can-eat joint I *invariably* feel
like I got screwed on the price.  By the way it's almost worth it at
Amazon Churrascaria in Fullerton (Arellano #23 if you're following in
the manual). The sliced meets were very good, but next time I'd just do
the buffet.  Serious feijoada and farofa, if you've the taste, and
other Brazilian treats.

> Since I know you chowhound it a bit out here, did you see Gustavo
> Arrellano's "74 Best OC Hole-in-the-Wall" article?
> 
> <http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04 /45/cover-arellano.php>
> 
> --- Ah, it says that page doesn't exist - but I think that's the
> article you sent me last year.

Try:

http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/45/cover-arellano.php

It's the same link but it works without the carets it seems. How
curious. If that url doesn't work (for any eavesdroppers), use the
search box at ocweekly and look for "Greatest Holes" and look for the
July 16th cover issue.

> ---Yeah, you live in my favorite culinary corner of the world.  Maybe
> you can show me the good sandwich joints next year.  I was kinda busy
> this trip.

Our current intent, because of the explosion of joints on Brookhurst in
recent years is to go back to the plan we had some 7 years ago and eat
at every joint on Brookhurst from Westminster to the sea.  We only made
it from 17th to Brookhurst in the last pass. There ought to be at least
50 or more.
 
> --- Oh, I got a  favorite Korean place in Garden Grove.  I discovered
> it last year.  I've been working my way through their entire menu.
> It's a great little place, all women.  Let me know if you want the
> name - and tell them i sent you!

But of course! I think I may know this place if it has that deep a
menu.  Is it on the north side of GGrove Blvd., and inside has all the
trappings you'd expect in a classic izakaya restaurant, rough-hewn
tables and such?

> And my favorite pho place is still the Pho 79 on Hazard.  It's great
> too, but too crowded on weekends.  Get #33, super pho.

The Vietnamese love food.  Standing on line at the banh mi joints they
all want to chip in with their favorite places for one food.  At Saigon
a woman was raving about a Pho place at 1st and Harbor in the NW
quadrant.  The name was Tao Bi or Tao something.

Talked to a Syrian guy at a farmer's market and when pressed for a
place to get to good Syrian food he said there wasn't any really but
was proud that the chefs at Al-Waha (where they have the occasional
Syrian dish as a special) and Sahara were both Syrian. And
we found both exceptional, as we've tried them in the past months.

-- 
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97).  All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

"But of course! I think I may know this place if it has that deep a
menu.  Is it on the north side of GGrove Blvd., and inside has all the
trappings you'd expect in a classic izakaya restaurant, rough-hewn
tables and such? "

---No, my place is on the south side of GG.   I'll email you the name.

---No, thearticle through which i found my little Viet sandwich dive
was not that article above but a  different one which I may have now
lost due to computer problem, but the place I was going to was  Ban Mi
Cho Cu, 14520 Magnolia St. (the name is bigger than the store).  I
liked the meatball sandwich.  I like it with a lot of vegetables and
herbs on it.  Sometimes they got stingy in that department, maybe
because they think that Americans don't like the spicey stuff.  Next
time I'll try to tell them that that's the part I like best.

---Don't know much about Arabian food, except we used to occasionally
go over to some Arab places on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn in my
college days -  and I'd like to try it now, if nothing else than to
protest the demonization of the Arab people in the whore media!



--- ww

In article <1124558275.819879.204600@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
<wwerewolff@yahoo.com> wrote:

> ---No, thearticle through which i found my little Viet sandwich dive
> was not that article above but a  different one which I may have now
> lost due to computer problem, but the place I was going to was  Ban Mi
> Cho Cu, 14520 Magnolia St. (the name is bigger than the store).

I don't know how/where you foudn it, but Cho Cu, on Brookhurst right by
the tiny park is the the name of the joint Arellano likes in the
article.  Good sandwiches, but reticent counter help.  I don't think
any of them speak English but one--maybe that's why. 

> I
> liked the meatball sandwich.  I like it with a lot of vegetables and
> herbs on it.  Sometimes they got stingy in that department, maybe
> because they think that Americans don't like the spicey stuff.  Next
> time I'll try to tell them that that's the part I like best.

I got the impression they didn't care if we were Americans or even if
we were mammals, they just made them they way they always do.

> ---Don't know much about Arabian food, except we used to occasionally
> go over to some Arab places on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn in my
> college days -  and I'd like to try it now, if nothing else than to
> protest the demonization of the Arab people in the whore media!

I'm not sure if that's part of what has drawn me to Arabic food, music,
and now I'm even learning a bit of the language.  Couple that with
thumbing through the Koran and I suppose that mades me an enemy of the
state.

Like I wasn't already.

Okay that's about as far off topic as we can safely get without taking
it home...

I ate at Daruma in Gardena on Friday.  A *beautiful* building with
hand-hewn beams built by the owner's now-deceased mother-in-law some 20
years ago with *strict* Japanese architectural intent, no nails in the
structure and bunch of other blabber--which might all be true.

We went because it's half-and-half izakaya and karaoke bar.  When we
went initially into the karaoke bar we found 5 waitresses, one
bartender, the gaijin owner (sitting at the bar) and maybe six tables. 
No customers.  Still too early at 9:30, he said.

Still, I thought, why does one need 5 short-skirted waitresses for 6
tables?  We found out later as it is more hostess-bar than karaoke. But
the karaoke was fun anyway.  The food, quite a large menu was all quite
tasty.  The next time there I'd just go to the restaurant where the
same food is 25 cents cheaper and there's no "table charge".  Not
highly recommended, but interesting.

-- 
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97).  All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.

Gerry wrote:
> In article <1124558275.819879.204600@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> <wwerewolff@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > ---No, thearticle through which i found my little Viet sandwich dive
> > was not that article above but a  different one which I may have now
> > lost due to computer problem, but the place I was going to was  Ban Mi
> > Cho Cu, 14520 Magnolia St. (the name is bigger than the store).
>
> I don't know how/where you foudn it, but Cho Cu, on Brookhurst right by
> the tiny park is the the name of the joint Arellano likes in the
> article.  Good sandwiches, but reticent counter help.  I don't think
> any of them speak English but one--maybe that's why.




---- Oh yeah it WAS in that article - duh - I didn't notice it.  Yes,
only one of them speaks English, but they seemed friendly enough.  I
made a faux pas there.  I was trying to ask for sandwich #3 from the
menu on the wall, but they made me 3 sandwiches instead.  I should have
taken all of them, they were so good.





>
> > I
> > liked the meatball sandwich.  I like it with a lot of vegetables and
> > herbs on it.  Sometimes they got stingy in that department, maybe
> > because they think that Americans don't like the spicey stuff.  Next
> > time I'll try to tell them that that's the part I like best.
>
> I got the impression they didn't care if we were Americans or even if
> we were mammals, they just made them they way they always do.





---Guess that the samdwich maker is just inconsistent in how much herbs
and spicy stuff she slops on.






>
> > ---Don't know much about Arabian food, except we used to occasionally
> > go over to some Arab places on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn in my
> > college days -  and I'd like to try it now, if nothing else than to
> > protest the demonization of the Arab people in the whore media!
>
> I'm not sure if that's part of what has drawn me to Arabic food, music,
> and now I'm even learning a bit of the language.  Couple that with
> thumbing through the Koran and I suppose that mades me an enemy of the
> state.
>
> Like I wasn't already.
>
> Okay that's about as far off topic as we can safely get without taking
> it home...




--- Yeah, don't get me started.  You see what happened last time.





>
> I ate at Daruma in Gardena on Friday.  A *beautiful* building with
> hand-hewn beams built by the owner's now-deceased mother-in-law some 20
> years ago with *strict* Japanese architectural intent, no nails in the
> structure and bunch of other blabber--which might all be true.
>
> We went because it's half-and-half izakaya and karaoke bar.  When we
> went initially into the karaoke bar we found 5 waitresses, one
> bartender, the gaijin owner (sitting at the bar) and maybe six tables.
> No customers.  Still too early at 9:30, he said.
>
> Still, I thought, why does one need 5 short-skirted waitresses for 6
> tables?  We found out later as it is more hostess-bar than karaoke. But
> the karaoke was fun anyway.  The food, quite a large menu was all quite
> tasty.  The next time there I'd just go to the restaurant where the
> same food is 25 cents cheaper and there's no "table charge".  Not
> highly recommended, but interesting.





---- Guy wrote a book on "hostess bars" - *Buy Me Drinkee*.  Here's the
link:


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1593300646/qid=1124579240/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-2825602-8774242?v=glance&s=books&n=507846





---- I went to the todai.com website and there's not a sign of the
place on Beach that I went to.  It used to be there.  That's how I
found it. Todai must have disowned it.  The staff was also - ah - a bit
strange looking too, now that I think of it.  Anyway, they didn't
poison me.





----  ww

In article <1124579757.902384.134360@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
<wwerewolff@yahoo.com> wrote:

> ---- Oh yeah it WAS in that article - duh - I didn't notice it.  Yes,
> only one of them speaks English, but they seemed friendly enough.  I
> made a faux pas there.  I was trying to ask for sandwich #3 from the
> menu on the wall, but they made me 3 sandwiches instead.  I should have
> taken all of them, they were so good.

Same thing almost happened to us but we caught the error (twice) when
she finally said, "Forget numbers, just tell me what you want." So we
said ONE grilled pork, ONE vegetarian.

> > Still, I thought, why does one need 5 short-skirted waitresses for 6
> > tables?  We found out later as it is more hostess-bar than karaoke. But
> > the karaoke was fun anyway.  The food, quite a large menu was all quite
> > tasty.  The next time there I'd just go to the restaurant where the
> > same food is 25 cents cheaper and there's no "table charge".  Not
> > highly recommended, but interesting.
> 
> ---- Guy wrote a book on "hostess bars" - *Buy Me Drinkee*.  Here's the
> link:
> 
> <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1593300646/qid=1124579240/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-2825602-8774242?v=glance&s=books&n=507846>

Default wrapping screwed it up but I patched it together. Tip for the
day: <http://tinyurl.com> if it pleases you.

Book looks fun.  Actually Nancy and I have stumbled into a couple of
them in various places in Japan and didn't realize it until we were
settled in.  Then we always had a *fabullous* time because of all the
faux excitement (girls) and/or drunken enthusiasm (businessmen). The
combined effect of unhesitating cordiality is palpable.  Besides
Mama-San wants her place full and if you're a gaijin couple buying
drinks, you're just more amusement for her clientele.

Kobe: Licky and Tomato (whatever the hell that means) totally rocks.

> ---- I went to the todai.com website and there's not a sign of the
> place on Beach that I went to.  It used to be there.  That's how I
> found it. Todai must have disowned it.  The staff was also - ah - a bit
> strange looking too, now that I think of it.  Anyway, they didn't
> poison me.

The upside of restaurant-trawling...

-- 
"A Dictionary of Japanese Food, Ingredients & Culture" by Richard Hosking
(Tuttle, '97).  All the hints one might need for exploring Japanese food.

"The Sake Handbook" by John Gaunter (Tuttle, '02). An excellent intro and
reference to sake.