ma ma wok. aka: ma ma wok, no run away

i had it on a very good source (who grew up in china and whose parents run a chinese restaurant) that ma ma wok is THE place to go for authentic chinese food in richmond.  i was surprised when we pulled up in front and it was not the hole-in-the-wall that i expected, but was very commercial, like an old applebees or something.  we were greeted by a very friendly hostess and when i looked around i saw authentics: a good sign. i also saw a sushi bar (at an "authentic" chinese food place): not a good sign. the aforementioned source seems a bit defensive about "american chinese," or chinese food targeted to the american palate. which prompts so many sarcastic retorts from me, i do not have the room (or the energy) to type them. anyway, she instructed that ONLY items ordered from the last page (ma ma wok specialties) are the real chinese deal. so, i honed in on that. hubs loves chow fun which was listed under "chinese noodles." which was not on the ma ma wok specialty page, so according to the source, not "real chinese." um...soapbox time...it is a cantonese dish. as in from canton. which is in china. again, many sarcastic comments could be inserted here. here's what wiki says about canton cuisine:

                "Of all the regional varieties of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese is renowned both inside and       outside China.^[1] Its prominence outside China is due to its palatability to Westerners  and to the great numbers of early emigrants from Guangdong. In China, too, it enjoys great prestige among the eight great traditions of Chinese cuisine, and Cantonese chefs are highly sought after throughout the country."

hmmm. so it seems to me that chow fun (or similar) should be the ultimate authentic chinese. it is highly regarded in china and it is popular outside china.

anyway, i ordered a seaweed salad as an appetizer for my daily does of phytoestrogens, which was neither good nor bad. hubs and i shared the spicy conch. which was not spicy but had a nice cilantro freshness (is cilantro a common chinese herb? hmmm...) the conch was boiled, (not fried, so i ate it in good conscience on my diet) and then mixed with some veg and tossed with dressing. whoever made the dressing was heavy handed with the soy sauce.  i also ordered egg drop soup and hubs had hot and sour soup. both were under-flavored. this conclusion might be a result of my american palate (sarcasm). anyway, we dumped a ton of chili paste into both so we could eat them. the red of the chili paste also hid the preturnatural yellow-orange hue of the egg drop soup. hubs described the beef in his chow fun as "tender" and the dish as "nothing special" "pf chang is better." again american palate. EXCEPT: hubs is from vietnam. hmm... i was happily digging through my bean curd firepot, (which by the way, came from the ma ma wok specialty page and which was woefully underseasoned), when i pulled out something oval and orange with a black rim with my chopstick. hubs told me it was an oyster (yuck). further digging revealed shrimp, scallops and calamari. um, i know i didn't order off of the vegetarian section, but i assumed a BEAN CURD firepot would NOT have shellfish (yuck times infinity to a west texan). i called the waitress over and asked her if the BEAN CURD firepot was supposed to have shellfish. she had to go ask the chef and the answer was that it had SHRIMP only. so a quick leap of logic (which the waitress never arrived at even after i held up the oyster for scrutiny) led me to believe that i had been given a SEAFOOD firepot when i had ordered...say it with me...a BEAN CURD firepot. um...i may have realized what is meant by authentic. perhaps in china they don't care if shrimp are in BEAN CURD firepots (i thought i was safe in the assumption that it was veg. don't think i would be the only one. otherwise, why have a beef, a seafood and a bean curd firepot option?) which was not marked as veg (i will concede that point) or as "with shellfish or with shrimp" but here in america, one may sue. which means that, as a restauranteur, one better be damn sure such things are clearly understood by chefs, waitstaff and the diner. so i ate rice with hot mustard. my entree was not comped nor did the waitress offer to comp it. disappointing experience.  also, during the course of our dinner, i was treated to the black crowes, madonna and poison on the speakers. which was very authentic. authentic american.  we will not go back.

for date night on friday, we went to bouchon (love!) and i discovered my new favorite thing: escargot with sriracha. after the first round, we ordered another. the saltiness of the butter highlighted the sourness of the sriracha like nothing i have ever tasted with sriracha (a long list of items).  i also added it to the truffled mac and cheese and all the other veg i ordered. please, don't tell francis what we did, i think he may pass out. another yummy special: arugula salad with pomegranate seeds and candied nuts. we did not add sriracha to that. or to the fruit filled crepe that we had for dessert. but it gave me a great idea that i will try since i now have a crepe pan (thanks mom and dad!)....mushroom and spinach stuffing with a sauce of butter, garlic (or shallot?) and sriracha.

i ran by barrel thief on patterson to pick up some white for a girl's night in on saturday. got some great recs from booth. took a peak at the menu (look for a future blog on this)  and booth told me that they do tastings and classes. what a great idea for a future girl's night!

my new hobby: making soy candles. i have yet to perfect them and am in the process of researching pouring temps and wick sizes so that no wax is left on the wall of the glass and that melting is even. peace out yankee candle!

my goals: working out and cooking more. i have a ton of books downloaded to my nook. the olympics has backlogged me. up next: wolf hall by hilary mantel about what else? henry the 8th and tudor england. i'm gearing up for the final season of the tudors. here's a trailer:

the shape of things to come and daily cuteness

spring is springing?!

 

merrick and paisley enjoying the new smells now that the snow has melted

 

the republic, a fake out, oilio and shutter island

first off, woohoo for nice, sunny, snow-free weather!

saturday lunch found us at olio. our first time, although i have wanted to stop by to check it out since the wedding of the owners (still the same owners? not sure) was featured in richmond bride back during my own wedding planning days. i recently started following them on twitter, and them had to go in when i saw they had cucumber dill soup. yum! unfortunately, no cucumber dill on saturday, but plenty of cheese! which we bought from the deli and which i had in the le fromage sandwich. this was described to me as "an adult grilled cheese." and it so was. a melted cheese trifecta of provolone, swiss and cheddar snuggled with roasted tomatoes and red peppers, balsamic and garlic aioli. the best part was that i shopped for staples like polenta and cheese (both cheeses were a little dry when i cut them today) and packaged house-made marinara while i waited for my lunch. i had tuscan white bean salad for a side which was redolent with basil and tomato. so good. i wanted to go back sunday, but were  closed. i will be back this week.  my only complaint is that they should upgrade their cheese selection a bit. however, they offered to special order cheeses for me. and i got a tweet that they sell ashley farms chicken, this may be my new favorite place.

my brother and sister in law were in town saturday night and i suggested louisiana flair after receiving a tweet that they were open until 6pm. we showed up at 5:30 and were turned away at the door and rudely told that they were closed as i screamed "that's not what your twitter said!" to chef nate as the door was locked in our face. so, we had to repack the very hungry niece and nephew in the car, had a mini don't-wanna-get-back-in-the-carseat-so-soon meltdown, and wound up at vietnam 1. so i called out louisiana flair on twitter. they replied by saying sorry and they would talk to the boss (who i assume is chef nate?) about it. which is fine, except that the chef was they one doing the turning away. hmph! an update: got a direct message from them this morning saying that i could get the twitter special (bring a friend and your meal is 1/2 off). update redux: received a blog comment (see below), the twitter was an error and closing time on saturday is 4 pm.

sunday morning saw us at a nearly empty the republic. my veggie frittata (hold the 'shrooms) was tasty with dollops of goat cheese but it was was flat, not poufy. more like egg crepes. onions were in the eggs but the other veg was dotted around the top. had a great bloody mary (ordered "spicy, very spicy"). bartender set it down telling me to let him know if i wanted it spicier. could have done, but decided to give my tummy a break. later on,  i mentioned to him that it could have used some horseradish and he told me to tell him next time and he would do. i like him....jr, maybe??? i asked, but forgot in our rush to get to the start of...

shutter island... one of the best movies i have seen in a long time. there's a twist, most of which i predicted (because mr. scorsese can't out-crazy someone that's already a bit nutty) , but which is interesting and complex.  a good time, for sure. i even liked it despite disliking leo dicaprio's for his eco-alarmism, and he portrayed quite a sympathetic character in the end. i liked it despite the fake boston accent. the trailer makes it look more scary-horrific than it is. but then again, i thought silence of the lambs was funny, so you can't judge by me.

balliceaux and the naming of a phenomenon

balli- so good for drinks, but i'll get to that later. first, my version of the garcia effect: NAGATFT, or never as good as the first time. this is a food phenomenon that i have encountered over and over. here's the lowdown: i go to a restaurant and order x. i am wowed by x and think (perhaps too often afterwards) about returning to said restaurant for x. so, we go back and i order x. and it IS NOT AS GOOD. the level of NAGATFT ranges from "what the hell is this?" to very good/close to last time, but the thrill is gone. why does this happen? do i build up the food memory so much that the real thing can't possibly live up to how i have idolized the first experience in my head? am i over thinking things?

so, to balliceaux - both times we have been here we have been received by hostesses with attitude. the first time my meal was okay. i don't even remember what i had other than the pickle plate. which is great if you like sour pickled veg, which i do. hubs had the heritage burger which i tasted. and oh! heaven with the angels singing!. now, i will mention here that i rarely eat burgers and when i do eat them, it is from steak from whole foods which is ground and prepared in my own kitchen and on my grill. i digress. the heritage burger. juicy, nice charred flavor, fat ripe juicy tomato, buttered, toasted and fresh (to the best i can recall, local...that seems to be a theme...local) sourdough buns. hubs barely used sriracha at all. anyway, last friday i was hankering for a burger (you can take the girl out of Texas, but never ever the meat eating Texan out of the girl). despite plenty of open tables, the hostess tried to seat us at a 4-top by the door. we requested a 2-top further back and were met with a scott-hamilton-watching-bad-figure-skating sigh and were told that the tables were reserved. i pointed out to her that, per their website, and the resultant pdf that is downloaded by clicking "FAQ," reservations were taken for parties of 6 or more and that a 2-top can hardly fit 6. another epic sigh, and a "hold on" and a little wait later, we were seated at a 2-top in the middle of the restaurant. our waitress was friendly and came to our table quickly, thus preventing my head from exploding. i ordered the burger, medium, and hubs got the bubble and squeak (mashed taters and cabbage casserole). they were out of the grilled veggie skewers that he originally wanted.  long food story short, the bubble and squeak was unimpressive and the burger was NAGATFT. not even close. undercooked (it's possible that my burger could still moo). no satisfying char. had to add lots of sriracha. the 5 cheese plate featured two house made cheeses and "a cow, a sheep, and a goat" or so we were told. no other explanation was given until we asked (after the mostly unremarkable plate was served). however, i discovered mountaineer. yum! a semi-hard nutty cow from a family run Virginia farm that uses sustainable methods. we had the olive oil cake for dessert. a bit dry but lovely light lemon flavor and meringue-like icing. oh, and the lights still flicker (they haven't called an electrician in the 6 months since our last visit?), which is disorienting when one has some adult beverages on board. speaking of...

on to the heart of the matter: the drinks. fabulous times infinity. before switching to beer (a wheat on tap), i had the ginger snap:  to the best of my memory this had disaronno, vodka, cinnamon syrup and ginger. hubs had a tom yum yum: vodka, rum, ginger, lemon, lemongrass syrup and "local" chili.  both were amazing. the ginger snap was sweet but not sickly so and had actual cinnamon at the bottom of the glass (which i have read is anti-inflammatory and can lower blood sugar. if that's not a great reason to order many ginger snaps, i don't know what is). hub's drink was like a spicy mojito. i will be back. but probably just to the bar.

in other news, i am totally addicted to watching the olympics. yeah sean, lindsey and apollo! very little else gets accomplished once 8 pm rolls around. after 2 weeks, i will have piles of magazines to read.and don't get me started on the dvr backlog. i may never catch up! am going to throw caution (or more likely my money) to the wind and get my car washed tomorrow. i just can't stand it anymore it is so yucky after the snow and crap on the roads. so, prepare for a downpour next week.

a change in blogging tactic

ok. So while the original design was to keep this a strictly Richmond restaurant focused blog, I am morphing the concept. I have been majorly neglecting it because we have been holed-up during the snowmageddon and I have been cooking or we have been eating close to home or hubs picks up dinner on his way home. Same routine and not much restaurant-wise to blog about. I cooked my way through this or at least all the recipes I found interesting. My take is that the recipes usually call for too much liquid. We alternate between the Vietnamese sandwich shop by Vietnam 1, Kitchen 64 and Northside Grille. The last two are predictable but consistently good. The sandwich shop is hit or miss depending on if we eat in or take out. It is best to eat in or the sandwiches get soggy. Cooking or reheating them at home never is as good as the restaurant. On a good day, the baguette is amazingly good. Crisp and yeasty. Since I don't eat pork, I usually get the house-made tofu (decent) or all vegetable. The veggies (carrot and daikon) are pickled (likely rice wine vinegar) a bit of cilantro is thrown in and they will add sliced jalapenos if you request spicy. You can also get bubble tea. I love those little carbohydrate-laded bubbles! So that is the food news.

In other news, we made an emergency after-work run to the vet last night because Paisley would not put any weight on her back leg (her only back leg as she is a tripod). I was fairly freaked out and called the vet to let them know we were on the way. Then I scooped her up (all 65 lbs) and then really started to freak out when I could not make it across the ice on our front steps and driveway to my car safely.  I called hubs who rushed home and transported us to Brook Run Animal Clinic. We got there right as they were closing but they put us in a room and Dr. Yeatman (who totally rocks my world) came in and checked her out. She thought Pais had a sprain/strain (what's the difference, anyway?) and gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and some pills to take home.  We are supposed to "restrict" her activity, so that means no running in the snow, which likely caused the injury. She goes out on the porch (which is covered in who knows how many feet of snow) on a leash with us for potty breaks. She is so good about going there but she looks so sad when the other dogs run past her to the yard. I am thankful and still hopeful that this was a minor thing. I know one day way before I am ready we will have to make a decision about what to do when her poor joints are worn out. But, she is feeling much better today and is her happy self. Here's a vid pre-injury:



In other, other news, I am addicted to Secret Diary of a Call Girl! I love that show. I have downloaded the book that inspired the show to my nook (which I also love) and it is in the queue to read. It is so easy to get on the stair stepper from hell when I watch that show because it is that engrossing. It totally distracts me from the pain of physical activity. That is a high compliment!

That's about it. Valentine's dinner plans at Bouchon (that's a shocker to y'all, I'm sure) and trying to get a ton of work done when the roads are drivable and I can make it in. They (the powers that be in these things) say not to drive summer performance tires on snow and ice for a reason.