I think I could have renamed April “City Beer Hall Month”. I think I was there at least once a week, every week.

City Beer Hall‘s bloody Mary has made me a savory cocktail convert. This punches up some heat with a hearty does of horseradish. Albany John and I were part of a large brunch group to celebrate friend’s birthday. I originally ordered a bellini, but when I saw how good someone else’s Bloody Mary looked I asked Albany John to order one with his brunch (he likes Bloody Marys), and after I took a sip I was in love!

So their brunches come with coffee & juice/boozy cocktail. I went with a Last Rights for $15. Most of their other brunch plates are $13, but hey, $3 for meaty, meat, meat? I’ll go for that. It was a lot smaller of a portion of meat than I thought it would be – smaller than my palm. The home fries/potatoes were deep fried, light, & crunchy on the outside. Eggs were okay, but I forgot to ask for how I wanted them, so they were brought out scrambled. Salad was a little sad – limp and brown romaine.

Our server was incredibly nice, but probably could have corralled the table a bit better in terms of how to pace the meal and get everyone out quicker (why did I bother getting here on time if we’re going to wait until the last person gets here an hour and fifteen minutes late?). I think I must be the only person that doesn’t want to linger over brunch, or make it some lengthy affair. But man do I love how often they refill the coffee at City Beer Hall.

After Albany John and I went to San Francisco , I cut off to San Diego for a little solo trip while he came back for some previous commitments. I like that we can take separate vacations from each other and aren’t joined at the hip all of the time. My camera also ate it while I was in SF, so all of my pictures from here on out are on my phone. So, not great, but they’re something.

Any way, shortly after I got off the commuter plane to SD, I met up with Albany John’s Uncle and his new fam for dinner. (Side note: we kind of forgot that they lived in San Diego (because we are evidently really bad relatives) until after we made plans, so only I met up with them and they really missed him. yeah. really bad relatives). But they are really good and nice relatives, and my new auntie took us all out for dinner at a place in Old Town that makes fresh tortillas. 

See? Ladies making tortillas. 

Queso fundido app. 

Tortillas were okay, but kind of meh and heavy. 

I got some pork, beans, and guac. Hearty stuff, lol. It was great to spend time with more family. Maybe this is weird of me, I don’t know, but I like being around people when I’m bad at expressing my feelings. Yeh-Yeh was not doing well at this point, and I’m not one to say it to family I haven’t seen in a while. I just don’t want to be “that guy” being mopey or having people think I’m trying to get attention because of my sick grandpa. Or just making things awkward with sad subjects. Besides, he wouldn’t want a big deal about that any way. But when times are tough it’s nice just to be around people you like, you know? Reconnecting/connecting and all. I spent several hours with them at their house, too. They have an orange and lemon tree right in their backyard! They smelled so good!

Left to wander San Diego on my own (I was staying downtown), I ended up making foods I can’t get here in Albany a priority. Hello, Pho Express! My gosh, this place was awesome and I’d give a kidney for something like it in Albany. This was a small pho Tai, which is supposed to be rare beef. It was piping hot and basically cooked all the way through by the time I got it, but oh my gosh, still so freaking good. It was $6.25 and came with the side of Thai basil, lime, jalapenos, and bean sprouts that I tossed in the soup. There’s a condiment bar on each table, too. Great flavorful broth alone. And the noodles were vermicelli & flat rice noodles. Cool texture. 

I got the shrimp rolls, too. They were the shrimp pounded with a bit of sugar and then grilled. 

I think regular shrimp might have been better than this, but just marginally. Can I please have fresh rice rolls like this? So refreshing. The peanut dipping sauce on the side was also the bomb. I was so full after eating all of this. Because no way was I leaving any of it behind. Although to be honest, it would have been enough to split with another person. So much!

This new donut bar just opened.

Vanilla bean glazed twist doughnut. Eh, just okay. On par with Bella Napoli in Troy. 

All of that pho = afternoon walkies. Cool effect to walk on a sidewalk between water.

Walked down to North Embarcadero park. 

Sadly I did not get to try any of my delicious neighbors.

Looking at South Embarcadero.

Walking into the tourist section. There were a lot of chain restaurants here. Old Spaghetti Factory, Chili’s. They all had hosts outside kind of hawking for people to come in. Interesting. 

And then I walked to a Grocery Outlet. Oh man do I love grocery store tourism. Forget a magnet, I wanna see what’s on your shelves. 

BOXED WINE FOR $5.99. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I cannot even fathom these prices. And they had Unjunked candy bars for $3 for 12. I may have bought a box. And ate a lot of them.

After a good afternoon & evening of walkies, I wound up by J. Wok for some Asian tapas fusion. 

I got a few small plates: Shrimp with lemongrass salad, papaya salad, and kalbi. Dinner was like, $13 with tax! I thought I would want to eat more, but these were good portions of food and I left feeling quite sated. 

The shrimp w/lemongrass salad had a hearty dose of sprouts and a light hand on the dressing. Papaya salad = refreshing and YUM! Galbi – how can you not like galbi, especially when it’s got a bit of char on it. 

I walked on down to Crunch Time because I heard they make their own ice cream.

Peanut butter ice cream with some caramel sauce. Caramel sauce was pre-made and too saccharine. Albany John’s caramel is way better. The ice cream was okay but melted really quickly (it wasn’t really hot) and I think we have better homemade ice cream in the Cap Region. This was also crazy expensive. Like, over $5 for a small ice cream. 

The next day I woke up ready for more walking. I never did make it out of downtown, but there’s so much to do and see down there. Like the Chinese benevolence center, which was mainly a bunch of grandparents playing mah jong. 

It was right next to the cultural museum that I peeked into, but then kept on walking. Maybe next time. It was pretty small. 

More walkies into the south Embarcadero! I liked these things. Reminded me of the moving art sculpture at RPI. 

The south embarcadero featured more homeless people and a fishing pier. No homeless folks ever hassled me in all of my walking, though.

I liked this! How cute!

This is the bridge for crossing the main road to the South Embarcadero. 

And the view of the city. The other side is the more industrial port.

I walked a little more to Rolando’s Taco Shop.

Shrimp burrito & a fish taco! The fish taco was piled high with cabbage. I really liked the fish taco! It was only $1.50

The burrito was like $7.50 and CHOCK FULL OF SHRIMP. And cheese. And it worked. I ate half of it easily, but the 2nd half I wound up picking the shrimp out and eating the burrito skin. So good, but SO. MUCH. FOOD. My stomach just cannot.

My uncle & auntie wanted to hang more, so we drove around to the beach. Nice beach. Next time I will bring swim wear. Or find a beach where I don’t have to worry about forgetting a suit, lol. 

Dinner time was, you guessed it, more walking to Gaijin Noodle. Is it weird that I was all about these Asian fusion restaurants in San Diego? We just don’t have anything like it up in Albany, so I kind of wanted to get my fill of any and everything I can’t get normally. 

The bartender greeted me as soon as I walked in and invited me to sit at the bar so he could keep me company. Aw, sweet gesture even though I’m very comfortable by myself.
I ordered one of their shaved ice cocktails ($9), which was cherry syrup, chocolate pocky, and a side shot of sake to pour over. They put the cone in a cup with a wee spoon, so it makes for hands free drinking/consuming. I am super uncoordinated, so I wound up pouring about half of the sake on the counter. Whoops. Still tasty, though. It helped offset my meal, which wound up being EVERYTHING SPICY on them small dish menu. Even better, the bartender comped my drink at the end for whatever reason (I would hope my general awesomeness, but probably the pity comp for a single lady dining alone)

Yellowtail poke with purple potato cups on the bottom (with spicy togarashi dashed across!), a freebie salad on the left, and blistered shisito peppers sprinkles with more togarashi on the left. Oh man, I am all about shisito peppers now. They pack a punch, but nothing I can’t handle. Really enjoyable heat. 

Fire chicken wings. Slathered in a spicy sauce with peanuts, the skin was cooked non-crispy style, so it was okay, but I think it would have put them on another level if they crisped the skin just a bit.

I walked back to Pho Express for lunch on my last day. Papaya salad with shrimp. Oh man, I fell in love with papaya salad while I was in San Diego. I tried recreating it at home with absolutely no success. But this. Oh, this was great.

Crunchy green papaya in a tangy-tart sauce (it didn’t reek of fish sauce), and a whole bunch of crunchy crushed peanuts and sliced shrimp. How can anyone not love this? One of my favorite things about San Diego was that I got to eat seafood every day I was there. Albany Jane, depleting the oceans one bite at a time.

I grabbed a banh mi for a snack at the airport. It was like $4. Very reasonably priced. About 1.5 Albany Jane hands long. 

The bread was so great! Crispy on the outside & pillowy-soft on the inside. Beat the pants off of any $5 foot-long or any other airport snack option. 

Chock full of pickled carrots + daikon, cilantro, cucumber, porky pate, and a schmear of inoffensive mayo. 

Oh San Diego. I can’t wait to go back to you. With Albany John the next time. You weren’t as friendly as San Francisco, but holy cow were you full of so many tasty and dirt cheap eats. 

The more I exercise, the more I tend to crave foods that are… well, pretty good for the body. More meats and veggies, less fruit and processed crap. Overall, I think probably eat a fairly paleo diet lately (maybe 70%). Don’t get me wrong, I still freaking love cookies and pizza, but my bread lust has gone down significantly.

At any rate, consider this a heads up to expect some fitness-related posts and healthier menus here on Albany Eats! After almost 10 years, it’s time to start shaking things up a bit.

XO,
Albany Jane

Went to the Bier Abbey in Schenectady for dinner. Service was good, beers were tasty.

Got mussels. The menu lists them as $12 for 2 lbs. No way were these 2 lbs, though. The bowl was very shallow, so what you see is what I got. 1 lb of mussels at the Merry Monk is more than 2 lb of mussels at the Bier Abbey.

Mariner sauce (white wine & garlic) was good, but the mussels were also overcooked and shriveled up in the shell. Wonder if they were sitting in the kitchen for a while before the server brought them out? Any way, went with a group of friends for a birthday, and they weren’t inedible, but man. Since when is that 2 lbs?

At any rate, I’ll skip on the seafood. Chicken nuggets/strips looked much better. Merry Monk for mussels in the future.

California. You are happiness and sunshine.

Albany John and I took an early morning flight from Albany to San Francisco to visit some of his side of the family. Specifically, Aunt & Uncle Cali & our cousin. As soon as we got off of the plane, Auntie & Cousin took us to Chinatown SF.

Me and my cuz looking ah-maze on the streets of SF C-town. We ended up going to Great Eastern Restaurant for some dim sum goodies. They were ordered from a sheet. They were pretty busy, but we were sat quickly.

Har cheung fun. The noodles were a little on the thick side, and it was a bit tepid. I’m guessing they made it earlier and reheated this for us when we ordered it.

More goodies – turnip cake (tasted a little funky/tart), seafood dumplings, steamed lotus rice, har gow, and bean curd wrapped seafood (fried – so good).

Bitter melon stuffed with fish paste and veggies. Bitter melon was steamed to a very soft/mushy state. Not bad, I’d probably try making this at home, just a little less cooked.

Wontons  and those rockin beancured wrapped seafood packages.

Daniel B. recommended I try Golden Gate Bakery for their dan tats, but they were closed (on vacation) when Albany John and I were there, so we went to Wa Li Bakery instead. Their dan tats were okay. The crust was more pie like than dan-tat-crust-flaky (you know what I mean).

Girly cousin raved about Quickly. So I got a fresh watermelon drink, and Albany John got a neon “honeydew” drink. And hey, there is one of these in Flushing now. Cheap & tasty. My watermelon was ~$3.25 I think.

Bam. Chinatown. Seen. Supposedly San Francisco Chinatown goes 5 stories underground. Oh, we also saw the fortune cookie making factory place. It was just off of an alley and just a few ladies making fortune cookies. I don’t really like fortune cookies, so it was one of those ‘oh, people like these things’ moments for me.

And then we rode on a cable car and it was AWESOME! They didn’t even charge us. I have no idea why, maybe it was my childlike exhuberance “OH MY GOSH, THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! AAAHHH!!!”. But that was a great way to see the sights. I hung off of the side! Waahh, so dangerous, so thrilling!

Here was a nice park.

We drove down this hill. The one that is popular because of its curving and such. Although we were stuck behind some slow drivers, so it was a slow crawl down the hill. Auntie said it was more fun doing it faster. I am glad we were behind slow drivers. It turns out I am great at going up steep hills, but going down them I tend to go “Heeeeeeehhhh. HeeeeEEEEEHHHH. HHHHHHHEEEEEEHHHHHHH.” all nervous-like. I am not good down hill.

Finally got to check out 99 Ranch. It was only okay. The location we went to seemed really worn down, and prices were only okay. Go Albany, we have a comparable or better market for Asian foods!

Obligatory Golden Gate Bridge photo.

We got dinner from Mollie Stone’s – fresh dungeness crab! Holy crap, Mollie Stone’s is where I would shop all of the time if I lived in the Bay.

Hello, air chilled turkey for $3.99/lb!! WHAT?!

Fresh bread & crab from Mollie Stone’s! We had it with cocktail sauce, and mayo + dried mustard. My uncle likes it, and so I tried it. OH MY GOSH, I even like mayo in California! Mayo + mustard + crab = taste heaven. Actually, the crab was taste heaven all on its own. So sweet and meaty. Nothing like the blue crabs we get up here.

Our cousin in DC had sent some goodies from a trip to Japan. A SAMPLER PACKAGE OF JAPANESE KIT KATS. GET OUT. YES. These were all so good. Wasabi kit kats (just a wee kick, not really spicy) are a close second to green tea kit kats.

The next day the girlies hit up the mural district for a warehouse sale. I didn’t eat here, but I really liked the sign.

Blue Bottle Coffee! I stopped here because I really liked this when I had it at the Confectionery in Troy.   The barista was such a peach. He asked “Have you had a perfectly fantastic day today?” And in NY I would have been like “Pfff, okay dude, yeah, sure, just gimmie my coffee,”, but in California it just felt so genuine, and I couldn’t help but answer “… Yes. Yes, I really am!”

And then I had to be a smartass & text the Profussor:
Albany Jane: “Were you grumpy when you lived in California? Everyone is so happy here.”
Daniel B.: “No, I was happy.”

I GET IT. I TOTALLY GET IT. I SO GET IT NOW. People are nice. They care about quality. Prices are reasonable for what you get.

So we shopped for eleventy billion hours while Albany John went to Golden Gate Park, and eventually we grabbed lunch at Big Mouth Burgers. They had a cool sign, and we were really hungry.

Menu board.

Albany John got a falafel burger with beans. Zesty!

I got a cheeseburger with coleslaw. Holy crap, they mayo’ed that sucker up. BOTH sides of the buns were slathered in mayo. :X

Onion rings! Greasy spoon eats, yeah.

Capitol building.

Outta the closet – next time I’m going in.

Cheesy nibbles before dinner. Manchego on the left & humboldt fog on the right. I love Humboldt fog now. Tart, creamy, and just a wee bit crumbly. Great with Mary’s Gone Crackers.

I thought this picture of Albany John and his aunt cooking in the kitchen together was really sweet.

The next morning we went to the farmer’s market.

We didn’t buy fish from here, but here is an idea of prices and sourcing.

This bakery was AWESOME.

Gluten free bread section.

Pastries.

These were some expensive empanadas! $4 each, and they could fit in your palm!

They had live music, but unlike the music at Albany area farmers markets, this was of reasonable volume and you could carry on a normal conversation within a few feet of it, while still enjoying the music.

These strawberries were fantastic. And they started discounting them near the end of the market.

Draeger’s was the upscale food market. The service in the retail section upstairs was kind of ambivalent and crappy, but the staff who worked in the actual grocery store were really knowledgeable and great.

Wall of vinegars.

The locked case. Dill pollen – I wonder what that tastes like?

For dinner we had lamb. Grilled. Oh. So good.

Dinner precursor.

The next day I got to try a Peet’s.

It was okay, but kind of paled in comparison to Blue Bottle. But better than Starbucks.

Bevmo! This was neat to see IRLsies. They had a bunch of stuff we already have, but…

1800 Coconut Tequila?! What?! How have I not had that? Sadly, there was no room in my carry on for such souvenirs, so I had to pass up on it.

And then it was time for my favorite – walkies! Look at those gorgeous succulents!

More awesome neighborhood foliage!

We stopped by the tennis club Aunt, Uncle, & Cousin are members of. Albany John was tempted to take dip in the pool. (Too cold by California standards)

The Fairmont houses one of the few places on Albany John’s “Must Visit” list: The Tonga Room.

Albany John is a huge lover of all things tiki. If there was one place he had to visit while in San Francisco, it was the Tonga Room. The tiki bar that had indoor rainstorms every 30 minutes.

The rainstorms were pretty awesome to see.

While Albany John and I were up gazing at the rainstorms, Aunt & Uncle ordered up some fried spring rolls & fried calamari. The spring rolls were surprisingly good.

Drinks! Albany John got a Scorpion ($12) and I got a drink in a PINEAPPLE ($16). The Tonga Room is a bit on the pricey side, but for a (likely) once-in-a-lifetime trip for us, it was such a fun and memorable time. Also, those drinks were strong! I had to have Albany John help me finish my cocktail!

Kahlua pork spring rolls & coconut shrimp as 2nd round appetizers. Our aunt & uncle were so sweet – they are such wonderful hosts, they wouldn’t let us pay for anything while we were there. I can’t wait to return the favor when they visit NY.

It got a bit rainy later that night, but that didn’t stop our rockin uncle from planking salmon in the rain.

PLANKED SALON! I have heard tale of his smoked salmon, and it was so good. Marinated in a bit of olive oil, maple syrup, mustard seeds, and other such goodness…. Oh. Oh, Albany John needs to plan some seafood this summer. The plank really added a lot of smoky flavor to the salmon. And the skin was still nice & crisp.

Wines with dinner.

Salmon Look at how it glistens with delicious fat! I need all salmon to be like this now. All. So good. And so delectably rare on the inside.

And then my camera lens decided not to work any more, so I had to take photos on my phone.

I hope Albany John and I get to visit San Francisco again. Our family was so welcoming and great at touring us around. I don’t know if we could ever spend enough time with them. My uncle even took me with him to one of his boxing classes, which was way fun, but then I got used to California time and stopped waking up at 5 AM.

Albany John went back to Albany after our few days in San Francisco, and I went down to San Diego for a bit of solo time.

]]> http://albanyeats.net/2013/04/22/san-francisco/feed/ 1 albanyjane DSCF5882 DSCF5884 DSCF5886 DSCF5888 DSCF5889 DSCF5887 DSCF5890 DSCF5894 DSCF5892 DSCF5903 DSCF5907 DSCF5915 DSCF5909 DSCF5942 DSCF5934 DSCF5943 DSCF5944 DSCF5947 DSCF5949 DSCF5957 DSCF5960 DSCF5963 DSCF5966 DSCF5967 DSCF5968 DSCF5970 DSCF5972 DSCF5974 DSCF5978 DSCF5983 DSCF5987 DSCF5986 DSCF5984 DSCF5990 DSCF5988 DSCF5991 DSCF5994 DSCF6002 DSCF6001 DSCF6003 DSCF6007 DSCF6008 DSCF6009 DSCF6010 DSCF6016 DSCF6017 DSCF6013 DSCF6019 DSCF6028 DSCF6022 DSCF6035 DSCF6034 DSCF6036 DSCF6040 DSCF6042 DSCF6046 DSCF6044 DSCF6049 http://albanyeats.net/2013/04/15/dippikill/ http://albanyeats.net/2013/04/15/dippikill/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 02:16:33 +0000 albanyjane http://albanyeats.net/?p=7932 Read More

Hey, guess who willingly went camping the first weekend in March? This gal. It was even my idea. Craziness, I know. And a whole bunch of other adventuresome sorts came along. Phairhead & SexyBeast, Zero & his owners , and many more! We went to Dippikill up in Warrensburg, NY. Albany John has been with his friends several times. It was my first, and just a good one!

We stayed in Birches & also reserved the gatehouse for overflow campers.

Here’s a shot of gatehouse. It’s just a short walk from the parking lot. You can only rent gatehouse as an overflow, not on its own. Oh, in the winter you get sleds to schlep your stuff from your car to your cabin if you have a far walk.

Here’s what the inside of gatehouse looks like. Spiffy log cabin that keeps it super warm. Some folks who stayed in there one night added a few too many logs to the efficient fireplace and ended up sleeping in a sauna.

Dippikill provides some cookware, and a big ol’ percolator, but Albany John brought his cast iron. Oh mah gosh, guys. We ladies enjoyed such a fest of fatty proportions made by our woodsy menfolk. Actually, I don’t think I cooked any time I was there… Zero’s pops had the fantastic idea of cooking the chorizo he brought in the residual bacon fat after Albany John made some of my bacon for breakfast. Take that, perfect cholesterol levels!!

We also took a day trip to Oscar’s Smokehouse, which is also in Warrensburg, NY. I got some powerfully smoked hickory cheese curds. The smoke level was almost painful, yet also irresistible. Jerky was dry, unseasoned, and pretty inedible. Pickles were awesomely crunchy.

Dippikill provides wood for free/included with your reservation. All you have to do is chop more to replace what was by your cabin!

 

The lake was frozen over, so we took a hike over one day. Joyus puppers! And gigantic snowman.

Happy Husbear.

Post-camping aftermath. And lovable Zero in the background. Not too shabby for 12 people. While it might seem like social hour (and it can be: two of our merry men decided to stay up all night pouring Jim Beam by the mug, so don’t expect it to be quiet as a mouse), but I still found it easy to slip away for a few minutes or hours at a time to read in bed, or hang out where it was less noisy.

So, I would like to do this again, perhaps in June or late May some time, and get one of the big 25 person cabins. Would you like to come with, or come again? Let me know in the comments below! If we have all 25 people sign up, it works out to just under $35 per person for Friday-Sunday.

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And now it’s done, so if anyone has another 4/6/8 week workout plan they’d recommend,  I would totally appreciate it.

I kind of ate like a jerk (hello, dark chocolate Reese’s) for half of the time I was doing it (and I was sick for another week, yay), but despite that, I think I actually did lose a bit of fat and gained some muscle by week 4. I may have even added a few lbs, but my clothes are a bit looser, and I try not to obsess over the scale or other metrics, so that’s good enough for me.

My arms have different definition to them (esp in the forearm area), and my thighs are a lot more toned. My calves are even thinner and more defined, which really surprised me as they are prone to bulking up easily. I remember when I was into jogging when I was 18 – my calves were so big that flared jeans were snug on my calves!

I like their site – pretty minimal on the supplement taking compared to other fitness magazines, and easy to navigate. I would love to find a magazine like this geared to women, with routines like this geared toward women. Muscle & Fitness Hers is okay, but their site is kind of difficult to navigate sometimes.

The last time I saw Yeh-Yeh was when he was in New York Hospital Queens in Flushing, NY. He had suffered some more mini strokes and had an NG tube in. He slept for most of the time I was there, and only started waking up an hour or two before my dad, Albany John, and I left. There were flowers by his b

The time before that, he was in a rehab facility after his first stroke was discovered. He was awake, but didn’t recognize any of us, not that we could really tell. That really freaked me out. It made me anxious to see someone I love not recognize me, or his kids. He couldn’t even talk. After that visit I was probably more edgy, reserved, irritable, and anxious (or all of the above) than normal. It’s hard for me to know I’m unable to do anything to change a situation.

Any way, the last visit. I had stayed up way too late the night before (1 am, 2 am, 3 am?) having a pointless snip fit with Albany John. Later that morning when we woke up, I asked if he’d come down with me. Of course, he said yes. I’m glad I had the company in the car with just a few hours of sleep, and the support while we were there.

We got in around noon, and YehYeh snoozed for most of the time we were there. I found this very comforting. Like he wasn’t sick, and he was just tired. Some family friends/extended family were there, and left a bit after we got there. We had several hours just with YehYeh, and spent a few minutes in our chairs snoozing right next to him. I really liked that. No rush. No fussing. Just some time with my YehYeh.
My Dad & Auntie showed up later in the afternoon. Some time around 4 or 5 the potassium they were administering to him really must have started kicking in, because he started waking up and looking around. He’d look right at you. My Dad had told me earlier how he’d give anything just to have him around for a while just blinking. Man, I had that same feeling when he opened his eyes.

We left a little after that, some time close to 5:30 or 6 pm so my dad and Albany John and I could get some dinner. I kind of didn’t want to leave, especially because he had just opened his eyes, but it had been a hard day, and it was nice to have someone else tell you to do something, or to go.

We wound up at Sam Won Gak in the Murray Hill subset of Flushing. I had mentioned I could go for Korean, we drove around and found free(!) parking outside on the street, and Sam Won Gak sounded pretty good. Turns out, it’s Korean-Chinese fusion. They start you out with some pickled yellow daikon, raw sweet onions, bean paste, and kimchi as the banchan. Not the most plentiful, but not bad.

The waitresses were all older auntie type ladies, who worked together like an efficient military group. Sam Won Gak seems to be a hang out and drink kind of place, at least on a Saturday around 6 PM. Most of the other patrons were middle aged guys or older hanging out and putting away soju like it was their job. No rush, spacious tables, minimal decor. I’d probably like going here a lot if I lived here, because there’s more space than a bar, and it’s much quieter than a bar, too.

I forget what this was exactly called, but it’s basically like a Korean take on General Tso’s chicken, but less greasy/gloppy than the Americanized Chinese dish. But still a bit gloppy. $13 or $16 or something like that. A big plate of battered and fried chicken pieces in a lightly spicy cornstarch sauce with a smattering of veggies. The waitress double checked on wanting it spicy, and I was kind of bummed by the heat level. Didn’t even require a second glass of water. Flavorful, but not very spicy. Even my dad agreed that this was tasty, and not painfully spicy.

My Dad spent a few weeks in (South) Korea this past year. He was in a fairly rural part and couldn’t really get down with the food served in most restaurants because it was usually so spicy. He liked this seafood soup a lot, and said it was really flavorful, and nothing like you’d be able to actually get in Korea. It was something like $8-9 and came with a ton of seafood and veggies. Massive bowl, flavorful and light/non-greasy broth, and tons of seafood. I liked it, too.

Albany John went for the spicy crab soup ($9-10). Oh man, was that also a good choice. Like my “spicy” chicken, it was also not very spicy. Like, probably a 2/10 in terms of heat. Flavorful, though, and also a clean broth. A bounty of seafood, and plenty of real crab – no fake stuff here.

We drove home that night.

我爱你, 爺爺.

I love you, Yeh-Yeh.

YehYeh passed away this past Thursday.

This guy – he was always up for an adventure. I still can’t really process that he’s gone, although my dad’s been making funeral arrangements. It was fairly quick, so most of my family is glad that he didn’t suffer for too long. I don’t quite know what I feel, other than that I miss him. We’re all glad we got to celebrate his 80th birthday as a big bash two years ago. There pictures are from that party. The one above really captures his spirit – smiling and always looking to have a good time.

But the one below is my favorite:

Now I know where I got my facial expressions from. I know I’ve made this one a bunch. Excitement, emotion = exaggerated face. I’m hoping inside that it will kind of be a big joke and he’ll be all better and be like “Ah ha! Got you!!” when everyone gets there for his funeral next weekend.

I miss you, Yeh-Yeh.

I keep calling The Flying Chicken the Frying Chicken, mainly because that is the first thing I think of when I think of them. I got a massive biscuit with chicken fried steak, white gravy, and topped with a sunny side up egg. I had trouble finishing all of this, but it was so good!

Albany John got two pieces of dark meat with a biscuit and some collards. Man, those were some good collards.

The fry job on the chicken fried steak and chicken were great – crisp exterior with lots of crunch, and moist meat underneath. Yes.  Albany John loves the Flying Chicken. He’s eaten there a whole bunch in the past month, and his only regret from his first meal there was that “All other lunches have not been at the Flying Chicken,”. It’s a casual place where you order and pay at the counter, then bus your own table.

Oh, and this is also the beginning of my camera dying – I thought the blurriness was just smudging I didn’t notice, but guess what? The pictures get blurrier/smudgier and it turns out my outer lens started dying, so now I need to find a new camera, yay.