Sunday, December 3, 2017

Oh Pizza, Where Art Thou



So much has happened in 24 hours. 

It all started with a dinner party based on Land of Fish and Rice. The menu:

+ Shanghai noodles with dried shrimp and spring onion oil (SUPER EASY, STUPID TASTY)
+ Ningbo omelette (you think you have too many chives, but get this - you DON'T. They hecka earthy fragrant. Also the directions say to flip it, but it also doesn't specify pan size and my fry pan was so large it was cooked through in less than a minute with no flip required. So you can choose your own adventure.)
+ Shaoxing slow-cooked pork belly (is it possible to go wrong with pork belly?)
+ Spiced wheat gluten and four delights (the most work, the most beautiful. Will never make again but will pay any amount to put it back in my mouth)
+ Cucumber salad (always and forever. Is there any culture that doesn't do this right?)
+ Slippery wood-ear salad with coriander (this black mushroom looks so much like ears it's FREAKY.)
+ Green soybeans with snow vegetable (the surprise of the night, and may've been my favourite)


Spring onion noodles, soybeans with snow veg, and below, spiced gluten with the full spread

       

We made a sleepover of it and ended the night in our TV nook (or the 'Den of Iniquity' as we like to call it, our Room-under-the-Stairs), watching Nightmare Before Christmas - Al and I hadn't ever seen it, and Pip and Rich knew EVERY WORD AND SANG ALONG (heck, I didn't even know it was a musical) so basically, our christening was in the best environment possible.

Then we get to today: EATING-CHRISTMAS SUNDAY. We decided to try the All Star Lanes Christmas burger, described as "a turkey, chestnut and cranberry patty beneath a layer of duck-fat-roasted potato salad, topped with a sausage and apricot stuffing fritter." Here's what we got:



Not gonna lie: the description was close enough, and It. Was. Tasty. The problem? The cold potatoes that constantly fell out, and sogged up the bottom bun, on a hot burger (this contrast did not bother Al, but man loves potatoes, so if you are in that category, it likely won't bother you, either). I will also contest their use of 'fritter' - while I did find that bulbous hunk on the top to be the tastiest bite of the entire burger (Honestly. GOOD), it was far closer to a meatball than anything battered and deep-fried, and I didn't taste a lot of stuffing.

All of that is minor, though - it was objectively a tasty, tasty burger and we would both definitely eat it again. The real problem? THE SETTING. This is a BOWLING ALLEY. In a MALL. Maybe other locations are different - a BOWLING ALLEY. In the FINANCIAL DISTRICT - but regardless, this time of year, esp on a Sunday, it's Kidsfest2017. We were surrounded by shrieking birthday parties, balloons, tiny monsters screaming at vocal pitches that should not be possible in humans - and no burger could possibly be worth the assault on the senses. 

But we ate it, and we liked it, and would even go so far as to recommend it (if you can get it delivered, or enjoy dining out with headphones).

Then we took our full bellies to the nicest of nap spaces: the movie theatre. We watched Murder on the Orient Express, and as usual with me and mysteries, I did not come close to guessing the culprit. Alan took a nap. Altogether, SO SATISFYING. I hope they make more. 

Now we're home for the evening and waiting for our Christmas pizza from Yard Sale. I am going to be MADE of brussels sprouts by the end of this month. 

I love this country.

Big hug and lots of love,
Esss

2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh you hadn't seen The Nightmare Before Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  2. I KNOW! I don't know how I missed it!

    ReplyDelete