The Angry Korean

So, Valentine's Day isn't so much something we celebrate here at home; I'm pretty ambivalent about most holidays, and can skip most as well as not. This semester, since I'm teaching an evening class that coincided with Valentine's Day, my husband and I decided that it was a good an excuse the avoid the whole thing altogether and go out for for dinner tonight (really this was an excuse to visit The Angry Korean, which my husband really wanted to try).

We started with the fried tofu, which was served with scallion
sauce and sesame oil.

We both had the rice bowls - I had the chicken katsu (panko-crusted fried chicken with house katsu sauce and avocado-cilantro aioli), while my husband had the beef bulgogi; both rice bowls included a fried egg, two pieces of mandoo (a meat-filled Korean dumpling), Japchae noodles (stir-fried glass noodles), rice, and a salad; a kimchee sample and a house-made beef and daikon soup on the side.

my chicken katsu rice bowl

It was pretty awesome. Ed cleaned out his bowl and what remained of mine. (There was a lot of food.)

Tonkotsu

My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew are visiting for Christmas, and today, being my sister-in-law's birthday, we went out for lunch at Tonkotsu, a ramen bar and that also serves shabu shabu (hot pot).

We started with a number of appetizers, including fried pork.
We also tried some excellent pork gyoza and
harumaki (veggie egg rolls), which I didn't get pictures of. 

We also had some fried chicken (but it was called something
more appetizing than that).

Each hot pot came with a lovely bowl of fresh vegetables, tofu, and udon noodles (at the bottom of the bowl); one then chose one's type of meat (one could choose a few different cuts of beef, pork, vegetables, even salmon) and type of broth.

A good way to get my veggies today.

I chose the beef belly.

Good grub was delicious.

Red Pepper Indian Restaurant

One of my friends from my graduate school days in New York had moved to Melbourne several years ago, and was fortunately available to meet us for lunch while were in town; even more conveniently, she works down the road from our hotel, and suggested an excellent Indian restaurant around the corner from where she works and where we happened to be staying.

I can't recall the name of the dish we each ordered, but each of us got four different curries (my friend ordered the vegetarian curry options, while my husband and I got three curries with meat), rice, and naan. 

Wagyu One

We're spending two nights in Melbourne, and tonight my husband was in the mood for something a bit fancy, so we located Wagyu One, a Japanese BBQ restaurant around the corner from our hotel.

We ordered the Wagyu One Dinner Complete. It started with assorted sashimi and tempura, then a choice of soups (I ordered the seaweed soup; my husband had the miso soup). Along with steamed rice, our BBQ came with MS 5 Sirloin, oyster blade, ramp, diced cut ox tongue, Negi tongue, Chu-Toro, Scotch fillet, chuck rib, flat meat, and vegetables. (Aside from the vegetables and ox tongue, I'm not sure I'd be able to identify which meat was which.) It was a fantastic meal.

the assorted sashimi 

the tempura vegetables, which included shrimp

my seaweed soup

The meats came uncooked...

...but our table had a grill in the center of it, and we were able  to cook the
meats to our liking.

Sydney Fish Market

My husband and I decided to take a look around Sydney Fish Market today, and planned our visit so that we would have time for lunch. There were a lot of choices, and some really good looking seafood all over the place, so we decided to try a few different places.

First, we had a Nicholas Platter 1 from Nicholas Seafood Traders, which came with two lobster tails; a white fish fillet; two octopus skewers; three scallop Mornays; two Singapore chill prawns; flower-cut squid; calamari rings; and white bait; as well as a garden salad, fries, and sweet potatoes.

Of course, this was not nearly enough food, so we had sushi from Peter's Fish Market, where we tried the salmon, the tuna, the cooked salmon, the eel, and the Moreton Bay Bug, as well as one more type (in the lower right corner) that I'm not sure of.

The Spice Room

After a morning of visiting the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens, my husband and I wanted lunch, so we swung by The Spice Room for what turned out to be one of the best Indian meals we've ever had.

appetizer: gheeya mushroom tikka

appetizer: tandoori lamb kati roll

butter naan

mushroom and cheese naan

I ordered the Dhaba-Style chicken curry.

My husband ordered the Railway Canteen Goat Curry.

New Tai Yuen Restaurant

This is our first night in Australia. After a 17-hour flight from Los Angeles, my husband and I were pretty tired, so we didn't do much today. After taking a nap, we got our bearings and explored Chinatown, which was a few blocks away from our hotel, and had dinner at New Tai Yuen Restaurant.  

My husband had the sizzling lamb.

I had the salt and pepper soft shelled crab, which was a bit
too salty, but which otherwise was very good.

And we shared some rice.

Spice Bistro

We found ourselves on the other side of the Salt Lake Valley this evening, heading to an open house hosted by a coworker of my husband's, but we stopped off for dinner at Spice Bistro first.

appetizer: Samosa Chat
 (vegetable samosa mixed with chickpeas,
tomatoes, cilantro, and onion,
topped with mint tamarind and yogurt sauce)

garlic cheese naan

I ordered the lamb korma. The sauce was good, but the lamb
was not especially tender.

Himalayan Kitchen

My father-in-law was in town unexpectedly this weekend, and on his last night here, we took him to Himalayan Kitchen. We've been there with him before and he had enjoyed it, so requested to go back.

We started with the vegetable platter, which came with a
vegetable samosa, vegetable pakora, and onion bhaji.

We also shared paneer pakora. 

My father-in-law had the Kathmandu tandoori, which came
with chicken, lamb, prawns, and shish kebab.

Both my husband and I had the lamb tikka masala.

Also: poori!

Asian Tao

After a doctor's appointment that ended at about lunchtime today, my husband and I stopped off at the nearby Asian Tao for lunch.

We started by sharing some salt and pepper squid.

We also shared some shrimp summer rolls.

I had pho with meatball, beef, and brisket.

Kubota

My husband and I are in San Jose for a conference - or, more correctly, I'm here for a conference, and my husband, who grew up in San Jose, came with me so we're making the trip a mini-vacation. Tonight is our first night here, and we decided so make our way to Japantown and had dinner at Kubota.

We both had a crispy calamari salad.

We started with unagi (eel), sake (salmon), and toro
(fatty tuna) nigiri.

We shared a fried spicy tuna roll with house sauce.

We shared a lobster tail tempura roll.

My husband had Nabeyaki Udon: mixed seafood, chicken, and
vegetables with noodles in a hotpot.

While my husband had flan for dessert, I had bananas Foster.

Ocean Harbor

I'm in Philadelphia for the MLA Convention, and my husband was able to come with me (although he gets to enjoy some time off, as opposed to hearing some teaching nerds geek out). Our hotel is in North Philadelphia, and we're about half a mile away from Chinatown and the Reading Terminal Market, which means we'll be eating very well for the next few days. Tonight we went to Ocean Harbor for dinner. Apparently they're well-known for dim sum, but that might be a weekend thing because we ordered from the menu.

We shared the House Special Seafood Thick Soup.

The pan-friend dumplings were excellent - the best part
of the email.

My husband had some scallops. 

He also had the chicken lo main. (He was hungry, apparently.)

I had a hot pot: diced steak with black pepper sauce. Pretty good!

Flavors of India

My husband expressed a desire for Indian food, and since I'm nearly always amenable to Indian food, we had dinner at Flavors of India.

We shared an order of assorted fritters, which came with
a vegetable samosa, onion pakora, vegetable pakora, and
chicken pakora. 

I can't go to an Indian restaurant and not order a lamb dish.
Tonight I ordered lamb tikka masala.

And we shared an order of garlic naan.

Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse

My husband's birthday was earlier in the week, but since we were traveling, we were unable to go out to dinner. This evening we went to Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse, his favorite place to go on his birthday. 

My entree came with a salad, which is one of my favorites.

My husband really likes gyoza, so we always get an order.

And I rather like the Japanese egg rolls.

I ordered the Samurai Special, which came with salmon,
shrimp, and filet mignon, as well as veggies and fried rice.

We also shared two rolls. This is a tater tot roll: shrimp
tempura, hamachi and crab mill roll topped with tempura
baby scallops, crab, spicy mayo, and eel sauce.

This is the T.N.T. roll: shrimp tempura, eel,
and avocado roll topped with crab,
spicy tuna, tobiko, spicy mayo, and eel sauce.