jgische's Journal
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
jgische's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Friday, July 9th, 2010 | | 2:01 am |
Poker brutality
Played at Lucky Chances last night, and I had one of those sessions where nothing went right. 1-1-2 no limit hold'em (for the uninitiated, that means that the blinds are $1 and $2, the button also posts $1 [which plays], and it's $4 to play the hand.) One additional definition that will be useful if you don't know it: Killing the pot - a player puts out a $4 blind before cards are dealt, which has two effects on the hand: - It is now $8 to play the hand rather than $4. - The player who kills the pot gets to act last pre-flop, after the big blind. 1) I have KK in the big blind. Two callers before Mike makes it $15 from the small blind. I raise it to $40, everyone but Mike folds. Flop comes QT8. Mike checks, I jam, pushing Mike all-in for his last $60, which he calls. Turn is a blank, river is a J which gives him a straight when he shows his 99. That hand fairly well summarizes my lifetime experience playing against Mike. 2) The very next hand, I have 77 in the sb. A wild player in mid position kills the pot, which he'd been doing a lot for the past hour, almost always raising if anyone dared to enter the pot with him. One caller in late position, I call, planning to reraise the wild player. As expected, he raises $50. Player in late position calls all-in, and I don't rethink my plan because I'm still steaming a bit from the last hand. I push all-in for another $60 above his bet, he calls. Wild player has AQ, late player has KK, and I'm annoyed at myself. Flop and turn miss everyone, and an A spikes the river to give the wild player the whole pot. I hate the way I played this hand for a few reasons. - I let my frustration at the previous hand effect my play. I just can't do that. - I didn't adjust when the other (sane) player intervened. Once he called all-in, I had to realize he had a hand. I wasn't the only player at the table waiting to set a trap for the wild player. - I didn't have the proper stack size to make that play, regardless. Even without the late player making the call, $60 isn't enough to push the wild player off any two cards if he makes a big bet there. I'd guess I would want another $100 to make that move if we were heads up. So hopefully I can chalk that one up to frustration and learn something from it. 3) AA in early position, I'm first in the pot I raise to $8. 3 callers see a flop T33. Checked to me, I bet $20. 2 folds and a call from the blind. Turn is a T. We both check. River is a blank. He bets $20, I call, he shows K3. Yes, I know, that's why you don't make such a small raise preflop, but I did want to get some action with my big pair. 4) QJo, Mike bets 8 I call and we see the flop heads up, A(QJ)h. Mike bets $20, I make it $60, he puts me all-in for $60 more and I call. He shows A9h and spikes an A on the river. As it turns out, he's a small favorite when the money goes in, but that didn't make me feel much better. 5) 77, checked to me in late position, I raise to $10. Player right behind me has been trying to lose his smallish stack for the past 30 minutes so he can go home (no, I don't understand this logic, either.) He raises all-in for $50, I call. He has AQo (the best hand I'd seen him do that with for a while) and spikes an A to win. 6) AJo in middle position. First to act calls, I make it $12, get 5 callers. Flop x(xA)h. I bet $60, get one all-in caller for his last $25. A heart comes on the river to make his 7Th flush. 7) 7Tc I limp along with 4 others, flop comes Ac(89)d. Checked to me, I bet $12. Folded around to sb who raises to $24. I call to see the turn card, Kc. Small blind bets out $40. He has over $100 back and i have him covered. Since I just picked up a flush draw to go with my open-ended straight draw, I call. River comes an offsuit Q. He leads out and I fold face-up. He shows me his A8 for a flopped 2 pair. 8) It's after midnight, and I've been slowly working my way back to a less-bad session. There's a different guy at the table that has been killing most of the pots. He does it again this hand. 4 players limp for $8 and I find 99. I make it $60. Killer jams (has me covered.) One of the limpers tanks for a while before calling for $80 total. Killer tries to talk me into folding, but I'm feeling committed to this move so I call my last $80. Killer asks me what I have, I say I have a pocket pair. He asks me if it can beat JJ. Oops. Board comes 844 7 T. Limper's 88 hits trips so he takes the main, but I don't improve and I go home. I'm not thrilled with that last hand for two main reasons - I don't like the size of my raise. I think I was tired and not quite evaluating the action clearly, because in retrospect, $60 seems really big when no one has more than $8 in yet and the pot is currently under $40. $40 seems like a much better size. - I seem to have made up my mind before the killer's action that I was going to ride all the way on this pot. The limper's slow decision made me fairly sure that he had a pocket pair, and most of the pocket pairs ahead of me he would have raised with, not limped in with as his first action, so I did consider his call before making my own call. I don't think I did enough consideration of the killer's cards, though. Sure, he was a wild player, but with 5 players to act after him, he's not going to do that with nothing. So what am I concerned about? There are 5 pocket pairs he might have that are way ahead of me. There are a decent number of high-card hands he might have that I'm about 50% against. Does he have any hands that I'm well ahead of? Maybe 88 or 77, but that'd be a ballsy over the top move when he only had $4 committed to the pot. I'm having to call $80 to win $380, so I think I have to call here anyway, but I didn't do a thorough analysis so much as I though to myself "last hand, either I make a big dent in my losing session or I go home with nothing." Overall, it was a painful night. I had a lot of good cards (AA twice, KK three times, AKs once, AK twice, probably around 20 other smaller pairs) but I just couldn't win a showdown. | | Saturday, June 19th, 2010 | | 7:52 pm |
| | Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 | | 10:06 pm |
Long time no post
Wow, over six months since I last posted. Some highlights: - On the poker front, I've stopped playing limit holdem and have instead switched to no limit. I got tired of watching donkeys call down to the river to hit their crazy draws and suck out on me. In the no limit game, that might still happen, but the donkeys are paying a huge price to do it. So far the results have been very good, and I'm enjoying the game more than I have in a while. - Here's something you don't hear much from our family. Vacations. We went to Sayulita over spring break. It's a cute little town 30 minutes from Puerto Vallarta. We traveled with another family from Alex's school, and had a blast. We spent a lot of time relaxing, which was pretty much what all of us needed. A few weeks later, Kim had a business trip planned to New Jersey. This was originally going to be a two day trip, with me left home with the girls. Through some amazing circumstances (and exuberant lobbying from my parents and sisters), it turned into a week trip (with two days taken as vacation) with Kim taking both girls with her to visit my family. So my family back east was treated to a week-long visit with my wife and daughters, and I was treated to a week of peace. Never has a week when I worked every day seemed so relaxing. Not being responsible to or for anyone else is something I hadn't ever actually experienced as an adult in the working world, and I have to say it was a wonderful gift. This coming June, Kim and I are taking off to the Philippines to attend her coworker's wedding. My folks are coming out to stay here and watch the girls. We're going to stop in Hong Kong for three days, then spend three days at a resort on Boracay. Without the kids. I am so looking forward to that. - The ankle injury that I experienced in the fall at that kids party hasn't wanted to heal. It's driving me crazy. This injury is making it that much harder to get back into shape. - I've started to get to the gym again with a little regularity, which has been nice. It's the start of a long road back. - We can actually see the remodel beginning sometime in the nearish future. How's that for a commitment after two+ years of planning? - Alex finishes up first grade in a couple of weeks. Thus begins another summer, with a new schedule every week. Whatever happened to kids going to one camp all summer long? - Marty is a very intense child. Everything she does seems over the top. And man, the child talks non-stop. She is a handful, and I sense she's going to continue to be so for a long time. So that's where we're at. Maybe I'll post again this calendar year. | | 9:14 pm |
How in the hell did she do that?
Marty was being petulant this evening after dinner, going into a crying fit because her mean daddy refused to unscrew the lid to her full sippy cup of water. So I took her to her room, told her to read some stories or play with her toys, and left her there while I returned to complete my dinner. After about ten minutes, I went to check on her, and she was playing with her door. When I tried to open it, there was something keeping it from swinging open more than halfway. I squeezed in to her room to get a better look. I didn't see anything jamming it open. Hm. Then I noticed what seemed like some smudges on her door. They kinda looked like little hand prints. I looked closer and the lower door hinge caught my eye. Was I seeing things, or was the pin practically hanging my a thread? No, the pin was sitting there, barely resting in the hinge at all. It is really possible that my <2 year old was able to pull the pin out of her door hinge, wipe grease on her door, and then try to put the pin back? It sure as hell looks that way. | | Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 | | 11:28 am |
I clearly need more sleep
I've been on a retarded schedule recently. I don't think I've been to sleep before 3am for weeks. It all started with the cold that I caught about a month ago. I wasn't sleeping much anyway, so I had little incentive to actually crawl into bed and begin the suffering. Now it's just become a bad habit. At least I'm being somewhat productive some of these late nights. Anyway, I'm here in the office, drinking coffee and enjoying it immensely. I know I'm tired when coffee tastes this good. Current Mood:  sleepy | | Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | | 5:09 pm |
| | Sunday, September 27th, 2009 | | 6:49 pm |
It's been a bad day
Ever have one of those days? Group kids birthday party this morning at Sky High, a pretty sweet trampoline place. I get onto the trampolines, jump around for maybe 15 seconds, and severely sprain my ankle. I spend the remainder of the two hour party sitting on a couch in the lounge area with my foot elevated and icing. The lounge was pretty nice, with a big screen tv tuned to the NFL, so it could have been a lot worse. This afternoon, sitting at my desk in the home office. Alexandra comes to sit on my lap. She somehow manages to swing her arms around and knock over my cup with a couple of inches of soda still in it. Carnage ensues to the assorted paperwork on my desk, which I have to rush and try to clean up (on a bum ankle.) A few minutes later, my laptop freaks out. BSOD. And I can't reboot, with the message being "there is no hard drive." Fuck. I have a ton of work on this machine that isn't backed up anywhere. Kim opened it up and said that the HD looks fine so I'm hopeful my IT guy can just swap it into another machine tomorrow, so I suppose I'll have to limp my way in there in the morning. Tomorrow needs to be a better day. Current Mood:  aggravated | | Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 | | 1:19 pm |
Restaurant review: Lorenzo's Sandwich Shop
I've lived in San Carlos for almost ten years now, and somehow have managed to not try Lorenzo's until today. It's mostly a matter of opportunity, as I'm typically not at home during lunchtime. Kim and I were working at home today (tending for the sick toddler) so I finally took the opportunity to give it a try. Location: Across the street from the Carlmont Shopping Center in a small storefront. 911 Villa Ave Belmont, CA 94002 (650) 592-4321 Look and feel: This is truly a sandwich shop. There's a deli counter, a refrigerator with drinks and side salads, and a cash register. No frills, no seats. And they only take cash, so hit the atm before you get there. Menu: Sandwiches, drinks, side salads (potato, macaroni, cole slaw.) That's about it. The food: Turkey, provolone, bacon, avocado on a whole wheat roll (with everything) - Everything was fresh and tasty and made for a well-balanced sandwich. The shredded iceberg is crisp, the bacon is meaty, and the bread is soft. I have to confess that I couldn't really taste the garlic spread that so many yelpers rave about, which isn't all that surprising given that "everything" includes the garlic spread, mayo, and brown mustard. Pastrami and swiss on rye (with lettuce, tomato, mustard) - It's not the best pastrami sandwich I've ever had, but it would be unfair to expect this local shop to compete with actual NY delis. It was, however, one of the better ones I've found in the bay area. Potato salad - They make a good potato salad. The potatoes are cooked just right, there's just enough other stuff (onion, celery, ??) for texture, and the dressing is flavorful. Service: Order a sandwich, they make your sandwich. It moves along like a pretty well-oiled machine. The people were all friendly. Value: It was $15 for two sandwiches and a potato salad. It's not super-cheap, but that's a perfectly fine price for the quality of food you get. Will I go back? Yep. I may not do sandwiches for lunch when I'm working from home all that often, but when I do, I'll go back to Lorenzo's. | | Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 | | 11:10 pm |
Restaurant review: Vino Santo Bistro
Vino Santo Bistro is a cute little Italian restaurant in downtown Redwood City, at 2030 Broadway St, near Jefferson. Location: It's part of the newly gentrified downtown, on a pleasant tree-lined street with several other comfortable-looking eateries. There is a public lot directly across the street if you can't find street parking. Look and feel: It's a smallish bistro with a welcoming feel. Lots of booths, casual lighting. It was less than half full on a Tuesday night at 7pm when I brought my wife, 6yo daughter, and 1yo daughter in for dinner. Menu: The menu looks like a fairly standard Italian restaurant. Salads, appetizers, pastas, and meats. The food: All of the above is nice, but it's a restaurant, so it all boils down to the food. Unfortunately, this is where I thought the evening fell flat. Soon after being seated, the waiter brought us a basket of warm bread and olive oil for dipping. Scratch that, make it PIPING HOT bread. Breaking off those first few pieces was indeed a challenge. The bread was fresh with a crusty exterior and a soft interior. The olive oil had practically its own tapenade in the bottom, which I thought was an interesting and flavorful touch. (I don't understand the squeamishness of other reviewers on this item, it didn't seem odd to me at all.) Grigliata Di Polenta - Grilled polenta topped with feta and mushroom sauce. This was a very nice dish. The polenta was soft with a light crust. The mushroom sauce and feta added a nice rich flavor. Mushroom Soup - Cream of porcini(?) soup. Pretty nice flavor, but too salty. Tortellini Carbonara - My wife ordered this, and there was something off about it. There was no sweet, and there wasn't even much salty to it. Mostly, it tasted charred. I'm guessing they actually cooked the sauce over a flame (rather than the traditional way of cooking it with the heat of the pasta) and burned the cream. It was edible, but not particularly good. Gnocchi with Pesto Cream Sauce - My daughter loves gnocchi and pesto, so this was an easy choice for her. Unfortunately, this dish seemed to be missing an entire piece of the recipe. All we tasted was basil. Was there even any garlic in the dish? It was also missing a sweet element. Personally, I'm not a big fan of pesto, but my wife and daughter are huge fans, and they both thought this was a pretty big disappointment. They ate less than half of the dish and we didn't bother to take the rest home. Ravioli Di Formagio Al Aragosta - I ordered this special, a dish of crab & cheese ravioli in a light cream sauce with a lobster meat topping. This was a very nice dish. The ravioli were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was subtle and flavorful. Rich, but not too rich. One good appetizer, one okay appetizer, one good entree, and two pretty bad entrees. That just doesn't cut it. I must admit I am shocked at the number of stellar reviews for this place here on yelp. I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that we didn't drink any wine and most other reviewers seem to partake. (Strangely, had I been dining alone, I'd be giving this place a much better review since the two dishes I ordered were by far the best ones we had.) Service: The service was very good. Our waiter and the busboy were ever present without being obtrusive. Our water glasses never got below half-full, our dishes were bussed shortly after we finished with them, and the courses arrived promptly without feeling rushed. Value: $72 for dinner for three, after tip. Is that too expensive? Not if the food had been better, but honestly, if the food is unsatisfactory then no price is going to make for a good value. Will I go back? Nope. I accept that this might have been an off night for them, but there are too many other Italian restaurants on the peninsula that I haven't tried yet, and plenty of others that I already know and like, to take another chance on a place that was such a miss. | | Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | | 9:13 pm |
It's good to know there are still low-quality spammers out there
But seriously, does anyone fall for this? I mean, I guess if I really didn't want to "loose" my account... ----- Subject: Dear Yahoo! Account User ! ! ! From: Yahoo! Mail Dear Yahoo Account User, This message is from Yahoo! Mail message center to all Yahoo! Mail account owners. We are currently upgrading our database and e-mail account center due to congestion. We are deleting all unused Yahoo! Mail account to create more space for new accounts. To prevent your account from closing, you will have to verify it below before One (1) week from now! VERIFY YOUR YAHOOMAIL ACCOUNT NOW!!! Yahoo Mail ID:................................ Password:............................... ...... Your Birthday:............................... . Your Country or Territory:.................... Click on the reply button to send the above requested information to us. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before One (1) week of receiving this warning will loose his or her account permanently. Regards, Yahoo! Team. ---------------------------------------- ------------------------- Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright/IP Policy - Terms of Service - Guide to Online Security NOTICE: We collect personal information on this site. To learn more about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089. ---------------------------------------- ------------------------ | | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | | 12:57 pm |
| | Friday, May 1st, 2009 | | 2:31 pm |
Tea party for daddy
Forwarded to me at work: One day my mother was out, and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up. Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?" | | Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | | 11:34 pm |
Oidon
Oidon is Japanese noodle place on 4th Ave in San Mateo, located up above the Japanese market by the intersection with South San Mateo Dr. Look and feel: It's a small, homey-feeling place. Maybe ten small tables and a bar. There's nothing fancy here, but it feels authentic. Menu: Mostly noodle soups and noodle dishes, with an assortment of other options. Be forewarned - their soups come to the table practically boiling. The food: I pretty exclusively focus on the soups. I love the comfort of a good noodle soup, so that's what I order. These are the ones I recall strongest. Champon - Seafood, meat, and vegetables in a salt-broth with ramen noodles. Delicious. This is my favorite item on the menu. Nabeyaki Udon - Seafood, meat, and vegetables in a dashi broth with udon noodles, served in an iron pot. Seafood Nabeyaki Udon - As above, with more seafood and less meat. Service: They can be slow, especially when they're busy during the midweek lunch rush. Other than that, the service is fine, if not notable. Value: You get a huge bowl of soup for a reasonable price. Totally worth it. Will I go back? Oh yes. Especially on rainy winter days. | | Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 | | 9:57 pm |
Homma's Brown Rice Sushi
Homma's is a tiny sushi place that specializes in brown rice sushi. Location: Just off California Ave in ???-town (what do you call this area?) Palo Alto just off California Ave. It's about as hidden as a restaurant can be. Look and feel: It's a tiny place with no frills at all. Four small tables inside with plastic chairs. Another four tables outside. Miso soup served in styrofoam cups. You're not going to be impressed by the atmosphere, so if that is something you crave, don't bother trying this place. The food: Fresh fish and assorted vegetables served with hearty brown sushi rice. Brown rice in sushi is different, without doubt, but if you're looking to get away from white rice in general, you owe it to yourself to try this place. The fish is excellent, and the assortment of vegetable options is impressive. Service: They're not quick, but they're nice, and they'll get to you eventually. None of the locals seems to eat in, they call in their orders an hour ahead of time and then pick up when it's ready. I recommend following that lead if you can. Value: It's reasonably priced sushi. Not cheap, not crazy expensive. Given the lack of amenities, I'd say it's a little pricier than you might expect, but the food quality is really good, and honestly, if you want brown rice sushi, this is the only game in town that I know of. Will I go back? Yep. This is our sushi of choice at the moment, even though it's not exactly in the neighborhood. | | 9:55 pm |
Juban
Juban is an Asian BBQ place in Burlingame. Some coworkers love this place, so I joined them for lunch Location: Downtown Burlingame. Look and feel: Non-distinctive. It's clean and decently appointed. This is neither a reason to go nor a reason to avoid. Menu: Asian bbq. The food: I tried the Garlic Steak & Ginger Pork Yakiniku. The meat is served raw, and you cook it on the tabletop grill. Both meats were pretty good. Tasty, but not exactly tender. A few vegetables to grill alongside were a nice touch. The side dishes of spinach, daikon, bean sprouts, and soy sprouts were good. The Tamago soup was forgettable. Service: Service was reasonable, but given how empty they were, I would have expected a little more attention. Value: Here's where they lose me. This would be a perfectly fine $10 experience. But the price for that meal is $13.50, so it's actually a $17+ lunch. That's just beyond reasonable for the quantity and quality of the food. Will I go back? Unlikely. There are many better food options out there that I already know about, and countless options that I haven't tried. This just isn't good enough to qualify for my rotation. | | 9:51 pm |
Tava
Tava is our favorite local Indian restaurant. Location: Downtown San Carlos on El Camino, across from the Caltrain station. Look and feel: White tablecloth-covered tables, cloth napkins, Indian chatchkes on the walls. The usual for an Indian restaurant except for two notable differences. #1 - The place is huge, which is even stranger because of #2 - The place is empty. It's actually a little depressing to eat inside if you don't have a group of at least four. Menu: It's a standard Northern Indian menu, but it also has a few sections with Southern Indian food. Don't count on the latter, though, since I know they have discontinued some of it, specifically they no longer make Dosa, which is a shame. The food: We order from Tava a lot, so I'll just list the ones I have a strong memory for. (No, we didn't order all of this at one time.) Tandoori Mixed Grill - Nice assortment of meats, including fish, shrimp, chicken, lamb, and minced lamb. Good tandoor flavor. Everything cooked well. Chicken Tikka Masala - They do this classic Indian dish proud. It's flavorful and rich. Really tasty. Butter Chicken - Some friends of ours always order this for their daughter, so we had the opportunity to try it. It's somewhat similar to the Tikka Masala, but with a sweeter flavor and less heat. We've become big fans. Ghost Saag - This is a nice version of lamb saag. It's good, but not special. The saag is solid, and the lamb is okay, but as is all-too-common in Indian restaurants, there is little in the way of flavor blending between the lamb and the spinach. Baingan Bhartha - Reasonably smoky eggplant dish. Quite tasty. They get a nice consistency with the eggplant mashed, so it's not in chunks. The only thing about this dish we don't like is the big pieces of ginger, but they are avoidable. Bhindi Masala - Their preparation of this okra dish is different than I've seen at other places. It's actually chopped pieces of okra cooked into a spiced stew. It's okay, but not quite the way I like it. I think this is drier than I tend to prefer. Navrattan Korma - Excellent dish of assorted vegetables and nuts in a sweet yellow cream curry. Really good, and you never get to the point where there is just sauce and no stuff left. Saag Paneer - Same saag as above, but with cheese rather than lamb. Good dish, not their best. Naan/Garlic Naan/Chapati - I've liked all of the breads we've ordered here, but their garlic naan is my favorite. Service: When we eat at the restaurant, we have found the service to be fine. The water always stayed full, which is honestly my biggest issue with wait staff. Value: Here I have to break my review in two parts, one for dining in, and one for taking out. Eating in, I think Tava is reasonably priced. The dishes are of fair size, and the prices are reasonable, but there are well better deals to be had. Taking out, for the same price as eating in, their dishes are a fair bit larger, so the value is much better. Will I go back? Absolutely. This is the place we order Indian food, and have been for the past year or so. I'm not terribly excited to dine in, but for takeout this is at the top of our list in San Carlos. | | 9:47 pm |
Pampas
Pampas is a Brazilian steakhouse in Palo Alto. Location: Downtown Palo Alto, across from the CalTrain station. Look and feel: Pampas looks the part of a nice, modern restaurant. There is a comfortable and open bar as you come in the front door, and an interesting architectural design that has seating along the walls of the main floor, with the middle of the restaurant turned into a bi-level seating arrangement. It's a slick way of adding more table space, and it makes for some interesting views. The seating is comfortable, and the tables feel spaced well such that you're not sitting right on top of the other diners. Menu: The specialty of the churrascaria is rodizio, which is basically an all-you-can-eat meat feast. Servers wander the restaurant with freshly cooked meat on spits, slicing as much as you want onto your plate. In addition, Pampas has an impressive Side bar with salads and an assortment of side dishes and charcuterie. If you're not into eating yourself silly via the meat route, you can order off the menu. The food: The "Breads" - Before we even looked at a menu, a server sat a plate of "breads" on the table. The three items on the plate were a tasty fried polenta, a wonderful fried banana, and a delicious Brazilian cheesebread that tasted like a parmesan popover. This was a most excellent way to start. They happily brought another plate of these when we asked. -- The drink - Dark & Stormy - I was in the mood for a cocktail, so I ordered this drink. It was basically ginger beer with some rum. It was tasty, but to be honest, I don't think the rum added anything. I'd prefer just a ginger beer in the future. -- The Side Bar - The side bar has an impressive array of items. There are a couple of salads, plus the option to build your own. There are meats and cheeses. There is a cold pasta. There are assorted grilled and roasted vegetables. Between the two of us, we sampled maybe half of the items. Marinated Mushrooms - These were outstanding. Even if you have no interest in the rest of the side bar, the mushrooms are worth going for. Cucumber Soup - Cool and refreshing, but honestly, I thought it tasted like raita. My wife disagrees. Zuchinni Fritters - They look like hush puppies. We were both a little disappointed in these. There just wasn't anything interesting about them. Pear, Butternut Squash and Pomegranate Seeds w/ Blue Cheese - This was different and pretty good. -- The Rodizio - aka Meat! I'm going to sort this in general order of enjoyment. Linguica - Brazilian sausage. This was pretty uninteresting. Leg of Lamb - This was good, but it didn't grab me. To be fair, leg of lamb is not my favorite cut of meat. I really liked the balsamic reduction they served with it, though. Sirloin with Parmesan/Garlic - Chunk of beef with some parmesan or garlic. Tasty, but not exciting. Bacon-Wrapped Turkey - The bacon was yum. The turkey was there basically because they didn't think they could just serve bacon on a skewer. My wife said this was like a club sandwich. (Yes, that's a good thing.) Top Sirloin - When they sliced this and it hit my plate, I looked down and thought to myself "wow that's rare." But the cut of meat was so good, it still cut like butter. This was like a really good piece of roast beef. Tri Tip - Similar to the top sirloin, although cooked a little further. Came with a delicious tamarind sauce. Spicy Chicken - Spicy drumsticks. Very juicy. I pulled off the skin, and the meat was still very flavorful. Yum. Spicy Pork Loin - This was a really juicy, tender, and tasty cut of pork. Grilled pineapple - I'd never had hot pineapple before, and now I can't figure out why I have been missing this incredible food. Lamb Chops - Were were close to stuffed when the waitress came by to ask us if we'd tried all of the meat. The one thing we knew we hadn't seen was the lamb chop, so my wife mentioned that. The waitress immediately went looking for a server and was back in a minute with our missing item. We actually split one since we were ready to burst. Oh my god. Best lamb chop I have ever had. It was so tender I'm not sure I even needed to chew it. It was a testament to how full I was that I didn't ask for another. -- Dessert - Are you kidding? I don't understand how so many reviews here on yelp talk about dessert. It's an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. Who the hell has room for dessert that you would then need to order and pay for separately? We'll try to visit some night when we just want dessert, because the reviews here rave about them. Service: I was very impressed with the service tonight. The meat servers were ever present, our water glasses never got below half-full, and the executive chef himself came out to answer some allergy questions we had. Value: I don't feel cheated, but this place is not cheap. Is the rodizio worth $44? Not often, certainly, but once in a while. Will I go back? We're definitely going back for dessert, but I might have to go without the wife if I want dinner again. | | 9:36 pm |
CreoLa
CreoLa is a creole place in San Carlos. We've driven by it hundreds of times, yet never managed to stop in before. We were in the mood to try something new, and we'd gotten a recommendation for this place recently, so we decided to try it out. Location: San Carlos, on El Camino. Look and feel: Comfortable feel, with enough masks and beads to make it obvious that this is a creole place. They have a parking lot which didn't seem that big, but on a Monday night we had no trouble finding space. Menu: Creole food with a nice mix of the staples and some new takes on the flavor profile. On M-Th nights they have a special where you get an appetizer, a salad, a main, and a dessert for $28, so my wife and I both availed ourselves of that option. The food: Bread - Warm, soft french bread with soft salted butter. Shrimp, Crab, & Fennel Bisque - Nice flavor, a little thin. Crawfish Hush Puppies - Crunchy outside, yummy cornbread with crawfish on the inside. I thought these were delicious. House Salad - There's no actual choice when you get the special, so we both had the house salad. Romaine lettuce, some pecans, canned mandarin orange slices, and a nice dressing. Cheese (either goat or bleu) optional for a $2 upcharge. I had the goat cheese, and the cheese was a bit lost. I think the bleu might hold up to the dressing better. Cornmeal-Crusted Catfish - Very tasty. Moist fish in a thick delicious crust. The whipped potatoes were fine, if not exciting. Perfectly prepared green beans rounded out the dish. Sunday Chicken - Oven roasted chicken breast. This is one of the best roasted chicken dishes I've ever had. Wonderfully juicy and flavorful, with a crispy skin. The cornbread stuffing had a moist, sweet corn flavor, and complemented the chicken well. The same wonderful green beans accompanied. Pasta with Chicken and Green Beans - We asked what they had for kids, since our five-year-old daughter was with us. They do a pasta dish with your choice of sauce, chicken or shrimp, and a vegetable. The dish turned out to be a nice sized plate of pasta. The chicken chunks were really well cooked and the green beans were nice and crisp. We were well impressed with this as an offering for children. Combo Pie - A combination of their peanut butter mousse and chocolate mousse, served on a crispy wafer crust. This was outstanding. Sweet without being cloying. Beignets - New Orleans style donuts with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and fresh fruit. Not the best I've ever had, but still tasty. A perfectly reasonable representative. Overall, we were very happy with the food. Everything was tasty, and the quantity was just right. Not enough to stuff, but plenty to satisfy. Service: In general, I think the service was really good. The waiter was attentive, and the busboy was really on the ball. He never let us run out of bread or water, and our plates were cleared as soon as we were done with them, yet we never once felt rushed. There were only three negatives. First, they didn't actually get my daughter's dish correct. We ordered it with shrimp, not chicken. (She didn't seem to notice, and it was late so we wanted her to start eating, otherwise I would have mentioned it to them.) Second, we didn't actually know that there was to be an upcharge on the salad until we got the bill. Not that the $2 is particularly meaningful to me, but still, the "what kind of cheese would you like with your salad?" question didn't resonate as an additional cost to me, especially on a prix fixe menu. Third, there was a slight pacing issue in the food delivery, in that there was a pretty long lag between salad and the main course. Value: $85 after tip for two adults plus one child. So it's not cheap, but I thought it was a reasonable price for the quantity and quality of food. Will I go back? I am pretty sure we will. Maybe next time we'll actually eat a little more in the creole style. | | 9:28 pm |
Gator's Neo-Soul Cafe
Went to Gator's for lunch this week to try out their lunch buffet. Location: Downtown San Mateo. Your best bet for parking is the multi-level lot directly behind it. Look and feel: You enter through their newly added lounge area. It looks really nice. Classy. In the dining room, the seats are comfortable and the decor is understated. Menu: I was there for the lunch buffet, so I never even saw a menu. The food: Mac 'n cheese - Really freaking good mac 'n cheese. Sweet and cheesy, with the cheese a little thick, not runny. Meatloaf stew - Chunks of meatloaf in a sauce. Good, but not special. Fried chicken - Small pieces of juicy fried chicken with a nice crisp skin. Fried catfish - Breaded catfish nuggets. Good, but a little heavy on the breading:fish ratio. Mashed potatoes - Whipped to an incredibly light and fluffy texture. Oh, and did I mention buttery? Collard greens - Very tender greens, in what I believe is a slightly pickled sauce. Quite nice. Corn bread - Moist and tasty. Cole slaw - Meh, not really worth bothering with. Potato salad - Nice, full flavor. Dirty rice, Red beans - I lump these together because, really, who eats them separately? Nice flavor, but I've never found the southern version of rice & beans to be all that interesting. It's good, just not my favorite. Chicken jambalaya - Pretty good, but nothing outstanding. Overall, I found the food to be good, but not stellar. For a lunch buffet it was well above the norm. One thing to note is that this is a lot of starch, between the rices and the pastas. This is not a place for a diet. Service: It's a buffet, so there's not much to report. My water never emptied and my empty plate was bussed before I got back from getting my second plate of food, so the servers did their job. Value: $11 for a lunch buffet of this quality seems perfectly reasonable. Will I go back? Almost certainly, but not too often. It's local to my office, so I expect to come back every once in a while when I'm looking for a heavy southern meal. | | Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | | 3:16 pm |
Chatting about the California Propositions
It's that time of year again, when California demonstrates that the state constitution is largely a worthless piece of crap, and we have our usual 12 propositions on the ballot for the uninformed electorate to vote on. God forbid our elected officials actually do anything other than NOT agree on a budget. Anyway, I've been reading up on these, and am looking to generate some conversation among people with brains. Feel free to comment with any insight you might have. I'll start a comment thread for each prop so it will be easier to follow the conversation. Prop 1: High speed rail bonds, $10 billion Prop 2: More humane farm animal confinement standards Prop 3: Children's hospital bond, $980 million Prop 4: Parental notification Prop 5: Nonviolent drug offender rehabilitation programs Prop 6: Police funding Prop 7: Renewable energy generation Prop 8: No gay marriage Prop 9: Victim's rights Prop 10: Alternative fuel vehicle bonds, $5 billion Prop 11: Redistricting amendment Prop 12: Veteran's bond, $900 million |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2){kind=small}
jgische's journal
amused