Category: Enjoyed

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Enjoyed

Chef’s Choice at Matsu

I raved about Matsu in my recently posted Restaurant Guide for the Winter. Katie and I had long ago decided we’d hit it up for her birthday (which was today – she’s 25. Be sure to wish her a happy birthday!), and go for the adventurous “Chef’s Choice” dinner for the two of us.

While I didn’t have the camera on me to continue the trend of photographing what I’m eating, I can textually describe the entire affair:

First: Seafood soup. Clear broth, with crab + shrimp + whitefish + mussel + scallop. Broth was delicious, fish was too.

Second: Baby clams (each half was about the size of a penny) in a soy garlic sauce. A little hard to eat but extremely tasty.

Third: Shark Fin salad. The delicate flavored of shark fin was matched with sesame, which helped bring down the strong flavour of the shark fin. (Anyone who’s watched Battle Yogurt on Iron Chef with me should get that.)

Fourth: Ebi sashimi with wasabi tobiko on top, and prawn tempura. The ebi was good, but I’ve never been much for prawns.

Fifth: Toro tartar, I think with a little bit of yellowtail in as well. Heaven, absolute heaven. My favorite on the night, because I’m a huge mark for toro.

Sixth: Scallops steamed in sake, and served cold. At this point we started feeling full – then were told that we had sushi coming and then the main course.

Seventh: Sex On The Beach Roll (shrimp tempura inside, rice, seaweed, grilled eel, tobiko, three kinds of sauces.), plus six giant pieces of sashimi (two salmon, two tuna, two something else).

Eighth: Tuna Teriyaki. Whole sushi-grade tuna steak, done teriyaki style, with vegetables and a bed of onions. I know I keep saying this, but man, this was good.

Ninth: The big surprise – one I had known about from Monday, but managed to hide from Katie and she was completely shocked. They had bought Katie a small birthday cake – sponge cake with white icing, and Gary had put fresh fruit on top.

Add on to that a few sodas, two free beers, and green tea – we are unbelievably stuffed. I am in a near food coma, and the bill came to $90 for the two of us (not including tax and the absurd tips we tend to leave).

I don’t think I’ll have a better Japanese meal than this one for the remainder of my life.

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Enjoyed

Pizza, Skating, Good People, Good Times

Slice Club was definitely worth the trip.

Big thanks to Youngna, Laren, Nichelle, and of course Adam the Pizza Overlord, for all making the night so damn enjoyable. It was sad that the skating was slightly thwarted by The Trump Zambonis, but it wouldn’t be New York City without Donald Trump somehow screwing it up, I guess.

I look forward to the next Slice club. For now, I go to bed with a full stomach and aching feet.

Categories
Enjoyed

For Everyone Out There Trying To Carry On

As I was walking through a life one morning
the sun was out, the air was warm, but
Ohhh-whoa-whoa, I was cold.
And though I must have looked half a person,
to tell the tale, in my own version,
It was only then that I felt whole.
But do you believe in something beautiful?
Then get up and be it.
Fighting for the smallest goal: to get a little self-contol.
I know how hard you try. I see it in your eyes.
But call your friends, ’cause we’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat what’s rotten –
And what’s eating you alive might help you to survive.
We went on as we were on a mission, latest in a Grand Tradition
And ohhh-whoa-whoa, what did we find?
It was Ego who was flying the banner, and me and Mia, Ann and Ana
Ohhh-whoa-whoa, we’d been unkind
But do you believe in something beautiful?
Then get up and be it.
Fighting for the smallest goal: to get a little self-control.
I see it in your eyes, I see it in your spine.
But call your friends, ’cause we’ve forgotten what it’s like to eat what’s rotten –
And what’s eating you alive, might help you to survive.
And even the nights, they can get better.
And even the days ain’t all that bad.
And after a week of fighting, as more and more it seems the right thing.
But do you believe in something beautiful?
Then get up and be it.
Fighting for the smallest goal: to gain a little self-control.
Won’t anybody here just let you disappear?
Not doctors, nor your mom nor dad, but me and Mia, Ann and Ana
Know how hard you try. Don’t you see it in my eyes?
Sick to death of my dependence, fighting food to find transcendence
Fighting to survive, more dead but more alive
Cigarettes and speed to live, and sleeping pills to feel forgiven
All that you contrive, and all that you’re deprived
All the bourgeois social angels telling you you’ve got to change
Don’t have any idea. They’ll never see so clear.
But don’t forget what it really means to hunger strike
when you don’t really need to.
Some are dying for a cause, but that don’t make it yours.
And even the nights, they could get better.