Archive for the 'Review' Category

Page 56 of 60

Most Advantageous

Published on February 18, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Okay, I found it.  The Indian restaurant in Sapporo run by Indian nationals!  They have a tandoor!  They make mango lassis!  Taj Mahal on the B1 level of Sapporo Factory mall, on the Northeast side.  I even got to order in English!  We ordered samosas, lamb biriyani, and chicken tikka masala.  It was all very good.  The nan that came with the chicken was enormous and slathered in melted butter.  The lassis and samosas were around $5 each, and the entrees were around $10 each, so the total was around $35 or so for two.  The entrees included the rice or nan, so those didn’t have to be ordered ala carte.  They had chana masala – I was torn between that and the chicken.  I’ll just have to go back!

Highly recommended

Four out of four grinning monkeys

Stay out of the Moors…

Published on February 18, 2008 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

In anticipation of some B/C work in Niseko, we went to Takino Suzuran park in Southeast Sapporo on Saturday to try out snowshoeing.  We caught the subway down to Makomanai and got on the same bus line that heads to the Geijitsu no Mori (art/sculpture garden).  Takino is a Natonal-Government-run park offering various activities year-round.  In winter there are XC ski trails, a tiny one-lift ski/board slope, a tube/sled park, and snowshoe trails.  The snow as coming down pretty heavy in the morning.  There was easily 10-15cm of unsettled fall overnight.  The snowshoe and poles were free.  They had pretty nice hardware – Tubbs shoes and BD poles! Continue reading ‘Stay out of the Moors…’

Yummy Nuggets

Published on February 7, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Joyful KaneoheHad dinner at “Joyful Garden” Chinese restaurant near Kozo Sushi in Kaneohe this weekend.  Supposedly they also have a downtown location.  The atmosphere is more upscale here than the more familiar “take-out”/family dinner Chinese restaurants here.  It was very clean and bright inside, and they had a big Philips LCD TV to watch the end of the “Big Game” on.  Cloth napkins – I think that sums it up well.  The waiters had black slacks, white shirts and black vests! Continue reading ‘Yummy Nuggets’

In the Islands Again

Published on January 11, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Three Kona brewsWe went to Island’s Fine Burgers in AMC last night for some monster burgers and brews.  The hostess was from Oz, so Fabio was briefly in dreamland, until our server with ADD showed up. They were out of “hef-wize-in” or however she mangled the pronunciation, so I got a Kona Big Wave Golden Ale. Fabio got their Kona-coffee-flavored Pipeline Porter, and root got the Longboard Lager (all Kona drafts were $4 USD). The Big Wave was lighter in both flavor and color than the Longboard, which is their version of a classic continental lager (like Sam Adams Lager). I’m not a big fan of Longboard – it tends to be a bit overhopped, and I’ve had a few in bottles that have gone skunky. The Pipeline Porter was coffee-flavored beer. The other coffee-flavored beer I’ve had was the coffee stout at Brewhouse in Whistler, and to be honest, I didn’t really like either. A good, dark roast on the malt is all the smokiness I need – no additions please. If I could point out one thing I liked about the Porter is that it was mildly hopped, so there was just the coffee and the malt flavor – no bitterness or floweriness. I did like the Big Wave, however – I’d say it’s the best thing from Kona Brewing Co. that I’ve had so far. They have some things on tap at their brewpub locations that I’d like to try, including a hefeweisen and a porter that doesn’t have coffee in it. Continue reading ‘In the Islands Again’

Bob’s yer Uncle

Published on January 10, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

Tio’s - all blurry, but not from drinkingChris mentioned in an email yesterday that a co-worker had gone to Los Chapparros and was raving about it to everyone in the office, and it brought to mind that the former Dixie Grill on Ward had been reformatted to a Mexican restaurant. On a whim, I walked down the block for a late lunch yesterday – nobody was in the office except me until 14:00, and the electricians showed up precisely at lunchtime so I couldn’t lock up and dig. Continue reading ‘Bob’s yer Uncle’

Angry Food

Published on January 8, 2008 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

sammich of angerThe last time Fabio joined the manga/anime geeks from Collector Maniacs for a late dinner at Big City Diner in Kaimuki, he got a burger that was either poorly engineered, designed, or assembled.  As soon as he tried to pick it up, it fell apart, making him explode with anger just like Steve Wilkos! Continue reading ‘Angry Food’

Omoidasenai Machi – Kanon TV 2006

Published on January 7, 2008 in anime and Review by risu. Closed

Just watched the legitimate release of the 2006 Kyoto Animation version of Kanon. Root had given me the older 2002 Toei Animation version as fansubs years ago and I liked the general premise, but remake version is definitely better in both writing and animation quality. ADV Films, who did the legit release of the Air series for the USDM has released the first 4-episode volume of Kanon, with the second volume due out in February. Continue reading ‘Omoidasenai Machi – Kanon TV 2006’

Pork Tamales por Favor

Published on December 26, 2007 in Food and Review by risu. Closed

12-26-07_1232.jpgMmm…

Nothing quite as good as pork tamales from Cha Cha Cha Salsaria in Hawaii Kai.  I got there a little early, so I had to wait for them to open, but it was worth the wait.  Pork carnitas with corn tamale and black beans with a green tomatillo sauce.  Rice and chips with homemade salsa on the side.  They thoughtfully put the chips in a seperate container for take-out orders so they don’t get all soggy.

$9.37 USD

Four out of four grinning chow monkeys

Tio Muerte says, “muy sabroso!”

More Carbon

Published on December 21, 2007 in bike and Review by risu. Closed

All carbonJarrel finally managed to get me an Easton EC90 zero-offset carbon seatpost after many attempts.  I picked it up on Tuesday along with a new Fizik Nisene MTB saddle.  The post is all carbon with the exception of the fasteners – the monocoque quill and both rail clamp pieces are carbon fiber!  The 27.2mm x 300mm post I got is supposedly around 160 grams.  Seat mounting and installation are similar to other zero-offset seatposts like the original Syncros and the current Thomson.  The threaded barrels that sit in the top clamp piece are provided with thin stainless steel shims that allow them to rotate freely and not bind against the carbon. Continue reading ‘More Carbon’

Our Dog is an Awesome Dog

Published on December 21, 2007 in Food, rant and Review by risu. Closed Tags: .

There are a surprising number of Japanese-themed restaurants in Kaneohe.  I say “themed” because in general, they serve Americanized or “Local”-ized fare and not authentic, traditional Japanese cuisine.  Maybe I’m also being a racist, since so far all of the ones that I have tried in Kaneohe have been run by ethnic Koreans.  That’s not to say Koreans can’t make good food – they make terriffic food: I’m saying the restaurants in question don’t produce acceptable approximations of Nihon-ryouri.  It’s picture-book cooking – it looks like it’s supposed to, but doesn’t taste exactly like it’s supposed to.  It’s like those science fiction shows where aliens build soul-less, substance-less copies of earth cities, then populate them with kidnapped earthlings and assume the humans will not notice they aren’t at home anymore.  Continue reading ‘Our Dog is an Awesome Dog’