Compromise….Analysed

Greatblog on My dinner table about compromise. Sushiboy (as he is known on eGullet) talks about wanting to eat somewhere and then ending up somewhere else. His example was a recent fish and chip expedition to Steveston BC which was timely as I had lunch there on Saturday with my family. We had really wanted to go to Go Fish on Granville Island but it was so busy we decided to make the treck to Daves instead. We compromised and ended up in the same boat as Sushiboy.  We didnt enjoy Daves that much. The batter was too thick, lacked crispiness  and caused by “True Brit” Father in Law to use the same face he used when he found out I was going to marry his daughter.

Fish and Chips is one of those things you truly long for but when you have it, you kind of wished you didnt (if you know what I mean). Prior to moving to Vancouver my top “chippy” was in Poole in Dorset, UK. Ive got to say now though, Go Fish really does take the award. Other than their ridiculous service (they may have their hatch open but they will not look you in the eye until the clock hads literally struck 12) the food is consistently amazing.

Anyway, another reason why the blog resonated with me was that I have a really tough time making decisions on where to eat. I dont want to compromise. I want every food experience to be one that I remember.  Case in point, I drove from downtown today to Braodway, just so I could have one of the hotdogs from the vendor outside Future Shop. There is another vendor pretty much outside my office but the Future Shop ones are the best in Vancouver. If you havent tried them then do, they are that good.

My brother sais that if you have a bad meal then the next one is only 4 hours away. I dont think he gets it……

A taste of the south…..

Im not sure that State license plate slogans are always correct. I mean  “Beatiful British Columbia” is pretty accurate but I havent the faintest idea what “Yours to Discover” means Ontario. As for ”Live Free or Die” in New Hampshire, thats just not right!

However ”Beautiful places and Smiling faces ” is about as close as you can get for South Carolina. I’ve been in Charleston this week and Oh boy do I love that town, it is such a wonderful place with such awesome (and I mean that in the true sense of the word as opposed to the 16 year old Californian way) restaurants.

Meeting friends the first night we had some apps at Hanks, a great Charleston institution. They have this great social table in the middle of the room, perfect place to eat if you are dining on your own. The tuna tartar was good but the fried shrimp was perfect (it was fried food, how bad can that be?).

Moved to Basil for Dinner. I will admit that by this time I had tee many martunees, not helped by the bottle of wine given to us by the owner, so my memory of the food is not great. We had the catfish special in a spicy garlic sauce and their famous pad thai. It was pad thai, not sure why theirs was famous.

Next evening was a favourite of mine. You know when you go somewhere just for one dish? For me in Charleston thats Anson. They have this deep fried flounder (sorry Mum, fried food again) with an apricot glaze that I just love.

My last night was a dissapointment which is so unusual for Charleston. We went to McCradys which is a great room:

 

The last time I went they had this butter poached lobster that was off the grid. Unfortunately since then the chef has changed and even though the room is still beautiful and the service excellent, the food was off base. I had sweet breads to start hoping to duplicate the heavenly experience at Babbo in NYC a few months earlier. I was out SOL and I have to tell you, bad sweatbreads are no fun at all. It was all sinuey (?) and undercooked, really unpleasant.

Anyway, Ive eaten in so many restaurants in Charleston I thought I would list a few of the other places Ive enjoyed over the years.

I have never had a bad meal at either SNOB, Blossom, High Cotton or Fulton Five.  SNOB has by far the best Shrimp and grits in the city and Fulton Five is so romantic and has an excellent wine menu. High Cotton is just a great place to take a date or a colleague.

For BBQ go to the new Nick and Sams over Sticky Fingers.

For the most incredible southern experience you have to visit The Wreck in Mount Pleasant. A shack on Shem Creek where you help yourself to beer out of a cooler while eating broiled (or of course fried) shrimp.

If you are in the mood for Steak then choose between ambiance and the meat. Grill 225 is amazing food but the room is cold and lacks any kind of atmosphere. High Cotton is fabulous and the food good but the steak is not as good as 225. Think The Palm not Peter Luger…..

As for drinks, start the evening on the rooftop patio at The Market Pavilion and finish it off with an expresso martini at High Cotton. What happens in between is up to you, you cant go far wrong in Charleston.

Food Hygene – setting expectations

Another interesting poin that was reaised in both Jasons article and a recent piece in the New York Times was a question of food hygene. We get disgusted in North America if we find out that a restaurant has not take food hygene seriously. Think of the uproar that the Taco Bell incident caused?

However, Ive eaten in some really quesionable places in my life. In fact, some of the best meals of my life have been in some of the dirtiest places.  I had the greatest seafood in Kuala Lumpur over 10 years ago that I still remember to this day. It was served roadside in a makeshift cart on a street that was just filty but man did it taste good. I wouldnt even consider eating food in an environment like that in North America. Why do  we have different expecations? Why do we classify one experience as “real” and “authentic” and another as unhygenic?

Comparative Happiness, Subjectivity and White Castle

I’ve been reading through various food blogs for quite some time now, I guess getting some tips and hints on how to start my own.

One particular post  Jason goes to White Castle got me thinking…..so why not let those thoughts form my first ever post.

Jason talks about how distasteful he found the little burgers atWhite Castle and many folks joined in to agree. What was interesting is that several months ago I came clean and posted on Chowhound my new found love for those little sliders. What I found out was that White Castle has quite the following. Tons of people (well 68) posted agreement and supported my bold and courageous move to go public with this information.

It was actually Jasons post that made me start this blog. I love the fact that food is so subjective. Did I care that a slider was as much like a real hamburger as a big mac? No, I just enjoyed the fact that I could order and eat a dozen of them. Did I think it was better than the awesome burgers at Modern Burger in Vancouver? Hell no, but I certainly enjoyed them more than the ridiculous $60 burger at Cafe Bouloud in NYC. 

I’m reading a superb book at the moment call Stumbling on happiness by Daniel Gilbert. In it he talks about how we can’t really measure or compare happiness. 

If White Castle has done nothing else, it has certainly helped demonstrate Gilbert’s point.