Text 26804, 86 rader
Skriven 2009-07-31 10:52:02 av Michael Loo (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: first picnic report 947
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The Fords arrived in town at dinnertime Thursday; I proposed to
take them to Marblehead to see the sights and have waterfront
seafood at the Barnacle. Well, it looks as though everyone else
and his grandfather had the same idea, and there wasn't a
parking place to be had in the entire neighborhood, so after a
couple futile tours of town (seeing the sights in a cursory and
incidental way) we decided on plan B, which is this Thai
restaurant in Swampscott, the next town over.

We were greeted with a puzzlement, as one might say in Thailand,
as I was not with the people I normally go with, but with a
pair of obvious outlanders. So we were seated not at the table
I usually get but the one next to it. The service, though, was
as good as usual.

Burt and Shirley gave me carte blanche to order, so I got a
meal that I'd prefer (other than the level of spiciness - I
ordered "a little" heat with hot pepper flakes on the side for
me). Three appetizers, two mains, and beer.

The fried tofu had more coating than normal, but that made it
more crunchy and therefore better (so I thought). As it's a
very mild dish, its dipping sauce had soy, fish sauce, and
hot pepper as well as syrup and peanuts. The serving was pretty
big, almost enough for a whole meal for one.

Pork satay with peanut sauce tasted very good but was of
somewhat tougher texture than I'm accustomed to. The sauce was
extremely mild, as was the tiny little dish of cucumber salad
that came with.

Fresh rolls are like the Vietnamese goi cuon: rice wrappers
stuffed with rice vermicelli, lettuce, carrots, and basil (the
Viet version has shrimp; these are vegetarian). A way to get me
to eat veggies. The sauce that comes with is peanuts and syrup;
I preferred to use the peanut sauce.

For mains, I ordered two things that an outlander from Newark
might be unlikely to find. King shrimp came as four giants in
slightly spicy sweet and sour sauce - a nice introduction to
this cuisine. Duck choo chee had its usual thick coconut sauce,
the usual pea pods and peppers, and the unusual pineapple; the
bird itself was, surprisingly, deep-fried, which is fine,
except that one of the glories of duck is the unadulterated
skin, which here was buried underneath a light and crispy batter.
A few shakes of the hot pepper shaker made this dish much better.

A couple 22-oz Singhas went nicely, shared among us.

The bill was not too big and extra nice as Burt took charge
of it with his Discover card.

As it was on the way, we stopped by Vinnin Liquors for a bottle
of Layer Cake, which is one of the most buzzladen wines of the
year; they sell it for $13, which is 3 to 6 less than other
places, and, after checking once more for Virginia wines (total
failure - bringing the list to 7 or 8 places that don't carry
it; a far cry from a few years ago, when I could get Horton
Norton and Viognier on virtually every street corner), we left,
noting that Ten High, my cheap whiskey of choice, was $6 less
here than at the place where I last got it. And so back home.
Speaking of no parking, there was no parking to be had on
Derby or Daniels Street, so the plan of a vinous nightcap
went by the wayside. The Fords left off a case of beer, of
which I took one of each variety as a tribute, and went off.

Brooklyn Lager - as I remembered, very floral and citrusy,
heavyish body, lots of hops, a bit too sweet.

Canandaigua Lake Ale - also fairly hoppy, with floral and
grapefruit notes, but lighter and less sweet. A bitter
experience, but not a bad one.

Southern Tier phin & matt's extraordinary ale - overwhelming
aroma of citrusy hops, clean on the palate, medium body,
somewhat metallic and weird finish. There was also a hint of
dead animal (putrefied, not cooked), and I couldn't figure
this out.

I haven't tried the Southern Tier porter yet, and the Ommegang
Abbey Ale (truly the Champagne of bottled beers) is awaiting
the full echo picnic contingent for sampling.
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

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