Text 392, 77 rader
Skriven 2010-08-20 01:22:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: tastes 477
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Here are some tastes from Dale and Gail's. I lost my notes
(necessarily put on real paper, as the computer was well
kaflooeyed), but I think I remember most things.

G&A Restaurant - long fabled for its coneys, now achieving cult
status thanks to the Fieri guy with his shades and ugly hair.
It's essentially a diner in an ever so slightly gritty Baltimore
neighborhood - counter up front, booths in back, fake surly
waitresses, and pretty good food. Burgers (sliders, actually)
were decent in the well-done dried-up way; dogs were average
at best; fries were both overcooked and soggy, and a side of
gravy for dipping was most welcome. Big surprise (not) - the
Polish sausages, which cost I think 75c more than the dogs, are
twice as big and more than twice as good. Remember that for
next time, if there is a next time. After lunch we went across
the way to the Highlandtown market, where we picked up "tastes."

Things from there, an International smorgasbord.

Dollar $mart crispy rice marshmallow squares (Canada) - made
with margarine, these did a good facsimile of what your mom
might have made if you were poverty-stricken growing up. Just
this side of stale, just this side of rancid. Artificial
vanilla aroma. But those of us who love marshmallow treats
had our hearts expand to two sizes too large from tasting them.

Elvarin Milky wafers (Turkey) - I do like crispy wafer cookies.
These are the quintessential - like Nabisco, only a little
greasier, which for me is a good thing. With I believe added
lactose, which made me reach for the pills a time or two more
than I'd thought. A slight almost fugitive chocolate flavor.

Kras Napolitanke hazelnut wafers (Slovenia) - M.S. crispy,
greasy, fun. The filling was a bit bitter, and I'm certain
they used hazelnut skin in addition to (or instead of?) the
meats to flavor it.

 Which reminds me that the Hafflys had abandoned a quart of
 Pacific hazelnut beverage (lactose-free dairy substitute),
 which was okay if not milklike at all, at Dail and Gail's.
 It's skim-milk thin in texture but translucent brownish
 in contrast to skim milk's bluishness. It too is a little
 bitter, not unpleasantly so, and tastes of nut skins.

 Which reminds me that in order to get to the roots of my
 sleeplessness I've cut down on chocolate, so instead I
 got Nature's Promise vanilla soymilk, which I believe is
 though similar (taste of cornflakes soaked in water) a
 bit worse than the O Organics that I had a couple years
 ago. I think I return to chocolate is worth the sacrifice
 of an hour or two's sleep.

Bauducco coconut wafers (Brazil) - also ever so slighty stale,
and the coconut filling was a bit greasy, but the concept is
killer, and the product well worth eating.

Another recommended restaurant

Cheeburger Cheeburger. Certainly not my idea. But Lynnie wanted to
go there for the beverages, and I must admit that the sandwiches are
respectable if overcooked. Onion rings - decent. Fries - sort of
limp and about as not so good as those at G&A. Most at the table
got shakes, of which you can get mix and match in as many flavor
combos as there are Monin syrups. I got a similar thing, only
made with soda instead of dairy poison: it was unspectacular.

Trader Joe's the dark chocolate lover's chocolate bar 85% (Colombia)
- I was bequeathed this by Dale, as 85 is too bitter for him and
Gail. It's toward my upper limit, too, but I do like bitter
chocolate. It's pleasantly fruity and with a nice bite back, some
coffee aromas, a good mass-market product at a decent price. More
vanilla notes than the Lindt 90, which I had at the same time and
is very fruity in a nondescript way and rather too bitter.

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