Text 20224, 73 rader
Skriven 2014-12-05 01:23:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 396
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I'd arranged to have lunch with my friend Alex; we were at loose
ends where to go, but I'd read about this fusion joint (guess
what kind) called Komex Express in the north part of town.

The house drink is decaf mango iced tea, free refills. I
kind of liked it. Chips, salsa, and guac come on the table.
All are fresh made and pretty decent.

A "fusion tostada" topped with daeji gogi was a deep-fried
rice cake topped with slaw, scallions, sweet soy dressing,
and a bunch of Korean-style pork. I liked it; Alex found the
texture of the rice thing peculiar. The meat, we agreed,
was quite good, better than the bulgogi, which we sampled in
a pair of "fusion tacos," pretty much what you'd expect,
standard Mexican-style presentation, standard Korean-style
meat, rather tough and underseasoned.

Topped this off with an order of fried wontons with pork and
scallions; altogether it was plenty, as we had planned to
try this foodbuzzy place at the end of the block called
Dulce Donuts. We tried a couple of fried ones with and
without the lurid pink frosting of the day. Without was way
better, quite good, actually, whereas the pink stuff on the
other obscured any flavor the donut may have had. I also had
a Boston creme donut, ordinary though fresh and very soft;
Alex got a heart-shaped version of the same, covered in that
pink goo, to share with his sweetie later.

Before his meeting, he had just time to drive me to my next
shelter, the Hampton near the airport.

Unundead and friendly staff here, a nice contrast. Standard
Hampton room, which is generally all I need, but it was
arranged sideways, something I occasionally see and find
peculiar. Oh, the TV didn't work here either. I tried a few
things and then called engineering, who tried the same
things and unplugged it, waited a few seconds, and then
plugged it in. It came on fine. Sometimes you just have to
reboot, he said. He also told me he had had trouble with
this set before.

--

The closest foodery is the Village Pub, which (probably
intentionally) looks like a hard-to-find speakeasy on the
outside. It's really a family restaurant with - when I was
there at prime time - a largely senior crowd with a couple
or two celebrating Valentine's Day (why here?) and one
notable preschooler running around. I got the steak and
shrimp with sweet tater tots: the steak was done as ordered,
tender and good-tasting but covered with this Montreal-type
seasoning that caused the salt factor to grow to dangerous
proportions. Shrimp, what should I have expected - five 40s
butterflied and heavily coated with brown stuff that would
have been decent if not quite so oversalted - like so much
pub food, it must have been designed for the main purpose of
causing beer to be sold. Doesn't seem to work with this
crowd, as I heard orders for water and soda, no other beers
but mine. The Ellis Island IPA ($2.50 here, $2 at the
brewery, which is under the same ownership) was
appropriately floral, not bitter at all; went down easily
but didn't have enough character to make me go for more.
I wish I'd been in more of a beery mood, as the place is
within easy staggering distance of the Hampton.

Good night, pleasant breakfast in a crowded lobby, short
carb-induced nap, shuttle to the airport, where check-in
took a minute, security (after three meaningless beeps) took
a minute, the tram took a minute, and I was sort of sorry
not to be thirsty at the club. 
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