Text 30105, 77 rader
Skriven 2015-08-18 03:07:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: this picnic prelude 98
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The adventure begins at Clyde's. I'd arranged that my brother
take me to Columbia, his reward being lunch and gas money. It
so happens there's a Clyde's about 10 minutes away from Gail
and Dale's. I am reasonably fond of this chain because of its
general consistency and decent value if not particularly
imaginative food. This one is right on the lake in the middle
of Columbia, a pretty nice setting.

The food, I thought, was slightly but not dangerously subpar.

Jonathan was going to start with an order of wings but noticed
that French onion soup, his favorite, was on the menu, so he
got that - standard but, he said, very bready (i.e., the giant
crouton on top had soaked up much of the broth). He continued
with rigatoni with sausage, a peculiar choice, as it is quite
an ordinary sort of dish under the best of conditions, and he
has no affinity for Italian food, red sauce, or thick pasta.
It was also one of the more expensive lunch choices, and when
it came it turned out to be a modest portion. Whatever. He
didn't particularly like the food, either, though he ate all
of it.

I started with fried green tomatoes with corn and bacon relish,
an interesting dish but flawed in the execution - the oil was
way too hot, so I got dark brown crust surrounding raw tomato.
The relish, very abundant, was a bit too sour. A remoulade spiked
with Thai red curry drizzled around the whole just didn't work.

The Fat Boy, a brisket sandwich topped with onion rings and
served on an onion roll. I'd asked the perky young waitress to
check with the chef if the meat had been presliced (a bad thing)
and if I could get a portion extra fatty in either case (a good
thing). Answer from the kitchen: yes and yes, and "it's pretty
fatty anyway," so I got it. It came extra fatty but not extra
tasty - somewhat deficient in salt and smoke and a skimpy portion
of 5 ounces or less. The bun was sturdy and not bad, though I ate
only half of it; it had been smeared with a ho-hum barbecue sauce.
The onion rings were pretty good but a bit overdarkened in the
same way as the tomatoes.

For my side I'd asked for a fruit cup instead of fries or slaw;
I saved it for last and as I started eating it my brother decided
that was a good idea and ordered a cup of his own, which was fine.
What was not fine was that it was actually less than a cup and
that they charged $6 for it.

A Flying Dog blood orange ale improved my mood somewhat, though
it wasn't particularly orangey and actually tasted more like an
IPA than anything else.

When we got to the Shipps', daughter Kathy and grandson Zach were
there - it was good to see them. Jonathan was in decent form, and
we had a good visit before H Mart beckoned an hour later, so the
party broke up, and we went out there to get snacks for the
picnic. The larger, brighter new H Mart closer to the house was
deemed unsuitable for our purposes as it is not yet fully stocked
with the weird things we like to take to echo picnics. Among
other things, I picked up: Bugles of the same sort used by Kevin
for his appetizer in Adelaide a couple weeks back (made by Lotte
under licence from General Mills); red bean yokan; green tea Kit
Kats; H Mart Goodies from Nature semi-generic wasabi peas, dried
pineapple, and dried mango; a can of sapota (a tropical fruit that
looks kind of like a papaya but whose fruit is sort of like a pear);
locally made red bean mochi; durian-flavored wafer cookies; fried
pork ear snacks; and pork fu (soy-and-sugar roasted pork, shredded
into thin filaments). Also Shanghai bok choy, king oyster mushrooms,
and fried pressed tofu, destined for a main dish later.

This night, I made burgers for supper from 88/12 beef from Costco -
I made them just a notch rarer than usual to ensure juiciness of
the very lean burgers.

Beer to accompany - Warsteiner Dunkel for Dale and me, Budweiser
for Gail.
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