Musashi’s in Wallingford

June 28, 2008

Hey! It’s another “no shit sherlock” post. If you like sushi and you live in Seattle you’ve probably been to Musashi’s, or at least driven by it’s super long lines. The restaurant may be the size of my bathroom, but Musashi’s continues to have the best bargain in town for real cuts of fish. No fancy fusion rolls, no mayonnaise rolls, just (huge cuts of) fish and rice and tea. Oh they have some meat dishes and bento boxes but who cares about that!

And since it’s summer, waiting outside isn’t a trial so much as a mini-vacation.

This chirashi bowl is only twelve dollars or so. Look at those cuts of tuna! They’re even bigger when ordered as nigiri. There’s some scallops and some albacore and some hamachi in there too. Definitely a full meal.

Just a simple yellowtail roll. Copious amounts of gari, all for less than 2 dollars. It’s clean, the rice has that hint of vinegar that is so necessary.

The place is cash only so remember to stop by the bank before heading there.

Bonus trivia! You know why most sushi places are closed on Mondays? It’s because they can’t get fresh fish on Monday. So be wary of places that do serve raw fish on Monday, you might leave with an unpleasant experience.

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Quick Bite: These waffles will save your family

June 10, 2008

Just make 1 every day and share the love.

http://www.cloer-jp.com/products/waffle/index.html

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Kanishka Cuisine of India in Redmond

June 6, 2008

The heart of Microsoft runs on lunch buffet curry. There is no shortage of Indian restaurants immediately residing in the vicinity of Microsoft. I’ve been to 4 so far, and they’ve all been within 8 blocks of one another. But, are they any good?

Kanishka’s, right off of Redmond way (about a block from Redmond Town Center) is the best I’ve had so far, especially for a lunch buffet. The price is quite reasonable (around $9 without tip), and their offerings go a little farther than your normal butter chicken/naan/random salad that a substandard lunch buffet would offer. The buffet is small enough that the curry is never given a chance to congeal, but deep enough that you’re not waiting in line for them to reload on the naan.

I’m not very good at remembering names of Indian curries (is it uncouth to not bring a notepad to lunch if you’re a food blogger?), so bear with me. However, I’m pretty good at loading my plate up at a buffet. They have a nice, creamy spinach curry with bits of cheese hidden within. The tawa chicken really packs a punch, like a really spicy sweet and sour chicken. Not greasy at all either.  There’s a light cheese curry, I believe it’s a Marsala but I’m not sure. It was good though. Butter chicken is glowing red in the center there, if you’ve had a butter chicken once you’ve had them all. No better or worse than what I’ve had from any other restaurant.

Many a time I’ve found that the tandoori chicken at lunch buffets are subpar at best, with the restaurant rushing it out, panicking to refill the rapidly depleting trays on the cart. Kanishka’s does a fine job, however. The tandoori chicken is cooked thoroughly to the bone, and is slightly crisp on the outside, just the way I like it. The pieces are also large enough that you don’t feel like you have to grab 5 chicken legs to satisfy your quota.

One of my tablemates ordered a specialty naan for us. I forget what it was called but I’ll make a note to ask him. Anyways, it was filled with garlic, lentils, and various spices. It was good, but nothing beats a good spinach naan (note extra glob of spinach curry just for this reason).

While the meal is definitely a lunch buffet, I’d like to explore eating here at dinner (I hear there’s live sitar), just to get a sense of how exactly it stacks up to Seattle stalwarts Taste of India and Cedar’s. Since those two restaurants are quite overpriced and lacking in any sort of distinction that would justify a $13 dollar price tag, I’m projecting that Kanishka’s may compare favorably (we’ll see).

 

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Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, TX

June 4, 2008

Warning: terrible pictures ahead

Going to SXSW for the first time was exciting enough, but the chance to finally eat some honest-to-go Texas BBQ? My hands were jittery with anticipation. After asking maybe two or three locals, they pointed me to Stubb’s BBQ (whose backyard also happened to be a rather large venue for the festival itself), right on Red River and everything. The place was packed, of course, but the in-and-out seemed pretty rapid so we decided to stick around.

My exposure to the sweet, smoky meats of Texas bbq only go only as far as the Roadhouse BBQ on the eastside, which isn’t really saying much. Eating there is culinary equivalent of being told about the Mona Lisa. I understood what the meal was supposed to taste like, but it left much to be desired. Getting a slab of tender, sweet, and authentic brisket was high on my list of priorties for this trip.

The restaurant is, like most restaurants in Texas, laid out with a western rustic theme, complete with reproductions of paintings of various Americana on the wall and the longhorn mantelpieces festooning every doorway. The place is large, crowded, but not chaotic, which is a surprise.

I ordered the brisket set with a couple sides and a beer. I hadn’t really done my research when it came to the local brews, I thought Lone Star was a really classy brew (it’s not). This “real” pale ale wasn’t that great, a little toothless for my taste.

My brisket set was surprisingly cheap (I forget how much, it was south of $10), and though it wasn’t a big hunk o’ beef it did the trick. The collard greens were really tasty, hot from the vat complete with bacon bits and that briny stench that I love. The potato salad was good but nothing special really, a serviceable side for a good ol’ fashioned bbq.

Now the brisket, that’s what I’m talking about. Tender and smoky, with the look of Chinese bbq pork. The meat fell apart at the touch of my fork. The dryness and the sweet sauce really work well together, and if my mouth got too dry a forkful of collard greens did the trick. I only wished there were more, but for the price I couldn’t really complain.

My friend got a bowl of the chili and a block of cornbread. The chili was good, with bits of tender beef in a sweet and spicy concoction. But the cornbread was something else, light and golden, like something I’d been missing for a long time.

I’m a simple man at heart, and things like a really well done bbq just set my heart a flutter. Now all I need to do is find a place that serves big ol’ slabs of brisket up here.

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