The Swamp

mister d wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:44 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:39 pmGonna get tex-mex from my wife's favorite place for her birthday next week.

I need to learn more about Tex-Mex. Is there like a good primer?

Yeah, don't get it outside of Texas.

Giff wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 2:10 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:44 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:39 pmGonna get tex-mex from my wife's favorite place for her birthday next week.

I need to learn more about Tex-Mex. Is there like a good primer?

Yeah, don't get it outside of Texas.

There used to be a really good Tex Mex carryout place here in town. Was so sad when it closed. Was a great go to for lunch nursing a hangover.

I eat takeout most work days for lunch, and get it probably 1-2x a week for dinner with the family. I've also been doing a ton more cooking, and cannot recommend following @frankprisinzano on Instagram enough. He's fantastic.

Having a hard time trying to figure out what else to order out that will survive the ride home from the restaurant. Not a whole lot in our small town that will suffice for both adult and kid. Like, the idea of getting Red Robin to get their fries sounds great, but the ensuing ten minutes from leaving the restaurant and driving home would likely ruin them.

mister d wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:44 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:39 pmGonna get tex-mex from my wife's favorite place for her birthday next week.

I need to learn more about Tex-Mex. Is there like a good primer?

The most common thing is that Mexican food doesn't use cheddar cheese. Other differences are with things like enchiladas and tacos. They're gonna be on both menus, but there are subtle differences (Tex Mex will offer a hard shell taco, while Mex is exclusively soft corn tortilla. Enchiladas have different toppings, too.

Most Americans, when they say they're going out for Mexican food... They're eating Tex Mex and don't know it.

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:20 pm Having a hard time trying to figure out what else to order out that will survive the ride home from the restaurant. Not a whole lot in our small town that will suffice for both adult and kid. Like, the idea of getting Red Robin to get their fries sounds great, but the ensuing ten minutes from leaving the restaurant and driving home would likely ruin them.

I’ve had fries twice in the last 2 months, and both were ok at best because of the trip home. Put it on the “first order of biz back at the bar” list.

Had fries last weekend for the first time in months. The place is only a couple of minutes away and they were still in pretty good shape. Downed them all before I touched any wings.

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:20 pm Having a hard time trying to figure out what else to order out that will survive the ride home from the restaurant. Not a whole lot in our small town that will suffice for both adult and kid. Like, the idea of getting Red Robin to get their fries sounds great, but the ensuing ten minutes from leaving the restaurant and driving home would likely ruin them.

Chinese? Usually keeps pretty well in transit.

I'm not usually the 'craving' type, but I'd murder for this.

Chinese places around here seemed to have been hit pretty hard by a lack of business pre-quarantine. My go-to spent some time giving out meals in early March and hasn’t reopened since. Local FB goes nuts whenever someone find another place that is open.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:41 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:44 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:39 pmGonna get tex-mex from my wife's favorite place for her birthday next week.

I need to learn more about Tex-Mex. Is there like a good primer?

The most common thing is that Mexican food doesn't use cheddar cheese. Other differences are with things like enchiladas and tacos. They're gonna be on both menus, but there are subtle differences (Tex Mex will offer a hard shell taco, while Mex is exclusively soft corn tortilla. Enchiladas have different toppings, too.

Most Americans, when they say they're going out for Mexican food... They're eating Tex Mex and don't know it.

I think where I struggle is I'd know hard shell tacos aren't Mexican, but I don't know if they're Tex-Mex or just supermarket bullshit.

rass wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:49 pm Had fries last weekend for the first time in months. The place is only a couple of minutes away and they were still in pretty good shape. Downed them all before I touched any wings.

We've ordered fries from two different places. One shipped them in a plastic container and the other used a cardboard container. The cardboard fries were far crispier because the steam from the hot fries was able to escape.

rass wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 4:01 pm Chinese places around here seemed to have been hit pretty hard by a lack of business pre-quarantine. My go-to spent some time giving out meals in early March and hasn’t reopened since. Local FB goes nuts whenever someone find another place that is open.

This surprises me a little because most Thai and Chinese places here (at least the local joints) seemed to mostly do take-out to begin with.

I thought it was just my place until the desperate FB posts looking for take out started. All 3* in close proximity to home are closed. There are two Thai places, a Korean fried chicken and Vietnamese all open. I think the “Chinese virus” did them in.

*there used to be a fourth, but it closed and reopened as a taco place, but it was still run by Asians. The food was meh, the lack of house made salsa killed it for me

We are also trying to support the local restaurants by getting takeaway food every week and a half or so. We’re lucky. Just about every ethnic food you can think of is available around here. Hope they all make it.

I like Tex-mex and other Mexican, but my favorite is southern Mexican food, distinguished by heavy use of tomatillos.

And, any family place with an old grandma helping run it is probably great.

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:29 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm Also if you call soda "pop".

Which is what it's called.

Every fizzy drink is Coke unless it's Mountain Dew. Sorry I don't make the rules around these parts I just follow em.

You are not a true Hoosier. It is a pop. Pure and simple. Soda is water, and a coke is a Coke.

We are bummed because our favorite pizza place has shuttered during the quarantine. I am glad they are doing it because it shows they care about their workers and everything, but damn are we craving their food.

We are also in the same boat as Drug Safety in that nothing really holds up on the drive home. Only one place in town that delivers, and it is just "meh".

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:05 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:29 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm Also if you call soda "pop".

Which is what it's called.

Every fizzy drink is Coke unless it's Mountain Dew. Sorry I don't make the rules around these parts I just follow em.

You are not a true Hoosier. It is a pop. Pure and simple. Soda is water, and a coke is a Coke.

If you've got a problem with Coke people yous gotta problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate.

You mean "let that one lowry's"

ETA: Lawry's. Shit.

BSF21 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:17 am

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:05 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:29 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm Also if you call soda "pop".

Which is what it's called.

Every fizzy drink is Coke unless it's Mountain Dew. Sorry I don't make the rules around these parts I just follow em.

You are not a true Hoosier. It is a pop. Pure and simple. Soda is water, and a coke is a Coke.

If you've got a problem with Coke people yous gotta problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate.

I now realize why we called it Nobletucky.

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:39 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:17 am

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:05 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:29 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm Also if you call soda "pop".

Which is what it's called.

Every fizzy drink is Coke unless it's Mountain Dew. Sorry I don't make the rules around these parts I just follow em.

You are not a true Hoosier. It is a pop. Pure and simple. Soda is water, and a coke is a Coke.

If you've got a problem with Coke people yous gotta problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate.

I now realize why we called it Nobletucky.

Aren't you a region rat anyway?

(considers starting a hoosierfight thread...)

Had this last night. Those are banana peppers and we added garlic sauce.

BSF21 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 8:05 am

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:39 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:17 am

duff wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 7:05 am

BSF21 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 1:29 pm

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:02 pm

Which is what it's called.

Every fizzy drink is Coke unless it's Mountain Dew. Sorry I don't make the rules around these parts I just follow em.

You are not a true Hoosier. It is a pop. Pure and simple. Soda is water, and a coke is a Coke.

If you've got a problem with Coke people yous gotta problem with me and I suggest you let that one marinate.

I now realize why we called it Nobletucky.

Aren't you a region rat anyway?

(considers starting a hoosierfight thread...)

I grew up just outside of Anderson

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:52 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:20 pm Having a hard time trying to figure out what else to order out that will survive the ride home from the restaurant. Not a whole lot in our small town that will suffice for both adult and kid. Like, the idea of getting Red Robin to get their fries sounds great, but the ensuing ten minutes from leaving the restaurant and driving home would likely ruin them.

Chinese? Usually keeps pretty well in transit.

While I would like that, it is a non-starter in our house otherwise. My wife does not like Chinese food* and the one time we tried orange chicken (presumably the most innocuous dish of Chinese food) with the kids, it was a bust.

* - My wife claims to not like Chinese food, but also is the only one of us who wants to go to PF Chang's and almost always orders orange chicken at Cheesecake Factory. There are days when I seriously wonder about the alternate timeline created by changing an answer to one question from "yes" to "no".

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 9:37 am

brian wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:52 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 3:20 pm Having a hard time trying to figure out what else to order out that will survive the ride home from the restaurant. Not a whole lot in our small town that will suffice for both adult and kid. Like, the idea of getting Red Robin to get their fries sounds great, but the ensuing ten minutes from leaving the restaurant and driving home would likely ruin them.

Chinese? Usually keeps pretty well in transit.

While I would like that, it is a non-starter in our house otherwise. My wife does not like Chinese food* and the one time we tried orange chicken (presumably the most innocuous dish of Chinese food) with the kids, it was a bust.

* - My wife claims to not like Chinese food, but also is the only one of us who wants to go to PF Chang's and almost always orders orange chicken at Cheesecake Factory. There are days when I seriously wonder about the alternate timeline created by changing an answer to one question from "yes" to "no".

Generally, I do not like Chinese food either, but I love almost every other Asian cuisine. I think it's because most Chinese restaurants use pre-made sauces and condiments, so everything tastes the same.

ETA: Chinese food tends to be much less spicy than Thai or Vietnamese food, and I much prefer spiciness over blandness.

I too can't stand chinese food, although I'd like to try Mission or a similar place and see if its just because I don't like most takeout and have never "eaten in".

mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 9:52 am I too can't stand chinese food, although I'd like to try Mission or a similar place and see if its just because I don't like most takeout and have never "eaten in".

I will say Ala Shanghai in Albany is the best Chinese food I've ever had. It's not even in the same league as your typical Chinese take out place.

Blasphemists, all of you.

I love good Chinese food and can't stand the bad shit.

Sadly, no good ones in my neighbourhood.

Sabo wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 10:04 am

mister d wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 9:52 am I too can't stand chinese food, although I'd like to try Mission or a similar place and see if its just because I don't like most takeout and have never "eaten in".

I will say Ala Shanghai in Albany is the best Chinese food I've ever had. It's not even in the same league as your typical Chinese take out place.

I grew up in the Albany area and this is stunning to me — I definitely would not expect it to have an incredible Chinese restaurant. (Apparently Ala Shanghai opened about 18 months after I last lived in Albany.)

I’m not a big fan of Chinese food either (I prefer Japanese and Thai) but will say the best I’ve ever had is at a dim sum place in San Francisco Chinatown.

Joe K wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 10:31 amI grew up in the Albany area and this is stunning to me — I definitely would not expect it to have an incredible Chinese restaurant. (Apparently Ala Shanghai opened about 18 months after I last lived in Albany.)

The former editor of the Albany Business Review spoke fluent Mandarin and would go to China every year as part of a journalism outreach program. And every so often, some Chinese journalists would come to Albany and the editor would take them to Ala Shanghai. Apparently they would rave about the food. Every time I went to Albany for work, the editor would take me and anyone else there and order for us, and we were served amazing food. It's one of those ethnic restaurants where you enter and you see the place is packed with folks of that ethnicity. That's always a good sign that the food is excellent and authentic.

Sabo wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 10:39 am It's one of those ethnic restaurants where you enter and you see the place is packed with folks of that ethnicity. That's always a good sign that the food is excellent and authentic.

Like Chicken Guy

"Excuse me, which part of asia are you from?"

govmentchedda wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 10:15 am Blasphemists, all of you.

I'm just assuming they've never had good dim sum.

So, years ago, my wife's "work husband" was a Chinese-American guy. One night, he invited us to join him and his wife in San Francisco to get some "real" Chinese food. We have lots of Asians and Asian food in our little suburb, so I didn't think it would be much different. We ended up in the bowels of San Francisco Chinatown. My wife and I were the only non-Chinese in the building. The host greeted my wife's friend warmly, in what I assume was Cantonese or Mandarin or something, seated us in the corner, and took off to the kitchen. Wife's friend said, "we aren't going to order - the owner is picking out some entrees for us." Holy shit. I didn't recognize anything on the table after that. It was pretty good, but I was amazed how different it was than what I was used to from garden-variety Chinese restaurants.

Most Americanized Chinese food is crap, but it's about the only crap food I eat. I've found some really good places, but it's almost impossible to find a place that actually serves spicy food. I don't get it. I had a summer internship in Boston that was near Chinatown. Worked with a Chinese guy who was thrilled to take me to authentic places. Always a great sign being the only White person in a restaurant, pretty much regardless of ethnicity of patron or type of cuisine. At first he would just try to gross me out for his amusement by ordering things like giant prawn heads and congee soup which is a porridge/soup hybrid with the consistency of a bowl of mucus. I'll try just about anything, and learned that shrimp really should be served with heads on, because that's where all the flavor lives, so he gave up quickly and just ordered us the best dishes at each restaurant. It was glorious. I never understood why places like this don't offer their authentic dishes on the English menu. I'd try to take friends to these restaurants and the menu was the usual takeout greasy slop by the usual names. I used to go to an authentic Chinese place near Rockefeller Center that did offer English translations on their Chinese menu, but the descriptions were super bare minimal. "Chicken in good sauce," "salty shrimp" so I never knew what I was going to get, but that's half the fun.

I’m gonna pound this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon while I make fajitas. Just fucking because.

What I learned was - fuck it. Why not.

Wow. 3 minutes.

Also. Wine is good sometimes. This is one of those times.