Food: The great unifier.

Some of you know that I'm a huge devotee of Midtown Lunch.com. It was through them that I discovered the amazing Chinese food at Hing Won in Midtown. Food so good, I even braved the touristas during high season to get my fix. They have a selection of your more typical fare, but they also have a marvelous menu of more Chinatown-style items, and for a long time they had a menu written in Chinese on the wall (it's now in Chinese and English, after people like me got wise to some of the specialties thanks to ML.com and started asking for them). I've had some wonderful things here - scallops in garlic sauce and chinese vegetables (my boss was going on and on about how good it smelled), roast pig over rice (crunchy pork belly. And get it with the ginger garlic sauce - you can thank me later), tons of good stuff. Though my standard lately has been their by-the-pound lunch buffet, as it combines the more obscure Chinese dishes I enjoy or enjoy trying (lamb stew, tripe, chinese eggplant, bok choy, stuff I can't identify but looked tasty) along with the guilty pleasures (egg roll, dumplings, a tiny piece or two of the General). Today, though, in addition to a nice lunch, I got a nice bit of reassurance.

There was this fantastic looking dish towards the end of the buffet that involvedl lots of beautifully steamed vegetables and octopus. Now, I don't know if you've ever had octopus, but it's delicious. angelicillusion and I were served roasted octopus as an amuse-bouche in a sushi restaurant eons ago, and I've been a fan since. So I was all set to add a big portion of this to my buffet container when I noticed that there was more than just octopus in it.

See, I have a weird problem with seafood. I can eat fish with fins and scales, I can eat things with tentacles, and I can eat things in hard shells until the cows come home. I can't, however eat shrimp, lobster, prawns, or anything in that family. (Don't talk to me about crab, I'm in denial but I may have to come around to the fact that we're not friends very soon). So I asked the guy at the counter who usually weighs my container and rings me up if there was shrimp in the dish. He said there was, and immediately asked if I was allergic. I told him I was.

Me: "Weirdest thing. I can eat other seafood..."
HIm: "But not shrimp or lobster, right? Me too."
Me: "Really?"
Him: "Yup. No crustaceans, but everything else is cool."

I bablled a little bit at him over excitement, but as the place was insanely busy I had to hustle along. Still, it's nice to know I'm not the only one in the world with this bizarre reaction to crustaceans only. Now I have to find someone else out there who is allergic to avocado, and I"m all set.

(Speaking of food, there's a great post on blergeatkitty's journal about sandwiches that I highly recommend you check out.)

Food: The great unifier.

Some of you know that I'm a huge devotee of Midtown Lunch.com. It was through them that I discovered the amazing Chinese food at Hing Won in Midtown. Food so good, I even braved the touristas during high season to get my fix. They have a selection of your more typical fare, but they also have a marvelous menu of more Chinatown-style items, and for a long time they had a menu written in Chinese on the wall (it's now in Chinese and English, after people like me got wise to some of the specialties thanks to ML.com and started asking for them). I've had some wonderful things here - scallops in garlic sauce and chinese vegetables (my boss was going on and on about how good it smelled), roast pig over rice (crunchy pork belly. And get it with the ginger garlic sauce - you can thank me later), tons of good stuff. Though my standard lately has been their by-the-pound lunch buffet, as it combines the more obscure Chinese dishes I enjoy or enjoy trying (lamb stew, tripe, chinese eggplant, bok choy, stuff I can't identify but looked tasty) along with the guilty pleasures (egg roll, dumplings, a tiny piece or two of the General). Today, though, in addition to a nice lunch, I got a nice bit of reassurance.

There was this fantastic looking dish towards the end of the buffet that involvedl lots of beautifully steamed vegetables and octopus. Now, I don't know if you've ever had octopus, but it's delicious. angelicillusion and I were served roasted octopus as an amuse-bouche in a sushi restaurant eons ago, and I've been a fan since. So I was all set to add a big portion of this to my buffet container when I noticed that there was more than just octopus in it.

See, I have a weird problem with seafood. I can eat fish with fins and scales, I can eat things with tentacles, and I can eat things in hard shells until the cows come home. I can't, however eat shrimp, lobster, prawns, or anything in that family. (Don't talk to me about crab, I'm in denial but I may have to come around to the fact that we're not friends very soon). So I asked the guy at the counter who usually weighs my container and rings me up if there was shrimp in the dish. He said there was, and immediately asked if I was allergic. I told him I was.

Me: "Weirdest thing. I can eat other seafood..."
HIm: "But not shrimp or lobster, right? Me too."
Me: "Really?"
Him: "Yup. No crustaceans, but everything else is cool."

I bablled a little bit at him over excitement, but as the place was insanely busy I had to hustle along. Still, it's nice to know I'm not the only one in the world with this bizarre reaction to crustaceans only. Now I have to find someone else out there who is allergic to avocado, and I"m all set.

(Speaking of food, there's a great post on blergeatkitty's journal about sandwiches that I highly recommend you check out.)

Today in brief

( Random Thoughts of the Day )

Today in brief

( Random Thoughts of the Day )