And so with breakfast: I had only one coupon, and on
inquiry the pleasant waitress said that it was good only
for one meal, but she added helpfully that the same kid
who had issued the voucher was again at the front desk, so
I went over and had him issue us more coupons, which he did
expressing neither surprise nor apology.

We both had omelets with onions and Cheddar, my third item
jalapenos, Lilli's ham. They were expertly turned though on
the well done side. Also, the jalapenos were incredibly mild,
so I called for the Cholula bottle, which also was met with
no surprise. Breakfast potatoes, no surprise, were much less
good than at the Homewood, a less prestigious brand, but then
the lady in the kitchen over there had made them herself, so
much less agribusiness involvement. A surprise = a side order
of sausages, 3 for $4, came as full-size links, the size of
Italians, 3 or more oz each, natural casing stuffed with pretty
decent meat and just enough fat and skin to make things
interesting.

Fresh-squeezed OJ, a 12-oz serving, quite good.

So though the meal was free, they presented a bill for $43,
with all covered by the coupons "except the gratuity." So I
left a fiver on my room tab, which earns 1/1200 of a free
night at the Conrad Centennial Singapore.

Lilli wanted to take the light rail, and it turns out it goes
right by the Museum of Fine Arts, which is pretty showoffable.
A couple hours covered the highlights, though I didn't find
some of my faves this time owing to the place being more
labyrinthine than I remembered. A traveling exhibition of Van
Goghs was $20 extra, and she didn't feel her legs could hold
up anyway.

After that, we walked the few blocks south to Hermann Park and
the Japanese garden, which is worthwhile, though the azaleas
were past and the other stuff wasn't ready yet.

And back on the light rail and 8 blocks' or so walk to Xochi,
which has become a favorite. It was early, happy hour, so I had
a dozen oysters ($13), all but one plump, sweet, and delicious,
one just okay. With these a Negra went fine.

Lilli whined that if I liked the food so much, I should order
more (she gets extra points on her Bonvoy card), so at length
I called for the tacos de lengua, two black corn tortillaettes
each with a 2-oz chunk of confit beef tongue and dots of black
bean puree and also mashed some kind of sweet purple tuber.

For her drinks, the Hugo's Rita, which was not too sweet
and that she liked a lot, then with the food a Castillo del
Baron Monastrell, which was a pretty gutsy though approachable
wine that went well with her meat main course and almost as well
with dessert (though it was a bit sour in contrast to that).

Chamorro de borrego is a giant lamb shank, perhaps a pound of
meat, in huaxmole sauce, which does not mean guacamole but rather
refers to some kind of favalike legume that grows on trees. It
was excellent, the shank brined just so and roasted to fall-from-
the-bone tenderness. She ceded a couple blobs of very tasty fat
to me to finish my tortillas with, very generous, and had too much
meat, so I got some of that, too.

For afters, the cacao dessert, which was even more costly, more
elaborate, and more delicious than last time, stuffed overflowing
with chocolate wafers, chocolate sponge cake, chocolate ice cream,
chocolate mousse, frozen fenugreek? cream, tropical fruit jelly,
tropical fruit jam (this seemed to be passionfruit), and sided
with three kinds of edible orchids glued to the plate with an
excellent dark chocolate sauce, all surrounded with cocoa powder
"dirt" all in the famous white chocolate cacao pod supposedly made
by the chef's brother.

A quite fine meal marred by Lilli's not being able to find the
extra-points credit card, so I paid anyway.
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)

On 04-05-19 18:07, Michael Loo <=-
spoke to All about 200 Xochi <=-

A quite fine meal marred by Lilli's not being able to find the extra-points credit card, so I paid anyway.

Don't I recall that one of your other dining buddies seemed to always
forget his billfold when it was his turn to pay?? :-}}


MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Prawn a la Goa
Categories: Indian, Chilies, Shrimp, Nuts
Yield: 1 Servings

13 oz Fresh peeled prawns
1/4 ts Salt
1 tb Cider vinegar
3 fl Cooking oil
2 lg Onions; finely sliced
1 tb Garlic paste
2 ts Ginger paste
3 ts Ground coriander
1 ts Ground cumin
1 ts Ground turmeric
1/2 ts Chilli powder
1/4 ts Ground cloves
1/2 ts Ground cinnamon
13 oz Sieved; canned tomatoes or
10 fl Passata
1 1/2 oz Creamed coconut; cut into
-small pieces
1 oz Coconut milk powder
8 fl Hot water
6 Whole fresh green chillies
1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Chopped fresh coriander
-leaves

Put prawns in a bowl and add salt and vinegar. Mix well and set
aside for 30 minutes.

Heat oil over a medium heat and fry onions until they are a light
golden colour. Stir frequently, this will take 8-10 minutes.

Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Add the coriander,
cumin, turmeric, chilli powder, cloves and cinnamon. Stir fry for
1 minute when the spices will release their flavour.

Add prawns, sieved tomatoes or passata and creamed coconut. Bring
to a slow simmer and stir until coconut is dissolved.

Blend coconut milk powder with hot water and add to prawns. Cover
and simmer for 5 minutes. If you are using tiger prawns allow 8-9
minutes.

Add fresh, whole chillies, salt and chopped coriander. Simmer for
2-3 minutes and remove from the heat.

Serve with plain boiled rice and batata sukkhe or broccoli upkari.

Carlton Food Network http://www.cfn.co.uk/

MMMMM



... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 03:30:49, 06 Apr 2019
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