Ireland 2013: Eating Away from Home

While Tim attended the Linaro Connect 2013 Conference in Dublin, the kids (Miriam and Brahms) and I went around the city just being tourists.  Sight-seeing, shopping, eating and just observing what people did.  Dublin is a very cosmopolitan city that thrives on tourism.  Everything significant catered to tourists.  Shops that sell t-shirts, mugs, tea towels with green-shamrock prints, mugs and sweatshirts with Guinness labels, Ireland baseball caps (as if they played baseball in Ireland), cheap jewelry pieces that bear the markings found in one of the many ruined monuments, and little tiny woolen-sheep toys are everywhere.  But I was looking for something Irish - something that the nationals like more than what tourists like.   

Without prior information, the only way to tell that a restaurant is good is the busyness of the place.  People always swarm around places that serve good food at a reasonable price. That was the basis of our choice of places to eat.  When it comes to eating it appears that my kids and I are more adventurous when their father is not with us.  Tim always stick to those that are "proven and tried" but we are more willing to discover new ones.  It is those that we try for the first time that will linger in our memories and which will always give depth to the experience of a given culture.  Last year when we went to Taipei, my kids and I found this family-run restaurant in a corner of a street.  We could not read the menu nor the people in the restaurant understood English but we ordered based on the pictures of food on the wall.  It turned out we had the best food and cultural experience there.  We will always remember how the owners of the restaurant had us sit next to the table where they were eating.  

During our time in Dublin one of the places we tried is Zaytoon, a Persian restaurant located on Parliament Street.  The food we had brought back memories of Turkey.  On another night, we had Greek food at Corfu Greek Restaurant.  This was recommended by my former hall mate, Thomae Kakouli-Duarte.  The Kleftiko - lamb that was wrapped in foil was so tender and delicious.  Brahms had Greek Burger -Bifteki, Miriam tried the Souvlaki chicken kabobs while Tim had a Mixed Grilled Platter.  It was like experiencing Greece in Ireland!

Since we stayed in a self-catering apartment we had the opportunity to try what Dublin folks eat on a regular basis.  Lewis tradition says that the grocery store tells a lot about a certain culture. I cannot name a country that we've visited where we did not go to the local grocery store.  We had a several types of the Irish sausages made of real Irish beef.  I was tempted to buy blood pudding but I resisted, maintaining the sanity of my family.  We deliberately chose those that occupied large spaces on the shelves and are not common in US grocery stores.  Between restaurant food and those we prepared, we ate a lot of lamb.  

The kids never got tired of Fish and Chips. On the tour to the Cliffs of Moher, they both had Fish and Chips (for the last time on this trip) at the Monks Seafood and Restaurant Bar.  Tim and I both had a bowl of their famous Fish Chowder with freshly baked bread.  It might sound weird to most people but I had to have some Irish oysters.  They are really good.  

Every night in Dublin, we watched Murdoch Mysteries while we ate Jaffa Cakes.  Tim and I drank more tea than coffee although every morning Tim would walk to the place called "The Art of Coffee" to buy us some latte.  My coffee experience in Ireland made me appreciate our own espresso maker at home.  During the course of the week, the kids and I, when we were feeling tired of the food we were eating, went back to something familiar to remind us of home - Burger King!  In Limerick, we tried the Irish version of McDonald's which is the Super Mac.  The significant difference is fried chicken.  Not only do they serve hamburgers made of Irish beef, they also have Irish fried chicken served with lots and lots of chips (French fries).

When it comes to sweets, there was always a new type of cookie to try.  We were even pleasantly surprised to find this British delicacy (which we love) so common in the grocery stores.  Ice cream places that are marked by a huge ice cream cone are prevalent in Ireland - it was hard to miss their existence. It was comforting to see the sign at the end of every tour we took.  There was even one at the Hill of Tara!  We also sampled Tesco's Tiramisu and Creme Brulee making some of evenings in Limerick memorable.  When we traveled to Adare, we got fancy desserts at the Adare Manor.

Almost every time you say Ireland, people think of beer.  Unfortunately, we are not a beer-drinking family.  Tim, along with all the participants of the conference, even had a tour of the Guinness Storehouse where they had a dinner.  But he skipped his pint.  :)

Monday Lunch Date

One thing that Tim and I are thankful for and have been enjoying for a long time is the privilege of going out to lunch on Mondays.   We found out that it works well for us to set aside this time of the week to go out and leave the pressures of work and house chores behind.   We have each other's focused attention as we discuss whatever is occupying our minds at the time while we try out restaurants around the area.

This time we went to Mylapore, an Indian restaurant in Folsom.   This restaurant serves vegetarian foods.  Every once in a while we like to go meatless (I mean meatless and tasty) and Mylapore fits the bill.   The portions look big but in reality they are small.  The use a huge crispy crepe-type bread to wrap a small amount of spiced potatoes psyches anybody to thinking that the food is enough.  The folded crepe is often bigger that the platter where the food is served on.  That is a great thing for those of us who are trying not to outgrow our current wardrobes.  The secret to successful taste of the food is the combination of many flavors which come in the form of sauces.

To stretch our date a little bit longer we went to get coffee.  This time Tim decided that we'd walk to Starbucks - not too far.   Unfortunately I was wearing my high-heeled shoes which required more muscle work in a not-so-ergonomically approved fashion.  I had to hold onto him as if I was motivated by a desire for proximity but in fact I needed the support.  I have to learn my lesson since he randomly decides to go for a walk without taking my footwear into consideration.  

Food At The Cucina

Ahi Tuna with Greens, Hot and Sour Soup; Wasabi Soy Sauce

Light and Spicy Meal

Most of the time it is better to eat at the Cucina  (that's the name I gave to my kitchen).  Here the price is better, you can choose the ingredients, you are aware of  how the food is handled, and it is more private than  restaurants.  Eating at the Cucina does not bring regrets to me.  I already know what I am going to get and there are no surprises except when experiments are being conducted.  There is one disadvantage of eating at the Cucina -- we get to wash the dishes afterwards.  On the other hand, we get to go out in the backyard to drink our coffee.

Last week Tim and I went to try the new vegetarian Indian restaurant in Folsom.  The food was full of flavor but for a carnivore like me, the "characters" seemed missing from the sauces.   To me, it was like listening to a symphony without a melody.  Tim liked it.

This week, we tried another Indian restaurant in Cameron Park.  I ordered lamb in creamy spinach sauce and Tim had chicken.  I liked the naan but the food was not exciting.  I have no reason to go back to that restaurant except to try their lunch buffet.  Maybe having a variety of food to choose from would give me a better experience.  There are four indian restaurants in the area that I've been to.  So far the best is the one on Bidwell near the DMV.  They serve chevron and mutton which I think are really good with the indian spices.  The one on Broadstone Market was good the first time it opened but I noticed that the food quality is deteriorating.  But in the end, who am I to judge whether and Indian restaurant is good or not.  If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then taste is determined by you and me.

Lunch Dates on Mondays

"Would you like to go out to lunch with me?".   As long as he is working at home,  at around ten on Monday mornings, Tim would always ask me this question.  That means that whatever I'm doing that morning I have to make sure to be ready by 11:30am.  This is one of the many blessing we get through the job that God has given Tim.  He works for Phoenix Technologies which is based in Milpitas but he gets to work from home, most of the time.  I can never thank God enough for allowing him this priviledge.  It is something that we as a family have all learned to enjoy and hope that we will never take for granted.

Top Ten Places To Eat Lunch: 
(Ranked according to the number of times that we've chosen to go to the place)

1. The Emperor's Garden
2. Chantara Thai Cuisine
3. Strings Italian Cafe
4. Costco Food Court
5. Mimi's Cafe
6. La Fiesta Taqueria
7. Pueblo Chico
8. Kusina ni Lewis
9. Opa Greek Restaurant
10. Baja Fresh (now closed)
After lunch we would stop by Vanelli's to get my Vietnamese coffee, or if we're eating in Folsom then another stop before we end our date would be "It's A Grind" to get some coffee.  It's really a simple date but we get to face the other person or sometime sit next to each other and talk about the things that are spinning in our heads.