via video, as well as text.

Went today, around 1:30. There was no buffet. The chinese food tasted ok (I had hot and spicy shrimp, that wasn't too spicy and was too sweet), but it only contained four average size shrimp. FOUR! The hot and sour soup, however, tasted great. (e:Janelle) had a bento box and it looked a lot nicer. I am definitely going to do Japanese if I visit again there is no buffet.

Afterwards, we stopped at Hu's discount store. It is my new favorite store. Everything is affordable there. I wish I had my picture phone (will again in January), I would share pictures of cheap wires, the aforementioned four shrimp, and the tights that had jeans painted on them.

I wanted to buy shoes and sharpies and underwear and cleaning supplies, and luggage but I held back, because I didn't really need any of them and they will still be cheap when I need them.

I haven't been posting much, and shouldn't be posting now--I'm kinda busy. But (e:heidi) shared her Shango gift certificate that she couldn't use, so (e:janelle) and I used it last night.

Shango was good. We just had drinks and apps. I had what the tap said was a Flying Bison Maibock, but seemed to be something different. It was still tasty, so no complaints. Sweet Potato fries were amazing, the quesadillas were, too.

It was way better than last week when we went to La Docle Vita. Overcrowded, loud, and bad service. I sent a feedback email and they didn't respond. Oh yeah, and the website is ugly and noisy

So, next time you go out, choose Shango over La Dolce Vita. And if you can, have (e:Heidi) share a gift to pay for it! (THANKS AGAIN!)

Quite simply, it filled me with joy. (e:Janelle) had to reprimand me for staring, jaw agape, at prices and saying, "wow."

Seafood is less than $3/pound. Regular fish is even cheaper, but you can get scallops and crab and stuffed crab for less than $3 a pound.

Lots of fruit and vegetables are $1/pound or less.

Goya beans are .66/can. And oh my, the selection of Goya products!

Meat can be had for $1/pound, but I suspect that is just part of the grand opening madness. Turkeys were something like $.20/pound.

Cheese, shredded can be had for $2/pound, and sliced only slightly more--real cheese!

Cornflakes--$1 a box.

Plus it had all the staples, and quite a few treats.

Well laid out, clean, and well staffed. Uber-busy yesterday, but I anticipate being able find some space soon.

I want to go to there.

It's a simple plan, but the best ones are.

Somebody goes to a Trader Joe's in another town, and buys one or two hundred of their re-usable bags.

Like this one:




Then, said person re-sells them to people who want Joe's in town, and asks them to email pictures of them shopping with them. Later, all the future joe's shoppers assemble for a group shot.

You call the media, you encourage people to keep using the bags, you keep sending pics to joe's, basically, telling them, again and again and again that there are shoppers just waiting to spend money at their store.

I think it might work! I know it would be worth it.

This was a long assignment.

Only had to strikethrough two, I think.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (does alligator count??)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth �60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Essex corners' newest place Is open. They are next to Urban Roots and are kind of a "back of the house" operation for Dolci on Elmwood.

I didn't get any gelato because I had eaten sweets all morning, but (e:janelle) got a coffee and I had a slice of white pizza. Both were very good, and affordable. The people were nice, too.

At the same time, Urban Roots was celebrating their one year anniversary and was full of life (human and plant, both.)

I think the day that everyone feared is finally arriving: gentrification. The place was just packed with preppy, cute, white people. Of course, there were still signs of the stagnation that has been in that section of town for a long time, too, but my sensors say that things are underway.

I think it can be done right, however. People are working to keep affordable housing available no matter what. Property values are going to climb a little bit, but that is necessary to provide an economic incentive to make it a nice place to live.

Anyway, go get a gelato or a slice of pizza. I promise you won't inflate property values too much, (at least not until the city/state start taking care of their properties) and you will be satisfied with your choice.

Day off, had to buy Pirogies for a dinner tonight, and had a couple of months bottles to return, so I loaded them into the truck and headed to Wegman's.

I decided I deserved a treat, but I wanted to be healthy.

"Wegman's has Sushi I thought!" excitedly.

I went over to the little place and quickly realized that Wegman's made ahead of time sushi is MORE EXPENSIVE than the great, custom made, fresh sushi of Kuni's.

I like Wegman's, but they are way off with their sushi pricing.

Service: Good

Food quality: Good enough. I didn't write down the proper names of the dishes, but there dishes with peas, chick-peas, and eggplant. There were also chicken dishes.

Food Variety (it is a buffet, after all): Not good enough. There weren't any cheese-based dishes, which I particularly love.

My wife just interrupted me to tell me that this review should be funny. "People won't read it if it isn't funny," she says.

"They will," I think to myself, "if they like to eat Indian food."

I like to eat Indian food.

So, based on this fact, I like India Gate.

I guess I am not a very professional restaurant reviewer. Basically, if I don't get sick, I like the place. India Gate not only didn't make me get sick, but I liked the food enough to get more and more food. Too much, in fact.

Dessert was rings of honey that had been solidified and fried. (They have a name, but I didn't take notes. Remember, my first mission was to eat. I can't hold a pencil in my left hand, and I sure wasn't going to take the fork out of my right!)

I depended on (e:Jenks) for the above description of the honey-things. I also saw that she ate them with rice-pudding. I like rice pudding as long as I think it is something else. Why don't they just call it pudding and keep us all happy? Everybody likes pudding. I pretended that I didn't see the label and ate the stuff mixed together. Very sweet, very rich, very good. (hmmm, fried honey, sweet and rich? Go figure)

Anyway, I like eating and I like reviewing, but I work for a church and I am not made of money. What's that? I am getting a word from above! Somebody out there needs healing. If you send money to me today, healing will come into your life.

Just kidding. I could've made a better appeal, but I really didn't want to go to far with blasphemy.

Coming up next will be my review of University Hots. It will also be a good review, because (as I mentioned before) I like to eat.

This is an opportunity for all of you who own restaurants. The only thing that I like more than food is free food. Give me free food and you will get a good review.

Again, I never said I was professional.

The trip to the Indian Buffet referenced in my last post is going to happen. Any one else want to eat Indian food at noon tomorrow (Friday)?