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Jbeatty's Journal

jbeatty
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09/22/2007 16:44 #41253

My Weekend
So my first whole weekend off in a while and of course I have come down with something and feel fucking miserable. This may be a new record for me, only 4 weeks into the semester and I have already managed to stress myself out to the point of making myself sick. Usually I don't start feeling shitty till finals.

So in an effort to make myself feel better I shelled out $20 for a ton of spicy Korean Soups to get me through the weekend. I trekked to Seoul Garden on Niagara Falls Blvd, because they were the only Korean place in Buffalo I called that even had Jjamppong. I did however learn something today. Apparently Jjamppong isn't really Korean. It's a Korean adaptation of a Chinese Soup, although it's pretty popular in Korea. I also picked up an order of Yook Gae Jang for tomorrow.

So anyway Jjampong is a seafood soup with octopus, squid, mussels, shrimp, pork, kimchi, Spanish onion, green onion, carrot, and Chinese water noodles all swimming in a fiery orange broth. As far as I could tell it was pretty good, but in honesty I can't taste all that well, it didn't make me sweat like it normally does however. This was the first time I have had it with mussels and pork in it and I liked it that way. They give you so much for $8.00 that you can make two meals out of it. So I suppose its Jjamppong again for dinner. It did actually make me feel a little better for a little while at least.

image

As far as the restaurant goes I didn't eat there but it was packed full of Asians, which in my opinion tends to be a good sign. It's a pretty dumpy looking dining room really, but the kitchen they have is absolutely beautiful. You can see it from the front counter. It's massive, and from afar looks impeccably clean. You could squeeze 7 line cooks in there comfortably if needed. But the size of the "dining room" really doesn't merit such a behemoth. Any way I will definitely be going back for more, they have a whole bunch of Korean dishes that I have never had and a few Chinese ones as well. It's really a shame that its so far away from my place, I guess I will just have to stop there on my way home from school sometime.

So I guess instead of cramming for my exams coming up this week I will just lie here on the couch pretending that I have nothing that needs to be done. Maybe I will get off my ass just long enough to rent a few films to make it through the night. Any suggestions as to what I should rent.


james - 09/23/07 10:17
Packed with asians is a good sign. When the place is empty, because it is an odd hour or something, I look and see how dirty the place is. Unless they serve sushi, the dirtier the place the tastier the food.

so far it has proved me right.
tinypliny - 09/22/07 21:41
Death at a Funeral
drew - 09/22/07 17:59
Movie: Blades of glory was awesome.

(e:janelle) and I watched "Deathproof" last night (my idea) no story, but some good lines/characters and some great car chases.

And the soup looks great. I love Korean food and will have to check the place out.
libertad - 09/22/07 16:57
That looks so good. I think i'll have to go there. I'm glad you said the kitchen looks clean. I don't eat chinese anymore because i haven't found a restaurant i feel is clean around me.

09/19/2007 18:19 #41198

Mailman
My Mailman sucks! The dude has refused to pick up my mail the last two days, and today he delivered one piece and left the outgoing stuff! Am I missing something here?
fellyconnelly - 09/20/07 08:55
i have to go to an outside mailbox as well. grr
orchidiamond - 09/19/07 22:28
thats a bit crazy--my carrier comes on foot and i just leave them sticking out of the box stamp side up and they took them...no problems. maybe you should put a note in there for them haha
jbeatty - 09/19/07 18:40
The weird thing is he has picked it up before. Otherwise I would have assumed what you found out the hard way Drew.
metalpeter - 09/19/07 18:36
As long as there is enough postage on it then it shouldn't be a problem. I wonder if you have a regular guy and a fill in guy and the fill in guy doesn't know the stuff that is going out isn't from the day before and that you didn't pick it up, but not really sure. That is why I just drop mine in a mail box. The only thing that I can suggest is maybe you left it on hooks when it should be in the box or the other way around, I really don't know where the problem is.
drew - 09/19/07 18:33
If your mail carrier comes on foot, then usually I think you have to drop your mail into the big blue mail boxes around town.
I learned that lesson after putting bills in my box and noticing it was still there weeks later!

09/17/2007 16:46 #41158

What was I thinking?
As with all things food and drink related I have a compelling urge to try things that I have never had. Sometimes it sounds really gross and turns out to be awesome, as was the case I discovered with carrot juice this summer. Other times it sounds really good and is really good. Well today's little adventure turned out to be neither of these. At the kosher deli at UB I noticed Dr. Browns Cel-Ray in the cooler. Thats right celery flavored soda. It sounded gross but I had to try it. Sometimes my instincts are dead on. Celery flavored soda is fucking disgusting!

image
bleh!
carolinian - 09/19/07 18:34
(e:jbeatty), to answer your question, during passover it's not permitted for us Hebrews to eat corn syrup (if we're really observant, that is), so Coke produces a special passover coke using real sugar in place of corn syrup. Kinda like the original formula and all, minus the cocaine, of course.

Not coincidentally, most of the stories I have about myself getting drunk on rum also tend to occur during passover.
mrmike - 09/18/07 11:41
I miss Zeltzer Seltzer -- that was good times
joshua - 09/18/07 10:17
Cel-Ray is shady. Dr. Brown's Cream Soda is divine though!
lizabeth - 09/18/07 01:28
JB, I can't believe you had to *try* the celery soda to establish that it's disgusting. You could've just asked me - I'd have told you!

(Full disclosure: this :::link::: should give you a pretty good idea of how I feel about celery.)

Some reviews of the Jones Soda Thanksgiving flavors:
:::link:::
:::link:::

Ohh, and btw, take my word for this, too - Jones Peppermint Soda (their Christmas offering) is *disgusting*, too. If you really want to try some, c'mon down - we've still got 3 bottles.
orchidiamond - 09/17/07 21:40
Hahaha....oh no. im always up for something new too but ive never even seen that in a case!
jenks - 09/17/07 20:41
like those thanksgiving sodas... who makes them... Jones maybe? but they have like stuffing soda and turkey soda... And there's a chocolate place in philly that sells chocolate covered onions- and they're like best sellers!
jbeatty - 09/17/07 20:31
Passover coke?
jim - 09/17/07 18:09
As opposed to Passover Coke, which is the awesome.
carolinian - 09/17/07 17:42
I remember every passover a few cans of the celery soda found their way into our fridge via my dad. Like gefilte fish, celery soda was one of those scary Jewish foods I always steered clear of and never tried.



zobar - 09/17/07 17:04
When I see that in the store I always wonder about it. I think I usually decide that it's so bizarre that it has to be good or they wouldn't even think to sell it. I'm a little wussy in the soft-drink department since I got burned by Goya Malta a little while back [think beer, only sweet and thick instead of bitter and crisp - that is, with all the good parts replaced with bad parts]. Thanks for the heads-up - now I won't have to try it.

- Z
james - 09/17/07 17:03
I come from a part of New York state where the Jews are as plentiful as rain drops in a storm. In this environment I have cultivated a love for Dr. Brown's cel-ray soda that boarders on cultish. It is so good. Perhaps that it tastes like no food should. But I love that soda.

Though I have to admit, who ever pitched the idea for celery flavored soda was almost as nutty as the board who approved it.

09/15/2007 15:45 #41118

Sweet!
It looks like I just lost another .000000011lbs!
lauren - 09/16/07 11:28
Ummmmm, is this some weird physics thing?
mrmike - 09/15/07 21:12
Woo-hoo!

09/15/2007 14:32 #41116

Pho?
Of all the Asian soups that I am hopelessly addicted to, Pho is by far my absolute favorite. I love this soup so much that I want to take a trip to Vietnam just so I can have my fill of street Pho. So after a morning of centripetal force fun and getting a bad haircut I decided to treat myself with a little comfort food. I decided to go to 99 fastfood but I really had only a general idea of where the place was so I never ended up finding it. Instead I stumbled upon Saigon Bankok and had lunch there.

So anyway the Pho at Saigon Bangkok is really good. As usual it was a massive bowl of rice noodles, rare beef, meatballs, onions, and cilantro, bean sprouts, lime and a sauce that was 50:50 hoisen and tuong ot. I was a little disappointed that it didn't come with any Thai basil on the side but after taking a few bites I didn't miss it all that much. The broth was perfect. I have had some Southern Vietnam versions where it was a little sweet, and honestly I think it sucks that way. The best thing about Pho is how cheap it is. A bowl of it would probably satisfy two hungry people and it usually costs around $6 or $7.

I also had Goi Cuon as an appetizer as well, It was really delicious although I like it even more when they add fresh mint, but no mint for me this time. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. The service was pleasant, fast and unpretentious. I will be heading back to try some of their other selections especially since I noticed they have Banh Xeo there!

jenks - 09/15/07 15:10
I just ate at 99 fastfood (formerly pho 99) yesterday- for the second time this week. I love that place. It's by no means a white tablecloth restaurant- but food is cheap and plentiful. I personally prefer to the Bun to the Pho, but that's just me.

It's on super ghetto Bailey Ave, just south of UB south campus and the VA.

And if you're there- give me a call- I'm always looking for excuses to leave the VA. And like I said I eat there about 3 times a week.
lizabeth - 09/15/07 15:08
Pho was probably the best thing I ate in Vietnam, and I didn't have a bad meal in that country. (The food on their national airline, now, that was another matter...)

I'm trying to figure out how to convince my annoying aunt that it's pronounced "fah" and not "foh". They've discovered the wonders of pho at this place back home in VA, but they still insist on pronouncing it wrong... even tho' the place sells t-shirts with the slogan "it's really pho-king good!" on them, which isn't punny if you don't pronounce pho correctly. :/