Good and bad
Mar. 4th, 2009 05:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
WoW news:
I opened up my cracked egg last night and guess what was inside? That's right, [Reins of the Green Proto-Drake]! Woot. It took me ... I think 6 eggs to get. Which isn't that many, really. Now I just need the proto-drake pet and then I can switch to the Frenzyheart. If I don't get it after a couple more eggs, I may just buy it for 500g or whatever and switch anyway.
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I am thrilled to report that I have found a great sushi place in Lynnwood. It was quite brave of me to try a new restaurant after the last disastrous attempt (Nara Japanese Restaurant in Redmond -- NEVER GO THERE), but I didn't want that experience to forever keep me from trying new places. I wanted something close to home, and this place had gotten decent reviews on Yelp. So I decided to give it a go.
The 405N was awful, just awful, yesterday, clogging even the surface streets with cars that wanted to avoid it, so it took me a super long time to get to the restaurant. I wasn't hungry at all when I started the trip; by the end I was feeling hunger pangs (but I wasn't starving or anything). Still, after the terrible traffic and the bad mood it had put me in, the restaurant was going to have to be pretty good to impress me.
It was located in a strip mall (but then, what isn't in Lynnwood), and looked like nothing much from the outside. From the inside, too, it wasn't what you'd call impressive. The decor was worn and old looking. But unlike Nara, the place was run by Japanese people, and there were actually several filled tables with people eating -- both of which were already decent signs.
Their menu was very similar to Nara's -- eerily similar. I ended up ordering the same combination that I did at Nara's (sashimi and tempura), both because the friendly waitress recommended their tempura, and so that I could make a fair comparison. The price of the meal at both places was the same: $19.95.
The beginning of the meal was average -- the salad and the sunomono were both OK, nothing special. The first difference I could discern was in the miso soup -- Matsu's was full flavored while Nara's had been watery and odd tasting. Next came the tempura, and here things were really starting to brighten up. Whereas Nara had only provided 1 small shrimp and some lame cheap veggies, Matsu's tempura came with 2 large prawns and an impressive assortment of veggies -- including eggplant and broccoli, which I love but are very rarely served in tempuras -- and the tempura batter was crisp and tasted good, whereas Nara's was bland and uninteresting in all ways.
Then the sashimi arrived, and any comparison ceases there. There's no comparison. Matsu's sashimi was fresh, high-quality fish. Not only was the quality of the fish better than Nara's, the portions were more generous, and they included better kinds of fish (none of Nara's combinations included hamachi, for instance, my favorite fish). Included was 1 piece of surf clam, and 2 pieces each of hamachi, sake, maguro, and albacore tuna (can't remember the Japanese name). Each piece was fairly large; it was at least twice the amount of sashimi that Nara gave, and WAS BETTER FISH/QUALITY. That cannot be emphasized enough!
The waitress brought both hot green tea and water, and was very conscientious about refilling glasses (at other tables; mine never dropped low enough to warrant it, especially because she brought me a whole pot of tea for myself), even though she was the only one waiting tables. She was also enthusiastic about recommending the tempura. She even asked if I wanted more rice (very few places do that!). She was also very helpful when I asked to see their lunch menu, saying that they had a popular bento special that wasn't on the menu, but included chicken teriyaki, tempura, and sushi, for $9.50.
It was such a pleasant experience. After this, I have to think of my time at Nara as this: Imagine you go to a gourmet hamburger restaurant. Their menu looks exactly like other gourmet burger restaurants you've gone to. However, they serve you a McDonald's cheeseburger and charge you $20 for it. That's what it was like, basically. It was like they took Matsu's menu, and did their best to lessen their expense on every front in order to maximize profit (giving less, using low-quality fish). The nightmare of Nara may never fully fade (I'll always think about the $25 I spent there that should have gone to a place like Matsu), but at least now I know of a great place to go -- and it's even near home. It sounds like Matsu's lunch is a fantastic deal. I can't wait to try it.
Because the atmosphere at Matsu is nothing to write home about, it's not really a place I'd take occasional guests; it's simply too casual and comfortable. But for family and good friends? Totally perfect.
===========
Update on![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jade_okelani and Mal: I spoke with her last night, and she was, indeed, exhausted from taking care of Mal and worrying about him. His seizures haven't stopped, and it seems that it's harder and harder for him to recover from them. Her family was frantically trying to call around to various vets/hospitals to see if the seizures can be treated in any way -- because except for them, he's fine. (I know, that sounds odd, but -- it's true.) Looks like she may have finally found a place that's willing to treat the seizures as seizures, rather than just as byproduct of his heart condition that they can't do anything about. When he was going through this in December, it took about this amount of time to get back to a point when he stopped having them, so hopefully even if the new place can't do anything for him, it'll follow the same course as before and will simply stop after this on its own, at least for awhile. Send your good thoughts her way and keep your fingers crossed!
I opened up my cracked egg last night and guess what was inside? That's right, [Reins of the Green Proto-Drake]! Woot. It took me ... I think 6 eggs to get. Which isn't that many, really. Now I just need the proto-drake pet and then I can switch to the Frenzyheart. If I don't get it after a couple more eggs, I may just buy it for 500g or whatever and switch anyway.
===========
I am thrilled to report that I have found a great sushi place in Lynnwood. It was quite brave of me to try a new restaurant after the last disastrous attempt (Nara Japanese Restaurant in Redmond -- NEVER GO THERE), but I didn't want that experience to forever keep me from trying new places. I wanted something close to home, and this place had gotten decent reviews on Yelp. So I decided to give it a go.
The 405N was awful, just awful, yesterday, clogging even the surface streets with cars that wanted to avoid it, so it took me a super long time to get to the restaurant. I wasn't hungry at all when I started the trip; by the end I was feeling hunger pangs (but I wasn't starving or anything). Still, after the terrible traffic and the bad mood it had put me in, the restaurant was going to have to be pretty good to impress me.
It was located in a strip mall (but then, what isn't in Lynnwood), and looked like nothing much from the outside. From the inside, too, it wasn't what you'd call impressive. The decor was worn and old looking. But unlike Nara, the place was run by Japanese people, and there were actually several filled tables with people eating -- both of which were already decent signs.
Their menu was very similar to Nara's -- eerily similar. I ended up ordering the same combination that I did at Nara's (sashimi and tempura), both because the friendly waitress recommended their tempura, and so that I could make a fair comparison. The price of the meal at both places was the same: $19.95.
The beginning of the meal was average -- the salad and the sunomono were both OK, nothing special. The first difference I could discern was in the miso soup -- Matsu's was full flavored while Nara's had been watery and odd tasting. Next came the tempura, and here things were really starting to brighten up. Whereas Nara had only provided 1 small shrimp and some lame cheap veggies, Matsu's tempura came with 2 large prawns and an impressive assortment of veggies -- including eggplant and broccoli, which I love but are very rarely served in tempuras -- and the tempura batter was crisp and tasted good, whereas Nara's was bland and uninteresting in all ways.
Then the sashimi arrived, and any comparison ceases there. There's no comparison. Matsu's sashimi was fresh, high-quality fish. Not only was the quality of the fish better than Nara's, the portions were more generous, and they included better kinds of fish (none of Nara's combinations included hamachi, for instance, my favorite fish). Included was 1 piece of surf clam, and 2 pieces each of hamachi, sake, maguro, and albacore tuna (can't remember the Japanese name). Each piece was fairly large; it was at least twice the amount of sashimi that Nara gave, and WAS BETTER FISH/QUALITY. That cannot be emphasized enough!
The waitress brought both hot green tea and water, and was very conscientious about refilling glasses (at other tables; mine never dropped low enough to warrant it, especially because she brought me a whole pot of tea for myself), even though she was the only one waiting tables. She was also enthusiastic about recommending the tempura. She even asked if I wanted more rice (very few places do that!). She was also very helpful when I asked to see their lunch menu, saying that they had a popular bento special that wasn't on the menu, but included chicken teriyaki, tempura, and sushi, for $9.50.
It was such a pleasant experience. After this, I have to think of my time at Nara as this: Imagine you go to a gourmet hamburger restaurant. Their menu looks exactly like other gourmet burger restaurants you've gone to. However, they serve you a McDonald's cheeseburger and charge you $20 for it. That's what it was like, basically. It was like they took Matsu's menu, and did their best to lessen their expense on every front in order to maximize profit (giving less, using low-quality fish). The nightmare of Nara may never fully fade (I'll always think about the $25 I spent there that should have gone to a place like Matsu), but at least now I know of a great place to go -- and it's even near home. It sounds like Matsu's lunch is a fantastic deal. I can't wait to try it.
Because the atmosphere at Matsu is nothing to write home about, it's not really a place I'd take occasional guests; it's simply too casual and comfortable. But for family and good friends? Totally perfect.
===========
Update on
jade_okelani and Mal: I spoke with her last night, and she was, indeed, exhausted from taking care of Mal and worrying about him. His seizures haven't stopped, and it seems that it's harder and harder for him to recover from them. Her family was frantically trying to call around to various vets/hospitals to see if the seizures can be treated in any way -- because except for them, he's fine. (I know, that sounds odd, but -- it's true.) Looks like she may have finally found a place that's willing to treat the seizures as seizures, rather than just as byproduct of his heart condition that they can't do anything about. When he was going through this in December, it took about this amount of time to get back to a point when he stopped having them, so hopefully even if the new place can't do anything for him, it'll follow the same course as before and will simply stop after this on its own, at least for awhile. Send your good thoughts her way and keep your fingers crossed!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 01:37 am (UTC)I'm glad that Jade is okay in that she hasn't, idk, lost a hand or something but :((((( about Mal. I really hope that this new place can give them some options to help control the seizures. Mal, fighting! (or however they do it on the kdramas)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 01:39 am (UTC)Mal's sleeping over at the new vet, so at least Jade can hopefully get some sleep. I'm afraid to call in case I wake her. It's like she's ME.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-05 07:05 am (UTC)I think you mentioned that new place before! I'm totally there, once it actually opens shop. What was the name of that last place we went? It was newish too, I just can't remember the name.
Speaking of Chez Shea, I'm going to go ahead and change our reservation to next Tues, March 17, at 11:30. I don't have any meetings that day, so I won't be as rushed. Will let you know if there are any problems w/ changing the reservation, otherwise assume we're on!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 04:57 pm (UTC)Can we do another day or move the time? I'm so sorry! I'm wide open on the 16th, if that helps. I know you're the one moving your schedule around to work from home, so if this is just turning into one big hassle, I'm okay with you going somewhere without me - it's not like we never meet up for meals! :-)
The sushi place in Ballard that I mentioned is different from the other one I had seen. We ate at Shiku Sushi on Ballard Ave, and there was another place opening a few doors down from that one. THIS one is on 24th, only about 5 blocks or so down the street from my apartment. Crazy!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 07:12 pm (UTC)I'm open on the 17th, so if you're open at 12:15 onward, I'm fine w/ that. I only made it 11:30am because that was your original suggestion and thought that worked best for you. :-) Do we want to make it for 12:30pm to be safe? Are you open for an hour or so after that? I don't want to call them back and change the reservation again until you confirm that that's good for sure. (Block out your calendar if so!) If we change it again after that you may need to call and make a whole new reservation because they're likely to give us the evil eye if it's me again!
Oooh yay at yet another new sushi place so close to you! I hope it's good, for your sake, because then how convenient would it be?!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 09:22 pm (UTC)Do we dare try and find a weekday evening for Crush? My evenings are wide open in March, and I can likely meet you there. I'd just come from work and figure out what bus to take.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-06 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 02:11 am (UTC)Actually it looks like they have online reservations and 6pm on the 18th is unavailable -- how does 5:45pm sound? Can you make it that early or would you prefer to eat later?
no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 02:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 02:23 am (UTC)See you next week! Thanks for making the reservations!