Ryu of Japan on Mom's Birthday

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Mom and I celebrated her birthday at Ryu of Japan after reading an awesome review by Boots in the Oven.  My parents' favorite cuisine is Japanese.  Dad can't get enough of sashimi and sukiyaki while mom can't do without hamachi kama.
We decided to skip ordering dinner entrees altogether in favor of several courses of appetizers.
We began with a small dish of monkfish liver, which unsurprisingly has a texture similar to foie gras but on the drier side.  It was quite delicious but I kept wishing I could pair each bite with a carb like rice or baguette!
Ankimo (monkfish liver)
The Ryu Special was basically a trio of sashimi (tuna, salmon, and yellowtail) rolled up in cucumber.  This was light and summery, delicious but hard to keep intact.

Ryu's Special - salmon, yellowtail, and tuna sashimi wrapped in cucumber with shiso and roe
Agedashi tofu is as standard as udon at Japanese restaurants but Ryu's is heavenly.  The broth that the fried pieces of tofu was soaking in really made this dish sing.

Agedashi Tofu
I was a bit underwhelmed by the ginger eggplant.  It was good, but a little bland even with the lovely curling bonito shavings.

Nasu No Shogayaki - ginger eggplant with bonito shavings
Mom and I always reminisce about the whole grilled squid served at the cafeteria in the Japanese department store, Shirokiya, in Honolulu.  I grew up scarfing down Shirokiya's smokey ikayaki.  We were super excited to see ikayaki on Ryu's menu, but this version just can't compare to Shirokiya's.  It's a bit tough and although it's grilled, Ryu's ika doesn't have that intense smokiness present in Shirokiya's version.

Ikayaki - grilled squid
No Japanese meal is complete without hamachi kama for my mom.  This was simply prepared with a sprinkle of salt and grilled.  This dish never falters.

Hamachi Kama - yellowtail collar
The next few dishes were fillers for the meal.  The trio of sashimi were fresh, the spider roll was a bit heavy on the eel sauce but otherwise quite satisfying, and the hotate hokkai was my one regret.  Instead of whole scallops, we got scallop bits that were indiscernible among the bigger chunks of chopped krab and smothered in spicy mayo.  It was a wreck.

Salmon, Tuna, and Yellowtail Sashimi
Spider Roll
Hotate Hokkai - broiled scallops with roe and mayo
But rather than leave you with a bad impression, the overall meal was delicious and affordable.  I've complained about how I can't seem to find a traditional Japanese restaurant that doesn't break the bank in Austin, and Ryu has given me a reason to stop whining.
Happy Birthday, Mom!

Sustainable Food Center Farmers' Market Republic Square Park and Bola Pizza

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I've been in Austin for around seven years, and I finally made my way to the Sustainable Food Center Farmers' Market in downtown two weeks ago.  I can't believe I've been denying myself this weekend pleasure for so long!  
Just look at the gorgeous veggies!











The reason why the idea of finally visiting SFC Farmers' Market in downtown dawned on me was because I wanted to get a taste of Bola Pizza, which I read about on Austin Chronicle's 2011 Restaurant Poll.

Bola Pizza
Bola Pizza offers freshly made pizza hot from their mobile wood-fired oven 9 AM - 1 PM Saturdays at SFC Farmers' Market downtown and Wednesdays at the Triangle 4 PM - 8 PM.
I chose The Godfather from the vegetarian-friendly menu because I can't seem to ween myself away from meat ingredients on my pizza.  I behaved like an annoying fly, fluttering about my pizza, capturing each step of the pizza-making process.  
Making our Godfather Pizza
The Sauce
The Mozzarella
The Hot Fennel Sausage
The Caramelized Onions
In the Mobile Wood-fired Oven
In the box with the smell wafting out and drinking it all in with a peach ginger lemonade from another vendor
The Godfather
The result?  Beautiful!  The pizza dough is the best I've tasted in Austin!  It's slightly chewy, with a tint of sourdough-like tartness.  Each bite of caramelized onions and hot fennel sausage was a balanced explosion of sweet and spicy juices.  I'm glad I got to try Bola before leaving Austin!

Ray's Hell Burger

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I arrived in DC during the peak of summer, which happened to be the time of year when I seek out good burgers.  I remember reading about Obama taking to Medvedev to Ray's Hell Burger earlier in 2010.  I didn't get excited about the place until I read their menu, which is packed with luxurious toppings like roasted bone marrow with persillade!!!!  How can you not get excited by that?
Decisions, Decisions!
Ray's Hell Burger Team
Strawberry Shake
Au Poivre Patty with Gouda and Cognac and Sherry Sauteed Mushrooms
Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at Ray's for an early bird dinner, they had already run out of bone marrow for the day.  Utterly downtrodden by that, I comforted myself with an awesome complimentary topping - cognac and sherry sauteed mushrooms - and paid extra for gouda. 
The burger was hearty, flavorful, and juicy, but it's truly humongous.  I couldn't finish all of it, and burgers just don't taste right reheated.  I recommend sharing with a buddy at Ray's to avoid wasting the delicious and pricey burger.

Mount Pleasant Children's Puppet Hour

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The Mount Pleasant Children's Puppet Hour returns this Saturday. The location is Saint Stephen's Church located at 16th and Newton Sts NW. From the organizers:
"It's time for the 5th Mount Pleasant Children's Puppet Hour! We have a great line-up of performers and shows:

Melissa Klein presents "The Paper Bag Princess"
Michael Cotter of Blue Sky Puppets presents "Will Anything Go Right for a Little Bear?"
David Greenfieldboyce presents "Little Cloud" with music by Christian Crowley
Jeanine Padgett and Jim Sheehan present "Vent"
Wit's End Puppets present "Coyote Places the Stars"

And music from Seth Buchsbaum, Alicia Koundakjian and Justin Moyer

4:00 Saturday, February 16th
Saint Stephen's Church, 1525 Newton St NW
Suggested donation $5

Like us on Facebook to hear about upcoming events!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mount-Pleasant-Childrens-Puppet-Hour/326086867452529
For more info, email puppet_hour@yahoo.com"
PS There's a great benefit show (benefiting Fort Reno music series) in the same space later that evening. Good friends Gist and Möbius Strip are playing. Very cool.

Friday Fun Post: 90s Redux

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Enjoy this classsick track from 90s stars Pete Rock + CL Smooth. "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" is off of 1992's Mecca and the Soul Brother. The whole album was a beast. One of the more complete hip hop albums from the 90s. Luckily it came out before the scales tipped all the way to west coast party/gangsta rap. Mecca was one of the first CDs I ever purchased. Back when they were all $17.99 and came in that long flimsy cardboard box. Heh. Compact discs. Have a great weekend.

Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America's Class War by Joe Bageant

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Published in 2007 by Crown Publishers

Just to get it out of the way, Joe Bageant (1946-2011) and I differ politically despite sharing similar roots. We both grew up in rural  America near a working class town. We both were educated in the local public schools and left to go to college and never really went back except to visit (although do I live in a working class neighborhood in the city). Admittedly, his town (Winchester, Virginia) is a little more poor and run down than mine but I may be remembering my home with rose-colored glasses and he may be intentionally focusing on the worst aspects of his.

But, Bageant did return to Winchester. He returned to be a foreign correspondent of sorts. His aim is to explain white working-class America ("...that churchgoing, hunting and fishing Bud Light-drinking, provincial America...the people who cannot, and do not care to, locate Iraq or France on a map - assuming they even own an atlas." [p.2]) to the left-leaning, college-educated urban wine and cheese set.

Bageant's prose is interesting and lively, but prone to exaggeration, much like a liberal version of P.J. O'Rourke or like the overwrought rantings of stand up comics like Dennis Leary or Lewis Black or Dennis Miller. His points are there and based on real situations but he takes liberties to make his point or to get a good punchline so take everything with a grain of salt. For example, he argues that Presidents don't come from modest beginnings in a rather nice rant but since FDR they all have except for the Kennedys and the Bushes (and maybe Carter, but the other two families were far, far richer than his).

And, sometimes his devotion to a certain line of thought leads him to contradictory comments. For example, he deplores the way social security does not take care of widows very well and how it does not pay enough to really take care of a retired worker. But, he rants against any sort of privatization of Social Security over and over again (you may remember that Bush43 tried to reform Social Security right after he re-election) even though the proposed reforms were modeled after programs that let workers pass on the proceeds of their investments to their widowed spouses or even their children.  See page 236-242 for the longest rant on this topic.

Clearly, Bageant does not seem to grasp the religious aspect of Winchester. He does not completely belittle religious belief but he does not understand it. I was struck by an incident early on in the book. He does not grasp the profound generosity of a small congregation of relatively poor people that buys an old pickup truck for a couple that lost theirs to repossession. The congregation has little money and yet they pool what little they have together to  give two of its members an expensive gift (even an old truck costs several hundred dollars). I find that to be a remarkable act of Christian charity. Instead, he dismisses the whole thing with a single comment.

Bageant does a fabulous job of explaining guns, gun rights and notes correctly on page 129 that beginning in the 1960s the left  was "arrogant and insulting because they associated all gun owners with criminals but were politically stupid."

Generally, I found the book to be very entertaining, full of interesting commentary but incorrect in almost all of its conclusions.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5.
Reviewed on February 16, 2012.

The American Spirit: Celebrating the Virtues and Values that Make Us Great by Edwin J. Feulner and Brian Tracy

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An introduction to Conservatism

Published in 2012 by Thomas Nelson

The American Spirit lists twenty "virtues and values" that serve to introduce the reader to the basics of Conservatism. These virtues and values include Patriotism, Responsibility, Optimism, Honesty, Faith, Tolerance and Open-Mindedness, Idealistic Realism, Problem Solving and Courage.

As I noted above, the book is an introduction to Conservatism. I am a Conservative and have been reading Conservative literature for a long time. The discussion is "bite-sized" rather than far-ranging and deep and is bound to be a little simplistic. For example, during the discussion on education there is praise for the idea of rating schools A-F but no discussion of the criteria that go into rating schools, or even if a central government (in this case a state government) should even be inserting itself into education and giving schools a letter grade. After all, education has long been a traditional function of local government bodies (such as your local school board) and Conservatism tends to favor local control to that of a centralized bureaucracy. Also, there is no discussion of the proper role of the federal government in education. Should the central government be making a single policy for everyone?

Sometimes the author get on a roll in their effusive praise of American that they go a step or two too far. On page 30 the authors assert that "With rare exceptions like the printing press, the greatest innovations, inventions and discoveries in human history have come since the founding of the United States and in the United States." (emphasis mine) Wow. I can name any number of items that are very important to the world that were not invented in America first, such as the automobile, the electric motor, rocket weapons, the radio and jet engines. Now, did America help perfect them or make them commonplace? Sure. But, why the need for exaggeration?

But, most of the book is solid, conservative thought with some great quotes thrown in. The discussion about the debt is relevant and well-done as was the section called The Law. If you are a regular reader of American Spectator or National Review this book will offer nothing new. If you are a newbie to Conservatism it should prove interesting and thought-provoking.

This book was provided to me at no charge by the publisher in exchange for an honest review through the Amazon Vine program.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5.
Reviewed on February 20, 2013.