Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Thai Paradise, Portsmouth, 9/19/07

In attendance, Myroft, Moxie, Zeus, Solids, The Count, and Wasabi.

When asking around about Thai Paradise everyone seemed to say the same thing, the Pad Thai is awesome. That was the only information we had going into the restaurant. So in true movers fashion no one ordered the Pad Thai. It had some good points and some bad points and the general feeling is Meah. The first downer was that there was no bar. When eating this type of food I like to have a drink that has pink umbrella in it.

When I ordered my meal I asked for it spicy and the waiter asked how spicy, 1-5. I said 4 but quickly changed to 5 after a comment from Solids. It was good and spicy but I don't think it was a 5.

The food had fairly good flavor all around but no one expressed an super desire to return right away. Solids rated it a Meah-, Wasabi gave it four Monkeys and Zeus gave it 17/34.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

catch up -

Working backward -

This past week we visited the newly renovated Los Cocos Tacos in Kittery - the food was flippin' awesome, as usual. In attendance: Mycroft, Moxie, and Wasabi. Wasabi had enchiladas verdes, Mycroft had chicken quesadilla (his comment: best thing on the menu) and enchilades moles (yes, two dinners) and Moxie ate four tacos! (she had been um, consuming on a previously empty stomache)(and she says the fish tacos are the best thing on the menu, so there.)

The previous week we enjoyed Tiki! in Rochester! Tiki in Rochester! This was also called China Palace. We ate in the fabulous booths in the restaurant area, which has a more generic glossy Asian theme than the Tiki bar part, although the Tiki drinks and Tiki food are available in both areas.

In attendance: Mycroft, Moxie, Zeus, & Solids. The evening began with the ordering of drinks, of course. On the left is pictured Solid's drink, a Headhunter. This was quickly voted "Best Tiki Drink of the evening" and was quickly ordered by Moxie as her second drink, after she sucked down her terrible Pink Flamingo.

The crab rangoons were the food highlight of the evening for Moxie and Mycroft, who voted them "Best Crab Rangoos in the Greater Seacoast Area". Seriously, they are very very good. A fresh mixture of crab and cream cheese in giant wontons. Solids began the evening with boneless spareribs and these were also very good - lighter and a bit less sticky than normal. Zeus began with spring rolls.

Pictured at right are all of our drinks, plus the totally awesome little fried things that you used to get in Chinese restaurants all the time but for some reason I haven't seen them lately (or maybe its a New York State v. New England thing).

Moxie and Mycroft both ordered badly. Basically, the got meat and vegetable and sauce dishes. Mycroft's had awesome wontons on top, which probably made it worth it. Moxie just ordered something she didn't recognize the name of. It was fine, it was decent, it was just home cooking with bland flavors. After several drinks and the good start of fried Chinese-ish food, it just didn't work. No fault of China Palace.

This blurry photo illustrated what was, entertainment-wise, the highlight of the evening. Solids ordered what was in theory his dream Chinese food - sweet and sour chicken served in a pineapple, set on fire. The waitress brought the dish to a serving tray near the table to set on fire. The fire spread - it went outside the pineapple and set the chicken on fire. The waitress tried to move some things, and when the fire grew bigger, she ran away! She was trying to go get something, I'm sure, but at the moment she simply left us with a dish that was very much on fire.

Here is the dish no longer on fire - it was the best presentation. Unfortunately, Solids felt it did not live up to its entrance or looks. Zeus attempted to eat a giant bowl of Lo Mein - I did not hear how it was because we were busy commiserating about the bad Pink Flamingo drink choice we had both made.


The week before that was Solid's Movers' Birthday (is there supposed to be an apostrophe there?). In attendance: Mycroft, The Count, Moxie, Birthday Mover "Jean", Wasabi, Zeus, and Solids. We re-enacted Solid's previous Movers Birthday (I think no apostrophe - ) and went to Habachi, the tepanyaki place on Rte 1 in Portsmouth. It was very fun, the fried rice is awesome. Then we went candle pin bowling, which was also awesome.

the week before - Gilly's in Portsmouth. In attendance: Mycroft, Zeus, and Solids.
Zeus had fries with a side of cheese fries, Solids had a bacon double cheeseburger and a hotdog, and Mycroft had a double cheeseburger, a chili dog, and a regular hotdog. All not in attendance were jealous and realized they were stupid to ever do anything else on Movers night.

the week before was the first Monthly Wii night in Rochester, with potluck grilling. What a feast! Solids provided grilled chicken and asparagus, Zeus provided a delicious bean salad and cutie-pie cheese cake desserts, Wasabi and the Count brought bread and amazing mushrooms, and Mycroft and Moxie brought the increasingly popular salty bread (aka Fougasse from The Beach Pea). Wii Mii's were made and much hilarity ensued. We suck at Cookie Mama Cooking Show, or the game sucks. Super Mario Party is awesome.

the week before - The Bread Box, on Islington in Portsmouth. This was pretty much a mistake except for one thing - Mycroft found his favorite sandwich in the world, the Taco Treat. The Taco Treat is basically your old-school super-americanized like your mom made taco in a wrap. Even I found it surprisingly good. Otherwise, this place was a disaster.

In other Movers news: 4 squares/3 horseman/3 corners (formerly Spud's) has gone out of business. If not for our own peanut butter and grilled cheese adventures, we never would have known the truth. Let us all pray for a good place to move in.