Kanishka

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We arrived at Yongkang Beef Noodles at 11:00, which in retrospect was exactly the worst time to get there -- the doors opened at 11, so those queued earlier got in. We (party of five) were eventually seated at 11:30, clearly part of the second wave of seatings at what is probably one of the more popular beef noodle soup spots in Taipei. We had already figured out what we were going to order, but the whole scene seemed chaotic. Eventually, a staff member noticed our hands raised. We got two of the non-spicy beef noodle soups, one spicy with just beef, one spicy with beef and tendon, and a dan dan noodles. They have you grab your own drinks from a fridge on the back wall, and you can get some optional side dishes at a station near the entrance -- we got an eggplant salad, a cucumber salad, and an interesting soybean and egg mix that I didn't love, but I certainly had never had before. Despite being liberally mixed with chilis, the eggplant and the cucumber were not spicy served alone. The spice, brief and bitey, came when you had the chili itself. The soups lived up to the hype and the line, with certain caveats. Our boys raved, saying the soup was the best non-homemade soup they have ever had. (The baseline at the moment is Ramen Nagi, a chain with multiple locations globally, including near our apartment in Manila.) I literally have never seen our seven-year old finish a full serving with the gusto he had in finishing his soup, the non-spicy variety. I was happy with the texture of the noodles, and the broth was definitely full of flavor. But it was not as spicy as I was expecting -- the eight-year old also had a bowl and had no problem. Not a big deal. The bigger deal was the tendon, which I had in my soup. These were BIG chunks of tendon, stewed to be super-tender... and they were just too much. I wish they had been thinly sliced like the tendon in pho back in the U.S. But overall, still a darn fine bowl of soup. With five soups, five sodas, and three apps, we departed NT$1630 lighter, or around $55. The kids left happy and stuffed, and worked off their meal at the nearby Daan Park. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the neighborhood, and are not cowed by the ubiquitous lines that seem to pop up at Taipei's most popular eating locations.

Our time in Western Europe is sadly coming to an end. Despite the challenges of COVID, we've gotten a fair amount of travel. Our last big hurrah was a last minute whirlwind trip to Barcelona. All the dining was fantastic, from the supermarket gazpacho to one kid-friendly blowout meal. Three experiences stood out. Note we were with our three young ones, 9, 6, and 5. That necessitated flexibility, early evening meals (by Spanish standards), and a casual environment. Kiltro Restobar is a non-touristy neighborhood in the north of town. It's a small space but the reviews were good, and given how bad Latin American food is here in Germany (it is really bad) we went for it. Our eldest raved about vegan tacos, which had truly excellent black beans. The wife and I had tacos -- beef for me, pulled pork for her. Normally she doesn't like corn tortillas but these were outstanding, about the perfect thickness and amazing blue corn flavor. The pulled pork was a bit heavy on cumin for my taste, but the pickled red onions cut through nicely. The steak tacos and accompanying guacamole were excellent. After a hot hot hot Saturday morning in Park Guell, we sauntered south towards the Sagrada Familia. En route we took a random right and scored a table at Pappa e Citi, which I found out later was a highly reviewed Sardinian spot. The boys loved their pasta with sausage ragu, which they washed down with Fanta Naranjas. I had spaghetti with gambas and bottarga, a dish you can't get in Germany easily. Wow. The fresh spaghetti was dressed lightly with excellent olive oil but with a ton (!!) of bottarga and six perfectly cooked whole gambas. The last time I enjoyed a pasta dish this much was... I can't remember when. How we got a table at prime lunch time on a Saturday I'll never know. The final dinner for our trip was at Irati Taverna, a super-popular Basque restaurant on the western edge of the Gothic Quarter. We started with the tuna ceviche and a plate of txistorra, totally delicious tiny little Basque sausages. We then split the beef tenderloin and grilled tuna. The boys had the "kids plate," which had spanish tortilla, some small miniburgers, more txistorra, and some other random goodies. Everything was out of this world good, from the food to the friendly service. The ratatouille added a vegetal touch to our medium rare, excellently meaty tuna and beef. Tiny flakes of maldon salt popped up on occasion to liven the party. And then there was dessert -- cheesecake, rice pudding, and apparently the Basque take on churros -- sourdough fingers toasted, covered in sugar, and dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. Our eldest summed up the experience thusly: "If this is what it's like to be Basque, eating and drinking and eating more, I want to be Basque." Hard to disagree!

I owe everyone thoughts on food here in Swabia, one of the most unfairly besmirched areas of Germany for food and a million other things. This line from JoeH, who I miss, is a good tease.

Yet another Coronavirus casualty: I was really looking forward to getting back to Albania and Kosovo to visit old friends, but they are now in the European red zone for infections. The Germans would have me quarantine 14 days if I traveled there. Not worth it. Oh, while there are more coffee shops in Albania, the Kosovars make better espresso.

America. I miss my parents. And my sister. And my mother-in-law. 😞

Wow. So much has changed in 3+ months. We went from Naples back to Stuttgart, and learned shortly thereafter that someone on our flight was COVID-19 positive. We were quarantined for two weeks and emerged into this new, weird, masked world. I'll try and recreate my memories of Naples.

Our pizza rankings so far: 1. Sorbillo 2. 50 Kalo 3. The other Sorbillo More to come... plus some words on the Seafront Pasta Bar (go!) and various other Naples experiences.

We had a beautiful dinner last night at Dino, starting off with the caprese salad and the grilled nectarines and then moving on to the softshells (for me), wagyu steak (for her) and three variations of the kids pasta dishes for the three, um, kids. Due to a small and excusable kitchen error, we were comped a plate of delicious deviled eggs, though I never did learn the spice blend that went in them. Our sons devoured their pasta, particularly the eldest who had pappardelle with ragu. My softshell crabs were big and juicy and the greens they were served with provided a welcome bit of tang and texture. M didn't share her steak! That says something. We closed out with three gelatos, a cheese plate for me, and a chocolate desert for M that was *almost* so light on the sugar that I liked it. Almost. The best parts of the evening were talking to Dean, inevitably about the challenges for DC restaurant owners, and reminiscing with hostess Heidi about our mutual long relationships with Dino in its two iterations. Apologies for the other two diners we shared the otherwise empty dining room with, who moved to the far end to avoid the insistent chattering and singing of our youngest. Thank you, Dean.

See you Thursday!

I mean, I have to go here, right?

We will be in DC soon with the three monsters and will make a point of grabbing a last meal at Dino's. Thank you for the memories... it seems all the spots my wife and I used to frequent in our dating and DINK faze are closing! That's most likely a statement on how long ago that was...

Date night! Walked in to Tagliata after an exhausting day of administrative tasks in Forestville, DC, and Pentagon City. Left the DC area right at the beginning of rush hour, and found a parking spot right next to Tagliata at 7 PM. Walked in, horribly underdressed and very grumpy, and found ourselves two seats at the bar. (Shoutout to my parents, who took care of the boys for two nights while we did work things.) The black label prosciutto di Parma was pricey but worth it, though I wish we had a few more bits of house-made giardiniera. The tuna crudo was served with these delicious black rice crisps that added savory crunch, with tiny dollops of spicy chili oil to add just a little tickle. The asparagus bruschetta had just enough speck to give the dish body without overwhelming the asparagus. Main courses were predictable: scallops for her, and softshell crabs for me. The unbilled star in the green and wax bean salad was the generous portion of frisee, whose bitterness worked extremely well with the sweet crab and the sour mustard vinaigrette. The scallops were cooked just to the right of pink in the middle, M's preferred temperature. Normally we share but I wasn't give the chance to taste these scallops -- they are her favorite, and she hasn't had them in over 18 months. Overall: a fun, hip place, terrific seafood. The live piano player was a great touch. Priced at the DC-level, not what I am used to for Baltimore, but the quality was commensurate with the cost.

Back in Seattle! It's an errand-filled time bouncing from dentists to doctors to various other family obligations, before headed east soon for wedding fun. Lunch yesterday was at Samurai Noodle, a favorite ramen shop in the U District. It's no-frills but great as far as cheap, fast ramen goes. My spicy shouyo tonkotsu was a little mild for my taste, but I'm coming off of three years of West African peppers so my taste buds cannot be trusted. The noodles bounced, the egg ran *juuust* a little (AKA how I like it), and the pork and chicken broth was richer than usual. M had the standard shouyu tonkotsu, and though she found the pork cut too fatty my eldest had no problem eating it for her. All three sons loved their noodles, which the youngest regularly refers to regardless of provenance as "psghettis." They shared a bowl of tonkotsu miso, which here comes with a pat of butter. The menu insists the butter is a game-changer, which I must gently disagree with. But the boys didn't complain -- at least about that. (Our 2.5 year old was incredibly frustrated he could not manipulate chopsticks. He's stubborn, like his dad.) A shout-out to the summer vermicelli salad. It hardly feels like "summer" to we former tropical denizens, but the vinegar-and-pickle laced noodle salad had a sour and funky flavor I have not enjoyed in years. Thanks America!

One of my most memorable dates with my then-fling, now-wife was the DR.com dinner at Ray's original Courthouse location, when Mr. Landrum did all the cooking and the serving I believe almost completely by himself. This was my first experience with the captivating devilishly good eggs, and only my second with DR members as a large group. StephenB poured us a sip of something red out of a decanter and I remember neither what it was specifically nor how it tasted, though I remember vividly thinking "so this is what good old wine is supposed to taste like." But I reserve my strongest memory of the evening for the bonhomie that suffused the room as the evening went on. We half giggled, half rolled up the hill back to M's apartment, with my impending departure for elsewhere rendering us unaware that we were falling in love. We eventually figured it out, married, and made regular visits to iterations of Ray's a feature of our times back in DC. Our eldest son got to try the steak at Ray's next door but he won't remember it, and our two youngest never had the opportunity. You will be missed. Edited to add: the dinner was December 2005 -- and now I remember it was one of my very first birthday presents to my girl.