Han Dynasty Dinner and Darts With Friends

About a week or so back I met up with a few high school buddies for dinner at Han Dynasty. We had cumin lamb.

And garlic eggplant.

And twice fried scallops. Not pictured, but consumed, included green beans, pea shoots, cold noodles with sesame and spicy cucumbers. All very good.

Then we went to Buffalo Billiards where some non-high school folks joined us for dart times. I could have sworn that more photos were taken of me with people, but this is the only proof I have: E., me and  Mr. Ass. An evening that went quite well and allowed me the chance to see a few dart folks one last time as well as just other people I like. A successful night on the whole.

Birthday Fun Times c/o Buffalo Billiards, Han Dynasty and Yakitori Boy

My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, which isn't really ideal for a night of celebration given the propensity for the people I know to have jobs that require them to use their brains effectively on weekday mornings. So I sent out a call to birthday arms for the Saturday preceding the actual day of my birth. It was sort of a two-pronged call. To a slightly  more select group I suggested dinner and to a broader, more dart-loving group I suggested darts before that dinner. This was all a bit more last minute than might have been ideal, but I was still really pleased and grateful for the turn out...nothing worse than inviting folks to your own birthday celebrations and finding yourself totally alone. L. and Fat T. came down from Brooklyn a bit before our first scheduled activity. I made a little cheese plate and L. and I drank champagne while Fatty and A. drank beer. We all threw some darts. Then it was on to Buffalo Billiards, where our numbers soon allowed us to take control over all three boards.

Mr. Ass couldn't make dinner, but we did play a game of darts. It was a funny mix between the true blue darters and some of my less dart savvy friends. The majority of darters are legitimately better than me, and usually when I played them I lost. Meanwhile the friends who aren't throwing darts on a daily or weekly basis were quite impressed by my prowess. My dart ability: a sliding scale of awesome based solely on others' own abilities.

After a good amount of time playing the darts, it was time for our rather late dinner reservation at Han Dynasty's new Old City location, just down the block from its old one. I basically ordered for all of us after hearing certain suggestions or desires from the crowd. So our meal ultimately included dumplings in hot chili oil.

Cucumbers in hot chili oil...these suckers are sooo good .

Dan Dan Noodles. Not everyone ordered a sazerac, but I did and I loved it.

This was the cumin lamb.

This was L. reacting to her imminent turn getting the cumin lamb as A. scoops some on his own plate.

I think this is Fatty and LW with the eggplant.

Yep. Succulent, savory eggplant. Love it.

This was either the kung pao chicken or the garlic chicken,

I think this was the twice fried fish maybe?

String bean magic.

Pepper scallops if I recall correctly. SO GOOD.

The dinner was quite lovely and I was so pleased to share my birthday with such fun and funny folks. After that C. and R. went home while Fatty, L., LW, A. and I decided that we would try to do some karaoke at Yakitori Boy, which we did. I sang a Tom Petty song. We also just sang along with all the other people singing. A.'s gf G. joined us and the night went late.

Sake bombs did happen.

I don't really know what's happening in this photo except that LW and I both look quite taken aback, but from different things.

I'm a homebody for much of my daily, weekly or monthly existence, and the older I get the more okay I am about it...that said, every once and a while it's good to have an evening full of folks and fun, and this was certainly such an evening. A hearty thank you goes out to all who partook in my pre-birthday fun times!

Dim Sum c/o Joy Tsin Lau

The Sunday morning after my grill fest found me once again on the deck. I may have even been blogging. I know I filled out a job application. At some point my phone rang and it was Mr. Ass asking if I'd like to join him and LBM for dim sum. I was skeptical about LBM, as I have been trying to get her to go to dim sum with me for five years and she never does, but Mr. Ass insisted that the chances were very much in our favor for seeing LBM in a dim sum context. I would have been happy to dim sum one way or the other, so I did not delay in accepting the invitation. Of course between that initial call and my actual arrival at Joy Tsin Lau, LBM had bowed out, which left just Mr. Ass and me to dive deep into dumplings. We were seated in a not-too-terrible spot, which pleases me given the number of times I've been put at a table that makes it impossible for carts to get to, or happens to be by a leaking fish tank. And all my favorites were in attendance. I'm always a bit fan of this shrimp and rice noodle dish, which is topped with a sweeter kind of soy sauce. I think some might be put off by the texture of the noodles, but I really dig it. Mr. Ass had a bowl of wonton soup. I don't think that in all my years of dim summing, which go back to my childhood, I have ever actually ordered a soup or congee on a dim sum day. Perhaps next time I'll try to branch out.

Mr. Ass is a bigger fan of these pork buns than I am. Perhaps it's the consistency of the bread/dough that surrounds them...not quite for me. I think when I was younger, however, they may have been one of my favorites...behind shrimp dumplings of course.

Here you'll see the bean curd wrapped mystery, shrimp dumplings, spinach dumplings and shumai coated with brown rice.

The brown rice element added to the shumai was something I'd never seen, but I must say it was actually a pretty good twist. The earthiness of the rice, which had a definite tooth to its texture, really complemented the salty meaty goodness of the hidden dumpling within.

While LBM was a no show, I was still glad to have a dim sum experience to counteract the shit show that was Ocean Harbor on Chinese New Year. I also walked to Chinatown and was glad for the exercise.

Birthday Dinner for Fatty c/o Congee Village

So I went on a vacation a bit ago and the planning of it was not without its iterations. The final plan resulted in my deciding to fly out of JFK Airport in NYC because it would be a direct flight to Nassau at a better price and time. This led to my asking L. if I could stay with her and Fatty the night before my trip, as the flight was at 7 AM. She said yes and the plan was good. Then as we got closer to the date in question, it turned out that they were going to celebrate Fatty's birthday that Friday. Celebrations would include dinner out and then a musical show. I was all in for the dinner, but less so for the concert, as it would keep me out far later than I would think prudent for a needed 5 AM airport arrival time. So I stuck with dinner, which was at Congee Village on Allen Street. I think we turned out to be a table of 10 with a variety of tastes and eating restrictions. At least one glutard and one vegan if I recall correctly. We ordered a nice variety of dishes.  SP ordered a whole roasted chicken that was all chopped up and marvelously garlicky and tender. I ordered a tofu in soy sauce dish and a thick noodle dish. Greens were well represented as well.

Scallion pancakes, no doubt.

A plate with greens, chicken, noodles and fried rice.

After dinner this group headed off into the night towards music while I made my way back to Brooklyn with the intention of making sure everything was ready for the trip, a bit of blogging and an early bed time. I ended up dealing with the pre-travel awakes for much of the night, but I think it was still good that I didn't go out. At least when the cab picked me up at 4 something in the morning I wasn't groggy or hungover. Glad that I was able to celebrate Fatty's big day a bit early. This was definitely a good last experience in the States before my Caribbean vacation.

Cucumbers, Dumplings and Beef Noodle Soup c/o Nan Zhou Noodle House

Dart nights are Tuesday. Generally I practice a bit at home before heading to wherever the night's match may be (half are home bar games, the other half away) but a few weeks back LW and I decided that before our respective matches that it might be nice to grab a bite. In this instance we decided on Nan Zhou Noodle House. I'd been to their original location with Mr. Ass when I first moved to Philly and while I saw its charms, whatever particular dish I ordered that day had me feeling a little funny for the next two, so I never returned. But I am aware that those who like cheap good eats in town definitely sing the praises of Nan Zhou, so I was up for trying it out again. We had their cucumber appetizer, which was nice and refreshing ... reminiscent of the spicy cucumbers at Han Dynasty but not as drenched in hot chili oil. Instead it was more of a rice vinegar/garlic thing going on. We did not let a single cucumber morsel go to waste.

Then we had an order of the steamed chicken curry dumplings. Definitely a different flavor combo, but to me they had a little too much of just 'curry powder' taste to them as opposed to a true amalgamation of individual/fresher spices. Good, but I think I'd try a different variety next time.

For the main event I chose the sliced beef noodle soup. This was pretty darn good. The noodles really are special. They have far more of a bite to them and stand up to the heat of the broth quite nicely. And the broth was also nice and hearty with a depth of flavor I appreciated. It's not pho, but you can't not see the similarities. On the whole my true wish would be the noodles from Nan Zhou with the broth from my favorite pho place. Oh man. Now that would be something.

Obligatory noodle shot.

Yep held up quite well.

Disappointing Dim Sum c/o Ocean Harbor

Earlier this month I sent out the call for interested dim sum participants, of which there were a few. You can't really do dim sum without a critical mass of at least two, but really an ideal number is closer to four or six. With the help of BC's more extended social Philly network we got to four. Leave it to me to plan a dim sum outing on the Chinese Lunar New Year. Lines are always an issue with dim sum if you go much past 11, but on a holiday? Pissssssh, the worst. Of course I didn't actually understand it was a holiday until I was walking to Chinatown from Market Street and firecrackers were being lit all over the place. But thwarted I was not going to be. BC had arrived just a bit before I had, and already had a number in hand. Thus began the epic standing in the crushingly full lobby/stairs area waiting for our number to be called. We were joined by BC's friends S. and A. Eventually we got to the top of the stairs and our number was called. I'm not going to lie that I was pretty much entirely non-plussed and totally annoyed that we were then seated at the table immediately at the top of the stairs where a good 50+ people were all waiting for their numbers to be called. This crowd of humanity spilled up to the stairs and into the aisle between our table and another set of tables. Not only did this mean that people were constantly bumping my chair and generally breathing down my neck, but it also resulted in a complete barricade between the carts and our table. None of the cart ladies bothered to push through and we were simply sitting there sipping tea and craning to see what was going on. I get it, it's a holiday, space is at capacity. But seriously, why even have a table if the patrons are going to struggle and grump to get any service? Sigh. Between an arched eyebrow to the manager on C.'s part and my literally getting up and going to carts to get additional snacks and point out our unserviced table, we did ok, but I didn't see a number of my favorite treats. No shrimp dumplings. No sesame balls.

Not as large a variety of dumplings on display. My suspicion is that they were grabbed by folks seated right by the kitchen in the slightly less densely populated areas of the space. If I had been in such a spot I would certainly be pleased with myself.

Chinese broccoli was decent.

I know that this crowded madness was a result of the holiday, but this is the third time I abandoned my generally favored Joy Tsin Lau to give Ocean Harbor a shot and I was simply not impressed. Dim sum is always a pretty cutthroat process - you really gotta work to get those dumplings, or more tea, or a glass of water - and generally that's part of its charm. But this was not charming, holiday or no. That said, I was glad to get a little taste of dim sum after quite a lull. And it was good to see BC and meet some of her buds.

Dinner With Cousin E. c/o Han Dynasty

A few years back I met up with a West Coast cousin, E., for dinner whilst he was on the coast for business. At some point in June he reached out to me to say he was going to be in town yet again. I inquired as to where he was staying and then determined that a good place to meet up for dinner might be Han Dynasty. This was threefold. One, it wasn't too far away from his hotel. Two, I had long been wanting to return after my first visit with the GS crew. And three, I had darts on that night and Han Dynasty was a nice mid-point between my home and the dart night location. And so a plan was created. It was one of the first of excessively hot days we've been having throughout the spring/summer. We were seated quickly and I suggested we share the spicy cucumber appetizer.

I then chose the chicken 'long hot pepper style.' Tasty stuff, though I think that my first visit's eggplant garlic style might have been more of a standout favorite.

The cousin had tofu, I forget which style. Their tofu is much different from that of so many takeout Chinese places: little strips, firm, with more the look of eggplant than tofu.

A good meal and lovely to catch up with a distant cousin. This was the second of three out of town visitor experiences of the week, which certainly made it different than many. Thanks to E. for dinner and for the avocado and beet treats!

Chinese c/o Hunan Szehuan

At some point we ordered Chinese. I ordered the chicken noodle soup, which wasn't all that great. Then I thought I'd try a new form of tofu without fully knowing what it would be. In this case I believe it was "Tofu Home Style." It turned out to be pretty great, thick and crunchy tofu with snowpeas and really meaty mushrooms in a kind of spicy sauce. I really dug it.

Work Meals and Dragon Flight

The free lunches kept rolling at work. This particular day was hot and sour soup and some chicken dish. The dragon really wanted to bathe itself in the thick viscosity of the soup, but lost control in its approach, ultimately parting with a wing. Soup dreams dashed.
The next day, however, the dragon was renewed and had far more success when landing on my salad from Luigi's (complete with fried zuchini sticks).
The dragon really is a little sneak and a mooch. Always getting bites of my meals. But what has it ever done for anyone! Nothing. Just sits and stares at me til lunch time. That's it.

Dim Sum c/o Good Fortune

Our last adventure in Maryland brought us to Good Fortune for dim sum. We were there quite early, but that only meant that the fried food was hot and crispy as opposed to slightly tepid after hours on a cart. We tried most of the standard things and a few newbies.
Meat and things.
Taro! Such a strangely pleasing mass of starch.
Good eating.
Dad left from Wheaton while I returned to the house with the T.s because I hadn't wanted to leave many of my new gifts in a car. As we pulled in we all had the collective moment of 'oh, well there's Milo the dog on the front porch ... wait a second, why is Milo the dog on the front porch!' It's a good thing he's straight up geriatric these days, as he was free of leash and could have done any number of dangerous unattended things. Luckily it seems like he probably just lay in the sun wondering what had happened to his collective owners' minds.
A great and deeply felt thank you goes to the whole T. clan. To B. for her great attitude and hosting abilities, to D. for his cooking prowess (not that B. isn't a good cook), and to R. for his affable nature. It was a great weekend and I'm so glad Dad and I were a part of it. Also thanks goes to all who gifted me presents for my b-day!