Lunch: Leftover lamb shank and roasted potatoes

Dinner: We had a craving for The Best Wurst and headed back downtown (this time much earlier in the evening). We shared a Smoked Italian Sausage sandwich and a Bratwurst sandwich. I have to say that it's not the same eating sausage sandwiches just before 10pm versus at 3am when everyone on the street is stumbling around and drunk.

Lunch: Subway Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich

Dinner: Little Bacon Cheeseburger with the works and jalapeno peppers

Lunch: I ate leftover fried rice and drunken chicken from Pao's Mandarin House for lunch.

Dinner: We needed a quick dinner before a movie, so we tried to get some food at Taco Cabana. I ordered their new street tacos (three small beef tacos) and Tina got a beef burrito. We disliked the food so much we left most of it and found another source of fast food.

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What I Ate: November 22, 2010 (Taco Cabana, Schlotzsky's)

Lunch: After church, we took my parents to eat at Pao's Mandarin House (2300 Lohmans Spur # 134, Lakeway, TX (512) 263-8869) in Lakeway.

First we were "greeted" by a waiter who clearly did not want to be there. What actually happened was that the waiter was doing something at the front counter with his back to us (not turning after hearing the door bell ring as we entered). Then he finished what he was doing and glanced at us briefly as he turned to walk back to the table he was handling. We then waited for him to do whatever it was he was doing (it would have been nice for him to say, "wait" or something to acknowledge we existed) before he came back and asked us brusquely in Chinese "How many?" then plopped us at a small four top (we had four in our party) which wouldn't be enough space for Chinese people to eat family style (it would be enough if everyone ordered one of those Americanized Chinese lunch combination plates, but not large enough to share food. There were only 3 placesettings (flatware placed directly on the oil streaked table surface) so he came back and practically slammed the extra fork and spoon on the table. My thought was - oh, our waiter was trained at Din Ho BBQ… anyway, we asked to be moved to a larger table and the waiter said he didn't want to earlier since there was a large party in the other room where the bigger tables were and thought the waitress wouldn't be able to handle it.

Yang Chow Fried Rice - came with stale ham. First of all, why is ham in there? Second, well - it was stale… gone bad… made the thing taste like crap. Sent it back; asked for it without the pork. They brought it back and said they remade it with fresh ham. It was edible, but not a good example of Yang Chow Fried Rice. They also brought us a pitiful tiny dish (2-in diameter) of dried bean curd and anchovies (a classic Chinese small plate) on the house as an apology - to bad it just made them look stingy and didn't taste good.


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What I Ate: November 21, 2010 (Pao's Mandarin House)

Dinner: My father cooked his specialty - mian ge da which is like a hand cut noodle soup where the noodles/dough is often compared to spaetzle.

We also had zucchini…

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What I Ate: November 20, 2010 (Fortune Seafood Chinese Restaurant)

Lunch: Nong Shim Seafood Ramyun with mushrooms and Napa cabbage. We also each had a 65°C egg with our ramen.

Dinner: Alaskan King Crab, baked sweet potato, sauteed turnip greens, and mashed potatoes.

Dinner: I made sous vide lamb shanks. The shanks were seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme then sealed in a vacuum bag and cooked sous vide at 74°C (165&176;F) for about 18 hours. I made a gravy by cooking carrots, onion, and celery with butter and chicken broth and thickening with a roux.

We served it along with cornbread which Tina made.

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What I Ate: November 18, 2010 (Sous Vide Lamb Shanks)

Lunch: My mom made liang ban mian (cold noodles in a garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil sauce garnished with vegetables and egg).

Dinner: We went over to Tina's dad's place where we had a dinner of homemade dumplings.

Dinner: I made pan seared halibut for dinner.

My dad had some sub-par green beans the previous night (at Central Market Cafe), so I decided to make properly cooked green beans sauteed with shallots.

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What I Ate: November 16, 2010

Lunch: On the way to the airport to pick up my parents, we went through the drive through of Chick-Fil-A where I ordered a chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

Dinner: Before grocery shopping, we ate at Central Market Cafe. I tried the tandoori chicken wrap with fries. It didn't look so good, but it wasn't too bad. I like the flatbread it was served on and the chicken was tender. Didn't taste like it used tandoori spices though. Fries were meh.