Distractions, reflections

When there’s a large selection of restaurant to choose from, I’ll tend towards the more obscure. Vegetarian Korean food is pretty obscure in most cities, but in New York City, there’s Hangawi in Koreatown. Marianne was game for the adventure, and took in an afternoon train from New Jersey. We chose the set meal. The soup came with skewers in it.

The appetizers included a dumpling, a stuffed apple, and lotus root.

Korean pancakes came with an assortment of shaved vegetables and pickles, with a dipping sauce on the side.

Main dishes included mushroom, rice and kimchi (of course).  Read more... (153 words, 7 images, estimated 37 secs reading time)

Catching a taxi from Wudaokou, we arrived at the front gate of Renmin (People’s) University.

Eric pointed out the main cafeteria, which was quiet on the Sunday evening.

Eric’s room is in International Student Dormitory Building #1. There was uniformed security guards on the ground floor, and Eric introduced me to them. We took the elevator up. The rows of slippers at the door mark Chinese-style living.

Eric’s roommate Jimmy was expecting us. Eric said that his room was messier than usual.  Read more... (309 words, 17 images, estimated 1:14 mins reading time)

Since I travel a lot, I have lot of opportunities for meals on an expense account. I rarely approach the daily expense limits, though, because I prefer Asian and ethnic cuisines over European and western food. In New York, the variety of choice is huge. I like the choice of restaurants in the Murray Hill area.

One discovery that I really enjoyed was Olympic Pita, on West 38th Street. I visited Israel in the late 1990s, so I know what the food should be like. Olympic Pita makes its own pita and laffa — a bread that I hadn’t previously tried — in an oven at the front of the store. The laffa is brought hot to the table as stacks of bread 12 inches in diameter.

Waitresses invite guests to help themselves from salads and pickles at the garnish bar. I ordered a falafel sandwich, and declined to have french fries stuffed into the middle. Even then, the portion was huge.

 Read more... (330 words, 4 images, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)