Note: I started this post the other night. I’ll leave it as is, but finish it. I am off to Berkeley for a wedding and a special treat that you will hear about when I return.
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I can’t wait for the day I can afford to not have a roommate. It leaves me here writing a post at 3:30 in the morning. So I figured I would offload a bunch of thoughts that have been rolling around for a while.
Food
Korean food cart at 14th and L: 6.75 will get you a sizeable portion of bulgogi or chicken teriyaki with white rice, kimchi and an iceberg lettuce salad with soy dressing. Reasonably tasty. Support small business! Update from last week: They now have breakfast sammiches and “spice chicken.” My friends and I are hoping for a spam, eggs and kimchee breakfast sammiches or spam pajun.
2 Amys: fried mussels in a tempura-like batter with lemon is the perfect way to start a meal or paired up with a few more small things for a meal
Granville Moore’s: Made it out while the chef from the French Laundry was there. Fantastic mussels – elephant garlic, tamarind or bacon and leeks options were all delicious. Not overcooked, mealy mussels here. Sea salt and vinegar gastrique left something to be desired, but dijon mayo was definitely pretty good. Fries could be a little crisper.
Greek Deli: Hie yourself over to Greek Deli on 19th Street between K and L for really good gyro and fantastic meatballs. The tzitzaki sauce is fabulous.
Max’s Kosher Cafe: Oh man. Falafel with toppings. None of that dried up, hard chickpea crap. This is soft and delicious. Add toppings. Woot.
Maxim or Kam Sam: Those cheap lunch boxes with rice and three food choices for about $5. You’d be hard pressed to find a better deal.
Music
Saw Pash open for Exit Clov last night or still feels like one very long night. This is the second time I’ve seen them, and I felt like there was a solid improvement over the first time I saw them. I still don’t really like them, but I feel like the lead singer is starting to settle into her own. Sitting further back in the room, her vocals seemed more solid. The rest of the band is as frustrating as ever. Their rock-out stage antics seem overwrought. But still it’s nice to watch a band begin to progress and learn. Exit Clov was good, but I find them a little less enchanting than I used to find them. The sisters themselves are starting to feel like a novelty act, and some aspects of their stage performance seem… staged.
Brian and Ryan from Beanstalk Library joined them. Increasingly, I have begun to realize why I don’t like Beanstalk Library. Their music is busy in a very unorganized way. Songs can be complicated with many layers, many parts and many instruments. But the players have to learn how to work together, and no one should stand out too much. Even solos should align with the piece as a whole. With Beanstalk Library, I don’t feel like there is that level of cohesiveness. It’s as if each instrumentalist wants to be the star. Or maybe that’s not it at all, but I find that there’s something inside me that dislikes their music on a fundamental level.
