Charsiu's Profile
Hot pot at Kings Land (DEN)
Hi LSP, it is a divided pot with both spicy and mild broth. My standard loadout on this is Pacific oysters, whole prawns, thinly-sliced lamb, won tons, rice noodles, mussels, and Chinese greens, including the one with the hollow stem whose name escapes me right now. The thinly slice beef is decent, as are the shrimp balls, which are won tons sans wrappers.
Denver Convention Dining
For Japanese that's unlike any you've had before, you might want to try Domo which isn't far from downtown. It's a combination aikido dojo and restaurant and features country-style Japanese in a setting straight out of The Seven Samurai. For cheap and cheerful Ethiopian, I'd go to Cafe Africana on Colfax. Weekend dim sum and evening banquets are hard to top at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants, King's Land on Alameda.
Denver, CO question
Africana Cafe is another winner on Colfax for extremely reasonable Ethiopian and tends to attract a lot of off-duty cab drivers.
Anyone been eating in Golden, west of Denver?
Ali Baba has good cheap Middle Eastern in "new" Golden off Highway 93.
L & L Hawaiian BBQ, Aurora...thoughts?
While it might cost a bit more, I like 8 Island in Boulder. I'm especially fond of the fried mahi with the chili-horseradish sauce. Plus they have a decent poke on Fridays. My only complaint is the lack of potato salad - they just have mac salad. Oddly enough, all my favorite plate lunch places in Hawaii have the tendency to have autographed photos of my favorite cinematic bad guys - there's a place in Kona that has an autographed picture of Harold "Oddjob" Sakata, and the Oki Diner on Kauai has a autographed picture of Danny Trejo, the guy from the Robert Rodriguez movies with all the knives.
Help for Food in Longmont, CO
Update on Ichiban - I was there tonight after a couple of months and it's now sit-down at dinner (with tablecloths and fancy light fixtures) instead of ordering at the counter and having the food brought to you. The 12-piece $12.95 sashimi dinner is now the 20-piece $18.95 dinner and it now comes with salad and orange for dessert in addition to miso soup. The quality of the fish tonight was as good as I've had, and the salmon and sweet-tasting scallops were first-rate.
Middle Eastern in Denver/Boulder
Mumtaz in Lafayette also provides inexpensive Lebanese fare.
Help for Food in Longmont, CO
Can't go wrong with Tortugas. The nearby Cheese Importers Warehouse is a fine venue for purchasing and sampling cheesy comestibles, and they also have a deli that makes decent sandwiches (at least it did last year) and other lunch items. Best cheap strip mall sushi in Colorado (actually it compares pretty favorably to most places in the Boulder area) is at Ichiban across Ken Pratt (or is it Hover?) from the hotel. The $12.95 sashimi dinner is excellent, despite the snack bar ambience. Catfish Curly's (if they're still around) had decent crawfish boils. Heard good things about Sugarbeet and enjoyed a sample of strawberry soup from Terroir at last weekend's Boulder Food and Wine Festival. Terroir looks to be doing some interesting stuff with New American cuisine. Luccadeli's (I think) has expensive pizza with a long wait, but it's reasonably tasty. Might be better off going to the Longmont branch of Proto's Pizza. Pinnochio's provides ok Italian-American fare if that floats your boat.
help me like mexican - Boulder
My favorite authentic pick: the tacos, burritos, etc. served in the back room of the carniceria near the intersection of 28th and Bluff across from RallySport. A Jarritos soda and a couple of lengua tacos and I'm pretty darn happy and out less than $5.
Denver/Boulder Hounds at it Again
Or as my peeps call it, the yàuhjagwái,(yao jao guai) which translates from the Cantonese as "oil-fried devil" or "ghost." I've always had it as an accompaniment to jook or congee, the savory rice porridge which contains ingredients ranging from thousand-year old eggs to geoduck clams.
BTW, aren't I supposed to coordinate a Chinese banquet get-together after the 4th?
dim sum... denver
Both here and in the Bay Area (as well as British Columbia), I've generally never had a problem with getting carts to stop at my table, although I admit that being Chinese-American probably has something to do with it.
I've never been shy about a friendly nod or wave of the hand to various cart pushers if I see something interesting. Another tactic is to ask a cart pusher for a particular item (even if it's not on their cart) - sometimes they'll send someone off to get it, signal the person that has it on the cart to come by, or let you know that it's coming out soon.
Also, if they say something's not available, I've found it's worth asking more than one person. For example, on our last chowhound dim sum outing, one of our party wanted tripe. I asked one of the cart pushers, who said they didn't have it. I wasn't entirely convinced, so I asked a waiter that I usually say hello to (even if he isn't working my table) if they had it. We had a dish of tripe on the table in two minutes.
Although it's brutally effective, I wouldn't adopt my oldest brother's cringe-worthy approach. I swear that this conversation actually took place after he flashed a wolfish grin at a female cart pusher:
Brother: Hey baby, whaddya got?
Server: I got good food!
Server starts pointing out various dishes on her cart.
Brother: Actually, young lady, I'd like a jung (Chinese tamale consisting of rice wrapped in a banana leaf).
Server abandons cart, takes off to the kitchen, and comes running back with a burning hot jung in her bare hands.
Don't do this.
I've also found that bringing along my 81-year old Cantonese-speaking mom helps. Actually, it helps a lot.
Hounds Do Dim Sum
And let's not forget the sweets: little custard pies (don tots), coconut jello/block and those little custard-stuffed turnovers. A ton of good food at a very reasonable price!
looking for insight re Super Star vs. King's Land (DEN)
I could be up for Saturday. Right now, I have to say that I can't definitively say one place is better than another. I've done the banquet thing at each, and found them about equal, although I can confirm you can do a great banquet at less than $20 a head. I've never been unhappy with the dim sum at King's Land, although I haven't tried it at Superstar. The one thing that no one's mentioned however, is the hotpot that you cook at your own table at King's Land that simply terrific.
Chinese in Denver with set family/banquet menu?
I'd also talk to the fine folks at King's Land or Superstar. I've experienced these menus at both and they are somewhat similar.
(Boulder) First trip to Black Cat: What do they do really well?
They do excellent work with fish and seafood. Wild salmon is quite good and I had a fine piece of escolar there. Clafouti and cheese platter made for excellent desserts as well.
Chinese bakeries, Denver area?
It's been a couple of years, but there was one on the north side of the Far East Center at Alameda and Federal (the one with all the pagoda architecture) on the first level that was pretty decent. They had excellent don tots (don=egg, tot=corruption of tart), which are those bite-sized custard pies. If I recall correctly, a friend of mine and I demolished a bag of them in record time. If you're looking for BBQ pork buns (charsiu=my name, Chinese BBQ pork, bao=bun), I buy them by the dozen at King's Land's takeout counter.
Denver/Boulder Hounds Met for Chinese Food
Having grown up eating Chinese in Oakland's and San Francisco's Chinatowns, I get a bit overwrought about places like Jing. I take it personally when I see the favorite dishes of my youth sell for three times what they ought to be selling for. The ambience was very lounge retro, but that's not what I'm looking for in a Chinese restaurant. Give me a grease-stained restaurant supply calendar on the wall, chintzy wood paneling, and maybe an incense-laden shrine, and I'm happier than a pig in slop.
I think the high point of the meal was the whole steamed fish with scallions, ginger and soy (one of my rules is always get the steamed fish over the fried one), but at $30, a bit ridiculous from a price standpoint. The lettuce cups were at a PF Chang's level, and they were missing the all-important bits of dried oyster advocated by both MFK Fisher and my mom who would make this treat for me on my birthday. I'll give props to our server, but I think I'd rather get the dinner for 10 at King's Land, which comes to $14 a head. This includes ginger lobster, duck, and the steamed fish. Comparing Jing to King's Land just gets my Irish up.
Boulder next weekend - need help!
Ah, and don't forget the Sink on the Hill for lunchtime burgers - the quintessential CU hangout. Claire - that Salvaggio's is still there if you're thinking of the one next to the Mediterranean grocery store near Pearl and 28th. Some also like the Boulder Cork for steaks and the Med on Walnut (people seem to love it or hate it).
Boulder next weekend - need help!
Breakfast - For classic greasy spoon fare and the best hash browns in town, try the Village Coffee Shop on Folsom, across from McGuckin's Hardware. Otherwise, Spruce Confections on West Pearl for pastry (especially scones) and coffee, although I also enjoy the Cup on Pearl for coffee and homemade quiche. Marie's on North Broadway does diner classics as well, albeit with a Czech and Slovakian twist, namely kolacky pastry.
Lunch - For higher end but excellent sandwiches, try Dish on Pearl. I'm especially fond of their brie, proscuitto, and sweet butter sandwich on a baguette. They also have a smoked salmon sandwich, the Kenai, that's quite good.
Dinner - Black Cat off the Pearl Street Mall for a very nice restaurant, also might want to look at Radda for a more neighborhood feel on North Broadway. Chez Thuy on 28th Street is a popular choice for Vietnamese and their lamb chops are more akin to fine rack of lamb for about $14.
