As someone from L.A. who used Chowhound exclusively until I moved to Boise (where, as you can see, this board is rarely used), I must somewhat regretfully concur that Yelp will offer better help. I would point to whatever reviewer Ru Y. recommends as he travels between Boise and Sun Valley frequently and I trust his judgment.

Thanks for the link. I really appreciated that.

In 2007 I (along with a lot of other Californians before and after) moved to the Boise, ID area, and unfortunately our PBS programs about the area seem do drab and lifeless without a person like Huell. Whenever I come back in to town to visit family, I make sure to catch him on TV. They had some Videolog episodes from the late 80's the last time I stopped by.

Good find. $5 cheaper on the 12-year and $10 cheaper on the 15. Ah well-- I wouldn't have made it into the Hollywood area anyway. Now if Marukai or Mitsuwa has it for cheaper, then I'll be annoyed. But Beverage Warehouse is close by and their prices for Suntory were always far better than any other options I found ($20 savings on the Yamazaki 18), so I assumed that was as low as I was going to find it.

Thread bumped. My reasoning for being in town isn't the best, so it gave me perhaps more joy than usual to see Nikka on the shelves at the Beverage Warehouse. The 12-year Taketsuru Pure Malt is $65 and the 15-year Yoichi Single Malt $120. Take it for what you will but I couldn't get any clear indication from my regular go-to guy there that they would get any more in apart from their initial shipment. I bit the bullet and got both while I could.

On a side note-- access to Suntory Hibiki has disappeared for some reason, so get it if you find it.

Flying into town next weekend and the proprietor of one of the small Korean stores where I live is asking me if I can pick up some Johnnie Walker Blue at one of the Korean supermarkets. I'm not sure if I can make it out to Koreatown or Gardena, so I might just get it at my ol' trusty nearby beverage warehouse, or maybe Costco if they have it. But it got me thinking if those markets are even comparable pricewise with the beverage warehouses. Based on my experience with Japanese whisky at the Japanese markets like Marukai and Mitsuwa, that's not the case unless there's some insane sale going on. Am I missing out by not trying to make it to Hannam or Assi? I know I can call of course, but I'm asking about the prices in general. And am I missing out on some correlation between Koreans and Johnnie Walker? The implication given was that Koreans adore the stuff.

No, you described it pretty well. I also got the black ramen (since that was considered the most popular of the three in Japan) and had a fair amount of pepper grit in my teeth after consuming all of the broth. This was my actually my first experience with a chicken-based broth being a fan primarily of tonkotsu broth. I enjoyed both the lightness yet complexity of it. It made my first experience with the chicken ramen at Ramen Jinya a few days later all the more disappointing because it seemed so bland in comparison. I also await to hear opinions of the white and red options, which I am unfortunately unable to try.

Can't say I agree with all of the recommendations, but I'll second the ones for Casanova Pizza and Baguette Deli (nothing mindblowing, but solid and butt-cheap banh mi; I don't like the pho though). Another solid-and-cheap recommendation is Tango's Subs & Empanadas on Orchard. Choose the empanadas over the subs. Extremely nice and friendly employees. I definitely would've recommended Uncle Giuseppe's if you didn't already know about it.

Only went to Stagecoach once, but I did enjoy my trip. I was told to get the prawns, and I'm glad I did. And yes, very old school there. A' Tavola does look intriguing. It seems to have become quite popular. I see plenty of people out on their patio during the day. Being on the outskirts of downtown, I wasn't sure whether or not it would survive. But they and Big City Coffee manage to keep the crowds coming in that area.

The big thing right now (at least for me) is the opening of Casa Blanca Cuban Grill on Overland. Hope it succeeds, even if it's ultimately not all that great. Boise needs variety like this.

I was wondering if there are any liquor stores that have more and rarer options for sake or shochu than what the Japanese supermarkets typically offer. I remember walking into a liquor store in a strip mall in Little Osaka (where Nijiya Market and Beard Papa are) and being disappointed that they didn't really offer anything special. I'm looking at the Westside/South Bay area. The Beverage Warehouse is a mandatory destination when in town anyway, so scratch them off the list.

And on a similar tangent: I'm assuming Nikka whisky hasn't made it into the area yet?

Granted I haven't lived in the area in five years, but China Lites was the best out of a fairly weak bunch. The whole fish in black bean sauce was the standout dish for me.

I only had the cheese bread (that was my most necessary fix-- I had other food fixes to attend to that weekend in L.A. and flew down with only a carry-on bag to bring supplies back with me). The cheese was the same. The employee warned that the bread would taste a little different due to the different water used in Bishop. It would be nice to A/B it, but it tasted close enough to Bishop's quality to be satiated. The pastries didn't look too appetizing though, and the selection of those and other baked goods seemed rather small compared to Bishop.

There's a chance I might be driving back to L.A. in about a month, and the quickest route takes me right through Bishop. If that happens, I'll speak to the cashier or someone who appears to be in charge. Hopefully they'll be honest with me when I do ask about the other stores.

I visited the newest bakery in El Segundo. An employee told me that the one there, while not a franchise, is on good terms with the original Bishop location. They also mentioned, and I recall reading/hearing in the past somewhere about it, that there's some squabbling between Bishop and the ones in Ukiah and Mammoth. Can anyone confirm that and have the reasoning behind it? I'm aware that the other offshoots could very well be saying the same thing, so I'm not necessarily of the belief that El Segundo is actually on better terms than the other two.

Any new updates on this, sku? I had really wanted to get some while in L.A. over the holidays, and I read elsewhere that they were slated to start selling late last year or early this year.

Thanks for that link. I'll reintroduce that thread and see if the OP has any new info since then.

I'll be in town for the holidays and was looking to take some Nikka whisky back with me. All I've ever had is Suntory so I want to branch out, and I had read that Nikka infiltrated the U.S. market either this year or late last year. Prior trips to Marukai/Mitsuwa/Beverage Warehouse this year yielded the same ol', same ol'. A prior thread about this same topic mentioned Wally's on Westwood, but a search on their site revealed no Nikka. The closer to the Westside or South Bay, the better.

I think this is their third event. The other two were in downtown. It's just a bunch of the local food trucks getting together in one place with music and someone selling local beer.

I'm just thankful that the city is actually developing a food truck scene because I think that food trucks will be the safer way to go for entrepreneurs to offer new cuisines that the area doesn't have.

It's cheaper at the Franklin location, which isn't surprising with what property on 8th Street is probably going for. It's too bad they're not staying open late-night on the weekends anymore like they originally did. I'd much rather get my late-night grub there instead of Piehole or Pita Pit.

Gotta try the avocado smoothie, which is surprisingly good. Thumbs up for offering boba. Not so hot on their pho though.

Richie's is OK, but it's quite pricey and you can get better elsewhere for cheaper. Here's a review of them I did on Yelp (never thought I'd be Yelping, but the lack of Boise talk here pretty much predicated it): http://www.yelp.com/biz/new-york-rich... It's the 3-star review.

The Weekly had a photo gallery of the event, and fortunately they took a photo of the menu and prices. $7.50 for cold Cysco meat on cheap market bread! Compare that with what you can get from a $6.50 foot long at Uncle Giuseppe's (that would've been a good A/B comparison photo). Can't they actually schedule an order with a local bakery so the sandwich won't look and taste as cheap? $5.50 for a cheap bagel with a little bit of lox on it? I like how they charged $1 for a pickle when I just got a 3-pound jar of whole kosher dills for $1.88 at Winco.

I realize they have to deal with a lot of people, but the planning and quality of the food aspect seem secondary to the profit they take from it. As an authentic (deli) experience, it's a failure. I don't get that feeling from some of the other local festivals like the Greek and Russian ones. Maybe someone who has Jewish deli experience and is passionate and concerned enough about the food quality could turn it around, but that's not gonna happen. Next year they'll probably want $8 for those same-quality sandwiches.

Anyway, it's something I can bitch about around this time every year if it's mentioned! And as previously stated, the locals who have never been to a Jewish deli or bakery have no idea what they're missing, and I hope they don't think Deli Days is like the real deal.

Disagree. I'm done with them, and I would tell people to skip it and wait until they head to a city with a Jewish deli and/or bakery instead of partaking in the ridiculously overpriced goods and mediocre output (in particular their cheap-quality school-lunch sandwiches). I feel bad for people who would think that the food served here is anything approaching a good Jewish deli.

Ever try Epi's in Meridian for Basque? Reservations are mandatory. You can always do Gernika as well-- you're in Boise, so you might as well pig out on Basque while you can. I'm from a big city myself, and when I recommend I tend to steer towards things you can't normally get where you are or get as good. So that would be Basque and restaurants that use local ingredients. "Farm-to-fork" has become a big thing here. Fork and Locavore were opened with this in mind. Fork has been reviewed better. Though Red Feather, which is half a block the street up from Fork, has been doing it for years. I've only been to Red Feather and enjoyed my experience. Also, for local beef, you have Lock Stock & Barrel that carries Snake River Farms wagyu style beef (I THINK-- would have to call & verify, as the list of Snake River's clientele on their website isn't showing up on my computer). I haven't been there, but a cheaper bet may be Castle Ranch Steakhouse in a hotel near the airport. They use local Double R Ranch beef. Here's a recent review in the local paper of them, though the beef isn't actually wagyu style like it says in the article: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/05...

And then since you'll be in the North End eating at Jim's/Vicino, ever make it to Goody's to top off the meal with some sweets?

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Red Feather Lounge
246 N 8th Street, Boise, ID 83702

Lock Stock & Barrel
1100 W Jefferson St, Boise, ID 83702

Goody's Soda Fountain & Candy Stores
1502 N 13th St, Boise, ID 83702

Epi's A Basque Restaurant
1115 N Main St, Meridian, ID 83642

Uncle Giuseppe's opening up on State/Glenwood has taken a little bit of the sting out of the Jewish deli void. Two transplanted New Yorkers doing a New York/Italian deli with nearly all of the meat/cheese made from Boar's Head. Comparatively cheap too.

It closed down.

Sounded too good to be true anyway, as I don't expect to see a Jewish deli as long as I live here. I'd hate to think the locals born and raised here would constitute Deli Days as a legit and authentic experience, but they probably do. I asked an orthodox Jewish co-worker if Mott would've been a tipoff to being Jewish, but he said "No, only if it was Motz." I feel bad for this guy, by the way. With the lack of resources here, he has to ship damn near all of his food from New York.

Wow, you sure piqued my interest there. I would love to have one here, and I had never heard of Mott's. Our once-a-year foray into the Jewish deli concept (Deli Days at that synagogue on the Bench) is such a joke, and an expensive one to boot.

I figured "what the hell" and was just going to call and ask. But I've tried two different numbers, and neither connect to them. And I almost never venture into SE Boise. How about you?

Yeah, Mahogany is the way to go, and it's not even close. I don't know if there are still signs further south around Olancha saying "World's Best Jerky" and stuff like that, but avoid all of that if it still applies (it's shipped in from out-of-state anyway).

Schat's Bakery should also be a mandatory pit stop when going through Bishop. Get some cheese bread if nothing else, but you would have a tough time getting only one item there after walking around.

http://www.erickschatsbakery.com/

Yeah, that's too much for my tastes. I thought the kicker was that it could only be imported if it was a 750mL bottle and not a 700? A stupid rule but that's what I was told on this site when an article about Japanese whisky appeared here. Perhaps an updated rule if Wally's obtains it.

I'm so glad I pounced on getting Suntory 18 for $80 at the Beverage Warehouse three years ago. It's $100 there now and $130 at Mitsuwa. I'm feeling pretty positive Nijiya and Marukai won't be of any help with Nikka, but I haven't been in town since Labor Day.

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Beverage Warehouse
4935 McConnell Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

I'm visiting my parents, and the local beverage warehouse has added this whisky in the past two months. I'll buy at least one to take back with me in my luggage, but I'm wondering if anyone has had some and what to expect in comparison to the 12 and 18-year Yamazakis. I'm aware that Hibiki is blended, which does strike me as odd considering the 12-year Hibiki is is about $25 more than the 12-year single-malt Yamazaki.

I love their sweet butter toast but have moved out of the area where they're located. I'm trying to get my local Chinese bakery to recreate it, but they've given up. They've never eaten it although one of the bakers is aware of what the Tea Station is.

I'm wondering if anyone can give a good guess as to how to make it. The bread in particular is what I'm scratching my head over. I'm not sure if they make the bread there or not.

Been to Stagecoach Inn, Westside Drive-In (on Fridays and Saturdays only), and Lock Stock & Barrel. Of the three, I thought LS&B had the best. But for the best value, and if you don't mind not having a fancy sitdown meal, then I think Westside is the way to go. $15 gets you a cut of rib plus salad, potato, and roll. Once in awhile in the Friday Scene section of the Statesman, they'll have a $2 off coupon for that weekend knocking it down to $13. The salad is cheap and horrible, but the potato is pretty good. And while the cuts of rib have been a little fattier than I'd like, the taste is decent, and they've been cooked exactly to my requests. Go on Youtube and search for when Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives visited there. They talk about what's put on the rub that is used on the rib, and that's what eventually convinced me to try their prime rib.

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Stagecoach Inn Restaurant & Lounge
3132 W Chinden Blvd, Garden City, ID 83714

Lock Stock & Barrel
1100 W Jefferson St, Boise, ID 83702

Westside Drive-In
1939 W State St, Boise, ID 83702

There's been talk about it here (wish I could track down the threads, but I couldn't) and on some soda blogs/forums that corn syrup has infiltrated many of the bottlers owned by FEMSA (the largest beverage company in Mexico) in the past couple years, particularly in the northern reaches of Mexico where most of your Costcos and box stores seem to get their cases from (where I live, it's always from the Mexicali bottler). What you may be getting from them is a sugar/corn syrup hybrid. So while it's undoubtedly crisper and smoother than regular Coke, it's not the real deal like in years past. The best bet is to track down a non-returnable bottle from the southern part of the country, where FEMSA has less of a stranglehold on the bottlers and the status quo has remained.

Agree that it's kinda pointless to go to the Co-Op unless you want to bring some good craft beer back to 3.2 land. Nor do I think Ha' Penny really deserves to be a destination bar. But everything on the list sans the Co-Op is within downtown, so it really wouldn't hurt to just walk around downtown (which isn't all that big), catch the vibe, and see what else might interest you. I don't know if I'd say the Front Door has a terribly wide beer selection. But if you're a beer aficionado, then they have plenty of options both on tap and bottle that regular bars don't carry. If SLC doesn't have good Argentinian, then Tango's makes really good empanadas. It's a couple miles from downtown though, and on the weekends they're only open on Saturdays from like 12-4.