Letting the food speak for itself. Mostly.

I've talked extensively about how badly I suck at this blog thing.  You might not agree, or may even never have noticed.  I do think I do a good job of faking it after all, and every time I say that I suck I invariably get at least one IM, e-mail or Facebook comment assuring me that it's not the case.  To those people, I'd just like to point out that I POSTED LESS THAN A DOZEN REVIEWS IN THE ENTIRE YEAR OF 2012.  And trying to maintain anonymity while snapping off a quick pic or two, often in less-than-ideal lighting, before digging in so I can actually enjoy the food at its prime means that those pics often turn out badly.  Still, I'd like to think that I'm gradually improving as time passes, and as we approach the fourth anniversary of this little project's life I've noticed a pretty drastic oversight on my part.  See, once I've written about a place, I'm kind of "done" with it.  I may still go there (though I mostly feel driven to move on to the next new eatery, I get sentimental about certain places), and even take a picture or two, and sometimes I'll even post those pictures on Facebook.  Well, it's occurred to me that a lot of the people who read my reviews here might never see those pictures (especially with Facebook's increasingly idiotic algorithm bullshit).  I don't often do follow-up reviews, so basically at this point I'm putting those pictures where a couple hundred people might see them if I'm lucky before they get sucked into the void and buried.  And unforgivably, I'm also guilty of this behavior in relation to events like the Food Truck Rally, where I've taken to just posting on Facebook rather than doing yet another website review and therefore have tried things from newer vendors there that I've never given the courtesy of writing up here.  That's just not fair to me, the restaurants involved, or the people who are searching for information someplace other than Facebook.  So, here's a bunch of pictures I've taken over the past year or so, all dishes I enjoyed, from eateries that are still in business, and captured in not completely horrifying images...

Wanna Cluck Around?

Playing ketchup. Get it? Like catch-up? Oh bugger off!

*UPDATE* Apparently Deli George's new location fell through, and they're in the process of trying to find someplace else.

It's been a while since I've done a random tidbits entry and there's just too much of it to post on my Facebook page now, so here's the stuff I know is going on around town:

In the constantly evolving area of Eagle Road between Franklin and Overland in Meridian, a Ling & Louie's Asian Bar & Grill is currently under construction.  It'll be the fifth in a small chain of hybrid Asian and American comfort food restaurants.  Personally, I can't wait.  Some of the stuff on their menu is just plain awesome looking, and I love the fact that they make no bones about the non-traditional nature of their food.  Keep tabs on their Facebook page for further developments.

Speaking of Meridian, a second Yokozuna Teriyaki location is going into the strip mall that's across Fairview Avenue from the Fred Meyer store.  I don't mind heading out to Vista every once in a while, but I'm looking forward to getting a great bubble tea closer to home.  I called the primary location yesterday for a time frame, and they said the new spot should be open in a couple of weeks.  Let's see how well I can type with my fingers crossed...

One more Meridian tidbit.  Even though I haven't written them up yet, Sakana is hands-down my favorite sushi spot in the Valley.  They're just South of the aforementioned Overland and Eagle Roads intersection.  My mother happened to drive by it earlier today and spotted a sign out front advertising $1 sushi on Mondays.  No further details, so I guess I'm going to have to check that out soon too.  Just for the sake of keeping the public informed.

Moving on to Boise, in the strip mall located at the Northwest corner of Emerald Street and Maple Grove Road there are two new developments, both of which should be improvements over the previous tenants of the spaces they're taking over.  The funny-smelling teriyaki joint is transforming into a little sushi place (I believe the name was either Naru or Haru), but the one I'm really happy about is that the old Mexican food spot is going to be a new Squeezers Giant Burgers location.  They tried to expand once before and failed, but I think the area they chose was the primary problem.  I've been to their original spot in Nampa several times and always left happy, so here's hoping this location does well.

Another place I dig but haven't reviewed yet is Deli George.  At this point, I'm waiting until they finish moving to their new location at Orchard Crossing on Emerald Road.  Have I mentioned how freaking much I love the Orchard and Emerald area?  Anyway, Deli George is expanding and will develop into an entity known as Deli George and Continental Grill, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Moving away from the happy stuff, in case you happened to miss it THE YEN CHING BAKERY CLOSES THIS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH.  You have only a few more days left to get some delectable Asian pastries, and it'll probably be a long time before you see anything like them around here again.  On the other hand, if you don't know what you're missing, how can you be depressed when they're gone?  It's too late for me, that's for sure...

Some things I'll soon be missing...

Thanks to Brian, it's been confirmed that the Yen Ching Bakery (not the restaurant itself) will be ceasing operations in February, likely toward the end of the month.  That leaves at the very most four weeks (and most importantly only four Sundays, the day they make the fresh steamed buns) to enjoy their stuff.  Though I suppose if more people had been enjoying it all along, this wouldn't be happening.  In the meantime, here's what I brought home from my last trip there...

Green Onion Bread

Bacon Bread

Peach Danish

Strawberry Sweet Bread

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun

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I think people shoot the messenger because they can't shoot the message...

It is with much, MUCH regret that I pass along the following tidbit: the Yen Ching Bakery will close again at the end of February.  I think this may be just about the most depressing thing I've had the displeasure of reporting here.  What is this now, the third time they've closed?  This time, they say it's for good.

This all started on Yelp.com, of all places.  I don't even remember now how I came to be looking at the Yen Ching Bakery's listing on Yelp.com, but in the comments section someone said that the bakery was to close once and for all at the end of next month.  I was aghast, but skeptical.  I called the bakery and the man who answered the phone didn't know what I was talking about, but said if I wanted to be sure I should call back in a few hours and speak to the owner.  One thing led to another, and I didn't get a chance to call back that evening.  Much later that night I went to Yen Ching's website, got the e-mail address for the bakery, and sent an inquiry.  After a couple of days without a response, I posted a message on their Facebook page asking for information about the situation.  Then today, I called back and the man who answered the phone confirmed it.  This sucks so hard, especially considering how happy I was when the place opened.  It was one of those moments where I thought you know, maybe Boise is more advanced than I thought.  Every new idea that succeeds gives birth to other ideas, which was evidenced by the recent addition of dim sum to Yen Ching's menu.  The dim sum itself was a fringe benefit brought in with the new baker, replacing the previous one whose departure had caused the previous closure of the bakery.  So is the dim sum going away too?  I don't know at this point.  I'll post more as I know it, but in the meantime you'd better get down there Sunday mornings for the fresh steamed buns while you still can.

Yen Ching

I have no idea how long Yen Ching has been occupying the corner of 9th and Bannock in downtown Boise.  I know that it's been there since at least the mid-90's, but beyond that I couldn't say.  Always one of the more interesting places in town, I rarely make it there because when I'm in the area I usually opt for Twin Dragon, whose chow mein I absolutely adore.  Yen Ching's food has always seemed slightly more homemade, somehow.  And to be honest, I simply hate peas and carrots in my fried rice.  However, Yen Ching has quite a bit to offer (such as their amazing bakery), and dim sum has recently been added to that list.

No, I didn't get a picture of the building...