05 June 2008

10K Report and Weekend Eats

My race drink of choice. Warning: Only drink this if you wake up 3-4 hours ahead of time, otherwise it takes the place of water, which you need to hydrate.

As I mentioned in my last post I had a 10K this past weekend. There were definitely parts I could have done better at, but I got the time I wanted. Of course, I started nitpicking it immediately upon crossing the finish line! Overall, I wasn't sure if I would be able to get the time I did, getting back into training late and it being my first actual 10K race, so overall it was the time I should have gotten considering everything I did up to that point. My next 10K is in July, and I can't wait to see how I improve then.

After the 10K, I went to eat brunch where I always do after the Sunburst, Le Peep.

I ordered a pancake combo that came with eggs, potatoes, and sausage. The sausage was slightly spicy. I didn't know that when I ordered it, so I was pleasantly surprised. I tasted a mealiness in the potatoes, which tells me that Russets were used. The yolks of the eggs helped with that, though. The blueberry granola pancakes were pretty decent, with a nice light sponginess and a lack of vanillin. They weren't stingy with the blueberries, either, and they added a little container of blueberry syrup. As you can see, granola was topped during the end of the cooking time. It added a nuttiness, though it ended up being sort of a pasty-crunchy texture after some of the syrup was soaked in.

On Sunday I went out with the family to Great Wall restaurant. The couple who owns it are retiring, so we decided to try it out since we've never been there before. (big mistake!)

We started off with soup, and I ordered the egg drop soup. It looks the same as the soup I get at buffets, but it has a richer chicken broth taste and it wasn't as gloopy. It didn't compare to the egg drop soup I had in Chinatown Chicago, though. One of my brother's ordered the wonton soup, which featured at least 5 decently sized wontons, and which I didn't take a picture of. :/

My entree was "pork in garlic sauce". The pork was really tender and sliced thinly, which paired nicely with the julienned vegetables. I normally don't care for water chestnuts, but I didn't mind it in this dish. The sauce wasn't really as garlicy as I would have thought. I ate a "chicken with ginger stir-fry" at a Thai restaurant a while ago and not only were there actual pieces of stir-fried ginger, but it had a very pleasant, and present, gingerness. That's pretty much what I expected of this, but it seemed to lack it. The overall taste was good, nicely seasoned and well-flavored, just minus garlic.

This was one of my brother's entree, "moo shu pork". I tasted some, and what I liked the most was that the pork and vegetable mixture was sans sauce, but it had a really great grilled-like taste and it was moist. The Mandarin pancakes are basically thin tortillas, but it's not supposed to be tortillas. So don't say it is. Hoisin sauce was in a little cup alongside the entree. It tasted sweet-and-savory, kind of licorice in taste. If I put too much of it on the pork mixture, it turned me off. A great pick, though.

My dad's entree was "chicken in wine sauce". The chicken was moist, though the wine taste was leaning on a fake fruity essence, and it definitely didn't taste like sherry. It remained pleasant to eat, the rice mellowing out the fruity undertones.

Mom ordered the "spicy eggplant", which uses Chinese eggplant instead of the typical eggplant you see in grocery stores everywhere. What's good about Chinese eggplant is that it has a thinner skin and is features a more delicate flavor. I'm pretty much horrible at describing the flavors of all the dishes because I just can't remember... I do know that the texture of the eggplant was literally melting in my mouth, so tender, and the flavor of the eggplant melded beautifully with the flavors of the dish, obviously a spiciness that wasn't too overpowering, and, *sigh*, it just tasted good.

Sadness ensues upon seeing the once fully filled rice bowl nearly empty. :(

I would totally buy that statue if I could, heck yes!
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