AI WEIWEI: ACCORDING TO WHAT?

other than food and visiting the fam, the major purpose of our trip back to VA this past weekend was to check out ai weiwei’s exhibit at Hirshhorn Museum.

ai weiwei is a chinese artist, poet, architect, curator, publisher, urbanist, collector, blogger, and political activist.

these names are the names of children died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. ai weiwei investigated government corruption such as the sichuan schools corruption scandals. all these schools collapsed during the earthquake because these buildings were poorly constructed.

rusted steel rebar taken from the collapsed schools of sichuan

he co-designed the bird’s nest Beijing National Stadium

Grapes, constructed out of Qing dynasty wooden stools. the feet pointed outwards to protect a circle of power with build-in defenses.

teahouse

on the background, ai weiwei destroys a 2000-year old jar. these colored vases is a garish repainting of ancient ceramic shapes in modern neon.

these are river crabs = he xie, in chinese, it is also a pun on the word of he xie =’harmonious’
it has something to do with the chinese government tries to create a harmonious society by censoring.

there were a lot interesting photos at the exhibit. it’s hard to relate with ai weiwei’s work without a good understanding of chinese government and ai weiwei’s background.

i left the exhibit with a heavy feeling and a desire to find out more.

for those who are interested, here is a documentary Ai WeiWei – Never Sorry

To Sok Jip | Annandale, VA

pork belly and i went back to VA to visit his family last weekend. VA has a large korean population, so there are a lot good korean restaurants there. i had to take advantage of this and get my korean food fix whenever im in town since korean food in boston jus sucks.

my fave korean dish is Samgyetang (Ginseng chicken soup). i decided to check out this ajumma hole in the wall joint since they serve sam gye tang.

very packed. a lot ppl jus came from church.

holy sht! you probably cant tell from the pic, but this is the biggest seafood pancake ive ever seen. very thick and loaded with so much seafood! ive never seen anything like this. mind blown

samgyetang – Ginseng chicken soup
not as good as mr.zhang’s in beijing, but it was good enough. the chicken wasnt super tender, oh well. i was satisfied.

the restaurant is very busy and there is only one server. she barely speaks any english and was speaking korean to me at the whole time even i looked no clue what she was saying. altho she’s super busy, she still was very attentive. she filled up our water and brought us banchan before we had to ask. will def be back!

To Sok Jip

Category: Korean
7211 Columbia Pike
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 333-2861

A&J | Annandale, VA

A&J is a taiwanese chain restaurant in china and i used to visit a lot when i wanna grab something nice and light. i was so excited to find out there is a A&J in virginia. however, their menu is a little different here and the food quality is def not china good but pretty decent for american standards. their food is still pretty authentic.

scallion pancakes

tofu with preserved eggs

pickled cucumber

beef noodles – not bad. noodles are pretty al dente

pork chop

xiao long bao – soup dumplings. these were terrible. DO NOT GET!

altho the a&j in VA doesnt match up the a&js in china, but the beef noodles are still better than what i can get at most places in boston. pork belly told me their prices have been going up over the years, but still pretty reasonable priced.

A&J
Category: Chinese
4316 Markham St
Ste B
Annandale, VA 22003
(703) 813-8181

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Sea Dog Brew Pub | Woburn, MA Boston

our waiter couldnt tell which beer was which so he had to:

BLUE PAW BLUEBERRY – one of the sea dog drafts.
A nutty wheat ale with a subtle blueberry fruit flavor.

SMASHED BLUEBERRY
This beer is a hybrid of Porter & Scotch Ale, with hints of coffee, chocolate & blueberries. pretty strong for a beer.

guess what this was? no its not fried chicken.
Beer Battered Fish N’ Chips – thats some crazy looking fish
probably the worst tasting fries ive had.

Chorizo Crusted Haddock
Sweet Corn Chowder, Sautéed Spinach, Spanish Chorizo

food was pretty bad. i dont think any of us enjoyed our food.

Sea Dog Brew Pub
Categories: Chicken Wings, American (Traditional), Comfort Food
230 Mishawum Rd
Woburn, MA 01801
(781) 281-1433

http://www.seadogwoburn.com

Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse | Back Bay | Boston, MA

i jus wanted to do a quick pictureless review on Fogo de Chão. i didnt bring my camera and my phone died on me. yea one of those days. sorry guys!

anyway, i went to fogo de chão for dinner. its a brazilian steakhouse in back bay. they have locations across the nation. very professional staff and very well organized restaurant. i was pretty impressed by how good the service was. very attentive, professional, and accommodating. the restaurant is very well organized. everything is well designed for a smooth/pleasure dinning experience. everything is sparkling clean. i rarely see wine glasses this sparkling clean at restaurants.

the food was not bad per se. im not a red meat person, so i probably couldnt appreciate the meat as much. plus, i was hungover with the worst headache ever, had no sleep the night before. they do have a variety of meat to choose from. like most brazilian bbq places, the gauchos come around to your table and slice the meat for you right at your table. nothing really interested me at the salad bar. none of the meat i had was spectacular tho especially for the price. i think i liked the lamb better than the steaks. its probably just my personal preferences. i couldnt get enough of the caramelized plantains and cheese bread tho. it’s all you can eat meat, but they charge extra for desserts and drinks. they also have a pretty extensive selection of wine. i forgot which wine we got, but i really didnt like it.

bottom line:
great for groups and a pleasant dining experience, but the food itself is underwhelming for the price you pay. maybe lunch would be a better deal. i dont think i will return tho.

image source: http://arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/

sorry again for no pix. at least i get to polish up my shitty writings no?

Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse
Categories: Brazilian, Steakhouses
200 Dartmouth St
(between Blagden St & Huntington Ave)
Boston, MA 02116
Neighborhood: Back Bay
(617) 585-6300

http://www.fogodechao.com/

Valentine’s Day Dinner | Puritan & Company | Inman Square Cambridge, MA Boston

this was pork belly and i’s 1st vday together after he moved to boston. i was not familiar with the vday restaurant scene because we never celebrated together before since he lived 10 hours away. i really dont care much about vday; im happy as long as i get my white roses, but since now we are together, its a perfect occasion to go out to eat right? NO.

puritan & co. is a relatively new restaurant in inman square. i wanted to check it out cuz i heard a few good things about it. pork belly made a reservation a month in advance with puritan & co. so a few days ago before vday, i went on their website to check out their menu and doing some research like i always do. i saw this valentine’s day Prix Fixe menu on their website. i opened it up and my heart dropped. the menu looks so cliche jus like valentine’s day itself. i felt like i was reading a restaurant week menu. there were a few specific things on their regular menu i really wanted to try like the lamb and duck cuz i heard they only have certain dishes that are good. i made pork belly to call the restaurant immediately to ask if the regular menu available, do we have to get the vday prix fixe menu. they said yes if sit at a table you have to order the vday prix fixe, but you can order a la carte if you sit at the bar. ok so whatever, it was too late to get any other reservations, so i ll deal with seating at the bar as long as i can order off regular menu.

on vday when we walked in, the host told us that by ordering a la carte, they meant ordering a la carte from the vday menu, not the regular menu. my heart dropped again. they didnt make any effort to inform us that there would be a diff menu for vday when they called us to confirm the reservation. even when we found out ourselves and called in, there was a miscommunication. pork belly expressed clearly that we didnt like the vday menu when he called, we still didnt get a legit answer. if i knew this, i wouldve gone to a totally different restaurant.

when im forced to get the prix fixe menu, it reminds me of meals on flights. ‘would you like chicken or beef’ a voice of a flight attendant would be in the back of my head. not to mention their menu looked super cliche. items like seared bass, pork chop, and grilled beef? can it get more cliche than that?

we were disappointed, but still sat down. at least they apologized and be polite about it.

the restaurant was really dark; my photos didnt come out as nice as i wanted them to due to non-existent lighting.

st. urbans hof riesling | house beer

the bread was my fave thing of the night. nice and fluffy while still has this chewy, firm texture. loved it.

the prix fixe menu is $75pp. on top of that, it’s $40 extra to get the seafood tower.
1/2 doz. oyster, 4 shrimp cocktail, 4 bay scallops, ceviche
totally not worth it but whatever, since we are out we might as well jus go HAM. the scallops were sandy and the ceviche was a bit fishy.

steamed egg

nantucket bay scallop crudo
meyer lemon, brown butter, horseradish
again, sandy scallops. disappointment.

assiette of duck charcuterie
chaud froid with black-eyed peas, mustard
duck was a lil bit salty and dry, but overall still kinda tasty

lobster bisque
uni toast, savory granola
another disappointment. very salty. overpowered all the nice flavors that lobsters have.

winter vegetable salad
yogurt cheese, dill oil
it didnt look appetizing so i didnt touch it.

grilled wagyu beef
potato mousseline, hay-roasted vegetables, bordelaise
this was good comparing to other dishes we got. beef is relatively tender. well cooked, and has a nice texture to it.

seared bass
ragout of heirloom beans, vegetables, citrus nage
nothing special about this dish. you cant really make bass taste bad honestly. i would never get seared bass at a restaurant, but i didnt have many choices.

i forgot the names of the desserts. pork belly didnt really like both of them. i thought they were ok.
this one was really sweet, but i liked the texture, and the sourness of the grapefruit balanced off the sweetness. (the sweetness could make the grapefruit tastes more sour tho)

i also liked the texture of this dessert. something butter i forgot

anyways, i really didnt want to hate too much on puritan & co. since they were nice and polite about everything and i wanna give them credits for their efforts. i really liked the ambience, very laid-back and cozy. the meal lasted 2 hours due to slow service, but i dont wanna blame them i understand that its a busy night. the food was very disappointing and overpriced. i dont really mention about prices on my blog cuz good food is pretty much worth anything, but the total came to $280. for this kinda food? no thank you! as much as i would like to try their lamb and duck, i dont know if i would wanna take another chance. i dont know if most restaurants have this kinda prix fixe menu on vdays to make things easier for them. if thats the case, pork belly and i decided to stay in for future vdays after our 1st vday experience.

pork belly bought me flowers yay. unfortunately they messed up his order and the roses are red :’(

im still happy tho ♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥ thanks pork belly for being so sweet and generous. ♥♥♥♥♥♥ i still had a great vday.

hope you guys all had a great vday.

share with me some of your bad/good dinning experiences on vday!

Puritan & Company
Category: American
1166 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02139
Neighborhood: Inman Square
(617) 615-6195

http://puritancambridge.com/

Pai Men Miyake @ Portland, ME

pai men miyake is one of the miyake restaurants mainly serves ramen, soba, yakitori(after 5:30pm), and a variety of sushi rolls. i heard so many good things about miyake and finally paid a visit.

i cant remember what exactly the drinks were. i think both were sake cocktails/mixed drinks.

pork buns
two steamed buns with braised pork belly, gouchujang mayo, & pepper relish
i thought they were ok. the buns def house made.

maine crab
crab meat broiled in mayonnaise glaze with spicy japanese red pepper, tobiko & radish sprouts
i didnt like this at all. very bad choice. the crab meat was very dry. the mayo was too overpowering.

yakitori
negima leg &scallion
kashiwa thigh

sashimi soba
tuna, salmon, suzuki, tobiko, avocado, cucumber, onion, & daikon
another bad choice, extremely bland.

green tea and ginger ice cream

we totally regret driving all the way to portland to try miyake. def hyped up. they are famous for ramen but we werent in the mood to try any. maybe we ordered the wrong items, but we didnt like most of the stuff we ordered. very fusion americanized place. extremely disappointed by their food.

have you had the ramen here? how was it?

Pai Men Miyake
Category: Japanese
188 State St
Portland, ME 04101
(207) 541-9204

http://www.miyakenoodlebar.com/