Poca Cosa in Tucson: I've missed you twice

During two summers of 2006 and 2007, I journeyed to Tucson to visit my friends, see the sights, do some monsoon chasing, visit restaurants and photograph and videotape over 10 different types of hummingbirds that can be seen South of Tucson. While I found the hummingbirds, one restaurant remained elusive both times, the famed Poca Cosa in downtown Tucson. Both times I found that they are on vacation during the weeks I came. So I missed the pechuga mole negro ($19), chicken in a sauce of chiles and just a touch of the traditional chocolate; grilled beef with a jalapeño chile and tomatillo sauce ; chicken with a dark mole sauce made with Kahlúa, chocolate, almonds, and chiles. And so I wait for another time when I come back to Tucson again.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/tucson/D31003.html
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Chow/Content?oid=oid:42384
When I finally get there I most likely will try the platoPoca Cosa, a trio of dishes chosen by the chef.

But I was able to get an exquisite meal with friends at the J-Bar near Janos featuring
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/tucson/D49787.html
They have innovative dishes as in spicy jerked pork with cranberry-habañero chutney or Yucatán-style plantain-crusted chicken with green coconut-milk curry. When I was there I had the plantain-crusted chicken and it was wonderful.

Fascinating listing of new cookbooks

This is a nice listing of 10 books that you might want to put on your gifting or gift list.

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/wheretobuygourmetfoods/tp/bestcookbooks2008.htm?nl=1

Thai Treasure does not pay off

I have been here for lunch. I went for the basil chicken. The soup, chicken wing and a rangoon were okay. The basil chicken was underwhelming compared to other basil dishes I have eaten before at other places. The portion was small and did not really have much spice with the basil. The dinners are much more expensive. Because the quality of the entree (and that of my friend during lunch) was not super, I am hesitant to try dinner. I would rather try another Asian, Indian or Thai restaurant for lunch or dinner where I know what I am getting in terms of quality and more entree quantity.

Endless Shrimp

This is the single worst promotion ever created by Red Lobster.
http://rlserver.blogspot.com/2007/09/endless-shrimp-at-red-lobster-aka-worst.html


I have to admit I have gone to AYCE shrimp once. It was good. I ordered quite a few rounds and was surprised how I disliked the coconut shrimp ( I need a chutney with it or orange marmalade or something).

So when I saw the advertizing on TV, I wanted to find out how much it cost again and comments. Well luckily I found this site/ forum/ blog.

Very interesting all these comments. Almost all very true especially about the tipping. Do people from the other buffets that have shrimp skip and go to RL for this instead as someone suggested.

Well when I want a shrimp fix and more for half the price I go to a my local Chinese mongolian grill restaurant. There I get different types of shrimp ( raw, fried, etc) and I get as much as I want when i want it . Yeah there is no scampi and some of the other kinds but you have to figure out the poison you want in your system.

I don't just gorge on shrimp but I got quite a few.I am not used to just eating shrimp so a buffet is better for me.

The buffet has so much more. I did watch some huge people wolfing down stuff. I can really pack it in but I am not huge by any means.

I do feel sorry for the waiter/esses who have to wait on customers endlessly over hours for minimal tip that hog seats.

I don't know if I ever go back to AYCE shrimp (my wife does not eat shellfish) especially after reading you all comments.

Thanks for the comments. I will write about this in my food blog .
Thanks


Hints for pigging out on shrimp record:
(1) Don't touch the biscuits, salad, or side.
(2) Drink only water
(3) Order the next refill when you receive a refill, it takes a while for them to bring it out.
(4) The shrimp pasta really kills you, so don't eat the pasta.
(5) Try to dry off the scampi before digesting it.
(6) Try to get a friendly competiton or get the waiters to bet on who will win.

By the way, shrimp is not very healthy as many have mentioned.

http://www.redlobster.com/blog/2007/09/hello-its-chef-michael-laduke.asp

Song Son Vietnames restaurant Kansas City review

I had heard about this place. But when I heard that this place had opened a new buffet and noodle bar for lunch, I had to go and check it out. I had heard that the Vietnamese food was bland. It was especially at recent place I tried in Kansas City but to my delight, not at this place. I had tried Vietnamese food in other parts of the country and I knew Vietnamese food was better then this bland restaurant before. But here at this new buffet and noodle bar, you can see immediately the character and what Vietnamese food really tastes like.
When I entered, I chose 1 of 11 different noodle type soups, made to order by one of the cooks ( noodles with either tofu, beef and others). While that was being prepared fresh, I sampled the buffet area.
The dishes were not really spicy but well seasoned. The best was the slightly spicy sweet tomato tofu. The spicy yellow curry chicken was excellent and was thick and spicy sweet not spicy hot and was very good. The beef stew in a nice brown broth and vegetables was excellent too and had a lot of flavor. The non fried spring rolls had a lot of vegetables and was very good in the hot sour sauce or the peanut like sauce. The crab rangoon was okay and the Goi Ga chicken salad was bland. The chinese General t'sao was surprisingly good , not too sweet, moist and not burnt to a crisp. Hunan chicken and the Moo Go Gai Pan chicken were better then I had expected. One of the premier ones I heard of the tempura like sweet potatoes were mushy and not very good.But it was the noodle soup I wanted to find out about. I ordered the meatball version s I heard about it. It came with vermicelli, vegetables and jalapeno strips in a clear tasty broth. The beef ball was actually cut into little strips. It was little chewy and did not have much flavor. The owner and staff were very cordial. I definitely will come back with my wife and my son is interested too.