Tag Archives: Szechuan Garden

Short Ribs and Random Thoughts, Dec 6 2017

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As of this writing the GOP is forcing through a ‘Tax cut” of which none of them understand the consequences. This is government?  Our Fake President is on TV gloating about destroying two national monuments while playing to his ignorant base who APPLAUD  him. His hatred for Obama is more than irrational, but what else is new.

FOR THE RECORD: Number of times I have watched Matt Lauer on TV: 0

SPEAKING of TV: Is Brian Williams the only man on TV who has not been accused of harassing someone?  I really resented him when he first started on MSNBC but now I’m used to him.  It’s time for someone to put up a website with the names of  men who HAVEN’T been accused of harassment. Be easier to keep track of.

WEDNESDAY DEC 13 from 330pm to 630pm at Eureka Safeway,  drop off your donations for Food For People and say hi to State Sen Mike McGuire.  A toofer!

Dontcha love the ads for KFC in Sunday’s Parade? It must be cheaper  to deluge us with useless ads than to target their advertising.  Looks like Brookings is the closest. Another Christmas without KFC!

IRRITATION AT THE SZECHUAN-  My out-of-town guest and I were both tired of turkey by Saturday so we went to the Szechuan Garden in Arcata to fortify ourselves with soup dumplings ( “juicy pork dumplings” on the menu). The restaurant appeared to be empty except for us, but the layout is such that  you can’t really tell who’s there. The only other thing I order there is the Black Pepper Beef, ($10.50) which is a lot better than it sounds. My friend ordered the Human Beef, (also $10.50) which involved broccoli.  Everything was fine until they brought the check. At the bottom of the check they’re now printing a “Tips Suggestion” with tips at 15%, 20% and 25% all figured out for you. That’s kind of pushy for a restaurant that delivers all your food at once and never checks back with you. Plus their “suggested tips” is calculated on the TOTAL of the order, part of which was takeout.  I’m still a fan, but a grumpy one.

GOLDEN HARVEST- hadn’t been in a while and was devastated to find that my favorite, the Blue Scramble, had disappeared from the menu. Not to fear, however. The kitchen is still making it and it’s just as delicious as ever. Love their biscuits!.

NEED A CALENDAR?  Visit Jacoby’s Storehouse, check out their beautiful tree and visit the offices of the Mad River Union whose 2017 calendar is both beautiful and useful, not to mention free. If you don’t subscribe to the MRU, you should! It’s a good paper.  Support your local journalism! Also in  the Jacoby is Pasta Luego, where you can buy fresh bucatini, that tubular pasta you can never find. I cooked mine last night. Screwed up the sauce but the pasta was fine.  They close at four and they run out of things, especially the  sandwiches, so don’t wait till 230 like I did.

JERRY COLIVAS  passed recently.  Among his many accomplishments,  he was  principal  at Eureka High School. I heard him at a Historical Society meeting explain how his  father came from Greece to Eureka. He had arrived in New York, penniless,  and somehow made it to the Ferry Building in San Francisco.  Speaking not a word of English,  he looked at the posted  steamship schedules and the only word he could recognize was “EUREKA”.  He pointed at the sign, and the rest is history.  Talk about a life well lived! Godspeed, Dr Colivas.

Sorry to hear that AutoDesk, the CAD makers, are laying off 1200 tech workers in San Rafael and SF. That’s 13% of the workforce. When I worked in HR,  Autodesk was considered a model employer, not the least because they let the employees bring their dogs to work.  

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Gonsea Restaurant Closed- Now Reopened

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The Gonsea, that place on the way out of town at 2335 4th Street, has been closed by the County for health violations.

The Times-Standard’s account is HERE.

Personally, I wont miss the place.  We only ate there half a dozen times, were never impressed.  They were expensive and uninspired. I usually avoid restaurants that try to be both Chinese and Japanese at once. The Gonsea had a sign in front offering “Japanese sushi”.  Is there any other kind???  German sushi??? Polish sushi??

I also hated the name.  “Gonsea”,   it turns out  IS a legit Chinese name  meaning celebration or holiday.  But its a dumb name for a restaurant.  Invokes no food images or suggestions of deliciousness.  l say they might as well stay closed, although I hate to see folks losing their jobs.

May I suggest as alternatives the always -reliable Hunan in Henderson Center,  the Szechuan Village in Arcata or the good old China Buffet just down the street from the Gonsea in Eureka.  We’ve used the CB for parties.  Check out their catering menu! And if you have any other recommendations for Chinese, send them our way. We’d love to hear them.

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The Quest For Soup Dumplings- Szechuan Garden

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You may recall that when I put out a call for info on soup dumping in Humboldt, one of our wonderful readers posted that we should check out the Szechuan Garden in Arcata, so we did.  The obsession with soup dumplings started lsat October where we were traveling in NYC and visited  the fabled Joe’s Shanghai in Flushing, home and ground zero  to the to the soup dumpling movement  in the US.

What is a soup dumpling? A little bit of heaven.  At Joe’s they’re BIG and it takes two or three bites to devour one.  They’re made by taking broth and refrigerating it till it’s more or less a gel, then constructing the dumpling , which looks kind of like a shu mai around  the broth with innumerable tiny folds in a circle.  If I had to make one you’d be waiting for years.

I’m not going to pretend that the Szechuan Gardens will put Joe’s out of business but they ARE soup dumplings and well worth the drive to Arcata.  They’re about half the size of the Joe’s version but very pleasantly flavored.  They don’t show up on the menu- they’re listed as “A6- Juicy Pork Dumplings (6) $6.95” .  So now you know.

The rest of the menu is pretty conventional.  I tried the chicken curry and didn’t  think  it had much  flavor.  I took the fried rice home and found that by dinner time it had developed a lot more flavor than at lunch. It happens. My friend, who is not an adventurous eater,  had the chicken teriyaki.  I didn’t try it.  I took home an order of the  Black Pepper Beef (($10.50) and I really liked it. Although it had a little black chili pepper next to it on the menu, I wouldn’t describe it as spicy.  Good flavor, though.

The restaurant is on that little spur of 18th Street  that veers off  left from the freeway ramp.  Parking is somewhat difficult but the good news is that you can drive behind the building and go around for a second shot. The menu is HERE. Give them a try.

And thanks, Glenn, for the tip!

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