George has had some bad luck with Indian dining. I have higher hopes for the Italian place we’ll be visiting with them on Friday in North Beach (details afterwards; I don’t know ’em).
Meanwhile, we’re discovering the joys of cheap Asian food. Our latest foray was a Vietnamese place in the local shopping center that provided take-out pho for two for less than $15. Although we had figured out how to cook an inexpensive rice noodle and beef dish—a kind of faux pho, as it were—the real thing was impressively rich in flavor…and much quicker than making it ourselves.
I also enjoyed the return of Samuel Smith’s Winter Warmer, which got here early this year. As always, spicy, malty, and full flavored. I’ll try to do a fuller tasting when I don’t have taste buds slightly numbed by pho.