Gordo's revisited

. Actually, we revisit Gordo's all the time. What we never do however is get anything other than burritos. UNTIL YESTERDAY. Yesterday we tried tacos. And man oh man have we been missing out. The two chicken options are okay and the beef is pretty good but the chile verde is AMAZING. We'll have to try carnitas next time, our established favorite meat for burritos. One reason the beef and chile verde had an advantage is because we ordered them "crispy" rather than "soft" which means they were deep-fried with cheese. You can see how that gave them an advantage. Anyway. I'm getting tacos next time. And maybe for some time there after. And I can't wait to have a burrito again after this upcoming sabbatical....

Oori and Boss

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Solano's new fastfoody places are, I'm delighted to report, excellent. Delicious, high-quality food at (at least by Solano standards) inexpensive prices. Places we will be sure to visit again. And likely again and again and again.

Oori's rice triangles, it ends up, are exactly what they sound like: triangles of rice, perhaps with meat or tofu or something on it, wrapped in kim (or, if you prefer, nori). Because we weren't looking to get stuffed but we wanted the free edamame and pickled ginger, we ordered three triangles: short rib, spicy pork, tuna aioli. All three were excellent, though I think the ribs' kalbi stylings deserve a special shoutout. The triangles held together, even when shared between two people. I wouldn't have minded more edamame and pickled ginger, but that's not a complaint. And the whole meal was like ten bucks.

As an added bonus, all the packaging was compostable.

Our impression of Boss from the outside is that it was intended to be a direct competitor to nearby Grazzy Burger, the finest burger I have ever had.

But that's only sort of true. It's more of a cross between Grazzy and In-N-Out, with an in-between price to match. The burger I had was quite good, cooked medium rare like I get at Grazzy but a thin patty like at In-N-Out. The tomato was colored like black krim and the shredded lettuce---well, good as it was, the shredded lettuce was the problem. So much of it that it overwhelmed the meat and made eating messy. I think the solution is to get two patties. Remember that.

Or: get the fried-chicken sandwich instead. It was even better than the burger. Like a smaller version of the iconic fried-chicken sandwiches at Bakesale Betty's and Beauty's Bagel Shop (we will not, today, attempt to solve the mystery of which of those two chicken-and-slaw sandwiches is best---we will just note that both are awesome and both take longer to drive to than Boss).

And the fries! Thick and stubby and really really good. I think they might be my new favorite fries in town. The number of fries could be more, but boy oh boy were they tasty.

Finally, although I didn't get any this time, one of the most exciting aspects of our visit to Boss Burger was the discovery that Boylan's sodas can be had on tap. On tap! Holy crap but that's exciting.

As an added bonus, all the packaging was compostable.

Kirin

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Best we can tell, none of the things we ordered are on the online menu at http://www.thekirin.com/. But we'll try to recreate it best we can.

First thing to point out is that three items off the menu was too many. Though a little expensive (about twelve to fifteen dollars per), the servings were generous and delicious. We did not feel overcharged at the end of our meal.

Ants on a Tree (glass noodles with minced pork)

Certainly delicious though not something to eat straight through---better to mix a bite of this with one of the other things we ordered. I suppose I could have added pepper oil (it, along with soy sauce and rice vinegar, were on the table), I liked it too much to play with. Especially as this was our first trip. It was great on top of rice as the oils eventually saturated the rice, rendering them as delicious as well.

Some spinach-based noodles with chicken and onions and mushrooms

This was mild yet flavorful. A great companion to the Ants on a Tree. Not sure what the did to the chicken, but it looked a lot like cauliflower.

Salad including cabbage and tofu and edamame and honey and glazed/toasted walnuts and cucumber baby greens and some sweet/spicy sauce

This was our favorite dish, hands down. The perfect mix of soft and hard, hot and cold. 

Kirin is a beautiful restaurant, rich in blacks and autumns. And I have to say I'm now enamored of all-black bathrooms.