Need an excuse to play hookie? How about lunch at Namu Korean BBQ. The special menu is only available Monday-Friday from 11am to 3pm and many dishes you won't find on the dinner menu.
Kimchi Taco: It's Korea by way of Mexico in one tasty bite. Your choice of marinated meat, kimchi, sprouts, and a tangy and spicy sauce is mixed with a fresh tomato salsa wrapped up in a tortilla. The bulgogi beef and spicy pork are highly recommended. Sweet and salty meat meets the fresh bite and crunch of fresh veggies. It's a fusion of flavors and textures that works really well.
Kimbop: Looks like sushi but with delicious meat! A generously filled rice roll is stuffed with your choice of meat (we chose bulgogi beef) along with carrots, cucumber, and pickled radish and rolled up in seaweed. It's the perfect lunch in a bite-sized slice. Plus that potent sweet and spicy mustard sauce really kicks things up a notch.
Spicy pork and squid: Marinated slices of juicy pork and tender squid come sizzling on a hot plate and served with a bowl of rice. You'll find a non-spicy version of just the squid on the dinner menu but this lunch plate packs a lot more flavor plus you get pork with this one.
The best part of lunch? You still get free banchan side dishes including J's favorite soy eggs and my favorite chap chae noodles. If you're going to play hookie, just plan for a post-lunch nap after this meal.
I have fond childhood memories of rolling dim sum carts in Montreal. A dim sum experience in the Capital Region is nowhere near that of the bustling cities, but I'd give up the carts for quality food anytime especially at Ala Shanghai in Latham. Forget the cloyingly sweet sesame chicken takeout or crab rangoons. Go for an authentic Chinese food experience minus the grease and MSG.
We've dined at Ala Shanghai a number of times for dim sum, aka Chinese brunch, and dinner and every experience has always been spot on. Dim sum is a great way to try a bit of everything since they are small bite-sized plates. A typical spread includes a mix of dumplings and buns and Ala Shanghai alone has fourteen dim sum dishes to pick from a Cheesecake Factory-length menu that includes chef's specialties, soups, noodles, and fried rice too. The stars of the dim sum menu are the pork soup dumplings. What are soup dumplings? Just as it sounds, soft chewy dumplings steamed and stuffed with a wonderful rich broth contained inside an edible pouch. A drop of hot sauce and soy and they are too die for bites. Just be careful that you don't put the whole thing in your mouth, you might die from exploding hot broth. The secret to eating soup dumplings is to put the dumpling on your spoon, dress with sauces, take a tiny bite out of the dumpling just enough to break the skin and carefully slurp up the broth. It's a very interactive and tasty experience.
