Last meat-eating adventure. I alluded to a diet that I've started in a previous post, and one of it's key features is that it is vegetarian. Last week Dad & I visited a cute tofu house in Japantown, which coincidentally ended up being the last time I had any meat/poultry/fish product except for the Thanksgiving Day diet holiday. It wasn't planned that way, it just happened. More about the diet at the end of the post. DooBu is a gem of a place, with prompt and friendly service.

I was quite attracted by the artful soybean display in the front window.

The bar/serving space was open and cheery and looked quite clean.

The seating area was nicely decorated with antique musical instruments and art pieces.

After we ordered, the first thing to appear was a whole deep fried white fish for each of us, a special offering of hospitality.

Then followed the 'banchan', or accompaniments to the meal. A nice selection, including kimchee of course. I understand that that these are supposed to be eaten with the meal, but I've never been with anyone where these things have actually lasted until the meal came!

I ordered one of their combinations, and my special soft tofu soup came out first, the Clam Soon Tofu. The waitress asked if I would like the traditional raw egg cracked into the boiling soup, and I nodded yes. (The heat of the boiling soup cooks it anyway). The soup was good, and had a generous portion of very fresh clams in it.

The Spicy Pork was good too. I forgot that something that has "spicy" in its name likely is. It was very good, but the reason I'm not a fan of very spicy food is that it anesthetizes your tongue, so you really don't get to taste the other food. But since we'd pretty much finished off the banchan, and I'd made quite a bit of headway into my Clam Soon, before I started this dish, it really didn't matter.

Dad ordered the Bulgogi, described as Korean style sliced beef BBQ. He liked it, and I tried a bite as well. It was tender and nicely sauced.

Our meals were also accompanied by a mixture of white and black rice, which was flavorful and hearty.

And we were given a little dessert treat, a yogurt flavored drink I recognized by the bottle shape, Yakult. Despite the Korean lettering, I raised it and said, ohh Japanese?? And the waitress replied, "No, Korean". I said "Yakult?", and she said, "Oh yes, you know!" Well, it's Japanese actually, developed for ingesting friendly bacteria pleasantly, and now has become popular all over the globe. Nice touch to a very pleasant meal.

Ayurvedic Diet: I wrote about meeting Dr. Arya Bhushan Bhardwaj earlier this month, and I had a private consultation with him. My South Beach Diet had stalled, and although I knew I could go back to Phase I (nearly no carbs) to get off the plateau, it might be worth a try to see what an Ayurvedic discipline might have to offer. It is more than a diet, incorporating exercises (breathing & kicking) and herbs. Basically it's lassi, dal, fresh raw salad, basmati rice and steamed vegetables. I thought although unlikely I could stick to what looked to me as a modified fast for 40 days, if I even get close it will probably move me forward. A little over a week into it, I feel great! This may be tough on my blogging as bowls of dal and rice aren't very photogenic, but I trust I'll figure out something to blog about ;-).