Oh, fellow red line / T riders, don’t even get me started on the T. I’m trying to be patient, but there’s something almost every week that enrages me during the commute. I actually really like being in the office, but the T makes me glad it’s only 3 days a week.
I haven’t hit Genes in a while and thought they had closed that outpost over the pandemic. Thanks for letting me know it’s still there! I had that also happen once in my commute home with noodles when the Red Line has seen better days, and I learned better to eat in for those noodles. I’d go for a “filler up on the cilantro” option too.
I can’t imagine being disappointed by a chili-cumin mixture.
And that hot condiment, which Gene told me was the sediment from making chili oil, is extraordinarily delicious. I once got the basic noodles without them raw garlic and used a bunch of that instead. I have no idea why that’s not a regular menu item.
Let’s enlarge that imagination, shall we? If the same blend is sprinkled on everything, I suggest that it’s possible to imagine disappointment.
There’s a larger point I was trying to make – spicing as integral to a dish vs spicing as afterthought. On the lamb skewers the blend is sprinkled on before they are grilled and it blends harmoniously with the overall taste, especially sizzling as it does with the hot fat from the lamb. (An interesting twist on sizzling spices in oil.)
On the noodles all it offered was a gritty, uncooked texture and taste.
I agree on the deliciousness, and I agree it ought to be offered more prominently. In the immortal words of @tomatotomato above, the force of garlic in #4 is strong – and even for me, acclaimed vampire-fighter although I am, sometimes a bit too strong. That chili paste would offer welcome moderation.
It’s been a few months since I was last at Gene’s (always, for me, DTX). I branched out today and got the dumplings in hot and sour soup. The dish won’t replace #4 in my heart but it holds up better to the 30 minute gap between purchase and on-board ingestion. It has a lovely,. sharp, sour tang and the dumplings are copious in number and very juicy. Also copious are the slivered and sliced vegetables, etc.: carrots, onions, sprouts, mushrooms, cilantro. A very satisfying dish.
Also got a couple of lamb skewers. I’ve marveled before and I marvel again how age has not withered nor custom staled their infinite consistency.
I mean on-board Amtrak, just to clarify, and, boy, did I need the sustenance today. There was an engine issue at Providence, and a signal issue at New Haven, but, hey, it wouldn’t be Amtrak without at least one of these on every trip. What was new to me today (after 2000+ trips over 30 years I thought I had experienced every kind of delay) was (a) the ticketless passenger who tried to hide himself in a bathroom and had to be evicted, and (b) the couple with the un-ticketed, un-carraiged dog who also had to be asked to leave. In both cases there was an initial refusal to comply. Gene’s dumplings got me through this very delayed ride.
