(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

HAHA’s Grill House is another one of those spots that have been around for a bit (sine mid-last year to be precise) but we didn’t find out about until yesterday. In fact, technically we haven’t been to the spot yet, but we have sampled some of their vegetable sushi rolls, which are delivered twice a day to Kim’s Korean Market.

And it has to be said, these are some dang good roles for a dang good price. For under $6 you get enough to easily feed two people. Possibly more. Sure, it can be argued that vegetable rolls shouldn’t have eggs in them, but whatever. That’s a minor detail. Take these suckers home, mix up some soy sauce and wasabi, and baby, you got a sushi meal going.

HAHA’s is located on 2710 E Garland. Has anyone checked out their actual location?

Churchill’s set to reopen! Again! Mid-February is the target from what we have learned. Here’s hoping it’ll actually happen this time around.

South Perry Pizza will be open for lunch “this week.” Just not today, as their water has been turned off during some city work. If it’ll be open for lunch next week is anyone’s guess, but opening time starting tomorrow will be 11am. For the rest of the week.

Apparently, this is what we ate the last ten years. At least according to The Inlander. To call Spokane a “conservative food town” is probably correct, and The Inlander’s readers lead the pack pretty well on that. (Yes, I’m still bitter about The Melting Pot being picked the best new restaurant. I mean for heaven’s sake…)

Hey, it’s 2010! And what better time to start drinking beer properly. No, really. There are as many crazy “rules” to both serving and drinking beer as there is to wine. And to start you off, here is a basic one:

Temperature

Two common misconceptions about beer: It is supposed to be cold, and British pubs serve warm beer. Both are categorically wrong, and the one single truth lies somewhere in between. The only reason you’d want ice cold beer is to kill the flavor of it, which is great if you drink PBR, but otherwise… As for the second misconception, British pubs often serve the beer at the correct temperatures, which might be why it feels warm to some people. Yet it’s not warm per se, just warmer than a frosted glass. Really, you don’t want a frosted glass.^*

^{As for the temperatures, here are some general guidelines, courtesy of Realbeer.com:}

• Serve fruit beers at 40-50 ? F.


• Serve wheat beers and pale lagers at 45-50 ? F.


• Serve pale ales and amber or dark lagers at 50-55 ? F.


• Serve strong ales, such as barley wines and Belgian ales, at 50-55 ? F.


• Serve dark ales, including porters and stouts, at 55-60 ? F.

These are obviously just very general, and you can read a bit more about it over at Wikipedia. Some breweries, like Nøgne Ø, put the suggested temperature on the bottle.

For the most part it is, of course, impossible to get the serving temperature perfect, but if you can get it close… Well, your tasting experience will be that much better.

^*C.I. Shenanigan’s strangely enough serve their brews in frosted glasses. Why?! Show some pride in your own product.

Because, why not? People love lists. And here are our choices for best of ‘09:

Best restaurant: Sante. I mean, really, they seemingly can do no wrong.

Best meal: The Latah Bistro vegetarian feast. We’re not vegetarians here (anymore, for some) but Latah Bistro hit a home run with their vegetarian six course dinner.

Best new restaurant: Agave Latin Bistro. Ian Wingate + De Leon = Awesomeness. Plus they’re affordable.

Best Mexican: De Leon. You knew that. Next.

Best pizza: South Perry Pizza. Well, hello. A new place snuck in and took the crown. And we’re OK with that.

Best grocery store: Rocket Market. Great layout and great selection, without being overwhelming.

Best beer store: JB’s Food. A tight competition here, but the selection of bombers and the price of them put JB’s on top.

Best subs: Sub Division. Simple subs are great. Sub Division gets that.

Best wine store: Bottles. Clean layout, great service, and free tastings. You can’t go wrong with that.

Best coffee roaster: DOMA. There are other good ones, but DOMA is just pure class.

Best coffee shop: Coffee Social. Good DOMA espresso drinks, good food, a good place to hang… In other words, it’s good, and we think that is good.

Best chocolate: OMO. OMO’s truffles are pure art. It’s as simple as that.

Best variety: One World. Their selection changes daily and holds a high standard. Plus, you know, it’s organic and you pay what you can for what you eat.

Best bar for beer: The Blue Spark. Others might have a larger selection, but the Blue Spark definitely has the most fun variety.

Best local libation blogs that are not this one: Drink Nectar and Spokane Dive Bars. Sure, we are obviously awesome, but Drink Nectar’s musings about wine are equally great. On the flip side, Spokane Dive Bars covers the dive bars in Spokane with great enthusiasm. And we like that.

Most Googled SFB posts: Post Street Ale House and Kirkland Signature Beer. Seriously, people still want COSTCO beer? And the abomination known as Post Street Ale House seems to be still doing well, despite Paul’s Voice’s opinions.