Food Nazis and Hainanese Chicken

Had dinner tonight with Asta at my favorite Malaysian restaurant around Castro, Spice Islands. She alerted me to this SfGate.com article about the tyranny of the mass of "amateur food critics" (ahem, including myself) who are ruining fine establishments before they even get a chance to get off the ground.

Read and weigh in, but from a consumer's point of view, I think it's tough luck, buddies, and you really shouldn't open a restaurant if you're not "ready." Kinks or no, everyday people don't get a second chance on a first impression, and neither should restaurants. Just my humble opinion.

Anyway, Spice Islands really should get a second, third, etc. glance-over. I got exactly what I wanted today, which was Hainanese Chicken, the comfort food of choice in SE Asia. For the unitiated, the dish consists of cold boiled (steamed?) chicken in a pool of soy-based sauce, two kinds of dipping sauce, one vinegar-y and spicy, the other a fragrant, delicious blend of garlic, ginger, and magic. Served with rice that had been boiled in chicken broth--yum. I asked for an extra saucer of curry dipping sauce on the side.

We also splurged on the chicken satay ($6.45), juicy grilled meat lollipops that we slathered with rich peanut sauce. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I forgot my camera. Lame, I know.