Saved big on a tablet from Best Buy? Not interested. Shoved aside women and small children to get all those great buys at Wal-Mart on Black Friday? Bush-league. Why? Because you couldn't possibly find a holiday deal better than this one! A Four Corners' Dinner and a Movie Special!
I'll start it out with the dinner. Many of you may remember my last restaurant review (already a month ago...I know, poor form), done on a place called A Taste of Cambodia (AToC). Well, AToC used to occupy a space on Bleecker Street (the de facto epicenter of Utica's ethnic restaurants) until it moved in July to its current location. Well, the vacated space didn't remain empty long, with a Thai restaurant (the only specialist Thai place in the area) taking over in August, to little fanfare (yeah, it wouldn't make sense for our brilliant local media to make news of something like that). Luckily, we happened upon it a couple of weeks ago while in the neighborhood. The newest edition to Utica's ethnic scene goes under the name KF TomYum.
And it was there my parents and I found ourselves this past Saturday evening. The ownership may want to lighten up the exterior a bit, there are some rather weak Christmas lights up in honor of the holidays, but otherwise I wasn't sure it was open, save the small, flashing "open" sign. The inside is tastefully done, not austere, but not really flashy either. They may still be in the process of putting up more paintings and wall decorations. Its a little more spacious than your average hole-in-the-wall, with four four-seaters lining each wall, and two, long, eight-seater tables occupying the middle of the room. A massive picture window gives a view out onto the street (though the "Bueno Barbership" across the way is the only visible thing really).
The menu is a bit thin, featuring appetizers, noodle dishes, soups, salads, and "single dishes" (a kind of box meal, only meant for one, and not to be shared). There are no deserts. A bit of an odd feature, and perhaps because they haven't really found their feet yet, the front of the menu features three "smiley" faces, each a different color to indicate the spiciness of the various dishes. Unfortunately, these icons don't appear again anywhere in the menu, still leaving it up to the diner to ask about the spice content. An oversight for sure, but I found it kind of funny.
I kicked us off with an appetizer of pork balls. Which, I don't think you need much of an imagination here: steamed balls of pork stuck on skewers (four skewers, four balls each). The dish comes with that ubiquitous orange sauce that seems to come with every appetizer in an Asian restaurant. The pork balls were tasty, but didn't really rock our world. For the main course, we went with three dishes to share: a broccoli stir-fry (done with your choice of meat-we went with beef-with carrots mixed in as well), Pad Thai (I mean, you gotta. Also with choice of meat. We chose chicken), and Singapore noodles (angel-hair type noodles mixed with bean sprouts, other veggies, pork, beef, chicken, and shrimp, all done in a mildly spicy brown sauce).
Ummmm...Fantastic? Awesome? Crazy good? Out-of-this-World? I'll let you decide the superlatives, but KF TomYum's food is REALLY good. Now, for those keeping track, I have yet to give a bad rating to any of the area restaurants, but all three of us decided that our meal on Saturday night was our favorite. I don't even really know how to describe the individual dishes, they were just....delicious. It was the kind of food that you really didn't want to see disappear, but rather just keep on eating until you passed out or your body otherwise shut down. The Pad Thai wasn't as peanut-ty (I know, made up adjective) as some of its counterparts, but still had just the right taste. The stir-fry broccoli is a simple dish but the cooks out back hit it out of the park anyway. The Singapore noodles were a hit as well with the three of us. The sauce has only got a slight kick to it, so the faint of heart should have no issue. The thin noodles are piled on the plate, and its nice to get a mix of all the various meats. Again, no description is really necessary. KF TomYum does it right.
They do it right on the prices as well. I thought the pork balls were a bit steep at $4.99, but, from what I could tell, most of the dishes on the menu clocked in under 8 bucks. With the appetizer and three dishes, the bill came to $32 dollars, minus tip. The wait staff, (and by that I mean the small girl that runs back and forth) is kind and attentive, though their English is still in the learning stages (a request for lemon with our hot tea-which is free-seemed to evade her). I am happy to announce too that, though we were the only ones there when we arrived, the place eventually filled up! Chapeau Utica, there may be hope for you after all.
The menu could be a bit beefier, and no deserts is disappointing, but I really have to give a shout out to KF TomYum. They really hit the spot.
Verdict: Definitely check it out. Grade: 5/5
Movie Review: Lebanon (Israel)
What better way to follow-up a Thai meal than an Israeli war film? Beats me. Saturday night I sat down to "Lebanon", a 2009 film directed by Samuel Moaz. Based upon Moaz's experience as a conscript in the Israeli army, "Lebanon" is the story of a four-man tank crew during the early hours of Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon in 1982. In a unique twist, the film takes place entirely within the confines of the tank, with the only shots of the outside coming through the tank's gun-sight, with the cross-hairs imposed over the camera, and a hydraulic whir accompanying each movement of the camera.
As you can imagine, "Lebanon" is an odd film. The main idea appears to be witnessing the four-man crew (driver, gunner, ammunition-loader (lack of a better term), and commander) being brought to wit's end as they deal with the cramped, hot, stinking interior of their vehicle, while navigating through hostile towns. This is done to good effect, but it makes for some surreal scenes, as well as dialogue, a Hebrew version of some of Colonel Kurtz's scenes in "Apocalypse Now", if you will. I am not really into this kind of thing. At times it makes one wonder what is really going on, and leaves the viewer (at least it did me) a bit uncomfortable. There isn't a whole lot of action, but there are some very intense sequences, including some shots that are likely to make some feel ill at ease. I understand Moaz was probably going for a realistic portrayal of the horrors of war (as well as the banality of it-there are several shots of dead animals-perhaps some symbolism there that was lost on me) but there are some parts where he could have eased up without detriment to his film.
The acting seems solid enough, the four main characters appeared to have a good handle on what they were supposed to do. It's a war film, so don't expect anything groundbreaking from the dialogue. The most drawn out conversation that takes place between the characters is a rather disturbing story told by the gunner...one I am sure Moaz heard while serving. Given the setting of the film, there really isn't much to say by the way of choreography. I must say though, restricting the film to the inside of a tank has an interesting affect on the viewer. After a while, I really did begin to feel claustrophobic, and when they open the hatch in the very final scene, you almost feel like exhaling.
"Lebanon" probably provides a realistic view into modern-day conflict, and the human toll that comes with it, but I'm not sure this makes for good viewing. I couldn't really get into the film. Again, several scenes make you shift in your seat, and you just really want them to end. The actual physical affect of being in a tank the whole time is pretty unsettling too, but I give credit to the director for that, as odd as that sounds. Overall, I think it is a good film, but a tough one to recommend, you certainly have to be in the mood for it, and those new to darker films are advised to shy away.
Verdict: To most, I'll say skip it. Those looking for a hyper-realistic, uncomfortable war movie experience, may want to take a look. Grade: B-
If you liked this movie you might also like: Though the stories are radically different, "Apocalypse Now" seems an appropriate comparison.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMRD3z_mTqI
Screenshots:
This was a rental folks, I can't copy any images from my computer. Check out the IMDB site for some stills:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483831/
I'll start it out with the dinner. Many of you may remember my last restaurant review (already a month ago...I know, poor form), done on a place called A Taste of Cambodia (AToC). Well, AToC used to occupy a space on Bleecker Street (the de facto epicenter of Utica's ethnic restaurants) until it moved in July to its current location. Well, the vacated space didn't remain empty long, with a Thai restaurant (the only specialist Thai place in the area) taking over in August, to little fanfare (yeah, it wouldn't make sense for our brilliant local media to make news of something like that). Luckily, we happened upon it a couple of weeks ago while in the neighborhood. The newest edition to Utica's ethnic scene goes under the name KF TomYum.
And it was there my parents and I found ourselves this past Saturday evening. The ownership may want to lighten up the exterior a bit, there are some rather weak Christmas lights up in honor of the holidays, but otherwise I wasn't sure it was open, save the small, flashing "open" sign. The inside is tastefully done, not austere, but not really flashy either. They may still be in the process of putting up more paintings and wall decorations. Its a little more spacious than your average hole-in-the-wall, with four four-seaters lining each wall, and two, long, eight-seater tables occupying the middle of the room. A massive picture window gives a view out onto the street (though the "Bueno Barbership" across the way is the only visible thing really).
The menu is a bit thin, featuring appetizers, noodle dishes, soups, salads, and "single dishes" (a kind of box meal, only meant for one, and not to be shared). There are no deserts. A bit of an odd feature, and perhaps because they haven't really found their feet yet, the front of the menu features three "smiley" faces, each a different color to indicate the spiciness of the various dishes. Unfortunately, these icons don't appear again anywhere in the menu, still leaving it up to the diner to ask about the spice content. An oversight for sure, but I found it kind of funny.
I kicked us off with an appetizer of pork balls. Which, I don't think you need much of an imagination here: steamed balls of pork stuck on skewers (four skewers, four balls each). The dish comes with that ubiquitous orange sauce that seems to come with every appetizer in an Asian restaurant. The pork balls were tasty, but didn't really rock our world. For the main course, we went with three dishes to share: a broccoli stir-fry (done with your choice of meat-we went with beef-with carrots mixed in as well), Pad Thai (I mean, you gotta. Also with choice of meat. We chose chicken), and Singapore noodles (angel-hair type noodles mixed with bean sprouts, other veggies, pork, beef, chicken, and shrimp, all done in a mildly spicy brown sauce).
Ummmm...Fantastic? Awesome? Crazy good? Out-of-this-World? I'll let you decide the superlatives, but KF TomYum's food is REALLY good. Now, for those keeping track, I have yet to give a bad rating to any of the area restaurants, but all three of us decided that our meal on Saturday night was our favorite. I don't even really know how to describe the individual dishes, they were just....delicious. It was the kind of food that you really didn't want to see disappear, but rather just keep on eating until you passed out or your body otherwise shut down. The Pad Thai wasn't as peanut-ty (I know, made up adjective) as some of its counterparts, but still had just the right taste. The stir-fry broccoli is a simple dish but the cooks out back hit it out of the park anyway. The Singapore noodles were a hit as well with the three of us. The sauce has only got a slight kick to it, so the faint of heart should have no issue. The thin noodles are piled on the plate, and its nice to get a mix of all the various meats. Again, no description is really necessary. KF TomYum does it right.
They do it right on the prices as well. I thought the pork balls were a bit steep at $4.99, but, from what I could tell, most of the dishes on the menu clocked in under 8 bucks. With the appetizer and three dishes, the bill came to $32 dollars, minus tip. The wait staff, (and by that I mean the small girl that runs back and forth) is kind and attentive, though their English is still in the learning stages (a request for lemon with our hot tea-which is free-seemed to evade her). I am happy to announce too that, though we were the only ones there when we arrived, the place eventually filled up! Chapeau Utica, there may be hope for you after all.
The menu could be a bit beefier, and no deserts is disappointing, but I really have to give a shout out to KF TomYum. They really hit the spot.
Verdict: Definitely check it out. Grade: 5/5
Movie Review: Lebanon (Israel)
What better way to follow-up a Thai meal than an Israeli war film? Beats me. Saturday night I sat down to "Lebanon", a 2009 film directed by Samuel Moaz. Based upon Moaz's experience as a conscript in the Israeli army, "Lebanon" is the story of a four-man tank crew during the early hours of Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon in 1982. In a unique twist, the film takes place entirely within the confines of the tank, with the only shots of the outside coming through the tank's gun-sight, with the cross-hairs imposed over the camera, and a hydraulic whir accompanying each movement of the camera.
As you can imagine, "Lebanon" is an odd film. The main idea appears to be witnessing the four-man crew (driver, gunner, ammunition-loader (lack of a better term), and commander) being brought to wit's end as they deal with the cramped, hot, stinking interior of their vehicle, while navigating through hostile towns. This is done to good effect, but it makes for some surreal scenes, as well as dialogue, a Hebrew version of some of Colonel Kurtz's scenes in "Apocalypse Now", if you will. I am not really into this kind of thing. At times it makes one wonder what is really going on, and leaves the viewer (at least it did me) a bit uncomfortable. There isn't a whole lot of action, but there are some very intense sequences, including some shots that are likely to make some feel ill at ease. I understand Moaz was probably going for a realistic portrayal of the horrors of war (as well as the banality of it-there are several shots of dead animals-perhaps some symbolism there that was lost on me) but there are some parts where he could have eased up without detriment to his film.
The acting seems solid enough, the four main characters appeared to have a good handle on what they were supposed to do. It's a war film, so don't expect anything groundbreaking from the dialogue. The most drawn out conversation that takes place between the characters is a rather disturbing story told by the gunner...one I am sure Moaz heard while serving. Given the setting of the film, there really isn't much to say by the way of choreography. I must say though, restricting the film to the inside of a tank has an interesting affect on the viewer. After a while, I really did begin to feel claustrophobic, and when they open the hatch in the very final scene, you almost feel like exhaling.
"Lebanon" probably provides a realistic view into modern-day conflict, and the human toll that comes with it, but I'm not sure this makes for good viewing. I couldn't really get into the film. Again, several scenes make you shift in your seat, and you just really want them to end. The actual physical affect of being in a tank the whole time is pretty unsettling too, but I give credit to the director for that, as odd as that sounds. Overall, I think it is a good film, but a tough one to recommend, you certainly have to be in the mood for it, and those new to darker films are advised to shy away.
Verdict: To most, I'll say skip it. Those looking for a hyper-realistic, uncomfortable war movie experience, may want to take a look. Grade: B-
If you liked this movie you might also like: Though the stories are radically different, "Apocalypse Now" seems an appropriate comparison.
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMRD3z_mTqI
Screenshots:
This was a rental folks, I can't copy any images from my computer. Check out the IMDB site for some stills:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483831/
