Samurai Sushi - Ranch Cordova

12251 Folsom Blvd
Rancho Cordova, CA 95742
(916) 353-1112

We were down three people again for various reason - all of which we don't believe. We had a NakedBob, TheJenny, RobotGoBen, Scribby, Sluggy, Nairb and wee little Wednesday.

Inside a renovated Denny's or Carrows, and next to a freeway frontage hotel, you wouldn't really expect much from Samurai Sushi. But it's pretty damn good!

The prices are on the affordable side for sushi and right now, they offer half off sake and draft beer during dinner, Monday through Thursday. Really. I got a full bottle of Sho Chiku Bai Nigori sake for a whole $3.50, which I shared so really I was out $1.75. Large Sapporo $3.

Our waitress was very to-the-point, but nice as well. She wanted our lunch box. They have pretty inventive sushi, lots of choices and good quality fish. Overall it's a great place to go. The only weird thing is that it still kind of looks like a Denny's inside. But for the value, tastiness and people...totally worth it!

We had some good topics of conversation including how Sluggy's dog bit Nairb. Of course, we all knew he was probably harrassing her, so it's not all her fault.

Journal Tidbit:
"If I pet her butt a little too long she gets mad. If I don't pet it enough she keeps coming back." - Nairb

"Magic Maggot Racing!" - NakedBob

Thai Travel - Casa de la SlugCrab

Undisclosed Cameron Park Location

Loosely based on the rousing success that was Thai Fu! night a few years back we decided to hold a Thai Travel night at Casa de la SlugCrab. Instead of poorly-dubbed vintage Kung Fu movies, we would be entertained by travel pictures from Jarla (recently back from Croatia) and KiwiBobs (recently back from New Zealand).

Memory cards in hand we (KiwiBobs and Shooter) made the drive to the Casa. Upon arriving we found the place inhabited by a lone Captain Crabby. Sluggy and baby Wednesday had been coerced into going to their weekend destination of Sea Ranch a day early (who can blame them?). Jarla was the next to arrive with mixers for the popular Croatian favorite Red Wine and Coke (pretty nice, like a wine-based Shandy). Nairby followed quickly after and we discovered we were down two more in the form of Nurse Scribby and her ailing Robot GoBen.

Thai food was ordered. With so many core constituents absent, the general consensus was to forgo the travel footage and just post pics on the web for all to see. Instead the recent election results were discussed (including origins of the elephant and donkey), football was watched, followed by Daily Show, American Dad and some other Tivo-ed goodness.

Thai was picked up by Crab and NakedBob and deliciously delivered back to the Casa. Tasty Pad thai, curry, pineapple fried rice, spring rolls, and tom yum soup were devoured heartily. Freaking yum. Much of it contained enough Scribby-death to really be dangerous. Here's hoping next Thursday will find all of us together again and in good health.

NakedBob and the girl at the Thai restaurant.

Classic Monster Halloween - Roseville

Our annual Halloween party, hosted by the Roseville Bobs, pretty much kicks ass. This year was no different. With the theme of classic monsters, everyone went all out.

We had Carrie, Exorcist Girl, 2 Jasons from Friday the 13th part 3, Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, two ladies from The Birds, Ash & Sheila from Army of Darkness, Chuckie, Jack the Ripper & his victim, Priest and Nun with devil baby, Where the Wild Things Are family, Frankenstein & his bride, and two flies.

The night was filled with lots of drinks, rum soaked fruit, the infamous cheesy bread, ridiculous fun and hours on hours of self-made entertainment.

Late into the night, we wondered down to the Basic Bar to visit our favorite waitress from this past Thursday. Jenny entered the costume contest as a fluke and won $500! No shit!

Then off to the Owl Club, a favorite amongst drunks, to watch NakedBob dance with strangers. A good time was had by all.

This is confection sushi made of Donettes, fruit rolls, Twinkies, and Swedish Fish.

Basic Bar - Roseville

Basic Urban Kitchen & Bar
112 Pacific St
Roseville, CA 95678
(916) 749-4641

Basic Bar is a great little bar in old Roseville. It is what it is. Basic. Stone walls, concrete floors, minimum furniture, full bar, simple menu. Overall, it really pares it down to just what you need.

And of course, the best reason - one of our favorite waitresses! Alescha is not only super-cute, but she writes a whole page in our journal, then comes back and does a read for us. She is a Thursday Drunk favorite!

We had two of the uber-thin pizzas, and shared a basic salad that was big enough to feed all 8 of us. All the wines by the glass are $7 which is lovely and easy.

Pizza one: White sauce, mashed potato, bacon, basil and garlic

Pizzas two: Red sauce, mushroom, sausage, olive and garlic

Discussion topics ranged from political philosophy to explaining what taint is (or isn't), from grammar arguments about conjunctions vs. contractions to secret Halloween outfits. On the scale of intelligence we really yo-yoed from the very top to the very bottom. I can't tell you all the great ideas we came up with this night, because they are just that good! Taintastic or Taintacular, depending on who you ask.

Journal Tidbit:
"You have a weird tongue" - NakedBob
"Does my tongue look wierd?" - TheJenny
"Only cause I know what it does!" -Scribby

"I don't have anything vinyl or plastic or freaky." - Alescha

Bonus photo of the Prodigal Pressman returning to the great state of California for one night. Hi Pressman!

Brew It Up - Sacramento

Brew It Up

801 14th St

Sacramento, CA 95814

(916) 441-3000

This Thursday found us at Brew It Up! in Sacramento. We were down one Scribby and one RobotGoBen who were going to attend David Sedaris at the Memorial Auditorium that evening. The made an appearance at the beginning of dinner (after themselves eating at Brew It Up!, they have to eat too). Jarla and her better half were in attendance, TheRiddler and his missus, Cap'n, Sluggy, little Wednesday, Nairby, Shooter, NakedBob and TheJenny were all there rounding out the very long table.

Topics of conversation: what to name our mascot (Thurston, thank you TheRiddler' missus!), new James Bond movie, how happy we are the Bush's days are numbered, our stripper names (courtesy of an iPhone applet), glasses, horrible Sara Palin jokes, and other scintillating topics.

Mmmmm. The food is delicious here. Even more than it has been in the past. To their credit they had a Apple/Pomegranate Cider on tap and they also offer a Shandy. Hooray for lady drinks! The boys enjoyed their various German-style beers. Shooter, NakedBob and Nairby were particularly happy. All the food was good. Super gourmet deluxe sandwiches and hamburgers. The blue cheese potato chips got totally inhaled. Nummies.

Our server was a super ace pro stud. She ought to give lessons to all the peeps out there pretending to be waitstaff. Someday when we win the lottery, we'll bring her along as our professional server. She can wait our table wherever we go, so we know the service won't suck. Actually with skills like hers she probably won't be a server for much longer. She'll get snatched up by some head hunter and be running the show somewheres. Anyway, did I mention the service was just this side of awesome?

Under the Pac Man Moon

A few years ago, Shim & Caddie had a house warming party. They had a thin cheap frame on the wall with nothing in it, just bare wall. After many, many hurricanes, we came up with the fabulous idea to make some string art it the space. You know, push pins, string and lot of looping around...

Well, we went with a nautical theme and created a three sail ship of some kind under a moon that looked like Pac Man. Hence "Under the Pac Man Moon" was created. Recently we made it official with a plaque. To show the appropriate amount of respect for a unique and lovely piece of art. We are so proud.

Anatolian Table - Rocklin

Anatolian Table

6815 Lonetree Blvd # 105

Rocklin, CA 95765

(916) 772-3020

Turkish food was on deck this week at the Anatolian Table in Rocklin. They only serve beer and wine, so half of us met up early at the Melting Pot (just across the strip mall), for some very strong, if pricey, martinis.

There was some gratuitous hot roding around in the Smart Car that was just added to the Thursday Drunks family. And we found out you can totally get people in the "trunk" area. Two-seater indeed.

When we finally made our way to our final destination, we found it pretty empty, so no need for reservations. With a group of 8 we usually get a long table and then only talk the half of the group you are sitting next to. So, it was refreshing to get a square table - they just made one for us. And we could all talk! Very nice of them.

The entire menu looked yummy, so it was hard to choose. We had baked mushrooms with cheese, don't know what kind, but it was white, melty, salty and delicious. Also had the feta, olives and tomato appetizer. Very simple, but good.

The rest of our order was all over the place. Chicken in yogurt, shaved meat, salad & lentil soup, kebabs - everyone seemed to like their food a lot. Robot GoBen swears he had the best Turkish Tea ever!

I had chicken over cubes of bread and yogurt. It was very flavorful and apparently it didn't want to stay on my plate, because one piece of bread shot itself at TheJenny.

Journal Tidbits:
"She wasn't wearing any pants." - Nairb
"I watched an Ashton Kutcher movie, I was so desperate." - Jarla
"The Bukake just missed me," - TheJenny

"I have a whole pocket full of dessert." - Nairb