missroserose | Food and drink

There seems to be a not-so-subtle movement going on recently to de-Britishize Juneau's restaurants and spice up the available cuisine here. First there was Doc Water's, and while their menu's pretty traditional (burgers, fish, pasta, etc.) they actually use these things called "spices" in their dishes, which make them about three times better than anywhere else in town. Next this place on Douglas Island opened up called the Island Pub; they have flame-broiled pizzas with all sorts of different ingredients (including several variations with whole cloves of roasted garlic on them). And now, there's a place that's just opened called the Wild Spice; it's a Mongolian BBQ where you pick all the ingredients for your dish, hand them to the cook and get to watch as they toss it all together on a 600 degree drum (and sometimes spray enough alcohol on it to get gouts of flame 12 feet high coming off of it). The available ingredients include all sorts of sauces, spice combinations, some unusual vegetables and even tofu.

I give this place an A+ rating - the prices are pretty reasonable, the food is fantastic (and if it's not it's your own damn fault), and they've got a great selection of wines and desserts, too. My mom's coming down on a kind of one-night spur-of-the-moment trip tomorrow evening, so Brian and I are going to have to take her there.

In other news, a traditional martini may be very much an acquired taste, but once you've acquired that taste...man, they can be good.