1861 I.O.O.F. Building
I recently spent some time in a town I had never been to before! What’s the big deal about that, well, the town was only a couple of hours from my hometown. One would think I would have visited long ago, but no…I had no reason to travel that way until now!
I discovered some amazing food at Oddfellows Tavern in Woodbridge, California. Woodbridge is a small town between Lodi and Plymouth. My real reason for coming to Woodbridge and Oddfellows, was I took a leap of faith with a paranormal team I had never met before, except for some exchanges via email and phone conversations.
Lingering Souls Paranormal is a family team out of Stockton, California, comprised of husband, wife, and son! Their exploits as a paranormal team are growing as they travel to investigate hauntings in various towns across the local region and beyond.
I have spent, to date, 8 days with them now, and will be spending more time with them in the near future. I can’t say that my time with them has been completely enjoyable. When you are in the paranormal biz, shit happens sometimes, where you are left scratching your head, saying, what the “F” just happened to us!!??
The Tavern is an old historic Oddfellows IOOF building built back in 1861. Complete with weird add-ons and of course, ghosts. The owners embrace their haunted friends and don’t seem to mind the occasional wine glass being thrown off the shelf at the bar, or, being locked out of the restroom when you need it most. And yes, sometimes an employee will have a scary encounter, but all in all, most of the hauntings are your garden variety Casper type friendliness, one would expect from some playful ghosts.
The Tavern food was amazing! The Head Chef has a great menu and daily specials that are worthy of your time.
Oddfellows Tavern, Woodbridge, California
Lamb Lollipops
Known as the lamb lollipops, these lamb chops make for a good appetizer, if you are looking for small bites instead of the full sized lamb dinner plate. And the spicy mint dipping sauce, that comes on the side, was a wonderful compliment to the food.
Wagyu Bavette
Wagyu beef is my all time favorite! This one was medium rare and came with fresh veggies and mashed potatoes! This full flavored beef was tender and tasty. And was gone in a matter of minutes! It’s Mishima reserve wagyu flank steak.
Oddfellows Tavern is open Thursday through Sunday. Come check them out the next time you are in Woodbridge, Ca.
Hollywood Family Cafe
Lodi, Ca.
The Meat Lover’s Omelet is always a go-to breakfast of mine. This had ham, bacon, and linguica. The country red potatoes, skin on, were cooked on the grill (my preferred way) not deep fried!
Avenue Grill
Lodi, Ca.
The Potato Platter
Don’t let the photo fool you. This turned out to be 2 meals for me. Country style potatoes cooked on the grill, not deep fried, bell peppers, onions, ham, bacon, cheese, and I asked for sunny up eggs as an add-on. Dang good!
M Sushi Bistro
Lodi, Ca.
Once you have been a sushi chef, you become a sushi snob! There is no way around it. Even if you don’t mean to be, you are! You become over-critical of other sushi restaurants. The flip side of that, if you happen to come across a sushi place better than your own place, you also give credit where credit is due.
And guess what!? This was one of those places where you give them credit for a job well done. Why? Because this region is all about steaks, lamb, and potatoes. How can a sushi place survive in that environment? Be on your A game is how!
Starting with fresh quality salmon. The portions given are the largest I’ve seen. Even in my neighborhood, you never see large cut salmon on your plate. The photo is deceptive. The salmon in this pic was a large portion. If you removed 2 pieces of salmon from this plate, the remainder is what you get in most places, including my hometown.
This plate of salmon was grilled to perfection, with just the right amount of teriyaki glaze.
A-5 Wagyu Beef Tataki
Here is how they hook their cliental…if you have a sushi restaurant in the middle of beef town USA, you have to serve just enough beef to tease the audience. They had such things as Uni bacon with beef bone marrow, New York steak Tataki, and this, the A5 Wagyu. And of course, bento beef teriyaki combos.
Boozing
Of course I’m going to drink booze while I am here! Lot’s of hot sake and Sapporo beer are a must when dining at a sushi place.
Otoro Bluefin Tuna
This was such a rare treat! Especially in this region of steak and potatoes. Sushi restaurants in Santa Cruz County don’t even serve this: top of the line, Otoro Bluefin, premium fat, tuna, with fresh cut wasabi on it! Not the powdered wasabi, fresh wasabi!! Absolutely amazing melt in your mouth tuna. In fact, if you wait too long to eat this tuna, the fat starts to melt away at room temperature.
M Sushi Bistro can be found on Facebook and Yelp. They don’t have a website.
Oddfellows Tavern Head Chef
I had a sit down conversation with Oddfellows’ Head Chef, Tim! He was originally from England and worked his way around the kitchen for years. He and his staff do a phenomenal job here at the Tavern. He, himself, has had some paranormal experiences at the Traven, but doesn’t mind the company.
Oddfellows Tavern will be one of my featured documentary films with Lingering Souls Paranormal, coming up on You Tube in the near future. I’m not quite done yet telling the story, as I will be back at the Tavern for more great food and some haunts.
Until next time on Foodie Booze Explorer.
Very interesting. And the food looks fantastic! Thank you,Paul!
Thank you Kevin. The food was so good!!