[Draft/RFC] Fodor's Guide to Fenspace

[Black Aeronaut]

I might just write up a nice little nifty about how Ben finds Callahan's in a mad dash to evade some rabid senshi-fen. (It's his Tenchi Masaki
syndrome. Pitty the poor lad.) It'll be fun to have him becoming a regular there as a reference in future stories. Besides, I'd love to hang out with
Callahan and his regular customers.

[robkelk]

Take 0.3 - I've written up a blurb for Meg's, but added a "Hotels" section without writing a blurb for Stellvia, so I'm breaking even on the amount of work I need to do.

---

Restaurants

Throughout Space

Bennigan's, Ruby Tuesday's, TGIFriday's, and the Hard Rock Cafe are all "up", and local chains Ninjaburger and Brubek's can also be found throughout space. Many of the transplanted chains' restaurants are done up in 50s Sci-Fi style instead of their generic "memorabilia on the walls" look.

Ninjaburger (***)
Outrageously fast food

review-here-blah-blah-ninjaburgers-and-samurai-chicken-sandwiches-and-fries-and-onion-shurikens-blah-blah-how-fast?

Brubek's (***)
Public House

review-here-blah-blah-pint-and-a-sandwich-blah-blah-they're-all-exactly-alike-blah-blah-http://jtas.sjgames.com/chat.html]free-interwave-access

Venus

The Tipsy Senshi (**)
Castle Magellan, Level ?
Japanese-style Bar

review-here-blah-blah-cheap-sake-blah-blah-yakitori

Luna

Kandor City

250K Saloon (**1/2)
Old Town, West Sector
Fusion American-Asian-European-style Public House

The Saloon is a cosmonaut's hangout, offering good, inexpensive drinks in large quantities. The bar serves several different brands of locally-brewed beer along with the usual old standbys from Earth. The interior decor is deliberately cheap, as the Saloon is a place where people go for the food, the regulars, or both, not to gawk at the "random crap" attached to the walls.

The menu is in a constant state of flux, offering food from the United States, Japan, Mexico, Italy, China, Thailand, England, Canada, dishes and ingredients from all over the galaxy, and miscellaneous combinations of any of those according to the chefs' whims. The only constants are the excellent fried dill pickles.

Anno Millar's Fusion Rathskeller (****)
The Watchtower
Fusion-American-Japanese-style Family Restaurant

This restaurant has a bizarre feel to its decor, as it is a fusion of comics/anime styles from the Works of Mark Millar and Hideki Anno, with waitresses in uniforms loosely based on a combination of said works and the 'Daneside Hawai'ian restaurant chain http://www.annamillersrestaurant.com/]Anna Miller's. The food and service are exceptional, with price points ranging from "teenage first date" to "50th anniversary blowout."

However, an entire section of the most daring (and delicious) recipes require either a signed release or obvious biomods before they will be served, due to the chef's penchant for 'wave cookery. That said, none of the "accidental" biomods here has been determined to be a suboptimal occurence to the recipient.

Dot Matrix's Mainframe Diner (**)
2000 Atlas Park Drive (next to Vulpine Fury's Puppetworks)
American-style Diner

Much like the central location from Mainframe Entertainment's ReBoot.

The proprietor resembles her "canon template" only in that she's got green skin and is moderately attractive. This restaurant is best known for the speed of its service, its Googie architecture and its genial atmosphere. The menu tends to be pricey for what they typically serve, but the wave-modded hyperfast kitchen is certified to not deposit Handwavium in the food.

Oftentimes you actually take longer to enter the restaurant and eat than you do waiting for your order.

Moonbase Alpha

Manny O'Kelly's Bar and Grill (*****)
D Level
American-style Bar and Grill

review-here-blah-blah-brewpub-blah-blah-garlic-steak-sandwich

Port Luna

Tranquility Drafthouse (****)
North Ring 4
American-style Dine-In Theatre

Put together by a group of expatriate fendanes from Austin, the Drafthouse is a clone of the famous http://www.drafthouse.com/]Alamo Drafthouse. Food and drinks are served inside the movie theatre, which plays new releases and various classic movies at the whim of management. The food is served by a staff of Ninja waiters (who do in fact have to have at least some Ninja training before hiring). Children under the age of 6 are not allowed, and all children are not allowed entry after 6 p.m. local time.

The menu is basic, albiet high-quality, American fare, with additions depending on the film playing.

Cislunar Space

Adventuers' Club (?)
Disney's World
what's it like?

review-here-blah-blah-rescued-from-disneyworld-blah-blah-no-alcohol

Meg's (***)
Stellvia, Main Concourse
American-style Diner

Meg's is a typical example of the "roadside diner" complete with examples of 1960's-Americana-kitsch decorating most of the walls, except that it's in space. The one wall that isn't decorated is a floor-to-ceiling window, offering a stunning view of Earth or Luna as the station spins to show those worlds.

The menu lists typical home-cooking. The meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy is the most economical meal available, and is made with cloned ground beef. The rib steak and baked potato is the most expensive meal usually on the menu, because of the expense of bringing all of the ingredients out of Earth's gravity well. Meg's special tollhouse cookies are possibly the best available at any restaurant, Earthside or in space - they are available for takeaway by the dozen.

Recommended drinks include chocolate malted milkshakes for the young or young-at-heart, and Crystal Sapporo Dark or (occasionally) Grovers' Corners Cream for the adults. Stellvia's owner, Noah Scott, has been seen enjoying each of these with meals in the restaurant, so the staff has learned how to serve them "properly" (which means to Mr. Scott's preferences).

Meg's is also the restaurant for Stellvia's hotel. While the kitchen is always open for the hotel's benefit, the restaurant itself is occasionally closed for special functions such as filming of television shows or movies; call ahead to confirm that you can be seated. The restaurant is wired for sound and has a small stage (usually with drum kit) against the wall farthest from the kitchen; Tuesday is usually "amateur night".

Mars

Cafe Lankhmar (*****)
Within the Hotel Bradbury, Olympus Mons
Theme Restaurant

A full-service hotel restaurant with a top-tier chef, providing typical "room service" as well as the pseudo-medieval themed dishes for the restaurant itself. Of particular note, the sommelier stocks several excellent Martian Red wines as well as the expected "Solar System's Finest beverages."

Quark's (***)
Utopia Planitia
Theme Restaurant

review-here-blah-blah-no-live-klingon-specialties-blah-blah-d'abo-girls

Callahan's (***)
Port Phobos
American-style Bar

review-here-blah-blah-inexpensive-beer-blah-blah-smash-your-glass

Ten Forward (**)
Starbase 1, Level 10
Theme restaurant

review-here-blah-blah-blocks-of-coloured-"food-slot"-somethings-blah-blah-no-real-alcohol

Main Belt and nearby environs

Valhalla (****)
Greenwood Station
Steakhouse & Bar

What does the fan-on-the-street expect to see in a place devoted to hard-rock mining? Well, if he's a sci-fi sort, he expects guys in spacesuits with laser drills. But if he's a fantasy fan, he expects ... dwarves. And as every good fan knows, All Dwarves Are Vikings. Thus was born the concept of the First Viking Mead-Hall In Space, after a deadpan comment from Rei teased Chris on the "Viking Dwarves" one too many times. It's possibly the only place in Fenspace where you can go to be served beer and beef by burly bearded men in chainmail (even if they do stand eye-to-eye with a Dalek). The food is high quality without being haute cuisine, and runs heavily to beef products with a leavening of fish and a special vegetarian menu for Rei. Clientele ranges from miners spending their bonuses to business guests in from 'Daneside to random wandering Fen.

When asked about Valkyries, Marsden replied that he only hires Elves for that position. (Two weeks later, the first waitress appeared at the restaurant. So far, Marsden has held good to his promise.)

Kahiki Tiki Supper Club (***)
Monster Asteroid
Tiki Lounge

After the http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/location.cgi?loc_id=33]Kahiki Supper Club of Columbus, Ohio closed its doors, some enterprising patrons tracked down and bought as many of the restaurant's decorations as they could find, made replacements of what they couldn't buy, and moved them all into space. The Kahiki Tiki Supper Club is a tiki lounge writ large, complete with all the accessories - torches, big-huge statues and heads, half a metric ton of tiki masks, and an indoor rainforest. The food is better than usual for a tiki lounge, and the floor show takes advantage of the local wildlife.

The Drunken Harlock (**)
Pirate Island
American-style Dockside Bar

review-here-blah-blah-cheap-beer-blah-blah-fishcakes-no-really-fishcakes

The Dancing Shinobi (**)
Village of Hidden Asteroid
Japanese-style Bar

review-here-blah-blah-expensive-sake-blah-blah-okonomiyaki

Beyond

Pablo's Cajun Sushi Bar and Hominy House (?*)
Starbase 2
Theme Restaurant

review-here-blah-blah-teener-hangout-blah-blah-mind-your-tastebuds

Hotels

Throughout Space

Hilton (varies, usually *****)

The Hilton chain was the first into space, and that was by invitation by many of the colonists on Mars and Ganymede. (They had already been using "hilton" as a generic term for "hotel", and decided to formalize the situation.) The quality of Hiltons throughout space equals that of their Earth-bound operations.

The chain has only made one publicity faux pas so far, in having heir-apparent Paris Hilton dress in a variation of the local outfit when opening the Crystal Paris Hilton.

Motel Six (varies, usually **)

The least expensive short-term lodging available in space, Motel Six's franchises in space conform to the chain's Earthside standards. The only difference is a slight change to their advertising slogan: "We'll leave the running lights on for you."

Cislunar Space

Pleasure Asteroid (***)
Disney's World, Earth orbit

review-here-blah-blah-just-like-Disney-back-home

Stellvia (***)
Stellvia

review-here-blah-blah-low-g-on-demand-blah-blah-high-tech-"rustic"-charm

Mars

Hotel Bradbury (*****)
Olympus Mons, Mars

An exceptionally tasteful, recently opened hotel designed primarily to cater to the Earth tourist trade. Decor includes replicas and originals of some rare sci-fi art and artifacts from the Forrest J. Ackerman collection. The rooms are spacious and tasteful, with the expected amenities, with rates from the "ya gotta have somethin'!" to "Thank you, Mister Trump, we'll feed a village in southeast Asia for a year with this."

Against expectations, Room 451 contains an extensive library with signed editions of several authors' works. Of note to Potterites is the full collection of Signed UK First Editions of the Harry Potter books, signed in loco by Rowling herself. Sadly, this room is heavily booked up to two years in advance, with a formidable security deposit.

The remainder of the hotel's 2010 rooms are typical for a high class hotel. Unlike many Western hotels, the Bradbury does have a 13th floor, including the Rod Serling, Stephen King, and HP Lovecraft suites.

---

Keep those writeups coming, folks...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[classicdrogn]

Rosenburg's Bed & Breakfast [***]
S.V. Gnarlycurl, C Deck subfloors 2-4
mildly themed Ancient Astronauts/American hotel

Though most often used by fen whose ship/homes are in for repairs at Shuko's Drydock Garage, Rosenburg's is good enough in its own right to be moderately popular as a place to stay when the ship is in the vicinity of other attractions. Decor is mostly generic American with a few "Ancient Astronauts" twists - this theme is played up to the hilt in the Quetzalcoatl and Montezuma suites, to the point of natural-stone-clad walls, simulated waterfalls in place of the otherwise standard claw-foot iron bathtubs, and (smokeless, holographicallly simulated) torches with leaded glass crystal skulls to diffuse the light.

Also of note are the D-Deck recreational facilities, which include an extensive park and garden area to port, an equally large beach and swimming pool to starboard, and a gallery overlooking the engine room in between, home to one of the largest single drive modules in space.

Food available tends to staple American fare, but is available at all hours due to the arbitrary nature of 'morning' aboard a spacecraft, and the kitchen staff will attempt unusual requests in off-peak times, with generally creditable results. Many of the vegetables used are grown on board and can be purchased fresh, in both 'wave-free varieties and more exotic, some with a high enough content to reliably cause biomodding if heated in a microwave. Due to the Seibertron strain of Handwavium unique to the Gnarlycurl, nearly all biomods produced in this manner take a cybernetic or techo-organic form.

Just one caveat: Check the ship's schedule before booking your stay if your business isn't aboard, it's quite disconcerting to find your accommodations started moving unexpectedly while you slept and missing your launch window because you were halfway to Ceres instead of at Olympus Spaceport is not grounds for a refund on your charter booking.

Update for OGJ: (cut and paste from King of Fen-ers thread) Post Crystal Osaka, the Gnarlycurl has moved from the Mars/orbit/moons region to the major Belt activity zone - there are already good medical facilities on Mars and at Earth and Venus, but the biggest Belt installation I recall was the "truck stop and diner" on Ceres; anything more is on the Jovian moons, which is just as far away as Mars. Gnarlycurl is by then home to a surgeon and a GP doctor and several nurses, and has one of its three floors done up as a hosital ward with the works. The ship does sometimes leave if there's a major action in the offing (rare) to decoy and make the Black Hats think there is (more rare) or for special events and major disasters, otherwise it stays put and Wave Convoy makes supply runs with a big box trailer. (End of paste, how this could be condensed for relevance is eluding me at the moment.)

Post OGJ: Business returns to a more tourism/general maintainance model with the destruction of the Black Tower, but OGJ, Space Patrol and MARS craft still get priority service and the hospital aspect remains as well, though scaled back to half a dozen rooms instead of an entire sublevel.

 

Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill [**1/2]
somewhere
Pancakes, Tex-Mex, and Chinese take-out

A very odd little restaurant shoehorned into an L shaped space between a holotheater and a supplementary environmental plant, Cowboy Feng's appears to be a mishmash of Warsie and Wild West, to the point of reproduction lightsabers and six-guns in brackets on the walls, but is in fact a near-perfect replica of the titular establishment from an obscure time-travel novel, designed in continuity when the only surviving materials created in its original destination era were Star Wars and A Fistful of Dollars. Whovians who recognize the reference and Warsies who don't mind the mixed mileu can be found but the bulk of the clientele is actually there for privacy, due to an unintentionally reproduced quirk of the original: any recording or surveillance device used on subjects within its boundaries will have the sound drowned out by the air conditioning's D-below-middle-C hum, and if video monitoring is included the view will be blocked by a potted cactus. Always. Even if the camera is placed openly on a table in the middle of the room. This makes it a popular spot for business and romantic rendevous, though the management work closely with local law enforcement to prevent exploitation and are quick to call them in if shady dealings are noticed.

The All-you-can-eat Pancake Buffet served daily from six to ten AM is highly reccomended, the tex-mex reasonable at modest prices and in good quantity, but the Chinese is barely acceptable. Beverage selection is excellent featuring items from all over the system and even Starbase Two Andorian Blue Brew and Hades-distilled Old Singularity rum, along with a wide variety of non alchoholic juices, at prices commensurate with rarity.

 

The White Dragon [****]
Marsbase Sara Level 1-EX
Chinese themed dine-in restaurant

A free-standing "open air" establishment under the new transparent carbon expansion dome, The White Dragon is a high-quality place with decoration along traditional Chinese lines. The food is excellent and the atmosphere generally calm and freindly, even when half the regulars tend to show up in their flight suits for a drink after patrol it's not too rowdy for a family meal. Kareoke nights are wednesday and Friday, the rest of the week music is generally canned and in keeping with the theme though professional groups, even some of the better known ones, have been known to do weekend shows and accredited members of the Musician's Aid Society can usually swing a gig for the asking as long as they only expect to be paid from the stage's tip box.

 

Excelion's High-Test Pit Stop [***]
Marsbase Sara Level 5
Humaniform AI and 'borg fuel and fluids

Catering to machine or mostly-machine life forms, Excelion's has a wide variety of liquid and solid fuels as well as biological foods ranging from thin nutrient slurry to (sadly expensive, due to the scarcity of cattle so far from Earth) triple decker cheeeburgers, and lubricants ranging from Heineken mini-keg 'borg-size beer' to fish oil to Haephestean Black 'Wave. It also opens directly off the floor level of the main mecha bay, and has a simlarly tall cieling and mecha "barstool" scissor-lifts adjustable from six to twenty feet high. The flamboyant proprietor is a high-percentage cyborg who built a cyberrigged secondary frame for himself styled after the Transformers character from whom he takes his name after Wave Convoy open-sourced his 'Cybertronian style' construction techniques and made the neccesary 'wave strain available on base. The service is in all ways excellent, but regulars tend to be a bit possessive and completely uncybered/nonpilot patrons who drop by are likely to be considered 'wannabes' even if the staff remains just as courteous.

 

Odd's End Gubbins and Bobs [rating?]
Odd's End, (location) Wizarding District
Traditional English and Scottish cuisine

One of the few places in Fenspace where you can ask for spotted dick or a nice hot toad in the hole and be immediately understood, Gubbins and Bobs is a restaurant, apothecary, and general junk/magitech shop all in one, with that oddball mashup atmosphere the Wizards at their best pull off so well, and as long as one stays away from carelessly sampling the apothecary wares is nearly completely free of accidental biomodding risk (or as Wizards tend to put it, Magical Mishaps.) For the less cautious, the local Mungo's Clinic is just up the nearby Even Street zero-gee vertical transfer shaft. Of particular note is the house brew, Ron Gubbins' Very Old Peculiar Scots Firewhiskey, which has a wonderful smoky heather flavor but is EXCEPTIONALLY strong.

 

Suggestions:

Warsie bars "The Cantina" and "Dexter's" hotels "Jabba's Palace" (ala Ceasar's Palace, possibly even Mob (Sith?) -run) and "Bespin Station"

Buffyite Jossies (supposedly Senshi... New Watcher's Council Interplanetary subfaction, HQ Babylon .5, so they're as arguably an odd branch of the Rangers - mainly because there's nothing listed for B.5 yet but lots for the Venusian cities) - The Bronze, Espresso Pump, Doublemeat Palace

Austrailian Free Trade Zone (around the megatowers) - some kind of flying open cart-style eatery, ala the one in The Fifth Element

Belters - The Auger Inn, where pilots (as opposed to miners who happen to fly a ship now and then but aren't caught up in that rocket-jockey silliness) NEVER EVER stay. Motto: "Come in and crash for a while."

Gearheads (Luna or earth orbit wherever Genaros was supposed to be) - Hot Legs, with a 2030 Replicants-impersonator house band and general BGC themed decor.

 - CD
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

[robkelk]

Okay, I think we have enough restaurants listed now. Could somebody do writeups for the ones that aren't fleshed-out, please?

And I'm currently leaning towards breaking this entire entry up and listing the businesses in the appropriate Places pages in the wiki, rather than
creating a new wiki page just for where to get a bite to eat. Opinions for or against this, anyone?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

Well, why not have the page as an index that links to the individual entries on their pages?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Black Aeronaut]

Something just occured to me... You know that somehow, somewhere, somebody has a Hotel Monolith.

[Bob Schroeck]

It's either in Africa, on the Moon, or in orbit around Jupiter.

Or maybe it's a chain, with three locations.

They also have a very clean, no-frills architectural sense.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Norgarth]

Actually I think Black Aeronaut was making reference to the Symphony of the Sword's Monolith Hotel (probably reminded of it by it's mention in
'Clarion Call')
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[Bob Schroeck]

Oh, I knew he was. But what is Fenspace for if not piling on the references and crossreferences? Although a "pure" EPU Monolith would be very cool by
itself.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Black Aeronaut]

A pure EPU -anything- would be awesome.

Doug in Fenspace is awesome.

GGG in Fenspace is awesome.

Need I say anymore?

[robkelk]

http://fnord.sandwich.net/fenwiki/doku. ... avel_guide]It's up. No "Hotel Monolith," though.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

I wonder if now is the time to mention that "Pablo's Cajun Sushi Bar and Hominy House" is, as best as I can recall, the name of an eatery that appeared in the movie version of Howard the Duck...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

I wonder if now is the time to mention that "Pablo's Cajun Sushi Bar and Hominy House" is, as best as I can recall, the name of an eatery that appeared in the movie version of Howard the Duck...

Only if you feel like writing up the review for the Fenspace eatery of the same name...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[ECSNorway]

For the record, while it does wander a bit, Greenwood tends to stay around L4... most of the time.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

Really? I'd gotten the impression that Greenwood was a Main Belt station.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

Likewise... and that's where I listed Greenwood in the Places sticky and the wiki.

I'd best fix that.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[ECSNorway]

MMm. No. On the other hand, since you've inspired me, and people have been thinking of it being out there... perhaps it Travels, occasionally, on a public
and fixed schedule. Figure it spends 6 months at L-4, 4 at the Main Belt, and 2 elsewhere (Jovian orbit, Venus, or some such) in a year - but it's always
well-publicized, since the place operates as a business with a growing population.

Speaking of Greenwood U, aka School of Hard Rocks - I figure this started as, basically, 'How to be an Asteroid Miner And Make a Profit Without Dying
101', and expanded into geology, orbital mechanics, electronics, and on from there. In many ways it's like a VocTech school that's trying to grow
into a real university, and might even make it, given another decade or two...
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Black Aeronaut]

I've noticed that KJ has yet to do a write-up for asteroid racing. Since my character is supposed to be an asteroid racer himself, I'd like to
contribute, if not beat KJ to the punch altogether.

[robkelk]

Since my character is supposed to be an asteroid racer himself, I'd like to contribute, if not beat KJ to the punch altogether.

Feel free - I think we've given KJ enough time to come up with at least a first draft... and there's nothing stopping the two of you from working together on it.

I know there's a thread where we discussed asteroid racing, but I don't remember how long ago that was or what it was called. If Yuku lets people search within posts, look for the string "NASACAR"...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012