Ken's Way

El Pescador Fish Market - San Diego, La Jolla

2012-02-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

I came down to San Diego to visit a good friend of mine and he wanted to take me to a local spot in La Jolla where they have fresh seafood. He took me to this little small take out place that served seafood. If you look at it from the outside you probably wold not come in. It looks like a simple fish store selling fresh seafood but they serve some of the freshest fishes here. It's a really small place with maybe 10 seats and it's pretty busy. Locals mostly come here but if you are a tourist make your way here you will not be disappointed.

We ordered 3 items to share. We had the fish tacos which were okay. Nothing to really brag about. We ordered the salmon and Cajun sea bass sandwich . Both sandwiches were SO GOOOD! It was the daily special when we were there. Check with the chef and see if they are serving it. It's a must order dish. They have this Italian fish soup called cioppino and that was really good. It's a tomato based soup with all sorts of fish and veggies in the soup. If you have never tried this before you should really because it's tasty and light. Both sandwiches were cooked to perfection. The skin from the Cajun sea bass was crispy and the meat was perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned where you could taste the freshness of the fish without the Cajun spices overpowering the sandwich.

Service: Ambiance: Food:

La Sardine

2012-01-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

I remembered one year we came here for a company Christmas party a few years ago and finally figured out the restaurant name La Sardine. The past couple of times we came here was on a Wednesday because they have a 25 dollars 3 course pre fixe menu. One thing I really like about this prefix menu is that you are not limited to certain dishes on the menu. So you can pretty much pick any entree, any appetizer and any dessert for 25 dollars. It's a pretty big place with a cute decor inside with an open kitchen facing the restaurant.

For the appetizer we ordered the La Queue de Boeuf which was the braised oxtail with potato gnocchi. This was probably my favorite appetizer. The oxtail itself was very flavorful and the sauce was a great compliment to even out the strong flavors from the oxtail. We also ordered the Les Escargots à la Bourguignonne. This was my wife's favorite appetizer and she really liked this dish a lot because the sauce really made the dish. Like the oxtail appetizer, we finished every drop of the sauce with the bread they provided for both of the appetizers.

My wife ordered the skate wing entree and that was amazing! The flavors were nice and light while cooked to perfection. The skin was nice and crispy while the inside of the skate wing was kept moist. I loved the contrast of the texture from the skin to the meat itself. This dish isn't something they have on their menu all the time. I believe that dish was a seasonal dish so if you see it on their daily special, I would definitely recommend it. I ordered the Le Poulet Rôti "Sotero" this was the roasted chicken with potato puree. I thought the dish was cooked very well and flavors were good. It wasn't a dish that wowed me with the french flavors. Maybe it's not fair for me to judge this dish after I came back from Seattle "Mistral Kitchen" and this restaurant served probably the best chicken I've ever had in my entire life.

For dessert we had the creme brulee and the chocolate souffle. The creme brulee's texture had a great smooth consistency and it wasn't too sweet. We both loved this dessert a lot and haven't found another french restaurant that have served better. The souffle was also another hit. At first we thought the dessert was going to be super sweet but we were surprised that it was very light and super fluffy. The Wednesday deals are a great way to try out this restaurant without breaking your bank. You can't beat 25 dollars for an appetizer, entree, and a dessert with no restrictions on items. The service was good and I have no complaints every time I've been here.

Braised Oxtail with Potato Gnocchi

escargot

skate wing

roasted chicken with potato puree

creme brulee

chocolate souflee

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Bonsoirée

2011-11-18T12:21:00.001-08:00

We came here with a Opentable coupon before it expired. I've never heard of it before but I was thoroughly impressed. It's a very small space and no name on the front so definitely hard to find. We were asked many times for any dietary restrictions as they only offer pre fixe. My wife couldn't eat any raw or undercooked food as she is pregnant. It was a bit odd when we sat down, there was no menu, no drink menu nothing. We realize it's BYOB, but they don't serve any drinks (soda, juice) other than water and coffee. So we asked the waiter what's on the menu so he gave us a rundown. The waiter didn't mention the duck 3 ways but I saw it on the website so we ordered that too. Each dish was tasty and beautiful to look at. For my wife, they replaced the first item - a yellowtail sashimi dish for a celery soup (yum!) and a rabbit dish for artichoke hearts (which I didn't think was a good substitute), and a tobacco ice cream for espresso ice cream. My favorite was the duck 3 ways and the wagyu beef which actually tasted like real wagyu because of how it just melted in your mouth. The desserts had inventive unique flavors that was still tasty. For example, there was tobacco flavored ice cream, which seemed to go well with the sweet beet sauce. Highly recommend as a place to try. You'll be surprised.

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Fisherman's Terrace Seafood Restaurant (Richmond, Canada)

2011-11-18T12:13:00.000-08:00

So after the successful and tasty meal recommended by our concierge we decided to eat at the Fisherman's Terrace in the Parker Mall. The decor is very nice which reminded me of the places we ate at in Hong Kong. Most dim sum places have large spaces and they are usually loud. Luckily we came here on a weekday to avoid the crowds and noise. This place doesn't push carts, instead you order off the menu and they bring it out to you. So everything is cooked to order making it fresh and hot when you eat the dishes. We ordered:

Sticky Rice with dried scallops - This was one of my top dishes here. The rice was cooked perfect and the flavors from the scallops was in every bite.

Pork Dumpling (shu mai) - These were really good. As you bite into the pork, it's not hard but very tender and the flavors were great.

Chicken Feet - The dish was good but I've had better elsewhere.

Pan Fried Fish Paste - I thought this dish was a bit bland and oily.

Green Onion and Dried Scallop Crepes - I like this dish a lot. Most places don't evenly distribute the meat and veggies on the crepes evenly but they did a good job here. I liked how the crepe itself was not too thick.

Spareribs infused with Pumpkin Flavor with black beans - This was my other top dish. The ribs was so tender and full of flavor. At first I thought the pumpkin flavor wasn't going to be tasted but they were in each spareribs I ate. We ate everything and the sauce also.

Steam Duck Tongue with Taro - Okay so I've never tried this before but I wanted to try something I've never seen before at least in the Dim Sum in the States so we ordered it. The tongue was very gamy and there is a small piece of cartilidge in each tongue sort of like Chicken Feet. I think if it was flavored more maybe I would have like it more but at least I can say I've tried Duck Tongue.

Chilled Mango Puree with Tapioca - I loved this dessert! You can taste the fresh mango and it was a nice dessert to finish off after all that dim sum we chowed down.

I thought the food was really good. There was 1-2 dishes that was a miss. The service was good and maybe it was because we came here during the weekday. I can't imagine what it would be like on a Saturday or Sunday. I would definitely recommend this place to others.

Dried Scallop & Green Onion Sticky Rice

Pork Dumpling and Chicken Feet

Pan Fried Fish Paste

Dried Scallop and Green Onion Crepes

Spareribs infused with Black Bean and Pumpkin Flavors

Duck Tongue with Taro

Chilled Mango Tapioca Puree

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Alleluia Cafe (Richmond, Canada)

2011-11-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

We decided on a short trip to Vancouver for 1.5 days to feast on the popular Chinese cuisine and do some shopping. We stayed at the River Rock casino hotel in Richmond. We did not know where to eat so we decided to ask the concierge for good/cheap eats and cheap shopping. We ended up going to Parker place which was 100% Chinese and we went to try Alleluia Cafe (Cantonese style) for dinner that night. I ordered preserved shrimp paste with fried tofu, pork and Chinese broccoli. This is very typical Cantonese dish where most non Asian would probably not dare try this due to it's heavy aroma. My grand parents made this for me when I was younger and it brought back some great memories. My wife ordered some tonkatsu dish, chicken wings, and curry beef with some veggies on the side. This meal costs us under 8 bucks that includes a soup, drink, and the meal itself. You don't come these places for service. You come here for great cheap authentic Cantonese style food under 8 bucks! I would say if you come to Richmond and you want some good eats stop by Alleluia Cafe. One more thing, they don't take credit card so bring CASH!

preserved shrimp paste with fried tofu

Tonkatsu Dinner

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Matts In The Market (Pike Place Market)

2011-11-18T11:37:00.000-08:00

We only heard about this place from the waiter who said we should go there for amazing food at Mistral Kitchen which I highly recommend. I was a bit disappointed at this place. First off, they charge for bread. Really ? This is the first time I've been charged for bread at any restaurant. For appetizer we ordered the calamari and that was disappointing. It was super chewy and wasn't good. The bread we paid for was mediocre. The wait staff didn't take any time to explain the dishes after they dropped them off. They didn't even come back to check up on us. The food here was okay. The salmon was okay. We liked the chicken the most but I didn't think it was worth 35 bucks. People hype this place way too much and the fact is we tried 3 restaurants at pike place that people raved about and each time they have been a miss. I wouldn't waste my time at this place. I would say go to Mistral Kitchen where the food is way better and more attention to detail to the flavors.

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Mistral Kitchen

2011-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

We were on vacation in Seattle for about 1 week and wanted to try a fine dining restaurant. We took a chance by just looking on open table to see what are the top restaurants with the most positive reviews. Mistral Kitchen was one of them. I saw mixed reviews and was a bit hesitant in trying this place. Sometimes the bad reviews don't turn out that bad. We had a long day hiking in Discovery park and came back to our hotel. Did a little bit of shopping to kill some time before we walked over to Mistral Kitchen. We came here with our 2 cousins and wanted them to try this restaurant with us.

The decor was very modern and had a trendy feel without feeling pretentious. They have a lounge area in the back if you wanted to just have a more intimate setting and they are also known for their drinks. Mistral serves new American cuisine and when we were there, they had a special menu for that month which had Mediterranean cuisines.

For appetizers we ordered the Big Eye Tuna Crudo and that was really good. The sauce on the side wasn't too strong where you were not able to taste the freshness of the Tuna. We all really liked this dish a lot. We also ordered the stuffed zucchini served cold. My wife really liked this dish a lot because the zucchini itself still maintained it's texture without being too mushy after being cooked and made cold. We also ordered the clams as an appetizer. That dish was amazing. The clams were really BIG and fresh and the broth that it was cooked in was some great flavors.. We had to ask for extra bread to soak up this dish.

For our entrees we had the Roasted Mad Hatcher Farms Half Chicken and the halibut. In my entire life, this is the best chicken I've had in my entire life. The chicken was cooked to perfection while maintaining all of it's amazing flavor in every bite. The chicken is souveed for 1 day and then once that is done, they cook the chicken in a tandoori oven giving that crispy skin on the outside and cooking the meat to perfection. Everyone tried the chicken and agreed. This dish really defined fine dining terms for my 2 cousins. The halibut was also really good. It was fresh and the fish cooked perfect. The meat itself slides off like butter as you cut into it. Because our appetizers and entrees were so good we also had high expectations for their desert. The desert was okay =/ Service was really good. The waiter was very attentive and took the time to explain every dish once it came out even after explaining it to us when we ordered. There was nothing left on each of our plates at the end of the night not even a drop of sauce. I would highly recommend this restaurant to locals and visitors. I don't know if Seattle will ever get the Michelin ratings but if they do, I would hope Mistral Kitchen get 1-2 stars.

Tuna Crudo

Clams

Stuffed Zucchini

Halibut

Mad Hatcher Farms Half Chicken

Service: Ambiance: Food:

union sushi

2011-09-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

A new sushi restaurant in the river north area and not worth going to. The food was not good. All of the ikayzka tasted the same mainly from the same sauce used to grill everything. Certain dishes were extrememly salty and I The sushi rolls didn't really work out. Our final bill was 200 bucks for 4 people and we were not satisfied with the food here. You could spend a lot less if you go to sunda or some other place nearby. I don't even want to waste my time typing this blog up for these guys.

Service: Ambiance: Food:

graham elliot

2011-09-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

I decided to come here for my birthday dinner I do every year with my 2 close girl friends from college. We've heard lots of good things and a few bad things about GE. So I wanted to find out for myself if this was a good restaurant. I thought the ambiance and decor was nice. The crowd was mixed ranging from young to older people. When you dine at Graham Elliot, you can either order the ala cart or their prefixed menus. There isn't a ton of choices from the Ala cart but it would be less expensive if you ordered that way. They have the 5, 10, or 15 prefix menu. Most reviews I read said the 5 is good without being too expensive.

Menu::: 75$
Deconstructed Caesar Salad - gem lettuce + brioche twinkie + white anchovy
Sweet Corn Bisque Soup - spiny Lobster + toasted coquito + vanilla marshmallow
Seared Alaskan Halibut - leek brandade + orange gel + haricot vert
Charred Bison Loin or Pork Belly - puffed hominy + breakfast radish + farm egg
Flourless Chocolate Cake - rootbeer + port cherry + birch caramel

As we sat down we were given this popcorn appetizer that is made with truffle butter, black peeper and Parmesan fluff. At first I thought popcorn for appetizer was not going to do it but it was actually really good and full of flavor from the truffle butter + Parmesan fluff. The next item they gave us was the water melon amuse-bouches. I thought it was okay. The deconstructed caesar salad was really good! It was a twinkie with lettuce and a piece of anchovy on top. I really love that idea of a salad looking like a twinkie. The twinkie was hard to cut into at first but when you tasted the dish, it tasted great and it's a fun dish to eat.

The next dish which was the corn bisque was not bad but I didn't think there was anything special about the dish itself besides the way it was presented. The next small dish was an interesting dish but I wasn't sure why it was even put on the menu since the flavors of this 5 dishes doesn't really correspond to the calamari and brussel kimchi curry. It was so small and I couldn't really taste much besides a few rings of calamari and the kimchi ????? I really don't think that dish worked well with everything. If you are a foie gras fan then you should definitely try the foie graw lollipop. I wasn't a fan to start off with but I wanted to try it anyways because it was shaped like a lollipop with pop rocks on the outside of it giving the candy feeling for the dish. The halibut was really yummy. It was cooked just right where the fish melt ted in your mouth. The flavors were good but nothing too special here. Instead of the bison which was part of the prefix, I asked for the pork dish which I heard people talking about. I really liked the dish a lot. The flavors really hit your mouth and the puffed hominy and the chorizo foam sauce along with the farm egg really gave it a nice meaty flavor. I loved the hominy ( corn that has been processed to remove the hull and germ ) they were fun to eat and the flavor from the chorizo and sauces soaked the hominy giving each one of them good flavor.

The service was very good and attentive. Our waitress was super nice and I have heard of a wait staff who is not friendly and thank god I didn't get them for my birthday meal. I would come back but I wouldn't do the prefix menus.

truffle butter + black pepper + parmesan fluff

compressed watermelon + mint leaf + jalapeno oil

foie gras lollipop with pop rocks candy on outside

deconstructed cesar salad

corn soup

halibut with leek brandade + orange gel + haricot vert

Bison

Pork Belly with puffed hominy + breakfast radish + farm egg

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Frontera Grill part II - Redemption ??? or disappointment??

2011-08-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

I was hesitant about coming back to rick bayless's restaurants especially when i was disappointed during the restaurant week menu. My friend wanted to go there and try a dish that was on the bets thing I ever ate website / show that he follows and he was able to get reservations for lunch so I decided to give the Chef another chance. So I asked the waiter what are the 3 best items on this menu that he loves and of the 3 he named we were eating 2 of the 3 he suggested. I ordered the Puerco Oaxaqueno which was a Grill-roasted Gunthorp pork loin, smoky black bean "enchilada" (homemade chorizo, queso anejo mashed potatoes), limey grilled knob onions & guero chiles, cilantro. This dish looked very similar to the dish I had back at restaurant week. This time it was on the dot! The flavor was really hit the spot and each bite was juicy. The mash potatoes was also amazing. At first I wasn't sure what it was until I asked the waiter and I thought that was a great idea to put the mash potatoes inside some tortilla. All the bold flavors came together for me and I was extremely satisfied. I also tried the rib eye dish my buddy ordered and that was really good too. I would say Rickbayless has redeemed himself for Frontera grill and Topolobampo. Excluding XOCO

Puerco Oaxaqueno
Grill-roasted Gunthorp pork loin, smoky black bean
"enchilada" (homemade chorizo, queso anejo mashed potatoes), limey
grilled knob onions & guero chiles, cilantro

Carne Asada a la Oaxaquena
Creekstone Natural Black Angus rib steak (marinated in spicy
red chile & wood-grilled), black beans, sweet plantains with
sour cream, guacamole

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Lure - IZAKAYA PUB (Chinatown)

2011-08-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

So we decided to head to Chinatown and try Lure an "Izakaya Pub" since we had purchased a groupon for this restaurant. The decor felt very much like a night club and it was pretty dark while the music was very loud outside as you walk in so if you didn't know about Lure being a restaurant you would think it was a night club as you walk by.

We ordered some of their drinks and they were very good and refreshing. I would suggest getting their mixed cocktails here. For those who have not been to a style of Izakaya Pub it's pretty casual after work dinning in Japan and lots of small dishes which includes yakitori (skewers) and other fish dishes to share with your group. This restaurant is fairly new with the menus still on clip boards which I found comical. They told us they were in the process of getting the menus finished which was fine with us. The waitress we had serving us was very new. We could tell but she was very accommodating and trying hard to make things right for us so I give her kudos for that.

We ordered the summer salad, potato croquette, shims hokke, lamb chops, yellowtail, braised pork belly, lobster spaghetti and some chicken wings. Well started off with the salad and I thought the flavor was good but it's very hard to eat the salad with chopsticks especially if you are trying taste all the ingredients together into one bite. Maybe because it was cumbersome to eat so I didn't like the dish but my wife liked it and my friend felt the same way as I did. The potato croquette was our next dish that came out and when we went to bite into the croquette it was cold on the inside. Now usually when something gets deep fried, you would think it would be warm/hot on the inside but that was not the case. The waitress kindly took it back and went to get another one for us. Our guess on this dish was the chefs probably weren't use to the deep fryer and wasn't able to gauge the temperature on the different foods that are being cooked in the fryer. The croquettes were okay nothing to rave about but I would not order it if I come back.

They are supposedly known for their fish dishes so we had the Shims hokke and Yellow-tail coming. Both of the fishes were really good. The flavor was there and it the texture was great. They did a good job cooking both fishes and I really wished we ordered more of the fish dishes. The lamb chops were good but nothing spectacular about them. They were cooked well but it was off by a little on the flavor. The lobster spaghetti was good although I wished that dish had more lobster in it because we can barely taste the favor of the lobster or see much of it. Both the braised pork belly and chicken wings were really good. I would suggest ordering the braised pork belly. It's full of yummy flavor and melts in your mouth. We also ordered the Yuzo Black Cod and that was also a great dish. Only thing I didn't like about the dish was the proportions of the asparagus to the fish. They were so SKINNY! Anyways, my buddy who is a fries fan decided to order the tiger fries. That was one of my favorite dishes here! Truffle oil flavor fries. If you are a truffle oil fan try these fries.

The prices were very reasonable and food was good. I would say try more of the fish dishes here since they fly the different types of fishes you wouldn't normally see at a sushi restaurant. Drinks are cheap and good. I would come back again and maybe their menus have been completed and they have their music turned down a notch so it doesn't feel like a night club.

Summer Salad - watermelon, grape, feta cheese, pear cactus dressing

Potato Croquette

Shims hokke

Lamb Chops

Yellow Tail

Braised Pork Belly

Lobster Spaghetti

Yuzu Black Cod

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Swan Oyster Depot - SF

2011-07-14T13:07:00.000-07:00

If you're all about the fresh seafood and don't care about the decor or service you should come to the Swan Oyster Depot. This is a local fresh fish/oyster store that has been here since 1912. Be prepared to wait in line for about 20-50 mins. This place is very small and seats about 20 at the counter. The menu includes whole lobsters, seafood salads made of shrimp or crab. They also server Boston-style chowder and oysters from the east/west coasts served on the half-shell.

We ordered 2 Seafood salads. Clam Chowder and 6 Blue Point Oysters, then another 1/2 dozen of Miyagi and Kumamoto. All the seafood was super fresh. I usually don't like oysters since I had a really bad experience about 10 years ago in SF at this "supposedly" amazing restaurant someone brought me to. Until that day at the Swan Oysters Depot has given me a second chance to explore the oyster scene again after 10 years. The blue point oysters were my favorite because of its smooth and clean flavor of the oyster. I enjoyed the Miyagi and Kumamoto but I preferred the Blue Points more. The chowda was FLAME!!!! This wasn't your typical chowder. The clam chowder broth itself had a lot of depth. You can taste the clams, potatoes and celery in each spoonful you place into your mouth. This was one of the best chowders I've tasted in a long time. Thanks to Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations show, we were able to enjoy this final yummy meal before heading home.

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Boulevard - San Francisco

2011-07-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

We flew into SF for a weekend wedding and decided to try Boulevard who was nominated for the 2011 James Beard outstanding restaurant.

Service was good. Food was just okay. Decor was nice and comfy. We ordered the ravalini and seafood salad for appetizers. The ravalini was amazing. The ravalini had great flavor without being too over powering with the bits of bacon and mushroom on the side. I would highly recommend this dish to others. The seafood salad was good nothing really memorable.

We ordered the filet mignon and the pork prime rib for our entrees. The pork prime rib chop was very good. It was very flavorful and juicy from the pork jus. I liked the potatoes with the potato chip flakes over the German potatoes. We asked for the filet to be cooked medium and was well done. The filet was bland and we weren't happy since they overcooked the filet. They did give us another properly cooked filet.

At the end of the day when we got our bill nothing was done for us for the mistake. We are not asking for the filet to be comped but at least do something to make us happy like comping the dessert or a small discount. We shouldn't have to request this. I truly believe what makes a okay/good restaurant from a great restaurant are the little things that are done beyond just great food and great service. The meal did not have a wow factor. I wouldn't come back here.

Raviolini Ala Carbonara

Seafood Salad

Wood Oven Roasted Filet Mignon
Baby Mushrooms & Fried Shallots Banana Fingerling
Potatoes with Mountain Gorgonzola Sauce Roast Beef Jus
& Barolo Vinaigrette

Wood Oven Roasted Heritage Pork Prime Rib Chop
Spinach Spaetzle Cacio e Pepe A Blend of Pecorino & Various
Peppercorns Sauteed Swiss Chard, Pickled Cherries & Frizzled Guanciale

Service: Ambiance: Food:

San Francisco Trip

2011-07-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

One of my wife's best friend was getting married in San Fran so we decided to come here for a short mini vacation and explore the west coast. We stayed at the OMNI hotel in SF near the financial district and I must say, this is one of the nicer hotels I've stayed at in the states. The decor has a very old feeling to it. Everything from the vases and bathroom lamps and wall paper was very well thought out to make this comfortable room feel homey. The room was very roomy and the staff was extremely helpful. If you need to rent a car, the Hyatt Regency Street down 3-4 blocks has car rentals and it's very reasonable. I was able to get it for 40 bucks for the day. During this 4 day trip we mapped out 3 places we have to check out from recommendations from websites and friends. One thing I don't like about SF is that lots of restaurants close really early and some don't open on Sundays or Mondays. So if you are looking to go to a popular restaurant make sure you do your research or you will be disappointed when you get there and it's closed. San Francisco is a very tourist friendly city! They have free tours all throughout the city and at the end of the tour, it is at your discretion to tip them or not. I would highly recommend that you take a few of these to learn more about the city. The ones we participated was the golden gate park Japanese tea garden and the Chinatown tours. DID you know that the fortune cookie was not invented by the Chinese ???? It was the Japanese who created it!! We learned that fact from the Chinatown tour lawl....

We found this food truck at the Golden Gate Park area. We ordered the lobster roll and clam chowda! They both were really good. I would definitely recommend this. The lobster had great flavor, texture, and melts in your mouth. The bun was okay but we got a lot for our money.

Oh Andros

2011-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

We stopped in Nassau during our cruise and we wanted to explore the island. We were looking for something to eat and something local/traditional Bahamian so we were told to try oh andros (approximately 1 mile outside of the port). If you don't leave the port area , most of the food there is geared towards tourists. I've never tried local Bahamian food before so I didn't high expectations for service and food. They are known for their Conch. If you've never tasted it before the texture is similar to calamari.

Conch Fritters - the batter had a nice spicy kick to it and the conch was lightly breaded in this batter. This was very good and they had a side of this sauce for you to dip it in.

Conch Salad - This was very refreshing and you were able to taste lots of the Conch in the Salad. The size of the salad was very big.

Seafood Platter - Conch, Red Snapper, Lobster, friend plantains, rices and peas, macacroni and cheese

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Dim Sum at Ming Hin

2011-06-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

There is a new place called Ming Hin in the new Chinatown square plaza. My parents heard good things about this place and invited us to try this place. When it comes to dim sum my parents are pretty picky. It's not only the flavor they are picky about but the innovation in the dishes. My parents are from HK so nothing will ever compare with dim sum there but in Chicago, you don't get much variety than your typical standard 8-10 items you see at every other dim sum restaurant in Chicago.

I really like the decor here. It has a very classy touch but not too classy where it scares people away thinking it is an expensive Chinese place to eat. There are 40 inch TVs upstairs if you are looking to catch a ball game while you eat dim sum on Sunday. This isn't your traditional push the dim sum cart around and you pick from the cart (something I prefer) but by not doing it this way, the food comes out hot instead of luke warm. Don't worry they have pictures on the menus where you can pick and choose the items to order.

Overall I would recommend others to come here. It's clean , service is pretty good for Chinatown standards and the food is good here. You might pay a little more but I think it's worth it. It feels much more comfortable than most dim sum places because the seats are well spaced not like most dim sum places.

I also wanted to mention we also came here for dinner 4 weeks later and I think the dinner is REALLY good better than Dim Sum! For dinner I would say this place is one of my top 2 places in Chinatown. Dim Sum I would have to try it again with a larger group to check for consistency. Dinner items I will order again!

-Chiu Chow Platter

-Pea Pod Tips w/ Salty Preserve Egg

-Fish Eggplan Casserole

-StirFriend SHP Scallops and Mushroom

Baked BBQ Pork Turnover - My parents love this dish because it's something that reminds them of HK. We all liked this dish.

Preserved Egg and Pork Shredded Congee - This was good plus the additional to the fried crispy doughs (in the picture below) Most places that serve congee doesn't even come with that and in HK, that is very traditional to eat congee with that item.

Short Rib with Honey Sauce - Very Americanized dish here but my wife wanted to try this. It was surprisingly good!

Sweet Egg pastry - This was okay

Beef Brisket & Rice Noodle Roll in Pot - **** GET THIS DISH **** the beef brisket is full of bold flavors and the meat is so tender making every bite so savory

Chicken Feet with Special Sauce - This was okay, the flavor wasn't there.

Pan Fried Turnip Cake - You can't mess this dish up but it had the perfect texture not too hard. It needs to have this fluffy texture when you bite into it.

Baked Egg Creamy Egg Yolk Bun

Baked BBQ POrk Turnover

Sweet Egg pastry

Preserved Egg and Pork Shredded Conggee

Shrimp Dumplings with Green Chives

Beef Brisket & Rice Noodle Roll in Pot

Short Rib with Honey Sauce

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Chicago Cut SteakHouse

2011-06-09T08:58:00.000-07:00

We had some friends in town and they wanted to try a steak house so we picked Chicago Cut in river north. It was hard to fit in 8 people last minute on Saturday and Chicago Cut had a table for us. There is outdoor seating overlooking the Chicago river and there is plenty of indoor seating. The decor is very mod here. There is a good mix of the crowd here. The service is very good and attentive. I would definitely come here over some of the more popular places like GIBSONs because the food is just as good , better service and less crowded.

If you do decide to order wine, their wine menus are on IPADs where you can select your wine from region, price, taste. You place the order and their automated system picks it up and they bring it over no waiter necessary to take your wine order. For the appetizer we ordered an entree and shared it with everyone.

We ordered the Crispy Amish Brick Chicken. The chicken was really good. The skin is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Their steaks here are all hand chosen and dry aged. First thing I check for a good steakhouse is how my steak is cooked. If a steakhouse can't cook their steaks correctly then they shouldn't be called steakhouses. I asked for medium rare and it was perfect all the way through.

Wine Menu on IPAD

Delmonico

Amish Brick Chicken

26 oz Bone-In Rib Eye

Service: Ambiance: Food:

GT Fish and Oysters

2011-06-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

GT located in River North is part of the BOKA restaurant group. Depending on where you sit, in the front they have the large boomerange table where everyone is near the oyster bar or towards the back where it's a bit more intimate communal style dinning. There are a few tables for 2 where you can sit alone. I like the ambiance and the decor at GT. The decor has a modern feel near the front of the restaurant while in the back it reminds me of being somewhere close to a dock overlooking the ocean.

We came here for a friends birthday on a Thursday and it was packed! So make a reservation or you end up waiting 45min + This restaurant is similar to tapas style. The dishes can be shared throughout your party. I would recommend this restaurant to others for it's good seafood and a cool place to eat. Service here was attentive and not overly expensive. Here are the dishes we ordered below:

Crab Agnolotti dungeness crab, bok choy, maitake mushrooms, coconut, black tobiko - This okay

Crab Cakes pepper aioli, pickled vegetables - This was so GOOOD,

Fish And Chips beer battered cod, steak fries, malt vinegar, dill pickle remolade - reminded me of fish and chips in the UK and Australia. The batter wasn't too heavy, it had just a good layer of breading over the fish. I love the presentation of the dish in the newspaper.

Tuna Poke preserved mango, cucumber - I thought this was okay nothing really memorable.

Lobster Roll lobster salad, toasted roll, fried onions - My favorite dish here at GT. The lobster was very tasty and I loved the roll they used. They toasted the roll where it wasn't too crunchy. I actually thought the roll was better than the lobster =D

Fish Dip smoked haddock, taro root, radish, pine nuts, paprika - This was an interesting dish. Instead of a typical potato chip or bread, they made a chip made from the taro root. I liked this dish.

GT LOBSTER “MAC AND CHEESE” - It was really creamy, the cheese was nice and saucy where it didn't over power the lobster but I wish it had more lobsters.

BAJA SHRIMP BRUSCHETTA avocado, toasted pistachio, grapefruit, cilantro - Nothing special here. I wouldn't order this again.

HOUSE SMOKED SALMON horseradish crème fraiche, dill, caper berries, cauliflower - This was good

BBQ EEL wasabi, potato octopus salad - I thought this was an interesting combination with the bbq and potato combination. It was good but I probably won't order it again because there are lots of other dishes I'd rather eat again.

Blue Point , Cusshi Oysters

HOUSE SMOKED SALMON horseradish crème fraiche,
dill, caper berries, cauliflower

Taro chips and haddock dip

New England Clam Chowder

BAJA SHRIMP BRUSCHETTA

Crab Cakes pepper aioli, pickled vegetables

Tuna Poke

Crab Agnolotti

BBQ EEL wasabi, potato octopus salad

GT Lobster Mac & Cheese

Fish & Chips

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Deca at Ritz Carlton

2011-06-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

There was an opentable coupon worth 50 dollars for 25$. So we decided to try out Deca otherwise we would probably never make our way into the Ritz if not for the coupon. I really like how the restaurant was in this giant lobby area with the water fountain as a divider from the bar/louge area. The crowd is much older here at Deca since it draws mostly their hotel guests to the restaurants.

We started off with the Steamed Mussels Pistoum White wine that came with a side of hand cut french fries. I have never seen such big mussels. The sauce was very flavorful and eat bite of the mussels were very plump. We all loved this dish. We also got the steak tartar as our 2nd appetizer. This was also another dish I liked. I liked how they gave us some of the french bread to eat with the tartar for some crispy texture along with the tartar. We didn't realize our entrees took longer than we expected because we were having some great conversations. The manager came up to use with some soup and told us that our entrees were on the way and they wanted to let us know they were sorry for the minor delay by offering us their soup. I thought that was a nice gesture.

I ordered the Halibut and my wife ordered the Lamb Cutlets. My Halibut was REALLY good. It was cooked perfect. Each bite of the Halibut melted into my mouth. The flavoring was just perfect along with some veggies right on top of the fish. My wife and our friend also liked the lamb. It was a bit salty but other then that, it was cooked very well. For dessert, we ordered the 10 layer cake. That was really yummy.

Steamed Mussels Pistoum White Wine, Hand Cut French Fries

Steak Tartare

Grilled Lamb Cutlets Rosemary, Lemon, Picholine Olive Jus

Halibut En Papillote

deca-dent Cake Ten Layered Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting

Service: Ambiance: Food:

WHY I WILL TRY MY HARDEST NOT TO FLY AA ANYMORE!!!!!

2011-06-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Ignore any grammatical errors =D I was writing this in a pissed off state of mind.

Destination: Miami Port for Norwegian Cruise 5/23 Monday 5pm

Review

We got a phone call about our flight getting cancelled for Monday morning which meant, our cruise was bye bye, so i called AA and said ummm i need to catch my cruise so i need to get there by 4pm to catch the boat at the port so the lady is like ohh here's a flight leaving at 9 am and arrives at 1pm, I’m like ok please book it, and i said it's for Monday right ??? She’s like yes, so 1 hour goes by and I decide to check us in and then I saw the record locater and it showed the plane leaving for Tuesday!

So I called them back and said wtf, you guys told me it was leaving Monday so why was I told otherwise. So then I spent 45 min on the phone with the guy and I was searching on orbitz and he told me nothing was going out from AA, but I told him I saw flights from UA and continental and he said he could he me book those for me, so we found a ticket going to Jacksonville Florida on continental (united airlines) and then from Jacksonville to Miami 6am-1pm total flight time.

I told Ly and her sister to get ready and we needed to be there 3 hours ahead of time. We get to the airport like 1.5 hours before the flight. Keep in mind flights have been cancelled and it's hell at the airport security. Since the ticket was not issued by AA we had to go to the United counter to get this ticket issued there. It took them 30 minutes to get the ticket for us because AA are a bunch of retards and they can’t get their eticket numbers entered in correctly so the agent at the UA counter also had to be placed on hold like the rest of us to speak with an AA reservation agent.

So now we have 1hour and 10 minutes to get to gate G5. I was thinking G5 should be close 1-5 like 1 minute of walking. We are in line, security is total shit, and we waited about 1 hour and 5 minutes in line. We have like 4 minutes left to get to the gate. That should be enough time right? WRONG, first off Ly’s sister is pregnant so I was the only one trying to run to the gate which was not close at ALL, you had to cross 1000 feet and then up the escalator and then run another feet. Yup we missed the flight to Jacksonville and 1 of our luggage is flying there and we aren’t even on the plane.

We had to go to the UA reservation desk to see if could get another flight to Miami, so we waited in line for 25 minutes at the United counter. I asked the agent if they had any flights when we finally got to our turn, they said no, but he said what we could do is to fly to Ft. Lauderdale and then drive to the Miami port about 40 minutes away. He said there are 4 tickets open but only thing is I have to run back out to American Airline counter to get the ticket issued since that was where I purchased the ticket originally and then once they book the continental flight, I have to head back to the continental counter to get the tickets. So after we’ve figured out our ticket situation another issue was our one of our luggage was checked in and heading to Jacksonville.

All of my sisters-in-law’s cloths are in there. So now how the heck do we get the luggage from jacksonville to ft. lauderdale, so the guy was nice enough to get that sorted for us, they couldn’t get the luggage to ft. Lauderdale, but instead they shipped it to Miami airport. So now the plan is to fly to ft. lauderdale, rent a car then drive to miami airport pick up the luggage and then drive to the port. Now I need to get the tickets reissued at American Airlines counter. I had to leave the security area again and recheck back in once I get the ticket. I’m sprinting from terminal 1 to terminal 3. It had to be a 1 mile sprint to get to the counter. As I was sprinting I thought back to my track day’s haha. When I got there i had to wait in line again for 45 min again because everyone was looking to reroute their flights from AA. Once I got the ticket issued I had to pick up the ticket from the Continental counter. I had 1 hour to get back to gate and security was still a mess. So when i got my ticket I ran like hell, got to the gate with 35 min left.

So when we got to Ft. Lauderdale, we rented a car and drove to Miami airport to pick up the luggage. The rental office was not near the airport so by then we got in around 2.30 . We had to take a shuttle once we returned the car to the airport which took around 15 minutes. Then it took another 35 minutes to retrieve the luggage. There was a shuttle that goes to the pier but it’s located at the rental office. So we had to take the shuttle back to the rental location. We saw the bus that goes directly to the port and we were running to the bus the bus just took off. Just our luck! The guys that worked with the routes told us that was the last one. So as we were walking away the taxi driver asked us if we needed a route then Ly told them no because I think these guys wanted to make some money so I ended up giving them 20 bucks. It probably would have cost more if we took a cab to the port. So we finally made the cruise with 30 minutes left.

Review

Service: Ambiance: Food:

Upcoming Food Reviews

2011-06-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

Deca - Ritz Carlton Hotel Chicago

Chicago Cut SteakHouse

GT Fish & Oysters

MingHin

SanFran - pending......

Purple Pig

2011-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Purple Pig is yummy! If you love pork you should definitely come here to stuff your face with great food that is reasonably priced in Chicago. Just a note, there are no reservations here so it's first come first serve communal style. There are some tables near the back that is a bit more private. If you don't arrive early around 6:30pm you will probably end up waiting for +45min. Since you are on the mag mile you can do some shopping to kill some time before your table is ready.

The first appetizer dish we had was the Pigs Ear. I love the crunchy/crispy texture in eat bite of this dish. The kale and cherry peppers really adds to the taste of the entire dish. You get a bit of vinegary flavor from the peppers to give it a little kick. I never really saw the cherry peppers and kale in my past 2 visits because i was outside dinning in the dark. This time I was lucky enough to come extra early so i was able to see the details of the dishes. Check out the bowl shaped like a pig =D We also had one of the smear items on the menu. I really like the dish, the flavor of the pork smear was good with a touch of the pistachio. However, the balsamic vinegar sauce that was drizzled over the dish was a bit over powering. I tasted more of the balsamic than the spread itself. My wife loved it. I really like the bone marrow dish because it is such a simple dish and you can really taste the marrow with just the bread, a few sprinkles of salt, and the herbs to give it that nice flavor. Not everyone will like the texture but for those of you who are adventurous you should definitely give it a try.

The best dishes by far are the entrees here at PP. One of the best dishes here is the Milk braised pork shoulders. The pork is so flavorful and the meat is cooked just perfect where it melts in your mouth. The mash potatoes is a nice addition with this dish. That dish is most definitely flame like john wayne! Writing about this dish is making me want to go there for dinner haha My next favorite dish here is definitely the chicken thigh kebobs, the chicken is very flavorful and the chicken is cooked perfect. The outside is nice and crispy while the inside is tender. What gets me is the chicken isn't really thick so how does the chef make it so crispy and not overcook the middle of the chicken? Must be a good chef. The fried potatoes are great too. We had the pork blade steak last but by the time we got to this dish we were so full we ate 1/4 of this dish and took it home. This dish is really big. PP does pork the RIGHT way!

I asked the waitress to see what was an amazing dessert. She said this dessert always sells out so I wanted to give it a try otherwise I was going to Joes for their banana cream pie. I wasn't impressed at all. It was just like a doughnut with Ricotta and Chocolate Chip filling. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I love this restaurant. It's so close to me and the price is very reasonable. If you are debating between PP or Publican. PP dominates over Publican in the West Loop. I've asked lots of people and they agree that PP is the winner here.

Pig’s Ear with Crispy Kale, Pickled
Cherry Peppers & Fried Egg

Mortadella, Balsamico & Pistachio

Roasted Bone Marrow with Herbs

Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Mashed Potatoes

Pork Blade Steak with ‘Nduja & Honey

Chicken Thigh Kebabs, Fried Smashed Potatoes & Tzatziki

Sicilian Iris

Here is my overall rating out of 4 smily faces

Service: 8) 8) 8) o)

Ambiance: 8) 8) 8)

Food: 8) 8) 8) 8)

Paris Club

2011-03-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

We use to come to Brasserie Joe often until it was closed down and this new french place took over called Paris Club. It is very lively when we first walked in but as we sat down, there was this uneasy crowded feeling. It almost felt as if they were trying to get the most out of their space. The service was really good and our waiter was very attentive with great suggestions along with explanations of most of the dishes.

For appetizers, we ordered the macaroni gratinee. They had this similar dish at Brasserie and it was really good. I liked the small pasta shells they used because there was an even amount of cheese allocated on each of the shells so every bite is perfect. The pigs feet bon bon was good but I didn't really taste much of the feet with the breading. The frites fromage was flame like john wayne! The frites were especially extra crispy and the cheese dip was an added bonus. These have to be the best skinny fries I've had in a long time! Duck Crackling wasn't all that great while others liked it. It was mostly duck skin with a layer of batter. I tried a little bit of the frisee salad and it's pretty damm good. I like the sunny side egg on top, with the warm lardons (aka bacon), and gribiche sauce (mayonnaise-style cold egg sauce). When you broke the egg and mixed the salad up, it tasted very hearty. All the ingredients worked well for this French salad.

For my entree, I ordered the short rib bourguignonne. The short rib was very tender and juicy. The word bourguignonne is a technique using red wine to create the sauce. My wife ordered the skate wing and that was cooked just right. It was over cooked or under cooked. My friend ordered the coq au vin which was chicken and wine dish. The chicken was really juicy and flavorful. I enjoyed dinning here minus the crowded feeling inside. I guess that was the feel they were going after but from a dining perspective it's way too crowded.

macaroni gratinée

pig’s feet bonbons

frites fromage

duck cracklings

frisée salad

coq au vin

short rib bourguignonne

vegetable cassoulet

skate wing

chicken terrine

Here is my overall rating out of 4 smily faces

Service: 8) 8) 8) 8)
Ambiance: 8) 8) o)
Food: 8) 8) 8)

Southern Hospitality in Memphis

2011-03-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

If you love fried Chicken then I would suggest checking out this place if you are ever in Memphis. GUS's chickens this little hole in the wall. It's about a 5-10 minute walk from Beale Street. I believe Rachel Ray did some special review at GUS's. Forget about service and ambiance because this is good ol southern friend chicken. When you bite into the chicken, it is so crispy, flavorful and juicy inside. They must have some special ingredient in the batter because it's really flavorful. The fried pickles were amazing as it was my first time trying it. The fried green tomato was great but I prefer the pickles. For all I know their oil never gets changed for that awesome flavor. If you come here for dinner, you better arrive around 5pm because the wait will be 30-45 min wait. The place isn't very big and it's HOT inside.

For ribs, go to Rendezvous. There is another place too but we asked a bunch of locals about the best ribs in Memphis and they mentioned Rendezvous. The rib portions are larger than what I am use to. It must be the cut of the ribs the folks in the south gets because I've been to many rib places and it's nowhere as big. The meat falls right off the bones and it's very juicy. I'm not a big fan of dry rubbed ribs but that was a good dining experience.

Fried Chicken with some coleslaw and beans

crispy!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Pickles (SO GOOOOOOOD)

Aerial View

RIBS @ Rendezvous

Dry Rubbed Ribs

2010 National Treasure Group Break Pulls

2011-03-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

I received the cards today and here are the 2 cards from the 2010 National Treasure break.

Dexter McCluster, with a sick 3 colored patch NFL Gear Card

Ronnie Lott Notable Numbers