Remember when I visited Eleven Eleven Mississippi for Week 7 of the Bread Pudding Challenge? I’ll refresh your memory:

Dear white chocolate and pecan bread pudding, will you marry me? Thanks.

Anyway, while I was at Eleven Eleven for the bread pudding challenge, I realized that I was at one of my favorite restaurants in St. Louis, and I had yet to write a proper review of their food for my blog!

This had to change. And soon.

I’m pretty sure my friends are mind readers, because when it came time to choose the next restaurant for girl’s night, guess what restaurant was chosen?

I love my friends.

Hi Dae and Chung!

It was a nice evening, so we opted to sit outside for dinner. Look at this gorgeous space!

Okay, let’s talk about food. I started with a lovely shrimp & corn bisque.

Oh man. This was good. I devoured every last drop. It was creamy, rich, and the kernels of corn that were spread throughout the soup were so crunchy and fresh. I loved this soup.

For my entrée, I went with one of the specials of the night: salmon with roasted potatoes.

There was also sauteed spinach (or was it chard?), and a lovely tomato-esque sauce. It was so good. The salmon was perfectly cooked, and was flavorful and incredibly juicy. Every component of this dish was amazing, and the portion size was huge! I ended up taking half of it home; it made a lovely breakfast the next morning

Service at Eleven Eleven was attentive and friendly. I have absolutely no complaints.

I was way too stuffed for dessert (and the only one I would have considered was the bread pudding, which I’ve already tried!), so I skipped it. I know – who AM I?

Anyway, Eleven Eleven gets two huge thumbs up from me. I can’t wait to visit again!

See you next week!

Good morning, and welcome to Week 4 of the Chicken Wing Challenge! These weeks are just flying by, aren’t they? We’re almost halfway through the challenge, and I feel like I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of all of the chicken wings that STL has to offer. Chicken overload!

I suppose chicken overload isn’t a bad thing…is it? Hmm. Something to ponder…

Enough chatter. Let’s get to it.

For week 4 of the challenge, I headed to The Post Sports Bar & Grill.

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This fun sports bar is located in Maplewood, which happens to be one of my favorite areas in St. Louis.

Even though I’m not a huge sports fan, it’s still fun to come here and soak in the lively atmosphere.

The dozens of televisions on the wall certainly helps.

On to the chicken. The Post is known for their amazing chicken wings, so I was excited to give them a try. They offer a nice variety of flavors: spicy garlic, mild, hot, BBQ, and honey BBQ. You can also order the wings baked for an extra 50 cents.

Per the challenge rules, I asked the friendly waitress about the most popular flavor of chicken wings. Her response didn’t miss a beat:

“Spicy Garlic wings, baked!”

Done and done.

I ordered 10 wings ($8.99), but you can also order 20 or 30.

Don’t they look amazing?

They were piping hot, so I waited a minute or two for them to cool down a bit before I dug in.

The verdict? These wings were fantastic! They were flavorful, juicy, spicy, and sooooo meaty!

I couldn’t get enough of these babies. Ordering them baked was a really good choice; while the garlic flavor was definitely there, I feel like they weren’t as messy as traditional (un-baked) wings. I would definitely order these again!

So there you have it. Week 4 is in the bag! I’m not quite ready to share my rankings yet (although I definitely do have favorites already!). Maybe next week.

See you then!

When I first started this blog in March of 2010, my goal was to explore and write about restaurants in the St. Louis area. Other than a trip to Chicago, I’ve stayed pretty true to that goal.

But occasionally, I’ll venture outside of the boundaries I’ve set for myself. If a restaurant outside of the St. Louis area comes highly recommended, I’ll go for it!

And this one, friends? Came with a glowing recommendation from this guy:

You may remember my uncle from my trip to Epic Pizza & Subs. He raved about Epic Pizza, and I was blown away. So after months (maybe even years?) of hearing him rave about Bully’s Smokehouse, I knew I had to pay them a visit one day, even though they were all the way in Edwardsville, Illinois – a good 45 minute drive from my house.

The perfect opportunity came a few weeks ago when we had a Welcome Home party at Bully’s for my Aunt, who was stationed in Iraq. Perfect!

There were a ton of us there, so a ton of food was ordered. I tried a little bit of everything.

Spicy chicken wings,

Onion rings,

Sweet potato fries (with the most amazing sweet dipping sauce!)

Fried green beans,

And pork and beef nachos, smothered in white American cheese sauce.

It’s hard for me to even pick a favorite. All of our starters were amazing.

Yes, I said starters. When I go out to eat with family, we don’t play around. Haven’t you noticed?

My uncle ordered a BBQ sampler plate for me, so I could try a bit of everything.

There were ribs,

Chicken,

Brisket,

And pork.

Where to begin?

I sampled all of the meats by themselves. Everything was so tasty, although if I had to choose, I think the ribs were my favorite. They were extremely tender and practically fell off of the bone!

And then I smothered everything in my favorite condiment ever. Any guesses?

BBQ sauce. Of course. Bully’s has two types: Midwest Sweetness and Carolina Mustard. Although the Carolina Mustard sauce had an interesting tangyness to it, I preferred the Midwest Sweetness barbecue sauce. It had a smoky, subtle sweet flavor that I liked.

As if I hadn’t already eaten enough, I also stole a few fries (and a bite of bread) from my sister’s plate.

It was all good. The fries were sprinkled with a sweet seasoning that I fell in love with!

When dessert was mentioned, I initially declined. There was no way I could fit another bite into my stomach.

But then I heard two magical words.

No, not bread pudding.

Funnel Cake.

Bring it on! We were all going to share it anyway, right?

There was the classic powdered sugar version,

And we also tried a version with cinnamon and sugar on it.

They were both incredible, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be the cinnamon sugar version. Wowza! I could eat this everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But then I’d probably weigh 500 pounds…and no one wants that, right?

Anyway, I’d call my visit to Bully’s a huge success. I don’t know when I’ll visit again, but I’m sure I’ll be back if my family has anything to do with it. I highly recommend Bully’s if you’re in the area! Just try not to stuff yourself as much as I did, okay?

See you next week!

It’s official: Wednesday is quickly becoming my new favorite day of the week. What can I say? I just love chicken wings.

Let’s jump right in.

For Week 3 of the challenge, I headed to St. Louis Wing Co. This spot has received quite a few good reviews and recommendations, so I was excited to check it out. It was in a pretty unassuming strip mall, which made me giddy. Does anyone else love hole in the wall spots?

The interior was neat and clean, with lots of tables if you opted to eat in.

Oh, and just in case you slipped into a food coma and forgot where you were (hey, it happens!), one of the walls had a huge reminder:

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

I grabbed a menu, and I was quickly overwhelmed. So. Many. Choices.

Let’s take a closer look.

Wowza.

As I stated when I first introduced the challenge, when it came to picking flavors, I planned on going with the most popular flavor(s).

St. Louis Wing Co. offered the best deal I’ve encountered yet: 20 wings for $10.99. I was able to choose 4 flavors, so I went with the most popular (according to the cashier):

Clockwise, starting from the top left: Honey BBQ, Traditional Hot, Thai Sweet Chili, and Sesame Ginger Teriyaki. Are you drooling yet?

First up? Honey BBQ.

These were tasty! The Honey BBQ sauce was super sweet, which could be an issue for others, but I liked it.

Next? Traditional Hot.

Hmm. These were the most “normal”, flavor-wise, out of the bunch, so I was expecting to be wowed by these. Unfortunately that was not the case. The hot sauce had a very strange, almost bitter/metallic taste to it. It was like nothing I’ve ever tasted before, and I wasn’t a fan.

Third on the list? Thai Sweet Chili.

Yum! These were my favorite out of the bunch, hands down. They tasted just like sweet and sour chicken that I would order at a Chinese takeout restaurant. The sauce was a little sweet, but not sickeningly so.

Finally, I tried the Sesame Ginger Teriyaki wings.

I thought the sesame seeds were a cute touch. And while these were certainly tasty, I didn’t detect a single hint of ginger in these. What a shame! I really love ginger, and was hoping to get a hint of that. No dice.

So you know how I feel about the flavors of the wings, but what about the chicken itself? To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of the chicken! It wasn’t very juicy (it was quite dry, actually), and the sauces were slathered on so thick that the strong flavors overwhelmed any hint of chicken flavor that might have tried to come through.

So that’s that. St. Louis Wing Co. certainly wasn’t terrible, and I did appreciate the wide selection of flavors that were offered, but I’m not sure I would rush back here. Poor Richard’s and Trainwreck set the bar pretty high, and St. Louis Wing Co. just couldn’t measure up.

See you next week with even more chicken! Get excited.

Good morning! I hope you’re having a lovely morning (or afternoon, or evening!). I’m still recovering from my recent trip to California. It was such a good time! I miss the beach already.

Anyway, let’s talk about a St. Louis spot, shall we?

About once a month, I go to lunch with my mom and sister. We take turns picking out the restaurant, and there’s only one rule: it has to be a place that none of us has visited before.

This time, it was my sister’s turn to choose the spot, and she chose Crushed Red in Clayton.

Good choice, little sis!

I had been wanting to try this place as soon as I heard about its opening in February of 2012. It’s received quite a bit of buzz; its owner, Chris LaRocca, also owns EdgeWild Restaurant & Winery in Chesterfield.

The restaurant itself is quite lovely. I really liked the warm atmosphere. It was very loft-like with the open ceilings and exposed brick. I loved it!

Oh, and I’d like to steal this light fixture and put it in my dining room. Thanks.

So neat!

Crushed Red has a number of pre-made salads, pizzas, and soups, but you can also create your own pizza if you so desire. Tough decisions to make!

We all made our decisions, and then it was time to sit back and watch the action.

I love open kitchen/preparation areas.

None of us went with salad (healthy food?! Psssshhhhh…), but if you decide to create your own, there are lots of fun toppings to choose from.

After a few minutes, our pizzas were ready!

I went with the Yukon Gold Rush pizza: parmesan cream, hickory bacon, sliced yukon gold potatoes, olives, rosemary, gorgonzola and mozzarella cheese.

Oh baby. This was good! I was worried that the small size of the pizza wouldn’t be enough to fill me up (I have a huge appetite!), but this was the perfect size.

Crushed Red has a self-serve toppings bar that I found quite interesting. Before I dug into my pizza, I paid it a visit.

There was roasted garlic,

crushed red pepper,

parmesan cheese,

and pepperoncini!

There was also tabasco sauce, olive oils, and cholula hot sauce. Lots of options! Not wanting to mess with the flavor of my pizza too much, I settled with a tiny sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

So…the important question…how was the pizza? It was good! I really enjoyed it. The crust was chewy and flavorful. The toppings worked. I love yukon gold potatoes, and whoever made the decision to include them on a pizza is a genius.

My one gripe with the pizza? The toppings weren’t evenly dispersed. At all. One side of my pizza was crowded with potatoes and rosemary, and the other side was mostly cheese. It was very strange, to be honest. Not enough to take away from my enjoyment of the pizza, but it was quite noticeable.

Service at Crushed Red was very friendly, but I found myself quite annoyed with the lack of knowledge that the workers (and later, the manager?) had about their offerings. When I was initially deciding what to order, I was drawn to the Cowpoke Smoke salad: smoked beef brisket, roma tomato, red onion, blue cheese, crispy jalapeno straws, and goddess dressing. My one question: What is goddess dressing? No one – No one – could answer that question for me. In my case, it was just a matter of curiousity, but what if someone with a food allergy made that same inquiry? To not even be able to name any of the basic components in the dressing was a little alarming. I was so turned off by this that I skipped the salad altogether and just went with pizza.

Again, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the restaurant (or my pizza), but it is worth noting.

Aside from those minor complaints, I really enjoyed Crushed Red. I would definitely come back to try other selections on the menu. Heck, maybe I’ll give the goddess dressing a try next time and figure out what’s in it myself!

See you next week.

Howdy! Welcome to Week 2 of the Chicken Wing Challenge! The ride is just beginning, but I hope you’re enjoying it so far.

Before I jump into this review, I just want to answer a question that I’ve been getting regarding the challenge: How am I going to choose a winner? Ooops, I guess I forgot to mention that little detail last week!

After Week 10 of the challenge is completed, I’ll choose my top 3 favorites. And the winner? Well, I’m going to leave that up to you!

Sort of. Let me explain.

After I’ve narrowed it down to my top 3, I’d like to put together a panel of judges to select the winner. A few friends have already volunteered to be on the panel, but I need more! I need you!

Sometime in mid July (I’m thinking either July 14th or 15th – keep those dates open!), I’d like to visit the top 3, chow on some wings, cast votes, and choose a winner. In my (crazy) mind, I picture it as a marathon chicken wing eating spree, where we visit all three restaurants in one day, one after the other. Bam. Bam. Bam.

Have I truly lost my mind, or is that something you think would work? Of course, there’s a lot of time between now and July to tweak things or change the plan altogether, but that’s what I’m thinking. If this sounds awesome to you and you’d like to be on the panel, give me a shout on Facebook, and we can start setting things in motion.

So that’s out of the way. Let’s talk chicken, baby!

Week 2 brought me to another local favorite, The Trainwreck Saloon. This nifty little spot is located in Rock Hill, a suburb of St. Louis.

(source)

Although Trainwreck has a pretty rad interior, it was a nice day, so I took a seat outside on their patio.

I checked out the menu to see what I was working with.

The friendly waitress informed me that the Wreck Wings were their most popular wings. Done. Let’s do this!

Trainwreck prepares their wreck wings by first roasting the chicken wings, and then quickly flash frying them. The result is a juicy wing with a super crispy exterior.

These wings can be ordered with your choice of dipping sauce, but I decided to eat them as they were meant to be eaten – naked.

Wow.

WOW.

These were fantastic. The breading was super crispy, which I loved. The seasoning on the wings was perfect. It was flavorful, and just a little bit salty, which I enjoyed. And the chicken itself? Juicy. Flavorful. Perfect. I didn’t think I would enjoy an un-sauced chicken wing, but these were so flavorful I didn’t miss the sauce at all.

It’s going to be hard to top these wings. I think I have a new favorite! Move over, Poor Richard’s!

See you next week with even more chicken! I’m going to need my stretchy pants pretty soon.

Good morning! I hope you’re having a wonderful Friday. Can you believe it’s May already? This year is just flying by! I’m in an especially good mood, because tomorrow I leave for a trip to sunny California! I can’t wait to eat lots of delicious food and run in the OC Half Marathon!

Enough about trips. Let’s talk about food!

A few weeks ago I went to Everest Café with some friends for an early dinner.

This cozy restaurant is located in the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood of St. Louis. It’s more commonly referred to as The Grove.

I arrived a bit early, so I flipped through the menu and soaked in the atmosphere as I waited for everyone to arrive.

Soon enough, friends started to arrive!

Time to eat.

Some pappadum arrived first, along with some sort of dipping sauce. I’m assuming it was some sort of chutney.

Honestly? The rest of the table scarfed this stuff down, but I’ve never been a huge fan of pappadum, and this was no different. It’s really tasteless to me. If I’m going to fill my belly with food, it better be full of flavor! I don’t want to waste any precious room in my stomach.

Anyway, for my entrée, I went with the hot and spicy Chili Chicken.

It consisted of boneless chicken sauteed with hot chili peppers, onions, green peppers, and cilantro.

I was a huge fan of this! The chicken was definitely spicy, but it wasn’t so strong that it overpowered the other flavors. I enjoyed the contrasting textures of this dish as well — the tender chicken, the crunchy green peppers, the soft onions – it all worked wonderfully.

Service at Everest Café was friendly and fast, especially considering the size of our group. At the end of our meal, they brought out complimentary chai tea for everyone.

Boy do I love chai. It was piping hot, and it was perfectly creamy, rich, and a little spicy. So good!

The owner of Everest Café, Dr. Devi Gurung States, has a strong commitment to healthy, high-quality food. No processed food, butter, or cream are used to prepare any of the meals on the menu. All of the produce used in the dishes are fresh and organic. Dr. States believes that diet is an important factor in preventing disease and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and it’s evident in the dishes that are on the menu. Yay for healthy eating!

I would definitely recommend Everest Café. I can’t wait to come back again; I hear that their lunch buffet is to die for.

See you next week!

I’m squealing, you all. Squealing. Ever since I wrapped up the Bread Pudding Challenge, I’ve been racking my brain, thinking about what challenge I would do next. Because after the excitement of picking the best bread pudding in St. Louis, I knew there had to be another challenge.

Thankfully, a lot of you threw out some great ideas on Facebook and Twitter, and the Chicken Wing Challenge was born. Who’s excited?! I’M SO EXCITED!

Okay, Stephanie. Deep breaths. Breathe.

Ahem.

This is going to be very similar to the Bread Pudding Challenge. Over the span of 10 weeks, I’m going to try chicken wings at 10 different local restaurants. I will judge the wings based on the following criteria:

Taste of the chicken: That’s exactly what it sounds like. What is the flavor of the chicken like? Is it juicy and tender or dry and rubbery?

Taste of the breading/sauce: If the wings are breaded, what does the breading taste like? What is the ratio of breading to chicken? If the wings are sauced, how does the sauce taste? Does it overpower the taste of the chicken? Is there too much? Too little?

Other: Price-wise, am I getting my money’s worth? Are the wings served piping hot, or are they lukewarm? Are the wings meaty enough? Does the restaurant offer a nice variety of flavors?

Sound good?

One thing I thought about while putting together this challenge was whether I was going to order the same flavor of wings at each place (i.e., buffalo style). The scientist in me wanted to order the same flavor at all 10 restaurants; after all, how can one accurately pick the best chicken wings if a different flavor is ordered at each establishment?

But the blogger in me quickly nixed that idea. As far as flavor choice goes, I’m going to go with whatever is most popular at that particular place. I want to sample the best of what each restaurant has to offer. After all, this is the Best Chicken Wing Challenge, not the Best BBQ Chicken Wing Challenge or Best Hot Chicken Wing Challenge.

Phew. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started!

As I was getting some suggestions on local chicken wing spots, Poor Richard’s is a name that came up again and again. This cute little spot is located in Fenton, a suburb of St. Louis. 

(source)

This local bar and grill wasn’t super fancy on the inside, but I like it that way. I immediately felt comfortable upon walking in.

One of the best parts about doing a challenge? I don’t have to decide what to order! The decision is already made. As someone who agonizes over what to order (everything sounds so good!) it was nice to know what I was getting before I even walked through the door.

12 regular wings, please!

Poor Richard’s uses a medium sauce on all of their wings, so there was no decision to be made, flavor-wise. When the wings arrived, I leaned over and took a huge whiff. Amazing.

I grabbed a wing and took a huge bite. Wow. These are super flavorful! The sauce wasn’t too overpowering or spicy, which allowed the flavor of the chicken to come through. The breading was crispy and delicious, and the wings themselves were pretty meaty. The more chicken, the better!

Temperature-wise, these were hot, but not piping-hot. That made it easier for me to dig right in without burning my mouth.

At $8.29 for 12 wings, I think this was a pretty good value. Obviously, the more you order, the better deal you get; $32.99 for 50 wings is pretty awesome! However, 12 was just fine for little old me.

Since this is only Week 1 of the challenge, I don’t have any other places to compare Poor Richard’s to, so it gets top ranking for now (by default). I loved these wings, and I would definitely return to gobble down some more.

I think it’s safe to say that Week 1 was a success! I’ll see you next week with the next contender in the challenge. This is going to be fun!

Gooood morning and happy Friday to you! I’m in an especially good mood this morning, because I get to talk about one of my favorite foods: sushi!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a review about sushi. In fact, the last time I wrote about sushi (at my favorite sushi spot, Kampai!) was in March of 2010! I need to step my sushi blogging game up, eh?

Anyway, I recently visited this sweet sushi spot with a friend:

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Café Mochi! It’s a quaint sushi shop in the Tower Grove South neighborhood in St. Louis. I had been itching to visit this place for ages, so it was nice to finally stop in!

Let’s get to business. The menu offered lots of typical sushi offerings (California rolls, Dragon rolls, etc.), but I wanted to try something a little different. I love specialty rolls, so I went with the Godzilla Roll:

Doesn’t that look fantastic? Among other things, it contained spicy scallops and a delicious crab mixture on the inside. There was also a lovely drizzle of spicy sriracha!

I loved it and gobbled down every last bite.

My friend ordered the sashimi, which is simply raw fish; no bells and whistles here!

It looked fantastic and super duper fresh; he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Service at Café Mochi wasn’t the best; even though the place was practically empty, our waitress was extremely inattentive. We ordered Miso Soup, which she completely forgot to bring out to us. And she wasn’t particularly friendly, either.

Despite the less-than-stellar service, I still recommend Café Mochi. It’s hard to find decent sushi in a landlocked state like Missouri, but Café Mochi does a really decent job! Two thumbs up.

See you next week!

I’m grinning ear to ear as I’m writing this review, because I’m so excited to share this experience with you. I haven’t been this giddy over a restaurant in quite some time, and if you know anything about my blog (and my sometimes harsh reviews!), you know that it takes a lot to impress me. Sure, I’ve been to plenty of restaurants that I enjoyed and gave kudos to, but when it comes to restaurants that really, truly knock my socks off? I can name those on one hand.

You guys.

YOU GUYS.

This is one of those restaurants that completely knocked my socks off.

The name of this restaurant? Well, it’s in the title of this blog post.

Blood & Sand.

This members-only establishment has been the source of a lot of buzz around St. Louis. A. Lot. Of. Buzz.

I will admit that when Blood & Sand opened in September of 2011, I was in no rush to try it. But it wasn’t because I thought the food would be terrible – my thoughts were quite the opposite – it was because I didn’t like the idea of a members only establishment. You mean…I have to pay for the privilege to walk through the doors of this place? I wasn’t digging the idea. At all.

However, I began to hear stories of foodies who visited Blood & Sand and loved it. I read nothing but positive reviews on Yelp, Twitter, and Facebook. And finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to visit this place. HAD to.

Luckily, I have friends in high places

My friend Browning (top right) was nice enough to invite myself (and a few friends!) as his guests at Blood & Sand. From left to right: Me (duh!), Stephen, Mallory, Browning, and Christine. Tracey (not pictured) was also in attendance and took this shot of all of us. Notice my extremely goofy grin? This girl was excited!

One thing I noticed (and loved) about Blood & Sand was the atmosphere of the place. It was so beautiful! The attention to detail was top-notch; every single aspect of the restaurant seemed to be perfectly thought out and well designed.

Can I move in? Pretty please?

Enough of my drooling. Let’s talk about food!

I wanted to start out with a cocktail. TJ Vytlacil, part owner of B&S, is also an expert mixologist, and has received quite a bit of attention for his creations.

Perhaps the most talked about of his libations is the Love Burns cocktail. This drink contains aged rum, lemon juice, raw simple (I’m assuming this is raw simple syrup?), barolo chinato (a smooth wine infused with roots, herbs, and spices) , grapefruit bitters, and rose champagne. Fancy!

Oh wow. This drink certainly packed a punch! One and done, baby. Love does burn! I really enjoyed it.

Next we ordered a few small plates to share.

First up? Deviled Farm Eggs.

I’m going to be honest. While the presentation was beautiful, these weren’t my favorite. They were pretty bland; my grandma’s are so much better! Sorry, chefs. Maybe if you’re nice, she’ll tell you her secret to deviled egg perfection

We also had an order of truffled tater tots:

Be still, my beating heart. I’m going to need a moment of silence for these tots.

Do me a favor right now. Imagine what tater tots taste like. Think of every tater tot that has crossed your lips in your life.

Now forget that. Forget everything you think you know about tots. Because these are like nothing you’ve ever tasted in your life.

How can I describe these? They were perfectly crisp on the outside and unbelievably creamy in the middle. I have no idea how they did that! B&S could have given me a bowl filled with nothing but these tots and I would have been perfectly okay with that. Wow.

Well, now that I’ve spent way more time talking about tater tots than any normal person should, we can move on.

Christine ordered this lovely soup:

It was a butternut squash and apple soup. Deliciously creamy, and a little sweet, thanks to the apples.

Browning ordered a dish with roasted wild mushrooms, cauliflower beignets, and white anchovy:

I had a bite of this as well, and it was delicious! I adore mushrooms. The cauliflower beignets were unique and tasty!

As for myself, I went with the Pig in a Blanket.

This creative twist on the popular childhood treat (did anyone else eat pigs in a blanket as a kid? I did!) consisted of a spicy herb sausage wrapped in a kim chi pancake. It was surrounded by a sweet sesame sauce.

I loved this. The sausage was juicy, flavorful, and had a spicy kick that was fantastic. The kim chi pancake tasted pretty mild, which was perfect – I wouldn’t want anything to detract from the flavor of that sausage! The sesame sauce brought everything together wonderfully. I couldn’t ask for more.

Next up? Dessert! I ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding:

It was garnished with candied ginger and surrounded by sticky caramel sauce.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this, to be honest. It wasn’t bad, but I’ve had some really tasty sticky toffee puddings, and this wasn’t one of them. It was too dry and cake-like for my tastes.

However, someone else at the table ordered chocolate mousse:

And all of a sudden, all was right with the world. This decadent mousse was served with a shortbread cookie. The taste of chocolate was so prominent, and the mousse itself was ridiculously creamy. I adored this dessert, and wish I would have ordered it myself!

Service at Blood & Sand was spectacular. Our waiter took the time to explain just about everything on the menu to us, and he answered any questions that we had (and we had a lot!). It’s been a long time since I’ve received such detailed and thorough service. It was so refreshing!

So…would I come back to Blood & Sand? Hah. What a silly question! Of course I would. I highly recommend B&S – if you ever receive the opportunity to attend as a guest (or buy a membership yourself!), take it. You won’t be sorry.

Now will someone come and wipe this goofy grin off of my face? I can’t stop smiling.

See you next week!