Thursday, March 1, 2007

Old Xanga Post - 9/26/06

For some time now, I have been getting into the tastes and textures of the world. I have always loved eating, and trying new dishes...and now with my lack of food (I've been one a prolonged diet) and my growing intrigue with cooking and the Food Channel, inspired by the blog 'Ono Kine Grindz, I decided to make a record of the culinary road I have travelled.

Because it is just starting, I will briefly summarize the places and home meals I find notewothy, but in the future I hope to be a source of Restaurant and Dish review and a database for good recipes.

If you have any questions on the below, please feel free to ask me to elaborate.

Recipes I have liked and tried recently:

BBQ baked chicken

Frozen pudding

funfetti cupcakes with jello flavored cool whip frosting

sloppy joe with ground turkey, carrots, celery and cheese

cabernet spaghetti sauce with fresh veggies

splenda cranberry orange muffins

apple banana bread with splenda

Places I have Eaten:

Diamond Head Cove Health Bar- I ordered the Acai Bowl which is a surprisingly filling health dish. With fresh fruit, almost a rasberry tasting tart sorbet of the brazilian acai berry, and chewy costo granola, it is worth the price for a feeling of body freshness and healthy lo cal fullness.

Hiroshi (Restaraunt Row)- This is a Tapas bar which I originally wanted to visit because of the cheap 'foam martinis' (which are just Martinis with a slight topping of foam...nothing special) But ended up loving another drink, and enjoying the dip yourself caesar salad, the house version of bread: rice cakes and wasabi dip was AWESOME!

Moose McGillicuddys- If not for anyuthing else...the drinks are fair and the food is fair...but the drink prices are to die for! Cheap as can be! Started tasting down the drink menue with an electric blue something and a melon electric something else.

The Hano Hano Room (my birthday 06)- The place was amazing...the price was well worth it....the view and music were romantic...don't remember what I ordered though.

Kincaids (anniversary 2006)- Service was horrible at first...didn't get bread or drinks for the longest time. But once things shaped up it was a nice experience. Highly reccomend the macadamia encrusted warm brie...I could eat that as a meal! Also the salad was alright and the wine sauce with the fish was great. As always the complimentary dessert is very welcomed, and it was their signature Creme Brulee on a 'happy anniversary' plate.

CALIFORNIA:

Olive Garden (salinas)- If I thought Kincaids service was bad, this was on a WHOLE nother level. We waited 2 hours for our food! But the salad was alright (that took forever to be refilled too) but the minestrone was pretty poor.

Britannia Arms- Because we don't really have English/British fare really in Hawaii, I was dying to go to a British pub. Almost went to another one, but glad I didn't. We ordered a beer (note to self-when you know you don't like something, don't order it hoping it will grow on you cause its a waste of money), but the entree was wonderful! I ordered the Beef braised in Guiness which was a PERFECT tasting beef stew with vegtables cooked into it and a slice of bread, in an almost perfect size. It tasted so good I almost wishes I hadn't filled up on the average tasting salad.

In and Out Burger- This place needs no review...I'm sure that you all know that, but just in case...the fries are good but the burgers are some of the best I've ever tasted...note to self...try the burgers 'animal style'

The Grill at the Pebble Beach Resort- Felt awfully ratty here since this was a high class country club resort. They got the order of onion rings wrong, which turned out okay, the chicken sandwich was fair and I liked the rasberry lemonade. A good place to stop after biking 7 miles.

Krispy Kreme- YUMMY!

Bixby Bisrto (at the Barnyard shopping center, Carmel)- This was a perfect choice to eat at before touring up into Carmel Valley's wineries. I started with a bay strimp cocktail which was mini shrimp spooned into a martini glass with cocktail sauce. Then for an entree I had the Bistro House salad which was a nice salad with spiced walnuts and champagne vinegarette. I also had a half sandwich which was okay but the REAL treat was my fiances Kobe beef sliders. These mini burgers were so yummy I wanted to trade. The things that made them good were the onion jam, white cheddar and roma tomatoes. They were served with yummy spiced fries. We visited again for dessert after going up the valley, and ordered the peach cobbler with vanilla icecream...mmm a PERFECT end to the afternoon.

The Sea Lion Cafe at Pier 39 (san fran)- This fun atmosphered restaurant over looked the bay, alcatraz and the bridge, and more importantly a large array of entertaining wild sea lions, sunning and splashing around wooden docks. Along with the great show was a wonderful breadbowl with a seafood bisque. A yummy (captain's) cocktail was huge enough to split between two.

Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop (san francisco)- This is the best place ever to have a famous sundae. Unless your in a rush. Take time to eat slowly...enjoy the sickly sweetness and tour the 'factory'. The first time I came I had their signature brownie sundae, but the second time was eating a cable car sundae on the run. It was too sweet, even for my taste with rocky road ice cream, fudge, and marshmallow sauce. And as we walked briskly, it melted briskly. :(

No comments: