Tag: dining

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Ling & Louie’s a great place to eat in Northfield @ Stapleton

My wife and I headed out for a nice dinner before we went to the Denver Improv at Northfield @ Stapleton and we didn’t quite know where to go. We found Ling & Louie’s and it was a great choice.
We started our evening with the potstickers and crab wontons. The potstickers were quite tasty and the sauce that came with them really brought out the flavors. I particularly liked the crab wontons. Unlike crab wontons served at other restaurants, this included lump crab meat and no fillers. Thumbs up on both of them.

For my entree I got Ling’s Sweet and Sour Pork dish. This was quite fresh and tasty. The peppers and pineapple were quite fresh and were diced into small pieces, unlike other places that have big chunks of pepper and pineapple from a can. It was fresh pineapple. The dish also had a good bite, a little bit spicy.

My wife had the Evil Jungle Princess Chicken and she fell in love with this dish. Granted, she likes anything in a peanut sauce. But it had a lot of flavor and the vegetables that came with it were also fresh. Now this item was listed as spicy dish, but we found it not to be that spicy at all.

In fact, we found the Ling’s Sweet and Sour Pork dish to be spicier than than the Evil Jungle Princess Chicken dish. For other menu items, check with your wait staff to see if they are spicy or not.

The only thing that we were disappointed in was that the beer selection was not that extensive. I would like to see a better selection of beer. But they have a full beverage menu, full bar, and a good selection of wine.

If you are looking for a good place to eat in the Northfield @ Stapleton area look to Ling & Louie’s. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Read my review of this restaurant in Yelp.

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Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe a definite place to visit in Washington DC

I have been distracted from writing about my experiences at restaurants I visit and I have missed writing about them. It is time to get back to that and I want to start with my visit this evening to Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe.
Kramerbooks is becoming a place I need to visit whenever I am in D.C. Their selection of books is something that you don’t usually find in the chain stores.  I always find something different to take with me and read.

I had eaten at Afterwords Cafe before and enjoyed it, so I thought I might as well combine the two and find something and then grab dinner.

Well I checked out the books and nothing jumped out at me.  They seemed to have a lot of books about the election and I am quite tired of that. So I grabbed the new “The Atlantic” magazine. Sometimes that is almost like a book.

With reading material secured, I walked through the store and to the cafe.  I got settled in my seat and was soon enjoying a Peak Organic Ale from Maine. Quite tasty. (If you go to their website, they have several ales, just don’t know which one I had.)

For dinner I started with a mescaline salad that included apples, mushrooms, walnuts and a wonderful vinaigrette.  I had to have every last bit. For the main dish I had the crab cake platter. It was delicious.

The crab cake is served on top of fresh pasta topped with roasted corn, tomato, sweet peppers & scallions. It has the right about of spice. It all flows together for a wonderful taste.

The service was good and being a Sunday night they were training new waitstaff, but that was not a problem. Both were quite attentive.

If are in DC and find yourself in the Dupont Circle area, find Kramerbooks & the Afterwords Cafe for a wonderful read and nice meal.

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In-N-Out Burger is the place for burgers

I just want to say, that anytime I am at a location in California or Nevada where there is an In-N-Out Burger, I am there at least once.
The burgers are just perfect and the wash down perfectly with a milkshake.

I don’t know what it is, but a double-double, fries, and a milkshake are the perfect meal.  The meat is juicy, the cheese is just melted over the hamburger, and the vegetables are fresh.

The potatoes are cut into fries just before the are put in the fryer.  Nothing frozen here.

There is such a cult following, that there is a secret menu for ordering besides the three burgers.  There is a short-list on their website, but the real list is on the internet.

If you are in California or Western Nevada, find an In-N-Out Burger and try it out.

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Friend of a Farmer is friend of my taste buds

Friend of a Farmer is definitely a friend of my taste buds.  It was a really delicious dinner in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City.
We needed to get out of midtown Manhatten yesterday for dinner and headed for Friend of a Farmer.  I had heard of this place from my sister in-law and my wife.  My sister in-law used to go here a lot and took my wife there before.

After a short walk from the subway at Union Square, we were there and sitting outside at the restaurant enjoying a cool evening breeze in New York, something that has been missing for most of our trip.

The service was prompt and friendly.  It was almost like visiting family for dinner.

I had the Tery Alan Chicken.  Was this delicious.  It is a chicken breast stuffed with granny smith apples and cheddar cheese served over lemon bread with citrus honey raisen sauce.  It is served also with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables.

This was just one of the items that were on the menu, but I just loved this.  It was quite flavorful and enjoyable.  It all was washed down with a Witte beer from the Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown, New York.  It was a Belgian Wheat beer that was quite smooth.

For desert I had the key lime pie, but the berry tart also looked good.

It is more known for their breakfast and brunches, but is also a wonderful place for dinner.

It is a wonderful place to get away from it all in New York.  It is a nice, quiet, and restful place in a big city.  If you want to get away from it for an hour or two, head to Friend of a Farmer.

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Frankie & Johnnie’s a wonderful steakhouse in New York

We were looking for a place for dinner tonight, but didn’t want to go to far away from our hotel near Times Square.  I knew of a steakhouse near Rockefeller Center, but in doing some research I found one near our hotel, Frankie and Johnnie’s.
It is on 37th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.  Walking down the street you wouldn’t think that a great steakhouse is there, but go inside and it is a wonderful place.

Downstairs is the bar and upstairs is the restaurant.  The hostess took us upstairs and we were greeted by the head waiter who promptly sat us and asked us if we would like to have anything to drink.

The service was wonderful and the Boddingtons was quite cold and tasty.

Now for the food. Continue reading “Frankie & Johnnie’s a wonderful steakhouse in New York”

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Casa Bonita: Never, ever again!

Tonight we went to Casa Bonita in Lakewood, Colorado, with friends for dinner and a fun evening. Never, ever again.
The food is horrible, bland Mexican food that is full of processed cheese and other unreconizable items.  I think it was chicken.  They are known for the soapapillas, but they were just ok.  Did I mention that it is served cafeteria style?

Don’t get the all you can eat meal. They have them sitting out and just hand them to you. Order something on the menu. At least they have to make it somewhere for you.

I guess Casa Bonita is known for their entertainment, but the cliff divers, shows that push people into the water, and magic show was quite cheesy.  I don’t think there was a video game in the arcade that was not at least 30 years old.

They even had a pinata hitting for kids who were having birthday parties there. But the pinata didn’t even have candy in them.  The employee pulled out a basket and threw the candy on the floor.

I think the kids had fun, but we won’t be going back.  It is quite a rip-off.  Save your money and time if you can.

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Washington Park Grille delivers good food and experience

I have found a new restaurant in Denver that is now on my favorites list and it is the Washington Park Grille.
My first experience was a couple months ago during restaurant week in Denver with my wife.  We had a nice dinner, the food was wonderful, and the service top class.  The steak and wine were perfect.  We went on a Wednesday night and when we left the restaurant was still hoping and the bar was overflowing.

The second time I went was last Thursday for Project Angel Heart during lunch.  I went with some co-workers and most of us had been there before.  This time I had the buffalo meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. It was wonderful.

This is a great restaurant in a great part of Denver.  They have great service, great food, great wine, and look like they have great martini’s.

The only drawback is parking.  There is not that much of it with the several restaurants and shops around on Gaylord Street.  Added to the problem is that residential streets in the area have restrictions on them that require a permit to park in the evenings.

The only saving grace is that they have valet parking on Thursday through Saturday evenings.

Reservations are recommended. You can even make a reservation online through OpenTable.

If you want a really good, casual dinner with your loved one or friends, head to the Washington Park Grille. It is a great neighborhood gathering place that you will want to keep coming back to.

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Mateo Restaurant Blows It, Sunflower Restaurant Saves the Evening

This was shaping up to be a fun evening. My sister in-law was in town from New York and the kids day-care was hosting a parents night out so it set up for the adults to head out for a dinner with adult conversation. (Don’t get me wrong, we love our kids, but sometimes it is nice to get out and have an adults night.)
Well my wife and I had been to Mateo in Boulder a couple times and had wonderful experiences. But we hadn’t been there for a couple years and decided to head back and take my sister in-law.

My wife made the reservations and they even called me last night to confirm that we were coming. We dropped the kids off and headed for Boulder.

Well when we arrived, they wanted to sit us at one of their small patio tables that they had brought in from outside. It also had the small uncomfortable patio chairs. Something that I don’t want to sit at or on when we will be having a nice leisurely dinner and spending $150-$200 for the pleasure.

All the other tables are nice with comfortable padded chairs.

Well we tried to get another table and they basically said that the only other thing they had available was the community table. All the other tables were spoken for. We even spoke to who appeared to be the manager or owner and he was not helpful at all.

I have never been so mad or upset in my life when I have gone out to eat. They should not treat their customers like that. If they don’t have a table, they should never have accepted the reservation. Or if someone made a reservation after us, they should have been turned down. It is not professional and does not show respect to us as their customers.

Well we need to find a place to eat, so we headed west on Pearl Street a couple blocks and found Sunflower. What a difference from Mateo.

Continue reading “Mateo Restaurant Blows It, Sunflower Restaurant Saves the Evening”

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Montana Brewing Company, an ok dinner

I am in Billings, Mont., for work and headed over to the Montana Brewing Company for dinner. I thought this was going to be a good place to have a beer and dinner because they won the small brewpub and small brewpub brewer of the year at the Great American Beer Festival. But I left disappointed.
Overall the menu was typical brewpub fare, but it seemed a little light on the beer selection. It appeared they had a wheat, amber, stout, and another one I can’t remember.

I choose the wheat and it was different and not as good as other wheats. It does not compare to the Bighorn Brewing Company Hefeweizen. It was almost like I was drinking a fresh Coors Beer.

For dinner I went with the Bacon Cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. The cheeseburger was quite good but the sweet potato fries were not really fries. They were more like chips.

These chips also had a pepper salt on them that were quite hot. I couldn’t eat too many of them.

The Montana Brewing Company was ok for dinner, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to make it here. If you are staying in downtown Billings, then go for it. Otherwise find another place to dine.

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Screw Cap or Cork, You Decide

On today’s CBS Sunday Morning, it focused all on food.
One of the stories caught my attention, Time to Pop A … Screw Cap?  The story focused on the number of wines migrating from using the cork to using rubber, glass, or gasp, a screw cap.

Some statistics caught my attention from the story.

“This year, 95% of all New Zealand wine will have screw caps, as will 50% of Australian wine. Only 5% of U.S. wine bottles have screw caps, but the number is growing.”

The problem is a chemical called TCA.  It taints the flavor of the wine.  This is because the quality of the cork has declined over time.

Continue reading “Screw Cap or Cork, You Decide”