Saturday, April 23, 2011

Boogaloo in the Bodegoo

I know my one fan is very sad I'm not updating my posts as faithfully as I did when I first started.  But I'm not gone forever so here I am back updating on the fabulous eats we had in treat.

This week was all kinds of bar foods.  Too unhealthy and too much.  But you gotta love it.  Fox N Hound twice in one week!  BWW not on  a Tuesday.  Being out and about makes me want to stay out.  But need to go into a hermit life.  Had a chest and head cold all week, but continued on my playing ways.  At least I didn't drink.  That would've caused havoc on my health.  And my soul during Holy Week.  Soon, though, lent will be over and I will be back to my dollar menu at McD's and going to try out the hot dogs at Sonic and grab some Wendy's spicy nuggets and Jr. Whopper at Burger King.  And ESPECIALLY some ice cream.  Any drive thru.  No more bar foods and fancy happy hours.  Hahhaa... just kidding.

I say though, Fox and Hound has some good bar foods.  Very consistent and good.  Especially their wings and pretzels..  BWW of course has good wings, but mainly it's about their sauce.  Their wings can be too small, this week it was pretty good sized.  But my favorite there is the mini corn dogs with their honey mustard.  YUM!  I was hoping they'd have their happy hour at night, but the bartender said it was only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Sad... half off their nachos and mini dogs was great.  But like I said, we were there not on a Tuesday but a Wednesday.  Random.

But Friday was worth a blog entry.  Hahah... We went to Sullivan's and then to La Bodega South.  Coming from some good prayer time for Good Friday service, we were going to go to La Bodega, but the wait was 2 hours long... So we waited.  At Sullivan's.  The steak house.  But I was so hungry, I progressed my dinner.  Starting with some crab artichoke dip, blue cheese chips, sliced steak, and gnocchi.  Okay, so just the gnocchi and chips I ordered, the rest were others that I tasted.  All were great.  Prices from $8-10.  Kinda high for appetizers, but having a small sliced steak on some spinach for $10 is a good price.  The chips were amazing though.  Good blue cheese, Maytag, I think.  Blue cheese is one of the cheeses you have to have a good one to appreciate it.  Otherwise, there's a lot of pungency going on that you won't like if you're not used to it.  The dip was too salty, I guess crab and artichoke are two very salty things that didn't die down in a dip.  This was the first time at Sullivan's, not a bad experience.  I don't think I would go here regularly though.  Their Thursdays are $5 martini nights, and I hear all the hot divorcees of Leawood/OP are out for.  I'm too Shawnee for that.  Hahha...

Finally we headed over to the Bodega, but our table was still not available. But the whole place was open and free to roam about.  They set out tables everywhere and it was still pretty crowded at like 9:30pm.  We didn't get to sit until 10pm which was exactly 2  hours from when we started.  Just the last 10 minutes was kind of a b* to wait though.  Finally sat, same table as last time I was there, other than the time in the glass box room.  About nine of us and we ordered about 14 small plates.  This I thought was a lot considering I just ate an appetizer to my appetizers right before.  But we could've maybe gone without 2 dishes.  Pigs! I say, I always eat with pigs!  Hahhaa... Good to get a full feel of their tapas menu.  The solomollio, I think, was the one  that I thought was fabulous last time I ate it, and was excited the head orderer ordered it.  Though I can't pronounce it.  But does have a blue cheese.  The elotes there was really good too.. hard to shared though.. I just slice off the corn kernels instead and eat it like cheesy corn.  Soo good.. had to eat off the rest on cobb.  A slight variance from mexican corn because they don't used queso fresca.  But whatever cheese they use, was really good.  Love the meatballs and especially the sauce they come in.  Must make sure there's bread to soak it up.  And the potatoes is always a must.  I'm always looking for the small crispy ones.  Sangria looked pretty good, and mojitos... mm... mojitos... they brought the recipe from the old re:Verse days.  Sad that it's been replaced by a pizza/wine bar on the Plaza.  Almost all the spanish/mexican  inspired places are gone there.  Hopefully the new tenants of MiCocina can hurry and open their contemporary mexican restarant.  Plaza lost a lot of flava.

There were many more dishes, but I can't recall most of it.. and always a not faithful picture documenter.  It was good though.  La Bodega is one of the best places for tapas.  Avenues Bistro was our original plan because Friday and Saturday nights they have a late happy hour menu.  Which, last time we went, was soo good.  But, being me and the other constant mediator in our group, agreed on La Bodega as a happy middle between Avenues and Capital Grille bar.  It did not disappoint, as usual, and the wait was not that bad because it was just a little wait after the other half of our group arrived around 9:30pm.  

Tha-tha-tha's all folk.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ali Baba and the 4 Thieves

Finally got to check out Aladdin's Cafe.  We used to go there a lot when it was Cafe Rumi.  Ironic name for the smallest restaurant ever.  Haha...  Anyways, LOVED the food at Cafe Rumi.  Still get it every once in a while when my mom brings it from Sprint.  One of the old owners still has a stand in the canteen there.  Very good.  But not the full menu of items it used to have at the restaurant.

It was a chaotic turn of events going to eat dinner, I was dead set on just staying home, but after many twists and turns in the day, I did eventually go out to meet my friends there.  I would've been so sad if they went without me anyways.  Perfect day in KC too.  Light breeze, warm temperatures.  Aladdin's is situated in what looks like an old house.  The seating area outside seems like it's the old driveway, with the garage door closed.  The inside first floor is split between the kitchen and a few tables, and the upstairs is small quaint dining area.  Like I said, one of the smallest restaurants.  But we sat outside so you don't feel as cramped.

I would say the food still stands tall with the change of ownership.  BUT, I think Rumi's still had a better menu and food, just small differences, it might just be the memories more than the food.  But the food was still kick-ass.  The kifta was soo good and juicy.  Hummus was smooth and creamy with this really good jalepeno puree.  Pita was inside with a light toast on outside.  The greek salad was made with this housemade dressing, that I think they use cilantro pureed in it too.  It reminded me of this India-n inspired marinade that my Tabagan/Trinidadian friend made me once.  I feel like there's onions, lemons, cilantro mixed in there.  So good.  And a very unique dressing.

They still have rice pudding too!  So good..  but I missed the pistachio they used to add to the top.  Not to be nitpicky.  Stating opinions always make you sound that way.  Hahha.. Still good and sweet.  Wished I had this spoon at the end though.... I could scrape the last bit of it if I did.


Rubber Baby Spoon


Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Two fer One Tuesdays...

Wow... everyone has this special.  Two for one tacos, pad thai, burgers... the last of which WangJang and I had yesterday at Westport Fleamarket.  So yummy!  No pictures though.  Gotta love cheap burgers and cheap beer.   $2 Magic Hat...

My evaluation of the Fleamarket is that it has some of the best burgers... and not so good fries.  But yesterday the fries were really good... Burger was great.  Topping bar still a little sketch though.  Hahaha... Can't get everything, I guess.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Eating My Way Through the Week

So.... I haven't been updating daily.  So now I have a lot of meals to write about and no memories left of all of them... I'll do my best recall most of them...  But the main feature will be of BlueStem's happy hour.

I've been doing a lot of experimental cooking at the cafe.  Just because I'm hungry and can't think right.
I wanted to try fish tacos, so I grilled some salmon with teriyaki sauce.  It was pretty good.


Top: grilling the salmon.  Bottom: finished product.

Then for breakfast one day I just ate a piece of whole wheat toast and slices of pork belly I made that morning for tacos/rice bowls.  It was soooo fatty delicious.  I don't know what this world would be like if no one discovered pork, except a sad one with no rainbows.  Pork belly is almost like bacon but uncured.  

Spicy bacon sandwich.

Hahaha.... I'm okay.  No heart attacks yet.  Eating at home helped balance some of that out... Hopefully.  Lastly I would like to present the most wonderful find I found at the asian market:

Blurry Baby Spoon.

Uh.. For the sauce fiends out there... This has to be the best idea ever.  It's a baby spoon that can scrape off all the sauce on the bottom of the bowl.  Fingers and tongues are no longer needed!  Whip this out and you can taste the last of the pudding, or peanut sauce.  OR ice cream!  Just some food for thought.  Kekeke...

Bluestem

Anyone knows of this restaurant, knows how expensive you can have a meal here.  But during their happy hour, M-F until 7pm, you can have their lounge menu for half off.  Such a great deal.  It's not cheap by no means, we spent about $24 with tax and tip each.  Still an amazing deal.  $7 martinis.  

Bar.

I arrived late so the food was cold and eaten.  My friends started without me.  But it still was good. 

Martini (d'licious!  but can't recall the name.)



 Mussels in a coconut cream garlic sauce.

Smoked salmon plate.


Dessert.  That's rose water foam on top of the chocolate.

Chocolate cake.  Homemade marshmellow.

Beef Tartare.

Me tearing up the beef tartare.

Blogging is tiring.  Sorry that's all for now.  






Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tummy achin' Tuesday...

I've not been treating my stomach well.  Past two days I've been cradling Pellegrino bottles.  I should be selling instead of drinking them... but it's an amazing alleviation to an aching tummy.

Today is going to be a combination of  yesterday and today.  Yesterday all I did was have some leftover spicy pork steaks and watch tv and my brother hauling boxes out of the house because he was finally moving out.  Both were pretty entertaining.  But not too much to write about.  So for the past two days,  you can see what happens when you leave me in a cafe full of food.

Monday's breakfast - PB Bruchetta

This is not that cool, but toasted some leftover french baguettes and ate it with peanut butter.  Almost had a bruchetta feel to the dish, or chips and dip.  Aw man, I forgot to take a picture of my rice bowl.  Not the healthiest thing, just an easy filler dish.



Tuesday's breakfast - Ciagatta have your breakfast

This morning I toasted some ciabatta bread and made a egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich.  With a lot of green jalepeno jam.  Love breakfast sandwiches.  Love love them.  Makes me think of Spanglish everytime I make one.  The delicious midnight snack Adam Sandler makes for himself was the best scene in that whole movie.

Lunch - naked rolls

Started out making a sushi roll.  Some salmon and crab.  But wanted to make it umph.

Dressed and ready to impress

SO... I added some masago, mango, spicy mayo, and munched up almonds.

That's the story of my day.  These past couple days have been really busy during lunch so I needed some good eating afterwards.  Helps me decompress.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Blue Monday...

My ice machine decided it was the time to defrost... No ice.  Late morning.  No baked goods. And after a weekend of eating too much, my tummy was angry at me last night.  Not a good morning for me.  But I am grateful that on Saturday nothing was ruined when some water flushed into my back room.  Amazingly.  

Too busy on Sunday to take any pictures of my eats.  I do have to say I got to finally try the Bankok Pavillion's weekend buffet.  They add a bowl of meatball pho. It was really good.  Like how my friend makes pho... but only meatballs to add to it.  No sliced beef.  It was a fantastic buffet, though. And at $15.02 for the buffet, tax, and tip, it was well worth the trip.  Thai food is typically too expensive, especially when you want to try all different kinds of dishes.  It usually is about $15 a person.  And here you can try everything.

My friend's hubby was disappointed because he got tricked into going to mexican food instead after church.  He thought everyone was going to the same place, but the guys ended at Dos Reales, and the ladies went to thai food.  Hhahahah...

It was Big Mama's birthday too.  And I wasn't intending to eat a big lunch before hand, but when the suggestion came out, I couldn't say no.  I had to sleep it off all day after lunch.  So tired and full.  But by dinner time, I still was not feeling hungry and still a little tired.  But couldn't let her down.  She loves noodles, and we were going to take her to Red Snapper for some jjang pong.  But the brother had a job to do that day and didn't get home until late.  So, like she always does, she took charge and started on dinner hersself.  I couldn't let her make her own birthday dinner, so I intervened and cooked.  She had prepared some gahlbi and marinated pork steaks the day before.  Like it was all planned out.  But I guess  she just had a back up plan in case we didn't do anything for her.  Women, I feel, do these things so they don't feel so bad when they get disappointed.  But also she does it to prepare for the week too.  It was kind of like when I was watching this Japan special on New Years celebrations.  Women aren't suppose to cook on the New Year day, so they spend all week preparing dishes for the day-night.  So it's not that they don't do anything to make dinner on the New Year's, they just do all of the work before so they just put things together on the actual day.

I felt jipped out of doing something nice for my mom, but I guess it was just easier and more comfortable for everyone.  We eat like kings and queens all the time even when we are dead broke.  I don't know how she does it, but I guess that's the benefit of owning a food service business and having an awesome cook for a mom.  Afterwards we played a mean game of hahtt to.  A Korean card game.  She's the only one who knows the rules, so she had an advantage on me.  But by the end I kind of figured the way to get more points, but still got clobbered by her.  Oh well... Happy birthday to my beautiful amazing Big Mama. Back to my blue and grey Monday.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

It's Friday Friday Friday, then Saturday Saturday..

Ugh... As I'm dealing with water that was coming down from my ceiling, I'm posting this as a stress relief.  Or maybe just avoidance because there's nothing I can do at the moment but wait.  Don't own your own business unless you are ready to deal with and pay for all the headache that comes with ownership.  Having a partner is good, but someone you really trust and have the vision with.  Otherwise, just work for "the man."

Yesterday started out with the prank my cousin pulled on me for April Fools.  I was hesitant the whole time about believing this story after my initial freak out second.  She claimed Rusty came into town the night before and surprised proposed to her.  It was a great story weaved with excitement and a commitment to it that was so convincing.  But as my fools day radar was on I called around and figured her tricky ways.  Gomo even called me back to confirm the story.  But that's when I unweaved their web of lies, comparing each story and asking for confirmations on what really happened.  Unmatching stories and one phone call later, I figured I've been duped.  But didn't want to break before her, so I tried duping her too in saying how excited I was and that I'd call up everyone and gather a small party for them.  Then she broke!  Kekeke...

As this was all going on, I still had a big party tray order to take care for a neighbor.  It was pretty good lunch size and easy, but as always, I made it down to the wire.  Then the rest of the day was pretty not busy... even the evening's late hours didn't spur a great crowd.  I can say I did everything I could, but I'm sure there was more effort that I kind of just let slide on the wayside to get more people into the cafe for FF.  But I don't know...   I just got lazy and just neglected a lot of stuff as so much was thrown at me too.  Middle of the day was not for customers, but mainly paper work, bills, blah blah blah...  Discouraging stuff to hinder any other real work.

Finally, I fed myself a late lunch with this monster,


This is food porn for sure.  Good thing I didn't take a picture of myself eating it, because then I'd have to put a parental warning on this post.  Inspired by McDonald's McDoubles and Taco Hut's Mexican Pizza.  I layered corn tortillas with provolone cheese and spicy pork.  Tortilla, cheese, pork, tortilla, cheese pork, topped with onions and cilantro and gochujang.  It was a monster.  Meat was a little too chewy to eat as a pizza, but I didn't care.. I was so hungry I demolished it all.

My fools day finally came down to the last leg.  After First Friday, we ended up going to the casinos for a few hours.  I came out short $10, but it was interesting.  We end up going into the high stakes black jack game.  I learned a little about how to play and what to do.  Stressful playing at that high of a risk game, but I was just playing my friend's hand so he could double up his chances of winning.  I did my job, by coming out $150 over, but the last shoot was no good for him.  Ah well, at least I'm not the one losing his money.  I  had enough losing in the real world...

Sigh** Hopefully the property people call me soon so I can leave home...

Friday, April 1, 2011

A fool's paradise..

Yesterday I had an eating adventure with the young blood, Mouth.  He's bought so many Groupons this past year and never gets a chance to use any of them because as a consultant, he's usually out of town.  I sacrificed myself for the greater good of his addiction to Groupons.  

During the day I was running back and forth from the restaurant supply store to the cafe.  I bought a big case of cucumbers for my mom and thought they shorted me... I ended up having to keep the shorted cucumbers case because they all were like that.  I guess having really large cucumbers caused the bushels to contain a little more than half of the 72 that usually is in a bushel.  But they still were cheaper to buy than the 24 cases.  I'm sick of everything getting more expensive.  Vegetables especially.  Cucumbers doubled in price... Avacados are ridiculous... ugh.  

So by the time I went back to the cafe I was starving.  Had to make myself a sandwich.  

Spicy pork belly sandwich.  Avacados and cabbage on a french baguette.  I live like a queen on a pauper's budget.  And topped with some Night of the Living Dead sauce!

But I got bored again later in the day.  It was very slow after my helper left.  I was getting so bored and finished my side work.  So I got out the leftover steak from Cafe Trio.  Juno didn't want any leftover, but it was such a waste.  I heated it up on my grill and ate it as a snack.  I don't think the grill was hot enough nor did I leave it on long enough... But it was a great snack before dinner.  Should've added some barbeque sauce to it too... there wasn't enough of the grill onions to flavor it.  I didn't get to eat it right away so it ended up being cold.  Sad.

Leftover Ribeye Steak from Cafe Trio.

Finally, six rolled around and I was frantically cleaning up, getting ready to leave.  Mouth was waiting for me so I made him clean out some of my coffee pots.  Hahha.. don't ask me if there's something you can help with when I'm busy getting stuff done.  I'll really take you up on your offer.  

We drive over to RBar.  My favoritest bar, but the most out of the way, in the middle of nowhere place.  I was right down the street earlier at Restaurant Depot, for my cucumbers, but for normal people, this is a random place to put a bar.  But people go out of their way to eat and drink here.  I didn't try their food last time, but when my cousins were in town during a Christmas vacation, we checked out their bar.  It was the best drinks I've had, but with a hefty price tag.  Funny thing was, we went here first and then went to Zoo Bar afterwards to check that place out too.  Hahha... totally different place.  That place kinda felt like the place should have been in Columbia/Moberly, Mo, where our adopted Gpa used to live.  Gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, in a dingy, hole in the wall, kind of place.  

The Wood, RBar.

 Anyways, I started out with a cocktail, The Woods.  Pretty good, and served in a copper cup.  Makes the drink super cold and with a lot of ice.  It took me the whole time there to finish it.  Not because I'm not a drinker, but because the ice never felt like it melted, so the ice was really thick getting through to the drink.  I want to drink my summer drinks in that cup.

Mouth got an assortment of many drinks.  All really carefully made, to the original form.  Get anything there... I'm sure it'll be made with love and tender care.

We ate some bar food and appetizers to go along with the drinks.  Juicy chicken wings, free range, extra crispy fries, we think i was battered in deliciousness, crabby crab cake.  And then I wanted some greens, so order "broccoli salad".  Best thing we ate.  Deep fried macaroni noodles layered with avacados, some sauce, and sliced up broccolis.  Not the healthiest, but quite yummy!  So funny eating out with Mouth because it's almost a date but more relaxing because he's like my little brother.  At one point I asked him his favorite place he's traveled to while consulting, and realized, man, this is like practice dating for me.  Puahhaha... I need all the help I can get.

Sorry all pictures are so dark.
Fries, chicken wings, and crab cake.

Same picture with a little lighting in the middle.

"Broccoli Salad"
Too dark.

All in all, after a $40 Groupon, five drinks, four small plates, we still ended up with a $33+tip tab, which we split.  Hahah... Not a cheap meal, but good.