November 14, 2012
Change of Venue!
Hello readers! For those of you who didn't know, our little hiatus was partially due to the fact that the Amazing Kobold and I have moved from Las Vegas to Phoenix. I know, I know... it's sad, no more super awesome Vegas recommendations for the moment, but we have been working our way around the Phoenix valley and have found some awesome places to eat. Please stay tuned for awesome updates and delicious ideas for those of you in, or visitng the Haboob capitol of the Southwest!
February 28, 2011
Are you a Mexican, or a Mexican't?!
That makes me laugh, only because I've heard it in person so many times.
Lindo Michoacan fits the bill as a good little place, though a bit pricey, to try something good and new.
The staff was fairly efficient, considering there were two large groups in when we got there. First, I love any place that will stuff me full of chips and salsa. Carbs are my kryptonite. That and Rabbit got me this cheesy goodness that I think the gods have named "Queso Fundito" which considering my complete child like understanding of Spanish, I believe means "Cheese of Fun." It was gooey and cheesy and went great with salsa.
Onto the main course Miss Rabbit got these gi-huge-ant chicken chimichangas that were wonderful. But they paled next to my soup. It was this goat soup that was cooked in beer, not water. It was a HUGE bowl, so much that I took some home for lunch the next day. It's a red brothed, tender, spicy, flavorful party in my mouth, and the goat was invited.
I don't know your experience with goat, but mine is hit and miss. I've cleaned up after goats, I know what these things eat, so I don't blame anyone on that. But this was fall apart in my mouth wonderful. Birria de Chivo (Cabrito) is what it's called on the menu, but in my mouth it's called "Daddy," errr.. "Good."
Dessert, well, we went the "Choose your own adventure" route and picked the best picture we could find.
Because it was on fire.
We didn't even look at the name (And I'm not seeing it on the online menu) but it was Ice-Cream, crunchy bits, some sort of cake, and FIRE.
There is one down side. We couldn't figure out how to put the fire out (it takes a person on either side, and a HUGE blast of lung power, so you smokers beware), so it was a little charred when we got to eating it. But under the charcoal it was still an awesome dessert to finish off a great meal.
Lindo Michoacan fits the bill as a good little place, though a bit pricey, to try something good and new.
The staff was fairly efficient, considering there were two large groups in when we got there. First, I love any place that will stuff me full of chips and salsa. Carbs are my kryptonite. That and Rabbit got me this cheesy goodness that I think the gods have named "Queso Fundito" which considering my complete child like understanding of Spanish, I believe means "Cheese of Fun." It was gooey and cheesy and went great with salsa.
Onto the main course Miss Rabbit got these gi-huge-ant chicken chimichangas that were wonderful. But they paled next to my soup. It was this goat soup that was cooked in beer, not water. It was a HUGE bowl, so much that I took some home for lunch the next day. It's a red brothed, tender, spicy, flavorful party in my mouth, and the goat was invited.
I don't know your experience with goat, but mine is hit and miss. I've cleaned up after goats, I know what these things eat, so I don't blame anyone on that. But this was fall apart in my mouth wonderful. Birria de Chivo (Cabrito) is what it's called on the menu, but in my mouth it's called "Daddy," errr.. "Good."
Dessert, well, we went the "Choose your own adventure" route and picked the best picture we could find.
Because it was on fire.
We didn't even look at the name (And I'm not seeing it on the online menu) but it was Ice-Cream, crunchy bits, some sort of cake, and FIRE.
There is one down side. We couldn't figure out how to put the fire out (it takes a person on either side, and a HUGE blast of lung power, so you smokers beware), so it was a little charred when we got to eating it. But under the charcoal it was still an awesome dessert to finish off a great meal.
Wendy's take two
To emphasize the greatness of this joint, we went back the next week.
Now I don't do that normally. I'd rather not spend my time trekking across the Las Vegas valley for the same food twice in a seven day period. But for this place, we did. Our choice that night was Apple Bees (the on in our neighborhood has an unbalanced number of attractive women working there, other wise I wouldn't go back), or Wendy's. Twenty two minutes and nineteen seconds later we were walking in to be greeted by an excited staff who remembered us.
Once more I got the Hong Kong style ice tea.
Rabbit forgot to explain the joys of this.
It's sweet tea, with two huge lemon slices that you mulch in the glass. It's like a sweet Arnold Palmer, if Arnold Palmers tasted good.
I was fighting off a cold that had me down for the count for two days, so I got the closet thing to chicken noodle soup I could, and it turned out to be almost a Chicken Pho. For those that know me, you know Pho and I are close friends, we cuddle on cold rainy days when nobody is looking. This was no exception. It was lightly spiced, had a good broth, and large amounts of chicken. I was a happy monkey.
Rabbit got a chicken chow mein with pan fried noodles and mushrooms. It was so good that I risked sharing my cold with Rabbit to eat off her plate as well (and crispy noodles always make soup better, right?).
Onto dessert.
I can't remember what I got, being I keep going the tame route. The first time there I got their version of mochi which is served with red beans and a sweet sauce, and I liked it but it was a bit, tame.
This time I got, I think, nothing. Wait. No.. I got this green ice cream that was, sadly, not really impressive and apparently to my lovely co-writer, tasted like Neman Marcus back in the 80's. It wasn't bad, just, unimpressive next to hers.
Rabbit got this layered Neapolitan-esque dessert of DOOM! Think phyllo dough layered with fruits and sweetness. That's all this was. Layers of sweet cream, fruit, and crunchy dough. It was awesome.
So, if you're in the neighborhood, and want great service and damn good food, get there.
Now.
Now I don't do that normally. I'd rather not spend my time trekking across the Las Vegas valley for the same food twice in a seven day period. But for this place, we did. Our choice that night was Apple Bees (the on in our neighborhood has an unbalanced number of attractive women working there, other wise I wouldn't go back), or Wendy's. Twenty two minutes and nineteen seconds later we were walking in to be greeted by an excited staff who remembered us.
Once more I got the Hong Kong style ice tea.
Rabbit forgot to explain the joys of this.
It's sweet tea, with two huge lemon slices that you mulch in the glass. It's like a sweet Arnold Palmer, if Arnold Palmers tasted good.
I was fighting off a cold that had me down for the count for two days, so I got the closet thing to chicken noodle soup I could, and it turned out to be almost a Chicken Pho. For those that know me, you know Pho and I are close friends, we cuddle on cold rainy days when nobody is looking. This was no exception. It was lightly spiced, had a good broth, and large amounts of chicken. I was a happy monkey.
Rabbit got a chicken chow mein with pan fried noodles and mushrooms. It was so good that I risked sharing my cold with Rabbit to eat off her plate as well (and crispy noodles always make soup better, right?).
Onto dessert.
I can't remember what I got, being I keep going the tame route. The first time there I got their version of mochi which is served with red beans and a sweet sauce, and I liked it but it was a bit, tame.
This time I got, I think, nothing. Wait. No.. I got this green ice cream that was, sadly, not really impressive and apparently to my lovely co-writer, tasted like Neman Marcus back in the 80's. It wasn't bad, just, unimpressive next to hers.
Rabbit got this layered Neapolitan-esque dessert of DOOM! Think phyllo dough layered with fruits and sweetness. That's all this was. Layers of sweet cream, fruit, and crunchy dough. It was awesome.
So, if you're in the neighborhood, and want great service and damn good food, get there.
Now.
Wendy's Noodle Cafe
We were in the mood for Chinese food (ha.. that rhymed... I'm funny) and so we headed to the place where any good Las Vegan would go when they were in that sort of mood. Toward Spring Mountain Road, near the West side of town near the strip. We were on Jones near Desert Inn when we found what used to be a Pizza Hut (lovely architectural trademark as that is) marked Wendy's Noodle Cafe.
It had been rated very highly on the inter-tubes, so we thought we'd give it a go. Man, those inter-tubes are right sometimes. In fact, if anything, they were exaggerating on the low end. This place was way past good. It was fan-damn-tabulous. Let's start with the staff.
Cheery, awesome, willing to help the only two white kids in the establishment muddle their way through the gigantic menu of things that sounded delicious and tantalizing. Quick, clean and totally deserving of our praise! In fact, our favorite waitress (because now we've been there way more than once) is usually there, running the whole freakin' floor by herself and we're pretty sure she's over 20... Not to say that she's not rockin' it, but I'm also sayin' she's not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Props to you, woman! She even took the time to show Kobold how to properly mash and enjoy his Hong Kong iced tea!
Now on to the food. First time out, Kobold had the braised beef and I had the roast duck. Both of which were excellent (because you know we had to try each other's food). His beef was tender, sweet and savory and not a second overdone, served with rice and yum-tastic. My duck? Oh yeah. Duck yeah. Not greasy at all. Moist insides, crispy skin, and awesome flavor. Duck yes, duck me all night long.
And desert was even more excellent. All I have to say is mango crepes. Not made with what you would normally think of when you think 'crepe.' Not the french pastry cooked thin on a grill type crepe thing. No. Rice pasta type wrapping with sweet creme and mango slices crepe. The kind of thing that would make you punch your own newborn infant crepe. Fucking awesome.
It had been rated very highly on the inter-tubes, so we thought we'd give it a go. Man, those inter-tubes are right sometimes. In fact, if anything, they were exaggerating on the low end. This place was way past good. It was fan-damn-tabulous. Let's start with the staff.
Cheery, awesome, willing to help the only two white kids in the establishment muddle their way through the gigantic menu of things that sounded delicious and tantalizing. Quick, clean and totally deserving of our praise! In fact, our favorite waitress (because now we've been there way more than once) is usually there, running the whole freakin' floor by herself and we're pretty sure she's over 20... Not to say that she's not rockin' it, but I'm also sayin' she's not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Props to you, woman! She even took the time to show Kobold how to properly mash and enjoy his Hong Kong iced tea!
Now on to the food. First time out, Kobold had the braised beef and I had the roast duck. Both of which were excellent (because you know we had to try each other's food). His beef was tender, sweet and savory and not a second overdone, served with rice and yum-tastic. My duck? Oh yeah. Duck yeah. Not greasy at all. Moist insides, crispy skin, and awesome flavor. Duck yes, duck me all night long.
And desert was even more excellent. All I have to say is mango crepes. Not made with what you would normally think of when you think 'crepe.' Not the french pastry cooked thin on a grill type crepe thing. No. Rice pasta type wrapping with sweet creme and mango slices crepe. The kind of thing that would make you punch your own newborn infant crepe. Fucking awesome.
October 17, 2010
An Old Vegas Casino, and great food.
So I grew up in North Las Vegas. Not just North Las Vegas but one of the oldest parts of, I could almost literally throw a rock at Rancho High School and Jerry's Nugget. I've been eating at Jerry's as long as I can remember, been drinking there since I was 21, etc.
I introduced my roommate and valued commentator Rabbit to Uncle Angelo's inside Jerry's this last week. It's a great place to eat. Real down to Earth and chill. Great music playing in the background (The Rat Pack makes a few appearances), an attentive wait staff, and prices that are definitely reasonable, I'm surprised I didn't take her there earlier.
I introduced my roommate and valued commentator Rabbit to Uncle Angelo's inside Jerry's this last week. It's a great place to eat. Real down to Earth and chill. Great music playing in the background (The Rat Pack makes a few appearances), an attentive wait staff, and prices that are definitely reasonable, I'm surprised I didn't take her there earlier.
We started off with the Garlic Zappoli, which are essentially small fried pieces of dough soaked in garlic butter and fresh garlic nom-i-ness. The helping is so big me and Rabbit feared we would only eat this large bowl of garlic dough and bits and not be able to eat our dinner. Stromboli for our main meal, we had the Chicken Zesto, which is grilled chickens and mozzarella, we had it sans jalapeños. The thing is so big that it was split in two, and Rabbit didn't finish it. Follow all this up with some awesome Tiramisu, and we were stuffed, and still paid like $30.
Over all I always forget about heading out that way since I've moved to the opposite side of the world and now am closer to Sam's Town than Jerry's, but it's worth the trip no matter what part of town you're coming from.
September 26, 2010
Blue Ox
Upon the referral of our friend, Killjoy, we were told we HAD to check out the Blue Ox. Apparently there are multiples of these in town, but as it is a local favorite, we decided to check it out... Mostly because Killjoy is very rarely wrong about these sorts of things and we trust his judgement. Also, it appears that the Blue Ox owner is a huge Minnesota Vikings fan. For those of you who don't know, I (Rabbit) am from Michigan, so I feel a certain type of kinship with people who are also from god-forsaken cold places. That and we Midwesterners have some kickass food. (Woot woot to the Midwesterners in the hizzy!)
So we dropped in yesterday evening and were pleasantly surprised by the laid back, Pulp Fiction type feel the diner had. We took a seat and perused the menu. And it looked good.
Now, Killjoy had insisted that we try the chicken fingers (not a giant twist of my arm by any means) so that's what I ordered. Generally, that entrée comes with home made potato chips but I opted for the french fries, as I don't usually care for chips to begin with (unless you're British and by chips you mean fries. . . but I digress). Kobold had the Minnesota Viking (roast beef on a bakery style roll with tomato and onion, served with horseradish on the side) and he got the home made potato chips.
Overall the meal was quite good, though the waitstaff needed to be slapped around a bit. Kobold and his hatred of poisonous death apples (tomatoes) caused a small ordering malfunction (the sandwich came with tomatoes which he asked to be left off, and did not include onion or the horseradish). My meal came with the chips, but I did eventually get my fries.
Kobold's roast beef was quite good, though lacking in onions and horseradish and tasted slightly of tomato. The sandwich was a little smaller than he had anticipated, but he helped me eat my chicken fingers, so it was all ok. He said that the chips were also good but a little on the bland side.
My entrée was very good indeed. I ordered the mild chicken fingers and was surprised by the heaping portion. Each "finger" was damned near 6, 6.5 inches long and I got 5 or 6 of them. Quite a meal indeed. It's a good thing that Kobold was there to help me. I got a very small order of fries when they did come, but I'm not sure that that was the full order...
So, overall the rating is probably around a B+ for the food, but a C or so for the service. Don't get me wrong; we'll go back (Because I think the waitress was either a little "special" or really new) to give it another try.
So we dropped in yesterday evening and were pleasantly surprised by the laid back, Pulp Fiction type feel the diner had. We took a seat and perused the menu. And it looked good.
Now, Killjoy had insisted that we try the chicken fingers (not a giant twist of my arm by any means) so that's what I ordered. Generally, that entrée comes with home made potato chips but I opted for the french fries, as I don't usually care for chips to begin with (unless you're British and by chips you mean fries. . . but I digress). Kobold had the Minnesota Viking (roast beef on a bakery style roll with tomato and onion, served with horseradish on the side) and he got the home made potato chips.
Overall the meal was quite good, though the waitstaff needed to be slapped around a bit. Kobold and his hatred of poisonous death apples (tomatoes) caused a small ordering malfunction (the sandwich came with tomatoes which he asked to be left off, and did not include onion or the horseradish). My meal came with the chips, but I did eventually get my fries.
Kobold's roast beef was quite good, though lacking in onions and horseradish and tasted slightly of tomato. The sandwich was a little smaller than he had anticipated, but he helped me eat my chicken fingers, so it was all ok. He said that the chips were also good but a little on the bland side.
My entrée was very good indeed. I ordered the mild chicken fingers and was surprised by the heaping portion. Each "finger" was damned near 6, 6.5 inches long and I got 5 or 6 of them. Quite a meal indeed. It's a good thing that Kobold was there to help me. I got a very small order of fries when they did come, but I'm not sure that that was the full order...
So, overall the rating is probably around a B+ for the food, but a C or so for the service. Don't get me wrong; we'll go back (Because I think the waitress was either a little "special" or really new) to give it another try.
September 20, 2010
Tiki Too?
All right, kids. I know that this is technically a food blog but I've fallen in love with a little local hole-in-the wall bar and I thought I'd let you know about it. It's called Frankie's Tiki Room (Charleston and MLK) and the site page is here.
It's dark, it's cozy, it's popular with the locals and the bartenders can pour a MEAN drink. I'm not a lightweight by any measure, but let me tell you. Three Kahiki Kai's and I'm a happy, happy Rabbit. The drinks are around $8 per... but trust me, it's totally worth it. Also, for a little extra scratch, you get a rad collector's mug!
Kobold is a fan of the "Three Rum Scum" and my drink is the Kahiki Kai (A little fruity and much easier to take than just a straight shot). Each drink has its own special collector's glass, including the "Bearded Clam" whose glass features a four-legged, four-armed woman whose..eh... "lower region" hair forms a grass-skirt type thing. It's pretty darned cool, if I say so myself.
So if you're in the mood for a Tiki type drink, chill people and a really cool ambiance, check out Frankie's. The staff is excellent and the people are pretty damned rad too.
It's dark, it's cozy, it's popular with the locals and the bartenders can pour a MEAN drink. I'm not a lightweight by any measure, but let me tell you. Three Kahiki Kai's and I'm a happy, happy Rabbit. The drinks are around $8 per... but trust me, it's totally worth it. Also, for a little extra scratch, you get a rad collector's mug!
Kobold is a fan of the "Three Rum Scum" and my drink is the Kahiki Kai (A little fruity and much easier to take than just a straight shot). Each drink has its own special collector's glass, including the "Bearded Clam" whose glass features a four-legged, four-armed woman whose..eh... "lower region" hair forms a grass-skirt type thing. It's pretty darned cool, if I say so myself.
So if you're in the mood for a Tiki type drink, chill people and a really cool ambiance, check out Frankie's. The staff is excellent and the people are pretty damned rad too.
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