Monday, November 23, 2009

Thai Place (Overland Park location)

my pick for lunch this week.

We hadn't been here for about a year, after finding out that O is allergic to peanuts. S and I both had the Phad Thai--the best I've had anywhere. I'll only order it here. And, I think it's the only thing I've ever ordered here 'cause it's soooooo good. O got some fried rice which was excellent too--makes me think twice about only ordering the Phad Thai.

Our spicy soup before the meal was delicious. I think I spied some octopus in there...

Cafe Verona - 11/21

Cafe Verona - 11/21

We went out to dinner with J&M to a nice italian place in Independence. Yuki and I had never been there before, but J&M had. We came in to find the place busy but not rushed. The atmosphere was relaxing. They gave us an (almost) private table upstairs, overlooking the bar. Lots of delicious-sounding things on the menu.

We decided on some wine, a chianti, and some bruchetta appetizers. The wine was good. Smooth, a little oaky. The bruchettas were each topped with different things. One had some yummy olive tapenade. Another had goat cheese (mmm), and the other had some other kind of cheese.

The Main Course.
Generally when I go to an italian place, it's the fettucine for me. But the new, improved me wanted something different (and not so cream/butter/cheese-laden). It was hard fro me to decide between the Shrimp Parmesan Risotto (M got that) and the Rigatoni Rosa. It had big rigatoni noodles, sausage, peas, and a creamy tomato sauce. The portion was huge, I think I only ate about half of it.

K and J got the special, chicken with roasted red pepper and some sort of oyster integration. Pretty tasty. But the star of the show was J's oyster soup. It was almost like a chowder, warm and hearty, and salty and full of oysters. He was nice enough to let everyone try a bite. Great meal and great company!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Taste

Scott's birthday dinner. He didn't know we were going there or that we were meeting five others.

excellent for foodie types like us. portions were a bit small, but worthy of the price. great wine--Firesteed pinot. mushroom phyllo dough bites were smoooooooth and rich with the soy sauce reduction. lobster mashed potatoes--'nuf said. seafood platter--crab cake, tempura shrimp and the best scallop i've ever had. really, that scallop was not fishy at all, perfect texture. i'd go back just to get a plate of those. desserts on the house 'cause we were waiting for J's "well done" steak. all were rich and smooth 'cept for the funnel cakes--take 'em or leave 'em...eh.

I should have taken photos of the entrees...next time, next time.

Absolutely worthy of a revisit. Perhaps for a formal lunch...

Monday, November 2, 2009

Blanc Burgers and Bottles - 10/31

We met my sister and her boyfriend at Blanc in swanky Mission Farms. Kelly and I had been to the one in Westport on a rainy, humid night. Delicious burgers that night.

It was Halloween and there were lots of kids running around the place, which was bothersome at first. Jason was pretty quiet at first, but he loosened up a little as the night went on. Kelly had the inside out burger, which was filled with bleu cheese. Tasty. And I had the classic, a regular burger with cheese and lettuce, pickles. I had the onion rings as a side. Great food. Blanc's deal is that they have a ton of bottles of beer, but nothing on tap.

So, I was in the mood for something dark and I tried the Harviestown Old Engine Oil. Dark and thick, kind of sludgy, from Scotland. Kelly didn't like it (big surprise). Not bad. I went for the Nocturnum Delirium next, a Belgian beer. I should have known it would be different when I saw the pink elephant on the bottle. It smelled crisp and a little fruity, kind of like a champagne. And it tasted a little lighter than the Old Engine Oil, but still dark. Not as smooth. I liked the Nocturnum better than the Engine Oil. I'll have to make a point to check out more Belgian beers.

Our table was one of the last ones to leave. It was nice to relax with those guys over a few beers and tasty food. We'll definitely go back to Blanc, but we might stick to the one in Westport.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Last night we ate at Blanc Burgers & Bottles.

This time we visited the 107th and Mission location instead of Westport. Normally I'd love to go to Westport to eat, bypassing the snobbery of the the Leawood location...but it being Halloween night and the trickery of party-ers in Westport, the suburban spot worked much better. Besides, we were dropping off the babe in south, south JoCo so this was it.

I mention the location because it's always a matter of atmosphere. The place was buzzing when we arrived at 6:30, full of middle-aged daters and teen-agers who were either too old to trick or treat or getting their grub on before the festivities. Definitely not a Westport crowd. But, I enjoyed the meal I had when we ate at the other spot so I knew the food was gonna be good.

...didn't finish this one, but you get the idea. thanks, scott for the review.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Zarda BBQ

I took my dining companions to Zarda BBQ today, on Quivira and 87th St. We used to go to Zarda with my family when I was little. I remember that they had steer horns above the entrance back then, and those same ones are still in place. My dad and grandpa always had ribs. I didn't really get the appeal of ribs back then, but there was something that appealed to me about the idea of the wet nap.

This is a place where you place your order at a counter, then go pick it up when its ready. We decided on our order and stepped up to the heavily shellacked wooden counter. Roast Beef sandwiches with potato salad and baked beans. Fried Mushrooms. As our order-taker rang it up, he yelled to the back, "Mush!". We picked up the order a few minutes later and dug in. The roast beef was fine. The potato salad was great, as were the beans. Not too spicy like the ones at Oklahoma Joes, but the real treat was the fried mushrooms. Delicious.

It's too bad we always go while I'm on my lunch break, because I'm always wanting a pitcher of some watery domestic beer when I go in there. We'll be back!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Welcome to our new blog. The title "These Snails are Fabulous" is from a comment we overheard at one of our favorite restaurants--Le Fou Frog. We snickered at the way the gentleman said it, with every amount of pretentiousness possible. Now, when we taste a dish that's elevated our senses, we like to exclaim the same, "These snails are fabulous!"