Intrepid Moves: 2012

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Restaurant Review(s)

Well, Happy Holidays!

As per usual, I have been a bit off the radar - life moves too quickly at times it seems...

To jump back into blogging (which I am putting on my New Years Resolution list) I figure I will give you a brief taste, if you will, of a couple restaurants I have visited in the past few months:

ELEVEN

Seasonal Heaven.

Eleven. was. delicious. I'm a big fan of innovative, fresh food - and that is exactly what this restaurant offered.

I chose a selection of appetizers and small plates versus an entree because there were just way too many exciting dishes to choose from. Being a big fan of beets, I started with a beet salad:

These roasted red beets were dressed with a light vinaigrette and were mixed with pumpkin seeds. This was an interesting October touch, unique and delicious, and while overall I enjoyed the meal, the salty roasted seeds made the dish, to me, seem a bit too salty. Didn't stop me from eating every bite though!

Next on my list were crab cakes - little filling and mostly all lump crab meat - delicious they were:

Being quite partial to crab cakes, I didn't notice what the dish was topped with - beets. As my friend Bianca said, beets are quite underrated - but I kinda wish I had paid more attention to the fact that both of these dishes were beet involved - it was a bit of an overload. I shared some of the beets on this dish with Miss Bianca.

I'm also a big brussels sprout fan, so how could I turn down a side of brussels sprouts:

And sauvignon blanc. I'm a big fan of sauvignon blanc:

Oh, and since we were there in late October - Happy Halloween from Eleven!

Great food, a bit pricey, but not extreme - the prices wouldn't deter me from going back for dinner - but I will probably wait for a special occasion or event. The bar area, called 'The Tavern' has a different menu, a little less expensive it seemed - it is now on my list of places to try.

BURGATORY

Beers and burgers make me happy. So for a happy birthday, I went to Burgatory.

At Burgatory you have two options. You can either choose a burger from the menu (and there were some interesting burgers to choose from, believe me!) or you can create your own custom burger. I decided to go with a create your own, and so I had my burger topped with sauteed mushrooms and banana peppers (which is a standard for me) - I had them throw some onion straws on as well:

For a side, you can choose from your standard frites, or other typical burger sides, but to my surprise, they offered a Quinoa salad - that's what I went with, along with a good fall pumpkin beer:

The following did not come from Burgatory, but it is worth noting that this was waiting for me at home after burger time:

Happy fall, and happy birthday to me!

POINTE BRUGGE

Not a whole lot to say, other than I now know why this place is known for their mussels - these were, by far, the BEST mussels I have ever had:

While I am trying my best to try new restaurants before going to places twice, I know I will break my rule with Point Brugge. Thank heavens they have a sister restaurant for me to try!

Happy eating,

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

PSU. October 27th 2012 (instagrammed)

Let's Go State!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Restaurant Review: Nicky's Thai Kitchen

So, I already posted pictures last week in my September/October (instagrammed) - but since Hurricane Sandy is keeping me indoors tonight, I figure I will elaborate a lil on last weeks 'Thai Tuesday':

Here is my informal review on Nicky's Thai Kitchen.

Bomb.

I will definitely be going back. Few reasons why -

Number One: The food. The menu was like a short novel, pages and pages of choices - I need to go back for the sheer reason that I wanted to try everything! Starters were the easiest choice - we ordered the spring roll appetizer - safe, easy and typically always good. I did not expect, for less than $6.00, to get an entire meal out of it. What we were presented with was about 12 sushi roll size bites of fresh deliciousness on a plate - basil, fried tofu, carrot and thin noodles - wrapped so colorfully beautiful in rice paper - which was served with a brown sauce that had crushed peanuts in it. Jennie (my partner in crime for the evening) ordered a house salad that was littered with fresh fruits and vegetables like cucumber, mango and pineapple. It also had crushed cashew on it, which added a nice salty crunch to the salad. Our entrees were a little tougher to decide upon - way too many options. I found it easiest to attack by narrowing it down to a category and reading the descriptions to choose the right meal. Did I want rice? curry? noodles? a chef special? soup? I decided on curry and after careful consideration decided on the Pumpkin Curry and I added shrimp. I figured it's October and pumpkins are in season, seemed appropriate, and it was - good choice me. I'm a big fan of big shrimpies - and that's what I got - with lots of steamed Asian pumpkin in coconut milk and red curry paste, served with enough white sticky rice to feed an army. I ordered just the appropriate level of 'hot' for me to. I had the choice of 4 -10 and went with the a 6, considered medium. I thought about going higher (I like spice) but, I've learned my lesson at other Thai restaurants...I chose correctly. Jennie got a Basil Chicken entree - to be honest I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to her meal (I was too busy with mine) - but it looked simple and delicious.

Number two: The atmosphere. I love a place that makes me feel like I'm in NYC - small, close quarters, and it just works. The entrance is deceiving - you walk in through what looks like an apartment hallway and it seems like your headed to get take out from some run of the mill Asian take out place, but then they ask you if you want a table inside or outside, and you turn a corner and it's quaint little restaurant. Fresh flowers on every table, and I would later discover beautiful bouquets of flowers to brighten up bathroom as well - a clean restaurant bathroom is something that always affects my opinion of the place over all. We sat inside because we were hungry and it would have been a half hour wait to sit outside - next time I know to call ahead to make a reservation. I wish I had gotten a better a look at the outside seating, but from the little peak I got it seemed like beautiful green garden, I'm sure it was lovely. I may have to wait 'til next year to check out the garden - the website says it is only open during season, so I'm sure it will be closing shortly - especially considering the state of the weather currently!

Number three: The price. I hinted on this earlier talking about our appetizer. But man oh man, for the amount of food you get the price is right. I had an excellent dinner and enough food for an excellent lunch the next day. It's also a BYOB - no charge on weekdays - which is always a bonus.

So, based off of food, atmosphere, and price, the conclusion is this - go eat Thai at Nicky's.

Cheers,

MK

P.S. Good luck through Sandy!