Trattoria stella (website currently down) is located just a few doors down from common grounds and the  three dogs tavern on 32nd avenue in the highlands.  With a two tiered patio, we were seated near the entrance and quickly noticed that housemade pasta dominated half the menu.  It was a game time decision but i settled on the 32nd street pasta, apparently a house specialty where as my friend settled on a classic spaghetti arrabiata (spicy tomato sauce).  My dish was pretty disappointing as the 32nd street pasta with tiger shrimp,, sun dried cherries, and goat cheese in a spicy lemon garlic olive oil sauce was pretty much a disaster.  The first problem was there was no sauce.....it was dry and both of us agreed it was flavorless, which made the dish taste only like goat cheese.  My friend's spaghetti arrabiata on the other hand was delicious, a classic dish that was well executed.  My dish was a 2 but hers was a an 8. The jury is still out.


So groupons are great when the restaurants are great.  I had read a lot about cafe bisque in lakewood highlighted as an amazing brunch spot in 5280 last year but when we drove up on saturday, we found it located in a small strip mall with just a few cars.  We were suprised to find only 4 occupied tables. The server asked if we wanted to sit inside or out, since it was a beautiful day, we quickly replied outside.  Apparently "outside" in lakewood means sitting in the entryway of a medical building/mall with skylight.  We found this to be hilarious in addition to the christmas lights that wrapped the railing by our umbrella and patio furniture.  The menu was a mix of brunch specialties, sandwiches and salads.  I settled on a duck confit salad with goat cheese, cranberries, and tomatoes.  The duck was good but nothing special.  My friend settled on the strawberry vanilla pancakes.  The strawberries were served defrosting on the pancakes.  Slow business does not mean it is ok to use frozen berries.  Use a different fruit next time.  We pushed aside the mess to eat the pancake but was not impressed.  I will not be returning.

Plate score: 3

South Broadway has been a new go to spot for me.  I recently gave mixed reviews to Beatrice and Woodsley and this time Deluxe just a few doors down faired much better.  The interior is a small space with a dozen tables, dim lighting, an exposed and large circular mirrors to give an illusion of a larger room.  To start, my friend and I shared a cesar salad and the monsoon dumplings.  The cesar salad was fresh with a parmesan tuile, however the monsoon dumplings were disappointing.  The filling was stiff more comparable to a chewy meatball and the "deluxe sauce" was a spicy lime (thus excessively sour) broth.  The star of the meal was my friend's paella, a heaping pile of rice with chicken, chorizo, mussels and shrimp.  It was absolutely delicious, served piping hot with delicate white wine and saffron flavors.  My smoked pork chop, though slightly overcooked had great flavor, the housemade chipotle bbq sauce, cabbage slaw and deluxe fries were solid accompainments.   Overall, the main courses were great with the star definitely being the seafood paella but the service needs work.  Our water glasses were empty for quite some time and our waiter manually transferred a piece of flatbread to my bread plate.  Pretty sure that is not ok.  We watched the next table indulge in a homemade ice cream sandwich of flourless chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, but didn't have the room to order our own, maybe next time.

Plate score:  8.5

And we're back

After what I consider a whirlwind of a summer, I am back and officially on the prowl for new and interesting eats in order to maintain my sanity in the midst of AP biology madness.  There is a new feature where my blog can automatically send out updates of new posts.  So I apologize if this is of no interest to you and I will not be offended if you unsubscribe.

To highlight and celebrate the first 2 weeks of school:

Star kitchen for Dim Sum- the closest (well not that close) you'll get to the real stuff in hong kong

Beatrice and Woodsley on South Broadway had great ambiance for those of you who consider atmosphere essential to a memorable dining experience. The interior design reminded me of being in a forest at dawn (not that i've been in that situation many times). The menu is even more eclectic, from dishes such escargot to pimento cheese cheesecake(appetizer) and pork belly. The most memorable dish was the single giant scallop perfectly pan seared served atop housemade cornbread and a pepper slaw. Other things that were just ok include the crawfish beignets (too stiff and had a weird star anise flavor) and the duck 3 ways (too many peppercorns, the breast was overcooked and chewy, and the confit was too salty and less than lukewarm). B&W was a top 10 best new restaurant a few years back....makes me wonder

Plate score: 6.5

Katch next to one of my favorite coffee places in capitol hill serves up casual take out seafood specialties. The prices are on the high end with sandwiches ranging from $8-$15 (the lobster roll) and dinner plates starting at $11. I settled for the catfish po boy and boy I was pleasantly suprised at what I got. The catfish was blackened and cooked to perfection, the seasoning making a statement on the 5oz of fish. Served on a toasted hoagie roll with the angry tartar sauce(little kick) and crunchy coleslaw, it tasted fresh, not fishy at all and certainly paired well with the homemade old bay chips.

Plate score: 9

Taste of Colorado

Great atmosphere, fun as always but not my choice for culinary adventures

Sushi Den- consistently top notch that I went twice in one week. People say sushi sasa has them beat, I disagree and I believe many food editors would concur.

Plate score-10

Marco's coal fire pizza- When Marco's first opened, I thought it was top notch, but on a more recent visit, our specialty pie of provolone, ricotta, mozzarella, tomato and basil pizza was not up to par. There were merely 3 shriveled basils on the entire pie and the ricotta was not evenly distributed. My favorite part of Marco's pizza is the crust, however, the crust on our pie tasted burnt yet the ends of slices were super thin and very flimsy, unable to properly support the large chunks of ricotta. The flavor wasn't terrible, but we definitely both left saying we've had better.....

Plate score 6