sandwiches, ice cream and vietnamese

Madison street is a local pub serving sandwiches, salads, small plates and bland tacos.  The grilled mahi mahi fish tacos were flavorless and could have used more than sprinkle of salt.  In other words it was forgettable.  The porchetta sandwich was a unique dish with extremely tender slices of italian style slow cooked pork with a mustard herb sauce.  The pork sandwich alone however will not be a strong enough reason for me to return in the near future.

Plate score:  5



I am a loyalist when comes to ice cream and little man ice cream it is at the top of my list.  I am always
willing to give other places a try, mostly to confirm that little man is the best in denver. On my third trip to Sweet action ice cream they had atypical flavors such as guiness milk chocolate ice cream and banana reeses pieces.  I sampled the saigon cinnamon and vietnamese coffee, both were excellent too bad they wouldn't let me have half of each.  I agonized over which flavor i should choose and settled on the vietnamese coffee with flecks of ground espresso beans.  Other interesting flavors included the blackberry lavender ice cream which was interesting, but not good enough to warrant a full scoop.

Plate score: 8




My vietnamese food radar is admittedly pretty limited to Pho 95 and Pho 79 however i ventured to New Saigon on Federal for a new experience.  They have a menu as overwhelming as one you would find at The Cheesecake Factory.  Luckily my friend directed me to the noodle specialities where i settled on the combination rice noodle bowl.  If you have never had one, mine included, grilled steak, pork, shrimp, vietnamese egg rolls, fresh raw veggies and herbs such as cilantro, green onions, sprouts all over a heaping of rice noodles.  It is served with a mild sweet and sour rice vinegar fish sauce which you pour over the noodles.  The entire dish was delicious, the noodles were thicker than the usual rice noodles in pho and the grilled meats were thin, marinated and as my friend described it like wet jerky.  If that turned you off, i'm sorry but it was very so flavorful and well infused.  Vietnamese egg rolls are stuffed with ground pork seasoned with asian spices and like anything fried it was delicious.  At just $7.95, the entire bowl with all of its components was a delicious dinner and could be perfect for takeout in the future.

On a side note they have a large menu of boba teas which are fruit or tea smoothies with black tapioca balls.  I decided on the papaya one because it was advertised to be made with "real papaya"  What came out was papaya powder blended with condensed milk and ice with 2 dozen bobas floating on the bottom.  False advertising.  I mostly review foods so this drink though sub par does not detract from the fantastic meal.

Plate score: 9

sunday night dinner

Located in "SOBO" (south broadway on 1st), the hornet is perfect for some delicious american pub food with a twist. The menu has plenty of options from posole soup, quesadillas, salmon and spinach salad to seared ahi wraps and burgers. I decided on the colorado lamb patty with feta, grape tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms cumin yogurt served in a split pita. Though i asked for medium, it was more on the medium well/well side, nevertheless, the grill flavor was great and perfect with the heaping of sweet potato fries served with chipotle spiced ketchup. My friend jess enjoyed her grilled salmon wrap with feta, greens and a light roasted tomato vinaigrette with a side salad,

Plate score: 9

Sweet action ice cream half a block from the hornet has some interesting flavors, vegan options, popsicles, and ice cream sandwichs

ESB oreo- apparently stands for "Extra Special Bitter" i think she meant to say "beer" there was strange undertone of miller light.... it was weird

Coffee yeti stout- hints of guinness, just a more bitter coffee ice cream.

Not my first choice for ice cream in the city BUT an experience for those with adventurous palates

Plate score: 6