Affordable times 2

The next time you are at steubens order a side of the crispy brussel sprouts for a cool price of $3.  As the name suggests, the brussel sprouts are fried till they are crispy and seasoned liberally with salt.  It has a strange addictive quality similar to popcorn or in my case kettle corn that keeps you going back for more. The double chocolate cake is not too bad either.

Plate score: 8




I don't profess to know much about cuisine from south and central america but on the recommendation of Best of Westword Food and Drink, i opted for a new gastronomical adventure with venezuelan cuisine at Empanada express.  The original one in Golden consistently garners great reviews so i was hoping the 2nd outpost on 44th and Stuart (1 block East of Tennyson) would measure up.  So I met a friend for a super late lunch or senior citizen early bird dinner at 4:15, depending on how you look at it.  The place is small with a few tables and since we were the only patrons so we decided on "patio" seating given the beautiful, albeit blustery weather.  Our server brought out free samples of yucca fries, a starchy and flavorless root vegetable like a potato sprinkled with white cheese and a few slices of avocado.  He also brought out two squeeze bottles with what looked like a chipotle dipping sauce and cilantro dipping sauce which brought some life to the root veggies and were a great addition to the arepa.  The arepa, if you are unfamilar is a corn cake sandwich (like a pita) stuffed with a variety of fillings.  My arepa arrived fresh with a nice crust finished off on the stove stuffed with shredded flavorful beef, black beans and white cheese.  Served with fresh red cabbage and slices of fried plantains, it was excellent and for a very affordable price of $4.75.  We finished with fresh sopapillas with condensed milk.   I am often criticized for my expensive taste but i can be equally happy with a hole in the wall gem.  This can be a great lunch take out place in the future, i hope it survives.

Plate score: 9

Fried Green Tomatoes and Grandma's 80th

With a $15 groupon in tow, we headed to the fickle pickle in downtown Roswell right outside of Atlanta.  Located in a small house, this fast casual eatery offers up sandwichs, soups and salads for both lunch and dinner service.  The variety of mac and cheese (particularly the roasted veggie and goat cheese) caught my eye for dinner but I settled for the fried green tomato sandwich with bacon instead of pepperjack.  The tomato jam was more like a sweet chunky salsa but was nicely balanced by the bitter arugula and the thick slices of cormeal crusted green tomatoes between fresh sour dough bread.   My mom ordered the southwestern shrimp salad and seemed pleased and we shared a double chocolate ginger cookie for dessert!

Plate Score: 8

My Grandmother turned 80 this past weekend and we seriously ate as though it was her last meal.  We celebrated with a dinner banquet for 90 people at a chinese restaurant with ten authentic chinese dishes and three sets of dessert.  I was in a food coma at the end.  Here are a few highlights!

Appetizer platter with jellyfish (center), marinated beef shin (back left), chinese bologna (not sure exactly what that was) and some type of shellfish (similar to giant clam) dyed an interesting color.

Stir fried Seafood and Veggie Medley in a "birds nest", a fried shoe string potato basket

Fried Shrimp and Crab claw ball

My Favorite dish of the night ginger and scallion lobster 

Longevity buns.  This is traditional dessert served at weddings and birthdays.  Normally filled with lotus paste but these had red bean paste in it.  

You eat these to ensure a long life, hence the name "longevity buns"

We also had fried rice, seafood noodles, pepper steak, sweet and sour pork, fish and crabmeat soup, and crispy skin chicken, a publix sheet cake and sliced oranges.....

Plate score: 9.5 

If you are looking for more authentic stuff here in Denver, Star Kitchen will probably do the trick.

Patios and Boulder dumplings and scallops

On a beautiful saturday afternoon after five hours of AP biology, i met a friend for a quick and delicious lunch on the patio of  Squeaky Bean for my second visit in the last two months.  You can read my first review here.  Since Squeaky Bean eliminated lunch service effective last week, I was momentarily disappointed that the duck confit sandwich on the lunch menu did not appear on the brunch menu so on the waiter's recommendation I ordered the roast pork sandwich on a crusty ciabatta roll with wilted greens, an amazingly sweet sundried tomato jam and a small cup of butternut squash soup.

Though the pork was not particularly seasoned, it was tender and complemented each component of the sandwich beautifully.  Additionally the butternut squash soup was light with a beautiful maple flavor and topped with microgreens.  My friend's roasted beet salad had a green mild basil sauce with greens and toasted hazelnuts but the her side order of salmon lox was oversalted in the curing process and was inedible alone.

Plate Score: 8

As we walked down the the pearl street mall before dinner, we decided to stop into the fast casual dumpling and noodle bar Zoe Ma Ma on the west end for a quick snack.  We settled for one each of the regular and vegan potstickers, pork sumai and the bbq bun (not in picture).  Despite boasting fresh ingredients, the dumplings tasted anything but that. The skin was too thick, the filling was forgettable and had all been sitting in warmers when we got there.  Additionally the bbq pork bun from Star kitchen would blow Zoe Ma Ma's out of the water.

Plate score: 3



Zolo is part of the same restaurant group as Lola, Jax, Westend Tavern and Centro and I've had several excellent meals at both Lola's and Jax and continue to read reviews on Centro's superior brunch so I was excited to try this place out. 

The three giant scallops were perfectly cooked with a nice crust and came with roasted sunchokes, peas, microgreens, pickled onions with a balanced amount of heat from the spicy chorizo and a light seafood chile broth.  It was hands down the best scallop dish i've had in a while, might even be better than the appetizer scallops from Edge during restaurant week.  On a side note, we shared an arugula salad beforehand and was happy to find that the greens were perfectly dressed with a honey truffle vinaigrette and in my opinion nothing is worse than too much dressing on a salad.

Plate score: 9

Something other than sushi

With a $50 gift card in tow and and a craving for japanese, my roommate and I headed to my perennial favorite sushi den.  We decided we could go a little bit crazy, so apart from ordering a a few rolls (shrimp tempura, kobe beef and rainbow roll), sashimi and a side salad which were all exquisite as usual, I decided to venture away from the sushi menu for the alaskan halibut pictured below.

Though the halibut was overcooked, the sear left a nice crust and the accompanying sides were fantastically fresh.  The miso beurre blanc was perfect with the spears of asparagus, mushroom medley, spinach and the sweet potato gnocchi.  When the plate first arrived, i was looking for the orange variety of sweet potato gnocchi but was surprised to find the asian purple version which was pan fried but remained remarkably light.

Plate score of the halibut entree alone: 7.5

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

Canned veggies?

A perfect view of sloan's lake on a beautiful sunny morning did not unfortunately include a delicious brunch from breakfast on the edge.  My veggie hash which came highly recommended by our waitress was strange and not in a good way.  Th large slices of carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, asparagus, were mixed with mashed potatoes and warmed on the griddle topped with two eggs over medium....it  had a strange vinegar like taste.  It reminded me of the liquid you find in canned veggies.  The toast was stale and the pancake was dense and chewy.  I will not be returning....I am currenlty 0-2 on my search for a delicious but more importantly a legitimate hash.  Check out my review on jelly for the other hash mishap.

Plate score: 4

Final Wrap Up Restaurant Week 2011 Part 3

Restaurant Kevin Taylor DRW-Menu

Highlights:  It's been exactly 2 years since I dined at Restaurant Kevin Taylor again for restaurant week. The amuse bouche of rock shrimp with green curry and apples was refreshingly light and the curry flavor was subtle.  The pork belly was braised then pan fried to add a layer of crispiness. It was incredibly tender and melted in my mouth and i'm pretty sure it clogged a major artery in the process.    The ginger carrot butter sauce under the seared scallops was rich and delicious.  Creme brulee is never that exciting to me but Kevin Taylor's version was creamy and a had perfectly balanced sweetness.

Second Thoughts:  Chocolate is pretty hard to mess up but the flourless chocolate torte was like a brick.
Plate Score: 8


Fuel Cafe DRW-Menu

Located in the Rino district (aka the middle of no where off brighton and 31st), Fuel cafe has been on my list of places to try since I first moved to denver.  A top 10 best new restaurant in 2007, this place reminded me of rootdown with ikea style furniture.

Highlights: The celery root puree underneath the behemoth of a trout (see below) was smooth with a delicious buttery finish.  That's it.....

Second Thoughts:  When we arrived we were informed that for $52.80, we each got an entree but had to share an appetizer and the dessert.  Not sure who's fault this is (DRW website or a sneaky fuel cafe) but strike one for false advertising.

The goat cheese caramelle (above) were like sealed cannelonis (described by our waitress as wrapped candies) with a red wine reduction sauce and an interesting use of grapes in a savory dish.  This wasn't necessarily the best dish but it gets points for creativity.

The blue cheese biscuits were not what we expected, i'm disappointed we didn't get a picture to help prove my point.  Instead of getting a southern style biscuit with blue cheese and proscuitto baked into something light and fluffy, we were given what was essentially a cheese plate.  Strike two for false advertising.  The small plate had four mini croissant like pastries, shaved proscuitto, a few non spicy cousins of the jalepeno and a hunk of bonrus cheese which upon further research is not even blue cheese!  I'll admit that it was good when you built your own mini sandwich with the saltiness from the meat and the creaminess from the cheese, but hello!?!!?!  you advertised for blue cheese biscuits.

I am not a fan of FALSE ADVERTISING

Plate Score: 6