Sunday, May 31, 2015

28 Days of Salad: Steak tips & Peppadew salad

Salad # 7: Steak Tip & Peppadew

I love to grill up extra meat on the weekends so there are leftovers for lunch for the next few days. After grilling up some corn, veggies, wings, Delmonico steaks and marinated steak tips using the rub from La Cascia's, we had a great dinner with lots of food to pack.



Thursday, May 28, 2015

28 Days of Salads: Hearty Vegan Salad

Salad # 6: Hearty Vegan Salad

So a salad is supposed to consist mainly of veggies, but I never fail to have some kind of seafood or meat to make it more satisfying.  With the national movement to consume less animal product, I've created a vegan salad consisting of eggplants, tomato, artichoke lentils and chickpeas.  Surprisingly, it was pretty good!



Wednesday, May 27, 2015

28 Days of Salads: Goddess Shrimp Salad

Salad # 5 : Goddess Shrimp Salad

No Excuses, it's been over two weeks since my last 28 days of salad post! I only have a month left to finish 23 more posts! can you say time crunch? Moving forward, I'm gonna keep these posts shorter so I don't feel like they become a burden. Say good by to photos of the ingredients and sayonora to the calorie counts and Weight watchers points calculator. If you really want to know the worth, do it yourself.




Saturday, May 23, 2015

WaterFire kickoff Memorial Day Weekend in Providence

Family & Pet friendly beautiful afternoon at Sakonnet Vineyard


With Chewie and Odie in tow, we drove down to Little Compton for some day drinking at Carolyn Sakonnet Vineyard and Winery in Little Compton Rhode Island.  The drive was about 75 minutes and luckily for us, the holiday traffic had already passed.


Seafood at Evelyn's Drive in Tiverton, Rhode Island

I knew we were going to be in Rhode Island so I googled "Best Seafood Rhode Island."  Evelyn's Drive-In kept coming up and had conflicting reviews.  They were featured on Phantom Gourmet  and Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives on the Food Network.


After a trip the nearby Carolyn Sakonnet winery, we headed to Evelyn's Drive-In for a waterfront seafood lunch.  The eatery had a beautiful location overlooking Nannaquaket Pond in Tiverton.  There are two seating options available; a shaded self serve patio that is pet friendly or a full service patio attached to the restaurant.  We opted for the later.

Friday, May 22, 2015

Bone-in Rib-Eye at Del Frisco's Boston

Del Frisco's in Boston is not only our favorite steakhouse but also our favorite restaurant! The patio has opened for the season and it was great sitting on the water with the heated lamps.  Service was inconsistent, it took us a while to get drinks. I got a blue cheese stuffed martini (The Professional) for $15.50 and the Mo went with his usual whisky, Dewar's 12 yr special at $11.00 each.

The food was amazing as always!  We started with the Seafood Plateau for 2 raw bar that had 4 oysters, 4 shrimp cocktail, 2 crab claw and 2 King crab leg along with a few sauces.  Our server advised us that it was the end of the season for the crab legs but the restaurant somehow negotiated to get a few more shipments.  The meat in the crab leg was sweet, tender and succulent.  

Del Frisco's Seafood Plateau for 2 - $79.50

Boston Harbor Sunset Cruise


Whether if you are a tourist or a local, the Boston Harbor Sunset Cruise is not to be missed.  The cruise departs daily at 7 PM at Long Wharf.  Before the cruise, guests can visit the Aquarium nearby or Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall area.  Christopher Columbus Park is a really beautiful waterfront location to sit back, relax and watch the boats go in and out of the harbor.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Indian Buffet at Chettinad Grill Burlington


The restaurant located on Cambridge street has undergone many different management in the past few years.  It's been called the Mughals, Bombay Club and something else.... I forgot already. Hopefully, Chettinad Grill is here to stay. I visited on a Thursday afternoon and the restaurant was the busiest that I've ever seen.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Dissapointing dim sum at Great Wall - New Haven

We took my mother to the Great Wall in New Haven for a belated mother's day brunch.  She had a great experience at Hei La Moon in Boston and was excited to go for dim sum again.


The five of us arrived at noon and it was packed.  There was no sense of organization and the people waiting just stood in the take out area not knowing what to do or how to get "in line."  The takeout area was pretty neat, one could pick a selection of hot foods and get it to "to go."  Dim sum was also available for take out for those who didn't want to dine in.  We should have done that.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

28 Days of Salads: Spinach & Red Quinoa Salad

Salad # 4 : Spinach & Red Quinoa salad

We had a busy weekend so my salads this week are store bought and pre-made.  My favorite store bought salads are from Roche Brothers but when I can't get there, Market Basket will suffice.  They have some fun salads packaged at $3.99 each.

I picked up the Spinach & Red Quinoa salad that had fresh spinach, carrots, romaine, endamame, red quinoa and dressed with a raspberry vinaigrette.

Prepared Salads at market Basket $3.99

Monday, May 11, 2015

Simple braised beef short ribs



This recipe is pretty easy. You can sear the meat ahead of time or just throw everything in a slow cooker and set it and forget it. I prefer to marinate the short ribs overnight and sear it.

Ingredients
  • 2-3 pounds of bone in or boneless shortribs. ( I like the bone in but it's a bit more expensive so I buy a combination of the two)
  • Poultry mix herb seasoning (Thyme, oregano, rosemary etc)
  • Dash  of Adobo seasoning
  • Fresh garlic- minced 
  • olive oil
  • 1/4 cup of spaghetti/pasta sauce
  • 1/4 cup of red wine ( I used cab)
  • Black pepper
  • Coarse sea salt
  •  3 tablespoons of minced garlic
  • 1 can of beef broth
  • optional: one jalapeno pepper
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped.
Sprinkle a dash of salt, black pepper, adobo seasoning and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic to the short-ribs.  Fridge and let it sit overnight.

The next day, heat a large sauce pan with olive oil until hot.  Once the heat is visible, add the marinated meat to the pan and sear evenly on both sides.  
(Usually seconds for the first side then   minutes for the seconds side.) 

Throw in a few springs of poultry seasoning for the aromas. Turn of heat

Transfer the short ribs into a slow cooker.  


Add in the wine, pasta sauce, beef broth, celery, remainder of the garlic and a few other poultry sprigs.  Throw in an extra dash of salt, pepper and Adobo (Just a dash, not too much!)

Set the slow cooker on low and cook for hours or until the beef is tender and falls off the bone.  It's actually prettier and more appetizing to get the beef tender and leave the bone intact.

Serve with rice, pasta or my favorite, potato gnocchi. I love the pre-made gnocchi from Wegman's.  All you have to do is parboil them for 90  seconds.  Leftovers are the best and it actually tastes better the next day!

Enjoy!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

28 Days of Salads: Asian noodle salad

Salad # 3 : Asian noodle salad

It's been over a week since my last salad post . I guess I could have been healthy and ordered a salad when I was out but I opted for steak and carbs instead.

Today's salad is a traditional Vietnamese/Cambodian salad called "Banh hoi."  There are different variations and "toppings" that could be used.  Due to the eggrolls, it's probably better to prepare and eat on the weekend when it's fresh.

Due to the high fat in the eggrolls and the sugar in the dressing, this is not a healthy salad. If you want to make it a bit "heart friendly ", I'd nix the eggrolls for some pan fried tofu and make an alternative lime cilantro dressing.

Banh hoi with shrimp, sirloin and eggrolls

Friday, May 8, 2015

New Italian dining at Osteria Nino on 3rd Ave in Burlington


My coworkers and I went in for lunch the day after their grand opening.  We sat in a booth in the bar area.  The hostesses and managers were all friendly and welcoming.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Best lobster bisque in my life at The Sole Proprietor


After being stuck in HOURS of traffic on our way back from NYC, Jenn and I decided to make a pit stop for dinner.  We called our coworker, John Lap. who lives in the area for some recommendations on where to eat.  He suggested a few places within the vicinity and went met up with him and his fiance at The Sole Proprietor in Worcester.

John's Pizzeria of Time Square

Great food but horrible service.


Jenn and I were looking a quick place to grab lunch near our hotel in New York.  After walking the streets of Times Square and looking at a variety of menu's posted outside the restaurants, we opted for John's pizzeria.  The menu was wallet friendly and had a great range of paninni's, pizza and Italian specialty food.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Best bone in rib-eye at Del Frisco's NYC


Somehow my company managed to get last minute reservations for 11 people at Del Frisco's in NYC. The steakhouse chain is my absolute favorite restaurant for a celebratory meal.  Our company was celebrating a great night at Lightfair and taking home a few awards, one being "Agent of the Year" for one of our manufacturing lines.  The awards was a pretty big deal and I felt like VIP.

To celebrate, our president treated us out to a nice steak dinner at Del Frisco's.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

New and disappointing bar menu at Applebees



We had a lot of errands to run and wanted to grab a quick drink for Cinco de Mayo so we stopped by Applebees in Drumhill.  They have a new bar menu that features "Build your own Sampler" with share-able snacks.  I was ecstatic because I love the idea of nibbling on a variety of things instead of getting one huge thing.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Sushi & Hotpot buffet at Yong Yong Malden


To celebrate Leakhena's birthday, we headed to Yong Yong in Malden for dinner.  The restaurant is known for their made to order dim sum as well as the "all you can eat" hotpot and sushi buffet.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Best dining experience in DTL: Bishop's Legacy

Unpretentious restaurant with great food at a terrific value.


Bishop's Legacy just opened 6 weeks ago in the former home of La Boniche in Downtown Lowell.

Image via Bishop's Legacy FB page
The Mo and I headed there this past Friday for date night.  The restaurant had a wide range of clientele from the elderly to young couples with piercings and tattoos.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

A Bubbly Engagement party for the Future Mr. & Mrs. Tan

Fifi got engaged! Party time!


The May party date was set and the beautiful invitations for the Champagne theme gala were delivered. (Sorry if you got a FB event invite in lieu of the quality printed invitation)

Good drinks & horrendous service at Papagayo Assembly Row

My friends and I were meeting for a Mexican lunch at Papagayo at the new Assembly Row area in Somerville.  I was surprised that the restaurant was not even up to half capacity during prime lunch time on a Saturday afternoon.

We were awkwardly seated in a corner with mismatched round and rectangle tables that didn't flow properly despite there were lots of other tables they could have arranged for us.

We were asked for our drink order but there was only one drink menu for 8 of us to share and pass around?  When we told her we didn't get a chance to look at it yet, she went and got us a few more. We repeated our drinks orders a few times and she still managed to mess up one of the guy's mango margarita. I went with the habanero watermelon margarita.  It was really good but had a spicy kick to it.  The specialty margaritas were pricey at $12.00 each, costing more than a taco plate entree.

Spicy habanero watermelon margarita $12.00 and house margarita

Friday, May 1, 2015

New charcuterie menu at the newly renovated Papa Razzi in Burlington

Definitely a fan of the revamped restaurant! 

New look and new menu, I'm sold!  The restaurant celebrated its "Grand reopening" on Thursday, April 30th 2015.


The new decor is chic and modern. The red leather booths dresses up the restaurant and gives it a sexy and glamour appeal without being too overwhelming.