Pork belly, yu choy, chili peanut. $13
Trove, Seattle WA
This tasted fine, but it was so far from a pad thai that it didn’t hit the spot and left me wanting more. This dish was also pretty salty like the previous dumplings. The pork belly and chili peanuts tasted good though.
Tacoma Fashioned: bourbon, Rainier beer syrup, Angostura and orange bitters. $9
Mole with blend of spices, chiles, nuts and chocolate in the traditional Puebla style, served over chicken. $20
Colibri Mexican Bistro, San Francisco CA
Mmm, this mole was dark, flavorful and delicious! The chicken was also pretty tender. I thought there would be a little more food for the price, but it still tasted great.
4 piece original fried chicken with 2 fresh baked rolls. $12.79
Ezell’s Famous Chicken, Mill Creek WA
This chicken was great. The exterior was harder than I expected so it feel really substantial, and it tasted great. The fried chicken was nice and juicy and the rolls were soft and wonderful.
Squid ink pasta with calamari, prawns, and ‘Nduja sausage in white wine. $18
Poesia, San Francisco CA
I liked the idea of this dish (since I love squid ink), but it tasted kinda funky. Maybe it was the white wine, but this dish didn’t come together for me. There was an odd flavor that I couldn’t quite resolve.
Brioche, sunflower seed, bay laurel. Four course menu $59
Aster, San Francisco CA
Meh… again.
With cocktail sauce. Happy hour $0.99 each
Arnies Restaurant, Edmonds WA
I’m always wary of oyster shooter because I feel like it’s a way for restaurants to get rid of their older oysters. Anyway, I tried on e of these and it wasn’t my thing. The oysters were too large for my liking, and it just didn’t taste all that fresh.
House margarita.
Strawberry peppercorn jam, bacon. $9
Shelter Lounge, Seattle WA
These poppers were disgusting! I was intrigued by the concept, but they came out hard, dense, and tasted horrible. They were greasy on the outside and the filling was muddled and unpleasant. And I don’t appreciate out-dated menus that don’t reflect the current item pricing. Either that or our server was over-charging.
Cultured butter. NYE tasting menu $175
Californios, San Francisco CA
Calabrese spiral shaped pasta with pork ribs sugo in roasted garlic tomato sauce. $18
Fiore Caffe, San Francisco CA
This pasta dish was rich, warm, home-y, and yummy. I enjoyed the texture of the fileja and the pulled pork ribs. Mmm…
Caraway chili. $9
Trove, Seattle WA
I loved the flavor and texture of these dumplings, but they were definitely salty. It kinda blew out your taste buds after a while. 😦
Desert Fire: Sotol Por Siempre, dundicut chili infused Carpano Antica, Gran Classico, mole bitters. $12
Sauteed prawns in tamarind mole served with a savory corn cake. $18
Colibri Mexican Bistro, San Francisco CA
I actually enjoyed this! I’ve never had a tamarind mole, but the bright citrus-y quality of the mole worked well with the seafood. The corn cake was also pretty good and great for sopping up the mole.
Fresh tortillas with trio of salsa.
Bacon, scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, maple syrup. $10.39
Boudin Bakery and Cafe, San Francisco CA
This was good, but I wish that the bacon was a little crispier. It’s hard to chew through limp, soggy bacon when biting into a large waffle filled with a lot of stuff.
Vittle Monster 