Catching up

Wow.  I'm sorry.  I have not abandoned my post.  Here I am!!! 

In the past two months, we've hit up some great staples, great places to go, not our first time to any of them.  My challenge:  I lost some motivation to blog them - either because we've been permanent fixtures at Consol (Let's go Pens!), that I was too tired to remember the experience clearly, I forgot to take pictures and then felt boring, or simply drank waaaay too much wine during dinner.  Mostly that last option.  Oops.

The Original Fish Market - We went twice during the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show.  Nothing is better after spending 8 hours on your feet, answering the same 6 questions for 3 million people, than a giant sushi boat!  Ha, don't get me wrong, I actually LOVE working the home show - it just requires wine and sushi at the end of the day.  And the Fish Market never disappoints in food, as long as you like seafood.  I wish they would freshen up the decor a bit, it just reminds me of, I dunno, 15 years ago.  They have great appetizers, great wine list, good sushi, and great fish. Bring a flashlight, its dark in there.


Monterey Bay - More seafood!!  I love Chilean Sea Bass.  Again, a great staple, the food is always fab. And not all Monterey Bays are created equal.  The one in Monroeville apparently is running the C-team, in service, in food, in ambiance.  Skip it and head to Mt. Washington.  Oh and just a reminder to those who forgot:  Don't order pasta at the seafood place.  You'll end up coveting your neighbors meal. 



Tamari - This is a great tapas place - all small plates.  I just love eating this way because instead of ordering a meal for each person, you just order a bunch of plates and share.  Wine is good. Food is excellent.  Concept is cool.  I can't wait for it to be warm enough to sit outside and watch Lawrenceville go by.



Now that we got that out of the way, I would like to take this opportunity to air my grievance.  And it has to do with going to dinner.  And I will disclaim before I even start, this is not directed at anyone specifically.  I don't even know if I should do this...  please don't be afraid to go out to dinner with me, I'm not judging, I'm just observing and raising awareness.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who shares this experience.

I love going to dinner.  I love going with a big group of people.  I love going with old friends, new friends, other peoples' friends - whatever.  I do recognize that not everyone wants to share their food with me or try mine.  No worries - I totally get it.  At the same, when the establishment is not willing to split the check, I prefer not to share in the paying of your bill, nor do I expect you, new acquaintance, to share in mine.  This isn't an issue between friends. With many of the friends we go out with, we split the bill evenly, regardless of who ordered what.  It just saves aggravation.  Either that or we trade off - "I got this one, you get the next one."  Its all good.  Appetizers are a conundrum anyway.

For some reason though, when I find myself in a group of people where I don't know everyone, that damn check goes around, and somehow, someway, after everyone pulled out their cell phone calculators and tallied up their damage,  the cash is short.  I'm not sure what the challenge is.  Can someone not add?  Did someone forget the tip or tax?  Did you think you only drank 2 glasses of wine, cause you definitely had 7? Does someone feel no responsibility towards the shared food on the table simply because they didn't order it, because somebody opted to finish it "if no one wants the last piece..."?  Did I screw up and everyone is feeling this way about me? Can I add? How many martinis did I have? And its a big fat wad of cash, so there is no way to figure out whodunit.  And it all reality, to be fair, its probably unintentional, just miscalculating tax & tip.

And it doesn't really matter.  If I'm bellyaching about the extra 10 bucks I threw in, then I probably shouldn't be going out to dinner at cool restaurants in the first place.  And for those of you who treated lately - thanks!  It's my turn next.

Alma's up next. 

~ CDO

Mexican - American Shorty

Last night, BigBrother wanted quesadillas for dinner.  I'm all about it, so we hopped in the car and headed down the road to our local Picante for dinner.  Well, turns out that grumpy waiter that we had at Patron is working at my beloved Picante.  Although, this time, he's pleasant, upbeat, and keeps pinching BabyGray's cheeks...

Where:  Picante
Who:  me, IPA-hole, & the kids
What:  me - Camarones al mojo de ajo
           IPA-hole - Shrimp Fajitas
           The Kids - Quesadilla

I find it funny that they call mine Camarones al mojo de ajo (basically shrimp in a garlic sauce) and IPA-hole's Shrimp fajitas are all English.  All are good; I might eat mine for breakfast.



So that was the Mexican part, this is the American part - its a 2-fer.  The other day, after a GREAT Penguins win, IPA-hole wants to take PickyMIL & FIL to BRGR to eat.  Long story short, he gets on the HOV lane heading north out of the city instead of Bigelow Blvd to go to Penn Circle. We quickly regroup and decide instead of trying to go back into the city, we'll just head to the BRGR in Cranberry.

This one is nice.  Its much bigger than the one in Penn Circle, and open.  So its easier to get a table, but the overall feel isn't quite as cool.  (Don't worry, I'm going to the Penn Circle one soon).

Where: BRGR Cranberry
Who: me, IPA-hole, PickyMIL & FIL, & the kids.
What:  me - Cease & Desist
            IPA-hole - Fire in the Hole
            PickyMIL - King Salmon
            FIL - Average Joe
            The Kids - Mac & Cheese
            Appetizer - BRGR Perogies *winner

I also got a Toasted Almond spiked shake, that I shared with PickyMIL.  Delish! 

Stay tuned for BRGR Pittsburgh!

Those things are HUGE!

Its been quite some time since we've ventured out to Monroeville for anything beyond Miracle Mile.  Its just such a pain to get all the way down 22, especially on a Saturday afteroon.  The kids had a birthday party at Giggles & Smiles - cool place - an indoor playground in the mall.  I learned a great fun fact on this one though, you can drop your kid off if they're 3 & potty trained while you shop and they watch them for up to 3 hours.  Someone should probably put something like this in every mall in the world. 

So after leaving there, I was starving.  I was thinking about Taipei Tokoyo, which is my favorite sushi place in the area, but we're hauling 1 sleeping BabyGray, and 1 wound up BigBrother, and looking out the mall windows seeing whirling snow as we walk past the Saga doors.  That sounds about 100 times easier than going outside, loading the crew in the car, driving 500 yards, and then unloading again.  Saga it is!!

We've been to Saga a few times before for hibachi and sushi.  I've always thought it was good, but like I said, Monroeville Mall has become less and less of a destination for us, so it has been probably well over a year since we've been here.  For lunch,  we decided to share some sushi - because when you want sushi, nothing else will do!!

Who:  Me, IPA-hole, and the kids.
Where:  Saga Hibachi Steakhouse
What:  Fantastic Roll ( yellowtail, salmon, avocado topped with spicy lobster, jalepeno, & tobiko) *winner
            Million Roll (crunchy spicy tuna with 3 different colors of tobiko on top)
            Foxy Lady Roll (salmon, yellowtail, tuna, avocado)
            Crab Rangoons
            Miso Soup for BigBrother

Fantastic Roll was the winner - just enough heat and so yummy!  Million Roll was extra colorful; so interesting that BigBrother wanted a bite of the red one - which he then spit back out.  Foxy Lady Roll wasn't bad, just not as good as the others, but a good choice if you're looking for soy paper instead of seaweed. Not to mention, all three were HUGE.  The slices were big, the rolls were big.  I'm not sure if the sushi chef was living large that day, or if he always makes them that way.  At any rate, we stuffed ourselves.

So the verdict:  If you're at the mall and don't feel like driving over to Taipei Tokoyo, then head on in to Saga!  I do prefer Taipei Tokoyo, but I wasn't disappointed in Saga.  As far as hibachi there, we'll have to try that some other time.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, folks!  Next week, I'll be venturing out with the dining team and maybe IPA-hole will take me somewhere special for Valentine's Day.  I'll keep you posted.

~ CDO

Caribbean Smorgasboard

Kaya - Round 2 - Ding!!!!  I think this is one of my favorite ways to eat - when out with the Dining Team, pretty much everything ordered is fair game for all forks.  We all got to try just about all the items on the menu.  Each dish was awesome, some better than others, and great all the way around!

They gave us our own big table in the back, again.  Of course we start with the Caribbean inspired drinks - I opted for the Caipirinha, which is kinda like a mojito, but more lime and Brazilian.  They are a bit sentimental for me; IPA-hole drank waaaay to many of these on our honeymoon, but that's another story...  The other drink that I found exceptionally interesting was Vegahimsa's Grapefruit-Basil Margarita.  It was fresh, a little sweet, and different.  The winner was definitly the Kayapolitan - they just kept coming!!!  Light, sweet, and so cute with the little cranberries in the bottom!

Appetizers, again, were amazing - Tartare with the Plantain chips, peanuts in the Calamari.  The Bean Dip & the Tofu Cracklins are yummy and spicy, so be careful.  I did like the tofu, it wasn't how I expected tofu to be.  Salsa was good, passed on the Mushroom Saute (cause mushrooms are not my favorite).  The winner of appetizers, when put to vote, was the Lentil & Corn Beingnets by a landslide.  I was suprised when they came, I don't think I knew what they would be, and they managed to impress.  I think I feel the same way about Kaya this time as last time - to hell with dinner, just order all the appetizers!



Who:  Me & the Dining Team
Where:  Kaya
What:  Drinks on the table - Lava Lover, Rum Runner, Caipirinha, Grapefruit-Basil Margartia, Dark & Stormy, Kayapolitan (*winner),
            Appetizers for all - Tuna Tartare, Crispy Calamari, Tofu Cracklins, Mushroom Saute, Lentil & Corn Beingnets (*winner), Mango-Tomatilla Salsa, Yucatan Hot Bean Dip
   
 Dinner - Me - <~ Pan Roasted Grouper
                    EasyD - Park Farms Chicken Breast  ~>
                    Chickie - Salmon-Crab Cakes & Sweet & Spicy Baby Back Ribs
                    Vegahimsa - Jerked Tofu Tacos
                    Onion-hater - Kaya Burger
                    Steamy - Kaya Burger
                    Nonsense - Crispy Fish Tacos
                    Willtry - Kaya Burger
      Desserts - Pecan Torte with Chipotle Ice Cream, Ice Cream Tasting (Passionfruit, Dulce de Leche, Avocado), Chocolate & Banana Bread Pudding, Creme Brulee.  And I can't pick a winner here.

Again, I'll say that everything was great.  My grouper was cooked perfectly, texture & flavor was amazing.  Tacos - delicious.  Chicken - tasty.  Cakes, burgers, ribs - yummy, yum, yum. But let's just talk about dessert for a second - yes, it says Chipotle ice cream & Avocado ice cream.  The Chipotle ice cream was one of the most confusing yet delicious things I have ever eaten - it was spicy, like chipotle spicy, but frozen.  And Avocado ice cream was so different and very tasty.  Bread pudding is one of my most favorite desserts, bananas are one of my least favorite - its a texture thing - this bread pudding was fabulous, even better if you like bananas.  Those were the only 4 on the menu, so we ate them all, but, as a frontloader, I go back to the appetizers on this one.  I'd rather eat them than dessert.  As Chickie said, and I quote, "The appetizers were a smorgasboard of love and deliciousness!"  She may have also been including the Kayapolitans. 

Again, I will repeat, this restaurant is small, I advise you to make reservations or you may find yourself looking for somewhere else to eat.  I would also recommend that you keep ordering.  There was a little snag with the Kaya staff - after we had finished dessert, and had not ordered any more drinks, they did ask us to give up the table.  Which, I do understand, being that it is such a small place, but it was a little sooner than we thought reasonable to push us out.  C'mon kids, you're there to make great food and let us run up a huge tab!!

On the whole, Kaya has fab food, captivating ambiance, great drinks, and stellar appetizers!  Make reservations, like now. 

~ CDO

Aguafiesta

Well this whole evening was not as expected.  We were definitely trying to go out to the new tapas place in Greensburg, and I was so looking forward to it.  Well, Nonsense & Onion-hater get there first (a half hour early b/c somebody thought the wrong time) only to find that the new place of choice isn't open on Mondays or Tuesdays.  So plan B - El Patron.

I read some of the reviews on urbanspoon, and seriously - the best Mexican food?  What Mexican joints have you been tolerating???  Overall, I was disappointed at best.  Our main server acted like we were bothering him by being there.  I mean, he finally warmed up at the end, but by then we weren't interested. 
The margaritas were good, sangria was good, chips, salsa & guacamole were good, food came fast; that was positive. Mine was decent, but  unrecognizable for what it was supposed to be, and generally I can identify my Mexican staples - in this case, supposedly a chimichanga & a queso relleno.  Tierra Firme's looked good too - taco, enchilada, & rice.  Nonsense & Onion-hater both went with the tortilla soup.  Yes, here we go with these two again - the soup has chicken in it, Nonsense! (which she gave to Onion-hater). There are onions in it, Onion-hater! (which she decided were big enough eat around). I still don't get it, and they both agreed that, after spooning the oil off the top (which is what this picture is), the soup was good - had a TON of avocado in it, YUM!  Onion-hater didn't touch the tamale, and there were no onions in it.  We think it exploded, but we're not sure.  You can look at the picture and judge for yourself.

Who:  Onion-hater, Nonsense, Tierra Firme, & Me
Where:  El Patron
What: Me - Special Texas (Chimichanga & Queso Relleno)
          Onion-hater - Tortilla Soup & a  Tamale
          Nonsense - Tortilla Soup *winner
          Tierra Firme - Combo 1 (Taco, Enchilada, & rice)

So for what its worth,  don't bother.  If you're looking for some good authentic Mexican food, head over to Picante in Delmont.  We do go there more often than I think I'd like to admit.  The guys know what me & the kids want as soon as we sit down, speak Spanish to us, and make some great food.  Hmm, I guess I'll have to write about them one of these days. 

Yeah, bummer, El Patron was a bust.  Wish the tapas place would have been open.  Stay tuned...

~ CDO

Carribean Stripped

IPA-hole & I are on vacation this week, with no real plans except cleaning our house, taking down the Christmas decorations, entertaining the kids, & brewing beer (IPA-hole, not me. he got a American IPA ingredient kit for Christmas that'll be ready in about 8 weeks, so check back).  Yes, I just used "entertaining the kids" & "brewing beer" in the same sentence.  We decided to grab PickyMIL to babysit and have a long overdue date night - just the two of us.  Consternation about where to go - when we realized that Kaya is the only Big Burrito (a group of restaurants in Pgh that are quite unique) that we have never tried.  Turns out they have 1 reservation left for 2, so game on.

Kaya is island-style cuisine, which we just love.  One thing Big Burrito does well with all of its restaurants is that it takes a theme and creates the whole package - the menu, the drinks, the decor, the music, the lighting.  The bar stools are shaped like palm trees meet bongos, the lighting is perfect - warm, low, and tropical. IPA-hole and I have spent a fair amount of time in the Carribean, and Kaya does capture the feel quite well, without resorting the typical "Hemmingway" decor.  Even though it was cold outside, inside we were warm, intimate, felt like some of those backyard joints in the Carribean that we just love, but with some pizzaz. This place is small, which is cool, but be warned: we sat at a table right by the entrance and watched the host turn away group after group without a reservation.  He was even calling down to their sister restaurant, Eleven, to see if they could accomodate and having no luck. And this is a Wednesday night.

On to food.  So, the other day I decided that I was going to lay off the beer and mixed drinks and stay on organic wines. Organic wines are awesome, no headache!  Yeah, I keep saying it and I keep getting derailed.  So anyway, I was thrilled when I looked at Kaya's wine list and they had organics on it - and I chose the Naked Earth Organic blend! I like blends, they are always different, so we're starting off on the right foot!!!  For appetizers, we go for the Tuna Tartare and the Crispy Calamari.  The tuna comes with plantain chips that are so good, and the tuna is very good as well, nice texture.  Crispy Calamari was excellent, the favorite of the night. The calamari was cooked perfectly and the jicama, radicchio, coconut, & peanuts really added to the flavor.  It was sweet, light, and Carribean. 

As for entrees, I opted for the ever popular fish tacos, which were good, don't get me wrong, but slightly disappointing when left to follow the calamari.  IPA-hole went with the Tropical Paella, as did the girl at the table next to us.  I like his better, kept sticking my fork in and coming out with a shrimp. The Paella was lots of seafood, not too much rice, and some heat - perfect amount of spice.  The guy at the table next to us went with the Adobo marinated Flank Steak, which looked excellent.  I may have to try that next time.  And why do I mention the couple next to us?  Well, it was slighly uncomfortable and hugely entertaining - they were scheming the whole time, something about the girlfriend having access to the boyfriend's dad's bank account, and it definitely gave us something to evesdrop on.  Speculate from there...

Who: Me & IPA-hole
Where:  Kaya
What:  Me - Crispy Fish Tacos, Tuna Tartare
            IPA-hole - Tropical Paella, Crispy Calamari *winner

All in all, Kaya was good food, excellent ambiance.  I give them props for being able to capture the islands and bring it to Pittsburgh.  IPA-hole says the beer selection is excellent.  Overall it was fresh & tasty.  When we go back, though, I think we may skip ordering entrees and hit up appetizers for the meal. Yup, frontloading again. 

So everyone have a happy new year!  Stay safe! And stay out of your boyfriend's dad's bank account.

~ CDO

We are definitely frontloaders

This is going to be a long one.

Ok, so I sit down to write this and already I'm annoyed - I need to look at the menu to properly discuss what everyone ordered.  Apparently, the restaurant changes the names of its dishes based on location.  Cute, Hyde Park, real cute...  Now I have to remember what's what without a cheat sheet (aka menu online), and there were 11 of us.  But it was for a good reason - my future SIL (we'll call her Learning to Share because she really had to get used to our family's habit of sticking our forks in your food simply because we want to try it) gradutated from PA school.  For those of you who don't know, she's basically a doctor now!!!  Congrats, love!

We started off on the right foot, though.  Yes, I decided to take my 3 year old and 4 month old to a restaurant that's not really for kids for an 8pm reservation.  So not surprising when BabyGray decides to give a us a diaper gift right before we sit down.  Rightfully so, there are no changing tables in the bathroom, so Learning to Share and I are standing in the hall, trying to figure out what to do when a gentlemen walks by and picks up on our dilemma.  He then tells us to hold on for just a minute, he'll be right back.  He leads us to the back room where he had put together a few chairs to make a makeshift changing table.  I was impressed, it doesn't get much more accomodating.  Thought it was worth mentioning, now on to dinner...

Frontloaders.  My brother said it perfectly, and for that we'll call him FrontloaderB (eluding to FrontloaderA - my Dad).  We order every appetizer that is even remotely appealing to one of us. Forget dessert, its not nearly as important.  Fortunately, Learning to Share's family loves dessert, then it balances out.  So we get 2 Mr. Hyde & Dr. Jekyll shellfish platters and stacked plates of more seafood - Blackened Scallops, Jumbo Shrimp, Crab Cakes on the one; Lobster tails, oysters, crab legs, jumbo shrimp on the stacked deal (at least I think that's what they were called - I didn't order them, just ate them).  Other things on the table: the Hyde Park Wedge and the Lobster Bisque.  Lobster Bisque was a weird presentation when she dumped it into my bowl from a metal cup, but so far everything was excellent.

Its a steakhouse, so steaks were all around with a splattering of Chilean Sea Bass.  All the steaks were good, cooked well, lots of flavor.  My Sacco Steak was sweet, and I love hollandaise, plus bacon, yum.  FrontloaderA was unable to expand on his Sea Bass - he kept telling me he was too full to truly know how it tasted. MacCheese thought his Sea Bass was melt-in-your-mouth good (Yup, MacCheese doesn't eat steak, or most other great foods, hopes for Kraft Mac&Cheese at all times, but then orders sea bass, I don't get it).  Nobody cared for for FrontloaderB's steak compared to the other options - too much peppercorn.  Aside from that, all were well prepared, exactly what we all asked for - medium was medium, rare was rare, bacon wrapped was delicious.  IPA-hole hit the cow on the head with The Rooney.  He tends to go with that steak & lobster combination and it works.  Learning to Share argued, quite passionately, that her Clemente was superior, which it may have been if you love bleu cheese.  All in all, great appetizers, great steaks, great sides.

Who:  Me, IPA-hole, the kids, and the rest of the family
Where:  Hyde Park
What:  Me - The Sacco (Steak Dijon) *sweet and tasty
            IPA-hole - The Rooney (Steak a la Lobster) *winner
            FrontloaderA - Blackened Chilean Sea Bass
            FrontloaderB - The Bettis (Steak au Poivre) *tasted like jerky
            Learning to Share - The Clemente (Steak Au Bleu) *winner if you like bleu cheese, so 2nd
            Enabler - Steakhouse Chop Salad
            MRE - The Big Ben (12oz Filet)
            MacCheese - Chilean Sea Bass w/ Lemon Sauce
            Allergic to Shellfish - NY Strip Steak (sorry about the Jekyll & Hyde, unaware of the allergy until today)
            MamaBsweet - Filet Mignon
            The Kids - Grilled Cheese & FF

I have to mention the family-style sides on the table. Lobster Mac & Cheese, Cream Corn, Asparagus Bearnaise.  IPA-hole thinks that was the best Lobster Mac & Cheese ever.  I enjoyed the corn as well.  Not a huge Asparagus fan, so I passed on that but the others enjoyed it. And of course, MacCheese thought the french fries on the kids plate were exceptional.  Oh, I almost forgot, IPA-hole wants me to mention that the beer selection is mediocre at best.  I enjoyed a few glasses of Malbec.  Mmmmm.

To top it off, Learning to Share decided we needed some Carrot Cake. Please look at the picture - that damn dessert is bigger than BabyGray!!!!  I don't normally eat carrot cake, but merely the size encouraged everyone to try to finish it.  And I liked it.  MamaBsweet went for the Creme Brulee - not as good as other places.

So, as far as Hyde Park goes, its a good steak place.  You can go for a steak and end up enjoying the apps and sides more.  And yes, I would like to stick my fork in your food!

 ~ CDO