Archive for "Reviews"
Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant
Posted on June 11, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Darcy and I had dinner at Blind Tiger Brewery & Restaurant in Topeka last night. It was actually pretty yummy. I also got to try their raspberry wheat. Not as good as my peach limbic, but it was pretty good as beers go.
We shared the hummus starter. The orange color is because it’s made with chipotle and tomato. They make different types of hummus each day.
Their special on Monday night was almond encrusted tilapia. Darcy and I both ordered it, except she got hers with green beans.
I asked for black beans with mine.
I thought it was pretty good though the tilapia filet could have used more flavor. It was a little bland for my taste. And the presentation was somewhat lacking. Other than that, dinner was good. The hummus wasn’t the best, but it was delicious. You just had to ignore the bright orange color. LOL.
I may take Brian over there next time we’re in the area so he can try their beer. They have lots of other options on the menu that we can try also. And, the restaurant seemed pretty popular with the locals as the parking lot was quite full when we got there. Even on a Monday night. So that’s pretty good.
No Comments
Granite City Meet-Up
Posted on February 2, 2013 by Brian under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Our boss decided to take the team from work out to dinner the other night. He said we had a rough 2012 and were going to have an even tougher 2013 so he wanted to show his appreciation by taking us all to dinner at Granite City. I personally love Granite City. Especially their 2-Pull Beer, lol
Here is some gratuitous food porn.
And of course, since we didn’t have to pay for anything we all got dessert.
All in all it was a good evening. We had some great conversations and tried really hard to just avoid work subjects. It didn’t really work, we ended up talking about work eventually but it was limited and short.
Granite City is one of may favorite places to drink…I mean eat.
No Comments
Freddy’s Frozen Custard
Posted on January 21, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
We couldn’t figure out where to take the Orbases yesterday, but finally decided on Freddy’s Frozen Custard for several reasons. First off, it’s Brian’s favorite hamburger chain. Also, Freddy’s started in Wichita and Orbases have never been to a Freddy’s restaurant. The best part about Freddy’s — besides the shoestring fries — is that they opened their first restaurant in 2002, the same year that Brian and I got married. Freddy’s will always hold a special place in my heart and belly.
Since Freddy was in the Pacific during WWII, I also really like all of the photos they have displayed around the restaurant particularly the one right above Sam in this photo because it’s a memorial in Leyte.
Okay, I take that back. We liked all of the photos with the exception of the one at our table. Sam thought it was gross that they were in their bathing suits. She wanted us to sit at a different table instead. LOL.
Brian and I got our usual — a steakburger combo and hotdog add on. We always split the burger and the hotdog in half so we get to enjoy both with having to eat one of each, and we don’t end up eating too much of the fries which isn’t hard to do because they’re completely addictive.
The Orbases all had shakes, which they seemed to like. So that was good. Sam ate all of her hotdog and reassured us that she liked it because it’s rare for her to finish all of her food. Then, she adds that it’s rare for Cameron to NOT finish all of his food. That made the entire table laugh. Sam was full of zingers yesterday. Sheryll explained that is how she normally is after she warms up to people. She was really quiet and shy when they first arrived. By Sunday afternoon she was quite talkative.
Clayton had the patty melt which he said reminded him a lot of Filipino beef steak (or bistek). He said the flavors and the way that the meat and onions were cooked were reminiscent of bistek. We speculated that Freddy must have been inspired by Filipino cuisine because of all the time he spent in the Philippines during the war. We got a jar of Freddy’s special fry seasoning for them to take back to Dallas so Clayton can recreate the Freddy’s steakburger experience back home. If anyone can do it, Clayton can.
No Comments
Great Harvest Bread Co is Truly Great
Posted on January 20, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Brian and I only had a limited amount of time after my Zumba class and before my waxing appointment so we decided to have lunch at Great Harvest rather than going all the way back home. We split the mile high panini sandwich. Though we hadn’t been there in ages, it’s the sandwich that we usually get there.
I must say, it’s just as good as I remembered. If you’ve never been to Great Harvest, I highly recommend checking it out. They make the best breads here in Wichita, hands down. Their cinnamon burst bread has always been my favorite. They also make deliciously cheesy garlic bread sticks. They give everyone free samples of their freshly baked breads and they also give you a free cookie on your first FourSquare check in. Those of you who have been to Great Harvest know that they have really awesome cookies, so that’s a FourSquare deal that is not to be missed.
If the amazing food isn’t enough to draw you in, then the friendly service should. The fine folks at Great Harvest are simply the nicest people you’ll ever meet. I give this restaurant an A++ because they are just plain super. Go ahead and check it out and tell them Ching sent you. 🙂
No Comments
My Carnitas Dinner at Raul & Theresa’s
Posted on January 13, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews, Travel.
We had the most interesting cab ride to the hotel. While we were waiting for Carmen’s suitcase to come out of baggage claim, she called the cab driver Ruben who was recommended by Miner, one of the hotel staff members that she spoke with last week.
She got his voice mail the first time that she tried. She was cracking up because his voice mail message said something like don’t leave a message, just keep trying to call back. When she finally got a hold of him, she thought he said it would take an hour and twenty minutes for him to pick us up. She was like, we can’t wait that long to be picked up. He clarified and said twenty minutes. I guess his heavy accent caused a bit of a language barrier.
We waited for a while and, after a bit, Carmen was thinking that if he didn’t show up in five more minutes, that we should just take another cab. Finally he called and informed us that he was getting ready to pull up. He asked what door we were by. He also asked Carmen what she was wearing, which was a little awkward because it could have easily been taken out of context. LOL.
We had the most entertaining ride to the hotel. Ruben was very friendly. He asked us what music we wanted to listen to. We told him it didn’t matter and that we would listen to whatever music he listened to. He tuned the radio to 95.1 Latino Vibe and we were dancing around to Mexican and Latin American music all the way to the hotel. All the while he was telling us about Camelback Mountain and the various stadiums that we were driving by. He also told us about his Zumba instructor daughter who lives in Texas. He was Mr. Congeniality, full of helpful information.
He told us about the free shuttle service at the hotel and gave us some restaurant suggestions. That’s actually how we found out about Raul & Theresa’s in Avondale. We figured if a Mexican person says that a Mexican restaurant is good then it’s got to be good, right? They should know.
Here’s a picture of my carnitas dinner at Raul & Theresa’s. It was pretty good, but not great by any means.
Their chips were pretty mediocre and their salsa is way too spicy. When we asked for mild salsa, we got something that was very watery and way too mild. We finally just made our own by mixing the both the regular and mild together. I was disappointed that it wasn’t nearly as good as similar restaurants here in Wichita.
I’m not sure how everyone else felt about their dinner. The entrees that were delivered to our table both looked and smelled good. Jennifer, one of the students in class who joined us for dinner that evening, said her wine was not good. Then again, who orders wine at a Mexican restaurant? You’re supposed to order a margarita. LOL. We should have warned her ahead of time.
Other than that, the service was pretty good. I think the locals really love this place. Thus, the great reviews that we got from the Ruben and the hotel staff. Speaking of Ruben, he was a great cab driver and lived up to the advertisement on his business card of “friendliest cab in town, low rates, clean ride, and clean driver.” When Carmen left her cellphone in the cab after she got dropped off at the airport, he even came back to the hotel and returned it to me. How many cab drivers would do that? If you are ever in the area, be sure to call Dove Transportation at (602) 413-5399 and ask for Ruben. That might be Ruben’s direct number, actually. If you get voice mail, don’t leave a message. Just call again.
No Comments
