Archive for "Food and Drink"
Naples Dinners
Posted on May 8, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
First of all, let me preface this post by saying Naples is a pretty bougie area where cheap dinners are hard to come by. After spending over $100 on our dinner at K-Rico, we needed to find a way to eat more cheaply because spending $100 every single day for dinner was not going to be sustainable. Since our Go Cats on the Water tour guide JT lives in Naples, we asked him where do the locals eat because everything around us was just too darn expensive. JT explained the further you go East, the more reasonable prices get. The more you go West, the more expensive things get. This makes sense. West is kind of the water side. Everything on the water is expensive. East is more inland.
This led Brian and I to Mel’s Diner for dinner one night. This was probably the cheapest meal we had of the entire trip but the food was decent. Actually, Brian said his onion rings were really good.
I took a page from Brian’s playbook and got the chicken tendies.
Dinner was good overall but it was a little creepy in that everyone in there was old. It seemed like their target demographic was Florida retirees and they absolutely nailed it. I joked to Brian that he fit right in. LOL.
The next night, we went back on the tourist trail, and walked to Pinchers at Tin City. We actually ate here with some friends a few years ago and enjoyed it so we didn’t mind going back.
It’s not cheap by any means but they do have the BOGO happy hour drink specials to make up for it.
Brian took advantage of the BOGO drinks.
I had a pina colada which was not part of the BOGO deal, unfortunately.
After perusing the menu, Brian decided to order his usual chicken tendies.
I got some shrimp tacos.
We had a lovely dinner over all and enjoyed walking around and checking out the Tin City shops, after which we walked back to our hotel.
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K-Rico Mexican Grill
Posted on May 4, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Bayfront Plaza is a cute hub across the bay from our hotel. We decided to walk over there for early supper on our second evening in Naples.
We chose K-Rico Mexican Grill because Brian said it had good reviews.
Brian was a tad grumpy until he had a bottle of beer in his hand.
I opted for a refreshing glass of sangria.
We sat at a table outside with a view of our hotel in the background.
Here are some food pics.
Dinner was good but also expensive. We decided we needed to find some cheaper dining alternatives for the rest of our stay in Naples. LOL. The experience was good overall all, though, and we were glad that the restaurant was within walking distance. We had a lovely walk to and from dinner. More on the rest of the food we enjoyed while in Naples, Florida on the next post. Until next time!
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One More Fun Group Dinner with Jim
Posted on April 9, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
We had another fun group dinner with our friend Jim Tsen while he was in town last month. This time it was at our most favorite restaurant of all, the Belmont.
Our dinner mates consisted of the full Tres Palapas gang plus Brian.
One of my favorite things about Sundays at the Belmont is their “all day” happy hour. Naturally, we indulged.
Here are some pics of our wonderful food…
The Belmont never disappoints.
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Brian’s First Time at George’s
Posted on April 7, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Our friend Jim had a list of restaurants to try during his visit to Wichita. George’s French Bistro was on his list. I had been there for lunch a few times over the years, but I’d never had dinner there; and since Brian had never been there before, we decided to join him. Julie Egy and Brady Randall joined as well.
Brian had an old fashioned, which he said was the best old fashioned he had ever had. I can’t remember if it was $22 or $24 dollars. I just remember thinking it was expensive and telling him that at that price, it had better be good.
I got a French kiss, which was good but also expensive. I decided I wasn’t going to do any drinking there in the future unless it was happy hour.
Here are some pictures of our food.
I should have posted this shortly after our dinner because I honestly cannot remember what everyone got. Except, I know Brian got this very messy looking poutine thing. He seemed to like it.
My red snapper was just okay. Not as good as the red snapper at the Belmont or the whole one I had at Larios on the Beach in Miami.
The opera cake was great finish, though.
Bottom line? Our dinner was quiet expensive. While the food and service were both good, it wasn’t fantastic. I don’t know if I see the value because we have other restaurants like the Belmont that we really love that don’t cost quite as much. Unless you’re going for happy hour, this is probably more of a special occasion type of place for us. Our total for the charcuterie board app, two drinks, two entrees, and dessert cost way more than we’re comfortable spending on weekly dinners — maybe not even monthly. This is maybe a once or twice a year type dinner, but maybe not even because Brian isn’t a huge fan of French or fancy food. He’s pretty basic. The highlight of the whole dinner for him was his old fashioned.
The opera cake was good but nothing really stood out to me as having been fantastic. If a friend really wants to go there, we could probably be talked into going, but if it’s just the two of us then Brian and I would probably much rather go elsewhere. We are just not that fancy.
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Flight 1868
Posted on April 6, 2026 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian and I finally got a chance to check out Flight 1868 last month. We’d been wanting to but just have never had time. We ended up meeting our friend Jim Tsen, who was visiting from Seattle, here before our group dinner at George’s.
I originally wanted to try one of the flights but we were worried that we would not have time to finish it before our dinner reservation. Brian got an old fashioned. It might have been the drink called Flight Delay. I got a Frosted Sugar Cookie. They were getting ready to change out their menu so my drink might not be on there any longer. The place is cute with an interesting ambiance because of their commitment to the flying theme, complete with airplane seats as seating. We will have to return and enjoy some light bites during patio season.
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