Coco Bolos
Posted on August 18, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
While in Manhattan for our leadership conference last week, Darcy and I had dinner at Coco Bolos. Neither of us are familiar with restaurants in the area so we asked another coworker of ours (who went to K-State for undergrad) for recommendations. He said that we would like Coco Bolos and so that’s where we decided to go.
We were both starving so we ordered the combo appetizer, which consisted of “Q” (their queso dip), guacamole, and salsa verde (subbed for salsa del fuego because I can’t handle food that is too spicy) served with corn tortilla chips. The “Q” was different and not as liquid or creamy as the queso I’m used to. The cheese was somewhat stringy and posed a challenge when scooping. I thought the salsa verde was good and the guacamole was just okay. The corn tortilla chips tasted like bagged chips that had been sitting out for a day or so. In short, the appetizer was disappointing and we should have just skipped it. We were really hungry, though.
Darcy had the Cox boys’ burrito – a giant flour tortilla with chicken, black beans, Monterey Jack, salsa, sour cream, Navajo rice and Bolo beans. She said it was very good. I had a piece of chicken, a small bite that was packed with flavor.
For dinner I had the Caribbean BBQ shrimp. It was delicious! Then again, everything tastes better with bacon. Seriously though, it was so good that I tried to make a happy plate despite being completely stuffed halfway through the meal. Darcy and I agreed that we really should have skipped the appetizer, which was nowhere near the quality of the entrees, which were both very good.
I was also really impressed with their freshly squeezed lemonade. You’re probably wondering why I had lemonade instead of a margarita (or two). Brian prefers that I do not drink when I’m out of town.
Anyway, I’m really glad that I tried the lemonade because it’s one of the best I’ve had. I would order it again even if I could have a margarita instead. Yes, it’s that good. So good, in fact, that I almost forgot about the stale tortilla chips. Oh, and did I mention that they give you free refills on the lemonade.
In conclusion, skip the combo appetizer unless you know for sure that the chips are fresh. Maybe ask for a sample before you order? LOL. The entrees seem solid. Darcy and I thought both of our meals were delicious. I have confidence that the other entrees on the Coco Bolos menu are good also. Finally, the freshly squeezed lemonade is not to be missed.
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Moving – Very Slowly
Posted on August 18, 2012 by Ching under Life.
Brian and I are slowly moving to the new place. And when I say slow, I mean really slow. So far we’ve only moved our winter coats and a few other things.
My winter coats moved last weekend. We took Brian’s over there today. Except for one of his jackets that just happened to be mixed in with my stuff.
And yes, I got the short straw on the coat storage selection. Brian got to pick which bedroom he wanted to put his coats in, and he picked the one with the walk-in closet. So even though I have more coats than he does, he gets the bigger closet. Oh, well. Maybe I can kick him out of the master bedroom closet. LOL. Probably not going to happen though, because Brian has a lot of clothes too. He has is own walk-in closet here at the townhouse now, and he fills every inch of it.
Our bikes were among the first things to get moved to the new place also.
After pressure washing the patio and the deck, we were able to move in our old patio furniture. We weren’t using it much here it at the townhouse anyway.
The furniture is old and will probably need to get replaced in the next year or two. Our friends the Dills and the Phelpi got some really good deals from Dillon’s during their 75% summer furniture clearance so we are hoping to do the same next year.
I’m looking forward to drinking some wine on the back deck this fall and winter. We are going to put the fireplace to good use.
The only other thing we’ve moved in so far is our microwave, which we got from Lowe’s using a gift card that mom gave us. (Thank you, mom!)
It was so hard to find just the right size for the wall shelf. This one sticks out a bit in depth, but I opted for this one as opposed to a smaller microwave because I didn’t want to see space at the top and sides of the microwave. The cut out that they made in the shelf for the power plug wasn’t big enough so Brian actually had to make the hole bigger. Thanks to our friend Feifel for coming to the rescue.
There’s still plenty to do. We cleaned the windows today and got window treatments for the glass doors to the back deck. Walls still need to be painted. The rest of our appliances still need to be delivered. We are gradually getting moved in to the new place, but I kind of wish that we would have just planned and executed our move all at once. I like that we’re not feeling rushed and can move at our own leisurely pace, but I’m so ready to be done moving already.
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Taco Tinga
Posted on August 18, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian and I found ourselves at Taco Tinga last weekend. There are few options late at night. The restaurant, which I had been curious about, just happened to be open.
Taco Tinga is located near Douglas and Hillside in the space formerly occupied by Dolci & Joe’s, Breezy’s before that, and Taco Tico even further back in the day. I’m not a huge Taco Tico fan so I never went back then. I missed going to Breezy’s and Dolci & Joe’s so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to check it out before it eventually closes. Sorry, but this location doesn’t have a great track record. LOL.
The concept is a lot like Chipotle. You basically build your own burritos, quesadillas, tacos etc. Although, I think Taco Tinga is more like Poblano in terms of food offering. The restaurant offers several good options including sopes, tamales, and fajita salad, but I was disappointed that I couldn’t order a bowl (which is what I normally get when I’m at Chipotle). The ladies at the counter were really nice, though. They let me make my “bowl” and just put it in a plate.
Brian was unimpressed. LOL.
I thought the food was just okay. It could be that we got there too late and the food had been sitting out there a while. Who knows? I found the carnitas too watery. Same with the rice. Then again, I’m partial to the cilantro lime rice served at Chipotle. Food issues aside, the restaurant offers a good value. You get plenty of food for the price, which I thought was more reasonable than Chipotle. Also the people are really helpful and super nice. I’m not running back to Taco Tinga, but I would give it another shot. Perhaps go around lunch time and see if the quality of the food is better then.
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Unbridled Bliss
Posted on August 15, 2012 by Ching under Confessions.
Ever had one of these days? It’s been a while for me too.
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The Beacon Restaurant
Posted on August 14, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Brian and I arrived at Tracy’s an hour too early on Saturday so we decided to eat breakfast at The Beacon to kill time.
Neither Brian nor I had ever been there but my sister Jenni was been there a few times. We’d heard some pretty good things so we were excited to give it a try.
Brian wasn’t quite awake yet.
I’m not sure how often the specials board is updated, but this is what it looked like that Saturday. I usually gravitate towards specials because of the discounted pricing (read: I’m cheap). Brian and I ordered the first two items on the list.
Brian got the Beacon traditional with country potatoes, which he normally likes, but he didn’t like them as much because they had onions and a bunch of other stuff. Also, they were cold. The temperature inside the restaurant was cold (according to Brian; I thought it was fine) so I’m wondering if they were cold because we were seated close to an air vent or because it had to sit and wait while they re-made my omelette. Probably a combination of both.
I got the New York omelette minus the Swiss. That’s the reason why they had to re-make it. The cook put cheese in the first one. At least the server noticed and had it corrected before bringing it to the table. At other restaurants, the servers are not attentive enough to notice or they serve it to you anyway hoping that you won’t notice and/or complain about it. The downside is that our food took longer and I think that’s part of the reason that Brian’s food was cold. Overall the Beacon is not bad. There are definitely better places to eat breakfast, but I think the good service at the Beacon makes up for its deficiencies.
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