Cheer Up With Food

Check out my first podcast!  Here I talk about my recommendation of Kabuto: Mystery Meet Podcast Episode 19 .

I recently went to Fukumimi Ramen on a very cold Vegas night, which was perfect timing to eat ramen!  This is the first authentic Japanese ramen on the east side of Las Vegas (finally! I sometimes don't like driving to the west side just to eat out).  Fukumimi is a small restaurant,  items on the menu are reasonably priced, and the portion of my ramen bowl was big enough to fulfill my appetite: This is  鳥ラーメン  ( Tori Ramen )- The chicken broth was very flavorful  and rich. Tasting this was like a small kick in the mouth, but in a good way! This was my  Tonkotsu Ramen(miso)- Fukumimi's original miso with corn .   Nice big slices of pork belly and a slice of a seasoned egg were also included. Yum look at these noodles!  I was craving these authentic noodles badly after watching episode 1 of Mind of a Chef .  In the back are six pieces of  Tori  Karaage   (Japanese fried chicken). I recomme...

For my birthday luncheon with my family, I decided to have it at Diamond Chinese Restaurant.  Going to the restaurant at first felt a bit ominous because we were on Industrial Rd driving past many strip club joints and saw that the restaurant was located in a white building where half of it looked abandoned.  Upon walking inside, the restaurant looked nice, clean, and had a few simple decorations... At that moment the ominous feeling went away! The foods we ordered were  Sauteed Scallops , Sizzling Seafood Combination,   House Chow Mein , Mixed Vegetables Lo Hon Style , and Deep Fried Crispy Chicken .  All these dishes exceeded my expectations!  Each dish was flavorful which made it quite a wonderful meal. Diamond is truly a hole a in the wall restaurant... It's like a gem hidden in a place you wouldn't expect to find it in!

I've been to  Rita's  twice so far and have forgotten to take a picture of  what I've ordered!  I guess I'm just excited to try these cool treats.  So here's a pic from their website.  If you've never been here before I recommend trying a gelati first: You get to choose a layer of  Italian Ice (flavors include Swedish Fish®, Island Fusion, Kiwi-Strawberry, etc.)  and a creamy Frozen Custard on top (flavors incude Vanilla, Chocolate, or combo of both).

During my first visit to Lake Havasu, I ate at  Barley Brothers  for lunch.  I was drawn to this place because I was craving a hamburger! The Lobster Burger  and PB&J Burger had very interesting descriptions.  I wish I could have tried both of them, but decided to eat the Lobster Burger .  A nice view of the London Bridge from the restaurant. My Lobster Burger in the front- burger topped with Maine lobster, gruyere cheese, green leaf lettuce, tomato, tarragon mayonnaise, and topped with a  fried egg.  My friend's Cajun Burger in the back- brushed with Cajun spices topped with  bacon and Swiss cheese . For dessert we shared a nice, small  crème brûlée !  

If Veggie House had a different name, not mentioning that it was a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, I would not tell at all that their poultry, red meat, and seafood dishes were meatless!  I was amazed by the lunch I had, it was definitely one of the best Chinese meals I've had: Our waitress suggested this spinach appetizer. I don't know what kind of sauce it was sauteed in, but its flavor was subtle yet unique. Being the curry lover that I am, I got the Curry Chicken with Potato .  I seriously couldn't tell that the meats were fake, it was so good! My fiance got the General Tzo Chicken.   It was a delight! This dish's deep fried batter to chicken ratio was about even. This is one of the restaurants in China Town area I highly recommend going to... Even to meat lovers too!  You'll be satisfied! 

Don't be deceived by  Joey's Pizza 's location and exterior, their pizzas and chicken wings are worth trying and they offer great deals!  The ingredients of the pizzas are fresh and the ones I've had don't taste dry like a cardboard.  If you get chicken wings, also get the ranch sauce to dip them in, they're delish! Middle:  14" pizza with jalapeño , mushrooms, and pineapple chunks. Bottom:  Joey's Famous Home Run - Alfredo garlic sauce, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, pepperoni, sausage, baked and topped with diced tomatoes and cheddar cheese. P.S.  Whenever I drive past this place, it reminds me of Alias .   If you've watched the first season you'll know what I mean.

After watching the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead , I was inspired to eat more vegetables and fruits because I know I should be eating more of these two food groups! I've been making green smoothies every day mainly from fresh spinach or kale, fruits, hemp milk, etc.  So far I found great smoothie recipes from Allrecipies.com .  After a couple days of drinking smoothies, I was already getting results.  I felt more energetic and my face looked more clearer (no more little pimples)! Cheers to a healthy and yummy diet! 

For my friends' birthday dinner, we celebrated at  Texas De Brazil , a churrascaria ( Brazillian steakhouse).  For all you carnivores out there I highly recommend this place, I bet you'll feel like you're in heaven: Lovely setup Our waiter recommended a sangria  to pair well with the meats, so we got it! Another drink special, this was quite strong! Other than meat, Texas de Brazil has a salad/buffet area with around 50+ items! The foods I got included (not all are in this photo) were lobster  bisque , sautéed mushrooms, buffalo mozzarella , smoked salmon, asparagus, heart of palm , and Peruvian salad (my most favorite!). Servers came around and gave us chunks or slices of meats. One or two servers came every few minutes, which was nice. They each asked politely if we wanted the meat that they were  serving.  At one point of the dinner, about 6+ servers came to  our group an...

During  Las Vegas Restaurant Week /a girls' night out, we ate at  Andre's .  I'm very glad that I was able to go to this beautiful restaurant because their LVRW four course meal is one of the most memorable meals I've ever had!  Along with the set course meal, the ladies ordered two other items: You can barely see the tall glass to the left, that is the Marti-Gras Cocktail- made w/ foie gras , honey, Tahitian vanilla , and vodka.  The items in middle are what came with the drink- ice cream, macerated berries, caramelized pears and candied walnuts. These four tasted wonderful with the drink. As for the drink, it was quite interesting... It felt like I tasted a row of flavors as I drank it, I've never experienced that before! Amuse-Bouche  Caviar Creme Palette Cleanser.   Nicely toasted bread First course : Roasted Corn Soup with Warm Crab Salad, Garlic Chips and Chive Oil.   The flavors of the ro...

Earlier in August I went to Sedona, AZ for a relaxing getaway with my love.  Before going there, I wondered how the food would be because I've never heard much about the food in Arizona.  I only assumed their Mexican food was awesome since they're closer to the border than Nevada.  We perused through restaurant reviews online and asked some locals where they liked to eat.  We went to restaurants/cafes based on those suggestions, and out of all the places we ate at, there were three places I really enjoyed: 1)  Cucina Rustica  is a lovely Italian restaurant thats great for a romantic date.  The decorations and atmosphere really did give off a rustic feel. For dinner, I decided to get one of the today's special dishes.  It was the seafood special with mainly clams and shellfish, pasta, and this incredible sauce!  The sauce tasted like it had white wine and a lot of garlic: Seafood Special 2) Elote Cafe   took me by s...