Cheer Up With Food

For my 30th birthday, I decided to celebrate it for the entire month of November.   Since I've reached this milestone in my life, why not spread out the celebration?  Here are highlights of my birthday month: Cake, Cake, Cake My coworker got me this lovely Guava Cake from Andrea's World of Cakes , thank you Fran! Hawaii Trip '16 My family and I were in Hawaii for a bit.  Being there for my birthday was not the primary reason though :p We had this 'ono (delicious) and authentic Hawaiian meal from Waiahole Poi Factory : Don't forget the chili water and Shoyu! There's been many poke bowl shops poppin' up in Vegas.  But none yet that I've been to can beat the OG poke bowls from Hawaii!  Pictured here are poke bowls with simply marinated raw fish and rice.  We also had some sashimi and musubis from Foodland Farms : Li Hing Mui Frost from Frostcity :                   Th...

It's only been a week since I visited Portland, OR and I'm still missing the city, its vibe, and the food. One of the places that I truly enjoyed eating was at Bollywood Theater PDX  (<- check out the videos on their website!).  Just being at the restaurant itself gave me a little insight of what India is like just by looking at their decor.                                              If you don't know much about Indian food (I'm still learning myself), a lot of the delicious, flavorful foods are street foods - foods that are sold at carts and stands: Gobi Manchurian- Indo-Chinese fried cauliflower with lemon, curry leaves, and sweet and sour sauce I cannot live without curry (true story).  Put me on a deserted island and I could just live off curry dishes every day! Left ...

It's been awhile since I've blogged about a restaurant in my hometown, Las Vegas!  Being a new parent has made me busy bee, so I have been putting up quick posts on the @CheerUpWithFood  Instagram here and there instead.  I will continue blogging when I get the chance though!   Over the weekend I dined at Other Mama .  Since I'm a big seafood lover, it was hard to decide what I wanted to try.  As you can see on Daily Specials, they offer an interesting variety of seafood: Daily Specials! They also serve beer, wine, and cocktails: Try saying the name of this brewery seven times In Vegas it's not often that you see Hush Puppies (cornbread balls) on a menu so I had to try their rendition.  These appetizers were soft, fluffy and it's subtle sweetness hit the spot: Hush Puppies On to the raw delights: Amberjack Crudo- garnished with meyer lemon, radish, and chives There were four types of oysters being serve...

I had to save my best dining experience in Japan for last at  Sushi Bar Yasuda !  When my husband and I entered the small, intimate restaurant, we saw Chef Yasuda standing alone at the bar.  He had no facial expression (maybe he was getting into the zone?).  As everyone sat down, he was preparing our foods and began talking to us in a calm, friendly manner.   As the night progressed, we all were having interesting conversations with Chef Yasuda from his life back in New York (he was the former owner of Sushi Yasuda ), sushi making techniques (and secrets!), him getting to know a bit about his patrons, and so on. I had told him that we were from Las Vegas, NV and he made fun of how it was impossible to get great sushi to the desert.  Well, after eating my omakase meal, I would have to agree with him! Now onto the food, if you haven't recognized him yet, Chef Naomichi Yasuda is featured in CNN's Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown  episode ...

Continuing on from my last post, Japan Trip '16: Osaka , when we left Osaka, we travelled up north to Kanazawa then travelled to Tokyo where we stayed for the remainder of our trip. We made a stop at Kyoto to do some sightseeing and snacked from bento boxes before we went on our trek: The Japanese make cute stuff out of everything.  Yes, even food.  Kawaii desu ne: After a long walk seeing the Arashiyama Bamboo Groove , we saw Taiyaki for the first time!  This fluffy fish-shaped cake is made out pancake or waffle batter and is usually filled with green tea, custard, or red bean paste (from sweetened adzuki beans ) as seen here: Hacchoya was the first restaurant we ate at when we arrived in Kanazawa .  This was a very nice and chic izakaya (Japanese tavern).  When we arrived it was crowded with business people dining and had a smoky atmosphere.  I hate smoke, but it won't stop me from trying new foods!  Ot...