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:
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| 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:
These huge Banana Mac Nut Pancakes with Coconut Syrup from Rise and Shine Cafe are a must try!:
We had these interesting desserts called Snow Puffys from Paalaa Kai Bakery. They crunchy, soft, and creamy all in one bite:
To see food pics from my last trip to Hawaii in 2015, click here
The Golden Tiki
If you love cocktails, I highly recommend checking out The Golden Tiki. My personal favorite was the Trial By Fire! If you're obsessed with Dole Whip, they've got a few drinks with this scrumptious dessert. They also serve pu pu platters over the weekends, which add more zing to your tiki experience! Only a limited amount is made so it's best to reserve ahead of time. Click here for more details.
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| Free Dole Whip Drink on my birthday! |
Mandarin Oriental Tea Lounge
My bestie and I checked out Mandarin Oriental Tea Lounge up at the building's 23rd floor. We got to have a relaxing tea time with a wonderful view of the Strip. Pictured here is the Classic English Afternoon Tea- comes with a tea of your choice, an assortment of tea pastries, their Signature Scones with house made jams and marmalades, etc:
I got a birthday cupcake, wasn't expecting this!
If you want to come during tea time, tea is served at 12pm, 2pm, and 4pm daily. Calling in with a reservation is best.
Morimoto
I have been waiting years for Iron Chef Morimoto to open a restaurant here in Las Vegas! His restaurant finally opened at MGM Grand this past October. I was tempted to check out Morimoto Waikiki in Hawaii, but I opted to try the new restaurant at my home first.
At Morimoto Las Vegas, they stay true to how Japanese food are prepared such as with the sushi. On the flip side, they fused other Japanese food with different cuisines. For example, my husband and I started off with the Tuna Pizza. Its pretty easy to guess which cuisines influenced this dish:
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| Tuna Pizza with anchovy oil, olives, jalapeno, etc |
These Oyster Foie Gras were divine!
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| Oyster Foie Gras with uni and teriyaki sauce |
Hamachi (yellowtail) is one of my favorite fishes, so I had to try there Hamachi Tacos!
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| Hamachi Tacos with yuzu kosho, tomatoes, jalapenos, lime |
Duck Confit Fried Rice was very flavorful and the egg made it even better:
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| Duck Confit Fried Rice with fried duck egg |
For dessert we had this wonderful and light Cheesecake Souffle:
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| Cheesecake Souffle with fruit and strawberry red wine sorbet |
Magal BBQ
My friend and I did a dual birthday celebration at Magal BBQ. We celebrated first by sipping on some Chamisul Soju and Bek Se Ju (these drinks sneak up on you!):
Our feast:
Pork belly:
Volcanic Fried Rice with Scrambled Rice - this was fun seeing this prepared!:
Injeolmi Snowflake Sherbert with Red Beans, it was very refreshing ending the meal with this dessert:
Overall this has been a wonderful and indulging birthday month for me, thank you to all my friends that came out to dine with me! Now on to holiday food!