The Cyclist's Wife: Restaurant Finds

Showing posts with label Restaurant Finds. Show all posts

Restaurant Find - The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar, Sacramento, CA

We went to Red Rabbit last night for our 2nd Yelp Elite Event. Our first event was at Monsoon Cuisine of India. I will again preface by saying this event was free to us, although this time we did order (and pay for) two items from the menu.

We had the idea it would be good to arrive early; it's a good thing we did because that line got long really fast. We scored a two-top at the front of the restaurant where we were quickly given a menu by a friendly staff person. We were immediately impressed that basically everything on the menu was prepared with local ingredients. Nice job on that RR!

Did I mention it was a Masquerade Party?

The staff was having a difficult time getting the food around (inside at least, we were not outside), but it was not for lack of trying. The servers were getting swarmed as soon as they exited the kitchen.

Initially we thought we would wait for some appetizers to come around before ordering off of the menu, but it became clear the free food might not make it over to our section.

We started with the Lamb Bocadillas (off of the menu #1), which were tasty lamb sliders with a mint chimmi churri and my all-time favorite cheese, manchengo. There were two sliders on the plate with a side of fries. The sliders were delish! The spiciness of the lamb mixed with the mint and the saltiness of the cheese was a great combo.

Around this time the deviled eggs came around. I thought they were good; not on the menu so I'm assuming this was special for us. We also tried the free punch. The first batch we got must have been bottom of the barrel because it was STRONG. The next batch seemed more fresh and had a nice flavor and some carbonation. Other free appetizers we tried: salmon croquetts - essentially salmon mixed with some sort of cheese and deep fried (good but not outstanding); turkey meatball wrapped in bacon with some sort of white cheese sauce (good but my least favorite of the three types of meatballs); meatball with red sauce (really tasty meatball); lamb meatball with mint chimmi churri (essentially the same as our sliders) and mini chicken taco (good, basic chicken taco).

We also ordered the Lemon Grass Beef Stir Fry (off the menu #2). This dish was really tasty and filled with a lot of nice vegetables. Actually, there were a ton of vegetables and very little rice which I enjoyed.

A note on the dishes we ordered - my first thought (about both plates) was that they were kind of small. In retrospect I realize that they were regular sized portions and not the whopping giant dish of food some restaurants give you. Based on the farm to table menu at RR I think they are sacrificing quantity for quality which I greatly appreciate.

The bar menu is also very interesting and different and all of the beers are local. Cheers to that.

Overall I thought this was a good event, although I'm glad we arrived a bit early and scored a table. I like RR and would go back.

Here are some handy linky's:
The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar
Red Rabbit Dinner Menu
Red Rabbit Bar Menu
My Yelp Review

The Red Rabbit Kitchen & Bar on Urbanspoon

Restaurant Find - Monsoon Cuisine of India, Sacramento, CA

Let me preface this review by saying we attended as part of a Yelp Elite event.

(Photo from Yelp.)

At the end of last year and for 2012, Yelp gave me the Elite badge. Being an Elite is pretty sweet because Yelp throws special events throughout the year which I get the chance to attend with a guest (or sometimes guests) and it is coolio to rock the Elite badge. Anyway, this was our first Yelp Elite event. It was fun and even better, FREE for us. That said, I think it's only fair that I tell you we did not pay for any of our food or beers last night, other than tipping the bartenders.

Monsoon is on the corner of 16th & I.

You may remember the location as being Bistro 33 Midtown, then Spin Burger. Once upon a time at the beginning of our days The Cyclist was a server when the restaurant was Bistro 33 Midtown, so we know the building well. You might remember the funky-schwanky white rocks and white leather booths from those days. Then later when it became Spin Burger it was a more kick-back bike themed dealio. Why am I telling you all of this about the decor? Good question. I think Monsoon finally got the space right, a little flashy, but still classy.....check it..

(These are not my photos, by the way, I pulled them from Monsoon's website.)

Let's get to what's really important. Food!

(again, none of these are my photos, they are all from Yelp from here down.)

Vegetable Samosa Spicy seasoned potatoes and peas wrapped in a pastry

Not the greatest image but you get the idea. These were tasty. The spice was present but not overpowering and although they were fried, they were not greasy. As someone who cooks, I think that fried but not greasy balance is hard to achieve, especially with something that is pretty heavily breaded or wrapped in pastry, like this is. They served it to us with the sauce you see on the right, I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but it was good!

Mixed Vegetable Pakoras Crispy light fritters made with fresh vegetables

Nice photo! Another fried deliciousness dish. Again, fried but not greasy. There is not a lot of veggies in these, but if you are looking for a tasty appetizer this is a good one. They were nicely spiced too.

Chicken Tikka Boneless pieces marinated in tandoori spices and yogurt

OK, this is a guess. I'm pretty sure this was one of the items on the big hors d'evours tray that had different meats. I am not typically a fan of tandoori chicken. Something about the bright pink outside just throws me. It's not that I think it tastes bad, I'm just freaked by the pink. This chicken though, was good. And it was more reddish and spicy looking on the outside than pink. It was nice and spicy but not overpowering.

Lamb Something This isn't really the name of it, but I don't know what it was other than it was lamb

Yeah, that's right. Lamb Something. Pretty creative don't you think? I'm thinking of starting second career as a menu writer. So, I don't know what this was on their menu, but whatever it was, it was good. A nice tender piece of lamb, spiced generously, but you guessed it, not overpowering. The spice on everything here was done very well.

Naan

I was waiting for some naan all night. I thought we missed it because as soon as I saw a tray it would disappear just like that. But towards the end of the evening, some made it our way. I think we had the plain variety. It was warm and chewy perfection. When I go back, I'll order the garlic naan....

The Cyclist & I had a nice little date night. Here we are in deep conversation, cause that's what us married folks do...

All of the other Yelper's were very friendly, as was the staff and a gentlemen who I believe was the owner. He made sure we still had food even when the event was technically over. Although super busy, the bartenders were doing a great job and even let me keep my ticket when they thought I waited too long for one of my beers.

Oh! Speaking of beer, they've got some great choices, including Lagunitas IPA on tap.

So, if you are looking for some tasty Indian fare in a nice location, check out Monsoon! You can peep the menu on their website. Click this link for my review.

Restaurant Find - The Porch, Sacramento, CA

We visited The Porch for The Cyclist's b-day and it was too good not to share.

Let's start with a question: If you go out to eat and you are still dreaming about the food over a week later, ~~is there something wrong with you?~~ that means it was good right? Right!! I should probably add that the particular food I'm dreaming of was not even what I ordered, but what I shamelessly tasted (more than once) off of Mrs. Bestie's plate....

That's right.

Fried chicken y'all.

Being the child of a hippie granola woman meant I never ate any real fried chicken (KFC doesn't count) until I sampled this. Oh the shock and awe! It's true. To the best of my memory I never tried real fried chicken until I visited The Porch.

Thank you hippie granola mom. For if it wasn't for you secluding me from the sinful wonder of fried chicken I certainly would not be the mostly healthy eating exercising lady I am today. Mom does know best.

But oh lordy. That fried chicken goodness. That Buttermilk Fried Chicken....airline breast, leg & thigh, yukon mashed potatoes, sausage gravy, collard greens, buttermilk biscuit, green tabasco honey...I think I love you. But my thighs hate your guts.

I did not try the biscuit although I would have loved to take a giant bite of it's flaky, fluffy goodness. Mrs. Bestie would have slapped my hand, and rightly so, but it looked and smelled delicious.

The Cyclist and I actually shared (!) two entrees, the Crab Cakes (carolina red rice, sautéed broccoli & greens, apple wood bacon, remoulade) and the hanger steak (which is not listed on the on-line menu so my fancy description is mashed potatoes, garlicky kale and some type of mustardy cream sauce). I shamefully do not have photos of either one. I did not bring my camera (we were celebrating The Cyclist's birthday, why would I do something like bring a camera? Fail.) and I was too busy eating. Unfortunately The Porch does not have photos of this food on their website (like the one above that I stole), so you will have to go yourself to see it. The crab cakes were gigantic and tasty. The hanger steak was delicious and perfectly cooked and oh me oh my, the sauce was so tasty too....even the kale was good. Wait, was I supposed to eat that or was it a garnish? Who cares, it was good!

I also tried:

Fried Green Tomatoes 9

mixed greens, apple wood bacon, roasted red pepper vinaigrette, goat cheese, pecans

Fried to perfection and had a great flavor.

Southern Mule

Absolut APeach, ginger beer, lime simple syrup, muddled basil, and blackberries 7.50

This cocktail was dangerously good! Refreshing and did not taste like a cocktail, i.e., dangerous.

Here is my one complaint...

Skillet Cornbread 8

apple wood smoked bacon, green tomato jam, jalapeno honey butter

The cornbread needs work y'all! I feel like the mini skillet may have something to do with it (too shallow?) but the cornbread also had an eggy-ness too it. No good. Corn bread should be cake-like (in my opinion). Additionally, although I can appreciate putting bacon in everything, I think it should have been left out of the cornbread.

Other items ordered at our table:

Hearts of Romaine 13

hearts of romaine, corn & tomato relish, tomato basil vinaigrette, blackened crawfish, pecorino romano, fresh avocado

There's a crawfish on top!

Grilled Chicken Salad 12
spinach, apple wood bacon, cucumbers, roasted red pepper vinaigrette, grilled chicken breast, corn bread croutons

I did not try, but heard it was salty. Also, the chicken was more like chicken salad (like a chicken salad sandwich salad), which is a little deceiving based on the menu description.

Shrimp Po’ Boy 16
french bread, lettuce, avocado, crab mayo, white cheddar, apple wood bacon, pickled onions, cornmeal fried shrimp

This was BIG and looked good. I heard no complaints.

Stuff I would like to try when I go back:

Grilled Brie 10
house made jam, grilled crostini bread, spinach, balsamic honey reduction

Of course I want to try it, it's cheese.

Shrimp & Grits 22
bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, creamy white cheddar grits, tasso ham, blue crab gravy
Because of that hippy granola mom I've never had real grits either. And, they look like this:
Good lookin food

Southern Sunday
House infused bacon Woodford Reserve bourbon, 100% pure maple syrup and fresh egg whites…. shaken hard served over ice 8

Because who doesn't want to try a cocktail that is bacon infused?!

For those of you familiar with Sac-town, The Porch was formerly Celestine's. Although I'm sad to see Celestine's go, The Porch is a great addition to mid-town dining. The re-model of this restaurant turned out great. The removal of the wall separating the bar and dining area really opened the place up. Plus, I love the decor and color scheme. Check it:

It should also be noted that there is a great on tap beer selection:

Beer On TapLeffe, Blonde 10 oz 4.5
Lagunitas, Pils 5 15
Mammoth, Hefewiesen 4.75 14.5
Rubicon, Monkey Knife Pale Ale 4.75 14.5
Speakeasy, Big Daddy IPA 5 15
Widmere, Brrrbon 10oz 7
Big Sky, Powder Hound 4.75 14.5
Abita, Turbo Dog 4.75 14.50
La, Trappe, 10 oz 8
Rogue, Hazelnut Brown 6 18
Sudwerk, Dopple Bock 6 18
Victory, Stout 5 15

Thank you The Porch for providing us with something different, new and most importantly, tasty!
Yelp Review here

Dear Fried Chicken,

Me, my thighs and The Cyclist will be back for you. We will share you and enjoy you and not break our rule of everything in moderation. So there!

Love,

Cyclist & Wife

Restaurant Gary Danko & Post #100!

First things first:

Where have I been?

This is a good interpretation.

I would like to call it "Buried under Christmas".

And yes. Those are my legs. Really.

I put a pause on posting during the holiday's.

I find when the little bloggy starts to feel like work, it shows in the posts.

So, although I enjoyed the blogosphere over the holiday's, I did not contribute much.

But, I am back with Post #100!

Yipee.

And, I bring you a special treat....

come, have lunch with me at Restaurant Gary Danko...

I think I said before I have a real job.

It is the urban legend of jobs.

They take us amazing places like this.

And for Christmas, we get on a limo bus and head to San Francisco....

for a private lunch at Gary Danko...

Welcome...

I am told Chef Danko creates all of the holiday decor.It is fabulous every year....

Pretty amazing right?

I love the chandeliers....

We start with some champagne....

...appetizers were also involved.But.Instead of photographing them.I ate them.

Our table is already set....

...the bar is open...

Specialty cheeses, anyone?

What does that say on the glass?

Oh, it's a Formagerator...

Really. That's the technical term.

Oh, were you wondering where the wine was?
Here is some of it...

I'll give you a quick peek at the menu before we begin....

The service at Gary Danko is amazing.

Everything is thought of, down to the little details.

Check out my own private butter, with a waffled top....

Oh, did you need a special plate for your cork? Of course...

OK. Let's get to the food.

Course #1

Amuse Bouche

"A welcome from the Chef"

This was a goat cheese and walnut (? I think) dish with beets and balsamic. Yum.

Course #2

Lobster and Fennel Bisque with Dungeness Crab, Peppers and Saffron-Orange Remoulade

The plate is first set before you...

...and then the bisque is poured...

I am throwing in the wine photos.

We had a separate pairing with each course, but I'm not sure the order in which these came...

Let's take a break from all that good food and take a tour of the kitchen!

Sneak peek of Course #3.....

...hmmm...what could it be?

Goings on in the kitchen...

Bad photo but, there was a cloth with each of these little guys perfectly cut and set out for garnishing.

...I'm not really sure what this is....anyone??

...the staff making the perfect little garnish leaves...

U-shaped kitchen for better communication among the different stations.

The Chef was explaining to me that they make a different stock for each meat (veal, beef, etc.) and cook it in the stock to get the wonderful flavor....