Katsu Sushi in Aurora

Apparently, this place has taken Best Sushi in Denver at least once- quite an exaggeration if I may say so myself. The place is very tiny and you usually have to wait. Not a LONG wait, but a wait. A lot of Asian people do go here if you are one of those people who base your liklihood of trying an authentic ethnic restaurant on that (I usually do). The sushi is good. It's not great, it's not terrible. It does take a very long time to get food here from my experience. Overall, the place is clean-which is my main recquirement for a sushi place. I think, next time, I will be trying Sushi Den, which is nearby.

Tao Tao Noodle Bar

This place is good, but you have to be careful of what you order. I'm one of those people who is constantly searching for authentic Chinese and other Asian cuisine- so it's not that I'm afraid of "weird" food. Most people really love this place and call it authentic but I personally find China Jade to be far superior. Their hot and sour soup (and I like to think this means something because it is one of my favorite foods and I try it everywhere) is just OK. I have never had a craving for it and personally would rather eat a bowl from PF Chang's (don't hate on the chains, that one has good H&S soup). The beef with pickled vegetables IS very good and authentic, although I'm not crazy about the sweetness- would have been just as good simply sour. The one thing I've had there that I absolutely didn't like was this "spicy" chicken dish. It was NOT spicy (even though I'm white so they specifically asked me if I could handle the heat and I said yes) and the chicken was still attached to what appeared to be vertebrae. If you're going to be eating with chopsticks, while the right size, this is not how you serve chicken. What am I supposed to do? Put the whole thing in my mouth, eat the chicken and spit out the bone? No good. I do have to say the flavor was nice though. It would even have been redeemable if there was enough flavor/sauce on the chicken to get the rice wet. It is a cute little place and a lot of Asians frequent it if that's how you judge your Asian restaurants. I may go back in the future to try their beef noodle soup, which i hear is good.

Hapa Sushi in Greenwood Village

I have only become a sushi fan in the past year- but this place does it right! The atmosphere is very clean and trendy. The service wasn't memorable but it wasn't bad either. The food- now THAT is memorable. My boyfriend had only had sushi once prior and it was still happy hour, so I ordered him a California roll and a "Rock-n-Roll" with spicy shrimp and cucumber. I then splurged on the Surf-n-Turf Roll- lobster tempura with kobe beef on top. He picked the multiple orgasm roll...not sure if he was trying to be funny. He ended up liking the Cali and Rock-n-Rolls better because the warm roll didn't set well with his senses. I personally thought the Surf-n-Turf (which also has balsamic reduction on top-YUM!) was the best sushi roll I'd ever had. Also: boyfriend had a G-spot cocktail (yes, I'm seeing the pattern here) and it was delicious. I, on the other hand, wasn't crazy about my Mango Gin Ginger- too bitter. Definitely going back :)

Long time No Nom!

Hello foodies! It has been nearly a year since I posted- and man have I eaten a LOT since then!  I still have my insane pho obsession- and am planning to finally visit the #1 ranked pho restaurant in Denver tonight-Pho 95 on South Federal Boulevard (which happens to be right next to pho Duy, the Second-Best rated pho restaurant in Denver). I'm still searching out places to get high quality sweet tea besides Famous Dave's. I have also found a lot of vegan and vegetarian noms that I have enjoyed in the past year (following my vegan friend from middle school also moving to the area).

WaterCourse Foods is by far the go-to spot for vegetarian and vegan cooking. I really just think this is because there, surprisingly, aren't a ton of vegan options. My favorite things there thus far have been their seitan buffalo wings and thai tomato soup. I have never had something taste so close to hot wings-including bad hot wings. The soup is incredible and creamy with that hint of lemongrass you'd expect from Thai food. Also, if you're into sweets- WCF also has a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan desserts. 

Mercury Cafe is also a yummy and ecletic spot for farm-raised, local, vegetarian and vegan dining. While this is a great place for herbivores- they also serve up locally raised and naturally-fed beef, poultry- even buffalo! They have open mic nights and live music in one room and the entire place is covered in orange christmas lights...kinda weird, but it matches the people who work there (they're friendly, don't get me wrong, just very...unique). Mercury also has Vegan and Vegetarian dessert selections.

I am currently torn over a place called Golden Saigon in Aurora- see yelp review: http://bit.ly/kOgvcs

I'm also about to review two of my favorite sushi places :) I will post copies of these shortly.

Glad to be noming again!

Marnie

Delicious experiment

Even though I like to spend a lot of time going around the Denver area eating out, cooking is still the most rewarding form of eating :)  Since I have an obsession with pho, I took it upon myself to create my latest nom: Pho Chicken (not to be confused with chicken pho cause that stuff is just wrong).

I realized I had all the major flavors that go into pho in my house...things were about to go bad and the simple purchase of some chicken breasts would allow me to clean out my entire pantry/fridge.  First, I seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and brushed both sides with sriracha. In hindsight, I probably should have waited on the sriracha because if you don't you have to cook the chicken very slowly so that the sriracha won't burn. I advise just searing the chicken with the s/p and leaving the sriracha for later....although mine turned out really well and was the right amount of spice so idk...

Heat up some butter/oil in a pan with garlic and let sweat. sear the chicken in the pan- u have to cook the chicken almost all the way for this particular recipe to work. also throw some lime juice and a couple leaves of basil to infuse into the meat.

set the chicken aside in a plate and cover it to keep it warm/cooking internally. you will have some wonderful basil/lime and chicken flavor in your pan. cook some sprouts and jalepeno slices (staple toppings in pho) in this flavor. add a cup of chicken stock and make some instant couscous in the pan. you can use whatever flavor you like but I used chicken since i was making chicken. the lime, basil, jalepenos and chicken stock already give plain couscous a nice flavor. add a few more sprigs of basil to the boiling broth before pouring in the couscous to really bring out the flavors.  maybe another shot of sriracha?

once you pour in the couscous and stir, place the chicken back into the pan and put the lid on. while the couscous is cooking, the chicken can continue to steam through.  now, couscous says 5-7 minutes off the heat but from my experience tonight you can simply leave the pan on low if you need to continue cooking the chicken. add a little more lime juice too while this is happening for great flavor. i used lime slices to make it pretty but the rinds kind of made the dish bitter. i liked it. but i'm weird. go with lime juice. JUST A LITTLE. sheesh. that stuff goes a long way.

when you're done you will be able to taste all the flavors of the pho toppings....except the meat. i'm sure you can make this with rare steak though.  if you want the dish to taste even more like pho- you can sautee the common spices that are used to make the broth in the chicken drippings left in the pan after you sear it. you will have the spicy sriracha blending in with the sweet basil and tart lime. you can also add a LIGHT drizzle of hoisin when you're done for the full effect.  honey could be good too. who knows.  you could even make a honey/lime vinaigrette with honey, lime and extra virgin olive oil. THEN add it as a sauce at the end (honey burns).  NOM AWAY!

Best BBQ in the West...or in the U.S. for that matter.

i'm only here for two weeks and I already have a hankering for some southern foods. so i guess BBQ isn't just a southern thing, but sweet yummy BBQ is TOTALLY southern. out west it's more spicy/chili powder oriented and in the eastern part of NC it's that nasty vinegar crap. luckily, while searching for restaurants to try on google maps, i found a link to famous dave's BBQ on 36th avenue. now, i know foodies usually have beef (no pun intended) ((but really, that's hilarious)) with chain restaurants*. but i went and it was AMAZING. fall-off-the-freaking-bones ribs with tons of sauce (plus extra sauces on your table in ALL kinds of flavors. i also had a GIGANTIC margarita. i only ordered a regular size but this thing was HUGE.  in addition to the amazing meat, the sides were also out of this world. i chose the selection, "ribs-n-meat" which is four ribs with your choice of one other meat: chopped pork BBQ, roast or BBQ chicken, catfish, hot wings or beef brisket. i was GOING to get the catfish which i'm SURE is phenomenal, but instead i went with the wings because i'm kinda a hot wings whore. surprisingly enough, the hot wings were NOT the best i've ever had. sure, they were good...but they had more flavor than kick...and not the kind of flavor you expected. sort of like sriracha, which i LOVE and am obsessed with...but just didn't do it for me. however, the sides were incredible. they had about ten to choose from but i chose collard greens and coleslaw. i NEVER pick coleslaw and i'm sure glad i did. they make their with horseradish and dill. it was so cold and creamy. just perfect against the BBQ. but those collard greens...y'all i am from the south and my grandmother knows how to make some collard greens. but these were almost as good. they were made with meat (obviously) and i wanted more when i was finished even though i was stuffed.

i know good food critics usually don't love EVERY place they go...but denver has offered up nothing but wonderful noms thus far.

peace & food,

Marnie

*For the record, I also hate chains on the whole. However, some of them (Like Famous D's and Red Lobster-yes! I said Red Lobster**!) are quite good.

**Red Lobster gets kuddos for their broiling technique and quality of their seafood. USUALLY, no matter which one you visit, the food tastes and is always cooked the same. It has also never been fishy a single time I have tried it-which is why it is my favorite chain.

Strings

Strings is consistently ranked one of the top restaurants in Denver so last night I just had to go. They have patio seating, which I took. They have happy hour specials from 4-7 on the weekdays which includes $4 wines and appetizers. Their specials yesterday were lobster ravioli and their beef fillet. Prices are high, but low compared to other places I have been for the same kind of food/atmosphere. The most expensive thing was the fillet for $35. They have an fairly extensive wine selection, of which I chose a 2006 St. Jean Cab from California. It was so good I didn't end up saving much for my meal :)  I had the baby roasted artichokes for an app ($9) and they were literally one of the best things I have ever tasted. They are roasted with lemon juice and bread crumbs and are served with a garlic aoli. I also had the house made penne chicken bugutta, which was chicken and penne in a zesty tomato sauce with "foraged" mushrooms. Overall quite nice, but not quite as good as the artichokes. I could have been more adventurous and tried the duck, the lamb or the cow's liver....but I don't like eating cute animals (even though they're tasty!) nor do I enjoy liver (Note to Self: I haven't tried it in a while).

That's pretty much it, great food and great service  with a great ambiance at a fairly reasonable price for the quality of the food. Everyone should try Strings.