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