2009: Through My Mouth

2009: Probably the best year that I have had in a really long time. Perfect travel experience/dream come true. Really good food. New adventures and experiences. I made a small list of what I had this year and my recommendations. I didn't put many restaurants on the list this year because I spent the first part of the year out of the country and the second part working to pay it off and saving up for another amazing journey! Here we go....

Best meal consumed in 2009: Definitely the carne asada I got from an asado street cart in Buenos Aires. Guarantee you won't find better carne asada ANYWHERE! Argentina is known for having the beef, so it's a definite you will be able to find another asada street cart that is just as good as the next.


Worst meal consumed in 2009: Honestly, I don't think I ate anything bad this year.

Disappointments of 2009: No disappointments other than the fact I came back from South America lactose-intolerant and perfect immune system is no more. Not really sure why that is but it sucks that I can't have milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese. Can't even eat pizza. Wonder if it was something I ate there, but I'm currently working on turning this around somehow! Until then, it's all about the soy. I can recommend the soy milk ice cream that I love at Trader Joes: Mango Vanilla Ice Cream. Love it! Would eat it even if I could have regular ice cream.

Chili My Soul, which was featured on the Food Network, was also a disappointment. Disappointment because when I finally went to check it out, it was closed down "until further notice". It was a sad day in SoCal.


Oh and do stay away from Café Latte in Mendoza, unless you are looking for diabetes.

Selva negra.

Best Argentine: Lucás Café RestoBar, Mendoza; La cuenta era perfecto también. Muy comprable para el alimento que comimos. Basically, really good food at a really good price. That's everywhere in Argentina, of course.

Costeleta de ternera.

Best Brazilian: Of course the buffet in the Amazon (Eco Park Lodge). Restaurant--Nico Restaurante in Rio de Janeiro and La Ville Restaurante in Manaus, Brazil

sopa de abóbora e feijão ~ Pumpkin Bean Soup.

Piranha Soup.

Nico Restaurante.

Pirarucua Baiana.

Best Japanese: Kabuki

Salmon

Best Middle Eastern: Shawarma y Delicias in Buenos Aires

Fatay (Empanada árabe de carne), Shawarma de pollo, y Gaseosa aka 7-up

Best BBQ: Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ

Beef Ribs.

Best Burger: Sean's Cafe on the Venice Boardwalk. All fresh ingredients.

Best Indian: Tandoori Grill

Lamb Tikka Masala

Best Thai: Thai Pepper

Panang Curry

Best Italian: Los Inmortales in Buenos Aires

Ñoquis con tomate. Caprese Empanada here is splendid as well.

Best French: Le Chene

Escargot. Seriously, if you have never tried escargot before, please try it here first. I would order it to go if it didn't make me look weird! I've had snail in quite a few places and Le Chene definitely tops as the best I've ever had....and I'm still open to exploring new places that offer the best snail!

Best Mexican: La Cocina

Best Dessert: Flan at the City Corner Confiteria on Florida and Lavalle in Buenos Aires. The te con leche was top notch here, as well.

Te con leche and flan.

Best Wine: White wine - Moscatel de Alejandria, 2008, Mendoza, Argentina and Red wine - Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina



Best Food Network Show: Between Iron Chef and Chopped.

Best Nightlife: Club 69 in Buenos Aires. Period.




Worthy Mentions: Old Key Lime House in West Palm Beach Florida. Kilkenny Irish Pub & Restaurant in Buenos Aires. Aroma in Buenos Aires. Garota in Rio de Janeiro. The restaurant adjacent to the Complejo Tango Showroom in Buenos Aires. Restaurante Internacional Auténtica Parrilla a Leńa in Mendoza. Al Sol in Mendoza (middle of the Andes). Tribunales Cafe Bar in Mendoza. Try Argentine empanadas ANYWHERE; That is a must. Try yerba maté if someone offers it to you. You won't find this made anywhere. Buy a set to take home as well because it is expensive here in the states. La Margherita in Mendoza. Any gelato/ice cream shop in Argentina. La Casona del Nanna in Buenos Aires (just don't order anything that will be soaked in oil). Eco Park in Amazonas, Brazil. Agua de coco anywhere along Copacabana and the famous boardwalk. And it is a must that you try anything with açaí in it. Much more special having açaí in Brazil than in the states.


























Hostels I trust: Hostel Internacional on Calle de Florida in Buenos Aires and the same Hostel Internacional in Mendoza--name of the street isn't coming to mind but do not try to walk the whole way there on a hot day. Very far from the bus station. Hostel Internacional also in Cataratas del Iguazú, Argentina side; this time it was luck we ended up here at the same hostel but different location. We stayed at the Copinha Hostel on Rua de Oliviera; Don't really recommend staying there, but if you must, it was pretty safe. No lockers in the room but do have lockers near the front desk. Not big enough for a backpack so if you don't want anything stolen, bring a lock and leave your things in a locker.

Countries traveled to in 2009: Argentina and Brazil. Brazil is hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. Looks like I'm seeing more Brazil in my future! I also fell in love with Argentina so that was another amazing experience. I wanted to do things differently for my first travel experience.

I'd also like to say that the Argentina/Brazil trip was NOT planned. Some people thought that we went crazy planning for this, but really, we didn't; we just got the basic information and left the rest up to discovery. I think that made the experience so much better. Just buy plane tickets and go instead of planning and planning --- BORING! Familiarize yourself with the cuisine of the country. I was already familiar with both cuisines. And if you must know, we felt 100% safe in Argentina and Brazil, have fun, be cautious because the crime rates are high and true, from what we saw, so be safe, and be openminded. Don't carry your camera around unless you are actually looking to give a local your camera for free.

Favorite/Funny quote(s) of 2009: Honestly, all my quotes came from South America this year. "Sleep is for home!" --That would be by me, of course! No sleep in South America and functioned just fine. :) "MARIA SOFIE!"--An Argentine woman almost leaving her child behind. "White, blue, and blonde". -unknown Argentine man. "I noticed your beauty and I just wanted to say hello." -Another unknown Argentine man. "You look Argentine. Don't worry, that's a compliment". "Ok, who's opening up their locker?"....then came a BOOM BAM BOOM.... "Sexyyyyy" and "This is Unbelievable. Just unbelievable!"--repeated over and over by a Australian or English guy and his group and from an English girl and her group at the Sambadome for the samba parades. Funny because you couldn't see any faces from where we were in the stands.

---Just ask what these quotes mean and I'll tell! All funny stories behind each quote!

2010: Looking forward to trying new flavors, new cuisines, and new unknown, hole in the wall restaurants. Possibly a new travel experience too. Lifewise, being good to myself! Taking care of myself too. And always staying positive, no matter what.

New Year's Resolution: Taking care of my heart and myself.

Mom Can Cook-Take Two and T-Bo's "Supposedly Best" BBQ In Town

Okay, so I have two restaurants that I went to this week. One revisited and one for a work holiday event. Mom Can Cook and T-Bo's House of BBQ.

The first---Mom Can Cook. The last time I went, in October, I was sick, didn't have my sense of smell and taste, and relied on my friend Paola to tell me the flavors. So I decided to go back, try it again, and re-do my review on it before. Won't change my thoughts from before but I'll give more accurate descriptions from my tastebuds this time around.

You can make fun of me if you want, but I ended up ordering the same food as before, minus the Tom Kha, just so that it is fair and the fact I had no problems with those two dishes before! And a bonus that I took home my food this time!

Siamese Fried Rice with Shrimp and Scallops



I'll just say this again--you may think "whoopdy do!", this is just fried rice. NO, this is not just fried rice. This is better than regular fried rice! The flavors have that Thai kick that make it stand out and place this in the "better than normal" category. I thoroughly enjoyed this, but to be honest, I think this was better the first time around. It wasn't bad, but I didn't get that special feeling inside like the first time I tried it. The rice was just a little soggy, was missing the lemongrass, and it was also missing the fried garlic and shallots that I LOVED the last time. I asked the waitress if I could have some on the side and she brought some to me right away. Poured it all on top of the rice and tried again. Gave the rice the kick it needed but still didn't feel the same. They said Mom cooks in the kitchen everyday, but I wonder if she had help that day.

Pad Woon Sen



This time around, I didn't want to try it with the beef since it was overcooked last time, so I chose between tofu and shrimp, and well, shrimp is one of my weaknesses so I chose shrimp. The dish was good, but the flavor was different, which I'm assuming it was because of the protein used in this dish, the shrimp, and not beef.

This time I was able to taste the fish sauce (nam pla น้ำปลา), but not enough of it. I actually asked them if I could have more of the sauce because I could only grasp a hint of it and that wasn't enough to hold the dish together, to me. And I really disliked having to do that. It made me feel guilty, but it truly did not have much sauce in the dish. They took the food, added the sauce, heated it up quickly and returned the dish. It was definitely better after. Could taste the flavor, the saltiness, and completed the dish, but again, it just wasn't as special to me as it was the first time around. I really don't know why I was feeling like this that night because it really is unlike me. I dislike change but I also like change and trying new things. Odd combination. I'm weird, I know. :)

And this time, I actually did look for the dessert menu, but there was none! Dessert is basically whatever they have on hand, or how everyone knows it as, the "Special of the Day". What they had on offer that night was Green Tea or Coconut Ice Cream and Fried Banana with Coconut and maple sauce. Of course I chose the Fried Banana because I JUST LOVE banana fried in the many ways that it is utilized in different cuisines and wanted to try out their style of the fried banana. And the fact it was my only option since I can no longer have ice cream (long story, I'll explain in my future blog "2009 Through My Mouth", which I am currently working on).

Fried Banana กล้วย ทอด



Fresh banana completely covered with freshly grated coconut, fried to perfection, and served with maple syrup.

I simply adored this dessert. I wanted another one, but had to have some self-control! The outside, the grated coconut, was just wonderful; so crispy. The banana was soft, smooth, and sweet. The combination--flawless, sexy, luring, and satisfying! And I loved the maple syrup with the banana. I actually utilized the sauce; not normal for me. (Not a real fan of most syrups--chocolate, caramel, honey, maple/pancake syrup :), butterscotch...etc) This won't mean I will be indulging in maple syrup from now on, but I will always enjoy this fried banana with the syrup. Pair well with eachother. Overall, satisfied and no issues. I recommend!

My friend Jessica got the Green Tea Ice Cream and of course enjoyed it.



Overall, good food and I would go back. Jessica said she would go back as well. The only issue I had was that I didn't get the same special feeling like I did the first time around. The food is really good and not at all putting anything I had that night down. Maybe it was just my mood before I got there? Not sure. As for the people, I LOVE the owner and his staff. I love the fact that he remembered me when I arrived there. He is very good at recognizing faces. Good experience, humble environment, and still makes you feel like you are in a restaurant in Thailand (again, I am assuming)!

Next up, we have T-Bo's House of BBQ

I'll make this quick, unlike the staff there with our meals. Went there Thursday night for a work holiday party. While there, I realized I could take what I had there and put it on here! Everyone at my table got a kick out of it, especially since it gave us all something to do for the amount of time we were there.

The whole night was just lagging. Got there at 7:00pm, saw that there was only one waitress for around 60 people. Really?!? I was literally at the forgotten table with a couple other coworkers. Everyone was enjoying their appetizers and after awhile, one of us alerted the waitress, who acted surprised that we were the only ones with no appetizers. I'm not blaming her for a poor start of the night, more like the whole restaurant staff in general. They finally got another waitress to help out, which did help a little but not a whole lot. The menu was planned in advance so the whole night shouldn't have been difficult. Everyone just assumed the food was made already and just needed to be "microwaved" :-P.

So here is what we had...

Appetizers

Pickle chips, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Mad dog bites.



Pickles were fried with a regular flour, salt, water dough. Different and I did actually like it. Spinach Artichoke Dip was off to me. Don't think I really liked it, except for the cayenne pepper on top, which gave the dip a kick. I think it was the cream of the dip that gave me that odd taste. Didn't fancy it. The Mad dog bites were more like rubber dogs. I liked the concept, I'll give it that, but I don't think any of us could eat it. They basically did the same thing with the pickle and batter and fried the mini hot dogs. Literally couldn't bite into the hot dog. So rubbery. The pickles were the only hit of the appetizers.

Next up, the salad. There were three salads to choose from; I chose the Orange Salad.



I really don't know if I want to get into this, so I'll just make it quick. The salad was made up of mandarin oranges, granny smith apple slices, gorgonzola cheese, burned and stuck together candied pecans, raisins (why, I don't know), lettuce, and an odd tasting vinaigrette--citrus flavor but with an odd pairing. They said there would be jicama in this salad and there wasn't. Would have liked to enjoy the salad with it. The only parts of this salad I liked were the oranges, gorgonzola cheese, and just slightly, the pecans--just complaining because I have never seen a salad with chunks of pecans stuck together like the ones in our salad bowls. I'll just say poor execution of the salad.

Next up, they forgot the soup and went straight to the entree, which was late by the way. Party was supposed to end at 9:00pm. We got our food at 9:30 while some tables were already ordering dessert. When we had got our meals, we had also asked for to-go boxes since none of us really wanted to eat so late. Had many options with the pulled pork, BBQ smoked chicken, salmon, 1/4 rack of baby back ribs, and brisket. I wasn't really hungry to begin with so I just chose the BBQ Smoked Chicken. There were several options for the sides to choose from and made the decision to get the garlic mashed potatoes and BBQ beans.



Chicken skin was crisp and I loved the BBQ sauce. Only things I liked on the chicken. The chicken was dry. Ate a couple bites and put it in the to-go box. I had promised my friend at work beforehand that I would share the food with her at work the next day since she wasn't able to attend. (I gave her the whole chicken.) I will not complain about the sides though. I really did love the garlic mashed potatoes and BBQ beans. The mashed potatoes had the right amount of garlic, not too overpowering (though I love garlic so I wouldn't have disliked it otherwise!) and the BBQ beans had that spicy and sweet flavor that I am always fond of. I didn't give her the sides! :)

Last but not least, we had ordered dessert when we had got the to-go boxes so that we wouldn't have been so far behind (at this time there were about 4 servers, which made things move more smoother). Choices were: Cow pie (?), Carrot Cake (!), Peanut Butter pie (iffy), T-Bo's S'mores (YUM!!), and Lemonade pie (interesting!). Two people at the table ordered the carrot cake, which I'm sure it was good because I love carrot cake! One ordered the Lemonade Pie.

(At this time, my camera chose to die so remainder pictures come via my phone.)



Basically a lemonade-flavor ice cream pie with a really crumbly graham cracker crust. I had a bite and it wasn't bad at all. Her husband ordered, I believe, the Cow pie, which he didn't get because one of the waitresses gave his order to someone else. He then ended up ordering the T-Bo's S'mores to go, of course after looking at mine.

Yes, you know it! I ordered the T-Bo's S'mores to-go because you know I fall to my marshmallow weakness easily!


Seriously how good does that look! I might have to go get my leftovers after writing this!

How it looked like in the to-go box. Not as appetizing or pretty but remember---Don't judge anything by its looks until you try it!

It is made up of again, crumbly graham cracker crust, a brownie, topped with marshmallows, and chocolate sauce if you want it. I didn't. And I don't think it needs it. Really, I just fell in love with this. It was sooooo good. I let it cool down because I liked it better slightly cool/warm than when it was hot. I believe I made a perfect choice for dessert! When we all got dessert at our table, it was 10:40pm.

*Shockingly, I did bring some of it to work for Lacey, which she was SO excited because---ONE, she said it tasted like Heaven--she loved it and TWO, do you know how hard it is for me to give up anything with marshmallows in it?!?! VERY hard. She knows that and she better think I'm a great friend. She said my director told her that I am a very selfless person.

In the end, I give T-Bo's House of BBQ 2 1/2 hearts: ♥♥1/2. Honestly, this really has nothing to do with the waiters. I blame management for not having sufficient staff for a party that was planned ahead of time. Very unorganized. I've been to a couple work parties through this company (going on 4 years) and this party was the only one that was off. Anyways, I'm not judging the party, I'm critiquing the restaurant. The 2 1/2 hearts is because of the food. I really didn't like any of it. The only things that stood out to me were the fried pickles, entree sides, and the dessert. Wasn't too impressed with the whole meal. I'm sorry.

Would I go back? Probably not. If I did, it wouldn't be coming out of my wallet. I might just go back for the dessert, but then again, I could just make it whenever I was craving it! ;) It isn't a complicated thing to do.

There you have it. Two restaurants--two different reviews. Next up should be two new restaurants--Argentine and Vietnamese. And a recap of 2009 Through My Mouth to follow after.

Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite

I finally tested out the Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor that I bought on Black Friday and it is everything I wanted in a juicer!

The juicer is known for its high speed and performance. The two speeds allow a faster juicing process. It is known to make an 8 oz glass of juice in five seconds. Its feed tube is circular and able to process whole food, allowing for no work before juicing. Four easy-to-remove parts for easy cleaning and dishwasher safe. This elite juicer is 10 times faster than normal juicers. A top of the line juicer that should be in everyones kitchen.

So here are my thoughts about this Breville Juicer through my first use.

Juicer was easy to remove from box and was already assembled so it is really easy to put the juicer together.



The first juice I tested out is my favorite combination--apple and carrot. I didn't test out the whole fruit idea with the apple and I think that is because I'm just used to always cutting up the apple with my old juicer. I'll have to break that habit.



So there I am with the juicer. I tested out both speeds with the apple. The first speed was enough to get the apple moving but it was really slow, so I ended up using the high speed for both the apples and carrots. Wow, that juicer is unbelievably fast! There was so much juice produced that I had to stop the juicer, pour the juice into six different glasses so I could finish juicing the rest. I used six apples and about 13 carrots. This made enough 8 oz glasses for six people. Oh and for people who are concerned with noise, the juicer was just slightly louder than what I had expected but because it juices really fast, I wouldn't be using it for very long in the morning before work.

Clean up time! Not really my favorite thing to do, but it must be done. My opinion on cleaning the Breville Elite: a snap! So easy to clean. Run it under hot water and in seconds, you are done! The only thing that wasn't a snap to clean was the filter. I did spend a good couple of minutes scrubing the filter to remove all the extra pulp and it wasn't fun. Fortunately, the product comes with a scrubber brush, so it did help out.

One idea that someone mentioned online was to put a plastic bag in the area where the pulp goes once the juice is extracted. GENIUS idea. Don't know why I never thought about doing this before. Made clean up easy and efficient.


Easily removed the bag. Oh and I did touch the pulp to see if it was dry, like how people who had purchased this juicer have mentioned, and it was just slightly dry. But I don't think any more juice could have been extracted.

Look how clean it ended up being. Didn't have to touch it!

The taste test:
Passed with flying colors! It just tasted so fresh. I even loved the foam on top. For those who don't like foam, there is a way of easily removing this, so you have nothing to worry about.

There were only two concerns I have that are just minor issues to me. One was that there were some small pieces that would fly out of the feeding tube and two, there were some pieces in the pulp area that somehow escaped from the blades and didn't get juiced. They weren't big pieces though. These were the only two concerns I read about online, but they weren't big issues to me.

The Breville 800JEXL Juice Fountain Elite 1000-Watt Juice Extractor is fast, effecient, top of the line, easy to clean, and I do recommend you purchase this product if you plan on using your juicer either daily or every other day. I give it 4 1/2 hearts: ♥♥♥♥1/2.

When I start using it more, I'll post up recipes I recommend to try out.

And as for the rice cooker, I was thinking about purchasing the Cuisinart 4 cup rice cooker with a steamer for vegetables and seafood. I did talk to my favorite sushi chef/parent of one of my preschoolers to get his opinion on what to get and instead, he offered to get me one he really recommends in LA and pay him back for it. Now I'm excited! Sushi will soon be following!