Noodle Anniversary Dinner at The Source

Before beginning I must stand tall and say I was a trooper for going to the dinner. And I’m SO glad I did, I’d be bleeding and have no arms and I’d go. I love noodles. THE dinner was SO FUCKING amazing.  I adore noodles, but never have I ever had so much delicious tender QQ noodles.

But let me start from the beginning….

After a night out at Mandu and such.. I woke up early, per usual, to work.

After having a bowl of Safeway clam chowder, with lotsa hot sauce, for lunch, I was stuck with food poisoning and projectile vomiting for the whole day…

From Safeway
=
Pukey Miss Tiffie

W and I headed to Crystal City to go shopping for The Source‘s anniversary dinner tonight.. and we almost didn’t even go when I BOMBED the bathroom with more vomiting.

NO BUENO.

W even said we should probably not go. He wasn’t feeling too swell either.

BUT that did NOT stop me and W getting FABBBBULOUS outfits and going to the dinner.

We got there a bit early for some H’orderves and Champagne.  Dumplings, sushi and other delicacies were passed around.. including flutes and ever-flowing bubbly. DIVINE.  A few glasses in  and a bite or two, I sat down in anticipation. Reading and re-reading the menu over and over again.

The Source’s 5 Year Anniversary Noodle Dinner
Thursday, September 27, 2012

It was sold out but W and I were lucky enough to be offered seats as Mandu’s Danny Lee’s guests YAY

We are supppper excited!!! Look how hipster W looks. <3

——————————————-

1st Course
Chef Kaz Okochi, Kaz Sushi Bistro

Jiyashi Ramen (Japanese Summer Noodles)
Maine Lobster, Prosciutto, Sesame-Soy-Mustard Sauce

Paired with: Junmai, Kinshihai Yukikage “Snow Shadow”, Nilgata, Japan

A great refreshing start.  Mix it all up and down it went  Lobster actually wasn’t necessary.  Just an expensive accessory.  W can’t eat shellfish so he got it without it, just the prosciutto. WHICH, strangely, the prosciutto wasn’t overpowering like I was scared it would be. A great great start.  The shot went down smooooooth and paired sooo well with the dish.  Both light and refreshing, Perfect balance.

——————————————-

2nd Course
Chef Yesoon and Danny Lee, Mandu

Bibam Guksoo
Somyun Noodles, Kimchi, Gochujang, Radish

Paired with: Makgeolli, Korean Rice Wine

This was sooo good, vegetarian and REFRESHING. Spice. Cold. Quail Egg. I would LOVE to eat a huge bowl of this for lunch anytime anywhere!Booze in a bowl?

YAY. I also LOOOOVE milky rice booze.  This was sightly tart and soooo delicious.

Mama  Lee and Danny!!!

——————————————-

3rd Course
Chef Erik Bruner-Yang, Toki Underground

Noum Pachouk
Somen Noodles, Gatangal-Tumeric Stock, Cucumber, Bean Sprouts, Pounded Fish, Chilis

Paired with: “There is more to Cambodia than Angkor Wat” Okunomatsu Sparkling Junmai Daiginjo Sake, Cointreau, Lemongrass Syrup, Gin Barrel Aged Orange Bitters

I’ve heard amazing things about Toki but this just didn’t get my mojo running.  It was too fishy for my taste  The flavors were off.. and the “pounded fish” aka definitely raw mackerel was soooooo fishy. :[ Sorry Toki, not my steeze.

My pairing for it didn’t come until AFTER i attempted to eat it.  Kinda annoying. IT HUGE WAS, but def better than the dish itself.

Extra boozey mimosa. Pretty much.

——————————————-

4th Course
Chef Chao Sheng Liu, Mala Tang

Dan Dan Noodles
Minced Pork, Szechuan Pepper, Red Chili Oil

Paired with: Echigo Koshihikari Lager, Japan

My favorite dish of the night. I LOOOOVE Szechuan food and I LOOOOOVE dan dan noodles. Spicy.  Porky. Not too oily. HOLY FUCK amazing!!!  I usually get it from Lao Sichuan but this was sooo freaking bomb. NOT OVERLY spicy but just beautiful. You could taste the szechuan peppercorn and everything.

Beer pairing, tho it was Japanese beer went beautifully with it and cut thru the oil, spice and the szechuan peppercorn taste. FUCK YEAH.

——————————————-

5th Course
Chef Haidar Karoum, Proof and Estadio

Khao Soi Noodles
Short Rib, Braised Tongue, Chiang Mai Sausage

Paired with: Reisling, Dr. Thanisch Berkasteler Badstube, Mosel, Germany 2011

The making of my lovey Brent who works at Proof.  AMAZING noodles and the most tender tongue, fatty short rib and the sausage. OMG. DELICIOUS.  Wine was a bit on the sweet side for the pairing but I devoured the dish completely. LICK LICK.

——————————————-

6th Course
Chef Scott Drewno, Wolfgang Pukc’s ‘the source’

Drunken Duck
Chow Fun Noodles, Crushed Peanuts

Paired with: Berthet-Rayne, Châteauneuf–du-Pape, France 2009

This was paired with a beautiful red wine.  This duck though…… I’ve had MANY MANY ducks – I’m asian for god’s sake.  Chinatown. Taiwan. Asia.  The amazing place in Chicago for duck. THIS. WAS. FUCKING. AMAZING. Fatty. Crisp. UGH. I DIE.

Dear Scott Drewno, please always make Duck for me from now on.  Succulent. Juicy. Tender. MELT IN YOUR MOUTH. Skin sooooo crisp and juicy….

——————————————-

Pre-Dessert: Citrus Sorbet

Great palette cleanser

——————————————-

7th Course
Chef Pastry Chef Duane Copeland, Wolfgang Puck’s ‘the source’

Apple Custard Tart
Fried Pandan Noodles

Paired with: Beerenauslese, Steindorfer, Burgenland, Austria 2007

I LOOOOOOVED the gelato and the dehydrated apple.  The tart was good, as was the crispy green noodles.. but I was done and done by this point. SOOO GOOD, I ate most of it anyways TEEHEE – the pairing was wayyyy overly sweet.  Good but sweet – WHICH worked since the dessert wasn’t overly sweet. While I did enjoy the pandan noodles fried, I stil like them gooey and regular in coconut milk heehee…

Other Fun Notes of dinner:

– “Is this all Asian noodles?”
– I don’t like the taste of shellfish
– I don’t eat carbs

After, even though it was pouring out, we headed to Mandu on K Street for the afterparty. BEST. BONCHON. EVA.CH

One sojutini later, I was ready to go home and still continue vomiting from clam chower. UGH. Best Dinner though.  I LOVE NOODLES

Father’s Day Dim Sum

Me in Daddy’s shoes!

Daddy’s little girl

In this family we tend to celebrate holidays and birthdays for a whole span of time… so Saturday we headed to Rockport for lobsters and sunshine. It was cold and a bit gray at first but warmed up and the sun came out – we ended the night at CPK for our usual meal of Veg pizza, lettuce wraps and miso shrimp salad – and of course margaritas!!!

Lobsters and Clam Chowdah from Roy Moore Lobster Co

We were supposed to go to church on Sunday but mom and I slept in… haha poor dad was ready at 8am.  We previously planned on getting brunch somewhere but haven’t had Dim Sum in ages so we decided to go to celebrate the best guy in my life!

We got to New China Pearl around 1 and it was a TON of people and a 30 min wait.  #76

As soon as we sat down we got a plethora of braised chicken feets… a few of these, my favorite!!! 鳳爪

Fatty meaty juicy steamed shortribs 豉汁排骨

Ginger Sweetened Tofu Pudding 豆花

Shumai 燒賣

Spicy Black Bean Clams 豉汁炒蜆

Water Chestnut Cake – Ma Ti Gao 马蹄糕

I would have preferred it just steamed and not also panfried but it was slightly sweet and crunchy and good.  Not greasy but still, would’ve liked it better just steamed.

Pan Fried Turnip Cake 煎蘿蔔糕

Spicy Tripe 牛百叶

Egg Tarts 酥皮蛋撻

A Dim Sum must!!!  No dim sum is complete without ending with these :D

Sweet Sesame Balls 芝麻煎堆

We got a lot more food including black sesame and egg custard buns but I didn’t take pictures of everything, just some highlights.

Oysters + Clam Chowdah + Johnny Cupcakes

Tuesday was a busy day for W and the Clio dinner.. I worked and ran some errands and did a lot of outfit changing hahaha… I also ended up ordering half of the room service menu for dinner.. pizza, burger, fries, chocolate pudding cake, ice cream, the works. FAT. It was SOOOO GOOD though.

Like, I wore this outfit to go to Shaw’s….

And this one after.. hahaha cuz it was a little chilly.  I’m such a little fashion whore.  Cool part of the day was when I got asked to model.

W was supposed to leave W morning but ended up staying a day :] YAY!  So I took the day off so we could spend the day together.  We slept in with blackout curtains but our bellies got the best of us and we needed to eat.  The SUN was finally back out so we also decided to wander around Boston…

We ended up being too hungry to NOT eat first so before we even got outside we grabbed a quick bite at Legal Seafood’s in Pru.  It’s not one of my fav Legal’s locals.  I like the one in Copley better [it’s also less touristy]… and I think the Framingham one, minus the whole alcohol issue, and by the Wharf is the best.  *shrug*  OH, I dislike the Chestnut Hill one the most. WORST SERVICE AND SANGRIA EVER.

Anyways.  A dozen oysters.  All WiAnnos.  SOOO GOOD.

We got His and Her Clam Chowdahs.. I ordered first and I got a cup, he got a bowl. DAMMIT  I had Chowdah envy :[ I did it his way and added tabasco sauce to it, SOOO GOOD… Except he added more salt and I added more pepper.  What can I say opposites attract :] We’re so similar and so different. I love it.

He ended up getting a burger. WOMP. Overcooked and just looked meh.  But then again it’s a BURGER at Legal Seafoods.  I scolded him – he counteracted with how Saltwater has great burgers. HO HUM. I’ll have to get one when I’m back up in Detroit soon.

I got a bucket of steamers.  They were tiny so there were a lot.  W said it was a New England thing and actually had no idea what I was talking about.  Steamed Steamers aren’t really his thing, but he did try one – minus the little penis head haha.. probably cuz I told him to pull off the foreskin LOL my B – He actually thought of CLEVELAND STEAMERS – Don’t worry I gave him one later. HAHAHA. JK. Maybe. HELLO!!! SFW FOOD BLOG HERE!

The meal was ridic expensive and even after W didn’t eat his burger and his waitress was all like, “I’m sorry I’ll take something off” she took freaking 4$ OFF WTF!? LAME.  Tax was more.

Anyways.  At least their mojito of the day was good.  We walked around Newbury and I got a shirt at Johnny Cupcakes <3 JOY.

Yep.  Dinner was Cheesecake Factory.  Don’t judge. It was derricious!

Eating Dinner at the Airport…

Easter ended with champagne, this drink- srsly lethal and tastes like pineapple juice, YUM, video games and then some…. ;D Good times people, good times…

…so waking up late on Monday was a given.

It was a slow morning… er afternoon… definitely hard getting up.  When we finally did we decided to stay super local and headed over to Astor… YUM, always a good choice!

Somehow W could eat his lamb gyro without it exploding all over the place, and then me with my chicken kabob was just everywhere. They have this delicious green spicy sauce MMMMMM to go with it. NOM. I could eat these pitas forever. NOM!

After lunch we wandered about and got some cool books at a used book store.  I didn’t get this but iI love the cover.  I DID however get a SUPER awesome Japanese book with creepy crazy drawings/paintings, apparently an awesome collector’s item and a great addition to my collection of randomly awesome books :D

After some lounging around, munching on apples and helping W pack and iron…. it was time to leave :[

We got to the airport early so after checking in, we stopped by Sam & Harry’s for a bite to eat.  I’d been hungry ALL DAY, despite the yummy chicken kabob pita sammy in my belly…

I was actually drawn to the oysters on ice at the bar but ended up not ordering any…..
Blue Moon to start…

We decided to start with soup… we were gonna both get the New England Clam Chowder but after asking what the soup olf the day was I got that and W got the Chowder.

 

Mine: Veggie Soup w/ Tomato Base
W: New England Clam Chowder

W likes to add tabasco in his chowder, which is the only time he likes tabasco…  the chowder also had bacon in it so it was smokey and pretty delicious. First time for me having chowder with tabasco and bacon :]  The clams were fresh and plump, so good.

I love tomato based veggie soups.. reminds me of this deli I always used to order from when I lived in Manhattan that had my faaaaaaaaavorite soup :D TEEHEE.

And then we split a French Dip…. YUMMM… it was pretty tasty, but the horseradish sauce was a bit disappointing for me :[ Not horseradishy enough! I like it spiiiicyyyyy!!!!!  It was a bit on the salty side but the meat was delish!  The fries were pretty good too, thick, salty and I liked the greasy, extra-crunchy, over fried ones HAHAHAHA… #glutton

Great great weekend, again :D PLUS I got my first Easter basket thanks to W’s Mommy :D YAYYYY

Glad I got to ride the airplane on a full tummy so I didn’t have to whine and count down the minutes to get my free snack and drink.  I actually assed out reading on the plane and didn’t wake up til we were about to land.  Nice nap :]

Acadia ME: Fish House Grill – The Last Dinner

Since we didn’t really make it out much in Acadia the day before due to the excessive heat, we woke up bright and early to get a good start on the day while it was still “cool”… My parents got up super super early, got breakfast and brought back some blueberry pancakes for me from Jeannie’s Breakfast… also some eggs, home fries/potatoes and toast.. MMMMM….

SOOOO much fresh blueberries in the pancakes, they were freaking AMAZING!!

And then offfffffff to the national park again…

Sand Beach

Didi’s first time at the beach, she was freaking out at the waves.. poor thing…

I got splashed :[ The water was freeeeeezing and apparently doesn’t get above like 50 degrees or something

Thundering Hole

It was pretty calm at first and apparently it was all day but it picked up once we got there.. and it was BOOMING.. Didi freaked out and crawled onto my back LOL

I eatz your head

Bar Harbor Cellars / Winery @ Sweet Pea Farm

We bought some wine, wine tasted and also bought some snacks.. and then headed back to the hotel to chill by the pool…

White Summer Sangria

Spiced Passion Mojito

And I even hot tubbed a bit.. good thing it was in the shady area of the hotel pool area so it was actually super nice and relaxing…

And then back downtown for dinner…

Didi meat fake leopard print doggie

We decided to not eat at our original location and go by the pier to eat..

Beautiful view form our table

We decided on Fish House Grill so we could eat with a nice view and breeze.. and OMG it got SUPER breezy and chilly by the water..

The menu was HUUUUUGE… took forever to choose what to eat..

I got a half bottle of bubbly for meself :D

Clam Chowdahhhhh

Super thick, creamy, delicious – definitely needed more clams though.. I loveeeeee it when it’s chockful of clams and less potatoes :] But it was SO good…

1 lb Steamers – thankfully NOT salty

And…. what’s this hiding under garlic bread?!

1 lb Mussels in White Wine Garlic Butter Sauce

TIMEEEEEE TO EAT!!!!

OOOO and Corn Bread too, the most AMAZING corn bread. *obsessed*

Mommy’s Pan Fried Flounder

Flounder dusted with Seasoned Bread Crumbs and some dill Sauce.. served with Tropical Salsa, corn and Rice

Daddy’s Grilled Atlantic Salmon

Served with Tropical Salsa, Corn and Rice

And then me being the fatass that I am… I ordered a mega entree…

My Seafood Grill

2 lobster claws, steamers, mussels, stone crab, peel n eat shrimp, crab legs and i asked for extra corn instead of potatoes… AND added on a lobster tail

YEP. I couldn’t choose what I wanted.. so I just got it all.. OMG the shrimp was SOOO GOOD… steamed and seasoned with Butter and Old Bay Seasoning…  I ate it ALL! AND ordered dessert…

Blueberry Crisp

It was mushy and gross and overly buttery so I didn’t eat it.. hahaha…

But I did take ridiculous pictures

More homemade gelato…

1 scoop maple walnut – with WHOLE walnuts YUM; and 1 scoop banana Peanut Butter… tons of chunks of pb and reese’s :D

BED TIME!!! Didi and her new moose friend!!!

Brunch Fail at Bar Americain

Dear Bobby Flay… your food is always so full of flavor and wham bam kabam…. so why was your food so bland? Sigh. After narrowing down a list of brunch places I chose Bar Americain. I’ve had brunch at Mesa Grill before and it was pretty good so – being in the mood for some tex-mex and some chicken pot pie [it’s on the menu!!!] off to Bar Americain I went….

It started off quite well.. the restaurant was FREEZING but I got a nice seat by the raw bar :] YUM. But this morning I wasn’t in the mood for oysters [for once]

Pickle Mary

Stoli Vodka, Tomato Juice, Fresh Lemon Juice, Horseradish, Tomatillo Hot Sauce, Pickled Relish

Bloody Mary

Stoli Vodka, Tomato Juice, Fresh Lemon Juice, Horseradish, Tomatillo Hot Sauce

I’m in LOVE with their Bloody Marys….. Bobby needs to put them into juice boxes for adults :]

I always love Bobby’s Corn Bread…

And these Corn Bread Lady Fingers did NOT disappoint :D

I told you I was drinking them Bloody Marys down like juice boxes….