Best Vegas Trip Ever… NICK CARTER – I LOVE YOU ELLIOT [Day 3]

So we realized the day before that NICK CARTER + LAUREN KITT were having their bachelor and bachelorette party at the Palms!!! WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!!… Insane. They went to MOON the night we were at Light, but we HAD to get into the “official” party at Ghostbar.. and while we were told to go to XS or something, WE HAD TO GO. It’s fucking NICK FUCKING CARTER!!!!!…. So thank you to my sexiest Brit friend Elliot we got in :] I love you, you beautiful creature you <3 I’m so glad you’re coming back to the States soon… ok.. I’m off track…

After last night.. this was us basically all day.

But somehow we functioned… had leftover pizza from… yeah the night before.. we woke up all bruised and cut up, WTF?! I think we fought drunk bitches or SOMETHING… I needed to pick out something awesome for Nick Carter’s party and ended up with this….

And Kelly is a creeper – I LOVE IT

Hair done. Dress did.  How I look?

And then the red lipstick came on… and it was BRING IT.

TWINSIESSSSSSSSSS

We were vampires for the night. Sequin black dresses and red lips :] AHHH!!!!!

She always has the same face… mine is rarely ever normal.

First off, dinner at Nove Italiano… which is an awesome story in itself.

We went to Nove Italiano

Amuse Bouche… I don’t even remember what it was.. I think some raw fish bite…

YAY “Hosemade” Sausage – we actually got this tho hahaha…

The “Bread” it looks so sad and bare on there…

Shrimp Franchaise…
It just says on the menu “the best you’ve ever had” BUT MOTHERFUCKER.. it tasted like old shrimp and it gave me FOOD FUCKING POISONING.. I was puking at the club after…. UGH.. there was no texture.. so we ate it with the breadsticks… this definitely needs some crunch factor.. and fresher shrimp. UGH.

It’s okay tho the other food made up for it.

The Classic Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad: Pesto, Pine Nuts, Mozzarella Di Bufala

I like how they split everything for us in half without us needing to share it off of a plate.

Branzino with Salsa Verde

It was good but not amazing… they did filet it and split it for us.. I duno it just seemed….. subpar?! It wasn’t bad and it was definitely fresh and tasty.. but not for 46$

The highlight of the night was the Spaghetti & Meatballs with Sausage: Veal & Pork Meatballs, Housemade Sausage, Basil, Tomato

I could NOT stop eating it… Kelly was DONE like barely a quarter way thru and she went to the bathroom and I devoured most of it. THE PASTA IS SOOOOO GOOOOOOD…..

AND THEN they gave us a special treat of biscottis for Kelly’s Bday. Thanks Caesar. You were an awesome waiter minus the shrimp recommendation.

We are ready for Ghostbar.

The view from Ghostbar

So right before Nick came out I was feeling SOOOO shitty.. I had a redbull vodka.. and I just wanted to leave. I ended up puking up all that BAD SHRIMP, cough cough hint hint and felt soooo much better… but that’s not the end of my throwing up story…. but first. Glow sticks and Nick<3

So while they were outside on the balcony I was freezing so I went inside. I kept trying to sit down somewhere but they were all VIP tables and some bitch/girl would always tell me NO. Luckily [maybe] RIGHT by the door while Kelly was outside taking pics of Nick and Lo a group of guys let me sit down at their table for a drink.

In my head was just “OMG SEAT!!!” I don’t even know WTF they made me but it tasted HIDEOUS and within a few seconds of a micro half sip I was ready to puke.  I ran into the bathroom and security came to check on me.  I got all the usual questions, where are we, what club, what year, the president, I was sober as FUCK and they realized that those guys tried to ROOFIE me.

YES. You heard it here, I got ROOFIED in Vegas and they FAILED at it.  Luckily, Kelly found me and we went back to the hotel.  UNHARMED.  The female security and main security guy said that I was lucky that I caught on and threw it all up. PHEW.

But at least I didn’t miss seeing Nick & Lo being an adorable beautiful couple together. <3 Thanks Kelly for putting up with my food poisoning and being roofied.. first time for everything right?!

Super Belated = Best Day of the Year: August 3 — The Perfect Very Happy Birthday

I had the most amazing birthday ever this year.  It was probably the best I have ever had.

AND the fact that it was FINALLY on a weekend again, especially a SATURDAY, made it even more amazing.  Usually I have my party on the “not real date” but this year……. FINALLY…… I got to celebrate on the REAL day in STYLE.

It started with sleeping in.. and then running some errands with J and then over a beer – BTW, TIME WARNER FUCKING SUCKS. GO SUCK A DICK.

Anyways. I had a heart attack and anxiety attack at Eataly… SO MANY PEOPLE [and I was kinda hungry] so we went upstairs for a beer… which was surprisingly empty, especially for a Saturday, late afternoon.

I’m off-centered, so perfect :]

My boy’s got his sexy back <3

And the drinking begins….

So while I got pretty, J ran and worked out.  And I drank and got pretty. You know, doing what we do :]

RAWR. GO LEOS!!!!!!

My adorable J asked me to help pick out his outfit so I chose this. He’s TOO cute.  I bought him bowties so he learned how to tie them just for me…….

We match! I’m the luckiest girl ever to have my baby…

AND GUESS WHAT? He wouldn’t tell me where we were going for dinner…. and it turns out it was AI FIORI!!!!! My FAVORITE ITALIAN PLACE IN NYC!!!!!!…. and possibly EVAAAAAAAA

We both got the prix fix

Amuse Bouche….

Which was funny cuz we were just talking about not liking cold soup… but this creamy fennel soup was quite yum

OMFG. BEST PASTA EVER.

So many people ended up coming to Prolateriat.  Thanks Cory for the shout out [and Pete for changing my name to “Miss Nipple”] And then for more people coming along to The Dalloway. YES YES YES. Lesbian Club was the best way to end the night. I really wish I got pictures. But yes I wanna thank each and every one of you guys and girls for coming!!!!!  We were rolllllling deep that night. I couldn’t even keep count of how many people came out.

Esp thanks to Adela for coming all the way from DC just for my bday <3 LOVE YOU

And of course along with having the hottest boy on my arm that night, I also had the hottest girl, N <3

OH YEAH. Still in my 20s and living it up. I LOVE MY FRIENDS AND I LOVE MY LIFE.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Daddy’s Birthday a few years ago ;] Before I could cook for him and drink with him….

Happy Birthday to my adorable Daddy…

This was the card that Didi got her Granddaddy

The wine that W got for Mama and Daddy

I made the dinner of course. Rib Eye.  Bacon with Kale and Red Wine Mushrooms with Shallots.

Another another bottle popped out.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Daddy. I love you.

All about the Wine – Sirio

Last night in Vegas and we’re going out in style, with a bang bang bang…

Angel & Devil… or Devil & Angel?!  Who is who?!

I love this girl <3

We headed over to Aria to meet with my college friend Min – and while he gambled we settled at a nearby bar for some drinks.

Drinks  at Julian Serrano Tapas – place smelled good though, got hungryyy fast!!!

Kelly got a nice pretty fruity pear drink

And I got one with ginger bear, cucumber and Absinthe. HORRID. I wanted to die and barely downed a few sips. DISGUSTING. Just say NO to absinthe and bad drinks.

Min met up with us.. also tried my horrible drink and then off to SIRIO to wine and dine!!!!.. Min is a sommelier at Benu in San Fran and knows the sommelier at Sirio so I knew we’d be in for a good wine treat ;D

Another Italian treat..!!!  They also own Circo and Le Cirque … sooooo….. lots to look forward to. But super competition since we had an AMAZING Italian meal already earlier at Scarpetta…

Beautiful space!!! And we got to sit next to the windows to watch them make salads and prepare the meats/cheeses, etc…

It took us FOREVER to go thru the menu, it was overwhelmingly HUGE! There was way too many item and sections and made our heads hurt. In addition there was a specials menu AND they offered a Truffle Tasting Menu. ARGH.  Good thing we were greeted with complimentary glasses of a delicious champagne.  Bubbles helped the headache of the large menu.

I was more distracted at looking in the windows.. especially at the guy who just stood there the whole night mixing caesar salads. hahaha..

Bread and EVOO/Balsamic Dip

6 Oysters. 2 of each kind. [4 West Cost, 2 East]

They were super super tiny and the worst shucked EVER.  There was shell and they weren’t even released, we had to do it ourselves. Blah. Not worth it. Severely disappointed.

Yellowtail Tartare…

It was fresh but lacking.  Needed some acid and salt.  It’s amazing what a little salt and pepper can do.  Good little breadsticks tho, I’m a fan.  I found myself wanting to season it myself… and I rarely do that – I like light foods and tend to frown at OVERseasoned things – I think it needed a bit more texture too… frisee worked but there was just like a bite of it to split between us.

Two different Salames, Bresaola, Mortadella and some Parmigiano Reggiano
Salames for the win!!! I loved them.. there was a small one and a big one.  The mortadella was a bit mealy but good, I’m used to “slimier” feeling ones – for lack of better words – which are more bologna like, OK, better explanation, this was a drier mortadella.  It came with walnut raisin bread, grapes, honey.. balsamic?!, breadsticks and flatbread crisps with melted parm.  The parmigiano was delicious.. munch munch munch nibble.

Just the beginning… champagne… red… white :]

And then came our pastas… MMMM carbs… so far so OKAY… nothing amazing.  So we were totally counting on the pastas – it IS an Italian place so it all depends on the pasta!

Min looking good… and ready to get his eat on… 

—

Can you believe it? One of our last pics together was our sophomore year.. yikes!!! We’re all getting old.. but getting better looking with age ;]  When he was angrier and I was wayyyy nicer… hahaha

“We’re assholes, that’s why we get along so well”

“I don’t remember you being an asshole, you were nice, you were really really nice…”

The last time Min saw me was in AC for my 20th Bday… way back when… and I looked like this… and was blooonndeeeeee – freaking 8 years ago!!!

 And what do you know.. at another Caesars hahahah

—

Ok back to the delicious food..

We got two pasta specials

Left: Pappardelle with a Prosciutto Sauce and Peas…
Right: Risotto – you could also chose tagliatelle – with Black Truffle

Pappardelle was perfectly cooked and so good. The sauce wasn’t very prosciutto-y but it was really really good. Loved it.  The risotto was AMAZING, creamy, but a bit underdone.  But FUCK YEAH truffles galore… INHALED BOTH! We cleaned the two plates CLEANNNNN

Partway thru I dropped my napkin…

And the waiters walked over it, avoided it and didn’t give me a new one.  I even went to the bathroom only to come back to it STILL on the floor

Excuse me do I have something on my lip?

Min finally gave up and asked for a new napkin for the lady. HAHA “the lady” I’m so not a lady.

Grilled Lamb Chops

These were cooked really well, THERE WAS SOOOO MUCH, the portion looks small here but it was actually HUGE…. not gamey at all… barely a lamb taste – I’ve noticed I like lamb when it’s rarer than when cooked – really really good.

Ossobuco on Risotto

Fell off the bone and had delicious marrow.  The risotto was cheesy and the veggies were nice, crisp and fresh!  It wasn’t amazing or mind-blowing but quite tasty.  We were SO full by now that we could barely eat any more.. which probably affects the taste.

But we got dessert anyway :]

Min: I’m gonna make them do all that Birthday stuff…
Me: YAY
Min: HAHA you LIKE that shit!!!
Me: YEPPPP!!!!

Chocolate Souffle

Amazeballs. I LOOOOVED it – I love a good souffle.

The sommelier and our tray of dessert wines/liquors, YES all of that for the three of us.

4 each.. omg there was some bourbon one that almost killed me.  The housemade limoncello was FREAKING amazing tho. SOOOO fresh and tasty… nice and tart and not too sweet :] *swoon

UMMMM… Fuck it…

I die ;D

While the food wasn’t particularly spectacular.. the company and the booze was FUCKING amazing!  Such a great fun night!!!!!

雞窩 G-WOO

Woke up to have some yummy Taiwanese Egg Crepe [蛋餅] and fruits….

It’s like a scallion egg omelette on a thin thin tortilla-ish crepe :] YUM!

Source: IAmWen on Flickr

….and then after getting ready headed out to get lunch with mommy and daddy..

XOXO to a certain YOU from Taipei ;]

So mommy and daddy were already there since they came from elsewhere.. sitting and already eating [they eat SUPER fast] and they had rice noodles and pig’s blood soup with veggies on the side – I got there late and got a hotpot :] My fav.

Extra extra spicy tomato based broth with seafood and beef and clear noodles – YUM

A nice gooey runny egg… super delicious and creamy – my favorite and only type of yolk I eat… GOOOOP!!!

Daddy saw that they were selling Takoyaki [たこ焼き aka 蛸焼], my fav, and he got a “boat” of them for us to share – they were piping hot. The batter was spiced with delicious herbs and while the octopus was slightly lacking.. only one chunk in each giant ball… they were pretty tasty and goopy on the inside.

Bought some buns and waffles [you’ll see I had mine for a midnite snack tonite] at one of my favorite bakeries…

PIckles Donut?!?!?!

Also bought some of my favorite asian fruit.. a HYBRID only found in Taiwan…

鳳梨釋迦 – a Cherimoya + Pineapple Hybrid aka Atemoya, a whopping 5lbs of amazing delicious juiciness
See that big one on the top? That was the one I bought.. took me forever to eat it lol… ate so much I got nauseous lol SO FREAKING GOOD!!!

Afterwards I headed to the hospital to get my piercing infection checked out… once again I’m in Taiwan, half sick and on tons of meds… woop. At least I’m not on tons of pain medication this time [hehe, pain meds, always a fun time!!!]

I hit up some sports stores to find Daddy + Mommy some workout clothes and then needed a sugar and caffeine recharge…

Alas, after wandering about, I still figured Afternoon Tea was my best bet. Didn’t wanna try anything new. PLUS they had new desserts/cakes on display and on their menu that I HADDDDD to try!!!

Strawberry and Orange Zuccotto Roll Cake

While the banana/kiwi roll is light and fluffy, this cake was chocolatey and dense [but in a good way, definitely not overwhelmingly so] and tons of strawberry and orange pieces in it. YUM!

Black Tea Chiffon Cake

SOOO delicious. The frosting was light and creamy… like a super light whipped cream consistancy and BURSTING with a black tea flavor.  The cake itself was super fluffy and also full of tea flavor and had some walnuts chopped into it. YUM – Nevertheless, I thought that it could’ve used a few layers of creamy tea goodness between layers of the cake.

Condensed Milk Cream and Strawberry Mousse Cake

I had been stuck between this and the chocolate roll above but ended up going for chocolate cuz.. I duno, maybe I’m being hormonal or stressed but whatevz I needed my chocolate but I still NEEDED this. So me being the greedy little fat kid after eating those two pieces I ordered another. It’s my tummy, I do what I want!

[rant about Taiwanese youth deleted. hahahahahha I was tipsy and angry last night when I wrote it… LOL – just annoyed at how superficial and immature ppl can be here.. act your age peeps. kthanks!]

SOOOO back to the food… A few cups of seriously strong espressos later.. [and all those cakes] I headed back to the hotel to refresh… not before stopping by Salad to buy a new short short jean skirt ;] WHICH I ended up changing into for dinner TEEHEE.

Around 630ish or so Mommy, Daddy and I headed to 雞窩 [G-WOO], just a few short blocks away from the hotel I’m staying at… it’s the sister restaurant of 驥園 which is a Sichuan restaurant famous for their clay pot chicken soups… This is the baby sister and is a little more chic, more casual and has a wider range of food…

Bamboo & Fatty Pork Strips w/ Peppers

This was really good.. altho I prefer my bamboo to be a lot thicker cut and these were some of the thinnest I’ve had – almost to the point where it didn’t seem very “bamboo-like” delicious nonetheless and the fatty pork wasn’t too fatty – which is good and bad.  Bamboo is great when paired with a fattier type of meat or in a greasier sauce since it helps get rid of the grease/fat when in your belly :]

Spicy Beef & Tofu Strips w/ Cilantro

Spicy and delicious.  Tender beef, not overcooked, and tons of tender tofu strips. NOM!  Great with rice!  I added extra fresh chili peppers to it since I’m a spicy food fiend ;]

My own bowl of  Vegetarian Fried Rice [炒飯]

Delicious.  And definitely tasted like it was made from fresh rice, not ghetto leftover rice like a lot of restaurants, but then you never know LOL…

五更肠旺 – Spicy Pig’s Blood & Large Intestines w/ Tofu

Chewy pieces of intestines with a little bit of crunch to it.. and creamy blocks of pig’s blood and soft tender tofu…

“五更肠旺 – Wu Geng Chang Wang” [is] a spicy stew with preserved mustard, tofu, pork intestine slices and congealed pork blood cubes.” [Source]

Vegetarian Stir-Fried Noodles [炒麵]

Spicy Clams Sauteed with Basil [炒海瓜子]

Daddy ordered this just for me :] Spicy, basil-y and tender and fresh. I FREAKING LOVE CLAMS!  I ate at least more than half the dish. Sorry. But, lately, I need my clams fix on a daily basis.  I’m some crazy preggno woman. BUT. Not preggo. In order to be preggo you need booty. I ain’t getting any. Haven’t. Hasn’t. And we won’t even talk about getting GOOD booty cuz then this blog will just get depressing.. okay, more food and food pix to drool over.. [btw NO feeling sorry for me. I chose not to get booty cuz I’d rather get no booty than bad booty or random gross booty. KAPEESH? Hi Mom! Hi Dad!] Btw here’s a great Clams recipe.

Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken

Not too salty, not too peppery, good flavor and lightly fried.  Not usually my favorite thing to eat but I had a nice big juicy piece anyways :]

Sauteed Pea Shoots [豆苗/Dau Miu]

The plate was tiny but they were fresh and tasty.  Not greasy at all and cooked to perfection!

Fried Crumbled Soy Beans over Steamed Cod

The balance of textures and flavors were great.. the fish was silky, soft, mild and tender while the crumbled soy beans were a bit crunchy and salty.. YUM!

TOTALLY recreating this and one.. three-uping it, when I go home. Strangely I totally thought this was more of a chilean or butterfish but they said the direct translation was Cod. Didn’t really taste like cod but delicious nonetheless.  I tried to be anorexic and lady like at first but I was hungry dammit so I took two huge portions. :] Fat kid’s gotta eat or she’ll be cranky. SOOO.. yea. ;]

Clam and Ginger Soup

The soup tasted like chicken soup tho, not clam soup.  Which makes sense since both sister restaurants are known for their chicken soups and dishes.. just slightly disappointing but also fine since, even tho the chicken soup was mild, I’ve been having clam/ginger soup almost every day since I’ve been in Taiwan LOL. The clams were so good and juicy and soft and plump.  Not overcooked which is many many thumbs up!

Stir-Fried Tomato with Egg [蕃茄炒蛋]

One of my favorite dishes since childhood.. and I love my mommy’s the bestest.  Great over rice or noodles… I could eat a giant bowl of it by myself.  But I found there’s to be dry and not as “wet” as I’m used to.  I also love it with tons of tomatoes as well as tons of eggs, and scallions.. lots of fresh scallions :]

Soft Tofu with Veggies in Brown Sauce

Fried Shrimp w/ Pineapple and Mayo – 奶油核桃蝦
[but without the Walnuts and Rainbow Sprinkles]

My favorite version of this dish, I’ve mentioned before, which is ALSO like the only time I ever eat mayo and preferably ONLY Kewpie mayo… is Fried Shrimp with Candied Walnuts, Mayo and Rainbow Sprinkles — UUUUUUBER Taiwanese :] Rainbow Sprinkles is KEY!!!!

[Source: Maya83 on Flickr]

酸辣羹 – Hot and Sour Soup

Pouring the Sea Cucumbers Dish over the Sizzling Rice

Sizzling Rice is basically fried uncooked rice which puffs up and is SOOO good…… when it touches something wet it starts popping and literally, “sizzling” YUM – I eat it by itself as a snack all the time – they sell it in snack packs :]

Sea Cucumbers Over Sizzling Rice

Twice Fried Green Beans [乾煸四季豆]

My daddy’s favorite dish, but I still think my mom makes it best!  It’s supposed to be the blacker and “drier” and “flatter” aka the 乾 [dry] and 煸 [flat] the better BUT I still like the way my mom makes it, still twice fried but less fried and still green and pretty [altho the blacker the softer and greasier and deliciousnessssss… hahahaha]

This year for Thanksgiving my mom had made it with chilis which is more of a Sichuan [四川] style  – speaking of which I need to make the Tday 2011 post asap ;] Hahaha.. but the Photo Album is here. and this green beans dish pic is here <3 YUM!

Happy 78th Bday Grandma…

SO why the “80”? Because in Lunar Years she’s turning 79… and we don’t celebrate #9’s in our culture so we always skip to the next number :] SO, 80!

Coffee Brulee Cake

Lots of different candied nuts with a nice tiramisu/brulee type of cake with a light creamy coffee-flavored whipped cream sort of frosting.

The Ding’s [丁家]

I ended the night, not too stressed out, but definitely in need of a drink or two [long long story]… so I headed to the 09 [09倉庫] Whickey & Wine Bar near my hotel…

Delicious Salty Bar Snacks…

A few glasses of a nice Red Cab

And of course a few plates of delicious juicy piping hot Taiwanese Sausage [香腸] with Raw Scallions/Garlic

Other than Black Taiwanese sausage from Lao Yo Ji this is my favorite Taiwanese Sausage to get in Taipei!!!! I have NO idea where they buy it from but it’s the BOMB DIGGITY YO!

And slightly tipsy and whooopdedooooing… came back home to sour straws and my love, my only my Chocolate covered sugary Waffle from earlier today :]

G’nite world, this chica needs to sleep now… she’s running on booze, sugarrrr and pure adrenaline right now ;D

It’s Somebody’s Birthday :] – Happy Birthday 白鬼

— Decided to set this to post ON the big day.. hahahaha so just keep in mind that this was written.. a bit beforehand —

It’s T’s birthday on Tuesday but since work is crazy busy for both of us, it’s easier to plan a nice birthday weekend :] The weekend after is Halloween and Papa Ding’s bday [hehe and I’m a daddy’s girl so I have to do a nice big celebration for him] blah blah blah blah so on and so forth, I tend to babble a lot – especially when I’m procrastinating — sooooo I took the Bear/White Devil/Monkey aka my 白鬼  ;] to MOOO… :] Nothing like good steak and wine to celebrate a birthday! I haven’t been to MOOO… for awhile.

I’m a spoiler, I love spoiling the people I care about in my life, from friends to family to significant others – I think I’ve been doing a good job – just maybe not so much of a good job in choosing boyfriends.. most of the time :]

We’re excited.. and slightly intoxicated… we’d been drinking since the AM – mimosas, wings and nachos galore while we watched the BC/VTech Football game. – which btw started off yay but ended up waa :[ I blame me taking a shower because BC was totally winning before I hopped in for a quick steammmm….  that or cuz the nachos ended up getting sad and mushy. Blaming things that don’t make sense makes things so much better :] See?! Don’t you feel better already BC fans?! It’s all my nachos’ fault! Ok babbling again, back to the FOOD

First a goofy picture…

Finally the time came and we got there just in time!  Valet, walked in and they gave us a great cozy table away from the crowds of people.  As soon as we sat down we got, per my time at reservation request, two glasses of delicious champagne… mmm bubblyyyy!!! Happy Birthday!!!

And then we went on to find a delicious bottle of red.  After perusing the wine menu we decided on just asking the waiter for help.  I love bold juicy not earthy reds and T prefers not too fruity, light Pinots or Merlots.  Waiter, most boss waiter ever, helped us come to a happy medium/balance.

Orin Swift, ‘The Prisoner’, Napa Valley 2009

This wine, The Prisoner, was SO delicious.  We tried two different kinds of wines and while the first, a zin was amazing, this just blew it away. YUM!

Warm buttery cast iron skillet rolls with a ball of melty gooey butter sprinkled with sea salt.

Time to chowwww down!!!

Classic Caesar

We started off with the salad to split and they were sweet enough to split it for us.  Delicious, not too heavy on the dressing, nice and cheesy and crunchy croutons and super fresh romaine. Chew chew crunch crunch – loves!

Next up was steak tartare, we were caught between this or the carpaccio… T isn’t a huge seafood eater so those were two obvious choices.  He’s not a big raw food guy either and we were trying to figure out what he had had before…. I’m thinking it was carpaccio he wasn’t sure if it was tartare – at first – or not. So we went for the tartare – WHICH I’m glad we did cuz looking back at my last post on Mooo… I wasn’t a fan of the blue cheese and cherries on the carpaccio here. Score!

Steak Tartare

He liked it, he liked it – and I loved it.. chunky.. not overly seasoned or goopy.. the pita chips that it came with were grilled, perfect thickness for crunch and chew.. not too crunchy and not spongey or chewy or rubber :]  There were huge capers and gherkins on top and it was delicious… super super fresh beef – obviously, it’s a steakhouse, and it was a great dish!!!.. I’ve had a lot of steak tartares but this was definitely a yummy one.

For our main courses.. we both got the 12 oz Filet.  I got mine rare and he got his medium rare. Delicious. Tender.

Filet Mignon with Roasted Garlic/Bone Marrow Butter

Side Special of the Day: Oyster Mushrooms

T isn’t that into mushrooms and I couldn’t get him drunk enough to try them. They were soooo good tho.  Great texture, a bit crunchy and browned on the edges, thick and hearty  – amazing meaty flavor.. like a really thin portobello.. shaped in a fan.. MMMM, sooo gooood… lightly seasoned so the mushroom flavor came thru

Other Sides: Mooo Mac & Cheese, Creamed Spinach, & Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes

Delicious delicious delicious. When we ordered everything the waiter said it was a lot of food. To which I replied, I eat a lot. T confirmed and our waiter said he wished his wife was like that.  Everything was delicious. I’m not even a huge creamed spinach fan but this was perfectly proportioned – cream to spinach ratio – not overly done, not too wilted, but just enough to be yummy and still retain a slight fresh chew to the spinach – not mush – I’m def not a mush fan.

Yeah, I rule hahahaha #fattiesrule

Chocolate Stout Cake

Dark Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream

It was funny cuz while T was in the bathroom I told the waiter that whether or not we ordered a dessert, to bring out a chocolate cake with Happy Birthday on it.. BUUUUTTTTT… T wanted the chocolate cake anyways so win win :] This cake was SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!! Chocolatey, rich and not too sweet. Even better with the ice cream in the nice crunchy chocolate shell NOM NOM NOM!

Marshmallow Chocolate Bon Bons, delish!

And then with a few more glasses of champagne with our dessert, it was gift opening time.

BUBBBBBBBBBBBLES

Me: What do you want for your bday?
Him: A really big mug!

And guess what I found:

Pug Life shirt :]  How Vinny #JerseyShore

And a Wine Monkey :]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 白鬼