What I Did on Christmas: Lupo

Christmas day was a bit rough this year. My other half was working all day so we celebrated on Christmas Eve instead. I wasn't really up for staying home alone all day, so I went to see a show that a friend of mine works on.

After the show, I was thinking about dinner and about how I really really didn't want to cook. As I was walking back to my car, I passed by Lupo, Wolfgang Pucks restaurant at Mandalay Bay. I decided... screw it. I'm going to make something good happen to day. So I set up at the bar and ordered a really lovely dinner.


I drank Seghesio Zinfandel 2012, which is always a winner. I actually went to the Seghesio Vineyard back in April, and I really like it. It's also a huge favorite of my friend Jenn's, and she has excellent taste as always.

The it was Gnocchi with Veal Ragu. The ragu was a hair on the salty side but the gnocchi was absolutely perfect. Light, fluffy, delicate, exactly the way it should be.

I asked the bartender to pick me a side, and he settle on Lemon Parmesan Cauliflower. I'm going to probably try to recreate this. It was perfect. The citrus against the Parmesan really worked beautifully. It had just the right amount of caramelization and I really loved it.

If you're having a crappy day, sometimes it's worth it to just say Jai Refuse!, and make it into something better. You have more control over your destiny than you sometimes think.

Hankook Taqueria

I'm well known for my deep love of Asian food. For some reason Asian flavors have always resonated with me more than most other cuisine types. The last time I was back in Atlanta, I was told about a little Korean Taco Place in a really unlikely location that was absolutely to die for. Life changing, it was called. Unforgettable. Perfect. That was some big talk there, and I was extremely skeptical. In the interest of research I figured I would try it.

It's not much to look at inside. There is a counter, and there are seats. It's in an almost shack-like building. They don't serve alcohol (though you can bring your own). My skepticism continued. Then I noticed that it had a fair few awards on the back wall. Fair enough, my interest was aroused.
I ordered Korean Tacos, one fish, one beef. My dining companion ordered the Bibim-bop. Total cost of the meal: $12.

The food arrived in a nice and speedy fashion. I was sad that I hadn't thought to go ahead and pick up a few bottles of beer, as it seemed acceptable to bring your own. Definitely something to bear in mind for next time.

The beef (bul gogi) taco was absolutely divine. The beef was perfectly seasoned and really tender. Korean barbecue really is one of the best tastes. I adored every bite.

The fish taco wasn't bad. The fish had a really nice crispy coating. The hoi sin tartar sauce though left a bit to be desired for me. I couldn't really find the hoi sin part of it. I think if I could have had a do-over, I would have gone for two of the beef tacos instead.

My companions Bibim-bop was absolutely perfect and divine. Everything was well prepared, the egg was perfect, the special sauce was tasty and delicious. It was a great plate.

This restaurant is definitely a find. The food is excellent and you can't beat the price. The location is odd, but it's actually worth the trip for the food. Definitely a great little out of the way place to try if you have a chance.

Eggworks and the Rare and Awesome Server

It's been a while, but I figured I should talk about one of my favorite Las Vegas Brunch Spots. Eggworks is pretty near the airport and handy to hit up on your way in and out of town. It's always busy and the food is consistently good. The last time I was there we were also lucky enough to have a really incredible server. Though we didn't order one, she brought us one of their yummy bran muffins, just so we could try it.

The muffin was super tasty and I was happy I got to give it a go.

It was definitely a morning where healthier options were the preference. My Stunt Guy went for an Egg White Omelet packed with veggies and topped with tomatoes and feta cheese.With a side of fruit. Really yummy.

I went for a Spinach Eggs Benedict with the hollandaise on the side. I like hollandaise a lot, but I've only recently become accustomed to ordering it, and I always get it on the side now... I don't like my eggs to drown. My plate was pretty darn perfect. The eggs had a great poach on them, the spinach was nice and fresh, the hollandaise well balanced. All in all, I was a happy camper.

I have to say, I get super happy when I'm at a restaurant and the wait staff is actually fun and nice and attentive and good at their jobs but not too overly hovery. I wish I knew the name of the lady so I could give her a proper shout out. She was really great, and that is a rare thing.

So yeah, definitely give Eggworks a shot if you're looking for something yummy one morning!

Open Sesame

I wanted to take a little trip back into the past to the weekend I spent in LA. Mostly because I wanted to give you a quick restaurant recommendation if you are ever in Long Beach. I went to Open Sesame for lunch with Amee, and had a really darn good meal.

Open Sesame is apparently so popular that they had to open a second location just a few buildings down the road to handle their overflow. It's Lebanese food, and it was really great. We sat in the front of the restaurant at a very very little table. The staff were really nice and very friendly.

 

We got hummus to start and, as always, not the right ratio of hummus to pita bread. The hummus was very tasty and beautifully presented, but we had about half the dish left by the time we ran out of pita bread. I think we would have taken it home, but we were going to be out for the rest of the day so that wasn't too feasible.

They did have Mango Mimosas though, which made me supremely happy. They were very delicious, made with prosecco. Amee went with the Pomegranate version. Definitely a perfect lunch time drink.

I had the Pita Kafta - Charbroiled Ground Lamb and Beef with onions, parsley, hummus, and I slathered extra hummus on top. It was absolutely delicious, the char on the meat was really tasty and the onions and parsley were almost juicy and fresh. It was a big meal, though, and I ended up only eating half and then pulling out just the meat (which I then covered in more hummus).

It was a good meal, and fairly inexpensive too. If you're in Long Beach I would definitely recommend swinging by for lunch. But make sure you order extra pita!

The Hash House

 

For a few of the days that my Stunt Guy was in town, his Mum was also with us. Mimi is an incredibly interesting woman. She's done a lot of really amazing things in her life and has a constant deluge of ideas coming out of her brain. I'm a big fan of hers. I was working my socks off this last couple of weeks. The Circus is going through a busy time, and my Stunt Guy was off at a convention that Mimi was also helping out at. So there wasn't much opportunity for us to have any family time. 

We managed to swing breakfast though on Mimi's way out of town. 

She is an avid fan of Chopped and she wanted to check out The Hash House, which is a Las Vegas breakfast spot that I'd vaguely heard of but never tried. It's up past the strip in a little shopping center. Very out of the way and definitely more of a locals spot than a flashy spot. 

The restaurant itself was pretty cute and old timey. Mary, the owner was also working as host and she seemed a little surprised that Mimi had seen her on Chopped. The restaurant was pretty quiet at 10am on a Tuesday.

Mary specializes in Hashes, and they were very prominent on the menu.

This is the Super Hash that my Stunt Guy ordered. It's basically a blend of all of their other hashes. Perfect when you don't know what you want and man it was absolutely delicious.

Mimi went for the Corned Beef hash, which was also really delicious. Not quite as interesting as the Super Hash, much more simply, but really good.

Me, it was Poached Eggs and Turkey Bacon. I was in the mood for something light, mostly because we had hit up Tacos El Gordo (for the fifth time) the night before. I have to say, this restaurant sure knows how to poach an egg. They were perfect.

After our food had been served, the incredibly timid waitress came over with a tray of little cups of homemade jellies. That's the tray in the picture above. We were really sad that they didn't lead with that tray, because we agreed we all would have ordered toast so we could try more jellies. The waitress also wasn't very confident on what the jellies actually were, but she did give it a valiant (if meek) attempt. She was sweet as pie but very timid. The jellies we did try, splitting up Stunt Guy's order of toast, were amazing. He loved the Apple Jalapeno, and I thought the Passionfruit was excellent. The Pineapple was also really good.

I'd love to head back to the Hash House and order their Super Hash some time. I'd also make sure I got a couple of rounds of toast to try their jelly tray. I wasn't crazy about the interior of the restaurant, it could certain do with a bit of freshening up inside if it's going to gain in popularity, but the food was really really good. Try it out and let me know what you think.