Asian

Hot Pot Smoothie Shop

by Stephanie on October 26, 2012

in Asian

Whew! Last week’s blog post was a heavy one, wasn’t it? If you follow me on Twitter, you know how nervous I was about posting that review of Pastaria. But you know what? I really had nothing to worry about! I have the best blog readers in the world, I swear. I received lots of feedback from you all, and all of it was constructive (even if a few didn’t agree with me!). Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this a great place to have real conversations about food. Your support means so much to me!

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk food, shall we? This week’s review is a good one, I promise! Winking smile

I recently went to this cute little shop for my lunch break:

photo 10

Hot Pot Smoothie Shop! I heard a lot of good things about it, and I was anxious to give it a try.

Hot Pot Smoothie Shop (can I shorten this to HPSS? Yes? Thank you!) is located in a quiet strip mall in Kirkwood. It just opened a few weeks ago, and I love what they did with the space!

photo 1

How adorable is this? I especially loved how each table had a pretty wine bottle on it as decoration.

 

photo 11

Just in time for Halloween! Smile

The menu is expansive; HPSS offers everything from salads to wraps to smoothies. Mmmm, smoothies!

 

photo 4

Naturally I had to start with a smoothie. I ordered the Godzilla smoothie: pineapples, raspberries, coconut cream and a splash of ginger.

 

photo 13

It was cool, refreshing, and it definitely hit the spot. I loved the spicy zing of ginger!

For my meal, I went with the Bulgogi Beef Bowl.

 

photo 9

This had brown rice (you can also choose from udon noodles or thai rice noodles), bulgogi beef (lean spicy Korean beef), spinach, mushrooms, and spicy miso sauce.

Wow. Wow. This was amazing! The veggies were super fresh, and the beef was tender and juicy. The spicy miso sauce added a punch of flavor, even though it wasn’t spicy at all. I adored this dish.

Service at HPSS was quick and friendly. I asked a million questions about the menu, and they were all answered with a smile. The price was decent, too! My meal was less than $15.

I absolutely can’t wait to come back, and I highly recommend it.

See ya next week!

{ 2 comments }

Crystal!

by Stephanie on August 31, 2012

in Asian, Dinner, Lunch, Vietnamese

Happy Friday! Who else is ready for the 3-day weekend? I am! I’m so excited I could do a backflip. Sadly, I’m no Gabby Douglas, so I’ll just stick to using an obscene amount of smiley faces. Smile

Anyway, let’s talk food, shall we?

I usually consider myself to be a pretty healthy person. Yes, I enjoy good food (especially when bacon is involved!), but I also enjoy running, biking, and being active in general. Thanks to that, I rarely get sick. I catch a cold only about once a year, and I don’t think I’ve ever had the flu (knock on wood!).

Allergies, on the other hand? Those get me every single year. I don’t know what it is in the air that I’m allergic to, but for the past week or two, I’ve been a watery-eyed, sniffling, sneezing mess. And breathing through my nose? Not even an option right now. Ick.

Many people turn to chicken noodle soup when they’re not feeling well. But me? Well…I’m more of a pho girl. Remember my review of Mai Lee? Pho rocks my world.

So a few days ago, when I was feeling pretty miserable, pho sounded good. Pho sounded really good.

I’ve passed by Crystal Vietnamese a few times, so I figured this would be the perfect time to try it.

IMG_0066

I didn’t get a good shot of the outside of the restaurant, but I snapped a quick photo of the interior! It’s nice and spacious.

On to the food! I ordered a hot steaming bowl of Pho Tai, or beef noodle soup.

IMG_0064IMG_0063

Oh man. This soup definitely hit the spot. The beef looks pretty rare, but after a few seconds in the hot broth, it cooked enough so that the pink went away; it was perfect.

The flavors of this soup were amazing. The flavor of the beef permeated the broth, and I could even taste the subtle hints of fish sauce. In other words, this soup was perfect.

My friend ordered shrimp fried rice:

IMG_0067

I tried a bite and it was really good!

Service at Crystal was friendly and fast. Even though they were preparing for a massive birthday party that was going to be held there, we still received plenty of attention. And the prices were cheap, too!

I highly recommend Crystal. I can’t wait to go back! I wish I could go now…my nose is so stuffy, and I know that some pho would certainly cure it. Smile

See you next week!

{ 0 comments }

Thai Country Cafe

by Stephanie on August 10, 2012

in Asian, Dinner, Lunch, Thai

It’s no secret that I adore Thai food. Especially when it’s spicy. Remember my adventures at Pearl Café? Just thinking about those trips makes my mouth burn!

Anyway, it had been way too long since I had Thai food. So when a friend suggested going to Thai Country Café, I happily agreed. Since when do I ever turn down food? Answer: NEVER.

IMG_25942

Thai Country Café is in University City, in the Delmar Loop. It’s sort of on the outskirts of the main strip, but it’s totally worth the visit.

It’s so cute inside!

 

IMG_25832IMG_25852

I browsed through the huge menu. So many choices!

 

IMG_25822

I settled with #16, the Khao Pad Nam Prik Paow. What a mouthful!

 

IMG_25922

This dish consisted of fried rice with thai chili paste, green onions, bell peppers, basil leaves, and bamboo shoots. I ordered it without bamboo shoots.

Wow. This was so good! You know that feeling when something is so good that you just keep eating it, even when you get painfully full? I had that feeling! I didn’t want to stop eating it.

My friend ordered #60, the Green Curry.

 

IMG_25862

This had bamboo shoots, green peas, bell peppers, and basil leaves, and was cooked with green curry paste and coconut milk.

I tried a bite and it was pretty tasty, but my dish was definitely better Winking smile 

Service at Thai Country Café was speedy and super friendly. Prices weren’t too bad, either!

I would definitely come back to Thai County Café. The food here is so good, and I can’t wait to try more dishes!

See you next week!

{ 2 comments }

Tokyo Sushi!

by Stephanie on July 13, 2012

in Asian, Japanese, Sushi

Happy Friday! I’m thrilled that this week is finally over. Bring on the weekend! Tomorrow is the Marathon Chicken Wing Eating Event – have you signed up yet? I need your help to choose the best chicken wings in St. Louis! Don’t let me down. Smile

Moving on.

If I had to pick a favorite food, I’m pretty sure that sushi would be near the top of my list. That may be surprising to hear, since I don’t blog about the stuff very often, but trust me – I absolutely adore sushi!

So when a friend suggested meeting at a sushi bar for lunch, I happily agreed. I suggested one of my favorites (second only to Kampai):

Tokyo Sushi! This sushi bar is nestled in a southern county of St. Louis (South County for the locals!) in an unassuming strip mall.

The outside of the establishment is pretty plain, but the inside tells another story.

 

IMG_21832

Cute!

I pored over the menu, and finally decided to go with a lunch special. But which one to choose?

 

IMG_21802

I settled with option B – 4 pieces of nigiri sushi with a spicy tuna roll. My lunch special came with miso soup and a small salad.

 

IMG_21852

The miso soup was a little salty, a little savory, and so delicious.

 

IMG_21892

You can’t see it here, but this soup contained pieces of tofu, seaweed, and mushrooms. So warm and satisfying!

After a short wait, my food arrived.

 

IMG_21912

So pretty!

Looks aside, this sushi was pretty fantastic. The fish was super fresh and practically melted in my mouth. And the lunch portion was the perfect size; not too much food, but not too little, either.

Service at Tokyo Sushi was friendly and efficient. I appreciated that our waiter was quick, since we both had to go back to work.

Two thumbs up for Tokyo Sushi from this girl! I highly recommend visiting if you’re in the area.

Have a great weekend! Maybe I’ll see a few of you tomorrow? It’s not too late to RSVP! Winking smile

{ 0 comments }

Café Mochi

by Stephanie on April 27, 2012

in Asian, Dinner, Lunch, Sushi

Gooood morning and happy Friday to you! I’m in an especially good mood this morning, because I get to talk about one of my favorite foods: sushi!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a review about sushi. In fact, the last time I wrote about sushi (at my favorite sushi spot, Kampai!) was in March of 2010! I need to step my sushi blogging game up, eh?

Anyway, I recently visited this sweet sushi spot with a friend:

mochi

(source)

Café Mochi! It’s a quaint sushi shop in the Tower Grove South neighborhood in St. Louis. I had been itching to visit this place for ages, so it was nice to finally stop in!

Let’s get to business. The menu offered lots of typical sushi offerings (California rolls, Dragon rolls, etc.), but I wanted to try something a little different. I love specialty rolls, so I went with the Godzilla Roll:

IMG_13852

Doesn’t that look fantastic? Among other things, it contained spicy scallops and a delicious crab mixture on the inside. There was also a lovely drizzle of spicy sriracha!

 

IMG_13772

I loved it and gobbled down every last bite.

My friend ordered the sashimi, which is simply raw fish; no bells and whistles here!

 

IMG_13752

It looked fantastic and super duper fresh; he thoroughly enjoyed it. Smile

Service at Café Mochi wasn’t the best; even though the place was practically empty, our waitress was extremely inattentive. We ordered Miso Soup, which she completely forgot to bring out to us. And she wasn’t particularly friendly, either.

Despite the less-than-stellar service, I still recommend Café Mochi. It’s hard to find decent sushi in a landlocked state like Missouri, but Café Mochi does a really decent job! Two thumbs up.

See you next week!

{ 6 comments }

Another foray into Dim Sum!

February 10, 2012

Goooooood morning! Another Friday, another food review. Don’t you just love Fridays? I know I do! Remember last time I had Dim Sum? It was a while ago – I went to Mandarin House with friends! It was an interesting experience for sure. I tried chicken feet for the first time! They were very…interesting, to [...]

Read the full article →

Pearl Café Spicy Challenge, Part Two!

September 30, 2011

Hello, and happy Friday! I’m ready ready ready for the weekend! So…remember when I did the Pearl Café Spicy Challenge the first time? I attempted level 25, and there was a lot of sweat (and maybe a few tears), but I conquered it! Well, I know that I said I would never try to attempt [...]

Read the full article →

I’m just so…American.

July 22, 2011

When I started this blog in March of 2010, I named it ‘Off the Eaten Path’, because my intentions were to only write about hole in the wall establishments. Well, I certainly didn’t stick with that for very long! I decided that that was too limiting, and expanded my range to include all restaurants in [...]

Read the full article →

Because I’m CRAZY, that’s why!

June 16, 2011

So a few days ago, I did something crazy. Big surprise there, right? I mean, you’re talking about a girl who’s eaten fermented herring, beef tongue, and chicken feet! My latest crazy adventure brought me here: Pearl Café! You might remember my previous review of Pearl Café, where I practically cried tears of joy over [...]

Read the full article →

I have no words!

May 14, 2011

Okay, so I’ve been procrastinating a bit (I know, I know…what else is new?). I had such a good time at Mandarin House recently… I went with a few friends from college. We go to a different restaurant together every few weeks or so. This time? Dim sum! Everything about the experience was great: the [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries