Category Archives: Food

July 29, 2015 · 8:53 pm

Popbar: Gelato on a Stick

I love Popbar in the West Village. It’s the perfect dessert spot for summer and any other season. It’s gelato on a stick… Made with fresh, natural ingredients and dipped in different types of chocolate with the option to add toppings. Such a simple, yet delicious concept.

popbar_me1I’ve been to Popbar numerous times and twice this weekend! Some flavors I’ve tried (all dipped in milk chocolate): Dulce de Leche (probably my favorite flavor- extremely sweet, rich, wonderful); peanut butter (just delicious); pumpkin (seasonal treat- nice and yummy).

popbarRecently I had the coffee with milk chocolate and that was delectable. Loved the smooth coffee-chocolate taste. Today I had the strawberry yogurt with a new dipping sauce: Caramel dark chocolate. I loved the strawberry taste- Very creamy, sweet (but not overly so), refreshing! And I enjoyed the dark chocolate, but I felt like the caramel flavor was not that strong.

popbar_popsicleI really want to try the blood orange, green tea, hazelnut, pistachio & mixed berry flavors next. Looks like I’ll have to come back quite often… Which is perfectly fine by me. This is one of the few establishments I would travel out of my way to go to!

Tip: The Popsicles melt quickly, so it’s better to stay in the store/sit right outside to enjoy/eat it versus walking out with it.

popbar_me

Popbar
5 Carmine St
New York, NY

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June 18, 2015 · 6:49 pm

June 2015 Yelp Elite Events

I recently reached Elite status on Yelp.com and have finally experienced several amazing Yelp events, from an ice cream tasting, to dinner at an Australian restaurant and an outdoor affair with appetizers and treats.

The first event I went to was the Milkmade Tasting Room ice cream tasting in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Milkmade is a small shop that is easily missed if you’re not looking for it. They had 5 unique flavors and I was able to try all of them. Below, are the flavors in order from my favorite to least favorite.

RVC

Red Velvet Cupcake was creamy sweet and delicious. I enjoyed the cream cheese flavored ice cream with a multitude of red velvet crumbles.

Fingerlakes PB&J

This peanut butter and jelly flavored ice cream was a wonderful smooth base of peanut butter, accented with a jelly swirl.

Open Sesame

This was black sesame with caramel. It had a strong nutty flavor with a lovely sweetness.

Blueberry

This flavor was simple, light and tasted perfectly of blueberries. Beautiful purple-blue color as well.

Chinatown Chocolate

This chocolate flavor had traces of cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel so it was quite interesting. I found the extra flavors to be a little bit too busy and wasn’t sure if I liked all of them together.

yelp_icecreamAfter the ice cream tasting, my friend and I headed to the Elite Only event in Queens: Outback to Astoria at The Thirsty Koala, which is an Australian restaurant. The food was delicious and there was plenty to go around. There was ceviche on a circular tortilla chip with sea bass, which were tasty 2-bite size pieces. It tasted both fresh and flavorful.

yelp_cevicheThen there were Australian meat pies, which had sausage in them and they were amazing! The meat was seasoned beautifully and full of robust flavor.

yelp_meatpiesThen there were corn fritter sliders, which came with a jalapeno sauce which was actually quite wonderful, even though I don’t normally like spicy food. The corn fritter was so good, while the sauce complemented the corn fritter well.

Yelp_slidersWe also got to try these delicious meatballs and calamari which had the perfect amount of crispiness. There were also lamb chops, which was a crowd favorite, but not my favorite because it was a bit too rare for me and there was too much fat on it.

yelp_lambchopsThen our table noticed there were kangaroo empanadas going around which we didn’t get a chance to try so my friend asked about it and they made a whole tray just for us! What incredible service… It tasted pretty good. Kind of tasted like well seasoned beef – I would not have known it was kangaroo if no one told me.

After that came the desserts. The first one was called Koala Ball, which was basically a chocolate ball: Hard chocolate outer shell with a soft, gooey, rich, chocolatey brownie-like center. It was absolutely delectable!

yelp_chocolateThe other was a chocolate caramel bar with a shortbread-like base. This was also incredible and the chocolate complemented the caramel just right.

yelp_chocolate caramelMy third Yelp Elite event: Studio Lot Affair, took place outdoors yesterday, at the Kaufman Astoria Studios with foot from Astor Room and cocktails provided by Buffalo Trace. I enjoyed the chicken salad on toasted bread, as well as the chicken skewers with balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. However, my favorite, by far was the maple-candied bacon. It was extremely crispy, both sweet and salty, chock full of sweet maple flavor and just the best bacon I have ever had.

yelp_baconI had such a great time and met some awesome new friends at each of the Yelp Elite events, so can’t wait to attend future events!

MilkMade Tasting Room
204 Sackett Street
Brooklyn, NY

The Thirsty Koala
35-12 Ditmars Boulevard
Queens, NY

The Astor Room
34-12 36 St
Queens, NY

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May 28, 2015 · 7:23 pm

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

I had a wonderful, fun filled Memorial Day weekend: Fleet Week, Bar Bacon, backyard BBQ with great friends.

On Friday, I headed to Times Square to see The “Rhode Island Sound,” a division of Navy Band Northeast perform. I loved how they sounded: Energetic, polished and fun! The songs they played ranged from contemporary hits such as Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off,” to more classic tunes, like Prince’s “Kiss” and Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” They ended with the catchy “Don’t Stop Believing,” and effectively got all of us to dance and sing along.

fleetweek2015_bandThere were also Marines stationed nearby with guns and a huge military tank. I held one of the guns, as pictured below.

fleetweek2015_marine I also climbed up on top of the tank, which was quite high and was a little disconcerting, but also felt exhilarating being up at such an altitude and able to see all of Times Square.

fleetweek2015_marine2There were also sailors around, so of course I had to take a selfie with a sailor! #SelfieWithASailor

fleetweek2015_sailorsSaturday morning I met up with a bunch of friends to go on the free ship tour. This year, the Navy and Marines came in on the USS San Antonio. We got to see various types of machinery/artillery/tanks, warfare/weapons,  cargo/ammo vehicles, electronics, living quarters and the medical room. My favorite area of the ship was the outdoor upper deck, which boasted a lovely view of the Coast Guard ship and the New York City skyline.

fleetweek2015_me

We had a fun time exploring the USS San Antonio, and couldn’t leave without a group photo with one of the sailors!

fleetweek2015_group picAfter the ship tour, we headed to a nearby restaurant bar in Hell’s Kitchen called Bar Bacon. I had actually heard of the place before and been wanting to try it, because who doesn’t love bacon in everything?

barbacon signWe shared two appetizers: Sauteed brussel sprouts with a delicious sauce and thick cut pieces of bacon and fried pickles. The brussel sprouts were amazing! Such intense flavor and fresh taste! I loved the texture and sort of meatiness of the brussel sprouts. Even if there weren’t any bacon in the dish, I would have been completely satisfied.

barbacon_brussel sproutsThe fried pickles were speared and looked like french fries. They came piping hot so that was good, but otherwise they were just okay.

barbacon_fried pickles

It was difficult for me to choose a main course, because I was looking at two options: French Toast or open faced chicken club sandwich. I ended up sharing with a friend, so was able to experience the best of both worlds. I started with the sandwich, which came beautifully presented. The sandwich came with grilled chicken, Applewood smoked bacon, romaine, organic tomato and chipotle mayonnaise and my, it was delicious! All the ingredients complemented each other and came together perfectly. The chicken was wonderful and juicy; bacon had just the right amount of crispness; the sauce gave it an extra zest of flavor.

barbacon_sandwichThe brioche french toast (only served on weekends) was also artfully presented and came with bacon maple butter, two slices of bacon, strawberries and whipped cream. The accompanying components were very tasty, but the I thought the bread itself was a bit too tough/hard. I prefer my french toast to be fluffy and moist.

barbacon_french toastI also went to a BBQ at a friend’s lovely backyard. We had extremely juicy delicious pulled pork, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, fruit, salad and the star of the event: BBQ ribs! They were succulent, smoky and finger-lickin’ good!

BBQribsLater, we enjoyed one of our friend’s amazing homemade key lime pie. It was delectable… Wonderful light lemon flavor with a killer graham-cracker crust and a bit of whipped cream to add to the already amazing layers of deliciousness. BBQkeylime pieIt turned out to be a great weekend with amazing food, friends and fun!

BBQ

Bar Bacon
836 9th Ave
New York, NY

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May 15, 2015 · 12:51 pm

Dinner at Sao Mai

I went out with friends to Sao Mai Vietnamese restaurant and we ordered family style, so that we would be able to enjoy a wide variety of dishes.I started off with the Vietnamese Iced Coffee, which was quite strong and not creamy/sweet enough for me… It didn’t enough condensed milk, but it was still pretty good.

saomai_coffeeWe tried many different appetizers, such as the house special platter, which consisted of spring rolls, barbeque chicken, pork and beef and was served with lettuce, pickled carrots, mint leaves and light sweet dipping sauce. I enjoyed the barbeque meat, which was charred slightly (the way I like it).

saomai_appetizersI also really liked the shrimp summer roll with lettuce, mint leaves and vermicelli noodles, wrapped in rice paper and served with peanut sauce. The summer roll was delightfully airy and wonderful. Another appetizer we had was a steamed rice crepe, with minced pork and mushroom which was not one of my favorites.

saomai_summer rollAs for the main courses, we selected one dish per type of meat/fish/veggie: Lemongrass chicken, beef cubes, grilled pork chop, crispy whole fish and tofu with mixed vegetable in traditional Vietnamese sauce. The chicken had a nice flavor to it, while the beef was succulent, juicy and tasty. The pork chop was cooked perfection and had very nice seasoning.

saomai_porkchopThe crispy fish was red snapper with a ginger lime sauce and while it was a bit difficult to cut, it tasted delicious with a great amount of crunch.

saomai_fishOverall, a very full and fulfilling meal. The only downside was that they do not have any dessert, but all was not lost! Afterwards, we headed to nearby Veniero’s pastry shop. For once, I was actually did not need to have my own dessert so we shared amongst ourselves. I tried a little bit of the blood orange/chocolate cake and some of the chocolate cannoli. Both were quite lovely and enjoyable, especially the chocolate parts. The orange cake had a nice delicate quality to it and the cannoli was a bit richer with a more robust sweet flavor to it.

dessertsIt turned out to be a great night of culinary treats and was happy I had the opportunity to try so many different menu options first at Sao Mai, then at Veniero’s.

saomai_me

Sao Mai
203 1 Ave
New York, NY

Veniero’s
342 E 11 St
New York, NY

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March 29, 2015 · 6:33 pm

La Tarte Flambee

la tarte flambee

I had the chance to try lovely French restaurant, La Tarte Flambee the other night with some friends. It’s a perfect place to share a meal because the concept of the tart, a specialty of Alsace, France is a mix between a pizza and crepe. The tarts are quite large, cut into 9 square pieces and have a thin crispy crust.

We started with savory tarts and ordered 4 of them. My favorite was the grilled lamb with onions, gruyere and mint sauce. The lamb was flavorful and tasted wonderful with the onions and cheese. The mint didn’t have a strong presence on the tart but I didn’t mind that.

tarte_lamb

We also ordered a tart made with fresh salmon, leeks and onions. The salmon was indeed fresh, as were the vegetables.

tarte_salmon

Next, we had a vegetarian tart with leeks, tomatoes and peppers, as well as cheese. This was quite good, even with the absence of meat.

tarte_veggie

Last we picked a tart with bacon, onion and gruyere. It was a bit light on the bacon; it would have been better with more bacon. I also would have liked the bacon to be crispier and a little more flavorful.

tarte_bacon

After that, we moved on to the sweet tarts. I, of course had to order the strawberry-chocolate one. It came with creme fraiche, cinnamon, strawberries, and homemade chocolate sauce. I enjoyed very much, but think that there could have been more strawberry—perhaps thicker slices, because the other flavors kind of overpowered the fruit. I did, however love the chocolate sauce (of which they provided extra), which was rich, sweet and delicious! On the tart itself, the chocolate was lightly spread but I added some of the extra sauce and it was oh-so creamy, thick and intensely chocolate-y!

tarte_strawberry

Last, we tried the restaurant’s namesake, pomme la tarte flambee, which consisted of sliced apples, cinnamon and crème fraiche and was actually flambe’d in front of us! Flambe, meaning covered with liquor and set alight which they did not once, but twice for good measure. The show was quite cool and I enjoyed watching the tart alight with fire. However, the taste of alcohol was too strong for me so I didn’t actually like the tart.

tarte flambee

All in all, I was impressed by the different tarts and truly enjoyed trying them. I would recommend the lamb one, the salmon one and the strawberry-chocolate one.

La Tarte Flambee
153 E 33 St; 1750 2nd Ave
New York, NY

 

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March 19, 2015 · 10:55 pm

Dinner at Burger & Lobster

I had the pleasure of dining at a lovely new restaurant in the Flatiron District, called Burger & Lobster. The concept is so simple that they don’t even need a menu. There are three choices: Burger, whole lobster or lobster roll. Each meal comes with both fries and salad.

I chose the lobster because I haven’t had that in awhile and I figured that was probably the best deal. I decided to go with the grilled lobster option and was not disappointed.

burgerlobster_meThe lobster was a decent size and it came with lemon-garlic butter. Plus, it was pre-cracked so it made it a lot easier to enjoy. The lobster meat had a nice flavor to it and that lemon butter is life. The salad was mediocre to me but the fries were warm, crispy and delicious!

burgerlobster_meal

My friend ordered one of the desserts: Chocolate mousse and was kind enough to let me try some of it. Truly delectable flavor of sweet, rich, delightful chocolate with darker chocolate at the bottom.

burgerlobster_dessertEven though I did not get to try the burger or lobster roll, I heard that the burger was quite good (and worth the $20), and the same for the lobster roll. I would definitely come back to try the burger!

Tip: Try it soon, before it becomes completely crowded and difficult to get a table (they don’t take advance reservations).

burgerlobster_me2

Burger & Lobster
39 W. 19 St
New York, NY

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February 26, 2015 · 2:44 pm

RW Lunch at Fig & Olive

I had been yearning to try Mediterranean restaurant, Fig & Olive for quite some time now so I jumped at the chance to dine at Fig & Olive for lunch during Restaurant Week. My friend and I ate at the Uptown location, which was beautiful, sleek, elegant and cozy with comfortable seating, which had an intimate feel.

figolive interior

After we settled in, we were served a plate of rosemary focaccia bread pieces and three different types of olive oil: Two from Spain and one from Italy. The bread was mediocre, a little bit dry but the olive oil was rich and tasty.

figolive bread

For my appetizer, I chose the truffle mushroom croquettes, which were delicious fried balls of cremini mushroom parmesan and béchamel, served with truffle oil aioli. They were incredibly flavorful, fresh and wonderful!

figolive appetizer

The main course was Rosemary Lamb, which consisted of grilled lamb and red bell pepper on skewers with rosemary ends, a fig and cous cous with red onion, scallions and tomatoes, and sauce made out of Greek yogurt base. The lamb was amazing… Perfectly cooked, tender, well-seasoned and incredibly appetizing. The cous cous was also quite good, and I normally don’t like cous cous that much. I enjoyed both the lamb and cous cous with the sauce, giving the dish more depth.

figolive me

There were only two options for dessert, so my friend and I ordered one of each so that we could try both. The “Dessert Crostini” was Amarena cherry and mascarpone on top of pistachio shortbread with basil. There were two of these so it was perfect and I liked the taste of mascarpone on the shortbread but I thought the cherries were way too sweet.

figolive dessert

The chocolate pot de crème, which came with a crunchy praline financier (basically a fancy Kit Kat bar) and vanilla cream on top, was out of this world delectable. It was incredibly chocolate-y and had a lovely smooth consistency with just the right amount of sweetness.

figolive chocolate

I really enjoyed my meal at Fig & Olive. The service was also high quality. I would highly recommend trying out this restaurant!

 

Fig & Olive
808 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY

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February 17, 2015 · 11:34 pm

Chocolate Workshop: Valentine Edition

This past weekend I headed to Chocolate Works in Brooklyn for a Chocolate Workshop. It’s a lovely store filled with delicious chocolate, truffles, fudge of all flavors and all different kinds of candy. I was able to find some sugar free chocolates (Malt Balls, Chocolate Covered Raisins & Peanuts) so picked up some of that.

Then we went to the back room for the Chocolate Workshop. We started with dipping strawberries, banana and marshmallow in the amazing chocolate fountain. However, we were only allowed one each which I was quite disappointed in. Chocolate covered strawberries are one of my favorite treats, so I really wanted more strawberries to dip. Had I known that Chocolate Works was going to be that stingy, I would have bought my own strawberries.

chocolateworkshop

Next, we picked a mold then filled it with chocolate then after it hardened, we were able to decorate it. Of course I chose the heart shape with LOVE written in cursive on it. I used hot pink (of course) to trace LOVE and then wrote XOXO all over it.

chocolateworkshop4

While we were waiting for  our chocolate molds, we decorated our own cookies. I chose an Oreo and Pretzel as my base and sprinkled colorful M&Ms and hot pink/red/white heart sprinkles on top. The end result was an amazing, delectable sweet piece of delicious-ness.

chocolateworkshop5

I decided to eat the Oreo concoction I made and save the pretzel for later. I normally am not a huge fan of the Oreo cookie, but having it covered with chocolate and other toppings made it wonderful. It was incredibly sweet; actually maybe a little bit too sweet but so good!

chocolateworkshop2

I left the Chocolate Workshop with my sweet tooth completely satisfied and the solid chocolate heart I made, pictured below. The cost of the workshop was $30 and I had a really fun, sweet evening. The only complaint I had was that there were not enough strawberries to dip in the flowing chocolate fountain. They definitely should have let us have more than one piece of fruit!

chocolateworkshop3

 

Chocolate Works
110 Montague St
Brooklyn, NY

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January 14, 2015 · 8:05 pm

Celebrating at Ruby Foo’s & Monarch Rooftop Lounge

rubyfoo

This past weekend I dined at Ruby Foo’s Times Square with some of my best friends to celebrate my (belated) birthday in New York City. Ruby Foo’s is a gourmet Asian Fusion restaurant with Thai and Japanese influences. The interior was lovely and spacious, with Buddha statue in the back.

My friends and I shared two of the appetizers: Pork Bao Buns and Calamari. The pork buns were tasty, and had a bit of a twist: It came with bacon and soy marmalade. I enjoyed the extra crunch the bacon gave and the pork was tender and flavorful. The fried calamari was also delicious and extremely crispy, which is the way I like it. It came with a delightful sweet and sour sauce.

rubyfoo_calamari

For the entree, I ordered char siu pork lo mein. Char siu pork is the wonderful tasting special pork that is red in color. The dish also came with mustard greens and was seasoned with black garlic. It tasted pretty good, but I thought the portion was a little small and I was actually more satisfied with my two appetizers than the main course.

rubyfoo_entree

The dessert of chocolate molten cake with Vietnamese coffee ice cream and caramelized banana, more than made up for the mediocre pork lo mein. The waitress brought the dessert over with a candle in the cake, as my friends sang Happy Birthday to me! I then proceeded to enjoy the molten chocolate cake. It was simply delectable with rich chocolate-y flavor and tons of warm gooey melty sweet chocolate inside the cake. This was probably one of the best chocolate molten cakes that I have ever had. The ice cream was also good with an intense coffee flavor.

rubyfoo_me dessert

The meal ended with mochi with dulce de leche ice cream filling which were decent but a bit too sweet, even for me and fortune cookies. We had such a great time at Ruby Foo’s! (Group Photo Below) I loved how spacious the place was and I would definitely come back to try other menu items.

rubyfoo_friends

After dinner, some of us headed to the after party at Monarch Rooftop Lounge, right by the Empire State Building. Monarch is located on the 18th Floor Penthouse of the building and has a beautiful interior. “The Scandinavian-chic décor, features an indoor lounge that radiates glamour and allures with seductive appeal, seamlessly connecting to the exterior oasis patio with sliding floor to ceiling glass doors. The modern, yet unimposing deep seated upholstered sofas invite guests to relax and bask in the views of Midtown Manhattan, while floor to ceiling silk curtains frame the picturesque view of the iconic Empire State Building.” I truly enjoyed the space: From the gorgeous up close view of the Empire State Building, the colorful sparkling lights, the awesome (and easy to dance to) music and the friendly and accommodating staff.

monarch

We had our own area with reserved seating, which was really nice and different friends came out throughout the night. It was great to see everyone from close friends to friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. We all had a blast, enjoying the music, atmosphere, conversation and company.

monarch_friends

The whole night was a beautiful experience and I really enjoyed my night out celebrating my birthday in NYC at Ruby Foo’s Times Square and Monarch Rooftop Lounge.

rubyfoo_me dessert2

 

Ruby Foo’s
1626 Broadway
New York, NY

Monarch Rooftop Lounge
71 W 35 St
New York, NY

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January 3, 2015 · 5:50 pm

Holidays in Monterey

I spent the holidays in Monterey, California visiting with family and friends. It felt wonderful to be home for a couple weeks and enjoyed the home cooking, baking, trying new restaurants, watching movies, shopping, going to the aquarium/downtown/Fisherman’s Wharf, catching up with friends and getting into the Christmas spirit of joy, love and wonder.

Here are from scenes from around the town of Monterey.

Monterey2014_seasons greetings

Seasons Greetings from Fisherman’s Wharf

Monterey2014_boats

Boats at Fisherman’s Wharf

Christmas Tree at Del Monte Shopping Center

I also enjoyed home cooking. One of the first meals I had back home was pork chops with onion, fried rice (made with purple rice), salad and a medley of colorful vegetables: Carrots, mushroom, celery. Everything tasted fresh, flavorful and wonderful.

Monterey2014_food
Another one of my favorite meals was made at a family friend’s place. We had Filipino style noodles with chicken, shrimp, carrots and lettuce. Then we made some fish with onions and shrimp with celery. For dessert, an assortment of cookies (some of them made by me!)

Monterey2014_food2

I loved the homemade lamb chop dish that I helped make. The lamb was seasoned perfectly and tasted tender and delicious. We also added onion and potato, which paired beautifully with the lamb.

Monterey2014_food3
On Christmas day, some family friends came over and we made Chinese steamed dumplings. We created the filling of sticky rice, mushrooms, meat and green onion from scratch and wrapped it in the dumpling skins. After that, they were steamed and they came out a bit soft but still very tasty, especially with some spicy soy sauce.

 

Monterey2014_food4

I made some baked goods as well… The classic chocolate chip cookies and also Christmas cookies with nuts and raisin filling, which we make every holiday season.

Monterey2014_cookies

We had fun getting into the holiday spirit by decorating the house with stockings over the fireplace, poinsettias and other flowers, mini Christmas tree…

Monterey2014_xmas

Since we didn’t have an actual Christmas tree, we visited family friends who did.

Monterey2014_xmas tree

On Christmas Eve, I had a chance to go to Candy Cane Lane (yes, that is an actual street name) and each house has to decorate on the outside so there is are tons of beautiful lights, displays and a center area with sleigh, reindeer, life size gingerbread house and more. It’s like a magical Christmas Winter Wonderland!

Monterey2014_candy cane lane 2

Monterey2014_candy cane lane

Below was one of my favorite decorated houses. I just loved the sparkling lights, the bits of blue and red in between the white and the reindeer going up to the chimney! I thought it was both sophisticated and adorable at the same time.

Monterey2014_lightsChristmas morning I made French toast then we opened presents.

Monterey2014_xmas day
We had dinner at Benihana, where I had a $30 gift certificate for my birthday. We had a great time and great meal there, as usual. It is always fun to watch the chef prepare our meals with finesse and skill. I ordered a passion fruit smoothie with strawberry swirls which was sweet, refreshing and delightful. I would have liked a bit more strawberry flavor though. For my meal, I had Filet Mignon and shrimp, which came with a multitude of sides and appetizers including soup, salad, chicken fried rice, shrimp and vegetables: Mushroom, zucchini and onion. Everything was well made and delicious. I also had chocolate ice cream which came with a lit candle in it and one of the servers played the drums and sang Happy Birthday!

Monterey2014_benihanaSoon after Christmas (2 days), it was my birthday! A friend of mine took me to Carmel for exploring, shopping and lunch at Cypress Inn, a super cute place owned by Doris Day, where they allow dogs. I had the fish and chips, which came with garlic french fries and it tasted amazing. The fish was fried to perfection with great flavor and the french fries were crispy and well seasoned.

Monterey2014_carmel

Afterwards, I came home to a lovely surprise party! It was filled with amazing friends, great food, wonderful gifts and a delectable ice cream cake.

Monterey2014_cake

Below are some presents that I received: Clothes, money, scarves, accessories, chocolate and more. Some of my favorite gifts: A gorgeous gold heart necklace with diamonds and a scrapbook of Memories/my life that was made with love and care.

Monterey2014_gifts

Monterey2014_scrapbook

I had a wonderful holiday back home in California and hope that all your holidays were also beautiful and filled with love, family, friends, spectacular food and fun!

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