A lovely dinner at FINO Tuesday night. Apps: fried anchovy olives (one of my favorite things all night!), haloumi & sherried figs, fried goat cheese w/ red onion jam, filo cigars (w/chicken, almonds, raisins & a touch of chile). Soups: acorda de mariscos (garlic & prawn bisque) & gazpacho. Entrees: (me) lamb chops (cooked to a perfect medium rare) w/ green beans in a Romesco sauce w/ black olive tapanade & feta, (companions) Wagyu beef w/ oyster mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, onion confit & blue cheese. Dessert: a chocolate torte w/ golden raisin ice cream (and our waitress said that was its last night on the menu). One note: a pitcher of sangria should have yielded more than 3.5 glasses. Oh, another note: service was great, however, there was a UT MBA group (so said the waitress) seated in the bar area and there was a guy giving a presentation. His voice carried over so loudly, that it made the end of the meal rather unpleasant.
Dinner at Hyde Park Bar & Grill (Westgate location) with a friend and her two kids on Wed. night. I guess I've never "actually" reviewed it. It's a good 'ol standby though. We split the Asian Chicken Salad, which is rather large, and one of their nightly specials, a fried chicken done in a honeyed-cornflake crust, came with 2 sides, so mashed potatoes and creamed corn. Really nice crust on it. The kids didn't complain with their cheeseburger and grilled cheese sandwich, and we got to eat their well-known fries that the kids didn't. Quick, efficient & kid-friendly.
A quick stop for a Chinese BBQ pork bahn mi at the Lulu B's trailer for today's lunch. I really had only intended on eating half the sandwich, and saving the rest, but it was too darn tasty not to eat all at once!
