Okay, we like Tommy Bahama's for the cocktails, but the food is great too. It's not as great as it once was, but it is still very good. When we are in Destin, FL, we always go to Tommy Bahama's. When we went to Palm Desert, CA, we had to try it out. We liked the cocktails--we went twice.
On the first occasion, I had a coconut cocktail thing that was delicious. I also had a Vodka martini and that was great too. I ate the 20oz. Porterhouse. I know, I should have had seafood, but I'm just jaundiced toward sushi. The Porterhouse was excellent. I didn't take any home for lunch. I can't remember what the regular copilot or the others had, but I do know, I'll go back. Tommy Bahama's is a consistently great restaurant. It isn't the top of the line, but it isn't average. It is really great food in a really great atmosphere. Did I say there was live music. Always live music at Tommy Bahama's.
The second occasion, we went after eating dinner at Arnold Palmer's. I'll write about that experience later. I had a BBC--very nice and rich drink. The regular copilot had a Lemon Drop martini. I was good for her. Someone had the Key Lime pie. I was happy with the drinks. Go to Tommy Bahama's, it's a great and fun place--you can't go wrong.
Showing posts with label drink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drink. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Newport Grill
Here is a new restaurant review. I promised something new. Newport Grill in Wichita, Kansas is one of my favorites. It has the best martinis in the city and the bar tenders know how to make them properly. They stuff their own olives with blue cheese and then know to shake them the proper amount of time.
On this visit, I had a straight vodka martini with potato vodka (they have a great variety of alcoholic beverages). The regular copilot had the Black and Blue--that's a very dirty martini with stuffed blue olives. I like the stuffed blue olives too just no dirty in my vodka. The martinis were excellent, as usual, and consistent.
We also had the steak tartar, tuna tartar, shrimp cocktail, and ceviche. These are all appetizers. So, we like appetizers especially raw ones. The steak tartar was excellent. We always ask for more toast points, mainly because we like them and secondarily because the second batch is usually softer, and I like them softer. The regular copilot likes them crustier. The steak tartar at Newport Grill is European style. I mentioned before the steak tartar at The Candle Club is American style. I like them both. European style tends to have more spices in the steak and usually capers and onions.
The tuna tartar has fried crisps with it. The flavor was excellent. Their ceviche is more prepared than I like it. The best US ceviche I've had was at Ruth's Crisp. Newport Grill's was pleasant, but not my favorite. The shrimp cocktail was typical and US style. It's one of the regular copilot's favorites.
All in all this was a pleasant evening. We sat at the bar, but if you want to get a table, make reservations.
On this visit, I had a straight vodka martini with potato vodka (they have a great variety of alcoholic beverages). The regular copilot had the Black and Blue--that's a very dirty martini with stuffed blue olives. I like the stuffed blue olives too just no dirty in my vodka. The martinis were excellent, as usual, and consistent.
We also had the steak tartar, tuna tartar, shrimp cocktail, and ceviche. These are all appetizers. So, we like appetizers especially raw ones. The steak tartar was excellent. We always ask for more toast points, mainly because we like them and secondarily because the second batch is usually softer, and I like them softer. The regular copilot likes them crustier. The steak tartar at Newport Grill is European style. I mentioned before the steak tartar at The Candle Club is American style. I like them both. European style tends to have more spices in the steak and usually capers and onions.
The tuna tartar has fried crisps with it. The flavor was excellent. Their ceviche is more prepared than I like it. The best US ceviche I've had was at Ruth's Crisp. Newport Grill's was pleasant, but not my favorite. The shrimp cocktail was typical and US style. It's one of the regular copilot's favorites.
All in all this was a pleasant evening. We sat at the bar, but if you want to get a table, make reservations.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Birthday Cigar
I didn't eat anywhere of real note on my trip, so I don't have any new restaurants to report. I do have a cigar update. I received an ATF Garcia and Garcia Limited Edition My Father cigar for my birthday. I smoked it while drinking cappuccino and Remi Marten XO Cognac.
I prepared the cigar with a 3/8 inch punch and lit it slowly with a wooden match. The cigar was very robust. It was a rich cigar with a very even burn. It tasted of strong coffee and cocoa and was a powerful cigar. It was a perfect dessert cigar. I can't recommend it to the mellow smoke crowd, but for those who like a strong cigar, it was perfect. It was a long lasting smoke, but did not taint the pallet so much that it stayed with me for hours.
The cappuccino and Cognac went perfectly with it. My thanks to the gift bearers who provided me a great cigar.
Remember, if you want to try Cognac, always drink it from a brandy snifter. This is true of brandy and any similar liqueur. You will not be pleased, or you will be more pleased by the drink if you have it in the proper glass. This is also true for many liqueurs. A splash in a tall glass does not bring out the essential aromas of the drink.
I prepared the cigar with a 3/8 inch punch and lit it slowly with a wooden match. The cigar was very robust. It was a rich cigar with a very even burn. It tasted of strong coffee and cocoa and was a powerful cigar. It was a perfect dessert cigar. I can't recommend it to the mellow smoke crowd, but for those who like a strong cigar, it was perfect. It was a long lasting smoke, but did not taint the pallet so much that it stayed with me for hours.
The cappuccino and Cognac went perfectly with it. My thanks to the gift bearers who provided me a great cigar.
Remember, if you want to try Cognac, always drink it from a brandy snifter. This is true of brandy and any similar liqueur. You will not be pleased, or you will be more pleased by the drink if you have it in the proper glass. This is also true for many liqueurs. A splash in a tall glass does not bring out the essential aromas of the drink.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wasabi in Wichita
A Wasabi sushi restaurant opened up on the east side. I went there with the regular copilot on Saturday night.
We are fish and sushi snobs. This is because my family was raised with fresh fish and the regular copilot loves fresh fish. We live part time in Florida for goodness sakes. In this modern era, you can get fresh fish in almost any large city in the USA, and Wichita has some great fish. Until Kwon Court had to shut down, that was the best sushi in Wichita and likely in the Midwest. There really wasn't a great sushi restaurant on the east side. Now, Wasabi has put a branch in the east and it is excellent. They've been open for about 10 days.
We went on Saturday and didn't need a reservation. You usuallyneed a reservation for Wasabi in old town. We were seated at the sushi bar, but they have lots of table space. I like the sushi bar, the regular copilot, not so much.
I drank hot saki. The brand was good and the saki was hot--hot is important. The regular copilot drank a Saporo light. I ordered the avocado salad (because I wanted to see what it was like). The regular copilot ate a seaweed salad. Both were excellent. The dressing on the avocado salad was perfect. They were both huge portions.
For the main dish, I had a chirashi sushi (bunch of raw fish on sushi rice--a junk box, the common Japanese sushi meal). It included salmon, tuna, yellow tail, tomago, crab, and abachor tuna. The regular copilot had the chef's choice sashimi. We each ordered a spicy tuna hand roll and miso soup. The fish portions were huge. Even after the first blush, when the portion sizes decrease--if they are half, they will still be large. The fish was very fresh and high quality. We took loads home (because we had too much to eat in a single setting)--the fish was still great the next day. The handrolls were excellent and the miso soup was good, but not great.
All in all, Wasabi is an excellent restaurant. It is better than the old town location with a better ambiance and a very attentive staff. We highly recommend it.
We are fish and sushi snobs. This is because my family was raised with fresh fish and the regular copilot loves fresh fish. We live part time in Florida for goodness sakes. In this modern era, you can get fresh fish in almost any large city in the USA, and Wichita has some great fish. Until Kwon Court had to shut down, that was the best sushi in Wichita and likely in the Midwest. There really wasn't a great sushi restaurant on the east side. Now, Wasabi has put a branch in the east and it is excellent. They've been open for about 10 days.
We went on Saturday and didn't need a reservation. You usuallyneed a reservation for Wasabi in old town. We were seated at the sushi bar, but they have lots of table space. I like the sushi bar, the regular copilot, not so much.
I drank hot saki. The brand was good and the saki was hot--hot is important. The regular copilot drank a Saporo light. I ordered the avocado salad (because I wanted to see what it was like). The regular copilot ate a seaweed salad. Both were excellent. The dressing on the avocado salad was perfect. They were both huge portions.
For the main dish, I had a chirashi sushi (bunch of raw fish on sushi rice--a junk box, the common Japanese sushi meal). It included salmon, tuna, yellow tail, tomago, crab, and abachor tuna. The regular copilot had the chef's choice sashimi. We each ordered a spicy tuna hand roll and miso soup. The fish portions were huge. Even after the first blush, when the portion sizes decrease--if they are half, they will still be large. The fish was very fresh and high quality. We took loads home (because we had too much to eat in a single setting)--the fish was still great the next day. The handrolls were excellent and the miso soup was good, but not great.
All in all, Wasabi is an excellent restaurant. It is better than the old town location with a better ambiance and a very attentive staff. We highly recommend it.
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