I have been eating out, and I have been smoking cigars. I just have not reported for a while because I'm busy.
I have a couple of positive places to recommend in Wichita. The first is Hangar One. The first couple of times I visited this restaurant, I wasn't impressed. That changed with the last visit. Hangar One is a flying motif restaurant and bar. The bar is at the top, like a air traffic control tower. The Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) had a monthly beer call there. I can report that the selection of draft was excellent. It wasn't as numerous as some specialty bars (like Fox and Hound), but the selection was great and varied. I was impressed with the Moose Drool (a dark ale). It wasn't too bitter. I also ate a KC Strip there. The steak was good quality and properly cooked. This was a distinct improvement over the last couple of times I had been there. I can recommend the atmosphere, the beer, and the food. The music in the bar was a little loud, but it didn't prevent conversation. Prices were also reasonable.
I'll also mention the new Lakeside club. I had a meal and a Martini there with the regular copilot. The meal was great and the prices very good for the quality. This is a private club. The know how to shake a drink and the drinks are large. The portions were large too. In addition, the Lakeside club has live music and a place to dance. The music was very danceable. I was impressed by the bar tending at Lakeside--the bartender mixed my Martini wrong, but corrected it right away. Very good bar tending.
I'm smoking a Baccarat cigar, a box I won at a Texas Hold'em tournament. The cigar is pleasant, but is very sweet. The taste of the tobacco is especially sweet. I suspect it is a flavored cigar. It isn't unpleasant, and doesn't have a flavored taste to the draw. It's an unusual cigar. I likely wouldn't have bought it for myself, but any winnings are pleasant.
O&O
Showing posts with label Wichita. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wichita. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2012
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.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Ciao - 11 Nov 2011
We made a visit to the new Italian restaurant on the east side of Wichita--Ciao. The place was filled when we went there on Friday night at about 7:20 and were told there was a 45 minute wait. We went to the bar--of course. The bar was filled but we got seats pretty quickly. We ordered a gin dirty martini with blue cheese olives and a dry vodka martini with blue olives. Both were shaken. The martinis were excellent. They were shaken correctly and very nicely done. The blue cheese olives were freshly packed.
We needed some basis for our drinking so we ordered the combo appetizer. Wow. There was calamari, chicken fingers, fried provolone, fried Spanish ravioli, fried zucchini, artichoke dip and they gave us fresh bread and dipping oil. The bread and oil was great. The appetizers were all fried, but the food was good--and lots. We decided that was all we needed and went home. We didn't get to try anything else. We put it on the list again, and we recommend it. Go try out Ciao.
We needed some basis for our drinking so we ordered the combo appetizer. Wow. There was calamari, chicken fingers, fried provolone, fried Spanish ravioli, fried zucchini, artichoke dip and they gave us fresh bread and dipping oil. The bread and oil was great. The appetizers were all fried, but the food was good--and lots. We decided that was all we needed and went home. We didn't get to try anything else. We put it on the list again, and we recommend it. Go try out Ciao.
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