I recently realized that I have a major sweet tooth. When I walked past The Great American Cookie Co. at the mall, I stared at the huge clear display of cooooookies! Om nom nom ^_^ ... my weakness and thus:
Huge frosted cookie as a snack!
On the other hand, I think guys have a knack for the salty. I've never tried the pepperoni pretzel from Auntie Anne's, so I was intrigued when Jeff sat down with one :D Having an eating buddy is so fun-- you can try so many different types of food with a friend that way! ^^
Jeff and the mysterious pepperoni pretzel!
On another one of our adventures, we went to explore Clayton's Fatted Calf! It's a place dishing out juicy burgers, and I was really surprised how empty it was when we walked in. They are known for their spreadable cheddar and I took a sample :D It tasted super sharp, reminiscent of the cracker packs with the crackers and spreadable cheese! Yumm~ But I think it would've overpowered the burger, so I stuck to mine cheeseless. And of course, Jeff avoided cheese as usual :P
I like their tables and set up! Can you spot Jeff?
The Calf Burger with sauteed onions... Mmm!
This was my first burger in a while, and the meat was so juicy and delicious without being oily ^^ The bun was really poofy too, and the Dijon mustard went really well with it all :D The burger was so yummy! The next time I'm craving a burger, this place will definitely be on my mind ^^ Yayy happy I went!
The Fatted Calf
12 South Bemiston Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63105
So many adventures with Jeff :) Like this:
My lunch the other day: homemade pad thai made by Chef Jeff :)
See the two apples at the top? Haha so funny-- I brought an apple, but Jeff also brought an apple with the pad thai because he thought I wouldn't think the pad thai was healthy enough by itself! :P
~*~
Alan was back in St. Louis for classes, and we met up for crepes for lunch over the weekend. He took me to Crepes etc. in Central West End, and the place was packed when we walked in.
The menu was much smaller than the creperie in Clayton, but I liked how everything was so... European, and the fact that we could watch the chefs prepare our food behind the glass :3
Ooh, there's my brunch buddy
and he seems *super* excited over his crepe, haha!
Here's my order: "Beef... I must eat more beef." haha, totally what I was thinking that morning!
Inside? Shaved prime rib, peppers and onions, mushrooms, mozzarella-- delicious ^^
I was really satisfied with my lunch, and the amount of mozzarella cheese was just right! After finishing his caprese crepe, Alan opted for a dessert crepe. I think it's funny watching how Alan couldn't be satisfied with his vegetarian crepe ;) But his nutella banana crepe looked and tasted delicious!! But then again, what can go wrong with a nutella and bananas? :D
Beautiful!
Crepes etc. is definitely a great place for breakfast or lunch; they offer omelets, sandwiches, and beautiful pastries (really tempted to buy a hugemongous thick cookie)! I recommend this place for friends who wake up late on the weekends :)
Crepes etc.
48 Maryland Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63108
~*~
The day after student presentations at lab, we went out to celebrate at Little Saigon Cafe! It was my second time there, but first time eating inside. Inside is really nice, and Damari and I were joking about how all the waiters have really nice shiny hair :P
Andrew and Damari asked me if I used chopsticks well, and I smiled. I actually use them better than knife and fork, because we only have like... one knife and one fork for the whole family XD So somehow there was a challenge where both Dimari and Andrew had to finish their meals with chopsticks! It was fun watching Andrew practice before the food came with his chopstick sleeve:
Mmmm..
But soon he was eating like a pro :)
Big bite, nom!
Singaporean noodles
Ooh, our table ordered 4 servings of this! Hyun said it's his favorite dish here, and it looked amazing. I want to come back and try it some time :D This time I ordered a tofu dish, because I was craving it so badly @__@ That and rice!
Sweet, a bit spicy, and flavorful, yum!
Sandeep :D
Dr. Kornfeld and Kurt enjoying their meals while Andrew looks like he had a bit of difficulty with those chopsticks :P
Dimari blew me away with his chopstick handling. He finished before Andrew and me, and he used his chopsticks the entire time! (I started using the fork 5 minutes after starting, because the tofu kept breaking, haha~)
Dimari's pro skills @_@
The same day, I had dinner at a Coco Louco Brasil with Alan! It was my first time eating Brazilian, so I was really excited~ I had no idea what to expect, but the interior caught me off guard.
Super spacious and beautiful sprawling windows :)
A very confused-looking Alan :P
Complimentary bread slices with Parmesan cheese and minced garlic
Plantains with some type of veggie slaw
Alan ordered the plantains on the side as an appetizer, promising they were wonderful. I had them before in the Bahamas, but they didn't look quite as dark as the way it was prepared here. They were piping hot and soft. I think each bite was like nibbling on a frosted donut-- they were so yummy! ^_^ Great appetizer~ The waiter actually told us that sometimes plantains weren't available because they take around 15 days to totally ripen before they could use it, so many customers are told they can't enjoy this appetizer. Luckily, they were available for our dinner :3 Om nom nom!
Deliciousness up close :)
I thought Brazilian restaurants were all about meat, meat, meat, and all-you-can-eat buffet, but I was delightfully mistaken :) Half the menu sported seafood dishes, but I decided to get beef anyways :P Many entrees came with rice, veggies and farrofa, which is a ground mixture of yucca root! :D Mine also came with beans. The veggies reminded me of the Ethiopian injera / stew I ate at Selam a month ago-- soft and yummy! I was also really excited just to see vegetables on my plate, haha~
Mmmm, I love sauteed onions! They ask how you want the beef done, so I went with my usual "medium-rare." I kind of want to try rare someday, but I can just imagine them plunk a raw piece of beef on my plate XD The beef was nicely spiced, veering slightly towards the tough side, but I liked the dish overall. Presentation also made my dinner a happy sight! ^_^
Alan ordered a seafood dish (Caldeirada do Mar), which... I didn't take a picture of. Well, I *kind* of did, but you can barely see it! It's a small stew of their fish of the day (grouper), scallops, mussels in a coconut milk broth. I thought it tasted a tiny bit like corn chowder, so it that was yummy too :P
See Alan's entree in the back??
I was extremely happy with my experience at Coco Louco, so when I went on Yelp and saw that the place was rated pretty low (2 stars!), I was surprised. The atmosphere is quiet, and the service was not super slow as quoted on Yelp. That may be because we were one group out of maybe five in the room though ^^'' The waiters were all super nice too :)
Coco Louco Brasil
512 North Euclid Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63108
The next night, Anna, Sean, Josh, Book, Daniel and I went to Salt for dinner! (Oh my gawsh, eating out almost every day this week!) It's been on a list of restaurants that I've been wanting to try for a while, and we finally settled on the place ^_^b
Salt looks like a museum from the outside, nothing like a sit-down restaurant, so it was probably easy to miss. However, Josh and Book were expert driver / navigators, so we pulled up into a parking lot near a mansion-like establishment.
Sun so bright!
Aww, don't you think their logo is so cute? It's like a salt-shaker! ... *shake it like a salt-shaker rap rap* XD
Walking towards the entrance
Our table set for six
Patrons in other rooms
Our dressed down group :D Hehehe~
Kind of looks like we're playing chess o_0
The restrooms were located upstairs, and the rooms upstairs were decorated quite strangely, in my opinion :P One room had a bunch of wrestler mask and eyeball paintings surrounding a table. I'm pretty sure I would not have enjoyed my meal if I ate there!
Another room was guarded by two Egyptian pharaoh statues. I was intrigued, but too scared to walk into the room... what if it shut behind me and I could never get out?! D:
When I walked into the restroom, it was like stepping into a rainforest. It was super muggy and hot, no air-condition here-- the windows were propped open to the St. Louis weather outside :P The decor in the restrooms was really unique too; there was a ostentatious couch in the center of the restroom!
Our waiter was a pro, citing every dish and describing his favorites and what was popular. Book ordered a glass of wine, and we were all congratulating him for finally getting his license XD
Haha, funny face!
Anna looks pretty ^_^
Our food came out all at the same time, and it came out pretty quickly! I was surprised, it was like the plates were flying onto our table when the three waiters swished past our table~
Smokies with pickled green beans-- the smokies were a bit dry, but using the sauce made it yummy
House special of the night: andouille sausage. A bit spicy :)
Mussels-- everyone said they had better ones elsewhere
Book, Daniel, and Josh all ordered the ribeye, hahaha~ It was the waiter's favorite! Book had ordered two appetizers and he doesn't eat starches as much, so he gave me his mashed potatoes. They were super buttery with detectable chunks of potato (yesh!), and the creamy goodness just made me extremely happy, whee!
Ribeye with mashed potatoes and asparagus-cherry tomato salad
I think I was too hungry or just forgetful, because I didn't take a picture of my own meal D:! I got the soy-braised pork cheek (first time), which was described by the waiter as "fall-off-your-fork tender." Was it? Indeed! Super tender and nicely flavored. Although it tasted like I was eating Asian food, can't complain, because it *is* "soy-braised." Haha! ^^'' There were three pieces of grilled peach with the arugula salad that topped the pork cheek that were delicious too :D
We finished dinner and walked outside into the garden area. It was lit up with lights and was quite a sight... kind of reminded me of a few restaurants my family went to in Taiwan a few years ago! Anna and Sean were taking ten thousand pictures, so I decided to take a few too XD
:) Purty
I think I need to learn a lot in photography class this semester! The first few pictures I randomly took were pretty good quality-- nicely lit. But the later ones became grainier and blurry. Blahhh~ I'm missing a group photo here, because I couldn't even see Sean and Book's faces =_=
Wah!! I think Daniel is smiling with his *teeth* in this picture! O_O
Haha, I like this picture :D!
I think Salt's a great place to come for dinner once in a while. They don't have a huge entree selection, but I bet each one has been perfected :) Tapa-style small plates are what the waiter emphasized, but I'm a girl who likes her large, Texas-portioned entrees ;D I'm really happy we ate at Salt-- great atmosphere, first (delicious) experience with pork cheek, got my mashed potatoes fix, and got to see my friends together after a busy weekend and first half of the week ^_^ Yay!
Salt
4356 Lindell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108
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