I passed on this buffet in Shawnee, Kansas because...

I was in the area and ducked in here to see if I wanted to eat . I looked around. It was very much like the one that I really like but that is near Lawrence Jin Shan Buffet (that is one of my favorites). Apparently this place was a Mongolian buffet or at least offered it but it did not seem up and running. I looked over all the items. There were differences. I chose not to eat here . There are 4 difference soups which has 2 more then the one in Lawrence. That was good. The had the salad items on one table which bulks up the total number but really should be counted in the buffet. There were appetizers but no really good salmon like in Lawrence. There was no duck or special crab dishes and few other ones like in Lawrence. There were many of the other skewered beef, crab rangoon, green beans, steamed red bugs (otherwise known as , chicken and ordinary chinese fare on most chinese buffets . Sushi was offered here but not the variety in Lawrence. I believe they have crab legs at night and weekends for extra. However all in all I was disappointed that did not seem to be any higher level “satori- aha” food. Don’t get me wrong. Most people will like this buffet. But I decided to pass to find places with higher level fare.

I thouight the salad and breadsticks included soup?

We have been here for dinner and lunch several times. This time, dinner with all you can eat breadsticks and salad. Advertising says it includes soup but that is probably only for lunch possibly. We decided to add a tomato and veggie pizza and test out how the pizzas are compared to others. The salad is not bad with a spicy Italian dressing. (My preference is for caesar salad but that is not one of the AYCE options. We noshed on several helping of salad. Breadsticks are long, chewy but not particularly enticing but we ate a few anyway. The pizza was nicely baked, had tomatoes on it and with the olives we wanted. Definitely not thin crust pizza, not chicago style but chewy and good. The waiter was attentive and "talked us into" ordering a dessert. There were several choices and we narrowed it down to the gelato and a chocolate cake (which we took).
It was dark chocolaty, creamy with different types of chocolate. We finished every little shread of it as it was so good. After thinking it over, I would not get this bread sticks and salad thing deal again. For just a few dollars more, a meal comes with an entree and the salad and bread comes with it. So this might be the last time we do the salad and breadsticks ploy with/out a pizza. Still we had a nice time. But OG is not my favorite Italian place (Cinzetti's is) but this restaurant is closer. But if they throw in the soup for lunch I might come again.

Hold the ham, but try the other great Kosher meat sandwiches

I saw this placed opened up awhile back close to a hotel and not far from the Jewish Community Center, where I work out.So went searching and finally found it. I was glad that another kosher place was in town. I talked to the owners and they said people didn't mind not having " ham and the none kosher meats " . I agreed as we don't eat ham. Besides the chicken, pastrami and all the meats etc were delectably fine as Kosher. While it might not be a New York deli, this places does it best to make it like one. The sandwiches we tried were excellent. The Pastrami sandwich was great and my wife enjoyed the Pastrami. Don't ask to put cheese on the meat or chicken though because they can't do that otherwise it would not be kosher. Also the breads with cheese can be paired with the meats. I like the extra veggie toppings with them though. I miss the toasting of the subs (like Quiznos) but this was still fine. Don't let being kosher stop you. They are still mighty tasty and you won't be sorry unless you hunger for ham. Try it . You'll like it!

La Mesa- back again with tasty Mexican entrees

We've been to many Tex/Mex/ Mexican restaurants. Most of them have had good Mexican fare. So how do you choose one? Sometimes we just want to try a different one to see what it is like , does it take any of the dishes to a different level other then your regular restaurant. We had sampled the Mexican fare at a La Mesa (at least that is what the name was) in Overland Park a couple of years ago. There was also one off of I-35 in Olathe, KS and gauging their progress the place were doing well. The one in Olathe always had cars in the parking lot if that is an indicator. But then they closed for some reason. I am always mystified when by restaurants that seem to be doing well but then close. Recently the Olathe location opened up (now 1 of 3 in Kansas) so we decided to try a coupon (hey I'm all for saving a little money). And we found that (at least) this one is better then before.
A waiters were attentive and helpful. I thought we'd try the Margaritas which are on sale on Wednesdays. Both my wife and I enjoyed the limey salt rimmed Margaritas with lots of Tequila kick. She had the icy/frozen one and I had the regular one (little more potent not as diluted) and they were both green colored and excellent.
The prices are very reasonable and there are lunch specials. The menu is pretty extensive and has appetizers, salads, sides, Mexican entrees (fajitas, grilled, burritos, quesadilla, enchiladas and more) , combinations, fajita fiesta (for 1 or 2) , steaks, chimichangas (my favorite), variety of chicken dishes, vegetarian dishes and much more. So there is much to choose from and I always have a hard time making up my mind on huge and versatile menus like this ( or was it the Margarita).
We ordered and dug into the excellent crispy chips. There were two types of salsa (spicy and regular). We really liked the tangy tomatoey flavor of the salsa. The spicy had a little extra heat (not hanero heat but possibly serrano not jalapeno?).
I really like Chimichangas (deep fried flour tortilla with beef / chicken or etc ) but I wanted to forage with something different tonight to sample the differences in the menu. My wife enjoyed her Pollo Asada (marinated chicken served with creamy avocado, lettuce, tomato, bell peppers, onions and 3 tortillas which were supple and easily filled the tomatoes, avocado, meat for little mini mexican sandwiches. Many dishes looked great but I wanted to try the different flavors, textures, meats etc of this restaurant. What better way then the the Special Dinner which was sort of sampler. Nice soft chicken tamale, one chili rellano (nicely flavored fried mild green poblano low heat pepper stuffed with cheese), tasty one chicken enchilada (nicely done with red sauce), one shredded beef taco, and one small tostado. All these sampler dishes had a nice (cumin?) flavor. Each was distinct in flavor, meats were tender.
The mashed refried beans were exceptional. This side dish had an unusal extra creamy flavor and the "bean" taste was not heavy handed. It was different then your regular refried bean mash. Maybe a little extra garlic in it, it was hard to "put my finger " on this extra nice taste
Another reason to like this restaurant is that the portions were quite large so there was more to take home and finish later. And the dishes had good flavor when we reheated them. I hope this place sticks around. We'll be back.





Tomfoolories: who is fooling whom?

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We needed to pick a restaurant for a small party of us. We needed a place with different types entrees and reasonably priced. And it had to be the plaza. We picked this place. (My wife later told me we were here before but I don't remember being here with friends years ago otherwise we might have opted for somewhere else). Still we came. I wish we had gone elsewhere as there is so much to choose from. There is variety of specialties on the menu: pizza, burgers , sandwiches , combos and more. I thought about the Thai glazed chicken (which I should have gotten and tried) but I thought the kebab like meal would not have enough food. Our small party picked burgers, Mexican and other. I got a twice baked potato instead of fries but it was nothing special and just did not seem fresh. The Baldy burger had the BBQ sauce, tomato and lettuce but it did not really taste smokey or have much flavor compared to other burger chains that have better burgers. The server failed to let us know about specials as I could not see it from the vantage point otherwise I and/or my wife -she likes quesadillas - might have thought about the steak fajita quesadilla. The rest of the company thought the food was okay but there was nothing to rave about. The Sunday brunch is supposedly one of the best but for for $14 and boring tasting food, I will never see it. If you want a Sunday buffet, try Golden corral for $5 less and you will get just as much variety and better tasting food. I got fooled once but did not know it. I got fooled again and will not be back.

Blue Grotto sings the blues with urbanspoon

We almost went here last week but since my wife and her pals were going anyway, I thought I would find out what is happening as this restaurant through my wife and some pizza she came back with. She also brought back the menu and I was no impressed. There were 9 types of pizzas , 5 starter plates and 3 salads. Since its a wine bar there is also a big list (but as far as I know no one in her group had wine).
I tasted a piece of Four seasons with crimini mushrooms (very small pieces), marinated artichokes (once again small and could not really taste them), black olive flecks and pecorino cheese. It did not really have a great flavor to it. The Funghi mushroom pizza was unremarkable as well. I would not travel all the way down near the Plaza for this medicore pizzas. For better pie and more innovative wood fire pizza, I would take Neopolitan Spin pizza anytime.