5410-Y Hwy 55, Durham, NC 27713
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Cajun, Creole
www.papamojosroadhouse.com

I like to do second reviews whenever I get the chance and this time around, I went to Papa Mojo's for lunch instead of dinner. The food is considerably cheaper during lunchtime! In fact, I had to get several food items and an actual drink in order to hit my LivingSocial voucher for $30 but the food was just as great as it was when I went before.


We started off with a basket of fried okra as a side dish but there was enough of it to share between my friend and me. It was fried well. I liked the batter that was used because it wasn't breaded but just a thin crispy shell. The okra maintained its succulent sliminess and was not overly salted.


My main dish was the shrimp and crab Creole. Because I'm pretty weak when it comes to spicy foods, I took a while finishing as much of this as I could - the sweet tea helped. The spices were quite good and the shrimp divine. I felt that the crab seemed to have been old or frozen before to me but I can't verify that completely. The sauce was tomato-y but not overwhelmingly so; the vegetables were soft but not devoid of natural juices. It was a great dish.


To-go, I snagged a whole shrimp poboy that had perhaps a tad bit too much mayo but the shrimp was fried well and the vegetables plentiful. They definitely use big bread for their sandwiches!

200 N Mangum St, Durham, NC 27701
Pricing - $$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Mexican | Reservations - Available
www.dosperrosrestaurant.com/ 


The starter was a bowl of jalapeno salsa with house-made chips (I believe they were house-made). I'm weak when it comes to spicy stuff so I just dipped the corners of my chips in to get the flavor of the salsa without much kick. The sore in my mouth made it hard to eat very much of this considering how sharp tortilla chip pieces are. It was good though.


Their drink menu was impressive but we figured that we ought to try some new things. I originally ordered their Watermelon Sangria but they were out of something some I went with the Dos Perros Royale, a delicious blend of Hornitos Plata tequila, house-made hibiscus syrup, and sparkling wine (their tequila menu was HUGE!). It was like a stronger champagne - I liked it a lot! 



The appetizers all came out pretty quickly after we ordered them. They were all good in their own right. The first were the sweet cheese and jalapeno-stuffed plantain fritters with Oaxacan cream and salsa. The plantains were the real show and ripe to the right point. They made it impossible to think that the jalapenos were spicy and the crispy shell was spot on. The cream and salsa made a nice refreshing touch to an otherwise possibly heavy appetizer. Second to be tried was the marinated cactus salad with tomato, avocado, and house-made chicharones. I avoided the avocado in general but everything else was delicious. The cactus was crunchy but slimy on the inside (a little hard to chew) and the chicharones were small and crisp. I liked the tangy, sour dressing that was on the salad! Last of the appetizers were the sweet potato empanadas with chipotle, fig sauce. They were awesome; the pastry shell was crunchy in all the right places and the slices of sweet potato appropriate. It tasted like there were also onions inside. We both really enjoyed the slightly spicy fig sauce as it complemented the sweet potato well without being overbearing.


My entree was a taco of chicken with cilantro and lime and a taco of chorizo, nopales (prickly pear cactus), and onion. The chicken was pretty good but not mindblowing. The chorizo was different from what I've seen before, and it was grilled to a good texture. I enjoyed the meat itself too but wasn't sure how well it fit with the cactus since that one was slimy. The onion made the taco fresh-tasting as well and the additional tomato and slaw on the side helped with it all.

225 Laskin Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Japanese, Sushi

With a hankering for seafood of some sort because we were at a beach, my friends and I settled for this sushi bar right near our parking spot. When we walked in, we noticed how fitting the decor was and that it had a nice ambiance to it. The food ended up being a little bit pricier than we thought but the justification was that we were at a tourist trap of a city and were having sushi. There were other things on the menu besides sushi but I personally figured that I went to a sushi bar to have sushi, not other things. The problem I had with this meal overall was that I had sore in my mouth right behind my front teeth so eating everything, especially sushi in one bite, was quite painful. However, the ginger was good and the wasabi potent. Good restaurant but not mindblowing.


My friend ordered the chicken hibachi entree which came with soup and salad. She didn't really want the salad so I took it and it was fairly decent. The greens were actually fresh and the combination of which vegetables they picked worked well together. It was drizzled in a ginger sesame dressing that had a good amount of tang to it.


For dishes, I first had Unagi (うなぎ) which is freshwater eel for those of you unfamiliar with it. Apologies for my picture being so bright but the restaurant had dim lighting and all I shoot with is a point-and-shoot so flash was needed. It was a generous chunk of eel with the right amount of sauce over it. Not as bony as others that I've had, the eel was cooked well and the rice a fitting size. I had my friend try some even though he doesn't like fish or seafood in general and he actually approved!


Next was their Hamachi (鰤) roll which is Japanese amberjack/yellowtail. My favorite! The roll had cucumber, scallions, and small roe. It was refreshing and nice. The rice was a little too much (it was a rather tall roll) and hid the texture of the fish somewhat but overall, a good roll.


My second roll was their Golden Scallop roll which consisted of baked scallops on top (complete with with smothered in Japanese mayo) and spicy tuna on the bottom. It looked a bit overwhelming because the topping was overflowing on the big pieces of the roll. I liked this one a lot because the spicy tuna had just enough kick to complement the mayo-y scallops. It was a heavy roll though, and I had a hard time getting through all the pieces. Perhaps they should let up on the mayo next time!

2941 Shore Dr, Virginia Beach, VA 23451
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - American, Sports Bar | Reservations - Available
www.shorebreakvb.com

This place was deceptively large with its small arcade in the back and pool tables to the right of the entrance. It's a sports bar with lots of screens all around. The group I went with was a large 25 but they seated us quickly after we arrived to claim our reservation. Though it was a pizza place, I didn't feel like splitting a huge one with anyone so I settled on another one of their seemingly popular items - a Philly cheesesteak.


Before I started on my entree, I shared an appetizer of mozzarella sticks with my friend. They were okay. They looked sort of like the frozen kind to me because they were shaped so roundly.


My entree came with grilled vegetables which I picked at first because I didn't want them to get cold. They tasted like they were grilled on the same grill as the restaurant's burgers, which wasn't a bad thing but just surprising. I would have enjoyed them better if they hadn't been drenched in grease though. It was a nice selection of zucchini and yellow squash. As for the sandwich itself, it was quite a bit oily too. Luckily the bread was thick enough to soak the grease up from the meat so that I didn't have to hold onto an oily sandwich. I liked the sandwich quite well other than the oil because the cheese wasn't overwhelming and the steak was well-stacked. It was too bad that the place was a bit loud but what can one expect at a sports bar?

401 N Great Neck Rd, Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Mongolian
www.warriorsgrill.com/

After much aimless driving, my friends and I came to this Mongolian BBQ place in a plaza area with some other restaurants. It was fairly empty when we got in there but the set-up was nice and spacious in general. The buffet and cooking area was like any typical place's but the food and service was excellent.


First of all, the waitress asked if we wanted egg drop or hot and sour soup. We weren't expecting to get complimentary soup or cookies at the end of the meal. The soup was actually pretty good. We also got sesame bread which were quite awesome. They weren't flat like crackers or fluffy like bread. They were slightly similar to poofed-up flatbread and since hardly anyone had any, I snagged most of them!


The awesome thing about Mongolian BBQ that is self-serve is arranging the bowls for yourself in a smart way. Bali Hai had taught me to line my bowl with meat before adding vegetables and noodles. However, since this was all you could eat (a Mongolian BBQ AYCE place!), the strategy wasn't needed. I still piled on a lot of food and watched them cook up the meal. This restaurant had a good array of sauces, and I trusted the cook to add what he thought would be good. I liked my plate a lot and at the end of it all, the cashier allowed us to split it 8 ways. Good stuff.

I'm going to be traveling for pretty much all of today so I had a friend write up a guest post for a diabetes-inducing dessert he put together. I haven't tried it yet but the result looks deliciously sugary. Give it a gander! Thanks to Dylan for writing this up but no, I don't think your title is deserved.


"Oreo Awesome Balls
By Dylan Phillips, Supreme Lord of Terror

• Makes 24 gigantic cookies
• Prep: 25 minutes
• Cook: 13 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour (I know, trust me.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In medium bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. (Will put up a significant amount of resistance. It'll fight with you.)

With a cookie scoop, form balls with the dough. (Not entirely necessary, but good if you want to be uniform)

Place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand, or pinching until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.

Place onto parchment or aluminum lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack."

I mention in my "About the Author" page about how my mom was my inspiration for cooking and just my overall love of food. That is not to say that my dad doesn't cook but it is a rare occasion! I guess he can't help it when there's such a stellar cook in the house anyhow. In honor of Father's Day, I'd like to share some silly stories about my dad and food. As you can see, I don't have a picture above of him cooking anything. My mom doesn't like having him cook because he seems to hold the philosophy that more butter = better tasting food. Perhaps I should introduce him to French cooking and show him how to do it (joking)!

So, having my dad's cooking is not a common practice. Just about two weeks ago, my mom didn't prepare anything for dinner and my dad said it was just him and me for the evening (my younger brother was out of the house). I then asked him what he wanted to cook for dinner, and his response was, "Do you want to eat at Red Lobster?" It struck me as being quite silly that he would default to going somewhere out to eat instead of spending time to prepare a meal. That's not to say that he doesn't make anything ever. He will definitely cook foods that my mom has already prepped and on occasion will make basic foods. He will often also mention how he used to grow bean sprouts when he was at refugee camp.

My dad's a funny guy when it comes to food. He's all for trying out different kinds of snack foods and candies, bringing home random assortments that either get tried or stowed away for months. Also, because he works somewhere where there is plenty of food, he'll also bring home their new items to see how the family (but mainly my younger brother and me) likes them. He was the one who brought me chili chocolate after all. When we go to restaurants, he'll make me order food but never tells me his preference for anything because he'll eat whatever. I think that's something that I picked up from him really. I'll try anything once as well. We're both not too picky. He's also the gung-ho one about trying new places.

Tonight our family is going to have a dinner for Father's Day and when I had asked my mom earlier this week what we'd do or where'd we eat, all she said was, "It's your dad - he doesn't care." It's true and that's something that is pretty awesome. As long as we're eating all together, it won't matter today what or where we're eating. Yeah my mom's the cook of the house but my dad's the one who has contributed to my being open about any food and made me realize that sometimes, butter does make things taste better =]. Also, if there is anything that he knows I like, he goes out of his way to get it for me or as my mom says in Chinese (but I will try to translate as best I can into English), "Always getting sweets for his sweetheart." Happy Father's Day dad, and Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, mothers who are fathers, and father figures today! I got my daddy a sweet potato cake, hoorah.

I decided that I would go to a bookstore or cafe today so that I could work on the massive amount of blog posts I need to put together for the month I would be gone in July; I made the suggestion to my little brother to join me on a quest for productivity and he agreed. Therefore, we find ourselves now at a Coffee Bean store in Orange working on our various things (he's studying for final tests) and realizing that the atmosphere outside of the home is certainly more conducive to progress than staying at home. We also got some lunch and coffee drinks around the area. I would write up a review for the places except they are chains so I decided to just combine that into this one post.


After studying for quite a while in Barnes & Noble, I discovered that there weren't any outlets in their cafe area so I had to go pick up a GRE book to browse through until we both got hungry enough to eat. We headed over to Corner Bakery Cafe and got some sandwiches. He got the Chicken Pomodori panini and I got the Chicken Pesto signature sandwich combo of half a sandwich and a cup of soup (Italian Wedding Soup). We were both a bit disappointed in what we got considering how small the portions were and how starving we were. My 1/2 sandwich was extremely small but manageable. I thought it to be quite simple and easy to recreate - not worth my near $8 for the combo. The Italian Wedding Soup had strange ingredients in it but at least it was hot to fool my stomach into feeling full. Edison's panini was basic as well. We weren't impressed and were still hungry afterward.


We took our business over to the Coffee Bean store nearby and snagged some ice blended coffee drinks. They had types that I hadn't seen in other stores. We ended up grabbing regular 16 oz. sizes of the Mocha Mint and the Black Forest. The Mocha Mint was pretty standard but it wasn't a bad thing since mocha mint is always delicious. The Black Forest was fantastic. When we both tried it out, we figured it was now our new favorite - dark chocolate with cherry flavoring and tons of shredded chocolate-covered espresso beans. Good stuff. I can't wait until I become a regular somewhere; maybe I'll stalk out a Coffee Bean to adopt once I start working somewhere.

1547 Katella Ave, Ste 102, Orange, CA 92867
Pricing - $$/$$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Irish, Pub
http://www.auldirisher.com/

I caught up with an old friend here having chosen one of the two places he suggested. It's located in a plaza area with various other food places and a theater. The decor inside was nice and followed with the Irish theme that the pub totes. It was a pretty clean place as well, and the clientele seemed to be a mellower, older crowd instead of rowdy young adults at a bar. I liked the setting. We glanced at the menu briefly before ordering (well, my friend was there earlier than me so I guess he had looked over it plenty) and were able to catch the Happy Hour menu too, hoorah. When the food was all brought out, it was quite the spread!


The first to come out was the order of Bushmills Chicken Boxty, a dish that my friend had been eager to try. The menu describes it as a "potato pancake filled with sauteed chicken breast, garlic, fresh thyme & mushrooms with seasonal vegetables in an Irish Whiskey cream sauce" aka deliciousness. Actually, it wasn't in a cream sauce as much as it was smothered in it. For $15, I was not as impressed with the chicken as I had hoped to be; it was a little dry and bland. However, the shell to the boxty was very good and the sauce made it all quite tasty. It seems like they had mashed the potatoes finely enough to create a crepe-like shell but it still had the texture of potatoes which I liked. The mushrooms were amazing too!


To pick at were bacon and cheddar tater tots and honey mustard wings. The tots were pretty good in terms of how they were fried and the amount of potato inside but they went a little too generous on the salt. I think that they had put salt in the tots prior to covering it with bacon and probably didn't account for how salty the bacon would be in itself. We didn't finish the plate but I did take it back home for my brother. The wings were, I'd say, a 6.5/10. They may have been better had we not eaten them after the other items. I thought the chicken and accompanying vegetable sticks were dry for my taste. The sauce was great though.


The last to come out (but first eaten) were the corned beef sliders. $2 each during Happy Hour, they were bite-sized glorious treats. I love corned beef so having these with grilled onion, horseradish mayo, pickle, and cheddar was great. I wish there were more slices of meat but alas, it was over quickly. I liked the chips they came with as well. While eating, we each had a glass of Guinness on tap (so good) and Pyramid Hefeweizen. I'd definitely come back for a drink or two with friends here - probably even try out some Irish-y appetizers.

I had forgotten that a part of AP European History class at GGHS after the exam is the "cultural exchanges" where classmates make foods from different nations. I don't even remember what I had brought in or which country I had. However, the other day, my younger brother told me that he got Slovakia for his country and needed to make something so when it got to the day before, we got working for hours on making a large quantity of this delicious food. We ended up using 23 potatoes (which took years to peel and grate) and larger amounts of what the recipe below will say. I wouldn't recommend it but if you really want to, you can make large amounts as well; adjust as needed.

Step 1: Ingredients (serving size: varies)

• vegetable oil, for pan
• black pepper, to taste
• salt, to taste
• marjoram, to taste
• 1/4 cup bacon, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3 large potatoes
  
  Notes:
• Marjoram - if you do not have any, oregano is good close substitute
• Bacon - this is optional and will change the salt content of your pancakes so don't forget that when you add salt to the mix

Step 2: Preparing the potatoes
Peel and grate your potatoes. They should be grated quite finely for a nice texture. I used a small cheese grater which is why it took a while to do. Potatoes oxidize and turn pink/red pretty quickly after being cut so one thing I did to slow the process was to drop my potatoes into bowls of heavily salted water. They turned out pretty cheesy looking. Drain the potatoes as best you can by pushing them against a strainer. Try to remove as much water as possible.


Step 3: Making the mix
Mince your garlic and chop the onion. Then add all remaining ingredients except for the bacon into the mix. Heat up a pan and cook the bacon if you're going to be using some (reserve the bacon grease and oil). Once those have cooked and been drained, chop the strips up. For the ingredients that all mostly say "to taste" in the list above, eyeball a good amount and then fry up a small portion of the mix to see if you like the seasonings. If not, add as you see fit. Keep in mind that the bacon will make the pancakes saltier so if it's lacking salt pre-bacon, don't add more. Churn up the mix until everything is spread evenly. You can see that my potatoes started oxidizing by the time I got to this step - don't worry if yours do too because the taste doesn't change.


Step 4: Frying and finishing
Pour the oil and grease from the bacon cooking into a separate bowl. If you didn't make any bacon, you can use new supplies of oil. Heat up a pan and then add a thin layer of oil in it. You need hot oil to make these pancakes fry to a nice looking color (and cook faster). Fry one side until the open side looks dry and then flip. Make sure to line your plate or tray with paper towels to soak up any excess oil on the pancakes once you take them out of the pan. Enjoy!

 

292 N Glassell St, Orange, CA 92866
Pricing - $$ | Dining - Casual, To-Go | Cuisine - Sandwiches, Desserts
www.bruxie.com


I never knew what the fuss about chicken and waffles was - I didn't really leave my trip at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (a while ago) with any mindblowing memories. My friend told me that I needed to go to Bruxie though so I figured, hey, why not? I looked it up and the savory and sweet menu options seemed quite interesting. The first thing you notice when you get there is that it's a food stand with outdoor seating. Pretty neat off of Old Towne Orange.


I started off with a drink of their Black Cherry Soda, which appeared on their seasonal menu. Their sodas are made with pure cane sugar and are put together when ordered with syrup and soda water (from what I gathered). It was a bit sweet but the fizziness helped mellow that part out because I wasn't taking major sips from the drink. I really liked it, particularly because I love black cherry anything.


My savory waffle sandwich was their season Roasted Wild Mushroom which was filled with mushrooms, goat cheese, fresh arugula, and balsamic reduction. I've got to say that the arugula seemed really fresh - I loved it! There was a huge amount of it, and the balsamic really accentuated the mushrooms. The only thing was that towards the end, the goat cheese got a little bit overbearing from having so much of it but the sandwich was fantastico.


My friends got the pastrami (seasonal) and the buttered fried chicken sandwiches. I liked the pastrami a lot (then again, I love pastrami in general) and the fried chicken was pretty good. It wasn't what you would think of when you hear the phrase "fried chicken;" rather, it was a slice of chicken breast with a thin layer of crispy batter around it. They also all got waffle fries which I found to be fairly salty but perfectly crunchy and full of potato.


We ended with our dessert dishes. I had ordered a Liege waffle with Nutella for sauce. It was quite thick and covered in powdered sugar. After having eaten so much, the dessert waffle was a tad overbearing and sweet so I had to share it with everyone else. We also shared a large container of the best custard I've had before because of its thick creaminess. Eventually I dropped some into my soda cup just so I could have a float of some sort. It was a great place to go for dinner though I won't make it too much of a habit considering the dent in my wallet from the $8+ sandwich!