Chitralada Thai (Pembroke Pines)

     When visiting Los Angeles and New York, I loved finding random hole in the wall restaurants that made amazing food.  However, when you try to do that in Florida it somehow never works out as well...  Though I always want to say, never judge a restaurant by its exterior and only by its food; there's something weird about Florida....that or I'm cursed when I randomly pick out places to eat.  I'm not sure what it is about Florida, but I've been burned 90% of the time trying random mom and pop restaurants.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating huge chains either.  I feel as if those large chains are basically eating alive all the potential and wonderful small businesses.  I'm not sure how to explain it, it's just how Florida tends to be.

Thai Iced Tea

     Anyways, we stopped by a Thai restaurant on Pines Boulevard because one of my friends wanted to try it out since he had been craving Thai food and he had passed it on the road several times before.  Chitralada Thai has a very unassuming store front and to be honest I was a little scared just looking at the exterior and the surroundings.  As I've said before, I haven't known Florida to be very "random restaurant" friendly.  I think we actually stood outside the store front for about 10 minutes debating whether or not we wanted to go in or not.  ^_^()  Eventually we decided to give it a go!

     The owner's of the restaurant were very pleasant as they greeted us and sat our party at a nearby table.  They were more than happy to answer any questions we had about the menu.  My friends suggested/insisted that I try a Thai iced tea.  This was my first Thai iced tea too!  It was lightly sweetened, so you were still able to taste the flavor of the tea itself (It's an ongoing theme for me, how I <3 not being in a sugar induced coma).  I loved the subtle                                                                           creaminess that the tea had.

     The chicken satay (on the left) was a simply skewered chicken simply grilled to perfection.  I was surprised the chicken was cooked well, most of the time I'm accustomed to getting dry chicken at restaurants (which is why I don't order it often).  We also ordered the larb gai appetizer, a dish of spicy ground chicken with lemon juice, onion, pepper, and lettuce.  The larb gai was another great dish, bringing together savory and sour in harmony.

     I think the only misstep of the evening was the mee grob (crispy noodles on the left).  I'm such a sucker for crispy things!  It was suppose to bed a crispy noodle dish with shrimp and a Thai sauce.  However the sauce it was covered in was too sweet and it really overpowered any other possible flavors in the dish.  The noodles stayed crispy which was a definite plus, however the sauce really killed the dish for me.  The pad woon sen (on the right) was a stir fried clear noodle with chicken, onion, bell pepper, carrot, baby corn, and mushroom.  That on the other hand was pretty delicious. =)

     We also ordered the Chitralada garlic beef (left - lean marinated beef slices, sautéed with vegetables on a sizzling plate) and a red curry.  Like everything else before it, the beef was cooked very well.  The red curry was well spiced and the only fault I could find in it was that it was a little thin.


     Rice was served with all our dishes.  One of the owners came by with a huge bowl of rice every now and then to ask if we wanted more rice. ^_^  Overall our meal was really pleasant and I was ecstatic to find a "diamond in the rough."  Good food is often hard to come by and Chitralada Thai really did prepare a great meal and for a good price as our check was about $50 to feed 4 people.  Our group was really pleased with our meal and we hope Chitralada continues to serve great Thai food to the community for years to come!


Chitralada Thai
Pembroke Pines
7908 Pines Blvd
(954) 964-7655

Beard Papa's (Aventura Mall)

     After my forays at Patisserie Chantilly in LA, I've been craving creme puffs!  However, not any plain Jane creme puff would sate my palate, I was looking for a creme puff which would blow my mind in flavor and texture.  So when I heard that Beard Papa's opened up shop in the Aventura  mall I was a foodie on a mission!  They're a pretty big deal in LA (or at least that's the impression I got), so they must be good, no?  I had missed out on trying Beard Papa's during my LA trip because of the tight schedule we had to keep, so I was excited to go out and try what they had to offer.  


     So one evening, after stopping by Hiro's for dinner we dropped by the Aventura mall before heading home.  I was a bit surprised that they only had a small kiosk type of area to work in (and it's a bit awkwardly positioned under an elevator), but you work with what you have.  

     I was all ready to try out every single custard flavor available for the creme puffs, sadly they only had two options that day: vanilla and strawberry.  They let me know that they always have the vanilla custard available and that they swap out the second flavor every week.  We decided to get a dozen creme puffs to go, half vanilla and half strawberry.  

     While they were filling our creme puffs up with custard to order, I took the chance to try out their mochi ice-cream.  I haven't seen so many options for mochi ice-cream in a very long time!   There were 10+ flavors, it's probably around 16 or so but I don't remember how many off the top of my head.  I ultimately decided upon passion fruit and I was not disappointed.  I <3 the slight chewy texture of the mochi contrasting with the smooth ice-cream.  That and I'm a total sucker for passion fruit.  <_<


     So we headed back home with our goodies in tow.  What was the final verdict?  Well, they weren't bad but they weren't the BEST creme puffs I've ever had.  Patisserie Chantilly's black sesame creme puffs blows Beard Papa's out of the water, there's just no comparison.  However, Beard Papa's creme puffs are still leaps and bounds above your average creme puff.  The puff was light, flaky, and delicious (probably would have been more light and flaky if we had eaten them right away and not driven home).  The custard was smooth and flavorful, however it was a bit thicker than I would have liked.  Most importantly though they weren't heavy handed on the sugar!!  I know I've said it before, but my favorite desserts are ones which satiate my sweet tooth without leaving me in a diabetic coma.  


    The group consensus was that we enjoyed the vanilla more than the strawberry custard, but that was simply out of preference.  I'll be back to Beard Papa's to try the other flavors such as coffee and green tea (I really really want to try the green tea one).  It's just a matter of finding the time to drive over to the Aventura mall.  X_x  

Beard Papa's

19501 Biscayne Blvd

Aventura, FL, 33180

305-682-8580

Menchie's (Davie - University Drive)

4/10/11 - Menchie's Frozen Yogurt


     After a long evening of typing notes for class in between watching my friends play a rousing game of Carcassone, we decided to check out the Menchie's which had just opened up down the street from the dorms.

     Now, my group of friends usually frequents the Menchie's out on Pines Boulevard. However, that's a good 15-20 minute drive from campus! Honestly I've been to a few of these self-serve yogurt places before and I still don't understand the appeal. Perhaps as one of my colleagues stated," Maybe you just haven't developed your yogurt taste yet." And honestly it's a sentiment I might have to agree with, frozen yogurt has never really tickled my fancy.

     After trying an assortment of the available flavors, I ended up filling a portion of my cup with mango tango sorbet and the raspberry pomegranate sorbet. I really wasn't wow-ed by any of the current frozen yogurt flavors, they were either over-powering in flavor or underwhelming. The sorbets however were made quite well!  


     There's a plethora of toppings to choose from, ranging from fresh fruit, candies, granola, marshmallow fluff,  etc.  Basically if you can think of it, it's probably there.  However, since it's a self-serve yogurt place, you need to be mindful of how much you're adding in your cup because you pay by how much your cup weighs.  I went for some strawberries, kiwi, and mochi.  <3 for Mochi!

     Both sorbets were light and fruity and the fruit toppings were fresh.  The raspberry pomegranate had just the right balance of tart and sweet and the mango tango sorbet flavor was just spot on. The mango tango sorbet was probably my favorite of the two flavors, since it was sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. I always take issue when things are just inundated with sugar, but the many tango sorbet was the epitome of awesome, wonderfully balanced.  


     One of the nifty things that we noticed is that this Menchie's has a cute study room-esque area which is separated from the main dining area by a glass partition. The "chalkboard" really doesn't seem very functional as wiping off the chalk from the chalk board paint just seems to smudge everywhere. X_X However, it's still a completely cute idea. The owners said they wanted to put up a flat screen so students could hook up their laptops to it to show power points and perhaps make the wifi-accessible to the public, which is always cool.

     Though I'm not a huge fan of frozen yogurt I'm sure it's going to be a great spot for students to stop by late at night when they want something sweet.   After all it's open until 11pm or midnight, depending on what day you go.  Later on if there's public wifi and that side room actually does end up being sort of a "quiet zone" I can totally see it being a great place to study (sometimes you just get stir crazy sitting in the library or your dorm room).  

     I'm sure one day I'll find a frozen yogurt flavor at Menchie's that I enjoy, since they do have a rotation of over 100 flavors. Sadly there's no set time frame on the rotation of flavors, it sounded like it was based on demand. For now though, I'll stick to the sorbets. ^__^


Menchie's 
4900 S. University Drive, Suite #103
Davie, FL 33328
(954) 680-6499



Update 5/8/11 - I finally found a frozen yogurt flavor that I enjoyed immensely!  <3 for praline!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

     It's been over a year since my last blog and honestly I've been absent because as much as I love food, school has won out over writing. By the way...medical school is a blast! ^__^ However, I find myself needing an outlet from the hectic schedule of medical school every now and then. So in between my busy schedule, I'll be writing a little. I hope you all enjoy my posts!

Hiro’s: Yummy Specials! (February Edition)

Since we’ve been trekking down to Kendall almost every Monday for skating, we’ve also been frequenting Hiro’s Yakko-San every evening also. So I’ve just decided to update a monthly post with the new specials that we try. ^_^ Mmm…now onto the yummy goodness!


Seafood Kushi Katsu: Chilean Sea Bass, Scallops, and Shrimp.

What I imagined this dish to be and what it actually was were on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. I was thinking this was going to be some delicious amalgamation of sea bass, scallops, and shrimp mixed together into a patty shaped croquette. However, it was just each item separately breaded and lightly fried. I was sort of disappointed, but the dish was decent. The different types of katsu were good (nothing spectacular) and the accompanying horseradish sauce was nothing short of amazing. I typically hate horseradish sauces, but this was light in flavor without the lingering sour aftertaste that usually accompanies horseradish. However for the price we paid, I think we’ll pass on this dish the next time around.


Salmon Kama Miso Yaki: Grilled Salmon cheek, marinated with miso sauce.

The salmon was perfectly cooked and considering the cut was the collar, the meat was extremely tasty. The flesh was buttery, moist, flavorful, and even seemed to melt in your mouth. Wow, is all I have to say.


Okonomiyaki: basically a Japanese “pizza” made with cabbage and batter, topped with okonomiyaki sauce and special mayonnaise.

This item isn’t on the specials menu or their regular menu. However, if you ask really nicely and the kitchen isn’t busy, they will make this traditional Japanese dish for you. There’s a special batter and the base is made with cabbage traditionally, what they add after that is up to how they feel. ^_^ As I said it’s a “Japanese pizza.” When I make it at home, I usually add scallops and shrimp to my batter. It’s not bad and you should definitely try out the dish if you have ever wanted to see what all the commotion over it is about.


Kimchee Hotpot: shredded daikon radish, tofu, pork, sesame oil, ponzu.

This dish is always on the menu, this is just the first time I’ve tried it out. The hotpot is a single serving ceramic bowl filled with semi-spicy goodness. There’s enough to eat to satisfy one person or to share with a few people, if everyone just wants a small bowl of soup to taste. To be honest the kimchee isn’t as spicy as I expected it to be, but it definitely has a slight kick. I was cold that day, so it was a great way to warm up. ^_^ Would I order it again, maybe, but probably only if it was cold day out.


Batan Ebi Heads Kara-Age: Simple crispy fried shrimp’s heads.

This isn’t your average dish and definitely caters to a more sophisticated palette than usual (only because your average person would cringe in fear). But those who brave enough to try this dish will probably find themselves pleasantly surprised. Most Asians eat shrimps with their head still on and depending on how it’s cooked, sucked the oishii goodness out of their heads rather than eat them whole. The “head meat” is rich in flavor and has a creamy texture, definitely one of my favorite parts of the shrimp. Since it’s fried you can just pop these right into your mouth and eat it all! The shell is crisp and light enough to be easily chowed down upon.


Kabocha croquettes: Japanese sweet pumpkin with beef

Sadly this dish was one of the few that we’ve had at Hiro’s that was not to our liking. The pumpkin croquette was overwhelmingly pumpkin in taste and had very little beef within. We were hoping for a bit less pumpkin and a bit more beef to add a bit more complex flavor.


Black pork belly grilled

As described above, but definitely was left wishing for more pork on the dish. =) Was pretty yummy as an appetizer to share with everyone.


So those are my experiences this month with Hiro’s. ^_^ Hope you enjoy hearing about them!

Hiro’s Yakko-San
17040 W. Dixie Hwy.
North Miami Beach, FL 33160
(305) 947-0064

Pizza Rustica: Late Night Pizza Cravings (Delray Beach)

After we closed up Phas3 and before we went to pick up our friend from work, we stopped by Pizza Rustica on Atlantic Boulevard for food. It was around 11pm and most eateries, besides some fast food chains, were closed.

Thankfully, Pizza Rustica is open until 2am everyday of the week! Sweet, no? The specialized in Roman style rectangular pans of pizza with tons of toppings, both traditional and exotic.

A slightly more detailed shot of some of the pizzas:

The HUGE oven that they bake their pizzas in!

So even though we came in during the late evening, the place was still bustling! It’s just a testimony to how good their pizza is. Ok, that and the pizza place is right by the beach so after a night stroll by the water it’s a great place to grab a bite.

So, this isn’t your typical take out pizza. The quality is great, the dough is made fresh every day. If you come in late enough in the evening, like us, you can even watch them toss and prepare the dough for the coming day. The crust has a slight herby taste to it, it’s pretty delicious even if I do prefer thin crust (which they don’t do).

I’m sorry for the sad quality of pictures to ensue. We ordered to go and the pictures were taken of the pizzas in their boxes. XD Gomen nasai…

The pizzas range from $3.50 to $5.00 for a slice and the slices themselves are pretty large. I never end up eating an entire slice (which is always cut into fourths for you) and take half of it home to eat it for lunch the next day.

Today I wanted to go for something a bit more on the healthy side, so I tried out their salad pizza.

It’s a regular slice of cheese pizza topped with mixed greens, spring mix, or spinach tossed with tomatoes, onions, and your choice of dressing. I picked mixed greens (my favorite!) with their homemade balsamic vinaigrette. Honestly this has taken the cake as my favorite slice of pizza from Pizza Rustica. The salad is light, refreshing, and the balsamic vinaigrette was the perfect punctuation to the salad.

My love ordered the Cajun shrimp pizza.

He’s such a sucker for corn and they even put extra corn on the slice for him! The pizza had shrimp, mozzarella, parmesan, roasted green peppers, red onions, corn, and cajun seasoning. It’s a delicious combination and just slightly spicy (which we usually accentuate with more hot pepper flakes ^_^).

So for late night noms on Atlantic Avenue, Pizza Rustica is pretty oishii!

Pizza Rustica
1155 E. Atlantic Ave.
Delray Beach, FL
(561) 279-8766

M&H Café: Because sometimes you just want bubbles! (Boca Raton)

There are several places in South Florida that I know of at which to purchase bubble tea: Lan’s Pan Asian Café (Miami), Lollicup (Palm Gardens), and M&H Café (Boca or Davie). My love and I frequent M&H café the most since we live close by.

The store is right outside of the Town Center Mall in a small shopping plaza. The café itself is so cute, decorated with bright and vibrant colors!

There isn’t a ton of seating, but there is never a lot of people there at one point in time, so it usually isn’t an issue.

As usual, we brought a friend with us (because it’s more fun that way, sharing good food and drink with those around you ^_^). My boyfriend and I ordered our regular bubble teas and our friend had a chocolate bubble tea.

The coconut bubble tea is outstanding! My boyfriend always asks them to put extra powder in his for a stronger flavor. I’m not a huge fan of boba, the tapioca bubbles on the bottom of the teas. They aren’t really packed full of flavor, but they do have a fun slightly chewy texture. However if they are too chewy and tough, they haven’t been cooked thoroughly enough. Thankfully at M&H café, they’re really great at cooking the boba correctly!

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My favorite has to be the taro bubble tea though. Yes, I’m aware it’s a non-standard American flavor, but in terms of an Asian flavor it’s a staple. =) Even my non-Asian friends who have tried it have fallen in love with the taste!

As you can see I opt for the lychee jellies, which are not as fun to eat but definitely have a pleasant sweet flavor. Sadly they are a bit harder to suck up through the straw than the boba.

M&H café’s boba tea is definitely oishii noms!

M&H Café
2200 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL
(561) 544-1008