Mobile Food Truck Rodeo 2014

Despite the pouring rain, I was still at the 2014 Mobile Food Truck Rodeo that featured a 'Taco Libre' battle of the tacos showdown (even though I didn't really see any tacos or eat any). Besides that, I still got to try some yummy food! Here's a look below!

I've had these donuts before (last year I believe) but I tried a different flavor profile: Cinnamon and Caramel. The little donuts are freshly made and fried in front of you with the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top and topped with the caramel sauce. These were very hot and fresh, but the only down side is that some of them were a bit doughy--as if they weren't cooked inside long enough. But for $4 at a food truck event, it isn't too bad a price since everything else is pretty pricy.

My main meal was a Shrimp Sandwhich at Papa Bois, which is Caribbean inspired? I think? I may be wrong..

The sandwhich is on a French baguette (like the Vietnamese Banh Mi) but it is toasted. Inside the sandwhich was a pickeled onion, some sort of cole slaw type cabbage and the marinated shrimp.

At $12, it was a bit pricy but the sandwhich was good. It was nice and hot and had a spicy/smokey flavor to it.

Here's a look of the people baring the rain to get some Food Truck food!

I needed a drink and I wanted to try something different, so this Soda Jerk stand looked promising with their different flavored sodas.

I tried their Lime Cilantro Jalapeno soda and quite liked it. It definitely reminded me of Pho noodles though, especially when I squeeze the lime into the broth, which is weird to say but if this product wasn't sweetened, it would definitely be a Pho veggie version of Pho. I did enjoy it though, but once again, found the 12 oz size to be pricey at $3.00.

Below are items my friends ordered and tried out.

Coconut curry w/ Tofu (this was a bit too sweet for me).

Shwarma (my friend only tried it since the Avengers had it. haha.

Garlic Fries with Hummus and a Yogurt dip. These fries were hella salty! You def need to dip them in either the hummus or yogurt.

This Gourmet Grilled Cheese food truck had a consistent busy line so I wanted to see what the fuss was about. It was also pricey for what you ordered so I decided on the original grilled cheese with grilled onions and bacon.

I have to honestly say that this wasn't anything special and quite disappointing, especailly for the $7 I paid for it. The bottom yellow cheddar cheese, as you can see, wasn't evne melted all the way and still kind of hard and the bacon wasn't as 'thick' as I thought it would be.

Lastly, here's a look at the Luchador wrestling ring!

I love food truck events and am glad to have tried different food trucks. I probably would have enjoyed myself much more if there wasn't any rain! However, I look forward to future food truck events in the Seattle area!

Do you like food trucks? What types of food would interest you in a food truck?? Let me know!

Queen Mary's Tea Room: Afternoon Tea

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I celebrated the birthday of our friend's daughter and she decided on going to Afternoon/High tea!

I was in the mood to 'dress-up' for tea time so I opted for this outfit.

Mimi Chica Lace Dress, Eddie Bauer Jacket, Black Tights, and Dollhouse Oxfords.

Queen Mary's Tea Room is located just north of the University of Washington and has a tea room&restaurant as well as a tea emporium/shop for customers to buy the tea as well.

The store front is so cute and charming and you can tell they are very detailed!

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Once you enter the tea room, you are blasted with cuteness surrounding you! There are tea cups and pots everywhere as well as many different types of tea as well!

There is even a display showcasing the types of desserts they had and let me tell you, I wanted to try all of them!

Their menu, of course, showcased a bunch of teas as well as food options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea times, etc.

We decided on the Afternooon Tea menu option which came with an assortment of items that you get to try and a pot of your choice of tea.

They also let you choose the tea cup you want when you walk in an dof course, I wanted the purple one! Look how pretty it is!

The table you are seated at also comes with a pot of colored sprinkled sugar to go with your tea (should you wish) and the presentation was just so darling!

 My tea of choice was the Fairy Princess cookie Rooibos and let me tell you, it smelled and tasted delicious! I absolutely love rooibos teas and this one was definitely spiced to perfection. It smelled like a warm baked cookie. I tried it both with and without sugar and actually prefer it without sugar so I could enjoy the natural flavors.

Our Afternoon Tea sampler started off with a palette cleanser of a trio of sorbet in raspberry, pear, and lime and they were all really refreshing.

Then came our tray tower of food. It had two people worth of food on it including hot baked items such as scones, then fruit and cakes, as well as sandwhiches. For the most part, I enjoyed everything but was slightly disappointed by the crumpet! I imagined something totally different than a flat small pancake looking thing...

I did really like the tomato scones and quiche they had and the sandwhiches too. The desserts were tasty as well, especially the chocolate fudge cake.

Overall, this was definitely more of an 'experience' type of thing and would love to come back. It is perfect for a girls get together or even a mother-daughter date! I loved the decoration and ambience the room provided and it is also a nice way to try a totally different tea!

I'm glad that there are places like this in Seattle where I can experience Afternoon Tea as best as I can without being in Europe. This is more of a pricier meal, since the food is a bit more than you would expect to pay, but you are paying for the whole experience along with the food and tea. The service is wonderful and the ladies working there are very friendly and are happy to answer any questions. They also have a gluten free menu which is nice to have as an option!

The place is really small, so reservations are highly recommended ahead of time!

If you are looking to experience High Tea/Afternoon Tea and are in the Seattle area, then I highly recommend checking out Queen Mary!

Have you experience Afternoon Tea? What is your favorite type of tea?!

Japanese flavored Cheetos in Nori Shio (seaweed&salt): REVIEW

I absolutely love Japanese snacks. They are by far my most favorite type out of all the kinds I have tried, as a whole. I especially love when well known American brands team up with Japan to create new and unique flavors of what we would know here as 'normal/typical' such as Frito Lay's Cheetos!

The flavor profile we will be exploring today is Nori Shio. Nori is the Japanese word for seaweed, and Shio is the Japanese word for salt. This is a very popular flavor combination in Japan used in other snacks such as the popular Calbee chips or even with fries.

I don't believe this is an everyday flavor/thing that comes from Frito Lay Japan, but if you can find it online or at a Japanese grocery store, then I would highly recommend it! ( Also if you like seaweed/seaweed flavor).

As you can see, the Cheetos aren't fully loaded with cheese like the Cheetos in the US. When we eat Cheetos, we mainly think of that yellow cheesey stuff that leaves stains on the fingers. This one, however, is mainly just that corn puff itself and no cheese on it (from what I can tell, just maybe some other flavor additives). The flavoring comes from the salt and the green specs you can see which are the seaweed flakes.

If you had tried furikake and liked it, then you would really like these. I found myself munching on these for the longest time and didn't realize how quickly I ate most of the bag! I love seaweed and I love the texture of cheetos so the combination of the two was genius! I love snacks like these and can't wait to find and try more flavors of well known snacks.

I found this at my local Japanese grocery store for $1.99 which is actually a pretty dcent price for an imported Japanese snack.

Would you try different flavors of Cheetos? What type of Cheeto flavor would you come up with?!

Bizarro Italian Cafe: Restaurant Review

A couple weekends ago, my family and I celebrated my dad's birthday. He was craving Italian food, so we went to this unique/quirky little place up in Wallingford, Seattle called Bizarro Italian Cafe!

Outside shot.

Quick glimpse of some of the food!

** Warning, picture heavy!! ** =P

When you first walk in, you notice how small the place is and how jam packed everything is with interesting eye-catching pieces!

 

The ceilings and walls are filled with random items. Along different walls, some of the menu is written on a chalk board. I  loved this little saying of "Nobody is 'fine' with water" that can be seen as you walk towards the main dining area (see below).

 

 

The bathroom was just as quirky (maybe a little on the creepy side too!) but I loved it nonetheless.

In the bathroom hall, there was this picture of baby Chinese kids acting like Communist officials/leaders. I found this picture quite intriguing! (We can also go in depth and analyze the meaning behind it, but I won't do that here! haha)

 

To distinguish the women's bathroom, there was a headshot of Alice in Wonderland on the door.

 

This old radio was playing inside the bathroom and it was naming off a list of numbers and then people/places. It reminded me a lot of the dystopian underwater world of Rapture in the game Bioshock!

Menu

 

 

Everyone is offered  bread (foccacia I believe) and a dish of olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a starter.

 

We ordered the meat flatbread as a starting appetizer which had marinara sauce, mozzarella, proscuitto and arugla. It was just like pizza but lighter, and was enjoyed with parmasean and hot pepper flakes on it.

My mom ordered a cauliflower soup that was actually really tasty and I usually don't like cauliflower! There were some greens, and this caper, berry-looking vegetable that was on the salty side.There was cream also added to the soup to give it that smooth texture.

My dad had the cesear salad and as you can see, it was definitely a more rustic and old-school looking dish. The dish consists of a half head of lettuce, not chopped up, and there were actual fillets of anchovies on it! Olive oil, cracked pepper, and lemon wedges were used as a dressing to garnish the top. I loved the aesthetics of this and this tasted really refreshing and light.

 

I had their plain house salad that was dressed with a vinaigrette dressing.

 

 

NOW FOR THE MAIN COURSES!

My mom had the clam linguine. There was a lot more clams than I had expected, but the dish itself was overall a little too salty so I didn't try too much of it. If you're a lover of clams, this may be up your ally. It may not be as salty at the time you order it.

My brother's girlfriend had the puttanesca (kind of a bad name since I think this dish was reserved for the 'whores/prostitues') but it was delicious. I loved the red sauce over it and the texture of the noodles. I believe they were handmade. There was quite a lot of olives in it as well and the grated cheese and parsley leaves over the dish added a nice layer of flavor to this pasta dish.

 

My brother had the gnocchi (potato dumpling). I forgot what kind of meat was in it, but whatever it was and whatever sauce it had in it was absolutely delicious! It was nice and savory and a had bold, slightly smoky flavor. The texture of the gnocchi was just right too--not too mushy and not to chewy.

Now for my main dish (and my dad's too), Elk Bolognese!! The noodles are what made the dish.They were cooked just right, not overly al dente, and not too soft.

The elk meat was also an interesting part of the dish as well. You could tell how lean the elk meat was compared to regular beef since it was chewier in texture.

 

The sauce wasn't what I expected and I was hoping for more flavor from the spices added. Hearing an 'elk' dish, I was expecting something more...exotic or something along those lines. 

It was still good and I think the noodles help save the dish for me since it made the whole meal much better. The flavoring wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I was expecting and not quite intense enough. It seemed the red sauce paired with the meat was lacking in a layer of flavor.

 

 

Now on to dessert!

Dessert Menu

 

 

We kept it light and simple and ordered the artisan cheese plate with apples, spiced pecans, honey, and a thick balsamic reduction. The simplicity of this was very pleasing and the flavor combinations and pairings were great. It was perfect for an after dinner plate since it wasn't too heavy or too sweet.

 

I hope you guys enjoyed this food post! I just love sharing my experiences at new places and my love for food in general.

I will probably come check out this place again and would recommend it if you want to experience a cozy and quirky Italian place! I do recommend going earlier in the evening or later, since the place is pretty small and they do not take reservations. This would be a cute place to take a date too! Then you can check out the rest of the neighborhood and grab some Molly Moon's ice cream to share =P

 

Readers, do you like Italian food? What is your favorite Italian dish? Let me know in the comments!