Thanks Wolfgang

So I realized that I recently have been on a food binge and I have nothing but the great meals I've had at Borgata two weekends ago to blame. Not only did I get to enjoy famous Chef Zakarian's place, Sunroom, we got to celebrate a good friend's birthday at Fornelletto as well!

But before all that adventure started, Eric, BJ and I decided to have a 'casual' Friday night dinner at Wolfgang Puck's American Grille to start our trip off right. And boy did it.

It happened to be restaurant week in Atlantic City and so we were able to get our three-course dinner for only $35! We of course added wine and Arnold Palmers to the check so in the end it ended up costing more, but hey- we were at Wolfgang's in ATLANTIC CITY, we had to live it up, right?

The restaurant week menu was a little different than the normal menu but we were glad to have been able to try out the 'best' of Wolfgang's creations!

BJ and Eric started with a special crisp apple salad while I got the traditional Minestrone.

Crisp Apple Salad

Market Vegetable Minestrone

For our main entrees, BJ and I got the Shrimp and Crab Risotto while Eric got the Braisesd Beef Shank.

Shrimp and Crab Risotto

Braised Beef Shank

(I've been trying to rotate this picture, but it won't work!)

We then ended with the molten chocolate cake (of course!)

Molten Chocolate Cake

What a great meal! The Crisp Apple Salads were great and was barely a salad at all! Mostly just thin strips of sweet apples, the appetizer was a perfect light start to the meal. My soup was also good. Nothing all too special, you can't really go wrong with some fresh vegetable soup!

Our entrees were great. My Shrimp and Crab Risotto was so incredible, the broth was amazingly full of sweet seafood flavor. Although the risotto itself was a bit undercooked, I would say that this dish left me craving for more- in fact, i'm hoping to be able to find a recipe and make it at home myself!

Eric's beef shank was tender and fell off the bone- he absolutely did not need the the knife that was provided to him. In fact, I liked his dish better than my risotto.

And of course, of warm molten chocolate cake was divine. The warm oozing uncooked chocolate cake batter was a perfect contrast to the freshly homemade vanilla ice cream. A classic dessert.

I would have to say that we started out our weekend pretty right with Wolfgang's American Grille. We had a wonderful meal and got to fill our bellies before we headed to the craps tables!

Thanks Wolfgang for a great meal!

Price: $$$

Ambiance: A

Food: A

Service: A-

Skip if you can, please!

I just left a Yelp review on Osteria 2350 and thought I'd make a quick blog post to warn fellow friends about this place.

On my recent visit to Pittsburgh, Eric and I decided to try Osteria 2350 as it was the closest lunch option (he lives in the Cork Factory).

We were excited about the seemingly fair prices and the clean interior and we ordered a mozzarella appetizer to start and I got the Mushroom Pasta with Truffle Oil.

The appetizer was OK and was pretty decently priced for what we got. The warm tomato with olive oil was a unique twist on the classic caprese salad- a salad that Eric and I are oh-so used to.

My pasta was gross. It was extremely watery and this time, that truffle oil did not satisfy my palette. I ended up feeling nauseous from the taste- how can you mess up truffle oil?!?!?!

I would say that this place would not be a great place to go to for lunch, especially with all the other great options in the Strip District! Skip if you can, please!

Service: B+

Food: D+

Ambiance: B

Price: $$

Get the spoons

So over a year ago, I made a post on Umi- indicating that it was one of the best meals I've ever had.

Although, recent meals at the Four Seasons in Italy and other great dining locations have rivaled Umi, it is still by far one of the best restaurants I've ever been to- most definitely the best sushi restaurant, at least.

After many, many visits to Umi, Eric and I were ready for something more. We have frequently seen others get the omakase (which is what we normally get) and have tried different variations (replaced a dish or two or added a few on).

On our most recent trip to Umi, we saw that the menu had changed, and that there was more than the original $85 omakase option- there was a $130 one! An eleven course meal with Mr. Shu....we had to get it.

Delicious... absolutely perfect.

We got 11 delicious dishes, some similar to the ones we always get during our usual omakase but the spoons made the world of a difference...

The first spoon seen was two different selections, Kobe beef with garlic and Lobster with Foie Gras. Holy crap was this good! The tender kobe beef with the sweet sauce was absolutely delicious while the lobster with foie gras is the best combination of my two most favorite ingredients ever. Both were silky and luxurious and absolutely melt in your mouth...

..speaking of melt in your mouth, the monkfish liver with salmon was to die for. I didn't think i would like anything better than foie gras (duck liver) but monkfish liver was 100 times better. The buttery smooth liver with the soft texture of the salmon was delicious and left us wanting more.

Mr. Shu is a genius. Born and raised in Taiwan and getting his culinary expertise from great cities all over the world.. I can't wait to go back and GET THE SPOONS.

Price: $$$$

Ambiance: A

Food: A+

Service: A+