I usually don't remember the nights

Watching the Hills marathon I have learned that Heidi and Spencer's favorite Mexican restaurant, Don Antonio's has a special seat reserved for them when they get there! I wish Mad Mex had the same deal- maybe if I got 'Hs for Heidi'?

Ok, enough with the Hills. Another Big Burrito post! Mad Mex is the more casual pick of the big burrito restaurants and has great mexican food- for a great price! The first time I went to Mad Mex, it was during their half price time, and I was amazed by the amount of food you get with the deal.

Half price is something that I have never experienced or even heard of until getting to Pittsburgh, and it is very popular among students. Many restaurants in Oakland and other random locations offer a half price menu where a select part of their menu can be ordered for half the price! What a deal!

Mad Mex located in Oakland right on Atwood, is the staple for half price- especially because you can get half priced Big Azz Margaritas! The food is good and all but the margaritas are the best part. You can order the margaritas in a variety of flavors (and with an extra tequila shot if you are stupid/smart enough) and they are simply delicious, or at least I think they are- funny, I usually don't remember the nights when I DO have a big azz margarita. :)

As for the food, you can get tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas- basically all the normal mexican dishes available at any mexican restaurant. They too, have a good variety for vegetarians and you can always opt out to make your dish vegetarian friendly! My most favorite thing at Mad Mex is most definitely the black bean dip. Warm and baked right out of the oven with a layer of melted cheese on top, the black bean dip is the perfect appetizer and is the ultimate comfort dish when you are getting slightly tipsy from your margarita. A bit spicy, it is not your usual run of the mill bean dip!

Mad Mex is a great place to stop by when you are looking for some great mexican food- although everyone else also seems to think so- so be prepared for a loooooong wait. If you are looking for a nice bar to stop by after work, some discounted food and drinks and a fun night of dangerous encounters down in the streets, Mad Mex is the place to be!

Best midnight snack

Wow. I really don't take advantage of living downtown- at all. Downtown is filled with restaurants and they are all minutes away from where I live! Most of the time, Eric is nice enough to take me out for fancy dates to these places.. OR we both are just hungry and thought we'd go to a nice steak house for our midnight cravings haha...

Ok, so usually Capital Grille is a great place to go with your significant other or family for a nice dinner. Eric and I were hungry one night and since everything in Pittsburgh closes at 10pm, it was hard to find something opened at 11pm. We drove around and found that Capital Grille-although the kitchen was closed- was willing to seat us (and had valet parking). So there we were!


Located on Fifth Avenue right in the heart of downtown, I've been to Capital Grille on several occasions and even went to a few outside of Pittsburgh! A nice chain steakhouse (oxymoron?) Capital Grille is perfect for an intimate date and has so many yummy things on the menu! Although Eric is a huge steak enthusiast, I personally am not a big steak fan- but I was still able to stuff myself with delicious items! I also took my dad here for his birthday- also a huge steak fan and he loved it!

First off, lets start with the appetizer. The Pan Fried Calamari is delicious. As an asian, I eat fried calamari very often- I eat it all the time when I am in New York. I got this with my parents and they too were pleased with this dish. Tossed with hot cherry peppers, the calamari definitely had a tangy and spicy kick that is not for the spice adverse! Being very comfortable with high heat, I found the calamari very spicy as did my (burmese) parents. According to my parents, the spicier the food the better, so they loved it.

As for our main entrees/side dishes the parmesean truffle fries were by far the best side dish ever. Everytime I've been to the Capital Grille, this is the one thing that I never fail to order. If you are a big truffle fan, you will absolutely love this side dish- the aroma of the truffle oil on the fries is the most wonderful thing you can ever experience, seriously. The lobster mac and cheese is creamy and rich but id nothing to out of the ordinary and didn't have a lot of lobster.

Usually, you can find steakhouses that also have good seafood in addition to their steaks but I think Capital Grille lacks in that area. The lobster is good but the steaks are better (obviously). The lobster seemed to be very overpriced for what you get, the cedar planked salmon lacked flavor and was overcooked. The steaks that I got on a few occasions were a lot better than any of the seafood entree. Eric/my dad enjoyed the steaks but they did say that they have had better. Basically- its the side dishes and appetizers that won me over- the main entrees were lackluster.

Capital Grille is great if you are a huge wine enthusiast as their wine room is as big as the restaurant and their wine list is longer than their actual menu. I personally didn't try the wine- but that is something I would definitely do when/if I return.

If I did go to Capital Grille again, I think I'd stick with the appetizers (definitely the truffle fries) and side dishes to be honest and stuff myself on various dishes rather than on an expensive entree.

Better than any ketchup!

So I thought I'd take advantage of going to Udipi this weekend with Pama and a few other friends. Eric is still in California and so I knew that going to get some South Indian Cuisine this weekend would be the perfect time. Pama has been raving about Udipi all semester and we promised that we'd go with each other one day- well today was the day! Udipi is a small little restaurant that serves great South Indian food and is located near the Sri Venkateswara Temple. This is my first time eating South Indian food- as I am used to the more available, well known North Indian cuisine, and I loved it!

First arriving to the restaurant I was a bit surprised/confused about the location. Located right off the Old William Penn highway (literally), Udipi from the outside looks like a large abandoned trailer home. However, stepping inside, the place is bustling with activity. You KNOW that Udipi has to be good as the place was FILLED with people.

Not familiar with the type of foods, Pama was nice enough to order for me. As an appetizer we got fried idli. Idli is made from rice and lentils- the idli batter was fried and was simply delicious! Sort of like a french fry, it was paired with mint and tamarind chutney which is WAY better than any ketchup (Yes, even Heinz). The mint chutney is refreshing while the tamarind is sweet and tangy. What a great appetizer!

Fried Idli

For our entrees, Pama got the vegetarian uttapam while I got dosa filled with potatoes. Uttapam is a a rice pancake that has a starchy consistency and is cooked with different vegetables. You can think of it as an Indian frittata. Dosa is a flat crepe-like pancake that is filled with different stuffings. Both dishes came with a coconut chutney and sambar- a vegetable stew.

The dishes were bursting with new and exotic flavors. I was surprised at how much I liked the food and how different south indian cuisine can be from north indian. Not too heavy or creamy, the food was wonderfully flavored with subtle hints of spices.

Dosa



Uttapam

I really enjoyed going to Udipi, and I'm so happy that Pama took me here. If you are looking for good service- this is not the place to do so. You essentially are sacrificing good service (any service actually) for the authentic cuisine. I definitely enjoyed the food and really am happy to experience a new type of cuisine! Thanks Pama!

Who says you can't have flavor without being healthy!

As I sit here eating my Thai left overs from Green Mango, I am inspired to write a post about this great Thai restaurant! My boss loves Thai food and she told me that this was her favorite place- and I can see why!

What most impressed me about Green Mango (and what I liked best) is that their food leaves you feeling good- no, great! Usually when I get Thai food, I leave feeling full and sickly and bad about myself because I just ate 5000 calories. The greasy feeling is never appealing, and is the worst feeling after a meal. However, with Green Mango this is quite the opposite. You get great dishes, full of flavor with the healthy options and varieties. Who says you can't have flavor without being healthy!

Green Mango has two different locations, one located on South Braddock Avenue and the other on William Penn Highway. We (my mother and I) went to the South Braddock Avenue location and we almost missed it! Blending in with the surrounding buildings and restaurants, from the outside, Green Mango doesn't look very distinguishable. However, after stepping in, you feel like you have just walked into a restaurant in Thailand, where the Emperor and Empress are proudly displayed on their wall- as all places in Thailand do.

The dishes at Green Mango are surprisingly filling yet doesn't leave you with that greasy, guilty feeling- which is great. Full of flavor, the Pad See Eu and curries were a must on their menu. Of course, I also got a Thai Iced Tea- it was a bit sweeter than normal- but still very delicious!

Thai Iced Tea- of course!

Spring Rolls appetizer

Yellow Curry with Chicken

Green Mango is great for vegetarians. Their vegetables are fresh and crisp and the vegetarian option is available for all dishes. I also hear that the Tofu with Basil and King Tofu (although I didn't personally try it) is a wonderful and tasty vegetarian option as well. If you are looking for some great Thai food, definitely stop by Green Mango for some healthy, flavorful food- you won't regret it!

Samples were delicious at least...?

So as you know, I'm a huge sushi fan. HUGE. And like I said before in my post about Chaya, me and Eric love going to different sushi places and trying them out.

Well, first let me say that this is not going to be a happy review. I'm sorry but me and Eric did NOT like our Andy's sushi from Wholey's in the Strip. So we know people swear by it and love Andy- and yes we can see why. He's awesome and gave us free samples while we waited to order and the samples were surprisingly very good. BUT, the sushi that we ordered was nearly inedible.

Andy's is a small sushi take out place that is located inside Wholey's. My friend Josh loves it here and he loves that Andy found such a unique place to get the freshest fish in Pittsburgh! It's usually just Andy there, pounding out rolls and rolls of sushi at such a quick pace- its quite incredible! The line is usually really long and there is quite a wait as its only Andy manning the area.

So we wait in line, and got samples of Toro and other fish which were all delicious. We were excited about the prices and the freshness of the fish and couldn't wait to order our mounds of sushi. As always, Eric got his soft shell crab roll while I got various types of rolls and nigiri. We went upstairs, ready to enjoy our plentiful sushi and to our surprise- the sushi was NOT good.

The fish smelled, well, fishy and dirty while the toro that we ordered was rubbery! I couldn't bite through it! Perhaps it was the way it was cut and Andy was too busy to realize that he cut it the wrong way but it honestly was the worst toro I've had. I dont remember what rolls I got- but I just remember every single one being so fishy smelling and tough that after two pieces I had to throw my 20+ dollars worth of sushi away. Eric did the same.

Perhaps this is an isolated incident (although I did go back again and had a similar- though not as awful experience) but I highly doubt that I will be going back and wasting my money again. Maybe I will and will have to retract this post- hopefully, but not anytime soon.

Maybe everyone out there has had a different experience, but I did not enjoy it. Sorry Josh!

I am quite hungry still

Ah the first post on the first of the big burrito restaurants. Tonight, me and a bunch of new friends decided to go to Casbah for their Pastafest event and now I'm home eating some of my homemade pasta that I made for lunch myself.... bad sign? Well not necessarily- although I am quite hungry still. I've been to Casbah multiple times for brunch, lunch and dinner and I have to say that this is the first time I left hungry.

This week is their pastafest week where there are a variety of 14 different pasta dishes to choose from. The menu was unique and different had very interesting combinations of ingredients. With seven people at the table, we were all able to get different pasta dishes and decided that we could share and taste each one. Well, that plan failed as our half portioned pasta dishes were quite small. In addition to the small dishes, it took over an hour to get our order (we got seated at 745 and got our food around 9:10). Although it did take long, they were nice enough to give us two complimentary appetizers which were delicious! My favorite was the cheese platter with the 7 cheeses.

Cheese Platter

Humus Platter

Casbah is a unique Mediterranean restaurant located on South Highland Avenue. From the outside it looks small and run down but the inside is nicely decorated with Italian hand blown glass (noticed by Eric of course). Although it could use more lighting, the ambiance is sentimental and romantic but I think it would be a bit too loud for a first date.

This night, I ordered the Sheep’s milk gnudi with wild mushrooms, English peas, fava beans, leeks, chervil and black truffle butter. Gnudi is something I've never had before and I thought I'd try it. Gnudi means nude in italian and it resembles nude ravioli- someone at the table described it as fried cheese balls. Basically, its the ravioli filling without the actual pasta. If you know me well, I really got this dish for the truffle butter- as truffles is one of my most favorite things. However, I was quite disappointed when I got my meal as not only was it tiny and I only got 5 pieces of gnudi, I did not taste any truffle in the dish. Sadface.

Gnudi

The rest of the table got the Fettuccini with house-made pancetta, spinach, sunny side up Heritage Farms egg and Manchego cheese, the Tagliolini with grilled calamari, artichokes, lemon, arugula, oregano and bottarga, the Short rib ravioli with swiss chard, oyster mushrooms, roasted shallots and gremolata (which is on their usual menu and is actually really delicious), the Maccheretto with hen of the woods mushrooms, white beans, sun-dried tomatoes, rapini pesto, fontina and walnuts and the Red pepper casereccia with crispy rock shrimp, chilies, shallots, garlic, basil, lemon and olive oil. Although I didn't get to try all of them, everyone at the table had the same comment- it was good- but we wished we had more.

Fettuccini


Tagliolini

Maccheretto

Don't be fooled, Casbah isn't always sparse with its portions- its just their Pastafest menu- so definitely stop by when the event is over!

For my birthday last year, my mom got the Orecchiette pasta on their usual menu. My mom, being the asian that she is rarely goes out for food other than Chinese food and she said that this pasta was delicious- which is saying alot.

Like I said, I've been to Casbah a number of times and I have always enjoyed my meals. My friend Pama commented that it doesn't really impress her and after this visit I can see why. Yes, the food is good and the menu is most definitely interesting and refreshing, but the food doesn't mirror the specialty of the menu that I wish it did. Especially for their pastafest, the dishes were very small and the server even suggested that we order two dishes. I would not return again for this event.

As for other meals, I would say that lunch and brunch would be the best time to venture down to Casbah. Their great 13/22 dollar lunch/brunch deals are fairly priced and the food you get is great. I would highly recommend trying Casbah, but to also watch out what you order- as some dishes don't come out the way you expect them to. But all in all, this is a great place if you are looking for something new and different.

Some new inspiring vegetarian options

Back from Vegas! And I DIDN'T lose money this time! woot!

Eric's family had a get together in Vegas- and I obviously was not going to turn down an opportunity to go visit hot vegas. Knowing me- i'd live there if I could.

Striving to look my best for the awesome pools at Aria (the new hotel located at City Center) and not to mention- my boyfriend that I haven't seen in months, I have been trying to eat healthy and trying my best to exercise.

This Wednesday after class, me, Pama and Ryan decided to go to Eat Unique to eat healthy and get some yummy food. Located on Craig Street- it is a really convenient place to go for lunch. I WOULD say a quick lunch but that would be lying. One big complaint that I've heard about Eat Unique is that it takes FOREVER to get your order- and we ended up waiting for at least 20 minutes for some sandwiches.

But when we did get them- we were quite happy and quickly forgot about the long wait that we had to endure. Eat Unique is GREAT for vegetarians. Their vegetarian options are plentiful and their menu has very interesting combinations that all sound so delicious! Even if you aren't a vegetarian you may even opt out in getting a vegetarian meal.

This time, I got the Sonoma wrap- roasted turkey with artichokes, red peppers, pesto feta cream cheese all wrapped in a sun-dried tomato tortilla wrap. It was delicious. Light yet quite filling, I felt good about myself after eating it. Although I am sure you can get something a lot healthier- it was delicious and is a lot better than that Quiznos across the street.

Pama and Ryan both got the same thing- the Southwest Sizzler. Although I didn't get to try it- both Pama and Ryan really enjoyed their lunch and commented on the jalapeno cheddar bread.

Southwest Sizzler

I very much enjoyed my meal and the wrap was one of the more flavorful wraps i've had in a while. Eat Unique is great at being able to provide such great flavors with use of simple ingredients. If you are looking for some new/different inspiring vegetarian options, this is the place to go. If you hate vegetables (or have kids who do) this is a great place to trick them (and yourself) and feed them something yummy AND good for them! This is a place I have visited often and would most definitely go again. Hopefully the service is faster next time!