Food trip

My brother Gary always raves about these food places that he finds and I told him a while back that I want him to take me to a food trip on my birthday. I was very excited about this cause I've always had a fascination to experiment with different kinds of cuisines. Something about trying out new flavors really interests me.


So yesterday (Wednesday) he took me and the kids to lunch. We started at a Korean BBQ restuarant/buffet place over in Lakewood. This place was a simple restaurant without too much decoration but I got immediately excited when I saw the cooking pot/center on the table. Seeing the food cooked right in front of us will definitely be a fun experience.


This is my brother Gary and Marcus. See that pot infront of them? That's were the meat will be cooked. Really fun!


Here's me and Maddie. See her face? That's a norm now for her. She's definitely a diva lately.


They brought out tons of stuff for us. the raw meat, kimchi, potatoes, rice paper, squid, purple rice; bean sprouts and cucumber marinated in some kind of korean hot sauce. The picture above is the meat starting to cook. I let Gary do all the cooking.


Here's a pic of how you might put together all the food. You have the rice paper on the bottom, add some meat swirled in a sesame oil + hot sauce combo then layer with any side dish you want. Here I added cucumber and sprouts. Then you wrap it and put it in your mouth. Very delish!!!


I was even brave enough to try squid. It wasn't that bad but I have to say I'm not a fan of seafood. This one tasted very rubbery. I also tasted Kimchi for the first time. I have to say it's not that bad at all. Bec. it's pickled cabbage it had that usual vinegary, salty taste to it but different from Saurkraut cause the cabbage wasn't cut very thin.


When we were finished with out meal, they served us a small cup of ice cream (soft serve). Very cute and the kids enjoyed it. Speaking of the kids, they had difficulty with the chop sticks but were very determined to eat with them. They ended up using both hands (one stick per hand) scooping the meat and putting it immediately in their mouths. Very funny!

BTW this place is fairly priced. It was $10 for adults and 3-12 yr old kids are half priced. Remember it's a buffet and you can get as many things (meats, sides, rice) as you want. I think that's pretty good.


And if that wasn't a good enough experience for me, my brother takes me to Beard Papa's. Another very cool place situated in the middle of all of these furniture stores. Interesting location but their specialty which is Cream puffs were delicious! It's kinda pricey in my opinion but my brother was treating so I wasn't complaining. hehehehehehe.


the feel of the store was very modern. With the design (tiny tiles on the wall and the floor) to the modern chairs and table to the big mirror on the ceiling. The kids loved that!


We tasted two options for the cream puffs.


You pick what you want and then they fill it with cream. I think that's why they maintain the "puffiness" of the pastry cause they fill it afterwards. Very smart!




very yummy!!!

Till next time,
Grace