Posts Tagged ‘restaurants’

Buca di Beppo deal!

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: , , , , ,
19 January 2015
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buca di beppo promotional deal email for $15 towards mealThis weekend, Panda and I got a chance to go to the Buca di Beppo to redeem an offer. It was some sort of promo they were doing and the first 50k to register got $15 towards their meal! We both signed up and received the email for it. For some reason I could not find mine for the life of me, so we printed his and headed out. Later on, I was desperate so I checked in CloudMagic for the email and BAM they found it! I still couldn’t tell where it was originally in my email server, but that didn’t matter. I figured I might as well try showing the email and hope for the best.

buca di beppo welcome offer email with free pasta dealAlong with that email, my search result pulled up a welcome email with a different offer. At first I didn’t pay much attention, but then I decided to open it up. Turns out you can get a free pasta for joining their mailing list. I decided I’d rather get the free pasta, but I’d try to use them both. As we were looking at the menu in the restaurant, Panda checked his email and found that he had missed the welcome email, but received it as well. He had already placed his order for the penne arrabbiata using the $15 voucher, but I figured it was all such a great deal we might as well order everything and have a bunch of leftovers.

So, ultimately we were both able to redeem the free pasta (I went for the ziti and he opted for the spaghetti). I used my $15 towards the bruschetta. All in all, this entire feast only cost us about $8! Now how splendid is that?! It’s too bad Buca isn’t located closer and more convenient to us, or I’m sure we’d be here more often. Still, I plan on going back – I enjoyed all the pastas and really liked the brushetta.

buca di beppo meal to go with penne arrabbiata, bruschetta, bread, spaghetti marinara, and baked ziti

Din Tai Fung meal review

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
15 August 2014
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While we were in Los Angeles, I wanted to take advantage of the many food options that I love out there. Panda and I agreed to go get dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, which up until just a few years ago only had two locations in the US, both of which were in Arcadia. Last time we’d discovered the brand new location in Glendale, so we decided to head there again. It was much more crowded this time around. I guess people have started to discover this newer location. We waited around 25 minutes for our table and ended up requesting to sit in a different one with a booth seat.

noodles topped with minced pork and cucumber at din tai fung

I was surprised to get this dish first. The minced pork made for a fine topping for the noodles. A really tasty dish, though smaller than I imagined.

vegetable and pork wontons in spicy sauce at din tai fung

This was a new dish for us. Good if you like spicy! It kind of overpowered any meat or veggie flavor though.

hot and sour soup in large bowl for six people at din tai fung

Every time we order this, the waiter informs us it’s meant for 6 people. No biggie, we drank it all.

juicy pork dumplings aka xiao long bao at din tai fung

Erm, we devoured all but one xiao long bao (juicy pork dumplings) before I remembered to get a picture. These are amazing – delicate skin, savory juice, and excellent taste all around.

cucumber appetizer with spicy oil vinagrette at din tai fung

These should have come first, but got forgotten. When I finally got them I could only eat about three pieces. One of my favorite appetizers is some nice cucumber in a tart sauce.

I forgot to get a picture of the pork fried rice that Panda ordered after much of the food arrived. I didn’t have any of it this time, so I don’t know how it tasted anyway.

Service was rather slow and our waitress was a bit absentminded. Not the best experience on that front, but boy is the food wonderful. One of my favorite things about this place is how delicate and fine the ingredients are, especially in the soup! I’ve never seen such thinly-sliced tofu, wood ear, and bamboo shoots. Just the way I love them. I took the leftovers home with me and my mom practically inhaled everything in 10 minutes. It was an awesome meal and I wish there was a DTF somewhere in the DC area so I could enjoy it more.

Chick-fil-a Military Appreciation Night

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses, photo blog，Tags: , , ,
21 May 2014
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Aww, they’re so patriotic here! I met Panda for dinner at the Chick-fil-a near our area, just making the 7 PM cut. They were already packing up the festivities they had set up in the parking lot when I arrived. I’d meant to leave work early since I was exhausted from getting up for a 6 AM conference call, but somehow I found myself working til 6, when I really had to go before it was too late! They were so very nice there and even had people walking around with wipes to clean off the tables as people left.

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365great Day 335: Vapiano

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: , , , , ,
12 February 2014
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365great day 335: vapianoToday I tried Vapiano for the first time and oh em gee, I’ve found a fantastic place to go to for lunch. From walking by it, I always thought it was just another Italian restaurant. I’d seen some coworkers get pizza from there before, but I had no idea what was inside. Now I know that it’s an amazing blend of freshly cooked food in a casual yet upscale cafeteria type environment. It’s kind of like stepping into a fancy sitdown that got blended with a farmer’s market. We were handed cards upon entering and then stood in line for our chosen food items. I opted for a pasta dish, which was cooked in front of me and then the charge added to my card. I could have gotten other items and added them to my card tab, but I knew I wouldn’t finish it all so I went conservative. We also got bread to complement our meal. It was fabulous – custom, fresh, and delicious. Seating was open and there were herbs growing in little pots. They even had a tree growing near the entrance. What a great concept for a restaurant!

365great Day 309: Wurstküche

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: , , ,
17 January 2014
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365great day 309: wurstkücheIt’s good to have foodie friends. One of them introduced me to Wurstküche and I seriously got addicted for awhile. They make a mean sausage, no matter which way you go. There’s the standard bratwurst and then there’s wacky ones made with ingredients like alligator. Their selection offers something for everyone, whether you want vegetarian, meat-lovers, or something in between. My personal favorite is the Filipino, which is a little bit sweet and a nice contrast to a plain salty one. Load it up with sauerkraut like nobody’s business and I’m in my own personal taste bud heaven. It’s awesome. The restaurants themselves are also a fun place to go, with an industrial look and giant picnic benches so you might end up making some friends. It’s a casual cafeteria vibe that is oh so hipster and at certain times you’ll find a DJ playing music via a Mac. But really I just go for the food, because it tastes so great.

365great Day 223: desserts

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: , , , , , , , ,
23 October 2013
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365great challenge day 223: dessertsI’m a sweets kind of person. That’s why my favorite course is dessert and I often don’t wait until the end of a meal to enjoy it. In fact, in high school my best friends and I would go out to restaurants and get our dessert brought out first. It confused many a waiter, though I’m not sure why they made it such a big deal. So what if we wanted to treat the dessert like an appetizer? I figured we may as well start with the best part and work our way from there. I also find desserts to be really fabulous breakfast items. My favorite is a giant cone of vanilla bean ice cream to kick off the day. I did that many a morning in middle and high school and I thought it was great!

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