La Farine

We drive past this bakery often, but I always take real notice of it when we drive past it on our way to church each Sunday morning. So many people heading there or leaving there or hanging about outside, sipping coffee and eating some bakery item. It is clearly a popular spot and so I finally got around to trying it back in August 2010.

I can not recall exactly what I got but I do remember that everything seemed pretty expensive and good....not GREAT mind you, just good. Which means, I suppose, that the cost didn't measure up to the taste. Which is too bad. It is a lovely patisserie though. Very bright inside, good smells, and the cases are filled with so many delicious looking things, it was very hard to decide what to get. I had to let at least two or three people go ahead of me since I knew it would take me a while to decide on what to purchase. Unfortunately I can not recall everything but I do remember a few of the items:

Focaccia breads: I got two or three different flavors. One had olives on it. They were the perfect size for a little lunch. Theric and I split them. They were fine but not that great. We both said we wouldn't buy them again.

Chocolate croissant: Very tasty. I haven't had one of these for a long time so it was nice to taste but it did not at all measure up to my gold standard; the chocolate croissants I ate when I visited Paris when I was in high school. Of course, no American croissant will probably measure up to that standard.

Tea cakes: These were little cakes in a daisy like shape. They were very cute. And they were definitely the best thing we got. Moist, tender and, best of all, almond flavored. There may even have been marzipan in them. If I stop by La Farine again I will be purchasing one of these lovely and delicious little cakes.

I purchased at least two more items because I let Big O pick something out for himself and something out to bring home to his brother (the Big O and I went to La Farine after he finished up at his dentist appointment), but I can not recall what the items were, probably cookies, gingersnaps? I am sure the boys liked them.

I probably won't go here again. While everything was good I only consider one item to be worth going back for and the cost of the items just didn't measure up to the tastes.

Shik Do Rock

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Shik Do Rock has long been high on our list of places to go, being that I've got Korean food in my blood, but our laziness at going out to eat means it wasn't until this week, with the kids gone, that we swung by for takeout. The inside of the place looked nice, but we didn't eat there so let's move to the food. We ordered three dishes.


잡채

We selected japchae for two reasons: It's generally good, no matter where you buy it and because we were trying out foods palatable to a general American taste for an event we're hosting next week. The Japchae scored. I can't remember when I had a better example of these meaty noodles and I can't wait to have them again. Lady Steed and the baby agree.

불고기

Though delicious, the bulgogi was the most disappointing thing we tried. Like japchae, we bought it because most Americans can dig bulgogi, but while tasty, this meat was unremarkable.

김치찌개

Unlike the other two, I bought this just for me. I had been craving a kimchi jigae (a stew made, basically, from throwing kimchi and a couple other whatevers into boiling water) for days. And it satisfied me immensely. Wonderful, Wonderful stuff. To my amazement, the baby loved it too. When we ran out of japchae I tried giving him some of the tofu out of the jigae and he ate it as fast as I would give it too him. Today, eating leftovers, we wanted some again, but I'd already given him all the tofu, so I gave him kimchi, onions and zucchini. Everything in kimchi jigaie is stained red with Korea's national condiment but that didn't slow him down. I think I have a new favorite son.

Lao Thai • Soul Food Kitchen

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2. Sa-Tay 6.50

Grilled skewers of marinated chicken served

with cucumber salad and peanut sauce.

The chicken itself was so-so, a bit dry and not super flavorful. But the peanut sauce....oh man, that was fantastic. The peanut sauce made this dish. The cucumber salad (cucumber chunks with super thin slices of red onion in dressing) was very tasty. Again, it was the dressing that made this so very tasty. It was clear and on the sweet side. Yum. Wish there had been more.

17. Larb* 6.95 (with duck 7.95)

A Laotian staple made with your choice of chopped

chicken, beef or pork and seasoned with lime juice,

powder, cilantro and mint leaves.

With a name as unappetizing as Larb we thought this would be the adventurous dish to try. I was skeptical when I saw it, it is not a very pretty looking pile of food. We got the pork. The most striking thing about it was one particular flavor which we think was lime leaves, even though lime leaves are not mentioned in the description, I suppose they could have been mint but the flavor was not exactly 'minty'. This dish was spicy but not overpoweringly so. There was also a slight chemically taste to this dish which we think was the lime leaves. With each bite I was thinking, "Hmmm, I like this, wait no I don't, ....wait, now I do..." By the end of our meal I had decided that I did in fact like Larb, despite the fact that it contains an ingredient referred to only as 'powder'.

42. Pineapple Fried Rice 8.95

Steamed rice-fried with eggs, onions, pineapple,

cashew nuts, tomatoes, prawns and raisins.

I love pineapple so when I saw Pineapple Fried rice I knew I had to try it. Sadly, this dish was disappointing. The overall color was yellow, which made me think it might have a slight curry flavor, but no. Rather there was no flavor. All the additions to the rice, the nuts, raisins, onions, etc all tasted as they should and thank goodness for that because otherwise this dish would have been colored rice, that didn't even taste all that much like rice. So, I think this rice is meant to have something very flavorful served on top of it, fortunately we had Larb and some of that peanut sauce. The rice, with either of these, was then a very delicious meal. I wonder what made the rice yellow? Was it supposed to add flavor? Because I suspect that it was actually a flavor remover.

When Theric picked up our order, the place was free of customers, but the kitchen was busy with takeout orders which were slowly piling up.

You can see more of their menu here.