Tag Archive | delicious

Sweet 16th a bakery – Nashville TN

Sweet 16th a bakery – Nashville TN
I found out about this bakery from a foodie friend. He posted pictures to his profile and I knew that the next time I was in Nashville, TN I had to go.
When I entered Sweet 16th bakery, I was ecstatic. I wanted to sing. I wanted to order one of everything. Realistically, I knew I could not do that because I would weigh 500 pounds if I ate everything I saw.
In the end I settled for some macaroons, an apple crisp bar, and something called heavenly scones. These scones were definitely heavenly. A touch of sweetness and not overly crumbly. I ate them with strawberry jam and it was delicious. The apple crisp bar had a thick cookie-like crust with apples and granola and brown sugar on top. The macaroons were as you would expect. These were coconut version, not the fancy colorful French macaroons that you see everywhere now. Full of coconut flavor. They were tasty as well.

Best of all was the price. Everything was super cheap in my estimation. I think that when I see food of this caliber, I immediately expect to pay Panera/Atlanta Bread Company prices (If you don’t understand the reference, you can spend close to $10 easy for pastries/bread/sandwiches for one at those aforementioned places).

Sweet 16th has become one of my go-to bakeries when in Nashville.
My advice to you: Order your goodies. Order a cup of tea or coffee. And you are set for the morning.

Hey Cupcake – Austin TX

Dec27

Hey Cupcake – in a food truck park on Congress in Austin Texas
If you have not figured out by now, I love desserts especially cupcakes. When I was in Austin Texas I saw this on the converted it into a food truck selling cupcakes. I had to have one of course.

Of all the flavors, carrot cake cupcakes stood out the most for me. I used a couple of factors in determining my choice.

The difficulty or time involved for me to make myself. I like to bake so I know what goes in to baking a cake. So if I am going to buy a cupcake I like to choose flavors that are very complex and would require more time and effort for me to make myself.

The availability in my home town. There are several bakeries in my hometown that also serve cupcakes. If I’m going to buy a flavor of cupcake, I wanted to be something that I cannot readily purchase in my hometown.

So that being said, any time I can get a carrot cake cupcake I’m going to try that one (I don’t like spending all that time shredding carrots).

This carrot cake cupcake was so delicious. It had large pieces of walnuts in its which made me so happy. The cake was moist and full of carrot pieces which provided a rich flavor. The cream cheese frosting was also very tasty. It was super creamy with a consistency of room temperature butter. This was quite possibly one of the best carrot cake cupcakes that I have ever had. I did not ask the food truck vendor for the recipe for the cupcake (I think that would have been rude to ask for the recipe at a restaurant since they might think you want to make at home instead of buying from them) but the cake tasted very similar to a recipe that I downloaded from food network’s website. It was an Emeril’s carrot cake recipe.

Final verdict: When I am in Austin Texas again, I definitely have to stop by Hey Cupcake for more delicious treats.

Asada food truck – Greenville

Dec14

Asada food truck in Greenville gets two thumbs up from me. I have been to several of the food truck events where Asada and Neue (another Greenville food truck to be discussed in another post) have set up shop.

Asada focuses on Latin fusion of flavors. I don’t know from which countries the chefs hail, but their food has influences in a lot of different styles. The mainstay on their menu is the different variation of tacos. However, there are different daily specials in addition to the menu. I usually try the specials just because I know I can get the regular menu items any time.

The picture shows what I ordered one evening in November 2012: (top) short ribs with plantain chips and fried cheese (bottom) chicken empanadas

The short ribs were cooked in a Honduran style. There was not any sauce on the ribs. The intense seasoning permeated the meat so that any sauce would have been deemed extraneous. I could have had an entire plate of the fried cheese. It was so yummy. I think it was the queso tropical para freir. For those of you who don’t know Spanish, that means tropical cheese for frying. It is not gooey like mozzarella. Its texture is firm but soft when fried.

The chicken empanadas were to die for. The crust was so flaky like a perfect savory pie crust that it crumbled in my mouth when I bit into it. I could not focus on the flavor of the filling because I was so captivated with the crust. When I finished, I was left checking the plate for crumbs and wanting more.

If you live in Greenville SC and do not know about the food trucks, follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Their food is AMAZING! Get on location early so that you can get dessert. Every time I have ordered dessert from Asada, they have been sold out. Boo hoo for me. But people who have had their tres leches and flan have said it was pretty delicious as well.

Pizza is best when it is Mellow

Aug24

If you have not had the chance to visit a Mellow Mushroom restaurant, you are missing out on some very delicious pizza.

I cannot even remember the name of the pizza that I ordered, but it had so many tasty toppings and cost me close to $30. When you compare that to $8 Dominos or $5 Little Caesars pizzas, you might balk at the price. If you are feeding a group of people who don’t care about taste (i.e. teenagers or drunk people), stick with the cheap pizzas.

If the people eating are foodies (as I am) and appreciate quality ingredients, they will enjoy Mellow Mushroom.

The best part about this pizza is its crust. I don’t remember all what they do during the dough preparation, but it results in a tasty product. My pizza was loaded with toppings: black olives, green peppers, strips of bacon, tomatoes, pepperoni, and Parmesan cheese. As I type about it, I am transported to my Mellow Mushroom experience. ***eyes glaze over***

Granted, “delicious” does not come cheap at Mellow Mushroom but it is worth at least one try. Your taste buds will sing in delight.

Filippi Pizza Grotto – Napa CA

Dec9

Filippi Pizza Grotto is an Italian food restaurant with 14 locations throughout California. We chose the Napa location because we were going to Oxbow Market across the street but wanted more filling food than a taco. And we did not want something as ordinary as a hamburger. Filippi was across the street and we decided to give it a try after looking at their menu and prices. Their prices are comparable to Olive Garden, but the food tastes way better. The amount of food that they give is also a bargain. They are serving family size dishes here. There is enough food for two especially if you do not want to have a carry out box of leftovers.

We shared the spaghetti with marinara sauce and sausage ($9.45). All the pasta dishes came with Italian rolls. The Italian roll was about the size of a hoagie roll, crusty exterior with soft white bread on the inside. They brought it to the table warm and I ate two slices before I had a chance to butter the bread. It was that good. I am a sucker for good bread.

They make their own sausage and I could taste the effort that was put into it. The casing was a little chewy, but the meat inside was well seasoned and tender. The marinara sauce was thick and chunky with a lot of tomato pieces.

Overall: This was a hearty Italian meal served with friendly service at an affordable price.

Filippi Pizza Grotto 645 First Str Napa CA

707-254-9700