Il Villaggio

This month's dining experience with Karin and George was at Il Villaggio, 211 Haddonfield-Berlin Road, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 (856-795-1778). Another wonderful, almost 3-hour, lunch on Friday, May 13, 2016.

Warm, crusty bread

Oysters - 8 of them! Yum!

Broccoli Rabe & Sausage Ravioli

Scallops Risotto - Diver scallops, pan seared, over mushroom risotto, truffle essence

Entrees

Jay and Karin shared the Bronzino Special (filleted table side) and the Zucchini Parmesan

Ken and George each enjoyed their own Veal Saltimbucca

Dessert shared:

Tiramisu

Tartufo

Wines enjoyed:

Looking forward to our next visit.

Had to take a picture of this beautiful table setting.

Ginger Asian Cuisine (AGAIN!)

Friday, May 6, we stopped by Ginger Asian Cuisine, at the Shoppes at Wilkins Station, 7-100 Wilkins Station Road (always thought it was Main Street - Route 541), Medford, NJ - no wine this time! It was so chilly, we wanted hot tea, which was so good!

Everyone doesn't know our name, but they always recognize us and welcome us like family!

Trying new dishes, we decided on the following:

Appetizers

Fried dumplings - very tasty. Ken wasn't wowed, but satisfied.

Thai Chicken Nachos - very flavorful!

Entrees

Jay enjoyed the Seafood Soup with Udon Noodle - shrimp, LOBSTER, scallops in a wonderful broth, with bok choy, broccoli, carrots, and onions. What a wonderful surprise for only $14.95. The bowl was HUGE!

Ken enjoyed the Red Snapper special with ginger and scallion sauce. Excellent!

Jay ate Ken's mochi ice cream - love this stuff!

Vientiane Cafe (Philly - AGAIN!!!!)

Love this place! Met friends Karin and George on Saturday, April 16, 2016, for our monthly 3-hour lunch to Vientiane Cafe, 4728 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA (215-726-1095).

We enjoyed the following:

Duck Crispy Spring Rolls

Shrimp Spring Rolls

Grilled vegetables with crispy tofu

Vegetarian Naam Salad (Ken's favorite!)

Homemade Beef Jerky (Another favorite!)

Tiger Cry (Seugh-hong-hai) - good, but not what we expected from a brisket.

Jay and George shared banana chocolate spring rolls for dessert

Wines enjoyed:

Jay and Ken took home extra orders of Homemade Beef Jerky and Homemade Laotian Sausages (sai-gawk)

Bhan Thai

Craving Thai food, we visited Bhan Thai, 4330 Dearborn Circle, Cambridge Crossing Plaza, Mt. Laurel (856-234-4202), on Friday, March 25, 2016, and had an enjoyable meal. No reservations, but we were seated by the front window, which was slightly secluded.

We ordered some of the Chef's Specials...

Appetizers:

Jay ordered the Bhan Thai Fish Cake (Thai style cod fish cake served with cucumber relish and sweet chili sauce):

Ken, who normally orders the Martini Shrimp, instead tried the Firecracker Shrimp. He was not disappointed.

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Ocean Pacific Special (3 chilis), sizzling boiled shrimp, squid, scallop, and crispy Basa fish sauteed with basil and young peppercorn. So flavorful!

Ken ordered the Pla Rad Prik (filleted crispy red snapper and baby bok choy, served with Thai chili sauce). He devoured it.

Both came with Jasmine rice.

Wine enjoyed:

La Terrazza

Ken decided he wanted Italian for his birthday on Friday, so we revisted La Terrazza, 210 Barclay Farms, Cherry Hill, NJ  08034 (856-354-1888). We had an enjoyable meal.

Ken loves the stuffed long hots, so Jay ordered those as her appetizer. So flavorful and spicy.

Ken ordered the shrimp special as an appetizer.

Entrees:

Ken ordered the Veal Saltimbocca, which is not on the menu, and he enjoyed every bite.

Jay ordered the Veal Abruzzi, which was delicious.

Wine enjoyed:

(Jay spill half her glass on the table and floor, but the glass didn't break, and she didn't make a scene - her server, Bernadatte, flagged her anyway. So unfair! LOL)

We'll be back - more dishes to try.

IndeBlue (Trying Again)

We met friends, Karin and George for lunch today at IndeBlue in Collingswood, NJ. Charles was our server again. Jay wasn't happy, but gave him another chance. He did better. However, it would have been nice if he had just checked on the table every so often to see if everything was OK, rather than us having to call him him over when there was an issue. We always have a good time with our friends, so that made things better, since they explicitly explained how we like to dine.

We shared the following appetizers:

Drums of Heaven (2 orders!)

Shrimp Koliwada

Vegetable Samosa Chaat

Onion Bhajia

Everything was tasty and flavorful!

Although we had a nice conversation with Rakeesh, when he stopped by for a few minutes, we didn't feel comfortable talking about our previous experience.

Entrees shared:

Venison meatballs - unfortunately, the meatballs were too salty (tingly tongues!), and we had to return them twice, although the sauce and potatoes were delicious!

We thoroughly enjoyed the Desi Jerk Chicken - cooked to perfection! Jay couldn't stop eating the rice, which was very flavorful.

Ken had to have the garlic naan:

We shared the following desserts:

Fig ice cream - Jay devoured it!

Chocolate cake with rose genache ice cream - very good.

Ken enjoyed his coffee:

Wines enjoyed: