Vientiane Cafe and Vietnam Cafe (2 for 1!) - Not Jersey, but who cares? So GOOOOOD!

In spite of the forecast for snow, Jay and Ken ventured to Philadelphia to lunch with friends, Karin and George. We had a most wonderful time!

We started at Vientiane Cafe for appetizers, which we enjoyed with our white wines.

Duck spring rolls and Vietnamese Naam Salad - so flavorful and addictive!

 

Shrimp spring rolls with two different sauces - yum!

Tom Yum soup with shrimp - spicily delicious!

Beef jerky - yes, we said it! Awesome!

Shrimp skewers - not on the menu. Ask for it. Very tasty.

Sticky rice and mango. Refreshing end to a meal!

We then ventured to Vietnam Cafe, 816 South 47th Street, Philadelphia, PA,  for the rest of our meal, which we enjoyed with our red wines at Karin and George's. What a wonderful way to spend time with friends!

 Charbroiled pork with broken rice. The best that we have tasted! Love broken rice. You must try it!

The crunchiest, spring rolls ever! So tasty!

Grape leaves - very good, but not as good as Ginger's! Sorry Vietnam Cafe.

Wines enjoyed:

Our whites:

Our reds:

No need for dinner. LOL

We will do this again! Looking forward to next month's adventure!

Ginger Asian Cuisines

On the recommendation of Jay's talented hair stylist, Dannielle (owner of Salon Harmony), we visited Ginger Asian Cuisine in Medford, NJ, on Friday, November 22, 2013. We will be back! So many delicious choices! Many Asian Cuisines - Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese.

We made a reservation for 7 PM. Since we arrived early, we had a short wait, but it was worth it - we got a booth!

Appetizers enjoyed:

We both enjoyed the fried noodles with hot mustard and sweet and sour sauce:

Jay enjoyed the fresh salad that came with her entree:

Vietnamese Mini spring rolls - delicious!

Vietnamese Beef with grape leaves. Ken proclaimed these to be the best he has ever had! So flavorful!

Entrees:

Jay enjoyed the Rock N Roll Lamb (a Ginger's Signature Dish) - prepared perfectly. Leftovers taken home.

Ken devoured the Mongolian pork

Again, the flavors of each dish was outstanding!

Everything came out at a nice pace, giving us an opportunity to enjoy each course with our wine.

This is a gem of a place. You must try! Make reservations on the weekend. There are 3 rooms for private parties.

 Fish in the tank above the tables!

They covered up this beautiful table for dinner service.

All of this food for less than $45! Wow!

They opened in September 2012. How did we miss this?


Wines enjoyed:

2012 Collezione Di Paolo Rosato Di Toscana (rose)

2012 The Huguenot Chenin Blanc

Kunkel's Seafood & Steakhouse

Jay, Ken and Maurice, met Karin and George at Kunkel's for a fun and delicious lunch on Saturday, November 9, 2013. It had been quite a while (since June!) since Jay and Ken had seen Karin and George. A great time was had by all.

Our server, Sarah, was fantastic.

Jay and George each enjoyed 6 Connecticut blue oysters...

Before

 After

Karin thoroughly enjoyed the little neck steamers in a buttery white sauce, with grilled baguette.

Reese enjoyed the BBQ short ribs over polenta (potato skins were no longer available). He enjoyed it better with the polenta.

Ken (and everyone else) enjoyed the calamari. Jay couldn't stop eating it! Very flavorful and tender.

Entrees:

George and Jay both wanted the scallops, but they were out of them. Darn!

Karin had the BBQ short ribs over polenta as an entree. She enjoyed it. The meat is very flavorful.

Ken had the beer battered cod fillet and wedge fries. He was impressed with the cod (declaring now I like cod!) and finished his plate.

George had the Black & Bleu burger with fries. He was satisfied with the temperature of the burger and couldn't stop talking about how well seasoned it was because of the Cajun spices.
 

Reese had the Kunkel's burger. Wow!

Just getting started...

He finished it!

Jay had soup (sun dried tomato) and 1/2 sandwich on a wrap (egg salad). The soup was delicious and the sandwich was quite tasty as well. Sarah brought chunks of cornbread to put in the soup - great idea!

We couldn't be enticed with dessert, but continued to enjoy our wine.

Wines enjoyed:

Becoming another of our favorite restaurants. Can't wait to try the Winter menu - coming out next week.

Little Tuna (Seafood)

Fast becoming one of our favorites, we arrived about 15 minutes late for our 6:00 PM, due to the heavy volume of traffic. Since Jay called to let them know, they held the reservation. But we also felt a bit rushed since it was Restaurant Week and we had a Groupon. We went with the regular menu.

We enjoyed 2 orders of the delicious bread:

For appetizers, Jay enjoyed the James River (VA) oysters, which she devoured:

Ken had the bacon wrapped shrimp, which he proclaimed was the best he EVER had:

For entrees:

Ken enjoyed the whole trout stuffed with crabmeat and broccoli rabe (special), with green and yellow squash, and rice.

Jay found the grouper quite tasty, but realizes that she prefers a more heartier fish. The sweet potato mash belonged in a pie. Yummy!

We shared the bananas fosters bread pudding, which came with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. After we left, we realized that we should have had another order. So delicious! Have to tell Ken's mom to make the bread pudding. Very impressive. Gone in less than 5 minutes!

Wines enjoyed:

Don't forget to check out the Market attached to the restaurant. We would recommend a larger restaurant, so that people don't feel rushed enjoying the meal. Hopefully, the Groupon and Restaurant Week promotions will help them know that a larger space is needed.

Siri's Thai French

We visited Siri's Thai French on Saturday, October 19, 2013. Still one of our favorites. Everything was delicious!

Appetizers:

Crispy prawn rolls (special) - pretty good, but doesn't compare to Bhan Thai in Mount Laurel.

Char-grilled calamari salad

Entrees:

Seafood medley over cellophane noodles (special) with lobster tails, salmon, shrimp and scallops.

Venison tenderloin with scalloped potatoes, served medium rare (melts in your mouth!)

Wines enjoyed: