Vientiane Cafe and Vietnam Cafe (Philly LOVE!)

To celebrate Jay's and Karin's birthdays, we ventured to West Philadelphia for one of Ken's favorite places, Vientiane Cafe, 4728 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA (215-726-1095). Can't go wrong with anything here...

We shared a variety of appetizers:

Vegetarian Naam Salad - marinated rice with coconut flakes tossed with mint, scallions, parsley, lime leaves, and chili; topped with crushed peanuts served with lettuce to wrap

Crispy duck spring rolls - filled with silver noodles, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms and served with house sauce

Sticky Tamarind chicken wings tossedin sweet and tangy sauce, chili, lemongrass and kaffir leaves

Tofu spring roll and shrimp spring roll - with herbs and vermicelli, served with tangy tamarind and sweet chili peanut sauce

Homemade Beef Jerky - served with chili paste. Ken's favorite!

Homemade Laotian Sausages (sai-gawk) - stuffed with pork, spices, lemongrass and kaffir leaves. Served with steamed vegetables, sticky rice with ginger fish sauce (NEW) and chili past sauce

Wines enjoyed:

Then we visited Vietnam Cafe for takeout, which we enjoyed in the comfort of home. So good! Karin and Jay shared a Dirty Martini (Grey Goose), while we waited. So refreshing!

Crispy Spring rolls - CHA GIO - ground pork, onions, mushrooms, lettuce, picked rain, mint leaves, chili vinegar dipping sauce

and

Grilled Pork Rolls - THIT NUONG CUON - rice paper, rice noodles, grilled pork, lettuce, bean sprouts, basil, hoisin peanut dipping sauce

We always have a good time with Karin and George! Good food, good friends, good times!!!

Black Olive Greek Cuisine (Greek)

For Jay's birthday on Sunday, January 3, 2016, we made reservations for 6:30pm at Black Olive Greek Cuisine, 910 Haddonfield Berlin Road, Voorhees, NJ 08043 (856-435-5500). We were greeted and seated immediately. Since we made reservations through Open Table, they knew it was my birthday, since I added it to the comments.

For appetizers, we enjoyed the following:

Charcoal Grilled Jumbo Shrimp

Pork Souvlaki

Grilled Calamari

We both selected the house salad (instead of lentil soup, which was the soup of the day). This salad is so refreshing!

Jay devoured the Charcoal Grilled Dinner - Lamb Chops, medium - perfection! She took the bones home to finish off. The potatoes were awesome!

Ken enjoyed the Tigania, pork tenderloin sautéed in olive oil with onions and peppers.

Everything was flavorful and seasoned to perfection. Looking forward to trying new dishes the next time we visit.

Although we told our server there was no rush, since she'd only been working about a week she misunderstood, and our food came out quicker than we'd like (the entree arrived while we were still eating our salad), but we still enjoyed our dining experience. The birthday discount helped! (You must sign up in advance)

Wines enjoyed:

Dolsot House (Korean)

Ever since Ken mentioned their wings last week, Jay has been craving a visit to Dolsot House, 404 Marlton Pike East (Route 70), Sawmill Village, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 (856-216-0090 or 856-216-0095).

We stopped in for lunch on Christmas Eve, and were not disappointed. Our server, Kan, recognized us from a previous visit.

The pork & chive dumplings were lightly fried and very good (Pork Mandoo).

Of course we had the wings - spicy sauce. So crunchy and delicious!

Ken thoroughly enjoyed the spicy pork hoagie (Bo Tong)!

Jay was quite satisfied with the LA Kalbi Box Lunch. So much food!

We enjoyed the company of a little guy (19 months) at the table next to us. The place was quite crowded - the food is that good!

No wine today.

We were wished a Merry Christmas when we arrived, and when we left. That was nice.

Ginger Asian Cuisine

Nothing cooked in the house and Jay didn't feel like cooking, so Ken treated her to Ginger Asian Cuisine, on Friday, December 11, 2015. Almost felt like "Cheers," as everyone knows us and greeted us warmly. Since we didn't call ahead, no booth, but the table we were seated at worked well.

We wanted to try something different, for a change, so we looked around to see what others were eating.

Jay had a sore throat, so she ordered egg drop soup, which was flavorful and did the job.

Ken ordered the coconut shrimp, six huge shrimp, which came with a honey wasabi sauce. Tasty.

Jay wanted Pad Thai, extra spicy. Perfection.

Ken saw shredded sesame beef, a LARGE plate of sweet and spicy goodness. Breaded, but tender pieces of meat which melted in the mouth.

We love the House Special Fried Rice, instead of white, brown, or regular fried rice...

Refreshing orange slices and fortune cookies at the end of the meal.

We plan to try something new every other visit. Love this place! (Jay's phone died, so Ken took the pictures - not bad!)

Wine enjoyed:

The Little Tuna

We met friends, Karin and George, at The Little Tuna, 114 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ 08033 (856-795-0888), for a nice leisurely lunch. We always have an enjoyable time with these two... It was pretty busy for a lunchtime, which was nice to see.

Kaiyiid, our server, was pleasant and patient. He made the Bananas Fosters Bread Pudding! So talented!

Since we didn't see some of our favorites on the lunch menu, we asked for the dinner menu.

We shared appetizers:

Oysters - Jay and George MUST have these! Blue Points. So good!

Flash fried calamari - 1/2 order

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp

Bleu Steak & Bacon Bites

Karin asked for bread to sop up the clam sauce, and they came out HOT!

Entrees enjoyed:

Karin - Sauteed Little Neck Clams

Jay
Cup of Roasted Lobster bisque with sherry

Spinach Salad with Rosemary and Ginger Sea Scallops on the side

Ken
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, with mashed potatoes and veggies

George
Honey Jalapeno Sea Scallops with mashed potatoes and veggies. He was impressed with the mashed potatoes which were fresh and tasty. The spiciness of the jalapeños enhanced the dish.

We shared desserts:

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding

Pistachio Crusted Brownie - fudgy goodness!

Everything was delicious and, once again, we spent a wonderful afternoon with friends.

Wines enjoyed:

Forgot to get a picture of the Pouilly Fuisse!


Jay and Ken enjoyed the atmosphere of shopping in Haddonfield...