Dolsot House (Korean)

For our monthly lunch, Karin and George met Jay and Ken at Dolsot House, 404 Marlton Pike East (Route 70), Sawmill Village, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. Awesome lunch on a beautifully warm day with wonderful friends.

We shared the following appetizers:

Korean Fried Chicken Wings - crunchy deliciousness!

Honey Sauce

Spicy Sauce

Pork and Chive Dumplings, light and flavorful!

Tasty small plates...

Salad, potatoes, kimchee, sprouts, squash, broccoli rabe, eggplant...


We then shared the Spicy Pork Dolsot - extremely well seasoned. Jay couldn't stop eating...

Finally, we had the LA Kolbi, beef short ribs, which we decided on after seeing another table get theirs.

Wines enjoyed:

Refreshing end to the meal. Mango?

We will return. Lots more to try. It's always a good sign when others from the same ethnic community eat at a restaurant.

We enjoyed the wings so much that each couple took an order home for later!

Asian Restaurant "Crawl" - Philadelphia

Jay and Ken went to the University City area to visit friends, Karin and George, for a "crawl" of Asian Restaurants on Saturday, March 28, 2015.

We visited 3:

Chili Szechuan, 4626 Baltimore Avenue, 19143

Pork fried rice - no need for additional soy sauce

Wonton with chili oil - spicy deliciousness

Pork belly with garlic sauce, with cucumber

Wine enjoyed:

Vientiane Cafe, 4728 Baltimore Avenue, 19143 (Laotian-Thai)
View their menu for more information...

Duck spring rolls

Vegetarian Naam Salad, marinated rice with coconut flakes then tossed with mints, scallions, lime juice, lime leaves, crushed peanuts, served with lettuce to wrap - you won't miss the meat! Jay's favorite!

Homemade Beef Jerky, marinated pieces of beef with steamed vegetables (broccoli and carrots) served with chili paste - indescribably delicious! Ken's favorite!

Wines enjoyed:

Vietnam Cafe, 816 South 47th Street, 19143 (since they are not a BYOB, we did take-out)

Grilled pork rolls - we ordered 2 orders; should have ordered more, because they were awesome!

Crispy spring rolls - couldn't get any crispier and so tasty!

Grilled shrimp vermicelli - grilled to perfection

Wine enjoyed:

Beautiful decor at Vietnam Cafe...

We ended our meal with fruit tarts from Vientiane Cafe

We had such fun, we are going to try an Italian restaurant crawl in the summer!

Ken and Karin enjoyed a bit of Macallan as well...

Allora

Finally caught up with friends Vip and Angie for dinner on Friday, March 27, 2015, at Allora by da Soli in Marlton, NJ. We had a wonderful time. Chef Mark Berenato continues to impress.

Appetizers enjoyed:

Once Jay found out that fried smelts were one of the specials, she couldn't listen to anything else! The smelts were lightly breaded to perfection, accompanied by a lovely sauce of tomatoes and olives goodness. Yum!

Angie and Vip shared the fried calamari, which was lightly breaded and accompanied by a wonderful marinara sauce.

Vip enjoyed the Caesar salad, tossed with house made Caesar dressing, pecorino romano cheese, with crisp garlic croutons.

Ken asked for the chicken sausage and fig appetizer that he had on a previous visit. It was awesome and flavorful!

Entrees:

Jay ordered the Veal Piccata, with lemon, butter, and novella wine sauce with capers. Very lemony and delicious.

Ken ordered the Flounder Francese, egg battered, pan seared, lemon butter white wine sauce, with jumbo lump crabmeat. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Angie enjoyed the Veal San Marco, sauteed with porcini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, jumbo lump crabmeat, Sicilian Marsala wine, with a splash of cream.

Vip (and us all) enjoyed the Chicken Italiano, cutlets topped with char grilled red peppers, Italian long hots, garlic and EVOO. There was enough to take home.

We were treated to Kiwi"cello" - similar process to limoncello but made with kiwi. If you like kiwis, you'll love this!

We were also treated to the biscotti, which was a lovely end to the evening.

Wines enjoyed:

Our server, Mark, remembered Ken and Jay from our previous visit. We'll definitely be back and request him again!

It was nice seeing Lauren from da Soli as well. Very pleasant overall!

Ritz Seafood

Celebrating Ken's birthday a bit late, due to Jay's illness, we finally dined at Ritz Seafood, 910 Rt. 561, Voorhees, NJ 08043, on Sunday, March 22, 2015. We arrived on time for our 6:30 reservation and were seated after a few minutes wait.

Appetizers:
Jay ordered Chef Dan's Tuna Pizza - ahi tuna, tomato, read onion and sesame with chili aioli on brown rice cracker crust. Very good. Wish the tuna had a bit more seasoning...

Ken enjoyed the Vietnamese Bang Bang Shrimp, with chili and garlic aioli. Seasoned to perfection.

Entrees:

Jay wanted the Pan Roasted Hawaiian Butterfish, miso marinated, with wild mushroom risotto and soy syrup. HOWEVER, it had not been available for at least a YEAR. Why not just cross it off the menu?

Instead, she tried the Pan Roasted Sea Scallops, with wild mushroom risotto, miso broth, and truffle essence. It came with broccoli and carrots. Delicious! The scallops were perfectly cooked. More risotto please! So good!

Ken devoured the Coconut Crusted Lobster Tails, with pad thai noodles. Jay helped with the pad thai. Well seasoned and addictive...

Dessert:

Ken saw Bananas Foster and was excited. However, the bananas had to be thrown out so it wasn't available. He was a bit disappointed since not many restaurants make it.

Jay ordered the coconut cream pie, which was featured on the Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate." Very tasty. Not too sweet. Perfect balance of cream and coconut. Ken even munched on the toasted coconut.

Wines enjoyed:

Obviously, we were a bit off today, since both bottles went back home half finished.

We thought it odd that our food came out a bit quickly, but realized what was going on when we were the last to leave around 8pm, and the server locked the door behind us - 2 hours before closing!