Tag Archives: NYC

Flashback Friday – China Grill

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Happy Friday! It is time to take full advantage of the summer deals during my vacation.

One of these deals is the bento box lunch special from 12pm-4pm Monday-Saturday at China Grill in New York City.

Did you know that China Grill was around for almost thirty years? Well after one of the best fusion lunches I have had in a while, I can definitely testify to that.

Earlier this week, I caught up with a friend for lunch and both of us were definitely excited to explore the options.  So below are the two bento boxes we created.  Both of us ordered the Peking duck salad and wasabi mashed potatoes.  My friend ordered the dumplings and salmon teriyaki and I was on the noodle box and shrimp red curry.  Our bento boxes were “to die for”, presentation was beautiful but more importantly the taste was on point.  It was definitely worth the $19.87 spent on this meal.

Peking duck salad, salmon teriyaki, beef dumplings and wasabi mashed potatoes
Peking duck salad, shrimp red curry, noodle box and wasabi mashed potatoes

In addition to the bento box, we decided order the popular salted caramel soufflé ($20), which has to be ordered ahead of time and it is served only on the lunch menu.

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Made to order dessert that serves two people available during lunch

After devouring the divine dessert, that was well balanced.  The sponge cake, plus the cream and caramel definitely hit the spot.

Lychee and cucumber punch
Lotus root dumplings

It was after 4pm and happy hour begins.  My other friend contacted me and informed me that I have to come here for happy hour.  It turns out she was right.  The menu offers a lot of options for drinks such as cocktails and bar bites from their appetizer menu.  So I settled for the lychee and cucumber cocktail ($8) with the lotus root dumplings ($7).  Both choices were delicious.

Overall service for lunch and happy hour were awesome.  My friend and I were satisfied and I can’t wait to share this experience with my friends and peers.  Cheers to China Grill and their continuing success.  See you soon China Grill!

 

Throwback Thursday – Blenheim

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Happy Thursday so as promised and better late than never I will be posting my dining experience from NYC restaurant week.  Although it was painful to see the $4 price hike on a prix fixe meal, I want to get my money’s worth eating a restaurant with a reputation e.g. Zagat rated, Michelin starred.  In my previous post categorizing where I would eat while getting my money’s worth plus collecting bonus OpenTable points.

Well guess what, I did not include a farm to table Michelin rated restaurant called Blenheim.  The reason why this restaurant was not on my list of restaurants to eat during restaurant week was that their menu was not yet posted on their website or NYC.go’s site.  Anyways, the ambiance and West Village location, the restaurant was cozy, local and low key.

Unfortunately I missed the happy hour special, which ends at 6pm but very excited to indulge in their summer cocktail that contains a hashtag called “#WildWestVillage.  This cocktail consists of watermelon, tequila, honey and berry.  At at splurge of this $16 cocktail, one drink was definitely enough but more importantly it was very refreshing.

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Two of my girlfriends joined me in this restaurant week experience.  The restaurant week menu and the regular menu were given with instructions.  If we wanted to order from the restaurant week menu, the whole table had to participate, which we all did.  Now in hindsight, service treatment was biased because we felt that we were not treated as regular customers.  For example, bread was served to us but in a smaller plate compared with the rest of the customers.  My friend actually called it out where our server heard it and the host had to “clean up the mess”.  Anyways, back to the food, the food served during restaurant week was in small portions compared to their a la carte menu.  However the quality of food did not disappoint.  For appetizers, I ordered the poached egg served with beans and asparagus.  My friend ordered the chilled soup and my order friend got the salad.  I had a tasting of all three dishes and they were all good, but my favorite of the three was the poached egg with asparagus and bean.  The presentation was natural and pretty, but more importantly the flavors were perfectly balanced.

Salad
Poached egg with asparagus
Chilled soup

One of the major reasons why I wanted to eat here was their english pea agnolotti and was so glad it was part of their restaurant week menu.  In addition to the agnolotti my two other friends ordered the roast chicken and fish dishes.  Portion wise, the agnolotti and chicken entrees had one of the smallest, the best entree buy was the fish.  I loved the agnolotti entree and enjoyed tasting the freshness of the roast chicken and fish entrees.

English Pea Agnolotti
Fish and couscous
Roast chicken

Blenheim’s restaurant week menu dessert did not have many options so we went with the waitress’s suggestion of the honey semifreddo and the suggestion was spot on.   The portion size of this dish was also good.  The semifreddo and the fresh wholeness of the berries with honey was a great end to the meal. 20160728_202921

I would actually return to the restaurant just to have another order of the agnolotti regardless of the mediocre service.  But it would be interesting to actually see whether I would be served differently if I ordered from the regular menu than from the restaurant week menu.  Time will only tell…

Flashback Friday – Neirs Tavern

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Happy Friday!! It’s been over a month since my last post, which was on an American holiday Memorial Day.  After a month of being MIA due to several food exploration dishes, I am back on the first of July – 4th of July weekend.  To begin:

Happy Birthday America!! To celebrate food and American history, let’s explore an historic venue in American history.  This venue is not in Washington D.C. or in downtown Manhattan, but in Woodhaven, Queens.

Almost 6 weeks ago I took my parents to the oldest tavern in US history now – Neir’s Tavern.  Actually I heard about this tavern from a segment that aired on $9.99 with Dave Evans where he had the tavern’s famous coldest beer in New York City.

Neir’s Tavern opened in 1829 and was restored in 2009.  The tavern has made several appearance in famous movies such as Goodfellas and Tower Heist.  I have had the privilege of meeting the tavern’s owner at the recent Queens Taste event & samples their cotton candy wings.

When I took my parents to the tavern, the location of it was not ideal but we were lucky to find parking.  Once we arrived, I felt the historical presence that this tavern has.  I definitely took advantage of the happy hour special of the $3 draft cold beer.  Also, I discovered that the tavern also has $5 lunch special that is a steal.

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Happy Hour Draft Beer $3

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BBQ Jack Wings $7.95

To start, we ordered the BBQ Jack Wings ($7.95), they were perfectly fried with the right amount of sauce.  Other popular wings also include Cotton Candy Wings, Teriyaki wings and Thai Chili Honey Wings both for the same price!

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“Tower Heist” Sandwich $9.95

My dad is a huge steak person so every non-Thai or non-Filipino restaurant he looks for the steak options.  The only option he had was the “Tower Heist” sandwich, obviously named after the movie “Tower Heist”, which is an open face steak sandwich with lettuce and tomato.  It comes with fries and cole slaw.   The steak tasted similar to a roast beef sandwich, so it was my least favorite.

The “Mae West” Burger $8.50
The “Goodfella” Burger $9.25

After reading the food reviews of the tavern and there were rave reviews on the burgers.  Therefore, my mother and I ordered two burgers that were named after an actress Mae West, who got her start in this tavern and the classic movie “Goodfellas”.  My mother settled for the “Mae West” burger, which is made up of angus beef, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mushrooms along with cole slaw & fries.  Her burger was good, fries were not as crispy as I have had in the past and cole slaw had an acidic, sour and tangy twist that is unique from the cole slaws I have had in the past.

Finally, I went for the popular “Goodfellas” burger, another burger to add to the growing list of burgers I have had in recent years.  The “Goodfellas” burger consisted of an angus burger with grilled tomato, onions, pepper jack cheese and chipotle honey mayo.  The burger also came with fries and cole slaw.  The burger could have cleanly presently and huge that it had to be dissected with a fork & knife.  The burger overall was flavorful especially with the mayo and pepper jack cheese.

At the end of this high protein dinner, the overall service was good, but they were short staff where the bartender was also our server.  I would definitely return especially for lunch and explore the variety of wings they offer.

 

Flashback Friday – Hamburgers

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend!! As we approach the end of the month, today’s post will celebrate National Hamburger Month.   Although I am excited about this post, I am dreading it as well.  After reviewing all my pictures and places I have been to, I discovered that I love hamburgers and I tend to order them at restaurants and bars.

After researching and reading the history of the hamburger, here is the lowdown on the emergence of the famous classic dish:

During the 12th-13th century, ground meat was developed and consumed raw by Genghis Khan and his “Golden Horde” army during battles.

19th century, German immigrants borrowed the recipe of the steak tartare from the Russians who learned about ground meat from the Mongolians.  The Germans brought the “Hamburg-style” chopped steak to America after the port of Hamburg, which was the big exporter of beef.

During the 20th century, there have been four claims of who made the first American Hamburger.  Over the course the century, the hamburger has been mass produced in fast chains such McDonalds and Wendys and by the 2001, burgers made up 71% of the beef served in commercial restaurants.

Below, are pictures of hamburgers I have ordered and consumed, which resulted in the 30 pound weight gain over the last 10 years.  My personal favorite burger is not listed in any of these pictures.  This burger is the Shack Burger with Cheese Fries and Arnold Palmer (total calories = 1,190; total cost w/ tax $12.88) from the original Shake Shack on Madison Square Park.  Shake Shack was established by Danny Meyer in 2004.

Here’s the scary thought, I used to devour this meal twice a week after 9pm before my evening commute home.  I took full advantage of the fact that I was in grad school for my first masters in public health (how ironic) and did not eat lunch or dinner.  After reading the calorie count for each Shake Shack item and graduated from the public health program, I have reduced my intake of the Shake Shack meal.  I am happy to say that I have not eaten at Shake Shack in over a year.

Although I have not eaten at Shake Shack, I have not stopped appreciating and enjoying a good burger with fries at various restaurants and bars in New York City. Here’s a reason: Health benefits of consuming a hamburger.

Ground beef consists of high levels of:

Iron: helps carry oxygen to cells, tissues and organs

Vitamin B-12: produces new red blood cells

Protein: lean ground beef helps build muscle and provide a reservoir of energy.

Given the cliff notes of the benefits of consuming hamburgers, below is a list of burgers I have consumed over the last year:

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Top left: Kitchen Burger – David Burke Kitchen; Top Right: Korean BBQ Burger – 5 Napkin Burger Union Square; Bottom left: Dorian’s Classic Burger – Dorrian’s Red Hand; Bottom Right: Wagyu American Kobe Burger – Frites N Meats

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Locksmith Burger w Yucca Fries – Locksmith Bar – Washington Heights

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Hamburger – La Dama – Financial District

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Angus Burger w truffle fries – Uncorked Wine & Tapas

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Happy Hour Burger Special ($6) – McKenna’s Pub – Union Square

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Cravin’ Bacon Burger w Fries – Bowlmor Lanes – Chelsea Piers

There are other burgers I have enjoyed but I did not have the opportunity to take pictures:

PJ Clarkes Burger, Five Guys Burger, Grass Fed Angus Burger at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Fishtail Burger, Donovan’s Burger at the Donovan’s Pub in Woodside and the Hamburger at the Fame Diner.

There are other burgers I definitely want to try, especially, the ones listed in Zagat, Time Out, Serious Eats, and PureWow.

Flashback Friday – Ayada

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Happy Friday, after a week of planning and cooking healthy meals on a budget for Cinco de Mayo, it is time to head to one of my favorite Thai restaurants to date.  Ayada Thai is a neighborhood gem and a great place to eat with a group of friends.  I usually take my relatives from out of town here and even have held small birthday parties here.

Ayada Thai is located in Elmhurst, Queens.  The restaurant offers authentic, affordable and tasty Thai food that will feed an entire family.  The restaurant received a lot of press and awards for their amazing cuisine.  They have been covered by ABC News, New York Times, Village Voice, New York Magazine, and even was voted as one of the best Cheap Eats and best Thai Restaurants in Zagat.  More importantly they received recognition of  Bib Gourmands by Michelin Star.

I can definitely testify to Ayada’s success by the food portion and quality of food that is provided to us.  Below are images of my family and my personal favorite dishes:

BBQ Pork $10

BBQ Beef $10

Satay Chicken $7

Shrimp in a Blanket $5

Crispy Chinese Watercress Salad $15

Crispy Catfish Salad $15

Shrimp Pad Thai $11

Chicken Pad Thai $9

Beef Pad Cee Eiw $9

Fried Banana (only sold on Saturdays)

Thai Ice Tea $3

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1) BBQ Pork 2) Beef Pad Cee Eiw 3) Fried Banana (sold on weekends), 4) Crispy Catfish Salad, 5) BBQ Beef and BBQ Pork 6) Chicken Satay and Shrimp in a Blanket, 7) Crispy Watercress Salad, 8) Shrimp Pad Thai

Best times to go is during lunch and early dinner before 7pm.  I have not tried their lunch special yet because I work on the weekdays.  Given that half of my heritage is Thai I can testify to the authenticity and taste of the food.  Food is overall consistent and I will definitely return for another family meal.

Throwback Thursday – Fonda – East Village

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Happy Cinco de Mayo! Also did you know that it is National Enchilada Day! Personally I have not eaten enough enchiladas at restaurants because I usually go for nachos, quesadillas and tacos.  However, two summers ago, I decided to take advantage of the summer restaurant week at Fonda an urban Mexican restaurant located in the East Village location.  They have two other locations, one in Chelsea and the other in Park Slope (Brooklyn).  The restaurant was a winner of the 2014 “Love New York” Awards and the 2015 winner for Diner’s Choice from OpenTable.  I recalled visiting the restaurant on a weeknight and they had a great deal on a prix fixe that included a margarita.  The items listed below are still on the menu.  Also, this was the first and only time I actually ordered an enchilada as recommended by my server.

Cocktail: Frozen Rosalita Margarita $11; $7 happy hour

Appetizer: Guacamole $12.95 dinner; $7 happy hour

Entree: Enchiladas Suizas $19.95 dinner

Dessert: Morenitas $7.95 dinner

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I believed that the prix fixe was offered on either a Monday or Tuesday evening during happy hour.  The portion size were exact for one person.  The overall food experience started well and expectations was diminishing by the end of dessert.  My favorite items out of the four images were the rosalita and the guacamole.  The enchilada was on the greasy side and the morenita was way too sweet especially after the consuming the dishes I had prior.  I have not returned to the restaurant and yet to try the other two locations.  The happy hour and daily specials are appealing in the East Village location so since I enjoyed the drinks and the guacamole, I would definitely return on a Sunday night for the Guac and Cocktail Sunday Special.

As mentioned in my Sunday Game Plan – 1st week of May, I plan on making enchiladas to commemorate National Enchilada Day, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I decided to make this dish over the weekend – Mother’s Day weekend possibly.  Stay tuned!

Flashback Friday – Central Bar Happy Hour – NYC

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Happy Friday!! A few months ago I stopped by my colleague’s happy hour birthday party at Central Bar, which is an Irish bar in NYC.  It was a Friday night during Lent, where I decided to give up cheese and can’t eat meat.  In addition, I was on a diet.  Given the situation, I was limited to what I can order.  After scrolling the menu and I was impressed of the happy hour drink specials.  So I decided to participate by ordering the following:

Sweet potato fries $6 – House made sweet potato fries and chipotle mayo

Spiked Arnold Palmer $6 (happy hour) and $9 regular price – Firefly Sweet tea Vodka  and housemade lemonade

20160226_190557Food and drink was worth the price for happy hour.  The Spiked Arnold Palmer was well-balanced with tea/lemonade mixture and the vodka.  The sweet potato fries were perfect to absorb the alcohol content.

Personally, I love sweet potato fries and I was inspired to make my own, but I came across a product when I visited Trader Joes for only $2.29 for a 15 oz. package.  The package serves 5 people and each serving size is 3 ounces.  Now 3 ounces is equivalent to 5 tablespoons.  The fries were very good and well coated.

Recently there was a video posted on Tasty on making sweet potato fries.  Below is my product of the recipe.  Texture was crispy as I was mixing in the garnishes of salt, cheese and parsley.  The addition of cornstarch definitely added crispiness to the fries.  I just need more practice on mastering this dish.  Meanwhile, I will definitely stick to ordering at a restaurant or bar especially at Central Bar.

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Sweet potato fries are a healthy snack.  The history and health benefits on consumption are posted on my Meatless Monday post, which was also National Potato Lover’s Day.

Now that Lent is over, I would definitely return to Central Bar and take advantage of the drink specials and their potentially health friendly meat/cheese dishes.

 

 

Throwback Thursday – Élan

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Recently I have received information from various sources of restaurant closings in New York City.  One of them was a restaurant that was on my list for NYC restaurant week to go to, but unfortunately was booked for the days that I am available to go.  The name of this restaurant is élan and I finally made the effort to explore the restaurant on what I thought was the last day.  The restaurant was only serving a prix fixe menu – 3 course meal for $40.  I had the privilege of meeting one of the owners – George.  George informed me that they are extending business until the end of the month hopefully. Meg, my server for that evening was good, but she could be better.  She neglected to inform me of the other specials that was off the menu that evening.  However, her accommodation and hospitality towards was good.  Meg provided a great sales pitch on the popular dishes to try and her recommendations were on point.

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Three course menu options

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Sea Urchin Guacamole 

The first dish I ordered was the Sea Urchin Guacamole.  The dish caught my eye and I was immediately curious.  I asked Meg, my server, about the dish and she highly recommended it so I went with my gut plus her approval and ordered it.   The dish was beautifully presented, approximately 1 cup of guacamole with a sea urchin in the middle surrounded by taro chips heavily seasoned in sea salt.  Personally I am not a salt fan, but the dish was well balanced.  The saltiness of the taro chips complemented the acidity and sourness of sea urchin mixed with the guacamole.  I devoured the dish.

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Complementary house made everything pretzel w whole grain mustard butter. 

While feasting on my appetizer dish, Meg served me a house made everything pretzel with whole grain mustard butter, which was delicious. Hands down.

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Striped bass in red wine butter sauce with house made fried sage potato chips and snap peas. 

For the main course, I followed Meg’s recommendation of the chef’s special of the day dish, which was off the menu.  I ordered a striped bass, which is pan seared star bass on top of a delightful red wine butter sauce.   I loved the red wine butter sauce.  The fried sage potato chips were cleverly made, a piece of fresh sage leaf sandwiched in between two very thinly sliced potatoes and deep fried.  The dish was beautifully presented and tasted even better than the guacamole appetizer.

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Enjoyed my meal with a 30z sherry wine

 

After reviewing the drink list, I came across this sherry wine that cost only $6 I had to try it.  The sherry wine was just right for my tolerance and went well with what I ate so far.

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Milk chocolate mousse with passion fruit 

For dessert, I decided to once again follow Meg’s recommendation of the milk chocolate mousse.  George, one of the owners, served me the dish.  The dish hit the spot.  It had the right balance of the natural sweets of the passion fruit with the milk chocolate.  What I learned is that this was the first day that they were serving this dish and I was satisfied.  I would definitely order it again.

Overall this was one of best prix fixe meals I have had in a while because every dish tasted better and better.  The food experience left a lasting impression and I am sad that this place was closing.  I told three of my friends and convinced them to come to this restaurant.  Therefore, I will definitely be returning.  Hopefully, they will extend their business until the end of the month.

Week 1 Game Plan -More Diet Changes

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After two weeks of following the 15 day Diet Plan from Idealfit created by Trainer Lindsey, I have lost body fat so I have lost 1.25 inches in my hips/glutes & 2 inches off my thighs.  Unfortunately, I have not lost the weight, exercises were intense.   As a result, for the next four (4) weeks I will be temporarily changing my usual Sunday game plan to Week 1-4 Game Plan.  This game plan will consist of modified recipes that are appropriate for the week; some will be derived from previous Sunday game plans posted and a combination of recipes from Idealfit and Bob Harper’s (The Biggest Loser) book “The Skinny Rule: The Simple Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to THIN”.   In addition, in NYC, I hope to be able to take advantage of the free classes offered by the Union Square Partnership: Union Square Sweat Fest 2016, which ends on 2/25.

To keep this post as short as possible without being boring, I will be posting my meal plan diary daily with meals along with recipes that is acceptable for the week and the day’s theme e.g. Meatless Monday.

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday – Budget Date Night – Himalayan Yak

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Happy Thursday!! A few weeks ago decided to finally try Himalayan cuisine.  I went on a date at Himalayan Yak located in Jackson Heights, Queens.  This restaurant is an eclectic mix of Chinese, Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan cuisine.  Side note: this restaurant was on the scene of ABC TV series Ugly Betty.

The first dish we ordered were “Momos”, which are Tibetan dumpling made of a thick dough containing meat and vegetables.  There are also vegetarian momos as well.  We ordered the steamed momos, one set comes with pork and vegetable ($7) and the other only had vegetables ($7.95).  The food is served with julienned pickled carrots, which were spicy along with three different sauces equivalent to condiments from an Indian restaurant.    These momos were good and the consistency of the dough makes it really filling.  It is definitely a great starter and safe dish to try.

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Momos – Tibetan dumplings

In addition to the momos, we decided to go adventurers by entering the world of “Yak”.  Yak meat is one of the healthiest and leanest meat (95%-97% lean), almost as equivalent as grass fed beef.   It is also low in fat and cholesterol than beef, skinless chicken breast and even salmon.  It may help with lower risk of heart disease and cholesterol.  However, my date was not there yet so we compromised with yak cheese ($6.50).   Given the price of the cheese we were anticipating a huge platter, but it did not appear that way.  This serving plate below looks small, but the texture of each piece of cheese was insulating and filling.  On a tasting level, it was equivalent to aged cheese that was overpowering, but the apple slices complimented the strong aftertaste.   Yak cheese has several health benefits since it is derived from grass fed yaks in the mountains of Nepal, the cheese carries more omega-3 fatty acids especially alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which help fight heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, and even body fat gain.

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Yak Cheese

Finally, my adventurous Himalayan food journey did not end and talked my date into ordering the Nepalese dish – Sandeko Bandel ($6.95), which is smoked wild boar topped with lemon juices and spices.  The dish looked and tasted like bacon – to die for –

Wild boar is another piece of lean meat, but it is expensive to cook.  However, it has health benefits such as low calories, less fat, less saturated fat, low cholesterol, and higher protein content than beef, lamb, pork and chicken.

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Sandeko Bandel: Sliced smoked wild boar topped with lemon juices, chili powder and Sichuan pepper

Overall service was good, food was very good especially if one is on a budget.  Personally I would return to try their other dishes especially the Thali, Ngopa, and more yak.  If one wants a cheaper meal, go during lunchtime, and if you check in on Yelp.