Some of you may know me as a slightly picky eater. I mean, my blog’s name is “Just Plain Chips”. I like to eat the same kinds of things and not branch out too often. But I’ve had an adventuresome bug in me lately. I’ve tried some things I wouldn’t have even thought about not too long ago.
When I was in Austin, Allison took me to one of her favorite Mexican restaurants on my first night there. I’m not the biggest Mexican fan in the world, but I was definitely willing to go where she wanted to bring me and at least try it. I poured over the menu for a while, not knowing what to get. For some reason I chose the mole (moe-lay) enchiladas. Mole is a Mexican sauce that I am unable to describe. But it was pretty good. And so were the enchiladas. And so was the avocado margarita I drank! How many of you have had one of those? How many of you can believe that I actually enjoyed it? Allison admitted that she was a little worried about my eating habits while there. But after the fact she said that she was very happy and relieved that I didn’t act as picky as I make myself out to be. (Of course, I’ve been known to act a little out of the ordinary to impress cute girls before. Shhhh.)
While in Los Angeles, Brian, Natalie, and I headed down to Kincaids in Redondo Beach. I had a gift card to use and I felt that a nice fancy dinner would be fun. It did turn out to be a little more expensive than I thought, but it was well worth it. I was probably one the few best meals I’ve ever had.
We started off with a glass of wine and the teriyaki tenderloin appetizer. I love chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks as appetizers. But what happened when I put that first marinated piece of filet mignon in my mouth I won’t soon forget. (I know it’s cliche, but…) The flavors exploded in my mouth and my eyes bulged in surprise. I couldn’t believe what I was tasting. It was so delicious and so tender. Not many meals start out this good. And just like the immortal Eric Cartman said, appetizers are “what we eat before we eat, to get more hungry.” This appetizer just left me wanting more.
Next came the main course, which I branched *way* out of the norm for. I had the grilled mahi-mahi encrusted with macadamia nuts and stuffed with crab with scalloped potatoes. Is your mouth watering? Mine was as soon as I heard it, and I don’t like seafood or fish! I had to try it though. I was out at a fancy restuarant and if it had been light out I would have been able to see the ocean (the restaurant was on the pier), time to try something new and see why people are willing to pay $20 for a plate of food. I was not let down. I enjoyed every bite. What a surprise to be eating fish (and crab) and really liking it. After dinner we all three shared a piece of cheesecake. Mmmm, I love cheesecake. I didn’t love it as a kid. I think I probably refused to eat it because of the name. The only complaint that I have with the night is how our server kept ignoring my need for a full glass of water. It was as though he was more concerned with getting his other tables more glasses of $10 wine (not to be confused with boxes of $10 wine) or bottles of $100 wine. Funny, that.
Then tonight after work my dad decided that he, my mom, and I would go out to dinner. We went to this really nice local restaurant called Woody’s. For some reason I felt like branching out again. I didn’t go for the steak, or the chicken parmesan, or the meat loaf. I had ahi tuna. Served seered rare with teriyaki sauce, wasabi, szechuan vegetables, and sticky rice. The huge slab of fish came way more pink than I expected, but I was undaunted. I took my first bite with a bit of rice and a dip in the teriyaki. Delicious! I had a few more bites before deciding to tempt fate by going for my old nemesis: spicy. I spread a little wasabi on a piece, dipped it in the sauce, and popped it in my mouth. It definitely had some spice, but it wasn’t like a hot salsa kick. It was much more subtle. Subtle enough to make me wonder why my nose was running not five minutes later. I didn’t have wasabi on every bite, but I went back for more on a number of them.
I’ve been very proud of my branching out lately. Especially considering how much I enjoyed each new meal. I can’t wait to see what I feel like trying next time.
