W - San Diego

A fun thing about staying at the W hotel is that different time of day, you get a different mat greeting you.

You walk into the elevator and the mat is greeting you good morning!

This is the K Omelet, which has chorizo, spinach, arugula, herbs, and I got it without cheese.  Of course, it comes with breakfast potato.  It was pretty good, too bad it was a tad oily.

Again, I had a great service experience like I mentioned last time.  I ordered it to be at 6am, it showed up a few minutes after 6, so can't complaint on that.  This round the food was more oily than before, but tasted just as good.  

W Hotel - San Diego

In room dining

421 W. B Street

San Diego, CA 92101

619-398-3100

http://www.thewsandiegohotel.com/Dining

C Level - San Diego

As one of my coworker recommended for a great view and dinner, so we went to C Level.

They weren't kidding about a view to dine for... 

Look at that beautiful sun set.  Occasionally you get big boat coming by your window.

This is the Rising Sun, which has pomegranate, yuzu juice, lemonade and soda, quite yummy. 

Crispy Calamari and the dipping sauce it's a Vietnamese dipping sauce.  I don't think it's fish sauce because it didn't taste it.  But it was pretty nice mix.

Lobster truffle mac and cheese.  It's very good but also very rich, I barely touched a 3rd of it.

For dessert, we had the brulee trio, which has vanilla, chocolate, and butterscotch.  Let me tell you, I'm a big fan of chocolate, but the butterscotch was awesome!  

The view is definitely awesome, you can't find a better place to be to see San Diego.  You get the full view of San Diego downtown, and you have a nice sea view as you sit between the window or the first inner side of the restaurant.  They also have a balcony for dinner and happy hour.  If you want a good view,  get there early.  We were there relatively early and still ended up waiting for 30 mins.  Go hang out at the bar.

C Level - San Diego

880 Island Harbor Dr.

San Diego, CA 

619-298-6802

http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/menu-restaurants/island-prime/

Durian Macaron

So a friend of mine is getting married and she asked if I can make some macarons, one of the unusual request: 

Yep, you got it, Durian.  It's very much an Asian thing, but personally, I'm not a big fan, never was.  Not that I haven't tried the fruit itself, but just not a fan of it.

You can easily find that flavor at the Chinese grocery store, but I use the yellow gel coloring to make a distinction.

See, it's pretty bright here...

Unfortunately when it bakes, it muted the colors.  So if you want it more bright, add more color.  Sadly couple of them cracked.

I had done the fillings ahead of time.   You mix 1/3 cup of heavy cream, mixed with 3 oz of white chocolate, 1 tsp of butter (room temp), 1/4 tsp of the flavoring.  Since it's pretty strong scented and what not, go easy on the flavoring is best.

You put the white chocolate (cut in chunk or chip form) in a glass bowl.  Heat up the cream until it bubbles.  Pour over the white chocolate, and drop in the butter.  Stir part way and then add the flavoring.  Then stir until no more chocolate or butter in sight.  If you want to add coloring, like I did here, this is a good time.  I kept using the gel but if you have it in drops that works pretty well too.

Put it in the fridge and put a layer of saran wrap on top of the chocolate, and I mean literally on top of it touching, so that it will not create a layer or skin.  Then put it in the fridge.  I usually do this part a day or two in advance so that the chocolate will have time to solidify.

You can use the star tip like I did, above, it gives a wavey shape from the side.  I squeeze the 2 cookies together and voila!  Here you go!

It was a hit at the party, I'm surprise that almost most of them cookies were gone.

W San Diego

One of the fun thing about traveling for work was that we can order room service and totally legitimate.  :)

At W Hotel, San Diego, I got the 2 Farmed Eggs with Chicken Apple Sausage and diced potato.  The sausage is actually very good, the dish was a tad oily.  

What I love about them is that when I asked for it at a certain times, they actually arrived on time.  Not sure if it's because it's so early for them in California, or they're always on time, but either way it's much appreciated!

W Hotel

San Diego

421 West B Street

San Diego, CA 92101

http://www.thewsandiegohotel.com/

Brasserie 19

So got a chance to go to Brasserie 19.  Haven't been there since the HRW when they first opened.   On Thursday night, it's really a seen and be seen night, so the bar is really the scene to be.

Finding a table is not so bad, make sure you use the Open Table app on your phone to make a quick reservation, because the later it gets, the more crowded it gets.  On to the food!

Grilled Octopus for appetizer.  It's super yummy and the vegetable combo with the octopus is super harmonious.  The oil mixed with everything together, is super good, highly recommended.

I took advantage of the Specials for the night, it's Halibut with lumps of crab meat on top of a bed of veggie.  It's super fresh and the lumps of crab meat is really the star here.  I pretty much finished all of that, and the halibut wasn't bad, I was just filled up with crab meat.

For dessert, another special, it's chocolate crossant bread pudding with vanilla ice cream on top.  It's definitely a dense chocolate taste in there.  It was yummy and you cannot tell the bread pudding was made from a crossant.  That's pretty smart!

Of course, their neat thing is to have their wine list on an iPad.  They even have beer list selection available on it.  The rest, however, is still the good o' fashion way of taking your order and stuff.  

Tips for getting in, do make a reservation even if you think it's going to be slow.  The night I went there, there were 2 large parties and tons of people lingered after happy hour.  Not to mention the guys who are checking out girls and the girls who provided the scenery.  The place will be busy, make a reservation!

Brasserie 19

1962 West Gray St.

Houston, Tx 77019

713-524-1919

http://www.brasserie19.com/

PF Chang's

We needed a quick lunch for some Sunday errands, keep in mind, PF Chang doesn't do lunch portion on Sundays, they do however serve Monday thru Saturday till 4pm.

We got the gluten free Mongolian Beef, love the sauce.

Gluten Free Spicy Chicken.  

Spinach, must get some veggie for the meal!

So as all of our visits to PF, rarely do we go during a Sunday afternoon.  But it might as well have been on an evening.  Weekday has the smaller portion for lunch, but either way they do it right and it's yummy... sad thing to hear they took away the small portion of dessert, otherwise, I'll indulge!

PF Chang's
2120 Lone Star Dr.

Sugarland, TX 77479

281-313-8650

http://www.pfchangs.com/Locations/LocationDetail.aspx?sid=9935&checked=1

Kerbey Lane

One place we love to go to while we're in Austin is Kerbey Lane. 

 Doesn't matter that it may be packed to the gills with people waiting out the door, we'd like to go there for a meal if our stomach can wait.

This time, I ordered the Lamb Picadillo Enchilada - It has little bits of lamb, and the cheese mix with rice is wonderful.  The best thing of all, Austin is very accommodating to vegans and gluten free eaters.    They have a separate menu, so be sure to ask for it or you can see it here.  

One tip I have for you about Kerbey Lane, is that they are open 24 hours, so if you can wait till later, or eat earlier, it's best to avoid prime time.  Most importantly, they are very very popular with breakfast, so make sure you time yourself accordingly.  If you get to wait it out, I recommend their pancakes, never had a bad pancake there.  Second thing I would recommend is migas, perfect breakfast food. Aside from that, they have sandwiches, TexMex food, but they are really known for their breakfast food.

Kerbey Lane - South

3003 S.Lamar Blvd.

Austin, TX 78704

512-445-4451

http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/