Cafe Chloe, Tapas Picasso, and some bbq – Part III

If you somehow just got here, you can catch up with Part I and Part II.

Now, before we get to all the grilled/bbq’d food, I do have to mention that we started Sunday with brunch at Panda Inn in Horton Plaza.  Panda Inn is owned by the same company as Panda Express, but the food is more aligned with P.F. Chang, although at slightly lower prices and better parking options.  I found out they had a brunch after reading some posts by the Brunch Master.  Cami and I actually went there once for dinner, to check the food, and we truly enjoyed the tea smoked duck crepes.  My mom is a huge fan of buffet brunches, so I took her there once and she is now known to fly in Sunday morning, go to brunch with us, and then fly home afterwards.  She loves it that much.

The brunch consists of Chinese lunch-y foods (no omelette station or whatever) and the dishes rotate week to week.  We’re usually there at 11 am, when they open, and sometimes the food is piping hot fresh and sometimes it’s been sitting for a little while.  I think they always have the walnut shrimp and some sort of scallop dish.  Their scallops are so good – soft and perfectly cooked.  They also usually have shrimp cocktail, although sometimes they will have tuna sashimi (yum!).  A couple of salads, a couple of noodle dishes, eggrolls and dumplings, some veggie dishes, orange chicken, a beef dish and you’re pretty much set.  However, we also look forward to the duck crepe station.  I’ve heard the crepe filling rotates as well, but every time we’ve been there it’s been duck, so maybe they’ve caught on that people really like the duck.  It’s just such a good brunch and the food is of very good quality.  If you like Americanized Chinese food, I recommend going.

You’d think after stuffing ourselves with brunch we’d opt for a simple, light dinner.  Or maybe even no dinner at all.  Ha!  After puttering around the house for a bit, playing with my mom’s new puppy (oh yeah, my parents drove down to San Diego that morning, surprising us as we thought just my mom was going to be flying in), and watching tv, we got ready to head out to dinner.  T also mowed the lawns, but that’s because he’s awesome and not as lazy as I am.

I love Korean bbq.  If I had to choose one type of food to live on for the rest of my life, I would choose Korean food and not just because I’m half-Korean.  The cuisine is just full of varied dishes that all taste good.  As you may know, sometimes we do this at home to save money but still indulge in the sesame oil dipping sauce and tasty meat.  But it’s really not the same as going out to a restaurant where someone else provides you with 8 panchan dishes and washes everything when you’re done.  So, when my mom is in town, we typically go to Buga.  Ribeye and bulgogi and we’re a happy table.  My favorite part of eating at Buga is when you get the dish of pickled radish slices and rice noodle sheets.  If anyone knows where to buy these noodle sheets or what they’re called, I’ll be eternally grateful to you.  You wrap some meat into them, maybe with some lettuce, dip it into the oil and then savor the best bite in the world.  Chewy, salty, meaty… how could you not enjoy it?

We left Buga completely full and made our way back home.  Then my parents drove off, headed back to Vegas, just another whirlwind trip for them.  It was a weekend full of eating.  As well as seeing friends and enjoying everyone’s company.  And discovering new places to eat (Cafe Chloe) and drink (Hamilton’s), while getting revisit old favorites (Tapas Picasso).  Whew!

I guess it’s also time to get reaquainted with that elliptical of ours!