While starting to write this review, I’ve realized that I’ve eaten out quite a bit recently.  This was especially true over the weekend, where we dined out on Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, along with Sunday afternoon.  We made up for it by grilling out on Sunday night, and cooking a bunch early in this week.

Anyway, back to our dining out experience on Saturday night.  We decided late in the evening to go out for dinner and after tossing around some of the usual suspects, I suggested we try India’s Pearl.  I quickly made a reservation at OpenTable and we were on our way down to the restaurant.  It’s a very quick drive from our house, so we arrived just before our scheduled reservation time. The restaurant said that they hadn’t received my reservation, but we were seated right away. I only made the reservation 10 or 15 minutes earlier. We were seated at a table against one of the front windows.

Our server arrived soon enough to take our drink order and to drop off the complimentary appetizer. We also ordered a vegetarian sampler appetizer, as it was our first time there. The Samosa’s (fried dough filled with spicy potatoes and peas) were really good, as were the vegetable Pakora (seasoned vegetables dipped in gram batter, then fried to perfection). The Paneer Pakora was a little bland though, which is the same as the vegetable pakora but with homemade cheese instead of vegetables. For entrees we had the vegetable curry and chicken Tikka Masala. Both were very good, though the curry was a little different than expected, as we are used to Thai curries. Overall, I would definitely go back to taste more of Denver’s best Indian food.

This past Friday night I headed to a new eatery near to our house called The Walnut Room.  They’ve had a location on the north side of downtown for as long as I can remember, but I’ve never been to it.  This is surprising as it combines two of my favorite things: pizza and live music.  The new venue does not have any live entertainment, but the menu is completely the same.  A group of four of us arrived a little late in the evening and immediately found a table.  On first impression, the restaurant is not nearly what I had anticipated.  Food and drink is ordered from the counter, but I was expecting to have wait staff.  They only have one beer on tap, PBR, but they make up for it with a good selection of Great Divide brews.

Three of us split the largest pizza they had, while one of our friends decided he wanted some meat and ordered a meatball sandwich.  The wait for the food wasn’t long, and the pizza arrived hot and fresh from the oven.  Overall I would say that it’s a very good pizza.  It reminded me a little bit of LaRosa’s back in Cincinnati, but that may have just been because of the crust along with the way it was sliced.  Overall, it was a good experience despite our higher expectations.  I believe that they should stay open even later than they already are, as the restaurant could capitalize on all the hungry people emptying from the many neighboring bars.

I prepared this recipe the other night and must say it was really delicious.  I wanted to not only share it but also get it up online in-case I ever lost it.  It comes from a recent issue of 5280 Magazine from Holly Hartnett owner of Venue.

• olive oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 6 cloves garlic, slivered (I used minced)
• 1 cup light cream (I used heavy whipping cream)
• 6 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
• 16 ounces frozen young peas, blanched
• 2 jars marinated artichoke hearts (I used 1 regular size can)
• lemon juice to taste (I didn’t use any)
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne to taste
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1 pound fettuccine, cooked and strained

In a deep saute pan, heat three tablespoons of olive oil and add chicken.  Sear until golden; remove from pan.  Once you are able to handle the chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces.  Lower heat and add more olive oil if necessary.  Add garlic and cook until lightly golden.

Add chicken, cream, and goat cheese to the pan and simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Add peas, artichoke hearts, lemon juice to taste, sale, pepper, and cayenne.  Add Parmesan to desired consistency.  Add cooked pasta to the pot and combine all ingredients.  Serve additional cheese on top.

Friday night I decided to order in some pizza for dinner.  After scoping out the coupons online, I decided to order from Domino’s.  They had a coupon for two medium pizzas for $5.99 each, and I wanted to try their new pizza anyway.  So I placed my order using only vegetable toppings (such a good Catholic) and noticed that they had a sauce called Hearty Marinara Sauce in addition to their New Robust Tomato Sauce.  I decided to try each of the sauces on separate pizzas since my coupon was for two anyway.

When they arrived, I immediately noticed that the one that had the Hearty Marinara Sauce actually said Original Sauce on the box.  I was thinking that both sauces would be new, and was therefore disappointed.  But I decided to turn the situation into my own taste test.  I started on the pizza with the New Robust Tomato Sauce and immediately thought that it tasted just as I had remembered Domino’s to taste, rather bland.  After a slice from the new I moved to the Original Sauce and immediately was struck by how awful it was.  So they have managed to improve their pizza, though I still don’t think it’s as good as the other chains.  The one thing that I did like was the new garlic butter that is brushed on the crust edges.  It helps enhance the flavor of the rather boring crust, though it can be a little messy.

Friday night, Kim and I decided to stay in, order some food, and watch a movie.  After debating between sandwiches and pizza, we decided on pizza and ended up ordering from Extreme Pizza.  We knew we wanted a couple of different pizzas, but couldn’t decide between four different styles.  We finally decided to get all four, utilizing the half and half option.  Each of our selections were tasty, but I think my favorites of the group were the California Cactus and the Drag It Through The Garden.

As for our entertainment, we watched the Hurt Locker from our cable service On Demand menu.  “Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.”  The movie was full of suspense and  action.  Though it is a war movie, it’s not overly graphic or gory.  Kim and I both really enjoyed watching this movie and would definitely recommend it, if you haven’t seen it.

On Sunday night we headed to dinner at one of my favorite downtown eateries, Wazee Supper Club.  This is a regular stop for us before Avalanche games, along with many others.  There was an Avs game that night, but fortunately we arrived early enough to avoid the crowds.  The restaurant has some of the best pizza in town, along with great sandwiches and Strombolis.  Kim and I shared the wonderful Pacific Rim pizza and tried their bread sticks as well, which were very tasty too.  I can’t wait for our next visit to Wazee.

The holiday season is in full swing.  Kim had her work holiday dinner this past Friday, and that officially kicked off the next week or two of parties for us.  We met up with her coworkers and some spouses at LoLa for some coastal Mexican food and drinks.  I had never been to the restaurant before and was excited to give it a try.  The food that we ate was all good.  Their guacamole was especially good, as were the sweet potatoes that were served with some of the dishes.  My chicken dish was good, but the sides with it left a lot to be desired.  The asparagus was barely there, and I felt like some sort of potato would have complimented the rest of the dish very well.  As far as the drinks go, their margaritas were very good, as were the tastes of tequila that I had.  Overall it was a great start to the holidays and a good experience at this popular Denver restaurant.

There’s a new bar in town!  The Rackhouse Pub opened about twenty days ago, adjacent to the Stranahan’s distillery. We decided to check it out last night, along with a bunch of other folks, as part of a monthly Denver Tweetup. Essentially a Tweetup is an announced location for users of Twitter to gather for socializing and such. True, it sounds pretty nerdy, but you have to remember that I’ve met many of my good friends online before ever meeting in person. Times are a-changin’.

Anyway, I was really impressed with the Rackhouse. They have a great selection of Colorado beers, all for a great price. It may have just been a special last night, but beers were just three and four dollars a piece, and this is for great beers, like Breckenridge, Odells, and New Belgium, just to name a few. We were also pleasantly surprised by the food. The white bean chicken chili that Kim ordered was excellent, as was the whiskey chicken sandwich I had. And though we didn’t try the pizza, all of those looked great as well.

We also stuck around to take part in our first ever Geeks Who Drink trivia night. I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by the idea of bar trivia, as it can often be really difficult. However, we managed to make it all the way up to first place at one point in the game, and that was with very little cheating. In the end we finished way back in eleventh, but it was still a good time, and perhaps something we should try again. After all, I am a geek and I do like to drink.

After Kim picked me up at the airport on Friday evening, we decided to head to Lala’s Wine Bar and Pizzeria for dinner. Kim was nearby the night before and decided that we should try it out. It was pretty crowded upon our arrival, but we were told that we could be sat immediately at the small bar overlooking the kitchen. I immediately noticed how loud it was inside, which I definitely could have done without, but fortunately the food and drink more than made up for it.

We first opted for a bottle of Quattro Mani Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, after we were given a small tasting that we both enjoyed. For a starter, we split the Pollo Salad which was a very tasty mix of chicken, dried cranberries, candied pecans, blue cheese, apples and cider vinaigrette over a mix of greens. The large serving was more than enough for the two of us to split.

We also decided to split a pizza for dinner, Il David, which was sauce-less and topped with three cheeses, herb grilled chicken, artichokes, oven dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and Peppadew peppers. The pizza arrived warm and perfectly cooked.  We thoroughly enjoyed all of the food and drink and will definitely be back in the future, despite the loud room.  I did notice that they do deliver, but I doubt they’d make the drive down to our place.

My trip to Kansa City is just about over, in more ways than one. I finally got some KC BBQ for lunch today, which pretty much wrapped up the trip. A group of ten of us from work headed to the Summit Hickory Pit. I’ve been many times before and have always enjoyed the food. This time was no different, great lunch!

Now I’m waiting to board the plane to fly back. I’m really hoping to see the sun upon arrival. It’s been hiding the entire time I’ve been in town. And I’m told it’s been missing for an entire week. That’s rough!