WRW2016 - Chester's Chophouse

My second choice for Wichita Restaurant Week was Chester's Chophouse Wine and Bar, located on the beloved Waterfront.  Everything you have probably heard about this restaurant is true... it is pricey, it is freshly prepared, it does have a bit of a cold shoulder atmosphere, and it does mainly have a male clientele base.

Now with all of that said, none of that is negative in my eyes.  I don't mind paying top dollar for excellent food and service.  I like wait staff that knows not to interrupt my dining and conversation with unnecessary questions.  And I'm a woman, so the more men dining around me, the better!  Lol....

A friend and I arrived later on Monday evening to give the restaurant a go.  I had been twice before several years back, but my friend had never been.  Upon arrival, I mentioned the front doors.  It's one of my favorite things about this place.... large front doors.  Okay, okay...  on to the meal.

Our server was pleasant and let us know about all of the specials.  We started off with the recommended appetizer of shrimp cocktail, marinated in a lovely sauce and brought to us in a beautiful vessel.  We were encouraged to dump the appetizer on the plate provided so we could taste everything together.  My friend enjoyed it more than I did.  I prefer a classic shrimp cocktail.

I encouraged my friend to get a steak as I remembered the steaks were excellent and cooked to perfection.  He ordered the 12 oz New York Strip.  It was accompanied by three different sauces for dipping.  The sides chosen were asparagus with feta cheese and the warm German potatoes.

I had the recommended tilefish with risotto.  Delicious! I couldn't eat all of my meal and I wanted to make sure I had dessert.  We chose the creme brulee pie.  I was hoping it would be warm, but it came out cold and full of fruit.  Still good.

Asparagus with Feta

German Potatoes

New York Strip Steak

Slice of Creme Brulee Pie

Creme Brulee Pie

Tilefish and risotto

The dinner was good, the conversation and company even better.  Prices are a little steep, so be prepared to pay.  I wouldn't normally come here for a steak as I can grill a better one myself.  Also, if you are a woman, just know there are a lot of men who meet here for dinner.  So..... enjoy!

Up next... The Hungry Heart!

WRW2016 - Olive Tree

Wichita Restaurant Week..... ahhhhhh.

Not sure where I have been the past few years for WRW, but this year I decided to try as many restaurants as I could.  The plan this year was to eat at places I have never been or have not dined at for several years.

I am also happy the community has a way to work together in giving back.  I love how this is helping the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas.

I started on Sunday with the brunch at Olive Tree.  Olive Tree is located at 2949 N. Rock Rd (29th and Rock) and I believe is the former Piccadilly Grill.  This restaurant mainly does banquets and catering now, but they do a pretty decent brunch buffet.  For $17, we had choices from fresh pastries, salads, made-to-order omelets, a variety of entrees and side dishes, breakfast items, a dessert bar, fresh fruit and cheeses and a good selection of drinks and flavored coffees.  It's definitely worth the money if you can eat all that is offered.

The buffet itself reminded me of a mini Vegas style buffet, with each food category having its own table or hot bar.

Fresh fruit with a variety of meats and cheeses

Hot bar with breakfast and lunch items

Cold Lebanese table with delicious bits

My first plate.... breakfast to start!

All of the food was at the right temperature and looked appealing.  We couldn't try all of it.  There was just way too much to choose from!

They had a chef on hand to make omelets to order and there were several other items to choose from.  There was a bread table with lovely pastries and rolls, a full table with hot entrees and an entire dessert table with lovely sweets.

It was definitely worth the time and money.  Our server was nice and our drink glasses stayed full.  I never had to wait for my decaf coffee to be refilled.

So if you are looking for a great brunch buffet, please try the Olive Tree.  I know we will be back again!

Up next...  Chester's Chophouse.

Bella Luna

I love taking my son to new places to dine.  I want him to experience all the wonderful food available.  I was meeting his girlfriend for the first time earlier this week, so I gave them a choice of three restaurants to choose from and they chose Bella Luna.

Bella Luna has three locations in Wichita.  I had only eaten at the west and east side restaurants, so we decided to hit the one in College Hill.  The inside was quaint and tiny compared to the sister locations.  There is no front desk, so we were not sure if it was a seat yourself type of establishment or if they came to seat you.  After one minute of waiting, we took it upon ourselves to sit at a table.

Bella Luna serves Mediterranean food and has a great reputation for awesome hummus.  Having been here before, I told the kids we could each pick an appetizer.  We opted for the hummus ($7.95), calamari ($8.95) and Greek salad ($5.95).  My son LOVES calamari.  We were sadly disappointed that the calamari was way overcooked.  Many restaurants will tend to do this.  It was almost inedible, but my son ate it anyway.

The hummus was excellent, the texture was light and creamy.  The hummus always comes with soft pita or the homemade pita chips.  The chips were stale, so we devoured our hummus with the soft pita.  Delicious!

Alli and I both ordered a side salad to accompany our meal.  Alli loves the Fattouch salad ($5.95) and I am a big fan of their Greek salad.  I absolutely love feta cheese and the brininess of the dressing against the crisp greens was perfect.  The Kalamata olives are my favorite olive, so I was super delighted to have several in my salad.

Up next were our entrees.  I went with the highly recommended Chicken and Shrimp au Poivre ($14.95).  This was excellent!  The peppercorn sauce used on the dish was superb.  It was light, not overpowering or heavy.  It paired excellent with the shrimp, chicken and vegetables.  Look at the beautiful plate presentation.  I loved every bite.

My son opted for the Kobe burger and fries ($10.95), which he claimed was the best restaurant burger he has ever eaten.  That's huge coming from him.  He really loves burgers!  Alli got the Seafood Trio ($15.95), which consisted of scallops, mussels, shrimp and crab with a lobster sauce over rice.  I tried a bite and it was tasty!

We were stuffed to the gills and needed to-go boxes.  These came quickly, but we had to wait for quite some time to ticket out.  My son finally asked another server to ring us up so we could get on our way.

Our server, Lina, did a pretty good job overall and was tied up on a conference call as we were leaving.  They were apologetic about the wait, but we didn't mind.  Our overall bill was $78.38 and I left a $14 tip.

It was a great dinner out with my son and his girlfriend.  I am so glad they enjoyed this place as much as I did.  If you are ever in the College Hill area and would like to try some great Mediterranean food, stop by Bella Luna and try that awesome hummus!

PF Chang's - Sort of Chinese

Some friends and I went out to dinner a few nights ago.  They have never been to PF Chang's, so we decided to help them out of the rock they were living under and dined around 7:30 this past Monday.

P.F. Chang's is an Asian-inspired restaurant who claims to give a modern "twist" to their food.  This rings true for a few menu items.  The one menu item I refuse to eat are the lettuce wraps.  Growing up in a Korean household, we know what REAL lettuce wraps are... and the wraps at Chang's are not it.  We can talk about that another day!

Getting along with our evening, the group let me be the food guide for the meal, so after ordering my Coconut yummy goodness (non-alcoholic), I decided we would order three appetizers and three entrees.

The first appetizer was the garlic noodles, easy on the spicy (we had a younger palate with us).

These were a hit with everyone!  The cucumber was refreshing in the mix of the noodles, garlic and chili pepper flakes.

Up next were the shrimp dumplings.

These can be ordered pan fried or steamed.  Pictured are the pan fried.  These dumplings are filled with shrimp and drizzled with a light chili sauce, not too spicy at all.

My all-time favorite was next... Dynamite Shrimp

This tempura-battered shrimp is drizzled in a spicy sriracha aioli that I could bathe in, it's so good!  Yumm!

The three of us were already heading to full bellies, so when our entrees came, we knew it was going to be party of three - 0, entrees - 3.

I ordered the Lemon Chicken (for the youngster), Mongolian Beef and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce.  The Lemon Chicken was my least favorite because it was the least inventive dish and lacked flavor.  It looked like a piece of fried chicken with a side of sauce.  I loved the other two dishes.  The Mongolian Beef reminded me a tiny bit of bulgogi and the Shrimp with Lobster Sauce is the one dish I order the most.

My friends took home lots of leftovers and really enjoyed their first trip to Chang's.  I won't likely come here again if it were my choice, but I won't turn my nose at it if friends are interested.

The service was excellent.  The restaurant was clean, not too noisy and the wait time on our food was reasonable.  The temperature of the food was great and the portions were normal.  You can find reviews and more information about P.F. Chang's on Zomato.

Eating My Way Thru Doc Greens - Dr. Fiesta

I posted about this before on my other blog.  I absolutely love this restaurant!  I was first introduced to Doc Greens a month ago thru a friend at work.  He always gets the same thing.  I really liked the place and everything on the menu looks wonderful, so I decided I would eat my way thru the entire menu, one item at a time.  It's worked out pretty good so far.  I have already had the Chicken Breast Panini, the Dr. Beeks salad and the Dr. Grilled Veggie salad.

Today I got the Dr. Fiesta salad.  It is now my new favorite!  I usually get the salad to go and today was no different.  This salad has romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheddar cheese, red onions, black beans, corn salsa, julienned carrots, crispy tortilla strips, chicken and dressing.  I opted for the grilled chicken and a side of guacamole.  Holy cow Batman!  It was delicious!  I ate every bite.

Dr. Fiesta

I really like the atmosphere of the place, the workers, and the management staff.  It's also super clean.  They are constantly wiping things down and it's good to see an establishment care so much about the quality of their establishment as well as the quality of their food.  The manager has done an awesome job of training his associates.  The location I go to is on north Maize Rd.  I have not ventured to the one out east, but I am sure it's pretty good as well.  I try to stop once a week to try a new menu item.

If you get a chance to stop by and want a refreshing filling salad for lunch, I highly recommend Doc Greens!  You can also find their restaurant on Zomato.