::Spicy Thai carrot salad::

This refreshing carrot salad is adapted from a classic Thai salad, Som Tum, which is usually made of grated unripened papaya. Som Tum is known for its fiery and tangy flavour.  It is often served with roasted peanuts, fresh long green beans and cabbage.  This version is a recipe passed down from my grandmother and it's very easy to make and ingredients are readily available.  It's a light and healthy salad that goes well as a side for other meat dishes.  In case you want to go on a diet, this carrot salad dish is great on its own as it is low in carbs and high in vitamins. Here, I've used coconut palm sugar for its sweetness and richness in flavour, but brown sugar can also be substituted.  Palm sugar is high in nutrient content and low in glycemic content so it is a better option for diabetic and health conscious consumers.

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic

2-3 chili peppers

2 cups grated carrots 

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tbsp. palm sugar 

1 lime

1 tbsp. ground peanuts

1 tbsp. shredded dried shrimp (can be found at asian grocery stores)

To garnish:

grape tomatoes

organic arugula 

cilantro

Preparation:

Using pestle and motar, crush garlic cloves and chilies together.  Add grated carrots into the motar and pound the ingredients well with pestle. This process is done to get some of the carrot juice out, and let the flavours seep into the carrots easier.  Add lime juice, fish sauce and sugar.  Mix well, and keep pounding. If you don't have those, another method is to mince them up finely and toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl.  Let the carrots sit for 20 - 30 minutes before serving.  Plate once the seasoning are well mixed in.  Top the salad with peanuts and dried shrimp and garnish with arugula, grape tomatoes, and cilantro.  

Spicy pan-fried bacon spaghetti

Spicy pan-fried spaghetti is quite a popular dish in Bangkok where the locals love to fuse Thai and western flavours, or I guess I would say, "the best of both world".  Here is a simple dish filled garlic and basil aroma, bold flavours, and crispy bacon.    If it wasn't for the fear of cholesterol, I would put bacon in everything.  The underlying ingredients and flavour resemble Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles).  Another ingredient I would definitely add in here next time is anchovy!  It really goes well with garlic and basil, and you almost don't need to add salt or fish sauce.  This recipe also packs a lot of heat so adjust the amount of chilies according to your taste.  

I didn't spend enough time with presentation :(

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 chilli peppers, minced

2 cups spaghetti

1/2 cup Thai basil

6 bacon strips

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tbsp. olive oil

2-3 dried roasted chili

ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cook spaghetti, drain and toss in olive oil. In a skillet, cook bacon strips until crisp, drain fat, and chop into small pieces.  In a large pan, set the oil at high heat before adding minced garlic, dried roasted chilies, and chilli peppers.  Fry until garlic is golden brown then add spaghetti, bacon, fish sauce and basil.  The fish sauce adds bold and pungent flavour to the pasta.  If you don't like the taste of fish sauce, salt can be substituted.  Toss everything together and turn off heat.  Serve with fresh ground pepper. 

Delicious Panko crusted eggplant tower

Lunch for 1

I pretty much went through a phase where I was obsessed with putting eggplants in all my meals.  Part of the reason was because I went overboard at the grocery store. They're just so versatile! So you will notice several recipes of mine containing eggplants.  After I made the vegetable lasagna, I had left over eggplants and I didn't want to add any more carbs into the next dish.  My friend suggested making eggplant parmesan, which is quite similar to a lasagna.  I took the concept but wanted to create something a bit lighter for lunch, and quick, because I was starving.  

For the eggplant tower, I pretty much just slice up eggplants, coat them in beaten egg, and dusted them in panko breadcrumbs.  Then I fried them until they are golden brown and grated Mozzarella on top while the eggplants are still hot and seasoned with salt.   I panfried the salami prociutto until they are crispy like bacon.  Then, I sauteed julienned zucchinis with garlic, parsley, and seasoning.  Since I'm an ADD cook, the layering was the funnest part. Over the first piece of eggplant, I stacked the zucchinis and salami procuitto before drizzling tomato sauce on over them and topping them off with another slice of eggplant. 

 The eggplant slices were splendid and there were 2 levels of crispiness; from the fried eggplants and the salami prociutto.  It was majorly simple, and majorly delicious. 

Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

6-8 lasagna noodles (wholewheat for healthier option)

1 roma tomato, sliced

1 eggplant, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

250 ml ricotta cheese

250 ml tomato sauce

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup grated mozzarella

50 ml Panko breadcrumbs

chopped parsley and basil

Preparation:

Heat oil in a large pan, sauté garlic and add eggplants, zucchini, and seasoning herbs.  Turn off the heat once vegetables soften.  In a large pot, cook lasagna noodles and strain.  Line lasagna noodles in a large casserole dish.  Lightly coat the bottom of the dish with tomato sauce.  Layer with eggplants and ricotta cheese, then top with lasagna noodles and layer again with zucchini and tomato sauce, before topping with another layer of lasagna noodles.  Top with sliced tomatoes, grated mozzarella, Panko breadcrumbs, and chopped herbs.  Bake at 350 c for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.  

Well that was easy!

Lazy weekend brunch: Broiled eggplants recipe

I woke up late starving one day and couldn't pin point what I was craving exactly.  So, I looked through my fridge and got out all the ingredients that seemed enticing and put them together.  There's a lot going on in terms of taste, balsamic vinegar reduction, pesto, and hot sauce.  It may be a bit too much for some but I needed the hot sauce for the fried egg! 

   

Ingredients:

1 eggplant sliced

1 roma tomato, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green onion

olive oil

1/2 cup Emmental cheese grated

salt and pepper to taste

Mr. Dash or other seasoning blends

pesto

1 cup balsamic vinegar

1 egg

Preparation:

Coat eggplants with olive oil and season with seasoning blends and salt and pepper on both sides.  Top the eggplant slices with pesto and broil at 350 c for about 15-20 minutes.  

In a saucepan, heat up balsamic vinegar at high heat and whisk until the vinegar thickens.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Take the broiled eggplants out of the oven and sprinkle with fresh chopped tomatoes and green onion.  Drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar and grated Emmental cheese.  Season with fresh ground pepper.

The brunch meal cannot be completed without a runny fried egg on top, hot sauce optional.

Thai chicken curry recipe (Kanom Jeen Kang Kai) warning: extreme authenticity

ขนมจีนน้ำยาแกงไก่

Kanom jeen is another well known local Thai dish still largely undiscovered abroad.  It is made up of vermicelli noodles topped with various kinds of curry.  Kanom jeen kang kai in this recipe is made with chicken curry made from scratch.  Here's a good blog post I found on more information on kanom jeen.

 I have no idea why I didn't publish this recipe sooner.  I guess with the cold weather settling in, I started craving more wholesome food that packs more heat to warm myself up.  I looked through the summer pictures and found a series of pictures I took while I was shown how to make Thai chicken curry kanom jeen from scratch.  Even though I am Thai, born and raised, I had no clue what curry pastes were made out of.  I usually just settled for the already made ones you find at the grocery stores :S  But now I get to share it with everyone my lesson and how dangerous it was to find the fresh ingredients.  For my first task, I was directed to go collect some of the Thai eggplants, which were abundant around the corner from our house.  Thai eggplants are different than chinese eggplants in that they are round and green, and much smaller.

Thai eggplants

Umm... I don't think these were full grown.  They are usually small but not this tiny -_-''

Don't kill me!

As I was collecting the baby eggplants, the giant red ants all came out and greeted me.  They were very territorial.  It wasn't fun getting attacked by the army.  They were....everywhere.......

   

A compilation of herbs and spices used for curry paste.  From the top and clockwise, fresh cumin, lemongrass, bird's eye chilli peppers, dried roasted peppers, black peppercorn, garlic, galangal, and shallots. Gotta love Thailand! So abundant in fresh herbs.

  

One of the main key ingredients, seafood paste.  Thai seafood paste has an insanely strong and pungent smell and flavour.  It smells like dried shrimp and is overwhelming at times, which is why we only used 2 tbsp. in total.  

  

Mortar and pestle were used to crush and grind the herbs and spices together.  Then, they were blended together with the seafood paste until a smooth paste was formed.    

  

Here is the trick.  When you open up a can of coconut milk.  The creamy fatty part is usually on top.  Separate the creamy chunky part of coconut milk and heat it in a separate sauce pan.  In a large pot, lightly stir fry curry paste with 1 tbsp. of canola oil at medium heat. Slowly add the remaining coconut milk and stir the the mixture well together.  Add about 1lb. chicken (we used drumsticks and thighs because they're juicier), 4-5 lime leaves, 1/2 cup eggplants, and 1/2 cup of water.  Bring the mixture to boil and slowly add in the creamy coconut milk.  Season with fish sauce or salt, and about 2 tsp. of brown sugar.  

  

Let the curry simmer for an hour or more.  The longer you leave the curry to simmer, the more flavour from the curry paste will come out.  You will see that the oil will start to separate from the coconut milk.   It means that the curry will be very flavourful.  Add 1/2 cup of Thai basil when the curry is almost ready.

    

2 hours later, it's finished!  It was worth the wait.  The chicken was tender. The curry was packed with flavours from the paste and added aroma from the lime leaves and basil.

  

Serve the curry with rice, or in this case, vermicelli noodles.  For the side, we prepared bean sprouts, shredded carrots, and cucumbers marinated in vinegar, salt and sugar for a refreshing side to go with the curry noodles.  

Fabulous finds @ Sobeys and impulse splurges @ Superstore

I haven't bought my groceries at Sobeys for a long while now and didn't realize they have gotten so fancy. Their Compliments line, Sensations is now carrying much more gourmet products.  The bread dipper comes in 3 enticing flavours, greek style oregano and lemon, roasted garlic and parmesan, and blue cheese, porcini mushroom and Cabernet.

  

  

Why use regular canola or olive oil, when you can fancy up and use Asian wasabi stir fry oil?

 

It's a shame there are no Nando's in Edmonton, but now Edmontonians can catch a glimpse of how good Nando's chicken is with their line of delicious Peri Peri sauces! 

I've only had the Tiger sauce at Dadeo's, the best cajun diner in Edmonton.  It is a hot sauce with a sweet chili flavour and goes great with Po'Boys, anything cajun, seafood, and deep fried.

Next stop, Superstore!

 

After trying to refrain from junk food, my first caving in was to a pillow-size veggie chips.  Made with "real tomatoes spinach and potatoes", of course the appearance don't come to illustration.  Yes, I have been a victim of marketing :(  Btw, they taste like shrimp crackers or something I ate in elementary school.  The next bag was President's Choice chips, my favourite.  I've been grabbing a new flavour each time I see a new selection.  Today's flavours were sweet chili Thai and jalapeno.  PC's chips are super high in sodium, but I have the salty tooth.  Other flavours include:

-Greek olive and feta

-Barbecue baby back ribs

-Italian roast chicken

-General Tao

-Spicy Peri Peri chicken

-Tandoori barbecue

-Szechuan 

-Buffalo wings

Might I add, their flavoured kettle corn, tomato & smoked paprika, are also the bomb (they're fully dressed and are more seasoned and less sweet kettle cooked).

  

Since I've caved in already, it won't get any worse if I break any more rules.  Now that I got myself 3 bags of chips, one pillow-sized, it was time to get me some dip.  But why buy one, when you could get 4 types in one? This 500 g platter of this Summer Fresh dips came with artichoke asiago, spinach dip, regular hummus, and roasted red pepper humus for $5.99.

 

I usually never buy maki rolls from Superstores and others alike, but it must've been the sauce and the fact that I was starved that possessed me to do it.  For $6.49, I was able to enjoy 7 pieces of very average california rolls.  I miss maki rolls in Vancouver!!!

On to my next fix, I need to remind you that it was 2 pm and I haven't had my first meal.  It was the first time for me buying a boat salad rolls outside a vietnamese restaurant for $10.99.  The boat came with 2 sauces, one sweet chilli and one Japanese sesame dressing.  The salad rolls were a cross between maki rolls and Vietnamese salad rolls.  There were no noodles, or rice, just carrots, cucumber, avocado, and pieces of imitation crab or shrimp.  They were literally a salad, wrapped together.  Was it a robbery? yes.  Were they that bad? No...they weren't.

 

There's something intriguing and invigorating about finding fiery taste in the sweetness of chocolate.  After sampling the cayenne chocolate mousse at Sabor Divino earlier this year, I decided to pick up a bar of Lindt Excellence chili dark chocolate.  I've never been a big fan of milk chocolate.  I guess I just don't have the sweet tooth and dark has always been the only way for me to enjoy chocolate. Apparently, the chocolate and chili combination were first created by the Aztec back in the days.

 

 I didn't taste any spices until the aftertaste kicks in. The spice was very faint. It was more of a gentle kick, almost like a nudge. I wish it was spicier, more chili = more excitement from the usual mundane taste.  I would make a chocolate fondue out of this, and add extra pinches of cayenne.

Violino Gastronomia Italiana review: Better than average

Once known as La Spiga, Violino's dishes put a contemporary spin on classic Italian cuisine, blending the flavours from the old and new worlds.  The interior of the restaurant is very much reminiscent of La Spiga with minor detail changes in decor, and yellow and gold tone colour scheme.  Along side the à la carte dinner menu, a 5 course menu for $48 per person.

 

Antipasto Misto

To start, we ordered a half order of Antipasto Misto for $23.  The 2 tier appetizer consisted of jumbo prawns, Atlantic smoked salmon, sugar glazed bay scallops, 3 selections of cured meats, Mediterranean vegetables and mixed olives.  It went really well with the complementary rustic bread, which was baked to crisp on the outside and really soft on the inside.  I was happy that the scallops and prawns were cooked well.  The roast peppers were sweet and refreshing. The mushrooms were a bit heavy on the olive oil so I was almost full by the time I received the entree.

For the entree, I decided to order the Osso Bucco Di Agnello al Baralo for $26.  Baralo braised lamb shanks were paired with polenta and black truffle oil  While being served, the dish was so aromatic that the next table even turned their heads and complemented how great it smelled.  The lamb shanks were so tender that they easily fell off the bone.  While the lamb shanks were flavourful, I found the sauce to be borderline on the salty side.  But once eaten with the fluffy polenta, everything balanced together.

My friend ordered the Chef's Signature Costina di Manzo Brasato, slow braised boneless beef short ribs  served atop risotto, accompanied by steamed carrots, asparagus, and sauteed cabbage. Although the mushroom risotto was creamy and well-cooked, she commented that it was a bit salty when pairing with the savoury braised short ribs.  

After we stuffed ourselves to the brim, we took a look at the dessert menu.  After peaking at the grand size of the Chef sampler for two for $12, we agreed to give it a try.  The sampler came with four selections of desserts; Chocolate sponge cake, tiramisu, artisan gelato, fruit filled (crepe-like) frittelle, which was flamed at table side. The portion of each dessert was larger than an average sampler size, and it was great for sharing.  The gelato was our favourite out of the four, followed by the fritelle and tiramisu.

I had a good impression of the restaurant upon my first visit.  The service was great, the manager and our server were both very attentive and professional.  We did enjoy the food and the portions they arrived in, and the price was very reasonable.    However, there were some minor details that I noticed and may need some changes.  I really didn't like having paper on top of the table.  It's too convenient and took a lot away from the fine dining image.  At times, mexican music would be playing, alternating with classical music.  It didn't really suit the ambience of the Italian fine dining restaurant.  Although it didn't blow me away, the overall experience was good,.  Violino still offers a great value and I would be returning to try other exquisite offerings.  

ลาบ Laab (Thai ground beef salad), served 3 ways

As mentioned in my other post, laab can be prepared with a variety of meat such as ground pork, chicken, beef, turkey or fish.  Since I'm currently in Alberta, I've decided to use beef to prepare this laap. Aside from the traditional way of serving laap, I've come up with 2 fusion ways of serving this staple Thai dish.

Ingredients:
300 g lean ground beef
1/2 cup lime juice
3 tbsp. fish sauce
2 thinly sliced shallots
1 tbsp. dried chilli
2 tsp. palm or brown sugar
15 g cilantro
15 g green onion
1/2 cup fresh mint
2 tbsp. toasted and grounded rice

Directions:
Cook ground beef at medium heat.  In a separate bowl, combine lime juice, fish sauce, dried chilli, sugar together.  Add the sauce mixture, mint, ground rice, shallots, green onion and cilantro to the ground beef and mix well.

The first way of serving: the traditional way with glutenous rice.

How to steam glutenous rice:
Rinse the rice well to get rid of residues.  Soak 2 cups of rice in water and let the rice absorb for about 3 hours.  Wrap the rice in linen cloth and steam for about 20 minutes until rice is cook and soft.

Serve with glutenous rice and accompany with raw vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, and long green beans.

The second way of serving: A mexican twist, laap tacos
Serve laap in soft or hard taco shells, topped with chopped cilantro, grated Emmental cheese accompanied by lime wedge, habenero hot sauce, and mint aoili.

The third way of serving: Laap pasty
Use a package of already made puff pastry dough.  Knead the dough flat and divide into sections.  Fill the dough with laap filling and fold over into pockets.  Bake at 400 c for 25 minutes until pastry is golden brown and crispy.

อาหารอีสาน::. Giving more credits to Northeastern thai cuisine, Isan

The MVPs of Thai food known around the world are the curries, pad thai, tom yum kung, and stir fry's.  However, the food from the eastern part of Thailand, known as "ISan"(e-san), is probably the most underrated, under-the-radar of Thai food in terms of recognition.  "ISan" food and culture are much influenced by its historical close ties to neighbouring country, Laos.  The eastern region of Thailand is mainly known for agriculture, with the majority of the locals being farmers. ISan food is an authentic reflection of Thailand's way of life.  The strong smell and taste do not suit everyone.  There were few groups of people in the past who resented eating ISan food and would prefer more upscale central Thai and Western food.  Oftentimes, ingredients such as raw and fermented seafood or meat are used to give the food more pungent flavour.  One of the main key ingredients in ISan food, "pla ra", is made up of fermented salt water fish.  It is a traditional ingredient that is dated back 4,000 years and, in modern days, has been developed to be pasteurized before sale. There are concerns that eating ISan food is not sanitary and, due to its pungent smell and preparation.  Some feel that eating ISan food maybe associated with being from a lower class.  Although there were times when ISan and its food have also been the representation of the class system, nowadays, ISan food is now widely accepted as Thailand's staple food.  It has increased in demands and popularity in the past 20 years with ISan restaurants growing nationwide and internationally.  It has become a reflection of appreciation of Thai culture (in other words "Keeping it real").

Aside from papaya salad, ISan food is known for extreme fiery heat and sourness. Food is usually served with glutenous sticky rice rather than jasmine rice, and a side of fresh vegetables and hot chillies. Thai people relish in its flavours, spice, and healthy herbs used in preparation.  Here are some of the notable ISan dishes that are not getting more fame than they deserve.

Kai Yang charcoal grilled chicken.  A popular street food, Kai Yang can be found everywhere across Thailand. The marinade consists of grounded garlic, cilantro roots, soy sauce, sugar and pepper.


Sai Krok ISan is grilled or fried pork sausage seasoned with salt and garlic and stuffed with glutenous rice.  The sausage is left to ferment and develop its distinct tangy kick in flavour.  It is accompanied by preserved ginger slices, chillies and vegetables.

Laab is a type of ground meat salad which can be made from a variety of meat such as pork, beef, chicken, duck, or fish.  It is dressed with fish sauce, tamarind, shallots, ground toasted rice,lime juice and chilli and garnished with cilantro, green onion and mint.  My recipe of beef laab is found here.

Nam Tok, a variation of laab, using sliced grilled beef or pork instead of ground meat.  Grilled flank steak would be delicious with this and, if used rare beef, it is pretty much the Thai version of beef carpaccio.

Pla Kung Fresh raw prawn served on a bed of mixed vegetables, glass noodles, and herbs.  It is accompanied by spicy green chilli, garlic and lime seafood sauce.  Other types of raw sashimi can be substituted.

Jaew is the main ISan dipping sauce that can be found in every household.  Often served with raw or steamed vegetables and glutenous rice, it contains fermented fish, lemongrass, garlic, tamarind, galangal, dried chillies, and cilantro.

Kor Moo Yang Thinly sliced grilled pork neck that has been marinated with grounded garlic, light soy sauce, palm sugar and pepper.  The pork neck contains a lot of fat but it's very juicy and crispy on the outside.  It is accompanied by jaew dipping sauce.

Here are pictures of a wholesome, homemade ISan lunch I had completed with everything I listed above aside from Pla Kung.

It doesn't feel like home without Isan food

A family of deliciousness

Pork laab on glutenous sticky rice

If you love Thai food, you should definitely give ISan food a try.

Beard Papa's coming to Edmonton!

WOW! Japan's most delicious cream puff maker, Beard Papa's latest franchise has landed at West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton.  Who knew?  I hope they will able to maintain the freshness of filling like in other bigger franchises with one special flavour offered everyday.  I don't think Edmontonians are as aware of Beard Papa's reputation nor will they be as ecstatic as if Krispy Kreme was to open.  The location they are opening at hasn't been successful with previous vendors, mostly because there is less traffic in that direction.  It is located by Galaxyland and Aritzia.  Folks at Beard Papa's will need to do some hardcore marketing and hopefully free tasting! 

Stuffed pasta shell with pesto

Ingredients:

8-12 pasta shells

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup artichoke hearts chopped

1/2 cup bacon finely chopped

3 clove garlic finely chopped

2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup pesto

1 tbsp. olive oil

parsley

grated Emmental

Direction:

In boiling water, cook pasta shells until soften.  Strain, and shock in ice cold water and lightly toss in olive oil.  

In a bowl, mix together ricotta cheese, chopped bacon, artichokes, and garlic.  Season with salt.  Scoop cheese mixture and fill pasta shells.  

Drizzle olive oil and gently toss pasta shells with pesto.  Garnish with chopped pesto and grated Emmental.  

Sabor Divino review

Located in downtown, Sabor Divino is another upcoming fine dining restaurant with a growing reputation for its contemporary European fare.  The restaurant has a cozy ambience with soft lighting, warm colour tone brick walls contrasting with cool green fabrics.  Live piano on weekends make added to a more pleasurable dining atmosphere.

My first time visit was somewhat of playing a game of Russian roulette.  I was planning for a stagette when I heard good things about this newly opened restaurant.  So after checking out the menu and pricing, I was sold and went on to make reservations.  Deep down, I prayed that it would be a good place.  

Basque Tuna Tartar

Once we arrived, I started off with Basque Tuna Tartar, which was served with lemon wedge and garlic crostini.  The tartar already had sufficient acidity by itself from sherry vinaigrette without needing anymore from the lemon.  The tuna was fresh and with added crunchy texture from red peppers and shallots.  It was a fair size for sharing. 

Squid ink spaghetti with prawns and scallops

I was recommended to try the squid ink spaghetti and so I ordered it as my main course.  I was delighted to see the jumbo sizes of the scallops and prawns.  Even more ecstatic to find that they were not overcooked.  It was a great ratio for seafood and pasta, as well a generous portion. I was impressed with the freshness of the ingredients, and how well they were cooked.  I was stuffed.

The second visit, I boasted to all my friends about what a great experience I had.  I came back again with 3 more friends who have never been to the restaurant.  Between myself and another friend, we decided to order the Fruits de Mer for two which comes with fries and salad for a whopping $96.  As I looked around, the sight of almost every table around us ordering the Fruits de Mer reassured me that it was going to be good.  

I was initially impressed by the epic pile of shellfish.  However, as I took a closer look to what I was eating, I could see that the shrunken mussels were the first indication that they may have been overcooked.  The giant prawns had a very rubbery and chewy texture.  The calamari was perhaps the only thing on the plate that wasn't chewy.  I was astounded that the scallop texture was the replica of fish tofu one may find at T&T supermarket.  The worst disappointment next to the scallop was the lobster.  The meat was basically stuck onto the shell with its claw conjoining onto the shell completely.   At first I was wondering where it went before feeling the flesh attached to the shell. I couldn't get it out unless i scraped at it with my knife.  Either the seafood batch was overcooked, or they were not fresh.  I thought about the delicious scallops and prawns I had last time and wondered where they went.  It was the worst value anyone can ask for $96.  I looked around and thought, "people actually enjoy eating this???" Even the garlic butter sauce couldn't save it. It was absolutely horrifying.

Home cut fries

To be honest, I had better fries at McDonald's.  They were hard and not crispy.  Most likely because they were thin cut so they cool down much faster.  Yet, I had better fries at Joey's.

Salad

I had nothing bad to complain about the salad.  It was refreshing compared to everything else I had.  The rest of my party ordered the Algarve fish soup, the duck, both were cooked perfectly, and tagliatelle with lobster and prawn, which were also overcooked.

We also ordered desserts.  If you want to sample different desserts, you can order them in sample sizes for $4 each.  They are still bigger than bite sizes and will give you more variety.  I liked the cheesecake with black cherries and port because it was light and not too rich.  The creme brulee was okay.  The cayenne chocolate mousse was the most interesting as it has a spicy kick, which blends in really well with the dark chocolate mousse.


Aside from the less than fabulous entree I received during my second visit, I've been fortunate to have received great services for both of my visits.  At both occasions, the servers were attentive and very professional.  As well, I enjoyed very much the live music offered on friday and saturday nights (without the entertainment fee!).  I would return to Sabor Divino again, but absolutely not for the Fruits de Mer.