Cheer Up With Food

The Commercial Center District , near The Strip, contains shops and great restaurants, like  Cornish Pasty Co. !  This place specializes in making pasties , which are baked pastries typically with meat and vegetables as the fillings.  They're basically like "British hot pockets," but bigger, more flavorful, and comes in an assortment of fillings. The bar area: Happy Hour every day:  If you look at the  menu , there are three categories of pasties - Signature, Vegetarian & Vegan, and Premium.  I counted 37 total pasties on the menu, so for sure you'll find one that'll suit your palate!  I tried the Cottage Pie - contains seasoned ground beef, pea, carrots, grilled onions, mashed potatoes, and cheddar with a side of red wine gravy.  This was a very hearty meal, definitely something best to eat after a hard day's work or have as a hangover meal - it can go either way!  I was already full eating the first half,...

Earlier this year we went to Oregon for a little getaway from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas .  We were out and about in Beaverton , Portland , and Corvallis .  I, of course had to see which restaurants in these areas were good to eat at : Aomatsu In Corvallis we ate sushi at  Aomatsu  and came in just in time for Happy Hour (8:30-10pm, Mon-Thurs).  Our favorite sushi roll from the Happy Hour menu was the Crunch Monster Roll,  which comes with shrimp tempura, avocado, crab, cucumber w/ spicy dressing covered in crunchy dressing (panko): Since my husband and brother-in-law have big appetites, the Happy Hour items weren't enough so we got the  Love Boat from the regular menu.  This entree came with shrimp and vegetable tempura, seaweed salad, Rainbow Roll, Tuna, Salmon, and Yellowtail Nigiri and Sashimi, and an eel roll: What I liked about Aomatsu other than the sushi was that they other offered Asian foods like Kore...

If Veggie House had a different name, not mentioning that it was a vegetarian/vegan restaurant, I would not tell at all that their poultry, red meat, and seafood dishes were meatless!  I was amazed by the lunch I had, it was definitely one of the best Chinese meals I've had: Our waitress suggested this spinach appetizer. I don't know what kind of sauce it was sauteed in, but its flavor was subtle yet unique. Being the curry lover that I am, I got the Curry Chicken with Potato .  I seriously couldn't tell that the meats were fake, it was so good! My fiance got the General Tzo Chicken.   It was a delight! This dish's deep fried batter to chicken ratio was about even. This is one of the restaurants in China Town area I highly recommend going to... Even to meat lovers too!  You'll be satisfied! 

After watching the documentary, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead , I was inspired to eat more vegetables and fruits because I know I should be eating more of these two food groups! I've been making green smoothies every day mainly from fresh spinach or kale, fruits, hemp milk, etc.  So far I found great smoothie recipes from Allrecipies.com .  After a couple days of drinking smoothies, I was already getting results.  I felt more energetic and my face looked more clearer (no more little pimples)! Cheers to a healthy and yummy diet! 

Mint Indian Bistro  is my favorite Indian restaurant near my side of town.  There's such a variety of foods to choose from on their menu and all foods are listed under which region they come from.  Their menu is so informative it should be a standard template for all other menus!  The service here was great.  Servers were always around and I think they each had their own individual role. As for the food, my fiance and I both had curries and shared pani puri , an appetizer.  Pani puri is also a popular street snack in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.  The puri is the small, hollow, and round crisp where you poke a little hole on top and fill it with a spicy, tangy mint chutney mix.  Since the puri is delicate, it took me awhile to get a hang of poking a hole with the spoon gently: Photo from my  Instagram  account: @ab702

For a ladies' date with my friend, we went to  Julian Serrano  at the Aria  to try some Spanish Tapas : A lovely set up Saute Mushrooms - Hedge hog mushrooms, tomato confit, and garlic demi.  These mushrooms had a really meaty texture, can't believe they were mushrooms! Brava Potatoes- These crisp potatoes were quite addicting. Vegan  Gazpacho - A Spanish chilled tomato-based soup.  Before I ate the soup, I was instructed to eat that gazpacho ball on the spoon. Right when I ate that ball, it felt like a yolk exploded in my mouth... The reaction on my face amused my friend and our server haha. I liked it, I just didn't expect that explosion! Mediterranean Bass - with donostiarra sauce, tomato confit, arbol chili, and garlic.  Churros - To be honest I was a bit reluctant to try overpriced churros. I guess I'm just used to churros for $1 or $2 at a carnival or theme park. Our waiter convinced us to try it and ...

For my lovely friends' wedding reception, the bride ordered all vegan catered food from Pura Vida Bakery & Bystro  by Chef Mayra  and had customized drinks from their reception venue,  Artiface Urban Lounge . Artiface Getting ready Customized cocktail #1 for the reception- This drink goes out to the gin lovers. Customized cocktail #2 for the reception- An awesome "girly" drink, quite refreshing! Other choices of drinks to choose from The newlyweds :) Can you tell that these pastries are vegan? Chef Mayra preparing the cupcakes Kudos to the chef! Spreading the word Yellow everywhere! Vegan empanandas- Tasted exactly like a real empananda (I've had many in my lifetime)... I was addicted!  Inside the pastries were fake meats, potatoes, and of course other vegetables. If I heard correctly (hope I did), a lady who worked for Chef Mayra told me that these were Aruban  style pastries with cranberr...