writingkimberly "I eat, therefore I am."

Yesterday evening I needed a place to meet a friend in the area, so stopped into Rancho de Chimayo for a coffee.

I sat in the “bar” (which is more of a cafe-style room) and asked about the wine. The attentive and friendly waiter offered me a sample, which I accepted. It was the Santa Fe vineyard Tierra del Sol (something like that), and I did order a glass, which came in a cute little carafe.

They also serve complimentary chips and salsa in the bar, which were appreciated and delicious. :)

In any case, I thought the restaurant looked beautiful, the staff was polite and attentive, and the “vibe” was relaxing. I really enjoyed myself and look forward to returning for dinner or weekend brunch sometime.

We were pleasantly surprised by the stellar experience we had on our first visit to the Dish Bistro on Valentine’s Day evening.

The Dish offered Sam Adams and Blue Moon on tap, and the drafts were fresh and cold. The cosmos were of perfect proportion and two of them put my companion in the perfect mood.

Paul, the owner, went out of his way to make us feel welcome and appreciated. We were served sea bass that was out of this world, prepared just perfectly atop fresh mesclun greens with a few slices of potato.

The atmosphere was ideal – just enough people to bring a lively vibe, but not so many to make you feel crowded. The music was at a perfect volume, setting the mood but leaving it easy to have good conversation.

I was skeptical when I first heard of a “bistro and lounge bar” in Sandy Spring, but we had a delightful experience at Dish Bistro and, doubtless, will be going back again.

I returned to the Vegetable Garden after my several year absence from the area only to be surprised — surprised that their already excellent service and food quality has somehow managed to improve. I met an old friend for dinner and we had a delightful, delicious evening.

Thanks to the recession I’m sure, they now offer a weekday special. For $9.99 you get a soup and two main course dishes (each). The menu says they are “side” sized, but they seemed substantially bigger than sides to me! There are 8 or 10 entrees to choose from.

I got the spinach and tomato soup, which was totally delicious. I then got the Eggplant Delight as well as the Duck Hot Pot for my entrees.

The Duck Hot Pot was very good. It used wheat gluten faux meat (I’m guessing here), and the sauce was like a sweet sauce you might get in a Chinese restaurant. There were veggies and mushrooms as well, and I loved the little pot it was served it.

The Eggplant Delight was simply out of this world. I could seriously eat it every day for the rest of my life. The eggplant was prepared so well it almost tasted like plantain. There were little bits of tofu and fresh zucchini and other veggies in it. Everything was chopped into perfect little cubes, which I love.

I ate my entire meal, which I likely shouldn’t have, but it was just so delicious. My dining companion had leftovers to take home with her (she got the Kung Pao and Eggplant Delight and was extremely happy with both).

The only thing I missed was Chinese tea. You know, the tea in the silver pot with ceramic shot glasses? They delivered me hot water in a tiny cast iron pot, which was cute, and a premium green tea bag. It was good, just not the same as the load of tea in the pot.

The service was stellar, the waitress was attentive and nice without being oppressive, and everything was timely and hot when served. And the bill? Well it wasn’t anything to worry about.

I enjoyed a Sunday lunch with two family friends at India Grill. We all took advantage of the buffet, which was in the medium size range in terms of offerings for an Indian buffet. The cost was $10.95 per person. I only ate the vegetarian food, which was pretty good.

I enjoyed the small potatoes in tomato curry sauce, as well as the curried chickpeas. The naan was excellent, and I managed to extract some spinach alone from the saag lamb. The shredded seasoned cabbage was excellent, as well. I had a samosa, which was pretty good, as well as some soup, which was alright. There was some sort of green bean vegetable creamed curry which I wasn’t thrilled about. Of the dishes I tried, I most enjoyed the curried chickpeas.

To be frank, the food didn’t knock me out. It was good, but I usually leave Indian buffets even more impressed. I was hoping for saag paneer on the buffet. My companions raved about how good the meal was, and I was told the chicken curry was excellent, so that may have made the difference.

India Grill still gets four stars because the atmosphere was very pleasing. It is bright, with plenty of windows, and we sat in one of the three booths. The restaurant was very clean and the service was great. We stayed and chatted for about an hour after we ate and didn’t feel rushed to leave at all. My friend’s cup of marsala tea was bottomless. I feel that the quality of the food and service makes India Grill well worth the price.

Overall, a very pleasant experience, and I would dine at India Grill again.

I say happy hours because there’s no way you can stay just one.

I met a friend after work on a weekday and we thoroughly enjoyed the sampler. Every single beer was excellent. The light (and I’m not a light kinda girl) had a great hoppy tang to it. The pale was very high quality. The red was absolutely stellar. The stout and brown were very good, although I’m not a stout and brown fan. The current specialty beer — Fire Chief Ale, was amazing. I may have gotten one or (cough) two more of those after the sampler.

As if great beer weren’t enough, we were really impressed by their Happy Hour menu. They had a few dishes between $3-7. We got the titan toothpicks (good), the tostada (good), and the asagio cheese dip (very good). That menu runs until 7pm.

The service was excellent, and the restaurant was busy.

Overall, we had a very pleasant experience, the bill was more than reasonable, and Rockbottom was just as awesome as I remembered.

The old man and I stopped in on the recommendation of 40-year Espanola local for Sunday lunch. We were floored with how cool the place is, and how amazing the food was!

I ordered the beef taco plate (“award winning” the menu says, and I believe it). The OM ordered the beef flautas de quesadilla.

The meal starts with chips and salsa. Really freaking good chips and salsa (and I’m picky). The chips are thick and the salsa was perfect. Then, they bring salad, it’s included I suppose. I am not usually into iceberg salad, but this was fresh and delish, in some sort of wonderful, light dressing.

The dinner plates were amazing, especially my tacos! The refried beans and rice were great, and the taco shells were the thick, homemade style. The shredded beef was textured like butter, and seasoned so well. The OM was very happy with his flautas, which also had that buttery shredded beef.

They also brought sopapillas, included as well with the dinner entrees, and jelly and honey for them. We each only managed to eat half our entrees for all the food involved!

The best part? Our bill was a mere $24. No kidding! So for a several course meal, it was more than affordable.

On Sundays they only have the dinner menu all day, but during the other days they have a lunch special (but without the courses, I think).

The decor was totally cool, especially if you are into the historic Southwest motif. Lots of historical bits on the walls, definitely historic adobe architecture, and a big ol’ tree growing up right through the bar!

The service was great, and the place had that whole authentic feel that made a great meal a memorable experience. We will definitely be going back next time we’re in Espanola!

Five Star Burgers is one of our favorite happy hour haunts. From 4-6, they offer great deals on quality draft beers and sliders.

Yesterday, the significant other and I stopped by after work to unwind. We ordered pints of Santa Fe Nut Brown Ale (priced at $1.75 each for happy hour) and some snacks. The sliders are $1.25 each or $1.50 with cheese, and we did a taste test to settle our ongoing debate of whether its worth the quarter to add the cheese. The results were a “Yes!” They don’t use the slimy cheese product that fast food places do; it is actual, real cheese.

Their beef is anti-biotic free says the menu, and really tasty says me. They toast the cut side of the bun and lightly butter it which adds a yumminess to the whole thing.

As to the size, two sliders is plenty for a meal for me, a chica, and the significant other gets two or three.

We also got their ever so amazing sweet potato fries (a full order for a buck), and got their really good green chili mayo on the side for a dipping sauce.

The location doesn’t seem great there on Paseo, but if you are sitting on the patio at that time of day, the adobe walls block out traffic and you get a great view of the changing light on the mountain.

Given that we each had two beers and a full, tasty meal, and the bill was a mere $18, how could I give Five Star Burgers anything less than… five stars?

After all the hubbub about how fabulous Doc Martins is, I was surprised that our first brunch there wasn’t fabulous. The Saturday morning ambiance was great (the soundtrack was a little odd, but I liked that), the service was great (even the busboy checked in on us periodically), but the food was mediocre.

My dining companion and I both ordered the breakfast omelet, which was spinach florentine on that day. The breakfast potatoes were overcooked and chewy, which even my partner noticed and he’s hardly the food snob I am. The yam biscuit was unevenly heated, cold in some spots warm in others, drawing attention to the fact it wasn’t fresh. And my spinach florentine omlette was sorely lacking in spinach. It had, literally, two leaves of spinach decorating the top and that was it.

The coffee was delicious, and like I said the service and ambiance were great. I am hoping that this was an anomaly, and that when we get around to going there again that the food is everything that people around here say it is.

I should also mention that the prices on the brunch menu were just fine, actually lower than I expected. They ranged from $8-12 or so.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but Full Belly Deli is the friendly little coffee and sandwich shop which you could get addicted to.

We stopped by after a morning hike to get coffee. I was pleasantly surprised by the vibe inside, which is just this cozy, hang out for a while, but don’t feel pressured to spend a ton of money kind of place. The menu didn’t have seven million options, and the prices were way competitive.

My friend and I both got the english muffin breakfast sandwich and coffee for $3.25 each. (No mistake! And the croissant breakfast sandwich with coffee is a buck more.) That isn’t some vegetarian breakfast sandwich, either. The coffee was good deli coffee and the breakfast sandwich was mm-mmm good. Fresh ingredients, freshly made, delicious.

Plus, the place opens at 6:30 on weekdays, so I can stop and get a lunch sandwich on the way to work (for about $5, folks). They’ve even got vegetarian options if that’s your thing. Oh, and there’s a specialty hot dog menu if its not.

Sorry to rave, but I am impressed and will be back to Full Belly Deli sooner than later.