sörenberg bahnen

San Francisco—one of my favorite places in the world, and a place that is truly like a second home.  Recently we were fortunate enough to stop there for a few days on our way to an amazing family trip to Hawaii.  We mainly just wanted to eat, and hang out with some old friends, and get our bodies a little adjusted to what is ultimately a 6 hour time change.  My kids love San Francisco too, and love seeing their old babysitter (as do we when it comes time to go out for dinner).  It was a quick trip with some great meals—most of which I will discuss in this post.  I am saving our last dinner for a separate post. The first day, after traveling for hours and getting up at 4:00 am, we were all starving. We tried to pop into Tadich Grill, an old school place right by our hotel but it was packed.  We saw Perbacco right next door, and although it isn’t a place we would probably normally take the kids, we were desperate.  We were greeted warmly, even with our two slightly disheveled and weary t

Recently I posted about a sushi meal and the day I posted it, there were several comments discussing sushi, which of course instantly put me back in the mood.  I did want to at least try something new though, so hubby and I decided to try Izakaya.  It took us a few minutes to find it because it is back in a strip mall area off to the side, but we finally did.  When we walked in, I liked the interior (other than it was freezing of course).  It is modern and feels a little nicer than a lot of Japanese restaurants. They also offer hibachi grills, so we may have to go try that with the kids one of these days. They have a lunch special that includes ordering a couple of rolls (from a list of choices) for $9.95, which is what I got.  I picked the tuna roll with avocado and the shrimp tempura roll.  It is a pretty good deal considering one of the rolls on the regular menu is $8.95.  I can’t say I loved one better than the other—the tuna was nice and fresh—it was pretty simple though.  I would

The Story Inn has been on my list for quite awhile but we just never managed to get down there—it is in a somewhat secluded little town (um, called Story) near Nashville, Indiana.  It just so happened this summer my daughter went to camp nearby so hubby and I decided to go spend the night and have dinner the night before we were due to pick her up. The restaurant/inn is a really charming little place with creaky floors and supposedly a resident ghost. We rented one of the rooms in an adjoining building.  It was very rustic—if you want a country type getaway for a night, this might be your cup of tea.  Honestly, it was a little close to camping for me, and I if you knew me, you would know I am not much of a camper. The restaurant has a fairly limited menu, which looks like it changes seasonably—honestly, this was one of the days that it was about 103 degrees outside so I was having a hard time committing to a really big meal.  I just have a hard time eating a ton when it is that hot.  I

I heard there was a soft shell crab sandwich special at Kincaid’s for lunch, so naturally I had to try it.  Not only was it soft shell crab, but it was combined with one of my all time favorite sandwich combos, the BLT plus avocado.  It wasn’t a cheap lunch at $17.95, but sometimes you have to splurge (it also came with potato salad and fries). I enjoyed the sandwich—the crab was cornmeal crusted which isn’t my favorite crust for soft shell crab, but it was done well and the crab was large and quite juicy.  I loved the tartar sauce that they served on the sandwich and alongside—it was really tangy and had a lot of flavor from chopped up artichoke.  It was a nice twist on a classic.  Actually, all the ingredients were good—the bacon was plentiful and the avocado nice and ripe.  Honestly though, and I always remember this after I start eating a soft shell crab sandwich, I think I just prefer soft shell crab more on its own, without extra bread or anything (well, maybe a sauce or somethin

We have wanted to try Divvy again since our first experience awhile back.  We went with a large group the first time and I was a little overwhelmed with all the different things we tried.  This time there was just 4 of us, and while we still got to try a lot of things, I didn’t feel quite as overwhelmed.  Also, our server was exceptionally friendly and helpful this time.  The menu had changed a fair amount since our first visit, but there were still several of the same items as well (I assume the more popular items). We started with a couple of the spreads/cheese starters—we had the bruschetta ($6) and the bruleed brie ($8).  The better of the two was definitely the bruleed brie.  It was toasted pretzel bread slices with a little fig jam, nicely melted creamy brie, and tart green apple slices.  Normally I don’t get that excited about brie, but this was a great combo with the apple and the sweet jam (but there wasn’t too much of it which was nice). The bruschetta was grilled slices of f

This is just a quick update on Brugge because I have reviewed it several times in the past and in general, am a pretty big fan.  We pretty much always get mussels ($19.95)—our current favorite flavor being the blue cheese and bacon.  I really like that no matter how heavy handed or light handed the cook is with the seasonings on any particular day, you can always taste both of those ingredients—and there are always big hunks of blue cheese scattered throughout to fish out of the broth.  This is what we had this time, as well as the last few times I have been with various people, and they have always been good.  Their frites are some of the best in Indy.  They are super crunchy and fresh. I am also still stuck on my favorite frites sauces, the aiolis (I like both, but particularly the raw garlic one), the blue cheese and the sherry vinegar with sea salt.  This trip though, my 6 year old ordered the steak frites which is a hanger steak served with a big pile of their frites on top.  ($1

I seem to be on a roll right now of working through several places that have been on my list forever.  Hubby and I intended to head to the west side to try one of the great ethnic options over there, but ran short of time and decided to head to Carmel and try Sichuan instead for lunch.  They have a really interesting looking buffet, but hubby isn’t supposed to eat from them (long story) so we just ordered off the menu.  We made the mistake of ordering a couple of appetizers that were just too generic and not very good—the crab rangoon ($3.50) and the dumplings ($3.99).   They were certainly generous portions for sure, but pretty sure you can get that same crab rangoon anywhere (and honestly, I am not a big fan of them anyhow).   The dumplings were just pot stickers that weren’t pan fried.   Typical minced pork filling.   I thought the skin was a little overly doughy actually so we weren’t doing that well to start. And I kept eyeing the buffet wishing I had gotten it anyway. Lots of int

One kid at camp, and the other with not much to do, I convinced my son to be my lunch date to try a new place with me.  No matter how obvious it is to them how much I like to try new places, my kids like to torment me by always wanting to go to the same places.  Luckily, I was convincing on this particular day.  Unfortunately, when we got to the Tie Dye Grill, the place was already jammed and there was a wait (it was like 11:30 too).  My son was not overly impressed with my choice so far. Somehow I convinced him to stay (mainly because I had no idea where to go close by as an alternative) and it wasn’t too long before we got a table.  The service staff pretty much completely ignored the people waiting for tables though, and there was no sign in sheet or anything, which was a little awkward because there were two doors and people coming in the whole time. We ended up talking amongst ourselves to determine who was there first. A sign in sheet or a hostess or something might be helpful he

I normally write my posts in order of when I eat at a place, but hubby and I had such an enjoyable lunch, that I decided to bump this one up and let a few of the others linger a bit more in the back of my head.  Hubby has been mumbling about this place since he first heard about it because, as I have said before, he lived in New Orleans for 4 years in college and loves a good po boy.  We have found a few around town that we enjoy, but had not one found one as authentic (according to him) as B’s. The far and away best thing about the sandwich is the bread.  Hubby was very happy and declared it “perfect.”  It is a very light, soft French bread with a crispy crust, but is in no way overly chewy or hard. Super soft and super easy to eat.  Apparently, they order their bread from Leidenheimer bread in New Orleans for the real deal.  And according to hubby, they are nailing it. We ordered a half fried shrimp po boy (all half po boys are $6) and a half fried oyster po boy and a side of fries (