Dining at Jade E. Garden

This was the first Chinese Restaurant that I have eaten in the USA. Few days after I moved here (year 2006) they brought me here and I was so excited to see different dishes that I am familiar with. This place has become memorable.

We haven't been back here until we moved to our new home. This is now the closes chinese buffet that we like so whenever we feel like having chinese food we come here.

What I love most about this place is the supply of fresh oysters. Unlike some other buffet restaurants, you con't have a long wait when you want to eat oysters. Fresh oysters are always in the bar. The only bad thing about this place, they have limited choices. But for the sake of oysters, this place is where I wanna be.

Dining @ Joe's Crab Shack

Dining at Joe's is one of the best.
We started with Fried Calamari for our appetizer.



For our main course, we ordered crabs with corn in a cob and some french fries. The corn was so sweet and the crabs were so tasty.

Of course, a meal won't be complete without a dessert for the little girl!

Breakfast @ Cracker Barrel

The Cracker Barrel chain is a Southern themed chain, and serves traditional Southern comfort food. Breakfast is served all day, though the breakfast menu is kept separate from the one for lunch and dinner. The outer porch of a Cracker Barrel store has rows of rocking chairs for guests to enjoy before or after eating, and there is usually a fireplace and a checkers table within the dining area for an added country feel; patrons are welcome to sit down for a game.

For the previous times that we ate at Cracker Barrel I was not impressed with their food. I would not go my way to eat at Cracker Barrel. But, the last time Mischa came, we have to find a place to eat for breakfast before she heeded home. We ended up agreeing to meet for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

This time I ordered a southern omelet which was really good. Mischa had french toast and the rest of us have the same order... omelet.

The breakfast date was great. We all had a good food for a change and we enjoyed each other's company.

Restaurant Business

I love dining out. Besides going to watch movies, dining out is one of the things we splurge quite often. No, we don't dine out at 5 star restaurants. We just love eating out in different restaurants and venture into different cuisines.

Restaurant business is something I will be interested should I be given a chance. Actually I have a friend who is in the planning stage of opening a Filipino restaurant. Given the fact that there is no Filipino store in our area including in greater Birminghan area, I think that it is a good business. The planning stage takes quite a while as a new restaurant should need restaurant equipment and other restaurant supply. Looking for a good price for these takes takes long and time consuming.

Because I have checked different restaurants in our locality, I advised my friend to invest into professional cookware as it will make a difference. I know it may require a bigger investment but it is worth it. I told her to check out wasserstrom restaurant supplies for all her needs as they offer great products at a very good price. They have plenty of cooking supplies and a lot more!

Dining @ Penang Restaurant

This is the first time that we dined at a Malaysian Restaurant. The food was really good. The design inside the restaurant is also different.

I ordered Chicken Satay for appetizer. It was good and you can taste the ginger in it. I didn't like the peanut sauce very much.

This is the crispy fried calamaris. It was so good.

I ordered this noodles in claypot because I thought this is the same with the noodles that you can order in Japanese restaurants (like Rai Rai Ken in Phils). It was not. It was good though.

Fried Red Snapper in some hot sauce.

Andrea enjoying her lychee drink. I had coconut drink.

The price of the food in this restaurant is very reasonable.

Dining @ Lone Star Steakhouse

We can't decide where to eat yesterday. At first we went to a place where Cajun Steamer and Logan's Steakhouse were located. Both of the place were fully packed. I suggested to try Logan's since I haven't eaten there. As we parked, we changed our mind as there were too many people in that restaurant. We were sure that we will have a long wait and we were already hungry.

We decided to drive further and found Lone Star Steakhouse. Dave and I have never tried eating there so we end up dining at Lone Star Steak house. The place was not very crowded and we like the ambiance.


I like the design of their menu.

We ate a lot of their bread. It was so good. Can you believe that after 1 loaf, the waitress brought 2 more! Wheww we didn't finish the bread.

Dave's order. 23oz porter house with double fries (Andrea ate the fries too!)
My order. 11oz sirloin steak with texas rice and steamed broccoli.

We ordered vanilla milkshake for Andrea. Dave and I both had Iced Tea. The food was good and for a change we got great service!

Mexican Dining

We love Mexican dining. One of our favorites is the Villa Fiesta in Irondale, Alabama. Of course we love their cheese dip. All of us can't resist fresh chips and cheese dip. Obviously, Andrea got that from us that is why she always enjoys Mexican dining too.

For the first time we ordered her a kiddie meal. She loves "fry fries". She didn't like the popcorn shrimps so it end up in my to go box. We share a virgin mango margarita. We always like them.

Dining @ Caney Fork

For our Father's Day celebration last Sunday, we dined out at Caney Fork. It was great and their food was excellent! We really enjoyed it.

Fried Green Tomatoes for our Appetizer

My plate - Sirloin steak, grilled salmon, broccoli, mushroom/onion

Dave's Plate - 1/2 rack ribs, sirloin steak, fried okra and the fries (which he shared with Andrea)

A side of french fries... Andrea's fave

That was the first time that we dined in at Caney Fork and we are sure to come back. The price of the food are very reasonable and their service is really great.

Family pic while waiting for our food. Andrea sipping her strawberry fruit shake.

Dining @ Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel was the first restaurant that we dined in when I got here in the USA and I didn't like their food that is why we never get back to Cracker Barrel for a long time.

Anyway, we decided to try them again since I am used to American food already and this is what we had...

Homemade biscuits with gravy

Grits

Bacon, Sausage, Ham, Eggs

Part of the meal that we order has fried apples. We ordered coffee and chocolate milk for Andrea.

The same verdict that I can say, I still don't like the food at Cracker Barrel.

Mother's Day Dining Out

Hubby asked me where I would prefer to eat for Mother's day.... guess what my answer was? Mexican! I was craving for a good chips and cheese dip... Mexican freshly cooked chips and the salsa plus cheese dip is just so irresistible. So, we ate at the Mexican Restaurant for our pre-Mother's day celebration.

Sharing Cheese Dip... Yummy!!!!

More Food...

Sunday, Mother's Day, Dave brought us to our favorite Chinese Place and had lunch there. Andrea and Dave gave me cards and Dave gave me a new laptop case. I constantly reminded Dave not to buy me any jewelry and flowers for Mother's Day.

Saturday and Sunday nights, Dave grilled for our dinner. I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Babe, thanks for making Mother's Day (weekend) special!

Dining @ Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant

For Dave's birthday weekend, we dined at Mi Casita Mexican Restaurant. It was just the two of us because Andrea stayed with her Nana and Papa.

We have a few choices as to where to eat but I opted the Mexican restaurant because I was craving for Mexican tacos. I know I can make tacos at home but the taste is just different from the Mexican tacos.

We were surprised at how cheap their food was and we received the best service too. For a change, we got a very nice server. For the past two restaurants that we dined, we receive poor service of their servers.

Anyway, we ordered a special dinner which we end up bringing home more than half of it....

Dave with our food...

Guacamole salad and tacos ( sshhh I don't like guacamole salad)

Special dinner... spanish rice, beans, chili relleno, tamale, chalupa

In the special dinner menu, there were 8 items in it for just $8.95. We ordered 2 so I had more than enough food to bring home!

Surprise Dinner @ Red Lobster

The other night, hubby surprised us with a dinner at Red Lobster. He came home early from work just to get us out and dine at Red Lobster.

There was a waiting list when we got at the restaurant but it didn't take long for us to be seated. Andrea was enjoying the aquarium with lobsters in it.

Anyway we ordered tea for our drink and orange juice for Andrea. Well, Andrea didn't like her juice... too bad!

We ordered mozzarella cheese sticks for our appetizer. Then for our salad I had french dressing while Dave had oil and vinegar. The picture below were the main course of our dinner.

Dave's Dinner: Steak, lobster tail, broccoli and potatoes

My Dinner: 1 1/2 lb King crabs and french fries

I had enough left over of my King Crabs that I brought home. I had another meal of rice, king crabs dipped in bagoong... yuckky but yummy! lol

Dining @ Italian Bistro

As I have mentioned, we went out for a date for our post-valentine celebration. We dined out at The Daily Bread Italian Bistro for the first time. It was so amazing to know that their price is very affordable. The food was really great and for the price we paid we will surely come back again.

SALAD

lettuce, black olives, cucumber, carrots, croutons and thousand island dressing (My salad)

lettuce and cucumber with blackberry vinaigrette dressing (Dave's salad)

APPETIZER

fried mushroom

SIDE DISH

beignets

MAIN COURSE

(Dave: Italian Trio)
Baked Spaghetti, Lasagna, and Manicotti baked with meat sauce and marinara and topped with mozzarella cheese

(Mine: Grouper Guiessepi)
Grouper topped with onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, and feta cheese. With a side of pasta alfredo.

Dining @ The Palace

The Palace is a classy Chinese Restaurant. There is no buffet. It is located in a shopping area in Trussville, Alabama. I have eaten in this restaurant when I was pregnant with Andrea and I like their food.

When we dined in The Palace few days ago, we had a wonderful experience, except for the hostess that was not so accommodating. The rest of the waiters and waitresses were all so wonderful and they gave us a wonderful service.

Since it was a cold day when we dined, we ordered wanton soup which was really good. For our main course, Dave ordered sesame chicken while I ordered pork with vegetables. For our drinks, we both order tea. Their tea is better than any chinese restaurants.

Pork with Vegetables

Sesame Chicken

Dining @ Longhorn Steak House

Longhorn is Dave's ultimate favorite steak house. To welcome the New Year, we decided to dine at Longhorn last weekend.

It was a very cold day and in my mind, I thought there will be less customers because it was cold. I was wrong.... we had to wait to be seated....

Andrea holding the waiting gadget which she though that its a phone

We finally got seated after almost half hour of waiting. But to our disappointment, no waitress even bothered to ask for our drinks. After 15-20 minutes we have to talk to the hostess because nobody was serving us.

The hostess dutifully ask for a drink (Dave had tea and I had raspberry iced tea). She asked for our order. I wanted a whole rack of baby back ribs but to our disappointment, they run out of ribs.

Andrea looking at the menu

The hostess served us our drink and the bread and waited for our order. A waitress finally asked for our order and Dave ordered for a porterhouse steak (22 oz steak) and for the side he ordered french fries and onions. For myself, I ordered salmon, french fries and salad with oil and vinegar as dressing.

Dave's dinner

My dinner

The food was excellent. Their salmon was so moist and I am glad I ordered it. All through the time that we waited for like forever, Andrea was bored yet she didn't complain. She didn't cry, she patiently waited and we are so proud of her.

Longhorn's service that night was the worst we ever had.... I guess they knew that their service was really bad that they didn't charge us with our drinks.