November 30, 2024
Queued Up
Busy Woman by Sabrina Carpenter
Pushing Daisies by Ashe and Suki Waterhouse
Somebody Else by ROLE MODEL
getting over you by renforshort
Sinner by The Last Dinner Party
Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars
doesn’t matter at all by renforshort
Messy by Lola Young
Please don’t fall in love with me by Ashe
Pinky’s
After one of my roommates conquered the Richmond Half-Marathon, we headed to brunch at Pinky’s in Scott’s Addition, location in RVA. I had been here once before a couple years ago, but I was excited for the delicious food I remembered!
The food at Pinky’s is one thing, but the experience made it a bit more unpleasant. After calling to see how long it would be for a table for four, I let the guy on the phone know I would be there in 5-10 minutes after he said there was a table available for us already. When we arrived, we had to wait for our table to be cleaned off and set, but another party was also sat before us. We were sitting outside in the shade in the brisk 50-degree weather sitting next to heaters that didn’t have propane tanks. I ordered a coffee to warm myself up because I wasn’t expecting to sit outside, so I didn’t bundle up. The coffee came out cold. It also took our waitress to come up to our table six times before taking our order, and just to put it lightly, we were a little hangry. It took a while for the food to come out after we ordered, which was surprising because it seemed to have cleared out a bit after we arrived. The food was so delicious, I want to say it was worth the wait. And I’ll admit it was. But I’ll also say it didn’t wipe the whole experience from my mind.
I was delighted with the amazing Crispy Chicken Cutlet Bowl. The chicken thigh was perfectly cooked, the potatoes were great, but what really pulled it together was the lemon dill aioli. This was drizzled over both the potatoes and chicken and I needed more! The house greens were dressed with this aioli and it was spectacular.
Goat Cheese and Mushroom French Omelette
Grilled Shiitake Mushroom Bowl
The special, I forgot to write down. But, it had a fried pork chop underneath everything
Recent Eats
While I have had many interests and passions throughout my life, food has been the most consistent one. Food excites me. I love being in the kitchen trying new or old recipes, whether I’m making them for myself or others. I’ve always found comfort in the kitchen, and I can thank my parents for that.
I’m excited to share some new recipes I’ve tried recently!
This was out of my comfort league at the time, but I feel like this dish was a stepping stone for me in my experience. This is crispy rice with spicy tuna, cucumber salad, and kimchi pancakes. The crispy rice was easier than I had expected, because I was lucky enough to have two round pans that are the same size in the kitchen, so it was easy to compact the rice into one of them after lining it with plastic wrap. For spicy tuna or salmon, I’ve been using one by the bottle and adding a little more soy sauce. The cucumber salad consists of small cucumbers, soy sauce, sesame oil, gochujang, rice wine vinegar, and water, so all the cucumbers can be marinated. At the time, I made the batter for the kimchi pancake myself, but have since learned that the mix that comes in a bag is way easier. All you need is ice-cold water and whatever else you’d like to throw in! The dipping sauce was simply soy sauce, sesame oil, and lime juice.
This was the first time I attempted to make a hefty ramen at home, and oh boy was it worth it. First, the ramen base was sesame flavored but was spicier than I expected so I only used ½-¾ of the packet. I cooked the ramen noodles and some pork and shrimp wontons in the broth, as well as the shabu shabu by pouring the hot broth on top in the bowl. The rest of the toppings are green onion, corn, kimchi, and pan-fried enoki mushroom. Hot and filling for the cold weather!
This is one of my easiest dishes! The salad is just romaine lettuce and the dressing is just olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. When I add shrimp to this, it’s necessary to add the oil from the pan after pan-frying them. For the shrimp, the marinade is olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. Easily put together in 15 minutes and is so delicious!
This was a recreation of my favorite meals from my study abroad in South Korea. Korean BBQ is one of the biggest blessings to this world. I was housesitting for my parents the week I made this meal, so I was able to use their grill. The spread consists of grilled pork belly, rice (usually mixed with Maggi), minced garlic, soybean paste (Doenjang), and green leaf lettuce. You take all of the toppings and make it a lettuce wrap. I wish I was able to have or make Korean BBQ more often. It’s quite simple but fantastic.
Casa
del
Barco
I recently grabbed lunch with a great friend of mine and she introduced me to Casa del Barco on Canal St in RVA! It was set up for the holidays and the decor was fantastic. The first room was bright and honestly lifted my holiday spirits. I took some pictures to show how fun the decorations are!
I ordered the shrimp fajitas, and I was not disappointed. The sizzling plate was no surprise, but that doesn't mean it wasn’t fun. It came with a great selection of toppings, which allowed me to put new toppings on for every taco I made. Perfectly cooked and just enough food for me!
I find that most Mexican restaurants have generally the same menu, but this was definitely more limited but with even better options! There were plenty of things I wanted to try on that menu, but that just means I need to go back again!