Raving about Ray's

Ah it's Tuesday and its gorgeous outside and I have an amazing meal in front of me at work, the only thing better would be to enjoy this at home. Oh well! Such is life!

So I have some back logging to do and update you since Thursday and man it was a good weekend! Thursday, Tiffany and I hit up Grand Cafe Centraal (yes with two "a's" in it) to take advantage of the 1/2 price beer special. It was super easy to get to off of 94 south and parking was even easier. We walk in and the place is awesome. Hardwood floors and dark wall paint colors, unsure if it was purple or blue, but it was cool. So we step up to the bar and I order Kasteel Bruin and Tiffany orders a Lambic Framboise. My beer was good, but unfortunately it was no Bruin. I was informed after sitting down with friends that they ran out of Bruin early and no one was quite sure what the replacement was. Oh well - still tasty. I then enjoyed a Delirium Tremens and Tiff enjoyed an XL Hoegaarden. What makes it an XL - well the glass they served it in of course. In fact, every beer was served in its own signature glass (if there was one for it). All in all it was a great night. I definitely want to go back.

Then begins our wonderful Friday night. We began at the House of Guinness and I enjoyed a Stronbow while Tiffany sampled The Knot whiskey. After two shots of The Knot, the bartender informed her he had an Irish version of Moonshine and thus she tried that. The smell burnt off my nose hairs I swear, but Tiff said the smell was worse than the bite.

After taking our time enjoying those, we headed to Ray's on South to enjoy a fish fry. (www.raysonsouth.com) This was the only restaurant that made it open in time for the Harley fest (I think 5 more were supposed to!) Besides the accoustics being horrible (because there is nothing on the walls yet), they did a great job so far decorating. High bar tables up front, one row of low tables and a wall of booths. But don't forget about the bar that has two huge flat screens on the wall and dark wood cabinets. Ok, onto the food and cocktails. I orders a Effen Black Cherry and Sprite and it was pretty worth the $6 eventhough it was in a rocks glass. OK, onto the meal - I ordered Lake Perch ($15) and when it arrived I already knew it was worth the price. I received 3 decent sized lightly breaded filets, two potato pancakes and a mix of green beans, yellow beans and carrots. It also came with soup or salad (I chose salad) and a loaf of bread with butter for at the table. Everything was really really good. I'm a conouseur of potato pancakes and theirs faired quite well. They also have a connection with Sweet Perfections Bakery on Barstow and came around to show the featured dessert. After seeing it and hearing the description, I had to have it. It was 3 layers, Top and bottom being a double chocolate cake, with vanilla bean cheesecake in the middle. Dividing the layers was raspberry preserves and it had an amazing buttercream/whipped cream toppping. (PS, the place is smoke free!!!)

So after we waddled out of the restaurant, completely satisfied and talking about the good meal (alwasys a plus when leaving the restaurant talking up the food still!), we wandered over to Neighbor's Social Club because of the live jazz music and good cocktails. (Chill was only going to be open on Saturday night that week - a had a little tear running down my cheek!) The music at Neighbor's was a little loud inside and I wanted to enjoy a perfect weather night, so we wandered to the back patio. If anyone was at Neighbor's Bistro prior ot the change, you know what the patio used to be. Well you definitely need to see it now. There is probably room to seat 15 people on each of the two patios, plus the have a boce ball grassy area, plants, a little bar and an area in the back for maybe a guy with an accoustic guitar to play (not large enough for a whole band). We got to meet the band and the drummer had some really interesting life stories that really put some of my issues into perspective as whiny little nothings!

I didn't do much on Saturday because I had to work and again nothing exciting on Sunday. Monday I made myself Chicken and Shrimp stir fry from scratch and did a pretty good job. One note, definitely get the veggies going first or they will take forever to soften. I marinated the chicken for about a 1/2 hour and the shrimp weren't added until it was almost done (being precooked). I just added a little more soy sauce and a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) to fulfill my weight watchers requirements and it was delish. I served it over brown rice and have enough over for either two lunches or one dinner!

And now I must quickly tell you about Del Monte's latest creations - found by the Dinty Moore and Bon Appetit bowls in your grocery store. Harvest Sensations Chicken Cacciatore (www.delmonte.com). Only 90 seconds in the microwave and you have total delish lunch right in front of you. With only270 calories, 7 grams of fat and 4 grams of dietary fiber - this isn't too bad for me. Sodium is a little high, but I can work on that by eating lower sodium for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash is back - so excited - good mixer and good treat for myself!!!

Ok hope I didn't make you too hungry and I'll try to keep these shorter, but that was a lot to catch up on.