One of the current culinary trends of today is frozen yogurt, every city has at least one frozen yogurt shop nowadays. In the HD we have plenty to choose from, on this particular day I chose to give Nubi Yogurt a try. When you first walk into Nubi the first thing you notice is the wall of yogurt machines and the many different toppings available to make your healthier dessert choice highly fattening and unhealthy. For the sake of blogging, I decidedly to put everything but the kitchen sink into my yogurt. I was undecided between peanut butter and vanilla yogurt but luckily enough for me I was able to split the goodness due to the fact that they both shared the same yogurt station (similar to the combined vanilla/chocolate option on an ice cream machine). The vanilla had a light vanilla taste without too much punch and the peanut butter ice cream tasted as advertised. The only thing that makes Nubi stand out from the other yogurt shops in the HD is the large amount of cereals to put on top of your ice cream! Yes, they have all of the different fruits/nuts/candies available, but the vast amount of cereals sealed the deal for me. The yogurt shown above includes: Coco puffs, Captain Crunch w/berries, chocolate turtles, pop rocks, gummi worms, heath, reeses, kiwi, and a vanilla/peanut butter yogurt swirl. When it comes to frozen yogurt shops, Nubi's quality of yogurt is the same as every other shop out there, as a matter of fact, I have yet to see a yogurt shop in the HD that has frozen yogurt any other way. The only thing that separates these shops are the available toppings for the yogurt, and luckily enough for Nubi they offer the best selection that i've seen in the HD. The pictured yogurt cup ran me just under $5. Nubi is located at 19201 Bear Valley Rd. STE H-A in Apple Valley.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Nubi Yogurt
One of the current culinary trends of today is frozen yogurt, every city has at least one frozen yogurt shop nowadays. In the HD we have plenty to choose from, on this particular day I chose to give Nubi Yogurt a try. When you first walk into Nubi the first thing you notice is the wall of yogurt machines and the many different toppings available to make your healthier dessert choice highly fattening and unhealthy. For the sake of blogging, I decidedly to put everything but the kitchen sink into my yogurt. I was undecided between peanut butter and vanilla yogurt but luckily enough for me I was able to split the goodness due to the fact that they both shared the same yogurt station (similar to the combined vanilla/chocolate option on an ice cream machine). The vanilla had a light vanilla taste without too much punch and the peanut butter ice cream tasted as advertised. The only thing that makes Nubi stand out from the other yogurt shops in the HD is the large amount of cereals to put on top of your ice cream! Yes, they have all of the different fruits/nuts/candies available, but the vast amount of cereals sealed the deal for me. The yogurt shown above includes: Coco puffs, Captain Crunch w/berries, chocolate turtles, pop rocks, gummi worms, heath, reeses, kiwi, and a vanilla/peanut butter yogurt swirl. When it comes to frozen yogurt shops, Nubi's quality of yogurt is the same as every other shop out there, as a matter of fact, I have yet to see a yogurt shop in the HD that has frozen yogurt any other way. The only thing that separates these shops are the available toppings for the yogurt, and luckily enough for Nubi they offer the best selection that i've seen in the HD. The pictured yogurt cup ran me just under $5. Nubi is located at 19201 Bear Valley Rd. STE H-A in Apple Valley.
Thai Dawn Bistro
In the ashes of the once booming Maan Fu Steakhouse in Victorville is the newly opened Thai Dawn Bistro. Thai Dawn is from the same owners of Go Bangkok Thai in Hesperia, one of the many credible Thai operations in the HD.
As I entered Thai Dawn I immediately felt comfort in the elegantly decorated restaurant, for being such a small room, they were able to add great decor and plenty of seating while not making the diner feel like they were eating in a cafeteria or eating in an overly fancy bistro. The first thing my wife and i ordered was the "Bangkok Bites" appetizer sampler. The appetizer came with eggrolls, satay chicken skewers, fried tofu, and curry puff packets. The appetizer came with 3 dipping sauces: Cucumber sauce, Thai Peanut sauce, and a house Sweet/Sour sauce. The first thing I tried was the satay chicken, the chicken had a mild curry taste and was cooked properly, it tasted great when dipped in the mildly spiced thai peanut sauce. The best thing about the chicken was that it wasn't overpowered by the curry seasoning, which left plenty of room for tasting the great flavor in the peanut sauce. Next were the eggrolls, the eggrolls were fried to a decent crunch, but the inside was slightly mushy. The veggies inside the eggrolls were properly seasoned and went great with the house's sweet/sour sauce. The house sweet/sour sauce was a lighter version of normal sweet/sour sauces in chinese restaurants, it tasted more tangy than your average sweet/sour sauce too. Next up was the fried tofu, the glory of tofu is that it tastes like whatever you season it with or decide to dip it in. I chose to dip the tofu triangles in the cucumber sauce, the sauce tasted like a sweet/sour sauce with a slight aftertaste of cucumber, the bits of cucumber in the sauce added for an excellent crunch factor to each bite. Last were the curry puff packets which were potato bits cooked in a curry paste, wrapped in a won ton packet, and deep fried. The packets had a similar taste to the chicken satay being that both items were cooked with yellow curry, the won ton had great crunch, and the tender curry potatoes on the inside played well together with any of the 3 sauces. The fried items in the appetizer were fried perfectly and were not super greasy or overly filling, it was a perfect appetizer sampler to prepare us for the main course.
Above is the Tofu Pad Thai that my wife ordered. Pad Thai is a rice noodle dish which is cooked in a peanut sauce, and filled with meat, veggies, or tofu. My wife decided to go with tofu and veggies. My favorite thing about Pad Thai is the rice noodles, they're not super mushy or super firm, but cooked to the point where they melt in your mouth and allow you to easily taste any other item which is incorporated into the dish without feeling a strain of chewing rough noodles. The peanut sauce in the Pad Thai tasted amazing, it had a very delicate peanut taste, and very little heat. The tofu and vegetables added great texture to the dish and the crunched up peanut bits on top added a great crunch to finish out the dish. The Pad Thai alone is more than enough reason to visit the Thai Dawn Bistro.
I order the Thai Normai dish, which is a spicy curry dish with bamboo chutes, green beans, various bell peppers, and a side of rice. I also added tofu and vegetables to my main course. The bamboo in this dish shines over everything, the bamboo is very tender, yet still provides a snap when chewed and has a similar taste to cooked celery. The sauce wasn't as spicy as I had hoped, but the curry and aftertaste from the other various spices in the dish were more than enough to make up for the lack of heat. The tofu and veggies were also cooked to perfection and tasted great when mixed with the rice in the dish.
I ended up getting a Thai Milk Iced Tea with my dinner, the fact that it tasted great was nothing compared to the huge beer glass that it was served in! The service at Thai Dawn was also very prompt and polite. We went on a busy night and the service was still great. Meals were flying out of the kitchen at a quick speed, which was pretty impressive considering how much prep and seasoning goes into Thai food. If you've never had Thai food before, I would highly recommend giving it a try, the various curry's and spices in the food are nothing to be afraid of, and provide great flavor in every dish. Thai Dawn is highly recommended and for our appetizer, thai teas, and 2 main courses, the bill came out to just under $40. Thai Dawn Bistro is located at 14317 Bear Valley Rd. Ste 2 in Victorville. Thai Dawn's sister restaurant (Go Bangkok) is located at 15800 Main St. Ste 200 in Hesperia.
Out Of This World BBQ And Saloon
When you think of the HD, the last thing you think of is BBQ, especially smoked southern style BBQ. Out of This World BBQ (OOTW) is a bbq stop located in the outer part of Apple Valley that serves smoked bbq, burgers, and other various bar foods. OOTW is decorated in a country western theme, the dining area is even equipped with a booth inside of a jail cell. The dining area has a delightfully smokey aroma to it that is very common in the majority of bbq restaurants that use smokers to cook their meat.
The first thing we ordered was the Buffalo Wing Appetizer, the first thing that I noticed is that the wings came dry with the buffalo sauce off to the side. I enjoy being able to choose the amount of sauce that goes on my wings so I don't end up with sloppy and soggy wings. The wings were fried perfectly, there was amazing crunch on the outside, and a moist/juicy inside. The vinegar based buffalo sauce was perfect and not too spicy. The best part about the wings being fried perfectly is that you're not left with a super greasy wing, you're just left with brilliant crunch and tender chicken. We finished every last wing on the plate and were ready for the main course!
My wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and also added a side of mac & cheese. The pulled pork was great, it was tender, juicy, and had a light smokey aftertaste. The only drawback to the sandwich was the huge roll it was served on, while it made it difficult for the sandwich to fall apart, it also created a hassle in chewing each bite. The fries were undercooked and incredibly greasy, which was a shame considering what a great frying job they did with the buffalo wings. The mac & cheese had great flavor, but unfortunately was left in the oven for too long, the top was almost rock solid, and the pasta ended up being a huge clump of noodle underneath the hard, burnt shell of cheese.
I decided I would try everything and go with the bbq sampler platter. The platter came with brisket, pulled pork, chicken thighs, ribs, baked beans, and I substituted my corn for french fries. I'll review each item individually.
Ribs: usually when ribs are smoked the meat will fall right off of the bone, in this case, these ribs didn't. They weren't rough to eat, but they weren't as tender as other bbq spots will offer. I also was unable to taste any seasoning or dry-rub on the ribs whatsoever, which left a mild and bland taste to the ribs.
Chicken: The chicken was already diced into pieces so I took a dinner roll and made a mini sandwich. Unfortunately the chicken had fallen victim to the same crime as the ribs. No taste of seasoning and were borderline dry.
Brisket: Brisket will most likely make or break a bbq joint, nothing is more satisfying than a juicy, smokey, tender slice of
brisket. The brisket that was presented in this sampler was dry and had very little flavor besides a light aftertaste of smoke, it tasted like it was pulled out of the smoker yesterday and left on a table until it was served the following day. A smoke ring was visible on the meat (a sign of a great smoke-job), but unfortunately the meat just couldn't live up to the smoke ring.
Pulled Pork: The pulled pork is definitely the show-stopper in the sampler, it tasted great and almost made up for the unfortunate serving of dry meat that was presented with the rest of the meats in the sampler. The pork was moist, juicy, had a perfect amount of smokey taste, and almost melted in my mouth. It tasted great and was the shining star of the entire sampler.
Sides: The baked beans tasted great, i actually ended up mixing my baked beans with the meat in the sampler to provide liquid to the otherwise dry meat. My fries were also undercooked and swimming in oil just like the fries that came with the pulled pork sandwich.
House BBQ Sauce: On the corner of the table was a bottle of house bbq sauce, I figured I would drench this on my chicken to help with the dryness, while the bbq sauce is definitely homemade, it tasted like a plain bbq sauce that could be acquired from the local grocery store. The sauce had a strong brown sugar/cinnamon aftertaste that left the sauce with a very tangy aftertaste, but nothing more than that.
Before you read my conclusion I would like to first say that by no means will I ever tell anyone on this blog to not eat at a restaurant, everyone's experiences differ at certain restaurants and everyone's taste buds are different. I am simply offering my point of view, I strongly encourage everyone to try new things and to enjoy what you love regardless of what anyone says. I also support the growth of HD businesses and would prefer that we choose a local establishment over a chain restaurant. With that being said, read the next line for my conclusion.
OOTW is a fairly new establishment, they've only been open for a little over a month, it's very difficult to judge a new restaurant under those circumstances, but it's very evident that OOTW has a lot of work to do before they can become a contender with the HD's best restaurants. It seemed as if most of the servers were brand new to the craft and it was very visible that most of them were struggling. Our server let our food sit on the hot-tray for a good amount of time before we received it, she also had trouble remembering refills and extra orders, the worst part was that she incorrectly charged the couple that came with us for dinner, charging them double the price of what they ordered from a different ticket. The cooks also seemed to be overwhelmed with the large amounts of customers to cook for, which was evident in the undercooked fries, overcooked mac & cheese, and the dry servings of meat. Our friends shared a burger from OOTW, the burger came out looking like a million bucks, it was juicy, and the flavor could be smelled from the opposite end of the table, they devoured it before I could even get a picture! The negative to that is that the only reason they shared the burger is because one of them ordered a chicken salad that came with chicken that was fatty and tasteless, and was sent back. OOTW has massive amounts of potential, and I would love to go back and give them a second try once the bugs and kinks get worked out in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. Since my visit, I've heard of great experiences from friends and family member's visits to OOTW, I guess it's safe to say that maybe they were having an off night when I went. The bill for the sampler, sandwich, and wings came in at just over $50. OOTW is located at 21041 Bear Valley Rd. in Apple Valley.
The first thing we ordered was the Buffalo Wing Appetizer, the first thing that I noticed is that the wings came dry with the buffalo sauce off to the side. I enjoy being able to choose the amount of sauce that goes on my wings so I don't end up with sloppy and soggy wings. The wings were fried perfectly, there was amazing crunch on the outside, and a moist/juicy inside. The vinegar based buffalo sauce was perfect and not too spicy. The best part about the wings being fried perfectly is that you're not left with a super greasy wing, you're just left with brilliant crunch and tender chicken. We finished every last wing on the plate and were ready for the main course!
My wife ordered the pulled pork sandwich and also added a side of mac & cheese. The pulled pork was great, it was tender, juicy, and had a light smokey aftertaste. The only drawback to the sandwich was the huge roll it was served on, while it made it difficult for the sandwich to fall apart, it also created a hassle in chewing each bite. The fries were undercooked and incredibly greasy, which was a shame considering what a great frying job they did with the buffalo wings. The mac & cheese had great flavor, but unfortunately was left in the oven for too long, the top was almost rock solid, and the pasta ended up being a huge clump of noodle underneath the hard, burnt shell of cheese.
I decided I would try everything and go with the bbq sampler platter. The platter came with brisket, pulled pork, chicken thighs, ribs, baked beans, and I substituted my corn for french fries. I'll review each item individually.
Ribs: usually when ribs are smoked the meat will fall right off of the bone, in this case, these ribs didn't. They weren't rough to eat, but they weren't as tender as other bbq spots will offer. I also was unable to taste any seasoning or dry-rub on the ribs whatsoever, which left a mild and bland taste to the ribs.
Chicken: The chicken was already diced into pieces so I took a dinner roll and made a mini sandwich. Unfortunately the chicken had fallen victim to the same crime as the ribs. No taste of seasoning and were borderline dry.
Brisket: Brisket will most likely make or break a bbq joint, nothing is more satisfying than a juicy, smokey, tender slice of
brisket. The brisket that was presented in this sampler was dry and had very little flavor besides a light aftertaste of smoke, it tasted like it was pulled out of the smoker yesterday and left on a table until it was served the following day. A smoke ring was visible on the meat (a sign of a great smoke-job), but unfortunately the meat just couldn't live up to the smoke ring.
Pulled Pork: The pulled pork is definitely the show-stopper in the sampler, it tasted great and almost made up for the unfortunate serving of dry meat that was presented with the rest of the meats in the sampler. The pork was moist, juicy, had a perfect amount of smokey taste, and almost melted in my mouth. It tasted great and was the shining star of the entire sampler.
Sides: The baked beans tasted great, i actually ended up mixing my baked beans with the meat in the sampler to provide liquid to the otherwise dry meat. My fries were also undercooked and swimming in oil just like the fries that came with the pulled pork sandwich.
House BBQ Sauce: On the corner of the table was a bottle of house bbq sauce, I figured I would drench this on my chicken to help with the dryness, while the bbq sauce is definitely homemade, it tasted like a plain bbq sauce that could be acquired from the local grocery store. The sauce had a strong brown sugar/cinnamon aftertaste that left the sauce with a very tangy aftertaste, but nothing more than that.
Before you read my conclusion I would like to first say that by no means will I ever tell anyone on this blog to not eat at a restaurant, everyone's experiences differ at certain restaurants and everyone's taste buds are different. I am simply offering my point of view, I strongly encourage everyone to try new things and to enjoy what you love regardless of what anyone says. I also support the growth of HD businesses and would prefer that we choose a local establishment over a chain restaurant. With that being said, read the next line for my conclusion.
OOTW is a fairly new establishment, they've only been open for a little over a month, it's very difficult to judge a new restaurant under those circumstances, but it's very evident that OOTW has a lot of work to do before they can become a contender with the HD's best restaurants. It seemed as if most of the servers were brand new to the craft and it was very visible that most of them were struggling. Our server let our food sit on the hot-tray for a good amount of time before we received it, she also had trouble remembering refills and extra orders, the worst part was that she incorrectly charged the couple that came with us for dinner, charging them double the price of what they ordered from a different ticket. The cooks also seemed to be overwhelmed with the large amounts of customers to cook for, which was evident in the undercooked fries, overcooked mac & cheese, and the dry servings of meat. Our friends shared a burger from OOTW, the burger came out looking like a million bucks, it was juicy, and the flavor could be smelled from the opposite end of the table, they devoured it before I could even get a picture! The negative to that is that the only reason they shared the burger is because one of them ordered a chicken salad that came with chicken that was fatty and tasteless, and was sent back. OOTW has massive amounts of potential, and I would love to go back and give them a second try once the bugs and kinks get worked out in the kitchen and on the dining room floor. Since my visit, I've heard of great experiences from friends and family member's visits to OOTW, I guess it's safe to say that maybe they were having an off night when I went. The bill for the sampler, sandwich, and wings came in at just over $50. OOTW is located at 21041 Bear Valley Rd. in Apple Valley.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)