Zen Curry Dining is a full service Japanese Curry and Ramen Restaurant with a location in NORTH LAS VEGAS Nevada. The Specialty of the house is the Curry that is made of vegetables and lots of spices called Garam Masala. You have the options to add many toppings to the curry dish. The also offer appetizers like fried octopus balls, ramen dishes, Japanese Beer and Saki.
It’s not a fancy place but seems clean.
All the tables are set with spoons.
I tried a medium sized curry with chicken katsu (breaded chicken), rice, vegetables, and a potato croquette. I ordered #7 heat out of ten….I was surprised that they charge extra for each heat level….#7 is 30 cents extra. The #7 heat is pretty darn hot but not scorching hot.
The curry is aromatic, flavorful, and rich. The rice is fresh and perfect. The chicken is kinda plain and a little dry today. Maybe on another day it’s better? The vegetables are a mix of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes. The potatoes and mushrooms seem from fresh. The rest might be from frozen. I like that the potato croquette is fried to perfection. It’s light and crispy with a fluffy lightly scented interior.
My husband tries a medium sized curry but with Spam, sausage, and a fried egg. Heat level #8 out of ten 35 cents extra.
He was surprised that the Spam was fried…..He thought that the sausage taste like spicy hot dogs. The egg came out unseasoned so he helped himself to salt and pepper that sat on the counter. He liked heat level 8.
Pollo Camero is a small casual restaurant that specializes in serving marinated, bold flavorful chicken since 1971. This restaurant started out from Guatemala. Pollo Campero is now in over 15 countries and has around 400 locations with around 70 of them in the United States. Two locations are in Las Vegas. They offer bowls, a salad, chicken sandwiches, 2, 3, 4, piece platters, empanadas, nuggets, family meals, side orders, desserts, and soft beverages.
The North Las Vegas location of Pollo Campero looks sort of like most fast food restaurants. you order and pay at the counter.
Grab your beverage and a number and seat yourself.
This is more than fast food.
Your meal comes to you on real plates with real silverware and they give you plenty of napkins.
We both tried a 4 piece platter.
I tried 1/2 grilled 1/2 fried dark meat chicken with macaroni and cheese, plantains, and tortillas.
I dig into the grilled thigh first. WOW! It’s juicy, tender, flavorful, and delicious. This is much better than most chicken you get at not all but many restaurants. I try some macaroni and cheese……This is reasonably good. It’s made with real cheeses and has a good flavor but is the mushy style…still pretty good. I try a plantain. The plantain is really GREAT! It’s wonderfully caramelized and is sweet and not too starchy or oily. It might be the best plantain that I’ve ever tried anywhere. The fried chicken thigh is amazing with a delicious shattering crisp skin and exterior. Inside is dripping juicy tender delicious chicken. The white corn tortillas was heated nicely. For me this is more than I can eat but my husband was able to eat his whole plate. He got the same chicken but tried the beans, rice, and roll.
He loved the chicken as much as I did. The roll was average. He didn’t hate the beans but they weren’t his favorite but he really enjoyed the rice and of course the chicken, Mac-n-cheese, plantains, and tortillas.
Pollo Campero was VERY GOOD and sure doesn’t seem like fast food.
Petite Kitchen is a TINY French Bistro located in NORTH LAS VEGAS Nevada. This place is tiny and only has two small tables and a tiny window counter for indoor dining. I noticed that most customers do take out.
They offer fresh in-house baked goods and most of the food is made fresh to order. A few of the offerings are……. croissant specialties, real French Fries, quiche Lorraine, Croque Monieur, baguette sandwiches, salads, burgers, burrito style crepes, pastries, sweet crepes, and milkshakes.
Here are REAL French Fries with truffle oil and parmesan cheese.
WOW! They were HOT and seemed freshly made. They are seasoned nicely.
Below is the tuna baguette.
The baked in-house fresh baguette bread has airiness and crunch like no other. The tuna salad is tasty. It also was made with some fresh crunchy vegetables. I like that the size of the roll was just right and not too big.
On another visit my husband tried the Ham & Gruyere Baguette with added Brie Cheese.
He said that the ham and the mustard in the sandwich was unusually very good!
Don’t laugh….OK you can laugh……I tried to make ground turkey balls taste like corned beef and I thought that would be great for a party in meatball sized cabbage balls. I used the spices that I guessed would be good for corned beef but my fatal errors were not using Prague powder (stuff that turns beef pink) and also maybe not using beef. ANYWAYS they came out fragrant and tasty but didn’t taste like corned beef. I made a spice blend and used 1/2 in the meatballs and 1/2 all over the cabbage to flavor it. This recipe takes two days to prepare so the cabbage can stay wrapped on the meatballs.
Ingredients for around 4 servings
1 cabbage
1 quart stock or soup base (vegetable, chicken, or beef)
1 lb ground turkey (I used 99% lean)
2 eggs – beaten
1/2 cup panko
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Soup Base reduced salt
1/2 cup already cooked peppers and onions chopped
4 garlic cloves – ground to paste
1/4 cup dark brown sugar – SPICE BLEND
1 + 1/2 teaspoons sea salt – SPICE BLEND
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper – SPICE BLEND
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon – SPICE BLEND
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard – SPICE BLEND
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves – SPICE BLEND
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice – SPICE BLEND
6 juniper berries – ground to powder – SPICE BLEND
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger – SPICE BLEND
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning – SPICE BLEND
Directions
Day One – Either boil or roast the cabbage till soft. Let cool on a counter.
Mix up spice blend. (brown sugar, salt, pepper, cinnamon, mustard, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, ginger, and Old Bay Seasoning. Split this in half. Half of the spice blend goes in a large that you will mix the meatball mix in.
In a large mixing bowl with 1/2 the spice mix add the ground turkey, eggs, panko, garlic, pepper & onions, and mix well.
Assemble
When the cabbage is cool remove one leaf at a time from the core and remove only the very thick veins of the cabbage. Scoop a meatball into the cabbage leaf.
Place this on plastic wrap and twist it into a ball shape.
Repeat till done.
These NEED to sit on the refrigerator over night.
Next day
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove plastic wrap from meatballs.
Spread out the meatballs for cooking.
Sprinkle remaining spice blend all over.
Cook till well done about 20 minutes give or take.
There is always something NEW, Weird, Different, Limited, or Special Edition in the wonderful world of food. We never know WTFork we will come across when we shop for food. Uo above is –
LIMITED EDITION – Dragon Marshmallow Lucky Charms….. guess you eat a bowl of it when you do knight school.
DIFFERENT – Lucky Charms Minis…….Guess they make a good ice cream topper if you like them? Maybe the cereal machine got clogged and that is how these mini’s got invented?
DIFFERENT – Reese’s Minis……More ice cream toppers?
DIFFERENT – Cocoa Puffs Minis – guess you eat a mini cereal when you are only a little hungry?
DIFFERENT – Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mini’s…….That Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the box with the tongue is scary looking.
MORE Cinnamon Toast Crunch
WEIRD – Cinnamon Toast Crunch Loaded……with artificial vanilla cream……how good can that be?…..I thought loaded would be something fun like rum…..
DIFFERENT – KitKat Cereal…….I’ll take my chances with the candy…….
NEW – Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes in naturally and artificially flavored chocolate milkshake that also makes milk chocolate flavored……I think I’d rather just eat a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
DIFFERENT and probably LIMITED EDITION – Kellogg’s Froot Loops Wonka naturally flavored and OTHER natural flavors (what on earth can that mean?) flavored that turns your milk berry-licious…..berry berry good?
LIMITED EDITION – General Mills Reese’s Puffs Bunnies – Some people will hop to it to buy it.
DIFFERENT – Jell-O jelly beans…….naturally and artificially flavored – Hop to it!
DIFFERENT – Peeps flavored cotton candy…..with ARTIFICIAL flavors….For when you are looking for that FAKE taste.
WEIRD – Platinum Dill Pickle Cashews – Weird! Why would I want my cashews to taste like dill pickles ….unless I was CROCKED!
DIFFERENT – Dunkin’ Chocolates (Who knew?) Donut-flavored filled Jelly Donut Chocolate……I’m going to have to try this one……..
WEIRD – Creative Snacks Co. Strawberry & Yogurt Pretzels……More WEIRD and WHY? I can see maybe yogurt…………..but NOPE for strawberry on a pretzel unless you are like 5 years old.
WEIRD – Outer Space Vodka…..makes me want to puke…….ICK!
DIFFERENT – Country Cravings sesame chips that are honey Pineapple habanero flavored…….I tried them…..they are pretty good but unusually fattening…Oh Well.
DIFFERENT – Farmer’s Pantry Honey Butter Cornbread Crisps….Sounds tasty…Might be?
And there is usually something Oreo…….
LIMITED EDITION Oreo Dirt Cake with Gummy Worm inspired sprinkles? WTFork? Well that’s different! Can you “DIG” the dirt cake with gummy worm inspired sprinkles?
Well that was the New, Weird, Different, Limited, and Special Edition foods out there for March 2024. Who knows WTFork we’ll come across next month.
Dining Out With Dogs is just a “Fluff” story about taking my dogs out to eat. It started with my late dog Louie. He always loved going out to eat. When he got elderly he came down with aggressive cancer. We were told that he probably only had three months to live but might make it up to six months. The nicest thing I could do for Louie was to take him out to eat as often as I could. Louie made it another 17 months. Today I take my current dogs out to eat when the weather is right and when I can.
We went to The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill in North Las Vegas. Today I shared the Great Greek Rice Bowl with Salmon with the dogs.
The dogs got to eat salmon, chick peas, and cucumber from this salad.
My husband got a side salad-
and a gyro plate with lemon potatoes.
The dogs enjoyed some gyro meat too!
The dogs always love going to The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill!
6540 Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV – 702-749-8582
www.TheGreatGreek.com
The following week I wasn’t there to photo but the dogs got an In and Out Burger while I was doing something else.
The next week we all got to go to SNS Diner BBQ that was featured on Food Network’s Diners Drive Inns and Dives. They used to only have three tables on the dog friendly patio but now have several brand new picnic benches.
My husband started with the gumbo and the dogs got some chicken from it.
The dogs also got to eat hot links, pulled pork bbq, bbq brisket, and macaroni and cheese from my husband’s plate.
They got chicken and fries from my chicken taco platter.
The Dogs always love going to SNS Diner BBQ!
SNS Diner BBQ – 702-269-9696
3229 Losee Rd North Las Vegas NV
www.SNSDiner.com
Can’t believe it got cold again. Took the dogs to In and Out Burger for a quick burger stop. They didn’t seem to mind.
Well that was dining out with dogs for March 2024. We hope that you’ve enjoyed and we also hope to see you next month!
Eight Turn Crepe recently opened in North Las Vegas Nevada. They are a small casual restaurant that offers Japanese style rice crepes stuffed sweet or savory. They also offer Gelato, coffees, bubble tea, and smoothies.
You order and pay at the counter.
Someone calls your name when your order is ready.
I tried a Chicken Thai Crepe (grilled chicken, greens, cucumbers, carrots, peanuts, sesame seeds and Spicy Cilantro Thai Sauce. My husband tried the Philly Cheesesteak Crepe (Philly Steak, roasted peppers & onions, cheddar cheese, and chipotle aioli sauce (left off by request)).
I try my Chicken Thai Crepe.
The rice crepe is very good but this is FORKING HARD to eat without a fork and knife and plate. I’m dropping stuff all over the place. The chicken is moist but also is kinda spongy……It’s tasty but doesn’t remind me of Thai food…..I’ll go with something different next time.
The Philly Steak Crepe is closer to what it is suppose to be.
Steak, cheese, peppers, and onions…….It’s good but is a lot lighter than a real cheese steak with a lot less filling…..
For us this is our closest gelato shop so we stopped here already three times for gelato.
So far we tried single scoops.
Strawberry
Good …………..but not comparable to the AMAZING strawberry gelato from Fabio On Fire from Peoria AZ. But The FORKING Truth is that NOBODY’s anywhere can compare to Fabio’s.
Pistachio
Creamy and rich like ice cream. Maybe the freshest plumpest pistachios I ever had anywhere in a dessert but the ice cream taste more like almond than pistachio.
Leticia’s Cocina & Cantina is a Mexican Restaurant and Bar located in the Santa Fe Station Casino/Hotel in North/West Las Vegas Nevada.
Here’s the cantina.
And here’s the main dining room.
Whatever you order they start you off with complimentary chips, salsa, and chorizo bean dip.
For dinner I tried the Pescado Al Mojo De Ajo. This came with poblano rice casserole and a mixed green salad.
I’ll be honest I mean tell The FORKING Truth. This fish is just ok……tonight……Only one piece tasted fishy…..maybe I just got some of the bloodline?……..But the sauce is FORKING AMAZING! OMG it’s FORKING SCRUMPTIOUS! It’s garlic-ee…It’s citrus-ee…it’s also spicy…It’s so YUM I could drink it…..That poblano white rice casserole in the upper right corner is also super yummy delicious! Then there also is a generously sized salad on the side and also tortillas (corn or flour) This seemed like a very large platter too. I couldn’t eat it all. Next time I’ll make sure to split it in half.
My husband got the Steak Ranchero.
It tastes a whole lot better than it looks. It’s a bowl of carne asada, caramelized onions, poblano strips, jalapeños, corn wheels, ranchero sauce and tortillas on the side…..I do have to say that the carne asada wasn’t as tender as I like it to be but was flavored far better than from most places that I have been to……It’s flavored really very well.
Leticia’s Cocina & Cantina at Santa Fe Station Casino/Hotel is –
Cheese Blintzes are crepes that are usually filled with fruit, farmer’s cheese, or potato and then fried in butter. Some people like them sweet and other people like them slightly savory. Some people serve them like dessert with powdered sugar and whipped cream. Other people like them topped with sour cream.
I was shopping at Sprouts and farmer’s cheese was at an incredible price that I could not pass up so I decided to make cheese blintzes today. Latter I went back to Sprouts and purchased fruit to make a fruit sauce for the blintzes.
It’s best to make the cheese filling the day before so you can drain some liquid out of it.
Anyways my recipe made me 11 crepes so I will say 11 servings. I did have maybe enough cheese left over for one more crepe.
Ingredients for around 11 servings
4 eggs
1 cup water
6 Tablespoons sweet butter – melted
2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt
couple drops vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons butter – to fry blintzes with
2 cups farmer’s cheese – for filling
1 cup whipped cream cheese – for filling
1/4 cup sugar – for filling
1 egg – for filling
1/2 lemon – just the fresh juice – or more to taste – for filling
1 teaspoon vanilla – or less to taste – for filling
pinch sea salt – for filling
Directions
Make the filling first.
In a medium bowl combine the cheeses, sugar, egg, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt. This goes in a paper towel lined colander over night. The top you can loosely plastic wrap. In the morning I changed the towel so it could drain some more. Keep refrigerated till ready to fill blintzes.
Make the crepes. In a large bowl combine the eggs, water, melted butter, yogurt, vanilla, flour, sugar, and salt.
Melt 1/2 the butter on medium heat in a non stick pan.
Use a serving spoon to measure the batter. One serving spoon seemed to be the perfect amount of batter for my pan. You don’t just pour the batter in you have to turn the pan on its side to shape the crepe around the pan………..Once you get a nice round crepe you wait till it looked cooked and flip it and leave it on heat maybe 1/2 a minute more.
I had a pan lined with plastic wrap to collect the crepes. Between each crepe I used more plastic wrap so they wouldn’t stick together.
Repeat till done and add butter as needed.
When you are ready to make the blintzes.
Either pipe or spoon out the cheese.
You roll it up like a burrito.
Bottom and top of crepe over the cheese.
Now you roll till rolled up.
Repeat till done.
Fry the crepes in butter on medium heat on both sides till slightly browned.
You can enjoy now or add sour cream or preserves. Some people like them sweet with powdered sugar……
I made a mixed fruit sauce. It was a pint of blueberries, a pound of strawberries, and 10 ounces of pitted cherries. I added 2 ounces of butter and about 1/2 a cup of sugar. I mixed it together and this went in a 350 oven in two pans for around an hour.