Saturday, February 22, 2025

Cobalt Smoke and Sea in Creve Coeur 9-28-24

This place is a solid 3.5-4 stars.  

We have been to this place several times before, so I almost didn't write one of these.  We came here before the Fox.  They always have interesting drinks and pretty good food. 

I started with some kind of fizzy, numb your mouth drink.  I find that sooo weird. It is made with the buzz button plant that literally is like novocain for the inside of your mouth.  



We started with an appetizer that was the special.  It was proscuitto with oranges and thick cut candied bacon.  It was interesting



Mike had fettuccine bolognese.  You could tell the pasta had been hand made.  He liked it. 



I had some steamed halibut on baby bok choy with other vegetables with a vegetable soy broth.  It was good...not great.  



Mad Dog and Cats 10-25-24

 On a random Friday night we decided to try this place.  It always seems to have decent reviews.  It is over on Hwy 94 and Wolfrum, so it isn't far. 

The inside is just a bar with a few tables and booths.  We were lucky to get a booth.  

Mike started with the French Onion soup.  It supposedly one of their specialties.  Mike said it was OK.



Then Mike had their reuben sandwich.  He said it was good, but nothing spectacular.



I got the fried cod sandwich.  It was fine.  The cod was like Fish Fry cod and it really didn't fit on the bun well, but it tasted fine.  



This place was fine.  We didn't find anything that will make us come running back. 

Truffles in Clayton 2-13-25



 We were driving to Nebraska on Valentine's Day, so we went out for Valentine's Day supper one day early.  

We got a bottle of Iconoclast cabernet.  It was big and bold.  I knew Mike would like it.  



We also decided we were going to have several appetizers.  Their special was fried pecarino romano cheese with pistachios, herbs and hot honey over the top.  They were super yummy.

Then I decided to have the ceviche.  I love ceviche.  This one was just weird.  The presentation was a crazy fail.  The fish was in a sauce on the right side of the rectangular plate.  The sauce waned to run over the right side and get under the bowl.  The bowl was weird.  It held a huge scoop of crushed ice and then had a lettuce leaf, 2 pieces of cucumber (cut super thick) and 2 halves of some kind of radish.  I didn't know what to do with any of that.  The fish and sauce were super yummy.  The sauce was made with lime and orange.  The orange was a nice twist.  They also placed tamarind chips on top of the fish.  That was a fun thing.  The chips would have been too strong to eat alone, but with the fish they added a nice salt and crunch.  I enjoyed the fish.  The presentation was just weird. 



Mike got a bowl of their French Onion Soup.  It is always good.  



For dinner Mike got a petit filet.  It was the smallest steak I've ever seen in my life!!  I think it was still something like $40.  That is crazy.  It was cooked perfectly, but super small and the 1/2 of a twice baked potato was super small, too.  The broccoli rob was what filled up the plate.  


One of their specials that night was an Asian dish with shrimp and rice noodles.  I got that.  It was good but too big for me to even come close to finishing.  I did take it for left overs to school and the rice noodles really didn't last very well, they were super mushy


We split a piece of chocolate torte for dessert.  Again it was much smaller than I expected.  I got a glass of tawny port to go with it, which has almost a raisin taste.  They were very good together.


This place is high end and expensive, but I am surprised how small some of the dishes were.  I kind of feel ripped off after paying over $300 for supper and tip.  The food is always good and the ambiance is also something you are paying for, and I know prices have really gone up on some things, but we definitely can't make this a regular place.  


Sushi Boat in St. Charles 12-31-24

I would give this place 4.5 stars.  

Jake and I tried this sushi place for lunch on New Year's Eve day.  It was small and crowded but we were lucky enough to get a booth without waiting.  

They menu is huge.  The sushi rolls are huge.  We ordered way too much food and had to take a bunch home.  

First we ordered green tea...it was the real stuff.  It came in a little pot with the green tea leaves steeping in the hot water.  You put it on top of your cup and it flows down into your cup.  Super yummy.  They come back and fill it with more hot water.


We ordered 5 rolls.  They were all good and I'd order them again. The rolls tend to come out one at a time.  Probably 30 minutes between the first and last one.  So, we ate one at a time.  Which was a bummer, as we were super full by the time the last one came out.

We started with the Cardinal Roll topped with rib eye.  Jake liked this one.  I didn't need the steak. 


Then we had the St. Charles roll.  It was OK.  The stuff piled on top was kind of too soft and made the bites too big. 


Next was the Gold Coast Roll.  The salmon on top was really good.  


Then we tried the Yummy Roll with 3 sauces.  It was good. 


Lastly, we tried the St. Louis roll.  It had sweet potato.  It was good and had crunchy stuff on top, which was (of course) not crunchy the next day...bummer.  


The rolls are more expensive because they are so big, but it is nice to have another sushi place to go to.