Nudo House in Creve Couer 8/27/2021

 For many years Mollie and I have been fans of Mai Lee, a Vietnamese restaurant in Brentwood.  It is owned and run by Lee Tran.  Her son is now and adult and married a person of Japanese decent.  Thus, the Vietnamese and Japanese fusion restaurant of Nudo House was born.  

This is good for us because I really like pho (the Vietnamese soup with the clear broth and rice noodles).  Mike and Anna prefer ramen (the Japanese soup with egg ramen noodles and a more milky broth).  

We tried a bunch of different things on this trip.  I ordered the papaya salad.  I LOVED it.  Hint: mix it up before eating.  It is shredded papaya and carrots with some cucumber in it.  There is a few bits of pork about 1/2 way down.  There are peanuts about 3/4 of the way down and the citrus sauce/dressing at the bottom is the best!  Mix it up and enjoy the peanuts and dressing all over it all.  I could eat this often!

Next we also had spring rolls.  Mike had pork and I had shrimp.  They were good, but they were typical spring rolls served with a thicker tamarind sauce with peanuts on top of it.  Just an FYI...Anna and I were watching a show about Asia the other day and we learned that what Americans call "Spring Rolls" are actually "Summer Rolls" because they are cold and meant to be eaten in the summer.  True "Spring Rolls" are the small fried rolls.  They are different from "Egg Rolls" which are fatter and contain a lot of cabbage...and are more Chinese.  

We also tried the tamarind fried chicken.  I had read online that this was good.  It was good.  It had some kind of sweetness in the breading.  It was also dotted with fried shallots and green onion.  It was a nice appetizer.  

Anna ordered Classic Nudo Ramen with pork.  She said it was really good.  The bowl had a nice amount of pork, plus the extras you get with ramen...like egg, green onion, sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, and seaweed.

Mike didn't know if he would like all that "stuff" in his ramen, so he ordered "Kid's Ramen" that just had noodles, chicken and broth.  I think he regretted it.  His broth was rather lackluster and his pieces of dark meat chicken were rather bland.  

I like pho.  In pho it is all about the broth.  Nudo house does a really good job with their pho broth.  I know this sounds "foodie" and somewhat snobby, but I find their broth to be "complex."  It just really has a lot of tastes and smells in it.  You can tell they have boiled a whole bunch of things and then strained it off to a clear broth.  I could smell meat and vegetables and warm spices like cinnamon or nutmeg.  It was a broth that had the umami taste of protein with an ever so sweet finish.  It was super yummy.  I had them add shrimp.  It comes with the customary plate of cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, raw jalepenos and fresh lime.  I add all of that except the mint.  I also add siracha.  It was a nice sized bowl and I didn't know if I'd finish it after eating my entire papaya salad...but I was able to stuff it down!!

This is a popular place...when we left at about 7 p.m. on a Friday night, there was a line that stretched outside (probably 15 people).  They also do a booming take out business.  I would totally recommend trying this.  It was good. 

Napoli 3 in St. Charles 8-21-2021

 Mike and I have like going to the other Napoli restaurants.  Probably our favorite is Napoli 2 in Town and Country.  

We like Italian and a quiet, fancy restaurant.  

This was different.  It wasn't bad, just different.  The Streets of St. Charles has a totally different clientele.  There are quite a few 20-30 year olds, so places need to be a little more casual and hip.  (I don't even know if hip is a word people still use).  So, this place had a lot of men in what I would call "dress shorts" and loafers.  The main room was kind of one big room.  It was a little loud with music that was a little loud.  Nothing was bad, I just wouldn't call it quiet, fancy, or intimate.  

We both started with a cocktail.  Mike got his usual gin and tonic but I tried one of their signature cocktails.  It was a Fig flavored Moscow Mule.  It was different but good. 

Mike started with a salad and I tried their cioppino soup. The salad was good.  Cioppino is a seafood stew.  This was good, but it was very odd with very little seafood but it had some roast beef in it!!  Weird.  The broth/sauce was good, it tasted like their red sauce.  

    

While we were eating our soup/salad we asked them to open the wine.  We chose a bottle called Bonanza (lot 2).  Weird that they have 3 different wines called Bonanza, they are just different lot numbers.  I think I'd give them different names.  Anyway, the waitress asked if we'd like it aerated and decanted.  We said yes.  I don't know that they actually aerate AND decant it, but they do aerate it.  They put the aerator on and turn the bottle upside down and put it back on your table.  Ours started leaking about 2/3 of the way through.  I signaled the waitress who came and took it and fixed it.  After aerating it, they just put it back in the bottle.  Yes, it fits better on your little table, but to truly do this correctly, it should be left in an open mouthed decanter, so it can continue to open up.  Oh, well, since she had made a mess, she told us that an after dinner drink for each of us was on the house.  

       

For dinner Mike had veal parmesan with a side of pasta/red sauce and a 2nd side of broccoli.  I had the special.  It was a linguini with mushrooms, clams, and shrimp in a citrus sauce.  I had no idea what a "citrus sauce" was going to be.  

Mike's veal was good.  I asked him about the red sauce.  He said it was good, but not as good as Cunnetto's.  He wished they would just steam the broccoli instead of blanching and them broiling it.  He's old school and doesn't love "roasted" vegetables.  

I ordered the special which was a linguini with mushrooms, clams and shrimp in a citrus sauce.  I don't know what a citrus sauce is, but I like mushrooms, clams, and shrimp...so I decided to try it.  It was dry.  I think the seafood and mushrooms had been cooked in a little broth and lemon juice and then poured over some linguini.  The linguini was drying on my heated plate.  I added a little water out of my water glass and stirred the whole thing up a bit and it was better.  It just needed some kind of broth/sauce.  The items were all cooked well and when I ate the mushrooms, I could taste the lemon (as they had soaked it all up).  

Mike ordered tiramisu for dessert with a cappuccino for his after dinner drink.  I was too full for dessert, so I asked for something "sweet" to drink.  I got a "creamy limoncello" cocktails.  It was good...think lemon dreamsicle.  

Overall nothing was wrong or bad with this restaurant.  It is nice that some "nicer" restaurants are trying to make it in St. Charles county.  This just isn't quiet and intimate enough for me if I'm going to spend around $200 for dinner.  

Balkan Treat Box in Webster Groves 8-20-2021

 This place is all the rage.

In a recent Feast Magazine (a STL foodie type mag) it won best in two categories: Best Fast Casual and Best Food Truck (Savory).  Its chef/creator was also nominated for a James Beard award.  That is a huge deal in the cooking world.  

I expected a lot.

There were 4 of us: Laurie, Vickie, Anna and me.  We arrived around 12:15ish.  There was a line, but since it was hot outside, the line was mostly inside.  Laurie currently doesn't do inside dining, so we asked for our food "to go" and snagged one of the two picnic tables out back.  It was hot and there were a lot of flies and gnats, but we survived.

Now, about the food.  Laurie and Anna got the same thing, so between the 4 of us, we got 3 different entrees.  

Laurie and Anna got the Cevapi.  It is like a split pita with a bunch of beef sausages piled on it.  There is a side of onions and tzatziki sauce.  It also came with a side of red cabbage "slaw."  I tried one of the sausages.  They were just OK.  You know how sausages need spices added to the meat to make them taste like sausages???  These didn't seem to have those spices.  It was just bland.  So, bland meat on plain pita bread with onions and tzatziki.  It is kind of like a gyro with blank meat and no tomatoes.  

Vickie got their most popular dish the Pide.  It is like a boat shaped bread with chicken and then 2 sauces: one made of roasted red peppers and one that is like tzatziki.  Even though we were eating outside, we were eating with real cutlery and since the bread is made on a big wood-burning oven, the bottom gets tough.  You really need someone to cut it up with a pizza cutter.  They don't, and Vickie had a heck of a time cutting through it to get smaller sections.  The chicken was probably dark meat that had been roasted on a spit.  It was good but nothing spectacular.  The sauces sure helped it have some flavor but again, were nothing terribly new or wonderful.  Vickie felt it was "fine" but she didn't like having to work so hard to cut something.

I got the Balik Ekmek.  Basically this is a grilled piece of fish in a pita.  The menu says "fish of the day."  I don't know what kind it was, but it was super thin...something like tilapia.  Since it was grilled it was pretty dry.  It was on the pita with some lettuce and a BUNCH of cherry tomatoes.  I don't like cherry tomatoes, so I took them off and gave them to Laurie (who put them on her sausage sandwich).  There was a little spicy yogurt sauce (but not enough).  I actually threw the red cabbage "slaw" and squeezed my lemon all over it to make a little crunch and acid.  This helped!  It wasn't bad...it was just kind of dry and bland.  

We did try the rice pudding for dessert.  It is just chilled rice pudding.  It has some cinnamon and spices in it.  On top they sprinkle pistachios and rose petals.  It was simple and good.  We shared that because Anna had noticed that we were across the street from Serendipity and Anna and Vickie love a good bowl of ice cream.  

Balkan Treat Box might be all the rage, but I just don't get it.  The fire roasted items and fire baked bread are OK but nothing had much taste.  The sauces they add are OK but not enough to really flavor the meats.  I know this place has hundreds of 5 star ratings on places like TripAdvisor and Yelp, but to me...meh...3 stars for being interesting and from a different part of the world.  

 

Long Row Lavender in Wright City 8-4-2021

 Again, in search of bridal shower venues, we (Mollie, Jon, Anna and I) headed out to Wright City to look at Long Row Lavender.  I had been here before for a PEO event a few years ago, but didn't even think of it as a venue until one of my PEO friends said her daughter was having a shower here in August.  

It is just so cute.  They have a small gift shop in the front and then coffee shop/diner off to the side.  They actually dry and package the lavender upstairs.  

Mollie liked this place right away.  

For lunch we tried several things:

Anna had a gourmet grilled cheese with some fruit on the side.

Mollie had a turkey sandwich with some fruit.

Jon and I had chicken salad sandwiches with tortilla soup on the side.

All of these were tasty.  We each also got some kind of drink with lavender in it: lavender hot tea, lavender lemonade, lavender cold tea.

We also split (4 way, so about 2-3 bites each) a piece of lemon and lavender bread/cake.  It was super yummy.  

Sorry, I don't have photos, but they aren't working.  

This place is super fun for ladies (or gentlemen) who lunch.  There are cute places outside to sit (including several porch swings (a couple of them are by a small lake).  

I would recommend this for a fun afternoon getaway.  

London Tea Room 8-2-2021

 We were looking for possible places to have a bridal shower.  So, Jon, Anna, and I went to lunch at the London Tea Room in St. Louis.  It is just south of Tower Grove Park.  

It is very small, (about 6 or 7 tables), but they do have a bigger room in the back that can hold about 20-30 people.  

Their menu shows the WIDE variety of teas they have.  We all got different kinds.  Mollie got a chai, I got an African bush tea, (sorry, I don't remember what kind Jon and Anna got).  As the teas are all loose tea, they steep them and then make a pot of tea for each customer.

We also tried several things for lunch: chicken salad sandwich on a croissant (very yummy...very crunchy, buttery croissant), homemade tomato soup (had bits of tomatoes and celery in it...but they were small...it was yummy).  Anna had a Cornish pastry.  It was like a meat pie.  It had meat, onions, and turnips in it.  She found it delicious.  She also said it was the "perfect size" for lunch.  

Lunch was not cheap, but it was fun.  If it wasn't 45 minutes from my house, I would totally go here for tea more often.  

Sapore Italian Cafe 7-17-2021

 Mike and I had seen this place when we went to the French restaurant Cafe Provencal.  They are in the same sort of strip mall.  Both have very nice outdoor dining.  They seem to both get the same sort of clientele (50+ Kirkwood type of people).  

Sapore was good Italian.  I found their menu limited.  They didn't have some of the traditional things like spaghetti with meatballs.  They were heavy on seafood.  I love seafood, but when I try a new Italian restaurant, I usually try something with a red sauce, to compare it to other Italian restaurants.  

Mike and I did start with the fried artichoke hearts.  They are breaded, fried and top with prosciutto and cheese.  They were hot and yummy.  I forgot to take the photo until there was only 1 left.  

I will give this restaurant props for their wine list.  It isn't extensive (but some places (like Annie Gunns) it is TOO big to even read), but the wines are very reasonably priced.  I do wish they'd publish it online, with their menu, so diners can do wine research before visiting the restaurant.  

We ordered an old favorite, a Valpolicella.  It was very nice.  

For supper I had the Linguini with seafood.  It was in a white wine sauce.  It was very good.  Sometimes there is too much butter/oil mixed in the sauce.  This was light and yummy.  It let the seafood taste come through.  

Mike had the jumbo shrimp dinner.  The shrimp were good, but his dinner was just OK, overall.  The veggies on the side were fine, but kind of boring.  It would have been better with a side of risotto or pasta.  

I would totally go back to this place, but I would be prepared to eat seafood. 

Loaded Elevated Nachos -Streets of St. Charles 7-14-2021 (again on 8-6-21...updated review)

Right next to Narwhal's is Loaded Elevated Nachos.  (I keep wanting to put a comma in between the two adjectives in their name).

There is actually a window in Narwhal's that you are supposed to be able to order your nachos, but it was closed when we were there...which was dumb as it was a busy night.  It was a Wed. night, but it was one of the Y-98 concert nights and there were hundreds of people in the area!

So, on the table at Narwhal's there was a napkin holder with a QR code for Loaded Elevated Nachos.  Our seating hostess told us to use the QR code, order and pay and Loaded Elevated would bring our nachos to us.  Again, we had a ton of trouble with this...the internet was so weak right there we ended up having to go next door and order.  The whole no waitresses/QR code thing is a fine idea if it is all working, but when no one's phones work in that area it is very frustrating.

Loaded Elevated has a wide variety of nachos.  Then come on metal sheet pans.  You can get one or two kinds on each pan.  There were 4 of us, so we decided to try 4 kinds.  Here is what we got :

Buffalo Chicken on the top and Bahn Mi on the bottom

Bahn Mi Nachos:  I really liked these.  I gave them an 8/10.  The pork meat was marinaded in a sweet sauce.  The chips were crispy the siracha mayo was spicy.  There were jalepenos and some other pickled vegetables (dicon radish? and carrot) that added some twang.  There were cucumbers that cooled it down.  Several textures and flavors.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos:  Mike got these.  He gave them about a 6/10.  There was not enough Buffalo sauce.  There was too much ranch and blue cheese.  When you looked at his plate you expected it to be orange, but it was white.  It was on homemade potato chips.  They got soggy too fast.

Philly on top and Ol Standby on the bottom

Ol Stand By:  Carmen got these.  She said they were good, but they weren't great...and she is a nacho expert.  Nachos are her favorite food.  We had nachos at her wedding.  We had nachos at her 25th anniversary part.  She KNOWS nachos!  She said the meat was good but the problem was the cheese.  It was liquid cheese and nachos are always better if the cheese is "sprinkle" cheese and then they've been put under a broiler.  She said it was also lacking things that could have been added (lettuce, beans, sour cream (it had a little of this)).  7/10

The Philly:  Anna got these.  She said they were good but again, the potato chip base got soggy.  She liked the meat.  7/10

For dessert we shared the cannoli nachos.  I'd give those a 9.5 out of 10!  The cinnamon sugar chips were crisp, the mascarpone cheese was sweet.  The berry jam was yummy.  The strawberries were sweet and good and the dark chocolate sauce finished it all off well.  YUM!

This place was fun.  It was fun to share all of our different nachos and try new things.  I'd go back and try some of the other styles.  

UPDATE:

OK, I've been here again.  I tried 5 more kinds of nachos.  

The California BBQ...it was OK but the pineapple salsa was SUPER

The gyro...just OK.  They meat was kind of mushy and didn't have much taste.

The cajun...super yummy.  Probably the best flavor of the night, but you have to eat them fast, as they make the chips wet super quickly.

The Mexican Street Corn...Jon added chorizo to this to make it an entre.  The corn and sauce was good, but the chorizo didn't have much taste.  This was OK, just not great.

The jerk chicken...this one had shredded chicken that had been made in a crockpot.  It was juicy and good.  The jerk spices were yummy.  They added fried plantains to the chips...super good!).  I liked this one a lot, but the juice made the chips soggy, so you need to eat this one fast.

We again had the cannoli nachos...super yummy!!