First time to Valley Tap House

I had heard some good things from friends about the Valley Tap House in Apple Valley, MN, but was late to the game.  I finally made an excuse to get me and the family out to dinner.  I took the kids early to get started on the 1/2 price apps and washed it down with BOGO happy hour drafts.  This place hangs their hat on their Pit beef and pork sandwiches.

I picked two apps, one I thought would appease my young kids and the other for me.  So I chose the Hot Salty Pretzels and the Buffalo Chicken Wings.  The hot salty pretzels were a little bland for me, not my thing, I would pass on these in the future.  They cam with a couple of interesting dipping sauces, but still didn't hit home.

 On the other hand, the wings had good texture and flavor on full sized un-trimmed wings, just the way I like them.  Plus they came with two different dipping options, one a savory sauce and the other Bleu Cheese.  I would definitely order these again.

The kids entrees were well received for by the kids, I think they both got Mini Corn Dogs.  My wife got a Cuban smoked pork, she did not love it, but I ate her other half for lunch the next day and I thought it was solid.

I instantly gravitated to the Thai Dragon, which is a Pit Pork sandwich with chili sauce, peanut sauce, Red Onions and bacon.  The sandwich had great flavor and a spice level higher then expected, but I am in to that kind of thing.  I liked the state fair style fries as well. Once I make my way through a few other items that I want to try on future visits, the Thai Dragon will be in the rotation.

Thai Dragon Pit Pork an instant winner!

Since my first visit, there was a Groupon special that I grabbed a couple of, so I look forward to future visits!

Last night in Dublin

After two weeks on the road in Ireland, we were just about spent as a team.  We spent our last night in Clontarf Castle Hotel, there was a graduation at the castle and waits to eat there were way longer then what we could tolerate.  So we asked concierge for a recommendation, and helped us make some reservations at Hemmingways which was a 5 minute walk from the castle.

 We got there pretty early by Dublin standards as we were road weary and hungry, plus wanted to get a good night's rest before travels back to the USA.

 I sampled the wings, very unique flavor, but also very tasty, I could have used a little more of the sweet chili sauce that came on the side, but they hit the spot.

 A twist on your traditional caprese salad was enjoyed by the ladies. Was called Capri Salad, grilled tomato & mozzarella slices topped with seasoned olive oil and basil peso jus.

I had this spicy shrimp dish (Pil Pil Prawns) that was extremely flavorful (chili, win & garlic sauce) to the point I tried to sop up as much of the sauce with my toasted bread as I could.  Pictured below a similar shrimp dish that my wife enjoyed with a more traditional garlic/cream type sauce.

Probably one of the best meals we had in Dublin area, if you are in Clontarf area, this is a restaurant to check out!  





In near future I intend to catch up on my domestic dining, but I am also taking a trip to Puerto Rico in January, so keep an eye out for those upcoming posts!

Fenton's Of Dingle

 Our first night in Dingle we dined at Fenton's based on the recommendation of our B&B (Milestone).  We had the option to eat inside or in the outdoor seating area in back which was like a little outdoor garden patio, nice but there were a few bugs.

Overall the food was pretty good, my favorite part was a smoked mackerel pate that they brought out to our table as a starter.  I believe our group has one fish entree, two chicken and I got the Chargrilled Kerry striploin of (Beef) Steak.  Others very much liked their chicken, my steak was just okay, flavor was okay, but definitely overcooked as I requested Medium Rare and got Medium Well, I am kind of picky when it comes to over cooking steaks.  There was no pink left in this steak :(

Steak overcooked and not overly large portion

Coffee Ice Cream

The sides came family style, they were quite good.  My wife enjoyed her coffe ice cream, but the highlight of the meal was the rhubarb crumble for dessert, we almost returned just to have that again!

Overall, food was pretty good, little pricey for the portion sizes, I'd go again for the crumble.

Traditional Stew at Bollards - Kilkenny

We only had a single day in Kilkenny, we had a lunch stop at a cafe just down the street from Bollards, which I believe was called the Pantry, very good!  Don't have pictures, but they had very good sandwiches, quiche and a few other items we split.

After a bit more walking around for sites and shopping we settled in at Bollards based on our B&B owner's recommendation.  We ate a bit early and the place was nearly empty.  I am one to try many different things, so I tried their Traditional Lamb Stew, I found it quite good, would be awesome to warm a person up in the winter.

Traditional Irish Lamb Stew

One of my travel companions had fish & chips, fairly ordinary, we felt like the fish was very good, but breading was ordinary.  We had a pretty good cheese plate, but our chocolate cake dessert was awful and dry.  I think a 2.5 rating was fair for the meal we had.

If you can make it to the St. Francis Abbey Smithwick brewery tour before it shuts down, you have to get there for a pint, best pint of Smithwichs hands down!  If not, the Abbey is still a cool site, worth the visit.

Smithwicks Pint from Downstairs tasting room at original Brewery

Disney's Flyng Fish Cafe was Delightful

Back in early April a work conference brought me to the Disney Yacht Club near Orlando, FL.  Overall, very busy and many of our breakfasts and lunches were catered in as part of the conference and for the most part were pretty standard but good, they always have awesome fresh fruit!

My one evening out with a co-worker, we hit up the Flying Fish Cafe, part of the Disney Boardwalk, not too far from Epcot.  It was fairly busy, but were were able to get a nice pair of seats at a bar that looked into the kitchen, made for an entertaining dining experience.

We got things started with a Yellowfin Tuna Tartare and crispy Tempura Tuna-Vegetable Sushi Roll appetizer.  This thing was super delicious, only complaints that is was only 3 pieces and hard for two to split equally and wish we would have got two!

For dinner, I ordered the Signature Flying Fish Café “Potato-wrapped Red Snapper.  It was quite flavorful and cooked perfectly.  Really no complaints other then after seeing the filet sized Char Crusted Tuna that my buddy ordered, I really wish I had ordered that.  He said it was awesome.

Overall, fun dining experience, very nice and good food with out being stuffy.  I'd give my meal a 4, probably would have been a 5 if I'd ordered the tuna!

Taste of Thailand - Minneapolis

We brought in some Taste of Thailand for a meeting on Thursday. Plating is not so great out of a take-out container on a paper plate, but it still hit the spot. The selections were pretty safe and standard, got a couple orders of Chicken Pad Thai and Chicken Curry. Also, never sleep on this place's egg rolls, some of the best around.

Nice about this place, you can dial in to the heat level you like. Usually ask scale of 1-10, even if you like your food spicy, a 7-8 should get you plenty of heat.

The Pad Thai was very solid but the Chicken seemed a little lower grade then I remember. Chicken Curry had good flavor, but a little runnier then I prefer. Wasn't perfect, but still a nice spicy change of pace, had not had Thai in several months. I give the meal a 3 score, but you catch this place on a better day and it likely delivers a solid 4. Still miles above your average Asian take out joint or buffet. This is good eats.