Lunches with Dad – Peachtree Buffet

Aaaannnddd…we’re back!  After taking a month off due to illness, travel and work Dad and I were back at it today.

Looking back I realize the Ay! Chihuahua was actually Dad’s last pick (write ups not necessarily in order…) so this week should have been my pick and pay but we had this on the radar and it worked out well so we went for it.  I got the next two weeks of paying, Dad! (FYI, if you didn’t know…we switch back and forth picking and paying for lunches)

So.  The Peachtree Soulfood Buffet was our destination of choice.  Dad had been there, a couple years ago but thought it was a must try for me.

Peachtree sits right of 435 an Eastwood Trafficway in an unassuming building.  Facing the street is the buffet restaurant and around the corner, in the same building, is a cafe (but we went to the buffet).

  
We arrived shortly after their 11 opening time and were the first patrons there.  They had an assortment of hot and fresh foods on the bar and ready to go.  Upon perusal of their website (just a few minutes ago) I see that they feature different meats and such on different days.

All of today’s offerings were yummy.  I liked everything I tried and so did Dad.  They also had a good selection of desserts including peach cobbler, chocolate cake and other cakes.  The cakes were portioned out in a case already.  The slices looked skimpy but in reality they were perfect size for desserts.  I didn’t get many pictures as we were too busy enjoying our meal!

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My first plate on the left, Dad’s on the right

We had a great meal and I will most certainly be back, with new people in tow.

Scores?

Dad: 4, Me: 4.5

 

Lunches with Dad – The Dubliner

First off, a confession…this isn’t the restaurant we set out to eat at a couple of weeks ago when we went.  I had been perusing some local webistes and had chosen Cleaver and Cork to go to.  However when we got there we found them closed, despite their website saying their hours were 11am – midnight.

Therefore, we improvised.  There are still plenty of choices in the Power and Light District and we quickly regrouped and decided on The Dubliner which was right across the way.

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When you walk in, it has a cool old-timey, fancy feel to the place which we both love.  We were seated in a half table/half booth right off the main floor.  Neither of us, being the dorks we are, wanted to sit with our backs to the room so we both sat on the booth side together.

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Feeling splurge-y we started off with an appetizer of the Dubliner O’Rings.  They were beer battered and delicious.  I asked for ranch instead of the included sauce (not a horseradish fan…) and was not disappointed.  It was a house made ranch that was different from your “normal” ranch dressing but delicious.  As was the ketchup, as odd as that may sound…

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Feeling fancy, I ordered the Steak Frites.  It came with a delicious tomato bacon marmalade on top of the steak which really made it for me.  The potatoes were a little boring/plain but what can you do?

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Dad went with the Irish Nachos.  It was a potato lovers dream.  They were very tasty.  Chips and shepards pie and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy.  What more could you want?!?

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Over all we were very pleased with our meal.  I would definately go again and try some other things and I’m sure dad would too.

Scores?  ME: 4, DAD: 4

Now if you will excuse me, there is a spot on the beach calling my name and beckoning me to bring my book down and read by the ocean…

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Current  view from hotel room, must go investigate beach…

Lunches with Dad – Ay! Chihuahua

Today’s lunch was somewhat of a whim.  Dad and I went and got pedicures (men get pedi’s too!) and were actually on our way elsewhere for lunch when we drove by Ay! Chihuhua and saw that they were finally OPEN!  I made a quick U-turn and our lunch plans changed.

Ay! Chihuahua sits in an old Taco Bell building in Claycomo, MO.  They have really cleaned the place up on the inside since its TB days.

They have a menu of all the typical american-mexican food fare, including a selection of alcoholic beverages.

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We started with an order of chips and salsa.  The chips were nice and warm and perfectly salted.

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I went with the taco salad and added onion, tomato, black olives and sour cream.

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Dad had the beef burrito with lettuce and tomato and onion added with a side of rice

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It was more than enough food and was a good solid meal.  Best of all for me, NO CILANTRO on everything!  They have it and will add it if you want but its not an automatic thing which is great in my book.

Right now they are cash only but will add credit card acceptance in the next couple weeks.  They just expanded their hours from 11AM to 10PM.  They also plan on getting the drive thru going at some point too.  They are still in the “soft launch” phase and will probably have a grand opening soon.  We will definatley remember them and be back again!

Scores?  Dad: 3.5, Me:4

Lunches with Dad – The North End

It never fails to amaze me  that there are SO man different food options in this town.  Dad and I have tried a lot of places so far and I know we have barely scratched the surface.

Dads last pick took us to the Columbus Park area of town again, to The North End.  It is a small place with an obvious large following.  There is a bar and a few tables to sit at.  You order at the counter and then find a table and they bring your food to you.

Too be honest, I think we were both a little thrown off when we got there.  The problem, at least for us, is when you have to order at the counter off a big menu on the wall we both really feel the pressure to hurry up and just order the first thing that sounds good.  For both of us that day, it was the special, which was Beef Stroganoff.  Dad also added on an order of the Fried Meatballs on a whim.

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Fried Meatball Appetizer

We had a fairly short wait for our food, and our appetizers and entrees came out at the same time.  The meat balls were big!  They had nice seasoning to them and the marinara sauce to dip them in was good.  They were nice and moist, too.

Our stroganoff was good too.  It’s different from the stroganoff I was raised on but it was a nice difference.  The portion was generous and came with a side of hot bread too.  Dad was super impressed that the meals came on actual plates, which you wouldn’t normally expect from the way the restaurant is set up.

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So.  What did we think?  We both had a good meal and would go again.

Scores?  ME: 3.5, Dad: 4

Lunches with Dad – Jacomo Cheesewiches

Hi!  It’s been awhile since i’ve posted a review.  Dad and I have been sidelined with colds and life and I’m pretty sure this was the last new place we tried.

I had seen on Facebook that a friend liked this place and was instantly intrigued.  Its a restaurant whos entire menu is based on grilled cheese sandwiches, Jacomo Cheesewiches.  Their website touts “Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and fries”.

We got there pretty soon after they opened, as we are to do, and there was only one other person there at the time.  We all (Dad, Josh and I) chose different sandwiches to try.

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Dads sandwich, the BLT Cheesewich

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Josh’s sandwich, a custom made meaty and cheesy creation

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My sandwich, a Mac N Chessewich

Overall we all liked our sandwiches for the most part.  Dad was a little weirded out that the lettuce and tomato was cooked in the sandwich, therefore a weird texture/temperature, instead of added afterwards.  The biggest turn off for us was the wait.  For there only being 1 person in front of us (with an order just for herself), we waited at least 15-20 minutes for our food.  If the place had been packed I would understand more, but it wasn’t.  To quote Josh “It’s fine for something different, but it’s nothing you couldn’t make yourself. Well priced but the wait was obnoxious.”  I think that about sums it up.  I would try it again, but the wait needs to be a LOT shorter!

Scores:

Dad: 2.5, Me: 3, Josh: 3

Lunches with Dad – Silver Spoon Cafe and Herrdura Mexican Restaurant

This post is a two-fer.  I forgot to post about our visit to the Silver Spoon Cafe a couple of weeks ago and then this past week we went to Herrdura Mexican Restaurant.  Both of these were Dad pick weeks as it turns out.

I recently gave dad a map that I picked up at the conference I went to here in town earlier this fall.  It has all the food/drink venues in the downtown area listed on it.  It may be our new “restaurant bible”.  He used this newfound map to choose the Silver Spoon Cafe.   There are two locations downtown and we visited the one Wyandotte location.

Thursday was the day we were there and the special that day was Taco Salad/ Nachos.  I chose the taco salad and dad chose the Nachos.  Both were decent meals.  I would go back to try other things.  They have quite the menu but we were so overwhelmed, we both just went for the special.

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My taco salad, Dads nachos not pictured!

The best part of the meal, however?  Dessert.  They have homemade cookies for sale on plates.  Dad chose a plate of iced sugar cookies.  They were fabulous.  Buttery and perfect.  YUM!

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BEST SUGAR COOKIES!

Scores for Silver Spoon?  Me: 3, Dad: 3  I think we both want to go back and try more things and get more of those sugar cookies…

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Next up is this last weeks lunch in Excelsior Springs.  We decided to make a trip up to Excelsior to get a new trailer jack and do some looking around at a couple of thrift/”junk” shops and thought we would try another Excelsior restaurant.  This one happened to be Herrdura Mexican Restaurant.

Its a nice little place with your standard Mexican fare menu.  I don’t remember what we all got (and there is a lack of photographic evidence).  The Mexican rice was very good and my meal was solid.  Dad and Audrey both agreed.  What really stood out was Dad loves Flan and he believes that they have the BEST flan he has ever tasted.

I don’t think we would drive all the way up there to eat there, but would definitely stop in if we were in the area and wanted a solid Mexican meal.

Scores?  Me: 3.5, Dad: 3.5 (He gives the flan a 5+!)

 

Lunches with Dad – Q39

This week’s choice has been on the radar for awhile now.  We noticed it on the way to another lunch spot earlier this summer and then a few days later a friend was raving about it.  Finally we made it there, and we aren’t sad about it either!

When we walked in we noticed it was already a hoppin’ place.  We always try to get to places “early” to beat the lunch rush so usually we get there around 11:15 and watch the place fill up.  This was not the case at Q39.  There were already about half of the tables filled with customers!  Our waitress immediately brought us a bottle of water for the table and 2 glasses and offered other drink choices.  She also explained the menu and some of her favorites for us first timers.  After taking our orders I pulled out my phone to check us in on Facebook, as I usually do, and check a couple of things.  Not more than 5 minutes after taking our order, the food arrived!

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Mine – Apple Brined Pulled Pork Sandwich with potato salad


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Dads –  Certified Black Angus Beef Brisket and Apple Cole Slaw

Both meals were DELICIOUS.  The beef was tender and not too fatty and the pulled pork was flavorful and moist.  They have 3 sauce choices: classic, zesty or chipotle-cilantro.  I am a classic kind of girl but the waitress recommended the zesty with the pulled pork and she was not mistaken!  It was the right amount of vinegary flavor to go with the pork.

Dad and I were both pleased with the entire experience.  We were in and out of there in just over 30 minutes and were glad we went early as there was a wait by the time we left, before noon even hit!

Scores:  Dad: 4.5, Me: 4

Next time I need to try the onion straws.

Lunches with Dad – Hospital Style

So lunch this week took an unexpected turn.  Technically it was my week to choose but Dad’s body had different ideas.  Thus we ended up eating at the hospital this week.

I got to peruse the cafeteria for my lunch.  I chose chicken strips, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn.  It wasn’t bad for hospital food, actually.

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Hospital chicken strips, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.

Dad had considerbly less choice in the matter of what he ate.  He had just gotten back up on the floor from recovery and he got a clear liquids tray.

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Mmmmm…clear liquids lunch!

I don’t know that he remembers his lunch to give it a rating, but I give mine a solid 3.  However, I try to avoid eating here whenever possible…

Lunches with Dad – Ophelias

Yesterday Dad and I headed to Independence, MO for lunch.  He had a gift certificate for restaurants on the square that needed to be used and that’s what we did!  He chose to try out Ophelia’s.

Its a lovely restaurant on the Independence Square.  It’s clean and cozy and not too dark.

To start we got an appetizer of Portobello Rangoon Rolls.  These were delightful.  They had great flavor and the sauce over them was yummy too.  We are lucky we caught a picture of them before they were all devoured.

Portobello Rangoon Rolls (with 2 missing...)

Portobello Rangoon Rolls (with 2 missing…)

Dad chose the special, which was a Turkey sandwich of some sort that had sliced turkey, some cranberry-ish sauce and other toppings.  He chose sweet potato fries as his side.

I got the Oak Grilled Chicken Sandwich with sweet potato chips.  I’ve had better sandwiches but it was good.  The best part was the house made pickles on my sandwich.  They were perfect.

My lunch

My lunch

Dads lunch

Dads lunch

I would go again, they have lots of interesting things on the menu.  So would dad.  He did mention that it was the cleanest mens restroom that he had ever been in.

Scores?

ME:  3.5, DAD: 5

Lunches with Dad – El Patron

We are BACK!  Posting has been sporadic lately.  Things get hectic in summer in fall with Dad traveling to flying events often.  For the first time in a long time, there is nothing that should keep us from our regular Thursday lunches for awhile.

Today we were feeling like Mexican food was the order of the day.  I chose El Patron Cocina & Bar.  It’s “down on the Boulevard” with a whole host of other Mexican (and other) restaurants.

The chips and salsa were decent.  I liked the salsa quite a bit.  It was blended fine but had just enough tang and flavor that it didn’t taste like plain tomato sauce or tomato soup.  They brought a mild and hot to the table.  We both preferred the mild but would occasionally dip in the hot before the mild to mix it up.

El Patron chips and salsa

El Patron chips and salsa

We both ordered meals of their lunch menu.  I got a #7 (I believe) which had a beef burrito, a chicken taco (I chose the meats on both) and beans and rice.  The burrito was nice and I really enjoyed the taco.  Instead of the usual corn tortilla shell on the taco, it was a hard flour tortilla shell.  Very yummy.  The refried beans were nice and smooth and the rice was good too.

#7 Burrito Spread

#7 Burrito Spread

Dad ordered the 2 Flautas lunch special.  It came with 2 Flautas (duh) and rice and beans – but he decided double rice, no beans.  He had never had Flautas before and said he enjoyed them.

2 Flautas lunch

2 Flautas lunch

Best thing?  No cilantro!  I am firmly in the “hates cilantro” camp.  It tastes like soapy dirt to me!  YUCK!

Scores?  ME: 4, DAD: 3

We both agree that we would go back, me probably sooner than him, I would guess 🙂