Just Wonderful

I thought I'd get my blog obligation (blogbligation?) out of the way, since we are expecting a rather busy rest of the month, make that year...

Last week Aunt Beth took the group to Pezzettino Italian Deli and Market, and I'm so glad she did! Located in an old Piggly Wiggly building in the Crossroads, I had never noticed this little gem. Walk inside and you'll find the perfect, spacious Italian-feeling deli, with lots of good eats and good smells to take in. Our server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the food, probably because many of the recipes were her grandmother's very own!

We enjoyed a few appetizers, including scrumptious stuffed peppers (see photo) and bruschetta--probably the best I've ever had anywhere. The bread was oozing with olive oil, making it soft and tasty.

For my entree I had the torta stuffed with spinach, ricotta and veggies and served with a lovely little side salad dressed heavily with lemon. The torta was just perfect: deep golden brown crust and flavor-packed cheese and veggies inside. The best part is this healthy-yet-filling dish was a humble $6. Add a glass of wine, and you'd think you were in Italy.

I'd love to go back and try more of what Pezzettino's has to offer. I've already recommended it to several coworkers for a future work lunch. My score: 4.1 stars.

It was my pick this month and I wanted to do something the gassies have never done and try sushi.  I am not a sushi fan, however typically really enjoy the other foods they have to offer. I decided to take the gassies to Friends Bento and Sushi. The location is down near some of my favorite resturants, so I was excited to try another place in that area. When we got there were many of us who owed appetizers so we ordered edemame, vegetable tempura and calamari. I really enjoyed all of the appetizers. For dinner I decided to order a bento box with tempura shrimp and veggies. The box came with soup, salad, cheese cracker, spring roll and dessert. The cheese cracker was great and I loved the ginger dressing on the salad.  As josh ordered I just watched him in amaze of the many things he was ordering,, all though he says he feels that Friends is overpriced I disagree. Yes our bill was expensive but we ordered 2 appetizers, bento box, side of seaweed salad, side of soup, and about 6 sushi rolls!! I enjoyed this place and could see us going back and trying some new bento boxes! I give it a 3.8/5.

Feeling friendly

It was a dark and rainy evening. Luke and I drove around the 39th Street area for a while looking for a parking spot. We finally found one, and ran into Mimi, who kindly shared her umbrella.

When we got inside Friends Bento and Sushi Place, the staff smiled and welcomed us to our table. It was pleasant, about what you'd expect for a sushi place, and our table was large enough for the big group.

I'm limited on sushi options to cooked fish, so I looked outside the sushi menu for my entree. They offered--no joke--a ramen noodle soup which I almost got. I love ramen! It was ideal soup weather! But wait: Then I saw the bento options (pictured), which let you try an entree with lots of sides. I opted for the sushi version: smoked unagi (that's eel, folks!) and a California roll (with imitation crabmeat, also cooked). So I got my sushi fix after all. It came with miso soup, simple noodles, a ginger salad, some deep-fried cheesy log things and a lovely puff of orange whipped cake for dessert.

Before you ask about the eel, let me say: It's delicious. Picture the most tender piece of BBQ chicken you've ever had, and make that even tastier. Seriously: Justin has to remind me each time we go for sushi that the eel is the best. So just try it next time.

The bento box was a larger portion than I could eat in one sitting, though I did my best. I would recommend putting half in a box right away to avoid overdoing it.

The service was great. Luke got over-antsy, and when it became apparent we needed to get going, our server was quick to bring our check without rushing the rest of the group.

I don't recall my exact score at the restaurant, so I'll give it a 3.75 stars now. Well done, Friends!

Friends is something we all want!

SO we went to Friends for Erin's pick a place that had some high expectations for its famous sushi. I was a little shocked that Erin chose this place as she does not like Sushi. When walking in I was quite impressed it was a super cool looking place with neat decor and actual samurai swords. Now there is 2 ways to order at Friends. The sensible way Order one of the many combos that will give you some sushi soup, salad and heck even a dessert or order the Crazy way of ordering everything as a side 3 rolls a soup a seaweed salad and beer. One will cost a very reasonable $10 the other will cost around $80. Pretty obvious the route to go right? Which route do you think I took? Thats right the most expensive one possible! To be honest it did not seem like it would add up like that, but I promise you that it does add up really fast! At least I had a lot of left overs.

As for the food it was ok nothing spectacular nothing special but nothing that made me say it wasn't worth the trip. I would go back but only to get the combo plate at a much more reasonable price. All in all I gave it a 3.5 little above average but unless you do the combo very overpriced.

"Friends" & Family, That's What it is All About

Mr. Ref here, last month we went to Friends Sushi & Bento Place, and for me, I am not a sushi person.  For the appetizers we had veggie tempura, edamane & shrimp rolls, and I will have to say they were all pretty good.  What really surprised me was the edamane, I did not know what it was, soy beans, but it was very taste and I enjoyed several.
For my main course I had teriyaki steak, which came with onion soup, house salad, spring roll, cheese cracker & steamed rice.  It was good, it wasn't special.  I did try some of Mrs. Ref's sushi and it tasted just like all of the other sushi I have tried.  Sushi is just not my thing.
I will say the service was really good, the decor was really cute and definitely had an oriental theme.  If Mrs. Ref wanted to go back I am sure we would venture back, but it would not be my first choice.  I gave it a 3.00 out of 5.