Asian Bistro, don't judge a book by it's cover

When I first entered this restaurant I was expecting something similar to pretty much all of the asian restaurants in the area. Given the fairly unflattering exterior I wasn't really expecting much. I was incredibly surprised, not just by the size of the Asian Bistro, but also the lavishly decorated interior. What was nice is that it wasn't over the top and it felt very comfortable.

I must say that the service was beyond my expectations and I was very happy that they didn't immediately bombard us with questions about what we wanted to drink. I went with Kirin Ichiban, a light Japanese lager, which I enjoyed very much. After a very long look at the menu I found the holy grail. Please understand that as a foodie this is a dish that I have deemed as my top 5 favorite dishes of all time, Prawns with honeyed walnuts. I love this dish, I have been looking for it for a very long time in this area and have not found it until now.

So naturally I ordered the prawns and also the red dragon roll for an appetizer of sorts. The red dragon roll was incredible, I highly recommend trying it, but the peace de resistance was the prawns.

The picture above is not from the Asian Bistro, however it looks almost exactly like the dish I recieved, with the exception of the lettuce which was replaced with shredded cabbage.

I cannot explain the joy I got from eating this, it's sweet, which is strange for me as I am more of a savory persausion, but for some reason it just works with this. The sauce was amazing and the shrimp cooked to perfection. From this dish alone I would try anything on their menu. I will definitely be back.

Kountry Kart Deli: Burlington's Midnight Hot Spot

If you live in Burlington or go to Burlington, then you've heard of the Kountry Kart Deli, in fact you've most likely eaten there. College students and businessmen alike flock to this eatery like moths to a flame. What makes this place so special you ask? Is it the inexpensive fair? Is it the overwhelming choice of drinks? Is it the mostly friendly and incredibly fast service? Well, it's all of the above as well as having an incredible menu that caters to meat eaters and vegetarians alike.

What do most people come here for? That's easy, it's the Rise & Shiner. Day or night you can order this breakfast sandwich which comes on a toasted roll with cheese (I believe it's american cheese unfortunately), hashbrowns, and egg (usually over hard), with your choice of ham, bacon, sausage, taylor pork, or philly steak. What if you can't decide which meat you want? Get the barnyard riser or shiner (the riser is without hashbrowns).

Beyond the Rise & Shiner the KKD offers other sandwiches that I would say are just as good if not better such as the Mike's Falafal, the Chicken Parmesan, and the Vermonter. I've spent many a drunken evening here waiting in line to get my food anticipating what awaits and I have to say that no matter how long I've had to wait it's been worth it each time.

Now, there are mixed reviews about this place, but you'll have that with any restaraunt, especially one as popular is this, but I would suggest going and trying it out. The lines may seem daunting, but they usually get the food out really quickly.

Check Out Your Local Olive Bar

Don't let the title be misleading, when I say local olive bar I mean any olive bar found in your local grocery store. Some people are lucky enough to live in an area where the varieties are better or the outdoor markets have fresh olives, but you might be a little surprised at the selection that your normal grocery store has to offer.

That brings me to the olive bar itself. I know personally that I payed no mind to the olive bar until recently, usually I would just walk by it, not giving it a second glance. I think we take olives for granted, I feel that for most of us we have little to no knowledge of the number of types of olives there are. In fact up until a few years ago I thought the only olives out there were black and green. In my ignorance I was missing out, because as it happens there are many types of olives and many ways in which they are prepared.

Most grocery stores that have olive bars usually charge a fairly low price per pound of olives and you can mix and match, which I recommend if you've never partaken of the olive bar. I shop at a fairly large chain supermarket, with that said the olive bar is still not too bad, it doesn't seem like it gets too much use, though I hope that changes, and I've never really seen anyone even really look at it. It does bring a tear to my eye, it's like Cinderella in the sense that no one cares about it and no one gives it the time of day, but underneath it's a beautiful princess waiting to happen. Okay, maybe that's not the best anology, but you get the picture.

I have recently tasted of the olive bar's loins and was not only pleased but humbled. This whole time I thought that all black olives tasted the same and all green olives tasted the same, but I was completely wrong. There were greek olives, kalamata olives, queen olives, cured olives, olives in various oils, the list goes on, I was not dissapointed at all. The flavors were so different from each other, some were bitter, some were very salty, some were mild, but they were all a great experience.

Now it's your turn, check out the olive bar, try a variety, you may be surprised at what you find. Happy fooding ^-^

Das Bierhaus

This was my first stop on my food adventures. Located at around the corner of Church St. and Main in Burlington this eatery is a fairly new establishment in the area. I've heard nothing about Das Bierhaus previous to my eating there, which I prefer because it's better sometimes to have no expectations.

My first impression was the size of the restaraunt, it looks small when you first walk in, until you find the second floor. In the summer there is more seating on the roof, which I will definitely take advantage of in the warmer season. There are bars on both the first and second floor and the waitstaff is incredibly friendly and helpfull.

The bear menu was already on the table when we sat down. As well as having domestic and local microbrews they also have a fairly large variety of imported German bottled beers. As great as that is it's all about the imported German drafts that they have on tap, all of which you will not find anywhere in the area.

After ordering our food we were brought our beers. I started with the Weihenstephan Hefe Weiss, which was incredibly smooth and went well with the food that I ordered, which happened to be the Das Wurst-Wich. I ordered my sandwitch with the Rauchwurst, which is the house made sausage. The sandwitch was made on a toasted baguette with onions, peppers, cheese, and a house made honey mustard sauce. It was great, the baguette was a really nice alternative for a plain roll and the sauce was incredible.

After eating we ordered our second round of beers, I ordered the Warsteiner Prem. Verum, a refreshing pilsner which I found to be a really nice end to our meal.

I really enjoyed this eatery and found it to be a very comfortable place to eat and drink and talk with my friends. I recommend checking this place out if you are ever in the Burlington area. I give this place 5/5 stars.

Check out the website for more info: http://www.dasbierhausvt.com/

First Blog Post!

Welcome! Through this blog I hope to show people the great food and culture that Vermont has to offer. I will be visiting and writing about a different restaraunt every week. I'll also be posting info about local agriculture and other things in the food scene in Vermont. So please join me on my food journey and good eating.