The Food of the Taste of Colorado

On September 7, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes6 Comments

Although we were surprised by the amount of other things for sale at the Taste of Colorado, there were still plenty of food vendors and we definitely got our fill of tasty treats. Some of the food was more typical to a carnival than a food show, but there were also some more elegant options as well. You have the choice to have small tastes of items or you can have a full entrée if you prefer. We mostly chose to have small bites so that we could try a wider variety of food.

The best things that we ate was Chilli Chicken (and that is how they spelled it) from Bawarchi Biryani Point. It was the best Indian food that we have had since we visited India several years ago. We also enjoyed a couple of Thai chicken wings that were sweet and spicy from Yaffa’s Savory Mediterranean.

Something that you can’t find everyday was the fried alligator that we had from Bayou Bob’s Seafood and Southern Cookin’. It would have been too much for us to eat, but there were a lot of people who enjoyed giant turkey legs, a traditional carnival favorite. We did, however, give the roasted corn on the cob a try from the Colorado Corn Company and it was buttery and delicious.

If sweets were what you wanted, there were plenty of options there as well. As expected, you could certainly find several places where you could get some traditional funnel cake. There were other options as well, such as cookies and giant rice crispy treats. We aren’t into to sweets, so we opted for a curried deviled egg from Baur’s Restaurant and Aqua Terra Culinary.

Although it wasn’t actually at the Taste of Colorado, we also had some spicy calamari at Henry’s tavern when we decided to get out of the heat for a little while and get into some air conditioning. We also had a couple of beers while we were walking around, but we ended our evening with a couple of cocktails at The Mix in the Sheraton hotel where we watched all of the people dressed up for the anime convention.

Unfortunately there were only so many restaurants that we could try, so we will have to go back next year in order to make the rounds again. In addition to the food, there was also a tent with food demonstrations, which were very informative. There were definitely some creative choices, so if you go, make sure that you bring your appetite with you.

Plenty of Choices for Food in Denver

On August 17, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes7 Comments

Whether on the 16th Street Mall or in the LODO (Lower Downtown) area, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. We’ve said this before, but we are not big eaters. We do, however, like to try a variety of food so we tend to have small bites in several places spread out throughout the day. It was no different during our visit to Denver over the weekend. We ended up eating at five different restaurants before our weekend was over and each offered the opportunity to have something a little different.

When we arrived in Denver, it was time for lunch, so we walked down to Henry’s Tavern to grab a bite to eat. Because we like good service and we don’t always like to take up a table on a server when we know that we’re going to share a meal, we usually will sit at the bar for a meal, even if we’re not having any alcohol. Since we weren’t going to do any driving while in Denver, we opted for a glass of wine with our lunch. One of the interesting things about their bar was that there was a frozen strip around the bar where you can put your beer and it will stay ice cold no matter how hot it is outside. After perusing the menu, we weren’t sure what to have, so we asked the bartender for some advice. Based on her opinion, we ordered the bangers and mash, which was served with an incredibly rich onion gravy. It was delicious.

Later in the afternoon, we went to one of our favorite places called The Kitchen. We ordered some roasted beets and marinated olives, but overall were disappointed with the changes that had been implemented since our previous visit. They had raised their prices and reduced the creativity of their offerings. Unfortunately, they have most likely lost our business. After walking around for a little bit, we went to Jax Fish House. We had been to another one of their restaurants in Fort Collins, so we knew that we were in for a treat. Oysters, peel-and-eat shrimp, seafood tater tots with salmon, and seafood sausage made for quite the meal. Although all small plates, we were quite full by the time we were done.

Before leaving Denver the following day, we had time for one more restaurant and we chose one near our hotel called Stout Street Social. It was brunch time and they had some really interesting brunch choices, but we ended up selecting their cheddar biscuits and green chili. It featured a large, homemade cheddar biscuit, scrambled eggs, bacon, and green chili. Even though we were splitting it, there was still too much food for us to finish, but it was definitely a savory way to start our day.

All in all, we had a wonderful time during our quick break in Denver and part of the reason was the delicious food that we tried. We try to go to new places as well as visit some of our favorites from past trips as well. Obviously we’re looking forward to the food when we get overseas, but for now we’ll enjoy opportunities to try some new places until we leave.

Iberian Ham

On August 10, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes, Spain8 Comments

We had heard quite a bit about how good the Iberian ham was before travelling to the Iberian peninsula. To be honest, we enjoy cured meat, but it isn’t necessarily something we gravitate towards. One of the interesting things that we learned about ham is that the reason it is supposed to be so good is due to the food that the pigs are fed, which are acorns. In fact, the ham is rated by how many months out of the year the pigs are fed acorns, the more months the better the rating. The ham doesn’t receive a star rating, but instead is rated in acorns with a five acorn rating being the highest rating possible.

So, what did we think of the ham? Quite frankly it was absolutely delicious. We have never had a dried meat that literally almost evaporated in your mouth. Obviously there is a very high fat content for that to occur, but you almost didn’t chew the ham, it seemed to dissolve the moment it hit the warmth of your tongue. It isn’t something that we’re able to find here, so if we ever get the chance to eat some again, we definitely will. This was one of the times when the food lived up to the pre-trip hype and if you get the chance, you should certainly give it a try.