Nonna Emilia

October 12, 2012

Date #53

Starting out year number 2 we had discussed going to where it all began, The Spaghetti Factory. Two things we don’t do on date night, discuss with the other person where we are going, and go to the same place twice. When we started out tonight Chuck had me all confused when we went the opposite direction from The Spaghetti Factory. I was glad Chuck decided to go somewhere different, and that place was Nonna Emilia in Aloha. It’s located in a large building, almost looks like an old barn, the place was packed, bring on the authentic Italian food.

One of my favorite appetizers is fried mozzarella, we always are searching for great mozzarella and marinara sauce. This version was ok, I have to say it tasted like they were the frozen kind you can purchase at the grocery store, nothing wrong with them, they just weren’t amazing.

I had one of their appetizers for my main course, mushroom ravioli and marsala sauce. I’m not sure why this was on the appetizer menu, so inexpensive, and the portion was huge. It was so tasty, I love the flavor of marsala sauce.

Chuck had cannelloni with marinara sauce covered with melted cheese. There is something about putting an Italian dish under the broiler for a few minutes, to melt the cheese, that just makes it so much better. He could tell that this dish was passed down from generations of an Italian family, yummy. 
Nonna Emilia is an Italian family restaurant, with friendly staff that makes you feel welcome. I also noticed that all the staff, waiters, food runners, bus boys, and managers all paid attention to each table making sure dirty dishes were taken away and water glasses were filled. This is something you don’t find too much anymore, great service!
Nice start to year number two Chuck!

Curry in a Hurry

October 5, 2012

Date# 52

It has been a while since we had Thai food so I typed that into Urbanspoon and found a place I knew we had to try because of the name, Curry in a Hurry, such a great name I knew this was the place. I plugged the address into my GPS, and we were on our way. I like to confuse my GPS so she has to reroute, I know she doesn’t like that. I knew the direction she was taking me, on Stafford Road in the dark, was not the way I wanted to go, so I headed to I-5 then let her have control, that was the wrong place to let her have the controls. She took us through some back roads to get back onto Stafford Road, probably a longer route than the original one she wanted us to take. I’m sorry Helga, I will never doubt you again! We finally arrive at our destination in a strip mall on the outskirts of Lake Oswego, the restaurant is very inviting and so was the staff.




We found ourselves a table and ordered shrimp rolls and pot stickers. I just love the freshness of these appetizers, I am pretty sure they were made when we ordered them, this freshness makes such a difference in the taste.

I ordered garlic shrimp stir fry. When I was presented the plate I thought it was weird to have bread crumbs sprinkled over top of the veggies, but then I realized it was toasted garlic, oh my gosh WOW. Again the veggies and shrimp were so fresh and the sauce didn’t overwhelm the flavors. I have to say this could be the best stir fry yet. I saved enough for lunch on Monday, wished I had saved enough for Tuesday.

Chuck had chicken curry with green beans and rice on the side. They asked him how spicy he wanted it, this was a good thing so he could enjoy the flavors of the curry and not burn his taste buds with the heat. I had a taste of the sauce and green beans, they were very flavorful and fresh tasting.
Afterwards we went driving around downtown Lake Oswego, I was sure we been here before, but I guess we hadn't, everything was new to us, the streets, signs, and buildings were so fancy, even the 7-11, not something we are used to.
Tonight's date marks the end of the first year of date nights, 52 Friday night dates, and we didn’t miss one. To do this we had to date in another country, a date with both sets of parents, and 2 house remodel dates. We also got to try many different cuisines that we have never tried before. When going out to dinner before we started date night, we used to pick our regular places not really stepping outside the box, but when you want to surprise your spouse with a new place and the other can’t say no, we were able to try so many wonderful new restaurants.  I guess when you set a goal and stick to it new flavors are discovered. Year 2 here we come.

Salvador Molly's

September 28, 2012

Date #51

It’s funny, since we started date night and blogging about it, we get many suggestions from our friends and co-workers about restaurants we should try for date night.  We like to try these suggested restaurants, and Salvador Molly’s was our spot tonight. We drove into the small parking lot and found 3 cars waiting for spots and plenty of people standing around waiting for tables. This is a very good sign that the food is good, but bad because it would be a long wait. We added our name to the list and went into the bar for a drink. We saw a few tables in the bar and decided to eat in there instead, a few minutes later we realized that these tables were not “bar” tables, and we moved back to the bar. A few minutes later we were actually sat at the table we had just vacated, guess we knew that was our table.  

We started out with chips and guacamole. I have only become a fan of guacamole over the past year. We make a great version at home, and love a few restaurant varieties. This one was ok.














I chose a wrap in a wheat tortilla, chick peas, and spices along with local veggies and rice. The wrap was very good, the tortilla didn’t taste like a regular tortilla, may have been made fresh. The veggie mixture was wonderful, I could tell how fresh they were, and this was the first time I have tried okra. The okra was an unexpected flavor for me, just from the looks of the vegetable I thought it would taste more like jalapeno, but not at all.

Chuck had the Hawaiian style pulled pork with coleslaw, garlic mashed potatoes, and a spinach salad. He is always happy when he has meat for a meal, and this was no exception. The pork was tender and flavorful, and the coleslaw had just the right amount of sweet and tangy. I had a taste of the mashed potatoes because he said they were so good, and yes they were, creamy and garlicy, two great flavors.

When we left the restaurant around 9:30pm there were still many people waiting for tables, definitely a popular place. I'm not sure if I will be back, it's not because the food didn't taste good, I just don't like Cuban style food.