I challenge Bobby Flay to a throwdown...

Now that the bf is back in town, I've been getting out to eat more instead sitting at home watching the Food Network and Bravo while eating cheese & crackers (which is my current favorite snack). A couple nights ago we collected on the sushi dinner my brother owed us. We are not a fan of the all-you-can-eat sushi joints, but my bro went on and on about how great this place Oyshi is, so we broke down and agreed to give it a whirl. Besides, last time we picked the place and took him to Sushi Roku it was a debacle, so I'd rather not repeat that experience. Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised by Oyshi. It's over on Rainbow and Robindale and looks pretty new. I'm sure it helped that one of the guys we were with is friends with the owner and everyone that works there, so we didn't have to abide strictly to the AYCE "rules." The sushi was pretty good and they even let the bf create his own roll. It's really hard to beat $26 per person, so we might have to go back at some point.

Last night, we had to go to a party over at Caesars for the Dream Team Poker Tournament that the boys are playing today. After standing around for a couple of hours, chasing down cocktail waitresses for drinks and contemplating eating from the antipasto bar they had set up, we decided to grab some dinner at Mesa Grill. Now, I have a special place in my heart for the ole Mesa Grill, since it was the first place my bf and I shared a meal just the two of us. It's always super busy and when we rolled in around 10:20pm, they told us it was going to be about a 25 minute wait. Oy. So we sat at the bar and had a drink while eavesdropping on the guy trying to hit on a couple chicks next to us. So pathetic, yet highly amusing for us. About 20 minutes later we checked back with the hostess and she seated us. Damn! The table was probably ready the whole time, they just want to make you wait. Should've gone and checked back in after 10 minutes. I hate it when restaurants play that stupid game. Anyway, we decided to try the wild mushroom quesadilla with truffle oil and white bean hummus as an appetizer. Our waitress told us she thinks it's the best quesadilla in the world, but I would have to disagree with that. The dollop of hummus that they put in the middle was cold and it was really off putting. It made the whole quesadilla seem lukewarm and just odd. It certainly didn't enhance the flavor. We weren't fans. Usually I think hummus makes everything better, but not this time. Anyway, on to the main course. I got a pork tenderloin with and ancho bourbon bbq sauce (or something like that) and a sweet potato tamale. The bf got black grouper with a chile tomato sauce and avocado. My pork was pretty tasty--very tender and moist. I did have a little mishap with the tamale though. I took the first bite off the top not realizing it was the pecan butter, so basically I had a mouthful of butter. It was gross and I was tempted to spit it out, but it kinda melted in my mouth before I could. The butter was the same color as the tamale so it totally blended in and was difficult to differentiate. That being the case, they should at least spread it around instead of putting a lump of it on top so you get butter and tamale instead of just butter in your first bite. Unfortunately, I was too full to get dessert, because there were 2 items that looked very tempting--a warm chocolate cake and a chocolate espresso layer cake. I usually have a totally separate stomach for dessert, but I was wearing my tighter going-out jeans and wasn't in the mood to be uncomfortably full. Especially since it would be a little while before I would be home and able to crawl into the I'm-too-full fetal position. I have decided that Mesa Grill is just really hit or miss these days. I wonder when the last time Bobby Flay was actually in the kitchen and if he approves of the cold hummus on the wild mushroom quesadilla. If so, I'd like to challenge him to a quesadilla throwdown. The bf and I would take him down for sure....