Rather than follow through with my intentions and relate my experiences with two other restaurants, I decided that I’d talk about a few films I saw recently.
The first two are Dan in Real Life and Juno. Obviously, if you’re up with Pop Culture you know a little bit about each. Dan in Real Life in one long summary is this: Steve Carrell plays a widowed father of three girls searching for the next love of his life that he finds in a woman brought to a family gathering whose love is already directed at Carrell’s brother. The movie is like Little Miss Sunshine in so many ways, but is not up on-par with the brilliance of Little Miss Sunshine. I would say that unless you’re a connoisseur of Carrell, or his supporting actor Dane Cook (LOL), then this is a film not worth serious attention. You could multitask- clip your fingernails, fix a snack, do your taxes, while watching the film and not be lost.
Juno is another film not really worth your time if you haven’t seen it yet. Granted, the story is intriguing, yet the film drags on and the contemporary abrevs and teenage slang become tiresome. Again, this is a film that aims at the same Indie-feel of previous films of the late 90s and early millennium. Ellen Page turns in a noteworthy appearance, but I felt the story should have included more on the relationship between her character and the father of her child played by Michael Cera. I read a short feature on him in GQ recently and I wonder too, how long can Cera play the nice-nerdy-fumbling-High School aged guy? Perhaps he will change my mind in the upcoming film Year One.
A film that I highly recommend is The Assassination of Richard Nixon starring Sean Penn and Don Cheadle. The film focuses on a would-be assassin fed up with the social and economic systems that normal American guys are subjected to in the early 70s. I think the only other Sean Penn film I’ve seen is Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but I’ve read reviews of his work wherein he is touted as one of the best current actors and I must agreed. Penn gets this role right, seriously. I found the film on Free HD Movies on In Demand, so if you’re HD-less I guess you could find it on Netflix or a comparable service.
If you follow this blog at all, you know I’m a little late on things. In the coming months I’m planning on staying on track/catching up on some things I want to talk about. I don’t get to the movies, or buy new albums, or buy new books, so most of what I’ll review has probably already been through major critical review. Hopefully anything I talk about you haven’t experienced though, so my criticism will be meaningful in some way to you.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Where I've been eating
I’ve been the biggest procrastinator when it comes to my blog, or just too busy to worry about it. Besides how many of you actually read it? Anyhow, I’ll cut to the chase. Today I’m going to include reviews of two restaurants I tried in December. Due to reader’s attention spans, I will include a review of two other restaurants in a new blog post in a day or so.
The first restaurant I’d like to tell ya’ll about is Mick’s Bistro. I went there with a date on a chilly Friday night after trying to go to the Kris Kringle parade; didn’t make the parade, but glad we made it into Mick’s. Mick’s replaced Jennifer’s Restaurant on Patrick Street. Not much has changed about the atmosphere of the establishment except some minor lighting changes; it’s still colder than diners should have to put up with, but luckily we sat by the fire. We started with an appetizer that was delicious. I don’t remember the name but it was Brie cheese baked into what I recall being something like a pastry puff. As a complement for choosing Mick’s that night, the chef offered us Fried Chickpeas. They were good also. The aioli sauce that accompanied the Fried Chickpeas made it the right balance of salty crispiness and savory spiciness. We were almost finished the Brie and chickpeas when our main courses arrived. Mine was a large chunk of pan cooked Pork Chop. It was a superb experience especially with Mac n Cheese made from scratch and fresh cooked green beans flanking the sides. To wash it all down I had ale that was brewed in a whiskey cask. It was a fitting beverage for the meal and night; the ale and pork harmonized on my tongue and the ale with its hint of whiskey warmed my insides. I had a second one. For dessert we shared a serving of bread pudding. Theirs was definitely not like Mom’s: she makes hers with hot dog rolls or sometimes on special occasions with Krispy Kremes. Theirs had raisins and was topped with a warm pecan rum sauce. I must say I left Mick’s Bistro thoroughly satisfied and am looking forward to dining their again. The final bill was a bit pricey, but nothing outrageous. Not the kind of place you can eat every night, but maybe you can: their sandwiches are reasonably priced and they have lighter entrees that cost between $10-14. It also helps to order only water, not two beers and a glass of wine; skip the desert also if money saving is on your mind.
The second restaurant I experienced for the first time was Mangi Ebevi in Urbana. Mangi Ebevi is an Italian restaurant. I wouldn’t say they specialize in any type of Italian cuisine except the good kind. The atmosphere is an inviting family atmosphere, so you don’t necessarily have to wear your Sunday’s best while dining there. They have a flat screen TV in the one dining section. I had the Red Wine of the Month to drink and honestly do not remember the name of it. It was good though. I ordered an appetizer sampler of sorts that included roasted red peppers, chunks of mozzarella, green olives, and basil leaves. It was a great start to the meal and served as a conductor of my appetite along with the crunchy bread and oil for dipping. For my entrée I ordered Penne Putanesca- Mangi Ebevi has virtually every pasta dish you can think of and their other dishes not centered on pasta looked appetizing as well. I had never had this dish before and I will probably never have it anywhere except a localized Italian restaurant…or Mangi Ebevi. So if the eatery is Olive Garden, Macaroni Grille, or Carraba’s I’m going to steer clear and just order spaghetti with meatballs (Only kidding. I’m not that boring). If you don’t like anchovies I would not recommend it, but if you’re open to broadening your culinary palette then go for it! The desert was amazing also. It was a layering of chocolate puddings and sauces and fluffs and the sort of sweets you can expect from Italian cuisine. With that said, I had yet another excellent first time experience at a restaurant. Mangi Ebevi is a restaurant where you can dine at a reasonable price given you don’t order an appetizer, alcoholic beverages, or desert. The pasta dishes range from $12-16 depending on the ingredients. They also serve oven-baked pizza. I think the next time I go there that’s what I’m going to try…
The first restaurant I’d like to tell ya’ll about is Mick’s Bistro. I went there with a date on a chilly Friday night after trying to go to the Kris Kringle parade; didn’t make the parade, but glad we made it into Mick’s. Mick’s replaced Jennifer’s Restaurant on Patrick Street. Not much has changed about the atmosphere of the establishment except some minor lighting changes; it’s still colder than diners should have to put up with, but luckily we sat by the fire. We started with an appetizer that was delicious. I don’t remember the name but it was Brie cheese baked into what I recall being something like a pastry puff. As a complement for choosing Mick’s that night, the chef offered us Fried Chickpeas. They were good also. The aioli sauce that accompanied the Fried Chickpeas made it the right balance of salty crispiness and savory spiciness. We were almost finished the Brie and chickpeas when our main courses arrived. Mine was a large chunk of pan cooked Pork Chop. It was a superb experience especially with Mac n Cheese made from scratch and fresh cooked green beans flanking the sides. To wash it all down I had ale that was brewed in a whiskey cask. It was a fitting beverage for the meal and night; the ale and pork harmonized on my tongue and the ale with its hint of whiskey warmed my insides. I had a second one. For dessert we shared a serving of bread pudding. Theirs was definitely not like Mom’s: she makes hers with hot dog rolls or sometimes on special occasions with Krispy Kremes. Theirs had raisins and was topped with a warm pecan rum sauce. I must say I left Mick’s Bistro thoroughly satisfied and am looking forward to dining their again. The final bill was a bit pricey, but nothing outrageous. Not the kind of place you can eat every night, but maybe you can: their sandwiches are reasonably priced and they have lighter entrees that cost between $10-14. It also helps to order only water, not two beers and a glass of wine; skip the desert also if money saving is on your mind.
The second restaurant I experienced for the first time was Mangi Ebevi in Urbana. Mangi Ebevi is an Italian restaurant. I wouldn’t say they specialize in any type of Italian cuisine except the good kind. The atmosphere is an inviting family atmosphere, so you don’t necessarily have to wear your Sunday’s best while dining there. They have a flat screen TV in the one dining section. I had the Red Wine of the Month to drink and honestly do not remember the name of it. It was good though. I ordered an appetizer sampler of sorts that included roasted red peppers, chunks of mozzarella, green olives, and basil leaves. It was a great start to the meal and served as a conductor of my appetite along with the crunchy bread and oil for dipping. For my entrée I ordered Penne Putanesca- Mangi Ebevi has virtually every pasta dish you can think of and their other dishes not centered on pasta looked appetizing as well. I had never had this dish before and I will probably never have it anywhere except a localized Italian restaurant…or Mangi Ebevi. So if the eatery is Olive Garden, Macaroni Grille, or Carraba’s I’m going to steer clear and just order spaghetti with meatballs (Only kidding. I’m not that boring). If you don’t like anchovies I would not recommend it, but if you’re open to broadening your culinary palette then go for it! The desert was amazing also. It was a layering of chocolate puddings and sauces and fluffs and the sort of sweets you can expect from Italian cuisine. With that said, I had yet another excellent first time experience at a restaurant. Mangi Ebevi is a restaurant where you can dine at a reasonable price given you don’t order an appetizer, alcoholic beverages, or desert. The pasta dishes range from $12-16 depending on the ingredients. They also serve oven-baked pizza. I think the next time I go there that’s what I’m going to try…
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