FOODIES

Dining at Red Sushi at the Golden Nugget got us thinking about our favorite sushi joint in Wichita, Wasabi. These are pictures from our first trip to Wasabi in 2011. May there be many more to come!

Brian and I couldn’t figure out what to get Jan for Christmas this year. What do you get a woman who has everything? Correction.. TWO of everything. That’s how it seems, anyway. LOL. So we decided to just treat her to some Wasabi.

Here are photos of some of the foods we enjoyed that day…

Brian and I always get edamame. Always.

Jan loves the crab cakes at Wasabi.

This is the crunch roll, one of the specialty rolls at Wasabi.

We love the half-priced sushi items!

The shrimp tempura crazy roll is my most favorite out of all of their specialty rolls. I also like the crazy crab roll, the caterpillar, the spider roll, and the stone henge (pictured below).

Click here for the full sushi menu.

We couldn’t end 2010 without eating at our favorite restaurant. What a great discovery! And so close to work, too!

Anyway, we hope that Jan liked her Christmas treat. After all, a friend of mine once told me, it’s not about the material things, it’s about the memories.

Mo was in town last week and he had never been to Wasabi before so that’s where we went for lunch. Darcy was not feeling well that day and took off early so only the four of us — Jan, Mo, Brian and I — had lunch. I rarely ever get to see Mo anymore so it was a real treat.

Of course, any excuse to dine at Wasabi is as good as any. Actually, Darcy mentioned to me today that she and Bobby are having dinner there tonight. I was almost tempted to ask Brian to go there for dinner also. I decided against crashing their nice dinner, though. LOL.

I got to eat at Cafe Bel Ami a couple of weeks ago. I love, love, love that restaurant except I don’t really get the opportunity to eat there much. Brian and I generally don’t drive into downtown Wichita whenever we think of having dinner, and we can’t really eat there for lunch because it’s not quick. It’s one of my favorite restaurants, but up until we ate there recently it had probably been almost two years since I last ate there.

Isaac told me they usually go there after the managers’ meetings, but I’m excused from that lunch since Brian and I always have lunch together. This last visit made me remember how great their food is and how much I really like that place, and I realized that I’d been missing out. LOL.

This was Isaac’s yummy-looking salmon fattoush. He said it is what he always gets there because it’s very good.

Carmen had the cavatappi carbonara with chicken. It looked delicious also.

I had the seasoned grilled tilapia, which is what I always get, and it was delicious. I absolutely love Cafe Bel Ami. It’s one of my top three favorite restaurants in the downtown area. My other two favorites are Wasabi and Caffe Moderne.

What about you? Have you ever tried Cafe Bel Ami? What are your favorite restaurants?

Brian and I finally got to try the Wichita Kebab House. The first time we tried to go was after work one day and they were closed. This time we went for lunch. We were not denied this time.

Lunch was pretty expensive even with the free hummus (normally $6). Our entrees were $12 each. Brian got the Alexander Doner and I had the Alexander Chicken. It is served on cut up pita bread with rice on the side. On the plus side, you get salad with your entree. However, $30 (before tip) is still a lot to spend for lunch. Usually, Brian and I try to eat for about $10-$15.

Prices aside, I thought the hummus was pretty good. I say that because I’m not normally a fan of hummus. Brian had coleslaw instead of salad. He thought it was alright. I had a Turkish salad. It was that or the Russian salad or the coleslaw. The salad was a little different, not what I am used to. It looked and tasted delicious and I’m sure someone with better taste in food than me would have probably enjoyed it. I’m pretty plain when it comes to salads so I don’t really like fancy salads like that.

Brian found the Alexander Doner (lamb meat) delicious. The meat was really tender compared to the meat in the Doner sandwiches he had in Germany. Then again, he said that the meat wasn’t always lamb over there. It could be pork, but they still called it Doner.

I thought the Alexander Chicken was weird. The chicken itself was flavorful and I liked it, but I wasn’t so fond of the tomato sauce, yogurt and butter Alexander dressing. I think I would have preferred a regular Chicken Shish Kebab without the weird sauce. It would have been $1 less also. =P

Brian and I got full on hummus and pita so neither of us finished our meals. He ended up taking his leftovers and the leftover hummus and pita back to work. He said his coworkers seemed to enjoy it. They will probably go check out the Wichita Kebab House, too. I plan on eating my leftover Alexander Chicken for lunch tomorrow.

Overall I think the place had great food, I just made some bad choices. Brian wants to go back next time for a Doner sandwich so he can compare it to the Doner sandwiches he lived on while he was in Germany. That will be my chance to try the Chicken Shish Kebab.