Sushi Wave

This has got to be one of the biggest ironies in Denver. Sushi Wave's proximity to a dive bar (J.D.'s Bait Shop) and set back location in a strip mall on an extremely congested road east of I-25 make stop-overs highly unlikely. But stop-over they should. This is one of the best places for sushi around. The rolls are fresh like no others. And the simple rolls, like a yellow tail, are scrumpshessly packed full of of fish. The fancy rolls are really full of flavor and can almost taste creamy. The sashimi portions are significant and tasty and well-presented. Yes, the decor is blah. Yes, there are way too many signs telling you not to talk on your cell phone at the sushi bar. But there is always an open table and a quiet place to talk. And anyone who loves sushi goes or the food anyway, right? If you are looking for simply good sushi at very reasonable-for-Denver prices, this is your place. It's non-pretentious. t's fast enough that you don't get caught hungry. It's slow enough that it give you time to talk and sip your beer. If you order sashimi, it comes out in stages so you really get to enjoy your meal. Unfortunately the ponzu sauce comes in a soy sauce jar and you don't get any of those fabulous green onions, but are we really splitting hairs here?

Two words: LOVE IT!

Do the Sushi Wave!

Toast in Littleton

I have been wanting to check this place out for months, but since it's only open from the hours of 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. I often missed the cut-off point. Yesterday afternoon after a late night up working, I was ready for a 1 p.m. breakfast with the comfort of reading and writing for a bit so I stopped by. I was expecting a family-friendly diner. This place had the atmosphere but was going for some sort of gourmet standard in food, at least by the standard set by it's prices. $9 for an omelet (actually $10 because I got 4 ingredients instead of 3) and it really was very good but nothing too special. You order at the counter and pour your own coffee so it feels more like a bagel shop that a gourmet breakfast. Still, I had the experience I was looking for, albeit at a slightly higher cost and more self-serving than intended. Nothing really lost except for the hope of a beautiful little find near the heart of Littleton which was remarkably shattered.

Fontana Sushi

I hadn't been to Fontana Sushi in awhile and David was looking for something different in Littleton, so we bypassed Sushi Basho for Fontana Sushi on a Friday night. To our surprise there was quite a wait....about 30 minutes....but we got our place at the sushi bar and sat down to order. Given how crowded and busy it was, the service was a little slow. We waited about 10 minutes for our large Sapporos-- by the time they came our Miso soup (a little lacking in flavor) was almost complete. But it was all made up for with our efficiently served rolls and sushi. The Yellow Maki was very good. The Spicy Tuna a little spicy for my taste. And then we had this roll with spicy white tuna with ponzu sauce mixed in--a nice, tasty find on the back of the menu. The yellow tail sushi and white tuna sushi were also both very good. Overall, nice little place to have dinner on a Friday night and the wait gave us a good excuse to walk through Cost Plus and browse the furniture section.

Mad Greens

Your should go here if you meet one of two conditions:
1) You like salads
2) You don't like salads

If the former, this place will make all your latent salad dreams come true. If the latter, it will turn you into the former. Take it from me....I've shown up with FOUR developers who eat things like hamburgers and chickens wings for lunch and make grimacing faces about the idea of going to a salad place. Half of them bail and order a panini (I hear these are good, I have never bothered). The other half suck it up and order a salad--this half never looks back. The salads are so damn good you crave healthiness.

For a truly healthy twist go for the green papaya dressing. It's orange, but naturally fat free and absolutely delightful. Don't be afraid to build your own or ask for exactly what you want. Ignore the expensive add-ins, especially the citrus chicken as it is way to dry to enlighten your taste buds. Smile to the cute guy at the cash register. He will smile back each and every time.

Breakfast King

After a long night of drinking, a pub crawl to be precise, David and I stopped in at Breakfast King for some much needed food--we hadn't eaten since 5 p.m. the night before, and drowned that small amount of food down with multiple beers. Now it was 11 a.m. and we were starving. But also very hungover. This place was perfect. We sat in an L-shaped booth and it was tempting to just lay down and wait for the food to come. I had a veggie omelet. Very good. The tomatoes were served on top and really not worth the effort. The mushrooms and cheese really made this dish. David had the corned beef and hash and reported it to be good. The waitress was a little snappy--making me feel guilty for asking what the soup of the day was (and I never did find this out!) The place was decorated with a lot of harsh orange which just added to the charm. All-in-all I can't wait to go back...;-) (this would be a great place for a late night stop.)

I'm back.....Thanks to Sushi Hai in the Highlands

I'm not sure if it was the effect of a slightly pretentious place, a "new find"--Common Grounds coffee shop in the Highlands, or just an all-around good day, but all of a sudden, I remembered that I am a writer of blogs--to be specific, blogs on restaurants. To start with, it was a cold day, and we were fighting with the decision of whether to walk around Highlands or run back to the car for warmth. I won, we walked, 10 feet later we see sushi. What could be better? Well, it gives me a chance to run back to the store to check out some hot clothes while David runs ahead to order beers and sushi. When I finally do get there, there is a draft of Sapporo waiting for me and a sushi order ready to go in. The white tuna is truly albacore (I think) and very, very good. So good we order a second helping. And though I typically don't usually enjoy eel, it's freakin' amazing. And we get a whole roll our second time through. The Sapporos were a reasonable $2/pop and the whole bill less than $50. I think we found a find.

Platte Canyon Bar and Grille

This is my soon-to-be corner bar (or within-a-few-miles bar). I've been here twice and both times on beautiful days. It is half outdoors and has L.A.-style heat lamps hanging from the ceiling, meaning that you can stay outside comfortably longer than you otherwise would. Cheap beer, TVs with the game (whatever the game might be), and kick ass veggie enchiladas that held me up through new years eve. They came with healthy portions of guac, salsa, and sour cream. Veggies were mushrooms and green/red peppers--just my style. I always leave here feeling slightly happier than when I came in....a little bit like Cheers... or maybe the beers are just stronger or 22 instead of 20 ounces. I have yet to figure it out and am in absolutely no hurry to do so.

Sushi Basho

Right off Santa Fe and near the heart of downtown Littleton, this is likely to be the most convenient sushi place to me to enjoy on a regular basis. Knowing that going in...I was a little nervous...this was do or die...I mean...I've already signed on a townhouse...what if the sushi is not even acceptable?

Well, acceptable it was, even by L.A. standards... but I wouldn't dare take an L.A. friend here. For one thing, the customs are all different. I sat at the sushi bar but was not encouraged to order from the sushi chefs. In fact, I wasn't encouraged to order from anyone. They wanted me to decide what I wanted all at the beginning and write it all down on one of those paper menus. I've always seen them but thought they were very anti-climatic to the whole sushi experience. Why sit and the sushi bar if you're going to decide what you want all at once? It's like going to a bar and ordering three different drinks when you first sit down. I don't even think it's legal.

At any rate, getting over it. I look directly at the waitress with my blank white menu card and ask for albacore. Dumb stare. The Japanese waiter comes over and says...ah, that's white tuna, yes? I think this would be the incredulous look. I then notice I have two choices: white tuna and super white tuna. Slightly freaking out. The white tuna is good. The slightly spicy scallop roll is good and I think they actually understood my request for a little mayo to cut down the spice. The red snapper is not so good but not so bad. I have another piece of tuna and a piece of yellowtail (yellow tail is so so, which is too bad because this is typically my favorite). The cool thing is that it's happy hour and most sushi is $1 a piece--and you can order just 1 instead of 2 pieces together. I must go back and try them all and figure out what I can live with. And I must go often enough to be able to special order exactly what I want.

Of course, when in despair, they do have those wonderfully large bottles of Sapporo.

Anthony's

Stuck in my yucky rented condo room all day because of the flu but afraid to venture too far away as hey, I was recovering from the flu, I headed up to some restaurants on Dartmouth in my soon-to-be-past-hometown of Aurora. Anthony's was full around 8 p.m. so I went to the bar next store. Menu was all fried food--great for recovering from a hang over but not from wrenching stomach pain that was just starting to turn into hunger. Had a quick beer (yeah, I'm crazy) and headed back next store. Empty at 8:45.

I ordered the veal parmesan pasta--very reminiscent of mom's home-cooking and it actually lived up to the charge. Fried veal patty, sliced and layered on top of pasta with marina sauce. The whole plate doused with a healthy portion of cheese. I had a side salad with the freshest tomatoes I've seen in Denver so far (only been here since November remember). Unfortunately the salad had absolutely huge pieces of lettuce and all of that white bitter stuff in the middle. Still, the tomatoes, a health portion of cheese, pepperoni, and homemade tasty ranch more than made up for the less than stellar lettuce. Who eats a salad for the greens anyway?

I was surprised by the combination of helpful service and a laid back atmosphere. One guy was folding boxes while watching the basketball game. The girl in charge had her boyfriend there yet was always right on top of things and doing clean-up as well.

Overall a great little place to grab a bite to eat. Total came to $12--with a plastic cup of Chianti.

C B and Potts

Since I was on a sort of bizarre double date with craigslist people AND this is a chain, I might have avoided writing it up altogether except for one simple fact: the spinach salad was so freakin' fresh it blew my mind. It had grated parmesan and a to-die-for house dressing. And tons of fresh spinach. I was very pleased, especially since the local beers were on a Monday-night $3 special. Fun times.

Lola

The second meeting of Denver's Din Din and I am now the only member to be at all (i.e. both) gatherings. Starting out in the completely wrong place (14th and Colfax instead of 1439 SOUTH Pearl Street) I was about ready to give up when I got a call from Brie. She couldn't find the place either. We were both in the wrong place and she asked me to wait for her. I waited on the corner. Big mistake. If I'd been wearing my boots I'm sure I wouldn't have fared quite so well when those two very nice young men asked me if I was looking at them (I wasn't and I promptly sce-dattled away).

Anyway, we found our spot and Jenya, bless her heart, had waited the necessary 35 minutes for a table so we sat right down. The guacamole made at your table was everything it was made out to be. It can't possibly be more fresh than when you watch the person carve the avocado right in front of you and add all the spices in and mix it all up. Surprisingly, the chips left a little to be desired, but the guac more than compensated.

Everyone's dinner had so many flavors you couldn't possibly absorb them in one bite. Brie had the blackened salmon special with an interesting tangy green sauce. Jenya had the mussels and shrimp with a wonderful cream sauce. I had the red snapper with an apricot walnut sauce. On the side was a mini sandwich made out of a vegi tortilla bread (forget the spanish name) with peppers, asparagus, green beans, leeks, and more crammed in with such proportion that it looked like the mouth on one of those strange creatures on that show with the muppets that live under ground--I don't remember the name but either you know what I'm talking about or you don't.

Everyone's meal was good. I liked mine the best. The dessert menu was served in a picture frame which was very cute. A little pricyso enjoy with caution: $33 total, including tax and tip.

Din Din Rule #2: Don't be afraid to call and ask the restaurant for directions.

Jason's Deli

This is a place to go to eat and eat and eat. I ordered the veggie po boy to go. I was overwhelmed by fresh veggies, mainly red and green peppers and avocado, all in the middle of a Colorado winter. The sandwich was fresh and tasty. A lot of flavor packed in. A little pricey for a deli but well worth it.

I'll be going back for the salad bar and the soups and more sandwiches. I think I could try just about everything on the menu at least once.

Wahoo's

I still love this place, but the green sauce (called green pepper sauce here) just isn't the same as I remember it being in warm, foggy L.A. Next time I'll try eating in and see if it makes a difference.

J. Alexander's

OK, I know this is a chain, but I've never been so it's new to me.

The house chardonnay was perfectly acceptable and the waitress offered my guest the opportunity to try two different wines (a first in my restaurant dining history). I ordered the Thai something salad. At the first bite, I detected a distinct mustard taste in the light lemon dressing that covered the salad, but the peanut dressing on the side more than overcame the mustard, so I survived. I think I may have even learned to at least slightly enjoy a sauce with a hint of mustard flavor...next thing you know I'll be covering my gourmet hot dogs with it....;-)

Luna Hotel

What a place for a company holiday party...man was the food good.

In addition to the free-flowing wine, I started out with a ceaser salad. As the waiter promised, this was not a typical ceaser salad so I was happy to try it. Full leafs of romain lettuce were sort of tied together with a thin cruton. You had to break it all up to create the salad. A little messy for such a fancy place but since so many people at my table ordered the same salad and made a mess, I didn't feel uncomfortable.

Next up, the cheese. The cheddar bacon was amazing (and I don't typically like bacon flavored things). This was anything but bacon-flavored, it was reall bacon and it didn't overwhelm the cheese. I mostly indulged in the swiss because it was right in front of me. I dabbled in the blue cheese which was surprisingly mild and encouraged a second and maybe even third try (at this point, the wine has started to take it's effect).

Then, the entree. Filet mignon turned prime rib was amazingly flavorful even though I got someone else's well done (I go for medium rare). Although slightly sad, I indulged in the garlic whipped potatoes and asparagus. I've never had potatoes that were so creamy.

Finally dessert. I was so full even without really eating my steak that I dipped a few apples and pretzels in the white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate pans. Dark chocolate definitely ruled the day but it was in a far off corner. The white chocolate did me well.

If only my white elephant gift (a book of famous people drawn smally) could have half lived up to the expectations set by such a wonderful meal...that I wasn't paying for. All the better. Live long and prosper.

Brix

What: inaugural meeting of Din Din...Denver's hippest new social network (read: me and Ric/k squared)
Where: Brix, Cherry Creek
When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, December 9--if you're reading this you already missed it.

Details:
For me, this was like a little bit of L.A., seeking out comfortable places in the midst of overdone class (that's me making broad, sweeping generalizations about CC since I can't afford to live there and really in all honesty don't know where to go). Then again, it might not have felt like L.A. at all except for the guy who walked in wearing plastic white-rimmed sunglasses.

Food:
Delish.....we had the Duck Flauta as an appetizer, at the parting bequest of our very nice, but very drunk acquaintence in the waiting booths. Served with super-fresh avocado, a light chili sauce (flavorful but not spicy) and topped with a light diced tomato. We were fighting over the last bites.

I had the blackened salmon (which was black just on the very outside but not in a way that overwhelmed the dinner). It was served on top of "dirty rice" which I learned meant rice with beans and semi-smothered with a paprika butter sauce. Topped with asparagus. I enjoyed every bite.

R1 had the pork tenderloin--the bite I tried was very good. R2 had chicken panini. Luckily the restaurant provisioned A1 sauce or I think my entire experience would have been in some way tarnished (just meeting the Rs this evening I can only imagine how).

This place has a very cozy atmosphere. Water is served out of wine bottles that are left on your table. And the real wine is reasonably priced. All in all, a great little dining experience. Worth trying. I will go back to try the "gourmet" hot dog just because I must figure out what this means and I don't believe the waiter when he shook is head with a slight bit of disgust when I questioned him about it.

Din Din Rule #1: You must be willing to share a taste of your dish with those at your table.

The Elephant Bar

True to it's name, this restaurant is full of statues of elephants (and other animals). I was there around 9 p.m. on a Saturday night and the bar was almost empty, so not a place to go out. The menu is huge and has some unique selections at reasonable prices. It claims to be unforgettable, though I have already forgotten most of it. Hungry for something light, I ordered the spring rolls--they came with a great dipping sauce which would have been wonderful smothered inside the rolls instead of on the side. I'll be back to try the lunch specials during the work week.

Salty Rita's

Still convinced I can find affordable housing in Denver in an area with a main street sort of feel, I head to Lowry. One look and I know I'll never live here. But I'm hungry so I stop and eat.

Salty Rita's has a somewhat limited pseudo-Mexican menu. I order the cheese quesadillas. They're perfectly acceptable, but nothing special.

I wish I had something witty to say, but there is nothing about Lowry or the restaurant that inspires anything but dullness.....

Castle Rock Bar and Grille -- for breakfast

It was a beautiful day right after Thanksgiving and I'm meeting Brock and Megan for a Saturday morning breakfast--I haven't eaten breakfast out in months, but looking for a house and living in such temporary digs get me out and about much earlier than normal.

Anyway, the perfect looking breakfast place is lined up out the door, so we find our way to the one other open restaurant on main street. It's a bar and it's rather dark, but they serve breakfast so we eat.

The first bizarre thing is that the bartender requires a name for the "tab". We are one table out of maybe three full in the whole place. Since it's required by the computer (damn computers) I give him my name, but why not make something up? I ordered a normal breakfast sandwich with egg and cheese. Very good. Brock and Megan decide to split the breakfast burrito at the encouragement of the bartender. The thing is huge--each half pretty much fills up a full size plate.

All in all. This is not a great breakfast atmosphere (or really a great bar either), but the food was cheap and good. I'd go back in a pinch.

Earl's

It's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I'm looking for a place to have a little drink and maybe some dinner. I drive toward the mall at 470 and I-25, just hoping to find something that's not Friday's.

I see the P.F. Chang's, remember the lettuce wraps I shared with a friend in Long Beach and cut across three lanes to turn right. Then I see Earl's. I don't know if this is a chain or not (turns out it's not) but at least, if it is, I've never heard of it. I go in.

It's crowded and yuppie-ish. I sit at the bar and order a Fat Tire and clam chowder. The clam chowder was stock full of clams and the pan bread melted butter all over your fingers (this was good, but slightly annoying). The soup was definitely good enough to encourage me to head back, though the very friendly but not-my-type guy, smoking at least 8 cigarettes in an hour but then paying my entire bill may have scared me away.

Getting started

Many thanks to Brock and Megan for getting me started on my Denver restaurant adventure with the arrival gift of Denver Dines. It turns out that there are a few sushi places and non-chains around here. I intend to find them all.

Friday's

My first night in Denver. I really wasn't hoping for much and that's about all I got. I ordered the Sante Fe salad. It wasn't fresh and had an overly spicy Chipotle ranch dressing. The portions of interesting parts, like corn and peppers were rather small.

I'd say go for a steak, but I saw some grumblings in nearby tables. For a Saturday night, the place had a rather unfriendly, heavy-smoking but overall just light bar scene.