Category Archives: Food

I love eating delicious food and different cuisines. This Food category has a collection of posts on my favorite restaurants and the unique food I tried.

Fashion, Food, Handbags, Lifestyle, Travel

5 Things to Try This Month – April 2024

04/22/2024 Shirley

It seemed like Year 2024 had just started not too long ago, but we are already in April. Working from home has saved me some commute time, but it also keeps me busier than ever. I feel like each day goes by much too fast for me.

The consolation I have from working from home is to choose where I want to work in the house. I have set up my desk by the window and it gives me the opportunity to watch Spring puts its magic touch on all the plants and flowers in our backyard. I got to watch the plans coming back to life from their dormant state. I guess working from home is not that bad after all.

To enjoy the Spring to the fullest, I have several things I am doing this month.

Food/Drink

New Coffee for Afternoon Pick-me-up: I am a big fan of Nespresso coffee. In addition to my daily morning Nespresso coffee routine, I like to drink a 2nd cup of Nespresso coffee in the afternoon when I work from home.

Nespresso recently released a new limited edition Maple Pecan flavored coffee. This is supposed to be a medium roast blend. In my opinion, this Maple Pecan coffee tastes a little bit more on the lighter side. However, I really like the Maple Pecan aroma and it’s perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Accessories

New Versatile Handbag: My new favorite accessory is the red Marc Jacobs’ Small Leather Tote bag. I have been using it on my recent wine tasting trips. It’s a perfect bag to hold all my essential stuff, such as wallet, phone, lip gloss and sunglasses. See more information on the bag.

Shirley Style April New Accessory - Marc Jacobs Small Tote Handbag in Red — Shirley Style April New Accessory – Marc Jacobs Small Tote Handbag in Red

Lifestyle

New Piano Song to Learn for Self-fulfillment: Playing the piano is one of my favorite hobbies. While I enjoy practicing the songs I’ve already known how to play, I also love to learn new songs on a regular basis. My recent new favorite song to learn is Chopin’s Nocturne No. 19 in E Minor, Op. 72 No. 1. To me, this is a very beautiful song, but has some unspoken sadness in the melody. I think it will take me a while to master this song, but I am confident that I will keep at it until I do.

New Chopin Piano Song to Learn in April 2024

Nail

New Red Glitter Gel Nails: Red is my go-to color when it comes to getting my nails done each month. For this month, I have red nail covers covered with glitter and rhinestones aligned on each finger.

Travel

Wine Tasting in Lake Chelan, Washington: I’ve heard many great things about Lake Chelan in Washington, but I have never visited there before. I finally got the opportunity to visit Lake Chelan at the beginning of this month. The weather was very nice. Given that it was still off-season, the town wasn’t crowded. It was a perfect time to visit the town and the wineries.

Shirley Style April 2024 Wine Tasting Trip

All Posts, Food, Travel

The Mayfair Supper Club in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas

03/12/2020 Shirley

During my recent trip to Las Vegas, I ate at the Mayfair Supper Club, the new restaurant that recently opened in the Bellagio hotel. The Mayfair Supper Club is a modernized classic American restaurant with entertainment. The CNN Travel site has named it as one of the 20 best new restaurants in the world.

(Picture of the restaurant entrance.)

I like the entrance of the restaurant and all the internal decor. There are two bars, one by the entrance and another one by the main dining area.

(The bar in the main dining room.)

In my opinion, it’s a little bit difficult to describe Mayfair. Their advertising says that they are a supper club. But what does that mean?

Basically, there’s a stage that has different acts going on throughout the night. For example, there was a piano player/singer. And later there was one singer singing while other dancers performed on the stage. Also, the entertainers were wandering around the dining area and interacting with the dinners. The entertainers act as if Mayfair was a 1930’s style cabaret.

(The piano player/singer in the beginning of the evening.)

In short, Mayfair is a combination of dining and entertainment mixed together. Most fine dining restaurants in the Bellagio hotel close around 10:00pm, but Mayfair serves food until 1:30am.

If you like old school songs such as “Luck Be a Lady” and “At Last”, you’d have a blast at the Mayfair Supper Club restaurant, because those are the types of songs you will hear while you eat there.

If you like Jazz, you’d want to go to Mayfair on Sunday night because there will be Jazz band and singers performing.

To be honest, I was skeptical about the whole concept of the restaurant when I first heard about it. But it worked very well, at least in my opinion. I had a great time eating there with my friends and enjoying the entertainment.

Stay tuned for my future post on the appetizers, entrees, and dessert we had at the restaurant.
(The lounge and the bar at the front of the restaurant.)

(Picture with my beautiful friend, Ying.)

All Posts, Food, Travel

Club Lounge at the Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas

03/09/2020 Shirley

During my recent visit to Las Vegas I stayed at the Vdara hotel, which is one of the two properties that has no casino floor in the City Center in Las Vegas. The other hotel property that has no casino is Waldorf Astoria, which formerly known as the Mandarin Oriental.

Like many of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, Vdara has its own private lounge for hotel guests. Hotels guests can get lounge access by booking special suites on the property, or by paying an additional daily lounge fee. The private lounge usually offers drinks and light snacks.

The Vdara’s private lounge is called the Club Lounge. It is open daily from 7:00am to 7:00pm, and serves complimentary coffee, tea, soda, and light snacks throughout the day.

The coffee machine at the Club Lounge gives you various choices from Americano coffee to Cappuccino, with fresh milk and syrups. They even offers Chai tea latte, mocha, and hot chocolate.

(These are some of the fresh fruits and pastries served at Vdara’s Club Lounge every day.)

In the morning from 7:00am to 11:00am, the Club Lounge provides selections of self-serve breakfast, fresh fruit, pastries, bread, and donuts.

(Scrambled eggs, cheese crepes, fresh berries, and caramel macchiato.)

In the afternoon, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, the Club lounge offers hors d’oeuvres and selected beers, wines and champagne. Other cocktails are available for an additional charge.

(These are some of the hors d’oeuvres I had. The asparagus were so good; I had them everyday during my stay in the Vdara hotel.)

Between 6:00pm to 7:00pm, the Club Lounge offers desserts. I tried the key lime tart and chocolate mouse cake. They were really delicious.

(These are two of the desserts served at Vdara’s Club Lounge. They were really delicious.)

In my opinion, Vdara’ offers the best-value lounge compared to other hotels’ private lounges I’ve been to. Just the breakfast selections at the Vdara alone covers a full meal. In the hotels on the strip, getting a breakfast meal with coffee would easily cost you at least $30 per person.

The complimentary afternoon hors d’oeuvres with wine is the perfect light happy hour before your dinner.

The next time you stay in Vdara in Las Vegas, consider trying their Club Lounge. Even if you don’t get the complimentary lounge access with the suite you stay in and have to pay for the daily lounge fee, it’s well worth every penny.

(This donut tree is one of my favorite items at the Vdara Club Lounge. It’s served every morning.)

All Posts, Food, Travel

Returning to Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas

02/05/2020 Shirley

The first time I ate at Joel Robuchon, at MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, was ten years ago. My overall dining experience at the restaurant back then was great. In fact, the Joel Robuchon restaurant is on my top five favorite restaurants in Las Vegas.

Read my previous post on the Joel Robunchon restaurant.

Throughout the years, I’ve been going back to Joel Robuchon many times. The food at the restaurant was very delicious; I always ended up overeating.

Other than the exquisite quality of the food, the impeccable service, and the fancy decoration at Joel Robuchon, I love their bread cart and dessert cart. I could just eat them all day.

(Picture of their bread cart)

Of course, there’s always their famous Le Souffle – Chocolate Hot Souffle. I had so many of their Le Souffle in the past, I even have pictures of them being served on different kind of serving plates over the past decade.

(Le Souffle – Chocolate Hot Souffle)

From eating at my favorite restaurants in Las Vegas, I noticed that they are constantly trying to reinvent their menu and make changes to stay current. Sometimes, they’d remove food that I happened to love or add new items that I enjoy.

However, one thing I am grateful about Joel Robuchon is that while they update themselves, they still keep providing everything I love about eating at their restaurant. This includes their bread cart and dessert cart. Among all the bread their offer, they still have my favorite ones!

(Joel Robuchon’s butter with sea salt and my favorite bread selection.)

Below are the food my friend and I ordered during my recent visit to Joel Robuchon.

Appetizers

(Le Potiron – cream of pmpkin with mimolette cheese and Parisian gnocchi, served with black truffle.)

(L’OEuf de Poule Miroir – pan fried egg on pearl rice with shaved Iberico Ham, served with black truffle.)

Main Courses

(Le Black Cod – Caramelized black code in Maiabar pepper sauce with wasabi spinach.)

(Le Boeuf – Wagyu rib eye with stuffed macaroni and Parmesan.)

I enjoy eating at the Joel Robuchon so much, there are just so many good things about it.

There’s another dessert I ate during this trip. It’s so exquisite. I think it deserves to have its own dedicated blog post, so I’ll write it up later.

If you haven’t been to Joel Robuchon, I hope the pictures in this post are enough to entice you to make the trip. Believe me, it’s totally worth it.

All Posts, Food

Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki Restaurant in Seattle

01/30/2020 Shirley

A few months ago, my friends introduced me to one of their favorite restaurants in Seattle, Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki. “Kaiseki” refers to a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine, prepared with rigorous attention to detail.

The menu at the restaurant changes daily, based on the season and weather. And the restaurant only has nine seats, which makes the reservation hard to get. We had to reserve two months in advance.

Once you are seated, you can watch the chef and sous-chefs prepare each of the courses right in front of you while you eat.

My first time experience at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki was wonderful. The food was delicious and the service was great.

I enjoyed eating all the food at Taneda Sushi in Kaisei. However, I have several personal favorites which I don’t mind to eat them all the time.

My personal favorites are the sashimi and uni served over the sea urchin shell, amaebi and uni roll, caviar, uni, Kobe beef over rice, and Kobe beef with meatball.

See below for the images I took during dinner.

(Uni and sashimi served on a sea urchin shell – the ingredients were very fresh; they literally melt in my mouth as I ate them.)

(Amaebi and Uni roll — sweet shrimp and sea urchin — in a close-up image – this is so delicious! I think eating just one is not enough.)

(Special mix of caviar, uni, and Kobe beef over rice – this course has all of my favorite ingredients. The portion is small, but rich in taste.)

(Kobe beef and meatball with special sauce – the Kobe beef is so tender. )

Below are more food, in addition to my personal favorites.

(Sampling of delicious bites.)

(Assorted sushi.)

(Watching Chef Taneda preparing our food.)

I am going back to the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki with a group of friends tomorrow night. Just by looking at the pictures of the food I took during my last visit to the restaurant makes me hungry. I can’t wait for the dinner tomorrow.

Since the food at the Taneda Sushi in Kaiseki restaurant changes seasonally, I am looking forward to see what’s new. I hope they will still offer my favorite dishes. (Stay tuned for my follow-up post on my returning to the restaurant.)

All Posts, Food, Travel

Top Ten Restaurants in Las Vegas

01/24/2020 Shirley

I’ve been going to Las Vegas with different groups of people, such as friends, family, and co-workers in the past years (why I like to go to Vegas). After trying so many restaurants on the strip, I came up with my top ten list of restaurants in Las Vegas. Depending on who I am going with, my top restaurant list might vary. Below is a list ideal for trips to Vegas with anyone who enjoy great dinner.

It is in no particular order. I will go into details in my future posts.

Allegro at Wynn
Bardot Brasserie at Aria
Harvest at Bellagio
Joel Robuchon at MGM Grand
Le Cirque at Bellagio
The Mansion at The Mansion
Michael Mina at Bellagio
Picasso at Bellagio
Sinatra at Encore
SW Steakhouse at Wynn

Las Vegas has way more great restaurants than I could fit into my list. There are three more I would have considered to add to my top ten list, except that they were closed in the past few years, mainly for economic reasons. They are: Restaurant Charlie by Charlie Trotter, David Burke, and Switch. I will explain why I like them later.

LasVegas Restaurant AquaKnox — American Red Snapper from AquaKnox at Venetian

LasVegas Restaurant Allegro at Wynn — Osso Buco D’agnello from Allegro at Wynn

All Posts, Food, Travel

Five of My Favorite Places for Brunch in Vegas

02/13/2019 Shirley

I love Las Vegas. When I am in Vegas I often eat breakfast, which is something I don’t normally do at home. Here are five of my favorite places to eat breakfast in Las Vegas.

1. The Mansion at MGM Grand

The Mansion is a semi-secret, very exclusive invitation-only restaurant. I was offered the chance to eat breakfast at The Mansion when I stayed at the Skylofts at MGM Grand. The Mansion was unbelievable!

2. Tableau at Wynn Hotel

Tableau is a fantastic restaurant at the Wynn hotel. The breakfast menu is incredible and I love some of their unique items including White Chocolate and Orange French Toast.

3. Bardot Brasserie

Bardot Brasserie is a French restaurant, by Michael Mina. Bardot Brasserie opens for brunch only on Saturday and Sunday. Among all the amazing food it offers, the French Toast is a must-have. It’s made with brioche bread and vanilla mascarpone, toped with the almond brittle, and orgeat syrup on the side.

4. Zen Kitchen at Waldorf Astoria

Zen Kitchen at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was an unexpected surprise. One morning when I was at the Mandarin Oriental I wasn’t feeling like going out and so I ate there and I was pleased. The restaurant was casual but elegant and everything on the breakfast menu was great!

5. Bouchon at Venetian

The Bouchon at the Venetian was a bit hard to find, at the fourth floor overlooking the pool area. The restaurant is mostly French inspired but the breakfast items are all fantastic!

Fiave Favorite Breakfast Places in Vegas

All Posts, Food, Travel

Spago Restaurant in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas

08/06/2018 Shirley

While I was on my business trip to a Deep Learning conference in Las Vegas last month I ate at the new Spago restaurant in the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. (The Spago restaurant was in their soft opening when I ate there and they were officially opened on Thursday, June 7.)

The Spago restaurant is owned by the celebrity chef, Wolfgang Puck, who has many restaurants including five Spago restaurants (in Beverly Hills, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Maui, Singapore). The Spago restaurant in Las Vegas used to be at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, and it’s now re-opened in the Bellagio hotel in June.

The Spago restaurant serves California cuisine, which means it offers fresh ingredients and all-natural meats, and the food is prepared in different cooking styles.

The décor of the new Spago restaurant in the Bellagio is simple and yet has a modernized look and feel. It is located by the Fountains of Bellagio. If you sit at their patio, you will get the close-up view of the fountain show every 30 minutes.

During this Las Vegas trip, I ate at Spago twice; dinner with colleagues on Monday and lunch with a friend on Tuesday. I guess this shows how much I enjoyed their food!

For dinner, my two colleagues and I sat at the patio. We shared Smoked Salmon Pizza, Sweet Corn Agnolotti, Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms, English Pea Soup, Seared Alaskan Halibut, Grilled Prime New York Steak, and Roasted Colorado Lamb Rack. Each dish was delicious. After a day of work, a couple of Dirty Martinis with Gray Goose Vodka, delicious food, and great company were just what I needed!

(Smoked Salmon Pizza)

(Seared Alaskan Halibut)

(Roasted Colorado Lamb Rack)

The next day, I met a friend for lunch and we went to Spago. The menu for lunch is slightly different than previous night’s dinner, but I was glad that they offered the same Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms as the previous night. This pasta dish brings out the best flavor of mushrooms, and it has became my new favorite at the Spago restaurant.

(Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms)

For lunch at the Spago, my friend and I shared Half-Dozen Kusshi & Beausoliel Oysters, Caesar Salad, Tuna Tartare (served in Sesame-Miso cones), Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms, and Grilled Double R Ranch Filet Mignon. We also had assorted treats for dessert.

(Half-Dozen Kusshi & Beausoliel Oysters)

(Tuna Tartare – served in Sesame-Miso cones)

(Grilled Double R Ranch Filet Mignon)

My overall experience at the Spago restaurant in the Bellagio hotel was great! The service on both visits at the restaurant was equally great. I like the fact that they are open for lunch while most fine dinning restaurants at the Bellagio hotel don’t open until dinner.

Next time you visit the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas and are looking for a place for dinning, I recommend that you try the Spago restaurant!

(Desserts)

The featured image of the Spago Restaurant’s patio was from the restaurant’s Web site.)

All Posts, Fashion, Food, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – March 2018

04/02/2018 Shirley

March is the beginning of Spring and it’s time to try new nail colors, new coffee, and a new cuisine. See below for the things I am doing this month.

Enjoy the New Nespresso Double Espresso

I am always looking out for Nespresso’s new coffee flavors. This month they released two new capsules (Double Espresso Chiaro and Double Espresso Scuroin) for the Vertuo system machine. I tried it at home and it’s delicious, especially with some frothed milk.

Switch to Green Nail Color

For this month (St. Patrick’s Day and beginning of Spring), I am switching from my all-time favorite red gel nail color to green. Instead of the dark green color, I got a light green color with glitters and Swarovski crystals. I love my new gel nail color and I think it’s perfect for everyday this month!

Break Into Light Color Shoes

Since we are in the beginning of Spring I can start breaking in the light color shoes I bought for the warm seasons. One of my recent favorites for casual attire is Puma’s Glitter Platform Sneaker in Gray Metallic. Unlike most of the glitter shoes I have, these Puma glitters are sealed under a glossy coat, so you won’t see individual glitters falling off.

Valentino

Update Work Wardrobes

With the starting of a new job, I plan to update my work wardrobes with more dresses. Among the brands I like, The Kooples, offers many dresses that are perfect for work and I can wear from morning to Happy Hour.
For example, the The Kooples’ Contrast-Collar Lace-Inset Mini Dress I recently got would be perfect for the office, if I wear it with a sweater cardigan and flat ballerina shoes (with short heels). After work, I can skip the cardigan and switch into a pair of stilettos. This is an ideal dress that takes you from day to night!

Experience a New Cuisine

I like to try food that I’ve never tasted before. This month my friends introduced me to the Kabul Afghan Cuisine restaurant in Seattle. We had kababs combination, which includes chicken, lamb, beef, grilled eggplants, Basmati rice, and Afghan Bread. All the food we had at the restaurant was delicious, but I liked the beef and the rice the best! We finished our meal with the dessert, Ferni, a custard pudding flavored with cardamom and rosewater, and topped with ground pistachios.

Kabul Afphan Cuisine Ferni Dessert — Shirley Style food advantures

All Posts, Beauty, Fashion, Food, Top Five

5 Things to Try This Month – October 2017

10/13/2017 Shirley

When I think of October, I think about the changing color of the maple leaves and the chilly weather in Seattle. These are the clear signs of the arrival of Fall.

Below are five things I’d like to try this month to help me enjoy the Fall season.

Bake for Fall

I love to bake pumpkin loaf in the Fall. I’ve been having my eyes on the Williams Sonoma’s Nordic Ware Fall Loaf Pan, and I finally bought it last week. I plan to use my new Fall loaf pan to bake different kind of cakes this month.

Sea Urchin Feast

Sea urchin (uni) is one of my favorite seafoods. It tastes especially good when it is freshly opened up. On this past Friday, my friend hosted a uni feast party for our October gathering. We paired the uni with sake, and it was perfect. I plan on hosting a uni feast for my family this weekend.

Add Long Earrings to Wardrobe

Swarovski recently came up with new long crystal earrings. This is the exact earrings I’ve been looking for. This will come handy when I dine out with my friends during the upcoming Seattle restraurant week.

Attending Private Fall Shopping Party

Nordstrom is hosting a private Fall shopping party this month in its local stores. I will be joining my friend for one of these private shopping events at the Nordstrom in Seattle area this Sunday. And we plan to get together for drinks before the event starts. We are very excited to check out the shopping party!

Experiment with Skin Care Products

My skin tends to get dry in Fall and Winter. To help myself get through this season, I plan to experienment with different kinds of body lotion and ointments to keep my skin moisturized throughout the season.

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