Tag Archives: shrimp

Porfirio’s

Posted in Cancun by

When people suggest going to nice, fancy Mexican restaurants, I always balk because, to me, Mexican food should always be cheap, greasy, and come from a hole in the wall type of establishment. Of all the fancy Mexican places I’ve been to, I find they are too commercialized and don’t hold that authentic flavor you find from the cheaper places. Porfirio’s, a gourmet Mexican restaurant in Cancun, was recommended to me by the hotel concierge at the Westin Lagunamar. Since this recommendation was coming from a local, I went against my judgment and decided to give it a try. Boy, did it not disappoint!

The decor of this establishment was perfect for a romantic date. The indoor seating is lighted with candles and dim lighting to set the mood. Outdoors, they have seating on the patio next to the water fountains and dock.To start the night, I tried the Josefina de guayaba (guava) and mango. These drinks were made with mezcal, which is distilled from an agave plant. The liquor definitely showed through the mango but not the guava one. Continue reading →

Legal Sea Foods

Posted in Boston by

I landed in Boston in the evening, and after a five hour flight, I was starving. Luckily, around the corner from my hotel was Legal Sea Foods. This place first opened in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a low-key restaurant next to the Berkowitz family’s Legal Cash Market and fish market. Word quickly spread about its fresh and quality seafood. Now there have locations throughout the east coast and airports. Despite many locations, the place was packed. It was a 45 minute wait for a table. I walked around the block for a few minutes before heading to the bar to warm up with a glass of wine instead. Shortly afterwards, our table was ready.

The menu was filled with many seafood options cooked in different methods.  I wanted to try all of it from steamers to lobster to the fried mussels. It was hard to choose. Eventually, I decided on the the New England clam chowder, crab cake, baked oysters, and the ciopinno.

The New England clam chowder was perfect. It was creamy, full of clam flavor and whole clam pieces. I was surprised by this since it’s rare to have whole clam pieces. I enjoyed this chowder so much that I wiped the cup clean with bread.

As a crab cake lover, Legal’s signature crab cake was a disappointment. It had bits of apple in it giving the crab cake a hint of sweetness. The crab cake was fried so it had a consistency of a fried dough ball instead of the crunch from a pan seared crab cake. The one good thing was its huge lumps of crab.

As a recommendation from the waitress, we ordered the baked oysters. The oysters were topped with spinach, tomato, cheese, and breadcrumbs. They were cheesy delicious but since the oysters were huge, one baked oyster was filling. I was getting full at this point.

Somehow I managed to save enough room for the cippinno. The cippinno came with a small lobster tail, scallops, shrimp, calamari, littleneck clams, mussels and whitefish all cooked in a white tomato sauce. It was a decent cippinno but nothing decadent.

 If you’re drooling to try Legal seafood, they deliver throughout the continental U.S.

Yakiniku Hiroshi

Posted in Oahu by

A hidden gem in Hawaii, this restaurant offers delicious meat varieties from Japan and the US for a wonderful yakiniku experience. We were able to call 30 minutes ahead and book reservations. The restaurant was not packed or loud so you get to enjoy your meal in peace. A personal touch to the restaurant were the walls, which are signed by famous people and past customers.

You have the option to order each cut of meat individually or from a set course. They have two course options: gold ($60/person) or premium ($123/person). We ordered the gold option and had no regrets. 

The meal begins with kimchee (pickled cabbage), nori (seaweed), pickled sides (carrots, radishes, spinach, and bean sprouts), and salad. The house made salad was light and refreshing with the apples

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Next came the juicy USDA prime ribeye.

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The beef tongue was a thicker cut than I have had before but it was delicious.

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The blue shrimp is cooked in a garlic butter sauce in a copper pot. If you cook it wrong, the staff will come over and correct the cooking method.

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I LOVED their deep fried garlic. I even requested to box what I couldn’t finish to take home with me.

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On the left is the toro kalbi (short rib) and on the right is the skirt steak. The skirt steak was juicy, tender and full of umami.  Overall, all the meat just melted in your mouth. 

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The meal ended with frozen cream puffs, but at this point, I was too full to enjoy these. 

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This meal was definitely worth $60/ person. 

(339 Royal Hawaiian Ave #2, Honolulu, HI 96815)