Tapas in Denver

El Señor Sol  (303) 455-2500 • 2301 7th St

 It's a Mexican Restaurant, but we go there for the excellent Spanish Tapas Menu.

 Nice spread of authentic Spanish tapas.

Cebiche Peruvian Restaurant

 As stated, one of the reasons for this blog is to share our favorite things, and today we discovered another of our favorite places in the Denver area. That would be a wonderful Peruvian restaurant in Wheat Ridge called Cebiche.

If you have never tried Peruvian food in general, and cebiche in particular, try this place. If you love Peruvian food and/or cebiche, you will love this restaurant.

Here we are in front of the establishment.

We jumped the gun and started eating before snapping a shot of this delicious Incan Platter, a sampling of four fine entrees. Lomo saltado (Stir-fried sirloin steak—yum), Aji de Gallina (with the amarillo sauce—tasty), Adobo (cubed pork with mixed vegetables—delicious), and Pescado a lo Macho (pan-fried white fish smothered in a savory parmesan garlic cream sauce—are you kidding?—fantastic).

Empanadas—two varieties—one with mushrooms, the other with Chipotle shrimp—both scrumptious.

Cebiche—the namesake dish of the house, and it was wonderful. Lime-soaked white fish, shrimp, scallops, and calamares, along with various vegetables. Fantastic. If you have never tried cebiche, try it here first. You will not be disappointed.

 I love this quote from their web site:

"One of the most diverse in the world, Peruvian cooking embraces the imported flavors of Spain, China, Italy,West Africa and Japan and integrates them with the native ingredients of Peru.

Did we enjoy the meal? Uh, yeah!

Just love the painting of these two cute llamas. The restaurant is filled with beautiful artwork, much of it done by the family of the owners.

There have been numerous write-ups about Cebiche in local papers. Here are a few links:

Denver Westword Blog from June 2011

Denver Post—Your Hub 2011

The Underground at Cebiche

Ribbon Cutting—June 2012

More of the artwork at Cebiche.

Upstairs, there is a nice art gallery. This gives a glimpse of some of the artwork. I like the reflection in this shot.

But the color is better here.

One of a dozen beautiful paintings in this style.

Kathy posing amid the paintings.

We particularly loved these colorful paintings on the first floor.

After our delicious lunch, Colleen, the owner, introduced herself and chatted with us, giving us a tour of their wonderful facility. We assured her we would be back soon.

Cebiche web site is here.

Menu here.

Real Tokyo Ramen in Denver

September 2012.

Our latest visit to Oshima Ramen was to introduce Eli to one of our favorite eateries in Denver.

 We wanted, finally, to get a shot of the owner, who always graciously compliments my Japanese, but he demurred. He suggested we take a picture of ourselves instead. Here is the crew.

After spending five wonderful years in Japan, we were delighted to discover an excellent ramen shop in Denver. Our son discovered it originally, and we have been back many times since. There are a couple of places in Denver where you feel as if you are walking out of the United States and into Japan. Domo Restaurant is one, and Oshima Ramen is another. The proprietor speaks to us in Japanese, and the place has the authentic feel of a ramen shop in Tokyo or Yokohama. Here we are on our latest visit (November 2011).

This was a few years ago. The ongoing visit of our close friends, Bob and Vicki, and a promise we had made to our niece, Liz, was a perfect pretext to make the drive south to 7400 Hampden (just east of I25) to share a bit of Japanese cuisine with our friends. (In point of fact, ramen originated in China, but ramen shops are ubiquitous in Nihon, and that is where we learned to love it.)

At Oshima Ramen, you can also enjoy yakisoba, fried rice, Japanese pickles, and gyoza, to name just a few delightful dishes. Here's the gyoza. Not only is the food tasty, it is reasonably priced. Whether you are a veteran noodle slurper or are looking for something different, give Oshima Ramen a try. You won't be disappointed.

Here's a link to a map and some reviews of this shop, one of our favorite places to eat in Denver.

Original Oshima Ramen with a quintessentially Japanese drink, Ramune.

Chicken-Vegetable Ramen.

Original Oshima Ramen.

Spicy Kimchi Ramen

Chicken Ramen, Gyoza, and two types of Japanese pickles (Tsukemono/Takuan).

For more about ramen, check out this link. 

 

2011 review: Eat Local.2009 review: From Japan, with love: a True Noodle House. 
2008 review: Strangelunch.
2004 review: God Has Smiled on Oshima Ramen.

Ralston Road Cafe

Before attending the Colorado ACTS production of "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," we stopped at a favorite eatery, which happens to be just across the street from the theater. They serve breakfast all day, and they are well known for their excellent breakfasts, but there is a satisfactory menu of dinner favorites as well.

Visit their site here for details of location, phone number and menu.

Matsos Family Restaurant

Recently, I was home for my 40th High School Class Reunion, and some dear friends took me to one of their favorite restaurants in a nearby city, Wooster, Ohio. A Greek restaurant, Matsos offers a mouth-watering array of fine Greek cuisine, one of my favorite of all international culinary delights.

Matsos offers an amazing array of Greek favorites. I can vouch for the Spanakopita (which is a filling entrée, not an appetizer) and the souvlaki. My friend, Thorne, loves the Seafood Pizza. I've only been there once, but everything I saw looked and smelled great. Check the place out if ever in Wooster. The menu is here.

Here's another view of the front of the restaurant with Spiro Matsos, the owner.

An interesting sidelight is the owner's participation in a group called Ohio Light Opera. He has pictures of the group decorating the eatery's walls. Here he appears in costume for one of their productions.

For more on the Ohio Light Opera, check out their web site here.

Matsos Family Restaurant offers their delicious Greek dressings online at http://www.matsosgreekdressing.com/.
Thanks again, Thorne and Linda, for treating me at this great Ohio restaurant. Next time, I'll have the presence of mind to snap some photos of the food, which looked and tasted great!

Usage notes:
An entrée, although formerly a smaller course that precedes the main course, the term is now used to describe the main course itself, in which case what would otherwise be called the entrée is called the first course, appetizer or a starter.

Spanakopita (σπανακόπιτα, from σπανάκι, spanáki, spinach, and πίττα, pítta, pie) is a Greek spinach pie made with layers of phyllo and a filling of seasoned spinach, onions and scallions, feta, and sometimes eggs.

Atomic Ale Brewpub and Eatery

If you ever find yourself in Richland, Washington, in the Tri-Cities area, check out the Atomic Ale Brewpub and Eatery.

They make some of the best pizza I've ever tasted, and the brew isn't bad either.

My favorite was the Cordon Blue: blue cheese sauce, Mozzarella, Swiss cheese, chicken, canadian bacon, mushrooms and scallions topped with blue cheese crumbles.

The potato soup was delicious, too.

For more info, check out their web site here.

Tokio Templins

There's a tiny town in Washington state called Tokio. It's on I-90, about 50 miles southwest of Spokane. We stopped because of a) the fact we lived an hour from the real Tokyo (that's the one in Nihon--Japan) and b) Templin is an ancestral family name and c) our daughter told us about it!

Apparently the name Tokio was attached to this location in Washington by the Asian workers who built the railroad through this area of the country. Today the "town" is not much more than a Weigh Station for truckers on the interstate.

Fortunately, they did not exercise their right not to serve us.

Kathy reading the menu.

To keep us entertained while we waited for our food, the diner kindly provided humorous books similar to this one:

So if you find yourself on I-90, halfway between Spokane and the Tri-Cities, and you're looking for a place to eat, check out the (now) famous Templin's Cafe in the tiny town of Tokio.

Happy Mother's Day

On Mother's Day, we had a very nice family meal at a new Chinese Restaurant we just discovered. Kathy was the only actual mother at the table, but we celebrated all of our mothers (and our daughters who are mothers). The food was quite acceptable and not nearly as crowded as most restaurants in town on Mother's Day. Here's a picture of our party next to the beautiful pond at the entrance of the restaurant. The pond is populated by some gorgeous koi (ornamental carp).

A Restful Night At Home

Tonight we shared a wonderful meal of Los Nogales-style Fajitas. Let me explain. Since working with my cousin and her husband at Affordable American Insurance, we have discovered a wonderful little Mom-and-Pop Mexican restaurant, Los Nogales, which I call the best Mexican food in Denver (well, it's the best I've ever tasted!).

Anyway, we've been there many times, and most recently we went on a fact-finding dinner (actually, Kathy, Pam, and Jill were fact finding; I was just enjoying the food). The gourmet cooks in our home (that does not include moi) were researching how to make these delicious fajitas. Tonight we enjoyed the fruits of their research. Here's a picture of the finished product, fajitas, black-bean salsa, tomato-avocado-salsamole, and multi-grain tortillas.

Here are a couple of views from the kitchen.

For some years now, we have made every effort to set aside Friday night as a time to rejoice together in the evening meal, remembering the completion of the work of creation and savoring a time to be together and to invite others to join us in this celebration. We have learned from our Jewish friends the joy of the seventh day, the time to remember the God of creation and this marvelous day. Although we do not have a complete understanding of it, our little grasp of it has greatly enriched our lives. We eat together, light some candles, bless God for the fruit of the vine and the bringing forth of bread from the earth, and we bless one another. One night and day of the week set aside especially to bless God and one another. What a concept! How did we miss it?