Entries Tagged as 'steak'

Katsu-Ya, Cancun

March 23rd, 2012 · 2 Comments


Katsu-Ya


Tuna salad. For appetizers we also had rock shrimp and edamame.


These jalepenos did not make Dallas’s stomach feel better after he ate all of them.


Our food being prepared to cook.


Look at the size of that lobster tail!


Our chef.


Dallas, Rachelle, Damian, Vanessa, Travor, Kate & our chef!


Delicious rice


Grilled veggies


My seafood + the giant lobster tail.


Steaks


My plate of seafood.


Girls shared dessert.


Guys shared golf stories.

Our flight out of Cancun was very early in the morning. Instead of catching the earliest ferry from Isla Mujeres and getting a shuttle or taxi to the airport and risking getting there in time, we decided to take the ferry the night before and stay over one night in Cancun. That way we’d for sure get to the airport in time and we’d get to see what Cancun was like. Damian, Vanessa, Trevor, Kate, Dallas and I were all in this same boat, so we all did this together.

Since we were still paying for the Ixchel Beach Hotel for that night, we decided just to get a cheap hotel in Cancun, not at one of the resorts. Let me tell you… there is a reason I have no photos of that place. I would just as soon rather forget it! It had to be one of the most horrible hotels I’ve ever stayed at. Let’s just say that I barely slept a wink and had the blankets off and the lights on all night.

But…. what are you gonna do? To make the best of the situation we decided to treat ourselves to a really nice dinner. There were some books in the hotel rooms that showcased Cancun attractions, so we looked over the restaurant section and chose Katsu-ya, a Japanese steakhouse. Leave it to Dallas to find a great Japanese restaurant in the middle of Mexico!

Getting there was a bit of an ordeal.. trying to get a cab from our roach hotel and then trying to tell the cab drivers where we were going.. they acted like they didn’t know where the main tourist/resort areas of Cancun were! But once we were there… ahhhh. We had a great time. Very good food. Relaxing. It was kind of funny to have a the chef at the Japanese steakhouse speaking Spanish and English with a Spanish accent, but he was very good. A nice treat dinner and a great way to spend our last night in Mexico.

[Read more →]

Tags:···········

L’Argentina Grill, Isla Mujeres

March 11th, 2012 · 1 Comment


Rachelle & Vanessa


L’Argentina Grill


Steak


Filet Mignon & Shrimp Fajitas

After hot tub time, we went back to our rooms to rest and shower for dinner. We weren’t sure what we wanted to eat, but knew we wanted something nice and relaxing. As we walked down Avenida Hidalgo, people from the restaurants would bark out to you and try to get you into their places. We showed a bit of interest in L’Argentina Grill and when we started to walk away, they offered us a free bottle of wine and free margaritas for everyone. Sold. A lot of people got steak. I got filet mignon and shrimp fajitas. Unlike some others, I was not sick of Mexican cuisine! Mexican and seafood are my favorites and there could not be a more ideal place than Isla Mujeres to enjoy both of these!

[Read more →]

Tags:······

Roka Akor

January 12th, 2012 · No Comments


Roka Akor


Red Miso Soup with Lobster


Butterfish Roll


Wagyu Beef and Kimchi Dumplings


Filet


Salmon Teriyaki


Pickled Cucumber


Steamed Rice with Furikake


Another look at Alden’s steak.

A several months ago, I earned enough Open Table points to get me $20 off any Open Table restaurant bill. Since a bunch of the points were earned when Alden and I went out for lunches in River North, I thought it appropriate that I take him out to use my check.

We decided to go to Roka Akor, a fancy schmancy sushi restaurant and Japanese robata grill that we probably wouldn’t go to at dinner because it would be too expensive. It was a bit expensive even for lunch, but at least we got $20 off. We both decided to get the Roka Akor Business Lunch ($24 each), which includes red miso soup with lobster, Wagyu beef and kimchi dumplings, spicy crispy butterfish sushi rolls, steamed rice, and your choice of an entree. The entrees offerred were salmon teriyaki with pickled cucumber, cumin BBQ pork loin with shaved vegetables and cilantro, grilled seasonal vegetables with truffle soy butter, a 6 oz. prime beef filet or prime skirt steak. The steaks were $6 more. Alden went all out and got the steak. I got the salmon.

Everything that we had was pretty good. My salmon was very tasty and the portion size was larger than what I expected, for sure. Alden gave me a piece of his steak and it was flavorful and tender. I’m not a huge steak person, but it was really good. The pickled cucumber wasn’t too pickled, really refreshing. I also really liked the butterfish rolls and could see coming here for sushi and not even getting things from the grill. I thought the dumplings were alright. Not the stars of the show. The miso soup was pretty good too, but not outstanding.

I never had food cooked on the robata grill (high-heat method of searing and cooking using expensive, imported binchotan charcoal from Japan) and it was great. The grill area at Roka Akor is really pretty and it’s wide open so you can see the cooks using this unique grill. I would come back to Roka Akor, but probably only for a special occasion dinner. Just because I’m sure it tends to get swanky at night and the dinner prices can get expensive, but the food was great and the service was good, as well.

[Read more →]

Tags:············