La Cocina

  Inception in Mills, Wyoming (apparently missed it when I was growing up) moved to N. Casper. (sometimes thought to be a seedy area, but really!!... it is Casper.) and got famous... Or infamous. This little kitchen was turning away customers everyday due to the small establishment.  Even there they had the comfortable feel of a real Mexican kitchen... Home.  Though the website is behind the times, they have moved to a much bigger place, and not too far away for the people used to the area. On the South side of the highway (where Platte River Restaurant ... Or the old Denny's used to be for natives...) is our new little Mexican kitchen.  Even stated by the most amazing server... Famous for their tacos, they have a great authentic Mexican menu... A little Americana leeway, but all in all, feels like they are so making the meal just for you.  If you saw the building before, just saying, great evolution.  Not going for bullet points this time but if you want to talk:
Service: 10 (actually $15 tip, given $5 was because it was the only good service we've had in the pat 6 months.) Taste 8, really good food but have to realize it's not Americanized a lot, this is not Taco Bell.  Image 7, not that It's bad but also brand new in the new place.  Colors are amazing, but maybe a little more authentic style would help. Overall I'd still have to give this place an 8.  Remember # 1 is amazing service and have to say that, even training someone, this server was amazing.  The face of a restaurant is their servers. Bigger place great idea!  Great to be back btw.  Little off my game... But there is soon to be more :)

Been a long time, been a long time baby!

So it seems I haven't written in a while. Sorry folks, all the 4 of you. Love's though.  Unfortunately I have only been eating much at home... if I'm eating at all.  Gay boy's what can I say.  So losing weight is easy.  "when your almost ready to pass out, eat a cube of cheese." Speaking of cheese, I'm a whore.  Brie, Cheddar, Mozza, Parm, I'm a fan of all.  Best thing man invented.  I know, rotten milk, but hey, someone had to come up with it right?  Instead of getting all into a recipe, I'm just gonna give some hints.  Cheese everything! Blue on steak.  Brie on fruit. Smoked cheddar on salad (or anything).  I make mac and cheese with as many cheeses as I can afford at the time. When you cook up some chicken breasts, put on some cheese.  Italian, mozz, and parm... you want homestyle, a little cheddar.  It's all in the making.  It's amazing how you can change a meal with a little cheese.  I guess I could go on forever, but instead one last hint.  A few cubes of smoked Gouda in tomato soup, with JDub's "Worlds Greatest Grilled Cheese Ever in Existence" is completely heavenly.  Loves to all.

J-Dub's Cuisine

    So I figured since I critique Casper restaurants on their food you should have a chance or two to critique mine.  Not that I am going to cook for all of you (maybe someday), but I suppose I can share a few of my fantastic creations.  As many know I am not very shy with some of my  'secrets', but my recipes are highly guarded.  With that said I also feel that good food should be shared among friends.  Anyone that goes to the grocery stores here in Casper knows we really don't have the best selection of ingredients.  The only good thing about that is it forces you think outside of the box (dinners).  I may later give my ratings for the grocers in town as well, but for now... give this a try;

J-Dub's World's Greatest Grilled Cheese Ever In Existence
(One of them anyway, I have dozens)

Ingredients:


Rye bread (fresh baked is best of course but ya know)
Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil
Sliced Swiss cheese (again try to at least go to a deli or specialty store)
Sliced Havarti cheese (ditto)
2 ripe tomatoes (I prefer Roma tomatoes)
Oregano (dried, fresh gets chewy) 
Basil (ditto)
Land O' Lakes spreadable butter with canola oil


    Alright people, the mayo goes on the inside of the bread, the butter on the outside.  You'd think that didn't need explaining, but have you been to a Walmart lately (by the way, some produce there is okay the rest I wouldn't feed my dog.  On that note my dog loves this recipe).  Cheese, spices, and tomatoes go in-between the two slices of bread.  Again, the side with the mayo on the inside.  I like to actually fry the tomatoes with a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) first.  It gets rid of some of the juice that can make a perfectly good grilled cheese sandwich leak (eww).  I have a bad tendency to use too much cheese in everything so two slices of each kind will suffice.  Grill the sandwich.  A cast iron griddle is best, but a frying pan will work in a pinch.  Medium high heat, but pay attention to it.  You don't want to char the outside into a brick and still have a cold lump of cheese in the middle. If your a cheese-aholic like me the key is to let the grilled sandwich set a minute before chomping in.  The cheese then is more of a bubbly solid than a hot wax sex thing.  As an after thought a little olive tapenade (on the mayo side) would probably be great on this sandwich.  This stuff you can get  in the aisle with the dry pastas and canned sauces or the aisle that you can never find that always has just olives in it.  Maybe I'll put my recipe for my olive tapenade on here later, but I'll warn you, anchovy paste is kind of hard to find around Casper. Give it a try and let me know what you think.  If you don't like it, you probably made it wrong.
(I'll take any recognition if you decide to make this for your friends... unless they hate it, then it was your idea.)
          
Enjoy!

Down Home Grubbing

    Planes, trains, and automobiles... and unicorns and gas pumps and creepy clowns and Donald Duck.  Have you guessed it yet?  Yes I am talking about the one and only (actually one of two in Casper, and a few others in this general region) Sanford's Grub & Pub.  If you live in Casper you have more than likely been to at least one of their locations.  Reviewing a place like this is rather difficult since many have already made their own opinions. As mention in previous posts, mine is better.  
    If you want to feel like you're eating in a knock-off collectibles store this place is for you.  Don't get me wrong here folks, the atmosphere is getting one of my top ratings.  "Why you ask?",  simple abundance.  The toys and old replicas may give the place a 'hoarder' kind of feeling, but there is always something new to look at.  Maybe not the best idea for a romantic dinner if you want your beau/belle to pay attention to you, but cheeky all the same.  One fair warning though; if you have those dreams where dolls come to life and bite your toes and little clowns parachute down on your head with knives, DO NOT ENTER!  Akin to your visual circus, you are also  bombarded with the mind-numbing sounds of music, sports, and chatter.  After all, it is an "& Pub".  Deafness aside; as a pub, it's expected, as a restaurant it's rather annoying.  Sometimes you really should pick one or the other.
    Keeping with the pub-like genre, Sanford's has a massive array of artery clogging dishes.  Here's where we get to the 'down home' nitty gritty.  As cooking goes... it's good food made from okay ingredients.  If you want a burger or a steak with a little Cajun kick than your probably going to enjoy it.  The jambalaya is not award winning, though it is (at least I think) not made out of a box.  If you were thinking of finding real Cajun or Creole cuisine than you will be massively disappointed.  Just an FYI for most restaurants here in Casper, this one included, don't bother with the seafood.  It seems in Wyoming even the shrimp are tough, leathery, and would probably win in a gun fight.  Sanford's is a place for good 'cooking' overall, but without the atmospheric distractions, the food alone would not bring you back.
    Should probably also mention the service here as well.  Um, well, uh.  We got our food.  Is there something to be said for not noticing them?


RATING
Food Quality:
♦♦♦

Customer Service:
♦♦

Accuracy:
♦♦♦♦

Speed:
♦♦♦

Atmosphere:
♦♦♦♦

Over-all:
♦♦♦•

       
 

Wonderful-land!!

   So to start this blog off I think I'm going to be a little out of character.  This restaurant is actually what gave me the idea for this blog.  Wonderful House, 221 S. Montana Ave. Casper, WY is one of the most welcoming and comfortable restaurants I've been to. As you arrive at the Hilltop Shopping Center you get this feeling of dread, "Am I really going to eat in at a place in an outlet plaza?".  I remember some of the ones in Colo. Springs that you had to push the peeing drunks out of the doorway to get in (always remember to wash your hands).  You approach the rather unassuming 'store front' thinking that you may be hanging with your new friend 'Johnny' in the bathroom tonight.  AH HA! thou wadst deceived!  The interior in this place has trumped some of the fanciest (and most expensive) fine dining places I've been to.  The classic Asian motif is accompanied with an almost Elizabethan (as in Taylor, not queen) elegance.  Of course the musical renditions of Sinatra always help in that respect.  The service there is literally the best I've ever witnessed in Casper.  There is a place in Denver where the SAKI never runs out, but that's for a different post.  Now for the real meat, the MEAT!  You've had beef in some of those other Asian restaurants right?  Did someone have a sale on jerky?  Wonderful House has beef dishes that would make some of the steakhouses cry.  I have tried less of their meals than I would like, but coming from a meat and potatoes family my dad's opinion is gold.  "I have never had a plate here I didn't love."  Mine is the Kung Pao Triple Delight.  Over-all I really couldn't rave more about this place.  It's actually been hard for me to try some of the other ones around town due to my gratitude for this experience.  The last little FYI.  Reasonable is an over-used word when it comes to prices...these ones are really budgetable.

RATING
Food Quality:
♦♦♦♦•

Customer Service:
♦♦♦♦

Accuracy:
♦♦♦♦♦

Speed:
♦♦♦♦

Atmosphere:
♦♦♦♦•

Over-all:
♦♦♦♦•

Eating Out in Casper aka. BLAAAHHH!

    So, if I ever have a point to this, here it is.  I'm not completely well versed in the nuances of cuisine, but I know what I like and that seems good enough for everyone else right?  Yes I am a critic.  I critique everything I see, as do most people.  This space is literally my outlet to let everyone know how I feel about the idiocy, and my idolatry, of the restaurants and other cultural establishments I happen to go to.  It's mainly geared towards Casper, Wyoming, as I happen to survive here, though occasionally I do escape to other venues.  I hope everyone enjoys my reviews to come or at least the non-sensicle way I write (badly).