Cava - A Restaurant Review

Someone who is not familiar with the origin of the word "Cava," would automatically assume that this restaurant has a Spanish flare to it. Simply because when we hear of Cava, we often think of that yummy and sweet white/pink sparkling (my preferrence) wine produced in Catalonia, Spain. But did you know that Cava is actually a Greek term (per wikipedia) that was used to refer to a "high end" table wine cellar? Furthermore, it comes from the Latin word "cava" which means cave in English.  This restaurant, by no means, doesn't resemble a cave and Spanish tapas is not their forte. Their dishes, however, are served mezze style (similar to how tapas are served, which are in small dishes).  Mezze is what they usually refered to a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East. 

This restaurant, located in the middle of suburbia, is probably one of the best Greek restaurant in the area (unfortunately, there are not that many), never lacks customers despite the never ending wait. And I don't know what it is with Greek restaurants keeping their space limited. It's either too crowded because of the lack of space or people just really love coming here.  And I usually dislike waiting for over 45 minutes.  But since Greek is one of B's favorite food, I decided to hold his surprise birthday dinner here despite the fact that they don't even accept reservations. Anything for my B, just for this one time though (lol), I was willing to wait for an hour or two as long as we were with company and the booze was flowing. LOL! Well at least the staff tried to apologize for the ridiculous amoun of time we had to wait. Not only that, they made a boo boo when they gave up our table to one of the groups who came after us. UGH! (A birthday discount would have been nice to compensate, hello?).

An hour and half later, we were finally seated and served a basket of home made pita bread with some olive and spicy tomato tapenade. Yum! Maybe that was just my hunger brain telling me that everything was good. The prices of each dish was not bad while others, I think were over priced.

I just happened to take my camera (don't ask why) while I was in the girls room and they had a painting of this vintage gown and a series of shoes vignette (picture below) hanging on the wall. What do you guys think? Classy? Tacky? Appropriate? I guess something pretty to look at while you do your business. LOL!

I ordered this for my first course. It was the rocket salad - feta cheese, baby arugula, spanish onion with balsamic dressing. $9.95? Nothing special and too over priced in my opinion. Hmmm, start of my meal wasn't impressive so not sure on what to expect for the rest of my meal.  

This was B's order.  Crazy feta...we love feta and this wasn't bad. It went well with their fresh pita bread. It was priced at $5.95 if I recall.

Calamari, which was one of table mate's order. It came with like a mayonaisse chipotle sauce. This was good. Perfectly crispy.

Grilled Octupus is one of my all time favorite. You can usually tell if a restaurant is any good base on how great they cook their octupus. HAHA! It can either get too rubbery or under cooked. This however got my thumbs up. Yum yum yum!

This method of pan searing cheese is called the Saganaki. Cheese Flambe for short:-). Most people in the restaurant were ordering this left and right. I guess it's more for the entertainment. So we put in an order also. $9.95 for fried cheese? I love fried cheese, don't get me wrong but this was over priced in my opinion. I think I can fry cheese better than this. Ha!  

I think the cheese use for this Saganaki was Kefalograviera. It's a hard sheep milk cheese. Similar to that of a mozzarella.

Of all the meal I've had this was my number one favorite. Scallops risotto! The scallops were perfectly seared and the risotto was perfectly cooked.

One of our table mate's order - lamb sliders. I think she said it was good.

We also ordered a few other stuff which I forgot to take pictures.  It was hard sitting in a very small table and having to keep taking my dslr out of my bag. And people were looking at me snapping pictures away. Next time, I'll just say that I am a professional food critique. HAHA! It was over all a great meal. The pricing was not bad. Service was great. It's just the wait time is so long. I wanted to order dessert but none of the group wanted any:-(.

I was able to experience the hype and I won't mind coming back to this place as there were so much we didn't order in the menu. Next time, I'll definitely go back during lunch time when it's less busy. The good company we had made our meal a lot better. Happy Happy Happy Belated Birthday B:-)

love you xoxo

Enjoying my new ride

It's not a brand new car if that's what you're thinking. I'm referring to my brand new Schwinn Hybrid. He! He! This was my "just because I love you" gift from B (now everybody say "awwwww"). I never asked for it but was hoping to own one since B has his own bike too. Besides, we need an alternative outlet for "bonding time" than going out to eat. With spring just right around the corner, I want to be outside as much as possible. You can only work out so much in the gym, ya know:-)

I've had my new toy for two weeks now and last Saturday, the weather was finally nice enough to take it out for a ride for the first time. B and I went to our local park. Their bike trail over looks the lake and the view made our ride even more enjoyable. I'll just let the pictures do the talking...enjoy!

Excited!

Regardless if the lake is manmade, the view is still beautiful.

Let me play pictionary first. B was making comments around this time already. lol!

Honey stop taking pictures!

 

Can you take a picture of me first while I ride my bike? And don't you just love my fanny pack? Where else would I put my camera then if not for this beauty? lol!



Takiing a break. Thank goodness he agreed to have his picture taken. :-)

I would like to come back here and do a fashion shoot. LOL!

If you guys have a bike, don't just let it rust in your garage. Take it out for a ride from time to time. Not only it's a good form of leg excercise, but you get to bond and enjoy the company of your loved ones while doing so. Not to mention, choose regional parks that have bike trails. It's a stress free environment. The view is beautiful, the wind is refreshing and most importantly, the thought of getting fit is inspiring. We biked for about three hours and by the time we got home, my legs were on fire. It was definitely a good burn!

Hope you have a great weekend ahead..I plan to do more biking on Saturday!

Bisous, Contessa

Sunday Brunch at Clydes Tower Oaks Lodge

Not even a cold, rainy Sunday can stop B and I from going to brunch at Clydes. Is it that good? Well, yes. It does not disappoint. And it's a nice local place we can go to if were craving for a good brunch. Trust me, there is not that many around our area:-(. The other bonus is their raw bar is offered at 50 percent off during their brunch hours. A great deal if you are a fan of oysters like us.

Unfortunately, they don't serve bottomless mimosas. These are priced at $4.00 a glass, which is not that bad.

Crab and Artichoke Dip

Their popular Pickled Jar (mix of pickled cantaloupe, grapes, onions, cauliflower).  Not sure about the taste of pickled grapes. The pickled cantaloupe was not bad, though.

We are oysters lover! And Clydes serves the best..we have a mix of everything here.

Freshly shacked oysters. yum! yum!

My order - Croque Madame (egg batter dipped griddled ham and Swiss sandwich topped wtih an over easy egg and mornay sauce).  This is actually one of their appetizers but the size can be mistaken as the main dish already.

B's steak and eggs (NY strip steak, brunch potatoes, and some bernaise sauce on the side)

Our friend's order - Belgian Waffle

Gingerbread Pancakes - I tasted a little bit of this and it melts in your mouth goodness.

Ahh, ruining my diet.  Sticky toffee buns spiked with bourboun sauce and vanilla icecream on the side. This was good!



I hope you guys are keeping warm in this freezing weather.  Happy Tuesday!

Bisous, Contessa