Sunday, April 18, 2021

Grub Crawl - East Colonial: Japango and Deli Desires *CO Travel Notes

 I tried these places to go on Wednesday at lunch. The first is in the Chewy Boba location on 50 aside the Anthony's Pizza place on Mills. You can get parking in the rear. The second is on Fern Creek (near the Publix) just north of 50 (1 block). I think they call this Colonialtown.

Japango - They "expanded/rebranded" Chewy Boba into a box sushi place. They still have the Chewy Boba stuff. It is more "rear of the store" now. They have a one roll or a two roll box. I got the one roll ($19) "bitch" box. It comes with 5 pieces of pre-chosen nigiri (T/S/YT/E/Albacore), edamame, plantain chips and cucumber salad, a choice of roll and a side (seaweed salad, watermelon ceviche, sashimi ceviche). I tried the Ceviche (spicy tuna topped with yt and avocado) and the sashimi. It was ok. They do the rice properly. Not very big. Fishy quality was mediocre. Sashimi was old tuna. Tuna nigiri was also lifeless and barely pink. Salmon was an odd cut. Yt was ok. Eel was dry. Albacore was more like a flatfish like flounder/fluke. Maybe even a cheaper type. They included two types of soy sauce, ginger, lemon and a ceviche sauce. It sounds like I hated them. Maybe it was because I had been jonesing for sushi for days or maybe it was the gorgeous (fancy chocolates looking) box they give you, but, I kind of recommend them. If they tighten up the quality then we'll have something. They have been open for a month. Around four other groups were there at 1pm. Most still boba-ing it. They have 21 rolls to choose from. Not sure if the menu will always be like this. The 2 roll box is called a boss box. And you thought I was responsible for the "bitch" reference.

Deli Desires - This was the real target. They opened three months ago. It's a slightly hip deli. I tried three things and they were all good. I started with a Corned Beef Big Mac. I didn't even catch on until after I ate it. It did taste like one. Do you watch Fast Foodies? This would be a winner on that show. The corned beef was sliced wafer thin. If you hold it up it looks like a spider web (fat). I ate half the portion by itself. The sesame bun was worth the trip alone. Toppings very like a Big Mac. Pickles were a bit too artisinal. I tried a bialy with regular cream cheese and caramelized onion in the center. Great bialy. A touch of olive oil? So fresh. I also tried their egg salad. I think they use real eggs. Not the greatest though. A little too chunky for me and it seemed to be out of balance with the yolks. Very white dominant. They funkify it with some capers. They concentrate on like ten items (ie whitefish, tuna salad). Adding more desserts soon. The CB was $10. The B was $3. The ES was $5. All very fair prices, right? The places is also way cute for a deli. White with blue accent. Small. Counter in the rear. A few stand at counters on the sides. Parking in front. They have to be the best deli in town. Will be on the favorites list. Odd that they don't do bagels.

*Travel Notes - Colorado: I had ok chicken tamales at The Train Cars in Nederland. Also an ok turkey pesto ciabatta at New Moon Bakery. Good beer at Very Nice Brewing Co. Ok Penang Chicken Curry at Ubon. I was there to ski Eldora. Web site said lift tickets were $99. They said web site is wrong. They were $149. I did a half day in protest at $99. Gear on site was $65. Ouch. I stayed twenty minutes south in a mining tow that is now all new casinos. Weird. Called Black Hawk (aside Central City). A room at the Lady Luck Casino was only $72 a night with fees and taxes. Free parking. I had the most terrible chicken parm at Dostal Alley Brew Pub in CC one night. Beer was better. I moved on to the closing weekend at Steamboat. I stayed at the Rabbit Ears Motel for $110 with tax a night. It wasn't great, but, near town. I skied at Steamboat for $129. Gear in town (Ski Haus) was only $25. Both resorts were good. Perfect weather. I ate at Blue Moon Bakery in Silverthorne on the way up. A turkey, bacon, avocado sandwich. The real treat was an oreo brownie. They had a few mash ups like that. Like a sugar cookie with M&Ms in it. Some cool sandwiches. In Steamboat Springs I ate at Ore House. Had Ruby Red Trout with sides. It was ok. Had a good chicken sandwich at a fast food place they were building this summer called Hypnotic Chicken. I had average beer at Mountain Tap Brewery. I had good beer at Storm Peak Brewing. I had duck noodle soup at Mai Thai. They also had a duck curry. It's hard to get a variety of Thai dishes. Glad I tried this. They also sold some dishes from other countries, so, I was worried this wasn't Thai. I think it is. They also sold "street food" like moo dang, crispy chicken, khao ka moo and Thai chicken katsu. You'll have to research them if interested. I had bad guac, barbacoa and Routt County bison tacos at Salt & Lime. I cooked my own NY strip at 8th Street Steakhouse. I had a wild breakfast at Yampa Valley Kitchen. It was Cubano Eggs Benedict. Buttermilk biscuit, shaved tasso, yuzu pickles, yellow mustard, pickled mustard seeds and a habenero hollandaise. It didn't quite work. But A for effort. They also did a rosti, crepes and some other fun brekkie items. I stayed near the airport coming and going at Element by Westin. $87 with tax both nights. Seemed to be the newest in the area. and that area is new and booming. I ate across the street at Pho 92. A good pork roll banh mi and another first try (beef tumeric noodle soup). They said it was from the south (Saigon/Hanoi). It was good. Basically a pho with big chunks of tender beef shank and a kick of tumeric. I dipped my banh mi in it to create the first Vietnamese french dip. It would probably work better with a beef banh mi. They also had a similar beef stew with French baguette. They also let you make your own summer rolls (self wrap special appetizer). It's also good to get some variety on Vietnamese menus. I'll add that April is the second snowiest month in Colorado. I missed it. weather was great. Prices were dropping. Many resorts were still open. I sat next to a UCF student on spring break on the way there. Our grand airport was a cluster fuck again. Lines down the halls. I love that Bluddy Dyer-ia announcement on the people mover. "Please return...if you didn't see or do everything ". Yeah, scumbag, I didn't. I was stuck in your airport for half the time. I heard some guy at the rental car counter say he had been in line for two hours.


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