This is a video of a guy that prepares and eats cicadas. (requires RealPlayer) I actually bet that it tastes somewhat good, but COME ON!

In my previous post, I told you all about an Indian street food event, that Monica Bhide was organizing. The location and date has been decided. It will be at Passage to India in Bethesda on June 13 at 5 PM. Sign up on eGullet forums if you would like to attend. If they can get 60 people, the owner of the restaurant owner says he will close the restaurant for a private dinner. I hope to see everyone there.

Yes, I am on a diet, which is why my posting in the last month has declined. I am just not eating at as many restaurants as I have in the past. I have gained 5 pounds every year since I left college, and this year, I decided to reverse the trend. I gotta get rid of the beer belly I am developing. I honestly never thought that I would go on a diet. I tried going to the gym more often and it did not work. I tried just controlling how much I eat....HAHAHA. That sure as hell did not work.

Anyway, a week ago I decided to try the South Beach Diet. Avoiding french fries and other fried foods has been extremely challenging, and so far I have been successful. I think the hardest part of it all is that I can't have any alcohol. With my job being as stressful as it is, and my love for a good glass of scotch or red wine after dinner, it has been pretty tough. So far, I have only lost a couple pounds, but I have this feeling that this week I will start losing more.

I hope this post does not bum people out.

I was going to post a detailed review for Palena, but I decided to hold off until I have eaten there more than once. The short story is that it was excellent and I would definitly recommend that everyone go there. However, I have only had the pleasure of trying the dishes that Amy and I ordered, and I think I want to hold off on awarding the extreme praise I planned on giving it until I have eaten there again.

I am currently sitting at gate B6 at Las Vegas Airport. My feet sore from walking up and down the strip over and over and my pockets empty from gambling all my money away. I’m recalling the previous night where I ate dinner with Amy at Bradley Ogden, and I have one thing to say…

Holy shit! Never before have I ever had such an utterly perfect dining experience. It is hard to describe how awesome this meal was, but let me try and do it some justice.

Yesterday I got back from Las Vegas. Yes, I did lose some money...

My I was quite impressed with the quantity and quality of restaurants out there. In the short time we were there, Amy and I were able to eat at some really good places. We were staying at the Paris and most of the time for lunch, we ate at the pool bar. Chicken fingers taste pretty good on an empty stomach. The Paris was a really nice hotel, but the pool was pretty weak. The pool has only 1 bar with 1 bartender. If you want a drink, you will have to wait about 40 minutes in line. What a joke. We ended up just ordering buckets of beers to save repeated trips.

For dinner, we ate at the Bellagio buffet one night. I can affirm that it is the best buffet in Vegas. The highlight of the trip however, was a restaurant called Bradley Ogden at Caesar's Palace. I am going to save a whole post for it, but let me just say that it felt like I was eating in a palace.

Oh, and don't think I have forgotten about the Palena review I owe everyone. I was going to post it before I left for Vegas, but I ran out of time.

For you fellow Indian food-aholics like myself...

Monica Bhide is organizing an Indian Street food event at Passage to India in Bethedsa. You can read more about it in this post on E-Gullet.

Monica is also an author and has written two books, The Spice Is Right and The Everything Indian Cookbook, both of which are available on Amazon.

What a meal Amy and I had at Palena tonight! It is probably one of the best meals we have ever eaten. Ok, so I know we are a bit behind. It is really ridiculous that we waited this long to try Palena. Everyone has been telling me how awesome this place is and my cheap ass has been avoiding it. Anyway, more about our visit tomorrow when I am not buzzed from the bottle of Zinfindel we drank.

For years now, people have been telling me that I need to try Mr. Chen's Organic chinese delivery and for some reason I ignored them...until Thursday night. Oh my effen God! Best Chinese Amy and I have ever had!! Everything was fresh. Not to sound like a commercial, but you never would've guessed it was delivery. Quoted from the top of the menu, "At Mr. Chens Restaurant, we use organic fresh vegetables along with a health-conscious cooking style to prepare delicious Chinese cuisine."

I ordered the Chicken in Black Bean Sauce. It was just slightly spicy and the chicken wasn't overcooked --TONS of flavor (not MSG flavor). My only complaint was that there were not many black beans in the sauce, but it is only a tiny one. Amy got Kung Pao Chicken and loved it as well. Like mine, it was slightly spicy which just kicked the flavor up a bit. I always like that. We also ordered some spicy wontons which weren't all that spicy, but tasted a lot better than they looked. Definitely try the Curry Fried Rice. It was very different from any other fried rice than we had ever had. It is basically your typical fried rice with chicken, pork, shrimp (or vegetarian) and some curry and tumeric spices. 

The menu gives you the option of small or large portions. If you want a ton of leftovers, order the large. We did and ate them the next day for lunch.

Mr. Chen's Organic Chinese Cuisine
2604 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 797-9668
Map

I have decided that I'm going to start posting about the food I eat while I'm traveling. A couple weekends ago, Amy and I went to VT to go skiing. YES skiing. For those of you who a dumbfounded that I was skiing in April, well, there is a reason they call it spring skiing. My brother has a condo at Killington, VT and they have skiing sometimes till June 1st. Anyhoo, we went to a few interesting places to eat up there that I wanted to write about here.