Round About Sac Town

Well I have now been to the Pork Belly Grub Shack owned by the owners of Kru and Formoli’s a couple of times. It is located in a strip mall in Natomas a stones throw from Power Balance Pavilion (home of the great Sacramento Kings). They are only open for lunch and dinner pick-up and are closed Sundays and Monday’s, so don’t go thinking of having dinner there.

I must say the food is pretty decent, not outstanding (some things are!) and I probably expected more knowing who the owners are. The first time I went I went on their opening day with my buddy Rodney from Burgerjunkies. We were excited to try the burgers with pork belly on them. The menu has a little bit of everything from salads to burgers to sandwiches and street tacos.

First up was the Notorious P.I.G. Burger which is a 10oz burger served with cheddar cheese, mixed greens, house made “belly sauce”, topped with fried pork rinds, with a slab of pork belly on a toasted ciabatta roll.

The burger was decent. The overall flavor of the burger and belly came through and was a pretty good burger. I would have liked the belly to have a little more crisp on the top and both Rodney and I felt it was missing just a little something. Maybe some heat or something.

Next up are the Pork Belly Fries. They have the house made Pork Belly sauce, blue cheese crumbles, and pork belly pieces.

I have had these both times I have come and have really enjoyed them both times I have gone. The crispy pork belly bits and blue cheese go really nice together. A sprinkling of a little chili oil over the top might make this dish out of this world.

The last thing I am going to review here are the Pork Belly Street Tacos. It comes on a corn tortilla with pickled carrots, daikon slaw, cilantro, spicy teriyaki sauce, and of course pieces of crispy Pork Belly.

Now this is some amazing food. I could eat these little street tacos everyday for every meal. These are by far the best things on the menu. The little crispy pork belly pieces are nice and crunchy, the slaw and veggies are a nice contrast and the sweetness/spiciness of the teriyaki sauce creates a great balance of flavors. These tacos are really something to try and I could eat some more now.

Like I said the food is pretty good, the decor is simple, and the service is adequate. If you get a chance check them out. They have many other things on the menu and have a kids menu as well with a few choices (I will say the chicken tenders were a little on the blackened side for my son and he wouldn’t eat them).

Go get your Pork Belly on!

Pork Belly Grub Shack
4261 Truxel Road (natomas)
Sacramento, CA 95834
916-285-6100

Hours: Tue-Sat 11:30 am – 4:30 pm

First and foremost de Vere’s Irish Pub is one of the best places to go and eat, drink, watch a game, or just hangout. It is centrally located and a great atmosphere. On top of that the people there are great and the de Vere family are truly an asset to our community. Check out the area on St. Patrick’s Day and tell me they don’t know how to go big! I have been many many times to de Vere’s and love the feel and the food every time, but my full review will come soon in another post with lots of pictures.

I did find out about their upcoming Burger Thursday specials. A few months ago de Vere’s and Burger Junkies (@burgerjunkies) put on Sacramento Burger Month and de Vere’s had a new unique burger each week of the month and it went over well. They do an excellent job with each burger creation they come up with and bringing back the concept sounded like a great idea. So what I was told is that each Thursday for two weeks at a time there will be a special featured burger that can only be eaten on the Burger Thursdays., and you all are in a treat for the October specials! They created a new burger and brought back one of the phenomenal burgers from Sacramento burger month.  I had the privilege of previewing the upcoming burgers and will tell you all about them!

First two Thursdays of October (Oct. 7 & 14)- The Buffalo Crunch Burger

Buffalo Crunch Burger

The Buffalo Crunch burger actually didn’t have a name when I got to sink my teeth into this monster burger but one of my dining companions Donelle (@dobrien917) thought of the great name. Now this is a monster of a burger so make sure to ask for extra napkins when  you order it (and you should order it!). It comes on the de Vere’s signature pretzel bun that makes all their burgers taste great. I like this pretzel bun because it is not as dense as other pretzel buns I have had but it holds its form and doesn’t just fall apart as you eat your burger like other places.

Buffalo Crunch Burger uncapped

This burger comes with bleu cheese, a bleu cheese “dressing”/sauce, the meat is covered/smothered in a house made buffalo style sauce with house made potato crisps (really crunchy potato chips) and lettuce and tomato.  Just look at that sauce dripping down from that really good-sized burger intertwined with the melty cheese (I’m hungry now!). This was a sample of the burger so I didn’t get to ask for my burger cooked the way I like, but I would have liked my burger just a bit more pink on the inside (they usually ask when you order so this was a fluke here). Check out the chef describing the burger himself:

I told you they didn’t have a name for the burger yet but we helped them out. As I said before this burger is quite large and will require a little work before you start digging into this bad boy. First take out the toothpick, then put your hand firmly on top of that pretzel bun and then use some force and press down on that burger. You should be hearing some loud crunching and if you’re not use more force (come on Luke use the force)! Your burger might look similar to this:

Buffalo Crunch squished

I will admit I thought they were a little crazy when I saw the burger and all the buffalo sauce. I though what did I get myself into? Buffalo chicken, why of course but on a burger I wasn’t so sure and I thought the spiciness of the sauce might turn off a lot of people. I’m telling you the sauce has a great tanginess with very slight heat. If you are afraid of spicy items don’t be afraid of this burger, plus the cheese counters the spiciness some as well. When I first bit into the burger my taste buds immediately when to the creamy bleu cheese flavor. I was surprised I though it would be dominated by buffalo sauce. As I am working my head around the cheese the meat and buffalo sauce flavor come into my mouth. I was truly surprised how these flavors melded so well into this burger. Now the best part of the burger (in my opinion) are the potato crisps. I remember as a kid putting potato chips on my sandwiches and this is fun too. The crisps are not your bagged store-bought chips. These are extra-crispy house made crisps. These are so crunchy that our friend sitting at the next table over could hear the crunch as we bit down into the burgers.

This burger is so tasty and so much fun. I wish today was Thursday so I could go back and get myself another one. Remember this is only available for the next two Thursdays at de Vere’s for their Burger Thursday specials!

Second two Thursdays of October (Oct 20 & 27)- Prime Rib Burger (AKA The Bad MoFo)

Prime Rib Burger (traditional bun)

The pic of the burger was the first iteration of the burger with a traditional bun. I happened to be there the first day of the release of the burger with my friend Autumn (@bmprstkr76) and we were attempting to eat the burger and that bun just could not hold up to the meat and sauce. Right then and there Henry (@henrydevere) decided to make the change to the pretzel bun and it was in excellent change.

Prime Rib Burger with pretzel bun

When most people think or hear about a prime rib burger most think a burger made from the prime rib cut of meat. That sounds delicious and all but not at de Vere’s. For this burger you get a nice juicy burger with carmelized onions and melted manchango cheese with horseradish mayo, then to put it over the top and make it a prime rib burger they top that burger with slices of prime rib and serve it with Au Jus. This is not just  a couple of slices of prime rib but the equivalent of another burger on top of the good-sized burger. I think they have mad geniuses in the kitchen thinking of these flavor profiles.

The taste is great, I mean burger, cheese, carmelized onions, prime rib, mayo, pretzel bun do you see anything wrong with that list. My small complaints that can be easily fixed, with the size of the burger and prime rib, the horseradish mayo was a little weak. I was told they added more horseradish in later batches but mine was weak and hard to find on my burger. My suggestion is to request an extra side of the mayo with your burger (I always ask for more horseradish when I order prime rib too) that way you can add more to  your burger. The Au Jus was a little watered down for me, I’m not sure if there wasn’t a lot of spices on the outside of the prime rib when they roasted it or they didn’t add any salt to the sauce but it needed more depth. I just added a little salt to my Au Jus and it was better.

The burger itself with the prime rib was excellent. I bit down and got a little smoky goodness from the carmelized onions then the rich prime rib and then juicy burger. Really really great, plus dipping this big burger into the Au Jus really made it juicy and flavorful. I first tried the traditional bun and it fell apart each time I dipped the burger but with the pretzel bun I had no problems and you shouldn’t either as they will be serving this burger with the pretzel bun.

Remember you can only get this the last two Thursdays of October for the Burger Thursday specials.

Go check out de Vere’s Irish Pub Burger Thursdays and let me know what you think.

de Vere’s Irish Pub
1521 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95816

Hours
Mon-Fri: 11 am – 2 am
Sat-Sun: 9 am – 2 am

Telephone: 916-231-9948
Email: info@deverespub.com
Twitter: @deverespub
Facebook Page: de Vere’s Irish Pub Facebook
Webpage: www.deverespub.com

Be on the lookout for de Vere’s Irish Pub in Davis as well!

Make sure you get out and get “Round About SacTown!”

I don’t like to sit in the office during lunch time, shoot I don’t like to be anywhere near my work building when lunchtime occurs so I must go out. I will admit my first time at house kitchen & bar was about a year ago for my birthday lunch when I tried to go to Morton’s and realized they were no longer open for lunch. I needed to stay close to the area so we stumbled upon house. Overall I am glad I did. If you follow me on twitter (@hathman or @roundabtsactown) or foursquare than you know that House is one of my regular stops Round SacTown. I carpool to work a lot so lunchtime is usually somewhere that is walk-able. Luckily there are so many great places in the downtown area and House is one of those places.

House is a very warm feeling location with a great patio/outdoors dining area. My favorite place to sit for lunch is at the bar, I like the cozy stools and the friendly bar staff (Tony of course!). The bar area also has a couple large tv’s to enjoy while noshing on some upscale homestyle food. The tv’s are usually tuned to ESPN and the Food Network which is perfect for me, food on one side, sports on the other.  I also enjoy the large windows that look out on to Capitol Mall, especially on Thursdays for the Farmer’s Market (Had a great view of the farmer’s market flashmob!). The decor is nice especially the very large metal whisk toward the back of the restaurant.

House bar area

In the past month or so I have been to House for lunch probably 4-5 times and have been pretty pleased with the food every time. I will go into more detail about the food in a bit (yes with pictures). My biggest complaint is with the service/food delivery. Don’t get me wrong Tony at the bar and the servers I have had have been nice enough. I am not sure their attention is always focused as it seems they are often asked to do more than just their job. I have noticed Tony more frequently than not having to run out and greet/seat people because the hostess takes a long time to get people seated. The other problem is the timing of the food. Now I have no problem with waiting for good food but the food delivery is hit or miss. One lunch service I had sat down and noticed two nice ladies finishing their meal, at the time I didn’t know that they had already ordered a slice of cheesecake. I sat down ordered my meal and drink, got my food and almost finished my meal before they got their slice of cheesecake. The ladies asked very politely several times about the status of said cheesecake and there were different answers each time, the best was that the chef was creating a macerated cherry pan sauce to put over the cheesecake and that takes extra time. Other times I have noticed people coming in and ordering their food and others coming in after and getting their food before the person who had already ordered. I know good quality food takes a little longer but there have been quite a few inconsistencies in my view.

Small other complaints are that they aren’t very active in Social Media. I noticed they have been better on their Facebook fan page, but their twitter account hasn’t had a post in nearly a year (and that is with a twitter live feed on their website). Their website seemed to have included a bunch of old information or links and just needs to be updated. The prices are a little higher than most usually pay for lunch, but you pay for quality and the serving sizes never disappoint. Now I am a round guy and usually always take at least half my sandwich home with me.

Now the real reason I keep going back to house is the food. The idea of the menu is updated homestyle food and I haven’t been disappointed yet. By far my favorite item on the menu is the Prime Rib French Dip. There are several great items on the menu and will describe several of them. Couple grumbles, one time my lunch companion Autumn (@bmprstkr76) cut into her Salmon on her salad and started eating and discovered a huge bone. I know it happens sometimes but it was a turnoff for her first visit, and it was really big. On another visit one of the lunch specials was a ginger/soy marinated steak salad. As my lunch companion that day Susan (@yetanothersusan) noted “you know when the food network shows say that dish just had too many flavors,” that was the problem especially with the ginger overpowering the steak.

Prime Rib French Dip

Now I said my favorite dish is the Prime Rib French Dip and it is! Just look at the amount of meat on that sandwich and it’s like that every time. The swiss cheese is always melted nicely and the crispy onions add a unique tasty crunch. My only complaint about the sandwich is that the horseradish mayo is a little week and almost non-existent sometimes. When I see something advertised with horseradish I expect a little kick. I must say that the meat is seasoned nicely that turns into an exceptional au jus to dip that big ol sandwich into. It is a bit messy so be careful with those white shirts and ties (the round guy does not wear such a thing lol). The fries that come with it are very tasty as well and it comes with endless fries! Just ask your server for some more and they will be sent out to you. This is a very good dish and I get it frequently.

Crispy Chicken Club with Bacon

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE BREASTS! Haha I mean really when the server brought out this sandwich I couldn’t believe the size of the chicken breasts on this sandwich. I mean what chicken strip-club did they get these from. The chicken was nicely cooked with a nice crunch on the outside. I half expected it to be a little dry when having to cook such a large piece to get it done all the way through and it was nice and juicy. The mayo again was a little non-existent but to bite into the crispy chicken and the crunchy bacon was a treat. This was a very good sandwich on one of those days that I didn’t feel like beef.

"5 cheese" Elbow Macaroni & Cheese w/ applewood smoked bacon

A friend of mine Susan (@yetanothersusan) had commented that she craved the Mac & Cheese several times and when I got the chance to have lunch with her at House we of course had to split it. I mean I looked at the menu and thought 5 cheeses… goood, macaroni… goood, bacon… goood! Couldn’t go wrong and mostly that is correct. If you get this dish make sure to stir it real well when you get it. Much of the sauce sinks to the bottom and depending how long it was sitting in the window the upper noodles get a little dry and chewy. Being the first time getting this dish I didn’t know that and took many noodles from the top and was a little disappointed. Then I noticed all the saucy goodness (yea I like saucy goodness) on the bottom and started stirring then eating. Much much better. The strong cheeses caused the bacon to be drowned out a bit, but it was a very tasty dish.

Beef Short Rib Tacos

When I had eaten at House earlier in the week I noticed someone with these little “street tacos” and they looked tasty. I like tacos and when I came in again I asked if they still had them and luckily they did. The short ribs were very well seasoned and tasted great. They probably could have been braised a bit more as some of the pieces were a little chewy. The corn salsa, guacamole, and the cotija cheese were great accompaniment to the dish. I never understand why they serve some of these little tacos with two tortilla shells, especially when these were a little thicker than what you normally see. I wound up leaving a tortilla on the plate for each little taco and they held up well. The spanish rice wasn’t anything to write home about it was a little dry and I could have done pretty well with Rice a Roni (you know that San Francisco treat… ding ding). It wasn’t a bad little dish but it’s a good thing I split some mac & cheese with my lunch companion.

Overall I must say I mostly enjoy my eating experiences at House Kitchen & Bar. The atmosphere is great and the location is awesome for lots of people in the downtown/west sac areas. They also have special dinners and dishes so make sure to go and follow their facebook page here and they technically have a twitter handle here. Go to their website here and check out their menu for the great things to eat. An added bonus, it looks like you can get a free side of fries by checking in using Facebook Check-In’s, it also mentions asking about a 1¢ wine deal.

Go check out House Kitchen & Bar and let me know what you think.

House Kitchen & Bar
555 Capitol Mall Suite 155
Sacramento, CA 95814
*Complimentary Parking After 5pm in the Plaza 555 Structure

Hours
Mon-Tue: 11:30-2
Wed-Fri: 11:30-9

Happy Hours
Wed-Fri: 4p-8p

Telephone: 916-498-9924

Make sure you get out and get “Round About SacTown!”

I can’t believe how lucky I have been. Since joining the world of Social Media and such I have been able to meet some great and wonderful people here in Sacramento. Due to that networking I was invited to a special dinner hosted by Ella Dining Room and Bar. Now this is their 4th anniversary being open in Sacramento and they wanted some different Sacramento representation to come in and try the menu. When I was asked to come I was very excited and honored to join a group of people that I have interacted with mostly just virtually. In that regards I was also a little nervous meeting some of these people. Luckily enough I knew two of my good “twitter” friend Donelle (@dobrien917) and Rodney (@elkgroveCA & @burgerjunkies) would be there to make me feel a little more comfortable.

Ella 4 year anniversary

I must first say that this was my first time getting to enjoy the food at Ella and later I will explain that I can’t wait to go back. So walking in I must say that this restaurant is beautiful. I like the big large wooden tables especially in the bar area and the whole openness of the place felt very warm.

We were welcomed in the bar area for some happy hour drinks and appetizers by Gina Funk Nelson (@ginafunk) who’s family owns Ella’s as well as “The Kitchen” and “Selland’s Market” and she does Marketing and Social Media for the Selland family business (She also has a son that is two days older than mine, so we have connected because of our kids). I still can’t believe how welcoming the restaurant and Gina were. Everyone was immediately told as they walked in to help themselves to whatever drink they desired and to help themselves to the appetizers that were already laid out on a table for us, and that more were on their way. I’m not drinking so I had my fair share of diet sodas but I was very excited about the appetizers (one does not become ’round’ by nibbling).

On the table were several very beautiful appetizers that we all partook in. The first item I noticed looked like a plate of Salmon. It was a plate of thinly sliced salmon layered on top of house made flatbread with Creme Fraiche and herbs. It looked tasty but I am not a big Salmon fan but the description was that it tasted similar to lox. I must say though that this was probably the least popular item. There were three plates of this out and when we went to our table for dinner probably 1 1/2 plates were still left of it.

Salmon Flatbread appetizer

Next I came across this amazing looking dish that had Prosciutto on top of it (I like things like that!) and then saw someone cutting into it and asked “Is that cheese it there?” and IT WAS! Now I was just a little bit excited and it had honey drizzled all over it. It was a little hard to navigate to get some of the cheese and the Prosciutto with out it all coming off in one heap but I managed. It was sooo good. The milky cheese, the salty meat, the sweetness of the honey on top of the crunchy cracker. I will be back just to sit and eat this appetizer.

Prosciutto, Cheese, Honey Appetizer with Fennel Crackers

Next up were the meatballs. These too looked amazing and tasted the same! They came in these cast iron dishes and you could tell they were freshly cooked. I discovered they were cooked in the wood-fired oven. They came covered in warm cherry tomatoes and ricotta cheese. They were so nicely cooked through and seasoned great. Give these a try sometime as well.

Amazing Meatballs with cherry tomatoes and cheese!

They also brought out some freshly made potato chips that were nicely salted and crunchy. After chit-chatting for a while it was time to go sit for dinner. We were ushered over to one of the two very large “kitchen tables”, these tables sat the 13 of us very comfortable and look directly into the kitchen area so you can see all the goings-on during service. I must say I got to have some very nice dinner guests and met alot of great new people.

Larry Conlin (@larryconlin), Rodney (@elkgroveca & @burgerjunkies), & Anna Ballard (@anna_ballard)

Julie Gallaher (@JulieGallaher), Albert Villanueva (@insuRestaurants), & David Cole (@coledavid)

Gina Funk Nelson (@ginafunk), Tony Cohn (@tonycohn_SEO), Coral Henning (@coralh)

Kristy DeVaney (@cakegrrl), Donelle O'Brien (@dobrien917), & Tony Gates (@tonygates44) with Chef Kelly in the background

Sitting down at the table with these great people was surely a treat, but looking down at the menu I knew I was really going to really enjoy myself now. The menu is very nice and I looked and still can’t believe it said that this three-course menu was only $30. You get a choice of two options for each course and can get an optional wine pairing with the dinner (just ask your server). Looking over the menu and having already partaked in some appetizers I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it through the rest of dinner. What am I talking about I am the “round” about guy and knew I would serve diligently.

Appetizer course: The two options consisted of a choice between a salad of local peaches and nectarines with Mangalitsa Pork Lardo, Banyuls Vinaigrette, and Rustic Argugula or Ricotta Gnocchi with Parmesan Cream, Tomato Coulis, and warmed Cherry Tomatoes. Oh No! I couldn’t decide what I wanted and I didn’t sit next to my buddies. It’s a good thing Coral (@coralh) who was sitting next to me couldn’t decide either and we decided to share (I noticed several other’s pairing up and deciding to do the same)

Salad of Local Peaches and Nectarines with Mangalitsa Pork Lardo

First up is the salad of Peaches and Nectarines with Mangalitsa Pork Lardo. Now you may not know about Mangalitsa Pork Lardo but if you like pork and tasty food you should. For info about Mangalitsa Pork click here and for info about Pork Lardo click here. Essentially Pork Lardo is a layer of fat from the Mangalitsa pig that is seasoned than cured for about 6 months, it is then thinly sliced and served. In this dish the lardo was the base of the salad with the fruit sitting on top of that and then the salad on top with a nice drizzle of dressing. The fruit wasn’t as sweet as I like my peaches but the vinaigrette was delicious. Mixing the entire bite with a piece of that creamy Pork Lardo was just divine I must say.

Ricotta Gnocchi

Next I also got to try the Ricotta Gnocchi with Parmesan Cream, Tomato Coulis and warmed Cherry Tomatoes. As you can see they were all mixed together with a very nice presentation. The Gnocchi were very tasty and I appreciated the niceness of the ricotta but they were decent productions of gnocchi. What really through me off was the cherry tomatoes in this dish. I think the tomato coulis and the cherry tomatoes were just a bit too much. There was just a little too much tartness in comparison to the creaminess of the gnocchi that just didn’t gel as well with me. They were good don’t get me wrong, just a little off for me.

Entree Course- The two options consisted of pan seared Passmore Ranch Trout with Bloomsdale Spinach, Prosciutto, crispy capers, and mustard sauce or wood oven fired Lamb Sirloin with caponata of summer vegetables, tapenade vinaigrette, and basil aioli. I’m not a big fish guy (just a round guy) so I knew I was getting the lamb. Listening to the others order it sounded like the Lamb was the much more popular choice.

Wood Oven Fired Lamb Sirloin

Now I must admit something here, I like food and meat in particular. I’m from the midwest for goodness sake and we are raised on meat. However lamb is one of those meats I am a novice to and wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m glad I got to try the lamb tonight. I ordered my lamb the way I normally order my meat medium rare/medium (I like it pink but warm in the middle!) and it came to the table perfect. I will say my table mate ordered hers a little rarer than mine but came more well done than mine so that was a little disappointing and several ordered theirs well done (yea I don’t know either??). The sauce and the vegetables complemented the meat very well and the meat was great. It wasn’t gamey at all and very tender (I was told that lamb can taste very gamey which is why alot of people are turned off from it sometimes). The lamb was from a local Northern California farm. Overall a very fine dish I must say.

Dessert course: The two options consisted of a Gratin of Orchard Fruits with a Lemon Mousse and Vanilla Ice Cream or a Mocha Almond Gateau with Creme Chantilly and Almond Cookie. Another weird fact about me is that I am not a coffee fan, don’t like the taste or smell of it so dessert was an easy choice for me. I saw that Mocha listed on the Gateau and I was like “I’m getting the Gratin!”.

Gratin of Orchard Fruits

The dessert was tasty. The fruit was just ripe, they weren’t as sweet as I like my stone fruits but good nonetheless. The Lemon Mousse wasn’t overpowering with lemon and the Vanilla Ice Cream well, it was Vanilla Ice Cream. I will say I wouldn’t come back craving the dessert but it was good and included in the three-course dinner it was a very satisfying ending to the meal.

But wait what is this? They brought out a cheese plate along with dessert! I have a special place in my heart (and well in my tummy too!) for cheese. I like good cheese and this looked like excellent cheese.

A great Cheese plate

Now I will admit I forget the different kinds of cheeses on the plate but there were five different kinds on the plate along with candied nuts and macerated dried fruits. The different cheeses each offered a different distinctive flavor that was a great ending to the meal. To check out the cheese’s currently on Ella’s Cheese Menu follow the link and take a look at the different flavors.

This was an excellent meal and one of the better meal experiences I have had here in Sacramento. If you get a chance I would highly encourage you to go and partake in this special 4th Anniversary Menu at Ella’s. It is only going to be available until the end of September and you don’t want to miss out (plus the price is great!). To check out the whole 4th anniversary menu follow the link, you can also make online reservations there or call 916-443-3772. In added bonus is you can get free valet parking by checking in using various social media platforms like Foursquare or Facebook Check-In’s.

I will say again I was so lucky to get invited to this dinner. The restaurant and location were great, the people and company were great, and the food was awesome! I would gladly do this again in a heartbeat and you should as well. Don’t forget to like Ella’s on Facebook here or follow them on Twitter here.