spartevan v.'s Profile

I came here on a Friday night on a whim. Here's what I liked:

The ambiance - Cafe Madrid and a tapas bar seems more at home in Bishop Arts than it does in Uptown. If I'm pretending to be in Spain, I'd rather eat among revitalized ruins than shiny glossy new developments.

The tapas - I think tapas need to become a food group. I thoroughly enjoy the small, bite sized plates of flavorful, savory foods. The cheese list is extensive and contains delicious manchego. The spanish olives are a nice size, and the croquettes come with a delectable dipping sauce.

Dislikes:

Beware - on Friday nights at 10 pm, Cafe Madrid in Bishop Arts embraces the arts vibe . . . and turns into open mic night! From slam poetry to comedy, anyone can have their 15 minutes of fame. While this is a cool idea, if you are dining with a companion and prefer to speak with them rather than listen to strangers trying to get their Beatnik on, this is not a good choice.

Overall, you can't go wrong with Cafe Madrid. Just make sure your timing is right.

I didn't actually get the opportunity to stay here, so this review is for the concept/lobby.

If you are a fan of the art boutique hotel, look no further than the Listel. Walking in you are greeted by lifesize male and female wire bobblehead sculptures that dance and wobble when you touch them. OK, I'm sold. How cool is this place? In the upstairs alcove, The Listel is currently showing an art installation called "Fallen Princesses", which encapsulates my sense of humor to a tee. "Not So Little Red Riding Hood" was my favorite.

The gym/fitness room was a little lacking, with only 2-3 machines, but I understand they are making plans to update the amenity, which should bring joy to the business traveler with an appreciation for art everywhere.

Vancouver lacks a "W" hotel. However, with some simple glamazon math, (yes, quite the oxymoron - glamazons doing math . .  bear with me)  if you take the Opus Hotel around the corner + Society = W Hotel.

Society is appropriately named, except - if you are looking for high society in the terms of pedigrees and blue bloods, you are looking in the wrong place. If you are looking for high society in the terms of Lindsay Lohan and the likes, you have come to the right place.

Gigantic pink plastic chandeliers greet you as you walk in. This, and pink cotton candy in overgrown Alice in Wonderland-esque martini glasses flanking the bar, add the main pops of color to a black, gray, and chrome interior. The bathroom doors are the best - "Girls" and "Boys" use these, sponsored by either Abercrombie or Victoria's Secret. You'll understand when you walk in, trust me.

As for the food: I had the grilled caesar salad. What is a grilled salad, you ask? Exactly that. The Romaine was lightly charred. This added a unique flavor, that followed me for several hours thereafter. It also included very unique bacon cubes, for lack of a better term. The waitress said they were made of pork belly and contained no bread, but they seemed like giant bacon croutons. The pork rind for society dwellers, I suppose.  My companion had the tuna melt from the 45 minute lunch express menu and onion rings almost the size of my head.

Overall, Society was a very funky place and one of the "coolest" I saw in Vancouver.

I want to have the person who thought of Buc-ee's marketing campaign's babies. Yes, even if it's a woman. We can try in vitro.

I LOVE Buc-ee's! They sank a lot of money into the advertising, but it was well worth it. Like everything worth in life waiting for - the anticipation builds with each beaver themed innuendo'd billboard. Oh, and the Joe is fresh, and the coffee is too. BRAZILLIANT! I love it!

OK, so then you actually reach the holy grail of all truck stops. I love me my 7-11, but this is the holy motherlode. Best truck stop ever. Anything and everything you could possibly want. Cheese? Junk?  Fudge? Junk? Salad? Junk? Sandwich? Junk? Junk? Junk!?!?!?!??! Oh, a sample lady? Passing out . . . . . JUNK! Glorious JUNK!

So incredible - and the best part is, the junk is strictly contained to cellophane wrappers and shelves - not in the aisles, bathrooms, or just general patrons. A class act of truck stops. Buc-ee's, you make me one happy beaver. ;)

Bolsa means bag en espanol . . . .and this place has a full bolsa of tricks. I'm not sure how it became so popular or even so good, but I have a few ideas.

To me, once you incorporate Mozzarella Company, Randolph's Meat, and Jimmy's Food Store into a meal, you've got a winner. Local suppliers = fresh suppliers = your food is fresh to death. Son. I think this is most of the winning formula.

I also like the patio "scene" and the eclectic people that populate the patio, which makes it less of a "scene" and more of a cool patio where people gather to eat. The food that they eat is really good, fresh, and inventive. After all, isn't that the point of restaurants?

I like this place if only it makes me feel like I'm in a Sex and the City episode when I close my eyes and squint really hard and pretend it's Central Park. This "method acting" especially works when I grab 3 friends, have a particularly salacious story (when the stars align, my fellow Yelpers!) and we do brunch afterwards.  

The view is great, the trail is fantastic, and I'm glad it's not over-popularized ( or overpopulated) like Katy Trail. Katy Trail still seems to me like a bar, minus the booze, plus the Powerade, and equal amounts of sweaty douchebaggery. On the contrary, Central Park . .  I mean White Rock Lake is for the more serious athlete or just the person who prefers to get in touch with a true oasis in the middle of the city.  I mean, there's a body of (man made) water! But water, nonetheless. Bonus points? Located next to the Dallas Arboretum, Lakewood, and tons of cool little brunch spots for your post walk n' talk post mortem dish n' scoop!  Enjoy!

This place reminded me of Miami, including the glamazons, the white banquettes, the mosaic, and the Miami-esque portions.  Which means, small and stylistic.

My Vietnamese friend introduced me to Uptown Sushi, and based on the success of my other Viet-roductions to other sushi restaurants (see my Oishii Dallas review), I knew I would be in for a treat.

I had the best miso soup here - the avocado miso soup topped with two, yes, exactly two grilled scrimp. Yum. The soup was thick, with some sort of an avocado puree. Genius. Whoever paired avocado and miso together needs to go into the same hall of fame as the peanut butter n' jelly guy. After eating this soup, it's almost abnormal to have miso sans the avocado.

I also had the salmon squares, which sounds like something that would come baked and in a pan, yes? Au contraire. Salmon squares are ceviche style salmon marinated in a delicious . . .marinade, and garnished with parmesan. Anytime you bring cheese into a Japanese dish and it's not creamed? Also genius.

Didn't get to meet the chef, but I think he is one cool cat. Saw several other unique items that I want to try next time I'm in Houston. Really enjoyed the vibe of Uptown Sushi.

PS:  The after dinner mints are also the best mints I've ever had. They are fruity deliciousness. I contemplated accidentally on purpose dumping the entire contents into my bag, but I didn't want to embarrass my friend. So I grabbed 2 handfuls, 3 separate times, instead. What? Try one. They're delicious.

I wish Hotel Derek would quit trying to be Hotel Derrique (said in a Pepe Le Pew French snobby voice). Does valet service make a hotel exclusive? I know it's not Derrique's fault that Houston traffic is abominable, but if you're going to make valet mandatory, please at least make the entrance more accessible. The convenience of valet is nullified once I have to u-turn to get to it.  What is the purpose of mandatory valet? Other 4 and 5 star hotels have self-park options as well. I just don't like having a twerpy 16 year old guy run interference on every time I want to come and go from my hotel room. Or get something from my car. I especially don't like a twerpy 16 year old guy adjusting my mirrors! (yes! can you believe!) and my seat. Thank God he drew the line at reprogramming my radio stations, but seriously? My mirrors!?!? While I'm all for making yourself comfortable on the job, I just prefer that it's not in MY driver's seat.  

Next, I thought the odd lightbox paintings, or whatever the heck they are, propped up against the entrance of the elevator was stupid. Looked like at the last moment they wanted to jazz things up and propped up a lighted piece of metal and decided to call it mod. The room itself is OK.

The person that called this the poor man's W was dead on. Except I think it's more like a poor man's Z +. Not impressed.

The House of Blues is an eclectic, weird, yet "cool" place. I'm not sure about the other ones, but this one looks like it was designed by The House of Madame Cleo. Is there really a yin yang emblem above the stage in the Foundation Room? And is that a 3rd eye I spot with both of mine? And is that incense burning?? . . . Wait, no . . . . I'm at the Snoop Dogg Concert.

I came here Sunday night for dinner, the Cowboys Game, and then the  concert so I was hitting the House of Blues with the three pronged "Whatcha Got" effect.  Here's what they got:

Wasn't too crowded for the game, as I've never really heard someone say, "Hey, let's go watch the game at The House of Blues". Although, it's not a half bad venue for those of us powderpuffs that like to watch football more for the company rather than the action.

Dinner started off sketchy, as the waiter looked confused when we asked for menus. "To order food", we had to explain. Which was a shame, because I wonder what other orders he was taking. Menu is standard, nothing really stood out. Had Cobb Salad and sweet potato fries. Both were good, but nothing to write home about.

The real winner here was the venue for the concert. I enjoyed the acoustics, and I preferred sitting upstairs . . . because there were seats to be sat on. Bar service was fast and prompt. A nice, intimate venue to see some of your favorite acts up close and personal.

Haven't been to their gospel brunch yet, but I hear that's a real winner too. I'm not a huge fan of chains, but House of Blues seems to have a winning formula for chains-that-also-happen-to-be-concert-venues.

I think this is my first one star review and without a doubt my shortest. I tend to review things I like, because it's a good use of my time. I don't like Blackfriar. It's a conglomeration of good 'ole boys (emphasis on boys) wearing baseball caps and  three whiskers it took them a month to grow - and the girls who love them. These creatures swarm the bar and make the wait not only impossible - but unbearable - as you can't help but overhear conversation that makes you go into convulsions. Of pain. As I pinch myself to make sure it isn't a nightmare.

As if that wasn't bad enough, circa 1 am, these things try to dance.  Emphasis on "try". If Soul Train ever needs a bloopers reel . . . .