CHOMP! gets Married! :)

I think I've been on hiatus long enough... The past 6 months have been some serious wedding planning and it pretty much took up all my free time. Doesn't mean I haven't been eating well tho! haha.

My new husband and I got married almost 2 months ago on June 4, 2016. Lots of hard work and planning but it all paid off. Definitely one of the best days of our lives. :) Here are some pictures to showcase the food we had! All the guests loved the food, which was a huge relief for me. I had a lot of pressure going in to the wedding... To have "the best food" is what everyone was expecting. haha. CN Catering really delivered. And our cake table ("my baby") was pretty epic imo. :D

And just so you know how important food is to me. I even had food in the bridal and bridesmaids' bouquets! Kale, bay leaves, and rosemary. It smelled so good! Thanks to The Backyard Bouquet for such beautiful work.

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

(the professional photos are by Meggie Taylor Photography - she's the best! The rest are taken by me or friends.)

We had a whole roast pig during cocktail hour. As requested by the groom. It was a hit! There was nothing left but the face and feet. Which we snacked on at 2 in the morning after the reception. :P A big thanks to my friend, Hung, for taking care of everything from ordering, to picking up, to delivery.

Meggie Taylor Photography

Passed Apps during cocktail hour (by CN Catering):
Mac N Cheese Balls. Everything was a big hit.

Meggie Taylor Photography

Chicken and Waffle Bites. They're so adorable. And delicious.

Signature cocktail: "Blushing Brandy" created by my friend Leslie: Brandy, Cassis, Sprite.

Meggie Taylor Photography

Dinner Stations (by CN Catering):
Pasta a la Nostra (Grilled Chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, penne pasta, in a basil cream sauce) The pasta was perfectly al dente!

Meggie Taylor Photography

Garlic Dinner Rolls
Salad

Our main protein was a Grilled Tenderloin of Beef carved to order. With a side of Shiitake Mushroom & Sesame-Hoisin Au Jus. 

 

 

Sides:
Russet Mashed Potatoes (with sour cream, smoked cheddar, bacon, chives)

Meggie Taylor Photography

Roasted Cauliflower

Meggie Taylor Photography

And of course our amazing cake table. 4 flavors in all: Tres Leches from Del Norte Bakery, Toasted Almond (with and without raspberry) from Lala's Cakes/Three Twelve Company, and All American Chocolate from Costco (our money saver option... and the cake is delicious!) I made all the cake stands, name signs, pom poms, and decor bottles btw. Blood, sweat, and tears fo sho! Flower decor provided by The Backyard Bouquet. 

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

 

I'm not sure if the cakes were just REALLY good or I was really good at estimating the portions but we had almost no cakes leftover. (I think it was both!) Only like 5 slices of the chocolate. And we had another half sheet of the tres leches in the back too! All gone! Nothing but compliments from all the guests on the cakes AND the food.

Oh yea, I also made mini Sriracha bottles for each table. Cuz you just gotta have some hot sauce, ya? ;-p

Meggie Taylor Photography

Meggie Taylor Photography

I'd say as a foodie and super high expectations for my wedding food, everything turned out fantastic! People constantly came up to me throughout the night to compliment all the food. Even my mom liked it all, which rarely happens. And I continued to get compliments days after the wedding was over. Success!! :D Thanks to all that made it happen.



~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Lalo's Fine Mexican Cuisine

I've never been a fan of Tex-Mex... I always find it a bit repetitive. But... I LOVE Mexican food. There's a big difference!

Two of my friends were in town for the weekend from NYC so of course Mexican food is on their list. I found this place and they had mole!! OMG! I love mole and ever since I had it again in Cancun, I was dreaming about it. So I suggested this place.

Lalo's Fine Mexican Cuisine
18484 Preston Rd. Ste 118
Dallas, TX 75252
(469) 298-3017
www.lalosmexicancuisine.com/
Price: $$

I didn't even know about this place! It had really high Yelp reviews too. Looks promising! We arrived on a Saturday around 6:30PM. The place wasn't completely full but business was pretty good. I thought the decor was nice. Casual yet somewhat elegant.

We got some complimentary chips with salsa and black bean dip. The salsa had a kick to it! :) And the black bean dip was almost as good as the ones at Gloria's... almost... hehe.

Mango Strawberry Frozen Margarita. My friend got one of these. It was really pretty. And she said it was good. I couldn't try it though since I'm allergic to mango. I'll take her word for it though.

Chile Con Queso. Her husband had thought this was "chili" so he was a little surprised. teehee. But this was really good. He totally enjoyed it. It was great with the chips and the salsa.

Pollo Oaxaca (chicken breast simmered in Oaxaqueno Mole served with beans refritos and arroze blanco) $14.99?~ 

I already knew I was going to get this. Normally I see mole on enchiladas, which I always end up subbing the corn tortilla with flour. But this is perfect because there's no tortilla at all (less heavy)! It was delicious. The mole wasn't as good as the one from Mexico, but it was still really tasty. Lots of complex flavors with that tiny hint of sweet from the addition of chocolate. Just a disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on mole. I just know what tastes good to me. hehe. The chicken was super tender. I didn't even use a knife. I loved the pairing with the sauce and the rice. I asked to sub the beans for veggies. It was the perfect side to the chicken and rice. I also liked the slaw on the side. The whole thing was great. I would totally go back and get this again. And it was a big portion too. I took almost half of it home. And it was still good the next day when I had it for lunch. :)

Carne Asada (grilled steak or grilled chicken breast served with Mexican rice, Sopa de Frijol, guacamole and pico de gallo). My friends shared this since they weren't too hungry. Also a good sized portion. The guac was very good. And the Mexican rice had good flavor. They both liked it.

Tres Leches Cake. I love tres leches so I ordered it before I even finished my dinner. Even though I wasn't that hungry either. haha. It was good, not the best I've had but I would get it again. I wish they had served it on its side with more milk to soak up but it was still surprisingly moist and fluffy.

Sorry I didn't include the prices. I forgot to take a picture of the menu... But both dishes were arond $14-15 which was decent for the portion size. And my friends paid for me... again... Sigh. Everytime they come visit, they always end up grabbing the check. I feel bad. I'll get them one day! haha. And I have such awesome friends. :D

It was a great dinner. Our waiter was also really nice and attentive. The ambiance was nice. I will be back for sure!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Ambiance:

Value:

Overall Experience:

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~

Royal Suites Yucatan - Riviera Maya

To celebrate my graduation... I booked a trip for me and my fiance at the end of my final quarter. I actually booked the trip before I even registered for my last class. Hahaha. Hey, the way I looked at it... if I finish, yay we celebrate. If for some reason I failed, at least we're in Mexico. It's a win-win! :P

I found a pretty awesome deal at the Royal Suites Yucatan by Palladium in Riviera Maya/Akumal. It's about an hour and half car ride south from the Cancun airport. The main reason I chose this place? It's adults only! :) Well, our section of the resort is adults only. It's essentially 5 resorts in 1... pretty huge. You have to take carts/shuttles to go to some of the other resorts.

We arrived in late afternoon, the sun was already starting to set. The lobby of our section of the resort was really nice. And the people at the front desk were sooooo friendly and accommodating. It was off to a great start!

Since this is an all-inclusive resort (which btw... is THE best way to vacation. Food and drinks all included!!) it means LOTS of food pictures! I'm not going to write much more. This is purely a food porn entry... :) Just a quick tip though, never go to the "Asian" restaurant at these resorts. They are almost always pretty crappy. And it was our only really bad meal on this trip.

First night dinner: El Jardin, restaurant just next to our lobby.

It's a buffet AND a la carte restaurant. Ooooof... wayy too much food.

 

 

 

 

 

It includes lobster. Yes. LOBSTER!

One of the most tender preparations of octopus I have ever had in my life! Amazing!

First breakfast: Room service! Which is 24/7 and again... ALL INCLUDED! :)

Orange Juice, Banana Shake
Assorted Pastries

Florentine Style Eggs (bechamel, spinach, eggs)

Mexican Style Eggs (scrambled eggs with jalapeno, tomato, cheese, onions; with sausage and chorizo)

Salmon Bagel

2nd Night Dinner: Sumptuori - Japanese/Hibachi/Fusion
Cocktail: Cassis & Orange Juice. Pretty!

Appetizer: Eggrolls and Tempura Shrimp

Assorted Sushi. Pretty blech. 

Soups

 

Soba Juma Fillet (beef fillet with Japanese peas, soya and rice)

Shake Shiitake (gilled marinated salmon with fried sweet potato, carrots, and shiitake vinaigrette)

Fried Banana 

Rice Pudding

We left without really touching the dessert... Other than the well cooked steak for the entree, everything else was pretty bad. We hit up the buffet for more dessert. haha.

3rd Night Dinner: Back to El Jardin (since it doesn't require reservations)
House Margarita Welcome drink.

Tricolor Salad (lettuce, beets, avocado, tomato, egg, onion, french dressing)

Duck Salad (lettuce, endive, mango, kiwi, raspberry vinaigrette and raspberry)

Tlalpeno Soup (chicken, carrot, chayote, potato, celery, leek, onion, garlic, and chipotle chili peppers)

 

Ribeye Steak. Soooo freaking delicious. They knew how to cook beef! And again.... ALL INCLUSIVE baby!

New York Strip. Also fantastic. 

Tres Leches

Napoleon

Chocolate Cake

4th Night Dinner: La Adelita. The Mexican restaurant. Best meal of the trip. Fantastic!
Complimentary Starter: Nachos

"Mexican Coffee" (coffee, kahlua, tequila, spices). We need to figure out how to make this because it was so good. Couldn't taste any of the alcohol, didn't need additional cream or sugar. Awesome. 

Soup of the Day: Creamed Corn

Beef Broth "La Adelita" (beef, chicken, pork, epazote, pumpkin, corn)

Beef Alambres Sinaloa Style (with beans, mushrooms, poblano, cheese, onion)

Chef's Special of the Day: Chicken Enchiladas in Mole. This was amazing! I love mole, and this was sooooo good!!!!

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Tres Leches Cake

5th Night Dinner: El Jardin. We initially went to a beach bbq. They had an outdoor buffet all set up with stations that grilled different types of meat. But the food wasn't that great and I was getting attacked by mosquitoes. Plus there was a really annoying drunk guy in the table next to us. It just didn't feel like how we wanted our last night to be. So we went where we KNEW we'd get a good meal. :)
"Stephanie" Salad (lettuce, cucumber, prawns, coriander sauce and beet vinaigrette)

"Sunrise" Salad (spinach, lettuce, surimi, carrots, tomato, lemon vinaigrette)

Chinese Noodle Soup (chicken consomme, pork, noodles, cauliflower, carrots)

Ribeye Steak. 

Rigatoni with Alfredo Sauce (spanish ham, onion, garlic, and cream)

Chocolate Mousse and Mango Ice Cream

Apple Tart and Vanilla Ice Cream

Last Day Breakfast: Room Service. Since it was our last day here, we went all out! :P

Orange Juice, Pineapple Juice
Assorted Pastries
Toast with Butter
Florentine Style Eggs
Motulenos Style Eggs (corn tortilla, beans, cheese, tomato, chili, pork sausage)

Side of Bacon
Pancakes with Maple Syrup and Chocolate Sauce

Last drinks while waiting for our shuttle to the airport: Bananamama and Kahlua & Milk

 

As if that wasn't enough for us. I got some $8 ice cream cone from Haagen Dazs. haha.

It was a great vacation. Very relaxing. Other than eating and drinking... we pretty much did nothing. haha. I did get a lot of reading done! :P I'd recommend this resort, but only the adult only section "Royal Suites Yucatan". You'll be glad you did that. I wanna go back................ 

Cheers! 

~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~