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I am going to be fat and sassy after this week. It seems I'm on the food gravy train...

I outlined my dinner last night on my original b-day post, but I think I'll post my meals here for giggles, because I'm silly that way.

Today for lunch I went to Habana restaurant for Cuban food, and I had:

A Tres Leche Cafe (like a Tres Leche Cake, it has sweetened condensed milk, sweet cream and milk)

For an appetizer, we split a papa rellena, which is the greatest idea ever...it's a ball of mashed potatoes, filled with seasoned ground beef, rolled in cracker crumbs and deep fried.

Finally, I had an empanada cubana, which is a fried pastry, filled with pulled tender pork roast, sliced ham and swiss cheese. The whole thing was served with red beans and arroz con gandules, which is a yellow rice with pigeon peas. Whoot! I love this birthday meal thing!

For dinner, on the 3rd, I went to a great little place around the corner from my house. NG House, a chinese restaurant, with a spare little storefront and ultra-friendly service and staff with phenomenal memory for the likes of their regulars is a treat...and the price is right, too.

After a rousing bout of shopping with my amiguita, Sussan...we headed in, and were seated by Yuki, a lovely lass with a rock n' roller sense of style, complete with dyed orange pigtails, and blue glitter eye-shadow.

We sat down, and she said, "You ordered the usual the other night when you called in. " I laughed, because she was totally right on...I'd been in Washington too long, so I missed it.

I ordered a cup of wonton soup, and we tried to decide what to eat. Sussan finally asked Yuki to pick out the best steak dish on the menu for her. Being very obliging, Yuki recollected that Sussan'd ordered the jalapeno flank steak last time we came in, then suggested the Orange Sesame Beef. Then, I told her I was at a loss...I either wanted chicken with string beans or moo shu chicken. Yuki's eyes lit up, and told me to get the pork instead, and make it spicy.

I agreed to the changes and when the meal was brought, I surely didn't regret it. The sauce was spicy, without being overwhelming, with a good kick of ginger and garlic. The pork was meltingly tender, and the string beans were flecked with red pepper, and just perfectly cooked...not too raw, and not squishy in the least. Served with fragrant basmati rice, the stir-fry really hit the spot.

Sussan's main dish was also divine. Normally, I'm not big on fried beef dishes...but the orange beef was a shock. The crust was crisp and delicate, and the beef was, like the pork, completely tender. The best part was that the orange sauce wasn't pooled on the plate...there was just enough sauce to impart a rich, tangy component to each bite of the meal. The dish was balanced by an accompanyment of more steamed rice, and some steamed broccoli as well.

Whoot! I love birthday food week!