I've got to start bring my camera...

... when I go out to eat.

Now, normally Kevin and I do not go out to eat very often. We are darn cheap, and now that I'm unemployed even more so. But this week was his birthday, so Thursday he and I went out and Friday, we went out with friends.

Thursday we went to Jade Sister's. Jade Sister's is my favorite Coralville sushi place. Three Samuri is more of a tepanyaki place and is kind of a weird set up for sushi (I don't like to sit AT the sushi bar), Sushi Popo annoyed me when they changed prices without changing menus (though Jade Sisters now charges 1% more tax than they should...) and just wasn't as good. Takanami was SO good, but expensive and in Iowa City. There were a few more we haven't tried.

But for now, Jade Sister's is my favorite. We usually start with Crab Ragoons- this is the only place I will eat them, somehow they just get them RIGHT. A perfect crisp fried shell and the best filling I've ever had. But then we are always so full, because 5 is a lot to split between two of us, so we resolved not to get them. Our resolve was a bit silly, because we got lettuce wraps instead...

The lettuce wraps were excellent. They have a bit of a smoky taste to them, and I've never figured that out. Then, for dinner, I got the two rolls I always get. A california roll and a another roll that is essentially a shrimp tempura roll with sweet potato and cream cheese, but the shrimp tempura roll here is more expensive than this. So odd, but the extra flavors are YUM. The CA roll is pretty standard but I like it. Kevin got a Mexican roll that was extremely spicey, and another roll that is large and all over fried- I tasted it and thought the texture was smushy and the flavor bland, but he completely disagreed with me.

Then last night with everyone we went to Exotic India. The service here left much to be desired, it was an hour wait until we got our food (and another 40 minutes for Erin when the server forgot hers.) For the first time I got the Thali- a kind of sampler of all kinds of things. I got dahl, Vindaloo, Saag Paneer, and there was rice, a salad, a kind of dressing sort of thing, a dessert that was like a dough ball in honey, a roti and a piece of naan. Possibly something else. Everything was VERY yummy. I'll get that again, though it does mean you get a smaller serving of the curry at the trade off of being able to sample everything else.