Palm Springs 2014 - Golfing - Catalan Restaurant - Elmer's Restaurant - Anaheim Packing House

Now back to my personal eating adventures, not sponsored or promoted by anyone. Phil and I had a chance to return to our favorite domestic vacation spot of all times, Palm Springs, which has been covered on the blog thoroughly last time. I like it for short relaxing getaways because Palm Springs is littered with beautiful resorts. We can keep ourselves entertained with resort activities.

But first, let's fly into Long Beach because it's cheaper than flying into Palm Springs. When we're here, we must always stop by Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for their fluffy waffles and crispy chicken with a side of collared greens. Always a good time at Roscoe's!

We got a free upgrade to a rental Jeep and it was off towards the desert we go.

Our first meal was at Catalan Restaurant, a tapas bar that Phil picked out.

I thought this might come with more than 2 tentacles and a buttload of spicy peppers. I was wrong. The octopus was tasty albeit sparse. In the background is a huge portion of roasted bone marrow and not picture in that same order is a container of chicken liver pate and jam.

Phil liked this burger enough. Not one to rave about but it does the job.

The scallops themselves were good and the shaved endive too. I was not crazy about the butternut squash puree.

The next day, in 100 degree weather under no shade, we did what we came to Palm Springs to do. Golf! $25 gets you a day pass to the driving range. You can come back again anytime and as many times that day as you want. We went once in the morning, took a break for lunch and to rest from the sun by going swimming. Then came back again in the afternoon. Capped off the day with a night time swim.

Forearms glistening with sweat.

Dinner that night was delicious seafood a restaurant, Fisherman's Landing, within the beautiful JW Marriott resort we almost stayed at. We chose not to stay here because they didn't have a water slide in their pool. Priorities.

Jumbo shrimp cocktail hit the spot for my seafood craving.

Clams in a delicious tomato sauce paired with extra cheesy garlic bread for dipping.

Phil wasn't so much a fan of the Hawaiin plate which seemed anything but Hawaiin. Salmon and some other fish, cooked pretty dryly. Shrimp on top with a very generic teriyaki sauce. Side of veggies and potato wedges.

At night we went for a swim to digest our food and had the pool all to ourselves.

This is a 30 year old husband, home owner, and working professional.

It rained heavily the next day as we ventured out to try this thing I found on Yelp at Elmer's Restaurant. It's a Dutch pancake which is the size of a large frying pan. iPhone shown for comparison. It turned out to be very bland and not worth the hype. 

On Monday we headed back to Long Beach for our flight but not before stopping by a few recommended eats in Anaheim. This is the Anaheim Packing House. It's much like our San Pedro Square Market with two floors and many more eateries. Some of the food is still generic though.

This chicken karaage from Orange Tei tastes really good. Way better than it looks. I don't know why it's white and crusty and looks like an STD, but it's tasty with the aioli sauce on the side.

I ordered and paid for a half portion of grilled cheese from Black Sheep GCB. Looks like a whole to me and I don't mind. The sandwich was hot and fresh and every bit as comforting as comfort food should be. The juice on the top left though, no good. Too sour.

We also had to try the garlic fries and the jalapeno slaw at the popular stand, The Kroft. Neither of which are good.

Finally back upstairs so I could buy an espresso shop from Cafecito Organico, and pour it onto a scoop of vanilla ice cream from Han's Homemade Ice Cream to make my fave affogato. Phil got an ice cream sandwich that beats Cream by miles. Everything was good.

Back home we go!

Palm Springs 2010 - Village Fest - Maracas

Flower Power returns!

A quick pose by the pool at night before we headed out to the Palm Springs Village Fest, a weekly Thursday night festival downtown. That pool was just as beautiful at night as it was during the day.

hmm what could I possibly be doing?

Getting a henna tattoo! yay! It's a lotus blossom. Too bad the tattoo faded within 2 days. I want my money back.

We stopped to watch a street artist painting using spray paint and various paper tools. You can also find these types of artists on the strip in Vegas. I also bought a snow cone which was a bad idea because snow cones are a notorious rip off of money for ice and syrup. But the little kid in me had to be satisfied.

Since we had lounged by the pool for far too long that day, we did not feel hungry until 9 or 10 that night. By then, dinner options were limited and the festival was closing down. So we chose Maracas, one of the only restaurants open at the time. We ended up being the last customers there.

My Thursday dinner started as all dinners should start, with a frozen blended mango margarita. This was refreshing, smooth, fruity, and strong. Yes, it tasted like fruit but packed the punch of maybe 2 tequila shots. Well worth the money. So I'm realizing I only had one earring on because I had to take the other off for my henna tattoo. oops! Fashion faux pas or trend setting?

I ordered the "Taco Truck Soft Tacos" which were actually appetizers but they were filling enough. The trio contained fish, chicken, and carne asada, although carnitas was also an option. For me, nothing has yet to beat the Tres Gringos taco truck in San Jose. The fish taco was good but everything else was forgettable and the carne asada was not tender. I remember having to dip alot of sauce with each bite.

Philipe ordered the carnitas plate which I have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't too thrilled about. It was just average, if anything a little dry.
 

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

This festival in particular was a bit mundane. Nothing you can't find at the usual town get together or even at a farmer's market. I would have enjoyed watching some dancing or singing performances. I think there were singers but nothing too exciting. Having the festival to attend was still better than doing nothing. This is the end of our Palm Springs leg of the trip. It was short but relaxing. The scenery was lovely, the pools were fun, the weather was sweltering, and the food was just decent. I do miss Palm Springs alot and hope to return here often in the future.

Village Fest on Yelp

Maracas on Yelp

 WE'LL BE BACK!

Palm Springs 2010 - Ristorante Mamma Gina

No flower picture today. You get a nifty grape shaped vinegar within olive oil dispenser. This is super neato, I want one for my future house. For lunch we dined at a cozy one story Italian eatery named Ristorante Mamma Gina, serving $5 happy hour plates.

This is a calamari and shrimp salad. Looks and tastes suspiciously like ceviche on a bed of spinach and tomatoes but meh, the restaurant (I mean Ristorante) can call it whatever they wish. This salad was very refreshing, but not unlike most ceviche we've had, nothing too special. 

mmm Minced and strained coffee grounds...I am absolutely kidding. This was not a cup of coffee gone wrong. This was a minced olive mix given in lieu of butter with our bread. I did not like this but Phil loved it as always. Why does he always have to go against me?

Obligatory picture of self, holding pasta dish to be described below. 

 Seafood linguini with marinara sauce and capers. I basically ordered this for the capers. What I got was capers and overly salty sauce but otherwise would have been good, and undercooked pasta. Phil also agreed the pasta was undercooked and the sauce was salty, this coming from a man who has said everything tastes good. The dish had potential but failed in execution.

 Oh, what would he order, perhaps another burger as usual. I don't really remember what was special about this burger, but it was really big. And also...

...extremely top heavy. I think someone sliced the bun unevenly. Ya think? As usual, he said this burger was good.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

Since we ate during happy hour, the food was cheap, $5 plates. It was empty so we got good service and alot of non-suffocating attention. My pasta was disappointing but the seafood salad was good and Phil enjoyed his burger. A successful meal, I'd say.

El Paseo - for the past two meals, we had eaten on El Paseo, Palm Desert's answer to Rodeo Drive. All the expensive stores and fancy restaurants are on here. Our choices were of course not as high end but it was nice to say we were on the fanciest street in town.

Ristorante Mamma Gina on Yelp

Palm Springs 2010 - Pacifica Restaurant

Flower power

 Rental Solara power!!!


I should start out by warning people that Palm Springs food is not like New York food at all. The two shall not be compared.

Le Concierge gave us a map of local eateries and happy hours. We randomly picked Pacifica because we always love seafood. And ooh there's a vodka bar but we didn't make use of it because this was a relaxing trip and not a get plastered trip.

Seared Ahi Tuna in a soy and wakame salad with pickled ginger mixture. Yum yum! This dish was really good but I do feel that I've had fresher tuna elsewhere. Pacifica boasts the freshest seafood in Palm Desert and if this is the freshest then it doesn't say much for Palm Desert seafood. Nonetheless, good seasoning and good dish.

Ceviche with scallions(?). This was also quite delicious. Portions were larger than most ceviche I've been served in the past so kudos to bangs for bucks.

mmm baked shrimp scampi. This is probably the best, most unique shrimp scampi I've ever had. As you can see, it is not just pasta on a plate. Garlic butter white wine sauce, good! Crispy jumbo shrimp, good! Garlic bread, meh not so much.

Chubby in the face, holding my buttery shrimp scampi.

We took full advantage of our rental Solara, putting the "top down" in top down, chrome spinnin...

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

I will have to admit that Palm Springs/Desert food will be neither as varied nor as satisfying as New York food. It has been difficult finding things to write about this trip since it was mostly for relaxation and we did a whole bunch of nothing, which I actually really miss now because it's not everyday that you can just do nothing. Some of us have blog entries to write...oh life is so hard!

Pacifica on Yelp