We were supposed to go to Koo Zee Doo with friends on sunday. We even made reservations and everything, like grown-ups. Then J got sick and those plans had to get thrown out. When he started feeling better, we made an impromptu trip there. No reservations necessary on this week night. It seemed to be about half full, and we got a prime spot right in front of the big window. It’s an adorable little portuguese byob.

Some complimentary brine soaked lupini beans, and two different breads, baked in-house. One is a somewhat soft wheat bread and the other is a very hard and crusty cornbread, called broa. Everything was excellent. The beans are super salty! The cornbread tasted a bit like corn pops in my opinion, but it wasn’t overly sweet at all. We didn’t b our own b, so they offered us some complimentary house wine. I partook. It was delightful.

The food here is family style, so they recommend two people to get two starters and share an entree.  So we followed their lead and did just that. J wanted the carrot and chestnut soup. It’s hard to describe what this tasted like, as it did not taste very much like carrots, nor did it taste very much like chestnuts. But we both liked it. The soup was smooth, except for a few hunks of something that we thought could perhaps be purple pearl onions. As mysterious as it was, we enjoyed it.

I really wanted to be a bit more adventurous, so I picked the braised chicken gizzards as our other starter. Man, was I glad I did. These things were so good! These don’t have a strange texture at all. It just feels like plain ol dark meat chicken. They’re braised in something absolutely delicious, and when the gizzards are plopped on top of these pieces of crusty toasted bread, it’s pretty f’in good. I loved this. J was totally afraid of them at first, but he ended up liking these gizzards too.

For our entree, we got the baked duck rice. Rice was baked with shredded duck leg and chorizo, and there is also sliced duck breast on top. The rice was fairly mild with the duck pieces being delicious and juicy. The chorizo was incredibly smoky and flavorful. And the duck on top? Oh. My. Word. So damn good. So damn, damn, damn, damn good.

Service was nice and friendly. The only awkward part was that in the front where we were seated, it’s raised up a bit, so when we were getting our food, the server had to reach up and around a bit from the ground level where he was. It was just a bit difficult to maneuver. It has an open kitchen too, which I love. It goes to show that they’re not afraid of showing the diners what’s going on in their kitchen. The prices are reasonable when you order only one entree, but as a whole, it’s rather expensive. Most of the entrees are $25 plus, which is certainly expensive in my book. But because of the sharing and the large portions, it ends up being just fine.

J has wanted to go to Audrey Claire for a long time. He’d actually been talking about it since last summer. For whatever reason, it just never happened. When we got together with P and E for dinner on Saturday, I suggested it as a nice and local option. They agreed! Off we went. We ate super early, so it wasn’t too tough getting a table.

E got the pork chops as her entree. A giant chop with grilled apples, served with asparagus and mashed potatoes. She liked it, and she couldn’t finish it. Lightweight.

On this fine Columbus Day of 2008 (which just happened to be the day with the highest Dow surge ever, after its ginormous drop) we finally got to go to Sabrina’s for brunch. Every time we decide to get brunch on a weekend, we drive right past it because there’s tons of many more patient people waiting to get in. We just could never be bothered. It’s good to be free on weekdays.

Sabrina’s is a pretty darn popular place. On weekends during peak brunch time, don’t even think about it. You’ll be waiting forever. It seems to be an institution. It’s also a BYOB, serving brunch as well as dinner. They have outdoor seating, and we scored a primo spot outside. It’s surprisingly large on the inside. There are seemingly 3 separate dining areas. I had no idea how big it was on the inside. Goes to show just how popular they are.
Egg white turkey bacon fritatta. I’d never actually eaten turkey bacon before, but damn, I liked it. There was also spinch and tomato in this, and the tomato made it a bit runny. I really liked these home fries.

I went with the stuffed caramelized french toast with cream cheese and bananas. Ok, so you can’t tell in this photo, but this thing is huge. I wish you all could see this french toast in its proper scale. My jaw dropped seeing this monstrosity as soon as the server rounded the corner. It’s enough for a small family. This dish is beyond decadent. I love me some challah, and when it’s dipped and fried and stuffed and then topped with maple syrup… Damn. I barely ate the half. And I was trying very hard. As we were eating, more and more people started showing up and the place started filling up. And it was only a monday. Were it not for the waits, I would definitely come by for brunch more often.