When’s the last time I ate chinese food in the city not in chinatown? I’m not sure if that’s ever actually happened. Mandarin Palace is a random chinese joint near rittenhouse. And you know what? Their food is damn good.
The crab rangoon. I’ve never had these before, although they’re typically found in menus at chinese joints in america. Who wouldn’t like deep fried cream cheese and crab wrapped in wonton? I love cream cheese. I love crab. I love fried wonton. Put it all together, I say!
General Tso’s chicken… served with egg roll and fried rice.
My chicken with asparagus, fried rice, egg roll. I don’t care how unauthentically chinese this is. I love me some americanized chinese food. Even after the crab rangoon and soup, I ate all of this.
And how can you not love a restaurant who hangs this type of art on their walls?

I’ve been to Sabrina’s in Bella Vista a bunch of times. I thought we could check out the Fairmount one, just for kicks. I knew that it would be crowded, but unfortunately, I didn’t know there was also a 5k that sunday, as well as a parade, or that you could call ahead. These all seemed like noob mistakes. Luckily, things moved quickly, and we didn’t have to wait that long. Once inside, it’s completely packed to the gills, at the tables and at the counter. And it’s all hustle and bustle in there.

M’s full stack of blueberry pancakes. This is an impressive heap of big pancakes. He put forth a valiant effort and pretty much ate it all. I love that there’s a dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon.I went with the huevos rancheros, which is a go-to dish of mine for brunch. It’s hearty, filling, savory, and delicious. The potatoes that came with it were also great. Service was ok, they’re really damn busy here. It can seem a little harried. But as far as solid brunch options go, you can never go with any of the Sabrina’s.

I had just gone to Little Fish not too long ago, but I loved it so much I wanted to try their sunday night 5-course tasting. Here is the menu for that night on the adorable chalkboard. I like this handwriting. It’s slightly unsure what to do with itself. As usual, this place was packed. While waiting for our courses, they came around with complimentary bread. Some of the bread was a bit burnt, surprisingly. I still ate it anyway, just ignoring the burnt crust.

We started with raw tuna with thinly sliced jalapeno, jicama, and watermelon. This tuna was crazy fresh and just melted in my mouth. All the other ingredients worked really well with the tuna, especially the watermelon! Have you ever had jicama? Don’t be afraid. It’s so light!
Next up was a salad with burrata, thick bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Burrata is a fresh soft cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It actually ends up with a slightly sticky texture. I really like mild cheeses like this, so I quite enjoyed this dish.
Next up was the halibut with roasted eggplant, shredded carrot, cucumber, mint, and peanuts. This was a healthy heaping of halibut, perfectly pan-fried. It was so light, flaky, and perfect.
Then we completely switched it up and moved to the gumbo! It was a traditional louisiana style gumbo, with shrimp, andouille, and even okra. This was some good gumbo!
Lastly, dessert was a plum tart with basil sorbet. The tart was crispity with not overly sweet plums. The sorbet was obviously homemade and delicious. It was another fantastic meal here. Every dish worked. Because it was a set meal, everything came out fairly quickly and the service was fast and efficient. I love this place! And the sunday tasting is definitely worth it. Be sure to get a reservation!