I was getting a little bit of the afternoon doldrums so I made an executive decision to go to happy hour at Sampan. You know what actually truly triggered it? Twitter, yeah, seriously. Sampan actually tweeted that it was going to be happy hour soon and I totally fell for it. It’s cool though, because their happy hour is totally happiness-inducing. We sat at the kitchen bar because as you know, I love seeing my food being cooked.
The vietnamese spring roll with shrimp, pork, and mushrooms. Delightful.
The duck egg rolls with cucumber, scallion, and lime. These were chock full of hot ass duck. When I say hot, I mean hot, some fell on my chin and burned me. I didn’t mind, they were great.
The adorable kobe slider wtih soy and swiss cheese.
The kobe hot dog, sans mustard. I love that they cut it into thirds for you and that the bun is also toasted.
The filet satay with apricot soy, and mirin and the korean bbq beef satay with short rib, kimchi, and ginger. Excellent, as usual.

Surprisingly, my favorite dish of the day was the crispy brussel sprouts with fish sauce, pulled rice, and chilli. These were so unbelievably awesome! Slightly crunchy, super savory, just great. Whoever does not like brussel sprouts needs to try these!
Lastly, here’s the kim chee fried rice with shrimp, shallot, and sunny side egg. This was a giant bowl of food. It wasn’t quite spicy or kimchi enough for me, and the shrimp just seemed unnecessary, but it’s still a decent dish. These little popcorn shrimp are fairly tasteless and benign anyway, so I didn’t see the point of them. As usual, this was so much fun. It’s beyond a good deal and it’s cool to get to try so many different dishes. We ordered way too much food, which can be easy to do here with these small dishes. It sounds like since they’re so small it wouldn’t add up to much, but damn, we were beyond stuffed! I love the happy hour here!

We somehow lucked out and snagged an outside table at Barbuzzo at the last minute. It was a perfect night for outdoor dining. Since it was the night before memorial day, it wasn’t all that crazy. I had actually eaten a big dinner already so I was just here to hang out and have a drink… and perhaps get some dessert.
My sanguinello! It was tasty, but not very strong. Usually, I feel it within a sip or two of any drink. With this, I did not feel it at all. Oh well, it was still enjoyable.
The chicken liver and foie gras mousse, with brandied cherry, pistachio salt, and radish sprouts. It’s served with some bread and a shredded beet salad. So good! M thought it was pretty darn good. Not as good as homemade stuff she’s had before from a french person, but still up there.
I recommended that M order the fideua, since I’d tried it before and loved it. Here it is with smoked chourico sausage, calamari, shrimp, mussels, greens, roasted shrimp noodles, and aioli. It’s still great. And it’s a lot bigger than I remember it being. It’s a pretty huge serving considering this is a small plates place.
So even if I wasn’t hungry, I wasn’t going to be at Barbuzzo and not get the salted caramel budino. Yeah, it’s still fantastically awesome. M hadn’t had it before and she was so surprised at how good it was! She wasn’t even hungry at this point but she helped me devour it. You can’t help but devour this dessert!

Oh Barbuzzo, how’d you end up being so awesome? E and I fell in love with you so quickly, and now we can’t help but sing your culinary praises. You’re attractive, too, and so romantic with your dim lights and your candles. You had me at your adorable brick walls.
You call it pig popcorn but we call it delicious. They may be pork rinds but they’re all crunchy goodness, dusted with apple cider vinegar powder, and dipped in aioli.
And how did you know I loved beets so much? I especially love your yellow beets. And the tuscan kale with the pistachio pesto? Dreamy, just dreamy.
But then you just wouldn’t stop with your crazy good sheep’s milk ricotta. How can it be so thick and creamy? And how come the bread is so crusty and perfect? It’s so difficult not to like you.
Just when we thought we’d had enough, you had to bring us the fideua. You gave us sauage, calamari, shrimp, mussels, and noodles, and every bite was stupendous. We just couldn’t get enough. And it was so much that we got to take some home for later.
And then there was the spanish grilled octopus. How can you possibly make octopus be so melt-in-your-mouth? I didn’t think it was even possible.
But you sealed the deal with the salted caramel budino. What the hell is a budino? I don’t freakin know, but if it tastes like this, then please, shoot it directly into my veins. I can’t get enough of this. And I can’t get enough of you, Barbuzzo. I can’t wait to see you again.