Once Upon A Time, In a Land Not Far Away..

… a few friends and I took a whirlwind tour of some fine Asian restaurants.  There was spice, heat, tattoos, sake and a bus tour from Loveland. All the makings of a fairytale evening.

Things got underway when we all decided we needed Korean food. This is  typical craving, one that could easily be met by visiting the always delicious, Sung Korean bistro. After quickly looking at the menu, all of us ordered the same thing, the DOLSOT BIBIMBAB Spinach or watercress, rice, bean sprout, carrot, radish and lettuce topped with an egg sunny side up with your choice of beef, chicken, pork, or tofu. Served in heated hot stone bowl with Go-chu-jang (Korean spicy chili bean paste sauce) .

We each ordered a different protein: beef, chicken, seafood and then tofu for me.

While feasting on the side dishes of kimchee and peppers, the lovely server whipped the BIBIMBAB into a happy frenzy with the hot chili paste table-side, so that everything became spicy and then slightly crunchy from the hot stone cooking the rice. This is a pleasure to dine upon. After finishing our meals and saying our farewells, two friends continued in the quest for Asian foods and drinks in the city.

We alit at Quan Hapa, a new  Asian Fusion joint. While enjoying a glass of non-Asian wine, we spied three men eating what looked like a pizza with a fried egg. Never one to turn down an egg on something we decided to try one ourselves. During this perusal, we met Matt Cranert, the charming and heavily tattooed owner/chef. After chatting with him for a while, he promised to bring us a delicious one of those “pizza things”as we called it. It is actually called  an okonomiyaki (YKOS, making you smarter).

This did not disappoint. More of a scallion pancake with bacon, spicy mayo and the fabulous fried egg; it was amazingly savory with the right amount of crunch from the scallions and bacon.

After our “pizza thing” we were still in the mood to wander, so we headed over to KAZE, yet another fantastic Asian restaurant in the neighborhood. On the way, we ran into a busload of sales reps from a local medical company returning from a dinner at KAZE. They were happy drunk  and chatty, and invited us onto their “party” bus for the jaunt back to Loveland. As much as I love a bus ride on 71 North, we declined.

Once settled in Kaze’s ambient bar, we opted for a few glasses of warm sake. The bar was cozy and the sake was good.

And they all drank happily ever after.

The End. 

Been to any good Asian restaurants lately? Been to three in one night? Do you like sake? 

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