Apart from the grilled romaine, there was avocado, tomato, red onion, and grilled sweet potato with a raspberry dressing. There was some nice char flavor from the grilled romaine, some acid from the tomato, crunch from the red onion slices, a touch of sweetness from the sweet potato, and creaminess from the avocado. The raspberry dressing was muted, but the ingredients in the salad were exceptional. The char on the lettuce and the pop of the cherry tomato halves made this dish noteworthy. I have now blogged all three salads at Low Desert.
Location: Low Desert, Smoke Tree Village, 1775 E Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: January 26, 2024.
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When a flatbread has portobello mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, cream of parmegiano, truffle oil, and whole garlic cloves, you have to take notice. Both the garlic and the truffle flavors came through in force, and the flatbread was cheesy with umami from the parmesan cheese sauce. It was garnished with chopped parsley. The bread had crispy edges, and it was served on a wooden board. I love a good flatbread, and this vegetarian version was definitely a good one.
Location: Spaghetti Western, 50048 29 Palms Hwy, Morongo Valley, California. Date: January 20, 2024. The menu said this was a rich soybean based broth with organic tofu, green onion, kikurage mushrooms, bamboo shoots, baby spinach, and corn. With this dish I had the choice of spinach noodles, so that's what I chose. I also chose a couple of extras: dried seaweed and spicy umami oil. There was some crunch from the bamboo shoots, the thinly sliced black mushrooms, and the corn kernels. The spinach noodles were toothsome and provided some nice color. I only got one sheet of seaweed, but it was better than nothing. The oil was spicy, but I enjoyed it in my milky white broth (that I think was really smooth miso with some ginger). It was so good that it took me a while to realize that the tofu was missing. When I pointed it out, I got a plate of grilled tofu that was sliced really thin that I added to what was left of my broth. It was a good and interesting bowl of noodle soup.
Location: Torakichi Ramen, 5001 E Ramon Road #2 A, Palm Springs, California. Date: December 30, 2023. There really is a red mountain in Thailand, and I suppose this culinary creation comes close to emulating it. I hadn't really seen this dish on Thai menus before, so once I noticed it I had to get it. It was a delicious combination of onion, chili paste, celery, carrot, and cashews on a bed of chopped lettuce. I chose fried tofu as my protein. It was cut a little fancy, and it was almost crispy on the outside and almost juicy inside. The very flavorful dish had crunch from the celery and the cashew nuts, freshness from the chopped lettuce, and it was flavored with a dark sweet and spicy sauce. I was told I could choose mild or medium spice. I chose medium, and it was spicy enough for me to really enjoy it. The curry was served with a mountain of steamed rice which did turn red when I spooned the sauce over it.
Location: Thai House, 246 S Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: December 19, 2023. On her birthdays, my sister has the tradition of finding a Greek restaurant that serves flaming saganaki, which is a dish made from one of numerous Greek cheeses. In Greece, they melt a slab of cheese in a small saucepan and serve it with fresh lemon juice and pita bread. In the United States, they started flaming it tableside with some sort of alcohol before squeezing on the lemon juice. The place we went to yesterday did a fine flaming job, and there was plenty of spent alcohol and lemon juice to sop up with the pita bread. Saganaki is one of our favorite Greek appetizers.
Location: Koutouki, 73675 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: November 22, 2023. This is actually bowtie pasta in olive oil sauce topped with walnut halves, medjool date halves, diced tomato, garlic, spinach leaves, and crumbled feta cheese. Mario's recently changed hands, and this is a new dish labeled as local (due to the dates). I found it interesting and delicious. The nuts provided crunch and protein, the date halves were sweet and chewy, and the bowtie pasta was also chewy and well cooked. This was a colorful and healthy pasta dish.
Mario's Italian Cafe, 425 S Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, California. Date: November 7, 2023. I love it when I find new items on a menu that I haven't noticed before, and this Greek take on an Italian pasta dish is one of them. This is spaghetti in browned butter with myzithra cheese instead of parmesan. Garlic and onion are optional, but I thought that the generous amount of thin slices of sauteed red onion really brought this dish together. The white grated Greek cheese that covered the dish brought all the umami that parmesan does, plus it's more briny. The pasta was garnished with a couple of very tasty basil leaves, and there were two small pieces of herbed garlic bread on the side. I usually don't eat bread with pasta, but these little morsels were too tasty to leave. The onion was a little al dente for some crunch, and I could taste the garlic but I couldn't see it. This was a carb fest for sure, but that's often what I like.
Location: Nina's, 555 South Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, California. Date: October 28, 2023. As promised, here is the peach salad from the La Quinta Brewing Company, and this one is really good. The peach slices were fresh, though a little under ripe, and it came with mixed greens, candied walnuts, and manchego cheese tossed in a peach vinaigrette and garnished with both black and white sesame seeds. The peach was a little sweet and a bit crispy, there was crunch from the candied walnuts, and just enough manchego to boost flavor and give a hint of creaminess. Flavor wise, peach was definitely the star.
Location: La Quinta Brewing Company, Old Town La Quinta, California. Date: September 2, 2023. These are homemade Indian cheese fritters in chickpea batter that are fried in oil. There were four fritters that came with a tamarind sauce that was sweet and sour, and I also ordered a side of sweet mango chutney which was great with the fritters. The fritters were mostly cheese with a fairly thin layer of batter. While not the best appetizer I've had, it was interesting and loaded with easy to eat protein.
Location: It's Taste of India, 13104 Palm Drive, Desert Hot Springs, California. Date: August 26, 2023. This was chopped romaine and arugula with crumbled feta cheese, candied pears, and candied walnuts. The dressing was champagne vinaigrette. It had sweetness from the pear and sweetness and crunch from the nuts. I wish there had been more feta cheese for more creaminess, but it was an excellent salad. The pear was the key, and I found out that another location of this brewery offers this salad with peach. I'll have to try it.
Location: La Quinta Brewing Co, 74-714 Technology Drive, Palm Desert, California. Date: August 12, 2023 |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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