A Taste of Hillcrest

I was looking through my Twitter feed on Friday morning, and noticed that the Taste of Hillcrest event was this the next day! I've been wanting to go to one of these tasting events forever, so I hurriedly bought tickets. The deal was a tasting at 50 Hillcrest restaurants, many of which I've been very curious about. The whole deal started at noon and went until 4:00. It wasn't a guided thing -- which was nice, I like to move at my own pace. We started at the far end of University Avenue, and worked our way back to the center of Hillcrest, then wound up back on University. Lots of walking!!!

I won't bore you with details of every tasting that we did -- that would take way too long, and I'm not sure how entertaining it would be to hear of every bite. So I'll just give you some highlights.

Best New Place that I Found: Amarin Thai -- Out of the way, I was equally impressed by the flavors of the food and beautiful presentation of the food. Yummy shrimp with a mango salsa and scrumptious Pad Thai.

Best overall experience: Bombay Indian -- This place gave us the full experience. We were led to the back room by costumed servers, and given a buffet of Indian classics, samosas, and refreshing fruit drink. And bonus that they gave me a fake bindi to wear the rest of the day!

Best Presentation: Eden -- I was very enticed by the pork loin and samosa presented on a bed of greens, freshly prepared. Colorful and creative, the food tasted as good as it looked. I really want to try this place for dinner!

Baja Betty's and Gossip Grill tied for most fun. Featuring a small drink and appetizers (they are bars), a fun prop was given, as well as super friendly attitude. It's no wonder that these two bars are so successful. Check out the moustache pics that we took while at the Grill!

Looking forward to a Taste of Adams Avenue in July!