January 18, 2009

Today was Steph's birthday so we had a fun-filled day of shopping, eating and playing.

First we went to Old Navy in Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach. I'm not an Old Navy fan, but Steph loves it so I got her a $50 gift card to there. She loves the clearance racks, so she can get quite a bit for $50.

Next we went to P.F. Chang’s China Bistro for an early dinner; and it's a good thing. It was already packed when we got there and only got more crowded as our dining experience went on. They said it's always that packed, and Friday's apparently are the worst (note to self for the future). I love the wide variety of vegetarian options and how beautiful the place settings are that they use to serve the various dishes and sauces. As appetizers, we ordered steamed Vegetable Dumplings ($5.50), Harvest Spring Rolls, which are fried, not fresh (2 for $3.50) and Salt and Pepper Calamari ($7.00) - for Steph, NOT me, blech. There was also the option of crispy green beans as an appetizer, but I figured we ordered enough fried stuff. We adored every part of our appetizers and were so excited to dive in to the main course. For dinner, Steph ordered the Mu Shu Chicken ($11.00), which we discovered was the Chinese classic served with hoisin sauce and thin pancakes , AKA rice tortillas and are to be eaten like fajitas. She absolutely loved it, even though she was apprehensive at first, considering she usually eats a standard lemon or sweet n sour chicken whenever we eat Asian food. I ordered Chang's Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps ($7.50) as my main entree, even though it's actually on the Starters menu. It's a favorite among most P.F. Chang's regulars and it was what I remembered best from my last P.F. Chang's experience, more than 10 years ago. I have to say, I wasn't as impressed with the lettuce wraps this time around. The lettuce leaves they gave me were so small, I basically just used them as a scoop for the filling. Though I will say, the waiter must have noticed this, because he brought another plate of larger leaves after I was about half way through. The filling is the part I was most disappointed by - it had a fish smell that made me wonder if they used fish oil in the sauce. I was not thrilled, but took the last bit home as leftovers, thinking it might just have tasted funny the first time around. Anyway, our total meal was $40.61 so with tip we got out of there for $48.00.

For those vegetarians out there, besides the items mentioned above, here's a list of some of the other vegetarian dishes available.

• Buddha's Feast: Veggies with five-spiced tofu-served steamed or stir-fried $7.50
• Coconut Curry Vegetables: Stir-fried mixed vegetables, crispy silken tofu and peanuts in a vegetarian coconut curry sauce $8.00
• Ma Po Tofu: Sichuan's famous dish of crispy silken tofu in a vegetarian sauce with steamed broccoli $8.00
• Stir-Fried Eggplant: Tossed with scallions in a savory chili pepper sauce $7.00
• Vegetable Chow Fun: Soft, wide rice noodles and slivered vegetables in a vegetarian sauce $8.00

We were planning to go play pool after dinner, then come back to the same Town Center area and go to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. But knowing we'd be playing pool, and knew we'd be smoking in the billiard hall (we smoke on occasion), we didn't want to ruin the taste of dessert with nasty cigarette smoke, so we walked across the street right after dinner to get dessert. We had a heck of time deciding which desserts we were going to get. We've been on a healthy diet since January 5th, so this was a real treat for us. I ended up getting the Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake and Steph got the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake. Oh. My. God. Ok, no dessert should cost $6.95 a slice, but let me tell you. Worth every single penny. By far, the best place to go for dessert. We both got waters and coffees as well, and the real cream they served with the coffee made it even more delicious. Our total was an astounding $21.88 so with tip the total was $25.00. Yes, $25 for dessert for two. But totally and completely worth it. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Oh and a hint to those going just for dessert. Don't wait to be seated...figure out which cake you want to order, then go sit at one of the high-top tables in the lounge/bar area. A server will come over and take your order and you won't have to wait for 45 minutes to an hour to enjoy your dessert! And it's no different really than a table in the restaurant. Besides do you really want people seeing the glutony of The Cheesecake Factory desserts of which you are partaking?

After dessert, we tried to find a cigar shop open so Steph could get a nice cigar for her birthday, but can you believe none were open on Sundays? So instead, we stopped by the America Asian Food Market on Great Neck Road to pick up some non-disposable chopsticks to use at home. Then we headed to Q Masters Billiards to play pool. They charge $5 per person per hour and we played for about an hour and fifteen minutes so our total was $12. The environment was really nice, and although it was smokey-smelling, it didn't seem like it was very smokey-looking, if that makes sense. We smoked while we were there. We quit in July 2007, but every so often, we'll still have a few cigarettes when we've gone out or something. While we were there, we both had an iced tea to drink ($3.23) and I was so thrilled that the iced tea was phenomenal, fresh brewed by the glass. We had a great time!