Takumi

We have found the best sushi in Albuquerque. Chef Jose, at Takumi makes the most amazing sushi. It looks and tastes absolutely amazing. We have not yet been disappointed! Highly recommend. The chirashi is amazing. We also tried the octopus salad, which was a special and it was the best octopus ever! 

Magokoro

We went to Magokoro last week for dinner, and it was simply amazing and perfect. So yummy!
We got the tuna soba, tonkatsu, and the karamiso (spicy leeks on the side). It was just perfect. It was so good, in fact, that the children, who shared the tonkatsu ate all of it as well!
The tuna soba, we always ask for some wasabi on the side and this time the tuna was just so melt-in-your-mouth good!
The karamiso was also great. We get the spicy leeks on the side because sometimes they are quite spicy! But still always so good!!!
This place is really amazing. Highly recommend.

Magokoro - http://magokoroabq.com/

Karamiso Rmaen (spicy leeks on the side - not pictured) 

Tuna Soba

Tonkatsu Ramen

Valentines Day - Ruth's Chris

This is probably the first Valentines Day that we have actually gone out on Valentines Day. It so worked out that Alona's parents could watch the children on that day and so, we decided to explore the Ruth's Chris that recently opened about 5 minutes away from our house. First, Alona and Kaspian and Astrid made cupcakes in the morning to celebrate Valentines Day. Kaspian was staying home from school due to still not feeling too great with strep. He requested that the cupcakes be red. (To him they are still red - we did put red gel food coloring in the frosting after all!) It was just a Krusteaz cake mix for the cupcakes and simple buttercream frosting. Alona's getting much better at piping decorations and much faster at it too! The cupcakes turned out moist and delicious..even though there is something wrong with our red gel food coloring, we have the Wilton's food coloring and even though it hasn't been too long since we bought them it appears the red color has sort of dried out. The other colors still seem more "gelly".

Anyways, on to our Ruth's Chris dinner. We decided to try the 3 course dinner as it allowed for a greater sampling and having never been there before (Nick has gone, but it has been over ten years, so let's not count it!) we wanted to try the most things. We did order an appetizer of the calamari. Nick loved it, and Alona thought it was good, although a little too sweet for her tastes. And honestly...at $18, we have tried better calamari - but this was all for the experience.

Calamari

Next, Alona decided for the Clam Chowder which was unlike any clam chowder we have ever tried. It was more soup-y or bisque-y than clam chowder. Nick went for the Farmers salad...which we have agreed was the best thing we tried there.

Clam Chowder

Farmers Salad

Next, Alona opted for the Filet and Shrimp, while Nick decided on just the Filet Mignon. We chose fingerling potatoes and mashed potatoes for our sides. The sides were... sad. We make far better mashed potatoes. They almost tasted like they came out of a box. And for the fingerling potatoes - they were pretty much impossible to eat as they were soaked in oil. However, the fried onions were a really great touch. The steaks were served on super hot plates and we were warned they were 500F plates..we are a bit skeptical on that account, but they were sizzling. The cuts of meat were amazing. They were cooked just as we ordered...but really, they were not the best we've had, they really lacked a sauce to accompany them. In comparison, Vernon's Steakhouse has a far superior steak.

Filet with shrimp

Filet Mignon

Fingerling Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

Finally, for the desert, we did not get to pick it was an apple pie cheesecake tart and some chocolate ganache with cranberries and almonds. It was really nothing spectacular but overall pretty good.

We really enjoyed the experience of going out on Valentines Day, but we probably will not be back to this place. 

Date Night! (Rancher's Club)

While Kaspian was away with his grandparents last week, we asked "Kuncle" to watch Astrid so we could go to a date night. We found a groupon for Rancher's Club. We have never been there and were excited to try someplace new. We got to try two drinks, an appetizer, two soups or salads, two entrees, and a dessert.
Here is the restaurant website: http://www.theranchersclubofnm.com/
The meal took about two hours. The restaurant was not very busy on a Thursday night and the restaurant was fairly quiet. The ambiance was pleasant with a dimmer room and ranch style decorations such as antler chandeliers. There were also deer heads around and a bison head mounted over the fireplace.
For our drinks, we ordered a lemon raspberry martini and a chardonnay.
The chardonnay was good. The lemon raspberry martini was...mostly gin. Although the description said it came with fresh raspberries, it in fact appeared to be mostly just a glass of gin.
For our appetizer, we chose tuna and beef tartare. It was...melt in your mouth delicious. The appetizer was the best thing we had there.

tuna and beef tartare

 For the next course, Alona had the Rancher's salad and Nick tried the soup of the day. The rancher's salad was good, although on the sweet side. The beet pieces were very sweet. The bacon bits were delicious, and salty; the perfect bite was one that had lettuce, beets and bacon in it. The soup of the day was chicken orzo soup with vegetables. It was a very good chicken noodle soup, with the noodles being substituted with orzo.

Rancher's salad

Chicken Orzo soup

 The groupon included all items on the menu except Wagyu beef. So, Alona had the Lobster tail (16oz!) with Mashed potatoes and broccoli. Nick had the Hunter's Mixed grill which included boar sausage, elk and venison.
The lobster was very very good, although not the best we've had. The sheer size of the lobster tail was amazing and it tasted good, but we prefer ours to be cooked a little bit more, so that it is easy to cut and is not as "tough" or chewy as some of the lesser cooked lobsters. The potatoes and broccoli were great accompaniments.
Nick ordered his plate medium well. However, the venison and elk were bloody all the way through. They were seared, but the insides were completely raw. It was actually to the point where we took it home and fried it to cook it all the way through. Doing that, really helped and the meat tasted very good. Nick's dish came with asparagus and potatoes. They were nothing spectacular but complemented the dish well. The asparagus seemed like it was steamed then grilled, and tasted close to what we do at home.

16 oz lobster with mashed potatoes and broccoli

Hunter's Mixed Grill

 Lastly, for dessert, we ordered creme brulee. This was also very good with sugar perfectly caramelized on top. We were pleased to notice that the creme brulee we make is as smooth, and perhaps even smoother than this one. We think our creme brulee can match this one. We still need to work on the sugar caramelaziation though.

Creme Brulee

Overall, this was a really great meal, but we are glad we had a groupon for it as we don't think it would have been worth it for us otherwise. We are very happy to have tried this and it was a wonderful date night experience. For those looking for ambiance and unique dishes that most places don't have this is a great place, but if you prefer exceptional food we would recommend looking elsewhere.