the circles of life

I couldn’t help myself…

From the morning we awoke from our slumber

And walking, stepped into the car

There’s more to crave than can ever be craved

More to eat than can ever be eaten

There’s far too much to indulge in here

More to taste than can ever be tasted

if you play your carbs right

I honestly struggled with what to focus on in this blog post. I was blown away with all of the food that I ate at Calandra’s Italian Village in Bloomfield, NJ. The visit to this literal village was definitely unexpected. I never planned and definitely did not expect this delicious of a meal on this particular night. Originally, I was just planning to go with my really good friend and her mom to their dress fitting for her upcoming wedding. I have to say it really was so fun and exciting because they both looked so beautiful in their dresses. I was so caught up in it all that I totally didn’t even think I was hungry.

Then we got into the car…and I was hungry! My friend said we could go to Calandra’s bakery and although I am typically down for bakery visits, I really felt like I needed to eat real food. Who knew that Calandra’s was not only a bakery but an Italian restaurant directly connected to it.

Because it was so late, we had to pick up out baked goods first. The place is HUGE!! I didn’t know where to start. So many displays, so many options. I could have purchased the entire store. and I really wanted to for my dad but I held back.

These are just a few of the displays. The cupcakes looked so amazing and there were so many options. Although the cookie case does technically look “empty”, it was about 9:00 at night which tells me that their cookies are an absolute HIT! I decided to buy a few mini treats. I had a mini vanilla cupcake, mini lemon cupcake, mini raspberry cupcake, an eclair, a cream puff, and a mini fruit tart. All so cute and adorable. The cupcakes were my favorite though. Not too sweet and freshly baked for the perfect fluffy texture. Just the perfect amount of frosting on the top with so much flavor! I want more!

Once finally making a decision and packaging up all of our treats into little white boxes, we headed to the restaurant portion of the building. Which was beautiful by the way. The tables were beautifully set and huge windows lined the walls.

As soon as we sat down this was put on our table…

Oh my God. A whole ramekin filled with grated parmesan cheese- YES! And right next to it…

hibacheap

Hibachi is a great option for food and entertainment all in one place. However, I find that many chain hibachi restaurants are over priced, and well, over played. The places are so crowded and the cooks always seem like they’re in la la land because they’ve done the same thing 60 times in just one night.

A friend and I wanted to have hibachi that was affordable and easy but that wouldn’t compromise any of the flavor. Enter: Sushi House in Bridgewater, NJ. This restaurant is located close to Bridgewater Commons but far enough away from all the fuss. Half of the space is saved for sushi and regular entrees and the other half are the hibachi grills.

The very best part about this place is the price for everything that you get! I was able to get salad with ginger dressing, mushroom soup, shrimp, chicken, noodles, fried rice, vegetables AND ice cream. All of the whopping price of $20.

The soup and the salad seem to be standard. I ate most of the salad and took a few sips of the soup. It’s easy to start eating right away and not save room for all the of the food that is about to be placed on your plate.

Then, we were given fried rice, noodles, and the shrimp appetizer.The fried rice is probably my favorite part. It’s sticky, salty, and absorbs all of the flavors that surround it. Please tell me how many times you’ve paid extra for the delicious hibachi fried rice. Nope, not me! Not here! Not now. The noodles are super delicious too! Just plain fried noodles you can’t beat. Now how often have you gotten noodles AND fried rice?? And then shrimp too! Three perfectly cooked pieces of shrimp that are just as tasty when eaten alone or dipped in the mustard and ginger sauce. I still can’t decide which one in my favorite-but I guess I really don’t have to.