Friday Fun at Ceruleans

When we cleaned out the hubby's "office" in the basement last week we found over $25 in change. He would clean out his pockets at night and any change went on the night stand. When the night stand area became out of control somewhat messy, he would throw it all in a box or bag and take it downstairs to his "office". There were a few bags and boxes scattered about and the change total kept mounting.

Since the cash was a bonus, we decided to use it and splurge on lunch at Cerulean, the really nice restaurant where our daughter works as a server.

And today was the day since the daughter was available to go with us, and explain the intricacies of their menu. This is not a hamburger joint, people. There's no form of ground meat of any kind anywhere on the menu. Their lunch (which is very different from their dinner) menu lists a variety of bento boxes, sushi, and some unusual soups and desserts.

So what did we get for our $25 you wonder?

Hubby ordered one of the bento boxes that comes with an entree and three sides. He chose pork tenderloin with cassia apple chutney for his entree and, in keeping with a sorta sweet theme, he picked the citrus mesclun salad, broccolini salad, and asian pear salad as sides.

See what I mean about needing help deciphering the menu?

And I had been wanting to try one of their new summer soups ever since the daughter told me about them. It was really hard to choose between the creamy asparagus with shitake mushrooms and the strawberry gazpacho, but I ultimately went with the asparagus. And it was good, oh yes, it was!

The daughter ordered some edamame for us to share at the start of the meal and they are quite tasty. And she also shared her sushi: the alligator and caterpillar rolls. No actual alligator or caterpillar involved, just what they are called. [For sake of full disclosure, she paid for her own, so keep that in mind. The $25 didn't stretch this far!]

I ordered only soup, knowing the others would share AND because I wanted dessert. The daughter recommended the Toffee Tuiles (tiny waffle shaped cookies made with pecans and shaped like little baskets) filled with raspberry gelato, topped with candied almonds, sitting on a bed of berry coolis. She was SO RIGHT that we'd like them. I can't even tell you how much I heart these little desserts. And of course, the presentation was fabulous, dah-ling, fabulous!

We are a family of foodies, and we're not ashamed to admit it. Unfortunately we have caviar tastes on a liverwurst budget. So today was a real treat :-) And any chance we have to hang out with one of our kids is great, too!