I’m everywhere this summer, it’s the summer Emily travels and it’s a little tiring but I’m getting the most out of it for sure. I’m back in Rochester from that week in Bolton Landing and I’m ready to see some friends. I meet up with Victoria again and she’s agreed to go to the Seneca Park Zoo - August Zoo Brew with me where we drink beer/wine and walk around looking at all the animals. It’s a really great event the Zoo puts on as a fundraiser for specific animals each month and the first time either of us have gone. After a lap and a drink, we decide to go out for dinner and try yet another new place that’s sprung up while I was away in Chicago.
LOCATION: 295 Alexander St. Rochester, NY 14607
I’ve heard of this place being known well for it’s frozen alcoholic slushies which sound amazing to me but I’m driving and have a super low tolerance so after one drink and a lap around the zoo to walk it off I’ve decided to skip out on it this time, instead taking a few sips of Victoria’s drink and getting ready to eat to my heart’s content.
Our waitress tonight is super nice and helpful for our first visit here. Downstairs is the bar area and I’ve been to this place before when it was previously Mex, a Mexican themed restaurant that had killer margaritas back in my RIT days. Now it’s taken on a new shape as an Hawaiian tapas place with amazing alcoholic slushies. There’s a demographic their aiming for and I think they’ve hit it. We head upstairs instead to sit down at a table and while the dining area is pretty large and consists of a few different rooms, we are one of two or three tables eating. I guess everyone else is downstairs getting ready to drink.
Victoria is great and we go family style which is what this place is kind of known for with their tapas. I love trying a bunch of different dishes so tapas is like home to me and I’m super pumped by these Hawaiian inspired dishes. We order Mauna Pua which are Barbecue char sui pork in a sweet bun, Larb - a seasoned ground pork appetizer with lime and fresh herbs over lettuce, and Tofu Jap Chae which is a sweet and savory Korean noodle dish with spinach, mushroom, onion, red pepper, and carrot.
This asian blend speaks to us and we get super pumped to try it all and everything ends up being super amazing. Nothing is terribly out of left field and I feel like I’ve had these dishes before. The price range is great for the amount of food we’re getting and it’s actually really great bar food as well that soaks up alcohol and is super quick to make. We clear off a lot and end up taking a couple small boxes home with us. The Larb is plentiful and I wish it came with a couple more pieces of lettuce to eat it with but that’s easily fixed at home. The Mauna Pua is well balanced but I love those buns plain so I’m not hard to please and the Jap Chae is a great addition to round out or meal. I’d for sure some back again and enjoy the experience a lot, but maybe not on a Friday Night when the bars are about the get busy and parking get trickier with all the college kids coming in. I mean, I used to be one of them.