Over the summer, our local mall, The Princeton MarketFair, shut down their food court to bring in more sit-down eateries, and we were a little wary of what would come. That changed when we found out one of the new places would be Bobby Flay's Burger Palace.There are only 11 of these currently, all in the Mid-Atlantic region. Ours opened in late August, and we've already gone there 3 times. It's a good mid-price, slower-than-fast-food, faster-than-sit-down kind of place. The decor is tongue-in-cheek retro-chic with long serpentine bar seating and communal tables with faux wood finish.
The menu is pretty simple - 10 varieties of burger topping combos which you can get on Angus beef, ground turkey, or chicken breast; two types of grilled cheese; a regular salad, a chopped salad, or a salad with any of the burger varieties on top; fries, sweet potato fries, or onion rings; and 13 flavors of milkshake (include 3 spiked shakes). Redneckhunter was happy to see a Black and White milkshake actually listed on the menu. A lot of times he has to explain to people what goes into black and white -- vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup or hot fudge. He had to admit that Bobby made a good one. One of these times I'm going to have order their dark chocolate shake.
So in our various visits, we've tried a few different things. Well, I have, at least. Redneckhunter has stuck with the LA Burger -- avocado relish, watercress, cheddar cheese, and tomato.
I've tried that one, as well as the Napa Valley with fresh goat cheese, watercress, and Meyer lemon honey mustard, and the Dallas as a turkey burger, which was spice crusted, with coleslaw, Monterey Jack, BBQ sauce and pickles.
The beef burgers have always come out a perfect medium rare, the meat flavorful, the buns soft and fresh. All in all, a mighty tasty burger.I liked my turkey burger - I think the spicier Dallas was a good combo for it -- though I still don't think it beats my favorite turkey burger, which is from Big Nick's Burger Joint on the Upper West Side.
The only two things that have just been so-so are the sweet potato fries (we haven't tried the regular fries or onion rings yet) , and Bobby's sauces (a selection of which are left on the table -- jalapeno, chipotle ketchup, a signature burger sauce -- and a honey mustard horseradish for the fries). Nothing really was better than just plain old ketchup.
The only uplifting part of Meredith's story line this week was when she successfully finished her surgery and had her interns join her in a very awkward 30 second dance party.
The team tries to revive him, but no amount of shocks from the paddles do the trick. Just like that, Cristina loses the one person who was keeping her sane.
At the close of the hour, Jackson admits to April that he doesn't see her as just a booty call, in fact, he really likes her and he has no idea how to handle it. I kept waiting for him to sheepishly ask, "Will you be my girlfriend?" I like the idea of the two of them together.
And while we're talking about helping, Bailey was the one to finally crack the nut with Arizona. Through some mild scheming, Bailey gets Arizona back at the hospital and passionate about cases again. Finally! Admittedly, it was hard to watch Arizona try to walk across her apartment on her prosthetic leg, stumble, fall and break that red vase.
Karev had a small role tonight, mostly surrounding his desire to buy Meredith's old house. I don't know why, but this upset me! How can she sell that house? I know they have the dream house in the woods now, but that house is where our Grey's family grew up.
This hour Bailey is taking calls from Ben who is dreaming of a Christmas themed wedding. There are some very cute exchanges between her and the Chief and her and Cristina as she tries to come around to the idea.
Bailey's patient this week was a man in need of a liver transplant. During the surgery his body began to reject the new organ. Post-surgery Bailey breaks the news to her patient and his partner that he only has one week to live. The intern begins to cry. Then I begin to cry. And of course, Grey's plays this music that makes you feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest.
Onto Owen and Cristina. At the start of the episode Owen says to her, "We want different things. We don't work. Nothing has changed." Ouch. Later on Cristina admits to Meredith that she wants Owen back. Remember when they first kissed over the vent? I think it could be like that again.
The biggest story line of the night was that Dr. Kepner thought she was pregnant. She was four days late and assumed she must be. In the heat of their anticipation, Jackson proclaims, "I'm in! Let's do this. Let's get married, raise this kid and be awesome parents." Right after he said that I thought to myself, "Will he take that all back when he finds out she's not pregnant?" Turns out I was right about that reaction, but not the person who had it. Dr. Kepner wound up being the person relieved and vocal about it.
This hour we learned Bart bought 12 horses from a Sheik in Dubai. The Sheik's daughter Iman races the horses and apparently has known Bart a long time. In fact, she calls him "Uncle." After a heart to heart with Blair about Bart and Chuck, Iman approaches Chuck at the Empire to tell him she knows Bart lied about the horses. She also reveals that her father was in the oil business and if Bart had done business with him in the states, it would break federal law. Interesting!
Bart was quite sneaky this episode. He followed Lily and Chuck, showed up at the track, appeared at the stables with Iman, has something to do with the new line of credit for "The Spectator" and demanded Lily stop seeing Chuck if she wants to stay married to him. So bossy!
Charlie's crush and center of his adolescent universe is Sam, played by "Harry Potter" phenom Emma Watson. Though a friend who also saw the movie this weekend said, "She was way too pretty for this part," I actually disagree. I think we were watching her through Charlie's eyes and through his lens, she was perfect. Though I will say, her British accent did sneak in there from time to time.
Actress Mae Whitman, best known for her role as Amber Holt on NBC's "Parenthood," plays one of Sam's friends, Mary Elizabeth. She asks Charlie to the Sadie Hawkins dance and then tricks him into becoming her boyfriend. That might be my favorite scene in the movie. Whitman was a delight as the punk rock Buddhist who lives for "Rocky Horror Picture Show."
For me, the star of the entire movie was Ezra Miller, who plays Patrick. Patrick is Sam's step brother. He also happens to be gay and hiding his relationship with the quarterback on the football team. Patrick is larger than life with his gregarious nature, constant comedy show and ability to make any misfit feel welcome. I would love to see Ezra Miller receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Golden Globes or the Oscars.
I also want to give a nod to the set designers who did a fantastic job re-creating the high school world I remember from the book. I thought their interpretation of Sam's bedroom was total genius. The twinkle lights above the bed, the plush pink bedding, the antique mirrors, the rock posters - it was exact.
What I did not remember from the book was that Charlie had been sexually abused by his aunt Helen. I had zero recollection of that at all and when it came to light in the movie I was shocked. I was even more taken aback because Aunt Helen is played by Melanie Lynskey who always plays the chubby sidekick in romantic comedy movies. I just could't picture someone so traditionally sweet doing something so unthinkable. Maybe that was the point?
George's Place 
I couldn't wait to see how the movie would reveal that Jacob had imprinted on Renesme. That scene was even better than I could have hoped, with Bella and Jacob squaring off outside the Cullen house.
The Cullens and their extended vampire family played a major role in this second installment. I loved the two British punk rocker vampires (the one who fell for the blond vamp and the one who didn't even want to be there), played by Lee Pace and John Edward Lee respectively. I also adored the character of Benjamin, who had the ability to play with the elements. Does anyone remember if that character was in the book? Or was he added to the screenplay as a vehicle for his move during the battle scene? I can't remember!
For me, the highlight of the entire movie was the battle scene. In the book, the entire story builds up to the arrival of the Volturi and after hundreds of pages of anticipation, it results in nothing. Though in the movie the battle scene wound up being one of Alice's visions, it was amazing to see! I absolutely loved it. I had my hand over my mouth the entire time, totally scared and whimpering when I thought both Carlisle and Jasper had been killed. They got me good!
There were four of us around the table and we each received a menu and Yuga branded chopsticks. Confession: I don't know how to eat with chopsticks. I've embarrassed myself on many a date pretending that I do, but clearly the jig is up.
To get in the spirit of the evening my dad ordered a Kirin Ichiban beer. You can see him in the photo below being very impatient as I photographed his libation. He really wanted that beer.
Since I was in town for a feast themed weekend, we decided to start it off right and order half of the appetizers on the menu. Our first dish was baby green beans tossed in roasted sesame sauce and garnished with white and black sesame seeds.
The dish was served cold and had the perfect amount of sesame flavor both from the sauce and the crunch from the seeds.
We also ordered the vegetarian spring rolls which were served in rice paper as opposed to the traditional crispy shell. The rolls were stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, avocado, fried tofu, rice noodles and fresh herbs. The rolls arrived on a sea of black bean sauce.
The final plate of round one was the roasted eggplant and tofu salad. No one particularly liked this dish except for my father, so we subtly pushed the dish towards his corner of the table.
For dinner we decided to pick two carnivore dishes and two vegetarian dishes. Though my grandmother is still in complete denial that I don't eat meat, my parents are very accommodating.
Next to arrive were the lemon black bean prawns, which was jumbo shrimp served over chopped asparagus. Our family friend picked out this dish and he said, "The shrimp were cooked very well. They were tasty, but not too spicy and I loved the asparagus."
Then came the ma po tofu, a dish of silken tofu, mushrooms, snow peas and spinach in a spicy bean sauce. I loved the heat in the sauce and the whole dish tasted amazing spooned over brown rice.
Now, I have saved the best dish for last. Our fourth entree choice was the miso ramen. Before this dinner, my only experience with ramen was the kind you buy in bulk in the supermarket and make in your college dorm room in a hot pot.
These noodles were miles long! Our waiter brought us a huge ladle to serve the ramen from the large bowl into personal bowls and you had to lift the ladle at least a solid foot above the bowl to get to the end of even one noodle.
After this incredible Japanese feast, I took a surprise out from my bag and placed it in the center of the table. The night before flying to Miami I picked up my November CSC from EHChocolatier. Rather than devour it myself (as I did with my October share), I decided not to open it and save it for tonight's dinner.
Dinner at Yuga was the perfect way to start my long weekend in Miami. I am now officially on a quest to find new, amazing, ramen places.