Food | 2017 Favorite Food Finds

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

I thought writing this entry would be easy... but as I was (endlessly) scrolling through my photos of food of 2017 I realized... this isn't going to be as easy as I thought.

In my mind 2017 was divided between the last bit of my life in Florida and the beginning bit of my life in Texas; through Ubereats I discovered a lot of food I fell in love with before I left Florida and through DoorDash and adventures with Bubba there's a lot of food I discovered in Texas. But I tried to narrow it down to the foods I would go back to. So while this isn't a complete list of foods I found to be my favs this is a list of foods I loved enough to buy more than twice.

Let's start with what I discovered in Florida:








Teak Neighborhood Grill

The bottom is the Pulled Pork Club with Mashed Potatoes; the Pulled Pork Club had a Guava BBQ sauce that was pretty damn amazing! Not to mention it was on a pretzel bun.

The top is a total repeat order of their Donut Bacon Cheeseburger with Sweet Potato Tots, I'd also get it with their Scalloped Potatoes which was MY FAV.

I've never actually eaten here just ordered through Ubereats but next time I'm in Orlando I'm definitely going to stop by!



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Paddlefish @ Disney Springs

Formally known as Fulton's.

My former roommate and I had lunch at Planet Hollywood and IT SUCKED. It was so awful. So we headed to Paddlefish where we had THOUGHT of eating in the first place. I got a Clam Chowder and Crab Mashed Potatoes to cheer myself up; AND IT DID.

This place is so pretty! The Chowder was perfection and the Mashed Potatoes actually filled me up more than my meal at Planet Hollywood did (AND it didn't make me feel sick after). I can't wait to come back here someday and try some of their other dishes!




Taco Bowls; (bottom) All Star Movies Resort (top) Rosa's Cafe

I've always been a fan of Taco Bowls from like Taco Bell but this one from All Stars Movies Resort when we stayed there for my birthday week had me WEAK. I wanted these ALL WEEK LONG. 
Like I was obsessed with them! Fast forward to when I move to Texas 3 months later.

My boyfriend takes me to this Mexican place called Rosa's. And orders me a Taco Bowl. Not to mention he's already ordered me a Taco Bowl from a place called Taco Cabana. But Rosa's everything had me weak! Their food is so good and so comforting. Not to mention they got that imported Coke, those of you who have tried Coke from other countries know what I'm talking about!


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Oni Ramen

I've tried their Salmon Poke Bowls (which I like and I did repeat purchase but for some reason I couldn't... I don't just... justify placing it on this list), their Ramen and their Gyoza's. 

Their Gyoza's made the list --- especially their pan fried ones. When it comes to their pan fried Gyoza I always have to make 2+ orders or else me and Bubba will destroy them. They're so good and they have just the perfect amount of crisp to them which makes them even better! DO YOU SEE THAT BEAUTIFUL IMAGE UP THERE? We don't even bother dipping them, there isn't time! We just pop them whole in our mouth!

Their Ramen was not our favorite. We only tried it once and once was enough. I'm still on the search for the perfect Ramen in Fort Worth/Dallas and the perfect Udon!


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El Rancho

You know, as someone who was married to a half Mexican for 11 years I feel a little robbed that I knew NOTHING nor was I ever introduced to REAL Mexican food! Though I guess I can't fault him too much since he wasn't either. So sad when people aren't in touch with their cultures, at least in my opinion.

My boyfriend now is half Mexican that has been introducing me to Mexican food left and right since I've moved to Texas and one thing I fell in love with is the Caldo de Res!

Bubba took me to a Mexican grocery store and I tried their tacos since I can't read Spanish and I didn't know what anything was but he's been talking about/trying to get me to try the Caldo forever. And one day I got sick and wanted to soup so he picked some up for me. And it changed my life.

It's like the Filipino Sour Soup without the Sour Soup and Bokchoy but all the same things otherwise. I could literally eat off this soup. Not to mention they give you Spanish Rice to go with it!! YAAAS.
Also the Coconut Juice there is hands down one thing I crave the most since moving to Texas! It reminds me of the Coconut Ice Candy Pops my mom made when we'd go to the Philippines! No joke. This stuff is so good.


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El Pollo Loco

Okay I've only been here once so far but I dream about it!

I went during the summer when they had their Mango Shrimp Taco's and OMG these were good. Not to mention how obsessed I am with their rice and beans. I also got a side of Chicken Noodle Soup and I wasn't a fan of it. Something about it was just... off. 

I'm sad the Mango Shrimp was limited time, I could throw that Shrimp in the rice and beans and top it with that Avocado and eat that forever.


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Shojimoto

So strange there's only ONE Filipino place listed here but I've so far only discovered two and this one is one I keep coming back to because it's so cute and so good and so cozy!

This is my GO TO place for Filipino BBQ! Their Lumpia is good too but it's the Shanghai version! Still I can't rave enough about this place! Also their Coconut and Strawberry ice cream is amazing. My boyfriend LOVES their ice cream! And he actually really liked the Tacino here (but he wasn't impressed with it when we got it at L&L in Plano, go figure). 

Great, now I want Tacino and Filipino BBQ.






Sushi Nekko

I know this makes 8 but oh well, this was a new discovery towards the end of the year for us!
Bubba isn't a sushi fan but he seems to like MOST of the sushi I pick out. We stumbled on this place because I wanted sushi and I was drawn to the name.

I got the "Winter Meets Summer" roll which was topped with Coconut flakes (I don't know if you can see a trend yet, but we really really like Coconut around here... even Sophie likes Coconut ice cream). And he really liked it! It was a nice balance of savory and sweet. And it's not raw so he had nothing to worry about lol! It was really good, we destroyed it pretty quickly.

We also go Bento Boxes and their Teriyaki sauce mixed with their Gyoza tasted so much like my favorite place back homed called Little Mad Fish. It was heavenly! I'm definitely going back there for their Gyoza and Teriyaki sauce but I'm also up to try their Udon!

S N A C K S

I decided to separate the two cause there was just too many.

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1102 Bubbles & Bites

This is what started my obsession with Coconut Milktea and Flan. Although the one pictured here is Tiramisu Milktea with a Black Tea base and Flan. I love the presentation they have at this place, everything is always so cute!

My boyfriend got the Blue Ocean Italian Soda with Mochi at the bottom. This was really good too! The Mochi didn't add too much to it overall but it was fun to fish out from the bottom. 


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Five Guys

Five Guys Banana Caramel Shake is MY JAM. There is just something so  good and so comforting about this. And it was amazing to sip on while walking through my usual Target plaza when I lived in Florida. Sadly I haven't gone to a Five Guys since moving to TX (and there's one just down the street from me) but when it gets warmer I'm definitely going to pick another one up!






McDonald's

No, I didn't discover McDonald's in 2017 but I did discover my love with their Frappe's! I can't decide if I loved Caramel or Chocolate Chip more... probably Chocolate Chip. These are so fun to drink and again were really refreshing on a hot Florida summer day!

Also, I'd always order mine with extra Caramel sauce or extra Chocolate sauce. Really changes things!





Amorette's Patisserie

The first image is a single cake I picked up called Dancing with Pavlova it has Raspberry Pate de Fruit (which is one of my favorite things ever) and Chantilly! It was super moist and so light and airy!

The image on the right is a birthday cake my boyfriend got me which was the Minnie Character Cake which was a Lemon Chiffon cake (chiffon cake is my fav) with White Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Pate de Fruit. It also had these crispy balls in the middle that were SO GOOD. This cake was AMAZING but it was really sweet. Still, flipping amazing and I'm so glad I got to try it!


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Starbucks

I discovered the highly talked about Pink Drink in 2017.

The Strawberry Refresher has always been my jam but I never thought replacing the water with Coconut Milk would really make a difference. YET IT DOES. This is now my GO TO drink at Starbucks when I don't want coffee.

And it was especially nice to sip on in Magic Kingdom on a hot April afternoon! I miss these days and this view so so much!


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Sugarfina

I've always loved Sugarfina! Ever since I bought myself a Bento Box of theirs for Christmas in 2013.
I love they have little tester packs as well and I fell in love with these Ice Cream Cone gummies (as well as the Apple Frog ones too)! I can't tell if these are all actually different flavors but I do know that these are so fun to snack on. Their texture is somewhere between a marshmallow and a gummy and the flavor just punches you right in the mouth!

~*~

I've discovered some pretty amazing eats in 2017, I'm so excited to see what I'll discover in 2018!
I want to incorporate more food posts here like I use to but also I'll be posting more food reviews on my food blog http://herloverfood.wordpress.com (since I keep getting locked out of my actual domain) and you can follow my food Instagram @herloveforfood!

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