Best eating week!

This week I got to eat at a Japanese Steak House and a Creole restaurant. Two of my favorite types of food. I feel completely spoiled.

For Valentines day we went out with a group of friends to Hisui in Vacaville to celebrate a birthday. It was a crowded and crazy night and our group ended up waiting 1.5 hours for a table even though reservations had been placed over 2 weeks ago. They were so unorganized that they had a ton of people milling around in their lobby complaining about reservations, and where they were in line, etc. Sheer pandemonium. However, the food was fair in the end. I mean after waiting that long we were all starving and anything would have been mana from heaven. In anycase, we got the standard japanese steakhouse fare. I got the shrimp and steak combo that came with soup, salad, veggies, fried rice. It is all cooked in front of you in a sort of show format. All very entertaining and the you get to eat in the end. Perfect. I was stuffed!

Then the day after Valentines, I decided to treat myself to a long overdue massage. And boy was it glorious but I stopped at Nola's in Palo Alto for a little nosh before hand. Now, I love creole food but it is a bit hard finding the authentic kind that is on par with a trip to New Orleans. I have been to Nola's before and remember not being too impressed and I can say again, it was okay. It did not hit the spot though. I opted for the mixed green salad and the chicken and andouille gumbo with okra. Athough, I was impressed that the okra did not make the dish into a goopy mess, I was a little disappointed to the overall taste. I think the roux could have cooked a little longer to develop the taste and the gumbo lacked a spiciness that I look forward to in good creole food. The gumbo also was not served piping hot which was also a little disappointing in addition, the tiny pieces of andouille did not allow for the nice smokey flavor that I was craving. I will give Nola's another try mostly because there are not that many creole restaurants around and perhaps that was not the most popular dish. In any case, it was a little bit of New Orleans charm that I have been missing. Next time I will try the etoufee which has got to be my all time favorite dish.

Now to the best part...the massage. Watercourse Way is one of the best places for a massage in my opinion. I am the type of girl that is just as much about the service as I am about the atmosphere and this place has both! The massage was so relaxing that I actually fell asleep twice! It was the best 5-10 minute naps EVER! Better than a full nights sleep. I will definitely be going back and I wonder why I stopped going in the first place.