Eating Out Landmines

Last night marked Eating Out #1 for this week. Michael and I met his dad and step-mom at Henry’s 12th Street Tavern for dinner.

Michael’s dad is a Beer Expert (seriously, that’s his job). He recommended I try the Bridgeport IPA, so that’s what I ordered. It was a nice, light IPA and I liked it a lot.

Bridgeport IPA

Landmine #1: Appetizers

Michael’s dad ordered Henry’s famous onion rings as the appetizer. Check this temptation out:

I was famished and the onion rings ARE pretty tasty….I ate two only. And I made sure that I ate two from the top because they were smaller!

Could you resist those?

Landmine #2 – Entree

The next dilemma was what to order as an entree. After weighing the pros and cons of the two entrees I wanted, I decided on the Halibut. It was a sea salt and pepper crusted halibut with a balsamic vinaigrette glaze.

It came with an arugula and tomato salad and a fried potato cake. The potato cake was exceptional. For some reason in my brain I thought the potato cake would be less calories than their amazing mashed potatoes…Not sure now. 🙂

My entree was okay. I think I’ve discovered that halibut is not my favorite fish. It’s a bit on the dry side. I’d rather eat a trout or salmon. I ate half of my halibut and saved the other half for lunch.

We chatted about Reach the Beach and I told them about Hood to Coast coming up. Michael’s dad said “God gave me a certain number of heart beats in my lifetime and I’m not going to waste them running!” He said it was a quote from an astronaut and it made me chuckle. 🙂

Landmine #3 – Dessert

After dinner at Henry’s we all walked a few blocks in the Pearl District to Cupcake Jones. I’ve walked by Cupcake Jones a million times and never gone in. Last night I finally did.

There were many choices: chocolate, vanilla, marionberry cobbler, German chocolate cake and other options for cupcakes. There were also the large cupcakes or the mini cupcakes. Michael’s dad got the German chocolate:

There was also an option for a “Frosting Shot”? Seriously! A cup of just the frosting!!! I was floored.

Dessert is always the hard part for me. I have zero willpower when faced with something like this:

At first I was going to get the 1 bite mini cupcake but Michael talked me into splitting a big sized cupcake with him. We got the chocolate.

It was gooooood. I loved the frosting. I think it was a cream cheese frosting.

We left Cupcake Jones and strolled passed the Ben and Jerry’s (Michael wanted to stop for ice cream but I held strong :)).

We took them to Powell’s City of Books and then called it a night. It was a really nice evening and I enjoy spending time with Michael’s family. The weather was perfect too.

Conclusion

I have no idea if I was smart with my food last night. I feel like I made some good choices and a few bad choices (2 beers + a cupcake!).