I'm not rubbing this on other people's faces or boasting just for the sake of it, but Jowel is a really wonderful, thoughtful husband, and because he is that, he made sure I had a very nice birthday (which was on April 23rd, by the way, sorry for the late post). I had two birthday dinners, one with the whole family and the other, with just the two of us and Lucas, our little boy.
My pre-birthday celebration was at Romano's Macaroni Grill, our favorite Italian restaurant in Dhahran. I say it's our favorite because Jowel and I always go there for an occassional dinner date (with Lucas in tow, haha). The dinner was ten days in advance of my actual birthday because my mother- and one of my sisters-in-law were going back to Manila a few days later, so we made sure we have a little something before they go home.
One of the things I like about this resto is that if you have toddlers in tow, they (heck, even adults, too) can fight
boredom by drawing on the tables. Yes, that's allowed, hehe, because the
tables are lined with thick white paper and there are also crayons
available. Also, while waiting for your orders to arrive at your table, you can enjoy freshly-baked focaccia that smells so good with the herbs in it, it tickles your nose. The server would pour extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (with a dash of freshly-ground black pepper, if you please) for you to dip bread in, and you can ask for more, but of course you shouldn't eat too much bread, else, you won't have room anymore for the real stuff later.
At first I was bummed as what I originally wanted that night was one of my absolute favorites from Romano's, Shrimp Portofino, but they were out of its sauce. I was literally sad because at that moment, I was craving its capellini pasta and large juicy shrimps with wilted-at-just-the-right-degree spinach, portobello mushrooms and toasted pine nuts in a divine (!!!) lemon butter sauce. I wanted their Lobster Raviolli next, but I didn't know it was made of the same sauce. And so, I ordered Seafood Linguini, which I've already had once before. (See the trend here? What can I say? I love seafood. I love pasta. Why not put them together, huh? LOL.) Kudos to Chef Hassan! The pasta was cooked al dente (no surprise there!); the sauce was spiced perfectly with just a little kick of pepper; the shrimps were plentiful, big and juicy; and the scallops were cooked just right. From my experience, some seafood, like scallops and squid, tend to be rubbery when overcooked. Everything was perfect in my dish, but I wasn't able to finish it all. They serve it big in Romano's, always good enough for two, so I got the rest to go and still had something to enjoy for meryenda the next morning, haha. :)
I forgot what Jowel's dish was called but I can still clearly recall how his chicken and pasta dish tasted. The whole thing was so simple yet was so sumptuous. The chicken was just grilled but the honey-barbecue-ish sauce it was basted with gave it depth; the sauce was a perfect blend of seasonings and sweetness. This complemented well the capellini with sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil. There was a side of steamed broccoli tossed in light butter with, I'm sure, no salt, and this completed the dish's beautiful simplicity.
Mama Josie, my mother-in-law, had the Chicken Potobello. The meat part of the dish was yummy chicken topped with cheese and portobello mushrooms baked to perfection and then slathered with a little light gravy. The side was orzo (we thought it was risotto but the waiter corrected us because it was not made of rice but pasta), cooked in what I think was chicken broth, blended well with cheese, spinach and bell pepper. Jowel and I have had this before and I think this was what started Jowel on his risotto/orzo fetish, hahaha. After the first time we've had this, he has since requested twice that I cook risotto/orzo at home. I made it once with garlic and cheese, then with spinach and bell pepper. I'll share the recipes here, but that would be for another post. ;)
We downed it all with Romano's signature drink, the Leaning Bellini. It's a to-die-for peach slush that's so refreshing, it tastes like springtime! It has just the right amount of sweetness, but if you want someting sweeter, you have to order the ULTIMATE Leaning Bellini, where peach syrup is added further, giving the slush a marbled look. If you're not a fan of fruit shakes, the restaurant has different kinds of iced teas. I strongly recommend their blueberry mint iced tea, slurp!
I already befriended the chefs and manager/s of Romano's hehe, and told them it's my favorite resto. My new friend, Manager Fred, said that from this point forward, whenever Jowel and I visit Romano's, we'll always have a 10% discount off our bill, I just have to mention his name to whoever was our server for the night, yahoo! Anyway, if I were to give Romano's a rating, it will be 4.5 stars out of 5. If anyone from the Khobar, Dhahran, Dammam areas are reading this, actually, anyone who might pass by Mall of Dhahran and looking for something to eat, I strongly recommend them. It's a little pricey compared to fastfood joints, but it's certainly worth the money. Good taste, big portions.
Moving forward, on my actual birthday, the three of us (me, Jowel and Lucas) ate at Chili's. Well, Chili's is Chili's. Nothing much has changed since we were last there. Although I really liked the babyback ribs we had that night (the meat was soooooooo tender, it looked like it was falling off the bones, haha), I'm not a big fan of them. But I do have to rave about one thing: their new dessert offering of Fried Cheesecake.
Rich cheesecake, fried golden brown, served with caramel sauce, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. Sounds like a calorie-whopper or something that would clog your arteries, hahaha. But really, it was so yummy. The outside of the balls was crunchy and when you get inside of it, come the creamy not-so-sweet cheesecake. You have got to try it. :)
And so, I had two birthday dinners, courtesy of my sweet hubby, and on top of it, he gifted me with something I had been eyeing at the mall for quite a while, plus something from La Senza (*wink*lol*). But the loveliest of all? He surprised me by writing me a poem and reciting it in front of our brothers and sisters, kind of like an intermission, during one of our services. Awwwww... It really was a happy birthday. Ciao! :)
My pre-birthday celebration was at Romano's Macaroni Grill, our favorite Italian restaurant in Dhahran. I say it's our favorite because Jowel and I always go there for an occassional dinner date (with Lucas in tow, haha). The dinner was ten days in advance of my actual birthday because my mother- and one of my sisters-in-law were going back to Manila a few days later, so we made sure we have a little something before they go home.
 |
| (from L-R) My parents-in-law, sisters-in-law, soon-to-be brother-in-law with me and Jowel holding Lucas. |
At first I was bummed as what I originally wanted that night was one of my absolute favorites from Romano's, Shrimp Portofino, but they were out of its sauce. I was literally sad because at that moment, I was craving its capellini pasta and large juicy shrimps with wilted-at-just-the-right-degree spinach, portobello mushrooms and toasted pine nuts in a divine (!!!) lemon butter sauce. I wanted their Lobster Raviolli next, but I didn't know it was made of the same sauce. And so, I ordered Seafood Linguini, which I've already had once before. (See the trend here? What can I say? I love seafood. I love pasta. Why not put them together, huh? LOL.) Kudos to Chef Hassan! The pasta was cooked al dente (no surprise there!); the sauce was spiced perfectly with just a little kick of pepper; the shrimps were plentiful, big and juicy; and the scallops were cooked just right. From my experience, some seafood, like scallops and squid, tend to be rubbery when overcooked. Everything was perfect in my dish, but I wasn't able to finish it all. They serve it big in Romano's, always good enough for two, so I got the rest to go and still had something to enjoy for meryenda the next morning, haha. :)
 |
| (1) The Leaning Bellini; (2) Seafood Linguini; (3-top) Jowel's dish; (3-bottom) Chicken Portobello |
I forgot what Jowel's dish was called but I can still clearly recall how his chicken and pasta dish tasted. The whole thing was so simple yet was so sumptuous. The chicken was just grilled but the honey-barbecue-ish sauce it was basted with gave it depth; the sauce was a perfect blend of seasonings and sweetness. This complemented well the capellini with sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil. There was a side of steamed broccoli tossed in light butter with, I'm sure, no salt, and this completed the dish's beautiful simplicity.
Mama Josie, my mother-in-law, had the Chicken Potobello. The meat part of the dish was yummy chicken topped with cheese and portobello mushrooms baked to perfection and then slathered with a little light gravy. The side was orzo (we thought it was risotto but the waiter corrected us because it was not made of rice but pasta), cooked in what I think was chicken broth, blended well with cheese, spinach and bell pepper. Jowel and I have had this before and I think this was what started Jowel on his risotto/orzo fetish, hahaha. After the first time we've had this, he has since requested twice that I cook risotto/orzo at home. I made it once with garlic and cheese, then with spinach and bell pepper. I'll share the recipes here, but that would be for another post. ;)
We downed it all with Romano's signature drink, the Leaning Bellini. It's a to-die-for peach slush that's so refreshing, it tastes like springtime! It has just the right amount of sweetness, but if you want someting sweeter, you have to order the ULTIMATE Leaning Bellini, where peach syrup is added further, giving the slush a marbled look. If you're not a fan of fruit shakes, the restaurant has different kinds of iced teas. I strongly recommend their blueberry mint iced tea, slurp!
 |
| I and Lucas with Manager/Chef Fred (left) and Supervisor/Chef Hassan. |
I already befriended the chefs and manager/s of Romano's hehe, and told them it's my favorite resto. My new friend, Manager Fred, said that from this point forward, whenever Jowel and I visit Romano's, we'll always have a 10% discount off our bill, I just have to mention his name to whoever was our server for the night, yahoo! Anyway, if I were to give Romano's a rating, it will be 4.5 stars out of 5. If anyone from the Khobar, Dhahran, Dammam areas are reading this, actually, anyone who might pass by Mall of Dhahran and looking for something to eat, I strongly recommend them. It's a little pricey compared to fastfood joints, but it's certainly worth the money. Good taste, big portions.
Moving forward, on my actual birthday, the three of us (me, Jowel and Lucas) ate at Chili's. Well, Chili's is Chili's. Nothing much has changed since we were last there. Although I really liked the babyback ribs we had that night (the meat was soooooooo tender, it looked like it was falling off the bones, haha), I'm not a big fan of them. But I do have to rave about one thing: their new dessert offering of Fried Cheesecake.
 |
| Photo taken from the internet. |
And so, I had two birthday dinners, courtesy of my sweet hubby, and on top of it, he gifted me with something I had been eyeing at the mall for quite a while, plus something from La Senza (*wink*lol*). But the loveliest of all? He surprised me by writing me a poem and reciting it in front of our brothers and sisters, kind of like an intermission, during one of our services. Awwwww... It really was a happy birthday. Ciao! :)
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