Fish Tacos at Merry Piglets (Jackson Hole, WY)

Just got back from Merry Piglets! It's a bright, colorful establishment with great food! Free chips and an amazing fresh salsa... all you can eat! I had to leave the table to force myself to NOT get full on chips and salsa. The food takes a long time here, but if you have interesting friends to talk to then it's actually a positive. Everyone was friendly tonight and the service was great! Drinks were always full, as were the baskets of chips and dishes of salsa. I ordered the Fish Tacos (one of my favorites at any mexican restaurant). When I got my food, I remembered having ordered them on one of my previous visits. They were delicious. I really like their special cilantro mayo sauce they put on top and the flame-grilled mahi-mahi was fresh and grilled perfectly. It's the special sauce that makes them so delicious to me. That and the fact that the fish is grilled and not breaded.

Is it true the best fish tacos are found in Mexico in little hole-in-the-wall restaurants? Maybe so, but we're determined to find something a little closer to home! Maybe that will be our mission for the next however long it takes. All you fish taco lovers out there, we need your recommendations. Where are the best fish tacos in Utah? In fact, let's expand this to the whole world! You never know where we'll be next! If you know of a place with worthy fish tacos, you need to tell us about them. We'll be the judge.

Speaking of fish tacos, we found another blogger with the same idea. The blog is called Fish Taco Magazine. It looks like they have quite the experience in fish tacos or F.T.'s as some of their contributors would call them. Check em out!

Most importantly though: Let us know your vote for the best fish tacos in the world.

The Merry Piglets

I'm very excited because tonight we are in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and we will be eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant up here: The Merry Piglets! We're going with most of my family and a couple friends who actually live up here. My family and i will be meeting our friends at the Rich Haines Art Gallery that he manages and from there we will walk over to the Merry Piglets for some delicious Tex-Mex!

Look for a review later on tonight, or tomorrow morning!

Thanks for visiting iDineDivine!

How McDonald's Came About

Came across a video on cnbc.com that anyone interested in business should watch. Very interesting. Take two minutes and check it out: McDonald’s Founder Ray Kroc

La Carreta: Delicious Peruvian Ceviche!

Wow!  I can't count the number of times i drove past this restaurant never daring enough to try it out.  It wasn't until March 31st, the day our 2nd child was born at the American Fork Hospital that i took the plunge.  I was starving... i was taking care of my daughter... and i wanted something close by.  La Carreta was right around the corner.  Since i'd never eaten Peruvian food, i have to thank my waiter, Daniel for giving some awesome recommendations!  

Side note:  Part of a waiters job in my opinion is to know how to recommend good dishes.  Daniel! 5-star waiter.  He had tried everything on the menu and wasn't afraid to recommend the good stuff!

When i asked him what he recommended, he asked me if i liked sushi.  Asking a question to answer my question... Beautiful!  "Yes, i like sushi," i said.  "Then i think you'll really like the ceviche dish... the Ceviche de Pescado Mixto" he responded.  

Ceviche happens to be the typical dish of Peru.  Why not try the food they are famous for? My first ceviche experience was in Costa Rica and I've had my share of delicious ceviche experiences since, but this one took the cake.  Ceviche is usually an appetizer or dish of raw seafood marinated in lemon and lime juice.  The juice actually pickles or "cooks" the meat.  The flavor is like a party in your mouth.  Cilantro, onions, and lime juice and seafood=amazingness!

My daughter really enjoyed the "Tallarines Blancos" which is fettucini noodles, parmesan cheese and egg.  It tasted like a fancy version of our macaroni and cheese with the addition of the hard-boiled egg.  I thought it was pretty tasty too. 

Huge portions! Neither of us were able to completely finished our meals.  Prices are reasonable.  $8-12 dishes.  Service was excellent!  Complementary chips and fresh salsa... YUMMY!!! One of the best fresh salsas i've ever had! If you haven't been to La Carreta, you've gotta go.  It's so good, it sucked me in three days in a row.  I tried new dishes every time. 

I'd recommend the Jalea de Pescado dish as well as the kabobs appetizer.  And the maracuya (passion-fruit) drink is quite tasty!

For another review and an additional perspective on La Carreta, check out this Utah Food Blog link.

Also, check out La Carreta's Website!

J Dawgs - Provo

I can't believe i had never eaten at JDawgs! What a cool little hot dog stand!  They make some killer polish and beef dawgs.  And i thought Costco had amazing polish dogs! J Dawgs is the place to grab a gourmet hot dog. They come with all the condiments: onions, pickles, banana peppers, sauerkraut, and jalepenos.  The buns are delicious, made fresh every morning at a local bakery.  And the special sauce adds a little unique sweetness that sets J Dawgs apart from any other hot dog i've ever had before.  

Next time you're craving a weener, check this place out at 880 N. 700 E., Provo, Utah.  You'll love it! After you're done eating your dawg, head over next door to Smart Cookie to grab a delicious sugar cookie and you're set!

"All Other Smoothies Bow Down!"

Last week i went on a little trip to Charlotte, North Carolina with my co-manager, Ryan to find apartments for the summer.  While we were out there, Ryan introduced me to Smoothie King!  It's not just a smoothie store, but a vitamin/supplement shop as well.  The story behind Smoothie King is kinda cool.  Steve Kuhnau is the founder who created the original nutritional smoothie.  It all began in the late 1960's when Steve began experimenting with mixing fruit, protein, and nutrients together in a blender at home to remedy his allergies and low blood pressure. 1973 was when he opened his first shop.

I had never heard of Smoothie King before, but was hooked after my first experience.  I only tried one flavor, the Caribbean Way with some added vanilla protein.  I've gotten it the last three visits to the Smoothie King, so that tells you how much i like it.  But there are endless combinations and flavors to choose from.  Here is a link to the menu: Smoothie King Menu

We are lucky to have 3 locations here in Utah.  Lehi is the closest one to me.  There is also one in Ogden and Logan!  Find the closest Smoothie King to you: Smoothie King Locations

Anyway, i'm thinking Smoothie King might have just moved into first place on my list of top smoothie joints!!!  All other smoothies bow down!

How About Some Chinese-Joy Luck

I think it had been about a year or two since i'd had some sit-down Chinese food. What a way to make my resurgence! A couple cream cheese wontons, some General T'sao and Sweet n' Sour chicken later and i remember why Bountiful was such a great place to live.  Joy Luck in Woods Cross is my all-time favorite Chinese restaurant.  The food and the service are always fantastic! This is consistent with their mission: 

"Joy Luck believes the ultimate goal is to make you and your stomach tickling, dancing and delighted with JOY.  Therefore, we choose only the freshest ingredients along with our superb customer service to make your dining pleasure the best dining experience.  To complete your meal, draw your LUCK with a complimentary fortune cookie."

Ha ha, i love how it's worded! Those aren't really the words i'd use to describe how my stomach felt, but i was joyful to be eating those cream cheese wontons as we waited for one of our guests to show up.  

Anyway, i would recommend those wontons for an appetizer along with some Hot & Sour Soup. General T'sao Chicken and Strawberry Chicken are two of my favorite dishes to order along with the Ham Fried Rice! Mmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it all!  

The "cherry on top" is that most dishes are under $8 and can feed up to two people!! And Chinese left-overs are delicious so don't be afraid to order an extra dish for some variety!

For hours of operation and a full menu with prices along with the address and phone number log on to www.joyluckwc.joyluckfoods.com

What's All This Talk About "Five Guys"

Is it just another burger joint? I've heard nothing but good things about Five Guys, the 23-year old burger chain that started in Arlington, VA. We've got three locations here in the Salt Lake Valley: Sandy, Midvale, and West Valley. The burgers are delicious and with over 250,000 ways to order one here, it would be pretty tough not to find something you like. Five Guys only uses fresh meat, never frozen. I guess that's a big deal??? And you won't find any oil except for peanut oil anywhere in the store. After reading up a bit on Wikipedia.org about peanut oil, i found that peanut oil is also a big deal like Ron Burgundy. According to Wikipedia: "Peanut Oil is a monounsaturated fat, as such it may be substituted into a diet to reduce the negative health effects of eating trans fat and saturated fat." If you haven't checked out those negative effects in a while, you might wanna do so. The food is fantastic and Five Guys is doing us all a favor by keeping it healthy. Thank you Five Guys. Anyway, try the burger with A1 sauce and the fries, cajun style. You won't be disappointed.

Happy Sumo: Quality Sushi

You can always count on Happy Sumo to get it done!  I always enjoy eating sushi here.  As many of you already know, i'm always up for trying new things.  I try to order new dishes every time i go out. Sushi is great because since i usually order two rolls, i can get one of my favorites and then try a new roll as well.  Tonight, i had dinner with a buddy of mine and we started with an amazing appetizer followed by three delicious rolls.

For the appetizer, we had the Dragon Scales: spicy tuna delicately pressed between two Japanese shiso leaves then lightly tempura fried, served with green scallions, and ponzu, and eel sauce. Just a little dip in some soy sauce and cha ching! It's money!

Then we ordered two of our favorite rolls along with one new specialty roll.  Our waitress recommended we try the Sweet Pea Roll which was an excellent recommendation.  It wasn't like any special roll i've ever had before. It actually had honey on it and i really didn't know if i would like it.  Needless to say, it had a unique flavor, but it was awesome!  The Sweet Pea Roll is made with crab salad, cucumber & lime, topped with avocado, honey, togarashi and red jalapeno. I'm so glad i've learned to not be afraid of trying new foods! I've learned to love so many different flavors.  One in particular is sushi made with lemon and lime in it.  Lemon or lime and sushi is an incredibly delicious combination...

That leads me to my other favorite roll that has thin slices of lemon on top.  The Rising Sun Roll is a definite winner made with salmon, avocado, and cream cheese topped with spicy crab, green onions, lemon, and eel sauce.  I don't know how to describe it, but the contrast between the lemon and the spicy crab is absolutely mouthwatering.  If you haven't tried a roll like this, let this compel you to do so.

Last but definitely not least, we devoured the BSCR (Baked scallop california roll) which is a California roll topped with baked scallops, spicy Sumo sauce, tobiko and green onions.

Oooh man! I relished every bite tonight! It blows my mind how eating sushi can be so gratifying!  Anyway, if you haven't been to Happy Sumo in awhile, i think it's about time you go. If you need any suggestions, feel free to ask.  Even better, if you have any suggestions, please share them by commenting below.

Happy Sumo locations!

More Happy Sumo reviews!