Review:Tex-Mex at Jose Tejas

Red Sangria

Stopped in at Jose Tejas in Iselin, NJ for a late lunch.  It's Memorial Day so I thought it would be a quick in and out.  Seems everyone had the same idea.  Place was jumping just the like the other previous times I was there.

Needed to wait about 20 minuters for seating, so we chilled at the Bar with an oversized Sangria.  It went down goooood!

Sizzling Steak Fajitas

Chicken  Burrito

Ordered the sizzling steak fajitias and were they ever hot! had me sweating beads.  I needed a tall glass of water to put out the fire in my mouth.  Elizabeth had the chicken burrito with black beans and rice.  If you've never visited Jose Tejas, they don't take reservations so be prepared to wait.  They have a fairly big bar so make use of it while you wait.  Prices here are quite reasonable and the food is fun, but tends to be spicy hot!  Nothing an ice cool drink won't cure.  The place itself is quite big and casual.  Inside looks like an old Cantina right out of Mexico.   Check out other reviews and pics at link below.      

http://www.yelp.com/biz/jose-tejas-iselin

It's kind of a Funny Story!

So we had an intense family debate about which movie to rent on Vudu yesterday.  I was lobbying for something thriller-like, but my oldest daughter was insisting we watch some movie that went by the name "It's kind of a Funny Story".  Now you know it's not funny if it has to point it out in the title, right?

So we watched two trailers, the choice was between this so called funny movie and Roommate which appeared to meet all my criteria of a thriller.  But Dad once again acquiesced and we went with my daughter's choice.  Much to my surprise, the movie had it's moments and I found it enjoyable.  The movie deals with the real life pressures faced by today's adolescence that can manifest into depression.  In the end, the lead character discovers inner strength and happiness by recognizing he's surrounded by an imperfect but supportive family structure and some new found friends. Of course the boy gets the girl in the end. 

This movie gets a 3 out of 5 stars from me.     
     

Review: A Mother's Day treat...brunch at Bogota

Sangria & Mojito

It advertises itself as the most reserved restaurant in Brooklyn, and few would dispute this claim.  Sometime had passed since I lasted visit this now Brooklyn staple. I noticed some subtle changes to the decor, but the one thing that remained unchanged was the familiar buzz generated by the guests as they enjoyed their Latin American fusion experience.

Mother's Day Guests

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Arroz Con Pollo

As we waited to be seated, we enjoyed drinks from the bar and I recalled my chat with the Owner of Bogota, about a year removed as we got acquainted over drinks at another of my favorite Brooklyn stops, Nana, just a few doors down.  It turns out Bogota's proprietor knocked on many doors attempting to secure funding for his Brooklyn restaurant without much luck, that is, until my employer took a gamble and approved the funding that got Bogota started.  So this is the common thread between us!  and as they say, the rest is history, as this entrepreneur's dream went on to become a real life success story.                 





Today, we enjoyed the arroz con pollo as this is what we were craving for. The Menu however features quite a variety of dishes from all regions of Latin America. Anyway, the food never disappoints and we were served by a most pleasant waiter named Allysion who actually spoke Spanish and gave us top rate service.



In the end we were happy just to be able to get in without reservations on Mother's Day.  Actually, I had called ahead and they advised me that they only took reservations on half their seating capacity, and the other half was left open for walk-ins. Lucky us!          



2011 The World's Best Beer...and the award goes to...

Sweden - go figure.  I guess they need something else to do when not skiing!  The #1 rated beer was Närke Kaggen Stormaktsporter .  Trying saying that even one time correctly - while sober no less.   

Check out the top 100 beers at this link.  Maybe you'll find your favorite, but frankly, I didn't recognize any of the winners.  The good news is I have a lot of tasting ahead of me. 

http://www.ratebeer.com/RateBeerBest/bestbeers_012011.asp

Stay Thirsty My Friends...you gotta check this out

The World's Most Interesting Man

http://staythirstymyfriends.com/

Penny Auction Sites...use common cents!

So while killing time one evening I stumbled upon this ad for a penny auction site called Quibids.com.  So I registered and jumped in with both feet.  The concept is simple, every time you bid on an item it raises the potential winning price by $0.01.  You can win or buy bids.  Purchased bids will cost you $0.60 each.  So I bought a starter pack of bids and the site placed 45 bids in my account for $27.00  The hook is the site auctions off some pretty enticing wants, among them name brand electronics like big screen LED TVs, iPADS, laptops, wine storage refrigerators, blenders, watches, cameras, etc.

The model is the same for all the penny auction sites.  They dangle sexy items and advertises they were recently won for some nominal amount, say a 55" LED TV for $18.67.  Now a 55" LED TV has a retail price of around $2,500.  So the enticement is a strong one.  I had some early success.  I won a new 5" Garmin GPS with lifetime maps and traffic alerts for $2.82.  The cost of shipping was more than my winning bid.

I also won a paper shredder, and a weight scale.  All products won were received within a week.  At this point I thinking this ain't to bad.  However, be forewarned these penny auction sites have a gambler's appeal to them.  If you're going to bid on one of the sexier items, you'll need to be discipline enough to know when to bail out.  It's quite easy to get caught up in having your name appear on the screen as having the winning bid (if only for 10 seconds) only to have someone top your bid.  Some auctions can go on for 12 hours or more, so also bring your patience.

Of course the big winner in this is the operator of the penny auction site.  Consider for a moment that when a big screen TV sells for a winning bid $118.02, that translates into 11,802 bids at $0.60 each, or, $7,081.20.  So do the math, the penny auction site isn't giving anything away.  In fact, their profit margin is considerable.  So like drinking, be responsible when you bid.  Stay thristy my friends!         

Hey Guys, is Maggie Q the sexiest woman on TV?

TV's Nikita definitely has my vote! 
You can check out Maggie Q kicking butt on Thursday's at 9:00pm est on the WB11 or in the current action movie release Priest:  http://www.priest-themovie.com/.