Spicing things up a little

Mike and I decided that we need to venture out more to some of the local restaurants. We both enjoy having a nice dinner, some wine and ,of course, great conversation. We've been so busy since moving to Iowa that we really haven't gone out but a handful of times. Last night we prioritized our hit list and made two stops!

First, we visited a quaint Vietnamese restaurant in Moline called Pasteur. The place was highly recommended by Mike's coworkers and since we've really been missing our favorite Thai places in Chicago we thought this to be a great place to start. It took a while to find the place, it's on the odd number side of the street even though it has an even address, and set back a little bit. When we walked in there were a handful of tables filled with people dining, some soft playing music and I whispered to Mike, "the QC is sooo different from Chicago." By different I mean, less people, more old people, more quiet and as we learned more personalized service. We were immediately greeted and seated. We took at a look at the wine list while enjoying the Young and the Restless theme song playing in the background, hahah. We ordered our drinks while being warmly welcomed by the owner of the restaurant. He explained to us that Vietnamese don't cook like Chinese, they use fresh ingredients and no MSG. I hate Chinese food, so this was music to my ears. He asked us what brought us here, asked us why we moved from Chicago, told us about his daughter who is an eye doctor in Chicago and suggested some items from the menu. Vietnamese is very similar to Thai food, so Mike and I had no problem ordering. We decided to start with and appetizer, spring rolls. Very tasty and immediately devoured.



The we ordered two entrees and share. There were so many tasty choices, we finally decided on Chinois Noodles with Tofu



and Chicken Curry



Everything was delicious! We will definitely be returning again!

After dinner we stopped to get a Lonely Planet Book on Mexico and let our food settle before dessert! At Borders we browsed the books for a while and headed to Ducky City Bistro.



I used to go to Duck City when I was in high school with my girlfriends for the infamous Death By Chocolate dessert. It's been years since I've had it, and last night it lived up to the pedestal I put it on in my memory. Death By Chocolate is a rich chocolate cake next to chocolate ice cream, topped with whip cream, drizzled with chocolate and raspberry sauce, and sprinkled with chocolate. When the waitress placed the yummy concoction on our table I explained to Mike that we had to take our time eating this and savor every bite, I was really saying this to myself so I didn't immediately inhale the entire plate! Again, the people at Duck City were very friendly! The restaurant was really busy, and we felt slightly out of place since everyone dining was dressed up. I'm talking men in suit and ties! We plan on going back soon for dinner all of the chef's creations looked fantastic!

Next up on our list, Great Indian Restaurant in Moline, Exotic Thai in Davenport, Le Mekong, another Vietnamese place in Davenport, and La Flama a Mexican place in Moline!