ELEPHANT & CASTLE AND THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
If you've read one of my previous posts, you may know that I was planning to go to Grove City, Pennsylvania - for what? Strictly two things: shopping and eating. Going to the Grove City Premium Outlet was a confirmed destination, but we also went to Millcreek Mall on the way there (where I scored some really awesome deals)
Bourbon chicken in the top right - Our favourite from China Max
Our hotel is located 15 minutes away from the outlet by car, so we spent a good half of two days there. And what better fast food to fuel your body for the fast paced shopping than China Max? Through a friendly conversation in Mandarin with the lady at the counter, we got extra packed rice and chicken *Chinese bias*
Why can't all sales racks (at a bra store, I'm trying to be funny) look like this
Maybe it was because it was near closing and they had time to organize their racks, but this the most organized sale rack ever.
From Peace Love and Little Donuts
The first night, Julie and I experienced a bad evening because we just couldn't find anything after scouring through 4 stores! But after finding this cute doughnut shop that was just about to close, our night was made well. I ordered the strawberry cheesecake, she ordered the strawberry... crème? I don't quite remember *sorry*
We didn't end up buying any candy from this bin though!
A stop at a Walmart in the states is almost as natural as a stop to a McDonald's (where we ordered 20 pieces of nuggets for $5). The rest of this post will mainly be pictures. Enjoy~
I love Hello Kitty, and Winnie the Pooh
The hotel we stayed at had free breakfast = morning buffets
Midnight snack: We bought milk and oranges from Walmart
I've never seen this many variety of Monopoly all together...
Our first dinner was at Elephant & Castle. We've been there before from our previous trip to Grove City, and it wasn't that bad! Plus, I had to go again to try their Baileys Cheesecake which I didn't last time.
Julie and I shared this
Grilled chicken, topped with bacon, cheddar and jack cheese, caramelized onion, mushroom, served with garlic-y potatoes.
Baileys cheesecake
It had no Baileys flavour at all - all I tasted was the caramel sauce, but it was still yummy (: Just a very misleading name.
3 Baileys in the back. And yes, that is Frangelico (yellow label)!
+ 2 here = 5!
I think my family and I have a thing for Baileys. We have five 1-L bottles of it, in the original (3), hazelnut, and crème caramel flavour. And after coming back from the states, we added the 1-L biscotti flavour to our collection *yay*
Deep fried cheese, with more cheese on top
Shrimp with Angel Hair
Shrimp sautéed with lemon, garlic, herbs, with sweet basil and tomato on top of angel hair pasta with a touch of marinara sauce. This is my second time having this dish.
Cajun Jambalaya Pasta
Their most popular pasta dish: shrimp and chicken sautéed with tomato, onions and peppers in a very spicy Cajun sauce. All on top of fresh linguine Their linguine is impeccably delicious! And this too is my second time ordering this dish.
Tiramisu Cheesecake
Coffee + liqueur soaked case base, creamy cheesecake, and mascarpone layer, served with their delicious cream (I ate mouthfuls of it), and guess what? It's also my second time eating this one.
I've been eating at The Cheesecake Factory since 4 years ago, and it never fails to impress or satisfy my each time. You should really go there if you happen to visit the states (this is, of course, directing to my non-USA readers)!
To end this lengthy post, I'd like to point out the start of my coffee obsession. I'm not sure if it's something to be proud of or not, but it tastes damn delicious. My future kitchen will consist of Hario products, which I finally found at Williams-Sonoma:
Hario cloth drip
X
MUAH MUAH MUAH
VICKI CHOW
P/S
I currently am suffering through an intense headache because I didn't have any caffeine at all today! Instead, I spent my time doing assignments, making an awesome sauce for my bucatini *adds to list of things to blog about*
Hario siphon
I'd love to see one of these in action one day.
Hope that when you have gloomy headache days, a cup of coffee will cheer you up!
