Benji's - Bakersfield, CA

Last week my parents came and met me at my Bakersfield and we decided to try a legendary Basque Restaurant for dinner. We met family friends at, Benji's located off Stockdale Highway in Bakersfield.

If you have never been to a Basque Restaurant I should tell you now that you receive a lot of food! We started off our meal with warm bread and spicy salsa for dipping. I was starving so I overindulged with the bread!

A vegetable soup came out family style, as well as a pot of beans. Combining the two sounded like the a good plan so I did just that. It was a fantastic marriage and I was now starting to get full.

A plate of Beef Tongue came out and I was excited to try it. Sliced thin and covered with sauce you would have had no idea what cut of beef it was. It was actually very good.

A tomato salad came out with our entrees as well as a plate of french fries...

My entree was the Lobster Tail and it was fantastic! Buttery, sweet and totally succulent - I ate every bite. It is not everyday I get to enjoy an amazing meal like this with my parents. What a special day.

Later over the next few days my horses did so well at horse show... We took home over $1300 in earnings and I couldn't have been more proud!

Hawaii Day #6

As our vacation came to a close Scott wanted to surf one more time at his favorite spot. 

I finished my book and it was spicy!

I wanted to take Scott to the Hawaiian Style Cafe so he could experience some real local food. Not like the junk we got from Bongo Ben's the day before.

He ordered the Korean Chicken and loved it. Heck, I loved it too!

I ordered the Roast Pork, again.

I killed it! I even ate one of Scott's chicken wings. 

Our last meal together as a vacation family was at Huggo's in Kona. it was a beautiful evening and we had a spectacular table.

One more Mai Tai... It was large and in charge!

Kumamoto Oysters for the table. They were light and refreshing!

Scott ordered a Caesar Salad and I munched on the parmesan crisp that came with it.

I am sure you know who ordered this and yes, it was delicious. I promise to be more food adventurous. I promise!

Fallon ordered this pasta and it tasted great! A macadamia nut pesto, mushrooms, goat cheese and grilled shrimp all helped make this dish a good one.

A very small serving of the Teriyaki they claim to known for. Sweet and tender it was done with in a few bites.

Andy went for the Cioppino and he used the bread to mop up the tomato fennel broth.

This is where things started to get bad. This creme brulee was so awful I don't even know what to say happened. Maybe they forgot an ingredient or added the wrong one because it tasted like a dirty mop. It officially was the worst creme brulee I have ever had. 

I set up a travel debit card with a set amount of funds to be used on dining, trinkets and whatever else I wanted while in Hawaii. Before going into dinner I knew I had well over enough money still on the card for at least another week in Hawaii. So when the bill came I treated our table and picked up the tab. The waiter took my card and returned saying it had been declined. I was very confused as to why that happened and gladly gave him my "regular" debit card know that one would be more than fine. He returned with my card and it went through with no problems. 

On the way home I had an uneasy feeling that something was not right with my other card so I logged on to my computer as soon as we got to the rental house. Sure enough, the waiter ran my cards a total of five times! Running my "Hawaii Travel" card to over $750 and then my "regular" debit card twice more. I immediately called the restaurant to tell them what happened and excuses were made that we were in a hurry, the waiter was new, this happens all the time... yadda yadda yadda. It was not the ending that I wanted to have after a beautiful vacation in Hawaii. 

In the end the situation was made right only after constant badgering on my end.

Hawaii Day #6

As our vacation came to a close Scott wanted to surf one more time at his favorite spot. 

I finished my book and it was spicy!

I wanted to take Scott to the Hawaiian Style Cafe so he could experience some real local food. Not like the junk we got from Bongo Ben's the day before.

He ordered the Korean Chicken and loved it. Heck, I loved it too!

I ordered the Roast Pork, again.

I killed it! I even ate one of Scott's chicken wings. 

Our last meal together as a vacation family was at Huggo's in Kona. it was a beautiful evening and we had a spectacular table.

One more Mai Tai... It was large and in charge!

Kumamoto Oysters for the table. They were light and refreshing!

Scott ordered a Caesar Salad and I munched on the parmesan crisp that came with it.

I am sure you know who ordered this and yes, it was delicious. I promise to be more food adventurous. I promise!

Fallon ordered this pasta and it tasted great! A macadamia nut pesto, mushrooms, goat cheese and grilled shrimp all helped make this dish a good one.

A very small serving of the Teriyaki they claim to known for. Sweet and tender it was done with in a few bites.

Andy went for the Cioppino and he used the bread to mop up the tomato fennel broth.

This is where things started to get bad. This creme brulee was so awful I don't even know what to say happened. Maybe they forgot an ingredient or added the wrong one because it tasted like a dirty mop. It officially was the worst creme brulee I have ever had. 

I set up a travel debit card with a set amount of funds to be used on dining, trinkets and whatever else I wanted while in Hawaii. Before going into dinner I knew I had well over enough money still on the card for at least another week in Hawaii. So when the bill came I treated our table and picked up the tab. The waiter took my card and returned saying it had been declined. I was very confused as to why that happened and gladly gave him my "regular" debit card know that one would be more than fine. He returned with my card and it went through with no problems. 

On the way home I had an uneasy feeling that something was not right with my other card so I logged on to my computer as soon as we got to the rental house. Sure enough, the waiter ran my cards a total of five times! Running my "Hawaii Travel" card to over $750 and then my "regular" debit card twice more. I immediately called the restaurant to tell them what happened and excuses were made that we were in a hurry, the waiter was new, this happens all the time... yadda yadda yadda. It was not the ending that I wanted to have after a beautiful vacation in Hawaii. 

In the end the situation was made right only after constant badgering on my end.

Hawaii Day #4

Fallon and I woke up knowing we had awesome facials planned at the Mauna Lani. So we boogied over to Starbucks, got ourselves an eye opener and checked in. Our facials were a tad - excessive two hours of wiping, washing and rubbing our faces was just beyond what I call relaxation. Live and learn, I guess.

After our long facial session we declared ourselves famished and decided to check out some local food at Hawaiian Style Cafe, it was featured on the Travel Channel.

I went big and ordered the Roast Pork with gravy, a scoop of Hawaiian Mac Salad, and two scoops of white rice. This is a pretty much standard Hawaiian Lunch Plate. It was very good, I felt very guilty and full after finishing about 2/3 of the thing.

After lunch, Fallon and I met up with the boys who were surfing at the beach out in front of Tammy and Ryan's house. Scott was tearing it up!

I got some really good shots!

Good job Scott!

It was New Years Eve so we all dressed up and decided to go into Kona for a nice meal at one of Fallon's friends restaurant. We got a water front table and it was nice feel the ocean breeze on my face.

Cheers to 2013 - Melissa & Scott

And cheers to you - Andy & Fallon!

A pretty solid Mai Tai.

The calamari was good. The breading a little soft but we all were hungry.

The oysters were so tasty. I could have eaten a dozen by myself but I had to show some restraint, Andy and Fallon were our hosts this evening.

Fallon had soup and salad for dinner. I had a cup of soup too, it was very good but it does not compare to the sister resturant located in Monterey, California.

I of course had fish, the Mahi Mahi. The crispy carrots on top and purple potatoes on bottom sandwiched the fish perfctly. Nom nom!

Scott had the Ahi with sticky rice. Simple perfection.

Andy went with the Surf and Turf and was delighted with his selection.

The Macadamia Tart was ordered by Scott and it loved it with a cup of black coffee. He even bought the coffee cup to take home as a souviner. I thought that was really cute.

 I had the Creme Brulee and thought it was at the top end of custards on the island.

And Fallon and Andy shared the Lilikoi cheesecake. I snagged a few bites of this and thought it was amazing!

All in all, we had a fantastic day. We spent the last day of 2012 at the spa, eating terrific food, surfing big waves and spending time with good friends. On that note, the next post will be the first of 2013 Hawaiian Style! Aloha...