Tonight I took in the miles to waaaaaaaaaaay distant Aurora with my husband, Stuart, and our 15-year-old daughter. Stuart literally hadn't eaten all day and our daughter is chronically fearful of consuming the unfamiliar, so I was apprehensive in suggesting Nigerian, Somalian, Korean or Filipino. Instead, I thought a good Russian restaurant sounded perfect. Culturally rich for me, dense and caloric for Stuart and not too "weird" for The Daughter.
ROYAL INTERNATIONAL CUISINE, on 13736 E. Quincy, seemed perfect and has been described in print as "...serving some of the best Russian food in the state.." We were, well, pretty excited. However, when we got to 13736 E. Quincy, this is what greeted us instead:
We were really disappointed--especially after travelling past the vast terrain of office complexes, malls and endless corporate retail boxes. Apparently, I will have to call ahead next time, as this is the second time a restaurant I've been anticipating has been closed down!
Anyway, The Daughter will not do pho. no pho. So, how to compromise??
Other Russian options that I found were not open tonight for dinner and another Eastern European restaurant, that I'm going to try, was too far away so we agreed that finding a GERMAN restaurant was a good option.
What we found was HELGA'S GERMAN RESTAURANT AND DELI, 14197 E. Exposition
Looking not unlike a corporate "Mimi"s" or "Red Robin", Helga's does possess a rather impressive deli with shelves of colorful imported food stuffs. I had every intention of purchasing a few things to take home after eating dinner, but....
fresh meat salad
stuffs for purchase
our meal:
appetizer: Pfalzer Pretzel for two--homemade pretzels (very good) with cheeses and German coldcuts
oxtail soup
Jager Schnitzel--breaded pork in a browned, mushroom gravy with fried onions; served with spaetzel and red cabbage
Chicken Geschnetzeltes--chicken strips in a creamed, mushroom gravy; served on a bed of spaetzel with melted cheese and paprika sprinkles on top. A bowl of red cabbage is served on the side.
Rouladen Pfalzischer Art--beef rolls stuffed with bacon and pickles, topped with a rich, brown gravy. Potato croquettes and pan-fried spaetzel fill the plate.
We also ordered apple strudel and a Bavarian creme torte. Neither were particularly good and the blood in my brain soon left to my stomach, aiding in the massive task of digesting the 5,000+ calories that I had just consumed.
So, that being said, I forgot to take pictures of them.
Helga's is a very popular restaurant and was packed while we were there. The service was fine--friendly, informative; and, I may have, maybe recommended it in my starving stage. However, looking at these photos now as I shift my weight around in my chair, trying to find a comfortable spot, I would have to say that "no", I'm probably not going back. This food is so damn rich and not so amazingly delicious for the price you end up paying--$$ or otherwise. In fact, I ended up spending my Aurora budget for the week (not entirely Helga's fault!).
There may be a few holes in my blog this week. I'll try to get to a few markets, at least. There are so many on S.Havana and S. Parker Rd.!! I also drove past an Ethiopian market tonight on E. Exposition...
No comments:
Post a Comment