This is one of my favorite recipes, because it’s super easy and makes chicken strips for days. I’ve found that while coconut flour gives these fried chicken tenders a nice, fluffy texture, the tend to be very dry. Meanwhile, using purely almond flour gives the recipe an excellent moisture, but the fried crust tends to be extremely crumbly. A 1:1 mixture of both coconut and almond flour makes for a perfect batter. Avocado oil works well for frying because of the high temperature smoke point, something that olive oil and coconut oil just can’t match. As for vegetable oil, well, you should know better! Grapeseed oil and bacon grease, however, will both work in a pinch.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or seasalt)
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 eggs, cage free, vegetarian fed
• 1 lb cage free, vegetarian fed chicken tenders, or breasts cut into 1″ strips
• Avocado oil

Station 4 adds to the small but growing number of establishments at the Southwest Waterfront area of DC, which is to say, maybe the second place that’s open down there, not counting the Arena Stage theatre next door, or the brand-spankin’-new Safeway across the street.

The buildout was clearly ambitious; a gold and black theme runs throughout the 200+ seat restaurant, with a gold painted bar, gold leather chairs, black leather benches, and crystal chandeliers abound. Posh seems to be best adjective to describe what the owners clearly envisioned when they hired a decorator, and I get that from my first step inside. But being far and away from the open wallets of downtown and situated in a much more residential neighborhood, one can’t help but feel that Station 4 is simply trying too hard to be something that it’s not.

The food here is, however, much better than what you’d expect of a neighborhood restaurant. Breadsticks are baked pita bread, sliced, left to go perfectly stale for a bit of crunch and slathered with a reasonable dose of olive tapenade for good measure. One of the more unique types of bread baskets that I’ve seen. We also got a glass of house made corn nuts, although our waitress denied that they were CornNuts, because that’d be ‘a bit too trailer park’.

Hey, I call it like I see it.

There are a wide assortment of cow, sheep, and goat cheeses available, served with macarona almonds and a sweet tomato jam. All in all good cheeses, although the blue cheeses were a bit more off-worldly looking than normal. Vibrant orange rinds and deep blue veins had a negatively visceral effect on me, so I contently took out the cow and sheep cheeses instead.

The Spicy Tuna cubes are sashimi grade tuna, topped off with a yuzu-jalapeno foam, and served in a reflecting pool of lemongrass infused soy sauce, with bamboo skewers keeping them from floating off into the wind. A fantastic dish, but by and far I think the foams would really go under the radar for the majority of the people that eat here, especially the subtle jalapeno flavor that sits on top of each morsel.

The Stuffed Zucchini, filled with goat cheese, toasted almonds, and romanesco sauce, are a nice entry to a meal for any vegetarian with fantastic complementing tastes and textures, but lack the presentation one would expect from the kitchen of a chef trained at el Bulli, which was not too long ago considered the world’s best restaurant…but in the league of competing restaurants, second place isn’t too bad.

Pizzas are in the plenty here at Station 4, and not a single one looks like a bad choice on the menu. We decide to try three of them for a fair sampling to share. The Roasted Vegetable comes packed with eggplants, zucchini, onion, goat cheese, and fresh arugula on top, hearty and laden with enough greens to make any vegetarian happy. On the other side of the spectrum is the Station 4 – a pie topped with pork belly, salsa, caramelized onions, and blue cheese, another example of why pork really is the perfect meat. IT GOES ON EVERYTHING. PERFECTLY.

For the more classically minded diner, the restaurant does offer the traditional Margherita pizza, with fresh buffalo mozzarella, confit cherry tomatoes, and basil.

If pizzas aren’t your thing, there’s also an entire section of entrees such as the Flying Duck, a serving of duck breast with passion fruit-lavender gastrique with caramelized fennel and a foie gras foam, that look plenty tantalizing to read over, and definitely worth a try.

It was nice to get out to one of the other neighborhoods of DC, and the Waterfront area is quickly coming up into its own as a pretty nice little neighborhood to be in. The restaurant is a fantastic addition to the cluster of businesses that meet together at the top of the exit/entrance of the metro, but still feels like it’s trying a bit too hard to be something it’s not. The food is good, very good, mind you, but maybe not quite something I’d call amazingly great.  If you’re in the area to see a show or visit some friends, I recommend stopping by for a bite, but it’s not quite a destination by itself.

See Station 4 on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Neighborhood Noms
• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters

Not Recommended For:

• El Bulli Expectations
• Downtown Dahlias
• Hotspot Hunters
• First Introduction of the Parents to your Boyfriend, Who Finds Seasonal Employment as a Stripmall Santa

It’s a fact that there aren’t many diners in the District, something that’s by and far relegated to the suburbs of MD and VA. It’s also a fact that I love greasy spoons and diners because of the fact that you can get breakfast orders in just about as late as you’d like during the day. So Jen took me off on an adventure to explore the city, navigating the streets of Capitol Hill until we reached our destination…Pete’s Diner.

Pete has long since come and gone both in ownership and in life, but the two little Asian ladies that run it these days aren’t short in character or energy. The diner is strange hodgepodge of eclectic decorations, from fake fir trees, spray-painted bamboo decorations, Chinese calendars, police badge collections, even a Buddha shrine, this is everything I’d think of putting together in a strange culture clash of a restaurant and calling it the Chinese American Diner. Even the coffee here, albeit a bit on the weak side, is served in giant Chinese tea cups.

The diner does offer traditional American breakfast favorites, including a variety of omelets. Jen had a Spinach Omelet with Swiss Cheese, while I opted for the Western – whipped up with bacon, snausage, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. It’s served with a hefty serving of home fries, toast, and topped with a ‘this little piggy’ sprig of bacon.

Pancakes are also on deck- I ordered a side of Sweet Potato Pancakes to share with Jen. Fluffy, moist pancakes that unfortunately aren’t gluten free, but for most people, that’ll work out just fine.

While nothing about the food or this diner stands out as extraordinary, it does serve as a nice little anchor of dining space to give Capitol Hill a bit more color. The owners are vocal, jovial, and aren’t afraid to get a little friendly- one of the owners started to touch and coo over my bicep, while the other admonished her.

“HEY! NO TOUCH CUSTOMERS! LOOK ONLY!”

As it turns out, the one thing I can’t count on my girlfriend for is to save me from being molested from tiny Asian ladies. Thanks for the help, babe.

All in all, a tiny greasy spoon like this isn’t the type of place Jen and I would go to again and again, but it’s a nice little neighborhood spot, crucially placed right next to the Library of Congress. They also offer a number of sammiches, milkshakes, soups, subs, salads, and amazing meal deals to keep a little extra scratch in your wallet.

Make sure you’ve loaded up on hard currency though, this place runs strictly on cash.

See Pete’s Diner on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Frugalistas
• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• Zone Dieters
• Greasy Spoon Gorging

Not Recommended For:

• Black Tie Brunches
• Organic Omelets
• Five Fork Placesetting Feasts

I never grew up thinking salad as being a satisfying meal until I became an adult. Maybe it’s because we’re served such crap salads when we were kids. Iceberg lettuce, shredded carrots, maybe half a tomato. In fact, airlines do their best to keep the tradition alive on long flights, serving you the exact same salad on long flights.

Well, screw that.

Chop’t is a salad company that’s recently celebrate their 10 year anniversary, with several locations spread throughout NYC and DC. Their salads are a bit on the expensive side, but they don’t skimp one bit on the ingredients or portion size. My favorite part? The recent switch to antibiotic free, hormone free, free range chicken in all their locations. I find myself drawn to getting a salad at least once a week as a treat, building it from the ground up with ingredients such as ancho chile chicken, goat cheese, fresh cherry tomatoes, spinach, arugula, and a regularly rotation selection of dressings that only ever use honey or agave nectar for sweetners.

The owners swap in seasonal ingredients and pre-selected salad combinations for the indecisive types, but I highly recommend experimenting and making up something that’s all your own.

And the best part about the salads? They’re hysterial.

Find a Chop’t near you here.

Of course, for all of you salad haters, you could make your salad DOUBLY paleo by adding your own meat.

The rich bass heavy sounds of dub pour out into the streets from this dimly lit restaurant, with vibrations so deep, you can feel ‘dem in Jamaica. Spur Tree Lounge emphasizes its Jamaican roots both in music and cuisine, of which the latter is paired with typical Asian fare for a mix that actually turns it out rather nicely.

Jen’s Fried Vegetable Dumplings with Scallion Aioli were good, but nothing extraordinary. That being said, it’s certainly difficult to outdo the dumplings you could have at a number of restaurants in Chinatown not more than a few blocks away.

I ordered the Grilled Jamaican Jerk Wings with the Spicy Balsamic Sauce. I’m not sure if it’s been a long while since I’ve had chicken wings, but these were about as good of an order of them as I can remember. Just thinking about the perfectly seared, tender wings with just a hint of spiciness has me watering at the mouth all over again. It’s nice that the wings are no skimp on the proportion of meat here, either.

Jen’s main course, Organic Veggie Burger, fell a little flat both in presentation and taste. The patty seems lilliputian in comparison to it’s bun, something that’s a disappointment in knowing that the organic cheese comes as an extra. The spicy coco bread bun does live up to its name, giving a slight tingle to your tongue with every bite. The two spoons and small side salad are a nice touch to raise the bar of this order to something that’s just barely respectable. The portion size was just about right for Jen, but if it were me eating this, I’d be pretty upset with the burger to bun ratio here.

The June Plum Glazed Baby Back Pork Ribs, thankfully, take the table to a turn for the better. Succulent, thick cut baby back ribs coated in a deliciously sweet and sticky sauce and then thoughtfully topped with chopped fresh green onions that will have tearing through each piece after you’re eaten them all in search for another bite. I considered ordering another plate for myself and getting a cab to cart my fat, belly-filled ass home, but thought better of it. What good is NYC if you can’t pound out a couple of miles on foot? Served with a side salad, this is a good for either just one person or shared between two.

Desserts here are, graciously, no slouch either. The Warm Banana Bread Pudding is topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, covered with a rum mango caramel sauce and sprinkled with fresh blueberries. The ice cream melts fast, so your spoonwork will just have to be a bit faster in devouring this plate before it turns into a bowl of soup over the warm bread pudding.

The food here isn’t exactly consistent. There are some very well thought out dishes that excel for a casual meal out, and then there are some that are in some serious rework to balance out the available offerings. The restaurant does take extra steps to distinguish itself through higher quality ingredients and thoughtful preparation, which did not go unnoticed by either Jen or me.

The service here is by and far some of the best service we experienced all weekend, at any restaurant. My water glass was never once completely drained, and Sean John, the restaurateur, is a gregarious tall fellow who’ll come by and chat with you to talk about your day’s travels and city exploits. The staff is very friendly and we were served by a number of people, despite the table space being at a premium at this smaller establishment. The lights are turned down low, and the dub plays high throughout your meal, so if you’re a fan of kicking back with a bottle of Red Stripe and getting down with the riddims, you’ll feel right at home here at Spur Tree Lounge on any given night of the year.

See Spur Tree Lounge on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Drinks ‘n’ Dub
• Dreadlock Rastafasians
• Lowkey Lunches & Brunches
• Spliff Politics

Not Recommended For:

• Your Baby’s Sixth Berfday
• Broadway Dinners
• Karma Karma Chameleons
• Voracious Vegans

There’s an old saying that I’ll horribly butcher for the purpose of making it fit for my own use. You can take the barbecue out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of barbecue. Welcome to Hill Country, the big city interpretation of the famed Texan style barbecue markets. This New York City based restaurant boasts in-house smoked beef brisket, snausage, and both beef and pork ribs. That’s not to mention their fixin’s bar- a cornucopia of every kind of southern side dish you could think of. Add in long neck bottles of beer, bourbons, whiskeys, tequilas, and plenty of live bands, and you might just have carved out a little bit of the Lone Star state in the District.

A first visit to Hill Country can be completely overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what you’re in for. Patrons are not allowed into the dining area without a card, and you’re not allowed to leave without a card (or a $50 fee for a lost card). So the #1 rule here is, don’t lose your card. Think of it as your meat wallet. Your passport to Meatlandia. Your visa to the Commonwealth of Country BBQ. Everything you order here at Hill Country is going to be marked on this card. Servers have rather untraditional roles here – they’ll take your drink orders and clear your table, but you’re on your own to order and pick up your food.

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to order from the 42903482 menus adorning the walls or on your order card, you can head to the back of the restaurant, where you’ll queue up to the butcher station and pick your meats. Meats can be ordered by the pound, but if you’re looking for a preselected variety, you can order specials that let you sample a number of things for a slightly reduced cost. For instance, the Pitmaster’s Combo gets you 1/4 lb of Lean Brisket, One Pork Spare Rib, One Beef Spare Rib, a Quarter of a Chicken, and two 8 oz sides for $24.

Your meat order is then dutifully wrapped in brown waxed paper, and you’re set to carry it off neatly on your plastic tray. Or if you happen to go with the four person combo, be prepared to bring bag a tray loaded with a enormous bag of wrapped, smoked meats.

The sides bar is loaded with plenty of choices, and the server will happily let you try any and all of them to your heart’s content. I highly recommend getting at least an order of the baked beans and the corn pudding, although the collard greens and the potato salad aren’t too shabby, either.

The smoked meats here are amazing, and they damn well better be at the prices they charge, which range from $8/lb for the market chicken, all the way up to $22/lb for the web brisket. A little bit on the oil tycoon end of things, but I guess it’s cheaper than a round trip ticket to Austin, TX for dinner.

Every order of meat comes with your choice of free bread or crackers, which I don’t quite understand. My group, unable to turn down anything free, opted for the bread, which is readily stocked in completely loaded shelves. My recommendation? Skip both.

There’s no shame in rollin’ up your sleeves and goin’ to town on your ribs with a good slather’n of barbecue sauce without the bread, anyways. The brisket is juicy and tender, and the pork rib is some of the best I’ve had in town. The chicken and beef rib, however, could get a pass from me on my next visit. I’d recommend splitting your order between the two aforementioned meats and skipping on the rest.

If you’re still feeling a tinge hungry after all of that, there’s always dessert. Loaded with everything from bread puddings, cupcakes, cookies, sheet cake, and crisps, I had a hard time making the pick for the “best” options here. Thankfully, I was tasked with picking out three for my table rather than just one, making the job an easier one.

You can’t go wrong with size. So the first thing to hit the plate was the five layer red velvet cake. Standing at least five inches high, watching a slice get placed on a plate is like watching a redwood tree get chopped down in the forest and then slathered in frosting before being handed off to you to eat. Extremely moist, rich, and not for the faith of heart.

The sweet potato bread pudding was an interesting twist on a traditional favorite of mine. Topped with a meticulously melted marshmallow and served in a tiny mason jar, this’ll win over any bread pudding fan with ease.

Last, and unfortunately, least of all, is the house Texas sheet cake. While a good bit more appealing in the case and hovering somewhere between a brownie and a cake, this dessert turned out entirely too rich for the tastes of everybody at my table. The generous scoop of hand scooped Blue Bell Ice cream was a nice touch, but still not enough to save this dessert. Skip this and head for the bread pudding or the red velvet cake instead.

A little bit of country and little bit of rock’n'roll, Hill Country Barbecue is the perfect mix of a little bit of wrong and a little bit of right. While the implemented ordering system is a bit complicated for newcomers, regular diners who haven’t suffered a coronary from regularly visits will love this Texan outpost that sits in the middle of the touristy streets of Penn Quarter. Service is very friendly and accommodating, and you’re encouraged to stay as long as you like.

Better come in those stretchy, elastic banded eating pants of yours. Don’t wanna put out any eyes with a button popping off.

See Hill Country Barbecue Market on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Homesick Houstonites
• Brisket’n'Brew Barbecue Bromances
• Legbound Landmark Visitin’ Tourists

Not Recommended For:

• Fancy Nancys
• Serve Me Sallys
• Vegetarians
• Frugalistas

DC is blessed with a gastroculture that can accommodate nearly all varietal tastes. Finding a niche cuisine that hasn’t already been overdone or given the title of “The best **** in DC.” is a challenge in itself, so it’s nice to find a place that attempts to do things a little differently.

Kushi Izakaya & Sushi Bar requires a little bit of background history and explanation to fully appreciate it’s contribution to the food scene. I’d assume that most people know what a sushi bar is, but the mentioning of izakaya conjures up visualizations of quirky anime comic strips and a giant fire-breathing lizard that stomps out the buildings of Tokyo.

Or maybe right now you’re thinking of a dance off with said Godzilla against and equally gigantic personality.

An izakaya refers to a Japanese establishment that focuses primarily on drinks, especially after work, but still serves food. Think of it as a place that falls somewhere in between a full on restaurant and a full on bar, or even as a Japanese tapas house. While the concept is a fairly popular one in Japan, it’s not necessarily one that might stand up on its own here in the states, so the inclusion of a sushi bar is a pretty smart plan.

The izakaya portion of Kushi seems to center around bite-sized skewers of meat, which vary between chicken, pork, duck, and beef.  Each skewer comes out on with a pinch of sea salt and seasoning, so you can adjust the flavor our your meat accordingly.

Unfortunately for me, I came in on the last day of a local promotion, and a number of dishes I chose with the served seemed to be popular, and therefore, completely sold out.

Me: I’d like to order the wagyu beef skewer.

Waitress: We’re out of that.

Me: Okay, I’ll take the pork belly, the pork rib, and a chicken with scallions skewer.

What came out were two pork bellies and a chicken skewer, which was pretty close to what I ordered. Y’know, except my pork rib. C’mon, where my pork rib? I mean how much for just one rib? Eight dollars? GOOD LAWD.

The same story went for my salad.

Me: I’d also like to order the seaweed salad.

Waitress: Oh, we’re out of that too.

Me: Okay, well I guess that leaves me to the house salad  instead.

At least the house salad wasn’t a giant bowl of iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots. The bowl of mixed greens comprised of spinach, arugula, and cherry tomatoes with a ginger dressing was a nice substitution, although clearly an issue for people like Jen if the only other available vegetarian options are the pickled vegetables on the menu.

Me: I’ll have the wagyu hot plate as my main course, please.

Waitress: We’re…out of that, too.

Sweet merciful crap, does this restaurant keep anything in the fridge?

Thankfully, the fish here are flown in daily, and the expertly cut slices exude freshness, most notably in the saba (mackerel), my favorite of them all. Saba tastes amazing when it’s fresh, but it gets a distinctively fishier taste the longer it’s been sitting on the shelf. The addition of sea scallops and sea urchin were a nice, unique surprise, as these rarely make their way onto a sashimi plate.

And just to make sure I got everything out of this lunch, I put in for an order of the eel, too.

Kushi still has a couple of wrinkles to smooth out with handling large promotions, but it’s not something I really fault them for, as almost no small business knows just how much they’ll get slammed on the last day before a coupon expires without having experienced it firsthand. The service is average- friendly, but not 100% on point in communicating with the customer or the kitchen. The restaurant has opted for a fairly minimal decorative theme, with enormous paper lanterns that dangle from rafters, a few odds and ends placed up on the walls, but nothing substantial. In retrospect, it would seem that the build out is much better suited for turning the place into a giant bar at night, which is very likely the case, given the name.

If you haven’t had izakaya before, this is certainly a nice introduction to a part of Japanese gastronomic culture, but it’s far from inexpensive here. The izakaya averages out to be about $3/bite, which is high for even urban pricing standards. A lunch will easily run you upwards to $50 with tip, and that’s without the inclusion of drinks. The quality of food is absolutely superb, but I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to go back again, given the prices.

See Kushi on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Sakebomb Sallys
• Business Jerk Powerlunches

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Frugal First Dates
• Agoraphobic Amys

There’s a single highway that cuts through Khuk Khak, with a number of shops that stand shoulder to shoulder underneath the sweltering Thailand sun. Vendors hawk knock-off Louis Vuitton bags, scuba travel companies offer trips out to sea, and restaurants are beyond abundant. So much so, that it’s slightly difficult to pick out one that’s better than another. While walking up the highway, Jen pointed out one restaurant, Dao Thong, and suggested we stop in for lunch. The twin peaked rooftop looks as if the restaurant had been expanded at some point in the past, taking over its neighbor and doubling in serviceable size. I kept it in mind and hoped it was a good sign.

The front of the restaurant nearly spills over with ferns, plants, and bamboo plants. Pass through the veritable garden and you’re greeted by a number of tables made out of thick tree trunk slabs that give the establishment a very cozy and natural feel.

On closer inspection of our surroundings, after being seated, Jen notices that a number of the dangling orchids are actually potted inside of coconut husks held together with wire and pure resourcefulness.

A little sense of humor goes a long way with the two of us, something that the kitchen staff clearly understood with their cup and glass selection. Jen ordered a Pina Colada, made with the freshest of fresh coconut milk and carefully poured into a glass I should have offered to purchase after our meal.

Hot. But wait.

There’s more.

Pow.

My Thai Iced Tea, which apparently is just called “Iced Black Tea” in Thailand (go figure) was considerably tamer in comparison, but still a high quality pour despite the absence of alcohol. The restaurant opts to use pure honey as a sweetener instead of sweetened condensed milk or sugar, which makes me wonder why every other place in the world doesn’t serve it like this.

Not even a plate of food and already the restaurant is setting the bar high for itself.

The Tom Kha Gai, a spicy coconut broth based soup with chicken, scallions, peppers, and parsley, was a suitable kick in the face with a request of even the most minimal spiciness. Probably somewhere around 40,000 on the Scoville Scale. Surprisingly, the soup is good and tasty even on the most humid of Thai days, and comes decorated with a large, unripened mango flower atop a lettuce bowl of fresh shredded veggies.

Jen ordered the battered corn cakes, deep fried a golden brown and served with a sweet dipping sauce and garnished with a radish flower, easily a $8.00 USD dish in one of the fancier restaurants in DC, but a whopping $3.35 USD in Thailand. Then again, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a dish like this on any Thai menu that I’ve eaten at stateside, and it was worth the money to try out this northern Thai specialty.

For my entree, I ordered the seafood salad, a mix of s’crimps, calamari, octopus,  scallops, and assorted vegetables, tossed with another spicy sauce, and served with carrot flowers. The presentation alone was worth it the order. The seafood is super fresh, and there wasn’t anything wrong with the dish itself, but I doubt I’d order this dish elsewhere – seafood salad just isn’t my thing.

Jen’s spicy cashew salad was more fitting to her tastes – a blazing hot blend of cashews, onions, celery, and thai chilies, once again garnished with the types of flowers you rarely see outside of hotels or other kitchens with a large enough staff to cut these things out of vegetables.

Dao Thong also offers free dessert with every meal, and true to their claim, we were presented with a plate full of fried banana bites, accompanied by a small bowl of sweetened condensed milk for dipping, and garnished with an orchid bloom from their hanging garden.

If these mini fried cakes weren’t filled with molten hot bananas picked from the Eyjafjallajökull crater itself, I’m pretty sure I would have inhaled these things in a split second. I could eat a giant plate of these for lunch any and every day until I started to serious pork out. A nice little treat from the kitchen that goes above and beyond what most restaurants will do, especially for such an unassuming place.

Dao Thong doesn’t stand out as the most extravagant places when you’re passing by, but maybe that’s part of why it’s so great. Jen’s great eye really picked a solid place for us to eat, possibly THE best place in Khao Lak that’s not on the grounds of a resort. The restaurant also has a number of kitschy souvenirs to buy, and is an absolute must if you’re vacationing here instead of the bustling streets of Phuket. I’d even warrant to say it’s worth a couple of meals, as all of this cost us less than $15.00 USD with tip, you’d be hard pressed to find a better restaurant in town.

See Dao Thong on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Vacationing Velmas
• Frugalistas
• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• Ducking Passing Storms

Not Recommended For:

• Climate Control Cathys
• Cambodian Cultural Preservationists
• Floraphobics
• Midwest Palette Marthas

The JW Marriott in Khao Lak, Thailand is a resort that transports you far and away from reality. The entire place is the most luxurious and exotic locale I’ve ever visited, boasting seven different dining choices spread throughout the resort. The Waterfront, which aptly named for its location not more than 20 paces from the Andaman Sea, offers a smorgasboard of international cuisine on a daily basis.

If the idea of waking up to paradise and relaxation isn’t enough of an incentive to get out of bed every morning here, this brunch buffet ought to do the trick. By now, you should have an idea of what fat kid tendencies I still maintain from my youth, and this place plays right up to those yearnings.

Several stations fill up the perimeter of the restaurant, including a bread station (with fresh baked breaks, pastries, waffles, pancakes, and a crockpot of bread pudding), a stir fry station with the option to have a custom made stir fry with your chosen ingredients, an egg station (hard boiled eggs, soft boiled eggs, fresh eggs florentine, eggs benedict, and omelettes), a dim sum station (with sweet red bean buns, shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, custom congee, and fried rice), a row of meats (includ ham, bacon, snausage, and baked beans), and my personal favorite, a coffee and juice bar.

Several chilled buckets filled with fresh juices adorned the countertops, such as the Khao Lak Booster, a blend of mango, pineapple juice, ginger, and mint leaves, which garnered the most love from both Jen and me. The option to have your own specific blend of various fruits and juices existed, but, hey, why reinvent the wheel? Don’t make me think, just strap a feedbag to my face and let me do what I do best, baby.

I don’t think I made it up for a single round of food without refilling my glass with this stuff.

The option to have your choice of coffee, with unlimited refills, begged for experimentation in orders. I started with the lattes…

Which got me started on the cappucinos…

I started dipping into mochas, which the barista really had fun with. It turns out that not many other tourists were into mochas, so she went crazy with the chocolate sauce. Sorry, it got inhaled in a single gulp before I could snap off a photo.

I did manage to stay fairly paleo, straying off the beaten path of my eating plan only two days of our week stay here. It was surprisingly easy to do. That is, staying paleo. Grilled tomatoes, bacon, omelettes, ham salads, and fresh vegetables were always plentiful.

Jen cozied up to the various vegetarian offerings with her grilled tomatoes, red bean bun, fruit, pastries, omelettes, and hearts of palm salad.

Or what she thought was a hearts of palm salad, which after a quick implosion of her face, made me realize that she had picked up a giant scoop of calamari salad instead.

WHOOOPS!

Well. The ever doting boyfriend that I am, I helped remove it from her plate and dispose of it in my face. Maw. OMNOMNOMONOM.

The center island hosted a whole other section of various delights, including smoked salmon, prosciutto, chicken bologna (uh what?), cheeses, and a wide array of nuts.

Plenty of fresh vegetables and salads were available, with the salad offerings rotating daily.

Living up to the tropical expectations, plenty of fresh fruits were readily available, including cantaloupe, bananas, apples, watermelon, papaya, honeydew, dragonfruit, and guava.

Did I mention the fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh squeeze strawberry juice? I didn’t even know you could have strawberry juice.

It should go without saying that if you happen to stay here at the JW Marriott, you should definitely take in at least one meal at the Waterfront. The restaurant is spotless, staff is bend-over-backwards accommodating, and the cuisine is laid out to satisfy almost any diet, whether you’re paleo, vegetarian, vegan, zone, British, German, Norweigian, or Cannibal.

Okay, not Cannibal. But have some the bacon. It’s just as good.

See the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Gastronomic Globetrotters
• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads
• Baron Von Eatsalots

A little crafting in the kitchen a few weeks ago and I came up with this recipe. With rising temperatures and the changes in season, this is a nice way to cool out with the berries you pick up at the farmer’s market.

It also uses the Arbonne Essentials chocolate protein powder, which uses stevia as a sweetner. Stevia isn’t 100% paleo, but if that’s the only bad thing about this dessert, I think I can live with that. I haven’t found another protein powder that works as well as this for getting a nice balance in consistency, flavor, and ingredients for me besides this one to make this a vegan and paleo dessert, something that actually works great for both Jen and me anytime. Not even the vanilla powder seems to get the right consistency for me, strangely enough, but that works, because, c’mon. Chocolate.

Empty two cans of organic coconut milk into a large bowl or container. Quality does matter, and so does the fat. Light or low fat coconut milk cans aren’t going to work here, you want as much of those tasty, natural healthy fats for this recipe to work. You can always get a pretty good price on these from just about ethnic supermarket, even if you have to go with a non-organic brand.

Add four scoops of Arbonne’s chocolate protein powder, and mix well with a large spoon. Get the coconut milk to blend as well as you can with the chocolate protein powder. Half the fun is hand mixing it, and I enjoy making this stuff so much, I don’t want to waste a lick of it in a mixer.

Once you’re satisfied with the mixing, add 1/3 cup of those organic, pesticide-free blueberries. Add the 1/3 cup of organic raspberries, and finally, the last 1/3 cup of organic blackberries. Strawberries work just as well, too.

Fold in your berries of choice until they’re well mixed into your bowl, seal your container, and stick it in the fridge overnight, or for at least 4-5 hours.

When it’s ready, your mixture will have thickened into an what is a pretty gigantic bowl of omnomness. I may or may have not been accused of eating cups of this stuff in a single sitting, so I really found it was helpful to exercise some portion control.

An espresso cup seems to be just the trick. For me at least. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a junior scoop of ice cream. Half fill that minicup with your mixture, and top with a teaspoon of chopped pecans.

Fill the rest of your cup with more of the chocolate coconut mix, and then top with another teaspoon of pecans. You can garnish your dessert with a blueberry or a sprig of mint, and serve.

pow.

You can let me know how this dessert tastes yourself. The first time I had it?

Ingredients:

• 1 handful (approx 1/3 cup) of organic blueberries
• 1 handful (approx 1/3 cup) of organic raspberries
• 1 handful (approx 1/3 cup) of organic blackberries
• 4 scoops of Arbonne Chocolate Protein Powder
• 2 cans of organic coconut milk
• 2 tsp of chopped toasted pecans (that you can pick up at Trader Joe’s)