Today, Wednesday August 19th I went for the first time to an Asian Cafe named Perfect Diner. I went there with my friend Bruce, and we both had the same thing, which was the Combo Hot Chili Pot. The cost was $16.95 and it was so large a serving that we should have split it half and half.

Photo Credit: Khoa Ly

This dish was very spicy, however we are both fans a spicy foods, and it was overwhelmingly so. The dish consists of several items such as octopus, squid, hot dogs, chopped up sausage links, and slices of beef. It also contains several vegetables such as potato, cauliflower, lion’s mane mushrooms, what appeared to be wood ear mushrooms, and an unknown mushroom, plus carrots and jalapeno peppers, and I think a small amount of bell pepper. It also is cooked with a small amount of Asian chili oil. Because of the time of the day between three and four P.M. Bruce and I were the only customers there so we got seated instantly, and we’re attended to quite frequently. On a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest, I would probably give the entire experience between a 4 1/2 and a 5 on such a scale and I will go back in the future to try more of their dishes.

Honest Abe’s is a fairly new addition to the Lincoln Ne restaurants known for their hamburgers. You probably don’t think that much can be said about hamburgers but I beg to differ as these are what I would refer to as “grade a” gourmet hamburgers. Their motto is “We make honest burgers for honest people.”

I was accompanied on our first trip for all of us to Honest Abe’s by my friends Logan and Kathy Harris and their daughter Torri. Honest Abe’s is located at 854 N 70th St in Lincoln which is in the Meadowlane Shopping Center. Their hours are Monday through Saturday 11 Am to 9 PM.

The first part of my review is the only real negative and that is concerning the atmosphere. The interior of Honest Abe’s is quite small, and therefore seating can be quite limited and quite crowded. In the future I would get my meal to go. Because the clerk/ server was so kind and cheerful I will give the rating on the atmosphere a “good” rather than a “poor” or “fair” rating.

I would grade the wait for the food and the service given both as excellent.

Each of us tried something different and overall we were all pleased with our selections. Kathy had the “Greatest Burger Ever” which consisted of a 6 oz beef patty / apple-wood bacon/ grilled onions / romaine lettuce/ American cheese/ awesome sauce? / and ketchup. She didn’t say much about the burger except that she liked it and although it was quite large as were all of our burgers she liked it.

Logan had the burger called “The Fireside” which was made with a 6 oz beef patty/ jalapeno -bacon crumble/ sriracha ketchup/ pepper-jack cheese/ cumin lime mayo/ and romaine lettuce. I asked him if he thought it was as spicy as he expected and he said it wasn’t but that it was very good.

I had the “Curry Up & Get It” which I expected to have a curry flavor but it didn’t. The ingredients for this burger are a 6 oz beef patty/ Abe’s sauce/ feta cheese/ pickled cauliflower/ and baby spinach. It was a bit more bland than I expected but I still enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the very flavorful Parmesan truffle fries and thought that they were excellent.

Torri had a children’s meal consisting of a hamburger and fries and soft drink which she couldn’t finish because she said she was full.

We all agreed that the hamburger buns could have been “less bready” or possibly toasted.

I would on a scale of poor to excellent give the food a “great” rating.

Because of the small size of the location I can only rate our overall dining experience as “good” rather “great” or excellent.”

On the site grounduprestaurants.com/honestabes.html they state “And one more thing, our menu revolves like a pistol, so be sure to check back for our most recent creations on location, or on our Facebook page. www.facebook.com/eatabes

Mr. Hui’s is a new Asian restaurant in Lincoln, NE that opened in October of 2012. It is located at 3255 Cornusker Highway, Suite B6, Lincoln, NE 68504. This review is written after my second time visiting this establishment.

If you are a fan of Chinese food. especially with an authentic flair, be prepared for great flavors as this restaurant definitely has them, although there are foods per my own tastes that I would recommend and others that I would not.

Upon my first visit I was not prepared for a review but just for the sake of giving an example of their various Asian cuisine I had the Crispy Salted Frog Legs on that occasion. They were cooked with white onion and cilantro. The taste was great but I am used to Chinese food that has a sauce and I wasn’t prepared at that time deal with meat that had bones in it. I may get it again in the future as it was indeed tasty, just not what I was quite expecting on that particular occasion.

My latest visit was on the evening of February 2, 2013. At that time I went alone to Mr. Hui’s. I was promptly greeted by a waitress who seated me immediately and she was back in less than five minutes to take my order. I ordered seaweed salad, seafood hot and sour soup, and sizzling beef. For a beverage on this occasion I ordered hot taro milk tea.

The waitress came back in another five minutes and informed me that they were out of seaweed salad. That could be a positive in that it is so popular that they sell a great deal of it or it could be a negative in that they were not prepared to sell much of it. I will try it the next time that I am there and add a comment to this post. I replaced this item with two spring rolls.

Spring Rolls

About ten minutes later the spring rolls came. Different than what I expected as I am used to spring rolls not being deep fried and just having their ingredients wrapped in rice paper. They were good however and I enjoyed them with some Sriracha hot chili sauce. On a scale of poor to fantastic, I would say that the taste in my opinion would fall between good and great.

Next my opinion of the taro milk tea. Iced this may be enjoyable but to have it as a hot drink, which was actually closer to lukewarm than hot, I was not impressed. It reminded me of warm strawberry milk in taste. Next time I will have their hot passion fruit green tea that I had tried in the past as a take out beverage. It was quite good if you like a fruit flavored green tea that is very sweet.

The seafood hot and sour soup in my opinion was fantastic. I usually like hot and sour soup anyway except from buffet style restaurants. This hot and sour soup is especially spicy as I like and in addition it has shrimp, scallops and mock crab meat. I would highly recommend it.

Seafood Hot and Sour Soup

The last dish to be reviewed is the Sizzling Beef. I wouldn’t say it was fantastic which is the highest praise that I would give any particular dish but it was great, which is on the cusp of being fantastic. The presentation was great with the server bringing it my table on a metal plate on a wooden base with the food sizzling and steaming hot. The sauce was reminiscent of beef with broccoli. It was loaded with several vegetables such as red and green bell peppers, broccoli, snow peas, mushrooms, and white onion.

Sizzling Beef

On a scale of one to ten I would give the entire experience of the food and atmosphere of Mr. Hui’s a ten. Until someone shows them up I now consider Mr. Hui’s the best authentic Chinese food in Lincoln, NE.

Posted on September 15, 2012 by keithstieneke
Cheddar’s is a popular restautant chain across much of the United States. Cheddar’s came to Lincoln, NE several months ago. I didn’t try it for quite some time due to the death of my best friend Ray Sollenberger who often accompanied me on culinary journeys. When I finally went for the first time about four months ago with my friends K & L (real names not given) I must admit we were underwhelmed. My broccoli and cheese casserole as was K’s was cold. The rice pilaf that accompanied my steak and shrimp combination was sickenly sweet and K said that her loaded baked potato was lukewarm and the cheese was not melted and was hard. L felt that his meal was just average. All of us at that time had an experience less enjoyable than we had expected.

It was with some hesitation that I decided on Sunday September 9, 2012 to give Cheddars a second chance at tantalizing my taste buds. This time giving it another try was on the spur of the moment and I went by myself. I went in at approximately 2:15 PM and was seated immediately.

Within less than 5 minutes after being seated I was greeted by a very polite and charming young waitress named Ashley who first asked me what I wanted to drink. I already had a chance to glance at the menu and decide what I wanted. I ordered lemonade and water and Ashley asked me if instead I would like to try straweberry lemonade or raspberry lemonade. Flavored lemonade sounded intriguing so I ordered the raspberry lemonade. I told Ashley that I was ready to order, so she sat down on the other side of the booth ready to take my order. I ordered the lunch portion of the grilled salmon and two accompanying sides, those being the loaded baked potato and the broccoli and cheese casserole. I also ordered a Caesar salad for an additional $1.99.

To my surprise the Caesar salad came with a sweet yet tasty croissant. The Caesar salad was quite delicious, with the freshly grated parmesan flakes being quite large, a bit salty and very tasty. This was by far one of the best Caesar salads that I have eaten.

My main course came in record time; in fact I was not even done eating my salad, which I did finish before eating my main course. With my main course I first tried the broccoli and cheese casserole which consisted of cheese, broccoli and rice. The experience with this dish was much different than my first experience with this side dish at Cheddars as it was actually a “hot” dish this time and you could pleasantly taste all of the ingredients. I next tried the loaded baked potato which was also quite delicious and just the right temperature. With the grated cheddar cheese being melted and with just the right amount of sour cream to not be overpowering, the potato was as the saying goes “just what the doctor ordered.” Next came the grilled salmon which rested upon a small helping of buttered rice containing a few peas and carrots. The salmon was cooked just right and flaked apart as it should and the rice and vegetables that came with it and that were seasoned perfectly were an added delight.

I must also say that Ashley made the meal even more enjoyable with her smile and positive attitude. On my first visit to Cheddars I would have only given them a four on a one to ten scale with ten being the best. On this visit I would truthfully admit that they earned a ten on a one to ten scale.

You can see the Cheddar’s menu for Lincoln, NE by going here.

Panera Bread has three convenient locations in Lincoln, NE at 211 North 12th Street #100; 201 North 66th Street; and 2940 Pine Lake Road. On Wednesday August 29, 2012 I decided to visit the location at 201 North 66th Street to both enjoy the atmosphere, get some much needed writing done, and enjoy a very delicious meal.

Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad
Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad

My meal consisted of Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken salad which was delightfully comprised of Romaine lettuce, fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, fresh pineapple,mandarin oranges, pecans & fat free poppyseed dressing. Alongside this I had the Lemon Orzo Chicken soup which was also a great combination of flavors. The lemon flavor was not to strong but it was noticeable. I must not forget to mention my beverage a Frozen Mango which consisted of sweet mango puree, topped with whipped cream & raspberry sauce swirl. This was an enjoyable drink.

The entire meal came to $13.46. A little expensive but for the quality it was worth it. I am a big fan of Panera and after this meal I will be back for more.

According to http://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/panera-bread/strawberry-poppyseed-chicken-salad there are 340 calories in a 1 salad serving of Panera Bread Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad. Calorie breakdown: 32% fat, 37% carbs, 31% protein.

A healthy and delicious lunch!