Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver, Part II

One midday Sunday last fall, hubby and I were nostalgic for those spectacular afternoon tea sessions in Tokyo, so we dragged ourselves downtown Denver to find something close to make do with. We first stopped by a small tea room near his old company's office. Of course, of all the days we picked there was a demonstration downtown that day and the small tea room was totally full with an hour wait time. So off to the Brown Palace Hotel we went, and we got the last table too!

The Capital Grille, Denver

The Capital Grille in Denver is another "special-occasions" spot hubby and I sometimes visit. It's a chain, yes, a high-end steak house like Ruth Chris, and in case you're wondering, there isn't a Ruth Chris in Colorado :P

Yum Yum Spice Asian Cuisine, Denver

When hubby and I moved home the fall of 2016, among the things that made me really sad was the lack of good Chinese food. Say what you will but after Tokyo and a whirlwind tour of Taipei where J., hubby, and I stuffed as much yummy food as our tummies could handle, coming home to this "House Special Chowfun" below was down right depressing, to say the least. 

I'm not going to name this offending restaurant but suffice to say I never went back :( Boo. Hiss.

On one particular sad Friday night, I was desperate for something, anything, reminiscent of the yummy food we'd enjoyed in Taipei. J. also happened to be visiting from SF that weekend and so I took to the internet and came upon this Yum Yum Spice Asian Cuisine in Denver.

Uncle Joe's, A Hong Kong Bistro, Denver

The day before hubby was done with his conference, I spotted Uncle Joe's, A Hong Kong Bistro, across the street from our hotel and got totally excited about giving the place a try. 

It was definitely a trendy restaurant serving "new" Chinese cuisine. The food was meh and of course over-priced, because somebody's got to pay for all that poshy decor. I was totally silly with my expectations to begin with.

Here's the menu. Click to zoom.

 

Osteria Marco, Denver

Denver used to be SIL's stomping ground and naturally, we asked her for food recommendations when we were there. She suggested Osteria Marco. We went, and our conclusion was that the food was heavy and hearty but delicious, the portions were way too big and the place was way too loud. So go in a big group but expect to yell and scream to be heard.

The food was really good though, and the menu is huge! Hubby and I started out with meatball sliders and tomato basil soup, both of which were yummy.

Embassy Suites Denver Downtown Convention Center, Denver

While in Denver for the conference, hubby and I stayed at the Embassy Suites Denver, at the Downtown Convention Center location (where every other conference-goer was staying...). Overall it was a good stay, although with a hiccup at the beginning.

Here's the view from the entrance door. Somehow we lucked out with a 2-room suite with a seating area that has a queen sleeper sofa. It was an apartment-sized hotel suite and we honestly didn't know what to do with all the space we had!

Colorado Convention Center, Denver

After-hour one day, hubby snuck me into the Colorado Convention Center where the conference was. Even though no one was there, we were stopped multiple times and hubby had to produce his badge :X

Afternoon Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel, Denver

Back in July, hubby attended a week-long conference in Denver. Since I was going to start school the week after, we booked a hotel room and treated it as a mini vacation. The first day while he was in his workshops, my sister and I met up at the Brown Palace Hotel for afternoon tea ^.^

Taste of Colorado, Denver

Over the Labor Day weekend, my family and I went to the Taste of Colorado Festival, which is held every year around this time. It's basically a huge festival with lots of food, snacks, desserts, drinks, and other craft tents covering several stretches of street around the Denver City Hall and Capitol Building. There are live music too!

Patisserie Chou Chou

What do you do when there's a French patisserie right around the corner of your house, as in, 4 minutes walk away?

The college girls fear the freshman-15, I fear the foreigner-20. Can you blame me?

You would never guess that behind the door of the quaint little Patisserie Chou Chou is a tall and stern-looking Japanese man in his chef uniform. But don't let his mask scare you. Evidently, he's a sweet, sweet man ^.^

The first time when hubby brought home some Chou Chou sweets for me, we both gobbled them all up before I could take a picture. This time, I was able to stop myself to take a photo :) Check out this Japanese review site for even more pictures, including a photo of the store front, which I was reluctant to snap. These are not the best little cakes I've had (and the Japanese review site agrees with me!), but for a mere 4 minutes walk, they'll certainly hold me over for a while. I must note that I do appreciate very much the fact that Chou Chou's pastries are on the light side and are not overly sweet at all!

Clockwise from top:

- Coffee eclair

- Pistachio mousse cake

- Strawberry mousse cake

- Cream puff

Taped to the left side of the box is a mini icepack, just to keep the sweets chilled in the melty Japanese summer.

And where have I had the best little cakes?

I have had the best coffee and chocolate eclairs as well as different flavor napoleons (original, pistachio, strawberry, raspberry, etc.) at The Little Chef Pastry Shop, but his cakes and tarts are a bit too sweet for my taste.

Chez Alice has the most delicious red velvet cake. Ever. I generally love their cakes, but overall my experience with Chez Alice was marred by 2 incidents in which they sold me moldy cakes. As in, I bought the cakes, brought them home, ate a slice, thought it tasted funny, dumped the slice into the trash bin only to see medallions of green and white fuzzy mold at the bottom of the slice, dumped the whole cake into the trash bin and saw the same on the rest of the cake. Yep, not once, but twice. I stopped buying their cakes unless it was a special order and made fresh.

I think my favorite cake shop would have to be Andre's Confiserie Suisse. I learned of them several years back when my cousin, J., had a Mocca Torte cake made there for a special occasion. I became a devoted fan since. Their mini pastries can be a tad on the sweet side, their Mocca Torte, Tiramisu, or just tortes in general, are to die for. Need proof? Here.

Tiramisu Torte

The Mix Torte, for when you can't have just one, like me, with a quarter each of (clockwise from top) Rum, Chocolate, my beloved Mocca, and Pistachio Torte.

A slice I can't have enough of.