Star Ginger @ The Golden 1 Center

Going to a sporting event at an arena meant that your food items would be limited to choices like nachos, pizza, and hotdogs. Nowadays, areas try to outdo each other by having the best food options available. Today I'm reviewing Star Ginger inside the Golden 1 Center. It's definitely not the type of food you'd immediately think of when watching some basketball!

Food -
Star Ginger offers up rice bowls with an Asian flare. These rice bowls are filled with rice (of course!), a protein, and a good helping of various vegetables. It's certainly a cleaner and healthier option than a loaded helmet full of nachos and cheese!

You can pick from three varieties of bowls - chicken, beef, or tofu. In my opinion all three are good choices if you'd like a nice meal during the game. Load up the bowl with purple cabbage, edamame, pickled carrots alongside your protein and you're good to go! The sauce for bowl goes on the side so you can choose just how much of it you'd like on your food.

As a primarily Asian taste experience, the flavors will be savory, but also sweet and tangy as well. Folks who are used to Asian tastes will find a lot of familiarity here. For those not accustomed to Asian flavors, get ready for a different way of experiencing food.

The bowl is easy to carry around back to your seat or to bring to a table to eat on the concourse. It's compact and perfect as something that won't make a big mess.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The cashiers at the Golden 1 Center are friendly and will help and direct you on where you need to go. When coming to Star Ginger, you have to go to the bowl creating station before you pay. The friendly workers there let me know exactly what I needed to do to get my food.

The Golden 1 Center seats can be quite crowded. Having a bowl to eat out of is really nice as it keeps your hands clean. Overall this is a great way to eat at the arena.

Price -
Arena pricing is no joke and bowls like this are upwards of $15. That is quite steep in comparison to something you could find at a regular restaurant in town, but keep in mind this is a sporting arena and food prices will be elevated. It's definitely not ideal, but it's just kinda the way it is.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
If you're a vegetarian, getting the tofu bowl is a perfect option for you. There are so many meat options around the arena, it's nice that you can find alternative dishes at places like Star Ginger.

Bottom Line - 
The prices are steep, but having a choice like fresh rice bowls at the arena is great. A few years ago you'd never think that this kind of food would be readily available while watching your favorite team. The future is here!

Letter Grade

B

Enjoying my bowl at a table on the concourse.

I have one lone bean on my chicken. Now that you see it, you can't unsee it.

Crepeland in Woodland

I really love how diverse the food options are becoming in Woodland. Crepeland adds to the diversity by offering crepes! They serve up both the sweet and the savory variety. The menu has a number of different varieties of crepes to select from with some offering unique ingredients like curry and gyro.

Food -
Crepes are typically eaten for breakfast or lunch, but they can make a nice dessert as well. The crepes here are made pretty well. The crepes themselves have a good texture, but they have some room to be a bit lighter. On my visit I went for a savory crepe. I got the Main Street which comes with cheddar, lettuce, special sauce, as well as some avocado on the top. It was pretty good crepe save for the lettuce. I just felt that it didn't belong with the mouthfeel that crepes usually have.

The savory crepes come with a side of potatoes and salad. Both sides do the job, but are about average in terms of presentation and quality. I found the potatoes to be slightly mushy, but they tasted just fine.

If you need something to drink, Crepeland offers freshly squeezed orange juice. It truly is fresh as you can see them pick out the oranges to squeeze.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The staff at Crepeland is friendly and attentive, but I felt that the dining room could have used a bit more polish. The restaurant that had this space before was trendy with some really nice accent colors. Crepeland is a bit rough around the edges. They've kept some of the former restaurant's decor and added a few of their own - it's a bit out of place.

Price -
Crepes will be around the eight to ten dollar mark. It's certainly not unreasonable pricing here. What was expensive, however, were their drinks. The fresh orange juice was over four dollars and a bottle of Snapple was about five! Wow, that's a pricy Snapple!

Special Tips and Recommendations -
I think they make their own hot sauce here at Crepeland. If you're a fan of heat, give their hot sauce a try. I think you'll enjoy it!

Bottom Line - 
If you're in Woodland and really want a crepe, Crepeland will do. It's about average when it comes to restaurants in Woodland. It's a great idea, but overall they could use a little extra to really make the restaurant a place to visit.

Letter Grade

C

The menu.

Up close with a crepe.

Jollibee on Mack Road

I've been wanting to try Jollibee for a while now, and I just happened to be doing a job and saw it across the street - what luck! Jollibee is a Filipino based fast food restaurant known for its fried chicken. Though chicken is what Jollibee is known for, they have a variety of food items on the menu such as spaghetti, hamburgers, and hotdogs!

Food -
When talking about Jollibee you have to talk about the chicken. Fried chicken is one of my favorite foods and Jollibee does it right! The chicken is hand breaded and fried to a perfect light crunch crisp. The skin is absolutely perfect and it isn't very greasy feeling. It definitely has its own signature feel that makes it unique. Interestingly, Jollibee only offers dark meat pieces of chicken like drums and thighs. Asian tastes tend toward dark meat as it contains more flavor, but I'm more of a white meat guy. Man... I would love to try their fried version of wings and breasts! Maybe one day!

I got a two piece chicken meal with two sides and a drink. I chose the adobo rice and corn. The corn was your typical kernel variety. It was good and exactly as it should be, but nothing special. The adobo rice, however, was excellent. It had a delicious savory flavor that kept me wanting to come back for more. I combined with the the gravy they give you and it was a match made in heaven!

To get it all down I chose their pineapple drink. This was totally better than getting a soda. The pineapple flavor was balanced very well and went down smooth. There wasn't a hint of tartness to the drink which I find occurs too often in westernized flavors. If you want this, they give it to you in a special cup different than that used for fountain drinks. They also have it behind the counter rather than at the soda machines.

For dessert I had the peach mango pie. This is a must get in my opinion. The peach mango pie is like the type you would find at McDonalds, but it's fried more crispy. The filling is similar to the pineapple drink in that it has a very smooth, well-balanced flavor. I could eat 2 or 3 of these with no problem. I actually left the restaurant wanting to buy more. I just didn't want to wait in the line.

Also on the menu is spaghetti. The spaghetti seems like a pretty popular item as I saw many people ordering it. I would like to try this on my next visit. From what I've heard, the spaghetti here has a sweet taste that is different that what you'd expect. I'm intrigued!

Service/Atmosphere - 
I found the service at Jollibee to be excellent. It was my first time at the restaurant and the cashiers were very friendly and patient. They helped me navigate the menu. I found it cute that they inserted the word "Jolli" into their speech. I guess this is part of how this chain does things. I liked it!

As far as atmosphere goes, the restaurant was crowded! Jollibee is a popular place to eat and the line seemed to continuously fill up. I even had a hard time finding a seat as just about the entire restaurant was full.

Price -
Being a fast food restaurant, Jollibee doesn't break the bank. The prices are reasonable here and are about what you'd expect to pay going to a place like KFC or Popeye's. I ordered some extra food and my bill only came out to a little over eleven dollars.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
The gravy here at Jollibee is really good. I'd suggest using it not only for the chicken, but any other savory items you have. It makes a great sauce and dip!

Bottom Line - 
I'm so happy that I had the chance to finally try out Jollibee. The fried chicken is top notch and reasonably priced! My only wish is that they had white meat options as well.

Letter Grade

A

Drumstick and thigh two piece combo.

Adobo rice as a side.

Pineapple drink comes in this clear cup.

Peach mango pies is a MUST GET!

Polanco Cantina at DOCO

Polanco Cantina is a Mexican restaurant right across from the Golden 1 Center. It occupies a prime location that features a gorgeous view of the arena. They feature a full bar as well as some very refined Mexican dishes. If you're looking for a place to spend a night on the town, Polanco Cantina would be a great choice!

Food -
The food is excellent at Polanco Cantina. Mexican food is great as is, but the chefs here really elevate it. Some of the heaviness that you might feel when having Mexican food has somehow been taken out, but all the amazing flavors remain.

The menu at Polanco Cantina is full of choices. I was in more of a snacking mood so I chose to order the Polanco nachos with a side dish of Mexican street corn. The nachos were packed with flavor and came with a relatively large portion. It could definitely act as a main course or a fun app to share between everyone at the table. I chose pork to top my nachos and it was a really good decision as the pork was very tender and flavorful. The green salsa on the nachos had a mild kick to it - nothing that would really burn you!

The street corn was tremendous. It came in a bowl and I was told to stir the ingredients together before eating. I dutifully did my job and had my first bite. Ohhhh, it was smooth and creamy. Typically this type of corn gets heavy really fast. That didn't happen with this dish. I kept going back for more and never felt weighed down.

Jenn had the 2 taco plate with rice and beans. She chose carne asada and gave me a taste. Again, there was just so much flavor there. Though tacos can be relatively small when it comes to an entree, the flavor really gave the tacos some oomph that help them to fill you up.

Service/Atmosphere - 
Our service at Polanco Cantina was slightly above average I'd say. It was a slower night and when we entered, there wasn't anyone at the hosts station. We had to poke our heads around the divider before anyone really got to us. It was a bit laster than usual for dinner, but there shouldn't that long of a wait.

As for the atmosphere, it's just plain awesome. The colors are vibrant and pop. The bar is beautiful and the entire restaurant gives its patrons a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy some great Mexican food.

Price -
For just the two of us, the bill was about fifty dollars before tip. Polanco Cantina is restaurant that does charge more than your typical Mexican restaurant.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
As with all restaurants at DOCO, be sure to park and get your slip validated. It's nice to get some free parking once in a while!

Bottom Line - 
Polanco Cantina is a restaurant that I'd love to come to over and over again. It has a beautiful atmosphere with delicious food. It may be best for special occasions as meals here aren't cheap!

Letter Grade

A

Enter through here!

The menu.

Cozy interior.

Excellent bar area to hang out in.

Polanco Nachos.

Street corn.

A great place for Mexican food!