Four meats and three sides from Chee Hoo BBQ came to $31.87 to go in May 2026. L.A. Brisket has better meat; this one is a walk away. Plus a Nori Bar poke bowl that tasted Japanese.
In April 2026 the Conrad Bangkok Executive Lounge cooked Osaka-style okonomiyaki to order. A blog had called it so-so; for us it was a hit. Plus soba, natto, and asking for soy sauce.
Four counters at Ala Moana Center in May 2026, $113.24, eaten in our Waikiki condo over several days. The steak dressing ended up on the vegetables, and the garlic rice beat the brisket.
HUAMA Cervecería at Salum lists a draft IPA. On 13 July 2026 the tap was dry again and a bottle was 140 pesos, more than four Coronas. We passed and took 300 pesos of tacos back to the room.
Fourth lounge breakfast at Conrad Bangkok, April 2026: massaman beef curry, beef pad krapow, and khao soi gai, which we agreed was the best noodle dish of our stay. We nearly forgot it.
The cheapest Mexican reds we found at Mercado Gourmet inside Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta on 11 July 2026 cost 585, 675 and 785 pesos. Expensive. The best value of the day was a 185-peso Cobb salad.
One evening in April 2026 the Conrad Bangkok Executive Lounge turned cocktail time into a Taco Station. Grilled fish was clearly the best of three fillings; our nachos experiment failed.
Two made-to-order dishes per person. The Isaan Benedict was a hit; the sticky rice was hard and the green curry so sweet we left half. The buffet cabbage stir-fry did better. April 2026.
Cocktail time runs 17:30 to 19:30. We asked Gemini which cocktails were not sweet, drank the New York Sour it talked us into, and went straight back to white wine. April 2026.
Checkout after 21 nights at Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta, July 2026: a seven-page paper bill, 32,971.11 pesos, 900 pesos of default donations, and a 240-peso car wash that was really the laundry.
What we carried back to our room from nine kitchens inside Vidanta Nuevo Vallarta in July 2026, from a 955-peso paella we wanted without its lobster to a 185-peso Cobb salad we bought five times.
What the VIP ticket bought on 17 July 2026: a welcome cocktail, a tumbler, a three-course dinner printed on an edible menu, and champagne with no cap. The price, the menu, and our verdict.
Inside the resort at Nuevo Vallarta: a 100 ml Häagen-Dazs is 125 pesos, the cheapest red over 500. What we bought on 8 July 2026, what the 3x2 wine corner saved, and what we will not buy again.
