hey there!
the rest of my birthday yesterday could not have been better. after posting the first half, i immediately shut my laptop and turned on my TV for a little shaun T action. i am almost done with my insanity challenge! i can’t believe it.
actually, when i asked marshall do do insanity with me starting on april 3, i wanted to do it so i would be finishing right around my birthday. i wanted to give myself the best birthday present: to be in better shape.
yesterday i was reflecting on this goal and i am so happy that i stuck to the program. yes, i took a week off due to the flu. and yes, i missed tuesday’s workout. but i figure cut your losses and focus on your gains, right? i am in much better shape now than i was two months ago! all it takes is a little dedication. well, dedication and sweat. and maybe a little pain.
after my workout, i got ready and we headed to dinner.
i can’t remember which one of you told me i had to check out layla grill in holladay.. but it was one of YOU! and whoever it was, i owe you big time.
right when i walked in the door, i fell in love with the restaurant. it was a quaint, single-room dining area scattered with candles to create a fun, yet relaxing, ambiance. it was decorated with mediterranean artwork and knick knacks that added character to the dining experience.
i immediately zeroed in on the hummus appetizer. are you surprised?
red pepper hummus with warm pita bread and fresh vegetables.
kristen & rory ordered the signature fries and i had to steal a few.
the harissa aioli dipping sauce was so delicious—i could easily have eaten a bowl if it by itself.
i was also in love with the serving platter for the fries.. how cool is that little attached sauce holder? i am easily pleased.
we had to wait for a few friends to arrive, so i had plenty of time to browse the menu.
i was pleased to read this little tid bit on the back of the menu:
that’s my type of restaurant!
when it was time to order, i had to hurry and make a decision. i hate making decisions! luckily i knew that whatever i went with, i would be satisfied.
i ended up starting with a bowl of mulligatawny soup. i had never had mulligatawny soup before! never in my 28 years! i ordered it partially because it is fun to say and partially because i heard about it on the soup nazi episode of seinfeld.
mulligatawny—which means “pepper water” is a traditional indian stew that can be made with various ingredients. this one had curry, celery, apples, rice and raisins. it was nothing short of amazing! i am thinking i need to make angharad’s version ASAP to recreate my mulligatawny experience.
i sopped up the stew with a warm roll.
why am i showing you guys a photo of a roll? lame.
anyway, for my entree, i couldn’t decide between the crab cakes and some amazing fried cheese (come on, it’s fried cheese!), so i got both!
Halloum Cheese Salad: Pan fried Cypriot sheep’s milk cheese on
a bed of organic spring mix, tomato and cucumbers. Served with your choice Mediterranean Vinaigrette.
Delicious Salad Toppers: Mediterranean Crab Cake $6
don’t mind if i do add a delicious salad topper, thanks!
have you guys ever had fried halloum cheese?! if not, you need to get on that right away. it’s amazing.
unfortunately, the dressing hurt my tongue (i have geographic tongue)~ so i couldn’t finish the salad greens. don’t worry, i ate plenty of everyone else’s meals to make up for it.
this was some of the best food i have ever eaten in salt lake city! go to layla grill. now.
after devouring our entrees, we relaxed, digested and chatted. the restaurant was nearly empty by this time, so it was nice to have it almost all to ourselves.
on the way home, marshall and i made a pit stop at orange leaf frozen yogurt even though i was absolutely stuffed. there is always room for ice cream.
coconut, pineapple and orange creamcicle. i don’t mess with toppings.. it’s all about the ice cream for me. i actually really was so incredibly full.. so i shared some with penny and randy.
it was the perfect sweet ending to a fantastic birthday! thanks to all of the people who made it special. including you guys!
because birthdays are a week-long ordeal, we are going out to dinner again with some family. i have eaten out so much lately! but sometimes, ya gotta.
Qs~
1. when dining out, do you decide what to order right away or do you take 7 years like i do?
2. what is your favorite kind of soup/stew?
xo. janetha g.
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Glad you had such an awesome birthday! I’ve been dying to try that Za’atar spice. It’s kinda a big deal around here.
Let me know what to do with it- Allie (Pimp) brought me a ton of it when she visited and I don’t know what to make!
If I was an adventurous eater I would take 7 years but since I’m not, I usually know what i want.
My favorite soup is pasta e fagioli or black bean, preferably my own.
Hooray for birthday week!!
(I’ve been a lurker for a while! ha ha) My favorite type of stew is green chile stew! When I order, I try to do it quickly or I will take 7 years because everything will start to sound good.
Quick question.. I noticed that you had dia de los muertos figurines on your fireplace in a post a while back.. are they from Santa Fe?
Nope– from Cabo!
I don’t know why I thought that would be the only place to find them. ha ha. They have a whole gallery full of them in Santa Fe, I think they are so cool!
Hey, I am a new reader and I haven’t really been commenting much on the blogs I follow but I must say something about Halloumi cheese! IT IS AMAZING! I fell in love with it when I lived in the UK for three months and I cannot get it anywhere in my province of Canada! I am so very jealous!
Hope your birthday was fabulous all around. I always enjoy checking in on your blog!
Girl I am so proud of you for rocking the Insanity workouts. They are so intense but so awesome at the same time. Lord, today I just did the Max Endurance and was literally swearing profusely at Shaun T. Things that I should NEVER repeat. LoL
So glad you had such a memorial dining experience on your birthday. That is how every dinner should be but especially on your birthday.
Love you girl!
dude dude dude! Remember I said I wanted to make the grillable cheese for you when you came to visit and we never did it? THAT is the cheese- freaking life-changing!!!
I’ve never seen mullagatawny soup with celery and raisins but it sounds like a great combo and the bread made me drool just a little so I’m glad you showed it to us. <3
Glad it was a great b-day and that the fro-yo part of the stomach was still receiving deliveries ;-)
Note to self: When you are hungry, don’t read Meals and Moves! Haha…the restaurant looks fab and my tummy is grumbling. :) Happy Birthday! Looks like it was a great one!
I usually decide quickly, but sometimes it’s crazy hard!
I’m so glad you had a good time!!
i’m glad you had such a great b-day! it sounds like you had good food w/ good company!
i take FOREVER when deciding what to eat! if i’m going out – i want it to be something i can’t make for myself so it better be good & worth it!
my fav soup is probably udon (made my my japanese grandma) or menudo (made by my mexican grandma) – i’m lucky w/ all the international flavors!
Depends on where I go, if it is a place I have been before it does not take me that long but sometimes if it is a newer place it may take me a while. Although I am a pretty simple gal, chicken or fish and some type of veggie or a flat bread pizza.
It looks like you had a wonderful birthday!!
SO happy for you that your Bday was a great day and that you had such a lovely time.
And yes, I am the debating queen. I take forever to make sure I *really* havent missed something “amazing” that I “should have” ordered instead :)
Happy Birthday Janetha!
I LOVE Orange Leaf! Have you ever tried their red velvet or chocolate cookies ‘n cream flavors? They are soooo good.
That restaurant looks amazing! I’ve never had that kind of stew before, but that’s my favorite Seinfeld episode!
That meal looks amazing! I love crab cakes and those look perfect!
Honestly I usually decide right away, and then while waiting for the server to come back I change my mind 10000 times. So in total it takes me about 7 years too.
what a fun and delicious birthday dinner! i’ll have to add that restaurant to my list next time i’m in salt lake – maybe next year’s conference? :P
i am usually pretty decisive at restaurants, but it really depends on my mood. oh, and i love me some tomato bisque. so so good.
I am the worst at making decisions! I always request to place my order last when at a restaurant. Even if I scout at the menu ahead of time, it still takes me forever to decide what I want. Glad I’m not the only one : )
Happy Birthday! And yum to the mulligatawny. I made this not too long ago. So good!
Ohhhh, I’ve been wanting to try fried Halloum since the first time I saw it on Food Network! I’m so jealous of that salad!
I take FOREVER to make up my mind with just about any decision, but especially when it comes to my meal! I hate it when I go to a place that you have to order at the counter because I always feel so weird standing there in front of the cashier for like 3 days while I make up my mind!
Best soup I’ve had to date: Bonefish Grille’s Lobster Bisque! Yum!!
Glad to see you had a great birthday! Oh man…when it comes to ordering I’m the most indecisive person EVER. I can never decide what I want and I always end up having to make an on the spot decision when the waiter comes around and its my turn.
I’ve always eyed Mulligatawny but never ordered it–looks fantastic!
I take a while to order–I try to cut down on that by looking at the menu beforehand, but sometimes the daily specials throw me for a loop!
My favorite soup is either peanut butter chili or maybe the summer corn soup I just made tonight:)
Ha, the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld! Too funny!! I can usually decide on what to order pretty quick…unless someone steals my order! I can’t stand to order the same thing as another person at the table.
And tomato soup all the way!
glad you had a great day! I’m going to try both of the new restaurants! (new to me, anyway)
I take forever to order.. especially when I change and ask for a gillion substitutions.. really. I don’t know why I even eat out. ha! but that looks delicious!
as for soup. I have become a soup nazi. everything I have had lately has been to salty and tasteless. mmmm.. am I picky?
there is nothing in this world like real pita and hummus from a good mediterranean restaurant!
What a wonderful day and meals! That hummus looks sooo amazing!!!
holy YUM! I want to go there now too! I love Mediterranean/Greek so so much! Glad you had a happy happy birthday :)
That place looks FANTASTIC! I am definitely going to have to try it out. :) Any other yummy SLC restaurants you can suggest??
Oh, and I always take forrreeevvveeerrr to decide what to order. Everyone hates me. I am the person who says “I’ll go last!” and then still takes a year when they get to me. UGH.
I’m glad your birthday was fun!!
That place looks so good! Holy yum! I’m going to have to go with Vietnamese soup (pho ga) and beef stew (soupy not thick broth though!) As my favs.
I love fried halloumi cheese! I’ve never tried it on a salad (this will be happening soon), but It makes a super easy, crowd-pleasing appetizer.
I am ALWAYS the last one to decide what I’m going to order, unless I’ve gone to the restaurant for a specific item…I’m far too easily excited by food, and usually want a little sample of everything!
Oh, I am spotting some nice meals there!! :) I am glad you like Insanity that much. Even though it is not about “enjoying”, it is a hard HARD workout, but the feeling AFTERWARDS is just great!
I am the same as you, I am always unable to pick up something from the restaurant menu! Usually it all seems too good. Or nothing seems that good :)
I love pumpkin soup. And parsnip soup. Cabbage soup. Garlic soup. Well, let´s just say I love soups:)
So sad I wasnt there! Thats for sure my type of restaurant! Well, I’m gearing up to taking you out when I see you!!!!!
And youve dined with me. I take time if the menu is longer than a novel.
Glad you had a great birthday, I’m sending you new underwear too!
I agree, birthdays are meant to be celebrate all week long. I’m glad you had a good celebration and that it is the beginning of many bday outings for you. Happy Birthday!
Love the new look of the blog Janetha. I had to do to a double take the first time made sure I was in the right place.
wonderful that you had such a happy birthday dinner, j! i love seafood chowder – would never make it at home!
soup nazi – one of the best seinfelds ever!
and birthday WEEKS?! yes! totally the way to go!
Happy Birthday, Homegirl!
I, like you, take approximately one million years to decide what to eat, and the longer I sit with a menu, especially a good one, the more difficult it is to decide…
In the soup department, I’m a huge fan of manpar (an Uzbek soup with mini dumplings, meat and a cooked egg on top) or anything veggie related…
That’s my kind of meal! The fries sound great. Happy Birthday once again!
That restaurant looks great! I always order hummus when I see it on a restaurant. It’s my favorite! :)
I usually take a long time to order if I’ve never been there before if I have then I can usually order pretty quickly. My favorite soup is New England Clam Chowder out of a bread bowl of course. Yum!
The restaurant DOES look really good!! I love finding good places and it’s especially nice when readers recommend!
another fantastic bday celebration! well deserved, my dear.
xo. happy birthday!!
I want to go on a culinary tour of your neck of the woods! The restaurants you go to look so unbelievable! Most especially this one! Mediterranean food is MY JAM, YO!
Yum, that salad sounds amazing! I think haloumi is often used as the cheese in saganaki (Greek flaming cheese- so amazing), so I’ve had it a few times. Such a great idea to put it on salad greens! Glad the rest of your birthday was fun!
Yay! New restaurant! There is another new one, too, in Murray that we just got a coupon for. Shoot. Now I can’t remember the name, but I will tell you when I find it. See youuuuuuuu tomorrow!! P.S. Are Penny/Randy/Marshall coming? xoxo
I totally take 7 years to order, I usually try and look at menus online first before I even get to the restaurant in order to spare my fellow diners the burden of my indecision.
There is a great book called “The Paradox of Choice” I think it applies to restaurant menus! :)
Favourite soup/stew: classic beef stew (only homemade will do!)
I’ve never even heard of that soup!
Most of the time I’m so excited to go out to eat that I look at the menu 20 times online before I go and have pretty much made my decision…although, I guess I spend about 7 hours deciding.
that restaurant sounds wonderful!
it takes me forever to order. I can never decide on things, especially when the menu is long or I am extremely hungry
If I’m at a new restaurant, it takes me awhile. Also, when it comes to food carts in Portland, it takes me forever!
OMG… i take forever. My boyfriend usually gets mad because I make him decide…since we usually just order a ton stuff and split it. My problem is I have a fat brain and I want everything, not just one thing.
I am the most indecisive person ever when it comes to ordering. It’s a terrible habit, but half the fun is seeing all the options out there.
I would be take forever if there is more than one vegetarian option but I I’m going out to lunch with the family to a standard restaurant often there can only be one vegetarian option.
My favourite soup is spicy lentil sou
That harrisa dipping sauce and the fries look really, really good.
Glad you had a great birthday. That food looks amazing!
I always have such a tough time making up my mind on what to order! It’s a rough life I know ;). Looks like an awesome birthday dinner! Me loves Mediterranean food.
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