26 in 2026 -- Try at Least One New Restaurant -- Bowl 91

 Heather and I decided to do dinner before Hamilton. When I asked for suggestions she said somewhere close to the PAC. Knowing her younger kiddo would be joining us, I gave her suggestions that he might like as well. She opted for Bowl 91.

Bowl 91 is an Asian Fusion restaurant on College Ave. It is open 11-8 Monday-Saturday. It is not a large place from what I could tell. You can also order carryout. 

I was stepping outside of my comfort zone on this one. I made sure before I suggested it, there were Amy friendly options on the menu. I figured worse case scenario I would have egg rolls and crab rangoons. 

Bowl 91 has a lot of Ramen. I had Ramen once and wasn't a huge fan. Instead of getting ramen or fried rice, I went with Loaded Chashu Fries and we split crab rangoons between the three of us.

The crab rangoons were amazing. The filling was creamy and not overly sweet. I would come back just for the crab rangoons. 10 out of 10 for the crab rangoons.

Loaded Chashu Fries were very good as well. Only I would go to a noodle place and order French Fries. Loaded Chashu Fries were French Fries topped with braised pork belly, shredded cheese, teriyaki sauce, and a spicy mayo I asked for the mayo on the side. I didn't even really use it. The teriyaki sauce was perfect for me. I love the Asian twist on poutine. It was comfort food in a Asian bowl. Absolutely delicious.

I would definitely go back. It might be a good option for cookie baking in the future. The hubby said he'd be willing to try it since I've raved about the crab rangoons.

If you haven't checked out Bowl 91 and like Asian, you definitely need to add it to your list for you next date night or friend date. 

7608. Have a margarita flight

 After volunteering at and checking out the Tall Ships, I met up with Kris for a drink before making my way home. We decided to go to Beanies for margaritas. All the swings were taken so we just sat a table in the bar. 

While I was at Tall Ships, I picked up a flyer that offered $5 off a flight of margaritas. I knew I couldn't drink an entire flight by myself and still be able to drink. So we decided to split the flight. 

A flight at Beanies includes 4 blended 5 oz margaritas.. lime, strawberry, swirl, and prickly pear. Since I don't care for strawberry Kris took the strawberry and swirl and I had the lime and prickly pear. We also shared some chips.

Prickly Pear is amazing and even tastes better when you can actually taste it. This would be my go to margarita if I had to pick.. probably followed by peach or mango.

The lime is like any traditional margarita. It was good but not my favorite.

Both of them did not have strong tequila flavors. I am not a huge tequila fan which is why I prefer my margaritas blended.  

Sharing a flight was a great way to end the afternoon before I headed to Sheboygan for ice cream. I guess I kind had a progressive dinner experience except I kind missed the whole entree portion. Hmm.. that gives me an idea for another adventure when I go home in the future.. Drinks with one friend, dinner with another, dessert with a third. Who's game???

6845. Try a croffle

 Back in January, Andrea sends me a message that says I found where we are going for breakfast when you come down in a few weeks. Looking at the menu and saw they had Croffles, I quickly agreed. It turns out shortly afterwards, they temporarily closed for over a month. Finally we both found time in our busy schedule to have a croffle date.

A croffle is a hybrid waffle and croissant. It is made by putting a croissant in a waffle iron to smoosh it down. It looks like a waffle but has the flaky layers of a croissant.

At Eb Flo in Sheboygan, you can have either a sweet or savory croffle. They have about 10 different varieties of croffles.

For me it was relatively easy to decide. I don't like the one ingredient or another in most of the croffles so I went with Ham and Swiss.

Andrea went sweet and had Nutella Banana.

While we waited for a table to open up inside, we sat outside and enjoyed the fire. 

Once a table opened back up, we quickly went back inside. It was not that nice out to sit outside.

O.M.G. The Croffle was amazing. The perfect combination of croissant, ham, and cheese. It was gone very quickly. Andrea said hers was amazing as well. I probably would have eaten it because the bananas weren't overly ripe. I'm very picky when it comes to bananas.

We will definitely be back. I would highly recommend Eb Flo's for a place to grab brunch when you're in Sheboygan. They have other things besides croffles and they all looked good. 

4948. Go to Death by Chocolate in Appleton

 I have wanted to do Death by Chocolate for the last couple years but never could justify the cost. Last year because of the pandemic they did a boxed version and I opted to do Neenah's Sweet Heart Stroll and Shop. Death by Chocolate was back in person this year and I was going to go. Of course it was Danielle's weekend to work but Tara was more than happy to indulge in some chocolate with me for the afternoon.

The cost of Death By Chocolate this year was $20 and it included 11 different stops throughout downtown Appleton. You could choose to do either the East Route or West Route each with 11 stops. Stops were mainly cafes or bars. After much deliberating, we opted to do the East Route. It came down to which we were less likely to enjoy White Chocolate Mole Nachos or  Sweet Potato Pecan Fudge Bar. Since Tara is not a white chocolate fan, we went with the East Route and the Sweet Potato Pecan Fudge Bar. 

Because the temperatures were in the teens with a stiff breeze, I planned our route to ensure we had the least amount of walking. We drove to our first two stops which were off the Ave and ended with loaded hot chocolates.

Stop #1 -- Cedar Harbor Gift Shop
Treat -- Willmar's Almond Candy Piece. It should have been Willmar's Fudge Filled Chocolate.
Opinion -- It was ok. It was not what was listed so I was less than enthused for a piece of almond candy bar. I prefer not to have nuts in my chocolate.

Stop #2 -- Rookie's Sports Bar and Grilled
Treat -- Chocolate Flavored Beer
Opinion -- This was our favorite. Neither of us are beer drinkers but this was surprisingly really good. It did not have a beer taste and the chocolate rimmed glass was just icing on the cake. It was so good that I asked for the name of the beer. It was not local which surprised me. The beer was Boulder Beer Shake Dark Chocolate Porter.

Stop #3 -- Green Gecko Grocer and Deli
Treat -- Fudge Bottom Sweet Potato Pecan Bar
Opinion --This was another favorite. If I didn't know it was made with sweet potato, I would have never known. This was the one that I was least looking forward to trying and was actually impressed. It was really good. This was our 2nd place vote.

Stop #4 -- Le Belle Maison, LLC
Treat -- Chocolate Oysters from Hughes in Oshkosh
Opinion -- Tara was not a fan and didn't finish hers. I was equally not impressed but did eat mine. It had a hard chocolate coating between the peanuts and fudge center. It was not what I expected but should not have had high expectations since it was from Hughes.

Stop #5 -- Wooden Nickel
Treat -- Chocolate Infused Whiskey
Opinion -- We had our choice of two shots of flavored whiskey. I did chocolate covered cherry and peanut butter. They were both very good. I could do a shot of either and not make a face. Definitely another surprise stop since I'm not a fan of straight up liquor.

Stop #6 -- Brewed Awakenings
Treat -- Chocolate Marquise Cake with an Irish Cream Whipped Topping
Opinion -- Very good. I was like they put a quill on my piece. Then released not everyone sees an Alpha Xi Delta badge in their chocolate. Very moist. We probably should have had a fork to eat it. This probably would be our 3rd place vote. 

Stop #7 -- Olde Town Tavern
Treat -- Tequila Rose
Opinion -- Tara does not like Tequila Rose and I got both shots. I was worried since I don't like tequila or strawberry but it was actually pretty dang tasty. So much so I did finish both shots. 

Stop #8 -- Bazil's Pub
Treat -- Vintage Box O' Chocolates
Opinion -- Another chocolate beer. It was not as good as the other. It tasted like beer. We choked down our samples and headed on our way.

Stop #9 -- Olive & Rose Boutique (We had to back track)
Treat -- Sea Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate
Opinion -- I was not a fan only because of the salt. The chocolate was good but it was be even better with the salt.

Stop #10 -- Voyageurs Bakehouse
Treat -- Espresso Rye Chocolate Chip Cookie
Opinion -- This is the only one I didn't take a picture of. It was actually really good. Tara and I decided we needed to go back and treat some of the other treats. We talk about doing a cafe walk in coming months as plenty of coffee shops to try downtown.

Stop #11 -- Doughlicious
Treat -- Mini Loaded Hot Chocolates
Opinion -- I lost my ticket. I'm pretty sure I left it at the last stop. We didn't feel like back track but luckily I had a picture of it on my phone. We could do Oreo, Peanut butter, or Double chocolate. I went with Double Chocolate and Tara Peanut Butter. I was unsatisfied with mine. I should have gone with peanut butter which had crushed Reese Pieces on it versus chocolate chips like mine. 

Eleven stops were a good number as we hit a wall after those hot chocolates. I will definitely do Death by Chocolate again (as long as the treats aren't the same). It is a great way to spend time with your Valentine or Galentines and get people downtown Appleton. It is even better than the soup walk.