A Taste of Bali (947 SW Broadway ), South Park (901 SW Salmon St) and Leonardo DiCaprio

After two days of snowbound boredom, Kristin and I decided to take a field trip into the thawing city. The bus ride was noisy. Kr-chunk, kr-chunk, the chains on the tires crunched on the road every second. Before we fed our appetite for sexy violence with Blood Diamond at the Broadway Theater, we decided to feed our appetite for dinner. Right across the street from the Theater, A Taste of Bali called to us. It is a somewhat dingy place, not really attractive, but the menu looked great and the colorful pictures of Bali on the walls were fun to look at.

Inside, a PSU student was ordering his dinner at the front counter. As we pondered over the menu, an enthusiastic man, I think the owner, told us to sit down, that he would be right with us. We ordered our food - I had pork satay - and ate the cabbage salad that is served with all meals. A woman who was visibly intoxicated came in and ordered a pina colada drink. The owner knew her - she seemed to be a regular.

It took a few minutes, maybe 10 or 15 for our food to come out, but once it did, it was worth the wait - the pork was grilled perfectly and was juicy and crispy on the outside. The owner had to leave to go pay his electric bill, which he announced at least 5 times on his way out the door, with a big toothy grin. "You have any questions, you ask my son or my wife. They help you."

We paid the son, who joked around like his father and asked me if I was going to pay for his dinner too. Next time, I said and left to go watch Leo fight in the African jungles.

I have never liked Leonardo DiCaprio, but he is excellent in Blood Diamond. There haven't been many good action movies lately, but this one was worth it. Check out the Broadway Theater, too - they have new seats and tables and are now serving pizza.

South Park entertained us for Dessert - we'll have to go back to give it a full review, but the the warm dates we had for appetizers before our dessert, were beautiful and melty, sweet and salty and combined with the swanky atmosphere, we could tell there was much more to be experienced. The Apple Compote Bread Pudding was more custard-y than soggy bread, which I loved and the caramel sauce topped it off nicely. Next time, we'll have dinner and see how good this place really is.