LRP Redux* installment 18: Yuki Pizza & Wings (CLOSED)

Update December 2023: This place is now permanently closed.

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I’m way behind on my restaurant project updates because we actually got takeout from Yuki Pizza & Wings several weeks ago! But I still remember the food, which was very tasty, so here it is.

Yuki is at 385 Crossing Drive Ste 105, in the strip mall by King Soopers, where it was preceded by at least a couple of other pizza places. It has some interesting menu options, such as a sweet pizza (house white sauce, mozzarella, crispy chicken, pineapple, tomatoes), but we stayed in our pizza comfort zone and ordered sausage and mushroom. We added a six-pack of wings with mango-habanero sauce (the other options are classic buffalo, chipotle, or teriyaki sauce or a lemon-pepper dry rub). Yuki also offers a garden salad, but we skipped it because we weren’t in a salad mood.

We liked both the pizza and the wings very much. The wings came tossed in the mango-habanero sauce, which was mildly spicy and very flavorful—and even though they were in a takeout container, the coating on the wings stayed crisp. The build-your-own pizza was also very good, with the slightly tangy house marinara sauce, Italian sausage, and mushrooms. I saw a post on the Yuki Facebook page stating that the crust will not droop when you pick up a slice—I’m sure this is true if you sit down and eat it fresh, but not after it has been in a box, as in our case. We liked the crust nonetheless, and it still held up except in the middle.

Next time, I’d like to try the intriguing-looking sweet pizza (if I can talk G into it), the salad, and the desserts (tiramisu or coppa al limone). We’ll be back!

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Sausage and mushroom pizza. I like a crust with a lot of edge!

Wings with mango-habanero sauce

Happy with my plate

Yuki is in the strip mall at 385 Crossing Drive

G took some photos when he went to pick up our order

LRP Redux* installment 17: Kapow Thai

I saw someone else mention Kapow Thai in a recent post, and it reminded me that I had not yet written my report on this restaurant. I visited it last month for lunch with two friends, Jane and Susan, but I was interrupted by work and travel, and it fell by the wayside. However, I still remember our meal!

Kapow Thai is at 1377 Forest Park Circle, Ste 102, on the southeast corner of Arapahoe and 95th Street. I believe “kapow” (which has several spelling variations if you search for it online) refers to a stir-fry of chicken with basil and chilis, and the restaurant does feature this on its menu, both in a noodle dish and as a stir-fry topped with a fried egg. None of us ordered it this time, however.

We went a little on the early side on a Friday afternoon, and it was very quiet, but a few more groups came in before we left. The woman who waited on us told us that the restaurant was perhaps best known for its authentic curries and pad Thai. I wanted to try an appetizer, so we got an order of chicken satay, which came with peanut sauce and sweet cucumber relish. Then Susan ordered pad thai with chicken, I ordered pad see ewe with shrimp, and Jane ordered green curry with tofu. We had the usual debate about spiciness levels. Susan asked for “moderate,” and the server suggested mild, which she agreed to. Her dish turned out to have no heat at all, even though she wanted a little, but she said she doesn’t think it matters a lot for pad Thai. Jane asked for hers spicy and thought it was about where she wanted it. I asked for medium and, as usual, found it about at my tolerance limit. (I’ve been pushing this limit so often lately that you would think it would change, but it doesn’t seem to!)

We all liked our food. The chicken satay was cooked just right, and the peanut sauce was especially good, nice and thick, although I liked the cucumber relish as well. I recently switched my Thai restaurant default choice from pad Thai to pad see ewe because the latter includes veggies, and I like the wide, flat noodles. This was excellent pad see ewe, and the shrimp tasted fresh. Jane said her curry was delicious, and Susan liked the pad Thai. We all had leftovers to bring home, and mine reheated very well the next day.

There are some interesting-looking things on the menu that I would like to try another time (pumpkin curry! Northern-style curried noodle soup!). The restaurant is open 11–3 and 4–8 every day except Sunday (closed) and has an online ordering system, which I have not tried. The menu is posted on the website: https://www.kapowthaiusa.com/menu.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Chicken satay with peanut sauce and cucumber relish

Susan's pad Thai with chicken

My pad see ewe with shrimp

Jane's green curry with chicken

Jane looks like her curry  makes her happy. I'm thrilled with my noodles too.

LRP Redux* installment 16: Curry Corner

We had read a few other people’s comments on this new food truck that opened recently at 508 W Baseline Rd., and we were eager to try it. We used their online ordering system (I always like to give these a go unless they don’t have much descriptive information), which worked beautifully. To be honest, it had zero descriptive information, but I just Googled anything I wasn’t familiar with. At the moment, they don’t have anything under the “Menus” link on their website, but I’m hoping that they might provide more information at some point later on.

The menu is quite extensive. We ordered samosas (two in the order), garlic naan, chicken tikka masala, and lamb tikka saag. Everything was delicious! The naan was garlicky without being too garlicky (in my opinion). The samosas were very good and came with cilantro mint chutney and tamarind chutney, both of which were very tasty. For an entrée, I ordered the chicken tikka masala with medium spice, and the spice level was just about right. The chicken was tender, and the sauce was thick and creamy. We had not tried tikka saag before, and we both liked it with the lamb. The lamb was also tender, and G asked for it spicy and said it was at about the right spice level for him.

G forgot to take a photo of the food truck when he went to pick up the order, and I had wanted to try a couple of additional sides, so I stopped by the next day and picked up a mango lassi (very thick and not too sweet) and an order of rice pudding (pretty standard Indian restaurant-style rice pudding, meaning I liked it very much). I was there midafternoon, so it was quiet, and I got my order right away. Take note that the counter on the truck is very high! I am 5’7”, and it was about eye level on me. If you are a short person, you might need to bring a stepstool (just kidding; I am sure they will lower the food to you).

We’ll definitely be back to try some more things. The menu includes some Nepali specialties that we want to sample next time.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the end of the previous round of the LRP.

Clockwise from top left: the whole spread (garlic naan, lamb tikka saag, samosas with two chutneys, chicken tikka masala; both entrees came with sides of basmati rice), rice pudding, mango lassi, me with my plate

Food truck at 508 W. Baseline Rd.