This weekend I enjoyed a stroll around the Pearl District, finished off by the Confessions of A Shopaholic movie. I found the movie more fun than the book actually- the book, and the book series in general (admittedly which I gave up after reading 3 of the books), made me annoyed which how she never seemed to grow and learn to handle her problem with consumerism, debt, and being truthful, plus her rationalizations in the book were stupid. The movie focuses much more on rounding her out as a character with showing much more the exhilaration she gets from shopping so the viewer is more forgiving, and she is implied to have learned better at the film's end. Isla Fischer is quite the talented and likable actress as well, balancing intelligence with bad choices in a sympathetic way. It's not the deepest movie, but it's marketed as fluffy fun so I overlooked its numerous leap from reality and some of the caricatures they use for characters.

I also finally made it to Oba! I have heard lots of great reviews on this restaurant, but never gone since it seemed very trendy, and I just didn't feel like waiting for a table when there are so many other places to try which don't require as much of a wait. Besides, Andina is just around the corner… Well, I was only there for happy hour, but I would like to return again for actual dinner. I had three drinks, the favorite being the guava margarita. The prickly pear margarita was a frightening shade of fuschia, and the mojito not muddled enough to give that minty zing that you get from better mojitos at Andina's or W. At $5, the prices of the margaritas during happy hour were just right, but the mojito didn't deserve it's $10 price tag.

I enjoyed two appetizers with my cocktails. One was the ecuadorian griddled potato cakes of yukon gold potatoes, muenster cheese, achiote and green onions topped with peanut sauce- I thought the flavor profile was good, but it needed better texture instead of just being soft mush.

The other was the chilé-corn fritters with pasilla-tomato sauce andlime crema- this had the much needed crunch that the potato cakes should have had a bit of, but to the opposite end because they were pretty greasy and could have used more sauce to balance out the oil. Despite the sauce you see in the picture, it didn't have enough kick to be that counterweight. Looking around though, I saw many other interesting tapas being enjoyed around me, and the dinner menu offering items such as costillas con sofrito (pound of carlton farms babyback pork ribs marinated in tomatoes, onions, cilantro and kahlua. finished on the mesquite grill) and roasted butternut squash enchiladas with creamy toasted walnut sauce and quinoa salad, among other options, seem intriguing.

Oba also is located kitty corner from Giorgio's though, which was highlighted by Gourmet magazine and other publications for their homemade pasta, and Ten 01 known for its farm-to-table approach and Restaurant of the Year 2008, is only a few blocks away. I may visit those two before Oba for a special occasion, but Oba is the perfect atmosphere for a more energizing trendy evening. Whew, it's a good thing this neighborhood is totally unaffordable to live in- I walked past a listing for an apartment/mini-townhouse and the listing on the flyer was… 1.5 million dollars. Granted, it was by the streetcar line, but… it's by the streetcar, and the train whistling through the railyards here I can even hear from my apartment more than 2 miles away.