toro japanese & chinese restaurant

so it wouldn't be appropriate if our family didn't have a xmas eve tradition that wasn't odd. ours is chinese food. not cooking it, just going out for it. way back when we used to celebrate x-eve with my godfather & his wife who were both jewish, so to be non-denominational we would go asian. even after he passed away, it's still our thing. 

pardon the blue hue from the lighting...
but u get the idea

this year we went to Toro, Carmel NY, the closest option based on a few scheduling hurdles (my bad). 

for apps we had fried dumplings and beef negimaki was which was thin-sliced beef wrapped around scallions... that was awesome. the dumplings were kind of "eh"... i think they sat out for a little while the beef was prepared as they were a little cool. for din, i couldn't help myself but to order the only thai item on the menu, and got the Thai Coconut Curry Beef. it was nice & spicy... so spicy you couldn't taste a hint of coconut, but that was fine by me as a really enjoyed it. while the service at the restaurant was spotty (they were fairly attentive, but were a bit scattered). all in all i'd say my meal was a 6******. oh... and the appletini = very good.