3 Excellent Choices for Dining in Denver

Buckhorn Exchange Denver’s Oldest Restaurant

Here are three excellent choices for Dining in Denver, Colorado. If you are traveling to Denver, any of these will be a great place to spend an evening dining out. If you live in the area, you should plan on of these for a special night out. Here are the three in the order in which we dined. 

Rosita, Josh and I at the Buckhorn Exchange

The Buckhorn Exchange

Rosita, Josh and I decided to have lunch at Buckhorn Exchange Restaurant, 1000 Osage ST. Denver, CO. 80204. They claim to be the oldest Restaurant in Denver and a quick google search backs up that claim. The Restaurant opened in 1893 and the décor seems to be from that period and has stuffed bears, lions, elk and deer head trophies scattered between the 2 floors.  Upstairs has a beautiful old bar and lounge area. 

Buckhorn Exchange Rocky Mountain Oysters

Buckhorn Exchange Rattlesnake

We started off with a couple of appetizers. The Rocky Mountain Oysters and Rattlesnake were our choices. We mainly ordered these items for the novelty of them but they were amazingly good. The Rocky Mountain Oysters were sliced thin and tasted similar to fried Calamari. They brought out a cocktail sauce to dip them in and it was very good and a little Spicy. The rattlesnake was sliced thin in a sauce and served with corn chips for dipping. It was also very good.  

Buckhorn Exchange Buffalo Prime Rib

One of the specials was buffalo prime rib. I jumped at this. It tasted very similar to a good cut of beef ribeye. Rosita had pan-fried elk steak with blue cheese topping. It had a good taste and was a little gamy but not enough to turn anyone off. I like the gamy taste of elk or deer. Josh had a buffalo Reuben and it tasted like any very well-prepared Reuben sandwich.  

Pan Fried Elk Steak

Our server Lynn, was very friendly and helpful. She took the time to thoroughly go over the menu with us and gave us a lot of the history of the building. This was a very memorable experience with excellent food. I highly recommend trying out this dining icon when you are in Denver.  

Acorn Dining Room Wall Art

The Acorn

Josh, Julie, Rosita and I went out to dinner at Acorn, 3350 Brighton BLVD. Denver, CO. 80216.   Josh and Julie had been here before and thought we would like it. It had several small shareable plates on the menu and 2 or 3 large shareable items. One was a 24 oz Ribeye, suggested to feed 2 or 3 people. This looked good but we decided to stay with the small plates. The waiter suggested 2 dishes per person so we set about to order 8 small dishes. 

Acorn Pork Rinds

Acorn Wagyu Beef Tartare

Acorn Scallop Tartare

The first 3 dishes to come out were pork rinds, wagyu beef tartare, and a scallop dish. Scallops are a favorite of Rosita’s so we had to order it. Now I love Pork Rinds, so for me it would be hard to mess this one up. The rinds were ordinary but the sauce they brought out was amazing. If you hate pork rinds it is more than worth it to order this dish to get the sauce. The beef tartare was very good and also the scallops.  

Acorn Coal Roasted Beets

Acorn Duck Confit

The next 2 dishes to come out were coal roasted beets and duck confit. I am not a beet fan but I enjoyed this dish. The duck confit was very good, one of my favorites.

Acorn Pork Belly

Acorn Oak Roasted Maitake Mushrooms

The next out was the pork belly and oak roasted maitake mushrooms. The Pork Belly was my favorite. Rosita loves mushrooms so this was a favorite of hers.  

Acorn Pimento Cheese

Acorn Moroccan Monkfish

The final items we ordered were pimento cheese and a Moroccan monkfish. Both of these were very good. If you are a pimento cheese fan, this is definitely a dish to order. If you are not, well you probably should order something else. The Moroccan monkfish was prepared very well. 

Acorn Huckleberry Cake

Now to our 2 shared desserts.  The Huckleberry cake was different and delicious. The cake, curd and pistachios along with the sauces all blended together very nicely.   This dish was new to me and something that will probably not be duplicated anywhere else.  

Acorn Almond Custard

The Almond Custard was a delightful experience. The dried meringue melted in your mouth. Another dish that I have not ever had before and was a perfect ending to a fantastic meal. 

Overall Acorn is the restaurant to go to if you enjoy trying new dishes and experiencing new combinations of flavors.  WeI always love trying new dishes and thoroughly enjoyed this restaurant.  

Izakaya Den

Izakaya Den

The last night in Denver we decided to try some Japanese. We had been to the Sushi Den a couple of years ago and Josh said they had opened up another Japanese Restaurant next door called Izakaya Den, 1487-A South Pearl ST. Denver, CO. 80210. I remember that our meal at Sushi Den was my favorite all time Japanese meal so this seemed like a good choice. 

Izakaya Den Grilled Octopus

We started off with some edamame and Grilled Octopus. To me Edamame is Edamame and all I”ve ever had was the same. Now they did have a spicy edamame on the menu but Rosita doesn’t like spicy so we decided to not chance it. 

Izakaya Den Lobster Gnocchi

Next was an order of Lobster Gnocchi, which was a very tasty variation of this dish. It was almost as good as we had in a small Italian town in northern italy.  

Izakaya Den Caterpillar Roll

Izakaya Den New Style Salmon Roll

Next, we had a couple of rolls. We had a Caterpillar roll and the New Style Salmon Roll. Both of these were prepared very well with good flavor. Rosita is more of a roll person than me and she gave thumbs up to both of them.  

Izakaya Den Sashimi

The next dish was a plate of sashimi. We had Octopus, Salmon seared Tuna, Red Snapper and Sweet Shrimp. I am more of a sashimi guy and this met all my expectations. The fried Shrimp shell, that came with the Sweet Shrimp, was the best prepared I have ever had.  

Izakaya Den Desserts

Desert was the last item and these were very well done. The Pistachio Ice Cream Tempura was a big hit with Rosita and Julie. The Banana Cream Pie was my favorite and The Strawberry Shortcake was a little different variation of the classic and was very good.  

Sushi Den

If you are in Denver and like Japanese food, this will be a very good choice for you. If you can’t get in try the Sushi Den next door.

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