Last night, my good friend Nessa returned from her extended stay in Alaska for the holidays so we decided to celebrate and venture out to a new restaurant.  Since I live in Downtown Reno, we had many options but we finally settled on “The Golden Flower” (http://www.goldenflowerreno.com/) .

Immediately when we walked through the door, we realized this was a local hot spot as we could barely find seating.  Once we established our seating situation, we briefly scanned the menu and both decided on different variations of Pho.  I chose  the #1 – Xe Lua  :  Which included Rare Beef, Meat balls, Tripe and Brisket.  Nessa chose  the #12 – Tai : Rare Beef only.

Both of our servings were very plentiful and had more than enough Noodles and Meat.  Overall I felt that this was a good experience.  The service was good and the delivery was SUPER fast which is a plus in my book! I approve.

P.S. – The price was spot on! 1 appetizer, 2 entrees and 2 beers = $19.75.  That’s Whats up!

Rating Chart:

Poor +

Good ++

Excellent +++

SLAMMIN’ ++++

The Golden Flower Rating:

Food: +++

Service: +++

Price: ++++

Atmosphere: ++

“The Motion City Soundtrack” was one of my favorite bands in High School.  Before they hit the music scene, I had never heard a band use the keyboard with such a raw / aggressive sound.  It wasn’t before long, that “The Motion City Soundtrack” hit the big time and signed a major record deal.  Unfortunately their sound has slightly altered over the years, becoming more and more “Mainstream Pop Chart” but I prefer to remember them before the major record deal.  Today I provide you with “The Motion City Soundtracks” FIRST album, “I Am the Movie”. Enjoy.

Band Bio

Motion City Soundtrack is an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, formed in 1997. Only two of the founding members are still a part of the lineup: lead vocalist and guitarist Justin Pierre and lead guitarist and backing vocalist Joshua Cain. The band also includes keyboardist and moog synthesist Jesse Johnson, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Taylor, with drummer, percussionist and backing vocalist Tony Thaxton.^[11] Motion City Soundtrack has released three studio albums and sold almost 600,000 records throughout their career, including over half a million in the United States alone.^[12][13]

Motion City Soundtrack’s first release was a 7″ single, “Promenade/Carolina“, in 1999. The following year they released their debut EP, Kids for America, and then a second, Back to the Beat. They released debut album I Am the Movie twice, in 2002. Their first five releases were all self-released with the aid of a small record label. Backed up by their constant touring it fashioned them a fast growing fan base, and a signing with Epitaph Records.

After spending their first five years finding the right lineup, the Epitaph re-issue of I Am the Movie in 2003 was the band’s big break. First major single “The Future Freaks Me Out” arrived with live and television success, but failed in radio airplay and the charts. 2003 and 2004 brought three Split EPs alongside Schatzi, Limbeck and Matchbook Romance. The second album, Commit This to Memory, has been their most successful album to date, selling 285,000+ records and peaking at number two on the Top Independent Albums chart.^[14] It featured the single, “Everything Is Alright”, which also found success on the likes of MTV, but also fell short in radio airplay and the charts. – “Wikipedia.org”