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Americans Downing Less Beer, Sparking Brawl Among Brewers
It’s not clear that Americans are really drinking less beer, but rather, not drinking as much of the big name brands. I’m happy about this. If you really care about taste, then you’re probably drinking craft beers or something from a local brewery. If you just want something cheap, then why not buy the cheapest beer you can find? It seems like Americans are doing this. I’m all for supporting craft breweries.
Michael’s Seablue, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. I don’t remember what we ordered, so I’m just posting pictures of what we ate. I loved it.
You know my quest for Texas BBQ and a worthy successor to Phil’s BBQ. Well, I think I found Phil’s replacement. Rudy’s BBQ is, unfortunately, on the outskirts of Houston, which means a bit of a drive to reach. But it is worth it and highly recommended, and even though the drive may be a pain, depending on what time of day and which day you choose to go, there was no line inside and plenty of seating.
The seating was mostly picnic-table style, which seems to be the norm in Texas for bbq joints, and I like the communal feel of it.
I’ve told people before that Texas bbq appears to be all about the beef brisket and how smoky you can get it. Look at this cut of brisket! So moist and fatty, not gristley. Also, very smoky. I’ve found a place I like better than Goode Co., although I won’t stop visiting Goode bc it’s very close, and they have a larger menu.
Texans are not really into pork, so I don’t think many ppl get pork ribs when they get bbq, but I had to compare to Phil’s. It’s really tough to compare, actually. I think I’d have to eat them side-by-side, and I’m still used to “wet” baby back ribs, but on the other hand, these ribs are much smokier in flavor than Phil’s and don’t need any sauce. These are fork-and-knife ribs, though: the meat slides off the bone very cleanly and easily. You can also see how pink the meat gets.
The styrofoam cups you see in the background of the first photo are the creamed corn and peach cobbler. Wow, those were good. I like the sides here better than Goode Co. as well. The peach cobbler was real, but I don’t like eating it squashed into a cup.
Anyway, Rudy’s BBQ is a large Texas chain, and I would highly recommend it. Knowing Houston’s reputation for bbq, the other locations may taste even better.
Jason treated me to a delicious dinner on his last night in Houston at a place called Reef. It’s a seafood restaurant, and we both enjoyed it very much. Here is what we had:
Blackfin tuna bacon and pink sea bream tiradito, green apple, avocado. This was my first time tasting tuna “bacon”, and I understand why it’s named so. The meat is slightly firmer and saltier. It was nicely tempered with the acidity and tartness of the apple. The tiradito was refreshing, and the avocado kept everything from being too acidic.
Snapper carpaccio, grapefruit agra dolce, garlic bruschetta. The carpaccio and grapefruit were refreshing and flavorful without being overwhelming. Both had very delicate textures, which made them easy to drape and fold onto the bruschetta.
I don’t remember the name of the fish, but I had never heard of it before, and now I see that due to the spill, it has been replaced on the menu with grilled wahoo. It was a light fish, with a texture similar to that of sea bass.
I believe it was served with broccolini, butter foam, and some type of tomato relish. It was good, but I was still reeling from the appetizers, and I was busy stuffing my face with the side dish as well.
I have to thank Jason for ordering this dish for me, bc I was torn between so many of the menu choices. This is roasted grouper, corn pudding, salsa cruda, and grilled peach. Delicious!! I love grouper.
Plaintain and long bean saute. I love sweet plaintains so much, and these did not disappoint at all. Somehow these long beans went really well with the sweetness and there as a little bit of gingery kick to it.
After dinner, I had a glass of Dr. Pauly ice wine (yum!) with our Vietnamese coffee tart, condensed milk ice cream, and mint syrup. The coffee tart had a very liquid texture that oozed out when we broke into the pastry. It was a delicious dessert.
Very satisfied.
2600 Travis @ McGowen in midtown
Houston, TX
713.526.8282
Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water
This is fantastic news for me, because I love tea and want to drink it all day, but I’ve always held back, thinking it was bad for me. I’ll still be drinking tons of water, but now I won’t feel guilty about my tea consumption.
Finally, a use of Twitter that I like:
The Times’ Top Recipes of 2009
I hate to cook, but I’m providing this link for those of you that like to cook in the hopes that I’ll be around when you feel the need to prepare a white-chococlate bread pudding with whiskey caramel sauce.
A critic’s most memorable dining experiences of 2009
Although the article appeared in the LA Times, it’s not limited to restaurants in LA.
I’ve eaten at a few of these places and I keep hearing such great things about Bazaar, by Jose Andres. Jason is determined to prepare one of Andres’s recipes for a party one of these days, and I hope this means he wants to try Bazaar with me the time after the next time I’m in LA.
Any New Yorkers care to weigh in on this one?
10 best non-Starbucks coffee shops in Manhattan
I always just drank coffee at Starbucks. Oh, and at this tiny Greek kitchen on the way from my subway stop to the school where I taught in Chinatown. $1.50 would get me a cup of coffee with tons of sugar and milk (perfect amounts for me) and a hot buttered bagel with a fried egg inside.
I don’t think I’ve blogged about the burgers in Houston yet. I used to think In-N-Out was pretty much as good as it got. Burger Lounge in SD confirmed that for me. I haven’t been to Five Guys yet, but I will. I have to share something with you non-Houstonites, or perhaps non-Texans. The best burgers I’ve ever had are all in Houston. And places like Father’s Office don’t really count as a point of comparison, because yes, if you put foie gras or duck fat or something like that in your burger, then yes, it tastes great, but is it still really a burger? When I talk about eating a good burger, I mean no-frills, but great taste. Patty can be mass-produced or hand-formed, and the ingredients should get no fancier than bacon and barbecue sauce. I expect a good burger to have a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, maybe onions, maybe cheese, maybe some pickles, and maybe ketchup and mustard to be in the category of a “burger.” I have tried several different burger joints in Houston, and with the exception of Avalon Diner (possibly the worst burger I’ve ever had), all have tasted - gasp! better than In-n-Out. I will admit that most cost more than In-n-Out, though. I’m not sure if Smashburger costs the same or not, but I’ll talk about that in a different post.
Beck’s Prime is a drive-thru joint, but there is limited seating. The seating and “patio area” remind me of the Jack in the Box on Valley View in La Palma. It looks pretty ghetto, but the burgers are anything but. They use hand-formed patties, and beef is (surprise, surprise) very delicious in Texas. I don’t even know how to describe what makes it so great. Maybe the lack of freezers? I have no idea. Beck’s Prime is a small chain, and the ingredients are basic (although you have a choice of several more “gourmet” burgers on their menu if you desire more than the basic burger toppings), but good quality. Fresh produce, and small touches like romaine instead of iceberg lettuce. The quality of the ingredients is what probably makes the burger so good. It does cost a bit more than the usual Houston burger, though, about $7-8.
I would also like to highly recommend their Strawberry Cream milkshake. This is one of the few places that makes strawberry shakes correctly (by “correctly,” I mean that they don’t use Nestle Quik or Carnation Instant Breakfast). One of the best strawberry milkshakes I’ve ever had is at Barney’s Burger on College Ave. in Berkeley (my neck muscles would get sore from trying to drink the shake through a straw), and this one definitely compares to it. I need to drink them side-by-side to be sure, but if my memory serves me correctly, Barney’s Burgers has a thicker shake. The friendly employees at Beck’s Prime recommended that I drink the milkshake with a spoon rather than a straw, but I stubbornly used the straw and managed pretty well. Also, Jason and I shared the “small” milkshake and got full, so I would like to tip you off that you can request a dessert-sized portion of the milkshake (it’s not listed on the menu), which is half the size.
The fries are delicious here as well. I haven’t tried anything but the burgers here (they were so good that I come here with burger cravings), but I suspect everything tastes good. If you want to have a good burger for dinner, I would highly recommend this place, and if you want any indication of how good I think this place is, this is the first place that I took my sister to when she came to visit me in Houston.
Here’s a photo I found online of a Beck’s Prime burger:
The weird thing about this photo is that the lettuce looks very different from the way I remember it. Beck’s Prime uses one or two big fat dark green leaves folded up, not pale and shredded like in the photo.
Multiple Houston locations (they just opened an 11th location in north Houston)
Jason and I have been wanting to try this place for ages, but never got up early enough to avoid the line or visit on a day other than Sunday (they’re closed on Sundays). I really wanted Patti to eat here, though, bc it was obviously a place for locals, and its reputation ensured that we wouldn’t be disappointed.
When we arrived, around 9 AM, there was already a line that rounded one corner of the building. There was no way we were going to give up, though, so we got in line. The line actually moved very rapidly (like Phil’s) and the owner and some of the staff would come outside to hand out menus and greet the customers. They were so warm and sweet and made you feel at home.
One of the surprises was a coffee/espresso bar. I had a Karamel Macchiato (way too sweet, but somehow authentically Southern soul food in that sense), and Patti had her choice of several quality blends at the self-serve coffee bar. You pick up your own utensils and such, showing why the line was able to move so quickly and people were able to get seated, served, and leave quickly.
We had the 2 highest rated dishes from their menu:
Katfish & Grits: The photos here do not look very good bc the food doesn’t look good. But the food TASTES excellent. You look at the plate before you and think, “Aw, shit - I should have ordered something else.” But then you take a bite and realize it’s probably the best thing on the menu. Fluffy doughy biscuit, eggs prepared over-medium as I requested, what Patti claimed was the best fried catfish she has ever had in her life, and buttery, coarse-ground grits. Amusingly, they placed one slice of roma tomato on top, the healthiest part of our meal. Haha. The food was delicious and exactly what it claimed to be, Southern soul food. I maintain that in the South, fried foods taste much better. They use a different technique or batter or something. The texture and flavor are amazing.
Wings & Waffles: Again, not much to look at, but HUGE in flavor. I don’t know if waffles can be that amazing - the waffles were just good, but the wings… Basically, anything fried in Houston is going to be good, I think. Delicious, juicy wings with a slightly peppery kick to the batter, which I loved. This time the healthful addition was a single strawberry.
The Breakfast Klub lived up to the hype. Do it.
Closed on Sundays. Open for breakfast and lunch only.
I’ve blogged about BB’s Cajun Cafe before, and Jason and I hadn’t gone in a while, so Patti visiting was the perfect excuse to go back. Unfortunately, they changed their menu, drastically reducing the choices available, so it’s mainly appetizers and Po’Boys now. No more Southern Man Breakfast, which I really miss. You can’t order fried catfish anymore, either, unless it’s in a po’boy. However, I’m not that broken up about the menu change, because they introduced a new menu item: grillades and grits. I had never heard of grillades and I had never heard of that combination. I don’t know if it’s possible to order it ANYWHERE in California, and the server (i suspect he was the manager, but no idea) informed us that BB’s was the only place in Houston that offered it.
As you’ve probably guessed, I loved it. I tried Googling it, and it appears to be a New Orleans comfort food dish, and it tastes like it. Spicy, hearty, warm, and earthy.
Grits go perfectly with grillades, which appears to be chunks of beef that have been stewing all day until they’re tender and infuse the gravy. This dish lasted me 3 meals, and I was stuffed each time. Oh, and this was after Patti abandoned her tacos and shared my dish with me. It’s like Cajun beef goulash with cheesy grits.
Anyway, despite the menu change at BB’s, I am still enthusiastically recommending that you try it.
Ahh, yes. Another BBQ post. Come on, I’m in Texas - I have to try as many places as I can, on my search for a place that compares to Phil’s BBQ. I have to admit it may never happen, simply due to the fact that Phil’s doesn’t serve beef brisket, and “true” Texas BBQ is apparently brisket. I am no judge of brisket, since I’ve had it so rarely, not having been a Texan for more than a couple of months. I don’t know what the criteria are, but I have been looking for a few qualities in brisket that I believe a good brisket should have:
1) smokiness
2) tenderness
3) fattiness (I say this instead of juicy because with brisket being cut so thin, you can’t really retain much juice)
One place that is heavily favored by the locals in my part of Houston is Goode Company. Goode Company is just down the street from my place, which is why I’ve hit it up a few times already with Jason. In a nutshell, the brisket here needs no sauce (and I think that’s how Texans judge BBQ - it has to be good without sauce), it’s the smokiest BBQ I’ve ever tasted, and even though it looks dry and lean, when you eat it you realize it’s tender and fatty.
Check out that smoke ring:
I haven’t seen people ordering the ribs - the chopped beef brisket sandwich appears to be the most popular choice here.
I wish we had taken pictures of the sides, because they were unique. The Austin baked beans were surprisingly sweet, and it was because it contained chunks of apples. They were also a bit spicy, but it may have been carry-over from the BBQ sauces I poured on the meats that were peppery and set my tongue on fire.
I’ve had Goode on 3 separate occasions that I can recall off the top of my head, and the brisket has always been good. Not as good as the BBQ at the Salt Lick, but for where I live in Houston, this may be as “goode” as it gets.
A couple of the guys from my program brought a huge box of Goode Co. brisket to the office with a tub of BBQ sauce, and we were just grabbing strips of meat in our hands, dunking it into the sauce and eating it straight. I ate so much of it that I got a little sick from meat overload, but it was so tender that I couldn’t resist. I would also like to recommend to people who try the brisket sandwich to get it on the jalapeno bread, which seems to be popular in Texas (I see it offered in several places). It is doughy and spicy and delicious.
Jason and I knew of this place because it has some relation to Hugo’s. We also found numerous Chowhound recommendations for Backstreet Cafe. The prices were very good, considering the quality of the food. I would describe it as upscale Tex-Mex bistro food, but at Cheesecake Factory prices. You can’t go wrong!
When we first were seated (which was immediately), we received this:
Delicious breakfast pastries instead of a bread basket! They were good, but I tried not to eat much because I didn’t want to get full before the food arrived.
For our appetizer, we split bacon-wrapped quail on a bed of stone-ground jalapeno cheese grits:
Really, really good. The quail was prepared perfectly, the bacon was savory, lightly crisped, fatty and juicy. The grits were amazing! They were coarsely ground and the jalapeno and cheese weren’t overdone. I want to taste this dish again and again.
Jason’s dish: shredded pork and potato hash with poached eggs, avocado, and tomatillo salsa:
This reminds me: potatoes in Texas taste far better than any potatoes I’ve ever had anywhere else. I usually don’t like potatoes (for example: I don’t like CA burritos), but every potato dish I’ve had in Texas has had what I claim are the best potatoes ever. I don’t know what it is - I think they’re a different type of potato. They look like Yukon golds, but I have no idea what they really are. For some reason, they taste like the best things ever. I have become a potato-lover in Texas, but now I have to remember to not eat potatoes anywhere else if I want to avoid an unpleasant surprise. 
I wonder if Texans eat potatoes in other places and think, “Oh, these must have gone bad…”
My dish: Bistro Breakfast - grilled 4 oz tenderloin served with two poached eggs, rosemary potato cake, spinach and tomato hollandaise:
When I first saw the plate, I thought, “Aww, this looks like a miss.” But then I tasted it and was in heaven. Again, the potatoes. That potato rosemary cake was unbelievably delicious. The tenderloin was perfectly prepared (I asked for it rare), and while the asparagus was a little tired, I thoroughly enjoyed my dish. The eggs were nice and yolky and had a slow run to them, more goop than liquid (which was a good thing!). But my favorite part of the plate was the rosemary potato cake.
I will return to this place, as I was delighted with the food. I will warn you that the food takes a long time to come out. This may be because each dish is made to order; it can also be due to the fact that this place gets crowded quickly. The coffee was all right - our waiter was too harried to refill our cups, and the coffee wasn’t as good as the kind at Raven Grill. I forgot to mention that at Raven Grill, the coffee comes with tiny house-made cookies!
1103 S Shepherd Drive
Houston, TX 77019
713.521.2239
Americans prefer chocolate chip nearly three to one over other cookie types.
When I am out and order cookies, I almost always select chocolate chip or some variant of it. But my favorite cookie of all time is Patti’s home-made oatmeal cookies. I love oatmeal cookies, and so I don’t enjoy them when they’re not made perfectly to my liking, and NEVER do purchased-oatmeal cookies taste like Patti’s home-made ones.
Speaking of yummy chocolate chip cookies, my favorite ones can be found in NYC: the best traditional chocolate chip cookie (in my personal opinion, due to my particular tastes) is found at City Bakery near Union Square in Manhattan. I like the chocolate chips to be numerous, melted, large, and I like the dough to be lightly crispy on the outside, but chewy (not to be confused with soft!) on the inside.
A chocolate chip “cookie” that is also very very good is found at Levain Bakery on the Upper West Side. The bakery is very difficult to find unless you know it’s there: it’s in a basement and it’s tiny. There is enough room for about 5 people to sit/stand comfortably, because it’s basically a kitchen with a table and a counter. The people who work there are covered in flour and you can see metal stacked trays of delicious baked goods behind them. Their chocolate chip “cookie” I place in quotation marks because it’s more of a scone than a cookie. It’s this huge round lumpy scone filled with chocolate chunks and walnuts (which I usually don’t like, but they’re delicious in these cookies). They have the same texture as scones, but the good kind, that are warm and soft in the center without being wet. I can’t really describe them as being anything other than really really good chocolate chip nut scones, so you’ll have to go there and try them for yourself.
Here is a photo of the famed “chocolate chip walnut”:
Something I hear often is “you should try this place because they have the best bloody marys.” Everyone thinks they know where to get the best bloody marys. So I’m a little skeptical about this list, but I’m willing to try one at every one of these places. Any excuse for a drink!
Grilled Cheese Truck to Roll Out in Early October in Los Angeles
I love cheese, and I love grilled cheese sandwiches, but I’m sick of food on trucks. Mexicans have been doing it for who knows how long, and people are acting like it’s something new. Next new thing I’ll read about will be some new-fangled concept called the Ice Cream Truck.
Please read this post because I have discovered something amazing: the best pork chops I have ever eaten. Ever. I eat pork very often; I love pork; I am picky about pork. BEST PORK CHOPS. One of the best dishes I can remember, actually.
Anyway, Jason and I were looking at places for a nice brunch that wouldn’t be too far of a commute (I had to catch up on a lot of work). We decided on Raven Grill because it’s in West University/Rice Village, which is very close to my apartment. We wanted to find a place that had Texas flavors, and I guess this place could be described as upscale Tex-Mex bistro.
Here is our appetizer:
That is a fried seafood cake sitting on top of a tower of thick-cut onion rings, which are hiding sour cream, chives, pico de gallo, and surrounded by flautas filled with cheese, chicken, corn, and peppers, and chicken quesadillas and blue corn fried oysters. I was not a fan of the seafood cake (too much salmon flavor to me and kind of tough and dry), but I liked the flautas and the oysters. I completely neglected the appetizer once I had a taste of my entree.
Honey-chipotle-glazed pork chops with baby spinach, sweet potato wedges, and topped with tomatoes, black beans, onions, corn, and sweet potato chips:
The baby spinach was very garlicky (in a good way) and didn’t leave my teeth feeling chalky. Very good and not soggy. There were two pork chops, very thick-cut, and I asked them to prepare it medium-rare after the waitress assured me that the quality of the pork was very good. They were prepared perfectly. The bones were blackened, the meat was seared on the outside, and very juicy, with no blood. Tender, fatty without actually having chunks of fat all over it, and the perfect consistency. The glaze may have been responsible for the caramelized outside and it was definitely responsible for the great flavor. Sweet, but not overly so, and it didn’t overpower the flavor of the pork. Slightly smoky flavor… I can’t rave enough about this dish. Every single bite of pork was perfect meat. There was no section anywhere where the meat was undercooked or slightly dry. I took my first bite and put my knife and fork down and told Jason he HAD to take a bite. Jason agreed that it was one of the best things he’s ever tasted in his life. I want to come back here just to order this dish. Oh, and tomato, corn, navy beans, and onions tasted good with the pork, too, but whether each bite of pork had it or not didn’t really matter, because it was always good.
Jason’s enchiladas:
Quite honestly, they were good, but because I was enjoying my pork so much, I refused to take more than one bite. I wanted every bite to be of pork or spinach.
We had coffee with our meal, and I loved it. Not as good as the Kona coffee at Gramercy Tavern, but good, strong coffee, with that slightly chocolaty taste that coffees that I like all seem to have. It reminded me of the coffee I enjoyed so much at BStar in SF.
1916 Bissonet Street
Houston, TX 77005
713.521.2027
This picture describes the food pretty accurately. Tasty, lots of BBQ sauce slathered all over it, and moist pulled pork. Was it the best pulled pork ever? No, but it was still tasty and good. I enjoyed it and I’ll be back (especially since this place is practically across the street from my apartment).
We have to try pecan pie at every place that offers it. Tasty, but in that guilty way, when you know you can do better. So far, Salt Lick has the best pecan pie that I’ve ever had, although I think Houston is supposed to be the best place for pecan pie.
Pappas BBQ has several locations, as it is a prominent chain in Texas. I should add that Pappas restaurants come in several incarnations: Pappacito’s Cantina, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen (really good seafood for a chain restaurant), Pappa’s Seafood House, Pappa’s Grill Steakhouse, Pappa’s Brothers Steakhouse, Pappa’s BBQ, and Pappa’s Burger. I think the chain is known for being consistently good, but never the best.
Frenchy’s is a fried chicken fast food chain, which should turn me off, but am I glad we tried it. Apparently their chickens are never frozen and they fry them in small batches, which makes them crispy, oily, and never soggy. They are also fried very, very quickly. Our order was ready seemingly within seconds of placing it.
I had no idea what to expect, and since the price was so cheap for 3 pieces, dirty rice and a piece of cornbread, $3.99 or something, I suspected that the pieces would be the size of chicken nuggets. So I ordered collard greens and seafood gumbo as well.
This picture is not very good because it was relatively dark in the apartment. Here is a photo of the chicken:
The chicken was very good. Crisp, crackly, oily skin, and juicy, moist chicken meat. This chicken should shame all other fast food fried chicken. The pieces were also enormous. I could only finish 2 pieces. The cornbread was also good. It was sweet and honeyed.
The collard greens were a little bitter, as they should be, but not amazing, and the salty seafood gumbo was clearly made with frozen ingredients. The dirty rice was tasty, not phenomenal. My recommendation is for the chicken and the cornbread. I also saw on the menu that I can get macaroni and cheese, so I will be back to try some other comfort foods from Frenchy’s.
There are several locations, so here is the link to their website:
I’m excited because one of the top 10 new restaurants is located in Houston. I’m actually more interested in trying the milk-braised pork shoulder from Olivia’s in Austin.
The directions are a little strange, so I provided a link to them above. It’s definitely off the beaten path and a fair drive’s distance from Austin, but well worth the trek. Some advice: it’s located in a dry county, so bring a cooler full of your own beer. Once you get seated, enjoy some tasty BBQ and then move to the patio across the walkway to enjoy live music and more beer.
On to the food:
The menu was very simple. You get to pick three out of four: turkey, sausage, brisket, ribs. I chose to ignore the turkey. It came with cole slaw, potato salad, and beans. Texas beans are different. They’re not doused in BBQ sauce or really any sauce. They’re just beans, pure and simple. I prefer BBQ or baked or Boston baked beans. I was pleasantly surprised by the potato salad and cole slaw, which I normally ignore because I hate mayonnaise. These did not appear to contain any mayonnaise. The potato salad was really just mashed potatoes with some vegetables hashed in, and the cole slaw was seasoned with vinegar, I think. I ate a fair amount of the cole slaw, because of the meat overload. I also ate the pickles that were provided with some great crusty/doughy bread.
The meat was good, but the brisket wasn’t as juicy or tender as the brisket at Beaver’s. It had a wonderful pink smoke ring and the outside wasn’t tough or chewy, but caramelized well. I don’t remember the exact flavor of the sausage, but I remember enjoying it, and I think I finished it. The ribs were very good as well, but to be honest, Phil’s is still the clear winner, I think. I did really enjoy the rib, though.
As you can see, nothing is left on my plate but beans, potato salad, and brisket. Jason may have finished my plate for me post-photo. I did make sure that we didn’t leave without dessert.
Blackberry cobbler a la mode! And yes, it was a true cobbler: buttery doughy crust on top and surrounding, and the inside baked to a delicious hot mish-mash of berries and God knows what. I loved it. One of the best I have had, I think.
Pecan pie a la mode!! Wow, this pecan pie was gooooooood. The pecans tasted fresh and were caramelized and chewy and the inside was sweet without being overly so… the texture was divine and I was in heaven. I wanted to eat so much more, but we were already feeling a bit overfed.
This is the walkway you cross to get to the patio from the restaurant. The policemen are there presumably to make sure people don’t get drunk and unruly and also to make sure no one gets run over by cars entering the lot.
This is the entrance to the dining area. Don’t worry, you eat indoors where the sun isn’t blazing across your face. I loved eating here, and it was a wonderful Texas bbqing experience. Next time we’ll be prepared with a 6-pack. The address is a little strange, so I will leave it to you to follow the link I have provided in order to find yourself at a true Texas BBQ.
Many thanks to Mannam and Laura for recommending the Salt Lick to me and Jason. It was our favorite Texas stop on the way to Houston.
L.A.’s global sandwich offerings
Please, please, let me find the time to try at least one of these before I go!!
99 Ranch Market to open in Houston!
In order for me to successfully “cook” while I’m living on my own, Asian markets will be extremely important. I want to be able to go all out whenever I eat out in Texas, so cooking healthfully at home will be crucial to preventing astounding weight gain. I’ve noticed that I tend to be able to keep my weight in check best when I prepare Korean food, though, so hopefully I’ll be able to find a good Korean market relatively close to where I live. In Houston, “relatively close” translates to “within 20 miles.” Southern California living has really spoiled me in terms of convenience.
I haven’t been eating out at new places recently, and I’ve been going through my old Specialty Food News email updates, and I came across several articles that interested me, so I’ll post links to them here, in the style of Dr. Cat Foster.
Hugo’s is where Jason and I went for our last meal in Houston, and it was pretty epic. This place is a bit on the pricey side (entrees range from twenty-something to thirty-something in price), but the food is really worth the money. We lucked out and arrived in time for the Sunday brunch buffet, which cost $27 per person. We got to sample an amazing Mexican buffet that had so many different dishes that even though I only loaded my plate with one bite of each, I got too full to sample everything, so there were several dishes that I was unable to try, highly unfortunately. There was even a separate dessert buffet on the other side of the room (included in the regular buffet price).
I don’t remember the names of everything that I sampled, but everything was delicious and several of the items were dishes I had never tasted before. Mexican food in Texas is different from what you encounter in California, generally, as it isn’t baja, but pueblan and oaxacan, usually, as well as gulf cuisine. I love them all.
Everything was fresh and expertly prepared.
Although it is too expensive to frequent this place regularly, it is a must if you visit Houston and want good Mexican food. Arrive very early or make reservations, because this place is very busy and you will have a long wait if you don’t take precautions.
1600 Westheimer Road
Houston, TX 77006
713.524.7744
Jason’s college buddy Bruce introduced us to his younger brother Eric, who lives in Houston. We got along very well and he took us to a fantastic place in Little Saigon called the Boiling Crab. It is a small chain, with a location in Westminster, funnily enough, but there were some key differences between the 2 locations.
First of all, crawfish in Houston are much larger than crawfish in Los Angeles. The crawfish in Houston resemble small lobsters, some with claws big enough to hold a sizeable amount of meat. Second, the seasonings in Houston are much stronger and spicier. Alcohol is also slightly less expensive in Houston.
If you order 2 lbs or more of crawfish at a time, it comes with half a cob of sweet corn, soaked in the same seasoning that you ordered for your crawfish. This corn was doused with such spicy, lemony, salty, cajuny seasoning, that it burned a hole in your tongue, but as your teeth broke the kernels, a hot sweet and juicy torrent of sweet corn juice would put the fire right out. The flavor was amazing.
I was a novice, so my fingers and hands got tired quickly and were a bit sore for a while afterward from breaking the shells. The crawfish were fresh (very few of them had missing limbs or cracked backs) and enormous. I liked them a lot and was craving crawfish for weeks afterward. I am aware that crawfish season is pretty much over, though, so I’ll have to wait until next year for the next good crop. We got crawfish juice and seasoning everywhere, so it was very handy that we wore our bibs before eating.
The crawfish were served in plastic bags, and the tables were covered in butcher paper so that you could create your own piles of shells wherever you wished. I would recommend dressing in dark clothing or clothes that you don’t mind staining whenever you come here.
The Boiling Crab
8300 W Sam Houston Pkwy S #268
Houston, TX 77072
281.988.4750
I’m excited about posting about this place because we loved it so much. We came over for a late breakfast/early lunch (was about noon when we arrived), and had a little trouble finding it, at first. It’s TINY, and located immediately adjacent to a gas station (I’m pretty sure it shares a wall with the gas station’s mini mart). The food was simple and incredibly good, and we hope to become regulars here, if our hearts can handle it.
I was craving breakfast, so I ordered The Southern Man:
2 eggs any style (I ordered them over medium, and they came out precisely the way I had hoped), fried catfish, cheese grits, bacon or sausage (I chose bacon and didn’t regret it one bit) and buttermilk biscuit with a massive amount of butter in a cup. Yes, that is a plastic cup of butter you see next in front of the bowl of cheese grits. Wow, I ate less than half of what I was served. Believe me, I wanted to finish it all, as it all tasted so great, but I just could not handle it.
First of all, the bacon was thick-cut and usually I don’t like it so crispy and crunchy, but I think it had been finished in the oven and wasn’t greasy or blackened. It was also surprisingly spicy, and reminded me of crumbly jerky. Then I tasted the fried catfish, and good Lord, it may have been the best fried catfish of my life. It was so FRESH. The crispy cornmeal was crackly and broke in such a lovely fashion. The fresh fish was flaky and flavorful. I couldn’t eat much of the grits because they filled me up too much, but if you like grits and you like cheese, you’d enjoy them. The eggs were perfect: runny yolks and firm whites, seasoned with salt and pepper, and not covered in buttery grease, but not burnt and lacy, either. I didn’t touch the biscuit because I was so full at that point that I knew one bite would cause my stomach to rupture or blow.
Maw Maw’s Chicken and Sausage Gumbo:
This tasted like the real deal: muddy, smoky, spicy, and delicious. I don’t know how to describe it, but you’ve got to try it if you like gumbo. The picture does translate the flavor well, I believe.
Jason’s Bedtime in the Bayou Po’boy: Fried gulf shrimp
I am usually not a fan of po’boys because I can’t hack the mayonnaise, but this was the best po’boy I’ve ever had. BB’s has mastered the art of the perfect fry-up; I think that’s what makes their fried food so good. No grease, just crackle and fresh ingredients. I am drooling just recalling this place.
I am including one last photo of the fried catfish so that you can see the quality of the fish meat underneath the batter:
This fish did not come from SYSCO or a freezer. This is fresh fish, and perfectly prepared. You can see the way that the batter broke as well. Amazing. Jason and I will be returning to this place over and over again. Our server checked on us often without being intrusive, and he was very cheerful and friendly. This was probably our favorite restaurant in Houston. And, the prices were amazing for what we got, not just in terms of quality, but quantity as well. Everything that we ordered was under $10. Another thing that excites us is the late hours they hold. They’re open until 3 AM on Fridays and Saturdays!
2710 Montrose
Houston, TX 77006
713.524.4499
For dinner on our first night in Houston, Jason and I were primarily concerned with proximity. We were trying to find an affordable restaurant that was near our hotel, but also favorably rated. We settled on Beaver’s Ice House, and it was quite the pleasant surprise.
We started with a special as our appetizer: rabbit livers served with cornbread.
Judging from the name of the establishment as well as its website, we did not expect to discover that the chef would travel an hour or so out into the country to find a ranch that provided fresh rabbits for him to use in his cooking. The livers were not gamey, but still had a mild liver taste that was good. The livers were prepared in a “dry” fashion, that is, they weren’t sauteed in oil or anything wet. They were roasted, it tasted like, and served with a delicious sauce and delicious pan-fried cornbread.
This is Jason’s Pit Boss “Chickwich” - all-natural smoked shredded chicken made sloppy with “Ring of Fire” BBQ sauce, a fried egg, crispy cornmeal onions, cole slaw, and a pickle:
It was even more delicious than it sounds. Definitely my favorite, and our server claimed it was her favorite as well. The chickwich was unbelievably huge, and I tried to get a picture of it in relation to Jason’s head:
Notice that you’re facing the “closed-side” of the sandwich. This is what it looked like after Jason tried to squash it down.
Here is my smoker sampler for one:
My favorite part of it was the brisket. It was so tender and juicy and had that wonderful pink smoke ring. It collapsed under my fork and I wished my plate was all brisket. The sausage was house-made, and you could tell that it was special, but it wasn’t to my personal liking. I think other people would have enjoyed it more. I didn’t like the ribs at all, but that may have been personal preference as well, because Jason devoured mine happily. I like my rib meat to slide off the bone at the touch of a fork. I was far too full to even consider trying the Texas toast that accompanied my dish. I was also a little turned off by the pulled pork, because while some pieces were tender, some were tough and dry, and there was an interesting pickled, vinegary sauce that doused it all that I wasn’t very fond of. I think it may be an acquired taste.
Braised greens - simple greens, chicken stock, bacon:
Very good greens. I love collard greens and the like. These were no disappointment. Huge fat chunks of bacon floating around also delighted us.
This place felt casual; you could see picnic tables and umbrellas outside as people downed their beers in jeans, but once you entered, people were dressed a little more to impress and it seemed popular with old and young alike. There were dishes that were good ole home cookin’, but there were also more gourmet dishes like the rabbit livers. They had a pretty good beer selection, and the servers were extremely friendly (actually, I think it’s difficult to find unfriendly people in Houston, from our experiences so far). I would come back to this place - it was a little bit more expensive than I had expected, but it was also a fun and comfortable place to eat. I think I’d like to come back some time on a hot summer evening and just drink ice-cold beers outside on the patio.
A warning: this place is a little difficult to find. I would highly recommend using Google maps, or a Garmin or some type of navigation system, as it’s in an unexpected location, comfortably and tightly nestled among residential houses.
2310 Decatur Street (Sawyer @ Washington Ave.)
Houston, TX 77007
713.864.2328
I didn’t want to title this post “Avalon Diner,” because I didn’t like it very much. It’s been very highly rated on various sites such as roadfood.com or Yelp!, and it was even listed in Gourmet Magazine as being one of the best burgers in the country. It’s not. We were very disappointed, and the food was a bit pricey for what it was, which was mediocre diner food. The service was almost nonexistent, although I did notice the host yelling at our waiter later for disappearing while on the job, so I’m guessing ours was an isolated case, or rather, the diner is working on improving their service.
Here is the cheeseburger I ordered with some onion rings:
You can tell from the picture that it is nothing special. It was just a regular burger. In-n-Out burgers are much, much, much better. The lettuce was tired and wilted, the tomatoes were pale and bland, the meat was all right, but probably defrosted after sitting for months in the freezer.
One thing I will be open and honest about is that we were tired when we arrived. Our flight had arrived that morning, we were hungry, it was extremely hot and humid in Houston already, and I was feeling nauseous from exhaustion, a migraine, and mild heat stroke. There is a possibility that on a different day, I might have liked the burger. But hungry as I was, I couldn’t eat much of it (nor did I want to - I started feeling sick after a few bites) and I think if it had been a good burger, I could have scarfed it down. The milkshake was way too sugary and sweet, as though they had tried to make up for the lack of flavor by dousing it in artificial sweeteners.
The onion rings were very crispy, but the batter didn’t taste very good and the onions tasted as old as their other produce. I’m not going to include the address of Avalon Diner because I would not recommend that you eat there any time soon. If I ever go back (and I doubt I will, at those prices) and the food has improved, I will be sure to post on my blog.
Muzita is an Abyssinian (Eritrean/Ethiopian) bistro in University Heights. It was a nice neighborhood, plenty to do and see, and lots of pedestrians enjoying the streets. It was raining pretty heartily that night, but outdoor seating was still extremely pleasant. Jason and I thoroughly enjoyed this place. The atmosphere was cozy and the food was delicious. The servers and hosts were extremely friendly and would often stop to chat with every patron.
First dish: Birsn Korosh - spicy lentil spread with crispy injera (crispy oily bread).
I kept wiping my greasy fingers on my napkin, but I couldn’t stop eating this creamy, spicy dip. It was beany and spicy and tangy all at once. It was a great dish to share.
All right, what makes it difficult to label these pictures is that if you’re familiar with Ethiopian food, you know that everything you order is combined onto one plate, and often you’re not sure which dish you’re eating at any point in time. I can tell you that everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING was delicious and a little spicy and very filling.
I don’t remember what everything was. I think there was a type of curry, a lamb dish, some salad, and shredded meat of some sort on the other side. This was all served with the traditional spongy bread/tortilla typical of the region.
Here’s another angle:
Close-up of one of the entrees: hamli - braised spinach and collard greens (very spicy and yum!).
Close-up of the other entree: Zigini Beggie - berbere braised leg of lamb, stewed onion and tomato.
Also remember that you eat with your hands; there are no utensils here. They passed us wet washcloths to scrub our hands with before eating, so don’t worry about eating too many germs off your dirty hands.
Come here for a hearty, spicy meal. We managed to finish about half of our plate and took the rest home to eat the next day for lunch. It made us very sluggish and heavy. I would love to come here again, and for anyone who can appreciate Abyssinian food, I would highly recommend this place. Be prepared for a wait, as every dish is made to order.
4561 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92116
619.546.7900
I already wrote a glowing review of this place, and I was cheered to hear that they’re opening another location devoted to delivering pizzas.
Here are some photos of the delicious dishes Jason and I ordered after an exhausting day on Melrose.
Some type of goat or lamb dish. SO GOOD.
Prosciutto pizza!! NOM NOM NOM NOM.
2454 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-586-1707
Jason took me to Wilshire for my birthday dinner. I would recommend dressing business casual, but I felt at home wearing a summery maxi-dress. The spiky-haired sommelier’s sleeve also pulled back slightly to reveal heavily tattooed arms, so dressing trendy is fine, too. The service was wonderful here.
My steak tartare with grilled sourdough:
There was a soft-boiled quail egg yolk on top! I broke it and it oozed throughout the steak, imparting a delicious yolky flavor to it. I was not happy to see that bits of chopped onion and what appeared to be green olives were mixed with the tartare, but it still tasted good, although a bit salty. The sourdough was crunchy and had been coated with olive oil. Something yellow was dusted throughout the plate, and I still have no idea what it was. It looked like pollen, but I couldn’t really figure out a taste from it. I liked it, though, and kept scraping it up and adding it to each bite.
Jason’s white corn soup with morel mushrooms and a fava bean crostini, with tarragon shavings and sherry:
This was so delicious! I wanted to steal Jason’s bowl and finish it all. It was mildly sweet and mildly salty… I don’t even know how to describe it, but I loved it. Because it was my birthday, Jason let me temporarily trade appetizers.
My grilled rack of lamb, served on curried quinoa and Japanese eggplant, with a pickled tomato and cucumber raita:
The lamb was prepared PERFECTLY. You can’t see it at this angle because of the flash, but it was so red and juicy without being raw. There was a wonderful ring of fat surrounding it, and the bone retained the flavor and juices. The outside rub was wonderfully salty and seasoned and formed a sort of crust. I ended up using my hands (as discreetly as possible) at some point, in order to get all of the meat off the bone. The tomato and cucumber raita were very refreshing on the side.
Jason’s grilled kurobota pork loin on green garlic polenta, with rapini and rhubarb chutney:
Wow. This dish was delicious. I love it when pork is perfectly cooked and prepared. It was juicy and soft, no dryness, no toughness, no “shredding” action. I also liked the polenta.
My vanilla souffle:
It came with a pitcher of cream to pour over it, and it was delicious, although nothing like the vanilla souffle from Violon d’Inges.
Jason’s assorted cookies:
They even made their own fig newtons! Warm, delicious and wonderful for accompanying the coffee.
Would I come here again? Maybe. The food was delicious, but there are so many good restaurants to try in LA, and I’m not sure that it was SO spectacular that I’d choose it in lieu of trying someplace new. It’s definitely worth a try, and I enjoyed a lovely birthday dinner here. We sat on the patio in back, under a heat lamp, and I loved the ambience as much as I loved the food.
Surati Farsan Mart
11814 E. 186th Street
Artesia, CA 90701
562.860.2310
I saved the receipt from this tiny, but clean and pretty joint. 186th is one of the small side streets off Pioneer Blvd. in the heart of Little India. There is a traffic light, so street parking in the neighborhood adjacent is not difficult at all. You order at a counter, find a table, and your food is brought to you. I believe you bring your receipt after your meal to the counter to pay for it. It’s already been a while. This place is basically your go-to for an Indian tapas-style dinner, only much more affordable than any tapas place that I’ve ever been to. And possibly much more filling and delicious.
Unfortunately, aside from the masala dosa and ragda samosa, I cannot match the names of the dishes to the photos. Fortunately, when you order, the menu provides an apt description of each dish, so you should be able to match the photos with the menu and descriptions when you get there.
I’ll start by listing what we ordered, then providing photos.
Ragda Samosa
Paratha Shak
Masala Dosa
Sevpuri
Petish Plate
This was a spicy broth filled with vegetables. We weren’t sure what to do with it, so we dipped bread into it. It was delicious.
These were delicious balls of dough filled with chopped garlic and spinach, I believe. The inside was dark green, and I could eat these anytime, anywhere. They were surprisingly filling and came with 2 sauces.
No idea what this is, but it tasted like vegetable curry with chopped raw onions on top. Very generous with the vegetables.
I can’t remember what these tasted like, actually. I’m sure they were good samosas.
This was our masala dosa, now I realize that the spicy broth I indicated in the first photo must have been the masala sauce that accompanied it. The dosa was filled with sauce and potatoes. Extremely large.
Another vegetable curry? Now I’m getting mixed up. I’m a bit embarrassed, but please keep in mind that after we had ordered, we had difficulty identifying which dish was which, and even after we had decided what each one was, we still weren’t 100% sure.
Our priciest dish was the paratha shak, which cost $5.99. The rest of the dishes ranged from $3.50 to $4.50, so you can get an idea of how economical it would be to eat here. I should also warn you that Jason and I ordered far too much food. It was embarrassing how much was left over, despite how much we stuffed ourselves. I think we should have left out 2 dishes and still could have been stuffed. We brought the leftovers to my sister’s, but I have no idea if she was able to eat them. Fried foods don’t reheat too well.
Please go here! The food is tasty and affordable and if we had been able to bring more people, we could have really had a feast and gone to town on trying more foods.
Le Comptoir du Relais
5, carrefour de l’odeon 75006 Paris
Ju Yon recommended this place to me and Jason as a romantic final dinner for the two of us. She was right. We tried to set out early, and it was located very close to her apartment, but even so, every table was already full and people were queueing on the sidewalk. The wait staff were extremely efficient and we did not have to wait too long for a table to open up, perhaps, 20 minutes. We sat at a tiny table that was technically outside of the restaurant, on the sidewalk. The tables were extremely close together, so we were pretty much elbow to elbow with the couples on either side of us.
This is Jason’s croque saumon fume. I’m guessing it’s their croque-monsieur, but with smoked salmon instead of jambon (ham). It was delicious, and not overly rich. It came with a small baby romaine lettuce salad.
My carpaccio tete de veau. Thinly sliced veal head, topped with baby romaine lettuce and chives. YUMMY! You already know I love veal head, and it was sliced so thinly and crisped the SLIGHTEST bit. I scraped the plate clean. You can see the ribbons of fat very clearly here.
Jason’s cochon de lait. Milk-fed piglet. Delicious. Fatty, tender, juicy, with the hint of smoky bacon. My stomach is growling just thinking about it. I think it was served on a bed of lentils.
My joue de boeuf. Beef cheeks. It was served in a type of stew, or casserole, with elbow macaroni, potatoes, and carrots. I keep using the same words over and over again, but until I find new ones, “juicy, tender, fall-apart at the touch of a fork” it will be. I really loved this place.
We finished with a cheese plate, but we were really too full to enjoy it as much as we should have:
As you can see, this place is casual and has a cafe-type feel:
I forgot how Jason and I found this place. It might have been on a blog we found of an American ex-pat living in Paris. It may also have been on Chowhound. Either way, this place was about 3 short blocks away from Ju Yon’s apartment. We decided to come here for lunch.
Roast squab on a bed of spinach, served with roasted fingerling potatoes:
I love this photo. This dish was perfect. The squab was juicy and rare, like I had requested, without being undercooked. The potatoes were very buttery and delicious as well. Simple and delicious meal.
Jason’s roast chicken:
Juicy and delicious as the photo suggests.
With a side of buttery, creamy mashed golden potatoes:
The food was simply prepared, and delicious. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants good, simple, country French fare. Also, beware if you’re allergic to cats. There is an enormous and friendly cat walking around the premises as though he owns the place. As his framed photo is prominently displayed on the walls, maybe he does. He kept me very amused as he would visit each table to see if anyone fancied allowing him to join. I saw a woman wrap a handkerchief around her hand before pushing him out of the seat adjacent to her that he had occupied, he eagerly scanning the table to see what was for lunch.
Sorry it’s been so long. I finally learned how to re-size the pics so that they don’t take forever to upload.
On Day 3, Ju Yon took us to one of my now-favorite restaurants in Paris, Violon d’Inges. We had a wonderful time, and we spent another 4-hour-marathon dinner here. Of course, the wait staff never gave us a hint as to how uncommonly long we stayed.
My first course was an escargot souffle:
Looks like a pretty pastry shell, but otherwise, unremarkable, right? WRONG. Check out the inside (or what was left after I ravenously DEVOURED the interior):
Snails, mushrooms, various vegetables, in a creamy, flavorful bisque of sorts. Ju Yon at first couldn’t believe that there were snails inside, because they were as tender as mushrooms. The best escargot that I have ever had, hands-down. Combine that with the buttery, flaky pastry shell, and I was in heaven. It was my favorite course of the night.
Here is Jason’s dish:
Amusingly enough, he has no memory of what it was, but he does recall that it was a little too rich. I believe it is sliced cheek with layers of foie gras. There is a green bean salad on the side. I don’t recall the taste of his very well because I was too busy stuffing my face with the escargot souffle.
Here is my main dish:
Just like one of Carla’s challenge-winning dishes, it is roasted quail on a bed of fresh peas. The peas were enormous, slightly undercooked for a nutty flavor and they reminded me of edamame. Yes, it is pancetta bacon on top. Delicious, of course. Perfectly cooked, and I love small game fowl. The peas were pleasantly chewy and I think had been cooked with chunks of fatty bacon, if you can see them in the picture.
This is Jason’s cassoulet:
It was good, and supposedly this restaurant makes them especially well. It was the richest cassoulet I can imagine. I think one of the best words to describe it was: Overload. It contained lamb, chicken, beef, sausage, bacon, pork… I’m sure I’m leaving something out. I couldn’t believe how much meat and how many varieties of meat they managed to stuff into this dish. The dish was also roughly the size of an oven roasting pan. After filling Jason’s enormous dish from a huge piece of crockery, the waiter informed Jason that he was only being served half of his dish, and whenever he was ready, they would bring out the second half. They had to stagger the portions I am guessing for two reasons: no table dishware exists that is large enough to accommodate the full helping; they want to keep the dish warm because it is too big to finish before it cools. Jason gave me a piece of the fatty bacon (it reminded me of the thick slice of pork belly that sits on top of ramen) and I was instantly full. I have no idea how Jason managed to finish as much as he did.
My dessert:
I am annoyed that I can’t remember the name. Basically, imagine cream puff filling stuffed between flaky and delicate crisp layers of pastry sheets, liberally dusted with powdered sugar, and then topped with generous helpings of the caramel sauce from Ju Yon’s vanilla souffle. By the way, Ju Yon’s vanilla souffle was one of the best desserts I can remember. This isn’t to say that my dessert was not extraordinarily good. The cream filling was sweet and not overly rich and buttery. It was fluffy but still thick. I think the sauce was my favorite part.
Jason’s dessert:
Neither of us can remember what type of sorbet was on the side, but Jason recalls that the inside cream filling was chocolate. He also knows that the pastry portion consisted of “honey crackers.” You can see that it’s filled with raspberries as well, fresh ones. You can enjoy looking at the picture and fantasize what it tasted like.
We ordered coffee and it was accompanied by these delightfully lacy and crispy sweet burnt caramel crisps:
You can see the nuts along the outside. I would also like to draw your attention to the home-made chocolates sitting underneath:
They were gooey and if you held them for too long, the heat from your fingers made the chocolates droop and stretch. Yummy!!
As always, I must close with photos of my dear eating companions:
You can see a merry old gentleman behind our wine glasses. He was extremely amused at the fact that we kept taking pictures of the food, and I think he was happy that we appeared to like our food so much. He would occasionally talk to us in French and chuckled throughout our meal. We miss him.
Thanks to Ju Yon for finding this place and making reservations!
On day 2, Ju Yon made reservations for us at a tiny yet somewhat formal restaurant called Ribouldingue, one of the most memorable restaurants I have ever had the pleasure in which to dine. Their specialization is offal, and it is unbelievable how good it can taste and feel. The food here was mainly about texture.
Here is what it looks like from the outside:
It’s a tiny place on a tiny street (more like an alley), so you probably won’t find it unless you are looking for it.
Before we ordered our dishes, we received a large amuse-bouche. We still are not sure what it was that we ate, but it was tasty and covered in paprika.
You can see the jelly-like texture. There wasn’t much flavor to it; you noticed the texture more than anything else.
I photographed Ju Yon’s absinthe, because it was prepared the “proper” way:
Sorry the pictures are so dark and grainy: it was dark inside and when I took the first picture, the flash made all of the other restaurant patrons jump, so I turned it off. The glass had a small amount of green absinthe at the bottom. The hostess provided a spoon with holes that was placed on top of the glass, and placed a sugar cube on top of the spoon. She handed Ju Yon a tiny pitcher filled with clear liquid, which Ju Yon poured over the sugar cube, causing it to melt into the glass. You can see that it became cloudy. Although I am still not a fan of absinthe, this was much better than the absinthe I tasted in Prague. Of course, I took the absinthe in Prague straight, and chased it with packets of sugar that Val and Monique had brought from a cafe.
The menus were in French only, and so Ju Yon, Jason and I had to rely on our past years of French to decipher the choices. As we hadn’t spent much time learning about offal, we mostly had to guess based on the few words we did know, and even then, we weren’t sure what would appear before us.
I ordered a dish which read “something of pork, served on a bed of lentils,” which sounded good to me. When the waitress brought out my dish, I could see quite plainly that a pig snout was sitting atop a bed of lentils.
It looked quite horrific, but I bravely cut into it with my knife and was surprised at how easily and smoothly it slid through the meat/cartilage/muscle. It wasn’t rubbery, although it looked rubbery. It was more like slightly firm fat, but almost melted on the tongue with a bacon flavor. It was delicious. The lentils complemented the smoky bacon flavor perfectly. I would order this again in a flash.
We had the same confusion with Jason’s appetizer. We could decipher “veal” and salad. It sounded delicious, so he bravely ordered it. This is what arrived:
As you can see, it resembles thinly sliced beef flank. It reminded me of thinly sliced pork belly, slightly crispy, with lean meat and bits of fat, but no pork flavor. It was delicious, and we still couldn’t tell what it was. We all enjoyed it. After dinner, when we returned home (4 hours later), Ju Yon grabbed her dictionary and looked up this dish. Turns out the word we couldn’t decipher meant “cow udder.”
Ju Yon’s dish was the only one deciphered properly, and it was lamb tongue… we think…
It was delicious. The softest tongue I have ever eaten.
For my main dish, I understood what it was that I was ordering… mostly. I ordered head of veal, and I had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t sure how much meat would exist on a head, or where the meat came from. Was it going to be the cheeks? Were they going to scrape the meat from around the skull and just toss it onto the plate? Here is what surprised me:
Yes, it is what it looks like. You are staring at the brain of a baby cow. It is disgusting to be staring at it, when it is obvious what it is. I was brave enough to taste it, and I ended up finishing it, but I wouldn’t order brain again. I wish I had taken a photo of the cross-section when I cut it open. The inside was creamy white, solid, the way it looks when you cut into raw tofu or raw mozzarella. The texture was like flan, but the flavor was strange. It tasted all right as you chewed it up and tasted it on your tongue, but as you swallowed it, there was a strange sour aftertaste, like cream cheese or sour cream. The taste was fine, but the aftertaste was unsettling and sour. I didn’t like the aftertaste, so I’m not sure why I kept eating it.
The best part of the dish was the head itself:
Do you see the steak on the back of the plate? That was one of the most delicious things I have ever had. It was like braised short ribs in the form of prime rib, only the meat was more tender than any shortrib. There was a good deal of good fat surrounding the meat in a ring. Words cannot do the dish credit. Just trust me that “veal head” is a very good thing. But skip the brain.
Here are the kidneys that Jason ordered, I forgot from which animal:
They tasted like slightly gamey seared liver, but a little more steak-like. Jason was asked how he wanted it prepared, and I believe this is prepared medium. One of the things I miss about Paris is that the French never, ever, overcook their meat.
Here is Ju Yon’s tripe:
It looks like a delicious stew, and it tasted like a delicious stew. I love tripe. It came with wine sauce and herbs and vegetables, and it was a nice, comfortable, country-tasting dish.
Jason ordered French toast for dessert:
Yum!
I had coffee-flavored chocolate pot de creme with a madeleine:
I could probably eat this almost every day with coffee if I had the choice. The pot de creme had such a great texture and fluffy-to-thick ratio.
This is Ju Yon’s rice pudding with orange marmalade:
You can see the jam jar next to the plate. Ju Yon got to scoop the amount of home-made marmalade she wanted to add to the dish. It was a good ratio of sweet to bitter.
We spent 4 hours eating and drinking and having a wonderful time. We were one of the first to arrive for dinner, and the last to leave. Although the place had a slightly formal feel, the servers were extremely warm and made us feel at home. The restaurant had a nice volume level that allowed you to speak at a comfortable level, without shouting to be heard and without making you feel as though you had to lower your voice. Actually, every restaurant in Paris was like that.
This was one of my favorite dinners in Paris. I would definitely come back and do it all again. Just without the brain.
On day 2, we met Ju Yon at Breizh Cafe for lunch. It’s a tiny crepe restaurant on a busy street and we ended up waiting in a park for 30 minutes until a table was free. The owner of the cafe is French, and his wife is Japanese, and there are several Japanese touches to the cafe.
One wonderful thing about this cafe was their specializing in ciders, as opposed to wines. I have never seen such a large cider menu (or a cider menu at all, really) in a restaurant before. The owner’s wife selected one for us, at our urging.
You can see the brand and the type (I’m not sure which is which). I am guessing that it would be difficult to find it outside of France, as it is described as artisan on the label. This is too bad because the cider was delicious! It was crisp, bubbly, and sweet. We were heavily considering ordering more, but we were too stuffed and the place was too busy. You can also see that we drank the cider out of small Japanese bowls, which I suspect are usually used to serve miso soup.
My crepe: L’oignon confit du pommes, fromage, oeuf miroir, jambon (apple-sauce onions?, cheese, soft-fried egg, ham).
The crepe was made with buckwheat flour, which made it taste heartier, but also less cloying. The batter was crispy thin and lacy, as you can see. But it didn’t crackle and disintegrate under my fork (perhaps because of the cheese, come to think of it), much to my delight. It was cooked perfectly: nowhere was it undercooked nor burnt. The egg was also cooked perfectly. I wrote that it was soft-fried, and I have no idea what I meant by that. But it was different from a traditional sunny-side up, that I could make out. It was just fried and nice and yolky, but there was no sign of it having been cooked directly on a pan’s surface. I don’t know how to describe it, other than perfect. When I broke the yolk, it oozed and soaked into the bread nicely. The ham was good, but my favorite part of the crepe was the onion confit du pommes. The onions were grilled and clear and soft, but they had a slight sweetness to them that was unbelievable. I could have eaten a crepe filled only with the oignon confit du pommes.
Ju Yon had the special of the day, a “Crepe Paysanne”: Andouille, oeuf miroir, l’oignon confit du pommes, fromage (Andouille sausage, soft-fried egg, apple-jam onions?, cheese).
Ju Yon’s tasted very similar to mine, but it differed by meat. I rarely order anything with Andouille sausage in it, because I don’t like the grease, but as you can see by the photo, her sausage wasn’t greasy. It tasted similar to how it looks, with the strange addition of a liver flavor and scent. I was more mystified than charmed, but it worked well with the rest of the crepe.
Jason’s crepe was jambon cru, oeuf brouille, fromage (cured ham (cru literally means “vintage”, scrambled egg, cheese):
That ham!! Wow, it was delicious. It was soft and flavorful without destroying your tongue. It’s sliced so thinly it’s transparent in parts!
Ju Yon and I, being shameless pigs and craving oysters, ordered a plate of them. Afraid of how our stomachs would react to having raw oysters in them first thing, we asked the hostess to bring the raw oysters out after our crepes, much to her surprise. She kept asking if we were sure we knew what we were asking and finally nodded, laughing at us.
Check out this beautiful plate!
The oysters were DELICIOUS. So soft and slippery, falling apart on your tongue, and filled with clean, salty juices of ocean and lemon. We kept trying to get Jason to try one, but I think he could tell how much we were enjoying them and refused to partake on the grounds that he didn’t want to deny us even one.
The oysters were accompanied by pickled butter and a spiced sauce that went very well with the oysters:
You can see the Japanese details in the shape of the butter and the serving dishes used.
Yes, we went all-out: Here is our crepe de sucre (sweet crepe, or literally, “sugar crepe”) - poivre, chocolat, amandes, vanille glace (pear, chocolate, almonds, vanilla ice cream).
Yes, we were very full after all that.
One of the best things about Paris are Parisian macaroons, or macarons. I have tried Parisian-style macaroons all over the US and they were almost terrible in comparison. There are two very famous places in Paris in terms of quality macaroons, and they are Pierre Herme and Laduree. Laduree is the more known one, but this may be because they have a sit-down restaurant and cafe in which you can order food and drink as well as desserts. I didn’t take pictures at Pierre Herme because there was a very long line and you ordered at a counter and walked out as quickly as possible to keep from getting in the way of other customers.
We enjoyed a nice afternoon tea at Laduree during our first day in Paris with Ju Yon.
The famous macaroons, in flavors vanille, citron, et pistache (vanilla, citron - no, it’s not the same thing as an orange or a lemon, and pistachio).
Yummy! True Parisian macaroons have a slightly crumbly wafer shell, with lightly chewy and soft “cookies” and a luxuriously creamy center. They are one of my favorite sweets in the world. That is saying a lot.
Jason ordered a vanilla eclair:
I may have been too full to try a piece. Again, Jason should guest-blog.
Here is Ju Yon’s dessert. God knows what it is, but it was good and resembled a super-fancy cream puff with pistachio cream and French country strawberries.
We ordered a cup of the chocolat chaud laduree (Laduree’s hot chocolate), and it was so creamy and rich. It was melted chocolate served in a silver pitcher and poured slowly into a cup. Oooohhhh… I also ordered hot black fruit tea, which was delicious and I wish I could order it here.
The main difference between Pierre Herme macarons and Laduree macarons that I could distinguish was the type of flavors that they offer. Laduree macarons come in very straightforward flavors: chocolate, caramel, vanilla, pistachio, etc. Pierre Herme macarons have seasonal flavors like: jasmine; cassis; olive oil and vanilla; rose; caramel coffee, etc. Pierre Herme macarons are prettier, because they have a pearly finish to the outer shell, and the colors tend to vary between the cream filling and the outer shell. Some of the macaroons have contrasting colored dots on the outer shell for decoration as well.
I can’t pick a favorite between the two stores because it’s like picking a favorite ice cream flavor. Sometimes you’re in the mood for vanilla, sometimes you’re in the mood for Gold Medal Ribbon. Both stores make their macaroons with the perfect ratio of chewy to soft and crumbly.
Our first dinner in Paris was at Le Pre Verre. Ju Yon had made reservations because this place was packed and looked as though it were popular every night. There was a slight mix-up with the reservation, but they were still able to seat us immediately and were very accommodating.
Wine in France is so tasty and costs so little. Ordering wine with meals was pretty standard during our trip. I also like places that include a small dish of tasty olives to enjoy with wine.
Foie gras au citron confit:
I don’t remember the flavor too well, actually. The foie gras part of the dish was very very buttery and rich. I remember the silky texture on my tongue. The vegetables embedded in the foie tasted a little sour and tart. I would have enjoyed the dish more if it hadn’t included the vegetables. The crisp sliced vegetables on the plate neutralized the richness of the foie very well.
Hure cochon grillee, chutney de beteraves (grilled pig head and some type of chutney):
This picture is bigger because it’s such a pretty and delicious dish. I need to have Jason guest-blog if possible. We all made sure to order different items at every restaurant and enjoyed our own dishes so much that after only a sample of each others’ dishes, we’d go on and finish our own, often forgetting the finer points of our friends’ plates. You can tell how tasty this dish is from looking at it and knowing that cochon means pork, right? I believe the thin red wafer atop the dish was akin to a potato chip made of bacon.
Creme aubergines et poivrons, sesame noir (eggplant and sweet pepper cream soup, black sesame):
My favorite appetizer of the night. I don’t know how to describe the flavor, but the subtlety of the different ingredients mixing in and delivering the right amount of each individual flavor was quite the impressive feat. Needless to say, it was creamy and delicious. Jason scored a winner with that one.
Lapin au cumin et puree de patates douces (cumin-flavored rabbit and sweet potato puree):
For those of you who have had rabbit, you know that rabbit meat tends to be tough and dry (presumably because of the muscles and being caught out in the wild). This was the tenderest, juiciest rabbit meat I can imagine. I’ve only had it one other time, at a nice restaurant in Anaheim called the White House, and this Parisian rabbit puts it to shame. The sweet potato puree was a nice touch, too.
Cochon de lait fondant et chou croquant aux …. (milk-fed piglet, melting with crunchy cabbage):
Yum!!! The name says it all. Unfortunately, when I took a picture of the menu to remember all the dish names, I cut off the last part of this one, so I don’t know what type of crunchy cabbage this was or with what it was mixed (besides delicious pig meat). So tender and fatty… Good pork is tough to beat.
Foie de veau au tamarin, polenta grillee (veal liver with tamarin, grilled polenta):
Slightly gamey liver, but not as strong as most non-fowl livers that I’ve had. Definitely not as “earthy.” Caramelized grilled onions were delicious and so was the polenta. I don’t remember if I finished my dish, but I tried to. It was a wonderful first plate dinner to have.
Fraises au persil et sa glace (strawberries on parsley and parsley ice cream):
Very refreshing and very delicious. The waiter recommended it enthusiastically when we asked him for his opinion. We had also seen several plates of this dessert cruising past us en route to other lucky tables. The white dust is powdered sugar, and parsley ice cream is mild and good for digestion after a rich meal. The brownish liquid was originally shaved parsley and parsley juice, but the strawberry juice mixed into it and turned it brown. This did not decrease the flavor in any way. The dessert tasted almost healthy. Maybe it was. I would love it if I could have this during the summer.
Creme caramel poivre et sel (Peppered and salted flan):
Flan is pretty much flan anywhere you are, and rarely is it bad. This flan was very good, and the firmness was perfect, as well as the caramelization on top. The addition of pepper and salt did not ruin the flavor, and it was a unique flavor - the pepper and salt featured very strongly in this dish, but I would prefer to have creme caramel without the seasonings.
It’s so great to be able to categorize an entry under “Travel.” Anyway, you know that Jason and I went to Paris to visit Ju Yon and stuff our faces. Fortunately, Ju Yon was more than qualified to assist us in doing just that. After arriving at her apartment, she took us on a quick tour of the Latin Quarter and then brought us to Cuisine de Bar for our first meal in Paris.
For lunch, we had their lunch prix fixe menu which consisted of a salad (no photo bc you know my stance on reviewing salads), a tartine of your choice, wine, and coffee.
Ju Yon’s tartine: chicken with mayonnaise and anchovies.
Bread was delicious, first of all. It came from a famous bakery next door, whose name I cannot recall, despite Ju Yon having told me twice. I do not like mayonnaise one bit, but mayo in France tastes very different. It is more like a herbed aioli, with a delicate creamy flavor. I liked it, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to order it. The chicken wasn’t dry at all, of course, and who knew how well anchovies would complement chicken?
Jason’s salmon tartine:
Like rich, buttery lox. This may have been my favorite of the three. I forgot what else was in his tartine, but all you could really taste was the salmon.
My sardine tartine:
I had ordered the tartine thinking that the sardines would be whole, so I was surprised when it appeared in the form of a tuna fish sandwich. However, the tomatoes were tart and good, and I do like the taste of sardines. It did remind me a little of canned tuna. I would probably order a different tartine if I were to return.
Delicious French coffee with a cookie spoon:
Maybe my favorite part of the meal. The coffee cup is tiny, and French coffee is so good! There is a chocolate-like flavor to all their good coffees and I will miss it greatly. The cookie spoon also came from the bakery next door, and I regret not buying a few boxes to bring back to the States. The spoon was delicious; it tasted like a Madeleine but stiffer so that it would stir the coffee adequately before getting soaked and soft.
Antioxidant Levels in Cooked Vegetables Vary with Cooking Method
Some notes from the article:
• The highest antioxidant loss was observed in cauliflower after boiling and microwaving, peas after boiling, and zucchini after boiling and frying.
• Green beans, beets, and garlic were found to keep their antioxidant levels after most cooking treatments.
• The vegetables that increased their antioxidant levels after all cooking methods were green beans (except green beans after boiling), celery and carrots.
• Artichoke was the only vegetable that kept its high antioxidant level during all the cooking methods.
For those of you who live in SF. You’re welcome.
Kevan and Rachel took us to breakfast in Rachel’s old haunt, Laguna Hills. This place was called Break of Dawn, and they describe their cuisine as “creative comfort food.” That is exactly what it was, and tasty to boot. We arrived about 10 minutes before 10, and we did not have to wait. We were seated inside immediately, and it’s a clean, open space with Vietnamese-inspired artwork and decor. The service was pretty good, although our waiter disappeared inexplicably at some point, but the other waiters and busboys covered admirably for him.
My dish was the Beef Short Rib. It’s on the menu as “falling off the bone, merlot poached eggs, mushroom and taro ragout, prickly ash pepper jus.”
The dish was good, but the beef was pretty dry (there were some good fatty portions, though, mmmm!). The ragout may have been my favorite part. It had so much tangy flavor! The eggs were interesting because the merlot was very apparent in the flavor. The dish also came with very hot fried rice that was tasty with flavors that I could not identify. The prickly ash pepper jus also complemented and complimented every component of the dish nicely.
Jason’s dish was my favorite, so I will provide two photos:
Smoked Salmon: Coriander Cured, Oatmeal Galette, Herb Poached Egg, Marinated Tomato, Preserved Lemon-Caper Emulsion.
I really, really liked this dish. The oatmeal galette was so tasty, and if it had not been for the menu, I would never have guessed what it was. It was just a delicious savory cake of some sort to us with mild but delicious flavor. The green you see are the herbs for the poached egg. Every single ingredient blended together so well - it was an amazing dish. The whole equaled more than the sum of its parts. If we come back, I will be torn between ordering this dish and trying something new.
Rachel ordered the Casserole: Kaffir Lime-Tomato Braised Eggs, New Potato, Spring Vegetable, Mozzarella and Grilled Bread. Her dish was extremely tasty as well, reminding me of Korean casseroles in that it’s more of a stew than the traditional oven casseroles with which Americans are familiar. It’s not that interesting to see a photo of stew, though, so I didn’t take a picture. The tomato gave it that tart and tangy flavor that I love and the mozzarella melted goo-like onto the surface…. mmmm!
Kevan had the Pork Belly dish that I had been eyeing, which I don’t see on the paper menu, but it was a little dry.
Take a glance at their menu and you will be sold. The food here is as delicious as it is creative.
24351 Avenida De La Carlota #N-6
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
949.587.9418
Luc’s Bistro is the less-expensive, bistro version of Cavaillon. One of the highlights is that you can order Cavaillon’s mushroom raviolis here as an appetizer. I really wish they would offer it as an entree. I could eat those all day. Well, not really. They’re very filling.
Mushroom ravioli with basil cream sauce:
The flash blotted out how deeply and beautifully green the sauce was. I’ve said it before: these are the best mushroom raviolis I have ever had. I was telling the hostess how good they were and she confided that they were the same ones that are served at Cavaillon.
I ordered braised beef short ribs with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables (spinach, carrot, potato). It was a good dish - the beef wasn’t particularly juicy, but it was still very soft and came apart with a touch of the fork and didn’t come across as dry. I don’t know how to describe the lack of juiciness in terms that don’t convey a sense of dryness, but it was that: not juicy, but I wouldn’t call it dry. Basically, I think what this place touts itself as is a bistro that offers decent French food at very affordable, non-French-restaurant prices. The quality is better than the prices would indicate, basically.
If you’re craving decent French food but don’t have the budget for a French restaurant, then come to Luc’s Bistro - a French bistro. It’s difficult to find affordable gems like this, especially in the United States. I could come to this place over and over again for the ravioli alone.
The service was outstanding and several people came over to chat and see how we liked Luc’s. I think one was the manager and one was the owner.
We finished with a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, which is one of my favorite sweets, but I think my love and familiarity with outstanding versions of this dessert turned me off a little from Luc’s version. It was all right, but I prefer red velvet from Magnolia (NYC) and Sprinkles Cupcakes (Beverly Hills). My sister also makes a mean version (using a recipe book from Magnolia, haha).
4/23: Having trouble locating address for Luc’s Bistro (formerly the building was Yume Cafe) in Poway. I will add the address once I find it.
This is one of my favorite French restaurants in San Diego, if not my very favorite. I blogged about it before, but couldn’t include pictures because it gets too dark in the restaurant at night for quality photos, but they make the best mushroom ravioli I have ever tasted. Jason took me to Cavaillon for Sunday brunch, and I would highly recommend it. We sat outside, because southern California weather was pretty much made for outdoor dining.
First, Cafe du Monde beignets with powdered sugar and served with home-made berry preserves:
Hot, doughy in the center without being undercooked, light crispiness on the outside. They were cooked perfectly, with a light dusting of powdered sugar that had been added late enough so that the beignets were hot, but not greasy so they didn’t melt the sugar. I almost burned my fingertips trying to rip open the beignets - this is the perfect temperature. Highly recommended with coffee.
Two Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon and Spinach:
The name and picture say it all. I hope the picture makes it look delicious because it was delicious. Egg was poached the perfect amount, and when my fork broke into it, the yolk ran out and soaked the bread, spinach, and salmon. Every bite was amazing and my only regret was that I got too full to finish it. The home fries were good, nice and caramelized and crispy on the sides.
Smoked Salmon Scramble Eggs with Scallions and Cream Cheese:
This was Jason’s dish. It was a little rich for me, but I think this was one of Jason’s favorite egg dishes of all time. The name of the dish was perfect, because the salmon flavor was the most prevalent (and the tastiest). I am biased, though, because I generally don’t like my eggs scrambled or as an omelette. The cream cheese made the eggs very creamy and it had the tiniest sour aftertaste, which was really quite good.
The final call: We are eager to come back for any meal, be it breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. In true European fashion, you are encouraged to relax and enjoy your meal at a leisurely pace (with an endless cycle of coffee and water refills) until you decide you want to leave and ask for the bill. We also noticed that this place was pet-friendly for outdoor diners.
14701 Via Bettona, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92127
Hours of Operation
Dinner Tuesday-Sunday 5:00pm-9:30pm
Breakfast/Brunch Sunday 9:00am-2:00pm
Phone: 858.433.0483
Email: info@cavaillonrestaurant.com
Kevan and Rachel decided to stuff my and Jason’s faces by taking us to Brodard’s Nem Nuong restaurant for spring rolls. We ate much more than spring rolls, and left a bit on the table, because we ordered way too much and overestimated our stomach capacities. This place was very tasty, but we were a bit overwhelmed by all of the tasty choices and our lack of familiarity with Vietnamese cuisine.
I am realizing now that it will be very difficult for me to remember what everything was and what it was called. The dish above was pork with eggloaf, but I don’t remember which one. Also, due to the difficulty I am having with the language, I am thinking it would be best to just show you pictures of the food, and you can decide whether this is the type of food you like.
I have been here a couple of other times, and I have never been disappointed.
These are the spring rolls, and the reason for which I keep returning to this place. After a hot and tiring day, these are so refreshing and yet filling at once.
We got both the pork and shrimp spring rolls, and I can’t decide which I like more. Both have crunchy sprouts, lemongrass, green onions, and salad (romaine?) wrapped in a thin sheet of stretchy rice paper. Since summer is coming up, I think this spot would be a good place to consider in the very near future.
It is difficult to find this place, as you basically enter through an alley in the rear of a deserted parking lot.
April 21st, noon to 8 PM. Don’t say nobody told you.
I had my first banh mi last year, and loved it. I understand that what I’ve been eating is the Americanized version of the French-Vietnamese dish, and now New York’s Vietnamese population is going crazy with creativity. Sounds delicious.
On Tap? How About Chardonnay or Pinot Noir
Important parts from the article:
It’s just a trickle right now, but the keg and tap system has successfully taken hold in restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and in wine bars in the city of Napa, Calif.; in Atlanta; and in Traverse City, the heart of Michigan wine country. And it’s coming soon to New York City, to no less a place than Daniel Boulud’s downtown outpost, DBGB, tentatively scheduled to open on the Bowery in May.
What makes wine on tap not merely good but brilliant? It’s not the tap, it’s the keg.
Taps themselves have been used for many years as part of complex preservation systems intended to protect open bottles against the demon slayer of wine, oxygen.
The bottles are a problem. Even with the best preservation system the wines don’t always stay perfectly fresh. A lot of wine is thrown away, or served in poor condition, resulting in a lesser experience at a greater price for consumers and a lot of waste for the restaurant.
“You have to calculate in your pricing the wine you didn’t sell, the wine you had to throw away,” said Sang Yoon, the chef and owner of two Father’s Office restaurants in the Los Angeles area, and a true believer in the keg and tap method. “The wine is 20 percent cheaper right off the bat.”
An old breed of Hungarian pig is back in favor
Some bits:
ARAMARK Continues to Promote Environmentally Friendly Practices at Its Ballparks
“Through the company’s environmental stewardship platform — “Green Thread” — ARAMARK continues to work with teams and its partners to implement environmentally friendly practices that promote the use of local ingredients, source from local farmers and suppliers, reduce waste, utilize biodegradable service ware, and encourage composting and recycling of bottles, cans, cardboard as well as frying oil. Within retail, many team stores will feature apparel made from organic and recycled cotton.”
This could have a huge impact on the environment if all ballparks adopted these practices.
If you’re wondering which parks these are that are in your region: Petco Park (Padres), Oakland Coliseum (A’s), Angel Stadium, Citi Field (Mets), Fenway Park (Red Sox), and Minute Maid Park (Astros). There are other parks as well, but I don’t think I know people in those cities.
I need to find an LA version, an SD version, and soon, a Houston version. Once I find people to share meals with in Houston. :(
I liked this article because Jason had been telling me about the produce version that people have been practicing and he is considering trying.
I forget which genius suggested this place for our final brunch in San Francisco, but I need to return. It was a wonderful way to finish the trip. Simple and delicious. No frills, all flavor.
This lovely delight is my duck hash with fingerling potatoes, red bell, shallots, poached eggs, and whole wheat toast. I have no idea what the toast was like because I was busy devouring the hash. Right when my meal arrived, I looked at the plate and my heart sank. I thought, “Silly me. I forgot that I don’t like hash. I hate eating chunks of potato.” There were chunks of potatoes, pieces of fatty, tender, juicy duck meat, tossed with red bell and shallots. It was topped with a couple of poached eggs, which I ate first. I decided to try to the potatoes anyway, and I was surprised. I didn’t know old-fashioned hash could have so much flavor, so little starch, and not be dry. I had forgotten that I love fingerling potatoes (provided they’re prepared well). I don’t know what sauce or seasoning they used, but it was Delicious. The duck was also perfect - fatty, soft, full of duck flavor. I could go on and on, but at some point, my stomach made me stop. You can order this dish and know that you’ll walk away happy. I can guarantee it.
I want to mention that I loved their coffee as well - I would have had several more cups if I had thought that I could have handled it. I also love it when restaurants provide Sugar in the Raw. It’s just one of those things.
Here are some photos of my eating companions, who woke up early and walked out in the rain to join us before we left - thank you so much!
I should also note that Ju Yon and Doris recommended the duck hash to me as a winner.
127 Clement Street (between 2nd and 3rd Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118
Sorry if these posts seem brief and uninformative, but I’m trying to get through weeks of restaurants.
Zare at Fly Trap! Unfortunately, we were still full from T-Rex, so we didn’t order very much. The food we did order was good, though. I wish we could have ordered more entrees, but our stomachs would have turned inside-out.
My first dish was called Menage a Foie: 1) foie gras, huckleberry compote; 2) sheep liver, pickled jalapeno, roasted roma tomatoes; 3) chicken liver, onion marmalade, aged balsamic
The chicken liver is on the left, the sheep in the middle, and the foie gras is on the right. The chicken liver tasted exactly like what it is: slightly earthy, but still relatively delicate, as it is a fowl liver. The sheep’s liver was strong and earthy - almost muddy in flavor. I wasn’t a big fan of it, but the roma tomato on which it was served was tart, soft, and delicious. The foie gras was good, of course, but I have had better. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my dish. I also liked that they included little palate cleansers to separate each liver.
Green beans, tomato confit, barrel-aged feta:
These were delicious, but I haven’t really had “bad” green beans. I love green beans. The tomato confit opened my eyes, though. I mean, I went wide-eyed with delight. The flavor was literally eye-opening. Also, I tend to not like feta, but this was good stuff. I didn’t notice any disagreeable flavor, the way I usually do. Also, the fact that Cat was eating the feta straight up with a fork shows how palatable it was.
Jason’s smoked trout, cucumber “linguini”, trout roe, dill creme fraiche:
I don’t really remember the flavors of this dish. Jason will have to let you know via the comment page. I did like the quality of the roe: they were tight and fresh.
I am guessing the above dish is the butternut squash: orzo, sultana raisins, pine nuts, and sage. I don’t remember this dish, either. Jason will have to comment on it.
Chocolate profiteroles for dessert:
House-made chocolate ice cream, raspberry cream sauce, melted chocolate drizzled on top, and finished with white chocolate shavings. Yum. Tasted like cream puffs filled with chocolate ice cream. We finished this dish.
Cat often comments on my blog, and this night she and her husband Brandon joined us for dinner!
It was nice to hang out and enjoy a good meal with them, because I hadn’t seen them since their wedding.
606 Folsom St. (at Second Street), San Francisco, CA 94107
415-243-0580
Good lord, it blows my mind to think about how much eating we got done over the weekend. After Hangar One, we had some time to kill before our reservation at Fly Trap, so we decided to soak up the vodka with some good ol’ bbq. Once I saw the menu, I couldn’t resist getting a meal and I really really want to come back to this place because I want to try so many more things on the menu.
Grilled Lamb Burger with Cucumber Yogurt, Cilantro and BBQ Potato Chips: $13
If you think that’s expensive for a burger, you haven’t tried this. It destroyed us. The lamb was cooked perfectly and the sauce was the perfect complement to the lamb flavor, which wasn’t overpowering. I cannot describe this dish to you, I can only crave it. Oh, God.
Macaroni and Cheese with Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan $8 add Ham $2
This is the side of mac and cheese. It’s called a side, but I couldn’t finish it, even with several friends helping me out. I poured spicy bbq sauce on top and it was heavenly, giving each gooey cheesy bite a tangy, spicy flavor. I tend to be picky about macaroni that has bread crumbs or is baked, but this wasn’t dry at all.
That is how we all felt when we couldn’t eat any more. There was plenty left over, but we knew we had to save some room for our dinner. Hahaha. I didn’t take a picture, because we had eaten most of it before I thought to photograph it, but we ended with Belma Bucket’s Cornbread with Honey Butter ($5), and it was unbelievably good. It sat in a pool of syrup, and by the time we got to it, the bread had soaked it all up. The flavors were so sweet and hearty without being rich. Yum!
The waitress said she was impressed with how much food we put away. This place was casual but had a very modern look to its architecture. Very clean, with good service.
1300 Tenth Street (Cross St. Gilman)
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 527- 0099
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-03-17-obama-hawaii-restaurants_N.htm
Dedicated to Jobama, who was also born and raised in Hawaii.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090304/LIFE/903040332
This explains the licorice flavor of the monkfish that the Top Chef cheftestants described during the Le Bernardin challenge.
A must-read article on the soul food that is emerging in northern California.
I hope to be adding a new category soon, titled “Houston Eats.” I am PRAYING that this category will be used relatively often. I am going to be moving this summer, so after updating my blog posts, the California eating blogs will be somewhat retired. :(
That said, if anyone knows anything about finding foodie blogs in the Houston area, please let me know. I have no idea what to expect in terms of eating out there. If it’s an area devoid of good eats, the plus is that I’ll lose a lot of weight. :) Maybe I’ll even take up exercising. :(
“I’m a fan. I like watching the show, even at its worst. I like being on the show as a judge. I watch that show because Tom Colicchio makes that show for me. First of all, they ask the chefs to do very difficult things; it is a genuine challenge that requires people to dig really deep. From a professional point of view, it’s exciting for me. It’s a good quality competition. It’s the best cooking competition on television by far. It’s due entirely to Tom. He keeps the show straight; no producer is ever going to go up to Tom and say, “We can’t send her home this week because she’s cute or she’s got a good backstory.” By virtue of his personality and his impeccable credentials, Tom makes the show riveting viewing. Toby Young, what’s up with that? He’s an egregious add-on. They were looking for a snarky British guy, and Toby wrote a successful book that made a good case for his uselessness. He’s lived up to that promise.”
Courtesy of www.eatmedaily.com
We actually stopped by a place called the Pork Store for brunch before heading over for the Hangar One vodka tour, but I got a little sick from this greasy spoon and couldn’t eat much. I felt a little strange all day, because you don’t want to drink much vodka when all you’ve got in your stomach is a handful of grease. I think this is a good greasy spoon joint, but I can’t take such a blow first thing in the morning and I’m more of a fat, rather than grease, person. I like my fat to have texture.
Anyway, I will document our trip to Hangar One with photos!
Thank you, Doris, for volunteering to be the designated driver for such an epic trip. I love this picture because even though Johann is the one that got crammed onto the hump seat, he looks the happiest. Ju Yon looks like she’s about to yell at him.
The following picture pretty much sums up what Jason and Johann were like throughout the trip:
It is also the picture that most closely captures what they truly look like in person.
Here we are, before the tour:
Yes, they look happy because they’ve had a few samples by this point.
Here’s Jason, trying to get the bartender’s attention:
Not surprisingly, the bartender chose to ignore him.
Johann is the only one who noticed me with the camera, but he smiled AFTER I took the photo. Reflexes a little slow at this point.
Last sample of the tasting, which was also the tastiest:
Our tour guide was hilarious. She was witty and had a very guy’s-guy sense of humor. I will post our sample list of what we tasted at Hangar One. I was impressed with their drinks, and I will be likely to order drinks containing their brand. I would highly recommend the tour and tasting. I had a great time, and it was a nice way to spend an early afternoon with my friends.
After Gitane, we went to Candy Bar for some drinks and extremely competitive board games.
We shared a dessert: Poached blood orange and lychee fruit salad, with lychee granita and lavender ice cream.
After such a spicy and big meal at Gitane, it was very refreshing to end with fresh, sweet, flavorful fruit. We also drank blood orange bellinis (sparkling wine, blood orange bitters, blood orange sorbet) with it.
Doris and I engaged in some hardcore Chutes and Ladders, as well as our new Speed Candyland. Doris was the first to win 5 games, to my 3, and I humbly acknowledge Doris as the queen of Candyland. Speed Candyland. Ju Yon enjoyed watching, and she had to step in as regulator and referee more than once. Thank you, Ju Yon, for preserving the peace.
This place was relatively quiet, besides the roar of game-playing adults. I would say that the clientele consists of people our own age, slightly sophisticated, but not intimidatingly so. Definitely not crowded.
1335 Fulton Street at Divisadero
San Francisco, 94117
After spending a wonderful and hilarious day at the Academy of Science, we met up with Ju Yon at Gitane for some more delicious food during our girls night out. We must thank Ju Yon for ordering for us. Everything was fantastic.
Eggplant: Sliced grilled eggplant salad, chilled and rolled with herbed goat cheese, arugula salad, balsamic reduction.
Usually I don’t like goat cheese, but this was good goat cheese, and it complemented the eggplant very well. It wasn’t overpowering or too strong, and the creaminess was just delicious.
Bacon bon bons: sauteed prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in smoked bacon, anis and cinnamon port sauce.
Yummy! I like bacon-wrapped dates everywhere that I’ve had them. These were fantastic poppers. Salty bacon, sweet sauce, and mild goat cheese with sweet dates. Drool…
Bastilla: sweet and savory, crispy pastry with duck, chicken, raisins, almonds, moroccan spices, orange gastrique.
This was my favorite dish of the night. The fillings were ground up pretty finely, and they mixed very well. Mostly on the savory side, but the sweet sauce and powdered sugar dusting along with the phyllo complemented the filling amazingly well. It tasted Moroccan. The dish was filled with roasted peppers, and those were delicious, too.
Ribs: hill natural pork back ribs, honey-soy glaze, brussels sprouts leaves, parsnip puree, serrano chip.
Meat slid right off the bone, and it was fatty, juicy, and oh-so tender. The brussels sprouts were extremely addicting. I love brussels sprouts to begin with, and these were cooked to a great texture, and lightly seasoned with pepper and salt, preserving the nutty flavor. Parsnip! We were trying to figure out what the puree was; it was a familiar taste and we couldn’t put our finger on it. Slightly sweet, but I didn’t try the serrano.
Chicken ta jine: pan seared free range chicken breast, spiced broth, prunes, carrots, turnips, zucchini, cous cous.
I didn’t take a picture of the cous cous, because it was just a mountain of cous cous with a mint leaf on top. This dish was good, but I felt it paled in comparison to everything else because the other dishes had so much flavor. I’m also not a fan of dates in broth. The broth was both sweet and spicy, like most of the dishes, but I’m a fan of savory broths, as opposed to sweet, so it wasn’t quite for me.
Serrano: wood-fire white pizza, house-made mozzarella, garlic, oregano, organic arugula, redondo iglesia serrano ham.
Very good pizza! We were already pretty full when this arrived, so I only had a slice and was done. I don’t have Ju Yon’s skyrocketing metabolism. The ham was my favorite part of it: very good quality.
I had a delicious Gypsy cocktail, that had distinct herbal notes to it. It was one of the most unique cocktails that I have ever had. I would order it again in a heartbeat.
I wish I could post a picture of me with Doris and Ju Yon, but we took the photo with Ju’s camera, so we’ll just have to wait.
Gitane is highly recommended! I would also highly recommend eating in the style that we did: order some cocktails and order food tapas-style and share.
Gitane
6 Claude Lane
San Francisco, CA 94108
I spent a weekend up in the Bay Area, and as you can imagine, it was a culinary blow-out. We had so many good meals (thank you Doris, Ju Yon, Ken, and Johann). The first night was spent at Yancy’s Saloon, and what was supposed to be a quick hand-off (letting Johann pick up Jason) somehow turned into an hour of drinking and chatting.
The next morning, Doris took us to Zazie, a “french bistro in the heart of Cole Valley.”
All right, this was arguably one of my favorite dishes of the entire trip. I noticed that this dish is not on their site menu, as it is one of their week-day specials. It was called Eggs en Fonte, and this picture does not do it justice. Two poached eggs atop a fried, then baked polenta cake, drizzled with buttery mushrooms and spinach. The home fries were served with roasted cloves of garlic that had cooked into a garlic paste that was delicious.
This was what Doris ordered:
I can’t find Doris’ dish on the menu, either, so it must have been a special as well. This was my second choice: eggs benedict with bacon and avocado… mmm.
Jason’s dish:
I think it’s the Challah French Toast, but Jason will have to confirm. He scraped his plate clean, so I’m guessing it was delicious. I highly doubt Zazie serves anything that isn’t, though.
You should visit this place, and preferably on a weekday, so that you can order the Eggs en Fonte! I would order that dish any time of day.
Zazie
941 Cole Street
between Parnassus and Carl
San Francisco, CA 94117
415-564-5332
I know that Season Five is over, but I am still an unabashed Top Chef stalking fan. Jason managed to find an event that featured both Richard and Jamie from Season Five, and we got to meet them!
I was very excited because Jamie was always one of my favorite chefs and she was definitely good enough to have made it to the final four, although she was fairly eliminated during the Le Bernardin challenge. Anyway, I was deliriously happy because I got to tell her how much I loved her and was rooting for her to win and she was very nice. Also, I want to thank the event people for Flawles, because they let me sneak in amongst the raffle winners to take pictures with Jamie and Richard - such nice people.
I should have pretended that the picture came out badly so that we could have taken more, haha. Sorry for not noticing your sleepy eyes, J.
Jason and I have been to this place multiple times now. It’s a nice place to grab a casual bite but enjoy quality food. We stopped by again recently to grab a couple of quick bites.
Pork tongue with spaetzle:
Soooo good. Creamy sauce that wasn’t overpoweringly rich and didn’t drown out the taste of the tongue. The meat was tender, very thinly sliced, and had a nice texture to it. It had a type of chewiness to it that I feel only those of you who have had tongue would understand.
Country ham & quail egg flatbread: House cured country ham (B&B Farms), quail egg (Wingshadows Hacienda), jalapenos, mozzarella, marinara sauce
Good, but it was such a cold day that the pizza cooled and hardened very quickly. I avoided the jalapenos, but they left a nice kick to each mouthful.
Sorry that this post is so brief, but it was a while ago and I am trying to catch up so that I can blog about my SF trip!
Jason and I finally managed to catch a night when Reina was free for a few hours. We took her to Cowboy Star for her “birthday” dinner (her birthday was in November, but our schedules were that hectic). The food was well-seasoned, but Lou & Mickey’s is way better. Both in terms of sides and quality of cut. Anyway, we still enjoyed our food (comparing something to Lou & Mickey’s is like saying Thrify’s ice cream isn’t as good as Haagen-Dazs - the quality isn’t as great, but it’s still a damn tasty cone!) and had a great time. I was also delighted with the amuse-bouche:
Faro with chanterelle mushrooms? I forgot, but I ate every single grain. I loved it. The grains were plump, round, and chewy.
Jason began with a potato bisque:
Creamy, rich, and smoky. Delicious.
Here is the rib eye that we all ordered:
Mmmm! Isn’t it beautiful? The roasted veggies were so juicy and flavorful; the mashed potatoes were cheesy, if I remember correctly. Lots of buttery flavor everywhere. The steak was juicy, buttery and well salted and peppered. The meat was tender and juicy. My only complaint was that the steaks at Lou & Mickey’s contain juicy, tender, melt-in-your-mouth fat on the ends. The Cowboy Star steak’s fat was gristled and tough to chew. I ended up cutting out the fat bits because I couldn’t eat them.
Anyway, after dinner, we all went to Lappert’s and had Hawaiian ice cream. I ordered date ice cream with caramel ribbons, I think. I LOVED it. Not overly sweet, no strange residues, simple ice cream with simple ingredients.
Fun night, but I wish Reina had let me take her picture, too. She has a fantastic smile and we were out to celebrate the fact that she was born.
Please do not contact me in any way regarding Top Chef until tomorrow because I’ll be watching it on TiVo around 11 tonight. I cannot let any spoilers ruin my life. MY LIFE. This show is the WORLD to me!!!
I had a dream that Stefan was named Top Chef. I would put money on him winning, but I am praying that Carla wins because I love her. If Stefan wins, I’ll still be happy for him. His technique and skills are astounding.
Jason and I went to a second restaurant for LA’s Restaurant Week, and this place was rave-worthy. Before discussing their food, I feel the need to disclose the quality of their service, because I have read terrible reviews on sites such as Yelp! slamming the poor service at Dakota, and I have no idea what went wrong for those yelpers, but I thought the service was outstanding.
Why the service was so great: Jason and I showed up early for our reservation, and the hostess kindly asked us to wait at their “library bar.” I have no idea what a library bar is, but there was a bar nearby, so we sat there and enjoyed a couple of EXCELLENT cocktails (an Old-Fashioned and a Gimlet). Several minutes may have passed, and our hostess stopped by to see how we were doing and to let us know that they were still waiting for a table to open up (the place was extremely crowded and busy) and that she hadn’t forgotten us. I liked that she stopped to check in with us to make sure we knew we hadn’t been forgotten. A few minutes later, our server found us and led us to our table.
One of the reasons why I chose this place was because despite the attractive website, the reviews on this place were extremely mixed. Several Chowhounders recommended Dakota as a good steakhouse, but some claimed that it was more show than taste (heehee). From the comments I read, it seemed to be a place that I would have liked, but the prices were too high for such a gamble. This made Dakota the perfect candidate for Restaurant Week. I was willing to sacrifice $40 on a pretty place with a good reputation and less-than-stellar food, if only to satisfy my curiosity. This was one of my favorite LA restaurant week restaurants of all time.
Hanie’s First Course: Frisee Lardon - Pomegranate Glazed Pork Belly, Frisee, Quail Eggs
Quail egg was perfectly poached - runny yolk but firm egg white. No part was burnt. The pork belly was tender, fatty, juicy, and parts were beautifully caramelized. It melted in my mouth. Sweet without being syrupy; savory without being overly salty. The bitterness of the frisee balanced this dish perfectly. I don’t remember touching the brioche. I was too intent on eating everything else.
Jason’s First Course: Braised Veal Agnolotti - Pancetta, English Peas, Baby Arugala, Corn Coulis
I had a few bites and it was difficult to choose a favorite between the two. Pasta wasn’t over- or under-cooked. The veal dissolved on your tongue. We were very impressed with our first courses.
Jason’s Second Course: Pork Osso Bucco - Parsnip Puree, Caramelized Apple Jus
Simple and perfect. Again, the meat was so tender that Jason touched it with his fork and it collapsed off the bone. The picture says it all, really. It is as good as it looks.
Hanie’s Second Course: Prime Beef Duo - New York Strip, Short Rib, Potato Gratin, Porcini Mushrooms, Baby Heirloom Carrots, Bordelaise Sauce
I know, I rarely order steak when I’m out, and steak is one of the dishes I actively avoid for Restaurant Week. But if you’ve looked at the website for Dakota, you know that Dakota is a steakhouse. I had to see if their steaks were any good. Their steaks were VERY good. I ate the short rib first, and it made me so full that I don’t think I had even a bite of my New York strip… oops. The potato gratin was delicious: the potatoes were not mush, but they weren’t undercooked, either. I love it when carrots are not served soggy. The mushrooms were great as well. The short rib had such tender, juicy, fatty meat. I was very impressed with this place. I still had a lot of my second course left over, so Jason and I shared it the following day right before meeting Kevan, Rachel, Cliff, and Rosie at Honda-Ya for a yakitori dinner. After microwaving, the steak was still juicy, tender, and full of flavor. We licked the plate clean.
Jason’s Dessert: Warm Elegant Lady Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Caramel Sauce, Caramelized Ginger Gelato, Candied Pineapple
I don’t remember if I tried any of it. I was feeling VERY full at this point, and I was having trouble managing even a few bites of my own dessert. I was uncomfortably full, most unfortunately, because my dessert was delicious.
Hanie’s Dessert: Coconut Panna Cotta - Toasted Sweet Coconuts
I’m not even a fan of coconut, and I loved this dessert. It was saddening to have to leave most of the dessert in the glass and not in my tummy.
Final verdict: This place is well worth their usual prices, not to mention their RW prices. One of the few restaurants with a fantastic RW menu, and highly recommended. We will be returning.
DAKOTA
7000 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
323.769.8888
dakota-restaurant.com
Cezanne is a hotel restaurant located inside Le Merigot Hotel in Santa Monica. I read extremely mixed reviews on Yelp concerning this place, so I had no idea what to expect. We tried this place for Restaurant Week, and while it was pretty good, I wouldn’t recommend their RW menu. I was a little disappointed, but the price was very good (only $22 for 3 courses), and the view was beautiful. The service was also excellent. I did glance at their regular menu, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the RW menu was not a good reflection of Cezanne’s strengths in terms of food.
First course: House Smoked Whitefish with Horseradish Cream, Pickled Heirloom Beets, Dill Pancakes
I had no complaints at all with this dish. Fresh ingredients and good, clean, simple taste.
Jason’s first course: Wild Mushroom Bisque with Saucisson and Roquefort Croustades
The soup tasted exactly like Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup, but with a lot of extra mushrooms added. I didn’t taste the croustades because the cheese looked very strong and aromatic.
Second Course: Avocado Stuffed with Shrimp and Crab with Radicchio, Arugula and Tomato Vinaigrette
It was one of the tiniest avocado halves I have ever seen, but it tasted good. The dish tasted exactly how you would expect. You could taste each individual ingredient, and nothing seemed to really blend, but there was nothing wrong with the dish. I guess this was how I saw the restaurant as a whole. There was nothing to complain about, but there was nothing to rave about, either.
Jason’s Second Course: Braised Veal Shank “Osso Bucco” Style with Fettuccine and Winter Vegetables
The veal was tender and pasta was al dente, but I think Jason felt the same way about his dish. Good, but not something to write home about.
Third course: Creme Brulee with Pistachio Biscotti
Tasty, but the caramelization was way overdone. It was extremely hard and thick and I slashed my tongue pretty badly on a shard of caramelized sugar. I kept eating. The biscotti may have been one of the best parts. Perfect crisp to crumbly ratio, in my opinion.
Jason’s Third Course: Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream
Simple, but very, very good. Looking back, I think I was impressed with their desserts. They were probably my favorite part of the meal.
I don’t really want to recommend this place in the way that I have recommended others, but it’s a pleasant place to enjoy lunch/brunch in a great location.
CEZANNE
1740 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310.395.9700
lemerigothotel.com
This place is only open for lunch, and most fortunately, Jason and I found ourselves in the area while we were very hungry. I would highly recommend this place - the food was delicious and the cafe was lovely.
Jason ordered a croque monsieur:
I had a few bites, because it was very, very good. Peppered turkey with smoked gouda. Mmmm… Both of our dishes came with house salads.
This is my roasted veggie crepe:
Don’t be fooled by the photo. When it arrived, I was dismayed to see so much sauce, but it didn’t overpower the dish. The filling was asparagus, spinach, cheddar cheese, and sauteed mushrooms. It was coated with a white wine sauce that complemented the filling well. I would order this again in a snap.
I wish it was closer so that we could hit up this place more often.
9254 Scranton Road
San Diego, CA 92121
858.458.9050
Jason and I celebrated our 3-year anniversary by enjoying a chef’s 6 course tasting menu at Addison. It was 4 courses with a cheese course and a dessert course.
Our first amuse-bouche: Grated apple gazpacho with curry cream
It had really strong flavors. The apple was extremely tart, and acidic. The cream was light and the curry flavor was very evident. Interesting, but overwhelming. I think the point was to cleanse the tongue with the apple, using the cream to temper it down. My tongue was almost in pain from the acidity of the apple, and the curry was more interesting than delicious.
Canape course: Cheese puff pastry with gruyere cream center. No picture, because the exterior just looked like any puff pastry, but it was delicious. Fluffy and cheesy.
First course: Alaskan king crab legs on a saffron emulsion
Delicious! We had to eat it quickly, though, before the foam liquefied. Such mild flavors, but so good! It was buttery, with a light saffron scent.
Second course: Baby scallops on a black truffle reduction
Fresh scallops, and I have no idea how they were prepared, but they were delicious. I don’t know if I have ever had a black truffle reduction until this night, but it is delicious, and highly recommended. It was inky and dyed the scallops black when I rolled them around in it. This course disappeared much too quickly.
Third course: Seared foie gras and a puff pastry with a mushroom in the middle
This foie gras was just as heavenly as any other that I have had. Simple, but luxuriously rich and flavorful. The dough for the pastry reminded me of Korean bakery donuts, the kind that are usually filled with red bean paste.
Fourth course: Veal sweetbreads with smoked mashed potatoes, gouda, arugula and candied crushed pistachios
This was the main course of the night, and it was delicious. Alas, it followed the foie gras, and while this did not diminish the flavor in any way, foie gras and sweetbreads are extremely rich foods. I had had the richness of the foie gras in my stomach still, so I was able to finish less than half of my sweetbread plate. Also, gouda mashed potatoes are not what I would call, “light.” Add the candied pistachios to that, which tasted like pistachio nut butter (yum!!), and you could not take a bite of anything that wasn’t rich and filling. The only relief from the richness of the plate was my Dr. Goosen’s Riesling (one of the best Rieslings I have ever tasted). So while I loved this dish, I wished it hadn’t immediately followed the foie gras, because I couldn’t handle so much richness and flavor in such a short amount of time. It KILLED me to leave anything so delicious on the plate.
Cheese course with 5 cheeses (I don’t recall which ones there were, but one was a type of mild Cheddar, and one was a goat’s cheese)
All were actually pretty tasty, but I was still stuffed from the previous courses and I only nibbled at each one. It was a very pleasant way to transition into dessert.
Palate-cleanser: Shaved Yuzu sorbet with mango cream and champagne
I love palate-cleansers. This was the answer to canceling out the richness, savor, and heaviness of the preceding dishes. It also wasn’t cold enough to give me brain-freeze.
Dessert course: Rum raisin ice cream on top of chocolate walnut torte
The top layer of the torte was crispy and flaky; the inside and bottom were soft and moist. I was still too full to finish it, but I enjoyed this dessert. It’s difficult for me to rave about “fancy” desserts, since I tend to be someone who is thoroughly pleased with a scoop of Baskin Robbins atop a sugar cone.
Finisher: Trio of desserts: passion fruit jelly; French coffee macaroon with mango cream (I wasn’t impressed - I need to have Jason try the real deal in France); mini peanut butter chocolate torte
It was a fun and tasty way to finish our meal. All were delicious, but as mentioned above, I was not impressed with the macaroon. I am picky about French macaroons ever since tasting some my sister brought from a famous bakery in Paris. The most important element about Parisian macaroons to me is the consistency. They need to be chewy. This macaroon was chewy, but almost taffy-like, and the outside edges crumbled and flaked like a wafer, which I didn’t like.
Jason’s finisher:
The Addison Experience: delicious food, excellent service, incredible wine selection (apparently only French Laundry rivals their wine selection), and comfortable atmosphere. There were not many diners present, and I liked that when we arrived, the hostess came out from behind the stand and greeted Jason by name (as Mr. Wang), even before we had opened our mouths. We got to sit in a spacious booth (with throw pillows! I used one to support my back), and for ladies, I noticed that at the dining tables, small footstools were present for either resting your feet or your purse. I loved that. My water glass was always full (the sommelier informed us that bottled water was complimentary and would we like it flat or sparkling?) and I was delighted that there was no ice in the glass. I got lost in the thick bible they called their wine list, so I asked the sommelier to pick a white wine for me. She asked whether I liked my whites dry, and whether I liked them sweet, then assured me that she knew exactly what wine I would love. She was on the money.
The bathrooms were nice, and the staff was both friendly and courteous. When we had finished our meal, the sommelier led us to the hostess, who had our coats ready and she, in turn, led us outside, where the valet had our car waiting. As we passed by the bar, we bumped into the head chef (sharing a drink with the bartender), who greeted us, introduced himself, and chatted with us for a few minutes until we felt guilty about leaving the hostess waiting for us.
It was a fun and delicious night, and my only regret is that this place is too pricey for us to visit more than once a year.
5200 Grand Del Mar Way
San Diego, CA 92130
858.314.1900
Jason sent me the following link: 50 Things to Eat in San Diego Before You Die
There are a few items that make me raise my eyebrow, but I’ll share with you my thoughts on the items that I have been fortunate enough to try.
3) Stone Bowl Bibimbap: Chon Ju Jip in Kearny Mesa
I love Korean food, and I love stone bowl bibimbap, but being raised in Los Angeles only a stone’s throw away from Korea Town, I have been too wary of trying Korean food in San Diego. I guess we should check it out. How many Korean people even live in San Diego?
17) Pork Ribs: Phil’s BBQ in Point Loma
I couldn’t agree more. These are the best pork ribs that I have ever had in my life. And I am picky about my BBQ. I can barely choke down Lucille’s BBQ anymore. I love Phil’s pork ribs so much that I still haven’t even tasted their beef ribs, which I’m sure are heavenly as well. Reina, eating the beef ribs 5 hours after they’ve been served doesn’t count! Give them another chance!
18) The Starlight Mule: Starlight Dining and Cocktails in Middletown
This is one delicious drink. After the delicious cocktails at Hatfield’s, I was craving more drinks containing ginger beer. Jason took me to the Starlight Lounge where I ordered the Starlight Mule. It was delicious and we have been itching to return to this place ever since. Have I become a cocktail lover?
20) Scones: Rebecca’s Coffeehouse in North Park
I am sure that I’ve blogged about the scones at this delightful cafe. They’re fresh-baked, warm, fluffy, with a great firm “shell.” Possibly the best scones I’ve ever had. You must try them with Rebecca’s home-made preserves.
21) Fish tacos: Rubio’s, multiple locations
Okay, this one is a little strange to me. How does a fast-food joint make it onto an “eat-before-you-die” list? I will say that I have unabashedly admitted several times throughout the years to love Rubio’s fish tacos. But I also love their lobster and shrimp burritos. What can I say? We all have our guilty pleasures, only I don’t feel that guilty about this one.
25) Grilled Mahi Mahi Taco: South Beach Bar and Grille in Ocean Beach
I have definitely blogged about this place. Jason and I happened upon this place by accident and it turned out to be extremely fortunate. We had the tacos, which I loved, but I don’t recall if any of them were mahi mahi. This does not really matter to me, because I am not a fan of mahi mahi, although Jason is.
26) Cinnamon Rolls: Bread et Cie in Hillcrest
I have never tried these, and now I HAVE to! I’ve had their chocolate croissants, to which I’ve been addicted so much that I haven’t tried much else. They have amazing mochas, pastries, paninis, and Kat’s tried their soup, which she loved. I miss this place. Jason and I were addicted to this place on Sundays for a few weekends, but then we got older and lazier.
Happily, it looks like Jason and I have several new places to try and new things to eat. It’s nice to have achievable goals in life.
Ahhh, Restaurant Week. Although Jason and I celebrated Restaurant Week, we took advantage of only one restaurant’s RW menu. This was at Kitchen 1540, a place we had heard relatively little about. We don’t personally know anyone who has eaten there, but we read enough good reviews on Chowhound to merit a try. This is what Restaurant Week is for: to test-drive a restaurant whose menu is pricier than you care to risk a bad meal on, and whose RW menu appears to be a good reflection of their regular one.
Very fortunately, Kitchen 1540 was delicious. It was on the beach, in the newly remodeled L’Auberge Hotel. The place was beautiful and clean. Our server reminded me of Blake Lively (very pretty and very cute, bubbly personality without being annoying). But enough about the “other”, I want to rave about the food.
Jason’s first course: Hiramasa sashimi - compressed fennel, lemon jam, sorel
Delicious! It preserved the taste of the fish without tasting “fishy.” Very delicate flavor that was nicely complimented by the fennel and sorel. I would have gladly shared this dish with him, had I not been busy devouring my first course, which was:
Seared scallops - leeks, butternut squash, tangerine brown butter
The scallops were seared perfectly: caramelized on the tops and bottoms, cooked all the way through without being overdone. I love scallops. The leeks and butternut squash were soft and blended with the tangerine butter as though pureed, but just solid enough to retain their own flavors.
My second course: Natural beef Tenderloin - Manchego croquettes, Berberé reduction
This picture really does not do my beef justice. I had originally ordered the Kurobuta pork shoulder - herb gnocchi, napa cabbage, smoked bacon, pickled onions, but a few minutes later, the server returned and apologized profusely for running out. I was distressed, because I did not want to order the same dish as Jason (the Scottish salmon), but I was very hesitant to order beef. During Restaurant Week, I don’t want to get steak, short ribs, chicken, or pasta, unless they sound truly unique and inspired - these dishes are too familiar to me and so anything less than spectacular is a disappointment. The server recommended the beef tenderloin, telling me that the Berbere reduction made the dish unique. I followed her recommendation and as an added precaution, ordered the beef to be prepared rare.
I was not disappointed. Wow - I did not think beef tenderloin could impress me, but it did. First of all, it was prepared exactly as I had ordered: rare, but not raw, and not bloody. It was moist, tender, and full of the natural flavor of quality beef. The Berbere reduction blew me away. I had never had it before, and the flavor was amazing: I scraped any trace of it off my plate and licked it clean. The blackish greens you see on the plate is kelp (I am guessing, but I eat kelp fairly often and it tasted like kelp as well as had the texture of kelp) with mushrooms. Delicious, and Jason’s favorite part of my dish, I believe. The Manchego croquettes were fluffy, not overdone, and very creamy, but extremely rich and filling. Every bit of food on the plate complemented each other, and I was in an extremely good mood.
Here is Jason’s Scottish salmon, with preserved lemon spaetzle, sweet and sour pomegranate, fennel salad:
Isn’t it pretty? It tasted great, too, but I didn’t eat too much of it because the flavors clashed with my own dish. Jason can blog about it (I know full well that Jason never blogs about his food, but if I keep mentioning that he’ll blog about it, maybe enough of you will bug him to make him start blogging again).
Dessert: Red Velvet Cake - cream cheese, candied beets, cocoa nib streusel and Valrhona Chocolate Panna Cotta - salted peanuts, peanut butter crumble, caramel ice cream:
The names of the desserts say it all, really. I really enjoyed eating both desserts, and I think I consumed an equal amount of both. I love panna cotta, and the addition of chocolate was a pleasant change to an already delicious dessert. I love red velvet cake, and it came with the traditional cream cheese frosting, which is one of my favorites, and it was covered in sugared rose petals, which were fun to crunch/chew on. I didn’t take a picture of the pot, but I loved the coffee that we ordered with our desserts.
Kitchen 1540 served up delicious meals during Restaurant Week. Jason and I want to return to try their regular menu as well, as we enjoyed ourselves greatly. I need to add that it could have been the good food; it could have been the friendly, warm atmosphere; it could have been that the clientele was mostly composed of people our own age; but I was extremely happy throughout our evening there - I could not stop smiling. I am not sure what it was; I do derive no small amount of pleasure from eating good food, but I think it was more than that. I can think of few things that are better than eating delicious and innovative dishes with the one you love in a warm relaxed atmosphere with friendly servers in a small hotel on the beach. We spent such a wonderful evening there that I cannot wait to go back.
1540 Camino Del Mar
Del Mar, CA 92104
858.793.646
We finally took advantage of the Better Half’s Blue Plate Special. We wanted to cheer ourselves up after the dismal Chargers’ loss to the Steelers, so we headed down to SD to make it in time. It was the perfect pick-me-up.
I started with a salad. It was a good salad, with just the right amount of dressing, but I didn’t take a picture and I won’t go into much detail, because I’m never interested in reading reviews of salads.
My second course was a Cornish game hen. I loved how tender and juicy it was - it wasn’t dry or overcooked. It was also huge - almost the size of a chicken. It was dusted with red rose petals and served on a bed of wild rice pilaf - chewy and not soggy. It was an aromatic dish, and I loved the seasoning. It wasn’t salty, but it was full of herby flavor that wasn’t overpowering.
I don’t remember what Jason ordered, but looking at the picture, I think it’s a seafood risotto:
He loved it. It was good, but I was too busy wolfing down my own food to really think about the flavors of his.
Here is Jason’s dessert:
He won’t tell me what it was, so I’m going to guess it was pistachio ice cream. It was good, although I can’t think of any pistachio ice cream I’ve had that ever disappointed me.
Here is my dessert:
You will hate me for this, but I cannot recall exactly what it was. I liked it, and I almost finished it. The top is cream cheese, and underneath is either gingerbread or pumpkin gingerbread. There were chunks of crystallized ginger in it, which I like.
We enjoyed our meals with a half bottle of wine again, and I cannot express to you how lovely it is to enjoy a delicious 3 course meal at a bistro for only $15/person. I love bistros. Please go to the Better Half - your wallet and palate demand to be satisfied!
Yes, Jason and I have been celebrating Restaurant Week San Diego. However, I was an idiot and while I did remember to take pictures, I left the computer adapter at home so I won’t be able to actually upload the pictures until next week.
Day One: The Better Half. We took advantage of their Blue Plate Special: $15 for 3 courses. Delicious. Blog entry to follow.
Day Two: Kitchen 1540. Restaurant Week Special: $40 for 3 courses. We selected this place because we had checked out their menu and it looked good. As this place was also relatively new (2005), we hadn’t heard much of anything about this place and scarcely knew it existed. When we entered, I had a slight sinking feeling because it looked very yuppie-ish. However, we had a wonderful time, and I think it was because we enjoyed the food so much. I was disappointed that I couldn’t try the Kurobota pork shoulder (they had run out), and I was extremely reluctant to order the Beef Tenderloin instead, but I had no choice. I was very very pleasantly surprised by the meat. It was prepared rare, as I had requested, but it wasn’t bloody. It came with an amazing sauce that I wiped completely off the plate. Pictures and blog entry to follow.
Tomorrow will be Day 3, and tomorrow also marks Jason and my 3 year anniversary. 
This post will be relatively brief. Jason and I tried a new place on South Street called Gerry’s Grill. I cannot recall the last time (if ever) I have had to spit food out of my mouth. I had been trying to eat their BBQ pork dish, and it tasted like the parts of Korean BBQ that get discarded for being inedible and burnt. I tried a different piece of it to see if it had just been a bad section, but it was just a terrible dish, with bad meat, prepared terribly. I don’t like to give negative reviews; I often simply don’t review places if I don’t like them, but I really need to let my friends know not to go here. We also tried an appetizer of ox tongue (I love things like tongue and tripe and intestines), and while the texture of the tongue was fine, the sauce had a strange sour, saltiness to it that was unpleasant. We just wanted to leave as soon as possible, and the food was kind of pricey (we spent the same amount at the Better Half, which included a half bottle of wine with our 3 course meals). Anyway, if you find yourself in that South Street Asian plaza, you’d be much better off at Tea Station or Sweetee Thai.
I should mention that upon leaving Gerry’s Grill, Jason was still very hungry, so we stopped by Jack in the Box, where Jason tried a teriyaki bowl. He said Jack in the Box had never tasted so delicious in his life. That is not a good sign.
Football: Please don’t mention anything dealing with the NFL to me until next season. I was in physical pain yesterday.
I was surprised when I realized that I had never blogged about this before. I am a fiend for black tea. I used to hate it, but that was before I learned to enjoy a proper cuppa. In celebration of my favorite drink in the world (yes, I love tea more than beer and wine, and water doesn’t count), I will share instructions on how to brew a delicious cup of tea.
Tools:
Instructions:
As for brands of tea, I was devoted to Twinings for a while. Then I discovered Tetley’s and it is still my favorite grocery brand. However, I only drink Tetley’s British Blend, and sometimes you get tired of it. Twinings has a good variety of flavors. I have yet to try PG Tips, which I hear is second only to Tetley’s. If you are interested in a seriously good cup, though, you have to go to Britain and buy some tins of Fortnum & Mason, the greatest tea in the world.
Thanks to my family for being my Fortnum & Mason suppliers, and especially to Patti and Howard for gracing me with a year’s supply (the stores of which I have already seriously depleted).
I should also mention that I know very little about herbal or green teas. While I have grown to love green, white, red, and herbal teas, I still have not figured out how best to brew them or how to tell the difference between good and bad ones. Right now, I just warm the pot and add water.
I have bad news. In February, I blogged about a fantastic Hawaiian eatery named Mo’s Island Grinds. I love their food and often crave their Korean Fried Chicken. Jason and I headed over there for lunch today and saw to our dismay that the restaurant has closed. They provide catering services now, but there is no more facility there - the place was empty: no equipment or anything. I am sad because I don’t know where else to get their Korean fried chicken. So if anyone is interested in throwing a party, please hire them as caterers and then invite me! I will miss their food greatly.
On the upside, as we were craving Hawaiian, Jason and I tried the L&L in the Mira Mesa Mall, and it was pretty good. I thought I hated L&L because the one in Cerritos is terrible, but I liked the MMM location L&L.
… has introduced me to one of my new favorite TV shows, “Top Chef.” I am completely hooked on this show. I am rooting for Fabio. I hope he and Jamie are the last two standing.
I have another restaurant to add to my list of favorites: Hatfield’s. My mouth is watering, just recalling this place. Jason had made reservations back in May for a birthday dinner, but I fell ill that weekend and we had to postpone it. I was busy studying for exams and taking classes, but after completing the GRE, I finally had a free weekend to cash my rain check.
The place was small, but not overly intimate. The atmosphere was not intimidating, and our waiter reminded me of Andre Ethier, only very kind and very knowledgeable about wines without being pompous. We also noticed that the clientele appeared to be yuppies.
Even before ordering, we were served an amuse-bouche of deviled quail eggs with trout slivers and shot glasses of squash soup.
I normally hate deviled eggs, but these were so delicious. I could not taste any mayonnaise whatsoever, and the trout gave the eggs a strong, salty, tasty burst of flavor.
The soup was sweet and creamy, but not sugary. I loved it. I will tell you right now that I loved every single bite of food that I had at Hatfield’s, so be prepared for major raving.
Jason’s Hatfield’s “Croque-Madame”:
Grilled brioche, topped with a quail egg. Filling: sliced hamachi, prosciutto and melted cheese, with some cream, I think. I never knew that hamachi could dissolve on your tongue like that. Apparently, this is one of Hatfield’s signature dishes, and I am not surprised. It was very impressive and delicious. I would highly recommend this appetizer to everyone except for the lactose-intolerant.
Here is my pan roasted foie gras, caramelized onion and royal trumpet mushroom confiture, quince puree, bourbon jus:
It makes me drool to look at this picture and remember the heavenly flavors. The foie gras melted in my mouth, of course, and it was a pretty healthy portion. It was served on a bed of chopped quince and topped with slivered toasted almonds. The arugula had a tangy flavor, perhaps from the creamed orange thing (completely forgot what it was, but it was tangy, sweet, tart - so good. Must be the “bourbon jus”.). I scraped the plate clean, and I think it was my favorite dish of the night.
Jason’s date and mint-crusted Colorado rack of lamb, potato chive puree, sautee of heirloom carrot, turnip, lima beans:
He let me have one bite, and I have NEVER tasted lamb that soft and juicy. I didn’t know it was possible for lamb to be so tender. The best lamb I have ever tasted, no doubt. This is a good example of the talent at Hatfield’s. The dishes were not super-creative or innovative - they were all recognizable dishes. The talent is that while you’ve tasted all of these dishes before, you can easily say that Hatfield’s prepared it the BEST. You can truthfully say, “This is the best ________ that I’ve ever had.”
Here is another shot of the lamb:
My sauteed, wild striped bass, served on a bed of creamy spaetzle, with a side of wild mushroom, leek, and cauliflower fricasee(I am obsessed with cauliflower - it’s one of my favorite vegetables in the world), and champagne grapes (yummy!).
The bass was sauteed on one side, to keep it flavorful and moist. Perfect: light and flaky, lots of flavor. The spaetzle was delicious and creamy. The vegetable side was what helped me pick this dish over the duck breast. I cannot tell you enough how much flavor these dishes had without being overwhelming or salty. Each ingredient maintained its flavor while being complemented to bring it out in the most flattering way possible. I tried very hard to scrape the plate clean, but I think I left a few bites. I would have posted the picture of me and Jason post-meal, pre-dessert, but my stomach is bulging quite obviously from partaking so heartily. You can look at pictures of Justin in Praha to get the idea.
Dessert: sugar and spice dusted beignets with Venezuelan chocolate fondu and a vanilla malted milkshake shot.
Doughy, fluffy, perfectly crisped on the outside, rolled in granulated sugar and cinnamon, but not at all greasy. Served piping hot - we suffered burned fingers from several fruitless attempts at tearing open the beignets before they had sufficiently cooled. My favorite part of dessert was the tiny malt that accompanied it. It came with a tiny straw and was surprisingly refreshing. The coffee was good, served in individual french presses, and slightly chocolatey and nutty. I think it was some type of Kona coffee, which is what I assume when I taste cocoa and macadamia nut flavors in coffee.
Ahhh, you would think this was the end of the meal, but you’d be wrong. They came out with a little finisher:
Banana bread with hazelnut spread. Delicious.
I got to try Viognier for the first time, and I loved it. It paired perfectly with the fish. We also ordered the house cocktails, and those were so good. I should order house cocktails at good restaurants more often. They are a real treat. I had a Shanghai Ale, and I will definitely be ordering that again in this lifetime.
Hatfield’s
7458 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.935.2977
I love this place. Jason and I decided to try 3 new dishes. One of them was broccoli beef with oyster sauce, which was good, but not really new. It tasted like every other broccoli beef dish at any Korean-Chinese restaurant. I didn’t take pictures of it.
We tried the pork with basil:
Jason swore it was his new favorite dish, but while I love pork, I realize that I do not like pork skin. If you look at the picture, you can see the fried pork skin clinging to every piece of tender, juicy, fatty pork. Fried pork skin is both crispy and chewy, but I don’t like the texture. I don’t like chewing so diligently to break the skin down. The sauce was good, and the onions went very well with the fattiness of the pork, but the skin turned me off, so I probably wouldn’t order this dish again on my own. If Jason wants to order this dish every time we go, I would be fine with it.
We ordered steamed trout:
Very simple, and very good. Fish was flaky and light. It came with a sauce that was probably a Thai version of pico de gallo, and I loved it. It complemented the fish perfectly. Good fish doesn’t have a “fishy” taste or smell, and this was a good fish.
Renu Nakorn has done it again. If you can’t tell, we are going to try every single dish they have. At some point, I will be able to give you advice on every single dish they serve.
Jason took me to a place in Hillcrest called the Better Half. The name comes from their practice of carrying half bottles of wine. This makes it possible for you to drink a (half) bottle of white with your appetizers and a (half) bottle of red with your entrees. I love buying half bottles; when I’m with a group of people, I feel selfish for selecting my choice of wine if we’re sharing a bottle, because I still can only appreciate a few types, and very rarely will I order red wine (which is usually what I assume other people prefer to drink). Thus, the few times I feel truly free to select a bottle of wine is when I’m having dinner with Jason, and during those times, a full bottle is much too much.
The Better Half has a Blue Plate Special, a 3 course prix-fixe meal for only $15, that they serve on week days from 5 - 7 PM. Jason and I raced to get there in time, but for some strange reason, the freeway outside his house was a parking lot for about 30 minutes. Then Google maps directed us to the wrong intersection, which meant that after searching for a parking spot for 20 minutes, we walked up and down the wrong streets for another 10. We arrived at The Better Half at 7:10. Bummer. We decided to get wine with our meal anyway, as it had been such an ordeal to get there, and the wait staff was extremely nice. The place was relatively empty, except for a few tables of people who had definitely taken advantage of the Blue Plate Special, so we had our choice of where to sit. They had a very nice enclosed patio that offered a limited street view while still feeling intimate and private.
I ordered a half bottle of a German wine that was similar to a Riesling - fresh, fruity and crisp.
This is the appetizer we shared. It was seared pork belly, topped with a salad. Everything about it was delicious - we all but licked the plate clean. I have been craving pork for the past month or so, and this hit the spot. Soft, tender, fatty, juicy… It wasn’t greasy. The salad had a nice vinaigrette that complimented the saltiness of the meat well.
This is my stuffed quail. The quail itself was great, roasted perfectly, meat still tender and juicy, but I was not such a fan of the stuffing. I think it just threw me off to be tasting sausage when I was staring at a tiny game bird. There were pistacchios in the stuffing that were delicious, though. The entree was served on a bed of risotto that was my favorite part of the dish. I would recommend any risotto dish if you come here to dine, and the bird itself was good - I just wasn’t prepared for the stuffing.
This is Jason’s wild game meatloaf (hahaha, I just realized that if you speak this phrase aloud, you would expect to see a photograph of Johann):
Jason had better start blogging again. I didn’t really ask him about his entree, because I was busy wolfing down mine and talking a mile a minute. I’m sure his dish was good, though, because he promised that we would come back several times. The place had a great atmosphere. It was quiet without being intimidating and you didn’t feel as though you had to keep your voice down, and the staff was friendly and helpful when I asked several questions about the wine list.
This is another place I hope to bring you folks. When I came back from using the rest room, I found Jason chatting with the head chef. Apparently this chef had been a sous chef under Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller at their respective restaurants (French Laundry ring a bell?). This chef was also rightly proud of being one of the few chefs to make their own sausages. Jason told the chef about our love of foie gras and the chef gave Jason his card and told him that the next time we decide to dine there, to call a day in advance so that the chef could make the necessary arrangements to provide us with foie gras options (I’ll be in heaven!).
127 University Ave
San Diego, CA
(619) 543-9340
Jason and I had been wanting to try this place for a while because several San Diego food bloggers have given The Ritual Tavern very good reviews. All I knew was that it was a tavern (love taverns and pubs - drinking beer in dark quiet places is one of my favorite things to do) and that foodies loved the food here. Jason had read about the sustainability and reliance on local slow foods. It was a win-win situation.
We began with a charcuterie plate.
Three different types of meat, feta cheese, olives soaked in wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. There was a mustard dip as well, which I didn’t touch. I only eat mustard on hot dogs.
I don’t remember the names of the meats, and they weren’t on the menu, because I believe they changed daily and were served according to the waiter’s choice. They were very good, though, and the sundry pairings matched perfectly. I would LOVE to come back to this place with a bunch of friends, order beers and several charcuterie plates, and just nibble, drink, and chat all evening.
Here’s a close-up of the meats:
Look at the marbling of the middle one!!
I wasn’t very hungry (it was getting late), so I ordered an appetizer plate of mussels as my meal:
They tasted so fresh. I love mussels, but at some dodgy places, the mussels will either: a) disintegrate into a billion grainy pieces as soon as you take a bite; or b) be rubbery and chewy and take forever to break down enough to swallow. These mussels were perfectly fresh. Later, the owner came by and explained that she especially loved mussels and oysters, so she made sure to buy them fresh, daily, in Carlsbad. I need to come back and get some oysters. These mussels were swimming in garlicky buttery broth, perhaps seafood stock? I was dipping the bread into the broth; it was so good.
I don’t remember what Jason ordered, but here is what it looked like:
I’m guessing that it’s some type of Shepherd’s Pie. He gave me a bite, and it was good. He also scraped his bowl clean.
Would I come back to this place? I am coming to this place over and over again, and bringing you with me. This place was meant to be shared. It was relatively empty when we arrived, and it was a week night, between 9 and 10. It was nice to chat with the owner; she mentioned that all of the restaurant chefs and owners in San Diego knew each other and had worked together at some point, such as the owner of Cafe Chloe.
Ritual Tavern
4095 30th Street
San Diego, CA 92104
I was craving a cheeseburger, so Jason did some research and took me to the Burger Lounge, in Kensington. The wait staff was very young and friendly, and the girl at the register made sure that we had clean glasses for our water. One of the Coke fountains had dripped syrup onto the paper cups. We said we didn’t mind the cups with Coke stuck to the edges, but she insisted on finding us clean glasses. We ordered cheeseburgers with onions (raw for me, grilled for Jason) and a side order of half onion rings, half french fries.
We ordered at a counter, but took a number and had a server bring our food to our table. It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside, and didn’t wait very long for our order to arrive.
That is Jason’s burger. Mmm… The onion rings were very good, but I wasn’t very impressed with the fries. They were sprinkled with parsley or something, so they looked very pretty, but I prefer Inn-Out fries to these.
There’s my burger. I ordered the sauce on the side because I don’t like Thousand Island, even if it is their own recipe. I don’t like horseradish or mayo. The burger was very good. Basically, it tasted like an enormous Inn-Out burger. The difference was that the beef patty was huge and a bit bloody (just the way I like it), and it was made with grass-fed cows.
Mmmm, onion rings. I don’t know what to say as my final verdict, though. I loved the burger, but couldn’t really taste a big difference between these gourmet burgers and In-N-Out burgers. If you take price into account, you may as well hit up the fast food one. I didn’t try the milkshakes, though, or their other entrees and sides, so maybe those would make this place more worthwhile to visit than a drive-thru. I did like the location, the service, and the decor. There was a great atmosphere. I enjoyed my meal, but I can’t say that it tastes much better than In-N-Out. However, despite the difference in size, I was able to finish all of my burger. I usually leave a few bites of In-N-Out burgers (which are significantly smaller), so maybe I unconsciously noticed a sizable difference in quality.
There are several locations, so check out their website for more information:
Jason and I tried out a Northern Thai restaurant in San Diego. It was the best Thai food I have ever had in San Diego, but I can’t compare it to Renu Nakorn because the dishes were very different. We didn’t try the curry (I am pretty sure that Renu Nakorn has the best Thai curry in the world, but I will try Sab E lee’s some day), but we did order some dishes I have never seen before. One was Grilled B.B.Q. Pork (Neck).
You all know that for me, it tends to be about fat, and I loved this dish. I am craving it right now. So fatty, juicy, and tender. It was cooked to the perfect consistency, maintaining the natural salty pork flavor with a little added spice. I usually eschew the dipping sauces at Asian restaurants in favor of tasting the food as it is and “untainted”, but I tried the pork dipping sauce, and it went perfectly with the pork. It reminded me of a peppery Korean dipping sauce used for thick-cut bacon.
We ordered Phad-See-Ewe, partly because I was craving Thai noodles, and partly because we needed a point of comparison. These may be some of my favorite Phad-See-Ewe noodles. The sauce had that signature slightly-sweet taste, without being overwhelming or too salty. The noodles were soft and fresh. The only drawback was that the dish was all noodle, and I like there to be more than one sprig of Chinese broccoli when I eat Asian noodles.
The last dish we ordered was called Spicy Mint Leaves Steamed Pork Leg.
It was spicy, indeed, but delicious, nonetheless. It wasn’t the type of spicy that made you taste smoke on your tongue. Again, the meat was tender, juicy, and fatty. The dishes were all very flavorful and Jason and I swore to return, bringing more friends with us so that we could try more dishes. The prices were typical of Thai restaurants: $6.95 for the pork dishes and $5.95 for the Phad-See-Ewe.
Verdict: Best Thai food in San Diego, and it rivals Renu Nakorn. We’ll have to try the panang next time we’re there. The restaurant is TINY, though: I suspect the maximum capacity is about 15 people. The “dining area” is roughly the size of my bedroom. There is a wide sidewalk where the owner could probably set up tables, though. The neighborhood is not the type of area in which you would normally find yourself (that appears to be the case with all good Thai restaurants), but the food is well worth the drive.
2405 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111
858-650-6868
Monday - Sunday: 9:30 AM - 9:30 PM
Jason took me to North Park to try out The Linkery. We had been wanting to try it for a while, and we finally summoned up the energy to drive down to check it out. We had a great time! We arrived, and the place was packed. We put our names down and were seated almost immediately (we noticed that the tables tended to turn pretty quickly, so don’t be put off if you see a line).
We ordered beers from their enormous drink menu and began with a choucroute plate with 2 links: boerewors (Vande Rose pork, grass-fed beef, pastured lamb, house-cured bacon) and what they called a chicken sausage, which was actually pork. We wanted the Kasekrainer, which was described as Vande Rose pork with gouda, SPICY, but they were out. They ran out of several items throughout the night, which goes to show that they get all of their food fresh, no freezers and that they have many many customers each day.
The links came with sauerkraut (their own recipe, and the best sauerkraut I have EVER tasted, without a doubt), spicy mustard, and thickly sliced bread. The bread tasted cinnamony and was doughy, and if I hadn’t been so full, I would have finished my half. I couldn’t tell which link was which, but they were delicious, very smoky. I will say that, although these links were delicious, my favorite dogs are still Top Dog’s. I know Top Dogs are frozen, but there’s just something special about them. I think they’ll always be my favorite, and specifically, the ones served on Durant Ave., in Berkeley. But to get back to the Linkery, these links had great snap to them and combined with the sauerkraut, we were in sausage heaven. I really can’t get over how delicious the sauerkraut was. The kraut was braised in Alsatian wine and topped with melted Winchester gouda cheese. Mmmmm….
See this delicious pasta?
This is hand-cut tagliatelle, heirloom tomatoes, Grana Padano cheese, and house-cured Hampshire pork belly. This pasta was plenty delicious (such a great chewy texture and tart tomatoes, along with melt-in-your-mouth pork fat) at the time, but the following night when I ate the rest of it in lieu of finishing Sublime Pizza’s mac and cheese, it was the best pasta in the world. I realized how amazing the pasta was when I was able to compare it to another restaurant’s. I had originally ordered the pastured lamb, but they had run out.
This is Jason’s dish: wild caught local swordfish, green beans, cherry tomatoes, banana fingerling potatoes.
I do not usually like swordfish, but Jason insisted that I try a bite, and I was pleasantly surprised at how tender and juicy it was. I like fish to be delicate and flakey, and this was the closest that a swordfish has ever come to that. I was quite impressed. I need to let Jason blog about it, though, since it was his dish. I can show you his plate, if he forgets to blog (the plate reveals a lot, actually):
We enjoyed our food so much that we figured the dessert would be tasty here, too. This dish spoke to both of us:
Oaxacan chocolate fig ice cream. Tasted velvety and rich, not overly sweet. Strong cacao flavor without too much sugar added. Went very well with the fig ice cream. We enjoyed it with French pressed coffee, roasted in San Diego:
They had provided us with a timer so that we would know precisely when to press the coffee.
Verdict: GO HERE. I forgot to mention that they left a carafe of water on the table the entire time, so that I was never thirsty, and it was infused with white sage. We were served by about 5 different people, and they were all extremely sweet and friendly. From what I could tell, the entire wait staff was helpful and caring. The prices were reasonable (not that expensive, especially for what you get). I saw that on Yelp! some people had complained about having to pay an 18% gratuity. I, for one, really liked that they had that calculated out on the receipt and refused tips. It meant I didn’t have to estimate (I would have probably tipped 20%, anyway) what to leave as tip and made the paying process more efficient. Even if the service hadn’t been amazing, 18% is pretty standard, so to all the Yelping complainers: you are really cheap, stingy bastards.
full kitchen every day till 11:30pm
weekends open at noon
weekdays open at 5:30pm
3794 30th St
at North Park Way in North Park
San Diego CA USA
619 255 8778
Stella’s sister, Felisa told us about a place where she had the best Thai food ever, Jitlada, in Thai Town (LA). Of course we had to go and try it. I was eager to compare this place to Renu Nakorn and Lotus of Siam. Jitlada is a bit of a drive, and it would have to be really good to warrant a trip when we’ve got arguably the best Thai food in the country a few blocks away.
I must say that the food was very, very, very good. If you were looking for a ranking, as compared to Renu or Lotus, I cannot provide it, because the cuisine was completely different. The dishes were not the same. Renu Nakorn and Lotus of Siam are Northern Thai, Issan. Jitlada is Southern Thai cuisine. I didn’t recognize any names or descriptions on the menu - everything was new to me (with the exceptions of staples like Pad See Uw and Pad Thai). I would really like to return to this place and bring new people to see what they think as well. I think Southern Thai cuisine is a little spicier, saltier, and richer than Northern Thai cuisine. We ordered several dishes, way too many to finish (which means I won’t have to cook for the next couple of days - awesome), and while we liked everything, we regretted not calling the restaurant ahead of time to ask them for recommendations. There were several specialties that the owner/chef touted that we need to try.
Here is what we did order (there are 2 dishes I am missing - the fried wontons, which we devoured immediately; shrimp pineapple curry, which looked like the green curry we ordered, so I didn’t bother taking a picture):
Not Tom Yum soup, but Tom Kai (? Don’t know - Lisa and Sarah ordered it). I don’t like the lemongrass-based soups unless I have a cold, so this was a welcome alternative. It had a little of the lemongrass tang, but it was diluted by the coconut milk (which makes it much better, I think).
I forgot the name of this. I think it was a rice papaya salad. This was my first time tasting a rice salad, and I loved it. It tasted fresh, and the rice had been cooked with anchovies. I don’t know how to describe the dish: sweet and refreshing. I don’t like papayas, but I was curious to see how it would taste in the dish. It worked well with the flavored rice. This appetizer was one of our favorites of the evening.
The owner came to our table to chat in between our appetizers and main dishes.
She explained that the dishes took a while to arrive because each dish was made to order, using the freshest ingredients.
She shared stories about the various celebrities that would frequent her establishment (Ellen Paige, Matt Groening, among others) and chatted about the early hardships in trying to get her business off the ground.
I believe that word-of-mouth was the business’s salvation and as various publications have begun screaming praises, her business is now thriving.
I need to ask Stella was this dish was called. It was some type of pork, served with a green mango salad (?) and sticky rice. This might have been my least favorite dish, but that’s not saying much. It’s just that the other dishes were so damn good. I tend to like meat juicier and less-cooked. I also expect pork to be greasy, and it wasn’t. The salad it came with was supposed to be very good, but I don’t know if I had room to try it.
Lamb curry. The lamb chunks were extremely tender and fatty - they melted on my tongue. I highly recommend this dish.
Veggie panang, Southern-style. I didn’t like it. It was more of a vegetable fry-up with a little sauce drizzled on it. Best panang in the world is still Renu Nakorn’s.
Pad See uw with chicken. I loved it, and was surprised that it was slightly spicy.
Lard Na Jitlada. It was a dish I have known traditionally as “rad na” or “rad nar”, but with seafood. For a long time, I have been looking for rad na comparable to that of Racha Cafe’s (Racha Cafe is on Telegraph and Dwight, in Berkeley: best Thai food in Berkeley). I still like Racha Cafe’s the best, but this came damn close. I was pleasantly surprised by the fish in the dish - it was very tender and practically disintegrated underneath my fork.
I forgot the name of this dish, but it was lamb, and it was #66 on the Southern Thai menu (not the regular menu). It came out last, and we were already stuffed, but I managed one bite and immediately wished that I had saved room for more. The lamb was soft and tender, and this dish actually reminded me of a steak and asparagus dish that Jason’s dad makes that I love (I love everything he cooks, actually). I took the leftovers home and can’t wait to have Jason try it.
Uh oh. I realize now that I forgot to take pictures of the green curry with duck. It was delicious, possibly the best curry of the night (possibly - might have liked lamb just as much). It’s difficult for me to really rank everything, because we ordered so much food that I only had room to eat one bite of everything, really. I was uncomfortable at the end of the meal, and even though I had been planning on ordering mango sticky rice (other places didn’t offer it because mangos are out of season), I just couldn’t. The Thai iced tea was very good, too. It kept me up and I couldn’t fall asleep for a few hours.
Final call: GO TO THIS PLACE. But I would advise asking someone who works there to order dishes for you. Their mussels are supposed to be their crowning glory, so I’ll have to get that next time. Their frog legs are supposed to be very good, too.
Jitlada Thai Restaurant
5233 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104
I’m really sorry I didn’t take any pictures, but I was really hungry and so excited about the food that I completely forgot to pull out the camera.
Komatsu is located in a really ghetto strip mall in Torrance, and like most authentic Japanese restaurants, the name of the bar is nowhere to be found. There is a small sign outside that says “Tempura Bar,” and that’s it. When you first enter, there is a strange smell, like an Asian toilet, and I could smell it pretty much throughout the restaurant, but you lose it when you begin eating.
We went there for lunch, and the lunch menu is much smaller than the dinner menu. We started with soft shell crab tempura and squid tempura. I’m not a big fan of soft shell crab, so the best I can say is that I didn’t dislike it. I tend to prefer squid raw or seasoned (I should have made use of their seasoning salts, damn!), so it was also not a big deal for me. I ordered a shrimp tempura and egg bowl. It came with a delicious salad (I love asian salad dressings - lemon juice and soy sauce, I think), miso soup, and pickles, pickled carrots, and pickled eggplant.
I don’t know much about tempura batters, but I loved it here. It was light: light in color, texture, and on the greasiness (which is to say, not very greasy). The rice was seasoned with furakake, I believe, and covered with runny eggs. The egg yolk had soaked into pretty much every grain of rice, and there was a nice wet section of egg gunk all over the top of the bowl. SO GOOD. I ate much more than I should have, but I couldn’t stop eating.
I should have played with the seasoning salts. They provided shaved daikon to mix with the tempura dipping sauce, and they provided 3 small pots of salts: sea salt, green tea salt, and sesame seed salt. I think I would have enjoyed the soft shell crab and squid more with them.
They serve hot tea in tiny cups, and I drink a lot, so I was thirsty the entire time, but other than that and the odd bathroom smell, I had a great time. The dinner menu looked incredible, so I need to go back a few times. I am no judge of Japanese cuisine, but the place was soon packed with Japanese businessmen (all nationals, I think - they were all speaking in Japanese), so I’m pretty sure the place was authentic and good, even by Japanese standards.
Komatsu
1644 W. Carson Street
Suite B
Torrance, CA 90501
310-787-0787
I kept promising a picture, and here it is:
Mango sticky rice from Renu Nakorn. Looking at it makes me crave it so much. I love it here. I tried the mango sticky rice at Thai Nakorn, and it was terrible.
Reina and I had lunch in Redondo Beach after her dress fitting. We went to Kincaid’s, which had an excellent view of the water. I like beach restaurants like Kincaid’s. They are “nice” restaurants (step above Wood Ranch or Macaroni Grill) in which it is perfectly acceptable to walk in wearing shorts and flip flops. Aside from the hostess appearing to give us a once-over, the service was great.
I ordered fish tacos, as it was lunch time and I was not in the mood for a huge entree (although the entrees looked great - especially the daily lunch specials).
I’m not really sure what to say, other than that I liked them. I love fish tacos in general, and they all tend to taste good for the same reasons. Battered fresh fish, crunchy cabbage, rich guacamole… I even like the white sauce, whatever it is (sour cream? tartar?). I ALWAYS squeeze limes on top - the lime juice really completes it for me. I think the best way to describe my tacos is that they tasted pretty much exactly how they looked like they would taste. Here’s a close-up shot, to give you a better idea.
I started my meal with the lobster and corn bisque. I was, unfortunately, extremely disappointed. It looked and tasted like a bowl of lobster stock, or lobster juice. There were no corn kernels or lobster chunks in it, either. I was a bit confused, because several different servers appeared to be very excited that Reina and I had ordered the bisque: they came up individually to rave about it and ask us, “Didn’t you just LOVE it??” No, we didn’t. I think it was quite possibly the worst lobster bisque I’ve ever had. The opinions of the servers made me question whether my criteria for judging lobster bisque were completely off. I expect lobster bisque to be creamy and opaque like chowder, not watery and clear like broth. I expect chunks of lobster to be present, rather than nothing at all.
Again, I think the picture describes the taste. Anyway, the rest of our lunches were delicious. I have been to Kincaid’s several times with my family over the course of many years, and this is the first time that I have had any dish that I didn’t like. So far, for anyone visiting Kincaid’s, I would recommend everything on the menu with the exception of the lobster bisque. The view is great as well.
Kincaid’s Fish, Chop & Steakhouse
500, Fisherman’s Wharf
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Phone:(310) 318-6080
I had a mad desire a few weeks ago to visit the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. I had told Jason that for some reason, visiting aquariums makes me crave seafood, so he looked online for good seafood places in Long Beach before we left. We decided to try Berth 55, a fish market located where the 710 ends by hitting the pier.
It’s tucked away near what appear to be abandoned warehouses and industrial complexes. You would never guess that a place to get decent seafood would be hidden here, but it is. The food was very simple, fresh, and tasty.
Since it was a hot day, we began with a cup of fresh shrimp ceviche and bottles of Mexican beer:
I need to apologize about the pictures. We decided to sit outside, to enjoy the warm weather and the view (the place was right on the water), but we were sitting under canopies, which affected the lighting. The ceviche wasn’t actually tinged with green, as the picture implies. They chopped the ingredients very finely, which was something different for me. I had been used to Blue Water’s huge chunks in their ceviche, so this caught me off-guard. The ceviche tasted fine, very fresh and refreshing, but to be honest, I prefer Blue Water’s ceviche.
Here is my red snapper and bbq scallop combo:
The fish’s flesh was fresh, soft, flaky, and moist. They had seasoned it by sprinkling some ground Cayenne pepper on it, and that’s it. You could appreciate the mild taste of the fish and there was no fishy taste that required lemon juice to neutralize it. Underneath were the scallops. These were very very tasty, in contrast to the mild snapper. So juicy and flavorful! The meat had that nice “bounce” to it (I don’t know how to describe the texture of fresh scallops), and the grilling had left some sticky, caramelized sauce on the bottoms - delicious.
The fries were very good, too. I would have eaten more of them, but I was too full from the hearty serving of fish. I had to pick out bones here and there - but I liked that: it made it seem more fresh. The fries were thickly cut, but somehow soft and mealy inside, and slightly crispy outside. Warning: they do not have ketchup on the premises. They served the fish and fries combo with one small cup of tartar sauce and one small cup of cocktail sauce. Or, you can get a small packet of tapatillo sauce.
Jason ordered BBQ shrimp, but I forget what kind of fish he ordered. I think it was swordfish:
I loved the shrimp, but didn’t bother to try any of his swordfish because I don’t like swordfish or mahi mahi, or any of those fish meats that are “heavy” (almost like steaks to me). I also noticed the shrimp because I tend to be very picky about shrimp and rarely order it as a result. I love shrimp, don’t get me wrong, but because I love it, I tend to be disappointed easily. That also goes for salmon. I love salmon, but when restaurants overcook it, overgrill it, somehow get the filet to feel and taste heavy and dry, it completely ruins the dish for me and I don’t want to eat another bite. Anyway, this BBQ shrimp was very good - they had cooked it the same way they had prepared the scallops, and it was good for the same reasons.
I would like to come back to this place - it’s a great place to have lunch on a hot summer day. We could see the boats going out to sea, and it’s nice to stare at the ocean on a hot sunny day while enjoying a cold beer with a cup of ceviche.
Let us know if you want to hit up this spot sometime; we’d like to go back. It looked like they changed their specials menu daily, and it was quite a list.
Berth 55 Fish Market and Seafood Deli
555 Pico Ave., Long Beach, CA 90802
562-435-8366
This place is ridiculously close and I had never heard of it until Jason and I hungrily and frantically researched places to eat breakfast in Cerritos that weren’t likely to be crowded. It’s across the street from Gahr High School, in a business complex, and you really can’t find it unless you know it’s there. It is directly on the corner of Artesia and Studebaker, on the Southeast corner. They open very early and close early as well, so it’s best to go for breakfast, lunch, or an early dinner.
The best way to describe their food is American comfort. Do not come here if you are on a diet - they serve extremely hearty portions. They are like a non-chain Marie Callendar’s, but with a much more varied menu and dishes that aren’t as plain. The service is excellent - our waitress was very sweet and accommodating. There was no wait to get a table, even though we arrived at peak brunch hours: 11AM on a Sunday morning. The place was busy, but not at all crowded.
Jason ordered a chicken-fried steak, and this looked like the type of place where it would be really good, but it was really dry and tough and overcooked.
You can tell by the darkness of the bread crumbs that it was overdone. I think Jason’s side of scrambled eggs came with 3 huge eggs - it was a large portion. I think Jason liked the home fries.
I ordered Mike’s Healthy Scramble. It came with ground turkey, scrambled egg whites, cilantro, mushrooms, tomatoes, and as my sides, I chose brown rice and biscuits with gravy. You have several choices, and I liked that gravy biscuits and brown rice were choices.
It was a good simple egg scramble. I liked the ingredients and that it wasn’t greasy or buttery.
This is the “side” of biscuits and gravy:
I put “side” in quotation marks because there were 4 or 5 huge fluffy, buttery, doughy biscuits smothered in yummy, salty, rich chicken gravy. This was enough to feed 4 people. I ate about 4 bites before getting too full to finish. So both of my plates of food together cost $7.75. I was amazed at how little the food cost, because it didn’t taste like they had used really cheap ingredients, like at places like Coco’s.
They had pages of delicious breakfast options, so I would like my friends to consider this place the next time we’re planning a brunch outing that involves more than 4 people. We don’t all wake up early enough to make it to a place that gets crowded by 10 AM, and this place is cheap, tasty, open, and able to accommodate.
I have been going to this place as often as possible. I want to try everything on their menu.
Jason and I ordered an appetizer: angel wings. They were chicken legs stuffed with pork and vegetables.
After taking this picture, the next cross-section better revealed the variety of ingredients (many colors), but I was feeling too ravenous to take another picture. Very, very tasty.
I thought I had a Renu Nakorn take-out menu, but I can’t find it, and so I can’t recall the name of this dish. Some type of deep-fried catfish with red curry and coconut milk, but I couldn’t taste the coconut milk.
Good, but my stomach gurgled a bit menacingly after eating this dish. I think it was the spiciness. You also have to watch out for the bones. Some parts of the skin have these little pockets of fat, or else it’s the quality of the scales. Either way, I was delighted.
This is the famous panang curry; Renu Nakorn makes the best panang in the U.S.:
Try it and you will know that I am not exaggerating. This is one of the few times that my sister Patti will clean her plate. Actually, this is the only dish that isn’t dessert that will get Patti to clean her plate.
The next time I come here, I hope to have more people with me so that we will have room in our stomachs for the mango sticky rice. Then I can take a picture to post.
I ate more on Wednesday afternoon in one sitting than I have for a long time. I could feel my stomach stretching, and it is an uncomfortable feeling. My sister had made reservations at Mario Battali’s famous Pizzeria Mozza, and it is not just hype, folks. I ate until I was in pain, and then I was very sad that I couldn’t fit any more food into my stomach without vomiting.
First course:
This was Nancy’s chopped salad. $15 sounds expensive for a salad, but this salad was HUGE and delicious. It had a light vinaigrette- olive oil and vinegar, I’m guessing, but it was very light and mild and perfect, with just a touch of vinegary bite.
Second courses:
Fried squash blossoms with ricotta. There were about 6 on the plate, but when you place good food in front of my family, it’s funny what little effect the words, “WAIT!! WAIT!! WAAAIIIIIIT!” have on them. I don’t know how to describe these, but man, were they good. They tasted delicate as well, and the ricotta was delicious. Quality, people. It goes a long way.
Bone marrow al forno. I love bone marrow (which you would know if you read my blog regularly), so of course I had to try this dish. I loved it, but I didn’t realize that it would be so substantial. The portions were enormous. It came with 3 huge bones from which to scoop the marrow. I ate it by tearing off a piece of olive-soaked pain, then sprinkling whatever chopped lemon juice-drenched salad leaves were sitting on the plate (parsley? bushy leafy cilantro?) onto the pain, adding a piece of roasted garlic soaked in olive oil, and finishing with a scoop of marrow on top. As Patti commented, I ate with gusto. My only regret was that my family didn’t help much with finishing off the plate, so I got very full off of this rich dish, so that I could barely finish one slice of my pizza.
We each ordered our own pizza.
My dad ordered the Pizza alla Benna: Speck, pineapple, jalapeno, mozzarella, and tomato
Speck is a type of smoked prosciutto. Usually I refuse to eat pizza with pineapples on it, but the reason why it worked on this pizza was that it was dried pineapple rings. There was no juice to soak the pizza and ruin the other flavors. It had a mildly sweet taste that worked well with the spices from the jalapeno and the smokiness/saltiness of the speck.
My mom ordered a pizza with ipswich clams, garlic, oregano, chiles, pecorino and parmigiano:
My family declared it to be their favorite, but I disagreed. I will admit that I was feeling uncomfortably full at this point and the richness of the clams just made me a little nauseous, so if I hadn’t been stuffed with marrow and olive oil, I may have changed my mind. It was quite a unique taste, though. It wasn’t just a pizza with clams dropped on top. It was a dry pizza, with dry cheeses, so as not to compete with the flavor of the clams. There was a pleasant prickly spiciness to it, and I realize now it must have been the chiles.
Patti ordered a pizza with speck, bufala muzzarella, olive tapenade, and oregano (the prettiest pizza):
I was annoyed with Patti because she wouldn’t put a slice on my plate, but if she had, I probably would have reached bursting point. I reheated it the next day for lunch, but I heated the cheese too much and it hardened. The muzzarella was good, though.
My dish was the simplest: Funghi misti, fontina, taleggio, and thyme
This was my favorite dish, because the cheese and mushrooms were so fragrant and rich. The flavor of the mushrooms was strong, in a good way. The cheese was nice and gooey.
We were way too full to even consider dessert, but bursting guts be damned, we ordered 2 desserts, anyway.
This was a butterscotch pudding with creme and a caramel sauce, I think it was. Delicious, and if I had had room, I would have licked the cup clean. It was torturous to have to leave some of that sweet whipped goodness behind.
These are rice fritters with sliced apricots in apricot syrup. They look like yummy beignets, until you bite into them and realize to your delight that they are filled with what appears to be rice pudding. Again, it was torture to not finish them.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Ave.,
Los Angeles
323-297-0101
Don’t valet because it’s too expensive and it is right next to a residential neighborhood where there is ample room for parking.
Here are photos of my family, who have encouraged my love of food my entire life:
Put a glass of cold beer in his hand and my dad is a happy man. I believe my appreciation of Budweiser comes from him, and he is holding an Italian beer that was very crisp and refreshing.
I have described Patti as “just like me, only half a foot taller and 20 pounds lighter.” Oh, except for her head - maybe we actually weigh the same because of the huge disparity in our head size.
… has reopened!! Food is still great - I’ve been there twice in the week that it was open. I forgot to bring my camera when I ate with my sister, but their panang curry is still the best that I’ve ever had. I ordered Khau Soi, which was delicious and reminded me of the Las Vegas group(Doug, Jason, Johann, Reina)’s favorite dish at Lotus of Siam, only not as spicy.
I took Jason and we decided to try some new dishes.
Kang Hung Lay:
This is described as pork stew, and Northern Thai favorite. It has become one of our favorites as well. Spicy fatty pork, with soft garlic cloves, parsley, and green onions, covered in a thin, spicy curry-like sauce. We ate it with sticky rice, but I think next time we’ll order it with brown rice, to better soak up the delicious sauce.
Jason ordered Kang Hoh:
It was pickled pork with rice vermicelli, tender bamboo shoots, and green beans. I thought it was pretty good, but it had that pickled flavor to it, which was different. I think we would have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t been compared to the kang hung lay.
I’ve ordered the mango sticky rice dessert with my sister here, and it’s the best I’ve ever had.
GO to Renu Nakorn. It has been mentioned quite often by several famous food critics as being the best Thai food in the United States, I kid you not. The center is newly renovated, which means a larger, cleaner space, and a much nicer strip mall.
It’s on the northeast corner of Rosecrans and Shoemaker, in Norwalk. They also finally have a restaurant sign in front.
A couple of my Columbia friends, Ben and his girlfriend Mary, received tickets in the all-you-can-eat pavilion sponsored by am pm at Dodger Stadium. Until they invited us to join them, I hadn’t even known of this pavilion’s existence. It was nice to watch the game from a completely different perspective. First of all, we were on field level. Second, I was now close to the outfielders, rather than the pitcher and home plate. I had never watched a pro game from this distance nor this level. It was fun.
You can see from the angle of the photo how close we were.
We had a great time, despite the White Sox annihilating us at the end of the game. I maintain that Lowe played an amazing game. We just couldn’t get any runs.
Here are my friends Ben and Mary (thank you so much for the tickets and the time!):
Jason always manages to cut off the logo on this t-shirt:
The food was saltier and kind of stale compared to the food you get in the regular sections, but I made great use of the free drinks - and the food was FREE! We ate at least $50 worth of food per person.
….can be found at Antony’s on Artesia and Pioneer Blvd. It is called the Jiminy Crickett sandwich, and it is goooood. It is a relatively simple dish: buttered roll, sliced in half, filled with 2-3 different types of salami (none of which are tough, dry or overly salty), thinly sliced pepperoncinis, sliced raw red onions, melted provolone cheese, and toasted to perfection. You have to try this for yourself. Jason and I think this may be the greatest sandwich we have ever had. Of course, I had left my camera at home so I can’t show you a picture. If you live in Cerritos, go to Antony’s and buy it.
5/23/08:
Jason and I went to Phoenix over the weekend to celebrate the engagement of Jeff Critchley and his fiancee, Jessie.
Congratulations!!!
We had a great time (they were excellent hosts and had just bought a new house and had really fun cats to play with). There was much more to do in Phoenix than Jason and I had expected, so much so that we didn’t have time to see everything we had planned on seeing (we’re coming back for Pizzeria Bianco, Roosevelt Row, Roosevelt Tavern, and the Desert Botanical Gardens). We also didn’t know about the cats, and it’s amazing how much time I can spend tickling cats.
We ate very well. I didn’t take a picture because it was dark outside, but our hosts took us to Farmer Joe’s Grill and we ordered a BBQ pizza and a chicken pesto sandwich. Both were delicious. This place was a house that was converted into a restaurant. They specialized in fresh quality ingredients. They also had this crazy bathroom with a TV and dolls on the walls.
The next day we ate brunch at this really popular place called Matt’s Big Breakfast. The wait was insane, but the food was worth it.
I am not a fan of potatoes, and these were the best hash browns I have ever had. Well, half of them were. I was given 2 hash brown patties, and one was really thick and mushy and moist, and the other was like a potato cracker. I got 2 eggs over easy (my favorite way) and thick-cut bacon. The bacon was good quality, but I like my bacon softer, greasier, and less-cooked. It came with a side of toast, and at most restaurants, I ignore the side toast, but this was bakery bread, pain, with a multi-grain crust, thickly sliced. It came with a slab of butter and yummy jam, maybe black currant-flavored? Jason ordered honey lemonade, which was delicious. He ordered a similar dish to mine, but had the home fries and a side of ham that I loved. I’ll let him blog about that.
That night we ate at Cowboy Ciao’s in Scottsdale, which was nice. The restaurant had a nice feel to it, and we ate at the bar, which was cozy, as the bartenders were chatty and attractive. The dishes were pretty creative, but my favorite was the scallops on a bed of beet risotto. This was the only dish that we didn’t choose on our own, but had chosen on the advice of our bartender. The other dishes included a mushroom dish that I had chosen, but it wasn’t too impressive. We also ordered their famous Cowboy salad, which was very good. We cleaned our plates. I don’t remember what type of greens were in it (Jason says arugula and lettuce), but it had smoked salmon, trail mix, cranberries, dried sweet corn, with a dressing that I want to say was buttermilk poppyseed, but I do not remember. There were some other ingredients in that salad that I cannot remember. Oh well. For dessert, we had bread pudding, and I remember an ice cream with bits of orange in it, but I can’t recall the rest. I hope Jason blogs about this place, since my memory is so terrible.
The next day, we checked out a place on Roosevelt Row called Phoenix Ranch Market.
We didn’t know what to order, even though so many things looked and smelled very good. It was a big Mexican grocery store, with a tortilleria and seafood section with fresh ceviche, as well as a bakery and juice stand. I’d like to say that we had an amazing meal, but I’ve had better in LA and SD. I should also add that the dishes that everyone else ordered looked and smelled much tastier, so I’m assuming we just made poor choices while ordering.
This is my lingua gordita:
The gordita bread was very greasy, so I just took a fork and scooped out the tongue and ate that. It was very tender and tasty.
Ranch taco with chicken:
I was disappointed with it, but Jason appeared to love it.
Jason’s torta:
I’ll let him blog about it, since I didn’t like it much. It was strange to me that they used sweet bread.
We finished our trip by stopping in Glendale to the see the Cardinals football stadium.
Well, I guess we finished our AZ trip by stopping at a Sonic in Yuma, but we didn’t take pictures of that. When I see you, I’ll tell you a funny story about the dangers of eating Cinnasnacks.
We are definitely planning on making another trip out here.
I made a terribly dry batch of mixed rice a week ago, but I didn’t want to throw it out. I decided to “salvage” it by turning it into fried rice. I bought some onions, kale, celery, mixed frozen veggies, and bacon to flavor it. I fried all of the ingredients and added some eggs to the mix, and it was decent. However, now I had fresh veggies that I didn’t want to go to waste, so I decided to make pasta the following day.
I used penne, nitrate-free bacon, kale, celery, onion, garlic, veggie mix (corn, carrots, peas, green beans, lima beans), cilantro, diced tomatoes, and parmesan shavings. I was quite proud of it:
A few days later, Jason and I tried to recreate this dish, but we were out of penne pasta. I found a box of whole wheat fettucini pasta, and remembered that my sister had warned me that whole wheat pasta was disgusting. Jason and I were interested in going the healthy route, and decided that it couldn’t be THAT bad, and we’d choke it down somehow. We were wrong. The whole wheat pasta (Hodgson Mill Brand, in case you’re interested) had a terrible texture and a chalky taste. The texture was dry - the water would not absorb, and I definitely cooked it long enough. The noodles were sagging and draped soggily, but their interiors were stale. The chalky taste of the noodles overwhelmed all of the flavors of the sauce we created, and I ended up tossing everything into the trash. We had to make do with instant noodles (jajaroni) that night. So much for eating healthy.
In case you couldn’t tell, Jason and I are constantly trying to find new places to eat in San Diego. We’ve been relying on Chowhound for the most part, and usually we like what is recommended there. But I don’t like using message boards and forums like Chowhound for finding places. I also find that many Chowhounders are so bent on finding something unique and off-the-beaten path that they will soundly abuse any establishment that serves anything resembling something recognizable. They will also praise eateries for the sole reason that it’s non-chain or serves something unique, even if it doesn’t taste good.
I was looking at one of the blogs on my blogroll, well aware that it hasn’t been updated for over a year, but I am reluctant to pull it because it has some interesting recipes that I wouldn’t necessarily find easily anywhere else. I noticed that she had several blogs listed on the side, and she was brilliant enough to indicate from which areas these blogs originated. Of course, my next course of action was to troll the San Diego links and in turn, their San Diego links. I have listed a few of them below.
Zen Foodism : This blog has not been updated for a while, and I’m not sure how much I would agree with this blogger’s opinions concerning food, but she loves food, and she loves finding food in San Diego. That’s enough for me. I’m willing to check out some of the places she likes.
Slow Food San Diego: This is an interesting organization. They are basically anti-fast food, thus the term, “slow food.” What with all the talk about how supporting local farms is good for the environment and all, I’m glad this site exists.
Foodieview: I haven’t really tried out this site yet. The link I provided leads you to their San Diego restaurant guide search engine. I hope it’s a good one, although it may depend on the users who post reviews, which can pose the same problem as Chowhound. I will say that I like that Phil’s BBQ is listed as the #1 place for BBQ, which shows sound judgment.
My Very Own Eating San Diego Blog: The name says it all, really. I skimmed it, and thumbs-up to this guy for raving about Brett’s BBQ, although he slams 4S Ranch, which is my second home. He just slammed the name, really.
San Diego Restaurant Reviews: Exactly what I’m looking for! Can I trust this blogger? We’ll see.
Mmm - yoso! I don’t know much about this blog or what it’s about, but the first entry I read dealt with eating a beating cobra heart, so I’m sold.
Three Dog Kitchen: I like the name of this blog, and some of the entries are reviews on places I was interested in trying, like Capri Blu at 4S Ranch. She’s pretty descriptive, so the reviews are helpful, but I do not like that the font is so tiny for such long entries. It hurts my eyes.
Oh So Yummy: This blog appears to be dedicated to finding unusual eats in San Diego. Sounds like a good resource to have.
So there we have it. Hopefully I’ll be reporting soon on some place we read about in a blog and tried, and enjoyed.
I have blogged about this place before. Jason and I had a hankering for non-fried seafood, so we came back for our favorite fresh fish ceviche. As before, huge chunks of fish, but this time the citrus juices were a little strong. I still loved it, though. Here is a picture:
Jason ordered 2 fish tacos: one swordfish and one wahoo. I liked both, even though I’m not a fan of swordfish. The tacos are huge and instead of hunks of swordfish meat, they simply place a grilled swordfish steak on top of the tortilla. It makes it difficult to fold up the taco to bite into, but it tastes great.
The wahoo taco is the closer one in the picture. I am craving this place again, and with summer upon us, I think we’ll be going there quite often in the near future. There was a long wait, because they make everything to order, and this place appears to be quite popular, but the food is well worth it. The wait also ensures that there will always be an open table for you once you order.
Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill
3667 India Street (Mission Hills, next door to El Indio and a few feet away from Shakespeare’s)
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 497-0914
Jason and I spent Saturday exploring Culver City and Los Angeles. We ended up passing by Campanile, and when Jason heard me express longing for their food, he treated me to a delicious meal.
We shared a braised pork belly for our appetizer, and we both agreed it was the tastiest dish of the night.
I don’t know if you can tell, but the top of the pork has been caramelized, and gave it a taffyish consistency. Then there was a layer of delicious, melt-in-your-mouth fat, and then the softest, tenderest, juiciest layer of pork meat I’ve ever had. It was served on a bed of lima beans, spinach, and razor-thin slices of garlic. They added chopped mangoes on top, and they were the perfect combination of sweet versus tart to accompany the pork. This is one of my favorite dishes of all time.
I ordered baby lamb as my main dish, with a side of ratatouille and grilled cheese.
It was very fatty, soft, tender, and juicy, but I would have preferred some type of game fowl, and there were none offered on that day’s menu.
Jason ordered rabbit prepared two ways: first was a sort of drumstick, and the other was called “the saddle.” He will probably blog about it.
I saved room for dessert. These days, I have not been tempted by dessert menus at restaurants. Nothing sounds both interesting and delicious, so I have been skipping desserts. But Campanile’s dessert menu was filled with choices that all sounded extremely appetizing. We let the waitress pick our dessert, because she had been the one to recommend the braised pork belly, and we trusted her taste.
She chose a sticky date pudding, with butterscotch sauce, ice cream, and creme fraiche. One of my favorite desserts, ever!
Campanile hasn’t failed me yet! Amazingly, Jason and I had room in our stomachs when we returned to Cerritos to nosh on Brian and Sarah’s chili cheese nachos at Shipmates and guzzle two pints of beer each. Sam had to nosh on fries, since they were cheese-free.
The key to enjoying any good meal is to share it in good company:
Jason and I were itching to try out a hot dog cart in Culver City. These dogs are as close to organic as you will get, without going vegetarian. Here’s some information: http://letsbefrankdogs.com/our_dogs.html These dogs are famous because they were inspired by Alice Waters, of Chez Panisse fame. The cart is located in the Helms Bakery complex, site of the new Father’s Office location. This area of Culver City is quite charming, and a side of Culver City that I didn’t know existed. I would recommend exploring Culver City if you feel inclined.
They had two types of dogs: the bratwurst and the frankfurter. I loved both. Jason and I each ordered a different one, ate half, then traded. Here they are in their glory.
First, the brat dog:
The frank dog:
These were quite possibly the best hot dogs I have ever had. They are not cheap, but the price is reflected in the quality. Think, “fresh” hot dogs, at $5 each. They’ve got a good snap to them when you bite in, and they’re juicy and greasy and full of flavor, with a bit of a spicy kick to them.
My friends all know that I don’t cook. So yesterday was a momentous occasion because it was the first time that I cooked fresh asparagus all by myself. I was especially proud because the sauce required lemon juice, which was not quite readily available. I went to the backyard, picked a couple of lemons from our tree, and then used this handy tool my Mom picked up recently:
Unfortunately, the directions were written in Japanese, so I really had to guess as to how to use it. It yielded one tablespoon of juice easily, which was all that I needed. I am not sure how to get the rest of the juice from the lemon.
I cooked the asparagus by boiling it in a skillet and adding salt and rice vinegar. Then I blanched it by dropping it in a bowl of ice water. I dried the spears on a paper towel, then placed them in a plate, and brushed a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil on it, sprinkling sea salt, black sesame seeds, and fresh-ground pepper last. To make it look pretty, I used a lemon zester to sprinkle some fresh lemon peel on top. I thought they turned out rather well. Unfortunately, cooking the asparagus cost me so much effort that I couldn’t prepare a main dish. My sister called me and invited me over for pizza; I gladly accepted her invitation.
The weather this weekend was hot and dry. I loved it. First, Mamta arrived Friday night and we took her to Tajima for some ramen noodles, cucumbers with bean dip, and rice balls wrapped in seaweed. On Saturday, we took her to Beach Grass Cafe in Solana Beach for breakfast before dropping her off at La Costa Spa and Resort for a wedding.
Here is my vegetable ratatouille omelet:
Jason took me to Ocean Beach to walk around and explore Dog Beach and the shops. We tried to eat at Hodad’s, but the line was massive, unmoving, and in the blazing sun. Instead, we ate at a bar called South Beach. The food wasn’t cheap, but it was very good. Cold light beers on a hot day will work wonders as well.
We started off with fried baby octopus:
Then we followed it with fresh ceviche:
Jason ordered a fried fish taco:
I may have forgotten to take a picture of the lobster taco I ordered:
On Easter Sunday, I was craving dim sum, so Jason took me to Pearl Restaurant where we gorged. I love Chinese.
I read an article about a new restaurant in Milwaukee that specializes in grilled cheese sandwiches. This made me think of 2 other places that do this: Grill Cheese, in Manhattan, on Ludlow; and La Campanile.
Grill Cheese is a tiny restaurant (I don’t even know if I’d call it that - it’s an eatery) on Ludlow, which I believe is considered East Village or LES. Anyway, I love that area. They had a small menu, but every time I’ve been there, I’ve loved their grilled cheese sandwiches. They have a variety of cheeses and fillings, and they press them panini-style. The bread is never greasy, which I love. Anyone that goes to NYC - you have to try this place. They’re open late, so if you’re at a bar on Ludlow and want to fill up your stomach to soak up the alcohol, stop here. Your stomach will thank you.
La Campanile is one of my favorite restaurants in LA (that is saying A LOT - I cannot even begin to describe how much fantastic eating there is to do in LA). They don’t specialize in making grilled cheese sandwiches so much as specialize in making heavenly food. On Thursday nights, though, they have a special grilled cheese menu. I went with a few of my girlfriends once, and had a great time. The food was good, the company even better - it was nice that we took advantage of living in the same area when we could. I really appreciate those times now, what with the girls all over the state and one on the other side of the country.
Here are pictures of some of the grilled cheese sandwiches we had that night. I am really craving La Campanile’s grilled cheese menu now, so if you’re not busy on Thursday nights, give me a ring.
It’s amazing where a little flirting can get you:
624 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-938-1447
The article appears to imply that you are in greater trouble if you are Asian (part-Asian counts, too, if you get the “glow.”):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080304/hl_nm/alcohol_pressure_dc_1
Sonic has added Java Chillers, lattes, and coffee to their menu, along with Cinnasnacks! The Cinnasnacks will only be around for a limited time, so fellow Sonic-lovers, we’re about due for a trip.
So far, this is my favorite French restaurant in San Diego. Jason took me here for our 2 year anniversary, and although I took pictures of our delicious meal, I won’t post them because the pictures won’t do the food or the restaurant justice. The restaurant was pretty dark, so the pictures came out grainy and blurry. I had a braised lamb shoulder, I think, and it came with a huge bone, and a tiny spoon to scoop out the marrow. This was the first time I had ever tasted marrow by digging it out of the bone, and ever since, I have been trying to order dishes with the bone, so that I can dig out the marrow. I am addicted to marrow. It also came with one mushroom ravioli, and it was the best ravioli I have ever tasted.
I started my meal with a seared foie gras, and like always, it was delicious. I love foie gras, not as the pate (although that is good as well), but seared like a tiny filet. For the uninitiated, foie gras is the duck liver, and it has the consistency of buttery fat. It melts on your tongue. Some people don’t like the taste, and it is definitely not for everyone (especially if you hate slippery, slimy or fatty-textured foods). There is talk of outlawing foie gras - it has already been outlawed in a few states, and although foie gras is one of my favorite foods in the world, I won’t complain if it becomes outlawed everywhere in the U.S. Cultivating a good foie gras is a very cruel practice, and since I don’t have the cajones to stop eating it, outlawing it would force me to stop. That being said, anytime that I traveled outside the U.S., I’d probably order foie gras somewhere if I knew it would be good.
All right, I think the best way to understand the caliber of food that Cavaillon serves is to look at their menus. Their Black Truffle Festival is about to end, so check out their menu before it disappears! They also provide 3-course prix fixe menus every Monday for $32, which is a bargain. The neighborhood they’re located in is suburban, so parking and navigating here is easier than any other French restaurant I know.
14701 Via Bettona, Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92127
Jason took me to an Afghani restaurant in Poway. Like most places we try, we went on the recommendation of Chowhounders. This place is delicious. Afghani cuisine is very similar to Indian cuisine. It’s a bit lighter, less spicy, less oily, but more “aromatic” (that is, the herbs are stronger). The nan differs from naan greatly. I am assuming everyone who reads my blog is familiar with Indian naan.
Here is Afghani nan:
Much drier, right? The consistency is exactly as it looks. Not unlike crispy pita bread. It is doughy in the center, and the stiffness makes this very good for dipping.
Here is the dip we got with it. I forgot the name of it, but it’s basically a garlicky baba ganouj (and I love baba ganouj):
Here is the combo plate that I ordered:
At 12:00, we’ve got spinach rice. I think 1:00 and 2:00 it’s lamb in a tomato-based sauce. At 3:00, it’s rice flavored with cinnamon, currants, and carrots. 4:00 is a dish similar to palak panir, only without the cheese. At 5:00 was fried plaintains with - dangit, I forgot. But it was 3 layers of distinct flavors, all of them combining for a tasty, tart, sweet, and delightful treat. 6:00 was rice flavored with beans, I believe. 7:00 was potatoes with an aloo gobi-type sauce. 8:00 was peas with tomato-based sauce. 9:00 is jasmine rice. 10:00 and 11:00 is chicken curry. The meatball in the center of the plate was delicious, but I don’t remember what type of meat it was. Everything on the plate was tasty and delicious. There was way too much food to finish, and Jason and I both shared the leftovers the next day.
I am highly recommending this place, but some cautionary words: you will be burping Afghani spices for HOURS afterward.
Pamir Kabob House
12378 Poway Road
Poway, CA 92074
(858) 670-7073
* 7/1/09: I don’t recall updating this, but Pamir has since gone out of business, highly unfortunately.
Those of you that are familiar with Renu Nakorn should know right now that no, we have not found a place to equal their curry-making prowess. I have never had better curry than at Renu Nakorn, and I likely never will. That being said, there are better places to get Thai noodles. Anyway, Renu Nakorn still hasn’t re-opened, as far as I know, and I have to get a decent Thai curry fix somewhere. It’s very difficult to eat Thai food with Renu Nakorn closed for renovation (for over a year! Come on, people! We’re dying here!). Jason and I have been on a mission to find a place within reasonably close distance that can serve to fill our Thai curry void. We often use Chowhound to find new and delicious places to eat. Many Chowhounders have sworn that a place on Beach Blvd., Thai Nakorn, is the best place to get Thai food… anywhere. I was very skeptical, because everyone who’s been to Renu Nakorn knows that finding a better Thai curry is nigh impossible.
Jason and I were dying for Thai food, so we decided to try the famed Thai Nakorn. We were not disappointed.
The dish above is on their specialty menu, and it is wild boar meat with peppers and onions. It was tasty, but too spicy for my taste (although we requested it ‘mild’ - I am a sissy when it comes to spiciness). My mouth was on fire for a portion of the meal. I don’t really know how to describe it - prickly, peppery, smoky flavor and fatty pork meat. You can also tell by the picture that it is swimming in oil, which probably leaked out of the fatty pork (usually that’s a good thing, but it was too much, in this case). It’s a dish that was good enough to take home and finish as leftovers, but I probably won’t order it again.
We couldn’t find “pad seeuw” on the menu, but had read rave reviews about it on Chowhound, so although we couldn’t find the listing, we told the waitress we wanted pad seeuw and she said, “sure” - no questions asked (other than “what type of meat you want with it?”). Now, I am by no means at all, a connoisseur of Thai cuisine. I really don’t know what certain dishes are supposed to emphasize or “truly” taste like. But I liked these noodles. A lot. I will admit that I do not know many places that have served “bad” pad seeuw. The second time Jason and I went to Thai Nakorn for a private birthday celebration, we ordered it again. I’m pretty sure we’re going to order it every time that we go.
This brings us to the curry:
We ordered beef panang, and it was quite tasty. The beef was very soft and tender, and since we ordered the panang “mild,” the spice wasn’t overpowering at all. BUT. But, but, but. NOTHING can compare to Renu Nakorn’s curry. Jason and I tried ordering a different curry the second trip we made to Thai Nakorn, and like the panang, it was very thin, almost watery in consistency, and a bit oiler than Renu Nakorn’s. Renu Nakorn curry also has the distinction of being very creamy. I think they must use insane amounts of coconut milk. Their flavor is creamier, their texture is creamier…
Final verdict? Thai Nakorn is good, but not as good as Renu Nakorn. However, if Thai noodles are your thing, and not curry, then you belong at Thai Nakorn - their noodles are better than Renu Nakorn’s. Thai Nakorn’s curry will also serve as a substitute while we wait for Renu Nakorn to re-open.
Thai Nakorn
11951 Beach Blvd.
Stanton, CA 90680 (some places list the city as Garden Grove, and some list it as Cypress - the easiest way to get there isto head south on Beach Blvd until it shows up on your right in the plaza on the Northwest corner of Chapman and Beach)
714-799-2031
If you exercise, get your probiotics. While “normal”, unfit people (like me) eat them, we won’t necessarily see the huge benefits, but fit people will boost their immune systems.
I don’t trust artificial sweeteners, as I tend to not distrust things that aren’t natural. I believe that if you want to be healthy, try to stick to what nature provides. There are a lot of these new “natural sweeteners” that are gaining popularity, and I don’t really know what to think. I don’t consume copious amounts of sugar any more, so I don’t really like to worry about the caloric content of my sweets. Anyway, here is a good breakdown of what each sweetener is, if you’re unfamiliar with sweeteners such as stevia and erythitrol.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/food/20080214_New_natural_sweeteners_may_trigger_a_sweet_shift.html
Haagen Dazs wants to save the honey bees!! Hurray!! As if I needed any more excuses to gobble up Haagen Dazs ice cream.
This blog makes me want to start packing lunches for my niece.
Jason took me and Johann to Mo’s Island Grinds on President’s Day. It was Hawaiian food, in case you couldn’t tell from the name, and it was delicious. I finally got to try the famous Korean fried chicken, and I was very impressed. I really, really like it.
For those of you familiar with Korean BBQ, this was chicken BBQ, but instead of grilling it, it was deep fried. Very juicy, tender, moist… with a crispy, slightly sweet outer shell. Greasy and filling.
I usually don’t like white rice, but this rice was so fluffy and sticky, which I love. The salad was also good, mainly because they use a poppyseed dressing and don’t overdo it. The chicken also came with a sweet dipping sauce, teriyaki sauce-ish in terms of consistency. Very good, and 2 meals later, when I was finishing my leftovers, I poured it over my rice.
As if we didn’t already have more than enough food, I ordered ahi tuna poke.
This was seasoned with sesame oil and had a slightly salty flavor to it. Very, very good. I love poke. Johann’s dish came with a salmon poke-type side, and that was good and refreshing as well.
Johann ordered a combo plate: pork lau-lau, kahlua pork, and I completely forgot what the third dish was. Hopefully Johann will read my blog and make corrections in the comments section. Again, very tender and juicy meat, which was surprising, bc I think shredded pork tends to be dry. If I hadn’t been so stuffed with my own food, I would have snuck quite a few bites off of Johann’s plate.
Here’s Jason’s combo plate:
It looks like kahlua pork, pork katsu, and macaroni salad. I snuck bites off of Jason’s plate.
All in all, I want to go back here. I am craving their food right this minute, and considering that the food lasted me through 2 more meals, it’s a bargain. My korean fried chicken was $7.95 and the poke was $3.85. The service was excellent - Hawaiians are so happy and laidback. You order at a register, but they bring your food to you. They also know that you can’t possibly finish it all in one sitting, so they save you the trouble of asking for takeout containers by serving your meals in them. Please note that the takeout containers will not close until you finish a substantial portion of your meal. I stuffed myself so much during lunch that I couldn’t eat again until lunchtime the following day.
Awww, look how happy my eating companions are:
Mo’s Island Grinds
9823 Carroll Canyon Road
San Diego, CA 92123
(858) 271-8268
Jason and I stuck to French restaurants during Restaurant Week. The week previous, we had enjoyed dinner at a French restaurant called Cavaillon, in Santaluz, which was excellent. So I am both happy and sad to say that Cavaillon is my new favorite French restaurant in San Diego. I was hoping that Mille Fleurs and Tapenade would be rivals, since I would be happier, struggling to choose between several favorite French places, rather than saying, “This one is definitely my favorite.”
This does not mean that Mille Fleurs and Tapenade are lacking- far from it. I love these restaurants. I just mean that Cavaillon is that good. The parking is also amazingly easy at Cavaillon.
Here is a little photo display of our Tapenade experience.
My first course was: mesclun a l’huile d’olive, fromage de chevre et betteraves. This is the famed red and gold beet salad with artisanal goat cheese. I am not a fan of goat cheese, but I suspect that if I were some sort of goat cheese connoisseur, I would extol the virtues of this cheese. I did finish it. I love beet salad, and I think they went a bit heavy on the dressing, but other than that, it was a good salad. The purple-colored beets did stain my lips bluish-purple, though. It looked like I had been sucking on blue ink pellets when I finished my entire meal.
This was the famed olive tapenade for which the restaurant was named. It was good. I don’t know what else to say about it, because I am no expert of tapenade. It did cause me to consume an uncomfortably large amount of bread.
My entree: House made Wild Mushroom Raviolis, Port Wine Sauce, with Parmesan Reggiano. It looked a bit small when it came out, but I could barely finish it, even with Jason helping me. It was so rich and delicious. I really enjoyed it, but I would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn’t had one of Cavaillon’s mushroom raviolis the week before, which was even better. I need to order ravioli more often.
I had to include Jason’s entree because I would have ordered it if I had had the luxury of ordering 2 entrees. He had the slowly braised lamb shoulder with winter vegetables couscous. The lamb was so tender and juicy, and I love the chewy quality of couscous. It also looked very pretty on the plate.
Here is my dessert:
Meyers Lemon Tartelette, Raspberry Coulis. The tartlet was chilled, and reminded me of key lime pie. It tasted like a very good summer treat.
Dark Chocolate “Marquise”, Pistacchio crème Anglaise. Now, I love chocolate, don’t get me wrong, but I tend to not order chocolate desserts. I like cobblers, pies, tarts, puddings… This was described as a rich chocolate dish, and it didn’t appeal to me when I saw it on the menu. I’m glad Jason ordered it because it was very good. It wasn’t overpowering or sickeningly sweet. I also really liked the pistachio cream; pistachio goes well with cocoa. I think this may have been my favorite dessert.
The service was outstanding and the atmosphere was surprisingly casual. It wasn’t dark and dimly lit like most French places (surprisingly bright), and you didn’t feel like you had to whisper your conversation. The party at the table beside us was very friendly and kind, too. Jason and I stayed a bit late, and as we were leaving, we bumped into the chef as he emerged from the kitchen. He chatted briefly with us, asking how we enjoyed our meal and if we liked the food. We told him it was very good and he joked that we should return the next day if we liked it so much. Jason grumbled a bit at the chef’s charming accent and looks (imagine a French Ryan Getzlaf), but I think he appreciated the gesture as well.
Anyway, if you like French food and want to enjoy it in a casual atmosphere, this is a good place to do it.
TEL: (858) 551-7500 • FAX: (858) 551-9913 • 7612 Fay Avenue • La Jolla, CA 92037
Jason took me to a Oaxacan kitchen at the Escondido swap meet. I don’t remember much of what anything was called (nothing was in English), so enjoy the pictures. I enjoyed everything except for 2 of the mini tacos, which were made of what tasted like super-spicy squishy pork rinds.
Tamales:
Mini tacos (the ones I didn’t like so much are the ones in back):
So the food was very very good! It cost about $1 to get into the swap meet.
I keep hearing about how great BCD’s tofu soup is (click here to read an article praising it yet again), and I’ve only had it once, but I wasn’t very impressed. I prefer the tofu soup at pretty much any restaurant in the Cerritos/Artesia area. Then again, I don’t know if I’m any expert on this stuff. I love tofu soup, and I eat it often (even the kind I make myself), but I may have unique taste in terms of what I expect when I order it.
I like my tofu soup absolutely choking with tofu, with a little more than just enough broth to keep it wet. It has to be very hot, served in a stone pot, and not bland. I like it any style, in terms of both spiciness and flavor. I’ve had it with pork, beef, clams, oysters, shrimp, kimchee, and mushrooms, and I’ve never disliked any of the flavors. I’ve had a range of spiciness from white (this isn’t just mild - it’s almost a lack of spice, but it’s still packed with flavor) to medium (the spiciness range can have as many as 6 or 7 different degrees of spiciness), and I’ve enjoyed all of them equally.
Tofu soup is served with raw eggs that you’re supposed to crack into the pot just before eating. It is served with rice and peas, and various Korean side dishes, depending on where you go. My favorite place right now is on the corner of Artesia and Norwalk. The side dishes that they serve are kimchee(spicy pickled cabbage - a Korean staple), gak tu gi(spicy pickled radish, or is it turnip?), mung bean sprouts seasoned with sesame oil, dried roasted sheets of seaweed, spicy raw octopus strips, and spicy pickled sliced cucumbers. They may also serve spicy soft-shelled crab, but I’m allergic to those, so I wouldn’t notice it on the table if they served it, anyway. Most Korean restaurants serve their meals with a larger selection of side dishes, but the side dishes at this restaurant are some of my favorites, so I don’t mind.
Here are the name and address of my current favorite tofu soup restaurant:
Cho Dang Tofu Restaurant
12245 Artesia Blvd
Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 924-6099
And, oh yes: People often complain (I used to be one of them, so I’m not admonishing you) that eating at a Korean restaurant can set you back further than dining at another restaurant on another type of Asian cuisine. This can be true; Korean dishes may cost more per plate than dishes at another ethnic restaurant, but this is because you get unlimited refills on the numerous side dishes that are always free, varied, and delicious. You get to be adventurous without breaking the bank. Korean restaurants also don’t charge you for hot or cold tea.
Hurray! Now we can get fat while we power up. I think this bar is a terrible idea in terms of health, but time will tell whether this will be a gold mine or the Crystal Pepsi of 2008.
Dunkin’ ‘on the offensive’ in coffee war
I already love Dunkin’ Donuts, but I love the chain even more after Kussell’s veiled jab at Rachael Ray. I think chefs everywhere would agree with him as well.
Jason and I have been craving European food for quite a while. We really loved the food in Praha, and one of the foods I’ve been craving is Czech pizza. I think all Eastern European pizzas are made pretty similarly, but we have not been able to find anything like it in the States. Jason found a place through Chowhound called Kashtan European Market and Bistro that’s in his neighborhood, fortunately. We decided to try it out, and we had an amazing time.
First of all, the bar/bistro is very small and cozy, and connected to a small market that has a selection that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere in the U.S. Second, the place was packed to the gills, due to a wine-tasting they had that day. Their wine tastings have a prix fixe menu and come with several courses. We missed the tasting, but the food smelled so good. We were willing to wait for a table to open up. As we waited, we checked out the market and sat on some chairs that were available next to the bar.
Here are the things that we ordered:
Russian and Polish beer. The Russian lager was light, crisp, cold, and refreshing. I would probably get it during the summer. The Polish beer was smoother with a warmer taste. Both were good and very large (0.6L, if I remember correctly). They were also only $3 each. What a deal!
Not quite Czech pizza, but damn close and very good. It’s a bit crispier (what I had liked about Czech pizzas was that the slices draped in your hands, from having a soft, thin crust that was never soggy), so it didn’t have that sag I was craving, but the cheese was gooey and the sauce was sweet with a tangy, peppery, spicy kick to it. I love that sauce. Apparently it’s a special recipe that took a year to perfect. It came with garlic and smoked bacon.
This was a sampler trio of 3 original calzones with inspiration from Czech Republic, Italy, and Great Britain. The pocket on the left was the Czech kolache. It was filled with sliced ham and gooey cheese. The middle pocket was the Italian calzone, which you are probably familiar with. Cheese and sauce oozed out the middle when we sliced into it. The pocket on the right was a Cornish pasty. It had a surprisingly peppery taste to it, and a flaky, buttery crust. It reminded me of a dry beef pot pie. These pockets were enormous, and Jason and I finished about half of each pocket before saving the rest for breakfast the next morning. Remember that this place serves hearty portions when you order.
Last was our honey cake. It is already one of Jason’s favorite desserts. It was layers of dry sponge cake alternated with thick marshmallow fluff spreads. Then they drizzled it with melted caramel, I believe. It would have gone perfectly with tea.
When we were finished, the owner, Tom, came by to chew the fat with us. Very personable and made us feel right at home. This restaurant, aside from having good European comfort food, is charming for the ambience. The waitress was friendly and sweet, and the lighting was dim without making you feel like you were perpetually squinting. You could talk to your date without having to compete with loud music or drunk customers. This place makes you want to come back over and over again so you could reach that coveted status of being a “regular.” Tom was sincerely interested in whether we enjoyed not only our food, but our experience. He loves cooking and making new friends, and had his daughter open up a bottle of wine and treat us to a couple of glasses of a smooth white wine to thank us for waiting for our table. Mind you, before we decided to wait, his daughter had warned us that there could be a considerable wait, so we knew that we would have to sit around for awhile. Their gesture was extremely thoughtful and made us feel as though we were dining at a friend’s house. Jason and I are definitely returning to this place, and hopefully we’ll have one of you in tow.
Kashtan European Market and Bistro
12125 Alta Carmel Court, San Diego CA 92128
(858) 485-5856
I used to consume copious amounts of honey. In college, I would buy Costco-sized gallon jugs of it every month or so. Now my mom buys them for me in bear-bottled trios, and I’m not the only one using it, so I can’t really measure how much I consume. I would say that for my tea alone, I probably consume about 3 TBS daily, at least. I drink a lot of tea.
Scientists examine health in honey
I think it’s amusing that the conference is in Sacramento, where they circulate the Sacramento Bee. Then again, they probably named their newspaper that because there are a number of bee farms out there.
Here’s another reason to get your vitamins from fresh fruits and vegetables, rather than from a vitamin supplement:
Hurray for hops! Here is the link to the article, but I can list the beneficial properties below if you don’t want to read the article:
Now, it would take 60 beers to create the amount of xanthohumol needed to replicate these results. Scientists are working on creating super beers that will contain a concentrated amount of xanthohumol so that you won’t need to join the Century Club every night.
Sigh… I knew it was too good to be true - all this talk about beneficial flavonols in chocolate and all.
I posted about the environmental dangers of overfishing our seas. Looks like FreshDirect is trying to help.
FreshDirect Announces New Service to Help Consumers Protect the Ocean
I’m just going to post the article:
Flatbread-wrapped Black Angus and Balsamic Chicken SAMMIES Feature Bold Taste and Satisfaction at 200 Calories
DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Quiznos, the nation’s leading gourmet toasted sandwich chain, today introduced 200 calorie, great tasting gourmet flatbread SAMMIES, further expanding its low calorie menu. At $2 each, these 200-calorie sandwiches come in two flavors: Balsamic Chicken and Black Angus.Made with artisan flatbread and bold-flavored premium ingredients, these portion-controlled sandwiches provide guests with the high quality and gourmet taste they expect from Quiznos at a surprisingly low price and ultra-low calorie count.
These two new SAMMIES are offered alongside the existing SAMMIES menu and can be paired in a SAMMIES Meal, which includes two SAMMIES, one side and a regular fountain drink for a recommended price of $5.99.
For the full article, click on the link below:
…and we are forced to re-cork that champagne.
Click on the picture of fish below to read about ongoing troubles. This time they don’t name America as a culprit, for a change.
I really don’t know what the solution is. Farming fish tends to pollute the waters by creating a lot of waste that natural filters can’t keep up with and that causes more death in the sea. Also, people are increasingly turning to seafood instead of red meats because of the environmental toll that raising cattle takes on the earth. I won’t even get started on the beneficial effects of seafood on our health. I did read somewhere that eating tilapia is environmentally conscious. I’ll try to find an article to post regarding that.
The title to this post is rather misleading, because I really can’t discuss the merits of one over the other, as I’ve only eaten ovocne knedliky. Ovocne knedliky are Czech dumplings with fruit preserves drizzled on top. Kynute knedliky appear to be Czech dumplings that are filled with fruit or fruit preserves.
Thanks to Bosun for posting this link and finding this site whose purpose appears to be all about three of my favorite things in life: food, travel, and wine (I think I still like beer more, but I’m sure my taste will become more refined with age). This post is a recipe for kynute knedliky:
http://na-zdravi.blogspot.com/2006/05/kynute-knedliky-raised-fruit-dumplings.html
This blogger lives in California and the Czech Republic and loves both equally - I need to become her friend.
Jason and I watched an episode of “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” that was focused on eating in Spain. They had a brief section about Iberico hams and their superiority to most meats. Unfortunately, you were pretty much only able to obtain them in Spain, and they were very expensive.
So I was very delighted and excited to read this article on Meatpoultry.com:
According to the Dallas Morning News:
1. Beans
2. Blueberries
3. Salmon
4. Eggs
5. Sweet potatoes
I am delighted that these are all delicious and accessible foods.
Chocolate price-fixing alleged
Godiva appears to be owned by Campbell Foods, which hasn’t been listed as one of the companies charged.
I have been here twice already, and it’s a relatively new addition to Cerritos, next to Baby’s R Us. Basically, the food was good, but don’t come here if you are on a schedule. They haven’t mastered the art of timing dishes to come out at the same time, so some people at your table may have have received their food about half an hour before yours arrives. I think it’s best to order dishes as a group and share. That way, no one goes hungry. The food also takes a loooooong time to arrive. I would recommend setting aside 2 hours if you plan on eating here. That being said, I love their green curry and South St. Noodles. The Pad Seeuw is different from what I’ve had at other places. Instead of using that traditional Pad Seeuw seasoning, they use sweet soy sauce. It’s not bad at all, but if you really have a craving for the traditional Pad Seeuw taste, get the South St. Noodles. The food is also very inexpensive. The bill will not make you mad. Be aware that they do not accept credit cards for orders that do not exceed $20, and you need to order at least 3 large dishes in order to reach that amount.
Green curry with chicken:
South Street Noodles:
Pad Seeuw:
11700 South Street
Building #101
Artesia, CA 90701
Anyone who knows me knows that this is my favorite rib joint in the world. I have never had better baby back ribs anywhere else. There is a surprisingly large amount of juicy meat on the bones, and the tender chunks slide right off the bone. The quality of the meat is different as well, not all shredded and dry. Diho described it as a lean meat, and I’m not sure exactly what he means, because I’m not too well-versed in meats, so I’ll take his word for it.
The only thing I don’t like about Phil’s is their choice of sides with the half order of ribs. I love their baked beans, but it’s also the only side that I can eat there. I hate cole slaw, potato salad, and macaroni salad. I hate anything with mayo in it, too.
The service is incredible, and recently I went there with my high school girlfriends and Jason’s high school pals.
A waitress came to check and see that we were happy, and when Ju Yon asked about the onion rings, she brought them to our table instead of letting us wait in line again.
Here is the order that I always get. Half order of baby back ribs, and 2 small sides of baked beans:
3750 Sports Arena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110
Phone: 619.226.6333
I love this place. I don’t think you can go wrong when you order here. This time, Jason and I went with Reina, Doug, Johann, Justin, Dale, and Val. Most of us ordered the Rib-Eye “Cowboy” (bone-in steak) medium rare.
This is what mine looked like when it first came out. I cut into it, and was dismayed to see that it was well-done and a bit dry. I didn’t like the flavor and checked to see if my steak simply had a well-done outer rim. I cut into the middle, and it was well-done throughout the steak. When our server came by to check on us, I let her know that there had been a mistake. She apologized, took it away, and had the chef prepare a new one. Then she had the chef himself bring it to the table so that they could watch me cut into it and make sure that it had been done right this time. That gesture was very thoughtful and the second steak was red throughout the center, juicy, and delicious. Their service is great.
We divided our table into two halves and had each half order their own 2 sides. My half chose macaroni and cheese and scalloped potatoes. At first, I was disappointed that Jason chose to order the potatoes, but after tasting them, they’re my new favorite side at Lou & Mickey’s. I like them even more than the mac’n cheese!
Macaroni and cheese:
Scalloped potatoes, absolutely drenched in cheese and cream:
We were much too full to get dessert, and I could only finish about half of my delicious steak. Hopefully Jason will enjoy the leftovers as a steak n’ eggs breakfast soon.
Reina ordered the sweet potato as her side, and it was good, too! It was enormous and came with little dishes filled with sour cream, butter, and a brown sugar/cinnamon blend.
224 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 237-4900
… stands for the Green Restaurant Association. Their goal is to make the restaurant industry more environmentally sustainable.
“Certified Green Restaurants™ meet the following standards:
So it’s not really that difficult or making a huge difference. I think every little bit helps. Visit dinegreen.com to find restaurants that are participating members.
Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? You decide. Choose wisely:
Almost everyone that’s been to the East Coast would say that Dunkin’ Donuts is superior.
How did I miss this one??
Goose lands on more holiday menus
I still ate very well during the holidays.
With my girlfriends:
- sliced prosciutto with melon
- plate of salami and cheese slices
- mashed sweet potatoes
- pork tenderloin, rubbed with herbs and roasted over a grill
- honey-cured ham
- roasted baby artichokes (drowning in butter, mmm!)
- biscotti with fresh blueberries
With the Wangs:
- hot pot with beef, chicken, clams, enoki mushrooms, cabbage, seaweed wraps, oysters (?), shrimp, fish balls, shrimp balls, something-balls, bok choy, some Chinese greens I didn’t recognize but loved
- fresh wild chicken
- apple-pears
With the Lees:
- spring field greens
- asparagus sauteed in butter and lemon
- creamed spinach
- California rolls
- roasted fingerling potatoes and sweet potatoes
- prime rib with mushroom beef gravy
- corn salad (like corn pico de gallo)
- cornbread
- home-made white chocolate raspberry cheesecake
Yes, I know I said everything in moderation, but it’s the holidays! Anything goes when it comes to food and indulgence at this time of year.
I miss McDonald’s fried apple pies. They tasted so much better than the current baked ones. Anyway, I just read an article about how Southern fried pies are making a comeback in expensive restaurants, like the Ritz Carlton. Judging by the quality of the pastry desserts at the Ritz Carlton Huntington, I can see why they’d find a return to traditional desserts appealing. (Fact: the desserts are not very good at the Ritz Carlton.) The problem is, I think I’d rather have a “real” traditional Southern fried pie at some grandma’s shack in the South (which would probably cost no more than $13 for the entire pie), as opposed to some inspired twist at some trendy place in Beverly Hills that cost $13/saucer.
I love beer. Recently, Zetho and I had been talking about its effects on our bodies, in terms of health. In general, moderation is usually the key to success. Don’t cut out beer entirely, but don’t overdo it, unless you’re going for that potbelly look. Anyway, there are studies here and there about the possibilities of beer preventing prostate cancer, or something like that. Here is a study about how the silicon in beer can slow the accumulation of aluminum in your brain, thus slowing/preventing the onslaught of Alzheimer’s.
Moderate beer intake may cut Alzheimer’s risk: study
Unfortunately, as with most good news, it comes accompanied with some bad:
Here is a photo of my favorite mini tacos ever:
Los Primos, of course!
I was craving soup on a sunny day, so I figured that I could combine sunny day food (Mexican food) with it and order posole. Unfortunately, Los Primos doesn’t offer posole, so I ordered their Albondigas sopa.
It’s basically chicken soup with meatballs and a kick. The meatballs are huge, so huge that the hearts are cold. It’s chicken broth-based, with some spices added. There is a lot of white rice at the bottom, and it’s got huge carrot and potato chunks resting on the rice. The meatballs also have rice in them, and the dish comes with your choice of corn or flour tortillas. I like posole better, but this stuff was quite good. It also tastes like something that your mother would serve you if you were sick and she were Mexican.
I ordered the pollo asado rice bowl, too, in case I didn’t like the albondigas. It was very good! It had seasoned arborio rice, guacamole, pico de gallo, beans, sour cream, and was topped with pollo asado. The pollo asado was very juicy and tender. I scooped out most of the sour cream (I am not a huge fan of the taste of sour cream, so I only like a very small amount of it, and I also try to cut down on it because of the high fat content).
Again, the strength of the food at Los Primos lies in the quality of its ingredients. They use fresh ingredients and make their food after you order it, which sets it apart from other fast food joints. I also think it’s unfair to label Los Primos as a Mexican fast food place when the term is usually applied to places like Taco Bell or Del Taco, which are not Mexican by comparison.
Los Primos is also quite cheap for what you get. I ate about a third of each dish. I don’t think the pictures convey how huge these bowls were. The diameter of each bowl was not much smaller than that of an LP.
So here I go: Los Primos offers more than awesome mini tacos. Go there, already!
Jason already wrote a glowing review and it was so good that I cannot do the restaurant justice by blogging about it again. Check out Jason’s blog and go there, already! The pics that I took there are below. You can SEE the tasty goodness.
What we ate while waiting for our food:
My camarones rancheros was kind of expensive, but mios dios, look at it!! It tasted even better than it looks! The shrimp part was pretty spicy.
Here’s how to recognize the place if you’re driving down the street; you’ll see this sign:
South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa; (714) 434-7900
Today was my second time eating lunch here, but I neglected to take pictures the first time, and I went hog-wild and ordered so much that time that aside from the foie gras filets (mouth-wateringly delicious and with a raspberry reduction) I had as an appetizer, I don’t remember much.
This time I did the 3 course lunch, which is changed daily and always $20. Here is a picture of my menu:
Sorry it’s blurry. My first course was basically a salad. Very delicious, especially the jambon onu (which I think means smoked or cured - it was like eating thick, firm chunks of prosciutto julienned).
Second course: braised veal cheeks. The meat was so tender and juicy, no knife was needed to cut bite-sized morsels. The meat just slid apart at the touch of your fork. The veal cheeks were on top of chopped seasoned mushrooms and herbed roasted fingerling potatoes, and the combination of sauces and seasonings made it very salty and necessary to eat the potatoes with each bite to cut down on the saltiness factor. I also drank a lot of water. But the sauces and seasonings were very good - it wasn’t salty like when someone else tries to season your fries or anything.
Third Course: passion fruit tart with a caramelized top. My mom thought it was the best part of the meal. It wasn’t overly tart or sweet, and mild without being tasteless. The pastry portion was crispy and sweet. They dusted powdered sugar on the sides and left a swipe of raspberry syrup on the side as well. It was very light, and like a passion fruit custard.
It was an extremely satisfying lunch for an extremely good value. Caveat: the prix fixe price will draw you in, but you will be tempted by the delicious (and substantially more expensive) a la carte items. I will freely admit that the pricey a la carte items are well worth the price.
Any time you are shopping at South Coast and need to stop for lunch, I would highly recommend this place. Especially if someone else is paying.
17720 Pioneer Blvd
Artesia, CA
(562) 809-0080
I love Korean Chinese food. There is one dish that I especially enjoy and crave every once in a while, called jjah-jang myun. It’s the Korean take on noodles with black bean sauce. They use thick fat noodles that are hand-made (I suspect) and somehow get them really greasy. Then you get a bowl of the black bean sauce, which also has bits of chopped up beef, onions, carrots, and cucumber. You pour the entire bowl of black bean sauce over the noodles and enjoy with kim chee and raw onions with vinegar and plum sauce.
This one I ordered had seafood in it:
Now, you’re not doing the meal right unless you pair the jjah jang myun with tahng suyook (big chunks of beef, pork, or shrimp rolled in corn starch and fried, then covered in the Korean version of sweet and sour sauce, which is brown and more sweet than sour). I’m not sure where this tradition of pairing the 2 together originated, but I noticed that it’s a widespread practice.
VIP Restaurant is known among Cerritos-dwelling Koreans as THE place to get jjah jang myun. I ordered their fried pot stickers this time around, but they tasted pretty bad. I can’t really put my finger on it: they were just tasteless and soggy. I’m pretty sure I’ve ordered their fried pot stickers before and liked them, but I guess they’re not very consistent. For tahng suyook, I usually prefer pork, but my mother warned me that as people don’t order the pork version very often, ghetto Korean-Chinese places are not above using expired meat for them. So it’s a gamble. We ordered the beef version this time, and I loved it. My mother abstained from eating more than a few bites, saying they had used bad quality beef and that she didn’t like the taste, so maybe I’m not very good at telling the difference. Anyway, I thought it was tasty and had several servings.
All of my Korean friends (and some of my Chinese) are aware of VIP Restaurant. I have never ordered anything other than their jjah jang myun and tahng suyook, so I don’t know if I can really recommend the restaurant for anything else. Mainly, I want people who aren’t familiar with Korean jjah jang myun to try it, and to try it at VIP Restaurant. If you’re interested in what else they have to offer, my description of the place is that they’ve got a “B” rating, which is usually a good sign if you’re into ghetto Asian food. I think Asian food in general tastes better at a ghetto establishment, and “A” ratings in the window of an Asian establishment are usually an indication to me that the food is probably not authentic. Please remember that you do not go to a Korean-Chinese restaurant if you are into authentic Chinese food or are expecting fine Chinese food. Their menu items will have the same names as their Chinese counterparts, but they will taste entirely different (and look entirely different, as well).
December Nights is back!!
http://www.balboapark.org/decembernights/
You all know why I love this event so much. This time we’re hoping to catch both nights; that way, we can eat our way through everything and take back twice as much baklava.
Museums are offering free admission from 5 - 9 PM both nights. I would highly recommend getting paella, empanadas, and baklava. I would also discourage the mead, mulled wine, and Lion’s Milk. Unless you like sour wine or alcoholic Good N’ Plenty’s.
I don’t know why I haven’t written about this place earlier. I’ve only been to one of their locations (yes, this is a chain), which is on Dove Canyon Road. I haven’t ordered many dishes from this place. The first time I ever went, Jason made me order a California Burrito, which I had never heard of before. I believe it is strictly a San Diego phenomenon. For those of you non-San Diegans, a California Burrito is just like a regular burrito - with the addition of french fries. Quite unique and ingenious, but I will readily admit that I am no fan of this anomaly. It makes the burrito extra-starchy and dilutes the spiciness and color of the other ingredients. I just know that native San Diegans will want to crucify me for saying this, but I don’t think anyone outside of San Diego would find those burritos appetizing.
BUT. BUT. BUT. One day I was craving street tacos. Jason suggested that we hit up Los Primos for their mini tacos. I ordered 4 carne asada mini tacos ($5.49). They were the best street tacos I have ever had (with the possible exception of the tacos served out of a camping tent manned by Mexicans at the Fallbrook Avocado Festival - but that will occupy another entry), and I have been returning almost every weekend for more. Sometimes I mix it up and order the mini tacos with pollo asado instead, but I tend to stick with carne asada. One reason is that this is one of the few places that doesn’t overcook their carne asada. It’s juicy and tender (not tough, stringy and black). They use hot corn tortillas (they double them up, too - 2 per taco), packed to bursting with juicy carne, raw chopped onions, fresh chopped cilantro, and fresh homemade guacamole. I enjoy adding a twist of lime, some salsa verde, and some pico de gallo, but the mini tacos are more than delicious on their own.
There are many ways to spend sunny afternoons in Southern California, but sitting under an umbrella with a Negro Modelo and 4 Los Primos carne asada mini tacos is definitely a fav.
Caveat: I hear that the other Los Primos locations are not so consistent with the quality of their food. If you’re going to try Los Primos, do it right. The address is below.
Los Primos Mexican Food
16621 Dove Canyon Rd
San Diego, CA 92127
(858) 592-0960
On Friday night, Kevan, Rachel, Jason and I went to Thai House in what I consider San Diego’s Asiantown. We ordered 4 dishes, 2 of which I liked. I ordered a Thai House Chicken, which I thought was dry and somewhat tough. Apparently I had been picking out bad pieces, because Jason insisted the pieces he ate were soft, juicy, and tender.
Kevan ordered spicy noodles. They probably tasted exactly what they were supposed to taste like, but I prefer gravy or greasy noodles. These had a chili paste rubbed on them, which set my mouth on fire and wasn’t salty enough for my taste.
Rachel and Jason came to a compromise on their orders and ordered Garlic Pepper Pork and Panang Curry with chicken. I loved those 2 dishes. The pork was drowning in peas, carrots, and a thin brothy sauce (that was garlicky and peppery, of course!) and just delicious. The sauce tasted really good soaking through rice as well. I don’t really know how to describe the panang, other than it being creamy and spicy and panang-y, with green beans.
Rachel and I saw that the Thai Iced Teas were only $1.95, so we ordered them. They were good, but served in really skinny glasses. I wish all Asian restaurants served pots of hot tea with meals, like at Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean restaurants, so whenever Asian restaurants don’t, I get a little grumpy. I don’t know if Thai places in general serve tea, though.
Final verdict: possibly the best panang I’ve ever had in San Diego. I am still waiting for Renu Nakorn to reopen. I also want to go back to Thai House and try their Pad Seeuw and Rad Nar.
Thai House Cuisine
4225 Convoy St.
San Diego , CA 92111
858-278-1800
Mon-Sat 11 am-3 pm
Mon-Sat 5-10 pm
Okay, so first I have to get this out of the way: it’s not a fine Italian restaurant. That being said, I really enjoyed their food. I was in the mood for cheap, homey Italian, with round spaghetti noodles and marina sauce. You know, eggplant parmigiana with those bread crumbs and covered in melted mozzarella and more marina sauce. I told Jason I had a monster craving for these items and he took me to Mama Cella’s ( 16707 Bernardo Center Dr., San Diego, CA 92128). I ordered the eggplant parmigiana and it came with a side of spaghetti with tomato sauce, thankfully, and also a crusty piece of buttery, salty, garlic bread. I really liked the food (the eggplant was almost caramelized, giving it a slightly sweet aftertaste), and it was exactly what I had been craving. These 3 items plus one lemonade, tax, and tip, set me back $15. Not bad at all. I also could only finish half of my plate, so this took care of my brunch the next morning/afternoon as well.
Sorry I have no pictures. I think I should take a cue from real food bloggers and try to make my entries more interesting by adding photos.
On Saturday, Jason, Ken, Karen, and I went to the Rose Bowl to watch Cal lose spectacularly to UCLA. Well, so it wasn’t a total blowout, but it sucked for Cal fans, all the same. The game was fun to watch, though - I’ll readily admit. Though I had thought in advance to smear sunscreen all over my face and neck, I neglected my ears, arms, and hands, and suffered sunburn as a result. I think I also suffered from “sun poisoning” - more on that later.
After the game, Jason and I spent an hour or so in traffic, trying to get to Irvine so that we could hang out with Kevan, Rachel, and Fletch. We went to a Mexican place in Santa Ana called El Gallo Giro for some tortas. That menu looked delicious and so did the To Go items boiling in vats. The food was delicious, but I may have caught something from there - more on that later, as well.
Then we hit up Elvis!? for 3 hours of heartfelt crooning. This was after chugging half a bottle each of Moet and Chandon’s with Rachel in the parking lot while the guys nursed Stella Artois and Smithwick’s. Jason and I were too tired at the end of the night to drink our Gatorade and since we felt sticky and filthy, we took showers and went to sleep.
Now for the “later”: I woke up with a headache and feeling slightly nauseous Sunday morning. I thought it was hunger pains, so I ate an apple and some dry toast. I only felt worse and spent the rest of the day as a sleeping, sweating, shivering, nauseous mess. Jason and my mom had to take care of me as best they could - I couldn’t eat because I felt too nauseous, and I developed a burning fever. I was sweating, but freezing, so I wore a thick woolen jacket and covered myself up with a thick woolen blanket. I took a warm bath, which felt like freezing water to me because I was burning up so badly, and then ate some Korean chicken soup my mom had picked up for me. I thought I was doing okay, because I was able to choke down half of a small bowl, but about an hour and a half later, I threw it all up and went to bed.
I woke up 9 hours later, feeling much better, so I think I either had food poisoning or sun poisoning.
Zetho blogged about most of it, so I won’t really repeat what he already said. Here is a picture that pretty much summed up Friday night:
You can see how tired I am from the drive up to SF:
Saturday is where our weekends differed. I had brunch with Ju Yon, Stella, Doris, Felisa, Suyun, and Suyun’s boyfriend, Eric at Just For You Cafe. We started with beignets, which I love, and coffee. Then I ordered Greg’s Scramble, which sounded delicious, but after a couple of bites, I felt really nauseous. I’m not sure what caused the nausea, but I couldn’t eat any more after that, except for buttered grits.
After brunch, Doris and I walked around Inner Sunset, and then explored the Botanical Gardens at Golden Gate Park.
Doris tried to sample some flowers that looked just like corn cobs:
Doris paid dearly for this award-winning photo:
We were so pumped about the idea of Doris using a cactus leaf to act as a giant green foot that she climbed into the pit and got covered in tiny spiky needles. She spent the remainder of the afternoon picking them out of her socks and pants.
Then, of course, we had to play with Ginger.
She did not seem too pleased, but she didn’t hiss or meow, so we kept it up until she ran away.
That night, I took a cab to North Beach to eat at Enrico’s with my former college roommate, Laura (she graduated and that’s when Reina and I became roommates). Enrico’s was good; I had pork belly rillette for an appetizer with crunchy toast to spread it on. For my entree, I had an entire wood-oven roasted hen. It was very good, but I get full quickly and so I only ate about half of it. It came with some field greens, which had some salt and pepper sprinkled on them with a very light oil vinaigrette, which I’d never had before, but surprisingly, the salt and pepper were tasty additions. I don’t know if I would go back, though, because I didn’t like the dessert menu. There was nothing that I wanted to order from it.
Here is a picture from Dragon Bar, where we went next.
I took some pictures of the group, but they didn’t come out too well. Anyway, the bouncer at Dragon Bar let us in for free, because we were an all-female group and because it was Laura’s special day. The bartender got us a round of Special Bachelorette Party shots (very yummy!) and then we went to the dance floor. The DJ came out, asked Laura to pick any song she wanted, and no sooner had he stepped back to his podium when the lights went out. There was a power outage for a 2 block radius. We tried to wait it out, but we finally left for Cigar Bar. At Cigar Bar, we got a discount on the cover, since it was Laura’s special day, but the place was really crowded, and Laura wanted a place to sit because she was already feeling the effects of 2 drinks. Now, this was 2 drinks spread out over a 3 hour period, mind you. Laura was sleepy from the alcohol and begged us to let her sleep in her hotel room. We compromised by hanging out at the bar in her hotel lobby, where Laura promptly fell asleep. We made her sleep in the bar booth until the bar closed, which was midnight, then we called it a night.
I was looking up a restaurant called Whist in Santa Monica, which is located in the Viceroy Hotel. I was browsing their downloadable menu and weighing the cost of the entrees against how tasty they sounded, when I came across their entry for ceviche. This reminded me of some great ceviche I had with Jason in San Diego, at a place called Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill. This place does not grab your attention from the outside. It’s a few doors down from Shakespeare’s, a favorite haunt of Jason and his friends. It just looks like a small fish market, really: it’s got fish packed in ice and a menu on the wall behind the counter.
The menu is pretty simple, with items like fish tacos and ceviche. Jason and I each ordered a small portion of the ceviche, and it was delicious. It was also big and filling - we really should have just shared one. It came with crunchy corn tortillas and when sprinkled with some tapatillo sauce - it was seafood heaven. Huge chunks of fresh fish with the right amount of lime, cilantro and onions. This was also not so acidic or spicy that your tongue felt like it was burning off - my sensitive mouth was fine.
Jason and I also ordered fish tacos to round off our meal - very delicious as well. Fresh ingredients just bursting out of the tortillas. If I had thought to update my blog immediately following our visit, I would have been able to provide a better review of the place. It’s been at least a month since we went - but I am craving some of their ceviche right now. Another selling point of this place? Everything is cheap, cheap, cheap. There are very few places in the US that allow you to stuff yourself with quality seafood for under $5.
How do I describe the delights of Korean sushi rolls? The key is to get the ones with as little rice as possible. I’m devouring one right now that’s filled with egg, spinach, yellow radish, imitation crab meat, fish cake, carrots, and some type of chopped root. There’s also very little rice in it, and good seaweed. They’re portable, not wet, but not dry, so they’re not messy. They won’t leave crumbs or damp spots anywhere. They’re very good for picnics and bringing on planes. I would recommend eating them within 24 hours, but that’s easily done, because they come packaged in the perfect amount for either one hearty eater, or 2 adequately-sized portions. Not being loaded with preservatives, fat, or anything unnatural, they’re not bad for you, either.
Have I written about this place before? If I have, I’ll just write about it again; it’s that good. I love this place. Jason and I went there every Sunday morning for awhile. I am very attached to their brie and honey panini. It’s got brie, honey, walnuts, and bacon in it, and I love it. It’s one of those simple dishes that relies on quality ingredients. I also always get a mocha there - it’s got a great proportion of cocoa to espresso, and they always heap a dollop of whipped cream on it and decorate the top with chocolate syrup. I am a big fan of their chocolate croissants - the fluffiest croissants you’ve ever seen! So flaky and doughy, too. Their chocolate croissants are really popular and sell out fast, so you can’t always get them. Jason is very partial to their muffaleta (spelling?) panini, which is basically pizza in panini form. I ordered it once, and while it’s very good, it’s very hearty, and since I like to order at least 2 different plates there, I stopped ordering it.
With eateries, it’s not just the food that matters to me, but the atmosphere of the place. Bread et Cie is on University, in Hillcrest, right next to all these great boutiques and thrift shops, so it’s always packed with regulars stopping in for a bite while shopping, exercising, or walking their dog (very dog-friendly, with a canine water cooler). ALL of the employees there are incredibly friendly and nice and make you feel at home. The lines are long and busy, but these people are fast, so you don’t end up waiting very long. The walls and furniture are covered with local art and look as though they’ve been purchased at a Berkeley garage sale. This is one of my favorite places to breakfast in Southern California.
Con: Jason and I went there on a Saturday last weekend (our first time visiting on a Saturday). The chocolate croissant looked and tasted very different from usual - definitely not as good as their usual. Everything else was fine: the employees were super-efficient and unbelievably quick with their service, but I would recommend going there on Sundays, when I suspect all of the pastries are baked fresh.
Bread et Cie
350 University Ave
At Fourth St, Hillcrest, Hillcrest/Uptown
619/683-9322
Mon-Fri 7am-7pm; Sat 7am-6pm; Sun 8am-6pm
Last Sunday, Mark and Laurel organized a dim sum brunch with a bunch of Mark’s classmates from both Anderson and his engineering school (sorry, no idea what the name of that one is) at Empress Garden in Chinatown. WOW - it was delicious. I had tasted most of the items before, but they were super good here.
I also tried what Laurel described as “guts.” They were really good! I love the texture of fatty foods, chewy foods, squishy foods, jelly-like foods… I like tripe and tendon, for instance. You know those clear, jelly-like things that come in your pho and you avoid and leave them floating in your bowl when you’ve finished? I eat those first. Anyway, the guts came in a peppery broth-like sauce, and it was good. Oh, but I took a bite of the liver, and I didn’t like that.
I think this may have been my first time eating Chinese congee, and it was good, but I didn’t like that there seemed to be tiny shards of chicken bone in it. Fortunately, Laurel refrained from ordering chicken feet. I have nibbled on one before, many years ago, when Doris’s family took me to dim sum, and I wasn’t a fan. It wasn’t gross or anything, I just wasn’t into the taste or texture. There’s no real meat to speak of, first of all, and so you’re basically just sucking on the sauce and softened scaly skin. I can see how it could be an acquired taste, though. I’m sure if my parents had ordered it several times and made me eat it, I’d grow to like it. Jason has never even tried one before.
Laurel is one of the few friends I have that can speak Cantonese, so I was very happy she was sitting next to me. Anything I wanted, boom, she got it. We had excellent and quick service the entire time. We stuffed ourselves silly, and the final bill came out to only $8/person, and that’s including the tax and tip. I guess for dim sum, tip isn’t too high bc you don’t really have a waiter. I don’t know if the prices were really excellent, or if Laurel worked some connections, because that just seemed really low for the amount of food we ate.
The restaurant was pretty chaotic - it’s well-known for being very good, and it was very crowded. It was also crowded outside, from the number of people trying to eat there.
Here’s the address; I would recommend getting there very early:
Empress Pavilion
988 N. Hill St., 2nd fl, Los Angeles, CA
Thank you, Mark and Laurel!!
I don’t even know what to say. Last weekend was an exhausting blur of memories and moments, never a dull or unhappy one. I don’t know what to put, either, bc I think Tina should be the one talking about the weekend, and I shouldn’t reveal anything that she might want to tell herself. I will put down the basic things, that aren’t too personal, and that don’t ruin the great stories we have now.
The rehearsal dinner was at Blue Water Grill, in Redondo Beach. The food was delicious, and it killed me to not clean my plate, but I had to keep in mind that I had to fit into a bridesmaid dress the following day, and I had already gained a little weight over the past week. I had a filet mignon, and it was tender, red, juicy… There was also a good salad preceding that, and the raspberry vinaigrette wasn’t overwhelming and didn’t burn my tongue off, the way a lot of places’ do. I have no idea what the dessert was, but it was spongy cake with a soft, almost mousse-like layer on top, and then a dollop of cream and a cherry, I believe. It was lemony, whatever it was, and good, but again, I had to restrain myself, knowing what the following day had in store for me.
We woke up uber-early and went to Jessica’s Make-Up and Hair Day in Koreatown. Those ladies did a great job, bc everyone looked gorgeous! It took several hours, though, because that place was packed with 4 large bridal parties and was also running their usual daily business, which you can imagine was even busier bc it was a Saturday.
I’m going to skip the rest, bc that’s for Tina to tell however she wants, and for us to tell people over drinks and whatnot when we see our friends in person. I will say that this may have been the best wedding I have ever attended, and this is bc it was the wedding of a very close friend that I’ve known for so long. Not only that, but to have the bridal party consist entirely of our special group of girlfriends that have been together through thick and thin, some since elementary school, and all of us through middle school, high school, college, and beyond, was more than I can put into words. It’s just a very fun, and very meaningful experience. Knowing that we’ve stuck together so easily through quite possibly the most tumultuous years of our lives makes it very easy to believe that we’ll be together for life. It’s very nice to know that the support group we’ve relied on since puberty is the same group we can still rely on. I love my girls, and this was the best weekend ever!!
Well, I’ll tell you: It’s not quite Phil’s, but it comes pretty close. I was very pleasantly surprised. Brett’s BBQ is this small joint on Rancho Bernardo Road. It looked like some shitty chain, and it looked a lot like a place my friends and I tried in Huntington Beach that was not very good. I had to try the ribs, though - I had to! Anyway, the meat slid right off the bones, which is the first mark of a great rib. It was also juicy and tender, which is basically all I’m looking for. The sauce was a little caramelized and chewy on the outside, which I’m not into, but some people really like (Jason, for instance).
I will also say that in terms of sides, Brett’s has Phil’s beaten solid. One thing I don’t like about Phil’s is that while the bbq baked beans are really, really good, they happen to be the only side that I can eat there. I hate macaroni salad, cole slaw… basically everything on Phil’s menu of sides. At Brett’s, they’ve got really good sweet potato fries, really good bbq baked beans (with many chunks of fatty bacon, at least one in every spoonful), and there were several other sides that I may have been willing to try - I forget.
Kevan and Rachel had pulled pork sandwiches, which looked really good and were really thick. Fletch had a steak burger or something - it was a slab of thick steak on a bun, basically, and it looked really good. Fletch is a very particular eater (there are only a few things he will eat), and he said it was a good burger, so I’ll take his word for it.
Final word? I do like Phil’s fattier meats and less dry sauces, but if I’m too lazy to make the trek to the Sports Arena, Brett’s is a very, very good substitute. Sam, I’ll have to treat you to Brett’s sometime for you to compare as well.
Here’s their site: www.brettsbbq.com.
Since Stella so kindly provided the name and address of the great Chinese Islamic restaurant in Anaheim, Jason and I invited Kevan and Rachel to join us in trying it out again. My God, it was good. I ate much more than I should have, knowing I’d have to fit into a bridesmaid’s dress about one week later, but I couldn’t help it. On Stella’s recommendation, we ordered the thin sesame bread with green onion, and I like it better than the thick kind. It’s like Chinese naan. I’m trying to remember what we ordered: lamb stew, chicken curry, Chinese broccoli with tons of garlic, knife-cut noodles… Was there anything else? I don’t know, but everything was good. I wasn’t such a huge fan of the chicken curry, but I think it’s my aversion to Eastern Asian curry in general.
Anyway, that night was one of those nights where you wish you were bulimic or had a couple of portable stomachs so that you could eat more. I would recommend arriving there before 6:30, because as soon as we were seated, tons of people began to pour in and the waiting area soon was in chaos. So was the parking lot - so much illegal parking! People parked on the grassy curbs, in those striped areas separating handicapped spots from regular spots, in the driveways into the parking lot, under “No Parking” signs…
After sending a request to my wonderful site hoster, he revamped my site! Now you can go back and look at old entries, or entries under different categories…
That being said, since I already went to see “Junk,” I can now tell you that it was great! The songs were all really catchy; the costumes and set were really fun and original. The lead girl had some Natalie Portmanesque-type features (ie, she was really, really pretty), which is very high praise, coming from me.
Anyway, if you want discounts on the tickets or something, let me know, and I will try to send you a flyer or promo code or something. Watch it!
It’s about half a block away from Pink’s Hot Dogs, too. Jason, Kat and I went there in the pouring rain so that Jason could try them for the first time. I got the Rosie O’Donnell (chili dog with cheese, sauerkraut, and mustard), he got the… I forgot. Anyway, the onion rings were very, very good, and when I finished my dog, I kind of regretted inhaling it bc I started feeling a bit nauseous. Their toppings are so rich and plentiful! The toppings can also be overwhelming. Jason liked it, but recommends not getting anything with nacho cheese in it, bc they really pile it on.
So final call? Top Dog is wayyyyyyy better. But you can’t really compare the places. Pink’s is about the toppings; Top Dog is about the dog. Pink’s doesn’t fry the buns, either. Their wieners do have a nice crisp snap to them, though. Oh, and the employees at Pink’s are slow as hell. Top Dog is kinda like the hot dog version of the Soup Nazi (as publicized on “Seinfeld”)- fast and efficient.
I was cleaning out my purse and came across a receipt from Jamillah Garden Restaurant. It’s a restaurant that serves Chinese Muslim food. Bruce, one of Jason’s college friends who was visiting Labor Day weekend for Brandon’s wedding took us (Ching, Bryant, Rachel, Kevan, Jason, me) all there. I really liked it, and it was very inexpensive. I’ve had Chinese Muslim food before (with Doris, Scott, Andrew Hou, Sam, Stella, and Ken, I think) and I liked it then, too. It’s basically Chinese food without pork. So the mabo tofu is cooked with chunks of beef instead of minced pork. Substitutions like that.
I wouldn’t recommend their eggplant, because the skins were tough, but 2 dishes stood out in particular: their lamb with cumin, and their chicken with Chinese broccoli. The lamb was really juicy and had kind of a tender, springy texture; the chicken was garlicky and just yummy. I’m also picky with chicken - it can’t be at all dry or stringy or I’ll hate it. They also serve some kind of flaky, layered loaf that’s seasoned with onions and sesame seeds that’s really good: crispy on the outside; soft and doughy on the inside. It is spongy and absorbent, so it sops up the sauces on your plate really well. The staff was also really honest with recommendations. When Ching asked the waiter if he liked their Chicken With Vegetables, he said no and recommended the Chicken with Broccoli instead. They seemed to really care about our preferences and whether we would like what we ordered. He knew we would love the lamb, too. Apparently it’s a new dish there.
The place is in Tustin, and here’s the address:
Jamillah Garden Restaurant
2512 Walnut Avenue, Suite 1
Tustin, CA 92780
714-838-3522
Thanks, Bruce!
On my mom’s shelf, I see canola oil, vegetable oil, corn oil, and several different types of olive oil. I am not sure when to use each one, because I can tell by the daily diminishing oil levels in each bottle that she uses all of them. Anyway, it’s confusing enough for people like me, but now we’ve got grapeseed oil, walnut oil, almond oil…
I am so excited about this. Pringles is introducing their new snack, Pringles Stix, in 2008. These will be crackers made of baked wheat in four different flavors: Crunchy Wheat, Vanilla, Honey Butter, and Pizza. They will contain only 90 calories per pack (that doesn’t actually mean anything to me, but it’s probably comparatively low or they wouldn’t be so excited) and have zero trans fats (again, not too knowledgeable about trans fats, but I’m sure they’re really bad for me).
I love Pringles, so I’m sure these new stix will be delicious.
When I worked at Tribest, I became aware of the raw food movement. There is a small, but growing, population of people that believes consuming a diet of mostly (if not completely) raw vegan foods is greatly beneficial to their health and will prevent diseases such as cancer. A lot of their logic made sense to me: food in its natural state would be easily digestible and less harmful to your body than foods that were charred or fried. But I never did much research on it, and I was missing a lot of obvious facts. Here’s an article about why a raw foods diet is not beneficial to your health.
For those of you who buy organic, I have no idea how you’ll be able to tell from now on. The USDA will lend its Organic Stamp seal to foods containing non-organic items. Here is what was in my Organic Consumers Assoc. newsletter (I normally think it’s too liberal, yadayada, but this stuff is disturbing):
“…the USDA has approved a proposal allowing 38 new non-organic ingredients to be allowed in products bearing the “USDA Organic” seal. But the agency says this may just be interim approval, and has offered to extend the public comment period another 60 days (the original public comment period was only 7 days). The USDA’s controversial proposal will result in the following:
How are you supposed to know what’s truly organic from now on? I think Horizon Organic milk (which my family loves) was punished recently when it was discovered that one of their dairy farms was not actually organic. They had cattle in the exact same setup as regular non-organic dairy farms (pens with no room to move, etc) and the only reason why they claimed it was “organic” was bc they were being fed organic food. Who can you trust?
Foie gras, and meat in general.
Tina and Mamta turned 27 last Wednesday, and Kent turned 27 on Thursday. We got to celebrate Tina and Kent’s birthdays in San Francisco at Thep Phenom, a yummy Thai place. Deep-fried quail - SOGOOD. SOGOOD! I didn’t like the noodles, though. Green curry = goodiegoody. Pork spare ribs? I don’t know. I was too full to eat any. I don’t like papayas, but their papaya salad was really good. Fried tofu with green beans was good, too, but pretty much just as good as any Chinese restaurant’s.
Afterward, we went to Noc Noc (I forgot how it was spelled). It was a lounge decorated by Neanderthals on an acid trip.
I love Spaten and champagne. 
I know I’m not the only one who thinks this guy looks like Bizarro Kramer and the guy from MAD TV:
Even Doris noticed.
The next morning, we had breakfast at a French boulangerie (I forgot the name), and here was a patient customer that we saw waiting outside: 
The food was really good. I had a combo: ham, gruyere sandwich and split pea soup. I wish we had had more time to kill before rushing to the airport - they had French macaroons!
So Jason and I stopped by the Stone Brewery beer garden (spelling?) to see Dale, Fletch, Johann, and Justin. We went some time ago, but Dale and Justin got hold of my camera and took so many damn pictures that it took me a long time to upload them.
Stone Brewery was basically a spa for beer lovers. You pamper yourself with beer. The place had some great architectural designs and you were never squeezing past people or being jostled. The bathrooms were decent as well. My favorite part was outside. Ponds with frogs and koi and a huge flame. Please enjoy the pictures.
Let me first point out that this is probably my favorite picture of Johann ever:
What makes it great is that when you first glance at it, you think that Justin is the funny-looking one, right? But the longer that I stare at it, the funnier Johann looks.
Oh God, Dale, what are you doing?
Oh yeah, and thanks, guys, for wimping out after yelling, “Make a funny face!” I think you can see my brain through my nostrils.
Reina planned an outing for us (Jason, Johann, Justin, Dale) at the Hillcrest Hot Spot, known as Sushi Deli. This place was so happening that we waited for over an hour and a half for our table. The food was so worth it. The prices were really reasonable, too. I wanted to order pretty much everything on the menu. As it was, I couldn’t finish what I did order, which was chicken udon, Chef’s Delight Roll (spicy tuna, avocado, salmon, crab, tempura - I don’t remember what else was crammed into that huge roll), and Tuna Mexican Roll (awesome cilantro kick to it). The udon wasn’t good, but everything else was.
Here are the pictures:
I know, I know. You’re thinking, “But your photos are always peppered with funny and unusual links!” Well, I thought it would be best to leave well enough alone, because looking at the pictures, I realized we’re funny-looking enough as it is. Except for Jason, of course. OFCOURSE.
I added pictures to “Happy Birthday, Fletch!” The mysterious guy whose face cannot be seen? That’s my friend Fletch. And Johann, I apologize for posting a picture of you blinking. I thought it was funny.
Jason and I went to the Ritz Carlton Huntington (in Pasadena) on Saturday night to celebrate the birthday of my sister’s mother in law. I had a tomato salad, and it was all right (the paper-thin slices of cheese were the best part). The main course was good, I mean, you can’t really go wrong with lobster. It came with pasta that was covered in what appeared to be melted butter and pure cream. I ate 2 noodles and 3 small pieces of the lobster, and was done for the night - the food was that rich and satisfying. I tasted Jason’s pheasant and immediately wished I had had the foresight to order that myself. It was easily the best thing I had all night.
I was disappointed with all of the desserts. My sister wants to call up the Ritz Carlton and tell them to fire their pastry chef. I guess because it was the Ritz, I expected something a bit better, too. Also, before our desserts came out, they had a little dessert-teaser, with pistachio ice cream and lemon tarts, which were very delicious - tart, creamy, with a bit of crisp to it… We were filled with high hopes. Then my blackberry tart came out, and it was basically 6 blackberries sunken into a Saltine cracker with a side of cream cheese. My mom ordered a poached pear, but it was only a slice of the pear, not a half-pear, like we all expected.
One of the best things about the Ritz was the company at the table behind us. I noticed Jason talking to a couple sitting at the table behind us, and assumed he was making small talk with strangers. I glanced at their table, then did a double-take. It was Albert and Wendy, Johann’s friends from Cal! They were celebrating Wendy’s birthday. Man, what a small world.
Last thing, before I forget: at Millefleurs, we were served an amuse-bouche, which was a slice of smoked salmon, with a dill cream sauce, capers, and cucumber slivers, drizzled with olive oil. Who would have thought cucumber slivers and smoked salmon with a dab of dill cream cheese could be so good?
Jason and I went to this restaurant twice. The first time was for Restaurant Week, and it was a great experience, although my duck confit was a little dry in some parts. The cauliflower soup with shrimp quenelles was very good (never had shrimp that tender and rare, yet without a fishy taste), and Jason had a great ahi salad. The second course took awhile to arrive (very crowded and busy night), so the waiter brought us complimentary drinks (merlot and a proper Old Fashioned). Jason had lamb, and I admit I liked his dish better than mine.
We had dessert that looked beautiful, and it was delicate and refreshing and tasty, but I didn’t really know what I was eating. I also realized that while sometimes I do like fancy desserts, my favorite desserts tend to be simple fare, like BJ’s Pizookies, home-made banana pudding, and old-fashioned peach cobblers. I am very particular about my peach cobblers, but when they’re done right, they’re my favorite dessert in the world. And I have to add this: anything with a crumbled cinnamon-sugar top or “crisp” is NOT a cobbler. Hot, buttery, flaky pastry crusts are a MUST for a proper cobbler. A close friend of mine has a great post about the differences between cobblers, crisps, and crumbles, and if you want to read it, she’s Stella on my blogroll. She also makes the best facial expressions in pictures.
Jason and I went to Millefleurs again last night, in honor of his dad’s birthday. This time I ordered the roast squab with foie gras, and GLORYGLORYITWASGOOD, although the richness killed off any desire I might have had for additional fare, like dessert. Jason ordered antelope, and I must say, it tastes good. I kind of expected to see antlers draped over a plate, but in retrospect, to expect that was just stupid. Although it would have had quite an effect. I think restaurants that serve game should consider adding touches like that.
I would have posted pictures from last night, but Jason ruined them all by blinking. I am beginning to suspect that he does this on purpose to keep me from posting.
I went home for lunch today. No one was home. I opened the refrigerator and a box leapt out and hit me on its trajectory out the door. Was I enraged because the box hit me? No. It startled me, but it didn’t enrage me. This is what enraged me: It hit the ground and exploded.
This box was special to me. First of all, it was from Jason. Second, it contained Godiva truffles.
Now half of the truffles were scattered in various spots of the kitchen floor, mostly in dusty corners and the dusty section underneath the refrigerator.
What did I do? I mentally swore as fiercely as I could. Then I picked up the pieces and dusted them off. This is important: I decided to keep them. But, I made sure to keep them on one particular side of the box so that I would remember to re-dust them before eating them.
What else did I do? I wrapped no less than 5 rubber bands around the box at perpendicular angles so that this incident would not be repeated.
How can I describe this place? I can’t, really. The words fatty, bone, juicy, tender, and meat come to mind, but do those words conjure up a steakhouse or some other house? Good food, good drinks, good company. One of the best evenings I’ve ever spent. Thank you Reina, Doug, Scott, Johann, Brandon, Brady, Albert, Wendy, Justin, and Jason for making me laugh so hard all evening my face felt like it was on fire.
I couldn’t resist snapping some shots of the guys wearing lobster bibs, and when I uploaded the photos, I must say that Albert wins for Most Photogenic:
Nick Lachey appears to be doing a good job of impressing the ladies… no, wait, that’s Scott’s hand.
Jason actually didn’t finish his blackened cowboy steak, so this was my tasty treat the next morning:
The steak’n egg scramble was good, too.
I spent last weekend in San Diego, yes, as I usually do. On Friday night, Jason took me to the Chicken Pie Diner. I didn’t get a chicken pie, but I had a philly cheese steak, a side of mac ‘n cheese, and a root beer float. All right - I admit I didn’t enjoy the cheese steak much. Does it make sense to say they used cheese of a bit too-high quality? I think Philly cheese steaks are best with the cheese melted into a liquid, gooey consistency, which is best achieved with something cheap like Cheez Whiz (no idea how to spell that). I also thought there was too much bread. Anyway, I loved the mac’n cheese and I tasted some of Jason’s chicken pie, which was delicious. The root beer float came with an additional glass of root beer to add once there was enough room in the mug - a stroke of genius. I’d never had that before, and it made so much sense! At Cafe 50’s the other night, I had sloshed out about half of the root beer trying to squash the ice cream into the mug.
That night, Jason introduced me to the Wii. The technology was great: it’s wireless, and the graphics remind me a little of the Nintendo that I used to know, with the cuter, more bubbly graphics. But I confess that I am simply not into video games. I tried most of the games once, and I did have a lot of fun with the baseball one, but I was pretty much done after the initial trial. We played Excite Truck, and let me tell you: if we are ever in a high-speed car chase, if you value your life, you will knock me out and take the wheel. The next night, Kevan brought over a game called Rayman, and we all had a LOT of fun with that one, but I think it was more the company that I enjoyed than the game itself. Or basically, the way the company interacted with the game. I don’t think I would have liked playing the game by myself.
December Nights. I raved about it in the previous post, and it did not disappoint this year. Swedish meatballs with really good grape tomatoes (I usually hate raw tomatoes), empanadas from the House of Colombia (soooo good), paella from House of Spain (Johann said it wasn’t as good as Barcelona’s, but that it was still pretty damn good), and BAKLAVA TO DIE FOR from House of Turkey. They had two kinds: pistacchio and walnut. Both were amazing. I have never had baklava that good in my LIFE. Well, I had it last year, from the same stand.
Sorry for the lack of pics from December Nights, but I completely forgot to pull out the camera. Except for when we were drinking in the International House of Spirits. And yes, I know it looks like I’m sitting, but I’m actually standing as tall as I can. Jason is that much taller than me, and I was standing in some sort of depression in the grass as well.
I missed most of the game, because I was visiting a great aunt who had flown in from Utah to Chula Vista, but Cal came out on top over Stanford (hell yeah!) in the Big Game. I was very impressed and pleased to hear that UCLA beat USC. Which makes our loss to Arizona that much harder to bear. Oh well…
We saw “Casino Royale” on Sunday, and OHMYFUCKINGGODITWASGOOD. I can say that it is the best Bond film I have ever seen. I can’t say that Daniel Craig makes a better Bond than Sean Connery, because man, Sean Connery is the original 007, but what a close 2nd he is. Made Pierce Brosnan look like a joke.
Jason has a bunch of On Demand channels, and we caught “Dumb and Dumber.” It is one of my favorite movies, possibly in the top 10. I say possibly, because I think I’ve been calling a lot of movies my Top 10, and I have no idea if they all fit within 10. That movie is one of the rare gems that really captures Jim Carrey’s talent, not just his comedic, but his dramatic. That scene in the beginning where he turns from Petey the Parrot to say to Lloyd: “You know what I’m sick of? I’m sick of living in this apartment…” I can’t remember what he says, but man, the expression on his face and the desperation in his voice brought a tear to my eye. I was not at all surprised when he shone in “The Truman Show” and “Man on the Moon.” “The Truman Show” is another one of my so-called Top 10.
Dale and Johann recommended a place in Rancho Bernardo to get decent Japanese food, and I forgot the name already, but I believe it was something akin to V Food. We were so hungry that we ordered a meal for 4, and we almost finished it all. The food was tasty (loved the salad best) and very easy on the wallet.
So that was my weekend: food, the Wii, and movies. Now I’ve got to find a bunch of white elephant gifts for some upcoming Christmas parties.
Jason just told me that this weekend is Balboa Park’s annual December Nights. It takes place tonight and tomorrow, and it’s a great place to eat amazing food from all over the world (and various restaurants of San Diego), drink, and visit museums. It holds a special place in my heart, too, because I think it had a lot to do with ending up with Jason.
Last year, Reina asked me and Jason to go to December Nights with her friends. We agreed to go on Saturday, but at the last minute, Reina called me to let me know her friends could no longer make it on Saturday. Jason and I ended up going together alone when we had only hung out together once before. There was a lot of potential for an awkward, uncomfortable, disastrous day. It actually turned out to be one of the most enjoyable days I have ever spent in my life. We had so much fun that I didn’t end up going home until after 2 AM. It’s a rare thing, to meet someone new and not have any awkward moments within a 15 hour period of time. I was amazed that I could have such a good time with someone that I barely knew and had just met.
Anyway, going to tomorrow’s December Nights will be like an anniversary of sorts. I hope to see a lot of you there! Also because I really want my Cerritos and San Diego friends to meet each other.
A dear friend of mine from Cal moved to Westwood a few months ago to get her Ph.D in Urban Planning (I finally got it!). Being uber-talented, Beth is also a cellist at UCLA and her orchestra performed for the first time last night at Schoenberg Auditorium/Theater. Doris, BChoi, Scott and I went to the concert and we really enjoyed it. I hadn’t heard classical music live in a long time, and I have to say, just like with any hard-rocking band, I can get really into it. I really hope I didn’t have my jaw hanging open or something equally idiotic.
Anyway, listening to beautiful classics by Puccini, Liszt, Bernstein, and Haydn is always a great way to spend the night. Especially when it’s followed by rootbeer floats, milkshakes, chili cheese fries, southern fried mac n cheese, pie, and good company at Cafe 50’s. We all agreed that I have to find a way to get Beth to Cerritos regularly.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. Even if it had occurred to me, I don’t think I would have taken photos during the performance. Knowing my luck, I probably would have blinded the performers with the flash, and I was facing Beth.
I think I ate some bad jambalaya. It’s been sitting in my fridge for over a week. I had some yesterday, and it tasted fine. I took a bite of some jambalaya from a different container today and it tasted a little sour. For some reason, I felt compelled to finish all of it. I guess I kept telling myself, “Don’t let it go to waste. Your stomach can handle it. It’s probably not that bad for you.” But that reasoning was crap. Why? Because if it tasted sour, then it had already gone to waste. Next, I realized long ago that my stomach is very delicate and cannot handle things like spoiled food, especially if it contains such exotic fare as spoiled shrimp. Finally, the wet nature of jambalaya may have disguised any wet mold or fungus growing on the food, which means that yes, it could have been very bad for me.
I will say that I kept eating because I was hungry, and too cheap and lazy to go out and buy food. And if Bchoi is reading this, and I call in sick tomorrow, you’ll know why.
Last Saturday, my high school friends (and BAM) got together (again) for some fun. No, no debauchery, as there was no promiscuity involved. I know, I know, now some of you are glad you didn’t show up. Actually, we didn’t even drink that much, either. Maybe we’re getting old. Most of us met at Cafe Tu Tu Tango, a place at the Block that, despite its location, had delicious tapas and sparkling sangria (mmmm!). Then we wandered around the Block, not aimlessly, however, because Bchoi was determined to get some Starbucks coffee and Sweet Factory gummy eggs. Unfortunately, Sweet Factory had no such thing. They did have pooping Santas and reindeer, though, much to Ju Yon’s and Sarah’s delight. Then it was on to Dave & Buster’s for drunken skeeball, drunken Trivia, and sober House of Dead IV. Bchoi is the president of the United States of Tyranny. Sam is fortunate enough to not know the sorrows of Creed, but unfortunate enough to not know the joys of Mandy Moore
