Showing posts with label gumbo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gumbo. Show all posts

Friday, August 21, 2020

Takeouts in LA: Providence En Voyage

Another restaurant in LA whose takeout I've been enjoying is Providence. They change their menu every week and calling it Providence En Voyage. Each week took us to a different region (although this week was a Black Truffle menu, not tied to a specific region).

The first one of their En Voyage menu I got was "Summer in Narragansett" - I had to order because lobster, of course. The dinner consisted of Parker house rolls, a Celebrity tomato soup (not pictured) with scallop dumplings, and then lobster stuffed with peekytoe crab and mushrooms, a side of potato and green beans amandine, and then finished off with peach and blackberry cobbler.
Providence
They use female lobsters and then make the sauce using the lobster roe. The lobster sauce was amazing, I wish they gave us more sauce so I can soak it all up with the bread!

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Freshly Delivers Nutritious Prepared Meals to Your Doors (with $20 off!)

Freshly is not a meal kit, but instead it delivers prepared meals that you can just heat and eat. They're nutritious and tastes much better than frozen meals, but a lot of the dishes freeze well, too!

I used to get Freshly meals once in a while to bring to work for lunch, and I freeze half of them upon arrival so they last longer. It's definitely coming in handy during this shelter-in-place order when you don't want to cook or just want some variety in your meals.
Freshly
The Freshly subscription service works like a meal kit where they have weekly deliveries that you can skip, and a menu of meals you can choose from. Each delivery is six meals and each one is filling enough for one meal. It's not a big meal, but that's probably better ... even my sweatpants are getting tighter during this quarantine!

Meal choices range from gumbo to chicken tikka masala to these turkey meatballs with zoodles. I like that they have comfort foods like chili mac and cheese instead of being too healthy.
Freshly
Freshly normally costs $59.99 per week, which comes out to $10 a meal. That's not cheap but it's not too expensive given the convenience and I do think the quality of the meals in general are pretty good (choose the meals you want, though, to get the most out of it). But with this link, you can get $20 off for each of your first two delivers, bringing it to $39.99 or about $6.50 per meal! Now that price I can get behind. Again, use this link.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Loretta's Last Call: Southern Food and Live Music Steps From Fenway (Boston, MA)

The area near Fenway isn't just for sports bar. If you're looking for something different, head to Loretta's Last Call for some Southern food and live country music.

Loretta's Last Call
When you do go, be sure to get the Bacon and cheese grit fritters
Loretta's Last Call
Tater tots? Arancini? Who needs either of those when you have these, bacon and cheese grit fritters!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Neighborhood Nook

Nook was quite hard to find. Not only is it in an ordinary looking strip mall, it is also in the back corner of said mall. And while the website boasts a red arrow, the actual place is marked by a big blue arrow (that does not say Nook). After walking round and round I finally found the place.

The restaurant was not too crowded or loud - it is a good place to have a nice dinner and actually have conversation! Plus free parking.

Instead of bread or amuse bouche, Nook does something different: boiled peanuts. Not very friendly to the peanut-allergy folks out there, but this reminds me of my childhood when I used to buy boiled peanuts at the zoo (you're supposed to buy them and feed the elephants but I thought I deserved them more than the elephants!).

I ordered some "New Orleans style gumbo" and a portion of the proceed goes to the hurricane relief fund - good cause!
As far as the gumbo goes, though, I thought it was just okay. Good but I've had much better gumbo. Well, let me put it this way: It was a good soup - but if you ask me, it ain't gumbo! Can't compare to the one I had at Luke in NOLA.

Crispy Fried Calamari ($10)
Tossed with citrus-soy vinaigrette and wasabi dipping sauce.
This was a good calamari - not too greasy as it sometimes tends to be. The wasabi dipping sauce is interesting and is a delicious twist - it helps cut the grease of the fried calamari.

Shiitake and Gruyere Bread Pudding ($7)
Quite a flavorful and aromatic bread pudding! Liked this dish a lot (although it could use more shiitake for better texture) - it was better the next day when the bread has soaked up all the flavors :P

New Zealand green lip mussel pan roast ($12)
with linguisa sausage, oven-dried tomato, garlic, herbs and white wine saffron brot
Really loved the broth for this dish. The mussels are also big, plump and juicy. Probably my favorite dish of the night, and not bad for $12 (there were more mussels, this was half eaten)

Sauteed Brown Rice Bowl ($12)
With tofu, carrots, broccoli, and egg white this is a very healthy dish. And tastes kinda healthy too :P It is much better the day after as a leftover, just like fried rice is much better when made with day-old rice. Pretty basic dish, nothing special.

For dessert we got the chocolate pot de creme, as it was recommended to us ($7)
It's a pretty small pot but definitely a delicious dessert. The current menu online lists chocolate pot de creme with fresh strawberries, but I believe the one we had were blueberries.

The prices are Nook Bistro were pretty reasonable and the food is delicious (even if they can't do gumbo, IMHO) with good quality ingredients. An excellent neighborhood bistro and a pretty casual dining place. Nothing mindblowing but definitely good comfort food. I'll definitely be back.

Nook Bistro
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025
T 310.207.5160
http://www.nookbistro.com

Nook Bistro on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Cobbler+Gumbo

It took me a year to discover this place that is just a few blocks up the exact same street I live on. Shame on me! But I have been making up for it by visiting regularly. The Gourmet Cobbler Factory in Pasadena is a small hole in the wall place on Catalina Ave, just north of Colorado. If you're walking up from Colorado you would see a faded sign and barred windows/door, and you might think the place has gone out of business. But just walk a little more and you'll see the actual entrance door!

The place is pretty much all take-out: there are one or two tables outside, but they don't heat things up for you. The gumbo (yes they have gumbo! and sweet potato pie!) is sold by the pints, quarts, etc, and chilled so it doesn't spoil.

THE COBBLER
The "single serving" (which is too much for one) 4x6 cobbler ranges around 6$, depending on the filling. My ultimate favorite is the Cherry Cobbler. Followed probably by the blueberry (pictured left), or the peach (pictured below).

I've read a lot of reviews with people complaining that there's no bottom crust. I guess they've heard your laments, because my cobblers definitely have a bottom crust!

All the cobblers are made with fresh fruits, no preservatives, and the taste? I eat them for lunch! I'll eat them for dinner again! If it wasn't so bad for my health and figure I'll just keep eating it!




THE GUMBO ($15.50 / quart)

I was surprised I had to tell my friend this but, yes, be careful eating the gumbo. The chicken still has bones. The crab is still in the shells. The shrimp tails are still attached.
Their gumbo is good. Not awesome. But they can double brownie points for being a great take-out within walking distance. And another brownie point because I can get a cherry cobbler while I'm there. Oh, and a peach too. And blueberry. And a sweet potato pie. Yeah. That'll be all.


The Gourmet Cobbler Factory (www.thegourmetcobblerfactory.com)
33 N Catalina Ave
Pasadena, CA
(626) 795-1005

(closed on Mondays)

The Gourmet Cobbler Factory on Urbanspoon

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