Monday, December 10, 2007

Mango Addict

My new favorite dessert (especially in this price range):
Soy Custard with Tapioca and Mango
from the Phoenix Food Boutique (also available at the restaurants).

A really refreshing dessert, and the mangoes they use are (most of the time) very sweet! Like Pinkberry's mangoes USED to be ...
And the tofu hua (soy custard) is very silky smooth. The sweet creaminess combined with the slightly tart mangoes are just perfect.

The best part is that some locations are open until 1 am!

Phoenix has multiple Food Boutique and Restaurant locations.
Find one at: http://www.phoenixfoodboutique.com

Phoenix Food Boutique on Urbanspoon

Friday, December 7, 2007

Pasadena Brunch Journey part 1

Like I've said before, I really miss the West LA brunch places since moving to Pasadena (great places like Hugo's), so I have been exploring Pasadena and surrounding area for good brunches (not champagne all-you-can-eat brunch buffets, which may be good too sometimes). Before I reviewed a great place in Eagle Rock, Auntie Em's. The place I'm reviewing now is a cute little place on Walnut, just north of old town Pasadena.

Normally Marston's location may look just like a small cute house, but in the afternoons, you can see a crowd of people waiting for a table to enjoy brunch. Serving upgraded classic breakfast dishes such as French Toast coated with corn flakes, Eggs Benedicts in the morning, and various salads and sandwiches in the afternoon in a very cozy and quiet (except for some noise from the traffic) atmosphere, Marston's is my go-to place for brunch in Pas proper.
Pictured in this post is the Cordierra salad that I had last time. Sesame-crusted chicken on a bed of greens with avocado, tomatoes, etc. With "San Pasqual dressing" (whatever it is, it's tasty). Served with very good corn bread.

PS. They also have possibly the best pancakes in Pasadena.

Marston's Restaurant
151 East Walnut St.
Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 796-2459

Marston's on Urbanspoon
Marston's in Los Angeles

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Long Live Breakfast Salad

Hugo's in WeHo was my favorite brunch place when I was still living in LA proper - or at least, they have my favorite brunch dish.
Since moving to Pasadena, I went on a Hugo's hiatus - especially since they were renovating and since the Pinkberry on my way there is being stingy with their fruits!

I recently went back though, for the first time after the renovation. I was surprised when I walked in. The decor now is much 'cleaner' and minimal compared to before. I preferred the cozier, homier feel of the old Hugo's though. Sigh ... why is everything in LA changing to this wide space, minimal decor look? The kitchen is now closed off though, reducing the noise from plates clanking greatly. That's one good thing from the renovation.

The place was not as busy as I remembered it- before I would have to wait 10-15 minutes for a table during lunch hour on a Saturday. Today we got a table immediately. It wasn't empty, but there was no line out the door like there used to be. Maybe the new decor? Maybe because they were closed for a while, a lot of people have not made it back?

At any rate, the food there is same as always - great tasting and healthy.
Hugo's serves you piping hot whole wheat ciabatta bread that is great with or without butter. (One time they served it cold, but we sent it back and got the piping hot bread).

Before, the Tofu Scramble used to be my favorite dish. Organic tofu scramble with sweet potato, green onion, tomato, spinach, garlic and mushrooms with ginger-soy sauce. The tofu is firm, and the ginger-soy sauce is really good! (There's no egg in here, even though it says 'scramble'). The spinach and tofu with the sauce is just a great combo. My only pet peeve about this dish is that there's too much sweet potato for my taste, but I know some people who looove sweet potato and didn't think there was enough ...

A great dish, and like I said, it used to be my favorite and I'd get it every week. Until one day I became adventurous and ordered the Breakfast Salad! Ever since then, this is my favorite!

Mixed greens topped with: turmeric rice scrambled with egg whites, almonds, spinach, wild mushrooms, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Ahh ... the ultimate salad for me. I would have never imagined making a salad like this, and were it not for Hugo's I would have totally missed out. Maybe it is partly the Asian taste of the dish that makes me like it so much? Did I mention they're organic? Totally guilt-free :P

We didn't get desserts this time around, but the desserts at Hugo's tend to be very decadent (like bread puddings, pineapple upside down cakes, etc). Sinful? But they're organic? That's a notch down on the sin level, right? Right?

Also, I should mention they have a great selection of loose leaf tea.

Hugo's
8401 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 654-3993
http://hugosrestaurant.com/

Hugo's on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Hole-In-the-Wall Handmade Noodles

I found this place from reading Jonathan Gold's article about it, where he raves about the Bao there. But I'm surprised he neglected to mention the handmade noodles, which I think is better and more unique than the bao (hence their name, Noodle House!) - he did not seem to like them though.

Their handmade noodle is made from scratch, and made from spinach. Although their simple menu does not say "handmade noodles" anywhere and you can't know what kind of noodles you will be getting from the names along, you can study the full picture menu on the wall. If the noodle is greenish, that's your handmade spinach noodle.
The dish pictured above is the "beef stewed noodle" (in Chinese, niu ru mien). You can get niu ru mien at other places, but not with this kind of noodle! The noodle is chewy and has a distinctive flavor. It is firm and never overcooked. The broth is rather spicy and is a particularly good niu ru mien broth, but it is not too spicy (which may have led to Jonathan Gold complaining that it was "not as intense" as other shops). The mustard greens in the soup adds another layer of flavor.

The place is small, with such a generic name: "Noodle House". The waitress speaks almost no English, even less than the cook, Linda, who speaks broken English. She is awesome and always seems very happy that you're there. She'll give you cold appetizers and sweet tea with dates for free.


Noodle House
46 W. Las Tunas Dr., Arcadia
(626) 821-2088.

Noodle House on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Forget Your Wallet at Sasabune

As soon as I sat down at the sushi bar at Sasabune, I saw their sign saying sushi bar patrons must get the omakase, and one of those "Trust Me" signs. What that means to me: 1) it'll most likely be very good food and 2)my wallet will suffer ..

Sasabune used to be located in a small house on Sawtelle, with no sign outside except one neon sign that just said "Sushi". I've always wanted to try it then, and I'm glad I finally get to go to their new location (former Todai).

Five of us took a corner of the sushi bar and left our fates in the sushi chef's hands. They serve fresh wasabi, so I had faith that they know what they're doing. They started us with assorted sashimi dishes including abalone and scallops. The others managed to get to them before I can take a picture, so here's a picture of a half-eaten scallop sashimi.

Next is some blue fin tuna and yummy yummy melt-in-your-mouth toro.
Salmon and hamachi. The sesame seeds on top of the salmon really gives it a nice flavor. The hamachi was good and fatty although it can't beat the hamachi belly Asakuma gives me.

Then they served us delicious mushroom soup, very soothing and nutritious.

At some point I've lost track of what we ate ... all I know is we had 15 pieces of sushi, plus the sashimi and soup, and a hand roll.

We had some japanese snapper, and Ono (which was delicious).

Not to forget the ikura and uni :) Although knowing I could have gotten toro instead of uni ... tough choice but I think I like toro better.
Then at some point there were some fresh oysters.

And a deliciously fresh scallop sushi.

Towards the end we got these ice toro and anago sushi. A very nice hot and cold plate :) First time having ice toro, it was interesting because of the iciness but I think it was chopped up, making it melt in your mouth even more.Ending with a kani roll. The crab inside was just outstanding!

The damage? $98pp including tax and tips. We were all happy and full and had a just-ate-great-food high, so it didn't matter (that's why you have credit cards ...)

Sushi Sasabune
12400 Wilshire Blvd Ste 150
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 820-3596

Sushi Sasabune on Urbanspoon

Monday, November 19, 2007

The Tried and True Sushi

Undeniably Los Angeles has an excess of sushi restaurants, and it can take quite a few miserable trips to filter through and find those good, reasonably-priced places that you can return to over and over again.

Among these good ones, Asakuma is my favorite. A bit more expensive than Hide, but without the wait and hassle and bad service (the sushi chefs at Hide are great but the waitstaff is ... meh...). In all my experience sitting at the sushi bar at Asakuma, I have never gone wrong.
I typically come in towards the end of the night, so it's pretty quiet usually. I always start with my standard favorites, hamachi and salmon. My regular sushi chef always gives generous portions (generous fish!, not rice as in other places) of the fattiest freshest fish :)
After these two, I suddenly have to decide what to order next. I usually ask for live scallops if they have any (at the end of the night they usually don't :( ). This time I opted for the Tai.
I like to eat my sushi in two bites: one bite to eat the fish with all the rice, another bite is the hanging tail end of just the fish itself. Asakuma's fish-to-rice ratio is perfect for me.

Ended the sushi meal with the sweet unagi, delicious as usual.Finish off the meal with some refreshing oranges, on the house.


Asakuma
11701 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Phone: (310) 826-0013

Asakuma on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

When I Eat Spicy

Just to get it out there, I CANNOT eat spicy food. Yes, I am Indonesian. Call me weird. Call me weak-sauce. Call me whatever. I just can't handle it. Occasionally though, I will sit through and suffer and drink gallons of water so I can have a particular dish.

Soon tofu is one of them. I always ask for Mild, but it ends up too spicy for me anyway. But plain would just be WRONG! Favorite soon tofu place in LA? That'd be Beverly Soon Tofu.

Your meal here starts with the regular and not so regular banchan: a silky smooth tofu with sesame, plus the usual plates of kim chi, bean sprouts, etc. Barley tea is served in metal bowls free of charge.

Then the soon tofu comes sizzling hot into which you immediately add an egg, rice, and then mix things up.
The ingredients used at Beverly Soon Tofu is higher quality than most and you can taste it, especially in the tofu and meat.
I personally prefer the small bowl (which comes with the kalbi or bulgogi combo), because that size is just perfect for one egg. 2 eggs in the bigger bowl is too much. On a good day the mild is not so spicy and I can finish it pretty quickly :P otherwise it's bite and drink for me ...

Still, every so often I want some "comfort food" and for some reason I feel like going to this place and suffer through the spice so I can have this bowl of goodness :P

Beverly Soon Tofu
2717 W Olympic Blvd Ste 108
Los Angeles, CA 90006-2642
Phone: (213) 380-1113

Beverly Soontofu on Urbanspoon

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Things to Slurp - Part 1 (Ma Dang Gook So)

It doesn't matter who first invented noodles/pasta anymore. Nowadays every culture has their own specialty noodle dish(es). The Korean Gook So is said to be the equivalent of pho to Vietnamese, but then pho is just the equivalent of some other soup-based noodle dish somewhere else. But like I said, it doesn't really matter.

Ma Dang Gook So is one of those small, homey restaurants in Korea town, and it specializes in Korean noodle dishes, one of them being (naturally) the gook so. This item is identified simply as "handmade noodles" in the menu.

Being weak to spice, I avoided the kim chee gook so and opted for the anchovy instead. The noodles were bathed in beef broth that has the taste and flavor of anchovies. Two slices of potatoes are hidden inside, and most believe these potatoes are the secret ingredient to their broth's subtle taste and body.
Halfway through the bowl I was completely bloated as I couldn't stop drinking the soup. The one bad thing about the dish is that I do occasionally miss my protein (there was no actual anchovy inside). To actually get real meat, one could opt for the chicken gook so.
The chicken gook so uses instead chicken broth, but it still hides the potato slices and hence still has the same body as the beef broth. The chicken shreds are definitely a plus, but I still prefer the beef broth better myself (I'm a red meat eater!).

Ma Dang Gook So gets steady business early in the morning. It does seem like a good meal to have after a late night. Or a hangover.

Ma Dang Gook So
869 S Western Ave Ste 1
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 487-6008

Ma Dang Gook So on Urbanspoon

Ma Dang Gook Soo in Los Angeles

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

The Lobster Hall of Fame!

1. The blue Lobster at L'atelier de Joel Robuchon
5-7, rue de Montalembert, Hôtel Pont-Royal
Paris, France 75007 · 01 42 22 56 56

2. The lobster curry at Chinois on Main
2709 Main St
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 392-3037
3. The "2 on a Plate Special" at the Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival
www.lobsterfest.com

Monday, November 5, 2007

The Quiet Italian

The few bad things about Angelini Osteria (and these are not necessarily "bad" things, depending on how you look at it) are that it's hard to get reservations and it is always crowded. We think that this was probably the main reason Gino Angelini decided to open La Terza. And while La Terza with its white tablecloths and high ceiling seems much more formal than its Osteria counterpart, it actually feels more casual and relaxed (probably because you're not surrounded by dozens of Beverly Hill-ers).

We started with some bruschetta compliments of the chef. The bread at La Terza was drizzled with olive oil and black peppers, delicious and the peppers gave it a kick.

For appetizers we got mussels and clams in polenta. I never have imagined mussels, clams, and polenta together but they went very, very well with each other. The mussels were not on the huge side, but nonetheless the taste was excellent and we scraped the polenta off this dish.
In between we had some risotto with parmesan and artichokes, again, compliments from the chef.
For our main course, we had spaghetti with lobster and fried artichokes, and the rotisserie duck with swiss chard and dried figs.
Not enough lobster in the spaghetti, but the taste was nothing to complain about :)

The duck was juicy and tasty and the skin was crispy but not burned, just the way I like it. It goes very well with the chard and figs.
For dessert we had the Cioccolato which was a Piemonte's bunet. The bunet was excellent! with a strong chocolate taste. Highly recommended.
We also had the Affogato which is served at Angelini Osteria also.

All in all, the food was on par with Angelini, although the pasta dishes are probably better at the Osteria (the desserts are better at La Terza though). However, La Terza makes for more of a relaxed and pleasant dining experience.

La Terza Restaurant
8384 West Third St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.782.8384
www.laterzarestaurant.com

La Terza on Urbanspoon

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Eat Lots A Fish!

Lately I have been driving down to Orange County way too many times to appease a friend of mine who keeps complaining about me never visiting (I don't know why she says that, I visit ALL the time ..)
But at any rate, being stuck in OC where I think there's always not that much to do, we have to keep coming up with potential good places to eat.

Recently, my friend suggested the Crab Cooker (with their motto Eat Lots A Fish!), either the one in Newport Beach or the restaurant in Tustin. I didn't need any additional reason to cut my driving time if at all possible, so I obviously picked Tustin. So, this review is only of the Crab Cooker Restaurant and I don't know how representative it will be of the Newport Beach location.

We came in with high expectation since apparently this place had raving reviews and supposed to have best crab cakes.

The Crab Cooker Restaurant is tacky in a charming way. The outside is painted all red, and the inside is decorated with various ocean-related knick knacks.

We started with the famous Maryland crab cakes ($9 for 2)
The crab cakes were good, but they weren't anything special. I guess they were cheaper than if we had gone to an upscale seafood restaurant? Anyway, the taste was good, but it wasn't as chock full of crabs as we would have preferred.

We ordered that day's special appetizer: Sweet Spotted Shrimp.

In my opinion, fresh seafood is best when prepared very simply :)
This was followed by some King Crabs
They look very fresh and delicious, don't they? :) They were.

For our main meal we ordered the Australian Lobster, Crab Cooker style.
The lobster was a little chewy, but fresh and tasty nonetheless. The sauce was pretty good, but I think I still prefer it the plain and simple way. (Or steamed with ginger, garlic, and scallions the Chinese way :P )

All in all, I think the main reason I posted this review is because the pictures turned out so well. The seafood they had was definitely fresh and good, but I don't think it's worth driving down from Pasadena just for that. If you happen to live/find yourself in the Tustin area though, and can't seem to find a good place to go to, I would definitely recommend the Crab Cooker.

The Crab Cooker
17260 E. 17th Street
Tustin, CA
(714) 573-1077
www.crabcooker.com


Crab Cooker on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Truffles, oh Truffles 1: tiding over with cheese

My last real real truffle meal was a few months ago at Angelini Osteria. Oh, god I can still smell it ... I was sniffing and cleaning the plates with bread... I haven't had the opportunity to get truffles anyplace recently, so I thought I would tide myself over with truffle-infused cheese.

Bought this Sottocenere al tartufo (aka. "with truffles") during my last trip to Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock, so dinner tonight: Cheese and Crackers.

The photo taken this time was not that good, sorry, as I was just eating at my apartment. Terrible lighting :P

Sottocenere is semi-firm, and aged in ash rind (supposed to keep the flavor longer). The cheese itself has a mild taste, but really, aren't you eating it for the truffles? :)

When I bought it, still wrapped in the plastic wrapper I thought, "hmm ... it will probably be just a hint of truffles, but whatever I'll try it" but when I unwrapped it!! The smell, that very distinctive truffle smell was so strong, I was overjoyed! The mild cheese taste goes very well with the pungent truffles. Enjoy it with Seed crackers or other slightly more flavorful crackers than "water crackers" but don't overpower the truffles.

Bank of America is My Enemy

Okay, I know this post has nothing to do with food at all, but I've been extremely frustrated, so if anyone would listen to my story, I would appreciate it. I need to get this out there and out of my system :( Thanks!

Here's the story:

For 8 months now I have been disputing fraudulent charges for my Bank of America credit card, and they just keep denying and denying it.

Starting on 2/13, ATM withdrawals were made from my credit card account
for 300-500 dollars each time, about every other day, at ATMs in the
los angeles/inglewood area from what i can tell from the credit card bill. I did not know this was happening until about 2 weeks after, when I logged on to my account online to pay my bill. All the
withdrawals, plus additional charges the institute charges for
withdrawing money from outside ATMs, totaled to about $3500. I
immediately called Bank of America, and they put a hold on my account.
I also called the credit bureaus and flagged my account for identity theft.

At the same time, I noticed my Discover card was not working and when I called they said that they had put a hold on it because someone had tried calling to get a pin number but was not able to verify any information. Obviously Discover was a lot smarter. BofA just watched as someone withdrew 3000$ over 2 weeks and did not even think it was suspicious.

BofA originally reversed all the charges, but about a week later, the charges were put back on my account. They informed me that my claim is
being denied because:
1) They received a call from my phone number and the person was able
to verify my identity to get a pin.
2) The charges were ATM withdrawals which need a physical card to be done.

So they claimed that this was done by someone I know. Family or friend. I did have a roommate at Caltech at that point, but she and I had just met for a few months so unless the only identifying information they needed was something as unsecure as my birthday, my roommate would not know the information.

Additionally, I immediately called my phone company (Sprint) and asked
the Rep personally if such a call was made from my phone at that time or even the days surrounding it. She told me that no call was made to an 800 number from my phone in the 3-day range around what BofA claimed. I printed my phone bill and sent it to BofA, along with news articles about phone number mimicking.

To get them to reconsider they told me I need to file a police report.
They also claimed that the system they're using is able to detect phone mimicking/spoofing, so they are SURE that it really was my phone. I should not this phone call they kept referring to happened at 8-9 AM in the morning, when I was sleeping in my room. Unless someone
managed to get to my phone at 8, make a call, and return it without
waking me up at all and also without getting that call recorded by
Sprint, it could not have been my actual phone. (and do the same with my credit card every other day for 2 weeks)

I filed a police report to the Pasadena police. After 2 weeks they transferred it to the LAPD because the withdrawals happened in LA.
In the meantime I kept arguing with the Bank with no result. They just
kept referring to the 2 facts no matter what I say. They were adamant that their system was flawless.
I finally got to a supervisor, Margaret (Mimi) Picollelli. She said
that I should get a hold of a photo evidence and that if it really was
someone I don't know to call her again. She also asked me what the expiration date of the card that I still have was. I told her and she said, that the investigator has tracked the card that was used, and just based on my expiration date they can tell for certain that it was my very own card, not some fake card someone had made or anything like that. (I was of course not convinced at all)

I spoke to a detective at the LAPD. She had managed to get a
photo evidence from one of the Wells Fargo transaction. She said it
was a black male. I could not think of anyone around me fitting that
description that can come into my house, etc, so I called Mimi
Picolelli. She was now never there whenever I called. I left several
messages with the detective's name and number and that she has a photo
evidence. I left a message with a representative. Someone finally called me back and said that they are considering reopening the case and Mimi will call me in a day or two. That never happened.

Afterwards I kept getting calls from BofA card services, collection
agency, etc, to get me to make payment. I refused. They had also posted 5 damaging reports to my credit report. One time they called 3 days in a row during odd hours (8 AM, 6 PM), and everytime I told them that they had called me the day before, they said that it
was not recorded. The last straw was when the rep even dared to say to me that it could not have been fraud although it was clearly not her place to say anything.
I was upset and filed a BBB complaint.

In a few days I got a call from a lady from the Office of the Chairman regarding the BBB complaint. She said she will find out what's going on. The call from credit services stopped. But she called the next day and said the evidence that they had would all lead to just another
denial, but that she will contact the LAPD detective for the photo evidence and go from there.

--------
There was another inconsistency in this whole thing. At first someone from the bank claimed that there had been other phone calls made to my account from different numbers. I asked them for the numbers to track them down. I was not able to, some numbers were disconnected, etc. But later on the bank said that oh, some of those numbers were just transferred calls from other sections/places and they don't keep track of where the original call came from.

On one of the days a withdrawal was made, that same night I made a
purchase at Ralph's in Westwood of a bottle of wine (a birthday
present) using my card. So obviously I had my card with me ...
---------

I've been banking with BofA for 5 years now, but I am going to pull all of my money in the checking and savings account this week. And needless to say I will never get another credit card with them.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Orris: Going Big on "Little Dishes"

You know when you hear about something, made a mental note to try it out, then forgot about it for the longest time? Orris was one of those for me, but I finally suddenly remembered it yesterday!
I was considering trying out Simon LA although I've heard mediocre review, then I remembered Orris! And boy am I glad I did :)
It was one of the best meals I've had in LA!

Orris blends among the stretch of restaurants and shops on Sawtelle, so it doesn't particularly stand out when you drive by. Being on Sawtelle, the atmosphere is pretty low key and quiet (even though Jonathan Gold called the atmosphere "fancy" I don't really agree), so I was pleasantly surprised with all the delicious food that welcomed me inside.

Orris specializes in "little dishes" representing "world cuisine" created by Shiro of South Pasadena. Each dish has a recommended wine pairing, though we did not try any this time around.

First up was the Smoked Salmon Croquette. Very good, though I would have liked a bit more salmon.

Followed by the lobster spring roll. Also good (but I prefer my lobster grilled and drizzled with lemon and a bit of garlic butter.)









Next was sliced beet topped with Etorki cheese. This was excellent! The combination was perfect and it was my first time having this outstanding cheese. Loved it!










Also, tomato burrata. Yum. We had to order another one of these.

We also had dungeness crab and cucumber salad. The ingredients used were very good, although a different sauce may be better.

Next was the lamb loin carpaccio and the ahi sashimi with onion relish. Both were excellent dishes! The lamb carpaccio was topped with Spanish Manchego cheese which made a perfect combination.

After all this excellent dishes though, the final was indisputably the highlight of my meal ...

Seared Foie Gras with Eggplant, w/ Sweet Soy Wasabi Sauce.
Oh my god ... just thinking back about it now >_<
I can still remember the taste on my tongue, the texture ... OMG! The eggplant and the foie gras made an unexpectedly excellent combination, and the sauce! This was definitely one of the best foie gras dishes I've had!

I could not find this on the menu on their website, it might have been a special ... oh no ... the thought of not being able to eat it ever again!! I'm getting depressed ... I will look back on this photo and sigh when I'm old ...

Well, to not think about the depressing stuff right now, I will show you the dessert! We had the only dessert they had left: the flourless chocolate souffle. I must say this was a very very good dessert, but I don't quite see why they called it a "souffle." It sure was good though :)


Orris

2006 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90025
(310) 268-2212

Orris on Urbanspoon

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