Tasting the Revamped Santa Monica Place: La Sandia and Zengo

Do you remember the old Santa Monica Place? The mall at the end of the Third Street Promenade used to be an afterthought. Now it has undergone a massive revamp and face lift that I didn't even recognize it anymore! I went there recently for a media dinner at the two new Richard Sandoval restaurants there, La Sandia and Zengo.

On my way to my first stop, La Sandia, I was so surprised. What used to be an old, dying mall is now a sleek, open-air center.
It's so fancy now!

I was impressed by La Sandia's dining room. The middle area was spacious and airy with a fountain at the center.
Since we're having our media dinner at Zengo, we only sampled some cocktails and tried some appetizers here: enchiladas, taquitos, ceviche. These are dishes you would expect from other Mexican restaurants, and they are done pretty well here.

We sampled four cocktails (sharing the flutes so we don't get too drunk) which were surprisingly well made and interesting.

The Dos Agaves was made with mezcal, agave and rimmed with chapuline salt. Another mezcal drink contained cucumber, pepino, and chile pequin. I enjoyed the passionfruit caipirinha and the hibiscus margarita which uses hibiscus syrup made in house.


La Sandia
395 Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 393-3300



We then moved to Zengo for dinner (and more cocktails).

Overall we liked the cocktails at Zengo better. I ordered the Prickly Pear Caipirinha ($9) and the Mekhong Pina Horchata made with Mekhong thai rum was an interesting creamy concoction. We also tasted the tamarind margarita and cucumber mojito - all of them were good.

The XO sauce edamame was quite addictive. Do give it a try, unless you're vegetarian since the XO sauce contains dried shrimp and scallops.

Many of the dishes are the familiar asian fusion dishes with a twist like beef and hamachi tiradito, sushi rolls, and a miso black cod with chipotle, but you can also find some unique ones worth trying:

Achiote-hoisin pork arepas (corn masa, avocado crema fresca) - $9
This dish combined the sweetness of hoisin pork with the great texture of fried arepas - chewy with a crunchy texture. The creamy avocado is icing on the cake.

Peking Duck-Daikon Tacos (duck confit, curried apple, orange-coriander sauce) - $12

This was another of my favorite.
It's a lighter and more refreshing take on both peking duck and taco. No tortilla or thin chinese pancake here, just the crisp freshness of daikon radish. Unfortunately the duck confit itself was a little on the dry side. Just a little more moist and juicy and it would be perfect.

Not knowing anything about La Sandia, Zengo, or the food of Richard Sandoval before, I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few dishes that I thought were creative combination of flavors I have not seen before. Now that the new Santa Monica Place definitely has some good food and cocktail options, I wouldn't mind the mall so much.

Zengo
395 Santa Monica Pl
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 899-1000
http://www.richardsandoval.com/zengosm/index.htm


Disclosure: This was an all-blogger dinner hosted by the restaurants' PR.

Rose Garden Tea Room at The Huntington Library (San Marino, CA)

The Rose Garden Tea Room is one of the few places to get food inside the sprawling Huntington Library & Gardens but it's also one of the relatively few places in the area to have afternoon tea.

While afternoon tea here is usually not cheap ($27 per person plus tax - that's on top of the admission to the library itself I think - please double check) I got lucky and made it to the list to attend Caltech's Annual Huntington Tea. For $20 or so, I get enter the library AND have afternoon tea at the Rose Garden.

The sandwiches and sweets here are served buffet-style, displayed in the middle of the room.

Standard sandwich selections: egg salad, cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon.

The scones are served warm in a basket though and I quite enjoyed them, both the plain and the chocolate chip.
They're warm and moist. If you're averse to scones because you think they're hard, bland, and dry, then don't worry because these are not.

The Tea Room does have special blends of tea, which unfortunately are served in tea bags. The tea isn't bad at all, though, especially as far as bagged teas go. The desserts? They are the standard mini fruit pies, chocolate cake, and other petit fours. Nothing special, but nothing to complain about.

All in all, it's a mediocre afternoon tea. I enjoyed the scones and since I didn't pay the full price I had no qualm. Should you go visit? Only if you're visiting the garden itself and wanted to eat, drink tea, and relax.

I mean, the tea room is right next to this:
and this:
Since it will take at least two hours of walking to see a sufficient portion of the gardens, you might as well do it on a full stomach.

Rose Garden Tea Room
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 683-8131
http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary_02.aspx?id=310

Pigs on a Hike: Diamond Head (Honolulu, Hawaii)

Because I have to burn some of those calories somehow ...

One of the popular trails in Honolulu is the Diamond Head (Le'ahi) State Monument. Diamond Head is a crater believed to have formed about 300,000 years ago a trail to the summit was built in 1908 as part of the U.S. Army Coastal Artillery defense system.

The trail is almost all stairs and it's a pretty steep climb. Luckily, it's only a 0.8 mile hike one way, climbing 560 feet with 279 steps (the rest is an uphill slope).

The reward is a pretty magnificent view of the coast and the amazingly turquoise ocean.
I wanted to visit that lighthouse ...

You can almost get a 360-degree view of the island from the observation station at the summit (a small part of that is the crater, construction, and parking).

If that 1.6 mile hike almost did you in, you'd be glad to know that there's usually a truck at the end of the trail selling hot dogs, smoothies, shaved ice, etc.
Most of the smoothies are made using syrup but their pineapple one is made from real fruits (this being Hawaii and all). Pictured below is the mango smoothie, which while may not be one of the best smoothies you'll have in your life, it'll taste damn good after a hike.



Diamond Head Road at 18th Ave.
Waikiki Honolulu, Oahu, HI