I'M BORED
Ok people. I'm bored. And not even the normal, this will go away once I find a nice diversion like the New York Times kind of bored. I'm SEVERELY bored. Big Ed thinks that it may be brought on by stress, and he may not be entirely wrong. I do have a very long month ahead of me. During which I might even make enough to pay myself. Which would be nice. But it's hard to focus on that when I'm at work, procrastinating and there aren't any customers around.
This happens to me once in a while. And in the past, I was able to remedy it by taking quick trips. When I lived in DC, I'd go up to Philly. When I lived in Philly, I'd go up to NY or to Baltimore. But now I'm chained to this store, and to temporary relieve the boredom, I've started surfing travel websites looking for quick deals. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll be able to take a quick trip the weekend after Vday. Or else I'll be waiting until March to take a trip anywhere. Of course last year I remedied this problem by baking. A lot. Like almost every other day. But I can't do this now due to my pledge to eat better and because Tom doesn't like cookies, so I'll ended up eating most of them. Instead, I think we'll take a trip to Chinatown for dinner tonight. At least that will get me out of the apt for a few hours.
In other news, I was reading The Amateur Gourmet's blog earlier today and he referred to a post by Frank Bruni about photographing in restaurants. I would tend to agree with him that it is kinda annoying when people are continually taking pictures, which is why a lot of my posts at the "fancier" places don't include pics. (Like the time we went to Enoteca and Per Se, though I did snap pics at No. 9 Park). I'll continue to try taking pics for you guys when I feel that it won't interfere with anyone's meal. Otherwise, you'll actually have to try places out for yourself to see what the food looks like.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
MORE TIDBITS
Here's another edition of my random thoughts on what's going on....
1. I was walking home yesterday and what did I spy out of the corner of my eye, but.....
That's right. Popeye's Chicken is coming to Kenmore Square, just next door to Uno's on Brookline Ave. Now I know that many of you will be thrilled with the arrival of Popeye's. Prior to this, the closest one (actually the only one) in MA was in Brockton. The next closest were in Rhode Island. Personally, I've never had Popeye's. My family always had KFC, so I'm a little interested in what it's like. But what interests/concerns me more is what the hell is going on the Kenmore Square? They make this big push to make it a destination area, extending the Comm Ave. mall (ok, that hasn't happened yet, but it's in the works), building a new T stop and opening up a big luxury hotel. And what opens up next door? A Popeye's. That doesn't exactly spell luxury to me.
2. Congratulation to the Globe for figuring out 5 years too late that Food Blogs are a big thing now. Apparently the writers at the Globe read only their newspapers and none others. I guess this does make sense since we do seem to be constantly behind the times here in Boston. And especially with the Globe. While other news outlets (NY Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, LA Times....) have their bloggers well established, you'd be hard pressed to find any on the Globe homepage. So hooray to the Globe for explaining to all of us here in Boston that "Blogging is the latest trend in food writing. Just about anyone who likes to cook and has an Internet connection can use free online software to create a weblog, or blog, that allows them to publish stories, recipes, photographs, and videos."
3. Thanks to Jayna for cooking us a delicious dinner last night. We hope to make many more trips to your home in the future.
4. I've decided to host a Superbowl party. But I'm not too sure what to make. Leah and Tom were in agreement that it'd involve frozen pizzas, chicken wings, jello and Coolwhip. But I don't know if I can really execute that. And they ruled out baked desserts cause apparently it's not appropriate. I even offered to make a pie, but was voted down but the two people who love pie the most, because you're not supposed to eat pie on Superbowl Sunday. Cookies shaped liked footballs? No to that, too. So far, I've decided to make guacamole and quesadillas, but I'm willing to take suggestions.
5. Thank goodness we ate at Per Se last year. Apparently it now costs $250/person (we paid $21o), but hey, you now get free bottled water, coffee and tea. As if that made up for the additional $40. With tax, that means that a dinner at Per Se will now cost closer to $300. But do I still want to go to the French Laundry? You betcha.
Here's another edition of my random thoughts on what's going on....
1. I was walking home yesterday and what did I spy out of the corner of my eye, but.....
That's right. Popeye's Chicken is coming to Kenmore Square, just next door to Uno's on Brookline Ave. Now I know that many of you will be thrilled with the arrival of Popeye's. Prior to this, the closest one (actually the only one) in MA was in Brockton. The next closest were in Rhode Island. Personally, I've never had Popeye's. My family always had KFC, so I'm a little interested in what it's like. But what interests/concerns me more is what the hell is going on the Kenmore Square? They make this big push to make it a destination area, extending the Comm Ave. mall (ok, that hasn't happened yet, but it's in the works), building a new T stop and opening up a big luxury hotel. And what opens up next door? A Popeye's. That doesn't exactly spell luxury to me.
2. Congratulation to the Globe for figuring out 5 years too late that Food Blogs are a big thing now. Apparently the writers at the Globe read only their newspapers and none others. I guess this does make sense since we do seem to be constantly behind the times here in Boston. And especially with the Globe. While other news outlets (NY Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, LA Times....) have their bloggers well established, you'd be hard pressed to find any on the Globe homepage. So hooray to the Globe for explaining to all of us here in Boston that "Blogging is the latest trend in food writing. Just about anyone who likes to cook and has an Internet connection can use free online software to create a weblog, or blog, that allows them to publish stories, recipes, photographs, and videos."
3. Thanks to Jayna for cooking us a delicious dinner last night. We hope to make many more trips to your home in the future.
4. I've decided to host a Superbowl party. But I'm not too sure what to make. Leah and Tom were in agreement that it'd involve frozen pizzas, chicken wings, jello and Coolwhip. But I don't know if I can really execute that. And they ruled out baked desserts cause apparently it's not appropriate. I even offered to make a pie, but was voted down but the two people who love pie the most, because you're not supposed to eat pie on Superbowl Sunday. Cookies shaped liked footballs? No to that, too. So far, I've decided to make guacamole and quesadillas, but I'm willing to take suggestions.
5. Thank goodness we ate at Per Se last year. Apparently it now costs $250/person (we paid $21o), but hey, you now get free bottled water, coffee and tea. As if that made up for the additional $40. With tax, that means that a dinner at Per Se will now cost closer to $300. But do I still want to go to the French Laundry? You betcha.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
EASTERN STANDARD REVISITED
If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I've never reviewed Eastern Standard, even though I've been there many times. And I'm not really going to review it right now, but just throw in some commentary. After all, I think I'd give a pretty biased review, since I like the owner, upper management, bartenders and I get a huge discount whenever I go. Anyway, last night Tom and I went for dinner. I really needed a meal out, since I've been cooking at home so much lately and I just wanted someone to cook for me and wait on me. Plus as we all know, dining in restaurants is entertaining. Initially, we were going to visit the Beacon Street Tavern, but the menu just doesn't really excite me at all, so we settled on ES since Tom had never been and I wanted to try a dish there.
I haven't actually sat and had a dinner at Eastern Standard in nearly a year and a half. I normally just visit the bar and order drinks, or get a few appetizers. (I'm a really big fan of their fries). I'm happy to say that service has improved since my initial visits, though it still isn't top notch, but I was very happy with my appetizer of onion rings and chicken livers. Everything at Eastern Standard is heavy; they really don't skimp on the butter, fat, cream or salt, and this dish was no exception. The livers had been breaded and deep fried, but were still a little rare, so they were moist and delicious. And those onion rings...I haven't had onion rings that good in a long time. Maybe it was the thick layer of batter or how deeply fried they were, but it was so tasty. Unfortunately, they won't allow you to order just the onion rings (I've asked), but if you're into chicken livers, then I would definitely give it a try. At this point, I'd had so much fried stuff that I couldn't even eat one of Tom's fries that came with his mussels frites, which turned out not to be a problem since he finished it all off by himself. (He also liked the fries a lot).
I also tried one of the desserts, since they have a new pastry chef. It was a cherry cake topped with almond streussel. I'm sad to say that I was not a big fan. Leah was right, the desserts have improved, but they're still not great. Honestly, I could make a better cake with my equipment at home and my Martha Stewart baking book. Tom always gets annoyed at me when I say things like that, but then, he shouldn't ask me my opinion. I'm not very good at lying or glossing things over when it comes to food.
Speaking of which, do you guys think I'm a Food Bully? The Amateur Gourmet wrote an article for Serious Eats in which he talks about his friends comparing him to some type of food dictator. In fact, for what he writes, I'd be annoyed at him. I won't deny the fact that I'm honest with my food opinions, and my older sister has called me a food snob. But I'm not trying to be condescending and if I'm gonna consume the calories, then I want it to be worth it. And that has benefited you guys. Whenever I get a call from Boston, LA, Philadelphia or NY, I almost always give you good restaurant recs. Anyway, I understand that people can't cook everyday. I mean, I hate cooking for just me, and if Tom weren't around, I'd end up microwaving Trader Joe's Chicken Burritos for the majority of my dinners. But if you find me being annoying, just let me know, and I'll back off. In the meantime, go to ES and eat chicken livers!
If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I've never reviewed Eastern Standard, even though I've been there many times. And I'm not really going to review it right now, but just throw in some commentary. After all, I think I'd give a pretty biased review, since I like the owner, upper management, bartenders and I get a huge discount whenever I go. Anyway, last night Tom and I went for dinner. I really needed a meal out, since I've been cooking at home so much lately and I just wanted someone to cook for me and wait on me. Plus as we all know, dining in restaurants is entertaining. Initially, we were going to visit the Beacon Street Tavern, but the menu just doesn't really excite me at all, so we settled on ES since Tom had never been and I wanted to try a dish there.
I haven't actually sat and had a dinner at Eastern Standard in nearly a year and a half. I normally just visit the bar and order drinks, or get a few appetizers. (I'm a really big fan of their fries). I'm happy to say that service has improved since my initial visits, though it still isn't top notch, but I was very happy with my appetizer of onion rings and chicken livers. Everything at Eastern Standard is heavy; they really don't skimp on the butter, fat, cream or salt, and this dish was no exception. The livers had been breaded and deep fried, but were still a little rare, so they were moist and delicious. And those onion rings...I haven't had onion rings that good in a long time. Maybe it was the thick layer of batter or how deeply fried they were, but it was so tasty. Unfortunately, they won't allow you to order just the onion rings (I've asked), but if you're into chicken livers, then I would definitely give it a try. At this point, I'd had so much fried stuff that I couldn't even eat one of Tom's fries that came with his mussels frites, which turned out not to be a problem since he finished it all off by himself. (He also liked the fries a lot).
I also tried one of the desserts, since they have a new pastry chef. It was a cherry cake topped with almond streussel. I'm sad to say that I was not a big fan. Leah was right, the desserts have improved, but they're still not great. Honestly, I could make a better cake with my equipment at home and my Martha Stewart baking book. Tom always gets annoyed at me when I say things like that, but then, he shouldn't ask me my opinion. I'm not very good at lying or glossing things over when it comes to food.
Speaking of which, do you guys think I'm a Food Bully? The Amateur Gourmet wrote an article for Serious Eats in which he talks about his friends comparing him to some type of food dictator. In fact, for what he writes, I'd be annoyed at him. I won't deny the fact that I'm honest with my food opinions, and my older sister has called me a food snob. But I'm not trying to be condescending and if I'm gonna consume the calories, then I want it to be worth it. And that has benefited you guys. Whenever I get a call from Boston, LA, Philadelphia or NY, I almost always give you good restaurant recs. Anyway, I understand that people can't cook everyday. I mean, I hate cooking for just me, and if Tom weren't around, I'd end up microwaving Trader Joe's Chicken Burritos for the majority of my dinners. But if you find me being annoying, just let me know, and I'll back off. In the meantime, go to ES and eat chicken livers!
Monday, January 22, 2007
BUT I LOVE DA COOKIE
I just finished eating two chocolate chip cookies. It's now 10:30 AM. I ate them just cause they were there. I wasn't even hungry. And yeah, sometime I eat them for breakfast. I don't know why I have no self control around such things. If they're not around, I won't eat them, but if they are, you can bet I'll finish them off. (I have the same problem with really good chocolate. That's how I finished eating a box of Michel Chaudin chocolates 2 days after we'd gotten back from Paris).
And knowing this, I will still make myself cookies and brownies. I just like to bake. Last night it was chocolate chip cookies, another recipe from my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I've made chocolate chip cookies forever, but I've never found a recipe that I've loved. Of course, there are so many different types of chocolate chip cookies. Soft chewy ones, crispy crunchy ones. I like the crispy crunch ones, but the only way I had succeeded in making them was with frozen, sliced Pilsbury cookie dough. My other cookies always came out a bit lumpy and misshapen. So when I saw a pic of the cookies made by the Amateur Gourmet using Martha's recipe, all thin, crisp and golden, I decided that I had to make them myself.
While Tom was watching the Pats play the Colts, I set about making my cookies. The recipe asked for a surprising amount of sugar, but I went with it. Also, it asked for dark brown sugar, and I only had light brown, but I just used the light brown. While mixing everything up, I thought that the batter didn't seem very moist, but that made it easy to form into little balls and put them on the cookie sheet. Oh, this was also my first use for my new Silpats for baking cookies (thanks Leah!) and they made baking and cleanup so much easier. 20 minutes later, I had some golden, crispy chocolate chip cookies. They were almost perfect. The could only be improved two ways: First, I used up my remaining Tollhouse chocolate chips. Had I used a better quality chocolate, they would've tasted a bit better. Also, I'll probably cut down on the sugar the next time I make these. They really are great, but a little too sweet for me. I don't know how this will change the resulting cookies, (If I decrease the amount of sugar, should I also decrease the amount of flour?) but I'll keep you posted.
I just finished eating two chocolate chip cookies. It's now 10:30 AM. I ate them just cause they were there. I wasn't even hungry. And yeah, sometime I eat them for breakfast. I don't know why I have no self control around such things. If they're not around, I won't eat them, but if they are, you can bet I'll finish them off. (I have the same problem with really good chocolate. That's how I finished eating a box of Michel Chaudin chocolates 2 days after we'd gotten back from Paris).
And knowing this, I will still make myself cookies and brownies. I just like to bake. Last night it was chocolate chip cookies, another recipe from my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook. I've made chocolate chip cookies forever, but I've never found a recipe that I've loved. Of course, there are so many different types of chocolate chip cookies. Soft chewy ones, crispy crunchy ones. I like the crispy crunch ones, but the only way I had succeeded in making them was with frozen, sliced Pilsbury cookie dough. My other cookies always came out a bit lumpy and misshapen. So when I saw a pic of the cookies made by the Amateur Gourmet using Martha's recipe, all thin, crisp and golden, I decided that I had to make them myself.
While Tom was watching the Pats play the Colts, I set about making my cookies. The recipe asked for a surprising amount of sugar, but I went with it. Also, it asked for dark brown sugar, and I only had light brown, but I just used the light brown. While mixing everything up, I thought that the batter didn't seem very moist, but that made it easy to form into little balls and put them on the cookie sheet. Oh, this was also my first use for my new Silpats for baking cookies (thanks Leah!) and they made baking and cleanup so much easier. 20 minutes later, I had some golden, crispy chocolate chip cookies. They were almost perfect. The could only be improved two ways: First, I used up my remaining Tollhouse chocolate chips. Had I used a better quality chocolate, they would've tasted a bit better. Also, I'll probably cut down on the sugar the next time I make these. They really are great, but a little too sweet for me. I don't know how this will change the resulting cookies, (If I decrease the amount of sugar, should I also decrease the amount of flour?) but I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
TIDBITS
I don't have any new food experiences to write about right now, but I do have a few random things to mention:
1. Even the nicest restaurants have vermin. A while back, Tom, Big Ed and I were having lunch at Mulan in Cambridge. We were almost done with our meal when I spied a small cockroach on Ed's jacket. (The jacket was resting on an empty chair) We were unable to catch it and it scampered off. And I guess you would dismiss this as another Chinese food restaurant with vermin problems and refuse to eat there again. But, having worked in a few kitchens, I know that even in the cleanest kitchens you can't get rid of all vermin. Still it was surprising when we were at dinner at No. 9 Park the other night, and I noticed something even more disturbing. Much of the restaurant had emptied out and beneath a vacated table, I spotted something move. It was so large that I thought it was a mouse. But on closer inspection, I realized that it was a very very large cockroach. This was confirmed by both Leah and Jayna who also saw it. So there you go, one of the biggest cockroaches I'd ever seen, in one of the best restaurants in Boston. Still, if I was offered another meal at No. 9, you'd bet I'd got back. And the same thing goes for Mulan. (I take exception with Chau Chow City, where there was a dead cockroach on the table and they make you walk past all the restaurant's trash to get to the bathroom. That's just going too far.)
2. I tried out my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook yesterday. I've mentioned that we're trying to eat healthier, but even after dinner, I still want something sweet. (usually chocolate or ice cream). I'm thinking of getting a box of fat free fudgsicles so even if I have a craving, it'll be fat free. At any rate, I'd been eyeing two different brownie recipes. One in a copy of Cook's Illustrated that was for traditional brownies, like the ones you get at bake sales. The M.S. one was for fudgy brownies, more like flourless chocolate cake than brownie. I decided to go with the M.S. recipe since I actually had all the ingredients (the Cook's Illustrated one asked for cake flour.) Well, they did turn out pretty well, but so fudgy that they don't really hold together real well. They crumble the second you pick them up, though maybe I could have increased the cooking time to harden it up a bit. At any rate, so far I approve of the book.
3. It was ironic that I found this article posted on Serious Eats yesterday, since I made Mabo Tofu for dinner last night. It's about the evils of soy and let me just quote from one section here: "Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products." Really, this article is so absurd that I find it HILARIOUS. It's a must read. Just for laughs.
4. Tom received a copy of Giada de Laurentis's cookbook Everyday Italian for Xmas. And I'll admit that even though I'm not a fan of Giada (thankfully she's less annoying than Rachel Ray), I've already flipped through the book and marked out some recipes to try out. (I try not to bore Tom with my cooking and make new stuff whenever I can). But dear lord, I have never, ever seen a cookbook with so many pictures of the chef and such few pictures of the food! Even in her pictures, there is rarely an item of food present. And there are pages of them. No wonder men watch this show so much.
5. I'm breathing a sigh of relief cause it turns out that I won't need to move and can renew my lease for another year. So I think it's time to work on some organization options for my kitchen. There's a lot of storage space, but I don't use it wisely. And I could have a ton of counter space, if I didn't have everything lined up on it (toaster, coffeemaker, microwave, breadbox, and wine rack. That doesn't include the mini chopper, handblender and hand mixer that I have stacked on top of the microwave). Tom's proposed buying some type of organizing shelf since last year, and I think that'd be a good idea. We were at lunch with Evan and Stephanie and Evan pointed out that if the equipment isn't out, you'll never use it. And I have two new Cuisinarts to put out. So time to look for some storage options.
Ok, that's it for now! Hopefully I'll have something to write about after this weekend.
I don't have any new food experiences to write about right now, but I do have a few random things to mention:
1. Even the nicest restaurants have vermin. A while back, Tom, Big Ed and I were having lunch at Mulan in Cambridge. We were almost done with our meal when I spied a small cockroach on Ed's jacket. (The jacket was resting on an empty chair) We were unable to catch it and it scampered off. And I guess you would dismiss this as another Chinese food restaurant with vermin problems and refuse to eat there again. But, having worked in a few kitchens, I know that even in the cleanest kitchens you can't get rid of all vermin. Still it was surprising when we were at dinner at No. 9 Park the other night, and I noticed something even more disturbing. Much of the restaurant had emptied out and beneath a vacated table, I spotted something move. It was so large that I thought it was a mouse. But on closer inspection, I realized that it was a very very large cockroach. This was confirmed by both Leah and Jayna who also saw it. So there you go, one of the biggest cockroaches I'd ever seen, in one of the best restaurants in Boston. Still, if I was offered another meal at No. 9, you'd bet I'd got back. And the same thing goes for Mulan. (I take exception with Chau Chow City, where there was a dead cockroach on the table and they make you walk past all the restaurant's trash to get to the bathroom. That's just going too far.)
2. I tried out my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook yesterday. I've mentioned that we're trying to eat healthier, but even after dinner, I still want something sweet. (usually chocolate or ice cream). I'm thinking of getting a box of fat free fudgsicles so even if I have a craving, it'll be fat free. At any rate, I'd been eyeing two different brownie recipes. One in a copy of Cook's Illustrated that was for traditional brownies, like the ones you get at bake sales. The M.S. one was for fudgy brownies, more like flourless chocolate cake than brownie. I decided to go with the M.S. recipe since I actually had all the ingredients (the Cook's Illustrated one asked for cake flour.) Well, they did turn out pretty well, but so fudgy that they don't really hold together real well. They crumble the second you pick them up, though maybe I could have increased the cooking time to harden it up a bit. At any rate, so far I approve of the book.
3. It was ironic that I found this article posted on Serious Eats yesterday, since I made Mabo Tofu for dinner last night. It's about the evils of soy and let me just quote from one section here: "Soy is feminizing, and commonly leads to a decrease in the size of the penis, sexual confusion and homosexuality. That's why most of the medical (not socio-spiritual) blame for today's rise in homosexuality must fall upon the rise in soy formula and other soy products." Really, this article is so absurd that I find it HILARIOUS. It's a must read. Just for laughs.
4. Tom received a copy of Giada de Laurentis's cookbook Everyday Italian for Xmas. And I'll admit that even though I'm not a fan of Giada (thankfully she's less annoying than Rachel Ray), I've already flipped through the book and marked out some recipes to try out. (I try not to bore Tom with my cooking and make new stuff whenever I can). But dear lord, I have never, ever seen a cookbook with so many pictures of the chef and such few pictures of the food! Even in her pictures, there is rarely an item of food present. And there are pages of them. No wonder men watch this show so much.
5. I'm breathing a sigh of relief cause it turns out that I won't need to move and can renew my lease for another year. So I think it's time to work on some organization options for my kitchen. There's a lot of storage space, but I don't use it wisely. And I could have a ton of counter space, if I didn't have everything lined up on it (toaster, coffeemaker, microwave, breadbox, and wine rack. That doesn't include the mini chopper, handblender and hand mixer that I have stacked on top of the microwave). Tom's proposed buying some type of organizing shelf since last year, and I think that'd be a good idea. We were at lunch with Evan and Stephanie and Evan pointed out that if the equipment isn't out, you'll never use it. And I have two new Cuisinarts to put out. So time to look for some storage options.
Ok, that's it for now! Hopefully I'll have something to write about after this weekend.
Friday, January 12, 2007
ONE LAST BITE
It was time to head back to Boston. Tom and I arrived at the airport super early, worried about the number of people who would be traveling on New Year's Day through LAX. However, we were able to get everything settled pretty quickly and ended up at our gate nearly 2 hours early. This left me plenty of time to get hungry while waiting to board our flight. (And now that you can only buy food on flights, I wanted to fill up). I'll pause here to say that even in LA airports, they have better food options than we do on the east coast. Yes, I know there can be large variations due to the terminal and airline. And I realize that we were in the recently renovated United terminal, but still. You have very few options when you're waiting at JFK or BOS. Actually, if I had a stop over anywhere in the world, I think my least desired airport to get stuck at would be JFK.
So after considering my dining options, I settled on La Salsa, a local Mexican food chain(It'd be equivalent to Anna's in Boston).
They have pretty good stuff at fairly reasonable prices, though I did feel that the prices at the LAX location were higher than the normal locations. I was suprised to find that no one was ordering food there (but there was a huge line in front of the neighboring Starbucks), so I stepped up and ordered some chicken taquitos. I was a little shocked by the price (nearly $8) and then was told they had run out of those. So I ordered some nachos instead and filled up at the salsa station while waiting for my order.
And here's my massive plate of nachos. I was not expecting that much food, it took up my whole lap, and Tom didn't want to help me. I ended up eating about a third of it. (And by the time you get to the bottom the nachos are all soggy anyway). Without a doubt, this was a tasty treat for me, and left me questioning, once again, why we can have simply made delicious Mexican food in Boston. Ah well, I'll just have to keep loading up on Mexican food on my next trip home. 
It was time to head back to Boston. Tom and I arrived at the airport super early, worried about the number of people who would be traveling on New Year's Day through LAX. However, we were able to get everything settled pretty quickly and ended up at our gate nearly 2 hours early. This left me plenty of time to get hungry while waiting to board our flight. (And now that you can only buy food on flights, I wanted to fill up). I'll pause here to say that even in LA airports, they have better food options than we do on the east coast. Yes, I know there can be large variations due to the terminal and airline. And I realize that we were in the recently renovated United terminal, but still. You have very few options when you're waiting at JFK or BOS. Actually, if I had a stop over anywhere in the world, I think my least desired airport to get stuck at would be JFK.
So after considering my dining options, I settled on La Salsa, a local Mexican food chain(It'd be equivalent to Anna's in Boston).
They have pretty good stuff at fairly reasonable prices, though I did feel that the prices at the LAX location were higher than the normal locations. I was suprised to find that no one was ordering food there (but there was a huge line in front of the neighboring Starbucks), so I stepped up and ordered some chicken taquitos. I was a little shocked by the price (nearly $8) and then was told they had run out of those. So I ordered some nachos instead and filled up at the salsa station while waiting for my order.
And here's my massive plate of nachos. I was not expecting that much food, it took up my whole lap, and Tom didn't want to help me. I ended up eating about a third of it. (And by the time you get to the bottom the nachos are all soggy anyway). Without a doubt, this was a tasty treat for me, and left me questioning, once again, why we can have simply made delicious Mexican food in Boston. Ah well, I'll just have to keep loading up on Mexican food on my next trip home. 
ANOTHER DAY OF EXCESSIVE EATING, LA DAY 5
On Sunday morning we finally got to sleep in a bit. Well not really. The sun is so bright in LA that it was hard to sleep in any day. But at least we didn't have to be anywhere. So after we got up and lounged around for a bit, we met up with my parents at the Farmer's Market in town. (The Palisades has a little town area where there are supermarkets, drugstores, businesses, etc. Kinda like Coolidge Corner, but a bit bigger).
I really like the Sunday Farmer's Market in the Palisades. It's not as large as the Santa Monica one, but it has a more neighborhoody feel, and they still have a great selection of food. Plus you can people watch by dining at one of the restaurants lining the street. My parents decided to have breakfast at Mort's Deli, which has been around forever. Tom and I decided to have a light breakfast since we had been invited to brunch with Tom (Jeany's husband), his family and Jeany's family. So Tom just bought a few pastries and a pint of strawberries at one of the stalls. Meanwhile, I got this delicious tamale at the tamale booth.
They actually had a wide selection of tamales which skewed to the non traditional, gourmet flavors. (Like bbq chicken). I picked this one cause it's made with blue corn. It also had mozzarella and a roasted green chili inside and was topped with a tomato sauce. It was pretty simple but great.
After our snack, we said goodbye to my parents and headed over to my sister's where we carpooled to Universal City. Our destination was the Universal City Hilton for their Champagne and Seafood Sunday brunch. It's actually a pretty well known brunch, popular among Chinese people because they also serve Asian cuisine like various types of shu mai and dumplings along with a sushi bar. (This is in addition to the traditional omlette station, carving station, etc.) The funny thing is, I normally only go home for one week, once a year, but I had also been here the previous year for a wedding. Here's a pic of the exterior of the hotel. We took it after taking a break from all the eating and felt like we needed to walk around a bit.
And here is a sequence of pics from the actual buffet. Here's the carving station:
The seafood station:
The fruit area:
The chocolate fountain (what's a buffet without a chocolate fountain?):
One of the two dessert stations:
And Tom's (Jeany's Tom's) plate of chocolate dipped fruit:
I'm leaving a lot of stuff out. Like the sushi bar, the hot stations, the salad stations, etc. Needless to say, we ate ourselves silly. Like until it hurt. I could have easily gone without eating dinner that night but my mom had prepared a massive pot of shabu. So we ate that, too. Overall, it was a great New Year's Eve, filled with far too much food. But we were on our way back to Boston the next day, so we could purge ourselves when we returned home.
On Sunday morning we finally got to sleep in a bit. Well not really. The sun is so bright in LA that it was hard to sleep in any day. But at least we didn't have to be anywhere. So after we got up and lounged around for a bit, we met up with my parents at the Farmer's Market in town. (The Palisades has a little town area where there are supermarkets, drugstores, businesses, etc. Kinda like Coolidge Corner, but a bit bigger).
I really like the Sunday Farmer's Market in the Palisades. It's not as large as the Santa Monica one, but it has a more neighborhoody feel, and they still have a great selection of food. Plus you can people watch by dining at one of the restaurants lining the street. My parents decided to have breakfast at Mort's Deli, which has been around forever. Tom and I decided to have a light breakfast since we had been invited to brunch with Tom (Jeany's husband), his family and Jeany's family. So Tom just bought a few pastries and a pint of strawberries at one of the stalls. Meanwhile, I got this delicious tamale at the tamale booth.
They actually had a wide selection of tamales which skewed to the non traditional, gourmet flavors. (Like bbq chicken). I picked this one cause it's made with blue corn. It also had mozzarella and a roasted green chili inside and was topped with a tomato sauce. It was pretty simple but great.After our snack, we said goodbye to my parents and headed over to my sister's where we carpooled to Universal City. Our destination was the Universal City Hilton for their Champagne and Seafood Sunday brunch. It's actually a pretty well known brunch, popular among Chinese people because they also serve Asian cuisine like various types of shu mai and dumplings along with a sushi bar. (This is in addition to the traditional omlette station, carving station, etc.) The funny thing is, I normally only go home for one week, once a year, but I had also been here the previous year for a wedding. Here's a pic of the exterior of the hotel. We took it after taking a break from all the eating and felt like we needed to walk around a bit.
And here is a sequence of pics from the actual buffet. Here's the carving station:
The seafood station:
The fruit area:
The chocolate fountain (what's a buffet without a chocolate fountain?):
One of the two dessert stations:
And Tom's (Jeany's Tom's) plate of chocolate dipped fruit:
I'm leaving a lot of stuff out. Like the sushi bar, the hot stations, the salad stations, etc. Needless to say, we ate ourselves silly. Like until it hurt. I could have easily gone without eating dinner that night but my mom had prepared a massive pot of shabu. So we ate that, too. Overall, it was a great New Year's Eve, filled with far too much food. But we were on our way back to Boston the next day, so we could purge ourselves when we returned home.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
BACK TO LA: DAY 4
Welcome back to my posts about dining in LA. On our 4th day in LA, my mom wanted to go shopping at Marukai and Nijiya, both big Japanese grocery stores located a bit south of where I live. Marukai is more like a giant supermarket/warehouse and the experience is akin to the one you'd have if you were shopping at a Walmart/Costco than a typical supermarket. My friend Noel can go on and on about how much she loves Marukai because they sell things for much less than if you were to visit a normal Japanese grocery store. (which are typically small, pretty and hugely expensive). And did I mention the crowds?? It was even more crowded on the day we went cause it was the day before New Year's Eve, which is apparently a really big holiday for Japanese people. Tom and I wandered around, picking up snacks and random goodies and eventually, we thought it'd be smart to stand in line while my parents shopped. Each line extended to nearly 2/3 back into the store, so even though we got in line early, we still ended waiting a good 30 minutes before we checked out.
Afterward, it was time for lunch, so my parents thought to take us to Nijiya where they have a large Japanese food court (think Porter Exchange, but nicer and with better food) Here's a shot of the interior, with a faux Japanese tea garden.
Each place was super helpful with their little plastic renditions of the food they serve (I always find this amusing). 
I ended up ordering some tempura with rice, but I forgot to take a pick until I'd finished most of it. Sorry, I know this is kinda pathetic. 
Meanwhile, Tom got some uni and rice. 
Eating here is a lot like eating at Porter. It's cheap, quick, and pretty decent. And here's a nice pic of a dessert display case. I really wanted a piece of strawberry cake, but just didn't have the stomach for it. 
After lunch, we decided to walk around the market a bit, to work off the meal. Here's a pick of some king crab legs that they had on display. My mom ended up getting some for the shabu dinner she was cooking on New Year's eve. 
And next to those were these special crabs that were brought in from Hokkaido. Do you know how much these were? $30/ea. Those must be some damn good crabs.
We made our way back to the Westside and I took Tom to Venice Beach to show him around that area. Later that evening, we met up with friends at Tia Juana's. 
Normally when I have Mexican food in LA, I'll just hit up the local take out joint. But everyone (my sisters, Katie, Chowhounders) had been singing the praises of Tia Juana and their freshly made tortillas. So we picked that as a location for our group dinner. I was expecting maybe 8 people at dinner, but I'd invited Greg, a friend of Jayna's, and much like Big Ed, he showed up with his posse. We ended up having 14 people at dinner, but the staff at Tia Juana was very accomadating and put the tables together for us.
We waited 45 minutes before everyone arrived and we ordered, though it didn't really feel that long. I spent the entire time munching on these homemade tortilla chips. I think I ate nearly a basket by myself, and they just kept refilling them. I eventually had to stop myself.
When we finally ordered, we started off with a plate of guacamole to share. It was good, but to be honest, I can make better guac than that. And I didn't think it was salty enough, but I've been having salt issues. Also, I didn't know what was going on with that watery salsa stuff on top. I was kinda turned off by that.
Next, I ordered my dinner. I ordered one enchilada and once hard taco (both with chicken). It came with this bowl of soup:
Which basically tasted like Campbell's canned veggie soup. Tom ate the meatballs. (My other choice would've been an iceberg lettuce salad. Why do they even bother?)
But onto my main course. Here's it is, a massive plate of food. Now, Katie had warned me that the portions are huge here. Plus, she'd also mentioned she normally just ended up eating the tortillas with beans and rice, so she shared one dinner with Dustin. That turned out to be the smart move. I ended up with way too much food (and I'd eaten all those damn tortilla chips). I did finish off the enchilada, and thoroughly enjoyed the sauce on top, along with the taco.
And of course, I had to eat one of their famous tortillas (which are served with butter on the side). They are made by hand at the front of the restaurant. 
They really were quite good, but I just couldn't finish it all! Oh, I also wanted to share a pic of Ben's dinner (my little sister's bf). He ordered the shrimp. And though well cooked, I want to point out that there are only a total of 4 shrimp served. So don't order that. 
Ultimately, I had a really enjoyable dinner at Tia Juana. The food was great and it wasn't too expensive. Plus it was really plentiful. I walked out of there painfully stuffed. (but still managed to go to the Balcony to fit in a last mocha. I'm telling you, I was amazed at my eating abilities in LA). I really do love Mexican food in LA, and will continue to hope for such a place to open in Boston. I mean really, with the number of LA friends that have lived out here and complained about Anna's qualifying as "great Mexican food", you'd think SOMEONE would've caught on and opened a good place by now. Sigh.
Welcome back to my posts about dining in LA. On our 4th day in LA, my mom wanted to go shopping at Marukai and Nijiya, both big Japanese grocery stores located a bit south of where I live. Marukai is more like a giant supermarket/warehouse and the experience is akin to the one you'd have if you were shopping at a Walmart/Costco than a typical supermarket. My friend Noel can go on and on about how much she loves Marukai because they sell things for much less than if you were to visit a normal Japanese grocery store. (which are typically small, pretty and hugely expensive). And did I mention the crowds?? It was even more crowded on the day we went cause it was the day before New Year's Eve, which is apparently a really big holiday for Japanese people. Tom and I wandered around, picking up snacks and random goodies and eventually, we thought it'd be smart to stand in line while my parents shopped. Each line extended to nearly 2/3 back into the store, so even though we got in line early, we still ended waiting a good 30 minutes before we checked out.
Afterward, it was time for lunch, so my parents thought to take us to Nijiya where they have a large Japanese food court (think Porter Exchange, but nicer and with better food) Here's a shot of the interior, with a faux Japanese tea garden.
Each place was super helpful with their little plastic renditions of the food they serve (I always find this amusing). 
I ended up ordering some tempura with rice, but I forgot to take a pick until I'd finished most of it. Sorry, I know this is kinda pathetic. 
Meanwhile, Tom got some uni and rice. 
Eating here is a lot like eating at Porter. It's cheap, quick, and pretty decent. And here's a nice pic of a dessert display case. I really wanted a piece of strawberry cake, but just didn't have the stomach for it. 
After lunch, we decided to walk around the market a bit, to work off the meal. Here's a pick of some king crab legs that they had on display. My mom ended up getting some for the shabu dinner she was cooking on New Year's eve. 
And next to those were these special crabs that were brought in from Hokkaido. Do you know how much these were? $30/ea. Those must be some damn good crabs.
We made our way back to the Westside and I took Tom to Venice Beach to show him around that area. Later that evening, we met up with friends at Tia Juana's. 
Normally when I have Mexican food in LA, I'll just hit up the local take out joint. But everyone (my sisters, Katie, Chowhounders) had been singing the praises of Tia Juana and their freshly made tortillas. So we picked that as a location for our group dinner. I was expecting maybe 8 people at dinner, but I'd invited Greg, a friend of Jayna's, and much like Big Ed, he showed up with his posse. We ended up having 14 people at dinner, but the staff at Tia Juana was very accomadating and put the tables together for us. We waited 45 minutes before everyone arrived and we ordered, though it didn't really feel that long. I spent the entire time munching on these homemade tortilla chips. I think I ate nearly a basket by myself, and they just kept refilling them. I eventually had to stop myself.
When we finally ordered, we started off with a plate of guacamole to share. It was good, but to be honest, I can make better guac than that. And I didn't think it was salty enough, but I've been having salt issues. Also, I didn't know what was going on with that watery salsa stuff on top. I was kinda turned off by that.
Next, I ordered my dinner. I ordered one enchilada and once hard taco (both with chicken). It came with this bowl of soup:
Which basically tasted like Campbell's canned veggie soup. Tom ate the meatballs. (My other choice would've been an iceberg lettuce salad. Why do they even bother?)But onto my main course. Here's it is, a massive plate of food. Now, Katie had warned me that the portions are huge here. Plus, she'd also mentioned she normally just ended up eating the tortillas with beans and rice, so she shared one dinner with Dustin. That turned out to be the smart move. I ended up with way too much food (and I'd eaten all those damn tortilla chips). I did finish off the enchilada, and thoroughly enjoyed the sauce on top, along with the taco.
And of course, I had to eat one of their famous tortillas (which are served with butter on the side). They are made by hand at the front of the restaurant. 
They really were quite good, but I just couldn't finish it all! Oh, I also wanted to share a pic of Ben's dinner (my little sister's bf). He ordered the shrimp. And though well cooked, I want to point out that there are only a total of 4 shrimp served. So don't order that. 
Ultimately, I had a really enjoyable dinner at Tia Juana. The food was great and it wasn't too expensive. Plus it was really plentiful. I walked out of there painfully stuffed. (but still managed to go to the Balcony to fit in a last mocha. I'm telling you, I was amazed at my eating abilities in LA). I really do love Mexican food in LA, and will continue to hope for such a place to open in Boston. I mean really, with the number of LA friends that have lived out here and complained about Anna's qualifying as "great Mexican food", you'd think SOMEONE would've caught on and opened a good place by now. Sigh.
NO. 9 PARK
This is part 2 of my birthday post. A while ago I had told Tom that all I really wanted for my birthday was dinner at No. 9 Park. I'd wanted to go here for some time, especially after Barbara Lynch won the James Beard Award shortly after my move to Boston. For those of you who don't know, the James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of the food industry. Tom dutifully made the reservation a month in advance, and also invited along some of my friends, so the four of us headed off to No. 9 Park on Tuesday evening.
Given how hard it can be to get a reservation here, I had expected the place to be completely packed when we arrived, and though there were a good number of people there, it wasn't uncomfortably so. The ceilings of the restaurant were surprisingly low (well i guess it is a basement after all) and the lighting is dim and romantic. I also liked the little beaded thingies they had on all their light fixtures. After waiting for a few minutes, we were shown to our table in one of the two dining rooms, where we were given drink menus and waited for Jayna to arrive. Our waiter was pleasant, but a little too eager. We just wanted to settle in and relax, and he wasn't giving us much of a chance. But after Jayna got there and we refused alcohol, he backed off a bit.
I had told Tom that he should order the famous prune stuffed gnocchi: seared foie gras, Vin Santo glaze, so both he and Leah both ordered that. Meanwhile, I went with Chowhound recommendations to order some type of pasta, so both Jayna and I started off with the Fresh Ricotta Ravioletti: chestnuts, sage, Parmigiano-Reggiano. (oh right, the menu is here is you wanna check it out).
Ok, I'll warn you know that I didn't photograph everyone's plate. I always feel a little uncomfortable having my flash go off in fancy restaurants (like Per se and Enoteca) so I limited myself to taking shots of my own food and a few extra ones. Anyway, here's my ravioli. I was surprised when the dish arrived cause I was expecting mini ravioli and instead, there were two gigantic ones. They were great, though. The pasta was well made and perfectly cooked and the ricotta was so smooth and creamy; I don't think I've ever had any ricotta like that. One thing I didn't like were the chestnuts, which ended up being candied and a little hard. I understand how they were supposed to provide a contrasting flavor and texture, but I could've lived without them. Meanwhile, Leah loved the gnocchi and Tom also enjoyed it.
I didn't have a super hard time deciding what I wanted for dinner, cause I didn't eat a lot of the meats on the menu, so I was debating between the scallops and chicken. I wasn't in a seafoody mood, though, so I went with the chicken: Giannone Farms Chicken, baby turnips, Perigord Truffle, sauce supreme. I was also excited about the truffles on the chicken. Here it is below.
I found the chicken tender and really well cooked and flavorful. I was disappointed with the truffles, though, and found that they didn't provide any extra flavor at all. And I was surprised to find one of my favorite parts of the dish was the baby turnips, which were perfectly cooked and incredibly flavorful. Meanwhile, Tom really like his venison which he had ordered medium rare and said it was like butter. Leah and Jayna also enjoyed their entrees. We were having great food, but the one thing I noticed that people like certain parts of their dishes rather the dish as a whole.
Ok, I insisted on having dessert and stopped eating my main dish just so I could have one. I knew from Chowhound that they had some convoluted descriptions of their desserts, and you can find them here. There was also this really cool cheese cart being pushed around, so Leah got that. Here's a pic of all the fixing they give you with the cheese cart. I found it kinda cool.
I also wanted to take a picture of the cart, but didn't get a really good chance. So instead, here's a pic of Leah's cheese plate. She got one cow, one goat and one sheep's cheese. I only tried the Pecorino, which I found incredibly salty. But overall, everyone enjoyed the cow's cheese. (in the top left hand corner of the plate)
Lastly, here's my dessert. I ordered the Pineapple Chiboust: tropical salade, buddha's hand confiture. 
Tom got the Seckel Pear Retourner: star anise glace, quince, chocolate and Jayna got the Milk Chocolate Creamsicle: pomegranate, bittersweet panini . A number of the desserts interested me, but each one had components that didn't. For example, I would've gone for the pear, but I hate quince and star anise. But I wasn't gonna go for the boring chocolate cake (yes, they have a ganache cake on the menu). My dessert wasn't what I expected. While I did expect some sort of pastry, this was like a large piece of moussey/tofu flavored with pineapple and it was waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too sweet.. Actually, I should've asked the waiter what it was cause I just looked up the definition of chiboust on line: It is a pastry cream, finished with Italian meringue. and had I known that, I never would've orderd it. My favorite part ended up being the tropical salad, which was floral and flavored with something I couldn't indentify. My favorite dessert ended up being Tom's (minus the ice cream and quince). Again, it seemed that we all enjoyed different components of the dessert, but not the dessert as a whole. Jayna didn't even finish her bittersweet panini cause they tasted like they'd been drenched in oil.
Overall, we had a fantastic dinner at No. 9 Park; one of the best dinners that I've had in Boston. The service wasn't impeccable. The waiter had definitely backed off too much during the meal and we rarely saw him until dessert, but it was still very good by Boston's standards. And the food was also pretty great. Overall, if you have the opportunity and the means, I would highly suggest a trip here, it's definitely one of the "must visit" restaurants in Boston.
This is part 2 of my birthday post. A while ago I had told Tom that all I really wanted for my birthday was dinner at No. 9 Park. I'd wanted to go here for some time, especially after Barbara Lynch won the James Beard Award shortly after my move to Boston. For those of you who don't know, the James Beard Awards are like the Oscars of the food industry. Tom dutifully made the reservation a month in advance, and also invited along some of my friends, so the four of us headed off to No. 9 Park on Tuesday evening.
Given how hard it can be to get a reservation here, I had expected the place to be completely packed when we arrived, and though there were a good number of people there, it wasn't uncomfortably so. The ceilings of the restaurant were surprisingly low (well i guess it is a basement after all) and the lighting is dim and romantic. I also liked the little beaded thingies they had on all their light fixtures. After waiting for a few minutes, we were shown to our table in one of the two dining rooms, where we were given drink menus and waited for Jayna to arrive. Our waiter was pleasant, but a little too eager. We just wanted to settle in and relax, and he wasn't giving us much of a chance. But after Jayna got there and we refused alcohol, he backed off a bit.
I had told Tom that he should order the famous prune stuffed gnocchi: seared foie gras, Vin Santo glaze, so both he and Leah both ordered that. Meanwhile, I went with Chowhound recommendations to order some type of pasta, so both Jayna and I started off with the Fresh Ricotta Ravioletti: chestnuts, sage, Parmigiano-Reggiano. (oh right, the menu is here is you wanna check it out).
Ok, I'll warn you know that I didn't photograph everyone's plate. I always feel a little uncomfortable having my flash go off in fancy restaurants (like Per se and Enoteca) so I limited myself to taking shots of my own food and a few extra ones. Anyway, here's my ravioli. I was surprised when the dish arrived cause I was expecting mini ravioli and instead, there were two gigantic ones. They were great, though. The pasta was well made and perfectly cooked and the ricotta was so smooth and creamy; I don't think I've ever had any ricotta like that. One thing I didn't like were the chestnuts, which ended up being candied and a little hard. I understand how they were supposed to provide a contrasting flavor and texture, but I could've lived without them. Meanwhile, Leah loved the gnocchi and Tom also enjoyed it.I didn't have a super hard time deciding what I wanted for dinner, cause I didn't eat a lot of the meats on the menu, so I was debating between the scallops and chicken. I wasn't in a seafoody mood, though, so I went with the chicken: Giannone Farms Chicken, baby turnips, Perigord Truffle, sauce supreme. I was also excited about the truffles on the chicken. Here it is below.
I found the chicken tender and really well cooked and flavorful. I was disappointed with the truffles, though, and found that they didn't provide any extra flavor at all. And I was surprised to find one of my favorite parts of the dish was the baby turnips, which were perfectly cooked and incredibly flavorful. Meanwhile, Tom really like his venison which he had ordered medium rare and said it was like butter. Leah and Jayna also enjoyed their entrees. We were having great food, but the one thing I noticed that people like certain parts of their dishes rather the dish as a whole.Ok, I insisted on having dessert and stopped eating my main dish just so I could have one. I knew from Chowhound that they had some convoluted descriptions of their desserts, and you can find them here. There was also this really cool cheese cart being pushed around, so Leah got that. Here's a pic of all the fixing they give you with the cheese cart. I found it kinda cool.
I also wanted to take a picture of the cart, but didn't get a really good chance. So instead, here's a pic of Leah's cheese plate. She got one cow, one goat and one sheep's cheese. I only tried the Pecorino, which I found incredibly salty. But overall, everyone enjoyed the cow's cheese. (in the top left hand corner of the plate)
Lastly, here's my dessert. I ordered the Pineapple Chiboust: tropical salade, buddha's hand confiture. 
Tom got the Seckel Pear Retourner: star anise glace, quince, chocolate and Jayna got the Milk Chocolate Creamsicle: pomegranate, bittersweet panini . A number of the desserts interested me, but each one had components that didn't. For example, I would've gone for the pear, but I hate quince and star anise. But I wasn't gonna go for the boring chocolate cake (yes, they have a ganache cake on the menu). My dessert wasn't what I expected. While I did expect some sort of pastry, this was like a large piece of moussey/tofu flavored with pineapple and it was waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too sweet.. Actually, I should've asked the waiter what it was cause I just looked up the definition of chiboust on line: It is a pastry cream, finished with Italian meringue. and had I known that, I never would've orderd it. My favorite part ended up being the tropical salad, which was floral and flavored with something I couldn't indentify. My favorite dessert ended up being Tom's (minus the ice cream and quince). Again, it seemed that we all enjoyed different components of the dessert, but not the dessert as a whole. Jayna didn't even finish her bittersweet panini cause they tasted like they'd been drenched in oil.Overall, we had a fantastic dinner at No. 9 Park; one of the best dinners that I've had in Boston. The service wasn't impeccable. The waiter had definitely backed off too much during the meal and we rarely saw him until dessert, but it was still very good by Boston's standards. And the food was also pretty great. Overall, if you have the opportunity and the means, I would highly suggest a trip here, it's definitely one of the "must visit" restaurants in Boston.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
FRIED CHICKEN AND CUPCAKES
I'm taking a break from my LA posts to write about my recent Bday celebration. As is pretty typical of me, I wrote this whole long posting about my Bday, part 1. And then closed the window before it had time to load. So here I am, trying to recreate a post that I wrote two days ago. At any rate, as many of you know, I celebrated my 27th Bday last Sunday (Ha, and I'm still younger that most of you.) I wanted to celebrate in a low key fashion. No big dinners, reservations, rsvp's involved. So I simplified by having everyone over for KFC and cupcakes. But more on that later.
We started off the day at Simon's Coffeeshop. I'd heard a lot about this place, but I had never made it over there, though I'd driven by it hundreds of times. I always new it was on Mass Ave. between Harvard and Porter, but it turns out I was looking on the wrong side of the street. It's on the west side of Mass and I was looking for it on the east side. But it is easy to miss. It's a very narrow store, so not many windows, and it is stuck right next to Hollywood Video and Brook's Pharmacy, so you don't expect it to be there. At any rate, Simon's is well known for making a great cappuccino (the right way, with the right foam) and the use George Howell's coffee, and you all know what a big fan I am of George.
When we finally found parking and walked in, the place was full, and not one table was available. (It's a narrow, long space) It's true that they didn't start off with that many tables anyway, but you could tell that they were filled with locals who were spending a relaxing Sunday morning over a cup of coffee. But Tom and I ordered anyway and figured we'd wait until someone got up. Pretty soon after we placed our orders, a table did open up. Another customer had spotted it first, but he was nice enough to let us sit there cause we'd gotten to the shop first. (Tom later returned the favor when he was the table next to us opening up).
So here's a pic of my cappuccino. As you can see, the foam is made perfectly (actually, Simon made it) and it has a leaf design. I thought the foam was great, but the espresso was only Ok. I still prefer illy espresso, which is a little more flavorful and robust.
And here's my almond croissant. They get all their pastries from Carberry's. It was a sizable pastry, but not all that tasty. (I wasn't too suprised about that). But I was here more for the coffee, anyway. 
After we'd settled in for a bit, Jayna joined us and we ended up spending close to two hours at the shop. I did like it quite a lot. But I was surprised that they charged for Wifi and was a little put off by that Almost every place offers free wifi now, and it's not that expensive to maintain, so I felt charging was a bit silly. (Tom paid for it anyway, so he could read the NYTimes). My only other complaint is the lack of parking in the area (though that's a complaint for Cambridge). If you're not a resident of Cambridge, you can only park at the meters on Mass Ave, otherwise, my other tip is to visit on Sunday when anyone can park in the resident spots.
After Simon's, we headed over to the new ICA. I'll mention their cafe here. It is very pretty in design and is a Wolfgang Puck Cafe, which is probably why they feel it's ok to charge $10 for a freaking sandwich. Tom and I were a little snackish after exploring the exhibits, but we weren't paying that much for food. (Admission to the museum already cost $22 and that was including my student admission) The other problem is that there aren't many casual dining options in that area, so if you're heading over to the ICA, my tip is to eat first. Or pack up a nice picnic and sit outside on the deck area that has a great view of the harbor.
That evening, we had the aforementioned casual get together at my house. Tom and I headed out to the KFC in Allston to pick up 2 buckets of chicken and we actually finished most of it off. Oh, I was also happy that I'd thought to print out some KFC coupons off their website beforehand. I figured we'd save $5, but we ended up saving closer to $10, so that was cool. Here's my plate of chicken. Greasy and perfect. And I love the biscuits. Will they taste different sans trans fats?
And of course, here are my cupcakes. Ok, I didn't make these from scratch. It was a boxed mix with canned frosting. (Hey, it was my bday) But I did decorate them all by myself! And I think they still tasted yummy. 
To top it all off, I got some great food related bday presents. Tom got me a 7cup Cuisinart and Leah got me a matching mini 3cup one. They're so cute together. My little sister got me the covered wok I had been asking for and my older sister got me the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook that I wanted (still waiting for it to arrive). Lastly, Suemin got me a giftcard to TJ's. So basically, this means that I'll be doing a ton of baking this winter and sharing all my treats with you! (Tom and I are supposed to be eating healthier, but I still love to bake). Thanks everyone for making my 27th Bday so much fun!
I'm taking a break from my LA posts to write about my recent Bday celebration. As is pretty typical of me, I wrote this whole long posting about my Bday, part 1. And then closed the window before it had time to load. So here I am, trying to recreate a post that I wrote two days ago. At any rate, as many of you know, I celebrated my 27th Bday last Sunday (Ha, and I'm still younger that most of you.) I wanted to celebrate in a low key fashion. No big dinners, reservations, rsvp's involved. So I simplified by having everyone over for KFC and cupcakes. But more on that later.
We started off the day at Simon's Coffeeshop. I'd heard a lot about this place, but I had never made it over there, though I'd driven by it hundreds of times. I always new it was on Mass Ave. between Harvard and Porter, but it turns out I was looking on the wrong side of the street. It's on the west side of Mass and I was looking for it on the east side. But it is easy to miss. It's a very narrow store, so not many windows, and it is stuck right next to Hollywood Video and Brook's Pharmacy, so you don't expect it to be there. At any rate, Simon's is well known for making a great cappuccino (the right way, with the right foam) and the use George Howell's coffee, and you all know what a big fan I am of George.
When we finally found parking and walked in, the place was full, and not one table was available. (It's a narrow, long space) It's true that they didn't start off with that many tables anyway, but you could tell that they were filled with locals who were spending a relaxing Sunday morning over a cup of coffee. But Tom and I ordered anyway and figured we'd wait until someone got up. Pretty soon after we placed our orders, a table did open up. Another customer had spotted it first, but he was nice enough to let us sit there cause we'd gotten to the shop first. (Tom later returned the favor when he was the table next to us opening up).
So here's a pic of my cappuccino. As you can see, the foam is made perfectly (actually, Simon made it) and it has a leaf design. I thought the foam was great, but the espresso was only Ok. I still prefer illy espresso, which is a little more flavorful and robust.
And here's my almond croissant. They get all their pastries from Carberry's. It was a sizable pastry, but not all that tasty. (I wasn't too suprised about that). But I was here more for the coffee, anyway. 
After we'd settled in for a bit, Jayna joined us and we ended up spending close to two hours at the shop. I did like it quite a lot. But I was surprised that they charged for Wifi and was a little put off by that Almost every place offers free wifi now, and it's not that expensive to maintain, so I felt charging was a bit silly. (Tom paid for it anyway, so he could read the NYTimes). My only other complaint is the lack of parking in the area (though that's a complaint for Cambridge). If you're not a resident of Cambridge, you can only park at the meters on Mass Ave, otherwise, my other tip is to visit on Sunday when anyone can park in the resident spots.After Simon's, we headed over to the new ICA. I'll mention their cafe here. It is very pretty in design and is a Wolfgang Puck Cafe, which is probably why they feel it's ok to charge $10 for a freaking sandwich. Tom and I were a little snackish after exploring the exhibits, but we weren't paying that much for food. (Admission to the museum already cost $22 and that was including my student admission) The other problem is that there aren't many casual dining options in that area, so if you're heading over to the ICA, my tip is to eat first. Or pack up a nice picnic and sit outside on the deck area that has a great view of the harbor.
That evening, we had the aforementioned casual get together at my house. Tom and I headed out to the KFC in Allston to pick up 2 buckets of chicken and we actually finished most of it off. Oh, I was also happy that I'd thought to print out some KFC coupons off their website beforehand. I figured we'd save $5, but we ended up saving closer to $10, so that was cool. Here's my plate of chicken. Greasy and perfect. And I love the biscuits. Will they taste different sans trans fats?
And of course, here are my cupcakes. Ok, I didn't make these from scratch. It was a boxed mix with canned frosting. (Hey, it was my bday) But I did decorate them all by myself! And I think they still tasted yummy. 
To top it all off, I got some great food related bday presents. Tom got me a 7cup Cuisinart and Leah got me a matching mini 3cup one. They're so cute together. My little sister got me the covered wok I had been asking for and my older sister got me the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook that I wanted (still waiting for it to arrive). Lastly, Suemin got me a giftcard to TJ's. So basically, this means that I'll be doing a ton of baking this winter and sharing all my treats with you! (Tom and I are supposed to be eating healthier, but I still love to bake). Thanks everyone for making my 27th Bday so much fun!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
ROSCOE'S CHICKEN N' WAFFLES
Another LA institution is Roscoe's Chicken N' Waffles. You've read about it in the news, on blogs, in movies...The funny thing is, if you actually talk to anyone who grew up in LA, you'll find out that most natives have never been to Roscoe's. At least that was true of my friends, and true of myself. So fulfilling Tom's request to visit was also my first time. I decided to take him to the one in Hollywood. We couldn't figure out if it was the original or not, but when we arrived, there was a small crowd waiting outdoors. I gave our name and we sat in the sunshine to wait for our table. As I looked at the people waiting, I realized that there are some tourists, but there are also a lot of regulars who visit this place. The wait was pretty quick and after about 15 minutes, we were seated at a booth inside, all aglow with this funky red/pink lighting.
I took a pic of the menu without the flash so that you could experience the lighting for yourself.
The menu was more extensive than I expected. Not due to the variety of food, but due to the multitude of combinations you could order it in. You could also get breakfast. After looking at the waffles that were coming out, I concluded that I probably wouldn't like them. I prefer the Belgian style waffles that are more crispy on the outside. These looked a bit soggy. So I ordered some friend chicken with gravy and rice (I admit, it thought it was gravy and biscuits, but the biscuit came on the side with a large pat of melting butter). Tom and I also shared an order of mac and cheese. Here's a pic of my food: 
And the side of mac and cheese and my biscuit.
I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the rice, but everything else was great. The chicken was well fried (though my fried chicken is better, I guess it's easier when you're not cooking for hundreds of people a day) , the biscuit was delicious and the mac and cheese was truly tasty (thought the noodles were way over cooked).
Meanwhile, Tom ordered the typical fried chicken and waffles, with a side of gravy.
Tom also enjoyed his fried chicken and though he wasn't in love with the waffle, he did say it was a great vehicle for the gravy. Oh yeah, the gravy was also really tasty. Overall, we had a pretty enjoyable experience. The service was just ok, but they did have a lot of people to serve. We were so stuffed with greasy food after lunch that it was painful to move and we ate very little for dinner. But it was still a great once in the lifetime type thing to do. In the future, I'll fry my own chicken.
Another LA institution is Roscoe's Chicken N' Waffles. You've read about it in the news, on blogs, in movies...The funny thing is, if you actually talk to anyone who grew up in LA, you'll find out that most natives have never been to Roscoe's. At least that was true of my friends, and true of myself. So fulfilling Tom's request to visit was also my first time. I decided to take him to the one in Hollywood. We couldn't figure out if it was the original or not, but when we arrived, there was a small crowd waiting outdoors. I gave our name and we sat in the sunshine to wait for our table. As I looked at the people waiting, I realized that there are some tourists, but there are also a lot of regulars who visit this place. The wait was pretty quick and after about 15 minutes, we were seated at a booth inside, all aglow with this funky red/pink lighting.
I took a pic of the menu without the flash so that you could experience the lighting for yourself.
The menu was more extensive than I expected. Not due to the variety of food, but due to the multitude of combinations you could order it in. You could also get breakfast. After looking at the waffles that were coming out, I concluded that I probably wouldn't like them. I prefer the Belgian style waffles that are more crispy on the outside. These looked a bit soggy. So I ordered some friend chicken with gravy and rice (I admit, it thought it was gravy and biscuits, but the biscuit came on the side with a large pat of melting butter). Tom and I also shared an order of mac and cheese. Here's a pic of my food: 
And the side of mac and cheese and my biscuit.
I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the rice, but everything else was great. The chicken was well fried (though my fried chicken is better, I guess it's easier when you're not cooking for hundreds of people a day) , the biscuit was delicious and the mac and cheese was truly tasty (thought the noodles were way over cooked).Meanwhile, Tom ordered the typical fried chicken and waffles, with a side of gravy.
Tom also enjoyed his fried chicken and though he wasn't in love with the waffle, he did say it was a great vehicle for the gravy. Oh yeah, the gravy was also really tasty. Overall, we had a pretty enjoyable experience. The service was just ok, but they did have a lot of people to serve. We were so stuffed with greasy food after lunch that it was painful to move and we ate very little for dinner. But it was still a great once in the lifetime type thing to do. In the future, I'll fry my own chicken.
A TRIP TO IN N OUT
Everyone's heard about California's famed In N Out. And it was one of the few places Tom requested that we visit. Truth is, I had only been to In N Out once. And it was when I was in high school. I remember having an amazing burger, but I also remember being starving when I had it, so I'm not sure if it was the burger or my hunger that made the experience so memorable. But I gave up red meat soon after and was never to return. I knew that In N Out made veggies burgers (a burger minus the patty) and even my friend, Raj, who's a vegetarian, praised the merits of In N out, so I didn't mind a visit.
But first we went to once of my favorite places in the world, the Santa Monica Farmer's market on 3rd St. I already talked about this place the last time I was in LA, but I also wanted to show you a picture of adorable mini heads of cauliflowers and purple cauliflowers. If only I was in Boston, I would've bought these for dinner.
And as Tom can tell you, I spent many hours of my trip tracking down the best Satsuma Tangerines. I love Satsumas, yet they're rarely sold on this coast. So I decided I was gonna bring some back, and picked up a few from one of my favorite vendors at the farmer's market. 
I mean really. If your only other choice was paying $5/lb. for Satsumas at Formaggio, wouldn't you have brought a box back, too?
Our next stop was In N Out with my older sis. Here's the iconic logo.
We arrived pretty early, at 11, but there were already people in there ordering. As many of you may also know, the menu is pretty short, they like to keep things simple. But there is also a secret menu that isn't published anywhere. You just have to know about it. I ordered my veggie burger (not on the menu) while my sis and Tom both ordered Cheeseburgers "Animal style". We also got a side of fries and drinks. And all that for less that $12. You can't get that kind of deal anywhere in Boston. Here's our food:
My veggies burger was actually pretty good. I think it was cause the bun was grilled, so I didn't miss the meat. But I did want grilled onion, which were lacking. I think I'll order the grilled cheese next time. The fries also weren't spectacular, but I do think Tom enjoyed his burger, so it was worth the trip. He also wanted to go to Taco Bell to compare, but we didn't have time for that. It'll just have to wait until next time.
Everyone's heard about California's famed In N Out. And it was one of the few places Tom requested that we visit. Truth is, I had only been to In N Out once. And it was when I was in high school. I remember having an amazing burger, but I also remember being starving when I had it, so I'm not sure if it was the burger or my hunger that made the experience so memorable. But I gave up red meat soon after and was never to return. I knew that In N Out made veggies burgers (a burger minus the patty) and even my friend, Raj, who's a vegetarian, praised the merits of In N out, so I didn't mind a visit.
But first we went to once of my favorite places in the world, the Santa Monica Farmer's market on 3rd St. I already talked about this place the last time I was in LA, but I also wanted to show you a picture of adorable mini heads of cauliflowers and purple cauliflowers. If only I was in Boston, I would've bought these for dinner.
And as Tom can tell you, I spent many hours of my trip tracking down the best Satsuma Tangerines. I love Satsumas, yet they're rarely sold on this coast. So I decided I was gonna bring some back, and picked up a few from one of my favorite vendors at the farmer's market. 
I mean really. If your only other choice was paying $5/lb. for Satsumas at Formaggio, wouldn't you have brought a box back, too?Our next stop was In N Out with my older sis. Here's the iconic logo.
We arrived pretty early, at 11, but there were already people in there ordering. As many of you may also know, the menu is pretty short, they like to keep things simple. But there is also a secret menu that isn't published anywhere. You just have to know about it. I ordered my veggie burger (not on the menu) while my sis and Tom both ordered Cheeseburgers "Animal style". We also got a side of fries and drinks. And all that for less that $12. You can't get that kind of deal anywhere in Boston. Here's our food:
My veggies burger was actually pretty good. I think it was cause the bun was grilled, so I didn't miss the meat. But I did want grilled onion, which were lacking. I think I'll order the grilled cheese next time. The fries also weren't spectacular, but I do think Tom enjoyed his burger, so it was worth the trip. He also wanted to go to Taco Bell to compare, but we didn't have time for that. It'll just have to wait until next time.
FILLING IN THE BLANKS FROM DAY 1:
Ok, I forgot to mention a couple of the spots we visited on our first full day in LA. After my dentist appointment (and while my mouth was still kinda numb) I took Tom to the beach to visit the often photographed and filmed Santa Monica Pier. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very sunny day, as you can tell from the pics below. The good thing about the pier is that it is 100 feet from the original location of Hot Dog on a Stick, which really is the ultimate beach food. Now I do love corn dogs, just like everyone else, but I can only have them at Hot Dog on a Stick, where they use turkey dogs. So off we went to get a quick pre-lunch snack. Tom and I each ordered a hot dog, and we shared a fresh squeezed lemonade. The only other things that Hot Dog on a stick offers in a cheese on a stick or french fries, and I remember then days when it was only hot dogs or lemonade.
Here I am walking up to the place. You can tell it's pretty small. All the other locations that I've seen have been in malls. And here's Tom's hot dog with our giant cup of lemonade. He only put mustard on his, but mine was messier with mustard and ketchup. It was yummy and crunchy and warm and a great treat. Good thing I only have it like once a year. 
Our next stop was lunch with Katie and Dustin. Katie wanted to go to a restaurant called Harvest, located near the Brentwood Country Mart, but it was closed. It appeared that it was only open for dinner. So we went to what looked like an Italian place next door. (I don't remember what it was called). It was pretty full when we arrived, and was a total casual neighborhood spot. So we snagged a table for four and opened up our menus.
Upon inspection, we realized that this place wasn't Italian, but more "global cuisine" at least that's what they called it. There were pasta, risottos, burgers and all different kinds of stuff. This was also a very "LA" restaurant in that it was geared towards healthy stuff. Whole wheat, tempeh, tofu, you get the idea. I ended up ordering a turkey bolognese with lentils. Here it is below.
It actually wasn't a terrible dish. But I found the lentils totally unnecessary (I think they were used to reduce the amount of meat in the dish) and the pasta was way over cooked. But it was still pretty tasty.
Here's Tom's turkey burger on a wholewheat bun. I think it was pretty good.
Dustin declared that he would've preferred to go somewhere with real meat on the menu, but it wasn't too bad. And at least it was a healthier option.
Ok, I forgot to mention a couple of the spots we visited on our first full day in LA. After my dentist appointment (and while my mouth was still kinda numb) I took Tom to the beach to visit the often photographed and filmed Santa Monica Pier. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very sunny day, as you can tell from the pics below. The good thing about the pier is that it is 100 feet from the original location of Hot Dog on a Stick, which really is the ultimate beach food. Now I do love corn dogs, just like everyone else, but I can only have them at Hot Dog on a Stick, where they use turkey dogs. So off we went to get a quick pre-lunch snack. Tom and I each ordered a hot dog, and we shared a fresh squeezed lemonade. The only other things that Hot Dog on a stick offers in a cheese on a stick or french fries, and I remember then days when it was only hot dogs or lemonade.
Here I am walking up to the place. You can tell it's pretty small. All the other locations that I've seen have been in malls. And here's Tom's hot dog with our giant cup of lemonade. He only put mustard on his, but mine was messier with mustard and ketchup. It was yummy and crunchy and warm and a great treat. Good thing I only have it like once a year. 
Our next stop was lunch with Katie and Dustin. Katie wanted to go to a restaurant called Harvest, located near the Brentwood Country Mart, but it was closed. It appeared that it was only open for dinner. So we went to what looked like an Italian place next door. (I don't remember what it was called). It was pretty full when we arrived, and was a total casual neighborhood spot. So we snagged a table for four and opened up our menus.Upon inspection, we realized that this place wasn't Italian, but more "global cuisine" at least that's what they called it. There were pasta, risottos, burgers and all different kinds of stuff. This was also a very "LA" restaurant in that it was geared towards healthy stuff. Whole wheat, tempeh, tofu, you get the idea. I ended up ordering a turkey bolognese with lentils. Here it is below.
It actually wasn't a terrible dish. But I found the lentils totally unnecessary (I think they were used to reduce the amount of meat in the dish) and the pasta was way over cooked. But it was still pretty tasty.
Here's Tom's turkey burger on a wholewheat bun. I think it was pretty good.
Dustin declared that he would've preferred to go somewhere with real meat on the menu, but it wasn't too bad. And at least it was a healthier option.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
THE CITY TOUR, A DAY OF NONSTOP ETHNIC EATS
On our third day in L.A., I needed to visit my optometrist, who's located in Monterey Park, about 30 minutes east of the Westside. My mom also wanted to give Tom a city tour, since it was his first time in LA and apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job. (I like to stick on the Westside) So we packed into the car early and headed out. After I'd gotten my eyes checked, it was time for some breakfast and I wanted to stock up on some ingredients. For those of you unfamiliar with LA geography, Monterey Park is where a ton of Taiwanese, Chinese and Asian people live. For people who've always wondered how there can be people living in the U.S. who don't speak English, it's cause they've never left their little world and visited an ethnic community. Think Flushing in Queens, Jackson Heights in the Bronx or in this case, Monterey Park. You don't need to know English to function in this world, and actually, if you don't know Chinese, you'll have a much harder time.
Our first stop was at a giant herbal grocery store. My mom wanted to pick up some random ingredients, and I got some dried shrimp, scallops and shitake mushrooms. I used to love going into these places as a kid, cause they had all kinds of crazy ingredients. Like sharks fins, dried seahorses and turtles. The Chinese have a long history of Oriental medicine, so apparently, each one of these ingredients has it's own uses. The just used to freak me out as a kid. Anywhere, here's a pic of a bin of an assortment of dried sea cucumbers.
And here's a pic of the ginseng section, which was huge. They have ginseng in all different forms and different grades.
Our next stop was for some traditional Taiwanese breakfast (what I call Taiwanese dim sum when I'm in Boston). Here's a pic of a rack of freshly steamed buns. In this area of LA, you can count the number of non-Asians that you find on one hand. This place had no English in menu.
Here's the guy standing in front a pan of freshly fried dough.
Normally, I order one of these with my soy milk, but I wasn't in the mood that day. I ordered Tom beef in a sesame pocket, which I was a little disappointed in cause the beef looked dry and Tom confirmed it. 
Here's my bowl of hot soy milk, and a tea egg on the side. The soy milk was yummy as always.
And lastly, here's my scallion pancake. I was not thrilled with this pancake. They deep fried it rather than panfried it, so though it was crispy, it was completely drenched in oil and not very appetizing at all.
Continuing on our city tour, we drove west to downtown LA where we visited Olvera St. I actually hadn't been here in at least 10 years. It's a really historic part of LA, one of the oldest streets in the city, which had a high concentration of Mexicans. Now there are a bunch of kitschy shops and there's a mission, just very California. I wasn't so interested in the knick knacks, but I was interested in a sign that said "Mr. Churro". Of course, I had to get a Mexican churro, which was being fried as I entered. We had a wait a few minutes for it to finish cooking, and then it was dusted with cinnamon and sugar and served. I ate it as we walked along, but I got stuffed pretty soon and handed it over to Tom. It was so yummy and warm, though.
We got back in the car and continued to drive West and ended up Hollywood where we saw the walk of fame, and Tom got a cream puff and cheesecake stick from Beard Papa's. Apparently, Beard Papa is a recent phenomenon in LA, though we've had it on the east coast for a few years now. But it's amazing how that quality differs from one store to the next. The one I had in LA was actually quite good, but the ones at Fanuiel Hall suck.
After driving back to the Westside, it was time for lunch. I was stuffed full, and asked that we go somewhere where I could just get a salad or tofu. My mom decided to take us to Torafuku, which is a Japanese restaurant located right next to the Westside Pavillion. Apparently they are famous for their rice, called Kamado rice that's cooked in a special way. And they have homemade tofu. They have these huge rice pots located at the front of the restaurant where they cook rice in an old fashioned style. I took a pic, but I can't find it right now.
The restaurant was full when we arrived, even though it was a pretty big space, (apparently there was a private party in the back) so we snagged the last available table. The place was full of Japanese people, and I've always told you guys to eat where the natives eat. Here's a pic of the sushi bar.
We were each served a little salad
And then I got this little bamboo pot of freshly made tofu served with some ground ginger and soy sauce. It really didn't taste that different from normal tofu, but the texture was definitely silkier. It was expensive, though. $7 for this little guy.
A lot of their stuff is made in house. Like the rice seasoning shown here. (aka Furikake, you can buy it in bottles at Japanese markets and use it on rice).
Tom got this lunch set, which I think he enjoyed.
My mom and I shared the chef's choice bento box. Even though I was stuffed full before I got to the restaurant, I still managed to eat half of it AND a whole bowl of rice! I was amazed at myself, I didn't know where I was putting it all. But the rice was quite tasty. Again, not so much for the flavor, but the texture. It just seemed extra springy.
Ok, after this, I still continued to snack and eat dinner. But at places I've talked about. So I'll finish this post with a great pic of the Ugly Dolls exhibit at the Giant Robot 2 store in West LA. Isn't it great? Have you ever seen so many Ugly Dolls? (and there were Ugly Doll pinatas, too). AHH, so much yummy eating in one day, and it was only our 3rd day in LA!
On our third day in L.A., I needed to visit my optometrist, who's located in Monterey Park, about 30 minutes east of the Westside. My mom also wanted to give Tom a city tour, since it was his first time in LA and apparently I wasn't doing a good enough job. (I like to stick on the Westside) So we packed into the car early and headed out. After I'd gotten my eyes checked, it was time for some breakfast and I wanted to stock up on some ingredients. For those of you unfamiliar with LA geography, Monterey Park is where a ton of Taiwanese, Chinese and Asian people live. For people who've always wondered how there can be people living in the U.S. who don't speak English, it's cause they've never left their little world and visited an ethnic community. Think Flushing in Queens, Jackson Heights in the Bronx or in this case, Monterey Park. You don't need to know English to function in this world, and actually, if you don't know Chinese, you'll have a much harder time.
Our first stop was at a giant herbal grocery store. My mom wanted to pick up some random ingredients, and I got some dried shrimp, scallops and shitake mushrooms. I used to love going into these places as a kid, cause they had all kinds of crazy ingredients. Like sharks fins, dried seahorses and turtles. The Chinese have a long history of Oriental medicine, so apparently, each one of these ingredients has it's own uses. The just used to freak me out as a kid. Anywhere, here's a pic of a bin of an assortment of dried sea cucumbers.
And here's a pic of the ginseng section, which was huge. They have ginseng in all different forms and different grades.
Our next stop was for some traditional Taiwanese breakfast (what I call Taiwanese dim sum when I'm in Boston). Here's a pic of a rack of freshly steamed buns. In this area of LA, you can count the number of non-Asians that you find on one hand. This place had no English in menu.
Here's the guy standing in front a pan of freshly fried dough.
Normally, I order one of these with my soy milk, but I wasn't in the mood that day. I ordered Tom beef in a sesame pocket, which I was a little disappointed in cause the beef looked dry and Tom confirmed it. 
Here's my bowl of hot soy milk, and a tea egg on the side. The soy milk was yummy as always.
And lastly, here's my scallion pancake. I was not thrilled with this pancake. They deep fried it rather than panfried it, so though it was crispy, it was completely drenched in oil and not very appetizing at all.
Continuing on our city tour, we drove west to downtown LA where we visited Olvera St. I actually hadn't been here in at least 10 years. It's a really historic part of LA, one of the oldest streets in the city, which had a high concentration of Mexicans. Now there are a bunch of kitschy shops and there's a mission, just very California. I wasn't so interested in the knick knacks, but I was interested in a sign that said "Mr. Churro". Of course, I had to get a Mexican churro, which was being fried as I entered. We had a wait a few minutes for it to finish cooking, and then it was dusted with cinnamon and sugar and served. I ate it as we walked along, but I got stuffed pretty soon and handed it over to Tom. It was so yummy and warm, though.
We got back in the car and continued to drive West and ended up Hollywood where we saw the walk of fame, and Tom got a cream puff and cheesecake stick from Beard Papa's. Apparently, Beard Papa is a recent phenomenon in LA, though we've had it on the east coast for a few years now. But it's amazing how that quality differs from one store to the next. The one I had in LA was actually quite good, but the ones at Fanuiel Hall suck.After driving back to the Westside, it was time for lunch. I was stuffed full, and asked that we go somewhere where I could just get a salad or tofu. My mom decided to take us to Torafuku, which is a Japanese restaurant located right next to the Westside Pavillion. Apparently they are famous for their rice, called Kamado rice that's cooked in a special way. And they have homemade tofu. They have these huge rice pots located at the front of the restaurant where they cook rice in an old fashioned style. I took a pic, but I can't find it right now.
The restaurant was full when we arrived, even though it was a pretty big space, (apparently there was a private party in the back) so we snagged the last available table. The place was full of Japanese people, and I've always told you guys to eat where the natives eat. Here's a pic of the sushi bar.
We were each served a little salad
And then I got this little bamboo pot of freshly made tofu served with some ground ginger and soy sauce. It really didn't taste that different from normal tofu, but the texture was definitely silkier. It was expensive, though. $7 for this little guy.
A lot of their stuff is made in house. Like the rice seasoning shown here. (aka Furikake, you can buy it in bottles at Japanese markets and use it on rice).
Tom got this lunch set, which I think he enjoyed.
My mom and I shared the chef's choice bento box. Even though I was stuffed full before I got to the restaurant, I still managed to eat half of it AND a whole bowl of rice! I was amazed at myself, I didn't know where I was putting it all. But the rice was quite tasty. Again, not so much for the flavor, but the texture. It just seemed extra springy.
Ok, after this, I still continued to snack and eat dinner. But at places I've talked about. So I'll finish this post with a great pic of the Ugly Dolls exhibit at the Giant Robot 2 store in West LA. Isn't it great? Have you ever seen so many Ugly Dolls? (and there were Ugly Doll pinatas, too). AHH, so much yummy eating in one day, and it was only our 3rd day in LA!
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