Google Labels

Hi all, Tom here.

I've added Google labels to all of Caroline's posts. You can now read through her old posts by subject matter.

For example, if you wanted to search for any of the recipies Caroline has made for you, click on the "cooking at home" link to the right.

If there are any problems, just let Caroline know. She'll tell me to fix it anyway.

FINDING KOREAN FOOD IN OAKLAND

We haven't had much luck finding good Korean food here in the East Bay. It's one of the those cuisines that I tend to go back to LA to eat. But I wanted to check out a few places in Oakland and we decided to stop downtown to try a Korean restaurant and pick up some staples at a local Korean market.

We don't make very frequent trips to downtown Oakland. We'd been once to go to dim sum, and my auto body shop is down there. So I was pretty surprised at how quick it was to get there in the middle of the day- only about 10 minutes from our house. We check out a place called Sam Won which was almost right off the freeway. The place didn't look so pretty from the outside and didn't have any windows, but when we walked in, it was filled with Asians, and there were even two Oakland cops having lunch there, so I was already feeling pretty good about it.

When we were seated, we were given menus and barley tea and decided to order off the lunch menu (they require a two order minimum of meat in order to grill on your own). Plus, the lunch menu wasn't too expensive, with most of the entrees coming in under $10.

I ended up getting an order of chicken, which came with rice and wakame soup. It was actually really good. The chicken was well seasoned and though I would've preferred to cooking it myself, I still enjoyed it a lot.

Meanwhile, they also gave us a full range of banchans, which were all quite tasty, and Tom got an order of bulgogi. He enjoyed his meat. Lastly, Tom got an order of shrimp tempura, which was really too much wood, and didn't look that great. The batter was pretty thick and just didn't look that appetizing.
Overall we enjoyed out lunch at Sam Won, and I'm happy that we were finally able to find a good Korean restaurant close to us. I look foward to out next trip soon.

THE CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

A few weeks ago Tom and I headed into the city to look into buy me a bike. We didn't end up getting a bike that day, but since we were in the city, we decided to head over to Japan town to pick up some lunch and Japanese staples. As we got closer to Japan town, we noticed that streets were blocked off, and then I spotted something I truly love- food booths. Of course I got really excited and decided we had to stop.

We finally found some parking and as we walked over to the middle of Japan town, we realized that there was a full out parade going on, right down the main street of Japan town. It was really hard getting around and pushing through the crowds to actually get to where the food was, and when we finally got there, we found long lines, and worse, lots of stuff that I just don't eat (lots of bbq and such). So we ended up going to the mall instead- which took some more effort pushing through the crowds. Finally we arrived at Mifune, a noodle shop in the mall known for its great lunch deals and homemade noodles.

We waited a little while to get in, and were finally seated in this packed restaurant. Luckily, the lunch special was still available. You got your pick on an appetizer and entree and it's just $11. I ended up getting a bowl of wakame udon and an appetizer of California rolls.
Tom got cold soba and an unagi rice bowl.
It was all pretty standard fare, but better than average. The noodles are homemade and definitely had a better texture than the super expensive udon we'd had a O'Chame, but the broth was ok. Overall, this was a very pleasant lunch choice- cheap and the noodles definitely hit the spot. I'm not sure we'd go again in the future, I'd like to try the conveyor belt sushi place first.

VEGGIE OPTIONS IN THE BAY AREA

Living in Northern CA, we have lots of vegetarian options. And many of them have been rather tasty. While working at the SF Chocolate Salon in Fort Mason a few weeks back, I was able to have a sandwich from Greens To Go, the take out arm of the famed Greens Restaurant. For those of you who have never heard of Greens, it's a vegetarian restaurant that's been around for almost 30 years and founded by the SF Zen Center ( I read an article about Zen dining and food yesterday, and it totally confused me) and it's known for having just really great food.
So I ordered a sandwich featuring an olive tapenade, arugula, yellow peppers and cheese.
It was actually quite tasty, but this tiny little sandwich cost $6, so not exactly the greatest value. I look foward to going back in the future, though. It's a beautiful restaurant with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the menu does look delicious.

Another vegetarian restaurant that we tried out recently is a South Indian restaurant called Udupi Palace. We learned about this restaurant after watching a local show that we enjoy called Check Please, Bay Area. It's a show where people suggest their favorite restaurants and after you watch this show, you can see why food is so good in the Bay Area. People are so demanding, vocal and passionate about their food, and they interview all locals and restauranteurs have to keep up to meet these tastes.

My high school friend, who was born in Qatar, is a vegetarian and attended both UCBerkeley as an undergrad and PhD student gave this place a thumbs down. He said we could find much better South Indian food in the South Bay, but we figured we'd try it out anyway, since we aren't really connossieurs of South Indian food and it's close to where we live.

We decide to go for an early lunch, and despite the restaurant being nearly empty, the servers were not very welcoming or friendly. It was our first time there and we were unfamiliar with their food, but they didn't offer to help us out at all. This place is famous for their dosas, so we each ordered one, and we also ordered some appetizers. We started off with this dish below, described as Fried Lentil Donuts served with Sambar &Chutney.
This was actually our favorite dish of the whole lunch. It was served piping hot and all that fried, crunchy surface along with the soft center made a tasty combination. Of course, I didn't realize until later that the bowl to the left was a soup and not a dipping sauce (it would've been nice had someone explained that to me).

I also ordered some potato samosas, which were ok. I didn't love the texture of the pastry on the exterior, but the flavor was pretty good.
Tom also ordered this big puffy fried bread called a partha. I only tried a little over it, because it was so greasy I just didn't find it too appealing.
And now for the main event. The dosas, are basically large pancakes stuffed with different fillings. We each ordered one and they were both huge. Here's Tom's dosa, stuffed with a potato mixture. He thought it was OK, enjoying the cripsy edges of the dosa, but there were too many potatoes for him and the pancake itself got very sticky and soggy after it'd cooled down a bit.
Here's my dosa, stuffed with potatoes and spinach.
I thought the filling was pretty tasty, but I agreed with Tom about the pancake, it just got too soggy and sticky and rather not enjoyable.

Overall, I thought our lunch at Udupi Palace was pretty good, but I don't think we're be back due to the neglectful service which made for a rather unpleasant dining experience. But we'll continue exploring veggies restaurant in the Bay Area and will report back to all of you.

OUR SECOND ANNIVERSARY

Tom and I celebrated our second anniversary last night with dinner at Wood Tavern in Oakland. It's been one of the new, hot restaurants in Oakland since opening last year, and my cousin had given us a gift certificate for Xmas. So we saved it up to use on this occasion. We arrived a little early and decided to walk around the neighborhood, which has a cute strip of small shops and restaurants- there's a bakery, butcher, grocery store, wine shop, coffee shop, tea shop and chocolate shop. Basically everything you need for a gourmet destination in the middle of North Oakland.

After a bit, we decided to head over to the restaurant. It was packed (actually, we'd noticed how packed it was when we'd walked by earlier) and it was very noisy. But after reading the reviews, I wasn't too surprised. The hostess was very nice to us and showed us to our seats immediately. The setting is really nice- high ceilings, a bar that stayed full the entire evening and lots of tables scattered throughout. It wasn't a huge restaurant and along with its popularity, it stayed full the entire time we were there- including a line of ppl waiting to get in.

Since it was our anniversary and we had a gift certificate, we definitely splurged a bit. The menu wasn't very long (keeping it very seasonal) with 6 appetizers, and around 6 entrees. I was interested in the butcher block, with a number of house made charcuterie (3 of the 4 items featured duck), but opted instead for a Smoked Alaskan cod served on avocados and baby shrimp. Tom was interested in the bone marrow, but decided to order the Butcher Block so he could share it with me. Here's my appetizer.I was rather silly in imaging a hot appetizer but of course, if it's smoked it's going to be served cold. That's the whole point of smoking- to preserve foods. The fish was tender, but was too smoky for my taste and wasn't my favorite thing. I did enjoy the avocados and shrimp a lot though.

Here's Tom's butcher block. I liked the house smoked duck breast, but his favorite was the pork terrine with figs and the duck rillettes. Served with little warm toast pieces, whole grain mustard and house made relish, he liked it a lot.

Ok, I'll admit that after my appetizer, I was full. I'm such a lightweight. But the meal was well timed, and by the time out entrees arrived, I was actually hungry enough to eat a bit of it. (Had it arrived right after the appetizer, I would taken two bites and asked for a doggy bag). I ordered the pan roasted half chicken. True, it's not the most creative thing in the world, but lots of people were ordering it and I learned why- the meat was so juicy and tender and just delicious. Plus, they basically deboned the chicken for you, so it was easy to eat. It was served on a bed of fingerling potatoes, spinach and radicchio, but there was so little raddicchio that it was more of an afterthought, really not adding much to the dish. Overall, I thought it was delicious and happily ate the leftovers for lunch today (I had to save room for dessert after all).

Meanwhile, Tom ordered the steak. He doesn't often get to eat beef, so took advantage of the opportunity to do so. Plus, it was served with crispy leeks, which he was looking foward to. He definitely enjoyed his meat, which was actually cooked to the requested temperature. Plus, there was a wine reduction sauce that he liked. Best of all, it was all served on a big pile of Parmesean mashed potatoes, which were very parmesean-y.

And of course, I can never pass up dessert. (By this time it was too dark in the restaurant to take pics) I wasn't interested in most of the options that they had on the menu, so I ordered a strawberry sorbet. It was very well made (strawberries are in season right now- I eat a ton of them every week) and they gave me a lot of it. It was a nice, light way for me to finish my meal.

Tom ordered a warm chocolate cake. He says he got it so I could try it, but I never order warm chocolate cakes since their so ubiquitous. Their version was pretty good, though nothing extraordinary. Overall, we had a really enjoyable dinner. Our waitress was super nice to us, despite the restaurant being packed and having a lot of customer to handle. It was a pretty pricey dinner, but thanks to our gift certificate, Tom claimed it was the cheapest expensive dinner he'd ever had.

I'M GOING TO THE GOOGLE CAFETERIA!!

Many of you know that when we moved out here, I kept trying to convince Tom to get a job at Google so I could visit the legendary Google cafeteria. You know- local, organic, healthy and delicious. Well, turns out I don't need Tom any more, cause next Friday, I'm going to visit the Google cafeteria!!

So during the summer and into the fall, Google has a Farmer's Market on their campus that we participate in. And the first one will be next Friday, so my co-worker and I are gonna go so I can learn how it works and how to set it up. But, my co-worker's boyfriend is also a Google employee, so she's been to Google many times, and I asked that we visit the Google Cafeteria. So it's all set and I'm gonna stuff myself to the gills. I hope Tom will come with me, but I'll be sure to post about my trip next week!

WHY I DON'T EAT PORK (OR BEEF)

You now those days when you're at work, but you don't actually feel like working and you end up procrastinating all day? Well I'm having one of those days. I would be playing Scrabulous right now, but their servers are down, so I can't access the 4 games I'm currently playing. So I figured I'd blog. While at work yesterday I got a meebo message from this blog. (See the meebo widget to the right? You can message me and if I feel like it, I might respond). Anyway, someone was asking me why I don't eat pork. Now, I know that only about 5 people read this blog, and I know who you all are, but I'm not sure who this person was who messaged me. Maybe it was someone searching for info about Osteria Mozza and had stumbled upon my blog while conducting a Google search. I didn't respond at that time because I was swamped at work, so let's get back to the question at hand. I haven't eaten beef or pork since I was 15.

I gave up beef and pork back when I was teenager and idealistic. Learning about the environment and the amount of resources it took to raise cattle and the deforestation that accompanied it, I thought I'd gradually give up all meat and go vegetarian. Giving up beef and pork was just a first step, but it was a big step for me. As I child, steak and bacon were some of my favorite foods. At on point my cholesterol was so high that my doctor advised that I cut back on red meat. But on a family trip to Texas, I just gave it up and I haven't had either beef or pork since.

But as you can plainly see from my blog, I still eat meat. I just wasn't able to give up the chicken and duck and the other meats that I eat. And at this point, I don't plan to. I've become resigned to the fact that I've given up what I believe I'm willing to give up, and that's good enough for me. Though to be honest, if you look at my previous post about veganism, Tom and I are almost vegetarian most of the week when I'm cooking at night and I think that's pretty good.

OSTERIA MOZZA

Ok, I know this post is a little out of order, but I had already uploaded all my photos and now it's too late to go back and change it. Oh, and no pics for this post, it was a bit darker inside and I didn't want to disturb the other diners. So I actually ate at Osteria Mozza when I went back to LA for my dad's 60th bday. I was really looking foward to this meal. You may remember last year during a trip back to LA, my struggle of obtaining a reservation at Pizzeria Mozza and how I had enjoyed my dinner there. (though I still really don't consider it pizza, it really is a totally different entity). This time, it wasn't as hard to get a reservation. Osteria Mozza is still one of the most popular restaurants in LA right now, and it's still hard to get a table, but I made my reservation exactly 3o days in advance, and their reservation system has improved dramatically- I wasn't on hold for 8 hours before I got through.

I'm a big fan of Batali restaurants, but I was also looking foward to this meal because I was actually having a dinner with my friends. I've been back to LA like 4 times since moving back to the West Coast, but each time I go back, it's just for a few days, and that doesn't leave much time for friends. I normally just grab a quick coffee or have a short visit with Katie and the kitties. For this dinner, I had invited my friends, Katie, Dustin, Raj and Naina. Katie had already been before and had raved about her meal there, so I had high expectations.

When we arrived at Osteria Mozza, we found a much bigger restaurant than I had expected (the pizzeria right next door is about half the size of Osteria Mozza). Our friends Raj and Naina were running a bit late, so Katie and Dustin grabbed a drink at the rear bar while we waited for them to arrive. The restaurant has a very sleek design- all black, grey and lots of white tile. There's also a bar in the middle of the restaurant- the mozzarella bar, where you can also sit and enjoy a meal. When our friends arrived, we were seated at our table and to start off, we were each served a piece of toast with fresh goat cheese, basil and olive. Now I'm not normally a fan of goat cheese. I don't enjoy the tanginess. But Katie had already told me about the amazingness of the cheese here, and she was right. That goat cheese was delicious, so creamy and smooth, with out a hint of tanginess. I really enjoyed it.

Now, almost everyone at our dinner was a vegetarian, so no one was really eating meat. While I was looking at the menu, I had a tough internal debate. I didn't know if I wanted to order a secondi-a meat course, or if I wanted pasta. Now, I already know that I love pasta at Batali restaurants, so after debating a bit more, I finally settle on ordering a pasta. I wouldn't regret my decision. (there was pasta tasting menu, but it was 6 courses, so I decided I'd wait until Tom was with me).

Meanwhile, the two couples at the table decided that they were starting with a course from the mozzarella bar. I've forgotten to mention that the mozzarella bar is what Osteria Mozza is famous for- the fabulous homemade cheese. I stuck with a salad Oro blanco Grapefruit, Avocado, Noci with watercress. It was side, well made and delicious. Everyone else enjoyed their cheese course, and Dustin kept exclaiming in surprise that he's never had anything like it before.

Next up, we had all ordered pasta courses. I got something pretty simple- Butternut Squash Mezzalune with amaretti, and it was DELICIOUS. The pasta that enveloped the butternut squash was so thin and delicate and the amaretti just gave it some light sweetness and crunch. I loved my pasta. I also got to try a bit of Katie pasta, which I was a bit skeptical about. It was a goat cheese ravioli, but again, the pasta was so thin and light, and that cheese really was just great. I would certainly consider ordering it next time.

And to finish off, we each got a dessert. I got the gelato. After having the wonderful gelato last time at Pizzeria Mozza, I wasn't about to pass it up, and I didn't regret it. It was just as good as last time. Overall, we had a great dinner. Service was pleasant and unintrusive and even better, the food was just great. I really wish Tom had been there, but next time we go to LA, I'll certainly be taking him.

MY DAY WITH MAX

Hey guys, so this post is a little out of order since it happened today, and I'm still working on a whole back log of posts, but I just wanted to get this one in before I went to bed today. Mainly to show you a pic of my adorable little cousin, Max. Look at those cheeks!

So Max is enjoying a free strawberry breakfast smoothie courtesy of Jamba Juice. I think you guys all know what Jamba Juice is, so I'm not going to explain it to you here, but they were doing a promo today for their new breakfast menu that included getting a free 12 oz. drink of your choice. I got Max a strawberry smoothie, which he enjoyed a lot. I got a mango, passion fruit, orange juice, which was pretty good, and I got Max's mom a blueberry smoothie with granola topper.

I spent most of my morning and afternoon of my one day off this week with Max. It's his spring break and since his mom's got a cold and is still recovering from surgery, I wanted to help her out a bit. In the morning, Max and I went to the Jamba to get our free drinks, then headed over to the farmer's market, where I bought fresh strawberries and where we shared a chicken sausage (which we both enjoyed).

After visiting the YMCA for kid's play time (like 20 kids in a room running around and playing on toys, swings, etc- man it was tiring) it was time for lunch. Cindy, Max's mom, plus Max and I all headed out to Vik's Chaat Corner, which I had suggested.

Now the SF Chronicle just came out with it's annual top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area list on Sunday and after looking at the restaurant in the East Bay, I realized that we'd already been to most of them (and I didn't think most of them deserved to be on the list, but whatever), but one we hadn't visited was Vik's Chaat Corner. Now, I knew that Vik's existed, but I had yet to make my way over there, and this was a great chance.

Now the review of this place was pretty spot on. It's a pretty nondescript building in a warehousey area (actually the wine.com warehouse was immediately across the street). Here's the view from the exterior. Other than this little sign on the right you'd never know if was there.

We got really lucky and snagged a parking space just outside, but when we entered, we found an enormous space with super high ceilings and there was already a lunch crowd there. As the review described, it was filled with a mix of people- we saw the construction worker, the Berkeley cops and lots of co-workers out for lunch. We perused the menu (which wasn't very long) and got in line. Every day, they have a different special- either veg or meat. I got the meat special (chicken korma) and Cindy got the veg special (veg curry). I also got an appetizer of Sev Puri- Crisp flat papdi topped with potatoes, onions, cilantro, mint, and tamarind and garlic chutnies.

This place was quick and efficient. You seat yourself and wait for your named to be called. And when you get your food, it's served in these specially designed plastic trays (which kinda reminds me of prison trays). You get all this stuff with your meal, too. Here's my chicken korma, which came with a side of daal, yogurt, rice, bread, a papadam and spicy pickles. It was actually pretty good. The chicken korma was a bit spicy and I really liked my papadam. And it was just $6.95. My cousin also enjoyed her curry and little Max liked the daal with rice (and he stole our bread and papadams- he's a carb monster).

And here's a pic of my Sev Puri. It ended up being good, but a bit spicier than I'd expected. I had about three before I gave up, but it certainly cleared my sinuses.

Overall this wasn't the best Indian food I've ever had, but it certainly was a great place for a quick, cheap meal. I can certainly see why it's so popular and on our way out, the line was almost to the door. I did some grocery shopping at their store next door and stocked up on some Indian cooking supplies and I do plan on taking Tom once he returns.

OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT AROUND (SO FAR)

Before Tom left for Boston we had discussed the places that he was planning on eating. After living a combined 22 years in Boston, we certainly have our favorites that we miss. But after spending a few months living out here, we also have found some favorites that we couldn't find in Boston. For example, Gioia's pizza, you couldn't get a slice like that in Boston, even though it was just 4 hours from NY. And Thai food. We have a lot of places to choose from, but our favorite is called Sabuy Sabuy 2.

Now Sabuy Sabuy is one of those little restaurants that you drive by all the time and wonder, who eats there? (kinda like Family Restaurant in Brookline) And I never would have checked this place out had my co-worker not told me about it. He lives right behind the restaurant and goes there like once a week. (I think we go about twice a month- and it's the place we like to take our out of town guests, so don't be surprised if you're visiting and we end up here for dinner). So we've eaten there quite a few times, but I never got around to blogging about it.

So the owner now recognizes us. He's there all the time taking orders and he's super friendly. Sometimes he'll suggest dishes that you should try, but we pretty much know what we like at this point. This day, I felt like trying something lighter. I had never had their green papaya salad and so I ordered that. Here's it is below.

I must admit, it wasn't my favorite dish that I've had there. The papaya felt kinda soggy, and not as crisp and clean as some other places where I've had it. It also wasn't spicy enough (though I'm sure they would've made it spicier had I asked. The next dish we had I didn't even take a picture of because I was too busy gobbling it up- they have fantastic soft tofu that they'll make into a soup for you, and it's something I always order because the tofu is so soft and delicious. Below is another one of my favorite dishes- spicy chicken wings, which are deep fried chicken wings served in a spicy sweet sauce and topped with one of my favorite things in the world- deep friend basil. mmmmmmmmmmm.

That was everything that I'd ordered, since I was in a light eating mood. But Tom also got an entree- a medium spicy version of pad thai.

Now at this place, when you order something medium, it means it'll be pretty damn spicy. I don't even want to imagine what spicy is like. I had a few bites of this before my tummy ending up saying no more! But other dishes that I've ordered and enjoyed include the green curry and the fried whole fish.

To finish off the owner always brings us a free dish of ice cream. It's homemade and a good way to cool the mouth off from all the spicy food. Overall, this is really our favorite restaurant around, so we hope you enjoy it when we take you during your next visit.

A LIGHT LUNCH A BOUCHON BAKERY

This is a rather delayed post, so I doubt that most of you will find it, but I feel it worth putting up, since I'm writing about a rather well known place. So last month my friend Matt was in town visiting and I decided to take him up to Napa for a few hours. We stopped for lunch at Bouchon Bakery, of course founded by the famous Thomas Keller, and located in St. Helena next to the original Bouchon.

This place is famous for its breads and pastries, and I knew it'd be a bit pricey, but I splurged after the drive up. For lunch, I ordered this veggies sandwich.

It was very tasty, served on thick slices of homemade bread with well grilled veggies and a nice basil sauce. I also picked up a number of desserts for dinner later that night, and you can see them below.

We had little tastes of all my favorite flavors represented: an apple tarte tatin (my all time favorite dessert, especially if I'm making it), a chocolate tart and a passion fruit tart. The apple tarte tatin was ok, I like mine more warm and the pastry cripser. The passion fruit was very tasty, but had raspberries mixed in, and I'm not a fan of raspberries, so the chocolate tart was my favorite, and in my opinion, the prettiest one.

Overally, I enjoyed my treats from Bouchon Bakery. I'd also gotten Tom some bread and though he liked the baguette more than the ones from Acme, they still weren't as good as the ones at Clear Flour. So I look foward for my next trip back to Napa, to pick up more treats from Bouchon Bakery.

AND FINALLY, SOME DECENT JAPANESE FOOD

Ok, so you've probably already read my post about not having great Japanese food around us. The one exception is the visit we had to Japantown in SF. We were taking my cousin to her doctor's appointment in the city and the hospital is just 5 blocks away from Japantown. So Tom and I decided to go explore a new part of the city while we waited for my cousin to see the doctor.

We walked over to Japantown, which is surrounded by not necessarily the greatest neighborhood in SF, but once we got to it, it was kinda nice. Now Japantown is really made up of a big shopping mall that divided into three segments- 2 of the segments contain shopping and the third contains food. After walking around a bit, we went straight for food, but couldn't decide on which place to try. It was kinda mid afternoon, so it was too late to have a full lunch in a restaurant. Luckily, I had spotted a sign of Nijiya, a Japanese grocery store that I like to visit in LA, so we headed over there to get some yummy prepacked food.

Now Tom had never been to Nijiya before, so it took us a little while to decided what we wanted from their large selection of prepacked food. We finally settled on some selections, picked up drinks and headed outside to sit in the sun and eat our food.

Here's the famous square where the little pagoda sits (pagoda not pictured) where we ended up sitting and having our little picnic.

Tom got a bunch of stuff, but I didn't photograph most of it. One of his favorites was the takoyaki- octopus balls, served with a side of mayo. (he didn't use the mayo, the Japanese people love mayo). He'd also got some sushi, some chicken karage and something else that I'm now forgetting. Basically, he went all out on the Japanese food.

Meanwhile, I was a little more tame and got a prepacked bento box with two rice balls, and my favorite, a side of chicken karage (the Japanese version of fried chicken). Yeah, it might've been room temperature, but I still found it all pretty yummy, especially the fried chicken. I don't know why we can't have a Nijiya on this side of the bay, and the other day, I actually considered driving into SF just to pick up some Japanese food.

You know the funny thing is is that it'd take me just as long to drive from my house in LA to our local Nijiya as it would for me to drive from our house in El Cerrito to the Nijiya in SF, but there's a bit of a mental barrier for crossing a big span of water and paying a $4 toll to do it that just dampens my whole desire.

We continued to walk around Japantown for a while. Tom bought me yet another wind up toy to add to my collection. This one is an awesome Domo that walks really slowly. There did seem to also be some good food options in Japantown (perhaps excluding the sketchy looking 24 hour Denny's that serves Hawaiian food), so I hope we'll be back in the future to try more places.

A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (WITH DINNER)

It'd been a while since Tom and I had gone to the movies. Or really gone out at all. As most of you know, we don't share the same days off (which is a problem I'm working to solve. Just as soon as I stop working 6 days a week, and next week better be the last one, so we'll actually have Sundays off together). But one evening we decided that it was time for a "Date Night" and decided to see a movie, the first movie we'd seen together since last summer. Luckily, we've got a really awesome independent movie theatre just 3 blocks from our house called the El Cerrito Speakeasy. It's one of those movie theatres that serve food, too, and though they don't play brand new movies, they do play those smaller indy films, like Juno, which I was looking foward to seeing.

Since we had never gone before, we didn't know how popular this place would be. We did arrive a bit early to get tickets, food and seats, but after we'd entered, the ticket taker suggested that one person get in line for food while the other went and saved seats. So I got the food, and Tom saved the seats. The menu is a combo of typical movie food- nachos, pizzas, popcorn, and some more CA style food- salads, sandwiches and lots of vegan/vegetarian friendly options. Tom ordered pizza while I got a sandwich- Lavash bread rolled with grilled chicken, hummus, roasted red peppers, feta cheese and spinach. They didn't give you the food right away, but gave you a stand with a big number on it. Our food would be brought to us later (and could take up to 45 minutes after ordering). In the meantime, I ordered us a big bowl of popcorn to snack on.

Here's a photo of my popcorn (I seasoned it with salt, pepper and parm to make it extra yummy)

And here's a photo of the actual theatre. The screen's smaller than a regular movie theatre, and rather than normal seating (though there is some of that in back) there are couches with tables in front and Tom picked out a more normal table and chairs for us to sit in in the middle.

By the time the movie started, this place was packed. I think it was the combination of a popular movie and a neighborhood crowd. The servers brought in the food as it was ready, so the movie had already been playing for like 20 minutes before we got our dinner (so no pic, it was already dark inside). My sandwich was ok- kinda dry and I could've used much more hummus. Tom thought his pizza was pretty good (considering we were having it at a movie theatre). As for the movie, I was a big fan of Juno, definitely funny and worth seeing. And we really did have a good time at the El Cerrito Speakeasy. Since it was just $7/person for the movie, it's cheaper than the usual theatres and it's great to support a local business. I think Tom and I will be back soon, maybe to see the Bank Job.

JAPANESE FOOD IN LA, THE REASON WHY I GO BACK HOME

I'd just like to say Hello to my Tom. As you all know, he's off in Boston right now, so I'm sitting on my couch with kitty curled up and snoring on her spot and watching "No Reservations." Just wanted you to know that they're doing a show in NJ and Tony Bourdain just ate a fried hot dog. It made me think of you.

And for the rest of you, I will continue on my post about Hayama. Now, I've lived in a lot of places, but I haven't found as good Japanese food as I do at home in LA. The thing is, you really never know how good you have it until you go away and find out, hey, Japanese food isn't like this everywhere. And yes, I've lived in NY and yes, you can probably get amazing Japanese food in NY- if you can afford it. But in LA, you can get cheap, affordable Japanese food, and it'll be amazing and tasty. Which is why I really don't eat much Japanese food elsewhere, but when I'm back home in LA, I need to have Japanese food at least once, if not twice, a day.

I was having lunch with my parents and my mom chose a restaurant called Hayama. It's actually pretty new, taking the spot of another Japanese restaurant that I'd never gone to. But they have this lovely outdoor garden area with an enormous fire pit that you can sit around. You can imagine how popular this place would be at night.

Despite it being a lovely, sunny LA afternoon, my parents wanted to sit inside. (ok, it was actually a pretty hot day. I ended up buy a tshirt and changing into it right after lunch) But we got a table right next to a big window overlooking that outdoor garden. The menu is pretty simple, but for lunch, you gotta go for one of their $15 bento boxes- an amazing deal. First, you start off with this little salad.

But then, here's the great part. Look at the size of my bento box! And it's pretty, too. I got chicken teriyaki, tempura, some little salad things an a little bowl of almond jelly. It was delicious, and all this for just $15. Sigh, if only this place were up North, I'd probably be there like once a week.

And really, that's why I go home. It's not to see my family, it's to get my fix of Japanese food. And yeah, I'm pretty happy that I live close enough to LA that I can go pretty often and get some yummy food.

BACK TO LA, MY DAD'S 60TH BDAY

Well, I'm looking back on my pics and I'm realizing, Wow, I haven't blogged in a long time. I have a whole back log of posts to write about. So while Tom's off in Boston, I figured a get a little caught up. About a month ago, I went back to LA to help celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. I had booked a later flight in the day, but when my mom called to say that if I was landing earlier, we could have Chinese foods in Monterey Park, which is what my father really wanted, I changed my flight to land earlier in the day.

But somehow, we ended up going to have Italian food in Melrose anyway. My little sister picked the restaurant, Osteria La Buca. She had had dinner there a few weeks earlier and enjoyed the pasta. It took us much longer to get there than expected, almost an hour due to the traffic (plus my older sister who I was riding with had gotten last and headed south rather than east at some point). When we finally arrived, I realized that we were in the not so great part of Melrose. It wasn't the loveliest neighborhood (later when we left, I realized how close we were to K-town), but the restaurant we walked up to was very pretty, with big glass windows going from floor to ceiling.

When we finally got there, our entire party had arrived. I think there were 10 of altogether (including cousins and Cathy's boyfriend). The seated up in this nice second floor space, which was open air and overlooked the rest of the restaurant. And there was a fire place up there. Here's a pic of it.

After perusing the menu, I decided to start with a salad and follow with one of their specials of the day, a duck dish. Meanwhile, almost everyone else at the table ordered a pasta dish (except for my older sister, who also ordered a salad and a pasta).

We all started off with some shared appetizers- duck prosciutto and some pizzas. They were pretty good. Unfortunately, the waitstaff wasn't very helpful, and the timing of the meal was off. After serving our appetizers, my older sister and I should've gotten our salad. But instead, they served everyone's pasta first and we waited around getting our salad next. Also, the salad were a primi size- meant more as an appetizer or side. They waitstaff really should have let the entire table know this, because it ended up not being enough food (at least for my dad).

Here's my arugula salad with parmesean below. It was pretty good, and was a nice large salad.

Meanwhile, everyone else had finished their entrees, and my older sister and I still hadn't received ours. When they finally arrived (and there was a lag in time), everyone else sat around while we ate our entrees. See, thats one thing that I like about great restaurants- how toheydeal with the timing of the meal. This was not well timed. As for my entree, the minute it hit the table, I knew it wouldn't be good, because the duck had clearly sat under a heat lamp for a while. The edges of the meat were dried and a bit shriveled and the color of the meat was bordering on well done. (come to think of it, they didn't even ask me how I wanted my duck cooked). But I was hungry, so I chewed away at the meat.

We finished with two large platters of dessert. These actually weren't too bad. And they decorated with some nice plump vanilla beans, which I promptly removed to use later at home.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite restaurant, but perhaps that was my fault. I really should've ordered one of the pastas, which is what they're known for. And everyone else did seem to enjoy their dishes. However, I don't plan on going back any time soon. Meals in LA should be like the one I had the follow night at Osteria Mozza.

TOM'S LEAVING FOR BOSTON

So Tom's leaving for Boston again tonight. I was hoping to go with him on this trip, to see my friends and revisit things I miss, but I just couldn't afford the plane ticket and to be honest, I really should be at work making money than off in Boston spending it. But I'm a little jealous since he'll be seeing my friends, and has plans to eat at some of our favorite places- El Pelon, India Quality, Clear Flour Bakery...at least he's bringing me back some almond macaroons from Clear Flour. Too bad my favorite black sesame butter sticks won't last the week and make it back. I guess I'll just have to dream about those.

FOR YOU BASEBALL FANS...

Hello all. I know I haven't blogged on my own blog in a while...be patient, I'll blog soon enough. But I have blogged on my friend Matt's blog where I am a guest blogger. So if you want to hear about my first Red Sox game of the season, head over to http://tragisox.blogspot.com/ to read about the experience (and an analysis of food at McAfee Coliseum)