I think I'm here.

I'll just do a quick overview of places I've been. Excuse the lack of posting, for I've been rather....
busy.

Anyhow, a quick rundown of reviews.

1. Pinkberry- Had to see what all the hype was about. Refreshingly sweet with REAL fruit toppings. I got strawberries, mangoes, and granola. Absolutely LOVED it. Unlike other yogurt shops I've been to such as Penguins or Golden Spoon, the yogurt had a slight tang. With the addition of frozen fruits and the slight crunch of granola, this was a hit.

2. Lulu's- Sidewalk cafe epitomizes LA living. Big portions for breakfast with loads of healthy options. Also, every waiter and waitress looks like an actor/actress.

3. Susina Bakery- Apricot ginger scones to die for....cute decor and atmosphere. A place that makes you forget all of the chain coffee houses and bakeries (ahem...Starbucks right next door) Definitely a place I would love to hang out.

4. Sushi Go 55- Randomly placed in theDowntown Yaohan (Oh, Mitsuwa) Plaza. Seems to be one of the only shops still opened. Good sushi.

5. Katana- Um...beautiful place, beautiful people, but WAY overpriced. We had the prix fix meal. This came with two appetizers, 4 skewers, one roll and 4 regular orders of sushi. A LOT of food. Nonetheless, I realized that I am a traditional sushi girl. Most fusion dishes are ok. But, I still love me some salmon sashimi, hirame, and toro. :)

6. Matsuhisa- I've heard this place is closing. It's decent and I didn't think it was too expensive. However, I think we were more interested in the conversation of the couple next to us to worry too much about the food.

7. Sprinkles Cupcakes- My first experience with Sprinkles was not a great one. I actually thought they were too sweet. However, my second spin was favorable. I am not much of a sweet person, but I could go for a cupcake every now and then.

8. Roy's Downtown- The first time I went to Roy's was in Newport Beach for Valentine's Day. We had the set menu which included appetizer, entree, and dessert. The second time was in Vegas, and we also had the set menu. (The set menu at Roy's is one of the best deals. For $33 you can't beat it! Besides, who can say no to the chocolate souffle?) This past time, my family went to Roy's in Downtown. I had the Onaga which was special to the Downtown location. It was wonderfully light, sitting on top of a light broth. However, next time, I'm going to get the deconstructed lau lau. SO good.

9. Musha Torrance- The pumpkin croquettes are amazing. Well, anything fried is amazing. But, that's besides the point. However, my favorite dish was the braised pork belly. So tender it fell apart. We also had the MFC (Musha Fried Chicken), grilled beef and a yaki onigiri.

10. Gyushintei- Shabu shabu house. This place is cheaper in price than most shabu shabu places. With the requisite meat (everything from pork, chicken, and beef), they give you a loaded plate of cabbage, enoki mushrooms, kabocha, tofu, carrots, zucchini, and broccoli, a bowl of clear glass noodles, and a choice of udon or ramen noodles. If you order ramen, the waitress mixes the cooking water with soup base and adds the noodles and green onions. Oh, and you also get dessert. Dessert consists of vanilla ice cream with a side of cold coffee. You pour the coffee over the ice cream and eat. It's a coffee float...and it works.



Let's see...anything else?

**Teri Hawaii, Bob's Okazuya, and Harry's Aloha Chop Suey are all under new management.

More to come....

:)

Summertime in the LBC
Dove Shack

There are very few songs that remind me of summertime. One is the afore mentioned song. This was back in the high school days, where we would listen to rap music without really understanding what it fully meant. Oh, the simpler and naive me.

"Why do we do what we do when we do what we do
Hangin' out late with no curfew?"

I vividly remember that I used this quote in my Senior Scrapbook. Heh, "no curfew"... ;)

"Summertime" by the Fresh Prince, aka Will Smith, is the other favorite of mine. Something about...

"school is out and it's a sort of a buzz
a back then I didn't really know what it was
but now I see what have of this
the way that people respond to summer madness"

Oh so true...

Anyhow, at the first sign of hot weather, I always crave one thing.

Somen.

Reasons why I love somen:

1. It's noodles. 'nuf said. :)
2. It's cold and refreshing.
3. I can put as much stuff on it as I want. Granted, some not so 'Japanese-y'. But, it's my food. So I don't care.
4. It's easy.
5. It's fast.

I began with chopped green onions. Note the preferred tupperware of choice: old cottage cheese containers.


Next, shoestring cucumbers. Japanese kyuri are the best because they aren't bitter like the ordinary American variety.
Kamaboko. Which is fish cake. I'm not quite sure why it's white and pink/red. But, anyhow, I love it.

Fried eggs. Scrambled, then cooked omelette style. Cut into strips (This is the before).

Noodles. Placed in an ice bath to stop cooking and to make cold.

Take a little bit of each. (Or maybe a lot). Top with somen tsuyu...premade. :X I know, I know. But I was lazy. Some Sriracha to make it spicy.
Presto. Good stuff.

***Edit: Oops. Forgot a picture of the ham. That's what the pink stuff is in the picture.

:)

The Kettle

Every once in awhile, I like to get out for some "me" time. Eating breakfast on a leisurely Saturday morning gives me a chance to relax, unwind, and recoop. After a night out at Hollywood Park (pictures and a post when I'm not so lazy), I decided to take a drive to Manhattan Beach.

The Kettle was a spot we used to go back in my high school days because it is opened 24 hours. As I was walking down Highland Avenue, I spied the familiar kettle which hung over the restaraunt. I was seated promptly and quickly turned to the breakfast menu.

Though the menu was not long, the ordinary breakfast fare was present: egg dishes, omelets, multiple eggs benedict dishes and sides.

First out were the blueberry muffins. Two gargantuan sized muffins, which I forgot to take a picture before I took a chunk out. Apparently, you can mix and match the muffins, which I didn't. In reality, I couldn't eat one, much less two. They had an interesting texture, almost sponge like. The muffins were soft and the tops did not have much of a crust. This is what usually gets me on muffins-in fact, the first time I saw muffin top muffin pans, I wanted to buy them. My mom used to always get mad because I would eat only the tops of muffins and leave the rest behind! Anyhow, I had a few bites and waited for the meal.

I went with the Chicken and artichoke omelette. Cubes of chicken breast, artichiokes, and a variety of mushrooms all wrapped in egg and topped with tomatoes. These comes with a side of their home potatoes. Top this bad boy with some pico de gallo and tabasco and you've got yourself a pretty tasty breakfast!

The Kettle
1138 Highland Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

A quick rundown of this weekend...

• chinese food with the 'rents
  
• t n t's aloha cafe
  
• art show @ robocon in chinatown
  
• zankous chicken
• longing for pastries at baklava factory (open...open...open)
• bob's okazuya
• village pizzeria

Official food overload.
Mmm Mmm Good.

**A real updated post once I get off my bootie and do so!

Beard Papas

Me: What's a Beard Papa?
WM: These awesome cream puffs. You have to try them. My mom waited in line for like two hours at the opening of the Hollywood and Highland location.
Me: For a cream puff???? Are they really that good?

So after the countless times WM told me about the puffs, I had to try them. Luckily, the Gardena store opened up not too long after. And one of my students ended up buying me a few to try.

These ginormous puffs were unlike any that I've had. I was used to the tiny Ishigo-made cream puffs of yesteryear. Instead of a soft exterior, Beard Papas were crispy and flaky monstrosities filled with goodness. Their filling was what got me. Custard-like and very rich. Like most Asian inspired baked goods, it was not too sweet. Exactly as I like. There are many different filling flavors, including chocolate, strawberry, and green tea. On one occasion, my sister bought me a coffee filled one. However, I like to stick to the OG cream. Nothing like the real thing....

Anyhow, on JY's birthday, he asked for...not a cake, not some cookies, but some cream puffs. He polished it off in no time, along with a second. Unfortunately, this was right before we went to dinner...so he was full before we got there.

And yet, he still had enough room to polish off yet another after dinner.

**Thanks for all of the well wishes...you guys are great! I finally feel better! Woohoo for prescription drugs. :)

T n' T's Aloha Cafe

My parents are creatures of habit. Every weekend, without fail, they make the treck southward to a little joint known as T n' T's Aloha Cafe. I sort of wonder why they do this. I am not the type of person to go to the same place day in and day out. In fact, I get tired of food VERY quickly. It's rare that you will see me at the same place in one week, no matter how good the food is (well, except for maybe, coffee, my life line). But, they always ask me to go with them. And the dedicated daughter that I am, I always drive down to South Torrance for some grub. ;)

T n' T's is an offshoot of the infamous Gardena Bowl. Diner style food, no frills, nothing fancy, just good home cooking. Their menu is short and sweet: fried this and fried that. Can't go wrong with fried foods.

I usually order the fried saimin, saimin noodles stir fried with your choice of meat, onions, mushrooms, sugar snap peas, bean sprouts, and tofu. Douse it with some rooster sauce and shoyu and you've got yourself a pretty tasty meal. Oh, this usually comes with two scoops of rice and miso soup.

as a side note, i've always thought it was odd that they serve rice with noodles. though my mom used to say that they used to even serve rice with spaghetti when she was little. that's a lot of carb if you ask me...but, hey, whose complaining?

As always, my dad gets the teri beef plate. Tender strips of sirloin, doused with a sweet teriyaki glaze accompany eggs and two scoops of rice. Teriyaki in the morning seems odd, though a lot of people seem to order it.

My mother either ends of getting the bacon fried rice, homemade corned beef hash, or the royale. I'm not even sure where the origin of the royale came from, though many people tell me that it was from the now defunct Kenny's Cafe on Centinela. The royale is a scramble of portugese sausage, char siu and green and white onions all topped with teriyaki sauce.

They also have great beef stew, though it is not on the menu. Look for their specials on the board, for they may offer anything from pork chops to cold saimin salad.

I think the main reason that my parents go there is because everyone is a regular. On any given Saturday, you see the exact same people. These same people are probably ordering the same things. It's a virtual watering hole. A place where everyone knows your name. In fact, the owner's daughter was in my class last year.

People go where they are comfortable. And this place is definitely that.

T n T's Aloha Cafe
24032 Vista Montana
Torrance, CA 90505

You always want what you can't have...

Where have I been? Hmm.. For the past couple of weeks I have been having the worst stomach pains. Come to find out...I have acid reflux, brought on by stress. Hmph. So now, I must alter eating habits and lifestyle to fit my newly found condition. Unfortunately, that means: no spicy, caffeinated, or acidic foods. Oh coffee...how I will miss you. Oh spicy foods...what will I do?

Now I just have to find new places to eat.

I need some assistance!

Help!

I am horrible at html codes, profiles, etc. I have NO CLUE how to change my frequently visited sites...etc.

Can anyone help a non-technologically savvy individual?

Thank you!

...Here's a list for you...

places i've eaten fairly recently...and have yet to post:

matsuhisa
lulu's cafe
luna park
la taquiza
lawry's
beard papa's
el rocoto
pink's
bob's okazuya
sushi gen
sea empress
ms saigon cafe
village pizzeria

however, since my camera has been on the fritz and i've been on serious masters exam-open house-progress report overload....things have been left to the wayside.