Eileen Likes To Eat

[1/15/2007] Costco

2007-01-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

Costco
2207 W. Commonwealth Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626)281-8679
http://www.costco.com

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Hot Dog with Drink ($1.50)

I haven't had Costco's hot dog for awhile. After shopping at Costco, I bought a hot dog + drink for to go. A hot dog with an unlimitied refilled drink all for $1.50. It's a great deal. There are also unlimited onion and radish for you to add to your juicy hot dog. I think I went overboard with the radish. Costco's hot dog is pretty tasty. I like the soft bun, too. After eating this hot dog for lunch, I was pretty much full for the whole day.

[1/13/2007] Fosselman's Ice Cream Co.

2007-01-27T16:30:00.000-08:00

Fosselman's Ice Cream Co.
1824 W. Main St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-6533
http://www.fosselmans.com

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Fosselman's Ice Cream Co.

Fosselman's Ice Cream is quite famous in LA. I'm lucky to live couple blocks away from this historical ice cream shop. Fosselman's has been around for 85 years. People come from all over the place to try their famous ice cream. After eating lunch at Pho 79, we stopped by at Fosselman's for dessert.

Inside the store

There are about 40 different flavors in the store. Besides the regualr western flavor, they also have a few Asian flavor, such as taro, green tea and lychee.

Lychee & Chocolate Chips ($2.15/scoop)

Both Wen and I ordered lychee ice cream. Jonathan ordered chocolate chips. I really like the lychee ice cream. It wasn't too sweet, yet the lychee just tasted so good. You can still taste little bits of lychee in the ice cream.

Picture on the wall

There are lots of old pictures on the wall. For an ice cream shop to be in business for 85 years, they must have outstanding ice cream. After tasting it, I can understand why they've been around for so long. They don't have any other store. Alhambra store is the one and only. If you are around San Gabriel Valley, stop by here for some yummy ice cream treat.

[1/13/2007] Pho 79 Vietnamese Restaurant

2007-01-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

Pho 79 Vietnamese Restaurant
29 S. Garfield Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-0239
http://www.pho79.com

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I went hiking at Arcadia Chantry Flats with Wen and her family on this Saturday morning. To fill our hungry stomach after the hike, Pho 79 was the destination.

We arrived the restaurant around 1pm. Business was busy as usual. Quite a few people are waiting for tables. Luckily they just happened to have a 5 people table available so we didn't have to wait.

Condiments

There are different kinds of condiments on the table. When I eat Vietnamese food, I need to have the brown Hoisin sauce and the red chili sauce. Without these two, I just feel like something is missing with my pho.

Cha Gio (US$4.95)

We ordered Cha Gio (Vietnamese eggrolls) as appetizer. There were minced meat and mushroom inside the golden crispy shell. We dipped them in the sweet/sour fish sauce, wrapped them with lettuce, Delicious!

Com Bi Cha Bo Nuong ($5.75)

Wen ordered Com Bi Cha Bo Nuong (Charbroiled beef, shredded pork and steamed egg with rice) for her son because he likes both steak and egg. I like Vietnamese style charbroiled beef and pork. It has a sweet taste to it. I like their steamed egg as well. There were minced meat, mushroom and vercimelli with the flavorful steamed egg. The rice they used was Vietnamese borken rice.

Pho Dac Biet ($5.50)

Everytime I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I always tell myself to try something different. But I always end up ordering a bowl of pho (beef noodle soup). I got Pho Dac Biet this time. It is the combination beef noodle soup with rare beef, cooked beef, tendon and tripe. The rice noodle was done perfectly. The broth was simmered for days with beef bone. It was so good. Having a bowl of hot noodle soup is so perfect on a cold winter day. The portion was big. I could only finish half of this bowl. Leo and Henry both ordered Pho Xe Lua ($5.95), which is XL combination beef noodle soup. Both of them finished the whole bowl in minutes!

Banh Hoi Nem Nuong Chao Tom ($6.50)

Wen ordered Banh Hoi Nem Nuong Chao Tom. It has charbroiled meat balls and shrimp paste served with vercimelli and thin rice paper. We didn't really know the proper way to eat this dish since none of us had it before. We assumed you wrap everything in the rice paper with the peanut sauce. It was pretty interesting, but good.

Cafe Sua Nong ($1.95)

Even though I was full, I couldn't resisit a cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. The order came with a cup with condensed milk, dripping hot vietnamese coffee sitting on top of the cup and a glass full with ice. After waiting for about 10 minutes for the hot coffee to finishing dripping, I mixed it with the sweet condensed milk, then pour the hot coffee into the glass with ice. A perfect cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. Vietnamese coffee is so rish and stong. After this cup, I couldn't sleep till 3am.

I like Vietnamese food. It's cheap, filling and delicious.

Chinese review

[1/12/2007] Tasty Garden

2007-01-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

Tasty Garden
288 W. Valley Blvd. #110
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 300-8262

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After visiting my dad in the hospital, both my mom and I felt kinda hungry. It was about 4 in the afternoon and we did not know what restaurants were open around that time. I thought of Tasty Garden. When I passed by the restaurant around dinner time, there were always tons of people waiting by the door. I think this restaurant opened sometime last year. I heard that Tasty Garden served Hong Kong style food. If it is Hong Kong style restaurant, it should be open in the afternoon.

Afternoon Tea menu

We drove to Tasty Garden in Alhambra. The restaurant was open in the afternoon. It was almost full, too. The friendly waiter put us in a booth seat. We saw the afternoon tea menu on the table. The afternoon tea was served from 3:00pm to 5:30pm. There were 10 choices. We picked #1 and #4.

Chinese Herbal Tea menu

A free drink comes with the afternoon tea order. You can pick from milk tea, coffee or any of their Chinese herbal tea. My mom picked Chrysenthemum and Fructus Crataegi Tea. I picked Dried Lotus Longan Tea.

Dried Lotus LonGan Tea & Chrysenthemum and Fructus Crataegi Tea

The waiter brought the Chinese herbal tea soon after we ordered. The tea was served in a to-go cup so we can easily take it home if we don't finish. My mom said her Chrysenthemum and Fructus Crataegi Tea wasn't too sweet. She liked it. My Dried Lotus Longan Tea was sweeter. But the sweet came from lotus and logan. There were also gogi in the tea. It tasted pretty good, not to mention all the health benefits from those herbal teas.

Pig Feet & Wonton Lo Mein ($5.25)

Pig Feet and Wonton Lo Mein's portion was huge. I think it could easily fed 2 or 3 people. It came with 5 big pieces of pork hock and 5 wontons. The pork hock was was tender. It just melt in your mouth. It was simmered in a delicious soy-sauce based sauce. The wonton tasted kinda like Shui Mai (pork dumpling from dim sum). Maybe I had that feeling because it was because the wonton used the same yellow wrap as shui mai. There were pork and shrimp in the wontons. It was pretty good. There were also two pieces of vegetable. The lo mein (noodle) didn't have much taste. But mixing the noodle with the sauce and chili on the table, it was quite good. There was also a bowl of noodle.

Acutally I don't really know the correct way to eat lo mein. Do you drink the soup? Do you pour some soup on the noodle so the noodle doesn't get too dry? Or do you dip the noodle into the soup then eat it like Japanese noodle? Can somebody tell me the right way to eat lo mein?

Chicken Wings & Glutinous Rice with Scallops and Chicken ($5.25)

Next came the chicken wings and Glutinous Rice combo. The chicken wing was so good. It was seasoned with Chinese peppery salt. It was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. I like to eat it with the lightly sauteed green onion. I think I can eat at least 20 of these on my own.

Glutinous Rice with Scallops and Chicken

On the menu, it said that there were scallops and chicken inside the leaf-wrapped glutinous rice. But we only saw a few strings of dried scallop and tiny pieces of chicken. There were also a little bit of shitake mushroom. But mostly it was just rice. The portion was kinda small. And it was a bit on the oily side. Comparing with the noodle, we felt the noodle was a better deal then this.

Bill

The afternoon tea was a really good deal at Tasty Garden. If you feel like having some Chinese food in the afternoon, or want to have an early dinner, it is a good place to go. I will definately come back to try other items on the afternoon tea menu.

Chinese review

[1/6/2007] Mu Dung San Korean BBQ

2007-01-13T22:54:00.000-08:00

Mu Dung San Korean BBQ
1040 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 747-9292

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Mu Dung San

Not too long ago, I had $14.99/person all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ with Mr. Park at Mu Dung San. I could not stop thinking it ever since. Last time we were there, we were both tired from the long drive back from our Paso Robles trip so we only had one plate of meat. It was such a waste. I've been thinking about going back to Mu Dung San to get my money worth.

Since I was hiking with Wen's family on that day, we decided to go to Mu Dung San afterward. After burning 1500 calories from hiking to the Hollywood sign at Griffith Park, we probably gained 3000 calories back from dinner. My friend Ruby + 3 friends and Ariel + 2 friends also joined us. The 11 of us ate like bunch of fat kids.

Assorted Korean appetizers

Like all Korean restaurants, as soon as we sat down, the waiter brought bunch of Korean appetizers to the table. There were kimchi, spicy radish, konjac jelly, pickled cabbage, fish cake, black beans, bean sprouts and sheets of noodle to wrap the meat with.

Salad

The salad was dressed with Korean salad dressing. It was delicious on its own. But even better when eaten with BBQ meats.

BBQ Beef

After telling the watier we wanted the $14.99 all-you-can-eat, he brought a plate of thin sliced beef first. He put half of the beef on the hot grill for us. The meat was alright. It didn't have much taste though. There were two dipping sauce, sesame oil with white pepper and soy sauce with jalapeno. I also like to wrapped the beef with some salad in the sheet noodle.

Beef Short Ribs, Sirloin Steak & Pork

The waiter brought this plate of meat to our table next. It has beef short ribs, sirloin steak and pork.

Beef Short Ribs (Kalbi)

I have to say, we all thought the beef short ribs was the best. It was marinated, tender, juicy and so very tasty. We just couldn't get enough of this.

Sirloin Steak

Sirloin steak was lightly marinated. It was quite good, but not as tender and juicy as the short ribs.

Pork

This was called "Pork Belly" on the menu. But it is not the stomach of little piggy. I think they meant this is the meat around the tummy part. It was just a big piece of pork chop. After it was cooked, we cut it into smaller pieces with the scissors on the table. The pork was good, but we all liked beef better.

The waiter brought all the above meats to our table without us ordering.

Beef tongue

This is the special stuff that you need to order from the waiter for him to bring it to your table, beef tongue. The tongue was sliced pretty thin. It took too long to cook one by one, so we cooked it via "stir-fry" style. It was really tender.

Beef Short Ribs (Kalbi) & Marinated BBQ Beef (Bulgogi)

Marinated BBQ Beef (bulgogi) was another item you need to order from the waiter. It was much better than the regualr BBQ beef. We kept on re-ordering this combination, beef short ribs and marinated BBQ beef. Just couldn't get enough of it.

Steamed Egg

For every 3 people, the waiter brought 1 pot of steamed egg. The egg was soft. The broth that they cooked the egg with was delicious.

Soup

For every 3 people, there was also a pot of hot soup. The soup was kinda salty. It tasted like bean paste.

Bill

We feasted from 5:30pm to 8:00pm. For 11 people, it costs $194.71 for 11 all-you-can-eat, 2 cokes and 2 beers. I can't really read it, but I think all the items with no cost were meat that we ordered. I counted. 23! Yes, 23!! I think we ate 23 plates of delicious Korean BBQ. All for $15/person. It was sooooooo worth it!!!!

Chinese review

[1/4/2007] Lu Gi Restaurant

2007-01-12T23:57:00.000-08:00

Lu Gi Restaurant
539 W. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 965-9881

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I had Chinese spicy hot pot at quite a few restaurants. All their names are xxx Gi Restaurant for some reason (Gi means "name" in Chinese). There's Wang Gi, Wu Gi, Lu Gi and some other Gi restaurants that I can't remember. Also within the past two years, the "Little Fat Lamb" kind of spicy hot pot was quite popular. This is the kind of spicy hot pot with bunch of unknown herbs in the broth. But after trying all those different Chinese spicy hot pot, Lu Gi remains to be my favorite. Their hot pot tastes most like the ones I had in Taiwan.

The temperature has been dropping in L.A. So I took my mom and my brother to have some spicy hot pot to warm up a bit.

Chinese spicy hot pot

Hot pot is eaten like fondue. You dip the food into the broth to cook it. The pot come with two broth, regular and spicy. You can dip food in either side according to your own taste. After cooking the food, you can drink the broth like soup. It will be really flavorful with all the food you cook in it. We ordered quite a few plates of food to be enjoyed in the spicy broth.

Meatball/Fish ball, Intestine and Ton How vegetable

I know this might sound gross to some people. But I LOVE intestines! I love the chewy texture of it, especially with the spicy soup. We also ordered 1/2 meatball + 1/2 fish ball combo. They are both good. Of course we have to order some vegetable to balance the meal. We chose the Chinese vegetable, Ton How.

Oyster mushroom/King mushroom and Beef

My mom and I love mushrooms. We ordered 1/2 Oyster Mushroom + 1/2 King Mushroom combo. I never had King mushroom before. Why didn't I had this mushroom before? It was so delicious. Tender and juicy. For our meat choice, we got some beef.

Lotus Root

Lotus root was crunchy. Delicious.

Lamb

I guess just one plate of beef wasn't enough. So we ordered a plate of lamb as well.

Noodle

I really like cooking the noodle in the spicy soup at the end. The soup was so flavorful from all the food that cooked in it. The noodle absorbed the flavorful soup and was super tasty. Yum!

Dipping sauce

You make your own dipping sauce at Lu Gi. My favorite dipping sauce is equal parts of vinager and sesame oil with green onion and garlic. I don't think people should add soy sauce to dipping sauce because then you only taste the soy sauce, not the flavor from the spicy broth.

I like drinking the spicy soup at the end. I mixed 1/2 spicy soup and 1/2 regular soup. It was spicy, but so good.

This meal cost about $45. I miss Taiwan's all you can eat spicy hot pot restaurant. It costs about $10/person only. But since I'm not there, I'm happy with Lu Gi in L.A.

Chinese review

Toasting the town's great deals

2007-01-12T19:39:00.000-08:00

Whether it's saving $200 on the price of an airline ticket to the Mayan Riviera or snagging a pair of Christian Louboutin sandals priced to move on the last day of the Barneys Warehouse sale, there's something about finding a great deal that's supremely gratifying. And if it's three-star dim sum for the price of a paperback or a cold, frothy chocolate egg cream that's just 50 cents (in Beverly Hills, no less) -- it's just that much more delicious.

So what tasty bargains await hungry Angelenos? The best fish taco in town, filled with crisply fried halibut, crunchy cabbage, salsa and crema for 99 cents. Two cocktails for the price of one in a swanky setting from a top mixologist. A steak dinner at the beach for less than $20. A three-course chef's tasting menu that might include impeccable yellowtail sashimi with bacon and preserved lemon, suckling pig confit with fresh garbanzo beans and blackberry gastrique, and coconut panna cotta with pistachio-cumin brittle -- for only 30 bucks.

These are just a few of that 25 tasty bargains that Food section writers discovered after pounding the pavement, from Santa Monica to the Sunset Stripk, from North Hollywood to Westminster, from Koreatown to Little Tokyo. Sometimes the delicious deal depends on knowing when to get what where -- so step lively if you want that free bottle of wine or a blow-your-mind-but-not-bust-your-budget bento box lunch. Others, like a superior Vietnamese sandwich for $1.75 or a perfectly spiced samosa for 59 cents, are perennial steals. Here are our favorites.

1. Fish taco at Tacos Baja Ensenada, 99 cents on Wednesdays.
Perfect Baja-style fish tacos with delicately battered, freshly fried, piping-hot hunks of halibut in soft, warm corn tortillas, dressed with crisp shredded cabbage, salsa, finely diced red onion, cilantro, a dollop of crema, a squirt of lime -- these are what customers line up for at this East L.A. mecca. Every other day they're a well-priced $1.15 each, but come Wednesday, 99-cent fish taco day, the crowds are even thicker, and the line can extend past the ceviche counter and the trays of fresh radishes, limes and red-pepper-dusted yellow chiles -- and sometimes out the door.
Tacos Baja Ensenada, 5385 Whittier Blvd., L.A., (323) 887-1980, www.tacosbaja.com.

2. Egg cream at Barney Greengrass, in the Barneys New York store, 50 cents.
Why are those ladies who lunch on the top floor of Barneys Ne-w York paying $3.75 for a small bottle of Norwegian Voss water when they could be having a frothy chocolate egg cream for just two quarters (and four pennies, including tax)? It's a good one too, made with a squeeze of Hershey's chocolate syrup, milk and seltzer water. Traditionally it's made with Fox's U-Bet, but hey, this is Beverly Hills, not Brooklyn!
Barney Greengrass, 9570 Whilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 777-5877

3. Tri-tip special for six to eight people from Swinging Door, $56.
Take home a feast of slow-cooked, wood-smoked barbecue for less per person than the price of a movie ticket. Swinging Door's wonderful barbecued meats are widely appreciated, and when they run out, there's no more till the next day, so order ahead. The tr-tip special, big enough for a family meal, includes a whole tri-tip, a slab of baby back ribs, three side dishes and a dozen of the cafe's addictive fresh garlic rolls.
Swinging Door, 11018 Vanowen St., North Hollywood, (818) 763-8996, www.swingingdoorbbq.com.

4. Barbecued pork banh mi and avocado smoothie at Top Baguette, $1.75 for banh mi, $2.50 for smoothie.
After tasting more than a dozen banh mi, we can be sure Top Baguette is indeed top baguette. Its list of Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches includes beef sauteed in lemon grass, a combo of cold cuts and a veggie banh mi with vermicelli noodles and tofu spiked with coarsely ground black pepper. But the best is sweet, succulent barbecue pork. The freshly baked crispy-crusted-but-soft-inside baguettes hold handfuls of pickled carrots and daikon and slabs of crunchy cucumber, plenty of cilantro and a few slices of jalapeno. And lots of banh mi spots offer avocado smoothies, but the luscious on ehere is the best. Blended with a whole fresh avocado, a little sugar, half and half, milk and ice, it is cold, creamy and wonderful.
Top Baguette, 9062 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, (714) 379-7726.

5. Three-course tasting menu at Opus Restaurant, $30.
Tasting menus aren't just for those who can afford to drop more than $100 on a meal. Opus Restaurant's new chef, Josef Centeno, formerly of Meson G, offers three-course spontaneous tastings for less than you'd spend on a steak at many restaurants. First might come a sashimi of hamachi (yellowtail) with bacon and preserved lemon with shio konbu (salted kelp) and geoduck clam; then Four Story Hill Farm sweetbreads and veal cheeks with lobster bearnaise and corn pudding; and for dessert, maybe quince-pineapple pie with tarragon anglaise and creme fraiche ice cream.
Opus Restaurant, 3760 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (213) 738-1600, www.opusrestaurant.net.

6. Roasted-spices samosa at Bharat Bazaar & Samosa House, 59 cents small, $1.25 large.
This Indian grocery has been the go-to market for more than 25 years for Westsiders cooking East Indian food. An outlet of a spice importing and distribution company, Bharat Bazaar roasts and grinds its spices on site (and packages some for sale). In January, it expanded to turn a makershift back-of-the-store deli counter into an eat-in or takeout cafe. The samosas, fried up to order, are justifiably famous. The filling is traditional -- potatoes and peas -- but oh, the seasoning! Fresh roasted spices make the difference; the flavor is bold and full-bodied but not trendily hot. Each order comes with house-made mint and tamarind chutneys.
Bharat Bazaar & Samosa House, 11510 W. Washington Blvd., L.A., (310) 398-6766.

7. Lychee ice cream cone at Fosselman's, $2.15. (1/13/2007)
One taste of this flavor at Alhambra's famous shop and it's hard to imagine ordering any other. It's bright, tropical, creamy and not too sweet -- altogether dreamy. In a sugar cone, please.
Fosselman's, 1824 W. Main St., Alhambra, (626) 282-6533, www.fosselmans.com.

8. Two-for-one cocktails at Norman's.
Mixologist Peter Birmingham's drinks are inspired, and between 5:30 and 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, cocktails (as well as beer, sake and wines by the glass) are two for one. His signatures include a Furikake Martini with Hendrick's gin, "flash pickled" cucumbers and a little furikake, a Japanese dried-seaweed-and-rice-cracker seasoning, and a Mesquito, a sophisticated take on the mojito, made with Siete Leguas platino tequila, lime, Thai basil, simple syrup and soda water. Cheers.
Norman's, 8570 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 657-2400, www.normans.com.

9. Big box of fries at Skooby's Hot Dogs, $3.70.
Skooby's may be a hot dog joint, but it's the fries that are killer. A mix of thick strips and thin chips, twice-fried in peanut oil, sprinkled with Skooby's special spice mix, they're worth crossing town for. A Skooby's skoop of fries costs $2.31 but a big box provides double the fun. And nothing could be better than people-watching from a red-cushioned stool on a Hollywood Boulevard corner while dipping a crispy-brown Skooby's fry in house-made aioli.
Skooby's Hot Dogs, 6654 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) HOT-DOGS; 502 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach, (310) 376-1292, www.skoobyshotdogs.com.

10. Butter steak aux fines herbes at Chez Jay, $19.
This Santa Monica steakhouse hangout just a stone's throw from the beach attracts local twentysomethings, families, couples on dates, bar regulars and an occasional pack of Australian lifeguards or Japanese tourists. You'll also find an excellent steak dinner for less than $20: 10 ounces of New York steak, a baked potato, sauteed vegetables and garlic bread. Tuck into a booth and enjoy the friendly, dark, boozy scene, with a jukebox that plays what would make a great CD compilation called "Just Good Rock."
Chez Jay, 1657 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 395-1741, www.chezjays.com.

11. Bento box lunch at Izoyoi, $9.50.
Don't sleep on this deal: It's available only to the first 20 lunch customers who request it. A pretty lacquered bento box holds a panoply of beautiful Japanese specialties: fabulous grilled mackerel, perhaps; chawanmushi (a silky savory custard), shrimp and vegetable tempura, pristine sashimi, tangy pickled cabbage, and simmered daikon and bean curd. Plus there's miso soup, salad, and rice.
Izayoi, 132 S. Central Ave., L.A., (213) 613-9554.

12. Sheykh al-mehshi dinner special at Marouch, $10.99.
Melt-in-your-mouth slices of eggplant filled with seasoned ground beef and pine nuts and baked in a light tomato sauce, served over a fluffy mound of rice, along with pickled turnip, olives, chiles and pita; This is just one of the tempting daily dinner specials that chef Sossi Brady turns out at this Lebanese cafe in Little Armenia. Others include her kebbeh labanieh, meatballs of browned beef and pine nuts wrapped in a crust of veal and cracked wheat with delicious yogurt sauce.
Marouch, 4905 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (323) 662-9325, www.marouchrestaurant.com.

13. Bottomless bean pot at Tacomiendo Mexican Grill, gratis.
A steady word-of-mouth cult fave, this small, cheerful taqueria that successfully straddles the line between roots cooking and up-to-datedness is well-loved for its house-made tortillas, hot off the griddle, filled with terrific carnitas, cabeza, asada, lengua or grilled veggies. $1.75 buys you a taco; tortas are $4.95. Fresh-squeezed vegetable juices ($2) and agua frescas ($1) are great too. But the kicker is the pot of rich, stewy pinto beans, part of a condiment bar that also includes salsas, lime wedges and radishes. Help yourself to a ladleful, or more if you like.
Tacomiendo Mexican Grill, 4502 Inglewood Blvd., Culver City, (310) 915-0426; 11462 Gateway Blvd., West L.A., (310) 481-0804, www.ta-comiendo.com.

14. Sesame bread with green onions at Mas' Islamic Chinese, $7.50.
Would you like the sesame bread? Thick or thin? That's what your server wants to know the moment you sit down at Mas'. Each enormous round loaf is baked to order so they want to get yours popped into the oven right away. Say yes; it's incredibly delicious. The yeasted bread's top crust is crunchy, covered with tiny fragrant sesame seeds with just the right degree of tastiness. Inside, the flavorful interior has pockets of soft green-onion bits. An order is big enough for 10 generous pieces.
Mas' Islamic Chinese, 601 E. Orangethorpe Ave., Anaheim, (714) 871-9166.

15. Wild mushroom pie at Pitfire Pizza Co., $8.25.
Whoever said there's no great pizza in L.A. has never tried Pitfire's. The dough is allowed to rise one and a half to two days, and the pie is fired in a special ceramic-bottomed oven for a crust that's deeply flavorful, with wonderful, chewy-crisp texture, somewhere between Neapollitan and New York style. And the toppings are superb -- you can't go wrong with field mushrooms, balsamic roasted onions, four cheeses and fresh herbs. But it's tough to choose -- the white pizza with bitter greens (kale, dandelion, arugula and collard) frequently on special is fabulous, as is the classic tomato, basil and mozzarella.
Pitfire Pizza Co., 5211 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 980-2949; 108 W. 2nd St., L.A., (213) 808-1200; www.pitfirepizza.com.

16. Dim sum at Triumphal Palace, about $17 per person.
How can that perfectly roasted barbecue duck, with its crackling-crisp skin, cost just $5.98? Taste that pea tip and seafood dumpling -- it's polished and perfect. Assemble a group and head to Alhambra for this three-star experience at a very nice price. Sticky rice in lotus is some of the best around; pan-fried turnip cakes with XO sauce are rich and creamy; barbecue pork belly is crisp on the outside, meltingly tender on the inside, amazingly flavorful. On weekends, be prepared to wait: The place is popular.
Triumphal Palace, 500 W. Main St., #A, Alhambra, (626) 308-3222.

17. Rotisserie chicken dinner for four at TiGeorges' Chicken, $19.95.
This is no jerk chicken, it's Haitian "poule kreole" -- a whole fall-apart-tender bird that's been roasted oer an avocado wood fire, marinated with black pepper, parsley, onion, paprika, key lime juice, salt and a few other key ingredients that TiGeorges himself isn't about to disclose. Dinner comes with rice and beans, a salad of greens and pikliz, a fresh, tangy cole slaw made with key lime juice. DOn't skip the ti malis sauce (it'll cost an extra dollar, but it's so worth it) -- lots of garlic and sour orange juice, some fermented habanero pepper, a little roasted thyme... the rest is another TiGeorges secret.
TiGeorges' Chicken, 309 N. Glendale Blvd., L.A., (213) 353-9994, www.tigeorgeschicken.com.

18. Sweet rice flour cake at Koo's Grill, $1.
In front of California Market in Koreatown there's a bright shiny cart that sells hot-from-the-grill, sweet chewy rice flour pancakes filled with a little bit of honey syrup and a few nuts. Golden-brown and delicious, they're great street food, especially good after a game of darts and a couple of drinks at Frank 'n Hank's around the corner.
Koo's Grill, at 450 S. Western Ave., L.A.

19. Chile verde burrito at Tacos Por Favor, $5.20.
Tender chunks of pork long-cooked with green chile and folded into a big soft-flour tortilla with rice and refried beans: This is a burrito with just the right gestalt. It's big -- make that huge -- and it's mojado, meaning more chile verde is spooned over the top. Great with a bottle of Bohemia or a watermelon agua fresca.
Tacos Por Favor, 1408 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 392-5768.

20. Buy one bottle of wine, take one home free on Wednesdays at Pastis.
Warm goat cheese and artichoke tart, mussels mariniere or a platter of charcuterie and pate might put you in the mood for a bottle of wine -- or two. And on Wednesdays, you can get that second bottle of wine free if you order a bottle at dinner from a select list that might include a nice Montepulciano d'Abruzzo or a Saint-Emilion.
Pastis, 8114 beverly Blvd., L.A., (323) 655-8822, www.lapastis.com.

21. Fresh fruit bowl with freshly baked muffin at Square One, $6.50.
It's not fussy or faux-exquisite, no doilies or little ruffles of gold leaf, but the simple fruit salad at this minimalist cafe is amazingly luxurious. The selection of fruits is seasonal to the moment, as if your own private chef had meandered through the market, selecting, for example, white-fleshed Sharlyn melon, perfectly ripe cantaloupe, sweet yellow-fleshed Ruby Grand nectarine, plum, fresh Black Mission fig and half a dozen incredibly sweet deep purple Kyoho grapes. Muffins change daily. Breakfast is served all day.
Square One, 4854 Fountain Ave., L.A., (323) 661-1109.

22. Hot dog and soda at Costco, $1.50. (1/15/2007)
What's better than a Dodger Dog and comes with a refillable 20-ounce drink? The parking-lot-concession-stand hot dog at Costco. Yes, Costco. It's a tasty Hebrew National dog (or Polish sausage) in a soft, fluffy bun, wrapped up in foil and smeared with your choice of dispenser toppings: ketchup, yellow mustard, relish and onions. (Sauerkraut is available upon request.) And you don't even need a Costco membership.
Costco, 2901 Los Feliz Blvd., L.A., (323) 644-5220; 3560 W. Century Blvd., Inglewood, (310) 242-2777; 1051 Burbank Blvd., Burbank, (818) 557-3783; 13463 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey, (310) 754-2021; www.costco.com.

23. Chinese chicken salad at Tender Greens, $9.
It's easy to fid silly reinterpretations of this classic salad, but this Culver City salad spot gets it so right. Strips of flavorful, perfectly cooked organic chicken, pea sprouts, delicate julienned carrots, spicy baby lettuces, roasted peanuts, crispy wonton-skin chipgs and "popcorn sprouts" (pale yellow corn shoots with a lovely sweet-corn finish) are all tossed together with a dreamy sesame dressing. You may never want to go back to the classic.
Tender Greens, 9523 Culver Blvd., Culver City; (310) 842-8300, www.tendergreensfood.com.

24. Soju or sake with hearty bar snacks for two at Sohoju, $29.
They know what you're here for, so the friendly folks at Sohoju, a popular Little Tokyo spot for drinks and "Korean nomadic" food have a board list of tempting package deals for two that offer discounts on drink-food combinations. You can get two beers or hot sakes, for example, with an order of chicken and another of tempura for $19; but our favorite features sofu or Taru sake (a cedar-aged junmai sake) plus popcorn chicken and "chillie shrimp." Ordered seperately, it would set you back about $37, but it's a deal at $29.
Sohoju, 104 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, (213) 621-2288.

25. Goat taco at Monte Alban, $3.75.
You might not think "refined" when you hear the phrase "goat taco," but the version at this attractive West Side Oaxacan spot if just that. Tender, mild goatmeat is combined with sauteed onions and cilantro and rolled up gently in a large and wonderful house-made corn tortilla. As served in the restaurant (don't get this one to go), the dish looks rather chichi nuevo Mexicano -- it comes on an oblong plate with a bit of velvety black bean puree, a wedge of lime, a sprig of cilantro and a dose of zingy salsa verde. And it's a knockout.
Monte Alban, 11927 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., (310) 444-7736.

--from L.A. Times 9/13/2005--

[1/2/2007] Pink's

2007-01-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Pink's

709 N. La Brea

Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323)931-4223

http://www.pinkshollywood.com

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After having breakfast with Mr. Park, I dropped him off at Pink's to meet his friend. Even though I was still full from breakfast, I just felt like I need to buy something at Pink's.

Menu at Pink's

As usual, there was a long line of people waiting to get hot dogs. The line was moving pretty smoothly. We only waited for about 15 minutes. Besides the world famous hot dogs, there are also hamburgers and burritos on the menu. But most people ordered hot dogs that made Pink's famous.

Chicago Polish Dog ($3.70)

I ordered a Chicago Polish Dog for to go. The choices are mild or hot. After I told the worker I wanted a hot Chicago Polish Dog, she confirmed again by asking, "Are you sure you want hot? It is REALLY hot." It was spicy. But to us Taiwanese people who love spicy food, it wasn't THAT spicy. The polish dog was quite thick. I can see the red chili in it. The bun was soft. On top of the dog were cheese, relish, lettuce and tomato. It was pretty tasty.

I actually got a Chili Cheese Hot Dog and a Seasoned Fries for to go also. Somehow I forgot to take pictures of these two things. I think the Chili Dog was the most popular item at Pink's. And it indeed is the tastiest.

Chinese review

[1/2/2007] Toast Bakery Cafe

2007-01-09T22:29:00.000-08:00

Toast Bakery Cafe
8221 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-5018
http://www.toastbakerycafe.net/

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Before Mr. Park's flight back to Michigan, we grabbed breakfast. He discovered this restaurant with his friend. Since breakfast is his favorite meal of the day, he was really excited about finding this joint.

Toast Bakery Cafe is near Beverly Center. When I saw those outdoor seats at the door, I like this cute restaurant already. And I know the food will not be disappointing when I saw the Zagat sticker on the door.

On this cold winter morning, the sun was still warm. I even felt... hot. Us lucky Californians! Of course we took advantage of the warm sun and decided to take an outdoor table.

Drip Coffee ($1.95)

We both ordered a cup of coffee first. The coffee wasn't too strong. I love the smell of coffee in the morning.

The Oscar ($9.95)

Mr. Park ordered The Oscar. Why is it called The Oscar? I have no idea. Thin strips of chicken, guacamole, fresh salsa, eggs over medium and melted cheese, all sitting on grilled corn tortillas. Simply delicious. While I was tasting his food, I thought maybe I can try to make the same thing at home someday. It doesn't look too hard to make. The potato that came with the dish was very crispy. I think maybe they were fried and then baked.

The Favorite Scramblettes ($8.95)

I ordered The Favorite Omelette. The items under "Scramblettes" section can be made into either scramble or omelette. Inside The Favorite Omelette were spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, basil and my personal favorite, goat cheese. I like all the ingredients individually already. But putting everything together was just divine. It was so delicious. Mr. Park kept on eating off my plate. For side, I had the same crispy potato. This dish also came with choice of bread. I picked sour dough toast, which was pretty crispy.

I like Toast. The food was good and service was great. What a great way to start a day with breakfast under the sun! If you come to Toast on weekends, expect to wait for a table. The only thing I don't like is that there's no parking lot. There are some metered spaces. But valet parking seems to be the best choice.

Chinese Review